Tenacity

The sky of the alien world was dark, save for the bright shade of crimson that emanated from the horizon. The shade was same hue as the pools of blood that surrounded Mrovo ‘Tenomee as he slowly traversed the alien city, a small team of Sangheili trailing him. Many of the humans were slaughtered during the major conflict, and now the sounds of battle fell silent. He and his team were specially sent to clear out any remaining vermin before the arrival of the Holy Prophet of Innocence. The holy one would oversee the destruction of this planet, like he had for several others before.

‘Tenomee stepped over a gore-ridden human corpse, eyes darting around the thin, awkward corridor he walked. His talons gripped the handle of his energy sword tightly, readying himself for any sort of attack. A muted noise stopped him in his tracks before he reached the end of the corridor. The Sangheili turned towards the area of the noise, coming face-to-face with a small white door. Behind it, he heard the faintest sounds of footsteps. ‘Tenomee ignited his energy sword, cutting through the locking mechanism of the door, and then knocking it down with one swift and mighty kick. The door flew from its frame, landing in the interior of the small room with a loud thud. He charged in the room while the inhabitants were still in shock. The loud pops of a small handgun sounded off, and a few rounds bounced off his shielding. ‘Tenomee immediately spotted the human male assailant and charged, not giving him the luxury to react as he thrust the sword through the male’s abdomen. A blur caught ‘Tenomee’s attention, and he craned his head to see another human dive for the weapon the male had dropped. He kicked the dead male off the end of his sword, and advanced towards the other human, this time a female. She fired the weapon until it began to click. In a fray of panic, the female threw the useless weapon at ‘Tenomee and retreated, looking around frantically. The Sangheili dodged the thrown weapon and continued the advance, slashing the female with the end of his blade. She fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding stomach but continued to try to fight, clawing at the Sangheili’s legs feebly. ‘Tenomee glanced down at the wounded female, plunging the sword into her chest without a second thought. The female ceased movement after a few moments.

He scanned around the area, seeing no more threats. Vermin though these humans were, he noticed they fought with a tenacity and furiousness worthy of some honor. These two humans in particular, he thought while looking at their corpses, clung to life in the face of death more ferocious than others of their species had. ‘Tenomee briefly wondered why, before his eyes fell onto a small form, hunkered in a shadowed corner of the room that he now just noticed. The human whimpered as it locked eye contact with ‘Tenomee.