The Covenant Civil War: Part One

"Alright, warriors of the Sangheili race." The Spec Ops Commander barked, holding his energy sword hilt. "The Brutes have set up a small installation on the surface of the planet we are approaching. It contains suitable atmosphere, so you will not be needing your Ranger equipment. This was formerly a gas purifying plant used by the Forerunners, but it has been retrofitted for military use." The Commander said, his silver armor shining in the dim interior lights of the Phantom. "There are many turrets and most of the enemies are heavily armed-"the Commander was abruptly cut off as there was a huge jolt. Most of the Grunts flew off their feet, and many Elites stumbled. The Arbiter clutched his Carbine and rolled to the floor. The distinct sound of a Shade plasma turret firing off was easily heard. The Phantom began to tilt and it continued to be shaken and jolted. Suddenly, blue plasma smoke began to fill the interior.
"Hang on, we're going down!" the Commander yelled out. The Grunts screamed, running around in circles. The Arbiter heard the sound of a Wraith firing, and then the Phantom began to spiral around downwards. "We've been hit by a Wraith blast, Commander!" the Arbiter screamed over the sound of the failing engines, the sounds of flak and the screaming of Grunts.
"I know, Arbiter! Everyone out of the Phantom! This ship will explode on impact!" the Commander dove for the mini-gravlift, followed by most others on board. The Arbiter grabbed a Grunt who was cowering in fear and leaped through the small hole in the floor.
He hit the ground hard.
The Grunt went rolling away, and the Arbiter was moaning in pain. When the feeling came back into his limbs, he got up and checked his Carbine for damage. There wasn't any, so he headed to where everyone was regrouping.
The Arbiter heard a huge explosion and looked behind him.
The Phantom, still soaring through the air, was spewing blue smoke and parts were falling off it. It was crippled and headed towards the ground.
"We have no way of getting out of here, Commander!" one Spec.Ops Elite yelled in the Commander's face.
"We will find a way. I'm sure the Brutes keep a Phantom or two around here. We might even find some armaments, now we must form our plan of attack..."

Trayr gripped his Brute shot tightly. He looked around, alert and ready for anything. He turned to the Jackal sniper behind him and gave him a hand signal which meant to rally some soldiers. Trayr knew something was not right here. That Phantom went down, but he knew there were survivors. He wanted to search the crash site.
A few minutes later, Trayr and a small force of Brutes, Jackals and Drones set out to where the Phantom went down. They searched the site only to find some blackened weaponry and the Elite pilot, alive but barely.
"Take him to base for interrogation and torture...possibly for branding. "Trayr snarled, punching the Elite in the chest.
All of a sudden, Trayr heard the sounds of plasma rifle fire. He turned just in time to see a plasma bolt strike one of his comrades and rip through his organs effortlessly, easily killing him. He looked and saw a force of Elites and Grunts, led by the Arbiter.
Then, plasma bolts started streaking past them from behind. Another force, led by the Spec.Ops Commander, was closing in on them.
"We're caught in a pincer manuever! Initatiate counter measu-"Trayr did not get to finish his sentence. He felt a carbine bolt rip through his skull, and then everything went black.

The Arbiter watched the Brute captain fall down in his 2x scope. He fired off 4 more shots at another Brute, who almost instantly fell over dead, blood flowing freely from the wounds. A Brute fired at him with his brute shot, and he hit the dirt just as another brute grenade passed over his head. He fired at the Brute several times. One shot ripped open the jugular vein of the Brute. Blood spewed out of the Brute's neck like a fountain, spraying all over the place. The Arbiter watched one of his comrades fall to the dirt, heavily wounded by a Jackal sniper. The Arbiter lept over to him and brought him to cover.
"Arbiter, I am not going to make it..."the Elite sputtered, choking on his own blood. "I'm too heavily wounded...he me in the chest, my heart has literally been pierced. You cannot save me...please, Holy One, give me the Last Rites."
The Arbiter, tears welling up in his eyes, hunched down over the Elite. He opened a small book which he kept in his armor all the time, when he needed faith in the gods. He read a page of the book, written for dying soldiers.
The Elite's eyelids began to close, and then he drifted off into a velvet silence...
The Arbiter loaded his carbine, and opened all four mouthparts and screamed in fury. He began shooting madly at every Brute, Jackal, or Drone he saw on the battlefield.
"DIE, BASTARDS, DIE!" he screamed, pouring laser after laser into the enemies. He loaded his carbine again and fired at a Brute, and it dropped to the ground, blood spewing onto the dirt. The Arbiter sighted a lone Jackal sniper, and ran towards it. The sniper fired off shots at the Arbiter, but all of them ripped into the dirt. The Arbiter towered over the Jackal and dropped his carbine, and took out a small metal object.
The Jackal laughed and pointed his sniper at the Arbiter...
But there was a hiss of energy and the blade of an energy sword sprung to life.

The Arbiter walked away from the battlefield, holding his carbine. Bodies lay everywhere, both Elite and Brute. He hung his head low, knowing that they had not managed to rescue the prisoner. Or save his friend, Tsla 'Osolmee. He headed towards the recently found Phantom drop ship, and hopped inside the gravlift.
"Arbiter, what are you wearing around your neck?" an Elite asked him.
The Arbiter lifts the object on a small chain to reveal it is the head of a Jackal.
He held his carbine close to him as the drop ship ascended through the atmosphere.
He knew that this was but one mission out of many, and that the Covenant Civil War was going to be a long and painful struggle.