Chapter 6: INSTALLATION 03
The ring worlds work all the same way each carrying a tower and its index protected by its sentinel being. Each being has the weight of a brain but the power of an exploding sun. In the sense it chooses it victims and persuades them into activating the ring killing everyone including the sentinel. It's like a suicide ritual of peace to the forerunners, the creators. However the sentinel has many names, humans call them by their names, Covenant call them oracles and flood don't give a damn. Only thing that you can basically do to stop an oracle brainwashing you is to ask them histories about the ring worlds and creators. Some stories so interesting people risk lives going up there to listen to a lifetime of dreams.
"Penitent the tower is under attack by the Aggisas Fate and the Adolof Decodbry to the east. Boxed in by many thousands, we need you and the fleet to attack from behind now, slip space rupture will do, steal a cruiser and get over here" "I'm on my way master, they will not succeed"
The Aggisas Fate is a capitol ship from the human legendary planet Aggisas. Based on their likings of peace it is very rare this starship is ever seen in combat. The Adolof Decodbry is a UNSD assault cruiser from Reach. A planet glassed to its core, however this ship survived my masters expectation is to destroy and cruiser not mattering how tough of a fight. I had a plan to rid this world of my master. I've seen the light ahead according to Gravemind's theory. A light so bright not even he can resurrect its power. My thinking, if the humans got a grip on Gravemind I could leave them to destroy him but I can't even think about doing so it that deadly of a plan, all things you do or think impact on your survival, he could rise you and kill you in less than an hour of recruitment if your bad enough. I follow along with a message I'm my pocket reminding me to follow to be safe. I don't want to take any risks until I'm free; I would try my weakest to defeat the humans however I would be decommissioned if so. I being stuck on earth helplessly trying to defeat the humans and commandeer a ship isn't doing me any good. My mind has just lost the enjoyment in war the humans are weak the flood have an overwhelming strength. Walking through the corridors of one of their defending cruisers casually walking through crossfire as the flood whip aside marines and corporals of the UNSC i feel a very forceful power pushing me away from the bridge of the cruiser however not strong enough to keep me going backwards, it was an unexpected but familiar force. I've felt in before when i was created it was the same feeling i received when my brother changed sides to the humans. Considering we are oracles from two different ring worlds our precursor masters created us so that if we were to turn hostile to one another a force would indicate our presence whilst attempting to pull us apart. It was Mendicant Bias, struggling to pull aside the bridge doors as the force became extremely forceful there he stands struggling as I am.
"Mendicant Bias!" I grinned "Penitent, what a surprise to see you here isn't it brother" he replied "not so surprising I have to kill you brother, take your fleet and go, I don't want to do this" hoping to myself he would listen and walk away "you and me both know this won't work, we will both walk in, but only one will walk out" I had hoped for the worse I'm from installation 03 and Mendicant 05 having one entire installation apart the force wasn't entirely overpowering, we could still get close enough to fight. "Very well brother".
It's one thing that you would kill an enemy general to keep your ranks up although to kill your brother is another thing, I don't have much problem with doing so because we are immorally half-lives however we have the same blood and once spilt will never wash out of the other I always thought It'd be my fate to die however my brother other ambition. Adapting to the pressure of the dividing force i relaxed my muscles to settle in with the force rather than fighting it. Other than rifles and handguns our only means of long ranged attack is the laser eye our forerunners gave us all those years ago as a means of protection against hostiles however it drained a large matter of stamina. Looking directly in each other's eye both struggling to keep balance I give my attempt to charge my eye laser as Mendicant was able to instantly cast his. Taking one large blast to the chest lifting me off my feet throwing me with the dividing force smashing into a wall couldn't hurt any more than it does now. Weakened by the blow I lift myself slowly off the floor keeping a sharp eye on my surrounding as Mendicant no longer appears when I last saw him. Darkened in the bridge of a cruiser damaged by internal flood hosts every corner and turn was darkness. The cold feeling you get when you leave light or heat before you I feel more and more as life and death could jump out at me any second with another deadly blow. Taking one more slow step forward crushing the ceiling debris another red laser is shot out from a darkened corner plunging in with my left shoulder throwing me once again in the direction the force is pushing me. Accepting my fate of yet another deadly blow weakening me severely I was somewhat surprised about Mendicants strength to walk towards me without a single loud breath of exhaustion. As he walked closer and closer the force became stronger and stronger giving me an advantage as to his positioning as he charges his laser light one last time I jump up off the floor, both hands shoving his chin upwards causing him to blast apart a rugged piece of loose ceiling, diving out of the way as Mendicant spends his last few seconds gazing at a splintered ceiling that soon impaled him in several places. As the ceiling hit i felt a large exempt from the dividing force. Mendicant exhaled more and more faintly I walked over to his side in shame. Kneeling over to mend to his wounds he grabs my arm very sharply and whispers to me "take my place Penitent, don't follow the Gravemind" before I was able reason with him the light in his eyes had dimed and the force was no longer in place, my brother had passed. Risen from the grave the depression i felt but not the sorrow as the Gravemind programmed me to substitute sorrow with depression so i wouldn't show weakness however it would boil inside me to create anger was unbelievable. I wasn't in Graveminds dimension so i was able to think freely for once and all the anger built up over time i wanted to expressed personally with Gravemind however i wasn't able to hand it down to him myself. "Take my place" I quote my brother was the only thing that really stuck in my head as an opportunity to destroy Gravemind.