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FICTION

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"The Beat Quickens"

March 12 2527 - Hour 0945

MSGT Logan 'Log' Sutton

Core Section, Shield 0459

"So, there is a bit of a rebellion in your little group of friends," I commented, gaining a snort from the individual I was currently interrogating.

The Phantoms we had just finished freeing were now moving under my command to claim the installation's terminal, which meant a lot considering we were quite outnumbered by the Covenant troops. Still, Chol Von was the highest-ranking officer within the section and was more than happy to 'help us help them'.

"The fancy-armored bastard deserved it," The jackal replied flatly, her grimace quite visible. "We were more than happy to go along with his mad ideas, but then he started to lust after our commander."

I frowned. "What? You mean he wanted to do frisky things with her or-"

"Claim her as a mate," Chol corrected dryly. "And yes, it is as unpleasant as it sounds considering what kind of bastard that one is. Plus, boss is not the kind of female that seeks companionship. She seeks victories in this war."

"Emotions can be troublesome in wartime. Especially when those are negative," I agreed while sparing a quick look around the rest of the people inside the Phantom. "Also, what is your ultimate goal in this 'cooperation'."

"Kill the 'Arby-thingy' and get back to boss," The Jackal replied confidently, her response met with nods by most of the group there. "Of course, if anyone doesn't want to stick around after what happened these last few days, then that's on them."

She is aware some of the troops were ready to defect from the Covenant altogether. So, the situation has to be as bad as we have predicted.

I nodded at Sif's point, but didn't let this bit stop me from thinking of the least favorable scenario. Also, Serin didn't feel happy with the current disposition.

"What if your 'boss' orders you to open fire on us?"

Chol sported a toothy grin back at the second-in-command. "She will not."

"And how do you know that?" Gage pushed even harder, but Chol just... stared at me with that amused grin.

"She will not."

I frowned, trying to reason what she just told us. Had it to do with me? Would she really pull a risky move of letting us leave because of just 'me'?

Sounds like Thela has more towards you than we were suspecting. I wonder if it is truly for good reasons and not for some personal vendetta.

That... could actually be a thing. Maybe she wanted to personally kill me rather than remove the rest of the team. Maybe she was willing to concede this 'honor' to me. It would fit with the Sangheili's philosophy to a degree and-

"Master Sergeant," A voice called from the intercom. "This is Captain Hood, I hope you can hear me."

"Captain?"

"Master Sergeant, glad to hear you are still alive."

"I tend to surprise people that way, sir," I pointed out cheekily. "We are currently helping a few temporary friends get through with a vendetta against the Arbiter. We will be hitting them soon."

"Good to hear, but we need your little plan to work fast. The Flood had managed to reach the core and they are here in numbers. Captain Cutter and I already ordered a partial evacuation to limit the potential losses, and we are holding the troops defending the fortifications for at least an hour," The Captain of the Roman Blue explained. "By the time the full evacuation is enacted, you and your team will be expected to leave with Pelicans dispatched to your positions. Do you understand this directive?"

"Loud and clear, sir," I confirmed. "We will get all goals dealt with within the hour. Just don't leave us early."

"We will not. Godspeed, Sutton."

I sighed, the communication now over but leaving me with a bitter taste in my mouth. An hour sounded like a lot in our current conditions, but things will go wrong as any war scenario has taught us. I turned to the rest of the group and prepped a speech.

"Troops," I muttered, well-aware that we were getting close and we needed a plan of attack. "The main goal of this makeshift operation is to breach the inner defenses for long enough to assassinate the Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee. That's the primary objective for our little cooperation. After that, standard goals like killing or defending specific targets are reintroduced."

I saw the rest of the squad flash 'green' in our connection, understanding the indirect order aimed at them: once Ripa was dead, the next target would be the Prophet. I then turned to Perpetual Comprehension as I wanted a clear understanding of the Flood situation.

"And I suppose the Sentinels are already working on cleansing the openings that the parasites are using."

"Most of these, yes. I enforced a prerogative within the internal force to 'soften' the threats inside the compound. Resistance has recently heightened ever since the leading officer known as 'Arbiter' has been sidelined."

"Who took over?" I inquired.

"That I can answer myself," Sif hummed calmly, looking slightly frustrated. "Field Master Thela 'Vadamee."

"Ah! Boss got promoted!"

I looked a bit wary at this, but Chol didn't seem unperturbed by this development.

"What makes of our deal?" I asked and the Kig-Yar looked at the Forerunner AI.

"Did she issue an order for us?"

"She did not." The Ancilla confirmed.

"Then our deal survives the news. Let's give the Arby-thingy a bit of trouble for making us pass as traitors!"

There was a loud cheering from the rest of the Covenant troops in the phantoms and I could see a degree of unease from the rest of the team, Alba included. We really had to go walking on eggshells if we wanted to survive. At least the plan started smoothly. The attackers were quick to rush through the defenders, tearing into their early lines and giving us the chance to push into the structure as the lower floors continued to be hammered by the super-heavy mortars at the ground floor.

The 'Rebellious' Ground forces focused on the structure's defenses while my squad tore a path through towards our targets. If there was a place the Prophet of Regret was going to be, it was by Ripa's side. While most of the defenders were distracted, we advanced onto the structure and, after dealing with some confused guards, we managed to reach a platform that led us to the floor above. As the elevator continued its approach to the upper floor, we all felt a massive earth-shake enveloping the entire core. I looked at Perpetual Comprehension for answers.

"What happened?"

"It would seem the Covenant's engineers have temporarily activated one of the Sojourn-class Destroyers' armament. They tore a hole in the inner shell."

"Which means?" Alba asked and I let out a sigh.

"They are escaping," I muttered. "And we may have missed the window of opportunity to kill that prophet."

"We can still stop them," Serin argued.

"If we can catch them," I calmly rebuked, glancing at the girl. "If they are out of reach and we can't get to them, I will not order a pursuit."

Serin tensed up a bit, but nodded slowly at my command as the rest of the team was not ready to engage a chase to capture an entire Covenant frigate with no cover. Knowing how the situation was escalating, the Roman Blue and the Spirit of Fire were not going to be of help in that regard. The doors of the elevator opened and we were bestowed with a familiar sight. More than a dozen of Sangheili came rushing towards... only armed with lances.

"Quite the peculiar way to attack with such obsolete weapons," Perpetual Comprehension pointed out loud just as our rifles started to crack bullets.

Arturo's sniper took multiple of those at once, with Michael rushing with Alba forward and engaging in melee with those that were panicking and using the corpses of their fallen as shields. It was a gore-fest, but not the peak of this scene as more Sangheili rushed from the side, also armed with lances. Differently than how this cutscene went in the original timeline, there were a lot more foes to fight at once. And we were being delayed.

"Focus on the cavalry, I'll take care of the big boy."

"Sir, I can-"

"I want a smart and level-headed individual in charge of the team. You can handle them, and I can handle him."

I could tell that, at this point, I may have gotten a bit too zealous in handling this kind of business on my own but... I couldn't afford Serin to get in danger because of her interest to make the difference. If her fight against Thela's second in command was anything to go by, she wasn't ready just yet for that sort of fighting. Not yet, but maybe in the next year or two was going to claim some butts with her growing combat skills.

The rest of the team split as they got in more advantageous positions to face the swarming of lancers, showing no hints of hesitation as we had the chance to switch to some plasma weapons before entering the elevators, thus having greater firepower against Covenant's shields. My little rush forward ceased just a few minutes later as I found myself staring at Ripa, the Arbiter looking at the ships as we both saw them one by one detonate before our eyes. Only a few survived and those were seemingly falling into oblivion. They destroyed the fleet. Or most of it. Maybe one or two could be saved but-

"You are the cause of many irritations, human."

The tall Sangheili muttered, turning around and revealing his big energy sword.

"You will face defeat against me, my honor shall be-"

Bang!

A first hit from my DMR slammed onto the shield covering his face, interrupting him mid-speech.

"With all due respect, I heard you are an utter bastard by your own people. So, how about we skip to business rather than engage in philosophical BS you don't even believe in, you dickhead?"

Growling, the Arbiter ran towards me. I landed five more shots, seeing his armor's old shielding system put some effort in holding the lead back, but looking ready to crack as he got close enough. Ripa lunged forward, his larger energy sword sizzling in the air as friction relented its approach, but not enough to outright lessen its might. I ducked quickly, the blade passing over my head and allowing me to land one last shot with my DMR. The shield was glowing quite brightly at the bullet, which meant he was an attack away from losing his comfy energy protection. He tried to punch me away, but his bulky form was sluggish and thus unable to catch up to me as I shifted to the side and slammed the kick of the carabine onto his ribs.

A pained grunt left his mandibles, and in a moment of adrenaline- and pain-induced shift against me, he managed to swing his blade upward from its lower posture and cut into my rifle. The armor's shields acted up in time and sponged the hit with ease, but left me with no protection for myself.

Of course, that didn't mean I was disarmed, not when Ripa's relief was cut short by a blade stamming slightly below his left arm-pit. He spat some xeno slur before trying to grab me, but my dagger pulled out of his flesh with ease and allowed me to stab all around his exposed skin. More purple blood poured from his wounds and his frantic defense lost momentum. He tried for one last attack, expecting to win out of pure and sheer strength, but his eagerness poofed away as he felt air missing from his lungs, his throat cut open by a swift and deadly hit from my blade.

He fell on his knees, and I kicked the blade off his hold. He stared at me in shock and I scoffed.

"You may be strong, but you are a slow, shithead," I pointed out. "And now, go to hell."

Ripa gurgled in his own drool and blood, gasping for air as he choked in his effort to keep the wound closed. He reached for me, his hand morphing in a vicious effort to yank me closer to try and kill me. I pulled my Magnum out of its holster and planted two bullets through his weakened armor, the reaction seemed to do the trick as the bastard instantly fell limp and unmoving. He was dead.

I looked around, ready to check on the others, we needed to evaluate the situation, gauge the damage on the fleet and- and then there she was. She appeared through one of the hacked teleporters and slowly made her way towards me. She was still wearing her General-tier armor and... there was an odd peace in her steps. So... confusing.

Thela.

She had no guards around. It was just her. She had her weapon drawn, but it was aimed low. Cautious, but not hostile. She approached, so did I and...

Here we were, once again facing each other. I wonder what warranted this unplanned meeting.

AN

The meeting can go one or two ways. A canon and... not-so-canon one. Yes, the clue is suggesting a potential fun time which will not be related to the main story. So, have fun guessing how insane that exchange will go between these two~.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c