Remnants

by General Rage

From Halo's ashes, a mismatched Alliance is born. UNSC soldiers now serve alongside both Batarian deserters and shifty Jackal Space Pirates. Now Shepard and Master Chief have to keep these strange bedfellows from killing one another before they can stop an emergent new threat to the galaxy. The Next Swashbuckling Chapter of the Wormhole Chronicles.

45. Crack the Sky Part 2

Chapter 40 Part 2: Crack the Sky

You think I'll be the dark sky so you can be the star?

I'll swallow you whole

- Warsan Shire

The shard crystal sliced into the metal machinery, sparks flew into Zek's face, only stopped from hitting it directly because of his shield. He tried to retaliate, but Lurz just kept battering his defenses whenever he tried. The Ibie had no semblance of calm, decorum or grace with a blade. He was pure unadulterated aggression.

In a normal blade fight, that would mean he'd tire himself out quickly. Not with this opponent. Lurz had been attacking at full strength since it started and he was not letting up. In fact, he only seemed to be getting stronger and faster with every hit.

Were his adrenal glands in overdrive or something? Did he just get off so much on this sort of thing that he could ignore fatigue? Was he on some sort of performance enhancing drug? Did psychopathy grant you limitless energy? Zek didn't know, all he did know was that fighting this monster was exhausting in and of itself.

He finally managed to knock the battle-raging behemoth bruiser of an ibie'shan away from him, using his shield to bust a decent strike to Lurz's face. But that only helped in that it pushed Zek out of range of further punishing blows and forced Lurz to pause for a moment. For a moment, the Snarly Enforcer stumbled on one foot, before raising his head again to look right at Zek. Blood was still dripping from his face and the murderous glare had only gotten more pronounced.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!" Zek asked in a panic. "Seriously! If you want to kill me, fine! But at the very least could you not be this excited for it? Does every Ibie Snarlbeak employs have as big a murder boner as you?"

Lurz took the blade into his other hand and began scraping it across the wall next to him. Sparks flew once more as a terrible, grating metal on metal sound echoed through the hall. He approached Zek slowly, menacingly, as the pirate leader backed away, his shield still held high in a protective stance.

"Where... is... the relic?" Lurz asked in a low, threatening tone.

"Not with me and I ain't giving it up," Zek declared. "You can also forget offering to spare my life for it, I ain't backing down this close to the finish line."

"Was never an option," Lurz claimed. "Have to kill you. Giving me the relic... would've made it... slightly less slow."

Zek shuddered, bringing out his plasma machete as he backed away.

"Why do you have to kill me? Cause Snarlbeak said so?" Zek demanded to know, an incredulous tone emerging slightly from beneath the fear. "Why the fuck you wanna do that asshole's killing for him anyway? What the fuck does any of this shit matter to you?"

"It doesn't," Lurz replied, coldly and sinisterly as he brought his blade to him. "The kill matters. It's all that matters. The Covenant don't matter. The humans don't matter. The Relic don't matter. YOU don't matter. The kill is ALL. The kill says who survives. The kill proves strength. The kill is EVERYTHING."

Zek started looking around, trying to find an advantage here. Even with the chill running down his back, he did his best to ignore it. Lurz was just acting out the psychological part of this contest. He wanted to psyche him out. He wanted Zek to make a stupid mistake that got him killed. It was probably what got those poor Drop Troopers slaughtered. If he didn't want to meet their fates, he couldn't let Lurz get to him.

But damn was it hard, because Lurz, covered in blood, soaked in gore and currently rubbing the burning edge of his cutlass slightly against one of his biceps, was absolute terrifying. Part of him wanted to charge the maniac and have him cut off his own arm in that moment as a result of his careless sword technique, but the other part said that was probably what Lurz wanted him to try. It was taking every ounce of courage Zek had not to just run now and hope to get off this deck. If he did that, even if he somehow got away, Lurz would have control of this deck. He'd lie in wait for the next poor sap to try and get to the Master Control Thing. They'd never get out of this void and then they'd all be fucked.

"Figures, ya know," Zek noted. "Zhoc gets sick at the sight of spilt blood, so he gets someone sick in the head who gets off to the blood to spill it for him. You know, I keep calling that old fuck a tool, but the truth is... you're a fucking tool. You're the biggest tool here."

"I'm useful," Lurz countered, entirely unfazed. "That's enough. Can't say the same for you. You've never been of use... to anyone. Only got this far on your daddy's coattails."

Zek ignored the words. He just needed an opening, something to try for. He spotted it soon enough. Something along the wall, an energy conduit. Good, maybe that could help him. He just needed to get over to it.

That was when Lurz struck, his blade coming in swiftly. Zek blocked it with his shield and tried to slash at Lurz with his plasma machete. Instead, Lurz knocked the swing away from him and kicked Zek's shield hard enough that the kig-yar was thrown to the ground.

Zek quickly rolled away before the next hit came at him. He narrowly escaped as Lurz slashed at the floor. Zek tried to get up and counter from the side with a wild swing. Lurz swung his blade up fast enough to catch the attack and used his immense strength to push Zek away.

"Good for nuthin' drunk is what you are," Lurz claimed. "Lived as one, die as one. Simple as that."

"If that's the case why bother with me?" Zek demanded to know. "Can't be much of a trophy sticking my head on a wall."

"Snarlbeak wants it there," Lurz replied. "So I'm gonna put it there."

"That simple?" Zek asked. "You're just good with being Zhocy's boy? His fucking attack dog?"

Zek swung his sword, catching Lurz's blade. He proceeded to smash his shield into Lurz's face. The Ibie took each hit, barely flinching, before wrenching the shield away from him with one hand. Zek had thankfully kept his grip on his plasma machete and was preventing Lurz from regaining control of it. Didn't matter though, because Lurz just socked Zek in the face and sent him tumbling down a small ramp to the ground.

Zek scrambled to his feet as Lurz jumped down, nearly crushing the kig-yar beneath him. Returning to a defensive stance, Zek faced Lurz once more and began creeping towards the wall to the left of him.

"I see what you don't," Lurz claimed. "I see the hate, the rage, the lust for blood in Snarlbeak's eyes. I am that... personified. Through him, my kills have purpose. I have become a part of him. A conduit for his revenge."

"Come the fuck off it," Zek spat back. "You're just some freak who was lucky enough to find a bitter old asshole who indulged you in your sick hobby. You ain't a fucking pirate, you ain't revenge made real, you ain't even a monster. You're a fucking parasite, leeching off some angry dickhead's grudges."

Two could plays this little mind game, Zek thought. Unfortunately it didn't seem to faze Lurz even a little bit. All he did was raise his weapon into a ready position. Zek could also see his feet, preparing to spring into a run.

"The female has the relic," he presumed. "After you're gone, I'll find her. Then skin her. Alive. Kill her later. Slowly. Sad I can't make you watch."

That didn't scare Zek. Not in the same way. It just made him angry. Anyone could call him a drunk, useless, stupid, worthless, even bring his father into things. Lurz crossed the line when he threatened Taq. That would not stand.

"We're done talking," Zek snarled, bringing his shield to the ready.

"Good," Lurz replied.

The Ibie'shan charged full force at Zek, readying himself for the coming kill. Instead, Zek sprung his trap. He had gotten close enough to the energy conduit. With one sidestep and slashing of his machete, the conduit was breached and a surge of energy exploded forth from the wall. Lurz was caught directly in its path. His whole left side went up in surging, blistering, plasma, pouring out from the conduit.

Zek quickly moved away from the area, letting the burst of pure energy envelop his opponent. however, the conduit soon dimmed as Engineering's safety measured closed the machinery off and prevented more plasma from leaking out. Lurz, incredibly, was still standing. His left side was burned horribly, but he was still standing and still holding his weapon. His skin was cauterized, bits of it falling off or burned away altogether. His face was utterly blackened from plasma scoring. And he still kept standing.

Lurz roared aloud the second he managed to spot Zek, the plasma hadn't damaged his eyesight apparently. Zek managed to duck the incoming blow by raising his shield at the last second, deflecting the slash. He then took off, he needed to find better ground to fight this freak of nature on. But if Lurz could withstand a rupturing energy conduit, what COULD take him down?

---

Taq resisted firing back at any of the attackers, to do so would just draw fire to her. Actually, it would just draw more fire to her. For even without firing a shot, she kept hearing the cracking whiz of needles or smelt the burning scorched air molecules of a passing plasma bolt. All of it, exceedingly close.

No one was safe from the attack. Anyone who was an ODST or with the ODSTs was fair game. And she was most certainly with the Drop Troopers because Snarlbeak's men likely all recognized her. They probably had kill orders with a nice big bonus ready to go.

"I should've taken that Sangheili Warrior Tomb Island job," she groused. "At least the Warlord who wanted those stupid swords would've been a reasonable client. But NO, I picked the asshole with dead sister issues because his creds were better. Ocean's Depths, I'm just like my mom."

"TAQ!"

That was McKay, yelling at the top of her lungs over the chaos. She fired two clean bursts from her rifle, managing to kill one of the enemy kig-yar above them. She then crawled over, laying prone beneath what little cover there was here, looking Taq dead in the eye."

"I need you to focus! How far along is the failsafe protocol?"

"We've almost cleared all relevant areas," Taq explained, her composure slowly returned. "But without the Master Control Switch-"

"We'll worry about that later! We need to get control of this situation, now!" She shouted firmly. "Can we do anything from here while Kasumi reboots security?"

Taq wasn't sure there was much she could do at this point. The security protocols were their best option to help clear out the attackers. There weren't many other potential options at their disposal. Or were there? She hit upon an idea, it was risky, it wouldn't solve the problem. It would potentially swing things back in their favor.

"Keep them off me, I need to get back on the control terminal," she told McKay.

The Drop Trooper leader just nodded and opened fire on a few of the kig-yar sharpshooters engaging their position. She directed what troopers she had near her to do the same. They concentrated fire on the pirates above them forcing a few to relocate while Taq raced back to the console unit. Retz moved to protect her as well, nimbly deflecting shots at his shield gauntlets as he returned fire.

Once she got back to the terminal, Taq opened up the controls for the heat regulation system.

"Lurz's people are likely still using the vents and exhaust ports to slink around in here," Taq exclaimed. "If I can overtax those systems, they'll turn into smoke choked ovens that will roast and smother those bastards alive."

"Neat, it ain't even Thanksgiving," McKay chortled.

"What?" Taq asked confused.

McKay took a good long look at the bird-alien creature in front of her, realizing the awkward sentence she just uttered. So, she decided to take her foot out of her mouth in the fastest way possible. That being, by changing the subject.

"Never mind, why didn't we do this to keep them out?" McKay questioned.

"Besides overclocking any system during an active manual failsafe protocol being a bad idea in general," Taq explained. "Well, overwhelming the heat regulation system might have some adverse effects on the Siphon which could lead to..."

"Slipspace portal into a sun," McKay sighed.

Taq nodded.

"I can't run it for long as a result," the kig-yar continued. "But I can at least fuck up their freedom of movement and smoke them out of their hideyholes."

"Do it, but the second it starts to overload you pull back," McKay ordered.

Taq hadn't been looking for the good Captain's permission, as she was already well underway to getting it started. At least now that she had it, that meant no one could complain if something went wrong. She quickly set the exhaust ports and ventilation systems into overdrive and executed the program.

All at once, a terrible mechanical whirring started up. Warning lights flashed and alarms sounded, as the temperature in the room began to significantly increase. It didn't take long for everyone to start feeling like they were in a scorching desert. But if the Drop Troopers were sweating, the Kig-Yar Pirates they were engaging were having it far worse.

In a matter of moments, smoke started billowing out of the walls and vents. The sound of coughing and screams of pain could be heard echoing everywhere. There was a horrendous flooshing sound as fire ejected out of a port above a squad of Drop Troopers. A second later, the painful death cries of a pirate screeched out of vents. They got louder and louder until he ran out of the exhaust port, completely engulfed in flames. He fell from above and smashed onto the floor, the Drop Troopers rushing out of the way for fear he could've spread the fire consuming him to them.

This happened to a lot of the Snarly pirates in fact. They either ran out of smoke belching shafts or fled from igniting infernos and superheated ports. Even those outside of the ventilation system, but were above in the rafters and mechanical piping of deck found themselves surrounded by smoke, unable to see much of anything and suffocating from the fumes. They were forced to flee their perches. The kig-yar who had already left those maintenance sections of the Engineering Deck were unaffected of course, but a good deal of their snipers had lost their advantages and their means of melting back into the walls and popping out somewhere else didn't seem so safe anymore.

However, after about five minutes of this, Taq had to hit the emergency shutdown for the procedure. The overdrive protocol ended and the temperature of the Engineering Deck returned to normal. It had been enough, Drop Troopers had used the precious few minutes to rally and quickly reported good news. The Snarlies were on the defensive on some levels. They were holding out on others, but at least containing the breach appeared plausible now.

The best results were around the main console near the Siphon, as the sharpshooters in and around the area had fallen back or been killed by Taq's plan. It wasn't all positive though as Taq soon realized looking at her terminal screen.

"Well, we gave ourselves some breathing room by choking up theirs, nice work, Taq," McKay congratulated as more reports of her Drop Troopers holding their own came in. "We've blunted their attack somewhat."

"Unfortunately, Overheating the system has switched on a number of cooling pods to decrease temperature levels rapidly," Taq groaned. "Subsequently switching back on a number of systems we just shut off. We're gonna have to redo some of our procedures."

"Crap," McKay groaned. "We are not gonna have much of a window to get out of here at this rate."

"No we are not," Taq sighed. "I suggest you have some of your people prepare for other unwelcome guests while we coordinate fixing what just got undone." she then got back on her own comms. "Kasumi, how's it coming?"

"A few more switches to go," Kasumi replied. "I've almost got security ready for rebooting!"

"Double time it," Taq ordered. "Otherwise no one's getting out of here."

---

A roaring battlecry resounded through the air as a biotic wave rippled across the floor. It smashed into the Jackals hard, knocking a number of them off the ground. A few shots rang out next, followed by warp attack hitting one of the floating hostiles. The biotic detonation that followed finished off the remaining attackers.

"Nice one," Jack congratulated Thane. "I set 'em up, you knock 'em down, Hot Stuff!"

"I'm surprised you're leaving anyone for me actually," Thane told her.

"I don't like letting you feel left out is all," Jack mused.

From afar as he watched this, Varvok shook his head. It wasn't that he disapproved of the relationship, he didn't particularly care. He just wished they could tone it down some, WAY down.

At least they were keeping focused, so long as they covered their flank, fine, let them do whatever. They weren't his problem anyway. He had to keep his men's heads in the game. So he blocked out the momentary distraction and returned to the unit.

The Snarlies were still coming, not in as big a force as they had initially beaten off. They were attempting to assail their defenses in waves now. One group of the pirates would move in and two others at most would attempt to assault the hangar barricade from either the left or right side. When it looked like any one group was being repulsed, they fell back.

Varvok knew what they were doing. They were probing, trying pinpoint a weakness in the defenses, wear the defenders down with successive attacks instead of expend all their resources in a singular strike. Either they'd exhaust the defenses or hold out long enough for reinforcements to join their assault.

Varvok suspected they were probably trying to find another way into the hangar as well. But as he understood it, this was the only doorway into this area. That wouldn't stop them from looking though. The real problem was the fact there would be enemies blocking the exit route for their comrades. They needed to break this siege, if only so their people could get out of here safely.

Shepard was handling the defense with his people well enough. The Commander himself was coordinating both his team and the ODSTs. He had pulled one pair of kig-yar right off their feet and then zipped into their ranks with a biotic charge to blow away the rest. His krogan had covered his retreat back to their lines with sustained fire. Typical of his stylish, lead by example and from the front battle tactics, but it served a purpose.

The Commander had requested his help in breaking the enemy resolve. He knew Varvok was familiar with the strategy of the Snarlies. So if anyone could disrupt it, he and his men could. He was already planning just that. They had snuck over to a corner of the hangar bay, outside the barricades and closer to the door. There was a single Forerunner Shuttle craft, old, dilapidated, but in Varvok's estimation still potentially functional. Forerunner tech, in his experience, was surprisingly long lasting.

He had his Combat Engineers get to work on it, while his other men kept guard over the sector. A few kig-yar kept coming in to interrupt their work, but they didn't seem to suspect anything. They were just here providing cover on the flank near the doorway, that was all. How little did they know Batarians, him especially.

That didn't stop them from behind dangerous though, as became evident when one group of Snarlies came charging at their position. Basic arrangement of shields walling off their shooters, only this time there were two armed with Focus Beam Rifles and one with a fully automatic Plasma Repeater. It did no one good to ever assume pirates would play by the Covenant's overly strict armament rules.

"Hostiles closing, sir!" One of Varvok's men shouted up, ducking from incoming bolts.

A beam lanced towards Varvok, forcing him to duck into the Forerunner shuttle.

"Time!" Varvok asked his engineers.

"Three minutes, sir!" The sergeant replied.

"Be ready to move quickly then," Varvok told him.

The Batarian leader jumped out of the shuttle, rolling as he landed on the floor to avoid another sweeping Focus Beam. As he stood up, he shot sustained suppressive fire at the kig-yar phalanx. At the very least, it forced the pirates to pause for a moment. His men at the perimeter laid on the fire in kind to match their leader's.

The kig-yar with the Plasma Repeater answered back by shooting at the batarians through a small gap in the shield wall. That gave one of the Batarians an opening, firing a single well-placed round at the kig-yar in question. The bullet didn't kill the pirate, but it found its mark and he fell back some from the phalanx. He was not deterred though and was quick to continue shooting.

This was what Varvok had hoped for. The kig-yar were too pinned down and too focused on his men to notice him moving in from behind. Once he was in position, he fired ballistic omni-blades into the backs of the pirates, the constructs embedding themselves into the Snarlies with ease. Seconds later, those same blades exploded and took out the phalanx entirely.

It wasn't lost on Varvok that this was very similar to something he saw a certain Commander pull, if a bit in reverse. Perhaps he was picking up more than a few tricks from Shepard when it came to over the top heroics. However, what he was about to do next was all his own.

"Status?" He demanded from his combat engineer team.

"Ready to go, sir!" The Sergeant replied.

"Clear out of there, let's line her up!"

Varvok had his men move to a safe distance. With a flick of his omni-tool, the old Forerunner shuttle came alive and lifted from the ground. The craft's slipspace drive was gone, but its engine was intact. That would serve their purposes. He then lined it up with the Snarlbeak Pirates' lines, just as a fresh wave of attackers came in. Good, they'd be in for a surprise.

"Launching in three... two... one!"

Varvok executed the command on his omni-tool and the shuttle craft launched itself across the room at lightning speed. It caught the kig-yar completely by surprise as its nose smashed into their assault forces. Then it hit the wall of the corridor outside the doorway, bouncing off towards the Snarly positions beyond. Fire trailed from its backside, moments before a huge explosion erupted in the hallway.

"Ha! It worked!" Varvok called out.

"A few extra grenades stuck to the engine core helped a bit," the Sergeant added.

Varvok couldn't see the full extent of the damage, so he contacted Shepard.

"Shepard, we pulled it off," he reported. "How does it look on your end?"

"Like a ton of fire and metal just detonated among Snarlbeak's men," Shepard reported. "They're already scattering. I doubt they'll leave altogether, but their coordination looks to be severely damaged. Great work."

"We'll rejoin the barricade soon, pick off anyone dumb enough to try attacking us," Varvok stated. "We might have to push up to full secure the evacuation path though."

"I'll handle that, you just get back here safe," Shepard told him. "Again, great work."

It was funny, not long ago he had still wanted to kill Commander Shepard, now they were actually working together. Not just tolerating each other, but relying on one another. Whatever conflicts Varvok still had about that, he had to admit, it felt good to know at the very least, Shepard had no more lingering animosity and that made Varvok want to prove he was past that as well all the more.

He wasn't sure his men all felt the same, they still grumbled about him taking directions from Commander Shepard and that they were coming down here to save human lives. They didn't question it ultimately, but he could still sense the tension. Whatever the case, they were here now, they had a job to do and it wasn't over yet.

But everything they were doing right now wouldn't mean squat if Zek, Retz and Taq didn't finish up what they were doing and get their butts over here soon with that relic. He just hoped the team still at the Engineering Deck were almost done with that Siphon he had heard about.

---

The plasma shield shuddered under another withering blow. Lurz, despite being half-burned, was not giving up. Zek found he could do little else. Any time he tried to strike at Lurz or his blade, the bastard just knocked it back. The Ibie'shan was just too much of a wall and had too much momentum behind his swings. Zek had to reach better ground or do something to get some space from him. Just enough to actually fight back for a minute.

Looking around, Zek tried to spot something that could help him. The best he could find was a small discarded piece of metal, probably a pipe or old tool. Using his foot, he kicked the object up into the air and then smashed his shield into it. The object flung through the air and hit Lurz in the face, hard. The big Ibie'shan tanked the hit, but his head fell back momentarily.

Zek used this chance to retreat. He was not about to take a chance on getting a slash in because he just knew Lurz was probably faking being hurt, even slightly, to get an opportunity to run Zek through. Lurz seemed to be that kind of sick and demented. Given that he was already raising his head up, Zek supposed he guessed right.

Turning down a corner and ducking behind an engine core, Zek tried to collect himself.

"Fucking hell, why do I have to be stuck fighting this guy constantly?" He groaned quietly. "Why can't my nemesis be another marksman or some noble duelist type? Why'd I have to get the horror show?"

It mattered little to complain now, Lurz was his problem and he'd have to deal with him. Lurz had made it clear, Snarlbeak wanted Zek dead and he wasn't going to disappoint his boss. Zek couldn't run or talk his way out of this. He would have to kill the psycho this time. Easier said than done, given said psycho had just taken an exploding energy conduit to his face and it mostly just annoyed him.

"What I wouldn't give for a plasma grenade," Zek growled. "Just... toss one at his head and watch it go up. That would have to be enough, right?"

Of course it would, even Lurz couldn't kill anyone with his head missing. Although, if he did, would it honestly be that surprising at this point? No, he thought, stop thinking that way. Lurz was not an invincible monster. He was just a muscle-bound murderer, still scary, but not some nightmare creature of myth. He could be killed.

He just needed an opening, a weak spot to exploit, some kind of vulnerability that this bastard had. What could he recall from his previous encounters with Lurz? Well, nothing helpful really. He possessed impressive strength, high intimidation factor, seemingly incredible tolerance for pain, and no fear of anything. How could you fight something like that effectively? Maybe if he wasn't a kig-yar but a Spartan, sure, but there weren't any Spartans here.

Lurz was though, as evidenced by the chilling effect Zek could feel along his spine and the sound of footsteps from the same direction. Turning just in time, Zek's shield took the brunt of the slash and follow up kick. Zek was knocked over, rolling across the floor. Lurz stalked closer to him, blade ready to finish things. However, Zek had just found a weakness, tunnel vision. Lurz only really looked at that which he wanted to murder, not above or around him at say... the electrical cables right over his head, each attached to an active power source.

Zek brought out his plasma pistol and took aim. Lurz just laughed, as if he didn't care if he got shot a bit. Joke was on him though. He wasn't the target. Zek aimed up high and fired as many bolts as he could into the cables. The broke free of their ceiling supports and swung down, sparking wildly. They slammed into Lurz's back and for the first time, Zek actually heard the monstrous Ibie'shan scream in pain.

Getting to his feet, Zek started backing away. Lurz's whole body was alight, his screams deafening as they echoed through the chamber. His whole body writhed and jolted about as the live wires zapped him continuously. Then, Lurz reached up, grasped the wires and quite literally ripped them free from the power box above. The electricity left the cables and then Lurz. Who now stared at Zek with an enraged drooling snarl, his flesh marked now by both plasma and electrical burns.

"Mistake."

That was all he said before charging again.

Zek ran, the psycho's energy shard swishing at his heels. Engine blocks were ruptured with every powerful swing as they entered back into the main hallway. Zek had no more illusions, he couldn't fight this freak. He needed to get back to the others, Retz, Kasumi, McKay, a whole squad of Drop Troopers, literally anyone with a big honking machine gun to perforate this THING until its heart stopped beating.

The raging bloodlusting reptile at his back closed the distance by the second, Zek dodging and rushing through the tight spaces of the deck level. He knew he shouldn't, but he kept looking back, just watching the toothed-filled maw of this creature racing at his heels. The image so terrifying he could scarcely look ahead anymore!

He needed more than a Machine Gun! He needed a Concussion Rifle! He needed a Fuel Rod Cannon! A Banshee! A Wraith Tank! He needed-

Zek smashed head first into a wall and fell back. This was it, he thought, Lurz had him cornered. He was well and truly fucked now. He could've sworn though that there was no wall here. That he was heading to the main entrance. He must've taken a wrong turn or slammed into a door before it opened.

When Zek looked up, he did not see a wall though. No, he saw something so much more welcome. And he never thought he'd ever think that. Before him. stood four heavy-armored clad human soldiers standing taller than some sangheili, and at their front was of course their leader. When Zek looked back towards Lurz, he saw the psycho frozen in his tracks. Not in fear, but at the very least, in hesitation.

"McKay," The Master Chief reported over his comms. "Lead Pirate hostile spotted, we're securing Zek."

Anton grabbed Zek and put him behind the squad of Spartans. Intent on keeping him safe from further assault. Zek, for his part, could only keep laughing at Lurz, even struggling to make sure Zhoc's little monster could still see him.

"HA HA HA! Oh, you're fucked now, you Psycho!"

Undeterred, it seemed, by the prospect of how "fucked" he was, Lurz lunged forward. The Spartans responded in typical fashion.

"Engage!" Chief ordered.

Bullets ripped into the corridor and Lurz, although he deflected quite a few with his energy cutlass. He closed the distance with the Spartans all the same. He swung his sword at Chief first, who dodged it easily enough. Anton fired a few shots at Lurz, forcing him to back off as one of the bullets hit his shoulder. The Ibie jumped onto the wall and ran across it to avoid Anton's sustained fire. He leapt off towards Anton, only for Kat's robotic arm to smash him in the face. Lurz tumbled across the floor, but used his blade to stop suddenly. He looked to Kat directly, with murder in his eyes.

Kat just grimaced back through her visor and held up her Geth Arm as its palm spread apart. She only had one response to the psychopath's roar.

"Burn."

A stream of flame spread out from the Geth Arm. Kat had been tinkering around with the appendage, as well as a number of the Tech-Combat functions installed into it. The Incineration Offensive App was nice and all, but some things needed more than a single explosive ball of fire.

Lurz lifted his arm against the stream of flame, letting his armor get burnt off to prevent himself from being fully ignited. He charged at Kat, his whole arm on fire, swinging it at Kat with the energy cutlass in hand. It struck Kat's arm away and Lurz smashed his foot into her chest. Kat slid backwards across the metal floor, stopping herself by slamming her metal arm into the floor and gripping it. She pulled off a panel from it and used the sheet of metal to shield herself from a follow-up attack from Lurz's blade.

The timely block gave Kelly a moment to take aim and light up Lurz's back with dual SMGs. Lurz screamed aloud and swung the blade backwards at Kelly. She leaned back low, the glowing pink shard just barely missing her face as it slashed over her visor. She fell onto her back, but thankfully she had someone watch it.

As Lurz moved to attack her, Chief smashed his fist into the burly monster's face. Instantly, the Ibie'shan turned on Chief, swinging his blade him. The Spartan Leader popped out his omni-tool's blade to protect himself, deflecting the swing before firing a few rounds with his pistol sidearm. The magnum rounds struck Lurz's armor, one hitting him in the stomach. The psychotic Ibie then lunged at Chief, grappling onto his armor. Omni-blade met Energy Cutlass, up close and personal as Lurz's bloodied face snarled in manic delight down at the Spartan.

Chief knew that look. This... thing was enjoying this. However, that enjoyment was momentarily interrupted when Zek's plasma Machete crashed down on Lurz's back, creating a cauterized gash in the Ibie's flesh. That distracted Lurz long enough for Chief to implement countermeasures.

"Cortana, divert shields to shock function!"

Chief's shields vanished in an instant, as all suit power was poured into creating a powerful electrical shock. Cortana had once used it to keep some Flood Infection forms off of him on Halo. Lurz was decidedly bigger, but no less affected by the defensive measure. He was flung off the Master Chief, crashing into a wall.

Lurz lurched off the wall, now with a sizeable dent in it. He dropped to the floor, but did not stay there. now on all fours, he scampered away to the gravity lift. Anton and Chief fired on him, with a shotgun and assault rifle respectively, but the wounded psycho managed to reach the lift and escape downwards.

"We gotta go after him," Anton said.

"No, he wants that," Chief warned. "He wants us to chase him down, then he'll slink back here and find a place to hide again to take us out."

"He's after me," Zek said, agreeing with Chief partially. Lurz didn't really care about the Spartans outside of being obstacles to his true mission. "He'll come after me again eventually. He wants some of you to peel off so he can come back and fight on less one-sided terms."

"We should get you to a secure area," Kelly suggested. "With a lot more people than just us to protect you."

But Zek shook his head.

"No, we gotta secure the Master Control Switch," he reminded them. "He knows its valuable, he ambushed me there! We need to get there and lock it down or we're all fucked!"

"Hate to say it, but he's not wrong," Cortana concurred. "That switch is mission priority. We can't let anyone circle back around to secure it before us. There still might be Jackals in the vents, even after Taq's overheat stunt."

"Alright, we head to the Switch," Chief decided. "But the second it's time to activate it, we do so and we get out of here."

Zek was perfectly fine with that plan and mostly hoped that Lurz would just bleed out somewhere before they had to track him down. But when were they ever that lucky?

"How much longer until we're good to activate the failsafe?" Anton asked.

"There's a few complications from what I'm hearing," Cortana confessed. "But probably not more than a few minutes."

"Assuming we have that long," Kat cautioned.

There was a pounding on the main entrance door, once wide open now shut tight. But from the way the metal kept rumbling, there was no guarantee that would remain the case indefinitely. Kat's caution was evidently well-voiced and the need to get to the Master Control Switch all the more urgent.

---

The situation concerning the invading Jackals was mostly under control. Not completely, but enough that they could resume regular operations again. Although they had unfortunately been stalled as a result and repeating a number of the steps elicited more than a few tired groans over comms. McKay kept their heads in the game though, kept them working, double timing it if possible. They could not fall behind, not with the Covenant audibly pounding on the door.

At the very least, the Covenant's attempts to get inside gave everyone ample warning. The defensive positions set up at the entrance settled back in to prepare for any potential breach. They had Machine Guns ready, along with a few plasma cannons they had stolen off the Covenant on their way down here. The Snarlies had also graciously provided them with extra weapons. They didn't complain about it of course, due to the fact most of them were dead.

All the same, knowing a large swath of Covies were nestled just outside the door you were guarding did no favors to the mindset of the already embattled Drop Troopers. They had fought the whole way down into this rock. They had been shot out in regular space and had landed in subspace. They navigated tight corridors filled to the brim with enemies. Only to end up packed into a very small area doing grunt work under time pressure. They had just fought off an ambush assault by a pack of bloodthirsty pirates. Now they were about to get hit again if they didn't shut that siphon down soon.

Mentally they had taken a toll, which said nothing about their physical casualties. All the Drop Troopers had been taken completely unawares by the pirates, not everyone had survived to see them driven back. There was no doubt in any ODST's mind that their number could be up on any mission. This was the job, they all knew that. But that was little comfort to one staring down a door that was going to burst open at any time to reveal a whole new horror behind it.

McKay knew it better than anyone, she knew what her people were thinking right now. She was thinking it herself in fact. That being: "When the hell are we getting out of here and how many of us are going to make it?" Never a good mindset to be stuck in, especially in this scenario.

At the very least, they had some good news.

"We've gotten most of the systems powered down or on low," Taq reported. "Energy dampeners are now ready for priming. Once that's done, the Master Control Switch can be hit and I can activate the failsafe protocol."

"We still need to watch out for any remaining pirates," McKay said. "We couldn't have gotten them all."

She looked again to the door, as another powerful battering noise shook the frame.

"They're gonna get in soon," McKay reasoned. "Way before we can shut the siphon off."

"Kasumi's still getting the security system online," Taq reminded her. "We'll make it!"

McKay put on a brave face, but she knew they were about out of time. She contacted the other Drop Troopers, hoping to say... something encouraging. But the repeated bashing against the door made it hard to actually come up with words that feel condescending or that felt like an empty promise. So she just said what DID come to mind.

"People, we only have a few more things to finish up," she told them all gravely. "We're shutting this siphon down. The Covenant will likely break through before then. When they do... give them everything you got. No quarter, they'll offer none."

That was when the door near them began to buckle, metal warping and breaking. The Covenant were breaking through, ever so slightly. It was only a matter of time now. She readied her rifle and moved towards her men on the defensive line.

"Retz, guard Taq and that terminal with your life," she ordered.

"That was the plan, but thank you for making it official," Retz replied.

McKay took up position along the secondary line. They had erected makeshift barricades out of spare boxes and metal sheeting they had scrounged up from around the engineering deck. It was the best they could do. She took stock of her ammunition as the bashing against the metal continued. As she readied her weapon, she contacted the others over comms.

"Troopers! Prepare to defend yourselves!"

The whole deck seemed to resonate with the sound of cocking weapons and pulled firing pins. Everyone on the defensive lines took aim at the door. They all knew they were out of time, but they would not go quietly.

Then, suddenly, the door exploded open. A hole bore deep through the Forerunner steel to the outside cavern. Before the smoke had cleared from the blown open door, grunts poured through, followed shortly by elites. The hole was small though and did not give the Covenant much room to manuever. It was the one key advantage the Drop Troopers had now and they'd exploit it to the fullest.

Machine Gun bullets and automatic fire were unloaded into the small space. The Covenant's numbers mattered little when their entry was so compact. The bodies of grunts piled up quick enough, the elites managing to survive longer as they attempted to rush to cover. One armed with a plasma sword was able to absorb enough of the incoming shots to close the distance though. He jumped towards the machine gun nest, his blade raised and ready to strike the trooper down.

Then an overcharged plasma bolt struck him from the side. His shields gone, the elite was soon perforated by bullets, collapsing to the ground. McKay looked over to where the shot came from. It had been Retz, from not so far over near the main terminal with Taq. McKay was impressed, she hadn't expected him to go above and beyond like that, not just protecting Taq but the Drop Troopers.

All the same, they still had to keep fighting. A few dead elites on top of a lot of dead grunts never deterred the Covenant in their mad assaults. More came in another wave, their plasma bolts hitting the defenses, grenades exploding against their barricades. McKay opened fire on the elites that came through specifically, hoping to disrupt the command structure of the attack. However. the arrival of jackals armed with shields disrupted the killing field effect of the small entryway. The Covenant had started to advance, weathering the heavy automatic fire of the first defensive line.

"Fall back!" McKay ordered the first line. "Fall back!"

The Drop Troopers did so. They were already taking casualties, they couldn't stay there for long. The Troopers abandoned the position as the Covenant flowed over the line. Just as expected. McKay then brought out a detonator and hit it.

The barricade exploded, taking many of the Covenant with it. The explosive charge planted there had done its job. Other explosions followed, blowing up the area around the entrance. The Covenant were so focused on taking what was in front of them, they hadn't bothered to look at what was beneath them.

They had planted every explosive charge they could spare beneath the floor boards of the engineering deck. The effect had done its job, the Covenant pulled back from the entrance, unwilling to push for fear of more surprises. With the small respite, the Drop Troopers moved back in, quickly pushing up to erect a new barricade where the wreckage of the old one lay. Sadly, they had lost the machine gun, now a twisted chunk of metal, but at least they held the enemy at bay here.

However, theirs was not the only position under threat. McKay soon heard a communication from another level, one that was not having as much luck it seemed. It was Lendon's position, and from the sound of things they were under heavy fire.

"They've broken through, Captain!" Lendon reported. "Third deck is getting swarmed here! We're throwing everything we got, but we're falling back! No other options!"

"Lendon, what's happening up there? How many? What enemy types?"

"A fucking Hunter!" Lendon screamed back. "It just blew its way in and now its all over us! We need heavy ordinance! I repeat heavy-"

That was when McKay heard an explosion, one that sounded similar to a Hunter's assault cannon.

"Lendon! LENDON! Sergeant!"

McKay's pleading went unanswered, all she got was static from Lendon's line. Hunters were in the wire, that was as bad as it could possibly get. She skipped asking Taq about their time table, she went straight to their last option instead.

"Kasumi! We need the security grid up now!"

---

"It'll be up! I promise, I'll get it online!"

Kasumi's frantic response was in the middle of her working through the various switches that she needed to pull, prime, activate and so forth. She had already done all the rewiring and power management she could to make this system functional. It was all analog now, which was surprising for a race of ancient aliens who seemed to make all their best stuff out of hardlight and holograms.

Kasumi didn't understand why the Forerunners had made it so difficult to switch on something that was so valuable. And this was twice now in fact! It was like these aliens didn't want their stuff protected. Honestly, she kinda wished she had a time machine at this point. Then she could go back to when the Forerunners were still around and steal everything not nailed down. If they were this negligent with their security back then as well, she could probably make a fortune.

"You'd think spending my life shutting down or circumventing these things would make it easier to turn them on," she groaned aloud. "It's just breaking and entering but in reverse."

Every switch she activated required a number of other steps to finalize. A button to push, a command to activate, a power reset or recycling, it was just so involved. What was so hard about making a damn thing turn on? Was it because it had never been activated to begin with? They never really finished this place. Or maybe they just didn't think anyone would bother trying to attack so it was largely an afterthought concerning how to turn it on.

Silently, she cursed the fact these idiots had blown up their stupid bridge and made all of this ten times harder. As she did so, Kasumi could hear a faint plasma explosion. She didn't know how far above her it was, there were vents and tunnels in here that led all over the engineering deck apparently. That meant she could be hearing sounds from every level at any time. Combined with the open channel radio chatter, Kasumi was getting a lot of updates concerning what was going on.

As a result, all she kept hearing around her and in her ear was screaming and plasma blasts, bullets chattering and Covies bellowing. Numerous shouts about legs being hit, about searing pain, cries for medic, concerns about low ammunition, orders to fallback and people calling for their friends, none of it was conducive to this work. All of it weighed on her as she attempted to keep up with the checklist, her teeth grinding in panic as she continued to hear people dying above her.

In the end, she did the only thing she could do. She slapped herself hard enough to knock out the thoughts swirling in her mind.

"Get it together, Kas," she ordered herself. "They're counting on you. You're the greatest thief in the galaxy, you can do this! You can pull this off!"

With renewed purpose, Kasumi flipped multiple switches at once while plugging her omni-tool directly into the network. She wasn't going to hack the security, she was going to pool energy reserves into the priming options to force the activated switches into standby mode. It was a risk, the system might see it as an intrusion attempt, but it was faster than waiting to do it all by hand. And if she did it fast enough, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Bit by bit, she got through the checklist at double the speed. Finally she reached the last part. To activate the security grid, Kasumi had to pump one final switch three times and then activate the system via a command prompt. She forced the switch up once, then twice, then a third. The power lights for the control box flicked on. That was it, now came the moment of truth, to see if all of this would be worth it. It had to be, too many people were counting on her.

She slammed her palm on the activation command hard.

---

All over the Engineering Deck levels, Hunters pushed forward into any area they could fit through. Forcing themselves through what gaps they could to pursue fleeing Drop Troopers. They were backed up by grunts and elites who kept pace with their slow plodding assault. They pushed ahead, even as bullets bounced off their armor, prepared to keep up the assault.

And then, one Hunter got hit in the head with a laser beam. The disorientation passed after a moment, as it shook its head about and then turned to where the shot had come from. But the shot hadn't come from a human, it come from some sort of strange turret that had constituted on the ceiling. Then it fired again, this time more sustained as the Hunter was forced to bring up his shield to protect himself.

He wasn't the only one faced with this problem, for it was not the only turret that had popped out of nowhere. Nor were said turrets the only thing suddenly firing on the Covenant.

Crudely constructed Sentinels activated alongside the turrets, detaching themselves from the walls and fired on the Covenant swarming the deck. They had no shields, unlike many Sentinels, but they were just as deadly and numerous.

The Covenant were soon preoccupied by yellow and red laser beams cutting them down where they stood or forcing them to cover. The tide had suddenly turned against them and the Drop Troopers exploited the moment where they could. Either firing on the Hunters that were embattled by the Deck's defenses or moving to finish up their assigned tasks to initiate the failsafe.

For her part, Taq breathed a sigh of relief, as he her preprogrammed hack was working. The Security Grid was only targeting the Covenant as Taq had designated herself, Zek, Retz and all humans as non-combatants. She had done this before with Forerunner systems. For whatever reason they were all REALLY obsessive over genetic templates in their tech-protocols. Good for them, bad for the Covenant, as one elite was finding out, a makeshift sentinel forcing him back out the hole in the door his people had created.

---

Kasumi watched as the light flicked on at her station and listened the cries of relief and jubilation on the comms. The plan had worked, the security grid was back on, they had a fighting chance.

"Ah yeah, what did I tell ya, girl?" She told yourself. "Best Thief in TWO Universes!"

In the middle of her celebrating though, she felt something breathe on the back of her neck. She didn't bother looking, she just moved, avoiding the snapping jaws of a Jackal, clearly a Snarly given his garb. His lunge had tangled him in the wires of the maintenance section, but he brought out his energy cutlass to hack himself out. Fortunately, it was nothing connected the security grid box, but it was still not good to be stuck in a tight space with him.

Kasumi tossed a flashbang at the pirate's face, closing her own eyes as the Jackal was blinded. She then quickly began climbing out of the maintenance hatch, rushing up the ladder through the small tunnel towards the main floor. The Jackal was, of course, on her heels, snapping like mad, firing needles up at her. Kasumi returned fire downwards with her submachine gun, but the Jackal ducked back out of sight before the bullets could hit him.

For her part, Kasumi kept climbing, not even looking back as she suspected the Jackal was climbing up after her by now. She reached the hatch soon enough at least and forced her way through. Her arrival was a bit of a surprise to Taq who jumped back as the human thief scurried out of the hole. She just as quickly slammed herself down on the hatch door, only for the Jackal chasing her to try and force himself up, slashing his blade at anyone near while Kasumi resided atop him on the hatch door, trying to force it closed.

The stalemate was broken, thankfully, when Retz rushed in and kicked the bastard Snarly square in the face. The Jackal dropped suddenly, his arm getting caught in the hatch, something snapping as it did. There was a scream of pain before the arm slipped back through the gap and vanished, the hatch finally closing shut.

"Guess we didn't smoke all of them out of the vents," Kasumi said, trying to catch her breath.

She now gave herself a chance to look around, watching as junkpile sentinels flew about zapping at Covies. Turrets lasered grunts and elites, forcing them to flee or be cut down. One Elite's arm burned as he tried to fire, forcing him into cover.

"Well, at least they have something else to shoot now," Kasumi noted.

"But is it enough?" McKay asked.

The answer came soon enough as reports soon flooded in and Taq's console started shining green.

"Everything's checked, we've primed the energy dampener!"

"Energy dampener on our level is reading standby status! Good to go!"

"We're clear up here! Dampener in ready position! Hit the switch already!"

Taq was quick to contact Zek.

"Zek, we're good! Flip the Master Control and I can start the procedure!"

"Finally! Okay, I'm pulling the damn thing out... and turning!"

There was a sudden shift in the colored lighting of the room. Everything flickered hard for a few seconds, before a klaxon started ringing and yellow warning lights started going off alongside it. Taq quickly activated the failsafe protocol on the console, slamming her fist hard on the screen. Within moments the massive Slipspace Drive and the Siphon itself were affected.

Energy started being drawn out of the Siphon, they could actually see it being pulled away through the ionized air. Hues of blue and purple and arcs of light trailed towards large spinning devices located across every deck. The energy pool between the Drive and Siphon dissipated, and the latter device began to slow exponentially.

"That's it! We've done it! The Siphon is no longer drawing power from the relics and is shutting down!"

To confirm it, Taq looked in her bag at the Slipspace Relic in question. It was not longer glowing as bright as it once did and its individual pieces had stopped turning. Their task was complete, the Void would no longer hold them forever. Now there was only one thing left to do, and McKay was already on it.

"All teams, whoever is left! Evacuate now! Head to the escape hatch! We are leaving!"

---

"That's our cue," Chief said. "Cortana, layout the fastest way out of here."

"Way ahead of you!" The AI replied.

Zek was already moving, not wanting to stay in this place for much longer. As he exited out into the corridor he came across Anton and Kelly, who were opening fire on the Covenant who had started swarming the deck. One of them being a Hunter. They were momentarily preoccupied with a makeshift sentinel, but only just. The Hunter turned on its attacker swiftly and batted it out of the air, sending it careening towards Anton's cover. The Spartan ducked behind just in time for the robot to explode on impact with the side of the wall.

"You think these Hunters are from the same group that we had to deal with on the Carrier?" Anton asked, recovering his bearings and continuing to fire back.

"Highly probable, but not particularly important," Kelly informed him.

"This way," Chief ordered them both. "We're leaving."

The two Spartans abandoned their defensive position, Kelly tossing a grenade at the Hunter to slow it down just a little. They circled around to a gravity lift that Kat was already holding, firing on grunts as a Forerunner turret kept them suppressed.

"We're likely going to be the last ones out," Kat warned. "Which means more Covenant between us and the exit!"

"We'll make it," Chief assured. "Come on, let's move!"

One by one, the Spartans and Zek dropped down through the gravity lift. As soon as they touched down on the level below, they took off running, following Cortana's waypoints to the next gravlift. They rushed past Covenant squads engaged with the security grid defenses. A few took shots at them, but they moved too quickly to be pinned down. They were getting out of here, they just had to hope their shields could take the hits for them.

They dropped down to the next level, navigating the carnage around them. There were a number of dead Drop Troopers, their bodies burned by plasma scorching. They couldn't do anything for them, so they just kept running. Sadly, they had no more time to recover the bodies than their comrades had. It was a grim prospect to see. They had been too slow to get this done and this was the result.

Zek mostly just ignored everything, he kept running, although he at least used his shield to block some of the attacks aimed at the Spartans. He wasn't completely useless in that regard, just more eager to leave than even the Spartans. He did stop briefly though to grab a weapon from the ground, a Beam Rifle, probably from one of the Snarlies that were slain. No sense in letting a perfect weapon just lay there when it could be useful.

Level after level they descended, a mad dash for the bottom floor. Only momentarily did they engage the enemy when they were in their path. A stray grunt that attempted to needle Kelly took a burst of SMG fire to the face. An Elite charged at their left, and Anton left off a Shotgun blast that knocked out his shield and caused the Covie to stumble into the view of a Forerunner turret. Chief punched an Elite with dual plasma rifles and sent him tumbling into the gravlift. As he dropped down himself, he kicked the Elite out of the gravity beam and caused him to fall the rest of the way. The Elite landed with a thud. When the Spartan landed, Chief swiftly stomped on the alien's head.

That was how it went, all the way down to the bottom floor. When they arrived, there were some ODSTs remaining, they had propped up defenses along the path to the escape hatch. The way to the Hangar lay open and everyone made a move for it. Once the Spartans arrived, they started falling back, but they still kept up the cover fire.

Good idea, considering the main door finally gave the entire way. No longer was there just a small hole in it, but a burst open wide entry, with a Hunter crashing through it. Kat turned and activated a combat drone to charge the giant alien. It launched missiles at the living xeno-tank as it raced at it before detonating its kamikaze function.

"That should knock a few worms loose," she said aloud.

They made a dash now for the escape hatch, Zek scampering inside very quickly, practically running over the ODSTs positioned there.

"Coming through! Coming through!" He cried. "Zek wants out!"

He was likely still expecting Lurz to make a last-minute appearance within this Deck. Chief couldn't blame him. The ODSTs followed suit of course as the Spartans took up their positions to cover them. Luckily there were a few Forerunner turrets and some scant remaining Junk Sentinels to help them, just enough to keep the Covenant at bay.

"Here's hoping the way to the hangar is clear," Kelly said as she backed up.

"Shepard's got it handled," Kat assured, following suit. "We just need to get there!"

They all started to move to the exit hatch, inching towards it as they covered one another. The plasma bolts started to center on their position, slowly but surely hitting their shields hard. This was no longer a viable defense point, they had to leave and shut the door behind them.

Kat was first, she had to be on standby to seal the hatch. Kelly followed suit racing inside. The Drop Troopers were gone now, it was just them. Anton followed next, rushing towards the hatch.

Then, in that moment, everything really went pear-shape. As one of the plasma bolts exploded a junk sentinel and it fell right into Anton just as he got close to the door.

Chief spotted it instantly and quickly moved to pick his fallen Spartan up. He grabbed Anton's arm and forced him to his feet. Chief leaned his comrade onto him and forced him to walk. Anton got his feet under him at least, the strike from the exploding Sentinel not completely debilitating. Chief and Anton got close to the door at least. They were just in sight.

Then the terrible green glow of a Hunter's assault cannon started resonating in their vision. Chief turned to see one Hunter taking aim at both them. He was just about ready to fire. Chief wondered if he could toss a grenade at the alien, force it to screw up his aim. But the choice was taken out of his hand.

Anton pushed on Chief's shoulder and flung him towards the open door. Chief flew in, Anton stayed where he was. But only for another second. Chief looked back... just as the assault cannon beam struck his fellow Spartan and sent him flying.

"Anton!"

Chief's cry echoed in the corridor. There was a moment of shock, before the Hunter's image appeared in the hatchway, already charging another shot. Chief didn't hesitate to bring up his weapon, looking to Kat. She didn't even nod in recognition. She just shut the hatch.

An awful sealing metal clang resounded, followed by something exploding against the hatch. Kat sealed the lock before it hit and then started welding the lock shut. Kelly was in the corridor as well and look at both of them. Chief looked back... and shook his head. Kelly looked to the ground, her shoulders slumped. There was nothing they could do.

"We need to move," Chief said bitterly as he stood. "Get to the hangar."

"Chief..."

It was Cortana, her voice cracking. Not much could leave the AI speechless, but this was one time. She couldn't even seem to bring herself to say anything to that. Chief didn't really want to hear anything right now anyway. He could tell the AI wanted to voice some kind of comfort but... it was beyond her at the moment.

"Let's move," Chief reiterated.

Kat finished her work and the three Spartans headed down the corridor. Chief was already opening a file in his visor to view. He searched for a name, Anton-044. With a heavy heart, he changed the mission status of his friend.

MIA, Missing in Action.

---

Zek hadn't stopped running even after he was inside the escape tunnel. There were ODSTs around him that were doing pretty much the same. No one could call him cowardly for just following the crowd in this moment. He wanted off the rock, far away from Lurz and on to his final reward.

The Astral Cutlass, one last death-defying escape from their enemies and it would be nothing but easy street from now on. No more worrying about the Covenant chasing after him, the UNSC pestering him, Shepard trying to appeal to his non-existent "better nature", no more Snarlbeak trying to kill him, no damn Syndicate after his head. All he had to do was make sure that relic got off this planetoid and out of this void with him. After SO many years of being the galaxy's latrine, constantly being shat on by everyone and everything, he'd finally have everything he ever wanted!

These thoughts might have been extremely self-centered, even for a kig-yar, but it was what kept Zek running even when he felt his legs wanted to quit on him. And again, he suspected he wasn't the only one thinking similar thoughts. Maybe not about the Cutlass, but he suspected the ODST running like mad next to him was himself desperate to get the hell out of here. He was likely thinking about his own rewards if he did, a warm meal and hot shower probably.

The Drop Troopers at least weren't chaotic in their retreat, mainly because it wasn't REALLY a retreat. What did he keep hearing some of the humans call this? "Advancing in another direction" as it were? They did that A LOT lately, probably came with doing so many raid-based missions. There was a little more pirate in these humans than he initially suspected. If only they embraced it more.

They left the tunnel soon after, Drop Troopers calling from the end to keep running and moving, directing them down the correct path. Zek didn't argue, he just kept following everyone. They soon came upon a devastated hallway, fire burning everywhere, a smashed up ancient shuttle of some kind, oh and tons of dead kig-yar. All Snarlbeak's people, given their armor, so it didn't exactly bother him.

Of course, not all of them were dead. Some were still shooting, while ODSTs and one very angry krogan, engaged them. Grunt fired a concussive round at a Snarly Phalanx position, breaking it apart before the ODSTs filled it with lead.

Zek heard the krogan laughing while he ran the rest of the way to the barricades at the hangar doorway. The bulk of the ODSTs were there, holding the line while their advance groups kept the Snarlies at bay. McKay was easy enough to spot in the gathering, she was with Sergeant Buck, no doubt exchanging information. And sure enough, Taq was close by with Kasumi.

"We've suffered a lot of losses and the enemy is going to be close behind," he heard Mckay state. "How long before our exit's here?"

"Shepard's calling in everything and the fleet is closing for the quickest possible pickup," Buck explained. "We got Pelicans on the way, we just need to open the hangar doors, which we will when everyone is here."

Everyone included the Spartans, who were likely just behind Zek. Although he hadn't seen them. Maybe they were holding up the rearguard, protecting them from incoming hostiles? Either way, Zek had his own concerns right now. Mainly focused on Taq.

"Everything alright?" He asked her. "You okay?"

"Yes and so is the relic," Taq stated. "We just need to get out of here and fast. Where are the Spartans, they were with you!"

"They were right behind me I don't-"

"Contact! Spartans! Coming in!"

The Drop Trooper who called that out was pointing down the hallway. Already they could see the Spartans running up. Grunt and the other advanced Drop Trooper teams were joining them. There were only three though that Zek could see. Chief, Kelly, Kat... where was the fourth one? Where was Anton?

Fred ran up to greet his squad as they got close to the barricades. He looked at Chief and the Spartan Leader apparently already knew the question before it was asked. He just shook his head. It was a very final and sullen look. Zek instantly understood, Anton was not coming.

"Commander," Chief said, speaking into his comm. "We're all here... open the doors."

The sound of screeching metal could be heard from behind and above them. The inner hangar door was opening up. McKay was quick to direct everyone towards the landing area, issuing commands to keep moving. Zek knew there was little time to ask further questions about exactly what had happened and all of them could wait. Escape was just in sight.

"Pelicans are inbound, everyone to the landing area, Normandy is keeping the exit clear, but we need to move."

Shepard's instructions were clear enough, so Zek started following the throng of soldiers towards the area. As he did, he heard buzzing. Again. Shit. He turned to the hangar entrance as could already see it, a swarm of yanme'e, all furiously racing through the cavern towards them like mad.

"Bugs! On our six!" Sergeant Buck called out.

Buck's squads, alongside a few batarians, Varvok's people no doubt, assisted in firing on the incoming killer insects. Linda and Jun took up positions further back to snipe more of the killer insects. Zek assumed they'd handle it. That they wouldn't have to worry about the swarm.

As he made his run for the landing area, the frantic buzzing of the killer bugs was suddenly drowned out by the engines of the arriving Pelicans down to the tarmac. However, his keen eyes soon noted something within the swarm. One of the bugs was not... behaving right. It kept flying around, frantically and haphazardly. Then, without warning, it started towards him, specifically. Zek momentarily thought he was seeing things, but no... he wasn't. The yanme'e WAS coming at him. And someone was a top of it.

With so many bugs assaulting the escaping Drop Troopers, no one really noticed one extra killer bug in a swarm of them. Even if it was one carrying an extra passenger. The yanme'e closed on Zek, he opened fire with his plasma pistols, mostly aiming at the bug's no doubt unwanted passenger... Lurz.

The bestial psycho Ibie kept his needler stuck in the yanme'e's neck, forcing it to keep going. The bug crashed into the floor, only then did Lurz jump off. The insect crashed into Zek, sending his plasma pistols flying and himself tumbling across the floor. Zek stopped momentarily, only for a series of needle rounds to fly at him. One got him in the arm, the other his leg.

Lurz stood a across the way from him. His needler was out of rounds it seemed, but he had another weapon, an Elite's plasma rifle. His snarling, slobbering, half-burned and mostly scorched maw matched only in its animalistic fervor by his glaring, bloodthirsty eyes. He almost seemed to be laughing even, relishing this moment. And everyone else was far too busy dealing with the swarm of bugs swirling above them and trying to get to the Pelicans.

Zek looked to his surroundings, he still had the Beam Rifle on his back, but the big psychotic brute would likely shoot him dead before he could even unsling it. He needed another option.

He found it, above him. A grav-crane, holding up an old shuttle. Zek could see the connection support attaching the crane to the ceiling. Perfect, but he'd still never hit it in time before Lurz shot him. And Lurz was nowhere near it and wasn't getting closer. He was taking his sweet time in shooting him though, probably because he wanted to get a good look at his prey before he snuffed the life out of his-

That was it. That was Lurz's weakness. Zek now had a plan.

"Oh is this it?" Zek asked. "This is how you earn your trophy? How you satisfy Zhoc's rage? Really? This is how you're gonna end this? I'm wounded, fucked up, exhausted, you can take me."

Lurz's manic smile turned to confusion as Zek dragged himself away and tried to stand up defiantly.

"Come on, Lurz! Where's that classic Ibie'shan ferocity? It's the kill that matters, right? That's ALL that matters. Ain't it?" Zek prodded, pulling out his plasma machete and igniting it. "Toss the gun already. You don't wanna use that. You wanna put the knife in! Wanna get up close. Look me in the eye. see what's going on in there when you turn it."

He turned his machete around, just enough to prickle Lurz's feral brain. Zek could see it, the twitch, the rage, the desire to see him dead by his hand, not a plasma bolt. Lurz needed it to be personal because Snarlbeak wanted it personal. And as expected, he could see Lurz's hand trembling on his plasma rifle.

"Come on, Lurz... let's fucking go."

All at once it happened, Zek was already reaching for his beam rifle when he saw Lurz's mouth foam up, his eyes bulge and his fist contort into claws. Lurz tossed his plasma rifle away and pulled out his energy cutlass, cutting himself across his chest as he drew it up, just to get the adrenaline pumping even more.

"KILL YOU! KIIILLLLLL YOU!"

Lurz lunged forwards, snarling like the mad rabid animal he was. Zek moved swiftly, bringing his beam rifle up to bear, taking aim at the grav-crane. The sound did little to stop Lurz in his running assault... at least until he heard the ancient metal buckle. He looked up just in time to see the supports crack, the crane give way and shuttle itself fall towards the floor. Lurz's rage soon turned to fear as he moved swiftly on his heels... just as the old Forerunner Ship collapsed onto him.

Zek let the dust settle a little before he even got close. The shockwave from the collapse had actually almost knocked him on his ass. He circled around to the front of shuttle, where he saw Lurz try to move. As he got there a claw reached out of the dust to try and strike him.

No way, Zek thought, he couldn't have gotten out of there in time!

It turned out, Zek was right, he hadn't. There on the floor lay Lurz, half outside the shuttle, his lower side beneath it, pinned, trapped, crushed. Lurz clawed about in his feral manner, trying to force himself free, his eyes daggers, pointed at Zek. But they receded when Zek pointed the beam rifle's barrel at his face. Strangely enough, Lurz no longer looked angry or even rabid. His senses returned, his features became less manic. He wasn't even afraid. Blood pooled in his mouth as he began to chuckle softly.

"The kill... is... everything." He declared, his voice strained and in pain, but a smile reached across his snout all the same.

"Yeah," Zek replied. "Except this time you're on the other end of it."

Lurz laughed again as the blood pooled in front of him and from beneath the shuttle. Zek kept watching, ready to shoot if anything changed. But nothing did, Lurz just held his gaze. It was almost as if Zek felt compelled to watch, to see Lurz finally dead for good. And the psycho actually approved of that.

"You... under...stand... now," he laughed. "So few... understand."

"Can you just die already?" Zek asked, almost annoyed. "My ride's waiting."

"You'll bring... him out," Lurz said. "He'll be... what he was meant... to be now."

Lurz hacked up something and his head lowered, but he kept at least one eye watching Zek.

"So much... death... to come. Won't see it. Shame. Shaaaammme."

And with that Lurz's eyes dim, his breath left him and he stopped moving. Zek wasn't entirely satisfied though and put a few plasma beams in the monster's skull to be sure. He also ripped off the dead psycho's gauntlet, the one that likely had relevant data located on it. Could be useful.

When he turned, he saw Retz and Varvok rushing up, a full group of Batarians with them.

"Zek, what the hell!?" Varvok shouted, more in amazement than anything.

"No worries, just saying goodbye to a friend of ours," Zek explained.

They could all see Lurz's body. It wasn't so much they were surprised by Zek managing to beat him, but mostly in the fact it took dropping a ship onto to Ibie'shan to actually finish the monster off. All the same, there was little time to marvel in Zek's achievement.

"All well and good, sir, but we need to leave," Retz reminded him. "Taq has the relic aboard the Normandy's shuttle and we have to go!"

Zek nodded and quickly followed them back to the now assembled group of evac ships. Pelicans were already taking off back through the open hangar. Heading out into the black to rendezvous with Shepard's ship. They were almost home free. Now Zek was just hoping Tali had pulled off her own magic with that promised Hybrid Slipspace Mass Effect Drive she claimed was finished. Well, only one way to find out he supposed.

---

Racing out of the hangar bay shaft into the black of Void Space was harrowing to say the least. Without proper organization, it could've been a mess. Thankfully, the Drones had been the only thing that had gotten to the hangar fast enough. Some Pelicans stayed back to light the bugs up with sustained machine gun fire. Drones fell from the air to splat on the tarmac one after the other.

That cover was crucial to insuring a swift departure from the hangar. One by one, Pelicans picked up Drop Troopers and exited. The Prowler was filled up with whoever was willing to ride alongside batarians, while the Spartans joined the rest of their Jackal Allies in stuffing themselves into the Normandy's shuttle. Before long, everyone was away.

It was then a mad scramble once they got into Void Space. The Normandy was still engaged with a few enemy fighters. But it had long range backup, Ascendant Justice was on station and providing cover to numerous friendly dropships as they poured out of the hangar bay. It was not without a price though, as the hijacked Carrier was under sustained assault from the still active Covenant Carrier close by. The remaining enemy ships were still preoccupied with one another, both Snarlies and Covies, although it appeared as both were becoming exhausted.

In time, without the Siphon active, both fleets would drift back into real space as the Planetoid Lifeboat would no longer be able to retain itself inside. Something that would be accelerated, no doubt, once both relevant relics had exited the Void themselves. How long that would take on its own remained unknown and it would be best not to be in the vicinity of the Planetoid when it happened, as the rest of the Covenant Fleet had likely long since returned.

That wasn't on the mind of many at the moment though. Most everyone either in or piloting a Pelican was just trying to get back to the Justice in one piece. They'd even settle for either of the Corvettes really, just anything that got them out of the firing line of the enemy Carrier or its fighters. Not that the Justice seemed the best place to go, as it was taking a lot of fire from the Covenant now. however, the shields appeared to be holding, for now anyway.

The Normandy's shuttle returned to it with all due speed, flying directly into the shuttle bay, not even bothering to land in its designated section. Shepard had the pilots magnetize the shuttle to the deck while he rushed to engineering. Everyone else, fellow crewmembers, Spartans and the three Jackals headed their own way. The Spartans up to the bridge, the regular Normandy crew to their stations and the Jackals went for Mordin's lab. Taq wanted to give their newly acquired Relic a good once over before putting it with the rest.

Shepard's only thoughts were on Tali's work. He entered Engineering to find the quarian and the floating Engineers finishing connecting a few cable plugs together. He hoped they were ready, because it was now or never.

"Everything ready?" He asked.

"As we'll ever be, Shepard," Tali said, her tone frantic as she headed to her station.

The engineers floated into the main chamber, where the Drive Core resided alongside the Slipspace jury-rigged into its systems.

"They're going to make sure everything retains compatible cohesion," Tali explained. "When this goes off... well it's going to be insane. If they don't keep it functioning, it the system might overload and... well we'll be dead in the water."

"But this will work," Shepard stated, he did not voice in the form of a question. He needed her to confirm his statement.

"It will," Tali replied. "If only just."

EDI's voice then came over the intercom.

"Commander, the Ascendant Justice is taking heavy fire and its shields will not hold. We should begin now or not at all."

"Tell the Flotilla to get behind us, we're breaking out of this void," Shepard said authoritatively. "Tali, start the sequence."

Tali nodded and began inputting the commands to begin the Hybrid Propulsion System.

Joker then took the Normandy a trajectory away from the planetoid and the Covenant Carrier. The Ascendant Justice followed suit as the other ships of the Flotilla docked back up with it. The Carrier had taken a significant hit to itself. While nothing critical, there was smoke pouring from its side. The shields had been overtaxed, a plasma burst had cut into its side. Thankfully, all Pelicans and the Prowler, were back aboard. There was nothing else keeping them here.

Within the Normandy's Engineering, the Drive lit up to a blinding degree. At the same time, one could hear the Slipspace Drive spinning like mad. The Engineers were all over both, seemingly unbothered by the bright lights and thundering sounds. Energy pooled into the deck, the lights around them boosting to an insane degree. Shepard had to squint his eyes and block them with his hands.

"We're reaching the threshold point," Tali reported. "All hands, standby."

"Everything up here is getting supercharged," Joker's voice said, cutting in over the intercom. "What's happening?"

"We're about to make a Slipspace Jump powered by our Drive Core," Shepard explained. "So get strapped in!"

"Systems holding, both drives at maximum output," Tali reported, frantically tapping on her screen. "Donelly, Daniels, Station report!"

"Cohesion integrity stable! It's holding, ma'am!" Daniels called out excitedly.

"Barely! Power output is insane, the feedback loop is just cycling into both nonstop," Donelly warned. "If we're not careful, the overcharge is gonna overtax every system!"

"The Engineers are on it, we just need to get the rupture formed and ready for the jump," Tali reassured them. "Just maintain the connection!"

"Doing our best, but it's threatening to short out," Donelly warned. "The system can only handle so much!"

"Slipspace Drive is spinning at beyond expectations, Mass Effect Field has completely reduced the cyclic shaft friction," Daniels reported. "Rupture imminent!"

"Inputting coordinates, not much time for precision," Tali warned. "We're just gonna have to aim for anywhere but here!"

Tali typed a few coordinates onto her screen and then contacted the cockpit.

"Joker, we're ready! On my mark, full speed ahead!"

"There's a lot of weird electrical shit on my ship's nose! This is seriously weird!"

"That's just the energy that's gonna cause the rupture, it's working through our regular FTL systems," Tali assured. "It's fine!"

"You're not the one watching a lightning storm form in front of you!"

"It's... more of a quantum ion storm," Tali clarified. "We're dealing with tearing the fabric of space-time to travel really fast so-"

"THAT IS NOT HELPING, TALI!"

The whole ship shuddered in that moment.

"Power output exceeding expected projections!" Daniels warned. "We're at over two hundred and fifty percent!"

"It can't hold that!" Donelly screamed "We need to activate now!"

"Almost," Tali said through clenched teeth. "Just a few more adjustments..."

"Tali?" Shepard asked nervously.

A green light flashed hard on Tali's screen.

"Cascade complete, rupture forming!"

Directly in front of the Normandy, a massive burst of energy ejected itself into space. The fabric of the void cracked apart at its touch, tearing through the black sky before them. A hue of blue, brighter than a small sun, surrounded the chromosphere of the massive rupture. Tendrils of element zero floated off the singularity. The black sky was now finally colored, a hole burned straight through the void itself.

"Joker! Punch it!"

Tali's cry was heard by the ace pilot and Joker activated the FTL. The Normandy raced through the crack in the void. Soon after, the Ascendant Justice followed, speeding through the Rupture, still trailing smoke. When it was through, the rupture struggled to close. When it did, it exploded in a bright blue light that struck every nearby object, whether it be planet, asteroid field... or ship. The crack created in the void expanded and the dark sky soon turned a brillant blue before sending everything hurtling away from it. The planetoid itself, the source of the entry into this void broke apart under the energy cascade.

All of this went unobserved by the Allied Flotilla, all they saw was blackness, ignited by swirling blues, reds and purples. It was no ordinary Slipspace Jump, that was for sure. Whether that was because of the hybridized method or the fact they were initiating the jump from within Subspace itself, no one could be certain. But just as quick as it had started, the swirling colors within the black began to dissolve and a new rupture formed in front of them.

The Normandy found itself ejected out into normal space, stars once again filled Joker's vision. The Ascendant Justice and all ships within its allied flotilla followed suit. The ships limped to stop, floating in space for a while before retro thrusters prevented them from spinning out further.

Down in Engineering, everyone let go of what support they were holding to stand up and collapsed to the ground. The Engineers rushed out of the Drive Core chamber and quickly saw to everyone. Shepard's eyes opened to see one of the purple gas bags lightly slapping him in the face with a tentacle.

"Ow, okay, I'm fine, ugh."

Standing up, Shepard look to Tali, who was being assisted by another Engineer.

"What happened?" He asked her.

"It worked," Tali said, looking over her console. "It worked! We achieved a Mass Effect powered Slipspace Jump!"

"Commander, we have stars again!" Joker reported. "We are out of creepy empty space!"

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief, although he did note that emergency backup lighting was on for the deck.

"Power outages on pretty much all non-essential systems," Donelly reported. "We're going to need a lot of resets."

"You get started," Tali told them. "The Engineers will help, I have to compile the data. We need to look at everything!"

Shepard wore a warm smile across his face.

"Excellent work people," he told them all. "This is outstanding. I should go, see to our guests. I want a full report on our operational status within the hour."

"Will do, Shepard," Tali assured, still giddy with excitement over their success.

Shepard left the Engineering Deck to go see to Master Chief and the Spartans. He hadn't wanted to ruin Tali's jubilation, as what she and the rest of the Engineering Crew had accomplished was simply amazing. However, Shepard knew better than to assume everyone felt the same way, least of all Chief who had lost a soldier and a friend.

Actually, that somewhat said it all for what had just happened. The mission was a success... but it was not without losses. Grave ones. He suspected he'd be talking to Whitcomb and Holland about them soon enough.

---

An hour later, the moment had finally come. Within the Ascendant Justice, the assembled Relics of Power lay in wait. Taq slowly approached them, the Slipspace Cylinder in hand. Her nerves were just shaking looking at it. This was the big moment, the one they had all been waiting for. Both Zek and Retz were in attendance, eager to get on with it.

"Alright, moment of truth," she said with a heavy sigh.

She placed the final relic in proximity with the other three. In seconds, they all began to illuminate. As suspected, they could "talk" to each other. Just being close enough, this close, enabled that. Their cascading colors merged together, energy forming around them. They shook about for a second or two before the Amplifier rose up into the air of its own accord. The other relics swirled about it, locking into a miniature orbit around the central artifact.

"Well, this is a little freaky," Zek commented.

Taq shushed him. As she did, a beam of erupted from the bottom of the Amplifier and the other Relics soon did the same. A holographic map now lay before them on the pedestal. Before she could even read it, Taq placed her datapad up to it. The map suddenly blurred into a ball of energy and struck Taq. She stumbled back from the shock, but there was no force behind the energy.

Because in truth, it had been a data transfer. The Relics still floated together, but their map now resided on the screen in Taq's hands. A starchart, mapping out various systems and, most importantly, navigational coordinates to a single planet.

"This is it!" Taq said exicitedly. "The location of the Astral Cutlass! We've got it!"

"Hell yeah!" Zek shouted, his jubilation matching Taq's. "We did it!"

Retz offered hardy congratulations as well, as both his compatriots danced around each other and the relics. However, he was the first to note a different sound. A pulsing beep of some kind. It wasn't from the floating artifacts. It was from a table off in the corner where a discarded gauntlet was. Lurz's gauntlet actually.

"Sir," Retz spoke up, gaining Zek's attention.

Zek stopped his revelry with Taq, noting the beeping himself. He walked back over to the table and picked up the gauntlet. He gave it once over, before he tapped the blinking button on the side.

"Lurz, finally! We lost your signal for a long time and you weren't picking up! Zom has no idea what happened and he's not making sense! Is Zek dead? Do you have the relic? What happened?"

The voice was unmistakably Snarlbeak's. Zek looked to Retz, who shook his head and made a cutting notion across his neck. The request was easy enough to understand, don't respond, hang up, say nothing. And of course... Zek didn't listen. This was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"Uh, sorry, Zhoc, Lurs can't answer you right now, it's just me."

There was a brief silence. Snarlbeak eventually spoke up again.

"Zek? ... Where is Lurz?"

There was almost concern in Zhoc's speech. Well, far be it from Zek to deny him the truth.

"Well, yeah, the thing is he's uh... back where we left him. In a pool of his own blood, smashed under an ancient spaceship, which I dropped on him... and probably whatever is left of him is floating through a black void... forever. Just... you know... forever."

"Wha... wha... what?"

Zhoc almost sounded hurt, devastated, horrified by the revelation. Zek kept going.

"Look, this isn't easy to say Old Man, so I'll just do it as lightly as possible," Zek said mockingly. "Sometimes, when a beloved pet just goes absolutely rabid, you have to put it down. But don't worry, he's much happier in a nice little pasture, somewhere in the Grotto's Abyss, enjoying a new life, murdering all the people he could ever hope to! It's just a better place for him!"

"What... did... you... do?"

"Ugh, get it through your skull, Geezer," Zek groaned, annoyed at how Zhoc was seemingly trying to deny him the satisfaction. "He's dead! I killed him! I killed him to fuck! You sent your best after me and I fucking fucked his shit up! He's no more! Ceased to be! An EX! Psychopath! You fucking register that, Snarly?"

There was a silence for a good long while. Followed by an enraged roar.

"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED LURZ! YOU FUCKING LITTLE SHIT! YOU KILLED LURZ! DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING CLUE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! WHAT YOU'VE TAKEN FROM ME?! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD! YOU HEAR ME, ZEK! YOU'RE FUCKING-"

Zek hung up and smashed the gauntlet on the ground with his foot repeatedly.

"I think he got the message this time," he declared.

"Really? And what was that?" Retz questioned, not entirely convinced.

"That he should never have fucked with us," Zek stated flatly. "Simple as that."

"That was angrier than I've ever seen Zhoc get," Taq warned. "I don't think it was the wisest course of action."

Zek stuck out his tongue.

"Oh come on, what can he do?" He asked them both. "We have all the relics. We know where the Astral Cutlass is, he's lost his chief enforcer and his whole criminal empire is burning. He's lost, he knows it and it's all over but the crying."

So Zek claimed, but Retz was not so certain he shared his friend's sentiments on that matter. He was right on one thing though. This treasure hunt was as good as over. How it would actually end, remained to be seen.

---

Snarlbeak's office was in tatters, everything was broken and overturned. At his desk, Zhoc was slumped over, half crying, half screaming in rage. He had just lost everything. His final gamble turned up as a bad hand. Worse than he could've imagined. Lurz, his right-hand, his instrument, what he was using to keep these imbeciles in line. He was gone and so were his relics. With them, his dream went up in smoke.

No one called, no one came in, no one dared. How long would that last? How long would it be until someone challenged him directly? Until someone questioned him? It would happen, there was no punishment, no threat. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't watch it. He couldn't commit it. What he needed for order, to maintain control, he no longer possessed.

In the midst of his downward spiral though, a message came through on a private line. Snarlbeak looked over and pressed the button. Zom's face illuminated in the window. He looked battered, worn, tired, but he was alive at least. He had initially reported that he had lost all his other ships, but his vessel remained. It was damaged, but could be repaired. Zhoc honestly wondered what Zom could have to say that was in any way important. But he was a loyal employee, and he needed all of those more now than ever.

"What is it?" He demanded to know, through a voice horse with hurt and rage.

"Sir, I know today went... poorly," Zom confessed sincerely. "But... I think there is a way to salvage it."

Zhoc turned to Zom, rage igniting in the corner of his eye.

"Zom, I am not in the mood for sycophantic blubbering attempts at comforting me," he growled at his Admiral. "So unless this is something of actual value-"

"I believe we can still find the Cutlass, sir," Zom claimed. "We've discovered a possible... method."

Zhoc sat up straighter, his rage dissipating.

"How?" He asked.

Zom carefully explained what he had discovered and how they could use it. Zhoc's smile soon returned. Zek thought he had won. But no, he hadn't. He was still in this race. And now there was no place he couldn't go they couldn't find him in. And when he caught up to that little drunkard... he would make him pay for everything he cost him. And it would remind everyone why he was in charge.

---

AN: And so our heroes have acquired the final relic and know where the Covenant are amassing for their invasion. Lurz is dead and Snarlbeak has lost every card in his deck! Therefore everything is fine and dandy and there are no potential issues that could possibly arise. No lingering animosity as a result of what happened here. Nope, none at all. We're all just one big happy fleet here.

Yeah, if you haven't guessed, things are about to go off the rails. Tune in next time and you'll see how much. Until then, take a look at the behind the scene blog post and stay tuned for the BBR Chapter coming soon. Please remember to leave a review if you can! Thanks in advance, and I appreciate you sticking with this story for so long. We're almost through it guys, just a few more chapters.