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Act III

Part 1
I've been there...

Twenty-Fourth Solar Cycle, 201 Cycles: 9th Age of Reclamation [October 20, 2552: 1205hrs]
CCR-Class Research Vessel Mercy and Betrayal
SpecOps Major Ryau 'Cinotee

Ryau's comment seemed to have gone unnoticed as the ship's announcements were made. There was a bit of confusion in the voices of those over the intercom, and the ships all remained where they had dropped out for the time being.

"K`an. I should go." He wasted no time. Ryau turned and ran out of the room, in search of Naki.

She should be somewhere near her labs. Though the fact that every lab on this ship was technically hers, and those labs occupied half the mid-decks, that will be difficult. He did not know how much time he had; those facts had been lost to him over the years.

The ships announcement system chimed again. "Attention warriors, prepare for deployment. Report to muster stations immediately."

Hopefully he would only have to search one place, so he made his way to the room they shared. That announcement made getting through the personnel decks difficult. Every warrior was flooding out of their common rooms and into the halls. Ryau utilized his elbows, but it had little effect against armored targets.

He managed to squeeze through the crowds and made it onto the less densely packed officer deck. Ryau barged into the room. "Naki, we need to turn this ship around immediately."

Naki turned to face him, fully armored and with bags in both her hands. "What do you mean? Why would we need to turn away from this artifact?"

Ryau walked over to the viewscreen and looked for the controls. "Do you even know where this artifact is? Where we are now?"
"No...?" Naki slowed at Ryau's apparent worry.

He managed to get the screen switched to the front camera source. It was still focused on Earth, scanning the orbital defenses. "We are here."

Naki dropped her bags. "It can't be..." She muttered, "Oh Gods, how could I have been so blind? I walked right into this."

Ryau shook his head. "That doesn't matter right now, we just need to get out of here before we get caught in the crossfire."

"Agreed, but I cannot turn this ship around. The Shipmaster is basically under orders from the Hierarch." Naki paced around the room. "...but what I can do is get us off this ship. The Hierarch's ship will be the only one to escape, right?"

"I think so... I don't remember that much." Ryau sighed.
"I can get us over to the Solemn Penance." Naki picked up her bags again. "I just need to go to the lab and get the rest of my research."

Ryau gathered his few personal belongings, the recovered TACPAD and a few small booklets, and stuffed them into a pack of his own. "We need to hurry then. The fleet is accelerating towards Earth, bypassing everything else." He pointed towards the screen, still centered on Earth.

Naki headed out the door, Ryau trailing close behind. The speakers chimed again. "Prepare for tactical Slipspace maneuver." The ship lurched and was only in transit for a few moments before dropping out once again. "All prepped boarding craft, Launch, launch, launch. Glory to the Covenant!"

They made it to the lab just as multiple thumps reverberated through the deck, missile impacts. The first battle of Earth had begun.
The doors to the lab slid open and Naki hurried over to one of her work terminals. She connected a data storage cube and began to work. "I just need to transfer my data..." The ship shook again, more violently, probably light a MAC round. A series of alarms sounded. "The shields are down..."

Ryau grabbed her shoulder. "Let's go. We need to get out of here."

Naki stopped him. "Hold on, I'm setting up a timer to sound the evacuation alarm in five minutes." She tapped some symbols on her screen and a countdown appeared on the screen. "I've set the escape pods and insertion pods to hone in the Solemn Penance."

"Alright, that's great. Now let's get to one of those escape pods before we get blown up." Ryau pulled her back towards the doorway again.

"Fine." She hurried out before him, leading down a hallway. "But the escape pods are too far away, there's a hangar in the next sector on this deck. It's our best bet."

"That sounds fine to me." Ryau nodded and continued to follow her.

They made it through the corridor quite quickly, as most of the warriors were already down in dropships or boarding craft. The hangar bay was different than the usual multi-level bays. It was not as tall as the others he had been to during his brief visit on Covenant ships, it was much more spread out and linear. A group of unlaunched Seraphs were prepped for launch, hovering in a line. Their pilots were standing outside of them, probably waiting for their order to engage.

Ryau glanced out at the shield doors, the starscape was flashing by and flipping rapidly, The Shipmaster was engaged in some intense evasive maneuvers.

Naki walked up to one of the Seraph pilot teams. "I apologize for this but I am going to have to commandeer your craft on orders from the Hierarch."

The two pilots looked from one to another and the lead spoke into his com-piece. "Dockmaster, 'Valiklee and I require a new Seraph, the Science Major is taking ours." With that said, he and the other pilot stepped away. "It is all yours Major."

Naki nodded. "Thank you pilot, now get in your craft as soon as it is ready, we will need an escort to the Solemn Penance." A few meters behind them, a Seraph came out, suspended on the ceiling, and was lowered to the deck by energy fields. Naki waved to Ryau and climbed into the cockpit, He followed her quickly. "Now you do know how to pilot one of these?" She asked.

"We were trained on a bunch of these ships, but with simulators. Never flown one myself." Ryau said. "You want me at the controls though?"

"Yes, simulation is better than nothing. I do not fly my own ships." Naki shrugged and slipped into the back seat. "I should probably learn."

"Yes you should, but I'll take care of it for now." Ryau hopped into the pilot's seat and started up the craft.

Naki activated the radio and connected to the hangar's commander. "Dockmaster, requesting clearance to transit from Mercy and Betrayal to Solemn Penance."

Ryau glanced over at the Dockmaster's station, a small bubble room protruding out of the wall. "Are you sure you wish to transit during the battle?" The Dockmaster asked.

"Yes, we need to get there immediately." Naki said. An alarm began to sound inside the ship and was also displayed in the Seraph. Evacuate. The timer on Naki's computer had expired, and the order was being broadcasted across the ship.

The Dockmaster glanced up, probably at the alarm. He then looked down and shut down the defensive shield to the hangar. "Very well, you a-"

A second later there was just a flash and an ear shattering roar. Where the Dockmaster had been a split second before, was now just a hole in the floor and ceiling a few meters across. All the air in the hangar, and the compromised sectors blew out the hole. Anything that was not secured to the deck followed the air.

The Seraph shuttered and pulled at the gravity constraints holding it to the deck. A few others were torn free and smashed against the interior hull. Alarms sounded inside the craft, warning of sudden pressure loss. Ryau worked quickly and sealed the interior fully, there was a hiss and the alarms stopped.

"Oh gods! What was that?!" Naki shouted.

"MAC round. Tore right through the ship." He released the gravity constraints and accelerated out of the hangar before any more hit the ship. A few of the Seraphs whose pilots made it into their ships before the air was evacuated via projectile, followed.

They flew into the battle beyond the ship. The few Covenant ships were dancing with the massed UNSC Home Fleet. The Mercy and Betrayal slid down towards the planet, engines flickering and fading. A MAC round had torn right through the middle of the ship. Crippled, it succumbed to the pull of Earth's gravity. A few Frigates fired missiles and then peeled off to engage other ships.

"...I...I hope my interns made it off the ship in time..." Naki muttered, sadness in her voice.

"I'm sure that they will be able to get off before it goes down, Naki." Ryau said, a bit softer than usual.

Ryau just saw her nod in a reflection on the screen. She was looking down at the console. "This is war... I expected this to happen someday..."

"I'm sorry." Ryau sighed. He guided the ship towards the Assault Carriers accelerating towards the planet. However, the Human defense was too strong around the Carriers, preventing Ryau from getting close. One of the escorting Seraphs took down two Longswords that took shots at their ship. Unfortunately, one managed to land a few hits, its 110mm gun tore holes in the tail.

"Ryau, forget it. Get us to that city he will land in." Naki said. "This is too heavy to get to the ship."

Ryau turned the Seraph and banked down towards the surface. "Got it... Taking us down now." Smoke poured from where they had been shot as they entered the atmosphere.

"Major Cimutee, your Seraph is damaged, I do not recommend that you enter the atmosphere." The radio transmission came from a Seraph commanded by a Major 'Vadalum and Major 'Valiklee. It seems that they had made it into their own ship before the explosion.

"Negative, we will proceed. If you can, get yourselves to the Solemn Penance when it breaches their orbital defence line." Naki responded. "Stay safe, do not take any unnecessary risks."

"Understood, Major. Disengaging." 'Vadalum returned. The Seraphs guiding them in broke off and returned to orbit.

Meanwhile, the rough entry was felt inside the small craft. Ryau gripped the controls as parts of the tail began to shake loose. "Maybe we should have listened to the other pilot..."

"We will be fine. These things have flown with more damage." Naki said.

They dropped below the cloud layer and the city was there. New Mombasa and the old city spread out before them. Though there was not much time to take in the view, a loud thunk from the rear of the craft was the shattered tail breaking off.

The Seraph began to spin and fall towards the city. "Naki, this is not going to be good." Ryau held tight.

"I've already prepped the stasis fields to activate before impact. They should keep us intact." Naki replied.

They dropped rapidly, tumbling through the air. Ryau watched through the viewscreen as the ground approached. Buildings flew by and then he suddenly could not move. The next moment, all he could see was black.

Ryau blinked, his ears were ringing and he was not sure how long he had been out. A burst of blue sparks broke the darkness. He blinked again and the holographic displays began to fade back into his vision. There were multiple alarms sounding inside the cockpit. Ryau did a once over of himself to make sure that he was fully intact, and everything seemed to be in place.

"...Naki." He groaned. "Are you okay?"

There was a muffled gasp from behind him as she stirred. "..Y..yeah... I am alright." She replied. "The stasis field did its thing."

Ryau ejected the cockpit cover and it slammed into the ceiling of whatever room they were now inside of. More dust and debris collapsed into the cockpit. Ryau unhooked his restraints and climbed down the side of the craft. Naki landed beside him in a cloud of dust.

They had crashed into a small convenience store and demolished a fair bit of the display shelves. Bags of chips and candy were scattered all across the floor, Ryau was a bit tempted to collect some for memory sake, but he shelved the idea. He did not see any bodies, so the store must have been empty when they crashed. Ryau tuned his radio to the battlenet and got a mess of com traffic. The Solemn Penance had reached the surface and started deploying ground troops not too long ago, and spread across the city. How long had they been out?

"Naki. is your radio working?" Ryau asked, he was unable to transmit for some reason.

She tapped her armors controls and then hit the side of her helmet. "...No, I am only receiving. The crash must have damaged our systems."

"Both of us having the same failures though?" Ryau asked.

"Unusual, yes, but not impossible." Naki nodded slightly.

Ryau hopped off the pile of debris and to the tiled floor. The front door was gone and replaced by the Seraph, so that way was off the list. He pushed a smashed shelf out of the way of the corridor to the store's storage area. "Well we should get going then. There's a long walk ahead."

"Indeed... It looks like we crashed into the old city." Naki followed him through the space.

Ryau found what he was looking for, the back door. With a swift kick, it fell out into the alleyway between buildings. He stuck his head out to check if there was anyone outside. The alley was clear, but there were mobs of civilians flowing down the street away from where they had crashed. Ryau was not sure if the civilians would attack them or run if they saw Naki or himself.

"Well... there are a lot of civilians out there," He said.

Naki tapped his shoulder. "There's a rubbish can over there, we can climb that to get to that road up there. That looks empty."

He hopped up onto the bin and climbed up to the next road. It was indeed empty, probably because the gate on the other side had collapsed. A pile of rubble covered a bus, but Ryau could see light from the other side. That was their way out of there. Ryau pulled open the back doors and walked through. It was a cramped space, and the crumpled ceiling in the middle made it even more difficult. Thankfully the front door was also poking out of the rubble.
Ryau emerged from the wrecked bus, and into a street filled with civilians. No one noticed Ryau and Naki at first; there was already enough happening around the people. He tried to sink back into the shadows, but the armor he was wearing had lights, which was probably a flaw the Covenant never had to worry about since they either were assaulting or had active camouflage. He placed his Carbine onto his back, trying to appear the least threatening as possible. Though, being a Sangheili was counter to that ability.

Then he had a thought, he had the Device. He could turn himself back into a Human. But then what to do about Naki. "Hey, Naki." Ryau whispered. "We have the device. Why cant I turn us both into Humans?"

Naki was hiding partly in the bus. "I never had a chance to see if it can affect more than one person at a time." She glanced to the oblivious crowd.

"There is no better time to try." Ryau said.

"I would not recommend it... there needs to be more testing." Naki whispered back. "Trust me, we do not know how this will work."

Before Ryau could reply, an elderly Human glanced into the alley. He stumbled back, stammering. "C-c-covenant!" The Human pointed at Ryau.

Ryau pulled his Carbine back out. He did not want to kill civilians, but he would not stand by and let them kill him, or Naki.

The civilians, instead, reacted exactly like panicking people. None stepped up to be the hero. They ran, faster than they had been moving before, in all directions away from them. People even abandoned their cars in the streets. Within moments, the road was empty.
"Well, at least there was no shooting." Naki said.

"Not yet, I don't think any of these civilians even had guns." Ryau replied.

"Well hopefully we do not encounter anyone who does them." Naki walked beside him, now that the streets were empty. None of the surface streets were direct lines to the downtown, they needed a faster route.

There was a tram station up ahead. All express trains servicing Downtown Mombasa canceled scrolled across the reader board in bold yellow letters. "I think that's the best option." He pointed up at the station. "We can use the maintenance corridors and get to the city."

"Then let's go, I'll follow your lead while on this planet." Naki said.

A pair of New Mombasa Police vehicles were parked out front, lights on, but left alone. Ryau did not see anyone around, or hear anything except for the occasional explosion or distant gunfire. He crept up the escalator, to track level. Bags and luggage were strewn about, but still no people.

The stations public announcement system cracked. "Next train to-" It fizzled. "-arriving in... five minutes."

There was a burst of radio noise from the other, it sounded like a Police radio. A conversation was heard coming from the other side of the station. "I hear the commissioner gonna have us set up in the emergency bunker. Just us cops." A female voice said.

"I know he's dirty, but you gotta hand it to him. He's really looking after us." The other Officer, a male replied.

"We're all dirty, remember that. I saw you take that cash from that refugee smuggler." The first laughed. "And then you got that commendation for busting him down in the harbor."

"Well, what can I say, I needed the cash, and don't want those refus' messing up my streets. I hear some got deported back to Coral before it was glassed, poor bastards."

Two officers appeared from behind a partition, armed with M7 SMGs. The woman spied them first. "Shit! Covies on the platform." She grabbed her partner and pulled him behind a support column.

Ryau slid into cover himself, though cover for a creature of his size on in a Human scaled space was a bit difficult. He had the same problem while he was a Spartan. He gripped his Carbine, feeling the curves. The last time he had shot at other Humans was on Reach, but it was probably going to be him, or them.

"Two of them, Elites. Think they saw us." The woman said. She probably did not think that Ryau and Naki understood what she was saying. "I'll toss a flash, then you roll out and spray them down."

"Why does it have to be me that rolls out?" The man asked. "And what if they know what you're saying?"

"Because I have the flashbang." She said. "Besides, everyone knows they don't understand English. Now go on my mark."

Ryau sighed and closed his eyes just to make sure, and Naki had hopefully returned to the stairwell for cover. There was a tink, and then a bang.

The man rolled out of cover, SMG up, but he did not see anyone else in the station. "Hey! I don't see anything. It’s gone."

"What do you mean, it’s gone?" She asked.

"I'm sayin', the aliens are gone." He replied.

The woman left cover, Ryau watched through the reflection of a newspaper stand. He chose that moment to pop up. Two Carbine rounds to each of them. Their ballistic vests provided little protection against miniature radioactive missiles. The bodies dropped to the floor. "Alright, Naki. It’s clear."

Naki popped her head up from the stairs. "Well that was quick."

"Efficient, and it helped that they were uninformed about the Sangheili," he sighed and then dropped down onto the mag-lev tracks. "We've got a long walk ahead of us."

They walked between the tracks, along the maintenance catwalk. The tracks gradually descended into a tunnel that ran beneath the old city. According to a map in a small maintenance office, the tunnel would continue through a few underground stations, and then turn and go beneath the river. While on their journey, two crowded trains rushed by, leaving the area. Their passengers pressed against the window, staring at the two Sangheili walking the tunnel.

After passing the first station, which was empty aside form a group of looters who scattered when they saw Ryau and Naki emerge from the tunnel, there was a large explosion farther ahead. Dust and bits of concrete fell from the ceiling and the lights flickered for a few moments.

"Well that doesn't sound good..." Ryau mumbled.

As they rounded the next corner, they came into the second station. The tunnel ahead was blocked by a recent cave in. Light shined down from the roadway above. The semi-molten remains of a Scorpion tank sat atop the pile.

"I guess we are returning to the surface then?" Naki asked.

"Yeah," Ryau nodded and climbed onto the station floor. The escalators led up into an small shopping center. There were a few civilian bodies scattered across the concourse, and a team of Marines were set up inside one of the storefronts. The smoldering remains of a Wraith was across from the hole the Scorpion was in just outside the mall.

There did not appear to be any way passed the Marines other that backtracking down the tunnel. Though that option quickly went away, Ryau heard voices coming from the station below. He surveyed the open area. One part of the floor was littered with dead Unggoy, Kig-Yar and the occasional Sangheili. A pair of Marines were throwing them into piles. Sitting on the ground, between the dead and Ryau, was a single plasma turret. It looked like the Unggoy carrying it never got to deploy it.

He sank back down beneath the floor. "Alright, Naki. Here is what we're going to do. I am going to run for that plasma turret. I need you to toss a grenade into the storefront and then suppress the two Marines by the bodies."

"I got it." Naki nodded and pulled a Plasma grenade from her hip.

"As soon as you throw, I'm going." Ryau said.

"Well then, ready... and... go." Naki primed the grenade and chucked it into the storefront.

"Grenade!" One of the Marines shouted, as they all dove away.

Ryau sprinted out of the stairwell and slid to a stop beside the plasma turret. He ripped the stand away and tossed it aside. As he squeezed the grip, a torrent of plasma bolts was released from the front and cut into the store. Naki dispatched the two Marines by the bodies with her Plasma rifle, and then joined him in attacking the storefront.

The Marines inside the store organized and began to return fire. Bullets pinged harmlessly off their shields. When Ryau's shields dropped too low, he rolled for cover behind a box planter. He risked a glance and saw one of the Marines was slumped over the windowsill with his upper body blown away. Naki was behind another planter box, just a meter or so from the storefront.

"Frag out!" One of the Marines called. A Frag grenade bounced and slid to a stop beside the box Ryau was behind.

He dove away, tossing his own grenade in the process. It sailed through the air and adhered to one of the Maine's chest plates. "Oh god, get it off, get it off!" He struggled with the latches, before one of the others just gave him a sharp shove to the ground. The grenade exploded taking the Marine, and the other that was trying to help with the latches.

The frag grenade had taken out Ryau's shields as soon as they had recharged and now he was out in the open. Ryau had ditched the plasma turret when he had jumped away, so he drew his Carbine. There was one Human left alive in the store, a Navy pilot. He was in the back, unarmed, bandages around his hands.

Ryau lowered his Carbine, he was not about to kill an unarmed Human. He had only attacked the others because he did not have an option, they would have killed him should he have just tried to walk out. "Come on, let’s go. He isn't a threat."

"Naki sat up from her spot and glanced over. "If you say so."

They walked out of the mall and back into the narrow streets of Old Mombasa. Once again, deserted of all Human life. The road began to widen as they got closer to the coast. A sign indicated that there was an on ramp to a Highway just ahead. That would likely be less hazardous that walking along the surface streets. Ryau and Naki glanced at each other and unanimously agreed to take the Highway.

It was not that high off the ground, barely poking above many of the building of the old city. Cars and trucks littered the road deck, none occupied. High intensity plasma had damaged the deck all over the place, it was almost as if the Solemn Penance had sent Seraphs out on bombing runs to destroy key infrastructure. Some of the buildings on either side were gutted, and burned; allowing thick smoke to fill the sky.

As they walked, Ryau began to notice a constant thumping. It was getting louder over time, and the vehicles that littered the highway were also beginning to respond to it. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a giant walking machine stomping towards them. A Scarab. Just at the sheer sight of the machine, his initial reaction was to dive for cover. But then he remembered that he was now on the same side as the craft. Though then another sound became apparent. The scream of a thousand Warthogs.

Well, more like five, but there was definitely the recognizable whine of Warthog engines. Gunfire erupted at the base of the Scarab, The Warthogs' bullets bouncing harmlessly off the Scarabs armor. The massive walker halted, and aimed its gun down at the vehicles. They broke off, but the Scarab fired. Two of the Warthogs were caught in the beam, but the others had jumped off the highway and onto the flanking side streets. The Scarab resumed its march down the Highway.

"We could wave it down and catch a ride to the city center." Naki suggested.

"That would save us a lot of walking." Ryau nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"I suppose then, we should wait here. It is getting fairly close now." Ryau leaned against a smashed Genet vehicle to wait for the Scarab.

After a bit, the Scarab was almost on top of them. Two of the Warthogs took an on ramp up to the highway, the road they were taking below must have been blocked and their only choice was to return to the Scarabs path. The Scarab halted again and prepped its beam once more.

The two Warthogs sped down the highway, right for Ryau and Naki's position. The lead Hog's gun turned and fired at them. Two bullets slammed into Ryau's shields, and threw him back against the car. He only had a moment to roll away as the Warthog smashed through the place Ryau had been moments before. The Scarab fired at the Warthog as it flew down the highway, blasting a hole into the expressway below. All that was left was a semi-molten frame and some bits of carbonized organics. Plasma runoff dripped from the main gun, and sizzled across the concrete road surface near Ryau's arm.

Ryau sat up and coughed. His shield bar was completely depleted and warnings flashed across his ACI. Thankfully his shields had taken all the damage, he was lucky that the gunner was not a better shot.

"Ryau, are you okay?" Naki knelt down and looked him over.

"Yes... I'm in one piece. I feel like I was hit by a sledge hammer though." He got to his feet and steadied himself against another car.

The Scarab remained where it stood, then it readjusted its footing before lowing itself closer to the ground. It was still thirty meters tall though, there was not much room for it to easily spread its legs to lower any further. A Sangheili Major stuck his head over the side and waved down at Ryau and Naki.

They waved back, and their radios cracked on a local channel. "Majors, do you require assistance?"

Naki waved back and attempted to shout over the sound of the Scarab's engine. "Our headsets are out. We could use a lift!"

The Major disappeared back behind the Scarab's side. Ryau was not sure if they had heard Naki. But after a few moments, a small hatch on the side of the Scarab opened and a grav-lift appeared. Without wasting a breath, the two of them hurried over and took the lift up into the belly of the walker.

The grav-lift deposited them onto the command deck of the Scarab. It was quite crowded with soldiers of the Covenant. Ryau glanced around the room, two Majors and an Ultra operated the craft, the most notable fact was that the Ultra was actually a female. It must have been quite the journey for her since females were rare in the military.

They stepped away from the circular door as it sealed. "Thank you, Ultra, for the lift." Naki said.

"Oh yes, definitely." The Ultra turned away from the screens. "Science Major? What brings you aboard?" She was quite surprised.

"Ah well... My ship was destroyed in orbit, we took a seraph but we did not make it all the way to the Solemn Penance." Naki looked down momentarily. "We landed a bit off this highway, and have been looking for somewhere to catch a Phantom to the ship."

"I may be able to give you a ride then, my orders are to patrol this city and proceed back to the ship." The Ultra said.

Ryau glanced to Naki, they should not ride this Scarab for its entire path, if it does turn out to be the one boarded by the Master Chief. Naki returned Ryau's look, she understood his concern. "Is there a landing zone along your route, somewhere you can drop us off at?"

The Ultra nodded. "Yes, we shall be there just after we cross the bridge."

"Alright, thank you." Naki nodded. "Is it alright if we go up on the deck?"

"Go right ahead, but beware. There are snipers in the area." The Ultra said, and turned back to the screen.

"Very well, we will just remain in the covered area." Naki waved to Ryau and took him up to the Scarab's upper deck. There were a few Kig-Yar snipers along the edges, but that was really it.
"So we get off at the landing zone, and then what?" Ryau asked.

"Well, I am sure that we will be able to catch a Phantom there." Naki said. "I doubt Regret would want to lose his best scientist."

"I suppose you're right." Ryau walked over to a small bench built into the top deck support and took a seat. The Scarab was not a stable platform to stand on while crawling over buildings. It dropped down onto the Expressway's toll plaza. The UNSC had set up a roadblock at mid-span, but the Marines in the plaza had already started to open fire. Rockets thumped on the Scarab's underside, they just left blast marks on the undamaged alloy. The Scarab disregarded the Marines at its feet, and began to march across the bridge.

The fortifications the Marines had set up were obviously temporary and hastily made. Sandbags and overturned vehicles with Machine gun positions and a Scorpion tank were all that stood between the Scarab, and the City of New Mombasa.

Ryau saw what was coming, and opted to go back down to the command deck, Naki agreed.

As they passed the doorway, the first volley from the roadblock struck the front of the Scarab. It had no effect. Ryau regretted that he could not do anything to stop it. He had his own self to protect now, and changing the course of this battle might have a domino effect for the rest of the future.

The Scarab's gun charged and fired upon the Scorpion. The torrent of plasma obliterated the tank, and cut through the road deck to the water below. Plasma turrets across the hull made short work of the Marines on foot. The Scarab's crew did not seem fazed by the battle, simply continuing the march into the city.

Ryau had to grip a handhold as the Scarab climbed the seawall and dropped into an Amphitheater on the other side of the bridge. One of the Majors in control of the walker turned away and made his way to Naki and Ryau. "This is the closest active landing zone. You should be able to find a Phantom to take you where you need to go." Once the Scarab came to a stop, he activated the grav-lift for them.

"Thank you, Major, Ultra." Naki addressed the two. The Major nodded, and went back to his station.

"Of course. Take care, science major. There are far too few of you these days." The Ultra did not turn from the controls, but bid them farewell anyway.

Naki assured the Ultra she would, and proceeded down the lift. Ryau followed close behind. The Amphitheater was crawling with Covenant troops, and a Wraith idly guarded the exit point. There had been plenty of chatter across the Battlenet about the 'Demon' making its way across the bridge, and into the tunnels. Everyone there seemed fairly confident that they would be able to stop it, or that they would be the one to get the kill.

Ryau knew, though, that everyone here was going to likely be dead very soon. He did not want to be anywhere inside this amphitheater when the Master Chief showed up. But, Naki needed to talk with someone about a Phantom transport to the Solemn Penance. The Scarab crew had thought that this landing zone would be a good place to start.

Naki walked over to what looked to be the Officer in charge of the area, another Ultra. "Excuse me, Ultra?"

The Ultra turned from his examination of a recently delivered stack of weapon crates, to face Naki. "Yes, what is it Science Major?"

"My assistant..." She motioned towards Ryau. "...and I require transport to the Hierarch's ship as soon as possible. We were told that this was an active landing zone."

"Well... I apologize, ma'am. It was an active landing zone. With the Demon closing in, you just missed the last Phantom." The Ultra said.

"Is there any way you could request a ship to come back to pick us up? I would ask the mission handlers myself, but our headsets were taken down in the crash."

"They have already turned down my requests for more reinforcements and armor in fear of the Demon. While my warriors here are overly confident, I fear that we do not have enough here to stop it." The Ultra sighed. "I can point you in the direction of the Carrier's landing site."
"That would be a big help as well, thank you." Naki nodded.

"Good, I would offer you a ride with a Shadow convoy, but I lost contact with them twenty minutes ago..." He walked them over to a double door alongside a large water fountain. "You will need to travel through the buildings; we have a path clearly marked. There is a Human stronghold down one of the streets that our armor is suppressing, however they are being harassed by the Vermin's fast attack vehicles."

Naki gave a salute to the Ultra. "Thank you, Ultra. Good luck."

Ryau followed Naki's lead with the salute and then into the building. The doors shut behind them and Ryau glanced around. They were in the lobby of a Cascade Stronghold Technologies satellite office. The path through was indeed clearly marked. The Covenant forces had smashed through every wall in a straight line.

"Well, they could have at least used the doors..." Ryau joked, there was a set of perfectly fine doors right next to many of the holes.

"At least this should get us past the Humans." Naki said, she moved over to the reception desk and pulled her data-pad out. A layout of the city appeared on the screen, a dot showing their location relative to the Carrier popped into place. "This avenue we are next to, it should take us right to the grav-lift"

"Sounds good," Ryau said. They walked on through the smashed cubicle farms and the claustrophobic maintenance ways between buildings.

They passed through a small police precinct. Human bodies were piled on the other side of the front desk, mostly NMPD officers, but there were a few civilians as well. They must have tried to hold out in their building. Ryau thought back to their journey across the city, and realized that he had only seen a few bodies in the first place. It was a curious thought. He paused to silently pay his respects before hurrying to catch up with Naki.

The next few buildings were just basic offices, a few industrial pump rooms for the sea wall, and the occasional break room. Ryau had yet to see more bodies, thankfully it looked like the civilians were able to evacuate quickly.

It certainly felt off to be back on Earth again. As a Spartan, he had only been there once, and his old life had been so clouded before finding Naki that he did not really care. Now, he wondered what was happening to his old home town. Sure, it had been five hundred years, but he still felt connected to the place. While he was off in his own mind, thinking about his old life once again, Ryau walked right into Naki.

He took a step back. "Oh... sorry about that."

"Ryau," Naki sighed. "You need to stop going off in your own little world."

"Yes... I know." Ryau sighed as well.

"You were a Spartan, I'd expect you to know better than that." Naki said. "Especially in a warzone."

"Yes, yes. I know! I never use to do this, not until I started remembering the old us." Ryau explained. "I'll try and save this for our ship time from now on." He really should, it was causing a problem now. Naki was right, no more thinking like that while in a warzone.

"Good, and it seems we are here at the end of the corridor they made. I think this means that we are expected to walk alongside the road now." Naki walked over and pushed open a door.

The road ahead was more of the same, with cars and trucks abandoned across the area. Ryau heard the Scarab fire again in the distance, probably that Scorpion at the command post. "Naki..." He stopped walking. "I don't think we have enough time left..."

Almost on cue, a tone sounded across the Battlenet, and a countdown timer appeared in the corner of his ACI. "Attention All Units; the Solemn Penance is leaving this planet in ten minutes. Extraction points will be uploaded to your ACI. If you do not reach an extraction point in time, you will be left behind."

Ryau glanced back in the direction of the Amphitheater as the waypoints appeared, but it was not one of them. The nearest waypoint was half a kilometer North of their position, in a waterfront courtyard alongside the canal.

"Shit. We need to run!" Ryau took off down the avenue towards the extraction point.
Naki tried to keep up with him. "What happens if we do not make it? I... I do not remember what happens next."

"I don't remember much either. We just need to get out of the city." Ryau rounded a corner and saw three Phantoms waiting along the seaside boardwalk. Covenant troops from all over the area were making their way to the Phantoms in lines. The caste system of the Covenant was quite obvious here, the Sangheili were being allowed onto the first two Phantoms, while the Kig-Yar and the Unggoy were relegated to the last.

Ryau and Naki filed with the other Sangheili towards the lead Phantom. They got aboard, but then out of nowhere, a series of explosions shook the ground. A squad of Marines emerged from the buildings across from the courtyard and opened fire on the evacuating Covenant forces. As the Phantoms pulled out, many Sangheili jumped out to continue engaging the Humans. Of course, Ryau and Naki were not part of that group.

Their Phantom turned and accelerated towards the carrier. A Marine with a rocket launcher locked on and fired. It was a pointless attempt, two shoulder fired rockets would never bring down a dropship. However, the first rocket burned through the air and slammed into the side of the craft. The shockwave knocked Naki back, and out of the Phantoms side bay door. Ryau dove and grabbed her arm.

"I got you!" he grunted as she swung against the hull of the Phantom.

"Ryau..." She looked back behind the Phantom. "There is another rocket! You have to let go, I'll get out of the city some other way."

He glanced back, torn that he could not pull her up in time. But she was right, If he did not let go, the rocket would kill them both. "I'll come back."

Ryau let go and rolled back away from the door. The rocket spiraled through the sky and struck the corner plate of the Phantom. He was thrown against the opposite wall and he saw stars, and then black.

The Phantom accelerated towards the Assault Carrier as it was joined by others from across the city. The Solemn Penance turned and accelerated away from the space tether. The arcs of energy and distortions of spacetime fluctuated across its nose. In just a few more moments, the Carrier jumped into Slipspace, leaving Earth behind.


Part 3
Alone in the City

Twenty-Fourth Solar Cycle, 201 Cycles: 9th Age of Reclamation [October 20, 2552: 1559hrs]
New Mombasa, Earth
SpecOps Science Major Naki 'Cimutee

Ryau let go of her arm just in time. She was well outside the blast radius of the rocket when it detonated against the side of the Phantom. Thankfully, the ship had been flying low away from the extraction point, so Naki probably had nearly fifty meters to fall. It was going to hurt, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Naki hit the water, and pain shot up her leg. She struggled to swim up to the surface, her armor was dragging her down. Every kick she made continued to bring pain to herself, but she had to break the surface. Her lungs burned and the salt water stung but she could see the waves above her, so close.

After a few more moments, she breached the silver sheen. The air was gladly welcomed. Naki turned to face the city, a short swim away. It was at that moment, however, that the Solemn Penance jumped into Slipspace.

The reaction between the air and the exotic radioactive particles of the other reality, was quite an amazing sight. The light given off from it was almost blinding and the wave of energy passed across the city with a defending roar. The blast shook the Space tether, knocking it out of alignment. In atmosphere Slipspace jumps were extremely rare, a feat only a handful of Shipmasters would ever attempt. This was one of only two Naki had ever even heard about, and one of them had been done by a stolen flagship.

She dove back under the water, unsure of what the pressure wave would be like at the surface. Squinting her eyes, she could see the water becoming turbulent as the blast raced across the water. Within a heartbeat, it was upon her. It was like some giant hand had forced its way through the water around her. The calm waters of the inlet had been transformed into torrential rapids. She was thrashed about under the surface, thankfully she managed to remain near to the top. Quickly, Naki swam back up into the waves.

The shore was closer now, which allowed her feel a bit more at ease. She swam through the waves and foam to a ladder built into one of the concrete pilings. Climbing up was clumsy and awkward with her legs, but she made it work. Naki flopped onto her back, laying on the cold pier. Her radio was screaming with interference, so she lowered the volume until it was just a whisper.
While she had seen plenty of combat, she always had support around. Now that she was alone, that was the most frightening event she had ever experienced. Naki rolled over and pushed herself back to her feet. Linking up with any other Covenant troops was her best option to make it out of the city.

The old her on the inside gave no clues as to what was to happen next. Admittedly, she had not been a fan of the game that covered the upcoming events, that was Nick's thing, not Michelle's. But he was on the ship, flying off towards another Halo, and she was alone in a Human city on the Human's home world. It would have been ideal if they had switched places.

As the adrenaline in her system faded, ever step hurt. Naki assumed she had bruised something in the fall. It would be a hindrance, but one she could endure. Her hand went to her hip where the data-pad should have been. She only felt an empty, soggy pouch.

"Vea-tk! That was my favorite data-pad!" Naki swore. "At least my data is backed up..." She felt the data-crystal in its protective case in another pocket on the pouch.

With her data-pad gone, she now lacked a map of the city. Admittedly it was not the best plan of hers to not upgrade her own ACI with the latest firmware patch, or the last three. Naki had relied on her data-pad for all those functions. But if her position relative to the Space tether was any indication, she was now on the northern side of the city, but on the southern coast of the canal. If she headed back towards the other side, where their extraction point was, Naki should run into fellow Covenant. That was her best bet.

The air held a blue tinge, as strange particles drifted through the air. Naki was not sure what they were, but she made a point to find out in the future. They may be hazardous to her health. There was much more damage on this side of the city, than the other. She walked through a shattered window and into an open office space. There were Human bodies on cots all over the room, all dead. The Humans must have been using this space as a triage center during the battle. The Humans seem to have been killed in similar fashions. Spikes to the chest, or limbs torn from the corpse. Brutal deaths.

Naki shook her head. She tried to avoid places like this, specializing in Forerunner technology granted her the ability to contribute the least to the war. The doors on the back wall had been forced inward by an explosion. Spikes embedded in the wall and in the bodies of Marines around the door showed that it was indeed Jiralhanae. The area beyond was a multilevel mezzanine, there were more bodies scattered, civilians, police and Marines together. Her motion tracker pinged with Jiralhanae signals just ahead.

As she crested the stairs, Naki spied two Jiralhanae standing across the mezzanine beside a water feature. She went to place her hand on her Plasma rifle, but found that she had lost that in the fall as well. Jiralhanae and Sangheili did not get along well at all. Naki just wanted to pass through, hopefully they would not give her any trouble.

She was half way across the space when one of them sniffed the air and turned to face her. He chuckled. "Where is the rest of your lance, Female?"

"I am just going to meet them, Jiralhanae." Naki replied.

The two Jiralhanae exchanged glances and chuckled again. "So you are alone then, Good."

They approached her slowly, and Naki took a step back. One took out a spike grenade and twirled it around in his hand. "Shall we help her along then?" The other asked his friend.

"I think we should." The lead Jiralhanae grabbed for her, but Naki activated her wrist blades and swung in the air while she jumped back. Unfortunately a third Jiralhanae had appeared and had maneuvered behind her. He grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Naki's wrist blades were torn from her armor and tossed aside. The Jiralhanae held her up by one arm.

"How should we dispose of this one, brother?" the Jiralhanae asked.

Naki looked around, desperate for some sort of weapon to defend herself with. Hitting the Jiralhanae with her free arm was out of the question, she was just not strong enough. But he had left his Needler fastened to his hip within arms reach.

She reached out and grabbed it. Naki pulled the razor sharp needles across the Jiralhanae arm holding her up. He howled in pain and released her. When she hit the ground, Naki rolled away and fired. The needles stuck into the Jiralhanae back before detonating. What was left of the body dropped to the ground and Naki took off running. She did not stand a chance against the two other Jiralhanae's Spike rifles at that range.

Naki crashed through a window and dropped down to the road below. She could hear the two others perusing her through the building. When they reached the window she had jumped from, Naki fired again. The next volley of needles struck the others forehead, while the initial penetration was more than enough to break through the abnormally thick skull of the Jiralhanae, the resulting explosion of pink definitely made sure that it was dead. Naki sprinted down the street; there was not enough ammunition in the Needler for a real firefight with the last.

Her radio buzzed with some sort of communication. Someone was talking, however all she heard when she turned it up was several Jiralhanae roaring on the channel.

"Listen, you furry bastards: Take your communal breeding circle to another channel!" Then a voice Naki recognized, it was none other than K`an. That asshole had made it off the ship, which meant that some of her students probably made it as well.

"This one has a mouth!" One of the Jiralhanae proclaimed.

"Hold your tongue, squid, for my pack shall tear your limb from their wretched sockets!" another replied. Several other Jiralhanae came over the channel with a 'death to all Sangheili' chant.

"Alright… I see what you are all saying." K`an groaned. "When you all decide to evolve and act maturely, you may return to speaking terms with me."

"Your wretched species is doomed to fall by our hands, Sangheili." One of them laughed.

"Even so. The completion of such a goal would still not be enough to change the fact that your mother is a sloppy whore." Classic K`an, Naki shook her head. He did not return to the radio, and the Jiralhanae continued their chanting and the like, so she just turned it off once more.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous boom; Naki turned and watched as explosions blossomed from the city's space tether base. The cable tore free of its' foundations and flashed into the sky, tossing pieces of rings through the sky like they were paper. Thankfully it seemed that none were going to fall on her position, but more than a few crashed nearby.

It appeared that she had lost the last Jiralhanae through the tether incident and the last few buildings. She limped across the avenue, her arm was sore, in addition to her leg, where the Jiralhanae had grabbed it. But she just pressed on in the opposite direction. There were debris all over the roadway from a marina that had been trashed by the energy wave. She was passing a small urban beach park when her ACI's motion tracker was pinged by a friendly unit. The dot was not far, but it appeared purple, the 'in distress' alert.

She pulled the requisitioned Needler up from her thigh and slowly made her way towards the stairs. Jiralhanae did not have the ACI's status feature, but that did not mean that they had acquired one and were using it to lure Sangheili to an ambush.

At the bottom of the stairs, under an overturned beach shelter, was an Ultra. It was the Ultra, from the Scarab. She had a Plasma rifle drawn and was aiming towards Naki. The Ultra seemed to wince and lowered the rifle a bit. "Is that you, Science Major?"

Naki holstered the Needler and nodded. "Yes, it is, Ultra." As she got closer, she could see that the Ultra was hurt, bad. Her armor was punctured in many places, it looked like damage from a Human Shotgun. Purple blood dribbled out of a few of them. Naki knelt beside the Ultra and removed her medkit from her back. While she already had an idea, she needed to ask. "How bad are you hurt?"

The Ultra spat out a bit of blood, not a good sign. "Well.. the Demon took my Scarab. How did your Phantom ride go?"

Naki gave a nervous laugh. The Ultra had avoided her question. "Not well, obviously... Now, where are you hurt?"

The Ultra looked up at Naki, with a confused look on her face. Naki winced as she noticed a significant dent in the Ultra's helmet. "I can't seem to pinpoint the pain, it is everywhere. Though I think I broke my wrist when the Demon blocked my sword attack."

"Well..." Naki pulled out a small syringe from the kit. "I am going to inject painkillers. Then, I need to remove your chest plate to check the wounds."

"Those...shot... guns. The Demon made it look like child's play to take down my crew..." The Ultra winced as Naki stuck her with the needle.

Naki reached around to the Ultra's side and unlatched the chest plate. The armor had captured most of the pellets, and the body suit stopped the others. Except for a small cluster where the blood was coming from. "Those weapons are quite effective against us."

"Indeed... how bad is it?" The Ultra asked.

"Well... you are going to need to find some proper medical treatment after I am done. But you should be able to last a day with this..." Naki pulled out a container and applied a jelly medical cream across the wounds. As soon as it made contact with blood, it flowed into the wound and expanded; sealing up the cavity. The medkit was supposed to be applied to ones self, but the Ultra did not appear to have one of her own. Hopefully, Naki would not need it later. "I can not do anything about the ribs right now, sorry."

She removed the Ultra's wrist guard and applied a brace to keep it immobile. "You have done well." The Ultra seemed to be breathing better now that the holes were sealed. She started to get to her feet. "Thank you."

Naki got up beside her and helped the Ultra get steady. "Hey now, you should not be moving right now. But you are welcome... The streets are not safe right now. I think I should get you to a structure."

"Humans on patrol?" She asked.

Naki shook her head. "No, Jiralhanae. As soon as the Hierarch left, they turned on us."
"Traitorous bastards! Why am I not surprised."

"Come on, let's go." Naki nodded her head over to a warehouse across the beach. "That looks like a good place to rest."

The Ultra held her Energy sword in her good hand and walked beside Naki. She noticed Naki's limp. "You are limping."

"I fell from the Phantom, and hit the water wrong." Naki clicked her mandibles. "It's nothing."
"Must have been quite high up. I am Osala ['Moramee], by the way." The Ultra introduced herself as they reached the warehouse door. Naki pulled it open, and swept the space with her Needler. It was clear.

"Good to meet you, I'm Naki 'Cimutee." Naki returned the gesture.

"I definitely owe you one if I make it off this planet, Naki." Osala said.

"Well I can hopefully improve our chances, I should go see if I can find some other Sangheili to help." Naki helped Osala sit on a couch in the warehouse's staff room.

"Yes, that would be a good idea. I shall wait here." Osala set her Plasma rifle onto the couch beside her good hand.

"If I do not return within two hours, you need to leave this city on your own." Naki said. "By any chance, your last name is Moram, is that of the state on Decided Heart, or Sanghelios?"

Osala winced, probably from her rib injury. "Sanghelios, why?"

"Hopefully then, we will meet again. I am from Zelso." Naki walked over to the door.

"Very well, good luck." Osala nodded.

With that, Naki ventured back into the downtown area. She followed the road that traced along the coast of the canal. Naki came across the Water treatment complex. The bridge across was partly crushed by the smoldering hull of the Scarab, but that still meant that she could get across.

The part of the city was in now was heavily industrial. Gone were the slim gray skyscrapers and fancy public plazas, now the buildings were wide and brown. Massive pipes crossed overhead, connecting buildings to one another and to the water.

There was thick smoke across the avenue here, it smelled of burning tar and ozone. Naki jogged across the next block, but the road came to a stop at one of the city's security doors. The cross street had a group of Jiralhanae at one end, and the other way led further into the industrial sector. Naki thought she could make out the fin of an active Wraith down the empty street, however she was not sure that she should take the chance for it being one of her kind driving it.

She glanced to the buildings to her side. A factory of some sort, its face adorned with a massive logo of two horned animals. Hannibal was boldly written underneath the logo. The building's doors all appeared securely locked, however the roll-up door to the loading area was still up just enough to slip under. There were bodies strewn all over the warehouse, both Humans and Covenant. Yellow lights flashed as forklifts sat empty on the dock, their forks still holding cargo ready for transport. Trucks idled, waiting to be loaded.

Naki knelt down and retrieved a Carbine from a dead Kig-Yar. He looked a bit like Yun, from the Halo ring. She had a ping of regret about them, she hopped that they were alright after she left. Naki made a mental note to check in on them once this war was over. A digital note would have been better, but alas her data-pad was at the bottom of the bay. The Carbine's cartridge was half empty, and a there were three more on the Kig-Yar's body.

The crates around her were heavy metal, their markings indicated that they were filled with human ammunition. A few of them were unsealed, smaller boxes and bags inside were torn open, and bullets littered the ground. It seemed that Naki had found herself inside of one of the UNSC's munition factories. With the plethora of ammunition around her, Naki thought about collecting a Human weapon to use. Though, all the bodies she found seemed to be missing their guns.

She climbed up onto the dock and briskly walked towards one of the doors that lead further into the building. One of the roll up doors behind her was forcefully pushed up. The Jiralhanae pack walked in, its leader sniffed the air. "I smell Sangheili. It came this way."

Naki turned away and hurried back towards the door. She could not take on a whole Jiralhanae pack by herself, it just was not feasible. But then she stopped, and looked at one of the crates still held by one of the forklifts. Stenciled onto the side was: M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenade. x56 case [224 unit count]. An idea began to form in her head. Naki pulled the crate off the forks dropped it to the ground. She ripped the top of the crate off and pried one of the metal cased open. Plucking one of the Frag grenades from the foam. She pushed the crate over to the edge and kicked it off the dock, it slid right into position under one of the trailers.

Alerted to the sound, the Jiralhanae roared and rushed the dock. Naki stuck her head out from behind the trailer; her sudden appearance must have surprised the Pack, as they slid to a stop. They had not expected their prey to voluntarily show itself.

Naki just smiled. "Hey Brutes-" She used the Human word for them, it was fitting. "I'll see you bastards in hell." With that, she primed the grenade and dropped it into the crate.

She ran like hell for the doors. Naki hoped that whoever had built the building had thought ahead and put blast protection between areas. With a dive, she rolled into the checkpoint. The doors swung shut right as the grenade detonated. There was a split second between the first boom, before the rest of the grenades went off in a chain reaction. The trailer was lifted by the force of the explosion and deposited on top of the Jiralhanae pack leader. Bullets in the other crates began to cook off and other ordinance exploded. The fire suppression system activated, with foam rapidly spilling from ducts on the roof.

Thunderous explosions shook the building beneath Naki's boots. She did not dare risk a peek into the warehouse. Suddenly a forklift crashed through the wall, blackened from fire. Its pressurized fuel tank spraying out into the air. Naki dashed through the next block of doors before it too exploded.

Alarms sounded as she walked through the internal hallways of the factory. If any Jiralhanae had survived that, they would have a hard time following her. A smooth feminine voice spoke from the speakers, "Code Seven. Fire in Warehouse. Evacuate. Evacuate."

There appeared to be no one there to evacuate as Naki walked through the empty corridors. The employees seemed to have vanished from their stations. If there was any sort of procedure to follow upon leaving, they appeared to have ignored it. Automated assembly lines continued to churn out bullet after bullet, dumping them into overflowing carts.

Some of the conveyor belts held weapons Naki had never seen before. They seemed smaller, more light weight than the guns the UNSC utilized. She guessed that they might have been civilian class weapons. The concept of a separation between weapons for Civilians and Warriors was completely lost to the Covenant. If it was employed on the fields of battle, it was available for use by anyone at their home. Her family had several rifles when she was growing up, She had even seen a Plasma caster in her father's office.

Naki stopped in the middle of the doorway. Her Father. He had been in the fleet with her before Project Leau, assigned to the Fleet Support Ship Glorious Retribution. It had not returned to Sanghelios with the Mercy and Betrayal, and she had not heard anything from him. Granted, she had been distracted with the project over the last few months, hopefully he was okay.

She shook her head, she had just berated Ryau for doing this earlier. No letting her mind drift in this city. Naki glanced around at the room, she was inside some sort of clean room. Massive machines moved large cylindrical objects. Orange plates and hazard warnings were bolted to the side. The Human symbol for radiation was stenciled on the side of large crates. They were not nuclear weapons, Naki had to guess that they were the slugs fired by the Human's Magnetic Accelerator Canons.

If she had time, she would like to see if it was really just the sheer mass that made such a weapon so effective. Unfortunately It seemed that she would not. There was a roar of a Jiralhanae from behind her in the factory. Some must have survived the blast.

"Oh come on..." She sighed. "I thought they would be deterred after I dropped a truck on their pack leader." hurried through the next set of corridors, following the overhead 'EXIT' signs.
If she had time, she would like to see if it was really just the sheer mass that made such a weapon so effective. Unfortunately. it seemed that she would not. There was a roar of a Jiralhanae from behind her in the factory. Some must have survived the blast.

"Oh come on..." She sighed. "I thought they would be deterred after I dropped a truck on their pack leader." hurried through the next set of corridors, following the overhead 'EXIT' signs. They led to a large open lobby. A small icon reappeared on her ACI's Lance roster. K`an 'Retmaree.

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