And Chapter 18 doth cometh! Wow, it's been a long time. Hopefully, I should be able to resume these on a frequent basis once again, now I'm back in full flow with them. A very action-packed part here. I hope you enjoy it. We'll switch to Sorran's POV next part. [b]Part 18 - The sound of battle[/b] Zharn fired a round from the human sniper, which drove through the head of a marine like a drill. The human collapsed to the ground, only to be stepped on by a raging pair of Hunters moments later. The Demon leaped into the centre of the two colossal behemoth's, holding nothing but a primitive shotgun. After a few moments of frenzied scrapping, during which the Demon suffered not a single scratch, both Hunters collapsed to the ground, the few surviving Lekgolo eels scattering in fright. Overhead, Banshees and Phantoms flew with unparalleled grace, unloading troopers and cutting down screaming soldiers only to be shot down by the incredibly effective Surface-to-Air-Missiles positioned around the canyon. In the tight space of the gorge below, a small mass of Covenant troops were attempting to cut the humans off from the base in which Ahkrin was held captive. Zharn knew, however, that to the Covenant securing the technology cache was the number one priority -- Ahkrin was expendable. Not to him however. As he saw a human try to roughly grab Ahkrin in a desperate attempt to take the Stealth Sangheili captive, Zharn let loose another round, felling the marine. The Demon, along with a group of ten marines, a few ODSTs and Colonel Errand, were pushing back to the Albatross VTOL at the end of the canyon, the one which had landed but a few moments before the Covenant reinforcements Zharn had requested arrived. Zharn knew that any shot he fired from this ineffective human rifle would be diverted by the incredibly strong winds billowing below. Dust was being kicked up everywhere, and Zharn had a hard time viewing what was happening below him. Taking a deep breath, Zharn closed his eyes, unloading stress which had built up in him. At any moment now the humans could decide to self destruct the base in which Ahkrin was trapped. That was the main reason why the Major below commanding the reinforcements was unwilling to send any of his men to rescue him. Zharn knew he couldn't in good conscience override the Major's orders, that would be a disgrace to his honour. No, if Ahkrin was going to be saved, then Zharn would have to do it himself. Wonderful. Zharn drew back from the sniper, and turned to see a human standing behind him with a knife, evidently petrified at having been caught in the act of what would have been the death of Zharn. "Run now, and I might not decide to waste the effort it would take to kill you." Zharn decided to give the poor, practically unarmed young marine a chance. The human dropped his knife and bolted...right into the path of a crashing Banshee. Zharn winced as the heavy metal alloy of the fighter's cockpit drove through the marine's stomach, pinning him to the ground in a wave of blood and flesh. Zharn shook his head sadly, before returning his attention to the task before him. The drop to the bottom of the canyon was about 400 metres. Whilst it had been easy enough getting up, climbing back down could prove to be a problem. Zharn didn't have the time to travel down the long way -- there was no other option; he would have to scale down the face of the cliff edge. Zharn hated heights. With a sigh of reluctance and resignation, Zharn drew out two blades from his belt, igniting the nearly weightless swords in his hands. One was a striking, electric blue, designed to parry and kill with slow, heavy swipes. The other was a narrow, red rapier, with only one blade protruding out of the plasma shaping hilt. This special type of energy sword was designed to kill quickly, and efficiently. With a grunt, Zharn swung himself over the cliff edge, driving both blades deep into the sturdy rock. His fall grounded to a halt. [i]Do[/i] not [i]look down Zharn,[/i] the Sangheili Ultra thought to himself firmly, a second before glancing down. The sheer scope of the drop nearly made him vomit. He took in a deep breath, and took out the red blade, driving it in slightly further down. Then, with a groan, Zharn removed the blue blade, and for a sickening second felt himself drop slightly until the red blade stayed his fall. He repeated the process many times, until he was about halfway down to the cliff edge. Suddenly, Zharn felt a strong wind hit him from behind, accompanied by the roar of an engine. With dread, he turned around to see a human Falcon gunship practically staring at him. There was nowhere to run. How close was the Falcon? Probably not close enough, but Zharn had no choice anyway. Tucking his legs under his chest, Zharn then kicked out at the cliff, sliding both swords out from the rock and launching himself backwards through the air. He then hit something. Hard. And it wasn't the ground! Excellent. The Falcon had charged up it's mini-gun, and was now spraying the wall where Zharn had hung moments before. It then spun around, no doubt wondering where the Sangheili had vanished to. Zharn stood up on top of the Falcon, and nearly fell into the dangerous rotary blades as the air vehicle slightly moved to the right. He managed to right himself, before swinging his body inside the open troop bay of the gunship. Zharn grabbed a soldier who was operating one of the Falcon's side guns, and tossed him out of the vessel, where he began the mortal fall of two hundred metres. He then drew up both swords, feeling a steady wave of bullets smash futilely into his personal energy shields. Looking at the terrified faces of the humans fighting for their lives, Zharn felt a small pity for the creatures. But then he reminded himself of the crimes that humanity had committed, destroying holy relics and defiling the gods themselves. The Sangheili stabbed his crimson rapier into the neck of one marine, simultaneously cutting another soldier's legs out from beneath him, whose torso and head proceeded to fall out of the shaking Falcon with a scream and flurry of desperately flailing arms. The final marine, who looked to be slightly older than the ones Zharn had just killed drew out a shotgun, and fired with a barbaric cry. Zharn's shields fell. Another wave of bullets were fired, which clipped Zharn in the shoulder, ripping the skin off and revealing the bone beneath. The marine tried to fire once more, but a resounding 'click' revealed that he was out of bullets. Bravely, the human struck Zharn across the jaw with the butt of his shotgun, breaking one of the Sangheili's jaw bones. Zharn lashed forward with both blades, sinking them into the chest of the marine who had nearly killed him. The human's eyes grew wide, and he stared at Zharn with nothing but pure, venomous hatred. "Some day...a person like me is going to [i]kill[/i] you," the marine gasped out with his dying breath, before promptly falling limp. Zharn gently lowered the body to the ground, muttering a small prayer for the marine's courageous soul. Zharn injected his broken jaw and torn shoulder with a shot of numbing fluid, easing the pain tearing through his aching body. He then ripped open the flimsy metal door separating the troop area and cockpit, holding a plasma pistol at the terrified pilot's head. "Take us to ground, and I shall let you live," Zharn stated bluntly to the female pilot, who nodded in terror. He remained standing as the Falcon gunship descended to the rocky ground below, before landing with a soft thud. "I did what you asked, please don't kill me!" the pilot begged, tears flowing from her eyes. Zharn nodded. "I won't," he said, before smashing the Falcon's control panel with a heavy fist, and subsequently knocking the pilot unconscious, "but I'm not about to let you follow me."