It has taken me awhile to get back to this story. Honestly, making a fanfic based off of a game is hard.
Let's see what Covenant Intelligence will do today! Hope y'all enjoy!
Heads up: In this AU, only the Prophets of Truth and Regret are aware of what Halo is capable of. Mercy is not aware, so CI therefore is more...merciful to him in the future than with the others.
"And where, Oracle, would this Index be located?" Covenant Intelligence (CI) asked Guilty Spark. They were within a special chamber meant to house the Oracle and CI had been tasked with asking him anything that could help them activate the Halo ring.
"Why, in the library of course!" the Forerunner drone responded.
CI pondered this. So, it appeared that the next Halo ring was set up similarly to the last. Soon, the ring would be activated and the Great Journey would begin. Yet...something bothered CI, something about Halo's nature. Long had the fascination of studying the Forerunners' technology and history been bred into his mind. He had recently studied the structure of Halo, and he still found it hard to believe that it was a gateway to salvation. It looked like something else, but he needed to be sure. He first checked to make sure that none would hear them before speaking his mind.
"Oracle?" CI asked Guilty Spark, "The Halo rings, what are they?"
"Weapons of last resort, built by my creators to destroy the Flood when they were overwhelmed."
"And what happened exactly when it was activated?"
"Simple. They and all lifeforms within a galactic-wide radius died, as planned."
"So I was right," CI said to himself. Just then, he heard a door open, and Truth and Mercy came into the room. His back was turned to them, so they couldn't see his face. He composed himself and put on a straight face.
"I have questioned the Oracle, as you have asked," CI stated, turning to greet the two Prophets.
"Well done, my son," Truth said in a formal tone. "But I'm afraid that now is not the time for rest. We have need of your leadership down below. The Demon has been sighted on the sacred ring, and he is pursuing Regret. We fear that he intends to end his life."
"Then I shall extinguish his own life," CI stated simply. He stepped out of the room, but Truth called back.
"A word of warning my son: this Demon is not like others that you have had to fight. He has singlehandedly taken out many of our squads and managed to destroy one of the sacred rings. Be cautious."
"I will."
CI left the room before more conversation could be made.
He was too late, for the deed had already been done. Regret already lay slain, killed by the Master Chief, otherwise known to CI as the Demon. All around him and scattered about the room lay the bodies of several Elite Honorguards and a few other Covenant soldiers. Judging from Regret's posture, there was nothing CI could do to save him now.
Not that it mattered to him. He was actually thankful that he had been slain, for it was one less Prophet to deal with later on. Still, he wished to cross blades with the Master Chief himself, to see if he truly was as great a warrior as the humans claimed. He would kill him if need be, but it wasn't his greater concern. No, his concern lay solely with the Arbiter. He hoped only that he could reach him before the Index was claimed by the Covenant. But first, he had to deal with the Demon. He followed the trail of Covenant bodies out into the open in pursuit of the Demon.
"Son of the Hierarchs," a Brute voice said on his coms, "We are preparing to fire upon your position so that we may destroy the Demon."
"Stay your hand," CI ordered. "Do not fire unless I give the word. I wish to combat the Demon personally. And I won't have long to wait."
CI turned the next corner and found the Chief just starting to prepare to leave. Activating his Energy Sword, he called out, "Turn, Demon!"
The Chief turned slowly to the Hierarch's Son. "Chief!" he heard the Spartan's AI say, "It's Covenant Intelligence!"
"You have killed one of the Hierarchs, a crime that cannot be forgiven by the Covenant. However, I am more forgiving than the Prophets. Surrender to me now, and I will spare you."
"Like h*** I will," the Chief replied. He pulled out a UNSC Battle Rifle and blasted away at CI, who blocked the majority of his body with his Energy Sword, effectively deflecting most of the shots. What few bullets got past his sword were wasted on his shield, which was hardly damaged. He rushed the Chief and sliced his rifle in half, before then trying to thrust his weapon into the Chief's gut. However, the Chief expertly parried his attack and pushed CI away from him. He then drew an Energy Sword of his own that he had picked up from an Elite Honorguard. and prepared to combat the Hierarch's Son. Their blades clashed, but CI managed to swing the Chief's sword around and out of his hand, leaving him unguarded for an attack. The Chief dodged CI's sword strikes and pulled a pistol from his belt, blasting away at the Elite and reducing his shield. CI ignored this and lunged at the Chief, but a quick dodge from the Chief caused his blade to graze him, damaging only his shield. The Chief locked CI in a headlock from behind and stabbed a knife into his back. CI felt the blade pierce his back and a cry escaped his lips. He tried to escape from the Chief's grip, but in vain. In desperation, he grabbed a Plasma Grenade from his belt and slapped it on himself as close to the Chief as possible. The Chief noticed this and quickly released CI and managed to get out of the blast radius before it exploded. CI was still alive, so well made were his shields, but his shields had now been completely depleted. He knew that the Chief wouldn't let him recharge his shields, but he also couldn't allow him to grab another firearm. His only advantage against this Spartan was to force him to stay in close combat. Standing up quickly, CI rushed at the Chief before he could grab another weapon. The Chief dodged CI's strike, but the Elite relentlessly kept up the attack. The Chief grabbed his Energy Sword that had been tossed aside and parried CI's attacks, but it was clear that he couldn't keep this up any longer. Seeing this, CI made a strategic strike at the Chief's hand and his sword sliced the handle of the Chief's sword, causing it to deactivate. He then sliced at the Chief again, this time landing a hit and depleting the Spartan's shields. He then grabbed the Chief by the neck and held him off the ground.
"Prepare to die, Demon!" CI stated and prepared a stabbing motion towards his gut. It never came. Suddenly, CI's armor shocked him and his entire suit started to malfunction. He released the Chief as he tried to figure out what was wrong.
"Hurry Chief!" the Spartan's AI shouted. "I've hacked his suit! Now's your chance!"
CI looked up to see that the Chief had taken his own Energy Sword and was getting ready to attack. CI quickly pulled up his wrist computer and managed to regain control of his com lines.
"Fire!" he shouted. "Fire now!"
The suit stopped malfunctioning when he said this and a large plasma beam struck the walkway. The Chief ran from it past CI and over towards the edge, but CI didn't get such a luxury. In desperation, he pulled up his latest work: a salvaged Forerunner teleporting device. He activated it just as the beam started to reach his location, teleporting just in the nick of time, unsure of the Chief's fate.
CI never thought that he could've been more frightened in all his life. He had faced down a squad of Spartans on his own, single-handedly defeated an army of humans, and had even dared to defy the will of the Prophets once. But nothing made him feel more scared in all his life than the giant creature that stood before him. It was gigantic to say the least, composed of the corpses of hundreds of thousands of victims. It had several tentacles and no visible eyes, but it didn't seem to need them to see. This was a Gravemind, the brains behind the Flood.
CI quickly rattled through his head ideas or strategies he could use to take on this parasitic creature and finally settled with the suicidal option. The Gravemind turned to CI and seemed to only just now acknowledge him. CI had pulled up his wrist computer and had his finger hovering over a button on the screen.
"Stay where you are, Parasite," CI shouted, "Or this entire ring will be destroyed, and you along with it!"
The Gravemind was silent as it stared in his direction for a moment, then it spoke.
"Your reputation precedes you, Covenant Intelligence," Gravemind said in a tone that may have been admiration.
"Then you know that I am serious," CI said calmly.
"You're unique amongst the Covenant, but I feel that you are conflicted within. Your Prophets have deceived you and your kind into following a lie that will destroy us all. As such, you want revenge on them for misleading so many before them."
"You speak the truth, Parasite, but be wary of what you say next. One wrong move and your unnatural life ends."
"I would sooner consume all of this galaxy than to kill such a worthy opponent, one who is not afraid to die if it means saving so many more. I offer you an opportunity that you would be wise to accept."
"What deal could you make that I would accept?"
"You wish to betray the Covenant, exact revenge on them for condemning someone special to you. The Flood can accomplish this and more. This one time, the Flood can be yours to command. We shall also spare anyone whom you wish to save from the storm."
CI kept his hand above the self-destruct button. The Parasite offered a fair deal: death to all who had wronged the Arbiter and the option to spare anyone whom he desired to spare. Yet, could he trust the Parasite? The Flood was not one whom you would normally call an ally. But what other choice did he have? He couldn't take on the Covenant alone. CI sighed, hoping that he wouldn't regret his decision and let his hand wander away from the self-destruct button.
"Alright, Parasite," he said. "What did you have in mind?"
"The Index is secure," Keyes stated as Sergeant Johnson pulled her up from the area where she had retrieved the Index. They had fought through hordes of the Flood as well as some scattered Covenant forces and had finally retrieved the Index. Now they just needed to get out of there.
"McKenzie, Perez! How's our exit?" Johnson asked, calling to the Marines he had left to guard their exit. But there was no response.
"You hear me, marines?"
No answer. Johnson pulled out his Battle Rifle, knowing that something was wrong.
"We got trouble," he said to Keyes. He stepped towards the direction the Marines were supposed to be at, while looking around with his rifle's attached flashlight. He peered into the darkness, but saw nothing. That didn't satisfy him however, and for a good reason. The area was quiet. Too quiet...
A sound was heard off to his right and he turned just as the Arbiter leaped from the shadows at him. Johnson fired away at the Elite, but the Arbiter quickly countered with a few well-laid punches. A short melee occurred as the two fought with each other, but it was clear that the Arbiter had the upper hand. The Arbiter managed to push Johnson against a wall, holding him up by the throat. The two stared into each other's eyes before Johnson said sarcastically, "How ya doin?" He ended up getting thrown off to the side for that. The Arbiter started to walk slowly towards Johnson, but was stopped by a hail of gunfire from Keyes, who had grabbed a sub-machine gun of her own.
"Sargent! Stay down!" she ordered as she forced the Arbiter to go into hiding behind some fallen debris in the room. Once she had driven him off long enough, she turned to the Marine and asked, "Johnson? Are you alright?"
Just then, the Arbiter jumped out from cover towards her. At the same time, a flash of light appeared in another section of the room nearby and CI jumped out into the room. He appeared just in time to see the Arbiter grab Keyes's weapon and hold it up so she couldn't shoot him.
"Arbiter!" he called out. The Arbiter looked in CI's direction, releasing Keyes as he did. Keyes started to crawl away, but was then shocked by electricity of some kind and pulled away towards its source. CI stiffened, for he knew whose weapon had done that. Tartarus caught Keyes as she came towards him. A few Brutes had accompanied him.
"Excellent work, Arbiter," Tartarus said, "The Hierarchs will be pleased." He nodded slightly at CI, acknowledging his presence.
"The Icon...is my responsibility," the Arbiter replied.
CI didn't know much of what had happened, but he knew that something was not right, so he intervened.
"It's true, Tartarus," he said calmly. "And unless decreed by myself or the Hierarchs, it will stay that way."
"It was his responsibility, Son of the Hierarchs. Now, it is mine."
Tartarus's Brutes started to encircle the Arbiter, as one of them started to drag Johnson and Keyes away. Tartarus continued.
"A bloody fate awaits you and the rest of your incompetent race. And I, Tartarus, Chieftain of the Brutes will send you to it!"
Realizing what was happening, the Arbiter glared angrily at Tartarus while CI watched with confusion and rage. Even so, he couldn't help but notice that none of the Brutes were taking any heed of him.
"When the Prophets learn of this," the Arbiter stated, "they will take your head."
"When they learn?" Tartarus laughed. "Fool. They ordered me to do it."
"Tartarus, what is the meaning of this outrage?!" CI demanded. Tartarus turned and addressed CI with an apologetic expression, though Ci could tell that inwardly the Brute was not sorry.
"Forgive me, noble Son of the Hierarchs. But I was given my orders by the Hierarchs themselves, that the Elites are all to be slaughtered for treason against the Covenant. However, they decreed that you alone are to be spared from the bloodshed."
CI was taken aback. No, it couldn't be. Yet, Tartaus's face said otherwise. CI watched hopelessly as Tartarus fired a beam of electricity at the Arbiter, knocking him down into the abyss from where the Index had been retrieved. He then turned to CI.
"Come! The Prophets wish for you to be present when they reveal the Icon to High Charity."
CI regained his composure and nodded.
"Go ahead. I'll catch up. This...is much for me to take in."
Tartarus nodded and left the room. Ci walked over to the edge of the abyss and looked down. He didn't know whether or not the Arbiter was still alive, but he did know that if he was that the Parasite that lurked below would not harm him, as part of the agreement. But just in case...
"I WILL avenge you, Arbiter," CI said softly in anger. "You, and all of our brothers. Tartarus and all who wronged you."
CI turned away and walked out of the room after Tartarus.
"I'll make them pay."
Dun dun dun! What a cliffhanger!
Review, favorite, and I'll cya all later! Goodbye!
