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Half Jaw, Chapter 1: Taming of the Hunters
Posted By: Chaplain118<mrfu@sbcglobal.net>
Date: 5 August 2005, 7:53 pm
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"I make this oath on the blood of myself, my father, and my son. I swear to uphold the Covenant, even to my dying breath. I shall carry out my orders quickly and efficiently. I shall show neither pity nor mercy toward my enemies, and I shall forever stay true to the path of the Great Journey. I am a special operative, no more, no less." An Elite by the name of Johamee repeated after the Special Operatives Leader, Igsolumee, in the Hall of Initiation.
"Very well, Johamee, you are now a special operative, report to the Atrium of Special Ops and receive your duty." Igsolumee said.
Suddenly, a red armored Major broke into the Hall of Initiation and yelled.
"The Hunters, they've escaped! Three battle group has already been shredded and the Hunters are still advancing!"
"How could they escape? They are unarmed!" Igsolumee asked.
"I don't know, but the Hierarchs has been informed and demanded to see you in the Mausoleum of the Arbiters." The Major replied.
"Very well, Johamee, report to fifth squad, I will go see the Hierarchs." Igsolumee ordered and left for the Mausoleum.
Johamee nodded, grabbed his rifle, and headed for the Atrium. The Hunters were a new addition to the Covenant; the Hierarchs have noticed these fearsome behemoths and their destructive nature and wanted to tame them. Needless to say, their attempts are not working too well. Johamee took a turn and stepped into the lift, when he arrived at the Atrium, a fight was already underway. The Hunters bellowed and ripped apart Elites, limb by limb. The floor was strewn with many Elite bodies, but only few Hunters. Johamee took aim at the nearest Hunter and fired a stream of well aimed plasma bolt at the head. The Hunter gave a groan of pain and fell to the ground in a pool of orange blood. He turned and saw a Hunter charge at him, left shoulder lowered, preparing to slice him in two with the razor sharp spike on its back. Johamee leapt into the air, landed on the Hunter, put a few plasma bolts into the base of the Hunter's neck, and growled in satisfaction when the Hunter fell. As quickly as it had begun, the battle had ended. Johamee racked up a body count of twenty-five Hunters, set out to find fifth squad.
"You're late." The squad leader sneered at Johamee.
"I was fighting the Hunters!" Johamee replied indignantly.
"You're late," the squad leader repeated, this time followed immediately with a punch to the face.
Rage slashed through Johamee like a lava hot knife and he grabbed the squad leader by the neck.
"I may have been late but I killed most of the Hunters here," Johamee whispered into the leader's face.
"If you believe yourself to be such a good warrior, why not fight me, and find out?" the leader challenged.
"Very well," Johamee replied and released the leader.
"Good, a fight to the death, I think, would be appropriate here." The leader growled and ignited an energy sword. The squad formed a circle around the two and began to chant.
Johamee knew the energy sword was a dangerous weapon not to be trifled with. He immediately shot a burst into the leader's face. The leader laughed and swung his sword, Johamee jumped back but the sword sliced into his left jaw. A searing pain went through him as he reached up and found that his two left lips have been sliced off. He rammed another Spec Op in the gut and grabbed his gun, wielding both guns; he fired at the leader again. The leader's shields were powerful, but it couldn't handle the strength of two plasma rifle at the same time as it flickered, overloaded, and failed. Johamee tossed the overheated rifle in his left hand into the leader's face. The leader screamed in pain as the hot gas burned him. Johamee saw his chance, ran up to the leader and fired into the leader's mouth. The leader screamed and fell in front of Johamee's boots, dead.
"What is going on here?" Igsolumee, arriving at the Atrium wearing the Arbiter armor, asked.
"The squad leader challenged me to a fight to the death, and I have won." Johamee replied.
"You killed the squad leader?" Igsolumee asked.
"Yes." Johamee replied thickly, as blood poured profusely from his severed lip.
"This tantamount to heresy, you will be put to death!" Igsolumee said.
"How is this heresy, I obeyed a higher officer, he ordered me to fight him to the death. I took an oath to carry out my orders quickly and efficiently, and I have done both." Johamee replied.
"You are a smart Elite. Very well, you are lucky this time, your actions are not of heresy. But the Hierarchs will be informed of this." Igsolumee said and strode away.
"Why have the Hierarchs chosen you as the Arbiter?" Johamee asked.
"The Hunters did not escape, they were released, and the Hierarchs have instructed me to find the perpetrator and kill him." Igsolumee replied.
In the next few days, Johamee slowly gained the respect of his fellow Special Op Elites and a new name, Half Jaw. The Hunter problem still remained as more and more outbreaks occurred. But despite these problems, Half Jaw climbed up the ranks quickly and soon became Special Op Commander. One day, the Prophet of Truth summoned him to the Sanctum of the Hierarchs to inform him that he will lead a battle group of Special Ops to assist the Arbiter to quell the Hunter problem.
The dropship's hanger door opened and the Elites boarded, the Arbiter stopped Half Jaw and said to him.
"You must only care about the life of those under your command, no more, no less. You are their commander; their lives are in your hand. I am the Arbiter, the will of the Prophet, to you, my life matters not."
Half Jaw gave a quiet grunt and turned to his battle group.
"Check all your weapons; I want the least number of casualties on our side as possible."
The dropship rose into the air and darted toward the cells of the Hunters. Half Jaw tightened his grip on his rifle, the Arbiter had told him that the Hunters were released, but by whom? The pilot's voice cracked in his headphone.
"Fifteen seconds until touchdown."
Suddenly, an explosion rocked through the dropship and sent it plummeting toward the ground. Half Jaw punched the emergency drop button to open the hanger door and jumped out. The dropship spun out of control and crashed into a pillar. The Arbiter jumped next to Half Jaw, looked at him and said.
"That shot was fired by the perpetrator behind the release of the Hunters."
"No weapon in the Covenant has that much firepower." Half Jaw said.
"There is one weapon, the Hierarchs decided to give the Hunters the untested fuel rod gun, apparently, one Hunter has learned to control its powers and is now encouraging the rest of the Hunters to rebel against the Covenant. If we kill this Hunter in front of the others, their fear of the Covenant will be renewed and order shall be restored." The Arbiter replied.
Three Hunters, fully armored stepped into their field of vision. Half Jaw could not help but admire the radical change in the Hunters with armor. They carried a big heavy shield on their left arm, their entire body is covered save for the waist in heavy armor, the fuel rod gun in their right arm glowed an eerie green, and even the razor sharp spikes on their back are covered in armor, making them even more deadly. Half Jaw heard another set of steps, turned and saw to his horror that more armed Hunters have flanked them.
"An Arbiter, to what do I deserve this honor?" a Hunter wearing an ornate helmet stepped out and asked in a deep throaty voice.
"For betrayal of the Covenant," the Arbiter replied and fired a burst into the Hunter. The Hunter raised its gigantic shield and deflected the plasma bolts with ease.
"Betrayal of the Covenant? We Hunters never joined the Covenant, the Prophets forced it upon us, the Fleet orbited our home world, threatening to destroy us if we did not join, and now you tell me that what I'm doing is the betrayal of the Covenant? You shall die, Arbiter, and I will be the one to do the honors!" The Hunter bellowed.
Suddenly, plasma bolts slashed through the air and grenades attached themselves to the Hunters. The battle group has survived the crash, and they made an assault on the Hunters.
Despite the sudden surprise attack, the Hunters were able to form their own counter-attack, instead of firing their powerful fuel rod guns at point blank range; they rammed the Elites with their shields. The Elites' energy shields were no match for the strength and size of the Hunter shields. As soon there was enough space, the Hunters fired their fuel rods in quick successions at the Elites. Bodies fell as the explosive rounds hit. The Arbiter ignited an energy sword and headed after the Hunter leader. Half Jaw fired at the Hunter's midsection and produced miraculous results; apparently the Hunters could not handle the pain to their exposed flesh. Half Jaw drew his needler, using his speed to round about the Hunter, and then discharging the entire clip of needles into the back. The explosion ripped the Hunter in two and the rest of the Special Ops followed his example. Soon the Hunters were dead and Half Jaw set out to assist the Arbiter.
The Arbiter was kneeling before the body of the Hunter leader, blood trickling out of his mouth. He turned to Half Jaw and whispered.
"The Great Journey has begun for me, take my body and the body of the Hunter back to the Hierarchs, and…" the Arbiter did not get to finish his sentence before he fell to the ground, dead.
Half Jaw stood up, looked at the dead bodies and called for a dropship to pick them up.
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