Life Debt

Captain James O'Neill felt naked. He was off-duty, out of his ODST armor, and far away from UNSC space, surrounded by Sangheili, friendly and... not so friendly. The only real familiarity were a few human volunteers fighting with the Swords of Sangheilios, but he knew none of them personally.

O'Neill had managed to provide Valkyrie Company some leave after a year and a half of nonstop combat, dealing with Covenant remnants and Insurrections. After briefly visiting the few relatives he had, O'Neill had decided to travel to Sangheilios, to observe the war there and get to know more about Sangheili culture, which he had become increasingly interested in since the war. Tagging along with a group of human volunteers to Sangheilios, O'Neill had enjoyed touring ancient Sangheili temples (closely observed by guards, of course), seeing close-up the intense skirmishes between the SOS and the remaining Covenant factions, and even briefly met with the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam.

But now, he was pinned down inside one of the aforementioned Sangheili temples, surrounded and being protected by people he didn't know and warriors he had had within his rifle sights just two years prior. For the first time since Delta Halo, he was terrified. Not the typical shock you get after nearly getting killed, but cold, unrelenting fear. There was just no way he was going to die out here, away from his home, his men, his family.

He was rocked back to reality when a plasma grenade went off, spewing human and Sangheili blood everywhere. He stumbled to his feet, raised his M6 and began firing. A nearby Elite officer was speaking in his native tongue through the comms, before being silenced by a plasma beam.

O'Neill gulped and continued firing until he heard a distinctive click, signalling that the pistol was empty.

"Fuck," he said dropping the pistol as a particularly bloodthirsty looking remnant Elite lurched towards him, plasma rifle in hand. He bumped into another member of the SoS, wielding an energy sword as a last resort. From what O'Neill could see they were the only two survivors. Preparing for what seemed to be inevitable death, O'Neill sighed and closed his eyes. A plasma shot went off.

But he wasn't dead. He opened his eyes to see the Elite in front of him was distinctively missing a head. The body collapsed, and a plasma firefight ensued. O'Neill dove to the ground, but was grabbed by something. He turned to see a Sangheili ranger staring him in the face.

"Lieutenant O'Neill!" the ranger shouted joyfully.

"'Mumaii...?" O'Neill responded nervously.

"Yes! How glad I am to see you again! When I heard you were with this group I just had to come help!" The ranger looked over, firing his plasma rifle at a nearby Grunt before throwing O'Neill and himself behind a felled ancient pillar. "So I guess we are even now, yes?" O'Neill flashed back to his time on the Ark, where he had saved 'Mumaii from the hammer of a Brute Chieftain.

"I guess so. But we have to get out of here first."

"No problem!" 'Mumaii handed O'Neill a spare plasma rifle. "It will be just like old times!" The two jumped from behind the fallen pillar they sat behind, guns blazing. O'Neill figured this was a pretty big reason why his men called him "Lucky".