"In here, humans, in here," the diminutive Grunt Torffel beckoned us at the threshold of a Covenant sliding door. It all seemed like a cheap sci-fi movie to me: all the purple, sliding doors, and grav lifts.
I trotted after him, still holding my MA5B close. Alicia had holstered her weapons and strapped the BR55 to her back, but who could trust a four-foot-nothing?
The Grunt scampered in, and we found ourselves overlooking the Covenant "Holy City". The Grunt had led us through the lower districts and up one of the towers. Thanks to the grav lifts, I was sick and we had made it here in less than ten minutes.
I glanced backward at Alicia, who had been quiet throughout the entire journey. She seemed pretty dark ever since the bridge incident. Now, she stepped out onto the platform we now stood on and immediately glanced at one of the towers. I followed her gaze to the In Amber Clad, where a stream of Pelicans was descending on the city.
Ah shit, I thought with feeling. Marines couldn't be in those Pelicans.
"Torffel!" I cried. "Is there a dropship around here?"
"Yes, human – Phantoms are docked here to refuel. The mighty Arbiter once walked here –"
"Yeah, yeah, your mighty orbital . . ." I interrupted, looking around. "Where are the Phantoms?" All I could see was two Elite bodies with dropped plasma rifles and three Jackals that looked like they had been shot extensively post-mortem.
"Uh . . ." Mumbled the Grunt, looking around. I could see he was panicking again.
The platform was in the shape of a half-circle, jutting out of the tower. Three large docking ports adorned the ledge, each with a small interface. I walked up to one, hopping over a puddle of Jackal as I did, and inspected the interface. It was purple, of course, and made up of a smattering of symbols. I hit one, and it beeped negatively. I hit another: same result. Torffel and Alicia walked up to me, and the Grunt squeaked, "You hit the button that says 'Disengage.'"
Irritated, I turned on him. "What button should I hit?"
The Grunt thrust its head forward and examined the console. "Well," he said condescendingly, "it's obvious that there's no Phantom here. This interface is of no use."
I frowned, and suddenly heard the whir of an approaching Pelican. "Uh-oh," I muttered, just as the Pelican came into view around two-dozen meters away from the dock. It circled around, and began accelerating toward us. I yelped, grabbed Alicia's arm and fled. Torffel followed us as fast as his squat legs could carry him: not fast enough. The Pelican crashed into the dock, immediately screeching and sliding. One wing connected with a canister of the fuel source used to power the Covenatdropships, obviously volatile. The explosion sent bits and pieces of alien material spiraling through the air, and what remained of the Pelican's wing set fire.
I stopped at the threshold of the door into the tower. Turning, I watched with horror as the Pelican careened toward us. Another explosion caught Torffel and threw him against the bulkhead; his limp body dropped to the ground. The Pelican slid to a stop against the wall.
"Nathan!" Alicia cried. "We've got to get out of here!" Removing the BR55 from its strap, she led the way into the tower. I glanced once more at the Pelican, just as a human Combat Form stumbled out of it. I turned and followed her hurriedly.
My heart leapt as the lights suddenly flickered. I could hear the voice of a Prophet over the alien intercom; Torffel had explained to me earlier that the speaker was the Prophet of Truth. Now, he mumbled something inaudible, and a darker and deeper voice bellowed, "Your deaths will be instantaneous . . . while we shall suffer . . ." I couldn't hear what the voice said last.
"Where are we going?" I gasped. The ensign didn't answer, but eventually we came into a large artificial valley, open to the "sky" above. Below, six Elites were crouched with their hands on their necks, and a dozen furred bipedal giants hovered behind them. Most held the Covenant grenade launcher, the Brute Shot, and it was obvious this was an execution. I assumed the hairy ones were Brutes.
As Alicia and I watched, one Elite in white armor was summoned from the group to watch the executions. Five Brutes stepped up behind each crouched Elite while two restrained the white-armored one. The simian alien brought the blade of the Brute Shot down and up in an arc that slashed the spine of each Elite; they fell, dead. The leader, the white-armored one, roared and attempted to shake off the Brutes, but they quickly redoubled their strength.
My heart thudded in my chest as another cry rent the air: an inhuman, or inalien, shriek. Another Pelican passed over our heads, and suddenly dozens of Combat Forms and Infection Forms appeared over the sides of the valley. The Brutes began firing on them, but the Infection Forms easily overwhelmed them. The Elite managed to escape, thanks to his shields, and headed our way. I yelped and tried to run, but Alicia restrained me.
"Wait! The Elite might help us!" she said hopefully.
"Oh, no, no, no," I stammered, "You don't know Elites like I do. I've fought them, I've killed them, I've seen them kill; the point is: they don't like humans!"
"Well, he's weaponless, anyway," Alicia Hartman argued, raising her Battle Rifle.
I crawled away, into the grass. The Elite ran up the hill, breathing hard, and I leapt at him as he ran past. Grabbing the alien around the waist, I brought him to the ground and pointed my MA5B at his head. The Elite struggled and then lay back, obviously exhausted. "Humans!" it growled.
"Yeh, humans," I growled back.
Alicia also pointed her BR55 at the Elite. "We need to find a way out of here, and you're gonna help us. Got it?"
"Why would I do that, human? I can easily kill both of you and escape alone." It glared at the ensign, and I poked it in the helmet with my weapon.
"We've got the guns, and you have no weapon," she continued.
"Ha! Your weak bullets cannot pierce by shields!" It snarled back.
"Wanna bet?" I threatened.
Alicia glanced down the hill, where the Flood had not yet spotted them. "We don't have time for this. Either accept our offer and live, or we'll throw you back to the Flood."
The Elite broke. "No, not the parasite . . ." It sighed. "The Covenant is broken, and we Sangheili are now the enemies of the Prophets. There is nothing I can lose now from allying with the humans . . ." It added to itself.
"What can we call you?" Alicia asked, pulling me back. I did not lower my weapon, but Alicia thrust her Magnum forward.
The Elite stood up, and accepted the Magnum. "Sortan is what my fellow Elites called me. I was once an Ultra, just one rank before a fleet commander . . ." He reminisced.
Now, the three of us began marching back into the tower. I whispered the Alicia angrily, "This is the second alien you've gotten to come along with us. Do you have some magical power for assimilating Covenant scum?"
She glared at me. "We need help if we're going to survive here. If the whole place is against us, we're good as dead."
At that moment Sortan led us through a door and straight into a lumbering Combat From. He immediately fired on it, and it turned, swinging its tentacle-arm. It smacked against Sortan's shields, and while the Elite stumbled back I fired my MA5B into it. The heavy slugs tore the creature to pieces. Sortan recovered and we continued into the next area: a very long bridge, covered with alien corpses. I was surprised when I stepped in a small puddle of sticky, red blood.
"Humans have been here!" I cried.
"Yes," confirmed Sortan, "this is the path to the Mausoleum of the Arbiters. The Demon itself fought here . . ."
"Who is that?" I asked ignorantly.
"The Master Chief," Alicia hissed.
"The Brutes and the Elites fought here, also, in the climax of our battle," Sortan continued. "The battle ended inside the mausoleum."
Suddenly, the sound of thunder echoed across High Charity. We turned toward the structure in the center of the city, the lighted one, as it slowly lifted upwards. As I watched, a huge green conduit broke off of it, and the vessel escaped through a gap in the ceiling.
"The Prophet of Truth is escaping! That means High Charity is doomed," muttered Sortan.
"Where is he going?" I asked.
"To Earth, to finish what the Covenant started. The Prophet is going to activate the six remaining Halos, and begin the Great Journey."
I grimaced. Alicia added, "And eradicate the galaxy of life-forms."
"Yes," Sortan agreed. "Our Arbiter has enlightened us. The Brutes are still misguided, and that is why they must be destroyed."
"Cut the holy crap," I growled angrily. "How are we going to get off this blasted ship?"
Sortan growled at me, but kneeled down and picked up a Plasma Rifle. "We can hope to find a Phantom, though I doubt any remain. We could attempt to capture one of your Pelicans, and fly out of here, though the Flood control most of them. Or, we could return to the human vessel and escape in one of the ships in it."
"What is the best way?" I asked.
"I doubt any of the Flood's Pelicans would be intact once we captured it, and I'm sure most of the Phantoms are gone. We should move through the towers and get to your ship," he replied.
Alicia stepped forward, slamming another clip into the Battle Rifle determinedly. "Let's go, then. How many towers away is it?"
"I would think one or two," Sortan answered, striding forward, hooves clicking on the surface of the bridge. I followed them, checking the ammunition on the assault rifle before I continued. Something told me the rest of the journey wouldn't be so easy.