Chapter 14: Reminiscence
The Burning Plains, Tau Thorazon V
46th Cycle, 1st Division, 49th Stage, 8th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
1635 hours, February 15, 2498 (UNSC Military Calendar)
"Warriors! Remember your oaths!" shouted a large Sangheili clad in gold as he paced in front of several thousand young recruits.
"According to our station! All without exception!" the recruits replied in crisp unison.
"On the blood of your fathers, on the blood of your sons, do you swear to uphold the Covenant?" the Field Master bellowed.
"Even to our dying breath!" came the unison response.
"What is your purpose in the Covenant?"
"To protect the Prophets, and safeguard the Great Journey!"
"On the field of battle, what will you do?"
"We will stand our ground, and we will not falter!"
"In the face of the enemy, what will you do?"
"We will crush them into the ground, and wipe them from existence!"
"In the face of defeat, what will you do?"
"We will stand firm, and prevail over those who try to stop us!"
"In the face of death, what will you do?"
"We will laugh, and continue to fight until we can fight no longer!"
"Those who would break this oath are heretics!"
"They are worthy of neither pity, nor mercy!"
"And in the face of such heresy, what will you do?"
"We will grind them into dust, and scrape them as excrement from our boots!"
"And continue our march to glorious salvation!" the Field Master shouted as he raised a fist high in the air.
A young warrior in the back row of the host of Sangheili warriors looked anxiously around. Every single warrior in the main block wore the same blue armor he had. Standing in the front facing the host were a handful of red armored officers and the single Field master.
"I will give the command to fire when we are in range," the Field Master spoke up again. "If a warrior in the front dies, the warrior behind is to take his place. When the enemy is upon us, unleash your blades upon them."
The young warrior in the back could not see the Field Master, but he could hear him. Moments after the latter stopped talking, the Sangheili host marched forward as one. Soon enough, the march slowly turned into a jog.
"Fire your weapons!" the Field Master yelled.
The sound of plasma rifles firing traveled far across the open desert that was the battlefield. Suddenly, explosions were heard as well as the plasma. He looked towards the front of the host and saw several Sangheili bodies flailing in the air as they were tossed by the explosions. Plumes of fire, smoke, and sand followed the flying bodies. The young warrior looked up and saw scores of large blue balls of plasma coming from the Wraith mortar tanks behind the host. The plasma continued to fly and the explosions continued to whittle away at the Sangheili host for what seemed like an eternity.
Surprisingly, the Field Master's voice was heard above the din, "Wield your blades!"
As one, the staggered front row of the Sangheili host threw down their plasma rifles and pulled out their energy swords. Hundreds of blue flashes erupted from hundreds of hilts as the energy swords flashed to life. The host then turned their jog into a full sprint. The Sangheili met their enemy with incredible force and they cut through the latter's lines with ease. As the Sangheili host finally slowed as the front lines of both sides became indistinguishable. As the young warrior in the back continued forward to meet the enemy, large reptilian bodies and severed appendages started to appear on the ground in front of him. The Sangheili ranks stepped over their fallen adversaries and continued to push them back.
The reptilian creatures the Sangheili fought, the Torgzim, may not have been the strongest race, but they were steadfast in their opposition to the Covenant religion. They also made up for their lack of strength with sheer numbers.
The lines of the Torgzim rapidly diminished as the Sangheili sliced their way through. However, over the crest of a small hill behind the Sangheili ranks a new horde of Torgzim charged. The Sangheili, now outnumbered four to one, were surrounded. The young Sangheili warrior in the back turned just in time to see the Torgzim toss hundreds of grenades at the Sangheili host.
"Behind!" roared the Field Master. "They come from behind!"
The rear of the Sangheili host charged at the new opposition and fired their plasma rifles. The young Sangheili warrior was unknowingly at the front of this charge. Not anticipating the charge, the Torgzim grenades overshot the new front line of the Sangheili and landed in the gap between two fronts. The Torgzim bodies that fell from the plasma assault were so numerous that the warriors behind the front lines had to start climbing over the fallen ones.
The Sangheili took the opportunity to smash through the new Torgzim front with their energy swords flailing. However, the young warrior in the front of the charge became overzealous. He pushed his way through the Torgzim lines and suddenly found himself surrounded. He tried to push his way back to his brethren but the throng around him continued to occupy his actions. His efforts became more desperate as the Torgzim began to push the Sangheili host back. The young warrior's hope began to run thin as the distance between him and the host increased.
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Holy Crusader Flagship Perpetual Devotion, in orbit around Earth
10th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)
0515 hours, October 29, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)
The Arbiter suddenly awoke with a jolt. Breathing heavily, he rose from his bed and walked over where his armor hung on the wall. He slowly began to don the ceremonial armor worn by hundreds of Arbiters before him. All the while he could not stop thinking about the dream he had that night. No, it was not a dream. It was a memory. He would never forget that fateful day when he and nine other recruits stood over the fallen body of their Field Master holding off the Torgzim until reinforcements came at last. At one point he thought he would never see his comrades again after being stranded in the middle of the Torgzim ranks. But a miraculous boost of adrenaline and luck gave him the strength to push back to his own ranks. He should have died that day along with the thousands of other Sangheili who fought valiantly beside him. But he could not change any of that now.
"Arbiter," Duku 'Zerrazee's voice came over the announcement system, "The Ship Masters are ready in hangar one."
The Arbiter strode over to the speaker on the wall, "Thank you 'Zerrazee. I am on my way."
The Arbiter at last put his helmet on and reached for the hilt of his energy sword on the wall. He remembered he was meeting with several high ranking Humans and checked the motion. They would never allow him to carry a weapon around that many important Humans. Once everything was set he left his private quarters and made his way to the hangar.
Twenty of the Holy Crusaders' best Ship Master stood next to two Phantoms awaiting the Arbiter's arrival. With them was the one armed Niko 'Gorlomee. He walked up to the Arbiter when he appeared in the doorway to the hangar. 'Gorlomee put his right hand on the Arbiter's left shoulder for a moment as the Arbiter did the same.
"We are ready, Arbiter," 'Gorlomee said.
"Good," the Arbiter said. He turned to the rest of the waiting Ship Masters, "Load up. We have little time."
One by one, the twenty golden armored Sangheili floated up the gravity lifts of the two Phantoms. The Arbiter and 'Gorlomee entered the nearest.
"Take us to the Human's flagship," the Arbiter commanded as he entered the cockpit.
"Right away, Arbiter," the pilot replied.
The Phantom rumbled as it floated out of the Perpetual Devotion's hangar. The Arbiter watched Earth on the left viewscreen in the windowless cockpit. Such a beautiful planet, he thought. Despite the short time he spent on the Human's planet, Earth reminded the Arbiter of his home planet, Sanghoro. The lush, green fields, thick forests, and vast seas made him homesick. The Arbiter had not seen his home since the start of the Human-Covenant war, and now he wanted to go back. He wanted this whole thing to be over. He wanted to just relax with his mate till the end of his ages.
The Arbiter continued to watch the Earth fly by out of the corner of his eye, but his main focus was now the new Human flagship, the Preston Cole. The large triangular ship quickly grew as they neared. Soon, a small blue translucent rectangle appeared on the side of the ship and the pilot steered in its direction. The blue shield of the hangar dissipated when the Phantoms were close enough.
When the Phantoms had landed, the Arbiter and the Ship Masters exited. The Arbiter noticed that several Demons marched in to escort the Sangheili. The large, green armored soldiers stepped in unison in a single file. They looked more like robots than Humans, and the fact that the Arbiter had never seen a Demon without armor made it that much more believable.
"Come with me," the lead Demon said as he stepped up to the Arbiter.
The Arbiter and his fellow Sangheili followed and the six other Demons flanked them. They wended through the twisting hallways of the flagship as if with caution. Though the Sangheili were completely unarmed, the Humans did not want to take any chances. They finally entered a large room with an elliptical table in the middle. About twenty high ranking Humans sat at the far side of the table.
"Good of you to join us, Arbiter," the Human the Arbiter recognized as being Admiral Hood stood up and tipped his hat in greeting. "Please, sit down, and we may begin."
The Sangheili were reluctant to sit down, but when they saw that the seats were in fact form fitting and not shaped for Humans they all sat down at the table.
"Now," Admiral Hood began, "It has been approximately forty hours since the Covenant last attacked us. There must be something important on Earth for them to attack twice in three hours. However, after much interrogation, the Prophet of Truth has been averse in giving any information."
"Excuse me, but may I speak?" the Arbiter politely interrupted.
"By all means, Arbiter, speak your mind," the Admiral returned the Arbiter's courtesy.
"How did you manage to capture the Prophet of Truth?" he asked. "I was told you had captured a Prophet, but I assumed it was one of lesser status. Truth is the High Prophet."
"The Master Chief here captured him and this ship for us," the Admiral gestured towards one of the Demons standing around the perimeter of the room. The one whom the Admiral pointed to immediately saluted.
"That would explain a lot then," the Arbiter replied.
"Would you care to enlighten us?" Admiral Hood asked.
"Well, unless any of the lesser Prophets stepped up, the Covenant has no leader," the Arbiter explained. "And Tartarus, the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae has been killed. So at the moment, the leaders of the Covenant are either nonexistent, or very inexperienced. Hence the strange tactics. I suggest we attack now while the Covenant leadership is in disarray."
"I agree, this is the best time to attack," a brown haired Human said; the nametag on his uniform read "F. Schmidt." "However, where do you suppose we attack, Arbiter? We have no information about where any of Covenant planets are."
"No, but we do," the Arbiter replied. "Our navigational databases hold the location of every known Covenant held planet."
"It looks like luck has turned in our favor then," the Fleet Admiral spoke again. "Do you have a suggestion of where to strike first?"
"Tactically, the best place to strike would be the Prophet homeworld of Gantrithos," the Arbiter said. "But it will be heavily guarded."
"Do you think our fleet would be able to break the Covenant defenses there?" the Human named Schmidt asked again.
"I am not sure how large the fleet defending the planet is," the Arbiter stated. "I have not been there in a very long time, so they may have increased the number of ships."
"The Covenant fleet around Gantrithos is approximately five hundred ships strong," 'Gorlomee inputted. "I was rotated out of the Gantrithos defense fleet no more than a division ago, or seventy-three of your days."
"Well, that answers your question then, Commodore," Hood said. "We have been getting reinforcements almost constantly for the last twenty-four hours, and the number of UNSC ships orbiting Earth now is over four hundred. This is the largest gathering of UNSC ships in the history of mankind. However, we are taking a great risk. Our forces are running dangerously thin in the rest of the Inner Colonies. So if we are to attack, we must do it before the Covenant attacks us elsewhere."
"Appending our forces to yours, we will outnumber the Covenant fleet, but not by much," the Arbiter added.
"Arbiter," 'Gorlomee said softly in the Arbiter's ear, "If we are going to Gantrithos, we could pick up reinforcements en route. We can stop at Voronia and pick up the Sangheili fleet there. It would add at least another hundred to our forces and it would only add another eight units to the journey."
"My companion here tells me that if we take an extra two hours, we can pick up reinforcements of our race on our way to Gantrithos," the Arbiter reiterated 'Gorlomee's suggestion. "What say you about this plan?"
"I say we go ahead and do it," a new Human spoke up. This one was female and bore a tag with the name "M. Thompson" engraved on it. She added, "We need all the help we can get."
"Does anyone have any objections?" Hood asked the other Humans. All shook their heads side to side. "Very well. Arbiter, we will follow your ships wherever you lead us."
Just then, the Demon that saluted earlier approached the table. He put his hand on a small panel on the edge and the purple figure the Arbiter recognized as the Human construct Cortana appeared in the middle of the tabletop.
"Admiral Hood, before we depart I have data that will greatly decrease the time it takes to travel through Slipspace," Cortana announced. "We will need to reprogram our Slipspace drives with this new data otherwise the Holy Crusader ships will arrived at our destination several days before we do." She turned to face the Arbiter, "May we borrow several hundred of your Engineers to reprogram our Slipspace drives?"
"Of course," the Arbiter answered. "We will give you as many Huragok as it took to reprogram one of drives multiplied by however many vessels you have."
"Good, we have four hundred eighteen ships in our fleet," Cortana said. "If it takes as long to reprogram our drives as it did with the Holy Crusaders, we should be able to leave about twenty minutes after their Engineers arrive."
"Good work, Cortana," Admiral Hood praised her. Cortana gave him a nod and disappeared. "Does anybody else have anything to add?"
The female Human stood up, "I have something to add, Fleet Admiral."
"The floor is yours, Rear Admiral Thompson," Hood said.
"I suggest that when we arrive at this Gantrithos planet that we push through the Covenant defenses and launch a massive invasion force to take out the Prophet leadership," Admiral Thompson proposed. "Once we launch the invasion, we should retreat out system and then push back. Hopefully we can force the Covenant to clump together, which will be to our advantage. Our weapons are more effective when the enemy is clustered close together. We should attack as a fleet, and not like the small sporadic battles that took place here during the first Covenant attack."
"Any objections?" Admiral Hood asked when Thompson sat down. When nobody said anything he continued, "Well, this has been a successful meeting. You may all return to your ships and prepare your crews. We will leave at ten hundred hours."
At that, everyone at the table stood and left. A select few Humans went over and shook the hands of a handful of Sangheili to show their friendship. They knew that for this alliance to work they would have to befriend the aliens. The Sangheili, unfamiliar with the Humans' gestures, returned their own gesture of friendship, which was to place one's right hand on the recipient's left shoulder.
After the few signs of friendship were made, the Sangheili Ship Masters left as one. Once again being escorted by the Demons, they made their way to the Phantoms and then back to their own ships.