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Halo- Struggle for Peace by D@King
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Halo- war against the brutes (part 1)
Date: 30 December 2007, 11:56 am
HALO
WAR AGAINST THE BRUTES
Prologue
For The Newcomers
Around 2500AD the human race was peaceful and had no knowledge or belief of life in outer space. But another race was out to prove them wrong. This intelligent, strong and highly advanced race was called the Covenant. It is not known where this race originated from, but research shows that it is somewhere that we humans could never reach.
The covenant is made up of a complex hierarch system in which each particular species is given a rank and must obey your superior. At the top of the covenant society sits the noble prophets. They are brown, worm-like creatures, who sit on a floating throne and wear a huge golden crown above their heads. The protectors of the prophets are the honor guards, which are elites - a proud race of warriors that are the base of the covenant. They wear a very advanced energy shield which protects them from enemy fire and are superior to man in every way.
Following elites are the hunters - a large monstrous creature made up of worm-like organisms, held together by extremely strong, bluish armor which is impenetrable to the standard gun, so these creature, unlike the elites, do not use shield technology. They are equipped with the state of the art fuel rod cannon, which is a cannon that compresses acid together and then releases it in a beam like form which can kill in a single shot, the only weak part of these huge creatures are the spaces where their armor doesn't cover the organisms they are made from.
After the hunters there come the jackals - a species that is physically smaller, lesser ranked and generally weaker than the elites and hunters, though they still put up a tough fight. They are equipped with an energy shield which is deployed around their arms to stop bullets from killing these fragile creatures, another variation of this creature is its assailant the jackal sniper, which has no energy shield but has deadly aim.
The last and lowest ranking member of the covenant is the grunt. The poor little thing, they are small, weak and pose no threat to their enemies. They are usually sent out to battle with little thought. Other creatures such as the drone (small green flying creature) have not been given a rank. All of these covenant creatures walk on two legs and use there hands similar to humans.
Now the covenant use plasma weapons, which rely on heated plasma to use against their enemies. These include, the plasma pistol, plasma rifle, particle beam rifle (beam particles), energy sword (another advanced weapon using some sort of substance which can slice through the bodies of enemies, carbine (also using plasma). They also use a plasma grenade, and that's about all for the covenant.
Over the past five hundred years though, the humans haven't developed many new forms of weaponry. They still rely on the SMG, battle riffle, rocket launcher, pistol, shotgun and sniper rifle to do their work, but something that has changed is their armor, it has got very advanced and can withstand a lot more bullets.
The story so far…
Now that you know a basic description of the covenant and human UNSC (United Nations space command) forces, I will tell you about the past to the events of this story. The story so far tells that when earth got attacked by the covenant, there was one Spartan which stood out from the others. His name was john 117 or (master chief); he is a Spartan super soldier and he wears shining green mjolnir VI armor.
The covenant tried to kill the human race but a team of UNSC (including john 117) fought brutally against their forces and destroyed one of their main sources, halo. The campaign to destroy the humans was not lead by a prophet but by a zealot (elite in gold armor, who can command entire fleets), though the zealot was sacked from his duty for his inability to stop the humans. After he was sacked he got given a second chance and became the arbiter who does dangerous missions for the prophets. You will hear more about the arbiter later…
Chapter 1
Friend or foe?
About 5 years after the last battle against the covenant, the humans hadn't let their guard down and where upgrading their equipment on a whole. The master chief was aboard a space station known as Cairo. He and some other marines were in the middle of training with heir newly equipped laser sighted rifles when there was a crash that shook the whole station and cut the lights. "What the hell was that" yelled a marine. "Quiet" the master chief replied. "Well aren't we gonna go and see what it was sir"? "Ill go" whispered the chief. "I'm coming with you". "No" let me go, it could just be a rock, let me check first". He crept down the dark, narrow corridor, holding his gun out in front of him ready to fire. As he reached the main room at the other end of the corridor, he shouted up to the others "N othin down here must have just been a "There he is, don't let him get away"!
"What", the chief turned around to see group of elites running at him.
"Sir, we're coming down" yelled the marines. The chief open fired at the first elite. "Aaaaargh" the elite let out a scream and pulled out an energy sword and turned temporarily invisible. "Remember we must take him alive" said the specops (special operations squad) commander. More bullets started coming from the marines behind the chief, which killed a few elites but then the cloaked elite, which the marines could not see well enough to shoot at unexpectedly grabbed the chiefs shoulder and suddenly his vision faded.
When the chief woke up, he was lying on a hard metal floor, which he guessed was an interior of a covenant structure. He had taken a bad blow to the back of his head, even though he was suited up. "noble hierarchs , he's waking up" These words made the chief jolt up and look around, to see himself lying in a huge temple like building filled with elites, grunts, hunters and jackals of all sorts, but the 3 figures sitting in front of him were prophets.
There was much noise coming from the covenant crowd.
"Quiet" ordered the head prophet "Truth". The crowd immediately became silent and looked up at the prophet.
"Before me lays the master chief, the destroyer of halo, the Spartan that kept us from destroying the Pillar of Autumn and the human fleet as they fled from their burning planet."
The chief thought it better just to sit and say nothing, but just to hope that they would not kill him. "And next to him lays the Arbiter, a skilled warrior, but a failure to destroy the Pillar of Autumn and to prevent the destruction of halo. The chief looked over to see an elite dressed in polished, metal armor with the most elaborate detail.
"Kill them, their heretics shouted the crowd". "Enough" spoke truth. The arbiter gulped. "There is no need to worry you two, for I am not going to kill you but rather, change your purpose and role." "You see it has come to my awareness that there is a new race called the brutes, which have killed off many of my covenant army and word has come around that his plan is to destroy all seven halos. It is not known from where they have come from but we managed to capture one of these vile beasts." "Bring him in." Two elite honor guards walked down the long hall, holding tightly onto the arms of a brute, which was struggling to break loose from their grip. It was slightly larger than the elites, covered in brown fur, with armor covering most of its head and body. It had very powerful limbs, similar to that of a large ape.
"As you can see here, spoke Truth, this is the brute we managed to captured. We do not know much about what type of weaponry they use or if they have hierarch rankings as we do, but this weapon was held by the brute when we captured him.
Another honor guard walked in, holding a large weapon. "This weapon resembles a SMG, but has a two sharp, long blades running down each side." "So you see we do not want to hurt you human but we are asking if you and your men could aid us in the stopping of these brutes." "You will never defeat us" roared the brute. "Guards take him back to his cell." "Do I have a choice asked the chief?"
"Not unless you and the rest of your species want to be killed. We have already asked the UNSC military corps and they have agreed to aid us, so gear up because in a few hours we'll make our first strike against the brutes."
Suddenly and elite walked out through a door, "Sir, we have an urgent message from the brutes, follow me." Take the master chief back to his cell for now," With that , Truth and the other prophets followed the elite back through to the other room and the master chief was put into a cell for a few hours. Am I dreaming he wandered to himself? What is gonna happen to me and the other marines? "Come out Spartan, It is time, Truth awaits you.
Chapter 2
Gear up soldiers!
The chief walked with the elite until he reached Truth then he ordered the elite to leave and the arbiter entered the hall. This time there was no crowd and things were even more serious. "We are directly over the area of the brutes. You two will be leading an army of my finest specops elites. You will be equipped with an energy sword, a carbine and plasma grenades. Your comrade's weapons will differ. Occasionally you may meet up with some other covenant or UNSC forces that have been deployed. This region is full of mountains and forests, but we will drop you near the brute's barracks."
"Follow my elites into the phantom and get to work." An Elite walked up to the master chief and arbiter, "follow me" it said. After walking down the long hall they finally arrived and the phantom docking station and walked into the ship. When they entered they found rows of elites waiting for them and then once they had arrived, the ship shook a bit and then took off.
"We're almost there chief", one of the elites said. The chief walked up to the side of the phantom and through a window peered out at a large structure surrounded by forest. Then the ship slowed down and hovered about the ground, and then the arbiter told the others and the chief to get out through the gravity lift. So the chief walked into the lift and felt the floor drop away and the next thing he felt was the hard forest floor near the brute's barracks. When all the elites, the chief and the arbiter were on the ground, the phantom hovered back up into the sky and took off again.
The air was dusty and red and smelt of smoke and ash. "Come on lets move soldiers" commanded the arbiter. "So you wanted to kill me" the chief asked the arbiter, "I did what I was told to do." He replied. "Lets stop talking and go."
"Elites activate your stealth ability" The elites did so and suddenly they were no longer visible. "Well what are we supposed to do?" the chief questioned. "You figure it our, if you are what they say you are." He replied.
The group slowly moved through the jungle, up to the huge iron gate of the brute barracks, without any sign of brutes. The only other creatures in the reign were large flying creatures, which seemed harmless. They kept moving, "Are you sure that old thing new what it was talking about" asked the master chief. "Who's there?" shouted a large voice from somewhere near the entrance of the building.
"Great work chief" the arbiter said sarcastically. "Leader, shall we execute the brutes guarding their barracks?" an elite asked. "Yes" replied the arbiter/ "Quietly. The others stay back." A group of 3 elites with energy swords, all invisible to the naked eye quietly crept up to the 2 brutes standing guard. The brutes did not notice them but they had their guns held out ready and were looking around for whoever made that noise. "Ill go check over there" a brute growled. It held a brute shot ( a weapon similar to the brute spiker but with one long blade down the centre of it and instead of shooting bullets it shoots out grenades which explode on impact). He also wore silverish/blue armor as brute guards wear.
"Nobody over … aaaaaaaargh!" gasped the dying brute.
"Show your self" exclaimed the second brute and started to fire its brute shot near where its comrade had been slaughtered. One of the bullets hit and elite, which did not kill it but took down its energy shield.
"There you are" yelled the brute, who shot another grenade at the same elite, this one killed it though. The elite lifelessly dropped to the ground. This angered the others. The other 2 let out a vicious war cry and suicidaly ran up to the brute and chopped it with its energy sword. "The brute didn't have time to react and so that brute was turned into a dead heap on the ground.
The others rushed in when the noise had subsided, to find two dead bodies of brutes but also a dead body of an elite.
"This elite sacrificed its life for us and he will be remembered." Spoke the arbiter. "I don't mean to but in here but, now that we've killed the guards, the others will be alerted and they'll be looking for us and they wont be to happy about what we've done to these two, so we should get moving pronto" Replied the chief. "The Spartan is right we must get moving" agreed the others, "The brutes shall pay for the blood they have spilled" roared the elites as they walked into the halls of the brutes.
Chapter 3
The war has begun
As the group walked into the brutes barracks, they looked around and saw a large room, leading to another, and past that, they could not see. There was an eerie silence. None of them spoke at all, until a voice boomed from behind them "The covenant have infiltrated the brute barracks, slay them on sight." The chief spun around to see a speaker. "It's a speaker, but let's keep moving." They didn't encounter any brute resistance in the first room. When they approached the second room, the arbiter sent out two stealth elites into the next room to report if there were any brutes. The elites reported that there were several elites, two of which were in portable gun turrets and the others standing with their weapons pointing down at the door.
"Watch out, grenade". A plasma grenade came rocketing down through the doorway into the pack of elites. "Take cover before it explodes" warned the arbiter. The majorities of the elites (including the arbiter) and the chief swiftly rolled back through the opposing doorway and were not caught in the blast but a couple did not escape from the blast radius before the explosion and did not survive. There was one survivor but he could no longer move or fight so the only choice they had was to leave him behind. "They're down there" a brute snapped.
"Lets fight before reinforcements arrive" ordered the chief, "throw all the grenades you have and I will use mine." "I hope you know what your doing Spartan" questioned the arbiter. The elites obeyed the chief and ran into the next room throwing all the grenades they had. The grenades rained down on the brutes and a few stuck onto the turrets. Bullets sprayed down from the brutes but missed the elites. When the grenades exploded, bodies of brutes, weapons and pieces of rock and metal rocketed out in all directions.
The chief and the arbiter entered the room now, to see two brutes left, but they were dazed from the blasts. The chief and the arbiter quickly pulled out their carbons and started to open fire on the remaining brutes. The last to brutes fell to the floor but before they did, one of them stuck a plasma grenade to an elite and brought the elite with him.
"What did I tell you" remarked the chief. "5 of our elites have fallen thanks to you." The arbiter replied. "Could you think of a better way?" The arbiter did not reply. "Come on he said we have lost soldiers but we must keep on." The pack of about 20 kept moving through the large room they had just fought through. "Pick up any useful equipment form their bodies." The explosions had blown the door out of the wall, and when the arbiter peered through the hole, he did not like what he saw!
Chapter 4
Home field advantage
The chief walked up to the arbiter and looked through the damaged wall as well, and knew that getting through there would be the hardest challenge yet, let alone dispatching the enemies. It opened up to a huge outdoor field, filled with Hunters, jackal's grunts and even small groups of scattered UNSC marines trying to eliminate the brutes, but the brutes had the advantage of vehicles. They had made themselves quite comfortable in brute prowlers (vehicle with a driver, passengers and a turret on the back) and brute choppers (small vehicles which only allows a single person to drive and shoot), and were killing many covenant and marines at a dangerously high rate. "We better kill the brutes while their still focusing on our allies" warned the chief. 'Warriors, there will be no holding back in this fight, give the brutes everything you've got as quickly as you can while the others give us covering fire" warned the arbiter.
"Let's move!" The Group ran out into the open battle field through once known doorway and into the battleground. The chief ran away from the pack, to the allies on the other side while the others fought. "Aaaargh, I've been hit, my shields are down" yelled the arbiter, as a brute sitting in a chopper approached the arbiter.
"Ahahaha, the arbiter will die by my hands" laughed the brute. The brute closed in but then unexpectedly a hunter ran up next to the arbiter and shot a beam from its mighty fuel rod cannon which killed the brute and damaged the vehicle, but still left it in a useable condition, so the arbiter took the pleasure of getting into it.
Meanwhile the chief had killed numerous brutes but the brutes had done so in return and killed many covenant including many elites which were in the squadron that the chief and the arbiter wee commanding. The chief found himself in a tight situation, being confronted by a prowler with only a gunner and a driver, luckily though it was busy with the marines, and the marines were busy with it, but when it drew close enough, the chief made a sudden leap onto the stationary vehicle and on to the back auto-turret being controlled by a brute, which tried to simply punch the chief off with its amazing strength, but it was not enough and he recovered quickly and in return drew out his energy sword and made a deadly swipe at the brute which sliced it in the neck and the brute fell of the vehicle.
But master chief's battle was not over yet, for the driver saw what had happened, and he had decided to simply drive into a rock face and kill himself and the master chief! "Hahaha try jumping off at this speed" it growled. The chief knew that the vehicle was moving too fast to jump off and even with his super advanced armor, he may still get badly injured and then he will be a sitting duck to the other brutes.
The vehicle drew nearer to the rock face and the chief closed his eyes and was ready for the impact when 3 carbine bullets penetrated the brute's skull that was driving the vehicle. The chief did not hesitate, he reached out and grabbed further up the vehicle then leapt up to the driver's seat which was a dangerous move but it was either that or being obliterated into a pile of ash and metal, but luck was on his side and he made it into the drivers seat where the previous driver had been but had been blowing out when he had been shot and was lying somewhere back on the ground somewhere. He jammed his foot on the brake as hard as he could but realized that it would still be going too fast to brake before smashing into the rocks so as the vehicle slowed, he made a final jump off the machine and landed hard on the dirt but not too hard to break any bones and hurt himself seriously, a couple of bruises is all he got. Anyway, the master chief made the right decision because the vehicle still collided with the rock and it ended in a huge explosion. The master chief ducked his head and metal and sparks flew past him but did not get him, he had made it off safely.
Now that he was safe, he looked around to see who had shot those bullets and saw the arbiter standing in front of him. "Once I was out to kill you, now im saving your life, the arbiter muttered. Now let's take out those remaining brutes". The chief agreed and he and the arbiter ran back to aid the survivors.
There were only two brutes left in turrets on a low cliff with a rock path leading up to the backside of it. The arbiter and chief managed to find a stealth elite which had its camouflage activated. "We'll distract the brutes in those turrets, you find away up there and kill them from behind". "Sir" it replied and made its way around the cliff to the path. Meanwhile the arbiter jumped into a half destroyed brute prowler and the chief got in the turret. The arbiter maneuvered the vehicle with great skill and precision, not many bullets hit them at all, the chief fired at the same turret hoping to disable it. "There's the elite, Spartan" yelled the arbiter. Sure enough the elite had run up behind the turrets and he had already slaughtered the brute on the left side when the other brute saw that his brother was dead. This didn't make him happy, he steered his turret to the right and hoped to shoot the enemy that killed his brother, but the chief and arbiter and a few hunters were shooting up at the turret, so it jumped off just as it exploded into a pile of burning metal.
Now that the turret was destroyed, it pulled out a brute shot and fired away at the brute prowler. The grenades that hit blew holes in the side of it and the bullet that hit the engine caused sparks to erupt and made a hole for where fuel leaked out onto the floor. The last brute was slayed by the elite and fell of the edge to its death. "Get out quickly, it's gonna blow" yelled chief. The two jumped off the prowler and started to run as far away as possible. They found a small rock which they used for cover as a spark met with the fuel and the whole vehicle was torched. "Another close call" spoke the arbiter. "Yes", agreed the chief "but they were the last two brutes and now that this battle is over, we must see if there are any survivors left".
Chapter 5
Finding the survivors
The two soldiers looked around the battle field full of ash, broken machinery and dead bodies. "There must be some remaining survivors" commented the arbiter.
"You search in over there and stay around here, but be careful, there may still be brutes." The chief walked along a long plain, which had chinks taken out of it where bullets and explosions had hit. He found a small cave further along where he had not been yet. In fact no one went up that far. The chief entered the cave. "Stay back bru… by the rings, the chief, I thought you were dead, where's the arbiter, did he make it?" demanded four elites which had taken refuge in the cave. These elites however were not like the elites that had been deployed with the arbiter and the chief. Three of the elites where ultra elites, suited in white armor, they were about or third highest rank attainable by an elite. The other elite was a zealot, which was what the arbiter used to be, they are suited in gold armor and they are the highest rank attainable by an elite, both elites are very powerful but they do not specify in only special operations, so they do not have the ability to turn invisible. "If you want to see the arbiter, follow me" ordered the chief.
The chief led the four elites back to the arbiter, where he had found a few stealth elites and a pair of hunters. The four elites walked up to the arbiter and the zealot "Arbiter, can we join you on your campaign against the brutes?" "Yes, we need all the help we can get, and I take it that you are all skilled warriors". "Yes, that's why we were sent from the prophet to help you on your journey" the elite replied. "Are you the only survivors" asked the chief yes, the others were killed in the previous battle". "Alright so there are eleven of us left". "Let's stop wasting our time with talk; we are the only survivors so let's get moving". Argued the arbiter "I agree lets go."
The group wandered over to the other side of the field, "Im sure that this the way declared the arbiter, so follow me". In the next room, they noticed strange pale bubbles over all the walls. "What are they?" asked an elite. "I have no idea, but why are their dead brutes all over the floor?" the chief replied. "What was that noise?" asked the arbiter. We heard it as well, reported the others, then out of the corner of his eye, the chief saw something move. Then it moved again and then they all saw it straight in front of them. "What the hell is that thing?" they yelled.
Chapter 6
The flood
"Warriors, draw your weapons" declared the arbiter. "Kill these jellyfish like creatures". "Sir, one just attacked me, it is not fatal, but if enough of them come it could be". Claimed the zealot. "Sir look, the dead brutes are getting back up!"
The others looked as well as a long gone brute started to wriggle and then get back up. When it got up though, it could not carry any weapons, tentacles had mutated and grown out of its arms and body and it did not have much coordination. "Should we kill it sir". "Wait to see if it attacks first" ordered the arbiter. Sure enough after it had moved around a little, it ran straight up to a stealth elite and started to melee him with its arms. "Aaaargh" slice. The possessed body fell into parts on the floor. "I wish I could know what these things are or where they have come from but whatever they are, do not underestimate them".
"Watch out more brutes are getting up, and what are those things that look like grunts but have an overgrown body?" The warriors fought hard against the enemies possessing the bodies. "Watch out, they are coming in from the outside field!" "What, they have possessed elites and marines bodies too! They will pay for what they have done". Screeched and ultra elite. " Sir, I just shot a possessed body but it got up again a few minutes later". "Use your energy swords then". "Aaaargh, one of the specops elites are down". "Who cares, keep fighting". Insisted the chief
" Behind you chief" A flood that was still holding a brute shot, was firing at the chief. So the chief ducked and ran at the body and struck it with the energy sword. It exploded into body parts and fell on the floor. The warriors fought bravely for as long as the flood did not stop. One of the hunters, one ultra elite and a few specops elites paid the price." They waves of enemies have stopped, there are no more enemies getting up, for now". "Quickly, let's get out of here. " Wait arbiter, what is that small machine floating in the corner over there?"
Chapter 7
The oracle
The group walked over to the machine. "Who are you?" demanded the arbiter.
The cube-like machine floated down to their head level and a single light in it flashed. "Greetings, I am the oracle, 343 Guilty Spark" "An oracle, hey… I have questions that need answers" insisted the master chief. "I will be glad to answer your questions with…" "Ok, where exactly are we" "We are in a forerunner facility, built to contain the flood, and it seems that your army has landed inside the containment zone". "What, who are these forerunners?" "They are an ancient race of beings that built all seven halo rings…" "Seven!", "Yes seven halo rings, the Ark, and onyx. They built sentinels to try and keep the flood from escaping but"
"What are sentinels, and why haven't we come in contact with them?" "Well if you'd just let me finish, sentinels machine that can hover above ground, the smaller sentinels have a built in beam rifle, the larger enforcers, have a mighty shield on the front side which is nearly immune to ballistic weapon fire, preventing almost all weapons, they also shoot out a weapon similar to the covenant needler, the small red bullets, can lock onto their targets, they use an explosive attack too that" "Enough about the sentinels" ordered the chief. "We'll you haven't come into contact with them because they were made over 100,000 years ago, yes very advanced for their times they were, sadly now their race has been wiped out" "Get to the point" "yes well, they have nearly all been destroyed by the flood".
"I suppose now you're going to ask me what the flood are." "Yes" "The floods are a type of virus, created by the forerunners, but not on purpose, but by an accidental outbreak." "Where did the flood come from?" "Whenever you get a mass of flood, it forms a proto-gravemind, which is a form of flood that takes over your brain and forms a large bubble shaped infection matter around you. When it grows to a certain size and mass, a gravemind is formed, which can feed off other life forms and it grows smarter and larger. A gravemind can summon and create smaller flood parasites which their goal is to crawl into a dead host body and then the spreads the virus takes over the body and brings it back to life. The flood you encountered back there were from the combat forms which take the dead bodies of brutes and elites. Luckily a hunter is not able to be a host for their infection forms, which are you called Jellyfish and the infection forms, cannot mutate a living organism". "What were the forms that looked like overgrown grunts then?" "They were carrier forms and yes they are grunts, but they have a new purpose now, when they come in contact with anything else, such as a bullet or a hit to their body, they will explode, but when they do, infection forms will come spraying out of them".
"Oracle", asked an ultra, "How come the flood that I shot to the floor with carbine got back up again?" "Because that is not enough, you must disintegrate their bodies, so there is nothing left for an infection form, even a previously killed flood can act as a vessel to the infection form, that's why you must use and energy sword, or something that will give them no hope of coming back".
"Why did the waves of flood stop?" "Because all the bodies had been destroyed, so the infection forms could not live. Luckily for you the in the rest of this flood containment ground or, brute barracks as they call it, the flood are quite busy fighting the brutes and the brutes are quite busy with the flood".
"How did the brutes not know that there were flood in this vicinity, and where did the brutes even come from" added the arbiter. "The brutes are something I do not know much about at all, because they have only appeared recently, but my understanding is that The brutes only came in a small fleet of about 4,000, lead by Tartarus their chieftain and their goal was to destroy the remaining six halo rings, this is the first ring they have landed on but they have already lost nearly half their original troops in battle".
Then the master chief spoke "Alright I've had enough of talking, all I want to know is where is Tartarus, because we've been sent by the prophets to slay him". "You've been sent by the prophets to kill him!" "Yes" "I have to warn then, he is a very skilled warrior, he carries something called a gravity hammer, which he uses to smack anyone who comes close to him. He is further through the building but be careful, there will be many brutes that will be more than happy to stop you and your friends from getting to him". "Oracle, what about the flood, could they kill him?" Asked arbiter. "I doubt that the flood could stop a mighty chieftain like Tartarus, they probably won't even injure him, because he too has an energy shield, even more powerful than that of an elite.
"What are you even doing here oracle?" "That's a good question, but I do not have the answer for that". "So you have the answer for every question in the universe but not how you got here" chuckled the arbiter. "Yes it's strange I was …" "We've heard everything we need to know, we better get going". Declared the master chief. "Glad to be at service" replied the oracle and it hovered back up into the corner that it had been in before. The others moved on through the next large room, with a high ceiling and great architecture, this room was completely empty though, of enemies. They didn't even find traces of flood. "How come that that stupid oracle just hovered in a corner the whole time" wondered the chief. "I don't know but how come there is no trace of any life forms in this room". "Well arbiter", interrupted the one remaining specops elite, I've noticed that the brutes usually come rushing out of the other rooms behind or adjacent to the room where standing in, so maybe the flood have been giving the brutes problems in the next room, shall I go check, since I'm the only one who can use active camouflage?" "Yes, stay back while the specops elite surveys the next room". Agreed the arbiter.
So the specops elite slowly camouflaged and walked up the many rows of steps leading into the next room. "When he got to a certain point he looked at something on the ground and ran back to the others. "Arbiter, chief there's flood bodies near the door to the next room, im guessing there's going to be quite a large fight in the next room". He reported. "A fight just what I was hoping for!" announced the zealot and he drew out his energy sword. "Don't worry, there will be a lot more of them ahead" assured the arbiter.
"Come on, we must ensure that the infection forms cannot bring back these bodies". The elites, the chief and the hunter ran up to the stairs where the flood bodies lay. Chief and the elites pulled out their energy swords and sliced apart the flood bodies. "No flood are going to be getting into these bodies" joked the ultra elite. "Oh crap, my energy sword is out" swore the chief. "Here use mine" insisted the zealot and handed the chief his energy sword. "What are you going to use then" asked chief. "See for yourself" the zealot pulled grabbed his fuel rod gun which had been strapped to his back and smiled.
"Come on, go check the next area soldier" argued the arbiter, so the specops soldier did so and came back shortly. "What did you see?" "Well you said you wanted a fight didn't you". "Yes" replied the zealot. "Well you got a fight".
Chapter 8
The Brutes last defense
"This fight is a little different though; there are a group of marines in there fighting against brutes, fighting against flood". Explained the specops elite. "Fighting against elites, hunters and a chief" added the zealot. "I don't know why you're so happy to be in battle, this one looks dangerous, I don't think all of us are going to make it out alive".
"We must come to the aid of the marines, before it's just the flood and the brutes fighting again" growled the arbiter. "Yes, we shall crush any enemy that stands in our way". The first to enter the room was the specops soldier, followed by the four ultras, the zealot and then the master chief, arbiter and the hunter.
The specops soldier was right when he had said that there was a large fight up ahead because this truly was a large fight. The brutes, once again had the advantage of turrets welded on to the sides of the massive room, most of the flood which had taken do to the dead brute bodies were focused on the brutes, while the flood which had used the marines for their hosts bearing shot guns, battle rifles and other UNSC weapons were fighting the marines.
"It's the master chief" yelled a marine in surprise. The chief noticed that a few of the marines were the ones that he had been training with the day he got taken to the covenant's council chamber to see Truth. The group that the master chief had come in with was busy fighting. "Holy shit, its James, but he's gone… aaaaargh what the hell is he doing to me!" The marine that he had just been working next to had been taken over by a flood and he was now getting attacked. The chief ran down to the marines. "I can't shoot him sir, his my friend". "He's no friend now that the flood have used his body as a host" Replied the chief.
He ran up to the flood controlling the marines body and slashed at it with the energy sword, but he missed and the flood shot him in the back In return. It didn't get through his armor, but the impact left him on the ground for half a minute. The flood ignored the chief and started to attack the marine again. "Shoot him marine, that's an order" yelled the chief. The marine shut his eyes and shot his once friend in the head but it didn't kill him. He shot at it again but it still didn't stop. By now the chief had gotten up and slashed the flood again. This one cut the body into pieces. "Chief behind you!" warned a marine. The chief spun around to see a flood controlling a brute's body. It punched him (because it had no weapon) the chief bloke it with his arm and then stabbed the ragging parasite in the chest twice and this killed it. "The hunter blew apart one turret and its user in one powerful beam from its fuel rod cannon, but was overwhelmed by brute shots, which hit the covenant monster in its orange weak spot and killed it. It roared as it fell to the floor. The zealot killed two brutes with blasts from its fuel rod gun, and then it found an energy sword lying on the ground and decided to fight close- combat.
A few more marines were killed and two ultra elites. The arbiter had killed numerous flood and brutes in this battle, mostly using its energy sword and plasma grenades. He found himself being pinned down by two turrets. He looked around and all his allies were busy with other problems of their own. He decided that he would run out and give them everything he's got, so that's exactly what he did. He ran out of cover, threw a plasma grenade at the first turret, which hit the brute and stuck to his shoulder. When this happened, he immediately got off the turret as the grenade's explosion rime grew nearer. It shook itself around in a last-ditch attempt to get the grenade off but it was too late and exploded, killing the brute and the smashing down the turret he was using.
One more turret to go thought the arbiter, though the turret was now shooting at the surrounding flood, so the arbiter thought that this would be a good time to attack. He withdrew his energy sword and in return, pulled out his carbon and began to fire at the brutes head. The first two shots knocked of the brutes head armor and the last two finished him.
All the 20 or so brutes had been killed but there were still a few flood left. Two marines were still alive and only one ultra elite was left, along with the zealot, master chief and the arbiter. "Destroy their bodies, and kill the infection forms" insisted the chief. The remaining warriors did so but also killed the rest of the flood combat forms.
"Is everyone alright?" asked the arbiter. "Yes, but we have lost many allies in this battle" replied the ultra. "Grab any weapons or ammunition, we must keep moving, the floods numbers are increasing". The tired and battered soldiers kept moving throughout the Forerunner structure until they came to a room with locked door. "How do we get through this door?" asked the arbiter. "I will blast it open with my fuel rod gun sir" answered the Zealot. "Yes, you may". "Why would it be locked, to keep the flood out?" wondered the chief. "Stand back" ordered the Zealot as he raised his huge weapon to the door, stood back and fired.
The huge ball of acid raced towards the door and when it reached, exploded into a greenish haze and blew a hole in the wall. As soon as the smoke cleared the Zealot looked around to see what was in the room and then immediately ran back to the others in shock. "Sir… its Tartarus!"
Chapter 9
Dealing with Tartarus
"Then we must kill him" announced the arbiter. Tartarus's voice suddenly boomed from the next room, "You unworthy brutes, how could you let the Prophets army and the flood get into this room, I'll kill them myself!" "We must attack while there is still flood left to keep him busy, even though they are practically useless against him". "Warriors, if none of us make it out, it has been honorable fighting by your sides" the arbiter declared. "Now let's finish off this brute off".
The remaining group walked into Tartarus's lair. "Tartarus, are you ready to be killed?" challenged the arbiter. "Hahaha, I wondered who Truth would send to silence me, the arbiter, the chief, anyway your fate shall be the same" roared Tartarus and crushed a flood with his gravity hammer. "Where are your brutes Tartarus?" "I do not need them to kill opponents as weak as you" he replied. "Comrades, give that beast everything you've got!"
The arbiter, the zealot, the chief and the ultra elite ran into battle. The two marines stayed back and shot him with a sniper rifle and a battle rifle. The first to make a swing at the brute was the arbiter. He hit Tartarus directly in the chest, but it appeared to do nothing to him. "You'll have to do better than that to stop me Arbiter" laughed Tartarus, who swung back at the Arbiter but missed. The chief was fighting against a few flood combat forms, but also attacking Tartarus.
The two marines were still shooting at Tartarus. The ultra elite was stabbing Tartarus, but his energy shields were not down, when Tartarus hit the ultra with a deadly blow. It was still fighting when it received another, and fell to the ground. The UNSC marine bearing the snipe rifle did a great shot to Tartarus's head. "His energy shields are down, attack him quickly!" shouted the arbiter, but a few moments later his shields had regenerated. Tartarus hit chief once with his gravity hammer and he fell to the ground In pain.
"Aaaaaargh, get it off me!" a marine was being attacked by a flood. His partner quickly shot the parasite in the head with his sniper rifle, but the bullet sunk straight through it and it didn't seem to do anything at all. "Use my battle rifle" called the marine which was being attacked. So the other marine dived on the gun and shot the creature many times in several areas and it fell to the ground.
"Thanks for the gun Mack… Mack?" His friend was lying dead on the floor. "Those bastards are going to be sorry!" He picked up the sniper rifle and shot Tartarus several times in the head and neck, the Zealot shot hit with the fuel rod gun and the flood attacked him from behind, he got not fight them all quickly enough. "Give him everything you've got, his shields are down". His foes continued to attack him and the chief struck him 3 times with his energy sword along with the Arbiter. This still did not kill him, but his energy shields had not regenerated yet so the chief made one last call, "This is our last chance, everyone attack this beast, use every grenade you were given!" They obeyed the chief and the four of them threw all their grenades and fired the last of their ammo.
Tartarus ended up with about 7 grenades stuck to him. They all exploded and Tartarus was just hanging in their when the Arbiter struck him with his last of his energy sword and finished him off. The dead brute gave a final roar as it fell to the ground. "You were saying…" chuckled the arbiter. The others laughed for a moment too and then realized that they were not finished yet. Not at all, for the flood had infested the entire facility and had severely damaged it.
"Come on chief, get up. The other door is locked too, get us out of here the same way we got in" said the arbiter. "Your word is my command" replied the Zealot. The chief slowly got up and moments later the four comrades were running through the station, trying to find an exit.
Chapter 10
Escaping from the flood
They had run through many rooms. "Chief, what about the brutes?" asked the marine. "The flood will take care of them, so let's just get the hell out of here". He replied. "Don't stop to fight, if any get in your way, simply kill them with your energy sword". "And what if you don't have an energy sword". "Use what ever you want to".
Each room looked similar, with brutes fighting against flood and visa versa. The walls had holes blown out of them and there were explosions going off every few seconds. They occasionally past other squads of covenant and marines in battle but they did not stop for them. But suddenly the group heard a moan from behind. "Someone, get this son of bitch off of me!" called the marine as it got savagely attacked by a flood. The zealot motioned to go back and help the dying soldier but got told that there were too many of them and if they stay they will share the same fate as the marine himself so they unwillingly left him behind.
"We must be getting to the exit soon, I cannot keep this up much longer, the pain from when Tartarus hit me is building" called the chief. "Well, would you rather stop and get killed another way". After running through some more rooms and escaping getting involved in combat they arrived at the last room. "Look up there, it's the exit!" screamed the arbiter over the noise of the explosions and gun fire. The others felt relieved to see it and kept running for the door. On the way out, two brute guars stepped in front of the exhausted trio. "This is where your journey ends, we shall bring you to Tartarus and he shall dispose of you" one roared. "Hahaha, I don't think he'd do much good now!" "What are you talking about?" "Tartarus is dead, we killed him" yelled the arbiter. "Aaaaargh, you killed our Chieftain, you shall not make it out of this room alive!"
The two brutes pulled out their brute spikers and began shooting at the three survivors. The chief lunged at a brute with an energy sword and got it on the neck but it did not kill the raging beast. One brute came towards the Zealot so he moved back a little and then shot the beast with his fuel rod gun. The beast submitted under the wrath of the explosion. The remaining brute was half way through signaling to lock the doors to the others and when it took its attention off the chief and the arbiter for just a moment, it ended up with a grenade stuck onto its fur. "Its something to remember me by" shouted back the arbiter as he the chief and the zealot re entered the outside world and the doors behind them shut and sealed.
Chapter 11
The prophets have betrayed us
The three survivors looked around outside for any sign of covenant or UNSC forces to get them off the corrupted ring. They walked a little further away from the flood infested facility. They walked through swamps, and forests, until the arbiter spotted 2 enraged specops elites cursing the prophets.
When the group came closer, one elite noticed them and looked up. "The arbiter, the chief, how did you get here and where's the rest of the soldiers?" it asked. "We were sent by Truth to kill Tartarus, which we did, and we have hardly managed to escape form the war torn structure, the rest of the soldiers were murdered by the brutes or the flood". Answered the arbiter. "What were you cursing about?" he asked. "It's the prophets, they've betrayed us!" spoke the elite. "How" asked the arbiter.
"There not coming back to get us off this ring, and the worst part is that it has been reported to them that the flood including Gravemind have become restless and the prophets have come up with a plan to destroy the parasite". "How?" "By destroying the ring and everything on it. Killing two birds with one stone, but that means that we must make the sacrifice".
"What, that's an outrage. I cannot believe that I served those unworthy traitors!" yelled the arbiter. "We've come too far to have this happen to us" added the chief. "Do the humans know of this?" "I do not know" he replied. "There must be a way off this cursed ring" swore the zealot. "Wait, I was equipped with a marine transponder, but I doubt that the signal will reach the Cairo" told the chief. "Well it's our only option, so try it" demanded the others.
The chief took it off of a pouch on his belt and Turned on the radar. They waited for a few minutes. "There's no sign of them yet" said chief in disappointment. "Keep trying". The chief kept trying for a few more hours. "I guess we'll have to die with the rest of them". The others hung their heads low. "But we were so close". "This is Captain Keyes, who is this?" The others looked up and a glint of hope filled them. "This is John 117 calling for immediate evacuation". "Master Chief, where's your location?" "We're on the second halo, sector G23, we've just escaped from the brutes barracks, we've killed Tartarus but there are too much flood. What about Truth, isn't he going to get you off the ring?" asked Captain Keyes. "No sir, it's been reported that he is planning to leave us here and destroy the ring while we're still here, to kill Gravemind, the flood and the brutes". "What! The traitor! When's he going to destroy it?" "We don't know but the sooner you get us off this ring the better!" "Alright hold your position we'll be there as soon as we can!" The signal cut out.
"I just hope they get here in time" thought the arbiter. "If I get off this ring alive, I swear that I am going to kill those prophets with my bear hands". "That makes two of us" agreed the Arbiter. Suddenly the group heard a loud crash from somewhere back where they had come from. "What was that" yelled the zealot. The arbiter stared through a gap from the thick layers of trees and vines which covered this area. "Arbiter…what are you looking at?" the others asked. "Ssh, everyone take cover, the flood have broken out of the building". "When are they going to bloody get here, we cannot fight against them, we are outnumbered 5 to 1000, it would be suicide" growled the specops elites. "Well that's exactly why I told you to keep your voices down and find a place to hide. Flood are dumb creatures, they have no battle strategy, the parasite only controls their limbs, not their brain, and the only way they will find us is by accident".
The arbiter ducked behind a log as well. "Wait, you two", the arbiter pointed at two specops soldiers, "Can you activate your camouflage and check to see how far the flood have come?" asked the arbiter. "Yes sir". The two elites slowly became invisible and crept out of their hiding places and ran back to the exit of the facility. There were about 50 or so flood running around the outside forest and they were getting dangerously close to the others. The elites reported what they had seen back to the Arbiter. "Im sure the ship will be here soon we can get the hell off". "Chief, behind you!" The chief turned around to see a flood running straight at him!
Without thinking he pulled a shotgun (which he had picked up from a dead marine earlier) off a clip on his back and just as it made a supernatural leap at him, shot the creature in the head and killed it. The flood weren't that stupid, if they hear a gun shot or a battle they will rush to where ever they heard it from, and that's exactly what they did. "What the hell did you fire your gun for chief?" shouted the arbiter. Several more flood came in the next few minutes which they fought off with shotguns, energy swords, carbines and grenades. The flood did however manage to kill one of the specops elites.
They fought for about another 15 minutes, but by now they were extremely fatigued and couldn't fight for much longer. "I can't keep this up for much longer" the Zealot confessed. "None of us can" was the reply. The chief just happened to look up in the sky for a moment when he saw a pelican flying down to rescue them. "There's the ship!" he cried in relief. It slowed down to a hover and then landed about 40 meters away from there position in a large opening.
"Let's make a run for it" yelled the arbiter and that's what they did. The four dodged any flood that came in their way and ran into the bottom cabin of the ship and as they did a marine ran and told the pilot that they had made it on board and the ship slowly started to hover again. But just as it did a flood jumped onto the open level, where the four exhausted survivors were resting. It didn't get very far though because as soon as it got up there, it got a shotgun bullet right in its face and fell off. "So long gravemind and the flood" the Chief waved down to the ring as he said it.
Chapter 12
Rescued by the Humans
The marine re-entered the cabin were the survivors were sitting. "We will be arriving at the Cairo station soon where Captain Keyes will be waiting for you". He said. The ship was about 200 meters above the ground now and it had begun to start on its journey back. The hatch door closed, but the arbiter noticed something out of the window, when they had gotten a good distance away from the ring. "Everyone, come have a look at this.
The others did as the arbiter said and looked as well. They were looking at Truth's ship, which was flying towards the ring. They watched it for a little longer, suddenly though, it a hatch opened on the bottom of the huge carrier and a giant turret came out and fired a powerful orange laser at the ring. It lasted for about 2 minutes and then drew back into the base of the ship and the hatch closed again. They stared back at the ring and saw the most remarkable sight of their lives.
The halo stood still for a few more seconds and then exploded into what seemed like millions of tiny pieces which flew out in all different angles. Fire and smoke filed the sky for a few seconds and then subsided. One piece of the ring came rushing towards the pelican. It was much larger than it looked from far away. It was at least two or three times the size of the ship itself. Fortunately by now the ship was far enough away and it did not get caught in the explosion.
"And the prophets thought that that was the end of us". Said the Zealot. "Now there is just one last thing to do. Kill the prophets". The others agreed. A moment later the passengers felt the ship slow down and land. "Here we are, at the Cairo" mentioned the marine. The hatch re opened and the 5 stepped out.
Chapter 13
No place like Home
The arbiter looked around to see a large space-aged world, filled with marines walking about, weapons and cargo being stored and many halls leading to different places. The chief didn't need to look because he already knew this place very well. The marine and the pilots from the ship got off and went to somewhere else where they were needed and a new marine accompanied them. "Follow me, I'll lead you to Captain Keyes" he began to walk through a large number of complex rooms and corridors.
A while later, they reached a large, different looking room. "Go right through, the Captain awaits you" he motioned for them to go through and they did. The room was filled with high-tech computers and people using them to track radars and do other things. At the end of the large room, was a huge window, which overlooked the earth (although most of it was burnt) and on a raised platform, they saw Captain Keyes waiting for them.
As soon as the captain saw him he spoke "Aaah, chief, and you are?" "The arbiter" it replied. "How have you been?" he asked. "Well if you call getting hijacked and brought to an unknown ship, to be sent to your death on a strange ring, fighting against brutes and flood then being left for dead well, then I've been alright". "So Truth left you for dead because he wanted to destroy the flood parasite you said?" "Yes, and he betrayed all of his loyal soldiers and marines".
"And by doing so, he has now broken his alliance with the human race".
"Captain, I have come to you to tell you that the arbiter and I are extremely angered at his actions and we are not going to let him get away with it". "Are you telling me you're going to try and kill the prophets?" Keyes asked. "Isn't that what I just said" he replied. "Its suicide, he is in command of one of the strongest forces in the world and he has poisoned their minds to make them believe that he is doing what is best for them". "That's why where asking you to aid us in the killing of them". "Well…let me think about that one for a moment".
The group waited there for a few more minutes. "Alright…I'll send some marines with you and transport you there in a pelican, but you better not get yourself and the others killed at your first encounter". "We know what we're doing". "You and the others should rest for a while; I'll take you in a few days when you've recovered".
A few days later… "Chief, Captain Keyes wants to see you" a marine to the chief. When he got to the ship's bridge he saw Keyes, the arbiter, the other elites and a small army of about 100 UNSC marines all armored up and equipped with weapons. Keyes spoke. "Listen up; the Prophets have betrayed our own UNSC forces and his fellow covenant by leaving them on the ring as he destroyed it. I have gathered you here today to send you on a mission lead by the master chief and Arbiter. Your objective is to infiltrate the prophets' ship, get to the prophet and help the chief and arbiters kill them". "But sir, that's suicide!" yelled a marine. "Are you the Captain?" "No" "Then I tell you what to do and you do it".
Keyes spoke for another few minutes and then it was time to leave. A large UNSC ships was waiting for them at the hangar bay. The chief and the arbiter were about to step in when Keyes said his last words to the chief before they left. "Good luck, this is insane, the odds of killing the prophet are against you are a very skilled warrior and if anyone can kill the prophet it's you". With that he walked back down the corridor. The chief and arbiter entered the huge carrier.
They also met up with the zealot and the specops elites that had been with them on their previous journey. As soon as the door had shut and they had started take off, the Arbiter made a small speech. "Listen up, as you all know, we're hunting the prophets. There are three, Truth, Regret and mercy. Zealot, you with the help of some marines will be fighting mercy. The Spartan or Master Chief will fight regret and I shall take on Truth. We shall punish those heretics for their betrayal of their own kind and the human race". The others agreed.
The flight went for about another half an hour. Then the covenants giant ship blocked out the view of space. "Land here in the basin" the arbiter told the pilots. Meanwhile the covenant had already sensed the ship coming on there radar.
Chapter 14
The Perfect plan
The ship landed and the back door swung open. The warriors piled out and they were greeted by a dozen or so elites. They appeared to be angry at first and unsure of whether the marines were friends or foe but when they saw the arbiter and the other elites follow them out their whole attitude changed. "Arbiter, what are you doing here, Truth told us all that you had died in battle. Why have you brought so many humans with you?" The arbiter answered, "I've come here to assassinate the prophets". "Aaaaaargh, you will not get close to them". "Wait let me explain. The prophets are hiding a dark secret. After we had killed the brute chieftain, and escaped from the structure, Truth broke his promise to collect us. He left us on the ring as he destroyed it to kill the flood, and he told you that we had been killed. We're not going to let him get away with it". "Yes, that is truly unacceptable but you will need to convince the whole covenant army and they will believe him over you. You will never make it to him".
"We'll give it our best shot". "Hmmm…. Than we shall help you. Though we shall not fight our way in, rather tell the guards that we have a message for the prophet. But the prophet isn't stupid, he will not let all the soldiers enter his domain, so they must wait here" said the elite. "Once we have engaged battle with the prophets, covenant reinforcements will swarm through the doors, trying to prevent our existence. This is when I will send a radar signal to the other you marines and you will run through the hall and help us in the battle". "We shall help too". Spoke the elites which duty had been to expect the passengers of the ship.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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