Location:Karia, Dellis System
May 5th, 2611
"Please don't see me." thought Jim Relfe as he lay prone in the long grasses of the Karian safari.
The wolf's pursuers were mere feet away, moving slowly through the grass. He caught a glimpse of one of them, an eight foot tall reptilian creature known as an Elite. This particular Elite was clad in the field grey uniform of the Sangheili Republican Guard and carried a Type-51 semi-automatic carbine fitted with a Vampyre infrared scope.
"Keep moving, he can't have gotten far." commanded the Republican Guard officer.
Soon, all of Lord Madras Synn's fanatics were gone, leaving an eerie silence. Relfe waited a few more minutes before standing up and making a break for it. His left arm hung uselessly, the result of a plasma bolt to the shoulder.
"What the hell are the Elites doing here? This is Koopa turf."
His thoughts were interrupted by an unnatural growl from close by. Whipping out his blaster, Relfe scanned the area and saw nothing.
Just as the black-furred lupine was about to write it off as one of Karia's many wild animals, the roar came again, followed by a voice that could only have come from the darkest depths of Hell.
"HAND IT OVER."
Relfe quickly turned towards the voice and came face to face with a nightmare as bad as the creatures he had fought in the Demon War. It stood over eight feet, was extremely muscular, had two glowing green eyes, blue-green skin, and was decidedly fish-like in appearance. The creature held out a clawed and scaly hand.
"GIVE ME THE TALISMAN, AND YOU MAY YET LIVE."
The lupine began to back away and the creature followed, causing small thuds with each step.
"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE."
Relfe turned around, only to be greeted by the sight of many yellow eyes. He only got a brief look at the second monster, enough to determine that it was also fish-like, before it lunged at him. The wolf tried to raise his blaster, only for a clawed hand to knock it aside.
The last thing he saw was a massive set of jaws heading for him.
Elsewhere
The Sangheilii Republican Guards coming to attention immediately told Dan Stoltz that his partner had not gotten away. The two officers emerging from the brush, one of whom had blood on his tunic, confirmed to the grizzly bear that Relfe had not survived.
"Commander Synn, what shall we do with the villagers?"
The older of the two officers looked across the small group of simian-like Karians with contempt.
"Shoot them, shoot them all."
The younger of the two parted his four mandibles in the Sangheilii equivalent of a grin.
"Ooh, I'm liking this, Maizner." he said.
"Don't get cocky, Zarran." replied the older one.
Stoltz saw the Elites raising their weapons and knew that the end had come. He closed his eyes, hearing the protests of the villagers. Then he heard the staccato of dozens of small arms going off.
The ursine fell onto his back, a burning pain in his chest. Opening his eyes, Stoltz saw that his chest was oozing blood from two wounds. Judging by the cries of agony around him, some of the Karians hadn't been killed outright either. The Lylatian spotted several Republican Guards advancing out into the pile of bodies, obviously intending to administer the coup de grace to the wounded with either a shot to the head, a bayonet through the heart, or a knife across the throat.
Now standing over the bear was Zarran Synn, the younger, and if the reports were to be believed, crazier of Lord Synn's sons. The Elite aimed a Type-49 plasma pistol at Stoltz's head.
"Heh heh heh ha ha, fire in the hole!"
Zarran pulled the trigger and Stoltz saw black.
Karian Orbit, Dellis System.
Bill Grey leaned back in the seat of his Cornerian fighter, growing very impatient with the two intelligence agents.
"They should have been back by now." he said to himself.
Husky Squadron had drawn escort duty for this covert op, and thanks to the newest in stealth modifications from Cornerian R & D, had been able to avoid being spotted by several Koopa patrols.
The canine was brought out of his thoughts by his communicator.
"All units, we have detected jump signatures within our area. They appear to be Sangheili in nature."
"Acknowledged." Bill replied and then thought to himself "What possible interests could the Elites have here?"
The captain of the frigate that had brought the agents to this restive Koopa colony, a Red Kangaroo, once again spoke over the comms.
"Signatures confirmed as four destroyers, two cruisers, and at least one carrier."
"Be ready for a fight guys." Bill told his squadron.
Parts of space seemed to ripple and bend, and then suddenly, several purple ships with perfectly rounded edges appeared. All eyes were on the largest ship, the carrier.
Warning beeps from Bill's control panel told him that the Sangheili ships were actively scanning the area.
"Now why would they be running a full scan? Every Koopa ship in the area's going to know they're here."
The husky's question was quickly answered when one of his wingmates, an osprey by the name of Hawkins, called out. "Holy crap, she's launching fighters."
Bill looked up and saw the sight of several waves of grey fighters exiting the carrier.
"Emergency manoeuvres, we've been made." ordered the commander of Husky Squadron.
As the enemy aircraft drew closer, Bill recognized their silhouettes. They were cylinder-shaped with traversable wings that were currently drawn forward in all-range mode.
"Mark 25s, by the Gods." exclaimed Husky's second-in-command, a raccoon by the name of Morane.
Bill only nodded grimly. He had studied a report on the National Socialist Republic of Deranbey's latest aircraft. It mounted three plasma cannons, one in the nose and one on each wing. It also carried smaller variants of the plasma torpedoes used by Sangheili starships.
Undoubtedly, the Deranbeyens had sold some to their Sangheili allies.
Bill pushed those thoughts aside as the two forces closed range. Some of the Sangheili fighters hung back and launched their torpedoes. Likewise, the Lylatians used their lock-on lasers to engage from long range. The deadly projectiles from both sides hit their marks, and Bill saw three friendly radar signatures, including Hawkins, disappear.
"Damn it, we're outnumbered as it is."
Returning to the task at hand, Bill shot down a MK 25 that was heading right for him, causing it to explode into scrap metal. He then dropped in behind another one and fired a burst. To his horror, the ship did a barrel roll and deflected the shots.
"What in the hell?!" cursed the astounded canine.
The report had said nothing about Deranbey managing to copy barrel roll shields.
"Commander, behind you." screamed Morane.
Despite his first lieutenant's warning, Bill felt his fighter shake as the Sangheili pilot pumped the engine full of plasma, knocking it out. The controls became unresponsive and the heads up display flickered and died, leaving the Cornerian fighter adrift in space.
"Gods help me." the canine softly said.
Looking around, Bill saw wreckage and escape pods, both Sangheili and Cornerian, drifting through space. He also noticed that Morane had suffered a similar fate as himself and that the frigate they were escorting had been disabled by the Sangheili destroyers and was being boarded.
A MK 25, presumably the same one that had disabled him, flew past and waggled it's wings, as if to say "Don't go anywhere."
Several minutes later, one of the enemy cruisers hovered over Bill's fighter and brought it aboard with a tractor beam. The husky was greeted by the sight of dozens of Elites pointing rifles at him.
"I am in huge trouble."
Several Hours Later
Taktar, Global Socialist Republic of Sangheilos, Dellis System
Haydar Kazan shook his head as one of his subordinates delivered a punch to the flight officer known as Grey.
"You'd better talk Lylatian, or so help me, I'll skin you alive."
The interrogation room was only lit by a single light being shone in Grey's eyes. Kazan remedied that by flicking a switch, bathing the room in blue light.
"Forget it Tolan, I doubt that him or any of the other military personnel know anything of value. None of them are particularly high up."
Both Elites were dressed in uniforms that were a lighter shade of grey and a different cut compared to those of the Republican Guard. Kazan's had red collar tabs and red stripes on the sides of the trousers while the one's on Tolan's uniform were blue.
"Take him back to his cell and go find Krahl. Start bringing up their intelligence people. Get whatever you can out of them, however you can. When you're finished, take them out back and give them a noodle."
"As you command, Director Kazan."
The younger Elite then stretched out his right arm and delivered a Roman Salute.
"Hail Synn."
Kazan returned the salute and simply replied "Hail." before leaving. His walk back to his office in the State Intelligence Services' headquarters resulted in everyone who saw him quickly coming to attention. The Elite found himself constantly having to wave everyone back at ease.
Upon reaching his office, he was greeted by his secretary.
"There's a man waiting in your office, Director. His name's Drabin."
"Ah yes, I was expecting him. Thank you Talya."
Kazan entered his office to find a rather unassuming Elite in civilian clothes leafing through a magazine. When he saw the Director come in, he sprang to attention.
"Hail Synn."
"Hail."
When Drabin was at ease, Kazan asked "Do you have it?"
The other man nodded and removed a USB from his jacket pocket.
"It's all in here, Director."
Kazan took it from him and placed it on his desk.
"Thank you Drabin. Look to see a raise in the future."
"My pleasure, Director Kazan."
After another salute, Drabin was on his way and Kazan was looking over the USB's contents.
"Oh Zorak, you are a naughty boy." laughed the Elite.
He pulled up another picture on his computer. It was of three men who were all at least four decades older than him.
"Now if I could just find something on one of you, I'd be well on my way."
He had no idea that he, the director of Sangheilos' intelligence service and secret police, was being watched.
Within a darkened room, two figures watched over Kazan.
"THIS IS OUR MAN."
"SO HE IS."