Halo: Indelible Past/Chapter Thirty-Two

Felix didn't need to wait for Rosch's orders. He aimed beyond the Sangheili and fired directly at Kahn. The assassin ducked low, keeping the moving alien between himself and Felix. His battle rifle kicked up a staccato rhythm, punching holes in the wall behind Venter and G294. The rebel and ex-Spartan fell together to avoid the gunfire as the G294 lookalike sprang to his feet and moved to help Venter.

"Lieutenant Commander, take Kahn!" Rosch ordered belatedly. "G293, G299, cover him!"

But his orders were cut off as a sniper round blew past his helmet. The small fighter, undoubtedly the girl from New Madrigal, skirted along the outskirts of the melee that had broken out between Venter, G294, his look-alike, and the Sangheili.

"Nimue!" he heard Cassandra yell. "Run!"

Ralph fired his shotgun, throwing off the girl's aim as she leapt nimbly to the side. Beside him, Jake hesitated. "What about the Sangheili, sir?"

"Collateral damage," Rosch said at once. "I take full responsibility. Open fire."

"Sir," the Spartan grunted tersely, raising his assault rifle.

"Jake, no!" Cassandra pleaded. "Don't..."

An anguished snarl split the air, cutting Jake's indecision short. Venter and the G294 lookalike had broken away from the fighting and were sprinting down the corridor. Kahn let loose a flurry of battle rifle shots that sent the Spartans scattering, then darted after them. The girl with him broke off and fired a few more suppression shots with her rifle as she joined in the pursuit. All four vanished through the door.

The Sangheili leaned against the wall, a knife protruding from his chest. The battered G294--the real one--caught the slumping alien and helped him slide into a sitting position.

"Go, Simon," Felix heard the Sangheili wheeze. "Take your vengeance."

G294 nodded and turned to run. Felix and Jake brought their assault rifles to bear, but the Sangheili lurched upwards with a sudden burst of strength and blocked their line of fire. Felix's finger jerked instinctively away from the trigger, but Jake put a quick burst through the Sangheili's leg that sent him sprawling. The Spartan-III took aim at G294's back, only to have his shot blocked again--this time by the ragged scrap of a girl that had been with G294 in the news recording.

One look at the girl's terrified eyes told Felix it wouldn't take much to break her resolve. He aimed at the ceiling just above her...

"One more step and she dies, G294."

All eyes turned to Rosch, whose pistol was pointed not at the urchin girl but at Cassandra's visor. Halfway down the hall, G294 stopped and turned back. In the hall's flickering light, Felix finally got a good look at his target.

G294 was a mess. His prosthetic arm dangled slightly, its shoulder stained red from a wound he seemed to have taken. His hair and clothes were matted with dirt and dried blood, and a bandage had been wrapped around his head to cover his left eye. Without his augmentations, he'd have already passed out from the sheer extent of the damage to his body.

"You bastard," G294 hissed through clenched teeth. His remaining eye burned with rage, but Felix could see fear there as well. The ex-Spartan's body was quivering, caught between a hideous desire to run and the gun that was pointed at Cassandra's head.

"You have your shot," Rosch told Jian. "Take him."

"Gladly," Ralph grunted, drawing his sidearm. "This is for fifteen years of humiliation."

"If you fire," the Sangheili coughed in English. "Your commander dies." From the floor, he aimed an M6 service pistol at Rosch.

Rosch sighed. "Someone shoot the alien again."

"I will kill you before they can do away with me," the Sangheili promised. "Let them go. Both of them."

Rosch's helmet cocked for a moment, but his pistol didn't dip so much as an inch. "Then shoot me," he informed the alien coldly. "Jian, kill G294 now."

G294 blinked rapidly. "You bastards," he spat. "You bastards, he's going to shoot Cassandra!"

"Not if we shoot you first," Jake said quietly. "I'm sorry, Simon, but you brought this on yourself."

If looks could kill, Felix had no doubt he, Rosch, and the rest of Jian would have been cut down where they stood by the look of pure hate the traitor shot them. "And I'm the one they send hit squads after," he hissed.