A Savage Vengeance [Part 2]
Posted By: Mainevent
Date: 13 July 2004, 5:55 AM
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Time seemed to slow. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest like a jackhammer. The dull thump..thump...thump. His veins pulsed as each surge of blood coursed through his body. Adrenaline ignited his dendrites and every nerve in his body seemed to twitch.
Because they did.
His leg muscles tensed as his body seemed to go on auto-pilot. Was it instinct driving him now? The Neanderthal of long ago coming out of hibernation to save him. Daniel wasn't sure. He watched through his eyes as a passive observer. He couldn't remember telling himself to dodge the blow, but he had.
The Savage's massive arm slid mere inches from the Lieutenant's face. The polished bone spikes bristled dangerously above him. He jerked the trigger violently. His arm hurt. There was a bright flash of shields, but the pellets didn't penetrate. Instead they ricocheted back towards Daniel; one caught his leg.
Somehow he didn't feel it. Endorphins cloaked the pain. His hand was still making its own decisions. The shotgun jerked again. Smoke wafted lazily from its barrel before being caught in the rising winds. The storm was coming up quickly.
This time the lieutenant was lucky. The shields were dead. But not lucky enough. He was out of shells. Massive white teeth protruded from its mouth. Razor sharp incisors beckoned like hungry dogs for his flesh. Daniel rolled away from the bite.
His feet scraped the pavement while scurrying to get away. Rocks and pebbles bounced away and made light tinks on his adversary's armor. A shallow rumble permeated through the ground. He was up and running.
He didn't have to glance back to see fate tumbling after him. It was catching up, panting down his neck. His nostrils flared as he exhaled forcefully. Six marines were exiting the building he'd just left. They all opened fire on the beast behind Daniel.
Shallow pings of bullets did nothing. He ducked under their rifle fire and ducked into the building. Several deep cries were heard only moments later. Blood sloshed through the door and covered him. He nearly gagged from the smell. The mere fact it was human blood from people he'd seen only moments before was also extremely unnerving.
They'd been right there damnit. I touched one of them. Now they're...they're fucking dead. What can I do against something like that. It's...unstoppable. His thoughts were quick, unwieldy. There was the deep, forceful gruff of the Savage outside. It ducked into the hall behind him.
Lieutenant Lombardi was luckier here. It had to slow due to its size. That didn't mean much though. He was far from safe. He entered the armory. It was empty. He laughed shallowly. It was fucking empty! Of all the times he ever needed the armory, this time it was empty.
He turned to face the door, but two massive eyes were already staring through him. This time there was color in them. Large yellow rings. Pineapple slices? No, these were hornet striped. There was nothing but pain behind them.
The concrete wall that comprised the armory broke open suddenly behind the surprised duo. The sparking hulk of a Scorpion tank rumbled through the wall. The melted cockpit smoked with plasma scoring. That life had probably saved his. What was he supposed to feel now? Happiness or sadness?
He climbed onto the rolling behemoth, and carefully maneuvered to its rear. He leapt off and came to a roll on the gravel below. There was a fierce roar. The Savage wouldn't be leaving that room anytime soon. It was too large to follow, and would be forced to go around.
Lombardi picked up two loose sub-machine guns. One had a full clip, and the other was half full. There were two spare clips on both. He squatted down and pulled two grenades off of the Marines' corpses he'd removed the guns from. Maybe in all the death, he did get lucky.
Shorak was extremely angry. The Human had escaped him once more. Not for long though. He clasped his gargantuan fingers and slammed his fists into the Human machine's engine. It popped explosively before dying. The one he was after had run along its side, and escaped through the hole the tank had made. He couldn't be far.
The mighty beast took a deep breath, and charged the wall nearest to the hole. The structurally weakest point. The wall budged awkwardly from his blow, but didn't fall. Shorak shook his head and tried again. A deep breath, and a charge.
This time the building gave in. The wall crumbled to the ground in a cloud of dust and debris. He'd caught the Human off guard. It whipped around with wide eyes, and back-peddled while firing wildly. Shorak's shields were dead.
One of the projectiles lodged in his shoulder. He winced. It dawned on him that it was the first time he'd ever been shot. The Savage dismissed the pain and took another step forward. Another bullet sliced across his inner thigh. Cutting a deep gash that bled profusely. Nothing would stop him from killing this human. Nothing.
Another step forward.
One of the weapons died, shortly followed by the other. The small, puny Human was actually putting up a fight. Shorak didn't mind though. In all truth he would have been slightly upset if it hadn't. After all of the time and energy he'd spent searching for this one insignificant being. His eyes focused on the long black object that dropped to the ground. His enemy was struggling to insert another as quickly as possible.
Another step forward.
He dropped the second weapon and put his full attention on reloading the one he had. He succeeded and pointed it back. Shorak felt thin reverberations in his armor. Then a painful bite in his left arm. He huffed, grabbed a large metal spike out of the ground, and clutched it firmly. No more steps. Enough was enough. He began the Warrior's Charge. A kill made during such a charge was the most honorable thing imaginable.
The spike rose willingly above his head, and was brought down quickly. The Human didn't have time to respond. The pole's forced knocked the human to his knees, and he coughed blood up. His eyes were foggy and disoriented. The two miniscule hands felt weakly at the pole before going limp. Shorak had won. His lips parted widely as he basked in his magnificence. A nearby explosion jolted him back into reality. A massive fireball erupted a hundred yards away, and the body of one of his fellow Savages was tossed easily to his feet.
Brownish-black blood coated the ground . His body wasn't mangled from the blast. The armor had been dented menacingly. He was confused. There was only one thing he knew that could have made that kind of damage. His eyes slowly trudged upwards. A wall of fire crackled in the sunlight, but inside were two black outlines. They slowly widened, and to his fear, began exiting the flame.
Their green armor reflected harshly in the sunlight, and for the first time Shorak felt fear. In one's hands were two of the Human weapons called "shootgons". In the other's, a heavy machine gun. They stopped well short of Shorak, and seemed to stare through their golden visors at him. He'd faced two of them before, and won both times. But he'd never faced two at once, and even when there was only one he was lucky.
They raised their weapons quickly, and depressed the triggers. It was funny now. All of the searching. All of the longing. All of it for nothing. His honor was useless. He gave a thin snort, and felt the riddle of bullets, and the deeper thud of shotgun shells impact across his body. A body which rolled from side to side violently, before falling quietly to the ground.
Spartan 262-Asimov kneeled down beside the massive creature he'd just help kill. The last one of them on the base. He cocked his head inquisitively, and looked into its eyes. He'd expected the emptiness of death, but he was surprised. He saw the vague image of clarity and understanding there. Something he'd never seen in a Covenant's eyes before. Though it was a peculiar habit he had, looking into his dead opponent's eyes. Asimov was convinced they told him his enemy's last thoughts, but the others either thought it absurd or didn't care.
"Let's go. They need us in the city." Spartan 315-Kalashnikov said through his intercom.
Asimov took a last glance. He stood quietly up, and faced the city. "Let's go."
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