You
can let that breath go now. You know our motto: we deliver! Enjoy this
part, it's nice and long. I'll try and do some more this weekend too
before ODST is released and I become addicted. Please comment!
Part 26 - Nothing left to guard
I was born to protect, to keep my planet safe. Would it that my father could see me now. He'd turn his head in shame.
So
thought Relg V'asqui as he stared out into the ravaged sky of
Sangheilios, the sky he had once looked up to in contentment, the sky
he had once had the gall to name his own. His sky; his Sangheilios.
Over the past week, he had learnt how brutally wrong he had been.
The
land he looked out to now...it was not Sangheilios. It was not the
planet he had been brought up upon; it was not the planet he had sworn
to protect. Nor was it the planet where he had wed his dear beloved,
where his children had roamed free in happiness. They were all dead. Or
infected by the parasite. Either meant the same to Relg. His family,
his loved ones. They were all gone.
Nay, it was not Sangheilios. Not any more.
Relg
looked with deep sadness into the burning crimson fire within the
cave's bowels, out of sight from the Parasite patrols. It did little to
melt the cold, unforgiving ice that had formed around his heart.
How had this happened? What gross negligence on their part had allowed such a catastrophic event to occur?
Relg
took a deep breath, and looked across the fire to his brother, his
friend, fellow protector. The noble Sangheili also had a look of deep
mourning upon his face. The dark bags and crevasses under the
Sangheili's eyes were only illuminated by the crackling glow of the
flame.
"Why has this happened Malkor? And why to us?" Relg
whispered sadly, tucking his arms and legs into his chest, trying to
ignore the carnivorous screams outside of the Flood.
"I don't
know why, brother, but I know how. We both do." Malkor replied, taking
a gruesome bite of the Flood infested flesh they had been forced to
survive on. Burnt beyond having a taste, the meat was no longer
tainted. It did little to quell their hunger though.
Relg closed his eyes in pain, and thought back to what had happened, on that horrible day. On the day of the apocalypse.
The
morning had been clear and glorious, the violet sun of the Helios
system shone brightly upon the Citadel of Vadam, in all it's beauty and
reverence.
Relg had been attending, or rather, guarding one of
the many recent Council meetings, which, as always, discussed the
recent events of Vadam, and indeed of Sangheilios.
"Fleet master
R'tas Vadum' has gone insane, what right did he have to take our fleet?
It would have perhaps been understandable if it had been for a noble
cause, yet nay, it was to chase after his Demon friend, and the Heretic
Arbiter!" High Councillor 'Defames cried, bringing his fist hard down
upon the wooden table where the inner circle sat, prompting a wave of
agreement from the rest of the Council.
"What right does he hold
over us in any case? Surely a mere Fleet master should not be
commanding the Sangheili..." spoke 'Defames advisor, Councillor K'arn,
prompting nods of heads. Relg had decided then to voice his own
opinion, moving closer to the table and unfolding his arms.
"Fleetmaster
Vadum's may be but that, a Fleetmaster, but he holds all the authority
and power of an Imperial Admiral. I think you forget, revered Council,
that it was R'tas Vadum' who took charge during the betrayal of the
Prophets, without him, we'd be dead." Relg intoned, and the inner and
outer circle of the Council looked at him in shock. Rare was the day
one not of the Council included himself in the Council. Relg sensed his
friend Malkor squirm in discomfort.
"Perfectly valid points,
Light of Helios," 'Defames grounded out, his voice like venom, "but
that was then. We exist in the here and now. And right now, Vadum' has
left us without a fleet. I say we carry a motion to have him stripped
of his rank. A vote, as immediate, of the Council."
This isn't fair,
thought Relg as he stared with dislike at the backstabbing High
Councillor. Most of the members of the Vadam Council were friendly with
'Defames. No, this wasn't fair at all.
"Are you sure that is wise?" One of the Councillors asked, concerned. A wave of noise suddenly drowned him out.
"Heretic--"
"Left us to rot--"
"Doesn't care about Sangheilios--"
And
so on. Relg closed his eyes, trying to muster non existent patience for
the bunglers before him. It was above his place as a guard to have any
real say amongst the council. Light of Helios he may be, but he still
held no political power.
Angered, he left the room, standing in
the open auditorium, and took a deep breath. The city before him was
amazing, crystal blue, gleaming marble, a beacon of hope.
Yet no longer, Relg suddenly thought with a pang, thrown back to the present. He shook his head, and reminisced again.
Footsteps had echoed behind Relg after he had stormed out of the meeting.
"You should not just walk out in full session brother, it does not bode well."
Malkor, fellow Light of Helios.
The
Lights of Sangheilios, often abbreviated to Lights of Helios, were the
elite. The elite of the Elites, mused Relg; a terrible pun and he knew
it. Trained from birth to become warriors, bestowed with the finest of
fine honours. None could best them.
"And you? Methinks it would not bode well for you either, having walked out yourself." Relg replied, a smile touching his lips.
"*** the council." Malkor replied back with a straight face, and Relg began to laugh, his friend then following suit.
"Ah...what are we doing my friend? Why are we here?" Relg suddenly questioned, throwing Malkor off stride.
"We were trained from birth, you know as well as I that the moment our sires chose that path for us, our destiny was sealed."
"Was it? There was no law requiring that we stayed after graduation."
"Yea,
but our families would skin us alive and feed us to a pack of Kig-Yar
if we dared to leave this position. Speaking of families, how fare
Ranea and your son?" Malkor replied, then asking a question about
Relg's wife and child.
"Well I should hope, although Ranea's illness isn't clearing up. I must admit I'm worried."
The
two guards were silent, content to look out unto the city before them.
The droning of the Councillors within the hall was drowned out by
Banshees soaring overhead.
Then, it happened.
Another noise; not the Councillors talking, or the Banshees whistling, but something different. Something...more.
Screams
in the distance. Wild, terrible screams begging for release. These
screams weren't Sangheili, nor Grunt nor Jackal. Not even human. They
were something else.
The
first alarm bell began to ring, some miles off the city, and Relg's
head snapped up. Something serious was occurring. Malkor also jumped to
attention, a frown upon his face.
The second alarm then rung,
and Relg knew something was definitely wrong. He looked at Malkor, who
had nodded, and together they swept back into the Council chambers,
where the politicians were stood wearily.
"What is it? Humans?"
Advisor K'arn questioned, his mandibles pursed. The question was
directed at Relg and Malkor, who looked at the Councillor, bewildered.
"We don't know Council. However, we recommend that you immediately--"
Relg
was cut off as a sentry burst into the room, his look one of terror. He
immediately began groping around, screaming a silent scream. Foam
frothed at the Sangheili's mouth, and Relg stepped forward, concerned,
about to grab the sick warrior. He recoiled as he saw what was embedded
in the sentry's back.
A small Flood infection form had
penetrated the Sangheili's shields, and was scooping blood and flesh
away in order to gain entrance. It was a gruesome sight.
"By the
Gods, the Parasite! J'nask, take the Council to the safe room at once!"
Relg barked, drawing out his Plasma Cutlass, a holy weapon reserved for
the Lights. He stepped forward to the raving Sangheili, who was on his
knees now, tossing and writhing.
"Don't--don't let me--become one of them!" the sentry begged in his last moments of sanity, and Relg raised the cutlass.
"You shan't." he said, bringing the sword down upon the sentry's flesh. He and the infection form immediately exploded.
J'nask,
but a normal Honour Guard, had already begun to move the frightened
Council away. They were no warriors; they would be but a hindrance in a
fire-fight.
The Council never reached their destination however.
For
at that moment, the great glass dome of the Council Chambers shattered
into a million shards, the glass instantly killing some of the
unshielded politicians as it fell. The Flood then dropped down, and
began to massacre the ensemble crowd. Relg made to move towards them,
until a sharp yank of his shoulder stopped him. He turned around to see
Malkor looking at him.
"That is a fight we cannot win. We must
flee Vadam'" Relg's closest of close friend's advised, already moving,
dragging Relg along with him.
"Leave? Malkor, that is the council." Relg replied, confounded. Malkor growled angrily, still pulling Relg along, away from the distracted Flood horde.
"The
very same council who but moments ago conspired to kill our leader. I
will knock you unconscious if needs be my brother, I love you enough to
do so." Malkor replied, and Relg stopped struggling. The other Light of
Helios was right.
They both crashed through the heavy doors of
the Citadel into the main city beyond, ignoring the screams of the
council behind. The two Sangheili gasped.
The city was burning.
Where but moments ago there was pristine holiness, now there was but
destruction, and tarnish. The screams of civilians could clearly be
heard, each one a tear in Relg's heart. He set off towards the military
district, to his home. Malkor grabbed him.
"Where are you going Relg?" the Elite barked, frowning. Relg tried to push the larger Sangheili away, yet to no avail.
"Release me Malkor! My family, Ranea, my son, I must save them!" Relg cried, tugging as hard as he could. It was no use.
"Don't
be foolish! They're dead, Relg. I'm sorry. Yet we will be too, if we do
not leave." Malkor had likewise shouted over the carnage. Infectious
spores floated through the air towards them.
And I left them. Relg thought back with a pang, left my family, my defenceless, loving family, to save my own cowardly skin.
He
knew deep down that he couldn't have saved them anyway, but Relg knew
that eternally, he would forever remember them, and his cowardice.
However long eternity may be for him anyway.
And so the two
elite guards had fled the city on that terrible day, battling their way
out. Were they not so well trained, they wouldn't have made it out
alive. And had they been anywhere other than the Council Chambers, they
would have been instantly swamped.
Relg wished he had died that
day. Died in the arms of his loving wife, with his son huddled up
close. Died protecting that which was most important. Ever since, he
had contemplated ending it all himself; to unite with his family upon
the Great Journey, if it even existed.
But he couldn't.
Wouldn't. Malkor needed him, and he needed Malkor. The whole of
Sangheilios was against them, and only together would they have some
small chance of staying alive.
Some small chance of stopping them.
***********************
"Ah!
There it is! The Dreadnought!" Chirped 343 Guilty Spark, and began to
glow happily. John lunged for the Monitor, and hid him behind the rock
he was crouching behind.
"Calm down, you're going to get us spotted." the Master Chief spoke in level tones, frowning.
"Of
course Reclaimer, I do apologise. Perhaps the Sentinels nearby however,
will listen to my commands. We could try." the Monitor suggested, and
John thought hard for a moment, before shaking his head, clearing snow
off of it in the process. This section of the sphere was like a winter
wonderland. The ground the Sentinels floated over in the distance
melted as they passed.
"Don't count on it. Offensive Bias,
according to Mendicant Bias, has priority commands over everything. I'm
not risking our lives on a hunch." said the Spartan, checking his rifle
nervously. He had no idea when the thing would run out, if ever.
"Hold on a sec. Monitor, you have access codes to the Sentinels?" Cortana questioned, and Spark perked up.
"Well; yes, but as the Reclaimer so vehemently pointed out, it is unlikely that they will respond--"
"Link up with me, and maybe I can hack into a few." Cortana ordered, shocking the Chief.
"Are you sure?" John asked uncertainly. It wasn't that he doubted Cortana's skills, but she'd never done anything like this.
"Positive...well, 90% positive." she spoke back.
"I
like those odds. Do it Spark." John ordered, and felt a chill as the
Monitor entered his mind, interacting with his AI. What happened next
couldn't be described by him, binary code seemed to swim by his eyes, a
million thoughts and possibilities at once. It was too much for his
human brain to handle, and he began to feel faint.
"Done. Those
two Sentinels up ahead? They're friendly now, you can come out of
cover." Cortana crowed triumphantly, and yet John remained affixed to
where he was.
"Are you certain? I don't feel like being blasted
today." the Spartan questioned, and felt a rush of annoyance from his
companion.
"Yes I'm certain! Now move, before more of the things
come out. I won't be able to hack them all, even those two are a
struggle." she snapped, and John complied, coming out of cover. The
Sentinels immediately swivelled their lenses towards him.
"Subject analysis: Reclaimer. Thread level: Green. How can we aid you?" the first Sentinel rumbled.
"Told you." Cortana whispered smugly. John didn't give her the satisfaction of replying.
"Now
what?" John asked, looking at the 'Apex', which was huge. A large
shield covered it however, one John doubted he would be able to simply
waltz through.
"If I'm correct in assuming so Reclaimer, your
compatriots should be in the process of shutting down the rampant
construct. Once that is done, we shall enter this structure, and
disable it's defences from within. After that, your party can join us,
and we can leave this installation safely." Guilty Spark explained
unnecessarily, floating around the Sentinels appraisingly.
"Assuming all goes to plan..." John muttered.
******************
R'tas
Vadum' appraised his opponent warily, who stood on the other end of the
combat arena. Daedalus was, well and truly a Brute. The Elite reckoned
him to be around ten feet tall, and muscles rippled through his chest's
fur. There was no possible way he would be able to defeat him head on.
Perhaps there was no way he could defeat him at all.
"Fleetmaster,
please, rethink your decision. It's not too late to back out." F'edri
muttered as removed R'tas' body armour, which wasn't permitted in duels
such as the one he was in. R'tas was powerful enough, lean, graceful
muscle, and he was stronger than he looked. Still, he had his doubts.
But running wouldn't help.
"And I beg you, dear brother, to
desist in your pleas. If I leave now, our world, our very survival as a
species, is doomed. I must do this." R'tas replied back, stretching his
arms and legs. He hoped he still had a knack for duelling, as he had
when he had last faced against Sub Commander Kusovoi, over a year ago
now at the Infinite Succour incident.
"I...understand
honoured one. May the Forerunners be with you." the Honour Guard leader
spoke sadly, withdrawing from R'tas, leaving but he and Daedalus alone
in the combat ring. In the huge hall, thousands watched with eager
eyes. R'tas knew that most wished him to fall. He would have the
delight of disappointing them.
"Are you prepared, Sangheili?" the Chieftain of the Brutes called over, pounding his chest with two boulder sized hands. Savage.
"I am always prepared Brute." R'tas replied coolly, although the sweat gleaming upon his head betrayed his true feelings.
"Then steel yourself. For now we fight!"
Daedalus cried, suddenly rushing the Elite. The Brute had gone berserk
already, frothing at the mouth, hunched over, charging. The crowd drew
in a breath as Daedalus neared his foe.
R'tas bent his knees,
and at the last critical moment, dove to the side, smacking against the
energy shielding of the arena, which burnt his bare skin. Still, it was
better than having three tons of muscle smash into you.
Daedalus
wasn't able to stop in time, and crashed full on into the barrier, with
a yowl. He withdrew himself from the shield, and shook his head dazed.
R'tas, meanwhile, had already recovered, and the next thing Daedalus
saw was the Elite's powerful knee slamming into his face as R'tas
jumped through the air. The Brute staggered back, and swiped out with a
heavy paw. One of the claws caught R'tas' leg, and the Sangheili
gasped, tumbling to the ground.
The Jiralhanae raised a large
boot, and prepared to bring it then upon the Elite's chest. R'tas' eyes
sprung open before it could do this however, and he rolled to the side,
avoiding the stomp. He then tackled the Brutes legs with his body, and
felt an earthquake tremor as Daedalus crashed to the floor with a grow.
R'tas wasted no time, pouncing on top of the Brute and delivering a
swift punch to it's face. He kept his knees pressed down upon the
Chieftain's shoulders, pinning him in place.
R'tas then
grasped Daedalus' thick throat with his hands, and began to squeeze
down hard. The Brute gagged, flailing around. R'tas' goal wasn't to
kill the Brute, but knocking him unconscious would do fine.
Just
as Daedalus' eyes began to roll back, however, he summoned a tremendous
amount of strength, and threw R'tas off over to the other side of the
arena, where he somehow managed to land on his feet, albeit clumsily.
The crowd cheered as the Brute staggered back to his feet, taking in
some deep breaths. The Sangheili Fleetmaster's mouth tasted of blood.
Daedalus
once again rushed R'tas, causing the ground to shake. The Elite bared
his two mandibles, and side stepped the charge, then turning and
sinking his sharp teeth into the matted, unclean fur of the Chieftain.
The Brute howled in agony, and R'tas felt warm, red Jiralhanae blood
flow into his mouth. He tried his best not to gag.
"*** you,
you ***!" Daedalus cried in pain, bringing a fist around which hit
R'tas in the jaw. He immediately relinquished his grip, and felt
several things in his mouth crack in an explosion of pain. R'tas was
sent sprawling to the floor, where he lay dazed.
Daedalus
grabbed the Elite's neck with a vice like grip, and threw him back onto
the ground, where his head smashed, blood leaking. The world was
swimming. R'tas, to his credit, delivered a solid punch to the Brute's
face, which snapped loudly, but then he was back down. The Brute put a
foot upon R'tas' neck, keeping him in place.
Choruses of 'kill
him!' were raging throughout the hall, and R'tas knew this was the end.
He had lost, failed his Elites. Sangheilios was doomed.
Daedalus
looked down at R'tas with...pity? Respect? Certainly a facial
expression the Sangheili had not expected. What surprised him even more
was when, instead of pushing down, the Brute removed his boot from
R'tas' neck, and offered him a hand to right himself.
R'tas, in
his pain drunk state, eyed the hand warily, and then reached up for it.
Daedalus hoisted him up easily, and then supported him to stand up. The
onlookers had fallen silent, and Daedalus then spoke.
"Never in
all my years has an opponent come as close to besting me as R'tas
Vadum'. Despite the obvious physical difference, and the fact that I
have my natural claws as weapons, he fought valiantly, and for that, I
praise him. All you who just then cried out for his death should be
ashamed. For this Elite is a noble warrior, to be honoured and hailed.
Hail R'tas Vadum', of the house Dum!" the Brute Chieftain cried, and
after a moment of shocked silence, the crowd burst into cheer. Daedalus
lifted R'tas' arm in victory, even though he had not been the victor.
"But...why?" R'tas asked of Daedalus, confused.
"There
are some things in life more important than honour Sangheili. No doubt
you have come to understand that yourself. You are the most worthy
Elite I have ever had the fortune to meet, and I pray that we should
never have to meet each other as enemies upon a real battlefield, for I
know that I would not escape alive. I, and the rest of the Covenant,
shall gladly fight alongside your Elites against the Flood, and
whatever other troubles may dog your path." the Jirahanae told him, and
R'tas smiled sorely.
"I am truly thankful Chieftain, for both
your mercy, and support. What do you wish to do next?" the Elite
replied, gasping. Daedalus laughed a hearty laugh.
"I don't know
about you Sangheili, but I believe for me at least, a visit to the
infirmary is in order. I am standing upon my last legs as it is. I take
it you will be accompanying me? Your jaw looks like it is set at a
wrong angle." the Brute spoke, and R'tas gingerly touched his
mandibles. Definitely out of place, one was stuck within his mouth,
another bent at an incredibly obtuse angle.
"Yes, yes I believe we should. And after we have been healed, we have grave matters to attend to."
"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.