Concurrence Chapter 8-3

2187 words. Did a little rewording near the start so keep an eye out for some overlap. 

***

He slotted fresh slugs out of his bandolier, reloading as he checked their progress. The catwalk they were on turned at a right angle, circling another support column, the obstacle thick enough to provide a small amount of cover.

Seela put as much of herself behind it, slamming in another cartridge and letting her shields recharge, the Major taking a knee nearby. He dropped another drone trying to get around them, the hulking insect clanging loudly to the walkway as its wings drooped uselessly over its shoulders.

A pair of drones clambered up onto a nearby column, their sharp fingers gripping the metal for leverage as they took aim with pistols, the plasma splashing against their walkway at the Major’s feet. He ducked into cover, trading fire with them and killing one, but the rest were keeping him pinned, the concentrated balls of gas sailing past in the dozens.

He and Seela formed a line, firing on the airborne bugs that made to flank, the lack of cover making them easy targets as they succumbed to shotgun shells and carbine bolts, their bodies disappearing over the sides of the walkway.

He heard something below him, and he looked through the metal grating so see a couple of drones climbing up the column from the level below them, turning their slatted, green eyes on their position. There was something almost spider-like by their movements, climbing up the smooth metal with an alarming ease.

“Seela!” he warned, but his companion had already noticed. She dropped her carbine, brandishing her energy sword and igniting it with an electric snap. The drones scrambled up the column and jumped onto the catwalk when they were high enough, brandishing knives and pistols, the melee weapons the same design as one the one the Major was intimately familiar with.

Her sword in hand, Seela charged the drones down, beheading two of them in one sweep before they could react. The Major emptied his shells into the flying bugs while she cleared the catwalk, stealing the occasional look as he watched her slice apart the drones.

The bugs who chose to clash swords with her were quickly dispatched, Seela changing her sword from one hand to the other so she could cleave to either side of her. She impaled a drone through the chest, another drone coming at her and driving its dagger towards her shoulder. She simply swatted the thing aside, the backhand strong enough to snap its neck, the bug falling to the catwalk in a twitching heap.

As much as she was a deadly force in melee, the drones in the air were more of a problem, peppering her with plasma bolts from on high, her shields saving her from a death of a thousand cuts. She pulled her sword-arm back, almost looking like she intended to throw the blade like a tomahawk, but then reconsidered, moving back to pick her carbine off the floor.

“My last cartridge,” she warned him, slapping the fresh cylinder into the weapon as she hunkered.

“Focus on the ones further back, my shotgun’s better up close.”

He fired off another shell, the buckshot catching two of the flying drones in its cone of fire, ichor spraying as he and Seela cut the bugs down to size. When only a few remained, hiding behind the column at their backs, they resumed their push, Seela’s shield taking the brunt of the plasma fire as the drones pursued.

As he paused to reload, he turned to see the catwalk straightened into a line, and at its far end it terminated at another pressure door, maybe fifty meters away.

They couldn’t afford to stop, the two firing while moving, Seela putting herself in front of the majority of the plasma fire. She couldn’t be everywhere at once, however, the Major taking another bolt, this time to his leg. He dropped, but Seela hauled him back to his feet, shoving him behind her as she continued firing from the hip.

“Do not falter!” she ordered, her flexing mandibles framed by her shield. “We will not die by the hands of these insects!”

He ignored the pain in his leg, joining her as he filled the air with buckshot, catching another bug that was strafing to the side, trying to get around Seela’s stubborn shields to get to the Major. The bugs were flittering between the columns, Seela picking off those who didn’t get to cover in time.

They rushed towards the end of the catwalk, the grating slagging in places as bolts filled the air around them. They skidded to a halt in front of the pressure door, but the two halves did not open.

“Wait!” the Major yelled, Seela moments away from ripping the thing right off its hinges. “We’ll seal it behind us, so the bugs can’t follow. Cover me.”

There was an emergency release panel to one side of the door, and he made his way over to it while Seela aimed her carbine back down the catwalk. More drones had dropped to the walkway with knives in hand, rushing Seela down without any sense of self preservation. She cut them down, then turned her weapon up at the flying counterparts, the bugs scattering for cover behind the columns as she unloaded her cartridge at them.

Seela growled as her shields broke apart like shattering glass, taking a knee as she fumbled at her belt. The walls around the pressure door flared out a little, providing a hint of cover, but it was barely anything for the tall alien.

“I’m out!” Seela reported, placing her spent carbine on her back, the magnetic locks holding it in place. She let out a pained yell as a bolt caught her on the chest, charring the white plating.

“Here, use this!” he said, tossing her the shotgun. She caught it, flipping it into the correct position, pulling the stock against her shoulder. The Major input the security sequence on the numberpad, remembering the codes from the pre-mission breifings.

The shotgun rocked into her shoulder, Seela surprised by the recoil judging by her reaction, her hooves slipping against the grating. Despite the kick, the suppressor made the shot unusually quiet, the snap of gas drowned out by the plasma fire. The drone she’d been aiming at dropped to the walkway, flopping onto its back with a loud crash.

She pulled the trigger again, but it didn’t fire, Seela cocking her head as she flexed her finger once more. “It won’t fire!” she said, giving him an exasperated look.

“You gotta pump it!” he said.

“‘Pump it’? I don’t know what that means, pump what?”

“You remember what we did in the shower?”

“Is this really the right time, Major!?”

“Pull the bottom of the barrel back!”

After taking a second to think, she gripped the choke with her fingers, the grooves catching on her digits as she made a pumping motion. The mechanism slid back with a satisfying clack, the spent shell tumbling out of the receiver. She braced her cheek against the grip, and fired again, another drone falling out of view as she cut its flight short.

The weapon looked tiny in her giant hands, but she started to get into the rhythm, each shot and pump more fluent than the last as she chewed through the bugs. Some of them began to retreat, regrouping with another fresh swarm of drones that flittered out of the nest to their right.

“Got it!” the Major announced, the pressure door sliding open with a quiet whoosh, another long tunnel stretching out before them.

Seela dashed after him as they pulled back, the spartan grey walls enclosing protectively around them. Once Seela was inside, he punched the access codes into panel on this side of the threshold, his progress frantic as the drones flew towards the doors like a swarm of pissed-off bees.

A pair of buggers dropped to the catwalk, their knives glinting as they raised their weapons over their heads like charging medieval knights. Before they could get any closer, Seela plugged the threshold with her bulk, blasting the drones back with a cone of lead.

He hit the confirm button, and the doors joined together, the Major getting one last look of the nests through the sliver before they slammed shut. There was a series of scratches as the drones piled up against the door, but the Major breathed a sigh of relief, unless the bugs had explosives, they wouldn’t be getting through.

He watched as Seela pumped the shotgun with one hand, her other arm hanging by her side as the spent shell discharged, his companion giving the weapon a satisfied nod. “I like this gun,” she said, turning to him. “It has plenty of kick for such a small thing, much like its owner, hm?”

“You okay?” he asked, wincing as he leaned on his knees, his burned leg aching. “That was way too close.”

“Do not concern yourself with me,” she said, moving to his side. “Your leg, it was shot, and you almost fell.”

“I’m alright,” he said, but Seela wasn’t having it, the alien kneeling down and giving him a questioning glance. She gave his leg a push, and he recoiled, nearly tripping over if Seela didn’t reach out to catch him.

“You are not alright. Use your medigel, Andrew.”

He saw no point in arguing, so he did as she said, peeling back his BDU and rubbing a handful of gel onto the burn. When he was done, he put a little weight on his leg, and it was more tolerable.

“You work quick, little warrior,” Seela said, glancing back at the doors. “if I had broken those doors, this tunnel would be flooded.”

“I think you could have taken them,” he added, half-jokingly. “You’re one mean alien with that energy sword. Clearly the Covenant made a mistake not giving you one of your own.”

“I’m flattered,” she cooed, wrapping her arms over his shoulders, resting her chin on his head. He returned her embrace, resting his hands on the small of her back.

They soon released each other, the Major gesturing for her to follow, as they still had a mission to see through. She passed him the shotgun, and they moved down the passage, the walls lit by Seela’s sword as she brandished it.

“Wonder how far those nests go,” he muttered as they walked. “Securing this city is gonna be difficult if they’ve made a whole colony underneath the streets.”

“You should see what the Yanme’e do on carriers when travelling between planets,” Seela added. “The Shipmasters give them entire decks to do as they please, this Hive is small in comparison.”

The hallway lowered into a ramp, the two following the incline until another door blocked the way. After Seela forced it open, the Major stepped through, finding himself in another area with a vaulted ceiling towering over his head.

The immense space was occupied by the data centre, connected to this side of the complex by a gently sloping bridge. The sightlines to the tower were blocked here and there by Covenant weapon caches, crates that were as tall as Seela with weapon racks built into the recesses. Fluorescent light strips built into the ground illuminated a bloody scene, Brutes numbering in the tens laying about in pools of their dark blood, the occasional Grunt and Jackal laying among the corpses.

The bodies carried on up the slope towards the tower, the Major trying to imagine what kind of carnage must have ensued as he and Seela proceeded. A Chieftain with his hammer nowhere to be seen caught the Major’s attention, the Covenant had brought a lot of firepower to take this place. As he and Seela moved towards the data centre, he noted that no plasma burns killed these Brutes, and there were no Sangheili around.

“We seem to always miss the larger fights,” Seela said. “I see no human bodies, either Imps or Demons came through here recently. I know for a fact you are stubborn above all else.”

The thought that one of his squadmates could be in the tower right now was filling him with anticipation, but he had to control himself, this was a lot of Brutes for anyone to handle, and he had to assume the worst until proven otherwise.

After stepping over the bodies, the data centre towered above them, the pair standing at the entry doors, which were twice the height of Seela, though strangely enough they were wide open. Given this was where the most sensitive data in the city was stored, the fact he could just walk straight in was offputting.

Just over the top of the tower, he could see a sliver of light through a crack in the ceiling high above them. That was the shaft leading from the Alpha Site, where they’d first spotted the tower.

“Let us complete your mission,” Seela said, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “I am interested to see this weapon, does it have as much recoil as your gun?”