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Heretic Chaste
Truth be told…
Prologue

The Heretic Leader spurred his thruster packs forward, clutching a Holodrone in his palms, and allowing them to light together while adhering into his scales.
The Heretic tapped the device as they hovered in air, vibrating to the dense and cluttered ether.
The Elite brushed the blue orbs into a small conduit of glass, switching his sight to the Holodrone that wafted down below.

"See! Heretic!" A Grunt squeaked, pulling the trigger on his pistol.
The Holodrone of the Heretic Leader gasped in illusive pain, holding his Plasma Rifles steady on an armored Elite that held an Energy Sword to his heart.
"Hold your fire, hold your fire!" The SpecOps Leader bellowed in command.
The Heretic Leader ignored the plasma skimming his skin and focused on the Elite in front of him. "I wondered who the Prophets would send to silence me…an Arbiter…I'm flattered."
The Arbiter carved his sword across his chest and bore his eyes into the Heretic Leader…The truth was yet to come…
"He's using a Holodrone…" The Half-Jawed Leader growled. "He must be somewhere close…Come out so we may kill you…"
The Heretic Leader above in the chamber abroad chuckled quietly through his gullet. "Get in line…"

The Heretic Leader pulled the Holodrone from the chamber below, allowing the orb to burn a fervid mist of blue onto a Flood corpse. The Elite then took his remaining 'drones and holstered them, looking to his brother, the second-in-command Gala 'Gammamee.
'Gammamee was a passionate and dauntless Heretic, zealous and headstrong, tactical and bonded to the truth, as was he.

"They have an Arbiter with them" The Heretic Leader indicated below, resting his hand onto his brother's shoulder. He knew that 'Gammamee freshly released the Flood onto them and he was seemingly doubting their occupation here. "You did commendably, brother" He soothed him. "Releasing the parasite"
'Gammamee bowed his head down, clinging to his last words. He resided his Carbine to his leg and tilted his mandibles in a disheartened expression. The Heretic Field Master had only one thing to ask…trying to restrain himself he uttered hoarsely. "Why…?"
The Heretic Leader looked taken aback as he composed the best answer. "We needed…"
He struggled to find the right words. "For the sake of the truth we needed to release the Flood to the blind one's…"

The Heretic Leader faltered forward, trying to restore tranquility in him. "They will see…Soon enough, they will see…"
"When!" 'Gammamee whispered, jarring his eyes.
"Imagine!" He choked on his words. "An army of our brother's, all those loyal to oppose the Prophet's and their 'Great Journey.' Look at Halo, 'Gammamee! The ruins of it! Imagine the pain of the innocent…The blood of our fathers and on the blood of our son's…it will consume all we have built!"

The Heretic Field Master merely nodded, gaping his gullet to utter a statement but held his breath to prevent it from escaping. 'Gammamee sighed deeply, allowing his rebreather to sustain his sanity on what he just did. "Yes, Leader…The truth shall be reveled"
The Heretic Leader consented, withdrawing his Plasma Rifles to his sheath. "Go to the laboratories on the adverse side and meet me there…"
'Gammamee raised his Carbine and walked toward the door. The sound of the Heretic Leader's thruster pack vented throughout the dark corridors.

'For the truth we have to make sacrifices…It all makes sense'

That was the last time 'Gammamee ever saw his leader alive again…

‹—————————————————›


Heretic blockade, Capital Carrier, Marauder
Ninth Age of Reclamation
Sudden Asset

The defiant and virtuous Hydra was standing before hundreds of Heretics in the garden chamber. Having just returned from the successful task of defeating Pride, the Heretic was being commended for his actions and leadership on the field, along with a collection of Elites and Humans being congratulated.
"Worthy and honorable!" The Councilor protested over the crowds. "Our revered, once distant brother has returned to spread the truth! With abilities worthy of the Forerunner, we will sanction him the rank of Ship Master."

The cheers erupted from the Elites sitting stagnant on the audience trestles above him. Hydra cuffed his mandibles in a split and nodded to the Councilor, touching his forehead with his, approving the approval.
'Gammamee was going to be granted his own ship…He hemmed his breath and anticipation as the Councilor bestowed another Elite with a new rank.

The Last Heretic possessed off-planet tactics, along with the field generalship he was bestowed with.
He was overcome with empathy and apathy, gazing at an alien moth circling a pertinent floweret with a kind of stasis encompassing him.

'There are dozens of ships in their private blockade…capital ships, carriers, flagships, assault ships, orbiters…I wonder which one I will get…?'

The fleet that enforced the blockade was positioned over a wavy cove. Forerunner strings of canals enameled the cavern walls and to the cove around the blockade.
They were very secrete and protected, devoting the skills of defense to the warriors of the Marauder.

Hydra looked to the trestle above watching the silent applause emerge the mandibles, rebreathers, and the slit-holes of the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters to the Heretics below.
He met a stare with a Human Marine; a group of his kind was positioned next to a pair of Hunters. The Human delegates bore timorous expressions to the environment around them.
He couldn't blame them, being in a once-enemy's ambience he would be scared too.

"In this age of war, we find ourselves in a truce with humanity. The Elites were inextricable as to why the humans were not accepted in our Covenant bond by the Prophets, as they have proven noble and worthy for our originator's divine beyond!" The Councilor rose his hands to the flora-covered ceiling. "But in this age we are deceived by the Prophets and our…their Great Journey…." The Councilor recomposed his words and finished in a deafening roar. "With humanity we shall conquer the Covenant and embark on a new era!"

The stands above echoed compliant bellows…

* * *

Hydra approached the Councilors, thumping his jaw-line to the lucent windows toward the oblique lodging. He dipped his head down to the dais atop, tucking his arms within his underarmor and gnarled a respected salutation.
"Noble ones…"
The Councilors returned the greeting, residing their palms into their pale coverings, nodding to the Heretic Ship Master.
"You are here, regarding your command of a ship…" The Councilor wavered his mandibles.
Hydra nodded, indicating his forehead to the window behind them. The dozens of hovering ships floating behind the Marauder gave a graceful symbiosis, flashing their gaudy cannons and beacons to the Heretic.

The Councilors concealed their mouths and muttered softly to each other, speaking a guttural response to him. "You will be transferred to the Effectual Chastity, a assault carrier bracing 200 soldiers strong"
Hydra pictured the Effectual Chastity, floating in space above the ancient ring.

'By the Forerunner…'

His mind carried away, etching into the Divine Beyond where it did not belong at this moment. "What is my next task then, Councilors?"
"It is simple" The Councilor advised. "You will defend this blockade from the Covenant…Until we give you further orders, do whatever to augment your troops and take what previsions to insure that this encirclement is hidden, Hydra"

‹—————————————————›

Effectual Chastity
Ninth Age of Reclamation
Stargazer and Executor

The Last Heretic marveled at the intricate weaving that scoped his ship to an impeccable fashion. The silver and violet counters, tapering the rippling steel with perfect motifs glistened to perfection.

'I've truly gone a long way…Heretic Field Master, usurper of the Covenant to Heretic Follower safeguarding the truth for eternity…'

Hydra grinned at his soldiers, snapping into a balanced posture to their Ship Master as he eased their acquittals. He walked toward the bridge to the orbital padlocks that bridled a silver clasp, pressing his fingers on the scanner the padlocks vibrated and shifted, revealing a quadrant of decks.
The Heretic Ship Master approached the platform to the end of the deck. Holographic screens whispered vivid replies, beckoning the Elite toward the command deck. The grafts of energy beams splinted to meet and cornered a hanging platform above his head.

The scaffold divulged a series of terminals into bright luminance; hovering chairs occupied by Elites were creaking to the weight of the armors. Hydra crossed the terminal and reeled himself inside the Ship Master's platform.
His platform sat overlooking the entire bridge. The Elite's working their fingers steadily turned their foreheads to the Heretic, inclining their motions to the Leader, awaiting commands.

'Gammamee sat in his crystalline-made throne, his headship was truly complete as he ran his scales through the filmy monitor in front of him. The arrows in the monitor trickled to a swim, gliding stirringly for a tiny receptacle in the center. The receptacle was the compilation of artificial letters, crowding themselves to gather lore.

"Comply a set of patrols to the Pheno Tract outside High Charity, search for Heretic alarums and run them back to me" 'Gammamee proclaimed narrowly to the Elite's below.
He waded his forefingers on the console, running through the known factions of tracts outside Halo.

He scoped the galaxy, dubbed by the Covenant as the "Elegant Rescue" and glazed his eyes through the clear pages.
The Covenant held positions toward High Charity, repelling the Flood from the Holy City with all their failing effort.

The quadrants and tracts all over space held a glimpse of an enemy, a Flood-controlled cruiser docked itself in the shear of High Charity, a Brute-taken capitol ship assumed space of the second sector towards the Pheno, backing it's cannons through aerial support, he tracked a squad of Banshees and a solitary Phantom. Both echoing a response through the quadrants and he beckoned the static forward.

"Transferring a troop of captivated Brutes via Phantom, requesting a docking code to any Heretic or UNSC forces…" The voice of a Human sounded, followed by the relentless string of static.
Just then the patrols responded back and the artificial letters trailed, resonantly screaming a reply to the Ship Master.

He tapped the letters to quiet them and waited for the static to ensue. The silver and blue probes oddly shaped in a triangular lucidity bobbed to the dock center of the Effectual Chastity. They transmitted what they saw into palpated messages, sending theirs to the Ship Master.

"Heretic's sending underscore's to the Marauder, they need immediate recovery" The Patrol's adept voice carried.
"Send direct transports, Phantom Dropships to the Infinas Tract" Hydra ordered from his top scaffold.
The Elite's below his platform clicked their terminals away, bringing the lucid screens to a vast patch of darkness. The resemblance of the Elegant Rescue traced the oval of Halo through the gulf of dimness.

From the launch bay a trio of Phantoms initiated; the Heretic Ship Master trailed them to the stars, leaving the atmosphere completely.
The tiny semblance's that were holographic models of their counterparts whisked their engines out towards the capsized Banshee's. 'Gammamee gazed them to safety as the Elite Rangers dropped from the dropship rescuing the wounded and aiding the crumbling Phantom to a stasis-like hover.

The Heretic then noticed a small wave of lights moving toward his rescue ships. They were marked with Covenant scriptures on the side of their hulls and they lurched about them, cannons blazing…
"We have Covenant air waves impressing my rescuers…I want Seraphs on that quadrant…Move!" He barked from his chair.
"We have no available Seraph fighters, Ship Master" A voice from the launch bay scowled.
He stringed his snout and flexed his mandibles, concluding a notion, he switched to the channel to all transmissions of Heretics in the insular areas and prayed his fingers to a diverting wave of voices and spoke. "This is Ship Master, Gala 'Gammamee…I need direct fighters on my rescue…PLEASE!"
Hydra would love more than to climb in his own Banshee and assist them himself, but he clearly knew where he belonged now…

"This is Counter Leader with the Seraph fighters…We are beginning our attack…" This voice was that of a strong Elite.
"Counter Leader what is your appellation?" Hydra tuned his fingers to the Seraph's engaging the waves, the Counter Leader prevailing on all grounds.
"This is Ralis 'Rahanammee…" The voice replied.

'Rahanammee? Impossible, he was part of the secrete and patrician Unity of Repent…The subsequent tetrad following the rule of the Prophet of Regret. I am sure they all died at the inception of the Civil War…'

"Ralis then…signalize your patrols on the Covenant…Get rid of them before they report us!" Hydra snarled, palpating the stars for Brute prattle.
"Yes, Leader" The Repent Leader said.
'Gammamee gathered from his pulpit screen that the Repent Leader was an extraordinary pilot and aggressor, his skills quite unmatched in this part of the sector and especially this battle.

Hydra traced his Seraph in a arch, he twirled the oval spacecraft and shot a Phantom down in a heap of gaudy holograms. 'Rahanammee lead his squad in a darkening arrow of waves and marked a Covenant Banshee for dissolution. From the blatant fire emerging from the spry battle, the Heretic's pulled out from the rescue, escorting the damaged ships carrying Brute hostages.
"Come back to the Effectual Chastity, make SURE those Brutes get back here…they shall pay for their lack of discernment!" The Heretic Ship Master snarled, transferring his starship's vector arrays via a solitary matrix channel.
The matrix channel flowed in a translucent green wave of bars, designating the worst of his best capabilities-Patience…

He waited, withering his scales with the back of his armored fist, he plucked the spikes out of his armlet and wedged them back in, marveling at the black and crimson smoothness of his sheathings.
With an alarming boom the pulpit screeched, a siren beacon perched on the pedestal of the chair of his arm.
The Covenant numbering were destined in certain directives, of teeming ciphers and digits that cornered the blue screening of the pulpit.

Hydra patched the numbers and listened to the frequency from the Vilictri Tract outside Delta Halo.
A Human voice, that of a male's vocalized them in a chanting fashion, over and over and over again.
'Gammamee tucked the bytes to the Repent Leader, sending his position.

"Confirming your position!" 'Rahanammee growled through the transmission, brushing the Seraph through the open bay.
Hydra switched his channel through the interchange inside the glassy speakers all through his ship and her corridors.
"Give our rescuers hospitality…send the Brutes to the holding pins, they will suffer!" 'Gammamee spat through the enameled communicator.
From the corridors the harsh and deep bellows and diminutive and succored squeaks from Elites and Grunts to their Ship Master.

* * *

"…traitor…"

Hydra marched toward the ferrous steel bars of the holding cells where a wounded Brute clutched his jowl, growling softly at his Guards that held Energy Swords attentively.
The Ship Master ushered his personnel Guards away from the block, motioning for his holstered Carbine in his sheath plate.
Slowly drawing the nose to the Brute's head he shook with potential grief and anger…It was these savage beasts that broke the Truth and the Covenant they were struggling to rebuild…

"Betrayer…" He repeated a taunt, jarring his Carbine to the wound where the Brute clutched his jaw.
The Brute looked as if he were going to grab the Carbine, but he gave the urge and flayed his eyes in an angry sneer, waiting for the worst that was yet to come…
"I know what you're thinking…" The Heretic predicted. "As soon as you grab my Carbine, I will have already pulled the spur…And you would be on the plates…dead, with your lies and stench still inside you…"

"You…Are going to tell me where our lost brother's are…the remaining Councilors…" Hydra moved the nose of his Carbine inside the Brute's mouth, poking the ample gauze embodied in black gore.
"Agh…" The Brute riffed angrily in pain.
"Tell me…" 'Gammamee focused his eyes into the Brutes, burning the pain and suffering his kind has caused his.
The Brute looked away…Loving more to be shot than disobey his orders…whatever they were.
"I see we're not gonna make any progression in this…You chose the hard way…I warned you…"
The Heretic walked from the caging and dropped his Carbine…centering his eyes on a incandescent patch of embers swinging around a spike protruding from the fiery slats.

Hydra picked up the spike and looked at the dark mark searing inside the central…He flipped the spike revealing the dishonoring mark to the Brute…
"No…You can't do that…Only those sanctioned by the Hierarchs!" The Brute panicked, backing to the back of the cell.
"I…am a Hierarch…of the Heretics…"
He impelled the spike to the cage and into the chest of the Brute. "Arrrrrraaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
He pulled away from the spike and threw it aside, withdrawing a excited gasp from his gullet…

Embedded in the Brute's chest was the Mark of Shame, gleaming in the dancing shadows that licked the matted flesh perfectly. "If you do not tell me I will drop you on Halo and you will wait for your barbaric kind to retrieve you…"
The Brute growled in an angry wheeze, and enclosed his rage that would obstruct this pledge. "The remaining Councilors…" He groaned, clasping his chest.
"Yes…" Hydra snorted eagerly. "Are on…the Capital Carriers to the Prophet of Truth…"
"What are their designations…?"
The Brute moaned softly to what he was saying but replied in a hoarse growl. "The Twilight…"
Hydra scanned his brain for a ship called the Twilight, he hadn't heard of it but he knew that the Prophet of Truth had hundreds of flagships to his personnel guard. "Where is it…?" He inquired hopefully.
'Gammamee studied the Brute's expression, from a saddened pique he changed to an angry scowl. "I…don't know…"
Abruptly taken aback, the Elite lunged his arm forward, gripping the Brute's neck. He flexed slightly to give the beast pain, and he was gladdened to see him hiss in agony.
"WHERE…?" He huffed, shifting his muscles to more pain.
"You…" The Brute struggled to gasp. "Y-You can kill me…I don't know w-where it is!"

The Ship Master let his arm drop…The Truth…From a Brute…
'Gammamee turned away from the cage and made his way from the holding pins. The Brute panted angrily in the darkening shadows, glowering to the Elite, vowing revenge.

"Let him go…" He insisted, were drawing his hands away into his armor. "But…Leader?" The Guard hesitated, tipping his head. "Do it, brother he will do no harm…he will walk in shame as I have walked in shame."
"I will kill you, Heretic! I swear on my life that I will kill you!!!!!!!!" The Brute's useless threats sounded through the empty corridors.
Hydra walked in mistrust and doubt from the interrogation he executed. He gulped the finest of air from the Sangheil cleansers hanging immobile over him. Though it was spans of units since he ever been there…Visiting his mate and son…
He had never forgotten about them, he devoted his life to finding the truth and the truth only. When he found it and learned it he retained his mate's reaction perfectely.

* * *

'Gammamee paced through his courtyard behind his domicile on Sangheil, the mountains around him befitted his mind and he waited for his companion and son to return.
He wanted so much for his mate and son to join him on this newly organized war on the Covenant. Having just returned from High Charity, 'Gammamee learned the awful and actual truth…The Prophet's were false…

'The Heretic Leader's crude words enunciated my ears, to open our eyes…The Covenant using the faith of our forefathers to bring ruin to us all…The Great Journey is misleading…'

The lately mobilized Heretic faltered his mandibles to the cold air, uttering a quiet shrill. He never actually noticed how the snowy sand clung to his soles coarsely, he moved onto the metallic plates bested by the Forerunner's, sitting on the silver bench perched beside the gardens.
"The truth…" He sighed calmly.
He wanted so much to plunge his fist into the Covenant bond himself, to hear the Prophet's dying words in his hands, to feel the pulse of the condemned halt in his fingers…
"Gala?"
The mellow voice of his mate sounded through the garden courtyard.
'Gammamee looked to see her standing in the archway, her slender build fitted to bright crimson robes, looking peaceful to her spouse.
"Lasha" He purred, meeting her.
From behind her a delighted howl broke, his son emerged from behind her in slight shielding. His son, Gyler 'Gammamee ran to his father and squeezed him warmly.
"I have something…urgent to say…" 'Gammamee stuttered, holding his mate and son snugly.
"What is it?" Lasha asked, seeing his solemn expression.
'Gammamee turned away from his mate and circled back, meeting her gaze with his. "I have learned the truth of our Covenant…"
Lasha didn't fathom what he said; only looking back to his eyes. "What do you mean? What is it?"
"The truth is…The Covenant is headed for havoc, you must realize that the Prophet's are lying…to the Elites and to every being in this misstating bond…"
Lasha looked contrived, nothing other than the contrite expression on her face…He hadn't expected this.
"What? That can't be true…Who spoke this?" She said in a hushed tone. "Heresy…Gala do you realize you could be executed for just speaking this!"
"What? Lasha, actualize and accept the truth…the Forerunner's designed the sacred rings for protection and destruction from and for the parasite…!" He lulled in a grave voice.
"Do you realize what you're saying…The Prophet of Truth passed the ordinance that anybody…anybody who does Heresy will be marked for shame…or death!" Lasha expressed, backing away from him, holding Gyler behind her.
"Lasha…I have learned this…This is our Great Journey…"
"How can you do this!" She gasped, choking back tears.
"UNDERSTAND…THE…TRUTH!" 'Gammamee gagged.
"NO! You understand the truth…You have pledged your life to the Covenant…" She cried, hiding her mandibles behind her hands. "Why…?"
"Lasha…This is what's best for us…for our Covenant…for us…for our son…" He stuttered. "I love you…"
She shook her head angrily, braking their grasp on each other…their connection. "I-I have to report…you…"
'Gammamee was taken by surprise, he reached for her hand, but she pulled back. "You're angry…come with me…The Heretic Leader has a way to save us…We found the Oracle from the wreckage of Halo…he was the one who told us the truth…Listen!"
"No…I'm taking my son and we're going back to High Charity…" Lasha breathed, turning her back on the Heretic.
"Lasha…wait…please!" 'Gammamee pleaded.

In front of his eyes, Lasha and his son left him…and that was the last time he had ever seen them…

* * *

A single, solitary tear escaped Hydra's eyes, he stroked his eyes with a slight pausing. In the end he let his family go because he had to…He had no attachments, always on the run…
Even though it was because of her that the Covenant had invaded their facility and the truth had died for a moment…

"Ship Master?"

Hydra leaned in his chair on the bridge, looking to a bizarre-looking Elite in black and white armor. "Ralis 'Rahanammee, Hydra" The Repent Leader stated, bowing his head to his leader.
'Gammamee shook his pain away and glanced at 'Rahanammee, residing his Energy Sword hilt in his sheath holster.
"Yes…'Rahanammee…" Hydra swallowed, allowing his scales to swelter.
Seeing the grave tone on Hydra's face he foresaw a problem. "What is it?"
"Nothing, brother, nothing…" He said, distracted. "Let's find the Twilight…"

The Heretic typed on the pulpit console and searched for a Covenant fleet for a designated ship, scanning the stars for certain assault ships.
"Leader, we found it already…"

‹—————————————————›

Effectual Chastity
Ninth Age of Reclamation
Those who are Lost and Those who are Found

The Heretic Ship Master sided his Carbine to the bridge, verging his soles to the bottom scaffold where a series of terminals and crates bared open for use.
He passed a Gunner Grunt shouldering a plasma turret, squeaking through his rebreather daintily.

The Grunt tottered under the weight of the turret and toppled over, dropping the turret onto the metal plates to Hydra's feet.
"Aah…" The Grunt screeched alarmed, trembling in his green-clapped uniform.
The Heretic leaned to pick up the turret, handing it to the Grunt as he cringed to the Elite.
"What is your designation?" Hydra asked with benignity, he always respected the Grunts, when he worked with them on Threshold they were always the one prevailing right next to the Heretic Elites.
The Grunt quivering, looked genuinely relieved at what the Heretic asked. "Sayare…" He said, voice shaking.
"Sayare" Hydra spoke, gesturing his hands to the Grunt. "Whom do you serve under?"
Sayare looked confused, wondering whether he should answer or not. He pondered why the Ship Master, Hydra, the Last Heretic and highest-ranking veteran was questioning him. "Field Master, Skir 'Laddamee, Ship Master…"
Hydra racked his memory, he looked over his troops, and Elites, Grunts, and Hunters under him…He hadn't recognized the name. "Where is he, Sayare?"
"He died under your command, Leader…when you raided the Brute Encampments…" Sayare stammered.
He remembered lots of Elites under his command and lots that were lost to the onsets by the Covenant when they were imprisoned.
"That means you are befitting to the Heretics, and you serve under me…is that apt to you, Sayare?" Hydra asked, jointing his plates to his skin in patience.
"Yes, Leader" Sayare yelped, happily.
"You will be upgraded to my personnel assistant…Is that approving?" He asked, watching the Grunt trifle his turret on his shoulder.
The Grunt nodded, bequeathing the turret to a minor Grunt beside him.

Hydra knew that the Grunts were ambitious as they were skilled and intelligent…The Covenant was definitely regretting their exchange of hats made. The Elites being the guard, sortie for the Brutes was the eruption of the Civil War.
"Good. Follow, Sayare"
The Grunt closed behind Hydra, both walking through the trenches and platforms around the bridge.

'Gammamee truly felt unique, he thought as one being as he thought for the thousands of innocent beings in front of him. In his eyes the collective races derived from the Covenant and into Heresy were all the same…All were capable and had equal potential on the battlefield.
"Me honored to be here!" Sayare squawked, affirmatively to the Elite. "Where we going?"
Hydra cued his mandibles to his assistant. "Right here, Sayare"
They stepped into the gravity lift and they were impelled up into his domicile of platform. 'Rahanammee stood in the center of the scaffold, beaming to them from behind the pulpit.
"Whose this?" Ralis questioned, beckoning them to the pulpit.
"Sayare" Hydra perked, sitting in his headship chair.

The portal behind him blinked and released a center of dazed white lights onto their armor, creating summoning shadows in their diverse colored armor. The palisades in front of them fabricated a dense brilliance as the Elite's transcribed the bytes of letters into the main view screen ahead of them.

Hydra forked his utterance. "Connect me with the Council Chambers on the Marauder"
Sayare walked to the terminal in front of the projector and typed at the lights, the projector's center illuminated a spectrum and quickly revealed a white beam going on the screen. The Council Chamber was in view and the Councilors in the assembled rows.
"Councilors, we found the Twilight holding the Councilors" Hydra bowed quickly, inclining his sheathing to the floor.

The Ship Master hooked what he was watching from the viewscreen onto a private channel that connected to the Marauder. "The Twilight is adrift in space, we just received validation from the UNSC freighter, Crossfire that it is making its expected patrol through these quadrants…" He pointed. "We suspect that The Twilight is Brute-controlled from the disorderly hover it maintains…" Hydra teased, informing. "What do want us to do?"
The Councilors whispered amongst each other, hiding their mouths as they spoke in hushed tones. "Commandeer it, retrieve the Councilors at all costs…" They spoke, muttering to one another. "We are entrusting you with this, Hydra…Please get them…"

'Gammamee bowed his head and tucked his arms in obedience. The Heretic knew that the captive Councilors were probably being tortured marked for death or condemnation from the Hierarchs. Though the Hierarchs were broken and disbanded from certain…situations they encountered.

'Regret…To the hands of the Demon…accursed by the Prophet of Truth'
'Mercy…To the clutches of the Flood…the plague of the Forerunners'
Other lesser Prophets died in the Covenant Civil War…Battles that Elites and Humans held victorious…
'Pride…To my hands…'

"Yes, loyal ones…" Hydra soughed to the Councilors.
The connection detached and the viewscreen sparked in debacle electric hums. He got up from his chair and paced the bridge…glowing to the shadows scarring his armor…
"What are we going to do, Leader?" 'Rahanammee uttered, impaling his expression to rash and bold.
"We attack…"

* * *

Hydra treaded from the spectacle of his personnel troops, minor and lesser Elites, Grunts with Heresy colors exchanged stern looks to the Ship Master as he paced back and forth.
The Heretic tanks that were revealed into Hunters bobbed their orange interiors through their thick blue sheathings. The infinitesimal worms inside the Hunter's core, creating an annexed heart. They all warped their crawlers inside making their scaly necks wobble to the Ship Master.
The Heretic brought a hologram of the Twilight showing the inside where the hundreds of plates and scaffolds. He pointed to the locations in which the holding pins were retaining their tasks.

"We are to meet with our captive friends and we will take control of The Twilight. 'Rahanammee here will lead a squad of Grunts and Elites into The Twilight, they will clear a path for the second wave, which I will be leading. From there we will meet and rescue the Councilors taking a dropship from the muster bay, here…" He aimed to the holographic ship ahead of him to the muster area. "'Rahanammee will then set an Anti-Matter Charge in the Energy Core of The Twilight…And from there" He sighed. "You will abandon the ship…Any doubts?
His line of Heretics mobilized in front of him, coughed slightly.
"I see but one flaw…" The Repent Leader stated stepping forward.
"Go ahead…" Hydra permitted, downing The Twilight from the purple waves that held it. "You are a Ship Master, Leader…Shouldn't you be here handling the ship…from what The Twilight holds under her shields she packs Plasma Beams ready for demise…From what I have calculated we are helpless in space, and the only advantage would be of your doing and strategy…" 'Rahanammee declared.
"I see, Ralis…As you know the Councilors appointed me the rank of Ship Master but by the Forerunner I am a Field Master…" He expressed, clutching his heart. "The bridge will handle the fortification of the Chastity…"

'Rahanammee sighed, nodding his head to the Heretic. Hydra tolled his feet to the center scaffold, diverting his attention to the bridge assembly ahead of him. "To your designations…" He announced, meeting his eyes together. "My brothers…Take us out"
"Yes, Leader" They chanted, humming their terminals to the ship's engines. From the abode of the Effectual Chastity the contrivances and mechanisms rumbled to the consoles in front of him. The Effectual Chastity raised up with tremendous agility; the screen turned to the night emerging from the cove and into shrouds of fog. The carrier blasted out of the blockade, above they entered a cloud and proceeded rising. They entered space, and the ring disappeared below.

Hydra was ready to clash with The Twilight with full force, but he needed to use tactics and resources to prepare his wit. He scrutinized the devoid space surpassing him, the tracts of stars traced the empty frames with careful dust. High Charity hovered immobile on the other side of Delta Halo, sparks and stars dawned the space battles between the Flood and the Covenant, revealing auroras of beams shrouding the ebon emptiness.
"Leader, The Twilight is ahead!" The bridge crew announced.
"First wave under Ralis 'Rahanammee make ready to the pods…" Hydra avowed through the speakers. "Ready, Leader!" The voice of the Repent Leader pitched in poised static.

The viewscreen onward was flashed in dark violet shields, The Twilight streamed under the Effectual Chastity, charging her position to launch her cannons at his ship. "Go, first wave!" Hydra ordered, tuning the primary chassis to utmost trenching.
The Heretic pods riffled through the now violent air; Covenant Seraphs dodged the frameworks of the Effectual Chastity dropping permanent blobs of plasma onto the bulwarked shields.

"Bring the energy beams exigent to the rear…disable their shields!" 'Gammamee rubbed his armor in anxiety. "Yes, Leader!" The ridging curves of the ship bowed, revealing corresponded cannons. The cannons beamed a bright energy jointing the luminance together. "Fire when ready!" He beckoned, recoiling his hand to the arm of his chair.
The energy beams rippled throughout the glassy white shields, impacting a pure blue glare onto the lustrous buffers of The Twilight. The Covenant ship turned a enameled gray, turning from bright violet to a dark bound of white.

"The Brutes have turned their beams on us, Leader!" The bridge proclaimed twining the ship's every construct to defend. "Hydra, we have made our alighting in The Twilight!" 'Rahanammee yelled in inert channels. "Status, Ralis!?" He asked, inhaling deeply.
From The Twilight 'Rahanammee shuddered with the fire glassing his hide. "We've landed in the assembly bay…They are pushing us to the full extent, but we are striking the grounds…" The Repent Leader the fiery battles. "Onward with the plot…" Hydra stretched his fingers, cracking his scales with sweat. "Leader, they are countering!" The bridge oppressed. "Switch the Energy Core to full resistance!" 'Gammamee grinned, changing the moment of the environment.

The shields around the Effectual Chastity blinked to beaming white, tensing the wavy threads of energy around the ship. The brace of impact jolted the bridge, rumbling the lustrous cuirass to a halting glitter. "My brothers, keep the ship in Halo's space, make sure we don't enter High Charity…I'd very much like to keep the Effectual Chastity…Second wave under me get ready and follow to the launch bay!" Hydra got up, withdrawing his Carbine to his arm. From the bridge he briskly ran toward the launch bay, pacing his strides to let his wave behind him keep up.

In the plates below his feet he felt the rumbling of the Hunter's heavy gaits, walking to the closest thing they possessed to a run. The Elites and Grunts after him clutched their weapons outward, beckoning for a fight. Sayare followed closely near him, Needler raised for bloodshed on the Brutes. "We take boarding crafts to The Twilight, follow closely, there will be thick space…" Hydra ordered as they entered the launch bay. The bay's portal heaved shimmering shields while the boarding crafts roamed a sudden sheen.

The band of Heretics stepped up the sideling banisters through the crafts. The embossing wave that protected them from the vacuum of space shivered in air and gave way as they slipped into it. Hydra parked himself at the seat of the cockpit and motioned his troops to their strapping saddles.
Sayare reserved in the co-pilot's seat, tipped his head to the Heretic, adjusting his rebreather to suit his sharp teeth poking out.
"You don't have to be here Sayare…" Hydra said, resting his palms onto ebon toggles. "Me here 'cause me wanna be" The green uniformed Grunt chirruped, easing his Needler on the counter. Hydra nodded his head proudly, tagging his amplifier to the other 10 crafts freely launching from the bay. "To the first era of peace, brothers!" He triumphantly clamored to the crystalline speakers. Behind him the Elites shook their fists, barking in tune to the Grunt's screechy bellows.

His craft inclined in the vacuum, coming to a stasis-like hover outside of the bay. The formation behind him lurched in awkward space, tugging their noses toward the gleaming diffusion of The Twilight slowly and eerily slipping by.
"They have energy emplacements and Seraph fighters on the plunder!" Hydra raised his toggles and hurled into the cluttered space.
Fire and energy hurdled past them, nailing the sides of his ship with glassy glows. "They found us, feinting maneuvers!" He pulled backwards, seeing the nose and clamps of the craft skim a ray of shining energy.
"ARGH!" An explosion behind them reverberated and vibrated their ship. "We lost one of the crafts, Hydra" An Elite after him said, looking through the port windows. "Bless them Forerunners" He whispered, gripping the controls with an icy sweat.

'Gammamee twirled the craft in an aerial pitch, dodging a blasting from a energy beam. The Twilight's many engraving bays trickled a supernatural glare into his eyes, he marked it on his detector, observing the flagging emblem.
"Go there!" He yelled, sending them the mappings.
They fell into the space, seeping coolant fuel through their metallic conduits.

"Open the clamps!" He screamed, pulling a trigger from the ledge. "Latch onto the ship!"
His craft's fasteners clasped to the edging of The Twilight, the screeching metal touched the energy that protected them creating a invigorating bond.
"Come brothers, let's end this!" Hydra crawled to the back, kicking the plating and ignoring the white steaming.

It was truly chaos in The Twilight; having landed right into the arsenal wing the Covenant was struggling to maintain the batteries of all the emplacements. Relying on their superior Energy Core to keep them going.
Above them were ramps and elevators spiraling up the ceiling. An energy spindle was in the middle of the chamber; lifts extended up and down the spindle.
On the platforms were Brutes with turrets domiciling the illuminating chamber.

"Heretics!!!" They yelled focusing their turrets on them. Hydra was first to jump out of the craft, as many more behind him echoed war bellows.
"FOR THE TRUTH!" Hydra screamed, raising his Carbine to his head.
Reaching inside the violet firearm, Hydra nailed a Brute in the head with a hot projectile. Up the spindle the Brute fell, the energy dissipating the Brute in a dusty flash.

A spray of Brute pellets blasted Hydra, he keeled in agony studying the Brute that meant him for dead. He flipped over the floorplates, ignoring the sparking hiss that locked his body.
He focused his zoom onto the Captain on the platform, he stuck his blade through the torso of an Elite and he pushed his brother through the spindle, chuckling softly to the ashy remnants of the Elite sprinkling on him.

Hydra hurled forward toward the spindle, dodging fire from a Jackal Sniper perched on the rampart ahead of him. The Heretic pushed the Jackal from the rampart and watched it hiss away in a flash of pallid filings.
He lurched for the Captain, grabbing his hairy wrists and pulling back hard. Indenting his weight to snap the Brute's hand.
"Arrah!" The Brute gasped in agony, realizing he broke his wrist in a pulpy mess. Hydra pulled back his fist and impelled it into the belly of the beast. Knocking the Brute from the scaffold to his demise.

He raised his Carbine from the victorious battle, slaying a Drone from the spindle border. "Up to the spindle!" He screamed, throttling a Brute to his strength. The Brute gurgled what was left of his air supply as he threw down his Brute Plasma Rifle in a shrill cry. His Elites were concentrating their crossfire on the Brutes, compacting bubbling hot plasma into their thick and hairy hides.
Sayare was following his rear, trailing his Needler's crystalline spikes into the flesh of a Jackal ahead of him. From the Grunt's Needler a massive chunk of violet studs whizzed past him and into the fur of a Brute-Killing him instantly.

"Hydra, we have cleared a path to the Energy Core…but the Brutes are reluctant to push us back…" The Repent Leader sounded through the speaker. "Keep pushing but wait until we get the Councilors before activating it…" Hydra yelled, repressing his Carbine to a Jackal's head.
"Keep pushing the traitors back…FOR THE TRUTH!"

* * *

"Submission to the Prophet!"

The Brute's all gathered around the Prophet Councilor, kneeling in responsive bows to the saintly and feckless creature. The Prophet hunched his slinking neck back and forth, rubbing the skin-deep ridges that ran through his jowls.
A towering Brute emerged from the bowing assemblage. He groveled in front of him in a riveting sulk, clutching his chest.

"Dear Brother…what did they do to you?" The Prophet inclined forward, reaching his nimble and feeble fingers from his white robes and raising the chin of the beast. "What did they do?" He repeated, motioning for the Brute to speak in a more demanding tone.
The Brute stayed silent but glared into the Prophet's eyes, he removed his hand from his chest and revealed a scorching mark…

The Prophet gasped, keeling in shock from the mark embossing his hide. The fiery outline of the Mark of Shame traced the Brute's blood in a revolting fashion. There was no greater Heresy…
The Shameful Brute's brothers backed from the Brute in degradation, moving closer to the symbolic elements of the Forerunner, imprinting their great backs into the walls.

"Noble Prophet…It was the Heretic…the Heretic…that did this to me" He growled, standing upward. "Give me the right to make him pay…my reprisal and the Covenant"
The Prophet let his neck wither and shake in frustration and jeering, his jowls twitched and he stroking his snout to the shadow of the Brute standing in front of him.
"This Heretic…this Hydra as he is referred as is a durable foe…the Elites…readied with knowledge of the Great Journey and our strategies are moving relentlessly to their captured brethren" The Prophet walked away from the Brute, still toning his voice to the explosions outside his ship. "The Twilight will defeat the Effectual Chastity, but if the reports are correct of Regret's Unity of Repent Leader then the ship is in peril. Though we still have their Councilors…they will not activate the Charge until they have them, which won't be long…You have full permission to hunt down and kill the Heretic…but you" He said, pointing to the Shamed One. "Are meant for a greater fight…"

The Prophet walked from his throne of the bridge, overlooking the battle that took place. "Kill the Councilors…"
The Brute followed the Prophet to the pod wing on the oblique side of The Twilight, launching their jettisoned selves from the ship…leaving their brother's to die in a fiery fiery death…

* * *

"Leader!"

Hydra whipped around facing a spit of plasma fire from a Brute Plasma Rifle. He braced his arms together and met his spiked wrists together in an arching shield. The red fire brushed through the armor and into his skin, touching his scales with hot matter.
From inside his conscience he gripped his Elite instinct he was born with and pulled. He urged forward in a rampage…tackling the Brute with all of his strength and vigor.

His Carbine was thrown aside from the impact and he was left with his fists and legs to batter the Brute hand-to-hand. The Brute stared angrily into the Elite's eyes, headbutting the Heretic with his steel-plated helmet.
He whooped in a quick gasp, throwing his fists onto the Brute with his weight. The Brute bled from the hard hit, his snout covered in black gore. Hydra placed his foot in the beast's chest, sliding his ballast to the other side of the Brute in quick shifts.

From nowhere a blob of purple sparks impacted with the Brute in the head, exploding sharp and small explosions internally inside the Brute. He panted in intense gulps, talking his time to breathe slowly through his mandibles.
He looked behind him and saw Sayare holding his Needler defensively, shouldering the burden of Hydra's life.

'Gammamee nodded his thanks and bent down to grab his Carbine, motioning for his squad to move forward.
They were in a coolant conduit glazed in misty fog up to their ankles. The coolant hazing silted into their armor, creating a dense and foul olfaction.
"We need to get out of this coolant conduit and into the Holding Cells…" Hydra stepped out of the brass trench, reaching his hand down to help his brothers out.
"Leader, The Twilight is offering full resistance…The Effectual Chastity's shields are faltering!" The transmission from the bridge team gripped soundless static. "Bring full contact with The Twilight…fire everything!"
"Yes, Leader"

They stepped from the conduit and into an arching corridor, a hissing wheeze whirred past them as a pair of Jackals ran by, not noticing them from the conduit. They entered the corridor, watching the Jackals run out through a pair of slating doors.
The doors ahead then flashed and out charged a pair of Brutes and Jackals.

Hydra got hit in the head with an uncharged plasma bolt, and he registered his Carbine to the front, shooting the Jackal in the arm. Dissolving the Jackal's shields in a depression. His shields were cut as he brought his projectiles to the head of a Brute Captain down.
The next Brute fell in lucid blue Plasma Rifle fire. The Elite next to him cheered at his kill, and ushered for more enemies to come. "Any more?!"

The Jackals were blasted away with plasma, and the corridor was deserted from enemies. They moved on and came to a heavily guarded antechamber, the room had many levels layered upon each other, in the middle were crisscrossing energy transits. In the core was a suspended rostrum that had Covenant crates littered on it.

'We made it…'

A series of Brutes and Jackals were in the layers patrolling the brigs. They saw many, Grunts many pair of Hunters were locked in, the Elite Councilors were imprisoned high above the layers. Hydra indicated silently, to kill them all.

"HERETICS!" A Brute screamed spotting them from the highest layer. "KILL THEM!"
"Ignore them…Rescue our Brothers!" Hydra screamed, moving through a narrow ridging going up into a ramp.
It was raining plasma fire on them, behind him Sayare brought up the rear. Focusing his Needler, the Grunt shot a Jackal from the topmost layer watching it's body fall down to the wavy abyss.

Hydra zoomed his Carbine onto a prison padlock and shot. The padlock exploded in bits of electric discharging as the now free Hunter's stomped out, fuel rods blazing. He shot the padlock off a Grunt cage, all were freeing each other while Hydra and Sayare slowly moved up to the highest peak of layers.
Just then the Brutes guarding the Councilor's caging, shouldered Brute Shots…deactivating the shielding restraining the Councilors.

'They are going to kill them…before we even get there'

Hydra frenzied and distraught bellowed in pure instinct: "IGNORE THE TRAITORS, SAVE THE COUNCILORS!"
He sprinted for along the edging, excluding the fire that skimmed his ridges and the craters that imprinted ahead of him. As he traveled skyward the fire diminished quickly, he took half a moment to look down to the rostrums below. All he could see were Covenant bodies mangled in knots of their own maws.

As his squad won the battle below he was slowly losing the war…
The Brute Executioners sent into the brigs, clasped their Brute Shot blades to their chests, laughing as they moved slowly toward the Elites.
The Elite Councilors tried to tackle the Brutes but were restrained down by other lesser Brutes.
To his abrupt dismay his shields flickered away and dismissed under a charged plasma bolt from a Jackal in front of him.

In a quick jolt of heart he imploded forward and tackled the Jackal, throwing its body down into the abyss. He dashed forth, finally reaching the top platform.
Just as he stepped onto the top rostrum a timer floated in his mind, ticking the numbers away…

He heard the slow and loud tick and the screams of the Elites…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Hydra dropped in submissive faint, watching the timer dissolve in failure…He saw his ship being taken away from him…he saw his mate telling the Prophet of Truth of his crimes of Heresy…He saw the Heretic Leader dead in his arms…

"Ugh" He gasped sharply, a Brute caught him by the chest and threw him aside to the wall.
Raising himself, Hydra let the anger flow through his mind…The anger that was capable of anything…
"Truth!" He screamed, punching the Brute in the jaw. He crossed his legs and jumped, kicking his armored weight onto him.

The Brute staggered upwards, just as he knocked him in an uppercut. The Brute fell to his demise, halting the Covenant from this chamber.

He kneeled in failure…the halting screams of the Covenant died in plasma fire…
Sayare and his Elites and Grunts wavered next to him…The failure was all his…

"I…have failed you…" He managed these only words, gasping in silent sulk.
His group lying next to him. "No you didn't…we failed!" Sayare squeaked quietly.
"Now is not the time, Hydra to be failing…The Twilight needs to be destroyed…" An Elite muttered.
Not thinking about anything but failure, Hydra spoke through the transmission in a grave and somber tone. "Ralis, proceed with the Anti-Matter Charge…"
He waited for a positive voice, waiting. "Yes, Leader"

Leaving the defeat of battle, they left in a Phantom Dropship all retreating as The Twilight blasted in profound explosions…

‹—————————————————›

For the greater good
Capital Ship, Marauder Council Chamber


The Council Chamber was relinquished and brooded. They all stared down at Hydra with beady and impaling eyes. The many rows of Councilors stood opposite of the Ship Master all looking fervent. "What is my penalty, noble Councilors?" Hydra asked, in a sifted tone.
The Councilors whispered amongst each other. The Councilor then spoke with a sudden compassion. "We understand you had no inception of their intent, but owing to your lack of dedication for delivering our brothers you will be stripped of accompanying troops. You're divided insight will clear your wrongdoing"

Hydra soughed in a alarmed gasp. He wanted to argue that he failed…but he felt he had said enough. He nodded his thanks leaving in dedication and passion that he did not deserve.
He unmistakably did not mean to falter his dedication. Hydra walked from the chamber with furthest gratitude, and grazed past a familiar Grunt. Sayare met Hydra and they started toward the hanger.

* * *

On the bridge of the Effectual Chastity Sayare and Hydra overlooked the deduction of his finest troops. The Repent Leader that served under him approached. "I will follow you despite this exchange, Hydra" He growled. "I have taken my cause with the Councilors and they have positioned me on your ship." He said, confiding his arm to his chest.
"Thank you, brother but no one serves under me anymore…from now I travel on my own conformity. I will be there when the Heretics are needed, when doom is nigh, and when we are forsaken by what is ours…For the truth and the Covenant…nothing else…"

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