Disclaimer – I own nothing Halo. That's 343 Industries. Sooo…
The Arbiter's Tale
Chapter 4
A Horror Unleashed
Rtas 'Vadumee stopped and inhaled deeply. Thel, standing behind him, turned, "What is it?"
"That stench… I've smelled it before." Replied 'Vadumee. It was at that moment that the smell hit Thel, a putrid, gangrenous smell. It lingered in the air, filling Thel's lungs with its tang. The team moved cautiously into the next room.
The first thing that caught Thel's eye was a large, transparent tank that was situated in the centre of the room. The glass was slightly misted, but Thel could discern movement from within. Upon closer examination, it appeared that there were about a dozen small, rounded creatures floating around in the clear liquid. Thel had no idea what they were and how they had come to be here. The glass they were in was very thick, and it didn't appear as if the creatures were of any threat.
Thel passed the tank and saw that there was some form of sickly, putrescent slime flecked on the walls. It had a dull green/brown coloration, and it was surely the source of the stench that was in the air. Thel didn't know exactly what the slime was, but he had a slight suspicion…
The heretics were certainly responsible for all this, and Thel made a mental note to question 'Refumee on this when he caught him, if he did catch him. Thel noticed that 'Vadumee was looking rather more wary than normal, due to the way he scanned every corner, and how his gaze kept returning to the fluid on the walls. The Unggoy too were making nervous noises and shivering, but the Unggoy were notoriously cowardly anyway, so Thel took little notice.
The sound of plasma fire met Thel's ears, and the team hurried into entered a wider corridor with a glass floor. The noise was coming from below, but the glass was so fogged up all the team could see was the silhouettes of the combatants and the illumination of plasma fire. It appeared as though the fighters were all Sangheili, but then Thel noticed that something was wrong.
Most of the combatants seemed to be moving erratically, and they attacked with reckless abandon, throwing themselves about the chamber. The noises that met Thel's ears were those of no Sangheili. A chorus of unworldly screeches emanated through the corridor, putting Thel on edge. Eventually the noise died down, and Thel could hear the victorious creature's footfalls as they moved off. For a few moments no-one spoke, but then one of the Sangheili, Trooper Neru 'Sanaree whispered,
"By the Rings, what is that?"
The Unggoy began to whimper and mumble. The noise always annoyed Thel. The creatures were craven cowards, and the scared noises that they made always gave Thel the urge to break their necks.
Before Thel could reprimand them, 'Sanaree growled dangerously, quieting the Unggoy. The corridor led into a wider room. This room was clearly some form of laboratory or storage chamber, judging by the green-hued pods on the walls.
Whatever had been contained here had obviously broken quarantine, as evidenced by the fact that they had been broken, and were empty. The ceiling had glass pipes running across it, which appeared to be designed for transporting cargo containers.
Thel's team stood on the upper level of the room, and they would have to jump down to reach the lower one. The Sangheili had no with this, due to their strong legs and lean, athletic bodies, but for the short and stocky Unggoy, it was a great deal more difficult, but they managed it.
There were several corpses scattered around the room. Thel went over to one of the corpses and examined it. It was, or had once been Sangheili. The flesh was discolored a pale yellow, and appeared to be decomposing. The Sangheili's neck was clearly broken, and the reason was plain to see: there was a gaping hole where the base of the neck was meant to be. It appeared as though something had buried into the Sangheili. It had been felled by plasma fire, as indicated by several charred holes in its flesh
The other bodies littered around the chamber possessed similar characteristics. Thel was not scared, he was Sangheili; but this turn of events was certainly unsettling him. Wondering what had happened to these Sangheili and what the heretics had done was playing on his mind, and Thel was determined to get answers from the heretic leader.
A swooping noise caught Thel's attention. He readied his Carbine, and the rest of the team followed suit. He looked around, and spotted a small, blue orb descending from a vent in the roof of the room. It was giving of a faint blue glow, and when it came to level with Thel, it made a popping noise, there was a flash of light, and Thel found himself face-to-face with Sesa 'Refumee, the heretic leader.
Before Thel could open his mouth, the Unggoy gave a shrill bark, and opened fire with their Plasma Pistols. Plasma splashed across the heretic's body, but with each shot he merely flashed, oddly out of focus. Thel knew that this was a holodrone, a holographic representation of the real heretic leader. Rtas Vadumee shouted for the Unggoy to hold their fire, and as soon as they had stopped, the heretic turned to face Thel,
"I wandered who the prophets would send to silence me. Thel 'Vadamee, or should I say, the 'Arbiter?' I am truly flattered."
"He's using a holodrone, he must be close" Rtas said to his team, and then, turning to face the holodrone, "come out so that we may kill you."
To this, the heretic simply chuckled,
"Get in line."
Before anything more could be said, there was another pop and flash, and the holodrone, once again a shimmering blue orb, fell to the ground. There was a moment of silence, and then Thel heard a skittering, crawling sound.
He watched as a dozen small, bulbous creatures dropped into the room. They were vaguely spherical in shape, with a sagging brown lobe near the top and three elongated appendages tipped with razor-sharp penetrators held in front of them, anticipating the air. The creatures were held aloft by a mass of tentacles, and they moved with surprising speed towards the Special Operations team. 'Vadumee shouted,
"Stand fast, the Flood is upon us!" He scythed his Energy Sword through several of the creatures, which exploded in a puff of noxious mist and spores. As Thel brought his own weapon to bear, he watched as one of the beasts made its way over to one of the Sangheili corpses. It squeezed its way into the open wound, and in a split second, the body began to convulse, and in one fluid movement, leapt onto its feet.
Thel heard the bones in its leg break, but the reanimated Sangheili took no notice, it simply made a beeline for 'Vadumee, its left arm exploding into a monstrous collection of tentacles.
'Vadamee speared the incoming creature with his sword, destroying the latent parasite. Thel's Carbine flashed, burning more of the small creatures. The rest of the team opened fire, but still more of the 'infection forms' rained down on them.
The small creatures were extremely frail, popping like balloons when hit by weapons fire, and those that attempted to latch onto the Sangheili simply disintegrated on their energy shield. However the creatures were very numerous, and they easily overwhelmed the two Unggoy in Thel's team, who went down seconds into the fight. Still more infection forms were making their way to the bodies on the ground. The Sangheili were quick to put these 'combat forms; down as their tenticled limbs were sure to be lethal if used in close combat.
The war raged on for several more minutes, although it felt longer to Thel. It seemed as though the minuscule creatures would overcome the Sangheili with their sheer numbers. Eventually a nearby door cycled open. Upon noticing this, 'Vadumee called over to Thel.
"Go Arbiter!" He crushed another infection form under his foot. "I'll follow when our reinforcements arrive!"
Thel did not wish to leave the commander alone with the Flood, but he was in command, and it wouldn't do to answer back, so he nodded and headed into the next corridor, the two Special Operation Sangheili following. The next door opened to a large circular room, which appeared to be a cargo holder and transporter, as indicated by the various cylinders sitting in recesses in the walls and on the platform.
A battle was already underway between more combat forms and several Aggressor Sentinels. The Sentinels weapons seemed to be effective at burning through the Flood's rotting flesh, but the combat forms wielded weapons of their own, primarily Carbines. This factor, as well as the Flood's numbers meant that the few Sentinels were destroyed after a few minutes; leaving several Flood forms still standing.
The three Sangheili burned the combat forms down before the latter could close the distance. Moving forward, Thel was surprised by a loud groaning sound and the floor beneath his feet shifting as the room rotated and began a slow descent into the depths of the facility. The platform they were on had a raised section as well as mechanical arms that moved containers on and off the platform.
The journey down was not a pleasant one, as the platform moved excruciatingly slow and it periodically stopped to allow Flood combat forms to leap aboard from various gaps and spaces in the walls. These were combatted preferably at range, as their tenticled arms were lethal up close. More than once Thel had been blindsided by a combat form, and only quick thinking had saved him from almost certain death.
Thankfully for the Covenant team, When a Flood infection form infected a corpse; it weakened its overall durability. This was certainly a result of the rapid mutations that took place. As a result, their rotted bodies were easily burned by weaponry. Although the host body did not register pain, the controlling infection form was highly susceptible to damage and if it was destroyed then the body would be incapitated. The body would still need to be destroyed to prevent reanimation, however.
Occasionally, a group of Sentinels would descend, attacking both Thel's party and the Flood. They were weak however and easily taken down. The primary danger was destroyed Sentinels crashing down on the heads of the ground-based combatants. Additionally, the containers on the platform held infection forms, which burst free if the containers were damaged.
After a hellish journey, the platform finally ground to a stop and Thel and his weary comrades made their way into a corridor lit up by artificial lighting. The corpses of several heretics lay sprawled at various points. Trooper Neru 'Sanaree regarded them,
"We should have brought weapons to burn these bodies." He said, nudging a downed Sangheili with his foot. "Every one is a vessel for the Flood."
Thel agreed with his assessment. The Flood was capable of infesting almost every sentient being of sufficient size. The team hadn't brought appropriate weapons with them and there simply wasn't time to destroy the bodies. The Flood would be destroyed in the stations collapse, anyway.
The team emerged onto the upper gallery of a large rectangular room. It seemed to be another lab. Thel could just make out another battle occurring on the ground floor from the misted glass lining the 'observation room.'
It was then that Thel spotted a new Flood form. It was a large bloated creature that stumbled around on stunted legs and when perforated by any weapons fire, would swell up and explode, throwing infection forms everywhere.
Within a few minutes, the sounds of battle died down. Thel kicked the glass, smashing it easily with his armored foot. The noise attracted the combat forms in the room, causing them to leap into the air towards the Special Operations team. One of the twisted bodies landed in front of Thel who ducked under its flailing arms and shot the infection form in its chest. The small creature exploded, causing the combat form to fall back into the room truly dead.
Another one crashed through another gallery window, followed by another. The team concentrated their fire, bringing down the onrushing combat forms. The team would have to descend to the lower level of the lab to continue, as there was only one other door on their current level, and this was locked.
Thel jumped first, crushing several infection forms beneath his feet. His two Sangheili followed after him. There were many infection forms still present in the room, and Thel could see one of them in the process of transforming a heretic Sangheili into a combat form. Thel quickly destroyed it to prevent further trouble.
Thel heard movement above and turned, coming under fire from a Covenant Carbine. Two more heretic Sangheili had appeared on the upper level of the room and were proceeding to attack the Special Operations Team.
Thel darted behind a nearby crate, returning fire with his own weapon. The heretics had the higher ground and likely have succeeded in ousting Thel and his team if not from the intervention of many Flood forms attacking them from behind.
One heretic was beaten down while the other was flung off the platform before landing with a sickening crash on the ground near Thel. The heretics neutralized, the Flood turned their attention to the Sangheili below.
Infection forms poured down from the gallery, before getting burned by the Sangheili's weaponry. Combat forms took longer to kill, their ravaged beings unfeeling of pain and only stopping when they were damaged beyond use or the infection form had been killed.
So on it went, the Flood now pouring down from both upper galleries now, dividing the Sangheili fire. Thel realized that they would be overwhelmed if they stayed here so he shouted for his team to retreat to the opposite end of the room, where there was a pair of Plasma Cannons set up in flanking positions to a locked door.
Thel moved with his team to the strongpoint. He sat behind one Plasma Cannon while 'Sanaree took the other. The other Sangheili stood behind them, firing his Carbine across the room to hit incoming Flood forms.
The combat forms, despite their unnatural pain resistance, couldn't stand up to the two streams of searing plasma that was now tearing through them. The infection forms were plentiful, but were easily destroyed as they attempted to revive fallen corpses.
After several minutes of sustained combat, the tide of Flood started to stem, and Thel heard the door open behind him. A scared heretic Unggoy came running out of the room and upon noticing Thel and his team, tried to run back in but Thel, being a Sangheili and much more agile and quicker than the Unggoy, had already jumped down and slammed his fist into the back of the Unggoy's head with enough force to send a mix of blood and methane from his shattered mask onto the wall.
Thel ordered his team into the elevator. The door closed suddenly, almost crushing 'Sanaree, the last to enter. The elevator silently descended and Thel wondered how much longer they had before the maelstrom struck the facility, likely just one more unit at the very most. They would need to make haste.
The door opened and Thel stepped out onto a long walkway. He could feel the strong winds brushing against him. He could see plasma bolts and ricocheting needles firing ahead of him indicating a battle being fought somewhere ahead.
Thel's communications unit crackled in his ear. "Bring the Phantoms closer to the mine." The Special Operations Commander said, steel in his voice. "We are not leaving until the leader of these heretics is dead."
As they moved into cover Thel heard the soft thrum of a Phantom dropship's engines and surely enough one of the ships descended towards the walkway, bobbing in the wind. Its trio of plasma cannons roared into action, firing downrange at the combatants.
Satisfied that there was no return fire aimed at the Phantom, the dropship moved closer, hovering ahead of Thel. Its gravity lift came to life, allowing several Unggoy to descend, followed by Rtas 'Vadumee himself. 'Vadumee hailed Thel.
"Greetings once again, Arbiter. Let us go and slay this heretic now, before it is too late."
"Yes, brother. His time has come to an end."
Silently, the Special Operations team moved to the end of the walkway, past several dead heretics and Flood combat forms. At that point the path split in two. One fork took the left, the other the right. Reluctant to have any possible enemy attack his flank, Thel split the squad, taking 'Sanaree and one of the Unggoy up one branch while the Commander took the other Sangheili and Unggoy up the other. The walkway had many support pillars that served as great places for potential ambushes. Thel and his team moved from cover to cover, not exposing themselves for any more than a moment.
Hearing a muffled grunt up ahead, Thel halted his team, before creeping forward towards one of the central pillars ahead. Pausing for a moment, Thel engaged his active camouflage and rounded the pillar. Surely enough, there was a heretic Unggoy crouched behind the pillar, his Needler raised. The small creature had no idea that Thel was there, and squealed when Thel materialized behind him, grabbed hold of his harness, and threw him over the edge of the platform.
If the unfortunate Unggoy screamed all the way down, Thel couldn't tell as the winds of the maelstrom were now picking up. Thel and his team pushed their way up the ramps, the wind whipping against them. They faced no further resistance until near the top, when a trio of Sentinels wobbled into sight, tilting in the wind. The Special Operations team shot the Sentinels down as the latter struggled to focus their weapons on them. Reaching the apex of the structure, Thel's team charged inside, passing through several doors before emerging into a large, multi-tiered room. Thel spotted the heretic leader running for a door at the opposite side of the room.
Roaring, Thel fired his Carbine after the heretic leader, but he had already passed through the door and had erected an energy barrier, on which Thel's shots dissipated harmlessly on. There were several more Sentinels in the room, as well as several combat forms, and a vicious three-way melee developed. Eventually emerging victorious, with only the loss of one of the Unggoy, Thel approached the energy-protected door where the heretic leader was preparing to leave.
Sesa 'Refumee turned to look at Thel. "This will save me from the storm, but you will be consumed."
Anger boiled up inside Thel, and he pounded the barrier, but the door had already closed. Hearing movement behind him, Thel turned to face the Special Operations Commander.
"Arbiter, where is he?" 'Vadumee asked but Thel had already moved past him and was studying a holographic representation of the facility. He could see the facilities support structures had been weakened by the storm, as was indicated by red flashing dots and lines. A plan was already forming in his head. It was suicidal and would certainly result in Thel's death, but that was what an Arbiter was supposed to do, bring glory in death for the rest of the Covenant.
Although he was going to die, the heretic leader was going to perish also. Thel was going to do this, to bring honor to his lineage, and he has to do it alone.
Behind him, he could hear the Special Operations Commander huff in frustration. "Stinking floodbait has boxed himself in tight; we will never break through this."
Still studying the hologram, Thel said,
"Then we shall force him out"
"How?" Rtas Vadumee said questioningly, turning and looking at the hologram as well.
"The cable" Thel said simply. "I'm going to cut it. Get everyone back to the Phantom. "
The Special Operations Commander did not reply to Thel, but instead turned to his troops,
"Warriors, return to the landing zone! The Arbiter will continue upwards, cut this station loose and scare the heretic from his hole."
'Gelamee bowed his head to Thel, "May our lords guide your hand, Arbiter"
The other Sangheili said to Thel. "We shall not forget your sacrifice."
"I bid you farewell." Thel said. Turning to 'Vadumee, he said.
"May the gods watch over your battles, brother. We will meet once again in the next life and walk the Path together."
"Yes, brother. We will" 'Vadumee said, before turning and following his soldiers back to the landing zone. Thel glanced once more at the holographic diagram of the facility and checked the charge on his Plasma Rifle. It was nearly out of energy. He was going to have to scavenge another weapon soon. Shrugging, Thel made his way up a nearby ramp which spiraled upwards, around a power conduit.
No sooner had Thel reached the top when a nearby door opened and several combat forms rushed in, followed by one of the bloated monstrosities Thel had seen earlier in the infested lab. The combat forms were relatively fast but the Flood 'carrier' was very slow moving, staggering on small stubby legs. The flood forms torso was grossly enlarged and swollen, and Thel could see it pulsing as the infection forms inside struggled for release. The creature held two slim, disfigured 'arms' in front of itself which twitched, likely guiding the carrier towards Thel.
Thel backpedalled, firing at the incoming combat forms. Aiming for the infection forms, Thel soon knocked them out. He turned his Carbine on the carrier form, sending several rounds into the bulbous creature. The carrier detonated with a boom, sending a dozen infection forms and feathery spores into the air. Thel then used his last shots on the infection forms to prevent them from resurrecting the combat forms before reloading his weapon. Satisfied that he had enough ammunition, Thel continued his ascent.
Eventually reaching a round platform that he assumed would take him to the upper level of the station, Thel activated the nearby panel. Surely enough, the platform began to ascend. The platform moved at a fairly fast rate, and this proved somewhat disorientating to Thel, but he kept his wits about him.
Thel glanced up, and saw the brewing storm far above through the thick transparent roof. More important to Thel was the crisscrossing Sentinel beams and plasma fire that passed over the destination of the platform. The platform began to slow as it neared the top and Thel activated his active camouflage as the platform eased to a stop. Thel quickly made for a secluded space beneath one of a series of raised ramps that ran the sides of the triangular room. Thel received word from 'Vadumee that all of his troops were off-station, allowing him to cut the cables.
Ducking into cover, Thel chanced a look around. He could see several Sentinels floating around as they attempted to put down a multitude of combat forms that were running rampant throughout the room. Many of the combat forms wielded weapons, so the fight was fairly balanced.
With this chaos going on, none of the combatants noticed Thel as he unsheathed his energy blade, slipped over to the nearest of the three large support pylons in the corners of the room and sunk the sword straight into the pylon.
Covenant energy swords were unlike traditional Sangheili curveblades in that rather than being made of a conventional material, they were composed of pure superheated plasma. This was contained within a magnetic field that prevented it from leaking out and melting the ground beneath it.
As a result of the extraordinary high temperature of the weapon, it simply boiled away anything it came into contact with. This made it particularly devastating, as it could completely bypass armor and energy shielding.
Thel's sword was having no problem burning through the thick pylon. His sword easily melted the cable and a moment later, he had cut straight through it. With a resonating boom, the upper part of the cut pylon flew away from Thel, pulled up to the roof of the building. Thel heard the groaning as more pressure was put on the remaining two pylons to keep the station from plummeting into the massive maelstrom below.
Unfortunately, Thel's efforts attracted the attention of several nearby combat forms, who rushed him. Thel stood ready, and as the first one neared him he viciously slashed with his sword. The chest of the combat form, along with the parasite within was burned away. Even as it fell to the floor Thel had already dealt a similar blow to the second Flood form. Immediate threats neutralized, Thel turned his attention to the other pylons.
Sesa 'Refumee stood behind the locked door that he had barricaded with an energy shield to prevent the Special Operations team from pursuing him further. His attempt to stop the Covenant by releasing the Flood had not gone the way he had wished. The parasite had quickly spread throughout the mine, killing and infecting most of his followers, while the Special Operations team had continued to press forward.
No matter, the Covenant and the Flood would all perish here when the rapidly approaching super storm hit the station. By that time he would be far from this station. He had his own personal Seraph fighter in the hangar, and that would be his method of escape.
Suddenly, 'Refumee felt a massive jolt and the room began to shake violently, almost throwing him off his feet. A horrible revelation came into his head.
'The Covenant has cut the cable!'
The only thing that was keeping the mine stable in atmosphere was the pylons at the top of the facility. With these cut, the station would be falling uncontrollably into the maelstrom, and the deaths of all those within was assured. The room was thrown into darkness as the stations power went offline. The energy barrier 'Refumee had erected was also deactivated as a result.
With a new surge of fear, 'Refumee backpedalled onto the platform that would take him further down to a way out of the station where he prayed there was still a Banshee present to get him to the hangar.
Upon arriving back in the multi-tiered room, Thel was immediately accosted by several Aggressor Sentinels which seemed to have been waiting for him. Thel was ready, however, and he quickly brought them down with careful shots from his Carbine.
The room was significantly darker than when Thel had passed through before, and red emergency lights illuminated the joins between the walls and the floor. The ground shook as the Station continued to be jostled about by the super storm.
Descending the ramps, Thel caught sight of a fierce battle in progress between the Flood and several heretics who were fighting to prevent the parasite from entering through the now opened door that the heretic leader had since vacated. The heretics were clearly determined, but the Flood's sheer overwhelming numbers were proving too much for them.
Thel moved forward, dropping combat forms and shooting infection forms to prevent the resurrection of the combat forms. Through the door, he could see a Sangheili heretic with an Energy Sword slashing through the combat forms that surrounded him. Spotting Thel, the heretic made a beeline for him
"Our lives for the truth!" He shouted, "The truth and the Covenant!"
Thel opened fire with the Carbine, but he was only able to get a few shots off, which sparked off his shield, before the heretic was on him. Thel ducked below the Sangheili's initial sword swipe. He heard the crackling energy pass over his head. He brought his Carbine into his opponent's midsection, causing the heretic to double over. He was still able to lash out with his blade however. Thel dodged to the side, but the sword sheared his Carbine in half.
Roaring in fury, Thel struck out with his boot into the heretic's leg. His shields flared purple, and the heretic howled in pain at the sudden, powerful impact. Thel followed this up with a series of punches to the heretics face and a jab to the throat which dropped the Sangheili to the floor.
Thel brought his boot down on the Sangheili's sword hand, crushing it and forcing him to release the sword. Thel felt more tremors and realized that he would need to hasten to catch up to the heretic leader. Leaving the battered Sangheili on the floor for the Flood infection forms that were closing in, Thel ran through the door, grabbing a Plasma Rifle off the floor and jabbed at a holographic panel which he assumed would bring the platform up to him, assuming it still functioned.
Ignoring the screams and the disgusting crunches of the heretic Sangheili being transformed by the Flood, Thel jumped onto the platform as soon as it was visible and hit the stud which made it descend once more.
Thel arrived in what he assumed was the main power generator for the mine. He could see the massive, slowly rotating conduit in the centre of the large room. He passed several bodies of heretics and Flood combat forms as he moved down the ramps that circled the generator. He could see a makeshift barrier consisting of storage crates around the door at the bottom, and several heretic Unggoy and Sangheili taking cover. One of the Sangheili shouted upon seeing Thel and the defenders opened fire.
Cursing, Thel moved behind a support strut and readied himself. He peered out and lobbed a Plasma Grenade at the barrier, following up with fire from his Plasma Rifle. The grenade blew the rudimentary defense apart and scattered the heretics. He burned down the Unggoy as they struggled to regain their composure and he drew his sword as he closed with the Sangheili.
Once Sangheili had his head cut clean off with the burning Energy Sword and the other suffered a slash to his stomach, causing his internal organs to spill out. The unfortunate Sangheili gurgled as he fell, clutching at his entrails. Thel mercifully finished him with another stab to the chest.
Hearing the distorted howls of the Flood, Thel turned and saw many of the parasitic forms making their way into the room through the way he had came. Thel darted through the door, suddenly feeling strong gusts of wind. This meant that he was almost back outdoors. Thel caught sight of the heretic leader leaving in a Banshee that had surprisingly not gotten dislodged by the stations freefall.
Thel fired an extended burst from his rifle after the heretic, but this only served to attract his attention. Thel ducked around the doorframe as plasma splashed the ground nearby. He peered out again as the heretic leader sped past, heading towards the hangar. Thel ran for the final Banshee on the platform before it was destroyed by the fierce conditions.
Ignoring the winds which jostled his flier about, and the pieces of the station which threaten to smash into him as he tried to navigate the confusing airspace, Thel recalled the location of the bay that was closest to the hangar; the one which he had used in his initial aerial pursuit of the heretic leader. He saw several other Banshee's trying to vacate the area, put Thel knew that their attempts to escape were in vain. Only a space-rated ship would be able to break free from this atmosphere. The only one present within the station was the Seraph fighter that was docked in the hangar, and that was the one which the heretic leader was heading for.
Thel eventually located the Banshee bay that lead back into he station, but the winds proved to be too much for him to make a controlled landing. The Banshee plowed into the station just below the bay, but Thel was able to jump and grab the rim of the platform. He pulled himself up and quickly moved through the open access way. Crawling up the darkened access corridor, Thel emerged into a familiar area.
The room in which Thel had faced off against the heretic leader and a number of his underlings was now occupied by a number of Sangheili combat forms, which were in combat with some of the mines few surviving Sentinels. Activating his active camouflage, Thel slipped by and headed through the door that would take him up to the hangar, where he would confront his old friend Sesa 'Refumee for the last time.
Thel broke the neck of the last surviving heretic Unggoy in the conveyor room, before retrieving his Plasma Rifle. The journey back through the station had not been pleasant, as the Flood had thoroughly spread throughout the station, and he was forced to fight his way through waves of the parasite as well as surviving heretics which were trying to fall back to cover their leader.
Nevertheless, Thel had broken the last bastion of resistance in the room which seemed to be designed for transporting gas containers. These belts were all offline due to the stations lack of power, but this mattered little to Thel; the whole station would be pulled into the heart of the maelstrom within the next short unit.
Thel had just emerged into the hangar to catch sight of his old friend clambering onto the Seraph exoatmospheric fighter. He raised his Plasma Rifle.
"Turn, heretic!"
Sesa 'Refumee turned, looking back in surprise at Thel, whom he had assumed had perished at the hands of the Flood. "Arbiter." He said, leaping down from the Seraph to face Thel.
"I would rather die by your hand, than let the Prophets lead me to slaughter."
"Do not fear, for that will indeed come to pass." Thel grunted, meeting the heretic leader's eyes.
"I will admit that I did not think that I would be conversing with you once again, Arbiter." The Heretic said. "Maybe now you will be able to hear the truth about the Holy Rings yourself."
Before Thel could reply, a soft cheerful humming sound met his ears. Thel looked up, and he saw a glowing blue orb descending from one of the many vents that lined the ceiling. He was taken aback; he did not believe that he would live to see one of these messengers of the gods for himself.
"The Oracle" he gasped.
The Oracle floated down until he was eye level with Thel. He could see that it was made from burnished silver alloy, with an internal eye, which gave off a radiant blue light. He would give off pulses of energy every few seconds. So this was the devise the Ancients had left behind to pass on their instruction to the lesser creatures of the universe.
"Hello!" The Oracle said by way of greeting. He spoke in a jolly, but nonetheless artificial voice. "I am 343 Guilty Spark. I am the Monitor of Installation 04."
Thel was about to speak when the heretic leader cut in. "Ask the Oracle about Halo, how they would sacrifice us all for nothing!" He growled, placing his clenched right hand over his chest.
"More questions? Splendid! I would be happy to assist…" the Oracle started.
Thel, who was listening with rapt attention, was caught off-guard when plasma splashed across his chest, causing his personal energy shielding to flare. The heretic leader had drawn a pair of Plasma Rifles and he fired them at Thel, who backpedalled towards he nearest cover.
Despite this, his shielding was still drained by the incoming fire. Thel grunted in pain as a pair of plasma bolts hit him on his unshielded plates, distorting the shape. He still felt the heat of the bolts burn his skin.
He was able to duck behind a nearby pillar. As he waited for his energy shield to regenerate, he heard the heretic's thruster pack activating. When he glanced at his opponent, he saw him standing upon the Seraph fighter. He was facing away from Thel, but he still spoke,
"The Sangheili are blind, Arbiter! But I will make them see!"
With that, he released two small orbs from his hands, which flew through the air towards Thel, making a whooping sound as they approached. Thel watched as the two holodrones landed on the ground in front of Thel. There was a flash and a faint popping noise, and suddenly Thel was looking at a pair of duplicate heretic leaders. Both holograms, turned toward Thel, each with two Plasma Rifles in their hands.
Sesa 'Refumee watched as his two holographic duplicates opened fire simultaneously on the Arbiter's position. He needed to be off this station within the next few minutes, before the gas mine was pulled too far into the maelstrom. As much as he still hated it, Thel 'Vadamee was going to have to die, for he was going to be a constant threat to him if he lived.
Reasoning with the hardheaded Sangheili had failed, and so he would have to be killed. Sesa was going to have to continue spreading his word. Even without the gas mine, he had sent a force of his soldiers to a moon named Basis, in orbit of the gas giant Threshold, where they had established a presence. When he arrived, he could maybe once again rally an army to rival the Covenant's might.
Sesa knew that the Covenant was eventually going to crumble. When and how he didn't know, but it would. It was unlikely that the humans would be able to defeat the Covenant, but over time, he Covenant would begin to fragment when news of the truth of the Halo Rings began to spread. It would shatter, and the false 'Great Journey' would never occur. Only when this happened would Sesa find peace.
With a flash of blinding blue light and destructive energy, the Plasma Grenade detonated, obliterating the stuck hologram. Thel rolled under the second duplicate's stream of fire and returned fire with his own rifle. The hologram flickered a pale blue laced with electrical lines, before vanishing in a pop, causing the small holodrone to fall to the floor. Thel then turned to the heretic leader, but the coward had already maneuvered into one of the large vents spaced at regular intervals along the top of the walls.
Even as he looked up to the ceiling, he heard the heretic taunting him.
"How did the Prophets buy your loyalty, Arbiter?" He shouted. "With a new command, a new fleet? Or was it the promise… their Great Journey?"
"Listen to yourself, fool!" Thel retorted. "Are you even aware of what you are saying?"
"Oh yes, Arbiter! I know what I am saying. I am telling you that your Covenant is going to come to a crashing halt very soon." My word has been spread. There are those within the Covenant who are aware of the truth that has been denied so long to them by the Prophets. Just wait. Your 'glorious Empire will lie in ruins!"
"No, not while I still draw breath. By the Writ of Union, I swear to this!"
After several minutes of fighting with the heretic leader, who had tried to use multiple holographic representations of himself to try and kill Thel, he decided that he would have to kill 'Refumee very soon, before the station finally plummeted into the maelstroms raging might. The braggart was flapping his jaws, mocking Thel from the safety of an air vent. He was gloating about the transcendence of the Forerunners.
"Come, Arbiter. Let me show you where they went."
The leader descended this time without the aid of holograms. He flew forward, firing his Plasma Rifles. Thel rolled behind a barrier to keep from getting killed. The heretic was getting impatient. They both knew that they had little time left, and 'Refumee was determined to finish Thel now.
When he drew near, Thel leapt from cover, and smashed his fist into the heretic's stomach. His energy shielding cushioned the blow, but he was still thrown off balance. Thel grabbed him and thrust him into a nearby pillar. He released his Plasma Rifles, which clattered onto the floor. The heretic kicked out, knocking Thel back but when he tried to swing, Thel grabbed his arm, yanking it down before wrapping his arms around the heretic's body and lifting him up and over his head. The heretic leader crashed to the floor, and before he could get up Thel kicked him in the face, shattering his goggles and breaking several teeth. Purple blood flew through the air as the heretic howled in pain.
Without pause, Thel drew his Energy Sword, and with a flash he thrust it through his foe's abdomen. The blade passed straight through and into the pillar.
Looking down at the mortally wounded heretic, Thel felt a tinge of remorse for his former comrade. He had known Sesa well throughout his time as shipmaster on the Seeker of Truth. Never had he thought that it would be himself ending his friend's life.
Coughing up blood, and fighting to stay conscious, the heretic leader lifted his head to meet Thel's gaze.
"This isn't the end, old friend." He gasped as his insides were being vaporized by the swords extreme heat. Eyes flowing with unbidden tears, he struggled to speak, "very soon… you will witness the full extent of the Prophets betrayal.
"Soon, you shall see for yourself... the Covenant be damned…" the heretic trailed off as he slipped out of consciousness.
Thel simply stood and stared down at Sesa 'Refumee's corpse. He closed his eyes, hoping that his old friend would at least find some measure of peace in the next life.
Thel was disturbed from his prayer by the Oracle, who had floated down to take in the sight of the heretic's corpse. "Unfortunate." It buzzed. "His edification was most enjoyable."
"I had no choice, Holy Oracle. He… he imperiled the Great Journey." Thel said, aware of the slight uneasiness in his voice.
"Oracle? Great Journey?" The Oracle said in a genuinely confused tone. "Why do you meddlers insist on using such inaccurate verbiage? Ohhhh myyyyy! A large blue electronic pulse enveloped the Oracle suddenly, tearing him away.
Thel spun around and watched as the Oracle was pulled outside the hangar bay door to the platform where a Phantom dropship hovered.
In truth, Thel hadn't heard the hangar opening, with the noise of the storm. The Oracle was pulled to the lone figure which stood under the Phantom. It latched onto the head of a massive stone hammer. The beast wielding it, Thel recognized, an anger bubbling up from within.
Tartarus.
What was this barbarian doing here? Thel mused. He watched as the large Jiralhanae pulled the Oracle off his hammer, his unholy claws gripping its casing.
"That… is the Oracle!" he said, shaking with rage at the vermin's disrespect.
Thel watched in outrage as Tartarus casually threw the Oracle into the Phantoms gravity lift. Thel was at a lack of words. The Jiralhanae were truly beasts to be despised. They showed no sanctity when dealing with holy artifacts, and were unconcerned by any collateral damage incurred when in the presence of a holy site. These feral creatures were surely damned for their sins.
"So it is." Tartarus said in a neutral tone, indifferent to the sacrilege he had just committed. "Come, we are leaving this system."
With no other choice, Thel boarded the Phantom, still resentful of being in such close proximity to the Jiralhanae. Once he was on-board, the dropship accelerated to its maximum speed. Thel was unsure if they would be able to make it, being so deep into the super storm. He shook his head at the possibility of surviving the mine and completing his objective, only to perish on the exfiltration.
Somehow, the Phantom managed to get clear of the maelstrom's reach. They began to make the journey back to High Charity, which was somewhere nearby, in the vicinity of the destroyed Halo Ring.
Thinking of the ring world made Thel once again recall what had happened in the last few units. Too much had happened, and what was supposed to have been a simple assassination mission had turned out to be a great deal more complicated.
With a sudden weariness coming upon him, Thel eased himself back against the bulkhead, closing his eyes; his mind troubled.
Whew! Thank goodness that chapter is done. That took a LONG time to write. Sorry it's so long. I can become a bit long-winded when writing, so please bear with me. Combined with school work and university (or college for you American folks!) applications, I have very free spare time. When I do I try to write. Tonight I have made a concentrated effort to finish this chapter. (It's two in the morning here, with school tomorrow… URGHH!) So here it is. Please read and review – very much appreciated!