Concurrence Chapter 7-2

2150 words

It was a kinsman, and he was in much the same state as the two Minor’s she’d found in that alleyway, right after the betrayal. There were plasma burns on his back, the Sangheilian laying on his stomach, his eyes staring out to the left, cold and black. This one was not a Minor, however…

“Is that a…?” The Major came walking up from behind, his weapon angling away as he looked round her hip. “Zealot? Here?”

She crouched beside the body, holstering her carbine on her back as she grabbed one of his golden shoulder pads, the armour polished to a shine where it wasn’t burned, flipping him onto his front. Recognition flashed in her eyes, but the feeling quickly left when she examined the dead Zealot’s face. This wasn’t the one she’d worked with before.

Nearby, a pair of Unggoy were slumped over, along with a Kig-Yar. Whoever had finished the Zealot off they hadn’t bothered to clean up or feast on the bones, perhaps they had been killed by Humans?

A quick inspection proved otherwise. The Kig-Yar had puncture marks going right through his chest, same with the Unggoy. The smell of burning skin was still fresh, this couldn’t have happened all that long ago.

She placed a hand on the Zealot’s chest, her eyes closing as she mumbled a prayer in their native language. She got a few verses in before the Major spoke up.

“What’re you doing?” He heard her stop just off to her left.

“Bidding him farewell,” she explained, her fingers going cold as they stayed connected to his cooling power armour, the rain coming down harder for a moment before relenting.

“Why?” he asked. “You told me these guys treated you like dirt, that they hated you as much as Humans did. He doesn’t deserve your respect.”

“He is still my brother,” she snapped, turning and giving him a cold stare. “Whether he was displeased with me or not matters little, he has gone through much this night, and deserves to meet his forefathers in peace.”

She returned to her prayer, the Major shifting on his feet nearby. He did not interrupt again. When she was done, a curved piece of metal on the ground caught her attention.

It looked similar to the handle on her carbine, with rubberised grooves fitted into the inside where fingers could easily rest. The ends flared out into circular caps, the whole thing a little wider than the span of her hand. She plucked it off the drenched road, turning it over and examining the runes etched into the spine.

She hooked two of her fingers over the grip, her palm pushing into the power button. There was a brilliant flash of blue from the caps on either end of the handle, energy hardening into two lines of wavering light that slowly travelled out and away from the grip.

The solidifying lights took on a blade-like appearance, tapering into two sharp points. The blades were about the length of her arm, streaks of electricity arcing through them, as though lightning itself was contained within them. A continuous sizzling sound filled the street, raindrops falling onto the blades evaporating as they met the superheated energy, wisps of steam rising from the points of impact.

She rose to her hooves, giving the energy sword a few testing swings, its weightlessness allowing it to cleave through the air. A circle of light surrounded her, the sword providing a small, but harsh illumination.

“I’ve always wanted to wield one of these in battle, but they would never allow a female to wield swords,” Seela said, glancing over at the Major. “I can say with certainty I am glad to no longer be part of the Covenant.”

“You look like you know what you’re doing,” he noted, watching as she gave it a flourish.

“I trained with one when I was younger, one made of wood, and I’ve always admired the finesse displayed by the Zealot’s. It seems you were right,” she added, powering the blade off, the energy snicking back into the handle in an instant. “you spoke of opportunities before, and now I may be the first female to ever hold a proper sword.”

“Glad to see you’re taking our chat to heart,” he replied. “But didn’t you just give that guy a prayer? Not uncomfortable taking his weapon?”

“He is dead,” she shrugged. “He does not need it anymore, and I do.”

They didn’t linger, stepping past the dead Zealot and forging into the streets once more.

-xXx-

Seela swept the streets with her carbine, the rain pounding down on her armour. The hilt of the energy sword rested on her hip, its weight comforting her. They were moving eastward, slowly bending to the south after each block traversed.

“Should be able to see our objective pretty soon,” the Major informed her, the Human stopping only once to orient themselves using a kiosk. “After that, it’s just a little more walking, then we’re done here.”

“I want to apologise,” she blurted out suddenly, the Human cocking his head at her as they walked. “Before, I said that your team has already fallen. I didn’t mean to insinuate their deaths were your fault, that was wrong of me.”

“It’s in the past, Seela,” he said. “And I’m sorry too. When we went to that garden, I tried to talk you out of saving that dying Elite. Dick move on my part. If that was a Human on the line, I’d have done the same thing.”

“You did what you could for him,” she noted. “You gave me that medigel packet, when you could have kept it for yourself. You did all you could for me, as well,” she added. “No one has ever shown me such kindness before. You’ve put more value on my life than even I have, that shows how much you care for your charges.”

“Don’t tell me no one has ever tried to save your life before?”

She shook her head vehemently. “I have served many Majors in my life, but except for the namesake, you share no similarities with any of them. To treasure life, to ensure the survival of your underlings, these values are foreign to the Covenant’s warriors.”

“Not surprised, considering you were so gung-ho about dying an hour ago,” he said. “And you’re not serving me, I’m not your superior.”

“One of us has to take the mantle,” she replied. “You are taking the lead, and you know the mission, that makes you the leader.”

“But you’re an Ultra, right? From what I know, Ultras outrank Majors.”

“Then I hereby promote you to Ultra, all benefits and entitlements pending on the mission’s completion.”

“Consider me incentivised,” the Major chuckled, Seela grinning down at him. It felt nice to just be able to talk to someone as an equal, or friend as he had put it.

As they approached the corner of the block they’d been skirting, Seela held out an arm to stop him, her head turning to the broiling skies, raindrops falling on her face. Through the rumble of thunder came a sound that was all too familiar to the pair, a slow, pulsing noise that grew in volume as the seconds ticked by.

The Major didn’t have to say anything, the two of them ducking into the safety of the closest doorway, watching with bated breath as the street was suddenly illuminated, the background noise of the engines louder than ever. She didn’t have to look to know it was a Phantom, and likely the same one the Captain Major was on.

“I don’t know what you did to piss off this Brute Captain asshole,” the Major muttered, seemingly more annoyed than alarmed by the dropship’s appearance.

“My very existence insults him,” she answered, watching as the floodlights slid across the street from right to left. “The Prophet of Regret’s last order was to kill all Sangheili, he will do anything to accomplish this task.”

“You know the drill by now,” he said. “Follow my lead, stay out of the light.”

When the Phantom swivelled to search the adjacent street, they moved back into the open, kicking up sheets of rain as they proceeded towards their goal. They kept talking to a minimum, the presence of the aircraft putting them on edge. Even as they traversed from block to block, the Phantom kept its ever-vigilant watch over the city, never quite leaving their immediate area no matter how far they moved, like it was tethered to their position. Were the Brutes tracking her through her link to the BattleNet, or had they left too much of a trail, that the Captain Major knew which way they were going?

She didn’t know, nor did it really matter, as long as they stayed undetected, the Brutes would eventually move on.

Their progress slowed to a crawl, the Major taking every precaution they could to slip from cover to cover unseen. Seela kept as low as she could as she followed after, the two soon stopping at a four-way intersection. The Phantom seemed convinced that this very crossway was worth its sole attention, sweeping its searchlights up and down the long roads as it hovered over the buildings.

They waited in the shadows, minutes passing by. She could tell the Major was getting restless, the way he shifted on his toes, flexed his shoulders. For all his patience, the Phantom’s incessant searching was obviously starting to get to him.

Eventually the aircraft’s nose listed to the side, the ship beginning to search one of the branching streets. “Go, go!” the Major said, dashing across the street. She was larger than him, less agile, falling behind a little as she dodged between the vehicles.

Something caught her eye, and she glanced over to the see the dropship was doubling back, its front dipped forward as it began to accelerate. She picked up the pace, throwing herself to the next sidewalk as the Phantom sailed straight overhead, its searchlights thankfully not washing over her position.

When she turned her eyes up, the Phantom was gone, hovering over the buildings as it patrolled the area they’d just came from. She hauled herself to her feet, glancing down at her companion when he muttered something.

“What did you say?” she asked.

“I said I’m getting real sick of this Brute Captain following us.” He peered round her shoulder to where the aircraft had gone. “We’re short enough on time as it is, can’t afford to let him slow us down.”

“As I said, he searches for me,” she replied. “Perhaps we can find a way to throw him off our scent.”

“How about we blow him out of the sky? That’ll get him off our backs.”

“There’s a plan… wait, what?” she whipped round, fixing him with an incredulous look. “I thought you preferred subterfuge to open engagement?”

“It’s a little late for that now,” he said. “He’s obviously tracking us, and he knows our heading. Taking him out will put a dent in the Covenant command chain as well. What do you think? You said you wanna get some justice on him.”

“I… well, obviously I do,” she replied. “But to echo your own words, we have no heavy weapons, and there is but two of us against however many squads are with him.”

“The Superintendent might be able to help us with that,” he said. “There’s a supply cache nearby, saw it on the map before, I’m betting there’s probably a mounted gun or two we could use and set up an ambush of our own.”

“Hmm. I like this idea, but we will need more than a mounted weapon to breach the armour of a Phantom.”

“Let’s just assess what the cache has got for us. If there’s nothing that’ll help, we’ll keep moving and take our chances. If there is, well, we’ll go from there.”

The prospect of getting some payback put aside any more protests, and she followed as they veered slightly off their original course, their eyes glued to the skies as they tracked the Phantom whenever it reared its bulbous chassis into sight.

Soon they came upon a clearing, or as much of a clearing one would find in an urban landscape. The space was boxed in by four buildings, walkways and streets spacing each structure apart, the area centred by some kind of monument mounted on a pedestal, surrounded by an uneven patch of grass.

It held a monolithic appearance, but much wider than it was tall, carved from some kind of rock that towered well above her head if she were to stand next to it. It held no markings that she could tell, but there was a sign on one side of the pedestal, whatever significance lost on her since she could not read Human script.