An Elite's Tale

The lance made the turn a moment later and saw that the canyon valley opened up into a circular clearing with two sloping boulders in the middle, where the ground was a bit sunken in, and saw three more Brute approaching fast in Ghosts, followed by two more commandeering a Wraith. The tank launched its own massive blob of plasma, causing both the Shipmaster and the Arbiter to boost their vehicles in opposite directions to dodge the blast. The Spectre was barely able to get out of the way, and the shockwave flipped the vehicle and flung Ludo like a catapult through the air and out onto the damp, earthy terrain.

Ludo was on his stomach, struggling to his feet when he heard a distinct loud humming and dropped back down, lying flat against the soil. A scalding sensation etched across his backside as a streak of purple blurred over him and missed the two Spec Ops Elites by inches. Ludo saw the duo chase after it, then he stood and drew his carbine, looking around. Ghosts were zipping past left and right, and there was simply too much commotion for him to track which one Fliz was driving. The Shipmaster had pushed forward to engage the enemy Wraith after the Spectre flipped, and was in the heat of the battle with the Grunt Major in his turret keeping the attacking Ghosts at bay.

Seemingly across the battlefield, the Zealot and a pair of Elite Minors under his command were able to flip the Spectre right side up. Ludo could see him motioning to them to occupy the empty seats. Realization suddenly fell into Ludo's mind with a jolt, then tumbling clarity like a trail of dominos going down a flight of stairs. Once the final piece had dropped, Ludo found himself frantically scanning the battlefield. Hope and despair clashed within him as he searched to no avail. Then he saw him.

The Elite Minor who'd been in the Spectre with him, the Ultra, and the Arbiter, was face down in the middle of the war zone. He'd gotten launched out too. One of the enemy Ghosts was relentlessly firing bolts of superheated plasma into his unmoving body. Ludo's strange war of emotions exploded into pure, unbridled rage as he set the reticle of his green tinted sights over the driver's eye and squeezed the trigger three times as fast as he could. Three lime green, caseless radioactive projectiles leapt from the carbine and bored through the Brute's skull at a rate of seven hundred meters per second. The murderous mongrel stiffened before going slack and toppling out of the Ghost.

"I've fought tougher Grunts, you stinking ape!"

"Save your energy, brother. There are more to come."

Ludo turned and saw the Elite clad in blue and white walking towards him. He had a standard issue plasma rifle in his hand and an energy sword hilt resting on his hip. His buddy in the green was right behind him in the Ghost that had almost run them over, and Fliz was beside that Elite in his own.

"I am called Joha. That there is Xepo," he said, motioning to the Ghost.

Ludo didn't have to introduce himself, as they already knew who he was. Ludo 'Macdemee, the Shipmaster's "Plague". Before the Prophets placed him under Vadumee's command, he was single handedly responsible for the sudden disappearance of dozens of Insurrectionist and UNSC bases on Reach just before all hell broke loose. He'd been able to add not one, but two Spartans to his kill count back on the falling planet.

The first one was a fluke, a quick, quiet assassination that the gray clad demon hadn't seen coming at all. Ludo personally gave the helmet, with the head still inside, to the High Council. The second time wasn't so much of a fluke as it was a fight for his life. A black-and-pink female demon with one of those infernal jet packs managed to grab onto the wing of his Banshee during a battle at New Alexandria, pull him from the cockpit, and boost-tackle him through the window of a small office.

There'd been a prolonged showdown that ended with him using the carbine currently held in his grip to deliver the killing blow with the last round in the chamber. If it wasn't for his camouflage and that trusty trigger finger of his...

Enough. He thought, clearing his head of the old memory. You are here. Clear your mind or shoot yourself right now, save the Brutes the trouble.

He looked across the battlefield and saw the Zealot, now down to a single Elite minor trailing behind him as he charged in after the vehicles.

Ludo pointed over to him and shouted to Joha over the explosions in the background, "Let's regroup on the Zealot!"

Joha nodded and they both jogged after him while Fliz and Xepo sped ahead in their Ghosts to join the Arbiter and Rtas 'Vadumee, who had by now cleared out the immediate threat and were further ahead. Ludo got into the Ghost that he'd taken down and offered Joha a ride on the hood.

When the noble Sangheili squinted at him warily, Ludo said, "It's faster. Trust me, I've done it."

Being literally the last ones left, Joha saw no other choice and climbed up onto the hood, crouched and balancing as the Ghost began to pick up speed.

"Prepare to jump, Elite!" Ludo yelled as they neared the Zealot. "Now!"

Joha dove forward off the right wing of the Ghost as Ludo passed the Elites. Ludo craned his head back and saw him perform a roll a few feet from the Zealot, then faced forward again, boosting to catch up with the others in the open plain where he and the Shipmaster first saw the Scarab docked. He finally caught up a moment later and got into wedge formation with Fliz and Xepo a moment later, arriving just as Rtas launched another energy mortar and shellacked a highjacked Phantom troop carrier that was firing at them.

Ludo spotted two more enemy Wraiths, loosing their own plasma mortars as fast as their firing mechanisms allowed and blocking the entrance to a structure similar to the one the Arbiter had noticed looming in the distance before the battle. Once the Phantom backed off and flew to safety, Ludo saw that the Unggoy Major was no longer manning the wraith turret, and the Spectre was nowhere in sight. The Sangheili Ultra was missing in action as well.

"Ludo," Rtas summoned over the comms. His Wraith was maybe thirty meters to their right, directly under the Scarab.

"The Arbiter is making his way up the right side of their holdout. Take your Ghosts over to the left side of those rock formations, and force those clumsy beasts out of their den."

"You heard him," Ludo said to Fliz and Xepo. "Let us make quick work of these Brutes."

Zipping and dodging Wraith shots, the trio zoomed towards the gap in the boulders and infiltrated the holdout in a few quick laps through and around their cover while the Arbiter dealt with each of the Wraiths by hand.

"You are an inspiration to us all, Arbiter!" Xepo declared after the second tank was destroyed.

The battlefield clear, everyone who survived formed up on the Arbiter, who was standing next to the Wraith.

"The Brutes control that cruiser, Arbiter. On your way. Ludo, you and Joha go with him. Zuvo," Rtas said, directing his attention on the Zealot. "You and your Elites remain here and defend the entrance. Xepo, Fliz, follow close behind me. We are going to take the cruiser back!"