- Wolverfrog
- |
- Fabled Legendary Member
I've been away from home for the last week, but I'm back now. I managed to come up with a few ideas for True Sangheili though, so expect something soon. I also got a new keyboard today which doesn't make a loud rattling noise when I'm typing, so I can actually write downstairs when other people are around without annoying them.
Anyone else read Halo: Evolutions? If not, I recommend you read this. It'll help. Actually, it won't really; what a terrible article! I might fix that myself.
Part 40 - A Surgeon's operation
He had no name, as far as official records went. Once upon a time he'd had everything. Not just a name, but a loving wife, kids, a magnificent house, and was considered one of the best private investigators in the Outer Colonies. The UNSC, CMA -- even the rebellious URF, all had used his services at one time or another.
Where others saw fragments, and an unsolvable mystery, he saw a jigsaw, waiting to be assembled by an eager and sharp mind.
He had everything; fame, fortune, and love.
Apparently, none of those things had mattered to the Covenant.
In one swift, brutal attack on the colony Endless Horizon back in 2527, everything he cared about had been wiped out. His fortune, burnt to ashes. His fame, burnt to ashes. His love...burnt to ashes.
All that had remained was the intelligence, and the skills.
He remembered well the day ONI had first approached him. He'd been standing in the lunch queue, hoping to get a slice of meat before the other homeless refugees in the charity centre did. Two men had come up to him, and had offered to buy him a meal with an actual form of food in a restaurant down town. There would have once been a time where he'd have thought twice before going off with a couple of strangers on his own, but he'd had nothing to lose, and everything to gain; namely a decent meal.
And then, during a conversation exchanged over a delicious roast dinner, he'd been given a life again. A purpose. To work at ONI, as a high level intelligence agent.
Naturally, he'd joined. His name had been stricken from every record; now he was simply now as the Surgeon.
A fitting name. He pieced together mysteries, operated on dead legends, gave diagnosis on situations. He'd even had medical training at one point, just to make his name even more fitting.
Over the years he had done countless things for the Office of Naval Intelligence; he'd saved lives, doomed others, and on many occasions had simply solved enigmas.
Less than six months ago, he'd been given a momentous task. He'd been asked to piece together every piece of information he could about the legend, the hero of the UNSC who had died in mysterious circumstances; Admiral Preston J. Cole.
What the Surgeon had found had upset him. He'd long considered Cole, as did many, as a hero. In many respects he was; in the course of his career he put down many insurgent uprisings, and destroyed approximately 300 Covenant ships in battle. He was a ruthless, suicidal bastard, but he got the job done.
And then, he'd vanished. Destroyed a Covenant fleet by turning a planet into a Brown Dwarf, and had supposedly died.
That wasn't the case.
Cole had abandoned humanity. There was no other way of putting it. He'd ran off to some distant farming world with the woman he'd married, a woman who'd turned out to be an Insurrectionist Colonel. She'd vanished from his life, only to re-enter it during his final hour, rescuing him from the jaws of death.
And Cole had let her whisk him away. Didn't try to contact the UNSC he'd worked for all his life. He just let humanity die. With Cole dead, the Covenant had been emboldened, and soon wiped out most of the Outer Colonies.
He was a coward.
Still, that didn't change the fact that humanity needed him now. More than ever. Less than an hour ago the Surgeon had received a message via slipspace. Admiral Harper was dead, and now some young Captain had taken his place.
The message was clear, and to the point. "If you have Cole, then we need him right now. If not, then return to [LOCATION REDACTED] to discuss final measures that can be taken in the event of a loss."
Luckily, after around a month of hunting, the Surgeon had found Cole. He was living under an alias, secluded and living on a farm with his Innie wife.
He'd always wanted to retire to a farm in the outer colonies. Hopefully, the farmer hadn't erased the battle hardened warrior Cole had once been.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The glass shard flew out of Graham's hand, shattering into a million harmless pieces on the floor. Both he and Admiral Eden were tossed to the floor, with bloodied lips and bruised heads.
"Activate shielding!" Graham barked, and the Virtual Intelligence on board the ship complied with the spoken order, erecting a barrier around the Galapagos.
He stood up slowly, only to be met by a livid Eden. Before Graham could raise his hands to protect himself, the Admiral dealt him a heavy fist on the jaw, dazing him. When he became aware of his surroundings once again, there was a pistol at him.
"And once again Captain, we have escalation. I'd shoot you, but in all honesty I really want you to watch me save humanity. For you to know you're wrong. Today Captain, the good guys win," Eden breathed, spitting blood on the floor. Graham felt himself heavy handed into a chair, where he was soon bound by rough rope. He could hardly breathe, the knots were so tight. A gag was fastened across his mouth.
Eden was bounding around the bridge, laughing maniacally. The fight in space was beginning, and the UNSC fleet was moving slowly forward to engage the enemy.
"Oh no you don't," Eden muttered, typing away at the keypad. Inputting his override codes, he soon had control over every AI on every UNSC ship. And, with one push of a button, he shut each and every ship in the fleet down, diverting all power to shields and nothing else. The Covenant and Elite fleets soared past the immobile UNSC fleet, which was hanging just outside the Flood kill zone.
A wave of confused voices immediately flooded the Tactical COM, as confused pilots and junior officers wondered why ship systems were not responding.
Then a flabbergasted, alien voice broke through the intercom.
"Captain! What the Devil do you think you're doing? Move your ships up the left flank now, or all shall be lost!" The voice belonged to R'tas Vadum', and was clearly full of distress. Eden chuckled.
"You know, the thought of you alien bastards losing sends a warm feeling through my body. Whine some more Imperial Admiral, by all means please do," the human Admiral responded lightly. There was dark muttering on the other side of the frequency. Finally, R'tas responded.
"Eden." It wasn't a question.
"The very same. I'm sorry Elite, but today humanity will not be throwing its life away to assist a race that deserves to die. Your species killed billions of humans in the war with the Covenant. Some might have forgotten that, but I have not. You'll burn in hell for what you did, all of you."
There was silence for a few moments.
"Eden, we can talk this out at some point in the future. If humanity wants reparations, then we shall--"
"I don't want your money! None of us do! Money will not bring those who died back from the void R'tas. Perhaps you'll realise that when your species is the one facing extinction, not knowing if it shall make it to the next year," Eden snapped back. You had to admire Eden's patriotism, even if he was sick and twisted. He was truly dedicated to humanity.
"Eden, listen. If we do not attack as one, the Flood shall overwhelm all of us," the Elite implored, attempting to reason with a lunatic. Futile.
"Not all of us R'tas. Just you, and the Covenant. Farewell."
R'tas realised the situation was dire, and immediately acted.
"Pull back! Pull back!" he commanded, distress in his voice. The alien fleets still charged into the Flood though, drawing ever closer to their doom.
"Noble one, if we attempt a sharp turn now, the force of it will shear us in half. There is no turning back--"
Eden killed the transmission, a content smile on his face as he looked outwards to the fleets. He then bounded over to Graham, tearing the strip from his mouth.
"This is the turning point Captain. Where humanity tipped the odds in its favour, and survived," Eden breathed, eyes going moist with pride. Graham shook his head.
"It won't last. We'll have rebellions from the Covenant, schisms within the UNSC. And what if there are more Flood out there, or something even worse?" he lectured the Admiral.
"We can cope with a few rebellions. Few humans will go against our regime once they realise the benefits. And if we study Forerunner technology on the Halos, Captain, then we'll have more than enough power to wipe out the Flood, or anything else that dares stand in our way!"
There was silence; Graham couldn't think of a suitable answer. Worryingly, Eden's plan actually made sense. Was it really so bad for humanity to rule?
Graham shook his head, clearing the ethically wrong haze around his head. Every species should have the chance to forge it's own future.
Suddenly, a shrill, artificial voice broke through the quiet.
[Edited on 02.21.2010 4:04 PM PST]