An Elite's Tale

He furiously tapped another key sequence and the viewport pulled focus all the way back from the cliff and angled around until it was facing the ramp that leads to the command deck. He had gained manual access to one of the two cameras on the control panel of the main deck's support columns. Brutes were rushing past the camera and mouth of the ramp. He was running out of time.

Listing a bit to the left, he could see Itan and Iceman hurrying down the ramp from the top deck. Brutes were storming in force. Halfway down the ramp, Itan turned, aimed, and lobbed an orb at an incoming Banshee. A Banshee tried to swerve out of the way but wasn't fast enough and exploded in a bright green and purple flash. The Imp was bleeding all over the place and stumbling like a drunkard on a raft. He tripped and rolled down to the bottom of the ramp in clearly visible agony.

A couple of Brutes diverted from the others to tear the easy prey limb from limb. They were met with instant consequence. In two shotgun blasts, the first lost a decent sized chunk of its head while buckshot sprayed through other one's torso and painted the camera in dark blood. Through the spatter, Mar noticed Itan pull the human back and hurl the overheated fuel rod gun down the second ramp.

Mar turned in time to see a Brute coming from around the corner, where the entrance to the ramp was, surely with more following behind him. The fail-safe on the fuel rod gun activated and incapacitated however many Brutes had been behind the lead one, because none came around the corner after the blast.

The led Brute however, let loose an angry roar and charged at him like a ram. Mar exercised patience and timed his response. He waited until the Brute telegraphed a punch, then flipped the needler around and slammed it shards first into the Brute's face. Next, he twisted the gun to the side so the needles snapped off, still embedded, and shoved the Brute away with an open palm.

His enemy staggered back with his trembling hands up to his face before a pink catastrophic explosion blew his head, neck, and most of its shoulders, off.

Mar loaded in a fresh magazine as more Brutes poured into the room. He couldn't activate the security door, not until his teammates made it in. He sent a stream of needles to both sides of the column the Brutes were coming from behind. A group of needles super combined and blew apart one of the Brute Majors leading the assault in a mess of bloody limbs and crystalline splinters. Luckily, the resulting explosion caused the other airborne and ricocheting shards to detonate in a massive chain reaction. Brutes wailed and howled as they were caught in the needle explosions.

Fear the pink mist.

Mar turned back to the viewport.

Iceman was standing by the entrance, blasting away while Itan retreated down the ramp.

Firing from the hip, the Imp turned his head and yelled something to Itan that could barely be heard over the explosions and shells discharging.

"No! Go, just go! I'll try to hold them off!"

A Jiralhanae Captain caught him off guard. In a blur of disgusting ferocity, the Captain snatched the shotgun away, then used its other hand to grab him by the head. Iceman kicked and struggled, but the Captain lifted him off the ground and slammed the back of his skull into the wall. The Captain dropped the dead Imp and tackled Itan from the top of the ramp. The Elite managed to hold its footing but backpedaled furiously onto the command deck while fighting the Captain. Brutes were storming all around them.

Mar wheeled around and slapped the blue square icon and the energy door materialized. When he looked back, a wall of Brute soldiers was forming, some of them survivors of the needler shard detonations. They all had their weapons raised.

Behind their ranks and to Mar's horror, the Brute Captain overpowered the young Itan and knocked him up against a wall, then retrieved the grenade launcher from its back holster. Itan yelled and pounded the Brute with both fists. The Captain, with its shaggy fur and thick hide, ignored the blows and lunged forward with the bayonet of the launcher.

The long, curved blade stabbed Itan through the abdomen and pinned him to the wall. As the impaled Elite Minor was gripped by a pain unlike that he'd ever known and weakly struggled to free itself, the Brute Captain leaned close and roared in his face. The other Brutes holding Mar at gunpoint celebrated with loud whoops and cheers of victory. A moment later, life slowly crept from Itan and left him pinned to the wall, slumped over on the blade.

The Captain left the brute shot where it was and the crowd parted, allowing him clear passage to the front. He took his time getting there, as if he owned the place.

Well, he does own the place now.