Vanguard

Chapter 22

"052"

[Covenant corvette Ardent Prayer, detention deck]

Sav 'Artamee, and his first lieutenant Raku 'Kalomee, were just passing through the doorway into the detention bay where Major 'Lokutamee stands near a gravitational suspension containment unit with the somewhat injured Jedi Knight Kail Grodam being restrained in mid-air.

Sav carefully examines the Jedi, seeing the traditional robes threw him off since he normally saw a military uniform or combat armor, and asks in basic so that the human could understand him "Is this him 'Lokutamee?"

"Yes sire this is the one I have observed . . ." the major replied with a low gruff.

Raku comments "I have seen humans in many apparel, some of which are repulsive, but this one is quite new to me."

"I demand to know why I'm being held!" the Jedi states with authority,

A light chuckle comes from the Sangheili ranger "You humans are all the same, weak and undisciplined, and yet you 'demand' believing that you hold some authority over the Covenant? You are sadly mistaken."

He then deactivates the containment unit, causing Kail to fall on to the ground unexpectedly, and seized the Jedi firmly grasping around his neck to the point where he struggled to breathe as the Sangheili leans his head towards the human's "You will tell us the location of every world your kind has fowled with your very presence. If you are not as forthcoming as we expect then I will carve out your flesh making you scream your secrets to the stars. And once I am done I will throw you into the nearest airlock and send you into the vacuum of space. Do I make myself understandable?"

Grodam made no response but stare the elite straight in the eyes to which 'Artamee simply turns the containment unit back on and toss the human back into it thus restraining him in mid-air once more and state "You have one cycle to consider your options. Choose wisely for your own sake."

The Jedi watched the three Sangheili turn and march out of the detention bay to deal with the escalating situation at hand, he simply hung there looking down at the floor beneath him thinking of a way to break free but another voice, more human-like than the aliens and with a gentle but firm British accent, spoke out reassuring "Don't worry about those hinge-heads, they got a lot of bark but no bite . . ."

Kail looks around seeing nothing but darkness around him and he asks "Who's there?"

The voice replied "Name's not important; all you need to know is that I've been here nearly five years, and the food is terrible when they force feed ya."

[Republic Cruiser Royale, Deck 11 Medical Bay-A2]

Ahsoka Tano, along with the twenty three troopers she rallied together, fought her way through the war torn corridors littered with bodies, both clones and various Covenant members, as blaster bolts and plasma fly back and forth. She quickly engages a Jackal standing before her, armed with its red-tinted plasma shield and the compact but deadly Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol, swinging the blade of her left handed saber clashing against the barrier and sending out sparks of electricity. She withdraws her two lightsabers, realizing it'll be a challenge to break through that shield without getting shot, and drops to the floor throwing her left foot in a quick leg sweep catching the six foot tall Kig-yar behind by its right foot causing it to tumble over while she gets her footing and launch herself over the soldier, activate her two lightsabers, and bring them both down onto the jackal who couldn't bring its shield up to bare in time to block it.

She stands back up seeing the next hostile, a sangheili in blue armor with failing shields thirteen meters away firing its blue bulbous Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle at a rapid rate, then turns to the troopers behind her and calls out "Keep pushing!"

"You heard her men! PUSH FORWARD!" an outcry echoed from the leading trooper.

Tano reacquires her focus on the approaching Sangheili soldier and charges towards the aggressor with both lightsabers drawn. The elite changes his aim and begins firing off bolts of plasma on full automatically but unfortunately, due to the long period of time he has been firing his weapon, the rifle overheated causing the flaps on either side to open up and release the excess heat from the weapon. She manages to use the time of the weapon's cooldown and swung her left saber forward slicing the eight foot Sangheili's waist cutting clean through.

The elite fell in halves and the remaining covenant soldiers standing several feet away, mostly Unggoy and few Jackals, turned tail and retreated in fear while her troopers pursued them firing their blasters along the way.

Commander Palon, a clone regimental commander armed with the deadly six-barreled Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon, adorned in phase-ll armor sporting a ACU camouflage pattern over his armor, a dark grey leather kama hanging from his waist belt, and a set of electrobinoculars mounted onto his helmet's forehead, steps up next to Ahsoka reporting "Ma'am, I'm receiving reports that the enemy is pulling back."

"Wait they're pulling back?" she asked seemingly confused by why an aggressive force such as the Covenant would be retreating, especially with the Republic forces on the verge of defeat.

The comlink on her wrist began to chime prompting her to order "That's good to hear Commander, see about driving them off the ship."

"You're not coming with us ma'am?" Palon asks concerned about losing the advantage of having a Jedi on their side.

"I'll be right with you . . ." she says reassuringly.

The commander nodded to that and began pressing forward with the men under his command, this allowed the young Togruta to press the blinking switch on her wrist and ask "What is it Percy?"

"Ahsoka, Longarm isn't responding to my hails and is onboard the Covenant corvette trying to free the Jedi but he believes he can do it on his own and sadly I disagree. I need you to jump ship and assist him ASAP."

"No problem Percy, I'm on—"

"Oh and there's something else. When Longarm boarded the corvette I was able to get a better reading on the possible IFF signature that was already aboard, it's one of ours."

Tano's expression from a determined gentle expression to a hard frown "One of ours? You mean there's another SPARTAN on board?"

"Either a SPARTAN or an ODST, hell maybe even a marine, all I can tell is that it is UNSC. I've already have schematics of the vessel and I can lead you both down to the detention bay where the Jedi and UNSC asset is being held."

"Don't worry Percy, we'll get them both out."

"Then good luck, because the Covenant can get really temperamental when someone boards their own ship."

"Sheesh thanks for the inspirational talk."

The AI lets out a small chuckle "My pleasure."

Switching her comlink off that channel she turns over to the channel with Longarm and states "Longarm what's your status?"

There was no response, not even a crackle, so she tries again "Longarm do you read?" resulting in further silence.

With Longarm aboard the Covenant corvette and unresponsive, she makes it her priority to make her way to the starboard outer hull where she can board the corvette via a docking tube or acquire a EVA suit and jump from ship to ship through the vacuum of space.

[Covenant Corvette Ardent Prayer, communications center]

The sound of a shotgun blast echoes through the room as the SPARTAN-ll engages the covenant defenders in close quarters with his M45 Tactical Shotgun and sheer unmatched ferocity. The soldier was found in the center elevated platform kicking a wounded Sangheili ranger off the ledge when a skirmisher charges in and leaps on to the SPARTAN's back clawing and scratching away at his armor and body suit. He tries to shake the attacker off but to not avail, he drops his shotgun and reaches back grabbing he skirmisher by its head and upper jaw where he pulls bringing the attacker over his head in front of him, and pulls his seven inch combat blade driving it through the side of its neck and withdraws letting the skirmisher to fall off the as it bled out.

He recovers his weapon and leaps off the platform down onto the ground level below putting another shell into a frightened Unggoy, blowing off its right arm in a spray of lead buckshot and bright blue luminescent blood, killing it instantly. He started making his way towards the center hatch when it opens letting three more elites, two majors and a ultra, to charge in armed with plasma rifles and an energy sword ready to kill the demon.

One of the majors was the first to notice the incoming human and roars out "BAKUYA" (Intruder!) just before the SPARTAN rams his right shoulder into the major's chest knocking it backwards and receive a shotgun shell a mere second later.

With Longarm in close proximity, the Elite ultra readies his blade and takes a swing aim for the SPARTAN's mid-section hoping to cut him in half but the human quickly ducks performing a quick power slide below the blade and just stopping short a foot from the other major who was about to shoot. He quickly takes aim upwards towards the major's exposed chin and fires off another shell sending out buckshot that practically took the major's head off in the next instance.

The ultra comes back around the next second thrusting its dual-edged sword downwards but Longarm anticipated this and rolls out of the way to his right where he was essentially right next to the ultra and comes back up slamming the butt of his shotgun into the creature's gut area followed up with a blow to the head which angered the alien even further prompting it to take another swing nearly cutting the edge of the SPARTAN's throat when he backed away in time.

Longarm ditches the shotgun throwing it down to the floor and catch the elite's arm with his left hand when the sword came back and proceeded to break the Sangheili's arm with a devastating blow from his right fist to the elbow joint making a bone crushing sound mixed in with the elite's roar in pain and anger. The SPARTAN then forcibly uplifts the Covenant's shoulder joint, dislocating its shoulder and forcing it to let go of its hilt, he quickly grabs the falling energy sword before it clattered against the ground. He lets go of the elite's shoulder and drives the two energized blades straight into the elite's abdomen piercing the body through and through scorching the insides as the alien chocked and gasped trying to keep standing but it wasn't long till the SPARTAN withdraws the sword and the eight foot Sangheili to fall over onto the floor dead.

He looks down at the sword in his hands, it had been years since he held one in his hands, and decides to store it for future use putting it inside one of his empty ammunition pouches before picking up his shotgun again and head through the hatch leading into a corridor that would lead to the ship's main hangar. As he sprints through the corridor with no opposition he began to think about how the Covenant managed to reach this galaxy in force, he did consider the fact that Covenant made vessels had always been much faster than human and were much more precise but even then it probably would've taken them years to travel through slipstream space, countless possibilities raced through his mind like race cars on a sports track but none seemed to show any logical sense.

His train of thought quickly stopped when the door just a meter ahead of him opened up revealing an unsuspecting Mgalekgolo with its back turned towards him. He quickly picks up the pace building up what speed he could in the next few seconds, turning himself into a human freight train, and throws himself hard into the back of the twelve foot giant. The hunter was caught by utter surprise as the one ton wrecking ball slams into its back with enough force to carry it down the sloped ramp all the way to the hangar floor with the SPARTAN-ll standing over it with shotgun in hand. The hulking behemoth attempts to get up, so it could club the human with its overweight metal shield latched on its left arm, but quickly receives a buckshot shell to the back of the head destroying it outright.

Longarm backs away and finally took his first look of the large hangar to find it was brimming with Covenant activity, a couple hundred soldiers of different species all looking at him with fear, anger, and a modicum of respect. His feet began to tremble causing him to look down and see the assumingly dead hunter moving under him trying to stand back up to exact its revenge, he simply steps away and allows the headless giant to swing its left arm wildly towards him as he jumps away and fire off his last shotgun shell into the giant's belly killing many individual Lekgolo worms but the giant was just as pissed as it ever was. He throws his weapon away for the last time taking hold of the electrostaff on his left shoulder pad, extending the weapon and lighting up the two prods on the tips in an intense purple surge of electricity, and rolls out of the way when the giant threw its shield once more and make a quick jab at the hunter's exposed side shooting electricity through the walking colony of worms killing off those that couldn't take the sudden jolt of shock that coursed through them.

He watched as several worms fell out of the weakening hunter, but still maintains enough strength to make one last swing coming around, and ducks below the incoming arm and impales the giant with the tip of his staff letting the constant electricity course through every worm inside resulting in the entire colony to cry out while convulsing erratically trying to stay together but the high voltage the staff gave out proved too much and the majority of the worms died out, collapsing upon themselves, while those that were still able fled the scene leaving the remains nothing but hollow armor and a pile of dead worms.

With worms crawling all around the floor and his feet, Longarm looks out to the massing army of covenant now surrounding him with weapons charged and ready for use, with the staff in his right hand he draws his combat knife in a reverse-grip position and asks "Alright . . . who wants to pray to god first?"

[Republic Cruiser Royale, aft starboard wing, airlock]

Ahsoka Tano, Commander Palon, and a squad of six troopers just finished off the last of the Covenant that were defending one of the boarding tubes leading to the Ardent Prayer. One by one the group entered through the tube with young Tano taking the lead as they crossed about forty feet of tubing surrounded by the nothingness of space with only a mere few inches of covenant-made materials keeping them from going into oblivion.

One trooper asks as they ventured through the tube "You think they'll be waiting for us at the end?"

"Only one way to find out, either way I don't care much as long as I get a little payback" another says grudgingly.

Nothing came afterwards as they carried on until they reached the other end where a circular hatch with blue lights forming a sort of triad, but once Ahsoka had gotten close enough she could've touched it, the lights quickly change to a light violet following up with a small chime and the hatch retracted into the walls allowing them passage into a small hallway along the aft of the nine hundred and fifty six meter corvette.

Once the last trooper passes through the hatch and steps onto the floor he takes a good look around seeing nothing but purple lights and smooth surfaces compared to the Royale's standard issue dull grey and square-like interior, he comments "Well . . . I guess nobody's home."

"Don't count on it" Tano states as she begins to walk towards the first door leading further into the corvette.

The troopers formed up behind her getting ready to tackle whatever challenge laid beyond the door ahead of them, preparing their blasters and a couple of thermal detonators they've managed to acquire back aboard the Royale. Ahsoka steps into the hatch's short range sensor causing the door to open up and allowed her and the troopers to step into a large circular room with an elevated central platform lined with consoles and a large set of energy shielding above them forming a part of the ceiling keeping the air in. But what really caught their attention was the large mass of dead bodies splayed out across the floors and the large quantities of blue and purple blood that oozed all across, as they began to look around they found that each body had some sort of fatal wound ranging from a simple gunshot to the more brutal dismemberment and impalement.

"What the hell happened here?" Palon asks fearing that there could be something much worse than the aliens that killed off more than half of the Royale's crew.

Tano looked around carefully stepping around to make sure she didn't step on a riddled bloody corpse or a pool of blood until she accidently kicked something and looked down, finding a spent shotgun casing featuring a plump animal she was familiar with but she knew that this cartridge had to come from Longarm's shotgun indicating that he was here.

A trooper comments after giving a dead Sangheili a small nudge with his foot "These bodies still look fresh, I'd say about ten minutes ago at least."

"Then he's not too far ahead of us" Tano claims waving the troopers to follow as she makes her way to the hatch on the far end with three dead, one seemingly decapitated, lying at the foot of it.

The hatch door opens allowing the team passage into a long dark corridor with no visible intersections, once the hatch closed behind them they were engulfed in moderate darkness and silence but as they cautiously progressed through the corridor they began to hear distant plasma fire, outcries of death and pain, and the occasional rumble of a minor explosion occurring.

The team picked up the pace quickly approaching the hatch as the fighting grew louder and closer, the door ahead of them opens up and they were almost immediately greeted by a pair of Sangheili minors dual-wielding plasma rifles who then began firing away at the former Jedi and troopers who gladly returned the favor with their own weapons. Tano swiftly brought her sabers to bear deflecting as many bolts of ionized plasma as possible but it was near impossible to block them all when she hears a cry come from a trooper behind her when a bolt struck his armored chest. The elites fared no better as their shields began to wither under intense fire, especially from Palon who was utilizing his rotary cannon spewing out bolts of energy at a high rate of fire, and it wasn't long before their shields collapsed and their bodies became riddled with blaster marks.

The two warriors fell, at the cost of three clones, permitting what remained of the team to continue through the hatch where they entered a large hangar bay with shield doors on both starboard and port sides, an array of ramps and doorways on both aft and bow ends, them being in the middle of the aft section with a center ramp going down to the hangar floor and two going off on the sides heading up to another set of doors, and countless covenant soldiers converging on a lone seven foot soldier in black armor who was running rampant around the hangar wreaking havoc among the enemy ranks prompting the lowly grunts and occasional jackals to flee for their lives while the strong elites stood their ground with the loyal skirmishers to back them up in the defense.

They watched as Longarm, wielding a bright blue fizzing ball in his left hand and a covenant plasma rifle firing away in his right, engage pockets of covenant before he hurled the blue glowing ball through the air and detonating within a squad of soldiers who were engulfed in the bright florescent expansion of plasma and radiation. He then engages another squad shortly afterwards with similar results.

"LONGARM!" Tano calls out hoping the SPARTAN heard her over the ensuing chaos.

Upon hearing those words he looks up towards her and quickly points to a hatch, posted on an elevated platform on the far side of the bay near the starboard bow, before receiving a green bolt of plasma striking across his chest with his shields flaring and resumes fighting the covenant on their own turf.

"C'mon! We're heading to the far side!" she orders to the three troopers.

One trooper however complains "We're going through that!?"

Palon orders "C'mon you whiners, you said you wanted payback."

The troopers made no more quarrel over the subject and followed Tano into the chaotic fray firing off bolts at whatever target of opportunity presented itself, however one trooper was struck in the head when a razor sharp needle pierced through the helmet killing the clone instantly before he could've hit the ground. Nonetheless the remaining three continued onwards knowing that if they hesitated for a second they would be killed on the spot, they reached the other side when Tano began sprinting up the ramp towards the elevated platform where two kig-yar snipers wielding long rifles with pink needles protruding from the sides continued to fire away at the SPARTAN that never seemed to hold still. She quickly closes in activating her two sabers and makes a simple twirl decapitating the two soldiers before making her way to the door with the other two when it opens up allowing them inside and closed back up.

The trooper next to Palon was nearly exhausted as he leans against the side of the wall stating "I . . . I'm not going . . . back in there . . ."

Palon also exhibited heavy breathing, especially since he was carrying a sixteen kilogram chaingun around, but he decided to show his more humorous side "Ah who knows . . . maybe that big fella' . . . will be done with those freaks when we come back . . . if not then we'll send you in."

"Not . . . funny" the trooper remarked before getting his breath back.

"C'mon guys, we should be almost there" Tano states with no signs of exhaustion pointing down the long empty corridor ahead of them.

As she begins heading down the corridor Palon shrugs his shoulders and follows her in while the trooper took another second and proceeded to bring up the rear commenting under his breath "This just gets better and better . . ."

The trio ventured further into the alien warship waiting to encounter a form of security troops but none were to be seen or heard, most likely dealing with the SPARTAN back in the hangar bay. They continue onwards seeing or hearing nothing until, so Ahsoka decides to get in touch with the force in order to find Kail Grodam quicker than searching through every room that could have unwanted residents inside. She closes her eyes and began to concentrate focusing on the midi-chlorians that were seemingly absent despite the fact that she was inside a corvette full of aliens that were all desperate to kill a lone SPARTAN. It didn't take her long the sense the knight's presence and tell that he wasn't too far up ahead of them beyond a hatch twenty meters away, she open her eyes back up and began sprinting towards that particular hatch with the troopers close behind her.

They came up to a hatch, this time with red lighting rather than the standard blue, and tried to get in but it refused to open for anyone, she pounds on the hatch with the bottom of her fist with no results prompting Palon to suggest "We could blow it open with a thermal detonator."

"Let's try something a little more subtle" Tano replies as she activates one of her sabers and began cutting through the hatch door.

Inch by inch she burns through the door making a circle large enough for her and the troopers to pass through until she finally completes the process and pushes through the cut section making her way into a dark room with no visible lights, save for a little lights twinkling from the round ceilings. One by one the group entered the room with weapons at the ready waiting for an ambush at any moment but there was nothing but silence and darkness.

"Ah I can't see a thing" the trooper grumbles under his breath.

Then an audible moan echoed out of one of the corners of the room to which everyone looked over in the direction it came from and followed it, "Get away . . ." the voice groaned.

"Kail Grodam is that you?" Tano whispers trying not to reveal their position to any potential hostiles.

"Get away . . ." it repeated, much louder this time with some authority.

It was then when they began to peer through the darkness ahead of them seeing a dull light shine down on a beaten man in traditional Jedi clothing, "Commander!" Palon exclaims.

Kail was in a severe state of health as blood dripped from his battered wounds but instead of feeling the warm relief of rescue he hisses with coldness in his voice "You fools! You fell for their trap!"

"Trap!?" Ahsoka gasps before a sound of several energy swords dashed the silence away.

She and the two troopers then turned as the lighting grew brighter via remote control at an unknown source and saw three Sangheili in gold, white, and red armor each wielding a dual edge sword in their hand as they slowly approached her and the troopers in a calm manner.

Then they stopped merely five meters away and the one in gold spoke "It takes the skills of a demon to make it this far . . . I am impressed."

Tano had a distasteful look on her as she replies with some confidence "Your friends weren't all that tough if they managed to let a girl and a handful of troopers to get on board."

"Agreed and they have paid their lives for their incompetence. But I can assure you that we are unlike them."

Activating her two lightsabers she brings her blades up to bare and demands "Then prove it . . ."

The Sangheili stares into the Togruta's eyes and obliges "As you wish . . ."

He makes simple hand gestures to his two brethren, pointing them out to their targets being the two clones, and proceeded to step forward entering a combat stance with on foot placed in front of the other and his sword being held at head height with both blades pointed directly at his challenger. She in turns took the same precaution putting her blades up in her usual reversal gripped position just moments before the elite lunged with great speed. With only a few seconds before the sword would impale her, Ahsoka skips to the left dodging the blades and swings up with her right saber nearly decapitating the ranger had it not ducked and roll before coming back up and swing downwards where she raised her left saber clashing with the Sangheili's weapon shooting out jolts of electricity forcing them into a sword lock.

The other trooper, Grimer, found himself facing off with the hinge-head in red armor, Tau 'Lokutamee, in a brief stare down with his DC-15A blaster rifle though after realizing his chances of killing the elite with his rifle before it got close enough to use its blade was very slim to none. So in order to even the odds he tosses his rifle aside and raised up his fists preparing himself for a melee brawl, and perhaps disarm the Sangheili if possible. The major saw this as a challenge of honor and saw no more use for his own sword, deactivating it and latching it to his waist belt, and raised his own four-fingered fists in a similar manner. Grimer makes the first move dashing forward and make a quick upper cut with his right fist, failing miserably as 'Lokutamee effortlessly grasped his arm, and followed up with a fast high kick with his right foot, slamming against the major's stomach and essentially pushed the eight foot alien away. Tau returned the favor by cupping his hands together and immediately rammed them into the trooper's chest like a wrecking ball, knocking him flat out on the ground where he then takes hold of his entire helmet picking him back up, and hurled the clone several feet away making him crash down on the floor.

'Lokutamee chuckles as he approaches the downed trooper "Your heart may be in the right place human, but you still lack discipline and strategy."

The trooper slowly got up to his hands and knees making a snarky remark "Yeah that's what they told me at basics. But here I am kicking your sorry butt around."

The major gave another chuckle before grabbing Grimer by the back of his neck and raise him up to eye level and ask "And what makes you so sure that you are winning?"

"This!" followed up with a rather powerful blow from the clone's right fist impacting Tau's left mandibles making a cringing bone snapping sound prompting the Sangheili to let go and roar in the sudden pain.

Grimer immediately puts some distance between himself and the major who then looks up at the ill-prepared clone and growl "Now you have made things interesting."

Commander Palon on the other end faced off with the first lieutenant, Raku 'Kalomee, firing away with his Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon letting out an unrelenting barrage of laser fire as the Sangheili ducks and sprints behind cover, being other containment units currently vacant, struggling to avoid even a single shot.

Palon roars out "C'mon you split-jaw freak! I still got plenty more where that came from!"

He saw nothing move for the next several seconds until he started to hear heavy footsteps rushing towards him and quickly spots a distorted figure barreling towards his way. He quickly opens up firing a volley of fire downrange striking the figure multiple times until the white armored giant revealed itself as it activates its energy sword and makes a fast right thrust. Palon quickly threw up his blaster cannon letting the two blades to puncture through effectively stopping the sword just short of cutting into his armor and backs away as 'Kalomee grabs the inoperable chaingun and throw it aside. He quickly draws his DC-17 Pistol and continue firing away striking the elite multiple times across his chest eventually cracking the shield and landing more shots onto the armor but the Sangheili was able to get close enough to plunge his blade deep into Palon's abdomen causing him to scream out in pain as he is being lifted up above the floor now looking down into Raku's eyes full of anger and hate.

"You should know that I never take prisoners. So I will make your death slow and painful" 'Kalomee states with a sinister tone in his voice.

Palon grimaced trying to fight the pain burning in his body and utters "Good . . . I don't take prisoners either . . ." before shoving the barrel of his pistol up between the elite's mandibles into its exposed mouth and pulled the trigger.

Ahsoka turned when she heard the shot seeing Raku 'Kalomee and Commander Palon fall to the floor both dead or on the verge of it but she couldn't get to them when Sav 'Artamee takes a wide swing in an attempt to cut her in half but she quickly raises her right handed saber and blocked the incoming blow. The golden ranger immediately changes strategy deactivating his energy sword in exchange for two twelve inch energy daggers built into his wrist gauntlets and makes a fast right hook with his fist hoping to cut deep into the former Jedi who then ducks out of the way in time to marginally avoid the sharp blade. She comes back up and take a couple of slices and swipes towards the Sangheili commander as he ducks and rolls with such fluid momentum until he retaliates a left 'spring-loaded' round house kick slamming into her stomach and sending her back a couple of feet with one hand over her bruised stomach and the other still holding a saber up in defense.

Sav comes up into his normal stance and begins walking over to the togruta stating "You are a fool to side with these pathetic humans. Once I am done with you I will see to it that your world is found and burned into nothing but glass like every other world before and not even your demons can save you from it."

Ahsoka looks up at the approaching elite and remarks "Good thing I don't need saving!" and quickly puts the force to work using her energy to grab and hurl the Sangheili up through air towards the far side of the room.

'Artamee let out a frightful howl as he soared through the air and came crashing down against the floor close to the starboard wall, he soon gets back up afterwards and lets a low growl as he raises his left arm gauntlet, featuring a tactical pad, and pressed several keys resulting in the entire deck to lose gravitational control. Fortunately with the training he gained from becoming a ranger 'Artamee excelled in zero-g environments with his armor's equipment, including his back-mounted thruster-pack and launched himself into the air as he reaches back for an orange-tinted stout rifle with a bulbous front and angled back. The moment he brings it out loaded for bear he takes aim only with his right arm and fires a purple-hued blob of superheated plasma sending it straight towards the Jedi who leaps out of the way, gaining great height with the help of no gravity, as the bolt slams into the ground and detonates creating a small concussive explosion.

She twists herself around before she sets her feet on the ceiling and quickly saw three more bolts incoming forcing her to skip out of the way of the first two and use the force to grasp the third and send it flying back at 'Artamee who quickly maneuvers out of the way letting the bolt pass by detonating against a containment cell destroying its ability to use its anti-gravity restraints.

Sav comes back around for another run and gets in close before firing the last two bolts, the first bolts impacts the ceiling a couple feet from Tano but the second was just close enough that she couldn't have gotten away in time when it detonated next her feet throwing her into the middle of the room and leaving her floating exposed to 'Artamee's attacks. Sav makes a quick roundabout reloading his rifle as Tano holsters her sabers in exchange for the M6C PDWS Magnum and started to fire off rounds, most rounds were on target causing the Sangheili's shields to flicker blue before he started to return fire.

Back on the floor, Grimer was utilizing his Phase-ll Armor's magnetized boots to stay firm to the ground to combat Major 'Lokutamee who seemed to have some difficulties staying grounded while dealing with the stubborn clone. The trooper was sprinting fast closing in one the unbalanced major like a torpedo until he rams his right shoulder into the Sangheili's chest causing him to start floating away from the floor but not before seizing Grimer's arm and pull himself in, activating his wrist-mounted energy dagger, driving his dagger straight into the trooper's chest.

Grimer choked and gasped for air when the single tipped blade pierced his right lung but the pain soon went away and so did his life, 'Lokutamee sets himself on the ground and hurled the dead trooper away before he looks up to see 'Artamee and Tano still fighting it out in the air. He realizes that Sav has a massive advantage over the togruta but he also feared the female's unnatural cunning as she uses the force in her favor to deflect the incoming projectiles launched from 'Artamee's concussion rifle and return fire with a measly handgun but to significant effect. He quickly gets into action using his tactical pad to stabilize the gravity in the room, soon the gravity generators kicked back online resulting in Ahsoka to fall to the ground hard and Sav to unexpectedly drop in altitude but he quickly recovers thanks to his thruster-pack and gently lowers himself to the floor.

The lights then immediately went down enveloping the entire room in darkness, Sav quickly asks "What is happening?"

"A minor power failure sire, the gravity generators require immense power to come back online. The lighting should—"

Sav hears a quick yelp for help followed up by a cringing neck breaking sound and a loud metallic thud of a body hitting the ground to finish things up. Then a plasma weapon is heard primed and ready to fire and a small pattern of blue lights were raised right against the ranger's face.

Ahsoka laid on the ground with an aching pain in her back after the fall but she was also concerned as to what was happening in the darkness, her query was soon answered when the lighting came back on revealing a dead Major 'Lokutamee with his neck twisted, and Sav 'Artamee being held at gunpoint by a towering eight foot giant in unbelievably bulky armor featuring olive drab greaves, a heavily armored gold chest plate with a silver cylinder latched up front, heavy red shoulder pads with heavily armored forearms, and an olive drab helmet featuring a piece of armor latched onto the forehead and a wide open reddish-bronze visor. The sheer size of this being was unbelievable even for her and she could tell that Sav was more angered than he was afraid.

The being spoke in a firm British accent with an aggressive tone "I don't appreciate split mouth freaks mistreating the other end of the gender spectrum."

"Even if you kill me today demon, there will be more to take my place . . . it is useless to even attempt such a feat" 'Artamee states.

"True but at least no one will have to deal with your sorry carcass."

The two giants continued staring into each other's visor until 'Artamee instantly makes the first move launching a left hook slamming against the other's helmet and quickly sends his right hand for the plasma rifle, seizing it and disarming the giant. The other being almost immediately comes back with a response throwing a strong and devastating low blow to Sav's stomach causing the Sangheili to keel over holding onto the impacted area while the rifle clattered onto the floor. The human tries for another blow aimed for the Sangheili's head but 'Artamee was quick to act utilizing his thruster-pack to launch himself into the air and back some ways putting distance between him and the demon. Sav gives one last glance at his former prisoner then activates his thruster-pack one last time and flees towards the exit flying through the hatch as it opens and leaving the scene.

After the situation calmed down, Ahsoka began to stand back up with minor pain in her back and legs but she still couldn't believe that she was seeing another being wearing armor much resembling Longarm's MJOLNIR Mk. V just with a different color scheme and heavier armor attachments compared to Longarm's simple ammunition pouches. This was another SPARTAN.

"Thanks . . ." Tano said appreciatively as the giant simply stared at the exit with no visible response.

That was until he looked back at her over his shoulder and said nothing as he turned his head back forward. He started to walk forward picking up the plasma rifle that was dropped when he punched the elite in the gut and resumed on his way.

"Hey wait!" Ahsoka said holstering her magnum into its respectful holster before she started to follow.

The giant made no response but she quickly realizes his body tensed as she drew closer, then something clicked in her mind prompting her to reach into one of her belt pockets and pull out the photo of Longarm and his closest friend Jorge.

She quickly glances at the photo then up at the giant and said "You're Jorge!"

The SPARTAN stopped and quickly turns around staring down at her through his visor, he then growls "How the hell do you know my name?"

He closes in on her prompting her to take a couple steps back before she shows him the photo and caused him to stop and examine it in silence, only a moment passed before he looks to her and resumes his approach stating "There's only two people I know that has that photo, and you're not one of them."

She began to try and reason with the SPARTAN "W-wait I can explai—" but she didn't get to finish her explanation when he seized her neck and held her up above the floor.

"What did you do!?" he demands as his grip tightens around her throat.

The two then hear the doors open again behind them and a pair of heavy metallic feet came in followed up with "Jorge!?"

The SPARTAN quickly turns taking his captive into a headlock before facing another SPARTAN in black armor dual wielding SMGs in his hands, he quickly asks in shock "James!?"

Ahsoka couldn't get a word out but she reaches out with her right hand while her left held onto Jorge's hulking arms wrapped around her neck like a snake.

Longarm holsters his two submachine guns and raised his two hands up as a sign of nonaggression stating with a calm and collected tone "Jorge . . . let her go . . ."

"You can't be . . . you're supposed to be dead after that battle. . ." Jorge states with utter disbelief.

"I survived, the Vanguard got caught in an energy surge that caused our slipspace drive to jump the ship out."

"How do I know that? How do I know that's the real you!?"

Longarm stops briefly for a moment thinking of a way to validate his survival, he then started to speak in Hungarian "Jorge,-a ' igazán nekem, James" (Jorge, it's really me, James)

"Rendben van bizonyítani, hogy" (Alright prove it)

The black SPARTAN thought for a quick moment the asked "Emlékszel vissza a betakarítás a 2527? Ez volt a negyedik július. Te és én tartották a Szövetség, a fújt ki, míg a rózsa és a kék csapat elmentem robbantani a metán finomítói épület?" (Do you remember back on Harvest in 2527? It was the fourth of July. You and I were holding off the Covenant in a blown out building while Rose and Blue Team went to blow that methane refinery?)

Jorge seemed to have loosened up a tad bit "igen, mi volt futás alacsony-ra lőszer indultunk, hogy esik vissza vár pickup" (Yeah, we were running low on ammunition so we started to fall back waiting for pickup.)

Longarm then began his slow approach "Ez így. És amikor mi volt körülbelül-hoz kap túllépése, kék csapat swoops ben felvette minket közvetlenül az adott hellhole. Ez volt John és Fred fogás a segged, a közlekedés" (That's right. And when we were about to get overrun, Blue Team swoops in and picked us right up out of that hellhole. It took John and Fred to haul your ass into the transport.)

Jorge let out a small chuckle "Ez volt, és mikor Rose robbant a finomító..." (It did, and when Rose detonated the refinery . . .)

"Ez volt a negyedik július nagyfiú..." (That was our Fourth of July big guy . . .)

He slowly looks down at the struggling togruta in his arms asking "Aki az ő majd?" (Who's she then?)

"Ez Ahsoka Tano... barátja" (That's Ahsoka Tano . . . She's a friend)

Ahsoka continued to struggle but with some strength left as the big man started to hesitate on whether or not to release her, he then heard his friend say "rendben van..." (It's ok . . .)

Jorge soon releases her letting her fall to the ground hand over throat as she coughs gasping for air, Longarm moves in and helps her back onto her feet when she said with sarcasm "I'm glad you two had a heart to heart, but did it really have to involve me getting choked?"

"Sorry 'bout that miss . . . you really had me worried" Jorge apologizes.

Longarm glances between the two seeing a motionless Kail Grodam and states "C'mon, let's get him back to the ship."

The other two agreed and they made their way to the containment unit where Jorge deactivates the unit by punching a hole through the unit's power supply with his fist. This resulted in the Jedi to fall from his spot with Longarm standing ready to catch him, but once he fell into the SPARTAN's arms Ahsoka checks for pulse only to find none.

"No . . ." she said in sorrow.

Longarm took a brief moment for Ahsoka to grieve and said "Nothing we could do for him now, we have to get off ship now."

"Couldn't agree more SPARTAN" Jorge replies.

Longarm hefts the Kail's body over his shoulder before he and the trio began to run for the exit in order to make their way to one of the docking tube and escape the Ardent Prayer altogether. Ahsoka takes the lead readying her two lightsabers for action with Longarm behind her and Jorge bringing up the rear, the group continued on their way through the long corridor till they made it back into the hangar bay where the floor was littered with bloodied corpses and wrecked equipment.

"James you didn't bother to leave me some?" Jorge asks comically as they ran pass the bodies.

"I'll be sure to remember that Jorge" he replies.

The group passed the ground floor making their way up the ramp towards the central hatch on the aft end of the corvette when Percival comes in through Longarm's radio reporting "SPARTAN, I've detected an energy spike within the Corvette's engine core, they're preparing to make a jump."

"We're almost out Percival! Once we're off ship I want you to give this thing everything you got!"

"Understood, rerouting power to weapons and charging up MACs."

The group soon passed through the hall heading into the communications enter, also littered with dead bodies, where Ahsoka waves to the two SPARTANs "C'mon we're almost there!"

"C'mon Jorge! Pick up the pace!" Longarm adds.

"I've been restrained to a gravity field for five damn years! My legs are a little stiff!" Jorge roared as he continues to run.

They reached the other end of the communications center entering the last hallway where the docking tube was still attached to the cruiser Royale, one by one the group squeezed into the narrow tube and made their way back across with haste just as an alarm sounds off indicating the tube will detach momentarily.

Longarm cries out "Move!"

Eventually Ahsoka passes through coming down on the familiar flooring of the Venator-class Star Destroyer followed up with Longarm and shortly after Jorge where she then presses the emergency lock switch sitting next to the tube causing the hatch to immediately close before the tube detaches and the vacuum of space sucks them out.

"We're off, let 'em have it!" Longarm barks.

Shortly afterwards, the Vanguard armed her array of Archer missiles and launched them in volleys sending them streaming in slamming against the shields followed up with a one-two punch from the destroyer's dual MAC cannons, both smashing into the shields causing them to flare up in a bright blue. But despite Percival's best efforts to crack the shields and destroy the corvette, the Ardent Prayer opens up a rift into slipspace and entered with full speed leaving no trace behind.

"The corvette has fled . . . I wasn't able to crack their shields in time before they jumped" the AI reports with guilt.

The SPARTAN-ll orders "Track them. I want that ship destroyed before it can cause any more damage."

"Consider it done."

Longarm signs off from the radio and looks down at Ahsoka who was kneeling next to the deceased Jedi feeling helpless and believing she could've done better, soon several troopers arrived, at first seemed surprised by the two hulking giants, before one states "We'll take Commander Grodam back to Coruscant . . . you can accompany us if you want."

Jorge and Longarm looks down at young Tano who stood back up stating "No, we'll be leaving soon. Give my regards to Master Yoda when you arrive."

"I'll see to it personally ma'am" the trooper replied as two clones walked over picking Kail up in their arms and carried him away with the others falling in line behind them.

Longarm sets his left hand on her right shoulder asking "Hey, you alright?"

"No . . . but it's something we all get used to."

The SPARTAN withdraws his hand stating "C'mon everyone, let's get back to the Vanguard. See where the hell that Corvette jumped to" he then turns to Jorge "It's good to have you with us Jorge."

"It's good to know you're still around James, maybe you can bring me up to speed on our current situation. Perhaps even get me some real food and none of that slop the Covenant been feeding me."

He chuckles "We'll see to that big man."

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