- soulguard
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- Exalted Mythic Member
Siren then spoke over the com channel, “Sorry sir, we didn’t factor in the ships size when I calculated the jump.” However, Siren knew exactly what she was doing. She was sure that her entrance was grand, and hopefully it scared the Colonel; a little.
Ackerson then smirked toward Haden and began to gloat. “All we need now are my Spartans, and we’ll end this war.”
- - - - - - - -
13:45 October 26, 2552
Conference room aboard the Inner Power
Three video images hovered at one end of the long table behind Colonel James Ackerson. Sweat beads filled Ackerson’s brow, knowing full well that his actions would be held accountable. But for now he focused his attention to the mater at hand. At his side were the images of the most powerful leaders reaming.
Lord Hood sat in the center screen. The screen to his left was of a female ONI Official, Major Elizabeth Rawlings. To the right of Lord Hood’s image was the Arbiter, however he seemed somewhat distracted and the sound of gun and plasma fire was constant behind him. The door parted and Captain Haden walked in, followed by Captain Monroe, Sergeant Raynord of the Black Ops, and two elites; Supreme Commander Timnaldee and Lieutenant Simyaldee. Ackerson was somewhat taken back by the elite’s presence but kept silent. They all circled the table and sat down.
“Arbiter.” Timnaldee stated with a kind nod to the screen.
The arbiter easily recognized the helmet and colors that Timnaldee wore and addressed him accordingly, “Supreme Commander. Did the brutes attack our home?”
“Yes, but we shall discuss it in due time.” Timnaldee replied softly. He felt that now was not the time to inform him of their home world’s fate.
“Alright everyone, lets make this quick.” Hood sharply stated from his screen. “The Covenant are regrouping and the flood numbers have been drastically reduced, thanks in part to the Arbiters forces. But that forerunner ship in orbit is still a threat. The Master Chief successfully disabled the ship’s engines before he escaped from it, but they’ll eventually make repairs and then attack.” Lord Hood glared at Ackerson, somewhat angry that it took him so long to bring the battle group back to Earth. “I will ignore your actions up to this point, Colonel, but it will not be forgotten. You will be formally held accountable for everything. Now, give me your report.”
Ackerson nodded, “Yes. Five days ago, Major Elizabeth Rawlings and I, agreed that we needed another option for saving humanity. We reactivated my Black Ops program and commissioned a plan to find a forerunner ship that was believed to have recreated life after the Halo’s fired the first time. The ship you see on your monitor is that ship.”
“It is certainly interesting, Colonel.” Major Rawlings stated with a curt smile. “Nearly one third the size of our moon. But does it function?”
Hood cut in, “We don’t have time to worry about your plans, Major. For now, we need defensive options against the Covenant fleet and that Forerunner ship of theirs. It’s immobile and we’ve been taking shots at it with our MAC rounds, but they are useless against its shields. We have also lost a dozen ships to its weapons. And now, long range scanners just detected High Charity moving into Sol space.” Everyone gasped at this news, shocked to know that High Charity was still functioning. Colonel Ackerson began to sweat even more but nervously kept his composure.
The Arbiter replied with a shocked tone, “Are you certain? The construct, Cortana, and I destroyed it.”
“It’s true, Arbiter. Recon probes confirmed it. It somehow survived the explosion, or the flood repaired it enough to get it this far. It is beat up and falling apart, but it is mobile and slowly headed our way.”
Timnaldee sighed as he replied, “If that is the case, then every ship that we left in High Charity’s orbit will be under flood control. The parasite is crafty, to think that they could have found a new power source for High Charity and configured it to work within its systems.”
“I agree, Commander.” The Arbiter nodded. “But I believe it was that Gravemind creature that found a way to repair High Charity. I had a brief encounter with it when I rescued the Construct.” An explosion happened behind the Arbiter and he turned away yelling to a group of humans and elites at his side, “Forgive me, but my containment teams need assistance. The parasites have found a way through our second line. I must go.”
“Arbiter do you need assistance?” Lord Hood questioned sternly. “I can relocate a few more platoons to your region…”
“No, they will only add confusion to my line. I will be in touch.” The video faded and the group all exhaled as they pondered the Arbiter’s situation.
Timnaldee felt a dire amount of apprehension for the Arbiter situation, but even more at the knowledge that another Gravemind was aboard High Charity. “Another of the Gravemind creatures?”
Simyaldee then voiced, “It appears that we are not the first to encounter this form of the parasite.”
“What is this Gravemind, that the Arbiter speaks of?” Hood questioned as an off screen crewman passed him a small datapad.
Captain Monroe addressed everyone, “From what we know, it is the evolution of the flood and a unique gene found within select individuals of all species. We call it …”
“The super soldier gene.” Hood quickly replied, to everyone’s amazement. “Major Rawlings, you have any more information on this?”
“No sir. I uploaded everything just now.” Rawlings was doing something off screen and then looked back to the group. “It is quite hard to kill and just one of these creatures can spread flood spores across the face of an entire world. Beyond that, we don’t know of anything more.”
Timnaldee extended his hand in a questioning gesture. “Wait, you know of this?”
“Only recently, Commander.” Rawlings replied. “I can’t say more then that over this airwave. The flood are listening.”
Hood quickly cut into the lull in the conversation, knowing that time was crucial. “Colonel, the rest of your report and make it quick.”
Shocked out of his daze, Ackerson continued his report. “The elite fleet has agreed to let any ships use their docking ring to make repairs. They have enough forerunner constructors on board that we can repair minor damage in a matter of minutes. The facilities aboard this ship are quite useful.”
“That’s wonderful news. Supreme Commander, do what you can to slow down High Charity. Reports say that it will arrive in two days. I can’t spare any ships to aid you against High Charity when it arrives. It is going to take everything we have just to keep that forerunner ship away from the Earth’s surface when it starts moving again. When that ship tries to land, I doubt we can stop it. The chief did what he could to try and destroy it from the inside, but he was hopelessly outnumbered.”
“We will not be engaging High Charity.” Timnaldee stated to the group. “This Seed ship is filled with civilians, the last of our race. We will not risk putting them in danger.”
The room fell silent but Ackerson could no longer hold his peace, “You told me you have seventy six ships in your fleet, but you won’t fight?”
“Colonel, hold your tongue.” Hood ordered. “The last of your race? I see, then things must have been far worse then we expected. We have no right to ask you to leave your civilians unguarded, Commander. And we thank you for allowing us to use your ship for repairs. A small group of frigates are now in route to your position, and we will rotate accordingly. Colonel, bring the 501 back to Earth and station them around the battle cluster. We can use the assistance. Supreme Commander, any assistance is better then none.”
“I will lend the Arbiter twenty five of our ships, but that is all I can spare. I will be in contact with the Arbiter at his soonest availability. I will refer any additional information to him.” Timnaldee stated to the screen.
“Admiral, we can’t let them …” Ackerson began, but Hood’s gaze gave him all the reason to cut his statement short.
“Major, Colonel; I will be in touch. I will do what we can to put a few MAC rounds through High Charity once it enters our kill zone, but that also depends on what those Prophets are planning aboard the forerunner ship. I’m sure they know High Charity is coming.” Hood’s image faded leaving Major Rawlings the only image gazing at the group.
With Hood’s absence Ackerson quickly began to shove his weight around, “What in the hell happened out there, Monroe?” His fist slammed on the table and his face turned blood red in frustration. “This ship was to be used for our purposes, now we have it crowded with elites that won’t allow us to use it!” Timnaldee and Simyaldee scuffed at the human’s words as they glared at him sternly.
Monroe sighed, “Please excuse the Colonel. He has not been fully debriefed until now.”
Major Rawlings turned her attention to Eric, “Still unable to complete a mission successfully, Sergeant? This is twice that you’ve disappointed me. Are you going to let someone else take the blame this time?”
Eric maintained his calm, “Ma’am, when in the field situations change. Considering everything that happened out there, be thankful we came back at all.”
“We can save everyone, Sergeant! You have no idea of what that ship is capable of.” The Major added.
Eric softly grinned, “You planned on firing Halo.” The Major glared at Eric harshly, but her harsh stare quickly turned into a smile.
“I see, so Siren told you the plan.”
“You discovered the Ark’s remote firing ability, and that the Ark could protect you. You wanted the Seed ship so that you could use the cloning facilities to recreate everyon; but you didn’t count on the Seed ship having protocols.”
“What Protocols?” Major Rawlings asked.