Once again, sorry for the delay. I'm jumping ahead for the last time into the beginning of Halo 2.
And I've been reading through my more recent reveiws and decided to respond to them:
Spacefan- You have avery good point there. But Eisa is a Human, she would most likely figure it out in time. I mean, what girl doesn't know what it is?
Dumass44-Thank you. But with me confussion is normal, but sometimes a good thing.
Not a freaky fan boy/girl-The only reason that this review would be insulting is if it was true. I love Halo too, and it takes a lot more than that to get me to stop writing.
Mandalore7- Dramatic, no one's ever said that before, but it is meant to be kinda funny. I'm shooting for just a little humor.
Alright, enough rambling, here it is:
Chapter 8: The Price of an Accident
"There was only one ship." Commander Lon Zairunee said.
High Councilor D'hy Rozmalee sat on the risers that lined the Council Chamber as Zairunee told the tale of the destruction of the Sacred Ring.
"One?" The Prophet of Truth asked. "Are you sure?"
He paused and though for a moment then said, "Yes. They called it the Pillar of Autumn."
"Why was it not destroyed, with the rest of their fleet?" Mercy demanded.
Rozmalee looked around the chamber; he could hear excited murmuring coming from the Councilors. He folded his arms across his chest and crossed his legs.
"It fled, as we set fire to their planet; but I followed with all the ships in my command."
"When you first saw Halo," Truth began saying. "Were you blinded by its majesty?"
"Blinded?"
"Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?" The Prophet of Regret asked.
Zairunee shook his head. "No."
"But the Humans were able to evade your ships, land on the Sacred Ring and desecrate it with their filthy footsteps?"
"Noble Hierarchs…" Zairunee said. "Surely you will understand that once the parasite attacked-"
Zairunee was cut off by the shouts coming from the Councilors, Sangheili and Prophet, but Rozmalee and the two Sangheili sitting on either side of him didn't join in.
"There will be order within this Council!" Mercy shouted.
The Prophet of Truth held up his hands to silence the Council, Mercy and Regret. "You were right to focus your attention on the Flood, but this Demon, this 'Master Chief'…"
"By the time I learned the Demon's intent…" Zairunee looked at the floor and whispered, as though he was scared to: "There was nothing I could do."
The Councilor sitting next to Rozmalee leaned over to him and said quietly, "This is ridiculous! It wasn't even his fault!"
He nodded, and then he heard the Jiralhanae chieftain, Tartarus chuckle.
Rozmalee watched the hologram Regret as he leaned closer and whispered to Truth, "Noble Prophet of Truth this has gone on long enough. Make an example of this bungler. The Council demands it."
Truth waved him away, "You are one of our most treasured instruments. Long have you led your fleet with honor and distinction, but your inability to safeguard Halo…was a colossal failure."
One of the Prophet Councilors stood, raised a fist and yelled. "Nay, it was heresy!"
This caused more angry yelling within the Council, but Rozmalee and a few others didn't even say a word.
Zairunee looked around the chamber and at the yelling Councilors, the looked back at the Prophets and said then said so everyone could hear it: "I will continue my campaign against the Humans!"
Truth looked as though stunned by Zairunee's words. "No! You will not." He turned to Tartarus, he barked at two of his Jiralhanae, and they moved to grab his arms. Zairunee stood up straighter, looked at the two of them and readied to push them away and they backed off.
"Soon the Great Journey shall begin." Truth said as the two Jiralhanae and Tartarus escorted Zairunee out of the chamber. "But when it does, the weight of your heresy will stay your feet, and you shall be left behind."
Before exiting the chamber Zairunee cast a quick glance at Rozmalee, and then continued on.
Later, after the Councilors had watched Zairunee be branded with the Mark of Shame; all was quiet in the Council Chamber.
"What are we to do with this Heretic?" Truth said breaking the long silence.
"I saw that we hang him." One of the Prophet Councilors said. "Then parade his dead body through High Charity, show the rest of the Covenant what the price of failure such as this is!"
Another Prophet Councilor stood. "Burn his body before the rest of the Covenant!"
Rozmalee couldn't stand this any longer. He had to say something in Zairunee's defense.
He stood and the Prophet of Truth looked at him. "Have you something to say Rozmalee?"
"Yes as a matter of fact I do."
Truth held up hand. "Well then by all means speak. We're all listening."
"First I'd like to say that I'm speaking in defense of Zairunee. The destruction of the Sacred Ring was indeed horrible. But if you remember the prophecy, there are more; and we will find another."
The Prophets looked like they were getting interested in what Rozmalee had to say then Mercy spoke. "Continue."
"The destruction of the Ring was not his fault. As he said, by the time he found out what the Demon was up to, it was too late to stop him. If he had sent in teams to attempt to stop the Demon, then many more would have been killed. And, we must in some ways give him credit; he did manage to contain the Flood."
"Are you saying that the Demon was right in doing what he did? That it was good thing? Or maybe that the Forerunners sent him to keep the parasite from spreading too far?" The hologram of Regret asked, sounding intrigued.
The Sangheili next to Rozmalee, Councilor Narudee stood. "It is possible. But the Demon is a Human, but what if that could change?" He looked at Rozmalee. "We have living proof of that. Your daughter, Eisa 'Corasee is that proof."
"No!" Mercy snapped. "The Demon has committed too terrible a crime to join us. Revenge on his race will come soon."
Truth held up a hand to silence Mercy. "Now, back to Zairunee, what do you propose we do?"
"Give him a chance to redeem himself. There are those that have committed worse crimes than him." Rozmalee said.
Truth pondered his words then nodded. "What do the rest of you think we should do?"
The Prophet Councilors all stood and yelled; apparently they didn't think that it was good idea.
"Hang him! Parade his corpse through the city!" One yelled.
"A bit overzealous, don't you think?" Truth said. He looked at Rozmalee. "We give Zairunee a chance to redeem himself, but he will die; no matter what."
The Councilors finally settled down and agreed to make Zairunee an Arbiter. It was what Rozmalee and a few others had wanted, but he would die. It didn't matter, at least he'd be an Arbiter, and that was what Zairunee had said that he always wanted to be.
Later……
Special Operations Commander Eso Osealee strode past the lines of Sangheili and Unggoy onboard his Phantom. "When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath!"
"According to our station! All without exception!" The Sangheili yelled.
"On the blood of our fathers" Osealee made a fist. "On the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the Covenant!"
"Even to our dying breath!
Osealee kept walking by his Sangheili and Unggoy, looking at them both as he did. "Those who would break this oath are heretics, worthy of neither pity, nor mercy! Even now, they use our lords' creations to broadcast their lies!"
"We shall grind them into dust!"
Osealee turned around at the end of the Phantom to face his troops. "And continue our march for glorious salvation!" he walked over to Zairunee, who had recently been made the Arbiter. "This armor suits you." he said. "But it cannot hide that mark."
"Nothing ever will."
"You are the Arbiter, Zairunee, the will of the Prophets. But these, are my Sangheili, their lives matter to me. But because of what you are, yours does not."
"That makes two of us." Zairunee shot back.
Osealee looked into his eyes and huffed at him respectfully. He had always respected Zairunee, they were best friends while growing up, and they joined the Covenant together with Rocalee. They had always been keeping in touch and caring about each other, but now that Zairunee was the Arbiter, everything was going to change.
"Leader!" The Sangheili piloting the Phantom said over the COM. "There is no doubt; the storm will strike the facility!"
"We'll be long gone before it arrives." He said calmly.
The Phantoms lowered and dropped off Sangheili and Unggoy, including Zairunee. As they Phantoms left the area he said over the COM channel to his troops: "Warriors prepare for combat!"
Osealee went to the Phantom's cockpit and looked out of the view screen, he could see Zairunee. "We are the arm of the Prophets, Arbiter, and you are the blade. Be silent and swift, and we shall quell this heresy without incident." Then once he was at the door he said. "The storm had masked our approach and has their local battlenet is disarray. We have the element of surprise….for now."
It might be awhile 'til next hapter comes out. I'm trying to get twonew chapters for the Interregnum out.