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Halo 2.5: chapter 4
Posted By: master chief<smfessant@aol.com>
Date: 23 July 2005, 12:49 am
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Chapter 4
Cortana looked at the oncoming Covenant fleet, and at the human fleet gathering to protect Earth. Dozens of ships gathered around the planet, Covenant ships looking like sleek marine creatures, and UNSC ships looking like black boxes. The Covenant fleet advanced, and then came the order from FLEETCOM:
"Fire!!"Dozens of glittering, white hot projectiles arced through space.
Ship Master Karalaus looked at the view screen towards the humans' pathetic fleet and defenses. Their existence marred the universe, and their filth had to be cleansed from it. He ordered the Weapon Officer to power up all plasma torpedoes. He felt relatively safe behind twelve decks, three meters of armor, and a shield that could repel collision with an asteroid. His ship was of a new type, a type the Humans referred to as Battleships because of their immense size and power. Battleships were around six kilometers long, and were armed with ten plasma turrets and two dozen pulse lasers.
The Ship Master smiled. The coming battle would realize the Covenant's dreams of humanity's extinction, and then they would be free to begin the Great Journey without the humans' meddling.
Cortana saw Covenant ships simply break into glittering pieces. She watched as a large Covenant ship was hit by three Mac rounds. When the orange and red explosions dissipated, Cortana was amazed to see that the ship was still there.
"What the hell….?" She muttered. The ship should have been totally destroyed, but it wasn't, and so Cortana fired her MAC gun again, hoping to destroy it. Her MAC round impacted the large Covenant ship, however, the round hardly dented the ship's shields.
The enemy fleet moved forward and the UNSC fleet opened fire. Covenant ships rushed past the human defenses and swarmed around the earth. Several dropped into the lower atmosphere to land troops. Cortana pivoted the MAC station and fired at a different target, this one a smaller ship, which exploded in a huge ball of flame.
Karalaus looked on silently as his ship sent scores of plasma salvoes across space towards the humans. Plasma flashed through space, impacting on ships and melting their protection away. The Covenant fleet launched clouds of single craft and drop ships. The shields were gone, but they would recharge in a few seconds. The Ship Master turned to his subordinate.
"Prepare to fire all pulse lasers at their orbital stations."
"Yes, Excellency!" replied the younger Brute. Ranatus felt nothing but indignation for his commanding officer, who didn't treat him very well at all. He pushed himself off the ground and touched the appropriate buttons to activate the lasers.
"Fire!" barked Karalaus. He watched the lances of energy impact on one of the humans' orbital stations and puncture it in a dozen places. A second passed, then the station exploded into a million peices of molten debris.
The Covenant single ships tangled up with the humans' single ships. so between the two fleets was a cloud of single ships, alight with explosions, missiles, and plasma. Dropships and boarding craft moved toward the MAC stations, and Cortana heard the thumps as they latched onto the Cairo.
The Arbiter and Sergeant Johnson stood in a corridor, waiting for the enemy.
"Where the hell are they?" asked Johnson.
"I do not know, but they will come," replied the Arbiter.
"Only if they want to get their asses whooped!!"
The relationship between Johnson and the arbiter was unique among humans and their alien counterparts. Where most Elites disliked humans, the Arbiter liked Johnson. While most Elites would be content to watch the humans die without so much as lifting a finger, and vice versa, of thses two, one would gladly die to save the other's life. Johnson got a degree of respect from other humans for this. He heard a loud metallic "thud!" and then another, and then more, and clicked off the safety on his sub machine gun. The Arbiter's hand tensed on his flash rifle, the weapon that the UNSC was battle-testing for use by the Elites. The Arbiter was holding a prototype of the weapon. A door in the corridor exploded, and Brutes poured out.
The Arbiter opened up as soon as he saw the hostiles, and Johnson followed a moment later. The flash rifle's white bolts slashed into the Brutes, killing one and wounding two others. They opened fire, and red plasma whizzed towards the Arbiter and Johnson. Johnson rolled, and the plasma missed him, but it hit the Arbiter. the red plasma washed over his chest. The Elite's shields flashed, and dropped to three quarters. He dropped to one knee, peered into his rifle's scope, and killed a Brute with a headshot. The final Brute threw his weapon down, roared, and charged at the Arbiter. Johnson fired, and bullets tore through the Brute's flesh until it fell, practically at the Arbiter's feet.
"Cortana, what's goin' on groundside?" asked Johnson.
"The Covenant has landed around New Mombassa, and they are moving into the city, killing every human in their way," replied Cortana.
White light collected around High Charity and the surrounding fleet, and they accelerated and disappeared into space. The ring, left behind by Humans and Covenant alike, sat in space, still caught in its eternal spin.
The backdrop of bright stars was parted for a moment as a gash appeared in subspace. A massive ship appeared, ten kilometers long; it slid silently from slipspace, surrounded by escorts, and moved towards the ring. Deep within, in a chamber near the center of the ship, a Brute and a pair of Elites knelt before three hovering figures. The High Prophets of Tears, Joy, and Honor floated in their antigravity thrones near the center of the room. Dozens of Honor Guards stood in the chamber.
Joy spoke. "Rise," he said, his voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. The two aliens stood.
What have you come to discuss with us?" asked Honor.
"The rumors are that Tartarus, our great Chieftain, is dead. Not only that, but murdered at the hands of the Arbiter!" said the Brute, his voice laden with rage.
"I assure you, The Arbiter would not have"-
"Then why didn't he reply when you contacted him from this ship?"
"Perhaps he was having problems with his communications gear," replied the Elite angrily. "You have no right to accuse the Elites of treachery; we have done nothing but serve the Hierarchs!"
"This is true," said Tears softly. "However it was one of your kind, 'Vatamee, that allowed Halo's destruction...
"Do you not see? The Elites deserve to be punished for this mistake! The Sacred Ring-"
"Do not interrupt the Hierarchs!" snarled the Elite called Nuko 'Vatamee. "You have no right!"
"And neither of you have the right to waste our time with this petty quarreling," said Tears. "'Vatamee, you will take your Elites and land on the surface of the ring. Now leave us."
The Elite started to say somthing, closed his mouth, then spun on his heel and strode out of the room.
"Mortus, you will take your Brutes and land on a separate area of the ring. Do not allow yourselves to be seen by the Elites. Catch them off guard, and kill them all. But first...in light of Tartarus's death, Metraus, a Brute who is part of the attack on the human's home planet, has been named Chieftain. You are now the first Brute King."
The prophet rose a claw and a gravity beam appeared between the Brute and Prophets. In it was a Gravity Hammer, a scepter with a curved blade on top, and a cruelly curved and spiked plasma rifle White in color, the front looked oddly familiar: it was an Elite's helmet. The necessary components had been placed under the helmet. The scepter had a handle, and the rest was black metal. As soon as the Brute touched the handle, the blade glowed bright orange, the color of fire.
"These will do nicely, Holy One," murmured Mortus. He could barely conceal the glee in his voice.
A capsule then rose from the floor and opened. In it was a set of wickedly curved armor, complete with a black crown. Mortus donned the armor, placed the plasma rifle and scepter onto his belt, hefted the hammer, and walked out of the room wearing the armor and a very self-satisfied look.
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