Project Ares

Traitor

Umbara - Midnight Forest

It didn't take long for the stolen CIS shuttle to touch down in the dark and misty forests of Umbara. Splitting up into teams of 3-4, Blue Team scattered around where Krell was last spotted while Blitz and Streak flew overhead to try and gain a view but the dark nature of the environment made it almost impossible to see even with nightvision.

Staying onboard the transport, Chief would drop in on the group that found Krell. He wanted to personally deal with this traitor and seeing as there were no Jedi available, Chief was the best bet to take him down. After mapping out a search pattern for the shuttle, Chief returned to the cargo hold and waited for Blue Team to find Krell.

Time Skip

"Chief, this is Fives. We found him, I repeat, we found Krell." Chief's eyes darted open as he ordered Blitz and Streak to fly over there immediately. Looking out the cockpit window, Chief could make out blaster fire and four lightsabre blades fleeing further into the forest.

Returning to the cargo hold, Chief slammed the open button as the rear of the shuttle lowered to reveal the vast darkness of the Umbaran forests. Listening to the countdown provided by Blitz, Chief leapt out of the shuttle and dived down into the newly formed combat zone. Firing his thrusters at the last instant, Chief landed about 20 metres away from his target. "Spartan! You finally decided to relieve these pathetic meat sacks of their duties!"

Replying only with silence and a barrage of blaster fire from his assault rifle, 117 watched as Krell deflected every single one of his shots and slowly advanced on Chief's position. Holstering his rifle on his back, the armoured warrior started fighting the traitorous Jedi General in hand-to-hand combat. As Krell attempted a downward strike with both of his double-bladed lightsabres, Chief caught the handles of the weapons and gripped the sabres with all of his might. Normally Krell wouldn't be nearly as strong as Chief, biologically at least, but now he was channelling the Force into every movement he did. Making him faster, stronger and tougher than before.

Looking into Krell's eyes, Chief's suspicions were confirmed when he saw the Besalisk's eyes burn with a golden tint, a clear indicator of the Dark side. Quickly crossing Krell's grip and now holding both sabres with his right hand, 117 swiftly unholstered his pistol and blasted three successive shots into Krell's lower torso.

Enraged, Krell Force pushed Chief away with his lower pair of arms. The trio of shots from the pistol definitely hurt Krell, but it wasn't even close to bringing him down. As Master Chief landed in the black dirt, Krell proceeded to pick him up again with the Force and ragdoll him into multiple trees before lifting him up into the air and sending him back down into the dirt.

As warning signals flared across his HUD to indicate a loss of shields, Chief looked up to see Fives, June and Jesse engage the general from a distance with blaster fire after throwing a considerable amount of grenades at him. In that moment of distraction, Chief got up and sprinted at the traitor and slammed him through a nearby tree. As the piece of fauna crumbled behind them, Chief managed to knock one of Krell's lightsabres out of his hands, sending it flying away from the pair.

Receiving multiple strikes in retaliation, Chief's beskaar-lined armour held up against the intense heat of the blade. Finding a gap in the Besalisk's attacks, Master Chief attempted to kick his opponent but Krell was waiting for him to do just that. Grabbing Chief's leg and kicking out his remaining leg from underneath him, Krell barely managed to lift the supersoldier in the air when suddenly a lightsabre pierced his back and emerged out of his chest.

Dropping Chief and falling to his knees in defeat as he stared at the emerald blade sticking out of his chest. Getting up from the dirt, Chief looked at where the blade had come from. Tracing the trajectory of the throw, 117 saw Fives panting about 80 metres away. Concluding that the ARC trooper must have picked up the weapon and used it like a Javelin, 117 made sure that the Besalisk was dead before walking over to congratulate Fives on killing the traitorous filth.

Calling Blitz and Streak to come pick up the men and corpse, Chief threw the dead general over his shoulder like he did with Savage Opress as he walked towards the waiting transport. Getting onto the ship, 117 looked around to see all the men of Blue Team looking in disgust at the dead traitor who was hunched over Chief's back.

Time Skip

Umbaran Airfield

As the ship touched down on the friendly tarmac, a platoon of troopers with rifles quickly rushed over to the door. As the shuttle's ramp lowered to reveal the successful Blue Team, the troopers aimed their rifles at the new arrivals. Pushing his way to the front of the team, Fives demanded to know what was going on, one of the troopers said that they were under orders to arrest Blue Team to be placed on trial for crimes against the Republic and breach of the Grand Army of the Republic rules and regulations.

After being ordered to exit the ship with their hands in the air, the men were stripped of their armour and weapons. Getting placed in cuffs, the arresting soldiers diverted their attention to the enormous supersoldier standing in front of them. Not knowing how to remove his armour, the troopers told Chief that if he cooperated, he wouldn't have to remove his armour but rather just have an escort with him at all times. Agreeing with these terms, Chief handed over his weapons reluctantly.

Quickly ushering the prisoners along with the dead Krell to a nearby pair of gunships, the men left the warzone and soon landed on a medical frigate that was heading for Coruscant. As the frigate left Umbara's orbit, it was soon flanked by two ARC-170 fighters and six Z-95 headhunters to provide a security escort for the high-value prisoners.