Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine.
A/N: Well, if you go back to the prologue, at the top it says that most chapters will be from 1500-4000 words long...well, as of now (well, chapter 13 actually), I will write chapters no shorter than 4000 words. The max is yet to be determined, but most chapters are probably going to be from 4000-6000 words long. Thanks!
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Halo 3: The Fall of the Covenant
Chapter 19
Unforeseen Complications
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Awaken my children, and embrace the glory that is your birthright. Conquer them all in my name, and the universe shall be yours. Feast on their flesh and blood, their screams of pain, and their hopes and dreams for all of eternity...
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Hundreds of light-years away, the hidden Flood workers received the Gravemind's telepathic call and scuttled out from their hiding spot. Their first target was the city of Alexandria. As they approached, the citizens cried out in alarm and tried to flee but in the ensuing chaos, thousands were infected before they could escape. Local police officers and marines from the UNSC tried to stop the infection, but by the time they started their rescue mission, half the population was either dead or infected. Gunfire filled the city as the remaining Humans forted up, but the Flood eventually smashed through their defences by the sheer amount of their soldiers. Screams echoed throughout the city until, two hours after the attack, the entire city was either dead, fled, under the control of the Gravemind.
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Yet another hundred light-years away, the Executive Prophet of Wisdom brooded on the homeworld of the Prophets. All three of his second in commands were dead. One, the Prophet of Regret, was assassinated by the Humans and the other two fell to the relentless attacks of the Flood. Their successors were already being trained, but for now, the decisions normally reserved for the High Prophets was brought to the Executive Prophet. The position of Executive Prophet had almost no power, as he was more of a figurehead than an actual leader, but now with the High Prophets dead, the Covenant turned their heads towards the Executive Prophet.
He shook his head and guided his hovering throne towards a massive holoscreen in the huge throne room. A number of Minor Prophets, as well as the 'High Prophets in training', had gathered here for a meeting, but the Executive Prophet had lost interest long ago. He ordered the others to proceed with the meeting without him and they reluctantly obeyed. They were not used to handling such pressures, not used to doing the jobs usually reserved for the High Prophets.
Wisdom read over the reports on the events that happened over the last few weeks. The first Sacred Ring was destroyed by a Demon after it wiped out an entire Covenant armada that got in his way. Although he was saddened by this catastrophic event, he put aside his grief and moved on, telling the High Prophet of Truth to continue the search for other Sacred Rings.
Then Truth's fellow High Prophet, Regret, did something so foolish that it shocked them all. He took only four ships and embarked on a journey to find the location of a temple built by the Forerunners long ago. He did not wait for the rest of his fleet to prepare, and his haste had jeopardized their Grand Design. His fleet fled before the Humans completely destroyed it. In Regret's carelessness, he accidentally revealed the location of the second Sacred Ring to the very Human that destroyed the first one, the Demon.
He ran down the long article and tried to absorb everything the article told him. So much has been lost in the last week. All three Hierarchs had been killed and the second Sacred Ring had been sealed off to him due to Flood activity. The Holy City of High Charity had also been lost in the skirmish. The only good news he had gotten in all of this is the fact that they've found the Human homeworld, Earth.
He looked back again at the section on the desertion of the Sangheili, Unggoy, and Lekgolo, and thought of what he would've done differently. It had been their intent to replaces the Sangheili with the Jiralhanae ever since the Jiralhanae species had been brought into the Covenant, but the Prophet High Council kept it a secret. The High Prophets and himself had planned to set an impossibly high goal for the Sangheili and let them fail. Then they would shame the disgraced race so much that they'd accept their punishment because their pride demanded it, and then, slowly erase them from the Covenant forever.
Things didn't go according to plan however. After the assassination of the Prophet of Regret, Truth ordered the Arbiter to retrieve the Sacred Icon and also commanded Tartarus to take the Icon from him when his quest was finished. The order to end the Arbiter's life was also sent. The murder of the Arbiter did not go as planned however, and the Sangheili warrior survived. The assassinations of the Councillors did not succeed either, since after only three of them were killed, they found out about the traitorous plot and gathered their followers. Then all hell broke loose. Now the Covenant was split evenly down the middle, with fully half of their forces on the other side, things looked very bad indeed.
The High Prophets' commands reached Khalhu, the homeworld of the Covenant, almost as soon as they said it, but Wisdom had stopped the command before it was passed on to the population of Khalhu. The few who knew of Truth's order to commit mass genocide upon the Unggoy, Sangheili, and the Lekgolo were quietly relieved of their lives.
No, he had a different plan for the three foolish races. He would pit them against their own brethren, creating an efficient way of getting rid of the troublesome Sangheili race forever.
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"I think that's the last of them, sir," said Lieutenant Wilson, her hair bedraggled from the last six hours of fighting. Her helmet had several plasma burns decorating its surface and there was an angry scar on her cheek where a carbine beam grazed her. Hundreds of broken Phantoms littered the waters around them, leaking coolant and fuel into the ocean. Bodies were strewn upon the beach, painting the once beautiful beach of Zanzibar purple and black. The walls itself was coloured red as the Humans were shot by the Covenant forces. Only two of the powerful M93 Gauss Cannons remained operational; one of them took a direct hit from a Phantom's plasma blast and the other simply overheated, requiring several hours to replace the melted components.
The sun was setting already and both sides took heavy casualties. Over a thousand Covenant troops and ships have been downed at the cost of nearly three hundred of their soldiers. If it weren't for the Spartans' timely arrival, they would all be dead by now.
Major Kerrigan nodded back. "When are those supply Pelicans gonna get here? We're almost out of rockets for the rocket jockeys. Sniper and artillery ammunition's running low too. If they attack again, we're cooked."
"Then let's hope they don't attack again before the supplies arrive," said the Lieutenant.
"Hope isn't going to get us through this war, firepower is," replied Kerrigan briskly. "Post four squads of marines on night duty, as well as two of the Spartans. You're in charge here for the next four hours. Wake me up when you go to sleep."
"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant Wilson gave her CO a salute. She keyed the COM to four squads of marines to keep guard during the night. She then told another four squads to be ready to take over once the four hours is up.
As the night went on, the Humans rested, blissfully unaware of the danger that would strike them during the night.
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"So what's the status of the Covenant landing zones? How much have they taken, sir?" asked the Master Chief. The man in charge of the defence of the Pyramid Generators, Lieutenant General Kyle Banks, looked through some of the battle reports.
"We lost New Lodwar, New Garissa, and Nairobi. Those three cities were taken by the Covenant before your Spartans even got there. Zanzibar Island is still under our control, although we have lost many soldiers trying to defend the place. Mafia Island no longer exists, since the Covenant have decided to incinerate the island with a few of their plasma bombs." He took a deep breath and continued. "In conclusion, we still control Old and New Mombassa, Zanzibar Island, the Madagascar Generators, and here."
"What of the Spartans there were sent to those locations? Any word from them?" Then he added. "Sir?"
He averted his eyes. "We received a distress signal from New Lodwar but by the time our forces got down there, there were no Humans left to rescue. We can only assume that the Spartans that were sent there are either missing or killed." Banks swallowed before continuing. "And the Spartans that were sent to Nairobi were shot out of the sky as close as we can determine."
"Have you combed the ground? They might've jumped..."
"No one can survive a jump without a parachute from that high up." General Banks shook his head.
"Permission to speak, sir?" interrupted Fred.
"Certainly, go ahead."
"Back on Reach, when the Covenant first invaded, every single Spartan with the exception of three had to jump out of a partially destroyed Pelican without parachutes. There were only four KIA's." He winced as he said the word 'only'.
"Well, we can always hope." General Banks didn't look convinced.
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Supreme Commander Rhombr Mahuee strode confidently down the Grand Palace of the Prophets. Earlier that day, the Executive Prophet himself had wished to speak with Mahuee about an important military matter. Now, the Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Cleansing Consecration made his way to the Grand Prophet of Wisdom's personal studies. Every other creature in the building made way for the Supreme Commander, whether he was a Prophet or Sangheili. He knocked on the great doors of the chambers and waited.
"Come in," said a low voice, which belonged to the Prophet of Wisdom. "And shut the door behind you. We have much to discuss."
Curious, Mahuee walked in and quietly closed the door behind him. The room was dimly lit, and the only light came from a single dimly lit lantern in the middle of the room. Without saying anything, Wisdom pointed towards a large chair along the wall. Taking the hint, Mahuee hurried to the seat and sat down.
"Do you know why I've summoned you here tonight?"
"No, Wise One, I do not," Mahuee replied.
"Did you know that the Covenant is on the verge of falling apart? That heresy is threatening to rend us asunder, even now?"
Mahuee gasped. "Who is this heretic that defies the Great Journey? What race is he of?"
"He is of your race, Supreme Commander. He was once an honoured soldier, just like you are now, but somehow on the first Sacred Ring, heresy led him astray. He was scheduled to be executed, but the High Prophets decided to spare him, to give him a second chance. Now look what that mistake cost them! The three are no longer among the living, but this vile heretic is! Even now, he is aiding the enemy and causing havoc upon us with our own technology, using the gifts from the Forerunners to rip us apart. Do you have any clues as to who he is yet, Supreme Commander?"
"I dare not answer, Wise One. It cannot be."
"But it is, do you recognize this Sangheili?" Wisdom showed Mahuee a picture. "This is the face of the heretic leader, taken by one of our spies to confirm his identity. Do you still have any doubt?"
Mahuee sadly shook his head. "No, Wise One. But how can an Arbiter stray so far from the true faith? How can the Arbiter, out of all everyone, choose to betray us?"
"The Humans have many demonic weapons, Commander. The Demons themselves are testimony to that. This may be something new. Something that imperils the Great Journey more than even the Demons."
"How can I help get rid of this monstrosity?"
"You can start now, by rallying all of the remaining Sangheili controlled vessels and fly towards the final Human stronghold, Earth, where the heretics and the Humans are fighting side by side against your Jiralhanae brethren."
Mahuee resisted the impulse to spit. "Why all remaining Sangheili forces? Why do the Jiralhanae ships stay here while we attack?"
"There no telling what the Humans will do and we must be ever vigilant. The Sangheili will attack, and the Jiralhanae will defend. It's perfect." The Prophet of Wisdom moved closer to Mahuee. "Enough talk. I want your forced prepared within five days. In five days, your fleet shall move towards Earth and demolish all that stand in your way, but do not destroy the planet. All the clues indicate that one of the greatest Forerunner Temples ever created lies on that filthy planet."
"My faith is strong, I will not fail."
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"Chief, I want you and your squad to go on the offensive now, while my marines stay defensive. We have recently received a distress call from Alexandria, and we sent in a company of marines to deal with the situation there...but we haven't heard from them for over six hours, when they had specific orders to report every two hours. I want you to go and check out what's going on. You have approximately a hundred marines to back you up, and you'll have tactical command of this operation," said General Banks. "You four up to it?"
"Sir, yes sir!" said the Master Chief.
"Good, then get going. I have twelve Pelicans ready to transport you guys down there; they're on landing pads A7 to A18, fully prepped and ready to launch in ten minutes. They've already been given the order to carry you to your destination. The marines should be there already as well."
"Sir!" the four Spartans saluted. General Banks returned the salute.
"Good luck, and be careful."
The four Spartans walked out of the General's office and double timed it to the Pelicans. When they got there, they were greeted with a familiar – and comforting – face.
"So we meet again, eh Chief?" said Sergeant Johnson, his face splitting into a wide grin. The Master Chief simply nodded. "Well, come aboard, there's still room for one more here. We've decided to split you guys up so if one of us gets blown outta the sky, the other three Spartans would still make it."
The four Spartans exchanged glances and without a word, boarded separate Pelicans.
"Why are they behaving so strangely? I mean, they didn't even talk," whispered one of the marines, which the Master Chief's HUD identified as Private André Atreides.
"Listen son, you'd be like that too if you kicked as much Covenant ass as they have," said Sergeant Johnson, leaping to the Spartans' defence. The Master Chief nodded, still not saying anything. As he turned away from the young marine and Sergeant Johnson, he could've sworn that the Sergeant gave him a wink.
Two hours later, the twelve Pelicans approached their landing zone just out side the city. As the Pelicans touched down, the Master Chief gave out orders to everyone on this mission.
"ETA to destination is two minutes, Chief," said one of the pilots.
The Master Chief opened a secure COM channel to the marines once again. "Once we land, be ready for anything."
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A food source has come...devour them, my children.
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"Squads A to D, scout the western part of the city. E to H, you take the north part. I to L, take the southern side. Us four Spartans will do the eastern side of Alexandria," said the Master Chief, reminding each squad of what they were supposed to do.
"You heard the man, move it!" barked Sergeant Johnson. The marines scattered into their individual squads and moved out. "Good luck, Chief."
"You too, Sergeant." He turned to his Spartans. "Kelly, take point. Linda, take out six. Fred, watch the left. I got the right. Our area of the city is here." He highlighted the entire eastern sector of the city. "Let's go."
They made their way through the streets and saw nothing but blood and gore, although the lack of bodies was disturbing. Something in John's gut told him something was wrong...and his gut has almost never been wrong.
"Something's not right here, where are all the bodies?" commented Fred.
"I don't know, keep your eyes sharp and keep-" replied John but was cut off by his COM system. It was on the team frequency, which meant everyone, including the other marines, could hear this transmission.
"Mayday! Mayday! We have unknown organisms attacking us and there's too many of them! For every one we kill, three more appear in its place! I repeat, Beta Team is under attack by unknown organisms!"
"Calm down soldier, what do they look like?" asked John, while telling his Spartans to stay alert at the same time.
"They're kind of brown and yellow and look like...us, except they're not. They're like zombies!" The marine sounded quite hysterical. A moment later, a blood curdling scream cut through the air and nothing came through but static.
"Marine! Can you hear me? Respond! This is an order!" But nothing came through but static.
"Squad Gamma and Delta, fall back to this position, now!" He marked a NAV point on their landing zone. "This city has fallen to the Flood." He switched to the Pelicans' frequency but before he could make a message, Cortana cut in.
"I'll handle the evac, you handle getting us out of here."
The Master Chief nodded. "Let's go."
Suddenly, a door was beaten out of the house beside them. The four Spartans raised their MA7B's and each fired a three round burst into the creature. The combat form's torso exploded and it fell to the ground. The Master Chief suddenly felt a renewed sense a fear. A fear that hasn't been roused since his last encounter with the parasitic creatures.
"Kelly, take point," ordered John. "Get us back to where we landed."
Kelly sprang into action and the four Spartans doubled back to where they came from. They made it out of the residential district with minimal resistance, but when they approached the commercial district, all hell broke loose. Glass from the elegant skyscrapers exploded into shards of deadly projectiles as the Flood combat forms burst from their hiding places to fall upon their victims.
Linda clicked the safety off her sniper rifle and sniped the combat forms out of the air. Although sniper rifles were generally useless against the Flood, Linda was somehow able to deal significant amounts of damage to them with her rifle. After the first few shots blew off insignificant body parts, Linda started aiming for the infection forms within the combat forms' torsos. The high calibre rounds tore through the fragile parasites and disabled the warrior forms.
Despite Linda's superior sniper skills, she couldn't take out hundreds of combat forms before they reached them.
"Fall back! Fall back!" John threw a grenade at the incoming crowd of Flood warriors. Then he turned around and sprinted back. Linda, Kelly, and Fred followed his lead and fell back as well. John then spotted a large sign above a privately owned shop. He smiled. "In here."
He bashed open the door to the gun shop and strode in, turning on his helmet lamp in the process. The shop was unusually clean, all things considered. Combat forms started catching up with them and were within shooting range. "Linda, go up to the rooftop and stash as many guns and as much ammo as you can. Fred, Kelly and I will cover you." Fred gave a subtle nod and shouldered his MA7B.
"Yes, sir," said Linda, somewhat bitterly. Like all Spartans, she didn't like to miss a fight.
"John! Fred! Use these, they're much better for close quarters combat." Kelly took two twelve gauge hunting shotguns off a rack, along with four boxes of shotgun ammo. "I'll cover you while you load up."
Linda started putting guns and boxes of ammo into a large box to be carried up to the rooftop. The shop was four stories high, so even with the Flood's ability to jump super high, they still couldn't reach the top. Meanwhile, Kelly opened fire with her MA7B. Armour piercing bullets impacted upon the Flood warriors and took a noticeable toll among the parasites. The Flood warriors fell in twos and threes. Kelly reloaded her MA7B. By this time, the shotguns were full loaded.
John and Fred both put down the shotguns and drew their MA7B's again. The Flood weren't close enough for the shotguns to be truly effective. The Spartans fired in bursts, taking out numerous combat forms. The other Flood warriors didn't even notice their fallen comrades and, like maddened beasts, trampled over their fellow soldiers to get to their enemies.
"Take my place, I'll be back," said Kelly. She slipped back into the shop, leaving John and Fred to guard the door. Moments later, she returned with a shotgun of her own, as well as ammo for them.
"Time to get to work," said Kelly, cocking her shotgun. A Flood form jumped thirty feet into the air and landed in front of Kelly. She raised her shotgun and pulled the trigger. Bits of rotten flesh splattered against the ground.
"Cortana, send a distress call back to HQ. I'll let you figure out the contents of the call," said John as he blew a combat form to bits.
"I'm on it," she said. The suddenly, she said, "Look out!"
John looked up just in time to receive a tentacle to the face. He staggered back from the force of the blow. An alarm in his suit went off, signifying that his shields were low. The combat form swung again, but this time it hit nothing but air. The weight it put behind the blow threw it off balance. It fell to the ground and tried to get up before a shotgun round to the chest stopped it.
The fight continued for the better part of an hour. Even with the Spartans' augmented strength and endurance, they were starting to get tired.
"We have as much as we can get up on top of the roof, hurry!" said Linda over the COM.
"Roger that. Kelly, Fred, we're falling back to the roof."
The Spartans raced inside, climbing the flights of stairs two at a time. John paused at the top of a staircase, took out his shotgun, and blew the wooden stairs into splinters. "Just to slow them down," he explained before resuming his climb.
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"Sir! It's a distress call from the Spartans! They're under attack by overwhelming forces! According to this report, they're being attacked by organisms called...the Flood!" reported the communications officer.
"Damn it! First the Covenant attack and wipe out a quarter of our marines. Then these...these things lock up the Spartans!" growled General Banks.
"What about the Elites? We could send them to rescue the Spartans."
"Damn it, Lieutenant! Those bastards can't be trusted!"
"But sir, what other options do we have? We can either let them defend the generators, or rescue the Spartans...or let them sit around and do nothing, which is strongly not advised."
"You have a point there, Lieutenant. All right, contact their leader. Tell them that we need their help ASAP."
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The Arbiter stood with a squad of SpecOps Elites in a Phantom. It was one of six dispatched to the Human city of Alexandria. Half an hour ago, a Human General requested their help. He explained that the Demons were fighting the parasite and needed help. The Arbiter thought of the irony of his situation when he was in the Gravemind's grasp.
"No longer brothers, we are. The Flood leader shall feel my wrath for fooling me into doing such a thing."
"Arbiter! We are approaching the city of Alexandria and our scanners show heavy Flood activity. We will drop you on top of the Demons' location and you will be able to assist them in the battle."
"Good work, let me know when we are about to land."
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A/N: Oooooh! Plot twist! Betcha didn't see that one coming, did you? Anyway, review, review, review!
Another A/N: Yes, yes I did steal that first line from StarCraft, as one of the reviewers pointed out. Well, not steal...borrowed.