[i]Ahkrin, you'd better be grateful for this[/i], Zharn muttered inwardly as he jumped off the Falcon to the ground. The base in which his friend was trapped was somewhat in the distance, surrounded by a group of marines attempting a last stand. Colonel Errand, his Demon and the other humans with them had already reached the Albatross at the far end of the canyon, with the technology cache on board. The Demon was holding off the horde of Covenant soldiers throwing themselves against the ship single-handedly. It was impossible not to admire the proficiency of the devil. Zharn sprinted through the battlefield at a quick pace, dodging the human bullets being fired at him. He took cover behind a large rock, where a squad of Unggoy led by a Sangheili Minor were residing. "Ultra!" the Minor saluted, as did the Unggoy in his command. Zharn nodded, resting his head back against the rock for a moment and breathing deeply. "What is our plight?" Zharn demanded of the Minor, who looked to be young and green. Probably a conscript. Like Sorran had been. Zharn felt a rush of sadness as he remembered his dead friend. "The humans are barricaded in that building, with enough ammo to keep us suppressed for hours. Meanwhile, the Demon and his accursed infidel comrades are escaping with that which we came for," the Minor reported with a tone of frustration. "What of the Sangheili held hostage inside?" Zharn asked, referring to Ahkrin. The Minor's look grew thoughtful. "He might still be alive. I am doubtful, noble Ultra." Zharn sighed -- he knew the Minor was right. Ahkrin was probably dead. Still, he had a duty to pull his friend out from the building; alive [i]or[/i] dead. "Lay down a volley of suppressing fire, I am going to storm the building," Zharn informed the small lance of Covenant warriors, who baulked. "By yourself? That is madness!" the Minor protested. "Then consider me mad brother," Zharn muttered, drawing out a rapid fire needle rifle. He dove out from cover, shooting a sniper up on the building's roof with a volley of pink crystals. The shards embedded themselves in the human's body, before combining and exploding, staining the roof with blood and flesh. The other humans had opened fire on Zharn, but he was too quick for them. With the grace of a Jackal, Zharn leaped up onto the roof of the rectangular building, taking out the other sniper with ease. He searched for a tactical weakness in the roof, and, finding one, primed a plasma grenade. The resulting explosion tore a hole in the heavy steel of the roof, causing molten metal to smother an unlucky marine who had been unfortunate enough to stand underneath. He screamed as he was essentially cooked to death. Zharn leaped down the hole and with a quick slice of his crimson blade, put the human out of his misery. He could see Ahkrin in the centre of the building's ground floor, tied up and hooked to some form of primitive electric torture device. The marines on the floor Zharn was currently on the fourth, opened fire upon him. Zharn dispatched them quickly with a few shots from his rapid needle rifle. He then ripped a wire from the rafter it was firmly bonded too, pulling on it a few times to test its strength. Hopefully, it would hold. Holding onto the wire with one hand, Zharn leaped off the railings of the fourth floor, abseiling down to the bottom. Bullets fired from marines bounced off his shields as he lowered himself. When he reached an amiable height, Zharn let go of the wire, his heavy boots denting the ground as he landed on the floor. "Zharn?" Ahkrin cried out as he saw his friend. Zharn didn't answer the Stealth Sangheili, instead rolling across the ground and swiping a marine across the neck with his sword as he stood back up. Driving his blue sword backwards, he impaled a charging marine in mid-stride. One more remained, but before Zharn could grab him, he had Ahkrin on his feet and with a magnum aimed at his unshielded skull. "Drop the sword," the human lieutenant shouted at Zharn, who was reluctant to do so. The lieutenant drove the barrel deeper into Ahkrin's head, and finally the Sangheili Ultra let his blade drop to the floor, where it disengaged. "And your weapons," the human continued, backing away with Ahkrin towards the door. Zharn began to loosen his weapon belt with a sigh. Ahkrin wore an expression which was a mix between fear of dying, and embarrassment at Zharn seeing him in this situation. "I'm going to back out of this door, get in the Warthog outside, and leave. I'll take your friend with me. When I get to a certain distance, away from the battle, I'll throw him out. You can find him then." [i]Yeah, throw him out dead, he means.[/i] Still, Zharn had no choice but to go along with the plan. The marine was moving closer to the door, with Ahkrin close in front of him. He backed up against the metal, electronic door of the building, waiting for the computer to recognise him and open. The computer never had the time to do just that. One second, the marine was standing calmly, and the next, the huge, spiked hilt of a Gravity Hammer was stuck through the metal of the door and through the marine's chest. At first, the lieutenant looked down with curiosity at the huge spike sticking through his chest. He hadn't fully grasped the situation yet. Then the realisation kicked in along with the pain, and the human began to shriek, grasping desperately at the hilt as if he could pull it out and survive. After ten seconds or so of shrieking, the human's cries fell quiet, and he slumped against the spiked hilt, being suspended by the sheer size of the weapon's handle. The door suddenly crumpled outwards, and standing in the doorway was a Jiralhanae Chieftain, who looked incredulously at Zharn and Ahkrin. The latter had staggered over to where Zharn stood, breathing deeply. "We must move. Human reinforcements are arriving in their pods. If we don't leave now, we'll be overwhelmed," the Jiralhanae told the two Sangheili, who looked at each other, before nodding. Zharn handed Ahkrin his spare plasma rifle. "Lead on Chieftain," Zharn intoned. The Jiralhanae nodded, throwing the corpse of the human lieutenant off his Gravity Hammer and picking up the Sangheili-sized weapon with a single hand. He turned, and began to move. "Well this isn't how I expected my rescue to end," Zharn muttered to Ahkrin as the two began to follow the Chieftain. Looking around outside, Zharn saw the Jiralhanae had been right. The Covenant forces were being massacred by ODSTs dropping from the skies, which were now completely clear of Covenant Banshees and other air vehicles. The Albatross, presumably along with the technology cache, had vanished too. "Let's just take the situation as it goes my friend. With this Brute around however, I'll be certain to sleep with one eye open." There was no option other than to flee, on foot. Zharn and Ahkrin followed the Jiralhanae Chieftain up a small path cutting through a cliff. The sound of battle faded as they ran.