Chapter Eight: Spartan Rematch
October 7, 2552 0915 hours
Gedeon Residence
North America
Laura pulled on a light jacket, gathered up a decently sized bag and headed out on a hike; she had plans for this crisp, cool autumn day, plus she felt a strong need to clear her head. As she hiked through the wooded areas, listening to the normal sounds of the country, she felt at peace as she seldom did. I could be happy here, if it were allowed. This is bliss, walking here in the woods. Once she arrived at her destination, she dropped the bag; it made an audible clinking noise.
The Spartans, curious about this new soldier, had followed her when she went home on leave, and were following her now. Blade seemed completely unaware of their presence, and she hiked on, occasionally whistling birdcalls to the trees. She stopped when she came to a decently sized clearing, and dropped the bag she was carrying, unperturbed by the noise it made. As she bent down and started opening the bag, the four Spartans saw its contents: a plain pair of sais, a pair of combat knives, her little box with the bladed disks, a pair of numchucks, and two small cylinders. She set these in a row and then pulled a smaller box from her pocket, clipped it to her belt, and pressed a button. Loud music blared from this smaller box: most of it was similar to Johnson's flip music, but not quite.
Laura started her workout with the numchucks, and some 'oldies' from around the year 2000 that she'd 'borrowed' from her brothers: as Living in Chaos blared from her player, she twirled them expertly, dodging her own blows as she spun and kicked, and whirled almost as gracefully as a master. When she was done with that she moved to her sais, and her lilting nature music fit that excellently: she spun kicked, dropped and leaped, got a running start and flipped back, slashed expertly, and twirled the ornate blades around her wrists. Moving to her regular combat knives, she warmed up with Front Line and moved on to her bladed disks and Let the Bodies Hit the Floor: a slightly creepy song when she stopped to think about it, but the speed and rhythm were perfect for this exercise. Finishing that one, she picked up the two cylinders and pressed a button on the center of each one; they elongated to full-length staves. Bawitabaw came on for those: another weird song, but once again perfect for the workout at hand. Had there been anyone nearby when she whirled those staves around her, she could easily have incapacitated them. As she finished her workout, she noticed movement in the underbrush.
"I see you, so you may as well come out," she called mirthlessly, whirling the staves around into a threatening position. Her momentary stab of anger gave way to fear, and her throat tightened when she saw one of the Spartans step out from the brush. The Master Chief! I'm in trouble!
The Master Chief had decided he would be the one to try Blade this time, for two reasons: first, he knew Fred was still mad about being beaten, and might kill Blade if he got the chance; second, he wanted to try her for himself, to see if he might not be able to take her down. Knowing how she fights, that'll give me an advantage, he mused, staring at the woman in front of him.
"Care for a go?" he asked, pointing to one of the staves.
"You'll lose," Blade replied tossing him a staff. He hefted it, deciding on the best angles to use, and braced himself for her first strike. She came at him quickly, feinting left and striking right; he almost didn't counter in time. He managed to block her and dealt a savage blow that, had it hit, might have broken bone. She spun left and swiped at his legs, missing one but bringing the other down. When he landed on one knee, he shifted the staff and blocked a blow aimed at his chest; a swift twist sent her staff spinning away. She gripped his staff and tried to jerk it away; he held on.
Laura fought to gain control of the staff, since hers was gone; the Chief had a good grip on it. Not bad, for a Spartan, she thought. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve, though, and began to pull them out as she needed them. Planting one foot one the Chief's chest, she pushed backwards, wrenching the staff out of his grip and tossing it aside. He got up and assumed a fighting stance.
"You may as well give up," she panted. "You've all but lost."
"I haven't lost yet," her opponent growled. He charged forward suddenly, catching her off guard; she barely got out of the way and tried to land a blow on his neck. He gripped her wrist and yanked hard; she spun forward onto the ground, sprawling. Waiting for just the right moment, she spun one leg out and wiped him down on the ground as well. Before she could get up, however, the Chief gripped her and pinned her beneath him. She struggled a little, seemingly unable to escape; in reality she was checking the angles so she could break out at just the right moment.
John had her pinned, and she couldn't get lose. It would have been easy to knock her out and finish her right there, but something about this woman held him back. What the hell is the matter with me? He looked down again at his opponent and noticed she'd stopped struggling. A cold look came into her dark eyes, a look he'd seen once before in a sniper's eyes just before an escape attempt. He didn't remember until later that she had been that same sniper.
"You're pinned, you've lost."
"I don't think so," she murmured calmly, coldly. A swift motion later she hit his head with her own, knocking him backwards a bit and breaking lose. She darted up and assumed a fighting stance. "Never think you have a soldier beaten, especially a soldier who has nothing to lose. Those are the most dangerous." He noticed her dark eyes darting around, checking for more threats. "Where's the rest of your ilk? I know you never travel alone."
"They're nearby," he muttered, and saw Blade's eyes dart nervously back and forth. She's worried, he realized, but why?
Laura knew she only had a small amount of time before the rest of the Spartans came after her, and acted quickly. She wasn't going to cut and run in the middle of a perfectly good fight, but she sure as hell wasn't going to use an unfair advantage by picking up a weapon. Sprinting forward, she used her jujitsu skills to surprise the Master Chief, slipped behind him, and pressed on his carotid artery. As soon as he was unconscious, she caught him, checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive, and laid him down on the grass. Gathering up her equipment, she paused a moment and left him with one of her bladed disks.
"Might come in handy one day. You gave me a run for my money, almost killed me like Ackerson wants, but it ain't happening. Never give someone who has nothing to lose a reason to fight. Sleep well, by the time you wake up I'll be gone." With that, she tried to slip away, but the Chief was ready. He grabbed her ankle and yanked her backwards; she landed sprawling just in front of him, and he pulled one of her knives from its sheath. It had been easy for him to anticipate her trying that stunt and play unconscious, and it had given him the upper hand almost too easily. As it was, he had Blade right where he wanted her: on the ground with her own knife at her throat.
"Going somewhere? Everything was just getting started."
"I wouldn't count on it getting any better." Laura grabbed the hand that held her knife and twisted away. Wrenching the knife out of his grip and jumping to her feet, she realized if she didn't run she'd probably die; grabbing her bag, she bolted like the Covenant were after her. She knew these woods well; only a miracle would allow them to find her. Up ahead was a stand of trees close to the river, with branches drooping down to them. She gripped one, swung down, and submerged herself in the water. If her memory was correct, there was an overhang of rock a meter or so downstream, where no one would be able to see her surface; she headed for it, keeping herself submerged as long as she could, waiting for just the right moment to break free from the river current.
The other Spartans raced into the clearing after the mysterious Blade. Even though she was probably long gone, being both swift and on her own grounds, Fred sent Will off in pursuit while he and Linda eyed the Master Chief.
"Chief, you okay?" The Spartan nodded, staring into the woods.
"Why did she run? Spartans never abandon a fight."
"Who knows, but when she thought you were out of it, she had the weirdest look on her face. Almost looked like she regretted taking you out."
"What?" John had no idea, since his eyes had been closed to facilitate the ruse. Why would she regret winning? He finally noticed the disk on the ground, where it had fallen out of his hand during their struggle. "She left this behind."
"Apparently she was impressed. She doesn't strike me as someone who would leave things behind lightly," Linda murmured. "She seems convinced that we're trying to kill her, though. Remember, after she thought she took you out, she said something about you almost killing her like Colonel Ackerson wanted."
"Well, this is making no sense. Another Spartan, an attempted assassination, conspiracies, and ONI in the thick of it! Anyone else having a hard time following this?" Fred was not happy with that whole line of thinking.
"We'll just have to wait and see," John muttered. He looked down at the disk in his hand, saw the skill it had taken to craft the device. Why did she leave this behind?
Gedeon Residence 1145 hours
Laura tried to slip in through the back door, hoping to dry off and get into some dry clothes before her mother returned. If Mom sees me soaked like this, she'll have a fit. As she dripped her way down the hall, she almost smacked headlong into her older brother, who was just exiting the kitchen.
"Dare I ask what happened?" he smirked, seeing his younger sister looking quite wet and bedraggled.
"Not until I get dried off, no. Let me get cleaned up and then I'll fill you in on the details." She slipped past him into the bathroom, dried off, and headed to her room for some dry clothes. Pulling on the first workout suit she could find (black with two crossed knives on the shoulder, her least favorite), she returned to the living room and poured herself another cup of tea.
"That stuff's got to be stone cold by now," Phil quipped.
"So I'll reheat it, no big deal." She stuck it into the microwave for a few seconds, and began sipping as soon as it was hot again.
"Care to tell me why you looked like you'd been swimming earlier? Or should I save the questions for Mom?"
"I told you I'd tell you after I got dry, didn't I?" Laura shook her head, then launched into her story. She swore she saw Phil smirking when she was done.
"Finally, someone who can take on my little sister and possibly win. I never thought I'd live to see the day."
"Shut up, Phil. It's not that funny. What if Ackerson does try using them to take me out? What then?"
"Paranoid, Laura, paranoid. If the Master Chief had wanted to kill you he'd have done it by now; goodness knows he's had plenty of opportunities to try. I don't think you should be worried."
Laura chose not to answer, but sipped her tea in silence. And what if he's just biding his time, Phillip? ONI can afford to wait, as can the Spartans: they like to strike when least expected. If you were in my position, would you take that chance? She didn't like the thought of another confrontation, one where she could easily lose more than she could afford to pay.