Chapter 1
Date and Time: Irrelevant/
Somewhere in slipspace
The covenant battle cruiser "Klyson" drifted through slipspace, unnaturally gentile for its chaotic surroundings. Meer inches from the hull, the twists and whips of time and space danced in a random ballet. The ship was nearly invincible to the universe it skimmed around. All weapons and shields were powered down making the vessel useless for its purpose.
Inside, however, it was a much different story. Covenant Engineers floated through maintenance shafts, keeping the cruiser running at full capacity. It also left the other passengers to perform their own tasks. Grunts scurried down passageways with data crystals and reports, shuttling them to and from their Elite masters. Squads of patrols lethargically made their rounds.
This would be a normal battle cruiser, sailing under normal circumstances, with a normal crew save for one variation. On board this cruiser was a special passenger, the covenant Prophet of Luck. However, at the moment, his name wasn't holding to its intent. He was on his way to Archon 7. The other prophets had said that it would allow him to "spread his luck to the surrounding area".
He didn't believe them one bit, and he was sure they were just trying to get rid of him. He was also sure they knew as well as he did that the luck that seemed to follow him since he was an infant had faded and gone. He was there when the humans had found the covenant home world. When the covenant had lost the Protoss star system, he was there. When the demon had destroyed the 7th halo, he was there. When the covenant had won all those victories in the Charon system, he wasn't there.
The covenant had only a few solar systems left and even those were under siege. Archon 7 wasn't, at the moment, but Luck knew that wouldn't last. Even if they had managed to move the planet to a different system entirely, that was long ago and the humans would surely have figured it out by now.
"Well, at least Archon 7 is nice," thought Luck, "I suppose it would be better to die there than back on that mud hole the council is stationed. Oh, I'm sure the Prophets intend to send me to be killed." Luck thought. "Maybe the humans haven't found Archon 7… no, no, they must have." Luck said aloud to himself. "I suppose they just don't care about it. I don't blame them, it's only a backwater™ communications post."
Then Luck had another thought.
Patrol Unit #452 consisted of three experienced grunts and one veteran Elite named Klast. The unit was assigned to patrol the cabin area for eight covenant Standard Time Units (STU). Then they were to report to their sleeping rooms and rest. They performed this cycle every 20 STUs and it never got any more interesting than the day before.
Patrol Unit 452 was on its way down the starboard cabin corridor when it came upon cabin #120. From inside the cabin came a voice. It pierced through the corridor's silence and met Klast. Following standard protocol, Klast accessed his list of cabins and their occupancies. He saw that this was the cabin of the Prophet of Luck and was about to continue on when he heard the voice again. This time he could make out what it said.
"I don't blame them, it's only a backwater™ communications post."
This intrigued Klast. Completely against protocol, Klast signaled for the rest of his unit to move along. "But sir…" one of the grunts began, but Klast cut him off.
"I said continue grunt."
"Well, actually sir, you didn't say anything. Anyhow, isn't this against proto…"
"I said move grunt!"
"Yes sir" the grunt replied weakly. The trio of mammals moved along down the corridor and turned the corner. Once they were gone, Klast was free to listen in on the prophet, and so he did. Placing his head against the door he listened through the thick metal.
"Wait, doesn't Archon 7 have the location of the last Halo?", Luck asked himself, "Oh my, it does. If we lose that halo, we'll never be able to get rid of those blasted elites… or any of them for that matter."
Klast's eyes grew wider. "Who are them?", thought Klast.