The New Threat
Chapter 4: A Proxy Invasion
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The works of Halo (characters and weapons) go to Bungie, while KotOR (same thing) go to LucasArts. Some elements were used in compliance with Gipper 40's story, and that doesn't belong to me either.
Revan walked down the ramp of the Covenant city, Forbidden Chalice, flanked by two honor guard Elites bearing lances. Grunts, Jackals, and other Covenant species he couldn't name hurled insults at him in Basic, to which he wanted to break free and permanently shut their mouths. But he could not risk gathering the attention of over a hundred-thousand soldiers just by an alien calling him a "disposable waste of honor and skill" or a "beam-blade bastard". Revan just ground his teeth, but the back of his mind told him the names suddenly became more "honoring".
It had been about an hour since his starfighter was tractor beamed into the Covenant city, his trial of killing two commanding officers and a hundred's worth of soldiers, then attempting to sabotage a Capitol ship. The jury told him he was lucky that his execution would be in twenty-eight hours, but Revan didn't know what to do in that lifespan. He couldn't plan an escape, since he was deprived of his lightsabers, and had them stored in the armory or someplace else. Perhaps the Elite that confiscated them still bore them.
The guards threw Revan into a brig room, where other humans also sat in individual cells. Another Elite, wearing brown armor, stood at a podium, overlooking the room and directly from the door. "Another human joins the rest of you garbage," the Elite gloated as Revan entered the room. "And another less human to deal with." He growled as he sized Revan. "So, human. Tell me your name?"
Revan closed his eyes. "I am innocent of any crime commited against me." He called upon the Force to dominate the Elite's mind.
"Oh? The council says you are charged with the death of two high-ranking officers and nearly a hundred soldiers. On top of that, there is also the attempt of hijacking a ship. Do you think we will let you go so easily?"
It didn't work?
"Tell me your name, and we will be slightly lenient. I might allow you to speak with the other inmates here; all of them have told me their name."
Revan sighed. He decided to use his "generated identity" name, when the Jedi Council had wiped his mind prior to the Jedi Civil War. "Harkus," he said. "Harkus Tonthald."
"Harkus..." the Elite seemed to ponder the name. "Bring this man to Cell B-12. His execution will be tomorrow, so I guess you may return to where the council suggests." The guards pushed Revan to the designated cell, then primed the plasma shield door to lock him in. The plasma bonds detached, falling to the ground with a plink.
"Ahh, now we have some fresh meat!" said a man's voice. It was hoarse, as if the Covenant didn't give enough water in the prison meals. "One by the name of Harkus too? Well, let the angels hark then!"
"Shut up, Darius," said another voice. This one was low and gruff, the voice of a disciplined soldier. "His name doesn't sound like one of ours, so he can't be from Earth, Harvest, Reach, or any place we call home."
Earth, Harvest, and Reach?
"Ha, he isn't even dressed in combat uniform!" Darius cried out. "Instead, it's fancy robes and cloaks! What do you think makes him more different than us than that, Richardson?"
Wait... never mind their voices... I should plan on escape. Revan hustled over to the side of the plasma door, looking for a control panel. Turns out it was the odd looking box just outside the door... Perhaps I can compress it with the Force? Revan glanced at the guard Elite whom put his head down and crossed its arms. Sleeper. What a coincidence... Revan told himself. He let out his right hand and pressed it against the plasma door, which was somewhat pushing him back. It felt soft and a bit hot to the touch. He rested his left on his hidden tanto.
"Hey, New-guy," asked a third human. "You haven't been saying anything... what'cha doing?"
The shield generator exploded, catching the attention of the Covenant guard and causing him to draw a firearm. The shield door dissipated to nothing. "I guess your execution begins now..." it said.
"I shall be your executioner," declared Revan, raising his ignited tanto. "And I will leave this place." Revan threw the tanto, slicing through the air and the Elite's neck, to which the Elite's body; what was left of it; fell to the ground. Using the Force to guide his weapon back, Revan walked to the corpse and picked up its weapon, a weird purple rifle thing, a green dial near the start of the barrel. Revan saw a magazine of the same round, picking those up, stowing his tanto in its place.
"Holy shit!" a marine cried. "That was so awesome I nearly pissed my pants!"
"Dude, you just went too far, Fitz," said Richardson. "Well, Harkus, nice dagger and moves; I guess the uprising starts here?" He looked up at the Jedi.
Revan answered with a single round to the shield generators each. The shots were a straight rod of green, piercing rounds until the whole shot collapsed. The green dial declined to two-thirds full, on account for the shots fired. There were five marines in all, six including himself. "If anyone has any map schematics, I suggest they get brought up here," Revan declared. "Otherwise, we'll have a hard time locating the armory, or overall, trying to escape."
"I have the map stuff here," Richardson said. "The armory is three floors up, albeit heavily encrypted, taken by the grav-lift. It may take a while to punch through the patrols though."
Revan tossed two plasma rifles at Richardson and the third marine, who identified himself as Weston. "The other three, behind us. Don't get shot, because we'll need all the men we can get." Darius, Fitz, and the fifth marine; Ferrick; nodded their heads. Revan led the way, walking to the door and seeing it swing open.
A Grunt was sleeping at the door, along with two more sleepers at the door to the main hall. Revan motioned with an assassination command; and Darius and Ferrick went up to the main door guards while Fitz chose the holding cell one. Revan counted down with his fingers ending in a fist, which the marines seized the Grunts by the mouth-apparatus and twisted their necks. They picked up the fallen weapons from the dead bodies. "Outside," Revan instructed, "stay out of sight, and take them out quietly. When they return fire, go loud." The main hall door opened as Revan neared it, and a few Elites patrolled this floor, but they were more concentrated on the grav-lift than the holding cell doors.
Revan snuck up to the Elite, covering its split-lip and slamming his tanto into the Elite's side. Its cry was muffled significantly and attracted no other attention. Revan slowly laid the Elite to the ground, the Force needed to augment Revan's strength to compensate the alien's weight. No sound was made.
Revan gestured the marines forward, but barely at the sound of gunfire, the pitter-patter of gunfire and the clanking of shoes on the Covenant metal. Plasma rained upon the ground floor, accompanied by the bang of a rifle bullet followed by a path of steam. "Reinforcements are here!" cried a marine. "They probably came to rescue us!"
"Sound off!" Revan instructed, firing his weapon at the Grunts, Elites, and Jackals at the lower floors. The marines shot the plasma firearms they scavenged, where as Richardson had swapped his Plasma Rifle for a weird, pink needle firearm. The needles traced a target, resulting in a beautiful pink explosion when enough were embedded in the target's flesh.
Revan went forward, shooting the rifle at the Covenant forces and effectively dropping them to the ground. They went down a ramp to the floor under them, to which they approached a squad of ten humans, one of which was dressed in an armor, colored grey and red, that made him stand over each of the other humans. "Admiral Richardson," stated the large cyborg-human. "We have come for the extraction."
"Chief," Richardson said, stepping forward. "It was fortunate you came. This team was the last squad to have been executed, just in the next day."
"Who's the new guy?" A light-skinned man came forward, quickly gesturing at Revan. "He looks very fancy in robes." It seemed that he had a Coruscanti accent.
"This is my personal attire, sir," Revan responded. He added sir to get on the humans' good side, and somehow find more about the Covenant. He wouldn't be able to escape Forbidden Chalice alone.
"Well, plasma kinda burns robes, but whatever suits you." The man shrugged before outstretching a hand. "I know this is a bad time for introduction, but my name is Sergeant Adam Maximus. My men call me Max."
"Harkus Tonthald," Revan responded. "We have extraction in what location?"
"The hangar bays. We have Pelicans to transport us, whereas our soldiers are currently fending off the Covenant while we extract. Move out!" Max nodded his head at the grav-lift, to which the cyborg-human and the marines filed toward the elevator. "We'll talk more once we get back to Home Base. Right now, just follow my lead, shoot some bastards, and get the hell off this... rock, I guess." Max himself walked into the grav-lift, rising quickly as he moved into the anti-gravity.
Revan cautiously walked in which he was quickly projected upward, causing his heart to leap. The internal structure was peculiar, plasmic lights going through lines in a linear pattern, almost like pulses tracing the curcuits of a motherboard.
Above, a hatch opened, bringing Revan to another floor of the city. The humans were already returning fire at the Covenant as they ran across a bridge to another door. Revan ran forward to catch up with the humans, running through the plasma rain and subsequently dodging them all. The door shut behind him, but he didn't stop running. He pressed onward, through the hall and another door, until a large greyish-green fighter came into view. "There's our extract," Max announced. "Our Pelican ship..."
"Sergeant Max!" A voice cried, "you're back with Delta team?"
"Affirmative. We also picked up an outsider."
"Watch out! We have movement..." There was a clanking of metal, and a figure crashed down in front of the fighter. An Elite, bearing an Energy Sword, topped with white armor. "A Councillor Elite!" the Pelican pilot called. It looked like the Elite that took Revan's lightsabers.
"Shit our bad luck!" Max cried. He emptied his sub-machine gun, the bullets melting away as it hit the Elite's Energy Sword. It growled at the humans, the only thing in between them and the Pelican loading ramp.
"I can take care of this," Revan said, throwing his Covenant rifle at an empty-handed marine. He drew his tanto, holding it in a reverse grip. The purple blade ignited, drawing out of the hilt. He dashed forward, spinning around to add momentum to the dagger strike. He felt the strength of the Elite's block upon his tanto. "Get into the Pelican!" Revan called. "I can hold him off!"
Max nodded and ushered his men into the Pelican. "Good luck, Harkus!" he called to Revan.
"Not that I might need any..." Revan muttered, aiming another stab at the Elite's arm. As the Elite blocked, Revan attempted to step on the Elite's feet, resulting in the fight to transition into one of having their feet dance around. In doing so, the Elite swung at Revan, who caught the blade with a parry to spin around and smack the Elite in the head with his free hand. The alien staggered back and shook off the pain, roaring at Revan a second time.
Revan heard the rush of air behind him, seeing the Pelican hover above the floor. Max was standing at the loading ramp, gesturing Revan forward. "You can stop dancing now!" Revan pushed the Elite back, seeing his lightsabers at the Elite's waist. He snatched them away with the Force before turning to run at the leaving Pelican. Plasma turrets deployed and fired at Revan, trying to cripple him. He had to use the Force, to deflect the plasma rounds, to prevent being hit. When he thought he was close enough, Revan jumped up and was pulled in by Max just as the hatch started to close.
The marines were sitting down in the ship chairs, weapons on their laps, discussing what had happened amongst themselves. The cyborg-human, whom the marines addressed "Chief," was standing up, weapon at his back, and holding onto a strap latched on the roof. Max took a seat in an empty chair, resting his gun on his lap. Revan stowed his lightsabers at his belt, then sighed as he grabbed a strap. "Tell me," Revan said. "What is the Covenant, basically, why are they at war with humans, and what the hell is Earth, Harvest, and Reach?"
Suddenly, the tension in the Pelican rose as all the marines' heads turned to face Revan. Max stared at him in bewilderment. "You've got to be fucking kidding, right?"
"Who's kidding?" Revan asked. He projected Force Dominate, then said, "Tell me what I want to know."
The cyborg-human raised his gun and pointed it at Revan. "Is he a spy?" he asked.
Max put up a hand, and Chief lowered his gun. "Harkus..." Max said, "Harkus. That's not your real name, ain't it?" Revan's eyes beamed. "And looks like I guessed right."
Shit.
A/N: Thank you for reading Chapter Four of The New Threat. Please leave a review and state an opinion of how I did, so I may learn what to do in the future if there are any mistakes/misconceptions.
Thank you again,
Kai