Halo: Freedom from Evil
Part II: Gods and Men
After all these years, it's still not easy to put the armor on. Every time he does he thinks of all the training and all the hard work he had to endure. But not once did he question it. Not once did he ever ask 'was it worth it?' The Chief had a job to do and he was going to get it done. That was his purpose. It was his life.
People see the hero he is and ask him if they can be part of the Spartan program all the time. They too want to do something great for humanity, but it's always easy to admire what you don't understand. John didn't want to be a hero when Dr. Halsey and Jacob Keyes first came to see him. He was just a boy. He was six years old. And after all that time, nothing has changed. He didn't want to be a hero then and he doesn't want to be one now. All he wants is to win…at any cost.
After he finishes putting the armor on Cortana pops up on a hologram pad near the door: "Thinking of going somewhere without me?"
"Stay here. This war is almost over. The last thing we want to happen is our most important AI to fall into the enemy's hands."
"Oh shut it. I have been through piles and piles of Forerunner data. There is no way I'm not going to see this Ark for myself."
Cortana is different from most AI. Dr. Halsey made her that way; a Smart AI. The Chief hates to admit it but he wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for her.
"Fine. But if you talk too much I'm going to leave you there."
"Just like you left me at High Charity, right?"
"As I recall you were the one that wanted to stay."
The Chief grabs a chip from the hologram pad and Cortana's image disappears. He then inserts the chip into the back of his helmet and the ice cold feeling of the AI entering his system shoots up and down the Chief's spine. After the feeling is gone the Chief continues the conversation: "So how exactly did you get back here, Cortana?"
"That's classified, even for you Chief."
"Ok then. But what were you doing in Holy Charity's system for so long? Was there another Covenant AI like aboard the Ascendant Justice?"
"Something like that."
The Chief knows Cortana is hiding something, either information or a game plan. He doesn't like it but at the same time he knows Cortana would have good reason to do so and trusts her.
On board a UNSC ship en route to the Prophet's home world, Proditor and Miranda Keyes stand in the holding bay discussing the planet they will be landing on: "As a Spec Ops leader and commanding officer on one of the sacred rings I had knowledge most Elites did not. But not even I knew the location to the Prophet's home planet. There were rumors of a planet that they lived on, but no one knows if that is the planet they evolved on or if it was an abandoned Forerunner planet they took over. What we do know is that no Brute, Grunt, Elite…nothing has ever been down on the surface, only Prophets."
"How many are there?"
"Prophets? Maybe twenty."
"Twenty beings to a whole planet?"
"They were the sacred prophets of the Covenant. We believed them to be our link to the Gods."
"Whatever. When we get there we are going to check every inch of this planet for life and any information about the Ark."
As she finishes her sentence the Master Chief walks over to them: "The preparations on the equipment are complete, Commander."
"Good. When we touchdown on the planet…"
Proditor cuts her off: "I will not fight alongside the demon."
Sgt. Johnson sees a conflict brewing and steps between them to try and ease tensions: "Listen, split-jaw. We are all in the same boat here. We want the Prophets dead just as much as you do. Don't try to start something now. We need you just as much as you need us. In less than forty eight hours you will be on your way back to whatever rock of a planet you are from and you will never have to see us again. Ok?"
Proditor turns and crosses his arm stubbornly: "Fine….wait, what's an hour?" Johnson sighs, shakes his head and walks away.
As the Pelicans touchdown on the planet, millions of marines pour into the alien city. The planet is filled with the species known as the Prophets. There are millions of them. They run and scatter away from marines as the humans stand and stare in wonder as to how many Prophets there are. They weren't expecting to see any of them and here they stand in front of a city filled with life.
The silence of the marines is broken by an ODST screaming: "Kill them! Kill them all!"
After that was said, it was a massacre. The marines shot anything that wasn't human. After a couple seconds of slaughtering the helpless alien race, millions of security Sentinels arrive on the scene. They shoot at the marines and stop the forward progress of the humans. Bullets and energy beams fill the air.
Soon after the Sentinels show up, more security bots arrive. Some the marines have already seen on the rings, others are new models they have never seen before. It doesn't matter to them. The marines fire at them all.
The Chief and Proditor soon enter onto the battlefield and join in on the fire fight. They fire upon every Sentinel they see and head deeper into the city. As they run to the center of the city, Proditor looks on the ground and sees hundreds of Prophet corpses: "How can this be? There are so many of them."
The Master Chief tries to keep him on task: "Ignore that! We have to reach the center. Stay focused!"
The two of them fight there way out of the battlefield and make it to a temple stationed in the center of the city.
On the outskirts of the temple they see bodies of Prophets completely slaughtered and mutilated. The corpses are mangled beyond anything the two warriors could comprehend, much differently than the dead Prophets on the battlefield they just left.
Cortana, who has been quiet for most of the battle, finally speaks: "We were the first UNSC forces to reach this area. We didn't kill these Prophets. Besides, I don't even think a human can do this."
Proditor goes over to one of the bodies and kneels down: "They told us they were prophets. We believed them."
Cortana watches from inside the Chief's armor as the Elite kneels over the bodies: "I can't believe the Covenant Prophets existed in these numbers. Head into the temple."
The Chief snickers as he heads through the temple's entrance: "I thought you were going to keep quiet this time around."
The Spartan and Elite fight side by side to get deeper into the temple. After destroying a couple squads of Sentinels they reach what appears to be a grand chamber of the temple. The room is huge. Magnificent symbols and hieroglyphics cover the walls. Proditor and the Master Chief stare in wonder at the magnificence and beauty of the chamber.
At the center of the room there is a platform; almost like some ancient lift. Cortana isn't as easily wondered by the wondrous room: "This must be messages left by the Forerunner."
The Chief stares at the alien language confused: "Can you decipher the symbols?"
Proditor turns and looks at the Spartan: "It is just as puzzling to me as it is to you, human."
"I'm not talking to you. Cortana?"
"I'll get right on it."
After about a minute of waiting Cortana's voice pops back on: "Oh my God."
"What is it?"
Proditor looks at the human strangely: "Who are you talking to?"
"Don't worry about it. Cortana, what did you find?"
"The Forerunner, they were….human."
"What?"
"They were an ancient race of humans. This message tells of the Forerunner in a war with another race and to win that war they created a weapon: the Flood. It was meant to be used as biological warfare. It would attack the enemy and consume all life, but they couldn't control it. To contain their own creation, the Forerunner built the Halo system as both a prison and a failsafe. If the Flood escaped then…"
"Yeah, yeah I got that part."
Both the Elite and the Spartan continue to examine the room while Cortana explained her findings: "The Prophets must have landed on this planet, found this temple and made it their duty to destroy humanity. They created the Covenant not for religious reasons…but they actually believed that humans needed to be destroyed. They thought humanity was evil for creating such a terror."
" 'The monument of all your sins.' That's what the Venus flytrap on Delta Halo said. God damn it! How could we have not seen this?"
As the Master Chief continues to examine the symbols on the wall, he hears a bullet from a sniper rifle click into place behind him. He turns around as fast as he can only to watch the bullet go straight through the back of Proditor's head. John stares in horror as brain matter and blood spill out the front of the Elite's head and the corpse of the honorable alien drops to the floor lifeless.
The Master Chief finishes turning around and sees a mysterious Spartan standing in the doorway with a sniper rifle pointed right at him. The new Spartan is wearing MJOLNIR armor similar to the Chief's with minor changes. The mysterious Spartan slowly starts to walk towards the Chief while keeping his rifle aimed at his target: "You of all people should know about the sins of man."
John grinds his teeth underneath his helmet: "Who are you?"
"What? You don't recognize your own brethren?"
"You're no Spartan."
"You know, it's funny. Mendez said the same thing…right before I put a bullet through his leg."
"So you're one of the new Spartans he's been training."
"And you must be the legendary Master Chief. Nice to meet you."
The mysterious Spartan takes the butt of the rifle and slams it into the Chief's head. Spartan 117 falls to the ground and as he slips into unconsciousness he hears his enemy's last words: "Welcome to the sins of our forefathers, brother."