"What Could Go Wrong?"
Three Months. Nearly three whole months since the war between the Banished and U.N.S.C. began. The relics of the time from when the Covenant still existed, crew of the Spirit of Fire and the Banished lead by Atriox, had been at war with each other over the course of two to three whole days before settling down. Since the unbelievable conclusion that sent the new Halo through slip space, a bitter war of attrition has settled over Installation 00, briefly disrupted only by the attempt of the enigmatic being named Colony to destroy the Spirit of Fire using a Despair-class Forerunner ship on May 1st, 2559. The battle for resources is a telling one in a war of attrition; one in which you are fighting for every inch of ground you can grab. Thus, Atriox calls a meeting with two of his chief lieutenants…
. . . . . . .
(June 4th, 2559. Location: Banished Headquarters, Atriox's inner chamber)
The holograms utilized by the Banished were scarlet red and tinted with orange in certain areas depending upon the image. A massive image dominated the center of room. Atriox, cold and terrible, gave orders in simple fashion. The two lieutenants upon the other side of the holo-table stood grimly, and equally hardened in facial expression, simply listening.
The briefing finished, Atriox dismissed them with a flat gesture and the two briefly bowed, then turned and simply exited in silence. Atriox observed them depart, then returned his attention to the image of the massive wreck that was their target. His own thoughts were private, and had become even more secretive, cold, and calculated since the losses in the previous conflict. Times were desperate and there was no denying it or avoiding it. An army, especially one as large and powerful as his, literally marched upon its stomach and the resources it gathered.
. . . . . . .
Clunk. Clunk. The two Brutes walked down the corridor with the intent to carry out their War Chieftain's will. The two were similar in appearance, yet the one who walked on the far right was taller by a foot and older. They also sported differences in their armor for the older Brute had the protective plate on his left shoulder, while the younger had his right shoulder guarded, indicating that he was left handed.
Both of them were unique amongst their brethren in that they possessed no facial hair, the younger having a buzz cut like a human in the military, complete with metallic pieces adorning the sides of his head near his ears; the better to receive intel and communicate. The older was completely bald on the scalp, yet he possessed the most piercing red eyes, and carried himself with a confident, yet reserved, stride, as if every movement was intended to be made with calculated precision. The red eyes of the younger, burned with a casual arrogance, if not reckless confidence, and he walked with seeming indifference to what was around him; as if he could not be touched, or even die.
"Do not disobey your orders again," said the tall one, his tone dead serious.
"Heh-heh-heh."
CHANK! Teeth bared, eyes blazing like scarlet flame, the taller one instantly turned on his companion, and seized his right arm in grip of iron. The shorter one looked a little confused, and slightly wounded, that he was being treated so roughly. "Scout the shell. Salvage the ships," the taller continued his voice firm and commanding. "That. Is. It!"
"Atriox was clear," he continued his voice softer and more concerned, yet pressing with desperation to drive home his point.
A smug grin broke out on the other's features. "I'll look around," he smiled yanking his right arm out of the other's grip. He and his companion continued forward to where their weapons waited. "And if we find any prizes to bring back," he continued with a chuckle, placing his left hand inside the double-bladed gauntlet that fastened on his arm and retracted its blade into the sheaths, "how could that go wrong?" He smiled the predatory smile of a Great White, yet one filled with arrogance, and a desire for self-sought glory.
"Voridus," firmly stated the other, "listen." He pointed with his left hand back down towards the meeting chamber, for his weapon now was attached unto his right hand, "You fail him just one more time trying to prove yourself and… I will not be able to save you." He let the silence hang for a moment to let everything sink in, and then drove the final nail home. "And it will be both our skulls beneath his mace." Everyone knew that Chainbreaker was ever-present at Atriox's side, waiting to be stained with blood.
"Relax brother," stated Voridus with a smile, then he offered his right arm, cocked at a ninety-degree bend. The two pressed elbows and forearms together before breaking apart in a cross that brought their limbs across their breast plates, a customary form of salute amongst the Banished. Then Voridus calmly walked towards the door to the outside as it opened with a hiss. He turned back. "You worry to much," he said with a laughing smile on his face, and then calmly headed out towards the waiting Lich and those under his command.
His brother shook his head with a grimace and eyes closed in resignation. No brother. If I did worry too much, then I would be doing just enough for the both of us. Please, this time… don't… do anything rash. If I were to lose you… then there will be no place left in the Banished for me.
. . . . . . .
"Pavium, we are ready to move towards High Charity. My men are impatient for glory."
"Put a leash on them Voridus! The terrain here at the Support Site is unsuitable for our Power extractors. I am still working upon a solution; and your men would do well to remember that whatever we find here, belongs to Atriox."
"This war has tamed you brother! Where is your Jiralhanae lust for adventure? That relic is ripe for plunder!"
"This war has taught me, Voridus. Stay. Your. Hand. Once we reach High Charity, we shall need to move quickly in order to avoid the wrath of the Sentinels that defend it."
"Yes, yes, I am quite well aware of what we face here. Hurry your preparations old one! I already have troops on the ground. Voridus out."
. . . . . . .
Two Brute Squads and two Reavers were out scouting in the woods. The instructions were simple: find anything of value, remove it before anyone else did, and don't waste time doing it! That was a Brute for you, particularly Voridus. All was according to orders until new ones came. The most imposing, in terms of attitude, of the Commanders placed a hand to the ear piece in his helmet. Then he barked out loud his orders without any consideration for who might hear him as he led them down the path. "This way whelps, there's weapons to be salvaged from High Charity, and Vordius commands us to return to base for new orders."
A Grunt yelped out amongst the eight that accompanied the Commander and Sub-Commander, "Did you say Hight Charity?! The Covenant capital-place?"
"I heard it was haunted!" yelled another in fear. "Scary monsters everywhere!"
"Whoa man!" cried out the first his arms waving wildly, "Back off the gas!"
"Silence!" thundered the Brute, somehow getting even louder. "Those lies do not concern me!" He began to stomp down the path. "And that means that they do not concern you!"
"Let's get moving already!" snapped one of the Reavers. "I want a fight. This ridiculous and boring 'search' is starting to grind my bones to dust."
A group of three Banshees flew slowly overhead past the trees. As the squad and Reavers moved down the path, there was a break in the trees to their right accompanied by the sounds of weapon fire. Three Banshees were engaged in aerial combat against five machines, not counting those who were patrolling. "Beware," came the calm voice of an Elite over comms, "Sentinels in the area."
The concentrated fire from the guardian machines of the Ark took down one Banshee before the other's joined in. At this same time, the scavengers finally came upon the scene. "At last!" said the Reaver from earlier, "Some action!" He launched a barrage at the machines without hesitation. Due to their anti-air missiles, the Sentinels quickly met their end. "Ha-ha! I love this thing!"
"Voridus," came the calm voice of Pavium over comms, "from what I am observing at my position, there are many Sentinels amassing near the salvage site. It is quite possible that they are guarding, rather than protecting, something within High Charity itself."
"The old stories and tales of the parasite?" snorted Voridus as he continued with his preparations. "Nothing but Covenant propaganda and lies from the Prophets, old friend. You just handle the Sentinels near you and allow me to handle the ones here. We'll have what we need in no time."
A short, rounding turn to the right, and the wreckage of the capital-ship came into view…along with the countless numbers of forms in the air flying all around it. "Whoa!" yelled a Grunt, standing near the cliff edge and seeing all the activity. "That's a lot of Sentinels!"
"Grar!" yelled the Commander, promptly clubbing the Grunt from the rear with a left fist, the smaller creature falling flat with a squawk of surprise.
"Hey," called another Grunt. "Whatcha do that for? He merely open his mouth and—" The Commander spun with a glare in the speaker's direction. "…And… he… get what he got comin'," the Grunt finished slowly, head hung, pulling out of whatever was going on.
With a roar, two Banshees flew past their heads in pursuit of one of the guardian machines. "Pavium, our air forces are engaging with Sentinels near High Charity."
The group of Banished troops turned from the sight of their objective to find… "Gah! What fool turned off the lightbridge?"
"Aw, too bad," piped the bruised Grunt. "Guess somebody else will have ta deal with those Sentinels!"
"Cowards! I shall punt you into the void!" yelled the Brute. He turned to vehicular companions, "Reavers! Reactivate the lightbridge! Now!" The anti-air walkers activated their incredible leaping abilities with a blast of the thrusters built at the rear of the machine. Landing with tremendous force, they then stomped over to the control panel. One pilot hopped out of his walker, looking annoyed to have to get out, interacted with the interface, and then promptly rushed to get back into the seat once the bridge was up.
A Lich flew by overhead accompanied by two Spirits. One dropped off what once was a Type-30 Locust, now repurposed by the Banished. "Ooh! Covenant stuff! Retro!" squeaked an Unggoy, clapping his hands like a little kid at the sight. The Commander grimaced but said nothing.
"Troops," came the voice of Voridus over Comms, "I am sending in a Locust to help clear the path for you."
"We turn back?" said another Grunt, nervously, while the four-legged mining platform, now remade as an infamous "building-killer", trained its cannon upon the barrier of metal barring the way.
The Commander leaned over the little creature until they were face to face so his foul breath, stinking of raw meat, along with his visible teeth, were unavoidable. "You can return with salvaged goods," he exhaled nastily, then he bared teeth in a feral smile, "or as meat on a platter for the real soldiers. Your choice."
"Choice made! Let's blast it!" yelped the Grunt, now quite motivated. "Ai-yayayayaya-yaaaaahhh! Die you wall thingy! Die!" yelled the Grunt focusing his plasma pistol, pitiful thing that it was for this task, on the obstruction.
The debris in front of them was a piece of the half-finished Installation 08. It fell without too much hassle thanks to the Locust. A group of four Grunts under another Brute were in front of a glowing case a short way down the path. It bore the designs and appearance of those utilized by the Covenant to supply power. "Brothers!" said the Brute putting away the tool with which he was analyzing the case and its contents along with two of the Unggoy, "We found these Covenant supply cases on our way to the base."
"Then don't waste time with your scanning toys!" yelled the Commander. "Smash it open!" he continued promptly opening fire with his companions following suit. The container quickly met its demise and spilled forth its contents of yellow cylinders of raw, compressed energy. "See how easy that was? Now come with us!" The troops quickly gathered up the containers.
"This way brothers!" called the one, "Our base is down this path."
Only twelve feet down the path a Grunt yelped in panic. "Ahh! Robot things!" Another squad was engaged in a firefight with them but struggled due to their numbers.
"Sentinels!" growled the Commander. "Reavers, destroy them!"
The Thrasher missiles did their job well, and the unstable energy cannon of the Locust was a plus for it had considerable range, though it wasn't very effective against machinery.
"Eep! Behind us!" yelled another Grunt when the group encountered another trio of Sentinels.
"More of those cursed machines! And now their trying to attack us from two sides! Stay alert!"
"Brothers, our base is just up ahead," said the second Commander. "And the enemy is here already!" He slapped his hand to his comms unit. "The base is being harassed by drones and Guard Sentinels!"
"My Orbital Designator shows that they are coming out of a nearby launching bay," came Pavium's calm reply. "Voridus. You need to deal with that. I am afraid destroying it is pointless; it's too tough. And one question: why is your base all but where the Sentinel presence is at its most concentrated?"
"Because I need my troops to be close to High Charity of course. And don't fear, one of my new toys should deal with the Sentinels." His orders came quickly. "Plant a disruption emitter at the bay! It's EMP field will stun and disable the machines. Then it shall be a simple matter of destroying them."
One of the many Spirits the Banished employed dropped a cylindrical object that crashed with a sparking, crackling explosion in the dirt near the circular bay. It promptly planted itself upon four claws so it could not be easily moved, and then a field that disabled electronics formed into a dome surrounding it in a twenty-foot radius.
"Voridus, the EMP field from the emitter is fluctuating."
"I made few improvements to it is all. Now it is able to affect a much larger area."
"Your 'improvements' have shortened the duration of the field. You will have to replace in half the time you would normally. Instead of a ten to fifteen-minute intervals, now you may have only five to seven minutes tops. You should have informed me of this before you just decided to act."
"Why waste time? It works does it not?" He turned his attention to his troops. "Now, we will need plenty of defenses. Get turrets in place and upgrade them with anti-air armaments. Make sure that we also have Reavers on the ground."
"We are on it now Voridus. We are also calling in some Engineers. A Foundry shall be here shortly to provide our troops with vehicular support. While we're at it, a Shield Tower is already in the midst of deployment."
"Good, good. We have a little time before we make our move. Search the surrounding area for any more supplies you may be able to find."
A few turrets at the site where the bay rested helped ease the tension the troops felt. Spirits were dropping in the requested buildings and equipment. An Extractor in order to help supply the necessary energy into creating the weapons and other equipment, enhancing the Harvester so that it generated more supply for the base, and taking a nearby Forerunner Tower to increase energy intake.
"Voridus, upon request, I have made my Orbital Designator available to you and your troops. It will help spot the launching bays."
"Four minutes left troops," said Voridus. "Make ready in that time frame. We cannot afford to sit idle, lest the humans or something else find us. We cannot also afford to let the Sentinels overrun us; we have placed too much into this for it to fail."
"But of course." The smallest of the squads entrenched near the shielded base in a garrison. The rest, alongside the Locust and Reavers, headed through a nearby ravine. "Voridus! We have run into a human scouting party!" called the sub-Commander as they engaged two squads of Marines, a group of Hellbringers, and two Warthogs that had accompanied them. They were attacking a pair of Reavers backed up to a dead end in the cliffs.
"Humans? Why are they here? I have bigger matters to attend to, but maybe I can spare another unit or two. Kill them and save the troops if you can. Gather anything of value nearby as well," commanded Voridus.
"Drones online," said the Unggoy driver of the Locust, while a pair of Banshees and a Marauder joined the assault. The combined firepower, and temporary invulnerability afforded by the healing nano-machines, gave the Banished troops the edge they needed. An Engineer began tending to the injured, while the two drivers that had been ambushed joined the rest of the force.
"Voridus, the party was too far out here to not have a base close by. We may have more than Sentinels to deal with on the way to High Charity. Should we abort?"
"We do not abort! We are going through with this! Atriox commands, and we obey! We are the Banished! We shall take what we want, and none shall prevent us from doing just that!"
The allotted timetable established by Voridus was nearly up. The troop withdrew to the base. Another bay was discovered through the Designator but thankfully, the shield combined with three enhanced turrets provided for strong resistance even for the Guard Sentinels; but another bay meant having to spend their resources to flank the bay with turrets and utilize another emitter.
"Voridus," came the calm yet concerned voice of Pavium, "you are about to face more Sentinels than you ever have before. Please tell me that you have a plan."
"I'm putting it into action right now." A rushing sound of wind. A thunderous rumbling of the atmosphere as something massive hurtled through it. A resounding impact and cratering of the earth. The smoke and dust rippled and parted to reveal... a Scarab.
"Very subtle," groaned Pavium, having no struggle guessing what had happened. Everyone knew the sound of a Scarab being deployed on to the field. Pavium was inwardly cringing at Voridus' plan. He was intending to simply push, by sheer force, through every last machine guarding High Charity and any replacements that the Ark built.
"Pavium, we have placed markers along the route for your Scarab," spoke a Brute. A Spirit had flown by over the path, and with the scanning equipment's aid, had left a series of red, glowing spheres which lit the path over which the enhanced Scarab now slowly stomped down. It was a "Volatile" Scarab, for the tanks which occupied parts of the machine's bulk. What was inside the containers was known only to Voridus.
The humongous machine continued with stomping steps past the base until it ran into a wall. Pavium was at the helm of the enhanced Scarab and he promptly trained its beam of plasma upon the obstacle. "There is still so much wreckage left around High Charity. It will take some time to carve through it all. The next time that the Covenant lose a war, I hope that they clean up after themselves!" Voridus chuckled at his own joke though only a number of his troops joined in it. Most were still focused upon the task of rushing to make ready.
They still had the Locust, four Reavers, and five squads from the beginning, but they needed better numbers than that. They now had three Engineers to aid them, two Marauders, and four Banshees. Another two to three Reavers were in production and their pilots were almost ready to be dropped in. There was a sense of anticipation but also of urgency in the air that did not have to be voiced aloud for all felt it.
"We should proceed with caution brother," urged Pavium. "There are very strange readings coming from inside the wreckage. You yourself know the tales of the Gravemind and the corruption that it spread within High Charity." He paused. "If true… then it could be a greater than even the Covenant were."
"Bah. More lies from the Prophets and their delusions. Even if there was such a threat, any 'monsters' would be long dead by now. There is no need for concern except the Sentinels, and the humans."
"I've almost cleared the wreckage. Be ready to move!" With a crash, the wall of broken metal and earth fell away into nothing. "Fall before me!" laughed Voridus. "Now, move out on me!"
A short distance past the barricade and the Scarab was under attack. "Pavium, we have encountered a new Forerunner defense system – turrets."
"The area that surrounds High Charity is more heavily fortified than anywhere else upon the whole of the Ark. It is clear to me that we are treading where we should not."
"The Banished go where they want and destroy any who oppose! Is not the rise of Atriox proof of this?" insisted Voridus as he trained the Scarab's weapons upon the nearest turret.
"Atriox proceeded to utilize cunning, as well as strength. A wise warrior does not engage in a fight with an unknown foe."
A few Sentinels appeared upon the scene and began firing at the Scarab just as the first turret fell. "If I lose this Scarab," threatened Voridus, "I shall proceed to make a new one, starting with the bones of those responsible!" The Reavers quickly moved to surround and intercept the airborne threat while the Engineers began to mend the damage and provide defense, while the Marauders and three squads attacked the second turret.
The troops were hard-pressed to keep up despite the Scarab not being the swiftest of machines. Voridus kept up a grueling pace, halted only by any turrets he encountered, until he reached another wall of earth and metal. He promptly set the machine to work on carving through this hindrance, ignoring the nearby bay, so that the Reavers were forced into dealing with it for the endless stream of drones and occasional Guard that it produced. A timely emitter prevented any loss of troops but sacrificed an emitter near one of the bays close to the base. There were simply too many to keep under constant exposure to the emp fields, and the further they pushed down the path, the deeper they were into hostile territory with no true exit. One false move, and they would pay with their lives, but his troops placed their faith in Voridus and his plan.
Those who served under Pavium might have objected, but they were merely soldiers, not lieutenants. They followed orders, even if they didn't like them. Still, they would have looked upon the reckless confidence of Voridus as a death wish in this instance. Kroom! "Now let's get going!" Voridus stated, pushing the Scarab onward without waiting for the troops.
He knew better than to wait, because it was death in this plan to stop moving. A mobile target could not so easily be taken down, Voridus knew this, thus he kept urgently pressing forward; plus, he was eager to prove himself successful in this moment. If he succeeded… he could just taste the admiration and rewards that would be his. Not even Decimus could pull off a feat like this.
The Orbital Designator was helping to keep an eye out for anymore launching bays, but it demanded energy and needed to recharge for a short period after each use. So far, no troops had been lost, and the Engineers were helping to ensure that all injuries were quickly mended. Still, one hole in their defense would be all that was needed for their ranks to begin dwindling. Another, much smaller wall of wreckage quickly disappeared under the onslaught of the plasma beam and fire of the Banished troops. And behind it was…
"The humans are here! They will not stop us from taking what we want! Wipe them out!" roared Voridus. Then he switched over to his brother. "Pavium, the humans are here. We are engaging."
"What? If they managed to slip underneath our scans of the area, then they must be in small number. Merely a reconnaissance mission no doubt."
"Then I shall make certain they report nothing back." With that, he directed the Scarab's weapons upon the closest Warthog. Another Marauder and three Banshees came speeding to the sight of conflict. A few stray Sentinels were engaged in combat with the troops from the Spirit of Fire. "Disable those turrets!" commanded Voridus. His order was an accurate one, sensing where the threat was strongest.
The Locust focused its firepower on the main structure alongside the Scarab and the Reavers disposed of the Nightingales. The Scarab did the heavy lifting while the troops disposed of the vehicles and a nearby entrenched squad of Marines. "The humans are sending in support I see. Make them regret it!" The Banshees picked off the rest and intercepted the reinforcements, while the Marauders slowed down any stray targets upon the ground so that there was no hope of escape.
"Hahahaha! I never grow tired of that sight!" laughed Voridus as the base exploded and crumbled into ruin. "Quickly!" he commanded. "Get that debris cleared away and call a new base down upon this location. We will need additional reinforcements in order to ensure this Scarab successfully reaches High Charity."
The reasoning, and tactic, was indeed a sound one. As Voridus steered the Scarab towards another nearby barricade of debris, and one of the Commanders began calling in a minibase, Pavium's voice intruded. "Voridus, from the size and shape of the shell, it would appear that large portions of High Charity remain intact."
"Which means," cut in Voridus excitedly, "that there are more weapons for us to plunder! This is most excellent news!"
"Atriox warned us not to enter High Charity," came the stern reply. "Focus all of your efforts upon salvaging what remains around it."
The wall of debris was rather thick, so it was taking some time, even for the Scarab, and the rest of the troops were busy dealing with a steady number of drones coming from the path beyond the wall. "Voridus there is a problem upon my end of the salvage route. I am experiencing trouble with the salvage drills. The power that runs under the surface in this area is surprisingly unstable."
"What's the problem?" snorted Voridus impatiently, "Take it all."
"I am not certain if – in its unrefined state – the Extractors shall be able to handle it."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out brother," said Voridus without concern. "That's why I keep you around!"
Pavium sighed at that on his end. That was a bit rude of his brother to talk as if he was merely support. That was Voridus: master of sensitivity, king of wisdom and encouraging words, and, of course, supposedly invincible. Still, even if it was in an insensitive way, it was encouraging to hear him indirectly express confidence that he would find a way to solve the problem. His concern was what he was seeing upon the designator. He had taken a good number of scans near High Charity and had spotted two strategically placed bays near where the path would lead towards a suitable path for the Scarab to descend.
"One side insects!" yelled Voridus resuming the march through the cloud of dust. The air was choked with thrasher missiles as the Reavers went to work on the endless Sentinels. The Banshee's cannons thundered endlessly as they sought to control the skies. Three of their number had fallen and Engineer had met its end while providing an overshield. Replacements were on the way, but the fighting was starting to get thick, and it was getting difficult to manage the endless stream of machines determined to eliminate them.
"Ambush!" yelled Voridus spotting the nearby bay. "Disrupt it now!" A quick and timely deployment would have been welcome, but it was not quick in coming.
"I hate these things! Why must they plague me?" Voridus was still marching onward, but the relentless push was maneuvering the Scarab out of cover fire. "Curse these infernal things! Bad enough that humans are here." Finally, an emitter slammed into the ground near the bay, but it felt like an eternity for the weary troops and frustrated Voridus.
The troops caught up along with a few reinforcements. A nearby deactivated Lightbridge briefly halted them, but one of the commanders quickly dealt with it. Speed and time were of the essence, and they were so close. The cliff edge was in sight! That was the thought of all. High Charity was well within visible range now.
Voridus briefly halted the Scarab and handed over the controls before disembarking, speaking to his brother as he did so. "Pavium, I have found some kind of Forerunner interface nearby High Charity and more Sentinels on patrol accompanied by turret defenses. I am investigating. This may solve more than one problem."
"Be careful Voridus. There is still so much, even after all this time, that we still don't know about the Forerunners and their enigmatic technology. You may end up making things worse for yourself."
"Don't fret brother. I can handle it," he said beginning to interact with the images before him. "Scarab commander, push forward, continue smashing through the wreckage." Only specified brutes were allowed to pilot a Volatile Scarab in the absence of Voridus. He trusted few with such a machine of his creation. Those who passed his test, made certain that they continued to perform worthy of the duty that was theirs.
"Protect the Scarab while I try and deactivate these aggravating defenses." The troops pushed onward and threw all of their combined firepower on the obstruction. "Ah!" said Voridus with gladness, "It would appear that it has several security levels to prevent itself from being shut down. Probably to avoid accidents or intent. And, the first level should be done when I do… this!" A whirring hum emanated from the structure. "Yes! It worked! That is the first level deactivated!"
A few Reavers had to promptly divert from the main force in order to prevent a few Guard Sentinels from attacking their leader. A Huragok accompanied them. "Voridus! The Sentinel attacks have increased in ferocity and number!" urgently called the Scarab commander.
"Come to see who's undoing all your work eh?" commented Voridus fingers deftly flitting across the controls. "Destroy them! I'm not finished here yet! Use the emitters! Use everything that we have at our disposal! Nothing must stop our Scarab from reaching its destination!"
The battle continued with missiles and lasers filling the air as the Banished forces and the machines clashed. They were advancing forward, but at a much slower pace than before. "Keep the Scarab moving!" urged Voridus. "I have breached the second level of security. I just need a little time to deactivate it." This was the true value that Voridus brought to the Banished ranks: an intuitive grasp of Forerunner technology, even if on a limited level.
"Voridus," came the Scarab commander's urgent voice again, "The number of Sentinels has increased again!"
"Then deal with them!" he snapped. "Use everything that you have!"
"We are! But against such odds we cannot hold for long! Whatever you're doing, hurry!"
"Quiet! This thing is hardly quick to yield answers." The last he muttered to himself under his breath.
"All right!" yelled a squad commander as the last Forerunner turret fell. "Now, let's get moving! Our orders await us!"
Voridus gave a growl of frustration. "Every time I think I've solved it… wait! This looks promising!" His eyes continued to flick and dart about while his hands weaved to and from. "Mysteries!" he snorted. "Those were what kept the Covenant blinkered and weak! We shall smash through all of them!"
"Almost there… Yes! This should be it."
"The Sentinels are sending even more against us now!"
"They are getting desperate!" replied Voridus with confidence. "I must be getting close! I almost have you done for good, pests!"
"We are on approach to High Charity now Voridus!" called the Scarab commander.
"At last Pavium! I hope that your pack are ready to carry back the riches we find!"
"Stay on the alert you fool!" came Pavium's angry and harsh reply. "There is a massive and highly concentrated wave of Sentinels flying in your direction!"
"We are not pulling out! Because we shall win!" replied Voridus.
"Voridus!" yelled the Scarab commander in panic, "The Ark has dispatched Retrievers! There are two barring the path! And more are coming in to surround! We cannot hold against this!"
"I did warn you, and now you cannot fall back from there! You are going to be surrounded and isolated before you are slaughtered!" yelled Pavium.
"I tire of these insolent things!" yelled Voridus. "I will use this thing to deactivate them once and for all! They will not interfere with us! We shall triumph! It is inevitable!"
"We are not doing any real damage! As fast as we strike, they begin to self-repair! How are we supposed to stop them?" yelled the Scarab commander in order to be heard.
"Just keep them busy!" called back Voridus. "I am at the heart of their defenses. All I need is the proper configuration…"
The drones flashed in a green circle around the Scarab. Its red shield took a pounding from the Guard Sentinels and Retriever's focused cannon-like blasts or beam weapon. The pack was beginning to sustain losses. Injuries and damage were being inflicted faster than they could be healed.
Then the Retrievers spat and sizzled energy along their frames and parts began to go haywire before departing, while the Guard Sentinels promptly exploded alongside a number of their smaller cousins. The rest simply left abandoning their attack. "It is done!" howled Voridus triumphantly. "The defensed shall trouble us no more!" Voridus abandoned the platform he had stood upon and rushed to return to the Scarab while his weary troops gave a ragged cheer.
"Remember brother," came Pavium's firm voice, "our orders are to leave the shell intact. There should be plenty of salvage to find for us to retrieve around the perimeter."
"So you have said many times over," complained Voridus as the Scarab began to stomp down the rubble near High Charity. "I can handle myself brother. Voridus, out."
He brought the Scarab down so that it was facing the shell straight on… and fired. The red beam of unstable energy carved a large half-circle into the wreck under Voridus' skilled hand. "It's time to claim what's ours inside," he said unable to contain himself anymore. "Go brothers! It's time to get our reward!"