 |
About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
FAQ
Screenshots
Concept Art
Halo 2 Updates
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum
Clan HBO Forum
HBO IRC Channel
Links
Admin
Submissions
FTP Uploads
HTTP Uploads
Contact
|
|
|
Solace's Weapon: Chapter 3 Solace's Tool
Posted By: RogueDragon
Date: 4 October 2006, 9:11 pm
Read/Post Comments
|
Make sure to read Chapter 2 before reading this, when I posted it I forgot to add 'Solace's tool' to the title, sorry. Anyway enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 3: Solaces Tool
Covenant Holy city: High charity
Council chambers
Councilor Suku' Nakita entered the council chamber taking her place with the other eighty assembled Sangheili Councilors. Down below on the council deck were the High Prophet of Regret along with two other major prophets. Sitting down along side one of the other Councilors she asked "what is going on"
The councilor turned to her and replied "fleet master Huru' Kantouo returned from the human infested colony called Ceti – Prime, he failed to glass the planet and pulled back after sustaining heavy losses. Regret has declared that he has failed the Forerunners and must be executed".
Suku' Nakita then turned her attention to what was happening below her, listening carefully she heard Regret ranting and raving at the Sangheili before him.
"Holy one, I saw no choice but to pull my forces from the battle, the human defenses were to strong and we detected a human battle group on approach, if we stayed all would have died for nothing" the Sangheili said respectively to the Prophet.
A flair of anger sparked up in Regrets eyes, he then screamed ramming his fist into his chair. "You should have stood your ground in the name of our lords, not skulked back to your home like a Sangheili water snake."
"Holy one, I only wished to save the lives of those under my command, if we had charged there defenses we would have all been destroyed and they would have only sustained minor damage" replied the Sangheili.
Regrets fist began to shake violently on the chair "you almost speak as if these vermin are a worthy adversary, there feeble technology is nothing in comparison to the gifts from our Forerunner lords."
The Sangheili unsure what to say then finally replied "I only acted in the interest of the warriors under my command, if the Forerunners wish to punish me for that I will take that punishment the same as I would take any gift from the forerunners."
Regret finally calming himself the said in a deep voice "you have failed your duties and the wishes of the Forerunners, let your name be torn from your family, you will be imprisoned for the rest of your life in the bowls of High Charity."
"If this is the will of the Forerunners, I will accept it gladly" the Sangheili said then turned to the Jiralhanae guards behind him who then trailed him out of the chambers to meet his fate.
Suku' Nakita and the other councilors stood up and filed out of the Great chamber. Upon leaving she was greeted by the Prophet of Solace along with his host of Jiralhanae guards, the old Prophet was not a nice sight; his skin hung weekly to his body, his breath reeked of the foul smelling alcohol the prophets delighted in drinking. Suku' Nakita attempted to leave but Solace's guards surrounded her allowing him to come closer, she backed away not wishing to come into contact with him.
"Councilor, it is good to see you, I am afraid politics leaves little time for us to talk, tell me how is your son". Solace said, his sly and deep voice was not atoll comforting to Nakita as it was when he preached to the public so often.
"I have not heard from him in two months, I believe his last postings put him Seclua Sector" she replied trying not to give a hint of her growing displeasure of his presence.
"If I am not mistaken his ship is returning from the Human infested world that resided in that sector, they have eradicated the Vermin from that rock, don't you rejoice in our holy work Councilor." He said leaning closer to her smiling.
"I believe in the Forerunners and the Covenant, as long as it is the will of the gods then I rejoice in our victory." She replied standing her ground against the Prophets advance.
The Profit came closer until he was a hairsbreadth away from the Councilor's face and said "It is, these Vermin and an affront to the Forerunners, we are right in are acts".
He then backed away as his Jiralhanae Guards assembled around him, as he left he said "Councilor, if you could meet with me and the Prophet of Malice in the lower Ceta lab soon I would be very grateful, the noble Prophet will be returning with your Son." With this the old prophet left, his decrepit form sunk into the halls of High Charity.
As Suku' Nakita made her way down the halls she saw another Sangheili approaching her, she recognized him as her old ally and brother in arms Ship Master Eva' Korrander with which she had fought countless battles alongside.
As he approached he recognized his old companion, "are, Suku, it is good to see you after all this time" he said falling into pace with her.
"It is good to see you to Eva, I apologize for not keeping in contact with you, but politics leaves ones spirit diminished, these past few months have been…" she trailed of mumbling searching for a word to sum up her phrase.
"Difficult" she finally said quietly.
"I told you should have stayed in the fleet, it does not diminish the sole as does the ranting of the Prophets all day, and night then day again." Eva said as they came out into the massive gardens of High Charity.
"Enough of Politics" the Councilor said, her voice rising up "tell me of your Campaign in the Seclua – 4 Sector against the humans".
Eva stopped, leaning against the balcony looking into the north side of High Charity, "for all the Propaganda the Hierarchs have spread against them, they are more then capable of waging a war against us."
Suku to leaned against the balcony and replied "I understand, unfortunately the Council continues to swallow up Truths promises and believes all his says about our enemy, it is sad to see them so gullible. When the Great Journey Begins the sins of this war will be swept away, I only hope that those who committed those sins are forgiven, enough tell me of my son".
Eva face lightened up as his mandibites formed a smile or the Sangheili equivalent of a smile, "he is an outstanding warrior, among the finest I have ever had in my command. He defiantly is your son; he excels in causing trouble for me, not long ago he brought a human onboard my ship".
Suku turned to him looking mildly interested, "a prisoner".
Eva shook his head looking almost sad "a child councilor, no younger then my own".
Suku gasped in amazement, "Why, for what purpose".
Eva looked down from the balcony at a young Sangheili couple passing, "the Prophet of Malice wanted a specimen for an experiment he is commencing, the subject had to be in the right stage of development, and to add to this predicament only a human can be used."
"What is this experiment?" Suku said now caught up enthusiastically in this conversation.
"By the Prophets 2nd Grand Order it is classified, the penalty for revealing its nature is Death, I do not wish to have my corpse splayed open just yet" Eva said. Two banshees flew overhead and towards the docking bay, "If you would excuse me Councilor I must return to my ship and oversee the refitting, I hope to see you again soon". With that the warrior bowed to the Councilor and left, although he had not told her Suku had a feeling she would soon discover the nature to this experiment.
Four hours later
Ceta – 4 Labs
High Charity
The Prophet of Solace waited in the Labs eager to begin his speech on his new plan that would serve him well in his ascension of to the Hierarchs, he waited in anticipation for the Councilors that would approve his master plan.
Councilor Suku' Nakita arrived in the waiting area near the labs where four other Councilors and there Honor Guards were waiting, approaching one she asked "do you know what this is about".
The Councilor replied, "We have no idea, the Prophet of Solace has kept this secret from every one, even Truth, there is much rivalry between them, there always looking for ways to weaken the others support."
"That's why he chose the Prophet of Malice, he's more then easy to manipulate" added another Councilor.
A Sangheili Honor Guard then emerged from the room and said "if you would now enter Excellencies, the Prophets are ready to see you".
As the Councilors entered the room Suku saw about half a dozen medical staff working on various consoles around the room. Standing or rather sitting comfortably in their hover chairs were the Prophets of Malice and Solace surrounded by both Sangheili and Jiralhanae honor guards.
The Councilors took there appropriate places before the prophets and knelt before them bowing before they rose to face the prophets. The prophet of Solace began by saying "You will now witness the true power of the Forerunners, you all know the hardships and bloodshed this war has taken from the Covenant and today the Forerunners reward us".
The Profit of Malice then said "You all know of the human organization known as ONI". Suku remembered hearing this name, it was some secret service the human forces employed but with all the religious propaganda spawned by this war the reports had most likely been manipulated to some extent. The Prophet of Malice then said "recently one of our operatives was able to obtain data regarding a new weapon they were working on in an attempt to utilize against us. The infidels could not successfully complete this weapon due to there inferior knowledge and understanding, this will not go wasted; we will embrace it as a tool of the Covenant".
The door then opened and a Sangheili came in clad in brown armour, Suku recognized him as an Ossoona, she had a strong dislike for these spies, she had rarely seen them as they were normally in active camouflage. The Ossoona slid a crystal data storage device into an access port, a 3 – D image then materialized on the panel slowly rotating.
Suku squinted looking closer at the hologram, upon inspections it was a humanoid figure, it had slender arms and legs and was completely sealed in impenetrable armour. White armour ran around its arms and legs mixed with black, red armour lay on its chest. The head was designed to look the most intimidating, supporting in human turns an Egyptian style head piece, the head was thickly armored and supported red tram lines going up its sides. No nose mouth or ears were visible; the face was smooth and blank except for to intimidating green glowing slanted eyes. From its back sprouted to robotic wings, they were folded up but could unfold to cover a great distance, from its lower back sprouted a long robotic tail.
Suku's eyes were transfixed on the vast amounts of Plasma weapons and bladed weapons covering the body, this combat machine was defiantly a warrior to be reckoned with, that its origins came from the humans was inconceivable to the Councilors.
The Prophet of Solace's voice then caught her attention again "with the improvements we have made in this weapon the Covenant will finally be secure. No longer will heretics plot against us, any who try will fall prey to its abilities."
One of the councilors then asked "and what host will you be using".
The Prophet smiled and replied "unfortunately the host must be very young for the internal defense system not to reject it and shut down, to date only one race has shown to be able to be transferred as a host."
Solace pushed a button on his chair, a small panel opened in one of the storage compartments, a medical bed slipped out, the Councilors gasped at the small form that lay on the bed. A human child lay unconscious, about eight or nine years old. She looked closer, his skin was completely pale due to the deep freeze, one side of his body was completely covered in bandages, blood had seeped out and frozen on the bed.
Solace smirking then said "do I have your support"
Suku knew well it didn't matter what they believed, if they said no he could have them framed and executed for treason. She and the other councilors put there fists against there chests and said in unison "we agree", although she had been taught to hate and look down on humans Suku still felt guilty for what terrible torment this child would be put through.
Five years later
Date: 2551
Time: 1140
UNSC Inner colony Sol – 4
Tai' Nakita moved through the thick grass on his stomach along with a platoon of Sangheili, they came up on a verge looking over a long deep valley. Down below dozens of human and Covenant tanks engaged each other in a bloody battle, looking over the valley he saw the humans had dug there forces into several banks and high positions that were difficult to get to. Dug into the valley walls were heavy artillery shelling the approaching Covenant infantry and armour that was advancing.
"Disgusting Vermin, why don't they end this, there feeble weapons cannot stand against the weapons of our lords" scowled a minor Sangheili next to him.
"Don't underestimate them, they fight a different way and are not concerned with what we believe, underestimating them will only earn you a quick death." Nakita replied, the minor did not choose to argue out this debate.
Nakita activated the transceiver in his helmet, "artillery, target grid coordinates 8472, set for maximum yield", a few seconds later the human artillery was engulfed in plasma and exploded. The Sangheili around him leapt up in applause; unfortunately a hidden enemy sniper chose this moment to strike back. The Sangheili beside him suddenly grabbed his throat as a thin trail of pale smoke passed his neck. Purple blood began to flow from his throat; he began to cough then collapsed as his lungs filled with his own blood.
"Get down" Nakita shouted, he grabbed a Carbine and followed the thin trail of smoke then found his target. He fired a single shot, a few seconds later the human sniper fell from a tree and down into the valley.
Eight hours later
Covenant Camp
Tai' Nakita stepped over the corpses of several dead marines and made his way into his command tent; he accessed his communication interface and a hologram of Ship Master Eva' Korrander materialized before him.
"Nakita, tell me how is the campaign on the surface going" he asked.
"We have been engaged in a slaughter for the past week, the enemy forces can deploy there troops through the valleys easily and ambush us at every turn. We are making slow progress, the amount that have died here is, of the charts your Excellency."
There was an odd silence, after a few seconds Korrander said "Nakita, we are being recalled to High Charity, seems the Prophets have something they need us for".
Nakita hesitated then replied "is there know one else, Field Master' Putumee will not be pleased, his forces are stretched thinly as it is."
Korrander sighed and said "We have no choice, extract your soldiers and pull back to the ship; I will send a request for additional troops to reinforce the Field Master's legion, return to the ship, that's an order Commander." With that the bright light beneath the holopad deactivated and the hologram faded into the air.
|
