New Mombasa Industrial Zone

Year: 2552

Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes After Invasion

I'd gotten through about a third of the mechanical manual, interesting but a little less complex than some of the medical textbooks from college, before I had started to notice some commotion from outside the shop I was taking cover in. Looking outside the window, I saw a whole bunch soldiers amassing outside in the streets, it was hard to tell exactly how many though just looking out from the window. Looks like they rolled up in a couple of warthogs, one that just was just for moving troops and another with a mean looking gatling gun.

They started setting up defensive positions and I thought about going outside to them but I decided against it. They might appreciate some help from someone with medical experience but I wasn't trained in combat medicine, just clinical and trauma. I would probably just be a liability that would distract them from doing their job.

I remembered that I was considering joining the USMC before I went to medical school but in the end decided against it. I just didn't have the mindset required to be a soldier; I didn't have any fight in me, no real desire to kill an enemy combatant even if they did want to kill our entire species. And with the Hippocratic Oath I took after graduating with my nursing degree, I pretty much barred from myself from any kind of fighting. Although, considering current events, I might have to deal with a situation where fighting is the only option I have. I swore to do no harm but that didn't mean I was just gonna roll over and die.

I went back into the auto shop but I kept the door in view so I could keep an eye on the outside. I was just gonna keep reading this mechanic's manual, might be useful if I ever had to do some ad-hoc auto work.

New Mombasa Industrial Zone

Year: 2552

Time: 1 Hour and 35 Minutes After Invasion

We had been moving down the road for some time now and we had spotted no humans since then. Other than the far off sounds of destruction in the distance, our current location was relatively deserted. For the most part, this area looked relatively unscathed; it appears most of the fighting is taking place inside the city and more populated areas. Judging by the barren look of all the buildings with smokestacks, large machinery and large basic signage this definitely was some sort manufacturing or industrial area like the Major said.

Lotan was across the road so I spoke to him through my communicator. "I don't like how quiet is, this silence is making me paranoid."

He responded. "Be patient and have temperance. The silence can play to our advantage, it will help us hear if human forces are making any noise ahead."

I nodded at his advice, "I suppose that is a good point; the lack of panic and destruction

can help us avoid an ambush."

Lotan added on to his original point, "But don't expect the enemy not to use the same tactic on us. Make too much noise and they can surprise us before we can mount a defense."

And we were in uncharted territory, they would have a better chance to ambush us from a spot we couldn't anticipate. Kirsuus made a small prayer, hoping her faith would help protect her from any heretics who would try to strike her down.

After a moment the Kig-Yar sniper she had sent up the rooftops to scout ahead reported to her on her communicator. "Leader! Up ahead, don't go past building, humans are around the corner." As soon as she heard this she signaled the other warriors in her lance to hold back.

Kirsuus whispered over her communicator to her scout. "What do you see scout?"

"Me see… fifteen humans, two trucks, one with big gun, two snipers on each side of road."

Damn it all, outnumbered and outgunned, the gods must be truly testing her today. This would require careful planning in order to come out victorious.

Kirsuus spoke quietly to her lance, "Alright here is the plan; we may be out numbered but we have the element of surprise so first I will toss a flare at them as a distraction, our scout on the rooftop will kill the snipers, then I'll attempt to destroy their turret."

"After the turret is down Lotan you'll move to the other side of the road and", pointing at the other two Kig-Yar on the ground with us, "you two will provide cover for him till he gets across."

"When you finish covering Lotan, run back across the road. When you make it back you and the Unggoy will move up the center of the road. Leave as little exposed as possible and try to draw their fire. Unggoy once you get about half way to their position throw your grenades to get them out of their cover then me, Lotan and our sniper can pick them off."

Once I had finished speaking I holstered my carbine and brought out my Death Lobber, I'd demolish their gun with this. I unhooked a flare from my belt and held it ready.

I spoke to the warrior's in my lance one last time, "Is everyone ready?"

They all responded, confirming that they were ready to face what was to come. Lotan spoke up, "Let us crush them into the dirt and purge their corruption." That gave me a slight smile; battle hardened and still ready to plunge into combat with no fear.

'FOR THE COVENANT!"

New Mombasa Industrial District

Year: 2552

Time: 1 Hour and 37 Minutes After Invasion

I almost fell out of my chair when I heard the explosions. I turned to the window and suddenly saw all the troops shooting and shouting from a surprise attack. The warthog with the turret was smoking from some kind of explosion and the gunner very clearly dead. The fighting was going crazy; the soldiers were glued to their cover as a wild light show of greens, blues and purple colors hitting them, a body dropped from up above that was dead before he hit the ground. It was an absolute mess and the soldiers were getting demolished. One after another they were dropping as the fire got more intense, then I saw this burning blue-ish ball land behind them. They barely had time shout in fear before it exploded into something so bright from where I was it was almost a flash of white. After that blast, the sounds of war went away and shifted to a deathly silence. I looked out in horror as I saw the marines who looked like they were ready for anything now strewn all over the street, dead or dying.

That's when I finally saw who had decimated the marines walk into view; Covenant soldiers. The first one I saw was this tall creature with a split face in sliver armor, Elites I think they were called, walk up to a dying soldier trying to crawl away and unholster this glowing blue energy sword then stab it into the soldier's back, ending him without hesitation. Then this assortment of weird bird looking things with shields and goblins with pointed shiny backpacks came into view, clearly elated at the battle they just won. Then the final warrior stomped into view; a giant in glowing blue armor, had to be at least 7 and half feet tall, that radiated strength and power. It approached a dying trooper who weakly held up a pistol to try and shoot the giant as a final act of defiance. Then, without hesitation, casually took out this odd looking pistol and executed the dying soldier.

I was stunned with a feeling that was a cross between fear and hopelessness. It wasn't like I had never seen death before; occasionally someone would stumble into the clinic from being stabbed in a fatal spot that couldn't get treatment soon enough before they bled out or someone dragging in a friend who was overdosing on painkillers. But the horrors of war was not something I was prepared for; people being blown apart, going limp after being shot in the head, screaming in agony after taking multiple weapon wounds. I felt like I was about to puke from the sight of it all, the reality that him and every other human in the galaxy could be very well exterminated by genocidal aliens had set in. All he could do now was hide and pray to any higher power on high to let him live.

New Mombasa Industrial District

Year: 2552

Time: 1 Hour and 40 Minutes After Invasion

Kirsuus could not be more elated, her first engagement as a captain and the humans stood no chance against her and her lance. Her strategy played out perfectly and because of this she was able to defeat a larger, better armed and better positioned enemy. I went over to Lotan to share in my jubilation.

"Haha well done old friend! I see you are still as sharp as ever after all these years."

Lotan responded in kind, "Old? Ha! I'll have you know I'm still as strong as when I first joined The Covenant."

"I will say though Kirsuus, that was a truly well executed plan by you. I can already see that your ascension to Captain was truly well earned. I look forward to following you for many years to come."

Kirsuus felt good from Lotan's kind words, "Thank you friend, I will make sure that you and I will walk side by side when The Great Journey begins."

It was then I heard our scout on the rooftops report in, "Well done leader, you very good captain. I see no other humans in area, area belongs to us now." After hearing that I contacted Steel Lance to report the situation.

"This is Captain Kirsuus of Burning Lance; Steel Lance are you there?"

"This is Steel Lance, what have you to report?"

"We have eliminated all humans in this area and claimed this area for The Covenant."

"Excellent work, we will rally to your position momentarily."

After contacting Steel Lance Kirsuus addressed the rest of her unit. "Alright our allies will be here soon. Let us clean this area up so it is ready for us reinforce when Steel Lance arrives."

New Mombasa Industrial District

Year: 2552

Time: 1 Hour and 55 Minutes After Invasion

I wondered how long it would be before they found me. I had just been watching them clear the area; piling up the bodies on the side, clearing debris and moving the soldiers' vehicles to create a complete road block. I'm surprised they hadn't started searching the buildings in the area. I was pretty much stuck. I couldn't leave cause if I ran they would shoot me on sight, if they came into the shop I would barely have a chance to hide. The only thing I could hope for was that they would make it quick, that they wouldn't torture me before killing me. At this point I had a hard time contemplating what would honestly happen from where I was.

…..

After clearing the area we had just been waiting and keeping a look out for any humans who would try to retake the position we had taken from them. We soon saw one of our troop carriers moving up the road; a Chieftain, a Captain and two Minors. Surprisingly small for a lance but I guess the Chieftain had taken command and sent the rest to reinforce another area since they would be joining our lance. As the Chieftain approached I put my arm across my chest and bowed my head.

"My lord, the humans have been slaughtered and the area has been secured. It is an honor to be in your presence."

He hefted the gravity hammer he carried on his shoulder and responded with a jovial laugh. "Haha, raise your head sister, you did an excellent job securing this area." He looked past me, "And I see the rest of your lance managed to survive as well, impressive considering that old Elite there acting as a shackle."

I took some offense to that but I didn't show it, Lotan is a long time ally and I have learned a great deal from him. However I knew better than to rile up a Chieftain, especially one larger and stronger than me.

"His faith is still strong and fights with a burning passion for The Covenant and The Great Journey."

The Chieftain's face shifted to a disapproving look with a raised brow. "Hmm maybe, but a strong Jiralhanae like you is clearly greater part of this lance."

"If I may ask my lord, where is the rest of your lance? It seems smaller than a normal lance."

"Pay no mind to that sister, yes there were more of us but they were just a bunch of weak Elites. They could not handle a true fight unlike us."

I could tell that Lotan took offense to that, but he knew as well as I that he was not high enough in command to challenge the words of a Chieftain. Though I was a bit perplexed, true us Brutes were stronger than the Elites, but they were no whelps like the Grunts or Jackals. They were in The Covenant long before us and served with distinction, to think that with the support of Brutes at their side they would all perish was an odd thought. But I decided to put those thoughts aside, this whole engagement was a mess with the severe lack of intelligence we went in with so losses were expected.

"I see you have already repurposed the humans defenses, good. That will save us a bit of time setting up our own-" The Chieftain could not finish what he was saying because at that very moment the whole area lit up in a blue-purple light. I turned to see where it was coming from and that's when I saw the massive slipspace portal open in front of the Solemn Penance. Before I could comprehend what happened, the ship went through the portal in an instant and the gate shut with a flash.

I heard Lotan shout. "SLIPSPACE RUPTURE, TAKE COVER!" I ducked into a nearby alleyway as fast as I could to avoid the coming debris. The heat was immense and my nose was filled with a blast of heated wind. I had to shut my eyes to keep the dust and debris from blinding me.

…..

The moment I saw that bright flash I immediately ducked under desk and heard the front window of the shop shatter and the broken glass get blown against the back wall. After that I felt this massive heat wave rush into the shop. Had The Covenant just nuked the city, no that wasn't it, if it was a nuke then I would've been blinded the instant I saw the flash. After I decided it was safe to look outside again, the world had completely shifted. There was now this pale blue haze permeating the area, cars in the road had been overturned, debris was scattered all over the road. Looks like the troopers outside felt it too, some got knocked down and others were just getting back up. I'm guessing they weren't expecting this either.

…

When I walked back out to the road the area was an absolute mess. The rupture had left a pale blue haze all around us and it was incredibly hot. I looked around to try and find the rest of my lance. I saw Lotan come out from behind cover, thanking the gods he had survived. The two Kig-Yar were not so lucky, it appears they were crushed by an overturned vehicle from the blast. The Grunts were nowhere to be found, must've run off in fear; not surprising with them being known for their cowardice. I tried contacting my scout on the roof to see if he survived. "Scout, *cough* *cough* are you still alive up there?"

It took a moment but eventually he responded. "*hagk* Yes leader *hagk* I still live. Why this happen? Why Prophet leave us?"

"I'm not sure, there was no warning about this whatsoever."

I looked around and saw the Chieftain coming out of cover with his lance in tow, for the most part they looked unharmed though they clearly still felt the effects of the slipspace rupture. I went over to Lotan to check on him. "Lotan are you alright?"

"Yes *cough* for the most part I am unharmed though I am still a bit in shock. What could have possibly happened that would've caused the Prophet of Regret to activate a slipspace jump planet-side without warning?"

"I've not a clue old friend, this entire engagement has just gotten worse and worse. First we go in with poor intelligence that catches us off guard, try to fight in uncharted territory and then the Prophet abandons the invasion without warning and throws our forces into disarray."

"I don't dare question the wisdom of a Prophet but I am truly at a loss right now."

After conversing, we walked over to the Chieftain to get his insight on the situation.

"My lord are you unharmed?

"Yes I am fine."

"Do you have any clue as to what might have happened?"

"I'm unsure, I am going to contact Commander Callus to see what his plans are."

The Chieftain activated his communicator in an attempt to reach Commander Callus, while he was doing that I went over to Lotan to speak with him more about the situation.

"This whole engagement has had me on edge since we came to this system, this wasn't how I pictured my first engagement with command of my own lance."

Lotan put his hand on my shoulder, "Life rarely turns out how we pictured it. To be honest with you, I never even pictured myself being a warrior." This was certainly surprising to me.

"Surely you jest? You have served longer than I and fight with honor and distinction, I cannot see you as anything but a warrior."

"Yes, haha, it is the truth. When I was becoming a man I originally wanted to be a farmer; raise animals, grow food and become a provider. It was originally my older brother who was to be the warrior, he had been training for it since he was a boy. But sadly my brother fell ill and passed on; and when selection came I had to maintain my family's honor and join in his place."

Today truly was becoming an odd day, "What were you like when you first joined The Covenant?"

"To be honest with you, I was terrified. I had never wanted to go to war, to face the horrors that it may bring, even it did mean I was securing a spot for myself and my family's salvation. But I swore an oath when I joined; that I would fight and, if needed, die for The Great Journey. I did not think I would survive my first engagement, but I did. And the one after that and the one after that."

Lotan began looking up now, "But eventually I believed that if I fought hard enough and long enough to help bring about The Great Journey that I would be able to put down my arms and live the life I wanted to live originally."

I smiled a bit and put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure you will reach you dream soon old friend."

Lotan was old and tired and when he told me about what he really wanted in life, I had nothing but sympathy. He never wanted to fight, but he had to. Forces outside of his control took away the choice of how he wanted to live his life, and now he was fighting to the last breath for salvation so he could regain what was taken from. This had begun to make me think about my own choices in life but my thoughts were interrupted when the Chieftain and his men approached us.

"My lord, has Commander Callus sent word for how we are to proceed?"

"Haha, yes sister and let me tell you that today is truly a glorious day."

I was a bit perplexed by this, this entire engagement was a mess and it had become chaos when the Prophet preformed the planetside slipspace jump and threw our forces into disarray. But before I could respond the Chieftain took his hammer and swung it directly into Lotan's chest. His body was sent flying into a destroyed vehicle, landing with a loud thud.

I was in pure shock, "LOTAN! MY LORD WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"

He was smiling in demented glee, "Rejoice sister for our moment of triumph has finally come!"

The Chieftain directed the two Minors to where Lotan had landed. "Drag that wretch over here, I wish to finish him myself."

"Sister, our people's time of greatness has finally come. Commander Callus has just received word form the holy Prophet of Truth. The Elites are no longer fit to join The Covenant on The Great Journey and we have been ordered to purge them and take their place at the Prophets' side."

I was stunned by this announcement, no longer fit to join us? I had fought besides countless Elites throughout my service and they had fought with honor and proved victorious time and time again. What could have possibly caused this?

…..

To say I was surprised was an understatement. Here I thought The Covenant were all on the same side but now I see one of these big gorillas smack an Elite square in the chest with that big hammer it was hefting around. The one who was just talking with the Elite was pretty shocked by the look of so it looks like not everyone was on the same page. Going by simple logic, the biggest one in the black and red armor with the biggest helmet was the one in charge. Seemed like the big one was trying to explain something to the shorter one who wasn't in the loop. I saw the two other gorillas drag the Elite back over to the rest of them. It was pretty much limp when they were dragging him over so it was hard to tell if it was even alive. My rational side was telling me to go back into hiding but my curiosity kept me watching everything play out.

…..

I could only watch in horror as the Minors dragged Lotan over to the Chieftain. The world had gone muted as I saw my broken friend dripping blood, a survivor of countless battles, on the verge of death and facing execution from the Chieftain.

The Chieftain walked over to Lotan and kneeled down to him. "Have you any last words heathen?" Lotan responded by spitting blood into his face.

"*cough* *cough* I have nothing to say to you scum."

"Pitiful whelp, no wonder the Prophets expelled your kind. Weak filth unable to truly serve the Covenant. Consider this quick death a kindness." The Chieftain then stood tall and raised his hammer above his head, preparing to snuff out Lotan's light.

And it was in that single moment, I acted off of pure single-minded instinct. I shook myself out of my stupor and charged directly at the Chieftain. I put all of my strength into knocking him off his feet. Sure enough, he was taken completely by surprise and feel to the ground with a thud. I used this moment to stand, stomp on the Chieftain's chest to knock the wind out of him then rush over to one of the Minors holding Lotan and tackle him to the ground. When I was on top of the Minor I took the knife I had on my belt and drove it directly into his skull, feeling the force of his skull breaking and my blade going deep into his head killing him almost instantly. The other Minor holding Lotan let go of him to engage me.

Lotan, now seeing that he was free, gained a momentary burst of adrenaline and used this moment to grab his energy sword and rush to the lone Captain to take him on.

After standing I knew I only had a few moments to engage the Minor before he opened fire on me. I turned around and shoulder rushed the Minor to knock him off balance, once his defense was down I jammed my knife into the arm he was holding his Spiker in. When the blade pierced his arm he dropped his weapon and howled in pain. I then slammed both of my hands into the sides of his head to disorient him, when he was dazed I punched him directly in the throat and sent him tumbling to the ground. The Minor, now on the ground dazed and struggling to breath, was at my mercy so I took this opportunity to slam my foot onto his head and stomp into the ground until he stopped moving. Seeing the blood start to spurt from his head from repeated stopping and his movements cease I ended my attack on him.

But when I finished I was caught off guard by a sudden and forceful slam hitting my side and piercing my skin at the same time. I was thrown onto my back and saw where the hit came from, it was the Chieftain. He had recovered from my surprise attack and regained his hammer and now had his attention directed at me. I was at a disadvantage; he was bigger, stronger and more experienced than I but I had to put that aside. I would not allow this monster to kill my friend, not after all the years Lotan had spent fighting to achieve his final dream.

He raised his hammer to bring it down on me but I rolled to the side before the blow connected. I then stood to regain my footing and get into a fighting stance. I had to think fast if I wanted a chance of winning. First, I had to even out the fight between us, I had to get the hammer out of his hands. Looking for an opening, I waited for him to try and swing his hammer at me to leave his torso exposed. Sure enough, he went for a side swing leaving himself open on the side so I threw a few punches into his midsection. I saw that hurt him but he recovered quick; he shifted his grip lower on the handle to go for a one handed upper swing. I side stepped and grabbed the hammer with both hands and yanked it from his grip.

Once I had the hammer I made a quick motion of slamming the bottom of the hammer into his head. This disoriented him so I took that moment to reposition the hammer and slam it into his chest launching him and knocking him to the ground. With his hammer in hand I rushed over and prepared to end him with an overhead swing. But before I could bring the hammer down he kicked his foot out and hit me in the chest. This threw me off and I lost my grip on the hammer and stumbled back. I had almost regained my balance but the Chieftain took this opportunity to shoulder rush me and knock me onto the ground.

I tried defend myself but he had already begun punching me in the head over and over. With every hit I became more and more dazed and began to taste blood in my mouth.

"You should have stayed with your tribe wench. Accepted your place as a child bearer and quit trying to play warrior. Now you will die here in the filth of this word while the rest of our people walk the path to salvation."

If he said anything else after that I couldn't understand at as I began to lose consciousness from the repeated blows. He was right, I would die here and I would not see the beginning of The Great Journey.

I was not left with regret though.

I stood strong and defended my comrade-in-arms from an unjust death, I face death knowing I died with honor.

...

This was getting harder to watch, that big bastard was beating the one who turned against him into the ground without a shred of mercy. If they weren't dead now then it wouldn't be long till they were. Doesn't matter how tough you are, enough blows to the head and your brain will get ground to a pulp with bits of your crushed skull mixed in.

But a few seconds later, that Elite that was about to be executed stepped into view clearly beat up and bleeding from a wound in its' side. It was weaponless so I don't know what it thought it was going to do, but then I got my answer. It gave one last run and jumped onto the back of the big one, reached for its' belt and grabbed one of those blue burning grenades, then slammed it into the side of the big bastard's head. The big bastard began to panic, stand up and shake his head from side to side and tried to reach up to his face to get it off but the Elite shifted his weight and pulled him sideways. He ended up on top of the Elite and then I, knowing what was about to happen, ducked behind the counter inside. A moment later I heard the blast from the grenade go off, trying not to imagine what the final result looked like.

About a minute later, there were no more sounds of fighting, just the wind. I stood up from under the counter and took a few steps forward to the front door to look outside. From getting a full look outside I saw the aftermath of the final fight. The one the big bastard was beating on was still laying on the ground, covered in a layer of dust and rocks from the explosion but looking relatively unharmed. The big bastard however was not as lucky.

Looking at its' body, what was left of it anyway, it looks like the blast from the grenade disintegrated the upper third of its' body down past the arms. Because my curiosity won out over good judgment again, I decided to step outside to get a closer look at everything. There was still a blue haze all over from whatever caused that explosion and a bunch of debris was tossed around. Two of the big gorillas were laying on the ground dead across the street, another one was laying face down with a bloody knife in its' hand. Looking back over to where the big bastard and the Elite finished their fight, the Elite was in about the same state as the big bastard though not to the same degree. Looks like half of its' head was scorched off along with a chunk of its' right side.

I was pondering at what to do next when a sound caught my attention. Turing to the direction the sound was coming from I looked and saw what was making it. It was a faint, labored breathing coming from the big gorilla the big bastard was beating on. Just to make sure I wasn't hearing things I knelt down and put my hear to the thing's mouth. Sure enough; a slow, warm, hitched breath was coming from its' mouth. I stood and quickly started think about what I should do.

Should I kill it? It would be easy since it was barely clinging to life and this thing did want to kill all of humanity.

Should I leave it? I wasn't exactly a killer and didn't really wanna do this thing in but I didn't wanna stick around in the event that it recovered.

I was thinking about my options over and over but then… I landed on just one thought.

I had remembered what Doctor Imbeke told me before I left him.

"Promise me that if you ever see someone who needs help and if there's even a chance that you could save them, that you'll do it without hesitation."

I took a breath and made my final choice of what to do.

It was time to do my job.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Well this was my longest chapter yet, I hope it was to your liking. I'm looking forward to the development of the story going forward and I can't wait to show the results. This is a huge passion project of mine and I hope you enjoy reading it as I do writing it!

Death Lobber=Brute Shot, Lance=Squad