A/N: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Microsoft, Bungie, or 343 Industries. This is for my enjoyment and, hopefully, the enjoyment of others. I do not receive a profit.
Yet Still, You Fail
Arianna sat across from Cara. Cara's helmet was off and resting beside her. Normally, Arianna would be able to see Cara's pretty features. But not now. Cara was currently stuffing her plump lips with homemade ice cream and her green eyes were red from crying.
Arianna had grown close to Cara during her time aboard the Infinity, so it had been decided that she would be the one to tell Cara of Marcus's probable death. The ice cream, though, she had nothing to do with.
The crying was expected, so Raj had had the idea to make ice cream, claiming that ice cream was what got his mother out of her own depressive states. The only problem was that military ships didn't stock ice cream. So Raj had snuck into the mess the sleep cycle before and stolen cream, rock salt, and the other essentials. How he had found those things amongst the MREs, Arianna would never know. Maybe some raw ingredients were stocked for special occasions.
Although Arianna had not initially approved of his plan, Raj had snuck out anyway. So she had grudgingly helped him toss the cream around in a bag to make the ice cream. She would never, ever tell Raj, but it had been fun to avoid waking Edward (who was dealing with his own sadness by sleeping it off) while preparing the ice cream.
This "morning", when she'd left to talk to Cara, Arianna left half the ice cream for Edward with a short note. She had taken the other half and ambushed Cara as she left the mess, taken her inside and sat her down. Then Arianna had given Cara the news and ice cream.
When at last the ice cream was gone, Cara looked up. Then she did a double take. Arianna whipped her head around and saw Raj jumping over a table in full MJOLNIR armour. His Solar visor was staring right at her, trying to tell the girls something.
Arianna stood up and picked up her own Air Assault helmet. As Raj slid to a stop next to the girls, Arianna asked, "What?"
His response was terse. "Halsey's been taken. By Prometheans."
Pearlman jammed the helmet over her small head. "Do I want to know how?"
"The Artifact is acting as an anchor to teleport the Knights in. Halsey was the only one that actually understood that shit, and she's gone. For now, we guard the ship. Niven, you up to helping us?"
Niven stood up and put on her Oceanic helmet. "Always. Where's Quin?"
A shot rang out and both Niven and Pearlman spun to see what it was. A Knight was dissolving a table away, and a figure in ice-blue and yellow Deadeye armour stood in one of the doorways. "Right there." The three dashed to join Quin.
The four encountered a group of Crawlers guarding the hall. As quick a fix as they were, the fight still reminded Niven and Pearlman that fists didn't generally replace weapons. So when the hallway presented an opportunity, Niven directed the group toward the armoury, claiming, "These boltshots won't hold up against Knights," and signing it to Quin.
The other three nodded their assent, and the SPARTANs sprinted around the corner. . . only to be blocked by a plasma turret. Kahn's cry of, "How in hell are they set up?" was nearly drowned out by the explosion of a fuel rod cannon as it flew into a wall not two metres away. The four scattered, rolling away.
Pearlman came up with her Boltshot ready. She pulled the trigger and an unlucky Grunt's brains were painted on the bulkhead. She crossed over to the body and grabbed the plasma pistol. It felt right in her hand, far better than the angular boltshot it was based on.
However, the Boltshot's hard light ammunition did allow for headshots, something she took advantage of when a trio of Jackals rounded the next corner. Six shots, three at the hands for the recoil, and three at the heads for the kill, was far more efficient than the plasma pistol. So she kept both guns.
Pearlman swung around another corner, both guns pointing. Kahn and Quin aimed back. The three moved up the corridor, looking for Niven and the gunner. Together, the three began to swim through the waves of Covenant. Quin executed an Elite. Pearlman overloaded a Jackal's shield and shot it before turning around to pistol whip a not-so-sneaky Grunt. Kahn drilled a clip of bullets into a Watcher as it flew over the divider.
But Niven was nowhere to be found. What could be found was an Elite in golden armour with a fuel rod cannon. But explosives were no match for three SPARTANs. Pearlman ducked behind cover and began overloading her plasma pistol while Kahn shot bursts at the Elite to distract it. A moment later, Pearlman popped up, let her gun achieve a lock, and destroyed the Elite's shields. As soon as they were down, Quin pumped one round into the Elite's skull. The hollow-point bullet tore a ragged hole in the Elite's head. It quickly ballooned to the size of a watermelon, and the Elite's head almost literally exploded. Kahn claimed the cannon as his own.
And then the turret found them. It was being carried by Niven. Pearlman glanced behind Niven to see a swath of dead Grunts and even an Elite laying next the the turret's tripod. Niven set her gun down to sign what she spoke. "You know, I'm not so sure we need to get to the armoury. Plus, I was contacted by Palmer. She believes that Elite terrorist Yet 'Daumo is leading this assault. He wears golden Ranger armour with the Didact's Hand stamped to his chest.
"I've been contacted by Palmer. Apparently, I'm the closest to his supposed location, so I'm subcontracting you guys to help me. Remember, 'Daumo is quite the leader. ONI wants him alive for interrogation." With that, she turned, picked up the turret, and lumbered off. The other three caught up to her quickly, however.
Niven was following some objective the rest couldn't see. The only times she paused were the brief engagements with Crawlers and Grunts. The lack of actual resistance confused Pearlman until she caught sight of several Elites in golden armour. Several were dragging box-like objects, but one stood in the middle, directing it all. The boxes were nearly invisible, and Pearlman couldn't make out what they were.
And the leader was far more interesting. His armour was different, completely vacuum sealed. It had a large white hand painted in the middle. Yet 'Daumo. Unfortunately, MJOLNIR armour wasn't exactly known for stealth, and Quin couldn't just shoot without warning 'Daumo of their approach of killing him. So when he noticed the SPARTANs, he roared and made a motion. The small army of incredibly zealous Grunts waving plasma grenades that came around a corner bespoke the importance of whatever the boxes were.
Niven stepped forward and pulled the trigger on her turret. Plasma rained upon the cannon fodder, and the detonation of grenades also helped to thin the ranks. But when the turret's chamber clicked empty, there were still three Grunts bearing down. Pearlman raised her guns and fired, as did Kahn. The Grunts fell, but 'Daumo was nowhere to be seen.
Niven signed and said, "I bet he is headed for his entry point - a hole he blasted in the hull. Quin and Kahn, get there before he does. Fastest way is back and down a level. Pearlman, come with me. We're chasing the bastard." She dropped her turret and sprinted. Pearlman had no choice but to follow her.
Niven followed the objective marker in her helmet, although Pearlman had no clue as to whether or not it was accurate. The signs of quick, descisive battles along the pathway seemed to say so. Marines lay in pools of thier own blood, energy sword burns apparent on the bodies. Niven grabbed the DMR from one of the bodies and shook the blood off of it.
Another minute of sprinting led Pearlman and Niven down a deck. They had been running through halls when they caught sight of Yet fleeing. Following in his footsteps, the pair had leapt over a hastily made barricade at the top of the stairs.
They had gone crashing down, ending up in a tangled set of limbs. The sound made 'Daumo turn. He raised his sword, and a pair of Knights teleported in. Pearlman felt her shields take a beating when the Commander shot its scattershot at her. Pearlman motioned to the Knight and Niven went to work helping her.
Pearlman fired a few shots from the boltshot while holding the trigger of her plasma pistol. Niven drove shots into it, keeping the Knight far enough away that its scattershot was ineffective. It decided this and teleported. Pearlman noticed its pose and guessed. She spun around, staring at her radar and praying that she was right.
Sadly, the Knight did not simply go into hiding. It warped right next to Pearlman. She fired blindly, but missing at point plank was nigh on impossible. The Knight roared, jumping back. But even though it was safe from her fists, the Knight couldn't dodge Pearlman's overloaded boltshot to its unshielded face.
The other Knight issued a Watcher, childlike. The Watcher, however, did not seem interested in reviving its comrade. Just summoning more Crawlers. Pearlman hastily shot the group and took the boltshot ammunition for herself. She looked up in time to see Niven's last bullet shatter the Watcher.
The two ganged up on the last Knight. Pearlman spent her plasma pistol stripping the Knight Lancer of its hard light shields. Niven drove a bullet into the Knight as it opened its face to roar. The Knight dissolved and scattered like feathers on the wind.
The two went off in pursuit of Yet 'Daumo. An Elite and a pair of Jackals ran up the corridor, and Niven grinned. "He's getting close to his escape, but he's also getting desperate. Niven slowed her pace, stepping as she shot the Elite. It jumped around, dodging some shots, but when Pearlman closed with an overloaded boltshot, the Elite stopped. A few stray needles shattered in Pealman's armour as Niven nodded her thanks and squeezed off two shots. The Jackal's natural instinct to recoil made her second shot a kill.
Pearlman dashed to the dead Jackal and grabbed its needler. She unloaded the entire clip at the last Jackal, which responded with an overcharge that ate Pearlman's shields. Unfortunately for the Jackal, needler supercombines were far more dangerous than overcharged plasma pistol shots. Pearlman traded her newly acquired beedler for the plasma pistol.
Niven began to step through a small doorway, but stopped Pearlman. "No. I'm just getting a better vantage point. Follow the main hall, turn left at the bulkhead. Yet 'Daumo needs to be captured. Pearlman nodded and ran around the corner.
The sight that greeted her was that of a gaping hole in the hull. It was large enough to make Quin and Kahn, who stood near it, seem tiny. An Elite in golden Ranger armour was also dwarfed by the hole. With no backup to summon, the Elite was slowly backing away from the pair of SPARTANs. Pearlman quickly darted to the Elite, cutting off his last escape route.
At last, 'Daumo was surrounded. Niven stepped out onto a catwalk above, DMR trained. Quin blocked the hole in the hull, sniper rifle leveled. Kahn and his battle rifle were opposite Pearlman and her plasma pistol, blocking the hallways. Pearlman aimed her words at Yet 'Daumo. "You're surrounded. Why do you still fight? Surrender, and you will be spared."
'Daumo stood, breathing heavily, energy sword in hand. He was silent long enough that Pearlman began to doubt that he understood English. At last, in a deep, very gutteral English, "Honour. I know your race knew what that was, once. In the words of your Horatius,
'To every man upon this earth,
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his gods?'"
Yet 'Daumo was silent just a moment and Pearlman suddenly knew what was going to happen, but it didn't matter. His words were lethargic, and her gun was too slow. Even as she brought her pistol to bear, Yet 'Daumo had roared and charged Quin. Quin, who couldn't hear, who couldn't know what the Elite had said, who was blocking Yet's path to the freedom of space.
Quin dodged the energy sword at the last second, but was too slow to dodge the two tonnes of Elite that crashed into him. Decompression had already happened, but when Quin was knocked off his feet, the pair still spun into the blackness of the void. The only way to see them was the whirling mass that obscured the stars.
Kahn and Pearlman ran to the edge and Niven hopped off the catwalk. Pearlman was preparing to jump, screw the Pelican she would have normally taken. Niven's hand on her shoulder stopped her. Pearlman turned to look into the Engineer visor and bright blue Oceanic helmet. A barely perceptible shake. "I'll go. I'm trained to operate solo, and if I find him, I can talk to him. For now, we're both MIA."
Kahn nodded approvingly and SPARTAN Niven sailed out the hole before Pearlman had an opportunity to come up with a response
A/N: So, how have the 'death' scenes been, so far? And Kahn doesn't have the Fuel Rod Cannon because he and Quin ran into a pair of Hunters.
Oh, and I am entering a fiction writing competition, so I might be off for a while. Mind, the cap is 2,000 words, so I shan't be off for that long (my average chapter is probably 3,000 words).
OBLIVION was a great movie. That's where I learned about the Horatius quote. Yes, the sex scene at the beginning was just gratuitous and irrelevant, but the questions the movie posed were excellent. Beautiful and sad, with just enough hope to keep going.