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Introduction-Chapter 1
Posted By: Master Grunt<master.grunt@gmail.com>
Date: 4 December 2004, 7:49 AM
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Introduction
The troops marched through the dense forests, remaining as silent as a jaguar stalking its prey. Something had scared their commanders... Something had made the Elites order all of the troops to mobilize and remain at full alert...
Zargist turned to his neighboring Grunt, who was busy inspecting his new fuel-rod cannon. Most of the other Grunts trudged on slowly, barely awake. They had been forced to be ready for a scouting mission after only receiving three hours of sleep.
The Elites were restless, but they wouldn't show it to their troops. The Jackals were traveling quietly, in a perfect phalanx formation. Nobody dared to speak, in fear of invoking the wraith of the commanding Elites. They could sense that there was something special about this mission and that it would not be a simple scouting mission as they were being told. Even an Arbiter traveled among them.
This "scouting party" was a squad of 35 troops, comprised of 13 Jackals, 7 Elites, and 15 Grunts. The Elites ordered the Grunts and Jackals to spread out more in fear of a possible ambush. Being clumped together would provide an easy target for a well-placed grenade. They knew something the other troops did not and even the Grunts were curious to find out what it was that scared the Elites so much.
Zargist noticed that two of the Elites kept whispering to each other in the back. It was not Elite nature to talk during a mission. They always remained focused on the task ahead of them and were always a perfect example for their troops. The only time they spoke was to issue commands or to wail their battle cry. The Grunt realized he was staring at the Elites, a serious offense in Covenant society. He immediately looked at the ground and continued the march forward.
Chapter 1
The Elites focused on the structure at the horizon. It was just as the Prophets had described. The "Temple of the Gods" was a magnificent work of art. The architecture was unique beyond any of the other temples built by the Covenant, but none of this appealed to the Elites. They were on a mission. The Grunts on the other hand were awe-struck. They had never been privileged enough to see the "Temple of the Gods" before.
According to the Prophets, the temple had been infiltrated and a group of Covenant soldiers were being held captive inside. The reports were incomplete and unclear and even the Prophets were not sure what exactly had occurred. All they could do was venture a guess from the reports they had received. A rescue team was assembled immediately to reclaim the Temple and, if possible, save the captive soldiers. The safety of the Temple was the priority. If they had to sacrifice the captives, so be it. All intruders were to be killed. They would have to suffer for entering the holy constructs of the Gods.
The Elites ordered the Jackals to provide covering fire as the Grunts advanced on the perimeter of the Temple. The Elites led the Grunts into the base, while the Jackals stayed behind to guard the entrance. They team managed to enter the Temple with no difficulty. The only obstacle they encountered was the Temple's automatic defenses, but the Arbiter carried the access codes to override the system. Inside, the Elites were surprised to find dead Brutes and some dead Elites scattered across the floor. Brute Shots and Carbines lay at the dead bodies' feet. The Elites quickly selected ammo and weaponry that would be useful to them on the mission.
The Grunts had already moved towards the door and were ready to break through at the Elites' signal. They burst through and were once again surprised to find an empty room. They swept the room and moved on to the next corridor. They began to hear faint rants coming from the center of the Temple. Moving cautiously, they inspected every room along the way and found them all to be void of any life.
Approaching the main hall, the noise grew louder and seemed to be coming from behind the doors. The Elites activated their active camouflage suits and snuck into the room without anyone noticing. Inside, the hall was full of Elites, Jackals, Drones, and Grunts. The camouflaged Elites easily made their way to the center of the hall without any of the ranting troops noticing. A small group of three Elites stood at the podium, speaking heresy of the Prophets and their ways. He fed the crowd with propaganda and lies to persuade them to retaliate and reform the Covenant society. He claimed that the Prophets were losing their power and it was only a matter of time before the Covenant collapsed.
Suddenly, the situation made sense to the Arbiter. The intruders were not foreign enemies, but instead Covenant troops. That's why they had no trouble getting past the Brutes, the "Guardians of the Temple". The Brutes must have even welcomed. Once the heretics were inside, they killed the Brutes and activated the security system. The heretics had not placed any troops outside because they had expected the Temple's automatic defenses to annihilate anything that approached, but they had not expected the Prophets to send an Arbiter.
The camouflaged Elites were enraged and couldn't stand to hear another word of the heretics. They opened fire on the speakers with their Plasma Rifles and the front-most speaker was smothered in Plasma burns before anyone realized what had happened. The crowd went crazy after a few seconds of silence and drew their weapons. The camo-suits ran out of energy and failed. The Elites were rendered visible to the angry crowd of heretics. They all fired at the squad of Elites and the Elites scattered around the hall, ducking for cover anywhere they could escape the irrepressible plasma bolts that whizzed through the air. Zongatrat, the leading Elite, threw a Plasma grenade into the crowd and burned a group of cowering Grunts into ashes.
The Arbiter took cover behind the podium after killing all of the speakers with his Plasma sword and fired his Carbine into the crowd, spraying them with plasma and forcing them to take cover. This gave a chance to the other Elites to attack the crowd and kill them.
After a massive gunfight, the squad of Elites finally suppressed the heretics. Having killed enough of the heretics, they captured the survivors and prepared to take them to the Council for trial as heretics. The Elites suffered many casualties and lost 4 of the original 7 Elites, while the Grunts they had come with had trembled behind the safety of the doors the whole battle.
Before they left the room, a hologram appeared on the projector. An Elite stood in the hologram, laughing at the dead Elites that lay at the survivors' feet. The Arbiter looked up and gritted his teeth. His mandibles were tense and hung open. The Elite in the hologram began to speak. The voice sounded familiar to the Arbiter, as if he had heard it somewhere else.
"You think you have ended this revolution? You have only delayed the inevitable. I have armies of troops and we will change your society! There is nothing you can do about it. The bloodshed you witnessed today is only a small taste of what anyone who resists will suffer. Do not make me shed more blood to have this revolution succeed because I would rather not, but I will if I have to. Oh, and don't bother trying to trace this message. I have personally attached several corruption viruses to this message."
The hologram file ended and the recording of the Elite disappeared. One of the heretic Jackals began laughing hysterically. Zongatrat kicked the Jackal and was tempted to kill him, but the Arbiter stopped him. The Prophets would like to interrogate all of the prisoners and get as much information out of them as possible.
Outside, they found all of the Jackals waiting for them, unharmed. They took the prisoners back the Prophets for interrogation and trial.
This is only the Introduction and Chapter 1 of this book. I am working on the next chapter. I will try to make a weekly publication, but I cannot guarantee anything. I hope you enjoy the story and please provide me with any feedback that you may have.
-Master Grunt
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