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Of Gods and Men
Posted By: Soulcry<Soulcry22@hotmail.com>
Date: 1 April 2005, 5:52 PM
Read/Post Comments
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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.
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