| abstract
| - Felix didn't need to wait for Rosch's orders. He aimed beyond the Sangheili and fired directly at Kahn. The assassin ducked low, keeping the moving alien between himself and Felix. His battle rifle kicked up a staccato rhythm, punching holes in the wall behind Venter and G294. The rebel and ex-Spartan fell together to avoid the gunfire as the G294 lookalike sprang to his feet and moved to help Venter. "Lieutenant Commander, take Kahn!" Rosch ordered belatedly. "G293, G299, cover him!" But his orders were cut off as a sniper round blew past his helmet. The small fighter, undoubtedly the girl from New Madrigal, skirted along the outskirts of the melee that had broken out between Venter, G294, his look-alike, and the Sangheili. "Nimue!" he heard Cassandra yell. "Run!" Ralph fired his shotgun, throwing off the girl's aim as she leapt nimbly to the side. Beside him, Jake hesitated. "What about the Sangheili, sir?" "Collateral damage," Rosch said at once. "I take full responsibility. Open fire." "Sir," the Spartan grunted tersely, raising his assault rifle. "Jake, no!" Cassandra pleaded. "Don't..." An anguished snarl split the air, cutting Jake's indecision short. Venter and the G294 lookalike had broken away from the fighting and were sprinting down the corridor. Kahn let loose a flurry of battle rifle shots that sent the Spartans scattering, then darted after them. The girl with him broke off and fired a few more suppression shots with her rifle as she joined in the pursuit. All four vanished through the door. The Sangheili leaned against the wall, a knife protruding from his chest. The battered G294--the real one--caught the slumping alien and helped him slide into a sitting position. "Go, Simon," Felix heard the Sangheili wheeze. "Take your vengeance." G294 nodded and turned to run. Felix and Jake brought their assault rifles to bear, but the Sangheili lurched upwards with a sudden burst of strength and blocked their line of fire. Felix's finger jerked instinctively away from the trigger, but Jake put a quick burst through the Sangheili's leg that sent him sprawling. The Spartan-III took aim at G294's back, only to have his shot blocked again--this time by the ragged scrap of a girl that had been with G294 in the news recording. One look at the girl's terrified eyes told Felix it wouldn't take much to break her resolve. He aimed at the ceiling just above her... "One more step and she dies, G294." All eyes turned to Rosch, whose pistol was pointed not at the urchin girl but at Cassandra's visor. Halfway down the hall, G294 stopped and turned back. In the hall's flickering light, Felix finally got a good look at his target. G294 was a mess. His prosthetic arm dangled slightly, its shoulder stained red from a wound he seemed to have taken. His hair and clothes were matted with dirt and dried blood, and a bandage had been wrapped around his head to cover his left eye. Without his augmentations, he'd have already passed out from the sheer extent of the damage to his body. "You bastard," G294 hissed through clenched teeth. His remaining eye burned with rage, but Felix could see fear there as well. The ex-Spartan's body was quivering, caught between a hideous desire to run and the gun that was pointed at Cassandra's head. "You have your shot," Rosch told Jian. "Take him." "Gladly," Ralph grunted, drawing his sidearm. "This is for fifteen years of humiliation." "If you fire," the Sangheili coughed in English. "Your commander dies." From the floor, he aimed an M6 service pistol at Rosch. Rosch sighed. "Someone shoot the alien again." "I will kill you before they can do away with me," the Sangheili promised. "Let them go. Both of them." Rosch's helmet cocked for a moment, but his pistol didn't dip so much as an inch. "Then shoot me," he informed the alien coldly. "Jian, kill G294 now." G294 blinked rapidly. "You bastards," he spat. "You bastards, he's going to shoot Cassandra!" "Not if we shoot you first," Jake said quietly. "I'm sorry, Simon, but you brought this on yourself." If looks could kill, Felix had no doubt he, Rosch, and the rest of Jian would have been cut down where they stood by the look of pure hate the traitor shot them. "And I'm the one they send hit squads after," he hissed. Moving faster than anyone in his condition had any right to, G294 grabbed the surprised girl from behind. Plucking her pistol out of her unsteady grip with his prosthetic arm, he pressed its muzzle against his surprised hostage's neck. "If you assholes don't throw down your guns, I'll shoot her," he warned, backing away down the hall. Felix tightened his aim. He could go for a headshot, but that wouldn't guarantee that G294 wouldn't fire on reflex anyway. Besides, G294 was being careful to keep both himself and the girl moving at an unsteady gait, leaving no room for error in aim or timing. But he couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of panic in the girl's eyes. She just went limp and let G294 drag her away. Rosch noticed it too. "You're bluffing." "I'm a deranged psychopath, remember?" G294 called back. He had reached the far door, which slid open behind him. "Cassandra, help Tuka!" And with that he was gone. The second the door had closed, Cassandra lurched forward and knelt beside the bleeding Sangheili. "My cuffs," she demanded. "Take them off. And get me a first aid kit so I can stop the bleeding." To Felix's surprise, Rosch waved at Ralph. "Do as she says. Lieutenant Commander, after them. We'll be right behind you." "Yes, sir." Felix hesitated. "Should I prioritize the targets?" Rosch nodded. "Take Kahn over the others. We'll follow behind and try to cut off G294 and the rebels." Without another word, Felix sprinted towards the far door as fast as his MJOLNIR armor would carry him.
*
* The sounds of sustained gunfire greeted Simon and Zoey as they stumbled through the door and onto a catwalk. Below them lay what appeared to be a large refinery room, filled with abandoned crates and deactivated machinery. Simon couldn't tell what the Covenant-style design was meant to actually do, but it was clearly providing good cover for the platoon of insurrectionists scattered throughout the chamber. Two rebels lay dead a few feet away, bullet wounds stitched across their chests. Simon dragged Zoey over to them and appropriated one of their submachine guns. "Nice going with the flow back there," he told her, handing her the pistol back. "If you'd panicked they might have been able to get close and disarm me." "Would you really have shot me if they'd shot Cassandra?" she asked, taking the gun with a trembling hand. "Yes." She shook her head. "I don't believe you." "I've done worse." He scanned the refinery, but even as he desperately searched for Venter his mind was a jumbled mess of emotions. He couldn't believe Jake and Ralph had actually let those ONI ghouls drag Cassandra into this. Had they really brought her here just to use her against him? Was it me who dragged her into this? He caught a flash of movement at the far end of the room and saw a solitary figure make a break for another door as a small squad of rebels provided covering fire. Off to the side, he saw another familiar figure taking cover behind a fuel crate. "Peter has Diana," he said, indicating the clone to Zoey. "I need you to kill him and get her data chip." "Me? How do I kill him?" she demanded shrinking back. There was no time for any better plan. Venter couldn't get away. Tuka had nearly gotten killed giving him this chance. Cassandra... no he couldn't think about her now. "You have a gun, don't you?" he demanded. "Point it at him and pull the trigger!" He darted up and ran as fast as his aching legs could carry him. The catwalk would bring him over the firefight and to the door. From there, he would find Venter and kill him. If he didn't get away, first. No. There was no "if". Venter was going to die here, and not even his old squad or the armored monstrosity with them would save him.
*
* The room Felix emerged into was strewn with rebel bodies. They were slumped beside alien crates and machinery, their weapons lying uselessly beside them. Scanning the room, the Spartan saw that there wasn't a single living thing in sight. Venter and Kahn must have moved further into the facility. Vaulting over the catwalk's railing, he landed gracefully on the floor and kept moving... The world erupted into flames. One moment Felix was running and the next he was buffeted on all sides as explosions went off around him. His shields flared and died and he was thrown sideways in a dazed heap. Gunfire flashed from the shadows. Felix rolled, just barely avoiding being perforated as he slid behind a large crate. His assault rifle was gone, leaving him with just his pistol, a knife, the energy staff on his belt, and two grenades. He readied the sidearm. This was too much like the fight at the hospital. Back there, Kahn had proven that Felix's natural advantages with his augmentations and MJOLNIR would not provide the edge he'd need to win at close quarters. And in the hospital, Kahn had been worn out by days of constantly fighting and evading Rosch's task force. The Kahn Felix faced now was in his prime, and this time the assassin was holding all the cards. Activating his HUD's infrared, Felix shot up the moment his shields recharged. Bullets immediately pinged off the shields, but there was no sign of a muzzle flash; Kahn must be using a suppressor. Keeping low, Felix darted to a nearby machine and seized an assault rifle from the insurrectionist who had died defending it. Prepping a grenade, he hurled it into the shadows across the room and scanned the area with the rifle. Just as he'd expected, the grenade blast lit up the darkness and revealed Kahn's armored form as the assassin dove out of the blast radius. Instead of charging over the open floor, Felix darted from cover to cover, weaving through the refinery as he closed in on Kahn's position. A small object flew at him from over Kahn's cover. Felix ducked behind another piece of machinery, but the blast he was expecting never came. Instead, a wave of energy washed over his cover and in the next instant his shields and HUD shorted out. Felix glimpsed Kahn's ODST visor as the assassin darted over to a better vantage point. He quickly pushed himself around to keep the machine between himself and the assassin, but a shooting pain in his abdomen told him that one of Kahn's bullets had found their mark. His armor would pump biofoam into the injury. For now, Felix had to get Kahn now, before he slipped back into the shadows. Coming up again, he sprayed Kahn's position with assault rifle fire. The moment the weapon ran dry, Felix drew his sidearm and threw his last grenade off to the side of Kahn's cover. Kahn came out firing, sprinting away from the grenade blast while firing burst after burst from his battle rifle. But the assassin's aim was off and Felix's bullet struck him square in the chest. Kahn reeled, swinging his rifle to stand between his head and the three shots Felix fired at his head. The pistol clicked empty. The ruined rifle fell to the ground. Felix and Kahn stood upright, meeting each other's faceless gaze through their visors. There was no time to reload. Kahn still had a fully loaded pistol on his hip in addition to however many knives and other weapons he had stored across his armor. All Felix had was his knife, energy staff, and everything the MJOLNIR brought to close combat. I can still win at close quarters. My body can take more damage than his, so in a game of attrition, I'll still win. The trick would be getting close without being mowed down. Kahn's hand flashed down to the pistol, but Felix was already moving. Drawing his knife with his prosthetic hand, he bent low and scooped up a nearby corpse with the other. Draping the dead insurrectionist in front of him, he charged. Kahn leapt to the side, but Felix turned in time for the body to absorb the first two shots from the assassin's pistol. He hurled the corpse the last few feet; Kahn knocked the body aside with ease, but it was the distraction Felix needed to close the final gap. His knife slashed towards Kahn's throat, but the assassin leapt back and fired his pistol point blank into Felix's face. The force of the impact cut his shields in half, but Felix was already lashing out with a kick at Kahn's legs. Kahn sidestepped and drew his own knife. But Felix still had his ace in the whole. The Forerunner energy hilt slipped off his belt and into his organic hand. The grooved handle responded to the reclaimer's touch and in an instant the energy staff had activated. Shafts of pure white light sprang to life from either end of the handle as Felix swung the closest end of the staff at Kahn's midsection. The mercenary dodged that blow as well, but the staff had caught him off guard. He stumbled and only caught his balance when he ran up against a crate. Felix didn't give him time to regain his footing. He sprang forwards, cutting a lethal pattern in the air with the energy staff. But Kahn recovered faster than he'd anticipated. Slipping the pistol back into its holster, the assassin drew a second knife and dodged each one of Felix's slashes. Once again, the Spartan was amazed by his opponent's speed and agility. There was no way a regular human being could move the way Kahn did. He brought his knife hand down towards Kahn's shoulder while the energy staff slashed again at the midriff. But Kahn ducked low, avoiding both cuts. Felix whipped the other end of the staff around and down, forcing Kahn to fall backwards to avoid having his head slashed in two. But the blow was not completely avoided. As Kahn rose, his helmet fell from his head. It had been slashed in two by the staff's blow. Once again, Felix was treated to the sight of Kahn's true face. The brutal, strangely familiar features looked at him from under his shock of greying hair. There was no anger or desperation in his eyes, nothing like Felix had seen in G294. Kahn simply took in the opponent before him, always scanning and never giving anything away. Where have I seen this man before? Felix strained, reaching for strands of memory that constantly eluded his grasp. He knew without a doubt that this man was a key piece in the puzzle of his shattered past. And now I have to kill him. He saw the barest hint of a smile grace Kahn's lips, and before he could figure out why another EMP grenade exploded. Felix realized too late that Kahn must have dropped it when he'd avoided the last attack, and as his shields failed Kahn lunged forward with blinding speed. His first knife came in from the side, stabbing at Felix's neck. Instinctively, Felix snapped the staff up to block it. The blade cut the knife cleanly in two, but that had just been a feint. The real attack came from below. The knife shot up at Felix's jaw. He leaned back to avoid it, but the blade slipped in under his helmet and slashed through his lip. Felix saw the tip of the knife rise up right between his eyes. There was only one option. Releasing his helmet seals, Felix let Kahn rip the helmet off. It bounced away as Felix staggered backwards, blood streaming from the cut on his face. He brought his energy staff up in a defensive posture, but there was no attack forthcoming. Kahn stood frozen in place, that implacable expression of his inexplicably broken and replaced by one of pure astonishment.
*
* Peter scrambled backwards, avoiding the pistol shot that nearly took his head off. Whipping his own gun out, he fired a panicked series of shots into the darkness. He had no idea where Venter had gone, but that strange girl that had come in with Kahn had chased him out of the refinery room and into one of the adjoining hallways. He tripped over his feet and found himself staring up into the pitiless visor of the girl's recon helmet. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded, reaching for his knife. "Peter," she said coldly, holstering her pistol. "I remember you." "Yeah?" he sneered, pushing himself up against the wall and reaching for his knife. "Well I've got no clue who you are, bitch." He drew the knife and lunged at her throat. But her arms blocked him faster than he'd ever seen a human move before. With a yelp of pain, he dropped the knife and threw his hands up to protect his face. The girl punched him so hard in the chest he might as well have not been wearing any protection at all. He slumped over, wheezing for air. The girl stood over him, her boots an inch away from his face. "They bred us from the same stock," she continued dispassionately. "Kahn said that everyone Venter cloned for the project came from the same genetic makeup. I guess this proves that he really did make me everything I am. Venter had nothing to do with it." Peter's eyes widened. The project... Kahn... Now he remembered. "Oh, hey Nimue," he muttered, trying not to panic. "Those were some fun times back at the center, weren't they?" She hauled him up by his combat jacket and pinned him to the wall. He shrank away, hiding his fear behind a nervous grin. "You know, those times we screwed around together, I didn't mean anything by 'em. They were just a bit of fun, you know?" That faceless stare was worse than a face full of loathing. "That's not how I remember it." "I just got curious, you know? Besides, it's not like you didn't enjoy it..." Her fist came up. "He taught me that revenge is unprofessional." She punched him in the face so hard Peter was certain he blacked out for a moment. "Where's Venter?" "I don't know!" he shrieked, loosing his cool completely. "I swear, I don't know!" She jammed her elbow into his ribs. Peter doubled over only to have her slam him upright into the wall once again. "Where's..." "Where's Diana?" demanded a smaller voice. Peter and Nimue looked over to see Mordred's little squeeze holding them both at gunpoint. Oh shit... "Diana?" Nimue asked calmly. "Mordred's AI," the little bitch explained, waving the gun desperately in Peter's direction. "He has her, I know it! I have to get her back!" Nimue turned back to face Peter. "You heard her. Where's Diana?" She brought her fist up again. "My pocket!" he yelped. "The lower one, on the left!" Nimue reached into his combat vest and pulled out the bulky chip. "This is Mordred's AI?" "Yeah," the other girl said eagerly. "That's it." Nimue tossed it to her. The girl practically dropped the gun in her haste to catch it, but when she straightened she trained it on Peter again. "Hey!" he protested. "I gave her to you, didn't I?" "He hurt Mordred," the girl said plaintively to no one in particular. "He kicked him and tore out his eye! And he tried to... he would've..." Her voice broke. "Alright, hands up," said a tired voice behind them. "Sorry to interrupt the kiddie show here," said the Spartan with the shotgun. "But we're taking you three punks into custody." The one with the assault rifle shook his head. "Don't resist. Please." The girl immediately dropped the pistol and put her hands in the air. Nimue wasn't so quick to throw in the towel. Spinning around, she threw Peter directly into both Spartans. In the same motion, she primed an EMP grenade and rolled it off in their direction. The one with the shotgun knocked Peter unceremoniously to the side, but neither of them could do anything about the energy blast. Nimue drew her pistol and opened fire. Her first shot caught Ralph in the chest, the second hit Jake in the shoulder, and the third grazed the side of his head as he jerked to avoid the bullet. Ralph's shotgun blast went wide, blasting a hole in the wall behind Nimue. Jake threw down his rifle and drew his knife. "Hold fire!" he ordered. "You'll hit the girl!" "They're both girls!" "You know what I mean!" Jake came on, cutting low at Nimue's shoulder. She blocked the knife with her empty pistol before jabbing her empty hand into his side and using his own weight to throw him into the wall. She jerked away, keeping both Spartans in front of her. Ralph charged in with his own knife. She blocked each one of his cuts with her pistol hand as she drew a knife of her own from her armor. "Shit...!" Had Ralph been a hair slower, she would have buried the blade in his throat. Instead the knife cut a gash in the side of his neck and he forced her backwards with a flurry of kicks and stabs. No control, she noted, parrying each strike with ease. And his partner hesitates too much. She knocked his legs out from under him with a sweeping kick, but was forced to dance away as Jake shot in again to cover his teammate. Nimue quickly reloaded her pistol, but before she could fire they both came on at once. There was no time to aim her shots. She simply used the pistol as a buckler as she fended Jake off with one arm and tried to keep Ralph away with the other. But she wasn't fast enough to stop Jake from grabbing her arm and disarming her with an expert blow. She locked her leg around the back of his knee, but his stance was too solid and she couldn't knock him down like she had with Ralph. The other Spartan knocked her knife hand away and kicked her square in the chest. She fought past the pain just like Kahn had trained her, but Jake had already wrapped a hand around her neck, cutting off her air flow. I have to fight. I have to win. She tried to focus on Ralph while locking her free hand around one of Jake's pressure points, but she was already having trouble seeing. Her fingers squeezed at the wrong points, and the chokehold only intensified. The last thing she saw in her mind's eye before she blacked out was the way Kahn had looked when he'd trusted her to chase Venter on her own. I'm sorry, she thought miserably. I failed. Darkness took her.
*
* Felix watched Kahn carefully. "You know me," he said. He had to know, before Kahn died. "How?" "You haven't aged a day," Kahn muttered incredulously. "How'd they do it?" "You know me," Felix repeated. "How do you know me?" Kahn looked at him with a strange blend of confusion and pity. "I guess they did something to you," he sighed. "Doesn't surprise me, knowing ONI." Felix tightened his grip on his knife and energy staff and lunged. Kahn met him halfway, catching his staff hand in an iron grip while parrying the simultaneous cut with his remaining knife. Felix's MJOLNIR-enhanced arm slowly pressed down towards Kahn, but the very fact that he could resist without the help of any powered armor of his own was beyond incredible. Kahn released the arm and stepped around Felix, slashing at his face with the knife. Felix whirled, dodging the blow and stepping in with another cut from his energy staff. For several moments both fighters were a whirl of lethal cuts and last-second dodges. One misstep from Kahn and Felix scored a grazing hit with the energy staff. The beam cut through his armor like a knife through hot butter, and as Kahn jerked away Felix saw blood leaking through the cut. "Nice toy," Kahn grunted. His empty hand flashed, and in the next second he had produced another knife. The next time Felix attacked, Kahn was waiting for him. The new knife hand batted away Felix's knife-jab while the first knife slashed the wrist of the hand holding the energy staff. The cut through his armor was minor, but Felix still yanked the staff away before Kahn could do any more damage. It was a terrible mistake. Suddenly free to use both his hands on one target, Kahn locked Felix's knife between both of his own and wrenched it from the Spartan's metal grip. Felix aimed a kick at Kahn's head, but the assassin ducked past it and leapt away. Felix charged in after him, cutting at him with both ends of the staff in a furious assault. He could feel the wound in his side slowing him down with every slash; the biofoam could only do so much, and he was already growing numb around the that area. Kahn could see it as well. He came in from that side, keeping away from the hand that held the staff. Felix realized the hole in his defenses too late, and as he twisted to compensate Kahn dropped one knife and caught the staff hand again. He slowed it just enough to allow the remaining knife to snake in and delve into Felix's unarmored palm. The hand snapped open involuntarily, and a palm strike from Kahn's empty hand sent the deactivated staff tumbling away. Kahn's body coiled, ready to strike Felix who now stood completely disarmed before him. Felix dropped into an unarmed fighting stance, but his chances were rapidly diminishing. Kahn's armor was still covered with extra pouches and knives; all he had now were his fists and feet. He looked around, hoping to find an insurrectionist weapon lying close at hand. There was none. Kahn sprang forward, but was knocked back as pistol reports filled the air. Felix turned to see Rosch advancing alone across the refinery floor. They had been so lost in their battle that neither fighter had seen the officer approach. Rosch fired shot after shot, but he was shooting low to avoid hitting Felix. Most of the bullets struck Kahn in his armored chest, but Felix saw one hit him in the hip and another graze his shoulder. "Lieutenant Commander!" Rosch ordered. "Take him now!" But Kahn ducked around Felix, keeping the Spartan between himself and Rosch. As Felix spun to face him, Kahn hurled himself forward, past Felix and towards Rosch, who had paused to reload. Rosch dropped the pistol and brought his hands up. For a moment, he actually looked as if he could fend off Kahn's attacks, but in the next second the assassin had batted his arms away and slammed a gauntleted fist into Rosch's helmet with a sickening crunch. The ONI operative collapsed. But the commander had given Felix the opening he needed. Racing forward, he pulled back his organic arm and slammed a savage punch directly at Kahn's heart. The man's armor buckled and crunched as the MJOLNIR's strength buried Felix's fist in his chest. Kahn looked astonished once again, then fell backwards into the nearest wall and lay still. Felix spared his fallen enemy one last glance, then turned back to Rosch. The commander wasn't moving, and his head was twisted at an odd angle. It didn't look good at all... The barest whisper of movement echoed behind him. Felix began to turn as the submachine gun started firing. The first bullet grazed the top of Felix's head as Kahn opened fire with the weapon he'd seized from the dead rebel who lay just a few feet from where he'd fallen. Felix brought his arms up in front of his face in time for the rest of the shots to reflect across his shields. Kahn was firing from the ground, but Felix could see him struggling to rise through the muzzle flashes and shield bursts. The moment the submachine gun's clip emptied, Felix charged forward. Kahn had used the opportunity to push himself up. Blood leaked from his mouth and his stance was unfocused, but his eyes still possessed their calculating determination. Throwing away the empty gun, he reached down and drew his pistol once again. Felix raised his arm to block the shot, but his shields were almost completely drained. He knew what was about to happen, felt the pain as the bullet entered his organic left hand, and tore its way through his forearm and out through his elbow. He stopped in his tracks, doubled over from pain as his left arm dangled uselessly from his shoulder. Kahn leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. He didn't fire the shot that would have killed Felix right there; the pistol was empty as well. The shots are high powered, Felix realized, too late. Of course. A man with Kahn's strength would easily be able to handle the enhanced recoil. Blood from the hit he'd taken to his head was beginning to seep down into his right eye, distorting his vision. Both men were gasping for breath. They had reached their limits, both of them, but the look in Kahn's eyes told Felix the assassin wasn't about to give up just yet. As for himself... Felix clenched his prosthetic hand. It would come down to another close quarters brawl, then. Without warning, Kahn gathered himself up agains the wall and threw himself at Felix. The empty pistol came up; Kahn would use it as a bludgeon to club Felix's unarmored head. Gritting his teeth, Felix threw his limp left arm up to catch the pistol but before it reached his forehead. The weapon struck him right beside the hole in his elbow and sent shockwaves of agony coursing through the entire arm. Without even pausing, Kahn drew yet another knife with his free hand and closed in on the left side. Felix jerked his prosthetic arm over and blocked the first strike. The knife clattered against his metal fingers. With the next parry, he knocked Kahn over to his right. He had to twist his head to catch every move now, but now the knife was attacking his good side. There was no more diving, weaving, or dodging. Kahn's knife hand just kept cutting and Felix's open, remaining hand kept blocking. Their arms moved in a blur of motion, block and attack, block and attack. Felix's shoulder cried out for an end to the exertion, and he could see the effort the assault was costing Kahn. The veins in his face and forehead were bulging, and his eyes shone with pain and exertion With each exchange, their moves grew slower. One of them had to give out. Jerking one of his legs forward, Felix kicked Kahn off balance. The mercenary fell backwards, and Felix pulled his arm back to deliver a skull-shattering punch to the head. But Kahn righted himself just in time, avoiding the blow and plunging his knife down into Felix's collarbone. Felix staggered back. He saw Kahn come in, saw his now-empty hand form into a claw, saw it plunge forward for his throat... With one last burst of strength, Felix punched Kahn square in the gut. The claw kept coming. It ripped through the first folds of flesh in Felix's neck... and stopped. The Spartan could barely feel the pain anymore, but he could still feel a warm wetness seeping down his neck. A faint grin graced Kahn's bloody lips. "Felix," he murmured. "Slow to the punch. As always." He kept smiling as his eyes closed and he collapsed at Felix's feet. The Spartan stood for a few seconds longer before slumping to his knees. His metal fingers brushed his neck as he realized just how close Kahn had come to tearing his throat out. "Slow to the punch?" he asked aloud. He was already having trouble breathing "Was that a joke?" Kahn didn't answer. Felix couldn't keep it up any more. He fell backwards as the world spun around him. Someone was shouting in the distance. He looked up to see a young woman with brown hair kneeling over him. His lips moved, trying to sound out her name. "Cass..andra?" He couldn't hear anything anymore. His head felt numb. His whole body felt numb. Felix fell back and slipped into blissful oblivion.
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