Chapter 7
-O-
"Garei… Nishum…"
Umbra pulled back the Glaive from the Elite General's throat as it gasped out its last words, purple blood spurting out from the large hole as the Ranger slumped onto the ground. He swiped the weapon to the side, wiping the blood from before sliding it back onto his hip. He then stepped towards the activation panel for the AA gun, regarding it for a moment before pressing down on the symbols on screen. A confirmation beep later, and the AA guns around the outpost rose to life, swiveling at the Phantoms and Banshees locked in combat with the Falcons over SWORD Base and raining furious fire upon them. With his work done, Umbra turned away and strode down the ramp onto the building. At its feet, a Ranger slumped against the wall weakly tried to raise a plasma rifle at the Warframe, quickly cut short by two shots of the Seer to his head, reducing it to fused flesh, metal and glass.
An automatic action. Reflex, at most. That is what he repeated over and over in his thoughts.
Umbra pulled the Tiberon from his back as he walked out onto the tattered battlefield that the outpost's patio had become. A Phantom's wreckage burned not too far from the AA turret, the emplacement's first kill before it turned towards the sky. Green and blue blood caked the ground, limbs and pieces of flesh strewn about alongside the bodies of the Covenant troops that tried to fight back. Their faces frozen with semblances of terror etched in their eyes, gazing unfocused onto the forever.
Contrary to what he believed, Umbra discovered that their advanced technology made the aliens no more resistant to his weapons than the Grineer or Corpus. In a way… They seemed even more so. While the empire and the corporations had grown accustomed to facing enemies far greater than themselves, staring down reapers of life that made the world their tool, the Covenant seemed to have grown… Complacent. Their belief in their crusade made them far easier to put down. The fact the attack force they seemed to believe sufficient to subjugate the human defenders fell to his assault showed how unprepared they were.
It would not last, true. In time, they would grow to fear him, as many others feared the Tenno. And with that fear, would come adaptation. But not yet.
Now, he had far more leeway.
Umbra lifted the Tiberon and scanned his surroundings, looking for any errant Covenant ground forces that had escapes his radar or senses, but found only scant plant life and more bodies.
And the flaming wreck of the Ghost he had crashed onto a boulder when arriving at the outpost.
In his defense, he had never driven such a vehicle before, and the controls were very unintuitive. Like all the Dargyns in the Plains of Eidolon, or Corpus Coildrives in Orb Vallis.
Or that Condor Dropship they once had tried to steal carrying weapons to deliver to Solaris United…
Or the Grineer Galleon he took over to wreak havoc on the Queen's supply lines…
At least the controls of his vessels were far more responsive and intuitive.
The Tenno's reminiscing ended when his radio pinged an incoming call, one he quickly took with a simple tap to the side of his helmet.
"This is Umbra."
"
Umbra, this is Noble Two. Six and I just cleared out Farragut Station and got the generator powered up," said the Spartan, followed by the dry echo of a pistol being discharged and the dying gurgles of a Jackal. "
What's your status?"
"Airview Base is secure, all hostiles eliminated and the defenses are online."
"
Copy that. Sword Control will have troops take over operation of the outpost, Carter's calling us back to the base. Apparently that corvette didn't enjoy us snooping around."
"Understood," replied the Warframe, when suddenly his destroyed Ghost let out a burst of flame into the air, taking his attention for a moment. "… I'll require pick-up however."
"
Alright, we're on our way." And with that, his comms shut off. Umbra walked to the downed Phantom and scoured its wreck for survivors or any other surprises, but found only bodies and charred equipment. A few weapons miraculously survived the crash, alongside a few plasma grenades. Umbra quickly took the latter, seeing no reason to loot weapons when his own arsenal proved sufficient, but kept in mind to request some spoils be sent to his Orbiter for analysis.
Suddenly, he heard the now-familiar sound of a Warthog's engine coming from outside, and climbed out of the wreck just in time to see said vehicle fly over a hill and land a few meters in front. Behind the wheel was Noble Two, while Six manned the turret of the ATV. Umbra noted with curiosity that instead of a machinegun, the Warthog was mounted with a rectangular cannon of sorts, reminiscent of his Opticor. A laser weapon perhaps?
"Ride's here, get on board Umbra," called out Kat from inside the vehicle. The Tenno quickly jumped onto the passenger seat, holding his rifle close to his chest. With an approving nod, Noble Two floored the gas pedal, the Warthog's tires grinding against the ground before rocketing them all forward.
The travel back was significantly smoother, helped both by the fact that the Covenant troops in the area had had the unfortunate luck of trying to stop the advance of the super soldiers. Their arrival, however, was hailed by gunfire and plasma.
Where once they had left only dead bodies and wrecks now hurried fresh Covenant troops, firing at the troopers that had remained behind. Panicked shouting and staggered fire rained from the hill just ahead of the gate, but it paled in the face of the crimson-hued bolts that fell upon the beleaguered defenders.
Amidst the rocks, dodging from and into cover, Revenants rained furious plasma with impunity as their Sangheili pilots deftly maneuvered the hovercrafts away from enemy fire. With their position, even if located downhill, they had the perfect cover to harass and finish off the UNSC troops.
But they were exposed to the arriving reinforcements.
The Gauss Warthog's engine roared as it nearly flew onto the battlefield, with both Umbra and Six quickly taking aim with their weapons at the vehicles. The Tenno put his sights on two Revenants closer to one another and let fly two grenades from his Tonkor. The high-yield explosives bounced twice on the ground and landed just short of the first vehicle, but it was close enough. With a thundering blast, the Revenant was tossed aside like a ragdoll, smashing against its compatriot just as both fired. Their plasma bolts crashed against each vehicle, flash-frying their occupants and doubling the resulting fireball as the wrecks flew apart and crashed onto the boulders. This caught the attention of both Grunts and humans, the former screaming in panic as the Warthog sped towards them, while the latter cheered them on, powering through fatigue and injuries.
Kat aimed the vehicle at the panicking Unggoy and floored the gas, hearing the engine roar and vibrate as the Warthog closed the distance to its intended victims. The Grunts waved their arms in a frenzy at turned to run, but their stubby legs could carry them so far.
And it was not far enough.
The occupants of the Warthog did not witness the results of their improvised attack, but they certainly felt it. The ATV shook and bumped as it drove over the diminutive aliens, dragging them across the ground and crushing both bone and skin underneath its unforgiving chassis. A few barely jumped out of the way, only to find themselves prey of the reinvigorated UNSC troopers that jumped from cover and began their attack once more without the fear of heavy plasma raining down. Umbra and the two Nobles quickly jumped from the blood-coated Warthog with weapons drawn, firing off at any stragglers that escaped the aim of the troopers. In mere moments, only humans and Tenno remained in the battlefield.
One of the troopers, a sergeant if the markings in his shoulder were accurate, approached the three trans-humans and gave a pained salute. "Spartans… Excalibur. Good to see you three… Damn Covies hit us as soon as you left, I made to hunker down and wait for you to come back, but…"
"At ease, soldier," replied Kat, holstering her pistol. The man in question sagged as soon as the words reached his ears, arms dropping to his side and rifle clattering to the ground. "Get to the rest of your forces and pull back into the gatehouse." With a sluggish nod, the trooper picked up his weapon once more and dashed back to his troops, followed closely by the three arrivals.
Umbra had grown accustomed to death, to the destruction that conflict wrought. After all, he had been the cause for most of it. Balance to the system was always won with rivers of blood and valleys of corpses, no matter how fleeting it was, so the sight of butchered or dead humans had been a sight that had become stagnant to him.
Yet this was not something he saw much. The step that came before all of that.
The suffering.
The soldiers that had stood strong and brave as he and the Spartans had left to accomplish their mission now huddled close to one another, nursing injuries both of their own and their compatriots, or simply cradling their guns while staring at the ground with a distant, tired look.
Many were unmoving.
Of the twelve soldiers that had held the gate, only seven remained amongst the living. And of those, only three uninjured. Umbra turned to one of the injured, a man, no older than 20, with short blonde hair laying upon the ground with his helmet tossed to the side. His eyes were unfocused, gazing aimlessly at the sky, even as the combat medic tried to stem the blood that poured from the side of his torso, pink crystal shards still poking out of the injury.
"Come on, dammit," cursed the doctor, rummaging through his field kit frantically. "Stay with me, you ain't dying here…" The fallen soldier did not move, yet Excalibur's heightened hearing picked up the faint whisper coming from the soldier's lips. Calmly, the Warframe paced towards the two figures, knelt beside the injured human and placed a hand upon his chest. The doctor eyed the warrior warily, but quickly returned to searching his bag. The blonde soldier's eyes shifted minimally to the side, meeting the impassive visor that stared back, and in that moment Umbra saw something in them. A spark, fleeting as it was.
One he had grown accustomed to seeing.
Without a word, the Tenno pulled his Glaive and extended one of its blades and began reciting a chant he still knew by the letter. "In the tides of life you fall, and the embrace of rest calls. For your duty is fulfilled, and no more can be asked in return. By call of the beyond…"
"Wait what the hell—"
Shnk.
"I commit thee to the void."
Blood poured from the wound as Umbra pulled the Glaive's blade from the soldier's throat and placed it back on his holster. The medic's eyes widened in horror, the man shoving his way past Umbra to grasp the dying trooper's hand. The young man turned his gaze to the doctor ever so weakly, then to the Tenno to the side. And as the red liquid filled his mouth, he drew his last breath, and gurgled his parting words.
"Th…ank…y…"
And thus, he was no more.
The medic grit his teeth and clenched his fist in anger, his entire body shaking in growing rage, then slowly bent down and closed the young man's eyes. He then grasped the cord of his dog tags and yanked it off, carefully holding the cord and metal plate in the air, before turning to the impassive Tenno, thrusting the cord onto his face.
"Take it," he droned low, tried grey eyes half-lidded. "If you're going to lay them to rest, at least remember their names." Umbra reached up and took the cord, staring at the spinning metal plate hanging upon it. He then carefully wrapped it around his wrist, pulling it tightly against the leather-like skin, before facing the doctor once more.
"I always will, trooper." The human regarded the Warframe for a moment, followed by his shoulders slumping and him turning mechanically to the remaining soldiers still alive, kneeling beside a woman with a plasma burn on her leg, a small container of biofoam in hand.
Suddenly, the entire place shook, pebbles raining from above as they were dislodged from the cliffsides by the vibrations. In the distance, the sounds of the corvette's plasma turrets echoing faintly to them, and pulling the Tenno back from his own thoughts.
He would have time to mourn later.
For now, he would kill.
"Umbra," called out Six from inside the gatehouse, already resupplied in ammunition alongside Kat, who now held an SMG in her hands. With a nod, Umbra dashed to their side, hearing the doors close behind them as the ones ahead opened once more. Readying the Tiberon once more, the three super soldiers watched the heavy metal plates disappear into the floor, and quickly dashed out as the sunlight beamed once more upon them.
"
We're stalled in the tower atrium, Kat, where are you?" called out Jun through the radio, the deafening roar of his sniper rifle almost drowning out his words and the chaotic gunfire around him.
"We're on our way, Three, hold tight."
The courtyard remained littered with bodies, smoke and blood still wafting from them as it did before when Noble and the soldiers had broken through their forces. As one, the three stepped over the corpses as the entrance to SWORD base came into view, its metal doors now open.
From it, they heard explosions and screams. More than enough incentive.
Just as they reached the patio, a green flash exploded just ahead, sending flying a screaming UNSC trooper coated in incendiary gel over their heads to crash down upon the floor, the gel boiling away the deceased. And as the trio rushed towards the source of the blast, they witnessed the chaos reigning upon the loading bay.
A small squad of UNSC troopers screamed and fired wildly into and around the docking bay, assault rifles and shotgun echoing loudly with bullets burying themselves in the thick concrete…
And on their targets.
Umbra had seen many large enemies in his life. Be it by mechanization, such as with Vay Hek and his massive assault platform, assimilation of matter such as with the Infestation, the gargantuan Orb Mothers that terrorized Fortuna or construction and manipulation such as with the Eidolons, size was not something that could intimidate him anymore.
Yet were he on the shoes of an UNSC soldier, without the boons and strengths given by the Void or his centuries of discipline and training, panic would be appropriate response to seeing two Mgalekgolos wiping out your comrades.
Larger than any Tenno or Spartan, the armor-clad blue giants weathered the small arms fire with both their thick plating and massive shields upon their arms, turning their heads to each target as they fired large bolts of green gel at every target they could find.
And though the Marines had been lucky so far, their options for cover were decreasing with every missed shot. Along with their chance of survival.
This could not stand.
The three put forth a burst of speed and dashed onto the hangar just as one of the Hunters punched a concrete roadblock into dust and raised its arms to pulverize a panicking trooper. With quick reflexes, Umbra aimed his Tiberon at the blue titan, switched it to burst fire and pressed the trigger four times. The bullets smashed against both the shield arm and armor, but failed to penetrate the thick plating.
It seemed the reports were correct, Umbra thought.
Weak points it'll be.
Quickly switching to full auto, the Tenno held down the trigger and sprayed the Hunter with bullets. Some of them buried themselves onto black and orange flesh between plates, yet they seemed to do little more than anger the colony organism. It did managed to take its attention away from the soldier on the ground, who quickly vacated from the spot and jumped inside the security checkpoint. Six and Two drew their own weapons and fired upon the other Hunter, but the results were similarly useless.
"NOBLE SIX, HEADS UP!" cried out another Marine, the black-armored soldier turning just in time to see a weapon thrown to him, which he quickly caught mid-air.
M45 shotgun, standard issue. 6-shell 8-gauge magnum capacity, pump-action. High power and with an effective range of seventy meters.
Devastating in close quarters.
Perfect. He quickly holstered his DMR and pumped the slider once, readying it for use.
Kat let out another burst of her SMG, the bullets pinging uselessly against the Hunter's shells, then dodged to the side just in time to avoid a blast from the assault cannon that tore a sizeable chunk from the concrete. Quickly, she pulled a grenade from its resting place on her waist, pressed down on the detonator and flung it towards the closest enemy.
The Hunter, however, in a surprising display of agility, simply smacked away the explosive with its shield arm, sending the grenade instead towards a parked truck. The small sphere clinked lightly onto beneath the truck, then erupted in a massive fireball. The fuel inside the vehicle only served to further feed the flames, a massive fireball bursting into the air and covering the ceiling above.
Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Kat loaded a fresh clip onto the SMG and began firing again, drawing the Hunter's attention and away from its bond brother. The blue giant trudged towards her, its shield raised and blocking any attempt of attack, but this was what she needed. Distract it, open it up for attacks.
Said attack came in the form of Noble Six.
The black-clad Spartan ran towards the Hunter like a freight train, shotgun gripped tightly upon its hands. Before the alien could turn, he jumped onto its back, pointed the barrel at the exposed neck, and pressed the trigger.
The 3-inch shell blasted straight into the Hunter's orange flesh, the roar of the gun echoing like thunder inside the garage. Orange blood splattered onto the Spartan's legs as the alien let out a rumbling roar and shook its entire body in pain, trying to dislodge the human riding upon it, only for Six to in reply dig his feet further into the alien's shoulders and press the shotgun's trigger again.
And again, and again…
Six shot and pumped the weapon in seconds, emptying all the shells onto the Mgalekgolo's far more fragile flesh. Pieces of dead worms and torrents of orange blood washed both the Hunter and the Spartan, and yet still the creature would not die. Its bond brother, hearing the cries of pain, turned and aimed its assault cannon at the armored human riding in the back.
In the moment it would fire, Umbra rushed the creature, jumping onto its arm and wrapping his arms around it, pulling the gun arm away. Unable to correct its aim, the Hunter's shot went off into the ground, tearing a large hole onto the pavement and splashing both him and the Tenno with incendiary fuel.
Six, taking advantage of distraction, pulled one of his own grenades, primed it, and punched it through the Mgalekgolo's nape and into the hole caused by the shotgun. Quickly jumping off of the creature, both Nobles took cover as the Hunter swayed on its feet, froze… And fell forward as the grenade detonated inside of it, the alien's back exploding into a massive plume of charred worms, flames, shrapnel and blood. The Hunter's corpse dropped like a boulder, cracking the pavement beneath it and flinging further gore forward.
With the remaining Hunter, Umbra's shields flared as they fought against the volatile substance, a blue veil separating his body from the green, gelatinous ammo. Even still, he saw the indicator in his HUD drop by half, and the shield strength alarm blare. With a loud roar, the Hunter pulled its arm back, dragging with it the Tenno still grasped upon it, who quickly somersaulted over the alien and fired at its neck with the Seer.
However, the alien seemed to have learned seeing its partner being injured. It quickly retracted its head close to its torso, hiding away the exposed neck and instead leaving the pistol's energy bolts to strike the plating upon its head. And while the armor scorched and weakened, it was not enough to destroy it completely. Letting out a low curse, Umbra landed and quickly swapped the pistol's magazine, tossing aside the spent one and letting it dissolve onto the ground.
The marvel of Tenno weaponry technology: no traces left. Easily disposable.
He fired thrice more, but the Hunter merely blocked the shots with its shield, and replied with another shot from its assault cannon, which Umbra quickly leapt to the side to avoid. Drawing his Glaive, he channeled energy void onto the weapon and tossed it, the blades leaving a trail of blue aura behind them as it sailed towards the large alien.
Yet the Hunter seemed to care not, instead charging straight at Umbra with its shield held close to its chest and body crouched, leaving the Glaive to sail over its back and instead simply slashing the spikes. Umbra made to jump to the side, but another shot from the assault cannon exploded in his chosen path of escape. With no other choice, the Tenno only had time to cross his arms in front of himself and brace for the impact.
The Hunter did not disappoint. Five thousand kilos of mass slammed directly onto Umbra, lifting him from the ground in its charge before slamming him into the wall behind them, sinking the Warframe three centimeters into it and cracking a large circle around him. The Seer flew from his grasp and landed upon the ground, thankfully far enough that the alien wouldn't step onto it.
Umbra felt his enhanced skeleton
creak from the blow just as his shield broke, the blue aura shattering into motes of light. Umbra saw his condition meter drop by a full quarter, followed by the Hunter pressing down on him harder. The concrete cracked further, and it took all the strength the Tenno had to keep the shield from completely smashing him.
Seeing their teammate pinned, both Six and Kat took aim and fired, with even the Marines joining into the combined fire. But the Hunter simply endured the fire focused on it, instead taking aim with its cannon and launching three bolts rapidly at the humans, who quickly scattered to avoid the green gel. The alien stretched its neck until its head was almost touching Umbra's leather visor and let out a low growl. Umbra stared into the four green glowing eyes before opening his visor, showing his own four blue eyes.
"Arrogance… Leads to downfall," he muttered at the creature before rearing his head back, feeling the void energy build up within him.
Kat watched the familiar glow, and quickly turned to her squad mate. "Six!"
"Cover your ears," he replied in return, with all troopers doing so as he and Noble Two shut off the audio receptors in their armor.
The Hunter did not have time to assess what was happening before Umbra lurched his head forward and unleashed the Radial Howl.
The ethereal wail echoed tenfold inside the enclosed space, a terrifying roar that seemed to carry within it the promise of death. The troopers and Spartans felt the inside of their heads rattle even with the forewarning, white spots appearing in the corner of their vision and ears ringing from the aural assault. The Hunter seemed to fare even worse, its entire body spasming violently as each individual Lekgolo worm tried to recover from the ability. Distracted as it was, the gestalt had no way to react to any attempts to kill it.
Which came in the form of a ghostly whistling, followed by the returning Glaive Prime arcing around to hit the exposed neck. The weapon sliced cleanly through the appendage, separating it from the main body and dazzling the Hunter even further. Gathering all his strength, Umbra braced against the wall and heaved, pushing the shield arm away from his body, freeing room for his limbs. Quickly, he grabbed all the plasma grenades he had collected, primed them, and stuck them into the Hunter's chest, then leapt over the creature.
And as the Glaive arced back towards him and Umbra expertly took it in his grasp, the explosives detonated, the Mgalekgolo disappearing in a massive plume of plasma. Just as quickly as the blue flames appeared, they dispelled. In their place was a charred and maimed corpse, a torso with legs slumped into itself and bits of melted armor fused to it.
Umbra let out a heavy sigh as his shields regenerated, the meter slowly returning to full. His health, however, remained lowered, and he could feel the internal injuries being sealed off by his Infested tissue. He wouldn't drop dead, thankfully enough, but a return to the Orbiter would be in order.
Perhaps he should start making regeneration totems just in case…
"Still in one piece there?" called out Kat as she approached, her gaze shifting from the wrecked Hunter corpse to the Tenno as he holstered the Glaive onto his hip.
"I'm alright. This is far from the worst injury I've suffered," replied the Tenno as he recovered his fallen pistol from the ground.
"Let's move then. Marines, treat your injuries then link-up with the squad at the gates."
"Yes ma'am!"
And as the troopers rushed out of the garage, some stopping to pick up fallen weapons or ammunition, the three Nobles collected their own ammo and rushed towards the elevator that miraculously was still functional. With a press of a button, the doors closed and the elevator sped upwards, when suddenly the entire building seemed to shake and the elevator halted, the lights inside flickering.
"
Corvette's hitting his base hard," piped in Emile just as the lights returned and the elevator resumed its ascent.
"Where's our orbital support?" questioned Kat back as she quickly checked her SMG. "Got to be four platforms that could take it out with a MAC round."
For his part, Umbra simply did a recheck of his own weapons and tuned out of the exchange. It was a… Different feeling to have support like this. Even in this losing war, a Spartan was given any tool necessary to accomplish, and possessed an entire army that they could count on, an entire industry.
The Tenno never had such a thing. At least, not in this scale. The syndicates and dojos spared what they could, but fighting two system-wide organizations and a trans-solar army was not something they could feasibly do normally, bar the most extreme of cases such as with Operation Scarlet Spear.
Only the more reason to assist these humans.
The elevator lurched as it reached the final floor, sounding a quick ping before the doors opened to the atrium. It was a long, smooth hallway of steel and neon lights, a reception desk just in front of them with ONI's insignia emblazoned above it. The glass panels in the hallway, however, had been shattered to pieces scattered across the floor, a blue walkway visible behind the small wall.
"
Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence. An ONI representative will meet you shortly," announced the base's PA system, just as an Elite Minor and three Grunts came to view. The aliens looked to the ceiling in confusion, before turning towards the elevator and towards the new arrivals. Both Six and Kat felt their combat enhancements pump drugs onto their bloodstream and heighten their senses to the absolute maximum, and the world slowed to a crawl.
Spartan Time.
One of the Grunts reached to its belt and pulled two plasma grenades, the action slowed to a crawl for their brains. Just as the explosives were raised in the air, the Elite behind him starting to roar a command, the two Nobles had already drawn their DMR and pistol, aimed, and fired.
No wind, a straight line, no obstacles and with the target in clear sight.
They couldn't have asked for an easier shot.
As soon as the bullets struck the small blue orbs, the volatile plasma inside ignited from the spark of metal against metal. The results were… Predictably explosive.
The blue flames engulfed both grunts in their wake, their squealing cut before it could even begin. The Elite, being further away, was tossed back by the impact into the wall, his shields flaring and disappearing with the impact. Before the Sangheili could recover from the blow, Umbra raised his rifle, switched to single-fire mode and shot twice: once on the throat, another straight into its mouth. Blue blood exploded onto the wall behind it, its body sagged, and Elite moved no more.
A second passed, and the two Spartans returned to normal time.
"
Thank you, Lieutenant. You have been cleared for access," chimed in the PA announcement once more just as cheerily as before, a designated path quickly popping up in their HUD. The three rushed past the bodies and turned right with a large metal door in their path. Another moment passed, and the door's lock slid out of place, allowing the three metal plates to slide into the walls and ceiling with a loud, echoing groan.
The atrium of the building was a massive empty pillar, with stairs and walkways crisscrossing to connect both sides, several open windows and balconies on each side and a massive glass ceiling and wall at the end granting a wide-spanning vista of the land below.
It seemed ONI spared no expenses when designing the opulence of their own homes.
Suddenly, several plasma bolts flew through the doorway and melted into the wall behind them. Just ahead, Jorge stood out in the open firing Etilka non-stop at a wall of shields held by a group of Jackals, with two Sangheili leading them from the rear. Crouched behind some crates was Jun, the green Spartan rising from cover to take a few shots with his trusted sniper rifle at enemies above them, only to be forced back into cover by an equal torrent of plasma aimed at him. Most missed and struck the floor, but enough had apparently landed on the crate that it appeared more of a pile of molten metal and plastic than its original shape.
"Spartans, Umbra! Over here!" yelled Jorge over the gunfire, twisting his body to the side as a few stray Needler rounds flew towards him. Six quickly took to action, firing his shotgun twice at the Jackals and making their shields buckle, but the phalanx held up still. Kat pressed her body against the wall outcropping and unholstered her magnum, quickly firing both it and her SMG at the Covenant troops on ground level and adding her own firepower to Jorge's impressive one.
"
Six, head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure he gets there," called out Carter through the comm link.
"Depend on it!" replied the Spartan-II as he hosed down the Elite Minor that made the mistake of leaving the safety of the shield cover with Etilka.
Six and Umbra quickly took advantage of the distraction and raced out of cover, with the Spartan quickly running up a ramp leading to the rooms on the right side.
Umbra, however, took a more… Tenno approach.
With Tiberon in hand, Umbra dashed out of cover and fired at full auto at the Jackals, forcing them back into the cover of their shields and giving further breathing room to the troops on the ground. With the battlefield momentarily on their advantage, Umbra crouched low, tensed the muscles on his legs, and jumped.
Six meters into the air.
The Tenno ran up the wall as the Covenant forces tried to shoot him down. Avoiding the plasma fire aimed at him, once he reached the apex Umbra bent his legs and jumped back, somersaulting onto a walkway and in front of three very surprised and now terrified Grunts. Before the short little aliens could even yelp in fear, Umbra fired the Tiberon at them, gunning them down with a quick full-auto burst. Above on another walkway, two Jackals and an Elite Major took note of the assailant and brought their weapons to bear on him, firing their plasma and needler rifles. With supreme reflexes, Umbra unholstered his Glaive and spun it, using the throwing blade to parry projectiles still in the air before throwing it at the three aliens. One Jackal crouched fast enough to dodge it, while the Elite backed away enough that only his rifle was slashed instead of his arm. The second Jackal however, was not as lucky, and found itself one head shorter, slumping to the ground as blood spurted from its neck stump.
With the blade still in flight, Umbra holstered his rifle and leapt towards the right wall with his Seer in hand, running its length while channeling energy to his feet to keep himself stuck to it. A few more Grunts ran out into the open and fired needlers and plasma pistols at him, but his shields weathered the shots as he returned fire with his own sidearm, emptying the clip to kill the exposed Unggoy.
Just as his running momentum began ending, Umbra flung his Parazon at the walkway above him, the small blade burying itself onto the steel beam. Grasping the energy live connecting his wrist to the blade, Umbra shot into the air as he felt the energies of the Void course through him once more.
But this time, it would not be a roar to paralyze.
20 enemies… 10 within range… It will suffice
Tendrils of blue ghostly energy seeped from the Tenno's body, twisting into one another and molding themselves to shape, leaving instead ten ethereal white blades hovering around him, each pointing towards an enemy in his senses.
And as he landed upon the top-most walkway, Umbra grasped the returning Glaive and slammed it onto the ground.
The Radial Javelins flew outwards in a blur, leaving white trails of energy as they sought their intended victims. Walls and obstacles did nothing to stop the ethereal blades, and armor offered no resistance as the Covenant forces found themselves pierced through their chests by the void swords. Bodies were flung off to the side and impaled onto walls, floor and ceiling, blood pouring out from their wounds as the UNSC soldiers stared in shock at the sudden killings, but were quickly brought back to the battle when the surviving Covenant troops began firing anew.
As Umbra went to stand up, a glimpse of something golden glinted off at the corner of his vision, and the Warframe had just enough time to leap to the side before three purple rounds exploded in the spot he had occupied a second before. Recovering quickly, the Tenno eyed his new opponent.
A Sangheili General, clad in conspicuous white armor.
The Elite let out a defiant roar, took aim with its concussion rifle and fired three more rounds at the crouched Tenno, who quickly dashed forward and slid under them as the shots detonated behind him. The General, in response, let out a low growl of frustration before tossing its weapon aside and drawing its own plasma sword, charging head-long towards Umbra.
The Warframe brought his Glaive up and blocked the Elite's horizontal slash, sparks flying off around the two weapons as the Sangheili tried to overcome the stalemate. Acting quickly, Umbra pulled his arm back and ducked, letting the blade sail over his head as he quickly threw an uppercut with his own bladed weapon. To his surprise, the Elite reacted quickly, igniting an energy dagger on its wrist and parrying the Glaive to the side, followed by a kick that Umbra barely blocked with his free arm. Rising to his full height, Umbra began spinning the Glaive in his hand, giving his opponent a scrutinizing glare from behind his visor.
"Excellent moves…" it said in a low tone, taking a more closed stance. "You know your blade well." In yet another surprising move, the Sangheili let out a seeming growl of approval, before shifting its own stance to something far more practiced, its own body crouched closer to the ground.
"This may still prove worthwhile…" drawled the alien. Its speech was heavily accented, slurred… But it was human speech regardless. And now that he realized it… Far softer than the others he had encountered. "I am Fuma 'Hadamee, General and War Maiden of Sanghelios." Umbra remained silent for a moment, before stopping the spinning of his Glaive.
"Excalibur Umbra. Free Tenno… Scorched Blade of Sol. I accept your challenge," he replied.
Names had been exchanged. He knew what this meant.
One of them would not walk from this duel.
A moment passed… And they charged once more. Fuma thrust her arm forward, aiming her energy dagger at side of his abdomen, but Umbra quickly grasped the limb with his free hand, lashing out with the Glaive towards her armpit. The General swiped with her plasma sword dangerously close to her own chest to parry the blow, sending both blades up into the air, followed by her headbutting him.
The horn of the helmet made the impact far harder, though both warriors' shields weathered the blow easily enough that it simply pushed them apart. Reacting quickly, Umbra threw his Glaive and drew his Seer, emptying the clip on the Sangheili. In response, Fuma took one of the magazines for her concussion rifle from her waist and threw it into the air as she back-pedaled to avoid the flying blades, placing her sword flat in front of her torso. Six shots hit her blade, four stroke her exposed legs and arm, shattering her shields but falling short of her armor… And the last two hit the flying magazine. The energy bolt pierced the containment unit for the compacted plasma charges, and the ammo pack screeched loudly before exploding into a ball of purple-and-red flame, shattering the glass panels beneath it and a large part of the
Umbra jumped back to avoid the explosion as he ejected the spent magazine and loaded a fresh one before emptying it as well through the plume of smoke, grasping the Glaive as it arced back towards him once more.
And though he heard the pained cries of Unggoy, he did not hear any sounds of pain from Fuma herself.
Instead, what he heard was the sound of more shattering glass. When Umbra dashed through the cloud of smoke… The Sangheili was not there.
Instead, the panes of the window broken by the explosion were missing a bigger chunk, and below he could see a Phantom retreating from the battlefield, with a white humanoid standing atop its hull and staring back at him. Umbra gazed at the transport as it sped away from the battlefield, before holstering his pistol and Glaive. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from behind him, and quickly turned to meet whoever it was.
It was Noble Six.
"Umbra," greeted the armor soldier, holding his shotgun close to his chest and with an assault rifle now attached to his back instead of his DMR. Six took one moment to look at the site of his duel, before turning back to the Tenno. "Trouble?"
"No… Simply a diversion," he replied, taking hold of his Tiberon. The Spartan made to reply, when suddenly the building shook once more, with dust and pieces of stone falling atop both super soldiers.
"
The corvette's gonna rip this base apart! What's the situation, Noble?" cried out Sword Control through the radio, his panic still seemingly held in place with utmost discipline.
"
Can't do this on my own! Need another Spartan up here!" growled Emile, though his voice was muffled by the intense gunfire roaring in the background. With a quick look at one another and a nod, Six and Umbra took off running towards the marker in their HUDs.
-O-
Atop the retreating Phantom, Fuma 'Hadamee opened the emergency hatch on the hull and jumped down to the passenger hold of the dropship filled with injured soldiers: a team of Jackals, two Elite Majors and one Ultra, and a single Unggoy pacing after a Huraggok as it worked on the armor and weapons of the troops. With a drawn-out sigh, the War Maiden walked towards a secluded corner of the hold, sat down and removed her helmet, feeling the cooled, recycled air inside the Phantom against her scales. She turned her helmet around in her claws, staring at the ceremonial horn atop it, then chuckled low.
[General, your orders?] asked a Sangheili Ranger she recognized as the co-pilot of the dropship, as he walked towards her with a med-pack in hands. Fuma took the pack and gave him an appreciative nod before opening it and withdrawing some of the items inside.
[Contact the
Long Night of Solace,] she replied, pressing a gel cooler onto her torso, a wince of pain escaping her mandibles as the large bruise flared in pain. [Field Marshall 'Luhomee will wish to hear about this.]
[At once, General.]
And as the Ranger returned to the cockpit, Fuma looked down once more at her helmet, running one finger over the sunken-in horn.
[This war has become… A lot more interesting.]
-O-
Emile let out a growl of frustration as he once more had to duck behind fallen debris to avoid the strafing shots of a Banshee, quickly replacing the spent cylinders of his rocket launcher with new ones laying on the floor before rising once more to shoot rockets at the fighters circling around the opening. One rocket missed when the Banshee it was locked on to rolled to the side, but the second one quickly caught the fighter as it was recovering from the maneuver, reducing it to a flaming wreckage as it crashed onto the ground below. Quickly replacing THAT cylinder, Emile looked to the pile of ammunition at his feet.
Four more cases… Meant eight reloads. Yeah, should be enough.
Just as he finished placing another tube onto his weapon, Emile heard the sound of another impulse engine approaching, one far heavier, however. And lo and behold, a Phantom flew over his head and turned to the side, allowing its Grunt door gunner fire the side turret at him in a torrent of angry plasma bolts.
"Dammit," he cursed as he threw himself to the ground, several shots of the turret missing his cover and instead flying over his head. "Anytime now would be good for the cavalry". Emile heard the telltale sound of the Phantom's troop bay doors opening, ready to drop its troops onto him…
Suddenly, two small cylinders arced through the air off to the side and bounced into the inside of the Phantom, then detonated in an absurdly massive fireball that sheared the entire middle of the transport off, leaving the remaining two halves to fall away. Emile watched in a mix of surprise and
absolute glee the space the Phantom had occupied, before turning to follow the small trail of smoke to his saviors.
And lo and behold, there came running Umbra and Six, the Tenno holding his Tonkor in one hand and the Tiberon on another, the Spartan clutching an assault rifle with a shotgun on his back. Umbra quickly holstered the grenade launcher and began firing into the air with his rifle as he jumped onto a higher vantage point. Six raced towards his fellow Noble, quickly scooping from the ground an abandoned rocket launcher of his own before crouching beside Emile, loading fresh tubes into the weapon. "Four" he greeted, taking one knee on the ground before firing off one rocket.
"Six," replied the skull-faced Spartan as he took aim himself, firing off a rocket at a Banshee that had decided it was a good idea to charge the now two Spartans and was instead greeted with a 102-millimeter rocket square to its front. Another fighter flew by and fired its fuel rod cannon at them, but the blob of gel was, surprisingly, sliced out of the air by the Glaive tossed by Umbra, the projectile exploding harmlessly in the air. As the Banshee tried to speed away, another grenade sailed through the air and struck the fighter, blasting away its entire right side when it detonated.
Yeah, Emile was
definitely asking for that gun.
It wasn't long before the number of Banshees thinned under the onslaught of the three super soldiers, however. Especially when from the same hallway Umbra and Six had arrived from emerged Jorge, Etilka primed and ready as he began firing high velocity explosive slugs at the fighter craft. Within moments, there were no more fighters in the air. Umbra jumped down from the perch and holstered his weapons as he approached the three Spartans.
"Nice work up there," said Noble Four, before motioning to the folded Tonkor with his shotgun. "Care to share?" Before the Tenno could reply, however, their radio crackled to life.
"
Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push. Orbital defenses standing by to take the shot," said Sword Control. The four soldiers walked to the edge of the destroyed building floor and watched as the triangular shape of two Longsword fighters flew past above them, heading towards the Covenant ship. The corvette, seemingly abandoning its original mission, turned away from SWORD Base and sped away, followed closely by the two human craft. Its engines glowed a bright blue as the large craft sped away from the base, its nose rising towards the sky as it began to gain altitude and seemingly uncaring of the Longswords tailing it, who then banked to the side and abandoned their pursuit of the larger vessel.
Just as the corvette began its ascent, a bright white lance fell from the sky, goring the ship from above and exiting below, a massive pillar of fire trailing behind the MAC round as it fell onto the waters of the lake blow. The corvette's engines sputtered and died as the bulbous ship faltered in its path, then began falling onto the cold body of water it hovered over.
The Spartans and Tenno watched in silence the grim spectacle in front of them. It was a small victory for the humans, one that had hopefully cost the Covenant something.
But they also knew that it had cost UNSC far more for this. And there were still many battles in the future.
Emile quickly left them, walking back through the debris and disappearing inside the building, leaving Jorge, Six and Umbra at the impromptu balcony.
"Beautiful, ain't it?" piped up Jorge, his gaze still held upon the ship that now began sinking beneath the waves of lake Babd Catha. "Someone should take a picture." The Spartan-II then raised his arm and gave Noble Six a pat in the shoulder that would most likely have broken a human's spine, but merely made the black-armored figure lightly lurch. "Nice work, by the way."
"I aim to please," replied the Spartan III.
The moment was cut short, however, by their radio once more crackling to life.
"
Five, Six… Get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debrief, and Command's saying we're all hers," called out Carter, his voice carrying a slight tone of irritation as he spoke. "
You too, Umbra." Jorge stiffened as he heard the news and quickly tapped at his helmet's comm unit, walking towards where Emile had disappeared before being joined by Six and Umbra.
"Repeat? Sounded like you said 'Halsey'," said Jorge with a mildly surprised tone.
"
I did."
"Copy that, on our way." The large man then turned to Six and Umbra, giving a quick shrug. "Don't need Command to tell me… Been hers half my life."
And so the three soldiers entered the building once more, leaving behind the sight of the corvette as it sunk, forever entombed beneath the waters of Reach…
-O-
The rest of Noble Team were already inside the science wing as Jorge, Six and Umbra walked into the room, the Tenno taking careful note of the area.
It was a relatively small room, an empty block of gun-metal steel with a glowing blue window splitting it in two, a metal cube with a glass drawer on the middle next to a large door connecting both halves. In one half stood Carter, Kat, Jun and Emile, with only the latter still wearing his helmet while the others held theirs tucked under their arms.
In the other, behind said blue glass, stood a woman he had not personally met, but knew of thanks to Agent Mirallia and Colonel Holland: Dr. Catherine Halsey. UNSC scientist, and creator of the SPARTAN Program that had created the super soldiers tasked with saving humanity.
She had black colored hair, cut short and adorned straight and smooth around her head. Her blue eyes seemed cold, reflecting in them a wisdom and knowledge that few could even attempt to claim to have. Her face was immaculate, a mask of professionalism, but marked with faint signs of stress and catching-up age. She was dressed in a large white coat and grey cold-climate pants, with heavy white boots on her feet.
Even through the glass, and even with her decidedly human heritage and countenance, Umbra felt a familiar chill in his spine as he gazed at the woman. It was something he had felt in the presence of only one other type of person.
The Orokin.
She was like them. Even if her intentions and goals were far more noble than the accursed old masters of Sol, she still shared something with them: the thirst of knowledge, and that well-hidden desire of searching for answers, searching for more than they knew.
And in a way, she was more dangerous than them.
Unlike the Orokin, she survived her creation.
"I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep," said the doctor with some bite at Carter, staring at him with those same cold, distant eyes "What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-"
Her words seemed to fade away, however, as she turned her eyes towards the new arrivals. Umbra noted the scrutinizing stare she gave him, one filled with curiosity and wish for knowing more of him, before she turned her gaze to the tallest of the Spartans, and her features seemed to soften minutely. "Jorge. It's been too long."
"Ma'am," replied the Spartan II, removing his helmet and giving her a polite nod in return.
"What have you done to my armor?" she asked in amusement, running her eyes over the heavily modified MJOLNIR. Both Six and Jorge followed her gaze, with the latter shifting somewhat uncomfortably at the remark.
"Just some… Additions I've made," he replied with some embarrassment, which only served to bring a small smile to Halsey's face.
"Indeed," was her response. She then turned her attention back to Carter, and with it returned her mask of seriousness, her eyes once more filled with coldness. "Visegrad Relay. Its data center was home to one of my xeno-archaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death."
"If he was a civilian male in his mid-sixties, he died with a Covenant energy sword through his abdomen," replied Noble One, betraying no emotions with his response. Umbra recalled the old man laying dead in a pool of his own blood that they had encountered inside the communications outpost.
Hadn't there been a chip beneath his body?
The same chip he had seen Kat carry with her aboard the helicopter when they were heading towards SWORD Base…
Halsey's voice quickly brought the Tenno back to reality and to the conversation at hand. "Elites, then."
"They engaged us as well," added Jorge, taking a step forward as he spoke. "It was just, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter, ma'am. She was hiding in the-"
"Irrelevant," cut off the doctor. If Jorge was bothered by her action, Umbra could not see, but considering how the Spartan had reacted towards the traumatized girl, then he was most definitely hurt by Catherine's attitude. "The Elites. Tell me more about them."
"Three of them. Two Zealots, one Field Marshal," spoke up Umbra as the attention was turned towards him. "They attempted to assassinate both us and the woman. I engaged them in a duel, maimed one and forced the three to fall back," he finished, recalling the sword battle between himself and the aliens, and how he had relieved one of the Zealots of his arm. The answer seemed to intrigue the doctor, judging the glint of curiosity he saw in her eyes.
"Zealots… Are you certain?"
"Their armor configuration matched," answered Jorge.
"Shield strength too," finally spoke up Six, barely moving his head as he spoke.
"I gave the order not to pursue," said Carter, his semblant still entirely neutral. "Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online." That, however, seemed to be the wrong answer to Halsey, who's face immediately scrunched with disappointment.
"Your primary objective?" she asked with near disdain as she glared at Noble One. "Commander, are you a puppet or a Spartan?" That response drew an indignant look from both Jun and Emile, both shifting their stance ever so slightly.
"Ma'am?"
"There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion," she began explaining, pacing side to side as she spoke. "Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away," she ended, frustration now clear in both her tone and expression as she eyed the leader of Noble Team.
This time, Carter's face became far more serious, and his posture became somehow even more rigid, adding one or two inches to his height. "Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent matters to attend to."
"Like warning a planet," snarked Kat in a low tone, her stance as relaxed as always, even as Halsey turned her disapproving look to Noble Two.
"Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to a 'latchkey discovery'," mused Catherine as she paced closer to the glass drawer. "Latchkey... not a word he would use lightly. So let's hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander stole contains it," she finished, eyeing the Spartan that shared a name with her with a look of both victory and a small hint of smugness.
"Kat?" questioned Carter as Noble Two stepped forward in frustration, pulling from a container in her belt the same chip Umbra had seen in her hands aboard the Falcon, tossing it inside the glass drawer that Halsey pushed forward to her.
"Before you ask, I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents. As I am with any unauthorized tap," said the doctor, her voice returning to the professional tone she had begun the conversation with as he pulled the glass back and reached for the data unit. "That data is classified Tier One... I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."
That comment seemed to be one step too far for Carter, who walked closer to the glass and Halsey. "Maybe you'd like to join her."
The doctor, to her credit, seemed quite taken aback by the comment, turning to face Noble One in genuine surprise. "… I'm sorry?"
"We're currently under emergency planetary directive, WINTER CONTINGENCY," continued Carter, and his expression seemed to grow as cold as Halsey as he continued speaking. "I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment."
"Are you
threatening me, Commander?" asked Halsey in return. If it was anger or pleasant surprise in her question, Umbra could not tell, but it seemed to be enough for Carter, who slowly walked towards the exit.
"Just making a reading suggestion ma'am." And with that, the rest of Noble Team followed their team leader to the exit without a word, leaving Halsey to instead stare intently at the data unit in her grasp. Only Jorge and Umbra made motion to stay, with the former offering another educated nod.
"Ma'am."
"That… Will be all, Jorge," replied the doctor absent-mindedly, still with her eyes on the chip. The Spartan calmly walked out, leaving only Umbra upon the room. The Tenno gave the woman a short bow, and turned to leave…
"A moment, please."
But stopped when he heard the doctor call out to him. Umbra turned back in her direction, and found himself staring into Halsey's eyes once more, that same hunger of knowledge back in her gaze. But now there was something else on them… Something… Unfamiliar to him.
… Pity.
"I've read the preliminary reports about you written by ONI, based on your own statements," she continued as she slid the module into a pocket on her breast. "I've also received the first results of the analysis of your ship and its technology."
The woman took one step closer to the glass wall, her nose almost touching the clean, blue surface, and crossed her arms behind her back. "I intend to one day sit with you, ask you about the culture and history of your species. What you know of its rise, and its fall. Of the stories you can tell me of the Earth and Sol System you've lived on, and what you've experienced of it."
Her stance seemed to soften, however, as she spoke her next words as she stared towards the ground. "But now, all I need to know is that you are like them. To know that you've suffered… So I ask of you… Please. Give your aid to them." And when she raised her head once more, Umbra saw the sadness that now spread across her face.
"To humanity… To my Spartans."
Umbra regarded the woman for what felt like an eternity, before turning and walking towards the exit. Just as he reached the arch, however, the Tenno looked back towards Halsey.
"… I will."