Halo: Alien Senses

Chapter six

Kiara felt the Grunt beneath her knee stop struggling as it passed out from the Sangheili's weight closing it's  airways. She eased up and shifted out of her crouch. Further force wasn't necessary; that threat was neutralized, the second was still in the room. As soon as she stood up a primal roar came from the doorway of the stairwell. She whipped her head around to see a massive brute donned in the traditional chieftain armor. Within a second, she responded with blind fire as she fell back into the offices for cover. Armor may have its protective qualities, but even a vacuum grade suit of armor couldn't promise survival in a head to head fight with a shielded opponent.

As he entered the room, Kiara slammed the door shut with her leg, hauling a file cabinet down in front of it to barricade the entrance. She backed away from the door, putting her sights on it once again as he waited for the brute to make its next move. Sounds of deep breaths faded in and out of her helmet as she tried to collect himself. The first contact with Covenant traitors wasn't much of a challenge when it was just grunts. Now their squad leader was on to her. A glimpse of the bastard was enough to last her a lifetime already.

Kiara nervously shuffled her feet, trying to anticipate a possible plan of action. Her chain of thought was broken by the familiar sound of armored footsteps. This time they were closer, but they also cut off briefly as if the hostile broke to a halt for fear of being noticed. The Sangheili's heart nearly stopped at the realization. She looked to her left, where the offices connected adjacent to the next part of the room. There was a faint blue glow coming from around the corner that she could barely make out in the sunlight shining in through the windows. "Accursed brute." She swung left and fired a super heated plasma round from her plasma rifle without skipping a beat.

The armor melting projectile burst a chunk off the wall as it tore through the paneling, hitting the brute that laid in wait for her. Its shields flared like a stove burner coming to life, but instead of the immediate bursting effect like that of a popped balloon, they calmly dissipated and resettled, meaning they weren't yet depleted. The chieftain had made it clear that she had pissed it off as he furiously rounded the corner with his hammer in hand. He tried to correct this by swinging primarily at her torso again. The brutes's shields finally went down but just in time for the elite's plasma rifle to let out that distinctive beeping. Before she could switch to her sidearm, the brute recovered from the one round that penetrated his armor and began to charge.

Kiara did the first thing that came to her mind. Naturally, her combat instinctive reaction would be to engage in hand to hand. That wasn't exactly an option when her opponent was virtually almost twice her size and strength, wielding a weapon that could bust through steel with ease. Instead, she blocked its path, kicking a nearby computer chair in its direction. The back rest on the chair hit the brute in what Kiara could only have guessed to be the crotch, judging from its placement and the Jiralhanae's expression upon impact. Now even more pissed off, the brute hurled the chair out of his way, approaching as his hands fumbled to get a grip on his hammer, storming towards the Sangheili in a fit of rage.

At that moment, the window behind the Elite was shattered all around from the floor to the ceiling as a dark object crashed through. The sound caught the attention of both the Ultra and the chieftain. Kiara needed no more to convince him as she caught a glimpse of the BR55 that was attached to the newcomer's back. In a single, clean maneuver, this ODST rolled into a crouched position, firmly halting his momentum while he unslung his rifle. Two rounds later, the black-armored brute crashed out on the floor, staining the carpet with a dark reddish purple.

Stunned, the sangheili looked up from the corpse and at the sight of her savior with wide eyes. About a hundred responses came to mind but the words never left her mouth. It wouldn't have mattered anyway since the human made it clear it wasn't intent on stopping to take a breath just yet. Before she tried to speak, the Helljumper rushed over to Kiara, pulling her away from the barricaded door by her chest plate at the tell-tale, high frequency whine of a plasma grenade. "Get down!" he shouted. With a deafening blast and flash of blue-white plasma, the alien grenade reduced the door to vapor, brute number two following the explosion. The ODST swung around, shouldering its battle rifle and cut the threat down with a second of full automatic fire.