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Concluded and Deluded by Arbiter
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Concluded and Deluded
Date: 21 September 2005, 2:44 pm
Concluded and Deluded
I
Prologue
SL
NHS RO
The dawn broke in a silent upsurge; a fervent haze embraced Halo. The holy ring and super weapon bided revolts on two factions of war. The Covenant, a polytheistic assembling of religious races. And the Humans, the best and bestirred of kin.
The two collided with war as the Covenant placed demise on Humanity, with retaliation, and force the Covenant and Humanity clash for ages. And in the continuance of bloodshed, the Covenant and Humanity fought in the heavens of a great espial…
The Covenant's religious greed brought them to their god's creations, the inception of the Forerunners and holy dominion of the Covenant, Halo. To Humanity they took no empathy for their enemy's sanctuary and with irresolute zeal they fought on the ring only to find the truth and contemplation of Halo.
In the abode of the ring with battles vehement and beliefs among justification, Humanity and the Covenant encounter the plague of the derelict construct. A parasite inbred in the rings, a massive affliction to the Forerunners, and the ravager inside Halo. The Flood known for their spontaneous broods and overflowing size beset the Covenant and Humanity.
For in the two conflicts, two predators emerge from both sides. Each with significant meanings for Halo. The Elites a vain and subservient race, the combatants and leaders of the Covenant military. And the Spartan a individual commando, skilled in war and forefront of Humanity.
The Covenant on the verge of destiny, the Great Journey. A doomed concocts leading the races into their fates, believed to be headed into the Divine Beyond, and was instantly stopped by the Spartan. In a precarious action the ring was destroyed, to halt the Covenant in their plan, and prevent the Flood from escaping their confinements on Halo.
The two conquering races were thrown into turmoil and temporary peace from the destruction of Halo, and each were determined to bring the opposed to equity and justice.
In the daybreak of Halo, the races conflicted in endless battles, the Elite, the Spartan, the Covenant, and Humanity was on the threshold of domination and sovereignty within the war.
When Utilized, will Atomize
The Spartan ranked as Master Chief groped the side of the M12 Warthog LRV. The Spartan jumped inside the driver's seat and bore the acceleration. The Marines accompanying him cheered as the Chief rounded a grove.
"Dear Sarge', kicking ass in outer space, wish you were here!" The Marine on the turret shouted.
"I heard that, jackass!" Sergeant Johnson said on the radio.
John grinned under his helmet, it was amazing that the Marines still had a sense of humor even when they were beaten and killed even as they were on enemy territory. The Spartan saw on the other side that there were Jackals with Particle Beam Rifles.
A purple beam shot grazed the side of the Warthog; the next shot demolished the bumper to the ground. Master Chief felt the turret surge through the Warthog while he directed the wheels into the Jackal. It rolled over and died as the tires scraped the entrails.
The three-barreled 12.7mm machine gun cracked the Jackals into pools of purple, and John rode on. The Spartan drove the Warthog into a Plasma Turret and the pink shielding smashed into a heap of smoke. The Warthog was blasted by plasma when John turned the wheel; a Ghost hovered toward them cannons flaming.
The M41 LAAG skimmed the aloof Ghost, and punctured the front, the Elite screamed as it fell under the gun. Master Chief then looked across and saw a structure with an impeding bridge over it.
"The Covenant have control of the bridge ahead they're trying to bottle us up on this side of the gorge!" Cortana said through his neural network.
Master Chief was familiar with this artificial intelligence, even though she acted and thought like a person. John fortified the gear and drove what was left of the bumper into an Elite. It screamed as the Spartan reversed and got back into the copse.
"Watch it, Chief, Wraiths on the far side!" Cortana said.
The Spartan looked over the chasm and saw a pair of Wraiths patrolling the opposite side. The Master Chief leaned out of the Warthog and adjusted his BR55 Battle Rifle replacing a fresh magazine in the hilt. He shot a Grunt coming out of the doorway trying to reach the turret; it dropped in a shriek.
"The controls to extend the bridge should be inside this structure" Cortana informed Master Chief.
The Spartan neared a room, in the middle was a hologram of a Prophet speaking in an alien tongue. Behind it shadows lagged into hostiles. An Elite sidestepped and shot a few plasma bolts at John.
Master Chief was surrounded by plasma, sparks surrounded his body as he shot the Elite in the head, it died and the Grunts in the room threw their arms up and cried.
"Leader is dead, run for it!" One of the Grunts screamed.
John stopped them in their panic and punched them in the masks. After the room was clear he saw a terminal under the window. He imprinted his palm into it and it gave an incandescence of function. The bridge started to rumble and slowly descended down.
Master Chief was just about to leave, when he looked at the hologram of the Prophet.
"Regret's giving a speech-a sermon to be exact, its pretty much Covenant dialect but I'll translate it" Cortana told John.
Master Chief gazed at the Prophet of Regret as the alien tongue converted English.
"The Forerunners our most exalted lords, with their constant struggle against the Flood, it was ages before we came across their remnant and their Great Journey!" The Prophet of Regret said, raising his arms from his robes.
John thought of the Covenant as a ruthless and systematic set of religious races out to domineer other species into their hierarchy. But this Great Journey as they referred to was suicide, they believed if they activated the rings they would be propelled into a heaven that they would share with the Forerunners.
Master Chief once had the puissance to activate Halo, he thought the ring would devastate the Covenant and the Flood. But the ring's AI Monitor, 343 Guilty Spark deceived him to activate it.
With no malice John did his duty and destroyed Halo to halt the Covenant in their religious campaign for the Great Journey.
Privileges
The Elite vanguard stood upon the mount of a structure. The Arbiter was thrust into combat with the Flood, smiled on this glorious forenoon on his sanctum ring. He stood tall and discerning in his uncanny cyan armor, a savior his brothers referred him was the incapable one who lost the last Halo to the Humans.
The Arbiter was known for being plunged into desperate battles, extraordinary crisis's. Which was his aspiration here, the Great Journey was near and he was the one who would remit the key.
"Stand strong, we shall not lose our stand to this parasite!" The Elite SpecOps leader growled next to his squad.
They snapped in attack stance for a undertaken battle. They were on a Forerunner vertex a structure enmeshed them all. The heavens gave a lucent blue, followed by musters of stars still visible in the aurora.
The Arbiter strode back and forth through a tier of Elites they exhaled in his gait and weighed their concentration when he paused to gather bearings. He checked his brandished hilt and examined it with wearied eyes. For the time being the Elites checked their glaring shields and consented their leader.
"Mark these creatures as worthless and senile to our onslaught" The SpecOps Leader said to his squad.
The Elite proudly snarled in unison. They then heard a blare, the sound of bullets. They pelted one of the Sangheili in the head and he fell in a shriek.
"Follow!" The SpecOps Leader stated.
He clicked his mandibles in a sneer and flexed his Energy Sword. It sprang to white hot energy in a swift fizz. With a broad march they faced their enemies.
The Flood as abundant and primitive as they were, they were unorganized with the foremost infection. The wave of the oncoming parasite was nearing.
The Arbiter was blasted by flogged plasma, his torso was ripped and he felt his shields ripple. The Elite hooked the Energy Sword across the fleshy torso of a Combat Form; it flew in various plies of guts.
Once again the Flood split his shield, his head seethed purple blood and his vision was obscured. His strengthened shields held the blood, and he flashed his sword high, he ignored the pain and headed for more parasites.
The Combat Form smacked the lashes of innards at the head of the Arbiter. The Arbiter raised the bloody parasite with his sword in a snowy spectacle.
With a stroke the Parasite fell and the Elite was frothed with red-hot gore. The Covenant prevailed this battle; with a stinging limp the Arbiter raised his Energy Sword and cried.
On the edge of the icy prison there was a human dropship, a Pelican and it dropped a bulky tank. Many Human 'Marines' sat on the brim of the Scorpion and one got in. The extended bridge of a terrain covered in bodies.
The Scorpion crossed it and with more cries they charged the tank. A Elite was tossed into the air as a projectile launch rammed the side of the wall. The Arbiter gradually leapt over a stationary shield and was blinded by more bullets.
The Marines on the brim were paying focus to the Arbiter, and the Elite was rocked to the side of a summit. The Elite waited for his shields to restore, with a snapping roar he sprinted toward the Scorpion.
His shoulder pivoted in a shower of bullets and in a twinkling glow, the Elite's reflexes reacted and just as he ignited a grenade he saw it land on the edge between the Marines. The explosion pitched the facing side of Marines off, and a clear shot to the tank.
Arbiter leaped onto the edge and saw the Marine in the pit controlling the tank. The Sangheili twisted his fist and drove it into the skull of the Marine. The tank was stilled, and the Arbiter hurled a grenade into the drive.
The Elite jumped down and walked as the Scorpion's turret was hurtled into the air, with its occupants screaming. He approached the vacuity of the squad, all of his companions were sinking in tarns of their own maws, but the SpecOps Leader remained, they reeled their swords and with a grovel they roared in victory.
The exemption and will to have led this triumph was a determined notion he was prone to deliver beyond and beyond when the Great Journey yearned.
Sorry were you in the middle of something?
The Spartan charged the temple doors, he shot a Elite in half jump. A Honor Guard stepped over its comrade's body; the Elite squinted its mandibles into a growl and dashed at him.
John disabled the guard's shields with a few shots, and Master Chief rammed him with the butt of the Battle Rifle. It fell and the sword next to him dissolved in the air before someone could wield it.
Ahead in the temple was the Prophet of Regret hovering in the imperial dais, Master Chief waved a portable Rocket Launcher while jumping down the platform dodging a plasma bolt. In a sprint he aimed at the Prophet and fired the rocket.
It smashed into the Prophet with no damage sufficient. Although some blood dripped from the dais, the Spartan leapt up and caught the arm. He jabbed the Prophet with his fist and it moaned as he finished it. The Prophet leaned into a curl and died with a enormous explosion from the dais.
Master Chief landed on his back expecting fire to be everywhere, yet nothing was fired. Every single Honor Guard was running toward the door, some ignoring leadership and raced to the door.
"Chief the carriers are turning around they are preparing to fire on our position!" Cortana said.
Master Chief looked up as he saw the sky from the overpass of the temple and saw a carrier emitting its primary weapon. John tear down the ramp, he jumped down the overpass down onto one of the ramparts. With a flash of purple he was plunged into the depths of the lake…
Before losing consciousness he heard a staid voice amongst the water…
"This is not your grave but you are welcome in it"
That old familiar feeling…
The Arbiter slashed down the last parasite in a pithy explosion. He strolled down the ramp into the residence of the Library. He saw pulpy bulbs of Infection Forms eating Human corpses, but he ignored these because they held no potential threat…yet.
The Elite reached a space and saw a shred heap of a Sentinel Enforcer. The Arbiter flicked his camouflage on while he saw a pair of Marines pointing their SMG's left and right. The Arbiter ignited his Energy Sword and mangled both of them with two blows.
The Arbiter concealed his hilt, and glimpsed over the Enforcer, he saw two Humans one containing the Sacred Icon in her belt. He engaged camouflage again and as he approached the two, the Marine saw him. He rapidly ran to the Marine and uplifted him up with one hand.
"How ya' doin'? The Marine said in his utterance.
The Arbiter butted him with his head and the Marine fell. He looked around and saw the other Human point dual SMG's at him.
"Sergeant, stay down!" She said putting bullets into the Elite's torso.
The Arbiter's shields pinched and he ran past the Human. The Elite hurdled high, and knocked the weapons from the Humans hands. In another flicker of sparks the Human was tumbled back into the Brute Chieftain, Tartarus's arms.
The Arbiter was appalled as Tartarus removed the Sacred Icon from the Human's holster. He would not oblige what was his.
"The Icon is my responsibility!" The Arbiter said with a crackle of anger in his tone.
"Was your responsibility now it is mine!" Tartarus said authoritivly.
The Arbiter gripped his torso from the puncture and made to move toward the Chieftain. The Brute by him cautiously neared the Elite. The Arbiter was aghast at this move.
"A bloody fate awaits you and the rest of your incompetent race! Tartarus said as one of his Brutes dragged the second Marine.
"And I Tartarus, Chieftain of the Brutes will send it to you!"
"When the Prophets learn of this they will have your head!" The Arbiter settled.
The Brutes looked humored and said, "When they learn? Fool, they ordered me to do it!"
The Arbiter gasped as Tartarus raised his hammer and discharged it at the Arbiter.
The Elite was immersed into the abyss below…
Foes and Brothers
The Arbiter looked up at hazy outline of a shadow. A tentacle whipped and seized him.
The Spartan also held restrained by this lashed into view. He gazed as he regained consciousness.
"What is that?" Cortana said.
The giant creature spawned into sight, it was enormous had a mouth and many tentacles that whizzed by, it looked related to the Flood.
"I? I am monument to all your sins," It said in the grave voice.
The Arbiter groaned as the creature twisted him around with two tentacles. It stopped next to the Chief in front of the parasite.
"Relax I'd rather not piss this thing off" Master Chief said with respected boldness.
The Arbiter was taken aback. "Demon!"
The Creature above hissed and elevated the Spartan.
"This one is machine and nerve and has its mind concluded" The Flood creature moaned.
It lowered the Spartan and picked up the Elite examining him.
"This one is but flesh and faith and is the more deluded"
The Arbiter was starting to feel jaded by the parasite.
"Kill me or release me parasite! But do not waste my time with talk!" The Arbiter voiced.
The parasite risen it's mouth. "There is much talk and I have listened through rock and metal and time!"
"Now I shall talk and you shall listen!" The creature growled.
A vivid red light rose, followed by a mutilated creature along with the captives.
"Greetings I am 2401 Penitent Tangent I am the monitor of Installation 05!" The oracle of this construct stated.
"And I am the Prophet of Regret…Councilor most high…Hierarch of the Covenant!" The reanimated Prophet introduced.
The monitor blinked at Master Chief recognizing him at once.
"A reclaimer? Here? At last we have much to do, this facility is to be activated if we are to control this outbreak!" The monitor said with its designated protocol.
"Stay where you are! Nothing can be done until my sermon is complete!" The mutilated Regret said.
"Not true this installation has a completed simulation and one actual it is ready to fire on demand!" The monitor argued.
"Of all the objects our lords left behind there are none so worthless as these Oracles. They know nothing of the Great Journey!" The Prophet stammered.
"And you know nothing about containment you have demonstrated complete disregard for even the most basic protocol!"
"This one's containment and this one's Great Journey are the same!"
The creature concealed them both with the Prophet's scream.
"Your Prophets have promised you freedom from a doomed existence but you will find no salvation on this ring. Those who built this place knew what they wrought to not mistake their intent or all will perish as they did before!" The Flood Creature said.
"This thing is right, Halo is a weapon your Prophets are making a big mistake!" Master Chief said to the Elite.
"Your ignorance has already destroyed one of the sacred rings, Demon! It shall not harm another!" The Arbiter disputed.
"If you will not hear the truth then I will show it to you! There is still time to stop the key from turning but first it must be found!" The creature raised both restrained. "You will search one likely spot and you will search another, fate had us meet as foes but this ring will make us brothers!" The creature said, as the two were teleported to altering conflicts, and they were sent to regulate them.
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