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The End of a War - Chapter 2
Posted By: Mr. Clark<mrclark84@hotmail.com>
Date: 14 February 2005, 3:23 AM
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The End of a War
Chapter 2
The Dead City
There was nothing but silence inside the dropship as it sped through space. From the aft windows those aboard could see the looming city. High Charity sat motionless, the once grand Covenant city was now a lifeless husk. Standing in the dropship, knowing it was there intended target made those aboard shudder with apprehension.
The Arbiter felt his heart quicken as he peered at the city. He had no desire to return to the place of his disgrace. The mark, burned upon his chest, felt more painful with each moment passing, bringing him closer to High Charity. There had been nothing but shame when Tartarus had seared the mark onto him. Now he felt naught but rage. He had been nothing more than a sacrifice provided by the Prophets, his shame used to control him. The Heretic Elite that he had been sent to kill. He had been forced to kill an honorable comrade, one who had heard the truth and decided to act out against the Prophets.
He would be glad to be rid of this city, and the memories it represented.
"Scan it again," the Arbiter ordered. The pilot, an Elite, glanced at him and then turned on the scanner.
"No sign of movement Arbiter; nothing is showing any significant heat signatures," the pilot announced after the scanner had completed its task. This was not as reassuring as it would have been under normal circumstances. When the Parasite carrier forms took over a host body, they stopped the heart from beating after it was in control, effectively stopping blood flow.
The Arbiter turned on his chatter com.
"There is no sign of the Demon, Commander."
There was a short pause on the other end before the female soldier replied, "Understood."
Major 'Ekaporamee had gone over the mission debriefing before they had departed from the Holy Ring. The assault force would be split into two teams, one inserting from the north docking bay and the other from the south. The Arbiter as well as the two humans would be with the team attacking the north bay, while 'Ekaporamee would lead the other. Both teams main objective was to find a carrier ship still docked and to secure it. It had also been decided that once one of the ships were secure, all remaining ships would be destroyed. The Covenant fleet ships as well as the remaining human vessels held coordinates to each species home world. The thought of the Parasite discovering either home world was not something either species wished to dwell upon.
The Arbiter's team also had another mission, though it was known only to three of the team members. The humans were convinced that the Demon had survived the Parasite infestation somehow, and they would not leave until they found him. Normally the Arbiter would be inclined simply to leave the humans behind to their fate, but this Ark was located upon the human home world, and no matter how much talking they did, the human defenses would blast them from the sky at the first opportunity.
"Entering city limits in five," the pilot announced. The Arbiter glanced at the city one last time before getting to his feet and making his way to the bay, where the squad he would be leading was assembling their gear. He was not surprised to see that the group was split into two sections. The humans were on one side of the room checking each other's gear, while the rest of the team was on the other side.
The distrust between the two groups was troubling, but both he and Major 'Ekaporamee had made it clear that the humans were not to be harmed. The order would be carried out, but the others would not go out of their way to assist them.
"The schematics for High Charity have been blocked by something inside the ship, so it has proven impossible for us to check logs for the docking bay to check what carriers are still inside. Our objective will be to secure the docking bay; from there we can do a remote inventory check. There will be no splitting up, we must stay in a group," the Arbiter explained. "The Parasite will overwhelm us if we are not careful."
The Arbiter formed the ranks, placing the two humans in the center of the group. It would not do to send them out first, in case the Parasite had set a trap. He went over each soldier carefully, checking their weapons and ammo. The Elites had decided to carry a Carbine, as well as a Plasma Rifle. A few had Energy Swords strapped to their waists. The Grunts were carrying a variety of Needlers and Plasma Pistols. A few skilled Grunts had been given Fuel Rod Cannons.
"Hey Arbiter, if you happen to have any spare energy swords I'll take one as well."
The Arbiter turned and regarded the human sergeant. The Energy Sword was one of the more prized weapons of the Covenant. It had originally been designed by an Elite, who had watched the way the battle cruisers used their huge plasma cannons. The ships had large magnetic coils that forced the plasma into forming a large stream so that when fired it would move in the direction intended, instead of bursting free of the cannon and simply scattering into space.
The way the energy sword worked, there were numerous magnetic bands wrapped around the grip of the blade. When activated plasma burst free from the small containment tube placed on the end of the handle. The magnetic coils would be activated and they would wrap around the plasma, forcing it into the shape of a blade. This occurred because using simple trial and error, smaller and larger bands were outfitted onto the handle, and after many trials the right combination had been found.
It was not an easy weapon to use. When the plasma burst free of its containment, the weapon weighed more than a Grunt. There was also a lengthy training period for those who wished to wield the weapon in battle. The main focus of the training was directed more on keeping the person using the blade from harming himself and his fellow warriors.
The Arbiter was about to inquire if the human had any idea how to use the blade when memories of what occurred earlier flashed in his mind. The sergeant had been capable of driving a Scarab over rocky terrain with no prior training. Wielding an Energy Sword would be child's play. Leaving the room momentarily, the Arbiter retrieved it and handed it to the sergeant.
"Much obliged," Sergeant Johnson said as he stuffed the blade into his waistband.
"We will be approaching the city in a moment, remember to use discretion," the Arbiter warned. The sergeant was about to respond when the ship suddenly veered sharply to the right. The team com opened up and the pilot spoke.
"The Parasite has figured out how to use High Charity's defenses. Fixed plasma cannons are now firing on our position."
"Evade for now, find a new location where we can put down with minimal enemy fire," the Arbiter responded calmly.
"Understood," the pilot acknowledged and closed the com.
This was not the ideal way for the mission to start.
------------------------------
As an AI, Cortana was not meant to feel emotion. AI's were meant to be cold and calculating, with preprogrammed personalities. That had been the standard for many centuries, but with the creation of 'Smart' AI's that had changed. By taking the actual preserved memories of a living human an AI gained the ability to form abstract thoughts, and to have a personality. Because of that, AI's could now feel human emotions. Naturally they were suppressed to some degree, but they were still there.
Cortana had watched the Forerunner ship disconnect from High Charity and enter Slipspace. She had felt great sorrow, all processes she had been running stopped as the ship disappeared. Cortana knew that she had seen the last of the Master Chief.
She was a 'Smart' AI, therefore having a preset lifespan of only seven years, but Cortana knew then that she would be ending her life far quicker than that. Once the ring was activated, she would be forced to destroy In Amber Clad, which would cause a chain reaction detonating the reactors in High Charity, and then finally destroying the Halo installation.
She had started the countdown to detonate In Amber Clad's reactors when High Charity's sensors had picked up an enormous energy spike located on the ring. When that energy spike suddenly disappeared, she had stopped the countdown. Something had interfered with the activation sequence.
The Flood had taken over High Charity, and with the Brutes and Elites fighting in space, it was not long before the only entity remaining in the city was the Flood, and herself. It was this situation that led to her present predicament, and her newest emotion. Fear.
The presence she had felt earlier while leading the Master Chief through the city had grown stronger with the elimination of all the Covenant. Her first assumption was that perhaps it was a Covenant AI. It had proven much too powerful for that, and she had felt a tingle of apprehension when she considered the possibility of it being a Forerunner AI. It wasn't until shortly after the firing sequence for the installation had been stopped that she discovered what it truly was.
The creature that seemed to control the Flood had infiltrated High Charity. Gravemind, as she had begun to refer to it, was capable of tapping into the underlying grid power that seemed to run through the Halo installations. As such, it was able to move about freely on the ring, much as the monitors of each site were capable of doing.
Cortana was the best AI the UNSC had ever produced. Modeled after the creator of the Spartan II Project, Dr. Halsey, she had been given every advancement that could be stuffed into her core processor. There was no message she could not encrypt and no system she couldn't crack. With all that said, she felt not but fear when her sensors identified Gravemind's presence.
When it had spoken, and requested information, she had taken a full three seconds before she responded. Whoever had stopped Halo from firing would undoubtedly have to come to High Charity if they wished to leave this system. The only ships remaining that had Slipspace drives were in the docking bays. All others had been destroyed, or rendered inoperable like In Amber Clad.
Gravemind was some kind of leader to the Flood. It controlled them somehow, as if it had a network that branched off to every one of them. The Flood itself had only one purpose, consume all life. If they had not yet begun to load themselves onto the Covenant carriers, then it would seem that they had yet to figure out how to operate the ship.
That theory was shot down as soon as it had asked its first question. It began drilling her about humanity and the Covenant. Gravemind was gathering information. The creature wished to know everything, the reason behind the war, which was victorious. Cortana had no intention of giving it any information that it could use against humankind, or the Covenant. It wasn't through some kindred love that she felt protective of the Covenant, if the Flood gained access to all their technology it would spell the end to humanity even faster than when the Covenant were at the helm.
She had endured hours of questions. They delved deeper and deeper into the history of both societies. Gravemind's questions were beginning to turn towards locations of Covenant and human worlds, and she was forced to evade answering as best she could. If it came to pass that the creature was going to rip her from the ship forcefully, Cortana would detonate the reactors and let them all die.
Before it came to that, her sensors detected incoming contacts. A quick probe identified several Covenant dropships, two approaching from the north and two from the south. The perimeter defense was activated remotely and Cortana attempted to shut them down, but something was blocking her access.
"The conversation has ended for now," Gravemind's voice rang clear. "A battle looms, preparation must now be taken."
The presence of Gravemind slowly dissolved from High Charity. As soon as she could no longer detect it, she opened up a com channel with the approaching dropships. Covenant voices greeted her.
"Plasma turret unit three offline, rerouting power to all forward turrets now," from the deep pitch of the voice Cortana identified the speaker as an Elite.
"Target all landing zone defensive weapons once we get within optimum range."
Cortana instantly recognized that voice. It belonged to the Elite that Master Chief and she had seen when they had been rescued by Gravemind. If he was alive and heading towards High Charity, at least she now knew who had stopped the firing sequence on Halo. However, if the Elites had gotten there, it did not bode well for Sergeant Johnson and Commander Keyes.
Still, if it meant getting off this city and away from the terror brought on from simply being there, she would assist the Elites. A quick probe found a broken patch in the defense set up by Gravemind, and she sent a spike to keep it open. First off she activated the failsafe protocol for the defense turrets, ensuring they would be destroyed. Next she moved through the ship so she could observe what was happening first hand inside the north landing bay.
The two dropships made a sweeping approach, turrets blazing as they flooded the landing zone with plasma. Cortana assisted their efforts by dropping the shields around the doors, ensuring all Flood inside were neutralized. After two runs, the ships finally entered the docking bay and troops began pouring out. The Elites lead the way, with a few Grunts coming down from the gravity lifts.
It was after the Elite she recognized as the one from her encounter with Gravemind, that Cortana felt her processor skip, the AI equivalent of a human gasp.
Sergeant Johnson and Commander Keyes were alive.
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