'Attention all UNSC personnel. This is the Captain speaking.
Prepare to abandon ship!
Combat teams, repel boarders until ops personnel are away.
Good luck. Keyes out.'
"Alright boys, look alive.
Another life boat's gone, which means that any second now, one of those Covenant boarders are gonna latch on, bust down these doors, and spew out a whole lot of them dumb alien bastards. When that happens, let's give 'em a warm welcome courtesy of the Autumn."
The squad of marines held their breaths, anticipating the inevitable moment they'd have to stand their ground as the immediate area was boarded.
It wasn't too long before they felt the telltale shudder that rocked their section of the ship.
Their grips tightened on their respective weapons, fingers poised on triggers, as they watched the door to the airlock of the former escape pod begin to glow a dim orange.
A few seconds later, it was flung aside in a cloud of smoke, fire and exploded debris.
Once the initial echo of the breach faded, the group leveled their weapons on the newly made entrance, awaiting to see whether the enemy would advance directly like with previous encounters along the way or deploy suppressive fire before venturing from the safety of the confines of their ship.
The first contact slowly emerged past the entryway, looking to their right before appearing startled by the sight of the marines on their left.
The figure itself was dressed primarily in black with hints of red, sporting a long sleeved blouse, skirt, stockings and boots, the most striking thing about the attire that caught the marines attention however, was the red hooded cape attached to the blouse.
The figure almost looks… human?
Wait, kids?
Three more equally, yet uniquely colourfully dressed contacts followed right behind the first.
The private's eyes went wide with a mix of amazement, astonishment and realisation.
"Hold your fire!"
He hollered, quickly lowering his weapon before immediately slapping the weapons of both men either side of him, but not before one of the squadmate's rifles barked into life momentarily.
The four 'girls' flinched as one or two shots ricocheted off of the floor in front of where they stood, the squad not even picking up on their wide-eyed faces as they were shocked at the sudden yell from the private.
"What the hell mate! I had a clear shot!" The marine beside him protested, whilst looking more than a little annoyed.
"They're just kids Dubbo." The private answered back to the Australian-born human.
"And how'd ya know that? I mean look at 'em and how colourful they are, ya ever seen someone with lilac eyes before?
For all we know they could be a new Covenant trick.
They could have been engineered to look like us, we let our guard down and get immediately ambushed by Covenant hiding in the back."
The private simply stared blankly at Dubbo before answering.
"That… has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth."
"Well then explain to me what I'm looking at, because in all the outer colonies I've been stationed on; I have never seen anyone look as wildly as these four."
Dubbo retorted whilst pointing at the girls without breaking eye contact with his fellow marine.
"We're right here you know."
The two marines halted their argument, becoming slack-jawed in surprise as they turned to see the blonde-haired, lilac-eyed girl had walked past the first girl to interject, all the while looking unphased by the remaining four marines who kept their guns trained on the new arrivals.
However, once they heard her speaking perfect English the rest of the squad began to lower their weapons instinctively.
Seeing the hostility had somewhat softened, the girl who was the first to step into the Autumn's corridors proceeded to brush past the blonde, the marines recognising the expression she gave her taller companion as a sign she was out of line.
"What my sister is trying to say is that we aren't a 'new Covenant trick'- "
One of the four marines went to speak.
"I mean, that would be something I'd say too- "
"Don't even finish that sentence Hosky." 'Dubbo' said angrily as he glanced beside him.
"I- I think we got off on the wrong foot." Ruby slowly said, almost losing her confidence as all eyes fell back on her, but she persevered and went on.
"My team and I came here alone, there is no one else in that boarding craft.
We aren't with those… 'Covenant'?
That's what you call those aliens right?"
The marines said nothing as they exchanged glances between each other at what the red caped girl had said.
This girl doesn't know about the Covenant?
"You- you are all human? Aren't you?" She then sheepishly asked."
"Yeah we are." The less hostile man answered Ruby earnestly.
Before he could ask anything further, his less-than receptive squadmate butted in.
"Who wants to know?
Also, if you don't know who the Covenant are, how'd you four end up in one of their boarding craft?"
Just as Ruby was about to answer, another tremor echoed throughout the entire structure, nearly sending everyone sprawling onto the ground, the sound of a firefight between plasma and projectiles breaking out in the distance shortly after.
After getting his footing, Dubbo glanced back the way they came, knowing full well they could only move forward if he and his squadmates had any chance of getting off the Autumn before it was either overrun with Covenant or blown to bits.
"Look, we don't have time for this." He snarled in annoyance as he shouldered his rifle.
"Dubs, what are you doing?" He heard Fitzgerald ask beside him.
"In case any of you drongos forgot, we were on our way to a lifeboat, so if we're done talking let's get moving."
"You're not going to kill a bunch of kids- " Bisenti interjected over Hosky's shoulder.
"I wasn't!" Dubbo snapped back.
"Then what are you going to do, just leave them behind while the rest of us run?" Kappus questioned in a horrified tone.
"WHAT THEN?!" Dubbo screamed back, his knuckles turning white holding his rifle, his finger resting away from the trigger.
"Listen sir…"
Dubbo and the rest of the marine squad returned their attention to the four girls, this time, the girl with long black hair spoke up, moving forward next to the caped girl.
"Sirs, I don't know what we can do or say that will make you trust us.
All I can say, in all honesty, is that we are a long way from our home.
But, we are- we are human. As for how we ended up on that Covenant boarding craft, let's just say for the short explanation, we were stowaways.
While there we heard one of the aliens talk about boarding a human ship, and so we snuck onto one of these boarders in order to come here. We can help you, if you let us."
"That's right, and even when we went to ride the boarder here, Blake had to use her semblance to distract the aliens, which they immediately started to shoot at it, as if it were the real thing." Ruby added.
The marines looked amongst one another, though confused by what the girl meant by 'semblance', the fact the Covenant weren't pleased at seeing what they could only guess from context was a decoy, then it only meant they saw these four girls as much of a threat as those aboard the Autumn.
"Well it sounds like they're just as much your enemy as ours. And if you four are human, then us humans have to stick together." Hosky said with a nod in affirmation.
Then the girls watched as the man who had seemingly been on their side from the beginning walked forward, crossing the gap between his team and them.
"We'll have time to talk more once we find ourselves off of the Autumn. Now let's see if we can get you girls to a lifeboat."
He then turned to face the one person still hesitant in his squad.
"What'd you say Dubs?"
Dubbo slowly exhaled, the tension leaving his body as he felt his rifle in his hand become lighter as his head cleared, despite the alarms still blaring throughout the ship.
"Fine."
He finally said as he walked past the private and the girls.
"Just make sure not to get caught in the crossfire if we encounter any Covenant on the way."
"We have our own weapons, so we can fight beside you."
Weiss said while drawing Myrtenaster.
Dubbo paused in his tracks, eyeing the weapon up and down before looking back at his squad, shouldering his rifle and moving further forward to the next bend, all the while muttering under his breath about bringing knives to a gunfight, Bisenti and Hosky running after him.
"Well that went well." Yang remarked, her attention still on the three armour clad marines who took point.
"Don't mind him, he'll come around eventually. You just happened to catch him at a very bad moment."
The private said, Kappus and Fitzgerald standing on either side of him.
The girls looked between each other before nodding.
With that, the three remaining marines began to continue forward, but not before Ruby spoke up.
"Hey wait a second…"
She said hesitantly.
"Yeah kid?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"I think I speak for my team…
for what you did and said…
thank you uh …?"
The private merely smirked before answering.
"Jenkins. Private Wallace Jenkins."
Simultaneously, aboard the Seeker of Truth
Thel's fist slammed into the nearest console.
Its display flickered and trembled even after he withdrew his hand before starting to pace back and forth, it was all he could do for the time being.
Meanwhile, when hearing the news, Stewardship's features morphed into such an expression that, had an Unggoy unfortunate to set foot into the control room at that exact moment; he would have been sent running in terror.
That being said, in Thel's case, he would have surely perished under his wrath altogether.
How?
The one word now plaguing him to no end.
"How could this have happened?" Stewardship muttered in disbelief. Though it was clear to Thel the Prophet wanted an explanation from him, rather than allow for the more informed source to arrive.
"I do not know." He responded without breaking his stride.
Stewardship merely droned on, only serving as, yet again, another annoyance to the golden clad Sangheili.
"In the countless conflicts you have waged in the service to the Covenant, how could you have let such a thing transpire, and on your own vessel no doubt?"
Do not tempt my patience while you draw breath.
Thel thought to himself, continuing to pace back and forth as he tried to drown out Stewardship's incessant questions.
All they could do was wait for a further explanation…
Several minutes prior to this moment, Thel had been issuing directions to the remaining commanders aboard their respective cruisers as part of the continued assault on the human's ship.
The holotable displayed that, as he had predicted, the human 'Captain' had begun an immediate evacuation order of their ship.
A dozen or so small dots appeared to be ejected from the superstructure once their MAC was disabled.
Stewardship, for his part, had kept his silence, his features told otherwise, but was of little concern for all working diligently under the shipmaster.
Thel knew that the use of the plasma torpedoes so far had yet to miss their larger target or even come close to the ring, but proved quite ineffective against the miniscule escape vehicles.
"Target their escape pods with plasma lances the moment you see them jettison from the ship.
The emptiness of space will be their only source of safety once they clear the area."
That safety will be only temporary.
"I want squadrons of banshee fighters to break off from the main assault to pursue any remaining escape pods as well as their Pelican transports-"
He was then interrupted by the sight of one of his crewmates, who appeared to be communicating with those in another section of the Seeker of Truth.
Just as Thel was about to call him to attention, the crewmate nodded and signed off before moving to address him.
He blinked upon seeing he was being watched, but didn't break composure.
"Supreme Commander, I have received word from one of the hangar bays, they report witnessing a lone human run past them, only to disappear after being fired at.
Four humans were then seen retreating into one of the leeches, locking the door behind them."
The instant the word "human" was uttered, Stewardship whipped his head to the crewmate.
"Surely you are mistaken?" His voice dripping with vitriol at the minor, his focus then switched to Thel in the hopes he would reprimand the Sangheili for making what he personally deemed as an outlandish claim.
The minor simply shook his head as he calmly replied.
"I wish it were so holy one. I myself was skeptical, but several groups were present in the hangar to corroborate the sighting."
"And what of those humans? Have they been dealt with?" Thel questioned.
For a moment the minor seemed unsure to respond, but did so with caution.
"No commander. The leech they trapped themselves in was among the first we launched when given the order."
"Of course, running back to their precious vessel." Stewardship muttered in disgust to fill the void that arose from the news.
Thel meanwhile tried to keep his thoughts in order.
When exactly could they have boarded the Seeker of Truth?
There wouldn't have been enough time for us to detect any smaller ships by the time we engaged them, or else we would have noticed.
Then, turning to one of the crewmates he'd been speaking with in coordination with the fleet, gave a new order.
"Begin to broadcast across this message to all ships in the fleet. I want all those not designated to the assault to start sweeping every single section of their respective ships, in case there are more humans lurking in the shadows."
"You believe there are more humans scurrying about in the midst of our fleet?" Stewardship scrutinising voice came from behind Thel.
"I do not. But we should never abandon the possibility if it is a reality ." He remarked before sternly addressing the Sangheili minor.
"Have the one who both witnessed and reported the humans come to the control room so we can probe this matter further."
Which was the reason why Thel had been consumed by restlessness. Pacing back and forth was the only way he could expend the energy as he waited for both the Sangheili who bore witness to the events in the hangar bay, as well as the news that no other humans had been found present within the fleet.
What may have felt like an eon passed before the chime of the doors opened to the sight of a Sangheili major.
"Supreme Commander, once I was requested to come here, I moved with haste."
"What is the meaning of this?" Stewardship immediately spun around before Thel could even begin to get a word in.
The major knelt down as he glanced over to Stewardship in confusion, fearing he had inadvertently offended the prophet.
"My apologies, but I was requested-"
"Would you really expect me to believe that a small group of humans managed to evade you and the rest of those present within the hangar bay."
He said with an irritated tone as he went on.
"Where did they come from? How did you not notice them sooner? And how were they able to get aboard-"
Thel then stepped forward, interrupting the Prophet in order to cease him from speaking for a minute so as to properly address the major.
"That is alright. Now stand. What exactly transpired in the hangar bay?"
The major bowed his head slightly before recounting his observation.
"As by your orders issued to us, we prepared ourselves for boarding the vessel.
Much like the rest of those in the hangar bay, my Unggoy squadron and I were finalising the details of how we proceed once aboard the human's ship.
All of a sudden, one of our brothers alerted all present in the area that a human had run past him."
He paused, looking between his commander and the holy leader, but seeing that their intrigue for him to continue outweighed their need for answers, so he went on.
"After turning around, I saw there was indeed a human, those quickest to act had drawn their weapons and began to fire upon them.
They were quick, but one or two shots were able to land.
However, when they did, the human did not fall, rather they began to flicker until they evaporated from sight.
That was when I realised, it was merely an act of deception, another major had arrived at the same conclusion and so we immediately scanned the surrounding area.
We caught sight of the same human we witnessed running through the walkway moments ago, rushing for one of the still-docked leeches, along with three other companions.
Just as we were firing our weapons, they managed to lock themselves in through sheer luck of their own incompetence.
The next thing we knew before even having a chance to pry the doors open, the leech had been sent away."
"The humans that were present, there was no sign of any demons?
Stewardship's question tinged with slight panic.
"I do not think so."
The major nodded with certainty, though Thel could see he dreaded even the remotest chance of one in his presence.
"I'd say if there were… well I wouldn't be standing before you."
Stewardship nodded, his next question more conclusive.
"So they had sent their imps?"
The red amour clad Sangheili shook his head in dismay.
"No holy one. These humans were not in the standard military attire associated with their imps. Nor were they even dressed in their most common 'marines' combat wear.
Thel had listened intently, however the new revelation caused him to become fully aware, putting all thoughts aside as he gave his unyielding attention solely on the major's next set of accounts of these trespassers.
"The closest comparison I can make about the four would have to be their civilians. However, even then, those I observed in the hangar bay bore no similarity to the non- military humans we have encountered on the previous worlds."
Thel looked over to the Prophet, noticing he too glanced towards him, words didn't need to be exchanged for them to understand the other for the time being.
What was going on?
Thel then returned to the major as now he felt the need to understand what he was dealing with.
"You said that once you were alerted to the presence of a single human running along the walkway, you, along with the others, immediately opened fire on them, correct?"
"Indeed." The major simply responded.
"Then they vanished… like one of their holograms?" Out of what the major had told him thus far, this intrigued him the most.
The humans have been successful with holographic mimicry. But only in our most recent conflict on the military world we had just departed from.
Those that had observed it being employed on the battlefield recounted the demons to be the only ones equipped with it.
Surely they have not found a way to perfect the technology beyond being integrated into a combat harness?
Silence had yet again befallen on the major, as he sought the right words.
"No. It was not like anything I have encountered before.
The holograms we have dealt with in the past would flicker and waver unnaturally when being struck by our weapons."
Thel slightly tilted his head, perplexment filling his mind.
The way he says unnaturally… surely he cannot be suggesting-
The major went on.
"When plasma hit this decoy, it shimmered before evaporating altogether…
Imagine throwing a stone into a still body of water, breaking a perfect reflection."
"And the human who deceived you?"
Thel proceeded to cross his arms, the more details the major could provide, the better.
From what he had heard thus far, his instincts told him that somehow there was more to these humans than meets the eye.
"The human was that of a young female, moving with the swiftness like an operative from one of our special operations.
Her appearance, as I said, distinct, eye's an auric hue in colour. If I had more time to gaze at them, they could tell me they have seen many things.
The garments she wore, a blend of black and white. Hair long and flowing, black as the voids of space, she also wore a headpiece, a bow is what I believe they call it."
"And those accompanying her?"
"Her three accomplices were also young females, if I were to guess all similar in age, though one did appear younger.
I was only able to get a mere glimpse of them as they fled into the transporter, and thereby I cannot give the most detailed description as much as the first."
"Regardless of that fact, whatever details you can provide will be most useful."
"The shortest of the three, the female who looked the youngest, her garments were also mostly black, with accents of red, though she was draped in a decorative red cape.
The second accomplice, I would have to say was the most distinct, hair and complexion as white as an ultra's armour.
She also seemed to be the only one to carry what I could assume was a weapon, however it's effectiveness would be within close range.
The third and final female, the tallest of the group and the one who saved her companions from our weapons fire, she looked as though she had trained for combat. Her hair appeared to be the longest out of the four and was as gold as the armour you don."
"And you are certain there are no other details you were able to gather?"
Thel simply asked after seconds of silence.
The major sighed as he shook his head in dismay.
"I am afraid not, commander."
"Very well, return to your Unggoy squad and await further orders."
Thel nodded, gesturing back to the way the major came.
With a hand placed on his chest, he gave a slight bow.
"Understood, Supreme Commander."
Before leaving the control room.
"What of the fleet? Have they anything to report after surveying their own vessels."
He asked, addressing the crewmate he had spoken to prior to the major's arrival.
"We are still awaiting news from the Infinite Succor, but the rest have come back with nothing."
The crewmate responded.
"Inform me once they have completed their task."
Thel ordered, then continued to give commands to his crew and the rest of the fleet as if he had never ceased.
Meanwhile a new question formed in the back of his mind and wasn't going to remain silent.
How were you four so lucky to be aboard my ship and live to escape?
Back aboard the Autumn
For Ruby Rose, had you told her that she was going to wake up that morning, and hours later come face to face with not only one alien species for the first time, but a whole collective, all working together.
On top of that, she'd also encounter an entire ship's worth of space-faring humans.
She would have told you to go back to bed, before she herself pulled the covers over for another five minutes.
Thinking about it currently, everything went by so fast, one minute their team had been barely able to escape from those hostile aliens using one of their own transports, the next was the sensation of slamming into the outer walls of the human's ship.
And after a few minutes of waiting for the transporter to automatically create an opening, it was blasted apart.
Then once the explosion and smoke died down, they could hear the ear-piercing alarm on the other side.
When she slowly crept out of the boarder and into the beige coloured hallway, only to be met by the sight of six armed military personnel.
Now she and her teammates walked, or more accurately jogged alongside these men in the hopes of getting to the safety of a lifeboat.
The inner walls in this ship were a stark contrast to those on the Covenant's. There, it was meticulous, smooth and ornate.
While here, there were definite signs of conflict, flecks of blood in a range of reds, blues and even purples. Some of the walls were also scorched, blackened or even had parts that appeared melted and then solidified.
Bullet casings rolled past as they stepped over them, and yet the only signs of anybody else present on the ship were the alarms as well as the voice that thundered from the intercom.
'All remaining crew and ops personnel, hit the lifeboats! Fall back to evac positions now!'
"You heard him, as Sarge would say, we need to move- double time." Jenkins said from over his shoulder.
With that, the marines picked up even more of a pace than they had already done thus far, the girls managing to keep up with them without any issue.
The closest firefight which they had heard whilst in standoff with each other must have ended, though other fights still raged on in the distance.
Another lifeboat being jettisoned could be heard from around the corner they were coming up to, just one less probable chance of escape.
The group halted as soon as they felt the all too familiar feeling they were going to have to deal with more unwanted company.
About halfway along the stretch of corridor they saw the set of doors to the airlock of the departed lifeboat.
A few seconds later, it was blown asunder and once the smoke cleared, six grunts exited, not even bothering to survey the area.
"Let 'em have it." Jenkins yelled as he got down on one knee, Dubbo and Kappus doing the same while Bisenti, Hosky and Fitzgerald stood just behind them.
Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang watched from the rear as, with weapons raised, the marines began unloading round after round at the designated cannon fodder.
One or two of them were barely able to retaliate with their plasma pistols in time; high pitched squeals of terror and fear competed with the barrage of gunfire and plasma fire as they traded shots, the grunts fairing far worse than the marines as they toppled to the floor.
The girls caught a glimpse of blue blood splattering the ground as another grunt collapsed, Bisenti shooting a fourth in the hand, causing the pistol it carried to spark and short circuit.
Without a weapon, it was clear to the girls it panicked, trying to escape, crying out as it did.
"Can't run with thing on ba-"
Though it never finished that sentence as it was cut down before having the chance to turn and run.
Whilst two grunts were still standing, an elite minor emerged from the entryway, snarling at both the pathetic attack from the humans as well as the woeful assault by the Unggoy.
The second he lifted his plasma rifle, the marines broke the tight nit formation while still focusing on finishing off the grunts.
Ruby, noticing the opening made by the marines, moved ahead as her hand instantly went for Crescent Rose, bringing the weapon to bear in its compact form.
Figuring that, with the smaller aliens dead, the larger one now had nowhere to run.
"I've got a shot."
She called out as she lined her scope up before squeezing the trigger.
Click.
Her finger relaxed off the trigger before instantly squeezing it a second time.
Click.
Wait, why doesn't my sniper work?
Ruby mentally panicked as her eyes went from the hulking alien in front of her to her precious.
"Get down!"
Dubbo shouted as he pushed past her, and out of the firing line, leveling his assault rifle onto the nearby elite.
It snarled angrily as its shields flared before dissipating, its body became riddled with bullets once the rest of the squad joined in seconds later.
Dubbo exhaled loudly, the adrenaline wearing down before glancing over to Ruby, who was pushing herself up off of the floor.
"What were you thinking just now!
Do you want to get yourself killed!"
"Sorry...I-I don't know why my weapon isn't working." She began to sputter apologetically.
"It's alright."
Bisenti reassured her, walking up and giving a once over to make sure that she hadn't been hit.
"Like Dubbs told you, just stay behind us.
Okay?"
Ruby nodded silently.
Yang joined her sister and double checked that she was in fact alright by giving her a gentle hug when Bisenti returned to stand with his squadmates.
As the group was moving out, Weiss stood still, lost in thought before slapping a hand to her forehead while muttering loud enough for her teammates to turn and see her irate expression.
"Dammit."
"What is it?" Yang asked.
Weiss didn't even meet her team while shaking her head angrily at how she could have been so forgetful.
Even with the stress, a huntsman should always keep a clear head.
"With everything that's transpired, I had forgotten we are in space, and if you recall… most dust doesn't work outside of Remnant."
"So what you're saying is… we're basically useless in a fight?" Yang said, hand on hip as she inspected Ember Celica on her other arm.
"Our blades will still work-" Blake said, though didn't continue as Yang stared at her slightly annoyed.
"We'll try and find some working weapons for you along the way, maybe even swing by the armoury.
You're gonna need them."
Fitzgerald said from over his shoulder.
"Now c'mon and let's get going, you don't wanna make Dubbo any more pissed as he already is."
'Combat teams, fall back to secondary defensive positions!'
The last thirty days had felt like a holiday after staving off hoards of Covenant while defending their last means of escape back on Reach.
From hearing nothing whilst in slipspace to now going back into the frey; it was as if they hadn't stopped.
This time however they couldn't afford to be on the backfoot, there was nowhere else to run except for the nearest escape pod.
And now with four extra girls to worry about while playing personal security detail, Chips Dubbo certainly wished he had been stuck in cryo before this all went down, perhaps being pumped with several different chemicals might have helped him think straight.
But I guess it's either war or survival instincts that are putting me on edge.
He thought to himself while continuing to run forward, Jenkins beside him as the pair led the others.
In the distance the girls could see a lone marine, his gun shouldered as the weapon aggressively flashed to life, a few cries of pain emanated from his opposing direction, most likely the cries of the smaller aliens before succumbing to the fatal rounds piercing their grey- bluish bodies.
"You want some more of this!"
They heard him call out.
When the group got nearer, that's when it happened… retaliation.
They watched as several globules of blue and green plasma flew at the marine, narrowly missing him, and despite it, he didn't flinch.
Until a single shot made contact with his armour's chest plate on his right.
The moment seemed to drag on yet happen instantaneously both at the same time, first was the sound, the marine's agonising groan of pain as he recoiled, his footing shifted while trying to balance himself as he attempted to keep fighting.
The girls could see that, much like the walls, the armour plating absorbed most of the impact, becoming a glowing orange hotspot that began melting immediately.
A second shot then hit him in the shoulder on his other side, it partially being protected by the armour, the rest searing the material of his uniform before causing the flesh underneath to burn.
The groan of pain then became a scream of agony, the girls went pail as the marine was hit with a further torrent of plasma, some of the shots landing onto the weapon he carried.
It didn't last for long, the shock must have been enough to kill him as he backed up against the wall before his body slumped down.
The four said nothing, their eyes not once leaving the sight of the fallen soldier, even when they heard a deep throated laugh come from where the marine had been shooting at.
The others however weren't as perturbed, quickly advancing forward to finish off what they hoped were the remnants of the Covenant squad.
He must have been fighting for a while, so long that he didn't notice his aura was spent. Or else those weapons employed by these Covenant are that effective.
Weiss thought to herself, still fixed on the lifeless body, even as the gunfire rang out around the corner.
Yang was the first to snap out of the shock induced trance and ran up to the marine.
"There's nothing we can do for him, he's gone." She heard Hosky's voice over her shoulder as she squatted down to eye level.
She knew that, and as barbaric as it was to disturb the sleep of the dead, she was aiming to go for his assault rifle.
It's not as if he had any use for it anymore.
But as she went to pick it up, the immediate sensation of guilt was taken over by the aura around her hands, the weapon felt hot to the touch, and on closer inspection it was clear, the outer body of the gun was partially melted as it had indeed been hit… the thing is practically useless.
"What are you doing?"
Yang flinched when a shocked Kappus pulled her from her thoughts, her grip on the weapon loosened as it sat back in the lap of its original wielder.
"You weren't thinking of using that thing were you?"
He asked her as she went to stand back up.
"I was but-"
"It's useless.
His concern in his voice became more apparent as he walked up to her and without even asking, gently grabbed her hands and inspected them as if he were checking for signs of injury like Bisenti did with Ruby.
"You didn't touch it by any chance?"
Yang raised an eyebrow, but something told her she should lie.
"No?"
"Well that's good, looks like you're fine, a second later and we might have been dealing with second degree burns on our hands, no pun intended.
That gun was hit by direct plasma, so it's too hot to handle even if it was somehow miraculously still working."
Yang smirked slightly at his remark, but nodded to assure him she was fine.
Kappus then looked back at the fallen soldier,she watched as he knelt down and passed a hand over the man's face, closing his eyes in the process. He then moved down to the chain that hung around the man's neck, and with a light tug, it broke easily.
Kappus gave one quick nod and a pat to the man's good shoulder before standing up and pocketing the chain.
"Alrighty folks, shows over, you've seen one dead body you've seen 'em all let's move out."
Dubbs called out as he and the rest of the marines walked back in front of the girls.
With the brief interruption dealt with, the group once again, ran through the Autumn's corridors, the alarms still ever present as was the bombardment of the outer hull by both plasma fire and Covenant borders.
'All combat personnel, fall back to tertiary defensive positions!'
"Was that really necessary?" Jenkins whispered after jabbing Dubbo in the arm as they set off.
Dubbo huffed as he maintained the pace, keeping his voice equally low.
"Look. I know they're just kids, but if they're with us, they're gonna be in it for the long haul. And if we get out of here alive, they're gonna see plenty more, and definitely way worse things than standard plasma weapon burns."
The pair came to an abrupt halt as they entered the next section of hallway,
Jenkins arrived first, looking back to Dubbo, annoyance permeating his voice when he came to stand beside him.
"Well don't you feel great right about now."
"Crap."
Dubbo muttered under his breath.
Well, we have to keep moving forward, even if the girls aren't gonna like what they see.
As the others arrived, the four girls stood frozen in place at the sight before them.
Ruby turned to the closest of her teammates, that being Blake, burying her head against her side and started whimpering.
Yang took a step back, the colour draining from her face, her mind could only wonder.
How long ago did it happen?
How long did the entire thing last?Weiss, meanwhile, turned her head away from the hallway, doubling over as she gagged.
Blake however, continued to stare forward, not once faltering nor letting go of her young leader as Ruby still clung to her, the sight itself was not lost on her.
The last time she had witnessed a scene even remotely similar to the one before her was while serving under the White Fang…
Something like that never really does fade away, no matter how much time has passed.
She reflected, glancing over to the concerned looks on half of the marine's faces at the sight of both the hallway itself as well as how her teammates were handling it.
Despite their varying levels of composure, the girls could all understand now why the marines were on edge, why they needed to get off the ship and more importantly, why Dubbo sounded so callous by what he said.
The hallway that lay ahead of them was littered with several marine bodies strewn about, some lay face up, mouths agape and eyes wide open, as if they were clutching onto life whilst in tremendous pain.
Others lay face down, clothing singed and blackened or armour melted off.
It appeared as though they had been standing their ground, it was clear to everyone they had lost the engagement.
Dubbo exhaled, annoyed by how stupid he'd been acting, after which he glanced back at the girls.
"Look, I know what I said before, I'm sorry, but we gotta keep going.
And unfortunately, it's through… this."
Ruby, Weiss and Yang did their best to recompose themselves as they began to move forward.
The sight was one thing, but then came the stench… if they were blindfolded, any one of them could have mistaken the smell for barbecued lamb chops or pork ribs, which sickened them even more, though they pressed on through regardless.
The sound of slight squelching under their boots from partially dried blood caked into the floor didn't put them at ease.
They didn't even bother to pick up any of the discarded rifles or pistols as they stepped around the fallen.
Once they had finally cleared the section, the three exhaled breaths they hadn't realised they held-
The brief nightmare was over.
'Combat teams Alpha through November, pull out to the nearest evac station!'
This wasn't good, there were only a few more combat teams the Captain had to list off before it was assumed that either all remaining crew had evacuated or else were presumed dead.
Whatever came next would end with the Autumn falling to Covenant control or more likely, the ship would get scuttled… hopefully taking out the bastards still aboard and maybe even one of their ships if the Autumn's autopilot course was set to fly past one.
Jenkins shook his head as he compiled himself, he and his squad had to stay alert, stay focused, the girls had been shaken just then and what they didn't need was to show just how dire things were getting in terms of escape.
"Alright, I know I said before that we needed to move double time- now telling you we need to kick it into overdrive."
The further they kept running along the ship, the clearer it was the fights that had raged beforehand, more walls deformed by plasma or projectile fire, more patches of blood and of course, more Covenant bodies.
Yet still no vacant escape pods.
Whatever hope that the marines held onto, was hanging by a thread as they came into a stretch of corridor that for once, opened to view of the inkiness of space.
Passing the second window, they watched as several lifeboats launched away from the ship simultaneously.
"Looks like we're not getting off the Autumn anytime soon, are we?"
Fitzgerald said dishearteningly to no one in particular.
Then, their section shuddered violently, a spectacle of bright light pillars colliding with the outer hull of the ship, a second later, the group found that they currently had front row seats to the destruction of those lifeboats and the people lucky enough to escape within them.
Completely obliterated by the pillars of light.
Ruby gasped before covering her mouth in pure disbelief.
It's one thing to fight face to face, but why mercilessly kill people who are running away?
"For crying out loud, we just can't catch a break!" Bisenti yelled in frustration before punching the window as the fireballs of debris floated past.
"Well, at least they haven't blown the ship up yet." Yang wearily replied.
Bisenti merely sighed before glancing at her. "Trust me kid,when I say that, if the Covenant wanted to have blown up this ship, we would have already been blasted into tiny bits and pieces."
"Yeah something's not right about that." Hosky piped up
"Now's not really the time to be playin' twenty questions-"
Dubbo was cut short as his eyes widened and he appeared to tense up. The others then felt the ship once again violently reverberate and when they turned back to the windows, the girls were finally able to see what the outside of a Covenant boarding craft looked like.
"And I really don't want to keep repeating myself, but… MOVE OUT!"
With that, the squad along with the four girls continued to advance forward before turning and running right through the same corridor where the Covenant borders had latched on.
Like dominos, each airlock door was torn apart, yet they kept up the pace, even as the grunts disembarked behind them.
On the other end they heard a slight hissing noise, though the marines for once seemed relieved.
"The blast doors closing, go through before they fully shut." Kappus called out.
And just as they crossed the threshold, a set of panels began to section off the corridor they narrowly escaped through, before another set of metal panels followed afterwards.
"Damn… that… was.. close…" Kappus manages to get out between breaths while leaning against the blast door, on the other side he could hear the dull thud of plasma weapons fire hitting the door.
"It's gonna take 'em a while for them to get through that."
"Let's not stick around and find out then." Jenkins remarked while catching his own breath as he hefted his rifle.
Though they all were still recovering from the sudden sprint from one end of corridors to another, they didn't relent and kept running through the hallways in the hope of finding a lifeboat.
The next hallway they came across had several Grunts stationed as part of a minor blockade, along with their blue armour clad Elite commanding from the rear.
The marines set to work, immediately opening fire on the Grunts, who reciprocated equally,
the Elite minor joining his underlings in an effort to quell the pressure brought on by these humans.
After the last time, the girls held their position at the rear, watching the ensuing fight in relative safety.
Ruby meanwhile glanced over to the rest of her teammates, ensuring that each of them were safe from any stray shots.
However, as her gaze fell on Blake, she instantly noticed her eyes narrowing.
I've seen that look before.
She thought to herself as she moved down to see Blake's hands, although they were at her side, they were hardly relaxed, clenched into fists, almost to the point of turning white at the knuckles.
"Uh, Blake?"
In that split second, as soon as her name was said , Blake launched herself forward, right hand raised above her head as she reached for the weapon behind her back, weaving between both the bodies of dead Grunts and those still standing, her focus not once leaving her target.
The Elite minor hadn't missed the moment either, but was still taken aback, even as he prioritised the swift foe who was rapidly approaching him.
This young female shows great resolve.
He thought to himself, though he couldn't dwell on it for long.
Once Blake was within range, she drew Gambol Shroud, allowing the weapon to unfurl into its katana form with a quick flick of her wrist.
She relentlessly slashed at his armour, even as it flared into life, she kept landing hit after hit amid evading his own attacks.
The only thing the Elite could do in close proximity with her was attempt to bludgeon her with his plasma rifle in the event of being lucky to get one or two shots in.
All the while he was still surprised at how she had managed to close the distance whilst avoiding the cross fire and showed no fear towards him.
Without the minor to support them, the Grunts became far easier for the marines to handle, and as the last Grunt collapsed to the ground, the squad refocused their attention on Blake and the Elite.
The surprise the marines had the minute they saw Blake race forward could only be described as an understatement.
At first they held off firing, but knew if they didn't keep the pressure up, the Grunts and the split chin would take the advantage.
"WHAT THE HELL DOES SHE THINK SHE'S DOING?" Dubbo hollered in between the gunfire, but before any of his squadmates could answer, he could already see the Elite at the rear begin to fire on her rather than them.
"Forget what I said.
Whatever she's doing, she's got it covered."
"Let's see if we can give her a hand."
Jenkins called out before adding.
"Clear out the little bastards first, then move onto the big one at the back, got it?"
"Got it!"
The others shouted in unison.
Blake meanwhile leapt aside as the Elite once again tried swatting at her with his rifle and failing, it was evident to her his rage was surmounting over his fighting prowess.
Her ears beneath the bow picked up on the callout by the marines as well as the final Grunt's cries of death.
Next came the four words she'd been waiting for as she bided time while dancing around the alien.
"Let him have it!"
Jenkins and Dubbo called out.
With all six guns leveled at the Elite, Blake created a clone before moving out of the way of the heavy handed swing.
Though they were caught off guard by the visage they saw of the black haired girl before fading upon contact, the marines didn't hesitate on their triggers.
With the combined firepower, the minor's shields were stripped away in seconds, causing him to become even more enraged, and stared down at the humans.
As one or two bullets punctured his armour, he roared violently in a berserker rage.
Before lifting his rifle and forcefully applying as much pressure on the trigger as possible.
Blake, seeing that the alien's attention had shifted, took her chance and vaulted onto its back.
The Elite immediately began to thrash around while trying to grab at her, already aware of his fate the moment he felt Blake getting a foothold.
A second later, she plunged Gambol Shroud into the base of its neck, driving the weapon as far as it physically could go.
A blood curdling garble came from the alien's mouth as it fought even harder to get Blake off, coughing up purple blood in the process, but shortly after, the thrashing diminished until it staggered forward before toppling over.
"That's for all the lives taken on those lifeboats."
Blake uttered under her breath before pulling Gambol Shroud out of the lifeless corpse.
After flicking the blade to clean off the blood, she stowed the weapon back, looking up to see the marines merely standing with varying degrees of surprise, amazement and overall admiration.
"What was that?" Kappus asked, breaking the tense silence.
"What was what?" Blake questioned in equal part.
Before Kappus could elaborate, Jenkins stepped in between them.
"It doesn't matter right now, we're still not out of the woods yet… but I gotta say, you four have got a lot of explaining to do once we're outta here."
Blake nodded, and as the group were starting to move out, Bisenti got their attention.
"Hold on."
He said before looking at the plasma rifle on the ground then pushing it with his foot so it would slide towards the girls.
"Might as well grab these while you can, no chance in hell we'll be swinging by the armoury, and at this point I'd say it'd be occupied by now."
"I don't think I want to see one of those big aliens with one of your rifles in their hands." Weiss off handily remarked as she knelt down to pick up one of the plasma pistols.
"Oh I wouldn't worry too much about that." Hosky answered as he walked past.
"Why?" Weiss asked, somewhat confused as they began to move out.
"Put it this way, as far as the big ones are concerned, all aspects of humanity are an affront to their religion, even using our weapons is considered a cardinal sin."
Fitzgerald explained.
"But surely if fighting for your life, you'd want something, anything to defend yourself with?" Yang then interjected.
Kappus shook his head, smiling at the comical absurdity of it.
"Nope, they'd rather fight bare handed, even if they were cornered in an armoury fully stocked with guns galore."
"So what, they'd just fight hand to hand or just run away without so much as looking at one of your weapons?"
Yang asked to be clear.
"Trust me when I say that when it comes to these guys."
Dubbo emphasized by pointing over to an Elite's body that they ran past as they moved through the next hallway.
"Running away is the last thing they'll ever do in a fight, even if it's a losing one.
Hell, had it been just me that was shooting at that bastard your friend killed, he would have easily run up and bludgeoned me.
Even if it knew it was going to die by my next shot."
As the group of ten entered another hallway they saw on the other end one of the blast doors had just finished the closing sequence.
"Well, it looks like we're not going that way."
Dubbo dryly said.
'Combat teams Sierra through Victor, prepare for evac!'
Dubbo then exhaled loudly, for the first time the girls had been with this man, they heard genuine panic creep into his voice once the announcement ended.
"Alright, that's last send off before the ODST's deploy."
"We're gonna need to beat the helljumpers.
If they're gone.
Then we'll be gone for good."
Jenkins reiterated as they set off through the only way they could go.
Ruby, running alongside Yang, whispered to her.
"Do you think I should use my speed to scout on ahead?"
Yang thought for a second before answering.
"Normally I'd say I would, but I think these guys would freak out, you saw their reaction to Blake's clone.
Plus I don't want you running into one of those alien squads, even now that you're armed."
"But-"
But she was cut off by Kappus, who was at the front of the others.
"I don't believe my eyes… It's a bumblebee.
He called out, almost crying in joy.
"It's an actual vacant lifeboat."
He said as he looked in.
"'Cuse me?
These spots reserved?" Dubbo jokingly asked as his squadmates climbed in.
"Nope. Kept 'em warm n' ready, just for you lot." The lifeboat pilot responded in equal fashion without turning back.
Hosky, Fitzgerald, Kappus and Bisenti all climbed in first, wasting no time in fastening their safety harnesses and making sure their feet were firmly planted to the ground.
"You four in now!" Dubbo commanded as Blake and Weiss took one side, Yang and Ruby the other.
Dubbo then moved over to the monochrome duo and helped them with their harnesses, Jenkins doing the same with the sister pair.
"Alright you're all set, keep your breathing constant, try not to panic on reentry and if you are going to crash, which you won't, make sure to bring your arms and knees as close to your body as possible."
Jenkins said before patting them both on the shoulder reassuringly.
Ruby held on to both harnesses tightly, looking back to the others seated, then back to Jenkins and Dubbo who stood back up, and looked as if they weren't going to stay.
"But what about you?"
"Don't worry about me." Jenkins answered calmly, though urgency was present in his voice.
Ruby blinked for a second, her vision becoming slightly blurry, before she reached down to fiddle with the harness.
"Take my seat."
She said through teary eyes.
"Ruby, don't move!"
Yang panicked, grabbing a hold of her sister's hand to stop her.
Ruby shoved Yang's hands off of her own as she protested.
"But surely you can stand?"
"No, can't risk it. High impact could turn me and Dubbs into a pair of pinballs and could end up killing all of us."
Jenkins reasoned.
"Hey, we all fastened in back there or not? Got a tight schedule here you know."
The pilot interrupted.
Don't remember any kids getting on back at Reach.
Doesn't matter, they'll be time to find out after leaving.
"We're all good." Jenkins said as he and Dubbo walked back into the hallway of the Autumn.
"Take care of that sister of yours." Dubbo called to Yang, to which the blonde nodded.
Ruby tried and pleaded in vain to retort.
"But-"
"HIT IT!" Jenkins and Dubbo said simultaneously.
"Roger that." The pilot responded, pulling her visor down and pushing several buttons on the console in front of her.
The doors to the escape pod closed shut and with a loud burst, was jolted forwards as it was propelled out of the ship.
Wallace Jenkins and Chips Dubbo watched as the lifeboat grew smaller and smaller until it blended with the black of space.
"Reckon we can find another one?"
Jenkins asked in tongue and cheek.
"Bloody hope so. You know how long it took us to find the last?" Dubbo replied in as serious a tone he could muster.
"Why don't you tell me on the way, help speed things up." Jenkins answered as the pair's boots clattered on the ground.
"They're good kids, you know. Even if I gave them crap." Dubbo said without looking at his squadmate .
"Hopefully they make it, we all make it."
"I hope so too." Jenkins solemnly answered.
Ruby felt her stomach turn, guilt washing over her as she could barely make out the two marines standing in the bay they were in seconds ago.
Her attention, along with the others, then shifted to the sight of the ship they had traversed in,
the Autumn now coming into full view from their vantage point.
Its size left the four in awe, and even more so with the sight of it being bombarded from every direction, the ships firing upon it sending chills down their spines at the sheer number of them, an entire fleet's worth.
It was clear to the four the alien ships dwarfed the human's both in size but also in firepower, but yet it still held on.
Minutes passed, the spectacle happening in front of them however, lost all meaning as their attention was taken by what came into view from the front.
The escape pod they were currently in appeared to be on a direct course with, from what the gill could see was a giant right.
The megastructure on the outer part was completely covered in metallic cladding, with the inner section appearing in a myriad of worldly colours.
"Think that's the giant hula hoop Sarge was talking about?" Hoskey asked the others.
"Nah man, he was meaning another hula hoop, of course that's what he was talking about." Bisenti said while rolling his eyes.
As Hosky was about to retort, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked back to the end of the escape pod.
"Wait, is it just me, or is the Autumn… It's coming towards us?
"Ha, told you that the captain wasn't going to just let the ship go." Kappus said triumphantly, throwing a fist into the air.
"Hold off on that excitement for the moment.
We're going to be hitting the atmosphere in less than a minute."
Yang looked over to Ruby beside her, making sure she was fastened properly, then she felt her hand being squeezed, then looking over to Weiss and Blake opposite the pair were doing the same.
A/N:
Finally, he posts another chapter, is what I imagine some of you might be thinking... nah I kid, unless?
No in all seriousness thank you to the many of you who have taken an interest in my story.
Now I was considering breaking the chapter into two sections, I probably will do so with bigger levels in the future. (considering TPA is a fairly short mission in comparision to Halo or AONTCR).
Also, I know that after reading this chapter you're probably wondering where is the big guy, trust me he'll be appearing next chapter.
Fun fact: the way i write up my fic I have about a couple of hundred pages worth of ideas (for all fan fics not just this halo) and the end of the last chapter ended on page 117... I know not really a fun fact, but I wanted to add it here.
Reviews:
Shadow Walker of Fire:
Thank you, oh and don't worry I've done just that.
GothmogOnslat:
Glad you enjoyed it, hope I've kept it going with this chapter.
Project 0mega:
Your wait is finally over, now do it again... hahahaha, no I'll try to be quicker but the next will take longer with both duration and having less prewritten stuff.
Bocazaz117:
The story will take its course and have elements as seen with the novel and games, somethings following beat for beat, but in reality it will be my spin on it.
Chief, through and through is a soldier, however, you will see certain characters gravitate to others (in terms of personality or interaction). Obviously that being said there are still many possibilities.
With regards to the spartan hunters from the book, most likely they're not going to make a major apperance.
ikusatsunagi:
Hahaha Yeah Nah... unless?
nanotono:
ok.
Yep, as far as I see, the prophets have always been spineless and cowardly.
Thel is an antagonist here, from the perspective purely from the Covenant he is doing his job, in the eyes of his brothers yes, he is doing what's right in ensuring their safety, dying in battle is one thing, needlessly dying by incompetence is something he will not take lightly.
And one final note:
Here are a few Elite OC names i've come up with (for one character):
Korsa' Maramee
Vatar 'Saradamee / Saramee
Blora Stratamee
Irva Navamee
Corlo Duramamee
Aprola Suanamee
Stellna Vordamee
Ruvaso Coramee
Narto Anamvee
Blargo Atanamee
With that, Thank you once again for reading and I'll see you next chapter.