Before Ras could react, I shot the spherical device lying on the floor next to him. It exploded, and the smoke it had gathered in fired out in one concentrated blast, engulfing Ras. He howled in frustration, unable to see, and I shot him three times, intending to take out his energy shields. They dropped, and I ran up to him, dealing the Elite a heavy blow in the jaw. Ras dropped to the floor, unconscious. Almost immediately I felt bad about what I had done, and then, smacked myself on the forehead when I realised one thing -- the building was still on fire. Could I leave the Elite there? It's what I should have done, I know. But I couldn't -- not after he had just saved me. Frantically, aware of the flames creeping down the staircase, I searched the unconscious Elite Major. Eventually, I found what I was looking for. Plasma grenades! Dragging Ras' heavy body aside, I took one of the grenades and set it by the wall inside a cell. The concrete was thick, but hopefully the grenades would be able to blast through it. They did, and ripped apart several other cells too. I looked out into the Charon VI sky with a gasp -- Covenant ships sailed above. Any UNSC resistance on the planet had long been swiped away; and Charon VI was a planet without much military support anyway. Shaking free of my shock, I turned around to face Ras. The Elite would be heavy, but hopefully I'd be able to drag him out. As I began to attempt pulling Ras out by his shoulders, I knew it would be futile to attempt. The Elite weighed a ton. Dark thoughts were creeping into my mind about leaving him -- flames were drawing ever closer -- but I quickly dismissed such ideas. Then I heard footsteps outside. I turned around to see the outline of a human, staring at the hole I had made. Then he stared at me, eyes growing wide. "You!" he exclaimed, frozen with evident shock. I frowned in confusion for a few moments, before I took a close look. A scar above his right eyebrow, dirty blonde, long hair, a rough beard. About 30 years old, maybe a bit older. It was one of the men who'd tried to mug me the other night; the one who'd robbed my debit card. The police hadn't been able to find him. "Small world eh?" I growled, pointing my battle rifle at his chest. The mugger began to perspire profoundly, his own firearm -- an M6C -- stuck uselessly at his side. "Listen, I'm sorry for what I did. Man's gotta make a living somehow right? Please don't kill me," the mugger begged, weeping openly. I made a noise of disgust. "I'm not going to kill you. But I need you to help me do something. Way I see it, you owe me something," I told the mugger, who was blinking through tears. He suddenly began shaking his head violently. "Get stuffed, I am not fighting the Covenant with you!" I laughed sharply, shaking my head. "You may have to do that anyway mate, if you want to get out of this city alive. But that's not what I mean. See this Elite here?" I pointed to Ras. If possible, the mugger's eyes grew wider. "You knocked out an [i]Elite[/i] by yourself? Damn. You out of bullets or something? Want me to finish him off?" One question after another. Jesus. "Yes, no and no. I'm not out of bullets, so don't you get any funny ideas. No, I want you to help me drag him outside." The mugger then nodded with comprehension. "Ah, I see. You want me to help you toss him in the river? Might want to tie some bricks or something to his feet first." This was one seriously twisted mind. "For Christ's sake, I'm not killing him! I just want you to help me drag him outside, and then we'll walk away." There was silence from the other man. "What?" he finally questioned, flabbergasted. The flames were drawing ever closer to Ras' body. "Just do it!" I bellowed, shooting a single round just before his feet. The mugger yelped in shock, before grimacing and moving up next to me. I grabbed one of Ras' shoulders, and the mugger grabbed the other. Together, we began to pull the heavy Elite out of the building, through the hole I'd created. Finally, the Elite was lying safely on the river bank, still out cold. He'd stay like that for a few hours at least. The mugger and I breathed deeply, both of us worn out. I looked back at the police building, which was a burning wreck. So was the rest of the city. Skyscrapers were alight and crumbled, the flames in the distance projecting colossal shadows of Covenant soldiers onto far away buildings. A hazy substance hung in the air. I took a look at the highway above the police building, hoping to God it was clear. No such luck. Wraiths glided along the highway with a hum, with Covenant forces walking alongside them. Well, we certainly weren't going to be able to use a vehicle to get around. Worried we would be spotted, I beckoned for the mugger to follow me into a cluster of reeds. I'd already decided I would help him, regardless of his past sins. I was a soldier, and when you boiled down to the core of it, he was a civilian. I had to help him. I noticed the mugger had his hands firmly clasped together, eyes closed and mouth muttering incomprehensible words. I stared at him. "[i]You're[/i] praying?" I asked the sandy haired man, who returned my gaze with slight embarrassment. "I am." The mugger was rubbing the back of his heated neck awkwardly. I shook my head in disbelief. "You know, that's kinda ironic. Doesn't one of the ten commandments say something along the lines of 'thou shalt not steal'?" "I don't want to be a criminal! You think I enjoy it? But a man's got to eat. Got to stay warm in the winter. The UNSC doesn't give a damn about the poor people in the border colonies," the mugger justified. My icy gaze melted a little, and I sighed. "Well, I'm more concerned with staying alive right now. It looks like we're going to be bandied together, unless you want to try your hand at surviving alone." The mugger cast a fearful look up at the Covenant on the highway, before looking at the greater city in the distance. He shook his head. "Please don't leave me," he begged of me. I smiled. "Don't worry, I never leave a man behind. Can I be sure you won't try to pick my pocket every time I turn around?" Shame crept into the man's gaze once again, and he fished around in the deep trench coat he wore, before drawing out a small object. My bank card. The man passed it over. "Figure you want this back," he mumbled. I snatched it out of his grubby hand. "Thanks," I replied icily. "Pin never worked none anyway. We're going to be all right ain't we?" His expression was a far cry from the one he had worn earlier in the night, when he'd been in the process of mugging me with his friends. "Just peachy," I assured. Something then struck me, "so what were you doing at the police station? Turning yourself in?" "Err...no. I saw the Covenant ships approach, and knew this was the only place where I'd be able to find weapons. Only managed to grab a crappy pistol before I saw some of those huge dinosaur aliens approaching. Scared me senseless. I decided to steal away along the bank until I saw you and your...friend." The man gave a meaningful look over at Ras, who was breathing deeply. I scowled. "He's not my friend! We've just...met before. Owed each other favours." There was an awkward pause, and the mugger frowned. "Right. Name's Nathan, by the way." The man held out a grubby hand for me to shake. My own hands weren't much cleaner. I grasped it, noting the slippery sweat coating the skin. He was very nervous. "Archer." We both sighed simultaneously, resting our backs against the rocky bed. Nathan looked over at me. "So what do we do now?" I really had no idea. Still, I wasn't about to admit that to Nathan, and so I adopted a confident expression. "Well, from my experience, when the Covenant attack a planet, they'll land on it for a while, deploying troops to search for something." "Search for what?" Nathan interrupted rudely. I scowled, forcing myself to remain calm. "I have no bloody idea! Do I look like an Elite to you? Anyway, they'll search for a while. Then they'll pull their troops back to their ships. Finally--" I broke off, grimacing. The man was worried enough. "Finally what?" Nathan demanded urgently, anxiety clear in his voice. I regarded him bleakly. "The Covenant'll glass the planet. Heat it up so much that it turns into a big ball of glass. Uninhabitable and desolate." Nathan's eyes grew wide, his breathing growing more rapid. "Well can't you stop them?" I laughed a bitter, mocking laugh. Then I shook my head wearily. "You need a full fleet to stop them. And the UNSC won't come. Not to one of the border planets. Our only hope is to escape Charon VI on an evac ship," I told Nathan, who cursed. "And how do we go about that?" I stood up, reloading the battle rifle in my hand. "Well first thing's first, we're gonna link up with my squad, get some extra fire power." "And then?" Nathan pressed, also stood up now. I was silent for a few moments, staring blankly at the running river, in which the reflection of the burning city was shown. "Then, good thief, we fight our way through the hoards of Covenant between us and those ships. And we get off this soon to be dead planet."