"What do you mean he got away again?!" The ONI agent winced as his superiors screamed over the comm channel.
"We had him cornered in an alley, and he flew into the air. There was nothing we could do to stop him." He repeated calmly.
"What about the stun rounds?"
"He dodged them."
"Did live fire work?"
"Bounced right off him, Sir."
"Were any ships able to intercept him?"
A pause. "I don't know, Sir. Orbital assets are already reporting a mass leaving the planet. A listening outpost just called in as well; he drew another smiley face on it before leaving the system."
He ignored the angry screams and shouts on the other end of the line as he and his team cleaned up the traces of their visit. For nearly two years now, they'd been chasing this strange man.
Survivors from the outer colony Arcadia first spotted and reported him; then the fleet, last at Harvest, briefly spotted him. Since then, he'd been sighted in every outer colony the UNSC is still in contact with.
Despite dozens of teams hunting him, several prowlers, and even a Spartan, the man had yet to be caught. The public hadn't been able to capture videos of him yet, and the few that were available were in the hands of ONI.
At least until the man had torn apart a Covenant Destroyer. No one had expected that. For months he'd fought Insurrectionists, and a few Covenant infantry, but never an entire ship. ONI could do nothing to stop the rumors spreading through the fleet like wildfire.
HIGHCOM had, of course, demanded he be brought in for questioning, but more rational voices in the Admiralty had warned to not antagonize him. If he could tear apart Covenant ships, which were more advanced than theirs, how much better would a human ship fare?
ONI was forced to become more relaxed in their efforts following that, but they still didn't stop. The alien, because that is the only thing he could be, had also started toying with them.
It would sometimes go shopping; other times it would clear out buffets. It usually got a kick out of tagging prowlers and other UNSC assets with various stickers and graffiti, however. The usual was a smiley face, but sometimes he'd put things like penises or names instead.
The alien had also somehow figured out who was in charge of hunting him, Colonel Ackerson. The Alien had mocked the Colonel several times while also bragging about him. Not all the messages he painted were told to them; it seems the Alien knew things even other ONI agents weren't supposed to know.
Ackerson wasn't the only one interested in the mystery alien, however. Covenant troops had been warned to keep an eye on the sky for this new breed of demon, wherever they may encounter it.
Halsey was also interested. She may be more focused on improving her Mjolnir Armor, but she was still very aware of the new player in the war. She'd alerted her Spartans when able, asking them to keep an eye out for this new alien who looked like them, and to catch him if possible. Peacefully, of course.
So far, they hadn't been able to get any closer than the ONI black teams sent after him. Halsey noted, however, that the alien seemed to spend more time observing her Spartans than he did messing with ONI.
If that could somehow be used, she would gladly do so.
For now, however, she was stuck on Reach, trying her best to crack the Covenant's shield technology so she could better equip her Spartans. She'd already gone through a crate of jackal shield gauntlets, and she knew she was getting closer to making her own version of it.
Humanity was not the only one stressed out by Micah's antics. The Covenant had their own issues with him.
Although they already had their demons, the Spartans, this flying devil made them irate and fearful. No longer were their ships invincible in orbit when no human ship was around, since now there was a flying demon tearing them to shreds.
If that was not enough, the demon had even defaced their ships with sigils and symbols used by the gods! The Hierarchs and Prophets claimed this demon to be the greatest peril on their path towards salvation, with the High Prophet of Truth personally calling for its death.
Despite this, many Sangheili shipmasters and even brute shipmasters have taken note of the symbols the demon draws. Though nowhere near as educated as the Prophets in the holy tongue, they could vaguely make out what the symbols meant.
They did not think too much about this. They still had a war to fight, and humanity would be dealt with, demon or no demon. This was the greatest obstacle on the path towards The Great Journey, and none would stay their path!
The Forerunners were also not pleased with Micah.
Though Captain Cutter and his crew were not told, all Forerunners in command roles, as well as the Princeps of the Shadow Fleet, knew of their Commander's antics. Some found it funny; others were exasperated.
All were upset, however, since they weren't supposed to interact with the rest of the galaxy until humanity reached the Ark. Yet, here was the Commander, stirring up trouble with humanity and the Covenant, all because he was bored!
While they understood the Commander was doing this to stay sane and not end up damaged like the Ur-Didact, they wished he'd be a bit more subtle during his outings. He'd surprised them in his lack of real anger, however.
Various times the Commander had been known to lose it, for lack of a better term, and go insane while ripping apart whatever was in front of him with his bare hands. This had only happened a few times, but each one was usually marked in history, right before the word 'massacre'.