Rex’s Confrontation

With his reputation on the rise, rogue Spartan Austin Rex had the chance to take a more leisurely bounty. Instead of chasing a single freighter across multiple systems, hopping from planet to planet, and evading both the UNSC and Covenant remnants, the hunter was sitting comfortably in his “borrowed” apartment. It wasn’t at all difficult to fake the documents and reroute money from a false account to acquire the rental for a few days while he scouted for his target.

     Leaning back in his office chair, Rex swiped through the information on his datapad. A lengthy string of details filled its screen, including a high resolution image of his target. The man was a business person, highly involved in interplanetary stocks. He was worth millions, yet his bounty was worth much less.

     The hunter was allowing himself this one easy contract after a failed hunt for a notorious Spartan II which resulted in a near death experience that had left Rex shaken. He saw this low risk target as a breath of fresh air.

      Dressed in a loose fitting grey hoodie and jeans, the Spartan left his apartment and began walking the streets. As he walked, an overlay flashed in his vision and a holographic grid washed over his surroundings. A dizzying array of data jumped out at him, only to disappear just as fast.

    “I’ve tracked down a nearby café that Samuel frequents. It’s worth checking out,” Yelt, the hunter’s AI, told Rex. Its voice came from inside of his head, unheard by others.

    This city was obviously frequented by tourists, as the housing apartments slowly turned into the bright lights and glistening storefronts that lined the sidewalks. Rex glanced inside of the businesses and found himself subtly smiling from the innocent enjoyment their visitors were sharing. For the millionth time, the hunter thought about that kind of life; away from the constant paranoia of chasing blood and contracts. Then he remembered that he chose this life, and he could never be normal.

    Shaking the thought, Rex arrived at the café’s storefront. It had a plain unlit sign hanging above its door which seemed to mimic classic 21st century décor. Pushing his way inside, the hunter found a dark interior filled with the gentle hum of a relaxed atmosphere.

    He noted the display of glistening pastries, a manual coffee machine behind the front counter, and an automatic vendor on the far wall.

     Rex approached the pastry displays, but opted on a coffee instead. The barista happily served him, and the hunter found his way to a seat facing the window. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun had begun sinking its way below the horizon and leaving the streets in a deepening shadow. The lights from the nearby storefronts cast a warming yellow glow through the window, gently illuminating the nearest tables.

     The Spartan sat back in his chair and set his coffee down. For a moment, Rex allowed himself to breath. He forgot his contract, the violence, even the paranoia. He was living in the moment and enjoying it.

      It was nearly an hour later that a tall man entered the café. He didn’t seem conspicuous, but something told Rex he needed to pay attention. Without making it obvious, the hunter watched the man enter the building and wander over to the front counter. When he was out of sight, Yelt pulled the feed from the security cameras and tracked the suspicious man as he wandered around the café. He sat on the opposite side of the room from Rex, yet still could see him through the serving area.

     “Facial?” Rex muttered to his AI.

      “Local, office worker. Name’s Lee Young,” the AI replied immediately.

     Relaxing a bit, Rex returned his attention to his coffee. It wasn’t ten minutes later that Lee Young appeared at the Spartan’s side.

     This close, Rex could see he was of Asian descent with jet black hair. He wore a brown jacket with black pants. He seemed just like any other person in the town, but Rex still felt something was off.

     “Excuse me, do you happen to know where Journey Pizza Station is?” the man asked in a polite tone. “Meeting a friend there soon.”

    Rex frowned and looked to his datapad, but Yelt was already on it. The address appeared in his vision. “Down the road, 124 Main,” the hunter responded.

    Lee smiled and gave his thanks, then left the café. Rex was having none of it. There was a prickling in the back of his neck that told him there was danger nearby. “Anyone else?” the Hunter muttered without looking over his shoulder.

   Yelt once again showed him the surveliance cameras, but saw nobody else leaving with him. Taking no chances, the Spartan finished his coffee and left the café.

    “Watch my back,” Rex said. He walked at a casual pace and kept his body as relaxed as possible. He had left his gun and armor at the apartment, and he was not prepared for confrontation. This was where he realized the mistake he made, and cursed himself for it every step of the way.

      “Movement,” Yelt suddenly said. He pulled up a nearby security camera and replayed the footage of a shadow shifting in the darkness. He noticed it was far ahead of him, lurking in the alleyway, so he turned away and began taking another street.

    “Find me a route, Yelt,” the Spartan said, glancing around the well lit street. The crowd was beginning to thin out, which meant the rogue was running out of time.

    An arrow appeared at Rex’s feet, guiding him to another street. The hunter made sure to keep his pace even, and not look suspicious. As he crossed another street, the Spartan saw a blur moving from the rooftop. It was just out of the corner of his eye, but it had been there. He was being hunted.

     The arrow at Rex’s feet turned from green to orange, and the Spartan picked up his pace and cut into an alley. There he found a ladder that led up onto a flat rooftop and provided excellent cover. He ran from the rooftop to another ladder where he slid down and sprinted down the empty street to his apartment.

     He found the rooftop access he had installed and clambered up the ladder and through the second floor’s window. The remote access panel activated and slid upwards to allow entrance.

    The hunter, knowing his time was now limited, rushed to the upstairs bedroom where the portable armoring station sat in the bed’s place. He jumped into the station and gritted his teeth as it sped through the process and spat him back out in under a minute. The machine had drawn blood from the rushed process, but it was something he’d have to worry about later.

    Just as Rex bent down to grab his DMR, the downstairs door was broken down and the thundering sound of footsteps came up the staircase.

    The Spartan burst through the bedroom’s window right as a black suit of Mjolnir armor turned the corner. He rolled onto the roof and heard the armor give chase.

     Bullets slammed into his back and brought his shields down to half. Rex then slid off of the roof and landed with a forward roll right in front of another pair of black Mjolnir. The other two stopped in surprise for just a second before the smaller of the two threw a circular device at Rex.

     “Armor lock!” Yelt exclaimed. Electricity surged through his armor as the device latched onto his own Mjolnir and fought with his systems. Rex turned away down the street and stumbled through the device’s control until his AI was able to disarm it.

     The Spartan ran down another alley just as a sniper’s bullet hit the corner behind him, blasting away the concrete. Just before he emerged from the other side, Yelt flashed a warning and showed the outline of yet another suit of Mjolnir waiting for him, unarmed but seemingly ready to grab him.

     Rex dove passed the assailant, missing their grasp by inches, and came up sprinting down the road. “ETA on my ship,” The spartan said.

     “One minute,” Yelt responded, showing an overlay of the modified Phantom’s position. Rex cursed. With four suits of Mjolnir chasing him, one minute was an eternity.

     Out of the corner of his eye, Rex watched as one of the Mjolnir suits threw themselves from the roof and came down hard on the fleeing Spartan’s back. He went down hard and saw stars as his helmet slammed into the concrete.

     Rex began to struggle under the suit’s weight, and managed to avoid being subdued by flipping onto his side and shrugging out of the restraint. Both were on their feet, and the suit was already trying to grab him again.

     Rex jumped back, then saw the other suits of Mjolnir approaching from all angles. If he were to get out of here, the Spartan had to act quickly.

     Instead of retreating, Rex surged forwards and slipped behind the suit’s stance. It was then he noticed the barbs sticking deep into the Mjolnir’s legs. Without a moments hesitation, Yelt activated the barb’s electric surge, and the suit slumped into a useless heap.

    Rex backed against a wall and held his knife across the immobile suit’s throat. This close, he could tell it was an S-II, just like the one that almost killed him.

    The other four S-II Spartans surrounded Rex at a distance, all aiming their weapons directly at him. He wasn’t at all surprised when “Lee Young” came up behind the others holding a handgun.

     The modified Phantom swooped over the street and came to a rest hovering over the concrete. Its gravity lift wasn’t activated yet, though he dared not use the remote controlled turrets in fear of losing control of the situation.

    There was a few tense seconds of silence as the other Spartans no doubt were talking amongst each other.

       The others knew the situation quite well, so Rex stayed silent. Though to speed up the negotiations, he pressed the knife until it broke through the techsuit and drew a thin line of blood.

     Finally, the other Spartans broke formation and made a path to the Phantom. Knowing they had a plan, Rex waited a few moments before quickly dropping his hostage, sheathing his knife, and moving as fast as he could towards the Phantom. Right as one of them lunged, the Phantom opened fire with its forward turret and sent rubble flying in all directions.

    The ship continued to fire at the Spartans as Rex was picked up by the gravity lift and safely deposited into the Phantom. He rushed to the pilot’s seat even before the lift closed up and watched as the ship shot out over the city and climbed into the sky.

     “Are we being followed?” Rex asked.

     “Yes. A Pelican is tracking our trajectory, but they won’t find us,” Yelt said confidently.

     The hunter relaxed in his seat and heaved a heavy sigh. “Any identification on them?” he asked.

    “No. I have no records for who those Spartans are. I suspect ONI, however,” Yelt answered.

    The hypothesis wasn’t surprising. No one liked a rogue Spartan, and this wouldn’t be the first team sent to track him down. Though something was off this time. None had ever shown themselves before they attacked. This left an uncomfortable amount of questions.

Rex still had a contract to complete. Now, though, there was danger involved. Business as usual.