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Maddie "The Viper" Harper
August 11th, 2552
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26:30 Hours
A Phantom flew by with its search light on, sweeping the area for us as we kept our backs tight to the cliff face. When it moved on, Jun emerged from a concealed rocky outcrop just ahead of our position and watched the dropship pass by the far side of the mountain. He turned his faceplate towards us and nodded to Bee, who followed Jun along the cliff edge, being careful to avoid any loose stones.
Below us, Grunts slept soundly as Elite sentries lazed about, muttering insanely about life at the front and the dishonour of sneaking around.
Jun took a knee: "Recon Team Bravo reporting: Three and Six in position. It's starting to get crowded up here, Kat."
"Then we're closing in. Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary." Cat said over the radio.
"Copy that. Jun replied with a chuckle, "When Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary."
Jun handed Six a magazine of sniper rounds, a pack of his most prized possessions.
"Here. You may need these. High-velocity, armour-piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at two thousand yards. And they ain't cheap."
Nico shifted behind me, the first time he'd made any noise in about twenty minutes. From his behaviour in these last weeks, I would need to be forgiven for thinking he couldn't keep his mouth shut on-mission but I was now acutely aware that this was a highly trained operative I was working with, not the petulant child I had known six years ago.
Jun and Six took the lead, heading further along the ledge until they reached a boulder and began to climb it.
"Mm. I'll be in touch." he said, pointing to a tiny, almost insurmountably small trail above us.
Bee motioned to us to wait and we paused. He slid down the ledge to the ground below, barely a noise made as he ducked behind a Bush and we watched him get to work on the small squad of Covenant that had taken up position on the plateau.
Cat's voice did nothing to startle Bee, who moved silently around the small camp. "Recon Bravo, the sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance."
"Can the Covenant block our instruments?" Jun asked.
"So it would seem, and Command wants to know what they're hiding."
Bee moved forward, taking a wide route up along another ledge to where an Elite stood watch over the ridge below. With his back facing us, the few Grunts sleeping nearby died almost peacefully as Bee carved them apart, one by one.
"It's like artistry, isn't it?" Nico asked, kneeling beside me.
I couldn't help but nod as I watched the silent ballet unfold in front of me.
"Elite. He's yours, do it quiet." Jun said, his voice as chillingly monotone as ever.
Bee jammed his knife into the left side of the elites back, drawing it right and severing its spine. The Elite quietly gurgled an order to its troops who were already going cold and sputtered as Bee slammed the knife silently into its trachea.
Meanwhile, Jun rejoined Six, dropping from the ledge above as life fled the Elites eyes.
"Not bad." he said, toying with the creature's head using his foot.
"Come on," I said, moving to the edge of the ledge, "they'll leave us behind if we don't keep up."
"Yes, Ma'am," Nico said, cheerfully. He followed me down the ledge, keeping pace as we moved quickly towards Bee and Jun.
Ahead, Bee eliminated a pack of grunts with Jun, the Grunts barely yelping as they were cut down and their killers continued forward down a path, slowing as we caught up and taking a knee. We had reached a Covenant-controlled complex, the occupants having abandoned it long ago.
Or been killed.
If anyone else present was curious about the building's previous owners, they didn't appear to be showing it. Jun rested his rifle on a rock and scanned the area:
"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, stand by for a contact report." He said, training the barrel on an Elite Captain.
"Standing by to copy, over." Kat replied, coolly.
"We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. This what we're looking for, Kat?"
"Negative. Too small, you're not in the dark zone yet. Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving."
"You heard her, Six. Drop those tangoes."
Nico shifted, springing forward as Bee ricocheted a shot off a wall, the bullet smacking into an Elite's cranium for several hundred yards. He dropped down from the ledge and began heading forward, going unnoticed by the panicked enemy who tried to work out where the Elite's were being clipped from.
I followed him in, sliding neatly into the brush and crouching low as I carefully circled around his left flank, gripping my SMG tightly as the covenant began to rally. Several of them charged forward and we took that as a good time to intervene. As they ran by us, the last elite was killed and Nico gunned three down before they could open fire on Jun. I took care of the rest, slotting a few rounds into the grunts as they spun on their heels and turned to face us.
"Incoming. Looks like we really pissed them off." Jun said, dryly. "Watch this."
Jun and Bee eliminated the Covenant who streamed from the drop ship, taking most out in mid-air as I watched in awe. The area was cleared and we continued onwards towards a path that led deeper into the complex. Behind the buildings, going further into the old farming complex, we soon found a series of abandoned buildings, with human bodies lining the halls.
"Doesn't get easier, does it?" I said, kneeling beside the body of a young man.
"What?" Nico asked, slowing to a halt beside me.
I didn't say anything, I just motioned to the corpse.
"I don't follow?"
"Like, seeing death? Young lives wasted?"
He shrugged, "sure- yeah, terrible."
I regarded him a little more closely, looking at the apparently unfeeling man he'd become. Nico had always been cocky but he was never apathetic. He'd always been driven by the need to help his baby brother and avenge his parents. My mind wandered as I wondered if he'd taken the latter too far, that he'd been swept up in ONIs ways too easily, without the support that I had been given.
He stood up and adjusted his pack. I saw the gun holstered on his thigh, a magnum, and on his wrist, a little dart tube that I recognised from back on Luna. It was an anaesthetic injection device used by medics on the frontlines, only I knew all too well that the vials attached were a light paralysis serum.
One of ONIs favourites, that. I suppose it's for Mikaela, if she were to try to run.
It was something to keep an eye on, regardless. We pushed on, coming to an area with more Covenant troops.
Jun paused, "We got hostiles near. Ready?"
We nodded.
"Go, go."
The Covenant in the area were quickly eliminated, even by SPARTAN standards. Jun and Bee used a single round per enemy as they swept through the rear courtyard, felling grunts like grass. I followed Nico, eager to keep him in my sights as we pushed deeper into enemy territory. We found a trail leading away, with more Covenant troops advancing along, scouting towards the commotion and taking up positions.
"Visual on targets." Jun said, firing a round through the lead grunt.
I leaned from cover, sighting a Jackal. A burst from my SMG into its exposed hand made it drop its guard and Bee killed it before pushing forwards, shooting the Elite who followed them at close range before punching it so hard that its neck snapped.
With the enemy troops dealt with, we continued down the trail, listening to the sounds of battle ahead. The trail swept around a corner and we took it slowly, watching as the space widened into an enclosed gorge, which was filled with covenant and two giant hulking creatures that were smashing them to pieces.
"Look at that!" Jun exclaimed, taking a knee.
"What should we do?" Nico asked, his helmet darting between targets. I looked at his belt and noticed the cuffs that were there, along with a set of plastic cable ties.
My eyes narrowed, "wait until they thin each other out and mop up."
Tentatively, we moved up, searching for a better firing position as the battle lulled. After eliminating the Covenant, one of the creatures noticed and roared, beginning to charge us down as it rampaged through the clearing.
"Major enemy, incoming." Jun said, his voice faltering.
"I got it," Bee said, running to our flank.
The rest of us opened fire as Bee slid into a firing position, resting his rifle briefly and waiting for the giant creature to stomp by him. He fired a shot straight through its exposed jaw and chin, the bullet exploded out the fair side with a sickening crunch before the creature slumped to the ground about three metres short of us.
We didn't chance the second. When it killed the last elite, we opened fire, bringing it down from distance with a flurry of volley fire from our small arms. The creatures took sustained gunfire from us but eventually fell with ease as it hadn't noticed us yet.
"Kat, pick any of that up?" Jun asked, looking at the mountainous corpses lying around us.
"Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called Gúta."
I found it funny that nature could always find a way to out compete us. Even the covenant, the apex predators, were no match for the giant beasts on this random planet.
Life endures. It finds a way.
"There's a trail up ahead through the rocks. Let's take it."
The thought comforted me as we came to a tunnel on the far side of the clearing. While taking the trail we heard several Moa, startled upon hearing gunfire. Following it through until it opened up to a large complex of buildings, each of us remained silent as Jun called it in. Listening to a strange set out sounds in the background that seemed almost out of place.
"Gunfire. Magnums, security side-arms. Standard issue. There's… something else, too."
The trail opened up to a pumping station. Several militia were under attack by Covenant forces as they fought desperately to try to retake the area. Taking a knee to provide support, my eyes were drawn to the speakers around the station, little klaxons that sounded, rattling music around the area.
One of the figures took cover behind a rock and looked up towards the hill towards us. Raising their forearm, they pressed a few buttons on their computer and a shrill and haunting laughter rang out through the area.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Feel good
"The hell?" I asked, sharing a look of confusion with Jun.
"It's her. It's Mikaela." Nico said, darkly.
"Noble Two, that's some sort of pump station. Got eyes on civilians, I'm thinking more local militia, they've engaged in hostilities."
"Move to assist." Cat said, "They may have the intel we need."
"You heard her. Let's keep those civilians alive."
Music flowed and we engaged, with Bee charging down the hill as the song blaring over the speakers ramped up into a frenzy.
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good
(Change, change, change, change)
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good
I followed, my feet pounding the wet grass in time with the music as I pushed on, sliding along the mud towards the militia soldiers. The song built up, a droning beat and a laid back voice echoed above the gunfire as we began to push the covenant back.
City's breaking down on a camel's back
They just have to go, 'cause they don't know wack
So while you fill the streets, it's appealing to see
And you won't get out the county 'cause you're damned and free
I readied a grenade and threw it, watching it tumble towards an Elite out the sky and detonate, taking its shields and a grunt out in one go.
You got a new horizon, its ephemeral style
A melancholy town where we never smile
And all I wanna hear is the message beep
My dreams, they've got to kiss me 'cause I don't get to sleep, no
"Push them back!" Someone yelled, the music rising to a whimsical crescendo as we burst from cover, the enemy suppressed by hyper accurate sniper fire and bursts from our SMGs.
Windmill, windmill for the land
Turn forever, hand in hand
Take it all in on your stride
It is ticking, falling down
Love forever, love is free
Let's turn forever, you and me
Windmill, windmill for the land
Is everybody in?
We began to sweep through the station, the enemy routed as a fast paced rap kicked off and I found myself slipping into a fighting rhythm, spurred on by the strange soundtrack I'd never heard before.
Laughin' gas, these hazmats, fast cats
Linin' 'em up like ass cracks
I watched a militia Trooper fire a shotgun right into an Elite and I took a knee, sending a burst straight into its escort, a little grunt that had pulled out a grenade.
Play these ponies at the track
It's my chocolate attack
Shit, I'm steppin' in the heart of this here (Yeah)
Care Bear repping in harder this year (Yeah)
They were pushed to the floor by Bee, who took most of the damage to his shields. The pair of them rose to their feet as Nico and another trooper took their place at the tip of this musical Spear.
Watch me as I gravitate, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Yo, we gon' ghost town this Motown
With yo' sound, you in the blink
Gon' bite the dust, can't fight with us
With yo' sound, you kill the Inc
A Phantom flew overhead, reinforcements spilling from its sides as our formation rallied and we formed a line, pushing up a set of stairs together and blasting the covenant from a roof.
So don't stop, get it, get it (Get it)
Until you're cheddar headed
And watch the way I navigate, hahahahaha
(Ha! Haha! Haha! Haha! Ha!)
We came to the edge and looked down, watching as the covenant tried to wade through the water to cover, our guns lighting the night as the song descended in tone, a melancholy orchestra of scat and rhythmic bops and twangs as we mopped the enemy up as though they were just moves on a dance floor.
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good
The chorus came back, we took cover, hiding as the phantom tried to bombard us with concussion rounds that fell from the sky on the off beat.
Windmill, windmill for the land
Turn forever, hand in hand
Take it all in on your stride
It is ticking, falling down
Love forever, love is free
Let's turn forever, you and me
Windmill, windmill for the land
Is everybody in?
Only two Elites remained and I watched as one of the militia sprinted for the edge of the roof.
"Wait!" I yelled, stepping after him.
A hand gripped my shoulder and I turned to meet the dark eyes of a young woman, smiling across at me. She tilted her head towards the dance of death below us.
"Watch this."
Don't stop, get it, get it, peep how your captain's in it
(Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good)
Steady, watch me navigate, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
(Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good)
Don't stop, get it, get it, peep how your captain's in it
(Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good)
Steady, watch me navigate, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
The trooper sliced a cut in the Elite with each haunting laugh of the track, dodging a swing from the other Elite as it scrambled to save its friend. The girl unloaded into the second, firing wildly until its shields crackled and we put it down.
(Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good)
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good (Hahaha!)
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good (Hahaha!)
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good (Hahaha!)
Sha, sha-ba-da, sha-ba-da-ca; feel good (Hahahahahaha!)
The last blow landed as the manic laughter ended and the young woman grinned, staring down at her friend before cutting another track off using her wrist computer.
"Nice job, Declan!" She said, her voice sweet like summer fruits.
"Good song choice as always, Kay!" The figure called back.
She looked at me and held out a hand, "thanks for stepping in back there, wasn't expecting to make it out for a moment there."
"No worries," I said regarding her curiously, "although you all seemed to be enjoying yourself in spite of the danger."
"Oh, the music?" She laughed, "yeah that's my bad, I'm a bit… eccentric in my taste."
"That you play music while you fight is strange enough" I added, laughing, "I hope you won't mind us putting a stop to it."
With the Covenant troops in the area eliminated, the group gathered around a couple briefcases, each combatant slowly moved to where the two SPARTANs were waiting, standing stoically against the backdrop of the wide sweeping valley.
Mikaela removed her helmet, "you guys fight boring if you don't fight like us," she shrugged, thrusting the helmet into my hands. I took it, blinking as she shook her hair free and let it fall below her shoulders. "Did you like it?"
"I did," I replied, eyeing her suspiciously, "never heard it before, who sings it?"
She laughed, "I'm not surprised you've not heard of it, it's five hundred and twenty five years old." Then she paused as she touched up her hair to think, "well… give or take."
"Why?"
"Why is it that old?" She added, grinning, "well time flows linearly by our perception. Since the song was released, the earth has travelled around sol almost-"
"No, why do you listen to music that old?"
"It helps me remember my job and why I love it." she grinned, smiling at her own gag.
"You're a musician?"
"I'm willing to bet you know exactly what I am," she said, tapping the triangular insignia on my chest as she took her helmet back.
"Alright," I replied, wryly. "What does ancient music have to do with classified xeno-anthropology?"
"Only a little bit of everything," she replied, evading the question. She pulled out a little mirror and I frowned as she touched up her lipstick, popping her lips and snapping the case away into her pocket as we descended the stairs to join the others.
"Little more action than we're used to. You Spartans are good in a fight."
"What are you doing here? Whole area's supposed to be evacuated." Jun replied, shifting his weight to his side as he regarded the troopers with suspicion.
"Didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect our home. So we came back… for this. We have 'em hidden all over the territory."
The trooper knelt beside the briefcases and electronically opened them, revealing various UNSC weapons.
"You know this stuff is stolen." Nico said, stepping forward, his hand moving to his waist. I put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head as the Militia trooper laughed,
"What? You're gonna arrest me?"
"No. Gonna steal it back." Jun said, as cool as ever.
"It's quiet," I said, "we should get going before they come back."
Declan shook his head, "I want to know what two ONI officers and two SPARTANs are doing here before we go anywhere."
"I've come for your friend here" I said, looking at Mikaela.
She stepped back, her black hair waved as the wind picked up a little and her brow eyes flashed with worry.
"The hell you are." Declan replied, standing in front of her.
"We're here to scout the valley" Jun said, "the spooks didn't say why they were here. Nothing here but that lake."
One of the other troopers chimed in, trying to detract from the tension that was building. "Road leads to a hydro-electric plant, but the gate doesn't work."
"Alternate route?"
"We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons..." Declan said, gripping his weapon.
"Basically anything the UNSC considers contraband."
"Basically."
"Show us, we can deal with the rest later."
I muted my helmet and called the Winter, patching Nico in as well.
"Winter, this is Viper Actual. We've made contact with the HVT. Covenant are all over the area but we've cleared a pump station near the Szurdok Hydro-electric plant."
"I hear you, Viper. Are we go for extraction?"
"Negative, she doesn't trust us and neither does the militia. Need the rest of Viper on the ground in case things go south."
"Roger that, Ma'am- er Maddie. I'll drop them at the pump station, which looks like a good fallback location based on Tuks scans."
I followed the troopers as they led Jun and Bee to the riverbed.
"There's the riverbed, Six. Let's see where it goes." Jun said, oblivious to my conversation.
Nico tapped my shoulder to hang back, Declan watching us the whole time as he covered Mikaela like a shield.
"That's our extraction team, we should keep them where they are." He said, staring at me.
I pushed his hand away, "when Noble gets their Information they're leaving, they won't follow our orders and we will be left with five militia troopers who are very wary of us. I don't fancy those odds if things go all SNAFU on us."
"You don't think that you can handle five untrained militia fighters?"
"I can but I haven't got this far without help, Nico. I also don't want to kill people."
"Parangosky mentioned you had a weak stomach for that kind of work." He shrugged and let it go, un-muting the voice channel and jogging onwards. The Spartans continued to lead us down the riverbed.
"Where does this riverbed lead?" Bee asked, craning his neck around a blind corner ahead of us
"Straight to the hydro plant. We dammed this river up forty-five years ago, plant powers every settlement in the territory. Shame if it all gets wasted."
"Doing what we can." Jun said, steadying their nerves as a Phantom passed overhead.
"Hold up. Covie dropship, take cover." He said, making us wait. "OK, clear. Let's move."
We rounded the corner and saw the power plant. A thin bridge connected our side of the mountain to the other side, intersected by a deep ravine.
"Mikaela and Captain Harper will provide a base of fire, Jun too." Bee said, scanning the far side.
Jun nodded, "you lead the other Spook and the militia across the bridge and plant those bombs."
"I'm staying with Mikaela," Declan said, glaring at me.
"What are you, her sworn protector?" Nico hissed.
"I don't trust you two. I'm not leaving her side."
I shrugged, "fine by me."
Nico shifted, as though he wanted to argue the point but Bee nodded and moved off, settling the matter for us. I was glad of it, to be honest. I didn't like that Nico was here and I certainly didn't trust his motivations. It was clear that Parangosky had other designs on the girl that likely ran counter to my own.
As if she'd been inside my own head, Mikaela cocked her head a little, "What exactly do you want with me?" She whispered, watching her friends follow Nico and Bee towards the bridge.
"I can't say"
"You can if you ever want us to even listen to you." She replied, her brown eyes like stone.
"I can't give you details but… I need your expertise."
She frowned, sharing a look between herself and Declan.
"Just her expertise?" The rugged militiaman asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I know about your little spat with ONI. I know there's something you have that they want but I don't need that so much as I need you."
"A likely story" She said, adopting the same scepticism that Declan was displaying.
"There's a lot going on here that even I don't understand. That other operative, I think the data is what he's after. Don't trust him."
"And we should trust you?"
"This wasn't how I planned to sell you on the idea, trust me."
"We don't" Mikaela laughed, quietly, "that's kinda the issue here."
I laid my SMG down and turned to her, "I'm working on something huge, okay? Like, bigger than the theory of relativity. I need minds, not data."
"But if you could get it, you'd have the data, right?"
Jun took a glance at us in the silence that followed, then began to push up as a set of hunters were dropped from a passing Phantom.
"Answer me!" She said, levelling her gun at me, I could see the bullet inside, glinting off of the rifling.
"It would certainly help but-"
I froze, my arms fell limply beside me and I slumped over onto my back. "What have you done?" I asked as Declan kneeled beside me, pushing the barrel of a magnum under my chin.
Far away, the fight raged, a great blast of green plasmamade its characteristic splat as it collided with the strange tower.
"You want our help, you trust us. Get rid of the spook."
"He'll never buy the lie. He suspects that I'm disloyal."
Declan threw the little vial of paralysis serum into the gorge, its splash couldn't be heard over the fighting as it intensified.
I knew that Tuk could find me but if Nico caught up to us alone, he would kill both of them without a moment's hesitation. A plan hatched in my head, a devious nugget that tasted good in my mouth. Mikaela and Declan were staring at me, fingers on the triggers of their weapons.
"Tuk. Patch into Nico's helm, use my voice. Convince him I've gone back to rendezvous with the others."
"Who's Tuk!?" Mikaela asked, a note of curiosity eked into the edges of her demanding tone.
"Will do, Mads. Be careful, don't provoke them."
"I'll earn their trust." I said, staring at the pair as they lifted me up. "Watch where you're putting your damn hands," I grimaced, "I've set my a.i. on it."
They said something sharp in reply but only Katya's voice echoed in my ears.
"Maddie, are you sure you want him back here? The kill list just went live… Mikaela is on it… and so is Preston."