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| - "All teams are advancing as planned," Umbra relayed to the Cleansing Fire's communications officer reported. "Make sure the Vigilant Acolyte is ready to cover us in case reinforcements arrive." "Understood." Umbra couldn't believe how quickly Shinsu had solidified this alliance with the Path Walkers. A few days ago they had been close to obliterating each other; now their warriors were storming the Incumbent Wrath as one. Umbra wouldn't go so far as to trust them completely, but he had to admit their forces were a welcome addition to the Cleansing Blade's own warriors. "Maintain distance from the frigate," he reminded the navigation officer. "Weapons, target their plasma batteries and destroy them before they can be brought back online." He couldn't say that he liked Shinsu's decision to lead the attack personally, but it wasn't his place to question his commander's decisions. For now he would just have to swallow his reservations and attack the ship as if his commander were not onboard. "A message from one of our agents aboard the enemy vessel," the communications officer reported. "Read it aloud." "Message reads: My comrade's sabotage was successful, but he could not escape. I gave him an honorable death. The message ends." Umbra nodded, satisfied. The sleeper agents the Cleansing Blade had put so much time and effort into placing throughout the government had been key to their success here, and their sacrifices would aid them incalculably in the future. Smiling slightly to himself, he clasped his hands behind his back and watched the assault progress.
*
* "Shipmaster, teams throughout the ship are being pushed back," one of the remaining bridge officers reported. "The enemy is pushing towards the hangars, but several groups have broken off to attack key systems as well." Sona closed his eyes and steeled himself for the difficult order. "Have all teams form perimeters around the hangar areas. All non-combat crew are to be evacuated to Sanghelios immediately. Are they still blocking our distress calls?" "Yes, and our long range communications package has been destroyed." A series of explosions rocked the bridge, but Sona remained upright in his command chair. "Divert control of all systems to stations in this room," he ordered. "Seal it off and have the rest of the crew evacuate." "The enemy corvette is maneuvering around us," the navigations officer reported. Blood from the traitor he'd killed had dried on the front of his armor. "It is destroying our plasma batteries." Sona turned to Fira. "Cousin, get your warriors and head to the hangar were Autel and the humans are. Defend them and escape when they do." Fira opened his mandibles to argue, then thought better of it and turned to leave. "What of you?" "I will remain here," Sona replied, turning back to his command console. "I will not give up my command. Those of us here will defend this room to the death." "Then defend it with honor," Fira replied as he marched from the bridge. The doors sealed behind him, extra armor and shields sliding over them as they locked in place. There was nothing to do now but fight to the end.
*
* Felix had to hand it to Jian: they moved fast. Kahn and Nimue were already seated within the shuttle's common room, hands shackled, when he staggered aboard. "Sir," Jake said, straightening. "The ship is ready to take off." "Good." Felix leaned against the bulkhead. "We'll be taking some Sangheili warriors with us." Autel and a team of warriors had formed a perimeter around the shuttle and had just repelled a Path Walker attack through the main doors. "Understood. But there's a problem." Felix had a pretty good idea of who the source of the problem was. "Simon and Zoey aren't here yet," Cassandra said, looking up from where she was checking on the unconscious Rosch. "And Simon isn't answering his radio." "Wonderful," Felix grunted. "We wait until they get here. Then we get the hell out." Jake motioned to Ralph. "Guard the prisoners. If Kahn tries anything, shoot to kill." "Who, me?" the mercenary asked, lifting his cuffed hands. "What am I going to do, headbutt you to death?" "Guard them," Felix reiterated. He and Jake hurried back out to the hangar, where Autel's warriors were busy holding off another wave of Sangheili in Path Walker armor. Felix fired on the enemies with his pistol while Jake cut loose with the assault rifle. Even as they fired, a stream of plasma swept over Autel's team and killed two warriors. "We cannot hold them much longer!" Autel called over to Felix. "Just a few more minutes!" he yelled back. Even as they were speaking, a shout went up from the other side of the hangar, a handful of friendly Sangheili emerged from a postern door and charged towards the Path Walkers. Suddenly under fire from two sides, the Path Walkers retreated back through the hangar door. "Nicely done," Autel said as Fira and his warriors approached. But his friend shook his head. "The ship is falling," he told Autel. "All crew are evacuating, and the other warriors will follow soon after. We need to leave now." Felix hesitated. He couldn't ask these warriors to die for them. Just before he could tell them to leave, he heard someone yelling frantically from across the room. He turned to see Zoey sprinting across the hangar floor, pistol in hand. Simon was nowhere to be seen. There was no time to ask what happened. The Path Walkers would attack again, and soon. "Autel!" he yelled. "Get your troops onto my shuttle!" "Wait!" protested one of the warriors who had come in with Fira. It was the young Sangheili who Jake had shot in the mine. Although armored, he was moving with a severe limp. "Where is Simon?" "No time, Tuka!" Fira barked. "Everyone, board the shuttle now!" As the Sangheili scrambled to obey, renewed plasma fire lit up the deck around them. The warriors fired back at the oncoming Path Walkers as they retreated back to the shuttle. Several formed a firing line and sprayed the charging warriors with a devastating barrage from their plasma repeaters. Felix paused to help Zoey up the ramp. "Try to raise Simon!" he called to Jake, but the Spartan just shook his head. "No response." Autel covered Fira as he helped Tuka into the shuttle. Just as they reached the top of the ramp, an explosion tore through the Sangheili line. Two warriors were blasted to pieces as the rest turned to see a lone warrior charging towards them as his active camouflage flickered off. The remaining warriors held their ground and opened fire. They were terribly brave. And then they were dead as the lone warrior reached them. Felix had never seen anything like it. His blade flashed amongst the assembled warriors, cutting through all of them before they could even try to strike back. As the last warrior collapsed onto the deck, the blademaster glanced up at the shuttle as his camouflage switched back on. The one called Tuka cried out, "Shinsu!" He tried to head back down, but Fira grabbed him by the arm and hauled him back up. "No!" he snarled. "Don't throw your life away!" Jake helped Felix up the ramp, but as they headed up the ramp the shuttle jerked and began to rise unsteadily. Felix grabbed for a handhold as Jake seized hold of his collar. "The gravity beam!" Autel called down as he and Fira pulled the two Spartans up into the shuttle. "They've locked us in here!" "Where are the controls?" Felix yelled back up. "The far end of the room!" "Sir, get out of here!" Jake yelled. "I'll get it." But before Felix could tell him not to be a suicidal fool, something big and grey streaked past them down the ramp. It was only when the man landed on the deck that Felix recognized David Kahn. He held a pistol in his shackled hands. "Kahn!" Jake yelled, scrabbling for his assault rifle. The mercenary just grinned and waved the pistol up at them. "See you around, Felix!" he yelled before charging towards the far end of the hangar. There were no Path Walkers left to oppose him, but as Kahn neared the gravity control panel two warriors in different armor emerged from camouflage and trained their plasma repeaters on him. Kahn moved fast for a man with internal bleeding. He slipped behind one and hammered at his shields with the butt of the pistol. The second his target's shields died, he hooked his arms over the warriors neck and gave a savage twist. The second warrior fired, but all of his shots soaked into the body of his dead comrade. The warrior sidestepped and took aim again, only to realize that a plasma grenade had somehow materialized on his gut. Kahn threw himself towards the control panel as the grenade detonated. It only took the mercenary a few moments to fiddle with the holographic panel. The shuttle stopped shuddering and righted itself. A few more moments and they'd be out of the hangar. Felix looked back at Kahn who had jogged to the middle of the hangar but suddenly seemed at a loss for what to do with himself. He looked around, scanning the hangar with his pistol. Something shimmered behind him, and in the next moment the blademaster reappeared, his sword positioned to decapitate Kahn. The assassin ducked the blow at the last moment. Turning, he emptied his pistol into the blademaster, who took three shots to the head before slashing the pistol in half. Kahn jerked around, trying to get behind Shinsu, but his injuries were slowing him down. He lashed out with a series of kicks, but the blademaster dodged easily before lashing out with the blade again. Kahn avoided the first lightning-fast strike and then the next, but the third slashed him across the shoulder and knocked him to the ground. As the shuttle sped towards the hangar entrance, Felix could only watch as Shinsu approached David Kahn and plunged his blade through his chest. Then Jake and Autel pulled him aboard and the ramp shut out the hangar completely.
*
* As Felix entered the crowded common room, he saw Cassandra embracing Nimue. He couldn't tell what was passing between them and as he watched it felt as if he were intruding on something he had no right to see. Instead he glanced at Ralph who shrugged, face red from embarrassment. "Sorry, sir," he muttered. "He just grabbed my pistol when my back was turned and ran off." "After what I just saw, you're lucky you're still alive," Jake told him. "I guess you being an idiot worked out for us this time, because he just saved all our lives." Felix looked down at the ground, trying to tie down one of the emotions swirling inside his head. There were so many things he wanted to think about the man who had been both Hector Thornhill and David Kahn, and right now just wasn't the time. I never really knew who you were, he thought. Maybe someday I'll have to figure it out myself. He looked at Zoey, who had moved as far away from the surviving Sangheili as she could. He opened his mouth, but it was Cassandra who asked the question they were all thinking. "What happened to Simon?" she asked quietly, her arms still wrapped around Nimue. The girl hesitated, then looked down at the pistol in her hands and shuffled her feet. "He went the other way," she said finally. "He said something about showing you guys what a real mercenary was made of." A solid crunch reverberated throughout the shuttle. Everyone turned to see that Ralph had slammed his fist into the bulkhead, face tight with anger. "That coward--" he began, but that was as far as he got before Zoey punched him square in the face. With a startled yelp, he took a step back, clutching his bleeding nose. "What the hell?" Jake jumped forward to grab Zoey's arm before she could hit Ralph again. "Hey, what's your problem?" The whole shuttle had gone quiet. Zoey struggled furiously to break free of Jake's iron grip. "You don't know anything!" she yelled at Ralph, tears of anger pooling at the corners of her eyes. "He said the real attack would come from behind and he went their all by himself. He's no coward, he did what you couldn't do! You don't know anything about him!"
*
* The hallway was strewn with bodies, most of them wearing the colors of the Incumbent Wrath's security crew. Simon swept his rifle over the carnage and shook his head. "Whoa," he muttered. "There really was an attack in the back. Freaky, I didn't expect that. I was just hoping they'd follow the barrage of people towards the hangar and leave me alone." He shrugged and began to pick his way through the bodies. "Oh well, I guess the truth works better than fiction sometimes." Diana chuckled through his radio. "Now there's the dumbass I know. Took you a while to get back in the swing of things, but now we're back on track." She paused for a moment as he navigated his way through the darkened hallway. As he paused to check the next corner, she opened the channel again. "The shuttle just got away. Doc, Tuka, and Zoey were all aboard. I know you don't give a shit about anyone else on there, but I figured you'd want to know about them." "Yeah," he muttered, pausing to sweep another patch of shadows. "Thanks for the update." "Any regrets?" "There's always regrets," he replied. He wished he could have said a proper goodbye to Cassandra, but things were probably better this way anyway. He shut out the ache in his chest with thoughts of the payoff waiting for him once they were in the clear. "It's best not to think about it too much." "You never cease to amuse me, dumbass," she told him with another laugh as he continued moving down the hallway.
*
* "All contact with the security teams is lost," Fira said, staring at his communicator. His shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "The Wrath is overrun." "No," Zoey whispered, staring down at the floor. "No... does that mean...?" Tuka glanced back at the image of the receding frigate. "Simon," he said softly. Off in the corner, Cassandra had begun to pray.
*
* Simon was halfway down the corridor when it happened. He had just stepped over the corpse of yet another Sangheili when he saw something move off to his left. He spun to face it, but already he was slowing down, his limbs growing as heavy as tree trunks. When he finally shifted his body around, he found himself face to face with a Path Walker warrior. The alien's energy sword was embedded in his abdomen. He coughed, spitting blood onto the inside of his helmet. Someone was yelling his name, but he couldn't tell who it was. His assault rifle slipped from his fingers as he reached gingerly for his wound. There was no pain. It's that damn left side... he thought distantly. His trembling fingers were already sopped with blood. He staggered slowly, as if moving through syrup. The warrior yanked the blade out of his body and he keeled over amongst the Sangheili bodies. Simon opened his mouth to call for help, to reach out for a friend to save him. But there was no one around. He'd left them all behind, he remembered faintly. Of course. There was no on to save him now. "Ain't that just the strangest thing," he whispered as his head grew fuzzy. He couldn't even hear himself talk. The fuzziness rolled over him as he his eye began to close. The Path Walker stood over the fallen human and opened his communications channel. "All forces in my sector have been eliminated," he reported. "Forget about the vermin back there!" his lance leader bellowed. "Get to the hangars and support the attack immediately!" "Understood." The warrior glanced back at the human's huddled form, then clicked his mandibles and strode off down the corridor. A pool of blood seeped out in front of Simon's visor. No regrets...? Diana's voice echoed in the back of his mind, but this time he couldn't answer. His eye closed and shut the world out. All he wanted was to go to sleep...
*
* "Wait!" Tuka yelled. "They're retreating!" "What?" Fira demanded, rushing to the viewport. All eyes turned to the screen inside the common room, which showed the enemy Phantoms and boarding craft disengaging from the Wrath and speeding away towards the enemy corvette as it broke away from the battle and cruised off into space. "They were beaten back?" Autel asked, astonished. "So quickly?" "They did it!" Zoey yelled, hope flickering across her face. "He did it!" For several moments nothing happened. The boarding craft fled away and left the Incumbent Wrath drifting on its own. It was scorched and blasted from the corvette's attacks, but its hull was intact. "Well," Felix began. "Let's turn this thing around and find Si--" He never finished. A series of lights flashed across the Wrath's hull; a moment later Felix recognized them as anti-matter charges. The frigate shuddered, its engines crippled and its interior opened to cold vacuum in the wake of the charges, which continued to go off across the ship. Everyone stared up at the image of the stricken ship, too stunned for words. Finally, Jake looked around and asked quietly, "Was he still on there?" The Incumbent Wrath listed and burned out in the void of space. It had been gutted by the charges, and it was only by a miracle that its reactor hadn't detonated and finished the Path Walkers' job for them. Zoey whimpered, staring up at the screen with eyes blurry from tears. Tuka sat off to the side, his head lowered from grief. Cassandra slipped her helmet down over her head as her lips moved with another prayer. "No." Zoey fell to her knees. "No.
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