Halo The Chosen

by Predman1227

Chapters

Chapter 1: Dreams or Memories
Chapter 2: Old Wounds
Chapter 3: Deadly Encounter
Chapter 4: New Friends

Chapter 1: Dreams or Memories

Chapter One: Dreams or Memories

Year: 2562

Time: 11:50pm Earth time

Location: Unknown

Sil

It was quiet.

Almost unnaturally quiet. Like all sound had been completely snuffed out.

There was one sound however, a slight ringing noise, there but at the same time not there. "This is getting weird" Sil thought to herself noting that her vision was blurry too "where am I?"

She tried to see where she was and make out the surrounding area to no avail.

"Damn it, what's wrong with me, why can't I see?" Sil kicked some blurry dirt out from under her two towed boots. Why was there so much dirt anyway? Last she checked she was in a bar run by a group of local Kig Yar traders, playing a game of cards. They were celebrating after she and her Uncle had completed a big cargo job, which ended in killing a lot of Jerohanae and Keg Yar pirates.

Now where was she? Sil was about to scream in frustration when she noticed a lone building surrounded by a stone wall.

"That wasn't there before " Sil thought to herself wondering if it was safe to take a look. Seeing no other option, she made her way to the stony building.

There was still no sound, other than the constant ringing that was slowly increasing in pitch and getting louder and louder the closer she got.

By the time she got to the old, large wooden gate at the front of the wall the ringing had become unbearable. " I need to get out of here". Sil could barely think, the ringing burned the inside of her head and she did the only thing she could do.

Sil reached for the gate and suddenly her hand was wrenched back by a swirling mass of black smoke.

Sil tried to brake free but found that she had no strength.

She looked at her arms to find that they were small, too small. Her legs were also too small, her body thin and fragile, reduced to a six year old Sangheili child.

She looked up and saw the gaping mouth of a demon with one single piercing red eye.

Sil woke screaming, already on her feet and in a fighting stance, her knife in hand ready to kill anything that moved. Then she realised that she was in her room aboard her Uncle's ship, The Rust Bucket.

She also realised she was still wearing her cloths and boots and the light was on but not so much it hurt.

Then Sil smelled it, cheap Kig Yar booze.

Sil chuckled "So that's how I don't remember last night… I got drunk" Sil said to herself, relieved. Uncle Jack must have dragged her back to the ship when she got a little too tipsy and left her to recover in her room. Well, that explained why the light was still on.

What couldn't be explained was that dream.

It was too vivid to be a normal dream but what did it mean? Never in her life did she feel so helpless. Even when her Uncle did things for her, it never felt the way it felt in that nightmare. Before she could ponder over it anymore she heard the heavy thuds of her Uncle's fists pounding on the door. "Sil are you awake?" came the deep rumbling voice of Uncle Jack, he must not of heard her scream if he was just checking up on her now. With a sigh, Sil lazily dropped her blade on the bed and walked over to the door, pressing the activation switch, which opened it. Standing in front of her nearly two metres tall, with large muscles, dark skin, short grayish-black hair and matching beard, was Uncle Jack. Before Sil could even say a single word Uncle Jack said " You should remember not to guzzle it down next time we have a big celebration." Sil could not even find the words, he had pretty much said it all. "You should go and do some exercise and work the alcohol out of your system, then get a shower. I won't even describe what your breath smells like". Should she tell him about her dream? What would he say about it? She decided not to. It was probably nothing. Clenching all four of her jaws together she simply nodded and left to go down the hall and in to the cargo bay. But before she could go out the door Uncle Jack put a hand on her shoulder and simply said " Happy sixteenth birthday ".

Sil tried her best to smile but having a four-way jaw made it hard. With that, she made her way to the cargo bay for some much needed exercise.

Jackson 001

It had been a while since the celebration of last night's cargo job and Sil had gotten herself drunk and was sleeping it off. It was also Sil's birthday. To think it's been exactly ten years since he first…

"No" Jackson shook his head. He didn't want to even think about it, not now.

Being nearly two meters tall and the ship wasn't that big to begin with it didn't take him long to get to Sil's room.

He knocked three times on the door and said "Sil are you awake?"

There was no reply.

He was about to knock again when the door slid open and there, with her torn up leather jacket, short black trousers and brown leather boots, was Sil.

"You should remember not to guzzle it down next time we have a big celebration". From her expression, he could tell he had said everything she needed to hear. He also reminded her that she really needed exercise and take a shower, before he let her go Jackson put a hand on her shoulder and said "Happy sixteenth birthday".

That caught her off guard and she cracked a smile, well at least something that resembled a smile, but Jackson didn't need to be a Sangheili to tell she was beaming.

Jackson stood there long enough to watch Sil round the corner at the bottom of the hall and disappear into the cargo bay.

Jackson wanted to join her but he had some unfinished business to attend to first.

Back in the cockpit, Jackson came back in time to see that someone was trying to call him, "And I bet I know who" he thought taking a seat at the controls.

He took a moment to collect himself before accepting the call and opening the channel.

A video feed came through the screen in front of him, and as he had guessed, it was none other than Kala Van, his Kig Yar contractor. In other words, his boss.

Kala, as always was siting in her command chair no doubt looking over her entire business operation.

Her features were not that much different from a male Kig Yar apart from being slightly smaller and more scaly. For some reason her skull always reminded him of a birds.

"Ah Jackson, my favorite Human, how have you been lately?" Kala's high, crackly voice made Jackson's skin crawl, and he swore it always sounded like she was flirting with him. "I take it the cargo job went off with out a hitch?"

Jackson could barley contain his anger "You know damn well what happened." He contained his rage through clenched teeth trying to compose himself. "Me and Sil almost died because you failed to mention that the space we traveled through had, not just Kig Yar, but Jeroghonae pirates as well".

Kala grinned, leaning back in her chair. "I might have kept that little detail from you" she said not even bothering to look sorry. "If I had told you, what would have happened? You would have never taken the job, and you're very good at what you do, am I right?"

Jackson stayed silent, his jaw muscles tight with anger.

"Oh don't take it so personally" Kala said, with a smug grin "It worked out in the end, you should be hap.." Jackson cut her off.

"You still should have told me the risks, now give us our payment." Kala brought up her arm and raised a finger.

"Uh uh uh, not so fast. I have one more thing I need you to do for me".

"Do NOT, TEST me" Jackson's anger was over flowing now. "WE went through hell to get this job done and….and you're telling me there's more.? You forget that it was I who brought you the most profit. It was me who did the jobs no one else had the stomach for." Kala didn't even so much as twitch, in fact she seem rather amused.

"You forget, that it was I who took you and Sil in all those years ago, I gave you food, shelter, I even gave you a ship and most importantly, I gave you medicine for Sil's mental condition. She would have died if it were not for me. You owe me".

Defeated, Kala had put him in a corner, and she knew it. Knowing full well that her point was justified.

"Ok, what do you want me to do" Jackson said leaving no hint of emotion in his tone.

"I knew you would come around", Kala said still grinning "After this I promise you and I are even." This time Kala had dropped her flirting and carefree image, and was now serious.

"I have transmitted landing coordinates to your ship to help a certain someone on the planet Vinishia. There, you will get the rest of your mission details and payment too." Kala leaned forward in her chair, clasping her hands together and looking straight into Jackson's eyes. "This is a secret contract, only you and your crew are allowed to know of it."

Jackson's stone face expression changed into a smirk "Is that it, or is there more unexpected things in this along the way. Cause if you lie to me, you know what ill do."

Kala cut the feed but not before saying "You make your own way from here, only time can tell you what lays ahead."

Jackson sat there looking at the now empty screen thinking about what he had just got him and Sil into now.

With a sigh he got up from his seat, walked over to the door just out side the cockpit and pressed a button to open the door.

Inside the room was a small bed in the corner, a desk and a weapon rack.

What stood out the most however was a large stand and upon it was a complete black set of scared, battered and half melted suit of, Mark V Spartan armor and it's gold visor stared right at him.

Sil

Sil spent the better part of an hour working what was left of the alcohol out of her system.

She went though several different exercises, which consisted of, weight lifting, sit ups, pull-ups, even jogging on the spot, finishing it all up running on a treadmill.

With all the alcohol finally out of her system she did what uncle Jack told her and hit the shower. The door to the showers was in the cargo bay so Sil didn't have to go far. Inside the shower room there was lockers, beaches and the showers themselves. There was six showers all with stain glass doors and the one she always used was the second last one because it was the one that was the less faulty. Before she went in however, she wanted to look in the mirror at the end of the showers first. When she got there she looked into its reflective surface and frowned. Her light tan skin was covered in engine oil and made her normally smooth skin all slick and greasy. Then there was her hair, it was in an even worse state. Grease and dirt had all but covered her wild black spiky hair, even the signal white that went down the left side of her long fringe was all stained with oil. Sil stared at her own bright green eyes for a long time, trying to see the person behind those eyes. She knew she wasn't human, she only had to take one look at her uncle to tell she was nothing like him and yet, she couldn't stop thinking of herself as nothing but human. Sometimes like now she wondered who she really was, where she came from, who her family was and what her real name was.

All those lost memories were locked away behind a scar just above the right side of her forehead, hidden slightly by her fringe. Uncle Jack had told her that scar was made by a sliver of metal that had luged itself in her skull and was the cause of her painful migranes that needed powerful pain killers to keep it in check. She hated it, hated it so much she sometimes forgot to take it and problems started. Sil curled her upper lip and flashed her own needle like teeth at herself and shook her head. She closed her eyes and sighed as she wiped her brow. "Time to get cleaned up." Sil told herself and got to taking off her clothing.

She unzipped her leather jacket and hung it up on a hook on the wall. The steel plates stitched into the leather was scratched and chard by times something blow up near her or when her shield was down and a stray bullet or plasma bolt dinged off her armour. She then pulled off her army green tank top and looked at her plain flat chest in the mirror. She didn't have many scars but there was a bruise where a brute on their last job had punched her. She was lucky her shields were up or that punch would have shattered her rib cage. She then unstrapped her black four fingered fingerless gloves and put them on the bench. She then took off her brown two towed boots and her socks that used to be human socks but she had to cut holes in them to well you get the picture. She last took off her large black shorts and whatever and finally went in the shower. When she was in she turned it on, put up the heat, sat down and crossed her legs. She sighed as the warm water rained down on her head and washed out all the muck out of her hair. She cupped her hands together, letting water fill up and then splashed it over her face, getting all that greasy oil off her skin. It felt so good to get all that muck off and it felt good to listen to the sound of the water rain down and fill the shower with a peaceful calm atmosphere. Sil mostly liked it because in here she had a chance to sit and just think. Memories of her last job were a little hunting, the sounds of Kig Yar dying and the terrifying roars of the brutes as they ruthlessly raided them on a planet they were camped on. But what was hunting her the most was that dream.

Sil could not stop thinking about it. It felt too real, like it wasn't a dream at all. More like a memory, and it had something to do with that old stone building. But every time she thought of it the image of that monster came flooding back, and with it, a slight pain. Sil looked at her four-fingered hand and found it was shaking slightly. She felt lightheaded, she took some deep breaths to try and clam herself down. When she looked again her hand was still, and the pain in her head had lessened. She kept wondering if she should tell uncle Jack but the more she thought about it the more it awkward. "Naa" Sil said out loud, "It was just a dream, nothing more." She finally stood back up and looked at the shampoos she had. Two were almost empty but her new one was still full. She picked it up and read the strange holographic text on it.

"Thanks for buying our fruit shampoo, hope you enjoy our latest audition."

Sil giggled when she read the date. "Yeah, your latest audition is nearly six years old." Sil said to herself.

Kig Yar would sell anything and had got this stuff from one Kig Yar that had a crate of the it for only 75 credits and out here thats cheap. Even more since this shampoo lasted a long time.

After a good fifteen minutes in the shower room, she came out with her hair still damp, a towel on the back of her neck and only her tank top and shorts on. She was about to go see her uncle in the cockpit when she heard some scuffling coming from the back of a couple of crates.

Knowing that they had had stowaways in the past, Sil quietly went over to one of the weights and picked it up. Now armed, she silently moved to the crates and got ready to hit whoever was hiding.

What came out from the crates wasn't a stowaway, but the ship's janitor, an Unggoy named Yim Yam.

"Yim Yam!" Sil shouted out with joy, putting the weight down and rushing over to give the small alien a big bear hug. Yim Yam yelped in surprise as his arms were pined to his sides and he was lifted two meters off the floor.

"Ouch, Mistress Sil" Yim Yam cried out "Yim Yam not expect you to sneak up on him, um Mistress" Sil looked at him "You getting me wet".

"OH sorry" Sil said putting him down "I didn't mean to scare you or get you wet". She finished with an awkward smile.

"Not scare" Yim Yam said, "You just startled me is all".

Sil laughed and said "I'm just happy to see you're ok, considering you took on a brute with a mop and a bucket of water".

Yim Yam laughed to "Yim Yam know that putting soup water in someone's eyes, makes it hard for them to see you Mistress".

Sli crouched and put a hand on Yim Yam's head, giving him a quick ruffle, "You know you don't have to keep calling me Mistress, it's just Sil".

Yim Yam just shrugged and said "Yim Yam can't help it. Yim Yam was taught to always call the ones who own him, Master or Mistress, Mistress".

"But I don't own you" Sil said as face palmed "Come on I told you this before. We're friends, ship mates, we all do our part, and help each other" Sil sighed, "Well I'm glad you're ok. What were you doing back there anyway?"

Yim Yam looked around and scratched his head, "Yim Yam heard some noises, coming from the back of the room" he snorted under his breathing mask, "Might be some yummy rats".

Sil didn't want to think about her friend's eating habits, so she got up and turned in the direction of the cargo bay door and said "Well, see you later".

Before she could take two steps, Yim Yam caught her wrist, stopping her, "Wait Mistress, Yim Yam just remembered" The small Unggoy said cheerfully.

Sil turned to see he had a necklace in his over-sized hand, her necklace.

"You dropped this at the bar. You know you were pulling funny faces back there".

Yim Yam looked a bit embarrassed "Yim Yam thought he should give it back to you. He know how much you like it".

Sil didn't know what to say, she simply took it, and looked at it.

It was a length of thin thread, with a small emerald gem with a blue crystal in the center. Her most treasured possession. She had had it since she was just a child and the only thing she had of her past.

Sil shook her head, collecting her thoughts. Finally she managed to say, "Thank you Yim Yam, this means a lot to me. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost it. Thank you".

Yim Yam puffed up his chest with pride and said "Ah it nothin'".

Sil gave him one last hug before heading out of the cargo bay, past her own room and in to the cockpit.

Sil didn't find her uncle at the controls; instead she was met with an empty room.

"He must be in his room then!" she thought, back tracking out of the cockpit and facing her uncle's room door.

She was about to knock on the door when she saw a note stuck to it.

Sil peeled the note off the door and started reading it.

"Sil if you're reading this, I want you to start up the engines, take us into orbit and punch in these numbers" The rest of the note was a list of numbers leading to a planet she had heard about before.

"Vinishia!?" Sil thought. "But that planet is just a frozen wasteland." It had no life on it, and as far as she knows, no one went there, it was just too hazardous. "I'm going to have a little chat with uncle once he's done doing whatever it is he's doing". Sil took a seat at the controls and got to work.

After getting the ship in orbit she typed in the list of numbers, automatically kicking in the sub light engines.

Now that the ship was on course, Sil had pretty much had nothing to do now except watch the stars go by.

There was the sound of a door cycling open and something heavy thudding through the now open door.

Sil poked her head around the seat to see her uncle in his old, battle-worn, black power armour. The armour was so old some of its black paint had worn off, revelling green under neath. There was also parts of the armour that had melted off and had been replaced with standard steel. The most forbidding thing about his armour was that gold visor. It seemed to stare right into her soul.

Sil couldn't remember what the armour was called, but that wasn't important. What was important was if he is wearing his armour, things were going to be serious.

"Are we on course?" came the now metallic voice of her uncle.

"Yes, we should get there in a day at this speed. Are you going to tell me what we're doing, and why we're going to Vinishia?"

Sil's uncle took his helmet off and from his expression, she could tell it wasn't going to be good.

Chapter 2: Old Wounds

Year: 2562

Time: 12:03am Earth time

Location: Remains of Harvest, aboard Ex-Covenant carrier ship, Unbreakable Truth

(Ral’m’Hondow)

It was dark.

Only the faint glow of a massive fire, with rubble and debris at its center, broke the empty void.

Sangheili bodies lay everywhere, their faces almost unrecognisable, their bodies twisted and broken, and they all surrounded Ral’s feet.

“Why?” Ral whispered, “What could they have done to deserve this?” Ral fell to his knees and put a hand on one of the bodies’ faces he knew too well. He could still recognise her face; the flames hadn't burned away what beauty she had left.

Tears started streaming down his face as he hugged the body of his dead wife. “Why?” he said louder turning into a scream “WHYYYY!?”

Ral woke with a gasp, sitting up in his bed, now in his private room, the memory of his dead wife and family was still fresh in his mind, “Even after ten years she still haunts my dreams. Why Kinra, why do you do this to me?” Ral rubbed his muzzle and sighed. He got up from his bed and went to look at the trophies he had earned over his lifetime.

They consisted of old blades, Human weapon fragments and samples from worlds he'd glassed. But there was one he didn’t earn, the arm of a human demon. It was there in the rubble and remains of his home, it had been cut clean through the shoulder and from the lack of a body the demon must have survived. He had taken it and kept it here to remind him of what he had lost and what he needed to kill.

There was the sound of static, and then a voice came trough the ship’s speakers. “Ship Master Ral this is Cano speaking. I would like to speak with you on the bridge if you have the time.”

Ral grumbled in his throat, it was like Cano to know when he would be in his room mulling over the past. A few minuets later and Ral was in his full ship master armour. It was silver with blue lines running down it. It was Field marsul armour but modified. He was about to leave his room when he stopped and looked one more time at the dead arm on his wall, “I will find you and when I do, it will be a slow death”, he said, as he did every day.

His ship was large and had a fine crew of 800 strong Sangheili warriors and even though 800 was a skeleton crew all were ready to fight and die for the cause. It didn’t take Ral long to get to where he was needed, and sure enough there was his oldest friend waiting for him on the bridge. Cano had normal gold armour that had seen better days.

“Ah there you are” came the warm greeting “I was beginning to think you had gotten lost in this new ship”.

Ral laughed and said, “This ship is older than you and I put together.”

Cano chuckled at that “Yeah, she sure is”. Greetings aside, Ral got straight to the point and asked, “You wished to speak with me?”

Cano turned to face the viewscreen that dominated the bridge, and said “Why are we here Ship Master? Why did we come back to this dead planet? There’s nothing down there but ash and glass?”

Ral stood next to Cano and replied, “It’s not the planet I’m here for.”

Cano looked puzzled “Then what are we here for? What could there possibly be?”

Ral looked at his friend keeping his expression plain, “I have had intel that a ship was seen here a few days ago, it was a Kig Yar vessel and they were doing something on the planet’s surface. The scouts say they weren’t spotted. I have a good feeling they’ll be back”.

Cano looked sceptical and a little worried “What makes you think they’ll be back, ‘cause I see no reason why they would return?”

Ral turned his entire body to face Cano and look into his red eyes. “You do not see because you only see what’s in front of your eyes. You do not see the reason because you only see them as space rats and not a threat”.

It was Cano’s turn to face Ral, standing straight and looking at him through narrowed eyelids “Then tell me Ship Master, what do you think they are doing? What do you think their reason for coming here is?”

Ral looked back at the viewscreen and said, “If my instincts, and my knowledge of the Kig Yar are correct, they will return, because Kig Yar are greedy and the scouts went down to the spot the Kig Yar were. They say there’s still plenty they could scavenge. All that and they left a camp unguarded, still full of supplies. They would not do that unless they were coming back for the rest. That’s how I know they will return”.

Cano’s face looked unsettled as he leaned against the railing of the viewing platform. Cano looked at Ral and said, “Even so, I still see no reason to go to all this trouble just to catch some Kig Yar pirates”.

Ral looked from the screen to the rest of the bridge, watching all the other Sangheili go about their work and saying as he did, “I would agree if not for the capture of one Kig Yar still on the planet. My scouts said the rat told them that he was waiting for his crew to return and get the rest of their equipment”.

“Did he say where they were returning from?” Cano asked straightening up at this new info.

“No, he died before the scouts could get it out of him, and this is what puzzles me. Why would a Kig Yar rather die than tell his captors the truth? What could be so important that he would keep it secret with his life?”

It was Cano’s turn to look puzzled, he brought up a hand and started to rub one of his jaws, then said ‘That is suspicions, that a Kig Yar would willingly die to keep that a secret”

Ral nodded but before he could say any more, a Kig Yar ship appeared on the ship’s sensors and had no idea that they had fallen into a trap.

“Well, my old friend” Ral said grinning, “Maybe its time we found out”.

Location: On root to Vinishia, aboard human, Kig Yar hybrid cargo vessel- The Rust Bucket.

23 hours later

(Sil)

Sil had slept most of the ride to the planet Vinishia and now standing in the cockpit still pissed off after learning they had been use by that bitch Kala Van. The worst part was, Kala had used Sil’s mental condition and her need for medicine as a way to put her uncle in his so-called place.

“Why, the nerve of that bitch just makes me wanna kill her”, Sil said out loud for her uncle to hear who was at the controls in the cockpit. He was still in his armour, but at least he had taken his helmet off so she could see his expressions. The annoying part was he had no expressions, which made it like he was still wearing a helmet. “Why do you not look bothered, at least show some emotion. I feel like I’m the only one that’s actually pissed off right now”. She curved her claws and shook her arms up and down to show it off.

Uncle Jack kept his plain expression as he glanced over his shoulder and looked at her with his blue eyes. Even his voice seemed distant as he spoke. "I don't like it as much as you but there is no point moaning about it now."

Sil clenched her laws and balled her hands into fists. "Moan about it? I'd go to the nearest space station and scream my hate of that snake to the crowds!" Before she could continue a stab of pain went through her head and it was not fading “Ahh sleava” Sil swore in Kig Yar, clutching her head with both hands.

“You haven’t taken your meds yet have you?” uncle Jack said looking at her, a hint of concern on his face.

Sil clenched all four of her jaws together and managed to say in a pained voice “Maybe. So what?”

The concern on uncle Jack’s face became very clear now. He stood up from his seat, put his armoured hands her shoulders and gently helped her sit down in the co-pilot seat. He then knelt down next to her and started rubbing her head to help with the pain. “You silly, stupid girl, you know why you need to take the meds. Do you really want to be in pain all the time?”

Sil managed to look up to see he was smiling and chuckling too. “What’s so funny, do you like seeing me in pain?” Sil said.

“No its not that, its just you remind me of myself when I was your age. The stubborn part mostly”.

Sil tried to laugh but just moaned instead, as fresh pain pulsed through her head. “Can you just get the meds now? I don’t wanna start crying. It’s embarrassing”.

Sil’s uncle left the cockpit and came back with her medicine. It was in the form of a syringe for instant effect. Sil hated this part because it was injected through her neck and it wasn’t pleasant.

“Ok, now, do you want to do it or do you want me to do it?” her uncle asked.

Sil looked at him and said “Just do it already.”

He injected it in her neck and as always it felt terrible, a few seconds later the pain was gone completely.

Uncle Jack put a hand on her head and twisted it so she was looking into his eyes. He held up the syringe in front of him and said “I know you hate this stuff but you need it if you don’t want to be in pain.” He stood up and went to sit back down at his seat. “Its not just to stop you being in pain. It stops me being in pain knowing you have taken it”, he continued.

Sil looked out of view port, watching all the stars go by and asked, “If you are so worried about it why not try and see if some doctor can get this piece of metal out of my head?”

He looked at her with a sad expression and replied “You know why that can’t happen Sil, it’s too risky. You could die, or lose your memory. Do you really want that? Do you?” Sil’s uncle sat back in his seat and looked a little more relaxed. “And besides you’d have to be more rich than Kala Van, if you wanted something like that”.

Sil closed her eyes and taking a deep breath, said “I know. I just wanted to hear it out loud.” She was about to say more when a ringing came through the speakers, filling the cockpit with sound.

“Well, we’re here now.” He said, typing commands into the ship’s computer. “Slowing down and cutting sub-lights, now.”

The view port was filled with the mass of the planet Vinishia and it’s two moons “My, doesn’t that look chilly?” uncle Jack said sarcastically. “I’m going to set the Rust Bucket 1000m away from the landing zone. Should give us enough room to get a good look at what we’re dealing with”.

Sil was sceptical. Pointing out the storms that inhabited the planet. “How are we supposed to see where we’re going if we’re walking 1000 metres in a blizzard?”

“Easy” uncle Jack said with a cocky smile “I’ve set a waypoint in my helmet so we know where we’re going. Nothing to it.”

“Easy for you to say” Sil said folding her arms. “You’re the one with the helmet after all”. Sil looked at the sensors and saw nothing “Why aren’t we picking up any readings? Are we sure there’s even anything down there? ‘Cause I don’t want to walk that far and find nothing.”

Sil’s uncle got up, turned to the door and said “Storms are interfering with the ships sensors so we’re walking in blind. I want you to be on full alert down there.” He started walking out the door speaking as he went ,“The autopilot is on so lets get ready for a cold landing.” And with that, they went to the cargo bay and got ready to face the cold.

Location: Vinishia on the surface at research base alpha.

8 hours earlier.

Neaola Roscal

Neaola stood alone on a landing pad over-looking the frozen hellhole she spent 11 months in. Her reptilian body was covered head to tow in fur clothing and even that didn’t stop her scales from aching. “Blast this weather”, she said letting her tone go bitter. “Why of all places did my husband choose to conduct his work here? And where is that damned ship?” She had sent out a ship two days ago and it had not returned. “It’s not like Chiva to be late.”

The sound of static broke Neaola from her thoughts and she heard a voice crackling through the speaker.

“You left your radio on again, I can hear you talking to yourself.” The voice was in Sangheili and it was a voice she knew all too well.

“You cheeky little sleava you were listening the whole time weren’t you? You handsome oaf.” The voice on the other side burst into laughter barely controlling himself.

“Oh, how can I not listen to your beautiful voice? Just hearing you makes my days in this frozen wasteland worth it.”

Neaoal turned and headed back into the warmth of alpha base. As she walked she kept speaking “Tell me again why we’re here, it’s been nearly 12 months since you started your research here and you’ve come up with nothing so far”.

Neaola’s husband sounded downcast as he said, “I know our efforts have come up with little results, but I just know it’s here somewhere in this frozen ice mountain. I just know it”.

Neaola smiled as she opened the large steel double doors and went inside “I don’t doubt you Chackrol, I’m sure we’ll find it” Neaola shed her fur coat and hung it up with the others then she started adjusting her tool belt and boots, she then made sure her armour chest plate was on right. It tended to come undone now and again. She spotted one of her Kig Yar colleagues who was sleeping on the job. Again.

She went over and kicked him off his chair, making him yell out in surprise as he fell on to the icy floor. She put her clawed boot on his chest, pinning him and looked down on him.

He managed to spurt out “Neaola! What are you doing up here? I thought you were down fixing diggers or something.”

She bent lower, putting more pressure on his chest and said with a grin, “Oh Chocra” then shouted “You’re suppose to be watching the front door, it’s what my husband pays you for so why are you napping!?”

Chocra tried to speak but was cut off when Neaola grabbed the spines on his head and hauled him to his feet.

She still held his spines in her clawed hands and growled “It’s time I moved you outside, maybe the nice weather will wake you up.”

“B…but” he tried to say but Neaola cut him off again.

“I’m second in command here, only my husband can change my mind, and he’s busy right now, so move your lazy ass and take your post” she then added, “Or I could just cut your payment? You choose”.

Cutting ones payment out here is just as good as cutting ones throat, so with no other opinions Neaola let him go. But before he could move, she stopped him and added, “There’s a ship that’s been missing for a few days. I want you to tell me as soon as you see a ship coming in ok?”

He just nodded and went on his way. Neaola’s radio spoke again and it was her husband’s voice, “I’m still here you know, right?”

“Oh…um” Neaola was lost for words, she had done it again “I’ll just make my way down to you” she finally said. And with that, she made her way down to the lower levels.

After climbing down seven ladders, and trekking through two walkways and three tunnels, Neaola had travelled 500 meters below the planet’s icy surface. Soon enough, she was in the same ice chamber as her husband.

Now, most would say a Sangheili male and a Kig Yar female getting married is impossible. It just wouldn’t happen. Even with that knowledge, it didn’t stop Chackrol and Neaola being with each other. She didn’t care what others said, as long as she and her husband were together, nothing else mattered.

Neaola spotted her husband near the digging machine over-looking the other workers progress. He was 2 meters tall, had light grey skin, and the right side of his body was robotic, a result of a human grenade. He turned his head in her direction and spotted her approach.

“Neaola” he called out walking over and bent down giving her a loving embrace “How are things up top?”

Neaola returned the hug with her own, having to stand on the tips of her toes to do so. “Cold” was her reply. “But you knew that already. How are things down here?”

Chackrol turned to face the digger, keeping one hand on Naeola’s shoulder, and started pointing at the digger with his right robotic hand.

“The digger’s engine is broken again and is in need of replacement parts”.

Neaola lowered her eyelids and muttered, “A ship with replacement parts was supposed to be here days ago”.

Chackrol was about to say something when an old, barking voice came from behind them. They both turned to see an old Kig Yar male approaching them and Neaola knew whom it was.

“Oh, father” Neaola said rubbing the back of her neck “I did not see you there…um”.

The old male named Soren stood there in front of them and was glaring at Chackrol. “You better not be touching my daughter in the wrong places Sangheili.”

That made their faces blush and made the conversation very awkward.

“Father” Neaola said through clenched teeth, “Why would you ask something like that? It’s none of your business”.

Chackrol just coughed and looked away, trying to find something to save him from this.

“Well?” Soren asked again.

“No I have not” came Chackrol’s reply “Why do you always ask such awkward things when we’re together’.

“Because I’m her father that’s way. It’s not that you’re a Sangheili. I would still ask these things even if you were a Kig Yar. Those are the rules of being a Father.”

Chackrol cleared his throat and changed the subject “Neaola why don’t you tell your father about the missing ship?”

“Oh right, um” before she could speak her radio started crackling and a voice came through. It was Chocra and he sounded concerned.

“Neaola, are you there?”

She tapped her radio and said, “What is it? Has the ship returned?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. But, wait it’s… It’s a covenant drop ship!”

Neaola’s blood went cold as she heard those words and knew what it meant.

“Alert everyone. We have covenant in the base.” She tried to get more info but the line went dead.

Chapter 3: Deadly Encounter

Location: The Rust Bucket’s cargo bay on Vinishia’s surface.

Time: 11:25am

Jackson 001

Jackson and Sil had done jobs in the past that required them to go through hazardous environments so this was nothing new.

“So, how cold is it out there?” Sil asked, still pulling on her winter clothing and armour.

Jackson had gone outside to take a temperature reading to see how cold it was, and it was troublesome.

“It’s about 32 below freezing. Was that the answer you were looking for?”

Sil caught on to his sarcasm, so she crossed her eyes and bared her teeth in a mocking fashion then said in a sarcastic tone “Oh, you’re so funny.”

Jackson just chuckled, his helmet making it sound like metallic coughs, then saying “Hey, I’m not that bad, but I’m not kidding when I say don’t leave a single piece of your skin exposed. I don’t want you getting frostbite”. Sil just rolled her eyes and continued putting on her winter clothes while Jackson started speaking to Yim Yam, “Now I want you to look after the ship while we’re gone. Make sure the engines don’t freeze over or we’ll be stuck here, got it?”

Yim Yam did a lazy salute and said, “Yim Yam knows. Yim Yam always look after ship while Master and Mistress have all the fun”.

“I mean it Yim.” Jackson said in a more serious tone, “This is an important job I’m giving you”.

Yim Yam put up his hand and pointed his thumb at himself and said, “No worries Yim Yam got it covered, ship in good hands”.

Not really convinced Jackson just nodded and went back over to Sil who had finally finished getting her winter clothes on. She had a purple jumper on and on top was armour plates all strapped together with leather straps. She also had her large black shorts on with very long leg warmers covering her lower legs and on top of that she had pouches and a holster. On her feet was her boots and on her head she had goggles and on her neck she had a decretive white and grey checkered scarf. “Ok” Jackson said “Lets arm up.”

They had a small variety of weaponry consisting of two shotguns, three MA5b assault rifles, four magnums, one anti-material rifle (sniper), a few throwing knifes and grenades. Jackson went for his default layout, carrying one assault rifle, a magnum, two grenades, a backpack with meds and a custom made sword. The sword was made out of high-freaquancy metal and can cut thruogh just about anything. Sil liked carrying her throwing knifes, a magnum, backpack and shotgun, but this time she went for the sniper instead of a shotgun.

“Whoa there” Jackson said taking the sniper “This is a bit overkill, don’t you think?”

Sil started waving her arms about in annoyance “Oh, COME ON!” she protested, “I never get to use that one”.

Jackson put the sniper back on the table and started walking to a lone crate. He came back over and had an odd looking long weapon in one hand, and some kind of backpack in the other. Sil looked at him in puzzlement, not sure what to make of this.

“I know how much you want to use the sniper” he said tilting his head slightly “But you have to learn how to use this first.” He held up the weapon and gestured for her to take it.

“What is it?” she said, examining it. Then her eyes went wide as she realised what it was, “Is this… a bow?”

Sil took the bow and the backpack, she now knew had arrows in it. She took out one and attached it.

“It’s a compound bow.” Jackson said “ Happy late birthday present. It wasn’t easy to get, so treat it well.”

Sil pulled back the string and got a feel for it “Wow thanks uncle” she said smiling “I’ve always wanted one of these, and now I have one”.

“Just don’t start shooting it in here” Jackson said turning to the access ramp “That thing can go through the bulkhead”.

Jackson and Sil stood at the access ramp and did one final check on their equipment. Jackson’s MJOLNIR Mark V was designed to withstand harsh environments, so he didn’t have to worry about the cold. What he did worry about was Sil. She didn’t have the same hardware as he did, so she was more at risk getting hypothermic. Not to mention Sangheili aren't built for the cold.

“Ok now it’s the shield check.” On Jackson’s heads-up display (HUD) his energy shield was full “Ok, turn around and let me see yours” Sil turned and let Jackson see the shield generator she had strapped to her back.

It was a small thing, not as strong as Jackson’s, but it did its job well enough. A minute later and Sil’s shield bar was reading full on his HUD.

“Ok” Jackson said shifting his weight from one foot to the other “Ready for this long walk?”

Sil looked at him through her snow goggles and said with a muffled voice through her scarf “Lets go and get this over with”.

Jackson pulled a lever and with a grinding screech the access ramp opened to the frozen wastes of Vinishia.

Location: Vinishia’s frozen wasteland.

600 meters later.

Sil

It was so cold. Sil couldn’t stop her jaws from chattering and her hands and feet were numb. The edges of her goggles had frozen over making it harder to see in the blizzard. “How long till we get there?” Sil said with a shivering voice.

The cold didn’t affect her uncle while he was in his armour. He put a hand up to his helmet and pressed a button, which connected to the earpiece he had given her to talk better in the blizzard. He said, “It’s not far now, only 400 meters to go” as he walked he turned his head and look at Sil “How are you holding up so far?” he said not sounding too concerned so as not to hurt her pride.

“Oh I’m doing great, never better” Sil said rubbing her arms “The sooner I get out of this blizzard, the better I’ll feel” Sil thought to herself. She fell over when her foot went through some deep snow and was almost buried.

“Sil!” her uncle called out rushing over to help her up.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, you don’t have to help me up, I can take care of myself”, Sil yelled as she shook her uncle off.

“Hey, don’t give me that, we’re a team, we look out for each other”.

Sil pointed ahead and said, “Can we just keep walking. I’m freezing as it is”.

They continued a few more meters when Sil’s uncle took her by the shoulder and spun her around to face him. He held her there and started speaking “You don’t have to do everything by yourself, you can turn to me. You can talk to me, stop being so stubborn” he started raising his voice “Stubbornness can get you killed, and when you’re like this I…” he stopped himself and took a deep breath letting it out slowly. When he had finally composed himself he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that”.

“No” Sil said, “You’re right, I’m being childish. I should be the one saying sorry”.

Uncle Jack gave Sil a hug and said, “It’s ok, and I know how you feel. Come on let’s…” before he finished his sentence a loud screech came from the direction they were walking in. Sil and uncle Jack both drew their weapons, Sil took out her side arm and her uncle took out his assault rifle and aimed at where the sound came from.

“What was that?” Sil said sweeping the area with her magnum.

“Not sure” her uncle said also sweeping with his rife. The sound came again, louder this time.

“Heads up” he said, “We got two bogies and they’re heading this way”.

“I thought there wasn’t any wildlife on this planet?” Sil asked.

“There isn’t” Sil’s uncle said “But we got bogies and they’re very much alive”.

It was at this point Sil wished she had a motion tracker. It was annoying not knowing where her enemies were coming from.

“Where?” Sil asked.

“There” her uncle said pointing forward.

Sil aimed and got ready to shoot, when a Kig Yar with fur clothing came out the haze of the blizzard and stopped in his tracks.

“Don’t move” Sil’s uncle growled aiming his weapon at the alien. "Hands where I can see them!"

“A human?” the Kig Yar gasped, “What are? Never mind, listen there's…” before he could say anything a set of twin blade like energy spikes bust through his chest and lifted him off the ground.

Sil let out a gasp as the poor alien was cut clean in two, his purple blood staining the pure white snow, and something else…

Some of the blood hung in the air, as if suspended by some unseen force.

“Oh shit” Sil’s uncle said slowly as something began to appear. Sil could now make out a faint shape as the thing became clearer. It was 3 meters tall and was wearing large white, fur layered body armour, that was dented, scared and covered in bullet holes. Sil had never seen this type of alien before, and it was terrifying.

“Ultra” Sil’s uncle shouted, “Move”.

Before Sil could ask what he meant by Ultra the large alien shot forward swinging a long blade of energy in their direction. Sil moved, duking under the sizzling blade missing her by inches. She was about to bring her gun up when the alien kicked it out of her hand and went to grab her with it’s large four-fingered one. Sil smacked its hand to the side, spun on her heel and delivered a kick to the alien’s massive helmeted head, stunning it. Sil pulled out one of her knifes and went to stab it in the throat, but alien recovered quickly and brought up it’s own blade. Sil had no time to react as the blade cut through the armour on her left arm. Her shield took the worst of it but it still cut deep in her arm, making her cry out in pain.

Before Sil could recover the alien brought up it’s knee and struck her in the face, knocking her goggles and scarf off. Sil fell flat on her back, stunned, her vision blurry, and she tasted blood in her mouth. “I got to get up” she said to herself as the large alien slowly approached her “Get up or you’re dead.” Sil’s body refused to move. She watched helplessly as the alien brought up its blade for the killing blow, to suddenly stop and stare at her, tilting it’s head like it was confused.

“Sil” her uncle’s voice came through her ear-mic “You’re in my line of fire, MOVE!”.

Sil rolled to the side as her uncle unloaded on the large alien, it brought up its blade and deflected the incoming bullets, some getting through, but they just bounced off its shield. It charged, still deflecting the bullets and let out a battle cry.

Jackson 001

“MOVE!” Jackson opened fired as Sil rolled to the side and was out the line of fire. He kept up the stream of bullets as the Ultra charged, still deflecting each one. Suddenly his gun jammed “Fuck!” he swore as the Ultra slammed into him with his blade, burning through his assault rifle. In one move Jackson twisted his gun so the blade wasn’t pointing at him, took the Ultra under its arm and threw it over his shoulder. This sent the alien flying into a mound of deep snow, making it drop its energy blade. In the same move Jackson pulled out his own sword and flipped a switch on its hilt, bring to life. Arks of white and blue of energy danced off its metal surface. Jackson leaped into the air to bring his blade down on the head of the still buried Ultra.

The Ultra burst from the snow and two smaller blades of energy appeared on it gauntlets. Before Jackson’s blade could connect, the Ultra moved to the side and delivered a blow to Jackson’s shoulder, burning it but not piercing the metal. Jackson spun and kicked the Ultra in the stomach, knocking it back. Both he and the Ultra stood their ground. Jackson took up a stance similar to an ancient Samurai putting his legs apart, holding his sword with both hands and pointing it outwards. Where the Ultra leaned back and pointed its left arm straight at Jackson and put its right arm up in an L shape. They stood there watching each other, waiting for one to make the first move. For about a minuet they just stood there before they started slowly circling one another. Still neither attacked.

They just moved in a clockwise motion watching, waiting, the blizzard swirling all around them. It was the Ultra that made the first move, extending its arms and spinning on its heels. Jackson blocked the deadly blows, sparks and lightning dancing off their blades. He threw an under arm swing right for the Ultra’s chest, but the Ultra saw this coming and with one move swept Jackson’s blade out of his grasp. Momentarily surprised, Jackson had completely forgotten Ultras were masters at swordplay, and knew how to fool and disarm.

With his blade gone the Ultra came right at him. “But…” Jackson thought “You’re not the only one with tricks” Jackson brought his arms up and started blocking blow after blow with his armour, letting his shield take the worst of it. The Ultra was getting angry now, its attacks getting more desperate till it slowed down just enough for Jackson to deliver a heavy punch right in the Ultra’s face. The blow was hard, sending shockwaves up Jackson’s arm. The Ultra’s shield popped and half of the face part of its helmet broke off revealing its Sangheili features underneath. Now that the Ultra’s shields were down, Jackson tackled the large alien to the ground and started punching repeatedly in its face, not letting the Ultra’s shields back up. "Die, you son of a bitch die ,DIE!" Jackson growled through clenched teeth.

Taking the beating the Ultra managing to grab Jackson’s hand and then head butted him hard in the chest, winding him and flipping him over onto his back. Now that the Ultra had pinned Jackson it brought its bladed gauntlet down and tried to stab him. Jackson caught it, but he was still winded and he couldn’t hold it. Slowly the blade started cutting through the exposed under-layer of his suit and was going deeper now cooking his skin. Jackson wanted to cry out but he hadn’t gotten his breath back so he just let out a moan as the blade went even deeper. “I can’t die” he thought, thinking of Sil “Not now”.

Sil

Sil watched as her uncle’s blade went flying from his grasp and he blocked the alien’s blows with his armoured arms. Sil still couldn’t move, the pain in her left arm was almost unbearable and the cold wasn’t helping. In fact, it made it worse. If she didn’t get up now she’d freeze on the spot. Sil rolled on to her belly and started slowly getting up. By the time she had gotten to her knees, Uncle Jack had pinned the big alien and was pummelling him into the ground. Maybe he was going to win. Uncle Jack had fought brutes twice that size with his bare hands; there was no way he could lose. Sil’s hopes were dashed, as the big alien managed to roll uncle Jack onto his back and was now stabbing him. “No!” Sil cried out trying to get to her feet, but they had gone numb in the cold and she just fell on her belly again. “Shit, get up, get up” she said to herself, willing her body to move. She got back on her knees and pulled out her compound bow, took out an arrow and attached it. But how was she going to fire it with an injured arm, and what if she missed? “No” she thought “No room for doubt.” With that she started to pull back the string. Fresh pain shot up her arm as she pulled, it felt like her arm was on fire. She finally got the string all the way back and was taking aim. Her vision was getting blurry as the pain burned her arm. If she didn’t shoot now, she was going to pass out. Focusing with all her will, she aimed at the Ultra and fired. It flew straight and true, as the arrow buried itself in the alien’s neck. “Got ya” she said as her vision went dark and she fell to the ground.

Jackson 001

Jackson heard a whooshing sound and a loud thud as the blade in his shoulder disappeared. He looked up to see blood pouring out of the Ultra’s mouth and its exposed eye rolled back in its head. The large alien’s dead body slumped to the side and lay there. Jackson took in all the air his lungs could hold and coughed hard, sending spittle and glut flying out of his mouth and sticking to the inside of his visor. Jackson looked over to where Sil was to find she was face down in the snow, “Sil” he gasped as he got to his feet forgetting, about the pain he was in and ran over to Sil’s prone form. “Sil, can you hear me, Sil?” He fell to one knee and rolled her over on to her back. She was still breathing, to Jackson’s relief, but she was injured and her face had the first signs of frostbite. From the readouts on his HUD, Sil’s core temperature was unstable. If he didn’t get her to some cover she would go into hypothermic shock. Before Jackson could do anything, Sil’s eyes shot open and she screamed, sitting up. Jackson took hold of her as she kicked about “It’s ok, its just me. Shhh, clam down, that’s it.” Jackson did what he used to do when Sil was 7 years old, when she woke up screaming after having a nightmare. He held her tight in his arms and rocked her back and forth, humming a tune he learned back at Spartan camp. It seemed to work, she stopped struggling and started to take deep breaths. She was also crying out. From pain, joy, terror, maybe all of them, he wasn’t certain. What he was certain about, was that she was alive and kicking, and that’s all the joy he needed.

“What happened?” Sil said through her sobs “Is it dead? Did I kill it?”

“Yes its dead, you did” Sil looked up and stared at him with her green eyes, all glazed over with her tears.

“What was it?” she asked.

Jackson didn’t answer and said instead “I need to get you back to the ship”.

Sil seemed to wake up at that, “Are you kidding me? We can’t go back.” Sil struggled to get to her feet, wincing in pain. “We’ve come too far to turn back now.”

Jackson supported Sil by letting her lean on him and said, “This job isn’t worth risking your life for, I won’t allow it. And you’re hurt”.

Sil shook him off, wobbling a bit before steading herself. “You’re hurt too, so don’t give me that crap.” She bent over and picked up her scarf and goggles, adding to her point, “And you said its not far now, which means we’re too far from the ship anyway.” She put her goggles and scarf back on, wincing when she touched her jaws and said “Ok 400 meters sounds good, so lets go.” She took one step and fell, face planting the snow.

“I see you’ve made up your mind” Jackson said sighing with a helmet-palm “And you’ve got a point, the ship is too far to reach in our state.” Jackson helped Sil back on her feet, brushing all the snow off her. “But we need to patch each other up first and dig up our still working weapons” Sil nodded, and with more careful steps she and her uncle got to finding their weapons.

About an hour later Jackson and Sil had gathered their equipment and patched up their wounds with some simple bandages. They didn’t dare use bio-foam in this cold. Jackson had discarded his assault rifle due to the fact it had been cut in half after he did his little counter move. But still, he had his sword back, hanging off his belt. Sil kept saying her legs were numb, so Jackson had taken a portable tent with him and had set it up so she could get out of the blizzard and recover. Before Jackson joined Sil in the tent, he went and checked the bodies to see if he could figure out what was going on. The body of the Kig Yar was a complete mess. The blade of the Ultra had cut it in a way where it simply blew the poor alien into two misshapen parts. The Kig Yar’s equipment and the fact the Ultra had killed him, told Jackson this wasn’t an act of disobedience or dutiful punishment. “This Kig Yar isn’t a part of the covenant, so he must have been already here on this planet.” Jackson thought to himself as he searched through what was left of the body. He then came across a nametag and the name of a company. “Chocra, so that’s your name.” The next name reminded him of a person he hated so very much. “So you’re also in contact with Kala Van, wonderful, just wonderful.” Jackson got up and went over to the body of the Sangheili Ultra. The Ultra was in better shape than the Kig Yar, so it wasn’t so hard to see what he had. Jackson took a look at the arrow embedded in the Ultra’s neck. “Clean kill, the arrow must have broke his vertebra.” If Sil had not killed the Ultra instantly it would have cut his arm off. “Well I guess I still got some luck left after all.” He checked the Ultra for anything else and found what made it invisible, a portable clocking device. He knew what he was going to use this for. Jackson pulled out the arrow and went back to the tent he had made for Sil. Inside he found Sil sleeping. “The fight must have taken a lot out of her,” he thought sitting down beside her, carful not to wake her. Jackson flipped the seals on his helmet and took it off, taking in for the first time, Vinishia’s cold air.

30 minutes later

“Oh, uh” Sil groaned when she started sitting up. Jackson had just finished cleaning his helmet. “How long have I been sleeping for?” Sil said rubbing her bruised jaws, sitting cross-legged.

“For about half an hour. Do you still feel like continuing? Because there’s more where that Ultra came from.”

Sil ignored his question and asked her own. “You know what that thing was?” Sil said with a suspicious look in her eye. “I want to know how you know so much about that thing.”

Jackson knew Sil was going to ask him this, so he did his best to tell her. “I’ve fought things like that before. Before your family died and I took you in, I used to fight aliens like that one outside and…”

Sil cut him off and said, “I know you were some kind of war hero, but that’s not what I’m asking.” Sil brought up her arm and pointed at the tent flaps. “I want to know what species that alien is outside.”

Jackson didn’t want to tell her, but he had no choice, she would find out anyway and it was better if he told her now. “It was a… Sangheili...like you". The words hung in the air and he almost immediately regretted them.

“What?!” Sil said in disbelief, her eyes going wide in horror. “You mean to tell me I killed one of my own kind? The first one I've ever met?” Sil put one of her hands on her head as she tried to take it all in.

“I’m sorry, Sil.” Jackson said, lowering his gaze to the floor. “I never wanted you to meet your own kind in this way.”

“It doesn’t matter” Sil said catching Jackson by surprise, “He tried to kill you, and me, so it doesn’t matter. It was either him or you, so why should I care if he was my own kind?” Sil looked at Jackson and continued, “But I got to ask, why did he hesitate? I mean he had me on the ground and he just stood there.”

Jackson put a hand on his chin and offered, “Maybe it was because he realised you were a woman?”

Sil looked at him, unimpressed. “Really, that’s the best you can come up with?”

“No really, in Sangheili culture it’s the males that do all the fighting.” Jackson pointed at Sil “So when he knocked off your goggles and scarf, he saw you were a woman of the same species, so he hesitated.”

Sil still didn’t look impressed but she at least dropped the matter, for now. “Well ok. But seriously he didn’t kill me cause I am a WOMAN?”

“Hey, your guess is as good as mine.” Jackson had taken some ration packs with him, so he gave one to Sil. “Tastes like shit, but it’ll fill you up quick. Go on, eat up.”

They ate what they could, and when they were done eating, they went outside and got to wrapping up the tent.

Location: Alpha base 500 meters below Vinishia’s surface.

Three hours earlier.

Neaola Roscal

Neaola was sitting behind a hastily made barricade with a human turret placed on top. The Kig Yar at the controls was doing a good job so far, mowing down anything that dared try and breach their barricade. “Damn it, how did they find us?” Neaola spat as she took aim with her patchwork beam rifle, and shot one grunt’s heads into a million pieces, continuing through its back pack and into another’s chest.

“Maybe that ship you sent out got captured and told them where we are?” Chackrol suggested, also sitting beside Neaola.

“Damn, you really think so?” came the reply of one Kig Yar who had ducked for cover.

“Aaaaa, it’s a possibility” Neaola admitted with a scowl. “If so, this is my fault. Its my fault they’re here, killing us.”

Chackrol put a hand on Neaola’s shoulder and argued, “This is not your fault. How were you supposed to know something like this was going to happen?”

Before she could answer, a wave of suicide Unggoy wielding plasma grenades and yelling something about a Nipple Clan, came charging down the tunnel and right for their barricade. The Kig Yar on the turret shot grunt after grunt as their bodies piled on top of one another. No matter how many he shot, it did not stop the sea of grenades exploding and raining heat, plasma, bits of ice and metal in their direction.

Neaola, Chackrol and anyone else under cover were unharmed by the explosion, but the Kig Yar on the turret wasn’t so lucky. The shockwave sent the gunner flying hard into a nearby wall, killing him instantly.

“Shit!” Neaola swore gripping her beam rifle harder “Is there no end to this insanity?” As if to confirm her fears, she heard a Sangheili war cry coming down the tunnel.

“You need to go, NOW!” Chackrol started grabbing Neaola and another surviving Kig Yar. He dragged them to a ladder that led up to a catwalk, and from there to a higher level.

“What are you doing?” Neaola demanded struggling in his arms. “You can’t take them all by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine, you just get out of this level, find your father, and get to the surface.”

“Are you crazy!?” Neaola shouted as Chackrol placed her on the ladder “I’m not leaving you to die!”

“I’m not going to argue with you,” he said putting the other Kig Yar down “Please go, NOW!”

“I’m not goi..” Chackrol cut her off by putting a finger on her mouth.

“Please don’t make this harder for me, Neaola” he pleaded, “I can’t stand the thought of you dying.”

“But what if we never see each other again?” she said softly, one tear running down her face.

“We will” Chackrol promised, “I’m not planning on dying today, you can count on that. NOW GO!”

Chackrol Roscal

Chackrol watched as his wife and the other surviving Kig Yar climbed the ladder to the catwalks above. But they were going too slow. “Damn, I need to buy them some time.” Chackrol looked for anything he could use, and then it came to him “The turret!” he thought, “That should work”. He ran over to the turret and saw it was still intact. He grabbed it and tore it off its metal supports, now wielding it like a mine gun. “Alright” he thought, “Come and get it.”

Soon enough a wave of Sangheili warriors in their classic blue patch-work armour, came charging down the tunnel. He unleashed hell upon them with his powerful turret, cutting them down one by one. A few plasma shots hit his steel grey plating, but it didn’t slow him down. He kept up the stream of bullets, not letting a signal one live. "That the best you got!?" He yelled over his fire.

Click.

Chackrol’s eyes went wide as he realised the gun was empty. He threw the heavy gun at one Sangheili, knocking him over, and ducked under the blade of another. In a compartment of his robotic arm, the hilt of his own energy sword flew into his grasp and ignited. The blade came to life with a brilliant flash of light, and in one move cut the head off his attacker. More came, surrounding him from all sides. One at a time they lunged at him and every time he cut them down. This didn’t last long. A bigger Sangheili kicked his chest, knocking him to the ground and brought its heavy boot down on his robot arm, breaking the casing and damaging the gears. The larger Sangheili was about to finish him when a voice said “Enough.”

“What, that’s it?” Chackrol laughed as the big Sangheili backed off “That all you got?”

Another Sangheili kicked him in the face, bringing stars before his eyes. Two more dragged him to his feet and held him there as a Sangheili, in gold commander armour, walked up and stood in front of him.

“You look filthy, brother,” said the gold Sangheili, a hint of disgust in his tone. “What brought you so low to make you fight for these rats?”

Chackrol smiled, saying “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I got sick of taking orders from cowards like YOU.”

One of the Sangheili holding him punched his stomach, hard enough to wind him. “You’re going to regret those words heretic,” the one who punched him growled.

Chackrol laughed, “Don’t you get it? There are no gods. Why do you all waste your lives for something that isn’t real?”

“Oh, they’re real” the gold Sangheili said “But before I send you to them, you’re going to tell me what you’re doing down here.”

Chackrol spat in his face and one of the Sangheili holding him turned his blade on. But before he could use it, a beam of energy struck the Sangheili’s head, killing him instantly.

Chackrol looked up and saw Neaola with her smoking beam rifle “No Neaola, get out of here NOW!” he shouted as the still standing Sangheili put an arm around his throat, and started dragging him away.

Chapter 4: New Friends

Location: 80 meters from Alpha Base. (AKA Demon Spear)

4 hours later.

Jackson 001

“Yep, that’s our waypoint alright” Jackson confirmed with Sil. They were still a good distance away but they could now make out the jagged tips of a mountain made completely of ice. In some ways, it looked as if a massive wave had frozen suddenly before it could crash back down to earth, hanging high in the sky.

“Do you see any of those Ultra things?” Sil asked standing beside Jackson.

It was at this point Jackson wished he had brought the sniper with him, but he wasn’t about to say that to Sil. He’d never hear the end of it. What he did say was “Ok, let’s take a closer look”.

Jackson eyed an icon on his HUD, and a second later his field of view had zoomed in on his waypoint. Now that he was able to see, he could make out that at the bottom of the mountain was some sort of landing platform, held up by metal stands, and there was movement on it.

“No, thankfully there’s no Ultras, but there is a Sangheili Minor patrolling on some sort of landing platform” Jackson said to Sil.

“Told you we should have brought the sniper” Sil remarked, leaning on him and reaching up patting his helmet.

Jackson just grumbled in his throat as he came up with a plan. “Well since we don’t have the sniper, we’re going to have to improvise.”

Sil had pulled her scarf down and he could now see her expression. Puzzlement. The way she put her jaws together and pulled one side of her lip up, communicated her thoughts on Jackson’s plan wordlessly. “How are we going to get there without being seen?” Sil pointed out, scratching her chin with one claw.

Jackson smiled under his helmet as he put a hand in his backpack and pulled out the portable cloaking device.

“This is how we get there unseen,” Jackson said pointing at the device.

“What is it?” Sil said, pushing up one lens of her goggles to see the device better.

“This...” Jackson continued, spinning the device in his hand “is what the Ultra used to go invisible.”

He pushed a button and vanished. Sil had a surprised look on her face as she tried to see him.

“Uncle! Where did you go?” Jackson pushed the button again and appeared on the other side of Sil.

“Boo” Jackson said cheerfully.

“OH!” Sil yelped, hitting him on his right shoulder “Don’t do that.”

Jackson chuckled and said “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

Now more serious he continued “Ok if I’m right, when I hold on to you it should cloak you as well.”

“You even sure it works that way?” Sil asked, not looking very convinced.

“Well, not really. But in theory if we hold each other when I push this button, we both should go invisible.”

“Well...ok…” Sil answered taking hold of Jackson’s arm.

Jackson got ready to run “Ok, don’t let go, you hear me?”

Sil nodded and with that Jackson pushed the button and they both vanished.

********

“50 meters to go” Jackson yelled not slowing down, the landing platform was getting closer. Suddenly the invisible field started flashing “Oh no!” Jackson said in alarm “It’s running out of power.” If they didn’t get to cover soon, the patrolling sniper would spot them.

More and more, the field weakened making them more visible “We’re not going to make it!” Sil shouted still holding on to Jackson’s arm.

“We’ll make it” Jackson added, as the field got weaker.

40m. 30m. 20m. Maybe they were going to make it. Without warning, the field went dead “Fuck” Jackson swore, “Split up NOW!”

Jackson gave Sil the device and ran the other way. The sniper spotted them and tried to take aim, but they kept him off track. Beams of energy sizzled past Jackson’s head, narrowly missing him. Sil was now out of sight, so Jackson had no way of knowing where she was. Jackson made it to the bottom of the platform, but not before taking a beam to the chest, making him fall over. “Ow, that hurt” Jackson spat, now really pissed off, he got back up and saw some make-shift stairs leading up to the landing pad. Jackson sneaked up the stairs and poked his head up to see where the Sangheili sniper was. Almost immediately, a beam went past his head, he ran for a crate and hid behind it.

“Where the hell is Sil?” Jackson thought pulling out his magnum and sword. He waited for the sniper to get close before leaping out, firing his magnum into the sniper’s face. The sniper started staggering back, dropping his beam rifle and trying to go for his blade. Jackson took two quick steps and thrusted his sword through the Sangheili’s stomach. The Sangheili’s eyes went wide with shock as he looked into Jackson’s tinted gold visor, coughing up purple blood. With a twist of his wrist Jackson pulled out his sword and let the Sangheili crumple to the floor, his lifeblood pooling all around him.

Jackson felt something hit off his shield and turned to see another Sangheili in blue armour charging at him with a plasma repeater. Jackson dove for cover as his shields burst from the overwhelming fire, he could feel the heat of his burns as he took a few hits. “Damn” he cursed, “This armour isn’t easy to fix, you bastard.” The Sangheili moved closer shooting the corner of the crate so as not to let Jackson move.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an arrow came and hit the blue Sangheili in the back making him stumble. The Sangheili, with a look of shock, started jerking violently as electric waves went through his body. Jackson charged from his cover and stabbed the Sangheili in the mouth, causing him to freeze up and then go limp.

Jackson put a boot on the Sangheili's chest and pulled his sword out the dead body’s mouth and let it fall to the floor. He then looked up to see Sil appear with her bow in hand, “Nice shot” Jackson said, a little out of breath as he picked up the plasma repeater “That cloak is useful aint it.”

“You can say that again,” Sil said, not looking at the bodies. “Can we go inside now?” Jackson could tell Sil was bothered by what had just happened but he saved her the trouble and did what she asked.

Inside there was an eerie silence, and Jackson wasn’t picking up anything on the radar. They passed a pile of fur coats and other winter clothing as they made their way down the tunnel. Sil chose that moment to take off her winter coat and goggles and left them with the pile.

“That’s better” Sil said with relief. “I was starting to cook in that coat.”

“Stay sharp” Jackson reminded her, “We still need to go through the rest of these bastards.”

A few meters down, they came across the bodies of Kig Yar workers, it looked like they died whilst still working, jugging by the tools lying about their bodies. “Poor guys” Sil said sadly. “They were just doing their jobs. Why did they kill them?”

“’Cause, Sil” Jackson let some anger slip into his tone as he looked at the bodies “They’re monsters and kill because they feel like. So I’m going to put some plasma in their heads and see how they like it.”

Location: 200 meters below the planets surface.

Three hours later.

Sil

Sil and her uncle had gone through a lot of Unggoy infantry before coming to a large blast door that was sealed.

“Can you open it?” Uncle Jack asked.

“I think so…” Sil said not sounding too convinced. “The controls have been damaged but I think I can do a bypass.”

Uncle Jack watched the tunnel they had come down, just in case some grunts, as uncle jack called them, came running down to attack them. "Why do you think these guys are here?" Sil asked as she fiddled with some wires.

Uncle Jack looked over his shoulder at her. "I have no idea why they are here or what their after but I do know one thing, you see any of them you sneak past or you kill them." He went back to watching her back

Sil didn't really like the way he put that, like something as bad as killing was so simple. Trying not to think about it she stuck her arm in the wires as far as her elbow and felt for something. Her hand found some sort "O" shape with holes. She put her fingers in the holes and turned it. “Ok, I think I got it.” As she said that, the door started screeching open, and the stench that came through the cracks assaulted Sil’s nose. “Oh my god!” Sil said putting her scarf over her nose “What is that, smell?!”

Sil’s uncle couldn’t smell this foul odour because of his helmet, and now she wanted a helmet because the air in the room now smelled like a room full of Unggoy after a night of inhaling cheap drugs.

Sil had to put her bow away and take out her side arm so she could shoot and cover her nose simultaneously. The room was full of dead Kig Yar, Unggoy and Sangheili, whose bodies were burned all over. “Plasma grenades” Sil’s uncle pointed out “And it looks like someone used a lot of them.”

“I think I’m going… to be sick” Sil grumbled clutching her stomach, Sil’s boots bumped off the leg of a Kig Yar body and to her horror it cried out in pain. “Holy sleava WHAT THE CHEEVA!”

The Kig Yar coughed blood out of his mouth and looked at Sil “Jesus he’s still alive” Sil’s uncle said in disbelief.

“You’re not…. you’re not them?” the old Kig Yar wheezed, holding his belly with one hand. One of his legs was missing, as was one of his eyes. “Thank the gods.”

Still shocked, Sil bent down on one knee and tried to talk to him “What happened to you?” Sil asked her hands hovering over him, unsure what to do.

The old Kig Yar laughed, spitting blood in the direction of the Sangheili bodies. “I used all the plasma grenades.” He coughed. “It seemed like a good… idea at the time.”

Sil took a look at his wounds. “Maybe we can patch you up, we’ve got bio-foam.”

The old Kig Yar grabbed Sil by her collar and pulled her closer. “Listen, I don’t have much time…. Find Ne..” He was starting to drift off.

“HEY!” Sil yelled trying to keep him awake. “Find who?!”

His eyelid was getting heavy and his voice was a whisper. “Find Neaola…tell…. tell her, her old man went out fighting.” His breathing became shallow and slowly he slumped to one side.

“Hey, HEY!” Sil shouted trying to help him, but her uncle took her by the arm, pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her stomach. “What are you doing? He’s dying!” Sil screamed trying to shake free.

“He’s already gone Sil,” her uncle said in a calm voice “There’s nothing we can do.”

“I’m going to kill these MONSTERS” Sil screamed, her rage overflowing. “What did they do to deserve this? Why, what’s the need for it?” She struggled for a moment longer before she gave up and just leaned on her uncle.

Sil felt her uncles arm around her as he tried to calm her down, “Tell me uncle, tell me why they had to die?” she asked, breathing more steadily now.

“There is no reason for it” Sil’s uncle said in a sad tone. “This is evil and no matter how much we try people always die because of it” he turned her around and added “That’s why we make sure he didn’t die for nothing. Ok?”

Sil looked at her uncle, now with a new fire in her green eyes. “Ok lets go find this Neaola.”

Location: 500 meters below the planet’s surface.

Chackrol Roscal

Chackrol had been interrogated for hours now, and he still wasn’t giving in. “Come on, you shame your mother with that punch.” Again, his interrogator punched him in the stomach, winding him.

“You better talk soon, before I start losing my temper,” the interrogator snarled.

Chackrol just laughed, “Aw, just when I thought we were getting along. I swear that last punch was softer. Are you getting fellings for me?”

“My, my, you are a brave one” came a rumbling voice.

Chackrol looked up to see the newcomer, a Sangheili in big sliver armour, lined with blue and gold markings, came walking in and stood a respectful 2 meters away from Chackrol, who was pinned to the wall by gravity clamps. “And you are?” Chackrol asked mockingly. The interrogator was about to hit him, but the silver Sangheili stopped him.

“Go, your services are no longer necessary.” With that, the smaller Sangheili left and it was just the two of them now. The silver Sangheili nodded and said “My name is Ship Master Ral ‘m’ Hondow, the new leader of the Storm” he continued. “My scouts found a Kig Yar vessel coming and going from the dead planet, Harvest. We captured that ship but sadly the crew died refusing to tell us the truth.” He smiled “But they forgot to wipe their slip space data and with that, it led us here.”

“And now you want me to tell you everything?” Chackrol sneered, “Well, Ral I’m not sorry to say this but, you should shove a stick up your ass” he finished, smiling.

Ral didn’t even flinch. In fact, he seemed rather amused “Ha, so that means you don’t mind if I bring your Kig Yar friend down here and ask her?”

Chackrol pulled on his clamps, his rage boiling over “Don’t you touch her, you monster.”

“Ah so, you do have feelings for her” Ral smiled again “Thanks for confirming that.”

Chackrol’s jaws were wide open now in shock. He had been baited, and he fell right into it “Leave her alone she has nothing to do with this.”

“Then tell me what it is you’re doing down here, and I’ll order my men to stop hunting her.”

Chackrol smiled at that bit of leaked info “As long as she’s fighting back, I’ll never tell you what’s going on here.”

Ral leaned closer and said with evil in his eyes, “Then she better fight hard if that’s what keeps you from talking.” He also added, “Keep in mind, I’m not going to go easy on her, she’ll give up soon enough.”

Chackrol kept his smile saying “Good, she’d hate it if you did.”

Location: 325 meters below the planet’s surface

Jackson 001

“I have no idea anymore.” Jackson and Sil had been going through tunnel after tunnel, and somehow managed to get two Grunts to follow them because Sil couldn’t bring herself to let him kill them. “How are your new friends back there?” Jackson said not bothering to look.

“They’re doing fine, but They’re still a little shaken no thanks to you.” Sil sarcastically replied.

Jackson stopped and in annoyance, turned around, and faced Sil and her merry Muppets, the Grunts. Both Unggoy had the same armour but in different colours, one had orange and the other had dark green. Their names were Flip Yum, the dark green one, and Nip Nap the bright orange one. They had decided instead of dying, they would join Jackson and Sil to help out. Jackson just wanted to shoot them. He already had one Grunt on his ship. He didn’t need another two.

“Are we seriously going to bring them along?” Jackson asked bitterly.

“Yes” was Sil’s answer. “Like you said, there’s no reason for needless killing and besides, they’re so cute.” The last part she said in an adoring voice.

The grunts just looked at each other awkwardly. “Um Nip would like to say something” he shuffled up to Jackson, fell on his knees and started begging “OH please mighty one let us live, we promise to serve you.”

Jackson just leaned his head back and gestured for Nip Nap to get up “Please for the love of your gods, stop begging.”

Nip Nap got up and looked embarrassed “Sorry.”

“Just… can we just get moving?” All this stress was getting to him, and the Grunts where far from helpful. They were about to continue, when the sounds of gunfire and plasma shots came echoing down the tunnel.

“Everyone, take cover!” Jackson ordered, taking a spot behind some crates.

Sil and the two Grunts took spots behind some barrels and a few more crates. “What you think they are?” Flip Yum asked, pulling out his plasma pistol.

“We’ll just have to find out,” Sil answered, taking aim with her magnum.

“No one shoot till I say so,” Jackson ordered, taking aim with his new plasma repeater.

They waited for any sign of movement down the dark tunnel, the atmosphere was getting tense and Jackson was worried one of the Grunts would lose their nerve. Jackson heard three pairs of footsteps running in their direction. “Get ready!” Jackson called, his hands gripping his gun harder. From the darkness, a Kig Yar female with a patchy beam rifle and two males with old human weapons emerged. The three stopped right in front of Jackson, Sil and her merry Muppets, with a look of shock on their faces.

“A human?” the female said in disbelief “But...?”

“Get down!” Jackson shouted, and all at once they hit the ground. Jackson and Sil with her Grunts opened fire on the mass of Sangheili right behind the Kig Yar. One by one, the Sangheili kill team fell to the ground, dead.

The female got to her feet and started screaming at Jackson “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!? Give us a little more warning next time, before you start shooting over our heads.” The female was a little taller than her two friends and unlike the males she had no spines on her head. Her light orange skin looked slick with oil and she had many tools hanging off her large belt. She also had a black skin tight under suite like the males and just like the males she had steel plating on her chest and legs.

“You’re welcome” Jackson said in a flat tone. “We’re here because your boss wanted me and my crew to do something for… someone.”

The female just glared at him with her bright blue eyes, saying “I don’t give a flying sleava what you’re here for, my husband needs my help and…”

“Is your name… Neaola?” Sil interrupted.

Jackson watched as the female turned her attention to Sil for the first time and said in a low tone “How do you know my name?” Neaola walked slowly up to Sil and took a good look at her.

Sil

“Oh um…well, uh you see…” Sil’s stomach was tying itself in knots now, making it harder for her to speak.

“Well Sangheili, spit it out already,” Neaola said harshly.

“Hey, don’t speak to her like..” Sil cut her uncle off.

“No uncle.” Sil said putting up a hand, “It’s ok.” Sil steeled herself for what she was about to say. “Neaola, I’m so sorry but….your father is...dead.”

The look on Neaola’s face almost made Sil regret those last words. “He’s dead?” Neaola finally said her voice a little shaky.

“Really?” one of the other Keg Yar said, “I thought nothing could kill that old man.”

Sil watched as Neaola’s expression changed from shock to grief and finally anger. “Did he die fighting?” Neaola asked looking straight at Sil, hate burning in her eyes.

“Yes, he did” Sil said mournfully. She tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but Neaola just shook it off.

“Don’t touch me,” Neaola growled showing her sharp teeth.

Sil got the message and backed away “Sorry, I won’t.”

Sil’s uncle stepped in at that point. “Look we’re sorry for your loss. But you said something about your husband?”

Neaola’s eyes went wide at the word husband. “Yes, my husband he needs help.” She pointed at Sil’s uncle “And you’re the one who’s going to help me.”

“How are you even sure he’s still alive? I mean Kig Yar are tough but...”

Neaola cut him off “He’s not a Kig Yar!” she spat “He’s a Sangheili!”