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Threshold

Forerunner Gas Mine

9th Age of Reclamation

While the Arbiter and the others were busy fighting the Heretics near the entrance, Sesa 'Refumee was moving towards the Banshees that were outside on the balcony. His mind was abuzz as he advanced along, his hand idly scratching the back of his head as he moved. Nearby, his body guards were making sure no one bothered him.

It appears as though the cowardly Prophets have sent along their new attack dog to kill me, he thought as he walked along. It is of little concern. With the information that we supplied the SLDF, and the weapons that they developed with our help, we will have given the Reclaimers the necessary information required to defeat the Covenant, and expose the Prophet's lies. It made him smile to know that, he had done his part. The rest is silence.

As he walked along, he looked at one of his body guards. "What is the Oracle's status?"

"It is safe for the moment," the body guard replied. "I would recommend moving it to another part of the facility to ensure that it remains so."

"No! Leave it where it is. The Oracle is a holy device to the Covenant; they will not risk attempting to destroy it. Besides, I also believe that it might be useful to the SLDF in the future."

As he said this, he walked up to a door, motioning for his bodyguards to leave him. They complied, standing outside the door while he walked inside. There was nothing in here, but 'Refumee knew otherwise. Pressing his hands against a part of the wall, he pushed a section of it inside, with the wall section sliding into a hidden alcove.

Inside were computers and electronics, all of which were designed primarily for communications. Walking up to a console, he opened a communications channel, but ensured it was audio only. "What is it?" a voice asked from the other end.

"The Prophets have found us," 'Refumee replied. "They are coming to silence me and every other person in this facility that have withstood the Prophet's lies."

"I see," the voice replied. After a few moments, it said, "Since that is the case, then this is what we will do. Is the primary unit ready for Operation: DOUBLE LIFE?"

"Yes, I believe it is. The Oracle provided much of the equipment necessary to make it fully legitimate It has also provided information necessary for what you call 'Operation: FALSE ASCENSION.'"

"Good. You are cleared to initiate it. Good luck."

. . .

In the upper part of that portion of the facility, Thel and the others were continuing to move downwards. The discovery of the Star League's assistance of the Heretics is alarming, he thought. We cannot falter in our duty to the Prophets. We will silence the Heretics and stop their foul desecration of the Covenant.

Moving forwards, he and the others moved down a pair of ramps. Looking down, Thel could see that the canisters were falling down a pit, towards what appeared to be a large gravity lift. Ingenious, he thought. The Forerunners were masters of engineering, so this was likely childling's play to them.

Looking ahead, he spotted a smaller chamber up ahead. It was more like a room, with the room split down the middle via a large, circular column that went from floor to ceiling. He thought he could also see alcoves that held boxes, each one with the symbol of the SLDF.

That confirms my earlier suspicions, he decided. The Star League Defense Force is supplying the Heretics with advanced weapon systems. If I were to guess, I will soon find out the reason why soon. Out of curiosity, he checked the boxes, only to find that they were locked tight.

With that in mind, he advanced towards the other side of the room. As he did so, he heard a groan, prompting him to turn around. Looking behind himself, he was surprised to see Bero holding his head, almost as though he was having a headache. The grimace on his face was more than enough to indicate that something was wrong. "Are you OK?" he asked the younger Sangheili.

"I don't know," Bero replied, a worried and confused expression on his face. "It feels as though my head is swelling, and the veins inside are throbbing. It will not affect my performance, Arbiter."

"See to it that it does not," Thel nodded. "If it does, you will have to leave our endeavor early, and that would be a disappointment." Bero nodded in agreement, even as they rounded the column.

The other side of the column wasn't rounded, like the other side. Instead, Thel found that it was flat, with a large alcove that was carved, or rather cut, into the material. Just as he was about peer inside, four Heretic Elites came up on a lift inside the alcove, as well as some Grunts.

"The Arbiter!" one of the Elites roared. "Silence him!"

"For the glory of the Covenant!" Thel roared as he drew his Energy Sword, getting in close enough to strike at the heretics. Unable to use their weapons at this range, the Heretics resorted to close quarters combat, using their training to get the upper hand.

Unfortunately for the Heretic Elites, Thel was a master of hand-to-hand combat, having trained under his sire. The same could be said of Bero, who was, by far, the greatest Sangheili Swordsman that lived yet. Either way, the Heretic Elites were doomed.

Thel charged at two of the Heretic Elites, while Bero did the same for the other two. Blocking a blow that would've hit his face, Thel used his opponent's own motion against him, tossing the Elite over his shoulder and onto the ground. While that opponent struggled to get up, he cut through the other hostile's weapon before plunging his blade into the Heretic's chest.

The Heretic half-roared, half-screamed loudly as the blade sliced through both pairs of hearts. Pulling the blade out, Thel stabbed at the Heretic's head, slicing it's neck in half and decapitation it. With that hostile taken care of, he stabbed the other Elite on the ground through the back, ending it's life.

Bero, despite some of his mutations, was still the master Swordsman that he was. Moving with effortless grace, he smoothly decapitated one of the Heretic Elites, before engaging the other one. Using his tail, he knocked the Heretic's legs out from under it, before plunging his blade into it's chest. While this was going on, the other Elites and Grunt Ultras neutralized the remaining hostiles.

The fight was over within forty seconds, with the inside of the lift shaft painted in Sangheili blood. Deactivating his Energy Sword, Thel examined Bero's work. "Your skill has not diminished with your convalescence, Bero," he remarked.

"Thank you," Bero replied. "I began practicing again when my mind healed enough. The Swordsman that trained me was hard pressed to keep up with me when I was fully recovered."

"It appears as though what happened to you had some benefits."

"Yes… though I still wish I had my older body, not this mutated husk. Still, what's done is done, and the egg cracked cannot be cured. All we can do is move on." With that, they cleared off the bodies and waited for the others to board.

Once they were onboard, Thel pressed an icon on the holographic panel on the wall. The moment he did, the lift began to descend, with solid metal walls surrounding them as they went downward. For a few seconds, the interior was somewhat darker than where they had come from.

Then, seconds later, light streamed into the shaft as one of the walls became transparent. Looking around, he spotted what looked like a Kai-pattern Seraph fighter, indicating they had entered a hangar bay. The hangar was split into two levels, with the first being the one that the lift was descending towards, while the second was accessible via downward leading ramps.

It was here that he spotted a familiar sight. Flying through the air, carrying containers of what he presumed was methane, were angular drones that had a single ocular sensor inside of their metallic chassis. Sentinels, Thel realized, but what are they doing here?

One of the other Elites in the lift with them voiced his own thoughts. "Sentinels, the holy warriors of the Sacred Rings! Why have they sided themselves with these heretics?!"

"I do not know," Thel replied, "but I have a strong feeling that we will find out soon." As he said this, the other Sangheili faded into transparency, having activated their cloaking systems. As the lift came to a stop, Thel too faded into transparency.

Timing his movements, he proceeded to move towards the right, where a Sentinel was currently at. The machine was projecting a green energy beam towards the Seraph, presumably making repairs to it. He was about to move past it when he heard a loud, electrical crackling sound. A the same time, his cloaking device failed.

The moment that happened, all hell broke loose. One Heretic that spotted him shouted, "Sentinels, defend us!" Right on cue, the Sentinels dropped what they were doing and opened fire on the SpecOps Team, blue energy beams cutting through the air.

Ducking behind a column, Thel fired on the Sentinel shooting at him. May the gods forgive me for my transgression, he thought as he fired, destroying the Sentinel after a good four shots. Leaning out of cover, he fired on a Heretic that wasn't paying attention, silencing the Grunt in an instant.

More plasma bolts whipped past his cover, forcing him back. Looking down, Thel noticed sparks coming from his active camouflage module. Something must have fried it, he determined, noting the damage to the device. That means I cannot use stealth anymore. An ill omen.

Still, he knew he would have to focus on the module later. Right now, he had a battle to fight and survive. As he advanced forwards, his BattleNet Receiver crackled. "Arbiter," a Phantom pilot shouted, "clear the hangar and open this door, so I may drop the second lance!"

"It will be cleared soon," Thel replied, firing his Carbine at another Sentinel.

So far, the team was making progress, but it was coming at a cost. One of the Grunt Ultras screamed as it's armor failed, an energy beam practically cutting the small alien in half. A SpecOps Elite roared as his left arm was severed, forcing him to use his sidearm to defend himself.

As they fought, Thel gasped as a Carbine round punched through Bero's shoulder, with the younger Sangheili falling to the ground. Roaring, he fired his weapon at the offending Heretic, silencing him while destroying a Sentinel at the same time. Moving towards the hangar door controls, he angrily smashed a fist into the required glyph.

"Hold position," the pilot called out. "I am making my approach!"

As he said this, Thel walked over to Bero. "You're hurt," he said urgently. "Will you survive?"

"I will be fine," Bero replied. "The wound is healing already." Curious, Thel leaned in closer to examine the wound.

The radioactive crystal the Carbine had fired was still present, but Thel noticed that it was being pushed out of Bero's body. Seconds later, it fell out, shattering on the ground. Thel was mesmerized as the wound quickly regenerated, with the flesh underneath the tech suit flowing together like it was a liquid. Soon, the wound was gone, replaced by smooth and healthy Sangheili flesh.

"By the gods," he whispered. "That – that was amazing? I had heard about it when you came back from the Infinite Succor, but to see it with my own eyes…" He trailed off, unable to adequately describe what he had seen.

"I know," Bero replied. "I cannot explain it either. I am simply that way now, though it does come at a downside."

"And that would be?"

In response, Bero took out a what looked like a ration and, opening the disposable package, swallowed it in one gulp. That told Thel the cost of such amazing regenerative abilities: a heightened metabolism and, correspondingly, a need to eat more often. It appears as though it is an acceptable price to pay, he decided. He frowned when Bero grimaced again, holding his head with a hand, though the pain went away, as he stopped grimacing moments later.

Hearing a sound, Thel looked behind himself to see the Phantom coming in. The pilot maneuvered the VTOL inside with the utmost skill and precision, with the Phantom coming to a stop just short of the Seraph. Seconds later, the gravity lift activated, allowing more Grunts and fresh Sangheili to come out. Those that were wounded and couldn't carry on, were moved into the beam, which lifted them up into the safety of the armored vehicle.

Just as the last wounded Sangehili left, a door that was beneath the upper floor, towards the lift, opened, with more Heretic forces entering the hangar bay. Again, the hangar bay was filled with weapons fire, as the Heretics and SpecOps Team battled for supremacy.

Spotting a Heretic Grunt carrying something, Thel fired, killing it with a precision shot to the head. The Heretic Grunt toppled over dead, revealing that it had a Plasma Turret over it's shoulder. It is fortunate that I spotted that when I did, he thought. If I had not, the Heretics would have fire support now.

Thankfully, these Heretics were newer than the others, and were not as experienced. As such, they were soon eliminated, though another SpecOps Sangheili had fallen, a smoking crater in his chest. With all hostiles down, they advanced inside weapons ready.

The door led to a series of hallways that were dimly lit, with small light strips providing enough illumination to see by. Reinforcing ribs were plainly visible, though they added blind spots that would prevent accurate clearing of corners. As such, Thel, and the others, were forced to proceed carefully.

As they moved though the corridors of the facility, Thel found that the SLDF equipment he had found here kept coming to the forefront of his mind. Why is the SLDF supplying the Heretics with weapons, he wondered. Aside from the obvious reasons, there must be another reason as to why they would do this. Is it to cause chaos within the Covenant, or to create some kind of Heretic militia that can assist with a larger invasion?

Either way, it was something he couldn't simply ignore. There was too much going on for him not to do so. The question continued to bug him, even as they traveled through the facility.

As they moved along, he stopped for a moment. "What is it, Arbiter?" Bero asked.

"My cloaking module," Thel replied. "Something in the hangar fried it. I can't cloak as a result."

"Let me see," one of the Elites offered. Nodding, Thel watched as the younger Sangheili pulled out what looked like a small toolset.

"You are an Artisan-Engineer?" he asked.

"Once," the Sangheili replied, her voice calm and quiet as she worked. "My mother was a warrior, but I found out that I was 'mechanically inclined.' Combined with my natural talents as a warrior, and it became a potent combination."

"I see. Any chance of repairing the fault?"

There was some silence, then the female said, "Unfortunately, no. This is beyond my skill to repair, outside of a workshop. I might have a chance to repair the fault once we return to High Charity. Until then, I advise extra caution when moving through these tight spaces."

"Caution is the wise companion of honor," Thel agreed. "At least you did what you could."

"At least," the female agreed. "We must press on now." Nodding in agreement, Thel continued to lead the team through the corridors. Compared to the larger rooms, the corridors were fairly light in terms of resistance, with only a handful of Grunts. This meant that the Heretic's more experienced forces were holed up in larger chambers in the area.

This was proven correct when Thel and the others entered a much larger room in the facility. It was another conveyor area, with more containers of methane being transported through the room. On the side they were on, there was a large column that provided cover, along with rectangular protrusions that stuck up from the ground like stalagmites. The other side had a ramp leading to an upper balcony, along with a door.

The Heretic forces had holed up here as well, with a Heretic Elite on the upper balcony, and several more Grunts and Elites taking cover behind half walls. Firing while running, Thel ducked behind a half-wall, before leaning out and firing his Carbine at a Grunt. Nearby, Bero and the others slid into cover, taking a moment to fire their weapons as well.

As he reloaded, Thel stuck his head over cover, only to pull it sharply back. He was just in time, as something flew overhead, before exploding in a fireball behind him. Peering over cover again, he watched as the Elite on the upper balcony reloaded what appeared to be a missile launcher of some kind. Another Star League weapon, he realized as a missile streaked overhead, blasting an unlucky SpecOps Elite into thousands of steaming pieces.

"Bero, can you stop him?!" Thel shouted.

"It will be done, Arbiter!" Bero nodded. As another missile streaked overhead, he moved out of cover and ran forwards, while Thel and the others provided suppression fire.

For Bero, it was as though time had slowed down to a fraction of it's normal speed. The friendly forces behind him, and the Heretics up ahead, seemed to move in slow motion, with voices becoming deeper and more distorted. He noticed that he perceived his own movements to have slown down, though not as much as the enemies before him. Another missile flew towards him, prompting him to smoothly move to the left.

The missile streaked past Bero, even as he ran up the ramp to where the Heretic Elite was at. Surprised, the alien began to turn to engage him, but it was far too late by then. In a single move, Bero cleanly decapitated the Heretic Elite's head, before throwing a plasma grenade into the others down below.

Just like that, time seemed to return to it's normal pace. There was an explosion of fiery plasma as the grenade detonated, with the Heretics caught in the blast as well. Bero huffed and puffed, his hearts hammering inside of his chest as sweat began to drip off of his face. Spotting Thel walking towards him, he noticed the Arbiter's surprised expression. "What?" he asked.

"You dodged a missile that should've impacted you," Thel explained. "Another one of your mutations?"

"I suppose so," Bero nodded hesitantly. "I have never had that happen to me before, though. It must only become active when I am focusing intently, or am in grave danger."

"Possibly," Thel remarked. After a moment, he said, "Let us continue ahead. There are more Heretics to silence."

"Agreed." With that, the two moved up ahead with the others.

Again, the corridors had little to no resistance, indicating that the Heretics were using the larger rooms to create blockades and chokepoints. Protracted defenses, Thel observed. Hhmm, a useful tactic against an invading force. Delay the enemy long enough for their objective to escape. Clever.

Once more, they entered another room. This one was slightly larger than the other one they had cleared, but there was something else unique about it too. This room, unlike the previous one, was curved, with the room bending to the right as one traveled down it's length. Up ahead was another walkway, with reinforcing beams and columns present inside.

The Heretics were here in force as well, with Heretic Elites, Grunts and Sentinels guarding the room. Ducking behind a column, Thel fired on a pair of Sentinels above his head, destroying them before moving forwards. He ducked behind cover again as two Heretic Elites fired on him, nearly draining his shields in the process.

While he and the others battled the Heretics on the ground, Bero made his own advances. In a single powerful thrust, he leaped up onto the upper walkway, the powerful muscles in his legs propelling him upwards. Landing on the upper walkway, he fired his weapons at the Heretics up ahead, dodging shots fired at him as he advanced forwards. Taking out some plasma daggers, he threw them forwards, gutting a Heretic while impaling another in the neck.

Down below, Thel and the others had forced the Heretics back, pushing them further and further back. Eventually, he fired on the last Heretic Elite, killing it as it's shields failed from the fusillade that it was forced to enter. "Bero?" he called out.

There was a loud roar as a Heretic was thrown to the ground, a loud CRUNCH indicating bones that broken. Moments later, Bero landed on top of the Heretic, crushing it's skull under foot. "I am here," he replied.

"Shall we keep moving, Arbiter?" another Elite asked. "The Heretic Leader cowers below!"

"Agreed," Thel nodded. With that, they advanced through the open doorway, entering a small room with two doors. The door on the left was unlocked, allowing them to advance inside.

The room they entered was fairly large, with enough room to fit two Spirit dropships with room to spare. The walls to the left and right had ramps that led to doors embedded into each one. The wall ahead of them, however, was transparent, with reinforcing frames present.

Just beyond that wall, however, was their target. The Elite was tall and muscular, with it's combat harness hiding most of it's bodily features. It's head was plainly visible, though visors covered both of it's eyes. Two more Heretics were outside, presumably bodyguards.

As soon as he saw the Elite, Thel recognized him. 'Refumee, he realized, surprised. I knew him as one of the most loyal Sangheili I had ever met. Why has he turned heretic?

As soon as he thought this, 'Refumee looked directly at him through the window. Unfazed, he turned to the others and said, "Deal with the Arbiter, my brothers. I will defend the Oracle." With that, he got into a Banshee and flew off.

"Its truth must not be silenced," one of the Heretics agreed. Breaking his gaze, Thel watched as the right hand door opened, with Heretic forces coming out into the room. Moving fast, he killed the Grunts, before he and the others focused on the Elites. It wasn't long before they were terminated.

Moving through the doorway, Thel proceeded down the corridor and exited the room. As soon as he did so, he was buffeted by powerful winds that howled outside of the structure. Fortunately, the winds had died down somewhat from earlier, though they were still quite powerful. Time to take one to find him, he decided.

Moving towards a Banshee, he opened it up before sliding himself inside, with the hatch closing down onto his legs and back. Gunning the throttle, he boosted into the air. As he did so, he heard his BattleNet Receiver chime. "Yes?" he asked.

"Arbiter," R'tas replied, "the Heretics are mobilizing their air forces. Get after their leader, but watch your back! I'm sending one of our Phantoms to support you."

"Understood," Thel replied. Looking at the sensor feed for the Banshee, he spotted the Phantom coming around the bend. Hearing a loud, insistent beeping, he rolled the vehicle to the side, just in time to avoid plasma firing at him. Looking ahead, he spotted Grunts that were firing Shade Turrets at him. Snarling, he fired the plasma repeaters, before launching a Fuel Rod, blasting the offending Heretics to pieces.

With that, came the arduous search for the Heretic Leader. To find him they had to search each section of the facility, a tedious process that nearly cost Thel his life. As they flew towards the last section, R'tas said, "We've tracked the heretic to this part of the facility. Clear that landing zone and get inside."

"Not easy when the Heretics are trying to kill you," Thel muttered to himself as he dodged more Shade Turret fire. Fortunately, he had his plasma repeaters, fuel rod launcher, as well as a Phantom at his beck and call. Against that much firepower, the Heretic forces crumbled.

Once the last one was dead, he landed his Banshee and walked to the door, just as the Phantom deployed more forces. Advancing to the door, two SpecOps Elites worked at the controls, with the doors opening moments later. Both advanced inside, plasma rifles at the ready, before giving the all clear.

As they walked inside, Thel heard a sniffing sound. Looking to his left, he watched as R'tas sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring as he did so. "What is it?" he asked.

"That stench," R'tas explained. "I've smelt it before."