Halo: Mercy Kill

Prologue
//AUGUST 9TH, 2555\\

//UNSC POINT OF NO RETURN, SOL SYSTEM\\

//0220 HOURS\\

The elevator doors slid open. SPARTAN-071 stepped out, accompanied by a spook who had briefly identified himself as 'Rion'. He led her down the main corridor. Whatever this was that ONI had called here here for, it was big. crewmen and technicians stepped aside, staring, as she walked calmly past. Most SPARTAN-II's had either gone missing or were killed in the final years of the war. Of course, 'Missing in Action' would be the official cover for all.

The Spook led her to a door, and swiped a keycard. An amber light shone on the pad, and a small, blue-lighted camera protruded from the console. It regarded them for a few seconds before retracting. After a series of metallic clicks, the door opened. Rion saluted the Spartan, and walked off. "Not high enough clearance, huh?". She stepped inside. It was a large, circular room, dominated by a large table. Four men sat on one side. She removed her helmet and sat down; the chair creaked slightly.

After a few seconds, the door closed again. No one spoke a word until it did. "Commander Elena-071, SPARTAN-II of Sigma-Beta Division" said the oldest, a man with thinning black hair. Elena guessed he was no more than fifty.

"Yes sir" She responded.

"I am Admiral John Hawkins" He gestured to his right. "This is Vice-Admiral Joseph Harris, Captain Ryan Samson and First Lieutenant Richard Mack Junior". They nodded in turn. Elena noticed that they were all quite young for their ranks, barring Mack, whom she had met before. Most of the top UNSC Brass had been killed when Reach fell and Earth was attacked.

Hawkins slid a datapad over the table to her. "We have a very sensitive assignment for you". She scanned the contents. "Operation: ASHES" Continued the Admiral. "We already have a small team picked out for this assignment. You are required to lead and carry out the primary objective. Turn to page 11, please".

Elena did so. As a Spartan, she had been trained from a young age to conceal her emotions, but this was too much. She gasped at what she saw. It was a planet, or rather, it had been until the Covenant had showed up. There were half a dozen pictures on the screen, first of the colony, Schönheit. Despite it's harsh-sounding name, the planet was named Beauty by it's Germanic settlers.

The following pictures were of the Covenant attack. Elena knew what had happened: she had been there, barely escaping with her life. Eventually, the Planet was nothing but a ball of glass. That had been ten years ago. It was the final pictures that shocked the usually calm and collected Spartan. It was of life.

"These were taken from high orbit from our spy probes in high orbit. They also managed to intercept a looping transmission"

"When?"

"Two days ago. Since then, we've had several of our top AI's look over both the images and the transmission, and they have confirmed our worst fears"

The final picture was of several dozen figures, undoubtedly Covenant, following a single man in Black armour. A Spartan. There were also several circular purple structures around them.

"Do we have a positive identification on who it is, sir?"

Hawkins nodded. "Page 14, please"

It was him. The page listed the Career Service Vitae of Pierre-127: All his campaign records, missions, armour and weapon requests. Everything had been unclassified for this file and this file alone. Elena noticed that his status had been changed: From a yellow MIA to a white AWOL. Ten years ago, Sigma-Beta, their team, had been sent to Schönheit to recover data from a scientific team there on new MJOLNIR Armour. She, Pierre, and Hank-136 had managed to extract the data, but at a cost.

Hank had been hit in the torso by a Hunter's fuel rod blast, sending him off into the canyon that sat at the side of the facility, and Pierre, who had been covering Elena as she made a run for their dropship, had offered to stay behind. Elena had managed to escape, barely, to the Prowler waiting for them as Schönheit was glassed.

"Can I hear the transmission, sir?" she asked. Hawkins pressed a button, and a voice came through a small set of speakers.

"This is a message, to all who may hear me. UNSC, Covenant, I don't give a damn. I am...I was, SPARTAN Pierre-127, of Sigma Beta Team. Not any more. This message is a warning to stay the hell away from Schönheit. This planet, is mine. The weapons here, are mine."

The transmission began to repeat. Hawkins switched it off. That was Pierre. His voice sounded slightly hoarse, but it was him. A rogue SPARTAN-II

"What do you want me to do with him?"

"Kill him". This had come from Vice Admiral Harris. "He is declared himself an enemy of the UNSC, and is apparently sitting on a stockpile of unknown weapons. This Spartan is a huge threat"

Elena nodded. She wished she had kept her helmet on. She was working hard to keep a neutral face. "Who am I going in with?"

"I've had Lieutenant Mack here pick out a team of seven ODST's to accompany you"

"That's it?"

"We also have another SPARTAN-II waiting. He's already been briefed"

"Copy that sir. When do we leave?"

"Admiral Harris will take you on his Destroyer, the UNSC Grievous. Dismissed, Commander". Hawkins deactivated the datapad.

Elena stood up, placing her helmet on as she did so. The door slid open, allowing her to exit before sliding shut, leaving the officers in their secure conference room. Her fists clenched. She really, really wanted to punch something right now, but this was her duty. If Pierre, her friend, who had sacrificed himself to save her, had gone rogue, then so be it. If she had to kill him, then she would. Doing what was necessary was not always doing what was right.

"Hey" a voice came from her right. Lieutenant Junior Grade Kane-099 leant against a wall. "Let's get this mission over with"

Elena's visor depolarised. she gave a weak smile. "He must have gone mad, right?"

Kane turned away. He rarely took his helmet off. "It's a mercy kill. Nothing more, nothing less".

Chapter 1
//AUGUST 11TH, 2555\\

//UNSC GRIEVOUS, HURST SYSTEM\\

//1400 HOURS\\

"Mission top secret, destination unknown. Typical."

For an ODST though, this was almost always standard procedure. Lieutenant Ash Mitchell knew this better than most. Three years ago, he had been one of the first troops to hit the ground on the Ark. Of course, ONI had hushed it up, but the few surviving troopers of that battle knew what had gone on.

Mitchell, then a corporal, had been one of three survivors of his 12-man platoon that had dropped onto the construct. Though he had never personally seen the Spartan who had won the battle for the UNSC there, he had done his part. Three years on, and it was like nothing had ever happened. Humanity may not be on the brink of extinction any more, but the missions were still the same. The elevator door opened, and he stepped out into the troop bay where the rest of his team were waiting.

Six Orbital Drop Shock Troopers sat around the room. Three were playing cards. One appeared to be asleep, with two others going over the weapon racks. Mitchell cleared his throat. "Let's move boys!". That seemed to snap them out of their relaxed state. They changed visibly into what was generally called 'battle mode'. One of the troopers approached him. His armour was visibly scarred and dented; Orange stripes adorned his bulky shoulder plates.

"Ash Mitchell?"

"Yes"

"Not sure if you remember me. Mal Roberts, fought with you back in '52"

"Didn't you die?"

"Don't think so, sir."

"Good to see you here, then. Too many rookies these days" replied Mitchell, gesturing to the three younger troopers, who were squabbling over who got the Shotgun. Eventually, another veteran with green-coloured shoulder armour wrested it from their grips, and walked away without a word.

"Form up!"

The troopers got into line, putting on their helmets as they did so. Mitchell began walking slowly past them. "Name and rank!" he barked.

"Corporal Mal Roberts, Sir!" Orange EOD. SMG and Missile Launcher.

"Private George Calzaghe, Sir!" Dark Blue Shoulders. BR and Magnum.

"Private Bill Cross, Sir!" Green Shoulders. Shotgun and Magnum. Another Vet.

"Private Mike Green, Sir!" Brand new armour. Sniper and SMG.

"Private Yin Maxwell, Sir!" Light Blue Shoulders, CQC Variant. SMG and Magnum.

"Sergeant Vincent Angelo, Sir!" 'Recon' variant helmet. BR and Magnum.

"Angelo, what unit did you come here from?"

"ODST Pathfinders, Sir. Sixteen jumps". That was good enough for Mitchell. For a moment he worried that they had sent an ONI Spook in with them. That would mean they were heading into all kinds of mysterious and classified crap. Angelo spoke up. "Lieutenant, do you know where the hell we're being sent?"

"Okay. Definitely not a Spook. Good." Mitchell turned and shrugged. "Nearest I can tell, sergeant, is that It's some kind of torch and burn op. Covvie remnants, probably". Angelo sighed. Maxwell groaned. "I thought we'd won, sir. We did win, didn't we?" Mitchell shrugged again. "They better had won. He didn't get carted all round the Galaxy and beyond, lost more friends and family than he could count for nothing".

"ONI points, and we go. We're helljumpers".

Roberts joined in. "Well, ell-tee, at least it'll be quick, right? The seven of us go in, blow shit up, and leave. No Spooks interfering, no complications, no-" He stopped. Mitchell could see his smile falter behind his depolarised visor. He turned around. Two SPARTAN-II Commandos, clad in jet black MJOLNIR Armour, stood behind him.

"Good work Lieutenant, I see the fireteam is ready for the drop. Let's get this mission done".

It was a female voice. Her identification listed her as having the rank of Commander. The other was a Lieutenant, Junior Grade. He snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes ma'am!". The other ODST's immediately headed for their pods. The other Spartan, armed with a sniper rifle and AR, took the end pod. Right next to his. The Commander headed for a pod in the middle. Mitchell noticed that she carried two SMG's, and a Battle Rifle.

The Lieutenant clambered into his pod. The door snapped shut behind him. He recited the typical ODST Mantra. "Troopers, we are green, and very, very mean!" The pod dropped as the accompanying "ooh-rah's" sounded over the COM.

The nine HEV's dropped through the atmosphere toward the ruined planet.

Chapter 2
//AUGUST 11TH, 2555\\

//SCHÖNHEIT, HURST SYSTEM\\

//1416 HOURS\\

"Ten seconds people, look sharp!"

The pod shook and juddered as it headed towards the designated landing zone. Mitchell activated manual control, attempting to steer the pod as it descended. The Commander's voice came in calmly over the COM.

"Everyone allright?"

Affirmatives were grunted back to her. In his head, the Lieutenant counted down the seconds as his pod approached the ground. It slowed slightly as the breaking rockets engaged, and the ODST gritted his teeth before the pod smashed into the dirt, along with eight others.

The pod door flew open, landing several meters away. Mitchell pulled himself out, grabbing his battle rifle as he did so. The ground was covered in ash; the horizons stretching out as far as he could see. There was no life here. This was an empty, desolate world.

Around him, the others were getting out of their pods. Everyone seemed to be fine. Mitchell had known several ODST's who had ended up 'digging their own graves'. Elena-071 walked next to him. Her visor was depolarised. She looked round, taking in the dead world. The only sounds were that of the wind.

"Welcome to Schönheit" She whispered. The Lieutenant noticed the tenseness in her. She immediately brought out her datapad. The others gathered round. The rookie, Green, had thrown up after he fell out of his pod. He looked a little shaky.

Kane made a sweeping motion with his gauntleted hand. "Echo, move east, two metre spread"

A waypoint appeared on the ODST's HUD's. It was about half a mile away. The group slowly began to move forward, trudging through the ashen waste in silence. The Commander took point, while Mitchell remained near the back, with Private Green.

"You allright?" he asked.

The private nodded. "I'll be fine for the mission, sir"

"How many drops have you done?"

"This is my third combat drop".

Either the kid was something spectacular on the ground or the UNSC was truly running short on Helljumpers. For a mission like this, he would have expected veterans. Green unslung his Sniper rifle.

"You any good with that thing, private?"

Green checked the sights. "Damn good, sir. Top marksman in training. You know one time we-"

He dropped down, raising the rifle as he did so. The commander had held her hand up, and had gone into a prone position. Edging forward, he found that the ground beneath simply disappeared a few feet ahead, dropping into a chasm. How had they not seen it earlier?

The constant swirling dust and ash must have obscured their vision, and looking down, Mitchell could see it swirling around his knees. Had he been standing, he wouldn't have been able to see his boots. Elena glanced over the edge.

"It's not too steep. We should be able to rappel down without a problem. Then we move on to the main objective"

That seemed fair enough. Not that they knew what their 'mission' was. The Commander was keeping quiet about that. "Is she a Spook or a Spartan?" he wondered. During the war, there had been a lot of tension, even rivalry between the Helljumpers and the Spartans. Some incident had happened years back, before Mitchell's time.

Without warning, Elena jumped over the precipice and into the chasm below. There was a thud as she hit the ground. "How do they do that without breaking their legs?"

"Looks good. Lieutenant, you first. Kane will go last".

Mitchell took out a length of rope from his pack, and handed it to Kane-099, who began tying it to a nearby boulder. He gave Mitchell a thumbs up. The male Spartan hadn't said a word so far. Affixing the rope to a clip on his belt, Mitchell backed towards the cliff edge, and, taking a deep breath, jumped.

Chapter 3
The ODST's had made it down safely. The Commander was waiting patiently for them, sitting on a rock at the base of the crevice. The moment the last, Sergeant Angelo, had hit the dirt, the rope coiled up and Kane jumped down, just as Elena had. He handed the rope to Lieutenant Mitchell.

Elena began to walk away, still heading east. Fireteam Echo followed in her tracks, looking around warily. According to the local clock in his HUD, it was only 3pm, but the sky overhead was getting dark. They continued in silence, carefully stepping over rocks. Eventually, they came to an opening. Elena stepped through first, Mitchell close behind. He froze.

"I don't believe it"

Below them, at the base of the rocky valley, was a large metallic structure, partially buried. Two long prongs extended into the sky. A thin river snaked through the base of the valley. The Commander put two fingers to the side of her helmet, activating her camera recorder. The other ODST's stood by. Green unslung his sniper rifle, and began to survey it at range.

Elena tapped on her Datapad. "This wasn't here on the scans yesterday. There has been some serious seismic activity in the past 24 hours"

"Commander, I've got eyes on possible hostile forces" said Green, a trace of nervousness in his voice.

The soldiers drew their weapons at this. Kane immediately crouched down next to Green, attaching a large silencer to his rifle. Silencers were very rarely seen among Snipers in UNSC forces, though they were often needed. He passed one to Green, who began to awkwardly affix it to his own. Then, he spoke.

"Six Jackals. Beam rifles. Patrolling in threes on two separate towers. Right?"

"Seven"

Kane seemed surprised. He glanced back again, speaking in his low voice. "I'll find him. Permission to fire, Commander?"

"Granted"

Muffled shots rang out from both the rifles. Lieutenant Mitchell couldn't see the targets. Elena beckoned for the others to follow her as she began to run down the rocky slope into the valley. Kane's surprised voice came through the COM.

"How the hell did you do that?!"

"I told you there were seven, sir. Aimed to hit through the first two"

"Okay... All targets down Commander"

"Copy that" she replied. Elena crouched down by a rock. The fireteam gathered round her. "Okay, it's about to get hot, so I'm going to give you the overview. Our operation is to assassinate a rebel dissident who is currently allied with Covenant forces"

"Is that all?" thought Mitchell. He'd done assassinations before, and though this one may be a little strange, it was nothing they couldn't handle.

"The target is a rogue Spartan, Pierre-127. He is well trained, dangerous, and likely insane"

"Oh Fuck".

Chapter 4
The Jackals had been taken out before they could react. This was still a silent op. The ODST's were nervous, there was no doubting that. No one had said anything since Elena had informed them of their target. Kane and Green rejoined them at the base of the Jackal lookout tower at the entrance to the valley.

"Kane, get up to those cliffs and scope out the area". The Male Spartan nodded, jumped fifteen feet into the air towards the cliff, and began scaling it. Again, Mitchell was amazed, watching half a ton of black-coloured armour scale the mountainside towards their target.

Elena took out her Battle Rifle and slid down a rocky embankment to the base of the valley. Mitchell and the ODST's followed her, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Kane's voice came through again.

"I've sighted the enemy encampment. At least a dozen buildings around the unknown structure. Confirmed more Jackals walking around, grunts too, I'm guessing at least a few hundred judging by the size of the compound. Orders?"

Elena kept walking, silently. As she walked, dirt became grass and several young trees came into view. "How is this possible?" Sergeant Angelo asked, reaching out to touch one. "This place was glassed, wasn't it?"

Elena still remained silent. The squad turned to the Spartan. There was no sound other than the faint howling of the wind in the ashen cliffs above. Without warning, she dived to the side, a burst of heat occupying the position she had been standing in.

"Ambush!"

Plasma bolts sizzled through the air as the soldiers dived for cover. Elena fired several bursts from her rifle, dropping several incoming grunts. Mitchell, Angelo and Maxwell had taken up a prone position, while Green and Roberts fell back to get a better angle. There was a shout of pain as Calzaghe was hit in the leg. He dropped to one knee, drawing his magnum as he did so. Several more grunts were blown away by his fire as Private Cross, blasting away with his shotgun, began to drag him back towards the others.

Angelo ran forwards, grabbing Calzaghe's left arm. The Commander had dissapeared, though gunshots could be heard from within the treeline. A crack of sniper fire from the cliffs above signalled Kane's arrival. The smaller aliens fell back, shrieking, under the hail of gunfire from the team. Calzaghe had been injected with a painkiller, and was attempting to shoot back from behind a nearby rock. Within another minute, the area was clear. Mitchell signalled for Cross and Roberts to take point while he went to check on Calzaghe.

"How are you doing, private?"

The ODST had removed his helmet. Maxwell was checking his wound. It had been a glancing blow, but had obviously been very painful. Beneath his armour, his skin was scorched and blistering. "Thank God for the painkillers" he thought. Mitchell had been hit three times with plasma, twice in the chest, and once in the arm. He had also taken a brute spiker round through the arm during fighting on the Ark. He'd survived that, and seen others take worse. This was nothing.

"Can you stand?" Behind him, Green was clambering onto one of the rocks, his rifle scope scanning the treeline beyond the dozens of grunt corpses. Calzaghe pulled himself to his feet, shakily. He tested the weight on his right leg. He winced for a moment, gritted his teeth and put his helmet on.

"Ready to go, Lieutenant"

Mitchell nodded. He activated his COM.

"Commander, what's your location? We're ready to move"

Elena's voice came back after a few seconds. She was breathing heavily. "Mitchell, I'm under heavy fire, there were more of them than I thought. Get your team into a defensive position, you've got-"

Static cut through and the COM went silent.

The ODST slammed a fresh clip into his rifle. "You heard the lady, boys. Angelo, take Roberts and scout out those foothills to the west. We need-"

"El-Tee, Six!"

Mitchell span round, instinctively firing a burst from his BR. The air in front of him shimmered as a huge alien sprang towards him, two swords of blue energy sizzling in each hand. The bullet's impact slowed the Elite's momentum, causing it to roll to the side, roaring in frustration. Several more had also circled round them, swords ready. Another leapt at him, and was struck in the neck by two sniper rounds. Green reloaded.

Everything seemed to travel in slow motion. The Elites moved as one, jumping at the ODST's. Cross was kicked to the ground, and as his attacker moved in, it's neck sprouted a knife, courtesy of Private Maxwell. Three of them moved in on Green, who had been the first to fell one of their own. He jumped down from the rock, rolling as he hit the grass.

Mitchell noticed another shimmer to his left, and begun firing as it charged. The Elite's shields dissipated feet from him, the fifth burst penetrating it's helmet, splattering blood and brain matter into a tree. Drawing his SMG, he began firing at his right, towards one attempting a stealth approach. It rolled under his fire, raising it's fist as tried to swing his rifle round.

"Too Slow".

The fist connected, cracking his visor and propelling him backwards into the dirt, mere meters beyond the lush, green land that had sprung up. The ODST's head swam as he attempted to raise his SMG. He had dropped his BR in his short flight. The Elite stalked towards him, his energy sword held low. As his vision blurred in and out of focus, he could see the rest of Fireteam Echo fighting for their lives. Calzaghe was sprawled on the floor, either unconscious or dead. Green was fighting two at once; a rifle butt smashing into one, before he dived under the legs of another.

They were fighting bravely, like true warriors. No wonder they had been hand-picked for this mission. The Elite, clad like the others in maroon-tinted armour, was getting closer. "If I can just get a few shots in...". The SpecOps Elites were notorious for their stealth ambushes, but in general had weaker shields.

"Just...a few...shots"

Mitchell's hand shot to his holster, drawing out his Magnum. As he levelled it, the Elite picked up speed.

Blam

Blam

Blam

"Shields down"

Click

Click.

"Jammed. Fuck".

The Elite roared in triumph, raising it's sword in anticipation. It was only feet away. Mitchell groaned. "Death by shitty malfunction. I survived the damn war for this?". There was a blur of black as the elite crumpled to the ground. A Spartan, crouched, both feet on the elite's neck. In each hand she held a SMG. A head raised. The visor of the CQB helmet depolarised for a second, revealing a pale face, and two firey eyes. He gave a weak thumbs up. Commander Elena-071 nodded, the visor polarised, and with a final snap, she backflipped off of the elite, landing gracefully before darting towards the other aliens.

"An Angel of Death" He thought. Everything seemed to hurt. He rolled over, and struggled to his knees. His rifle was still on the floor feet away. To his left, the tall grass parted, as if moved aside by an invisible force. Invisible.

There was a final, quick blur of motion. Ash Mitchell blacked out.

Chapter 5
"Ow".

Mitchell lay face down on the cold, metallic floor. His armour had been removed, and a pair of manacles held his arms behind his back. There was a faint hiss of energy from them. These must have been used for Covenant prisoners, not that they took many human ones during the war.

The Lieutenant rolled over, and sat up, his vision clearing as he took in his surroundings. They appeared to be in some kind of cavern, the metal walls blending seamlessly with the rock around them. He was in a cell of some kind. A Covenant energy barrier blocked the door. Two others sat slumped nearby: Maxwell and Calzaghe. The latter was still unconscious. Maxwell was against the wall. His face was heavily bruised. He looked up at Mitchell. The area around one eye was puffy and swollen; the other one seemed undamaged, save for a jagged cut below it.

"Wakey wakey, ell-tee". Maxwell grinned despite his injuries.

"What happened?"

"They knocked you and Calzaghe out, dragged you off. I tried to pursue, but the big one that had you beat the crap out of me and grabbed me too"

Mitchell was surprised at the young man's tenacity. Last he had seen, he was stabbing an elite in the back. Maxwell looked towards the door.

"They just threw me back in a few minutes ago, looks like they weren't too happy about my knifing skills. They were pissed at Green too, but they couldn't touch the kid. I swear, he coulda been a Spartan"

"What about the others?"

"When the Commander and Kane got back, they ran for it into the forest. Last I saw, they were still fighting the grunt reinforcements"

The sound of footsteps grew louder outside. The door shield deactivated and three of the elites stepped in, their Plasma repeaters trained on the troopers. The largest, in white SpecOps armour, spoke, in guttural English.

"With us, humans. Now". Brodie-001