Future chapters may be delayed because I need to study for LSAT. So... ya... Halo Infinite was cool. Graphics... well, I'm concerned but I have hope so...
FIGHT HARD, DIE WELL.
Also, deleted the two old author's note. Sorry for the confusion. So there are now 43 chapters instead of 42... Also changed the name lol.
In the recycling centers of the Citadel, thousands of bodies are piled up by Keepers in darkly lit rooms across the Citadel where deep shadows and blackness leave an imprint of what might be. Barely any light touched the corpses, like a dim curtain from a white star barely reaching a distant planet. All bodies. Cerberus, UNSC Marines and Spartans, civilians, C-SEC officers, all remained in black stillness as Keepers continued to pile them up.
All still.
All biomass.
Unknown Location
Intercepted Communications. Dated July 25th, 2557
"The hour approaches… 0asfigaoasjfi….Humanity will burn...ajsfkoosdag12jg… No more Prophets! No more lies! We stand together! Brothers to the end!..asndigdioanwje...BEAR YOUR FANGS! THIS IS THE REASON WHY YOU ARE ALIVE!"
Horizon
Enemy Resistance: Incalculable
2557 Military Calendar, 08:43
September 6th
Thousands of pods, each covered in orange hexagonal patterns and frozen in ice. Water and various other forms of liquid settled in murky pools on the floor at various intervals.
"No bodies," Wrex said as he stayed on the right flank.
The Chief and his team remained ahead, stacked up, and checking each sector of fire. The Arbiter… It's safe to say that UNSC tactics were not well versed among the Elites. Brandishing his Energy Sword in one hand, and a plasma rifle in the other, he kept his distance from each team.
Ahead, underneath the platforms of the plaza and the bodies of the dead, the ravine led to a cavern that descended into the planet. Surrounded by blue metal walls and bright red signal lights, both teams descended into the breach.
A few minutes based by. The cavern itself is a few dozen meters wide and a dozen meters in height. Each step the team took it grew darker and darker to a point where flashlights had to be activated.
John wasn't sure what would be down here, but in the end it doesn't matter.
It'll be okay. He once told Cortana… That had to be true. It must be.
It had to be true not only for him, but for Blue Team, for Fred, Linda, and Kelly.
It'll be okay.
The teams finally reached what looked like even ground. They were in a rectangular room shrouded in darkness and encased in black one-way mirrors. Directly up ahead was a row of computer terminals. Looked like another control room.
Tali approached first. She opened up her Omni-tool, inputted some sort of code from Miranda's acquired files. She slowly waved it over the terminals.
Slowly, past the black mirror, lights activated one by one. Outside was a massive hollow structure, built similarly to a O'Neill Cylinder. The total cylinder was maybe a klick in diameter and a dozen klicks in length. Except instead of a continuous surface that went around the entirety of the walls, the actual floor was made of numerous pipe systems, and along the actual walls were…
"My God…" Shepard said as he and his team stared in shook. "They recreated a near-perfect replica of a Collector ship."
The cylinder walls were created entirely of what had to be tens upon tens of thousands of cryo-pods, each housing a single individual. At least, they once housed individuals. Now, most pods were opened or large sections scathed in fire. These ones were destroyed, and left blackened and dead. Near the opposite base of the cylinder was a bright pale orange light, leading to destinations unknown.
Tali and Liara immediately got to work, accessing any files they could. John still looked at the carnage. He had never seen anything quite like it.
"John…." Fred began, "we need to talk… What the Arbiter referred to…"
"It seems speculative," Linda said.
"I don't think the Arbiter's a gambling man," Fred replied.
Fred was referring to upstairs, to the burnt bodies.
"We'll inform HIGHCOM as need be," John replied. The UNSCDF had developed containment procedures in the following years after the Great War. Admittedly, it wasn't that far different from Cerberus containment's procedure. "We can deal with the evolving situation."
Shepard and his team were trying their best to break the seals of motionlessness, slowly taking everything in.
"And Shepard's team?" Fred asked.
There's been no confirmed contact or evidence of what they were all thinking. This evolved threat falls under the highest UNSC classification, known amongst those who fought this enemy first hand along with the highest authorities in the UNSC and Sangheili fragmented remnants.
This threat was not to be taken lightly, and if it were truly present then Cortana was in greater danger than John could even imagine.
Still, he had his doubts. Bodies, bio-matter, were still present all over the city and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of biological degradation in any structures. But it was early, and right now at the moment, they may be just one of the multiple factions here. And in the chaos, it will only allow this enemy to grow.
"These pods were de-frosted seven days ago, far before the chaos seemed to consume the facility," Tali announced as she furthered her scans. "Unknown failsafe containment activation. This room was sabotage…"
"This room?" Shepard asked, "there's more than one?"
"Dozens, by the looks of it…" Liara replied, "five of these pod rooms seem to state the same failsafe procedures. All occupants were released…"
"So who were the occupants?"
No one had an answer. The two continued their work.
"Again, whoever was here tried to sanitize records before they left," Tali said. "Not properly by the looks of it. Some fragmented data still remains. I'll piece together what I can."
The Master Chief wasn't sure what to do. No matter the situation, tactical necessity overrides any protocol or classification procedure. They were in immediate danger. If Shepard's team didn't have the information they needed, not only will they get themselves killed but they'll possibly get Blue Team killed.
"Commander, we need to talk…" John began, looking to the Arbiter. He nodded in approval, knowing where this will go.
"Standby," Shepard said as he approached Tali. A holo-video appeared. Security footage, taken around a week ago. The camera showed the same scene, except filled with freshly dead Cerberus officers. Four figures entered the room off-camera…
"Goddess…" Liara said. "Spartans."
Spartans. UNSC Spartans dressed in a variety of colors, red, black, green, so on. Among them was a woman wearing modified SPI Spartan-III armor with a thick white jacket acting as an undersuit. She had dark shaggy brunette hair that reached where her neck met her shoulders. She supervised the Spartans as they worked, wielding a suppressed pistol.
"They look familiar…" Shepard said, "it was that Spartan team aboard the Infinity."
The Chief vaguely remembered their names. Locke, Vale, Tanaka, lead by a Spartan-III named Jun. ONI squadron. They continued to watch the footage. The ONI team went to work, going over the terminals. Locke looked over a large lever that appeared when he typed in a security code. He pulled it. The room turned red. At the corner of the security cam view, John could see some of the cryo-pods beginning to open.
"ONI sabotaged Cerberus…?" Liara began. "Why?"
The great orange light at the end of the O'Neill cylinder slowly began to dim until it returned to blackness. One by one, rows of light began to turn off.
"Tali…?" Shepard asked.
"It's reading a power surge. Emergency shut down procedures!" Tali said. "That's impossible. Someone manually surged it!"
Soon enough the cascade of blackness reached them. The mirrors turned back to black. John couldn't see anything.
"Moonbeams?" Shepard asked.
"Negative, go for night vision," John suggested. He turned on his helmet's NVGs. Tali kept her Omni-tool on to provide at least a small light source for their night vision. Through John's helmet, the room was painted a dark green. Bright green beads covered Shepard and his crew's visors.
Everyone readied up, covered their designated sectors. Here they needed to be reactionary. They needed to know who they were dealing with.
A few minutes passed by as everyone remained still and alert. Wrex quietly spoke, "I think we should keep moving."
One by one, the team stacked up against an adjoining door that led into a small antechamber. On the left were a couple of what looked like medical pods. They turned out to be empty as they pushed into the room.
Something moved on his motion sensor. Unknown contact
"CONTACT RIGHT!" A voice screamed. John's visor lit up around an object. An energy sword ignited in the darkness. It swung at Shepard as he rolled out of the way. John could see glass shattering, shards flying passed his visor. More energy swords ignited. One ignited in front of the Master Chief about two feet away from the Spartan. John rolled forward when the wielder swung at him. He pulled out his Ka-bar. He planted it on a reptilian-like foot. He clenched his free hand into a fist and uppercut the mandible of the wielder.
His body already knew the enemy before he did. Elites. As he got a closer look with his NVG, these Elites were dressed in Covenant standard armor.
Shepard and his team opened fire at the shadows. The Elites only stopped short when they saw an opposing dark yellow energy sword ignite.
...
Shepard stayed next to Liara's side. His Lotus was drawn at an enemy that just shrugged off rounds. Shepard could see hanging mandibles and large crouched bodies illuminated in dark green static light. Dressed in similar blue armor of the rank-and-file Sangheili that Shepard first encountered on Illium, they each had the same loadout as the Arbiter. Energy sword along with a plasma rifle.
Still, something seemed...different with these Sangheili. They seemed to have a larger stature and had a strange look in their eyes. A feral-like quality.
Shepard wouldn't describe it as fear, but more like a weariness as they focused on the Arbiter.
They spoke, in a strange guttural sounding language, creating sounds that shouldn't be possible with their mandibles. Lots of vowels and Xs. Based on the tone alone, it sounded like a confused question.
The Arbiter responded back in the alien language, in a deeper commanding tone. The Sangheili looked confused, beginning to speak among themselves.
"What are they saying?" The Chief asked.
"Debating to kill you," the Arbiter replied. He spoke some more, elicited a response, then quickly switched back to english, "they claim they are the crew of the Long Night of Solace."
They were probably the ones who were in the cryo-pods then. The astounding feat according to the Arbiter had been achieved. Tens of thousands of survivors. More than likely a fraction of the crew.
And they had been in cryo for nearly five years.
"I'm betting they don't keep up with the news," the Chief commented.
"You are likely right, Spartan," the Arbiter replied.
In the unspoken dialogue between the two even Shepard could discern that these people were still indoctrinated in whatever old beliefs had compelled this Covenant to purge Humanity in the UNSC's Great War. These people were relics. Released by ONI, only to be surrounded by human technicians and workers… And more than likely Cerberus had stored their weapons and armor nearby in adjacent labs, studying and discerning what they could with the help of ONI to translate it into new and adaptive technologies for Human use.
"I'm gonna guess they know who you are though, right?" Wrex asked.
"All the more reason for their confusion," the Arbiter answered. "They entered the void clinging to the Prophets' lies… Should I tell them the Prophets betrayed us, our word will be folly."
"Even from the Arbiter?" Liara asked.
"To collaborate with Humans would've been considered heresy."
The Spartans began to tense up. Their fingers fell onto triggers. The Sangheili noticed it too. They slowly raised their weapons.
"Is there no way to convince them?" Shepard asked, "we can't fight our way through Cerberus, the Reapers, and the survivors of Long Night."
The Arbiter merely grunted, remaining calm as both sides began to realize there was no solution in past absolutism. Shore Party stepped together, back to back covering the possible sectors of fire.
"We're surrounded. It won't be pretty," Shepard responded.
"With all due respect, Commander, I don't see another way besides shooting our way out," the Chief replied. He readied up his rifle.
The Arbiter spoke again in the Sangheili language. His tone was still calm and deliberate. Moments passed, each side remaining absolutely still as the Sangheili survivors tried to interpret whatever the Arbiter said. Shepard heard a click. One of the Spartans deactivated their safeties.
There was a muffled explosion. The room shock. Some sort of bombing took place far above. The Sangheili briefly looked to each other, then to the Arbiter. They said their final words.
"They say there is something here. A cybernetic abomination," the Arbiter said. "The Reapers must be dealt with first. The Humans must have their weapons confiscated."
Shepard looked to the Chief. Even under their visors, that was a shaky proposition.
"And if we don't?" The Master Chief asked.
"Then we shall be drawn into this supposed three-way battle," the Arbiter said.
"Is there any way to increase communication?" Liara asked. "Maybe there's another way."
"Alas, they shall not lay down their arms. To suffer the human to live is already a great compromise," the Arbiter said.
There was a screeching sound, like metal being ripped apart. It caused everyone to momentarily jump, to further tense up. Shepard kept his back against the rest of his squad….
Something was here. Both the Spartans and the Sangheili recognized it.
"Movement, 25 meters out," Fred whispered.
The Sangheili remained still, trying to fool whoever was coming out of the darkness.
And something emerged from the black behind the Sangheili. Tentacles. Thin and illuminated with small, computerized signal lights that ran through it like analog circuitry patterns. When one of the tentacles fell near what looked like the lead Sangheili he spun and activated his energy sword, using it to cut off the tentacle.
The being jumped out of the darkness. A morbid shadow of a Sangheili, each mandible replaced by a tentacle appendage. Its remaining face was mangled, scarred skin covered by reinforced metallic armor and eyes replaced with bright blue lights. It had a lower slouch, caused by visible vertebrae along its spine covered in black and red cybernetics. Its left arm had been replaced by a pure metal sword. It amalgamated dead, necrotic skin covered wit the shards of Reaper tech where the end of the sword met the elbow. It's right hand was replaced with a weapon, a more sleek, streamlined version of a Cannibal's primary firearm.
It's body…. Whoever the Sangheili was, looked like he had been starving for weeks. Flesh had been eaten away, leaving large gaps to display dead organs outfitted with more cybernetics.
Hunkered and far smaller than a normal Sangheili, in ways it looked very similar to…
A Promethean.
"CONTACT!" Shepard wasn't even sure who yelled it. More disfigured Elites emerged from the darkness. One of them used all four of their tentacles to grab a Sangheili soldier, dragged him closer and directly into his sword. The Covenant soldier was hacked to death, repeatedly, armor and skin ripped apart as the enemy horrifically slashed away, screaming in absolute terror as if it were defending itself. Blood splashed onto the floor.
Blue Team reacted instantly, pushing Shepard's crew mates out of the field of fire. Shepard was pushed onto the floor. He looked up to the team. Using the Master Chief's shoulder, Linda set down the barrel of her sniper rifle and took a shot. The round hit one of the enemies right in the eye. It kneeled down, continuing to scream.
The surviving Sangheili soldiers engaged. One of their swords met the enemies, igniting a burst of light that momentarily shut off Shepard's NVGs. Before that happened, he saw a bright shield-like energy around the Reaper blade.
Shepard's squad got on their feet as the close-quarter chaos continued around them. Plasma bolts traveled around them, blue light encompassing them like a shield. Behind the mangled Elites, another being emerged from the darkness. This one was a lot smaller, maybe a meter tall at most. It was...a Grunt, a Unggoy. It's gas pack had been removed, and replaced with organic sacks similar to those of a Ravager. It slowly limbed its way towards the front. When it came closer, Shepard saw some sort of dark gas was leaking from the sacks.
Signal lights across its body lit up.
"GET DOWN!" The Master Chief screamed.
Something kicked Shepard in the chest. His NVGs were disabled as a large crack ran down his visor. He hit the floor.
…
...
Something grabbed him by his chest plate and lifted him off the ground… There was a ringing sound in the Commander's ears, muffling every other noise… He felt nauseous. His body felt numb.
He looked up, into the visor of the Master Chief.
"Get back in the fight. Now!" The Chief handed him his side arm. A black SMG and two mags. Shepard instinctively grabbed the pistol grip. The weapon was heavy for its size, as heavy as an Avenger.
Waves of flashlights were sporadically shone around the room, following enemy contacts. Shepard looked around. The walls were torn apart. On his far right, the floor had caved in. The hole itself was surrounded by… a misty-like blue liquid.
On his left was another figure… Wrex. He slowly got to his feet, helping Shepard up as the Master Chief focused on whatever enemies were left alive. He saw Liara on the floor, coughing as Tali covered her, firing pairs of Carnifex rounds. In Liara's right arm, a piece of shrapnel had pierced both her regular armor and reinforced kevlar gear. She turned over, quickly applied a tourniquet around her bicep. She took a deep breath, gripped the piece of shrapnel and immediately ripped it out. She let out a whimper as she gritted her teeth, threw away the shrapnel and instantly applied medi-gel to the wound.
Fred took position next to the Spartan's side. He seemed dazed, slightly stumbled as he raised his DMR and opened fire. Out of all of them he along with the Arbiter were the closest to the explosion.
Something hit near Shepard. A red and black beam. It came from the surviving mangled Elites.
Shepard aimed down the sights of the SMG. He found it hard to keep the weapon leveled, even harder to keep his focus through the sights. But, once he was sure his line of fire was clear of any friendlies he took a shot. A burst of lead-based caseless bullets hit one of the enemy Elites, hitting a blue aurora that ignited around its body. Shields. Covenant-based shield technology.
Shepard couldn't feel the kick from the SMG. In fact his arm felt numb. It was like something was fighting against his movement. He tried to keep the SMG steady, firing short controlled bursts and pressing forward. It was hard to walk in a straight line… His HUD would've told him he had a concussion, right?
"Press forward!" The Chief called out. Only two enemies remained. Their heavy shields were nearly impossible to pierce. On the left side of the wall, debris and wreckage were tossed away. The Arbiter popped out, sword at the ready. Landing near one of the enemies, he swung his sword upwards. In one motion, all of its tentacles were caught off. In another motion, his sword pierced right through the enemy's abdomen. More of that same gas poured out of the wound. Without hesitation, the Arbiter kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying back into the cave-in. A smaller explosion consumed whatever was down stairs.
The Spartans took care of the last enemy. It seemed the bullets didn't penetrate far enough to hit the gas. The mangled Elite slowly turned to ash as it screamed in pain like a Banshee.
"Designed for close-quarter combat," the Chief said as he carefully lowered his rifle.
Whatever had gripped Shepard slowly faded away as he self-applied medi-gel. He took calm breaths, getting his bearings. He still felt sick, but he's just going to have to suck it up.
"Sound off!" The Chief said. As everyone did, the remaining bodies of the enemies began to dissolve. Shepard noticed a small piece of shrapnel that had penetrated the black undersuit of the Master Chief's armor. It was lodged in his side, right above his kidney. It didn't look like it went in far.
"Ashley, come in!" Shepard said on comms. The dizziness consumed him again. He shook it off. Nothing but static on the radio. He switched to the local team comms. "Garrus, can you hear me?"
"Partially-" Every clear word was interrupted by static. "Looks-...active blocking...Unidentified… Moving…."
The rest of the transmission was static. Shepard looked to the Chief, "we're going to need everyone we can get to deal with whatever's down here. We can't send a runner."
"Agreed," the Chief said.
Something moved in the debris that's been scattered all over the floor. One of the Elites from Long Night crawled out of twisted metal and the blue mist that were once his brothers. Not the leader, just one of the foot soldiers. He looked injured, but kept his composure as he looked at the Arbiter and spoke in the Sangheili language.
"He would rather die than work with the Humans, despite the abominations that are down here," the Arbiter translated.
"We can arrange that," Fred commented.
And this Sangheili may lead them to other survivors. They were going in blind, and barely an hour into the breach they had encountered something that could've nearly killed them.
"Is that even his decision to make?" Shepard asked.
"It would be expected of him," the Arbiter said. "Duty bound, the situation and circumstance matters not. Our honor, contradicting our faith, has led to the vast divide in my people."
"Then attacking his beliefs isn't the best solution," Liara concluded. "If you tell him that your leaders, these prophets had betrayed you, what will happen?"
"A gamble," and so the Arbiter spoke, translating and adding on what was necessary to try and drive the point home. Shepard hoped he tried to explain everything that happened, anything to get the Elite to lower his weapon. The Elite replied.
"He shall follow his Major's orders. Turn over your weapons, and he shall lead us to his Shipmaster," the Arbiter said. "The humans only. My presence is the only reason he permits you to live."
Only the Humans. If the situation gets sketchy, Liara, Tali, and Wrex have enough arms among them to supply the rest. There was no other room to maneuver.
Besides, the Commander's certain that one punch from a Spartan and they could tear a hole right through an Elite.
Shepard dropped the SMG. He wasn't sure where his Carnifex went in the blast.
Aboard JTRN Justice Absolute, inbound to Horizon, 2186 Citadel Calendar, 09:00
September 6th
Supplied by both a battalion of Asari Commandos along with their mech support, Avitus Rix already knew this mission wasn't going to be the usual.
As the Spectres boarded the shuttle, he noticed all of them were tired. Facing back to back missions, no one had a chance to rest. But selected across various special forces groups from throughout the galaxy this was to be expected. Make do and suck it up.
Most of the Spectres, Rix included, had come from Illium and the Apien Crest where the UNSC had essentially relieved them. And in that, Rix noticed something interesting. A few of his fellow Spectres had new weapons. UNSC weapons. Tactically acquired most likely. One Asari in the shuttle had a UNSC DMR. Rather large in her hands, she looked weighed down as she carried magazines filled with lead-based bullets.
The briefing they got was rather disastrous, and vague. Infiltrate the facility, eliminate hostiles as need be, retrieve as much intel as possible. Avitus couldn't even describe it as crash-and-grab. After the briefing the Spectres agreed to first recon the facility, establish a FOB, then to insert. With so many unknowns this path will create the least amount of casualties. Besides, with the new briefings on these Cerberus Spartans, compared to the capabilities of the UNSC Spartans, they needed to take it slow. The Asari cruiser Justice Absolute, commanded by Matriarch M'Kici, will remain on standby for close-range fire support and logistical resupply.
Three-thousand Spectres, mechs and commandos, marching into hell.
"All teams, standby!" The ship intercom blasted as teams boarded their dropships. "Incoming blackhole insertion, two-hundred-thousand kilometers off the port-bow!"
Enemy contact. The dropships quickly ready upped. They needed to get on the surface now while the Justice Absolute dealt with the enemy.
"All teams ready up!" Rix announced on the battalion comms. "We're going in!"
The shuttles launched, entering into the void as the enemy began to open fire. The shuttles rumbled as they quickly entered high thermosphere. Avcitus looked through the porthole window as the Justice Absolute began taking fire. Blue bolts, plasma, penetrated the shields and hit the ceramic armor.
The Justice Absolute began to maneuver while firing its defensive batteries. In a diameter of maybe around two-hundred kilometers, the Absolute began to shift its mass, allowing it to quickly jolt back in forth randomized patterns determined by the ship's VI.
"What's the reading on that enemy ship?" Avitus asked the battalion support VI.
"Reading's indicate length is approximately twenty-eight kilometers, width is approximately eleven kilometers. Heat signature suggests Sangheili design."
Twenty-eight kilometers? Spirits, that's nearly as large as the Citadel.
And in the blue-green abyss of the Shadow Sea, the leviathan emerged from the unknown. The sea creature emerged from the abyss.
It began to fire its main weapons in an area of affect, boxing the Justice Absolute into a smaller and smaller diameter. Once it had it cornered, a lance of purple light pierced right through the Absolute, tearing it into pieces. Escape pods began to launch.
...
09:21
The Elite lead them into the cryo-pod complex, to the surface level where the horizon transformed into endless rows of cryo-pods.
As they entered into corridors and plaza-like areas, the Chief noticed they were being watched. In control towers and naturally occurring high-points, he saw small purple visors aimed at them. The Chief zoomed in on his HUD. Jackal snipers. Fixated, still, their dark purple eyes kept their focus on the Spartans.
"I'm getting an eerie feeling here, Commander," Tali said.
"We already blew up one Collector base…" Shepard commented.
"If only I were there," Wrex said.
They reached a make-shift barricade built out of crates and empty cryo-pods. The Elite soldier announced their presence, and the barricade was moved out of the way.
On the other side were a pair of Hunters and a squad of grunts led by an Elite minor. Their weapons were lowered. The Chief saw the grunts keep their fingers on the trigger. They made those strange, dissatisfied squealing noises as the Elite led them through.
On the other side the survivors of the Long Night had established their base of operations. Stacked crates of Cerberus weapons were spread in organized rows, guarded by various Covenant species. Most of the survivors were armed with Cerberus weapons. Mattocks, Lotuses, and a variety of other Eezo-based weapons. Only a few had plasma arms.
They turned a corner, entering into a roofed area covering a cryo-pod chamber. Two more Elites trailed behind them. Inside the area were…
"Goddess, where did they come from?" Liara asked.
Asari, Turians, Salarians, and a variety of other species from both Citadel and Terminus Species. Some were armed, and many were huddled into corners with the few loved ones they had. Survivors, kept separate from the Covenant rabble.
When they entered, they looked to the group. The commotion began immediately. Whispers, confusion
"Commander Shepard?" Someone said. An Asari stood up from a kneeling position next to an injured volus. "By the Goddess…"
The Elite soldier guiding them seemed to yell at the Asari, waving his hand for her to get back. Commander Shepard seemed to slow down to talk to her.
"Are you prisoner here?" Shepard asked as the Elite guard tried to push the group along.
"No, but we're not exactly guests," the Asari said. "We're the refugee survivors. These aliens took us in."
And the Chief began to notice there were no Humans among them. He had a guess as to what had happened to the Human survivors.
They were finally led to a makeshift table, surrounded by higher ranked Elites. Special Operations officer, Rangers, Majors, and a couple Ultras. They encircled their current shipmaster, an Elite dressed in gold and maroon Zealot armor. He had his arms crossed, with a plasma rifle and energy sword holstered away. When he saw both the Arbiter and the Humans he was rather confused, twisting his head like a dog.
The alien next to him took John by surprise. A Engineer. Rather than dressed in the purple suicide vest Covenant-era Engineers were equiped in, this one was dressed in boxy, mechanical-like armor painted white and black with the Cerberus seal painted on both sides. It handed the Zealot a small object, which he took and threw on the table.
"Another of my recon squads perished out in the wild," the Zealot said in the Elite's elegant version of english. The object seemed to translate the language in real time, as each word was interlaced with the voice of the Zealot speaking in the Sangheili language. "Was it the work of these humans, Arbiter?"
"No, brother," the Arbiter replied. "It was at the hands of this cybernetic abomination, what they," he motioned to Commander Shepard and his team, "call the Reapers."
The Zealot only grunted.
"We thought the Long Night of Solace was lost with all hands," the Arbiter added.
"Unfortunately for the enemy, a few hundred of us still stand." the Zealot nodded to his command team as they stood proud. "Reinforced by these pagans, we stand amidst this chaos of abominations and heretics.
"Which leads me to ask you, brother," the Zealot continued. "Why do you stand with these Humans? The Demons?" The Zealot disgustingly nodded to the Spartans. "You have told my honor-bound warrior that the Prophets have betrayed us, that High Charity has fallen, and the Brutes now seek to destroy us. Brother, what has happened to our Covenant? Does it still stand?"
"Nay, Brother," the Arbiter replied. "Not as it once was. It is no longer our Covenant. The Sacred Rings, the Great Journey… The Prophets had lied to us."
The commanding Elites ignited their swords and took an offensive stance. The Chief could see the rage and disbelief in their dark yellow eyes. The Spartans stepped back, keeping their feet together and preparing for an assault. Shepard's team stood next to them, the Citadel aliens raising their weapons as Shepard kept in front of them.
"Maybe that wasn't the best choice of dialogue," Liara said.
"Silence, Asari," the Arbiter replied. "This is not your concern. These are my people, and they must know the truth, or perish for their denial."
"Denial?" The Zealot screamed, "you dare call yourself the Arbiter of our people, and deny the promised truth of the Great Journey? Collude with Humans, and come here spouting these lies? When we entered the great void of slipspace, there was no chosen Arbiter. Are you an imposter?"
"Listen to me," the Arbiter calmly replied. "The Hierarchs are dead. The Council is dead. It has been five years since you disappeared into the void, brother. And like you, I was strong in the faith. Stronger than you. Burdened by the command of fleets, my faith in the Great Journey was the pillar of my strength. But I was there when the Prophets stripped us of the role of Honor Guard, when they assassinated the Hierarchs, when they replaced us in all positions with the Brutes. And I was there, brother, through victory and defeat against the Humans, glassing their worlds and driving them into the dust."
The Zealot lowered his sword as some sort of recognition came across his face.
"Deny the truth, brother, but do not deny that you recognize the face of your Supreme Commander," the Arbiter finished.
The Elites looked to each other rather confused. The Zealot spoke, "Thel 'Vadumn, Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice."
"Where you failed, I succeeded," Thel replied. "The Human world, Reach fell by my hands. It was I who led us to the Sacred Ring. I recovered the Oracle, I found the Sacred Icon. I lead us to the beginning of the Journey, and I stand before you as Arbiter, as more than a mere lowley Zealot, as Supreme Commander and brother that I shall show you things that will destroy your faith as it did mine."
The rest of the Elites didn't seem to move. Though they might recognize the Arbiter, it didn't seem to override the fact that he was essentially saying you were wrong.
John had to agree with Liara. This wasn't quite the most tactful approach. Maybe it wouldn't be the best thing to mention that the Master Chief also destroyed the Rings and the Arbiter personally killed the Prophet of Truth.
Liara cautiously stepped forward, "Ignoring for a moment the realities of faith, right now you have to realize that we are not a threat. Right now it's the Reapers… They took out your recon squad."
"You are not my enemy?" The Zealot. "I should kill you where you stand, as I did to the Humans. To those who had subdued us, and those who confined us."
"And yet it was Humans who freed you," Liara said. She had quickly adopted the legalistic language the Arbiter was using. "That, we have proof at your request."
The Arbiter quickly turned to Liara in a look of...annoyance. The Master Chief could understand wanting to go in blunt, but they needed intel. They need it quickly.
"And the Humans have turned my men into abominations known as Reapers, and have sent our ship into the void," the Zealot continued. "Should I have no sense of honor, you shall be slayed where you stand. Recover your weapons, infidels…"
Cerberus? UNSC? Systems Alliance? It's all the same to them.
"No," the Arbiter said, "as the Arbiter these Humans are under my protection, and as the Arbiter though you have led your Elites this long, your faith has blinded you to tactical advantages."
The Zealot grunted, looking at his officers. At the very least they looked conflicted. It was a start.
"You ask us to betray the teachings of the Prophets," the Zealot said. "It is true you are in command yet what you say of the Faith is intolerable."
"But brother," the Special Operations officer said, "what he said of the hierarchs, the prophets, what if it is true?"
And here's the division that's tearing Sanghelios right now. If they did believe it was true, some Elites were outraged at their treatment at the hands of the Prophet, some believed since it was the word of the Prophets their punishment was deserved, and a few thought that since the Prophets have fallen, the Elites now bear the Mantle.
"And do you have proof of this, heretic?" The Zealot asked.
"More than proof," the Arbiter said as he threw another object onto the table. "Reports, records, holographs and displays. Scavenge through them, and witness what has happened. The situation, brother, is complicated."
"And our faith makes it simple," the Zealot said as he walked around the table, his sword still drawn. In response, the Arbiter ignited his.
Around the corner, some of the refugees began to peer out, confused and shocked at what was happening. The Asari who spoke to Shepard stepped forward. The Chief now noticed she was dressed in a standard Citadel doctor's uniform.
"Shipmaster, what is happening?" The Asari asked.
"Begone, Pagan," the Zealot bellowed. "This is not your concern."
His officers stayed back, unsure if they should intervene.
"To challenge me is to invite death," the Arbiter said. "I see your soldiers. They are weary and tired. If you reach the outside world, you shall find only a Covenant of ashes and ruin. Look upon my record, brother, know that I am trustworthy and I tell no lie. If your faith shall not be moved, know that this Asari is right. Right now, these Humans standing before me, are not your enemy."
"And who is the enemy?" The Zealot said as he hesitated.
"Cerberus," Shepard replied. "A Human group no way associated with the UNSC. They did this to your men. They are the enemy."
The Zealot held a disgusted stare at the Commander. Every Elite towered over SHepard, but he remained where he was, standing firm.
"The humans must begone. We shall speak to the Arbiter and his pagans alone," the Zealot said.
"It's probably the best we're going to get," Liara commented to Shepard.
The Elite guards motioned for the Spartans and the Commander to step away. Slowly, cautiously, and above all hesitantly they stepped away.
...
"That was a very prepared speech," Liara said to the Arbiter.
"A warrior and a statesman are one in the same in our culture," the Arbiter replied.
"So it seems… But even the best statesmen I know can't prepare a speech or argument that quickly," Liara said. She thought back to the Citadel, how easily the Elites went along with the team. "I'm going to assume the Long Night of Solace wasn't the only thing the Sangheili were searching for here, correct?"
"Your intuition, Asari, maybe your downfall," the Arbiter simply commented. A naked, undisguised threat.
"Those comments you made earlier, on the refugee bodies above…" Liara said, pushing. "What did you mean by that?"
"I think that is a question to ask the Shipmaster," the Arbiter manuvered, nodding to the Zealot as he returned to his side of the table. "You were not the first Shipmaster, were you?"
"No," the Zealot said. "Whether he was lost to these Reapers or killed in the entrance to slipspace, we do not know. But of the six-hundred-forty-eight survivors of our crew we have gathered, I was the highest ranked amongst them. I pray more of us survived."
"As do I, brother," the Arbiter replied. "And these Pagans?"
"Aliens. They have claimed they had never heard of the Holy Word nor have they been taught," the Zealot said. "Given our current situation, conversion is not of our priority, though it is a sin. Not only this, but there is not a Prophet among us. Their numbers range at two-thousand. "
"And there hasn't been a Prophet among us for five years," the Arbier said. "Tell me, what has happened?"
The Zealot looked to his officers. Some shook their heads.
"Our ship was consumed by the void, swiftly and suddenly. It was too late when we learned that one of our vessels had been hijacked by the Humans and used as a bomb. We were lucky to be located in the center of the ship or aboard one of the many vessels docked at the time.
"From there, mere minutes later we exited slipspace. Our surviving systems told us that what was left of our ship was surrounded. We were overwhelmed."
"Overwhelmed by what exactly?" Liara asked.
"To this day, I am not sure. Nor are my brothers sure," the Zealot said. "At least, those who survived were not sure. We were in disarray, and despite our numbers easily subdued by the enemy.
"Afterwards, seven standard days ago we awoke in this room. Thousands of us from the Long Night were kept in these pods. Carefully climbing down the walls of this chamber, we faced Humans branding armor of white and orange. Weaponless, many of us perished in the fight. We acquired what arms we could, gathered whoever we could. Once we secured this position, I sent teams to scour the rest of this facility. It was also in disarray. These Humans, Cerberus as you called them, fought not only our fellow brothers but these Reapers. Cybernetic abominations that take control of all life it touches. When our teams reached the surface, we found the Humans burning these pagan refugees alive by the thousands with white-like chemical smoke. We slayed the Humans, saved as many pagans as we could. In our search we also found this Engineer, who not only helped us establish communication but also helped us utilize these Humans weapons. And now we are here."
"There are no human refugees here," Liara said. "What happened to them?"
"As I said, we slayed the Humans."
Liara had never...met such form of religiosity before. And in the face of the catastrophe, they still kept their faith. They truly didn't see humans as people. Whatever the Prophets had said to them, Humans were not even worthy of conversion. They were worse than heresy or infidelity, they were apostasy by no admission of their own. Even during the worse of religious zealousness, many did die by the sword. Thishowever seemed different. Many of those killed were out of battle fervour, accident, or some condition that extended beyond faith. In the afterward when the battle was over, there was a respect of faith. Though little at times.
"Remind me," Liara said to the Arbiter. "Why did these Prophets declare the Humans heresy?"
The Arbiter turned away from the translation machine, ensuring that it didn't catch their conversation. "Originally, the Prophets declared them heresy for their defiance of Holy Forerunner artifacts. Only far later did we learn that it was to cover the truth that Humanity were the inheritors of these artifacts."
Captain Lasky had mentioned that. The Reclamation. Liara remembered Tali had told her that when she and Ashley tried to enter the elevator to reach Shepard on Thessia, it would only work with Ashley's input.
Curious.
"And you never questioned it?" Liara asked.
"Only near the end," the Arbiter said. "In the last ten years of the war, we took mounting casualties after each Human world conquered. The Hunters literally ate away at Forerunner artifacts, yet they were forgiven and allowed to join our Covenant. Many questioned why the Humans were not given the same opportunity. It is probably why this Zealot didn't destroy, or attempted to destroy 'our' Humans."
"If only the refugees were given the same chance," Liara commented. "What happens if the Humans refused to submit to your teachings?"
"Then they would've been destroyed," the Arbiter turned back to the Zealot. "Were these the only factions you witnessed, brother?"
The officers looked to one another, seemingly unsure of what to say, "there were more, brother."