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Shadows of Archon II (part 23) - The Shade of Knight
Posted By: Wado<wyamauchi@msn.com>
Date: 16 October 2002, 8:07 am
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Many wondrous days and darkened nights pass,
Forgotten promises and deadly vows,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
The first to fall are the first of all,
Treachery and deception are their friends,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
The many rise only to meet great demise,
Angry children play a game of roulette,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
Now only the few, the lonely remain,
Too long has it been, older than the oldest,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
The Praetor comes once more,
Long gone hopes rekindled anew,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council. In the Hall of the Supreme Council, the golden clad Forerunner glides down the floor. It has been over 200 generations since one of his kind has walked the walk and talked the talk. Once they were the leaders of the great council. Now they are the fallen, mere messengers, pawns of circumstance.
The steely eyes of the council bear down on the Forerunner, even in his grand golden armor, the Praetor feels naked to the truth. He kneels in humility to the greatness of the council -- Unable to look upon the leaders of the Council.
A tentacle-faced Nomdian known as the Eldar stands above all others in the council. "Praetor, 900 Nomdian generations ago, a great party of Nomdians approached the council with news of the Flood," said the Eldar, "and the leaders of the council, your Forerunner ancestors, dismissed their words. Why, now that the tables are turned, should we even consider your words?"
"Great council and esteemed representatives, to defeat the insane Forerunners, I now offer the Praetor's mighty Forerunner fleets as testament of the value of my words," proclaimed the Praetor. For the moment his greatness shines through and his chin lifts. "Together we can defeat the insane Forerunners, the Flood, and their new fleet. Together we can amass a fleet of over 40,000 combat ships to defeat the insane Forerunners and bring peace once more to this galaxy."
"And then what?" said Princess Kira, the second most senior member of the council. "Rule the galaxy again like the first Forerunners. Have you not learned anything from the mistakes of the past? We have all heard your words Praetor; you offer the mighty fleet of a nation that no longer has a place in this galaxy. Yes, you do not belong here -- 200 Archonian generations ago, it was time for your kind to step aside and leave. Hence why you were chosen to be the Forerunners. You were the first to set the path for new life in this galaxy, but you should never have stayed once your task was done. Those among your kind that left to return and fight the Flood in your home galaxies were the true Forerunners. Those of you, including your forefathers, that stayed are the pretenders."
A large shadowy figure speaks; it is the council's second newest member, the demon lord Doom. Unfamiliar with the protocols of this council, he interjects when he shouldn't saying, "Boom, Boom, Doom! The Flood is a real danger in this galaxy, why are we so eager to dwell in past mistakes, it is strength in numbers we need. So what if the Forerunners were supposed to leave this galaxy once their task was done, we know that many did and we know the fate of many of them that stayed -- the Flood and the insanity. If I have the choice, I choose action over this idle talk."
"It is not your choice alone," said Princess Kira, "and mind your place demon, this council is not to become a mockery of the righteous."
There is much murmur among the council.
"Alas, listen here all," said the Eldar, "and I will tell of things long forgotten by most." The murmur stops and darkness falls except for a single glow highlighting the Nomdian. "We all know that the Forerunners of long past were assigned the task for preparing the way in this galaxy for new nations. We also know that they succeeded in this endeavor up until the end when they failed to leave when the time to do so had come. Some stayed in hopes of preserving the Forerunner Empire, I speak of your ancestors Praetor, and others failed because they sought power and became the insane. We all know of the Flood of this galaxy, the creation of the insane Forerunners in their corrupted attempts to gain ultimate power. However, not many choose to remember the Flood of old. We of the council, however, remember. Long ago, before Forerunners, there were the Creators. The Creators had but one tragic flaw -- they did not know when to stop. After creating many things, including the Life Trees, they sought to create their own One Tree. What I speak of is the One Tree, older than the Creators and the first of all the Trees of Life. The Creators dealt with forces even they did not fully understand. Their creation was a perversion of the One Tree, its seed we now know as the Alpha Flood and its cost, the enslavement of the Creators in corruption. We now are left with the legacy of the Alpha Flood, Praetor. We must destroy the Alpha Flood and its evolved form the Omega Flood -- that is our duty to protect all generations to come. However, it is not our place to fight the insane Forerunners and their blend of the Flood. This is a task that must be overcome by the new nations. The new nations must overcome the legacies that we leave behind, otherwise, they are doomed to make the same mistakes and thus continue the cycle of corruption and perversion. That is the flaw in the Halo theory - destroying all life only starts things anew, erasing past mistakes but that does little to ensure that the same mistakes aren't made over and over again by future nations."
"But, the humans, Covenant, and all the others of the new nations have no chance against the Forerunner fleet. Might I remind the council that conservative estimates put the insane Forerunner fleet at over 25,000 ships."
"Our time has passed Praetor, unlike your ancestors, we are ready to step aside and allow the new nations to thrive," said the Eldar. "The humans, Gundarians, Saurans, Covenant and all the others must defeat the insane Forerunners -- they must prove themselves."
"What if they fail?" said the Praetor.
"Then, we will activate the Halos once more and erase their very existence," replied the Eldar.
"There is no other way then?" said the Praetor.
"The will of the council has spoken," said the Eldar. "Praetor, are you with us or against us?"
"I am not the Praetor of my forefathers," replied the Praetor, "and I am not blinded by the dream of an empire, at least not anymore -- I am with the council, but I still do not know how the humans and others will overcome such difficulties."
"Nothing is certain," said Eldar, "but know this Praetor, that the Starguardian Shadow Flux is among the humans in an Archonian sleeper."
The Praetor is silent for a moment, then responds saying, "So it is true that the human souls can host Starguardians... Then it is true that some among the humans are re-born angels. Even so, will this be enough?"
"Faith, my Forerunner Praetor, is but all we have," said Princess Kira. "A dangerous double-edged blade is faith, but miracles do happen and the new nations are not without their own miracle workers."
------------------------------------------------
The Shade of Knight
"Chief the destruction on Earth is awful, they need to get that planetary shield up," said Cortana.
"Cortana, there's nothing we can do about that, stick to the mission," said John. "What is this Covenant Flag ship we are approaching?"
"I've confirmed that it is called the Bastion of Light, a huge battle ship based on the Proteus class cruiser design," replied Cortana, "and from what I can assess, it has a new kind of plasma mauler weapon with at least twice the range of previous models. It's one giant weapons and communications platform."
As John and Cortana approach the enormous ship, the Bastion of Light, a strange icy feeling comes over John -- It is both a feeling of power and of dread. "Cortana, what just happened?"
"Chief, your vital signs disappeared for a moment," said Cortana. "Your body core temperature just dropped 2 degrees."
A female voice is heard saying, "Nice diversion Shadow Flux, they almost got a mental scan of your location but you fooled them."
"Who is this and how did you get on a secured channel?" demanded John.
"Chief, communications are all still jammed," said Cortana. "This voice is coming from inside your head. It could be a malfunction with your neural receptors. Running diagnostics now."
The female voice is heard again, this time saying, "This is Knight Shade... I know Cort, follow the protocol, oh what, crap... sorry wrong number, out."
"Wait," said John.
"No use Chief, the voice is gone," said Cortana, "and diagnostics returned no errors. It was some form of telepathic contact. Perhaps it was one of the our telepaths who got her signals crossed."
"Well no time for that now Cortana," said John. "I'm on final approach to the target."
"Hold on Chief, this is strange," said Cortana. "The Covenant should not be able to detect our movements in the XX1, but a group of cloaked Covenant corvettes appears to be following us. Try following these alternate nav points just to make sure."
"Following alternate nav points, but why the worry Cortana, shouldn't the XX1 just show up as a small null point in space," said John. "Can they track the null point?"
"Technically yes, but it would be like trying to find an air bubble in the middle of an ocean," said Cortana. "Never mind Chief, you may proceed back to the primary target, the corvettes are no longer matching our movements. It must have just been coincidence."
"Approaching the Bastion of Light," said John. "This ship is enormous. Still over a kilometer away and the XX1 is already starting to phase through the shields." The XX1 phases through six layers of shields before reaching the ship.
"Chief, I recommend we attach the XX1 to the outside of the ship next to the 4th docking bay," said Cortana. "If we enter the bay with the XX1, they will get a visual on us."
"Alright attaching to the outside," said John. "Cortana, will these grapples hold?"
"Yes chief as long as we aren't hit by one of our own MAC rounds," said Cortana. "The Bastion of Light is entering the outer orbit of Earth. Apparently its shields are strong enough to repel our largest MAC rounds."
John exits the small XX1 craft and uses grappling devices to move towards the docking bay doors. Ships leave and enter the great bay and as they do, the force field covering the entrance turns off momentarily. John moves closer to the entrance and waits for the force field to drop.
As John looks down onto Earth, he sees huge explosions from the Covenant bombardment. Billions must be dead by now.
A ship leaves the bay and as it does, John slips into the upper level of the bay. "The bay is large enough to hold most UNSC cruisers," remarked John. Inside are scattered ships and lots of Covenant troops. The troops are lined up neatly into sixteen square formations, 24 x 24 Elites each. They all appear to be kneeling, looking upon the destruction of Earth as if in a trance.
A voice is comes from above that resonates through the bay. "Cleanse thy devil world, not one shall survive," said the voice.
"Not one shall survive," repeated the Elites.
"Chief, there's an access panel over there about 30 meters away," said Cortana. "I can access the ships schematics from there."
John moves quietly over to the access panel and plugs Cortana into it. He can't help but look back around at the Elites. Such an ordered and disciplined army, John has a gut feeling that even among Elites they must be special.
The voice comes again, but this time it sounds slightly different saying, "Yes cleanse thy devil planet and cleanse thy perverted half-breeds."
At that moment many of the Elites look up confused and some even start running towards the exits with weapons drawn. The heavy blast doors are sealed and will not open. Meanwhile there is laughter heard from above and the bay starts to decompress. A few hundred Elites are sucked out into the vacuum of space through the bay entrance. Others grasp onto whatever they can to say inside.
"Ha, ha, ha, you are all fools," said the voice from above. "Stupid fools who could not see the light, the return of the gods. Only the true Covenant will survive."
"Chief I've got the map, now let's get out of here," said Cortana.
John still has his grappling devices; he attaches one to the floor and the other to the wall and slowly moves back to the access panel and retrieves Cortana. "What is going on here, looks like a mutiny."
"Best I can figure chief is that there is fighting on all decks," said Cortana, "and one side seems to be in control of the command center, they are calling themselves the Knights of Purity."
"We have a mission, mutiny or not we have to get to the command center of this ship," said John, "and how are we going to do that with all these blast doors sealed?"
"I'm working on the access codes," said Cortana. "This may take a while... oh my chief, take cover -- some defense system has just been activated." At that moment plasma gun turrets appear from behind panels all along the outer walls of the bay.
John crouches behind cover, still unnoticed by everything around. Down below, hundreds of Elites fire their plasma rifles at the turrets. The turrets, however, fire an endless stream of heated death. The Elites that bravely fought are fried to the bone by the turrets. The other Elites that still live are mostly wounded and cower behind what little cover they can find.
The atmosphere is gone from the bay, but John can still hear the silent screams from below. Not a moment too soon, Cortana opens a small door and John enters into an airlock.
3, 2, 1, green light and John is out the other side. Plasma burn marks are painted along all the walls of this corridor along with many dead Covenant bodies. One living Elite sits holding his severed arm that still holds an energy sword in its grasp. The Elite seems oblivious of John.
John moves on with caution. In the next corridor is a group of Grunts that appear to be looting the bodies of the dead for weapons and other items. John has no time for this. Like an old west gunslinger John jumps out with weapons in both hands. Before the Grunts can draw their weapons and fire, John has killed them all. "Cortana, I've never seen the Covenant like this and frankly I don't like it," said John as he kicks over a Grunt to make sure it is dead.
Suddenly a door opens to the left of John. John turns with weapons raised to see that just two meters away are two strange looking Covenant warriors with fuel-rod cannons pointed back at him. The two Covenant resemble small hunters without the shields and with lighter armor. The Covenant on the right speaks saying, "There are two of us and only one of you, whatever you are. Lower your weapon if you want to live."
John could get several shots off before their weapons charge up enough to fire, but then again, maybe these are Forerunners or something. They sure don't seem to know what John is. "Let's lower all our weapons," said John, "and then tell me who you are."
"You do not remember us," said the one on the left, "but are you not Forerunner?"
Cortana speaks through Johns neural implant saying, "Chief they think you are Forerunner. I recommend you go along with them."
"Alright Cortana, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing," said John over his neural implant. Then with a clear and resounding voice, John says, "Yes I am Forerunner."
John hears the familiar sound of fuel rod cannons powering up and sees green glowing balls forming from the Covenant weapons.
"Then die false god," said the Covenant on the right.
-- Next, Split Decision --
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