FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Disclaimer: The following story contains harsh language and explicit scenes some viewers may not like. Viewer discretion is appreciated.

Author's Introduction: The following is a non-canon fan-fiction. Operative phrase here being non-canon. You may notice some re-designs of jackals, elites, chieftain, ect. Also, I'm sure fans have caught a very hard long look at the female elite in the Halo Legends short, The Duel. I will not be depicting female elites like that... not now, not ever, mainly because I think that depiction is FUCKING RETARDED! Sorry.

Index of Covenant Species

Grunts [Unggoy]

Prophets [San 'Shyuum]

Jackals [Kig-yar]

Drones [Yanme'e]

Brutes [Jiralhanae]

Elites [Sangheili]

Hunters [Lekgolo]

Sanghelios, Urs system, Ninth Age of Reclamation

Prologue

Set in orbit of the primary star Urs, the red planet Sanghelios passed in close proximity of two smaller sister stars Fied and Joori once a year, heating a summer's day up to 96 degrees Celsius. In low orbit were two moons, one named Qikost and the smaller, Suban was riddled with meteor craters, some of which blasted huge chunks of rock off the moon's surface.

The entire planet was bathed in an iron red glow, and land masses were broken up by large bodies of ocean. Sanghelios, as it said in the High Council's official brief, was a planet of extremes. From scorching desert to tropical forests with venomous and carnivorous vegetation. Day time was hot even under the single sun in winter, and at night temperatures dropped to -5 degrees Celsius. All in all it was possibly the most hostile planet anyone could ever visit. This planet was port of harbour to the Sangheili destroyer Lineage, housing a multi-lateral crew, consistent mostly of Sangheili warriors and home to countless platoons of Unggoy, Kig-Yar and Lekgolo pairs.

Sangheili ships drifted about in high orbit like silvery sharks prowling the waters for prey, the largest hanging above the northern pole. The five kilometre long behemoth looked like a sleek and fragile, with a bulbous front section and long 'wings' at the rear curving up and downward. The destroyer floated a while, before the engines stationed in the rear glowed luminescent blue. A moment later the nose angled 'up' and she was away, cruising seemingly slowly off into space. The second the Lineage was clear of Sanghelios' gravitational pull, a tear in space opened up. Light spilled across the hull and a split second the intertwining arcs of white light embraced the sleek body of the destroyer vessel before swallowing up the craft. The second the tail disappeared into slip space, the tear imploded on itself and sealed, leaving no trace of the 5346 meter long Sangheili destroyer.

On board, within the armoured safety of the hull repelling the various forms of deadly radiation bouncing around in the slip space they travelled through, the single Sangheili courtesan whirled through the wisps of smoke flowing from the spicy incense burning on one of the nearby tables. Her silver gown flowed and rippled around her slender body like liquid metal, and in the low candlelight her emerald eyes glowed like plasma. Long, wavy blood red plumage cascaded neatly from her scalp and past her shoulders, down to the back of her narrow waist. The circle of Sangheili warriors watching their entertainment dance was a blur to her, standing by, silent and entranced by her slow, liquid grace movements in time with the soft music playing in the background. As the seconds passed, the beat of the drums became quicker, and the wail of the violin-like instrument longer. And as the music picked up, so did her pace. Syna was famous for this. Dancing was her passion, and her most enjoyed skill by Sangheili who bought her services, young and old.

The Sangheili way of life was all about honour in battle, be the battle metaphorical or actual physical combat. The average Sangheili warrior was bred for combat and engineered for war. A male Sangheili soldier of aristocratic background could mate with any female he desired to pass on his 'swordsman genes,' and hand down his genetic battle doctrine. Their way of life literally bred the best kind of fighters

Sangheili diplomats, civilians or priests on the other hand were less physical. They were generally smaller than warriors and favoured keeping their posture straight and proper, rather than the usual hunched posture the Sangheili warriors usually opted. With most of their time spent studying subjects of their desire, rather than combat, the civilian Sangheili were always frighteningly good at whatever it was they did, be it farming, selling fruit on the market or in this case, dance.

On average, a Sangheili was between six and eight and a half foot tall and were generally attributed for their deadly combination of strength and intelligence. They were bipedal, stood on split toed, hoof-like feet and had four slender digits on each hand. Their heads were gracefully elongated, and they had four split jaws lined with pointy teeth. In overall, Sangheili were extremely intimidating in a friendly situation, never mind a hostile one.

Syna 'Elessenia, as you could probably tell by now, wasn't a warrior. She was civilian, a courtesan, and was like others of her kind often employed by the Sangheili Royal Fleet to entertain warriors on board long voyages between systems. Sangheili females, hidden like prized possessions from battle, but more common after the alliance had been made, had a humanoid feminine figure and were significantly shorter than their male counterparts. Nothing of Syna's figure was left to the imagination, thanks to the low cut gauzy gown that started at her shoulders and ended just under hips. Parts of her gown were comprised of translucent strips of fabric that flowed and rippled through the air as she danced. As a finishing touch, to decorate her gown causing it to glisten in the low lights, there was a golden belt resting on her hips and a silver necklace around her neck.

And unlike male Sangheili who were completely bald, females had brilliant, vibrantly coloured plumes. Syna for example, had a wavy blood red plume covering her scalp, which flowed down the back of her slender neck, halting at her waist.

As a courtesan, Syna's duties could include a variety of things, but when she was employed by the Covenant, she only had to dance... and looking at the number of warriors entranced by her somewhat erotic display, she couldn't help smile and be glad that's all she had to do.

As the courtesan danced, a single Sangheili in full combat armour broke off the crowd. Alone, the silver armoured Shipmaster 'Sadumee walked down the hall to the command centre where he was requested to head over the private comm. chattering in his ear. Waiting for him on the central platform overlooking all the stations that encircled the command centre manned by Sangheili crewmen stood two Sangheili, one was Major 'Varadee in crimson armour and the other a gold armoured Lieutenant 'Grandee

"Shipmaster." 'Grandee saluted as the shipmaster approached. The major quickly followed suit.

"Lieutenant." 'Sadumee neglected to return the gesture to his inferiors. "Your request to speak with me pulled me away from a most fascinating display of feminine erotica. This had better be good." He added in a low growl.

"We wished to see you about this transmission, shipmaster. Come see." The major led 'Sadumee to the nearest holographic display and pointed out a radio frequency. The jagged line pulsed and scribbled up and down in regular intervals before settling on a smooth sine wave before having a fit again.

"A sub-space colony transmission?" 'Sadumee muttered, his patience wearing thin. "Protocol says you should relay this for the proper authorities on the relevant species' embassy on High Charity."

"This was one of our colonies. A day's journey away perhaps." The lieutenant took over.

"Which colony?" the shipmaster barked with venom now. He didn't like having to repeat his questions, much less repeat himself to his second in command. The lieutenant should have known better, and the mild shock 'Grandee received, causing him to retreat half a step was well deserved. The shipmaster was big, even for a Sangheili. He could size up most of the larger Jiralhanae chieftains, even some Lekgolo. His appearance was fierce to boot. The shipmaster's armour was dented and scratched in places where he had personally led the fight against human ranks on many occasions, and his deep, twisted battle scars stretched out all across his body.

But not only was his appearance fierce, it was also quite the conundrum. Sangheili philosophy stated that blood lost meant dishonour. Gaining a battle scar and not losing your life on the battlefield meant you brought shame to your clan. But for every scar 'Sadumee gained, he was also credited with over a thousand legitimate enemy kills. At this stage, his total kill count in service to the Covenant racked up to the total population of a whole human colony. So while he remained his family's black sheep, he brought more honour to the family name than the clan-leader.

"We maintained the name the human colonists had for the planet shortly before they abandoned it as the Covenant colonial expansion began." Lieutenant 'Grandee explained in a formal tone, straightening up a little more. "The planet is called Tundras, a place of tundra, freezing ocean and rocky mountainous area. Quite beautiful in it's own way. We placed Sangheili colonists there to populate. It is a tier one colony, basic resources only, so we could spare more for the war, but they do have access to sub-space communications in case of emergencies. The transmission outlined the abundance of forerunner ruins found and excavated by local farmers. I checked luminary records, but found no hits of the Tundras scan in the database. We thought you should know before we passed the information on to High Charity."

'Sadumee leaned closer, the tips of his long pointed front teeth that grew outward - a common 'Sadumee family resemblance - mere centimetres from stabbing the lieutenant's forehead as the lesser officer averted his gaze. "An anomaly. Tell the helmsman to re-route to this planet. We must investigate further." The shipmaster ordered admiring the lieutenant's sudden burst of professionalism and perfect posture before backing up. He would not punish the lieutenant for now. "Inform High Charity of our detour, but not of the transmission."

"Yes, shipmaster." The lieutenant quickly saluted before moving to give the helmsman his orders.

Meanwhile, Major 'Varadee moved closer to the shipmaster. The silver armoured Sangheili looked deep in thought as he stared into the wavering lines on the display. "What do you think is more important, major?" the shipmaster whispered. "My duty to the Covenant, or my duty to my honour?"

"The most important thing?" the major lowered his head. "Every warrior fights his own war." as he turned and moved away, the major lowered his voice so the shipmaster would not hear, and glanced suspiciously at the silver armoured Sangheili. "It all depends on the warrior."

---***---

"Baseplate to Baker two-three actual, sending new drop coordinates now. Adjust angle of descent to land in grid zulu five-five, over."

Inspired by the Halo series by Bungie

"Uh... roger that baseplate... Zombie squad altering trajectory now... breaking low orbit... we are atmospheric, over... fifteen clicks off the deck, troopers! Nut up, or shut up! Baker two-three actual to baseplate, we are running final prep for touchdown!"

Written by SniperSpartan-977

"Copy that, Baker two-three actual, your new vector looks good. Good luck, Zombie squad."

Halo Chronicles

Recon

// Somewhere above the Urev mountains, Tundras, Lao system, November 2550 CE

The grey clouds swirled and twisted as a roll of thunder rang out. Lightning slashed from the sky, flickering across the dull mountains. The sun peeked through a crack in the cover, sending broad rays of warm light across the cold tundra plains. Rocky mountains stretched outward in all directions, covered in leaf-less trees and heather-brush and capped with snow.

Another roll of thunder and a flash of lightening, only this time more recognisable for what it actually was.

Clouds swirled and parted. The ODST HEV pods traced white lines through the air as they fell, chunks of armour and heat-tiles peeling from the skin, sonic boom after sonic boom sounding off as they broke low orbit and entered the planet's atmosphere. Turbulence shook the lead pod, rocketing at the ground faster than the others... until the boosters fired, glowing orange.

With a deafening crash, the lead pod slammed into the hillside, smashing through dry and rotten fauna, causing branches to break and splinter like toothpicks. The pod hit the ground at shallow angle, the clawed bottom not gripping the frozen dirt. The HEV bounced and slid, rocketing downhill, breaking branches, tearing up spiny shrubs...

Until, with a bone jarring halt, the HEV slammed to a halt on a thick cluster of roots. The pod's hull clicked and crackled as it cooled in the cold mountain air swaying the bushes, touching the hot armour.

Something inside stirred. There was a thud as the hatch's locks let go, and a deafening bang later the lid burst outward and landed in the dirt several feet away. The brief pause passed quickly before the dazed and groggy ODST within the armoured shell stepped out, clad entirely in dark camouflaged armour, his face hidden behind his helmet's dull grey polarised visor. On his right shoulder was a dull, dark yellow rank stripe for 'Specialist' with his blood type, A-, and the name 'Klepto' printed on his dark green chest-plate. On the right side of his chest plate was a foreign symbol, ancient Japanese that literally translated as 'Badass.' The only thing giving away anything about his appearance was the pale skin on his fingers where the thumb, index and middle finger were cut off his gloves.

The ODST armour was dark green, woodland camouflage fatigues underneath with impact plating that bulwarked everything from the chest and shoulders, right down to the boots. His helmet visor contained an OLED which could polarise, de-polarise and project a heads up display for the wearer, displaying the trooper's VISR system providing him with on the fly combat data and kept him connected with the rest of his Force Recon group.

Clutched in the ODST's hands was his compact M7 submachine gun with a holographic red dot sight mounted on the top of the weapon.

Mounted on his backpack in two parts was his sniper rifle system 99E-S5AM. The weapon was broken down into two parts, the body of the weapon hanging from the right of his pack, the long barrel hanging from the other side, making the weapon more manageable to carry around. The rifle was painted in a camouflage micro-pattern similar his fatigues. Stuck to the magnetic strip on his left hip were several pouches containing 100 round SMG magazines, on his right hip was a holstered M6G pistol and two spare magazines, in the pouches on his belt were several 4 round sniper rifle clips and attached to his boot was a sheathed combat dagger.

Extending the SMG's stock with a sharp tug, the ODST stretched and sighed, flexing out the crick in his neck and feeling his headache dissipate slowly. The drop had been commenced from high orbit, making for a long, uncomfortable, inaccurate, but stealthy drop. His comms were silent as the surrounding countryside. Slowly glancing over his shoulder he checked over his backpack. Behind his visor, Klepto forced a sheepish smile.

'Everything a marine needs.' He thought to himself. 'Except a pack of tissues and a Playboy.'

A thunderous roar caused the ODST to raise his head. His fellow ODST fell through the sky past his position, tracing burning hot smoke trails in their wake. Four whole platoons of recon ODST, three squads on each platoon. Their HEV pods tore through the sky, discarding bits of heat tiles, thrusters flaring, thudding into the hills all around the lone Helljumper. On the horizon he saw more streaks of smoke and fire. Even more ODST pods dropping in miles away. They were followed by Orca heavy drop ships and Pelican troop carriers containing the assault force. The UNSC had massed several whole regiments for this assault, and a trio of UNSC carriers to deploy from. More importantly were the ships Klepto couldn't see, the ones landing all over the planet and setting up bases in key locations on Tundras. Humanity was hell-bent on taking this world back from the Covenant.

One of the pods slammed into the side of the hill only a dozen meters away, kicking up clouds of dust and debris. Shading his visor from the flying foliage, Klepto slowly paced through the knee deep heather-brush, closing in on the pod. Inside he heard the hatch pins crack open, and a second later the hatch burst off the front of the HEV. An ODST in identical dress, carrying a standard M90 shotgun in both hands stepped out and shook his head. Turning to Klepto, the new Helljumper, a private on the same squad, waved him over, de-polarising his visor.

"Hey!" the trooper called out. "New guy! Over here!"

Jogging over, Klepto held his SMG up to his chest and nodded to the fellow squad mate. It was Private Briggs, Zombie squad's technician. Under his helmet, Briggs had short blonde hair with a 105th Helljumpers tattoo on his right temple. He had very blue eyes that glowed through the transparent visor and a wide, solid jaw.

"First down I see." Briggs smiled, a gesture that slowly faded as Klepto's emotionless visor stared back at him. "Right... don't say much do you, new guy? Oh, well. We should get moving." Polarising his visor again, the fellow ODST turned downhill and started trudging, Klepto following closely as he kept his weapon shouldered. Gripping the side of his helmet, Briggs spoke into his helmet's microphone. "Briggs reporting in. Klepto and I are linked up and are Oscar Mike to Romeo Victor Alpha, over."

There was no reply over the comms as they tore through the brush, morning dew dappling their armour, their breath vented from the sides of their face plates forming a frozen mist in their wake.

"Piece of shit walkie-talkie." The private snapped, slapping the back of his helmet. "I'm the tech-guy, and I always get handed the broken equipment."

Rolling his eyes, Klepto jumped forward and held Briggs back by his shoulder. Grabbing the private's helmet in both hands he tugged it off his head, swung the head gear around and cracked it off the nearest rock he could find, much to Briggs' complaint, who tried to stop him.

"Hey, what the..." Briggs let out trying to lunge forward and snatch his helmet back, but Klepto stopped him with one hand against his chest.

Calmly the Helljumper cracked the helmet on the rock again and almost immediately they both heard the internal speakers hiss and start spouting dialogue.

"... I repeat, we read you Briggs. Will see you at RV Alpha. Over and out." A clear voice announced as Klepto handed the helmet back.

"Oh." Embarrassed he didn't think of doing that, Briggs took back the helmet and jammed it on his head. "Thanks."

Taking point, Klepto increased the pace. Sliding downhill over gravel and rocks, the Helljumpers remained as silent as they could be, focused entirely on their surroundings. Klepto had turned off his Land Warrior live feed, cutting out the mess of radio traffic flying between squads on the ground and those on stand-by.

The hopped over a rock and landed on a steep bit of hill, sliding down, SMG in one hand, other flat on the ground beside him as he slid down on one knee kicking up clouds of dirt and snow as he descended the valley. Somewhere ahead he could hear either rushing water, or maybe the wind. He found out quickly enough as he landed heavily on an even bit of ground and launched himself forward to burst through a bush in the line of trees that grew higher than he was tall. As soon as he stormed through, the ODST slid to a halt, toes on the edge of a sheer cliff wall. Bits of rock and snow cascaded down the rocky cliff face as Klepto dropped his SMG in its one point sling and wind milled his arms for balance. The cliff angled straight down for about twenty meters, ending abruptly in a cluster of rocks and grass.

A hand grabbed him by the backpack and pulled him back. Panting and catching his breath, the specialist turned to a new face as another ODST's visor de-polarised. This Helljumper's chest plate was painted crimson, and attached to his belt was a bulky white medical satchel. On his shoulder was a Navy Ensign rank, with 'Sawbones' stencilled to his helmet's forehead. This trooper had dark skin and brown eyes from what Klepto could see, and narrow features.

"Easy there, new guy." The medic smiled, patting the specialist on the back. "I'm pretty good, but not even Jesus can bring you back from a fall like that."

Klepto nodded, noting the medic's FOF tag that popped up on his VISR. Ensign Nelly, otherwise obviously known by the nickname slapped on his forehead, Sawbones.

A second later Briggs burst through the foliage and halted abruptly, teetering on the edge of the cliff like Klepto had, only this time the specialist caught him, preventing the private from diving headfirst to his death.

Pulling Briggs away from the edge, Klepto slowly looked up. From the ridge there was a view over the entire valley, a waterfall rushing over the ledge a hundred meters away and splashing down into a bowl that ran off into a gushing river winding through the valley. Patches of tropical jungle and grassy clearings gave way to the temple a dozen or so kilometres away. The colossal ancient alien structure was built against the far ridge wall and towered high up into the sky, touching the fluffy clouds above. Cloud cover parted slightly here and there, causing streaks of light to filter down into the truly colossal valley and illuminate the Covenant Loyalist camp on the stone plaza in front of the temple.

The spire itself was truly colossal, with flying-buttresses as tall as the central column fixed to the north and south flanks. On the west side, from where the Helljumper observed was the entrance, a massive mouth that ended in a pointed arch at the top and was wide enough to fit two Scorpion tanks side by side.

Squinting, Klepto held his weapon by his side and peered down the valley wall. He scanned over the temple, eying every detail before his eyes fell on the plaza. The image sprang closer and focused to reveal aliens wandering around. There were elites in sleek power armour guarding over the grunt workers in sterile white pressure suits moving tools and rubble around. Every hostile contact was marked with a clear red outline by his FOF tracker, identifying them as enemies. Inanimate objects were marked with clear yellow outlines, and unmanned vehicles and weapons stashes were marked with cool blue. There were several vehicles sitting idle, their red outlined pilots standing lazily by, and there were a few ammo crates and weapon dumps unguarded in the heart of the camp. It looked like most of the personnel were focused on digging, still excavating into the temple.

Zooming out, the Helljumper checked the perimeter. He spotted the standard sentries. Jackals on patrol with sniper rifles, more snipers in the trees and Wraith mortar tanks were given away by their heat signatures picked up from the spy-drone in extreme low orbit, their location triangulated from the Helljumper's location, and finally marked clearly on his VISR. The Helljumper grinned, blessing whoever invented the ODST VISR system. Of course he didn't always rely on technology. Machines could break, his wits could not. But technology did make his life a whole lot easier.

There were some spotlight towers, but no visible fences of barriers. No doubt they may have set up mines or other booby-traps though impossible to spot with the spy-drone.

Then the ODST spotted the river. He lifted his head and looked to the waterfall. It fell into a shallow river that wound through the forest, rushed over and between rocks in the open areas before disappearing into the sea that stretched out from a white sandy beach on the farthest south edge of the valley.

Turning his head to see where Nelly and Briggs wandered off to, he noticed the rest of the squad set up along the ridge. His FOF tracker automatically named them and outlined them with green 'friendly' lines. Private Cartman was on guard, sitting up on one knee his M7 submachine gun shouldered. Sitting up against an embankment was Private Feeble calmly pushing rounds into an MA5 magazine, his MA37 assault rifle lain across his lap. Lazily, Feeble looked up as Klepto stepped past him. Last but not least was Corporal Roads. The squad's commander sat on one knee, his helmet in the grass beside him, laser designator pressed against his face as he scanned over the structure. Sitting beside him was a stand-alone satellite communications unit, his hand resting on connected phone piece.

The corporal had several short, deep scars on his face, across his cheeks, chin, across his nose and one cutting across his eyebrow. His brown hair was shorn and broken up by more scars and a patchy goatee attempted to cover the scars on his chin.

The corporal slowly lowered the laser designator and looked up at Klepto before the specialist knelt down beside him. "Klepto." Roads spoke in an Earthling Northern Irish accent. "Welcome to Zombie squad. I read your file, even the bits ONI suggested I don't. I appreciate your skill-set, but you can leave your lone-wolf shite behind."

"This our new-guy?" Feeble asked from the background, slapping his MA5 mag in place.

"The fuck do you think?" Roads said pressing the laser designator back against his face.

Roads picked up the field-telephone and clicked the talk button, connecting him directly to the command Pelican, orbiting the mountains several thousand feet above their heads. "Baker two-three actual to baseplate, requesting danger close MAC strike on target grid Zulu-nine-four-Foxtrot." A thirty metric ton tungsten round hitting the ground with a velocity of several tens-of-thousands terra-joules only a dozen kilometres from their position was certainly a danger close fire mission. The shockwave alone would be strong enough to knock them down at this range. "Target is marked with green light from over-watch Alpha, over."

There was a short pause before a female voice from the commanding officer on the command Pelican replied. "Negative Baker two-three actual. We want that target intact. Your mission is a small settlement four clicks from the target you just designated for MAC strike, over."

"C'mon, Brenda. What the hell are we looking for," the corporal glanced up at Klepto who cocked his head slightly. Holding out the talk-box, the corporal cranked up the volume so the specialist could hear too. "Over?"

"You're in search of a particular asset. It will be made obvious when you get there... oh, and Brad? While you take your orders from me, call me Lieutenant Kenneth. Over and out." She finished with an impatient snap.

Roads sighed, muttering under his breath. "Bitch... alright lads." Dropping the laser designator and the field-telephone he rose to his feet, jamming his helmet on his head. "You heard the lady. We have ourselves a recon mission. Unknown settlement seven clicks south-east. Ready up your gear for combat. I want us Oscar Mike in three Mikes." He turned to the specialist who also straightened up. Klepto's gear had been ready for combat since before they dropped. "You ready, Klepto? Good. It's time to see if all the good things, Lieutenant Kenneth," he said with some venom. "Said about you are true. You're on point. Lead us in, but don't run off on us. Like the lady said, you're looking for something... obvious."

Klepto nodded, shouldering his SMG and moving along the ridge to the south. The mission, no matter how sketchy or dark, had officially begun.

---***---

Covenant warship Lineage, Tundras, Lao system fringe, Ninth Age of Reclamation

Slipspace suddenly ended and the vessel jerked to a halt back in normal space. One second she was watching the live feed travel through a tunnel of dancing white lights and the next it rushed out into a new solar system. Stars winked to life in Rha's vision before she noticed a planet slide into her view. The surface was a brilliant blend of lush landmass and vast bodies of blue ocean, broken apart by white streaks of cloud. To the courtesan Rha 'Antakrea seeing a planet so vibrant and full of life was the most beautiful thing she'd ever laid eyes upon. But to Shipmaster 'Sadumee, the true beauty was the military force in orbit. And it was only when the shipmaster chuckled lightly, when the courtesan mistress realised she too was looking at the human military ships hanging over the Covenant colony.

"Take us to the dark side of the primary moon." The shipmaster ordered, answered by an 'aye' from the helmsman. "Enable stealth buffers. I wish to keep our presence concealed for now.

Rha was watching a live feed from the hull cameras. They had just entered the system, and banked towards the moon just outside the human ships' sensor range. Unless they were intently peering out of the portholes, the human military forces orbiting the planet were none the wiser about the Lineage entering the system.

Dotted around in orbit were five light class human warships, bulky, angular vessels, flimsy child's toys compared to the mighty Covenant flagship. With them were three carrier vessels, gargantuan behemoths that sacrificed mobility and stealth for capacity. No doubt the humans had already mounted an invasion force against the Colony's defences in an attempt to re-take the planet.

"Running and hiding, shipmaster? Such tactics are for whimpering Unggoy fresh of the teat!" a long, deep growl came as the crew noticed the bridge doors slide shut.

'Sadumee sighed and snarled at the same time, leaning over a console beside the navigator, wondering why the hierarchs had sought it fit to curse him with such an unclean presence aboard his ship.

Turning, the shipmaster faced the chieftain. Chieftain Lepidus was as big as the Sangheili, clad entirely in crimson plated armour over his legs and shoulders, leaving his chest bare and open, saying he was unafraid of enemy fire. Lepidus was an albino, fiery red eyes and stark white hair, a shaggy mane sticking hanging around his neck, and a long plaited beard bound with a leather strap. The helmet covered his bald head and the sides leaving his leathery apelike face open. Around the Jiralhanae's waist was a belt containing various spoils of war. Knives and blades taken from fallen enemies, a series of human grenades as well as his own peoples' hand forged spike grenades. Hanging across his back from a wide leather strap around his torso was a gravity hammer, an ancient and surprisingly advanced kind of weapon for such a tribal creature. The Jiralhanae chieftain's weapon was hand-crafted, carved out of stone on a steel composite hilt. One end of the hammer was engraved with ancient forerunner runes which glowed a soft blue, with a long chipped but sharp blade melded into the other end of the hammer, dual purposing the weapon as an axe.

"We are running dark, shipmaster." The helmsman reported formally.

"Very good." 'Sadumee turned to the courtesan.

She was pretty. Tall for a female, almost as tall as the shipmaster. She was clad in a sleeveless matte black dress that hugged her torso tightly and revealed her shapely legs, dropping down the centre front and back to her knees, with golden designs stitched across her large breasts and around her waist. Her boots went up to her shins and were encrusted with silver plates on the front etched with alien designs. She had fairly short black hair tied back in a tight braid, with some stray locks framing her dark, piercing eyes with long drawn back eyelashes. She, like some of her fellow Sangheili courtesans moved with liquid grace, even blinked with dazzling fluidity. Had the shipmaster been a civilian or a diplomat, his instinct would be to avoid her steely gaze. He hated to admit it, but her vanity was somewhat... intimidating, for lack of a better word.

"Lady 'Antakrea, I must make an uneasy request." 'Sadumee admitted, showing a soft tone that was quite unlike him. In fact, it did not suit him.

"And what pray tell is this request, shipmaster?" the courtesan mistress placed her hands on her hips with narrowed eyes suspiciously, looking as intimidating as the shipmaster now.

"The dancer." The shipmaster said shortly, turning away. "I understand she has quite an extensive education, specifically advanced courses in history and forerunner artefacts. I would very much appreciate if she could accompany me to the surface. The last report from the colony said there were abundant forerunner ruins across the planet. I would like her to do a preliminary survey before we report back to High Charity."

"Certainly." Rha said darkly. "But I will accompany her of course."

"Of... course. Oh, and if you will," the shipmaster added, turning to her. "Send the female in question to my quarters. I would like to brief her personally before our deployment."

Her eyes narrowed as she nodded. Silently, Rha turned on her heel and marched out of the command centre. Something burning deep down in her gut told her there was more to this than the shipmaster was letting on.

As she left, Chieftain Lepidus took a long sniff of the air she left behind, smirking widely to reveal razor sharp fangs hidden behind his thick lips.

"Chieftain, you had something you wanted to say?" the shipmaster snarled.

"If we are to go into battle, my men require a feast." Lepidus began, watching as the courtesan left.

"I am aware of your traditions, chieftain."

"And my men require females for..." the chieftain continued, but the Sangheili cut across him.

"I am aware of all your cultures and traditions." The shipmaster growled edging on anger now for having to repeat himself. "And it is apparent to me you have not accustomed yourself to ours. Let me fill you in. Sangheili ground troops may indulge in a meal before battle, but obtain abstinence. So strictly so, it has become operational procedure for all ground troops to obtain abstinence until they return from combat."

"Shipmaster..." Lepidus attempted to protest, but got no further.

"Furthermore, while you are on board my ship, following my orders, you shall follow my operational procedure." 'Sadumee declared. "Are we understood?"

The air in the command centre was tense. A minor at the communications station turned in his seat to see the chieftain and shipmaster standing mere inches apart, faces contorted into challenges, their posture lowered into a combat stance. It was a stand-off, and the minor knew his shipmaster too well to know 'Sadumee would not back down.

Eventually the chieftain stepped back and smiled as politely as he could muster. "For today a feast shall suffice. But know this, shipmaster. I will take up the offer to have... 'Celebrations' with my men and the courtesans on board when we return victorious."

Growling, the shipmaster could only nod as the Jiralhanae turned and left the command centre. Vile beasts, he thought. They had no civilised culture, no procedure and no discipline. Combat was just recreation to them, and the courtesans would be nothing but objects. None the less, the shipmaster was cornered. On board his ship, every warrior was entitled to the flesh of a woman when returning from combat... even the Jiralhanae.

---***---

// Urev mountains, Tundras, Lao system, November 2550 CE

Klepto squinted as he took the head of the formation. A dozen meters behind him the rest of the squad marched in a staggered line formation. Feeling stuffy despite the freezing wind that beat against his armour, Klepto sweat in silence and suckled on the tube that fed water from the 4 litre hydration pack in his survival gear.

The far southern section of the Urev valley was flattened out farmland of sorts, fields of trees growing some kind of colourful alien fruit and other obscure looking crops the human had never seen before. Running along the path was a deep stream of calm, clear water that provided most of the irrigation to these open fields. The track he walked on was raised considerably above the grove, meaning the Helljumpers were marching out in the open, exposed to any kind of fire that cared to tear across this landscape. Though, through his VISR Klepto could only make out the yellow outlines of surrounding plants and dead looking trees. There were no hints to hostile contacts. Besides, the Covenant snipers were almost always Jackals, untrained and undisciplined. They were sharp shots, but that didn't always make for good sniper. Chances were a Jackal sniper would get fed up in this cold and would abandon his post.

In the background Klepto heard the ODST talk among themselves. Though, it seemed Private Cartman, the resident joker was doing most of the talking.

"Can you believe this shit?" Cartman started up again. "Look at this place. Fucking freeze-my-ass-off-shit-hole. How come we're never called to fight a cool enemy, like a race of Amazonian hot-chicks, or the violator beasts on the Planet of the Virgins."

"Because that would be too good to be true, smart-ass." Feeble said plainly.

"No, man. It's because of pussy." Cartman said as if it was plain as day. "Lack of pussy is what makes society FUBAR. If the Covenant were getting quality pussy we wouldn't have to come here and fuck them up like this. A nut busting alien is a happy alien."

"Oh, brother." Nelly groaned under his breath.

Marching with his M7 held high to his chest, Klepto glanced left and right. Green lines started popping up as he marched on. Humanoid figures, tall, almost seven feet, thrashing their arms as they ran full sprint past his position, fighting through the vegetation. First there was one... then another... and suddenly, as the Helljumper walked along the path cutting straight down the middle of them, he found himself surrounded by green marked contacts as they loudly snapped and broke their way through the brownish trees and plants growing throughout the grove. They didn't seem interested in the ODSTs however. They were marked green by his VISR because they were unarmed and posed no threat. They were running away from something. But what?

Immediately Klepto halted the formation by raising a hand and indicating everybody down. Everyone stopped and dropped to one knee, covering off all angles. No doubt they were seeing the contacts now too.

"Brad? Should we be shooting?" Briggs asked.

"Trigger discipline, lads." Roads said in a calm tone. "Unarmed contacts. They're not interested in us, so it's all still grand."

In seconds the contacts were gone. They disappeared further off into the groves down the way Zombie squad had come. Tightening the grip on his weapon, Klepto rose to his feet again and turned to the way they were intending to move.

"See what I mean, guys?" Cartman started again, rising to his feet. "Out in the middle of Whiskey Tango buttfuck-country, wasting ghosts in a suit of armour that reeks of piss and ball-sweat. How's that for glory?"

Klepto froze and raised his hand, indicating Cartman to shut up. Roads was the only one to notice and looked to where the specialist was looking.

"And what the fuck is with command wanting us to check this place out anyway?" Cartman continued. "We should have a policy like 'Nuke everything, back in time for lunch,' y'know?"

Road's eyes widened and he turned to his men, imitating Klepto's signal to shut up. "Cartman, shut up! Contact front! Hold your fire!"

Immediately the squad launched into action. Some of the troopers dropped to the deck, aiming their rifles from a prone position. Feeble ran up beside Klepto and crouched, his AR level. Klepto stayed on his feet, SMG shouldered but muzzle pointed downward, squinting through the light banks of mist that rose around them.

Something moved directly ahead of them. In the light banks of white haze in front of them, Klepto made out some motion. It started as a blurry outline, until a solid black figure materialised. His FOF tracker didn't even register it until the figure moved close enough. A green outline popped up, identifying the humanoid figure. It hobbled closer, dragging a bad leg, one hand over a hole in the calf.

It limped into full clear view and stood dead still at the sight of the Helljumpers. Standing only ten meters away was an elite, a six foot tall Covenant alien clad in hand-made garb, one hand clutching a gaping wound in the left thigh. It was a civilian... he was just a boy.

'Oh, shit.' Klepto thought as the elite's eyes stared into his visor. Cold sweat glistened on his skin. His trousers sewn out of some sort of leathery hide was splattered with blood. Purple blood seeped through his fingers where he held on to the gaping wound, and the blueish hue drained from his face with a mixture of shock and blood loss. The heavy tar smell of his blood wafted along with the breeze, causing Griggs to cough and gag.

Klepto held up a hand, indicating everyone to stand down. It was alright. He was just a civilian, only a child practically...

A gunshot rang out and the elite's gut exploded like a bloody flower blossoming in spring. The round entered his belly, leaving a wound the size of Klepto's fist, and exited out the small of his back, tearing half his spine with it.

Twisting around, Klepto saw Feeble line up for a second shot, the smoke from the first still curling around the barrel. With one hand the specialist pushed the private's weapon downward and kicked his boot in the trooper's chest, throwing the ODST flat on his back. As Feeble gasped with surprise, wondering what the fuck just hit him, Klepto turned again just in time to see the elite's eyes roll into the back of his head as he keeled over.

He landed in the dirt with a pronounced thud. The cloud of dust parted by the time Klepto reached him, kneeling over the semi-conscious body. He was trembling, mandibles slack and blood dripping from his mandibles. Flecks of blood stained his chest and face where the splatter of his own wound hit him. His intestines were ripped to shreds. Digestive acids mingled with his blood, poisoning his wound. Whereas human blood smelled like copper, his smelt like tar, and it filled Klepto's senses as he tried to figure out what to do.

Klepto slowly reached out and touched his arm. He trembled. The Helljumper almost felt sorry for him. He wasn't a combatant. He was a civilian. He was probably even a pacifist. He must have been if he was an elite, especially a male, but not a warrior.

The elite let out a breath... and didn't take another. Hanging his head, Klepto patted him lightly and lifted his gaze up as the others gathered around. Killing Covenant was one thing, but killing civilians? Klepto didn't care what the elites had done to humanity. Resorting to these methods made humans no better.

Feeble looked down and smiled visibly as he de-polarised his visor. "Good shot, eh guys?" Klepto rose to his feet and glared through his visor at the private. "What the fuck you looking at, rookie?"

"You're a fucking piece of work, Feeble." Nelly snarled, shoving his way past the private to lead the others off.

As the ODST moved on a bit further down the road, it was just Klepto and Corporal Roads standing over the body. Klepto didn't feel like moving, and Roads knew exactly what the specialist was thinking.

"You can't do shit about this, son." Roads said. "If a report is filed and followed through, and I really mean if... Feeble gets a rap on the knuckles, maybe even a day's brig-time, but the next morning he's out on the field just as psychotic he was the night before. Codes of honour are reserved for civilians and peace loving hippies. But we are blood crazed, death-dealing marines whose sole purpose when we wake up is to disembowel our enemies and defile their civilisation." Roads sighed. "As hard as it is to accept that, it's who we are. And in this one sided war, it's all we have."

Klepto slowly nodded, stepping over the alien and following the others. Not because he agreed with what the corporal said, or because he felt defeated. It was because he believed in karma. He believed the universe had a balance. Good things happened to good people. Bad things to the bad. Feeble would get his, just like Klepto would someday be judged for the things he'd done.

---***---

Covenant warship Lineage, Tundras lunar orbit, Lao system, Ninth Age of Reclamation

"C'mon, girls!" Rha 'Antakrea clapped her hands together to get her courtesans moving. "The troops will be leaving soon. The major wants you all there to wave them off. And he is not a patient man. I can assure you that." she added with a small grin, nodding to the younger of the two Kig-Yar girls preparing with the three other Sangheili courtesans in their assigned quarters. Syna 'Elessenia was one of them. "Syna, remember, the shipmaster wants you in his quarters before we leave."

"Yes, mistress." The Sangheili was on her feet in front of the mirror touching up the eyeliner on her vibrant green eyes. Finishing, she quickly checked over her slim body, wide hips and her average bust under a tailored vest that fitted tight against her body and ended above her belly, showing off her mid-riff. Around her waist was a leather belt and a short skirt that halted just below her hips. Her boots ended just under her knees and she wore gloves tied tight around her wrists. Laying on her bunk was a black padded coat with fur lining the hood that fell down to her ankles when worn. In overall, under the coat she was planning to wear, her civilian garb revealed more flesh than the gowns she wore for her services.

To finish her outfit, she wore a scarf around her neck that bound her long wavy crimson plumage that cascaded down her neck and halted at the back of her waist.

"Syna." One of the Kig-Yar called in a low tone. "Can I use that?"

The Sangheili courtesan handed the Kig-Yar the pen she was using. "Why do you need to wear that, Krylik?"

The reptilian alien cocked a scaly eyebrow as she took the pen from her friend. "I get paid to look perfect." Krylik said.

"You are so stupid." The other Kig-Yar, Krylik's younger sister, Srylik said as she flattened down the ruffles in the tight red tunic she wore and adjusted her cleavage, checking everything was in order in the mirror beside Syna's.

"Let me have a look." Krylik nudged her sister out of the way and checked herself over.

The two Kig-Yar girls were separated in age by a year, but were practically identical twins. Everything from their skin colour, eye colour, even their metallic silver quills were identical. They were the same height, same slim, delicate build and had identically shaped muzzles containing pointed teeth. The only things that set them apart were their styles of make-up and clothing.

Krylik was clad in a turquoise tunic that complimented the soft colour of her shining scales, and applied dark eye-liner that caused her bright eyes to practically leap out of their sockets.

"We are not even going with the warriors. They're not even going to see you up close." Srylik growled.

Krylik cocked her brow again, glancing sideways at her sister who was showing more cleavage than she was. "So if that's the case, why are your breasts practically hanging out of your tunic?"

Srylik looked away, the scales on her cheeks turning light pink as she placed a hand over her bust and turned away. "Remind them what they're coming home to." She said in a small voice.

Meanwhile, the other two Sangheili courtesans, Esne and Polna finished dressing and crossed the room to see how Syna was progressing.

"So how are you feeling, Syna?" Polna asked in a playful tone. "Are you ready to get dirty?"

Syna gave her friends a smile. "I wasn't always a courtesan you know."

Esne smiled sideways at Polna. "Syna's family are farmers back home on Sanghelios."

"And what does your family do, Esne?" Syna asked plainly.

The other courtesan fell silent and looked away shamefully. "Doctors." She muttered under her breath with some shame.

"Why do you even bother coming out here for work, Syna?" Polna sighed, changing the subject. "Why, if I lived out in the Sanghelios country side... among those strong farmhands." She sighed dreamily again as she followed Esne to the ship's hangar where they would wave off the troops being deployed to the planet surface. Rha and Srylik followed quickly, leaving Syna and Krylik alone together.

Krylik stopped adjusting her breasts in her tunic and looked at Syna as the Sangheili girl sat down in the nearest recliner. The Sangheili looked down. "Syna, what's wrong?" Krylik asked, walking closer and sitting down beside the Sangheili.

"It's nothing." Syna smiled and shook her head. "I was just wondering... I was wondering if I could ever have something."

"Have something?" the Kig-Yar asked.

"Haven't you ever wanted something better for yourself... or your sister?" Syna asked. "A home where you're warm and comfortable? A husband who is truly thoughtful and compassionate. A man who loves you and you alone, not a warrior who will pass his genes on to any female he wants? A family of your own?"

Krylik smiled. "Of course I want that, especially for my sister. But since that day Mistress 'Antakrea took us in, I discovered that will never happen for girls like Srylik or me. The only males who'd take us in would be pirates or bandits. The only males who'd take you, Syna would be a warrior who would be on duty for most of his life." She wrapped her thin arm around the taller alien's narrow waist. "The worlds we come from, honey, are the kind of worlds where you have to take whatever you can."

Syna chuckled. "You're like a true pirate, aren't you?" the Sangheili said in a husky whisper, lowering her head to the Kig-Yar.

The reptilian alien straightened up and effortlessly pinned the bigger Sangheili on her back, causing the recliner's wooden frame to creak. Krylik straddled Syna's waist and held her shoulders tight against the mattress, eyes seductively narrowed and the corner of her mouth turned up slightly.

"Choose your next words... very... carefully... miss 'Elessenia." Krylik said in a smoky whisper as her hands moved from Syna's shoulders, across her breasts and over her ribs.

As her hands moved down, as did the rest of her body. Soon enough her body slipped over Syna's knees and her head was between her thighs, hands on her slender waist. Syna's long smooth legs instinctively widened as her breath grew shorter with excitement. The Sangheili closed her eyes as she felt the Kig-Yar's fingers pull down her silken undergarments. The delicate cloth slipped past her feet and Syna spread her legs a bit further. Her gown automatically rose to reveal her moist sex to Krylik.

The Kig-Yar murred with approval at the glistening mound. Syna hadn't had sex in months. Krylik knew this much, because she knew exactly what Syna was like. The Sangheili danced. She loved dancing. So much that she had begun to only accept jobs where all she had to do was dance... and as a result was starting to neglect her body's needs over her mind's needs.

Syna smiled as she felt the tip of Kryilik's muzzle stroke the sensitive flesh between her thighs. She wasn't a lesbian. Syna was just comfortable enough with her sexuality to let another female do whatever she wanted with her body. And she knew Krylik wasn't lesbian either. In the line of work they were in, they couldn't afford to have a single sexuality. More often than one would think their services were called upon by a well paying female, either a true lesbian or a rich pensioner deciding to experiment with her body. So as a courtesan, it was more profitable if they were bisexual.

And the same way Syna had an affinity for dance, Krylik had an affinity with other females. It was her speciality, like it was Rha's endurance to let a male do whatever he wanted to her, and Polna's unique ability to drive a male or female crazy with just the use of her hands. Srylik shared her older sister's skills to please another female, mainly because she learned everything from Krylik. On occasion they even worked together on some males seeking to have two females at once... and for some inexplicable reason it was a very common fantasy for a male to be in a threesome with twins.

Syna gasped as Krylik's long, wet tongue slithered past her lips and gently licked the moisture leaking between her nether lips. With one hand she touched the mound and parted the lips with ease, revealing the darker, wetter flesh within. She raked the dull tip of her nose across the wet flesh, earning a shudder that ran down Syna's spine and caused her legs to twitch. Next, Krylik's tongue came out and started rubbing the soft nub near the top of her opening. Softly at first, causing Syna to moan. Then she pressed her tongue hard and started grinding it harder. The Sangheili's muscles instantly went stiff. Her mandibles clenched and she fought not to cry out, breathing harder and moaning through the hand she clapped over her mouth.

The raking and licking went on for a while, causing the Sangheili to twitch and buck her hips, wanting more and more with every passing second... until finally...

Her eyes clenched shut harder and the hand clapped over her mandibles did little to muffle her scream. Her free hand grabbed a handful of the mattress and nearly tore a chunk out of it. Her hips bucked her crotch tighter against Krylik's muzzle as her legs twitched uncontrollably. Waves after waves of pleasure racked through her body, flowing freely and practically stopping the beat of her hearts... and then it finally passed, after what felt like an eternity of pure heaven coursing through every vein in her body.

Syna panted, smiling down at Krylik as she replaced the Sangheili's silken panties. As the Kig-Yar crawled back on top of the Sangheili, Syna gently caressed Krylik's body.

"And you then?" Syna asked breathlessly, one hand inching closer and closer to the Kig-Yar's hips.

"Oh I can bet you a year's pay I'll have a male between my thighs the instant the warriors return from battle." Krylik assured. "And maybe I'll let Srylik will join in too."

Syna smirked, holding the Kig-Yar tightly. "You're on."

---***---

// Urev mountains, Tundras, Lao system, November 2550 CE

When the village loomed in sight, it wasn't what any of the ODST had expected.

The alien settlers seemed to be doing everything simple, wooden sheds and pens with a low rock wall surrounding the settlement. This was not what they had expected of the Covenant. They would have expected advanced technology, artificial irrigation systems, brick and mortar mansions with grunt slaves. They weren't expecting a bunch of Neolithic style farmers.

And they weren't expecting the slaughter awaiting them.

Bodies were littered everywhere. Purple blood splashed across the dirt and over the walls of the houses. The elite bodies torn up by what looked like .50 calibre rounds from a mounted turret. Small arms fire riddled other bodies, possible SMG or assault rifle fire. Many of the corpses were ingloriously piled up as they tried to flee over their dead brethren, only to be cut down, shot in the back as they tried to run. And the smell... it was unbearable.

Klepto gagged and coughed. Nelly lifted his helmet and bitterly spat. The others were stunned... except for Feeble.

"Whoa. Check this out, guys!" the private laughed, skipping between the corpses, stamping purposely on the more mutilated corpses as he passed them. "Some of these motherfuckers were turned to paint. Yeah, bitches!" he started yelling at the corpses that were the most mangled. "That's what you get when you fuck with a fifty!"

"Keep it down, Feeble!" Corporal Roads barked, patting Klepto on the shoulder. "C'mon. I need my specialist on point."

Klepto nodded, shouldering his M7 and carefully stepping over the carnage. He took point through the gory wasteland, sweeping for motion between the piles of dead elite civilians. There was none, and he wasn't expecting to see any.

He was doing his best not to step on any of the bodies... but it wasn't easy since some of them were strewn all over the place. Now and then he'd step in something squishy and look down to see some intestine or other form of soft organ squelch out from underneath his boot. It was disgusting.

"Jesus Christ." Briggs muttered under his breath, stepping in something soft and quickly lifting his foot and placing it somewhere else, only to land in another pool of guts. "Lord have mercy on these souls, take them into heaven..."

"Briggs, what the fuck are you doing man?" Cartman called from behind the praying ODST. "This is the enemy. You should be hoping they go to hell!"

"Cartman, show some fucking respect, you dick." Nelly snapped, passing a building riddled with holes. Through the perforated holes he could see inside were several small mangled corpses of elite children, a female strewn out beside them, holes in her back where she tried to protect them from the hail of bullets. "These were fucking civilians."

Cartman shrugged, nudging the medic as he passed him. "Civvies, Covvies, all the same to me. B'sides, I don't think Briggs ought to be praying. I mean, society, human or alien has just gone downhill since they decided offering entrails to a non-proven deity figure was a good idea."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Briggs asked over his shoulder.

"It means religion is gay." He answered.

"Cut the chatter." Roads called over his shoulder, following Klepto into the centre of the village. "Klepto, how many corpses you count?"

The specialist lowered his weapon and looked between the dozens upon dozens of dead aliens before shrugging.

"Sawbones, can you do a corpse count?" Roads asked.

"I'm a medic, not a fucking mortician." Nelly muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Yes, sir." The medic corrected, holstering his weapon and walking off to start counting.

"Feeble, give him a hand. Report to me with anything out of the ordinary." Roads ordered with a nod. The private started to complain, but the corporal de-polarised his visor and gave a glare. "Now, Feeble." The corporal sighed, removing his helmet and rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes clenched shut as Feeble squelched past. "Well, whatever objective the lieutenant wanted us to retrieve is long gone."

"I dunno about this, Brad. Who would want to slaughter all these civvies? What's the point?" Briggs moved closer with a sigh. "This shit looks like marine fire. A passing gunship maybe?"

Klepto crouched near one corpse and pointed at the high calibre bullet holes.

"Air-cav, or a drop ship with marines on board most definitely." Roads observed. "Call it in. Maybe we can get a bearing on nearby friendly birds. We don't want them doubling back and think we're the enemy. I'm not in the mood for getting friendly fucked today."

"You got it." Briggs found a dry spot and crouched, dropping his VOX unit and picked up the horn, pinging the command Pelican.

As Klepto stood up straight, Roads replaced his helmet and cocked his head slightly. "You don't actually say much, do you Klepto?"

The specialist gave a small shrug. That was when he heard it. Something fell over behind him. The ODST whirled around just in time to see a steel tipped fishing spear fall from a wooden rack mounted on the side of one of the nearby huts. It hit the ground with a handful of others and clattered loudly. That was when he saw a small figure dart away.

"Whoa! Contact-contact!" Briggs yelled in a panic, stumbling back from where he sat and pulling his sidearm.

Roads was stunned to see anything alive in this. Cartman was too distracted to even know what was going on. Klepto was the only one who darted forward and sprinted after the figure.

Running full speed, the specialist ignored the gore he was up to his ankles in, balancing on the slick carpet of bodies. One hand brushed the wall as he rounded the hut just in time to see the figure run into the tree line of the pine forest just outside the village. Klepto followed, leaping across the perimeter in one bound, his SMG dangling in the one-point sling by his side.

Rushing headlong into the forest, his foot caught on a root and the ODST stumbled. Landing hard on his palms, Klepto ignored the stinging of the gravel through his gloves, pushed himself up again and kept running. Leaping exposed roots and uneven rocky ground, he moved north as far as his compass could figure. Only ten meters ahead of him he saw low branches, brambles and ferns move as the runner tried to escape. One hand grabbing his M7, Klepto clawed at the low branches and thick ferns that threatened to hold him back with the other. Under the forest canopy it was darker, and Klepto's visor automatically compensated for the low light. Somewhere ahead he could hear the figure he was chasing crashing loudly through the foliage.

Fighting against the soft mud that sucked his boots under, Klepto dashed into an ankle deep stream, turned and followed it north-east seeing a figure run downstream. It was slightly shorter than he was, humanoid and clad in similar garb to the elite girl Feeble had shot. But before he could get a good look it leapt over a ledge and disappeared, landing in a loud splash.

Running over, Klepto didn't think. Leaping off the first ledge as the stream led downhill, he landed up to his waist in a freezing cold grotto, feeling the cold water against his pressurised uniform, dry on the inside. Directly ahead of him at the bank he saw a pair of feet disappear through some ferns.

SMG held above his head and leaning forward so his weapons wouldn't get wet, Klepto waded up to the edge of the grotto, pulled himself up the slippery bank, failing the first time but successfully crawling his way up the second time, leopard crawled through a thick clump of thorny bushes and rolled down a rocky slope on the other side, sliding down to the bottom on his armoured ass. Landing hard, the ODST moaned, looking up, covered head to toe in mud and dust. Climbing to his feet, the disoriented Helljumper looked around. He'd lost the runner. With a sigh, Klepto sat on the nearest snow powdered rock and caught his breath. In the soft silence he could hear distant gunfire and explosions of engagements across the mountain range over the whimper of the wind...

And then he realised that wasn't the wind whimpering.

Sitting bolt upright, Klepto lifted his head, gripping the M7 SMG in both hands. Looking around all he saw were sparsely placed trees and clumps of undergrowth that grew up to his knees. Ears straining, he honed in on the sound. And his gaze fixed on a fallen tree.

It fell into the next, hanging at a forty-five degree angle, tearing up large clumps of earth with it. Littered around the large hole left in the ground was some snow... recently disturbed snow.

Moving closer, Klepto held his SMG level, eye peering through the holographic cross mounted on top of the weapon. Keeping his knees together, he walked slowly closer, keeping his weapon steady and trained on the fox-hole.

As he got closer, the whimpers grew louder. And then he saw her, hidden away in that small trench in the frozen earth. An elite girl, like the young male he'd seen earlier, only a bit taller, only a few centimetres shorter than Klepto to be exact. She looked like a seventeen or eighteen year old human. Proportioned slender, attractive feminine features, short purple plume down to her shoulders, tangled with some twigs caught in it. Her light pink eyes were brimmed with tears that ran down the sides of her face. She was dressed in a pair of britches and boots up to her shins, a leather tunic of sorts wrapped around her torso with some kind of fur around the cuffs of her long sleeves and around her collar. She was curled up, her clothes drenched and splattered with mud. She shivered with a mixture of cold and fear as Klepto lowered his SMG, mouth hanging open. He'd never seen an elite so young before, and he thought elite females were a rare enough sight. He was looking at a female teenager.

Slinging his SMG, the specialist quietly knelt at the edge of the pit. As his shadow cast over her, the elite girl curled up into a tighter ball. Gently, Klepto sat down and slid feet down to her. His boots hit the bottom of the ditch and the elite whimpered, covering her head in her arms. Gently the specialist lowered himself down to her level. Patiently he waited.

And soon enough the elite looked up again, slowly coming to the realisation Klepto was not going to hurt her. That was when he held out his hand to her, opening his fingers. The girl jolted slightly, still scared and shivering. But slowly she uncurled, eying the human curiously. Slowly she extended her own hand and took the ODSTs.

Closing his fingers gently, he showed her there was no need to be afraid. He wasn't going to hurt her. And gazing straight through his visor and into his soul, the elite realised this human was different. He wasn't a cold-hearted murderer like the others who had ravaged her village from the sky.

Slowly Klepto climbed out of the hole and helped her out, before hand in hand, together they moved back to the village...

---***---

// Covenant Settlement, Urev mountains, Tundras, Lao system, November 2550 CE

"Klepto, you out there? Respond, that's an order." Roads called over the comms.

"Forget it, Brad." Feeble said somewhere behind the corporal, carrying the perforated corpse of an elite female over one shoulder. Her blood splattered his armour as he swung her down and dropped the body on a pile they were building. "He's gone."

"What if it were you out there, Feeble?" Corporal Roads asked, turning to face the private.

Crouched beside the dead female he just dropped, Feeble shrugged pulling out his knife. "Just saying. I ain't dead." He cut open the light blood stained blouse the elite was wearing and lifted the light cloth up with the tip of his knife, peeking into her shirt. "Hmmm. I wonder what it's like to fuck an alien." He added on a casual note.

Snarling, Roads grabbed the private by the scruff of the neck and shoved him back into gear. "You're a piece of work, Feeble."

"It's what I keep telling him." Nelly said sombrely, walking past with the corpse of an alien child draped in his arms. As Feeble walked off to collect another one of the more intact corpses they were clearing out and placing in neat piles in an attempt to clean up the village for a marine outpost, Nelly leaned close to the corporal. "None of this means anything to him, Brad. Seriously, the way he's excited about all this civilian killing scares me."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Roads whispered back. "Focus on your job." And speaking of focusing on a job, the corporal turned to where Briggs was sitting. "Briggs, you got something for me?"

The private paused for a second, then held up the field telephone and nodded. Roads marched over as Nelly carefully placed the elite child's corpse down and went to collect another, while Feeble continued to nonchalantly toss their corpses like sacks of meat in a pile. Kneeling beside Briggs, Roads took the horn and answered.

"Corporal Roads." He answered.

"You made it to the village yet, corporal, over?" Lieutenant Brenda Kenneth asked.

"We did."

"And?" she asked impatiently.

Roads sighed. "No sign or our objective, whatever it may be. All we found was a tier six Covenant village. All inhabitants elites. All of them dead, torn apart by human fire, over."

There was a long silence on the comms until he heard a faint curse in the background. "Roger that, corporal. I want you to move on and..."

"Now hold on a feckin' minute here!" Roads yelled into the horn. "First of all, I want to know what other squads you got out here stalking for this so called objective of yours, because from all these dead civilians it's quite obvious to me I'm not the only one you've got running around on a wild goose-chase out here! I want answers, Brenda!"

Again, another long silence. "Fine. Several months ago while on a recon operation, Specialist Akghu Klepto, your very Klepto, found a device. He liberated it from the Covenant ground forces and brought it back for study. The device was some kind of scanner. It picked up a unique type of radiation as far as we can figure that lit up ancient alien relics and temples, much like the temple in the valley a dozen clicks to your north. But for some reason, it would also light up human life signs. We figured the Covenant use devices like these to find and raid ancient ruins, as well as find human colonies. Just an orbital scan would cause a human life sign to light up like a forest-fire."

"Great. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. How the fuck do we win?" Briggs moaned, listening in.

"When command decided to retake Tundras from the Covenant, ONI used the device to scan the surface out of sheer curiosity. We thought it was worth a sweep, just in case the Covenant had set up a prisoner camp of some sort that we should be aware of during the assault. The chances were slim... but the scans came back with interesting results. There were ancient structures we weren't even aware of honeycombing the planet's crust. And then a single human blip showed up. We thought it was a hostage, but satellite photos showed not a military POW camp, but a simple village."

"Well, if you were thinking we would just stroll in and pick up your scanner blip, I hate to disappoint you, but there are no humans around here. Other than ourselves," Corporal Roads paused and sighed. "We only found dead aliens. Unless your other squad picked it up."

"I haven't got any other squads in that area." Lieutenant Kenneth admitted. "Maybe a passing drop ship mistook them for hostiles."

"Great. Well, Klepto ran off to pursue something, possibly a survivor from this massacre. As soon as he gets back we'll call for pickup and get some answers." Roads said. "Over and out."

The corporal killed the line and handed the VOX back to Briggs who packed it up. Lifting his head, the corporal looked to Feeble. "Feeble, you and Briggs set up a perimeter. Nelly, you can leave the body count."

"You just wanna leave them to rot?" Nelly exclaimed laying a corpse down. "Can't we at least bury 'em?"

"Let their own people deal with grave digging." Roads explained, pointing the medic to the perimeter where Klepto ran off to. "Secure Klepto's return route. Soon as he gets back we're calling for pickup."

"Jesus tap-dancing Christ, Brad." Feeble whined moving to the corporal. "I told you already, man. The rookie is dead. He ain't coming back."

Feeble was getting on Roads' last nerve. The corporal whirled around, grabbed the private by the collar, pulled him close and snarled in a low, menacing tone; "He's... coming... back." The corporal let go of him with a heavy shove which nearly floored the private. "Now get on the God-damned perimeter."

As Feeble slouched away, Cartman came running from his lookout position. "Guys, we got incoming! Phantom inbound!"

Roads looked up. Cartman wasn't crying wolf like he normally did to piss the corporal off. There was indeed a Phantom, almost a kilometre away soaring high above the treetops and coming rapidly closer.

Phantoms were the Covenant equivalent of the Pelican drop ship, wide and bulky, they acted as a flying platform to airlift troops in and out of battle, protected by a sleek purple armoured hull and a chin mounted plasma cannon. The whole craft hovered on six belly mounted gravity pods and featured a gravity lift for troops to descend near the two pronged tail, as well as three assault ramps, one on each side and a rear hatch.

"Take cover!" Roads yelled, running into the nearest hut to hide.

As he did so, the side assault ramps unlocked and lowered down. In the centre of each ramp was a mounted plasma turret armed by a single grunt. Inside the corporal could just about make out a troop of Covenant soldiers, a healthy mix of jackals and elites. No grunts, other than those two manning the turrets. Looking down, the corporal saw his men disperse and take cover silently. Briggs hid in a nearby hut. Cartman did the same, staying in the sight of Roads, but out of enemy sight. Nelly was nowhere to be seen, while Feeble crawled under the pile of corpses they had been building.

The ODST remained motionless as the hum of the Phantom's engines grew louder. Tufts of snow and dust were kicked up as the drop ship hovered low in the square. A nearby hut riddled with bullet holes, and whose roof had burned out leaving only charred support beams. The rickety wood creaked as it swayed and the beams collapsed. Inside, Cartman cursed over the radio as the beams landed on top of him, but made no other noise.

The grav-lift activated. A mixture of purple and white light connected the circle in the rear of the Phantom's belly with the ground, stretching and clawing outward like a pillar of flames. Lighter, particles of sand and debris lifted off the ground and hung suspended in the air. That was when the troops landed. Jackals, delicate bird-like reptilians with wrist mounted energy shields first. They landed in a circle, five of them with shields up and plasma pistols ready. They dispersed, clearing the square's perimeter, as the others landed. Five elites, towering muscle bound monsters with splitting jaws, clad in sleek armour over some kind of chainmail. All the elites were clad in blue armour, bar one, the major dressed in crimson, carrying a plasma rifle like a pistol rather than the pulse carbines the others carried.

Roads stepped back from the hut's entrance facing away from the square and moved to the back. Standing up on the bed inside he peered through the gap between the roof and the top of the wall getting a clear overview of the square where the Covenant patrol wandered. The Phantom's gravity lift cut out and the drop ship rose into the sky.

The elites glanced around before the major barked at the jackals. In unison the jackals dispersed and swept through the town. Roads immediately jumped down from the bed and slung his rifle under his arm.

"Cloak and dagger lads." He whispered into his microphone, crouching beside the entrance of the hut.

There was no reply over the comms. Just small winking green lights as the squad acknowledged. Reaching back, the corporal flicked open a pouch on his belt and produced a Leatherman knife. Holding the grip, he pushed open the curved black blade with his thumb until it clicked into place.

Outside were footsteps. Lazily the jackal moved closer. The corporal readied himself.

A long tooth filled beak poked in through the doorway. A large beady eye scanned left to right and widened. Road's grabbed the jackal's snout, holding it shut as the alien tried to screech to no prevail. Pulling the alien in, Roads swung the knife in his other hand around in a wide arc. The jackal twitched, and Roads saw its eyes roll into the back of its head. Slowly and surely, as the corporal felt warm blood touch his fingers, the Helljumper felt the alien's stiff body stop struggling and go limp. Pulling loose the blade he looked down to see a string of purple blood hit the cold dirt. Making sure to put the alien down gently, he dragged the lifeless corpse into the hut as he saw two more lights blink on his HUD. That was two more jackals down, leaving two more.

Leaning out the hut's entrance, the corporal saw one of the jackals with the elites going through the pile of corpses. The other was laying on its back outside the hut Cartman was hiding, the ODST sitting on the alien's chest, jabbing his bowie knife into the creature's flesh. The jackal flailed for a moment, then sighed against the Helljumper's hand wrapped around its muzzle as it died, a pool of blood forming in the frozen earth.

As Cartman stood and sheathed his knife back on his chest plate, the corporal nodded and pointed the private to the far end of the pile of corpses. The private nodded as Roads turned to Briggs and patted the top of his helmet.

Stepping out of the hut, Roads aimed his rifle at the elites as Briggs lowered his head and ran over to the corporal. As soon as Briggs slid to a halt behind the squad leader, Roads stepped back and pulled out a frag grenade. Briggs did the same and they both pulled out the pins.

"Frags out!" Roads yelled.

A pair of spoons span to the ground and two frags sailed through the air, landing in the midst of the elites. They exploded at the same time. The aliens' shields flared as they roared and were thrown to the ground. Shrapnel thudded into nearby woodwork, pinging off the leader's shields, who had just been outside the twin blasts. The shockwave merely stumbled him and the jackal.

The last remaining jackal fell into the pile of corpses and quickly pushed himself up and turned to see where the explosion came from. A moment later there was a chatter of assault rifle fire. Rounds exploded out of the nearest dead elite and cut into the jackal's body, tearing out large chunks of flesh, instantaneously dropping the alien. The pile of bodies shifted as Feeble rose from between them, rifle shouldered as he switched to aim at the nearest elite. He unleashed a dozen rounds, punching through armour and flesh, gouging huge holes out of the alien who twitched violently as blood splattered the ground around him.

Cartman jumped up, standing on the pile of corpses, firing his SMG down at the dazed elites.

The major roared, swivelling around. A pair of plasma bursts sailed up at the private. The first missed. The second clipped his shoulder. Before Roads could even see where Cartman had been hit, the private spiralled away and tumbled back down the hill of corpses. Nelly slipped out of a nearby hut, head low and ran to Cartman's side, undoing the clasps of his med-kit. Feeble turned and fired at the crimson clad elite. The alien waded through the swarm of bullets flattening against his energy shield and swept his plasma rifle in a long arc. A thud later, Feeble grunted as he was thrown to the ground under the alien's melee attack.

"Fuck! Hit them with everything you got!" Roads yelled out loud, stepping out of cover, firing his rifle in full automatic.

Briggs joined him, unleashing fistfuls of buckshot. The rounds harmlessly pinged off the major's shield as he returned fire, causing the humans to retreat back into the hut. The remaining elites stood and closed in on the ODST. The major started barking loud incoherent orders causing the aliens to push forward, dodging between cover.

"Okay, this isn't going well." Briggs said, pulling loose shells off his belt and shoving them into the shotgun. Plasma burned into the hut's walls, joined by pulse rounds as the elites pinned them down while moving closer for the final kill. "Any last words?"

"Yeah. Shut the fuck up." Roads snapped pinging his radio. "Klepto? I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, listen very carefully..."

---***---

Forerunner Temple, Tundras, Lao system, Ninth Age of Reclamation

Syna was breathless. The light was almost blinding, but she couldn't blink, mesmerised by the slivers that glowed in the air. The winking terminals all over the control room. The sheer fluidity of the angular architecture was all she had read about, but never before witnessed. Sterile white light washed over Syna and Rha as they walked down the centre aisle of the temple's control room. It had taken them a while to get down here, led through the maze of tunnels and branching corridors by the shipmaster and his men.

Syna immediately moved to the very top of the room. The holographic console ran across the length of the far wall, with a tinted screen she couldn't quite see through dominating the lightly curved wall. Her heart fluttered as she considered where she stood.

"I am standing among the gods." She whispered. "Once, long ago, a Forerunner stood here." Rha smiled and placed a hand on the younger Sangheili's shoulder. "The feeling is everything I dreamed it would be."

"Work quickly." The shipmaster barked. "Time is not a commodity."

Cursing in her mind, Syna leaned over the console and touched the controls. The shipmaster had no respect. They were in the chamber of the gods. They ought to be in awe. Yet these warriors were not. They were grossly professional.

She touched the nearest console. It did nothing. Nothing worked. Buttons did not react, dials did not change. The displays remained dead and idle.

"I have no control." Syna admitted. "The system is not activated."

The shipmaster parted his mandibles to speak, when he was interrupted by a cry. Turning, he saw one of his warriors walk into the control room, dragging a human with one arm. The human squirmed and struggled, clad entirely in black armour, his face hidden behind an emotionless visor. But the shipmaster could smell the man's fear. He knew these demons. The ODST. First into the battle, and fiercer than most humans. A foe to be respected, but still unworthy of their names.

"We caught this one on the perimeter." The warrior in blue growled, throwing the human to the ground before 'Sadumee.

The human landed on all fours and looked up, slowly rising to his feet. "The fuck you looking at, split-face?" he managed to spit out, voice muffled by his helmet.

At the same time, as the human spoke, Syna almost cried out with surprise. The consoles lit up. The screen in front of her de-polarised, revealing a room below. All the displays came to life, new readings appearing and more colourful lights blinking. All the consoles were the same. The humans voice had activated the temple.

Just then she glanced over her shoulder to see a blade materialise in 'Sadumee's hand.

"No!" Syna cried, darting forward.

It was too late. The blade slammed home in the human's gut, running him all the way through. He went tense for a moment, grunting loudly, before his body went limp. Slowly he slid off the hot plasma blade and slumped to the ground, landing in a limp heap.

"Shipmaster!" Syna almost screamed. "I said no! That human activated this temple with his mere presence! I needed him!"

The shipmaster rounded on her, his hand squeezing the handle of his blade tighter for a moment before he flicked it off. "Heresy." He said, controlling his tone.

"And you shed blood in a holy temple!" Syna responded angrily. "Blasphemy."

They stared at each other for a long time before the shipmaster finally took a step back.

"Bring me a human who can operate this temple... alive." She added sternly, glaring at the shipmaster.

'Sadumee growled and snarled, before barking at his men and sharply turning away, his footsteps stomping into the distance as he left the courtesans alone.

---***---

// Wilderness, Urev mountains, Tundras, Lao system, November 2550 CE

_ "... I repeat, do not engage the elites in the village. Get to the UNSC headquarters on the very northern edge of the valley. This bullshit mission is scrapped. We were supposed to pick up a scanner blip or some shite like that, but it's all gone to bollocks... gah!" a loud crash had echoed through the radio, followed by: "Get off me, squid-face! Fucking let me go... argh!"_

The canopy had parted as the second Phantom drop ship swooped in to drop off another contingent of elites in the village. That was when Klepto had realised his squad were as good as dead. That was when he realised he had been given an objective. This girl. This elite girl was his objective now. Her safety was in his hands.

But he still had the choice. Lead a suicidal mission to rescue his squad. Or protect this innocent little girl? The choice had been made the moment he looked in her innocent tear brimmed eyes. She had nowhere to go. She'd likely die or worse if Klepto didn't do anything. Her family was dead. Her friends were dead. In retrospect, Klepto realised he really only had one choice.

They had been walking for almost half an hour, north on the specialist's compass. They had about two kilometres covered, another ten or so to go. And their route brought them dangerously close to that heavily guarded temple on the valley wall. This would not be easy going. But it hadn't been easy since Klepto had taken the girl's hand.

She wasn't a soldier. She wasn't fit to march hours on end. She was wet, probably hungry and easily tired. She shivered every time a cool wind blew through the trees. They rested every ten or so minutes. Only for a minute or so, but it was enough for her to catch her breath before they moved on. But at least she never complained. Not a breath of a whinge, not a whimper. At least she was strong at heart. But then neither of them had said anything, or made so much as a sound. Klepto was afraid he couldn't speak elite, and doubted she knew any English.

Eventually the girl got too tired. Her skin was cold to the touch and she wouldn't stop shivering. No more stretching it for as long as he could. Klepto had to give her something.

Taking up her hand he led the girl to a fallen tree covered in flat mushrooms growing out the side. He kicked them off, cleared a reasonably clean section of moss and turned to the girl. She didn't do anything as he grabbed her under the arms and lifted her onto the trunk, sitting her down. She was fairly light for her size. She was almost as tall as Klepto, the top of her head coming up to about his chin. She was somewhat slimmer and looked more fragile than the trooper, but that was only to be expected. Klepto had no doubt that among her own species she was considered a cute girl who would grow up to be quite beautiful. Because for an alien she was deceptively pretty.

The girl just sat there as Klepto dropped his backpack and pulled open the flap. As he went through his things, the elite leaned sideways to look over his shoulder, then jolted with surprise as he stood bolt upright again holding a small package in his hands. Tearing open the paper wrapper, he discarded the litter back in his backpack and shook out the folded package. Out of a small packet that fitted easily in one hand unfurled a padded thermal blanket roughly two by two metres large. On the outside was waterproofing, while on the inside was fleece to trap heat. He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and went back into his bag as she pulled the blanket around her tighter. Already he could see her eyes lighting up as she watched him go through his things again.

And again she jolted with surprise as Klepto stood up holding a variety of things. In one hand he held a silver wrapped bar. He tore off the wrapper and held out one of his rations. Beef stew with bread in a bar. Full of nutrients, fats and sugars, all the stuff that kept a trooper going in the field. And all without the need to cook. The elite took it somewhat unsure as Klepto held the other packet in two hands. This was a brown pack with instructions on how to use written on the side. He cracked the pack in half, gave it a quick rub between his hands and felt it heat up rapidly. Pulling her blanket to one side, Klepto placed the heat pack in the girl's free hand and pressed it against her chest. She shivered again feeling the warmth spread through her.

Satisfied she'd be okay for now, Klepto packed up his bag again and picked up his weapon as the elite gingerly took a bite from the ration bar. Realising this was all she'd be able to eat, she swallowed the alien food down and kept munching.

Meanwhile, keeping one eye on her, Klepto looked around making sure their tracks were covered and they weren't being followed. He then pulled up his tac-map. A view of the valley from the sky popped up in his field of view. According to his map they were little under three quarters way there, skirting a good kilometre clear of the temple plaza held by Covenant forces. Another ten kilometres away ODST were setting up a rally point by the waterfall in preparation for the assault on the plaza. Marines with Pelican and armoured support would hit the plaza from the west, while ODST attacked down river. Hopefully Klepto would make it to the rally point before the assault began and would be able to call for a Pelican to extract the girl.

"Kll-eeeep-tttttoo." A soft voice said awkwardly.

Klepto lifted his gaze and looked directly at the elite girl. She had finished the ration and held tightly to the wrapper, staring at the ODST's chest plate. Gently she pointed at his name stencilled on the armour.

"K... Kllll-ep-to." She repeated, slower this time. "Klepto." She finally said with perfect pronunciation.

Grinning, the Helljumper nodded, tapping his chest plate with two fingers. He was quite surprised she could even read English. Maybe she had learned from the ruins of human society, from when humans colonised this planet. Who knew? He wasn't going to complain if she knew a bit of English. At least basic communication wouldn't be a pain.

The girl smiled... well... what passed as a smile. Her mandibles pointed downward and her lips twisted up slightly at the jaw. She then patted her own chest. "Kali." She said with more ease.

That had to be her name. At least now he knew what to call her.

A thought crossed his mind. He wondered how this girl would satisfactorily replace his original objective. Then he had to think what his original objective actually was. He went over what Roads had said over the radio earlier. 'We were supposed to pick up a sensor blip.' Could it have something to do with his last mission? Something to do with that scanner he retrieved? The one that identified ancient alien technology and human lifesigns. Had Lieutenant Kenneth found a human blip in the village among all those elites? And if so, why hadn't they seen any humans among the corpses?

Klepto reached into a pouch at the back of his waist and closed his fingers around a scanner. He thought about it for a while. What would the chances be?

Retrieving the scanner, Klepto hung his M7 in the sling and looked at the device. It was much like the handheld Argus Bomb Sniffers used by police squads. A hand grip with a small LCD to identify intensity of objects scanned for mounted on the top face. This sniffer was replicated from the larger Covenant one the specialist had retrieved. It was stripped down and simpler, but the principle remained the same. Hold the sensor node against a human or an ancient alien artefact and the screen would light up green. Klepto raised the device and held the black sensor strip on the front against the skin on Kali's hand. She looked on with confusion and interest as Klepto turned on the switch and waited.

The screen lit up.

Green.

Two words filled the ODST's mind. 'Holy shit.' She obviously wasn't an alien artefact. So what did this mean? She was human? No, definitely not. She was an alien. She was an elite.

Klepto stuffed away the scanner. Maybe it was broken. Maybe this girl was a genetic anomaly. The Helljumper wasn't smart enough to figure it out. Not without more information anyway. He was going to bring her in and let command deal with it. For now he just had to finish the mission.

A roll of thunder caught the Helljumper's attention. Stepping around the elite, he listened to explosions, familiar booms of Scimitar 4x178mm rockets and the rumble of 90mm tungsten tank shells. He smiled. The assault on the plaza must have begun. They were early for a change. Maybe everything was going ahead of schedule. Which meant as soon as the UNSC liberated it he'd be able to report to the command Pelican from there. It would save them a ten kilometre hike.

Looking over his shoulder he saw the girl step out from under the blanket and hold the heat pack under her tunic against her chest. Klepto nodded her over and held out his hand. Kali ran over and took it, and together they marched east. They hopped rocks and roots, waded through high brush and clawed their way under low branches until, finally they reached the plaza... and what waited for them was a sweeping battle.

The duo stood on a ledge raised a dozen meters above the plaza behind a low embankment. Lowering to his knees, Klepto peeked over the top through the few trees that made up the uneven tree line that lined the temple plaza. The paving was cracked with grass growing in patches. There were charred craters left by recent bombardment, and several weapons cashes and vehicles burned, gutted like crushed insects. Plasma streaked this way. Tracers streaked the other. From the high ridge on the far east behind the temple Klepto made out several battle tanks. M808B Scorpions mounted with 90mm cannons and M808B3 Tarantulas with Scimitar rocket pods aimed at the ground below. The dozens of tanks opened fire. 90mm rounds licked through the air and ignited on impact throwing up clouds of dust and smoke with debris and body parts of exploding Covenant infantry. Rockets arced into the air, then changed direction and picked up speed, striking down at the ground in scattershot, explosions rippling across their target areas, obliterating any infantry it bombarded.

A Phantom drop ship took off from the temple entrance. It rose into the air, fleeing from the fire... until an explosion threw it sideways. The tank round gutted the vehicle, causing a chain reaction to ripple through the inside of the vehicle. The cockpit exploded outward and the whole drop ship fell from the sky, landing right on top of a squad of jackals setting up a defensive position with their shields overlapping to cover the grunts behind them. As the Phantom slid to a halt, flattening the last jackal, it exploded, the heat causing the grunt methane tanks to pop like grenades, tearing the aliens apart. One of the sniper towers was engaged by a Warthog gunner, and absolutely gutted by the hail of titanium jacketed rounds. All perimeter defences were re-tasked into assaulting the human attackers.

A pair of Hornet gunships sped past, the twin jet engines holding the VTOL craft in the air creating cyclones in the smoke that belched into the air around them. The chin mounted cannons opened up, ripping through a trio of Ghosts, turning the vehicles to Swiss cheese and ripping the occupants limb from limb.

Lowering his gaze to the north he saw infantry sweep in and mop things up. The flicker of their muzzle flares seemed insignificant however to the blue explosion that landed in their midst, vaporising a whole squad of marines in one blast. The explosion nearly threw all the surrounding marines to the ground, consuming the marines in the heart of the battle column. Klepto just about saw the black skeletons that used to be humans disappear as the mortar round evaporated, leaving behind a large crater of cracked, scorched glass.

Looking right, Klepto spotted a pair of Wraith mortar tanks still in commission. Their cannons' ventral flaps opened, and another blue sun erupted from each of the Wraiths. The plasma bomb sailed high in the air between the two Hornets pulling away and landed around the marines, forcing them into cover.

Klepto quickly turned on his Land Warrior... a mess of distorted radio chatter yelled in his ear.

Tuning it down, he isolated the clearer channels and filtered for squad leaders only. The mess turned slightly more organised. "... Wraiths on the far south! Killbox two Alpha, take those guns out, god-damn it!" the voice of a platoon sergeant yelled through the whine of plasma fire and chatter of rifles in the background. An explosion fuzzed out the feed for a second at the exact same time a plasma bomb ignited near a squad of marines held up in a cluster of Covenant containers.

Klepto watched the Hornets divert their attention from the Grunts firing plasma pistols up at them to the Wraiths... when one of the gunships exploded.

Slivers of pink energy scythed into the air in quick succession, clinging the first Hornet's left stabiliser, the impact causing the light vehicle to sway. "I'm hit! I'm hit!" a voice yelled before the slivers of light exploded, tossing the fragile craft out of the air, armour burning like paper. Smoke trails circled as the vehicle span slowly to the ground, bits and pieces torn off the hull as she fell. In the background Klepto heard a pilot cry out before VTOL hit the ground and crumpled on impact. The second Hornet gained altitude and rose away from the fire.

"Damn! AA gun under the tanks' line of fire! Second squad, get an explosive charge on that gun! C'mon, marines! Push!" an authorative voice cried.

"We can't get in, sarge!" a young panicky voice yelled back. "Oh, God! There's too many of 'em!" there was a crash as a mortar round landed nearby and someone took the VOX unit away from the scared radio-man. "Calm down." An older tone snapped before properly addressing the platoon sergeant. "Sir, the Covenant have us pinned down with a plasma turret! We need support if you want us to push!"

"I don't give a good god-damn about your problems, son!" the platoon sergeant yelled. "Everybody has their own job to do! You don't have the luxury of support! Now we need you to take that AA gun out so air support can come back and take out those Wraiths! Find a way!"

Klepto swept the plaza and spotted it through a pair of stacks of smoke. The Covenant battery was surrounded by deployable cover, portable energy shields similar to those jackal wrist mounted shields. The AA gun itself was designed much like a Wraith tank. A single green armoured grunt sat in the gunner seat, completely exposed on the front. The gun itself was mounted behind the gunner, and the whole platform floated and swivelled on a trio of anti-gravity pods, hovering a foot or so off the ground. The gun was guarded by four more grunts armed with plasma pistols, one of which arming a rapid fire plasma turret mounted on a tripod beside one of the force fields. The grunt was unrelenting on the trigger, spraying the marines in cover of a cluster of destroyed Ghosts with steady streams of plasma. The AA gun's commander, an elite in blue armour was armed with a pulse carbine and was barking incoherent orders at the gunner and the other guards, taking cover behind one of the force fields.

It was time to get to work.

Hanging his SMG in the sling around his torso, Klepto reached back and pulsed loose the two components of his sniper rifle. Resting the stock in the dirt in front of him, he lifted the barrel in his other hand, slotted it in place and gave it a half-twist, locking it in place with a sharp click. Reaching back, he pulled loose the muzzle brake attached to the bottom of his backpack next and screwed the heavy lump of steel in place at the very tip of the muzzle. He pulled open a pouch on his belt and produced a four round magazine, slotting it into the magwell with a soft click and yanked back the cocking lever. Turning the weapon over in his arms, Klepto pushed the padded butt into his shoulder and flicked open the scope covers with his left index finger before tightly gripping the stubby grip underneath the stock, resting the front heat-guard on top of the embankment. Planting his boots and knees firm in the soft dirt, he held the weapon steady, taking a series of long breaths, his eye focused down the scope.

Pausing, Klepto lifted his head again to look at kali. The young girl covered the sides of her head with her hands, blocking her ear canals and lowered her head. Klepto gave a small nod before turning back to his scope. The image of the AA gun sprang closer, only this time a distinctly marked + hung across Klepto's vision.

Slowly, the ODST turned a knob on the top of his scope and watched the digital readouts scroll across the right of his vision. His scope wirelessly interfaced with his helmet's VISR and linked with the spy-sat in low orbit overlooking the battle. The scope calculated distance, wind and time of impact automatically, then displayed the relevant information for Klepto to see through the scope.

Klepto carefully placed the centre of the crosshair on the plasma turret's gunner. He read the wind condition and range quietly to himself, then checked with his own eye to make sure the readout was correct. Satisfied it was all in order, he made the necessary adjustments, aiming up above the target, and slightly to the left.

As soon as he was lined up, Klepto held his breath, held down the safety button on the rifle's grip with his middle finger and gently squeezed the trigger, exhaling very slowly.

The rifle kicked. The bolt moved back and the chamber opened as the explosion inside the rifle propelled the pointed projectile down the barrel and out the muzzle, followed quickly by a flash of light and flame. The empty brass casing ejected out the side of the weapon, spinning to the ground tracing a wisp of smoke as it fell and landed in the damp dirt with a light hiss. The anti-materiel round soared, tracing a feint white line in the air as it travelled, curling slightly in the wind. Exactly 1.002 seconds after the round left the muzzle, it entered the grunt's body, just under the left arm. The bullet pierced armour and flesh, breaking bone as it passed through the unsuspecting alien and exited out his right side, tearing with it chunks of armour and flesh. The shockwave of air being sucked in behind the round expanded the alien's innards, tearing the creature apart from the inside. The velocity of the bullet threw it sideways, nearly tearing the alien in half.

The grunt was dead before it hit the ground.

The others didn't even know what happened... until Klepto's second shot. This one hit the AA gunner in the head, blasting it's skull into chunky fragments. By now the elite turned and roared in Klepto's direction as the gunner's limp body tumbled out of the seat. The ODST fired and forced a bullet down his throat. The velocity of the round let it pass straight through the elite's personal shield and entered the soft flesh in the back of the creature's throat. As it passed through, the bullet blasted straight through spine and meat, nearly decapitating him. Klepto watched in slow motion as the elite crumpled, dragging part of its skull down with it on a few strips of flesh. The fourth shot hit another grunt, a round passing through the chest, topping the creature head over heels.

Magazine empty, the rifle's bolt automatically locked back. Klepto pressed the mag-release button as he held out his left hand. The magazine fell from the well and landed in the palm of his hand. Stuffing the empty clip away, Klepto quickly pulled out a full mag and slotted it in place, slapping it home with his fist, pressing the bolt release catch, causing the weapon to let out a loud 'clack' as it was once again loaded and dangerous.

Meanwhile, tracers licked across the battlefield, killing the rest of the Covenant left confused by Klepto's sniper fire. The marines leapt from their position, pouncing on the AA gun, securing a perimeter and planting their general purpose machine guns, fire support gunners laying down cover for the demolitions experts as they rigged explosive packages to the alien anti-aircraft gun.

"Damn fine work, corporal!" the platoon sergeant yelled.

"That wasn't us, sir!" the corporal on the squad Klepto just helped out called back. "My IFF is reading an ODST sniper in the tree line! You saved our ass, specialist! Thanks."

Klepto smiled behind his visor. Somewhere above the Hornet circled back around and unleashed a volley of missiles. The first dozen white streaks slammed into the first Wraith consecutively. Explosions of vibrant fire rippled across the sleek purple hull. A moment later blue balls of fire burst out of the unprotected rear of the craft, just underneath the mortar turret. Bits of debris scattered as the flaming vehicle sank to the grown, sputtering fire and sparks. Then the next Wraith exploded, gutted by a dozen rockets... and the next. Soon enough all that was left were burning wreckages, perforated corpses and smouldering craters. Blood, alien and human smeared the concrete plaza. But marines were the only ones left standing. The tanks on the ridge remained on over watch. More Hornets secured the airspace. Marines formed a perimeter, setting up machine guns and rolling in with Warthogs mounted with equipment.

Klepto climbed to his feet and held his rifle horizontally across his chest, folding his arms across the weapon. Turning to the elite girl he shifted the weapon's weight until it hung comfortable in one arm and out his hand. Without a moment's hesitation she took it, and hand in hand, Klepto and Kali were inside the perimeter, stepping past marines and Warthog jeeps. Wounded, screaming and squirming were loaded up onto flat-bed jeeps and driven to army-green tents being erected for the medical staff. Bulky Pelican drop ships hovered low over a clear runway and touched down, kicking up clouds of dust and loose dirt.

One of the drop ships landed right in front of Klepto and Kali, causing them to halt. It came down rear landing gear first, and halted with a screech of tires as the front wheel touched down. The way it landed left the rear exposed to the specialist and the alien, allowing them to see the armour clad marines bail out, MA37 assault rifles shouldered. Only one of them didn't seem on guard, jumping from the rear ramp as the Pelican's glowing engines dimmed, reducing the noise they made. The marine's rifle was anchored on his back as he glanced around and spotted the trooper. The moment the private saw him he marched out from under the tail mounted nacelles reached up and removed his helmet. The man was young, unshaven, quite a bit younger than Klepto with bright innocent eyes. But the shrapnel scars across the side of his face showed he'd seen his fair share of combat.

Tucking his headgear under one arm, the marine halted in front of them, speaking loudly over the background noise filling the plaza. "Specialist Klepto?" he asked quickly, and before waiting for a response he saluted and said; "Sir! Private Boston, 54th Platoon! I've been re-tasked to bring you to the command pelican! She's setting down closer to the temple!"

Klepto nodded and indicated the private to lead the way. Jamming his helmet back on, he led Klepto and the elite girl through the mess of marines shifting equipment and bodies, or running to the perimeter to reinforce the guards. In the background was an explosion as the AA gun was demolished.

"I know this seems like a big fucking mess, sir, but apparently command had a good reason for taking back the planet!" Private Boston said, leading Klepto and Kali closer to the temple. "The outer colonies are being destroyed left right and centre! It's only a matter of time before the Covenant find..." he nervously glanced at Kali, who seemed to move closer to Klepto as they passed a group of humans piling up elite corpses. She seemed dazed and shocked, but at the same time stuck close to the trooper. Klepto, and even the marine could well understand she had to be somewhat sickened at the sight of so many of her people dead. Yes, these were soldiers, but they were still her people. "Well, er... you know! Find our home world! We have to take the fight to them, attempt to take back some of the land! And Tundras is one of the few colonies that haven't been glassed! But all the same, I don't really see where your mission fits in here! What's with the alien girl, and what were you doing out there on your own anyway?"

Klepto shrugged.

"Classified?" the private asked, halting as a Pelican landed in front of them.

Klepto shrugged again.

"You don't know?"

Klepto held up his hand and tipped it left and right, as if to say 'Bit of this and that.'

Boston chuckled along with the specialist. "Sounds like a typical UNSC operation to me, sir! Hey, you wanna know what happens when you get out of the corps?"

Klepto nodded.

"You get your brains back!"

The pelican landing in front of them was different. Instead of army green, this one was painted entirely black, with no distinguishing UNSC markings, only the standard hazard signs. It didn't even sport any indicator lights. It was stripped of all weapon pods, wing mounted missile launchers and the ramp mounted machine gun. The command Pelican was purely a command centre, not a fighting machine.

The trio marched around the front of the Pelican, moving under one of the stubby stabilisers and moved to the long, high tail under which the rear hatch ramp extended to the ground. Looking inside, Klepto saw the whole troop bay had been converted from an empty space for marines and weapons to a purpose build command centre. There were computers lined down the centre, with seats, all filled with grey clad ONI intelligence managers. All of them were engrossed in their computer screens, analysing intelligence, transmitting orders to squads and filing reports for UNSC high command. Standing at the edge of the ramp was the highest ranking officer in the Pelican, and the highest ranked person ground-side.

Lieutenant Brenda Kenneth's blonde hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, her thin framed square spectacles balanced on the tip of her button-nose. She was cute for a spook. Almost too cute, especially in her tailored grey ONI dress uniform.

"Klepto!" she called over the whine of the Pelican's dying engines as the pilot powered the craft down. She plucked her glasses from her face as she marched down the ramp and tucked them into her breast pocket. Klepto let go of Kali's hand and stiffened into a salute. Private Boston did the same, glancing down at the last minute a she noticed she was wearing high heels with her dress uniform, probably wondering what kind of fuck-wit wore a dress uniform into a combat zone. And then he remembered she was a spook officer. "At ease, specialist." Klepto hardly moved, his saluting hand snapping down to his side. "Good work securing the asset, Klepto. Once again, you've done me proud." She smiled. "I've already sent recommendation for your promotion. But first, what of the squad I attached you to?"

Klepto dropped his gaze slightly and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Akghu." The woman leaned closer and patted the specialist on the shoulder. "I'm sure there's nothing you could have gone. For now, all you can do is complete the mission. I heard you walked in here with a girl. An elite girl. She could hold information to your team's original mission objective. We need to interrogate her immediately. Where is she?"

Klepto looked at her funny through his visor, cocking his head slightly. What? Was she crazy? Kali was right... Klepto looked down and felt his heart skip a beat. She was gone. She'd run off!

Klepto jumped out of his attentive stance and looked around. Private Boston too noticed she was gone and cursed, helping Klepto look.

"Shit! She was right there a second ago!" the private shouted, running a circle around the Pelican.

"I don't wanna know where she was a second ago, private!" Kenneth barked. "I wanna know where she is now!"

Klepto span around on the spot, holding his weapon in both hands he ducked to look under a nearby Warthog, pushing past the driver who stumbled aside and muttered a 'What the fuck, man?' She was gone, disappeared into the thin air... that was until he looked at the temple.

It was the first time he actually noticed the majestic structure from this angle. It was tall, impossibly so it caused Klepto's head to spin as he looked up at it. The flying buttresses sprawled outward from the majestic entrance that arched into a point at the very top, the dark bowels of the hall leading down into the structure hidden in grim darkness. And there, standing lost in the doorway, tiny and insignificant when scaled against the temple stood Kali, gazing around in awe as she absent mindedly stepped inside, swallowed up into the grim shadows within. And that's when it happened.

The ground shook. All activity within the camp came to a halt as heads turned towards the structure. The gap, the doorway narrowed. It grew smaller and smaller, and then Klepto realised what was happening. The doors were closing. Kali would be cut off, separated from them, and then the mission would begin all over again.

Klepto didn't make a sound. He just sprinted after her, waving his arms like a madman, more in a panic than anything else, unable to find the words to call out to her and get her to get out of there.

Running full sprint Klepto closed in on the temple, hearing running footsteps of Private Boston as he followed closely. The doors closed further, groaning and creaking. Klepto slid over the top of an army green weapons crate, Boston catching up alongside with him. The private leapt over a stack of small ammo boxes some marines were piling, but were too stunned at the sight of the closing doors to say anything to Boston as he clipped one of the boxes and knocked the stack over. Klepto shouldered past a group of marines who had been marching but stopped mid pace to turn and look, and the trooper ran headlong through the closing doors.

Leaping head-first, both soldiers hit the deck and slid into the temple as the doors clamped shut with a hollow clang that shook in their chest cavities. Curled up, Klepto slowly lifted his head, gazing into pitch darkness. He activated his VISR light amplification module. It did very little. The outer corners of his vision remained pitch black. But he could just about see a metre or so ahead of him. Looking back the way they'd come he saw the doors, sealed and flush, alien runes etched into the steely surface. Turning his head as he rolled onto his front and rose to a knee he saw Boston slowly sit up, panting loudly as he caught his breath. Then he saw kali, her eyes glowing ghostly in the feint infra red light his module produced.

She was standing not far away, obviously fearful. She was hugging the heat pack tight against her chest, blind in the dark. She lifted one hand and felt out in front of her, trying to find something to lean against. Klepto held out his hand and she found him. Instantly, as she felt his hand close around hers, the girl's tense muscles eased and she relaxed, quickly moving closer and wrapping her arms around the trooper, holding the human tight. Rising to his feet, Klepto noticed a flicker of light.

Looking down he saw the private light his assault rifle torch and stand up beside him.

"Great." The private shone the torch around the high corridor sloping downward as it led deeper into the ground. "Now what do we do?" he shone his light on the door.

Klepto looked at it. Perfectly flush, no seams, there may have well been a solid wall there. There was no way of prying their way out, and they didn't have the ordinance to blast out. No doubt the lieutenant would blast her way in though. He checked his comms. No reception. This temple must have been insulated. It didn't matter. Klepto trusted Lieutenant Kenneth would know how to bail them out. For now all they could do is explore.

Looking at the private, Klepto held up his hand and signalled for recon, then pointed down the corridor. Realising now was the time for stealth; Boston nodded, dimmed his torch and led the way deeper into the temple, guided down by the feint torch-light.

---***---

// Ancient Alien Catacombs, Urev mountains, Tundras, Lao system, November 2550 CE

The alien corridors branched off in all directions, spiralling into massive stairwells that disappeared deep into the heart of the planet, or rose up into the colossal spire. There were sections lit up with soft blue light, with winking holographic computer displays, and other sections were immersed in pitch black. There were narrow corridors, and open rooms with ramps running on and off open gantries, broken up with large columns of stone and humming machinery of some sort. The structure was a maze that just led deeper and deeper into the ground.

Until Klepto decided to stop. Something in his gut just told him the next room was where they were meant to be.

Halting mid stride, he tugged at Kali's hand, causing her to stop and look up at him. Looking off down the next corridor, the trooper let go of the elite girl's hand and shouldered his rifle. Turning his head, he pursed his lips and let out a whistle, catching Private Boston's attention. The marine stopped and turned, seeing the specialist and the girl take the branching corridor. At the end of the tunnel was light. Vibrant light. It looked like the surface. But in his gut, Klepto knew it wouldn't be.

Weapon raised, the trooper wearily stepped into the light. White light washed across him, and it took several seconds for his vision to adjust. And when it did, Klepto found himself staring in awe.

This room was some sort of control centre. The dominating feature was a massive transparent screen just ahead. On the ledge in front of the screen were blinking displays and control panels with vibrant lights gliding this way and that. The rest of the floor was littered with columns of more control panels with a single lane running down the middle, uniformity broken up by a few pillars that looked like massive power couplings, vibrant shafts of white light pulsing out the top and caught in funnels in the ceiling. Some of the beams leaked out and caused slivers of light, much like wisps of smoke to hang around at the ceiling before evaporating into nothing.

Slowly, Klepto and kali moved closer to the transparent screen at the top of the room, Boston following a few meters behind.

"Wow." The human ran his hand over one of the nearby consoles. "Look at that." The console seemed to sense his presence and glow more vibrant as he touched the pixel thin film hovering a few inches above the matte black tabletop.

Meanwhile, Kali and Klepto reached the main podium and gazed through the screen. They overlooked a new room, vastly bigger with a domed roof. The floor was hard to make out, but it seemed to be broken up into some kind of mosaic. In the centre of the next room was a massive pyramid, much like an Aztec structure Klepto had seen pictures of from Earth. The walls were made up of huge blocks of stone, with a single stone stairway running up one side to the very top.

Perched at the top of the pyramid was some kind of light source that bathed the colossal chamber in soft pink light.

Klepto half turned and beckoned Boston to come see this... when he saw the private freeze. The air shimmered behind the marine, seconds before a burst of light sprang to life, forming into a long energy blade.

"Oh, shi..." the private turned, rifle at hip height, ready to fire. But it was too late.

The blade stabbed forward, heat wavering the air around it before it connected with the private. Armour melted and flesh burnt as it pierced his chest and lifted him clean off his feet. The private's weapon clattered loudly to the ground as Klepto whirled around and held his own rifle ready.

Air distorted as Boston grabbed hold of the hand clutching the sword that had run him through. Slowly, inch by inch the elite revealed himself. Air shimmered and the massive alien materialised in front of the private, hanging suspended from the blade. This elite was a frightful specimen. Taller than most, about as big as a brute chieftain and covered in scars while clad in armour donning battle scars, this creature was the fiercest thing Klepto had seen the Covenant throw at him.

The private gritted his teeth and let out a sigh before his body went limp. The elite grabbed the dead marine by the shoulder, roughly tore the man from his blade and threw the corpse sideways. Klepto watched as the soldier tumbled like a ragdoll over one of the consoles and hit the ground out of view with a pronounced thud. Turning his gaze back to the elite, he saw several more materialise out of thin air, then several brutes followed. Soon he was standing before four elites, and twelve brutes, one of which a chieftain with a massive hammer slung across his back. The chieftain was the only one not standing ready, lingering in the back ground, his arms crossed across his bare chest.

One of the elites with a sword drawn and clad in crimson armour moved forward, mandibles parted as he roared a battle cry, the tip of his blade skimming the floor beside him as he charged forward.

Klepto didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. The sniper rifle kicked and the elite major dropped to the ground as an anti-materiel round sliced through his head. As the purple blood splattered across the floor, Klepto shifted his aim to the biggest elite. Three of them left, but that still left a whole lot of aliens against the one ODST. If they all charged, or fired even, he'd be dead in a second.

But through a stroke of luck, the lead elite who'd just killed Boston held up a hand, and the rest of the aliens stopped mid-lurch. Klepto's finger flexed over the trigger. Every fibre in his body told him to fire and see where this would go. But his common sense told him to ignore his instinct.

The leader's eyes lingered on Kali who stepped back in fear. As Kali stepped back, she bumped into the console... causing the room to come to life.

Consoles everywhere started shining more brightly. Behind them, in the colossal room behind the screen the pink light amplified. Klepto glanced over his shoulder to see a beam of light connect between the top of the pyramid and the ceiling above it.

"By the Gods." The lead elite muttered, staring in awe. Weapons hardly lowered as the others stared also. They were still aiming at Klepto and Kali, fingers on triggers.

"Wait, shipmaster, tell your men to stand down!" a voice shouted. Klepto had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Another elite... no, two more elites. Full grown women dressed in a civilian clothing pushed past the brutes and joined the other elites up front. The one who had spoken, the younger looking female with long crimson hair cascading down her neck walked right up to the lead elite she had called 'shipmaster' and gripped his sword arm. "That girl can control the technology of the ancients."

"A prophet." The shipmaster whispered. "Kill the human." He ordered. "Take the girl."

"No!" the female exclaimed looking up at Klepto. She was attractive for an alien. Wavy plumage, bright eyes and a slender, athletic figure. She wasn't much taller than Klepto was. She must have been the trooper's age, equivalent of elite years of course. "This is a holy place. There should be no killing in cold blood here. If he surrenders, your word of honour, he should be spared."

The shipmaster growled. "Very well. Restrain the human! Take the girl!"

As Klepto's helmet systems translated for him, the trooper stepped between the girl and the other aliens, stock of his rifle tight in his shoulder.

The elite laughed at the sight of the human stepping between them and the girl. "Do not be foolish, human!" the alien barked in a fierce tone, translated by Klepto's helmet audio software. "Surrender and I will spare the lives of you and your friends."

Him and his friends? What was he talking about? And it finally hit Klepto as the brute cluster stepped aside to reveal the small group of human held at gunpoint between them. It was the rest of Zombie squad, intact. Well, mostly intact. They were missing their helmets and weapons. They'd been stripped of ammo pouches and grenades, and Cartman was clutching a field dressing on his side, but for the rest they were all breathing.

"Don't you dare drop that rifle, trooper!" Roads yelled through a swollen lip. "Waste these feckers!" he stopped as a nearby brute threatened to strike him, causing the already battered looking corporal to flinch.

Klepto gritted his teeth. There had to be a way out of this. A way for him to win. But there wasn't. He had no options. He was defeated.

"Human, please." The red-head elite woman moved closer. "I know you understand me. Stand aside and I give you my word of honour, you and your friends will not be harmed. My word of honour."

Klepto didn't see much of a choice.

The trooper shifted the sniper rifle's weight and held hit horizontally out in front of him before slowly taking seven large steps to one side and carefully placing the weapon on the ground at his feet. Straightening up again with his hands held above his head to indicate he was no longer a threat. None the less the brutes kept their weapons trained on him as the elites approached Kali.

The shipmaster walked right up to the girl and snatched up her wrist, inspecting her hand as the girl struggled, pulling out of his grip.

"Shipmaster!" the other older elite woman darted forward and knelt beside the girl, wrapping her arms around Kali who cowered from the larger alien. "Be gentle! Can you not see this girl is afraid?"

"Of course she is!" the shipmaster cried angrily. "This human has corrupted her! Turned her against her own kind!"

"I'm sure he has done nothing of the sort." The younger woman knelt beside Kali too, inspecting her. "She is uninjured and fed. He has taken care..."

"The human has brainwashed her!" the shipmaster yelled. "Kill him! Kill them all!"

'Oh, shit.' Was all Klepto could think as plasma rifles and spike guns were levelled at him...

And suddenly he spotted it. The brute who had threatened to strike the corporal. That brute was laden down with equipment. Two belts of ammo pouches slung across his shoulders. The weapons hanging from slings across his back, holding Briggs' shotgun in both hands.

Klepto took a breath, fixing his gaze with Roads'. It was like the corporal read his mind as the specialist discreetly nodded to the brute acting as a walking armoury. The corporal looked down at Klepto's sniper rifle as the trooper shuffled forward and wiggled the toe of his boot under the long weapon's mid-section and gave a firm nod.

Time slowed down as Klepto kicked, launching the rifle across the room and darted his hands down to his sides. As the rifle hit the halfway point between him and the other humans, Klepto grabbed the M6G holstered to his hip and tugged it from the holster. Roads caught the weapon by the barrel by the time the pistol cleared the holster and Klepto aimed for the closest brute. He squeezed the trigger and felt the weapon kick. A second later the first brute fell to the ground, a HE round cracking his skull open. At the same time Roads swung the sniper rifle like a club and smashed it into the brute carrying their weapons. The brute flew to the ground, tossing the shotgun into the air. Private Briggs darted forward, immediately caught the weapon, cocked it and aimed all in one smooth move before firing. The first shell unloaded a metal slug and a full round of buckshot into the next brute's gut, practically tearing the alien in half.

"Bam, said the lady!" Cartman yelled, complimenting the shot as he ducked towards the brute corpse where his own weapon lay.

The other ODST practically jumped on top of the brute armoury, snatching up their weapons. Crouched and aiming outwards, each trooper took a sector and unleashed hell before the aliens even knew what hit them. Overlapping layers of fire spread across the room as Klepto darted forward and slid into cover of the nearest console, holstering his pistol and shouldering his M7.

Popping his head up, the ODST looked back to where Kali was. The shipmaster and his two remaining elite soldiers backed up against the main console lining the transparent screen. Straightening up, Klepto snapped up his SMG and took aim on the leader. The shipmaster saw him and darted sideways. Sword in one hand, he grabbed the younger elite woman and shoved her roughly aside. He then grabbed Kali and dragged the young girl to her feet, holding her kicking and screaming in front of him as he backed out of the room with the rest of his elite guard. The other two women lowered their heads and crawled into cover as several shots landed near them.

Cursing under his breath, Klepto swivelled right and fired on the nearest brute, sending the creature tumbling over the console he used for cover. A return volley of red hot spikes and sizzling plasma caused the specialist to duck back down and crawl away to get a new firing position.

The rest of the ODST edged into cover, fingers not leaving the trigger... until there was a gap in fire as Roads had to reload. He flicked the empty mag out of his MA37 and brought up a new one... when he suddenly saw the chieftain charge them through the sector where the layer of suppressing fire faltered. Gravity hammer was held in both hands and the massive brute let out a rumbling war-cry as he charged closer.

"Chieftain!" Roads yelled to his men.

Immediately it was every man for himself. They up and scattered. Nelly dove over a console and landed hard beside Klepto. Briggs grabbed hold of Cartman who fired his SMG in one hand at the other brutes and helped the wounded trooper hobble out of the way. Roads dove to one side just in time.

The chieftain swung his hammer, axe end first, but missed, scything the weapon around in a long arc before it struck the ground in his off-hand. Sparks suddenly erupted off the brute's right pauldron. Looking right, the chieftain's eyes flared to see Private Feeble was holding his ground.

"C'mon you motherfucking faggot!" the private yelled, standing strong, ignoring the plasma shooting past his head. He snapped up his weapon again and fired another burst, this one sparking off the chieftain's helmet. "You wanna piece of me, monkey boy! Take a load of these bananas, bitch!" he fired again... just as the brute lunged forward and swung the massive hammer in one hand.

"Feeble, get down!" Roads yelled as he climbed to his feet, but he was far too late.

The blunt end connected with Feeble's chest. There was a whoosh of energy and a clearly visible shockwave erupted from the head of the hammer. Feeble was launched across the room and hit the transparent screen at the top with a sickening smack. Slowly the private tumbled down to the ground, leaving a long smear of blood behind.

Just then there was a light click.

"Pineapples for fibre, motherfucker!" Cartman yelled from where Briggs sat him down so he could reload his shotgun. He'd just pulled a pin from a frag grenade and threw it at the chieftain.

It soared in a long arc... and the brute struck it away with a backhand. The explosive bounced across the room, landing between the last cluster of brutes before exploding. The bang was deafening, and one of the brutes was launched across the room, landing at the chieftain's feet. The massive alien looked down with some confusion, until it dawned on him that he'd just accidentally killed the last of his men. Rage was probably not a strong enough word to describe the chieftain's emotions now. It let out a cry that filled the room and caused Klepto's chest cavity to vibrate as he sat up.

"Oh, great. Nice going, Cartman. You pissed him off!" Roads complained.

The chieftain launched himself forward in one long bound and swung the hammer in two hands. It came down and hit the ground right beside Roads as the corporal jumped aside. The shockwave tossed him aside, throwing him into a console where he slumped to the ground, dazed and semi-conscious. The chieftain was about to move in for the kill as Roads looked up, limp and confused... when a black streak landed on the chieftain's back.

Klepto kicked against the brute's belt, hanging on to the chieftain as tight as he could, wrapping one arm around the thick throat, the other grabbing a handful of mane. The brute bucked and swung the specialist like a toy, until finally the trooper lost his grip. Hitting the ground on his back, Klepto grunted with pain and rolled with the momentum, landing on his feet just before crashing into a wall. Snatching up the knife strapped to his boot, he drew the blade from the sheath and ran forward as the chieftain lifted his hammer in both hands. But Klepto was faster, dropping to his knees and sliding past the brute. Just in time, the ODST grabbed the alien by the ankle, swung around and slashed the knife across the tendons in the back of the brute's knee, cutting clean through in one swipe. The alien screamed as his leg went numb and the alien fell to one knee. Letting out a roar, the chieftain swung the handle of the hammer around, catching Klepto in the helmet. Pain filled his mind. His vision flashed red as his biometric display on his VISR spiked and flickered. The blow threw the ODST sideways to the ground, knife falling forgotten from his hand as he slid to a halt, sprawled out on his front.

The alien rose painfully to his feet and hobbled closer to the specialist. A cry turned him left to see Nelly running closer, knife in hand. The alien simply threw his arm out and caught the medic in the chest with a backhand, tossing the human to the ground. Standing over Klepto now, the chieftain grabbed the human by the chest plate and lifted the trooper off the ground. Pulling him close, the chieftain dropped his hammer, reached for his belt and drew a long curved blade, serrated on both sides with several notches and frightening looking hooks in the blade.

"Now you die." The chieftain growled in a low tone, pleasure creeping into his voice.

But Klepto had one more trick up his sleeve.

Holding up the spike grenade he snatched from the chieftain's belt as he picked up the trooper, Klepto pulled off the safety ring and held the explosive high above his head, focusing on the dents and cracks Feeble's rounds had left in the chieftain's ceramic helmet. The grenade started beeping as a series of long hooked blades popped out of the weapon. Swinging it down like a club, he cracked open the chieftain's helmet and duck one of the blades deep into the chieftain's forehead.

The brute screamed, letting go of the ODST and stumbling backwards, grabbing for the rapidly beeping grenade. Klepto landed in a low crouch before whirling around and diving to the deck. The grenade exploded just as the specialist hit the floor. Flames engulfed the brute's torso, tossing him to the ground and sending shrapnel sprawling across the room.

Slowly, as the smoke evaporated, Klepto climbed battered and bruised to his feet. He staggered and was caught by a pair of hands. Looking up he saw it was Nelly. The medic was smiling as he shook his head.

"You are such a kleptomaniac." He laughed walking to where the others climbed to their feet. "Everyone all right?"

Klepto ran his fingers over long crack in his visor before nodding. He'd been better, but after going toe to toe with a brute chieftain, he had little to complain about. His HUD fuzzed on and off and was telling him his heart-rate was dangerously erratic. No doubt the internal systems were damaged by that final blow. It looked like his equipment had finally failed as he predicted it might. At least he still had his wits.

"We're okay." Briggs said, helping Cartman to his feet.

"I'll be... ugh..." Roads collapsed as he tried to stand and flopped to the ground again.

Nelly ran to his side and helped the corporal up. "You're pretty messed up. We gotta get them out of here." The corporal brushed the medic off and stood on his own power.

Klepto looked directly at Nelly a shook his head, slapping a new magazine into his SMG before nodding the way the shipmaster dragged Kali. Nelly didn't even have to see Klepto's face to know what he was thinking.

"No, Klepto, I know what you're thinking and it's crazy. We got our asses kicked. We're in no condition to take on some more elites just to save an alien who probably doesn't even like us."

There was a shuffle, causing the ODST to turn around with weapons to bear. It was the two elite women. The older one stood up straight with her hands raised high above her head.

"Wait!" she called in her native tongue, allowing the ODST's earpieces to translate. "We are unarmed. Do not shoot."

Slowly the ODST lowered their weapons and looked at each other.

"What do we do with Dorothy and Toto?" Cartman asked.

"Bring them." Roads ordered. "Command can at least salvage something from this op."

"What about the little girl?" Briggs asked, looking at Klepto who seemed to be itching to go after Kali.

"The girl is more important than you may think." The younger elite woman stood up now and moved closer. "She is special in a way you cannot imagine. A direct link to the ancients who built this temple. You must save her."

"We don't have the strength." Nelly exclaimed. "That shipmaster was one mean looking dude. We hardly survived the chieftain. We're not even in a fighting condition..."

"Klepto!" Roads interrupted, catching he specialist's attention. The corporal held out his assault rifle and web-belt with full magazine pouches. "Take my weapon. We'll meet you up top."

Klepto walked over, handed over his own SMG and belt before taking the corporal's gear. As he clicked the belt buckle home, he checked the ammo counter on the MA37 assault rifle, then gave Roads a firm nod.

"Brad, you're not sending him alone!" Nelly protested. "I'd like to see the girl saved too, but you can't send him alone against that big-ass fucker and his bum-chums!"

"I'm not sending him anywhere." Roads retorted. "Cartman, Briggs, you got rear guard. Nelly, lead us out of here. You two!" he pointed at the elite women. "We'll get you out of here. You are now prisoners of war, and will be treated with the respect of such under the Geneva Convention laws." As the ODST formed around the two elites and escorted them out of the room, Roads gave Klepto one last glance. "Good luck, kid."

Klepto watched them go then took a long breath. Showtime. He looked at the door the shipmaster had taken Kali and his guards through and ran for it.

The corridor zigzagged down to the large chamber he could see through the transparent screen of the previous room. When he finally reached the end of the seemingly endless tunnel he found himself standing at the foot of the colossal pyramid. Standing by the bottom tread, Klepto found himself looking up at the massive stairwell leading up to the top of the pyramid.

'Oh, great.' He thought looking at all those stairs.

Then he saw the shipmaster and his two guard dragging Kali uphill. They were about halfway up. That pressed Klepto to make up for lost time. AR lowered, Klepto sprinted full force uphill after them.

It didn't take too long to catch up. The shipmaster was moving slow. And his guards didn't realise Klepto was following until he was practically on top of them. They were almost at the top when Klepto came within fifty meters and opened fire.

Breathing hard and tired, the trooper had to make sure he didn't miss and accidentally hit Kali. Stopping and crouching, he aimed carefully before he fired. But when he fired, he fired full automatic.

Thirty two armour piercing rounds hit the first elite in the back. The shield failed after the first twenty. Before the alien even had a chance to turn around, the rest of the magazine punched through his back and burst out of his chest plate, splattering blood all over the steps as he flopped to the ground. The second elite whirled around as Klepto reloaded.

He yanked back the cocking lever and locked it in place before tugging loose the empty mag. Pulling a fresh one from his belt, he quickly checked it indeed had rounds in it before slotting it into the magazine well. Slapping the cocking lever with the flat end of his hand, he let it snap forward and heard the bolt close, pushing the first round into place. Just as he looked up he saw an energy sword bear down on him.

Klepto ducked forward and rose the rifle above his head, making contact with the elite's wrist. The bones in Klepto's arms shuddered as he blocked, the heat inside his helmet rising as the hot blade hung mere inches above him. Pushing sideways, he deflected the elite's blow and swung the rifle, stepping in between the alien's feet. The butt of the rifle connected with the alien's mandibles, causing the elite to recoil under a light 'crack.' As the creature recoiled, Klepto stepped out and swung a wide round-house kick around, aimed directly at the back of the elite's knee. His armoured boot connected with full force and tossed the alien forward, legs first. Off balance and stunned, the alien was sent tumbling down the stairs... all the way down, breaking pretty much everything in the process.

Pausing a second to get his breath and let the adrenaline settle, Klepto straightened up and ran after the shipmaster. He was at the top now, admiring the main source of the pink light. A shard of glass, possibly a crystal of sorts. It hung suspended in the pillar of light that now bathed the whole chamber in light. He held Kali close to his side who struggled against his grip, glancing back at Klepto, a look that pleaded him to save her in her eyes.

Klepto would have to watch his shots. He didn't want to hit Kali, or shoot anywhere near her for that matter. Short controlled bursts.

The first burst hit the shipmaster in the back, causing his shields to flare. Arcs of light and energy curled around the shipmaster's body as he whirled around... a plasma pistol in his hand.

Klepto was too slow. The shipmaster fired and a bolt of energy hit the trooper in the shoulder. The assault rifle fell from his hands and clattered loudly down the steps after the elite who'd fallen down earlier. Klepto hit the ground at an awkward angle and desperately gripped one of the treads so he wouldn't roll down after the weapon. The armour on his shoulder melted and fizzled, belching thick, foul smelling smoke into the air. It felt hot. Almost painfully so. The plasma hadn't breached his suit, but the shock, and the impact had been enough to knock him down.

Gritting his teeth as the heat grew more intense, Klepto rolled over, grabbed the shoulder pad and tore it free before turning back to the shipmaster.

The elite holstered his weapon and grabbed Kali's hand, pulling her closer to the crystal. She kicked and screamed, struggling against the shipmaster, but it was useless. Her palm connected with the floating crystal as Klepto forced himself to one knee.

The girl squealed before the shipmaster let go. Kali stumbled back, cradling her hand, crying loudly as blood seeped out of her palm. Some of it was smeared across the sharp edge on the crystal and glistened in the pink light. Until the crystal seemed to absorb the blood like a sponge.

A moment later it glowed more vibrant than before. Arcs of energy surrounded the crystal.

An explosion nearly threw them all off their perch. A shockwave of light erupted outward forming rings of light around the crystal. Waves of energy flowed through the pillar of light now, pulsing and rippling noisily. The noise was almost deafening, then seamed to dim down as the shipmaster straightened up, laughing loudly.

Turning to Klepto as the specialist struggled to his feet, the shipmaster cried: "Behold human, the weapon which will bring your pathetic race to an end! Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instrument!"

Klepto lifted his head as he tugged loose his pistol and aimed the weapon in both hands. "Blow on this, asshole!" the specialist muttered under his breath as he pulled the trigger.

The shipmaster was too slow to react as a series of explosive rounds hit him in the chest. His shield flared again, but the impact of the shots threw him backwards, straight into the crystal. The beam of light engulfed the elite, causing the alien to scream loudly in pain. Twitching and convulsing, the shipmaster was lifted off his feet and suspended in the air as his shields failed. Next to be stripped was the armour and his flesh. Whole chunks of flesh were torn off the elite as the waves of energy rippled over his body. He screamed louder as the beams of light dismembered him, ripping the elite limb from limb, absorbing his blood and bone and melting his armour.

The crystal shattered right down the middle, then exploded into tiny pieces, all suspended in the beam of light. The main column fragmented into thin beams that cut across the ceiling, sweeping this way and that, cutting deep into the stone ceiling. The ground started to shake. Whole chunks of rock fell from above and hit the ground, breaking apart on impact. This whole place was coming down.

Klepto immediately turned to Kali and held out his hand. Kali didn't hesitate for a second, and immediately ran to the human. He quickly swept her off her feet and ran as fast as he could down the steps, shielding her as much as he could from the falling debris. A chunk hit the stairs beside them and rolled past, missing them narrowly.

When Klepto reached the bottom of the steps and ran into the corridor that would take them to the surface, the beam of light died. It was replaced by the light from the fireballs exploding across the roof. Klepto kept running, keeping balance as much as he could as the ground shifted beneath his boots. Kali wrapped her arms tighter around his neck as they ran uphill and into the room where the ODST fought the chieftain.

Again, he was in the maze of corridors. Only this time all the blinking displays had disappeared. All power was flowing through the lights, lighting up every area and dark corridor. Explosions rippled through the walls and ceilings. The ground shook and displaced. Cracks formed across every surface as the entire structure tore itself apart. Klepto ran over cracks, jumped holes and dodged fireballs, following corridors uphill as much as he could. He breathing became quick as he realised he had no idea where he was going. Every hall, every room, each gantry looked the same.

But then his luck changed. He ran past a wide doorway, slid to a halt and ran back, looking up a long wide ramp leading up to sunlight. He recognised the colossal doors at the end of this tunnel. This was where Private Boston and he had started. Up there were the main doors. They were open!

The building was still exploding.

Cursing, Klepto jumped out of the way of a falling support beam and ran uphill as fast as he could. He dodged sideways as another support beam fell in front of him. An explosion lit up the path in front of him. As it dimmed, he ran through the smoke, over the smouldering debris that scattered out in front of him. Bright blue blasts popped out of the walls either side as lights and conduits overloaded, scattering sparks and debris everywhere. Kali squealed, holding the human tighter. They were nearly there...

Then Klepto heard a whoosh of air. He looked up and saw a massive silhouette. It hovered and pivoted, before moving deeper into the structure and lowered towards them. It was a Pelican! The bulky drop ship's engines flared blue flames as she twisted on an axis, debris bouncing off the armoured hull. The open troop bay doors faced them as the vehicle dropped to the deck, hovering only a few inches off the ground. Klepto didn't think twice and ran to it. The first thing he saw were a cluster of hands reaching out for them. As Klepto jumped in, Nelly and Briggs dragged them on board. Cartman was sitting further into the bay with Roads, and banged his fist twice on the wall separating them from the cockpit.

"Holy Christ, the dogs 're barkin'!" the private yelled. "Get us the fuck outta here!"

The pilot didn't reply. Only fed more power to the engines and angled the nose forward. One arm holding Kali, Klepto gripped the nearest seat with his other hand and held them to the deck as the drop ship lurched out of the temple entrance. The vehicle shuddered as they skimmed the edge of the doorway. It was a miracle the pilot was able to even fly through such a tight fit. Klepto would have to remember to thank that crazy bastard later.

For now he caught his breath. As the Pelican levelled out, Klepto let go of Kali and straightened up. Looking down he saw the temple break apart below them. Explosions ripped across the plaza as countless Pelicans rose up, escaping the inferno. The tower broke off the citadel and hit the ground, kicking up massive clouds of dust before being engulfed in fire. Klepto looked away and stood up, helping Kali into a seat beside the other two elite females on the Pelican.

Kneeling in front of her he squeezed her arm. She still had tear stains on her face, but her eyes were brighter now. The cut on her hand was clotted. She would be fine. Physically, anyway. Mentally, Klepto had no idea. Her village destroyed. Her family was gone. Abused and terrified of her own people. He would have to wait and see what became of her.

Standing he looked across the troop bay. Everyone, including the two elite women were accounted for. They sat opposite Roads, who kept his eyes on them at all times. They didn't seem too worried. Klepto wasn't surprised. At least they were alive. The specialist wondered what would happen to them and Kali though. Again, he would have to wait and see, but he hoped they would be okay.

The younger woman put her arms around Kali, who seemed immediately comforted. The woman looked up at the specialist with those gorgeous emerald eyes which seemed to smile at him. "Klepto." She spoke softly, reading the name on his chest plate. Again, Klepto had no idea how the hell these people could recognise the English lettering. "Thank you." Through his damaged translation system, it sounded very static, but the general idea was clearly understood.

Behind his visor, Klepto sighed and gave a tired smile. For the first time that day he smiled with some relaxed relief. Without a word, he gave the woman a nod, before crossing the troop bay and sitting next to Nelly. Next to them, the troop bay's doors slowly slid shut, sealing them in the pressurised bay.

"You know, Klepto." Nelly said. "You don't say much do you?"

Looking away, Klepto gripped the sides of his helmet and pulled it loose, looking directly at Kali as the girl fell asleep in the other elite's embrace. "Actions speak louder than words." The specialist stated with a smile.

Nelly chuckled, looking out the small window in the troop bay doors as the white clouds rushed past them. "Amen to that."

---***---

// UNSC Medical Station Under the Weather, High Orbit, Reach, Epsilon Eridani system, December 2550 CE

As the doors to the private lab swished open, Ensign Nelly jumped to his feet, helmet clutched in one hand. Klepto didn't move, his face hidden behind a grey visor as he snoozed quietly. Kali was with him, snuggled up in the seat beside the trooper, head resting on the specialist's chest, eyes shut and fast asleep. One of Klepto's arms was wrapped around the young girl's shoulders, while Kali's arms clamped tight around the ODST's waist. Neither of them noticed the bench move as Nelly rose to his feet to greet the newcomer.

"Doctor Halsey." Nelly said with a polite smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. We've heard quite a lot."

The middle aged woman who entered was as tall as the ensign, slim waist and black hair with a streak of grey hanging along the left side of her face. She wore thin framed glasses and a white lab coat over her smart civvie attire, a nametag pinned to her left breast and clip-board in one hand.

Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey returned the greeting with a mild nod and a grin. "Ensign Nelly I presume?"

The ODST corpsman nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"And this must be Kali." She moved closer to Klepto and the elite girl, lowering her voice as she realised they were sleeping. "I must say, she's quite a fascinating specimen." She turned to one of the work tops and laid down the clip-board, reading over some of the notes she had jotted down in the margins of the medical report.

"You've studied elites before?" Nelly asked.

The doctor nodded. "Only battlefield corpses in mortuaries. Never a live subject." She trailed off for a moment before looking up and smiling. "I can't wait to meet the other two your squad liberated."

"Look, doc." Nelly said a little uncomfortably. "These are POWs. You can't run any freaky tests on them..."

"I'll do nothing of the sort, ensign." The doctor sounded mildly offended. "I am after all, officially, a civilian scientist, and just because I'm employed by ONI doesn't make me a psychopath in a dark lab under a secret military facility."

Nelly chuckled.

"For now the only tests we have run have been MRI's and blood tests." Halsey continued, returning to her notes. "I must say the results are fascinating. According to our readings, cross referenced with the corpses of younger soldiers taken in from the battlefield, she is seventeen years old, by our standards. That is twenty in elite years. We'll probably be noticing a lot of physical changes in the next few months."

"Alien puberty?" Nelly joked.

"Something like that." The doctor smiled at the joke. It was tough to find soldiers with Nelly's light-hearted humour now and days. It made a fresh change from the usual jarheads Halsey worked with.

"So you can tell all that from her blood sample?"

"I can tell a whole lot." Halsey said. "Like how she has human DNA."

"Human DNA? As in... the birds and the bees made a bird-bee?" Nelly said with some shock, leaning against the nearest counter top.

"Crude," the doctor said narrowing her eyes as she thought about the analogy. "But fairly accurate, yes. Her DNA is biological, indicating she was somehow born like this."

It seemed a little much for the corpsman who outright refused to believe this. "Okay, no! I'm only a medic, but even I know it can't just happen like that. What are you suggesting? A human and an elite got a room together and... what? The stork took an interstellar delivery?"

"From what I've seen, elite physiology is not too different from our own. It could be possible. How long have you known Specialist Klepto?"

"Long enough." Nelly said slowly. "Why?"

"Do you know where he was and what he did seventeen years ago?" Halsey asked sitting against the lab-table and looking at the sleeping trooper.

"What? No, that's impossible. You don't think..." Nelly couldn't even finish that sentence.

"Well, she does seem attached to him." Doctor Halsey deducted. "I read a study that said kids often feel a connection with their parents, even if they don't directly know them."

Nelly stared at Klepto for a long time. The specialist stirred, bobbed his head then nodded off again. Kali seemed to smile, comforted and safe, snuggling tighter against the armored human. What did he know about the specialist? Not a lot. He was a good soldier, would have made one hell of a Spartan. He was compassionate. He seemed to look over Kali with fatherly affection... Nelly stopped there. There was no way it was possible. Did he know how old Klepto was? Not even out of his twenties... maybe. Again, Nelly wasn't sure. The possibility was there.

He had to guess one day he'd find out.

---***---

Covenant Cruiser Apple of Eden, Covenant Space, Classified Heading, Ninth Age of Reclamation

"Yes! Gods, yes! Give it to me! Fuck me... fuck me!" the Kig-yar screamed out loud, throwing her head back and letting her tongue roll out the side of her muzzle, bouncing reversed on the San 'Shyuum's lap.

Shipmisstress Koraness ground her hips, bouncing faster and faster, feeling the San 'Shyuum cock swell, close to release. The Kig-yar moaned louder with lust, her large scaly breasts bouncing and shimmering in the dim lights of her private quarters. The air was thick with the musty smell of sex and incense.

"Gods give me... aaaaah." The San 'Shyuum minister couldn't hold in anymore as Koranees narrowed her eyes, looking over her shoulder at him seductively.

The shipmistress purposefully squeezed as she pumped and bucked her hips, grinding him all the way to the hilt. She had come three times already in their session, pleasure racing through every fibre of her body. The minister's lap was drenched with her cum as it seemed to flow out of her in rivers, her pussy slurping and slobbering all over his cock.

She tightened again, and the minister felt waves of hot pussy juices drench his manhood again as she screamed out loud, throwing her head back. It was too much this time. The San 'Shyuum squeezed for a moment, then released, spurting hot waves of semen up into the Kig-yar.

Koraness rolled her eyes, jaw slack as she slowed her rhythm, breathing hard and cooing softly. She felt it inside her. Spurt after spurt, for at least a minute. San 'Shyuum ejaculation could last either seconds, or minutes. She loved the feeling of being filled, no, overflowed with cum. She loved the hot feeling, the stickiness inside her. It was gorgeous.

"Ah... ah..." Koraness leaned back against the minister's chest as he too caught his breath, wheezing and heaving, eyes shut. "Are... are you ready to go again yet?" the shipmistress eagerly asked. She still had breath in her. She wanted more. And let him feel it, squeezing her muscles and bucking her hips up and down his limp manhood.

The San 'Shyuum, didn't answer, hoping he could drag this question out a bit, a chance to take a breath. For hours they have been going at it like rabid animals. Shipmistress Koraness was a sex hungry animal. But she was also really good. He never came as hard as he would when he was inside her, with her on top of course.

Raising her body, Koraness felt the soft manhood slip out of her with a light, wet pop. Looking down at his soaked cock, the shipmistress leaned forward, her rear end pocking up high into the air. With one hand she quickly took the minister's manhood skilfully in her mouth, clamping down her lips and working her tongue up and down the bottom of the shaft, licking away her own juices.

The San 'Shyuum moaned with delight, feeling her work her magic with that devlish tongue of hers. He quickly reached out and touched her wet pussy, gliding two long fingers into the opening with ease. Koranness moaned, muffled by the cock in her mouth, rolling her eyes as she felt his fingers vigorously pump and wiggle in and out of her wet hole, feeling her own juices leak down the inside of her thigh and down her belly.

That was when a voice was heard over the intercom.

"Bridge to the Minister of Discovery, you have a call on your private comm." The voice, clearly another Kig-yar female, screeched.

'Saved by the bell.' The minister mused with some amusement.

With his free hand he operated his hovering chair's controls, causing a holographic display to wink to life in front of his face, between him and the gorgeous Kig-yar pleasuring him with her mouth. She had started to bob her head up and down, meaning the minister had to fight to keep his voice sounding even.

The display flickered to life revealing a familiar face. "Lieutenant 'Granee." Discovery said with some delight. "You are the last person I was expecting to hear from. "Where is the shipmaster?"

"He is dead." 'Granee said without the slightest hint of emotion. Before the minister spoke again, the lieutenant continued. "We have lost the Tundras colony to the humans... however, I have news that may interest you."

The loss of the colony made Discovery wonder how there possibly could be interesting news. "Continue." He said with patience, feeling a twitch in his loins as Koraness worked his shaft harder, causing his member to grow stiff again.

"So far the only way to work the Forerunner artefacts is to have had a human captive present." The lieutenant explained. "However we have found a girl. A Sangheili, who possesses the ability to use the relics of the Gods without even trying. With a thought, she could activate Forerunner devices.

The Minister of Discovery's eyes widened at the news, causing him to ejaculate into the shipmistress' throat at the same time. Gasping for breath, the shipmistress lifted her head, smiling, strings of cum dripping from her muzzle as she lapped it all up and swallowed the hot purple goo down.

Discovery ignored the erotic sight of sluttyness, eyes fixed on the lieutenant. "Where is she?"

"Captured by the humans."

"You are now shipmaster." He announced. "I want you to re-capture her and bring her to me."

"Yes, minister." The feed cut off and the holo-display disappeared.

The minister was suddenly turned off, and couldn't get hard, even with the shipmistress' hands working up and down his shaft and his fingers pumping in and out of her pussy. He was distracted. This girl, this prophet, could be the key to ending the instability within the Covenant. The hierarchs would want to know of this. But in order to avoid testing their patience, or wrath, he would have to have the girl with him...

[To be concluded]