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Of Gods and Men
Date: 1 April 2005, 5:52 PM
Altered State: Chapter One: Of Gods and Men
The truth is out there, it has to be. I flip through the pages of the Bible, its torn and blood streams down my face. The cut is deep, but I'll live. I read each word hastily, trying to focus, trying to find the answer. It has to be in here, if it isn't then where is it? I remember to breathe and I inhale. Where was it? What was I looking for? The Lamb Of God began to tilt in space and I felt the weight shift and heard the explosions all around me, I felt the impact on the hull. At this rate the ship would go down and we'd be just another page in the history book, along with all of the other UNSC vessels before us. We had an impressive display of weaponry at our command, and with the vessel's AI, Noah, we had a fighting chance.
I threw the paper bible aside and gathered my black robes and picked up the sacred cross off of my desk and turned to the door, it was still blocked by the piece of ceiling that had fallen and caused the crack in my skull. I pushed the desk in front of the door and leapt on top of it, climbing to the floor above me. The way the ship was built I was directly below the Medical Bay, which was now a new scene of death. I looked to the corpse of the beautiful doctor Grey and muttered a pray to her frail, limp form robbed so prematurely of its beauty. I swallowed back tears and grabbed a medical kit from the cabinet. Maybe I could still save some of the survivors. A pistol lay in the hands of one of her male assistants, Caleb I believe. I reached down and pondered taking the weapon in an attempt to defend myself, but I pulled my hand back as if I was reaching for a snake and muttered the lord's name. I turned to the door and walked out, the plasma scorched panels of the corridor loomed out before me.
I held the cross in my right hand and the medical kit in the left. I had only these possessions on me as I made my way out of the corridor. I heard sounds of gunfire, but I only spared the firefight behind me a quick glance. An Elite covenant had a group of human's pinned down behind a crate, but there was nothing I could do. I had to get to the bridge and secure the ship's AI. I couldn't let the Covenant realize that Earth was our home world, or we would all be doomed. Without a Spartan aboard I ship we had little chance of surviving, and the AI was absolutely important. I crouched down and entered a service corridor that would lead us directly to the bridge. As I made my way through the corridor I realized that I wasn't alone, call it instinct if you will, but I call it the voice of god whispering in my ear that alerted me to its presence.
I ducked down to the ground and whirled to face it, a sizzling sound cut through the air as the plasma sword swept through the air, a blow that would surely kill me in a matter of seconds. Instinctively I raised the cross into the air and said "Get thee behind me Demon!" and swept the cross through the air to try and ward it away. It lowered its sword and laughed at me in its hideous voice. I almost laughed as well; I was trying to ward off an alien soldier as if it were a vampire or some other creature of the night. Fear clutched my chest and I stared at it, it made no move to finish me and almost smiled at me. I knew it could understand what I said, just as I could it, both sides had very capable translation chips planted in our skulls. I stood up and inhaled remembering to breath. I addressed the creature with what strength I could muster in my voice.
"Do you hold any...anything sacred creature? We are a simple church bound vessel; you are killing innocent priests, not soldiers." I lied. I lied and committed an atrocity against my father in heaven; I was trying to save the lives of my soldiers, and my own. I couldn't allow them to know that we were on our way to destroy the Covenant Cruiser that bore on their sacred Prophets, a mission that I had joined in order to deliver the moral support our troops needed. I tried to breathe as the Elite stared at me, and it responded.
"Sacred? It is our sacred duty to kill every one of you humans!" He snarled and clicked a mandible before lunging at me again, fear in my heart I fell backwards and landed on my back he barreled forward and I found his weight resting on my knees, I used all of the strength I could muster and forced him over me, which was easier than I thought, a fact probably due to his shielding. He flew behind me and crashed through the exit grate and landed on the bridge. Fear in my heart I stood and darted forward, I had to get to Noah, no matter the cost.
When I emerged onto the bridge, my heart froze, and I couldn't breathe. I watched as a brave soldier attempted to gun down a brute, and watched in amazement and terror as the brute laughed at the man's feeble attempts and grabbed him by his arms. The massive creature lifted the man off the ground and slammed him into the wall, a snarling, and a groan as the brute roared in triumph and the man's life was extinguished. The Elite stood up and looked to the brute, and the brute returned the glare. I stood, rooted in place as they spoke, each in their own harsh tongues.
"Stupid Sangheili, aren't you supposed to be taking the barracks?"
The elite's anger was visible, he had obvious loathing against this creature, was there dispute amongst the covenant? This may prove to our advantage, I began to smile, but didn't move, this information may not even make it back to Earth if I didn't.
"You Jiralhanae are all alike. Stupid, and brutish, I am doing my job. What are you doing on the bridge? Only we Sangheili are allowed to work with such complex and urgent intelligence."
The brute raised his arm and revealed the Brute Shot he had strapped there. The blade was stained with red and bluish bled, which meant that humans had not been his only target. His white fur was stained with blood and plasma scorching, he had been hit, but it took a lot to put one of them down, this I knew. I had been through basic military training, as ordered by the CCCR (Catholic Church Covenant Resistance). The CCCR had been established to protect the Pope's children in this horrific ordeal, but that is for another time. All I could think of now, was getting to the AI, but if I even flinched, one of them might turn their attention on me and rob me of my life. So I stood there, watching the scene with renewed interest.
"What we do is not your concern, and if you think you are so superior to me, then why don't you prove it?" He snarled and lunged at the Elite, his blade shining in the pale fluorescent lights of the bridge. I noticed that there was a substantial amount of bodies on the ground and judged that the Brute had the best chance of survival. I also saw that this would be my chance; I lunged forward as the Brute slammed into the Elite and threw him against the wall. The Elite's shields sparked as they shut down and began to recharge, he raised his sword and slashed the Brute's back, it roared in anger as a chunk of flesh was removed from his back. The Elite pushed his hooves against the wall and pushed off tossing the Brute backwards; the Elite stumbled over a body and fell. I looked away as I felt the shock of a grenade, most likely a brute shot, rock the bridge. I gasped for breath as I stood, looking back. The Elite and the Brute now were bare handed and had hands clutched in a combat of strength. The Elite's were strong I knew, but the behemoth before him, was incredibly powerful as well. The Brute forced the elite against the wall, and I saw what the explosion had been. The Elite had knocked the brute shot from the beast's arm and when it had hit the ground it had fired, and successfully blew a hole through the bridge's main computer. I groaned, the bleeding wound from my head ached, and the echoes of the blast resounded in my mind. I crawled on my stomach towards the computer; maybe, just maybe the creature hadn't damaged it too bad so I wouldn't be able to retrieve the AI. I looked down as my hand found a cool, round object. I picked it up and inspected it; to my delight I found it was a standard UNSC Fragmentation Grenade. I turned around and saw that the Elite had was continually punching the Brute in the face as the Brute forced the Elite against the wall with bone crunching force, I could see that the Elite was losing this battle, and I realized that the Brute would delight in killing me piece by piece.
I looked down at the grenade and remembered my basic weapons training; I pulled the pin and depressed the lever. I kept it in my hand and raised it when the Elite suddenly forced the brute off of him by pressing his hoof against the wall and using the leverage to force him off. The brute landed, his hand clutched around the Elite's Energy Sword. He stood up and I could see his white fur stained red with his own blood, the Elite had torn a good piece out of him, but fell to his knees now knowing that the Brute had won. The brute laughed and approached the Elite, ready to execute him with the final strike. As he got closer I released the lever and tossed the grenade straight between the two, without a second thought I ducked behind an operator's chair and felt the explosion rack the bridge. I turned to the computer and grabbed the switch that would transfer the AI to the memory chip. I flipped it and watched as the holographic form of Noah walked into the memory chip and nodded.
Noah was the most advanced AI we had ever created, the CCCR had come close to even outdoing Cortana, the Spartan 117's AI. I took the chip and set it inside my own head gear. A round piece that went from ear to ear on my head and held data and communications materials in side. It had ceased to operate as soon as I had been hit, but I hoped that Noah could restore it. My eyes dimmed as the head gear, also known as H.A.L.O. came to life. My vision restored I heard Noah in my mind.
"Greetings Father Garret, thank for you releasing me. We need to get out of here; my ship uplink shows that the escape pods have not yet been fired, this is due to heavy Covenant focus upon that area. I am searching for an alternate means of escape as of now. I am uploading your bio signs now and integrating myself within your neuron pathways now."
I felt my body go limp as I hit the ground, he could have warned me. My nerves seemed to be on fire, and then stopped. I stood up and surveyed the bridge. The smoke had cleared, but a panel on the wall had come loose and released a wire that sparked and hissed with deadly intent. I flexed my fingers out as Noah integrated with my body, increasing my reflexes and such things as he was built to do. I had always thought he would do better in a Spartan, or maybe in a soldier, but not in me, a priest. The Brute and the Elite were gone, and I smiled, I had done well. I had broken one of the Ten Commandments, but I hoped the Father would understand, and then I knew he would. I wasn't sure what to do now, and Noah's thoughts interlaced with mine. I did as he would have done had he had a body of his own. I bent down and picked up another grenade and the SMG from the body of the Soldier the Brute had ruthlessly murdered.
I reloaded it and held it at my side and walked back to the service corridor and picked up the medical kit and cross, and thrust them in a knapsack that was in the Bridge. I holstered it on my back and spoke to Noah.
"Where to now Noah? If the escape pods are patrolled by Covenant we will never break through, I am not a soldier and even if I was, this gun would not be enough to break through. So we are going to have to think a way out of here. I don't what to do, my communications has been off."
"Let me think, Father. I have accessed the security observation monitors, the SOM and have begun to uncover a pattern, and a unique anomaly. The Covenant has begun to engage one another in combat. So I think that we need to use this to our advantage and using the service corridors emerge into the Cargo Bay. There we have placed a special Pelican, we can escape from there."
"That is assuming that we don't get blasted from space by a bored Covenant gunner?"
"I've assessed this as well, and have come up with a plan that has a 97.56% chance of working. It requires a few things, and some time. Do you think you could provide me with what I need Father? If not, then I shall have to find someone else."
"Can it Noah. Tell me, what do you need? I'll do my best to get us the hell off of this ship."
"Father, refrain from cursing."
"Noah, now is not the time for that, you were imprinted from the brain of a human, so start acting like it."
"I am, and that is why I said that. You are wasting time father, all we need to do is locate the Active Camouflage unit from an Elite unit's armor. Do you think you can do this for me?"
"Yea, but how is this going to help us?"
"I will attempt to integrate the unit with the Pelican's meager shield generators; this should provide an effective means of our escape. While you search for this I am modifying the plans so that I may do this in the most proficient time, and with my resources as spread out as they are I would ask you to refrain speaking with me, if you could Father. If you need me, I'll be here."
I inhaled and nodded, I would give Noah his time to prepare, it seemed like a sound plan, and there should be a dead Elite around here somewhere, provided I didn't blow him to oblivion with that grenade. I approached the door and walked out, the lights had gone off, and a fire set in a corner provided me the light I needed to scour the area. The Brute's corpse was embedded within the wall, blood was everywhere. I threw up on the spot, the carnage and death I had caused tormented my stomach and I about dropped. I recovered, resolute with my mission.
The Elite was near the Brute, his body was scorched, but he was still. I kneeled down to the Elite and touched his armor, it was badly scorched, but I found the unit I needed. It disconnected with ease and I put it into the knapsack with my meager supplies. I exhaled, and stood, nearly jumping out of my skin as the Elite spoke.
"Help me...."
I turned away to walk off, and then looked back. He looked to be in terrible pain and my eyes almost filled with tears as I saw a creature, one of God's creatures, wounded by my hand. I turned around and knelt beside him withdrawing from my pack the medical kit.
"I will....help you. I did this to you. I know you'll kill me, but I can't leave you here." Noah began to scream in my head the stupidity of my actions, but I said to him.
"I can't...it is against god. Noah, just resume to what you are doing. He won't hurt me...I hope. He may help us."
Noah's urges ceased and I withdrew the Bio foam and burn treatments from the pack. I used them with my skill, healing had been a big part of my training. I used each device with expert skill, the Elite gasped and his breathing increased. The whole process took me about ten minutes I guessed. Now the Elite Stood before me, wounded, tired, and confused. He would live now, but he wasn't in fighting shape. He could walk and I said to him.
"I am getting off of this ship, you are welcome to come with us, or you can stay behind with your buddies. From what I hear the Brutes have boarded the ship and are slaying every Elite aboard."
"I cannot help them. I am wounded, and should be dead. I am your sworn enemy, I tried to kill you, and yet you saved my life. I owe you, I vow to help you get off this ship alive and after that, our ways shall part, but I will do what is required of me. I need a weapon."
"You are not in fighting condition; you should just lay here and rest."
"No, I shall come with you." He grabbed the SMG from my hand and I stepped back afraid. He laughed and said "Do not be afraid. They call me Fa' Ust." I paused and when the words were translated I asked Noah to put them on my HUD, and he did. I nodded and said. "Alright Faust, you may come with me. My name is Father Garret; you can simply call me Garret." The Elite nodded and raised his hand, obviously in pain.
"We are headed to the Cargo Bay via the service corridors where you found me. I do not know where the Covenant are located at, but according to our security they have not penetrated that far."
"Father Garret. Might I intrude in your madness?" The voice was Noah's. "This is absurd; you cannot be with armed Elites. He will kill you at a moment's notice, do you not understand this?"
"Do not question me Noah. If he tries to kill me, I'll simply activate this grenade in my hand, that will ensure are survival. He has no shields, no active camouflage and is severely wounded. He won't survive it. Now Noah, plot me a course and set it up on my HUD."
Without another word Noah did as I asked and I studied the plan. I nodded to the Elite and approached the corridors. The Elite groaned from the pain of his wounds, but said nothing as we approached the elevator. The elevator was outside of the corridors and into a hallway. Fear clutched my heart as I saw and heard the battles outside. It was a three way war going on, and no one side was going to win. Humans staked out one side of the hallway, Brutes on the other, and Elites in the middle. It was a long hallway with sealed doors on each end; it would be a gauntlet to see which side would survive. The Humans were on our side of the hallway and I stepped out of the corridor, one marine aimed his gun at me and spoke in an urgent voice.
"Get down Father! Behind you!"
I smiled and shook my head.
"He is a friend; don't ask questions we have to clear this hallway so we can get to that elevator got it? You can come with us; we have an escape route planned."
The marines nodded, there were three of them. A tall man, a short bald one, and a female, it was the bald one who addressed us. The others looked at us and nodded. They were crouched behind some cargo crates and using them as cover. There were four Elites, two shooting in our direction, and two spraying plasma in the Brute's direction. This was a dangerous situation. I looked to Faust, and found he was already approaching the Elites who were camped out in a small cubby hole. They stopped firing as he approached. In a few moments the Elites had their backs to us and were running towards us firing their guns at the Brutes. I heard an explosion and one of them fell down to the ground, robbed of his life by a Brute Shot. The Elites approached us and nodded, Faust talked to me.
"My brothers have agreed to help you escape, in return for your aid in helping us destroy these Brutes. You are skilled warriors, maybe not as skilled as us Elites, but you will provide fine assistance for us."
The marines nodded and the female spoke.
"Let's bust the shit out of those hairy mother fuckers and get the hell out of here."
A resounding hoo-rah came from the marines and they stood up. The bald one leapt over the boxes and tossed a series of hand grenades causing a smoke screen. The Elites switched to plasma swords and ran through the smoke, Faust staying with me. He approached the cubby hole where the Elites had been huddled and using it for cover fired into the Brutes, from what I saw there had to be at least six of them. The remaining marines ran from cover behind the Elites, one of them wielding a Shotgun, the other impressively wielding dual SMG. A hail of bullets barraged the Brutes, and the Swords cut through their grayish fur. I felt alone and unable to help them, but as I stood by the boxes I noticed a label reading Nerve Gas. I used my cross and busted open the crate withdrawing the packs of the Nerve Gas. This hadn't been apart of my training, but I had taken extensive schooling and understood the principles of the process. Taking out a couple of packets I put them into my knapsack.
"Noah, I need you to do me a favor. Broadcast on all of the UNSC channels for the soldiers to evacuate all of the main hallways and go into cargo bays, supply rooms, and any room off of the main hallways. Plot me a course to the Central Ventilation Center. I need to get there the quickest way possible, tell all of the UNSC channels to prepare for Nerve Gas to be poured into the ship. On my mark I want you to seal all of the remaining blast doors and try to provide an outlet for the gas as much as possible. I'm going to attempt to wipe out as many of the Covenant as possible."
"Done. I agree with the probability of success of your plan, however what about the pact you made with the Elites? You will most likely terminate a mass majority of their kind if you proceed with this. Personally I don't care if you kill them all this way, even though a number of our own might die from it, you might be able to save the ship. Looking through what external cams I have I can see that the space force outside of our ship is quite small. One covenant Cruiser is there, so might I offer an alternative plan? Our Pelican can never make it home, so instead I suggest you take a force of our remaining soldiers and the Elites and invade the Covenant Cruiser. It will provide us with proper transportation. And it is conceivable, with a 76.98% chance of success. Using the same Nerve Gas tactic, we could take over the entire ship, and with a the most likely insurrection of the Elites aboard, we may already have effective control of the ship. Think about it, if the Elites quit the Covenant and join us, can you imagine the way the war would turn? We could end this war with this movement. So, I have aborted your plan and instead alerted all humans to our plan. It's up to you to bridge communication with the Elites, and see if we can do this. The Covenant ship is called "In Heaven's Light We Purify" , if we can take over it.......anyways just do it and I'll see what I can do."
The Brutes fell one by one as the brave and valiant Elites assisted by the Humans conquered them. The fighters regrouped next to me, and I smiled at them.
"Faust, we may have a plan. Do you wish vengeance on the Covenant?"
"We do. The Prophets have betrayed us and sent these Brutes to deal with us here, in fact your ship isn't even important. I am the leader of my group of Elites, and apparently we are a threat to the Prophets, so the Brutes are here to kill us. None of the other races came with us, at first I was confused, but now I see the light. We will aid you human, what do you have in mind?"
"We are going to take over the In Heaven's Light We Purify."
"That is madness. Even with the amount of Elites we have, and the Humans you have, we cannot conquer the Brutes. Do you realize how many are aboard that ship? And no doubt they have already imprisoned or killed my brothers aboard it."
"It matters not; I have a plan here that will help us. We have a very powerful weapon that travels through the air and kills whoever inhales it, if we can get into the cruiser and unleash this gas into the air, there is nothing they can do against it."
"You possess such a weapon, yet did not use it against us?"
"It would kill our own people, it is a weapon without prejudice, therefore we must be careful before we unleash it."
"Very well, we are with you in this. We have ordered all of our brothers to cease fire on Humans and fight the Brutes."
"Just as I have done."
"However, there is literally hundreds of Brutes aboard that ship Garret, I hope your ready."
"So do I....may the lord protect us."
And there I went, I couldn't help but think I had just made a deal with the devil, but I smiled anyways. Maybe we could change the tides of this war, and save Earth. May the Lord be with us.
Solemn Prayers
Date: 9 May 2005, 5:15 PM
Altered State: Chapter Two: Solemn Prayers
The Solemn Prayer moved silently through space. Its massive bulk rather drifting through the darkness than moving at any speed usually conceived for space travel. The UNSC had no idea that this ship even existed, it had been a top secret project, but not of the military's and they hated someone else having secrets they didn't know about. The military was the ones usually known for implanting spies and stealing secrets, but not this time. Another, more powerful entity had taken control of the fight against the Covenant, or at least, that is how they felt. The Solemn Prayer put any ship in the UNSC fleet to shame, and even outshined many Covenant vessels.
The ship's specs were known only by its crew, not even its passengers knew of this ship's complete outfit. The vessel was made out of a combination of good solid UNSC metal, and reinforced with Covenant materials. The shape of the ship was one of a square base leading up into a point, a triangular cubic shape, complete with four orbs, two on the bottom, and two on the top. An odd shape for a ship, but for good reason, the designers of the ship refused to allow their geniuses to be wasted on anything but a masterpiece of art, technology, and design. The best minds from the UNSC shipyards, AI databases, and all of the top level researchers and designers had been...drafted for this purpose. This would be the first, the last, and the only ship of its class and majesty.
The Captain of the vessel looked over the ship's supply logs and whistled. The Archer missile pods that lined the craft were already warmed and ready to fire at a moments notice, the ship's systems ingeniously crafted in a manner that prevented the ship from having to pre-heat the weapons systems. The MAC guns numbered eight, and were the best weapon they had, of the UNSC weapon's systems of course. The technicians at the project base had wanted to release their brainchild's ultimate weapon system to the public, but were denied the right to release the weapon to the military. It might save lives they begged, but the project's coordinators refused to allow it to leave their hands. The weapon of course, is called the Holy Cross. A weapons system capable of tearing apart Covenant Cruisers like paper, this made the captain grin as he reviewed the system's sequences. He fingered a control panel that made the full system lay out pop onto the screen.
The Holy Cross weapon consisted of both Covenant and Human technologies. It was usually a last resort weapon, because of its high resource nature. The captain sighed and fingered the simulation's activation sequences. Power stored by the generators in each of the four orbs triggered, traveling through specifically designated conduits into each other, and into the triangular head of the ship, the firing point. What one expected from here would be an explosive display of light as it was forced from the head in the shape of a cross, which was the initial idea of the designers, but what was expected was not always what happened. The energy gathered would now be stored into the tip, the Captain kept an eye on the projected energy output as he watched the simulation. Energy levels were high, nigh unbelievable, if he hadn't witnessed them himself. He fingered the firing trigger, the target being a collection of coordinates and numerical data graphically represented into the product of years of top notch scientist's hard work and neglect of their own families.
The energy burst emitted from the firing point and collided with the target, disrupting its shields; the secondary burst poured from the triangle and tore into the opposing ship's hull. The ship exploded into a burst of light, which did in fact resemble a cross. The fires spread throughout the ship as the four orbs fired an explosive pulse co-coordinated from the ship's weapon's system. This final burst was used to completely wipe the data and life forms from within the target's wreckage. No mercy...as the weapon was often called.
The captain took a drag from his cigar, and in that instant he ceased to be. The embers of the cigar burned and the smoke trailed into the air, but the breath which it had just escaped, no longer existed. The captain hit the ground hard, but it didn't matter, the concussion he would have sustained was nothing to the blade's impact to his sternum. A white haired form behind the captain sheathed his shining metal weapon. A smile on his face, he knew he had done exactly as he was ordered to do. The blood from the captain now stained the deck, but his death wasn't alone. Solemn Prayer's deck was stained with blood, all from the now extinct method of swordplay. The assailant never enjoyed the concept of guns, though he was an expert marksman. He kicked aside the captain's dead body and punched several keys on the navigation array; Solemn Prayer lurched and shuddered as it altered its course.
The man looked around at the scene of death and destruction around him, they will be pleased, he thought to himself. A small communications device was attached to his ear and fed via wires to his internal workings. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a harsh gasping sound. The metal of his blade gleamed in the artificial atmosphere as it left the black sheath. The man dressed in black slashed his blade forward, slicing a metal table in half. The shining blade was a masterpiece of art and science, a fusion of the two created by masters, for masters. The handle was nothing special, a micro-computer that monitored heart signs and functioned as a motion sensor that caused a crystalline light on the hilt to light up when enemies were near. The blade was the truly ingenious part, designed to be the first, last, and only line of defense the user had, the blade was truly important. It was made with a combination of Earthen and Covenant metal that gave the blade its unparalleled sharpness and shine. Circuits lined the inside of the metal and powered the special features of the weapon. The sides of the blade vibrated at a very high frequency that was barely detectable when held, and couldn't be heard, not even by dogs. The other feature of the blade was the small shielding imbedded into the metal that allowed the user to deflect plasma and even counter the Elite swords. The man holding said weapon had mastered its use, and relished in destroying Elites with it.
The metal table split in half, and a man clutching his stomach looked up at the swordsman. He coughed blood, a sign he was near death, a token that spread a smile across the man's face. He raised his sword to finish the man off when something on the control panel of the ship began blinking rapidly. A wave of cold fear swept over him as he approached, and to his horror, he discovered a rapidly approaching fleet of iridescent sharks. Covenant... The word echoed in his mind and he looked down at the dying pilot. It would be at least another two hours before the new team arrived. The rest of the passengers were all sealed down and very few of them had actual combat experience. He threw his sword through the ground and it stood there, its handle pointing to the ceiling. He hit the communications switches and saw the reddened, round face of an angry, well fed, highly paid, cardinal.
"Xar, what are you doing? You are disobeying every direct order we have given you, you hav-"
Xar didn't let him finish his sentence. "I did what you asked, shut up and listen. We have stumbled across a Covenant fleet; we have no crew save one mortally wounded pilot and myself. This ship is as good as dead if you don't get the replacements here and now." His voice was calm and never once did he express panic. He was program to resist the feeling of Death's hand on your shoulder, or even his Scythe through your gut. Xar checked the display, Three minutes until they discover us the readout translated to in Xar's mind. The Cardinal visibly sweated on the screen, and Xar almost smiled.
Captain James Terrell of the Hell's Tulip laughed as he witnessed the Covenant fleet approach the doomed freighter before him. In fact, he was recording it as his life support systems began to fail. His ship was greatly damaged; he was mortally wounded, and was fated to fade into the afterlife in approximately three minutes. He knew this, and this caused him extreme interest in the upcoming wave of destruction. He took one last swig of his cheap, but kill-your-brain cells strong drink. He laid back, dimmed the lights, and enjoyed the show.
The first Covenant ship released a group of the Seraph fighters, obviously to inspect the vessel. The Seraph fighters were fast, strong, and deadly in numbers, but nothing more than an insect trying to take out a bug lantern. The Solemn Prayer released a volley of plasma energy into space, a magnetic force causing a tight net of death to surround the ship. The Seraph fighters never saw it coming. Xar smirked as he flipped through the available resources. He could with all technicalities destroy the fleet with the weapons aboard this ship. He aimed the MAC guns and double checked the trajectories. He hit the controls and the MAC guns ripped through space, several of them missed their targets. The ones that hit however crushed the shields and hull of the Covenant ship that launched the Seraphs. Flames consumed the ship and it became nothing but a memory.
Calm piano music floated over the bridge, stained with blood and death. Xar hit the controls, watching the energy level of the ship. He had entered the Captain's override, so as he sat in the massive chair, he had most of the ship's systems at his command. He hit the controls one more time, the MAC guns were reloaded, the missile pods were hot, and plasma generators were ready. As the ship's AI, Xar now had full control of the ship and was more than qualified to take out a good portion of the fleet, though without a proper crew he would not be able to last for long. His minds wandered throughout the vast array of data he had on his side, he calculated Covenant flight patterns and attack squads, pouring through thousands of simulations per second. His minds were truly remarkable, something unique, something almost unexplainable. One of his minds flipped to the passenger inventory, checking the background on each of the three thousand cryogenically frozen Humans. After cross-referencing the qualities he was looking for with the records, he found six individuals who met the qualifications. He began the process of awakening him, and he fingered the MAC guns control's again.
The captain smiled as the lights faded and a covenant ship exploded in a vast array of light. Under normal circumstances he would have been bewildered and curious, but all he had room for now was drunken amusement. He considered hailing the massive ship before him, but figured it was a little pre-occupied, so he finished his drink and reached down to pet the small animal below him. The puppy looked up, whimpering and nuzzling his hand sympathetically, James's heart broke in an instant. Dammed, if I haven't' already earned my way to hell I'm definitely going there now, poor dog. He petted it and tried to comfort it, but the animal knew what was about to happen. In a few minutes the systems would die, the atmosphere would vent, and the engines would achieve critical mass, and both of the life forms would be nothing but atoms in space. James's wandering mind came up with a solution, and he went to work.
Xar's minds were set upon their individual tasks all doing what they could to save the lives of the crew, that not surprisingly, Xar had little love for. He was bound by duty and programming to complete his task. It was strange how an AI was bound by the chains of code and programming. He shook his head and hit the thrusters, maneuvering the massive ship the best he could. Six people appeared on the bridge, six new targets in Xar's mind. They were outraged at the scene of violence around them, confused at what was happening, and terrified out of their minds at the fleet before them. Xar didn't try to explain, comfort, or orient them.
"Take your stations; you're the only hope this ship has, take my orders without questions, and you might live." Xar knew someone was going to ask a question, someone always did, so his hand leapt to his sword prepared to cut down the daring questioner, however no one asked a thing. Xar almost smiled, almost. The six formed an operating crew, each one an extension of the other, operating almost as smoothly as a machine, each one a separate job, but each one the same goal. Xar was impressed as the dazzled crew adapted quite well to the new technology. Xar was a little curious on how they could come to use it so well in such a short time. Outside the battle was furious, though inside the bridge the soft piano music continued to play. Xar had control of all of the special features of the ship, so as an arc of plasma headed towards him, he punched in the correct combination of characters, and activated the Revelations Device. One of his minds laughed cynically at the name, while another appreciated the tactical abilities of the ship. The device created a magnetic field that was used to redirect the plasma, simple, and powerful. A normal blast of plasma was what the device was created for, but it proved incredibly effective when Xar turned it on a beam of the energy. The flow of the beam was actually reversed, streaming the deadly energy back into the weapon it came from, of course this took a tremendous amount of energy from the Solemn Prayer to perform this feat, but the resulting spray of light and destruction was worth it in the end
The crew rejoiced as the last of the ships were disintegrated by the ship's weapons, and Xar found his mind's mutually relieved. Of course this meant that the new crew had to die, Xar wasn't allowed any compromises in his mission. As he stood and drew his sword the crew reached for their joy and at their dismay found it was gone, replaced by cold fear. Xar was about to relieve the stand-in Navigator of his duty when the Sensory technician shouted in a combination of fear and desperation.
"Sir, we have an incoming....projectile. It's unidentified and doesn't appear to be a weapon of any sort. In fact, it's a ...escape pod! Definite life signs are onboard, what actions should I take?"
At first Xar was frustrated, his vast minds were having difficulties overcoming his programmed desire for blood, when more important matters were at hand. He raised the sword and made a thrusting motion, before he dropped the blade. One of his minds had stumbled upon the programming's base subroutine and taken apart the very code. He looked up awkwardly, as if through the eyes of a new born child. The ship lurched as one of the bays opened, and an escape pod entered the ship. Xar turned to a view screen as a small ship disappeared in a burst of fire and brimstone.
On the bridge's main screen the scowling face of the Cardinal attempted to reprimand Xar on his rash and foolish actions. The A.I.'s rebellious mind took control of the situation and immediately shut down the parts of him that would ban this sort of behavior. With a quick motion the screen was shut off. Part of Xar's minds decided to obey part of the Cardinal's orders and set in the slip space coordinates necessary to reach their next desired position. A part of Xar's mind that was not shut off reinstated a piece that was and made sure that it was kept a secret from the rebellious piece of his mind. The entity that is Xar is a collective of what started out to be seven minds. In an unforeseen error in the developmental part of Xar's evolution new minds were created. All had control of the various systems of Xar's being, allowing a private war within himself. To counteract this portion a new mind was created. Technicians fought with Xar to install the new mind, but were effectively blocked out. This caused worry amongst Xar's creators, so they instead imbedded the separate mind into an entirely separate entity. That entity now held an unfamiliar weapon as an uneasy alliance was formed with his enemys. It was up to Xar now to save his "brother" and it just so happened these were the orders from the Cardinal. Xar leaned back into the chair and watched as the slip space computer took him towards the ongoing battle before him.
Author's Note: This is the second part of Altered State, however has very little connection with Of God's And Men, part two of that story will come out next, though I felt it was important to get this part of the story out in the open, to kind of explain the complex tale I am attempting to weave. Try and bear with me, I appreciate all comments I get, and I hope you look forward to my next part.
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