Greetings! I've recently gotten to be a bit of a traveler as of late and just got back from a marathon of running around. It's always a blight on your travels when you forget your laptop at home and can't jot down any words electronically. I did bring a notebook though so I have this chapter and the next written down.
Your comments and reviews on the last chapter were most insightful. I do apologize for winding down the action a little bit but for the time being I'm continuing on this path because it allows me the chance to introduce new faces and lay down the foundations for future plot.
As always sit back, grab a bucket of popcorn (or whatever snack you desire) and enjoy.
Chapter 18
Galaxies Opera House,
Uscru Entertainment District, Galactic City, 21:28:00 Hours Local Time,
Coruscant
"We're here." Dax Ordo muttered as he parked their speeder in an out of the way location on top of the roof.
"Have you thought about security patrols?" Zek asked as he dismounted sweeping the cloak over him covering his weapons.
Dax gave a snort. "They don't put that much security up here because nobody would be this stupid to try and sneak in up here."
"Why's that?"
The sloping dome they were walking on suddenly dropped into the sea of swirling traffic, light, and sound that made up Coruscant. Another step and he would have fallen down the slick edge to certain death.
"That's why." Dax said pulling him back. "That and there's nothing on the surface about an opera house worth stealing. There's an ventilation unit over there we can sneak in through." he said pointing out of a large grate that was sent into the side of another dome. "Now how do we get there…"
Zek snorted as Dax pondered how to solve his problem. With a few steps and a massive leap he scaled the distance without any problem. He looked back and saw an amused looking Dax looking back. He pulled something out of a bag and seconds later a grappling hook hit the side of the dome anchoring it. He gave his own running leap and disappeared. He emerged into sight again in a few seconds as he climbed the rope. When he reached the top he collected it and replaced it within the bag he was carrying.
"Didn't know you could pull that type of stunt." he grunted approvingly.
"All of my kind can do this and more. Some of the more athletic ones can go farther. You have a plan to get in?"
Dax took a hold of the grate and with an effort pulled it out of its place.
"Go ahead." he gestured.
Zek stepped inside and almost fell as he stepped to a step drop. Hot air was being thrown against his face and it felt akin to an oven.
"You're going to have to lower yourself down somehow. It's only 12 feet but it's enough.
"Fine then." Zek said and he dropped down. He hit the ground seconds later and rolled forward into an alcove of sorts. Dax joined him a minute later.
"Had to set our escape route." he explained.
"Fine. It's too hot up here."
He gestured to another grate in the floor below in another passage.
"That's our egress. Careful not to make any noise though. Nobody should be out in the hall but you never know what drama plays out outside the opera during the show.
"Been here much?"
"Yeah. I hide out all sorts of stuff here. The guy we met at the bar introduced it to me. Nice place really. The upper class are way too lax and arrogant. They'd never find us or our stuff. Had to park somewhere different though because I almost got caught last time."
He removed the grate from the floor and stuck a head down.
"We're clear." and he dropped to the floor.
Zek followed him and kept a hand on his Plasma pistol just in case. Dax pointed out to him the cameras they came across and they went well out of their way to avoid them.
"The one thing I don't understand is why did he have to put it so **** close to the theater." Dax grunted as they snuck underneath a camera through a maintenance hatch.
"How much farther?" Zek asked impatient to be over with this errand.
"Not much-there." he said as they rounded a bend. They now had sight of a large glass window that ran up a long, slightly curving ramp that led up to the entrance to the theater itself.
There were several expensive looking stone busts interspersed between red, columns. Some busts were framed by fountains in front of them, others by foliage of all sorts.
"Which one?"
"Closest to us. Giant leafy plant. There's a hatch on the other side of that column.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Asked Zek who began to walk towards the aforementioned bust.
"What are you doing?!" Dax hissed and yanked him back just as a Security Officer came around the corner.
They instantly froze, concealed by the shadows. The guard, an aging male looked around for a few seconds then continued on. A younger one emerged from out of sight opposite him. They began discussing something intently and they stopped yards away from them perfectly content to sit and chat.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Dax groaned.
They waited for them to move but they stood idly chatting by.
"Can I pop 'em?" Zek asked unsheathing his plasma pistol.
"What are you nuts? That thing goes off and every audio sensor in this building will be triggered."
"Just a thought."
They were saved by, off all things, some of the drama that Dax had told him about. The guards attention was suddenly seized by a hysterical woman came running down the ramp with tears in her eyes pursued by a very confused looking man who was shouting his apologies to her."
The Guards ran off as she tripped and fell on the floor expensive red floor. They soon disappeared from sight and the coast became clear.
"Perfect," Dax sighed. "We need to move. Fast."
They emerged from the shadows and ran across to the column next to a statue of a beautiful woman who looked longingly at something behind him.
"Hey, as soon as we get this you can buy all the women you want after we get you off of here."
Zek glared at him but joined him behind the column. There was a narrow clearance between the column, them, and the glass window. Dax with some effort located the latch and part of the enormous column swung outwards to reveal a dark interior with a narrow winding series of stairs.
"Come on. In." Dax pointed.
Once they were all in, Dax closed the door and activated a light which he held up. They climbed until they came to the top of a landing where an enormous bag lay. He opened it up and grinned showing it to Zek.
"These are all 5000's. We're rich!" he began stuffing as many as he could into his own bag before giving the larger one to Zek.
A sudden thump shook the column slightly.
"What the ****?" Zek and Dax both said at the same time.
"You leave that here and I'll get our escape route." Dax said.
"How do I know you won't take it and run?"
"Because I need you so that I can get back to the Speeder. You're the only one-"
"Fine. Fine fine fine. I'm going." Zek said dropping his larger bag and descending down the stairs rapidly. Dax to his credit left the light shining down to illuminate his path. He withdrew his pistol and gently pried back the door. Something was against it so he ripped it open and shot the weapon as fast as he could.
He realized that the object he was shooting was already dead. The security guard, the older one they had run across, was almost non-recognizable due to the newly inflicted plasma burns. Something else had killed him. He heard a wet squelch as he pushed him away and saw a pool of blood where the knife that had killed him lay buried in his heart. The other guard lay close to him with his neck at an odd angle.
"They're dead!" he shouted.
"What? Who!"
"The guards, something killed them!"
He joined Zek in staring at the dead guard until they heard soft rushing footfalls coming towards them.
He said something in his native tongue that sounded suspiciously like a curse.
"This isn't good. We need to go. Up the stairs now!"
"And where exactly do they lead?" Zek asked snidely.
"Catwalk, it lead's us to a place where holofilm crews used to record the operas and ballets."
"And where are they?"
"Not here tonight."
They both burst up onto the top of the columns staircase with Dax still holding their light. The glow illuminated off a door at the end of the chamber.
"Through here!" Dax whispered hoarsely.
The door was locked and impassable until Zek shorted out the doors electronic locks with an overcharged plasma pistol shot. It opened with a muffled bang as Zek threw his cloak in front of it to muffle the sound somewhat. They burst into a wide, shadow filled room that had perfect visibility over the entire circular theater. The sound of music and singing instantly muffled out everything. Zek closed the door as best as he could and scanned for an exit.
That was when he caught sight of the assassin.
"Look! Over there!" he called out.
"What is it?" Dax said drawing out his own blaster.
"Over there! On the railing, what is that?" Zek asked. Standing at the edge of a circular railing impossibly high was a black figure clutching a rifle.
"Is that an Assassin droid?" Dax asked trying to make out the figure.
"Who's the gun pointed at?"
"Well the VIP's box is right below us..."
The footsteps were almost upon them now and Zek heard the sound of something opened.
With a sudden burst of realization Dax dove for the exit onto the walkway when the door behind them slammed open and two figures like the one up high above them rushed in.
For a moment they stared at each other, red electronic eyes meeting theirs and Dax lunged for one blasting it over and shot one of them to the ground repeatedly effectively destroying it.
"Get the other one!" Dax yelled as he shot the weapon out of the hands of the other one and grappled with it. Zek rushed out the side of the room and unsheathed his needle rifle.
With a single fluid motion he brought it to bear on the droid and fired. A single crystalline ringing sound drowned out the orchestra for a second and the people still unaware of what was going on.
He saw the six inch jagged projectile explode outwards in a purple flash. It traveled across the distance of the hall in seconds, passing over the heads of the audience, of the performers, until it suddenly slammed into the droid and shatter with a noise of cracking and shattering glass. No effect.
The droid suddenly diverted its attention to its target to Zek and fired. The bolt missed him barely as he dove out of the way. This time he fire three more times. Three more times it slammed into the head but this time stuck.
With a sudden purple explosion and sound of many breaking glasses the droid burst apart as the jagged shards and fragments of blamite crystals exploded every which way.
The audience took note this time and screamed as they realized they were in the middle of a firefight and tried to rush the doors all at once. The opera singers were the loudest as they transitioned from singing to screaming.
Between the chaos and the purple mist, Zek did not see the rocket flying straight at them until it was almost on top of them.
"Move!" Zek yelled as he dove away from the explosive.
Dax rolled out of the way just in time as the floor underneath where he lay exploded in a cloud of dust and rubble. The droid he had been fighting nothing more than small bits. Zek felt himself go temporarily deaf as the concussion punched through his body and exited to shake the rest of the room.
Another two droids suddenly appeared on the Catwalk running towards them.
"I got it!" the Mandalorian called out as he retrieved a small spherical device from his bag and tossed it at the enemy.
Zek rolled up to his feet and withdrew the plasma pistol firing it at the enemy as fast as it would allow. One of them fell and inadvertently kicked the small object back toward them as a high pitched whining sound grew in intensity and frequency.
Dax swore loudly and the rest of the undamaged floor blew out from underneath them.
With a loud crash everything collapsed into the floor below as the floor was incinerated and Zek bounced off the rubble regaining his footing as he rolled away.
He took stock of the room. The only people in the room were well dressed and struggling to remove debris that had fallen blocking the door. Two guards stood protectively in front of an again man in scarlet attire.
"Assassins!" a plump alien with fat blue headtails yelled scrabbling against the door trying to free themselves. "Please don't kill us!"
"Don't shoot!" Zek heard Dax moan as he rolled to his feet slowly.
"We're not Assassins!" Zek cried as the Red Guards fired at him. He rolled and sprung atop of the pile of rubble activating a point defense gauntlet he had stolen from a dead Kig-Yar. The blasts were absorbed by a four foot glowing disc of yellow energy.
"Stop!" the man behind the Guards said and they at once stopped. That did not prevent them from keeping their weapons trained on the two of them.
"Here...let me explain." Dax coughed as he hobbled over.
"You two are thieves, robbers!" said another Alien noticing their loot bag.
"Guilty as charged." Zek snorted. "But we're not trying to kill you!"
A sudden shadowy blur dropped through the hole and rushed towards the group scrambling for the door. A blade in one hand thrust through the first guard's heart while the other clenched a grenade in hand. The second guard suddenly lunged with the gun ready to strike but the blur fired a circular object from a handheld projectile and all but the Chancellor disappeared in a sudden explosion of white smoke. It seized the man in red and started dragging him unaware he had had missed two targets.
Without hesitation Zek drew the plasma pistol and fired an overcharged burst as the figure paused to grab his loot bag that had fallen away from him.
The figure dropped to the ground and oozed wisps of gray smoke and steam as the overcharged shot caught it in the back. An acrid smell filled the air as the plasma cooked the back and charred the skin black.
The man in red suddenly thrust his palm out towards Dax who let out a confused "What?" before he suddenly collapsed unconscious. He pointed his hand and he smoke cleared giving sight to the remaining guard and politicians knocked out by the smoky gas.
He suddenly pointed both palms at the ground and the floor beneath them gave way.
He swore as he suddenly fell again and seconds later was rolling as he hit the ground below. He looked over to see the man had disappeared. He turned his blurred gaze upwards to see the man floating gracefully down with the limp bodies of everyone else falling gently down as well.
"What the." He gasped inhaling as much air as he could trying to find his weapon. "Who are—"
"Now now, you won't need this." The crimson clad man said.
The plasma pistol just beyond his grasp flew backwards as some invisible force kicked it. The gun skittered and rolled out of reach by Dax.
"Who are you!" he demanded seizing the Needle rifle that had landed behind him and brandishing it at him.
The man looked at him rather bored but answered "I am Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic."
"Wait, you're the Chancellor?" He looked at the ceiling above him. There was a mound of rubble slowly arranging itself so that it blocked out the light coming in from the blasted hole. "How are you doing that? You're not a Jedi too are you?"
"Oh please." He said with contempt. "Don't group me in with that lot. The real question is who are you?"
"I'm not answering anything." Zek said getting to his feet hoisting his bag of loot over his back and pointing his gun with one hand. "I'm just going to take this and forget I ever saw you."
"Oh really Zek Lhar?"
He froze suddenly and panic set over him. The man's face had changed. There was something he had seen in the faces of many his scheming brethren, in the faces of individuals like Jul 'Mdama and the late Hierarchs of the Covenant Empire.
"How do you know that?" he asked backing away slowly.
"Your mind is as easy to read as an open book. My my…you have so much anger within."
Zek continued to backtrack slowly. This man, Chancellor or not, did not need to know the details of his life. Ignorance was what kept him alive. Appearing so insignificant that he practically vanished was one of his specialties. And now this man was stripping that away from him.
"Tell me more about why you hate the Sangheili, I do believe that is what they are called no?"
"That's none of your business." he snapped.
The man gave him a kindly smile. "Really now, I'd much rather you answer me honestly. You cannot hide these things from me. It would be much easier for all of us if you were to-"
Zek answered by dropping his loot and shooting at the Chancellor with his rifle. The needle missed millimeters from his head. He shot again and this time the needle flew by on the other side.
Enraged he emptied the magazine at him but again met with no results. He looked up from the scope and to his astonishment saw that the Chancellor had every single projectile surrounding him in a purple cocoon. They suddenly all exploded and the Chancellor still remained unharmed where any normal person would have been torn to a bloody pulp.
He began to laugh. "Good! Good!" he said approvingly. Your hatred gives you strength. Give into it! Strike me down, I am defenseless."
He dropped the gun and sprang at the Chancellor. The Chancellor sidestepped so quickly that Zek went sprawling as he tackled air. He was suddenly conscious of being lifted off his feet and his all his nerves flared to life as an electricity blasted all across his body from the man to him.
How was this possible? he faintly wondered as he writhed under an electric current.
The man began to laugh as he watched Zek begin to writhe under the torrent of electricity seemingly generated from no where.
The pain suddenly stopped and he hit the ground and Zek's eyes and tiny pinpricks of light exploded in his vision as he hit the ground.
"You Jedi scum!" Zek gasped as he picked his head off the ground exhausted.
"I told you I was not a Jedi. Have I lied to you yet?"
Zek gave no answer, too stunned to respond.
"I think," the Chancellor said regarding his hand with some interest "the time for games is over. Now tell me Zek Lhar. Why regard your allies with such hatred?"
"If you think that I'm going to just—"
A sudden burst of invisible energy blasted him from his feet and pinned against the wall. A clamp seized around his throat and he found it impossible to breathe. The Chancellor moved closer with a furrowed brow.
He was suddenly released and he collapsed to the ground coughing.
"Would you like to try again?"
"You!" he spluttered enraged. "You just think that you can abuse me like this? Do you treat all your citizens like this?! Once they know"
The man began to cackle again. "You should know that I am accustomed to getting what I want, Zek Lhar." He said the last two words so silky smooth that it caused a shiver to run down his back. "You have run away have you not? Nobody would care what happens to a runaway pirate. Now. Tell me, why do you hate your allies?"
"Fine!" Zek screamed his composure broken. "You want to know why I hate them? I hate them for what they did to my family! What they did to my business, my ship, my friends! Enslaved me to do their dirty work, treachery! Conspiracy! Blackmail! Torture! Why the **** do you even care?"
The man regarded him as a parent would an unruly child and Zek hated the Chancellor all the more.
"There is a way you can regain all you have lost."
"What?" Zek said weakly trying to comprehend what this man was saying.
"Does the name Darth Sidious by chance mean anything to you? The Sith?"
"Why should I care? No, I don't know him. What's Sidious to me?" he growled.
"Because Sidious can help you obtain what you want. You have lost much Zek. So much..."
Anger flared in the Skirmisher and he hated the man still even more for toying with him.
"You are a failed excuse of a pirate, a mercenary, a flawed assassin, your thoughts and feelings betray you." He said after Zek opened his mouth to protest, "But he can help you regain all that you have lost. You could also, with his help, become something greater than all of these."
There was something about his speech this time that was impossible to ignore.
"How?" he said cautiously. "Where could I meet him?
"Do you not know of the power you possess within you?" the Chancellor said ignoring his question.
Zek actually managed to laugh. "Ha! Good one Chancellor. There is nothing special about me. Hate to break it to you this way."
"Oh but I disagree." With a twist of his hand Zek's garb fell away and revealed his best kept secret. The Forerunner combat skin gleamed in the little light they had.
"This armor you wear… it gives you strength, so much power at your disposal and you know not how to tap it."
Zek struggled to reclaim his cloak floating in the air. "The Sangheili experimented on me, tried to reverse engineer a Forerunner combat skin on to me! It gives me protection, that's it!"
Palpatine regarded this information for a moment. "No. Zek, this skin of yours holds power over the Force." He said simply.
"The Force?" he said blankly.
The Chancellor sighed as he heard someone attempting to breach the chamber they were in.
"It would seem that we have much to talk about in the future. Prepare yourself pirate, we will met again soon. Do not speak of any of this and you will gain all that you desire."
Palpatine within a second had assumed a mask of fear and helplessness around him as Dax and the other politicians around him stirred.
"Oh my head." Dax groaned. He sat up and looked around. "What the—what happened?"
Zek kicked over the corpse he had shot earlier in a sudden burst of anger. The body rolled over to reveal a green reptillian alien. He gave one long seething look at the Chancellor and examined the body of his deceased assassin.
"What the heck is a Falleen doing here?" asked Dax coming over.
He kicked the body over again to reveal a massive black sun plastered on an armband.
"Black Suns." one of the politicians said cowering.
"An attempt at revenge I suppose." the man in red said.
The crimson clad guard woke at this point and promptly pointed his weapon at Zek and Dax. The door suddenly flew open from behind them and they saw red trimmed Clones file into the room securing it.
"Freeze!" one of them ordered and Zek and Dax threw up their hands. "Chancellor is secure."
The man in red protested as he was pushed out the door but he gave Zek a look and he knew that this was not the last time he would see the man.
"Stand down! Stand down already Sergeant!"
The Clone in charge regarded him with some confusion.
"Sir?"
"They're the ones who killed our assassins. Have your men secure the building and let these two go. They've earned whatever they stole." he sniffed.
Zek glared at the Clones and picked up the loot bag but said nothing.
"On behalf of the Galactic Republic you have the thanks of the Chancellery and of the galaxy." said the man before turning with his guards and fleeing with the Clone entourage.
They waited until they were out of sight before Dax collapsed on the ground.
"Praise the maker! I thought we were screwed back there! What happened?"
"I killed their assassin. Come on, I've had enough of this place."
UNSC INFINITY,
Captain's Quarters,
Captain Thomas Lasky
"Roland?"
The AI flashed to life.
"Yes Captain?"
"Have Fireteams Castle and Rapier made it to the War Games room?"
"No sir. They've gotten as far as the armory. The room is still getting set up. Are you really sure about this Captain?"
The Captain said nothing.
"You have visitors outside." said Roland.
A sharp rap at the door followed a second later.
"Enter!" he called out.
Two men and a woman, both extremely tall and pale entered inside and stood at attention.
"At ease Spartan Red Team."
He was in awe looking at them. He had the privilege of seeing the Master Chief and Blue Team on a few occasions but standing in front of him now were the three that had served on the Spirit of Fire.
"Have you all completed debriefing?" he asked trying to move the conversation along.
"Yes Captain. We finished an hour ago."
"How does it feel to be back in the present?"
"Permission to speak freely?" asked the woman.
"Of course."
"Sir, it's going to take a while for us to get used to everything. Thirty years is a lot for us to get used to and I'm not sure I'm okay with the idea of being friends with any Elite."
Lasky nodded.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your names." he said apologetically.
"Jerome." the leader replied crisply.
"Douglas." the tallest said with a slight Asphodellian accent.
"Alice." the woman replied last.
Lasky nodded again.
"I've asked you to come on board to assist me in a matter that's close to my heart. Roland if you please."
Three chairs emerged in front of his desk and they each took one. The chair creaked slightly as it bent slightly underneath the weight of the Spartans.
The lights dimmed and a live video scan replaced the emptiness of his desk.
"Since the Spartan IV program has been introduced every candidate has performed admirably enough for the Project to be considered a success. Enough is the key word.
I've heard and seen enough about you and the other two's to know we could never create the saviors of mankind that you were. But we are trying. The eventual goal is to enable them to take up the mantle you've left them. However, I'm concerned that it's a mantle some are not ready to carry."
A holographic representation of a Pelican started playing on his desk.
"—and unfortunately we've already suffered tragic loss."
The Pelican on the desk was suddenly swarmed by enemy AA fire. It veered in vain as it tried to escape but it was too late. It staggered midflight and fell to the ground in a fiery blue representation of an explosion.
"The first major incident we had was when we lost an entire team going to resupply a science base on Requiem, which, I hate to say, is the least saddening group of deaths we've had."
Other clips started playing, this time of live time feed taken months previous. In it a group of Spartans was being pinned down by Promethean Knights. One of them without a helmet suddenly took a round and vanished. The clip changed to a team of Spartans boldly rushing out of cover before one was cut down by a Promethean Knight.
"Others lost their lives due to preventable reasons."
More clips played and Lasky watched their reactions.
When he had gotten to a particularly graphic one he stopped.
"The Brass considered our mission to be a success but there's still the matter of all those deaths easily. **** even more recently we had one turn on his own teammates and killed them and nearly killed me. Around thirty are dead now. The others could have still been living on this ship right now as we speak. Critics of the program say that the IV's are nothing more than ODST's clad in MJOLNIR, not Spartans."
He stopped and looked up.
"Tonight we're running a full War Games simulation to showcase every Spartan with their combat talent. The odds are heavily stacked against two teams of Spartan III's. You are going to watch and tell me what you see. Tonight I'm trying to see the potential of our new additions but there's another reason why I've done this."
"Captain."
"Yes Spartan?"
"Is it my understanding that we are going to be training them?" Jerome asked.
Lasky was slightly startled the Spartan knew what he was going to ask of them but breathed a small sigh of relief.
"Yes. I'm asking you, for the time you serve on this ship anyways, to help train them. Many of these deaths like I said were preventable which makes your job all the more important. If we get into another war, which I will remind you we are at this very moment at war, we'll need every single one of them.
Tonight I wanted you to see how they all work together, how they function, how they cooperate. I'm leaving many of the details of they are trained up to you but your job, should you chose to accept, is to make these Spartans better. I don't expect them to be like you in any regard, that's just something we can't repeat again. If we could prevent more deaths though, I will have considered this venture successful."
Lasky stopped and looked at each of them.
"Will you do this for me, for your brothers and sisters in arms?"
Jerome sat still for a long time staring at an image of one the Spartans being decapitated by a heavily scarred Elite. He looked over to each of his teammates before nodding.
"We're in."
Lasky leaned over.
"Roland, bring up live feed of the War Games room."
A screen emerged at the back and expanded showcasing them the map they were to be playing on.
"The Fireteams are entering the launch room now. The board is set Captain."
"Thank you Roland. You and the other AI's play nice now."
Roland gave him an amused look.
"You say that like dumb AI and an AI like myself-"
"Roland, F.I.L.S.S. was a gift from ONI, however frustrating you may find her.
At that moment F.I.L.S.S. interrupted them." Captain, the match will be starting in t-minus three minutes."
Lasky gestured at the wall facing him and the screen suddenly displayed a closed curcuit camera view of their board. The three Spartans adjusted their chairs and all sat awaiting the match to start.
They watched as the doors slid open and on two separate halves of the screen Fireteam Castle and Rapier walked out into an immense expanse. The terrain was not in their favor at this moment. They would have a head start and a weapon drop awarded to them but after that it would be a hard slog fighting through their comrades who were equipped with everything Infinity had to offer. If he were on that field he would be trembling as teeming hordes of Spartans punished the slightest error with instant "death"...again and again
"May God help them all." Lasky whispered.
UNSC Infinity
War Games Room:
21:28 Hours
"This it?" Hansu asked as they approached a door.
Said door had a sign flashing above it declaring,
ROOM IN USE! NOW PLAYING: THE GORGE (F.W. SECTION 2B)
"Fireteam Castle, please proceed through the door and await further instructions." F.I.L.S.S. said obnoxiously over the speakers.
Will stared hard at the nearest loudspeaker.
"I pity the poor ONI organization that created her. Probably gave it to us to try and be rid of her."
"I heard that Spartan Gunther." F.I.L.S.S. said.
The team burst into laughter and William pointed a finger gun at the speaker and pretended to shoot it before he opened the door and proceeded in.
It was dark except for several blue lights illuminating a rectangular spot where they were to all stand. They all gripped the weapons they had obtained from the training armory above the War Games deck and waited.
The floor they were standing on suddenly began rising upwards slowly. Above them a door opened up and bright light filled the shaft they were ascending.
They reached the top and William's eyes took in the surrounding territory.
They were standing on top of a rocky bluff that felt exposed. Behind them was a shear rock wall that climbed upwards at an impossible angle. If he had a jetpack he could maybe do something to scale it. To their left the bluff curved around and became a rock fall which one could scale with some effort up or down.
Opposite them the ground rose up some distance away and leveled out into a small mesa dotted with several sparse looking conifers. They were good, sturdy trees though and would provide some cover if needed. There was also a great deal of rock that looked like it could provide an excellent space to set up shop if Rapier didn't get to them first.
"Well they picked a wonderful place for us to start." Felix snorted.
"Come on. Let's get off this rock." Will said.
"If we're going to fight out our entire ship they should have given us more to work with." Chelsea added.
Will eyed the weapons they all had. It was true, what they had on hand was not enough to fight in a long term engagement. The Quartermaster in the training armory had firmly said that they were only allowed to take two weapons with a maximum of six clips each. The grenade limit was capped at eight, special grenades and items would take the place of one of the grenades, and they were allowed three "power" weapons. What made the team the angriest was that there were not allowed to access Covenant or captured Forerunner weapons that the others would have full access to.
"Castle Three, see if you can't see what's going on at the other end of the canyon."
Hansu nodded and grabbed the only sniper rifle they were allotted. He hoisted the scope to his face and scanned the area way off in the distance.
"Are we on a Halo ring?" Chelsea asked confused.
They looked towards the Horizon and were met with the sight of part of the ring rising up into the sky."
"Uhh I didn't bring my spaceship on this one." Elizabeth said.
"Forget about the ring. We complete the mission." Asher said bringing the focus of the group back.
"Ralph, is there a way you can change the charge of the rockets?" Will asked looking to make his teammates busy.
"Change sir?" Ralph asked confused.
"If we're going to fight every single Spartan on the ship we need to do everything we can to even the odds."
Ralph took one the twin tubes of rockets slung over his back and fiddled with it for a second. A second later and the casing of the M19 102mm high-explosive, shaped-charge surface-to-surface missile popped open with a loud hiss.
"Alright, she's open. You're all going to want to back away. If this is anything like the real deal then we all have a chance at being blown up."
"But didn't the Quartermaster tell us everything was filled with some sort of paint?" Brittany asked. "You'd probably just be painted to death, not decapitated."
Will frowned. His actual words were more like a macabre joke tying Van Gogh and bullets together but he did explain in detail that being hit by one of these rounds was not lethal but stung and made life challenging. Paint that hardened into rock and paralyzed. Really, someone ought to get a genius medal for that one.
"Hey Felix, come up over here and tell me what I'm looking at." Castle Six ordered.
The Engineer sprang forward and the two of them obscured the open rocket.
Will brought up his DMR and searched the surrounding area.
"How long is this going to take? We still need to relocate."
"Match starts in, t-minus two minutes." F.I.L.S.S chirped.
"Not that long, the question is a matter of how fast we can do something that could make this thing explode at any second. It looks like we can't edit the actual warhead, figures, but we could add some stuff."
Will lowered his rifle and the other three Spartans not doing anything spread out to watch the surrounding area.
"He bent over and saw the rocket indeed had more room. The heavy explosive charge normally found in the tip was replaced with a smaller purple block. The charge had obviously been changed to make it non-lethal. As a result the rocket only carried a small weight in the back to help balance out the projectile."
"I got an idea." He said after a second.
"Shoot Commander."
"How large is the explosive charge inside a grenade?"
"I don't know, let me see."
Ralph picked up a grenade from off his belt and examined it. He gave it to Felix who in a second had cracked it open.
"Careful now." Ralph urged as Felix exposed the interior of the grenade.
The charge, like the rocket, had been changed to a small rectangular block of volatile paint with a weight added to make the device feel like a real thing.
"I think that could fit." Will said.
With a steady hand Ralph disconnected it from the primer and set the block inside the rocket casing. A little finagling with the ignition and he sealed it up.
"Aww yeah!" Ralph said gleefully as he sealed up the rocket and handled it. "This thing is going to have double the explosive power."
"What about the grenade Commander?" Felix asked.
"Put the extra weight in that one. It'll be a dud but if we get a few people thinking that all we have are duds…"
"We can use the real ones to greater effect!" Ralph finished.
"Pack it up though. We have little time to get to a better place."
The two of them started packing it up and Will gestured to the rest of them to follow.
"Match begins in t-minus one minute." F.I.L.S.S interrupted them again.
He led the way left and to the rock fall. Hansu reported after running ahead that there was a wall immediately at the top of the hill.
"Down or left?" Asher asked.
Will led the way down and they all moved quickly to the other side of the valley. He suddenly noticed that there was a well tread path that ran perpendicular to their destination. His eyes followed them until they opened up into a rocky arch that opened up onto a sandy beach. Beyond it an island with a jagged rock spire rose up.
"Think we could move over there?"
Will stared hard at the Cave and the island above. There were certainly places to create traps but the Cave looked like it was a good place to be trapped. The island beyond was tempting as well but like the cave something about it didn't give Will a good feeling.
"No. Let's see if we can't scale the cliffs on the other side. There should be a better place to take up residence.
"War Games commencing." F.I.L.S.S informed them.
"Elimination! Last team standing wins." Jeff the War Games AI immediately spoke.
A tiny part of the ceiling suddenly changed to reveal a clock counting down.
3
2
1
A fourth beep filled the air and almost immediately he turned his head and saw the barrel of a sniper sticking out of a tree with the rest of Fireteam Rapier gathered around in defensive positions.
"Sniper!" Will shouted and they all scattered as Rapier's sniper fired twice. The rounds nearly clipped Brittany but a quick shove from Hansu saved her from being dropped.
Hansu returned fire with a single bullet and Rapier returned fire keeping Hansu from taking more shots at them.
"Come on!" Asher urged them and they disengaged and made for the cliffs on the opposite side.
They traded fire with Rapier who was scrambling for a different place to hide.
Elizabeth was the first to get hit with the paint. Emily had sent another round whizzing through the air that only missed by another fraction of an inch. It exploded upon a tree and the "fragments" of paint peppered her left arm with tiny purple dots.
"Guys it hurts and my left arm is harder to move." She announced matter of factly before she was almost plastered by another round from a DMR courtesy of Rapier One.
"Can you pick it off?" Will asked as they began to scale the low foothills.
"It's hardened sir." She said after a minute of trying to scratch it off.
"I say we don't get hit." Brittany decided at once trying to help Elizabeth along.
"This paintball on steroids." Felix murmured.
"Commander, we got a ledge we can camp ourselves on 50 feet ahead of us. Lots of cover and rocks and we got a couple trees I can scale." Hansu announced.
"Roger that. Castle Two, take Five through Eight up and hunker down for a moment. I'll take Hansu and Chelsea to scout out an escape route."
They clambered atop a large outcrop that had much more cover than their original spot. It was also slanted upwards along the edge providing security from those who would attempt to attack from below. Several boulders large enough to conceal several Spartans lay scattered around and the two trees growing bravely into the side of a cliff sent its towering branches skyward. Behind them looming overhead another shelf of rock served to help create a potential trap for anybody who would venture up.
Will was more interested in having a backup plan in case they were overrun which, given their current circumstances was highly likely.
He crossed over to the other side of the outcrop and hoisted himself up a protruding rock into the cliffside and stopped for a second to make out any possible threats below.
That's when he saw their opposition.
"Uhm guys?" Hansu asked nervously.
Will zoomed in and took in the scene.
A large door had appeared at the end of a large beach and was opening upwards temporarily breaking the illusion of being on a Halo ring. Teams of four or five would stream in at periodic intervals and start moving slowly towards them.
"There are at least a Hundred coming towards us. Should we just raise the white flag now?" he said sardonically.
His HUD flashed with the image Hansu had just taken with the scope on his sniper.
"Oh crap." Brittany announced for all of them.
"I've heard of insanity and more insanity but this is insanity!" Chelsea protested.
"And we'll get it done." Asher said without any trace of fear.
"Even you got to admit this is suicide." Hansu said.
"There's suicide and then there's suicide." Asher replied.
A sudden whir jolted Will from his observation of his enemy and he spun around to see a pyramid structure emerging from the ground to his left. Multiple blue dots beeped into existence and Will looked over.
"I am officially not okay with this!" Hansu protested having joined next to Will.
"Let's go then." Chelsea said.
"Wait wait wait! This has to be a trap!"
The dots suddenly became weapon markers.
"So you're saying that the largest weapon drop I've ever seen is a trap." Hansu said dubiously.
A green icon suddenly flashed to life on his HUD over the pyramid which resolved itself into a 45 second timer.
"What do you think happens at the end of that timer?" Will asked.
"It disappears?" Chelsea guessed.
Will decided against his better judgment to go for it.
He raised his weapons and charged towards the pyramid keeping his vision open for any sign of a threat.
They reached the pyramid at 20 and fanned out. A gravity lift in the bottom of the base lifted them up into a massive second floor that was filled with weapons and ammunition
"Quick! Grab the snipers and ammo!" Hansu ordered.
"Commander what's going on?" Asher asked.
"Christmas apparently came early." Will grunted as he began picking up as much ammunition as he could and throwing it onto his person.
"Get back soon please." Asher asked.
He continued raiding the paint rounds and started to think about what else he could grab with what time they had left.
"What do you guys have?" Will asked as he seized a Railgun and Sticky Detonator and grabbed ammunition for each.
"Lots of ammo for everything. I've grabbed all the grenades." Hansu asked.
"Commander the ammunition is pretty universal for all the guns we have here." Chelsea added.
"Hostiles are within in range of Sniper fire if you ever get down here." Felix announced from the cliff face.
"Get clear with what you have!" he ordered.
They dropped to the floor below via a hole in the floor and they cleared themselves away as the pyramid began to descend.
They emerged with their loot and began to pile it against a large boulder.
"Thanks for the ammo." Ralph said taking several grenades from Hansu and changing the charges on them.
"Everybody take something." Will announced as he dropped his load. "Castle Three, pick a target and fire at will.
Hansu picked his way up the slanted rock and waited.
"Anybody want to join him?" Chelsea asked brandishing a sniper captured at the pyramid.
"I'll join him." Asher volunteered.
"I could use the Railgun." Brittany said hesitantly.
Will tossed it to her with the ammunition and she set up next to Hansu and Asher.
"Elizabeth, take the detonator and set up a couple traps for anybody who tries walking up here. Felix, you go with her." He said tossing the small weapon to her.
"Aye boss." Felix answered for the two of them and they picked their way down to set up an ambush for anybody daring enough to come up here.
He turned around as Asher suddenly fired a round.
"Nice shot." Hansu complimented. He then put another three bullets into the distance.
Will crawled up the incline to lookout over the valley just as they finished. He watched as two Spartans froze suddenly where they were covered with purple paint.
"Oh sweet, they do freeze up!" Brittany said with a laugh.
Nobody had seemed to notice yet that two Spartans were frozen. It was only when Brittany tried sniping with her Railgun that they noticed. William watched as her shot soared into a cluster of Spartans and promptly freeze two after they fell to the ground. The rest of the Spartans scattered and Asher and Hansu promptly picked three more off.
"Hey Will, the grenades have been changed out." Ralph announced from behind him.
"Roger that. Take something heavy and meet up with Castle Four. Send Elizabeth back up here as well while you're at it."
Will turned his attention to looking for Fireteam Rapier. They still had one team to deal with that was nearby. They could be a potential hazard.
"Where are you..." he muttered as you scanned the rocks opposite them. His eyes followed the contour of the rocks upwards to the rockfall they had climbed down.
A sudden flash of purple and he ducked down as the round passed over him. He popped back out and looked hard for the shooter.
Kevin's prone figure was flattened against one of the rocks in the rockfall. Will returned fire once and Kevin rolled away. Rapier suddenly emerged out behind many of the rocks and Will was forced to take cover.
"Rapier three o'clock low!" Will called out. Asher turned instantly towards them and fired with Hansu. The rounds missed as they were forced to scramble for more cover.
"We got eyes on Rapier!" Chelsea called out over the comms.
"Roger that Four. Castle Three! How's the enemy advance?"
"They're almost within range of our other weapons." He said after another successive three cracks. He threw an expended clip down and slammed a new one in.
"Wait! Scorpion!" Asher suddenly called out.
"Duck!" Hansu cried.
A sudden deafening explosion rocked their cover and for one frightening moment Will thought they would all fall to the Earth below. Through his scope Will saw Rapier suddenly drop their offensive and scatter as they saw the Scorpion tank rolling up the valley with a protective screen of Spartans protecting it.
"How the heck did they get a Scorpion tank here?" Hansu asked incredulously as the tank rolled into sight of them.
It fired again and the rock cliff behind them turned bright purple.
"I got it!" Brittany said and she fired her railgun.
The round impacted the forward tread and it suddenly froze. The other three were still in working order though and the tank promptly changed its attention to her. She gave a little yelp and rolled as the round plastered the ground where she had been.
"Six do you have eyes on that Tank?"
"Uh yes sir. Working on getting a bead on it." Ralph said tensely.
Will heard the sound of the M41 fire and the tank suddenly stopped as it was encased in a massive purple blob.
"Ha ha! Score one for Castle!" Ralph called out. "Smart idea you had changing out the grenades."
"Thanks for taking care of the tank."
Will did a double tank when he heard Kevin's voice suddenly break in.
"Rapier Lead? What are you doing on an our channel?" Will asked.
"Well…let's be honest Castle One. Trying to fight you and everyone else, it's kind of unproductive. It's us versus them and we have visual on some enemies trying to flank you guys around the other cliff. How about we team up for the time being?"
Will allowed a small smile.
"Sure. Just be warned we have two snipers ready to freeze you into purple blocks."
"We know. We're lighting up our FOF tags."
Kevin, Julianne, Micheal, Emily, and Sophie all lit up suddenly in a structure that William was positive wasn't there before when they started. It was a tall tower with multiple windows allowing for an unparalleled view of the valley below set on the other side of the rockfall. A long bridge spanning both ends of the canyon allowed them access into their backdoor.
"When did you get that?"
"Just now Castle One." Kevin responded.
"Kudos to getting the better spot than us." Asher said grudgingly.
"Anything for you Castle Lady." Micheal said.
"Micheal go back to spotting targets please. Targets trying to flank you are down by the way. " Julianne said irritated.
"Ahem." Kevin coughed. "We'll be in touch Castle."
The connection cut and Will turned his attention to the enemy tide.
"When exactly did they get so many people?" he asked as he began to pick a target and fire. The shields on a Spartan wielding a Fuel Rod Cannon collapsed and he fell to the ground frozen and immobile.
"I'm here Commander." Elizabeth said from behind him.
"Good. How's your arm?" Will asked as she joined on his left.
"Can't really move it. That paint is pretty insane stuff. Hard as a rock."
"Can you hold a weapon?" he asked frowning as he observed a large group of Spartans get to some decent cover.
"Yeah I can fire provided they don't—"
She suddenly jerked back her left shoulder suddenly exploded into purple paint that swallowed most of her up.
"Oh my gosh Liz is down!" Brittany called out scrambling over to her.
"Don't call me Liz." she grumbled over the radio. "This paint freaking sucks. Tag the guy already! Brittany I'm fine, get back to picking them off!"
Will scanned in earnest looking for the sniper as Brittany scrambled to pick targets off with the Railgun.
"Switch out your weapon Eight. I got a feeling we'll need it later."
She did so and started sniping with a DMR.
He found the sniper crouching on one knee and almost caught a round to the face himself.
There were four Crimson Spartans using a bulbous rock for cover, each with a DMR, Battle Rifle, or a Sniper and they were all waiting patiently for one of Castle's members to appear. He needed them to scatter.
"Castle Six I need you to get some of those dud grenades up here on the double!" Will called down to his team waiting below.
"On it sir."
Will turned his attention to time being to focusing on the other Spartans moving cautiously towards them. They were in range of most of Castle's armament and could finally see where their opposition was. Half of them was splitting off to deal with Rapier while the other half was trading fire with Castle. The air above them now hissed with purple splotches as the rounds soared overhead. They were doing a good job of keeping their flexibility hindered but they still had to contend with Castle's own ability to strike back.
The field was now becoming more and more littered with frozen bodies paralyzed by the paint. Will had finished taking two down when Ralph ran up next to him. He regarded Elizabeth for a moment before presenting four dud grenades to Will.
"This enough Commander?"
Will picked one up.
"We'll see. Two and Three! I need cover fire!"
Asher and Hansu promptly shifted their attention over to the Crimson Spartans while Will picked a grenade up, pulled the useless pin, and threw it as hard as he could. The grenade soared high into the air and landed right next to them. Will watched as they suddenly panicked and threw themselves away from the grenade,
Right into Will's crosshairs.
He fired twice but was frustrated when one of the Spartans suddenly spawned a massive shield of energy into existence as they realized they had fallen into a trap.
"What the heck?" He growled.
He fired over and over with the shield slowly becoming a darker shade of red. The Spartans all scrambled backwards until they were in the safety of another much larger rock. They would at least have to deal with Rapier now.
"They have shields now?" Asher asked.
"Must be something Infinity only has." Will grumbled.
"Commander we got a problem!" Castle Three suddenly yelled.
He looked over to where he pointed as no less than 12 Warthogs suddenly crested a rolling hill suddenly going airborne.
Hansu let out a curse and Will didn't even care at that moment.
"Aim for the drivers and gunners! Four! Seven! Get up here you'll be chewed out if they reach you!" he ordered and promptly hit one of the drivers in the face with a serving of paint.
Acknowledgement lights winked in his HUD followed by the reappearance of Chelsea and Felix.
Brittany's railgun fired again and one of the Warthogs suddenly careened left as the driver froze in place hitting another one and throwing it slightly off balance.
"What I wouldn't do for a Laser." Castle Six said wistfully before grabbing the M41 and aiming at where he thought the Warthog would go and fired.
The rocket travelled towards a duo of Warthogs driving side by side. The drivers saw them too late and everyone dived out of their Warthogs as the projectile slammed into the first one causing it to explode. The second one now driverless flipped to one side and promptly rolled obscuring the Five Spartans from sight.
"Was that Majestic we just took out?" Castle Eight asked.
"No they're not dead." Hansu answered. "We just wrecked their face though."
"Keep firing! The other 'Hogs are almost here!" Will ordered.
Will had to forget about the LRV's when two beetle like shapes crested over the same hill as the Warthogs and oriented themselves towards Castle.
"We got Wraiths!" Chelsea called out.
The two Wraiths suddenly fired and the largest blob of paint Will had yet seen came arcing down towards them.
"Move!" he called out shoving the others into motion. "Go go go!"
They all flattened themselves as the shots soared into the rock below them.
"Can I say this is insane?! Who the heck comes up with this stuff?" Felix protested angrily.
"We still got the Hogs to deal with!" Will said turning his attention to the now much closer Warthogs.
"Forgot about them Will! We're going to have the path up here swarmed in a second!" Asher pointed out.
"Fine. Pack it up Castle! Fall back to higher ground." Will gave the command reluctantly.
He tried moving Elizabeth but the paint had evidently frozen her to the ground. He contented himself with her weapons and asked her again if she would be okay.
"Commander just go. I'll be fine." she said finally and Will retreated.
They all moved as fast as they could ducking beneath a hail of purple as they moved up the path. They scrambled backwards until Will and Asher planted themselves by two rocks forming a rough bottleneck. The others turned a bend to the left and planted themselves on top of the rocks looking down on the path that led up to their previous camp.
It was silent for a second as the weapons firing at them fell silent and the sound of the Hogs suddenly died away. The Wraiths had moved on to Rapier's position and Will wished them good luck silently.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud shout followed by a series of concussive booms and finally finished with an enormous pile of paint soaring upwards into the air and back down onto unseen enemies.
Ralph let out a whoop of laughter from above him and Will grinned.
The grin was suddenly wiped away as an enormous surge of twenty something Spartans charged up firing weapons at Asher and Will.
Will picked up all the dud grenades given to him and hurled them down one at a time while the rest of Castle opened up.
The duds soared down right into the middle of the tide which, like the Crimson Spartans, suddenly panicked and dove away from a explosion that would never happen.
It did give Will and the others time to rain purple death upon their foes. To their credit the Spartans put up an enormous fight but the first wave lay frozen after a few tense minutes.
"Anybody else?" Hansu asked after a second.
"Ammo check." Will said capitalizing on the momentary absence of enemies.
"I'm good on everything." Felix announced.
Chelsea declared she had a full shotgun she was ready to use, Ralph was halfway out of rockets and they only had live grenades left. Hansu had the least with minimum sniper ammunition and slightly more DMR ammo. Brittany was nearly out of Railgun ammunition and was relying on the Battle Rifle she had brought, Asher was fine, and Will had not expended enough for his liking.
Another two waves passed like the first and Will was beginning to wonder whether their strategy would change.
Will picked up the Sticky Detonator and fired it at a rock that encroached on their path. To pass they would need to get past that. No longer an easy task. The projectile hit the rock with a muffled thump and stuck awaiting Will to pull the trigger to detonate it. He set it down carefully and retrieved his DMR and waited.
The fourth wave was smarter.
When they all charged several Spartans had the genius idea of going first wielding those shields deflecting everything from small arms fire to a rocket from Ralph. Will theorized from their behavior that they were made of physical light. As he lobbed a grenade over the shields he inadvertently triggered the remote charge he had been saving for a more desperate time. Granted he didn't want to waste the limited ammo but it was still a small victory when the middle of the enemy column suddenly was painted in purple. It wasn't the worst thing they had dealt with but it certainly made their impossible job a lot harder. The shields winked out after a few seconds wherein they retreated and poured fire down their direction. Will had ordered the rest of Castle to stay in hiding for the moment to catch them off guard. Just a little more.
The only thing the first two members of Castle said during any of this was calling out their reloads or warning each other of danger. It had been so long since they had last fought together but Will felt a thrill as he began to fight with her like they had before. They were all a team but Will and Asher together were a ferocious duo that turned the rocky path ahead of them into a killing ground.
"Watch your left! Rocket jockey taking a knee." Castle Two warned.
Will changed targets accordingly but he was unable to prevent two rockets knifing their way. He had to duck for cover and gave up valuable time.
The enemy surged once again and Will flicked an acknowledgement light three times.
At that moment the rest of Castle chose to reveal themselves at once flanking them and dropping six or more instantly. The rest retreated out of danger and regrouped.
"That's right you punks! Can't siege a Castle now can you!" Castle Six taunted from above.
"That's enough Six." Will said trying to theorize how to set up for this next wave. He could survive in a prolonged fight for a little bit more but at this point he would have to start making his shots count more and more. His ammo counter in his HUD said 248 but he knew that those would be gone soon.
"This time I want everyone firing. Understood?"
Green lights winked at him.
"You get the feeling that they're just testing us so far?" Castle Two spoke privately to him.
"Who? The Captain? Palmer?"
"The Spartans Will."
"Right, sure. I think they've been bloodied enough to know we're a decent threat."
"We've taken down at least 50 so far."
He nodded but waited for the time being.
"You guys ready?" Will asked.
A sudden force seized upon his throat and close of any answer.
"I am." said a deep resonant bass voice that was definitely not Castle.
A cloaked figure suddenly appeared right next to Will with a gun barrel to Asher's face and a knife at Will's throat.
War Games, close encounters of the Sith kind, and a cliffhanger. Oh my. Any guesses as to who this cloaked Spartan is? Closest guess gets a batch of cookies.
Your comments are always appreciated and I love having reader input. It keeps my own ideas evolving into something much more than what it was before. Feel free to send me a PM. For those of you who are asking whether I will rewrite, I will. If I get time I will certainly rework the original chapters from before, but for now please enjoy the current story.
Before I go, many thanks are due to gwb99 for his work in assisting me as a beta reader and as the guy who made me turn out a longer chapter for you guys instead of a much shorter one. All characters that are his are used with special permission and vice versa. I would encourage you to go check out his work.
Peace.
Theotherpianist