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Halo 2: Brothers In War by Jonathan Andrew Fitzgerald
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Halo 2: Brothers In War
Date: 30 August 2006, 2:05 am
SECTION ONE========
THE HERETIC
CHAPTER ONE============================
Ninth age of Reclamation/ aboard Covenant holy city High Charity
In the blackness, orbiting the great gas giant called Threshold, circled the flaming debris that were once the Ring world. This Ring held a story ... one that was a millennia in the making. Floating nearby the shattered ring was the immense space metropolis High Charity the capital of vast empire of the Covenant the collective of alien races whom had taken it upon themselves to purify the galaxy of all inferior species, in particular the Human race.
Hundreds of war ships closed in on the vast city in the stars carrying millions of soldiers coming to see the trial of the century. The trial of the Commander of the Fleet Particular Justice, on trial for the destruction of the sacred Ring, the capture of the Ascendant Justice, and the fall of the Unyielding Hierophant. He hadn't had anything to do with the second and third accusations but someone had to take the blame.
Inside the city Banshee low altitude fighter planes circled outside the courtroom attempting to maintain the peace with all the spectators. The congregation was made up of all forms of the Covenant: Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Engineers, Hunters, and also their clan's newest members the vicious Brutes along with the almost mindless insect breeds they called Drones and Keel Bugs.
The court where the trial would take place was the meeting hall of the democratic section of the Covenant's government, the Chamber of the High Council. Hundreds of Elite Honor Guard, the sacred guardians of the Prophets lined the walls with the intention to protect the Chamber's honored guests, the Prophets of Truth and Mercy. The two exalted Prophets hovered at the end of the hall along with a holographic image of the Prophet of Regret, who was away overseeing the building of the fleet that would go in search of a fabled great city of the Forerunners; the ancient beings the Covenant believed to be gods.
The council entered snickering amongst themselves asking what would the Commander's punishment be? They took to their seats as Prophet Mercy waved to the guards to bring the Commander before them.
Tartarus, Chieftain of the Brutes stood to their left holding his immense hammer, the hammer that proclaimed his authority. He grinned, "Finally, an Elite is being punished for his failure instead of his soldiers of the lower social classes." He proudly thought to himself.
Then four Honor Guard Elites and two Brutes escorted an Elite wearing gold and tan armor into the Great Hall of the High Council. He walked to an elevated platform in the center of the chamber facing the Prophets. Silence filled the court as Prophet Truth raised his hand ... the trial had begun.
Moments that felt like an eternity passed by until the leading Prophet broke the silence "How much larger was the Human fleet than yours at Halo?"
The gold Elite stood in a proud Military stance, hoping the Holy Ones would understand what happened. He replied, "There was only one ship." This statement blew Prophet Truth away. He had heard reports of outnumbered Human soldiers defeating a superior Covenant force, but a victory of this magnitude with only one ship it was impossible!
The prophet leaned forward and asked, "One, are you sure?"
The Elite bowed his head in shame of this truth, "Yes the Humans called their ship the Pillar of Autumn."
Prophet Mercy butted in furious with what he had just heard "Why was it not destroyed with the rest of their fleet?"
The Commander raised his head reminded of his command over a section of the immense Fleet that had been sent against the powerful Human colony world of Reach "It fled as we set fire to their planet ... but I followed with all the ships at my command."
The Prophet Regret, eager to see this failure punished mockingly asked, "When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its majesty?"
Confused the Commander asked, "Blinded?" Frustrated the Prophet continued, "Paralyzed … dumbstruck?" Insulted the Commander shouted "No!" The Prophet still continued, "And yet the Humans were able to evade your ships, land on the sacred Ring, and desecrate it with their filthy footsteps!"
Hoping to redeem himself the Commander referred to the evil hidden within Halo "Surely you understand that once the Parasite attacked..." he was cut off by the uproar of the Council.
Truth raised his arms to silence them "You were right to focus your attention on the Flood..." He hesitated at the thought of his next statement "But this Demon this Master Chief..." All the spectators became silent at these words for they knew them well. The rumors had spread far in their society ... stories of a breed of Humans that were invincible, more powerful than the Forerunners themselves. They caused and aided in Covenant casualties that were in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions! They called themselves Spartans and their leader was the Demon the Master Chief.
The Elite paused before his reply "By the time I learned the Demon's intent, there was nothing I could do." The image of their sacred Ring being destroyed played through his mind. The Council members screamed at this statement. "How could he not have known?" they demanded!
The holographic image of Prophet Regret whispered in Prophet Truth's ear "Brother Truth this has gone on long enough make an example of this bumble, the council demands it!" Truth didn't respond because he had plans for this Elite. He looked at the Commander as Tartarus snickered joyously with the thought that he had been chosen to give the Commander his punishment.
The Elite shouted to prove his loyalty to the Covenant "I will continue my campaign against the Humans!" Truth returned, "No! You will not. You have been one of our most treasured instruments. Long have you led your fleet with honor and distinction, but your inability to safeguard Halo was a colossal failure!" The Elite bowed his head in shame.
A councilman stood up "Yes it was a heresy!" The council rejoiced at this title for the Commander ... Heretic. Truth waved to his Honor Guard then the Brutes and Elite Honor Guard escorted the Heretic from the Hall. Truth ended the trial with the words "Soon the Great Journey shall begin, but when it does the weight of your heresy will outweigh your faith and you shall be left behind."
SECTION TWO========
THE ARMORY
CHAPTER TWO===========================
2048 hours, October 8, 2552 Military Calendar/ aboard UNSC vessel Gettysburg in Earth's Solar System, orbital region Mars
It had been four weeks since the Pillar of Autumn had left Reach and the Master Chief Petty Officer John Spartan-117 was looking forward to being in UNSC controlled space again. He stood on the bridge of the Gettysburg with third class Petty Officer Will Spartan-098, first class Petty Officer Fred Spartan-157, and second class Petty Officer Linda Spartan-058. They were the only other living Spartan II Super Soldiers.
The four of them had narrowly escaped Reach for the second time and had unbelievably destroyed the Unyielding Hierophant along with the other 500 ships that were moving towards Earth. But now was the most irritating part: coming back and reporting everything that had happened.
He looked toward the bridge's central control panel as Cortana, their super Artificial Intelligence aid appeared in her holographic form. "Cortana, are we being hailed at all?" he asked. She smiled. "No, but as soon as they discover we disobeyed protocol by jumping directly to Earth, they won't stop screaming." John grinned inside his helmet, imagining the lovely conversation they'll have with Fleet Command.
Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson walked onto the bridge and asked in his deep scruffy voice, "Has the party started yet?" Will turned toward the Sergeant and replied, "No, but it should be any time now." Just then a crackle came over the bridge's COM system and Will said into the console, "Speak of the devil."
Then a voice shouted over the speakers: "This is Mars Military Station 2101 to unidentified Cruiser . . . respond . . . respond or you will be targeted by our orbital Mac guns!" Will looked at his fellow Spartans. "Well, unless we want to be shot by a 1000 ton slab of iron, I suggest we respond."
Ignoring Will's limitless sense of humor, Cortana began to report to (Martian) Central Command. "This is UNSC Cruiser Gettysburg. We have broken protocol orders because the Covenant already know about Earth. We came to warn you. I repeat, the Covenant already knows about Earth! Sending clearance code: fifty-seven, star, thirteen." There was silence over the COM system and John looked out the windows and could see Mars' orbiting guns return to their original positions.
The voice returned. "You've been cleared to land, but do not proceed to Earth. Report to Martian defense platform Armstrong. We will send Long Sword fighters to guide you." Cortana then carefully guided their beat-up old cruiser into the port-docking bay of the orbital Mac cannon as three Long Sword fighters appeared beside them, just in case they pulled any stunts.
John looked out at the red world below. He had never been to Mars or Earth. He had always been in the outer colonies fighting terrorists, and then the Covenant. He had learned about Mars in Deja's classes back on Reach. Beside Earth's moon, Mars was the first Human colony world. The red planet was only a fraction the size of Earth and because of its lower gravity; it had originally been used only for military and scientific purposes.
Military Station 2101 was named after the year it was founded. The facility was the size of the earthly continent of Asia. It was encased in a large titanium dome that used a high tech air pressure system to simulate Earth's gravity and atmosphere. The system was state of the art, but it was too complex to use on ships. This dome allowed an entire economic community to live on Mars, but its primary function was to defend Earth from attack.
John's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the air locks attaching to the Gettysburg. The doors opened and eight marines came aboard. Their Squad leader walked in, assault rifle ready, and emphasized, "You are all under arrest for breaking the Cole protocol!" He aimed at the immense Spartan in front of him with the Master Chief insignia. The Spartans weren't used to being prisoners, but then again not everything had been normal lately. The Marine then waved to the Spartans and Johnson to come along.
The Master Chief reached for the control panel and took out Cortana's digital card and plugged it into his armor. Once again he felt the cool mercury presence of Cortana in his mind. John asked over his armor's private COM link if his fellow Spartans were ready to go. Three acknowledgment lights then appeared on his helmet's faceplate's heads-up display showing the condition of his armor, his body, and the status of his fellow Spartans.
John, Linda, Fred, Will, and Sergeant Johnson then followed the Marines into the Armstrong and towards the detainment area, where they would be kept until a meeting could be arranged with the United Nations Space Core (UNSC) High Command. The Spartan's armor had been taken along with Cortana, and they were put into a large jail cell.
Inside his cell John sat thinking about all that had happened. It was the first time in a while that he had been given a chance to think. "The last time I really thought, it was in the Long Sword after Halo. Let's see, next Cortana and I saved Linda's cryo tube floating in space; then I met Johnson, Polanski, Locklear, and Haverson in that Pelican drop ship. Then we captured the Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice. Then we went back to Reach and found some surviving Spartans, Dr. Catherine Halsey, Admiral Whitcomb, and that Forerunner crystal. We escaped the Covenant Fleet and then we entered Slip Space, which was altered by the crystal. It was there I unfortunately lost two more Spartans. Then we came to that Rebel facility from the days we fought terrorists. After that we were attacked and then we found the Unyielding Hierophant lost Grace, Admiral Whitcomb, and Haverson. Then we jumped to Earth and ended up here.
Linda walked over to him and asked, "You okay, John?" He looked up at her and replied, "It's just a little nice to have time to think, but we lost so many people, Marines, fellow Navy, Captain Keyes, Admiral Whitcomb, Foehammer, and the rest of the Spartans. All that is left is us five.
She looked at him with a depressed face, knowing how much was lost. "They died for Humanity and Earth and us." John knew this, but hearing it from someone else gave him a small sense of peace. Then he thought to himself that he had overcome everything thrown at him, what did it feel like to fall, to fail, to lose, to die? He had never known true failure.
Just then the cell door opened and a young Marine stood in the doorway. "Excuse me, Sir. High Command has come from Earth to see you; they're on the planet below. Please follow me."
Will and Fred looked at each other. "Fred, should we?"
"What else are we going to do?"
Fred reached over and woke the Sergeant from his nap. Johnson jumped up. "What, what ... we under attack?" Fred looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No ... we're going to see High Command."
Johnson looked up at him with a disappointed look. "Damn."
Fred gave Johnson a hand getting to his feet and they followed John, Will, and Linda out the door. On his way out, Fred thought to himself, "That Sarge is a tough guy. If he were a Spartan he'd make the rest of us look like pansies." He gave a quick smile at this thought, which was something he hadn't done in a long, long time.
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