Their invisibility shields disengaged, revealing the ones who started it all. Rogers and Grey turned around at the bullets breaking on their shields, holding the Forerunner glowing orange weapons we had seen in the crates back on Atrius. Momentarily surprised, we hesitated to continue firing for a few seconds. Henderson lowered his hand from covering himself from our barrage and pulled something out from behind him.

It took a split second for the item to register in my mind as the laser Scott showed me from the crates. Scott realized it too as we shared a glance before he immediately shoved Kade behind the wall. The laser charged, electricity crackling among the four barrels as it began to fire.

I jumped across the hallway lightning fast and tackled Selina just as what looked to be some kind of electric barrel out of the four fired from Henderson's shoulder. Lightning bolts scorched the wall above us as I pushed her down out of the line of fire. Static filled my visor and pins and needles made their way up and down my body as the edge of the beam grazed my back. My wound burned. Fighting the muscle spasms and pain, I pushed Selina and myself the rest of the way behind the corner opposite to Sift, Kade, and Scott.

Kade fired his SAW around the corner and the beam stopped as Fireteam Prime took cover. Selina got up and fired her shotgun at them as well, the spray spreading out on the walls and ceiling. I looked past her to the door Henderson took cover next to, which was about halfway down the hallway. Kyle's door was at the other end of the hallway, quite a distance still. I pulled myself back behind the safety of the wall and shouted, "Fireteam Prime, stand down and surrender NOW! We have you outnumbered!"

He called back, "Ha! By only one person! And we have weapons you could never dream of getting your hands on! How about you surrender while you still have most of your team members!"

I scowled at the unfortunate accuracy of his statement, but then paused. Wait! He said one! Either he has an extra person we don't know about, which is unlikely considering we didn't see anyone else, or he doesn't know about Sift! That could be used to our advantage. I spoke just loud enough over the gunfire to talk to Selina. "Get ready to cover Scott."

She looked at me but nodded. I spoke over the private com to Sift, Kade, and Scott. "Sift, since they don't know about you, me, Kade, and you are going to serve as a distraction. I'll throw a flash grenade and you will take Rogers, Scott gets Grey and I'll take Henderson. Selina will cover us as we approach. Kade, knock them out once we restrain them."

They all winked their acknowledgement lights, not pausing the firefight even as they did so. I grabbed a flash grenade off of my belt and threw it into the corridor. There was an ear-ringing explosion and I ran out, Sift in front. I quickly tackled Henderson, catching him off-guard with his hand still up to shield his face from the blast.

As we rolled backwards I saw Scott race past to tackle Grey, Kade following and Sift attacking on my other side. Selina stayed back but moved into the middle of the hallway, firing short bursts. I leaned sideways on his back and held his right arm. I struggled to hold Henderson down as he fought to get up and get away at the same time, twisting his arm behind his back and placing my knee on his shoulder blade to get more leverage. He struggled to keep me from bending it too far and grabbed a knife from his left thigh. I saw the glint of the blade and twisted out of the way as he blindly stabbed backwards. He managed to flip over as I shifted my weight and I placed my knee of his chest, stepping on his right hand. He brought his left hand up to stab me in the arm but I caught it. He dropped his arm suddenly and stabbed my armor on my thigh. It barely pierced before I caught his other arm too, lifting it off of the knife sticking out of my leg.

I flinched at the stab however and he slipped his left arm out, pulling the knife out. I grabbed his hands as he tried to shove it upwards into my neck. We struggled back and forth for a moment before I pushed it to one side and slammed his hand into the ground as I fortunately had better leverage. The blade skittered away.

I quickly crossed his arms in front of him and placed my knee on his wrists for extra assurance, earning a cough from Henderson as they pushed into his chest to keep him from slipping out again. I looked up for Kade and froze in shock. In front of me were four Elites, their invisibility shields just barely disengaging. One was holding Sift up by her neck high above the floor. She was holding the Elite's hand, trying to pull it off in vain. I looked over to see Kade and Scott backing up, weapons up. Grey was out cold, and Rogers was slowly getting up.

Suddenly Henderson slipped out as my pressure on his arms momentarily lightened from the surprise and he threw me back. I landed on my back and rolled once, making a skid mark on the floor as I slid on my stomach. I slid to a stop about ten feet away and quickly got up.

As I did however, I saw Henderson get up as well and throw something at me. I was too close to dodge it but I twisted sideways to try and avoid it anyway. The flat, circular object flew straight towards my chest and I reached for it in Spartan Time. It slipped through my fingers and I chased after it with my hand as it magnetized to the very edge of my chest plate. I reached closer to pull it off, but just as my finger touched it the rings in the middle lifted up and glowed. In the same moment my armor locked up and my whole body froze. I looked up in surprise and tried to move. No avail, I couldn't move a muscle, everything but my head was completely frozen.

I looked up again as he threw a second at Kade, but the distance was too far and Kade slipped aside easily, caught it, and instead tossed it on Rogers. She growled as her body froze while she was still on the floor, in a crawling position as she had been trying to get up. She twisted her head, trying to move. Kade and Scott backed away from Henderson more but stayed near Rogers. I was too close to Henderson for them to attempt to help me.

Henderson looked at Rogers and sighed before looking at Sift in the Elite's hand as well. "So, thought you would surprise me with a little family reunion. That backfired didn't it. It is surprising that she's alive. I was told she died during an accident in training. She does seem a little young, maybe too long in cryo? No matter, you will all be coming with us too. Unfortunately I'd prefer if this whole situation stayed a secret from the UNSC and ONI."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I growled and tried my long range coms. Nothing. He noticed my head twitch slightly and said, "Don't bother trying your coms, we took care of that when we detected your presence. Now if you give us back Rogers and Grey, we promise we won't harm your team." he haughtily.

Kade, Scott, and Selina looked towards me as they waited for my command. I thought for a moment. I knew he wasn't going to hold up on his word entirely, but other than betraying his team member, he was surprisingly pretty trustworthy despite being a deserting bastard. He told us the truth about the ship and the city, why not this? On the other hand, we had two of his team, our only bargaining chips, and possibly the only other thing he cared about.

"What if we refuse?" I asked. He walked around me. "Well you don't really have a choice. As for your team, well they will be taken by force and possibly hurt or killed in the process. And to remind you, we have Sift. Your choice... Senior Chief." He said, drawing out my rank a bit longer than the rest of his sentence before turning back around. He gestured to the Elite and it took out an energy blade, bringing it closer to Sift. She squirmed and made choking noises, desperately trying to gasp for air but cut short as he tightened his hold. Her legs kicked helplessly in the air, beginning to become less and less lively. I grimaced and looked back towards my team. They shifted warily. I looked down to where my hand was so close to unlocking my armor. If I... could... just...

I know! I looked back up towards my team and nodded before whispering in our private local channel. "I'm going to free myself and delay Henderson, you guys free Sift and take out those Elites." They winked their acknowledgement lights. I started to clench my hand, desperately trying to move it a little closer. He turned back. "Make a choice Senior, you don't have much time." He gestured to the Elite again and it brought the blade closer, slowly closing the distance between it and her chest. She lifted her head more and tried hitting the Elite's arm to release in vain. She began to struggle harder again as her air was almost completely cut off.

I clenched my hand even harder. My muscles strained, I could feel the ones in my fingers painfully trying to move against the thousand pound armor I was wearing. It inched closed the tiniest bit and I immediately strained harder. The blade was less than 4 inches away now. Sift was losing her energy, her kicks and hits less and less hard. I could feel muscles beginning to tear. The tips of my fingers inched closer and closer together, the release less than a millimeter away. Two inches away from her chest. Her arms slipped off of trying to bend the Elite's arm, now only her fingers twitching. Her head began to sag. Henderson tapped his foot impatiently. I inched ever so infuriatingly closer and Henderson started to wave his hand to kill Sift.

Finally! I clicked the release. The rings disengaged and I dropped from my locked position. I launched myself at Henderson. In Spartan Time I saw Kade fire at the Elite, causing him to drop Sift. She immediately fell to the floor and started coughing.

I tackled Henderson and brought the device down towards his chest, trying to plant it on him. He grabbed my arm and desperately tried to keep it off of him. "How?" He choked out, grunting with effort. I leaned closer and said, "You underestimated me." and then punched him so hard with my left fist that he rolled from the impact over to my right side. I got up as he rolled and walked after him. He hurriedly pushed himself up but I grabbed him by the neck and slowly raised him above my head. He squirmed and coughed, trying to get air.

"We will find Kyle, and you will pay for your crimes against the UNSC. Consider this a warning." I dropped him and threw the device onto his chest. He froze on his back, hands on the floor to prop himself up. I have got to get me one of these devices. I thought as I looked over to the team. Kade was just in the process of knocking out the second Elite. Sift was leaning against the wall, and Scott was holding the Elite down. Selina was in a fight with the other Elite, trying to hold his sword arm off and punching it in the face. It stumbled backwards and I ran towards it. I passed a surprised Selina and jumped at the Elite. Twisting in mid-air, I round house kicked it in the face and landed facing it. Immediately I punched it hard in the stomach, pushing it back a few feet. Then running up to it I jumped, kicking it backwards with both feet and pushing off to do a backflip. As I landed one one knee, using my hand to steady me, the Elite slammed into the corner of the doorway and slid down, unconscious.

Scott walked up to me, "Showoff" he teased. I shook my head and stood up, looking towards Grey. He had begun to move, shaking his head but still unsteady. I walked over and pulled out my rifle, hitting his head with the butt of the gun. He slumped back to the floor. Too bad we don't have handcuffs, that'll have to do.

I walked over and gestured with my head towards the end of the hallway. "We don't have much time and we can't take them with us as they'll slow us down, Let's go." I said. They nodded and pulled Grey, Rogers, and Henderson to the wall. Rogers now hung her head, barely acknowledging Kade dragging her to the wall. I set off at a fast walk, still wary of the multiple doors lining the hallway. Sift stuck to the middle, with Kade last.

I was halfway to the end where Kyle was when I heard the sound of footsteps and Kade clicked his tongue to get my attention. Oh no. I turned around and saw Elite's running towards the group, freeing Rogers and Henderson. I turned around immediately and said, "Run."

We were totally vulnerable, the hallway had little protection and we needed to get Kyle before they realized we could track him. I ran as fast as I dared with the unknown doors around us. There was shouting and I risked a glance behind to see Henderson grab the laser. Kyle's door was only a few hundred feet away. I looked back again and saw him charge the electric barrel, firing. I stopped and went into Spartan Time, pushing each of my surprised team-mates just hard enough to the sides. The lightning arced towards me, spinning as it approached.

I managed to push Kyle aside and see Selina hit the wall out of the line of fire before the lightning struck me. My visor filled with static and I cried out as I was crumpled to my knees, held up only by the electricity paralyzing my body from the beam. Every nerve was electrified and very much in pain, the currents spreading all the way to my fingertips. I curled my fingers and shook with pain as electricity arced from my body to the ground. My wound felt like someone had lit it on fire and knifed me all over again.

Then the electrical current finally left my body and even though I was still in severe pain, I was no longer helplessly blind to the world. I stayed down on my hands and knees as I breathed heavily, my heart racing alarmingly fast. I looked up to see Henderson and the Elites watching me, surprised to see I wasn't incapacitated. I put a hand on one knee, and with the assistance of Kade, rose to my feet as we began to run again. Henderson's mind finally seemed to register that I had not been disabled by it and lowered the beam, spinning the cannon to a different type of energy.

I widened my eyes as I saw this looking back and ran closely behind my team. They ran behind the the only cover available, the wall corner, and waved me to hurry. I limped and held my side, almost there. But I knew it wouldn't matter. Ducking would do nothing, from my glance I could tell this barrel's energy beam was meant to spread out instead of staying contained in a line like the electricity. There was a buzzing noise and I glanced back just before I made it around the corner. The last thing I saw was a purple light and the shadowy forms of my team falling to the ground before it all went black.