Chapter 4: An Awkward Meeting
Six POV
The sound of blaring alarms and the flashing of lights tore Six from his sleep. He rolled out of his cot, grabbed the magnum he hid under his pillow, and scanned the room for any threats. Thankfully, the room was empty. Emile's cot opposite Six's was unoccupied, leaving him as the only person in the sleeping quarters. He had just lowered his magnum when the door slid open, prompting him to point the weapon at the door.
Standing in its frame was Carter, fully armored and with a DMR in hand. He didn't seem fazed by Six's weapon pointing in his direction, instead he simply said, "Stand down Spartan." To which six complied instantly.
Once the weapon was down, Carter started briefing. "ONI's research center on the Babd Catha Ice Shelf is under heavy Covenant attack. The troopers stationed there are about to be overrun and Noble Team is being deployed to provide support. Any questions?"
"Sir, when do we leave?" Six asked.
"Now. Get suited up Spartan." Carter finished before stepping out of Six's room. Six quickly dressed himself in pants and a shirt and exited his room. He walked down the corridor before making it to the Engineering room. Inside was a massive inventory of machinery and tools. Six quickly noticed the machine in the far corner, the "Canner."
It was a machine that stood seven feet tall, had an open space in the center like a bubble, and had nine mechanical fingers poking from its base that formed into an iron claw. Each mechanical pillar had smaller hands, drills, and screwdrivers. This was the only known machine that was able to combat dress a Spartan. Although the Spartans are able to remove and don their own armor, the process takes a good fifteen minutes while the Canner shortens it to three.
As if it was anticipating his arrival, the metal arms were already holding Six's battle armor. Six couldn't help but smile as he stepped forward and the machine came to life—all set to get the Spartan combat ready for the coming war.
Shress La'Vdamee POV
The humans put up a valiant fight, but five against a Zealot was still an unfair fight. They shot at her with weapons that flung projectiles like the weapons of her ancestors. Shress dashed forward and jumped in front of them. The human's gunfire bounced off her shields as she raised both her sword and plasma rifle. She decapitated the two warriors in front of her. Then fired her rifle at the others, burning their flesh. After mowing them down, she saw one of the humans was still alive, thrashing around in pain as plasma bore holes in his body. Feeling merciful, the zealot offered the only relief she could provide: a killing blow to end the soldier's suffering.
Once she was sure the alien was dead, she looked around the area to confirm there were no more threats. She was on a balcony overlooking the courtyard of the human military base. Below, a battle raged. Covenant troops assaulted human defenders. From her vantage point Shress could see the humans were slowly losing ground as the Covenant pushed them further and further back. This battle would be a swift victory, but the true success of the mission relied on her, and after what happened a week ago she was determined to accomplish it.
She looked behind her in disdain, following her were four Sangheili Rangers, despite being the best of their class they still lacked the skills of a zealot. It took all of Shress's patience to keep herself from running from the officers and continue on her own. She felt she had to baby her cohort—especially now. A team of zealots could have easily run through the building, get the needed information and exfiltrate before the humans realized what had happened. Yet here she had to walk while the Rangers carefully checked their corners and advanced cautiously.
She missed Nodam terribly and even Kluan, with them she knew they already accomplished their mission. She was the only Zealot now in all of Holy Retribution except for Ruan, her Field Marshall who was too important to risk in combat, leaving her as the only Zealot available for missions.
"Zealot!" One of the Rangers pointed to the sky and Shress followed his gaze. Coming from over the glacier were two of the humans' strange aircraft. Shress snorted, the vehicles were small. She doubted whoever was riding them would be too much trouble. She turned away just as the first of the airborne vehicles landed on the ground, before the same Ranger shouted, "Demons!"
Shress froze and closed her eyes as she silently prayed.
Oh please gods, please, don't let it be him.
Slowly she opened her eyes and looked down in the courtyard. She cursed when she saw him, the demon called Michael. He was fighting with the other blue demon and was already making progress in destroying the Covenant assault lance.
Self-consciously she looked to the mangled human bodies on the floor and felt a stab in her honor. She knew that there was no way she could've kept her vow of not killing a human. But she still promised, and, at the moment, the broken word was stinging her heart.
Her distress must have alerted one of the lieutenants who asked, "What is the matter, Zealot?"
Desperately she grasped for any excuse she could think of. "You are slow, don't deny it. You must put aside what you have been taught if we are to leave before the demons catch up to us, understood?" she said, annoyed.
The Sangheili spread their mandibles, clearly insulted but saying nothing. To argue with a higher rank such as a Zealot was seen as childish.
Starting at a crisp run, Shress and her comrades sprinted back into the building and started descending deeper into the human base on the small human stairwell. Every so often the staircase would end, but there would be a bridge connecting one side of the building to the other. The bridge crossings were murderous. The few remaining humans on the ground would point their weapons upwards and try to shoot the Sangheili down. Shress wasn't concerned by this, but the Rangers behind her had weaker shield generators; they couldn't withstand as much gunfire. When they were two floors from the bottom, one of the human weapons shattered the shields of a ranger, Yudam, and injured his arm. Not wanting to be seen as a weakling before a Zealot, however, he did not say anything and kept his composure.
They reached the last staircase where they were confronted by a barricade—a jumble of human furniture and scrap metal. Here the alien soldiers poked their guns out of gaps in the makeshift wall and shot at them, forcing the Sangheili back to gain cover. Despite their primitive defences, Shress was impressed that they were good enough to force the Sangheili to retreat. She was still trying to figure a way past the blockade in their path when her comms came alive, and a Kig-Yar major keeping watch on the roof yelled at her.
"Zealot!" It squawked, "The demons! They are here! We ne-" Before it could finish talking, the voice was drowned out by human gunfire. Then out in the open space, a Kig-Yar and some Unggoy fell from the upper level, along with the sound of alien bullets. Below her, Shress could hear the human defenders cheering.
Panicked, one of the Rangers shouted, "We're surrounded!"
Shress snarled at him, "Quiet! We are going to complete this mission, understand?"
One of her Rangers asked, "Are we going to fight the demons, Zealot?"
Shress' thoughts returned to the promise of sparing the honorable demon and his friends. She can't ensure she'll avoid killing humans, but the least she could do was to avoid killing the demons.
"No." she replied. "They slew almost an entire lance of Zealots, even though we had the element of surprise. We should gather the data and get out before the demons catch up to us."
Another Ranger spoke, "But if we kill the demons, we could win ourselves great glory—"
"We'll achieve greater glory if we gather the needed data. Then we shall be hailed as heroes."
Shress saw their grins and was relieved that her negotiation had succeeded again. There was another burst of gunfire from above, and more bodies fell from the balconies. Realizing time was not on their side, Shress ordered, "Yudam, use your Devout Destroyer on the barricade and keep running, blow through every barrier in our way, we have to sprint through this building if we're going to survive."
She turned to the other Rangers, "We must keep Yudam safe from harm, Kova, watch his right, Dinjit, watch his left flank while I cover his rear, understood?" The Rangers nodded as they readied their weapons. Both Kova and Dinjit readied their plasma rifles while Yudam readied the Destroyer, a weapon from the same makers of the Mgalekgolo's weapon system. Shress clipped her rifle to her side while she unshouldered her needle rifle, the weapon was weak, but against human armor it could pierce right through their weak shells and deliver instant death.
Satisfied with their preparations, Shress shouted, "Yudam now!"
Yudam jumped from around the corner and brought up the heavy weapon. Shress heard the human's cries of warning, but it was too late. Once the first two fiery green bolts hit the barrier, the barricade exploded. The final bolt hit the floor between the humans, blowing them off their feet. Then, Shress commanded, "Charge!" and the three warriors sprinted into the smoke filled room.
There were a dozen human soldiers at the bottom—all stunned by the sudden explosion. The Sangheili let loose a barrage of plasma as they sprinted across the room to a door opposite of the stairs. The humans fell as the plasma ate through their defenses; hot liquid flames licked their bodies until death took their souls. Some tried to fight back; their weapons fired metal at the Sangheili attack force in a desperate attempt to force the aliens into cover. They were approaching a large metal door when Yudam hefted his fuel rod gun and fired one shot. At the exact moment the green ball of energy escaped the gun, Yudam howled in pain as his shield generator failed and a projectile caught him in the leg, causing him to fall.
Shress twisted around and grabbed him. She was going to lift him up when another human projectile hit the back of her comrade's head and disappeared within his skull, causing Yudam to go limp in her arms.
Shress was stunned as she stared at her fallen brother who died in her hands. He was gone, just like her Zealot brothers, taken by the humans.
Shress looked up and scanned the room for Yudam's killer. It was as if the room had paused as she scanned the faces and weapons of the aliens, trying to see who it was that fired the fatal shot. Her eyes settled on it, the demon. Just like Michael, it was a blue colored demon and it had its weapons pointed at Shress. The demon fired and Shress jerked her head to the right, she heard the projected piece of metal hit the wall and repelled off of it.
Shress was going to fire back when Dinjit grabbed her arm and hissed through his helmet, "Zealot, now is the time. We must go. Now!" Shress let out an angry roar at the demons, stooped, and flung Yudam's body over her shoulder. The Sangheili team ran into the open hallway. Shress lead the way while Dinjit and Kova provided covering fire as they fled deeper into the human complex.
Six POV
"I thought you were a trained marksman Lieutenant!" Kat shouted over the roar of the warthog.
Six pushed down on the twin buttons on his weapon again, watching as the tri-barreled M41 Light Anti-Air Gun let loose a thunderous five hundred rounds in a zagged pattern, unable to keep himself from missing over half of the shots when the car violently jumped upwards for seemingly no reason. As the gun fired, Six yelled back, "Oh yeah? Well I thought you were trained to drive!"
The only response that came was when the warthog suddenly skidded across the ground, losing almost all of the forward momentum as Kat slammed the brakes with the force that could only come from a Spartan. Unprepared for the sudden stop, the sound of Six's helmet clunking into the rear of the turret could be heard before he caught himself. Reorienting himself, he could only listen as Kat laughed childishly and returned to her driving.
Even in battle, we Spartans are brothers and sisters… With all the strange perks that come with it.
They drove in huge circles outside of the anti-air gun post that was crawling with Covenant. Most of the aliens were sprawled out in front of the building, leaving only two Grunts on the ground floor and an Elite Ranger on the rooftop. The aliens hid behind what cover they could find, only peeking out to shoot intermittently. The Grunts shot out of the window while the Elite fired from behind the rooftop barrier.
The massive anti-air gun outside of the building was in a dormant state. Above, Hornets, Falcons, and Pelicans engaged with Covenant Banshees, Spirits, and Phantoms. The Corvette overhead wasn't helping; it kept sending in fresh reinforcements, both in the air and on the ground. It wouldn't be long before the UNSC was overwhelmed.
The ground victories Noble Team won wouldn't matter unless they took out the Corvette. While the rest of Noble Team was defending Sword Base, Six and Kat were running ground ops. They just switched the comms array back on, now here they are trying to reactivate the main anti-air gun where the Covies set up shop.
The first wave was easy to eliminate, but the remaining Grunts and Elites knew better and were now trying to stay out of an open fight. Prolonging their survival for just a little longer.
"Sergeant, are you ready?" Six called over the roar of battle.
Sergeant Gunther was scared for his life, but he nodded at Six. It was just sheer luck that the sergeant found himself working with the Spartans; it was his Warthog that got volunteered for the mission, and what Six found admirable about the man was that he volunteered as well. When they needed a spare gunner, he didn't want anyone from his team to be involved with the usual Spartan suicide mission, so he stepped up to the position. Six liked officers like that, leaders who were willing to put their own life on the line rather than that of their company.
The sergeant raised his weapon, a 40 mm grenade launcher, and gave the nod that he was ready. Kat accelerated the engine and they sped forward, making it look like they were going to speed by the building again. As the Covenant started firing, Kat pulled the emergency brake, and they came to a screeching stop as Covenant plasma narrowly missed them.
While the Covenant tried to adjust their aim, Gunther raised himself higher and fired a grenade. The round shot through the air and the Sergeant activated the remote detonation the moment it landed inside the building. The Grunts inside gave a surprise squeal when they were consumed in the blast, once their screams died down there was only silence. With the Grunts out of action, Six swung the machine gun upward and started shooting again. The Elite on the roof barely made it to cover before a stream of lead hit the side of the building.
"Kat, Gunther, get in there and kill that thing. I'll keep it pinned down," Six ordered.
The Spartan and army sergeant dismounted and ran into the building while Six provided covering fire. As they neared it, Kat shouted, "Six, behind you!"
Six looked over his shoulder and cursed. A Covenant Spirit was fast approaching on his flank, with its plasma cannon aimed at him. Six jumped from the gun to the driver seat and took it out of park. The vehicle was their only means of transport and it provided them the only fire support they could get at the moment. To lose that was to lose an important key to victory.
Six only made it a few meters when he felt the back of the truck get thrown into the air by a blast of plasma. When the truck landed on solid ground again, it was struck dead center in the bed area. A familiar sound roared overhead. The sound of a giant blue ball of energy headed directly at him. It was Six's armor system that saved his life. His shielding absorbed most of the blast, but it still tossed him into the air, away from the burning vehicle.
Six hit the ground hard, bounced, fell, and bounced again before skidding to a halt. He was stunned for only a moment before jumping to his feet and looking back at the outpost. The Covenant drop ship dropped off two squads of Grunts and Elites, surrounding the Strike team's position.
Seeing the new threat, Six rushed forward to aid his team. As he closed in, the Covenant troops opened fire but Six's shielding system kept him alive. Reaching the building, Six jumped, somersaulted in the air and landed on the first landing of the outpost's outside staircase. He ran upwards and came to the rooftop. There was blood everywhere. Thankfully, it was mostly purple, an Elite Ranger's body was slumped against a box of ammunition—its mask hiding its face.
Kat, who switched her usual custom made magnum pistol for a battle rifle, was firing at the invading forces. Six spotted a DMR crate close to her and grabbed a brand new rifle, still wrapped in plastic. He ripped the packaging off, slammed in a magazine and adjusted the scope. He slid next to Kat and started scoring headshots, delivering instant death to Grunts and Jackals.
"Where's Gunther?" Six asked as he reloaded.
"Dead." Kat replied. "One of the Grunts was still alive and mauled him, but he buried his knife into its throat before he died."
Six could only nod as he spent another magazine. They'll have to mourn their losses later; if they die now, it would be a dishonor to his memory. As he reloaded, Six noticed three Phantoms inbound towards their location.
"Kat, please tell me that gun is online," Six almost begged as he loaded his last mag.
"It needs a while to restart," she replied.
The Phantoms closed in, "Kat?"
"Just one more minute," she said as she fired a barrage at another Elite Ranger.
The plasma cannons on all three Phantoms swirled to life and started shooting. Six and Kat dropped to their bellies as large plasma rounds flew by overhead and explosions racked the entire building.
"We don't have a minute!" Six shouted over the din.
"Well shut up and shoot something!" She screamed back when the barrage suddenly stopped.
The sizzling of energizing plasma ceased, now replaced with thunderous gunshots that put Jorge's machine gun to shame. Six peeked out and saw the anti-air gun was letting loose a storm of 20mm shells at the Phantoms. One ship burst into a massive firecracker of molten blue while the other Phantoms retreated. The Spartans looked over the side and saw that the remaining enemy combatants were crushed by the debris of their own phantom.
As the Spartan duo let out sighs of relief their radios crackled to life. Carter's voice boomed as he ordered, "Kat, Six, get here quick. More Covenant landed on the roof, and we have a Zealot team running somewhere in the base."
Six felt his gut tighten. If it was Shress, the Zealot who he let go just a few weeks ago in the base, then he would be responsible for whatever damage she and her team did.
Oblivious to Six's troubled state, Kat got back on her feet and said, "Let's move it Lieutenant." As she ran back downstairs. Six followed close by her heels. When they passed through the main building, Six saw Gunther's body next to a Grunt. The Grunts were small compared to Spartans, but they were almost as tall as an average human. Six was glad to see a knife buried to the hilt in the alien's neck.
"Did you get his dog tags?" he asked Kat.
"Yeah." she said as they sprinted towards Sword Base. They halted when they saw a Pelican approaching. "I guess we got air support again." Kat finished.
The Pelican didn't stop. Instead it dropped off a new warthog with another trooper and a Gauss cannon attached.
"I think that'll do." Six said, nodding.
Shress La' Vdamee POV
Shress paced the room, a behavior that normally would be unbecoming of her gender. Her nerves were on fire as she tried to think through the developing situation. She knew that the other judgemental males would look down on her. However, she did not care. She was more worried concerning the developing situation.
The room they occupied was small with unfamiliar equipment within. The only person who was inside was an elderly female who did not realize death was upon her until it was too late. Yudam was dead, that was for sure, despite the team's attempts to save their brother it was already too late, all that they could do for him was lay his body by the door while they finished their business. Kova was working diligently on a terminal as he extracted the human intelligence and slowly transcribed it into the Sangheili runes. Dinjit meanwhile, served as a lookout, standing by the door entrance and every so often peeking out of it to ensure they were alone.
Feeling useless in this situation, Shress started pacing out of agitation and impatience as they slowly ran out of time. Reinforcements may have arrived, but they were deep within the building, on their own, and surrounded by humans as well as the dreaded demons. The thought made Shress kick a nearby human terminal. Dinjit looked at her and hissed his disapproval. Shress snarled at him. The Ranger looked away—probably the wisest of choices.
Agitated, Shress turned to Kova and demanded, "How much longer?"
Kova, a veteran warrior and technician responded, "Almost done, Zealot, just a few more human codes, and we'll have all the data."
Shress nodded and went back to pacing, earning Dinjit's critical eye once more. Shress was burning with a hatred that began ever since failing her first mission on the human planet. It became worse as she remembered her humiliating loss at the hand of the demon, Michael. Then there was that idiotic promise of her not harming a human which was, at that moment, stabbing at her pride, and now Yudam's death pushed her past her breaking point. Promise or no promise, she would kill a demon if it was the last thing she did.
Suddenly Kova let out a roar that startled the remaining team members. Shress turned and raised her sword while Dinjit brought out his rifle, but there were no targets. Kova was standing straight with a dumbfounded look on his face as he translated the human language.
Shress asked. "Kova, what is it?"
Kova's eyes were still locked on the terminal when he replied, "Zealot, it is here. The artifact… so large, so holy."
"Here?" Shress asked, "What do you mean?"
Kova turned to her and said, "The Navigator, it is here, beneath this very building!"
Shress dropped her sword, dumbfounded. The Navigator? Here? The most holy of all artifacts. The one that can guide them farther along the Great Journey is here?
Their excitement soon began to build. Kova started to shift from side to side, while Dinjit even knelt and started praying. This was a joyous time. With the Navigator, they could locate any Forerunner Relic they wished, and it could lead them to weapons that could be used against the humans. Either way, the future of the war now layed with the artifact, or whoever controls it.
Dinjit snarled angrily as he stood, "We should kill every human here and claim what rightfully belongs to the gods. We are their instruments, the humans are defiling this holy relic with their very presence. We must kill them all now."
Lost in the moment, Kova nodded as well and he readied his weapon.
Sensing a massacre, Shress stepped forward and said, "No, we must get this information back to the shipmaster."
The young Dinjit snarled the word, "Heresy! How dare you—"
He didn't finish as Shress let out a roar that made both male Sangheili flinch.
"How…How dare I!?" Shress shouted, "How dare you! I am a Zealot, one of the sole chosen to be the very weapon of the Prophets, and through them the gods! Do not mistake my choices for heresy Brother, I have sacrificed more, devoted more, and killed more than you have ever achieved! If you question my orders again, you are questioning the Prophets themselves. Would you wish to be disgraced for eternity? You and all who'll follow? I can make that a reality if you do not stay your thoughts, Dinjit. Do you understand?"
Awestruck, the nervous warrior nodded, while Kova watched with eyes still wide with shock.
Satisfied they were listening, Shress talked in a softer, more reasonable tone, "Believe me brothers, I too share your fervorous joy, but now is not the time to attack. We only won a small victory through surprise, but now the humans know of our presence, it won't be long before their army is upon us. They'll crush us unless we get back to Holy Retribution and inform the Prophets—only then will we have enough forces to destroy the humans once and for all."
Dinjit and Kova nodded, still stinging from Shress's verbal threats, no longer feeling the frantic urge to kill every human they see.
Shress took a deep breath and said. "Get ready to move out. We don't have much time before the humans discover us. Kova, ensure that you have transcribed everything. Dinjit, carry Yudam. Use his Destroyer weapon. With the demons here we need every bit of fire power we can carry."
The two Rangers nodded and turned back to their duties. Kova purged the data stream once more while Dinjit grabbed Yudam's body and lifted it to his shoulder while picking up the glowing destroyer with the other, surprising Shress with his unexpected strength.
Kova shut down the human terminal and nodded towards Shress that he was done. Shress unclipped her plasma rifle and gestured to Dinjit to hand her his. Armed with twin plasma rifles, Shress opened the door and led her small party out of the room.
They walked through the strange alien hallway unchallenged. Plasma burns and the bodies of human soldiers littered the floor. Shress was slightly unnerved by the emptiness of the place while listening to the sounds of war beyond the walls. The alien building and the far off battle gave the three running warriors the impression that they were fighting in a different dimension, which was technically true; they were the invaders of this alien race's world.
They approached a large, locked sliding blast door which replaced the smaller door that Yudam blew up earlier. It was the only thing separating the humans from pursuing the Sangheili team. Humans and their terrifying demons waited for them. The Sangheili also felt solemn—as it was at this exact place where Yudam was killed; all the warriors of the Covenant were superstitious, none would want to upset the gods for repeating a disgraceful mistake, especially the commanders.
Shress felt her throat dry, but she stayed steady as she called the Covenant forces on the other side.
"This is Zealot Shress La'Vdamee speaking. Who is in command of this battle group?"
It wasn't long before an older voice answered her call, "This is General Trahomee, Zealot have you completed your mission?"
Shress was taken off guard. A General? This mission must be important, making Shress all the more determined to get the information back to the Covenant.
Shress responded, "Yes General, we have the data and bring joyful news, but we need cover if we are to make it back."
"Understood, Zealot. As soon as we open fire, you and your Rangers fall back here and enter the first transporter you see. Get the information back to Holy Retribution at all costs, understand?" he asked in a grave voice.
"Perfectly, sir." Shress answered.
No sooner did she finish speaking did she hear the sound of plasma blast and the cracking of human weapons. Realizing this was their moment, Shress shouted, "Dinjit! Shoot the door!"
Like Yudam before him, Dinjit shot three glowing emerald bolts. Two destroyed the door, and the last destroyed the sorry souls standing behind it. The warriors ran forward and were back in the large hall they just escaped five units ago.
The organized humans were cornered on one side of the massive wall; the demons, however, were fighting in the open, shooting upwards at the Covenant above them. Happy to see their reinforcements, Shress yelled, "Run!" Then turned to face the enemy. She leveled her twin weapons and started firing, slightly moving her rifles in circular motions. The molten plasma sprayed over the human's defenses and the demons. The humans retreated back behind the safety of the walls, but the multi-colored inhuman fighters still held their ground.
Shress instantly felt her heart beat faster as she gazed at the three monsters before her. Like Six, The humanoid demons were faceless beings, taller than any of the other humans, and unfazed by any of her attacks. She recognized all three of them, there was a massive demon with a large gun. Next to him was the one clad in green who wasn't in the fight last time, its long rifle appeared to be able to hit anything that seemed out of reach by conventional weaponry. The last one in blue she assumed to be the commander—as it made all the strange hand signals and orders at the other demons for them to follow.
At the sight of Shress, the demons doubled their resolve. Shress was pushed back by sheer fire power, her shields were threatening to overload when Dinjit fired his Destroyer into the demons' ranks. The lull in the gun battle was the signal that Dinjit and Kova made it to the stairs. It was Shress' turn to make a run for it. She turned on her heels and ran towards the stairs—where squadrons of Unggoy, Kig-yar, and Sangheili made their way down and covered the retreating troops.
Shress had just climbed the first staircase when she heard an Unggoy squeak, "Look! More demons! More demons!" She spared a glance backward and saw two additional demons running in—including Michael.
She felt anger boiling within her. There's the monster that made her promise impossible feats, the one who is causing her such grief and questioning her honor. She turned and for a wild moment was considering running across the way to kill him, but stopped when she saw the Covenant forces beginning to crumble. The appearance of additional demons caused the Unggoys to break ranks in a panic state. Confused Kig-Yars were bumping into each other, while the Sangheilian leaders tried to rally their troops, only to be the first to be blown away by the human's bullets. Realizing they were being overrun, Shress remembered how vital their data was, so she turned and sprinted up the stairways.
She was on the third level when she heard the screaming of different Covenant species; the demons were right behind them.
"Faster!" she roared at Dinjit who was lagging behind due to the weight of their dead comrade and the massive weapon he carried. On the fourth floor they paused when they saw the Sangheilian General, Concussion Rifle in hand, with golden armor. The General looked past Shress's group and snarled. Shress looked back in time to see the demons leading human forces after them, slaughtering the troopers who tried to stop them in a futile last stand.
"Go." The General growled as he stepped forward, raising his rifle. The team was torn between the order to retreat and the instinct to turn back and fight. Shress growled at the Rangers and nodded forward, signaling them to follow the hallway back to the roof.
They didn't get very far when they stopped. The door to the roof was gone; instead there was a large gaping hole that extended over three floors. Outside they could see their Corvette in the air, battling with the humans flying air defenses. A Phantom approached. It flared its magnetic gravity before hovering close to the hole. The side flaps opened, and six Special Ops Sangheili jumped out.
The Special Ops units were seen as a disgrace in Sangheili culture. To hide from the enemy and attack from behind was seen as a disgraceful action. However, the Prophets insisted that the group was necessary in the fight against the heretic humans. The Special Ops mostly consisted of Sangheilian criminals who committed disgraceful acts on Sanghelios. They were rude, untrustworthy, but were brutal fighters—exactly what was needed to combat demons.
One of the Special Operators stepped forward, his face hidden by the strange curved mask. He growled, "Are you the Zealot?"
Dinjit stepped forward, "Of course she's a—"
"Not now Dinjit." Shress interrupted with a hiss. She said in an undertone. She returned her attention to the Operator. "Yes, I'm the Zealot. We have critical data that needs to be delivered to Holy Retribution."
The Operator grunted and gestured for them to enter the Phantom. They started moving towards it when it came under fire. Something or someone was shooting at their aircraft from above, possibly with a heavy weapon considering the amount of explosions. Shress looked up and snarled. There, on the top floor, was another demon, firing a large weapon at the Phantom.
Shress roared, "Concentrate your fire!" as she raised her twin blasters and started firing. The other Sangheili followed suit, Plasma and Needler shards zeroed in on the demon, forcing it to seek shelter.
Once the demon was no longer in sight, the Phantom inched closer to the building with its flaps open. Kova jumped in first, then Dinjit tossed Kova Yudam's body before he too jumped on board. Shress was about to go next when the demon returned and started firing on the Phantom again. She turned and fired back with her rifle before yelling into her comm. "Pilot! Leave, get the data back to Holy Retribution now!"
"But Zealot, what about you?" Dinjit asked after hearing her orders to the pilot.
"I'll be fine Dinjit." she took a breath and said in a low and grave tone. "I'm going to kill a demon even if it's the last thing I do."
The Phantom broke away from the building and hovered off towards the far off mountain range. Satisfied that her team was away, Shress turned to the Special Operators, but before she said anything, the screaming of dying Covenant soldiers grew thick in the air. The demons were closing in.
The Operator that spoke to Shress then gave the command. "Active camouflage, now!"
Instantly all the warriors, including Shress, shimmered and disappeared, awaiting the demons. Shress readied both her blasters and her sword; ready to cleave the poor fool who dared come their way.
A lone figure ran onto the upper floor with a heavy weapon in hand and a human rifle strung on its back. It was the demon, Michael.
Shress felt a consuming guilt weigh down on her, but she shook it off and growled, resolved to kill the monster before her.
Before she could shoot, however, the lead Operator stepped forward and let loose a plasma shot. It was as if the demon was expecting it; at the appearance of plasma, he jumped to the side and fired two streaking suns towards the ambusher. Shress and a few other Operators leaped away in time, but the leader of the group was blown to smithereens—along with two other Sangheilians.
Michael was reloading when the next attack came. An Operator ran forward with only his fists; determined to beat the demon to death. He was still invisible, but Michael somehow sensed his attack and met him head on. He swung the massive gun around like it was a club and bashed the Operator against the wall. Meanwhile a second foe got behind the demon and raised his rifle and let out a burst of plasma. Michael ducked low to the floor, allowing the burst of plasma to sail over him and hit the semi-stunned Operator on the wall, draining his shield and killing him. Michael flipped the massive gun around and fired from the hip. The glowing projectile struck the attacker, leaving nothing but ash.
Shress and the last Operator hesitated as they thought their final assault through. The demon scanned the area for any more threats before turning his attention to the sky. He started firing his massive gun into the air, knocking banshees out of the sky. While he was distracted, the Operator moved forward, with Shress at his rear. They split up and circled their prey. The demon seemed to be too busy shooting down the purple aircraft. He didn't seem to notice the two Sangheili getting ready to kill him. They both stopped when they were five feet away from the demon. The Operator in front of him while Shress was behind him.
Shress saw the Operator readied his rifle; remembering what happened to the previous challenger who attacked with the rifle, Shress put away her guns and instead readied to use her sword. She was so close there was no way she could miss her target, and the demon still did not realize he was surrounded.
She breathed steadily, getting ready to attack. Should the Operator miss, it'll be up to her to finish off the alien. But even if he does hit the demon, she will sink her blade into the demon anyway and ensure that he'll have the painful death she promised him long ago.
Patiently the two Sangheilians waited for the perfect moment to strike. That moment came when Michael lowered his gun to reload it, leaving him vulnerable. The Operator moved forward and fired in a vertical motion to ensure he didn't miss. There was no way the demon could escape death now.
Suddenly the demon flipped the gun vertically and held it in front of him. Some of the plasma bolts struck the makeshift shield while others passed its sides hitting the demon, but not badly enough to get through his shields. Michael threw the gun at the invisible attacker, out of reflex the Operator swatted it away, causing his shield to shimmer, revealing his form. Before Shress could do anything Michael flipped the rifle off his back with one hand and fired his weapon using every projectile in the gun until it was empty, leaving the Operator dead at his feet.
Shress moved forward to cut off the demon's head, but then he used his other hand and brought out a smaller gun he holstered to his hip—a gun she didn't see until now. She tried to halt her charge and get out of the way, but Michael shot her in the head before she could. The piece of flying metal struck her shield, and obliterated her camouflage. The demon kicked her in the chest, making her double over like before, draining her shields. Now she had no protection, death was upon her for a gun could kill her faster than her sword could slice the demon.
She stayed in her feeble position, waiting to be shot, hoping her demise will be as quick as the Operators. She waited for death, but there was nothing, a unit had passed and yet she was still alive.
Slowly she raised her head and looked at the blue demon before her. Michael was still holding the gun, pointing it at her face, but no shots were fired. They stared at each other for what felt like units to Shress, her mind still wondering the same question over and over again.
Is he going to kill me?
Slowly Michael lowered his gun, once again sparing Shress's life. Astonished by the act of mercy, she peered closer at the demon in a new light. Truly he must be a very honorable warrior, or he could just be an idiot.
Michael raised two fingers to the side of his head; it stayed in that position for a while before he lowered them. He looked at Shress and spoke in her language, "Miss La'Vdamee. If you want to live longer, I suggest you turn invisible again."
While Shress had her full attention on the demon, she didn't realize her shields and power were reenergized again. She activated her camouflage once more and became invisible. She didn't move from the spot; she wanted to ask the demon questions but before she could, she heard an odd screeching sound and looked up at the same time as Michael.
Two human aircraft sped by. They approached the corvette, before breaking off. To Shress they seemed to have done nothing, then before her eyes, there was a flash of light as a ray from the sky streaked down and went straight through the ship. Shress watched in horrid fascination as one of the Covenant ships, her ship, crashed into the ocean and slowly began to sink. Like flies flocking to a carcass, human ships descended upon the down vessel. She turned to Michael, preparing to ask a question when she was interrupted.
The massive demon from downstairs had walked up behind them without being heard, quite unnerving seeing how large it was. It spoke in the odd human language and put a hand on Michael's shoulder. Among the Sangheili, to touch someone was seen either as a challenge of strength, or to show a sign of love towards another. Yet Michael didn't act either way. The two demons seem to be having a conversation, Shress was wondering if Michael was telling the giant about her, but neither of them looked her way. The giant put two fingers to his head like Michael a few units earlier. He tapped his head again and seemed to be talking in midair. He wasn't looking at Michael. The giant turned then said something to Michael and they walked away from Shress and headed back inside the building.
Before they left Michael turned his head and looked at where Shress was standing. He checked to make sure the giant was not looking before he raised his hand slightly behind his back, spread his fingers and waved his hand side to side, just like the last time they saw each other.
Shress watched them depart. After a unit, she turned and looked at the far off mountains, she started moving towards it but stops. She looks between the mountains and where the demons disappeared to.
She sighed as she thought to herself, you're an idiot.
Then she turned and followed the two demons back into the human complex.
Six's POV
"Man, that Doc Halsey knows the perfect way to rain on your parade." Emile muttered as the Spartans slowly ate their MREs.
Noble Team sat in the atrium while the UNSC army troopers secured the perimeter, they would have loved to help, but Holland thought it was best that the team rest before performing any more operations. When they started to protest, Holland reasoned that they had to be rested should the Covenant come back for another assault.
Kat angrily chewed on a power bar as she spoke, "No kidding. Did you hear how she was talking to me? She was ready to court martial me for attempting to look at "classified" materials. If it was classified it would have said so!" she finished, curling her hand into a fist.
Six, realizing the lack of discrepancy, looked up from his partially finished trail mix and asked, "Kat, if something is encoded, doesn't that make the material classified?"
"Six." Kat said rather calmly, "Shut up."
Emile laughed, "Six, you just learned a valuable lesson: never be smart with Kat, especially when it concerns Doctor Halsey, the ultimate control freak."
Remembering what happened earlier, Six brought his hand up to rub at a nonexistent head wound. "I think I learned that earlier."
Jorge, who was oiling his gun, looked up and said, "Halsey isn't that bad."
Emile responded, "Yeah, she's all hugs and cuddles when it concerns you big man. Unlike us, she got to mess with your genes."
Jorge didn't say anything; he had no idea how to respond.
Six looked at Jorge with sympathy. It was true what Emile said, Halsey adored the Spartan II's because she, as Emile puts it, "Got to mess with their genes." Every time anyone so much as mentions the new Spartan IIIs, Halsey's mood instantly grows sour without fail. She didn't admit it, but she saw the Mark IIIs as abominations of her Spartan project. There had always been bad blood between the IIIs and the IIs because of that rift, even with Jorge. Working with Spartan IIs was always a challenge since they thought of Halsey as a saint.
Seeing the tension in the air, Carter spoke, "I think it's a good time we turn in Noble, get some shut eye. Sword Base is offering us our own rooms, but they'll be on different floors."
"That's fine with me, sir," Emile said, "But I don't think it's a good idea to leave Six on his own. He could get lost and wander off."
"Cut the chatter, Emile. I've uploaded your rooms to your HUDs. Holland has declared tomorrow a free day, but I warn you to keep your weapons nearby. There's no telling what the Covies are planning to do next."
Feeling drained by the events of the day. Repelling invading aliens, hand to hand combat with Hunters, and the awkward meeting with Shress, Six excused himself, placing his helmet back on his head and walking to the fifth floor where his room was.
As Six traveled upward, he passed several wounded soldiers recovering from the battle. Some were shell shocked, wounded or reorganizing their squads. They already removed the bodies of the aliens, gathered their fallen and were washing away the blood from the floors and walls.
Six was glad to find his room. It was clean, not too large, and had a cot—the only thing Six needed at the moment.
Six closed the door and was starting to remove his armor when he paused. He felt the hot breath, smelled something not entirely of human origin and thought he saw the air ripple out of the corner of his eye. Six was instantly on alert, but trying to appear as harmless as possible, he sighed and asked in the all too familiar alien dialect, "Don't Sangheili know how to knock?"
Six turned on the spot and stared at the empty space before him. There was nothing for a moment, but then the air shimmered like a desert mirage and there, standing before him, was Shress. Or at least he hoped it was Shress, it was a Zealot, that much was obvious, but there was no way he could distinguish if it was her or not, yet something in the back of his head was telling him it was her.
The Elite was an intimidating sight, red armored, seven feet tall, and covered in red and purple blood and gore. Its weapons were hanging from a belt on its hip, but Six was still tense so he kept his hand close to his rifle that was lying on the cot.
They stared at each other, blue reflective faceplate meeting shadowed eyes, waiting for one or the other to speak.
Finally deciding to break the tension, the Elite spoke first. "That was the second time you could have killed me, and now this is the third time you have an opportunity to kill me, why don't you?" she asked with obvious curiosity.
Six thought for a while, trying to find an answer, but couldn't. The first time they met, he was set to kill her, but when she gave him a chance to duel for his life, he felt indebted and decided not to kill her. Yet this second time there was no debt, so why couldn't he kill her?
It was wrong. It just felt wrong.
Taking a breath he just said. "Because I just don't feel comfortable killing the only Sangheili who's willing to see humans as equals." That wasn't exactly the truth since he didn't know the answer himself, but it was the best he could think of at the moment.
The response seemed to have satisfied the Elite, who nodded back and said, "This is obviously a sign from the gods. We are meant to meet each other, but why?"
Six had some idea what she was talking about but said, "Look lady," he stopped, wondering whether she'll see his wording as an insult. "I mean ma'am, I'm not really that much into your gods, but I'm pretty sure this isn't a sign, it could be a... " unable to find the alien word he used the human one. "Coincidence."
Shress cocked her head to the side and asked. "What's a coincidence?"
"It means it could just be an accident that we met," Six finished.
Shress shook her head, "There are no such things as accidents."
"What are you a Zen master?"
"A what?"
Realizing the obvious lack of mutual knowledge, Six shook his head. "Never mind. Look, I'm not really convinced on the whole idea of destiny, so I don't think our meeting is fate."
"So, you are saying it's an accident that we are allowing each other to live?" she asked in a seemingly innocent tone.
Well, as innocent as a Sangheili Zealot could be…
Tired and uncomfortable, Six threw up his hands in defeat. Unwilling to let this strange conversation continue for much longer, the Spartan decided just to say what was on his mind. "Believe what you want, but for me I can't believe there's some mythical voodoo going on that's keeping us together."
"Voodoo?"
"Magic!" Six said suddenly in an exasperated, loud voice.
Shress took a step back and moved her large four-fingered hand closer to her belt of weapons.
Hoping to defuse the situation, Six slowly raised his hands and said calmly. "Sorry, but I'm tired and rather exhausted after today. I'm not in the best of moods to speak." Remembering what he read of Sangheilian culture, he slightly bowed and said, "Please Shress La'Vdamee forgive me, Michael, Noble Six, for my outburst and not treating you like a proper guest."
He saw Shress' mandibles slightly open as she recognized the Saghilian gesture. Surprised again by Six's knowledge of her people. She accepted his apology by bowing and saying. "You are forgiven, Michael…" Pausing for a moment, the Zealot seemed unsure as to what to say next before she shook her head a bit and continued. "... Six." As she rose, Six felt her eyes studying him before saying. "I agree, you are too tired to talk."
Gratefully Six nodded his head. "Yes, thank you for understanding."
"You clearly need to rest and some time to think." Shress continued.
"Yes, thank you."
"Therefore we'll meet again later." Shress bowed to Six and said. "Farewell, Michael." She said as she turned to leave.
"Farewell Shr—wait, what!" Six ran in front of her and blocked her from the door, "I'm sorry Shress, but you can't return. It won't do either of us any good if we are seen together by humans or the Covenant."
Shress looked down, stared at the floor for a moment then looked up. "Agreed, have you been into the mountains before?"
"The mountains?" Six asked, making sure he heard correctly. Yes, he had seen the mountain range when the falcon he was riding in flew by them. They towered over Sword Base casting a shadow over the complex.
Unaware of Six's complications, Shress said, "In the mountains, there's a knoll, on the west side of the fourth largest peak. Can you meet me there? Tomorrow, at noon?"
"Um… sure." Six finally stuttered.
Shress nodded and said. "Then I will see you then. Rest well, Michael."
Six stepped out of the way of the door and said. "Same to you, Shress."
Six watched as she activated her camouflage and went out the door, completely invisible to the UNSC forces.
Six closed the door, now too tired to pull off his armor. He walked to his cot and crashed on it in full gear, his last thought was.
Michael, you're an idiot.
-Author's Note-
This was a big ol' fat chapter, I'm really happy with the team we have to finish this. I am WELL aware of the many grammatical errors of the original versions of this story. We are literally taking those versions and taking it apart and putting it back together again. That being said, even as a team of four, we are not perfect. I myself am dusting off my editing skills as I used to edit a long time ago for writers on FF. Between all of this we pick at these chapters bit by bit, converse, hold meetings, discuss canon, rewrite certain paragraphs to better the quality of this story. We all work and have lives, not to mention work on other fics to which we support each other like a big ol' freakish Halo fan family. Having you guys positively support us with our projects keeps us invigorated and so, we shall keep truckin'.
Much damn love
-DaffyDafuq (jjoutlaw)
Happy to get the longest chapter yet finished. I've seen some people ask when the changes will start—when the story will deviate from the past two iterations. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are some likely spots and characters who you may notice are more flushed out and refined in future chapters, to name one thing.
I hope you all can appreciate the seriousness of our efforts with this story. We truly want this done right!
-WhateverRex
Not much to say from me, other than the fact that it was really fun tweaking the reaction between Kat and Six during this. Hope you enjoyed it!
-PyreElegy