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Fall of the Covenant, part II: Escape from High Charity
Posted By: Spartan-507<destroyer3707@aol.com>
Date: 21 January 2005, 9:22 PM
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Ninth Age of Reclamation
High Charity
Covenant Holy City
Inner Sanctum
Sanctum of the Hierarchs
High Charity had jumped to the newly found Halo. But as it did so, the High Prophet of Regret was murdered by the Demon. "Councilors, do you know why I summoned you here?"asked the Prophet of Truth. Tula 'Poilajee answered, "No, Holy Ones. We assumed it was to inform us that young Regret was murdered, but your Honor Guards corrected us." Truth then spoke up. "Do you know, Councilor Raka 'Lakamee, who was supposed to protect the Prophet of Regret?" "The Sangheili, your Excellency." "Correct", responded Truth, "yet this Master Chief was able to bypass all of them, and murder him! For that, you can no longer be entrusted with our safety." "What?" responded Raka, "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, you are no longer our protectors. Effective immediately, the Jiralhannae will take your place as our Royal Honor Guards."responded Truth. "How can you rely on those animals?! Just recently, one of them murdered a Councilor just outside the Inner Sanctum. Do you really believe that they can protect you?"said a deeply angered Tula. "They are much stronger than you, and much more devout to us."said the Prophet of Mercy. "If this be your decree, then we will resign from the High Council."spoke Raka. And with that, the Councilors left the Inner Sanctum.
As they approached the lift that transports out of the Inner Sanctum, it rose up, carrying the SpecOps Commander and the Arbiter. As Raka passed the Arbiter, he placed his hand firmly on Orna's chest, stopping him. Raka turned to him and said, "You deserved more than what you received." The Arbiter responded by grabbing Raka's wrist and saying "I did not destroy the Sacred Ring, the Demon did. If you must blame someone, blame it." Raka withdrew his hand, stepped on the lift and activated it.
Councilor's Private Quarters
"Where are the rest of the Councilors?"asked Raka. Councilor Puyo 'Garlakee responded, "They have traveled down to the surface of the Ring, to watch the consecration of the Sacred Icon." "Why are we not with them?"inquired a now agitated Raka. "We will go there shortly before the Great Journey begins. We were asked to remain here to make sure that everything was alright before we leave."answered Puyo.
Just then, a Jiralhannae voice echoed through the room. "The Demon has infiltrated the Council Chambers!" How is that possible, wondered Raka. "Brothers, we should start leaving now, before the Demon finds us." As they ran through the corridors towards the Phantom landing pad, they ran by the entrance to the spectator stands in the Council Chambers. Raka paused and entered. He stuck his head through and saw the Demon annihilate a Jiralhannae in the adjacent stands. He withdrew his head and continued running.
After a while, they slowed their pace from running to walking. As they neared the Hanging Gardens, they heard plasma fire and random explosions. The Demon must be near, thought Raka. Just then, a bloody Sangheili approached them. "My brothers, the Jiralhannae have…unnghhh….have revolted against us. They have murdered the other group of Councilors on Halo. They…." Then, the Sangheili crumpled in a heap on the ground. "Is this true?"asked Raka, to a nearby Unggoy. "Yes. Big Jiralhannae turn on Sangheili. Civil war break out."answered the Unggoy. Two Lekgolo were also near them, as well as more Unggoy. Several Sangheili also approached them. "The Jiralhannae must be punished for their treachery. But they have also turned the Kig-yar and Yanme'e against us. We Sangheili cannot fight them all off. We need allies too."said Raka. He turned to the Unggoy, named Ling-Ying, and asked, "Are you with us?" Ling-Ying answered, "We live by Sangheili side, we die by Sangheili side." Then Raka turned towards the two Lekgolo. They both nodded their heads and gave a grunt of approval. "Today, brothers, we shall strike down the Prophets and their followers, and break from the Covenant!" The entire group raised their weapons in the air and yelled at the top of their lungs.
As the group started to press their way towards the Phantom landing pad, the Jiralhannae, along with their allies, blocked their path. The Lekgolo fired their cannons, completely severing one of the Jiralhannae's arms. The Yanme'e took flight and fired upon the Sangheili. Plasma fire traced through the air, ripping the Yanme'e apart. The Jiralhannae fired their weapons, and archaic explosives tore apart one of the Unggoy. The Jiralhannae then charged at the Lekgolo, but were quickly stopped by the combined forces of the Sangheili, Unggoy and Lekgolo. The last four Kig-yar's broke formation and ran, only to disappear under the brute force of the Lekgolo's cannon.
The fighting continued, and as their numbers were slaughtered, the Jiralhannae became more and more aggressive. When their weapons ran out of ammunition or battery, they picked up any nearby object, whether it be a stone, or the body of an Unggoy, and attempted to bludgeon their enemies. Raka noticed that his "battalion" was nearing the Mausoleum of the Arbiter. That meant the landing pad was not far off. "Now, my brothers," shouted Raka, " the Phantoms are ever so close. We have come too far for failure. I now give you an ultimatum: leave, and you will be killed. Or continue, and either live or die fighting." None of the group, not even the usually cowardly Unggoy, moved back or hesitated towards the doors of the Mausoleum. Raka expected light resistance inside. When the doors opened, however, it was anything but.
Mausoleum of the Arbiter
When the doors opened, dozens of Jiralhannae, Kig-yar and Yanme'e opened fire. The storm of plasma reached the group, and many fell. Raka's right arm was severely torn when a hail of needles ruptured it. Ling-Ying miraculously was the only Unggoy to survive. Only eight Sangheili remained, which was no opposition toward the army of traitors. Even the Lekgolo were having trouble. One was almost killed after a barrage of plasma grenades connected to its' gigantic shield. Raka and Tula were the last surviving Councilors of the group. Thing were looking bad for the group. Until a horde of Unggoy, accompanied by an assemblage of Sangheili. Plasma fire crisscrossed the air, and many bodies fell to the ground. The Jiralhannae forces were being cut down. After Raka pushed the pain from his arm out of his mind, he picked up a Carbine and began firing.
In his career as a Covenant Sangheili, he had worn all the colors of the Sangheili ranks except for white and the Arbiter armor. While in the SpecOps group, he had become a very distinguished sniper. No human he ever encountered was spared form his might. He eventually rose the ranks and became a Zealot (gold armor). He had the entire Fleet of Particular Justice under his command. Then, at the Human colony of Sigma Octanus II, everything changed. A ship under his command had misfired a shot of plasma, and it impacted an ally cruiser. He was honorably stripped of his command duties, which were then given to his second-in-command, Orna Fulsamee. After being demoted, he was nominated for the High Council. That had been his rank ever since.
After Raka made dozens of accurate headshots with his Carbine, and after the Jiralhannae and their allies in the Mausoleum were massacred, what remained of the group (fourteen Sangheili, seven Unggoy, including Ling-Ying, and the two Lekgolo) passed through the opposite doors and activated the lift down to the landing pad. All that guarded the Phantoms were two Jiralhannae. After they were eliminated, Raka wondered why only two were there. He knew that the Prophets were coming here too. They spotted a Phantom and stepped aboard. After the entire group was inside, Tula, who had been a Seraph pilot, manned the controls. The Phantom uncoupled itself from the gravity harness and accelerated out of High Charity.
Phantom Dropship
En route to surface of Halo
As the Phantom emerged from High Charity, Raka was awed by what he saw. The entire Covenant fleet was firing upon each other. Many ships burned away as plasma ruptured their shields and burned their way through the ship like fire on the wick of a candle. Raka grabbed a battle kit and applied battle dressing on his wounded arm. The surface of Halo was now closer than ever. As they began to enter the atmosphere, the ship suddenly lurched violently. "Damn!" yelled Tula, "we have a Seraph on our tail. Hang on everyone!" More plasma impacted the Phantom, causing it to spin wildly. Finally, a lucky shot destroyed the ship's engines. The Seraph broke pursuit and flew off.
The Phantom was rocketing toward the surface of Halo. With no engines to stabilize, the best Tula could do was pull the nose of the ship up as far as he could. As they neared the ground, Raka stared at the structure that dominated the massive canyon below. It was spherical in the center, and triangular at the top. It was Halo's control room. "Impact with surface in fifteen units!" yelled Tula. As everyone aboard braced themselves, Raka looked at the Control Room. He estimated that they were landing seven kliks away. The dropship bounced hard of the damp soil of the canyon, careened into the canyon wall, spun wildly several times, before becoming entrenched four full feet into the ground.
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