Finally a chapter where Alias doesn't destroy her own teammate...
Alias took cover behind the large rock on the cliff that Vigilance had dropped her off on.
Her and the self proclaimed Halo veteran were on a hunt for their friends, Raddigan and Tungsten. But this was no ordinary hunt as in normality, the prey doesn't shoot you back. Today was not about running and hiding in a hole somewhere; it was about speed and resource management. Today was a test of skill, patience and survival.
So here she sat, perched on her cliff, alone and admittedly terrified. As soon as she'd left the Falcon she'd made quick work of Raddigan, exterminating him with her U.N.S.C state issued sniper rifle. She'd gained a small amount of confidence from the kill, but it was quickly shattered as Tungsten lasered Vigilance and his Falcon right out of the sky, barely a heartbeat later. Tungsten's work was quick, clean and precise; a testimony of his skill.
That was enough to send a wave of fear through Alias' armor. She was alone on a cliff with only a rock to take cover behind and the only way down was to jump onto Minefield Beach, as she called it. But being alone up here while Tungsten was moving about freely trying to find her before she found him wasn't the most frightening part. No…the true fear came from knowing that Vigilance had been carrying a sniper rifle…and knowing that Tungsten would have looted that particular object.
If there was anything she'd learned about Tungsten from the praise Raddigan and Vigilance dished out in his absence, it was that he was a damn good sniper; patient and efficient.
Alias zoomed in to view Paridiso Island through her scope. She spent what seemed like hours scanning the island from one side to the other and back again…and again…and again. She'd even strained her eyes to catch a glimpse of a shimmer that would suggest he was using camouflage. But no, she saw nothing. Not so much as a leaf, blown off its branch by the wind.
Her patience was running thin and she was tired of being afraid. Even though she hadn't been here for more than ten minutes, the terror ripping through her seemed to make time stop completely. Deciding that she would need to draw Tungsten's attention and force him out of where ever he was hiding – or lurking, as it seemed more his style – Alias set her rifle on the ground beside her and heaved the large rocket launcher up onto her shoulder. She steadied it as much as she could with her trembling hands then aimed at a random point on the island and fired. When nothing happened for several minutes, she fired again on the other side of the large rock mountain.
Still nothing.
Alias began to lower the rocket launcher, and as she did so, a gleam caught her eye from the corner of her visor. Turning her head to the right, she stared off into the distance at the grey armory where her journey had begun. All the vehicles still appeared to be there, so it was clear that her opponent was maintaining a low profile on purpose.
Sighing, and having no better ideas, she heaved the rocket launcher up once more and fired at her own base. She regretted this instantly as only seconds passed after the distant explosion before something hot, small and hard pierced her left shoulder. She grunted, dropping the rocket launcher and reached for her rifle while trying to spot where the shot had come from. She'd only just grasped the gun in her gloved hand when a loud tink signaled metallic contact with her helmet and the world around her went black.
So Tungsten finally gets his revenge, Alias is "brought to justice" for her crimes (heh heh get it?) and maybe he can now forgive her and team Aligan can push forth and start being awesome...maybe...