Chapter Eleven
0700 Hours, September 19
2547 (Military Calendar) /
Abaskun City
Arcadia, Procyon System
Abaskun was a large settlement, bustling with life and the cry of children. It was the most collective place for trade, a true melting pot of religion, ethnicity, and ideals. Nobody asked who you were or where you came from, only if you had money.
The city was an island of soil in a sea of trees and vegetation, not a single piece of greenery growing within its borders. Today, neither were people. The streets were completely empty, void of all voices or the white noise of shuffling feet, clicking hooves and angry barterers. Only the dust stirred amongst the rudimentary buildings, every soul silent. Not even the birds offered to drown out the numbing solitude. A crushing sense of loneliness rushed in on Raven, making her chest tight and palms sweaty.
She had made the long trek to Abaskun over the cover of nightfall, just reaching its outskirts as the sun peaked from the jagged mountains. Her limbs ached, throbbing from the strenuous experience, physically and mentally. Somewhere along the way, the bullet wound in her shoulder had begun to bleed again, and now caked the rest of her arm in blood. As if that wasn't enough, an incessant chirping emanated from the back of her mind, beginning more than a couple hours ago. Whether it was real or imagined, Raven wasn't sure, but her nerves were on edge. She yearned to fall to the ground and sleep for an eternity, having been awake for an entire day. I'll have time to sleep later. First, I kill Sheal.
But as she stumbled through the quiet city, she could find no one. No one to help her, no one to steal a ship from, no one to talk to. Complete emptiness. Doubt slipped in the back of her mind, without something to get her up to that corvette, her entire plan was botched. She clenched her fists in anger, after the endless hours of trudging through this god forsaken planet, giving up now felt like a betrayal to all the people killed. Why me? She thought pathetically.
Raven resolved herself to plopping down in the hard dirt and waiting out the cowering inhabitants of Abaskun. They rightfully assumed if the Covenant glassed the rebels base and Aloide, they would certainly be next. She wondered if any of the data she stole from the UNSC ever ended up coming through here, or if the civilians of this planet were completely oblivious to the Insurrectionists activities. Either way, they had to come out eventually.
Soon the hot sun was blaring down on her from above, and Raven's patience was boiling away as well.
"The Covenant have left orbit," she called out, "you can come out now." The streets remained silent. The girl let out an exasperated puff of air, before a gentle buzzing answered her call. The beeping from her chip grew ever louder, seeming to double as the buzz escalated to a low whine. What on earth is that?
Her question was quickly answered when a massive gliding shadow came into view, approaching her from down the street. Raven shot to her feet, retreating into the darkness the buildings created. The shadow just hovered for a moment, before slowly moving to disappear over the next row of housing. Raven held her breath.
Suddenly a Covenant seraph materialized over the town, just meters off the ground. It was larger than a banshee, not normally meant for atmospheric piloting, which meant it had to be part of the Covenant forces remaining on Arcadia. Hushed cries of terror came from within the nearest building, panicked whispers echoing through the walls. The doors to the vessel opened, revealing three elites and a swath of grunts. They filed out, landing heavily in the dirt, dust swirling up and over them.
Panic gripped Raven, why was the Covenant here of all places? Why didn't they just glass this city to begin with? Bile rose in her throat as they fanned out, a group of grunts accompanying each elite. The massive aliens were absolutely terrifying. They each carried a shiny, violet rifle-looking gun, and energy swords clasped to their sides. The disgusting little creatures called Unggoy carried small plasma pistols, wildly aiming about. They seemed to be searching for something, tapping at small metallic devices the Sangheili held.
Raven flattened herself against the cool wall, trying to silently creep farther into the shadows, but froze when one of the elites turned to stare right in her direction. Kicking herself, she remembered there was still an audible beeping coming from the back of her head, leading them right to her. It must be about the file, she realized, that's why they are here. They came to finish their deal. She led them right to this city. That's what the chirping coming from her chip is. A locater. Raven swore under her breath. Colonel Kam had set her up from the very beginning, if she ever fled the Insurrectionists, he would simply turn on the locater and let the whole galaxy know where she is.
Her rage was hefted to the side as the elite began walking closer, an awful musky stench flowing over him. He stood at the edge of the darkness, peering in, another few steps and he would be right on top of her. Just as she was about to pull her SMG's from their holsters, gunfire rang out from across the street. The nearest elite quickly spun around, ducking behind a nearby wall and taking aim at the humans across the street. All Raven could see was the barrel of a rifle pointed towards the aliens, shielded by the inside of a building. You fools! She shouted internally, watching as chaos erupted around her.
Gunfire exploded from both parties, bathing the town in a hail of bullets and plasma. At first, the inhabitants of Abaskun were holding the Covenant back, completely surrounding them and even picking off a couple grunts. It seemed a small army had joined the fray, all firing from behind the safety of walls. Of course, this brief comeback wouldn't last. The seraph began firing at the humans, massive bolts of plasma melting entire buildings to the ground. Screams shattered the clean morning air, the death toll of Arcadia growing ever higher.
As unfortunate as their deaths were, Raven took the opportunity to burst from her hiding place and wildly sprint for the forest, desperate to escape her fate. She only made it a couple meters before an angry roar cut through the anarchy. She shot a glace over her shoulder to see a silver-armored elite break from the group and charge straight for her, rifle trained on her torso. Through her terror, she realized this alien would not kill her, for if they wanted whatever juicy file she had, they needed her heart still beating.
Raven ripped out her SMG's and spun around, unloading both clips into the elite as he closed the distance. His shields flared, then sparked out completely in a flash. She fumbled to reload, dropping one gun so she could yank a fresh clip out with her stiff arm, forcing her fingers to work.
"C'mon, c'mon!" she frantically mumbled, finally clicking the magazine into place. She took aim again, only to have the massive alien barrel into her and knock her to the ground. She rolled on her back just as the elite brought his fist above her head, and shoved her gun right into this open mandibles, pulling the trigger. A spray of bullets shot from her SMG, blowing out the back of the alien's skull. He sputtered for a moment, blue blood splattering on Raven's jacket. She rolled out from under him before he slumped to the ground, lifeless. Briefly, she imagined it was Sheal, and it brought her a small amount of satisfaction despite her pounding heartbeat and aching body. Raven had never been so close to such creatures, and she was fascinated by the sight of the alien. If only their goal in life wasn't to exterminate all humans.
Raven shakily got to her feet, her ears ringing and vision slightly blurry. Realizing she was completely out of ammo, she tucked her single gun into its holster, and stumbled towards the safety of the forest, barely able to walk a straight line. As soon as she was ten meters away, Raven thought she was home free until muted pounding on the earth behind her caught her attention. The girl barely had time to turn around before she was struck again, flinging her backwards and landing amongst the rocks. Her vision blackened for a moment, threatening to consume her.
Another elite stood over her, ragged breathing and blood racing down its left arm. "Heretic! You've killed my brother!" He warbled incoherently, unclasping the energy sword and unleashing the bighting double blade. Raven gasped, raising her hands as if to defend herself, feebly trying to scoot away from the massive alien. Before he could strike her, the third elite stepped in to grab its arm. He growled something unintelligible, then gestured towards the near unconscious Raven. The first elite shook off the other, and turned to stomp away.
Head swimming, the remaining Sangheili bent and grabbed her injured arm, dragging her back towards where she presumed the seraph was waiting.
"No! Release me!" Raven snarled, half begging, trying to yank her arm from its grip.
"Quiet, filthy maggot," he grumbled, not bothering to look back at her.
It seemed like an eternity later she finally felt the cool wind from the seraph's engines, and the shuffle of other footsteps. Her skin was rubbed raw from the harsh dirt, and her arm was near falling off. She felt the elite toss her onto the vessel, its cool metal suddenly meeting her face. She was yanked to an upright position, and some kind of warped helmet shoved on her, completely cutting off all her senses. Blind and deaf, she waited for what she was sure to be a merciless end to her existence.