Chapter 6: Delusions and Grandeur
Halo Installation 05, Control Room
8th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
1000 hours, October 27, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
"What's that?" Commander Miranda Keyes asked as she looked at the strange, vaguely cylindrical hologram where, previously, an intense beam of blue light was.
"A beacon," replied 343 Guilty Spark, the Monitor of Installation 04. It was a strange series of events that it came to be on Installation 05 where it was now. The destruction of its own installation and its capture by the Covenant. None of which it expected would ever happen.
"What's it doing?" Keyes asked again.
"Communicating," replied the little blue ball, "At superluminal speeds with a frequency of-"
"Communicating with what?" the Commander didn't have time for this.
"The other installations," the Monitor kindly answered.
"Show me," Keyes demanded.
The two halves of the holographic cylinder opened up and seven rings spread out from the center. One of them was tagged with a red marker, signifying that it was out of commission.
"Fail safe protocol," the Monitor started to explain. "In the event of unexpected shut-down, the entire system will move to standby status. All platforms are now ready for remote activation."
"Remote activation? From here?" Keyes had so many questions but the Monitor wasn't helping with all of his ambiguity.
"Don't be ridiculous," Guilty Spark was getting annoyed with the Human's ignorance. She was a Reclaimer. She should know all of this already.
"Listen, Tinkerbell," Johnson gestured to the Monitor. "Don't make me-"
"Then where?" Miranda cut him off. "Where would someone go to activate the other rings?"
"Why… the Ark, of course," the Monitor apparently thought that was obvious.
"And where, Oracle, is that?' said the tall figure that had walked up behind the Humans. Keyes and Johnson both turned to see the Elite wearing the ceremonial armor, the Arbiter. In all the years they have been at war with the Covenant they have never seen an Elite wear armor like that, nor have they seen an Elite as skilled as the one behind them now.
"I must apologize again," the Monitor said, "for protocol does not allow me to reveal the location of the Ark. But…" it paused.
"I can't take this anymore," Johnson said angrily. "Everything we ask him to do is not allowed by his stupid protocol." He turned around and stormed off to the edge of the platform.
"Take it easy, Johnson," Miranda said. She turned to the Monitor, "But, what?
"I thought that you didn't want to fire the rings," said the floating ball. "You just cancelled the firing sequence of this installation. Why would you want to find the Ark?"
"The Prophets must not be allowed to fire the Halos," the Arbiter spoke up again.
"Exactly," Miranda continued the Arbiter's sentence, "so we need to get to this 'Ark' before they do."
"Hey! You two!" Johnson yelled from the edge of the platform. "Come here. We've got ourselves a live one."
"What is it Johnson?" Keyes asked as she and the Arbiter ran to where Johnson was kneeling.
"If I help you up," Johnson said to the creature hanging onto the edge of the platform, "and give you my word that I won't hurt you, will you give me your word that you won't hurt me?"
"Do not touch me, filthy Human," the Elite said. He was hanging on to the edge with one arm. His other arm had been ripped off by the hammer of Tartarus. He was lucky to have been hit in the arm and not the chest because he didn't fly as far as the others and was close enough to the edge to grab on.
"There's a stubborn Elite here hanging onto the edge," Johnson told Keyes as she came up next to him.
"Stand aside, Human," the Arbiter said as he came up behind Johnson. "I'll get him."
Johnson stood and moved out of the way as the Arbiter knelt where he just was. The Arbiter reached down, grabbed onto the other Elite's arm, and pulled him up. The blood from his wound left a purple trail on the ground as he was dragged to safety and pooled where he lay. The golden armored Elite lay on his back for a while trying to recover, when the Arbiter suddenly recognized him. The Arbiter went to the Elite's side and knelt.
"Niko 'Gorlomee? Are you alright Ship Master?" the Arbiter asked.
"I'll make it," 'Gorlomee said. "My wounds will heal. I overheard you talking with the Oracle about the Ark, and I have an idea."
"An idea would be most welcome at this time, Ship Master," the Arbiter said graciously.
"Well," 'Gorlomee started to explain, "I happen to know where the Prophets are going, and I think that if we follow their fleet, we could destroy them. The only problem is that they command a large fleet of Jiralhanae ships at the supposed Human home world."
"Earth!" Miranda gasped. "The other Prophets brought another fleet to Earth!"
"How is that a problem, 'Gorlomee?" asked the Arbiter.
"If we follow the Prophets," the 'Gorlomee explained, "we will have to fight them AND the Humans. Speaking of which, why are those Humans not bound or dead?"
"As hard as it is to believe, they assisted me," the Arbiter said. "And we may need their help. I would like them to remain unharmed for the time being."
"As you wish, Arbiter," the Ship Master said. "And would you mind helping me to my feet?"
The Arbiter grasped 'Gorlomee's arm and pulled him up.
"We need to get you to a medical technician," said the Arbiter. "You are weakening."
"Do you know how many ships the Prophets have at Earth?" Miranda asked 'Gorlomee.
"I am unsure," he answered, "but it can't be much more than two hundred fifty. Of the twelve hundred ships that were guarding High Charity, only about four hundred fifty remain after the battle, and over half of those where Jiralhanae ships that left for your planet. Our current roster of Sangheili ships is at one hundred eighty-two."
"They won't stand a chance against Earth's defenses," the Commander boasted. "We have nearly three hundred orbital defense stations and a fleet of-"
"Watch your mouth, Human!" 'Gorlomee cut her off. "The Jiralhanae ships are not to be underestimated. Of those twelve hundred ships I spoke about earlier, a little more than a third were Jiralhanae controlled, yet they now have more than us. Their tactics are much more aggressive than ours, which allows them to handle a fleet much larger than their own. You must also take into account that they could call for reinforcements from elsewhere in the galaxy. They may seem dense when fighting on land, but they are definitely a force to be reckoned with in space."
"If we take our fleet to Earth, we can try to form an agreement with the Humans seeing as we now have a common enemy," the Arbiter suggested.
"Are you crazy, Arbiter? They would never do such a thing. And I don't imagine that the Covenant… I'm sorry, our faction would be too happy with the idea."
"Perhaps I am crazy. And no, the Humans would never sign an agreement if we go ourselves, but we have these two Humans to help with negotiations."
"Hmm, that actually sounds logical. Maybe it will work after all. But how do you suppose we go about doing this?"
"We need to gather the Ship Master of our remaining fleet and decide upon our next actions."
"But what about the Ark?" Keyes finally said.
"We have no time to bother with the Ark," the Arbiter answered. "The Prophets must die!"
Keyes and Johnson didn't dare argue with the Elites. Especially since neither of them were too keen on siding with each other. A petty argument at that time could end in the Humana' death.
"My comrade, Kado 'Toromee, has taken a cruiser from the Jiralhanae not too far from here," the Arbiter said. "We should meet up with him so we can rendezvous with the fleet."
So the Arbiter, Ship Master 'Gorlomee, Commander Keyes, and Sergeant Johnson left the control room the same way they came in and met no Brute resistance. They completely forgot about the Monitor, who was quietly humming as it followed them to the cruiser.