Chapter 26: Regret
Coelest System; Orbit above Substance
UNSC Stalwart-class light Fregade "In Amber Clad", Bridge
November 2nd; 2552
The universe around Weiss drastically changed. The blue and purple shine of Slipspace disappeared, and she felt her gut turning. She hated that she was still not fully accustomed to Slipspace Jumps, and hoped it'd get better soon.
The bridge was, obviously, pretty busy right now. The ship of the Prophet just left Slipspace, and they had to hurry to jump too, as to not come out in another system. Weiss requested to be on the bridge when it happened. If there was one thing that interested her about the new world they were in, then it was navigation, so seeing this first hand was important to her.
She opened her eyes again and gasped. In front of them was a giant, blue gas giant. It was massive, suggesting just how close they were to it. And then there was some weird shimmer on it... No, it couldn't be.
The force of the jump caused Keyes to almost slip out of her chair, though she was able to hold on. "Report!"
"Both engine cores have spun to zero. We're drifting." One of the officers, who Weiss knew as Remi, responded.
"Archer Pods are cold. I'll need to re-key the system." Pascal, the weapon officer, added.
Weiss sighed internally. No Archer Pods meant no Archer Rockets, which left them pretty defenseless if the Prophet decided to immediately attack them.
"Do it, and find out where we are," Keyes said and opened her comms. "Sorry for the quick jump, Sergeant. You in one piece?"
"I'm good. Chief?"
"We're fine," Cortana replied, responding in place of the Spartan.
Weiss hoped her friends would be okay too. They were waiting in the hangar, in case they had to evacuate or fight intruders.
"Ma'am, there's an object. Coming into view now." Remi said.
Weiss looked back at the planet and felt how the air stopped pumping through her lungs. Her heart stopped for a second, as she saw the last thing she ever wanted to see.
There, in the darkness of space, next to the planet, was a shimmering ring. Even from here, she could see the continents and oceans on the inside, and the blue hue of Forerunner technology.
"Cortana, what exactly am I looking at?" Keyes asked.
"That-"
"Halo," Weiss muttered in disbelief. "No... No. This isn't... I thought it was over. I thought we finished it." She felt how tears started to come down her cheeks, as she remembered what they faced back on Installation 04.
"So that is what my father found..." Miranda whispered. "I thought Halo was some kind of superweapon..."
"It is..." Weiss said. "Fire it, and all life in the galaxy is wiped out. But... But that's not the dangerous part. It's what lies in the bowels that's the real horror of Halo..."
"I want all the information we got on the first ring," Miranda replied, keeping her cool. Weiss couldn't say anything against it, after all, the Captain wasn't there. Hell, the heiress wasn't even sure if she knew what exactly happened to her father. "Schematics, topography, whatever. I don't care if I have the clearance or not."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Where's our target?"
"The enemy ship has stopped above the ring, ma'am. We're going to pass right over it."
"Perfect. Given what we know about this ring, it's even more important that we capture the Prophet of Regret. Find out why he came to Earth, why he came here. Chief, take the first platoon. Hard drop, secure a landing zone. Sergeant, load up two flights of Pelicans and follow them." She turned towards Weiss. "You and Ruby, you'll go down with a Pelican and assist the Chief once he cleared the landing zone."
Weiss snapped out of her shock and nodded. "Y- Yeah."
"Is everything okay?"
"Well, I just... I remembered what happened on the last ring. However, if my prediction is right, then we can definitely avoid another outbreak. I'm going to tell Ruby. What about Jaune and Pyrrha though?"
"They will help us with trying to stop the ring from activating. Once we find a way to do it, that is."
Weiss nodded, and left the bridge, directly moving towards the hangar. She felt a small shake, as the drop pods dispatched, but continued moving. "Dammit." She muttered to herself. "Dammit. I hoped we'd never find another ring."
The door to the hangar opened, and she saw how multiple Marines were already putting weapons and ammo into the Pelicans. Ruby, who was helping Johnson with overlooking the process, immediately waved at Weiss to come over to them. "Weiss!"
"Ruby, did you hear the news?"
"Yeah... Another ring." Ruby clenched her fists. "I..."
"Calm down," Johnson said. "There's nothing to be afraid of. We now know where the Flood's hiding on the ring, and I doubt that the Covenant will release them again. Even they won't make that kinda mistake twice."
Weiss gulped and nodded. He was right. There was nothing to be afraid of. And even if they met the Flood, she knew that the In Amber Clad had a SHIVA aboard. It wouldn't be too hard to blow up the ring. "Ruby, how far is our ride?"
"Almost done. Do you wanna fly?"
Weiss shook her head. "No. While I got the basics down, I don't think I could get us down safely."
"All supplies are onboard, Sergeant!" One of the Marines said.
"Good." Ruby and Johnson replied in unison and looked at each other.
"Can... Can we just get down now?"
"Marines! Buckle up and move your asses into your Pelican! We're going to give the Chief a bit of cover!"
"Hoo-ah!" The Marines replied and went into the dropships.
Ruby and Weiss sat down in theirs, keeping their weapons ready on their lap. Weiss saw how Ruby checked the cartridge one last time, nodding along with the clicking of her shapeshifting scythe. From the looks of the Marine next to her, he wasn't very thrilled to have a giant weapon unfolding next to him. Especially when it stabbed into his seat next to his shoulder.
The Pelican started, sliding out of the hangar. Weiss slowly, but steadily made her way into the cockpit, looking out of the window. Johnson turned around, nodded approvingly, and looked back out of the window.
"We're entering the atmosphere in one minute!" The pilot said. "Better try to hold on."
Weiss was able to spot explosions on the surface of the Halo and guessed that the Covenant was engaging the local sentinels. If that Ring also had a monitor? And was it less annoying than Spark?
Flames appeared outside the window as they entered the atmosphere, though it quickly stopped as their altitude lowered.
They broke through the clouds, and Weiss was able to see the area they were in. Below them was a lush, tropical jungle, dotted by giant lakes and small seas. Forerunner structures grew out of the waters and were covered by algae.
In the distance, she was able to see a big wall, behind which was a cold, harsh environment. If this place was anything like the last Halo, then this would probably be the location of the control room. She noticed how the water on their side of the wall was a bit... greener than the closer it was to the wall. There had to be some nasty algae living in those lakes.
Above the wall, she was able to make out small explosions. The sentinels were really keen on keeping the Covenant out. Hopefully, they aren't as determined when it came to the UNSC.
"Sure. I'll keep an eye out." The pilot said, ripping Weiss out of her thoughts.
"Keep an eye out for what? Covenant?"
"Well, of course. But it sounds like there are some nasty things in the air."
"Air?"
Suddenly, something scrapped over the top of the Pelican. "Is that a Sentinel?" Weiss asked.
"I don't remember them using their arms..." Johnson said.
Whatever landed on their ship, slowly made its way towards the front. Only ten seconds later, it finally showed it's ugly face. The creature was reptilian in nature, with two leathered wings. Its head resembled that of a lizard, though the long, pointy tail and two pairs of legs gave it an appearance akin to that of a mythical creature.
However, the one thing that stood out about it was the color. It was completely black, with small batches of white armor scattering its belly and head.
"Grimm?!" Johnson said.
"A cliff drake? What the hell?" Weiss asked in shock. "Why are there Grimm here?"
"You know this thing?"
"Yeah. It's a small creature, normally living on a small, volcanic Island off the Valeian cost." Weiss explained. She sighed. "Luckily, it won't be able to break in. Their claws aren't good against... well, anything sturdier than a piece of wood, really."
"Still, why are the Grimm here?" Johnson asked.
"Grimm?" Ruby asked, opening the door to the cabin.
"Ruby, get back. It's already full in here!"
"Can we still land?" Johnson asked into his comms.
Their Pelican slowly came towards the LZ, and Weiss noticed a couple of ruins in the back. They didn't look Forerunner, more like something one would see from ancient civilizations in deep jungles. The area before them was littered with Covenant corpses, alongside a few fallen ODSTs. The Chief was walking out of the ruins, along with one living ODST.
"Yeah, seems to be safe," Weiss replied and left the cabin. She took her Assault Rifle, while Ruby took her Sniper Rifle. The bay opened, and they jumped out.
They arrived on the ground, glad to finally have some solid dirt under their feet again. Behind them, two of the Pelicans dropped off one Warthog each. Weiss and Ruby walked up to the Chief. "We're here. Where's Regret?"
"I'd say he hides in that giant temple I saw on the way down," Weiss explained. "If I were the villain, then I'd hide in that thing."
"Then saddle up!" One of the Marines in the Warthog said. Weiss remembered him from New Mombasa. Dubbo. "We're movin' out!"
The two huntresses sat down in one Warthog, Weiss taking the passenger seat to use her glyphs, and Ruby taking the turret. The Chief took the other Warthog, jumping into the driver's seat.
They drove along a narrow pathway, taking out two jackals on the way, and arrived at a cliff overlooking one of the lakes. In the distance, the strange wall could be seen, and the air battle between the ring's defense forces, Grimm and Covenant. Three temples protruded out of the lake, and the Supercarrier hung over a distant mountain, it's size still intimidating. A few four-winged birds flew around in the air, almost looking like some kind of Pterosaur.
"Whoa... it's like a postcard!" Chipps Dubbo said in awe. "Dear Sarge: kicking ass in outer space, wish you were here."
"I heard that... jackass!" Johnson replied, getting a snicker out of Ruby.
The group moved alongside the cliff, and found a big temple, in front of a canyon that blocked their path. The temple was already reinforced by the Covenant, who used multiple Shades and Ghosts to keep the position. A large object was leaned against the side of the temple that faced the gorge as if it was meant to slide down. A few still dissolving black bodies made them guess that the Covies just took out a few Grimm.
"The Covenant have control of the bridge ahead. They're going to try to bottle us up on this side of the gorge. The controls to extend the bridge should be in this structure."
Ruby's hog moved in, quickly driving around the first shade. Weiss summoned a glyph to block the fire, and opened a small hole in the shield, to allow Ruby to shoot. The shade broke down under the continued fire, and their jeep drove up to the temple. "We're going to secure the inside," Weiss said over the comms.
"Affirmative." The Chief replied. They got a glimpse of the other Warthog ramming a Ghost, while shooting at it, slowly chipping away at its front.
Ruby, Weiss, and Dubbo jumped out of their jeep and went into the building. The narrow corridor led into a circular center room, where the holographic depiction of a weird Alien was visible.
It looked like it was sick, sitting in a hovering throne. The creature wore an expensive-looking robe and a golden crown. Two ornaments came out of the back of the throne, almost looking like golden wings. It sounded like it was currently holding a sermon.
However, none of the three had currently time to listen. A small lance of Covenant was occupying the room, consisting of three Unggoy and one Sangheili. Ruby took a Grenade and threw it into the room. The dying screams of two Grunts were heard, and Weiss shot her AR. It hit one of the Grunts, ripping it to pieces.
The Elite shot at them while taking cover behind a pillar. Weiss summoned a glyph, dilating time around the Elite, before moving in. She used the slowed down time, and stabbed the Sangheili multiple times. He was unable to retaliate, and she easily broke through the shield.
She noticed how her glyph started to lose its effect and jumped back. The Elite, who tried to hit her with his rifle, left his cover, enabling Dubbo to shoot him with his AR.
"Covenant's taken out!" Weiss said.
"We're done outside too," Cortana replied. "There's a Wraith on the other side of the canyon. We'll come in for cover until we activated the bridge."
Ruby walked over to the control panel and pressed it. Through the window, they were able to see the bridge slide down, moving over the gap.
Behind them, the Chief came in, alongside the ODST, who was carrying a Rocket Launcher. "Hey, Cortana?" Ruby asked.
"Yes?"
"Who's that?" She pointed at the hologram.
"That's the Prophet of Regret."
"Looks just as much of a jackass as I would've guessed," Weiss muttered. "What's he talking about?"
"It's a sermon. I've been listening to it since we landed. You want me to translate?"
"Sure." Ruby shrugged.
Suddenly, the Hologram started talking in English. "The Forerunners, our most exalted lords, used the seven sacred rings to flee a doomed existence, to escape their endless struggle against the Flood. Long ago, Prophets and Sangheili fought an equally fruitless war. Indeed, I suspect we would still be at each other's throats had the Prophets not found evidence of the Forerunners and their Great Journey."
"Yeah, he's definitely full of himself." Weiss deadpanned.
"By the way..." Ruby muttered, looking out of the window. Now that the bridge was down, they had a full view of the Wraith waiting on the other side. It was shooting at the temple, and dust rained down from the ceiling as it hit. "What are we going to do about that?"
"Sergeant? Can we get something more... heavy?" Weiss asked, pressing on her earpiece.
"Roger that. Armor's on the way." Johnson replied.
"I wanted to ask..." Weiss started while they were waiting for their reinforcements. "Who exactly built these ruins? They don't look Forerunner."
"Maybe some other culture evolved here and built them," Dubbo guessed.
"Unlikely. Why would the Forerunner systems be inside the structures?" Cortana explained. "I guess they simply imported them from somewhere or tried to imitate some other design."
They heard something heavy hitting outside, and Weiss went out to look, together with Ruby. Above them hovered a Pelican. And before them stood what it dropped: A brand-new M808B-Scorpion Tank, with the designation UE8-14.
"Nice," Ruby muttered. "Mine."
"You don't even know how to drive one. Obviously, this one's mine." Weiss replied.
"Negative," John said, suddenly standing behind him. "I need you two on a Warthog. Give me cover."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Fine."
She and Ruby went into the car. Ruby, once again, manned the turret, while Weiss climbed into the passenger's seat. Dubbo drove, and the ODST sat down on the Scorpion's tracks.
They passed over the bridge, and Dubbo moved the Warthog behind the Wraith, enabling Ruby to take out the exposed energy core, while the Chief took down the other mortar.
A few Ghosts came out of a wide cave but were no match for the two vehicles, as they entered the ruins. Grunts, Jackals, and Ghosts stood in their way, but thanks to the heavy ordinance, they weren't a problem to take out.
Eventually, their way through the ruins led them to a big, open area. A big temple stood in the middle, fortified by a few Shades and portable Energy barriers. A swarm of cliff drakes was circling around the top of the temple.
Weiss guessed that these things were going after their regular activity: building nests. For Grimm, Cliff Drakes were always surprisingly docile, only attacking if they feel threatened. Or if enough negative emotion is in the area. Hell, there had been cases of people being able to pet them. There were a couple of theories about that, that they lost their natural instincts for example, or that they cross-bread with normal animals at some point.
Sadly, it looked like the rattling of the Scorpion was enough to rile them up. The swarm descended on them, but one shell was enough to blow a big hole into the swarm. The remaining Drakes fled in panic, disappearing behind a mountain.
"I definitely prefer these things over Beowolf..." Ruby muttered.
"Uh, yeah. I think our other friends are willing to leave now." Weiss added, pointing at the temple. Grunts, Elites, and Kig-Yar poured out. They had apparently hidden inside.
The Chief immediately opened fire, taking out an Elite and a few Grunts. The other Unggoy fled in panic, just like the Kig-Yar. The remaining two Elites took cover behind a few pillars, while the Chief continued to taking potshots at the temple.
The Warthog drove up a few ramps, arriving at the balcony that led inside the temple. Ruby opened fire on the flanked Elites, taking one of them out. The third Elite realized that there wasn't anywhere to take cover, and drew his sword, running towards the jeep.
Weiss smiled. While she admired their sense of honor, such an undying need to die honorable was their greatest downfall.
They jumped out of the Warthog after it turned the Elite into swiss cheese, and walked along the balcony, while the Chief started moving up.
A Pelican appeared over them and dropped multiple ordinance pods. Ruby, Weiss, the Chief, and the ODST stocked up on ammo, while Dubbo swapped his Assault Rifle for a Shotgun.
Well equipped, they moved inside the temple. Immediately after entering the building, Plasma came their way. Weiss created a glyph, giving them a bit of extra cover, while the Chief took down a few of the Grunts alongside Dubbo and the ODST.
Slowly but steadily, they moved up, using Weiss' and Ruby's semblances to their advantage. Soon, they reached another hologram of the Prophet, and Cortana, once again, translated it.
"In a gesture of peace and reconciliation, the Prophets promised to find the means of the Forerunners' transcendence and to share this knowledge with the Elites. The Elites promised to defend the Prophets as they searched. A simple arrangement, that has become our binding Covenant!"
"Man, they really are delusional," Ruby muttered. "I mean, you'd think they would have realized what Halo's true purpose is after researching it for who knows how long..."
"Yes, but-" Cortana was cut off, as a massive fireball engulfed the area behind them. Weiss created a big glyph, blocking debris flying their way.
"What the hell?" Dubbo asked. "Did the Covies rig the entrance?"
"I don't think that they'd damage Forerunner structures," Ruby replied. "Anyways, we have to press forward. Regret has to die before he can activate the ring."
"You seem like you don't care that the entrance just blew up," Weiss replied.
"Well, it's probably just some Ghost that blew up or something."
Weiss sighed. While she was determined to finish their mission, Ruby seemed to put everything else to the side, even something as weird as this.
They fought past another small platoon of Covenant soldiers and entered a ravine, created by a stream of crystal-clear water. A single Kig-Yar was walking towards the edge, overlooking a valley. The Chief grabbed its head and snapped the creature's neck without any effort.
He picked up its Beam Rifle and lied down. Ruby used her Semblance to push herself off the wall and landed on a branch that grew over the river. She ledged herself onto the wood with her Scythe, and looked into the valley through her weapons scope. "There's Covenant down there. Stay back while we... cull them a little." Ruby muttered.
A shot broke the silence, and the distant roar of an Elite was heard. Then a second shot. And a third one. Soon, the Chief had to throw away his empty weapon. He gestured to Weiss, Dubbo and the ODST to follow him, and they jumped down the waterfall. Weiss created a few glyphs in the air to get them down safely.
Dead Kig-Yar and Sangheili scattered the valley, and the river on the bottom had started to take on a lilac color. She saw how a group of Drones left a few caves in the back of the valley and opened fire on them.
Weiss dove behind a rock, while the other humans took cover behind a glyph. Luckily, the Yanme'e were quickly dealt with, and the last few Elites that stood in their way weren't much of a problem either.
They left the valley through a cave in the back and walked through a ravine. The ravine opened up to the big lake, and the battle going on above them.
"Good, still no word about In Amber Clad on the Covenant battlenet. It's odd, the Covenant knew we made landfall, but they don't seem to consider us a serious threat. Maybe they're too preoccupied with the Grimm and Sentinels. Boy, are they in for a big surprise," Cortana said.
There was a structure sticking out of the lake, with a ramp going up to the land. The In Amber Clad had already dropped off ordinance on the landside of the ramp, and so the human forces filled up on ammo, before going down.
Ruby took out a Jackal Sniper on top of the building, and they entered the structure. Two Elites guarded the inside, one armed with a Plasma Rifle and one armed with an Energy Sword.
However, more interesting were their ornament armors. They were a dark red, full of golden highlights. It looked like the Elites were royalty.
Still, they were more also than willing to attack. The Sword Elite ran at them, and his blade clashed against a stone, as Ruby used her Semblance to dodge the Sangheili. However, the other Elite shot her in the back, causing Ruby to cry out in pain.
Dubbo and the ODST opened fire on the Elite, and his shield flickered. It was enough to make him duck behind a bit of rubble.
His friend tried to hit the Chief with his sword, cutting into his shoulder plate. The Energy Shield of the Spartan's armor blocked the damage though, and the Chief grabbed the Elites hand. He rammed his knee into the gut of the Alien and knocked him down with a punch to the neck.
Weiss created a glyph to launch herself at the other Elite and started to attack him with a fury of stabs, breaking his shield. Another stab went right into his throat, killing the Alien. With both Sangheili dead, Weiss walked up to Ruby and helped her up. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but I think that took out a good portion of my Aura. How does my back look?"
Weiss looked. "Well, it's good that you're wearing a military vest. It burned right through it, scorching your dress."
"Ugh, crap. You know how expensive this stuff is?"
"Concentrate, you two." Cortana interrupted.
The Chief walked up to the hologram of Regret in the middle of the room. He put Cortana's chip into the projector. "Seems like our guess was correct," Cortana muttered. "The Prophet of Regret is planning to activate Halo!"
"Well, shit," Weiss said, gritting her teeth.
"Not so fast. Are you sure? Maybe we're lucky and the Covies know that it's a seriously bad idea." Dubbo suggested.
As a response, Cortana translated the Prophet's sermon. "I shall light this holy ring, release its cleansing flame, and burn a path into the divine beyond!"
"Pretty much."
"Commander, we've got a problem." The Chief said.
"So I heard," Keyes replied. "But from what I understand, the Prophet will need an object, the Index, to activate the ring. I've located a library similar to the one you found on the first Halo. If the rings work the same way, the Index should be inside."
"Oh, gods, not the library," Ruby muttered, seemingly horrified. Weiss could've just imagined things, but she swore that at the mention of the place, even the Chief had a shiver run down his spine.
"I'll bet the Covenant are thinkin' the exact same thing," Johnson added.
"Then, we'd better get to it, Sergeant. Extract your men, and meet me, Sergeant Arc and Corporal Nikos at the library."
"Yes, ma'am."
"We'll secure the Index, Chief. You and your team take out the Prophet. He's given us all the intel we need."
The Chief nodded, but the silence was broken by the sound of insects. A swarm of Yanme'e poured in from holes in the ceiling. Weiss jumped behind a piece of rubble, before creating a few glyphs as additional cover. She aimed at the Drones with her Assault Rifle and shot them down using controlled bursts of fire.
And as if the insects weren't enough trouble, a pair of Sangheili came in through a door. Weiss and Dubbo continued to shoot the Yanme'e, while Ruby, Chief and the ODST started to fight the Elites. Soon, all enemies were defeated, though the ODST got injured by a plasma bolt.
They left the room and found themselves in the middle of a group of Forerunner structures sticking out of the water. They were connected by bridges, some of which had already collapsed. Scorch marks on the overgrown ruins told them that there was a fight here not too long ago. And judging by the sounds of Plasma Fire that still echoed throughout the air, it was still going on.
"Hey, what's that?" The ODST asked, approaching a big, white oval on the ground. "Is that an egg?"
"Man, don't touch it. Maybe one of those damn Aliens spun a cocoon or something."
"No... This might be part of a Grimm." Weiss guessed. She looked around and noticed a disturbing lack of Covenant forces. The only ones she was able to spot were in the distance, on a platform that looked like it was part of a gondola system.
"But I thought they dissipate after death?"
"Normally, yes. This might be an egg, but it's too large to be from a Cliff Drake. Not to mention that they built their nests up in, well, cliffs."
The ODST didn't listen though and touched the object. Only a second later, and he was gone. The thing exploded with enough force to not only disintegrate him but even blow a bit out of the Forerunner structure.
Weiss created a glyph, shielding them from the rubble. They waited until the smoke had cleared, though nothing remained. Only a crater.
"What the hell?" Dubbo yelled.
"Dammit, this is bad." Weiss gasped. "I thought those things were extinct!"
"What was extinct?" The Chief asked.
"A rare kind of Grimm. It's like a giant bird that drops exploding scales. They had been hunted to extinction a few decades ago. At least we thought so."
"Like a bomber plane," Dubbo asked. "That's messed up."
A screech echoed over the lake, and a big shadow flew over them. They walked up to the railing and looked up. A big, dragon-like bird flew over the lake, dropping more of its bombs. A temple next to them, not approachable due to all the bridges being broken, suddenly went up in flames and fell into the water below.
"That certainly explains why the defense systems of the ring are so riled up," Cortana mentioned. "How is that Grimm called?"
"I think it was... Burung Bom? Or something similar. Definitely began with a B." Ruby explained.
"It'll definitely make it harder to go forward." They watched, as the bird turned back. They were about to brace for another bombing run, as something big rose out of the water. The being extended three thing arms and seemed to watch them for a second.
"It's... A giant Sentinel!" Cortana said.
The Enforcer turned around, and flew towards the massive flying Grimm, ready to engage it in combat.
"That's our chance!" Ruby yelled.
They ran past the next bridge, and into another structure. The Enforcer lit up the air with its weapons, using both Energy Beams and Missiles. Sounds of explosions echoed through the area. A few of the lesser Sentinels fell into the water after being caught in the explosions, and the bridge gave up behind them.
"What the hell? How can this thing destroy Forerunner structures?"
"I tried to run an analysis on the explosions. It seems like these 'bombs' contain a chemical similar to the one the Covenant uses in their plasma coils. And we know that their Plasma is able to cut through Forerunner materials. Also, there's something else. Though it is but a theory."
"And what would that be?" Ruby asked.
"These structures look overgrown. Old, ancient. We haven't encountered anything like this on the first Halo. EIther they aren't Forerunner in origin and were transported here, or the repair systems of the Ring failed somehow."
"But how-" Weiss was interrupted, as more explosions rang from outside. "You know what, let's talk about that later. I want to get off these things before all of them sink into the lake."
The Chief nodded, and they quickly ran through the structure. The group ended up on a large platform. The battle was still raging over them, though it had shifted a bit to the east.
The platform itself was held by three Elites and a few Jackals. The Covenant forces were seemingly surprised by the humans, making it rather easy to defeat them. However, that victory didn't last, as a Phantom closed in. It dropped off two Hunters, who immediately opened fire on the group.
Weiss rolled out of the way, and felt a few shrapnels on her back, as the attack blew up a few stones behind her. She diverted the attention of one Mgalekgolo so that the Chief was able to climb onto it and plant a grenade into its back.
The other Hunter got enraged by the death of its brother and tried to charge. It staggered, however, as Ruby dashed past him. The petals confused the behemoth, and it saw Ruby standing at the edge. The monster charged at her and prepared to strike. Ruby was faster though and dodged at the last second. The Hunter was unable to stop in time and fell into the depths below.
"Cortana, the Covenant are getting nosy," Keyes said. "I don't want to give away my position, so I'm rerouting a few stragglers back to you. I apologize; these Pelicans are all you gonna get."
"Understood, ma'am," Cortana replied.
A Pelican closed in and dropped off ordinance, as well as two more Marines, one carrying a SPNKR. Weiss walked up to one of the ordinance pods and grabbed two more magazines for her AR.
"A gondola's launching from the far towers. Big surprise, it's full of Covenant reinforcements."
"I'll try to take some of them out," Ruby stated and rammed the tip of her scythe into the ground. "Keep an eye on the bomb Grimm."
"Got it," Weiss said and looked into the sky. The battle was moving more and more to the east, and the Grimm was putting up a surprisingly good fight. Then again, the Sentinel had a lot more blind spots.
A shot pierced the silence. Weiss looked back towards the gondola and saw a dead Elite in the distance. The Grunts were running around in panic so that Ruby was able to pick them off one by one. The Gondola finally arrived, and one last Grunt tried to flee but was taken out by Dubbo.
They entered the Gondola, and the Chief hit the switch in its front section. It started moving alongside a gravitational cable, directly towards one of the structures sticking out of the water.
"Hey, Weiss?" Ruby asked, walking up to her friend.
"Yeah?"
"Any idea how we are supposed to get away once we killed the Prophet?"
Weiss looked over to the bigger structure. "I guess we ask for extraction. Fast. The place will probably be swarming with Covenant forces."
They reached the middle of the way, as another gondola passed by them. Two Sangheili and a few Yanme'e came out, jumping over the small gap.
Weiss used a glyph to throw one of the Elites off the gondola, while the other one got caught in a gush of wind created by Ruby dashing past him. It wasn't enough to throw him off, but the petals confused him so that the Chief could knock him down into the lake. Dubbo and the Marines took down the Drones.
Ruby looked through her scope and gasped. "Great. They got Snipers on the structure. I'll see if I can take them out." She shot once, twice, and nodded. "Yeah, they're gone. They still got two Shades though."
One of the Marines stepped up next to her, carrying a SPNKR on his shoulder. A rocket escaped the front of the weapon, and a small, purple explosion was visible in the distance. The same process happened a second time.
"Okay, that should be all the resistance they got up there," Ruby said.
The gondola arrived at the structure, and a small bridge extended out of it. The team went inside, taking out a few more Jackals and Yanme'e.
"Ah, now I see," Cortana said as they gathered around a big, rectangular hole in the ground. "There's a submerged section that connects these towers to the outlying structures. Looks like we're going down. Unless you'd prefer to swim."
"Full car, comin' up!" Dubbo said.
A small, closed gondola came up in the hole, stopping at the top. It was full of Kig-Yar, which wasn't really a problem. The Chief rolled a Grenade into the gondola, killing all the Jackals inside.
They entered the small room, and Weiss tried not to step into any of the dead Jackals. If she had the time, she'd have tried to shove all of them out with her Semblance.
Dubbo pressed the holographic button in the front, and the gondola went down into the water. It moved through submerged ruins, making Weiss wonder how many of these were old, and how many were destroyed in the current battle.
Ruby pressed her face against the window, watching a school of fish swimming past them outside. In the distance, a few pieces of rubble, and the remains of a broken Enforcer sunk into the lake. "Damn, looks like the Grimm won," Dubbo muttered.
"Yeah. Let's hope the Covenant diverts it away from here." Weiss added. She couldn't say why, but it felt like there weren't enough parts falling into the water. That Enforcer was massive, but the debris sinking to the bottom of the lake was the size of two Sentinels at most.
"I've intercepted a secure transmission from Regret's carrier to the something called High Charity." Cortana interrupted, getting Weiss' attention. "It seems to be a formal apology to the Prophets of Truth and Mercy."
"That are some dumb names. Can't they have normal names, like Bob or Steve?" Ruby asked.
"They're Aliens, you dunce," Weiss replied.
"Apparently, Regret jumped the gun when he attacked Earth. He's asking the other Prophets to 'forgive his premature arrival', arguing that 'no human presence was foretold'. That explains why there were so few ships in his fleet. But it's odd that a Prophet would have such bad intel on his enemy's homeworld."
"Maybe they kept it a secret?" Weiss guessed. "I know that Politicians play each other like that if they try to get more power. I believe Aliens wouldn't be that different." Weiss noticed how the others looked at her. "What? I grew up in Atlas. I saw Politicians back home firsthand."
"Well, it sounds logical," Dubbo replied. "Might be what happened."
The Gondola shot up, arriving at its goal inside the structure. It opened, and they went outside. "Area secure." The Chief stated.
The group walked up a few ramps and arrived in a large tunnel. The glass walls revealed that they were still underwater. A few Grunts were sleeping in the tunnel, making it easy to move forward. The hallways led them to a big, open area, adorned by a giant hologram of Regret.
"That guy's really full of himself," Ruby muttered, rolling her eyes.
However, the bigger problem was all the Covenant forces inside the room. Hell, there were even a few honor guards amongst the enemies.
They started to move from cover to cover and took out the Jackals and Honor Guards first, after which they focused on the Yanme'e. With that strategy, the enemies were dealt with quickly, and the door ahead opened. Two Hunters entered the room and shot their beams at their position.
Ruby dodged with the help of her Semblance and took a few potshots at the Hunters. The bullets didn't get through the thick armor of the Mgalekgolo but still did their job. The Hunters were diverted so that the Chief could shoot one of them in the back with his Sniper Rifle. Worms flew everywhere as the Hunters midsection exploded, and the surviving worms got crushed under the collapsing armor.
The other Hunter quickly turned around and shot his beam at the Chief. He jumped into cover, and the beam hit one of the support beams. It burned a bit into the Forerunner alloy, but not enough to destroy the support beam.
Ruby dashed towards the Hunter, grabbing one of the Plasma Grenades an Honor Guard dropped and stuck it onto the Hunters back. It exploded, killing the Mgalekgolo.
"Man, I hate those things," Dubbo muttered, shooting one of the worms.
"Hey, Cortana? Can you translate that sermon?" Weiss asked, looking at the big Hologram.
"Sure."
"Most of those we encountered in our search were compelled to join our Union. To take part in the moment of promise, Freedom for Allegiance, Salvation for Service! But some, like Humans, chose to impede our progress. Block our access to sacred sites, damage Holy Relics! For their transgressions, the Humans shall be hunted until none remain alive!"
"What an ass," Weiss scoffed. "Wait a second. Is that the reason for this war?"
"No, we never destroyed any Forerunner structures before the Covenant declared war," Cortana explained. "We haven't even encountered any."
"So they're lying to their people?" Ruby asked. "And thanks to these lies... billions are dying on both sides?"
"Oh man, he's so dead," Dubbo said, with pure disgust in his voice.
"Yeah. Let's keep moving. The sooner he dies, the better." Ruby said, taking the lead.
They went through another hallway, taking out the cloaked Unggoy and Elites inside, before entering a Gondola that went through the underwater ruins. Ruby, once again, watched the Alien fish outside like a child at a zoo.
"Regret's carrier just received a response from High Charity. A very well encrypted message from the Prophet of Truth." Cortana mentioned. "Listen to this: 'Your haste has jeopardized the fulfillment of our Covenant, threatened our grand design. That you shall be spared a public display of our contempt is thanks only to Mercy and his council.' Truth, Mercy, Regret. Three Prophet Hierarchs. Killing Regret should shake up the Covenant leadership. But frankly, it sounds like we might be doing Truth a favor."
"Huh. Maybe Truth is the one conspiring against the others. Mercy seems to be more friendly and forgiving towards Regret."
"Could be. Man, the Covenant's leadership's just as messed up as ours." Dubbo said.
The Gondola shot upwards again, leaving the water. It led into another interior area, and the quietly moved forward. An Honor Guard walked in front of them and has seemingly not noticed them. The Chief put his arm around the Elite and broke his neck with one swift move. He picked up the Energy Sword and used it on the next Honor Guard to stab him silently.
They found another Hologram, and once again, Cortana translated. "Every member of the Covenant shall walk the path. None will be left behind when our Great Journey begins! That is the Prophet's age-old promise. And it shall be fulfilled."
"You know, for worshipping Forerunner artifacts, they have a really bad grasp on what they're actually doing," Ruby said, slightly amused.
The hallway quickly led outside, were energy beams were cutting through the air. The Covenant was apparently fighting against the ring's defense forces and were loosing, judging by all the dead bodies around.
An Enforcer was hovering over the area, and shot a barrage of missiles, blowing up a large group of Sangheili and Unggoy.
"I... I don't think we should engage here." Dubbo said.
"Yeah. Let them handle this." Ruby added.
They snuck past the battle, watching as more and more Covenant soldiers fell against the Forerunner Sentinels. Luckily, the Sentinels didn't attack them. That probably meant that the different monitors haven't had any contact. Not that they could now.
The group arrived at another Gondola port, with one Gondola already moving towards them. "Okay, this is it," Ruby said. "Regret's probably over there."
"I'm ready," Weiss said.
The sound of engines appeared above them, as a Pelican closed in, dropping off one last batch of weapons. "This is my last run. I'm nearly out of fuel. We've secured the remains of the first tower cluster, so I'll set down there. Call when you're ready for pick-" The transmission stopped, as a few bolts of Plasma hit the side of the Pelican. It caught on fire and spiraled down into the lake.
"What?" Weiss yelled. She looked into the sky and saw two Banshees approaching, assisted by strange, round air vehicles.
"Banshees! And Vampires!" Dubbo yelled.
One of the Marines shot his Rocket Launcher, destroying one of the Banshees. The other one flew in an arch, opening fire on the group. Weiss blocked it with a glyph, as Sentinels closed in from the sides. The Vampire turned towards them and shot.
Pink needles, way bigger than those of a Needler, hit the Enforcer and tore it apart. Behind the two air vehicles, two Phantoms closed in.
"Dammit," Weiss said. She looked behind her and saw that the Gondola had already reached them. She sighed. "Okay. Ruby, Chief, go take out the Prophet. We'll hold off the Covenant here."
One Sentinel used its beam to cut through the Banshee, only to be shot down by an incoming Phantom.
"But Weiss!"
"Just go. Trust me, we got this." Weiss replied, drawing Myrtenaster.
Ruby closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay. Please, don't die."
"Do I look like I'm about to die?" Weiss asked.
"No, no you're not," Ruby replied smiling and followed the Chief onto the Gondola.
Weiss looked, as one Phantom dropped off multiple Elites. The Sentinels went in to attack the Covenant forces alongside the few Marines and partially combined to strengthen their beams. "Okay, let's dance!"
Ruby watched as Plasma and gunfire erupted in the distance, alongside a few Sentinel beams cutting through the air. If it was possible, then she would go in and help Weiss. But she was right. She could hold that position alongside the Marines and Sentinels. And taking out the Prophet was far more important.
"How's it going?" Miranda suddenly asked over the comms.
"Pretty good so far," Ruby replied. "We're approaching the main structure. Regret's as good as dead."
"Roger that. I'm as close to the library as I can get. There's a lot of chaos going on here. I'll keep you posted."
Ruby nodded, shutting off her comm, and used Crescent Rose to zoom into the enemy position. She took out the defenders, enabling them to easily step onto the last structure.
She was about to mentally prepare herself for a probably hard battle, as weird sounds came from above. She looked up and felt her jaw fall to the ground. Dozens, no, hundreds of Covenant ships were jumping out of Slipspace, filling up the entire sky. And alongside them, a weird, almost mushroom-like object hovered in the sky, dwarfing all of the surrounding ships.
"That's the largest Covenant fleet I've ever seen," Cortana mentioned. "The largest anyone's ever seen."
"Let's go. We have to finish this before they can stop us." Ruby said, dashing forward into the structure. She cut down a Grunt with her Scythe, while the Chief fired at the Honor Guards, forcing them into cover and draining their shields, before throwing a Grenade.
Once inside, they went up a ramp, and found themselves in a big room, full of Unggoy and Honor Guards. Below them was their objective: The Prophet of Regret.
Ruby had to admit, he looked even worse in flesh. The creature sitting on the hovering throne was incredibly thin and lanky, with a long neck. His skin was wrinkly and hung down from his neck and arms. He was covered in ceremonial purple clothes, fitting for a Prophet Hierarch.
"Guards! Remove this vermin from my sight!" The Prophet yelled with an irritating voice.
A few Honor Guards came up to them. "Chief, go and deal with Regret. I'll cover you." Ruby said, dashing forward.
She jumped onto the shoulders of one Honor Guard, and shot him in the head, killing him instantly. The other two started shooting, and one hit her in the chest. She felt her Aura drain immensely and jumped behind a small railing.
Ruby saw a few Grunts coming up behind the Elites, trying to get past them. She took the shot and pierced the Methane Tank of one Grunt, and the resulting explosion threw one of the Sangheili down from the balcony while draining the shields of the other one.
She shot a second time, using her last bullet to take out the Elite. The Grunts started to panic, and ran away, out of the structure.
Ruby nodded satisfied and looked over the railing. The Elite that fell down had a bad landing, breaking his neck on impact. Well, that's what Ruby guessed. After all, the only thing she saw was his dead body, the head bent into a position it probably wasn't able to normally.
However, the more interesting thing was the fight between the Chief and the Prophet. The throne of the San Shyuum had a built-in beam cannon, which he more than gladly used on the Chief.
The Spartan was too fast though and dodged the rather slow beam. He jumped up into the air and shoved the Prophet out of his throne. The chair fell down far away.
Regret was still alive though and tried to stand up. Ruby had to admit, it was kinda sad. The Prophet was barely able to stand on his short, skinny legs. He was shivering, partially from his own weight, and partially out of fear.
He reached into his clothes, pulling out a Plasma Pistol. Not that it mattered. The Chief took his Battle Rifle, and finished the fight with one burst of bullets, hitting the Prophet's chest. He let out a cry of agony, collapsed, and a pool of purple blood appearing around him.
It was finished. The Prophet was dead. Ruby let out a sigh of relief. Maybe this was enough to stop this war. The moment of relief was shortlived though, as Cortana decided to immediately interrupt it.
"Bad news, the Phantoms are turning around. The fleet is preparing to fire on our position. We need to get out of here!"
Ruby quickly looked back at the Chief, both nodding to each other, before running outside. Above them, one ship had broken off the fleet, and a bright light appeared at the bottom of the ship. The Chief started running, quickly followed by Ruby.
They jumped down a ledge, and continued fleeing, as the ship fired. The air around them heated up immensely, as the Covenant ship glassed the temple. Ruby took a deep breath, as she and the Chief jumped down into the water.
She opened her eyes and saw that the Chief was sinking down. Ruby tried to swim towards him, before stopping in shock. A large tentacle came out from the depths, wrapping around the Chief, as a deep voice echoed around. Ruby was unable to place where it was coming from, almost as if it was coming from everywhere at once.
"This is not your grave..."
Ruby sped up, trying to save the Chief. This couldn't be. Was that why the defense forces were so riled up? Because the Flood already got out? Did the Covenant release it?
She felt something wrapping around her legs and midsection, and looked down, only to see two tentacles made out of a sickish green and brown biomass.
Ruby felt herself losing consciousness as the air in her lungs drained, and she got pulled into the depths of the lake.
"But you are welcome in it..."
And Chapter 26 is here, officially the longest Chapter up to this point. But well, that's what happens when I put two rather long levels into one Chapter.
To the new Grimm: The 'Burung Bom' is, for once, not based on a real or mythical creature, but on a monster called 'Bazelgeuse' from the game Monster Hunter World. And yeah, it's a pretty strong Grimm. The name is also not the real name of it, that will come up later, just like the reason it's able to defeat Sentinels and Enforcers.
The other one, the Cliff Drake, is based on the cliff racers from Morrowind, as well as, well, dragons.
Also, a small announcement for the next Chapter, it will not be from the view of the Arbiter. It will be from Jaunes and Pyrrhas view. Otherwise, it would just be a normal retelling of the levels.
Finally, I want to say that, after Halo 2 is finished, there's going to be a small hiatus. (Not a long one, it will just take a bit longer than usual until the new Chapter comes out.) I want to go back to the older Chapters and take another look at them since there are a few things I'm not happy with.
But now to replies:
Tronmaster5704: Oh, they will. Though the real horrifying Flood stuff is going to be during Halo 3.
Edrap: As far as I know, the Covenant only thought it was Forerunner in origin. I looked into it a bit, and the Forerunners were created fifteen million years ago. However, the asteroid might be Precursor in origin. Honestly, though, I kinda dislike the idea that everything in Earth's history was thanks to some alien sea scorpions.
PhoenixClaw2128: Thanks. I'm pretty sure the Chief would be unstoppable, especially with a strong Semblance.
Sau1 43: Thanks.
Guest: Thanks. Took a while to come up with it.
ChappieTheRobot: As a costume, yes. She wouldn't be able to make an actual armor. Even the Spartan costume was just supposed to be a shirt and pants with plastic parts glued onto them.
Bloodclan: No, thanks.
kokob5: I have no idea. I guess roleplaying.
John Lanford: I know. I hate the idea of Harems. (Though there's probably someplace in the Haloverse where it's not looked down upon, considering that there are over 800 human colonies, all with a bit of their own culture.) Still, doesn't mean that Jaune should have a Harem.
I think a reason why there are this many Harem stories about him is that he is a character people can easily insert themselves into. After all, he is the most normal human out of the RWBY characters.
Guest: Like I said previously, I have no idea. It's a bit annoying, but nothing big.
pittsacee: Well, here it is
red october700: Ruby's birthday is canon. Miles confirmed that in a tweet after the chibi episode released. The Manga is apparently canon until it's not. The general consensus is that its canon, until the show says otherwise. So as long as they don't say that Penny cannot turn into a plane, its canon.
Don't worry about asking twice. I sometimes forget stuff too. However, I don't think you ever asked the same thing twice.
ChronoHyperion: Holy crap you put a lot of thought into this. I'll definitely work those Grimm in, they sound awesome. As for the Monitors, the Installation on Remnant is actually just a single room without a Monitor. It was built in rush, so there was no time to install one there.
I was already planning on that role for the Geist. But yeah, ship's are OP. However, they can possess multiple objects. So they could possess a tank with one arm and something else with the other one. The Seer's a good idea though, like some kind of Grimm Engineer.
Halo belongs to 343 Industries and Microsoft; RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.