halo.bungie.org

They're Random, Baby!

Fan Fiction


Juggernaut
Posted By: Ubjub<crisril@aol.com>
Date: 8 August 2005, 2:00 pm


Read/Post Comments

A harsh breeze whipped through the box canyon known to most as Coagulation as Melphion, stood atop the blue base, watching as Lucifer291 cut down Inferios, the blue flash of the plasma sword he held reflecting off his blood red armour.

This was it. Just Melphion and the Lucifer291 remained. The name of the game had been Juggernaut, Lucifer getting chosen for the honour at the start of the game. Everybody had one life, just one chance to take down the chosen one, but so far they had met only failure. Lucifer wasn't resistant to damage, but he was fast, had the sword and had the advantage of optic camouflage. Melphion had watched as 16 players had become 12, a well placed grenade from Lucifer291 quickly eliminating four players within the first two minutes of the match. Lucifer had then gone on a killing spree with the sword, reducing the amount of players to only three in such a short amount of time. Of course, he did not have the sword out at all times, that would give his position away. Instead, Lucifer snuck up close holding a pistol and then drew the sword at the last minute, delivering the killing blow quickly and quietly, leaving only his opponent's body and nothing more.

Melphion had remembered six of the players, who had allied and holed themselves up in the red base. Lucifer had killed the lone guard on the roof before a warning could be uttered and then dropped in to the centre of the base, killing all inside. It was testament to Lucifer's cunning that it was all over in seconds and only Melphion, who had been watching through his sniper scope from the mountain behind red base, had seen it happen.

Melphion crouched behind one of the protective panels on the blue base roof, battle rifle in hand, hoping that he hadn't been spotted, but he saw the plasma sword begin to travel towards blue base and then disappear. He decided that it was time to move, so he gave Lucifer a couple of seconds to get closer to blue base and then dived for the green glow of the teleporter, travelling half way across the canyon and buying him at least a few more seconds of survival. He knew that Lucifer would get to the base and figure out what had happened and would follow Melphion through the teleporter, so Melphion knew that he only had a couple of seconds to come up with a plan.

He had appeared in the middle of a rock slide and remembered that there was an overshield hidden somewhere among the boulders. Melphion got to where it should have been and discovered that it had already been taken, probably by another unfortunate soul that had sought a few more seconds of life. He had to adapt his plan. Remembering that another overshield resided in a cave on the other side of the map, Melphion began his journey to obtain it. What he didn't notice was the unmistakeable sound of someone exiting the teleporter and the metallic click of a pistol being drawn….

He was half way there, he had just passed the rocket launcher and decided it would be useless, Lucifer was too fast and would escape the blast range easily. Melphion had decided to keep his battle rifle and sniper rifle so that he could spot his enemy more easily. He stopped. He was sure that he had just heard the sound of an armoured foot crushing sand and dirt beneath it. Melphion heard the popping sound of a sword being drawn and, on instinct, jumped. His timing was perfect as Lucifer went dashing below him, plasma sword before him.

Melphion knew he had no chance of winning, his weapons were meant for ranged combat, not for fighting off a sword wielder. Lucifer lunged again, appearing for a second and then once again becoming a very deadly phantom, as once again Melphion evaded his strike. It was close though, Melphion could feel the heat of the unearthly weapon through his white armour.

Melphion looked around for something, anything that he could use to destroy the Juggernaut. It was then that he spotted Inferios, or at least what was left of him after he had been cut cleanly in two. But more importantly, Melphion saw what was held in Inferios's now cold hand. The perfect weapon for fighting such as this. The shotgun. It was only a couple of metres away, but with Lucifer baying for his blood, it was going to be hard to obtain.

Melphion dived for the shotgun, just as Lucifer lunged for a third time. Once again, Melphion escaped death, but this time he did not escape from all harm. The sword caught his leg, overloading the shields of his armour and cutting through the Titanium-A plating, hydrostatic gel and at last flesh and bone. Melphion's right leg was severed from the knee down, landing several metres away, the force of the sword's attack launching it away from the desperate soldier.

He screamed in pain and anger as he snatched up the shotgun, cocking it, the reassuring sound of a shell being loaded into the chamber ringing throughout the canyon. Obviously, Lucifer wasn't paying attention, too enraged that his prey had escaped the reaper once again, as he lunged for a fourth, and final time, sure that he could kill the prone form of Melphion, who sat before him. Just as the sword was about to pierce his chest plate, Melphion pulled the trigger of his weapon. A sound like a small explosion rang out and twenty-five small lead and steel pellets ripped through Lucifer's exposed body, penetrating his heart, lungs and stomach, killing him instantly.

The now deactivated plasma sword fell from Lucifer's lifeless fingers, hitting the ground with a muffled thump, along with Lucifer's body. Just before Melphion passed out from exhaustion and blood loss, he heard two words that brought a smile to his battle weary face.

'Game Over'





bungie.org
brr!