Halo 3: The End of All Things to Come
written by appledude211
Prologe
"Tartarus...the Prophets have lied to us".
The sentence echoed through Tartarus's head. To him, it seemed to echo throughout the Control Room, and through the entire galaxy. He loosened his grip on the Grav Hammer he carried. The weapon was very powerful, even more deadly in the hands of an expert. The Prophets had blessed him with it, and Tartarus killed many with it. Not even the shields of an Sangheili could not withstand its force. Yet the mighty Brute, the one who was the mightiest of all of the Jiralhanae, could not bear the words that came from The Arbiter, even with his deadly weapon at his side. For a moment in time, forgetting about the human female he held, forgetting the dark skinned soldier behind The Arbiter, forgetting everything all around him, and thought. 'Is it true?' In Tartarus's mind it was all lies and blasphemy. Tricks of Heretics to bring more to their side. But the Oracle was a religious signifignce to not only him, but the entire Covenant. Blessed by The Forerunners, The Oracle was to give the directions to turn the key, and start The Great Journey. Yet in the back of Tartarus's head, The Oracle was right. The Sacred Ring was a weapon of last resort, to stop the spread of the Parasite. For a split second, Tartarus considered to give in, to admit that he had been lied too, to face the fact that the Prophets, who he adored and worshipped for a long time, had lied to him.
But blind rage ran through his body. His grip tightened on his Grav Hammer and his eyes narrowed. 'No' he thought, 'I will not be brought down by Heretic lies!'. He quickly grabbed the human female's hand, placed the Sacred Icon in her hand, and forced her to insert it into the Control Panel.
"No, Arbiter! The Great Journey has begun! And the Brutes, not the Elites, shall be the Prophets' escort!".
Tartarus picked up his Grav Hammer, activated his experimental Overshield, and prepared to add another Sangheili head to his collection.
The Arbiter had been through many of battles, most of them were close calls. But this would be his biggest yet. He had to kill Tartarus, before the Holy Ring could fire. If he failed, not only his brethren, but all life in the galaxy would die. He ignited his Energy Sword and made sure his Plasma Pistol was still at his side. Then he charged at Tartarus's Brute escort. Five Brutes formed a wall in front of where Tartarus jumped off and onto the three platfroms in the Control Room's surface. Arbiter eyed the ones who had Brute Shots. Knowing that at least one had the Grenade Launcher, he was satisfied that his shields wouldnt go down by the Grenades. He charged at the first Brute, who was only armed with a human Shotgun. Though primitive, it was highly effective in close quarters. Knowing this, Arbiter jumped just as the Brute was about to fire. He plunged the blade right into the top of the Brute's head, killing him instantly. A second Brute charged at the Arbiter with two Plasma Rifles. Arbiter quickly scooped up the Shotgun, pumped it, and fired a shell into the Brute's face as he got close. The Brute yelled in agony as the buckshot mangled his face and black blood started to flow out. Arbiter kicked the Brute off the platform and into the abyss below. The other Brutes became enraged and two of them charged right at the Arbiter, while the one with the Brute Shot held back. He discarded the Shotgun, and rolled to his left as a Brute swung his fist right where the Arbiter was. He grabbed the arm, and stuck his Energy Sword into the Brute's belly. He then pushed the Brute and slammed him into the other charging Brute, pushing both off the balcony. That only left with one other Brute. The Jiralhanae fired his Brute Shot at the Arbiter, but Arbiter had enough time to take cover. He knew he couldnt stay for long, those grenades richochete off solids.
He thought of something. That Shotgun...He quickly made a run for it. Brute Shot grenades went off as he ran but he managed to pick it up and duck for cover once more. The Brute fired his last grenade and paused to reload. This was The Arbiter's chance.
Fratus was aggravated by the results. Four of his brothers dead, and that Sangheili scum was still alive. Fratus would not kill the Sangheili, but damage him enough for Tartarus to finish the job. Still, he longed to smell the blood of a dead Sangheili again. As he paused to reload his Brute Shot, he noticed that a shadow where the Arbiter was jumped off and landed behind him. It seemed like hours to the Brute, who had his own life passed before his eyes before a crack of thunder rang out, and he was in paradise.
The Brute's head exploded with gore, bone, brain matter, and blood as the buckshot ripped his head off from its shoulders and disenegrated. The Arbiter shouldered the Shotgun, knowing it might be useful. He turned towards the three platforms in the center of the Control Room. Tartarus was batting away his fellow Elites like if they were mere toys. The Grav Hammer just smashed their bodies into nothing but mere remains of skin, bone, and blood. Arbiter could not stand for this, and jumped down to the platforms. As he reached the area, only one Elite was left. Tartarus picked him up by the throat and threw him off the platform. The Arbiter let out a war cry and charged at Tartarus. Tartarus turned and swung his Hammer at the Elite. Arbiter jumped and landed behind Tartarus, ignited his Energy Sword. Tartarus moved his Hammer down his back, blocking the strike, and swung the Hammer right at the Arbiter. The Elite blocked the attack with his Sword, but not after being knocked into a wall from the sheer force of the blow.
He regained his bearings, and was just in time to roll out of the way of Tartarus's Hammer as it smashed down to the ground. He unholstered the Shotgun and fired nine shots in the magazine. It did nothing to the Overshield. Tartarus laughed and charged at the Elite. 'Gods help me' said Arbiter in his mind. Suddenly, three purple beams rang out and hit Tartarus's shield, disabling it. Arbiter looked up to see the dark skinned Human with a Beam Rifle.
"What are you looking at? Kill that gorilla!".
Arbiter focused and brought the Shotgun up to bear. Tartarus still charged at the Elite, not knowing what happened. Arbiter aimed the Shotgun and waited until Tartarus got into point blank range and fired. The buckshot tore into Tartarus's eyes, letting blood flow through his eye sockets. He couldnt see anything besides his own blood. He yelled in pain as his vision was being clouded with blood. But he could still see the Arbiter, who rose his blade and sliced the Brute Chieftains head off. The Cheiftain could still see his own body fall while everything turned black...
Miranda Keyes had no time to watch the battle unfold. She had to remove the Index before the Halo could fire. After jumping down on the moving platforms and avoiding some obstacles, she was in reach of the Control Panel. She jumped off and landed on the balcony and ran towards the Control Panel. Keyes took out the Index and let out a sigh of relief.
But the station still rumbled, and a beam of light flashed through the platforms and out into the sky. Was it too late? She was still alive, so she had no doubt she stopped it. But what was that beam of light? Out of the corner of her eye, she could see 343 Guilty Spark, and Sergeant Johnson, who was hanging on to the Forerunner construct.
"What was that?" Keyes asked Guilty Spark.
"A beacon" replied the Monitor.
"Whats it doing?".
"Communicating at superluminal speeds with a frequency of-"
"Communicating with what?"
"The other installations".
"Show me".
A Hologram expanded from the Control Panel and showed the seven Halo rings. One was marked red. 'That one must've been the one Chief destroyed' thought Keyes.
"Fail-safe protocol: in the event of unexpected shut-down, the entire system will move to standby status. All platforms are now ready for remote activation." explained the Monitor.
"Remote activation? From here?" asked Keyes.
"Dont be ridiculous" replied Spark.
Johnson started to gesture towards the construct. "Now Listen tinkerbell, dont make me...". Keyes put a hand on Johnson, telling him to stop.
"Then where? Where would someone go to activate the other rings?" asked Miranda.
Spark paused, as if the question was common knowledge, then replied, "Why...The Ark of course."
"And where, Oracle, is that?"
Johnson and Keyes turned to see the Arbiter, who was covered in Brute blood and burns, His Energy Sword hung from his waist and a depleted Plasma Pistol in his hands. Guilty Spark looked at him, and simply answered.
"Earth...why did you ask?".
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