Hey folks, Grubkillr here.
Sorry it's been a short while since I released the last chapter. Been busy.
This is the latest chapter. Oracle. Ever since the modding team known as the digsite team released that cut halo 2 mission for the heretic moon base, I've decided to expand the last chapter (so read the second half of that before reading this one), and finish off the Heretic leader's arc as Bungie originally intended, with a showdown in the ruins of Alpha Halo, on the moon of the big gas giant from Halo CE.
Hope you enjoy.
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Hours later, the Covenant dropships that carried what was left of the strike team from Threshold had crossed all the way from the planet to the moon. They performed an in-system jump and were there in an instant.
They flew through the atmosphere, and soon discovered that much of the surface was not only barren, but also on fire. With shards of fiery debris scattered all over the landscape, the team eventually came to the conclusion that some of Halo's debris had been flung all the way over to the moon.
"Commander, the seraph fighter touched down somewhere in tis region," the pilot said, referring to the remains of a vast structure on the surface.
The Arbiter couldn't help but look at the structure's hologram and find something oddly familiar about it. It resembled a pyramid structure, that had been knocked over and then crushed in several spots.
"Take us in, nice and easy," Vadumee ordered.
The pilot did so, and the three phantoms flew over the surface. For a long time, they didn't seem to find anything out of the ordinary. But that's when several cloaked structures revealed themselves, and soon, a storm of blue plasma filled the skies above.
"Get us out of here!" R'tas ordered, and the phantoms pealed away.
That's when a U-shaped Spirit dropship tried to cut off their escape. The Phantoms fired, and the dropship came apart and joined the vast debris field below. They were soon chased off by a group of banshees, but they were soon forced to give up the pursuit.
"Where did the Heretics receive all of this hardware?" "Vadumee ask in surprise.
"His poison has reached further than we realized if he was able to amass an army." The Arbiter said.
Vadumee nodded. "Get us in contact with High Charity. The Heretics have amassed an army, and we have their location. We'll need reinforcements if we are to destroy these heretics."
"Yes sir," the pilot said.
"And drop us off. We'll move in on foot to clear a path for our assault force." R'tas said.
The pilot nodded, and the three phantoms touched down in the debris field.
The Pilot's scans had revealed that the sensors being used by the Heretics might have several blind spots down-spin of their current positions, where mountains rose to block the electronic view, and falling debris and deep valleys gave the Covenant plenty of cover to keep out of sight of he Heretics.
The ship shuddered as it hit a series of air pockets, then swayed from side to side as the pilot wove back and forth through an obstacle course of canyons and piles of debris that jutted out from the cliffs and hills above.
"Engage active camouflage, and do not reveal yourselves until the enemy is fully aware of our presence."
The surviving warriors from the gas mine soon vanished into thin air, with none but the most keen eyed warrior able to see the subtle ghostly shimmers that emanated where they stood.
The arbiter did the same, and soon, the whole strike force was on the ground, and the phantoms pulled up into the air.
The Elites gathered their bearings, and spotted a footpath off to the right side of the canyon. The Spec ops troops spread out to either side as Vadumee and half of the elites covered the strike team's rear. Arbiter crept along the rocky footpath with the rest of the elites, which rose to a two-meter-high embankment.
As he neared a cluster of rocks, he saw several Heretics grunts and a pair of Elites marching down the lower embankment, likely a patrol. After a few seconds, they were swiftly and suddenly dispatched by Vadumee's team, stealthily. Several meters ahead of the Arbiter was a deep pit—some kind of excavation, judging from the work lights that dotted the area with pools of illumination, which were going to be necessary for when it got dark in a couple hours.
He briefly wondered what the Heretics were looking for. Perhaps they were excavating forerunner artifacts? Impossible. These godless heathens couldn't possibly be looking to uncover the mysteries of the Forerunners.
But then he realized that they weren't excavating for artifacts at all. They were digging a gun pit. It was a Zo'op-pattern Sky Striker. It would be used to blanket the skies with devastating firepower.
"Leader," Arbiter whispered into his comm. "The Heretics are setting up Anti-Air emplacements. We'll need to take these out before reinforcements are to arrive."
"Agreed. Move silently and swiftly. Place charges inside the power supply, and dispatch the enemy guards."
The strike force moved as one, surrounding the whole crater until they had tabs on every guard in the vicinity. Then they struck hard and fast. Grunts were killed in their slip and Elites had their throats slit by invisible blades.
That's when they placed anti-matter charges up inside the power supplies of the gun emplacement.
Then they moved on to the next canyon, where more Artillery pieces had been set up, and they were already underway keeping Covenant dropships at bay, while banshees from both sides engaged in dogfights high above.
"Our reinforcements have arrived," Arbiter said. "We need to hurry."
"Agreed. Warriors, engage at will."
A pair of Elite snipers, armed with beam rifles, found a patch of cover next to a pile of sparkling debris from the Ring, raised their rifles, and used the optics to find the Heretic gun emplacements located on the far side of the depression. There were lots of Grunts, and Elites, and even a few jackals in the area, but it was imperative to neutralize the plasma cannons—known as Shades—before the Strike team moved out into the open.
Once both elites had picked out their targets, they got to work.
The first shot took the nearest gunner in the chest. As the Grunt tumbled from the Shade's seat, the second shot went through the second Grunt's pointy head. The rifles' cracking report alerted the Heretics and they returned fire in the general direction of the shots.
The rifle cracked twice more, and a pair of Jackals fell.
Without the Shades to support them, the Arbiter and the strike team advanced, killing any Heretic that got in their way. The enemy fell in ones, twos, and threes. The Arbiter plunged his blade trough the chest of one Heretic elite, and scooped up a grunt with his free hand and snapped it neck, which ceased its squirming. R'tas clubbed a jackal with his plasma rifle and equipped himself with its personal shield, firing his plasma rifle at an elite, which fell. A group of heretic grunts tried to hold their ground, managing to destroy his jackal shield, but then made a run for it, being hosed by the Commander's plasma fire.
As this was happening, the Grunts were setting explosives on the artillery pieces that were nearby.
When they were done, and had found cover, Vadumee pressed a button, and several artillery emplacements went up in brilliant white lights, and pillars of blue plasma rose from their ripped open carapaces.
The Commander radioed in, and allowed the Phantoms to begin dropping off their forces.
Soon, fresh lances of Covenant troops were dropped into the valley, and multiple head wraith tanks, shadows, ghosts, and specters. Banshees swarmed overhead as well, strafing the heretic positions nearby.
As Rt'as assumed command of the local Covenant forces, he turned to the Arbiter.
"Arbiter, move on ahead. We will hammer the Heretic positions. While they were dealing with us, you will move on ahead and infiltrate behind their lines. Find the leader of these heretics. Do not let him escape. He dies today."
"Yes, commander," Arbiter said as he engaged his active camouflage, and his footprints started to lead away, and off towards the mangled forerunner structure off in the distance.
"May our lords guide your path," R'tas Vadumee said under his breath, before he went to rally his forces.
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Heretic camp, Basis.
From his vantage point high on what Commander Refumee had designated as "Second Hill," the Elite Loka 'Bandolee, second-in-command of Sesa 'Refumee's faction used a powerful monocular to eye the Covenant forces heading his way.
There were dozens of vehicles, ghosts, shades, and several wraith tanks.
The Covenant shadows looked to be overflowing with troops and equipment, which prevented them from making much speed, which was for the best as they were tucked behind the agile attack craft. Also serving as cover to the convoy were several Phantom dropships and at least twenty banshees.
Rather than risk passage through the hills, their commanding officer had opted to use the pass. Understandable, but a mistake for which the tool of the false prophets would pay. 'Bandolee lowered the monocular and turned to look at his own positions.
Shade turrets were on the ridge behind him. Grunt fuel rod teams were concealed by the fallen debris that dotted the landscape. Elite snipers were concealed as well. And on his word, banshees and spirit dropships would attack from above, and wraith tanks concealed by the hills would rain down hell from above.
Though not normally a fan of the slow-firing, lumpy-looking tanks, he had to admit that the design was perfect for the work at hand, and in combination with an identical unit stationed on First Hill, the monster at his elbow was certain to make short work of the oncoming convoy.
"Are the Banshees ready?" He asked his sub-commander.
"Ready and waiting."
"Excellent," 'Bandolee replied, turning his monocular back on the approaching convoy. "Order the attack."
"As you order, Excellency." The Elite officer nodded.
Vadumee, riding on the back of a specter and manning its plasma turret, heard the incoming Banshees
The sound started as a low drone, quickly transformed itself into a buzz, then morphed into a bloodcurdling wail as the spec ops commander activated his comm unit.
"This is Commander Vadumee: We have Heretic aircraft inbound. First Lance is clear to engage. Everyone else will remain on standby. There's more on the way."
There were five flights of ten Banshees each, and the first group came through the pass so low that 'bandoleer found himself looking down on the wave of aircraft. Sun glinted off the burnished, reflective metal of the Banshees' wings. It was tempting to jump into his own aircraft and join them, thrilling to the feel of the low altitude flight, as well as the steady booming of outgoing plasma fire. Such pleasures were denied when he was required to carry out his important work. Eager to have the first crack at the Covenant puppets, and determined to leave nothing for subsequent flights to shoot at, the pilots of the first wave fired the moment they came within range.
First Lance's vehicles saw the aircraft appear low on the horizon, watched the blobs of lethal energy blip their way, and knew better than to engage individual targets. Not yet, anyway. Instead, consistent with the orders that Commander Vadumee had given, the specter gunners aimed their plasma cannons at a point just west of the pass, and opened fire all at once. The Banshees didn't have brakes, and the pilots had just started to turn, when they ran right into the meat grinder.
Several flights of the Covenant's own banshees dove down out of the orange sky and unleashed their own attack on the Heretic traitors.
Bandolee understood his mistake right away, ordering the following waves to break up and attack the convoy independently. The orders came too late for eight of the first ten aircraft, which were ripped into thousands of pieces, and fell like smoking snow. A pair of the flyers got through the storm of gunfire. One of the Banshees managed to hit a specter with a burst of superheated plasma, killing the gunner, and slagging his weapon. The purple vehicle rolled, tossing its occupants all over the place. The Banshee dove down into a shadow and crashed into it, destroy both the shadow and itself.
Once through the hail of plasma, the surviving Banshees turned and lined up for a second pass. As the second flight of Heretic aircraft arrived from the east, split up, and launched individual attacks, 'Bandaolee barked an order into his radio. The mortar tanks on First and Second Hills fired in unison. Blue-white orbs of fire, trailing tendrils of energy, shot high into the sky, hung suspended for a moment, then began to fall. The plasma mortars fell with a deliberate, almost casual slowness. They arced gracefully into the ground and a deafening thunderclap shook the ground. Neither round found a target, but these were ranging shots, and that was to be expected. Subsequent blasts crawled towards the Covenant ground assault, and soon, their own wraiths began to respond.
Vadumee heard an Elite shout, "What was that?!" over the command freq.
That Elite was reprimanded, and would be later as well. Showing such lack of discipline was unbecoming of someone in his position. But they had bigger issues to attend to.
Vadumee couldn't help but wonder the same thing himself. It didn't matter much, though, because the weapon in question was quite clearly lethal, and would cause havoc in the close quarters of the pass.
He activated his radio. "Those 'mortars' originated from those hilltops. Locate them and return fire."
"Yes Commander," Another officer acknowledged.
The Covenant ghosts, their bloodthirsty commander having little regard for his own life, zoomed forward towards the Heretic emplacements. But just as they approached the hills, the Heretics that were concealing themselves joined the battle at last, unleashing their firepower on the charging Covenant vehicles.
Covenant ghosts wheeled, turned, and sprayed fire over the hills and ridges, but the Heretics fired down on the hapless ghost riders. Some of the Grunts with fuel rod cannons landed direct hits on the ghosts, forcing the rest to scatter. The Heretic shade turrets hosed the Covenant emplacements, but soon had to contend with the Covenant's own wraiths raining their mortars down on the Heretic positions. Entire ranks of grunts were erased from existence, and shade turrets were blasted into pieces that joined the debris from Halo scattered all over Basis.
Another Heretic banshee fired his fuel rod cannon and scored a direct hit on another shadow. The personnel carrier full of precious ammo and troops exploded, wrapped a pair of escorting specter in a fiery embrace, and took the vehicle with it.
Heretic forces watching from the hilltops felt a sense of exultation, and more than that, the pleasure of revenge. An Elite that was with 'Bandolee was there to document the battle for propaganda purposes, not celebrate it, though he watched in fascination as two of the Covenant wraiths swiveled to his left in order to fire on First Hill, while two turned in the opposite direction. The Elite wondered if he should seek cover, but before the message to move could reach his feet, he heard a reverberating whine as the blue energy mortars sailed through the intervening air space, followed by a loud WHAM! as the rounds landed about fifty units away. A column of bloody dirt flew high into the air and turned to glass shards. Body parts that weren't vaporized, weapons, and pieces of equipment continued to rain down as the half-deafened Elite recording the battle recovered his composure and ran for cover.
Bandolee laughed out loud and pointed to show a member of his staff where his aide had taken shelter behind some rocks. That was when the second volley of rounds detonated just below the summit of the hill and started a small landslide.
Several Covenant banshees flew over head, blasting more Heretic emplacements to bits. Then the banshees on both sides engaged in a bloody dogfight, and soon enough thousands of pieces rained down all around 'Bandolee.
"This," the Elite commander said happily, "is a real battle."
Stung by the loss of more vehicles and warriors, Vadumee was just about to give his Phantoms and Shadows the go ahead to disembark their troops, when his driver said, "Incoming!"
A series of plasma bolts stitched a line along the Specter's side, scorched the vehicle's hull, and made one of the Elite's shield shimmer, and kicked up geysers of dirt as the officer followed the pointing finger. A force of Ghosts skittered into the pass. "Vadumee to all Lance units . . . follow me!" Vadumee yelled into his comm, and kicked the driver's shoulder. "Engage those ghosts, let's clear that gap."
No sooner had the spec ops officer spoken than the Elite driver hit the accelerator.
Vadumee let loose a howling battle cry, and the Specter leapt forward. The rest of the five-vehicle reaction force followed just as the Wraith on Hill One hurled a pair of successive plasma balls high into the sky.
Vadumee looked up, saw the fireball slow to a near stop at the point of apogee, and knew it would be a race. Would the bomb land on top of the reaction force? Or, would the fast-moving Specters and Ghosts slip out from under it, leaving the plasma charge to explode harmlessly on the ground?
The two passengers on either side of the saw the threat as well, and yelled, "Hurry, driver!" as the driver swerved to avoid a clutch of rocks, did his best to push the accelerator through the floor.
The energy bomb fell with increasing velocity. Their specter slipped underneath it, quickly followed by the second and third. One of his hearts in his throat, Vadumee looked back over his shoulder as the plasma weapon landed, detonated, and blew a large crater out of the ground.
Then, like a miracle, the other two vehicles flew through the smoke, bounced as it went over the edge of the newly created crater, and lurched up over the rim. There was no time to celebrate as the Ghosts pulled into range and the lead vehicle opened fire. Vadumee traversed his plasma turret, took aim at the nearest blur, and squeezed the trigger.
As Vadumee's fast assault craft and the banshees kept the Heretic's own vehicles busy, each wraith commander adjusted their aim, sent their energy rounds on the way, and prayed for a hit. They all knew that facing the enemy would be easier than suffering Vadumee's wrath should the rounds miss their marks.
Lok 'Bandolee watched impassively as the Wraith on First Hill exploded, taking a file of Jackals with it. He was sorry to lose the mortar tank, but the truth was that with two dozen Ghosts milling around in the pass below, he was going to have to cease fire anyway. Either that or risk killing his own troops. The Elite snapped an order, saw one last fireball sail into the air, and watched the first Covenant troops enter the gap.
They moved from boulder to boulder, engaging his own troops at close quarters combat, and Phantoms were moving overhead, hosing the heavy weapons positions with plasma fire and dropping off more Covenant troops.
Bandolee's aide had emerged from hiding by that time and was standing next to his commander as the tide continued to turn against his forces.
They continued to clear and the hills around it the pass and push towards the main camp. There was a third hill off to his left—and it, too, was topped with a Wraith. The mortar tank opened fire. For one brief moment 'Bandolee harbored the hope that the remaining tank would accomplish what the first two had not and decimate the convoy.
But the Covenant starting to take over the area, and, knowing that the Wraith couldn't do them any seriousharm, they took the time to put their own tanks into a line abreast. A single salvo was all it took. All four of the plasma rounds landed on target, the mortar tank was destroyed, and the way was clear. 'Bandolee lowered his monocular. His face was expressionless.
Then he saw what looked like a single purple glowing light when his head was speared by a single beam of purple light.
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The Arbiter continued on ahead moving through the mostly deserted Heretic camp, not knowing how the battle outside was going. But he moved from rock to rock, and moving along a crevice that led through the debris field, until he came upon the structure the Heretic leader was last seen flying towards.
With his camouflage still active, he quietly, yet swiftly, moved towards the pyramid-like building. It's mangled ramps and platforms were topped with shade turrets, and Heretic troops patrolled the outside. But squad after squad was stripped from the small garrison to head towards the sounds of battle.
As the Arbiter moved closer to the entrance, he saw a group of heretic grunts that were curled up and sleeping nearby.
"slothful runts," he cursed under his breath, as he prepared to kill them in their sleep. But just as he was about to plunge his energy dagger through the skull of the closest grunt, he heard loud footfalls approaching.
"Our lives for the truth, the truth and the Covenant!" One Elite could be heard calling out.
Arbiter abandoned his intended action and hugged the wall as tightly as he could and allowed several Heretic troops to pass. One of the Elites kicked a grunt awake and yelled at it, ordering them to wake up and pointed in the direction of the front.
"We must protect this position. The Oracle must be saved!" One Elite shouted, as he charged off in the direction of the battle.
The grunt grumbled, but got their weapons ready and quick stepped after the rest of their brothers. None of them seemed to notice the shimmer of bending air where the Arbiter stood, which was fine by him, and he was able to continued forward without incident.
Continuing on, he moved through a massive door that was half open and looked to be on it side. Had the door been right side up, it would part in the middle and open to the sides. But it looked like it was on it side, as the 'bottom' door was forced open. He passed through the mangled and shatter hallway, and squeezed through a tight sliver in the wall, which eventually took him to a massive open chamber, which itself was on its side.
He looked down and saw a massive span that once hung over the chamber, and he then realized where he saw this place before. He was standing in what had once been the control room of the Sacred Ring.
He had never actually been here. He saw the images beamed to him by his forces on the ground. To stand here was awe-inspiring. Then he heard voices. He looked down, and saw several Heretic Elites standing at the bottom of the chamber.
They had converted this place into a small command center.
And there he was. The Heretic Leader, Sesa 'Refumee was watching a hologram of the battle outside unfolding.
The Arbiter, still cloaked, walked up and gunned down a pair of Heretic Elites with their shields down. A single shot to each of their heads, and they dropped like rocks.
Then he aimed his carbine at his target. "Turn Heretic." He ordered.
'Refumee stood as still as a statue. Then in a swift motion he pulled the two plasma rifles on his hips and the turned, unleashing a storm on the Arbiter. The plasma rounds slashed against his shields, and soon his armor started talking fire as his shields drained. The Arbiter fired back with equal accuracy, as he backed up to take cover behind a depression in the wall of the control room.
Sesa engaged his jump pack and floated through the air to find cover himself.
As the Arbiter waited for his shields to re-engage, the Heretic leader called out from his own cover.
"Our people are blind, Arbiter... but I... will make them see."
Then he heard a series of high-pitched whining, and when the Arbiter left his cover to investigate, he saw a pair of glowing white orbs levitate towards him, and they both turned into an Elite.
Copies of Sesa 'Refumee. They both carried plasma rifles and they turned on him with a menacing intent. They both opened fire and splashed the Arbiter's shields again, making them drop severely. The Arbiter was able to hit them, and cause their images to shimmer.
The fact these holo-drones were able to conjure weapons and interact with their environment suggested that they were made from some kind of hard light technology, similar to the holo-bridges that the Arbiter read about from different reports concerning the Sacred Ring.
But that also meant they could take damage.
As the Arbiter took cover, he opened fire on the two... now three, figures of Sesa 'Refumee.
One holo-drone sparked and flashed out of existence. Then the other one did so as well under sustained fire. But the Arbiter was out of ammo, and his shields were depleted. When the real Sesa 'Refumee fired on his position, the Arbiter dropped his dropped his carbine, tossed a plasma grenade, and then engaged his active camouflage, disappearing into the shadows.
'Refumee flew out of the way to avoid the blast from the tossed grenade.
His own shields flashed, and his jump-pack appeared to be malfunctioning, likely damaged from the blast as well. He deactivated it and touched down, searching behind every jagged piece of metal and into every shadow, looking for the Arbiter.
"How did the Prophets buy your loyalty, Arbiter? With a new command, a new fleet,...or was it the promise ... their 'Great Journey'?" He taunted. He thought he saw a shimmer of light and fired his plasma rifles at it.
Nothing.
He continued looking.
"Look around you, Arbiter. This facility and several like it resulted in the study of the Parasite, but where are the weapons, Arbiter, or the holy relics? What was the result? All that time and effort and the best the Forerunners could do was put those foul creatures on ice."
He scanned the room, keeping his eyes open for ripples in the air.
"And now where are these "Gods" the Prophets would have us worship! Transcended?" He laughed. "... Hardly. Come, Arbiter. Let me show you where they went."
Then he heard a series of loud boot-steps behind him.
Sesa tried to turn to the sound of the noise and aim his plasma rifle, just as the de-cloaked Arbiter smacked into him, carrying them both rolling down the crooked metal floor until they hit a metal slab hard enough to make Sesa's vision blur and knock his rifle loose.
They both rolled on the ground, trying to get a hold of each other's throat or limbs, or whatever they could break.
Eventually they rolled over and Sesa was able to grab one of his fallen rifles.
But when he tried to aim it, the Arbiter tried and struggled to get a grip on the Heretic's rifle. The gun fired into the floor several times as they fought over it, and then the Arbiter got the barrel in both his hands. He stared at his reflection in the Heretic leader's goggles and roared as he bent the weapon, straining to make it useless. Then he pulled it apart and smacked Sesa in the face with a piece.
Sesa stumbled, but then gave a roar of his own as he pulled out a plasma pistol, which glowed green from the overcharge, but the Arbiter was already on him, driving his energy dagger into the Heretic's sides several times.
The Heretic leader let go of the trigger at point blank, and drained the Arbiter's shield. But he was unfazed.
Then he just stood there, as he registered the fact that the Arbiter had plunged a blade into his organs. Then Arbiter pulled it out, letting purple blood spray out.
Sesa coughed, and spluttered more blood, before he fell back.
"Heh! Arb-Arbiter," the Heretic leader said, spluttering blood. "I... would rather die by your hand than let the Prophets lead me to slaughter."
The Arbiter walked up to him slowly, knelt down and grabbed him by his harness collar before pointing an energy dagger at his throat.
"Who has taught you these lies?" The Arbiter asked, growling. "Tell me and I can ease your suffering."
Then the Arbiter heard what sounded like someone humming and looked up to discover that another machine had approached him from above. Where the sentinels from the gas mine were cylindrical in design, with angular, winglike cowlings, this construct was rounded, almost spherical. It had a single, glowing blue eye, a wraparound housing.
"The Oracle!" Arbiter said in a shocked voice, his eyes never leaving it.
"Hello! I am 343 Guilty Spark." The small machine said in a cheerfully businesslike manner. "I am the Monitor of Installation 04."
"Ask the Oracle about Halo." Sesa Refumee said, wincing in pain, as blood continued to pour out of his wounds. "How-... how they would sacrifice us all for nothing!"
"More questions? Splendid! I would be happy to assist you."
That's when 'Refumee coughed and fell back, again.
"Unfortunate." Guilty Spark said, looking down at the expiring body of Sesa Refumee. "His edification was most enjoyable."
"I had no choice, Holy Oracle. This Heretic imperiled the Great Journey." Arbiter said, gesturing to the dying Heretic.
"Oracle? Great Journey? Why do you meddlers insist on using such inaccurate verbiage-ohhhhh myyyyy!"
343 Guilty Spark is snatched by an unseen force and pulled away. Arbiter turned and saw the Oracle get dragged through the air, directly to the top of the Fist of Rukt, the gravity hammer of Tartarus, who was standing in the control room's entrance, with a pack of Brute Captains flanking him.
He pulled 343 Guilty Spark off the end of his hammer.
"That... is the Oracle!" The Arbiter said outraged.
Tartarus casually tossed 343 Guilty Spark into a series of energy clamps being held by one of the captains, while the rest of the pack secured the room.
"So it is." Tartarus said, indifferently. "Come, we are leaving this system."
The Arbiter started to leave. But he hesitated. He looked back at the Heretic leader, who was still laying on the ground, bleeding out. A Brute was standing over him, laughing and prodding him with his red plasma rifle, before he finished him off with a burst of plasma fire, finishing the Heretic off for good.
Arbiter followed Tartarus out the control room and into a waiting phantom.
As he did, he watched as several Heretic prisoners were being executed by Brutes. He looked at the bodies and lowered his head, deep in thought.
'What did the Oracle have to say that could have driven so many of his kind to turn their backs on the Covenant?' He thought as he boarded the Phantom. 'On the Journey?'
He did his best to push these curious thoughts out of his head on the flight back to High Charity.
In the service of the Prophets, it was best not to ask too many questions.
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Well folks, that was part 6.
Hope you enjoyed.
Until next time, Grubkiller out.