The Song of Infinity

End of The Beginning

Ahsoka had to admit, she was... Impressed. Like... Genuinely.

When master Skywalker had volunteered them to join in on the Spartans' stealth mission. They were following the Master Chief and Linda as they moved to get into position, take a potshot at the enemy commander with a sniper rifle. For some reason, the young Padawan felt some palpitations watching the Spartans' movement. They weren't robotic or laggy, like she'd seen some military units in training be. No.

The Sniper-Spotter duet moved with the agility of a Jedi in their prime and all the stealth skills of a Kath hound on a hunt. Slow and methodical, the four-man team made up of two supersoldiers and two Jedi pushed through with the lightness of a feather. Even in the armor that looked like it weighed half-a-ton, the Spartans moved without making as much as a sound.

Pushing through the rubble, Ahsoka whispered to her master, "These guys are terrifying..."

"Sums up the UNSC so far," Anakin quipped quietly as he ducked under a piece of rubble the Spartans bypassed. Ahsoka followed close behind him as he explained, "They have kinetic weapons. Slug throwers, instead of blasters. Admiral Yularen told me he saw one of their ships split a Lucrehulk in half with a salvo of its main guns. I think we even saw the detonation."

"I saw them when we were flying in," Ahsoka told him in a whisper, "Hulls blacker than night, ships shaped like weapons and built around their main gun... Their biggest ship was massive, too. At least five times one of our own Cruisers..." which caused Skywalker to look back at her, a bit surprised. Sure, Yularen had mentioned the damn thing was massive, but-

The two looked ahead as they heard a finger snap. Chief motioned to them to cut the chatter, then slowly crept forward as they started a climb through the rubble. The two Jedi hummed, nodded and followed the professionals along. Appearing near-by a series of high-rises at an intersection, the group heard the audible thunder of distant artillery engaging the droids, as well as the thump and hum of feet and anti-gravity systems respectively.

Above and to their right, the Droid armies marched unfettered through the intersection, AATs, B1s and B2s on the prowl for their intended targets. The group continued their advance to the base of a tower. The Chief radioed in, speaking quietly, "BLUE One is at Checkpoint Lima. Confirming droid advance in the area... BLUE Two, status on disabling enemy device?"

"BLUE Two to BLUE One. Checkpoint Delta. Moving to Echo... ETA:3 mikes..." Fred replied over com. The Spartan gave a tap on his com to acknowledge Fred's statement, before the group entered the tower. Chief leaned over to help Ahsoka climb, with the Jedi girl smiling as she took the Spartan's hand. He lifted her to the top, then helped Skywalker next, before standing up and drawing his rifle.

The four-man team climbed up the stairs, with the Jedi trailing behind the Spartans. Ahsoka felt a little irritated that they were playing second fiddle to a pair they knew nothing about. Honestly, they were scary, but being treated like a mere guard when you're a Jedi didn't help Ahsoka learn anything. She gasped as she watched the Chief charge ahead. The Spartan drew his knife and surprised two droids, both of which barely got to let out a squeak before they were turned to scrap. Linda pushed up behind him, sidearm drawn, but saw both droids were dead.

She hummed and nodded to Chief, before the man took the lead again while sheathing his knife. Ahsoka whispered, "Nice moves...?" to which the Spartan gave a nod. The group then marched up the tower's way and onto the roof after clearing out another three pairs of patrolling droids. Both Anakin and Ahsoka watched with muted awe as Linda marched up to the side of the building, dropped prone and set up her rifle. Chief sat down beside her and activated his helmet's ranging tools.