Sorry this isn't a Halo related chapter, but please enjoy and leave comments!
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...what...no...but...
Yeah, I...had trouble accepting that what had just happened had actually happened. I just stared for a moment, unmoving. I only snapped out of my stupor when one of my bots pulled me into cover, along with the rest of the civilians still on the ground. Even then, i couldn't stop taking glances at the wrecks of the evacuation ships, burning bright against the horizon.
Melissa seemed to take it worse then I did, though. She literally froze up at the sight of the ships going down. She didn't even react to her guards pulling her into cover. In fact, she only snapped out of it when one of them slugged her in the face. Considering he had, in order, snapped his fingers at her, clapped at her, shouted, and slapped her before that, that was saying something about how out of it she was right now. Even after she finally returned to reality, she seemed distant and unfocused.
"They...they...they're...they're dead..."
So, she could talk again?
"Yes, they are. And if we don't act, everyone else with us will die."
The minute the ships went down, the Drengin had intiated an attack on our position, using ground troops and APCs to try and overwhelm us. Most of the Altarian soldiers were dead, the remainder having retreated into the field hospital, where they had moved the wounded underground, for safety. They weren't going to let what happened in District 8 happen here.
...And I feel horrible for making that reference in this particular situation.
"But...why?"
"Um, because they are selfish jerks down to practically a man?"
"Wouldn't they want them a-a-alive, though? You can't make s-s-slaves out of dead people."
I did not have the time to babysit her through this grief.
"THESE ALIENS DON'T CARE THAT ABOUT THAT! THEY CONSIDER THE TORIANS EDIBLE! THE LITERALLY STEAL THE IDEAS OF OTHERS FOR BETTER WEAPONS OF WAR BECAUSE THEY CAN'T COME UP WITH ORIGINAL IDEAS ON THEIR OWN! THEY MAKE PEOPLE FIGHT IN GLADIATOR GAMES FOR FUN! THEY ARE NOT NICE PEOPLE! MAYBE INDIVIDUALS AMONG THEM ARE NICE, BUT AS A WHOLE, THEY ARE MONSTERS! LOOK, I GET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO SOMETHING TO HELP THOSE PEOPLE, BUT YOU CAN'T. THEY ARE DEAD. FOCUS ON HELPING THOSE WHO ARE ALIVE NOW!"
Was I being harsh? Hell yes, but she really needed to get her head back in the game, as it was. Peole were going to die if these Drengin weren't dealt with, and I could not afford to waste time right now pulling a ROB that was far less evil than I was expecting out of her sorrow. As is, I had taken a rifle from one of the dead Altarians and was busy trying to line up a shot on one of the Drengin.
"...you're right," she finally said. "I can't do anything to help those people who were in transports...but I can still help those who are with us now."
Wow, that was fast.
"Yeah, you can. I'm going to try and deal with the Drengin here, could you get these peole to safety? I-"
"No," she said, putting her arm on my rifle. "You get them to safety. I'll deal with the Drengin."
With that, she...vanished. No, teleported. I could now see her right behind a pair of Drengin snipers. One of them she snapped the neck of, the other she threw at one of their APC-HOLY HELL, IT JUST BURST INTO FLAMES!
A second APC was soon sent flying, reducing an entire squad of Drengin into red puddles when it hit them. Several more Drengin found themselves being utterly annihilated as Melissa teleported between them, using a knife to slay them in brutal ways. It reminded me of Ash's Bladestorm from Warframe. Soon, all of the Drengin in the area were dead. With her foes defeated, Melissa stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, then disappeared once more.
I stared st the ground she had been for one more moment, before turning my attention back to the civilians I was with. I had a job to do.
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Melissa looked down upon the ruined city from the top of a skyscraper, watching the carnage play out below. The Altarians were fighting hard, and with the Infernum forces as their backup, they were slowly pushing the Drengin back. Still, it was going good to be some time before they had things under control, unless the received some help. A flicker of movement turned Melissa's attention to a dropship landing on a nearby building, ready to offload some more Drengin soldiers to continue the assault. Melissa stared on for a moment, before firing a wave of force at the ship. The metal flier was instantly flattened, liquefying the warriors within. As broken ship tumbled off the roof, Nelissa began to compose herself. Her fury was gone, not yet, but it had ebbed away enough for her to be able to think rationally.
Sighojg, shenopened up a line of communication between herself and Leal.
"Hello, Leal-"
"Mistress, it's good to hear from you! How are you doing."
"Not So well at the moment. Seen something I really did want to a few minutes ago."
"Ah, yes, that...I'm sorry."
"Thank you. But we can't do anything for those people right now. We need to focus on those who still draw breath."
"Of course. Shall I send down the rest of our warriors?"
"Indeed...and you you inform our special guests to be on standby, and ready our acquisitions from prior conflicts?"
"...of course, but don't you feel that doing so is overkill-"
"No, not at all."
"Understood...if they attempt to surrender, what should we do?"
"Strip then of their weapons and hand them over to the Altarians when this battle is over. I don't want to give them any mercy, but I will not stoop down to their level, understood?"
"Understood...And Mistress?"
"Yes?"
"We're here for you, no matter what."
"...thank you."
"You're welcome. Good hunting."
With that, the communication was ended. Turning her attention back to the battle, Melissa watched as a Drengin Armor column advanced on an Altarian position. Smiling, she readied another shockwave...
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Malos smiled as he downed another Altarian interceptor, practically brimming with glee as he watched the aircraft slam into the ground below, killing a few unlucky bystanders in the process. The rest of his unit was being met with similar success. They had been experiencing some trouble with the Infernum fighter craft, but those seemed to be few in number for this battle. Still, they wouldn't be able to remain much longer. Slowly but surely, the Altarians were pushing them back, and it was only a matter of time before they would have to pull out.
It wouldn't matter, though. Once they were gone, the ships in orbit would bombard the city, rendering all of the defender's efforts moot. Among the likely casualties would be the heads of state of the Infernum Federation and the Empyrean Illuminate, two massive thorns in the Empire's sides. Once they were gone, the Drengin would have some breathing room to find a more permanents way to deal with those states. The Empire was under no illusions that killing them would eliminate those factions as entities, but from what their spies had told them, which was admittedly second hand knowledge obtained from traders who had sold goods to both parties, taking out the High Sovereign of the Illuminate and the Head of the Federation would demoralize their followers long enough for a permanent way of dealing with parties to be determined. As is, the Drengin were using this very battle forest out one of their new toys - a tank made of a hybrid of the their own technology and what little they had reverse engineered from the Dread Lords. There were more of these tanks already in service on other fronts, but this would be its first test against the forces of this new Federation and the Illuminate. If it was successful here, then they would begin mass producing for fighting these new foes.
Suddenly, a new foe popped up on Malos' radar. Before he could react, a beam streaks dpast him, taking out his wingman. Another beam of light destroyed his other wingman before he finally got a good look at his new foe. It seemed to be some kind of organic flier, relying on fleshy wings for flight, though it still appeared to have some kind of jet propulsion system aboard it...however that was possible. As for the beam attacks, it apparently fired those out of a trio of glowing tails.
The giant flier seemed to slow down and turn around right in front of Malos. Worryingly, he realized it was making a return run. Desperate to stop it, he took and and fired, only for it to avoid all of his shots and use its tails to shoot down the few missiles he sent at it. To his surprise, though, it did not attack him, instead merely bumping into him before breaking off. For a moment, Malos thought everything was over.
Then a strange figure climbed down from the top of his craft. It stared at him for a moment, before viciously tearing into his fighter, trying to break the glass. The beast needed only a few strikes to succeed in its goal. Entering the cockpit, it savaged the Drengin, cutting him badly, ripping out wires from the cockpit and ramming them into him, which caused him to convulse for a few moments, before it finally exited the cockpit and began ravaging the rest of the aircraft. It was not long before the craft exploded, with the Drengin pilot barely escaping via his seat ejecting into the air. Unfortunately, the explosion set his seat aflame and ruined his parachute, ensuring he would not survive the fall.
The gremlin kept watching cut, bled, shocked and burned warrior fall until he inevitable impact came, before searching for a new target. Normally it would not waste time attacking pilots directly, or attempting to make sure they were dead, but this was not a normal time. Their master wanted vengeance against the Drengin, and she would get it.
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In the city below, Adeline opened fire, taking down three Drengin soldiers in a matter of moments. Nearby, the rest of her squad was busy downing a light tank, allowing the faltering Altarians to rally, keeping their ranks from breaking.
On the other side of the street, several of her commander's warrior beasts were tearing into the Drengin, whose attempts to fight back only aggravated the monsters. One unlucky alien was literally torn apart by the monsters, who quickly moved on to his comrades. The few who surrendered were ignored by the aggressive beasts, allowing her squad to take them prisoner. Once the fighting was over, she handed the prisoners over to the Altarians - she had a battle to win.
A shame she couldn't use her powers to make things go faster. Oh well, back to the carnage.
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To say that Dragoon-17 was surprised when the strange organic tanks showed up and start tearing the Drengin apart was an understatement. It had been so shocked by their arrival that it had almost fired upon them, before realizing they were allies. While they were certainly unexpected, the reinforcements were appreciated, as it allowed Seventeen to advance faster, letting it clear a path for the Commander more easily than expected. The commander had given it new orders to clear a path to a new evacuation site, allowing the now smaller group of refugees accompanying him a way to exit the conflict. With the new found assistance Seventeen had, the time needed to reach that location was halved.
As they approached the final intersection, though, a shell slammed into one of the organic tanks, reducing to a smoking, bleeding mass. A second blast took out another tank, followed by a third, which barely missed Seventeen's side. Turning to face its new foe, the Dragoon found itself staring down a boxy looking hover tank, which it swiftly fired at.
All of the shots hit the front of the tank, dead on their mark, but only succeeded in denying the hull. The boxy tank responded by returning fire, with its first shot impacting the front armor of the Dragoon. Whille the damage was minor, it was still noticeable. Retreating, Seventeen ran a preliminary scan, revealing a surprising fact about the armor: it appeared to match the kind found on Dread Lord Starships.
This was not going to be an easy fight, was it?
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!