For Ascendant. Seriously, just get an account!

That's Covenant. Lex thought, gripping the knife in her hand. The wooden handle dug into her palm, but she hardly felt it. The adrenaline rushing through her blocked out the pain. She sniffed the air again, and the rancid, almost sewer-like smell almost overcame her. It was nasty, and it took all she had to keep from gagging. At least she knew the beast was close.

The gurgling, guttural noises that sounded from the Brutes' throats sickened her almost as much as the smell. They were so foreign. She liked to joke, when she was in school and had heard about the Covenant's guttural language, about how they must sound like Germans. It wasn't funny now, but she thought it all the same.

Several Brutes were gathered together, some sitting, some standing. All were making the awful sounds that seemed sort of like laughter. They were eating something, something much smaller than them, something that's blood was red—humans. They were eating the dead soldiers and civilians that were strewn around, some just dead, some getting there.

Lex choked back a cry. It was horrible. But she wouldn't become food, not like that, anyway. Well, technically when she died and was buried, she would decompose and provide food for all sorts of things.

She shook her head, getting herself to concentrate on moving silently. There was no way to go but past the Brutes. Only one way out. Lex crouched down, creeping in the shadows of the large room, knife in hand. Her thighs burned from crouching and walking. She never had been big on exercise of the body. She wasn't unfit, but her mind was stronger than her body.

A crack. Before she was even sure what it was, Lex groaned inwardly. Looking down, she noticed a stick, right under her foot. The Brutes had heard it, too. A huge one, presumably a male, gurgled something and walked over to where she crouched in the shadows.

Hoping to surprise the beast, she popped up, holding the knife on both hands, pointing it at the Brute. I really wished I had a gun.

Unphased by the knife, the Brute grabbed her by the neck with one arm. Lex gave a strangled cry as she fought for breath, lashing out with the knife and her feet, but not getting anywhere near to hurting the Brute. Her vision was tunneling and going black. . .

Gunfire peppered the Brute and his comrades, Lex fell to the ground, knocking what little air she had left out of her lungs. She gasped for air, at the same time crawling over to the wall. She covered her head, and waited for the firing to stop while she breathed the sweet air. The sweet, rancid-Covvie-smelling air.

"Are you okay?" A voice said. She looked up for her eyes to meet an orange visor, in an orange helmet, on an orange armored body.

Lex nodded. "Your a Spartan." She stated, collecting herself. She stood, refraining from brushing herself off. She looked around for her knife, but it was no where to be seen. Probably under one of the dead Brutes' bodies. She didn't care to be digging around in that mess.

"You have a weapon?" The Spartan asked, straightening from his crouch to his full height. She was a little taken aback, but there was still not much surprise in her. He was a Spartan, after all.

"Not anymore." She replied.

"We'll fix that." Jorge tossed a magnum her way. She caught it, somewhat clumsily. "You know how to use that?"

Lex nodded, "Yeah, more or less." She got the feel of the gun, aiming at nothing in particular.

"I'm Jorge, by the way." The Spartan's voice had an accent. Lex recognized it immediately.

"Lex. Are you from Reach?" She walked up next to him.

Jorge looked down at her, "Yes. I'd die to protect it from the Covenant."

There was a great deal of seriousness in his voice, and Lex was somewhat taken aback at the fact that anyone could care so much for a planet. Obviously is was his homeworld, but for Lex, it didn't matter what was turned to glass. Her family was dead, and personally, she didn't care to have any relationships that weren't purely academic or an asset to her.

More angry gurgles shattered the peace and their conversation. Brutes, bringing fresh stench into the large room, started firing their spikers at them. Lex had one in her crosshairs, finger poised to pull the trigger. Generally she was against violence, but these Brutes stank so dang bad—bam!

She pulled the trigger, the kick throwing her hands up a couple inches. She swore under her breath. The bullet had found its mark, but the injured Brute merely roared in anger and pain. He charged at her, and she looked it right in the eye—a deadly mistake. The beast bellowed even louder as if he had been insulted.

Fear shocked through her as the beast was nearly on top of her. Frozen, she forgot the gun in her hands, and backed up several paces. S**t! Was her only thought.

A massive figure shoved his way in front of her, firing a huge machine gun that's bullets ripped the Covenant to shreds. Shaking, Lex watched as the Spartan Jorge tore down each and every alien there single handedly. She had laughed at Spartans a bit before, saying that they were all brute strength, that they couldn't win the war with muscle. They had to use their brains.

Right then, she ate those words. Lex could picture that single Spartan taking down the entire Covenant army. Which she knew was impossible, but the thought came to mind. As the last brute fell, thudding on another's body, Lex stood a ways behind Jorge.

"Let's get moving." Jorge said over his shoulder, stepping over the dead bodies of Brutes.

Lex nodded, running over the bodies to catch up with the Spartan. She practically had to jog to keep up with him. At five feet, she practically had to jog to keep up with anyone. "Thanks. For saving me." She said, then fell into an awkward silence.

Jorge nodded, "That's my job."

The two walked out into the streets of the city. It was quiet at their location, but the echoes of gun fire fell through the buildings to their ears. "So," Lex spoke quietly, as if afraid that she might wake sleeping Covvies, "What's the plan?"

Creeping forward all the while, Jorge explained, "Our goal is to make it to the beacon on top of one of these buildings. Then we can get off this planet."

Lex nodded, sprinting to keep up with the Spartan when he jogged, her gun ready. She hated the cold feel of it in her hands. Wasn't she supposed to be against violence? That's what she had always told everybody. But then, the times called for it.

They rounded a corner, and shrill cries indicated to the more experienced Jorge, at least, that there was a squad of Grunts ahead, and probably with an Elite captain. "Lex," He ordered, automatically aiming his LAAG, "Take out all the little guys. I'll deal with the big ones." He opened fire, a deafening roar, and Lex winced. She brought up the magnum, peering down the scope, aiming at the heads of the Grunts, several of which were taller than her. Most fell, but a few moved or her aim was off.

The gun clicked as she tried to fire a perfect shot at an especially tall Grunt. She swore inwardly, then called out, "Uh, how do I reload this?!" She didn't have another magazine on her.

Jorge sighed to himself. "Just hang on." He started to cut down as many of the aliens as possible, swiping his gun from side to side. A few Grunts managed to sneak past him at his flanks, but he ignored them, assuming that Lex could deal with them.

She was rather like Halsey, he thought. He'd already taken a bit of a liking to her, and found her naiveté amusing.

Lex was more than capable of dealing with the Grunts. Give her a blunt object and a sticky situation and she'll fight till she's got nothing left. Three Grunts came racing at her, either to get away from the more dangerous Spartan or to avoid punishment from their Elite leaders. Either way, they were coming towards her. And that was a bad idea.

She smashed on across the head with her otherwise useless gun, then kicked one in the back as it rushed past her, crushing its gas tank. For a second she wondered what was in there, what they breathed, but another Grunt squealed and fell at her feet.

How could she kill it there? It was just lying there, sobbing, hugging her legs. She froze again, checking to see it there were any other enemies, but the last on that street was just collapsing under Jorge's line of fire.

She tried nudging it off of her, but it was much to heavy and had a strong grip. "Uh, Jorge. . .?" Lex called, unsure of what to do. The Spartan turned around, his LAAG swinging at his side as he held it from one hand. He saw the Grunt at her feet and hesitated a moment, as if deciding what to do. But then he continued forward, Lex staring helplessly at his visor, which concealed his features.

Jorge knelt down next to the Grunt, picking it up and throwing it. Lex thought for a brief moment that they could use it for information, but by then it was too late, the Grunt dead at Jorge's feet. Lex swallowed, and dropped the useless magnum, shrugging her shoulders in a "What now?" gesture.

Jorge picked up a plasma pistol and tossed it to Lex, who fumbled the catch but managed to keep it in her grip. "How do I use this?" She asked.

"Like this." Jorge shoved his huge hand into the back of the plasma pistol, showing Lex how to shoot rapidly or charge it for more damage.

"A fully charged plasma pistol is useful for taking down Covvies' shields."

"Right." Lex nodded thoughtfully, pretending he was just another instructor on Cygnus. She shoved her hand into the gun like she was putting on a glove, and had to use her other hand to hold it up. It was much heavier than the Spartan had made it look, and it lacked a scope—she would be shooting blindly. I'll probably end up shooting myself.

The duo continued on through the city, Jorge in front and eliminating the majority of the enemy forces, Lex taking out the stragglers. A double squad of Grunts, with four Elites captains, jumped into life as they caught sight of the temporary team.

The Elites headed right for Jorge, firing their plasma rifles at the Spartan in hopes to take down his shields. His LAAG took down theirs faster, thought, and at the near-simultaneous death of their leaders, the Grunts scrambled left and right. The few that managed to escape Jorge's rain of lead were killed with quick bursts of plasma from Lex's pistol.

A deafening roar from just behind her. Lex spun on her heel, and found herself in the shadow of a massive Elite, its white armor glinting menacingly in the sunlight. S**T! She thought, heaving the plasma pistol up and holding the trigger down.

Her gun was shaking in her hands as the charge built up, the Elite was charging at her, its energy sword blazing and sizzling with scorching heat. The plasma pistol was starting to burn her hands, yet even as the flash peeled from her skin she held on longer, even when she could hardly control the shaking any longer, she held on.

With a blast of light, noise, and heat, Lex released the trigger, firing a boiling ball of plasma at the towering Elite. It disappeared in a glowing cloud of debris for a moment, and Lex blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust enough for her to see. She grinned, glad to have killed such a formidable foe, but her hope was too soon.

Out of the cloud of dirt walked a huge figure, hulking. Angry. As the energy sword buzzed to life, fear petrified her, and she stumbled backwards, tripping on a rock and falling down. The Elite crept ever closer. It rumbled something, something she didn't understand at first because the voice speaking it was so foreign, so horrible. . .

"I will savor your pain."

The prongs of the energy sword punctured her gut, every second they were held there they burnt the flesh in her abdomen further. A thin line of blood tickled out the side of her mouth. Blood sizzled on the blade, evaporating as it touched the energy. Hissing, and becoming part of the atmosphere. A great amount of blood poured out the front and back of her wound, soaking her. As every drop of blood left her, she grew weaker, her vision tunneled, lined with soft blackness.

As the black overcame her, and she was losing consciousness, the rattle of machine gun fire stayed most prominent in her thoughts. And as the life faded out of her, the last words mumbled out of her dying mouth were, ". . .Jorge. . .Don't let them eat me."

This was a little different than what was really requested, but I didn't want to do the same thing three times in a row. It gets boring.