Sorry for having taken so long to write up a new chapter, but I've been moving, and I didn't get any time for writing during the move.
As someone said in the reviews, chatty Master Chief is bad, which I completely agree with. Unfortunately, I had to have him talk a bit in this, but no more than he had to to get answers. Plus, when I use John's point of view, I'm mostly using the personality portrayed in the Halo novels, to avoid a crappy John personality.
"I have nothing to say to you. Kill me or leave me..." John remembered saying. He knew the drill, and "spilling the beans", so to speak, was not an option. If they decided to kill him, well... that was that. It would be in other hands to save Earth. Instead, the Brute rammed his rifle into John's abdomen, and his breath left him in a rush.
"We do not play with you, Demon. Give us the information we want now, or you will regret it!" the same Brute spat angrily. Under the visor, John merely smiled weakly, knowing that the patience of his new friends was wearing thin. The Brute turned away, growling with rage, then stopped suddenly. He was staring off the way the Brute's had dragged their captive, with a look of disbelief plastered on his face. John looked up, too, and saw a figure standing there, clad in some strange armor in purple, yellow, and red colors. The armored figure noticed this, and sped forward, levelling a strange weapon at the Brute who had been interrogating John. A pair of what appeared to be missles launched from the weapon and killed the Brute instantly. John was pleasantly surprised at the weapon's firepower, and at the same time slightly wary. It wasn't a human weapon, which meant it could only be Covenant technology. The person was firing on the Covenant, though, so maybe it wasn't? Either way, things were working out well for John, for the time being. The soldier fired an impressive spray of ice, which froze a majority of the Brutes on the spot, so that a single missle shattered them all like glass. The figure seemed to notice John then, and ran toward him, levelling her cannon now at him. Great, out of the oven and into the fire, or however that saying goes, John thought, as he closed his eyes in preparation for death. Instead, streams of electrical energy streamed from the weapon and the chains binding John weakened. Siezing the opportunity, and marking the armored soldier as a temporary ally, John threw the chains open. Not even hesitating to gain his bearings, John stooped down and grabbed one of the Brute Shots, then began firing on the rest of the Brutes alongside his new ally. In only a minute more, the rest of the Brutes lay dead on the ground. The other soldier, panting visibly, sat gently on the ground. Well, it wasn't a threat. That was a comforting though for John.
"You alright?" a distinctly female voice issued from within the other's helmet.
"Fine," John replied simply, taking a seat as well. He was tired, and a bit sore, but still on full alert.
"You're the Master Chief?" the woman asked, startling John. How did she know who he was? Was she a new breed of Spartan, sent to aid him? Surely not, or would John not have recieved the same new weapon? Maybe it was only compatible with this new suit, which could only be used by this new Spartan type, who knew? Not in the mood for introductions, and not caring who this person was at the moment, John just nodded. The woman, satisfied, lay back and apparently fell asleep. Stupid, careless, falling asleep here of all places, John thought, scowling. Maybe she figured John would keep watch, trusted that he was an ally and that he would risk his life to protect her as she had done for him. That was even more stupid. Maybe this new Spartan, or whatever she was, was significantly less intelligent than the Spartan-II soldiers. Oh well, this new person wasn't a friend, wasn't even an aquantaince, and John wouldn't waste his time helping patch up her faults. Either the woman would keep up or she wouldn't.
After about half and hour, John was satisfied that the woman was asleep, and leaned foward to remove her helmet. Time to find out who this was. As he pulled off the helmet, long blonde hair fell out, and the woman's sleeping face came into view. John might've called her beautiful, if he knew such a thing. She certainly looked well for what John supposed was a hardened soldier, judging by her impressive performance. Replacing the helmet, and judging that she was more than likely not a Spartan, John focused his attention to the more interesting thing in the woman's possession. The pure destruction encased in gleaming metal, which John wondered if it was attached to the arm or not.
Not, John thought, as the cannon slid easily off of the woman's arm. Raising it to eye level, John examined the sleek exterior of the weapon. It was completely smooth, and nothing like a clip for reloading or anything protruded from it. Evidently, everything the woman needed was inside the cannon. John peered into the interior and saw a series of switches and buttons, probably for changing between the different weapon modes. Where, though, was everything that powered it? The ammunition, the batteries, anything that might've provided the cannon's destructive power. More importantly, where was the arsenal of missles stored? This definitely wasn't human technology, and it made John suspicious. He stood up and bent down near the woman's head, and began to knock on the visor. Sleep time was over, time for some answers.
Relax, Samus, relax, Samus told herself, laying there on the ground. Her suit's sensitive sensors had woken her up only moments after drifting off to sleep. What she needed to do was relax her mind so that her neural interface would shut down. Taking deep breaths, Samus felt some of the tension of the previous battle ebbing away. The sensations that the suit was simulating went away, and again Samus sunk into sleep.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
Samus lay on the ground, slightly annoyed by the noise. Who was tapping on her visor, and why? Leave me alone, she said silently, as the rythmic tapping persisted. It was peaceful to be laying on the soft grass. The tapping didn't stop. Conceding that she'd have to get up to stop the person, Samus opened her eyes and sat up, bringing her arm cannon up as she did so. Except that it wasn't on her arm. Looking up, she saw Master Chief standing over her, holding the cannon in his hands.
"Where did you get this?" he asked, in what Samus recognized as a threatening tone.
"I...why?" Samus replied evasively.
"This looks like alien technology. Where did you get this?" Master Chief's tone became angry, and it took Samus a moment to figure out why. The man must have thought that Samus was one of those aliens, the Covenant. Why would he think that, though? Hadn't Samus just killed Master Chief's captors?
"It's alien technology, yes, Chozo made. It's not something from those others," Samus gestured toward the dead aliens lying on the ground. The Master Chief looked at the cannon, then back at Samus, and shook his head. He obviously wasn't convinced.
"Who are you?" he asked, the rage gone but the voice still threatening. Samus moved to get up, but thought better of it and stayed put.
"Samus Aran, bounty hunter. I was sent here by-"
"Bounty hunter?" Master Chief asked, sounding as if this were no better than being a Covenant leader.
"Yes, I-"
"Who sent you?" Master Chief interrupted again.
"Admiral Correlon, he's part of the Galactic Federation, and-"
"Federation?" another interruption from the Chief. Samus sighed, feeling this wasn't going too well.
"I don't have the time to explain right now. Just accept that I'm your ally, and I'm here to help. Answers will come eventually," Samus said, driving through any interruption the other may have. Master Chief stood still for a moment, then tossed the arm cannon to Samus, who caught it and slipped it back on.
"Time to sleep, not to explain?" Master Chief said questionably. He left it at that, though, as he began to walk away. Samus leapt up from the ground and went to follow him.
Thanks to Lunatic Pandora for pointing out the problem with Samus not realizing that Master Chief was removing her armor. I did my best at a quick fix for the problem. As for the fact that her arm cannon was easy to pull off, I've always been under the impression that her fingers curl around the end, since it kinda looks that way with the X-ray visor in Metroid Prime.