I'm a few days late, but this chapter still came out quicker than usual, so I'm still counting this as a win.
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1007 Hours, March 6th, 2683
Underground Forerunner Complex, Beneath the Surface of Eletania
Hercules System, Atiican Beta Cluster
...
The squad teleported into a large, empty chamber with a domed ceiling. The floor was made from the Forerunners' signature metallic mineral, but the real eye-catcher in the room was the domed ceiling. It seemed to act as a giant mirror, reflecting back highly distorted images of the team. A band of blue light occasionally pulsed across the dome's surface.
"The Planetarium of Ages, I presume." Kaidan commented.
"I'm not picking up any Eletanian micro-organisms in here Chief." Cortana reported. "The air in here is breathable. Looks like the the complex's air filtration systems still work."
"The air here is breathable." Chief said to his squad. "Unseal your suits and refill your oxygen tanks."
As they did this, the squad absently looked up at the reflective ceiling. Chief grunted at this. "We're not here to sight-see." he sternly said. "Let's move." He began walking towards the one and only door that led out of the room.
As they came to the doorway, the squad walked by a control panel. Liara lingered at the panel and thought about activating it. She reached for one of the switches.
Only for a hand to clamp around her wrist. She looked up to see the Chief's golden visor. "Don't touch anything." he flatly said before letting the Asari's hand go. The Spartan resumed course out of the domed room.
They exited the domed room and emerged into a massive hallway; a floor that was seven meters wide and a ceiling that was ten meters high. The ceiling was black with twinkling lights, looking for all the universe like a night sky. The floor was tiled with interlocking Forerunner symbols, and three rows of pillars ran the length of the corridor.
"Cover." Chief ordered as he took cover behind one of the pillars, each member of his squad doing the same. He unfolded his sniper rifle and aimed down the hallway through the rifle's scope. He could see a door leading to another room about fifty yards away. There were also some windows that let in light on the right wall about halfway down the hall. No sign of Geth.
"Garrus. Ashley. Check your sniper scopes for Geth." he ordered before receiving green acknowledgement lights from both. They were each hiding behind a pillar to on the left and right side of the corridor, while he was in the middle. They could check the corridors from angles he couldn't check from.
Garrus and Ashley both winked green. It was clear, at least on their end. Chief still had his doubts. It was a long corridor with only these pillars as cover. It was an ideal spot for an ambush. On the other hand, Saren was still unaware of the Spartan's presence here. They might encounter a patrol in here, but a carefully laid-out trap wasn't as likely unless he was expecting company. Which actually would be a real possibility, now that the Chief thought about it. By now, Saren was probably wondering why he suddenly lost contact with the Feros invasion force. He might've figured out by now that trouble was on its way and took the necessary precautions.
The Chief finally came to a decision. "Move forward two at a time. Keep to the pillars for cover. Quick and quiet." It technically wasn't a decision at all. This was the only way out of the planetarium. They had nowhere left to go but forward. The sooner they got out of this killzone, the better.
The squad slowly leap-frogged from pillar to pillar, cover to cover, as if there was a machine gun at the other end of the hall that would open fire the moment they came out from behind a pillar. Some would call it paranoia. But as the old saying goes, 'you're only paranoid when you're wrong.' The Master Chief believed it was better to be wrong than to be dead.
They were halfway down the corridor now, where the windows were. Ashley was nearest to the window and looked out through it. "Oh crap." she said.
"What is it?" Chief asked.
"Lots of Geth out there." Ashley said as she pointed out the window. After checking to make sure that there were no hostiles emerging from that doorway at the end of the hall, Chief trotted over to the window to take a look. Ashley trotted up next to him.
The window looked out on a larger room below. There were dozens of Geth troopers marching up and down the room, on their way to and from different patrol routes. The Spartan and the marine ducked down until they were just peeking over the bottom edge of the window to keep out of sight. In addition, the Spartan saw an Asari amidst the Geth. She wore a black jumpsuit and was holding an assault rifle, and seemed to be coordinating the Geth. This confirmed the Chief's suspicions that, thanks to Benezia, Saren had multiple Asari Commandos under his command.
After meeting Shiala on Feros, Master Chief did a little more research on Asari Commandos in the event that he would encounter more of them in his hunt for Saren. He didn't like what he read. Asari Commandos were hands-down the finest biotic soldiers in all the galaxy. What they lacked in heavy weapons, heavy armor and numbers, they made up for in individual fighting skill, expert use of guerilla tactics, and sheer biotic ability. They were, for all intents and purposes, the Asari equivalent of Spartans. Anything the Chief can do with his body, a Commando can do with her mind. Chief had enough trouble with regular biotics. But rigorously-trained special op soldiers with biotic expertise? All of whom were members of a species with naturally innate biotic talent?
The Master Chief was not looking forward to engaging an Asari Commando unit. In fact, he made a note to flat-out avoid engaging such a unit if at all possible.
"Let's keep moving." Chief said once he felt he received a decent eye-full of the enemies below. The squad continued to leapfrog their way down the hall, constantly checking for enemy patrols until they finally arrived at the doorway. Chief stepped in first to make sure it was clear.
It was a small room. Well, small compared to the rooms they've been in so far. About twenty feet by thirty feet. There were four dormant teleporters on one side of the room. On one of the wall was a narrow window about two feet across, but reached from the floor all the way up to the thirty-foot high ceiling. The Chief winked green, signaling that it was clear, and the rest of the squad moved in. Once they were all in, Chief pressed a switch by the door, sealing it shut behind them.
Chief walked over to the control panel by the teleporters, activating his omni-tool and switching off external speakers. "Cortana?" he asked.
"Translating...hmmm. Teleporters are locked." Cortana remarked.
"Locked?" Chief asked.
"I can't activate them. The system's asking for a pass code." Cortana clarified. "Not to worry. Should only take me a few minutes to decrypt."
"Let me know when you've got them working." Chief said. This was good news. The Forerunners wouldn't set up security locks in their teleportation network unless there was something worth protecting deeper inside. If nothing else, the Spartan was heading in the right direction.
As Cortana established a wireless connection and began decrypting the teleporters' security protocols, Chief looked around the room. Garrus, Wrex and Ashley were by the door, getting ready in case anything unpleasant came knocking. Liara, Tali and Kaidan were each by a far wall, examining the symbols that were carved into it. Liara was explaining to the other two that it may have been some sort of epic poem of some ancient battle or other. N'tho was standing by the window, looking out through it. The Spartan walked over to see what was so interesting.
The window looked out on another chamber two hundred feet below. There were no Geth or Krogan or Asari Commandos in this one, so thankfully there was no need to duck. It was a long corridor with golden streaks of light running across the floor and walls. At the very end was a large, strange-looking golden hologram which was vaguely shaped like a star. It had a circle in the middle, four 'points' on its northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast 'corners', and a pillar that reached all the way down to the floor. It reminded the Chief of a cathedral of sorts.
Chief turned back to the Sangheili. He continued to stare out the window, seemingly oblivious to the Spartan's presence next to him. His mandibles hung slightly agape. "You okay?" Chief asked.
"Fine sir." N'tho replied. "Just a little...overwhelmed. This place...it holds so many symbols held sacred to my people. Kinda makes me want to kneel before the glory of it all, ya know?"
"...You're already half-way there." Chief pointed out. The young Sangheili looked down and found that he had knelt down on one knee without even realizing it. He promptly stood up.
"Sorry." N'tho apologized. "It's just...my forefathers believed the Forerunners were Gods. Easy to see why, huh?"
"Done." Cortana reported over her private channel. Chief told N'tho to carry on before walking back to the teleporters as he tapped into Cortana's channel. "I've got good news and bad news. Good news is, the teleporter on the far left should take us directly to the Registry."
"And the bad news?" Chief asked.
"The bad news is, according to the logs, that teleporter has been used an hour ago. Expect company on the other side." Cortana said.
"Noted." Chief replied. He turned to his squad as he activated the teleporter on the far left. "Alright. Says here that teleporter there should take us directly to the Registry. However, the logs show it's been used an hour ago, so we might have to engage hostiles on the other side.
"Good." Wrex said. "Been wanting to kill something all morning."
"Follow me. One at a time." Chief ordered as he stepped through the portal.
...
Chief's surroundings changed in the blink of an eye. One second he was in one room, the next he was in another room. It was a small hallway lit by dim blue light that curved off to the right about twenty feet ahead. He took a look at his HUD and noticed that it was a good ten degrees colder in here than it was in the last room. He stood aside from the teleporter and watched as his squad appeared from the node one by one.
"Nothing on motion radar yet." Cortana reported.
"Form up on me. Stay alert and check your targets." Chief ordered as he slowly walked down the hall with his assault rifle raised. The squad turned the corner and found themselves in another room. There were large windows on the left wall that cast an almost sickly green-amber glow on the room.
"Uh-oh." Garrus said as he walked up to a window and looked through it. The Spartan walked up to the window himself and found that Garrus's assessment was dead-on. The room on the other side was coated from floor to ceiling in an amber-colored puss. Tendrils dangled from the ceiling, occasionally twitching. Bubbles of biomass, convulsing as if there was something inside them, grew on the walls of the chamber. Chief knew exactly what he was looking at, and he was thankful for the seven-inch thick glass separating it from his squad and himself.
"Keelah..." Tali breathed as she walked up to the window and touched a finger to the glass. "What is this?"
The Quarian jumped from surprise as something lunged at the window right in front of her. The cone-shaped creature used its tentacles to stick to the glass. Tali half-expected a beak of some sort on the cephalopod-like animal, but she could only see dozens of smaller tentacles where the mouth could be.
"Flood." Chief said as he pulled the Quarian away from the glass.
"The parasites? The ones that wiped out the Forerunners?" N'tho asked.
"And the ones you and the Turian found in that warehouse on the Citadel?" Wrex asked.
"Yes and yes." Chief said.
"Guess now we know where Saren found these things." Garrus concluded.
"I don't understand." Tali said. "Why would the Forerunners keep their killers in one of their structures?"
"They must've been studying the Flood." Liara replied. "The Forerunners were likely hoping that they could find a way to eliminate these creatures. Perhaps even cure infected victims."
Chief looked over his shoulder and saw another doorway leading down another corridor. "Come on." Chief said. "Registry can't be too far now." That, and the Spartan was eager to put as much distance between himself and that Flood enclosure as possible.
At the end of the corridor was another doorway that seemed to lead out into a larger room. Chief held up a fist, bringing the squad to a full stop. He heard voices talking in the room ahead. "N'tho, you're up. Cloak and scout." Chief ordered, wanting to know whose day he was going to have to ruin. N'tho winked green as he activated his cloak. Once he was nothing but a distortion of air, he went out into the room. The squad watched as N'tho's silhouette crouched low in the middle of the room, looking off to the right. The Spartan noticed that the floor in the room ahead was blanketed in mist. That and the lower temperature made him think that maybe this area was a cryogenics lab.
"Count seven Krogan and four husks." N'tho reported over TEAMCOM.
"Stupid husk!" a voice cursed, followed by a sickening crunch.
"Make that three husks." N'tho added.
"What's happening out there?" Chief asked.
"They're all in front of a big door. A husk was trying to get it open, but the door wouldn't budge. One of the Krogan got pissed off at said husk and...well, you heard the sickening crunch."
"Using husks to open doors." Kaidan said. "Saren knows how Forerunner technology works. He's betting that there's still enough Human DNA left in those...things...for this place to still think they're Forerunners."
"Well, so far, the bet's not paying off." N'tho threw in his two credits. "They can't open that door, at any rate."
There was a pause on the other end of the line as the transparent shape of a cloaked Sangheili craned its neck around the rest of the room. "...Um, we may have a problem." Chief could barely make out N'tho pointing off to the left.
The Spartan leaned out and saw what N'tho was pointing at. It was a giant stasis tube sticking out of the floor and reached all the way to the ceiling. Inside it was a fully grown Flood tank form. It floated in the bubbling liquid, seemingly inert.
"Heading back over. Cloak's about to run out." N'tho said as he quietly tiptoed back to the squad in the corridor. Just as he stepped through the doorway, his image began to fill back in. He turned to the Spartan.
"Doesn't look good out there." N'tho reported. "The room immediately ahead of us is very exposed. The only real form of cover to speak of is this raised balcony and a couple of doorways that bisect the chamber. Good news is, all the bad guys are on the opposite side of the chamber from us, so if we can hit them hard and fast, we could take 'em down all at once."
"Noted." Chief said. As much as he hated to acknowledge it, N'tho had made a good tactical assessment. Speed, surprise and overwhelming force would be the key to winning this firefight. "Alright. Here's the plan. Kaidan, Wrex, you two are with me. We're going to head in first. Keep you heads down and only attack when I give the signal. Once the fighting's started, everyone else can head in and provide covering fire. We clear?"
The squad winked green.
"Good. Kaidan, Wrex, with me. Activate your barriers on my signal." Chief ordered before stepping outside, the biotic marine and Krogan merc close behind him. They crouched low and hugged the wall, stopping at the small ramp ascending the balcony. So far, the Krogan warriors ahead of them didn't notice.
"Now." Chief said as he powered up his overshield and surged up the ramp. Kaidan and Wrex activated their biotic barriers and followed the Spartan's lead. Chief tossed a frag grenade at a husk, the explosion killing it instantly and taking out the shields of two Krogan warriors. Wrex tossed a spike grenade at a Krogan, which sent spikes flying everywhere, one of which caught a husk in the head, which promptly slumped to the ground. Kaidan hit one of the reptillians with a biotic warp, taking out his shields, and then immediately began firing upon him with his assault rifle. Wrex and the Chief also joined Kaidan with their own rifles.
Once the opening shots had been fired, the rest of the squad poured in and took cover behind the balcony while Kaidan, Wrex and the Master Chief took their cover by the doorways; Kaidan on the right, Wrex on the left, and the Spartan himself hugging the wall between the two doorways. Liara tried launching a singularity in the midst of the Krogan pack, but the saurians were smart enough to run away from the biotic field once it had formed.
The enemy Krogan held their own, every bit as resilient and ferocious as their reputation claimed. Even when their shields dropped, they were still able to take some fire before succumbing. It didn't help that the Krogan were smart enough to utilize the cover on their side of the chamber. They fired from behind two pillars on one side and a ramp on the other.
One Krogan had the bright idea to ascend the ramp all the way up to gain a height advantage on the Spartan's squad. The ramp ended at a glass wall however, preventing him from getting a good angle, but he could still fire at any exposed extremities. The shots he fired sent Ashley and Tali scrambling against their ramp, trying to hug it tighter in an attempt to escape the Krogan's FOV. Wrex, evidently annoyed with the other Krogan, biotically lifted him into the air and opened fire. By the time the biotic field wore off and he fell to the floor with a heavy thud, he was bleeding profusely and writhing in pain. One of his fellows came and dragged him into cover.
Chief ducked back into cover as the Krogan warriors fired back at him. So much for hard and fast. They were hitting the Krogan hard enough, but by their very nature, Krogan were walking tanks that could easily take hard hits that would kill most other races. So far, this firefight was a stalemate.
It was then that the Chief heard water piddling on the floor. He looked at the stasis tube that housed the Flood fank form on their side of the chamber. It had been hit with incoming fire and it was now leaking. The majority of the incoming fire then started hitting the containment tube, while being careful not to hit the tank form itself. It was then that the Chief realized that the Krogan intended to unleash the Flood on his squad.
The tank form began to stir from its slumber and began to bang against the glass, which had already been weakened from the incoming fire. It didn't take long for it to break free altogether, spilling stasis fluid all over the floor in a torrent as it hopped out of its former prison. It roared at the Master Chief and his squad and charged.
Then, it floated into the air.
The Flood tank form's charge was halted by Liara, who biotically lifted the abomination into the air. She took a quick peak out of her cover into the Krogans' side of the chamber before using her biotics to launch the parasitic creature into their half of the room, catapulting it through the gap over the doorways.
"There." Liara said over TEAMCOM. "Now it is their problem."
The tank torm landed with a heavy, wet thud. It then stood up and roared in a fury, grabbing the closest living thing, which happened to be a Krogan warrior. It then used this Krogan as a club with which to beat up the other Krogan. Some of the saurian aliens opened fire on the tank form, who seemed oblivious to all the bullets piercing its rotten hide. Not only was their attack ineffective, it also diverted their attention away from the Spartan's team. An ultimately fatal mistake.
Tali activated her overshield and ascended the ramp, overloading a Krogan's shields and then pumped some fire into him, aiming for the throat. Once the Krogan succumbed to his wounds, she tossed a tech grenade at another Krogan who'd been firing his shotgun at the Tank Form. The explosion shorted out not only his shields, but his weapon as well. Ashley hit the Krogan with her focus rifle, the golden beam burning through the alien's armor and cooking flesh.
The third and final husk leapt onto the tank form's back and clawed at it. The Flood form roared in indignation as it bucked like a bronco, trying to get it off. But the cybernetic abomination refused to let go of the parasitic one and kept clawing. The Flood finally had enough and slammed its back against a wall, crushing the husk. Once that nuisance had been dealt with, it resumed its rampage, venting its frustrations on the Krogan warriors.
By this point, only three Krogan remained, soon to be two if the tank form wailing on the third was any indication. Tali overloaded the shields of one and then Chief and Wrex combined their assault rifle rifle to take him down. The second roared in fury and charged towards the squad, but was knocked back by Kaidan with a biotic push. He followed it up with an overload from his omni-tool to take out what was left of his shields, and then lifted up his assault rifle and opened fire. Garrus finished off the Krogan with a sniper round to the head.
That left the tank form which had just finished beating the last remaining Krogan to death. Out of Krogan or husk targets, it decided to turn its attention towards the Master Chief and his squad. It roared as it charged at them. Kaidan hit the beast with a warp, which made the creature stagger back from his charge as the entire squad opened fire on it. Ashley drilled the creature right in the chest with her focus rifle. Garrus hit it with a sniper round to the head. N'tho's plasma minigun roasted its hide with bolts of hot plasma. The monster roared one last death howl before succumbing to all that fire and falling to the ground.
An unsettling quiet fell on the chamber. The Chief and his squad walked through the doorways and into the other side of the room. The Chief walked up to the stinking corpse of the Flood tank form. "Is it dead?" Tali asked.
Chief whipped out his pistol and fired a couple dozen rounds into the creature's head, its 'skin' jiggling with every shot fired. He continued this until his pistol overheated. He then switched to his shotgun and, once again, pumped several rounds into the monster's hide, snot-green ichor leaking from the wounds. The Spartan put his shotgun away once it too overheated.
"It's dead." Chief said. "Let's make sure the others are, too."
The squad did a quick once-over of the pack of Krogan warriors, confirming the kills. Chief inspected the Krogan that the Flood form was using as a stress-relief aid just moments before. Orange blood oozed from cracks in his armor as his limbs rested at unnatural angles. He bent down and gripped the head, finding that the neck was broken. Chief was glad the parasite was now dead. Snapping a Krogan's neck took incredible strength, and he certainly didn't want that same strength unleashed on him.
It was then that he noticed that the ground around him was bathed in blue light. "Greetings, Reclaimer." said a low-pitched voice from above.
Chief had heard that phrase before. It was never a good thing to hear immediately after encountering Flood. Chief immediately pointed his shotgun towards the ceiling where he heard the voice came from. It was a Monitor, but not like the ones Chief had seen. It was attached to a very large device that was fixed to the ceiling, and the monitor chassis itself was easily more than twice the size of 343 Guilty Spark. Its sky-blue eye cast a spotlight of the same color on the Spartan.
"...Well, there's something you don't see everyday." Garrus commented.
"Who are you?" Chief asked, not lowering his gun.
"I am Guardian 5764." The ceiling-Monitor replied. "I am a lesser artificial intelligence tasked with watching over this containment area and guarding the Registry."
Lesser artificial intelligence. A dumb AI. Chief breathed a little easier once he realized that, unlike Spark, this Monitor would be too dumb to stab him in the back. "So, this is the Registry?" Chief asked as he gestured to the large door.
"Correct." Guardian replied. The Monitor swiveled in its massive chassis, casting its blue light on the bodies of the husks. "These Reclaimers attempted to gain access to the Registry. However, they did not have the Key, and so I could not grant them entry."
"What's the Key?" Chief asked.
"The Key is needed to unlock the Registry." Guardian replied as it shined its blue spotlight on a hole in the wall next to the door. Chief walked over to the hole and examined it.
"What exactly is the Registry?" Chief asked Guardian as he eyeballed the 'keyhole.'
"The Registry is a database of all catalogued Tier 7 species, related research logs, worlds suffering from Flood infestation and other installations." Guardian robotically replied.
"So, it's a Forerunner Almanac?" Kaidan asked. "That's what Saren's after?"
"It makes sense." Liara pointed out. "This Registry sounds like a vast treasure trove of untold knowledge. Who knows what we could learn from it."
Chief looked back up at Guardian. "How do I get in?"
"You must insert the Key into the slot. Otherwise, I'm afraid I cannot grant you entry, Reclaimer." Guardian explained.
Chief turned back to the hole. It was perfectly square-shaped, as if meant for a peg. There were lines on the wall that spread out from the hole to the door, resembling a circuit board. Finally, Chief reasoned that the hole itself was about three inches tall by three inches long, and the hole itself was about eight or nine inches deep.
The same dimensions as...
A small mystery.
Chief pulled out of his utility belt the Forerunner trinket that Sha'ira gave him on the Citadel just a few days before. He wondered...
He slid the trinket into the hole, slim end first. He heard a click as the 'triangle' part of the trinket met the wall. He then turned the triangle like a key. He heard another click, and the green gem in the trinket lit up. The lines on the wall lit up as well, the same shade of bright green as the gem no less. The green light traveled from the wall to the door.
With several more clicks and a thud, the door began to open with a hiss. The squad just stood there, enraptured by the sight of the giant door opening before them. It lead to a long white corridor.
"You may now enter the Registry." Guardian informed the Spartan and his squad. "Please remove the Key from the keyhole and enter. I shall close the door behind you."
Chief pulled the Key out of the hole and slid it back into his belt. "Let's move, people."
With that, the squad stepped through the door and entered the Registry. Guardian shut the door behind them.
The chamber was quiet again.
The body of the Flood tank form began to twitch slightly.
...
Codex Entry (Aliens - Non-Council Races): SANGHEILI: RELGION
For centuries, the principal Sangheili religion has been the same as that of every other Covenant species during the Covenant's reign; a belief that the Forerunners were Gods who ascended to a more divine plane of reality. However, this belief was proven false during the Great Schism, once it was learned that the Forerunners did not enter a heavenly realm, but were simply wiped out by the Flood. Since this revelation Sangheili religion, the most important aspect of their culture, has been in a state of flux.
Some Sangheili have chosen to revert back to their archaic Pre-Covenant faith; a polytheistic model not unlike ancient Drell beliefs. According to this belief system, the Sangheili are guided by a pantheon of warrior gods, each one having a specific dominion over a particular branch of the military. For example, 'Kavros, God of Stars, watches over the space navy. 'Dinosis, God of Shadows, blesses the Spec. Ops corps and other stealth specialists.
Other Sangheili have tried turning to other races for guidance, an option that became particularly appealing once they acquired an embassy on the Citadel. Some Sangheili have shown a fascination with Turian Spirts and the Asari Goddess of Life. Others have taken to Eastern Human religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Some have even gone so far as to create their own form of Astrology, worshipping the stars themselves.
Despite the emergence of so many altenative belief systems, the original belief, that the Forerunners were gods of some description, remains the mainstream religion of Sangheili society. However, much like Christianity in Human culture, this faith has evolved, becoming less about literal interpretations of Forerunner text, and more about contemplating the philosophical and theological meaning behind it. This new form of the old faith, dubbed "The New Mantle," subscribes to the Forerunners' own belief system, the Mantle, the belief that all life is holy and should be nurtured and respected. This new faith still reveres the Forerunners as gods, but acknowledges that they weren't necessarily supernatural.
...
Next chapter should be coming out next week...ish