Chapter3:A New Dawn:
A/N:Hey folks, I apologize for the long wait. And i want to thank Scepter 2-1 for inspiring me to get back into writing this. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and more to come in the near future.
Date:November 2nd, 2029.
Location: Unknown Garden World
Time:Unkown
Leo hadn't known how long he had been walking for, but each stab of pain that resided in his side made it seem like the journey was lasting a lifetime. The crash had done more damage than he had anticipated, after the adrenaline had worn off the pain in his side indicated a possible broken rib.
The Captain was no stranger to pain, being a seasoned combat veteran, and flying multiple sorties behind enemy lines, even being shot down once and having to escape roving CSAT(1) patrols as he made his way back to friendly NATO lines.
Though this was slightly different, he wasn't behind enemy lines, or at least he believed he wasn't. The goal was still the same, survive, evade, resist, and escape.
He winced as he took a slight mis-step, clutching his side before stumbling over to a tree, pressing his back against the bark carapace and sliding himself down to the ground.
With a wince he set his survival kit in his lap, thumbing open the biometric lock with a dull 'click', he reached inside, first pulling out a HyperStim, taking off the cap, and raising his arm, he injected the syringe into his side, grunting as he depressed the plunger. Removing it and quickly discarding it, he began to feel immediate relief, the anticoagulant mixed with a fine cocktail of pain meds and anti inflammatories soothed his broken rib.
With his pain now alleviated, he began to look down at his communicator, quirking an eyebrow he grabbed the now flashing communicator, opening it to find a pleasant and hopeful message.
'Communicator Status Uplink… Connected. CYS-1Oberon… Transmitting.'
"No way… They sent Oberon here?" He said, a bit bewildered.
The Oberon being the space station he was stationed on, before he was lost in that 'electrical storm.' Though Leo was beginning to think that was no electric storm, whatever it is transmitted him through space, and quite possibly time itself.
Quickly opening a COMM Link, he began to frantically transmit, "Oberon, this is Captain Leo Davidson! Serial Number:4567-23, my craft is inoperable, and I am wounded, requesting immediate assistance, how copy?"
He stared at the communicator, praying that they were receiving. He waited, thirty seconds passed by before he tried again, no response. Letting the communicator go slack in his palm, he bowed his head.
"Fuck.." He muttered, then looking back up at the tree canopy, assuming they were in high orbit, anything could be disrupting the signal, the planet's EM signature could be blocking radio signals themselves.
Thumbing the quickly shifted the configuration to its GPS mode, which quickly produced a heading, about 70 kilometers from his position, a signal was being sent and received.
With no other choice, he stood up, closing the SERE Kit case, producing the Com. Unit, he thumbed the transmit button, "Oberon, if you can hear me, I am moving towards a signal my Com. picked up, will try communicating within the next hou-"
A sudden rustle of leaves to his left caused him to pause, whipping his head in that direction, he got low, crouching as the rustling continued, now being accompanied by even more rustling that had come from all around him.
"Shit… Scratch that Oberon, my position may be compromised, egressing towards signal location, maintaining radio silence for now, Leo out." and with that, he took one last look at his heading, before pocketing the communicator in the breast pocket of his suit, and withdrawing the K-Bolt from his hip, flipping off the safety with an audible 'click'.
Taking careful aim towards the rustling bushes, he attached the sere kit to his thigh, walking in a weapon up stance, slowly moving to the bush, he stood up a bit more, to see if he could get a better view, weapon still up and ready to defend himself. With one hand he slowly reached forward, looking to part the bush in front of him.
With his fingers mere inches from the bush, he breathed a deep sigh, before quickly sticking his forearm into the bush, and parting it, his pistol close to his chest as he looked from side to side.
The bush was empty, to his minor relief, but still alert he scanned the ground, noticing a set of… Hand prints?
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but before he could process this new information, a new sound of rustling came from above him, and with it a shrill shriek.
Quickly pivoting on the ball of his foot, he pointed his weapon upwards in time to see a red shape falling from the canopy, his mind moving double time as it tried to process what was happening, but with no time his instincts kicked in, and with a squeeze of his trigger finger his K-bolt barked with a lilac blaze, the round connecting with the falling shape causing it to buck, but its momentum carried it down and onto Leo.
"Fuck!" He winced, the body of whatever tried to attack him was heavy, and it had carried him to the ground with it, his rib shrieking in pain even with the meds he had administered.
Grunting, and with a bit of effort he rolled the body off of him, quickly standing up with this pistol still in hand, he pointed it downward at whatever had tried to attack him. His first observation was that while the creature was smaller than him, it was most definitely strong, and it had an eerily familiar shape-
"Wait what the fuck?" He muttered, kicking the corpse over to reveal a very familiar visage.
"What in the fuck is goin on?" He placed his free hand on his head, a headache starting to form as he gazed at the dead chimp, but it was adorned in crimson armor with a bulbous helmet, a wicked scimitar-esque blade still clutched in its cold dead hand.
Leo, having worked with many of the Apes and Chimps aboard the Oberon, was very familiar with the creatures, and aside from wearing specially designed EVA suits, they most definitely did not wear armor, or wield swords.
"This has gotta be a fucked up dream, this can't be real…" He was decidedly shaken with this new revelation, 'I gotta get to Oberon, I got a feeling something bad has happened…' He shook his head, paying the corpse one more glance before moving away from the scene as fast as he could.
The Spartan stood before the imposing form of the ape bastard known as 'Captain Chorko'. A stupid name the Spartan thought, though much less of a mouthful as the member species of the Covenant.
Captain Chorko stared at the Spartan with unease, though he and his Apes outnumbered this demon 5-1, he had never before encountered such a creature in his travels, Ape society was a society that feared the unknown, and this creature was the epitome of it.
Snarling, Captain Chorko dismounted his steed with a deep 'thud', his armor clanging as he landed. Standing up to his full height of 7'4", he began to walk towards the enigmatic being, his warhammer in his large hands. He stared at the Demon as it began to close the distance, noting that if it showed any fear of his stature, it did well in hiding it, not showing any signs of backing down or submissiveness. He bared his teeth, stopping as he got within ten feet of it.
From this distance, he could now make out features of the Demon, its gold faceplate with a disturbed smile carved into the fine glass, a figure slightly smaller than him, but exuded power and danger.
Growling, the apes around him were uncharacteristically silent, watching as their Captain halted his to the Demon with bated breaths.
The Captain huffed, a white vapor exiting his nostrils, "Demon," He began, spitting out the moniker with disgust, "Tell me, why you, plan to make me pay?" He said, looking around at his men, "After you so callously dispatched my Apes? Took them from their families and loved ones in COLD BLOOD!" He growled, smashing his titanic fist into his chest plate with a resounding clang!
This spurred his Apes into muttering, before beginning to increase in pitch in fever until they too were baring their fangs, and beating their chests in agreement.
B-210 showed no reaction to any of this, simply standing, indifferent to the anger of the Apes around him.
The Humans locked in their cages while full of fear, could not help but look in awe as this strange creature stood it's ground against the apes.
B-210 after a few moments began to chuckle, which couldn't be heard by the apes initially, until it crescendoed into a full blown chortle, snapping the apes out of their anger into bewilderment.
Except Captain Chorko, who snarled and banged his fist onto his chest plate again,"You DARE laugh!? Those were good APES! The-"
He was interrupted by none other than B-210 who had stopped his deep chortle, "Good Apes? Please, the only Good Ape is a dead ape." He replied, tone even and deep with malice.
B-210 continued, "If you think you will do as you please to Humans, you all are in for a rude awakening, I've met many shit heels and ape brains who thought they could fuck with Humanity, and they all saw the light eventually." B-210 frowned behind his visor, "I mean what gives you the fucking right? You think you can push us around, enslave us, kill us without punishment?" Depolarizing his visor, he went on to look the ape in his eyes "Well no fucking more, you dirty fucking ape, the day of reckoning for you is nigh, and I will personally send you to the gates of hell." He growled, his Hazel eyes burning with fury, he took a runner's stance, "Prepare yourself."
Captain Chorko could only look on in shock and confusion, this was no Demon, only a Human, chuckling as he lifted his war hammer. "Human filth, why should i be surprised, your kind is weak, and oh so pathetic. Tell me, what can you do when matched with Apes? We are superior in every way." The Captain let his ego take over a bit, now that he knew this was no Demon, only a lucky Human.
Chorko growled, "Leave this to me, this Human will go down easier than a newborn chimp. And after I'm done with this pitiful Human, we will take his corpse and armor to General Thade!" He roared, pounding his fist onto his chest repeatedly.
His Apes now relieved, and with the belief of their Captain began to shriek and cheer, afterall, no one had ever beat Captain Chorko, he was one of the strongest Apes in their Army.
How was one Human going to beat him?
The Humans in their cages, now certain their would-be savior was doomed to die began to turn away, resigning themselves to their unfortunate fate. No Human had ever fought an Ape on equal footing and won. Ape's were just too strong.
Captain Chorko snarled, and lifted his hammer over his shoulder, "Now prepare to die Human!" Chorko roared, his powerful legs hammering down on the earth with muted thumps that shook the immediate earth around him.
The apes around this spectacle watched eagerly as they expected their captain to easily smash this large, but ultimately feeble Human into the dirt.
What they did not expect was for B-210, a mere Human, to run right back at their captain with inhuman speeds.
The Captain was caught off guard, as the Human had closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye!
Now within the guard of the ape, B-210 bent slightly, before in an explosive move jumped upward, his armored left knee shooting up with the speed and power of a piston, it made contact with the Captain's chin, the power behind the blow immediately knocking back his head, and sending his helmet flying.
"Arghhh!" The Captain bellowed, nearly falling backwards as he stumbled back, holding his chin, his world spinning rapidly as his bell had been significantly rung, nearly going unconscious from one strike.
The Apes watching couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. It defied their rules of nature.
"W-what?" A chimp uttered, lips trembling in fear.
"It's… It's just not possible!" An Ape bellowed.
This of course led to the now somber Humans to snap their heads to where the fight was taking place, their eyes widening as they saw the stumbling ape, helmet now dislodged from his head and in tremendous pain.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing, a Human, hurting an ape in hand to hand? It just wasn't possible, it defied their laws of nature. Apes were stronger than Humans.
No one in the cages dared move, only watching in muted awe until the voice of a child rang out, "Please Almuqatil!(2) Save us!"
The apes turned to the Humans, looks of shock evident on their faces, until like a wildfire, the caged Humans began to yell and shout for this Human.
The apes could not do anything, only finding themselves turning back to the fight at hand, watching with minor relief as their captain regained his senses.
Captain Chorko was in pain, a tremendous amount of it. He shook his head, regaining his senses as he struggled to focus on the Human in front of him. "What in Zemo's name are you, Human?" He groaned, now finally able to focus, his war hammer now at the ready.
B-210 didn't answer, simply staring him down.
Chorko growled, "Damn you, Human!" And with great power and speed swung his hammer in a horizontal arc
The Spartan seeing this coming from a mile away, tensed his legs, jumping clean over not only the hammer, but the Captain himself.
Landing with a thud, the Spartan quickly turned and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick into the Ape's back, the armor the Ape wore doing nothing to protect him as a size 24 boot slammed into his back, sending the Captain flying forward head over heels ten feet away.
The Captain, now enraged, and in even further pain stood up, turning around, back towards the Spartan. "YOU COWARD! Face me head on!" He growled, slamming his hammer into the ground. Leaving it behind as he ran on all fours with impressive speed, jumping seven feet into the air his fists cocked back looking to execute a double hammered blow on the spartan below.
The Spartan quickly rolled forward, dodging the massive Ape's blow, only striking the ground he was previously standing on, leaving a small crater.
B-210 stood back up, facing the ape, watching as it stood back up, growling as it faced him. "Superior my ass," He smirked, shifting into his stance, beckoning the ape forward with his free hand.
Chorko was quick to accept the invitation, roaring as he charged forward, looking to smash the Spartan into a pulp. With a roar he sent his left fist forward, aiming for the faceplate of the Spartan.
B-210 deftly sidestepped to the right, parrying the the blow with his armored forearm, grunting lowly as the blow was more powerful than he had anticipated, but it didn't matter, locking the apes arm with his right he stepped into his guard, his left fist cocking back and slamming into the Ape's midsection like a staccato of gunfire, his fist a blur as he struck the Ape four times before he could blink.
The Ape bucked from the force, blood erupting from his mouth as his organs were nearly pulped from the force.
The Spartan wasn't done, as he kicked the Ape's knee out with a sickening 'pop', forcing him down to a knee, Chorko was dazed.
The spartan grabbed the back of his head, forcing it down to meet his armored knee as he drove it upwards, Chorko's face meeting it head on as his nose was instantly broken, as well as his upper mandible.
"ARGmmph!" Chorko's mouth was full of blood and with his broken upper jaw, he couldn't speak properly anymore.
The Spartan let the Ape's arm go, stepping in front of the dazed Ape who was still kneeling, staring down at the Ape with hate filled eyes, he clenched his fist, before unleashing an uppercut on Chorko's chin.
The force of the blow enough the pick up the kneeling Captain, and send his body sailing back a few feet with a dull 'Crack!'
Chorko's body slid to a stop, his body nearly broken and his muzzle utterly shattered from the Human's assault. His whole body was riddled with pain, Pain caused by a 'lowly' Human. The Captain wanted to roar in rage, but all he was capable of producing was a few wet gurgles as his mouth gushed out blood.
B-210 huffed, turning on his feet as he walked back to where the good Captain had left his war Hammer, reaching down and effortlessly yanking it out of the dirt, the Spartan hefted it into his hands, taking a moment to examine it, taking a few practice swings.
The Apes that had watched the very brief and violent exchange trembled in fear as the Human took their commander's weapon, none daring to move and stop him as he took his spoil.
The Spartan, satisfied with the hammer, began to walk back towards the fallen Captain. His lessons in PYSCH-War being put to good use as he set a slow but steady pace, letting the heavy head of the Hammer drag across the cracked desert floor.
The Captain could only look up in increasing dread as he watched this Hu- No, he was right, this DEMON, came towards him with his coveted weapon, a weapon that has been passed from generation to generation before him. Now being wielded by a Human, it disgusted him.
With a final burst of defiance, the captain looked up at the spartan, watching his eyes as they examined him with cold indifference, not the rage they had held during their bout. Truly a quality of a Demon..
"Zhemo-os Zemo- *Cough* Zemos will strike you down, Demon, ju-just wait!" The Captain chuckled, the blood in his mouth being spat everywhere as he attempted to talk, his head dropping back to the earth.
The Spartan cocked his head to the side, before smirking, "Well tell the almighty shit slinging Ape god Zemos, that i'm coming for him." He said, with no further words, he hefted the warhammer, swinging it down with the speed of a train, the head of the Hammer coupled with the speed from the Spartan's swing absolutely ballooned the Captains head, warm blood and gray matter splashing across the landscape and covering the spartan SPI armor in a fresh shade of red.
All that remained of the Captain's head was a crater a meter deep, his headless corpse now twitching as his nerves began to die.
The Spartan took a moment to admire his handiwork, taking grim satisfaction at snuffing out this Ape's life. And with his own hammer, it was all so ironic.
'Rest in pieces, bitch.' He thought to himself, taking a moment to admire the hammer, while normally he wouldn't use a Hammer, this one was a bit more suited for someone of his dimensions, and keeping it would help him conserve ammo in the long run, so slinging it into his hands once more, he turned around, now facing the remaining apes.
Start Track: The Only Thing They Fear Is You:
With a cold calculated gaze, the malice exuding Spartan turned back towards the other Apes, who were paralyzed with fear, their lips puckering as the Demon examined them.
No one dared to utter a word, even the Humans that had been cheering for their savior were stricken with fear at the cold gaze of the Spartan.
He huffed, cracking his neck, only uttering, "Your turn."
Blitzing forward, the Spartan moved at unparalleled speed, closing the fifteen meter gap between him and the nearest chimp in the blink of an eye, the poor simian only able to look up at the armor wreathed demon in absolute panic, his eyes not showing any traces of emotion as it brought the hammer down onto the chimp, bringing only darkness.
The crushed corpse of the chimp rebounded backwards in slow motion, as the spartan focused on his next victim, the world moving in slow motion around him as he entered Spartan Time.
Shooting forward in three powerful strides, he pivoted bringing the broad face of the hammer into the side of an Ape, the blow instantly cracking it's rib cage and sending it careening into it's comrade's head, his helmet saving his life for a moment, but leaving him pinned on the ground, his eyes widened in fear as the armored sole of the Spartan's boot stomped down on his head mercilessly, leaving only a pool of blood and bone fragments.
This is when the Apes and Chimps started to react,
"Come on you cowards! We still outnumber him! Avenge the Captain!" An ape bellowed, brandishing a sword as he rallied the stupefied remnants into a half coordinated resistance to stop the Spartan.
Although, it was to change nothing.
The Spartan, far used to being alone, and outnumbered with far stronger opponents was not undeterred in the slightest.
Though the world had returned to normal to his perception, he was still too fast for his Ape opponents.
A quartet of chimps advanced on his flank, screeching all the while as they brandished daggers, running towards him with reckless abandon.
The Spartan III was not impressed, and he let them know that by kicking the lead chimp so hard every bone in its upper torso was eviscerated with a resounding CRACK! Sending its broken body slamming into the one behind it.
The last two tried to engage him with their daggers, despite their smaller size B-210 had no problem parrying the low blows, catching both of their attacks with the shaft of his hammer, he easily threw them away sending them sailing away comically screeching as they twirled helplessly in the air.
An Ape had come from behind, actually managing to land a blow with his sword, though once the sword met the titanium covering his back, it shattered into a thousand little pieces, only managing to scratch the paint job.
The Ape now holding his broken sword handle, looking on in shock as the Spartan turned sweeping low with the hammer and catching it's legs, effectively pulling the rug out from under him, with the ape now suspended in the air, the Spartan pivoted with the arc of his swing turning on a dime as he reared back another over head vicious blow that brought the business end of the hammer down onto the apes midsection, slamming him into the dirt below, and causing a wide cavitation to appear as the ape was nearly torn in half from the blow.
Content with letting the ape try and fail to reinsert it's now outbound intestines, B-210 spun around parrying an overhead sword strike from a larger brown ape, the ape snarling as it tried and failed to overpower the Spartan.
B-210 slid to the right, allowing the blade to slide off the handle of his hammer and into the ground below, countering with a snap kick that sent the ape backwards and onto its back, allowing no time for it to recover the spartan leapt up with his hammer overhead, bringing it down onto the helpless ape below as it covered it's head with its forearm to no avail.
*CRACK*
"Archers, fire!" an Ape bellowed.
B-210 snapped his head to his left, seeing a roughly squad sized group of chimps taking aim at him with an assortment of crossbows and longbows, the apes having cleared the way for them to have free range of fire.
'Clever.' The spartan thought, positive of his armor's ability to stop a mere arrow, even his tech suit could defeat 7.62. So the spartan pivoted and began to charge directly at the chimps, a move they obviously weren't expecting as many of them widened their eyes before letting loose a volley of arrows.
The arrows immediately met the Spartan who let them hit his armor, as expected the arrows plinked or shattered off of his armor, not even able to delay him a few seconds.
The Apes and Chimps could only look on in horror as the archers immediately began to ready another volley, but they were too late as B-210 slammed into their ranks, utterly breaking two chimps with the up armored shoulder of his SPI, sending them sailing past the last lines of the remaining apes, and slamming into the caged carts where the Humans were kept fifteen meters away.
The Spartan now in a target saturated zone, began to swing his new hammer to and fro, with each swing a chimp was hit and utterly eviscerated as the heavy instrument of war made contact with their bodies, breaking chimps in half with contemptuous ease, and cracking the dense skulls of Apes like fresh baguettes.
With the archer line broken, he turned his attention to the nearest ape, this one with white fur. It forgoed any sword, charging at him with its fists raised, swinging it's right fist towards the Spartans head, snarling and baring its yellowed fangs all the while.
B-210 dropped the hammer, and quickly grabbed it's shoulder, stopping it's momentum entirely, before stepping into its guard, slipping his left foot in between the apes legs, he hauled it over his shoulder, the judo throw catching the ape off guard as it went sailing into the ground just behind the Spartan. B-210 still having a grip on the apes arm, bent down, quickly and efficiently headlocking the ape and twisted violently, snapping the simians neck, ceasing its struggle.
Dropping the now limp corpse, B-210 rolled backward, retrieving his hammer in the process.
B-210 slipped up and didn't see the two red dots on his motion tracker, and was not expecting to be tackled, dropping the hammer as he fell back, rolling with his attacker, which was in fact two apes.
They had him pinned, and were now relentlessly pounding on his chest and head, their blows were powerful, and they partially dazed him as they continued their assault.
B-210 managed to get into a full guard position protecting his face and neck, they ape on top of him not breaking the guard, as B-210 thought of a way out, the ape behind him managed to grab his Kukri from his sheathe and was prepared to bring it down on the spartan.
The Spartan, quickly running out of options, grabbed his chest holster, produced his M6 Magnum, aiming up at the ape with his knife and squeezing the trigger *BOOM* The 12x7mm SAPHE round entered just below the simians neck exploding and decapitating its head in a shower of blood and gore. The Ape straddling him shrieked and jumped off of him, holding its ears as it shrieked in sheer panic.
The situation was the same for the rest of the Apes and Chimps still alive, the sound of the sudden thunder and their comrades' now headless corpse had petrified them.
Even the Humans backed themselves into the furthest corner of their cages, shaking and trembling in fear.
B-210 quickly sprang up to his feet, grabbing his kukri from the now dead ape, sheathing it as he observed the apes, now cowering in fear from the sudden rapport of his pistol. Looking down at his pistol then back at the apes, he realized that they had most likely never heard nor seen a firearm, so using one most likely had an unintended effect of PSYCH-War.
The ape that had been straddling him doing its best to kill him mere moments ago was now on the ground staring up at him with pure fear in its eyes, trying feebly to crawl backwards, away from the demon.
B-210 casually lifted the Magnum, firing as he put a bullet through its head, half of it exploding in a gory display.
The rest of the Apes could only stare in muted horror, watching as two of their own were cut down by the weapon of thunder in the Demon's hands. Quickly realizing they were no match for this demon, they began to shriek, fleeing as they tried to run, dropping whatever they had onto the ground to lighten their load.
The Spartan took aim, easily tracking them as they tried to flee across the open field like the Humans they had chased did. But just like them, they would find no mercy, nor any salvation.
One by one he tracked and dropped each and Ape and Chimp with machine-like accuracy, only taking one shot each. Each time his weapon fired, the Humans in the cages would jump, fearful of the thunder as they were.
By the time he had killed the last fleeing ape, his mag was dry. Lowering the still smoking gun, he slid out the empty magazine, placing it into his molle pouch, and procuring another, racking the slide as he deposited it back into his holster.
With a content hum, he turned about, reaching down to grab his kukri, and his new hammer, securing both weapons to his person.
Turning around, he found the people in the cages looking at him with fear, but a slight glimmer of hope in their eyes. Wordlessly the Spartan marched forward, walking to each cage individually and breaking the bars holding the captive people, taking time to help those who could not move under their own power.
Once all the captives were free, they had gathered around the cages, muttering to themselves as they walked around the carnage that B-210 had unleashed upon their former captors.
B-210 stood, watching them gather around, looking for any sign of leadership, "Who's in charge here?" He asked, his monotone voice amplified by his helmet's speakers.
Some were startled to hear him speak, looking at each other and then back to him not knowing what to say.
B-210 sighed, wanting very much to pinch the bridge of his nose. But thankfully, one man stepped forward, walking to the front of the amassed group, looking up to the spartan with a look of gratitude.
"I am the village elder, Khadar'." He introduced himself, taking a deep bow of reverence, "And I would like to thank you for freeing us from the Apes, I fear what would've happened had you not shown up when you did Thunder Warrior." The old man smiled
up at the Spartan.
B-210 shook his head, "No thanks necessary, it is only my duty." The Spartan replied curtly, nodding his head to the Village Elder.
The village elder smiled nodding, "Still, we must be able to repay you somehow." The man insisted, "While our village has been destroyed, we will offer whatever we can if it would help you."
The Spartan pondered this statement, before nodding, deciding that it would be prudent to have local knowledge, preferably the willingly divulged variety, and not the ONI black ops way, "If you're offering, what I need is information, I am not from this land." The spartan replied. His eyes examined the village elder evenly as he passively evaluated the man.
The elder nodded his head, "Yes! please, allow us to share what we know." The elder turned, waving a frail and withered hand in a 'come here' motion. "Tanka, step forward please." the elder beckoned forward someone in the crowd, the person stepping through the many people parting ways for what was revealed to be a young man who stepped forward, a look of apprehension on his face as he stared up at the spartan, he looked to the elder who nodded, and with a fearful gulp, the young man stepped forward taking a spot next to the elder.
"This is Tanka, he has traveled far, spoken with many other tribes, and is the most knowledgeable about the affairs of this world of the Apes…" The elder said with a sense of finality, before he wrapped his hand behind the man, pushing him forward towards the Spartan.
B-210 looked down at the young man, eyes neutral as he waited patiently for the man to speak.
Tanka was evidently not a fan of the spotlight placed on him by this gigantic warrior, but gulped and spoke, "He-Hello, my elder sp-s-speaks the truth."
210 nodded, "I had no doubt he was, he has no reason to lie to me." He replied bluntly, before taking pity on the man, "You can relax, I'm no threat to you, Tanka." He said, crossing his arms.
Tanka gasped but nodded, "Ri-right, forgive me Thunder Warrior, it's just I have never seen anything or anyone like you before in my life," He paused, looking behind him, "I don't think anyone here has." he said.
The spartan agreed, his eyes remaining impassive as stone.
"It's fine, now please, tell me everything you know, starting with the why and how of the Apes rise to rule over Humans." B-210 wasted no time in asking his question, his no-nonsense direct questioning reminiscent of an ONI De-Brief post Op.
Tanka, still swallowing his fear of the Spartan, was slow to process the question, his eyes widening at the.. Simplicity of such a question. "Um- Well it has always been this way, Apes have always ruled this world, even before my grandfather's time, and his father before him." Tanka shifted uncomfortably, craning his neck to look up at the Spartan, "Whe- Where you are from… Do the Apes not rule?" He asked, his fear overshadowed by the glimmer of something in his eye.
Hope.
The Spartan was momentarily taken aback, of course he didn't show it. But he had seen this look before… On many planets, before becoming a headhunter, being on the frontlines, reinforcing Marines, CDF, and regular citizens alike in their resistance against the Covenant.
That unwavering spark of hope that would light up in their eyes as they caught a glimpse of him or his brothers and sisters.
B-210 shook his head, "No, they don't, and never will." He said, the bass in his voice resolute as he thought of his many battles against the Covenant.
Tankas' shimmer turned into a full blown spark, and it seemed to be mirrored by the people behind him, their eyes long sense accustomed to the bellagered reality of this world, showing for the first time genuine Hope.
His mouth now agape in wonder, Tanka began to change his stance, standing a bit taller. "A-Amazing! Hah! A wonderful place that sounds like Thunder-Warrior!" the young man exclaimed, his curiosity and excitement smothering his primal fear of the Spartan out completely.
For the Spartans part, he was silent, tempted to squash that notion by mentioning of the Covenant and their ever closer campaign of genocide against Humanity. But he decided against it, knowing that it would be unnecessary to squash their morale after the harrowing experience they have just endured.
"It can be." The Spartan replied, his eyes never showing the thoughts of his family vanishing in a lilac hellfire. "Tanka, what can you tell me about the lands in that direction?" He asked, raising his armored arm to point in the direction of where the unknown craft had crashed,
A look of pondering entered Tanka's face, before quickly turning into a grimace, "Death and enslavement…It is Ape Cities' holdings, any Humans there are hunted, trapped, and sold to the Apes in the city."
B-210 knew it wouldn't be easy.
"I see, what can you tell me about this 'Ape City'? Are you aware of the number of Apes there?"
"I… Don't know much I'm afraid, only rumors, but I have been told there are at least thousands of Apes there, and that it's a City made of giant trees." Tanka replied, "I wish I knew more, but I avoid those lands as much as possible, and all the Villages near their borders have already been raided or they have left to escape the wrath of the Apes, especially General Thade." He shook his head.
The Spartan was quick to change gears at the mention of a Military HVT, "General Thade? What do you know about him? How many Apes does he command?" he asked, eyes now sharper, ready to disseminate potentially actionable intel.
Tanka bit his lip, "He… Is a monster, cruel and murderous. He hates Humans with a passion, and will go great lengths to snuff any out for enslavement if he catches wind of a village." Tanka paused, his eyes a thousand yards away, "H-His apes took my wife." He said, voice hollow with remorse.
The Spartan blinked, and nodded, "I understand. Tell me about him, and I will try my best to free her when the time comes." Noting that it would have to be a tertiary objective, as his main concern now was to disrupt the Apes however possible.
Tanka looked up, the glimmer returning, "You would?" He asked, simply out of disbelief.
"I would, now tell me about Thade, even if it's just rumors." He replied to the young man.
Tanka smiled, a truly grateful one, "Thank you Thunder-Warrior." He bowed, before rising to meet the Spartans eyes, "I have heard many stories, about Thade's warrior's riding with so many that the ground itself will tremble well before their presence is truly felt." He began, "And that he himself is a crafty Ape Noble, and is not above cruelty towards his own apes."
The Spartan nodded, "Do you have any actual numbers for their forces?"
Tanka leveled his hand, in a 'more or less' gesture, "Not anything exact, no. But the Village Warriors of Akandi had scouted one of their camps a moon cycle ago… They saw thousands, bathed in a sea of red tents." he shuttered, no doubt imagining that army ravaging his home, or the next one after that.
This was good information, even if not exact it gave him a workable force disposition estimate, and that was better than nothing.
Now he had some ideas, and with time burning on his internal mission clock, he had to begin moving, but before that he had to take care of two things.
"Thank you Tanka, this will help me immensely." He nodded, turning to address the village elder, "Take your people and leave this place, use the carts to carry your wounded, take any weapons the Apes left." The Spartan commanded, before walking back towards the forest he had emerged from.
Retracing his steps, he finally arrived at the tree where he had left the little girl. The tree he had placed there un disturbed, reaching down and moving it out of the way revealed the little girl still unconscious.
With a ginger grip, he picked her up bridal style, and began to walk back towards the clearing where the others were hopefully following his instructions.
As he crossed the threshold of the tree line, he was pleased to see the remaining Men of the Village grabbing weapons, the Women were tending to the wounded, and any children that were displaced during their escape, some theirs and others orphans, tears staining their cheeks as they clutched tightly onto their caregivers.
The Spartan walked up to one of these groups, the Women giving him wide eyed looks, the mighty Thunder-Warrior gently handling a little girl was unexpected.
He gently laid her down in front of the women, taking care to keep her stable until she touched the ground. Standing back up, he looked down at the unconscious girl. His visor still unpolarized, he clutched his eyes shut for a moment, wordlessly grabbing for the pouch he had placed the bracelet in, grasping it and holding it in his hand, before gently lying it on her slowly rising chest.
Looking at the woman closest to him, he simply said "Take care of her." Before walking away, not looking back.
He found Tanka, chatting with the Village elder, "Tanka." He said, his heavy footsteps disrupting the conversation. "Yes Thunder-Warrior?" He asked, looking up.
"I need you to do me a favor." He began, "I need you to spread word of what happened here, tell every village you can. I want you to tell them that the Thunder-Warrior is here, and the time for Humans to rise will be soon."
Tanka and the Elder both widened their eyes, looking to one another, before returning their collective gaze back towards the spartan. "Are you serious?" They both more or less asked simultaneously.
B-210 Nodded, "Yes, I am. I plan to take the fight to the Apes, but when the time comes, I will need numbers to finish the job, permanently."
Khadar and Tanka looked at each other yet again, but this time only the village elder nodded his head, taking over, "We will do this, thunder-warrior. You have shown us it's possible to defeat the apes, and we will make sure every village knows your might!" He exclaimed.
The Spartan nodded, "Then this is where we part ways, get far from here, regroup, and find a safe place. I will find you all again soon enough." And with that, the Spartan turned and began to march on, heading towards his initial objective.
WIth new intel, and clearer objectives, the Spartan was well on his way to igniting the first spark of hope in the dying embers of Humanity of this desolate Ape world.
A new dawn was coming.
Thanks for reading:)
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