CHAPTER 4
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
2458 HOURS, DECEMBER 25th, 2559 [MILITARY CALENDAR]
ZETA HALO
A few solid punches from Rig convinced the Grunt to stop resisting. Rukundo stepped forward and asked, "And who would you be?"
The Grunt, still shaking like a scared chihuahua puppy, answered, "I'm Swahass, but I swear I-"
Rig readied another punch before Rukundo raised his palm to stop the ODST.
"One thing at a time, Swahass," the lieutenant continued. "First, what were you doing here?"
"We were doin' patrols and saw this big human vehicle," Swahass said motioning all around to the Gun-Yak. "Chieftain Lupercalus offers big rewards to those who bring back things and nobody in our hunting party ever saw anything like this."
"How did you plan on getting this back to your base?"
"We tried turning it on. Kelsus, big Jiralhanae whose head you asploded, knows how to drive human things. But that mean blue ball in the computer wouldn't let us! We thought the Shadow's gravity lift could carry it back, so we got tasked with taking down where the rest of us sat. We were in the middle of that when you showed up."
"And where were you?"
"Kelsus sent me to gather wood for a fire, in case we had to camp overnight. They don't let me touch the Shadow 'cause of my... uh, clumsiness."
Rukundo kept a straight face, but mentally he was having a hard time processing the Grunt's story.
Now Bravo decided to chime in. "Did you not hear the sounds of gunfire and shit being blown up?"
Swahass shrugged. "My hearing ain't so good since I accidently set off the big gun of a human tank we were tinkering with. Very loud! That's why nobody wants me around, so I do the jobs nobody wants."
Rukundo nodded. "One last question."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. How many humans have you killed on this ring?"
The Gun-Yak interior went deathly quiet. Swahass' eyes darted towards every ODST, his shaking coming back with a vengeance.
"Me? I kill no humans, not one!"
"Explain this then," Rig said as he tossed a plasma pistol to Rukundo.
Swahass stammered, "They give everyone a weapon, but I don't use it. Unggoy who avoid fights live longer than gas for brains who don't. I swear!"
Rukundo examined the weapon, then secured it to his leg armor. "Run along, then."
"Run along then," he said.
Swahass bolted out of the Gun-Yak, his methane pack bouncing as he sprinted into the field. Rig turned to Rukundo, eyebrows raised in disbelief. The lieutenant gave a subtle wink and walked away. Catching on, Rig readied his weapon, sighted the Grunt, and lobbed a grenade.
Swahass never saw it coming. The explosion ignited his methane pack, casting an eerie green glow across the field.
"Uh, sir?" asked Bravo.
"Yes, sergeant?"
"The hell was up with that?"
Rukundo reached for the plasma pistol and held its ammo indicator up to Bravo. The charge rested at around 24%.
"Either the Banished aren't recharging their weapons," Rukundo said, "or the little bastard lied. He may not have been trying to kill us today, but he's certainly killed humans before."
0020 HOURS, DECEMBER 25th, 2559 [MILITARY CALENDAR]
ZETA HALO
Even without going its top speed of 150 MPH, the journey to the Banished outpost took no time at all thanks to the Gun-Yak.
Rukundo's squad was now waiting for the Shadow bound with Osca' soldiers to arrive before they began their assault. Each ODST busily prepared themselves for the coming fight with the exception of Schattenstern who would be manning the Gun-Yak's machine gun turret. With broken ribs and a bum leg, she knew she was better off here. However, she was excited to exchange her SAW for the Gun-Yak's guns, so it wasn't a total loss in her eyes.
After another ten minutes of waiting, Osca' and the Shadow arrived along with 19 soldiers in tow. Osca and the other member of her ODST squad, Staff Sergeant Bernadette Hayes, disembarked from the operator's cabin and met with Rukundo and his team.
"Ready for this, lieutenant?" Osca asked.
Rukundo exhaled long and hard. "More ready than we were before. Still, I'm praying this goes well. Assemble the troops; let's review the plan one more time."
Lupercalus bit into the seared flesh of one of the myriad of creatures that populated the Halo ring. He did not recognize the animal nor cared particularly much that he didn't. The meat was succulent and his pack below was rapturous in spirit. The Chieftain raised the forelimb into the air and laughed, triggering his pack to echo their Chieftain in return.
Walking back into the chamber that acted as his personal quarters atop the prison structure, Lupercalus rejoined his four closest compatriots seated at a central feasting table.
Raising a forelimb bone, Lupercalus bellowed, "Brothers! Another night of freedom! Freedom from the Covenant, the Banished, and Atriox!"
The assembled Jiralhanae pounded their fists on the table in agreement and continued feasting.
In truth, Lupercalus had at one time respected Atriox and his Banished. When the Covenant splintered and his clan was cast into the winds of uncertainty, Atriox seemed like a pillar of strength to cling to. Yet as the years passed the promises of personal freedom and glory offered by the Banished started to ring hollow.
The indignations started slowly at first. His pack's reverence for a more grounded existence was looked down upon as one of the "old ways" holding their species back. This was usually said with whispers by other Jiralhanae, but they became louder and bolder.
Then outsider species were integrated into their pack, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, and even Sangheili. No doubt they were intended to be spies to ensure Lupercalus' saw to his pack's conformity to Banished principles.
The last insult came when his pack's continued faith in the Forerunners as gods was brought to the attention of Atriox himself. The Warmaster had made it clear that such beliefs had no place in the Banished.
"Only once you've shed the chains of superstition can you truly be free, Chieftain. Until then, you are but a whelp playing in the dirt ignorant to the potential of what you could be."
Since then, Lupercalus had been waiting for a moment to rid his pack of the Banished. That opportunity came with the discovery of this ring in the wake of the Razing of Oth Sonin by the Created and their leader, the damnable AI Cortana. The Halo was a paradise teeming with life and room for future generations of Jiralhanae to grow. It was nothing less than a blessing by the gods.
When it was reported that mighty Atriox had perished after a cataclysm tore parts of the ring asunder, Lupercalus took his chance. The Sangheili spies were wiped out. Jackal privateers, ever bound by greed, happily agreed to obey him with a share of any spoils. The Unggoy would be cowed into submission as laborers until they no longer proved useful.
Taking what provisions they could, Lupercalus and his pack left for an isolated section of the ring away from the main Banished forces. In time, they would perhaps come for him. He knew this would likely end in one way: the death of his pack.
Yet the bounty of war goods provided by human survivors foolish enough to entrench in Lupercalus' territory would help bolster their defense. If War Chief Escarharum, the new leader of the Banished, wanted him and his pack dead then he would make their extermination a costly one.
He was deep in relishing the fantasies of the coming storm when a deafening boom sounded from outside. The Chieftain jumped from his seat and stomped to the balcony only to find their fermentation tanks aflame and several of his Brutes either writhing in flames or dead.
Lupercalus turned his attention to the Kig-Jar snipers that should have been patrolling the walls. They had begun firing at something in the distance before being cut down by arrows of light that traced the night sky.
A second explosion rocked the western gate. His eyes looked around and saw what seemed to be one of his Shadows speeding around the outpost. A flash briefly lit the area near the Shadow revealing a horde of humans clutching to its frame.
Lupercalus snarled and ran back into his quarters. He donned his Chieftain headdress, grabbed ahold of his gravity mace, and activated an alarm alerting all of his forces that the outpost was under attack.
Turning to his close associates, he roared, "To battle!"
The Gun-Yak's gauss cannon had made short work of the outpost's fermentation tanks and Schattenstern's shooting easily cleared the Jackal snipers perched atop the walls. Osca' group was busy drawing some of the heat towards the western entrance while Rukundo, his squad, and a handful of Osca' volunteers made their way to the eastern gate.
From his station, Rukundo primed the vehicle's ML/SM rocket battery.
"Firing SM-1 and -2. Shot!"
The two Scorpion missiles launched from their ML/SM tubes and streaked towards the outpost gate detonating with a resounding boom. As the smoke cleared it became apparent the gate doors were warped and on their last legs.
"Sergeant, floor it!"
The Gun-Yak accelerated and burst through the outpost gate and drifted to a stop near the prison. The rear hatch opened and the UNSC soldiers stormed out, opening fire on anything that wasn't human. Not long after the commandeered Shadow sped in through the same opening and unloaded its human cargo closer to the motor pool.
By now the Banished forces were beginning to rally and regroup. Groups of Banished soldiers seemed to emerge from every nook and cranny, setting up defensive barriers and laying suppressive fire. While the Gun-Yak and Shadow offered some layer of protection, Rukundo knew that staying entrenched was a losing strategy.
Three Brutes emerged from the supply depot sporting skewers. Rocket-sized spikes flew through the air; two pierced the side of the Gun-Yak while the other caught an Army trooper pinning them to the Shadow. A Marine trained their BR75 at the trio and fired off several three-round bursts that took out one of the skewer-wielders.
From atop a second story position at the motor pool superheated bursts of plasma started to rain down towards UNSC forces. It was just as Rukundo feared, they were getting boxed in and he had to do something to give them an opening.
"BADGER!"
Rukundo had made sure to put the AI back into the Gun-Yak's systems before the assault. Their presence made sure that his calculations when manning the gauss cannon and missiles were as accurate as possible. Now he has a new purpose for the AI.
"Yes, sir?"
"I need you to take control of the Gun-Yak and get it moving towards the eastern gate. Lay down suppressive fire as we use the APC to shield us while to get into the buildings and spread out. I loaded another projectile in the gauss cannon you can use to blow open the gate and get the hell out of here."
"Can do, lieutenant!"
A Scorpion missile launched from the Gun-Yak into the plasma turrets above the motor pool. As the Gun-Yak moved forward, UNSC forces followed behind and used it as cover to get close to the building. Six soldiers led by SSgt. Osca advanced inside concealed by several smoke grenades. The Gun-Yak continued onward pushing several Banished warriors further back as they continued to fire upon the dominating vehicle.
Plasma splashed across its titanium-reinforced hull while superheated spikes pierced the armor only barely. As the gate came into view, the gauss cannon began to glow an unearthly blue before sending a magnetically accelerated projectile into the door. It's way clear, the Gun-Yak kicked dirt into the air as it departed the outpost.
Pressing their opening, the humans spread out hoping to pin down the Banished just as they had tried to do inside the buildings. Osca took six more soldiers and stormed the supply depot while Rukundo, Rig, and Bravo along with two Marines ran back towards the prison.
As they approached the building their progress was stopped by four Brutes above them firing Brute Shot grenade launchers. One of the Marines fell to the blast while Bravo was blown to the side, intact but rattled. Rig returned fire with his SPNKr, unloading both barrels of the rocket launcher.
All four Brutes scrambled away in vain. What remained of them spilled over the edge of the balcony as smoldering chunks.
The threat momentarily neutralized, Rukundo dashed to the locked door leading into the prison. Not possessing the technical knowhow to bypass the lock manually, he blasted the locking mechanism with his SMG.
Miraculously, the door opened.
But what awaited them was anything but a miracle. The surviving Marine saw them first as they were flattened into a bloody pulp by a mace. A gravity pulse pushed Rukundo, Rig, and Bravo back into the dirt leading to the prison, hard.
Emerging from the darkened interior was the Chieftain of the outpost, jokingly called "Krampus" by Hound McCaskil, officially called Lupercalus by his subordinates.
To Rukundo, he could only see the Devil incarnate.