Chapter 17: High Nightmares Pt 1
Within a day, everyone rested up from the big mission of fighting Promethean forces, and their new Prelate units made from Prophets transformed into metal constructs to serve the god they loved so much.
Alisa is walking with May, a tall lean blond woman with deathly pale white skin only wearing the tech suit. "Good to know, you are being transferred onto the Eternity. We lost a few Spartan 2s via the Prometheans," Alisa said.
"It's regrettable but I am here now. We will get through this Six, it will be like old time," May said as the taller woman went away with Alisa joining with her Elite teammates.
Alisa, Sage, Sela, and Vala were in the shooting range practicing with Sword weaponry. "This is concerning, the Didact is getting stronger by the day both in space and on the ground," Sage said.
"Along with his new second in command the Warden. I don't like this," Alisa said as she was only in her tank top and pants to wield a Pulse Carbine to land several bursts onto the moving targets.
"The Prophets are gone now. Becoming slaves to the Forerunners, a well-deserved punishment that fits the crime," Sela said holding onto a Storm Rifle to send out rapid shots onto the targets.
"Is it funny learning that your gods were corrupted jerks," Alisa said as Sela sighed at this.
"It is, we used to worship them and killed countless species in their name. Makes it so pointless," Sela said.
"The truth blinded us but now we know. We can properly move to a brighter future," Vala said to hold onto her Needle Rifle to strike the targets.
"The Swords are trying head to make Sanghelios better but some people still cling to the past," Sela said
"The Storm needs to be stopped. Then the people of the Sangheili can heal," Sage said.
"Well said Sage. We are putting AI development into our military system like the UNSC. The Covenant were foolish to not use AI," Sela said.
"Why didn't you all don't use AI?" Sage asked with a curious look on her small face.
"Well, the records of the Forerunners said about one of their own AI betraying them when fighting the Flood. The Prophets put caps on us using advanced AI, only using very simple Dumb AI," Sela said.
"We are righting those wrongs and changing up our military allowing us to creep up on the Storm and Jul's ambitions. He is not getting away with this," Vala said to pierce into the targets.
"I wonder something. What was High Charity like, I always hear about it but never seen it?" Alisa questioned.
"It was a beautiful work of art. A true city in the heavens but it was filled with lies. Hiding the grossness of the Prophets and their betrayal of our species. The site for the Great Schism whose effects are still affecting us even now with the Storm and the Banished. Two sections of the Covenants that need to die," Sela said.
"Where were you when it happened?" Alisa asked curious.
"Well, my mission at the time was working to take on rouge elements like the Hectic on the moon or the Banished when they were much smaller than they are now. Me and Vala were going to do business on High Charity with our guards on behalf of our keeps but things went bad pretty fast," Sela said as she recalled the events that led to the nightmare which was the Great Scism.
-Flashback Begins-
Within the day November 3, 2552, the invasion of Earth is taking place with the Covenant on the verge of winning the war against Humanity. High Charity was calm as usual seemingly not caring about the battles happening across the stars. The two scions Sela and Vala were on business for their Keep within the giant space station guarded by their bodyguards consisting of 4 Slugmen Ultras and 2 Hunter Ultras.
The 6 Lekgolo constructs were clad in bright pearl white armor with the 4 Slugmen within their exo-suits sporting powerful energy shields and wielding Particle Carbines and Plasma Rifles. The 2 Hunter Ultras are equipped with powerful Assault Cannons that come in two modes. Single powerful shots and rapid-fire plasma shots are perfect for long and short ranges.
Sela and Vala were dressed in lovely dress robes framing her long strong frames. "I must say, Sela, you look very lovely," Vala said as Sela looked in the mirror to see her purple gown fitting her tall pear figure pretty well especially her round rear, wipe hips, big thick thighs, and lean torso.
"Thank you, you look nice as well Vala," Sela said with her fellow noblewoman sporting a blue gown showing her long slender yet strong build.
"We got this room to wait for one of our clients to show up," Vala said as they were within a tower in High Charity.
"I can't wait. We need a drink of wine and some snacks to burn some boredom," Sela said as she sat into a soft chair to grab a glass to put in her mandibles to hold and pour down her throat. "Quite sweet indeed," she said to grab a bowl of fried meat bits to toss them into her mouth with her long tongue dragging them down her long throat.
"These are quite tasty. At least High Charity knows how to treat their guests well. So how is your mission to wipe out the Banished going?" Vala asked.
"Slow, those Brutes are dumb. I managed to kill one of their pirate leaders. Vox, a deadly Brute captain I managed to slice his head off with my blade. My keep is deeply involved in taking out rouge Sangheili who work with those savages," Sela said tossing a fried bite into her mouth to let her tongue do the work.
"These Brutes always put me on edge, after what happened with Alpha Halo and the death of the Prophet of Regret. Truth is making moves to remove us from core duties within the Covenant including the Honor Guards," Vala said with the Slugmen getting anxious about this.
"Truth is getting too close with the savage Tartarus. His ambition knows no bounds," Sela said as they got their Scion combat harnesses in combat packs within the room just in case the Brutes wanted to do something stupid.
"We will be mindful. Where is our client?" Sela asked as an Elite sporting a bright orange tunic and blue leggings.
"Good evening, my fair ladies," Elite bows his head for the noblewomen.
"Good evening, you are late," Vala said.
"I am sorry, there were a bunch of Brutes trying to block my way and smirking at me. Saying weird things," the Elite said.
"What weird things?" Sela asked, curiously.
"Something about, we got what's coming to us soon with a creepy smile," the Elite said
"Bastards are blowing smoke. They need to know their place," Vala said as Sela was wary about this.
"Enough about those savages, we need to speak on business. Your father is interested in our gas mines," the Elite said.
"Of course, let's discuss. Get comfortable, we got a lot to talk about," Sela said as she felt the eyes of the man staring at her shapely waist fitted in her dress.
"Oh, you look very lovely in that dress," the Elite Broker said to gaze at her thick legs and beautiful blue skin tone. Sela said showing no interest in this male.
"Thank you, picked it out from the tailor shop. Wanted something to match with my skin tone," Sela said.
"A beautiful shade of blue scales on your person. It fits wonderfully," he said being awestruck by her beauty.
"I like the comment but we should stay focused sir," Sela said.
"Oh yeah," the broker said as the hour went back. "Well seems like we worked something out. I will hear from you later," he said still staring at her trim waist and broad hips to get out of the way.
"That man was eying you up like tasty steak," Vala said as Sela was dismissive of this.
"He only wants me for my body and my keep," Sela said.
"Well, your father is not getting any younger. People keep trying to kill him and now the males are trying to bed you to be the new Kaidon of the Keep," Vala said.
"They will try with my four cold dead thumbs," Sela said, standing at the window to see the lovely sight of the city in High Charity. "It's a real shame about the humans, they would be great to join us," Sela said as throughout the years she has grown a fondness for Humanity's combat skill, courage, and determination in the face of their destruction against the Covenant.
"I doubt it, the Prophets call them heretics," Vala said as Sela didn't like this answer.
"Yet other species were dubbed heretic as well and yet they join us. Something is off with all of this," she said.
"I know the feeling, Truth is speaking with the Brutes too often and with his current moves. It will sink the treaty that bonded our two species for over 3000 years," Vala said with their Slugmen and Hunters remaining cautious about their safety.
"I wish the humans would join instead of the Brutes. They have had nothing but trouble since they appeared," Sela said.
They hear the doors open behind them to see several Brutes appearing with weapons on them. "Seems nice to have wine in a fancy place like this," the Brute Caption said as his Brutes were wielding Brute Shots, Spikers, and Blood Hands.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Sela demanded as her guards were on alert to aim their weapons at them ready to protect them. The tension went up to 11 within the room.
"We are here to make sure you have a nice dirt nap. Too bad your pretty dress has to be ruined," the Brute Captain mocks her. "Men, see what you like. Kill the guards and grab the spoils. Once you are done with them, kill them off," the Captain said but he gets stabbed in the chest by a cloaked Keepward.
"The fuck?" a Brute cursed as the Elite rolls away to toss a Plasma grenade to kill off half the Brutes with the Lekgolo wiping out the rest.
"Ladies, we need to get off the station," the friendly Elite said being familiar with the two women.
"Dek, what's wrong?" Sela asked as Dek is one of her father's best men who helped protect her.
"I saw in the hallways through my cloaking. The Brutes, they were ordered by Truth to wipe us all out," he said the two were surprised and disgusted by this but felt in their two hearts this was coming.
"Damn it, they were never to be trusted and Truth. He needs to pay," Sela said feeling anger in her chest.
"We will deal with this later. Armor up, we need to fight our way back to our ship," Dek turns around for the women to get into their Scion Combat Harness.
"Oh well, killing these savages will do," Sela said as she grabbed a Plasma Repeater and a Needler along with her Energy Sword. Vala has her Pulse Carbine along with a Plasma Rifle and her own Energy Sword.
"Let's go," Sela said as she gave orders to the Two Hunter Ultras and Slugmen Ultras holding their weapons to give aid.
"Good, we got our little squad here. We can punch through and get to the docking bay," Dek is wielding a Concussion Rifle, his energy sword, and a Brute Plasma Pistol he stole off a dead Brute. "Brutish but it will do as a sidearm. Come, let's move," Dek said as the three Elites, 4 Slugmen, and 2 Hunters were coming through the hallways to hear gunfire nearby.
They see two Elites getting split in half by Brute Shots with several Brutes coming with Hunters firing powerful two fuel rod shots to take them out. A Hunter gets in front of Vala to deflect a Plasma grenade from a Grunt.
"Death to the Elites, make them suffer," Jackals wielding shields and Plasma Pistols.
"Gee, the Jackals and Grunts as well," Vala said as they got into defensive positions with Slugmen using their rifles to use their precise shots to take out Jackals while Dek fired his Concussion Rifle to fire explosive bolts of plasma to scatter the jackals to open up holes in their defenses.
The Hunter Ultra fires their fuel rod to wipe out the rest of the Jackals. "How many species stand against us?" Vala questioned to put a 5-round burst into the body of the Grunt ending his life.
"The Jackals, Brutes, and Drones are against us. The Grunts will serve whoever master they serve. Pretty whoever and the Hunters who are mostly loyal to us," Dek said as Sela looked over to see her Slugman with a Plasma Rifle pepper squad of Grunts to wipe them out.
"I always prefer the Slugmen over the Jackals and Grunts. Better soldiers, more loyal, and carry courage in battle just like the Hunters," Sela said.
"Once we deal with these traitors. It an idea would be exploring," Dek said to switch to using the Brute Plasma Pistol dubbed the Bloody Claw to fire 3 red plasma bolts to tear into the Grunts.
"Die traitors," several Grunts pull out plasma grenades to rush at them.
"Bite on this, useless idiots," Dek charges up the Bloody Claw to let out a big ball of plasma which spread into a pool of burning plasma burning the incoming Grunts to trigger the plasma grenades via the heat to set up a chain reaction to kill off over 50 Grunts.
"That is new," Sela said, surprised by the functions of the new pistol made for the Brutes and their forces.
"I saw the Brutes wielding these weapons. Must be built in secret within the depths of High Charity," Dek said.
They move towards an open section to see a horde of Drones wielding Plasma Pistols trying to kill them off.
A Hunter Ultra uses its rapid-fire mode to kill a bunch of Drones while Vala tosses a Needle Grenade to let the barrage of shards trigger a big super combine chain reaction killing them off and scattering their broken bodies across the floor.
Skirmishers along with Brutes show up trying to kill them. "So the Noblewomen have come to greet us," the Brute chieftain said wielding a Heavy Plasma Cannon.
"You need to be put down for what you did," Dek said as the Brute laughed at them.
"Fools, every species besides the Hunters hates you. All we are doing is paying the tab. You have used my kind for cannon fodder for far too long. Now it's time for the Brutes to reach our proper which requires us to wipe out your race by Truth's words. Kill them all, no Elite will escape this city alive," Brute Chieftain ordered as the Skirmishers and Jackals went on the offensive backing up the Brutes.
"Well shit," Vala said as she gets stuck by an overcharged plasma shot which nukes her shields to leave her vulnerable. There was another charged shot but a Hunter Ultra knocked it away with its arm shield while firing fuel rod shots to blow them away.
"Indeed. Every species is against us besides Elite-led Grunts, most Hunters and Slugmen are on our side," Dek said as the Hunters held them off while the Slugmen got into position to nail Jackals, Skirmishers, and Brutes in the head popping them like wet balloons.
"Gee, seems like our treatment of the others bit us in the end," Sela said wielding her Plasma Repeater to put in blue bolts to burn through the Brutes' tough hides to drop them onto the floor soaked in their dark blood.
"No time for self-reflection, we need to get out of here," Dek said to fire an explosive bolt to strike the head of a Brute to see it's been vaporized leaving the corpse headless. Dek reloads his heavy rifle to scatter broken Kig-Yar bodies with plasma explosions.
Vala uses her Pusle Carbine to see the 7 round bursts popping heads while tossing a Plasma Grenade to stick a Brute to take him out splitting his body in half.
"Gee, I have to do things myself," the Chieftain is unloading his plasma cannon. The Hunter rushed at the Brute to shrug off the blue bolts to smash the Brute into a wall to then cave in his head with a direct strike from the Hunter Ultra's shield.
"Good work," Sela said going into a warehouse area to see a bunch of Jackal Snipers on top of crates trying to look out for Elites and other allied forces.
"Hold it, they could have booby-trapped the room. Let's go hide in the shadows to take these bandits one by one," Dek said as the women agreed with them disappearing while the Lekgolo stood by before the coast was clear.
There were 6 snipers within the room with Sela leaping onto the crate to grab onto the jackal's beak to sever the head from his neck leaving behind a burning exposed neck slot. Dek silently takes out a sniper while Vala does the same thing to leave three Jackal snipers. Sela goes to the next sniper to snap the Jackel's neck with the others following suit.
"Seems like they rigged the room. Nice call Dek," Sela said.
"Glad to be of service milady. Call your Lekgolo, we need to move," Dek said as Sela called her Hunters and Slugmen to keep going towards the lifts to get to the lower levels.
"Anyone there we are being assaulted by the Brutes. They are everywhere, murdering us all. They killed the counselors, we need aid now," an Elite commander said on the line. They look out the window to see chaos has spread throughout High Charity with explosions seen in the distance.
"Pure Chaos, the Prophets and Brutes will pay for this," Vala said.
"Right now, we need to get out of here," Sela said as they moved into the lifts section to see Brutes, Drones and Grunts holding down the area with the Elites wiped out except for one was in the corner trying to fight back.
"Damn it, more of these bastards. Kill them," the Brute Chieftain ordered as Dek fired a charged shot from his Brute Plasma Pistol to lob a sea of burning plasma which triggers grenades to take out groups of enemies at once. Hunters move into position with the Slugmen backing them up firing off the hordes of Drones and Grunts securing the lifts.
A Grunt Heavy fires his Fuel Rod Gun to strike a Slugman with its shielding able to protect it to return fire with its Particle Carbine to pop the Grunt's head to lifelessly flop onto the floor.
"Thank the Forerunners for you being here. My squad was wiped out by these traitors," the Elite Major said holding onto his Plasma Rifle which is almost out of juice.
"Are you hurt?" Sela asked looking over his body to see his red armored harness was not broken and his shields were up.
", No I am not, I can fight. I am Ulva by the way," Ulva said.
"Sela. This my best friend Vala and my guard Dek with my Lekgolo bodyguards," Sela said to point at the others.
"You got a small squad here. Enough firepower to get out of this place. I will follow your lead, milady," Ulva shows respect to the Scion for engaging in combat.
"Damn it, kill them," the Brute Chieftain ordered as two Drone snipers wielding Focus Rifles tried to melt the shields of the Slugmen while a Drone Captain wielding a Blood Hand hovered around pushing forward and firing red bolts of plasma.
"Take out the bugger," Sela said as Ulva pops out of cover to unload blue bolts to shred the shield of the Drone Captain. Dek fires a few explosive bolts to blast apart the alien bug to scatter its bloody pieces on the floor.
Vala pulls out her Needler to land multiple shots on each Brute to see their bodies blown to pieces via super combines. Ulva grabs a fallen Fuel Rod Gun to lob explosive mortars to kill several Grunts and Drones. He also takes out a group of Brutes seeing their dead bodies flying by the explosions.
Sela tosses a Plasma grenade at a gun emplacement to kill a few grunts. Hunter fires its fuel rod shot to kill a bunch of Brutes. There is only the Chieftain left to be overwhelmed by firepower turning them into a blood strain on the floor.
"Okay, there is a recharge station here. Put our Plasma weapon in the slots and recharge. We still got a ways to go towards the docking bay," Sela said as she grabbed her Plasma Repeater along with the others grabbing their plasma weapons to get into the lift to go downward onto the streets to continue their quest to escape High Charity.
-Flashback Ends-
Sela finished half her story of her escape from High Charity. "That is quite thrilling," Sage said not wanting to look away from how she was talking about it.
"Sounds like madness," Alisa said.
"It was but it got worse with the flood coming in along with those traitorous Brutes. I will tell you more when I have the time," Sela said as they enjoyed their time sharpening their skills at the gun range with the day coming by.