Here's the latest part, it took a while to write, so I hope you enjoy it.
Part 24 -- The Covenant
Erebus walked through the gilded corridors of Placid Enrichment,
a nervous look upon his face. At his side walked two Bodyguards, young
by his species' standards. The young Jirahanae had not yet learned to
control the pheromones they naturally gave off, and so the Brute ship
master could clearly smell the stench of fear upon them. And rightly so.
But
a tenth of a unit ago, Elite ships had entered the last remnant of
Covenant space. They had a small enough fleet, but it was in likelihood
simply a scouting party, mere ants before the inevitable armada that
would soon follow.
Erebus's ship, which was patrolling the rim
of the small asteroid cluster the shattered remains of the Covenant now
resided in, had identified the presence of the fleet immediately.
Erebus had immediately departed for Placid Enrichment in his
personal Seraph, where he now was obliged to inform the holy Prophets,
and the Chieftain of the Brutes, Daedalus, of the nearby threat.
It
was all trivial anyway, whilst it was true that the Covenant still
possessed some ships, captained by those who had not been crazy enough
to follow the zealot Truth on his suicidal mission to the Ark, the
small fleet was no match for the might of the Elites, and their ships,
which numbered in the hundreds. Not to mention the fact that the humans
were in league with the Elites now, or so the Covenant's spies had
reported some months ago, before retreating to the asteroid vale, where
they hoped to remain undisturbed.
Evidently, the Elites had
different ideas. You couldn't blame them really, not after the genocide
the Brutes had been ordered to commit upon them, at the long dead
Prophet of Truth's orders. They wanted vengeance, which was
understandable. Erebus but hoped he would die honourably in combat,
rather than as a result of a ship being blown up.
The Brute looked around the corridor of Placid Enrichment,
sighing. Whilst not on the same scale as High Charity had been, the
Covenant's second most holy city held a certain reverence to it. It was
terrible that soon, it would all be but ashes and dust.
The
Brute Honour Guard at the entrance to the Prophet's chambers stood
aside as Erebus approached. They knew of him, and so had no need to ask
for identification. He walked through the sliding doors, and entered
the hall.
The Covenant was no longer ruled by just the
Prophet's, however, Erebus reminded himself. Indeed, after the fall of
Truth and his co-rulers, Regret and Mercy, the High Council had decided
that it would be wise to have a Brute lead the Covenant, alongside two
elderly, wise Prophets, the Prophet of Sanctity, and the Prophet of
Equanimity.
And so Daedalus, the oddly intelligent Chieftain
of the Brutes, ascended the throne along with Sanctity and Equanimity.
It was these three Erebus stood before now. Whilst both Sanctity and
Equanimity resided in gravity defying chairs, Daedalus opted to sit in
a stone throne, claiming that the hard, straight rock, which was
uncomfortable to both sit and rest upon, would remind him of his duty
to the Covenant.
"Shipmaster, I hear that you have news for us." Daedalus rumbled, his braided beard bouncing up and down.
"Speak your mind dear child." the elderly Sanctity intoned, motioning with his hand in the manner of the Prophets.
"Noble
ones," Erebus began, kneeling before the leaders, crossing an arm
across his power armoured chest, "I have grave, disturbing news. The
Sangheili have entered this asteroid belt. My ships saw them, and
immediately I embarked for Placid Enrichment, to inform you
personally. It won't be long now before they discover the location of
this holy city. I fear the Covenant, shall be broken."
The news
shocked both Daedalus and Sanctity, and the colour drained from their
faces. Daedalus tightened his grip around the stone armrests of his
chair, which cracked ever so slightly. Equanimity, however, merely
nodded gravely, and then spoke,
"Long have we known this day
would come, ever since Truth fell at the Ark. It has but been a matter
of when. How many ships?" the noble Prophet asked, keeping his
composture.
"My ships picked up but ten holy Prophets, a mere
inclination of what is to come." Erebus replied stiffly, a sad look
gracing his fur matted face.
"We should
ready the defences." Daedalus spoke half heartedly, knowing deep down
that nothing the Covenant possessed now would stand against the Elites.
The fleet of Placid Enrichment had but forty ships, where the Elites
likely numbered hundreds. Even were they to possess as many, or even
more ships than the Elites, they would still lose to the far superior
Elite Zealots who commanded the ships. The fact that at the Ark, R'tas
Vadum's fleet had defeated Truth's, which possessed more than three
times the ships his did, spoke measures.
"Yes, yes we should.
Daedalus, would you take charge of the defence of this city, and her
fleet?" Sanctity breathed, looking sadly at the Chieftain of the
Brutes, who nodded.
"It would be an honour." Daedalus replied to
the two Prophets, who smiled emptily. The Brute stood up, towering over
Erebus, at nearly ten feet tall. Intelligent, powerful, and
compassionate. As brilliant a leader as the Covenant could ever have
hoped for. Yet it was all irrelevant.
The Chieftain of the Brutes reached for the ancient, divine weapon of the Brutes, the Fist of Rukt,
passed down by generations of Brute clans. After Daedalus and his
Brutes had recovered the large hammer from Halo whilst the Elites and
humans had been occupied at the Ark, battling through waves of Flood to
reach it, Daedalus had taken the Rukt as his own, rightly so, seeing as how Tartarus had been his cousin.
"Ship master," Daedalus spoke to Erebus, lifting the Fist of Rukt with one, gargantuan hand, "come with me, you shall assist me in co-ordinating this last stand."
"The Jiralhanae will not go down without a fight."
*********************
Time
slowed for John. Everything went quiet, and out of focus. As a Spartan,
he had always remarked that sometimes, in events of extreme stress,
time itself seemed to slow down, so much so that he could pluck a
bullet out of the air as it moved towards him.
This feeling
was...similar, but not quite the same. He saw the lasers fire from the
Sentinel weapons, but the beams of light moved slowly. Not wasting any
time, John side stepped out of the way, aware that he had just moved
faster than the speed of light. Perhaps the fact that this room was in
slip space attributed to that.
He un-shouldered his own rifle,
and aimed it at the Sentinels flying above. Time quickened again, and
the lasers fired moments before blasted harmlessly against the wall.
The Sentinels drew back , confused, wondering how the target could have
evaded them.
They didn't have much time to process this
anomaly though, for John immediately retaliated with a volley of his
own fire, which smashed into the drones, destroying them. The AI named
Offensive Bias turned around, the light in it's lens widening in shock.
"How
very interesting Reclaimer, it would seem there is more to you than I
originally thought. But mark my words, you will die today. Farewell."
And with that, the monitor vanished, leaving John and the Didact to stand in the room surrounded by broken machines.
"What
was that?" John asked of the Didact, who was stood in shock. The
Forerunner quickly regained his composure though, and turned towards
John.
"Offensive Bias, one of my creations. It would seem he has
fallen into rampancy, a side effect from the aggression I built into
him. This is a problem."
"Why did it leave though?" John replied.
"Perhaps
he thought we would be able to overcome him together. Perhaps he--hold
on, what's that noise?" the Didact suddenly questioned; John heard it
too. A hissing sound, like pressure being released. The noise echoed
around the room, and John realised it was the sound of the pods being
unsealed.
"Didact, that Offensive Bias unsealed those pods." John warned, backing against the wall. The pod doors were sliding away now.
"This isn't good. All the residents within the pods have been infected by the Flood."
Mottled
hands reached flew out of the tubes, and groans began to fill the room,
screaming, shouting. John felt uneasiness began to creep upon him; he
was, deep down, afraid of the Flood. Terrified of them.
As one,
the army of Flood dropped to the floor; thousands of them. They shook
their gruesome heads, moving their misshapen mouths around, flexing
their decayed arms. Thankfully, none of them had weapons upon them,
otherwise John and the Didact would have been in real trouble.
The
infected Forerunners looked around the room, and their eyes snapped
upon before he and the Didact. They began to shuffle forward slowly.
Strange, John had seen how fast the Flood could run, and jump. Each one
was nearly, athletically, like a Spartan.
"Technically, the
infection forms within the hosts haven't had long to assimilate with
the new bodies; and being kept in stasis for this long will have
weakened the infection cell. They are but a fraction of what they could
be." the Didact explained, backing towards John. It did little to
alleviate the Spartan's fears; Flood were Flood.
"Consume...all...ravage...devoured...I...planet...fall..
.before us..." the Flood crowd rumbled in their gravelly voices. Wait,
they were speaking?
"I thought the Flood couldn't speak unless they were connected to a Gravemind." John phrased to the Didact, who stiffened.
"They
can't. Are you sure you killed the central intelligence Reclaimer?" the
Forerunner replied, loosing off a shot at a Flood form. The beam of
energy impacted upon the body, spraying bio-mass over it's brethren,
who continued moving on regardless.
"Positive."
John confirmed, firing his own weapon. It was no good, where he killed
one, another would take it's place. Eventually, they would be forced
into a corner and be overwhelmed by the horde of Flood.
"Then perhaps events have transpired since you have entered this last haven of mine..."
"Talk later, shoot now." John ordered, and the Didact nodded.
Combat
form after combat form fell, yet the Flood pressed on, relentless. They
were moving a little faster now, as the infection forms within grew
used to their new bodies.
"*** it, what do we do?" John asked the Didact.
"Have faith my son, we shall prevail."
Another
religious zealot! John thought in desperation. Faith wouldn't get them
through this, the only thing John believed in was the gun in his hands,
his own body, and Cortana. Speaking of which...
"Cortana, any thoughts?" the Spartan directed to her.
"I'm
working on it Chief. Offensive Bias has sealed this room, otherwise I'd
access the teleportation grid and get us out of here. Like on Halo."
Well work faster,
John thought, sweat pouring down his brow. One Flood form seemed to
have full control of it's body now, as it suddenly launched itself
through the air, a long, powerful arm raised. John dove out of the way
of the infected, and rose, meeting the combat form with a kick through
it's stomach.
The Flood humanoid staggered back, before surging
forward and retaliating with a thwack of it's arm, taking John's
shields down by half. The Spartan smashed a hand through the beast's
fleshy stomach, feeling sick, felt the bubble like body of the
Infection Form within, and squeezed, popping it. The Combat Form
instantly collapsed, dead.
It wouldn't be long before the rest of the horde gained full manoeuvrability now, and overwhelmed the two defenders.
"Hurry up Cortana..." John pressed, firing off ever more shorts.
"I'm trying Chief! This encryption, it's like nothing I've seen before. Give me ten minutes."
"Ten minutes?!? Cortana, we don't even have thirty seconds. Hurry up."
They
were doomed, John knew it. Emotion was spilling from Cortana, grief as
she realised that she couldn't save him in time. She was failing in her
duty, and it hit her hard.
Just before all hope was lost, a
shimmer of golden light flashed in front of John. His heart sunk,
thinking it to be Offensive Bias, come to gloat. Instead, he got an odd
surprise.
"Ah, Reclaimer! I have been searching all over this
facility's matrices for you. And creator, how excellent to see you
alive and well." 343 Guilty Spark cried at John and the Didact, humming
happily.
"Spark?" John asked, flabbergasted. The Didact glanced
over with some surprise, and returned to keeping the Flood at bay with
his weapon.
"Yes, it is me. I apologise for my rampant behaviour
upon Installation 04 II Reclaimer, but I was in dire need of repair.
Fortunately, all my subroutines are now fixed, and I live only to
serve."
The Monitor had all it's attention focused upon John, and so was oblivious to the roaring Flood armour behind him.
"Spark! Cut the chatter, look behind you." John ordered, and the Monitor of Installation 04 complied.
"Oh my." Guilty Spark stated bluntly, it's light dimming slightly as it beheld the sheer number of Flood forms pressing.
"Yes, 'oh my'. Can you get us out of here?"
"Analysis
indicates that this room has been shut off by a hostile, possibly
rampant entity. However, with the help of your construct, I can, in all
probability, override it. Ho hum."
How did the monitor know that
John had Cortana upon his person? It was a question that would have to
wait for later however, right now they had more pressing matters.
"Do
it Cortana." John ordered the AI, and he felt reluctance from her. Fair
enough, considering all Spark had done, but right now survival was the
priority, "Now!"
"Yes sir Master Chief." she complied sadly,
linking her presence with that of the Monitor's. John felt a sudden icy
shiver, and realised that Spark had just entered his mind, in the same
way Cortana did.
"Your architecture is incredibly strange Reclaimer." Spark spoke from within, in his annoying, chirpy voice.
"Don't get any funny ideas. Just get us out of here."
"At
once Reclaimer. Please, grab the arm of my creator, and hold on tight."
the Monitor told him, and John grabbed the Didact's arm, who looked
faintly surprised.
All the Flood forms were running now, in mere seconds they would reach them. They raised their arms, preparing to strike...
...and swiped empty air. Their prey had disappeared.
***************************
"Hail,
Brutes and Prophets! This is the Elite carrier Shadow of Intent. We do
not come with hostile intentions. You have my word as a warrior upon
that."
"Does he speak the truth?" Erebus asked of Daedalus
as they both stood by a communications dock, receiving the Elite
message. Daedalus folded his broad arms thoughtfully.
"Elites do
not lie, ship master. It speaks the truth. Allow it to dock at Placid
Enrichment, but only that ship. The rest must remain out of their
weapon range." the Chieftain of the Brutes ordered, a thoughtful look
upon his furred face. Erebus nodded, and bent down to send a reply.
"You may dock in this holy city Intent, but the remaining ships you have in your convoy must hold fast."
"My thanks to you, Brute. Prepare to accept us, we are approaching."
Daedalus
had recognised the voice as belonging to R'tas Vadum'ee, leader of the
Elite Separatists. That the Elites had come with peaceful intentions
had startled him, and left him suspicious. Regardless, this was
fortuitous, and he would be a fool to deny the Elites access. He hefted
the Fist of Rukt, and marched down to the docking level of the city, where he would meet the Elites in person.
"Noble
Prophets," he growled into his mouthpiece, communicating Sanctity and
Equanimity, "the Elites, it seems, have not come to destroy us after
all. Indeed, one of their carriers is now approaching the docking bay
with peaceful intent. Your presence shall be required."
"Of course Chieftain, this is indeed an interesting turn of events. We shall meet you there." Sanctity replied with curiosity.
"By the Covenant's will." Daedalus spoke, signing off.
One
sixth of a unit later, Daedalus had arrived at the docking bay.
According to the Honour Guards there, the Shadow of Intent had docked
by a minute ago, and the Elites had yet to leave their ship. The
Chieftain of the Brutes signalled for the guards to accompany him, and
walked down a flight of stairs to the exit of the ship. A moment later,
the huge door cracked open, and a convoy of five Sangheili walked down.
Daedalus heard a hovering noise behind him, as Sanctity and Equanimity
joined him.
"Hail!" R'tas Vadum'ee cried, raising his hand solemnly.
"Hail."
Daedalus replied along with Sanctity and Equanimity. None of them
raised their own hands. R'tas and his four Honour Guards met the
Covenant leaders, and R'tas looked up at the towering Daedalus with
thinly disguised amusement. He then turned to both Sanctity and
Equanimity, speaking.
"Do only two Hierarchs rule the Covenant now?" R'tas asked, breaking the ice. Daedalus frowned.
"Nay,
Elite. I am the third Hierarch." the Chieftain of the Brutes rumbled,
drawing himself up to full height. R'tas noticed the sharp glint of
intelligence within his eye.
"Truly? Were it that the old
Covenant had such a diversity of race as Hierarchs, perhaps the schism
could then have been avoided." R'tas commented, "you look well
Sanctity."
"Then my looks must be deceiving, for I am rattled
with great strife, former Honour Guard of mine. I never did truly
understand why you left my service to join the special operations unit
R'tas, I had thought us friends." the elderly Prophet replied to the
Elite Fleetmaster's pleasantries.
"We were friends, Prophet. And
perhaps we can be once again. Is there anywhere more private we can go?
I dislike talking amongst all these onlookers." R'tas questioned,
indicating the numerous Brutes and minor Prophets, as well as the
various 'loyalist' Jackals, Grunts and Hunters, all who were surveying
the interesting scene before them.
"Yes, my quarters should do
fine." Equanimity agreed, and then turned to Daedalus, "would you be so
kind as to lead the way Chieftain? I would myself, but I fear the rush
of questioners may overwhelm me. They would not dare, I think, with one
such as yourself leading the way."
The Brute Chieftain nodded
wisely, turning his back reluctantly upon the Elites and marching
towards the Prophet of Equanimity's quarters. As he marched up the
stairs with the two Prophets, and Elites behind him, he was instantly
met with a rush of chatter from the common members of the Covenant, who
Daedalus silenced with an authoritative bark.
"I have nothing to say to you all as of now. Please, move aside before I make you."
The
crowd instantly baulked, drawing back. R'tas raised his eyebrows at the
authority a Brute commanded, over even the Minor, and Major Prophets.
The Covenant had indeed changed.
Placid Enrichment,
however, was just as R'tas remembered from his childhood. He had walked
these very corridors hundreds of times in his youth. It felt good to be
home.
"This one has forgotten whether it's heatsink is over capacity. It wonders whether the criminal scum considers itself fortunate" ~ Blasto, the only Hanar Spectre.