Stage 18: Defense… F.U.B.A.R
Sacred Hall
Elite Inner Sanctum
02:40 October 26, 2552
Dorenth
Drowsy, hungry and cranky, Catherine Halsey continued to prep Kelly for the ordeal ahead. Two marine medical officers assisted her while Kelly lay topless on a cold steel table deep within the lower levels of the Sacred Hall. Only a thin grey bed sheet covered her. Catherine had seen her fair share of laboratories, and she instantly could tell that this particular room was used to treat the injured, or study them.
The room was similar to most of the forerunner facilities that she had seen; wide, dimly lit with the exception of the operating table, and a highly decorative vaulted ceiling. The instrument panels connected to the operating table were easily accessible to her, and it appeared that the area around the table was designed to be sealed off by an energy shield similar to that aboard covenant cruisers. The shield would truly come in handy if the experiment failed.
"Ma'am… if this doesn't work…"
"Hush." Catherine quickly cut off Kelly's statement. "I'm taking every precaution possible to see that nothing happens to you."
Kelly smiled softly, "I wish I could were my armor. I'd feel better with it on." With that, Catherine inserted another Intravenous tube into Kelly's arm. Connected to the I.V. was a small clear bag filled with a colorless liquid. Catherine dared not tell Kelly what the substance was, but Catherine's stomach turned as she pulled her hand away from the syringe. If the fluid within the small clear bag began to enter Kelly's body, she would quickly go into a coma, and eventually die. It would be the only painless escape Catherine could offer Kelly if the flood infection form began to take her.
"There. We are all set." Catherine turned from the table and walked near one of the elite honor guards that had just entered the room. "Do you have it?"
"Yes." The elite honor guard stepped forward and displayed the container carrying the infection form. Catherine carefully took the container and examined the puffy creature inside. Its main bulbous body was a yellow green color, similar to rotting flesh, while the many tentacles and pincers were deep brown in color. Catherine understood the forerunners interest in the creature; they were fascinating. There ability to survive for so many years was worth the research, but she wasn't here to save them or study them, but to find a way to stop them from spreading.
Her mission had changed so many times over the past four months, and finally she was going to do something positive for humanity. Surely the Spartan Project was a good thing, but the memory of taking the children, forcing them into training and then killing most them in surgery, haunted her. This time she would be saving lives. But first she had to protect Kelly.
Catherine walked near the operating table as Kelly rolled her head over and eyed the infection form. Kelly released a long exhale as she returned her focus to the overhanging light above her.
"Elder Vornaldea, I'll have to ask you to step beyond the force field's envelope." Catherine stated as she placed the container at the head of the table. She watched as Kelly looked in the opposite direction of the container. Even her mighty Spartan bodyguard was nervous.
Vornaldea nodded his head and stepped back from the ring of operating tools and monitoring equipment, "Very well, Doctor Halsey. My guards and I will watch."
"Thank you." Catherine smiled. Saying such words to an elite would never have happened a day ago, but now they were allies. How quickly things can change. "Medics, begin monitoring and recording. We can't use sedatives, I'm afraid that they may interfere with the infection. This has to be as natural as possible without risking Kelly."
"Yes doctor." The two medics replied.
"Raise the shield." A soft hum reverberated within the room as the doctor, the two medics, and Kelly were surrounded by a shield which stretched from floor to the ceiling.
"Medic, begin heart monitor, blood and brainwave scans."
"Ready, doctor." The forerunner instruments quickly sprang to life, giving detailed analysis of Kelly's body. Thankfully, Catherine had briefly instructed the two medics on how to work the instruments. The technology was light years beyond anything the UNSC had to offer, but they were so simple to use a child could understand it.
"Brace yourself, Kelly. This will hurt… a lot."
Catherine pushed the container closer to Kelly's shoulder, to the point were the containment shield was physically touching her neck. Kelly stiffened her body, and two hundred and eighty pounds of muscle flash hardened. Even through the thin sheet that covered her upper body, the medics could see that she was tense. Every muscle flexed as she braced for the incoming pain.
Catherine watched as the infection form reacted. It repeatedly stabbed its pincers at Kelly, trying to get through the shield. Catherine lowered the section of the containment shield near Kelly's neck. The infection form stabbed its pincer into Kelly, and it began to burrow through her skin, muscle and then cut into Kelly's spine. Kelly's scream was blood curling, and even the elite honor guards were taken by surprise.
Kelly reacted instinctively. She raised her arms to grab the area where the pincers had stabbed her; tossing her blanket off. Her hand slapped against the area but soon her scream faded and control of her arms left her. The infection form had rendered her unconscious, as expected. But Catherine stepped back and quickly looked over Kelly's exposed upper body with a face of terror. The medics gasped.
Green veins began to expand outward from Kelly's heart and her pale skin began to darken. The infection was spreading at an alarming rate. Kelly's body twitched wildly as her muscle control became erratic. Her breathing became deep and long, but soon fluctuated to short and raspy.
It took a moment for Catherine to grasp the situation, and she quickly snapped back into focus, "Tie her down!"
Quickly Catherine and the Medics strapped Kelly's legs to the table, struggling against the Spartan's incredible strength. Hope was the only thing keeping Kelly from breaking free of her bindings.
"Brain activity?"
"Ten percent, doctor, well below dream state."
"Blood monitor?"
"White cells are high, foreign cells are sporadic. Blood pressure is dropping."
Catherine reached out to the table and grabbed the release valve for the IV attached to Kelly's arm. One twist of the tiny red knob would send the deadly contents dripping into Kelly's blood stream. She could only wait and hope that she wouldn't have to use it.
"Damn it Kelly, don't let this beat you!"
- - - - - - - -
"How many have gathered?"
"Two hundred, but more are on the way."
"The parasite was a warning sent by the Gods. We can not let that grunt sergeant continue to be at our side."
"If we kill that grunt, our experienced brothers will be angry, but we will have earned our places in the Great Journey."
"Yes. This is a worthy sacrifice for the higher cause of the Sangheili race. We are doing this for all of our brothers."
"No longer will the Prophets see us as Heretics. We shall once again take their side and they will welcome the elites back into the Covenant."
"In time the elders will understand, and this day shall forever be known as the day the Watchmen saved the Sangheili!"
"Prepare yourselves, brothers, we may also have to fight against the adults and the humans."
"It will need to be swift. We are no match for the adults, and once the grunt is dead they will not care. Send a small group to attack the grunt, the rest will wait in case the grunts rebel. Do not activate your weapons until you are ready to attack. Get close, as close to him as you can."
- - - - - - - -
The ground beneath Rose's feet was slippery with blood and decade fragments of flood combat forms. She continuously gagged at the smell of it, but she stomached it and pressed on. She came to another body that was still intact and tapped a nearby grunt on the shoulder. The grunt waddled to the corpse and began to unload it's needler into the body. The pink crystal fragments stabbed into the body and soon a chain reaction started. All of the crystal fragments exploded at one time, disintegrating the body.
To Rose, it felt like hours since they started cleaning the area of left over combat form bodies. Wesley had warned her to keep her guard up in case any infection forms were still lying about, but she was starting to get tired and disgusted with the job. She wondered away from the group, and began to realize that the two elites had vanished. She looked around and saw several elites in the distance, but they were much larger then the two young elites that were with her tiny squad. She then began to walk near Palab's command bunker.
Palab turned and sniffed the air as Rose entered.
Rose didn't expect to see him and paused as she looked at him, "Hi."
Palab turned away, unaffected by Rose's presence. He recognized her instantly by her smell. She was the human he had met aboard the Life and Sacrifice; one of the females that followed him around the ship. He returned to his duty, scanning the area beyond the rows of shield bunkers. Palab didn't want to be caught off guard and he knew that the flood couldn't be stopped that easily. There were more of them, and he could smell them, they would come again.
Rose sighed as she stepped inside. Everyone was caught up in the battle readiness but she was left with the dirty work. She was ready to see combat and Eric was keeping her out of it. She popped the strap on her helmet and sat it on the floor. She then rest against the side of the wall and slid to the floor. She pulled her magnum from her belt holster and once again began to slide the magazine in and out. She was getting extremely comfortable with using the weapon and now she was hoping to use it.
"Why you here?" Palab asked as he gazed out of the command bunker portal.
Rose lifted her head, "trying to get away from the smell. They don't need me to help clean up this mess."
Palab turned around and looked at Rose oddly, "me ordered team for clean up. You on team?"
"Yes."
"You have orders, you disobey orders and me report you to Sergeant Raynord." The tone in Palab's voice was clear, he meant his words, and Rose stood quickly. She grabbed her helmet and began to walk out of the bunker when the two young elites walked to the door; blocking her path.
"Where were you two?" Rose asked.
The elites ignored Rose's question, "We need to speak with you sergeant Palab. Can you come and speak to some of the watchmen for a moment."
"Make it quick, me have duty." Palab began to walk out, following the two elites. Curious, Rose also followed. Outside the door stood seven watchmen elite in a half circle. Rose felt odd about the setup, but Palab was even more confused. His nose could cut through any secret and told him things that his eyes could not. These watchmen were extremely nervous. They were sweating heavily and the scent saturated the air around him.
"What need?"
"Your head!" Two of the young warriors in training charged Palab from the rear, hoping to tackle the grunt without firing a shot. It was a futile effort.
Palab jumped vertically into the air and spun with his elbow spikes fully extended. He slashed one of the young warriors across the face; overloading his shields in one blow. The young elite fell backwards screaming and holding his face as the other elite reached out to grab Palab, but he was suddenly impaled in the head by Palabs other spike. Palab landed on the ground as the two elites crumbled. He snarled at the group of watchmen as they all pulled up their plasma rifles.
Rose pulled up her magnum and found her self pointing it at the young elites. She stepped toward the middle of the semi-circle and stood at Palab's side. She didn't know why, but she knew she had too.
Nervously Palab looked up at her, but then looked back at the elites. If they fired their rifles the human would be killed quickly. She wasn't as fast as he was and she didn't stand much of a chance, but they hadn't fired yet. That was their first mistake; they hesitated.
Palab inhaled a lung full of recycled methane and released a mighty yell. The elites stepped back, shocked at the massive roar which escaped the grunts masked mouth. Rose didn't know what to make of the sound and her eardrums ached from the sound.
Throughout the Tram station camp, a thousand or more grunts lifted their ears in response to the grunt king's wail. And like a stamped of ravaging wolves they all began to sprint to his aid.
- - - - - - - -
"That was Palab!" Simyaldee roared. He then watched as several grunts raced passed him, exiting the tram station. "That yell, it is like before, when the brutes were attacking and Palab called the other grunts to fight.
What has happened?" Simyaldee began to follow the grunts but Gridolee stepped in his path. "Stand aside."
Gridolee lowered his head, as shame filled him, "you must not go. If you do, you will not like what you will see."
"The watchmen." Simyaldee said with a heavy sigh.
"They will not listen to you. They have not seen the side of the battle that I have, seen and heard the brutes' words. They have not been told the things that the human construct found. They are blind."
Simyaldee clinched his fist tightly and resumed his walk toward the tram tunnel. "Come, our place is in the Inner Sanctum with the elders. If the watchmen have gone this far, then the safety of the council is at state."
"Then you do not care that the grunt sergeant will be killed?"
"Killed?" Simyaldee lowered his head in thought. "No, Gridolee. No warrior on this planet can kill that grunt."
Gridolee knew that the Mirratord second would not make such a statement unless he was serious. Could the grunt even be more skilled then the second?
"Second… if may?" Gridolee nervously asked.
"Curious, are you? Very well, go. I find no joy in seeing the young die, but if you wish to watch then the choice is yours. But I warn you, watching your brothers' die at the hands of a grunt will not be easy to see, and if you get too close to the battle… then you will die as well. Palab will not discern friend from foe when he is enraged. He will recognize only the smell of his fellow grunts." Simyaldee's warning was short and to the point, as he always spoke. The Mirratord second turned and walked toward the tram tunnel and the numerous hunter packs. The elites in the room were puzzled that so many grunts fled the area.
"Do not pursue!" Gridolee shouted to the surrounding horde of elites and humans. "That's an order. Commanders, form up your squads and do not get involved with the grunts until I say otherwise, no matter what you see. There are traitors amongst us." Gridolee then turned a raced toward the tram station's exit.
The door was packed with watching eyes, all eager to see what was happening beyond the door. Roars echoed outside and Gridolee pushed through the observers. Outside Gridolee saw hundreds upon hundreds of grunts pilled on top of each other cheering and snarling. They were watching something, but they were standing on top of each other and Gridolee could not see passed them. He pushed the door open and several grunts snarled at him, but didn't attack. He then pulled a grunt out of his way so that he could see the commotion. The grunt snapped at him, but he didn't care, he wanted to see.
Palab swept Roses' feet from beneath her and she tumbled backward as plasma bolts soared over her. The grunt had saved her life, and Rose began to crawl free of he area before the elites realized that she was still alive. Palab rolled clear of the other plasma discharges and leapt into the arms of a nearby watchman. The elite roared and swung his rifle with a downward blow. His efforts were useless, and he never felt the extended spike that split through his head. As his body tumbled forward, Palab sprinted to the elite at his side and one blow was enough to drop him to his knees.
One by one the seven young watchmen were falling to the ground. The sound of plasma rifles overheating and roars of pain carried in the wind.
Rose neared the command bunker door, stood and watched as Palab cut the young elite warriors down without pity. The last of them fired his rifle at Palab, his youth clearly evident with his horrible aim. Palab bobbed from side to side, sprinting on all fours as the elite roared in frustration. He jostled backwards, praying to score a hit on the elusive grunt. He then felt pain surge through his hand as the rifle overheated. There was no time to wait for it to cool. He tossed it to the side and turned to run, he was afraid. He neared the wall of grunts and each of them snapped at him with rage, but didn't attack. The sound of Palab approaching echoed in his ears and he struggled to find a clearing, a means of escaping the grunt leader's wrath. He nervously tried to crawl over the grunts but they pushed him back. He then stepped into Gridolee's eyesight and for a moment the two of them shared glances.
"Padwamee." Gridolee mouthed as he watched the panicked eyes of his friend. Gridolee was three years older then Padwamee, and they shared the same room in the academy before Gridolee was taken into the fold of the Mirratord.
"Gridolee, please…" His words were cut short as his shields sparked and faded. Padwamee's chest armor snapped open as a boney spike protruded through his skin. The spike then withdrew back into Padwamee's chest and he gargled as he crumbled to the ground. Behind him stood the grunt sergeant, and his armor was stained with the purplish blue blood of his kin. Anger quickly swelled up within him as he stared at the grunt. Padwamee was retreating, but he still killed him. Palab began to gaze back at him and snarled harshly. The grunts around Gridolee parted and stood to the side, giving him a path to confront Palab.
"You saw elites attack me!" Palab roared. "You give order?"
Gridolee fought through his frustration, his rage. His Mirratord training screaming through his soul and the Second's words echoed in his mind.
With clinched fists Gridolee snarled, "no, I did not give the order. The watchmen have betrayed us, because of the prophet's lies."
"Tell Simyaldee what happen and warn elders. Me and grunts will stand watch outside."
Palab's orders needed to be respected, and through his rage Gridolee turned away; every ounce of him wanting to avenge his fallen kin. They had desereved their punishment, they deserved to die, but just as Simyaldee had told him it was hard watching a grunt kill his brothers. As he turned away he saw that Wesley was standing directly behind him.
"Wesley." Rose stated from the distance. She watched as Gridolee looked down at him curiously.
Wesley smiled wickedly, "what's wrong, tough guy? You can take out your frustration on a little human, but you're scared of a grunt? Sounded like that elite knew you, because I thought for sure that I heard him say your name."
Wesley's words stirred within him, adding fuel to the already roaring fire within. Padwamee was about to ask for help, he was running, he was scared, and he died without honor; fleeing from battle.
"Come on, don't tell me you're not going to avenge your friend's death?"
"Silence human." Gridolee roared. He began to walk around Wesley, but Wesley stepped into his path.
"You don't like the grunts anymore then the other elites, so take a chance. Kill him, avenge your friend and you won't have take any more orders from him."
Gridolee huffed, and turned. Palab's gaze never left him. Swiftly, Gridolee pulled his blades from his hip holster and powered them. The twin blades flashed into existence. Palab lowered to all fours and snarled sharply as his spikes slowly extended from his elbows; the foreskin parting as the spikes slid outward.
"Me give you order!" Palab barked.
"No more orders, grunt." Gridolee snarled. "Show me why you are considered King of the Grunts." Gridolee lowered his posture, because he knew he had to be cautious, but he also knew he was going against everything the Second told him. Gridolee thought to himself, "How strong can he really be?" He dashed forward, passing the group of grunts and into the clearing; stepping over the fallen body of Padwamee. The watching grunts began to roar and growl as Palab patiently waited for a moment to strike.
Wesley stepped forward as Rose jogged to his side. The two of them found gaps between the grunts and watched as Palab and Gridolee faced off against each other.
"Yet another close call for you." Wesley commented to Rose.
Rose then turned to Wesley, "He was leaving. What did you say to him?"
"I'd say anything I to get him to fight and see him die." There was a heavy darkness within in his voice, and Rose understood his pain. He hated Gridolee with every fiber of his being, but what confused her was why he thought Gridolee would loose to Palab. To her knowledge Palab was simply the best of the grunts, and even though he easily defeated the seven watchmen, he was going to fight Gridolee, a Mirratord warrior.
- - - - - - - -
"Take me… take me to the battle… a new body, a new leader, there must be more, there must be knowledge. Mercy told us, Jogrennilee, Seed, Ark, Earth… the seed is close. We must have the seed. Take me to the seed, to a body. A new leader."
Dozens of combat forms wrapped their tentacles around the massive brain form and began to carry it beyond the ruin of the Life and Sacrifice's wreckage, and toward the dim lights of the Tram Station.
- - - - - - - -
Gridolee swung wildly and missed, his energy blade split the air around Palab's head but he never came close. Palab was too elusive, too fast, and too cunning. It was easy for Gridolee to realize that the grunt was toying with him.
Gridolee stepped back and spun with his left blade extended. Palab ducked and found himself staring at Gridolee's back. The elite left his rear unguarded. Palab quickly took advantage and lunged.
Gridolee smirked as he sensed Palab approaching and thought, "I have you." Gridolee fully rotated with his right blade and prepared to kick with his left, but Palab was gone. "Where…" An explosion of pain rocketed up Gridolee's leg as he fell to his knees. His shields overloaded and he knew that it was over and the death blow would come soon. Palab had found the weakness in his attack and Gridolee roared in frustration as he powered off his duel blade. The sound of ravenous grunts filled his ears as he opened his eyes. But instead of death greeting him, his eyes were filled with Palab's face, and at the base of his neck rested the boney spike of his left forearm blade.
"You have earned your honor with me, Sergeant." Gridolee mumbled. The little grunt had bested him easily, and Gridolee understood what Simyaldee meant; Palab was very skilled and unnaturally fast. "End my life."
"Me kill you, weaken Mirratord more. You live, you respect me now, and we fight together until war is over." Palab retracted his blades and backed away. "Me not like you, me not trust you, but Mirratord need you. Me not smell anger any longer, so me not think you a threat to grunts. But if you hurt grunts, me kill you. Me will report this to Simyaldee and Belmaeda later. Me gave you orders, now you go."
Gridolee stood, broken, bested and humiliated by a grunt, and nodded his head. His orders were understood, and his respect for Palab was earned. He began to walk back to the tram station, knowing that he had nearly died twice in one day. He was not nearly as strong as he had once thought.
"Damn it." Wesley snapped. "Come on Rose, we should check on Eric." The grunts began to disperse and Rose followed Wesley back toward the Tram station.
- - - - - - - -
"We failed."
"Once the elder get word of these events they will surely find us."
"They will find us, but we will not surrender."
"What do you mean?"
"If we can not kill the grunt then we must prove to the Prophets that we are no longer followers of the high council."
"Brother, do you mean…"
"Yes. Gather the others, all of them, at the Dabdough ranches. We will force our way into the Inner Sanctum."
"The Sacred Hall will flow with the blood of our sacrifice, and then the Prophets shall honor us with a place at their side during the Great Journey."
- - - - - - - -
The shield powered down and Catherine sighed softly to herself. Blood pressure, brain waves, and all other vitals were slowly returning to normal. She had done it, but now she would need to use the forerunner systems to unlock exactly what she had done. All the information she needed was recorded and the missing link between the flood and beating them would be found.
The two medics slowly began to remove the IV from Kelly's arms and covered her topless body with the blanket again. Catherine walked close and wiped the sweat from Kelly's brow and Kelly slowly opened her eyes.
"Mom?" Kelly mumbled. The words tingled in Catherine's ears, and her heart skipped a beat. It was obvious that Kelly was still partially unconscious, and her words were based on a mixture of her extremely high fever and Catherine's actions. However formal and easy her scientifically accurate description was, it still brought a sense of joy to Catherine to finally hear those words. The option of having a child had long since passed Doctor Halsey, and she never had time for such a thing. Her life had been dedicated to the Spartan Program and to humanity.
For now, she relished with the idea that she was something of a mother, "yes, Kelly?" Her children were the Spartans, and now she was going to do for them what she couldn't do before; make them perfect.
"Let's not do that again." Kelly sluggishly stated. A smiled glowed across Catherine's face as she backed away from the table. Kelly had once again fallen asleep. She deserved the rest. Catherine reached up and dimmed the over hanging light enough that it would allow Kelly to sleep peacefully.
"Keep her under close surveillance. As soon as she is awake, make sure she gets plenty of fluids and something to eat; lots of calories, carbohydrates and protein. That should bring her energy level back to normal."
"Sure thing doctor." One of the medics stated. He then turned to the containment box and the twitching husk of the infection form. "What should we do with that?"
"Nothing. This is a two way study. I need to know the effect of the flood infection as well as the subject. I'll take it with me to the other room. Transfer all the data and blood samples to that room as well." The medics nodded and Catherine began to walk to elder Vornaldea and his elite honor guards.
"It was a success. This is great news." Vornaldea voiced.
"Yes, but for now I can only assume to understand the reaction on a human host." Catherine stated bluntly. "If you could please provide the two medics with some food and water, I'll be in the lab adjacent to this room." Catherine turned and walked across the hall. A medic soon followed with a cart carrying blood samples, data pads, and the flood infection form; still alive but slowly dieing after failing to deliver its mind altering cargo.
The honor guards smirked at Catherine's demands and grumbled even more at the fact that the halls of the Sacred Hall were being used as her personal research center. Vornaldea heard their displeasure and looked at them sternly. A simple head bob ordered them to do as she had asked. Vornaldea understood the importance of this research, and that the Sacred Hall was no longer the sacred hall of worship that it once was. His eyes had been opened, and worshipping the sacred forerunners instruments would be damned.
After several hours of studying and gazing at the notes, Catherine pushed away from the oddly shaped desk. Her eyes ached, her back was sore and her stomach was still rumbling after eating the overcooked Dabdough meat. She preferred her meat medium-well but considering that the alien animal was unknown to her she would rather be safe knowing that it was thoroughly cooked and free of any harmful alien diseases.
As expected, she gained a lot of information from Kelly's experiment and slowly the pieces were falling into place. She had contacted Sergeant Eric Raynord and had him bring down several data pads from her Chiroptera cruiser, as well as some other supplies; like a half ton of MJOLNIR armor. It rested in the corner in several pieces as the young engineering woman from Earth toyed with it. Whoever she was she knew her stuff, but she was putting up one hell of a racket. Sergeant Raynord had told Catherine that she was one of the best system Engineers attached to the Mark VI project, and if anyone could make some quick and dirty upgrades to the Mark V it would be her. Eric had other duties to attend to and went back to the capital city, but the young engineer had been pouring all of her energy into the Mark V since she arrived.
Catherine stretched and eyeballed another cup of coffee sitting on her desk. Like so many times in the past, it was cold. Her life was filled with drinking cold coffee, it seemed, she could never pull herself away from her work in order to drink coffee before it became cold. She downed it quickly and turned back to her notes and the dissected remains of the infection form. A loud mechanical hum filed the room as the door opened. Kelly quickly stepped in and motioned toward the doctor and the disorder of her desk. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman working on her armor and nearly protested, but with Catherine so close she assumed that the woman knew what she was doing.
"How was your run?" Catherine asked without looking up from her data pad and notes.
"Amazing. I haven't felt this good in years." Kelly's response drifted as she continued to watch the woman working on her suit. "Who is she, ma'am?"
"One of the engineers from Earth, she worked on the Mark VI project."
"Mark VI?" Kelly happily questioned. The woman stood to her feet and stretched. She had unbuttoned the top section of her jump suit and was exposing a sweet drenched sports bra. It looked as though she had been wearing it for quiet some time. She tossed her short black hair with her hand and exhaled loudly.
She turned and walked toward Kelly and Catherine, "you must be Kelly, Spartan 087. I'm Roselyn Santos, head of system upgrades for the Mark V and VI project in New Mombasa."
"Civilian?" Kelly questioned.
"I was, until the covenant landed, but that's a long story that I'd rather not talk about." Rose took notice that the Spartan's figure was incredible, considering her age. To her knowledge the Spartan's were nearing their fifties, but showed no sign of it. Her skin was pale, but well toned and tight, she looked like a woman in her mid twenties, side from a few battle scars.
"Then what's your call sign, soldier?" Kelly sternly stated.
"Sorry. Chief Warrant Roselyn Santos, sir."
"Okay Chief, fill me in on what you've been doing to my suit, and if I don't like it, you'll be spending the next few hours putting it back the way it was."
"Uh, okay." Rose turned and began to walk back to her stretched out pieces of the Mark V armor. "I did a memory upgrade and gave you more storage capacity within the armor's mainframe. I removed the burnt out Gel Layer monitor and replaced it with an upgrade I pieced together. Your Gel Layer response time and pressure resistance is now doubled."
"Meaning I can withstand more heat, and longer falls."
"Right. I also upgraded your HUD using the system schematics from the UNSC database. Without that you wouldn't be able to register the new BR55 database with your Mark V HUD. The upgraded HUD will now respond the moment you pick up any weapon. The pressure sensors in your gauntlets were fried. I don't know how you were able sense what you were touching, but I fixed it. Also, I got rid of the 'slide' from beneath your boots. We discovered that shield modulation can be adjusted by detecting when you were standing, and when you were jumping. The sensors in your boots will automatically extend the shields to beneath your boots when you leave the ground or if the heat increases to dangerous levels. You can disable this just like any other system, by merely thinking it."
"You did all of this with field tools?" Kelly questioned with a shocked tone.
"Yes, sir." Rose smiled. She was excited that she was finally able to contribute to the efforts. "Granted these updates are nothing compared to the Mark VI, but you've been greatly updated from the Mark V's base settings. I guess you can call it the Mark V-2." Rose chuckled.
"Hey Doc, can I keep her?" Kelly laughed, showing a rare sense of humor.
"Actually, yes, I think we should." Catherine stated. "This Installation was once a ship. While I work on this 'cure', you and the Chief Warrant can go find the central controls in case of an emergency. This ship should have a bridge. Tell Vornaldea to tag along."
"Yes ma'am." Kelly sighed. She was growing weary of the constant romps around forerunner installations.
"And Kelly, I'm clearing you to wear your armor. You should find that you are more then capable to handle combat with it on."
- - - - - - - - -
The far side of the Inner Sanctum, near the caves of the Trials. Several honor guards pace from side to side as they maintain a constant watch over the sealed exit to the caves and the Dabdough ranch beyond. The massive double door stretched four stories tall and a red light indicated that it was locked.
"Commander, do you copy?" A voice stated through one of communication relay's beside the door. One of the honor guards quickly ran to the communication terminal and responded.
"I copy. What is your status?"
"We have checked the perimeter and the Dabdough ranch, and everything is secure. We are ready to return."
Fearing nothing and not having been alerted to any concerns, "very well. We're opening the doors now."
The light on the center of the door switched from red to green and the massive door parted. Each of the honor guards turned to see their comrades return from their routine patrols, but as the doors parted dozens of watchmen rushed in.
"What is this?" One of the guards questioned. The young watchmen raised their plasma rifles and each began firing at the older warriors before them. The elite's shields failed and he roared in pain. "Traitors!" One last shot from a rifle ended his life as the watchmen began to attack the other honor guards. The warriors roared and charged the mass of young traitors, their energy swords in hands. Several young watchmen were easily slain but the numbers were too great, and the five honor guards were silenced. Ten of the watchmen were killed but the others were not discouraged. As the door finally reached its maximum width, four wraith tanks entered lead by twenty specters and ghosts. Behind these lines were five male Dabdough's; much smaller then the female and much easier to control. Atop them rode several watchmen, guiding the large beasts by their reins. These watchmen carried banners of the Covenant, and waved the flags for all to see. Upon the banners were the Sangheili characters of "For the Gods, the Prophets and the Covenant". Spread across each of the Dabdough's necks was the ceremonial dressings of the beasts, which were used to celebrate the traditional ceremonies within the covenant. On one of these dressings were the words of the Covenant Writ of Union, words that had been embedded in all of the Elites from childhood.
The ghost led the assault and streaked toward the city in the distance. The wraith tanks turned their mortar cannons upward and began to fire wave upon wave of plasma balls into the distant city, as the young watchmen began to roar in anticipation of their sacrifices. They each knew that death would come, but for them, the Great Journey was their ultimate goal.
So full of hate were our eyes
That none of us could see
Our war would yield countless dead
But never victory
So let us cast arms aside
And like discard our wrath
Thou, in faith, will keep us safe
Whilst we find the path
To be continued…