- SangheiliProphet
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- Honorable Member
Sorry for the long wait. Here is Chapter 3, its a little longer than the other ones.
Chapter 3: Relic
Covenant Supercarrier Mourning of the Forefathers
A Brute Captain rushed into the Prophet of Compassion's throne room. "What is it?" Compassion asked as the Brute kneeled before him.
"Noble Prophet... It is my duty to inform you that the Chieftain Ereberus was killed when his Assault Carrier was destroyed a few hours ago."
The reckless ape. Compassion thought. "This is unfortunate. No matter, I shall simply find another Chieftain."
Compassion signaled for the Brute to leave. Once he was alone, he pressed a button on his Gravity Throne and opened a communications channel. A hologram of a massive Brute War Chieftain appeared on the chair's armrest. "What is it, Noble Prophet?" The Brute asked, bowing his head in respect.
"The old Chieftain of the Jiralhanae has been killed. As his son, you are the inheritor of his position. Your first task, Chieftain Brutus, is to find the Sacred Icon contained somewhere inside the Sphere. Only once you have found it can the Great Journey begin."
"I am your instrument, Holy One. I will find the Sacred Icon and begin the Journey."
Compassion closed the link, and sighed. He pressed another button on his chair, contacting the bridge. "Prepare to open the Portal so the fleet may enter." He said.
"Yes, My Lord." Someone replied from the other end.
On the bridge, Brutes manned their stations. One of them, at a station at the front of the bridge, pressed a few keys. A blue beam shot forth from the Mourning of the Forefathers, hitting the Sphere in an indented area, which subsequently began to glow. A beam of light shot up from the center of the area, and a slipspace portal began to form above it, not unlike the one that led to the Ark. The Covenant fleet passed through it, and disappeared.
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"Sir, the Covenant fleet is opening some kind of portal... They are passing through... They are gone, sir." A Major reported from his station.
"Then we don't have time to wait for the other fleets. We must go into the portal and delay them for as long as we can. Take us in." Saro commanded. The Understanding began to move towards the portal, increasing speed until it was going as fast as its sub-light engines could take it.
"The portal is beginning to collapse!" Someone from the rear of the bridge shouted. "We aren't going to make it! We should alter course!"
"No! Do not alter course! Keep heading for the portal! We will make it!" Saro shouted back.
The Understanding passed through the portal as it closed, the rest of the fleet following it. Some of them didn't make it through in time, and were either left behind or destroyed.
Saro couldn't believe what he saw inside the Sphere. There was an entire solar system encased within it. There was a star, planets, moons, asteroids, comets. But what was truly remarkable was that the entire surface of the Sphere was habitable. Forests, deserts, tundra's, mountains, everything.
For a few moments, he admired the Sphere, unable to focus on anything else. Many other members of the bridge crew did the same.
"Fleet Master, the Brutes are sending dropships to the surface of the Sphere... One of their ships is firing on us!" A Major said, snapping Saro out of his trance.
"Return fire and begin deploying ground troops to the surface of the Sphere." Saro said as the battle begun.
Phantoms descended from the many Sangheili ships, heading for the surface of the giant Sphere.
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15 Minutes later, Surface of the Sphere
"Onward Brothers! Let us destroy the Brutes and save our worlds!" The Field Marshall shouted as the Phantoms landed, and hordes of Sangheili poured from them. They had landed in a grassy field which stretched on for kilometers in every direction.
Once the Phantoms had dropped off their troops and vehicles, they returned to the fleet above. Ghosts moved up the field, towards the small outpost the Brutes had set up.
Fael 'Vulram charged forward, Plasma Rifle in his hand. He rolled out of the way of a boosting Chopper, only to be shot at by a Brute Minor wielding a Spiker Rifle. His shields flared as the superheated spikes crashed into them. He squeezed the trigger of his Plasma Rifle, and 6 bolts of blue energy sailed through the air and into the face of the Brute, shattering its power armor and melting off the face of the Brute. Fael cringed as his red armor was coated with the blood of his latest kill.
While he had been distracted, another Brute had taken the opportunity to sneak up behind him and hit him with the blades on its Spiker. Fael's shields disintegrated, and he let out a cry of pain and rage. Turning around, he fired on the Brute until his rifle overheated. He rolled behind a rock as his shields started to recharge.
As the battle raged around him, he looked over the rock to see that the Brutes had been beaten back significantly. Then, he saw something in the corner of his eye. He ducked back behind the rock just as the beam rifle shot flew through the air where his head would have been. He had spotted the glowing eyepiece of a Jackal Sniper, hiding in one of the trees. Jumping out from behind the rock, he let loose a burst from his Plasma Rifle. The bolts hit the tree, one of them catching the sniper in the leg, causing him to fall down. The tree fell down after him, having been hit in the trunk by a stray shot from a Fuel Rod Gun. The sniper, along with a few nearby Unggoy, was crushed.
Ghosts sailed past Fael, smashing into the unlucky Covenant soldiers caught in their path. All around him, Brutes were dropping like flies; the superior skill of the Sangheili was obviously winning the battle. That was until Fael heard an immense crash behind him. He turned, to see a Covenant Scarab walking towards him, having been dropped from orbit.
Its main weapon began to charge, and Fael dove for cover. The beam wasn't aimed at him, however. It was aimed at several Wraiths which were just beginning to target the gigantic walker. The tanks were destroyed in balls of flame. The explosions threw several nearby Sangheili back, killing some of them. Banshees tried to take down the Scarab, but failed as they were shot down by its massive Anti-Air cannon.
A crashed Banshee landed not far away. From the looks of it, it was still flyable. He picked up a second Plasma Rifle and stood up. Two Minors and a Major jumped behind cover with him. "Cover me while I head for that Banshee." He said to them, pointing to the damaged Banshee which was spewing Plasma out of its wings. The Major nodded, as did the Minors. The other three Sangheili jumped out of cover, firing on the nearest Covenant soldiers. Fael ran as fast as he could towards the Banshee. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Brute throwing a Spike Grenade. Rolling to avoid the sharp object which would have otherwise stuck him, he fired his Plasma Rifles at the Brute, the plasma destroying its Power Armor and burning through its flesh.
Finally, he reached the Banshee. Getting inside, he started it up. He flew towards the Scarab, which was distracted by several other Banshees. Dodging the occasional stray blast from its Anti-Air Cannon, Fael was soon directly above the Scarab. "Here goes nothing..." He muttered, jumping out of the Banshee, which crashed into a group of Unggoy and a Brute, and landing on top of the Scarab. As he regained his balance, a Brute Minor rushed up to where he was. Quickly drawing out his Plasma Rifles, Fael poured fire into the Brute, who dropped to the ground several seconds later.
Fael made his way to the core, killing most of the crew as he did so. He reached the core, and Plasma began to pour forth from his rifles, collapsing the shield. He holstered his Plasma Rifles, which were running out of battery, and drew his Plasma Pistol. Holding down the trigger, he charged a shot. He let go, and shot hit the core, destroying it. Warning klaxons blared throughout the Scarab. Fael only had a few seconds before the Scarab exploded.
He ran to the edge of the vehicle, and jumped off. He landed on the ground, almost falling over from the impact, his shields disintegrating. He heard a loud hum being emitted from the Scarab. He was too close. Running as fast as he possibly could, he jumped behind some debris from a Wraith just as the Scarab exploded. Pieces of debris fell from the sky as a cloud of plasma the fallen Scarab had emitted cleared. The battle continued, and now that the Scarab had been destroyed, quickly turned in the Sangheili's favor.
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20 minutes later
The pack of Brutes walked through the dense jungle. Leading them was the newly appointed Chieftain, Brutus. Their mission was simple: Find the Silent Cartographer, retrieve the Index, and activate Halo. The Brutes stopped when they came to a large Forerunner structure. There was a huge door. Brutus walked up to a control panel, and placed his hand on it. The door opened, and the Brutes entered.
After several minutes of walking, they came to a huge, open room. In the center of the room, there was a seemingly bottomless chasm, a pedestal in the center, with nothing connecting it to the rest of the room. Brutus walked over to a control panel, and activated it. A Forerunner Light Bridge appeared, connecting the pedestal to the floor. On the pedestal, a control panel appeared. Brutus began to walk towards it, when he was suddenly enveloped in gold light.
When the light cleared up, Brutus was in a completely different location. Floating in the air before him was a metal ball with a yellow eye. An Oracle... Brutus thought. "Greetings, I am 358 Decisive Savior, Monitor of Installation 08."