Is it worth it?

Disclaimer: Master Chief himself couldn't convince you I own Halo.

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The corridors were anything but dim. The pinkish purple of the walls resonated, reminding the Spartan of a living organism. In his hands he held two plasma pistols. The quick charges as well as the option of holding the trigger for a more powerful blast made the weapons a good choice. Especially against shield weilding covenant such as the jackals.

"How will we find where they keep the... uh..."

"Jamming device?" Master Chief put in.

The Arbiter nodded, his eyes glued ahead for possible enemies. Scratch that. For the enemies that were definately in the ship somewhere.

--That is where I come in.-- Cortana said smugly.

"Yeah, as soon as I find a Covenant console to hack you into." The Spartan replied, though a bit snappishly. Only Cortana would notice, though. Having practically lived in his head for a couple years now.

--Aww, still upset about the whole me calling you old thing?--

The Chief didn't even bother to reply, ignoring the questioning gaze the Arbiter shot back at him.

Shaking his head at the little dispute between the A.I. construct and the Demon, the Arbiter turned to more relevant things at hand, "So the construct can hack into the Covenant system? Defeat their own A.I.'s?"

Cortana tried not to sound offended. --Me? Not defeat these outdated, stolen A.I. wannabees?-- Okay, so she failed miserably. She didn't even try. Whatever.

The Chief couldn't help the smirk that appeared at her tone. Something Cortana did not miss, --Hey, don't get that smug look with me, mister.--

Arbiter and the Demon froze. The Chief noticed red in his HUD motion tracking device. The Sanghelli sensed their presence. Enemies. Closing in.

;-;

Raido was irritated. He was more than irritated. He smashed two Renegades in the head recklessly he was so mad.

WHERE was the Demon? He did not imagine the armored figure fire fuel rod cannons at their ship. The Brute was nowhere near creative enough to come up with such a fantasy. One where he would crush the Demon within his very own grasp. Gain more recognition for such an incredible feat. How could he achieve glory and fame if the Demon wasn't here to accept his own death and defeat at Raido's hands?

Scanning the stretched battlefield, the Brute didn't notice an angered blue Sanghelli rush him. A foolish move. The Brute lowered his Brute shot and charged, swiping the Sanghelli away like he was a dust mite in the passing breeze.

"Where is he?!" The Brute demanded as he blew a grunt away.

;-;

Ghlariknee looked up at the angered Brute. But then again, when WEREN'T Brutes angry? Personally, the red Sanghelli didn't believe them to be more than big piles of rocks with a pebble for a brain. No, actually, maybe a small speck of dirt. But this one had a reasonably sized pebble for a brain. It was Raido. The Sanghelli could recognize him by the cross scar marring the whole left side of his face. It made one of his beedy eyes a shocking white in comparison to his shaggy gray fur and other ebony shot eye.

But a Brute suddenly in front of the Sanghelli garnered his attention, and he turned so he could spring away. A Brute shot sailed millimeters by his head, exploding in the air. WHAM. Ghalriknee sprawled on the ground, his ears ringing. Instincts kicked in and he raised his carbine to fire in front of him. Several times. The Brute grunted in pain, too shocked and slow to dodge. He died on the spot.

Rolling, Ghlariknee barely escaped being pinned by the now dead Brute's body as it toppled over. Collecting a few plasma grenades, the Sanghelli pushed off from the ground, primed for battle.

;-;

Master Chief barely took a moment to admire the blue and purple splatters decorating the hall. He shifted his gaze as he noticed the Arbiter waving him over. The Sanghelli pointed to a panel with a projected holographic screen above it.

"I believe this is what you require." The Sanghelli stated.

The Spartan nodded, mentally focusing on Cortana.

--Ready.--

He popped her chip out of the helmet and stuck it into the console's slot without a second thought. Time was precious. The sooner she found what they were looking for, the sooner they could free the other ship. Then all they had to do was defeat all of the Covenant forces. Simple.

--Hmm... I'm in. It's a bit bigger in here. Not as cramped as in your suit-- Cortana teased.

"Then why don't you think about taking permanent residence in there?" The Chief countered.

--Getting back to the mission.-- The A.I. said quickly, --Scanning. Aha. There's the Covenant A.I. Sort of clumsy. Hehe, I could run circles around this one. 400,000,000 times at least.--

"Cortana..." The Chief stressed their shortness of time in those three syllables.

--Right.-- The construct was silent for a few moments.

The moments stretched out longer. The Spartan was getting worried. Even the Arbiter seemed to fidget as he stood guard, looking in all directions at once. Not literally, of course. That would just be creepy.

--Chief.... We got a problem.--

Damn. The four words he dreaded the most.

But for the moment, it would have to wait as a small unit of jackals stumbled into them. Four were shot down, thanks to the Arbiter, before they knew what hit them.

"Cortana. I need to pull you out." Master Chief said, his tone even.

--Hold on a sec.--

Dropping to his knee, the Chief returned fire as the jackals recovered from their initial shock. He refused to give up his ground. If he did, he might not be able to get back to Cortana.

"Cortana."

--Yank me.--

The Spartan did so gladly, popping the chip back into the helmet. Even as he felt the familiar soothing cool of her sliding back around him, the Spartan was diving from the corridor, the Arbiter not too far behind. The explosion of a plasma grenade sounded off mere moments afterwards. As the blast cleared and the Arbiter popped his head back in the corridor, they realized the jackals had been taken care of.

Turning back to the Demon, the Sanghelli inquired, "Where is it?"

--I don't think that's the biggest of our worries right now...--

"Get to the point." The Chief was always so direct.

Then again, the construct was used to it, --This planet. We shouldn't stay too long. The inhabitants aren't known to be very friendly.--

"All the more reason to find the jamming device and destroy it." The Chief replied.

"Easier said than done." The Arbiter said aloud.

;-;

Outside, the battle waged on. Explosions, shooting, shouting, and everything. Except a new element suddenly appeared. A sort of hazy yellow mist descended on the battlefield, creeping forward with wispy ghostlike fingers.

Simultaneously, everyone on the battlefield seemed to stop. Ghlariknee, in the middle of trouncing an unfortunate Brute, paused with carbine in hand and stared around. Even the Brute that was getting his ass beat froze from the sudden chill that ran up and down his spine. What was this mist? Where had it come from? And most of all, was it safe to breath? Those were the questions that ran through every Renegade warriors' mind, having been trained to be constantly aware and alert of their surroundings. The Covenant forces, on the other hand, were simply thinking: 'What the hell?!'

Raido growled as the mist thickened. It hindered all visibility. And the particles brushing by felt warm, so any heat-derived tracking sensors wouldn't work either. Likewise, the other Brutes growled their frustration while the jackals began a slow retreat back to the ship. The Renegades, on the other hand, stood their ground. Even the grunts opted it a better decision to just stay where they were, near their Sanghelli comrades, as they waited.

A jackal at the edge of the fray jerked his shield and plasma gun to face where he had spotted sudden movement.

Was there something hidden in the mist...?