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Honor:Fear
Date: 26 December 2004, 9:45 AM
Near installation 05.
The Covenant Phantoms circle around the Forerunner Facility. The pilots see no human presence, or any hostile threats. "Commander shall we land on it? We have surveyed the area, no Human presence or hostile threats found." The pilots said. "Take us down" Isar ordered.
Covenant Phantom on route to unknown Forerunner Facility.
"On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons." Isar said."We swore to uphold the Covenant."
"Even to our dying breath." The Sanghieli in the Phantom said.Rajak thought about those words, he repeated them inside his head. "This is the oath I took when I was old enough to join the Covenant's Military." Rajak looked around at the Sanghieli standing around him, they all wore black armor. This is the armor the Spec Ops team wears in the Covenant he thought. Rajak looked over at Isar, he wore gold armor. The armor commanders of ships in the Covenant wore, the highest ranking Sanghieli wore this armor.
"We are here to bring back Forerunner data, the Prophets want this data." Isar said.
The Prophets, the holy ones. The leaders of the Covenant, they have lived with our gods the Forerunners, or so they say. Rajak thought."We are nearing our destination Commander." The pilot said.
"Everyone, get ready for drop, suit up on supplies and weapons." Isar ordered.
"Yes Commander!" The Sanghieli said in unison. A few Sanghieli grabbed Plasma Rifles and others grabbed Carbines. Rajak grabbed three Plasma grenades, a Carbine and a few extra rounds.
"Everyone, listen up! I do not know what we might find on this structure. "Be ready for anything." Isar said to the Sanghieli. They nodded quickly and jumped down the gravitational lift. "Rajak, are you sure you are up to this mission?"
"Yes, I am ready , Commander" Rajak answered.
The Sanghieli quickly found cover and waited for their commands. Isar points toward a door, then Isca quickly ran over to it and started hacking into the security network. The door hissed and opened, the Sanghieli move inside.
Rajak whispers to Isca: "Why do we have these weapons when no enemies are here?"
"I do not know Rajak." Isca whispers.
They moved down a corridor into an open room filled with glass windows all over the walls.
"Everyone stop!" Isar yelled. "Does anyone know what is behind that glass?"
Rajak quickly speaks up. "I might know Commander, I believe it is the parasite."
Isar quickly turns around to face Rajak and walks toward him. "Have you fought the parasite before Rajak?""No Commander!" Rajak said.
"You might before we get out of here Rajak." Isar says. "Be on your gaurd everyone." The Sanghieli take a few steps forward only to be greeted by a sound none of them wish they heard. The sound of glass cracking. The Sanghieli quickly raise their weapons and aim at the glass windows. "Do not fire a single shot until the glass breaks!" Isar yelled in fear. "If the parasite break through the glass, fire at will." The glass shook and cracked as a parasite tried to break through to the Sangheili. The noise of the glass cracking sent horror through each Sanghieli inside of that room.
'They have never been afraid of anything before now, but now we are afraid of something, and it not be death.' Rajak thought. A window quickly busted open, sending glass flying through the air.
"FIRE!!" Isar yelled in horror. The Sanghieli fired their weapons, sending hot plasma and radioactive shots though the air. The Sanghieli made quick work of the parasite that emerged from the window. "Everyone! Move into the next room quickly!!!" Isar yelled. The Sanghieli moved in through the door as quickly as they could. When they made it into the next room the rest of the glass windows shattered, and one of the Sanghieli was still in that room.
"Isca!" Elnu yelled.
"Go! I will hold them off for as long as I can!!" Isca yelled back.
"Seal the door! NOW!!" Isar commander. The Sanghieli quickly pushed the door into place and melted the edges of it into place with their Plasma Rifles. "We must survive and find the data we were sent to find! Everyone move up into the next room!"
"Door sealed Commander!" Kelu said. The Sanghieli moved into another room filled with glass windows, but these were already broken. "May the Forerunners be with us." Igmu whispered.
"Move on through! Do not stop to fight the parasite!" Isar yelled in fear. Some of the Sanghieli made it into the next room, but the Sanghieli behind them were ambushed. The parasites jumped down from the ceiling and swung their whip-like hands, striking the Sanghieli. Those Sanghieli who were attacked by the parasite fought as long as they could, and fired their weapons frantically at the parasite, but that did not stop it from killing them. A scream of pain came from one of the Sanghieli left behind as a small parasite drove one of it's tentacles into the back of his neck. The Sanghieli that had made it through sealed the door in fear that they too might die from the parasite.
"Commander! Only five of us are left!" Feka said.
Isar cursed under his breath. "We must continue! We will not lose to the parasite!" Isar yelled with honor. The Sanhieli stood around while some sat listening to the sounds of their brother's screams echo through their head. Others were talking to each other about their families, some were thinking of a way out of this place. Isar didn't know if his Sanghieli would actually make it out of here alive. He wasn't worried about the mission anymore, but he still told himself to find the main console and complete this mission, even if it meant he would die trying.
Rajak sat near Feka, his friend, worried he might die. They talked about anything they could think of until Isar told them what to do. Rajak remembered his life before going on this mission, it was much easier then this. He usually went in with his friends to kill a few weak humans, or to bring back an artifact from the ground the Prophets might study. They were all simple tasks where he was sure they would succeed. But this mission was more difficult then he had ever imagined, he has never fought the parasite before, but he heard stories about them. He never knew he would actually fight the parasite, and if he so happens to survive he swore he would never fight the parasite again. Rajak and Feka began talking about what they would do if they made it out of here.
Isar looked over his Sanghieli, he could see the fear on their faces. He looked over at Rajak only to see him in a corner with his friend gripping his Carbine in fear that anything that moved was his enemy. Isar didn't know whether to continue on the mission or to take a brief respite in this windowless room, but every second could mean the parasite were finding even more ways into the rooms. He walked over to Rajak and sat down next to him. "Rajak, I know how scared you are." Isar said. "I'm just as scared as you too, all of us are." Isar waved a hand toward each of the Sanghieli. "All of us will make it out of here alive, I will make sure of that." Rajak looked up at Isar with a slight bit of courage in his face. Isar grinned, knowing that Rajak was ready to do all he could to get out of here. "Everyone! We are going to finish this mission and survive!
The Sanghieli let out a few cheers and cries of courage. Rajak looked over at Isar, then over at all of the Sanghieli. After that moment he knew he would make it out of this place alive, all of them would. While the Sanghieli prepared to move on through the facility, the parasite feasted upon their fallen brothers. Yet some of the Sanghieli were brought back to life by the parasite to fight against their brothers.
"Is everyone ready?" Isar said. "If not spea-" The door shook as the parasite smashed against the door. The Sanghieli quickly moved to the opposite side of the room and put their backs up against the wall. The door continued to shake as the parasite repeatedly smashed into it. The Sanghieli readied their weapons and aimed at the door. Isar quickly thought of a plan. The room was large and had large supports running along side of the walls. "Quickly! Move behind the supports and use them as cover!" Isar ordered. The Sanghieli moved against the supports and prepared for the worst. The door bent and turned as the parasite continued to bash against it. "We will not fall to the parasite." Isar said with courage. The Sanghieli looked over at him then quickly looked back at the door.
"We will not fall to the parasite, we will never fall to the parasite." The Sanghieli said together with renewed spirits. Rajak repeated those words inside of his head, he told himself he will not fall to the parasite and neither will his brothers. And then the parasite busted the door open.
As the Sanghieli fired their weapons and yelled words of courage, plasma flew through the air burning the parasite. The parasite ran at the Sanghieli letting out screams of pain. They would not stop coming at the Sanghieli no matter how badly injured they were.
Rajak saw a parasite jumping at Feka and quickly acted by emptying a whole clip of his carbine at the parasite's side. That got its attention and the parasite started running at Rajak. But Rajak was still reloading his Carbine. He looked up to see the parasite jumping toward him ready to strike. He thought of those words, he had fallen to the parasite. Rajak waited for the strike that would kill him, but it never came. He looked cautiously up and over at the parasite that jumped at him and saw charred skin on it's body. A Sanghieli yelled at Rajak from across the room. Rajak looked over at him and saw it was Feka. Rajak grinned and quickly stood up and started firing at the parasites.
Isar saw what happened and was proud to be in command of these Sanghieli. Isar decided it was time to close that door. "Rajak! Destroy that door!" Isar ordered.
"Yes Commander!" Rajak said. Rajak grabbed one of the Plasma grenades he brought with him. He pressed the button on it and waited for one second, then threw it at the door. He had waited that one second to make sure it would block the door and wouldn't get stuck on a parasite and come back to him.
Isar saw what he did, those grenades explode after three seconds, if it got stuck on a parasite it could have killed his whole squad of Sanghieli if it had gotten close enough. Isar was proud of what Rajak did, and what he knew. The Sanghieli killed the remaining parasites inside of the room. "Everyone! We must hurry before the parasite find a way around this blockade!" Isar said. "Move into the next room!" The Sanghieli moved down the corridor and into the next room, in which had a holo of the facility in the middle of the room. Isar moved toward the holo. It showed red on parts of the facility, which must be the areas where the parasite are. Isar continued looking until he found where the main console is, it was one floor down under them. "I have found where the console is." Isar said. "It is below us."
The Sanghieli all cheered and yelled in gratitude, until Rajak spoke up. "Commander? I think we have a bigger problem." Rajak said. "We can blow a hole into the floor to get down there, but everywhere around it is invested with the parasite." The Sanghieli went silent. Fear spread across Isar's face."What is your plan Commander?" Rajak asked.
Isar stood there confused and frightened, if he didn't think fast the parasite might destroy the console or find a way into the room. The Sanghieli looked at each other in fear that they might not make it out of the facility. Rajak didn't have a plan, and he didn't know how to fight the parasite. He was almost killed by one, and he didn't want to fight the parasite again. Isar finally saw something that Rajak had overlooked in the holo, one corridor was open leading directly to the landing bay. Then he continued to look until he found some controls. Isar grinned at his own incompetence to notice that he could open up different corridors to release the parasite out into space.
"Rajak. I have a plan." Isar said. "We are getting out of here." The Sanghieli looked at each other, then back at Isar. Then they all yelled and cheered that their mission was almost over.
"How are we going to get into the other room? Elnu asked.
"We are going to blow a hole into the floor to get into the next room." Rajak said. "It will be the quickest way."
"I disagree with you Rajak." Isar said. "It will be safer to just melt the floor."
"But that will take to long Commander." Rajak said. "We do not have that much time on our hands."
"I understand that, but do you want to open a hole into space killing us all?" Isar asked. "Doing that is a greater risk then the parasite getting into this room. I am sorry Rajak but we will be going with my plan."
"Yes Commander." Rajak said. He slowly walked back next to Feka.
"It's alright Rajak, you tried your best with that plan."
"Feka, Elnu, make us a door." Isar said.
"Yes Commander." They said. They walked over to a part away from the holo, they began making a circle and slowly melting the floor. The floor fell down into the next room revealing a room filled with computers.
"Let's finish this mission." Isar said. The Sanghieli jumped down the hole into the next room. Elnu ran over to the main console and began hacking into the system.
"Commander! We are getting the data!" Kelu yelled. Isar didn't respond, he was too busy watching the door they entered from. He looked at the console to see if he could open up the corridor that led them into this room. He found it, and pressed the button. He waited to hear the sound of space coming into the facility, but it didn't come. He looked back at the console hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. It was, the controls weren't responding. The parasite had destroyed part of the system, and only that one. They knew this would happen, Now he couldn't activate the doors to release the parasite into space. Isar looked back at the door.
"Everyone! Quickly get the data, we must leave soon!" Isar yelled. "I cannot release the parasite into space, they have damaged part of the controls!" The Sanghieli quickly glanced at each other.
"Commander, we have the data!" Kelu yelled. Isar looked at the controls, he saw the parasite moving closer to their position.
"Quickly! To the landing bay!" Isar yelled. Isar glanced back at the door one last time, he couldn't believe his eyes. The parasite had already bent the door, and were breaking through.
"Isar! What is happening up there?" Elnu said.
"The parasite are breaking through! Go! I will hold them off and come to the landing bay!" Isar ordered.
"No Commander! We will not leave you to fight the parasite alone!" Elnu yelled. Elnu jumped up into the room.
"That was an order!" Isar yelled.
"I know, but we can all make it out of here alive still!." Feka said as he jumped up into the room. Rajak and Kelu jumped into the room and stood next to Isar.
Isar looked at all of the Sanghieli, he even saw Rajak ready to fight. "I will not allow the parasite to kill my squad or my brothers." Isar thought.
The door busted open, the parasite ran toward the Sanghieli. The Sanghieli quickly turned and began firing their weapons. Hot plasma flew through the air, hitting the parasites and turning their rotting flesh to ashes. They shot down the parasite one by one, but they continued coming out of the door, some of them even had weapons. The parasite started returning fire, a few shots hit Rajak's shields. The shields flickered then vanished, his shields are down. Rajak continued fighting even though he could be killed by the plasma. A parasite shot at Rajak, and a few plasma bolts flew past his face. Rajak could feel his skin burning from the heat, and groaned in pain as a plasma bolt hit him in the arm. Dark blue blood flowed down his arm, he put his hand over the wound.
"Rajak!" Feka yelled.
"Fallback to the landing bay!" Isar ordered. "I have a plan!" Feka ran over to Rajak and helped him reach the landing bay.
The Sanghieli quickly fell back to the landing bay. "Commander look out!" Rajak yelled. A parasite had followed them threw the corridor, and was going to kill Isar. The parasite had an energy sword with him, the one that had been brought on the mission by Isca. The parasite even wore some of his black armor. Isar looked up and knew it was over. But the parasite never did get to kill Isar. Plasma flew past Isar and into the parasite, burning it's body to ashes. The Sanghieli turned around to see a sight they had all been hoping for, The Phantom had arrived. The Sanghieli quickly hurried to the gravity lift and into the Phantom. The parasite emerge out of the corridor.
"Look! Isar yelled. "The parasite are going to attack! Get us out of here now!"
"Yes Commander!" The pilot yelled. The parasite fired their Plasma Rifles, and a few of them jump toward the Phantom. The Phantom unleashed a wall of plasma at the parasite, which in turn killed a few of them. The parasite continued to come out of the corridor. The Phantom turned around and quickly left the landing bay.
Rajak looked down at his arm, the skin around the wound was burnt and stung like fire. He looked around for something to seal the wound. Feka walked over to Rajak and sat down next to him.
"I think this will help." Feka said. "Your lucky to still be alive." Feka handed him a bandage, and helped Rajak bandage up his arm.
"What exactly happened in there Commander?" The pilot asked.
"Let me put it this way, it was hell." Isar said. "My squad and I will never go on any mission with Forerunner structures again."
"I understand commander." The pilot said. "Incoming transmission from High Charity, Prophet of Truth wants to talk to you Commander."
"Dammit... send the transmission through." Isar said quietly. A holo of the Prophet of Truth appeared on the screen. Isar slowly looked at each of his Sanghieli, nodding to each one of them.
"Isar Argomee, it is good to see you after this... dangerous mission." The Prophet of Truth said. "I will want to see you and your squad when you return, but for now I want to hear about what happened inside of the Facility."
Isar quickly thought through a way he could tell the Prophet without saying the wrong thing. "We entered the Facility carefully, and came upon a room filled with glass windows. The windows contained the parasite. They broke out and killed one of my Sanghieli, we continued along and came across the parasite again. This time they killed more of my squad until only five of us were left. We made it into the main room and copied the data and made our way to the Phantom." Isar said.
The Prophet look ed at Isar. "I see... did you happen to destroy anything?"
"No Holy one." Isar said.
"We are near High Charity Commander." The pilot said.
"I will talk to you and your squad more when you arrive and rest Isar Argomee." The Prophet said. "I understand Holy one." Isar slowly said. The holo flickered then vanished.
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