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Authors note: Just finished this chapter, please review as it could help a lot in the next chapter.

Chapter 4: Nemesis Violent first encounter

Covenant Command Ship Iron Will

Ship Master Eva' Korrander sat in his quarter's going over the reports from the surface; he looked up as the doors opened and Commander Tai' Nakita stepped into the room.

"Are Nakita, please be seated", Korrander said to his subordinate handing him a glass of blue tinted liquor.

Nakita sat down sipping the alcohol and replied "what is this about Excellency".

Korrander stood up and turned to the window staring into the dark void of space before answering "we've been recalled to High Charity to witness the Prophet of Solace's new weapon. I asked you here because I thought you may want to know", he could not find the words to find the words with which to continue.

Nakita finally asked "Know what Excellency".

Korrander sighed then said "you remember the human child you brought here five years ago".

"Yes your Excellency", Nakita said standing up.

Korrander handed him the data pad with Solaces report and transmission, Korrander saw Nakita visibly shake before dropping the pad and staring up at him in absolute amazement and shock.

"Why would the Forerunners allow him to create such a thing, it can't be right Excellency".

Korrander leaned back and said "If they wished this not to take place they would not have allowed it, it is meant to take place Commander".

Nakita lent over the desk and half said half shouted "we should destroy it, there are lines not to be crossed, this can only bring disaster, allow the boy to die a peaceful death, nothing deserves…"

He was cut of as Korrander shot up and shouted "there is nothing we can do Commander, it has been done and we have been ordered by the Prophets to observe, attend it"

Nakita stormed out of the room in anger, Korrander sat in his quarters placing a clawed hand on his forehead and shaking it.

Two Days Later
High Charity

Suku' Nakita sat in her quarter's studding a report from the latest advancements on the front. There had been several assassination attempts on the profits as of late, the Prophets were vying for power, Truth had made many enemies in the Council that would like to see him dead. She sipped a glass of alcohol turning away from the screen, lately the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae had been at each others throats, there had been several incidents on the Jiralhanae homeworld, the only thing that kept the Covenant united was the war.

How Ironic she thought, there enemies, those who the Prophets had declared as Vermin and infidels, and affront to the gods who were to be wiped out were all that was holding the Covenant together.

The door chimed once signaling there was someone at the door, Suku rose to her hooves and moved over to the door and open it. She was startled when she saw that the figure at the door was in fact her son.

"Tai", she said surprised to see him "I did not expect you to arrive so soon"

Tai bowed to her quickly before saying "Mother, it is good to see you".

Suku ushered him in, they touched heads out of a sign of respect, Suku muttered "I haven't spoken to you in four years".

They walked through the Councilors accommodations, dozens of Honor guards stood to attention as they moved past them. They then walked into a large seating area sitting down looking at a statue of a previous Sangheili Hero during the first age.

"It has been a long time since we spoke". Tai said trying to get rid of the uncomfortable silence.

"Vari's death was difficult for me to bear; I had to seek guidance from the Priestess's on our homeworld" Suku replied.

Tai seemed to take this as an insult "You're saying that I was not"

"I didn't say that, I know that you were very close to him as was I, he died with honor and he died fight…" she was cut of by an outburst from Tai as he stood up.

"He was killed by a Demon, my farther"

Tai began to breath heavily in this anger but then settled back down "I am sorry, please tell me of why have been called back."

Suku, glad to get out of this uncomfortable conversation replied "The Prophet of Solace is revealing his new weapon, he must have a number of high ranking Military personel there a decried by the laws of the second Age".

Tai nodded "do you know anything about this new weapon"

"Only that it uses a human as the catalyst for some type of transfusion, I know that the human they are using was the one you obtained from the colony five years ago." Suku said.

Tai leaned forward "I was simply following orders, orders of the Prophets".

There was a chirp of sound from a consul, Suku stood up and placed her palm against it, a voice of one of her honor guards came out "Councilor, the Prophet of Solace has required your presence".

"Acknowledged, thank you" Suku said as they moved out

"So it begins" Tai muttered as they left the Council accommodations escorted by a large number of honor guards.

Main Ceta lab

Ship Master Eva' Korrander stood by the four other Sangheili looking down into a small room one story down, glass covered the roof of the room allowing them to look down. Down in the room there was a white table and a pair of large metal blast doors, looking closer he saw the door had been taken from the hull of a Cruiser, what ever was behind the blast doors had a right to be feared.

Korrander adjusted his gaze and looked towards the other Sangheili, to his right stood Fleet Master Koro' Putreere, to his left stood two Councilors that he didn't recognize. Assembled around the room were around fifty honor guards, both Sangheili and Jiralhanae alike, they all stood heavily armed with Carbines, Plasma Swords and Brute Shots.

The door behind them opened, Councilor Suku' Nakita and Commander Tai' Nakita entered escorted by two Sangheili honor guards. Before they had a chance to talk the door at the far end of the room opened and the Prophet of Solace emerged with eight Jiralhanae honor guards surrounding him.

"My brothers, allies of the Covenant, today we have a new weapon to satisfy the Forerunners, with this weapon no heresy will go unpunished, no attack on our Covenant will go un-retaliated and the Covenant will flourish in glory" Solace declared.

Korrander found this difficult to swallow; he knew well the Prophet would attempt to use this for himself, to assassinate his political rivals such as the Prophets of Truth and Order; he would use it to rise to the head of the Covenant. Korrander knew there was nothing he could do; he would be executed for just suggesting such heresy.

Solace pushed a button on his chair, a hologram rose on the holo panel on his chair. A hologram of the 'new weapon' rose up, Korrander had seen the hologram before in the reports but it still sent a shiver down his spine.

Solace began again "This new weapon will be named the Nemesis, and with it peace will be resorted to the Covenant".

Down below in the containment room the Prophet of Malice entered escorted by two Jiralhanae honor guards. Solace pressed a button on his chair, the blast doors slid silently open. Behind them, caged behind a plasma barrier, ensnared in multiple metallic chains and locks was the new weapon Solace had boasted about for so long.

Although Korrander had seen multiple holograms of this war machine the end result was like nothing he could have imagined. It was taller then he thought, taller then a Sangheili, stronger to probably. The sleek white and black armor covered its entire body with small bits of red over the chest and head. Huge amounts of plasma weaponry were fixed to its exoskeleton from plasma emitters to smaller versions the Fuel Rod weapons imbedded in its armour. Most unsettling of all was the dark green eyes that were shimmering a pale green, as if it was both alive and dead at the same time.

"How do you know you can keep control over this creation of yours", Korrander said turning his attention to the Prophet.

Returning a cold glaze Solace hissed "not that it is of your concern but a compliance shock chip has been placed in its spinal exo-skeleton, not that it will be needed, nothing of the host survived the transfusion".

Down below the Prophet of Malice typed multiple commands into the small consol on his chair, the plasma barrier faded from sight; he hesitated looking up at Solace.

Leaning closer Solace said "Do it my brother and fear no heresy, the infidel that powered are new tool is long dead."

Malice was now sweating a bit, he pressed a button on his chair and the metallic chains pulled back into the wall. The being they had restricted stood there, silent as death until it eyes grew a dark strong green that seemed to illuminate the room. It slowly stepped out, both Jiralhanae guards lifted there plasma rifles but Malice lifted his hand still nervous warding them of.

Breathing heavily he said "You are a tool of the Covenant, you are Nemesis, repeat."

Korrander then saw Councilor Suku's head snap to a nearby control panel, he looked at it to. The holo screen had a picture of the holly Halo with the words Nemesis positioned inside the Halo. Small distortions appeared in the image, it began to break up and fade, the image was then replaced with a strange alien language.

Down below the Nemesis began to advance on the Prophet of Malice "Stop", he said nervously but it kept advancing on him.

"I order you to halt" he said becoming more agitated every second and slowly backing away. One of the Jiralhanae honor guards equipped its weapon; no sooner had it done that Nemesis moved quicker then light. Grabbing the Jiralhanae by its arm it bent it around its back; a sickening crunch was heard as the guard screamed out dropping its weapon. It then attempted to swing its other arm around to smash away its attacker. The fierce killing machine ducked then grabbed the other arm, the clawed finger tips dug into the soft hairy skin. It then thrust a powerful bladed knee into the Jiralhanae's stomach sending it flying across the room.

"Get some soldiers down there" Korrander yelled. The Prophet of Solace seemed frozen with fear and astonishment, he muttered to himself immune to the words of the outside world.

"I said get some soldiers in there, that thing is killing them" Korrander yelled.

One of the Sangheili honor guards who was working at the control panel replied "By the Forerunners we can't, the rooms sealed of there's no way in".

Down below the second Jiralhanae guard attempted to raise his plasma rifle, Nemesis reacted by spinning around to face him, its foot sprang out and kicked the rifle from its hand. The guard hurtled a fist, the Nemesis was quicker, it grabbed the arm and twisted it down, at the same time its foot sprung out and crushed the guard's shin causing it to collapse to its knee's growing in pain. A plasma blade then ignited from its arm, the Jiralhanae looked up and for a second there gaze met each other. Then it made a clean swipe at the guards head, purple blood flew in all directions, a second later the Jiralhanae's decapitated head dropped to the floor, it body then collapsed as Nemesis let go of it.

This just left the Prophet of Malice alone and undefended; he was shaking and muttering prayers for his protection. As Nemesis approached him he hit a button on his chair, suddenly electricity flew up from Nemesis's back. It then collapsed to the floor lifeless leaving a shocked and terrified Prophet sitting there alone, to the other side of the room the Jiralhanae guard lay whimpering at its wounds.

The quarantine doors were then cut open and a dozen Sangheili honor guards as well as Ship Master Eva' Korrander flooded into the room. The bulk of the honor guards surrounded Nemesis pointing there weapons at it, after a few minutes the Prophet of Solace entered.

"Looks like your weapon didn't agree with you" Korrander said.

Solace looked at him scornfully and said "This was merely an unfortunate incident, nothing more, all this was mealy the result of a feedback of the humans primitive barbaric mind that still influenced its decision. That influence will be die as will the rest of there pathetic race".

Korrander then walked towards him and shouted "one of your guards is dead, the other is near death, when will you realize this thing that you have created can not be controlled".

"It will be controlled, the guards sacrifice was necessary for the fulfillment of the great Journey" Solace replied as if he had not witnessed the past slaughter, "We will continue this in two months time".

Outraged Korrander stormed out of the room kicking a supply crate on the way out.

Seven weeks later

Councilor Suku' Nakita sat at her consol reading through the latest reports. The Prophet of Regret had discovered the human homeworld and Delta Halo, since then the Prophet of Truth had called for a full assault fleet to annex and occupy the human homeworld of Earth. Truth had also called for the deployment of specialized kill-teams to kill the Demon that had followed the Prophet to Delta Halo using Alpha Halo to consolidate this argument.

Leaning back in her seat she ran her claws over the control panel. She was far more worried at this point about the new Demon that there own Prophets had seemed to have produced out of there own greed. There must be a counter measure to control it or at least reason with it. Nakita had her doubts about the brute force Solace relied on to control it, force was to easy to defeat, to defeat and turn against the one's using the force who would be left defenseless. But maybe force was not the only way to control it, perhaps there was something else she could use, perhaps.

"Telda", she said.

A few seconds later a hologram of a blue armored elite appeared from the holo-matrix, a covenant A.I.

"May I assist" he said.

"I want you to run a DNA test on the host that was used in it creation" she said.

Blue streams of data ran through the A.Is form, it then replied "Done".

"Good, now run a check on all human prisoners in High Charity for any compatible matches".

The A.I frowned then brought up the relevant data on screen, Suku looked at it then smiled, she stood up and pored a glass of liquor and slowly let the blue liquid slide down her throat.



The Honor Guard Master Kai' Kosinie stood to attention outside the quarters reserved for Councilor Suku' Nakita, he had been standing there for four hours; needless to say he was tired and bored but still stood at attention.

The communication unit in his helmet flared to life, it was the voice of Councilor Suku' Nakita "Kosinie, I require your assistance".

"I am on my way you're Excellency" he replied then entered the Councilors accommodations, he then typed in his access codes and the doors slid open. He found the Councilor sitting by her High Charity web interface looking at recent records. She gestured for him to sit down; taking his place opposite her he asked "how may I be of service to you Excellency".

She turned to him and said "Do you remember two months ago when Nemesis ran rampant and nearly slew the Prophet of Malice".

His face went grim, "I remember that blood bath well your Excellency, it is getting difficult for me to cover up Solace's actions. Truth seems to be sensing that something is going on, he is getting suspicious, it is getting difficult for me to avoid his questions directly".

She smiled at him and replied "I appreciate your loyalty in this matter, as you know soon Solace will begin his attempts once more to gain control over this beast again".

Kosinie replied "the abomination is to dangerous to exist, forgive me for questioning the Prophet's will but it should be destroyed before it can destroy us".

The Councilor stood up and turned her back to him gazing out the window looking out from high charity and sighed "I could not agree with you more, but it is not that simple. Solace would not permit to destroy his new toy and even if he did, the weapon is self aware, I have no idea how smart or resourceful it is but it was spawned from the same race that created the Demon's, it is bound to be difficult to kill".

"If it did rebel the Prophet commands enough troops to make sure that it would never be permitted to harm our Covenant, it would be crushed before our vast legions." Kosinie replied confident of his troops.

"Don't underestimate it, our Commanders made the same mistake of underestimating the Demon and look what it cost us, Halo, two fleets and thousands of legions gone", the Councilor said turning her gaze to him and folding her arms. "Solace will use force to maintain his control over the beast he has created, but should his creation outsmart him, should it turn that same force on High Charity what could we do to stop it. Imagine what it could do to our holy city, imagine what it could do to our homeworld, we must have a secondary plan for if Solace's fails, he will not live to make another".

"What do you suggest Excellency" Kosinie said leaning forward in anticipation.

"Instead of using force we must use something the beast would hold dear",
she replied smiling.

Kosinie looked at her confused and said "I doubt it would fear loss of its life, fear was filtered out as an emotion Solace deemed unworthy. What else could we keep from it?"

The Councilor typed several commands into the council; a picture appeared on the screen of a prison cell. Kosinie looked closer; lying in the corner barley visible was a small human girl. She looked to be about three but he wasn't sure, she was very thin and was not in the best of shape, she was lying on the ground heavily bruised, the only indications she was alive was the slight rise and fall of her chest.

The Councilor then said "I did some research on one of the files our spies had recovered from a human colony. The host that was used to create Nemesis had an older sister of world when he was captured. It seems she had a child some time ago; her offspring was captured by a Jiralhanae commander four months ago looking to sell her as a slave. We must get to her and fast, if we get it to a safe place we will have away to reason and perhaps some control over the beast".

Kosinie returned his attention to her "you are wise as always Excellency, what is it you want from me".

The Councilor then replied "I want to keep it small, take one extra honor guard and meet me in the armory in five minutes.

Kosinie nodded his head and left the room.

Five Minutes Later

Suku' Nakita had just finished arming herself appropriately when the armory door slid open, the honor guard Master Kai' Kosinie entered the room with one of his finest and most loyal honor guards standing to attention outside.

Pulling on her ceremonial head piece she slotted a plasma pistol into her armour and attached a plasma sword into the fixing on her leg armour.

She nodded to the honor guards "let's go".

The streets of High Charity were silent, most likely because most were back on there homeworlds or colonies celebrating with their families over the discovery of Delta Halo. They quickly got to the Ceta – Division side of the city, apart from the odd lurking shadow they ran into no one.

They entered the prison area of Ceta – Division and descended via the Gravity lift. On the way down she noticed that Kosinie was becoming increasingly nervous looking over his shoulder. Most likely because this Ceta – Division use to be under control of the Sangheili but when the Jiralhanae had joined the Covenant they had taken over this area. In the recent few months the Jiralhanae had begun to spread through High Charity, more were appearing everywhere. There numbers were swelling, soon they would have enough to rival the amount of Sangheili stationed on High Charity.

She felt her hooves touch down on the cold metallic floor bringing her out of her thoughts. She moved out of the way to let the younger honor guard come down beside her. It was very dark and unpleasant, a dripping could be heard but she was not sure where it was from, when the place was the responsibility of the Sangheili it was never this sloppily run.

They entered the long dark tunnels lined with cells on earthier side, mostly Kig-Yar and Unggoy caged up and driven to the point of insanity by there captivity some had torn each other apart to satisfy there boredom. Suku only hoped that the child they were looking for had not fallen victim to them or the Jiralhanae's boredom.

Prison Cell Ceta – 2746

Lara lay on the floor of the cell with her eyes shut, she found it hard to move, she simply didn't have the energy to. The four year old could here the screams of the other creatures in the cells that terrified her all through the night, what was worse was day time when the guards moved around the cells. The guards that resembled large apes that she thought were called brutes were very hostile towards her; she had been kicked, bitten and thrown around more then the other creatures. All this had occurred a few months ago when she had been kidnapped from her colony by these strange beings, since then she had wanted to die.

The food they fed her was revolting, almost half the time she had thrown up what they had given her. She then became aware of a loud clicking, like hooves on a floor, the clicking became louder and then stopped, from the corner of her blurred vision she saw the metal bars trapping here her in the cell rise up and disappear.



Suku' Nakita typed her Council code into the panel by the side of the cell; the metal bars ascended allowing her to enter the tiny cell. She looked at the back of the cell to see a small form huddled up surrounded by dirty ripped clothes, a foul smell then hit Suku; upon looking closer she saw the girl had been sick a few times.

She knelt down beside the small girl and reached forward; she pressed one of her slender claw like fingers into the child's back, who then made a low grunt like sound and huddled up. She coiled her fingers around the child's neck; she could feel a very weak pulse but the small girl was alive, although only barely.

She then detached the small package attached to her leg armour; she opened it and pulled out a thin grey blanket. She rapped it around the girl then scooped her up into her arms, she slid one arm around the child' waist and securing the girl against her chest. She was surprised by how little the girl weighed but when looking at how thin her frail body was it wasn't surprising, the Jiralhanae were not known for keeping there prisoners in good shape. She stood up and made her way out of the cell, the small child hugged closely to her chest armour.



Lara felt something prodding her hard in her back, something sharp and strong, thinking it was the guards she curled up making a small whimper as she did so. She then felt a long strong hand slip around her throat and tighten slightly but still allowing her to breath. She then realized the alien behind her was not a brute but an elite like the ones she had read about in books, she curled up in fear but did not have the energy to run. The elite withdrew its hand, she then felt a soft blanket get raped around her and she was scooped up into the elite's arms. The elite began to move away from the cell and walk away; Lara looked up at the giant elite that was carrying her. It was surrounded in silver armour and supported a large ceremonial headpiece; the elite's long and muscular arms were coiled around her pushing her close to the elite's chest.



Suku quickened her pace as did her honor guards, down the hall behind her she made out the outline of a Jiralhanae guard. They moved quicker and entered the main chamber, she pulled the child closer to her chest to prevent her from slipping out of her arms, the younger Honor Guard reached the gravity lift and entered being skyrocketed up. Upon entering she felt the girl suddenly start squirming, she easily suppressed the child's reaction to the gravity lift by pressing her closer to her chest.



Lara felt the elite speed up, it tightened it's already strong grip on Lara as she moved, Lara shut her eyes and pulled closer to the elite trying to hold on as the large creature made its strides. When she opened her eyes they had reached a large glowing tube in the middle of a platform, she watched the elite in front enter it and get sky rocketed up. Lara's initial reaction to this was fear, she began to squirm but the elite simply pushed her closer to her chest. This pushed the air out of her lungs, she could no longer struggle and could only hang limp in the elite's arms.



Suku made her way through the dark streets; it was not long before they arrived back at her accommodations. They passed the dozens of honor guards on the way in but none could tell what the small package raped up in a blanket was. Her two honor guards stood just outside the front door as she entered, she walked into the seating area discarding the blanket around the girl on the way in and simply stood there and breathed a sigh of relief still not fully contemplating that her plan had succeeded without any trouble. She was brought back from her senses when she noticed the child was shuffling in her arms, looking down she saw the child's face slide up her armour. She moved towards a far room at the back reserved for guests, she opened the door and a light came on in the room automatically. Inside there was mealy a bed and a side table, she bent down and set the girl down on the bed then returned to her full height, it was then when she noticed the child was had just awoken and was looking at her. Unsure what to do she stood there looking at the girl on the bed, deciding on her plan she reached forward.



Lara looked up at the tall elite who was looking down at her, without warning the elite reached forward, she attempted to flee but couldn't as the elite grasped her by the arm. She was pulled forward like a bag of grain, the elite grasped her other arm and pulled her close. Lara to scared to speak mealy sat in the elites grasp, the elite finally knelt down a little so its eyes locked with hers and she began to speak.

"Child, you have only been brought here because it suits me better to have you alive at the moment", the elite tilted her slightly over the side of the bed.

"But make no mistake, if you attempt to flee, attempt to escape or even disturb me I will not hesitate to kill you", once again the elite tilted her over the side some more.

"You are merely an expendable asset, if you die I will simply find another", tilting her once more Lara began to feel sick, she grabbed at the elites arm and tried to pull her self up. The elite on seeing this flung her onto the bed still holding her tightly.

"Do you understand?" it said.

After Lara did not answer the elite shook her with such force she had to grab hold of the elites arm just to keep herself from throwing up. The elite then stopped shaking her and repeated the question "Do you understand?"

Shaking with fear Lara was able to mumble a one word answer "y..yes"

The elite stood there looking at her for a few seconds before she let go, Lara then watched the giant alien turn its back on her and walk out of the room leaving Lara to curl up on the bed.

Suku' Nakita closed the door to the room and entered her personel lock out code into the control panel sealing the door. She then breathed out a deep breath, 'Forerunners, what have I done' she shut her eyes and rested her head on the wall for a few seconds. She walked over to her seating area and rested down into her chair, "I brought her here to safeguard us from the beast, nothing more" she muttered quietly to herself sliding into one of the large cushiony seats.

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