Chapter 19: An In and Out Job

City of Divinity, Gantrithos

12th Cycle, 5th Division, 3rd Stage, 9th Age of Reclamation (Covenant Holy Calendar)

0345 hours, October 31, 2552 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Dust, fire, blood, and plasma created a cloud at the street level obscuring the vision of everyone fighting on the ground. Luckily, the Master Chief and his team didn't have to worry about that problem. As they did in most infiltration missions, the Spartans had found an underground passageway to move about easily without being noticed. In this case it was a high-speed transportation tunnel, a Covenant subway of sorts. The only things the team had to worry about were the trains that raced through the narrow tunnels at even intervals.

The Spartans and Covert Ops Elites ran down the cylindrical tunnel to reach the city center as quickly as possible. They had been down there for about an hour making their way to the city and they were already within a kilometer of the High Council Chamber. The tunnel was eerily silent save for the occasional passing train. The battle above ground could no longer be heard. It had been about forty minutes since they last heard an explosion.

"Incoming, Chief," Cortana interrupted the silence.

"Hit the deck!" John shouted as he dropped to the ground.

Seconds later, a train whizzed overhead at several hundred kilometers per hour. The trains cylindrical, like the tunnel, and floated through the exact center of the tunnel with about half a meter between it and the walls of the tunnel. For any normal Human, it would've been more than enough room, but for the Spartans and Elite it was a tight squeeze.

"Alright, let's keep moving," the Chief said. The team got up and continued their quick pace down the tunnel. They were surprised they had made it so far so quickly, because about every five minutes they had to dodge a train, and there were also stations, which they had to creep through undetected. The deep navy blue lighting in the tunnel didn't help either.

"The next station should be just outside the High Council Chamber," Cortana explained. "You'll have to go outside for a bit between the station and the Chamber, and expect heavy resistance."

"Roger that," John acknowledged.

Several more minutes of running, and they finally came upon the station. The Master Chief signaled for the Elites to move forward and clean the area. The Spartans had to stay back until Kado 'Toromee gave the "all clear" signal. The Elites had camouflage and could clear the area quickly without being seen. The Spartans could clear the area quickly, but the enemy would see them and alert more of the enemies.

John saw blurs run past him and up onto the station platform. He waited patiently while the Covert Ops Elites did their thing. He heard dull thumps as hostiles were silently eliminated. These Elites were undoubtedly the best of the Holy Crusaders. Moments later, the Chief heard the "all clear" signal: a short, six-note singsong tune. It was the same one the Spartans had used since their training days, and only a select few outside the Spartans knew it. John decided to teach it to 'Toromee while they were traversing the tunnels. The way he figured was if the two teams were going to work together, they would have to learn each other's codes.

John motioned with his hand for the Spartans to move out, and they entered the station. The lighting changed to a brilliant white, which made the purple walls shine brightly. Several bodies of dead Jackals littered the floor, but the Elites were nowhere to be found. The Chief found a stairwell and made his way to it. As he approached, he saw 'Toromee materialize in front of him.

"This leads up to the street," the white-armored Elite said. "We will go first and eliminate any hostiles between here and the High Council Chamber. Once it is clear, we'll give you the signal."

"Roger that," the Chief nodded his acknowledgement. He held up a closed fist and his team stopped behind him. 'Toromee disappeared again and jogged up the stairs. The other Elites in his team were standing so still that the Chief hadn't even noticed them until they moved to follow their Field Master.

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'Toromee slowly peaked out of the hole in the ground which the stairwell was in. There wasn't much activity in the streets, but it was enough to make his team be extra cautious. He saw a column of Ghosts whiz by from a large doorway in the High Council Chamber. Faint explosions could be heard in the distance. The battle was getting closer to the Chamber.

Across the street, two Jiralhanae Honor Guards stood at one of the entrances to the Chamber. Kado took one last look around to make sure nobody else was near. He took four of his Sangheili and slowly and quietly made his way across the street trying to stay out of the Guards' peripheral vision. The Field Master crept up next to the first guard, and in a swift motion grabbed his head and twisted hard. A loud snap was heard as the Jiralhanae's neck fractured. 'Toromee quickly retreated several paces backwards as the beast fell in a heap on the ground. The other Guard heard what had happened and walked over to his fallen comrade. 'Toromee then saw the head of the other Jiralhanae violently twist around and he too fell to the ground.

Kado whistled the short six tone "all clear" signal when he was certain they were alone. Moments later he saw the Spartans emerge from the stairwell and jog across the street with the rest of the Sangheili following behind.

"The door is locked," 'Toromee explained as the Spartans approached. "Can your construct open it?"

"Give me a sec," the lead Spartan replied. 'Toromee found it nearly impossible to tell the Spartans apart from each other. He wondered how they knew who was who. At least with his warriors he could see their faces.

The lead Spartan, whom 'Toromee assumed was the Master Chief, went up to the data terminal next to the semi-circular door and pressed his hand to the terminal. A golden shimmer surrounded his hand and the door opened.

"Cortana is in the building's mainframe," the Master Chief explained. "She can access the building schematics and security cameras to make sure we find the stealthiest way to our objective."

"Excellent," the Field Master replied. "That will make our job much easier."

"Be careful, there are a lot of guards inside this door. It must be the main lobby," a female voice echoed inside his helmet. That must be Cortana, 'Toromee thought. "It will be impossible to get past them without being seen. You have to engage them."

"At least we have the element of surprise," 'Toromee said. He didn't want to engage the enemy unless he absolutely had to, but it didn't look like he had much of a choice here. He turned to his squad of Sangheili, "Do not reveal yourselves unless your generator overheats."

Kado holstered his plasma rifle and readied his energy sword but did not ignite it. He nodded to the Master Chief to signal he was ready, and the Spartan returned the nod. Together, the Field Master and the Master Chief charged through the door and into the main lobby. The Master Chief opened fire with his crude projectile weapon at the first Jiralhanae guard they encountered. His team of Spartans followed him and filled the lobby with a hail of bullets. Kado quickly looked around. The huge room was filled with Jiralhanae Honor Guard. Many of the surprised beasts dropped their ceremonial pikes and grabbed their plasma rifles in an attempt to counter the attack.

'Toromee's Sangheili rushed in behind the Spartans firing their plasma rifles. One by one they became visible as they were hit by hostile fire and their camouflage generators overheated. Still unseen, 'Toromee finally found what he was looking for: a single Jiralhanae clad in Honor Guard armor like the rest, but with a small red flag over his left shoulder. This one commanded the Guards in the lobby. As 'Toromee charged the Honor Guard Captain, the other Jiralhanae didn't even notice his invisible self as he ran by them. Even the Captain was oblivious until Kado ignited his energy sword only two strides from his opponent. In a swift motion, the Field Master swung his sword out in front of him and beheaded the Jiralhanae, who fell limply to the ground. 'Toromee quickly extinguished his energy sword and rolled away to dodge the stray plasma bolts from the nearby Guards who had seen their Captain mysteriously die.

The Spartans and other Sangheili moved to find cover and continued to spray the room with bullets and plasma while the surprised Jiralhanae dropped like flies. It was only a matter of minutes before the last of the Guards lay dead on the lobby floor. Even the Jiralhanae Honor Guard was no match for the best warriors of the UNSC and Holy Crusaders.

"Directly across the lobby from the entrance is a maintenance lift," Cortana said to the team. "It should take you directly up to the floor with the main Chambers."

The team quietly made their way to the lift. Cortana opened the door and the team stepped in. It was a thin cylindrical shaft and the whole team couldn't fit at once, but since it was a gravity lift so they didn't have to worry about taking multiple trips with a conventional elevator.

The team reached the top of the shaft and found themselves in a narrow maintenance hallway. Following Cortana's directions, they wandered their way through the passageway until they reached a larger hallway.

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"There's a large room thirty meters to the left of your position," Cortana informed. "The hallway is empty, you're all clear."

"Roger that Cortana," John replied.

The Chief opened the hatch to the hallway and took a step out and to the right. He scanned the hallway keeping an eye out for anyone who might round a corner and spot them. The team filed out and moved down the hallway. When everyone was in the hallway, the Chief went back to the head of the group by the door to the large room Cortana spoke of.

"Scanners show no movement, and security cameras show no visual contacts," Cortana said.

The Chief thought this over for a second. This is odd, there should be guards swarming this place. Are the councils not even here? Maybe the guards are hiding in the chambers waiting for us in ambush.

"Alright, Cortana, open her up," John sighed. "Be on your toes everyone."

The semicircular door split down the middle and hissed as it rotated open. The Chief held up his hand and signaled for the team to wait, and he took a look around the room. When he was satisfied the coast was clear, he slowly entered the room followed by the rest of the team. The circular room was about twenty meters across, and eight of the semicircular doors were spaced evenly around the circumference. The team would have to split up into four groups to get the four councils before they could escape.

Just then, the Chief saw something that made him freeze in his spot. Something shimmered in the corner of his eye, and by the size of it he knew it wasn't one of the camouflaged Elites on his team. John held up his hand and made a signal to retreat out the door, but suddenly several blue flashes appeared around the room.

"Ambush!" John shouted. He fired several bursts from his BR55 Battle Rifle at the nearest blur, which was now moving towards him at an alarming rate. Deep violet blood sprayed from the figure as the bullets pierced it. After several shots, the blur materialized into a Brute. It was holding a staff with energy blades on both ends. If wielded properly, a weapon like that could be more deadly than the energy swords the Elites used. The Brute took a swipe at John's head with his staff, but John quickly rolled out of the way.

All hell broke loose as the rattle of gunfire and the pulsing of plasma fire filled the room. As more Brutes appeared, John took a better look at them. These were no ordinary Brutes. Bright silver armor covered the arms, chest, and legs of these Brutes. They moved with skill unlike any Brute the Chief had ever seen. Eight Brutes in total appeared out of thin air. Two to one odds would be a no-brainer against a typical pack of Brutes. However, the odds don't mean anything when facing an unknown enemy.

The Spartans and Elites dodged and rolled from the Brutes' attacks. An energy blade nicked John's shoulder and depleted his energy shield. Bullets and plasma flew everywhere. Loud pings could be heard as bullets ricocheted off the Brutes' silver armor. John stood up and faced a charging Brute. He raised his rifle and fired a couple bursts into the Brute's open mouth. Deep violet blood exploded out the back of its head as the Brute fell limply onto John, momentarily pinning him to the ground. As he struggled to push the Brute off of him, John heard a scream and he pulled up his team's biomonitors on his HUD. Alan's biosigns flat lined.

With a boost of adrenaline, the Chief pushed the dead Brute off of him and kneeled only to find another Brute standing in front of him. John fired several rounds into the Brute's exposed knees and the bulky alien collapsed. John stood up as the Brute fell, and he smashed the butt of his rifle across the side of the alien's skull effectively crushing it. Another scream sounded above the din and Joanna's biosigns flat lined.

John quickly looked around and saw that four Brutes still remained. John looked around for cover, and dove behind what looked like an oddly shaped chair. He targeted a Brute across the room, and frantically fired at the Brute's bare stomach. Unfortunately, the Brute wasn't phased by his shots and continued to impale an Elite with his energy staff. The Elite dropped to the floor and the Brute now turned to John. John stood up from behind his cover and took aim at the Brute's mouth as it roared in anger. He fired a few shots and the Brute dropped next to the Elite it just skewered.

The remaining Brutes were quickly handled by the rest of the team. The white armored 'Toromee beheaded one with his energy sword while the other two were taken down by the combined fire of the remaining Spartans. John surveyed the room and found several dead Elites along with the Brutes on the ground. He spotted Alan and Joanna laying on the floor with gaping wounds in their chests. He pulled up his team roster on his HUD and marked Alan-017 and Joanna-130 as MIA. He then rolled each of them over, opened the access panel to their fusion power sources, and entered the fail-safe codes. John didn't want to risk the Covenant getting their hands on the only piece of superior technology the Humans had, so in approximately two minutes, the fusion power sources on Alan's and Jo's armor would overload and burn everything within a ten meter radius.

"Alright, let's get in there, do our job, and get out ASAP," John ordered. "Split up and pick a door.

The team split themselves up into four teams. As one, they opened the doors, tossed a few grenades into the chambers and filled the rooms with fire. When the smoke cleared, seven Prophets lay dead in each chamber save for one. John walked up to the Prophet with his rifle raised.

"Demon!" the Prophet cursed. "You may think you have won, but you have not. You will never stop the Great Journey. Even now, our forces are at your planet once again preparing to take the Ark. This time, you will not stop us. While you and your zealous allies brought your fleets here. We took advantage of your absence. Your planet is ours—"

A shot rang out in the chamber and the Prophet fell to the ground, but John hadn't pressed his trigger. The Chief turned around and saw Fred at the door.

"We have to get back to Earth, now!"