Argave Chronicles by Conrad Lauf
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Argave Chronicles - Episode 1
Date: 31 August 2004, 11:43 AM
Author's Note: I can't think of a way to end my Devil's Maw series, or my Harvest's Fall series, and have settled on writing about the adventures of Argave, my own SPARTAN character. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and yes, this story is set in the MP map Damnation. I've decided to set all my episodes in MP maps so readers can get a clear picture of what is going on.
LOCATION: Covenant Hydro-processing plant - Code-name: Damnation
Argave dropped from the high horizontal pipe without a sound, his arms raised behind his head for the killing blow. The patrolling Elite below him stopped moving.
"Even better..." thought Argave.
As soon as Argave was in reach of the Elite's head, he swung his arms down in diagonal arcs, with each hand holding an SMG. The SMGs' sickle magazines cut down through the eye-sockets of the Elite's helmet. Argave yanked sharply upwards, and the Elite's integrated helmet was yank free from its face in a small spray of purple blood.
As he hit the ground, Argave rolled, just missing being taken down by a hail of plasma fire. He reached back and unclipped the safety harness in one smooth motion with one hand, whilst sending a clip-load of SMG ammunition into the second unprepared Elite.
Sensing that no-one else was inside the room, the SPARTAN pulled the safety rope gently, and slowly the nylon rope ascended back to the miniature platform latched between the open skylights above him. In the dusk sky Argave could see the Attack Pelican Wyvern 715 bank gracefully and soar back up out of his line of sight.
He turned, and began to reload his empty SMG. It was time to blow this joint.
The golden Elite leapt gracefully from the edge of the platform, its outstretched hands clasping two plasma swords. It crouched slightly as it landed on the catwalk ten metres below, softening its impact. The Elite could see a shadowy human figure trying to stick to the darkened areas as it made its way towards the Covenant supercomputer room. The golden Elite knew this couldn't be allowed to happen. Elimination was imminent.
Argave stopped in front of the boxy maroon Covenant supercomputer. It bleeped and whirred softly, indicating that it was turned on. He reached for the small oval disk imbedded in the front of the machine. His fingers were just millimeters away when the plasma sword slammed into the alloy machine, quivering slightly with the impact. Argave pulled back, the chip in his hands. He hastily shoved it in the modified holster on his thigh armour, where it sat, securely.
Argave wrenched the sword from the computer, and placed one of his SMG's in his shoulder holster. Now equipped with a plasma sword and SMG, Argave turned to face his opponent. The Elite raised its plasma sword in mock salute, and pulled out a plasma rifle from its belt. The two enemies charged at each other, their firearms blazing. The Elite leapt out to its left, and kicked off a ladder mounted on the wall. It flipped itself to the right, and used the momentum to bring the side of its muscular left leg down onto Argave's shoulder as it landed.
The SPARTAN counter-attacked, swinging his right arm up to block the side-kick. The Elite over-balanced, and began to fall to the ground. As it reached the floor, it placed its alien right hand on the ground, still holding the plasma sword. It managed to stay perfectly balanced, and lashed out with its other arm and legs. To Argave, it looked as though the Elite were break-dancing. He smiled in mild amusement, and the Elite used this slight lack of concentration to swing its left leg out in a horizontal crescent kick, felling the human warrior.
Argave rolled back just as the Elite's plasma sword whistled down, and he blocked with his own blade. Light blue sparks flew as the plasma weapons struck each other, and the recoil was almost unbearable to Argave, who brought the sickle magazine of his SMG arcing up to slam home in the jaw of the Elite, the hard steel almost cracking the alien's skull in two vertically down the middle.
The Elite howled as it dropped its weapons, and cradled its ruined face with its hands. Purple blood trickled from between its fingers. Argave decided not to kill the unfortunate beast, knowing that it was well and truly out of action for the time being. He got back onto his feet, and quietly left the room and the horrifically injured Elite.
Argave sprinted through the yawning doorway, practically yelling into his microphone,
"Wyvern 715, I am in immediate need of pick-up. I repeat, I am currently taking heavy fire and am in urgent need of pick-up! Over."
"Okay Argave, I can be there in three minutes. Just be at the drop-off point we placed you at when we left when we get there. Is that understood?"
"Roger that Wyvern."
Argave ducked again as plasma bolts blazed overhead. Without looking behind him he loosed off an extended burst of SMG fire at the pursuing Grunts, Jackals and Elite. He had set off the alarm with the sounds of his gun-battle with the gold Elite.
He reached the drop-off point, and looked up. He could see the safety rope and harness hanging above him. Pressing a button on his wrist, Argave saw the harness rapidly descend. As it reached him, the Covenant squad burst into the room. Argave, who was on the ascending journey back up to the skylight, kicked off the wall behind him, pushing himself forward. The rope bent with the curvature of the horizontal pipes above him, and the force from the push caused the rope to bend with the curvature of the round steel all the way to the top of the pipe. He landed on the top of the pipe, perfectly balanced, and in desperation the Covenant squad six metres below him began to fire on the gas-carrying steel cylindrical steel underneath him.
Argave knew that sooner or later the pipe's outer layer would give way to the barrage of plasma fire, and then terrible things would happen.
The SPARTAN's motion-tracker suddenly showed a massive, pelican-shaped yellow blip directly over Argave's position, and he looked up to see the grey bulk of the drop ship slowly descending towards him through the open skylight. A nylon rope began unraveling from a rolled-up coil attached to the rear storage cabin, and Argave clutched the rope tightly.
Seeing that Argave was secure, the Pelican's pilot began the ascent, and Argave looked down to see the steel pipe below finally billow out like a golden flower, with red-hot pieces of steel shrapnel being flung out in every direction. Argave's shields crackled to life as shards embedded themselves in his thigh armour.
It had been a busy day for Argave.
Author's Note: As usual, I hope you enjoyed the story. I know I had a lot of fun writing it! If I get good feedback, then another story will poke its ugly head into the Fan Fiction section in the next week.
Cheers
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