Eve of Fate
Chapter 10: Betrayal
The world through Cortana's eyes was a blur.
Slowly, she regained consciousness and her senses recovered. Within moments, she was able to see clearer now, and the tips of her fingers felt the texture of the rough ground.
What happened? Cortana tried to organized what just happened to her – she was sitting near her door listening, and then the ceiling apparently fell on her. Or at least she thought it did. The few moments before or after the ceiling collapsed were difficult to remember.
With her sight now recovered, Cortana looked around, realizing now that she wasn't in her room, but rather sitting in the middle of a dark alleyway, with several others around her. Looking at them, she spotted weapons slung over their backs – soldiers.
What was going on? Where was she?
Cortana then heard footsteps getting closer to her. Turning to face them, she spotted a familiar face – Connor.
"Are you alright?" he asked, worry in his voice.
"I guess so," Cortana replied. "What's going on?"
"The Covenant attacked the apartment," Connor began, sitting down next to her. "I guess they figured out that the Chief was there, and they figured they'd kill everything in their path just to get him."
Connor's voice had a hidden layer of bitterness, especially when he mentioned the Master Chief. Cortana understood where his pain was coming from, and for some reason, she respected him for that. Of all the people she knew, Connor was the closest thing to that of a human capable of truly feeling, and his pain was what made him human in her eyes.
The aspects of human emotions and feeling were what interested Cortana the most. Being nothing more than a highly advanced piece of computer coding for most of her existence, her emotions were simulated, or were merely subroutines that allowed her to better connect with those who actually did.
Regardless, she listened as Connor told her everything that happened – how they escaped with him carrying her out of the apartment, how they met up with the soldiers, and the details about the Master Chief's plan and how they will meet at a safer location.
"Cortana, I have a question."
"Shoot."
"When I went into your room to get you," he began, recalling what happened. "You were buried underneath rubble, unconscious, but you were next to your door. Were you up just before the attack?"
Cortana thought about that. She tried to remember what happened but it felt that the times before and after the apparent attack on the apartment was blacked out. She tried again, but still got nothing. However, her mind then slipped towards the Master Chief, and for an odd reason she was unable to remember, she felt warmer inside. Her heart fluttered and she started to feel differently. Was it a dream? Or was that why she was next to the door? She still didn't know.
Again, the limitation of being merely human infuriated her.
"I'm not sure – I don't remember" she finally replied, her voice coming out more differently than it should have.
"Where are we now?" she then asked, changing the subject.
"In the middle of an alleyway several blocks from the apartment," Connor explained. "We're going to a safe spot that also happens to be a base for the resistance. We just stopped here for a bit."
As Connor finished, a solder walked up to them. He was old, possibly as old as Stacker, but this one appeared as more of a soldier, judging from the combat armour and SMG he carried. Looking at his face, Cortana swore there was something familiar with him, as though she had met this soldier before.
"You're up, Cortana?" he asked.
"I'm up" she replied. Cortana noted in particular how he called her by her actual name – Cortana, instead of Cathy.
"It's good to hear," he said, a smile on his face. "At least you're alright now."
"Wait," Cortana asked. "Have we met somewhere before? You look familiar."
"I guess we have," he replied. "It sounds hard to believe, but I was helping Stacker when he decided to go ahead with his plan to make you human."
The revelation hit Cortana slightly. She remembered seeing a face of some sort, one that matched his, looking over her. Was that after the humanization process? There were limitations to how much she could remember, but Cortana was able to piece together an image of a face that looked younger, but still fundamentally the same as this soldier.
"Don't worry if you can't remember me," he said. "Call me Hawkins. I was just there to hold the fort down and help watch over you for the first week or so. You were quite a sight – nice looking girl and all, but you moved and babbled like a toddler during the first week. It was only until after your muscle memory kicked in and then out of the blue was you able to walk and all."
As Hawkins mentioned that, Cortana humorously pictured her crawling around on the floor, or at least struggling to do so. She had no direct memory of it, but if what Hawkins was saying is true, then she must have been a sight to see.
"Oh, and Cortana," Hawkins then asked, somewhat hesitant but also out of humour. "Aren't you cold?"
Hawkins' comment didn't make as much sense, but then she realized why.
When Cortana slept, she regularly slept in a sweater with an undershirt beneath, and she wore nothing else other than her underwear. It was more for comfort on her part.
Currently, she was wearing that, in the middle of an alleyway. The cold crept by her legs, and she then started to shiver a bit, until the warmer feeling of humiliation kicked in.
"That wasn't funny" Connor replied, his voice threatening. He stood up, as though trying to intimidate Hawkins.
"I wasn't making fun of her, I was just curious" Hawkins replied.
"The least you could have done was inform her without making it sound so funny" Connor said, his voice still low and threatening.
"Geez, calm down kid," Hawkins said in response to Connor's threatening words. "Anyways, we'll be moving out soon. Be ready to move."
As he left, Cortana stood up next to Connor.
"Connor, you don't have to do that" she said.
"Do what?"
"Defend me," Cortana replied. "I can fend for myself."
Connor's usual scowl faded into an apologetic face.
"I'm sorry, but that's what I decided to do ever since I met you. If somebody tried to hurt you, I figured I should be there to protect you" he replied.
"That's sweet," she replied, smiling. "But you don't need to worry about me quite so much as you think."
Connor accepted that, and shortly after, a younger soldier, ordered the soldier in the alleyway to get up and move. He also signaled for Cortana and Connor to come up to where he and Hawkins were.
"For your protection, you two will be up here with us," he said in a strict and gruff military manner. "Stay close and do not stray from the group."
"Fun" Connor replied sarcastically.
"Shut up kid. Just keep with the group."
The soldier shot a harsh look at Connor, enough to shut him up for good.
"Kid, Foley, shut up and keep quiet" Hawkins ordered before leading all of them onwards.
It would be another block of walking around before Cortana had any sort of bearings on where they were going. During that lapse of time, she grew more and more uncomfortable. To be walking around in the middle of an alleyway with no pants was not what she would imagine herself doing at one point in her life. But there was nothing she could do about it – Cortana doubted she would be able to ask somebody for their pants.
"Alright, we're getting closer to the safe zone," Hawkins reported to the others. "Put your weapons and safe and keep them hidden until we get in. After that, hand them in to the bouncers inside and take five."
The soldiers replied in a quiet and scattered wave of approval and did so, switching their weapons to their safeties. When they finished, they moved in further, and from there Cortana spotted their safe zone – and gasped in shock.
There was no mistaking the neon signs and the trademarked foamy shaped and vanilla coloured grasshopper symbol – their safe zone was The Vanilla Hopper.
"That's the safe zone?" she asked Hawkins.
"Yeah, we've got a small command centre right below it," Hawkins replied. "Why do you ask?"
Cortana chose not to reply; she remembered the last time she had been to the bar. It was the first, and last, time the idiot Jericho invited her. The bar was owned by him, and he always sought to get her to come, and for once, Cortana did. She would never forget how horrible the entire affair was, and she was lucky to have gotten out before somebody tried to spike her drink.
As they walked up to the main entrance, Cortana looked through the large windows and spotted crowds of people inside. The bar's somewhat post-modern design and colourful aesthetics seemed contrary to the otherwise depressing city which the remains of humanity toiled living in. Perhaps places such as this, as well as the presence of alcohol, provided for some means of release from the harsh nature of the real world. Tables were set up all around, and most of them were packed with people.
Hawkins spoke with the hugely built bouncers at the front of the door, and they let them pass through. When they walked in, another bouncer came up to the group, and as the solders passed by him, they each handed in their SMG's and Battle Rifles. Looking at their faces, Cortana could tell that the solders were uneasy to be letting go of their weapons. Being in a combat situation, it would probably seem safer if they had some means of fighting back with them.
"Heeey, welcome back Hawkins," a suddenly familiar voice piped up. "You brought guests! Wanna order up a round? It's on the house!"
Looking in its direction, Cortana spotted the one person she now dreaded the most – Jericho. He was almost the same as ever, with the exception of a black eye, courtesy of Rhineland when he hit him, as well as a bandaged hand from when the Master Chief disarmed him.
Cortana tried to hide herself, but Jericho spotted her almost too soon.
"There ya are Cathy," he purred. His eyes then snaked across Cortana's legs. "My, my, you came in exactly what I was hoping you'd wear!"
Connor stepped forward, his stance threatening and aggressive, with his fist clenched and ready to strike.
"Back off, or you'll be getting another black eye" he snarled.
Jericho almost immediately backed off, throwing his hands up in his defense.
"Hey, whoa, wait, wait, I'm not tryin' to do anything, I'm, y'know, tryin' to talk, y'know what I mean? No need to get all violent on me all a sudden."
"What's going on?" Hawkins asked, looking from Cortana, to Connor, and then to Jericho.
Cortana quickly explained the previous situation, how Jericho tried to kidnap her, and how he tried to do so by using a pistol loaded with blanks.
"Jericho did this?" Hawkins replied, confused. "Was he even around the area then?"
"What's so hard to believe about it?" Connor asked in fury. "He tried to kidnap her! If you know Cathy well enough, you should be shooting him for trying to hurt her!"
Hawkins sighed annoyingly, and tried his best to calm the defensive Jericho and the angry Connor.
"It's harder to believe because Jericho is one of ours" Hawkins replied.
Both Cortana and Connor gave Hawkins a look of shock.
"It's true, actually," the soldier next to Hawkins, whom Cortana figured to be Foley from conversations between him and Hawkins, said. "He gathers intel for us from the street."
"And you actually trust this snake?" Connor asked.
"Hawkins does, but I don't," Foley replied, much to Jericho's dismay. "But if Hawkins trusts him enough to get info from him now and then, I might as well."
The two soldier's comments on Jericho didn't make Cortana feel the least bit more comfortable. She tried to cover herself, but her sweater was only able to go so far. The sooner she and Connor would be out of the bar, the better.
"Hey, relax Cathy," Jericho said, throwing up his nicest sounding voice possible. "I'm real sorry about what happened – it was a misunderstandin', shits and giggles, y'know."
"Misunderstanding?" Connor scoffed. "How is a kidnapping attempt a misunderstanding?"
"Calm down kid," Foley said, putting himself between the two. "Connor, what about this – we keep Jericho away from Cathy, and if he tries anything like that again, we'll personally throw him over the roof of the apartment."
Foley's comment was met with a smile from Connor, and a scared look from Jericho.
"Deal."
"Good," Foley replied. "Now, Hawkins, we've got to get back into the tunnels."
"In a minute, Foley," Hawkins said, looking away as he waved a hand to the bartender.
Cortana sat down next to a table built into the wall, with Connor sitting next to her. She tried to stay near closer to the outside, but other people pushed her and Connor inwards until they were then sandwiched in the middle.
Looking at Hawkins, she noticed how…tense he seemed. It wasn't a normal, cautious type of tense that someone like the Master Chief would have, but like a type of tense where somebody was about to do something, and they were still having second thoughts.
"Hawkins, we've got to move" Foley reminded him.
"Not yet Foley," Hawkins replied, finally turning around to see him. "I think you and the others earned yourselves a drink and a break."
The bartender brought out a tray of shots gave handed the tray over to Hawkins, who then came around and let all the soldiers take one. Most of them looked towards the drinks with faces of glee and happiness – they probably haven't anything decent to drink in ages.
"Now, I'd like to propose a toast," Hawkins said after handing the drinks out. He made a slashing motion to tell the soldiers not to drink. "Anything in particular we'd want to toast to now, or will I have to go ahead with mine?"
"To the resistance?" a soldier piped up.
"To the Covies, for letting us kick their asses?"
"To the Chief for getting us this far?"
"Well, that's all good and all," Hawkins replied to their choices. "But I'd like to call a toast to Foley, whose instincts has helped us greatly this night. If it weren't for him, we would have still been inside the tunnel when the Covies showed up."
"To Foley!" a soldier yelled.
"Well boys, drink up."
Foley looked from his small glass to Hawkins and back. His smile then faded as he looked at Hawkins the last time.
"Wait, don't-"
It was too late – the soldiers already drank their drinks.
Cortana watched from her seat, and she too noticed that something was wrong. It finally came to its peak when she noticed one of the soldiers started to choke. And then another, before finally, all the soldiers who drank the shots were on the ground clutching their throats.
Their shots were poisoned.
Foley looked from them to Hawkins again, and in a flash, he threw the drink to the ground and took out his sidearm.
"Hawkins, what the hell's going on!"
As the entire drama began to unfold, Cortana tried to get up from her seat, but a hand on her shoulder pushed her down.
"Relax Cathy, have a drink" Jericho purred as he slid in next to her and kept her to her seat. She then felt a hand slowly caress her thigh.
Cortana shot Jericho a hard look and pushed his hand away from her. Connor tried to stand up as well, but one of the people sitting next to him drew a pistol and pressed it against his back, forcing him to his seat.
"Cortana, Connor, stay put," Hawkins said from where he stood. "I wouldn't want either of you getting hurt with all this going on."
Foley kept his sidearm trained on Hawkins's head.
"Answer me, Hawkins! The soldiers trusted you!"
"I know they did, but there's been a change of plans," Hawkins replied, his expression hard to discern emotion from. "Put the gun down Foley."
"Bullshit," Foley said, biting his lip. "I'm not doing anything until I get some answers!"
"Put the gun down, now, Foley, or we'll have to do it by force" Hawkins said.
A duo of men then came out of their seats and one brought out an SMG, and the other, a Covenant plasma rifle, and aimed their weapons at Foley.
"Do it Foley," Hawkins urged. "The plasma will stun your nervous system enough that you won't be able to get a good shot on me, and you'll already be dead by then. This is a situation that favours us, not you. You've been with me long enough and I have said before that when the situation doesn't favour you, you don't enter it."
Foley looked at Hawkins and then to the thugs behind him.
From the table, Cortana watched on. Hawkins was right – Foley was in a bad situation. Sure enough, he held his hands up and one of the thugs took his weapon.
"Tell me Hawkins," Foley began. "What are you getting out of this by the Covies? Are they paying you? Or are you doing this out of the goodness of heart?"
Hawkins held a long pause before he gave a short reply.
"It's personal."
"Personal enough to kill your own men over?" Foley retorted.
Hawkins walked up to Foley, standing mere millimeters from his face.
"Personal enough that you don't need to know why I did it."
Cortana looked closer and noticed the first sign of emotion from Hawkins since the whole situation began. Strangely, it wasn't anger, but it appeared closer to that of sorrow. It seemed that part of Hawkins regretted doing this.
She had no time to think about it further, as Jericho's hand made another assault on her legs.
"Jericho, stop screwing around and go get the Colonel" Hawkins ordered.
Jericho stopped and got up from his seat, leaving the table and went for the door in the back.
"Who's the Colonel?" Cortana asked from her seat.
"He's the one who planned this," Hawkins said. "I simply went along with it."
"Why?" Foley demanded.
"It's the chain of command, Foley – the other soldiers take orders from you, then you take orders from me, and I take my orders from somebody higher."
"No, not that," Foley said in response. "Why didyou do it? You had your orders, but do your orders matter more than several young soldiers who trusted their lives into your hands?"
Hawkins remained tightlipped about it, but as each second passed, more sorrow began to show in his face.
"You don't need to know."
Moments later, the doors at the end of the bar opened and Jericho came through, followed by another.
The other person was human, male, and he was easily older than Hawkins or Stacker. He slowly shambled out, his hand holding onto a cane to help him keep his balance. The more he stepped out, the more Cortana could pick out the details of the old, yet still carefully maintained uniform he wore.
When she caught sight of his face, she gasped. It was the person she was least expecting; the same person that could be held credible for the defeat of mankind thirty-five years ago.
It was Colonel Ackerson.
"Good work Hawkins" he said, his voice old and worn, but still teeming with authority.
"You've got to be kidding me," Foley said in disgust. "Don't tell me you're actually working for him Hawkins. He's the same person who threw humanity away, and for what, the fact that he wasn't getting any love from the brass?"
Ackerson took a step forward.
"You've got something to say to me, son?"
"No, but if it weren't for the two henchmen you have standing behind me," Foley replied, defiant. "I would have taken you out by out."
The two thugs behind Foley prepared to fire, but a quick slashing motion from Hawkins stopped them from firing.
"Where are the others?" Ackerson impatiently asked.
"We had to split up back at the apartment," Hawkins explained. "They should be here shortly."
"Alright Hawkins, if you're not willing to tell me why you're doing this, then at least tell me what's going on" Foley said.
Hawkins looked away as Ackerson took another step forward and began to explain. Cortana noted the look on his face. For the most part, he wasn't unaffected by this – each mention of the events that just occurred was bringing him closer to fully breaking down.
"This is all part of my plan, soldier," Ackerson said. "This is going to win our war for us."
Foley scoffed, and narrowed his eyes at Ackerson.
"How? Let me guess, we're going to win through nonviolent protest," Foley said sarcastically. "Maybe the Covies will give our planet back and kill themselves if we do that."
Ackerson walked up to Foley and stood roughly a centimeter from his face.
"You're in the wrong position to criticize, soldier," Ackerson said, his voice low and dangerous. "I'd recommend that you stay in line before we add you onto the list of those already dead."
Foley seemed ready to attack Ackerson, but he held himself back. Ackerson stepped away and turned his attention towards others.
"Alright, hide the bodies and wait for the next-"
His eyes briefly glanced towards the table both Cortana and Connor was sitting at, and then focused. Cortana felt Ackerson's eyes burning on her, in particular. He took a step closer, and Cortana was sure of it – Ackerson was looking at her.
"Who are you, miss? Stand up!"
Cortana felt herself in a weaker position. Part of her wanted to hide, but she summed up whatever courage she had left and stood up. It was time she faced him anyways. She nearly killed him several years back, and now was the time to face him.
When she stood up, a look of shock developed on Ackerson's face.
"What? It can't be…Catherine!"
"You're close, boss," Jericho piped in. "Her name's Cathy, a babe from around here-"
Ackerson threw a hard glance at Jericho, and Jericho stopped talking.
"You're close," Cortana replied. "Dr. Halsey is dead, but I'm still here."
"Who are you?" Ackerson asked. "Catherine never had a daughter, so just who in the hell are you!"
"Dr. Halsey had one – me. You know me as Cortana."
A look of absolute shock suddenly grew on Ackerson's face, as well as on Jericho. For a moment, all eyes in the bar were on Cortana. It felt strange, but otherwise, Cortana couldn't help being proud of herself.
"You were an AI, Cathy?" Jericho asked, looking at her. "Well, you were one sexy piece of-"
"Shut it Jericho! What the hell's going on? Hawkins?" Ackerson screamed in fury.
Hawkins briefly summarized the events of Cortana's humanization. As he did, a look of anger continued to grow on Ackerson's face.
"Why the hell would you do that!"
"I was with Stacker back then, and we all thought it was the right thing to do" Hawkins explained, part of his voice with fear.
"Well, it was the wrong thing to do Hawkins. You messed up" Ackerson said angrily.
Ackerson continued to berate Hawkins. As he did, Connor pushed Cortana back down into her seat.
"Cathy, what are you doing?" he asked.
"Connor, that's Colonel Ackerson," Cortana explained. "He was responsible for humanity's defeat."
Connor didn't reply. He didn't care for the situation as much as Cortana did. Cortana listened on as Ackerson continued to yell at Hawkins, while the bodies were carried away.
"The others are here!" one of the bouncers yelled.
Ackerson stopped, and smiled.
"Good, let them in."
Ackerson slowly stepped away, and the thugs pushed Foley off but then there were sounds of gunfire. A second later, the doors opened and two men walked in.
The first was a soldier, who threw aside his weapon so that the others inside the bar wouldn't shoot him. The other was Stacker.
"Hawkins, Colonel Ackerson" Stacker said, as though greeting them.
"Stacker, it's good to see you," Hawkins replied, somewhat relieved by his presence. "Same to you, Elias."
The soldier, Elias, nodded.
"Hawkins, would you care to explain why you just kill your own men, and why you're making deals with Ackerson?"
"How did you know?" Hawkins asked.
Stacker pointed outside and explained briefly.
"We got here at about the same time as you guys did, and we held back long enough to see what happened. So, back to my question – why?"
"I can explain it Stacker. It's part of a strategy from Ackerson on how to win."
"Really?" Stacker asked, skeptical. "How so?"
"The first steps to doing this is to hand the resistance groups over to the Covenant," Ackerson explained. "If we do that, the Covenant will lighten their guard and this will give us an opportunity to strike back when the time is right. And so far, this is going to plan. Even before this, I was able to get informants out to the Covenant and tell them where we would attack next. All of which, was aided by Hawkins."
"It's true, Stacker," Hawkins said in sadness. "I helped. The attack on the street and the ammo raid – a few other guys and I leaked info for the Covenant, and they were ready for it."
"What about the base?" Foley asked from his location in the bar.
"That too," Hawkins replied. "I gave them the location myself, and they came."
Hawkins then turned towards Cortana, his face apologetic.
"I had nothing to do with apartment, Cortana. That was Jericho screwing around."
Cortana looked over at Jericho in disgust. He tried to explain himself, but Cortana cut him short by a slap to the face.
"Hey! I wasn't going to hurt you; I just wanted to get rid of that Spartan guy!"
Cortana, as well as everybody in the bar ignored Jericho's pleas.
"Why though? Why would you do that?" Stacker asked.
"It was part of Ackerson's plan, and it required me to give away the resistance locations," Stacker explained. He then pulled out a series of maps and papers from a pouch. "The Covenant should be here in a few minutes, and when they do get here, I'll hand over the maps to all the tunnels to them."
Stacker looked at the maps, his gaze impossible to decipher. From where Cortana was sitting, the entire scene was an act in the making – a drama slowly unfolding.
"Do you honestly think that's going to work?" Stacker asked.
"It will work," Ackerson interjected rudely. "We will have our victory."
Stacker paused for a bit, listening intently to Ackerson's words.
"Colonel, you should listen to yourself – there's no substance in your words," Stacker said finally, much to the dismay to Ackerson, and the shock from Foley and Hawkins. "You're saying one thing, but deep down, you disagree – it's like you're reading off a damn script."
Cortana thought about that for a moment. In a way, Stacker was right – everything Ackerson said sounded feigned. It was hard to tell, but there was a hint of it in his voice.
"The same goes for you, Hawkins," Stacker continued, turning his attention towards Hawkins. "I don't know enough about Ackerson to figure out why, but as you, there's something else. How long have I known you for?"
"Long time, Stacker, ever since the war" Hawkins said, shrugging.
"Within that span of time, I've learned that you're a good soldier," Stacker said, smiling. "You take your job seriously, you don't lead soldiers to their deaths, and you care enough about everything to be a good leader. That makes the men trust you, and that makes you a good leader."
Hawkins paused as he listened to Stacker's kind words.
"Thanks."
"But, I'm wondering why somebody like you would do something like this. You would have rather died than give anything to the Covenant. Besides, the plan won't work."
Ackerson stepped forward, as though insulted.
"You're bluffing."
Stacker smiled.
"Am I? Hawkins, your maps have all the tunnels and sewer lines that the resistance uses for bases, but how many of them are actually marked?"
Hawkins looked at Stacker for a moment, and then referred back to his maps. Hawkins's face turned to shock, but then acceptance and then to that of a congratulatory smile.
"Only my tunnel and a few others – so I don't have a complete map. I know all the other entrances by memory and by landmarks."
"Exactly," Stacker continued. "That map won't lead the Covenant anywhere, and the other groups were smart enough to hunker down and hide in theirs when your tunnel was compromised."
"We get your point," Ackerson said, stepping in between the kindly conversation between Stacker and Hawkins. "What are you going to do about it?"
Stacker reached into his pocket and took out a small stack of papers and waved them.
"Since I took more of an intelligence post for the resistance, I got all the other tunnel locations from the other groups and divisions in the city. They're all here – your maps will only tell the Covenant what they already know, and that alone would piss them off – and we both know that pissed off Covies are even worse."
Cortana looked at Stacker, noting his confident gaze. He held the maps bravely and he did so as though he did not care. In his hands held the fate of the human resistance.
"Hand them over then," Ackerson commanded. "You were stupid enough to mention that you have them, and even stupider to bring them out. Hand them over, and this will be over quickly."
Stacker put the maps back into his pocket.
"I'll hand them over unless you do a few things," he said. "First, let Cortana, Connor, and Foley go."
The people in the bar weren't too shaken by the first of Stacker's demands, with the exception of Jericho, who was appalled.
"Wait, let's revise that – we let the soldier and the kid go, but Cathy stays with us" he piped up.
Ackerson threw a 'shut the hell up' glance at Jericho, and he quieted down.
"Next," Stacker continued. "This goes for the both of you – never associate yourselves with the resistance ever again. If you do, we'll be coming for you."
Stacker emphasized the last part, and Hawkins accepted it.
"I got it."
"Now hold on, what sort of deal is that?" Ackerson asked in fury, stepping forward to face Stacker. Stacker was of a smaller build, but Ackerson was still smaller and frailer than him. However, Stacker didn't have the raw ferocity of Ackerson.
"Don't forget – we have more men in this bar than you do, and let me as you this: what would prevent us from killing you and taking the maps ourselves?"
"First," Stacker replied, calmly holding his ground. "I have more men outside, including a really good sniper, all watching the windows, and if anything happens, they'll open fire, and trust me, they're good at shooting.
"Second, your instant reaction force comprising of twenty men in the back rooms have all been neutralized."
Ackerson's glance turned into confusion as he looked into Stacker's eyes, trying to figure out of Stacker's claim was indeed the truth, or rather, a carefully established bluff.
"Not sure?" Stacker asked, confident yet again. "Send somebody back there to see if your guys are all down."
Pausing for a moment, Ackerson reacted by waving towards a door near the back of the bar. One of the thugs sitting down at a table near it got up and ran in to check. It felt only like a minute after he ran in before the doors opened again.
And walking through the doors was a Spartan, Battle Rifle and satchel filled with ammo and all.
Cortana's heart stopped as she saw the Master Chief. Inside, she screamed in joy with how timely his appearance was. Looking towards Ackerson, Cortana's enjoyment only grew when she saw the look on his face.
"If you dare open fire on any of us as to break this deal, we will fight back," Stacker said. "And don't forget, we've got a Spartan on our side. We don't like killing fellow humans, but if you force us to, we will."
Ackerson said nothing as he watched on in shock. His face paled as he stared at the massive and fully armoured Spartan.
"Colonel James Ackerson," the Master Chief said, his voice strict and filled with military authority unlike anything this era had yet to experience. "You are hereby charged with treason against humanity, the war effort and against the United Nations Space Command."
"Treason?" Ackerson said in an attempt to defend himself. "I did what was necessary to win the war."
"And those actions are treasonous," the Master Chief continued. "And they are punishable by death."
At that moment, the entire bar froze. The Master Chief stood, Battle Rifle at ready, aimed squarely at the Colonel's head.
"Wait, stop!"
Connor stood up from his seat.
"Chief, killing him won't do anything – you'll just be shedding more blood! What good is a resistance is we'll be killing our own side?"
Cortana tried not to think ill of Connor, but Connor's beliefs against the resistance and against further violence where his own opinion. He was even right to a certain degree. But it was because Connor didn't know the entire story - particularly that regarding his father and the war.
"The kid is right," Ackerson said, relieved by a certain amount of Connor standing in. "Killing me for treason won't help you so much, Master Chief."
Cortana's mind instantly thought ahead, and she pulled together what she would say. Her mouth opened, but the words never came. Was it justified if she was to say it? Was it justified if she used the same information that Colonel Ackerson used to sway the human opinion to her advantage?
Was it morally right? Did it make her any less of a monster than Colonel Ackerson?
"Colonel, can I ask you a question?" Cortana then asked, almost randomly. She stood up, ignoring the fact that the entire bar could probably see her legs and underwear.
Ackerson looked over to her in curiosity, unsure about how her asking questions would fit in now. He nodded, and his angered glance constantly burned on her. He looked at her the same way he would have looked at Dr. Halsey.
"About the resistance fighters during the war – why did you do it?"
Cortana purposely made her question cut down and short. She figured that if Colonel Ackerson could respond to that, it made her the lesser of two evils.
"What do you mean?" Ackerson asked, confused, as most of the inhabitants of the bar were.
Connor was about to speak, but Cortana waved a hand that kept him quiet. She wanted him to hear this.
"The resistance fighters from the United States – why did you do it? Don't play dumb with me, Colonel."
"Why?" Colonel Ackerson asked, still curious why Cortana was asking such an apparently irrelevant question. "Their deaths were the leverage that I needed."
Cortana only briefly glanced at Connor's face, but she instantly saw the shock.
"When they died, they gave me all that I needed to win the war," Ackerson continued. "My SpecOps were superior to Halsey's freaks, and all I needed was a sign that they were needed, and those fighters were it."
Ackerson took a step closer, and his voice emphasized the last part of his reasoning.
"I would have cared less if any one of them made it out alive – the fact that enough of them died, and the fact that somebody in command was smart enough to pull Halsey's freaks out was what made it possible."
"You made profit from their deaths?" Connor then asked, joining in. His voice was in a state of unbelievable shock.
"Profit? No, I got closer to bringing humanity victory" Ackerson said, continuing his argument.
There was then a moment of silence as Connor took in the information. Cortana knew she had won, but when looking at Connor, she realized how much of a cost it came at.
"Are you telling me," Connor then continued, his voice slowly filling with anger. "That after my father died, fighting for the same cause you fought for, you used his death as an excuse to further your own greed?"
Colonel Ackerson looked at the teenager as he thought about his words.
"Your father was amongst the resistance fighters killed on that day? You don't realize it, but his death was a necessary sacrifice that brought humanity closer to victory-"
"What sacrifice!" Connor yelled, now fully enraged. "How can you even say that – you used his death as thought it was a statistic, and for what? So that humanity can be reduced to where it is now? What kind of victory is that!"
Connor then slowly broke into tears. The realization of it was too much for him. Cortana tried to soothe him, but there was nothing that she could have said or done to help him.
"Enough of this," Hawkins said, stepping in. "Let's get this over with – Foley, Connor, and Cortana can go, and I get the maps."
The people at the table got up and let Connor and Cortana out. Across the bar, the thugs holding Foley at gunpoint relaxed, and the soldier was free to go.
As Connor walked on, he glanced at Ackerson only once. His glance was long and hateful, but it did nothing to Ackerson.
"Aw, come on boss," Jericho complained to Ackerson. "Can't you do anything? We're getting gypped – I'm getting gypped – if we let Cathy go. She's such a nice piece of ass that we're just letting go."
Cortana stopped walking and turned to face him, giving him a stern, yet still amused look.
"You know, Jericho," she said sweetly. "I've always hated you, but I'll admit, I saw a bit of charisma and pride in you, and when you've kept trying to ask me out, I'll even give you points for determination."
Jericho smiled and appeared to blush, perhaps out of Cortana's feigned sweetness.
"But in the end, you're nothing more than Ackerson's bitch."
With that, Cortana walked off and stood behind Stacker, alongside Connor. Jericho's smile turned to a sulk, realizing just how harshly he was insulted.
The first part of the trade was complete. Walking up to Stacker, Hawkins took the maps from Stacker's hands. He looked over them, and then held them at his side, not yet pocketing them.
"We're done here, Hawkins," Stacker said. "I'll see you later."
Stacker turned to leave, as did everybody else. The Master Chief paused for a moment and watched the bar, making sure that their exit would go fine.
"It's my daughter."
Stacker stopped dead in his tracks when Hawkins spoke up. He turned around to face him, deeply puzzled.
"What?"
"The Covenant has my daughter," Hawkins continued, now saddened and hurt. "They're holding her prisoner."
"You had a daughter, Hawkins?" Foley asked, startled.
"Explain it, Hawkins" Stacker asked, wanting to know why Hawkins betrayed the resistance.
"Olivia was born three years after the war ended," Hawkins began, painfully remembering the past. "Her mother died shortly after and I raised her myself while leading the resistance. Olivia went missing seven years ago, and I never stopped looking for her.
"A few months ago, I met Colonel Ackerson, and he had enough intelligence to prove that she was kidnapped and was being held by the Covenant, and if I helped him in a series of plans, he would negotiate with them to let her go."
Stacker looked at Hawkins in complete bewilderment. Cortana realized that this was why he was so uncomfortable earlier. Hawkins wasn't a traitor – he was simply a father trying to find his daughter.
"And you went ahead with Ackerson for her?" Stacker asked, trying to understand it.
"I had to – Olivia's all I've got left now," Hawkins reasoned. "She's my daughter, and I love her, and I want her back."
Hawkins confession stunned Foley and Elias in particular. Foley stepped forward to address Hawkins.
"Y'know, Hawkins, you didn't need to do that," Foley began. "If you let us know, we would have done everything in our ability to find and bring her back. You don't need some stuffy, washed out Colonel – you have us, and we would have gotten it done by now."
"Foley has a point," Stacker stepped in. "We're all here for you – me, Foley, Elias, the Master Chief, the entire resistance – and we can find and liberate her. You didn't need to follow Ackerson at all, and we can still find her now."
Hawkins was still silent, but as seconds passed, his condition improved. He looked into Stacker's eyes, now confident and resolved. He then turned to Ackerson.
"I won't do this – get somebody else to be your henchmen. We'll find Olivia on our own."
Ackerson scoffed, and then gave Hawkins a long, cruel stare.
"You're a disappointment, Hawkins, but you've accomplished nothing, and you will get nothing out of this." Ackerson then shifted his tone and glance. "Since you and I won't be working with each other again, I'll let you know this – Olivia is dead."
Hawkins looked at Ackerson in shock, as did everybody else.
"You're lying."
"Am I?" Ackerson chuckled. "Olivia was kidnapped and taken in for questioning by the Covenant seven years ago, and died four years later. I hid certain facts from you so that you would cooperate with me. After you helped me to get what I needed, it would then be up to you on how to react to this."
Hawkins looked away, the facts slowly getting to him. He was refusing to believe it.
"Don't believe me?" Ackerson cruelly questioned. "Check the north-eastern portion outside of the city walls – you'll find an unmarked grave with a female body that was killed four years ago by a single plasma round to the head. You'll know its Olivia when you run the genetic tests, but you'd know in particular when you find that pair of dog tags that you gave to her as a gift when she was younger."
Hawkins slowly broke down into tears as the information caught him. He angrily swore, but there was nothing he could do to relieve himself of the pain.
"You lied to me."
"You were a helpful tool, Hawkins; I did whatever it took to get you to side with me."
"That's just plain sick" Foley remarked, disgusted.
Hawkins couldn't say anything, but he responded by pulling out a sidearm.
A single shot rang out, and Hawkins fell to the ground clutching his stomach. Jericho held a smoking pistol in his hands.
"Shut up you old fart" he taunted, as he quickly scrambled forth and snatched the maps from Hawkins.
Right as that happened, the entire bar suddenly burst into gunfire. The bar patrons took out their weapons and fired, while the resistance soldiers from outside the bar did so as well. Cortana got down, and as did Foley and Elias, who scrambled to get whatever weapons they could.
Looking around, Cortana spotted Jericho making a run for it. The Master Chief tried to stop him, but the barkeeper then pulled out a shotgun. The Master Chief fired a quick burst, instantly killing the barkeeper, but several others in the bar opened fire with various small arms, forcing the Spartan to cover.
In the midst of the firefight, Jericho slipped out the back. Cortana groaned in defeat – he had the maps. Everything was lost now.
In the middle of the fight, Ackerson scrambled away, but his weak legs marred his progress. Out of the corner of Cortana's eyes, she spotted Connor taking cover behind a table. As soon as a thug wielding a pistol fell from a gunshot, Connor burst out and grabbed his weapon.
As soon as Connor's hands grabbed the small sidearm, he quickly aimed and fired at Ackerson. Connor was only able to fire a single shot before being forced to retreat, but after that single shot, Ackerson fell to the ground. The wounded Colonel continued to move, however, and was able to crawl out the back door.
Taking cover behind a table, Stacker and Foley tended to the wounded Hawkins. His bloody hands clutched his stomach, and blood leaked from his mouth.
"It got him in the stomach," Stacker explained. "If we don't get him medical attention now, he's gone."
Hawkins shook while he continued to bleed, and his breathing patterns were suddenly erratic. But his wounds were the least of his worries.
"W-What have I…done?"
"Don't worry Hawkins, you'll be fine" Foley reassured, although of little use.
"I'm-I'm-I…sorry. I'm sorry, Foley," Hawkins said, stuttering. "F-F-Fist-A-Alpha…lead them…Foley. D-Don't stop f-fighting."
"I won't" Foley replied.
Hawkins lifted his sidearm and gritted his teeth as he tried to get up.
"Go! G-Get out of here! Get…out!"
"Let's move! Chief, let's go!" Stacker yelled.
The Master Chief stopped firing and moved out, getting to where Cortana was and covered her. The entire group then slowly exited, leaving behind the wounded Hawkins. Just before Cortana got out the door, she watched as Hawkins stood up and began firing back. He was going to die there, and he was eager to meet it.
They ran across the street and into an alleyway adjacent to the bar. A handful of resistance soldiers hunkered down there, aiming and firing their weapons into the bar. Cortana recognized one of them – Rhineland, who was now sporting a sniper rifle.
"You're just in time!" he said. "Covies are moving in for the kill!"
"Right, let's get out of here then" Stacker replied, ordering for everybody to move.
In mere moments, they were on the run, moving farther away from the bar. As they ran, Cortana tried desperately to ask Stacker or the Master Chief about the maps.
"Don't worry about them," the Master Chief replied, his voice calm as ever. "Stacker planned it well."
As the group briefly stopped, Stacker pulled out some sheets of paper from another pocket. Cortana gasped when she realized that it was yet another set of maps.
"What's going on?" she asked, wanting to know.
"I bluffed when we were still in the bar," Stacker explained. "Those maps that I gave to Hawkins were fakes. The location of the resistance bases is still a secret. Now, that idiot Jericho has them, so we're fine."
Cortana couldn't believe it. Stacker's plan was brilliant, yet bizarrely simple.
"So, where do they lead?"
Stacker chuckled and Elias did so as well, and Rhineland was grinning ear to ear. The Master Chief was quiet, but even so, Cortana could sense some degree of anticipation from him.
"Oh, they lead somewhere, and I wouldn't be around when the Covies find it," Rhineland explained. "We warned some of the other groups, and when they got out of their tunnels, Stacker decided to mark their locations on the maps. Needless to say, those boys were instructed to leave a package behind that I think the Covies will enjoy."
The group then continued to move. As they did, Cortana found Connor, who was quiet during the entire trek.
"Connor, are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine" he replied.
"Listen, I'm sorry – you shouldn't have learned it like that, and I shouldn't have mentioned it" Cortana said, apologizing for how she used the information of Connor's father.
"You don't need to apologize," Connor said quietly. "It was better to know it from you."
Connor then smiled at Cortana, the first bit of positive emotion he had yet to display this night.
Connor and Cortana kept with the rest of the group. Stacker was leading them to a new tunnel location. They hurried along the alleyways, keeping up with the group and knowing that they were now part of the resistance.
Colonel Ackerson groaned as he crawled into the hallway. He stopped and sat up against a wall. His chest was in pain, and he could hardly breathe. The bullet hit him in the back, probably pierced a lung, and exited out the front of his chest.
He was shot before, and he was always used to the pain, but now, he was fatally wounded, with no one to help him.
Ackerson could hear the sounds of gunfire outside in the bar. As he listened to the sounds, everything came back to him – not just the confrontation in the bar, but the events so long ago.
Thirty-five years ago, when he trusted the words of a mysterious source, and ended up betraying his side.
Ackerson could remember it clearly now – he received a message from an unknown individual who told him that the Master Chief was going to disappear during a mission, and that he was to use it as an excuse to further his operations for what would apparently be for a future victory.
At first, Ackerson was skeptical, but when the mission occurred and when the Master Chief actually disappeared, it gave him enough signs to go ahead with it. He trusted such a vague source, and this is how it ended – humanity in ruins at the mercy of their enemy, and him sitting alone in a hallway dying.
Was it his fault? Could humanity's defeat be pinned solely on him?
Ackerson's head turned and he glanced down the hallway. His vision was blurry, and the loss of blood or the shock from the bullet must have done something to him.
He could see a robed person walking towards him.
Ackerson panicked, but he calmed down – this person was wearing clean white robes and a large hood and seemed more akin to an angel. If it were Death, Ackerson almost would have certainly seen something else.
"Help…me…"
The white robed being walked closer to him and then stopped mere inches from him. Ackerson's eyesight was blurry, and he wasn't able to make out the face of this being.
"Colonel James Ackerson" a voice the spoke.
The voice was that of a female. It was sweet and soothing and was laced with honey and gentleness.
"H-how do you know me?"
"I know you well – we know each other well. I spoke to you thirty-five local years ago, and you agreed to do as I have informed you."
Ackerson remembered the messages. Was this the same person? He wasn't sure – he was contacted via messages, and the sender did not speak with him. The sender was woman?
"Is…that you?" he asked.
"It is me," the woman spoke, brushing off her robes. "I have taken on an avatar, but I am still the same individual you spoke with."
An avatar? This sounded almost too strange. Ackerson ignored it.
"Help me…I need help."
"Of course you do," she said, her sweet voice without any care for Ackerson's wound. "Your left lung has collapsed, and the pressure inside your chest is crushing it further, and you are also bleeding as well."
Ackerson listened to how she spoke. She seemed indifferent about his pain. She didn't enjoy it, but it was as though she didn't care enough either.
"I…know that…," Ackerson replied in annoyance. "Help me then."
The woman stepped away.
"I am afraid I cannot."
What? Ackerson cried out in pain as he heard her.
"Listen to me – I helped you back then, so the least you can do is help me now!" Ackerson said, wincing in pain.
"Correction – you helped no one," she replied. "You were an object of Fate and your actions were governed by Fate. I gave you the direction and the rest of enacted by Fate, you being the willing subject of it. Your actions were for a victory, but not one for yourself.
But of course…"
She then leaned towards Ackerson, her face but an inch from Ackerson's. At that distance, Colonel Ackerson could see all the details to her face. Her slender and beautiful face was gorgeous, and her locks of blond hair were angelic but Ackerson noticed her eyes – a beautiful pair of brilliant green irises.
"…the ultimate fate of a traitor is always death."
She then got back up and walked away. Ackerson then realized, for the first time in thirty-five years, that he was played for a fool. He trusted her, and everything he had done was all for her own gain.
Everything he had done – lobbying against the Spartans, taking advantage of a defeat for his own needs, and ultimately tearing apart the last bastions of Earth's already thinned defenses…
It was all for nothing. He had done it, and it was meant to bring defeat.
Ackerson tried to speak – he tried to swear and curse at the bitch for doing this, but he could not speak. Blood seeped from his mouth as he tried to form the words.
He was unable to breathe, and the entire world was rapidly blurring and darkening.
Slowly, he fell to the side, too tired to struggle any further. Moments later, he succumbed to the darkness.
And thus was the end of Colonel James Ackerson.
A Shadow slowly lumbered down the street, getting closer and closer to its target.
'Yuteryi dismounted as the vehicle got closer and met with the troops already there and waiting for him to arrive. The area was still dark, and the troops were having some troubles seeing in the dark.
"Your Excellency!" A lower ranking Elite ran up to greet 'Yuteryi. "We have established a position around the human structure and we will move in once-"
The Elite froze as 'Yuteryi took a step closer, getting out of the cover of shadows and into a better lit area. He noticeably paled as he caught sight of 'Yuteryi face. The other troops unlucky enough to see his face also pained in fright.
After his eye was shot off by that single projectile, 'Yuteryi had it replaced by a mechanical orb. It fitted inside his eye socket, and it substituted for the one he lost.
However, the orb was larger than an eyeball, and it stretched inside 'Yuteryi's eye socket. The eye was also greatly visible, and a single glance at that, and the swollen flesh around his face was enough to send any hardened warrior of the Covenant shuddering in disgust and sickness.
If the pain wasn't enough, 'Yuteryi also had to cope with the fact that the bombing run he called for right after his eye was shot out was called off at the last second. Because of that, the human resistance fighters, as well as the Demon, had gotten away.
'Yuteryi ignored the Elite and looked at the human structure. His eye scanned the building and provided an x-ray view of the interior. He instantly spotted several humans inside firing their weapons.
Pulling out his plasma rifle, 'Yuteryi stepped into the building and fired. His eye provided several targeting assists, allowing 'Yuteryi to take out the humans with ease. He fired a few shots, each striking each human in the head.
The Covenant soldiers waiting outside took it as a cue to move in. Grunts burst in and sprayed plasma from their pistols, while the Elites and Jackals moved in after them.
Looking down beside him, 'Yuteryi spotted another human sitting down behind a tipped over table. The human was still alive, but he was wounded. 'Yuteryi switched vision modes, and examined the human's wounds, to test out the features of his eye. The degree of accuracy from the eye was breathtaking – every detail of the human's interior and his organs were displayed.
This human's stomach was hit by a bullet, and he was dying. Switching off the vision mode, 'Yuteryi took a last glance at the human's face. He was old, and his hands were wrapped around an empty pistol. He looked up at the Elite with a long and hateful stare.
'Yuteryi raised his plasma rifle and fired a single shot at the human's head, and moved on.
They received a tip to move towards this location, under the promise of victory against the human insurgents. It came from the same individual who tipped off several human operations to them, and 'Yuteryi decided to lead troops in to investigate this one.
The amount of information he received from this tip provided everything, including the identity of the officer in charge. This was supposed to be the final step in eradicating the human resistance.
Looking around the inside of the human building, 'Yuteryi noted how much damage there was. Were the humans fighting themselves? It didn't surprise 'Yuteryi much.
"Your Excellency, we have found the human officer" an Elite reported.
Good. 'Yuteryi was eager to meet with this human. As he walked forward, two Grunts came out of a door near the back of the building carrying a human.
"He is dead."
'Yuteryi was shocked to hear that. Zooming in with his eye, 'Yuteryi examined the body of the dead human. He died from a bullet wound that punctured his chest and lung. 'Yuteryi mentally groaned. They had come all this way for nothing…
"We have also found another human, this one alive. He claims to have the maps to the human tunnels!"
"Yuteryi's spirits lifted when he heard that. A human was then brought before him by several Elites. The human had a small, rat-like frame, and he wore some type of expression the humans called a 'sneer.' That expression was wiped off his face when he saw 'Yuteryi.
"This human, Jher-Ri-ko," the Elite explained, trying to sound out his name. "Has the maps."
'Yuteryi plucked the small pieces of paper from the human's hands and read over them.
"All forces converge on the following locations" 'Yuteryi ordered, naming off several sectors and their entrances.
'Yuteryi used his eye to scan the map, and he sent the scans off for all the troops. They now had their directions, and this was more than needed to ensure their victory here.
He then walked out of the structure with the human and the other Elites. Using a communications unit set up outside of the structure, 'Yuteryi watched and listened as the troops converged on the resistance locations and prepared to assault them.
The holographic image was from an Elite's mission recorder. The warrior jumped down a tunnel and moved along slowly and carefully.
"We are in the tunnels – closing in on suspected infidel headquarters" one of the soldiers in the tunnel reported.
"Wait until all teams are in position before we advance into the human bases."
Moments passed as other teams moved in. They stopped in front of an apparent dead end, and the leader prepared an entry charge and planted it on the wall in front of them.
"Ready? Go!"
The leader detonated the charge, blowing away the wall. They then moved in. 'Yuteryi was expecting the frantic cries of human soldiers to follow, but none came.
"Spread out! Slay any infidels we shall find!"
The team split up and moved around the small base. There were many rooms and corridors in the base. They found nothing as they moved around. The base appeared abandoned.
"Wait, I have found something!" one of the soldiers reported.
The other converged on the Elite's position, a room with a small device in the centre. The image quality was bad, and 'Yuteryi was unable to tell what it was. The Elites stood around it and tried their best to examine it.
Suddenly, there was a burst of light from it, and then the image died.
Further down the street, 'Yuteryi heard an explosion so loud it shook his armour and almost pushed him back. Several more explosions occurred all throughout the city.
'Yuteryi looked down at the maps and realized that there were the same numbers of explosions as there were resistance base locations. He angrily crumpled the sheets of paper up and threw them to the ground, and then turned his attention to the human they found. The human tricked them.
The human tried to reason with them, speaking in his alien language, but 'Yuteryi ignored it. He raised his plasma rifle and swung at the human's head, knocking him unconscious.
The other Elites took very little time to raise their weapons and open fire on the human's body, burning it with prolonged fire from their plasma rifles.
'Yuteryi walked away, his anger growing inside of him. He was tricked by the humans, and this cost the Covenant many soldiers, as well as their own confidence.
Just then, a Phantom appeared overhead of him. It hovered briefly before offloading a rather large squad of Elites, all belonging to a Special Operations division. The leader walked up to 'Yuteryi, while the others surrounded him. They kept their weapons trained on him.
"Nosla 'Yuteryi, you are under arrest, by order of the Prophet of Regret. Come peacefully, or we shall execute you here and now."
"Under arrest!" 'Yuteryi was shocked and surprised. "Why! How!"
"The Prophet of Regret ordered your arrest for disobeying the orders of the Covenant."
'Yuteryi could not believe this. He wanted to tell them otherwise, but their weapons were still aimed at him. They probably weren't bluffing when they said they would execute him.
"I understand."
The leader eased up, but he still maintained his discipline, as though 'Yuteryi was a wanted criminal. He ordered another Elite to take 'Yuteryi's plasma rifle, and another to restrain 'Yuteryi's hands. The soldiers positioned on the street watched as their commander was being arrested. 'Yuteryi couldn't meet their glances. A greater part of him was humiliated by this.
"Good, now come with us – you will be spending the night on the Eternal Reverence's brig, and tomorrow, you shall meet with the Prophet of Regret."
The Elites pushed 'Yuteryi towards the Phantom, and the gravity lift brought them up and inside its hold. Once inside, they forced him down and kept a watchful eye on him during the flight back to the Eternal Reverence.
While in the air, 'Yuteryi continued to wonder why this was happening. Why was he being arrested? And what was the purpose of it? What did he do to wrong the Prophet?
He would receive no answer for now, but the memory of the explosions stayed with him, as did his failure.
End Note: Wooo...this was a loooong one. Of all the current rewrites, this was the longest. It was an idea that I had for the longest time ever since I put thought into the rewriting, and thought about how Hawkins would fit in, as well as Colonel Ackerson. I'll admit, I disliked a bit of how I developed Hawkins to betray everybody. I was foreshadowing that he wasn't as much of an effective commander and that he was being troubled quite a bit, back in the rewritten Chapter 5, and here is the result of it. I wish I could have done more, but I'll leave it as it is.
At the same time, I was disappointed with my old draft because I mentioned Ackerson quite a bit, and all he is is a name. So, I decided to actually bring him into the plot to explain himself and what he's thinking, why he went with his idea/plan. Doing so also allows me to do some rather evil stuff and introduce yet another character earlier into the story than she should. For everybody who knows Eve of Fate, you know who she is. I personally enjoyed writing that piece. Other than 'Yuteryi, she's the other character I enjoy writing about the most.
Otherwise, this chapter was mostly dialogue - an intense exchange of words. If it were a cinematic (a loooong cinematic - MGS style), it would have worked out better, which was what I was imagining it as when I was writing it. Putting this chapter in also allows for some more characterization, especially for Connor. For him, he's going down the path of 'angst-driven teenager' and I personally like doing this. Actually, he's inspired by the character Connor from Angel. No, I don't watch the series much, but I watched a few when my sister did and I noticed his character. He remained in my head for a bit and I acted on it by putting a character that I had inspired almost entirely from him.
Come to think about it, this now depresses me somewhat, to know that I had ripped part of a character off from a TV show. Well, the truth was supposed to have come out at one point or the other I guess.
'Yuteryi's arrest at the end begins a series of him starting to fall apart. I had done the same thing with the old draft, but the change was quicker and he turned into a bit of an ass too quickly. In the rewrite, it'll be a slower change with occasional spikes here and there until he learns what's really going on.