Short, but hopefully sweet. [b]Part Three - Besieged[/b] "Sorran! We need to destroy their turrets! Lead a squad of Unggoy and destroy them, quickly!" Zharn shouted down at me from the rooftop, where he was currently engaged fighting three humans in black armour, with blue mirrored visors. Sorran nodded, and ran over to a squad of Grunts, signalling for them to follow him. The humans were cunning, Sorran had to admit. Whilst they had all thought that the human army was still a few hours off, as their scouts relayed, the scum had dropped in these armoured soldiers via metal pods which fell from the sky. It had surprised everyone, and the humans had the advantage, for now. Sorran ran down a side passage which would emerge on the other side of the heavy turrets which were pinning the other Covenant forces down. The Unggoy followed, armed with needler rifles. As the Sangheili Minor ran, he encountered two humans, who quickly shouted unintelligible words in response to his appearance. Before the first could draw out his weapon, Sorran fired four rounds from his plasma rifle into the humans head, and the soldier fell to the ground Sorran's shields flared as the other human had drawn out his weapon, and fired. Bursts of fire echoed from behind the Sangheili's back, as the Unggoy sprang into action. The human cried out in pain as the thin, crystalline shards of a needler punctured through his skin. A moment later, the shards exploded, splitting the armoured soldier into multiple sections. Sorran looked down at the bodies with melancholia, so much life, wasted. His first kill too. Whilst most Sangheili remarked that the first kill was always the most exhilarating, Sorran only felt sick. What right did he have to judge whether or not another living creature should live. He would have stayed there all day, contemplating this terrible act, had the lead Unggoy not spoken. "Noble one, we must take out those turrets or many shall fall!" It squeaked, and Sorran looked up, nodding. Yes, he had a duty to the Covenant. Grief was not an option. "Yes, you are right of course. Come, we must hurry on." Sorran replied, taking care not to step on the bodies as he moved through the tunnel. The Grunts had no such inhibitions, and happily trampled over the still corpses. They emerged out of the tunnel a moment later, into the bright light. gunfire echoed in Sorran's ears, and he looked up to see four humans operating turrets. Sorran signalled to the three Unggoy, and they began firing. The humans swore in shock and clambered off the turrets, firing. One round caught a Grunt before he knew what hit him, and he went sprawling to the ground. It made Sorran angry; a warrior had died under his command. Sorran drew out his metal blade, and leaped onto the ledge, stabbing the sword into the nearest human. It fell to to floor, convulsing. The rest of the humans panicked and began firing upon Sorran, but the rounds simply bounced off his shields. Sorran brought the blade down on the neck of another human, and the head hit the ground, accompanied shortly after by the limp body. The other two were drawing back now, and one tripped over. Sorran quickly pounced on the screaming savage, and ended it's life. The final soldier threw down it's weapon, and began to run. Sorran wasn't about to let it escape. He drew back the blade, and then threw. The sword arced towards the human, and lodged in it's back. The black armoured figure fell, and Sorran walked over and picked up his sword. A voice sounded in the Sangheili Minor's ear, and he recognised it as belonging to Zharn. "Excellent work Sorran! You have struck a mighty blow! These humans were no match for our warriors, we are disposing of the rest with ease. Come, return to the Forerunners above, what is that?" I felt it too. A tremor in the ground. The Grunts below squeaked in terror and looked at the ground. What was it? An Earthquake? No, there was a noise too. Turning slowly, Sorran looked out towards the horizon. What he saw terrified him. "Tanks!" Zharn shouted over the intercom. "By the prophets, get down Sorran!" Sorran tried to run. But there wasn't enough time. He was standing on the very edge of the outpost, and so he was targeted first. Before he could even open his mouth to cry out, an explosion smashed into the ground beside him, fired from one of the tanks in the distance. His shields were of no use, as the heavy round punched straight through them. The blast sent him flying, down to the rough ground below, ten metres from the Outpost gates. His vision flickered, and he realised with dread he was blacking out. Zharn was calling faintly in his ear. "Sorran! Sorran...Sor-" The world went quiet as Sorran's hearing gave out, and his eyes shut close. He opened them in what seemed like only a few moments, but already human soldiers were within the walls of the outpost. The world went black again. Sorran's sight restored, blurry and fuzzy. This time, the buildings in the distance were in flames. Sorran tried to move his head, but couldn't. In the corner of his eye a figure caught his attention. This human stood taller than the rest, garbed in green, full body armour. "Demon..." Sorran managed to whisper, before he blacked out for the final time.