On The Other Side: October 20th 2552
Location: Orbit Above Earth, Spirit of Justice
The UNSC fleet had been sat in orbit above Mars, having to watch as the huge Covenant fleet swarmed over the Earth, focusing on the African continent, around the location of the ruins of New Mombasa. The ships had been there for an hour when something happened among the ancient Forerunner ships.
One ship particular turned and headed for the massive space station, realising something was going wrong the Covenant fleet had opened fire on the ship but, as the Spirit of Justice had seen, the weapons had no effect. The ship accelerated towards the station and slammed into the hull in a huge column of fire and debris. The station listed to one side from the heavy impact. Using the long range sensors Price got a better look at the impact, pouring into the station were dozens of Flood. "Sarah, I need the Admiral on priority one channel, Earth is in grave danger. That space station which just got hit by the Forerunner ship, I know what happened. The Flood were onboard that ship and took it over from inside, they sent it on a collision course with the station and now they're invading. If the Flood gets to Earth we can kiss goodbye to the planet."
After just a few seconds the face of Lord Hood appeared on the main display, "What is it Captain Price, this isn't a good time to give me more bad news." Hood looked tired and ready to break if he heard more bad news but but he needed to know, reasoned Price. "Sir, the ship which just crashed into the enemy space station contained the same parasitic life form which we fought so hard to destroy on the first Halo ring. If the parasite gets to Earth we can say goodbye to the entire planet." explained Price, Hood looked horrified but his look turned to thought, "Thank you Captain, I will…" suddenly sirens went off all over the Justice and could be heard on the Cairo over the comm. Hood cut the channel and Price turned to the Ensign on comms. "Ensign, what's happening?" after a brief pause the Ensign turned, "Sir, something's happening on the planet. The clouds above the dig site are clearing due to an energy pulse and… oh my God… Sir there's some kind of portal opening up in the atmosphere." the young man had gone pale, Price himself felt shocked, "Sarah, recall all ground teams I want the Spartans onboard asap." he ordered.
"Yes Sir, I'm getting orders from the Cairo, we're to wait until most of the Covenant fleet have gone through the portal and then follow them, from there he'll asses the situation further." explained Sarah. It was thirty minutes before the Spartans got off the planet in their Pelican, gave the space station a wide berth and got back to the Justice.
"Sir, I'm getting a fleet wide communication from the Covenant carrier Shadow of Intent, Lord Hood wants us all to hear it so I'm patching it through."
The face of a huge elite appeared on the view screen, it had lost one mandible and another was badly damaged, "Humans, I am Rtas 'Vadumee, shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent, while my teams were on the surface they encountered a Forerunner made artificial intelligence of incredible knowledge. It told us that the war we have waged against your kind for all these years was not just, we were manipulated by the Prophets and have been made fools of. As a race we have repented of to sins and in order to defeat the parasite which now spreads through our Holy City, we suggest an Alliance between our two races."
There was silence on every bridge, every command centre of every ship and MAC platform in the human fleet. The enemy they had been losing to for twenty years, on the brink of victory, at thrown it all away in the name of honesty? The channel stayed open as Lord Hood's voice came over the comm, "I am Lord Hood, leader of humanities' forces, I have considered your offer and would like to accept… on one condition." Hood explained the elite's face contorted angrily but then calmed, "What?" growled the elite, his voice betraying the anger he had hidden, "That your people accept responsibility for the war, help us rebuild and agree to share your technology with us." Hood demanded.
The elite seemed to grind its' mandibles for a moment before it spoke, "Alright human, we shall be allies. When the war is over and we have won we shall sit down and discuss this further." The screen went blank as the comm was cut and the ex-Covenant ships moved away from the planet towards the human fleet over Mars. "Keep an eye on them", ordered Hood over the comm, "I don't trust them yet. First sign of trouble shoot first and ask questions later."
As he signed off the comm Price turned to Sarah "Do you think this is real, can we trust them?" Sarah was silent for a moment, deep in thought, when she spoke she did so slowly, carefully choosing her words, "I think we can", she explained, "I analysed the transmission and he displayed every sign of being truthful, it is possible that he faked the signs but I think we can trust him. I'll monitor the comm channels from the carrier to make sure we don't miss anything." Her hologram disappeared as she focused her attention on monitoring enemy frequencies.
…
There was silence in the command centre aboard the Cairo station as the fleetmaster was lead in by three Marine guards, he had with him two other elites in the white armor of Ultras. As he approached he nodded to Hood and began to speak, "There is much we must discuss but that can wait, right now we must peruse the Prophets through the Portal. On the other side lies the Ark, I believe you are familiar with the Halo array and what it is capable of. On the Ark lies a place from which all seven rings can be activated at once. If this is allowed to happen then we shall all die."
Hood remained silent for a moment, considering the information, "Fleetmaster, while I agree it is of the utmost importance that the rings do not fire you must also see that Earth must be defended, if it falls then humanity shall be wiped from existence. I can only send a few ships with you but they shall be some of our best. I will send the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Say My Name and the Spirit of Justice. All three of these ships are commanded by some of the best officers in the UNSC and the Justice has a squad of four Spartan-IIs. They are the only ships I can afford to spare in case any more Covenant ships arrive."
"Thank you, I understand your situation and the ships you have provided will be ideal. We shall depart soon, may the strength of the gods guide your way Admiral." Rtas bowed as he turned and left the command centre to return to the Shadow of Intent. As he returned to the dropship he was pulled up the gravity life and into the craft, "Are there any signs that the humans seek to betray us?" asked Rtas of the elite spec ops warrior he had dispatched to access the human systems and make sure their deal was true. "No fleetmaster, the humans seem to have much honour and, while the still harbor some doubts, the do for the time being trust us." A smile came to Rtas' mandibles as the Phantom lifted off and left the hangar to return to the Shadow of Intent from where he would command the destruction of the treacherous Covenant and restore honour to his people.
Once he had returned to his flagship he exited the Phantom and walked at a brisk pace to the bridge, crew members scattered as they saw the fleetmaster coming along the corridor, ignoring anyone that got in his way, knocking them to the ground. As the bridge door opened at his presence the crew stood up and his second in command reported all systems were as they should be and they could accelerate through the Portal at his command. He sat down in his command chair and pointed forwards, "Take us in, our fight is on the other side with the bastard Truth and the other Prophets." At his command the ship glided forwards, flanked by his fleet and the three human ships. Together the accelerated into the Portal and were instantly whisked away.
Another Fight?: October 21th 2552
Location: In Slipspace, Spirit of Justice
"Sarah, do we have any idea how long the jump is going to take?" asked Price, desperate to give his crew some rest but it wasn't possible because they could come out of slipspace and need to fight at any time. "I'm sorry Sir but even my best estimates are just guesses and… wait… there's your answer, I don't know how but the Shadow of Intent just sent us a message, the jump will take three days and in the meantime we should rest, complete any and all possible repairs." Price sighed with relief, at least now he could take his crew off high alert and get some rest, "Lieutenant Shaw, you have the bridge while I'm gone, alert me of anything important." Shaw saluted him as Price left the bridge for his quarters. Once he was in his room he loosened his collar and picked up the bottle of whiskey from under his desk and poured himself a shot. He downed it in one. It had been a stressful few days and he needed a break, he leant back onto his bed and promptly fell asleep.
…
He awoke five hours later, it made a nice change for him to wake up naturally but then he realized he hadn't, his alarm was going off and had woken him. He silently cursed himself for not deactivating it but decided he need to get up and check on the crew. After a hot shower and shave he returned to the bridge. To his surprise everything was as he had left it, the main screen still showed the inky blackness of slipspace.
He sat down in the command chair and Sarah's avatar popped up next to him, "Sleep well Captain?" she asked, her voice sounded as refreshed as he felt.
"Yes thank you, what's our status, any contact from the elites?" he asked, still not totally trusting their new allies. "Yes Sir, it appears that their original calculations were highly inaccurate, rather than taking three days the journey will only take us another half an hour. The fleetmaster blamed it on an underestimation of how fast the slipstream the Portal made was." she explained. Price sighed sadly, so much for his long break but at least the war was drawing to a conclusion, one way or another. "Okay, get the crew up and battle ready so we're prepared for when we exited." The ship bustled as everyone got to their station and steeled themselves for the battle ahead, it was undoubtedly the most vital one of the war.
The ship shuddered as it dropped out of slipspace above the construct below. It was massive, bigger in diameter than Halo and Earth combined. It had eight "arms" four wider ones and four slightly thinner ones coming off of a central ring, In the centre of this inner ring was a moon. "The Ark…" Price whispered, stunned at the size of the construction. Then he saw the reason they were there. In orbit above the Ark was the huge Covenant fleet, less in number now the elites had quit the Covenant but still massive. Price noticed that the ships already bore damage and then he saw that not all the ships were under Covenant control, some had turned a strange brown colour, evidence that they were tainted by the Flood, there seemed to be a war being fought between the Flood and the remains of the Covenant and both sides were ignoring the new elite and human ships.
The surface of the Ark also bore evidence of the growing conflict, huge areas of the Ark were stained the same brown colour as the tainted ships. The Ark was infected. The comm bleeped and a transmission came in from the Flood ship, "Do not shoot, but listen! The Covenant seeks to activate the rings ,those who built this place knew what they wrought. Do not mistake their intent, or all will perish as they did before. We must stop what they have set in motion, there is still time to stop the key from turning. Together we shall defeat our enemy. I shall keep them busy while you find and eliminate their leaders who are currently on the construct, seeking to activate it." the voice was deep and rasping, suddenly Price recognised it. The voice from the Spartans' audio logs on the first Halo, the Flood central intelligence had escaped and returned. 'Vadumee opened a private comm channel to Price, who had been put in charge of all human forces in the fleet, "Price, what the Parasite says is true, I fear we must make ann alliance with the Parasite if we are to save all." Price sighed, he had no wish to work with anything which was capable of turning men into monsters but he was also a realist and saw that if they didn't work with the Flood, they didn't stand a chance. Once 'Vadumee had confirmed the alliance the Flood ships increased their rate of fire, keeping the Covenant fleet busy while the Human-Sangheili fleet snuck past into orbit above the Ark.
'Vadumee's voice came in over the comm, he sounded haggard, "Captain, on every Forerunner construct there is a facility they call the Silent Cartographer, we must find it in order to locate the control room before the Covenant. There are two probable locations but I can't be sure which it is, I shall send a squad to investigate one and you shall send down the Spartans to search the other, 'Vadumee out." As the elite signed off the comm Price turned to Sarah, "You heard him, get those Spartans down there." he ordered.
This War Will End: October 21th 2552
Location: Surface of The Ark
As the Pelican descended through the atmosphere John, Kelly, Fred and Linda carried out their equipment checks, Fred, Kelly and John cleaned their rifles while Linda performed complicated zeroing and configuring on her sniper rifle but by the time they arrived at their destination they were all ready to move out. As the Pelican came lower they leapt out and landed on the ground with a thud. On three sides of them was beautiful landscape so typical of Forerunner constructs, coniferous forests, vast oceans and high cliffs… but the direction they had to go was less pleasant. The land was covered in a layer of Flood biomass, the trees were dead and turning a deathly brown. It was in this direction that they had to travel to reach the possible location of the Silent Cartographer. As they stepped out onto the Flood infested land John was reminded strongly of the first Halo where they had encountered the Flood and thought they had destroyed it. In the distance a large yet squat looking structure could be seen built out over a bluff. "That must be the Cartographer." John called back, "Lets double time it, I want us there asap." Together they moved off eyeing the terrain for any signs of betrayal from their newest ally.
As they marched across the fleshy land the air was thick with spores and all around them wandered Flood tank forms, combat forms, infection forms and carrier form, even some forms he had never seen before. It was a veritable army and he couldn't help but realise that if the Flood chose to betray them at that moment they wouldn't stand a chance. Slowly the structure got closer the figures of unknown creatures appeared around the structure, as they got closer it became clear that it was a team of Covenant loyalists, three brutes and five grunts to be exact. "Linda", John called, a continued as she approached, "What's the range you're getting on those brutes?"
"Around one kilometer" she replied, "Do you want me to take them down?" she asked, looking to him for an answer, "When I give the signal take them out.", he ordered, "Kelly you're with me Fred, you'll be spotter." The team split up and went their separate ways, John and Kelly snuck up on the brutes from the side while Fred and Linda headed for the high ground. Once they were in position Linda flashed her acknowledgment light, John and Kelly drew grenades and lobbed them at the edge of the enemy group, herding them closer. John flashed his light and there were several cracks from Linda's direction and the brutes fell to the ground, minus their heads. John and Kelly leapt in and hosed the grunts with rifle fire, they collapsed to the ground in a slowly growing puddle of blood.
It was a few minutes before Fred and Linda had trekked to the building to meet up with John and Kelly, this gave John and Kelly the chance to sit down and count up their ammo and work out a plan to search what could be the Silent Cartographer. Once Linda and Fred had arrived the group moved into the structure and methodically searched every room, slowly making their way down the structure out from the bluff over the sea. Eventually they came to a platform that stuck out, slightly below sea level but rather than being underwater as it should have been the sea appeared to be up against an invisible wall. In the centre of the balcony around the abyss was a terminal. Slowly, cautiously John approached the terminal and activated it. In front of him, hovering in the air was a huge holographic projection of the Ark, instinctively he reported to Price over the comm, "Sir, we've found the Cartographer, I'm uploading the details to the Justice over the wireless system. What are our new orders?"
…
"Well done Chief, return to the surface, we'll send a Pelican to collect you. Once we've analysed the map you'll be sent with an elite strike to team to get to the control room and neutralise the Covenant Prophets before they activate the ring." After signing off the comm he turned to Sarah, "Can you put the map up on the central holopad." Instantly the map appeared above the device and Price and Sarah gathered around it to work out a plan. "Sir", Sarah explained, "I've located the control room and it seems to be unprotected. I'll transmit the coordinates to the Shadow of Intent and the Spartans' Pelican. The two teams will rendezvous near the building and have to fight their way to it."
"Excellent" muttered Price, then spoke more loudly, "What's the situation in the orbital battle?" The map of the Ark disappeared and was replaced with a three dimensional view of the battle in orbit. Much of the Covenant fleet was cast in red, indicating severe damage, however, the Flood fleet was almost totally destroyed. Both good and bad news. If the Flood fleet was destroyed then it wouldn't make it possible for the Flood to get away from the Ark, but it would leave the Covenant an opening to attack to Human-Sangheili fleet. Price pressed a button to open a channel with 'Vadumee, "Fleetmaster, the Flood have almost lost despite dealing the Covenant fleet heavy damage. I suggest we leave it as long as we can before moving in then do so in grand scale. The entire fleet should engage the enemy and obliterate them." Price explained, hoping the fleetmaster would be willing to agree. "A sound plan human, we shall overwhelm our enemies, however, I would advise that one ship remains out of the battle to provide support for our ground teams." 'Vadumee decided. Seeing it was a reasonable suggestion Price agreed, "Good idea, perhaps we should leave the Forward Unto Dawn out of the battle, it is the smallest ship in the fleet and whilst she isn't weak, she won't last long in a heavyweight fight like this." The fleetmaster nodded and cut the comm channel.
After issuing the orders to the Dawn and getting the other human ships lined up with the elite fleet Price was left with little to do except order his crew to maintain missile locks for the MAC, Archers and plasma turrets until the time to fire came. There was tense silence on the bridge as the last Flood controlled ship slugged it out with the five ships left in the Covenant fleet. Finally, in a surge of purple flame and bits of biomass the ship exploded, signaling the moment for the allied fleet to move in. As the fleet of twenty elite ships and two human ships arrayed itself against tiny Covenant loyalist fleet. The message came from 'Vadumee to open fire and no ship hesitated, the Spirit alone launched off two MAC rounds and ten plasma lances along with countless Archers. As the blanket of plasma neared the Covenant ships they tried to dodge but the almost wall like array of plasma struck the ships burning instantly through the shields and melting into the ships, by the time the MACs and Archers hit they were simply obliterating terminally damaged ships.
Suddenly the Portal opened up behind them and the mammoth form of High Charity appeared in the heavens. It streaked across space straight through the middle of the allied fleet, the ships were forced to scatter as the Covenant Holy City sped past on a heading for the Ark. Suddenly a transmission came in from the doomed station, "Silence fills the empty grave now that I have come, join your voice with mine and we shall sing victory, everlasting." The comm channel cut out with a burst of static as High Charity ploughed into the surface of the Ark at high speed, leaving a deep gash in the construct. "Sarah, contact 'Vadumee, we need to reassemble the fleet."
One More Betrayal: October 21th 2552
Location: Surface of The Ark
"Chief, get onboard I've been ordered to take you and your team to the control room. Captain wants you to stop the Prophets before they activated the rings." explained the pilot as the Spartans clambered up into the Pelican and it sped off over the Flood tainted ocean of the Ark towards the control room. "Get some rest, we all need it." John ordered and the Spartans sat down to take a break. Within moments they had all fallen asleep to the thrumming of the dropship's engines.
It was getting dark when they finally awoke to the pilot's warning that they had arrived. They climbed out of their positions in the troop bay and looked out. The artificial sun was setting over the horizon of the Ark, behind the huge citadel like control room. Hovering above the Citadel were two Phantoms, one was transmitting elite signals, the other was brute controlled. The two were slugging it out, firing plasma blasts at each other, it seemed to be an even match until the Pelican arrived on the scene and launched a flurry of Anvil-II missiles at the enemy Phantom until it exploded in a plume of purple flame which cast mad shadows as the wreckage fell to the ground.
"Thank you humans, this is the strike team sent to assist you by fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadumee. We shall work together to infiltrate the Citadel and silence the treacherous Prophets." the voice of an elite said over the comm. Both Pelican and Phantom hovered alongside each other as they dispensed their forces onto the plateau before the Citadel. Once they had all disembarked the Spartans and elites looked at each other. "Demo-… Spartans, it is an honour to fight alongside you. We have always revered your kind as noble warriors." the elite explained, John suddenly had a wave of memories, he recognised the elite or at least the armor he wore. "The Arbiter", John breathed, "but I killed you, I saw you die on the first Halo." he took a step back, shocked that the alien could have cheated death. "Not quite Spartan", the elite chuckled, "you did kill an Arbiter at Halo but during a time of crisis the Covenant selects an Arbiter, you killed my predecessor, Ripa 'Moramee, he was a mighty warrior, it is impressive that you defeated him. When he died the post of Arbiter was left unfilled but after your ship destroyed Halo under the nose of my fleet I was humiliated. I was branded with the mark of shame" he gestured to his chest, "I was sentenced to death but the Prophet of Truth decided the best way to kill me was to make me Arbiter and give me suicidal tasks to undertake." the elite seemed disheartened as he told his story, "However, now is not the time for this, we must storm the Citadel and kill the bastard Prophets."
Together the group turned and headed Citadel. As they approached they came to a huge gorge with no evident bridge, knowing what he needed to do, John walked over to the console beside the crevasse and, with little idea what he was doing, pressed a button, across the canyon appeared a glowing light bridge. They marched towards the entrance which slid open as they approached. Lining the walls of the hall leading to an elevator were holographic monitors, as they passed they came to life with the face of the Prophet of Truth as he began a grand speech, "Though our enemies crowd around us, we tread the blessed path. In a moment I shall light the Holy Rings and divine light shall sweep across the stars delivering all those who are worthy to Godhood and shall destroy the Heretics and their Demon allies." as ever the speech was accompanied by various hand gestures and done in a tone of voice which would only encourage Covenant followers. "Hurry Spartans, we must stop the Prophets!" called the Arbiter as the group broke into a run along the hallway to the lift up. They all leapt on and the lift shot up, propelling them upwards at high speed. As they exited the lift the grand hall in front of them was revealed. It was easily three hundred meters long and the roof towered high above them. Either side of the narrow walkway was a seemingly bottomless fall into the heart of the Ark. Just as the group was about to continue their battle to the controls for the Halo array at the far end of the massive room Flood forms dropped down from above them and the voice of the Gravemind spoke through one of the tank forms, "Come allies, I shall lead you safely to our foe." The wave of Flood moved off and began their assault on the Covenant emplacements along the walkway. Finally, after ten minutes of almost continuous gunfire and the roars of the Flood the squad reached the controls for the light bridge. On the far side, silhouetted against the falling sun was Truth, Regret and Mercy. "Excellent", chuckled Truth, "the humans have arrived, come, one of you will activate the Sacred Rings and start the Great Journey." The Prophet looked confident despite the hoards of Flood, Spartans and Elites that surrounded him, "You shall pay for your deception!" roared the Arbiter as he charged forward and lifted Truth up by the throat, "You shall pay for every lie, every deceit, every manipulation! The Great Journey is a lie." whispered the Arbiter, his tone quiet and deadly. With a swift movement he drew his energy sword and drove it into the Prophet's abdomen. The pitiful alien curled up around the wound and let out a moan, "You shall see Arbiter, I may be dead but the Covenant lives on. I shall become a God!" Truth growled as a Flood infection form leapt onto him as the Arbiter dropped him. "You shall be food, nothing more." the sinister voice of the Gravemind spoke through Truth. The Arbiter turned to Regret and Mercy, "You, too, shall pay for your crimes but not as he did. Sangheili, bind the traitors." he turned and stalked off as two Ultras stepped forward and bound the Prophets in energy manacles. The group turned to leave the Citadel when they spotted the line of Flood tank forms blocking the bridge, around the platform where they were stood three huge Flood tentacles appeared and the voice of the Gravemind came up from below and through the "mouths" of the various Flood forms around them, "Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside; corpses shift and offer room, a fate you must abide!" roared the crazed monster. The Spartans and elites congregated in the centre of the platform, taking up defensive positions against the Flood intelligence.
The tentacles crashed down onto the platform snapping it from the walkway. The group clung onto the platform as it fell down into the depths.