Chapter 9: A Whole Lotta Madness

Somm Asteroid Belt
Shipyard D41

"You never cease to amaze me." Keyes gaped at the glorious ship sitting in the shipyard.

"Yes, our latest creation." Tuuran smiled.

The ship was a massive, angular warship with bulbous weapons and electronic warfare pods. The entire ship was powered by a massive ion engine hanging from the underside of the ship, and a large aircraft hangar was built into the nose of the ship. What also made the ship stand out was the fact that it was painted pearl white rather than the dull grays and blacks most other ships used.

"It's based on blueprints we managed to obtain for a pre-Exodus warship, the Halcyon-class cruiser. While all of the weapons and systems were obviously antiquated, the basic design of the ship was what caught the eye of our engineers." Tuuran said proudly. "The designs had so many structural redundancies and protection that you could cut the ship in half and it would still have enough fight in it left to take on an entire fleet. We just expanded the size and added in modern equipment, and what you get is our newest line of warships, the Alastor-class heavy cruiser."

"Why do you need our help to get this ship out?" Keyes was puzzled as he looked over the marvelous craft.

"You see, the cruiser is combat ready. All she needs is a name… and a crew."

Keys smiled. "Are you making on offer, Minister?"

"You can do infinitely more good with that ship than we can." Tuuran gestured to the ship. "Besides, it's your fleet that has the crews and skills necessary to run this ship, and frankly, I don't trust anybody else with it."

"Generous as always." Keyes shook Tuuran's hand. "I'll put together a crew right away. And I've already thought up of a name."

"Oh, really?"

"A ship built for warriors should also be named for warriors." Keyes grinned. "I think the Valhalla would be a perfect name for the first Alastor-class cruiser."

"I'll get the painters to work on that right away." Tuuran nodded.

CASTLE Facility, Reach

"Finished yet?" Lynn said, keeping an eye on the surrounding dark forest.

"Almost." Kyle growled as he typed in more commands on Puddlejumper's control console. He was programming Puddlejumper's autopilot to take off and stay on station in stealth mode until it received a signal to disengage and automatically land. Of course, without the benefit of an onboard AI, Kyle and Sanah were working together to reprogram it manually. "And we're done!"

Kyle pressed a button and leapt out of Puddlejumper with Sanah before the ramp closed. The engines on the ship slowly shuddered to life, and under its own power and direction, the Puddlejumper slowly but surely lifted off from the ground higher and higher until its stealth functions kicked. The ship then disappeared into the night with no evidence of its existence except for the imprints its landing gear left on the soft grass.

"So are you sure its okay?" Lynn asked as she saw Puddlejumper meld into the darkness.

"Oh yeah." Kyle nodded. "It should work totally fine, unless I made a mistake in its guiding system programming. Then instead of landing, Puddlejumper would just automatically nosedive into the ground."

"Charming."

"Wait." Sanah raised her hand in alarm. "Something's coming."

"Yeah." Lynn looked up in the sky. "About eight or so Jackals."

"Armed patrol, no doubt." Kyle armed his rifle. "Probably local militia being directed to inspect the unusual power readings."

"Wouldn't they have sent in a much larger force on a planet like this?" Sanah asked.

"Jeez, for an AI, you're pretty naïve." Kyle snorted. "On a planet like this, local security wouldn't expect or have that much to worry about, because nobody would be crazy and stupid enough to try and even step foot on it."

"I know, who in their right mind would try such a thing?" Lynn grinned. "So what's the plan?"

"Well," Kyle scratched his head, "since our job is to delay them, I say we let them land and poke around a little bit. Then we'll nail them once they start getting suspicious. That way, the maximum amount of time passes while there's not much here to worry about."

"Sounds good." Sanah nodded. "I've got a fix on where they're landing."

"Way ahead of you." Lynn pointed into the forest. "About a kilometer in that direction."

Forest of Tranquility

Kazzac sighed as he gazed over the dark forests of the Pillars of Sanctity. Here he thought he could finally sign off his shift and return to his home for the night. Unfortunately, he and his squad received orders from the local troop commander to inspect suspicious activity in the mountains. Kazzac's shift would have ended in just ten minutes, but apparently Troop Commander Dominus and the Prophets had a different fate for him. What made this infinitely worse was that the Pillars of Sanctity and the Forest of Tranquility were one of the most remote and least populate regions on the planet. If one were to run into trouble, help would be difficult to contact and in the case of an emergency, would take very long to mobilize.

Because they weren't cleared to use heavy force, Kazzac could only bring a small squad and an air skimmer with him to inspect the suspicious activity. Like always, he was not told what to look for or to expect, only to fly to and look around a certain area. Kazzac suspected it was local farmers spooked by some large animal or something along those lines. There were many rumors of Demons that survived the Cleansing and were roaming the mountains and forests, preying on wildlife and Covenant alike. While Kazzac dismissed such stories as mere superstition, there were far too many on the planet who took them seriously, half of Kazzac's squad included.

"Is it true that somebody saw a Demon down there?" Mreep said nervously. "My ancestors have told me the fearsome power of those creatures, and that they have seen them kill many soldiers of the Covenant."

"I told you to stop believing in that Heretic propaganda." Kazzac spat. "Demons do not exist. It's only a ploy by the Heretics to sow fear in our hearts, and thanks to you, they're succeeding."

"I was just asking a question…" Mreep said, slightly cowed.

"Well, it was a stupid one." Kazzac snapped. "Now great ready. We are about to land."

Once the skimmer touched down at the designated landing spot, Kazzac and his seven companions immediately disembarked. The leaves and twigs on the round cracked under his feet as he hit the ground. Kazzac then activated his energy shield. Not only did it provide extra protection, but also a source of light in the darkness. His companions quickly followed suit.

"Let's go." Kazzac waved his squad forward.

The entire mission had a very eerie quality to it. Even though Kazzac's vision and hearing were sharp enough to pierce the veil of darkness, he felt as if there was some sort of weight or cloud that was interfering his senses. As he looked to his squadmates, he noticed their discomfort and realized they were suffering the same problems as well. Kazzac shook his head and pressed forward. It was at this point he reached a clearing. Glad to be out in the open air, Kazzac almost missed the large hole in the face of the mountain on the other end of the clearing. He quickly sprinted forward and inspected the hole, realizing that it and whatever was inside was not made by nature or the Covenant. Maybe it wasn't a false alarm after all.

"Mreep, send a call to the troop commander." Kazzac said, poking his head into the hole. "Mreep?"

Kazzac turned his head to see Mreep and the rest of the squad on the ground, dead. Kazzac panicked and ran into the hole in the vain hope that it would afford him some protection. He then ran into a figure clad in crimson armor. Kazzac slid to a halt and instinctually raised his shield for protection. However, the figure did not draw a weapon. Kazzac didn't have time to wonder, as he suddenly felt an extreme burning sensation in his body. He looked down and realized that his entire body was on fire.

"Kyle, this is Melissa." Melissa toed the fried Jackal at her feet. "Tango down."

"Good. Stay there until further notice." Kyle turned to Lynn. "Well, that was a big success."

"Yup." Lynn smiled. She had used her telepathy to suppress the Jackals' senses, making easier to sneak up on them and cut them pieces with Laevateinn. The fact that their energy shields glowed like miniature suns in the darkness didn't really win any points for the Jackals either. "Pretty easy."

It took quite a while for the Covenant response to ramp up. At first, the local troop commanders just assumed that their squads sent to inspect suspicious activity just got lost and sent in another squad to find them, where they would just be promptly eliminated by Lynn and Kyle. However, as the power readings got more powerful and as more squads stopped sending messages, the Covenant higher ups soon started getting worried and upgraded their response.

About two hours in, Lynn, Kyle, and Sanah looked up at an ominous shape in the sky and realized that this was no air skimmer. It was a full sized assault dropship, which could hold several squads of Jackals and Brutes.

"Take it down?" Lynn asked.

"Lets." Kyle nodded.

Lynn set her rail rifle aside and instead drew the PL4 Particle Rifle she was carrying. The weapon was basically the successor to armor piercing rifle ammunition. Even with modern magnetic accelerator technology, scientists found that even magnets and chemical explosives had their limitations in terms of armor piercing capability. In order to make up for this problem, the Particle Rifle was created. It basically fired an intense, focused beam of energy that could literally burn through any solid object. The only problem with the rifles, even with the most modern versions, was that it was a very precise weapon and that it overheated easily. However, in the hands of a skilled shooter, nothing was safe. Using her mental skills to guide her aim, Lynn set her sights over the dropship cockpit and fired. The small shaft of light punched through shielding and armor plate and flesh. With no intelligence at the controls, the dropship wavered and plowed straight into the ground. Kyle then armed his rocket launcher and pumped all six rockets into the downed dropship. The hapless ship exploded in a ball of fire, sending shrapnel and debris flying everywhere, causing several small forest fires.

"Well, if THAT didn't catch their attention, I don't know what will." Kyle sniffed as he batted some burning embers away.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll come, and in larger numbers." Lynn packed her particle rifle.

"I think we'd better go back inside." Sanah said, looking at t he sky ominously.

CASTLE Base

"Well, repelled the first couple of waves of them." Lynn said as she sealed the inner security doors. "But now they're going to come in force."

"Well, they can't be as hard as the first guys, right?" Williams asked.

"The first few waves were just planetary militia." Kyle sighed. "Now that they know something big is going on down here, they're going to start sending in the big guns, like Brutes and actual trained Covenant military."

"Oh." Williams blanched.

"My sensors have detected Covenant troops moving within the halls." Halsey said. "They've fanned out in a standard search pattern. They don't seem to quite know where to go yet. Also, power levels are rising to fifty percent capacity, which means I can bring base defense systems online."

"Good, let's give them a nasty surprise." Lynn smiled.

Forest of Tranquility

Moronin growled as his scouts found the remains of yet another squad. Whatever was down here certainly knew what it was doing and how to efficiently kill steadfast troops of the Imperium. Already, the Field and Fleet Masters had caught on to what was going on down here and decided to send military units in force. Already, six dropships full of troops had touched down, with another ten incoming with reinforcements. Something was being hidden on the very soil of Outer Sanctuary, and the Imperial leadership wanted it cleansed before anybody knew of the impurity.

"It seems to be a heretic base, left over from the Cleansing." One of Mornin's scouts reported. "The facility is very old, and there are no signs of life."

"Well, something killed these soldiers." Moronin growled. "Keep searching."

Suddenly, a harsh, electronic voice in an alien language blared out, startling Moronin and the soldiers around him.

"WARNING! YOU ARE ENTERING A RESTRICTED GOVERNMENT ZONE! TURN AROUND AND LEAVE THIS AREA IMMEDIETALY OR YOU WILL BE SHOT!"

Moronin glanced at his officers curiously, not understanding the odd language the ancient loudspeakers were yelling. However, the chatter of gunfire was definitely enough to rouse his attention. Though ancient, most of the base's automatic defense turrets were still operational. Bullets whizzed by, sending Covenant troops scurrying for cover. Moronin growled as a burst of fire bounced off of his shields. Finally, Moronin's troops regained their senses and began returning fire, destroying the turrets as they materialized.

CASTLE Base

"I'm eventually going to run out of turrets to distract them with." Halsey said wryly as the distant sounds of combat reverberated through the walls. "It's not going be long until they reach the inner security doors."

"Yeah, since they're already here." Lynn nodded to the door. "They don't have anything that can break through it… yet."

"Okay, let's pile some stuff up here and make a barricade." Kyle said. "They're going to come in and come in hard."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Moronin was just reaching the door. He and his troop had fought through a gauntlet of automatic security measures to reach this point. Something was on the other side of this door, something important.

"Bring the plasma cutters!" Moronin yelled. "I want that door opened now!"

EFE Valhalla Bridge

"She's a beauty." Jillian smiled as she slid her hand across a brand new control console. "What are the specs on this thing?"

"Oh, there are all sorts of neat things this ship can do." Tuuran beamed. "The ship has three MAC cannons, eight particle beams, fifty railguns, and two hundred missile bays. It also has the latest shielding systems and has a Slipspace drive that can match the speed of any Covenant vessel. We spared no expense in its construction."

"I can see that." Keyes grinned. "I can see the quality oozing out of the hull."

"Sir." Keyes' radio buzzed. "The crews are in position and ready for the order."

"Then take her away."

With the order, the docking collars connecting the ship to the station disengaged. Valhalla's engines then flickered to life for the first time and the pearl white ship pulled itself free of the asteroid belt. The other ships, seemingly cowed by the Valhalla's dominating presence, cleared a path for the mighty cruiser.

"So, what do we do now?" Tuuran turned to Keyes. "With our precious asteroid belt compromised, Somm doesn't have anywhere to go at the moment."

"It looks like you'll be tagging along with us then." Keyes stared out of the viewport. "Though god knows, we probably need some company. It's been a long time since we've run into any other fleets."

"You got that right. They're just drifting farther apart these days. Most of them are too paranoid to stay in contact. They think that the other fleets are all Covenant shams or something." Tuuran sighed.

"Well." Keyes glanced at his watch and his thoughts suddenly turned to Lynn and Ackerson. Apart from Ackerson's regular progress report saying that he was on her tail, there was no word from either person, which worried him greatly. "The Covenant Imperium has recently become a bit more aggressive in trying to hunt down Exiles in this sector. I think it's time we showed them why they should tread carefully in our little corner of the galaxy."

CASTLE Base

It took two painstakingly long hours, but the plasma cutter finally managed to slice through the locks that sealed the door shut. A pair of Kig-Yar then jammed a pair of powered jacks in between the doors and they slowly began to force the door open. The door was barely open a crack when rail rifle rounds shot through and blew the unfortunate pair of Kig-Yar to pieces. Moronin didn't even wince as Kig-Yar gore spattered onto his shields. He muttered a silent curse to the heretic Exiles and turned around.

"Move forward! Open that door!"

A quartet of Jiralhanae moved forward, grabbed the edges of the door and pulled the door open with sheer brute force. They shrugged off the rail rifle rounds for the first few seconds until their shields failed and they were torn to pieces by the hypersonic projectiles. However, they served their ultimate purpose and forced the doors wide open enough to let troops through. However, this also exposed them to fire from the defenders within. Moronin waved and pressed his troops forward.

Meanwhile, Lynn, Kyle, and the rest of the Exiles were busy unloading their rail rifle clips into the hallway. Once the rail rifle clips were expended, they stopped firing for several seconds, luring the Covenant out cover. They then swapped to their secondary weapons and unloaded their combined firepower. One Brute looked down at his chest curiously to see a small, rapidly flickering red ring before a huge beam of crimson energy blasted through his chest and three entire ranks of Jackals. John set the Red Ring of Death aside to cool and began firing his rail rifle again. Meanwhile, Kay and Williams used their automatic weapons to pour an unending torrent of fire down the hall, sending Brutes and Jackals running for cover. A squad of Jackals tried to press forward in a phalanx formation using their shields for protection, but were quickly driven back by a wall of fire set down by Melissa's flamethrower.

So far so good, things were holding well. The Covenant, penned in by the narrow hallway, couldn't advance. All they could do was return fire in the vain hope that they could hit something. However, Lynn got the ugly feeling that something was wrong.

"Sanah!" Lynn patted Sanah's shoulder. "With me!"

"What?" Sanah said curiously.

"Where are you going?" Kyle yelled.

"Just hold the fort till we get back!" Lynn took off down the hall with Sanah following close behind.

"Shit." Kyle growled and sprayed more rail rounds down the hallway.

Lynn sprinted down the hallway until she reached the lab Halsey's consciousness was stored in. She got there just in time to catch a Covenant infiltrator squad. They had thought ahead and used a plasma cutter to drill straight through the mountain, ending up in Halsey's lab, of all places. Lynn realized that Halsey was in danger. Fearing that she might hit Halsey, Lynn lowered her rail rifle and drew Laevateinn. Before the Brutes even realized what was going on, she was already across the room, swinging her sword in a wide arc. The blade phased through Halsey's console and the Brutes' shields, rematerializing straight into their flesh and cleaving two Brutes in half. Sanah, with her infallible targeting software, fired several short bursts that downed two more Brutes with clean headshots. Another Brute roared in anger and fired four Brute shots at Lynn. She sensed his intentions long before he even thought about pulling the trigger on his weapon. The Brute looked on in surprise as the grenades stopped in the air and zoomed back into his face before blowing his upper body all over the wall. Another Brute charged out of the hole swinging a plasma sword. Lynn easily parried the blow and decapitated the Brute, but flinched as Brute spikes struck her. Her armor's shields managed to deflect some of the projectiles, but quite a number dug into the armor plating. Sanah quickly stepped between Lynn and the Brute spikers, absorbing the brunt of the attack with her artificial body. Angry at letting herself be so careless, Lynn focused all of her power on the Brutes coming in from the hole, creating a telekinetic wave so powerful that it literally liquefied their organs as they were struck by the wave.

Out of breath, Lynn collapsed on to her knee to catch her breath, and realized in horror that she had missed one of the Brutes. It had noticed the activity coming from Halsey's terminal and was raising its massive Brute shot to demolish it.

"NO!" Lynn tried to vain to get up and stop the Brute, but she was too exhausted to do anything but watch.

The Brute brought it's weapon straight down on top of the defenseless console housing Halsey's consciousness, the only hope left for Lynn and Humanity as a whole.