Trial By Fire
The night was cold and dark, rain falling hard. Lighting filled the sky like fire. The young Neko held his Assault Rifle close to his chest, the ammo counter reading 36. A Neko is a half human half cat, they have human features besides having cat ears and a cat like tail. He was all alone surrounded by his dead comrades. He wanted to fight, but it would be throwing his life away. He lay on the ground his visor shielding his face from view. He looks about as the Brutes looked about for survivors. Suddenly he sees a huge foot slam in front of his face, his eyes widen and tries not to scream out. The brute looks down at him, giving his stomach a nudge.
Brutes were nasty creatures, taller than 7 feet and covered in fur from head to toe. They would eat anything and everything, even each other. A small squad of the methane gas sucking Grunts walked by. They were short, about up to a man's chest, a huge pack on their back that gave them a little hunch. It was filled with methane, and if you shot that it would most likely fall off and cause them to go flying. The Brute fell for the Neko's feign death. Considering there was a Brute Spiker shell lodged into his back. Spiker shells were about a foot long and felt like being stabbed by a needle, hence the name of the weapon. The grunts held their favorite weapon, the Needler. It was like the spiker except it had an explosive result after impact. And the needles were pink crystals.
The group moved on and the Neko became dizzy from the blood loss. He had to stay awake or he might not wake back up. When he thought the group was gone he stood up. Suddenly he was grabbed and jerked into the air. An Elite square in his face. These four jawed warriors knew no fear; they were honor bound, like Samurai of old. They were about as tall as a Brute, but more intelligent and looked snakish. They did not have scales; they had brown skin that covered all of their body. Males did not have hair from what Matt knew. They had slitted eyes. The Elite looked into the visor of the last man on the field. The Neko dropped his visor to allow the Elite to see the face of his kill as he knew that was considered cowardice to them to hide behind a helmet. The Elite stopped growling and dropped the Neko. His energy sword humming in the hot air, electricity jumping from one blade to the other.
The Elite spoke in perfect English, "What is your name?" The Neko looked up at him, still dazed by the brute spike in his back. "My name is Corporal Yamashi, Matt Yamashi." He knew this was it, he was going to die. His vision blurred and suddenly he fell to the mud.
He suddenly awoke, his armor stripped from his body. He only wore his pants. He looked about until he felt a sharp pain and he realized his back is bandaged, the Brute Spike not in his back anymore. He looks up and sees a couple of honor guard Elites. Their orange, glowing armor filled the dark room. They held their staves in one hand in their guarding pose. Their armor made them look superior to those around them. He wondered who they were guarding, and then he realized they were guarding him. He wondered why, they only guarded important figures like the Hierarchs. He seems to be on the inside of a Phantom drop ship. It was closed shut so he figured he was in space. Then the Elite that captured him, walks out from the cockpit. Now that he can see better the Elite was Gold Class, maybe a Zealot. Zealots are Elites that scavenge relics of their religion. "Why am I here?" Matt asked the Elite. He turns and looks to Matt. "We require your assistance. The Brutes have been seen killing our brothers, and we wish to break away from the Covenant and ally ourselves with the Humans. If you wish for your armor and weapons we will give them to you. These Honor guards are under my command and will get you what you need." Matt was shocked by the little speech the Zealot gave. 'The Elites breaking from the Covenant? This could turn around the war!' he thought to himself.
"I am fine; I do not need my armor or weapons." He wanted to impress these new found allies. The Zealot gave a chuckle, "You are brave little human, but a fool at the same time. If you wish we can have some Sangheili armor crafted for you, for you will be living on our ship for a while." Matt instantly nodded yes. The Zealot nodded and walked over to him, past the two guards. "Now Yamashi, our ship is led by a female, and that is not looked well upon among our people, but she is a damn good commander. She will want to meet you as soon as we get aboard." Matt nods, and begins to stand. The Zealot moves out back to the cockpit, giving orders to the pilot in his native tongue. Matt began to walk over to the cockpit, not realizing the guards followed close behind. He looked about like the curiousness of his cat side. The Zealot turns and chuckles. "I sometimes forget you humans have not seen the inside of our ships before. This is our pilot, Zah'shukamee." The Elite raised his four fingered hand in hello, without looking away from the monitors.
The ride was uneventful after that, they docked with the ship and suddenly the underbelly begins to open its grav lifts, Matt put his armor on gripping his helmet under his armpit. The Zealot exits the cockpit and approaches Matt. "Step into the Grav lift and we will be on our way." Matt nods and steps into it, gently falling down to the deck below. He looks about and all he sees is Elites at work in random things, like repairing and security. They all stared at him, like he was some sort of prisoner. He felt that way, a prisoner and these were his cell mates. He kept his head held straight and did not make eye contact with any of them. The Zealot stopped realizing how uncomfortable the Neko was. He turns to the workers and roars out something in his native tongue and everyone went straight to work. One got so startled that he fell from the box he was sitting on. "Please Yamashi, if you have any problems talk to me." Matt nodded in response and kept walking.
The halls were slightly wide, enough for a couple of Elites to walk through. The Zealot guides Matt through and around the halls until they reach the bridge. The bridge in a Covenant ship is always in the center. There was a big platform and a bunch of hologram controls. There were some screens that were hologram projections showing the direction of the ship. Matt looked in awe at all the technology. The Zealot guided him up a ramp and towards the captain. She was in a robe, kind of like a kimono. She had hair, nice long black hair. The Zealot kneels in front of her. "I have brought you one of the humans captain." She turns and to Matt's surprise she did not have the split jaw like the males. She has a regular mouth, with an upper and lower jaw.
"Gan this is not a human. Maybe you should check your sight. This man has a tail, and those ears." Matt blushed a tad, being labeled in that way, his right ear giving a twitch. The Zealot looks up. "But he wears their uniform, and fights for the humans." She gives a smile and approaches Matt. "What is your name?" Matt was a bit nervous, but mustered the words. "My name is Matt Yamashi." She places a hand on his shoulder. "Matt Yamashi, I have requested this Zealot to get you in order to make a peace treaty with the Humans. We will give you quarters here, and food." Matt just nods, and then speaks up. "May I somehow contact my superiors to notify where I am?" She shakes her head. "No I'm sorry we cannot do that. The Brutes have been monitoring our transmissions and if I let you do that, it will compromise our cover." That was disappointing to hear. He was going to be labeled as MIA and his wife would see that and get worried. The female spoke again. "Now go to your quarters and I will send for some guards to make sure you are not disturbed. You may go where you please." Two honor guard approach and guide Matt to his quarters. For now his journey has just begun.