Mythic 4

Bertha hopped down from the small rise, shielding herself from the flashes of light and energy produced by the flash-bang grenades. When the noise and light subsided, she returned her own fire, firing a pair of large rockets that zoomed at Kai. Kai jumped to his side, and balls of twin thunder shook the spot where he stood just seconds ago.

Both of them came face to face, faceplate-to-eye-sockets, as they let their shields recover and reloaded their arms. Bertha loaded up first, and immediately launched the pair of rockets toward Kai. Kai, who had also just finished reloading, leaped away from the blast zone of the first explosive, but brought his brute shot up to block a direct impact from the second. The frequency caused him to stumble one step back, ringing in his ears, but he regained his composure, and launched his own salvo at Bertha.

And so it continued, as so it had been. The two explosives experts darted to and fro, back and forth, fired and retreated, neither truly gaining an upper hand, neither truly letting up. Their shadows lengthened as the sun slowly dropped, but they never saw it as their dark counterparts jerked and swayed and danced with the constant flashes.

Finally, after about an hour of this game of cat and mouse, Kai left the safety of the barrier he hid behind, and raised his arms up in the air, a gesture of surrender. Bertha, who had just about targeted Kai, also stepped forward, but she did not lower her weapon as she cautiously strode near.

“This has gone on long enough.” Kai growled. “It has been a stalemate, and I do not wish to continue this battle. Besides, I still have to test those three,” Kai pointed to Viper, Aura and Crackshot, who still observed from the looking outpost tower. Aura and Crackshot had grown tired of the monotonous back-and-forth, so that had brought some machinery to the outpost to tinker with while the battle continued. Eagle, who had gone to the safety of the outpost, muttered to Viper, “I don’t like him.”

Viper, on the other hand, had silently watched the entire fight with unflinching attention.

Viper walked toward Bertha as she exited the arena. “So, how was the fight?” He asked.

“I’ll tell you once I regain my eyesight.” She replied. She stumbled her way to the outpost, almost crashing into the ladder. ‘The lights must have disoriented her,’ Viper thought. Then he turned to Kai.

‘Why did he take those shots head-on?’ Viper thought. ‘UNSC rockets weren’t made as toys. They were made for brute force, and brute force alone, and certainly a real rocket would break his brute shot in two.’

He stared at the Admiral as he chose Crackshot to be his next opponent. ‘Come to think of it, there was only one other human who was this irrational…’

A trio of rubber bullets zipped through the air, but Kai was able to dodge all of them. The fourth shot, however, found its mark, chipping away at Kai’s shield. He raised his brute shot to deflect the next set of rounds sent his way, then returned fire. Crackshot saw the impending grenades, and backflipped away from them, hopping over a barrier in the process. She slammed her Designated Marksman Rifle into the wall, ejecting the clip in the process, as she slammed a fresh clip into the gun.

‘Damn UNSC piece of shit,’ Crackshot thought. ‘Can’t even afford to get a battle rifle, and saddle me up with this garbage.’

She peered over the barrier and emptied her entire clip at Kai in sheer frustration. The sparks from the gun was reflected from her recon helmet. Kai used his brute shot as a shield as he strafed closer to Crackshot’s position. The pellets zinged past him from the left and right, struck his brute shot several times, even nicked him once or twice, flaring his shields, but none of it slowed his momentum. With a single bound, he leaped right over the barrier, and slapped Crackshot on the head with the flat of his brute shot. The impact sent her spinning to the ground. When she finallu rolled onto her back, Kai was already upon her, in a point-blank firing position. “It’s over.” Kai stated.

He lowered his weapon and offered a hand, but Crackshot merely slapped it away as she strode to the door. Aura had been particularly interested in this battle, and met Crackshot at the gate.

“Looks like you didn’t fare so well, huh?” Aura said.

“I doubt that you could do any better, little sis.” Crackshot replied.

“We’ll see about that.” Aura challenged.

Kai had followed Crackshot to the door. “Aura,” he called, “you’re up next.”

The fading sun sent its final rays across the field, causing Aura’s EVA helmet to glow. She leveled her SMGs, and Kai braced for the ensuing barrage. Aura emptied both of her guns, but most of the bullets bounced harmlessly here and there, struck the brute shot which protected Kai, but few actually managed to reach Kai himself. When the firing ceased, Kai returned fire by emptying his own weapon, a full assault of six flash-bang grenades. Aura immediately ran and strafed, passing areas of cover to protect her eyes, and came to rest at a sturdy-looking wall. She holstered one gun to reload the other, and did the same for the first gun.

Just as she slammed the second clip home, Kai turned the corner, barrel at the ready, having reloaded his brute shot as well. Aura fired a burst from her SMGs, causing Kai to retreat away. She slowly pelted him with burst after burst of rubber pellets, but soon he responded by strafing past the shots to get his own through. Aura hopped over one grenade that was just high enough to miss her current position, but a second one blindsided her, and she dropped where she stood to recover. Kai neared to end the fight, but was surprised to be rewarded with a sudden hail of bullets. He stepped back as Aura raised her guns, shaking off the disorientation of the flash-bang.

This time, she staggered her shots, aiming at the vulnerable parts of Kai that he could not block with his brute shot. Normally, it was easy for Kai to deflect or avoid the rounds, but the SMGs’ unpredictability in its automatic fire made it difficult for him to adequately defend himself; even as he ran and shielded, more bullets were able to graze and bounce off of Kai’s shields. He batted his eye toward his shield counter, which had dropped to two-thirds, the most so far, before he looked back at his opponent, firing a trio of shots at her. Aura ran to avoid the first two, and ambitiously emptied her weapons at the third grenade. The shot exploded in midair, casting a harsh shadow between the two combatants. When the light faded, Kai jumped straight at her, again preparing to sweep her with the base of his brute shot.

Aura leveled her SMGs at him, but was frustrated to realize that she had run out of ammo, and braced for the collision. Kai connected, and sent her slamming into a nearby wall. As she tried to pick herself up from the impact, Kai leveled his brute shot at close range yet again. “Game, set, match.” He said.

Aura stood up from her position, depolarizing her space helmet in the process. She greeted Kai with a grin. “Well, at least I lasted longer than Crackshot,” she said.

Aura then waved enthusiastically at her sister, who had resumed her position in the outpost. Bertha, Eagle and Viper had all paid attention to this battle. Crackshot retorted with an obscene hand gesture.

“Alright then,” Kai declared, “tell your commanding officer that it is his turn to fight.”

“Will do, sir!”

As Viper walked into the arena, he raised his shotgun into a hostile stance. Kai stood on the other end of the field as a true dark-blue nightfall enveloped the area. The Forerunner structure seemed to glow with an energy of its own, as the dull-gray sheen still existed, albeit faintly.

Kai’s helmet melded into what could only be described as a grin. “For you, Captain, how about we add a little twist to things?”

“What do you mean?” Viper asked cautiously.

“I see that you still retain your own arms,” Kai noted, pointing to the hilts that Viper holstered on his hip. “Why not make it interesting?”

Kai dropped his brute shot, the blade cutting into the ground, keeping it upright. From his wrist an intense light emerged, and it formed into a deadly single triangular blade of hot plasma energy.