The Secret Story of Dustin Echoes

Chapter 3 - Two Blades are Better than One

            Dustin watched as the distant shape of the Covenant Phantom dropped out of sight behind a mountain. It was followed by another ship of the same type, and then a trio of Banshees, which began to fan out and begin a search pattern. They were looking for them, Dustin knew, looking for him and Rebas. It crossed his mind that Rebas could be a spy, but he brushed this idea away quickly. How could Rebas have possibly known about him at all? If the Covenant knew about him and his mission, then they surely would have shot him down long before now. Unless they wanted the information he relayed to be brought back to the humans… to instill fear into their hearts at what the Covenant was capable of. But Dustin seriously doubted it.

            “Sir, I’m cloaking the ship now to keep it out of sight,” Diana said, her voice still coming from the Sentinel, “But we should do as the Elite says and get ourselves somewhere safe as quickly as possible.”

            Dustin watched as the Blackdagger’s form began to lose shape, twisting and rippling, and slowly fading out of sight. The ship was capable of cloaking while landed as well as in space, but it was more obvious – a trained eye could catch the disturbance of the light rays, the way they bent in the ship’s location, more easily in these surroundings than against the starry background of space. But there was no other choice right now, Dustin knew, and he turned to survey the landscape for a place to stay hidden from the Banshee fighters.

            “Where do you think we should begin looking for this Reclaimer?” Dustin asked the Monitor.

            The little robot’s green “eye” pulsated as it replied, “Well, if she is still performing her appointed task, then she should be heading for the Library to retrieve the Index.”

            “Take us there,” said Rebas Noiproks.

            “Unfortunately, it would be a breach of protocol for me to transport you to the Library using the teleportation grid, since you are not the designated Reclaimer, and it would be unsafe to transport your friend along with you. However, I can lead you through the tunnels to the Library. Please, follow me.”

            With that, the little droid floated off, his three Sentinels flanking him. Dustin, Rebas, and Diana ran to catch up. They moved through the shadow of the trees as much as possible, trying to stay out of sight of the Banshees, which still had not come very close. Rebas and Dustin kept watching the fighters anxiously as they glided through the air in the distance. They were so intent on these airborne threats that they barely had time to react when they heard the sound of a Covenant hover vehicle heading their way. Dustin hid behind a tree just as a Ghost whizzed by. Rebas did not dodge, however. He dropped into a fighting stance and waited for the Ghost to get closer. Dustin opened fire with his assault rifle as the Grunt piloting the Ghost moved to ram into Rebas. As soon as it was close enough, with extreme accuracy, the Elite jumped. His powerful hind legs propelled him into the air, and he landed on the vehicles front end, grasping it with one claw-like hand. With the other, he grabbed one of the bent pieces of metal that Dustin had noticed on his belt. In a flash of light, a glowing blue energy sword appeared in his hand and swiped off the unlucky Grunt’s head in a single slash. Rebas then leapt off the Ghost just before it smashed into a tree and exploded.

            “So that’s what those things on your belt are,” Dustin said as the Elite strode up, still holding his sword.

            “They are the weapons of the Elite,” the alien said, brandishing his blade, “The weapons of a true warrior, a warrior of honor.”

            “So you have something against ranged weapons?” Dustin asked.

            “No. But these are all I was able to take with me when I escaped the Covenant. But now I have this,” Rebas displayed a plasma pistol, “That Unggoy will not be needing it any longer.”

            Dustin blinked. He hadn’t even seen the Elite take the weapon from the Grunt as he had killed him.

            “Amazing…” he and Diana said simultaneously.

            Dustin shot the Sentinel a look of surprise.

            “What?” Diana asked.

            Dustin rolled his eyes, “Nevermind. Let’s just go, before our guide gets impatient.”

            “Bipak? Bipak?” Dordap squeaked, “Bipak!”

            It was no use. He had lost contact with his scout, and he had lost the only Ghost that his squad had been granted. He turned to look uneasily at his troops. The Grunts looked back at him, seeming surprisingly amused with his dismay, while the Jackals only showed contempt in their hideous faces. Normally a Grunt would never lead a pack of Jackals, but Dordap was Urgas’s personal servant, and the high-ranking Elite trusted this Grunt over any of the Jackals, who were probably more loyal to Thanatos than himself. So he had placed Dordap in charge of both Grunts and Jackals, and the Jackals resented him for it. If the number of Grunts in the squad dropped too low, he knew, the Jackals would probably kill and devour him just for the insult of having followed his orders for so long.

            “What now?” a Grunt behind him asked impatiently with a shrug.

            “We…” Dordap swallowed hard, or at least did the Gruntish equivalent of a human swallowing hard, “We go to where Bipak went, I guess! But, uh, first we contact Urgas… He might have a better plan. I hope.”

            It was the strangest trio that had ever entered the tunnels of Halo. An observer might have thought the Covenant, the Humans, and the Forerunner had formed a strange alliance of sorts. Dustin, still clad in his ODST uniform, strode in first, carrying his assault rifle at the ready. Behind him came the red-armored Elite, Rebas Noiproks, spinning his plasma pistol on one finger absentmindedly as he walked. Coming up last was the Sentinel still operated by Diana, which seemed to be nervously glancing about, its turret swiveling and its “wings” expanding and contracting at intervals. The other Sentinels had dropped off and flown elsewhere, and now only 10268 Regretful Vector led them down the huge, dark metal halls of Halo.

            “The Library entrance should not be far from here,” he said.

            “Good,” Dustin replied, glancing about at the dark, empty room, “Because I have a bad feeling about this…”

            Rebas, who had been silent so far, suddenly perked up. He dropped down into his fighting stance, which reduced his towering height considerably, and looked furtively about.

            “What’s wrong?” Dustin asked.

            The Elite paused before replying, “I thought I saw something, but it was nothing.”

            “Oh…”

            “In here!” the Monitor suddenly exclaimed.

            Dustin turned to see the robot floating in front of a small, square door. There was a glowing control panel in the center of the door, surrounded by several windows. Dustin walked up and peered through one of the windows, but even as he did so, an electric beam shot out of the Monitor and connected with the door’s controls. They glowed green, and with a hiss, the door slid open.

            “This way, come along,” the Monitor said as it floated through the door.

            Diana followed it, and Dustin entered with a shrug. Rebas came last, fingering the hilt of his energy sword. Once he had passed through the portal, he stopped. Dustin noticed this, and he turned to look. Rebas stood still for a second, and then he started, activated his energy sword, and swung around, all in one sudden movement, in a flash almost too quick to see. His blade swirled through the air… and cut right through the invisible Elite that had been walking through the door behind him.

            “Active camouflage!” Rebas shouted, “Prepare yourself!”

            Dustin raised his rifle and fired a burst of ammunition at the open doorway. His bullets pinged off the armor of a second Elite, who flashed visible for a moment before dropping back behind cover. Dustin and Rebas sat tensely, waiting for the next foe to enter, staring at the dead white-armored Elite lying on the floor in a pool of purple blood.

            “Delays, delays…” the Monitor said impatiently.

            There was a high-pitched buzzing sound heard from outside the door, and then a muffled scream and a clatter of armor. The Monitor’s Sentinels were fighting the Covenant. The edges of the door blurred as two camouflaged Elites ran inside. One, with an energy sword, ran for Rebas, who deflected the blow with his own blade. Dustin opened fire, but the enemy grabbed the end of his rifle, forced it upwards, ripped the weapon out of his grasp, and tossed it away. Dustin went for the Sub-Machine Gun on his side, but the Elite slammed his hand onto the side of Dustin’s head, sending him sprawling. Then Diana opened fire with her Sentinel beam, the stream of yellow-orange light slicing into the creature’s shields. While the alien was visible, Dustin fired at it with his SMG from where he lay on the ground. Under this combined assault, the Elite fell with a deep, throaty cry of defiance. As he clattered to the floor, Dustin had time to see Rebas cut down his own foe. As the last Elite fell, the group heard sounds of fighting coming from the corridor outside.

            “More Covenant forces are coming,” Rebas said, “We should move.”

            Dustin turned to face the Monitor where it floated calmly, humming to itself, “Hey, Vector! Get us out of here! Close that door, will you?”

            The Monitor ceased humming and gave an amused laugh as the door behind them closed and another on the opposite side of the room slid open. The group quickly made their way out. As they did so, they heard an explosion behind them, and the wall was blown apart. The Covenant poured through, firing their weapons. Plasma blasts pinged off the walls as the trio rushed through the door. They emerged into a huge, round room with a deep, dark round pit in the center. They were running on the edge of this pit now, following Regretful Vector, who seemed to be heading for a door far in the distance. The Covenant again blasted through the wall behind them and gave chase, opening fire with every weapon they had. Dustin turned and fired his SMG blindly behind him as he ran, but suddenly a purple beam split the air, striking Rebas in the back. The Jackal sniper cackled as it raised its rifle for another shot.

            Rebas was unhurt, but the minor hit on his back, though it had not even penetrated his personal shields, seemed to have thrown him into a rage. Letting out a terrible roar, he turned and leaped into the air, activating both his energy blades at the same time. Dustin had never seen anything like it. He stopped firing to watch the spectacle, as the Elite landed atop the Jackal and cut him to pieces. Dustin and Diana provided support fire as Rebas waded into the horde of Covenant troops, cutting them down like wheat, his two blades flying through the air, spinning like a whirlwind of glowing energy.

            The Covenant stood no chance against this furious onslaught. Soon, they all lay dead, sliced apart by Rebas’s blades, burned by Diana’s laser, and perforated by the spray of fire from Dustin’s SMG.

            “We make a good team,” Diana remarked pleasantly.

            “No time,” Rebas panted, “Keep running!”

            So the three turned and continued off along the edge of the pit, headed for the door that the Monitor had opened for them. The Monitor himself was nowhere to be seen. After passing through the door and running down a large hallway, the group suddenly stopped as a much larger, thicker door comprised of four sliding metal plates slid shut behind them. 10268 Regretful Vector suddenly reappeared, hovering out of a hole in the wall beside them.

            “Oh, hello,” he said in a friendly manner.

            “Why didn’t you help us back there?” Dustin demanded.

            “You did fine,” the Monitor said in a congratulatory tone, “Besides, I helped you just now. Your enemies will not be able to get through this door I just closed as easily as they did the others. It will take some time, and much more explosive firepower. In the meantime…”

            “We can find the Reclaimer,” Rebas said for him.

            “Exactly! Now, follow me to the elevator. We are almost at the Index now.”

            As the four of them walked and hovered down the hall of dark metal and glowing lights, Dustin suddenly caught sight of many dark lumps in the distance. When they drew closer, he suddenly knew what they were. They heaps of decomposing, sickly yellow flesh, sending off a disgusting odor that nearly made him hurl. They were Flood, and they were dead… and rotten.

            Dustin turned to regard his alien companion. Suddenly, he saw Rebas in a new light. Up to this point, he had been almost unconsciously expecting Rebas to betray him at some point. The Elite was, after all, a member of a race that was allied with the Covenant, and the Elites were some of the most radical followers of the Prophets. But Rebas had been telling him the truth this whole time; now he knew it for sure. He felt a new understanding and appreciation for the tall and slender alien who now stood calmly regarding the Flood corpses.

            “All dead…” the Elite muttered, “All rotten…”

            “Yes,” sighed 10268 Regretful Vector, “Sad, isn’t it? We still do not know what caused this catastrophe.”

            Dustin, who was inspecting the dead Flood infection forms, taking photos, and recording information on his handheld computer, turned to face the Monitor. He began recording, so that he could keep the robot’s answer in his files.

            “Any ideas what happened to these Flood?” he asked.

            “Oh my, no,” the Monitor replied, “When the station was activated…”

            “Halo was activated? When?”

            “Oh, I’m afraid that information is classified. The creators of this station activated it, and they did not wish the date of its activation accessible to everyone.”

            “Okay,” Dustin went on, “How would one go about accessing this information?”

            “Why, in the Index of course,” the Monitor said, “And the Reclaimer is currently on her mission to retrieve it for that purpose. But you know that… don’t you?”

            “Uh, of course,” Dustin replied, “Let’s keep going then.”

            “Yes,” said the Monitor, hovering off ahead, “The Index chamber is not far…”

             Urgas Konoproksee stepped over the piles of corpses of his fallen brethren one after another, looking long at each dead Elite, but kicking the dead Grunts and Jackals aside carelessly. He inspected the wounds and the placement of each body, and in doing so, he recognized the fighting style of the attacker.

            “Rebas was here,” he said.

            “I wonder what gave you that idea,” Thanatos the Brute said sarcastically as he carelessly kicked a Jackal’s corpse into the great central pit and watched it fall, “Judging by the bloody tracks leading down this hall, I say your brother went that way.”

            Urgas nodded as he replied, “I only wish I had been here to fight him myself.”

            Thanatos huffed, “Then what we standing round here for? Move up!”

            The Brute and his gold-armored companion led their motley congregation of Elites, Jackals, and Grunts along the edge of the great pit, until they came to the great door that the Monitor had sealed behind Dustin and Rebas. Thanatos took one look at it and snorted.

            “Get the plasma grenades!” he shouted.

            Four blue-armored Elites ran forward from the squad of soldiers and each removed a plasma grenade from his belt. They stood in a row before the door and activated them, sticking them to the metal surface. Then they turned and ran for cover. Four blue explosions lit the halls… but when their vision cleared, the aliens saw that the door stood still intact. Four large burn-marks, large black areas charred and molten metal, stood in a row on its lower surface, but they had not broken through.

            “We will need more explosives,” Thanatos said quickly, “Hurry! Bring more firepower! And…”

            “No,” Urgas interrupted, putting his long, thin hand on the Brute’s muscular shoulder, “Leave a group here to wait for them to return, but only a few. You and I will return to the surface. We will guard every nearby exit tunnel we can find. They entered on foot, so they will leave on foot.”

            Thanatos nodded slowly, “You mean… they will NOT leave.”

            “Yes,” Urgas said, “They shall not escape Halo alive.”

            The Brute issued the orders to the soldiers, and together with a large body of infantry, the two commanders began leaving the tunnels. As they walked, Thanatos stared at the ground in thought. Suddenly he turned to look at the taller Elite.

            “You know,” he said, “that if your brother and the human leave by that door back there, all the soldiers we left to guard it will be killed without mercy?”

            “Yes,” Urgas replied, “And then we will know where our enemy is… and I will come to face him.”