The Halo Universe belongs to Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries. But these characters are my own creation and cannot be used without my permission. If you do use them without my permission, then Repora will post humiliating photos of you all over the internet so that you will spend the rest of your days in misery. Enjoy the show.
The Sangheili 800 Squad
Chapter 12: Nice Try, But No
February, 2550 (Human Calender)
0620 Hours
Heretic Chasm
Miara's eyes slowly opened.
The very first thing she registered was that she had a headache. She couldn't quite put a finger on what had caused the headache at the moment, but she was sure it would come to her.
The next thing she noticed was that she was completely naked. This confused her. She was outside, not in bed, so why wasn't her armour on her?
Finally, she found that she was freezing and strangely warm at the same time.
Miara groaned and tried to sit up. She appeared to be in the shade of some rock or something whilst lying in the snow.
Maybe this is Utarz's idea of a joke. Miara thought fuzzily, moving to stand up.
As she did, her head touched something warm and squishy.
She froze, lowered herself, and turned around.
Behind her was a huge grey, metal mass, not a rock. And inside the mass were hundreds of sleeping, Lekgolo worms.
Miara jumped backwards, out of the Hunter's shade and into the sunlight which was slowly melting the snow. Once she had backed off, she became completely cold, which was probably due to the fact that she had no body warmth to rely on.
As she looked at the Hunter, she started to remember what had happened. It started with a vague memory of Tracer and Iro, then evolved into a memory of an ambush.
Well, shit. Miara thought bitterly.
Miara stood up and looked around her. She appeared to be in some sort of chasm with a bunch of small caves in both sides. Other than that, there was nothing special about her surroundings.
Miara walked back towards Tank. A bit away from him was Iro, clad in scarlet armour. The Grunt, Buzzsaw, was nowhere to be seen.
It occurred to Miara that in order for her to be naked right now, the Heretics would've had to take off her armour for her.
Perverts! Miara thought angrily.
First of all, Miara decided to find a weapon. With a weapon, she could figure out what to do. Even if it was just a plasma pistol.
Secondly, she needed her armour. While she couldn't change the internal temperature, the armour would generate enough heat to keep her alive. At it was, she would freeze to death if she tried to escape.
Miara walked over to Iro and looked around him. No guns or anything. Not even a stick.
She walked over to Tank and looked around.
He was sitting on two guns.
Miara looked around to see if there were any more guns about. When she couldn't find any, she slowly crept up to Tank.
She bent down to the guns. Desperately hoping that he wasn't a light sleeper, Miara reached for the closest weapon.
Suddenly, an invisible force slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. She sprawled in the snow, then sat up, looking around for her attacker.
"Sorry, lady." Buzzsaw chuckled, materialising. "But it ain't gonna be that easy."
Miara stood up, looking at Buzzsaw, whose blades had come out and started spinning.
The sound of the saws woke up Iro, who blinked for a moment before coming to his senses and standing up.
"Well." Iro said. "Someone's woken up."
Miara growled at him.
Tank woke up as well, although he did so a bit more violently. He spun around, snarling, before realising what was going on and calming down.
"So female is awake now." Tank deduced.
"Where is my armour?" Miara demanded.
Iro pointed to a large boulder. "Behind there. We'll let you get it if you like."
"How about you bring it to me?" Miara demanded.
Buzzsaw picked up his gun and pointed it at her. "You're not in a position to bargain."
"Easy, Buzzsaw." Iro said. "Miara, all you have to do is walk into that cave to get your armour. We don't have to get it for you."
"If I go in there, you'll just trap me in!" Miara snapped. "You go get it!"
"That's not happening." Iro picked up his pistol and placed it in his holster. "Get in there now, or we'll make you."
"Don't you dare touch me, perverts!" Miara growled.
"Tank." Iro turned to the grey behemoth. "Put her inside her room."
Tank held up his cannon arm, irritated. "No hand."
"…Oh." Iro turned to his next option. "Buzzsaw?"
"On it." Buzzsaw advanced with his saws getting closer to Miara.
She didn't move, glaring at him.
"Oh, come on." Buzzsaw said. "You know as well as I do that this isn't something worth dying over."
Miara knew he was right. So, muttering something vicious under her breath, she walked over to the boulder.
Tank followed her, then slowly pushed the boulder aside. He turned to her and said, "Get in."
Miara walked inside, seeing her armour at the back. She turned to the Heretics and said, "My squad will find me!"
"Good." Iro said as Tank pushed the boulder back over the entrance. "It'll slow them down."
And suddenly Miara was drenched in darkness.
February, 2550 (Human Calender)
1324 Hours
Frozen Forest
The 800 Squad walked in silence.
Usually, there would be insults, conversation and orders being given, but with Miara's disappearance, there was a sort of sobriety about.
Tracer had calmed down, but he was still upset about the whole thing. His conflicted feelings for Miara were currently battling it out with both sides being equally matched about it and it was giving him a headache. He didn't really know what kind of upset he was about her disappearance. He just knew that he wanted to rescue her.
Zen was upset to, although not as much as Tracer. What really angered him was the fact that they took Miara, a female. The males were supposed to treat the fairer sex with respect, and this was anything but respectful.
Utarz was still fuming about the fact that someone had dared to kidnap his sister. However, he was even angrier at Atar, who had completely refused to stage a rescue mission for someone who was probably the second best fighter on the team. Added to that, she was his sister!
Atar was pondering about whether he made the right choice. Sure, saving her would slow them down, but she was a teammate. If only they had a clue as to where she had gone. Then he could split the current team into two or something.
Repora was silently amused by the whole affair.
About half the day had passed before Atar gave the order to stop.
Tracer slowed down the Wraith and stepped out, rubbing his head. Utarz walked up to Atar and asked, "So, Atar, what's your brilliant plan now?"
"General, or sir." Atar snarled. "And my plan is to contact command."
"Contact command?" Zen asked. "But why?"
"And how?" Tracer added.
"I'll answer the why question first." Atar said. "Best to get the worst out of the way."
"Are we going to like the answer?" Repora asked.
"Most of you won't." Atar said. "I don't know about you though."
"Yay!" Repora jumped into the air like a video game character.
"Well, I want to ask for reinforcements." Atar explained. "We're low on soldiers at the moment."
"We still outnumber the Heretics." Zen pointed out.
"Yeah, but Utarz can't fight." Atar said. "I want at least a two-soldier advantage."
"So, let me get this straight." Utarz said. "What I'm getting from this is that you want to replace Miara."
"Basically." Atar confirmed.
"I fucking hate you." Utarz muttered.
"Sir, I really don't like the moral implications of your plan." Tracer said. "I mean, if Miara knew, she'd probably kill us."
"No she won't." Repora said cheerfully. "Because if she knew, she would know that we're being forced to take orders and the only one she'd be mad at would be Atar."
"I still don't like the idea." Tracer said.
"Neither do I." Atar said. "But we must keep an advantage over the Heretics! Otherwise, we'll never be able to defeat them!"
"Okay then." Utarz folded his arms. "So how exactly are you going to talk to command? We don't have a radio."
Atar turned to Tracer. "Tracer, did the Phantom have a long-range radio?"
"No, sir." Tracer replied. "Only the base."
Atar then turned to Utarz. "In that case, I'm going to have to relieve you of your Ghost temporarily."
"Are you kidding me?" Utarz asked incredulously. "You're actually willing to take a three-day trip back to the SSMB just to call for one guy?"
"It won't take three days." Atar corrected. "Your Ghost will provide me with the speed necessary to make it there in a significantly shorter amount of time."
"How shorter?" Zen asked.
"Well, considering that the Ghost is much faster than us on foot," Tracer thought out loud. "And it took us approximately three days to get here, so… he should make it in about one and a half days."
"Excellent." Atar said. "That's half the time! And when I get back, we'll be able to defeat the Heretics at their own game!"
"What's their game?" Repora asked.
"…I dunno."
"So, we'll just stay here while you get reinforcements?" Zen asked.
"Negative." Atar replied. "You lot will have to advance without me."
"How come?"
"Because we can't afford to lose any ground!" Atar declared. "We must get there before the Heretics no matter what!" Atar walked over to the Ghost and climbed on it. "By the time I get back, I expect us to be on the edge of the crash site. Understand?"
"Yes sir." Tracer said.
"Yes sir." Zen acknowledged.
"Okie dokie!" Repora chirped.
"Fine." Utarz grumbled.
"Good!" Atar powered up the Ghost and sped off. "Make sure that no-one dies!"
The 800 Squad stood there for a bit, watching Atar disappear through the path of destroyed trees.
"Well, no sense just waiting around." Repora said enthusiastically. "Let's get moving!"
Tracer climbed into the Wraith, muttering, "I really don't understand how he can remain so cheerful."
Utarz grumbled and followed as the Wraith started to pave through another few hundred trees.
"So, why does Tank have to stay again?" Buzzsaw asked.
"Someone needs to look after the female while we go get the artefact." Iro explained. "That way, we can keep her alive as a bargaining chip."
"Makes sense, I suppose." Buzzsaw said. "And Tank is the most imposing out of all of us."
"Tank will make sure female does not escape." Tank nodded. "What must Tank do?"
"Generally? Keep her alive." Iro said. "Give her food when she's hungry, water when she's thirsty and take her to that narrow cave over there when she needs to go to the toilet."
"Sounds like taking care of a pet." Buzzsaw remarked.
"Toilet?" Tank asked uncomfortably.
"Just turn your back to her when she's doing it." Iro said.
"Right."
"So, any updates on Gears?" Buzzsaw asked.
"No." Iro replied. "He'll show up when he's ready."
"So it'll just be the two of us." Buzzsaw said.
"It'll just be the five of them."
"I guess. Shall we go?"
"Yes." Iro turned to Tank as he and Buzzsaw walked off. "Make sure to repel any intruders that come by."
Tank nodded. Iro and Buzzsaw then left the ravine
After about fifteen minutes, Buzzsaw asked, "So… when the 800 guys show up, do you think Tank would be able to beat all five of them?"
"I don't doubt it." Iro replied. "Tank can easily hold them up."
"I guess. But they won't underestimate him this time."
"True. But I don't believe that Tank will fall to them."
They walked forward, following the marker Iro had placed on their HUDs before they left on the trip.
As they walked, Iro was convinced that the path to the artefact was now a relatively straightforward one. The 800 Squad would surely rescue their teammate if they truly valued her as a fellow soldier. Soon, they would be able to spread the truth about the Covenant once again.
Buzzsaw, however, was more alert. As such, he was the first to hear the voices.
"Do you think they might split into groups?" Buzzsaw asked.
"No. They know that they won't stand a chance unless they have a full team." Iro replied.
"You absolutely sure?"
"Of course."
"You don't think that they would split into groups of two and three?"
"No, I don't." Iro said irritably. "Why?"
"Because that sounds like about three people over there." Buzzsaw pointed into the forest.
Iro blinked and listened hard. Now that Buzzsaw had mentioned it, he heard the voices too. They seemed to be aggressive voices. On top of that, they were familiar voices.
Iro put a finger to his mouth to indicate silence, to which Buzzsaw nodded. They crept towards the source of the noise, with Iro quickly climbing up a tree and into the top while Buzzsaw went invisible.
Iro stared at the source.
There were four of them.
"We could just go find her right now!" Utarz yelled at Zen. "No one is stopping us!"
"We have our orders, Utarz!" Zen shouted back. "We're not disobeying them!"
"Why not, huh?! She's one of us! Our teammate, my sister! We can't just leave her!"
"Look, we don't even know where she is, alright? We can't rescue her! What must I do to get you to understand that?"
Hold on… they're not rescuing her?! Iro thought to himself.
"I reckon we should scan the crime scene, you know?" Repora added to the conversation. "Find clues as to where she's gone."
"We've tried that already." Zen said to Repora. "All we can do is follow Atar's last order."
"What, do you seriously think that Atar knows what's best?" Utarz asked angrily.
"Yes." Zen said firmly.
Utarz exhaled heavily. Then, he said in a slightly calmer voice, "Zen. Atar is an idiot. Just like me."
Zen glared at him. "How so?"
"How so?" Utarz brought up fingers to count with. "He insisted that we build a watchtower when no-one ever attacks us, he has brain damage from falling off of a cliff, he actually believes that this 'artefact' is something so important that we can't stop to rescue our friend and he knows that the four of us can't stand up against the three of them."
"We have Repora." Zen pointed out.
"Oh, now you're placing your bets on a lunatic?"
"I'm a maniac, not a lunatic." Repora corrected.
"What's the difference?!" Utarz demanded.
"This is a lunatic." Repora said. Suddenly, he started shouting gibberish that sounded a bit like, "Abugraba! Jeporsk aslkd fmasofsk! Feirlaskdmfliasldkfjaksdlicmelisldkfm!"
The other three stared at him blankly as he started jumping up and down, crouching, then springing up, humping the ground and a tree, doing a backflip and then did a little spasm, all the while sprouting nonsensical noises.
Then he stopped and looked at the others. "See?"
"…Right, whatever!" Utarz resumed the argument. "My point is that we shouldn't follow Atar's every order to the letter!"
"It hasn't worked out too bad so far." Zen said.
"We're down a teammate, and you call that not bad?!"
"Well, it could be worse!" Zen argued. "I mean, if you were in charge, we would've died already!"
"That's not the point!" Utarz shouted. "The point is that-"
BLAM
A green round zipped in between the space between Utarz's and Zen's faces.
Then they turned around to look at the source of the bullet.
"Sorry, but that was the only way to shut you two up." Tracer said.
"What's your input?" Utarz asked. "Surely, you don't agree with him, do you?"
"Well, he can't exactly agree with you, can he?" Zen said aggressively.
"I agree with both of you." Tracer replied.
"…Huh?" Zen and Utarz chorused.
"We're not going to abandon our own." Tracer said. "That much I know. But at the same time, we can't just ignore Atar's command."
"So, what do you propose?" Zen asked.
"I'm saying that we split into groups of three and one." Tracer explained. "One of us will go find Miara while the other three continue."
"But then we'll be even more vulnerable."
"Yeah, but think about it. Miara's probably unarmed. She wouldn't need much, if any, security. The Heretics probably would've left one of their own behind while the other two went to find the artefact."
"So it'll be one against one and three against two." Utarz said.
"Pretty much." Tracer confirmed.
"I don't know about this…" Zen said. "We'll only outnumber them by one… and the person going up against just the one…"
"If we split into groups of two, we'll have a better chance of rescuing Miara, but we won't get to the artefact." Tracer said. "It'll be the same if just one guy went to get to the artefact. Trust me, this is the best solution."
"Alright…" Zen reluctantly agreed. "So, who's going to find Miara?"
Predictably, Utarz immediately said, "Me!"
"Why would we send you?" Tracer asked. "You're a terrible soldier."
"Yeah, but Miara's my sister, alright? So I'm rescuing her."
Zen looked at Utarz quizzically. He seemed to never really care about anyone, yet he seemed to be extremely defensive of his sister…
Tracer clearly didn't want to send Utarz. "I don't know… Zen would be a much better choice."
"You'll need me if you want to go up against two Heretics." Zen pointed out. "We'll need Repora too, as he's the only one with the explosives."
"C12 demolition explosives, to be precise." Repora added.
"So what? I should go?" Tracer said in disbelief.
"Well, you are a doctor." Zen said. "You'll be able to heal her if she's hurt."
"I'm a medic!" Tracer snapped. "Not a doctor!"
"Fine, medic, whatever."
Utarz cleared his throat, prompting everyone to look at him.
"Okay, listen." Utarz said. "I don't actually care what you guys say, I'm still gonna be the one to go, alright? I don't give a shit about what you agree on."
Tracer sighed. "Alright, fine, you go. But avoid direct confrontation no matter what, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Utarz then turned to a random direction.
"Where are you going?" Repora asked.
"I dunno, I just think that I should search everywhere. She can't be far."
"And maintain radio silence unless completely necessary!" Tracer added as Utarz walked off.
"Fine, whatever!" Utarz called back.
When Utarz had left, Zen turned to the other two. "Well… shall we continue on?"
"Yup." Tracer jumped into the Wraith. "That took a weight off my chest."
"You know Utarz is going to fail, right?" Repora said.
"Don't say that!" Tracer said before closing the hatch.
The Wraith started to move forward, pushing down trees in its path. Zen and Repora followed close behind, not looking back.
Once they couldn't hear the Wraith anymore, Iro jumped down from the tree and Buzzsaw materialised in the middle of the path.
"This wasn't meant to happen." Iro muttered.
"No duh." Buzzsaw glared at him. "Any more bright ideas?"
"Just getting to the artefact before they do." Iro replied. "Tank'll be able to hold his own against Utarz in the off chance that he does get found."
"What about their commander?" Buzzsaw pointed out. "We don't know where he's gotten to."
"We can't worry about that." Iro replied. "We just have to get to the artefact first."
"Should we at least warn Tank?" Buzzsaw asked.
At this, Iro chuckled. "Tank's expecting a squad. All he'll get is a scout."
Thanks for watching.
Potato.