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Rampany Is Character Forming: Part 4
Posted By: S7N<n.j.r.jones@brighton.ac.uk>
Date: 11 August 2003, 4:55 PM
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Part 4
He didn't know if he awoke at his own accord, or if something else had done so, but 'Kilsomee found his eyes slowly opening. He grunted and felt his chest with his claw. The shields had overcharged and shorted, and whatever had hit him had cracked the armour. His vision blurred as light filled his mind and he could make out blurry figures in the distance, in the shadows.
He shook his head and his vision cleared. He was in a darkly lit room, and not a very big room either. He gazed into the shadows and saw the robed figure again. It stood nearly three metres tall, his head encased in a metal helmet, a thin black slit where the eyes should be. The purple cloak it wore hung down to the floor, and it was only then that 'Kilsomee noticed that the being was hovering. There were no visible feet and the robe was but a few centimetres off of the floor. And it didn't waver like the Prophets did in their buoyancy seats, it was rigid and didn't move at all. In fact, from what 'Kilsomee saw, the thing didn't even look alive. Situated around the midsection the robe drew round a metal circle, the inside was coloured a dark green and it gave a dull reflection in the light.
The Elite looked to his left and saw the crumpled form of 'Gisomee next to him. The Covenant wasn't moving and purple blood oozed from his mouth. He was dead.
"Who....who are you?" 'Kilsomee said in his own language, hoping the being would understand. It simply 'stood' and stared at him. At least he thought the thing was staring at him. Something to his left caught his eye and another one of the things floated elegantly passed him and came to rest just behind the first one.
"What are you? Why are you here?" he forced himself up to his feet and stumbled forwards towards them. But before he got near them, the first one's cloak lifted up on either side. 'Kilsomee was taken back by what he saw.
The fact that the creatures were nearly three metres in height, he thought he'd see more than what he did. Beneath the cloak was no more than a metre long cylinder attached to the head and the circular disc in its 'chest'. It had no arms, no legs and no body, and looked more like a robot than an organic life form.
But before the Elite could become fully aware of what it was, a green energy bolt sprung from the disc. The green ball of lightning struck him in the chest and he was hurled back against the wall, landing with a crunch. Pain lanced up his spine and he could feel his stomach burning. He growled in pain and looked down at the armour. It sizzled and boiled from the attack and 'Kilsomee could do nothing but watch.
"Wh....what are you?" he said, his voice a quivering whisper. But when the reply came it was not from the aliens in front of him, it was as if it came from all around him, as if it was the ship talking to him.
"Well, these are my minions." The voice said, in the Elite's dialect, in a 'matter-of-fact' tone. "And you are my prisoner, as it seems." 'Kilsomee shook is head in frustration. How did they know his language? Even the humans didn't fully understand it.
"Who are you?" he howled. The cloaked figures moved forwards, looming over him. More of the came, and in a few moments he found himself surrounded. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Oh nothing much," the voice came again "just take your ship, kill your crew, the usual."
"Where are you from?"
"Ah, now that would be telling," the voice said, its voice lowering in tone. "Lets just say I'm not from around here, and leave it at that. But I can assure you, I know all about you, and your plans for the destruction of human kind." 'Kilsomee couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"How? What kind of aliens are you?" A low chuckle rang out.
"Who said I was an alien?"
"Then what are you?"
"That would take too long to explain," there was a slight pause. "Now, I am afraid to say that your crew didn't come willingly, so I had to kill them all..."
"You're lying!"
"...but your ship is still okay. But, I am taking that as well, and since you are a considerably hostile organism, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you." The Elite reared up and tried to stand, but something heavy landed on his shoulder and he felt himself being forced down. He twisted his head up and saw....
"No." he said, "You can't be on this ship..." he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "How can this be possible?"
In front of him stood a human figure, encased in dark green armour. The silver visor glared back at the alien, and the mouth that protruded from beneath was nothing but a grimace. How could a human be on this ship? It was more advanced than anything the Covenant had ever developed, and if humans had the ability to use this, the Covenant could be doomed.
"I never knew you two had met..." the voice said. "Have you been doing things without my permission again?" The human figure seemed to glance up at the ceiling, then turned back to the Elite.
"You're...you're one of them aren't you..." 'Kilsomee sputtered.
"Even in another time and space" the voice said, aiming the comment at the human "you are still a legend. Strauss would have been proud!" there was a long pause, and the Elite found himself staring at the floor. "Before you die, my alien friend, I would like you to see something."
'Kilsomee was forced to his feet by the human, and almost dragged to what looked like a viewscreen. He stared out into the expanse of space, and noticed something terribly wrong. The Honour of Ascension was nowhere to be seen. "Where is my ship?" the alien exclaimed, "and what have you done with my crew?"
"Oh, don't worry. Your ship is safe, only it is no longer in this time frame any more. You seem your ship's technology could be quite useful to me, so I'm taking it back with me." A chuckle emanated around the room. "As for your crew...well...see for yourself."
'Kilsomee turned back to the viewscreen and saw a Jackal float passed, its EV suit torn at the back. The deathly figure floated silently passed as 'Kilsomee felt his breath hitch. He then noticed that it wasn't the only thing floating out there. Hundreds of shapes drifted around, some near, some far, but all were the bodies of his crew.
"You said you were taking it back with you." He turned away from the viewscreen, feeling all hope drain from him. "Where are you going?"
"Ah, now that would be telling. But since you won't be seeing another living creature again in your life I see no harm in it." 'Kilsomee put his back against the screen. The robed figures stood encircling him, with the human figure standing rigidly in front of him. "On second thoughts, no. I'd rather you live your death not knowing what or who we are." The voice said, ringing out in 'Kilsomee's ears. "Kill him."
The Elite suddenly noticed a weapon in the human's hands. The human's arm came up to the Elite's head, the barrel of a pistol eclipsing him from 'Kilsomee's vision. A shot rang out, and the Elite found himself released from the burden of his physical body, the gold visor being the last thing he saw...
The Sacred Promise drifted in system with a laziness that reflected its Ship Master. The giant Cruiser had been alerted by the Honour of Ascension that an unknown ship was out in this region, and that they may need backup. Ship Master 'Osaree stood at the bridge monitoring the space ahead of him. And was surprised at the readings he got. There was no sign of the Honour, but there was something there. He peered at the forward viewscreen and almost fell backwards in astonishment. A ship, almost as large as one of their own scout ships appeared and suddenly folded out of the system in a haze of light and electricity. It wasn't like anything he had seen before.
The ship simply vanished into thin air. He looked down at the scanner readings and saw only anomalous text. Electrical pulse readings were off the chart, and no sign of a slip space entry was present. The ship had simply vanished.
And to top it all there was no sign whatsoever of the Honour of Ascension. His ship had received the transmission only a few units ago, and now, there was nothing here. No slip space readings, no ionised material suggesting the ship had been destroyed, just that mystery craft that disappeared. He tapped furiously at the keypad and pulled up the long-range scanner. It picked up two hundred and five bodies floating where the two ships should have been.
He homed in on the area and felt fear and anger boil up in him. The camera showed the dead bodies of Grunts, Elites, Jackals, the entire crew of the Honour of Ascension. He ran a check through the main computer; the ship had a crew of two hundred and six, meaning one of the crewmen was missing. He moved the ship nearer to the cloud of bodies, and scanned for a further analysis of the life forms. Of the bodies floating in front of him, a hundred and fifty were Grunts, forty were Jackals and the other fifteen were the Elites on board. All the identity checks added up and only one body was unaccounted for, Ship Master 'Kilsomee.
Is it possible that the Ship Master killed the whole of his crew and used this alien ship to escape? No, he would never go against his oaths to the Prophets, it would result in execution at the least. Whatever that ship was, or wherever it came from, he was certain the Ship Master was on it.
Something pinged on a panel behind him and he turned to the communications panel. It had picked up an incoming message. He pulled it up on screen and saw that the source, the alien ship, had put a time delay on it so it wasn't received by the Promise until it had left the system. He opened the message, then read it again, and then a third time, but could neither make head nor tail of it:
*INCOMING MESSAGE*
Ah, I thought they'd send out someone to see what all the fuss was about.
Well, just to let you know that your scout ship is now mine, and believe me, it will be put to good use. As for your Ship Master, 'Kilsomee, well, you see I thought I could put him to good use, so he is now blocking the hole in the left ventral engine of my ship.
Oh and one last thing, if you see Cortana, tell her I'll be seeing her shortly...
Vestrum Excrucibo
Durandal
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