Enemies Old and New

Before her stood everything Cassandra had been raised, trained, and conditioned to hate—and kill.

Tuka ‘Refum wore a simple combat harness that left his scaly arms exposed. It was hard to believe that this hideous, mandibled alien was barely more than a child by his species’ standards.

Tuka pulled one of the weapons from his back: an MA5 assault rifle. He offered it to Cassandra, stock first. She accepted it and instinctively checked its ammunition counter, finding it fully loaded. As her hands tightened around the weapon she felt a sudden, overwhelming urge to press the barrel against Tuka’s neck and pull the trigger. To accept help from one of the very aliens who had butchered her mother, her teammates, and untold billions of humans felt like spitting on the memories of all those countless dead. Her fingers trembled against the rifle’s safety.

“We must go,” Tuka said quickly, oblivious to the danger posed by the human he had just armed. “We need to regroup with the warrior Simon. He is alone.”

So he came here. She was not surprised. Simon had allied himself with an Elite and brought him here to fight against the UNSC, shifting allegiances just as he had done with the Insurrection. His duties as a Spartan, his loyalties as a human—there seemed to be no end to what Simon would not abandon to suit his own goals.

And if I leave here now, escape with him and Tuka, am I any different? She had thought herself content to passively submit to whatever punishment ONI would hand down, but now that there was a chance to save herself… even if that chance came in the form of a hated enemy…

Gunfire cracked in the hallway outside of her cell. Tuka stumbled with a yelp, shields flaring. One of the dark-armored ONI troopers raced into view, shotgun raised. The young Elite swung a desperate fist and knocked the man to the ground. Tuka’s sword hissed to life and he dropped to one knee, impaling his attacker.

Boots pounded down the hallway. Two more ONI troopers closed in on Tuka, assault rifles trained on the distracted Elite’s back.

There was no time to think. Cassandra brought the rifle to her shoulder and did what ONI had trained her to do.

The first trooper never saw it coming. The bullets took him in the head and he fell without a sound. The second trooper cried out as blood erupted from her shoulder. She turned towards Cassandra, eyes wide with shock. Cassandra put another burst through her torso and finished her off.

Tuka turned back to see the two humans dead behind him. He looked over at Cassandra, then back at the corpses, and shivered. “I owe you my life.”

“Don’t thank me.” Cassandra stepped out of the cell, rifle at the ready. There would be time for regrets and sorrows later. “We need to get my armor back. You cover me, I cover you. Let’s move.”