And so we begin a new collection of one-shots, though these will be more connected to each other due to the events that they follow. Suffice to say though, the aftermath of the Tidal Wave has given me some interesting stories to tell, which we shall see shortly.
Disclaimer: I do not own, Bionicle, Halo or anything else mentioned in this story.
Mata Nui stood overlooking the massive waterfalls that fed the megastructure, the sheer scale even dwarfing those on Spherus Magna. Despite the Installation's natural beauty, he found that he preferred his homeworld's own sights, as the Forerunner architecture felt too clinical when compared to the work of the Great Beings.
Still, there was a reason this place had been chosen for a meeting point: a combination of security issues and the desire to be diplomatic, which was something the new leader of the Republic could accept.
And in this case, it worked quite well. The meeting point was on the Ark itself, a location rather familiar for all parties involved. And the actual meeting spot in particular was a Forerunner platform overlooking the waterfalls and the Foundry in the center of the construct.
"Mata Nui." An AI interrupted. "The Shadow of Intent has arrived in orbit and the delegates are waiting."
"Send them here." The Great Spirit replied.
Seconds later, a trio of gold rifts appeared and three Sangheili exited, none of them showing any of the usual disorientation associated with first time travelers of a Forerunner teleportation grid. Two of the escort Elites were clad in mostly red armor, signalling their allegiance to the Swords of Sangheilios and its leader.
The leader in question was present as well. Arbiter Thel 'Vadam stood there, clad in his ceremonial armor, which had a slightly duller sheen of gold compared to Mata Nui's own.
"Mata Nui, I presume?" Thel asked, his voice curious. The Great Spirit nodded.
"It is an honor to meet you, Arbiter." Mata Nui held out his hand, and after a brief moment, Thel shook it. "I apologize for calling you away from your people on such short notice."
"After everything the Republic has done, I'm more than willing to answer." Thel replied. "Especially if your offer for membership is genuine."
"Indeed it is. I can promise you that."
Mata Nui led them into the Forerunner structure, which Thel took note of, as well as the outline of the cloaked sentries nearby. Strangely, Mata Nui didn't have his own guards close by, which meant that an Elite would theoretically have a good chance of landing a killing blow before the guards could respond.
This suggested one of three things: that Mata Nui was rather naive, that there were more concealed guards or sentries that couldn't be seen, or that the leader of the Republic was powerful enough that he didn't need an escort.
It took them less than a minute to reach a meeting room, where the Arbiter took a seat and Mata Nui did the same.
"Let's talk."
...
The two of them discussed what joining the Republic would entail, with Mata Nui noting that despite being an allied member, the Republic was not going to just hand over its most advanced technology immediately, a stipulation that the Arbiter was understanding about.
"We have proven it time and time again." Thel sighed. "Everyone seeks and covets advanced science and technology, only seeing the destructive potential and how they can use it to get ahead of everyone else."
"Wise words, Arbiter." Mata Nui agreed. "And far more accurate than many would like to admit."
Then the discussion moved to the UNSC, which Thel admitted he had difficulty trusting anymore, especially after the ONI scandal. The change in leadership after the Tidal Wave hadn't helped either.
"Lord Hood was killed during the Flood attack." Thel said sadly. "He died bravely fighting against the Parasite. His successors... aren't the most understanding type of people."
"Given the situation, I'm not sure I can blame them." Mata Nui replied. "Our latest intel reports don't have anything good to say about UEG territory..."
Truth be told, the UEG was in more disarray than they would like to admit: the dissemination of ONI's dirty secrets combined with the subsequent Flood attack had majorly shaken the populace's faith.
To add to their problems, much of the UNSC fleet had been destroyed during the Tidal Wave, and a recent skirmish with the upgraded First Order had only added to their losses. Currently, their remaining fleets were stretched thin trying to keep their territory under control, and it wasn't enough.
Unrest ruled a lot of the surviving outlying colonies, and as such, it suited the Banished's purposes just fine. They had had their eyes on some Forerunner ruins for some time now, but had been unable to do anything about it due to the colony's defenses.
But as a Banished strike force landed on the planet and made their way to the canyon it had been hidden in, they realized that even the new level of unrest wasn't going to make this mission any easier.
A not insignificant military force was present to protect the research site, which centered around a Forerunner bunker that had been buried underneath the surface. With the UNSC forces undoubtedly containing a number of Spartan-IVs, this would undoubtedly be a difficult task.
There was only one entrance on the ground, which was through the entrance to the canyon. The UNSC had fortified that with a massive gate, along with a duo of guard stations alongside them. The ground right in front of the gate was undoubtedly littered with mines, which required a UNSC IFF to cross over safely.
A further issue was the Forerunner based dome shield that surrounded the ruins and the campsite, making it impossible for the Banished to launch a full frontal assault. Even the Mega turrets they had available wouldn't be enough to breach that barrier, and orbital bombardment was out of the question.
Though with the help of their new friends, this would undoubtedly change. Voridus, Pavium and Lariska looked over the entrance to the Forerunner bunker, taking careful note of all the guards and vehicles that surrounded this place.
"This will be harder than expected." Pavium noted. "There are more guards than here than we planned for, and they seem to have activated the Forerunner defenses."
"Good thing we have our secret weapons." Voridus looked over at Lariska, who glared right back at him. "Assuming of course, that you're up to the task."
"We'll be able to do this." Lariska said simply. "I can guarantee it."
They headed back to the camp, where the rest of the Banished forces where already gearing up for their assault. The Stronghold building had already been constructed in the dense forest, with a cloaking tower to hide their presence.
Other vital buildings and structures surrounded it, while hundreds of Banished soldiers and dozens of vehicles were moving around, getting ready for the coming battle. However, the soldiers were keen to keep their distance from one spot in particular, which was where the second Dark Hunter was.
When the plan had been proposed to the leadership of the Shadow Collective, Banished and Dark Hunters, the Shadowed One had dispatched two of his best operatives to help. Lariska herself was a skilled warrior and assassin, but even she couldn't turn the tide alone.
But that was where the temporal manipulating Voporak came in. In truth, the two brothers were rather unnerved by the Dark Hunter in question, particularly Pavium, who was wondering what could actually beat the mutated Steltian.
He had gone over a number of scenarios in his mind under Atriox's orders, but the truth was that nothing the Banished had could feasibly hurt him outside of orbital bombardment, and even that wasn't a guarantee. If there was something that could bring him down, it would be well beyond the Banished's own methods.
Of course, that meant that he was also beyond the UNSC's own capabilities as well. And that meant that he was the key to this whole operation. The two Jiralhanae Brothers and Lariska approached Voporak, who grew more attentive as they approached.
"Well?"
"The mission is still ready to go." Pavium said, gesturing to Lariska and Voporak. "And this is what you two are going to do."
The first warning the UNSC had of the attack was when plasma mortars started landing on their fortifications, flash frying the outlying positions immediately. The Banished Shrouds had kept the Wraiths in concealment long enough to get them into an ideal bombardment spot, which was followed up by a barrage of missiles from the Blisterbacks.
UNSC artillery was quick to respond in kind, as Scorpions, Grizzlies and Kodiaks unleashed their own firepower. Meanwhile, the bombardment allowed the Banished soldiers to move in, leapfrogging from cover to cover and providing what escort they could.
At the gate just outside the shield, UNSC marksmen were quick to put an end to any Banished soldiers that stuck their heads out for too long, while also marking clusters of infantry and vehicles for their artillery to deal with.
Unfortunately, none of the snipers had noticed the being that was climbing up the walls beneath them, and by the time they did, Lariska had either driven or thrown her daggers into their throats, her strength and blades enough to overcome the weaker energy shields that protected them.
Once that was dealt with, she moved to the gate itself. Unfortunately, it was locked, but Voporak was more than happy to provide a key. The two of them had been under the cover of another Shroud, one that had gone unnoticed amongst the sound and fury of the Banished's frontal assault.
While Lariska made her way up to the guard towers, Voporak acted as a walking mine clearance device, extending his temporal field below the ground, carving into the dirt and destroying the mines beyond repair.
Once they were close enough, Lariska had gone ahead to dispatch the guards, leaving no one alive to see Voporak walk up to the gate. Of course, the security cameras were another matter, and the AI in charge of coordinating the defense could see everything.
He didn't know what this strange being was, but the AI was confident that whatever unusual powers or skills the being may have wouldn't be able to breach the gate that had been reinforced with Forerunner alloys.
That perception was proven dead wrong as Voporak approached and the gate lost its structural integrity, breaking apart and collapsing as if was made of cardboard. The Steltian didn't even have to lay a finger on the metal for it to simply disintegrate.
Voporak didn't stop, ignoring the fire from the auto turrets as he walked up to the dome shield that surrounded the base. The Forerunners had designed their creations to endure for a very long time. Of course, so had the Great Beings.
Voporak simply increased his temporal field, accelerating the shield through time by hundreds of thousands of years. It soon overloaded and shut down, just as the Banished forces began making their way after the two Dark Hunters.
Meanwhile, the Spartans among the UNSC had already made their preparations to deal with the Banished, as Hornets and Wasps lifted off to deal with the Banshees in the sky. Unfortunately, most of the ground forces had one target that they needed to get rid of, and it was the one being they couldn't.
The UNSC unleashed their entire arsenal, as all the vehicles and soldiers fired at one being. Bullets, lasers, plasma, Rockets, grenades, hard light and more. Every bit of it failed to even touch Voporak, who just stood there with his arms crossed as his temporal field stopped everything before it could hit him.
Meanwhile, Lariska moved up as well and began picking off the more distracted sentries. This drew the attention of the Spartans, who began firing on her and forcing the Dark Hunter to take cover.
This was all part of the plan, and the distracted Spartans found themselves too preoccupied to avoid being struck by Rhotuka spinners. At first glance, the Spartans seemed unaffected, but no one on the UNSC side realized what the effects of Voporak's spinner were until Lariska had killed the lead Spartan, who had been reacting to the Dark Hunter's movements from seconds ago.
The other Spartans never noticed anything at all when Sangheili Rangers and Jackal Snipers simply shot them all in the head from afar. In mere seconds, every Spartan guarding the dig site was dead.
The Banished forces had followed in the distraction, and started unveiling the upgrades that had been obtained from the Energized Protodermis. Voridus swing his blades in an arc, unleashing a blast that tore through a Warthog.
A Warlord's gravity hammer picked up a tank and used it to crush a Kodiak. Brute Grenadiers unleashed electrified acid grenades that ate through fortifications and soldiers alike. Pavium's grenade launcher disabled vehicles, leaving them at the mercy of other Grunts and Brutes.
The battle didn't take much longer after that, and soon Voridus, Pavium, Lariska and Voporak were walking through the ruined battlefield that was now littered with corpses.
Soon, the procession had arrived at the door to the bunker, the grey metal towering over them. Voporak moved to continue his usual method of getting past obstacles, but Voridus moved in front of him, taking care not to actually get within his time field.
"Why don't you let me handle this?" The Brute suggested. "This is a job that requires finesse."
With a glance at Lariska, who nodded, Voporak stood back and let the Jiralhanae expert go to work. Within moments, the door opened and Banished forces moved inside to finish off whatever stragglers were cowering within.
The structure in question contained a map to a number of Forerunner structures that existed throughout their galaxy. However, that knowledge was heavily encrypted, and nowhere near as comprehensive as the Absolute Record. Still, it contained the information that the Banished were looking for.
"Download everything." Pavium ordered. "Scavenge whatever you can and set the charges. We have what we came for."
And that's the end of this first chapter. Suffice to say, this will have important ramifications down the road. How and why though, well, that's knowledge that will come later.
With that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.