Chapter 14- High Charity, Part 1
Authors Notes- We're almost done with the H2 section of the book! As always, Rate, REVIEW! DO IT NOW, I DON"T CARE WHAT YOU"RE DOING, THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT! And post on the forum, PLEASE! I REQUIRE FEEDBACK! (It's official, I have become like a smart AI after 8 years of service. If you don't know what that equates to, play Halo 4, [clears throat, assumes Jackie Chan accent] you will understand, my young grasshoppers.) For now, enjoy the sort of novelization of… Gravemind… Dun-dun-Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!
Far below the surface of the Halo ring, 5 Spartans and an Elite stirred to find themselves in an audience with a creature far beyond their wildest nightmares. One of the Spartans, the Master Chief was more open than the rest. "What… is that?" The creature responded. "I? I am a monument to all your sins." Six looked at it in recognition. "You're the thing that dragged us down here!" The creature ignored Six and pulled the Elite and the Chief towards it. The Elite was struggling fiercely. The Chief looked at it. "Relax; I'd rather not piss this thing off." "Demon!"
The creature lifted the Spartans towards it. "These ones are machine and nerve; and have their minds concluded…" It lifted the Elite. "This one is but flesh and faith; and is the more deluded." The Elite glared at the creature. "Kill me or release me, Parasite, but do not waste my time with talk!" "There is much talk, and I have listened, through rock and metal and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen." It lifted up two figure, one that looked like the Monitor from the first ring, and one that looked like the Prophet the Spartans had killed.
The Monitor spoke first. "Greetings, I am 2401 Penitent Tangent. I am the Monitor of Installation 05." The Prophet spoke next, though it sounded like it was in a great deal of pain. "And I… I am the Prophet of Regret, councilor most high… hierarch of the Covenant." 2401 Penitent Tangent addressed the Spartans. "Reclaimers? Here? At last. We have much to do. This facility must be activated if we are to control this outbreak." Regret addressed the Monitor. "Stay where you are… Nothing can be done until my sermon is complete!" "Not true. This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and 1 actual; it is ready to fire on demand."
Regret addressed the Elite. "Of all the objects our Lords left behind, none are so useless as these Oracles! They know nothing of the Great Journey!" The Monitor rebuked Regret. "And you know nothing of containment. You have demonstrated a complete disregard for even the most basic protocols!" The creature spoke again. "This one's containment…" It gestured to the Monitor. "And this one's Great Journey are the same." It addressed the Elite. "Your Prophets have promised you freedom from a doomed existence, but you shall find no salvation on this ring. Those who built this place knew what they wrought. Do not mistake their intent, or all shall perish, as they did before." The Chief looked at the Elite. "This thing is right, Halo is a weapon. You're Prophets are making a big mistake." "You're ignorance has already destroyed one of the Sacred Rings, Demon. It shall not harm another!"
The creature spoke again. "If you will not hear the truth, then I will show it to you. There is still time to stop the key from turning, but first it must be found." It held up the Chief, Six and Jun. "You three will search one likely spot…" It held up the Elite, Carter, and Emile. "And you three will search another. Fate had us meet as foes, but this ring will make us brothers!" And with that, the creature flicked the tentacles holding the six, and they all teleported to their destinations.
Covenant Holy City, High Charity
The three Spartans, the Chief, Jun, and Six, were teleported into the Covenant city, High Charity. More specifically, into the room where the Prophet of Truth was addressing the Covenant on the finding of the Index. The Chief looked at a nearby Grunt. "Boo!" The Grunt squealed in terror and threw its Needler into the air. The Chief caught it, and aimed it at Truth. The Brute Honor Guards to either side of the Prophet put their spears between the Demons and their hierarchs. Truth looked at the Spartans with a look of disgust. "Kill the Demons!" Six looked at the Prophet. "What the fuck did you say about me?" The platform that the hierarchs were on lowered, leaving the Spartans to deal with the Brute Honor Guards.
Since neither Six nor Jun had any weapons, theirs being lost in the lake along with the Chief's, the Master Chief was forced to deal with the Brutes alone, or so he thought. Six and Jun snuck around to the Brute's backs and stabbed them in their necks simultaneously, so as to not piss one off at its pack brother's death. Six and Jun each grabbed a Brute Plasma Rifle, and as they did, a group of Brutes and Grunts came out of the side entrances. Six threw his knife at a Brute, stabbing it in the eye and killing it, while Jun and the Chief blasted another with their weapons. When all the enemies were dead, Cortana told the Chief to put her down on one of the pedestals near the far door. He did, and she informed the group that Truth had the Index. She opened the doors, and the group proceeded further into High Charity.
As they went along, Cortana discovered a number of marine IFF tags below them. They journeyed down to the brig, or whatever it was, and found 2 groups of marines. After they had freed the marines, they went back up the gravity lift that had taken them down the lift. The Chief found an Energy Sword, which reminded Six that he still had his, plus his thruster pack. Cortana asked him how he could have forgotten about a jet pack on his back. "It's been a long day, what with hard-dropping onto the ring, killing a Prophet, having an intelligent conversation with the Flood, and being teleported here." The door in front of them opened and a lone Brute came through, chased by a group of Elites.
The Chief struck down the Brute, and was about to kill the Elites, when one of the Elites yelled to its allies, "Stop! Do not fire! the Demons share our goals: slaughter of the Brutes and the traitorous Prophets." The Elite turned to the Spartans. "Come with us, Demons, we shall slay the traitors Truth and Tartarus as allies, not as enemies!" Six turned to Jun. "What the hell just happened?" "We just gained an entire species worth of allies."
The group, now including 5 Elites, moved through towards the far tower, where Truth and Tartarus were supposed to be going. They came to a quartet of Honor Guards, who immediately sought to attack the Spartans, only to be stopped by the same Elite. "Stop, the Demons are with us, and we share mutual goals." The Honor Guards joined the group, and they soon came across another pair, who immediately assumed that the Spartans were working with them, and joined the group, which had grown to also include a pair of Hunters.
The group, now more like an assault force, for it had grown even more, adding 4 more Elites, but losing a Hunter and an Honor Guard, entered a large room where a group of 3 Elite Ultras were fighting a group of Brutes. Six drew his Sword, and he launched himself, using his thruster pack, into the middle. He killed one Brute, and then lured another onto the blade of an Ultra. The Ultra looked at him, stunned. Six just nodded at it, and then helped an Honor Guard slay a pair of Brutes. The honor Guard looked like it smiled at him. The Ultras joined their group, and another pair of Hunters lumbered out of the nearby door, joining their group as well.
The force came to an open area, which the Spartans assumed was an atrium, where a group of 3 Elite Rangers were battling a swarm of Drones. The other Elites immediately engaged the Drones, killing off at least 20, but leaving at least twice that number still alive. Jun noticed a Rocket Launcher lying nearby (How did that get there… how indeed.) He picked it up and 'pulled a Chief'; he used both rockets to kill at least ¾ of the remaining Drones. The Rangers killed off the last of them, then moved ahead to act as scouts for the group. (The group now consists of 9 Elite Minors, 5 Honor Guards, 3 Hunters, 3 Spartans, 3 Ultras, and 3 Rangers. That's 26 troops in all. Shiiiiiiiiiit, that's huge.)
The Rangers contacted the Elite that had originally allied the Spartans and the Elites. "Leader, there is a lone Sangheli fighting two of the traitors up ahead." "Thank you, Ranger. Engage at your own discretion." "Yes, leader" The group moved on, and when they reached the next set of doors, the Elite looked at the Spartans. "Demons keep moving; the Honor Guards will accompany you. We will stay and keep this area clear of traitors." The Chief nodded at the Elite, and with the 5 Honor Guards, the Spartans moved through, finding the Rangers and the lone Minor fighting two Brute Honor Guards. Jun leapt forward and stabbed one through the heart with an Energy Sword he had found in a crate. The other was double-teamed by Six and the Minor: the Minor lured it towards Six, and he stabbed it up through the neck.
The Minor joined now thinned group, and they journeyed on. Cortana contacted the Chief. "Slipspace rupture. It's In Amber Clad!" Sure enough, the frigate zoomed on by and headed for what appeared to be the far tower. "Hailing… no response. I'll keep trying, but I'm not detecting any human life signs aboard." One of the Honor Guards looked at the Spartans. "Demons, that ship is infested with the Flood, there is no point in going after it." He turned to the other Sangheli. "It was only a matter of time before the Parasite found and infiltrated our holy city. Once we have slain the traitors, we shall return, and cleanse the Flood from our city!" The other Sangheli roared in agreement, and the group moved on.
The group mixed more when not in combat, instead of the Spartans leading the Elites; some of the Honor Guards were now conversing with the Spartans. Six was in a rather interesting conversation with one. "Why do you hate the Brutes?" "After the Prophets ordered our annihilation, Tartarus, the Brute Chieftain, took the Sacred Icon, what you call the 'Index', from our Arbiter, the most loyal subject in the Sangheli race. Retrieving it was the Arbiter's responsibility, bestowed upon him by the Prophets themselves after we found this ring. Tartarus then proceeded to kill the Arbiter, throwing him down the abyss where, only moments before, he had retrieved the Icon." "What does the Arbiter's armor look like? Before we were sent here, we found a Sangheli that looked very much different from the rest." "He wears black armor, according to our tradition, and does not have many of the functions that our armor does. His headpiece covers the entire center of his face, instead of ours, which do not cover our mouths. His combat harness does not cover his entire torso, only part of it." "We saw one just like that, alive and kicking, underneath the Library. Sounds like he was thrown there by Tartarus. Two of our other Demons went with him." "Astounding! He is alive!" The Elite turned to the other Elites. "Brothers, the Arbiter lives!" The other Elites looked at him, astounded at the news.
The Elites, rallied by the news that their Arbiter was alive, pushed on in earnest. They came to an area where two Phantoms were waiting. The Elites charged, intent on boarding the dropships and killing the Brutes and the Prophets. Just before they could board, the Phantoms took off for the ring. "Damnit!" "It is alright, brother, we shall follow them to the ring." The Chief looked at the other two Spartans.
"That Brute, Tartarus, has the Index, and Commander Keyes and Sgt. Johnson, he can activate the ring." Six looked up at him. "That's not good. We need to follow them, wherever they're going. Where are they going, exactly?" Cortana spoke up. "Maybe that Prophet over there knows." A nav point appeared on their HUDs and they turned, noticing the Prophet of Mercy at the mercy of a Flood Infection Form. The Master Chief walked up to him. "Your pal, where's he going?" "Earth… to finish what we started." The Chief pulled the Infection Form off of the Prophet, and both the Flood form and the Prophet died. The Chief stood back up. "Cortana, is there any way we can follow the Prophet back to earth? We won't do any good here?" "There is a way to reach that tower- like structure over there, which is where Truth appears to be headed." Six looked over at it. "What about the Brute? It has all the necessary components to activate the ring, doesn't it?" "If he does, I'll detonate In Amber Clad's reactors, just like the Chief did to the Pillar of Autumn, the blast will destroy this city and the ring. Not a very original plan but we know it will work." The Chief walked over to the nearest pedestal, where Cortana's avatar appeared. He went to put his hand on the pedestal, but was stopped. "I don't want to chance a remote detonation again. I need to stay here."
The Chief looked back at the other two. "You two go with the Elites and stop that Brute, I'll follow Truth back to Earth." Six stepped forward. "Not alone, you won't." Jun, who was completely silent throughout the whole thing, stepped forward as well. "Couldn't we just contact Emile and Carter and see if they can assist the Elites, seeing as they are already helping one." The Chief looked at him. "Good point, try it and see what happens."
Jun keyed his comm. "Noble 3 to Noble 1 and Noble 4, do you copy, over?" There was silence for about 10 seconds, then, "Noble 3, this is Noble 4, I read you, Jun. What do you need?" "The Covenant have captured Commander Keyes and Sgt. Johnson and plan to use them to activate the ring. A Brute Chieftain by the name of Tartarus has just left the giant space station in a Phantom for the control room. We need to know if you can intercept him." "We will. We were on our way there anyway to find the Index." "You won't find it there; the Brute has it." Solid copy, Jun." Where are the Elite and Carter?" "You mean the Arbiter? He's gone to 'make the Brutes pay for what they have done', while Carter and I are waiting for him by a Scarab that we stole." Six had tuned in to the conversation, and at the mention of the Arbiter, he said, "I knew that was the one he was talking about!" He had forgotten that he was on the channel, which meant that Emile heard it too. "Six, what are you talking about?" "We made an alliance with the Elites, and one of them mentioned the Arbiter. They thought he was dead." Another voice, deeper, came over. "So, my brothers think me dead. They will be in for a surprise." "Emile, was that the Arbiter?" "Yeah, he just grabbed a Banshee, and Johnson is here with us too." "That's a relief." Johnson tuned in to the channel. "Those dumb apes didn't stand a chance against my beloved Corps!" There were evidently at least two marines with him, because the Spartans in High Charity heard an excited "Hoo-Rah!" as he said this. Emile told them that they had forged an alliance with the Elites as well, albeit more slowly than the Chief had.
Jun closed the channel, and just as he did, a Pelican crashed on the platform across from them. Cortana informed them that the Gravemind, the creature beneath the Library, had used them, and that In Amber Clad was its intended method of delivery. "Wait, I'm reading a Slipspace rupture inside the city." The Chief looked at her. "Truth is going to jump?" "No, something coming in." Just then, what looked like a piece of a Covenant Corvette came out of Slipspace, and crashed near them. The Master Chief looked at it suspiciously. "Another Flood-infested ship?" A large figure climbed out, and when it jumped out of the debris, Six recognized it instantly.
"No… It's Jorge."