Chapter 12: Good Byes and Apologies
Shress POV
The Sangheili were all in a fit of rage. With the destruction of The Long Night of Solace, the death of their brethren due to the work of a demon, and now the intervention of the Jiralhanae in the conflict, it seemed like everyone was at each other's throats for one reason or another. However, slouching in the corner resting her head against the bulkhead of the Phantom she found herself in was Shress, who had her own battle going on in her head.
'Why?' The question she kept asking herself, 'Why, why, why, why did you do that!?' Her open-ended questions were left unanswered.
She was taken completely off guard by Michael's sudden show of affection. When he hugged her she felt stunned, but what made her worry was the strange feeling that rose within her, a feeling that made her put her arms around the human and return the embrace.
She didn't like the hug; she loved it.
For the first time in a long time she felt comforted. She felt reassured within the human's arms–even happy. His scent was so alien, yet she found herself longing for it, the strange aroma of damp soil. In that moment she just wanted to go with him, to run away from the Covenant, to feel safe. Without her realizing it, in that quick moment, she buried her head into Michael's neck. In that instant, she unknowingly began to rely on his presence and comfort. She was sure he would have let go or be upset with her, but the fact that he didn't just sparked overwhelming interest within her.
'Why didn't he pull away? Or say something? Did he… like it too?'
Unknowingly, her hand moved to the small satchel on her belt and soon she felt her fingers playing with Michael's necklace. She let this continue for a unit before she withdrew her hand. For some reason, the simple contact with Michael's necklace somehow calmed her nerves.
Her thinking was interrupted when she heard the pilot speak, "Reviving Faith, we are on final approach, are we clear to land?"
"You are clear brother," replied the transmitter.
Shress tried to calm herself, but panic began to take over. She was about to re-enter the Covenant, now with a serious act of heresy hanging over her head. The Phantom pilot was already suspicious of Shress's survival; he saw her staying behind on the corvette and didn't believe her story when she claimed she escaped in a landing pod when no one else did. To make matters worse, they were about to dock on the Reviving Faith, the Prophet of Regret's personal flag ship.
She was starting to regret turning down Michael's offer and wished she was anywhere but here. As she waited for the ship to dock she began to wonder where her human friend was now.
Six POV
Six was enveloped in silence as the Pelican flew him to his next objective. He tried to take a nap but couldn't, adrenaline had been pumping through his veins for what felt like days now, which was true. He went from raiding an alien ship in space, to tumbling out of the sky, to engaging in brutal warfare with a fully armed and fully equipped Covenant army in less than forty-eight hours. The fact that Brutes were involved wasn't helping either.
Six let out a sigh and glanced out of the rear porthole of the Pelican. It was a sad sight. He was flying well over the skyscrapers but that was the scary part; there were only skyscrapers, anything less than fifty feet off the ground was shrouded in smoke and dust. The dark sky and the setting sun added a frightening effect to the land, as if the sky was now being set on fire. He watched as one large building, owned by one bank or another from the looks of it, shuddered before collapsing, causing another cloud of dust and smoke to rise from the ruined city below.
The death of Jorge, the failure in stopping the Covenant from arriving, and the thousands of civilians that were dead or dying weighed heavily on the Spartan, yet as he looked to the floor of the Pelican, he knew there was something else that was occupying his mind.
Shress.
This was the second time they had parted after he had offered her to come with him and once again she refused. Shress had her reasons, and they were sound by all accounts, but he still didn't like it. Especially now, with the newly arrived Covenant fleet, he wonders how long their friendship will last and if the Covenant will notice Shress's strange activities; would it be possible for the aliens to learn of their friendship?
He realized they still had not created a method of communicating with each other. He was starting to wish more than ever that he gave her his radio instead of his tags.
His mind soon turned to the hug they had shared nearly an hour ago. He had yet to learn what made him place his arms around the Sangheili and why he felt the way he did when the two were close.
I need to get to a doctor, was his first thought. He had no idea if this was some sort of poisoning or something else entirely.
"Sir," the pilot suddenly called over his comms, "We are approaching the RV point."
Six replied with a quick, "Roger," before standing and shouldering his assault rifle.
Soon they came swooping in over an apartment building, but Six could see by the UNSC personnel and the military-grade equipment that it had been converted into an outpost. Without the Pelican stopping, Six stepped forwards and jumped off the aircraft, landing on the rooftop with little effort.
As he stood up, he saw a familiar figure walking towards him and, for a moment, Six felt his gut twist with anxiety. Walking towards him was Carter, decked out in his MJOLNIR armor, complete with a rifle on his back. The two Spartans assessed each other before Carter continued his approach.
Six dreaded this moment all day; he had no idea what to say to Carter. He promised the commander that he would ensure Jorge would survive. What was he going to say, how was Carter going to react when he learned Jorge sacrificed himself and Six only watched?
When Carter stood in front of him, Six took a deep breath and was about to speak, when Carter draped an arm around him and pulled Six towards a ramp, leading to the helipad on the very top of the building.
"Good to see you alive, Six," Carter said in a strange voice, as if the Spartan couldn't tell whether he was proud or sad, "Glad to see that OP went well… up until the end that is."
Six could only nod in agreement. Carter knew Jorge was gone, but he doesn't know the details. Six took a deep breath and began to say, "Sir, I'm sorry, Jorge, he–"
Carter patted Six on the back and said, "Sorry, Six, but there's no time for storytelling," and pointed in front of him.
Six followed his gaze and saw a single Falcon in front of them, with two troopers prepping it for takeoff and reloading the weapon systems.
Six glanced back to Carter who said, "Kat needs your help. Covenant have set up jammers all over the city. It's preventing us from coordinating a counter-offensive."
Six detected a hint of anger at the end of the sentence, "So Two's going to provide you coordinates to the jammers, and you're going to take them out. Clear?"
He looked to the Falcon, examining the singular piece of military equipment at his disposal before turning back to Carter. "Crystal, sir."
"Sorry Six, but this is all we have, all Sparrow Hawks and Hornets are providing CASEVACS and running OPs, along with the rest of Noble team and the ODSTs."
Six nodded again; he'll make it work, despite the fact that he didn't feel up to being in charge again, he was determined to do all he can to keep these troopers alive.
He was about to walk forward when Carter laid a hand on Six's shoulder and spoke quietly even though they were still speaking on a private channel, as if he was afraid someone was listening in, "Have you gotten any more Intel from that… informant?"
Again Six shook his head, suddenly feeling too miserable to speak, and truth be told, he was trying to save some of his pride. It would be humiliating to admit to Carter he had forgotten to figure a way to speak to Shress again.
Carter responded, "It doesn't matter, at least now we have a little more hope now than we did before." Despite the words, Carter didn't sound like he believed in what he was saying.
Six walked away, suddenly wanting to be back in battle, a place where, ironically, he could escape the troubles his mind was causing him.
"It's good to have you back, lieutenant," Carter added as an afterthought.
Six stopped, turned to face Carter, and muttered, "Sorry I came alone."
"Make him proud."
Six turned to his Falcon. Seeing the advancing Spartan, the two pilots jumped in the back of the vehicle and took up positions behind the mounted machine guns hanging on either side. Six briefly addressed one of them positioned on the right side of the Falcon before jumping into the pilot seat of the aircraft and starting the rotors.
The Falcon was one of the few vehicles Six found easy to pilot. He initiated a full systems check. After a quick examination, he found that everything was fueled up and weapons systems were fully loaded. Steadily, he began raising the Falcon's altitude until they were hovering a few feet in the air. Six pushed the stick forward and soon they were flying over the decimated city.
Once he was confident that they could maintain their altitude, he got on his comms. "Kat, it's Six. Carter told me there's some jammers you need me to destroy?"
"Copy, Six." Kat's voice came over the frequency. "Sending you the coordinates to the first jammer now."
Almost instantly a blue marker appeared on Six's HUD, "Coordinates received, heading to objective."
"Roger that Lieutenant. Good hunting."
Shress POV
Shress was exhausted by the day's events. Her wounds were fully healed, but an overwhelming exhaustion threatened to take over. Unwilling to delay her tasks any longer, she was quick to perform her duties in order to attempt to get some rest.
Eventually, one of her tasks required her attention on the bridge. Arriving quietly, she was glad to see the Prophet was nowhere in sight before beginning to talk to one of the technicians, requesting for vital information on her legion of warriors. She was dismayed to learn they were still on the human held planet but was reassured that they will return soon. As she was going over casualty reports, the Shipmaster took notice of her and walked over.
"Zealot," he said, though she noticed there was a sort of edge to his voice, as if it pained him to say the word.
"Yes, Shipmaster," she returned, trying to hide the fatigue in her voice.
"The Prophet requested an audience with you. Do you not remember?"
Shress retained a growl before saying, "I'm much too tired to appear before the Prophet. If you could explain this to him–"
The Shipmaster interrupted her, "Just because you lack proper sleep, female, doesn't mean you can defy the orders of a Prophet."
Shress felt her own rage boiling and challenged, "I've been fighting demons, surviving the destruction of our ships, and been fighting on the front lines for days, whereas you, shipmaster, have been sitting on this ship doing nothing like a coward!"
The Shipmaster let out a roar, unhooked his energy sword and activated it. Shress jumped back and unclipped her own blade, the hiss of the ignited plasma resounding through the room. The entire deck became deathly silent as Sangheili and Unggoy alike watched in horrid fascination at what would most assuredly be a duel worth remembering.
Slowly the two combatants began circling one another, like the predators that inhabited their world. The Shipmaster's golden armor had the same strength as Shress's crimson one making it an even fight.
Finally the Shipmaster ceased his movement and Shress stopped as well. They stared at one another, daring the other to move. Taking initiative, the Shipmaster roared and leapt forward. Shress responded in kind. The Shipmaster's blade went low to slice Shress's belly while her swords were criss-crossed to slash open the Shipmaster's armor.
"Stop, both of you!" A withered yet strong voice commanded.
The two Sangheili froze, both recognizing the voice. They deactivated their weapons before falling into a reflexive bow. All throughout the deck, the other occupants lowered their heads respectfully as the speaker entered the room.
Floating in a hover chair, rising off the ground by a unit was the High Prophet of Regret himself. He was old, yet he was still able to hold himself up high, proudly supporting the ceremonial crown placed on his head. His small body was encased in ancient holy garments that were rumored to have been based on the Forerunner's design decorating High Charity. Flanking the Prophet's hover chair were two of his Sangheili honor guards, holding up energy spears, with their bodies adorned in the highly honored colors of red and gold.
Slowly, the Prophet guides his hover vehicle forward, using his long boney fingers to control it.
As they approached, Shress felt her body beginning to shiver as she realized the moment she dreaded had arrived. Others of her race yearned to seek an audience with one of the holy Prophets. What would have once been feelings of honor and awe were replaced with feelings of dread and despair. She knew that fighting the humans was wrong, and it was the Prophets who had given the order to wage war against humanity. Now, she was about to face Regret, the military leader of the Covenant himself, and the one who was the most notorious when it came to punishing heretics.
Her cowering increased upon remembering the tales she had grown up listening to. She thought of the stories of how the Prophets could see into the future. How they could give unimaginable rewards to those most faithful to their cause, or how they enjoyed butchering any poor fool who denied their teachings. She wished more than ever now that she had never returned to the fleet.
She kept her head lowered and tried to quell her fear. She had no idea how long the silence lasted before the Prophet finally spoke, "Rise, my child."
Out of the corner of her eye, Shress saw the Shipmaster getting back on his feet when Regret spoke again, "Not you."
The Shipmaster froze, most likely out of shock, before bending down again. Realizing she was the one that the Prophet wanted to stand, Shress took in a deep breath before slowly rising to her feet, and was careful to keep her eyes focused on the purple floor. It was custom for a female not to look a male in the eye as if they were equals, she was not sure if the Prophets follow the same system, but Shress wasn't willing to take that risk.
"What is your name, my child?" Regret's voice was now barely a whisper, but it sent chills down her spine.
She gulped before answering, "Shress La'Vdamee, honorable high Prophet."
There was a moment of quiet before the voice said, "Raise your head."
Shress slowly raised her head and looked at the Prophet. They were almost eye to eye, but Regret's hover chair gave him more purchase, forcing her to look up into his dark eyes. His brownish-gray skin was sagging and his pointed teeth mixed with his dark eyes gave him an appearance more threatening than a messenger of the gods probably should be.
She felt his eyes scanning her, learning everything from her before returning his gaze back to her eyes. She represses a shiver as she gazes into them; they were like two deep holes in the ground, dark, mysterious and deadly.
Regret broke eye contact, spun his chair around, and began to float away again, but called behind him, "Walk with me Zealot."
Shress followed, holstering her weapon as she went and tried to keep a reasonable distance between the Prophet and herself. They made their way out of the command deck and began walking down the corridor.
"Tell me my child," Regret began talking again, "I've been informed you desire nothing more than to prove your worth to the Covenant, is that correct?"
Shress tried her best to keep the tremor out of her voice, "Yes, Holy One. This has always been my dream since I was young."
"Is it because you wish to keep your family's warrior tradition alive or merely for your own self-interest?"
"Yes and no, Holy One. I wish to keep my family heritage alive, but I also wish to be a warrior to… to ensure I'm not courted."
Regret chuckles at this, "You wish to keep your family lineage alive and yet you refuse to give birth to your future children?"
Now she was on the verge of letting her cowering show, did he not know of her condition? It had been a family secret, there was no way he could know, but she tried her best to humor the Prophet.
"When you say it that way it does seem odd, but I wish not to be pursued at the moment, at least not until I ensure my family name is to be remembered for generations to come."
Shress tried to keep the bitter note out of her voice, with her new alliance with Michael, ensuring her family name to be remembered was now just a dream, if she was ever discovered for her heresy, then her name will be dishonored with no way for her family to ever redeem themselves.
Regret suddenly glanced at Shress, causing her to panic. 'Did he know what I was thinking? Is it true that the Prophets can read the minds of mere mortals?'
"I've been told you have had numerous encounters with…the demons," he hissed in a cursive manner.
'Oh Gods,' Shress thought to herself, 'Does he know? Why else would he bring that specific subject up?'
"Yes, Prophet, the demons have been numerous and they have become a nuisance whenever we conduct our military operations."
Regret stopped his chair and turned his full attention to Shress as he asked, "And do you believe the demons should all be exterminated from this, and every other world?"
'He knows,' the small voice kept repeating within Shress's head, 'He knows about Michael, why else would he be asking these sorts of questions?'
"Well," Shress began, "To be truthful, sire, since the demons are allies of the humans, don't you think we could offer them the allegiance of the Covenant? Having them as allies could be very useful."
Regret's eyes bulged as he said, "Most certainly not!" His voice was scornful. He leaned in close as he spoke again, "My child, you do not know what you are asking. It is through the divine power of the gods that I was enabled to glimpse what lies beneath that accursed armor. There is no creature within that metal shell worth bargaining with, only monsters, beasts that humans have created to fight for them, demons with no consciousness, no soul, and deserve no mercy."
He paused, then resumed his speech in an icy tone.
"They must all be exterminated. They are too dangerous to be left alive and that, my child, is why we do not negotiate with such monstrosities. Do you understand?"
Shress remained silent as she took in the revelation. What Michael said was true; the Prophets, their supposed link to the gods…were liars. She had personally seen demons up close and saw them take off their armor. They were not monsters, but humans, prepared to defend their homeland as readily as any Sangheili would be. Was this why they weren't allowed to study the human race, because if they did, the Covenant would realize the Prophets were deceiving them?
Shress felt very exposed at the moment. She wanted to run, to hide, to leave the Covenant and never return. But for the moment she was stuck, with one of the Covenant's main leaders floating in front of her.
She then realized Regret was waiting for her to answer, so she lowered her head and said, "Yes Holy One, I understand. The demons must die."
She looked up and her fear increased tenfold. Regret was smiling at her.
"Good, my child, now follow me. There is one last thing for you to do." With that he began floating back to the main deck, with a terrified Shress following loosely behind.
Six POV
The plasma turrets fired their volley in one last attempt to defend their objective, but the powerful cannons of the Falcon blew them away. With the small landing pad now clear, Six lowered the aircraft onto the landing zone that was precariously placed on the side of the building. According to Kat, this was the place where the Covenant was protecting their last jamming device.
Six jumped out of the pilot seat and unslung his rifle. Behind him he heard the troopers dismounting as well, but Six ordered them to stay and protect the Falcon. One of the troopers groaned before saying, "But sir, you had us sit out on the last two engagements."
Six turned to face her. Unknown to the soldier, he was smiling underneath his helmet; her spunk reminded the Spartan of the same determination that Shress possessed. "Sorry, but I need to make this quick. Keep our LZ clear." He ordered, probably a bit lighter in tone then he usually would.
They just lowered their heads and resumed their positions behind the two mounted guns on the Falcon. Six knew they wanted some action, he wasn't trying to be a glory hound, but he was determined not to let these troopers die like those that were under his command back on the Long Night of Solace.
With his thoughts settled and concerns for the trooper's safety assuaged, Six made his way into the skyscraper.
Six moved slowly into the tower, mindful of his surroundings. There were two fountains that created a man-made waterfall on either side of a large staircase in front of Six. In front of the stairs was a large holo-projector, showing the latest model of a frigate. Six passed the ghostly green image and made his way to the back of the room where two elevators were waiting.
He was almost to the stairs when he found himself in the middle of an ambush. Without warning, a wave of destruction erupted on either side of the Spartan. Reacting quickly to the threat, Six planted his fist into the ground as crystal spikes flew towards him, energy beams cut through the air and the bright green bolts of energy rods followed closely behind. They all hit their target at once, and Noble Six was consumed in an explosive display of colors.
Sure of their victories, the two Jackals, Grunts, and Brutes came out of their hiding places to see what was left of the Spartan. They all let out cries of amazement to see the form of Noble Six still whole, crouched in a feeble position with a glowing white energy around him.
Noticing the attackers were now in the open, Six powered off his armor lock system. This caused a large flare to erupt, releasing the energy built up in the plasma weapons, stunning and blinding the aliens.
As they recoiled in pain and surprise, Six rolled backwards and came back up throwing grenades to either side of the stairwell and blasting his assault rifle at the nearest Brute. The grenades erupted and easily consumed the Grunts and Jackals, but the Brutes were still standing, save for one who was injured.
The Spartan was desperately trying to reload his weapon when the Brutes struck out again. The injured ape-like alien jumped forward, going "berserk." Six waited, anticipating the berserkers movements before jumping to the left of the rampaging monster. While in mid-air Six quickly removed his magnum, bringing it up and firing without aiming at the uninjured brute. One bullet disposed of the shields, while the remaining five rounds blew their way into the alien's brain.
Six landed, rolled and came up in a kneeling stance, this time taking out his rifle and scanning for the remaining Brute. It wasn't long before the berserk creature made its way back to Six. The Spartan took aim and fired a full magazine at the monster's head until it was completely obliterated. The body stumbled and fell to the floor skidding to a stop at the Spartans feet.
Satisfied that he neutralized all threats in the area, Six turned and made his way to the elevators. Surprisingly, even through the destruction of the city around them, the elevators were still in working order. Six entered the clear glass cart, clicked the holographic commands and soon he was speeding upwards. As he ascended, music began to drift from the speakers, surprising the Spartan. Reach could be facing the end of its days, and yet this small elevator in the corner of the world was still playing "flip" music.
Finally he reached the top floor, where the jamming frequencies were being emitted. The doors opened, and Six quickly stepped out. Scanning his surroundings, the Spartan was surprised to find no immediate threats.
The place had a sort of Asian Zen look to it. There were small artificial ponds built into the ground, ramps that led to upper levels where he could see a viewing platform with mounted binoculars, and paper screens like the ones the ancient Japanese use for walls and doors were spread out all over the place.
What ruined the picture was again the evidence of war. There were bodies of UNSC troops littered throughout the room, some on the floor, some against the wall, and one body hanging grotesquely off a nearby ramp. Six shook his head sadly before pushing forward. There was no time to mourn, he had to complete his mission.
His HUD was indicating the jammer is right in front of him, probably toward the back of the room. Six checked every nook and cranny, but found nothing. As far as he could tell, there was no sign of Covenant forces in the area. The lack of hostile aliens was disturbing to Six, as he was certain the UNSC soldiers surely didn't all drop dead by themselves. He knew the brutes didn't do this; they would have mauled and devoured the bodies…
… So if they didn't commit the massacre, then who did?
It wasn't long until he finally reached his objective. Before him sat the jammer; glowing purple with bright holographic images floating all around it in an eerie electric blue atmosphere. Now familiar with the Covenant device after destroying two others, Six walked forward and laid his hand on the primary console. The bright lights instantly died out and the blue aura faded away.
Somehow, like it was on a queue, Six was when he was ambushed the moment the device was disabled.
Switching off the device caused an entire swarm of drones to crawl out of every air vent in the immediate area. The bug-like aliens were a menace, fighting in swarms. They were easy to pick off with a rifle from a distance, but up close they were efficient killers. A moment of silence came and went as Six sat there watching the bugs emerge from what seemed like everywhere with only one thought in his mind.
Oh you've got to be kidding me!
The Spartan started firing all around as he ran through a seemingly endless cloud of bugs. He felt the talons clawing at his armor, his shields flaring every time he was hit by plasma and the occasional bump as a drone rammed itself into Six's body. The only way Six could fight back against the cloud was by shooting anywhere and everywhere as green blood splattered against his armor. He also fought back by striking out at any flying insect that got in his way, hitting it with either a fist or a foot, whichever was more convenient.
Six stumbled, tripped and ran through paper walls as his vision was blinded by the flustering swarm of the aliens. Against all odds, Six fell into the elevator car, still surrounded by bugs. Six found the switch and pressed the "down" button. The door wouldn't close since there was an occasional bug in the way of the closing door, forcing Six to swat them out of the way. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting the buzzing insects, he finally managed to throw one of the damned creatures out of the doorway so it could close and it begin its descent back down.
Six took out his Magnum and shot the remaining drones that trapped themselves in the car with Six. Soon, the Spartan was ankle deep in alien corpses. As Six struggled to catch his breath, he heard the flip music still playing. For some reason, sudden agitation fueled Six and he shot the speaker, ceasing the music.
I've had enough surprises for one day.
The door opened, and again Six was slow as he stepped out of the elevator, fully scanning his surroundings and making absolutely sure there weren't any unaccounted for air vents. Once sure that there were no more hostiles, he knew the area was secure he sprinted out of the building. He continued until he was back on the helipad and jumped in the cockpit of the Falcon.
"Good shooting in there?" asked one of the troopers.
Six shook his head, gritting his teeth before responding with a quick, "You have no idea."
He restarted the rotors and soon, they were back in the air. Once Six was sure they were as safe as they were going to get, he got on comms and radioed in, "Kat, this is Six, last jammer neutralized, over."
"Roger that Six, RV back at Olympus—" there was a sudden explosion and Kat let out a sharp cry.
"Kat! Kat, what's happening?"
He heard Noble Two cough before saying, "Six, we got an entire squadron of airborne Covenant assaulting Olympus Tower. We could really use some help."
Six punched the accelerators and quickly said, "I'm on my way."
Shress POV
Shress nervously waited by the Prophet's side as the Shipmaster repositioned the ship as Regret had instructed him to do. Shress glanced nervously at the honor guards flanking her, their battle ready stance did little to reassure her that she wasn't in trouble.
Finally the Shipmaster stepped away from the main console, bowed to Regret and said, "It is done, Sire. We are now positioned over the human city."
'Human city?' Wondered Shress, 'Is Regret planning on sending more troops to the ground?'
"Excellent work, Shipmaster, Voro" the Prophet said. "Now power the cleansing beam."
At this everyone in the room looked to the Prophet in confusion. It was Voro who voiced their question.
"Now sire?" he asked in genuine confusion, "Should we not contact Supreme Commander 'Vadamee and wait until the other ships were in position?"
Regret shook his head, "This isn't an ordinary planet Shipmaster. Remember, the Navigator is buried in this world. We must be careful not to damage it. Which means this will have to be a precise cleansing maneuver."
Voro nodded his head before turning back to the console and began preparing the energy projector while barking orders to command the ground troops to evacuate the city.
The Prophet of Regret chuckled and turned to Shress, "New Alexandria…" He said lightly, "Can you believe how primitive these humans name their cities, Zealot?"
Shress opened and closed her mandibles, trying to speak, but couldn't. New Alexandria; the place where she last saw Michael. Was this all a coincidence as Michael would call it, or could the Prophet really read minds and exploit the thinkers' thoughts? As much as she wanted to deny it, it just seemed too much to accept. Regret wanted to glass a city, yet out of all of them he randomly chose the one where Michael was? It all just seemed impossible.
Soon fear and anxiety began to build as she realized her human friend was in danger and was about to feel the true power of the Covenant fleet. Her heart was beating faster than normal and her throat suddenly felt dry as she realized she was about to witness Michael's death just units above him…
And there is nothing I can do about it.
Voro turned to the Prophet and said, "We are now directly over the city, and the beam is prepared. Shall we begin?"
Then, to everyone's astonishment, Regret shook his head, "My apologies Shipmaster, I know you enjoy destroying the heretics, but today, I've decided to have the Zealot here," he gestures to Shress idly with a quick gesture with his thumb, "Rid us of our enemies."
Shress felt as if her whole world was collapsing around her. Not only was she going to lose Michael. She was to be the one to kill him.
She looked to the Prophet and saw that he was smiling at her again. 'He knows,' she thought, 'somehow he knows and now he's going to make me suffer for it by having me kill my friend.'
"Holy One," she said in what she hopes was a confident voice, "You honor me with your words, but I cannot possibly deprive the shipmaster from the glory he rightfully deserves."
Out of the corner of her eye, Shress saw Shipmaster Voro's eyes widen. He didn't expect the female he almost dueled to offer him an opportunity for glory that she would most likely never receive again.
Regret shook his head, "No, you shall be the one to cleanse this land," he leaned close to her again and said, "You did say you were willing to wipe out the demons, did you not?"
'So he does know that Michael is in the city.' Shress was now feeling as if she was about to gut out her own heart as she slowly nodded.
Regret gestured to the console, "Then take your place at the console and ensure your family name will be remembered by all for generations to come."
Six POV
Six blasted away at the Phantom until it finally exploded while his small squad fired at the incoming Banshees trying to flank them. The Spartan pulled hard on the stick and twirled the Falcon around until they were at a better angle and continued shooting down the enemy aircraft.
But there were too many. Dozens of Phantoms and twice as many Banshees had surrounded Olympus Tower and were laying siege to it.
The Falcon had already taken a beating, plasma burned into the steel of the helicopter as the humans put up a valiant fight. As Six was thinking this, a line of plasma shot out of nowhere and hit the blast shields of the cockpit, shattering the glass and exposing him to the chaos around him.
"Carter!" Six desperately called. "We aren't going to last much longer out here. We need support. Now!"
"Sorry, Six, We don't have any more birds to spare. We can't—"
Suddenly the shooting stopped. Six looked around and saw that the Covenant forces were now retreating; the Phantoms and the Banshees were flying away from the tower at a fast speed. Behind him, Six could hear the two troopers stop shooting as well, probably to gawk at the sight of the withdrawing Covenant forces.
First one, then two, then what seems like every human being on Reach began cheering, "We're alive!" "We've won," "Look at them run!" "Oorah!"
However, Six, nor any of the rest of Noble team, joined in; they were all thinking the same thing.
The Covenant were about to win. The UNSC in this area were done for… so why did they retreat?
Six landed the Falcon on Olympus tower and hopped out. He glanced behind him and saw that the Trooper's followed suit, both still grinning ear to ear.
"Find your original squads and report in." He ordered them, his tone quiet as he tried to make sense of the situation.
"Yes sir!" they said in unison, before taking off.
Walking down the hallway of the temporary field office of Naval Intelligence. He should be happy; he completed his personal goal and kept his two pilots alive and got the mission done. Yet what stopped him from celebrating was the age old question he'd been asking himself over and over again: what was the Covenant up to?
He entered a room and was welcomed with a familiar sight. Inside was Noble Team. Jun held his sniper rifle low to the floor, his helmet off, looking through some binoculars. Emile sat near the back of the room, sharpening his knife. His ritual whenever he got bored. Carter and Kat meanwhile were by an old console, with Kat working on it and Carter staring out the window.
Almost immediately Six felt the absence of Jorge and felt a lump in his chest. Noble Five was a big part of Noble team, his strong stoic yet reassuring self was like the spirit of Noble team. Now it was gone, as if the only thing that could be counted as a soul in the Spartan group was now and forever more missing.
"Man it's getting bad out there." Six turned to see Jun still gazing out the window, he wasn't sure if he made a noise or just stood there, but suddenly Jun turned around and said, "Hey, you made it."
Six reached into his pocket and retrieved Jorge's dog tags. He was about to toss them to Carter when Emile said, "Naw, keep it," Six glanced at Noble Four who just said, "He gave it to you, best if you hung on to them, right?"
This must be some sort of ritual Six wasn't told about so he just pocketed the tags again.
Carter looked up and said, "Great job Six, I'm glad things went well today… and that you did your best yesterday."
Before Six could comment, somebody let out a laugh, a foreign sound in their depressed environment. The team all looked to stare at Emile who was still laughing, "Yeah, big man always did say he was willing to give his life for the UNSC."
Carter then stepped forward, his confident voice returning, "He gave his life believing he was saving the planet, an example we all should look upon."
"So that's it then," Kat asked, "Just give up?"
Carter turned to her, "Is that a way of asking if we're losing?"
"I know we're losing," defended Kat. "I just want to know if we lost."
Carter didn't answer, but before anyone could say anything else there was sudden static and a familiar voice could be heard.
"Who is that?" Carter suddenly demanded.
"It's Colonel Holland," replied Kat, looking confused herself, "What's he doing on an open channel?"
Kat cleaned up the signal and this time Six was able to hear the Colonel, "-outhwest quadrant of the city. Sierra two-five-nine, if you are receiving, I am authorizing override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."
Carter walks up to Kat and asks, "Can they trace this signal?"
Kat looks at him, shrugged and says, "I could."
"Noble," Holland's voice cracked over the radio waves again, "This is a priority one hail. If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."
Kat held up a small comms earpiece and simply said, "Keep it brief."
Carter took the piece and started talking to the colonel. Six and the rest of Noble team watch silenty, waiting, trying to listen in on the message.
Suddenly Kat called, "Radiation flare, big!"
Carter turns to her and says, "I've just lost Holland, what's going on?"
"Atomic excitement scrambled the signal," responded Kat as she typed in her data pad, seemingly becoming more frantic the longer she looked.
"Source?" demands Carter.
Finally turning around to look out the window, Kat began to search for something only she knew of. "Airborne, close!"
Carter, continuing to meet her eyes, continued to get as much tactical knowledge as he could. "How close?"
Suddenly a large beam of crimson power came crashing to the surface, easily visible to everyone within the city. The pressure was too great as it blasted the window to pieces and blew Noble Team to the ground. Six's helmet began to polarize to cope with the bright light but it was too bright for any of his settings.
"That close!" Yelled Kat even as the Spartans all got on their feet and ran to the back of the room. Their emergency escape route was a pair of elevators that led back down to the surface. Emile, Jun, and Carter ran into one while Six and Kat ran into the other.
Kat closes the door and looks to Six. She couldn't see his face but must be feeling the same rush she was experiencing as well, "First glassing?" Before he responded she said, "Me too," as she replaced her helmet.
As they made their way downwards, Emile began talking on Noble Team's private channel, "So where are we going now?"
"Command is sending us back to Sword base," was Carter's answer.
"Sword?" asked a dumbfounded Jun, "The Covenant own it now!"
Their elevator hit the ground first and they ran out, running to a UNSC emergency fallout bunker that was established in case of glassing. While those sorts of bunkers rarely worked in cases of extreme glassing, right now it was their only hope.
As they ran, Carter explained the orders he had given just moments before, "Which is why Holland is sending us back in, we are to torch any and all critical data, anything that is deemed too valuable to fall into Covenant hands."
Six and Kat's elevator finally made it down. They sprinted after their teammates, bringing up the rear as Kat said, "Where does he get off calling a demolition-op a priority one—"
She didn't finish her sentence.
It sounded like a shard of glass shattering against the floor below, but Six knew better. He had heard that sound a hundred times before, and somehow he knew, just knew, the shot found its mark. Feeling a weight drop on top of him forcing him down to the ground, Six reflexively grabbed hold of it without even thinking. With growing horror, he realized the weight was Kat. Coming face to face, he saw a smoking hole directly in the middle of her faceplate, stained blood from the inside.
The Covenant crystal did what it always did, and there wasn't much left inside. Even in that moment, he was at least glad she didn't see it coming.
Six reacted, quickly grabbing Kat's magnum before pointing it in the direction he thought the shot came from. In the air right over his head was a Covenant phantom, the sniper still standing in the side hatch of a phantom. Anger filling him, he opened fire, idly noting that his shots were wildly inaccurate as his hand shook. Noble Team joined in, firing their rifles, forcing the ship away. The threat gone, Noble team back into the bunker and Carter shouted, "Come on, get in here, now!"
With that Six grabbed Kat's body and dragged her over the threshold of the bunker, just as the blast doors moved horizontally towards each other and sealed the team off from the destruction that was now engulfing the world.
Shress POV
Shress felt her hands shaking as she removed them from the console and forced herself to look up at the screen.
The city was now in smoky ruin. Almost all the tall towers had crumbled and a large expanse of molten orange glass covered the land. For a brief moment, night turned into day as pure energy rained from the Reviving Faith and incinerated the city. The dark clouds that hovered over the city departed before the blast and were now being blown away by the wind. The surface was still red hot, and carved onto the land was a large circle with three slashes running through the middle; the hieroglyph for the La'Vdamee family.
The entire bridge crew stood and cheered, praising her for cleansing the world below of heretics. She knew that she was the first female to ever glass a planet, something she has been striving for her whole military career at this point, but despite all that…
… She felt absolutely miserable.
Shress bowed her head and made her way to the Prophet who was grinning quite broadly at her. She kept her head down, hoping the wretched being before her wouldn't see the despair in her eyes.
"May I get some rest now, Holy One?" She asked in a genuinely tired voice.
She heard Regret reply, "Of course! Your room is in the officer's corridor, third door on the left."
Shress only nodded, not trusting herself to speak for fear of what would come out of her mouth. She walked to the portal and just as it unraveled itself to permit her to enter, Regret called out "La'Vdamee."
She turned, still not meeting the Prophet's gaze, "I hope you know any allegiance formed without the consent of the Covenant is often met with death, but in my experience, some exceptions can be made… So long as the person learns their lesson. Wouldn't you agree?"
Shress nodded before making her way sluggishly out of the room. She let out her held breath and walked quickly to her assigned room. Once there, she entered and locked the doorway behind her. She didn't inspect her room as she walked towards the bed, only unclipped her belt of weapons and put it on the table beside the cot before collapsing onto the bed. Absent-mindedly, she reached for her belt and retrieved one object from her pouch; Michael's necklace.
She glanced at it once, causing the silent tears to fall. She placed the metallic necklace against her shivering form, as she tried to breath in the remnants of Michael's scent.
She whispered, "I'm sorry" as if Michael could hear her through the necklace. "I'm so… So sorry."
Six POV
The dawn brought orange light upon the burnt land, causing the light's reflections to shine off of the now glassed land. The city lay in ruins, nothing but rubble and a few remaining bones of now deceased people remained.
Suddenly, from a collapsed building, a small pile of housing material began to shake. Slowly, but eventually, the rubble was shifted aside and out crawled a Spartan. Soon another followed suit, then a third, finally a fourth, carrying a limp body with him.
The four Spartans all stood tall and turned their eyes to the destroyed city as the sun revealed the newly formed glass. As they stared at the destruction, one of them noticed an aircraft in the distance and casually popped a red flare and flung it down the hill. The aircraft, a Pelican zeroed in on the smoke and landed slowly, the Spartan walked forward to escape the horror of the glassing.
Six paused at the ramp and looked back at the razed city. This was where he lost his second teammate. Filled with determination, he looked to his remaining squad, resolved not to lose another friend.
He glanced up towards space.
Not a single one.
-Author's Note-
Hope you enjoy the chapter. Sorry for posting so late, but time really does get away from me sometimes. Id like to thank all my editors for keeping me on track sometimes. :D - PyreElegy
Hey everyone, uhhh, Cool k love you bye. P.S. he's lying, he's playing destiny too much -Daffy
Yeah that's true. -Pyre