Chapter 27: Remnants
AN's: We now near the end of Halo 3! This chapter is, sadly, going to be short: just a wrap-up of The Covenant, and a small intro to the next chapter.
The Spartans and the Arbiter stormed across the light bridge that crossed the gap to the controls for the Ark. The Spartans noticed a beaten and bruised Sgt. Johnson lying on the ground at the mercy of a Brute Captain. "Go… Ahead… end it!" A shotgun blast rang out, and the Captain was swept aside by Emile, who had taken a nearby shotgun. "Not yet."
Emile was bleeding profusely out of his left arm and a gash in his midsection, and now collapsed from blood loss, revealing the body of Commander Miranda Keyes, killed by Truth with five Brute Spiker shots in the back. Sgt. Johnson now noticed the four Spartans. "Stop the rings… save the rest." Even in full body armor, it was obvious that the Spartans were all disheartened by the loss of Commander Keyes.
The four walked over to the control panel for the rings, and found the Arbiter holding the Prophet of Truth by the neck. "Can you see, Arbiter? The moment of salvation is at hand." "It will not last!" "Your kind… never believed in the promise of the sacred rings." It was apparent that Truth had been infected by the Flood, because now the Gravemind spoke through Truth. "Lies for the weak. Beacons for the deluded." The Arbiter drew back his Energy Sword and activated it. "I will have my revenge! On a Prophet! Not a plague!" "My feet tread the path. I shall become a god!" "You will be food! Nothing more." Tentacles had begun to sprout from Truth's face as the Flood infection progressed, and Carter approached the panel, ready to deactivate the rings and save all sentient life in the Milky Way. "NO!" Carter pressed the holographic button to deactivate the rings. The Arbiter turned Truth around, ready to finish him. "I… Am… Truth! The voice of the Covenant!"
"And so… You must be silenced."
The Arbiter stabbed Truth through the back with his Sword, ending the last High Prophet's life. The body fell to the ground and did not move again.
Now a sinister laugh filled the room. Johnson had started a crashed Pelican and was flying towards the hole in the viewport that Keyes had made on her way in. Massive tentacles shot in through the surrounding viewports. "Now the weak have been slain." Jorge, Jun, and Carter jumped into the Pelican as it exited the control room, leaving the Chief and the Arbiter. "I can barely keep control of this bird, Chief! Head back to the elevator, I'll pick you up outside." The Chief and the Arbiter took off towards the elevator. "We traded one villain for another."
The pair arrived at the elevator, but it wouldn't start. "We need to find a way out of here." "What about that duct, there?" "Good eye. I'll go down first." The Chief jumped down the shaft, AR at the ready in case there were more Flood at the bottom. What he saw, though, astonished him. It was Cortana, at the far end of the hallway. The Arbiter landed behind him just as he began following Cortana. "What is it, Spartan?" The Chief ignored him, intent on finding out where Cortana was leading him. He followed the AI until he came to a console. "What do you see?" The Chief pushed the only button on the console, expecting to see his lost AI. Instead, the wall behind the console moved. Instantly, John had his Assault Rifle up and pointed at what was apparently a window. Outside, there was nothing. Then the ground outside retracted, ejecting… another Halo. "A replacement… for the one you destroyed." "When did you know?" John was talking to the Monitor, who now revealed himself. "Just now. But, I had my hopes." "What will you do now, Spartan?" "Light it." "Excellent! I shall make the final preparations, though it will take some time to fabricate an Activation Index…" The Monitor flew off towards the departing Halo. "How will you light it?" The Chief turned, indicating towards the crashed Covenant Holy City of High Charity, now a mess of Flood. "Sergeant-Major, we need extraction. Sending coordinates." "On my way. By the way, there's a giant ring leaving the Ark." "We know. It's a Halo. A replacement."
UNSC Forward Unto Dawn CIC.
"You can't be serious, Master Chief. That's a suicide mission." "I know." "Then why would you even think to go?" "I made a promise." "Screw promises! Which is more important: An AI whose condition is completely unknown or a Spartan who can actually help us kill the Flood now?" "Commander, He'll come back." "We don't know that." "I do. The Chief and I have been through much worse than this." "Give me one example." "You want to know how I got a prosthetic left arm? Me, The Chef, and two other Spartans fought a pair of Hunters, without any heavy weapons. I'll be discharged before I count the Chief as dead." "Fine, but I don't like this one bit." "Why?" "I've already lost so many Spartans due to my own orders, most recently Six and Thom." "I'm coming back. Commander."
