Due Payment

Voices rang out in the early morning sky, cutting through the thick and heavy air like a knife through butter. A bird-like creature known by the locals as a Kaski soared high above the rambunctious marketplace below, spotting for a perfect place to perch. As the majestic flyer settled down on a hanging bar, two conspicuous individuals pressed on their own journey beneath it.

One was a large Sangheili, burly and adorned in the golden harness of a Warrior from the long-deceased Covenant remnant of Jul ‘Mdama. The other was a Forerunner Ancilla, protected by a bloodred shell and an emerald-green eye. The former was a renowned mercenary by the name of Grono ‘Yendam, while the latter was his partner in crime, the artificial intelligence 589 Curious Puzzle. They had drawn attention to themselves everywhere they went on this planet so far, but not for normal reasons. This was the predominantly Sangheili colony of Righteous Cause, so Grono fit right in with his own kind. However, Puzzle was a rare sight, once known as an Oracle when the Sangheili were still in the Covenant. Some still believed in the Great Journey, and were awestruck at the mere sight of the intelligence.

Many might have tried to snatch away this valuable ancilla, if it were not for two obstacles. The first, was that Grono had a particular reputation on this world and several others for his assassination jobs, and second, was that Righteous Cause had a taboo on stealing the technology of others. The planet mainly served as a trade hub of technological goods, so stealing was much frowned upon, even by the lower classes. In the event of the recent Created uprising, an attempt by many artificial intelligences made by humans to enforce a kind of “Peace” upon the galaxy, most, if not all of the core trade worlds were rendered occupied by the new threat. Luckily, Righteous Cause was far out from them, and thus retained its freedom.

Grono and Puzzle had come here in search of new gadgets, as well as any items of value to decrypt. As they made their way through the maze of stalls selling goods such as datapads, archeological finds, and weapons, the jumbled cacophony of Sangheili, human, Unggoy, and Kig-Yar voices turned into a simultaneous chorus of gasps and yelps followed by an ear-splitting warping sound. CRACK!

Grono ‘Yendam warily turned to face the sight, while Puzzle rotated his spherical carapace around to join the Sangheili. The sight to greet them was a surprising one, to say the least. A pair of Promethean Knights, the most powerful soldiers in the Created’s army, were standing in front of them, surrounded by a crowd that had started to thin as more bystanders realized the threat of this duo. Another troubling thing was that they were both Knight Commanders, a much more powerful class than the average construct. With seemingly psychic abilities, the Knights immediately turned to face Grono and Puzzle, their metallic carapaces gleaming like gold in the faint sunlight.

“Grono ‘Yendam,” The smaller one said, its voice grinding like rusty gears. “You had taken something of the Created several months ago. They want it back. Hand it over, and we shall spare your life.”

Even though it was muddled, ‘Yendam could swear that the voice was familiar. Then the he connected the puzzle pieces. One Knight was shorter, while the other one was very tall. And with the voice sounding familiar, Grono knew it could only mean one thing. “I was not thinking I would ever meet you two again.”

“Nor we,” Answered the shorter Knight in kind.

“I still see that you are under the Created’s control, Chravezin. I suppose your brother Zevezin is as well,” Grono observed.

Chravezin stomped forward, still towering above Grono despite his stature. “The Created aim to bring peace to the galaxy. We could easily defect despite popular belief on the Prometheans, but we choose to stay. They have benefits that far outweighed the ones of serving you.”

By this time the only remaining market-goers were packing up their belongings, taking advantage of the banter while it lasted. Grono reached behind his back and pulled out his T-55 DER/A Storm Rifle, a powerful rapid-fire weapon that shot plasma bolts. Normally he had a much larger arsenal, but he had come here to purchase items, not kill a target. Cautiously bringing it up, as to avoid any notion of a sudden movement, ‘Yendam inclined his head slightly backwards to Puzzle to prepare his own defenses too.

“Judging by the occupations you held within your former lives, I was not under the assumption that you two would hold galactic peace so high up in your standards,” Grono stated coolly, taking a slight step backwards. “Nonetheless, your request does not align with my interests.”

And with that, the Sangheili mercenary launched himself up into the air with the Amraa Voto-pattern jetpack on his back, slicing through the settling fog with the grace of a newly smelted sword. Puzzle took off after him, whirring through the air with his anti-gravity module. As the pair ascended, suddenly a salvo of fiery energy shots pulsed out of the fog towards them, gaining steadily on the two. At the last second, Grono managed to strafe to the side with his jetpack, narrowly avoiding the cluster from down below. I should have anticipated those Incineration Cannons they have.

Turning to his comrade, Grono said, “Puzzle, let us make for our ship. We can then flee from them.”

“I believe that would be an inefficient plan, comrade,” Answered the Monitor, his unblinking eye resting on Grono. “They will just keep chasing us, until they hunt us down, or… We eliminate them first.”

“Excellent plan, Puzzle. I would be lost in the galaxy right now if it were not for you to guide me.”

Cutting the power on his jetpack, Grono leaned downwards before diving back towards the marketplace like a hawk swooping down on its prey. Puzzle followed suit, and the two hit the ground with a large thump behind the Twin Knight Commandos. Acting quickly, Grono pulled the trigger on his Storm Rifle, sending a barrage of plasma bolts at the nearer of the two Knights, Zevezin. The larger Knight growled like a wild animal, quickly moving to protect his vulnerable power cores, all the while bringing up his Incineration Cannon to fire.

“Hostile contact!” He roared, firing another salvo of energy towards the Sangheili. ‘Yendam leaped to the side, once again surviving the resulting explosion’s splash damage thanks to his personal energy shield. Chravezin joined his brother in firing, tearing down the abandoned market stalls in their attempt to slay the vicious mercenary. Grono saw his chance to strike back finally, and slid under Zevezin’s gargantuan hulk to fire at Chravezin’s exposed core. After a second of fire, the core burst like someone squeezing a pimple, and Chravezin screeched in pain, turning his damaged right side away from Grono to protect himself.

Zevezin produced an ear-splitting roar in anger at his brother’s harm, and leaped over to Grono. Brandishing his left forearm, which was in fact a superheated hardlight sword, the Knight said, “I’ll make this up close and personal for that, Sangheili.”

‘Yendam ducked the first swing from Zevezin’s blade, bringing up his Storm Rifle, only for Zevezin to grab it with a second set of previously encase secondary arms. Throwing it aside, Zevezin stomped on the weapon, shattering it to bits and pieces. “Unarmed, are you?”

Without a second thought, the Commando swung his blade again, only for Grono to block it. Mounted to the Sangheili’s wrist was a newly-activated energy dagger, just barely managing to hold off the much more powerful hardlight blade. Before Zevezin could push through with his attack, Grono sidestepped, activating his jetpack to get a new angle while Puzzle fought off the wounded Chravezin. Jumping up, Grono failed to deliver on his flying movement, as he heard a crackle and a searing pain through his back as Zevezin sliced his jetpack in half. Hurtling towards the ground, Grono held his hands out in front of himself to cushion the fall.

Rolling out of the way to avoid another slice from Zevezin, Grono leapt to his feet, only for the behemoth to swipe him aside like a cat with a mouse. As ‘Yendam crashed through a stall, he gazed up at the emotionless, metallic facemask of the towering Knight Commando. ''I refuse to believe that this could be the end. Where is Puzzle when one needs him?'' As Zevezin drew back his blade to lunge through Grono’s chest, straight between his two hearts, a blast of energy similar to the twin Knight Commando’s own hit him straight in the back, knocking him off balance. Ah, there he is.

‘Yendam took his chance while he could, sprinting into an alleyway between two primitive-looking warehouses. Exiting on the other side, Grono evaded a blast from behind him as Zevezin caught up. Landing next to an abandoned workbench, the Sangheili turned his sights to the sky as Puzzle descended.

“You took a modestly long time, Puzzle.”

“Apologies, comrade. I did not want to end up hitting you, so I had to wait for the right moment.”

Grono acknowledged the apology and turned, spying a weapon on the bench. It was small and unappealing compared to his storm rifle, but it was still a weapon. Grono snatched the gun from its perch, noting how the plasma battery seemed to take up most of the weapon’s mass. It had not one, not two, but three barrels at its front, as well as a small grip. It was clearly Sangheili, as Grono could recognize the craftsmanship from some merchants he had purchased from her several months prior, but it seemed more like a large, compact submachine gun more than a full-fledged rifle.

“This will have to do.”

‘Yendam powered up the gun, whipping around to fire at Zevezin, who had just arrived on the scene. Unexpectedly, the weapon fired off multiple plasma bolts from each barrel, streaking towards the Knight Commando. Zevezin couldn’t avoid it in time and his armor dented and steamed under its rain of fire. The Knight slowly made his way forward, his armor becoming more and more mangled with each step. Grono then flicked his newfound gun to the right, immediately setting one of Zevezin’s cores ablaze. The Commander screamed, dropping to the ground with the likeness of an anvil, when his brother finally returned for his second debut.

Chravezin came down from a rooftop screaming like the engines of a Banshee, slamming into the ground and hurtling Grono off his feet. ''The Commandos keep knocking me around as if I were a simple Unggoy. It is time to end this.'' Grono shook off a wave of disarray, firing at Chravezin’s remaining core. The power source quickly collapsed, destroying the majority of the Knight’s carapace. With his final core now exposed, Chravezin looked pleadingly towards Grono.

“Now, now, ‘Yendam. No one will be forced to kill each other if you just hand over the Ancilla…”

“I do not believe you are in a position to make bargains, Chravezin,” Grono retorted, preparing to finish off the Promethean with his new weapon.

In a final effort to save his brother, Zevezin leapt in the way of the plasma barrage, sustaining heavy damage in consequence of his selfless act. Collapsing with a dull thud, the Knight Commando turned to his twin. “Brother, we must retreat if we are to survive.”

Chravezin silently nodded, folding himself up like a piece of paper and teleporting away. Grono turned to fire off a last shot at Zevezin, but he followed suit of his brother, and in an instant both of the Knights were gone. Turning to Puzzle, the Sangheili stated, “I believe we are done here.”

“Indeed,” replied Puzzle.

Examining the intriguing weapon he had claimed, Grono detached both of the side barrels, musing to himself before returning them to their sockets. “What kind of weapon do you make this to be Puzzle?”

“Oh, that is a Type-56 Light Directed Energy Weapon, or Plasma Striker as most call it,” Answered the Ancilla. “I thought you had looked at the bench you had taken it from already, didn’t you?”

‘Yendam ignored the babble and departed towards the nearest exit of the marketplace. Walking through the assortment of abandoned tents and stands, he beckoned for 859 to follow him. As they made their way out of the complex, Grono said, “An interesting weapon to be sure, however.”