The Fields of Reach
Posted By: Brere<breremarer@email.com>
Date: 9 December 2004, 2:34 AM
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Wind swept across the charred landscape of Reach. The Arbiter had never thought he would actually see the fabled human world. He had heard of it in great war songs the Prophets had once sung to his people: the Elites. Back then he had been all too eager to accept their lies about the human race's "heresy".
He was now determined they would never sing again.
After killing Tartarus on Delta Halo, he had had little choice but to travel with Captain Keyes and Sergeant Johnson back to Earth. Where else could he go? Many of his Elites had opted to stay on the installation, still too blinded by prejudice to trust the humans, but a select few had stuck with him, their temporary leader.
They had come back to Earth to find the Prophet of Truth dead, and the Covenant in a frenzied retreat. The Demon, a human the Arbiter now new as 'The Master Chief', had taken down the covenant armada almost single handily, and had ripped Truth's head from his deceitful shoulders. The Jackals had been in disarray, and while most were slaughtered where they stood, still too confused to fully comprehend what was happening around them, a good number had escaped with the Brutes.
The Demon had come aboard Keyes's ship (the Arbiter believed it was called "The Orion", but he wasn't completely sure) and departed with them to chase after the crippled Covenant force. The Orion had had to make a refueling pit stop in the skies above the planet that had once been Reach.
The Arbiter had found that many of the humans had given him an air of coldness (He understood why, of course. If their positions had been reversed, the Arbiter doubted he could have gotten over his hate so quickly.), and he had decided to go down to the planet's surface, if only to escape the humans and their mistrust. There was still a small patch of atmosphere left on the planet, and the humans had decided to let him and a select few of their officers go down to survey the area.
They had gone down for science. He had gone down to escape. The Arbiter had had a lot on his mind lately, and he needed a place to meditate. The human survey team had flown up about an hour ago, leaving the Arbiter to his peace, informing him that a shuttle would be sent down for him in a few hours. He had thanked them, and continued to contemplate his predicament. He realized he was looking for ways to justify his defection.
Fortunately there was much he found to be hated about the Prophets. He could not believe even now that his people had been so blind. The Brutes had just been the final twist of the dagger that had fully opened their eyes.
HIS eyes, he corrected himself, remembering ruefully that many Elites were still blindly following the Prophets. He was also dimly aware that he had now been branded a Heretic and was probably wanted just as much as the Demon was. Very soon the hunt for him would begin. People he had once known and loved would now be after his blood.
"You did this."
The voice cut through the Arbiter's thoughts like a knife. He glanced over his shoulder to see the Demon standing behind him, the human's armor glistening in the dusk sun.
"You destroyed this world. You killed the people. You destroyed the buildings." The Demon looked at the Elite. Though the Arbiter could not see the human's eyes, the gaze emanating from them seemed to penetrate him. "You killed my people."
The Demon stopped at this last sentence, still staring at the Elite. The Arbiter didn't know what to say, if there even was anything he could say. The special humans like the Demon ('Spartans' is what Keyes called them) had been killed here when the planet had been glassed.
"Those soldiers had been my people." The Demon continued. "Not Keyes's people, not Johnson's, mine. They were my friends...my family."
At this the Demon paused. He reached up to the clasp right under his helmet and the Arbiter realized he meant to take it off. The Demon lifted the helmet off of his head and let it fall to the ground. His hair was black and cut closely to his head, in the typical military style, and as the Elite had guessed, his gaze was piercing. The Arbiter realized that he was probably the first of his kind to see the Demon unmasked. The Demon's eyes met the Elite's.
"You killed probably the only people I will ever care for. For that, I can never forgive you. You may serve with us, now."
The Demon picked up his helmet and slid it back on to his head.
"But I will hate you until the day I die."
The Demon cocked his head, undoubtedly listening to that AI he had with him, and glanced back at the Arbiter.
"Let's go." He said, and he began to walk back to the shuttle he had come from. The Arbiter stood up and looked out over the glassed fields of molten earth that now made up Reach.
'Am I fighting the right war?' He had asked himself on the shuttle ride down to Reach. The Arbiter picked up his own discarded helmet from the ground next to where he had been sitting.
The answer, he now realized, was 'Yes.'
The Arbiter began his walk back to the shuttle.
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