Halo: The Search

Chapter 9

(Commander Huff) The ground... that's what I'd been staring at for the past 3 hours. No reports from my ODST. Nothing.

I felt like I'd lost everything. Expending many important assets to grab what meant everything to me and losing both things in the process. I had sent a pelican to retrieve my squad and have been waiting in dread.

Watching them battle through the view of their visor's cams wasn't fun. The Chieftain had proven to be a bigger nuisance than we expected and when the Sangheili had stepped in, everything hit the fan; the fan was made of energy swords just to emphasize how bad the whole scenario was. If it weren't for Blue, things would be even worse than things are, if that's possible.

"Commander, your pelican has returned." I stared up at a technician who was nervously fiddling with a screw driver in his hand, waiting for my response. I nodded and got up, rubbing my eyes.

"Let's see how they're holding up then..."

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(Victor Huff) "So what's your name?" Driving with a Sangheili hadn't scared me like I was expecting. At the moment, I was becoming intrigued with the company I had, despite the recent fight that had engraved some disturbing images in me.

"Vex'Redna." He gruffly replied. I stared at him and compared his armor to the way my toys were designed at home; his armor was way cooler.

"Vex'Red... Yeah, so Vex." I slightly grinned and he glanced at me with a facial expression that compared to my mom raising an eyebrow when I was doing something questionable or wrong.

"Don't mess my name up like that. It's dishonorable."

"No, it's a nickname. Something, uh... cool people have?" The glance I received sincerely disagreed and I sighed, staring ahead.

"What is having me going to accomplish, I mean really? My dad will flip when he finds out where I am and that would suck."

Vex snorted and it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Suck? It's an opportunity. If we use you as blackmail, we can get the commander to launch an attack on our safe zones that he thinks your at. We'll crunch down on his forces little by little while learning where he is so we can kill him and sweep his whole army of ODST and soldiers. This is a huge victory." I shook my head and Vex looked at me, eyes widening.

"What do you mean no?!?"

"You're killing a bunch of people just to narrow down at their numbers. They never did anything to you except for attack you because you have their commanders son, who he hasn't seen ever since his house, MY house was-"

"Enough!" Vex shook his head. "Why is this even being discussed?" He glared down at me, meeting my own glare I had developed.

"They took everything from me! Those stupid brutes, who are also partially allied with the covenant! T-they might of even killed my mom! And for what reason?"

"Boy, do you think I care? I'm ON the other side, it's what happens in a war!"

"It's not what has to happen! Not everyone supports this war, but hey, people get forcefully dragged into it anyways! And just because you're 'on the other side' doesn't mean you lack feelings for the enemy! Who enjoys killing any species no matter how screwed up they may seem to you? Both sides contain freaking intellectuals who have a bit more meaning than the multiple species below us!" A hand smacked my face and I held my hand up to my cheek where Vex had just hit me.

"Just... shut up." His tired tone annoyed me to an infinite extent, making me feel as if that mature speech, that I'll never be able to come up with again, didn't matter to him. I took my backpack off, now emotionless and started digging through it.

"What are you doing?" I pushed aside the pistol and dug a bit deeper.

"What. Do. You. Have." My fingers found the sweet texture of one of the two grenades I had picked up.

"If I have to stop this vehicle, your not gonna-" I took the grenades out pulling both the pins and then dropped them under my seat, far from his reach.

I quickly jumped out the vehicle and tumbled across the ground. The Revenant slowed down and was engulfed in a fiery explosion of orange and purple. I looked for signs of life and didn't see anyone getting out. Fear struck me that I had killed Vex, which wasn't the intention. I had merely wanted to escape but I began thinking my way of escaping may have killed him. The real intention was to just run away, which made me feel stupid for using grenades. However, I was kinda aggravated...

I sprinted over to the Revenant, not ready to have committed murder at the age of 10...11?

"Vex?!?" I felt regret sink into my stomach but when I checked the drivers seat, he wasn't there.

I heard footsteps behind me and by instinct, I jumped to the left. A fist slammed into the side of the Revenant putting a dent in it. Vex had tried to nail me where I had been standing. My legs started shaking and I backed up from Vex, falling on the ground.

"I-I wasn't trying to k-" Vex grabbed my arm and lifted me off the ground. When my feet found the ground and I stood up up, he just stared at me.

Every ballsy thing I had to say died very quickly. His eyes showed deep hatred for my actions and I was forced to look away before my legs gave out again.

"Victor." I glanced over and stared down at his feet. My fists curled up and I cursed myself a thousand times because I felt myself getting ready to cry again.

"What would you do if you escaped from me, hm? That forest is long gone and your stranded in these grassy plains that have nothing of use for you. Nobody would be able to help you so why do you fight me?" The fact that his voice seemed somewhat calm made me feel miserable.

"I'd... find something. I have a purpose in life a-and I can't chase my objectives when I'm being held for ransom to sooner or later be killed, can I?" I glanced up at him and he just stared down at me silently, analyzing what I had said.

"Let's go." He started walking in a specific direction and I followed him without any intentions of attacking him anymore. All I had left was my magnum but he'd stop me from hurting him before I could get through his shields with this.

I just wanted to find my parents; My dad, my mom... I was certain that they were alive. They had ODST at the house when I was taken away. I just needed them to know that I was still alive after that failed rescue mission.

Hell, if they couldn't find me then I'd find them myself! I felt pretty capable of finding them. With time, I vouched to become an even better shot than I already am, for a novice.

Personally, I thought I was good at sneaking around. All these things pushed me forward but following Vex reminded me that none of this may be possible if I continue to stay around.

I'm possibly 11 years old and I'd say I've handled myself pretty well for what I've been through.

Now I just needed to escape...