Chapter 17: Fural

The Prophet of Regret was dead. Riots began to break out all over the city not because of the Prophet's death, but because of what came after it. Sangheili all over the Covenant were being stripped of their ranks and being replaced with Jiralhanae. Regret's death was just another in a long list of failures that were blamed on the Sangheili. Fural had no choice but to watch what was happening, and accept it.

He hadn't left the Blade of Ages since the news broke out, neither had Rahg or Jors. Every time Fural passed Jors the two exchanged a knowing glance. Alpha Halo's destruction gave Fural the feeling of dread that the Covenant as they knew it would be broken, and this only made things worse. Fural had once told Jors of a Jiralhanae rebellion that could tear everything apart, but that was only part of the truth. It wasn't the Jiralhanae that rebelled against the Covenant, it was the Covenant that rebelled against the Sangheili.

"How could the Prophets do this?" Jors shouted. "This is outrageous!"

They stood in the control room of the Blade of Ages, watching a feed of the Prophets' Honour Guard being replaced by Jiralhanae. It was a disgusting sight, but Fural couldn't look away. He never had the chance to join the Honour Guard, but he still felt like a piece of his soul was being ripped away.

"The Sangheili aren't going to stand for this," Fural said. "We aren't going to stand for this."

"What are you going to do?" Jors asked.

Fural took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out. There was nothing he could do short of waiting for something to happen. Starting a fight would only make things worse. He would only fight if the Jiralhanae or the Prophets took a step further against the Sangheili, or if someone else started to fight back.

"Nothing," Fural sighed. "Not now. But… I will make sure to be ready if there's any… Unforeseen consequences."

Jors gave Fural a look that meant he knew exactly what he was talking about. The pilot was still recovering from his wounds, but he was already looking much better in the few short hours that had passed since the rescue. Easy to Drift was working on repairing the damage to his armour. If a fight were to come, Jors would be ready by the time it happened.

Fural turned to leave the command deck. He didn't know where he was going to go, or what he was going to do, but he needed to take his anger out on something. He needed to find a way to take his anger out without hurting someone, and that usually involved getting intoxicated, which hadn't gone well the last few times.

The Blademaster walked through the docks, staring out of the windows at every chance he got. The Halo was beautiful. He wanted to feel the artificial ground of the Gods beneath his feet, to breathe the air they created. If there were Flood down there then he wanted nothing more than to slaughter them all, to cut each one down in the name of his brother. He knew Dom would feel the same if it were Fural that died on Alpha Halo.

There were humans down there on the ring too, enough to apparently kill one of the three Prophets. Information about Regret's death was sparse, but Fural figured the humans would need an entire army to defeat the Prophet's Honour Guard. That was just too many humans. Fural wanted to be down there to thin their ranks. And he would go down there if he didn't fear for the state of High Charity. A storm was coming, that much was clear.

Fural thought about joining in the riots, and increasing the violence against the new Jiralhanae overlords throughout the city. But he thought that was petty. The only way to send a message in Fural's eyes was with a full scale attack, one which the Sangheili were certainly capable of pulling off with their numbers. Fural knew that not every Sangheili would feel the same way he did, but he also knew that they had to at least be outraged.

Fural settled for slamming his fist into the nearest wall. He slammed it with enough strength that the bulkhead caved in around it, and his knuckles were left bleeding. Fural shouted, and punched the wall again. He was the only one in the docks at the moment, but he didn't care if anyone saw him. His reputation was already ruined by how many times he had gotten drunk since returning to High Charity.

Fural's hand eventually went numb, and he threw himself onto the floor. It took everything in his power to stop himself from going to the city and killing the first Jiralhanae he saw. He sat up against the wall and stared at the ceiling, imagining Dom looking down at him with disappointment. Sangheili weren't supposed to throw tantrums, they were all raised better than that.

Like most other Sangheili, Fural was raised to be a fighter. Even in his earliest memories, he was sparring against his older brother in his family's keep on Rahnelo. The Nasam keep had produced some of the best warriors in the Covenant, including Dom. Fural had countless cousins in the Covenant military that he had never even met, and most likely never even heard of. But not all of them held the name 'Nasamai, Fural was the only one left with that name. And he was ruining it with nobody to stop him.

Fural had a father somewhere that he'd never met, and uncles who died in the war against the humans. If he were to continue the 'Nasamai bloodline, then he would need to be strong. He got to his feet, and calmed down with a few deep breaths. Being strong was as simple as remembering Dom's training, and he would do just that.

The Blademaster approached the window overlooking the new ring, and he placed a hand against the glass. High Charity's escort fleet blended in with the backdrop of the stars, and made the gas giant behind the ring look like it was covered in hundreds of tiny insects. Fural wondered what the view was like on those cruisers. Seeing the Halo ring on one side, and High Charity on the other must be a beautiful sight. He was almost tempted to take the Blade of Ages out and see for himself.

A speech played through the speakers in the halls of the docks, Fural had only been half paying attention to it. The Prophet of Truth was addressing the Covenant as a whole, speaking about how bright the future was. It was only when the Prophet of Truth said a certain word that Fural's attention had been caught.

"The Great Journey is nigh," said Truth. "And nothing, not even the Flood, can stop it."

Fural's hearts began to race in his chest after hearing that. The Flood? He frantically looked around the docks, expecting those monsters to be there and jump on him at any second. He raced back to the Blade of Ages and searched up and down the ship for Easy to Drift.

The Huragok floated in the ship's armoury, still working on the repairs to Jors's armour. Jors was there, standing next to it with his arms crossed. He gave Fural a concerned look when he saw him enter so quickly.

"Everything okay?" Jors asked.

"Drift, I need access to mission reports from the ring at once," Fural said, ignoring the pilot's question. "I don't care if I have access to them or not, I need to see them now."

The Huragok let out what sounded like a squeak, and reached for a datapad on the table next to where Jors's armour lay. It typed something into it, and handed it to Fural, who was glad he didn't have to threaten the creature's life again. Jors continued to watch with a look of bewilderment.

Fural scrolled through the reports, analysing each word he saw carefully. His hearts almost skipped a beat when he saw the words. Installation 05. Delta Halo. The Flood. He felt his breathing pick up, all of his memories on Alpha Halo were coming back to him. Dom was ripped away from him again, drowning in a sea of parasites. Fural's distress was obvious to Jors.

"What is this about?" Jors asked.

Fural jumped when he heard his friend's voice, he had almost forgotten he was in the room.

"The Flood," Fural breathed, tearing his eyes away from the pad's screen. "They're here."

Jors squinted, his expression one of complete disbelief. He took the pad from Fural's hands and read the reports for himself. The pilot looked up after a few moments, he clearly wasn't as concerned about this as Fural was. He tossed the pad back, and Fural caught it without even realising it.

"They're not here," Jors sighed. "They're on the ring, but they're quarantined. You know you don't have to go down there."

"I know," Fural said, "but what if they find a way to leave? What if they get up here. They breached 'Vadamee's fleet last time."

"You're overreacting," Jors said. "I know you went through a lot on Installation 04, but there's no reason to worry here. The parasite won't even have the chance to breathe if it enters one of our ships."

"You weren't down there," Fural growled. "You have no idea what they're capable of."

Jors sighed. They were both right. Fural was overreacting, and Jors didn't truly know what the Flood were capable of. But they both knew it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I can gather the crew, and we can be out of here soon," Jors said, "if that's what you want. I simply think you need to get away from all of this."

"The Covenant is nearly shattered, there's another Halo right next to us, and you think I want to leave?" Fural asked.

"Well I don't know what you want!" Jors said frustratedly. "You're so scared of the parasite, yet you want to stay close to it? Make up your mind."

Fural grunted, and turned away from his friend. Everything lately had been messing with his mind. Maybe getting away from everything was the best thing for him, whether he really wanted it or not.

"I wish Dom were here," Fural said quietly.

"He always did know what to do, didn't he?" Jors sighed. He approached Fural and placed a hand on his shoulder. "When my armour is repaired, we'll gather the crew. If you want to leave in the event things get ugly, we can."

"Alright," Fural sighed. "That sounds good to me."

Jors let Fural go, and returned to watching Drift repair his armour. Fural thought about whether he wanted to go back out to the docks, or sit in the control room for a while. He chose the latter, and unfortunately he found Rahg there as well, who was using one of the consoles for something.

Fural had grown more used to the Kig-Yar's presence, and he didn't dislike him nearly as much as he did when they first met, but he still wasn't Rahg's biggest fan. He especially didn't like that the Kig-Yar was messing with something in the control room of his ship.

"What are you doing?" Fural asked sternly.

"Just talking to my friends," Rahg said, not turning away. "I have more than enough Kig-Yar willing to come with us, if you need them."

"I'll pass," Fural sighed, opting to let the Kig-Yar do what he wanted for the moment. It wasn't bothering anyone. He took a seat in the command chair and slowly looked around the room.

The screens along the walls were set to show the view outside of the ship around them. It almost looked like he was sitting on a platform floating in the middle of space. When he looked up and saw the massive dome of High Charity's holy city extending out above him, he felt incredibly insignificant.

There was an entire city up there, a whole civilisation inside of this impossibly huge space station. The station was the biggest feat of engineering short of anything the Forerunners had built, and yet it was so fragile. Happening up there were riots, and betrayals. It was the place where the most powerful civilisation in the galaxy was falling apart.

A bright flash in the distance caught Fural's attention. A cloud of gas surrounded one of the ships of High Charity's escort fleet. Another bright flash came from nearby. A ship had exploded. Rahg's attention seemed to have been caught by it too.

"Are the humans attacking our fleet?" Fural asked, leaning forward in his chair and squinting to get a better look. "They've gone insane!"

Rahg furiously typed into the console in front of him. Another explosion came from Fural's side, this one nowhere near the first two. Then another, and another. Explosions soon came from all over the fleet, but Fural couldn't see any human ships. A cruiser close by fired a pulse laser, but it was at another cruiser in the distance.

"There are no humans," Rahg said, turning to Fural. "The ships… They're firing on each other."

Fural's eyes widened as he watched a Ket-pattern battlecruiser get torn in half by an energy projector. He thought he felt the ship shake around him when a nearby Ceudar-pattern corvette exploded. So… This is how it happens… Fural thought.

"Getting more reports," Rahg said, his voice distressed. "Sangheili-commanded ships are firing on the Jiralhanae's ships. They've… They've started a civil war."

Fural knew this was going to happen from the moment the Sangheili were blamed for Alpha Halo's destruction, but he didn't know this was how it was going to happen. He never expected the Prophets to turn against the Sangheili, and cause them to fight back.

"Also getting reports from the city," Rahg continued. "The riots have escalated… There's firefights happening all throughout the station. Including the tower districts."

Fural slowly stood from his chair. Every second a new star appeared in the distance, ships were being destroyed left and right. At this rate there would be nothing left of High Charity's fleet in a few hours. Fural was still torn between leaving and staying. He didn't want to abandon his brothers as they turned against the Covenant, but he knew he would die eventually if he stayed.

"Blademaster," Rahg said slowly, turning to him. "I have people left in the city. You have to help me get them out."

"Why should I help you?" Fural asked calmly.

"Because I helped you save Jors. It's only fair."

"Jors is your friend too," Fural said. "You would have gone to save him anyways."

"You couldn't have saved him without me!" Rahg shouted. "Deep down you know that. Leave whatever thoughts you have against the Kig-Yar in the past, this war is happening in our home right now. It affects us all. If you want me on this mission, you will help me."

Fural wanted to tell Rahg that he wasn't being truthful, that he could have easily taken out all of Sparatus's men. But he really wasn't sure how truthful that was. He let out a slow sigh, and finally nodded.

"Fine, I'll help," Fural said. "I will inform Jors of the situation, then you can take me to your people."

"Thank you, Blademaster," Rahg said with a bow. He quickly left the control room to gather his gear once more.

Fural turned back to the battle happening around him. Swarms of Seraphs and Banshees fired on one another without any kind of sign of which ships belonged to whom. The bright flashes that came from each explosion would have been beautiful if Fural didn't know that each one meant another Sangheili dying.

It took considerable effort, but Fural was able to leave the control room and find Jors in the armoury once more. The pilot was still carefully watching Easy to Drift repair his armour, he was completely oblivious to what was happening right outside.

"Jors," Fural said. "Something has happened."

Jors looked up from the armour, and chuckled. "When has something not happened?" he asked.

"Ships are firing on each other," Fural said plainly. Jors's joking attitude quickly faded. He explained the Sangheili ships and the Jiralhanae ships fighting, and the escalating violence happening all throughout the station. Jors stood in silent disbelief.

"If you don't believe me, go to the control room," Fural said. "But I need to go now. Rahg needs my help evacuating his people."

Surprisingly there was no joking response from Jors. He evidently believed everything that Fural said, but he still went to the control room to see for himself. Fural didn't have time to stay with him, he left the ship and found Rahg waiting by the transport tube.

The two rode through the tube in silence. When they made it to the city they could already see the extent of the damage. Fires burned in the streets, buildings were falling apart. Streams of plasma flew past the tube as Sangheili and Jiralhanae fought. Though Fural was born on Rahnelo, he considered High Charity to be his home. Seeing it falling apart was devastating.

The tube was rocked by an explosion, and Fural almost fell over. He caught his balance and looked up as alarms began to blare. A section of the tube ahead was destroyed, and it came to an emergency stop at the entrance to the residential district. Rahg cursed, and attempted to push the door open, but it barely budged. Fural came to his aid, and helped him lift the door up enough for them to slip through.

"Getting back isn't going to be fun," Rahg sighed, turning to the tube.

Fural examined their surroundings. They were in an alleyway behind a row of stores. Sangheili and Jiralhanae bodies lay against the buildings' walls, sitting in pools of their own blood.

"My place isn't far from here, only a few blocks," Rahg said. "Problem will be finding another way back to the docks."

"One problem at a time," Fural replied. The only weapon he had on him was his sword, he would need to get his guns from his apartment.

The sound of plasma rifles firing came from the street in front of the buildings. Another explosion went off, scorching the front of a store. Fural peeked around the corner and watched streams of plasma and carbine rounds fly past. A few spikes shot out from the right, and that was all Fural needed to know where the Jiralhanae were.

"Clear a path for me," Fural said. "I will take the Jiralhanae up close."

Rahg nodded, and drew his beam rifle. He climbed up the side of the building's wall, and placed himself on the roof. Fural sprinted through the alleys toward the Jiralhanae position. The beasts were unfortunately not as stupid as Fural expected, and they had soldiers waiting in the alleyway for him. But they were still stupid for thinking they could take him on.

Fural ignited his blades, and jumped on the nearest Jiralhanae. Spikes slammed into his shields, but they did nothing to faze him. He slammed the blades through the Jiralhanae's chest, and he rolled along the ground as it fell. The brute who had shot at him fell when Fural cut its legs out from under it.

Two more Jiralhanae were taking cover behind roadblocks in the street, and they noticed him as he took down their comrades. They didn't have a chance to fight back before their heads exploded, Rahg took down both in quick succession. Fural was expecting more, but he realised that the other Jiralhanae had been taken down by the other Sangheili.

Fural entered the street when he made sure it was safe, and he was approached by the other fighting Sangheili. Two Minors, a Major, and a Zealot clad in shiny golden armour. Though Fural was a Blademaster, he wasn't nearly as respected as the Zealots. He had wanted to be one since the first time he saw one, and now he no longer had that chance.

"I appreciate the assistance," the Zealot said. "You chose a good time to arrive, Blademaster."

"No thanks needed," Fural said. "I am on my own mission."

"Then I wish you well," the Zealot replied. He reached for the plasma rifle on his hip, and handed it out for Fural. "I see you don't have one. You may need it more than me."

"Thank you," Fural said, taking the plasma rifle with a bow. He hadn't fired one since the incident on Alpha Halo, but he was quick at re-learning things.

The Zealot nodded, and he stormed off with the other Sangheili in tow. Rahg hopped down from his building and approached Fural, clutching his beam rifle so tight that he seemed to be expecting someone to take it away from him.

"Place is this way," Rahg said. "Follow me."

Rahg ran down another street, hopping with each step he took. Fural sprinted after him as quickly as he could to keep up with the Kig-Yar's fast pace. They were moving so fast that they didn't notice that a grenade was fired at them, and they were both thrown onto the ground by the blast. A Jiralhanae wielding a grenade launcher had shot at them from behind them, and it was preparing to fire again.

Fural gripped the plasma rifle he was given and fired it at the Jiralhanae before it could take either of them out, holding the trigger for so long that it overheated and burned his hand. But the heat from that was nothing compared to what the Jiralhanae had experienced, as the front of its chest had been entirely melted off.

Fural pushed himself back to his feet, and he helped Rahg up. Luckily the Kig-Yar hadn't been injured, he had only suffered a small scrape on his arm from landing on the ground.

"We mustn't move too fast," Fural warned. "Jiralhanae could be waiting for us at any corner."

"Noted," Rahg said breathlessly.

The path between buildings that Rahg led Fural along was the same one that Jors had taken when he first introduced him to the Kig-Yar. The damage to the buildings, and the bodies littering the streets made the place nearly unrecognisable. Rahg stopped at the last corner and peeked around; Fural did the same.

He spotted two Kig-Yar with their defence gauntlets raised guarding the door to Rahg's club. There was no sign of Jiralhanae nearby. If there was, the two Kig-Yar wouldn't last long on their own. Rahg shouted to his friends in their native tongue, and they responded to let him know they wouldn't attack.

When Fural stepped out from behind the corner, they raised their weapons and shields again. Their intent to kill him was clear in their faces, but they seemed to be holding off only because Rahg was there.

"What are they doing?" Fural asked. Instead of raising his hands, he lifted his plasma rifle. If they shot him, he would shoot them back.

"Lower your weapons!" Rahg shouted to them in a tongue that Fural could understand.

"He is the enemy!" one of the Kig-Yar shouted back. "The Sangheili have turned against the Covenant!"

"That is wrong!" Rahg shouted. He gestured for Fural to lower the rifle, and he did. "The Jiralhanae are feeding you lies! The Covenant turned against them first, so now they're fighting back."

"We never asked for this," Fural added. "The Prophets have cast us out. They want to lead you onto a path of suicide on the Jiralhanae's leash. We're here to get you out before that happens."

To Fural's surprise, the two Kig-Yar faltered. They looked between each other, seeming to question what was true and what wasn't. Fural had never liked the Kig-Yar, and Rahg had only slightly changed his mind about that. But he didn't want lives to be wasted, especially when they had the chance to fight for the right side. There was only one right side in this conflict, the Sangheili had done nothing to deserve this.

"Come with us," Rahg pleaded. "We will get you out of here."

"Fine," the Kig-Yar caved. "But if the Sangheili attack, we will defend ourselves."

"I will make sure they don't," Fural assured them.

"I need to help my people get ready to leave," Rahg said. "Can you find us another transport tube?"

"I'll have a look around," Fural said.

The two nodded to each other, and Fural took back to the streets. Dead members of every Covenant species were scattered in the streets. Walls were burned by plasma, the ground cracked from explosions. These streets had once been familiar, but now they were all torn by war. In that moment, Fural wondered what the humans felt like to have their homes torn apart. It had to be something like this.

Fural set off toward his apartment, where he had regularly taken another transport tube between the different sectors of the city. The plaza outside the apartment building where he lived was deep in the conflict. Jiralhanae and Sangheili were scattered everywhere, trading shots and engaging in close quarters.

Shade turrets had been set up and were being commandeered by Unggoy loyal to the Covenant. Disgraced Honour Guards fought against Jiralhanae Chieftains. Huge projections of the Prophet of Truth were displayed all around the plaza as he gave a speech about something that Fural couldn't make out over the sound of the chaos. The trees that were once from the homeworlds of the Covenant's member species were charred, and falling apart.

In a single moment that was out of Fural's control, his entire world was falling apart. And there was nothing he could do other than help it fall faster. So he joined his Sangheili brothers, and began to cut down the Jiralhanae in front of him.

Fural stabbed his blades through the abdomen of a Jiralhanae soldier before it could react. The sound of a Jiralhanae hammer's boom came from his side, and he watched as a Sangheili Minor flew into the air, his body bent and broken from the force of the hit. Fural let the Jiralhanae fall, and he rushed for the Chieftain, cutting its leg apart at the knee and causing it to fall. He finished the Chieftain off with his blades through its throat, and only noticed that he was being shot at when he felt his shields break.

He rushed for the cover of a wall by the stairs leading into the apartment building, and felt a sharp pain in his back when he took a hit from a spike rifle. He deactivated his blades and drew his plasma rifle as more Sangheili came to his aid. A Sangheili Major approached him and crouched at his side.

"Hold still," the Major said. He took hold of the spike that was stuck into Fural's back, and quickly pulled it out. The pain of the spike being pulled out was almost worse than when it hit him, but he didn't make it show. He wasn't going to embarrass himself now.

"Thank you," Fural said. The Major filled the wound in his back with gel so he wouldn't eventually bleed out.

"Anytime, brother," the Major said, standing back up. The fighting around them had slowly died down, and moved on. "Let us continue the fight."

"Yes," Fural said, getting back on his feet. "We will drive the Jiralhanae back."

The Major nodded, and left as the other Sangheili moved to the next plaza. Fural was about to contact Rahg to let him know the way was clear when an ear-splitting screech sounded throughout the whole city. He noticed a bright blue flash near the tower districts at the edge of High Charity's dome as he heard the sound. Something had exited slipspace. When Fural squinted, he noticed it was a human ship.

Now the humans are here? What are they doing here? Fural thought furiously. His day was already going terribly, he knew that the humans' presence would only worsen things. How can this get any worse?