NOTE: Very soon, I will be updating the first act extensively. The chapter count will be altered and those that have alerts will be getting many new chapter notifications. I apologize for the mess but this is part of a reorganization to bring the story back into the official canon.
Twenty-Fourth Solar Cycle, 215 Cycles: 9th Age of Reclamation [November 02, 2552]
Covenant Holy City of High Charity
SpecOps Major Ryau 'Cinotee
After using his large sum of ministry credit to pay for the drinks with Sig, Ryau ventured down into the depths of High Charity. There was so much beside the city in the dome, so many decks and even dozens of small stations floating beneath that. Ryau had trouble estimating how many could even live on High Charity. It was as if an entire planet's population could exist inside this marvel of a space station. He just ended up wandering the waking hours in silence. Hardly anyone was out in the streets or corridors, likely still in mourning for the late Prophet of Regret. The real reason behind his wandering was that he wanted to take it all in. In just a few hours the city will fall to the Parasite. It was a horrible inevitability that he would have no possible way of stopping; it scared him more than the thought of glassing. The Flood was just a whole other monster than the Covenant itself.
During his exploration, Ryau had stopped in one of the small shops at a shopping pavilion down in the warrens below Tower Districts of The Golden City. The locals called it that, he never saw any gold there only more purple. He purchased what he guessed to be a second-hand camera to supplement the recordings he was already taking from his helmet camera. There was a millennium of Covenant art and history on this station he needed to record, both for the UNSC and himself, and no time to preserve it.
Hours later he stumbled across another market area and spotted a shop window filled with old books. Other than the spaceport in Zelso, he had rarely seen any physical media across the slim slice of Covenant life he had experienced. The shop was rather large, with shelves and shelves of leather-bound books. Most of them were written in the Covenant basic language, but there were plenty in scripts that he did not recognize; likely ancient San'Shyuum and Sangheili. It would be a shame that all this would go to waste soon, much like artifacts of Human civilization lost to glassing. One side of his mind thought that this would only be fair, but the other disagreed.
Ryau browsed the titles. Naki had only given him an understanding of the Basic written language, and whatever the current Sangheili spoke at home. None of the ancient script made sense to him. Maybe if they made it through the war he could take some language classes and get more in touch with the past.
The shopkeeper was an elderly male Sangheili sitting behind a sleek purple counter; a stark contrast to all the wooden shelves and leather-bound books. As Ryau looked through the books, he kept glancing up to see the shopkeeper watching him. He supposed it was just that he was the only one in the store.
Ryau shook his head and walked through the rows of shelves; there were too many books to count, and most were all fall older than he expected. When he came out the other side of the bookshelf, he noted that the shopkeeper was still staring at him.
"Major," the elderly Sangheili said. "Is there something that I may humbly help you find?"
Ryau hesitated, there were a lot of topics he wanted to learn about. "Well I was curious... if you had anything on... ancient history in the basic Covenant language?"
"Hmm… let me see here." The Shopkeeper walked out from behind his counter and approached a series of bookshelves. "What are you interested in? Perhaps one on the War of Beginnings, the Taming of the Lekgolo, or maybe something else from the Ages of Conflict?"
Ryau splayed his hands, he would have to be honest here. "Is there a comprehensive book on those? Maybe something on High Charity itself; I am not very familiar with history itself to be completely truthful."
The elderly Sangheili shook his head. "How is it that a Special Operations Major came to be so without knowing our history?" He started to pull books off the shelves and shove them into Ryau hands. They were heavy and felt even older than they looked. "You really must take these and study up, Major."
As he piled them up in Ryau's hands, he named off what they were about; everything from historical texts on the first conflicts of the Covenant, to books that recorded history from even before the formation. Ryau was just overwhelmed, there was no way that he could take all these books with him on his person, but he wanted to save them.
"Sir," He spoke from behind a wall of old leather. "I can't take these all from you, I am an active warrior, and would hate to lose any of these if the ship gets damaged, or my gear lost in transit."
The Shopkeeper seemed to pause at that, for only a moment. "Well, I can have them shipped to your Keep. I must insist."
Ryau thought for a moment. "Do you accept the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment requisition credits?" It was a stretch, at least he thought it was.
"Of course! I have students come in here all the time getting early manuscripts on the Gods' machines." He replied.
"Then I'll pay you off for these, and shipping. I have an excess I am trying to get rid of." Ryau nodded. "Do you have any electronic copies for my data-pad?"
"Yes, yes, that will work just nicely. I'll get the memory blocks prepared right away." The Shopkeeper stopped piling books onto the stack and moved back to his counter. With a few quick swipes, a holographic screen was floating just above the surface. Ryau brought the stack of books over and gently set it on the countertop. He turned it so that the Shopkeeper could see the titles on the sides of the books.
Ryau unclipped his requisitions chip and offered it to the shopkeeper. "This should cover everything."
Taking the card, he exchanged it with a memory block. "These are the reader versions of all the books here in this stack. As for the books themselves, I will send them off first thing after I close. Where do I send them?"
The processes in Ryau's brain stopped for a moment. He did not actually have a place in Zelso, he had just been staying in Naki's house. Did he have an address for her house? He was not sure. Quickly he pulled out his data-pad and glanced into the contact information for Naki. There it was, the address; he quickly read it off for the shopkeeper to put in his system. "Okay, all set Major 'Cinotee." He handed back the requisitions chip with a nod. "Get reading now will you?"
"Is there any one you think I should do now?" Ryau asked.
"Well since you are on the Holy City itself, why do you not start on the history of High Charity? It is relatively recent, having been written by a San 'Shyuum scholar some three hundred solar cycles ago."
"Then I'll start there." Ryau plugged the small memory block into his data-pad and began to transfer the files over to his internal storage. "Have you read everything you sell in here?"
The old Shopkeeper nodded. "Yes, I have, as a matter of fact."
"Where did you find the time?" Ryau was genuinely curious.
The old Sangheili chuckled, "Ah well when I was of fighting age we did not have this glorious holy war to fight. I spent my time patrolling the vacuum and collecting interesting books from our stops across the empire."
"Right, we have been fighting the Humans for so long, I forget that there was not much conflict in the decades before..." Someone called out in the streets outside the shop. Ryau stopped talking and strained to hear what the shouting was about.
The Shopkeeper opened his door and they both stepped into the large open courtyard. An Ultra was standing on a crate, making some announcement. "The Hierarchs have replaced us with the Jiralhanae we are no longer their Honor Guards. The Jiralhanae have already cast our honorable brothers from their charges, not even leaving them with the decency of their helmets. This is an outrage!"
Ryau turned to the shop owner, "I should get going, and report to the Ministry."
"Yes, you should Major. Something like this is bound to shake things up." The shopkeeper nodded to Ryau to head out into the streets.
"Right..." Ryau started to go, stopped mid-stride and then passed his requisition chip back to the shopkeeper. "Use what I have here and just send as many books as possible to the address I gave you. I have a bad feeling about this and I would hate for so much history to be put in danger."
The old Shopkeeper frowned but accepted the chip. "If you wish Major, I will send for the parcel service right away. Good luck."
Ryau gave a wave and then continued out and through the pavilion. The word was spreading rapidly, and everyone he encountered was talking about it. The transport up to the tower district was pretty much empty, all the chaos and turbulence was making everyone sort of hunker down and wait for things to sort themselves out. He hopped off the transport at the base of the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment tower.
There were Brutes, lots of Brutes all around the base of the tower. Sangheili in white Fleet Security harnesses were standing off against the Jiralhanae at the front door. He approached slowly since he had to get inside somehow. The Jiralhanae seemed to be trying to get inside, and Fleet Security was not allowing them to pass.
One of the Fleet Security officers, with Red trim was in front of the others, with his hands on his hips. "The Hierarchs' reorganization proclamation only covers the Honor Guards and High Charity Security. The Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment has a hangar and space dock, and is under the jurisdiction of Fleet Security."
The Jiralhanae Captain huffed. "All of the Security forces on the Holy City are now under Jiralhanae command. That includes this area."
The older Sangheili rested his hand over the hilt of an Energy sword. "I will say it once more, this facility is not under the authority of the Ministry of Harmony Preservation. I will not forfeit my station."
The Jiralhanae huffed. "You will be removed."
"You may try." The Security officer removed the sword hilt from his thigh but did not activate, calling the Jiralhanae's bluff.
The Brute had no bluff. Pulling bladed grenade launcher from his back, the Jiralhanae leveled it at the Security officer. The weapon was known to Ryau as a Brute Shot, but that was the human name and he was not aware of its Covenant designation, it had a tight blast radius but would send fragments all over the courtyard if it was used. Ryau was glad he had opted to explore High Charity in his armor instead of a uniform.
Charging forward, the Jiralhanae brought the blade up to slam it into the Officer's chest. However, the Sangheili activated his sword and slashed at the oncoming Brute. His sword sliced through the Brute Shot, severing it across the trigger mechanism. With a swift kick, he sent the Jiralhanae back a few steps.
No one else moved, not a Sangheili or a Jiralhanae sought to interfere in the fight. The Jiralhanae Captain brandished a jagged knife from his belt and made another pass at the old Officer. Swinging around, the Sangheili sliced into the Captain's forearm but failed to take it off. The Jiralhanae slammed his mass against the Officer and knocked them back, overloading their shields.
Then as if offering for peace, the Jiralhanae threw his knife away and stepped back from the Officer. "We are your equal now Sangheili. We will be back with more and a decree from the Hierarchs." The Officer staggered back up to his feet and then tried to lunge forward again to strike the Captain. But the Captain was ready and brought the Spike rifle from his thigh and fired a barrage of spikes into the Officer's helmet.
As soon as the Officer's body dropped, Ryau quickly hurried through the doors that led into the base of the Ministry. He did not want to get caught in the inquiry that was sure to follow the fight. He could hear the Captain shout to the others from inside.
"Our time is coming, Sangheili. The Hierarchs trust us more than you."
After that confrontation outside, he wanted to be back near Ttpa and the others as soon as possible. Sure they were Sangheili, but other than Sig, they were the only people that he knew in the city. The little voice in the back of his head was buzzing with a warning that there was trouble ahead. He knew, and he could see it forming around him.
The long hallway leading to the central grav-lift up the tower was quiet and deserted. The only others in this cavernous space were a pair of white armored Fleet Security running to join the others just outside the front door. Ryau quickened his pace and found the security station at the base of the lift unmanned. No one to check his identity to be sure if he really belonged there. It would have come back positive if there was a security officer, but the worry that something might go wrong with the profile that Naki made for him always lurked in the back of his mind.
Ryau selected the main hall on the terminal and stepped into the lift, feeling it tug at his armor and take him upwards into the tower. He mentally checked off what he had to defend himself with for the soon to be civil war; there was the Carbine he had picked up in the requisition shop, and then also the wrist blades he had been issued before the Battle of Reach. The long energy dagger would come in handy in any close quarters combat since it was basically just a miniature energy sword.
As soon as his boots landed on solid ground, he headed for the corridor that Ttpa and the others had occupied upon their arrival. There were even less Sangheili walking around the Ministry now. Those that were spoke in hushed tones about the change of Guard. Word had spread fast, though they did not seem to know about the confrontation that unfolded many floors below. It was going to be much more than just Honor Guards that would be changed, much more.
With a sigh, Ryau keyed open his door and stowed the memory block with the book data at the bottom of his pack. He checked on the download progress that had been going on since last night; he was on the second to last memory block with only a small fraction of the Ministry records. It made sense, the records went back centuries. If he had more time to sort through them he would have. ONI would have to be happy with what they got.
Walking across the room, he used the water heater to brew up a fresh cup of tea and heat a ration from his pack. Combat was coming soon, so he would rather have less in his stomach but still get the nutrition he needed. He sat down with his cup of tea and opened one of the history books on the Holy City to calm his nerves. He had gotten quite good at reading fast over the last few months.
Half way through the first book and second cup of tea, his data-pad bleeped with a message from Sig. They were supposed to meet with the officer from D`rok's lance in roughly thirty minutes at a restaurant down in the Lower Tower District, near the center of the city. Sig had apologized for the last minute message. The exact location of the restaurant was automatically routed into his data-pad's navigation application. In order to get there on time, he would need to request a direct transport to take him there, or else navigate a maze of pedestrian paths from the edge of the city; which was somewhere around sixty kilometers and nowhere near plausible to do in thirty minutes.
A bang outside his door brought his attention off of his data-pad, someone was knocking loudly on all the doors in this corridor. They were calling out something, but it was too muffled to make out what they were saying. Ryau keyed open the door and peeked out
SpecOps Sub-commander Shou 'Souumai was out there hitting the doors of the corridor and Major Ghomo 'Vekatalee was waiting at the end of the hall; they were the two members that had split off the lance when they got to High Charity.
"Brothers! I bring news." Shou announced when the doors had all opened. "The Hierarchs decided to forgo the inquisition. They ruled that the Holy Prophet's Honor Guards were unable to protect him, and that made all Honor Guards unfit for their continued protection."
Fieldmaster Ttpa 'Sojomee stepped out into the hall. "What does the Council have to say about this?"
Shou shook his head. "They have no say in this, the Hierarchs claim ultimate authority when it comes to the safety of the Holy City. Almost all of the local security forces are being replaced with the Jiralhanae."
"This... this is unheard of," Ttpa growled. "We have been protecting the Covenant for a millennia, one incident is no reason to completely destroy all of that. By the Prophets, it was the Demon as well. Without our support, it was no wonder the Honor Guards were unable to stop it."
The old Major behind Shou snarled in disgust. "The Jiralhanae have only been part of our Covenant for half a century. This is beyond disgraceful. They are insulting our honor." Ghomo slammed his fist against the corridor wall. He growled and shook it off. "You are our Feldmaster, Ttpa, we came to you for guidance."
"I do not know what to do, this is an unprecedented position we are in." Ttpa looked down at the floor in thought, then brought it up to Ryau. "You were gone most of the night, in the city I presume. What is your take on the situation, what about the reaction out in the city?"
Ryau hesitated, he hated being put on the spot. "I saw a lot of tension and shock while on my way back here. The Jiralhanae were attempting to take over security here at the Ministry but the guards with Fleet Security refused to give up their post. There was a fight, and they killed one of the guards."
The two young Minors at the other end of the hall, Inbr and Eral, both made surprised noises at the mention of that, while Shou and Ghomo just huffed in frustration; the difference in experience evident. Ttpa remained silent, waiting for Ryau to continue.
"The others with Fleet Security backed off, and took the body back into another corridor at the base of this tower. Everyone stepped back there, I'm surprised it didn't escalate into a full-on gunfight. As for the rest of the city, I don't think we have long before more incidents start to spring up and those will not remain isolated."
"I do not think you are wrong. The Jiralhanae have been clawing at our throats whenever the Council is not looking, they will try and grab as much power as they can as long as they have the Prophet's blessing. My brothers, my recommendation as you Fieldmaster is to arm yourselves and prepare for combat."
