Human homeworld/Earth, possible location of holy relics:
New Mombasa:
9th age of Reclimation:


The sun over the African city was at its high point, creating a bright, hot environment. You could barely make out anything farther than about one hundred meters, as the heat rising up off the ashphalt created a dancing translucient pattern that distorted what ever was behind it. It could have been worse though.  
                 At least the many buildings that made up the human city provided more than enough shade for the squad of six Elites to stand in, and not get their skin fried like an egg in the fifty degree temperatures.

                One of the Elites, a blue armored Minor Domo named Y'gar Rezofee, sat on the ground with his back rested against the brick wall of the run down motel they were patroling in front of. With nothing else to do, Y'gar took this time to do matinence on his Carbine. Cleaning, polishing, adjusting the scope, and other such things. Although it was difficult to concentrate, as every ten seconds he had to stop and brush the sweat off of his face. The humidity was unbearable, he couldn't figure out why anyone in their right mind would want to live here.

                It was obvious that ther other five members of the squad shrared the same opinion as they grumbled and complained amongst themselves. But they all took great care in making sure the Major Domo squad leader wasn't in earshot.

                But at least there was fresh air and plenty of room to go about in. It was somewhat of a blessing, seeing as how they had just been dropped here a few hours ago after spending the seven hour slipspace journey between High Charity and Earth, cramped in a phantom with his and three other squads, waiting for the the the battle to begin.

                Although the battle wasn't as exiting as his superiors made it out to be. They had encountered minimal resistance from the citizens in the area, and they had yet to see any human soldiers. But it was apparent that there was a much greater battle taking place in the more populated sections of the city. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in the distance. The low rumble of heavy artillery rounds impacting on targets, the loud crack of sniper rifles, the high pitched soaring and the following explosive thud of surface-to-surface missiles.

                Y'gar wanted desperately to be there, in battle. Performing his duty as a warrior. Bringing death to those who opposed himself and the Covenant. Instead he was stuck here, selfishly sitting, waiting, for something that might never come, while his brothers died honorably in battle. Other than the distant battle, everything was relatively quiet.

                Suddenly there was a quiet bumping noise and the sound of breaking glass around the corner. The entire squad went silent, and looked to where the noise had come from. The major looked at Y'gar and waved his hand, signaling for him to come closer.

                Y'gar stood up quietly and walked over to the red armored Elite.

                "Yes sir?" He asked as quietly as he could.

                "Get over there and search for what ever caused that noise." The major whispered.

               "But my weapon is disassembled sir." Y'gar said pointing to his Carbine that was in three seperate parts.

               The major took his Plasma Rifle from the holster and put it in Y'gar's hands,

               "Here, now stop making excuses and follow your orders." He said in a quiet yet harsh tone while shoving Y'gar. He looked towards the corner, he thought to himself that it was probably just a small animal, nothing he couldn't handle.

                He hesitated for a moment before giving a nod to his commander. No matter how much he told himself it was safe, it didn't stop Y'gar from holding the rifle as tightly as he could at a ready position.

                He rounded the corner, seeing the shards of glass from what looked like a jar. Then looked around to see whatever had broken it. Thats when he realized his mistake, not watching his six. One thing he'd always be told by his superiors was now coming down on him as the butt of a gun cracked him on the right side of his skull.

                Y'gar hit the ground hard, his vision blurry, doubled, and getting darker by the second. He could hear blasts from a human shotgun. Each blast was followed by the scream of a dying Elite. As the fight raged on he could hear less and less return fire from plasma rifles and carbines being directed at whatever unstoppable force was mowing down his squad. For a moment, there was silence.

               Then there was a shout from his major. Roughly translated from Sangheili into English, it was "You son of a bitch!"

               The obviously human attacker paid no attention to the insult as he pulled the trigger and put a shell full of lead pellets into his commander. There was a thud as the corpse hit the pavement, then there was silence. That's when everything went black.