Chapter Seven: Oracle
Blade's POV
After my 'rescue', we went to my pelican and discussed what to do next. "We could still try the original plan." suggested Soric. Then I pointed out that one of us would have to stay behind. "Could we boost the range of the pelican to get us to the Halo ring?" asked John. "If we had the time and parts, yes. But we don't have either." I answered. "What if we hitch a ride on the Autumn when it leaves the atmosphere while it's fleeing the planet?" suggested Zephyr. I thought it over, in theory, it could work. I said "Maybe, if we're far enough from the level to not be affected by the cut scene."
After that, I flew the pelican over to above the Pillar of Autumn level and engaged a makeshift cloaking device. "You installed a cloaking device?" asked Soric, who was co-piloting. "I had a lot of free time." I replied. "So, your sure we'll be able to get out of here?" asked Soric. "Yeah, pretty sure." I answered. "What if we can't?" "Then we're stuck." After that, Soric stayed silent.
We flew to where we predicted the Autumn would be. We waited. After about an hour, Soric was out cold. Zephyr joined me in the cockpit. "Hey Blade, I've been thinking. Why didn't WitchDoctor kill us when he had us?" I've been wondering that to. "I don't know. It's unlike him to let us live." "Maybe we'll ask politely next time we see him." I smiled underneath my helmet.
Hours passed, and John and I were the only ones awake. John was copiloting while I kept a look out for the Autumn. I saw something in the corner of my vision that interested me. But it wasn't the Autumn, instead it was a Covenant mid-ship not joining the fight. Instead, it looked like it was preparing a slipspace jump. I decided to investigate.
I flew towards the carrier and saw something that got my full attention. A Skull and Shotguns emblem. "John, change of plans. WitchDoctor is up to something and I don't like it." I said. "What about the Autumn?" asked John. "We can come back for it. Maybe." I answered. As the carrier entered slipspace, I followed.
I had never gone into slipspace before, so this was a first. It was weird, I saw dimensions moving around the pelican. A lot of different dimensions actually. I saw various games to. Games like Runescape, DC Universe Online, even games I played on AddictingGames. Maybe the slipspace engine alone could get us back. But WitchDoctor first, theories later. After what seemed like hours, we exited slipspace.
My first thought was move away from the enemy ship. My second reaction came when I saw a Halo. It went something like this: "WHAT THE HELL!?" I couldn't believe it. "John, did you know about this?" I asked. "Hmm? Sorry, I dozed off there for a second. What did I know about?" "An uncharted Halo ring." "WHAT THE F***!" "I'll take that as a no. Forget the Autumn, this is more important." I flew towards the ring and noticed immediately that it was a full desert with mesa's and ancient ruins dotting the landscape. Not what I would've asked for but it's like Sandtrap, just watch out for traps.
Zephyr's POV
When I woke up, I saw that the pelican was in some desert. "Where are we?" I asked. "On an uncharted Halo ring." answered John. "OMG. How?" I asked. "The man we all know and hate." answered Blade. "Ok, so what's the plan?" "We find one of WitchDoctor's bases and locate any possible area WitchDoctor could be. Then we see what he's doing and, if need be, stop him." explained Soric. "Do we even know where one of his bases is?" I asked. "No." I groaned, because I knew this was going to be a long trip.
Three hours later, we finally find an outpost. "So what's the plan?" asked John. "Let's not attract attention so let's use the armor ability I made to sneak in. Soric, you stay here with John. Be ready to pick us up on a moment's notice. Zephyr you're with me." John piloted the pelican as close as he would dare and Blade and I went out the back. We activated our armor abilities and to make us invisible. We walked towards the outpost. We were about halfway there when a sandstorm hit. "Great, like we don't have enough problems." I muttered sarcastically.
We trekked through the sandstorm for about an hour before we found the outpost. We saw a few guards but they didn't see us. Getting inside was easy. Making sure no one saw us was the challenge. We used the armor ability to disguise ourselves as the guards and found that there was a lot of guards inside. I knew that one slip up meant hell, so I stayed silent and Blade do any talking, which was relatively little, as most guards ignored us.
We searched for a computer room. Which was a challenge as this place was full of rooms. After the twentieth room, I was about ready to snap. "Blade, why don't we just ask where the room is?" I whispered to Blade. "We want to not attract attention, so asking is out of the question. But I get why you asked, this is torture." Ten rooms later, I heard a voice that sounded artificial. "Let go of me! This is against all regulations!" I decided to check it out while Blade was investigating the room. I saw three guards, some weird device, and a Monitor!
I decided to introduce myself. I walked in and said "Hi boys! Umm, can you tell me what that is?" One of the guards chuckled; he walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "I can tell you're new, so I'll explain this, if you'll come with me to dinner at my room." The other guards chuckled as well. They walked up to me and I continued to play sweet and ignorant. "So that little ball over there watches over this giant ring, but it won't let us use the ring so we had to put it in timeout." The man still had his hand on my shoulder, and he was squeezing. "Well, it looks like someone should help it." I said. I then grabbed the man who was squeezing me and slammed him into the guy to my right. The third guy jumped back in surprise. I lunged at him with my knife, stabbing him.
The other two guards got their wits and grabbed my arms, holding me down. I moved my left arm and flung the guy towards the wall. I didn't see that coming. I smiled and looked at the other guy, who looked at me in fear. I punched him in the face. I heard bones crack. I felt a nudge on the back of my helmet. "Now if you don't want your brains full of lead, I recommend you-argh!" I turned around to see that the man had an energy sword through his torso. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" I asked. Blade, who killed the man, nodded. "Hello, I am 03-636 Ebullient Ancilla, monitor of this installation. Thank you for exterminating those pesky guards."
Blade walked up to the machine holding the monitor. "Listen, we'll help you if you help us." said Blade. "I understand reclaimer, I will assist you in whatever matter you need." "Great, now let's get you out of here." As soon as Blade said that, two guards entered. I fired my gun, killing one before he could sound the alarm. But the other guard yelled "Intruder alert! Two unknown-ARGH!" Blade killed him before he could finish the sentence. He turned to me and said "Things just got complicated. I'll call for evac."
The next few minutes was spent running and shooting. We ditched the guard uniforms and took on the form ODSTs. After we fought through the hallways, we became cornered in the hanger. Blade and I fought until we ran out of ammo while Ancilla continued to fight with his eye laser. "How are we getting out of this one?" I asked. "John! We're cornered and out of ammo! What's your ETA?" "About three to five minutes, depending on how this sandstorm goes." "Make it three." He turned to Anciila and said "How long can you keep
this up?" "I don't know, I only needed to fight like this once. I'll explain later, but for now, keep your heads down."
After John and Soric rescued us, Ancilla spoke up. "Now that we are no longer in immediate danger, I am 03-636 Ebullient Ancilla, monitor of this installation. And you are?" I'm Blade, that's Soric, John and Zephyr. You were going to explain something to us?"
"Ah yes. Before I was captured, I was assisting a rebellion against the reclaimer known as WitchDoctor. Their main base was attacked and I was captured in order to aid them gain access to restricted areas."
"Did any of the resistance escape or were taken captive?" asked Soric. "I do not know. Many of the prisoners were executed once captured. But maybe some of the high ranking rebels were taken captive for interrogation and there is a chance that some of the rebels managed to escape quickly or were off site when the attack happened."
Blade spoke up saying "Then we should look for these guys and help them out. John, monitor the comm. channels and look for any chatter on rebel activity. Soric, fly this bird. Zephyr, be ready to enter battle. Ancilla, tell me everything I need to know about these rebels."
I went to do my duty by restocking my ammo and getting a drop shield. I hesitated when I picked up the shield. I realized that I could become anything with Blade's armor ability so I put the shield back. I also realized, when I'm back on Earth, I may still be a SPARTAN-III, instead of little ol' me. With the ability, I could look like me again, with all the strength of a Spartan. I smiled at the thought.
