Chapter 28, the first of todays chapters.
Chapter 28
Aboard Covenant carrier Shadow of Intent-In orbit above Sanctuary
10th December 2568 Military Calendar 12.30
‘All hands to battle stations! Charge the plasma batteries and bring us about,’ Rtas ’Vadum shouted as the last of the Covenant’s ships came out of slipspace.
Kyle could make out hundreds and hundreds of ships and in the centre; he could make out the grey angular shape of the Forerunner battleship. The ship around him thrummed with power as its engines activated and it turned to face the massive armada, the rest of the Elite fleet behind them, moving in to engage.
Rtas was about to move to the bridge when he received a communication from there.
‘Fleet master, we’re detecting a massive build up of energy from the Forerunner battleship. We believe it is charging its primary weapon,’ the Elite said from Rtas’ communicator.
‘My god….if they fire on the planet, the shockwave would take out all our defences. Nobody would survive,’ Winchester said grimly.
‘Then it is time to sever the head of this beast. Spartans go forth and destroy that vessel, once and for all,’ Rtas replied, turning to Blue team.
‘But, we don’t have any means to destroy it, the explosives were left on the Amsterdam,’ Peter warned.
‘Do not worry, I shall send a team with you with an explosive of our own,’ Rtas said.
‘Then it’s settled. Go on Blue team, I’ll remain here with the Fleet master and co-ordinate our forces here. Get on that Pelican and take that son of a *** out,’ Winchester said.
Without another word the Spartans turned and ran and headed through the bowels of the ship and back to the hangar. The lights dimmed and warning sirens blared in their ears as they ran. They could hear the frantic voices of Elites as they went to their combat stations. Caspian quickly activated his COM.
‘Reggie, get the Pelican ready ASAP, we’re taking this fight to Remorse’s front door.’
There was a crackle of static, and then he replied,
‘Understood sir, she’ll be ready by the time you get down here.’
They descended down a gravity lift and jogged down more corridors and entered the hangar. It was a mess of activity, as Seraph fighters were fuelled and readied for battle. Kyle noticed two spec-op Elite teams, as their dark purple armour made them stand out from the regular soldiers and pilots. One of the groups carried a large object. It was roughly oval in shape and had large spikes protruding from it. It took two Elites to carry it. They turned and nodded at the advancing Spartans.
‘Ah the Spartans, it is an honour to fight along side you,’ the spec-ops commander said.
‘Likewise. Is that the bomb there?’ Caspian said, pointing at the spiky object.
‘Indeed it is, all you need to do is place your hand on the detonator, and it will activate the countdown,’ the commander said, pointing at an area on top of the device, where there was a small blue light.
‘I see, well we’d better get moving, we’re running out of time,’ Caspian said.
‘Very well, we shall bath in the Prophet’s blood this day and at last we will crush the vile Jiralhanae into the dust!’ the commander said.
The other Elites roared in approval and ran to two nearby Phantoms, which were prepped and ready to go. Blue team ran into the Pelican and strapped themselves in. The rear door closed and the Pelican came to life around them.
‘Hold on tight Spartans, this is going to be one wild ride,’ Reggie said from the cockpit.
The energy shield guarding them from the blackness of space dissipated and the Pelican shot forwards and descended from the massive carrier, the two Phantoms right behind. The battle around them was fierce and all around them, the massive capital ships exchanged fire, plasma torpedoes and MAC rounds filled the space around them.
Fighters shot past and ripped each other to shreds, sending debris and explosions in all directions. Reggie didn’t stop and kept on target, ignoring the hectic battle going on around them.
Mira said in his ear,
‘Are you ready for this?’
‘I’m ready, it’s time to finish this once and for all,’ Kyle said, determined that Blue team would end this war here and now.
‘Good, we’re nearly there. The battleship is charging its defences. I’d grab hold of something if I still had arms,’ Mira joked.
The Pelican rolled and dodged as golden lances of fire shot past them, as they approached their destination.
‘***, their defences have improved since the last time we did this; I’m having trouble avoiding them. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve though,’ Reggie said, as they did a full barrel roll to avoid more golden beams
There was a loud explosion and the ship rocked violently to the left.
‘What the hell just happened?’ Shen asked.
‘They took out the right wing, I’m trying to keep this bird on target as best I can, I‘m not sure if we’ll make it,’ Reggie said. Kyle could hear the strain in his voice as he fought to kept control of the crippled Pelican.
‘We’ll make it, just keep going, we’re almost there,’ Mira said.
Kyle braced himself as another explosion rocked them and the Pelican uncontrollably started to corkscrew. The craft then slammed into something hard and Kyle could hear the sound as metal ground against the deck of the Forerunner ship. It then came to a violent stop that nearly broke Kyle’s neck.
As Kyle regained his senses he looked around the rest of the cabin. It was filled with smoke and he could barely see the armoured figures of his friends. At last Caspian said,
‘Is everyone all right?’
‘Yeah, just a little bruised,’ Peter replied.
‘Same here, we’d better get moving Casp.’ Kyle said.
‘Your right, salvage what you can and get moving. Kyle check the cockpit, that was a nasty crash, see if Reggie needs any help,’ Caspian ordered.
The rest of Blue team got to their feet and grabbed as much ammo and supplies at they could and knocked the twisted rear door down, weapons at the ready. Kyle walked to the door to the cockpit. It had been bent outward and looked severely damaged. Kyle ripped it free of its hinges and entered the remains of the cockpit. Kyle could see that the Pelican had crashed into the back wall of the hangar and this area had taken the brunt of the blow. A feeling of dread entered him as he moved over to Reggie’s chair.
He climbed up and looked at Reggie, and his worries only intensified. He wasn’t moving, and the metal had bent inwards and had crushed him into his chair.
‘Mira do you read any life signs?’ Kyle asked tentatively.
‘Faint, but they’re there, you need to get him out of here now,’ Mira advised.
With all his superhuman strength Kyle pushed the twisted metal back far enough for his to undo the straps holding Reggie in his seat and he dropped his body of his shoulder and supported him with his left hand and held his MA5C in the other.
He ran out of the Pelican and saw that the hangar had become a battlefield as the Brutes desperately tried to hold the Spartans and Elites back, as they moved further in. Kyle ran to the nearest Elite Phantom, and the two Elites guarding it.
‘My friend needs medical assistance; do you think you can keep him safe here, while we continue with our mission?’ Kyle asked urgently, as a fuel pipe detonated, destroying several nearby Seraphs.
‘Of course Spartan, we shall defend him to the best of our abilities,’ the Elites said, as they took the wounded Reggie from his shoulder and placed him in the safety of the Phantom.
‘Thank you,’ Kyle said, as he turned and ran to his team-mates, who were at the exit of the hangar, pushing the Brutes back.
Kyle slid into cover next to them, and fired his assault rifle.
‘Where’s Reggie?’ Caspian asked, as he popped up from cover and fired, killing another two Brutes.
‘He’s in one of the Phantoms, he’s still alive, but he’ll need medical attention after all this is over,’ Kyle said.
‘Good, then let’s get moving,’ Caspian said, as they fought their way out of the hangar and into the dull steel corridors of the battleship.
As Kyle moved through the ship it felt like he had only been here yesterday, when they had fought to destroy this ship, only to realise there was a bigger threat to contend with. This time, this ship wouldn’t be so lucky, and neither would Remorse.
Kyle remembered that the reactor was deep at the heart of the ship, and that is where the bomb would do the most damage. Unlike last time, where they had left it in the hangar, they didn’t have the luxury of time for this attempt, so they had to rush forward, with the Elites and the bomb in tow. They would take out any hostiles, and cover the Elites until they planted it by the reactor.
Warning sirens blared and a Brute’s voice could be heard over the speakers.
‘Demons have infiltrated the battleship, with those traitorous Sangheili! Do not let them interfere with the Holy One’s plans. Slay them on sight!’
‘Well that sounds like we’ve got their attention, keep moving, they’ll be after us soon,’ Caspian said.
They surged on, running through corridor after corridor. Kyle noticed that most of the corridors were empty, and they had so far faced very little resistance. Kyle had a bad feeling though that would change as they got closer to the reactor.
The marker on Kyle’s HUD got closer and closer, they were only 200 metres away, then one hundred and then finally they entered the reactor. Kyle looked up in awe at the huge column of grey metal that was filled with blue light and rose up high up in the barley visible ceiling. The room had three entrances and which lead to different areas of the ship. About 20 metres above them there was a catwalk. Kyle remembered the last time they had been here and they had dropped plasma storage tanks from them to clear the room. This time however, the catwalk was deserted and stripped clean. The Elites holding the device moved forward and prepared the bomb, while the rest of them stood guard. Just before they armed it, the Spec-ops commander held up a hand to stop them.
‘What are you doing commander?’ Caspian asked.
‘Before we destroy this accursed ship, we must go to the bridge and kill Remorse,’ the commander calmly replied.
‘Are you crazy? We don’t have time for this, that weapon is going to fire and it’s going to kill thousands of humans and Elites, we can’t let that happen,’ Kyle said, anger starting to enter his voice.
‘We cannot allow Remorse to escape, if he does, he will only return and bring another army with him to plague both our species. If you really want this war to end here and now, we must be sure the fiend is dead, or it will only begin again. Maybe not for a while, but he will inevitably return,’ the commander explained.
Kyle nodded in approval. It had been Remorse who had masterminded all of the events of the last six months, and he was the true threat behind the Covenant, perhaps even more than this ship. If they wanted to stop the Covenant they had to stop him.
‘You make a fair point commander, but who will guard the bomb in the meantime?’ Caspian asked.
‘I will split my forces. Half of my team will stay here and guard the device, while the rest will accompany me as we hunt down the *** Remorse. I would like you to join us Spartans, so we can share the honour of ending this war,’ the commander answered.
‘There they are, get them!’ A Brute shouted, as the room quickly filled with Brutes.
They’d walked right into a trap. Kyle and the rest of the combined human and Elite forces opened fire, cutting down the first group of Brute minors that approached them. More and more of them filled the room from every entrance, and Kyle desperately tried to find some cover, as his shields were drained by the fierce fire fight. In the end Kyle leapt behind the bomb and used it as cover. The bomb had been designed to keep out matter, to stop it mixing with the antimatter inside it. If the two met, it would cause a detonation, so Kyle hoped that the people who made it, made sure it had taken into account to protect it from weapon discharges, or otherwise this would be a very short mission.
Luckily it held off the barrage, and Kyle and the others kept fighting. He slammed another clip home and hammered into the Brute captains nearest to him, before throwing a grenade into a pack of Brutes to his right. It detonated and killed the five Brutes who had been standing next to it. Brute after Brute fell, as they slowly surrounded them, walking over the bodies of their fallen comrades. A few Elites fell, giving off a final howl of defiance as they threw plasma grenades at their murderers.
One stuck an unfortunate Brute, and he was ripped to shreds by the explosion.
‘Fight on my brothers! Do not relent to these mongrels!’ the commander said, drawing his energy sword and slicing a few Brutes who had been next to him.
Kyle checked his ammo counter for his rifle. It was starting to get rather low, so he switched to the sub-machine gun on his leg and sprayed bullets into his opponents. He wasn’t going to let himself die here; they were to close to victory to give up now.
At last, after some heavy fighting they enemy numbers started to thin under the combined fire of the Spartans and Elites. When the last Brute fell, they all let off a sigh of relief and took a moment to reload and morn the fallen. When they were ready to move Kyle asked,
‘Mira, where is Remorse?’
‘From what I can ascertain from the Covenant battle net, he’s on the bridge, directing the Fleet,’ Mira explained.
‘Then that’s where we need to go, can you show us the quickest route from this location?’ Caspian asked.
‘Certainly, I’ll mark it on your HUD’s now,’ Mira said.
A marker appeared by the entrance behind the reactor, and they headed down it.
Kyle walked down the familiar corridor. The last time he had been down here, it had just been him and Caspian, moving to assist Rondo and the rest of the Elites from a trap on the bridge. He just hoped they weren’t walking into a similar trap.
They continued down the corridor and turned a corner and looked at the massive door that lead into the bridge. They moved silently to the door and readied themselves for what lay on the other side. The door opened and they entered. Once again Kyle was impressed by the majestic beauty of the place as blue light bathed them from the pillars all around them. Kyle looked at the familiar holographic display that showed the space battle around the battleship.
Other than them, the room was deserted. Kyle wondered where the crew was, and more importantly Remorse.
‘Mira….you sure he’s here,’ Kyle asked.
‘Positive,’ she replied.
They slowly moved deeper into the room scanning for targets, when a loud booming voice said from above them.
‘I had wondered who they would send to kill me, and I must say I am disappointed. A Sangheili strike force, with a few of the humans’ precious demons? I can’t say I’m flattered.’
‘Come out liar, and maybe you’ll be more impressed once we’ve dealt with you,’ the commander growled angrily.
‘Simpleton, I don’t know how your species ever managed to hold such power in the Covenant for long, you’re no better than the enemies you claim are inferior, but I forget my manners, I really should make myself known,’ the voice said.
An alien in a gravity chair descended from the ceiling and landed in front of them. He had a long neck, and wore a red tunic.
‘I am the Prophet of Remorse, Hierarch of the Covenant, and you now your lives are in my hands.’
End of Chapter 28
Vigil is watching you
Halo: The Unlatched Casket- The horror is released........