Moving swiftly and carefully through space towards the Flagship, Master Chief and Blue Team used their jump-jets to glide through the darkness. They would use the jets to propel themselves, turning them off and on to avoid detection. In the corner of his eye, Master Chief spotted a single lone asteroid drifting nearby. An idea formed in his head and signaled his team to follow him. They nodded and turned to the floating space rock.
Once Chief had grabbed onto it as well as the others, together they used their jump-jets to propel the asteroid towards the Seeker of Truth. The plan was to use the asteroid to avoid detection. To the Covenant, they were just a plain stray asteroid drifting through the endless starry cosmos.
As the asteroid got closer to the hull of the large flagship, Blue Team jumped off the space rock and floated down. Carefully, they activated their anti-gravity boots and landed without making a sound. Fred glanced around until he saw a maintenance access hatch they could use. He nudged Master Chief and pointed to the hatch with two of his fingers. The Chief looked and nodded before they all quietly walked over. Fred quietly opened the hatch after pressing some buttons on the panel next to it and they all went inside.
As Master Chief landed on the floor, he quickly drew his assault rifle and glanced around. No hostiles nearby…besides a couple of sleeping grunts which Kelly and Linda promptly dealt with. He carefully stood up and glanced around the hull. It reminded him of the first time he and his team had entered a Covenant ship for the first time near the very beginning of the Human-Covenant War. When they learned that they could be defeated…all thanks to his dear old friend…Sam. Has it been so long since that day?
Clearing his mind of the past, he ejected Cortana from his helmet and inserted her into a nearby control panel.
"Okay…now let's see where they are keeping Kaiya…" Cortana said as she opened the data center. Suddenly lights began to flash red and an alarm was set off. "Damn it! Well they now know we are here…get ready guys!" She said before Master Chief yanked her out so she wouldn't be harmed or captured.
"Cortana, did you manage to get full access to their system?" Chief asked as he inserted her back into his helmet.
"Yes, I did. Kaiya is being held two floors below us. But now that they know we are here they will most likely move her or have many guards stationed near the brig." Cortana replied.
"Alright. Blue Team. On me." He said as he turned around to see Jackals, Grunts, and Elites come running down the hall.
Five minutes before the alarms are set off…
For the last few hours, Kaiya was hard at work on making the cup less wobbly. When no one was looking she practiced and practiced making it less wobbly with each time she tried. It was a start. A good start so far. Just as she was able to make the cup almost stable the lights flashed red and the alarm went off.
Kaiya, startled, knocked over her cup and quickly tied her ribbon into the side of her hair. She quickly looked over to the guards. "W-What's going on?" She asked them only to receive silence and they began to take a defensive stance in front of her cell and their eyes focused on the door. Kaiya took note of their posture and listened closely to hear plasmablasts and gunfire.
Her eyes widened when the realization hit her like a train. A rescue team had come. Her friends kept their promise. She was going to go home soon!
Meanwhile, on the Bridge, Thel 'Vadamee had been watching the Demons through a monitor and hissed a bit to himself. So the humans sent the Demons to rescue the girl and perhaps take the Artifact. His fists clenched a bit. He would not allow them to take either of them, but perhaps not keep both on the ship.
He rubbed his lower mandibles as he pondered and thought of a plan.
"They must have come mainly for the girl…" He muttered to himself then looked over to four Zealots.
"You four. Take the prisoner down to the planet and keep her there. When they find out she is not aboard the ship the Demons will pursue her. Now go." He ordered. The Zealots nodded and saluted him before they quickly left the Bridge. Thel turned to the rest of the crew.
"The rest of you will not relay any information on the location of the Artifact if they have hacked into our communication. We must protect it at all costs." He ordered, his voice booming with such command.
"Yes, Super Commander! As you command!" They all said in unison and saluted him before they turned their attention back to their stations. Thel made a small clicking sound and continued to direct his troopers on the Demons.
Kaiya was anxiously pacing through her cell and looked over to the door, hoping to see her would-be rescuers charging in. She gently bit her lip and pressed her ear against one of the nearby walls, listening for any signs of movement nearby. The firefight sounded a bit far away still. It was almost impossible to tell just how many were fighting. Deep down she wanted to let out a scream to let them know where she was, but at the same time didn't know if they would even hear her over the fighting.
Frustrated, Kaiya sat back down on her berth and quietly hummed to herself to calm her nerves down. She closed her eyes and tried to think of home, her parents, her horse, and her friends. Anything to keep her mind busy while she waited to be rescued.
Suddenly she heard the swishing sound of the door opening and quickly looked over. Feeling a bit of despair wash over her, Kaiya saw four Zealots walk over quickly to her cell and felt her heart tighten when the guards moved out of the way and lowered the force field for them. Two of them swiftly walked over to her as she slowly stood up and backed away only to be roughly grabbed by the back of her neck and shoulder and forced onto her knees.
Her arms were harshly forced behind her back before the cuffs were activated. She was then forced back onto her feet and out of her cell. She struggled a bit at how rough she was being handled before the Zealot that held her neck gave her a tight, warning squeeze to stop.
Kaiya reluctantly complied and grunted a bit as she was forced to walk quickly.
"Come…a Phantom is waiting for us…" One Zealot said to the others as he led the way to the docking bay quickly. It was hard to keep up with the long and fast strides of the Elites. Being small and having short legs was a challenge with these larger reptilian warriors. Once they were at the docking bay, Kaiya could hear the fighting a bit closer now.
Hope made her heart race in her chest. The hope kept bubbling and rising until Kaiya decided to make a decision. She took a deep breath and yelled at the top of her lungs.
"I'M DOWN BY THE DOCKING BAY! HELP ME PLEASE!"
A hand clamped over her mouth quickly and a ritual-looking knife was brought out. The Zealot gently pressed the edge of the knife against her cheek, cutting it. She winced from the sudden small pain and looked up at the Zealot.
"Keep quiet human…or I will remove your tongue and make you watch while I feed it to a Grunt." He warned her in a dark tone. Kaiya only glared in response to the Zealot before she was roughly forced onto the Phantom with the Zealots and other troopers.
She was forced to stand in the middle of the Phantom before she could feel the engine start up and take off to the nearby Covenant-controlled planet.
"Die, Demon-!" A grunt was shot straight in between the eyes and fell over, dead. Blue Team casually ran over the body of the fallen grunt as they maneuvered through the corridors, dodging the plasmablasts.
"The brig where Kaiya is being held is going to be on our right," Cortana said over the speakers. Chief saw three blinking lights of acknowledgment from the Blue Team. They continued to fight their way through until they entered the brig…only to find it empty.
The Master Chief gave a hand sign to wait before he carefully walked over to the cell. In truth, he was half expecting to see Kiaya dead or injured on the floor of the cell, but much to his relief he only spotted the spilled cup of water on the ground. He signaled the others over while Linda stayed by the door.
"Damn it…they must have moved her the moment the alarms went off," Fred said as he kneeled down and picked up the empty cup then dropped it as Kelly knelt and turned on her scanner.
"Scanning…" She muttered. After a moment, Kelly saw outlines of footprints. Fresh ones. One pair was small human feet and several large Elite tracks. "Got something here!" She said and quickly followed the footprints out the Brig and down the hallway with Chief and the others. Master Chief cursed under his breath at how fast Kelly was and wished he could be fast like her.
Blue Team ran behind Kelly as she led them to the docking bay and took cover when the troops began to fire at them.
"They must have moved the prisoner to a different ship or possibly one of the nearby planets," Linda said as she sniped a Jackal in the head. Cortana, who was always one step ahead, was looking over the data she had copied and scanned the files. She noticed one of the Phantoms was gone and was en route to the planet below.
"Listen up! One of the Phantoms is en route to the planet below. That must be the one that is holding Kaiya." Cortana said.
"What about the Artifact?" Kelly asked. Master Chief looked down to the planet below them and shook his head.
"Our priority is to rescue the prisoner…too many lives have been lost in this war." He said to his team and gripped his fist a bit. It was true. So many lives were lost. Both marines and civilians had been lost to the bloody war. He wasn't going to let another life be lost if he could help it. "Let's go! We're not wasting any more time here!" he ordered and fired at an Elite before they charged out of their hiding spot and took control of another Phantom.
Down on the planet's surface, the Phantom landed in front of a Covenant encampment. The door opened and Kaiya, who had been gagged, was forced to walk down the ramp and into the encampment where she spotted many Grunts, Jackals, and of course Elites. No Brutes. Thank God. Out of all the races that were in the Covenant, Brutes were the ones that Kaiya hoped to never meet face to face.
She winced at the sudden sunlight in her eyes. The warmth felt good on her skin compared to the chilliness of the ship, but her new eyes were still adjusting to bright light, especially sunlight which made it a bit difficult to see as her bare feet touched the grass and walked into the building.
After her eyes adjusted to the new room she was brought into, Kaiya spotted a strange circle in the middle of the room. She looked at it confused like before she was forced into the center of it. The Zealots backed away from her.
"Restraints on." One of the Zealots said. A ring quickly raised around Kaiya along with a field of blue. Before Kaiya could react, she felt her body lift off the ground and hover in status unable to move a muscle. She grunted through her gag. Her eyes darted around in shock and felt so helpless.
"That should keep her in place…can't have her running off…" Another one chuckled as he smirked before a hologram of Thel 'Vadamee appeared on the console.
"Is the prisoner secured?" Thel asked as the Zealots bowed their heads.
"Yes, Supreme Commander." One replied and showed him where Kaiya was. She tried to move, but could not. Thel nodded.
"Good. The Demons are on their way to the planet as we speak."
"If I may speak. We have a plan to deal with them, Supreme Commander. We plan to use the prisoner to lure them into this very room, ambush them, and kill them all." One Zealot spoke up and looked at his Commander, who was thinking their plan through.
"Fine. Proceed with your plan, but do not let them get away without a fight." Thel commanded before his hologram disappeared. The Zealots all chuckled, excited to face their foes. The Demons. If they could kill them all, they would be significantly awarded for their success. One Zealot walked over and smirked at Kaiya.
"Now…be a good little prisoner…and watch as your would-be saviors fall in battle." He said with a chuckle before he faded from sight along with the rest of the Zealots as they took positions inside and outside. Kaiya swallowed dryly and glanced over to the door. Was he right? Would her saviors fail to rescue her? With each passing second, Kaiya could feel the dread creep into her very heart.
The Phantom that was hijacked carefully landed in the nearby woods. Once the ramp was down, Blue Team carefully walked out and scanned the area. No hostiles nearby. Good.
"Kelly. Scout out the area and notify us when you spot where the Covvies have landed." Chief said. With an acknowledgment blink, Kelly took off into the trees. Fred walked over and stood next to his friend.
"They're going to be expecting us…" He said.
"I know…I will rather be safe than sorry with this mission." Chief replied. Fred nodded. He understood how the Chief worked. When it came to helping others, Chief tried to go beyond to save everyone and get them home as he did in boot camp when they were younger.
"Let's move into the trees…I don't like being out in the open for too long." Linda suggested as she walked down the ramps. Agreeing with her, the rest of Blue Team took cover in the trees while they waited for Kelly to report back.
It didn't take Kelly too long to locate the Covenant base. She kept to the shadows of the trees and used her helmet to zoom in on the building and count how many troops were stationed there. A few snipers along the top of the building. Sleeping grunts here and there. Elites patrolling or scolding a sleeping grunt or directing. Her eyes soon caught a glimpse of a closed door guarded by two Elites. That has to be where they are holding Kaiya.
"Chief…I located the base. It's about 6.5 klicks due west of where you are positioned. There are about…five snipers stationed along the edge of the building…sleeping grunts…and a couple of Elites patrolling around. And…a door guarded by a couple of Elites. I think that's where our target is being held." Kelly whispered over the commlink.
"Read you loud and clear, Kelly. We're on our way, over." Cortana said over the comlink before Chief held up his assault rifle and signaled the others that they were moving. Blue Team quietly hiked through the woods, keeping low and as quiet as they can be until they met up with Kelly.
She quietly pointed out the snipers she spotted and then the rest of the troopers. Master Chief gave a quiet nod and signaled Linda to take out the snipers. Linda nodded and took a position upon a hidden boulder and fired.
Bang…Bang…Bang…Bang…Bang!
Kaiya's eyes slowly opened to the sound of gunfire then plasmablasts. She looked over to the door and felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she listened to the yelling, and screaming coming from outside. She could hear Elites roaring out orders to the Grunts who either returned fire or probably cried for their mothers as they fled.
The sound of gunfire and the rapid-fire from an assault rifle came closer and closer to the door before a tussle was heard and several bodies making soft thudding sounds outside the door. A second later the doors swished open and Kaiya felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw four large armored SPARTANS quickly walk in, the door closing behind them.
Her rescuers were SPARTANS! She couldn't believe it. It felt like seeing Gods or mythical creatures coming to life. She had so many pictures, and video recordings, but seeing them in real life was a completely different experience.
Kaiya snapped out of her wonder and struggled a bit in her containment field and her bonds while trying to speak through her gag to warn them, but only muffled sounds came out.
"Don't worry Kaiya. We're gonna get you out of here and get you home." Master Chief said. Kaiya quickly looked at him and her eyes widened when she recognized his number and armor. Her eyes did slightly surprise him, but he had to focus on the task at hand.
"Chief, the control for her prison is right over there," Cortana said. Before Chief could move over to it, Fred was ahead of him and typed away on the panel, letting the containment field deactivated. Once it was off, Kaiya dropped to the ground, but Chief quickly caught her in his arms and set her down, removing her cuffs then moved to her gag, but she quickly ripped it off.
"IT'S A TRAP!" She said this caused Master Chief to quickly move Kaiya behind him and the others as the Zealots appeared and surrounded them. Fred, Kelly, Linda, and Chief quickly circled Kaiya and drew their weapons. Seeing this was going to be bad, Kaiya quickly ducked down before the battle ensued.
Seeing how cramped the room was, it was impossible to maneuver out of the way of the Zealot's energy sword and keep Kaiya safe. Chief grabbed a sticky grenade he had picked up from a dead grunt and chucked it at the wall behind him. The wall exploded and left a large hole in its wake.
"Kaiya! Run! Head to the forest! We'll cover you!" Chief said as Kaiya looked at him then to the large hole in the wall and nodded before she ran out. As she climbed out of the hole, she saw many bodies of the Covenant scattered across the now purple and blue stained grass. She slightly grimaced at the sight before and shook her head before she ran for the treelines, jumping over dead bodies as she went.
Before she could even reach the shadow of the trees, she felt a hand grab her wrist and yanked her back. She let out a startled yelp as her back slammed into a chest and was lifted up a bit off the ground.
"Now…where do you think you are going, Kaiya…?" boomed a familiar voice. Kaiya quickly turned to face her captor and glared up at Thel 'Vadamee.
"Away from you! Let go of me, scaly bastard!" She yelled as she pounded her free fist on his golden armored chest. Kaiya kicked and struggled against the much stronger Elite who just watched her with slight amusement. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"
He grabbed her other wrist with ease and held both of her wrists with one hand. "That's enough, Kaiya-"
"Put her down, ugly bastard." Master Chief's voice called out from behind. Thel 'Vadamee slowly set Kaiya down and glanced over his shoulder to see the Demon himself. The rest of the Blue Team had managed to escape the building as Zealots quickly pursued them.
Thel 'Vadamee stared at the Master Chief and smirked. "Demon…" He muttered before he shoved Kaiya into his guards where they quickly restrained her and brought their energy blades up near her neck. She gulped a bit and looked at Master Chief and Blue Team, with worry in her eyes.
Thel 'Vadamee pulled out his energy blade and tossed another one to Chief before removing his cloak. Chief caught the energy blade and looked at it then at Thel 'Vadamee and understood what the Supreme Commander wanted. A sword duel. He activated the blade and nodded silently to Thel who smirked and slowly began to circle with Chief doing the same thing as well but in a different direction.
"Chief…if we need to escape before more troops arrive. Even if you could win this…we will still be overwhelmed and killed and Kaiya will be taken away again…" Cortana said in a low voice only for Master Chief and Blue Team to hear. He acknowledged her with a blinking light in his helmet and glanced over to Linda and gave a slight nod who in turn did the same.
Thel 'Vadamee suddenly charged at Chief and swung his blade at him where Chief quickly blocked his attack. Their clashing blades caused small lighting sparks to flash around them.
The Chief could feel the strength of the Supreme Commander with each blow. The years of experience behind the blade. Thel swatted him to the ground and tried to thrust his sword into the Chief, but he managed to roll out of the way and tried to do the same. Thel blocked his attack with ease and dodged before his own blade knocked the Chief's blade out of his hand and kicked him to the ground.
"Chief!" Cortana said worriedly. Kaiya's eyes widened in shock at what she just witnessed from Thel's impressive swordsmanship to when Master Chief's sword was knocked out of his hands and the SPARTAN on his knees.
"No.." she whispered and struggled a bit only for the Elites to hiss at her. If they were to truly get out of this alive along with Kaiya, Master Chief needed to enact his plan fast.
Thel slowly approached Chief. "Your death will be honorable…for a warrior." He said as he raised his sword.
"Not…today…" Chief said and quickly raised his hand. Linda nodded and quickly shot the two Elites holding Kaiya straight in the skull as Kelly and Fred fired rapidly near Thel, causing him to leap away from the Chief. Angered by this, Thel signaled his men to attack the Demons before he turned to Kaiya who had quickly ducked down to avoid the gunfire and blasts.
She spotted his feet quickly approaching her. "You are coming back with me." He said and reached, but she quickly dodged and rolled out of the way.
"Not this time!" She hissed at him and tried to run, but Thel was quicker and grabbed some of her hair, causing her to cry out in pain as he lifted her up. She quickly reached down and grabbed a knife that had been dropped and cut the hair he had been grasping. Once on her feet, she quickly tackled Thel 'Vadamee onto the ground and put the knife's blade up to his neck.
"Listen here, Thel 'Vadamee…I belong to no one! I am my own person and I will choose what life I want and I will make my own path. Not you. Not the Covenant. Not the UNSC. ME! Understood?!" She snarled down at him and slammed the knife into the grass next to his head. Thel looked up at her, a bit stunned before she quickly got off him and took off into the woods with Master Chief and Blue Team right behind her.
"Supreme Commander! Are you alright?" One of the Elites asked as Thel stood up and looked up just in time to see the Phantom take off into the sky.
"I am fine…" He replied. "We are done here…we have the Artifact still and will return to High Charity."
The Elite saluted to his Commander and walked away as Thel kept watching the sky. The wind gently picked up as Thel then looked at his hand where he still grasped her cut auburn hair and…her silk ribbon for a moment before he chuckled.
Once again those unusual eyes held such fire and her fiery little spirit had taken him by surprise. She was quite an interesting human and he hoped she would become a fierce warrior one day.