Disclaimer – Sorry, still don't own Halo. Maybe one day eh? :P
Author's Note: PLEASE READ! This chapter takes place slightly before the events of the Gas Mine, on October 20th, during the Battle of Mombasa, just after Regrets carrier has jumped away from the city, around about the events of Halo 3: ODST. I have written this to display some of the earliest events in the Great Schism, with the murder of remaining Sangheili infantry by the Jiralhanae, upon Truth's orders.
Do not fear, however. The next chapter will resume the story of the Arbiter, our favourite Sangheili of the Halo series. And yes, when telling the story from a Covenant member's perspective, humans will be referred to as 'it' and as 'aliens' and whatnot, as that is what the Covenant sees humanity as – little more than vermin.
The Arbiter's Tale
Chapter 5
The Start of a Schism
Sangheili Major Arvo 'Korahee fired several shots from his Plasma Rifle, melting the human soldier's skull and causing the smaller creature to crumple to the ground. Running to cover behind a destroyed human vehicle to avoid its compatriot's retaliatory gunfire, 'Korahee readied himself to flank the human, who was entrenched in cover of its own.
The Sangheili was on one of the many winding streets within the human city of 'New Mombasa.' The street was littered with the outcome of fierce combat, with burned-out husks of vehicles both human and Covenant scattered about, damaged infrastructure, corpses and smears of conglomerated blood. This devastation had been amplified by the departure of the High Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier, which had initiated a slipspace jump while in close proximity to the city.
Ever since the fleet had arrived in this system, the ensuing battle had been disastrous for the Covenant. Regret's undersized Fleet of Sacred Consecration had attacked the planet that was the supposed location of the Portal that would lead to the Ark, and the Covenant's salvation.
Regret was expecting it to be a poorly defended colony world. Instead the world appeared to be another massive hub of military operations similar to 'Reach', or it was indeed the home world of the human race. Unfortunately this planet boasted orbital defences unlike any the Covenant had faced, far greater than there had been at Reach.
The space battle had been incredibly costly for the fleet. Despite the Covenants technological superiority, the sheer number of human ships and Orbital Defence Platforms were too much. While the Covenant were able to inflict casualties, it was a losing battle and in a desperate attempt to make landfall and search for the Portal, Regret had powered his ship straight through the human defences and assaulted the city, 'Mombasa' as called by the humans which was the exact location the Portal was expected to be.
Regret had immediately deployed large amounts of infantry from his carrier to scour the area for signs of the Portal. Unfortunately, the human military had been able to mobilize faster than expected, and Regret's armies were faced with significant resistance from almost the first few units of deployment.
With constant human reinforcements arriving in the city, the Covenant ground forces found themselves being steadily pushed back. Additionally, there was no sign of this 'Portal' that was supposed to be somewhere in the city. In danger of being overrun, the Prophet of Regret ordered a full-scale retreat but before all forces were able to get back to the ship, Regret had jumped to slipspace, causing a large scale electromagnetic explosion and a blinding flash of light. In the following confusion, the abandoned ground forces fell into disarray, scattered and leaderless.
The human army was likewise disorientated and separated. The bitter street-to-street war continued, with pockets of opposing combatants continuing to fight whenever they happened upon each other.
The air was still thick with electromagnetic particles, the residue from the slipspace jump, and the sky was bluish-white with this fallout. A strong wind caused the particles to drift down sideways. This peaceful illusion starkly contrasted with the carnage that had happened below.
'Korahee grunted and peered around the burned-out vehicle. His opponent was crouched behind one of the metal barricades that the human military used for protection. This allowed it a reasonable degree of protection. He fired a burst from his Plasma Rifle at the barrier, but the plasma was ineffective at damaging it, leaving only slight scoring.
As 'Korahee deduced how he would flank this threat, a bright green flash erupted from somewhere out of his line of sight. 'Korahee recognised it as a shot from a Carbine. He heard the shot impact the human behind the barrier with a wet thuck. A scream of agony arose from behind the barrier before it was cut off by a second shot.
'Korahee lowered his weapon when he saw that it was another Sangheili who had fired the shots. The Sangheili had two Unggoy in tow. Both of them wielded Plasma Pistols, and had that ever-present look of fear or unease that was typical of the Unggoy race.
"Brother 'Jaromee!" 'Korahee called out, raising his arm in greeting. 'Jaromee was a Minor Sangheili, and thus was clad in the simplistic blue-coloured combat harness that befitted his rank as opposed to the more ornate red armour that 'Korahee adorned. He knew 'Jaromee well, and knew that the young warrior thirsted to prove himself in battle. To have survived the last few units testified to his prowess.
"Excellency!" 'Jaromee replied, bowing his head. "It is truly a relief to cross paths with another Sangheili."
"Quite so. How do you fare, brother?" 'Korahee asked.
"I fare well, excellency, thank you. When the Holy One left this city my file fell into disarray. We came under attack from human forces, and I lost the Unggoy under my command. Breaking contact, I made my way through these cramped alleyways, seeking out any Covenant forces that I could find. The two Unggoy you see with me I found cowering inside a human dwelling. I coerced them to follow me.
"It is then that I happened upon that human, and knowing that it was in combat with our troops I killed it."
"Ah, my tale is similar, although I have been alone since the jump." 'Korahee said. He had lost his lance prior to the Prophets jump. Minor Sangheili 'Asanulee and six Unggoy had been slain during the retreat to the landing zone. The humans were using their structures and knowledge of the territory to their advantage in combat, firing down on the Covenant from the windows in buildings and from various other hard-to-reach spots.
The Covenant was ill-prepared for this form of warfare, and the close quarters did not allow them to use their vehicles effectively. As a result, the humans were able to destroy them with heavy ordinance.
"Pardon my impulsiveness, excellency. This one recommends that we continue onward, lest we make ourselves targets for human snipers." The Minor Sangheili bowed his head in respect as he spoke.
"I believe that this is a good choice, Brother 'Jaromee, for I wish to make it off this gods forsaken planet if at all possible."
Jiralhanae Commander Cerberus stood with his burly arms behind his back, watching from the bridge of his Assault Carrier Eternal Servitude as an armada of Type 52 Phantom Troop Carriers deployed legions of fresh Jiralhanae-led reinforcements into the embattled city of New Mombasa.
Cerberus was truly a magnificent specimen of the Jiralhanae species. Standing at a height of over ten feet, and weighing in at 1700 pounds, Cerberus was a giant even among his own species. Cerberus had seen decades of combat, and he had the wounds to prove it – a large scar given to him by one of the augmented human soldiers, or 'Demons' ran vertically down his face, through his left eye and down to his mouth, which bristled with large predatory teeth.
Despite the hindrance of having only one eye, Cerberus was still more than capable of commanding his ships and armies. No living creature would dare to say otherwise.
In addition to his physical prowess, Cerberus was also fiercely intelligent, far more so than the Sangheili gave the Jiralhanae credit for. This combined attributes made Cerberus one of the most formidable fighters in his species. He was an impressive sight, standing at the fore of his command centre, clad in his red Commander Armour. He preferred to stand rather than use the gravity chair that shipmasters usually used
To top it off, Cerberus was also the brother of Tartarus, Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, who was effectively the leader of the species and the one who represented the interests of the Jiralhanae in the Covenant. As a relative of such a powerful one, it was natural that Cerberus would also hold a very high position in the Covenant Empire.
He had been given orders by Truth to take his fleet to the human planet 'Earth' to finish what Regret had started. While Regret had taken an ill-prepared small fleet to the planet, Truth had known about Earth and its significance for many weeks and he had been preparing his fleet at the space station Unyielding Hierophant.
Unfortunately, the space station was destroyed but Truth still had access to a large number of ships, which he had passed command over to Cerberus to take to Earth when he received news of Regrets hasty attack. The larger, better prepared fleet was able to punch a hole in human orbital defences and deploy significant numbers of ground forces groundside. Cerberus had himself wiped out a number of the inferior human ships.
More warships were to arrive to attack other zones on the planet deemed to be of strategic importance. Cerberus was to focus his efforts on New Mombasa, and to eventually begin excavation of the Portal, which had been partially revealed by the slipspace jump made by Regret.
'At least the fool has done something beneficial.' Cerberus thought to himself.
In addition, he had been given another order by Truth: Execute all Sangheili troops that still remained in the city. Cerberus, who was well-renowned for his burning hatred of the Sangheili, even among Jiralhanae, took particular glee in this and wasted no time in sending his heavily armed Jiralhanae units to the surface to carry out the order.
Cerberus' only regret was that he had to remain on his ship and conduct operations from there. He would have given anything to be among his warriors as they descended on the wearied Sangheili stragglers, to smash Sangheili bones with his bare fists and to tear Sangheili flesh with his teeth.
Cerberus knew that his subordinates would take similar delight in their mission. Ever since the Jiralhanae had been inducted into the Covenant, they had been kept down by the Sangheili, who saw them as potential threats to their power. Jiralhanae had been shunned by the Sangheili, given the most mundane of tasks, and were rarely brought into theatres of war.
Things looked set to change, however. Due to the recent abundance of failures by the Sangheili to prevent the humans from destroying sites of importance to the Covenant such as the Unyielding Hierophant and the Sacred Ring, and the Jiralhanae's unwavering faith in the Great Journey, The Hierarchs were deciding that it was time to replace the Sangheili's position as military commanders with the Jiralhanae.
This removal of Sangheili ground forces on Earth was only the beginning, and Cerberus knew that the Hierarchs had plans to deal with the Sangheili leadership, to cripple the species and make them easy targets for the Jiralhanae. Cerberus was only too happy to play his part.
Minor 'Jaromee pointed up at the sky, where it was possible to see multiple Phantom dropships descending from the atmosphere, which was still being disturbed by slipspace residue that had yet to settle. 'Korahee felt a sense of elation as he realised that Covenant reinforcements were being deployed. He had thought that Regret's fleet had been decimated in orbit but it was possible that there was another surviving ship, or more likely another, better equipped Covenant fleet had arrived.
As several Phantoms passed over the small force's position. 'Korahee noticed that the majority of them were airlifting in Wraith tanks and Ghost attack vehicles. Several more carried Huragok pods. They were escorted by Banshee ground support aircraft. This was a second, proper invasion, and the Covenant was back with the intention to win.
Although 'Korahee didn't know for definite, there was a chance that the Portal had been found, and the Covenant was deploying forces to secure it. The Great Journey may well be very close at hand.
'Korahee moved his mandibles into a grin. His small group would have to make it to a Covenant landing zone and report in. Then he may be assigned to another task, maybe seeking out human survivors, or maybe even helping secure the Portal! This opportunity to re-join the Covenant Army gave 'Korahee more incentive to push onwards through the embattled city.
Jiralhanae Captain Barunus sniffed the air deeply, and with a short bark, sent his lance forward. The five squat Unggoy moved slowly up the street, scanning carefully with their Plasma Pistols for any signs of movement, both human and Sangheili. Ever since the order to kill any Sangheili that they came across had come down, Barunus had been anticipating his arrival on the planet. Long had he been waiting for an opportunity to kill the weaker creatures with their pompous superior attitudes. Now that the day was here, he was going to revel in it. This was the beginning of the end of the Sangheili race.
He was clad in a full set of violet-coloured Jiralhanae power armour, which afforded him with a personal energy shield. The armour had the disadvantage of falling apart when the shielding failed, but this was compensated for by the fact that the Jiralhanae were naturally a very powerful and durable species.
The lance came across the bodies of several human soldiers, as well as Unggoy corpses and a Sangheili body. Growling, Barunus kicked the corpse. He had yet to come upon a living Sangheili. It was possible that in the battle before and immediately after Regret's slipspace jump, the combatants had wiped one another out. Had he missed out on the fun?
Finally, however, Barunus' fortune changed. While proceeding down one of the narrower human alleyways, he happened upon a Sangheili survivor. It was adorned in the blue colours of a Minor. Barunus bared his fangs.
An easy kill.
The Sangheili whipped around when it heard Barunus' lance approaching, but it lowered its Plasma Rifle when it seen who he was.
"Jiralhanae" it muttered under its breath. "What are you doing in this city? Are you with the reinforcements? "
"Yes, Sangheili. I am with the reinforcements. And before I kill you, know that your species no longer has a place in the Covenant. The Jiralhanae are dominant now!"
"What… die heretic!" The Sangheili shouted, raising his Plasma Rifle but before it could fire it was hit by an overcharged shot from one of Barunus' Unggoy subordinates, draining its personal energy shield. Simultaneously the other Unggoy opened fire. The Sangheili roared in pain as plasma shots burned through its armour plating and then its bodysuit and flesh.
Barunus leapt forwards, smashing his large helmeted head into the Sangheili and knocking it into the concrete wall. It fell to the ground where Barunus stamped on it repeatedly, before rolling it onto its back. Several more Plasma Pistol shots to the legs prevented the Sangheili from getting up.
Barunus planted one of his large, two-toed feet on the Sangheili's chest and unlimbered his Type 25 Grenade Launcher, or Brute Shot. This large weapon had a massive curved blade affixed beneath its main frame. He pointed the barrel of the grenade launcher into the Sangheili's face.
Barely alive, the Sangheili coughed up purple blood. Its eyes met Barunus' and the glare could not have been more hate filled. Barunus returned the stare with a short laugh of victory, before jerking the arm that held the barrel of the Brute Shot up and simultaneously moving the arm that grasped the firing mechanism down. As a result, the blade of the Brute Shot sliced the Sangheili open vertically from the lower stomach to the neck. Blood sprayed as the Sangheili weakly convulsed.
Snarling in victory, Barunus pressed down on the Sangheili's split chest with his foot before removing it.
"Onward!" He shouted at his Unggoy. "The rest of this pitiful race will soon follow suit."
As Barunus walked away, the Unggoy moved past the mortally wounded Sangheili without looking at it. All except for one, who waited until its leader was out of earshot before it lowered its Plasma Pistol and mercifully finished the Sangheili off with a blast to the head.
'Korahee scanned the street ahead with his Plasma Rifle. Similar to the others he had traversed, it was filled with the detritus of combat. A Wraith tank had somehow been flipped over in the middle of the street, and the tarmac of the road was destroyed by plasma impacts. In addition to the presence of multiple corpses, both human and Covenant, it was easy for 'Korahee to see that a fierce battle had been waged here.
He waved the Unggoy forward before following himself. He was constantly on alert, sweeping high and low with his weapon. Even though there were no humans in sight, didn't mean that they were not around. Several of the buildings still had intact portions, and there was always the possibility of a human sniper hiding away, waiting for an opportune moment to pick off a ranking Covenant member.
"What do you think, brother?" 'Korahee asked his younger comrade. The Minor Sangheili looked at him briefly, although he remained on alert.
"I do not know, excellency. We have seen no further signs of the humans. But these signs of battle speak for themselves. They were here. I believe they may have pulled back upon seeing our dropships entering the city. I fear that they will be regrouping and assembling for another attack." 'Jaromee paused for a moment, and then added, "Or maybe we have killed them all."
"I have fought the humans many times before, young one." 'Korahee said. "I believe that your former assumption is most likely correct. But likewise we will prepare ourselves onward. In the glory of the Covenant, we shall not fail until we have what we came for.
"I have spotted several of our Phantoms landing several nearby. By my reckoning the landing zone is on the other side of this group of buildings. Come, let us hasten to them."
'Korahee and his small lance emerged from the building into another war-wracked area. The clearing looked as though it had been a parking area for the human's small civilian vehicles, but it had been heavily damaged during the battle. The few vehicles that remained were useless twisted wrecks. A large blackened area of cauterized tar marked where a plasma mortar had landed, devastating a human barrier. 'Korahee saw the charred corpses of those unlucky humans who had been hit.
In addition there were many Covenant corpses in the area. Most of them were Sangheili, 'Korahee noticed. They were lying at various angles around the area. How they had been killed was what caused him to shake in anger.
Rather than having been felled by human projectiles as he would have thought, 'Korahee noticed that the bodies had foot long spikes sticking out of them. Looking around, he saw many more spikes embedded in the walls of nearby buildings. This was not the humans work.
Jiralhanae!
Those spikes were the ammunition of the Type 25 'Spiker' Carbine, the Jiralhanae's favourite handheld weapon. It was horribly clear to 'Korahee that the treacherous creatures had slain the Sangheili in cold blood. Feeling a wave of nausea hit him, 'Korahee lowered his arms and screamed his rage into the heavens.
"Ah, look pack brothers. Another two yet survive" a deep voice from behind him boomed. 'Korahee already knew it belonged to a Jiralhanae.
'Korahee whipped around, roaring in anger, his Plasma Rifle firing before he had even turned. A large pack of Jiralhanae had happened upon the grieving Sangheili. Even as he unleashed a torrent of blue-white fire from his rifle, 'Korahee saw that the pack was composed of mainly teal coloured Jiralhanae Minors, with a smaller number of Majors and Ultras. There were also several Captains and one large Chieftain, who was clad in highly ornate red and black plated power armour.
'Korahee already knew his lance was heavily outnumbered, and as he burned one of the weaker Minors down, he saw the two Unggoy go down under a flurry of spikes from multiple Spikers. 'Korahee's Plasma Rifle overheated and he dropped the burning weapon before desperately trying to get off the street and into the cover of a building.
He heard a loud, sickening crunch as the rampaging Chieftain swung his Gravity Hammer full force into Minor 'Jaromee's chest. The Sangheili was flung through the air, blood flying everywhere from his shattered body. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Roaring, 'Korahee rolled out of the way of Spiker projectiles and Brute Shot grenades, sweeping up a deceased Sangheili's Energy Sword hilt as he rose. With a flash he activated the weapon, the blade of pure plasma forming before him. Bellowing a vengeful war cry, he leapt at the Jiralhanae.
'Korahee was able to cut through several Jiralhanae before they began to overwhelm him. His personal energy shield gave out under the oncoming Spiker rounds, and he felt several puncture the flesh of his side and back. Falling to his knees in pain, 'Korahee continued to swing the sword, slicing an incoming Jiralhanae Major's legs off at the knees. The beast roared in eternal pain as it crashed heavily to the ground.
The Sangheili felt something heavy crash into his side, shattering ribs and causing him to be flung to the ground. The Energy Sword flew out of his hand and when it impacted the ground, its failsafe activated, destroying the weapon.
He looked around as the surviving Jiralhanae encroached on him, roaring in anger and determined to finish him off. They immediately stopped in their tracks at a short and sharp bark from the Chieftain.
The Chieftain slung his Gravity Hammer on his back and approached until he was standing over the Sangheili. Laughing, he addressed 'Korahee.
"You have fought well, Sangheili. For that you have my respect. But in the end, it wasn't enough. Nothing that the Sangheili species do is ever going to be enough."
"What… what are you speaking of, beast?" 'Korahee muttered, struggling to remain conscious due to the blood loss inflicted by the Spiker projectiles.
"The Hierarchs have seen fit to cast your useless species out of our Covenant." The massive Jiralhanae growled. "Through the Sangheili's incompetence, the humans have impeded our progress time and time again. No longer. The Prophet of Truth has ordered the Jiralhanae to assume control of this battle. Throughout the rest of the Covenant, we are already being provided the resources necessary to carry out genocide on the Sangheili.
"You are only the beginning. Soon the rest of your verminous species will follow suit."
"You will never get away with this!" Shouted 'Korahee angrily.
"Ah, but we are already having our way with it, right now." The Jiralhanae chuckled. "Dranerus, kill him." The Chieftain shot 'Korahee one final glare before walking away. The pack of assembled Jiralhanae watched as the Captain Dranerus aimed his Spiker at the Sangheili's head. 'Korahee closed his eyes, and waited for his great journey to begin.
The metallic fsaaam of the Spiker firing was the last thing 'Korahee ever heard.
Cerberus huffed happily as he read the reports that came in on the large table that occupied the centre of the Eternal Servitude's large bridge. The holographic readings told him that the mission was proceeding as planned. In the last several units, he had been able to deploy large numbers of infantry and armour into the city, facing only scattered resistance from the humans. In addition, he was receiving word from his Captains and Chieftains that they had been able to round up and slaughter many Sangheili.
He had received orders from the High Prophet of Truth to begin excavation of the Portal immediately. He would bring his ships in close, where they were to use their energy projectors to excavate the Portal. Even though Regrets slipspace jump had exposed a small section, it was going to take several weeks to completely uncover the artefact.
In that time, they had to hold off the humans, but Cerberus was not concerned. This would not be a problem. With large scale troop deployments occurring in the area, and his ships keeping the human navy busy in space, Cerberus knew that that there was no way for the Covenant to be stopped.
Soon the Covenant would ascend through the Portal and arrive at the Ark, and there, the Great Journey would begin. They will transcend to the divine beyond, and the unworthy would be left behind.
Wow… Finally that chapter is done. Despite being relatively short this was fairly hellish to write. I took me forever to come up with an idea for the chapter. It was actually fairly recently that I decided on writing a chapter showing some of the first actions of the Great Schism. It was included just to show how the Jiralhanae took pleasure in freely slaughtering the Sangheili for the first time, and helps to show them as terrible creatures of destruction and blind devotion to the Prophets – so I decided it was necessary.
Oh yeah, that Jiralhanae Commander Cerberus is going to become a fairly significant character later in the fanfic. Suffice to say he is the highest ranking Brute besides Tartarus, holding a similar rank to the Army Commander from Halo Wars. He will be a primary antagonist in the story.
And yes, he is named after Cerberus, the three headed dog of Greek mythology that guarded the entrance of Hades.
I will try to start work on the next chapter as soon as possible, where we shall return to the familiar shoes of the Arbiter.
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