- Sergeant Murph
- |
- Noble Legendary Member
Chapter 5
Since you been gone
I didn't sleep much for three whole days, exploring the possible things that might have occured. If Anderson was alive, why wasn't he back? If he was dead, then...
I stopped myself at that. Sergeant William Anderson was not dead. To me, it was almost as if he couldn't die, that he was invincible. He was the one that picked me up in the Warthog only six days ago, sparing my life, giving me food and shelter,
believing that I meant something to this world.
And then there was Kovalee, who had narrowly escaped in the Phantom. Surely he wasn't finished with me. No, by the power in his voice, I could feel that his ultimate goal was to watch me draw my final breath. I wouldn't give it to him so easily.
"We are a war species, and thats all we'll ever be!" the words still sounded in my ears. I began to feel as if I were the only Sangheili left. Those monsters on the battlefield were not Sangheili. They were nothing more then pawns for the Prophets. They were Elites. And although we came from the same world, our intents were different. Mine being to end the conflict in peace, and their's being to wipe out the entire Human race.
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"Failure!" screeched Kovalee, pounding his fist on the wall of the Phantom. He had come so close to regaining his honor, when the Human leader had showed up.
Hatred filled his mind, filled his heart. Killing Solonee was all he cared about now, whether or not he died in the process.
The pilot was flying the Phantom around, going no where in particular, giving Kovalee time to think of his next plan.
This time, the Heretic would not escape, and Zens Kovalee would prove himself the Covenant's greatest warrior.
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"Don't worry about it man, Sarge isn't dead. He's probably on his way back right now!" said Burns, attempting to turn my emotions around. He had seen me sitting blankly, staring at the wall.
I didn't say anything. Just stared at the door, imagining Anderson opening it, appearing out of the air, being greeted by all his men, a smile spreading from ear to ear.
But it didn't happen. The door remained closed. When I finally lifted my head, I turned to Burns, frowning.
"What do we do now?"
He shrugged, "I don't know, I guess we just wait. I've never really done anything important without Sarge. He sorta guides me through things, helps me when I need it. Without him, I don't think I can fight."
I looked around the enormous room. No soldier smiled. They all had grim looks on their face, as if Anderson was already dead. As if they had lost the war. From time to time I would see them striding about the room, talking to each other silently. There was no laughing.
That night, when everyone retired, I swiftly snuck out of my room.
I managed to enter the main room unnoticed, and opened the doors, driving one of the Warthogs out into the night.
If Anderson wasn't coming back, I was coming for Anderson.
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When the anger finally died down a notch, Kovalee thought up an idea.
"He came in a human vehicle. He stopped at a human base," he said to the pilot, feeling a rush of adrenaline.
The pilot turned, "So? Wait, you're not insisting that we try to..." he never finished.
"Scan the ground. Find the base."
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The cool night air felt good on my face. As I drove, I looked up into the stars every few moments, catching a glimpse of the world above. So calm and peaceful, where as this ring, this was a living hell.
I retraced the path I had taken to the tower, hoping Anderson would be somewhere around that area. Over steep mountains and through narrow tunnels, I guided the Warthog to the interrogation tower.
I stopped when a large pile of rock lay in my way. It took me a few seconds to take in that the rubble was the tower we had fought at only four days ago. A simple explosion probably could have brought the entire structure down.
Over the rubble, I heard voices.
"Is it dead?"
"How should I know? Go touch it with something."
"I'm not going to touch it! It may be alive!"
"Then we'll know if its dead."
I walked stealthily up the rocks, just enough so that I could see what they were doing. There were four Minor Elites, and a Jackal sniper. But that wasn't all.
William Anderson was lying flat on his back, motionless.
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There was a bang on the door. All the Marines looked up in joy.
"Sarge!" yelled a soldier, sprinting to open the door. Cheers rose from everyone as the marine typed the numbers in the keypad. Some two hundred marines ran into the main room, waiting for Anderson to come striding in.
The moment the lock was released, the soldier was knocked flat on his back, coughing and sputtering.
Nine Major Elites entered through the doorway, soon followed by Zens Kovalee, Energy Sword drawn and ready.
"Kill them all, bring Solonee to me!" he yelled, lifting up the injured marine, then running the blade through his chest.
Burns, taking action as quick as he could, made a jump for the weapon rack, extracting a BR55 Battle Rifle, only to be nailed hard with a blue plasma burst to the arm. Within seconds, the battle, or attack, rather, was underway.
Blood flooded the room, a chaotic amount of plasma bursts seemed to be endless, flying from one side of the room to the other.. To make matters worse, the attack was followed up by two Hunters, each causing mayhem with their Fuel Rod Cannons. Very few Humans had even armed themselves yet, still in shock that this could have happened so quickly.
"Where is he? Has abandoned his own damned alliance?" Kovalee screamed, showing no mercy to anyone. Anyone that came within range of him was instanly slaughtered.
Then he really lost it.
"If you do not tell me where he is, I shall dispose of all of you. You have thirty seconds."
The fighting stopped briefly.
"For the love of god, we don't know where Sol is!" yelled one brave Marine, shaking his head furiously. Kovalee slowly, carefully cocked his head toward him.
"You have given me no choice. It's a shame you all had to die like this," he said, not really meaning it.
The marines stood still for a moment, then tried to argue, but Kovalee simply turned his back to them, and started out the door.
"Take this, Squid face!" barked a marine, sprinting at Kovalee, winding up for a punch. Without looking back, Kovalee, tossed a Plasma Grenade, over his shoulder, landing square on the soldiers chest. The Humans looked away, then decided not to fight. It was over.
Four Phantoms waited outside, guns pointed at the base. When Kovalee opened the secret door, the Captain nodded.
"Burn this place to the ground."
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"Lets take it back to the ship. I'll bet Kovalee will want to see it," said one. I turned my open hand into a fist, and stood on top of the rubble. I peered around. Kovalee's energy sword still lay beside Anderson, where he had dropped it. I waited for their backs to be turned, then slid down the rocks, charging at the Elite closest to me.
He whirled around just in time so that I could deliver a punch straight to his jaw, knocking him of his feet. I picked up the sword handle, activating it, releasing a burst of plasma. The group readied their guns.
"You will not touch him," I bellowed, holding the sword to to another Elite's neck. He snorted
"Says who?"
I brought the blade closer to his neck, gritting my teeth.
He didn't seem frightened at all. In fact, he seemed to be laughing! And I found out why a moment later.
Another one of them jumped me from behind, catching me off guard. As we made our way to the hard ground, I stuck the sword through his stomach. He let out a gasp of pain, then lay motionless. I raised myself up, and stepped on his body.
The others backed off, and one pleaded "Alright, you may have him!"
"Too late," I bellowed, my heart racing.
All the feelings I had for non violence drifted away. I leaped four feet and quickly slashed twice at the third Elite's leg, causing him to colapse and roll down the steep hill leading all the way down to the lake. The other fired his Plasma Rifle numerous times, only to have me quickly step to the side and thrust the sword through him. The Jackal tried to use the Beam RIfle while they were down, but couldn't seem to hit the mark at close range. Within a second , I punched the Jackal in the head, cracking its birdlike skull.
I knelt down to Anderson once I was sure they were all dead. His face was more pale then usual. His usual neat hair was hanging down, almost covering his eyes.
I checked for a heartbeat. His heart was beating, but he was unconsious. I sighed, lowering my head.
Dead or alive, the Covenant had attacked my ally. I rose my head and gave a loud war cry that everyone within miles could here. As if to say 'come fight me,' as if to say 'now its on.'
End Transmission
Okay now I know that chapter wasn't incredibly good, but I needed a little 'regroup after the battle' chapter, ya know? Can't have too many huge fights in a row or its not a story anymore.
[Edited on 09.04.2008 11:17 AM PDT]