Concurrence Chapter 4-4

3000 words give or take.

The Major considered leaving her. She was a huge target that would just draw even more attention to him, and the Covenant would be focused on her while he snuck away, but something gave him pause. She was a prime source of intel on the Covenant, and if he could exfil her, humanity would have a chance to learn more about the Covenant’s plans, that kind of information could be crucial for Earth’s survival.

“Damn it,” he muttered after hesitating. He vaulted over the letterbox, reaching for the plasma grenade he’d stolen from the last Elite he’d killed, thumbing the prime button. He tossed it like he was pitching at a baseball game, the grenade arching through the air towards the parked Wraith, the two Grunts grabbing at the handholds on the chassis as they climbed into the pilot chairs.

The grenade landed between the mortar and the turret with a satisfying slap, the little aliens sent flying as the plasma discharged, a blue cloud of energy evaporating the twin turret mounts, a chunk of the tank blowing apart in the blast.

He let his shotgun hang from its sling, drawing his sidearm and dumping the magazine into the Jackals. One tumbled to the ground after a headshot, its counterpart ducking behind the safety of the forcefields. His pistol clicked impotently as he fired the last few bullets at the Brute, doing little more than making the alien turn his attention on the Major.

“Run Seela!” he shouted, a barrage of plasma travelling over his head, so close he could feel his skin singe with their heat. He dropped the empty magazine and inserted another, backing up as he fired, the Brute’s shields dropping just as the pistol went dry again.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Seela resuming her dash across the open, her own shields having time to recharge. She swiped her carbine off the ground, turning and headshotting the Brute in one smooth motion, the alien falling to the street with a grunt.

She dashed past the Major, who turned to follow, fumbling with his rigging as he reloaded. The remaining Jackal was firing up the incline from his entrenched position, sending supersonic needles their way, one of them aimed at the Major. Unlike Seela, he didn’t have shields to absorb incoming fire, the man snarling through his teeth as he felt the round slam him on the back of his shoulder, the crystal shattering against his BDU. The plating might have saved him, but the kinetic energy was enough to knock the wind out of him.

He stumbled to a knee, feeling a nasty swelling on his back, but he forced himself up to the incline, watching as Seela rested her carbine on the roof of a car up there, sending a solitary shot down at the Jackal, killing it judging by the lack of return fire.

“More are coming!” Seela warned, sounding more ecstatic than worried at this development. He put his back to the car as he joined her, peeking round the tire to see the two Brutes from earlier were coming over to join the fray.

“You think!?” he asked, snarling as pain shot down his arm.

She sent the rest of her radioactive rounds down at the Brutes, her mandibles twitching as her weapon ran empty. “Something is wrong,” she said. “Thier shields are… stronger.”

She was right, her whole clip had only weakened one of the Brutes shields, the white energy that clung to his frame close to collapsing, but still online. He could tell because the weaker the shield, the more visible it was to the eye.

Movement from above drew his gaze, and the Engineer came into view, rounding the hose tower’s bulk, turning its long neck in their direction. It floated lazily over the Brute’s position, bellowing a screech that came off as distinctly painful.

The Brutes did not charge up the incline, staying close to wherever the Engineer drifted, the creature floating along at a snail’s pace towards the right. They didn’t seem to be able to control it, one of the aliens snarling something up at it in its alien language.

“The Engineer,” the Major said. “I think it’s overcharging their shields. Save your ammo,” he added when Seela raised her carbine at it. “We need to go, they’ve probably called for backup already, that’s why they’re not charging us.”

“Then move,” she replied. It seemed killing that Brute just now had sated her, not voicing another complaint as she followed him, the two retreating into the next junction, breaking line of sight with the Engineer. The Brutes were still firing on the car they’d hidden behind, probably thinking they were still there. If they moved quickly, they could slip away before they realised what had happened.

“This way,” he said, Seela following him into another office block. They cut through the foyer to the other side, the sounds of gunfire gradually ceasing as they distanced themselves from the fire station. They couldn’t check every room, but it was unlikely Brutes would be lying in wait, being sneaky was the last thing a ten-foot alien was built for. The Major and Seela delved into a mess of crisscrossing alleys, and when he was confident they’d put enough buildings between them and their pursuers, he slowed down, leaning against a wall to catch his breath.

“… I thought you would leave me, when I fell,” Seela said, her mandibles flexing as she panted. “Perhaps having a Heretic as a companion isn’t so bad as I thought it would be.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” he scoffed, waving a dismissive hand at her. “You’re an asset to me, split lip, and a fucking clumsy one as well. You almost got us killed back there.”

“A trivial matter,” she replied. “I am not as suited to deception and creeping along as you or my cloaked brothers are.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if you did it on purpose,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What was that, Imp?” Seela asked. “I did not hear you.”

He repeated himself, louder this time, and the Elite recoiled in shock. “Y-You’re accusing me?”

“Just making an observation,” he said. “You’ve been itching for a fight ever since we met, and you’re barely fazed that we managed to escape just now. If I told anybody that a little pothole managed to fell an Elite, they’d never believe me.”

“You are such a little… bastard,” she said, the word coming out awkwardly. She mustn’t have used it very often. “You have no idea what you are talking about, why would I put our lives in danger, and risk facing down a Wraith?”

“That’s what I’m wondering too,” he replied, the Elite fuming as she clutched her carbine tighter.

“Delusional creature,” she spat.

“Squid-faced, overgrown lizard.”

Her finger moved to the trigger, but he met her gaze fearlessly. She had said before she would not kill him after he’d saved her life, and he’d done so once more. Her show of mercy had sabotaged her threats, and they both knew it.

“I change my earlier statement,” she said, popping her carbine open as she checked the cartridge. “I wish you had left me.”

“How about a thanks for saving me, Major?” he grumbled as he checked his ammo. There were only two more magazines for his sidearm left, but at least he had the plasma pistol to spare.

“You are a Major?” she asked, as if this was some sort of massive discovery.

“Said I dropped in with my team, didn’t I? Yeah, I’m a Major.”

“Major pain in my side, more like,” Seela grumbled.

He ignored her comment, making his way down the alley, the Elite following him from an even further distance than usual.

-xXx-

They didn’t see any sign of the Engineer or its Brutes after that, though the Major was sure they had gotten onto the Covenant’s radar after their encounter at the fire station. Over the next half hour, two dropships circled over the streets dangerously close to their position, he and Seela forced to duck into the buildings until they passed by. It could have been just standard patrols making the rounds, but if his training with ONI had told him anything, it was to assume the enemy was always searching for you.

“There is another patrol to our north,” Seela informed him, the Elite pausing to check her communicator. “They’re not moving.”

“Good,” he said. The road they were on took them east anyway. “Anyone out there talking about us?” he asked, the two crossing to the next block.

“One of them reported Heretics had attacked their Wraith, but I haven’t picked up a reply,” she answered, her mandibles flexing as she sighed. “It seems they have thrown me in with your lot, Imp.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, sweeping his weapon across the street.

“They said they were attacked by Heretics. As if Iam less of a follower of the Great Journey than they are.”

“But they’re right,” he said. “Your kind are out of the Covenant, the Prophets pretty much said so themselves, and they’re your leaders.”

“Were,” she corrected. “I follow my own path now, I have no leader but myself. Does fighting for my life, betrayed by my fellow followers, make me a Heretic?” She hastened her steps so they were slightly closer together. “Why does a conniving San’Shyumm get to decide who is a part of the Great Journey, when all he does is hasten the demise of others who were once loyal?”

“Don’t know,” he said, thinking if he didn’t give her much of a response, she’d turn her words into thoughts and shut up for a minute. That was not to be, the Elite directing her questions at him.

“What do Imps revere?” she asked. “I know humans have their false Gods, do you follow in their stead?”

“No,” he replied, stepping around a derelict car, Seela simply tall enough to step over it.

“Is there an Imp God?”

“Why do you call me that?” he asked, continuing when Seela just blinked down at him. “With you it’s always Imp this and Impthat.”

“You call my kind Elites, yes? How is that different?”

She had him there, moving in silence for a while through the endless streets. Eventually the road sloped towards higher ground, the Major trying once again to see if the altitude would help his radio establish a link with one of his team. He didn’t expect much, but it was worth a shot.

Seela watched him strangely, her purple eyes reflecting the fiery sky as she watched him recite his team’s nicknames. “You are trying to raise your Imp kinsman, yes?” she asked. “Anything?”

He shook his head. “Thank the Gods,” she said. “I thought I was going to have to deal with more than one of you.”

“That’s my team you’re talking about,” he grumbled. “good people, loyal, but I wouldn’t expect a turncoat to know anything about that.”

“I was once commander of a squad,” she answered. “So I wouldknow.”

“Yeah? They switch sides too?” He peered up at her in mild interest.

“I dismissed them not long before you and I met,” she said. “And nobody here has switched sides, Imp. I go my own way, now. That is not the same.”

“If you say so. Damnit, can’t even connect with a satellite…”

“When did you say your team entered the city, after the rupture, yes?” He nodded. “Your team has probably fallen, I would have heard activity on the BattleNet if it were otherwise. We may both be leaders, but at least I spared my squad from dying alone out here.”

Her comment stung. He should have planned more, should have expected Covenant anti-air to be ready for another drop after the first wave earlier in the day, and his team may have paid a heavy price for his blunder.

As much as he wanted to hit her back, his tongue failed to find the right words, and if he gave her a reaction she would know she’d hit a nerve. He kept his peace, wiping his visor clear as he continued on, the walls of the city blocks towering above the street like the sides of a deep canyon.

“Lead on, Major,” Seela said, loping along behind him.

-xXx-

The storm merged with the fires pluming from the city in a way that came off as unsettling, the clouds backlit by the licking flames as though the very horizon was aflame. The silence that hung over New Mombasa made it difficult to realise there was a battle going on in high orbit, the Major having caught glimpses of the Prophet’s fleet before they’d made the drop. The whole planet was in danger, yet the city seemed to stand still, the ruinous landscape oddly tranquil when there wasn’t Phantoms flying overhead. As they rounded another junction on their kiosk-planned route, he heard his alien companion growl, but unlike the previous times, she hadn’t made that noise with her mouth.

“Was that your stomach?” he asked, pausing to look back at her.

“I have not eaten since we made landfall,” Seela explained, putting a hand to her belly, seemingly embarrassed by this development.

“Always wondered what aliens eat,” he said.

“Nutrient bars, condensed supplementary paste, meat slabs if we are lucky. Unless you want to raid a Covenant barracks, I suggest you find me some food.”

“Little peckish myself. Can you eat human food?”

“We shall see.”

He clicked his tongue in thought, scanning his surroundings for a moment before motioning for her to follow. Power was still flowing through the city in places, maybe they could raid a kitchen or someone’s fridge for snacks. A restaurant seemed an obvious choice, but he didn’t feel like whipping up a meal in a warzone.

He could see an apartment complex in the distance, towering a few storeys higher than the carpet of buildings, there had to be something edible in there. Seela followed him towards the building, and a few minutes later, they stood in front of the security gate that ringed the main entrance, a small lawn filled with a few bromeliads adding a nice splash of colour to the sterile area.

The main gate arched over a section of the fence, and the Major gave it a push, finding that there was some sort of electronic lock keeping it from budging.

“What is the holdup?” Seela asked impatiently, waiting on the sidewalk with her carbine raised.

“Locked tight, looks like this is where you come in.”

He gestured at the gate, Seela brushing him aside as she raised a fist and punched straight through the lock like she was some kind of martial artist smashing through a plank of wood. The gate clattered to the ground loudly, the Major wincing as the volume echoed through the empty street, following the Elite through the fence.

There was a glass door serving as the main entrance, and to one side of it was a porch extending out of the drab-coloured wall, a sliding door frame just beyond it leading into the first apartment. Each floor was a carbon copy, balconies extending out of the building all the way to the top. It seemed more intact than most of the city, that was a good sign.

The main entrance was also locked, Seela making the frame look tiny as she stood in front of it and gave it an experimental push. She used a hoof-shaped foot to kick the door down, the Elite practically having to crouch as she made her way inside, the Major following her into the lobby.

Doors marked with numbers led off into different directions from the front desk, the Major picking one at random, holding up a hand when Seela came over with her fist raised. “No need,” he said. “it’s open, see?”

He pushed the wooden door open with a glove, Seela having to turn sideways so she could squeeze her hips inside. She grumbled about the lack of space, but she kept her complaints under her breath, the two looking out into another hall lined with six or so doors, the far end opening up into a living area, the apartment lit by a few still-working lightbulbs.

“Okay,” he said. “You search the rooms on the left, I’ll take the right. Look for plastic wrappings and packets, preferably unopened. If it’s brightly coloured and has words on it, that’s probably edible.”

“Fine,” Seela replied, ducking through one doorway while the Major took another, the two glad to be out of each other’s hair for a few moments. His first room was the master bedroom, so he didn’t waste much time in it, the second room bringing him into an office. He rummaged through the drawers, pushing aside paperweights and staplers, only finding a scrunched-up bag of candy next to a stack of books on the desk. He snatched that up.

The next room was the main lounging area, a giant flatscreen propped up on the back wall, leather armrests filling up most of the space. He didn’t hold much hope for this one, until he noticed one of the armchairs had a built-in refrigerator unit on one side. He popped it open and found a few cans of soda, plus a little canteen which reeked of whiskey when he gave it a sniff. He didn’t want to get intoxicated on the job, so he left that behind, gathering up the soft drinks and proceeding.

That was all of his rooms, the Major emerging into the living space at the far side of the apartment. On one side was the kitchen, a table that could seat a small family on the other. The wall leading to the balcony was mostly glass, but the curtains should conceal them from any wandering Covenant.

He searched the kitchen, finding a few bags of potato chips, a tin of biscuits, a trail mix bag and some ice cream in the freezer unit. A nice haul, if a little on the unhealthy side. He listened to Seela rummage through her own rooms for a few minutes, the alien appearing round the corner soon after, a bundle of random items in her arms.