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Forced Betrayal (Chapter 1: Early Retreat)
Date: 27 December 2003, 6:53 AM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 1: Early Retreat)
Eighth Cycle, 12 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Protah Hills, on retreat from Human city in Phantom.

      They were retreating; news had it that the Orbiter above the primitive race's city was destroyed by the green devil. Field Commander Polo 'Ralamee had already given orders to a Rallit a Grunt who had been told to order a strike on the human airdrome. He had successfully done so, but 'Ralamee's troops had almost been completely wiped out until he had to extract them from the dangerous premises.

      "Excellency, you should be glad we survived the assault on the Infidel municipality." came the voice of a Grunt who was seated in the Phantom beside him.

      "No, Joyop, I shouldn't be glad. We failed miserably and it'll be my head their after, it's just a matter of time once we arrive to the cruiser." the Grunt sighed and stopped trying to cheer up the superior officer.
      'Ralamee had a tight knot in his stomach, would the Council punish his doings? The base of his fears elevated from this one question, the Prophets of the Council were known for extremely rash penalties. Several other rookie Elites, two Jackals and a Grunt were seated in the Phantom along with 'Ralamee.

      "Excellency," 'Ralamee once again heard the Grunt's voice and decided to ignore it, "Excellency, excuse me but I have a suggestion."
      Polo turned around in annoyed rage, "What?!" The Grunt shriveled back into his seat. The burnished metal of his golden armor was still clean; he hadn't been in many fire fights with the infidels. Most of the troops under his command were dead or missing in action, the survivors were either on other Phantoms returning to the Cruiser, Implorer, or some were already there, admitting the horrible job that 'Ralamee did at commanding his people.
      He could see the already setting sun of New Tatley; they had been attacking the city for days, ever since the beginning of the Eighth Cycle. It had seemed like it was day for a few hours because of the explosion which lit up the city. But that had died off, and the damaged sky had already shown stars before the sun had started to set.
      When the Covenant were arriving to this planet, 'Ralamee saw the beauty of what the humans called "Erth". Then they landed on the planet and practically destroyed all of the infidels physical features, along with some historical man made ones, they had nearly wiped out the planets exquisiteness.
      In some way 'Ralamee felt sorry for the humans, but in others he didn't, he had been taught to hate the human race. They were primitive, he had been told, they are not worth living. He had somewhat doubted these words, but was still considered enemy to the humans.
      The Phantom shifted and then slowly the hills below them started to fade away, and soon the drop ship came to a halt. They had arrived at the Implorer, the deployment doors opened and 'Ralamee singled out of the Phantom with the other aliens. He was to go to the Council Chambers immediately, his presence was requested as soon as he arrived; the Prophets had contacted 'Ralamee as he was waiting for extraction.
      Polo 'Ralamee left for the Council room with a tight knot mixed of fear and tension in the bottom of his stomach.

Eighth Cycle, 13 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/In Council Chambers of the Implorer, discussing events of New Tatley.

      Raga 'Qoyalamee sat on the pedestal on the other side of the room from the Prophet.

      "Why do you personally think we were not able to penetrate the human defenses and annihilate the city afterwards?" this was a sort of a trick question asked by the Prophet.
      'Qoyalamee stuttered for a second, he was one of the rookies that was under Polo 'Ralamee's command. "I know that we were able to breach the human defenses, but we weren't able to annihilate the city because there was information that we needed there."

      "Correct, but we could have done some permanent damage or better yet, taken the city, could we not?" asked the Prophet, Raga knew he was going to keep on firing questions at him until he failed to answer one correctly and then get punished, he was hated by this Prophet.

      "We did do damage, Excellency, it's just that the green devil appeared and destroyed our every attempts to try to obtain the information about the human world." replied 'Qoyalamee confidently, the Prophet sighed.

      "That is not true." lied the Prophet, "Do you even know what kind of information we were attempting to acquire?"

      "Yes," said Raga with hate, the Prophet was toying with him, "We were trying to obtain information about the locations of all the human covert military facilities."
      The Prophet's face went grim, there was only one thing that he could do, so the alien adjudicator ended the Council.

      "Fine, this meeting is adjourned, we will continue this some other time, you will be contacted." said the Prophet, the light that was shining on him turned off, and 'Qoyalamee was left to leave the room.
      There has to be some way I can get back at him, thought Raga nastily, he walked out of the Chambers and marched back to the Superior's Quarters.

Eighth Cycle, 14 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard the Implorer, heading to Council Chambers.

      He was on time, unfortunately, Polo didn't want to go to the Council, he knew something serious was going to happen. He rounded the corner and almost hit another Elite, it was Raga 'Qoyalamee, one of the recruits under that was under Polo's command.

      "What are you doing here?" questioned 'Ralamee.

      "Just had a conference with the Prophet," said Raga grimly, "that son of a bitch hates me."
      That made 'Ralamee feel worse somehow, and he continued to walk down the short hallway without saying goodbye to 'Qoyalamee. He turned to the right and entered the Chamber; the whole room was dark save some light filtering through an outlet in the roof. Underneath the concentrated luminosity hovered a Prophet, he looked angry and tired at the same time.

      "Greetings, 'Ralamee, please remain standing." the Prophet welcomed Polo, 'Ralamee didn't say anything.

      "I have a series of questions to ask you," the Prophet paused, "the first concerning your tactics of taking New Tatley."

      "What would you like to know?" replied the Elite.

      "You were unsuccessful, I do know that for an evident fact." said the Prophet unkindly. "But I would like to know what strategies you have told your troops."

      "We managed to infiltrate the city, get to some important places and held them. In a certain sector in the city we found a document regarding a secret underground military facility, but this one was important." the Elite paused for a moment, the Prophet was listening intently. "It was important because it held the locations of every single secret complex on this planet. My men were trying to hack the human computers to get this information when the Spartan showed and killed all of them."

      "Go on."

      "I lost control of that situation after one of my men reported their findings to the now-destroyed Thunderstrike. So I decided to do the next best thing, destroy the only means of an aerial assault on my men, meaning the large human airfield. I got one of the lessers into one of the human cargo trailers and once he arrived to the airdrome, he ordered an assault."

      "And you didn't manage to succeed." stated the Prophet.

      "Unfortunately, no."

      "What happened to the Grunt?" asked the councilor.

      "He was captured and is now in the hands of the humans."

      "Unacceptable. You know capture results in interrogation!" the Prophet said hotly.

      "Yes, Excellency, sorry, Excellency." 'Ralamee bowed his head, the awkward feeling in his stomach had returned, this was beginning to seem like an interrogation.

      "Also we lost control of the city, we had to pull out as soon as the Thunderstrike was destroyed, why do you think that?" asked the Prophet.

      "I don't know, but I do know that we shouldn't have been trying to bomb the city for that data!" the Elite practically yelled. "There was too much of a risk that the information could've been destroyed."

      "That's not true! If the city was bombarded by a plasma strike it wouldn't have leveled the city completely, besides, the facility was underground." the Prophet stopped to breathe, he was shouting. "There was only a twenty three point four percent chance it could've been destroyed."

      "What happened if the data had been destroyed? What would have happened then? Honestly, the idea was idiotic; a secret insertion team could have slipped into the compound at night and obtained the information." 'Ralamee was beginning to fill with anger; the pit in his stomach had left. "Why do you think we had such an early retreat?"

      "You are speaking against your superiors, I order you to stop at once or we can end this meeting now!" barked the Prophet, he was pissed.

      "I suggest that we stop." snarled the Elite, he was fuming.

      "Out now! You will be escorted to the prison cells; the only punishment that can be of use is death. That will teach you to speak properly to your superiors!" the light above him snapped off, and soon 'Ralamee could feel hands groping him and pulling him out of the Council Chamber.
      When he was pulled out into the hallway, magenta-clad Elite punched him in the face. Everything went hazy and he fainted. After an unknown amount of time passed 'Ralamee awoke, he was on the ground behind the blue force field that obstructed the prisoner from escaping.
      He always had been one to disobey rules, he had a hot temper as well, those two things combined never had got him anywhere good. 'Ralamee had only made it to the high rank of Field Commander by showing his strong ability to command people. His temper had caused him his life, and he was soon to be executed, it had all happened so fast.
      'Ralamee sighed and leaned back against the cold metal wall and dozed off, there was no point in him struggling to escape, there was no hope, or was there?

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 2: Escape and Sabatoge)
Date: 29 December 2003, 2:55 AM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 2: Escape and Sabotage)
Eighth Cycle, 19 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Implorer, in cell awaiting execution.

      Right at that moment he knew he hated the rules of the Covenant, it was corrupt. 'Ralamee stood up and rubbed his face, pain swept through his skull, a large bruise had derived from the punch to his face. He shrugged it off and walked over to the pulsating blue barrier and placed his face against it to get a look of his surroundings.
      He was in one of the detainment areas, that was for sure, and his cell was the one near the entrance. Three blue-clad Elites guarded the entrance while a black-dressed Elite stood by the panel that deactivated the blue barricade of each cell. Three lesser beings were imprisoned as well in three separate cells, and two Engineers hovered in another.
      Why had it turned to punishing their kind? They should have been keeping humans in those prison cells, or nobody at all, it just wasn't necessary.
      A golden Elite stepped into the room and walked over to the black Elite, 'Ralamee listened in on the conversation.

      "How's the new detainee?" the gold-clad Elite asked.

      "I think he just woke up," the black one paused, "He received a death sentence from speaking ill to Volna."
      There was a brief silence, and then the golden Elite said, "When is he to get the punishment?" The black Elite lowered his voice.

      "He is in due in forty units. That's pretty much the only prisoner we have received in the last little while."
      The golden Elite nodded, turned around and walked out of the room. Forty units? He didn't have much time, but then again, he didn't have much chance of escaping.
      Then his thoughts were disrupted at the sound of plasma fire.
      'Ralamee saw the blue bolts streak across the room and hit the black armor of the Elite, the body was tossed off the platform and hit the cold metal deck. Then when the blue aliens turned around they were assaulted by plasma as well, three scorched bodies hit the ground leaking purple-black blood.
      The attackers entered the room and the Grunts in the other cells yelled in surprise.
      It was 'Qoyalamee, and with him was three other magenta-clad Elites, five Engineers and a couple Jackals and Grunts.

      "Thank the gods you have come, what made you do this?" 'Ralamee asked in shock.
      'Qoyalamee didn't answer him, instead he walked over to the hologram panel and pressed a button, the blue force field was disabled. The Grunts at the far end of the room waddled over to the group of renegades along with the once imprisoned Engineers.

      "We heard what happened, that Prophet is crooked I tell you. For any reason he deserves death." Raga 'Qoyalamee finally responded.
      'Ralamee stepped out of the cell and caught a plasma rifle that was thrown to him, they had a goal, and that goal was to somehow kill the Prophet aboard this ship.

      "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this culture, the rules are unsatisfactory for my likings. We'll have our revenge on this race, mark my words." 'Ralamee said boldly, 'Qoyalamee nodded.

      "Lets go this way, we have to escape this ship." said Raga and started out of the chamber. 'Ralamee stopped him as he came up with a perfect start to their payback.

      "No. I propose that we obliterate the Implorer; it would teach the Covenant a lesson." Polo 'Ralamee suggested, 'Qoyalamee didn't take long to agree and they head off down the hallway.
      They were headed to the generator power coupling to neutralize the ships shields and then they were going to the generator towers to destroy those as well. It would soon start a chain reaction after that, once the towers were destroyed then the rest of the optic cables in the ship would short-circuit. They would be long gone by then, and the Cruiser would explode, it was a perfect idea.
      It took less then one unit to get to the generator coupling, 'Qoyalamee stuck several plasma grenades into the opening where the coupling cables connected with the generator, switched one of the grenades on and backed up.
      The plasma grenade exploded triggering the other grenades in the aperture, when the explosions ceased, nothing remained of the cables. The lights flickered off and then the backup power turned them on, voices from the Ship Master echoed from the speakers.

      "Shield Power is down! Backup energy initiated to restore light."
      'Ralamee let out a snicker, just what he needed; the Ship Master was panicking and probably was wondering how the power was disabled. He led 'Qoyalamee and the other aliens to the ships generator towers which took about one tenth of a unit. It stood in front of them crackling with blue energy.

      "Time to give what this ship deserves." said 'Ralamee quietly as he pulled out a plasma charge.
      He stuck it to the middle tower and set the detonation time to '1 Units', it wasn't going to take much longer than that to escape. The electricity shocked Polo has he drew his hand back from the object.

      "Time to go." told 'Qoyalamee. "I know exactly where the Seraph Fighters, the launch bay. Follow me."
      The traitors followed Raga to the nearly deserted launch bay, only some Engineers drifted about; they turned towards the sound of footsteps. 'Ralamee ordered everyone to grab an Engineer and pull it into a Seraph, they would need the crew.

      "Come on, come on! We need to clear the Implorer before it explodes!" yelled 'Ralamee, just when he thought it was almost over at least twenty Elites stormed the bay.

      "They're escaping! Hurry and kill them!" ordered a golden-clad Elite, he raised his plasma rifle and shot at the renegades who were scrambling into the fighters.
      Plasma bolts collided into the burnished metal of the Seraph 'Ralamee was boarding and scored holes into the aft. The Engineer floated up the ramp quickly and when 'Ralamee got inside he raised the access ramp. A Grunt had managed to make it into the fighter before the Elite and Engineer.
      The Elite knew how to fly one of the Seraphs along with every other Elite in the Covenant race. He launched the appropriate thrusters so the ship rose a meter of the deck and the other boarded Seraphs did the same.

      "With the shields down it shouldn't be that hard to fly out of here!" yelled 'Ralamee as he punched the accelerator and the Seraph departed out of the bay.

      "Come on, lets get the hell out of here!" ordered 'Qoyalamee and the remaining Seraphs shot out of the bay almost at full speed.
      The aliens that still lingered in the launch bay didn't even know or even suspect what was coming next. 'Ralamee slowed his Seraph; he was a fair distance away from the cruiser. The other Covenant fighters decelerated near 'Ralamee's, the star dotted universe and the Earth loitered in the backdrop.

      "Report." requested 'Ralamee over the transponder.

      "Raga here and awaiting orders."

      "Wharru 'Tanosalee here, we weren't formally introduced."

      "Losses 'Organalee in perfect condition, awaiting orders."

      "Azeri 'Rolatree, I was under your command back on New Tatley, you were a great field commander!"

      "My field commanding days are over, there's no way that they are going to accept an escaped fugitive back into their society." said Polo grimly over the transponder, "Enough about that despicable race, we shall be known as the rebels, and we will fight under the very nose of the Covenant."

      "I'm with you all the way!" in came the voice of 'Qoyalamee's.
      The other voices followed in agreement, and then 'Ralamee walked away with the transponder on. He approached the Grunt was staring out the window, fear was in his eyes.

      "Hello, Excellency, I'm glad that I was freed from the prison...but...I didn't really desire being hunted for the rest of my days." said the Grunt respectively.

      "It is too late, I say that with sympathy, but I'm sure none of us wanted to be a fugitive according to the Covenant. We did what we had to do for survival." informed 'Ralamee, the Grunt nodded and turned away.
      A Jackal strolled out of a compartment; it had no shield or weapon. It was a stowaway. It hissed and asked, "Where the hell am I and what the hell is going on?"

      "You are aboard a captured Seraph; we escaped the Implorer with me having a death sentence." the Jackals expression went grim, "The cruiser is rigged to explode."
      The Jackal shook his head and walked elsewhere in the Seraph and out of sight.

      "The Implorer seems to be getting ready for a Slipspace jump, look!" 'Qoyalamee's voice was recognized over the transponder.
      'Ralamee hurried over to the view port screen, it was the fore of the ship which glowed a dull red—the first signs of a Slipspace jump.
      It was about to make the leap into Slipspace when the cruiser shook, then a large stream of fire protruded from the center of the vessel. The fire that billowed out of the center exploded; ripping the Implorer in half. Each deck of the cruiser was visible along with the scrambling crew inside which were being sucked out into the vacuum.

      "Time to pull out, where should we head next to cause some more...destruction?" asked 'Ralamee as he approached the transponder.

      "I personally suggest 'Installation 09', that ring has been nothing but trouble ever since the Flood were failed to be detained." suggested 'Tanosalee.

      "Great idea, ready the Slipspace generators and set them to the 09 installation, we did good here today." 'Ralamee said ordered calmly with a smile on his face.
      One by one the Seraph's disappeared into Slipspace, leaving the floating wreckage once known as the Implorer behind. Earth could wait.

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 3: Destruction of 09)
Date: 3 January 2004, 10:03 AM

Note from Hawk7886: CoLd can't access the database, so he left it in my care to post this. Now all of you can't say I haven't submitted a story :P


Forced Betrayal (Chapter 3: Destruction of 09)
Eighth Cycle, 37 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Hijacked Seraph Fighter, in Slipspace.

       'Ralamee leaned back against his seat, the Engineer drifted around the renegade ship and attempted to fix anything he possibly could. The Grunt continued to watch the display that showed the blue-ish surroundings around the Seraph.
      They were in Slipspace and heading towards the space vector that contained another Halo, in this case Installation 09. It was most likely surrounded by some of the most powerful ships in the Covenant fleet, and 'Ralamee would make sure that the lead ship didn't make it out of the vector.
      Halo 09 had gone chaotic ever since the Covenant had accidentally released the Flood from their isolated chambers. In turn they evacuated the ships and troops off of the surface, but why did they continue to preserve the ring?
      They still searched for the artifacts that were hidden by the Forerunner; occasionally teams of Elites were dispatched onto the ring to take control of certain areas overrun by Flood, then the Prophets and the lessers were taken down. Usually one big wave of Flood attacked the Covenant and killed them all.
      The operations ceased and the Covenant stopped to consider what to do next.

       "Entering vector, everyone out of Slipspace, now!" ordered 'Ralamee over the communication device.
      Each of the Seraphs stopped and the calm blue of Slipspace vanished and was replaced with black space, stars, planets and the all-too-familiar metal ring along with the fleet of Covenant.

       "This is the Domination; state your business in this vector," a transmission came in clear over the transponder.
      Several other transmissions came in from the less important ships and 'Ralamee blocked them out.

       "Should we respond, Polo?" asked the voice of 'Qoyalamee over the transponder.

       "No, if we don't respond they might think we are damaged and let us into the ship." replied 'Ralamee calmly.

       "Acknowledged."
      For the next few minutes more transmissions came in and Polo did the liberty of listening to the conversations between ships.
      The Domination bought it.

       "What are we doing once we're inside?" asked 'Tanosalee over the device.

       "We fight into the bridge, if we want to destroy that ring we need to set a crash-course." he paused and then added with a smirk, "And it wouldn't hurt to plant some charges on the generator."
      Sounds of approval came over the private frequency, it was decided; they would get to the bridge and set the collision-course. Then they would get to the generator room to plant charges, it would be perfect, and they could escape without getting shot by the other ships.
      They were on a course to the launch bay of the flagship, if they were lucky they could make it to the bridge safely. Every second the Domination neared, soon each Seraph was safely docked in the bay.

       "Everyone out with weapons at the ready, were going in hard unless we find a better way." 'Ralamee said confidently over the transponder, "Out now!"
      He pressed a series of buttons on the holo-display and the access ramp slowly lowered itself to the deck. 'Ralamee walked down the ramp with a Plasma Rifle in hand and was greeted by four magenta-clad Elites.

       "I don't see any signs of damage, why didn't you answer when we tried to correspond?" demanded one of the taller Covenant.
       'Ralamee moved to bring up his Plasma Rifle and pull the trigger on the inquiring Elite. Purplish blood splattered the deck as the Elite's head exploded. The remaining Elites didn't hesitate to activate their personal shields and raise their Plasma Rifles. It didn't take long for the other renegades to come out of the Seraphs and kill the remaining Elites.

       "It won't be long until they send another team to see out what happened." said 'Qoyalamee, "We better get moving."
      Something in his vision shone and he turned to it; several Ossoona cloaking devices hung in one of the storage compartments.

       "I have a better idea," he signaled the rest of his team to where he was looking, "we can infiltrate the bridge quietly. But were going to need someone to stay here and tell us what's happening."

       "I'll do it, 'Ralamee." the voice of 'Organalee broke in.

       "Good, you'll have to keep us updated." said 'Ralamee. "Everyone get one of the cloaks on, we don't have much time."
       'Ralamee took down one of the devices and strapped it around his waist, he then pushed a switch and a weird sensation came over him. Polo looked down to see that his body was nothing more than a slight ripple in the air. Then he took a glance at the other Elites who were also transparent and told them to get to a private COM frequency.

       "Follow me, we're going to the bridge first." ordered 'Ralamee.
      They passed all the different species of the Covenant as they traveled down the halls invisible. Soon they had reached the hallway which led to a bridge, the other three Elites lined up behind 'Ralamee as they approached the door. "Get ready; don't hit any of the display panels on the bridge." 'Ralamee said over the concealed COM channel.

Eighth Cycle, 39 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard the Flagship Domination, on the bridge.

       "Where is the team that was sent to investigate?" asked the Ship Master Doro 'Nanakalee.
      The dimly lit bridge made it hard to see anything else in the room besides the glowing blue hologram panels. A whoosh came from behind 'Nanakalee and the other two Elites beside him.

       "Go and guard the doors, we don't want any intruders." ordered the Ship Master, the two Elites marched down the ramp and walked to the two doors at the end of the room.
       'Nanakalee turned to one of the holograms and was about to make an adjustment when he heard one the Elites behind him cry in pain. The Ship Master spun about to see bolts of plasma coming from outside one of the bridge doors from unseen enemies.
      His mandibles dropped as the first Elite dropped with a smoldering helmet, the second ran out of the bridge leaving 'Nanakalee alone with the useless Engineers. The plasma sword hilt that was held in Doro's hand activated and he waited for the enemy to enter the room.

      Nothing.

      He waited a few seconds; several times he thought he saw something moving. Then when he felt something brush against his back he attempted to spin around and see what it was, but the blinding pain of plasma impeded him from doing so. 'Nanakalee dropped to the deck, dead.

Eighth Cycle, 40 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard the flagship Domination, on the bridge.

      "Good work, someone get to one of the terminals to download the ship schematics." ordered 'Ralamee quietly over the COM as he walked over the dead body of the Ship Master.

      "No need, 'Ralamee, that's already been done." 'Organalee reported, the vision of a map appeared before his eyes.
      He blinked and the map disappeared, he would only have to think so the map could be activated. Polo walked over to one of the holo-panels which set the vessels speed, pitch and direction. He rapidly hit the buttons of the holo-panel and in a few seconds he had managed to set the Domination on a crash-course with Halo 09.

      Two Units Remaining. . .

      They had enough time to get out of the ship, but first they would have to get to the generator room. 'Ralamee clicked on the map schematics of the flagship, it was ideal, the generator room was located right beside the launch bay. Off they went.
      They ran down the hall; footfalls thudded on the hard metal floor of the flagship. Soon they had reached the generator room, in front of them stood the Plasma Drive which fed the massive flagship power.

       "Get the Plasma Charges." whispered 'Ralamee over the COM.
       'Qoyalamee stepped forward with a square shaped device, the middle pulsated a white-blue. Raga pressed the pulsating button and the mechanism emitted a low humming sound, he stuck it up against the Plasma Drive and they all ran out into the hallway and to the launch bay.
      Each rebel got into their own Seraph, and in seconds they launched out of the bay. They stopped a good distance from the flagship which was at an increasing speed towards the ring.

       "We'll stick around until the Halo is destroyed," said 'Ralamee over the ships transponder, "then we leave the system."
      No one responded, 'Ralamee looked at the display. When the massive flagship hit the ring, the Halo cracked in that spot, little explosions occurred in that section. Fires spread rampantly over the surface and atomosphere vented into space. As the Domination continued to push into the ring the explosives detonated. It was similar to the Implorer, except the aft of the ship was completely obliterated. The ring broke into smaller pieces and were sent propelling in different directions.
      Many transmissions were coming through the transponder and 'Ralamee listened in triumph, their duty here was finished, they had been lucky.

Prepared with assistance from Hawk7886

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 4: Vulnerable but Vital)
Date: 25 January 2004, 7:19 AM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 4: Vulnerable but Vital)
Eighth Cycle, 2 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Hijacked Seraph Fighter, Halo 09 debris field.

      "So what next, Excellency?" asked 'Tanosalee over the ships communication system.

      "We need some help," 'Ralamee responded, "The humans could be an essential part of our victory against our former society."
      Polo looked at the flickering view screen, the many ships that swarmed in the sector swerved out of the way of floating debris, and 'Ralamee took the time to listen in on their transmissions.

      "What happened? Why did the Domination do that!?" asked a rasping voice over the COM.

      "This is all too strange, all ships report back to the 'Control and Command'!" ordered a shipmaster over the communication channel.
      'Ralamee switched back to his own private channel and said, "I have detected a small human fleet in space vector 23-B that consists of about three ships."

      "Meaning..." inquired 'Organalee.

      "Meaning that we can try and communicate with the humans and tell them that we are on their side for the most part," responded 'Ralamee. "It's a long shot, but if we can get them to not fire at us that would help plenty."

      "So when we approach them you think that they aren't going to fire at us first?" inquired 'Tanosalee with a hint of nervousness and anger.

      "That's a chance I'm willing to take, it would be worthwhile." he paused and then said. "Everyone upload the space vector into the Slipspace inputs, we're going to persuade some humans."

1203 Hours, October 15, 2552 (Military Calendar)/Aboard the Tigerhawk, unknown space sector, approximately 1 light-year from Earth.

      "So how long until we reach Earth?" asked Captain Evans, a tall man in his early forties, one of the crewmen turned toward him with a smirk on his face.

      "Since the Shaw-Fukijawa engines are back up and running," the tech started typing on the giant keyboard in front of him, "At least three days at the least."

      "Good, continue on, crewman."
      The Captain walked over to the large display that was positioned in the middle of the bridge, the status of the Tigerhawk and the two other Cruisers were all above the 90%, meaning they were all operational. The small human fleet had taken some hits from a group of Seraph fighters, but they had quickly been dispatched.
      The different colors of the stars dotted the blackness and created a serene atmosphere. The Captain grinned; he would be safe at home in a few days. He and the ships under his command had been sent out to investigate an unexplored space sector and found nothing but an asteroid field, after that they were ambushed by some Seraphs and took some light damage.
      Now they were on their way back to Earth.
      But then he noticed something as he spun around to face a display, the space seemed to flicker and shift around until he saw the small shapes of the all too familiar Covenant Seraph fighter.

      "Sir! Seraph fighters approaching, there are approximately five of them!" said a technician from across the room, and then he added, "It seems that they are attempting to contact us."

      "Relay the transmission on the loudspeakers." ordered the Captain calmly.
      At first it was just a garble of grunts and at the most sounded like gibberish. Then it was translated and replayed slower and in a slur of human: "We are not going to harm you, we are not like the others, we are on your side..." The transmission hadn't finished but a hot anger boiled up inside of Evans.

      "My ass," he muttered and then turned to the crewman, "fire just a couple of the Shiva warheads and see if they're not kidding."

      "Aye, sir."
      Evans turned to the display screen and saw two of the warheads launch out of their capsules. The missiles spat out smoke behind them as they rocketed towards their target, and in five seconds there was a small explosion, only one of the warheads had managed to land a hit.

      "We are not going to harm you, we are not like the others, we are on your side, cease your fire. We are rebels of the Covenant race..." the message repeated over the loud speaker.

      "Turn that off! For some reason I still don't believe them." the Captain said, then he strained his eyes as he saw something else on the view screen. The space behind the approaching Seraph's morphed and shifted, and five Cruisers materialized out of nowhere.

      "I knew it!" spat the Captain, he leaned towards the mike that protruded from the wall and said, "All personal to battle stations, this is a Code Red, enemies sighted, prepare for battle."
      He sighed and knew that they were done for as soon as the largest Covenant Cruiser's hull started to glow red.

Eighth Cycle, 14 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Damaged Seraph Fighter, space vector 23-B.

      "No!" yelled 'Ralamee over the communication system, "We need to get the humans on our side!"

      "Don't worry, Excellency, there will always be another chance." said 'Qoyalamee over the transponder.

      "How do we know that for a fact? Besides, it will take too long, this is our only chance, sorry, was our only chance." responded 'Ralamee angrily.

      "Don't worry just yet; maybe we can board one of those human vessels once they're destroyed." 'Qoyalamee suggested thoughtfully, "We could bring an Engineer to fix the communication system and then contact the humans."

      "That could work," 'Ralamee paused and then said, "Yes, that will have to do, but we'll have to board a ship that's not completely obliterated, we just have to keep out of sight from the Cruisers."
      There was a bunch of mixed transmissions from the other rebels agreeing to 'Ralamee's instructions. So they decided to stay in a shadow behind a large purple planet that took up half of the space vector to keep out of sight and watch the space battle.
      It first started out with the leading human ship firing one of its high-powered shots at the largest Cruiser, almost knocking out the shields, but then when the other two human vessels followed suit the Cruiser exploded into millions of pieces. It total there had been five Covenant Cruisers and one Flagship, but one of the Cruisers was just destroyed.
      Now it was the Covenants turn to fire.
      The hulls of the Cruisers has already begun to glow a pale red, and by the time it was a pulsating dark red a large beam of plasma launched from the ship and sped towards one of the human ships in the rear. The plasma just skinned the bottom of the ships battle armor and melted away anything it touched. Fires erupted from the bottom of the ship as the plasma ray faded.
      Then the human warheads came into action, and 'Ralamee counted at least twenty per ship streaking towards the Covenant fleet. It was a waste of weapons, unfortunately, as the missiles struck separate targets only causing the shields to shimmer. Then the Flagship opened fire, and 12 long fingers of plasma streaked towards the ships, melting large holes into the ship that had its underside torn off.
      Then the ship exploded as one of the plasma beams from another ship hit the generator and caused a large explosion. Large metal shards of the ship were sent spinning in random directions as the humans charged up their weapons again.
      Two beams shot from the human spacecrafts and they both slashed through the hull of the Flagship, the large hole created by high power rounds had tore through the entire ship. The atmosphere vented and large blue fires broke out and spread over the hull quickly.
      That was the most damage the humans could do before three more plasma beams knocked into both the vessels and caused one to float dead in space while the other had ripped in half. The scorched metal of the torn in half ship just held the ship together, and the inner structure was visible.
      There was a suspenseful pause, and one by one, the Covenant fleet disappeared back into Slipspace.

      "It's good to go, board the one ripped in half, it probably still has atmosphere inside and will be easier to land on and enter." ordered 'Ralamee and hit the thrusters on the Seraph.

      "What would make it easier?" asked 'Rolatree over the COM system.

      "Well, it's ripped in half, and we might be able to land our Seraph's in a big enough hole on the hull." 'Ralamee paused to swerve his Seraph from a piece of floating debris. "Otherwise, it's not easier, but we'll have to make the most of it."
      In minutes they descended upon the destroyed ship, Tigerhawk had been imprinted into the ship's ravaged hull where it had torn in half. Tiger was on the left side before the large rip and Hawk was on the right side. The ship seemed to make an upside down "L", and they decided to land where the ship had been ripped apart.
      There was a slight thump as the Seraph docked on the destroyed Tigerhawk, and 'Ralamee called the Engineer out which chirped in confusion. Polo checked his equipment and suit before lowering the hatch, there was a loud pop! as the air decompressed into space, and 'Ralamee slowly floated down the ramp and clamped his metal boots onto the hull.

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 5: A New Ally)
Date: 30 January 2004, 3:34 AM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 5: A New Ally)
Eighth Cycle, 20 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Hull of destroyed Cruiser Tigerhawk, heading for bridge.

      The Engineers drifted slowly behind 'Ralamee with the oxygen packs strapped to their leathery skinned backs. The other Elites slowly walked towards 'Ralamee who stood on the brink before the large fissure. He looked down, and saw the inner structure of the Human Cruiser, then counted at least thirty floors.
      The atmosphere seals had been closed on his armor so he could still breathe. 'Ralamee then walked off the edge and his boots automatically clamped on to the opposite edge; he then continued to walk forward until he came to another gap which was on of the floors. Polo then walked off the edge again, and his boots clamped on to what would be the roof of one of the passageways.
      He unclamped his boots and he propelled himself off the wall so he made his body rotate 360 degrees; then re-clamped his boots on the floor. He pushed a floating body of a human out of the way and it was sent spinning into the wall.

      "Where is our destination, Excellency?" asked 'Qoyalamee.
      He pointed at the ground, imprinted on the floor were the words "Bridge", and a blue arrow pointed ahead of the Elites. They continued their space walk up the hallway, pushing aside dead bodies and avoiding fires that came from the destroyed pipes and computers. Everything was silent as they approached a sealed door with the activation lights glowing red.

      "There should be a vacuum if there is any atmosphere left in this room." said 'Ralamee quietly. "Brace yourselves."
      He stepped closer to the door, nothing.
      'Ralamee sighed, but then one of the Engineers hovered in front of him and tore apart an electrical panel. The creature lifted up a tentacle which split up into several more, and he slowly lowered the tentacles towards the mechanism. There was a buzzing sound; sparks burst from the panel and disappeared. Then the Engineer lifted its arm away and shut the panel, the activation lights on the door winked green.
      The door opened immediately and 'Ralamee quickly stepped inside before he could feel the strong pull of the vacuum; the other Elites and Engineers followed him and the door shut.
      The room didn't contain much, Human documents lay scattered around, metal desks were flipped over or were at an awkward angle, and damaged computer equipment rested on the floor. 'Ralamee's team of rebels moved through the room, searching for anything useful. The lights were not on, only the light from fires and the sparks from a broken pipe illuminated the deserted room.

      "Let's move ahead, we need to get to the bridge so we can try and contact the human control." said 'Ralamee, "We have to hurry."

Unknown Time, Unknown Date/Aboard destroyed Cruiser Tigerhawk, hiding in Armory.

      Ensign Mark Haller stood, frightened, in the corner of the large Armory. Blood trickled down his bruised forehead; he had hit it when the ship had been torn in two mostly because he had been thrown down to the deck. The rest of his friends—other crewman that had once been full of liveliness—now lay dead on the ground or leaned against blood-stained walls.
      Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Rocket Launchers, Pistols, and Sub-Machine Guns had been thrown to the ground in the blast along with a massive assortment of ammunition. He made his way through the room and grabbed a loaded pistol from the clutches of a dead marine.
      He was lucky to have survived; how everyone else died he didn't know. Maybe there were some more survivors on the ship somewhere else? Haller knew that his chances were slim to escaping; maybe he could get into a lifeboat and escape?
      We're not going to accomplish anything if we don't get a move on, thought Haller to himself and he stepped to the door. The only light working was above the door, and it cast an eerie silence and atmosphere into the room. It flickered off as the door slid open, Haller gulped.
      He brought his pistol up into the darkness ahead of him, walked a few feet forward, and smacked into a wall.

      "Shit." he muttered under his breath and stood back up, turned left and continued down the dark corridor.
      An endless blast of fire could be seen down the hallway feeding off the fumes of gas from a leaking pipe. Then the Ensign saw shadows moving along wall, were they surviving marines or crew? He continued down the hallway, but froze when he heard unfamiliar sounds. Concealed in the darkness, he tried to listen.
      It was gibberish, he couldn't understand a single word they said, and soon he saw the shadows grow. First he couldn't tell what it was, but when it stepped into the light of the fire he could tell it was a hostile.
      Or in other words, one of those damned Covenant.
      The alien stood at a proud two and a half meters and wore burnished golden armor. He quickly disappeared back into the shadows when coming towards Marcus, soon Marcus would be caught and killed, he heard of these ruthless aliens.
      But never fought one.
      Several more of the Covenant appeared behind the other just as the leader disappeared into the darkness, there were four or five of them. The Ensign realized he wasn't breathing; then he inhaled loudly and covered his mouth in surprise.
      The next few seconds were a blur to him, all he could remember was something grabbing him and lifting him up and the pistol fell from his grip. Marcus was taken back to where the spewing fire was, and the flames licked at his tattered uniform. The alien had him in a death-tight grip and studied him closely.

      "Please don't kill me." said the petrified Ensign before being taken into the blackness.

Eighth Cycle, 23 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard Tigerhawk, heading for bridge with captured Human.

      "What did the Human say?" asked 'Qoyalamee.
      'Ralamee shrugged and kept his grip on the shirt of the terrified Human and looked at the ground. With his improved sight he saw again another sign leading to the bridge and hurried down the hallway.
      The came into a long room with a six meter tall roof, a support pillar stood in the middle of the room, and the Elites walked past it. They walked down yet another hallway, turned left and the room was unmistakable.

      "The bridge!" said 'Qoyalamee.
      The Engineers that had been following them scattered throughout the large room with all the computer equipment and monitors. 'Ralamee let his grip on the Human slip, and the captive was about to run away when 'Ralamee grabbed him again, but this time didn't lift him into the air.
      Instead he pushed him towards the center of the room and tried to communicate with the alien.

      "Where is the communication system so we can contact your race?" 'Ralamee knew it was hopeless to try and converse with a Human.
      The Human shrugged and circled the room, probably confused that the Elites hadn't killed him yet. One of the Engineers whistled and 'Ralamee walked over to it, the creature floated right in front of a small computer display attached to some circuitry.
      The pinkish alien lifted one of its feelers up which almost immediately separated into ten more; lifted some broken wires and affixed them together. 'Ralamee turned and walked around a wall that separated the room and saw the beautiful sight out of the bridge window.
      The large purple planet stared into the bridge with many stars dotting the blackness. 'Ralamee took in the sight, but walked back to the Engineer when it hooted in success. The bridge lights snapped on, and some of the damaged view screens activated. More bodies were revealed in the shadows by the light.
      The Human ran over to a small black box and clicked on a few buttons, the Elites watched with keen interest on what he was doing. Then the alien spoke into a microphone, "Ensign Marcus Haller to ONI control, we have an odd situation here..."
      'Ralamee immediately knew what the device was, a communication device.
      "He walked up to it and pulled the Human out of the way and spoke clearly into the microphone.

      "We are no enemy of yours; our former society has turned us away for a very poor reason. We have turned on them, but we need help, and we seek yours." he paused and continued, "We travel in a pack of five Seraphs, if you see us do not fire, my group of rebels wish to be allies with you."

1321 Hours, October 25, 2552 (Earth Calendar)/At Maui, Hawaii, Earth, ONI Control.

      "What did they say, Derrick?" asked Chief Warrant Officer Toni Daniels to the AI floating on the pedestal beside him.

      "Hold on a second," said the hologram of Derrick, "It's a message from the Covenant, decoding transmission, uploading new Covenant words into ONI database. I think you will be surprised by this."

      "Relay the message onto the display in front of me."
      Words appeared onto the screen, it only took a few seconds for Toni to read what it said; he yelled to the nearest Officer who came up behind the WO.

      "What is it?"

      "Take a look at this, sir."
      The Officer read the deciphered message and said, "Interesting, but how can we trust them or even believe them?"

      "The tone of the speaker's voice doesn't suggest its lying; this could be a dramatic turn of events. I recommend that we accept his offer, even the smallest group of allies could help us out." broke in Derrick's voice, his holographic body flashed green and characters scrolled across it.

      "Tell them their offer is accepted," the Officer told Derrick, "But if they backstab us they are going straight to hell."

Eighth Cycle, 25 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Destroyed Tigerhawk, in bridge with captured Human.

      "They accepted the offer, Excellency." said 'Tanosalee.
      'Ralamee and the other Elites let out a hearty roar, the Engineer's chirped in confusion.

      We deserved this new ally." said Polo before he exited the bridge along with the other Covenant, leaving the confused Human behind.

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 6: Tears of Blood)
Date: 1 February 2004, 8:27 PM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 6: Tears of Blood)
Eighth Cycle, 27 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard the Covenant CCS Battleship Veracity, in the bridge.

      Covenant characters scrolled down the holographic panel, Ship Commander Ollas 'Poratalee examined them and softly tapped the panel, all the characters disappeared. They were in the Meridonis II system approximately 27 light-years from the Human home world Earth.
      'Poratalee turned around and looked up the ramp, the bridge—unlike other types of ships—was larger and was bright. Grunts in grey and blue armor pushed plasma crates and fuel tanks across the room while the Engineers floated uselessly. Several Elites stood by Ollas' side who were attending to the shimmering holo-displays.
      Ollas turned around again and walked to the view screen that showed everything aft of the battleship. What he saw amused him, a lone Covenant dropship wandered behind the Veracity; trailing a long line of plasma fluid.
Suddenly there was an explosion of static on the battlenet, Ollas tried to raise them when the voices came in clearly.

      "We have escaped the destruction of the -mp-or--," the last word was swallowed in static, "We need to board your battleship."

      "Not just yet," said 'Poratalee, "We need to know what's going on."

      "There is no time for that!" hotly replied the speaker, "We will explain once we get on your ship."
      "Fine," Ollas punched a few buttons on the holo-display to deactivate the shields around the launch bay. "You're clear for entry."

Eighth Cycle, 30 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Damaged Seraph Fighter, heading through Slipspace.

      Polo and his team had made it back to their Seraphs and were already in Slipspace, heading back to Earth. The Grunt that was in his Seraph looked less stressed and checked on the storage and fuel, the Jackal was still angry but sat down in one of the seats.
      While 'Ralamee was looking at the displays, the blue effect on the surroundings snapped back to a ghostly black. He recoiled in confusion, "What happened?"

      "I don't know, anti-slipspace field?" replied 'Organalee over the communication system.
      'Ralamee tried to boot up the Slipspace generator again but it wouldn't activate. Then he looked at the display, and to his horror, Covenant cruisers, battleships and flagships dotted the blackness, momentarily illuminated by a nearby sun.

      "Pull back, everyone attempt a Slipspace jump." said 'Ralamee quietly, his voice bordering fear.

      "Unable to do so, Excellency, we'll have to stand our ground." replied 'Qoyalamee.
      Then another transmission came in from one of the battleships, he knew the voice, hatred started to bubble up in his stomach, but he continued to listen.

      "The tears of blood will soon be wiped clean off of the face of royalty, and you," the voice paused and added evilly, "are the tears."

      "Volna." whispered 'Ralamee to himself, the Grunt sat up in shock.
      One of the cruiser's gunports glowed dull red, the other Covenant ships in the system followed suit.

      "They're attempting to fire, all Seraph's evade!" 'Ralamee yelled over the communication transponder, his fear completely subsided and replaced with anger.
      The Seraphs broke up into a staggered formation, the first ray of plasma sizzled past where 'Rolatree's ship had been just a second ago. 'Ralamee shifted the thrusters so the Seraph started to turn vertically. Polo looked at the displays and saw all the other fighters intact, he sighed, and pushed his spacecraft forward.

      "You're proving to be most difficult, 'Ralamee," the voice of Volna echoed throughout the Seraph, "Surrender now and death will be swift."

      "Never." snarled 'Ralamee, "Never will you see me surrender."
      He banked his Seraph a hard right to avoid another stream of plasma fire, then returned fire at the flagship even though it was pointless. 'Ralamee quickly glanced at the port view screen and saw the other four Seraphs cutting through space beside him.

      "Very well then, Polo 'Ralamee, we will see to it that you die a horrible death," said Volna over the communication system, "A death only suitable for traitors such as yourself."
      With that 'Ralamee switched the battlenet off and activated a private channel to the other rebels. "We ought to get out of this vector, get the Engineer's to figure out a way to activate the Slipspace generators."
      'Ralamee called to an Engineer and ordered it to go and inspect the generator which was located in the rear of the spacecraft. The floating creature disappeared from sight as it rounded the corner.
      Polo refocused his attention to the displays and controls, not paying attention the hundreds of enemy Seraphs that were now pouring out of the Covenant ships.

      "Direct your attention on those fighters, but be aware of any plasma shots from the other ships." 'Ralamee ordered over the private channel.
      The first line of the adversary Seraphs came into view on the view screens, 'Ralamee fired the primary plasma weapons. They streaked towards the target and etched large holes on the armor without doing any real permanent damage.
      That was until the other renegade Seraphs opened fire. The target exploded, completely destroying the ship without sending any twisted chunks of metal into the black of space. The enemy fighters that had a good shot at the rebels opened fire; hundreds of blue plasma bolts streaks past without managing to land a hit.
      We still have a chance, thought 'Ralamee, we have to think fast. He ordered the other traitors to avoid any incoming fire, which meant weaving in and out of the Covenant lines. Polo fired the aft thrusters to 150%, and the Seraph's structure groaned in response.
      'Ralamee pulled up, banked left, dropped down, spun 180 degrees; and he was now in the middle of the horde of enemy Seraph fighters. 'Ralamee's ship was facing the rear of an enemy fighter; he fired the secondary weapon which was a purple plasma projectile. It homed in on the ship and exploded on contact, the back of the ship was torn away and the pilot got pulled into space.
      There were more explosions, and more roars of victory over the private channel on the battlenet. A Seraph approached the aft of 'Ralamee's Seraph which started to weave in and out of the Covenant formation, but Polo was unsuccessful when trying to shake him. The display showed the enemy fighter launch the white-hot purple projectile towards 'Ralamee's ship.
      He brought down the thrusters to 23% and pushed the nose of the Seraph down; then boosted the jets once again. The purple plasma shot streaked past 'Ralamee's ship and impacted into another Seraph. The fighter that had been trailing him was quickly shot down by one of the rebels.
      'Ralamee activated the battlenet and raised the ship that Volna had contacted him from, "This is our revolution, Volna, and not even you can stop our onslaught." He switched the channel off and turned it back to the private frequency for his team.
      There was a slow whine, and Polo looked down at one of the holo-screens to see that the Slipspace engines had been restored to full power.

      "Slipspace engines repaired! Report in once ready to get out of this vector!" 'Ralamee practically yelled over the channel.
      'Rolatree said his engines were repaired, then 'Tanosalee and then 'Organalee. There were more explosions as the blue plasma shots from the hundreds of enemy Seraphs dotted the blackness.

      "Raga! Are you Slipspace compatible yet?" asked 'Ralamee loudly.

      "Yes, Slipspace engines restored, where is our designation?" there was a sudden explosion in the background then 'Qoyalamee added with his voice edging with fear, "No! Engines shot out, can't... reactivate them!"
      There was an eerie silence and then 'Qoyalamee's voice echoed loudly into the Seraph with static breaking in every few words, "It has b--n an honor to w-rk w--h you, Excel---cy."

      "Raga, you're going to be fine, pull out!" 'Ralamee ordered over the private communication channel.

      "You're br--king up," then the tone of fear in 'Qoyalamee's voice disappeared and he added, "But I w-n't allow mys--f to die disho--rably."

      "Raga, you'll do nothing, pull out!" 'Ralamee yelled, "Raga!"
      The conversation was swallowed by static, 'Ralamee couldn't believe what happened, millions of thoughts raced through his mind. He glanced at one of the holo-displays and saw the lone Seraph guided by 'Qoyalamee with a long tail of flame.
      The doomed and damaged spacecraft first hit an enemy Seraph which had half of its hull ripped off. 'Qoyalamee's Seraph continued to streak forward and rocketed into another group of fighters, there was a massive explosion as the group of ships exploded along with Raga's. For a moment disbelief entered 'Ralamee's mind, but was quickly flooded with energy and wit when the light of the explosion caused the displays to flicker.

      "Trigger the Slipspace engines! Maintain course to Earth vector!" 'Ralamee ordered before activating the Slipspace generator, the other rebels followed suit.
      The displays one again showed the bluish surroundings, 'Ralamee roared, losing 'Qoyalamee wasn't worth it, he had been the one that saved Polo from certain death back on the Implorer.

      "That was too close." came the sad voice of 'Organalee.

Eighth Cycle, 34 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard the Covenant CCS Battleship Veracity, in the council chambers.

      "My apologies, Volna, but they managed to escape." said the Elite Roth 'Mantatee, his head lowered.
      Roth stood beside the Ship Master who also had his head bowed to the great Prophet, Volna's face wrinkled in anger.

      "Well, track them then! Where could they have possibly gone?" asked Volna, the expression of anger vanished and was replaced with an evil smirk, "Earth."
Roth and the Ship Master, 'Poratalee, exchanged glances, 'Mantatee broke into the Prophets sudden good mood, "How do you know that?"

      "We tagged their ships right before they went back into Slipspace, they're going to Earth!" the Prophet yelled, "We need a fleet on them. Hurry, we're wasting time!"

      "Don't you think that only one cruiser would be necessary?" inquired 'Poratalee.

      "No." Volna said immediately, "Polo is not foolish, how do you think he escaped in the first place?"
      With that they exited the Council Chambers with Volna hovering beside the two high-ranking Elites. The light in the room snapped off as the large door opened, casting it into sudden darkness.

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 7: Stranded With Only One Option)
Date: 7 February 2004, 8:05 PM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 7: Stranded With Only One Option)
Eighth Cycle, 40 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard Damaged Seraph Fighter, traveling through Slipspace, heading to Earth vector.

      "Earth requires our aid, and that is why we return." said 'Ralamee over the communication system.
      No one responded over the channel, the death of 'Qoyalamee still lingered in the troop of renegades' minds. 'Ralamee then shifted in his seat and turned to look at one of the displays, the familiar Slipspace surroundings glowed on the view screen.

      "Detecting technical difficulties, the Slipspace generators are not functioning properly." 'Organalee's voice broke in, "We're going to have to pull out of Slipspace to make some more repairs."
      'Ralamee sighed and pressed a few buttons on the holo-displays and the blue ambiance disappeared to the proverbial black of space.

      "That's odd, the Slipspace generators have activated again, continuing jump," 'Organalee paused, "They won't start."
      Polo was about to say something when he noticed the dark silhouettes of several Covenant cruisers and flagships.

      "Not again." he muttered.
      But it was different this time, they didn't fire, only attempted to communicate, "This is the Bringer of Fate, what is your status?" The transmission came in clear, and 'Ralamee pressed a series of switches so he could respond.

Eighth Cycle, 42 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard the Covenant Cruiser Bringer of Fate, in the bridge.

      "They said that their fleet was decimated by a massive human task force, they're heavily damaged and are requesting to land on this ship for proper repairs." said the grey-clad Elite beside the Ship Master Talo 'Trolakee.

      "I can't afford wasting my time with these minor problems," the Ship Master said sternly, "Authorize them to land in launch bay eight."
      The Elite nodded and replied to the group of approaching Seraphs, then walked off to do something else that occupied his time. Talo attended to the other holo-panels and continued to work, oblivious that he had just let his own doom pass into the cruiser.

Eighth Cycle, 43 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Seraph, inside the Covenant Cruiser Bringer of Fate.

      "Everyone get out and hide." 'Ralamee said as he hit the correct button on a holo-display to open the access hatch. He holstered his Plasma Rifle in the belt that was attached to the waist of his armor, and then walked down the ramp to join up with the others.

      "Should we attack them on sight?" inquired 'Tanosalee thoughtfully, "Or should we take advantage of the fact that they don't know we're enemies?"

      "We'll use the advantage; as soon as we get to the bridge we can erase the AI from the data-ports and control this cruiser manually." replied 'Ralamee confidently and then added, "It's only a matter of time until Volna comes with a fleet and destroys us."

      "We still have a chance against Volna; maybe we can somehow persuade the other ships into joining our cause?" 'Organalee said, "Just so we have a bigger force and a better chance of escaping."
      'Ralamee clicked his mandibles and nodded, "That just might work, everyone, to the bridge!" Units passed by, they spent most of their time weaving in and out of maintenance passages, hallways, and rooms, and finally they stepped into the bridge.
      The Ship Master turned around and stated that 'Ralamee and his fellow rebels weren't supposed to be in the bridge when 'Rolatree let off a full barrage of plasma bolts. Blood and scorched flesh sprayed into the air as one of the bolts caught the Elite in the face; thick purple blood dotted the metal deck.
      'Rolatree ran down onto lowered platform and studied all of the shimmering blue holo-panels. He then turned to Polo who was still at the top of the ramp that descended onto the platform and said, "Should we remove the AI, Excellency? I found the correct port in which to do it from." 'Ralamee nodded and walked down into the pit.
      Characters scrolled along all the holographic displays and 'Ralamee watched with keen interest of the cruiser's surroundings. Only three other ships—two being cruisers and the other being a flagship--drifted in the system; 'Ralamee checked the coordinates on one of the floating panels.
      They were almost to Earth, but it was useless now, Volna was to arrive soon and 'Ralamee could never escape, but he wouldn't go down easy. He would die honorably as 'Qoyalamee had. The death of his comrade still lingered in his mind, although it had only been a few units since his fatality it seemed like it had been cycles.

      "AI deleted, Excellency." 'Rolatree's voice ruptured into Polo's deep thought, 'Ralamee absent-mindedly nodded and walked over to the cruisers communication apparatus.
      He had just come up with an idea and spoke into the device with confidence and wit, the other cruisers would have to believe him, they had to.

Eighth Cycle, 46 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Onboard the Covenant Flagship Moon's Rage, walking down hallway, approaching launch bay.

      Jek walked down the hallway with the other Jackals, they had been called to the launch bay not too long ago. Grunts, Engineers and Elites passed by Jek, with the Grunts giving the Jackals feared looks. They soon entered the bay, the flickering blue shields that covered the two huge launch openings were the first thing Jek noticed as he always did.
      They were on the bottom level of the launch bay, and they moved towards one of the dropships where several Elites stood. Jek continued to walk ahead of the other Jackals when there was a tremendous explosion and Jek lost his footing. The Jackal fell to the deck hard and hit his head on a fuel pod; stars exploded in front of his eyes.
      An alarm started to blare and Jek scrambled back up, the Elites were gone along with the rest of his troop. The terrified Jackal looked at where the blue shields were and saw plasma beams hit into them, the shields flared for a moment and then deactivated.
      The Moons Rage was under attack, but by their own society? Someone grabbed Jek as he stood motionless in the center of the launch bay; pulling him up and through a door. There was another explosion, and the soldier carrying Jek tripped and hit his head against a steel grating. The Jackal looked down to see that the person carrying him was an elite; dark purple blood oozed from its mandibles.
      Jek looked up to see the hexagonal shaped doors open, a tide of Grunts swept through the hallway forcing Jek to run along with them.
      Another explosion.
      The distant humming of the Covenant technology filled the hallway, overlapping the hoots from the Grunts. Jek ran through another door which hung loosely on its magnetic hinges, sparks jumped from the holo-panel which opened the door.
      They entered a bigger room and the Grunts ran by Jek as he slowed down, the Jackal stared at the Engineers that hovered oblivious around the room, but then there was another massive explosion. Jek twisted his neck in horror to see the whole wall to the left of him which glowed dull red, and then a superheated volley of plasma tore right through creating a large vacuum.
      Jek remembered the Engineers being sucked out first and exploding due to the lack of oxygen, then the Jackal was lifted from the ground along with other equipment and was sucked towards the hole. Fear raced through his mind as he was sucked through the hole. He saw that where the bay had once been was another section of space; the structure had been completely torn away.
      Jek's vision winked out and he saw no more.

Eighth Cycle, 48 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Hijacked Covenant Cruiser Bringer of Fate, in the bridge.

      "What are they doing?!" exclaimed 'Tanosalee as he watched the display.

      "I told them to do it," 'Ralamee replied calmly, "I said that the flagship were rebels."

      "And they believed you?" asked 'Organalee.

      "Fortunately, yes," Polo said, "I just had to convince them." The Elite then walked back to the communicator and his voice was roguish and slick.

      "That was a mistake, you shouldn't have done that, they weren't really traitors of the Covenant race." said 'Ralamee slyly, the other rebels listened in on the conversation. "You have been tricked by us—the rebels—and we invite you to join our cause."

      "What the hell is going on?" asked one of the other Ship Masters, the other one didn't respond.

      "You have just attacked a ship of your own race, so join us, you have no other choice." 'Ralamee said, "Unless you'd rather be punished by your race for your doings."
      'Rolatree, who had been watching the displays, called over 'Tanosalee and 'Organalee, 'Ralamee continued his conversation. "They will be here soon, so I expect you to defend yourselves and listen to my orders." Polo clicked off the channel, leaving the two Ship Masters to argue among each other.

      "Excellency, Volna has arrived with his fleet." said 'Rolatree, "The Gods won't be on our side. Let's show them they're wrong."

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 8: The Last Stand)
Date: 12 February 2004, 2:54 AM

Forced Betrayal (Chapter 8: The Last Stand)
Eighth Cycle, 1 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard Hijacked Covenant Cruiser Bringer of Fate, in the bridge waiting to engage enemy fleet.

      'Ralamee didn't even flinch as he saw the leagues of Covenant cruisers, flagships, carriers, and battleships entered the system. It was pitiable to see the Covenant waste so many ships to take out an association of rebels.

      "Fire at will," 'Ralamee said with a smirk, "Let us observe to how many of these ships we can take out."
      'Rolatree tapped a few controls on the holo-panels and the hull of the Bringer of Fate rumbled. 'Ralamee quickly glanced at the large display and saw the blue arm of plasma reach a random target and tore away the hull on the port side. The structure of the damaged ship was visible and 'Ralamee took in a quick thought of triumph and then squelched the feeling.

      "Why do you insist on fighting against us, 'Ralamee?" inquired the evil voice of Volna over the channel, "We certainly have you outnumbered, and once again, I suggest you turn yourselves over to us for a swift death."
      'Ralamee snarled and ordered 'Tanosalee to track the signal, as soon as Volna's ship was exposed it would be the first to go down. How had the Prophet survived the blast when the Implorer exploded? These thoughts lingered in the depths of 'Ralamee's mind, but they were of small concern; he could easily destroy Volna's ship once targetted.

      "If you haven't noticed already, the wreck of the Moons Rage drifts before you, and it is not of my doing, the other two ships in the system destroyed it." 'Ralamee paused to breathe and added slyly, "They shouldn't be allowed to get away with that, should they?"

      "You're lying!" Volna sounded as if he had been struck with fear, "Well, I guess they deserve the same death as you, traitor."
      Polo killed the conversation and as he did so there was an explosion, but this one came from the Bridge speakers. He looked up to see that a superheated volley of plasma had speared through several ships and caused them to implode.
      'Rolatree glanced at the aft monitor to see the two Covenant ships that had destroyed the Moons Rage fire repeatedly against the enemy.

      "I suggest you cease your fire, renegades, as it will do you no good." Volna said over the public channel.
      The other ships didn't respond, instead, 'Rolatree announced that tags had been put on the other ships and labeled their name and class. The Provenance of Light and Era of Serenity were the ships that were now fighting alongside with the Bringer of Fate.

      "Have you got a track on Volna?" asked 'Ralamee, noting that one of the enemy battleships gunports were glowing dull red.

      "No, Excellency, still narrowing down the serial codes and transmission numbers," 'Rolatree said as he hastily punched in controls on the holo-displays.
      'Tanosalee and the 'Organalee turned around as one of the doors opened at the rear of the room. In stepped a couple of grey-armored Elites, when they saw the body of the Ship Master on the floor in a crumpled heap, they backed towards the door.
      'Ralamee pointed his weapon at one of the Elites, the Covenant technician stopped, "Where do you think you're going? Get to the console and listen to my orders." The other rebels beside Polo were also pointing their weapons at the techs, and then gave a flick of their Plasma Rifles pointing towards the holo-controls. The grey Elites walked down the ramp and waited for the orders.

      "You make sure that we don't get hit, reposition the cruiser whenever necessary." stated 'Ralamee, "We are currently under attack and outnumbered."
      One of the Elites dropped his mandibles open and then asked, "May I ask of why we are in battle?" 'Ralamee gave a gesture towards the display; the Elite remained quiet and paid attention to the panels.
      There was a rumble throughout the ship and the gunports fired, filling the display with a blue flash. When the beam dissipated it clearly showed a flagship missing its aft.

      "Excellency, I'm picking up more activity on the ship's scanners," he paused and rested an armored hand on the flickering holo-panel, "Come and look, Excellency!"
      'Rolatree punched a button and one of the displays flashed white and faded to the black surroundings, the space directed on the display started to alter and shift and soon several dark brown shadows appeared.

      "What is it? Who just entered the system?" 'Ralamee had to yell the last sentence as a ray of plasma streaked past the cruiser, the techs were doing a fairly good job.

      "Humans, Excellency!" ecstatically said 'Tanosalee, 'Organalee stopped what he was doing to study the display.
      'Ralamee couldn't believe it, the Humans had shown with backup, maybe Polo could turn the tides of this battle.

      "Humans?! This has gone much too far now, 'Ralamee," Volna snarled over the channel, "Don't expect any mercy now, Polo 'Ralamee, as you won't be able to beg for life once we destroy your pathetic group of rebels!!"

0214 Hours, October 26, 2552 (Military Calendar)/Aboard the Human Carrier Judicious Entering Despines Lorandi System, in the bridge.

      "Repeat why we are here," asked Captain Chambers to Lieutenant Junior Grade Mark Haller, "I still don't get why ONI sent us here."

      The Lieutenant hesitated.
      "Sir, when I was aboard the destroyed Tigerhawk, a group of Elites captured me but did not harm me, they contacted ONI." Mark straightened and crossed his arms behind his back, "They left me on the ship, and I soon was evacuated by an ONI Prowler. Sorry for rambling on and stalling to answer your question, but we are here to see if the Covenant traitors are actually fighting against their own race."
      Chambers looked at the display; a fleet of at least twenty-five Covenant ships were on the right side of the screen. Three other ships wandered aimlessly on the left side of the view screen, shooting plasma after avoiding a shot from the enemy Covenant ships.

      "Looks like we brought the right amount of ships for this operation," the Captain said calmly, "Although"—he pointed at the largest ship in the enemy Covenant fleet on the display—"this probably wasn't meant to get bloody."
      The Lieutenant nodded and watched as a ship exploded on the right side with the massive amount of ships, pieces of twisted metal littered the black of space.
      The Captain bent over to a microphone and contacted the rest of the ships on FLEETCOM3, the channel in which the other ships were using. "Get ready to fight off those Covenant bastards, I've uploaded the ones that are the enemies on the databases and displays and the ones that are allies. Give 'em hell, people."

Eighth Cycle, 3 Units (Covenant Battle Calendar)/Aboard the Covenant Cruiser Bringer of Fate, in the bridge engaging enemy Covenant forces.

      'Rolatree finally announced that the ship that Volna was on had been pinpointed, 'Ralamee roared in triumph as the ship was labeled. The Humans had taken part in this fight and had already starting to fire their heavy weapons. Red lasers streaked across the black sky and impaled Covenant ships, some exploded.

      "Take aim at Volna's ship," 'Ralamee said wickedly, "Charge the plasma to 150%, tell me when it is prepared."
      'Rolatree responded with a "Yes, Excellency." Some of the Covenant ships had turned to face the Human vessels and poured plasma fire on them, leaving a good flanking position for the three rebel cruisers.

      "Open fire, all ships." 'Ralamee ordered into the COM channel.
      Plasma streaked towards the ships and tore into the abdomen of the susceptible ships; hit something vital inside and caused several explosions.

      "Don't try and run away, poor 'Ralamee, as the Covenant will always find you and fight you, so just remember right now—" Volna's voice came on the channel but the transmission was cut off as there was a flash of blue on the display, Volna spoke once again but this time with fear edging on his voice, "Impossible! Polo! You shall surely suffer or eternity."
      'Ralamee grew tired of Volna's ramblings, and shut off the channel, the Prophet was in the hands on Polo, and he could just easily kill off Volna and be done with him.
      But 'Ralamee had to make the ends meet; he wanted to toy with Volna before he killed him.

      "Fire, Excellency?" asked 'Organalee.

      "No." said 'Ralamee with his tone quavering, he was overwhelmed with how much power he had over the Prophet, "Not yet, wait."
      More streaks of plasma, more explosions, more debris littering the system. The Covenant fleet had dwindled heavily in numbers, they now stood at only 9 ships; three being heavily damaged. The Humans had brought twenty, but had decreased to eleven.

      "Polo! Incoming fire—" said 'Tanosalee, but it was too late, the cruiser's shields deactivated and the superheated plasma broke through the lower decks.

      "Vent the atmosphere, cool the plasma ducts." ordered 'Ralamee sternly and received another "Yes, Excellency." from 'Rolatree.
      There was another explosion from the inside, this one more intense then the last, the metal groaned as more plasma impacted into the hull.

      "Evade!" yelled 'Ralamee to the crew, "Hurry, evade!"

      "You should've never though you would win this revolution, 'Ralamee, you were outnumbered and had no hope, you—" 'Ralamee told 'Rolatree to fire as the cruiser shook, with fear in the rebel
s eyes, he punched a few buttons on the flickering holo-displays.
      The rumble only lasted a few seconds, and there was a tremendous flash of light on the display, so much that it filled the bridge with blue color. The channel which Volna had just spoken on broke into static and said, "Noooo! This is s---ly the Devil's doing! Curse y—'Ralamee, c---e you!"
      'Ralamee smirked as the holo-panels snapped off, but not before sending a shower of sparks onto the floor. Then the bridge lights snapped off and the backup power activated, 'Ralamee sighed, they had almost won.
      Almost wasn't good enough though.
      The holo-panels flickered on, and 'Ralamee had one chance to look at the rear-display showed the dark blue planet that lingered in the system. Then all the holo controls deactivated, and with a final thought there was an explosion, and 'Ralamee's vision was filled with a red haze. The revolution was over for him.

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