Mythic 3

The sun had moved beyond the large cliff, covering the field below with a soothing cool shadow. The spire of the base seemed to melt ever so slightly into the cliff face as the light ceased to shine on it.

Down on the plains, however, laid stone and metal in various geometric prisms, providing interesting choke points and areas of cover. A moderate barbed fence boxed the rectangular perimeter, a surge of current jumping from its spiny wiring. A gate opened to reveal this area to the six current inhabitants: the improvised combat training facility. Kai looked intently at the eclectic types of terrain and elevations, his mandibles forming something of a grin.

“So this is it, huh?” Kai asked.

“Yes sir.” Viper responded. “Though we were initially concerned about the openness of the area, passing phantoms and spirits seldom fire in this direction. We assumed that its close proximity to the Forerunner base that we settled in was the cause for this.”

“And of thieves?” Kai inquired.

“The fence has enough energy to zap the shielding off of a brute war chieftain. Plus, most of our vital equipment is stored within the base.” Viper noted gruffly, pointing back at the structure.

Kai stayed silent as he continued to survey the arena. Satisfied, he nodded, then walked away, his holopad glowing as he summoned Corey. Bertha looked at Viper, but he only shrugged in response, unsure what their Admiral could be up to. A few minutes later Kai returned, hefting a box which he set down within the doorstep of the gate. The crate was laden with an assortment of UNSC-issued weaponry.

“Take your pick.” Kai ordered. “All of the weapons here use non-lethal projectiles, as will I,” he grabbed his brute shot off his back, “for this part of the inspection.”

Viper took a shotgun from the crate, hefting it for its weight. He loaded a round and fired it downrange, striking a metal wall on the far end. The resulting impact was but only a scratch, the wall still virtually intact. He nodded to his crew, who in turn reached for their weapons of choice.

Eagle grabbed a sniper rifle, sighting its scope to his liking. Bertha shouldered a rocket launcher, checking the interior for possible flaws that could cause the tricky equipment to jam and, consequently, explode. Crackshot reached for a DMR with a slight hesitance, implying her favor of the battle rifle over this single-shot predecessor. Aura lifted a pair of submachine guns from the pile, loading a clip within each of them.

After a few rounds into a nearby wall, the troops looked back at the Admiral. “So, any questions then?” Kai asked.

Eagle raised his hand. “Yea, about the sniper–“

“Okay then, Eagle. You’re up first.” Kai replied simply.

‘Damn,’ Eagle thought. ‘Me and my big mouth…’ The sniper and the Admiral stood at opposite ends of the field, while the remaining four observed from an overlooking outpost tower. Viper and Bertha seemed most interested in the combat skills of the newcomer, leaning forward from the low wall, while Crackshot mumbled something about poor UNSC funding and Aura sat in the corner, marveling at the little qualities of her new SMGs.

Kai held his brute shot at chest level confidently. “You may make the first move.” He said.

Eagle needed no second invitation, accepted the challenge, and had Kai’s odd helmet in his sights. The sniper pulled the trigger, sending the rubber slug straight at Kai.

In a heartbeat, Kai brought his brute shot up, angled to present a thin sliver to the bullet. Mere decimeters away, the bullet impacted the edge of the weapon, and whistled past Kai’s ears. The resounding bang from the collision seemed deafeningly loud to the eerie silence that ensued, as the two combatants merely stood there. Viper gripped at the wall that prevented him from falling off the outpost. “No way…” He muttered.

Eagle was shocked. “How th–“

But he stopped his sentence, as Kai had darted forward, closing the distance of a parking lot in seconds, bringing the flat end of the brute shot straight into Eagle. The force knocked Eagle back a few meters, taken by surprise by the sudden close-range assault. He quickly got to his feet and fired twice more at his assailant. Kai again easily deflected the pellets away before bringing his own weapon to bear, barrel first this time.

Kai fired once, and Eagle jumped aside. A blinding flash of light originated from the impact of the round, stunning the sniper as he crawled to a nearby partition. ‘Crap,’ he thought. ‘He’s using flash-bangs.’

The commotion had Viper and Bertha gazing at the ado below, while Crackshot and Aura had also been drawn in, now certainly curious of the Admiral’s tactics.

Eagle reached for a clip, released the nearly spent one in his rifle, and rammed it in. He hopped to the top of the partition, which was none too tall to begin with, to see his target. The only problem was that Kai had suddenly disappeared from the field.

Kai tapped Eagle’s shoulder, causing the latter to jump and fire a wild shot, zipping past Kai. Eagle landed on the ground below, but quickly regained his composure, and fired all three rounds in his clip. Kai jumped away from the first shot, blocked the second, but the third made it past the brute shot, grazing Kai on the shoulder, causing his shields to flare. He returned fire, launching three grenades into Eagle’s midst. He evaded, but failed to get out of the blast zone as the three flash-bang grenades enveloped the sniper in a burst of light and sound. When the light faded away, it revealed an agonized Eagle covering his ears as the explosion still rang incessantly in his ear. By the time he looked up, Kai had closed the short distance once again, his brute shot leveled at Eagle, half a meter away.

Eagle made a move to reach for his sniper rifle, which he had let go of to relieve his senses, but Kai kicked it away, sending it spinning a few meters outward. “It’s over.” Kai stated flatly.

Kai then lowered his weapon, and turned to his onlookers, who had grown silent as they stared at him and the defeated sniper. “So, who’s next?”