The Great Journey
A/N: Another long one. Gonna use the UNSC Military Calendar for all the times in this story (even when from the Covenant point of view). Also, I'll just go with the fact that humans seem to be able understand what the Covenant (at least Elites) are saying in the story, and I'll make all the Covenant use minutes, hours, days, etc. instead of "cycles" from Halo: The Flood. This is just because uniformity makes things easier to understand. Also, the human ship is called In Amber Clad, not just Amber Clad, and it is overtaken by the Flood-just listen to Cortana's comments during the mission "Gravemind." Sorry for all the rather boring dialogue in this chapter; but Halo 2's plot leaves a lot to be desired.
Reviews:
Oni-Kaiser: thanks for the review.
pzgr6: thanks for the review, and yeah, Halo 2's ending is bad yet good at the same time.
Spacefan: Yeah, I have some typos. Need to proofread my work more. Otherwise, thanks for the review.
red blood white feathers: yep, lots of competition out there. Thanks for the review.
Chapter 1: Uneasy Alliance
1823 hours, February 21, 2553 (UNSC Military Calendar) ♦ Control Room, Delta Halo.
The Arbiter, Sergeant Avery Johnson, and Commander Miranda Keyes all stood in silence. They were all watching the hovering AI, 343 Guilty Spark, or the Monitor, waiting for an answer. The sounds of the conversation that took place, and the question that just halted it, could still be heard echoing throughout the cavernous Control Room.
"Then where…where would someone go to activate the other rings?
"Why, the Ark, of course."
"And where, Oracle, is that?"
As the final echoes of the words faded away, the Monitor gave his response.
"I'm…not quite sure, really," he replied. "After countless eons spent searching my own databanks and Halo installation 04's…I found there were no direct references to the location of the Ark. I suppose the creators hid the information at a secure location, to throw off any enemies they might have had. They wouldn't want their most secret and most important location to be discovered if my databanks, or the Halo installations, fell into the wrong hands."
"What!" Sergeant Johnson exclaimed. "Let me get this straight, Tinkerbell. You're telling us that this "Ark" can activate all these Halos and-"
"Yes, of course, I already mentioned-" the Monitor began.
"Did I ask you to interrupt? No, I thought not. So, you're telling us that this "Ark" thing has the power to activate all the Halos and wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy?" Johnson asked impatiently, one hand fiddling with his Particle Beam rifle's trigger.
"Yes," replied the Monitor.
"And you don't have a clue how to find it?"
"Well, no. Of course you could conduct a search of all former Forerunner planets, as well as all the Halo installations," said the Monitor lightly, as if this task were no harder than taking a walk in the park.
"Oh, that makes it much easier," said Johnson sarcastically.
"Wait…" the Arbiter murmured. "I remember something now. I had forgotten about it in the chaos earlier, with the finding of the Sacred Icon, and the condemnation of the Elites. It took place a few days before I returned from the destruction of a Sacred Ring-Halo 04. The High Prophets of Regret, Mercy, and Truth were conversing in the Council Chamber of High Charity. I had been ordered to the Chamber to receive my punishment from the Prophets. However, when I approached, they took no notice of me. Rather, they continued their talk about an Ark of some sort. From what I could piece together from their conversation, a Covenant task force had recently run across an abandoned Forerunner planet. On it, they discovered a rock crystal engraved with cryptic runes and symbols. Once deciphered, the symbols seemed to lead to the location of a planet. The runes, once translated, read "The Ark," as far as I know. There was more information on it that I could not glean from the conversation. Also, this crystal was identical to a fragment that was discovered on a different Forerunner planet, many decades ago, before the start of the Human-Covenant war. The partial star chart from that crystal fragment pointed to somewhere within your sector of the galaxy. Other crystals have been found, and they all point to different planets-one of which was your Sigma Octanus IV, I believe, where another crystal was discovered, and that led us to the first Sacred Ring the Covenant had ever found, Halo 04..
"With the discovery of the Ark crystal, the Prophets assembled a large strike force to advance upon this holy shrine. However, the strike force was destroyed by a group of attacking humans, including several Demons-your Spartans. The Prophets also deduced somehow that the Ark was the very homeworld of the humans themselves. The Prophet of Regret also attempted to regain control of the Ark, though he was not expecting the heavy defenses your kind had set up. This information may all explain why the Covenant, or rather the Prophets, harbor such an intense hatred of the humans, and why they have not offered humans induction into the Covenant. They most likely presumed your race to be some sort of interloper upon the holy planets that used to belong to the Forerunners. All other races that made up the Covenant were simply brainwashed by the Prophets into hating the humans and believing in the Great Journey.
"And now, the last Prophet has set out with the entire fleet protecting High Charity to reclaim this Ark. I now know that the Prophets have used the entire Covenant to further their own deluded purposes. In his fervor to claim the Ark, the Prophet of Truth abandoned High Charity to the Flood, instead of fighting for it. We Elites have been detached from the Covenant; many have been killed, and others fought, capturing some enemy ships. The Grunts and Hunters have followed us Elites, because they feel they have been betrayed as well. What we will do now, I do not know. Perhaps we may join the ranks of the humans." Having finished his lengthy explanation, the Arbiter looked sadly about at the shattered bodies of his brethren that lay scattered around the Control Room. Someday, somehow, the Elite would have his revenge.
The two humans stood with mouths slightly agape at the Arbiter's speech, particularly his last proclamation. Johnson closed his mouth and opened it several times, then found his voice.
"You're telling me that Earth is the Ark? And that these Prophets started the whole war? Just because we happened to colonize these planets?" he asked, astonished.
The Arbiter nodded. "As far as I can tell, yes."
"Johnson, Arbiter, we can worry about all of these technicalities later," Commander Keyes piped up. "Our current situation, if anyone bothered to look at it, is quite grave. The Flood have taken control of the In Amber Clad, and we don't have any other way to get off this Halo. We're going to have to work together if we want to get out of this alive."
"Wait just a minute, ma'am. Have you forgotten that this Elite and others like his kind were trying to kill us just days ago?" Sergeant Johnson said angrily. "We could've retrieved the Index without any trouble if he hadn't been around, but instead he had to knock me out and capture us!"
"Times have truly changed, Sergeant. If the Arbiter and the Elites agree to a cease-fire, then it is settled. You know we can't do this alone, Johnson," Keyes replied.
"We Elites have nowhere else to turn to. We have no other choice. The Covenant no longer respects us as a member, and they have cast asides Grunts and Hunters as well, since they helped us Elites fight against the Brutes, Jackals, and Drones." The Arbiter paused, listening to some radio chatter in his helmet's communications system. "I'm receiving word that a group of Elites, Grunts, and Hunters have regained control of a significant part of High Charity. They are holding out against the Flood in a minor ship bay. Also, the Elite forces fighting on board some ships of High Charity's fleet have captured eighteen ships. I can call for a Phantom to pick us up. Then we can move one the cruisers the Elites have taken over into position and evacuate any other forces on the Holy City."
Sergeant Johnson opened his mouth and snapped it shut. He looked to Commander Keyes.
"Agreed, Arbiter. How will we know to trust you?" she asked. "I know Johnson here has a few problems with this."
"The Elites are an honorable race. We will keep to our promise. Now we hunger for nothing more than vengeance on the Brutes." Here, the Arbiter paused and looked around again at all the bodies of his fellow Elites. "We see now that we have no real reason to hate the humans. You fight far better than almost all of the races that have been absorbed into the Covenant. They would never have been able to hold out for so long. Also, though your technology is primitive, you have shown remarkable skill with it, as well as aptitude for adaptation and improvement of alien technologies."
"Yeah. Should've never messed with the humans!" Sergeant Johnson said proudly, thumping his armor-clad chest. "Now let's get moving!"
"Wait a moment!" Commander Keyes said. "What about the Monitor?"
"He can come with us. His information may prove to be very valuable," the Arbiter answered. "The other Oracle, 2401 Penitent Tangent, can handle the defense of this ring."
"Very well," the Monitor agreed. "This installation has many more security features than the installation I was assigned to. There are mechanical plants scattered all around this ring, capable of autonomously manufacturing Sentinels, Advanced Sentinels, and Enforcers at a very high rate. That should be sufficient to contain the Flood, especially if the parasite has no suitable hosts around to sustain itself."
"Right," said Keyes. "Then it's settled."
The Arbiter held a conversation with some of his brethren while Johnson and Keyes had a discussion of their own.
"Ma'am, with respect, the Flood is no enemy you should be dealing with. I think I should be the only human to go with these Elites. I've had experience with the Flood, and besides, I don't seem to taste good to them anyway. You should stay behind on one of the Covenant cruisers," the Sergeant said. "Not that I trust these Elites and their cronies, not one bit, but it's safer than you dealing with the Flood."
"Never thought I'd see the day when I would be taking orders from a Sergeant," the Commander said cheerfully.
"It ain't orders, ma'am," Johnson responded. "It's just advice."
Ten minutes later, the small group of one Elite, two humans, and a single floating AI were gathered near the molten remains of the Control Room's doors. The drone of a Phantom could be heard, steadily increasing in volume. The Arbiter's keen gaze picked the purple dropship out, flying towards them through a cloud layer. The Phantom came to a stop, hovering about twenty feet above the group. The odd little group stepped into the dropship's miniature grav lift and were lifted up into the Phantom.
A Grunt riding in the troop bay gave a squeak and leveled his plasma pistol at Sergeant Johnson.
"Look, see, human!" And with that, the diminutive alien let loose two bolts of green plasma at Johnson. The Arbiter's quick reflexes saved the Johnson from a gruesome plasma burn. The Elite stepped in front of the human, letting the shots dissipate harmlessly off his shield. He gritted his mandibles together; the equivalent of a human frown. Apparently, the Elites that had received word of the cease-fire had forgotten to relay the message to the Grunts under their command. The Arbiter gave immediate orders to spread the word of the cease-fire, and told the confused Grunt inside the dropship the message as well. Keyes and Johnson settled down to the form-fitting crash seats, which, in Johnson's mind, was an improvement over their old dropship seats. He had ridden on them before and had some nasty back pain afterwards. The Monitor floated about, inspecting equipment and muttering about how all the technology on board appeared to be stolen from the Forerunners.
The Arbiter made his way to the cockpit. An Elite was sitting at the controls, and he looked up as the Arbiter entered.
"The Arbiter! Alive? I was only told to make a pickup of an Elite and two humans, and that there was a cease-fire!" exclaimed the pilot. "How did you defeat Tartarus and his Brutes? It must have been a battle of the ages!"
"We have time for questions later. Now, though, I need you to make a pickup of my own."
The Phantom twisted its way through the narrow canyons leading up to the Control Room. Suddenly, a platform built into the rock wall became visible. Four large marks in the ground indicated a Scarab had been sitting there. The Arbiter ordered his pilot to put the dropship low to the ground. As the ship descended, a group of Elites ran towards it from the Spectre they had been sitting on. They ran into the lift and were pulled aboard. The Phantom's pilot fed more power to the engines and the dropship began to rise out of the canyon.
The first Elite to come up was a white-armored Elite. He exuded an air of authority and his armor was dented and scarred from countless days of nearly endless fighting. This, truly, was one of the best of the best, his fighting stills comparable to the mighty Arbiter's. He was Rtas 'Vadumee, the Elite Special Operations Commander-for a lack of a better term, an Elite with just as much command authority as the Arbiter himself.
"Ah, my thanks, Arbiter. For I know it is you who would have remembered I was here. I was beginning to think you weren't coming," 'Vadumee said gratefully.
"I am sorry for my late arrival. Stopping Tartarus from activating the rings…was not an easy task, to say the least," said the Arbiter in a supreme understatement.
'Vadumee snorted. "That damned Brute and his followers. I suppose you had to dispose of him?"
"Yes, and I had some help from these two humans." The Arbiter gestured towards Keyes and Johnson.
'Vadumee glanced at the humans and nodded. The Arbiter was just about to yell for the pilot to take them up when he picked up a faint wash of static on his communications system. The Sergeant and Keyes cocked their heads, listening intently through their own earpieces. However, all they heard was static.
"Maybe the Phantom's communications device will have more success. It is more powerful than our personal units," the Arbiter suggested. They moved into the cockpit, where the pilot was trying to tune in to the signal.
"It's on one of the human frequencies," the pilot said, pointing to a holographic display showing a series of lines. "Wait…I've got it." The message came in through the Phantom's cockpit speakers.
"…are any UNSC personnel receiving this message? I repeat, this is Warrant Officer Michael Ross, Pelican dropship Alpha 279, Alpha 2-7-9, of In Amber Clad…is anyone out there? God…they've all been taken by the Flood! No one's left but us!"
"Alpha 279!" Keyes yelled into the cockpit voice receiver. "This is Commander Miranda Keyes! Do you read me?"
"Commander? It is really you? Thank God we found you. The Flood, they've taken over the whole In Amber Clad, they took everyone! We are all that's left! I-"
Keyes cut him off impatiently. "We know of all this, Ross. Do you see the Phantom in the sky? Don't worry, it's friendly. We'll land in the platform extended out of the canyon wall. Yes, the one that has Brute bodies strewn on it."
The two dropships touched down on the platform a few moments later. Keyes, Johnson, and the Arbiter jumped down through the Phantom's miniature grav lift to greet the Pelican's occupants. The Pelican's hatch hissed open, and a squad of ten Helljumpers jumped out, armed with Battle Rifles. Johnson nodded to one who seemed to be in charge of the group, though there were no NCOs or officers around. The Helljumpers saluted Keyes and took off their helmets, looking around warily, not lowering their rifles.
"What is this?" asked the lead Helljumper suspiciously. "With respect, what are you doing running around with the Covenant, Commander?"
"It's all right, Private Grant," said Keyes, who obviously knew some of the Marines on her own ship. "They're not Covenant anymore. To make a long story short, the Elites have been kicked out of the Covenant, taking the Grunts and Hunters with them. We've formed a cease-fire with them. This is the Arbiter-which is pretty much their equivalent to the Master Chief."
Still, the Marine did not lower his weapon. "How do I know you haven't been brainwashed?"
Johnson stepped up. "Listen, boy, there ain't nobody who can brainwash Sergeant Avery J. Johnson. And if you don't believe me, that's fine with us. You can just stay here on Halo until you starve to death, or until the Flood get you."
Private Grant contemplated this for a second, then laughed and slung his Battle Rifle over his shoulder.
"Well, if you put it that way, it doesn't seem like there's much of a choice, is there?" said Grant. Commander Keyes was explaining the situation to him when Johnson noticed something. The Helljumpers were all wearing armor that was noticeably different from their usual gear. The plates were thicker and the suit was more complete. There were luminous slits positioned around the armor's surface. In fact, it looked more like a Spartan's Mjolnir armor that anything else.
"Hey, Grant, what's that armor you and your Marines are wearing?" he asked. "Doesn't look like the standard issue to me."
"Oh, that," said the Helljumper offhandedly. "It's the new Trident Mark I prototype armor system. It was modeled on the Mjolnir armor for Spartans, but obviously some parts had to be scaled down. The Trident contains the same reactive strength-enhancing metal liquid crystal as the Mjolnir. The developers put as much in as they could with out having the suit shatter the user's bones. Also, it has a shielding system, though it is slightly weaker than the Mjolnir's shields. The suit's armor plating is all made of a new type of metal that's extremely resilient, though I'm not sure what it is exactly. I've also heard something about some scientists developing performance-enhancing biochemical treatments that can be applied to the regular Marine. Who knows, maybe we'll all become weaker versions of Spartans. You'll have to ask those eggheads back home. By the way, we have an extra suit stowed away on the Pelican. I don't know you well, but I think you'd like to try it out."
"You took the words right outta my mouth," said Johnson with a slight smile. "I don't think the Commander here has told you yet, but we're taking a little trip on to the High Charity. The Flood aren't going to be exactly happy about this, so we need every soldier we get. Want to come with?"
A muscle tightened in the Helljumper's face. "Hell yes, Johnson, you bet we do. Those damn Flood things took all of our buddies and everyone else aboard the In Amber Clad. We want revenge, and we don't care if it means working with these Elites."
"Good. Now, be a gentleman and give me that extra Trident suit, will you?"
A few minutes later, the Helljumpers got back on board their Pelican and lifted off. The Phantom followed suit. On board the Phantom, Sergeant Johnson was excitedly trying out the Trident suit.
"Yeah, I am liking this new armor!" he crowed ecstatically. "Those Flood had better watch out, because Sergeant Johnson is even badder than before!"
He could find no way to charge the suit's shields, however, as the immense power needed to start the system up couldn't be supplied by the Trident's fusion pack. Luckily, the Phantom had a shield charging station for Elites. The Arbiter suggested he use it, and luckily it worked.
Before long, the two dropships had exited Delta Halo's atmosphere and were making their approach run on the High Charity. The Arbiter guided the pilot to the ship bay that the Elites and their comrades had captured. He also assured the Elites and their forces that the two incoming dropships were not filled with bloodthirsty Flood Combat Forms. The Pelican and Phantom flew into the ship bay and dropped their troops. Before leaving, the Pelican's pilot used his 70mm chin gun and Anvil-II rockets to decimate a large group of Combat Forms. The Phantom's pilot also raked the Flood with his three plasma cannons. Then both ships departed for a nearby cruiser that the Elites had captured.
Johnson and the ten Helljumpers turned on the high-intensity flashlights on their suits. The Flood infestation of the High Charity had filled the entire holy city with a disgusting greenish haze, and most of the lights were out. Johnson was securing an area with his team when he noticed a strange pedestal in front of the door. He started to approach it when the purple image of a female AI appeared on it.
"Johnson. It's been quite a eventful day, don't you think?"