Aboard Super Corvette Fearless Faith
In orbit of Halo
"Ah, hello." The Monitor said lightly.
"O great and holy Oracle," Nolsüm began, "deliver onto me a single iota of your knowledge of the Sacred Rings and the great Forerunners."
"O my! Questions? I would certainly be delighted to answer them all."
The fleet commander cut in, "Who destroyed Halo, and why, what did the humans learn of it."
Nolsüm growled at the out of order fleet commander but did not say a word aloud simply because the FC had asked the same questions he'd of asked, but in a more blunt fashion.
"A great warrior the reclaimer was, and I think we might have even got a long had it not been for his contempt for containment protocol and the wealth of knowledge. But, alas, it seems now he was successful in his last ditch plan to destroy the installation. As for how much information the reclaimers gathered that could only be told by the reclaimer's AI because she was plugged into my main systems for quite some while and could have easily copied most of the data in the Installation's memory units. And lastly as to why the reclaimer ignored protocol and destroyed the installation…" the Oracle thought for nearly a full minute, "I don't know." He finished bluntly.
A general shocked look crossed the faces of everyone in the room, save the USC and Tobe. Nolsüm blinked once and took a breath, then asked the one question that had been gnawing at his mind for a long as he could remember: "If, now, holy Oracle, I may inquire to you; there is something I must know now, and I must know the whole truthful answer to the question. What is the purpose of the Halos?"
"You ask this question as if you expect a long and complicated answer which I am afraid that one does not exist for the purpose of the Installations is very, very simple: in the event of a Flood outbreak, as per containment protocols, the Installations would be activiated, then fired in an effective effort to wipe the galaxy clean of any biomass large enough to sustain the parasite." The Monitor replied, happy to be being asked questions, but tired of having to answer that one in particular.
"Blasphemy!" the Fleet Commander cried out at the Oracle "This goes against everything the prophets have ever taught us; it defies the very base beliefs of the Covenant! Surly this Oracle could, and must, have been contaminated by the humans. It was certainly close enough to them!"
"O heavens no! I assure you what I speak is the truth and that my programming is eons beyond human capabilities!" the Oracle replied, showing some offense near the end.
"I side with the Oracle." Nolsüm replied to the FC. "I also believe that the hierarchy is corrupt and Truth has set in motion plans to dissolve the council and establish a dictatorship over the Covenant species. The signs are all around us, Truth asking for more wartime powers when he truly doesn't need them, repeatedly sending Mercy and Regret off on dangerous missions, hoping for them to perish, and the long election process for a new high prophet would take a very long time, and Truth could easily seize all power. And now look; the prophets have been leading us for millennia on a so called 'Great Journey' which now appears nothing more than a trail to slaughter. I had planned this for years, and I have carefully watched the government of the Covenant, and I now propose that we, all multifarious races of the old Covenant form an Allegiance of Beings, and reinterpret the ancient prophecies, and reexamine the Humans as intelligent beings, and give true freedom to all, not just freedom based on rank or race, we will tear down the hierarchy, govern ourselves by democracy, and be free of the Prophets wills."
"Nolsüm 'Zaekamae, you are a traitor to the Covenant and a heretic. Your words bring pain to my ears at such accusations, the Covenant is fine and to say something in the face of the Prophets is unthinkable. Especially an Ultimate Supreme Commander such as your self, in such high respect with the Prophets and you would throw that all away for nothing, a stupid suspicion based on assumptions and words."
"No, not for nothing, for freedom." Nolsüm said just loud enough to hear.
"I will slay you now and once the prophets hear of this they will give me your rank and more!" the fleet command suddenly brandished an energy sword and swung and Nolsüm's head.
Nolsüm was faster though, he grabbed his sword as swung it to block. Red, white, blue, and even violet hot sparks flew from the crash of blades. As each of the two swordsmen drew their blades back for another blow, the rest of the unruly crowd that had gather around the Oracle began a Covenant civil war right there in the landing bay. The rival swordsmen fought through the close range fray, swinging at who ever seemed to be on the other's side, but it was so hard to tell, who knew who was really who.
The one verses one battle raged toward the door that Nolsüm and Tobe had entered. The doors opened with a hum as the clash continued.
Authors Notes:
Just in Case you were wondering, you pronounce the name 'Tobe' Tuh-oh-buh, similar to Tobey, but with out the ending letter. And the name Nolsüm as Noh-ol-suh-oo-em.
