Halo: Spartan III

Abbra glanced over her shoulder at Raevynn, who had not bothered replying. Once again, she gazed into the scope of her weapon, and pointed it in the same direction as her companions. Slowly, a member of the blue team came into focus. He was carrying a sniper rifle…Didn’t that have to be Jacob? Without a second thought she let the BR55 drop to her side as she went to greet him. It didn’t make sense for him to abandon his post and come to greet members of the opposing team. It wasn’t like anybody was fancying a chat.

Even without an invitation the metallic taste of fear lingered in her saliva. “It’s Abbra and Rae – what’s wrong- what happened?” It was amazing, how she could go from complete composure to aberrant panic within moments. Spartans were supposed to have nerves of steel; it was shameful to know she was the polar opposite. She slowly began to retreat back into the reeds, which offered a much better hiding place then an open field.

Jacob heard Abbra say it was her and Rae. This was good he thought he was glad to see these Spartans were still ok.

"Abbra I just got a transmission saying that both the red and blue team just got attacked at base. I don't know what it is that is attacking but it is obviously good," Jacob said.

Raevynn could hardly believe what she was hearing. Why would someone bother attacking them during a simple game of capture the flag? It didn't make any sense. It was now she started to realise something was different with her HUD. Members from both teams were showing up as KIA. There was no way this was possible.

"Where's Parker?" Raevynn asked quietly, still standing in knee deep water besides Abbra. She was clutching her rifle a little tighter. "We need to regroup."

Parker stared up at the blue sky above him. He couldn't move at all whatsoever. He only had the power of speech, which was hard considering he was laying on his back. The world around him seemed so quiet, and his A.I. had stopped communicating with him seconds before he was knocked out. "Damn that guy..Damn him..Am..Am I paralyzed?" He said to no one in particular.

At the same time he remembered what the mysterious stranger had said. He wanted to jump up and warn his team, but he couldn't. He felt so useless and defenceless. He guessed the man had taken away his Battle Rifle and Shotgun, but he could feel something laying against his helmet, like the empty clip of both guns.

After a long while of thinking, a small tear dripped down the side of his cheek from inside his helmet. "I'm so stupid and weak, I couldn't stop and warn them that something was after them. I'm so stupid!" He sniffed a little, and continued talking to himself. "Why, why did they choose me, and not someone better? I'm only a burden to everyone else."

A metallic hand reached down and gripped the back of Parker's MJOLNIR before lifting him to his feet. "Hey big guy." The voice said, calm and cold but somehow with a touch of something sincere. "That Spartan's been doing his job a lot longer than we have, if any one of us managed to out-do him I would be very impressed." There was a slight pause. "Hold on, your armor should be coming online now."

The other Spartan stepped back, satisfied that Parker was keeping himself from falling over. He placed a battle rifle in Parker's hand, "Now lets go do our jobs." He walked around him, heading toward the river. "We can re-group with Jacob, Raevynn and Abbra within less than a minute. You lead the way, you have to be my eyes."

He turned over a side-arm in his hand several times, looking at it. It was the same kind the Lieutenant had been using, except it had deactivated itself once Axel had taken it. "Where is 077?" He said, mostly to himself. "He could probably crack this thing open."

Deuce opened his eyes and noticed to himself that he was laying on the ground. "Damn.. must have got me." He switched onto his comm channel and tried to contact anyone from the squad he was in. "This is Spartan 064. Is anyone out there recieving this message? Please respond, Spartan 064 Over an out." Deuce pulled himself up and didn't see anyone around. He could feel that something happened and soon enough it would happen to him.

“Both?” Abbra glanced over her shoulder for a second, towards her own base. “How many people are left?” The volume of her voice significantly dropped, although the tone never did change. The situation was paramount and there was simply no question about it. Identifying what it was, and how to take it down was the top priority.

She placed a hand on her hip, turning her attention to Raevynn. “I vote we stay here and rally everybody in. It’s muddy, which means even if whatever it is, if it tries to attack us we’ll see the footprints and know where it came from, and what direction it’s going. This doesn’t add up – But I guess we’re forced to do something about it.” She flexed the muscles in her legs impatiently. It was to tense for her liking, and the situation was hard to bare.

“Holy shit Parker!” Abbra swung her head around. She might not have got along with that particular boy, but it was terrible thinking he could be in danger. “My God, I think he was over by our base Rae.” She shook inside her armor, looking around, horrified by the current situation. “Do we go find him?”

Parker swayed a little, but kept his ground when his armor turned online. He grabbed the Battle Rifle and reached for his belt, cursing loudly. The mysterious Spartan had taken most of his remaining clips also. He only had enough for two or three reloads before he would need to go hand-to-hand combat against him. He turned to the one who had helped him up, but had to take breaths when he spoke. "Thanks...Who..are you?"

Once he tried walking, he fell to his knees. He was somehow extremely drained from whatever knocked him out. Once he got back up he took it slow, and his legs were shaking as he made his way forward, gradually going faster until he reached a steady pace. He tried his COM channel. "This.. is Spartan One..One..Five. Can..anyone hear me?" He was greeted with nothing but static. Atleast, that's what he heard. Had someone got his message?

As he made his way through the dense forest of Red Base back to the river, he stopped momentarily to take a breath or look back to make sure the Spartan was behind him. "How long...until the river?"

Abbras plan was near flawless. But finding parker would have to come first. Her squad mate's distress made that fact clear. They could not afford to leave any one behind.

Raevynn glanced from Abbra to Jacob. It was odd having to stare into those emotionless face plates. Sometimes it was hard for her to picture the faces behind them.

"We have to go after him. He might be in trouble." She lifted her rifle a little higher and looked back at Abbra. Before speaking again, she noticed a subtle movement in the far off woods. Raevynn crouched, placing her hand on Abbra's shoulder, and pulling her down as well. Knowing Jacobs great eye sight, he would have spotted the movement too.

"Did you see that?" She questioned Jacob, already knowing the answer. Surely he would have gotten a better look than she did.

[Just so ya know... the movement is Parker xD. I'm assuming he's close enough to the river for us to spot him. If not... >_> Uhh... Pardon my retardation =X]

Jacob heard Rae talk about someone moving in the far off distance into the woods. Jacob had already seen it moving in. It was wounded seemingly drained and moving slower than everything else except the trees. It wasn't cloaked. Jacob knew exactly what it was.

"Mam that is a wounded Spartan over there," Jacob said barely any emotion in his voice.

No one had seemed to hear Deuce's message but it was understandable since he was getting no radio chatter. He did the only thing he knew to do at that point. It was a tactic taught to him by his trainer. Raising the gun into the aire he pulled the trigger and started to fire into the air. Hoping to be heard by anyone in the nearby vicinity. "Well Deuce lets pray this works.."

Parker whirled around suddenly, and fell to his knees again. He looked over in the direction of the gunshots and pointed. "We..need to go back..Deuce..is over there!" When he turned back in the direction the Spartan was standing, he noticed something moving. Probably just an animal, or a rock caught in the river.

He wanted to yell out to Deuce and get him to come to him, but he knew if he did he would probably give away his position to the mysterious Spartan wandering somewhere around the battlefield. "We need to...do something, but..we also..need to regroup." Parker slowly strained himself upward, letting his arms and head flop downward until he was able to look up ahead of him.

Her head bobbed up and down in agreement, “Of course, it’ll be a miracle in itself if he dodged that creature.” Sinking down, once again did she use the scope of her weapon. Abbra was amazed at how much she needed it, and how useful it really was. The truth was it would probably become a necessity.

Hair stood up on the back of her neck, she hadn’t seen a thing, but the thought of something advancing on their small group wasn’t a nice one. She sunk lower, her legs slightly quivering with the effort to keep her balanced. Still, Jacobs answer did not comfort her. “What?” Her voice was cold and sharp. It is true, you shouldn’t shoot the messenger. But the insurmountable challenges were slowly bringing her to her breaking point.

Without another word she dismissed herself, rushing towards Parker. She beat her way trough the brush, almost crashing into him due to her haste. “Who are you?” She asked the other Spartan, surprised by another presence. Slowly, her eyes glided behind the pair and into the distance where shots were being fired. “Hell! Doesn’t he know that’s a stupid idea?! Here, I’ll help Parker to the river. Do you want to go get the strangler?” She attempted to swallow the stubborn lump in her throat. “I – I don’t want anybody falling behind.” She said, clearing her throat. True, it might not have been her assigned duty to decide what courses of action the Spartans should take. Abbra was only left to trust her instincts, and to rely on others feedback. “Or I could…”

Raevynn whirled around as Abbra trudged out of the river. She raised her rifle to her eyes level as she prepared to give her team mate covering fire through iron sights. Even as Abbra made it to the wounded Spartan, she continued to keep her rifle at the ready.

An imperceptible white flash caught her eye. It was coming from inside the forest near their base. Who ever it was just made them self a beacon not only for all the Spartans, but for the unknown force that was cutting through them with ease. They had to get that person before the enemy. Even though it was a long shot, Raevynn knew the other Spartans were thinking the exact same thing.

"Are you up for a sprint, Jacob?" Raevynn asked, still watching the open area that stood between them and Abbra. She peered over her shoulder for an instant to catch a glimpse at the Spartan behind her.

Deuce looked around and didn't see anyone in the near-by area. "Did they forget me? Damnit.. I'm on my own." He started to walk the opposite direction of the spartans on the hill. Picking up the MA5B he had dropped on the ground he head out towards Blue base. He knew whatever it was, was still out there. Knowing the stun rounds were next to useless he carried the assault rifle like a club. He removed his helmet to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. Fastening his helmet back on he decided to keep moving as not to make himself an easy target.

Axel arched an eyebrow, though the change in expression as masked behind a cold golden face plate. "Old loves die hard. Old lies, they die harder." He turned to face the new comers. "I never really was good at telling the truth." He paused, turning to the one who'd asked his name. "Abbra, Rae. It's good to be working with you again."

He tilted his head to the side hearing the gun-fire in the distance. "Didn't sound like he was shooting at something." Axel said. "He's in trouble. LT won't take long getting at him." He handed the side-arm to Parker. "The weapon fires an energy pulse that your suit can recognize. It powers down your armor and AI and locks you place to imitate death. Of course, I think you already know that."

The moment the gun left his hands Axel took off at top speed toward the moron who'd given his position away. He wanted to test the one who'd trained him how to be a Spartan after all this time. Foolishly enough, Axel thought he could win.

Deuce had made it about ten yards from blue base when he stopped completely listeneing. Just as he had feared it was the sound of repetitive pounding on the ground. It was running and much faster than he could possibly match. He tryed formulating a plan in the time he had left. Knowing exactly what he would do he went as far as he could towards the back of the base and prepared for a fire-fight. "He counted to himself 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Go time." He clicked the safety off and waited.

Parker blinked slightly as he saw a figure rushing towards him. His vision was going blurry and he was feeling dizzy again. Once the figure got closer he let out a single word. "Abbra?" He walked forward and tripped, almost landing face first before he steadied himself and made his way with Abbra towards the river.

"How..How did you find me? And where is that son of a b*tch who knocked me out?" Parker looked back towards Axel, who was the Spartan who helped him towards the river. Thanking him, he took the side arm that was given to him, watching as Axel made a huge sprint back towards Deuce, who was randomly shooting into the air. "Now I can finally pay him back for what he did to me, that son of a.." At that moment, Parker collapsed into the river with a large splash and fell unconscious.

Jacob was looking through his scope covering Abbra. Now he noticed that there were two Spartans one injured a bit another helping. Then gun fire went off and Jacob saw the one Spartan take off running.

Rae asked him if Jacob was ready for a sprint. Jacob thought why not. "I'm as ready as you are squad leader," Jacob said in a half heated tone. Jacob began to sprint hoping to take the lead on Rae. Rae quickly caught him though and was soon just ahead of Jacob. She was faster than him.

Abbra turned her head at Parker’s company. Immediately, even if modified by the speakers she knew who it was. “Oh Axel…” She breathed, placing a hand on her chest. That comment was all the closure she had ever longed for. “The pleasure and the honor are all ours.”

That cold, expressionless mask. Not only was it inhuman but it was ghoulish, somehow just the appearance of the guise itself radiated a distant, predominant mood. She wanted to talk to Axel, but it felt as if she was talking to the armament placed over his head. Her head pulled in the same direction as Axel’s, “I doubt he was. I think he just got lost.” It wasn’t five minutes and their tactical strategy was ripped at the very seems by a single person who had fallen behind. You never fall behind.

“Yea, it’s Abb-.” Instantly she dove to keep Parker from falling, but was a fraction of a second to late. “Parker’s out like a light.” She muttered addressing Axel, disappointed in herself. Abbra set her rifle on the bank and retrieved Parker’s weapon from the water before pulling him out, and draping him over her shoulder. “Good luck Axel, Rae and Jacob will be there to help you any moment. I’ll be just a little later; I have to carry this big lug.” She said with a rather half hearted laugh, and falling to her knee from his weight. The whole side of her body was completely imbalanced, but as much as it might have strained her, Abbra wanted the job. It wasn’t that she was incapable of doing it, it was that he was heavy in his armor. “I’ll catch up.” She said waving him off and grabbing the weapons from the sand she had set them in.