Halo: The Dunes of 2560

Chapter 14: The Ladder

David's head was spinning, Khyvo was so disoriented he couldn't see, Vasi immediately got up and saw a Spartan at the door leading to the hall, she grabbed David's gun and shot the Spartan in the head as he opened the door. David looked up and saw the Spartan go limp and drop to the ground in front of him, "Pilot?? What did you fucking do??" Vasi looked down at him, "You're disoriented, and that Spartan was intending on killing us. The explosion released a chemical cocktail to disorient us, but I am unaffected. It is volatile, we cannot cause it to combust. Basic firearms won't cause it to combust. But-" Khyvo still couldn't see, or hear, he was reaching for his Needler as Vasi picked it up, "But Energy weapons will combust the gasses." Her eyes darted to the wall, she shot the wall several times. David looked at the wall, hearing two thuds, and footsteps leading away from the doorway.

David got up, Khyvo was still rubbing his eyes, he looked at Vasi, "What's wrong with him?" She looked David in his eyes, "He's Sangheili like me, but his biology was not adapted like mine to be immune to Class A Chemical Weapons. You and me were. You need to grab a weapon or we'll be killed." He went to Matilda's desk, she was unconscious, "Will she be okay?" "Yes, she will wake up soon." He reached inside a drawer, she had a Handgun stashed in the back of it. He looked back at Vasi as he grabbed the gun, "You are... I thought you were a male, I never thought..." Vasi touches her neck, while looking him in the eyes, "You wanted to break this. I'm sorry you felt that way. Now that you know what I look like, you don't want to, right?" He shakes his head, in disbelief. He is shocked at that same moment realizing how dead Vasi's eyes look. Khyvo gets up behind Vasi, she turns to him, "I apologize for taking your Weapon. Energy weapons will cause the gasses to explode." He turns to the doorway, seeing a corpse. He walked over to it and kneels down, grabbing the assault rifle, "No worries, I got a gun-" He's interrupted as he's yanked backwards swiftly and throw to the back of the room as a storm of gunfire ravages the part of the room he was just standing in.

In one swift motion, David watches Vasi shoot the wall where the gunfire is coming from, in short bursts, one by one he hears thuds, she traces to the far end of the wall near the window. She lowers the gun, "We're safe now." He gulps, "How can you see through the walls?" She looks at him with a confused expression, "You can't?" Khyvo leans against the wall, still disoriented, "We need to leave... Wait-" He taps on his wrist pad, it's just blank, "It appears to be... Jammed." They all look to their wrist pads simultaneously, Vasi looked to Matilda, "We have a lot of work to do gentlemen." 

David carried Matilda in his arms as Khyvo and Vasi covered him at all points, they walked through the Tower, they walked down a few flight of stairs to a large office space, where it was empty, "Where the fuck is everyone?" David was beyond confused, Vasi pointed to the far right corner of the room, "Set up." He looked down at Matilda, and objected, "How the hell could this have been fully set up-" She turned to Khyvo, and grabbed him and David, pulling them aside, in the doorway is Chief Architect Phil Lancer, surrounded by Sangheili and Spartans aiming firearms at them. David laid Matilda down, "Chief Architect Phil Lancer... Shit, you could've called." Phil looked at Khyvo, ignoring David completely, "I don't know where I went wrong, why did you do it?" His hands were shaking, Vasi noted, she didn't fully understand the situation. Phil grimaced, he clutched his fists and bumped them together, "What the fuck Khyvo..." He dropped his hands, he was in a white suit and tie, "Because of you, I have to walk around with a fucking ENTOURAGE of my own THINGS!" He grabbed a Spartan next to him, tearing off his helmet, David nearly jumped as he saw the man's eyes looked like Vasi's, "I keep putting them on the Ladder, and they don't come out like either of you! FUCK!" He through the helmet in frustration. "I was literally just at a meeting and everything, then boom, I get a report, 'Oh your Pilot 3 and ex-Best friend are across the street, go there now.' ...I wasn't emotionally prepared to face my little monsters like this. It's like... seeing three versions of my fucking Father... Fuck."