A teleportation portal induced by the Gravemind is seen appearing on a cliff face, as the Arbiter and Tesa appear and fall through.
The Arbiter gathers himself before seeing the portal close behind him and turns to see the path ahead of him. He looks to the side and sees Tesa slowly get up, holding a hand to her bleeding chest.
"Are you okay, 'Tratam?" The Arbiter asks.
"I've had worse wounds before." Tesa states as she takes the Plasma rifle off her hip. "Come, lets move."
The Arbiter picks up, and examines, a Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle, before following Tesa.
Oh, so That's How it is
Brute shot grenades goo off in the distance, followed by plasma rifle bursts firing in the air.
"Weaklings!" A Brute shouts.
The two encounter a badly wounded Elite lying on the ground with an energy sword lying next to him.
The dying Elite speaks weakly. "The Brutes have betrayed us... the Councilors..." He lets out a dying Breath.
Tesa kneels down to the dead Elite and places his hands on his chest. "Rest easy friend, we'll finish what you started."
The Arbiter takes the dead Elites energy sword and activates it.
They look over to spot a Brute shooting at another dead Elite nearby as his friend watches.
"Let's just throw them over the edge!" A Brute suggests.
"Where's the fun in that?" Another Brute asks.
Another Brute approaches the other two Brutes.
"I already check there!" The first Brute yells.
"Just making sure..." The new Brute says.
Tesa picks up a small nearby rock and tosses to far into the forest to the side, where it loudly slams against a tree.
"What was that?" A Brute asks.
"You, go check it out." Another Brute orders.
"Fine, I was getting bored anyway." The third Brute says and walks into the forest
Tesa and the Arbiter go cloaked. Tesa activates her energy dagger and sneaks up behind a kneeling Brute. She then plunges her dagger into the back of the Brutes head, killing it. She kicks the body to the ground and sees the Arbiter kill the second Brute.
Tesa then sneaks into the forest and slowly catches up to the third Brute, who's looking around.
"Hmm, nothing here." The Brute grumbles.
The Brute turns around, only to be stabbed between the eyes by Tesa's energy dagger, blood spewing onto her. "Brute filth." She grumbles and kicks the body over.
The two Elite regroups and deactivate their camo. They move on and frind a nearby Brute pack.
The Captain growls. "Go see what's taking them so long!" The Captain orders a Brute.
The Brute walks off and Tesa motions for the Arbiter to follow. The Arbiter nods and sneaks off after the Brute heading to where his dead friends are.
Teas looks around and spots that most of the Brutes are spread apart, the Captain walking around the area. Tesa huffs and activates her camo and sneaks into the group, taking them down one-by-one, without them noticing.
The Captain notices something off with the lack of noise. "What's going on-" A blade prices his throat and he falls to the ground, clutching at his neck.
Tesa reappears above him and steps onto his chest, as he lets out dying sounds. "Find solace in knowing that Elites will win this war and your specials will die." She stops on the Brute's head, killing it.
The Arbiter walks back and notices everyone Brute is head, dark red blood covers Tesa's right arm. "Good work."
Tesa smiles. "Thank you."
The two move on and come to a door that opens up and a cloaked Special Operations Elite appears. He looks at all the dead Sangheili. "By the Prophets... what have these Brutes done?" He turns to the other two Elites and tightens his first in anger."They have shed our brothers' blood... and for that, they must die!"
"They will, my brother." Tesa says as she holds up her special Plasma rifle.
Covenant Orbital insertion pods land on the canton, unveiling Elite reinforcements: a Elite Zealot and two Elite Minors.
"A Zealot!" The SpecOps starts. "So much for a stealthy advance."
"Bah! Over so soon?" The Zealot asks.
Tesa and the Zealot nod to each other. The reinforcements enter the structure.
"Make haste!" The Zealot yells. "There are more Brutes to kill!"
The Elites continue through two hallways, go through a door, and head into a cave with Forerunner platforms. Two Grunts stationed on the upper levels of the cave notice the doors open, become spooked and flee.
"Ha ha!" The Zealot laughs. "Long have I waited for this!"
"Not all dead?" A Brute questions. "Raise the alarms!"
The Sangheili group fights their way through many Jiralhanae and Kig-yar ontinue on to the upper level, where the two Unggoy are under attack from a group of Kig-Yar. Soon a group of Jiralhanae and Tanme'e enter from a door on the upper level. The Arbiter and his team manage to kill all Covenant present.
They move on into a room, where a pair of Jiralhanae and several Kig-Yar are holding their position. The Sangheili eliminate them and move on. In the corner of the room, a single Unggoy can be seen cowering among a few Unggoy corpses.
Tesa stands over the Cowardly Grunt. "Please ... no hurt! Me like Elites! Brutes stinky bad-bad! Me stay here, make sure no Brutes come behind, mighty Zealot!" He chuckles nervously.
Tesa huffs at the Grunt and walks away.
The Sangheili group head through a hallway with dead Sangheili, Unggoy, and weapons scattered about. One of the Sangheili crouches next to the dead bodies.
"...And yet I live." One of the Minors mutters as he crouches next to the dead Elite.
The Arbiter, Tesa and their allies go into a multi-leveled room, where more Covenant forces consisting of Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar await. The Sangheili catch them by surprise and easily defeat them. A Sangheili Minor armed with a carbine joins the group.
The Sangheili move through another corridor scattered with dead Sangheili, Unggoy, and more weapons. The room after the corridor is occupied by more Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar, including a Jiralhanae-operated Shade turret. Another fight starts as the two forces meet, and more Jiralhanae enter the room to aid their allies. They are all taken out. The Sangheili move on, to a large door.
Step Aside, Let The Man Through
As the door to the outside opens, several Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar are taken by surprise as the Sangheili charge at them.
As the Sangheili head forward, a Jiralhanae Captain rides a Ghost into the area and disembarks. A pack of Jiralhanae follow, some wielding human shotguns and augmented by Kig-Yar Sniper.
They clash with the Sangheili force. The Covenant are soon eliminated. A few more Ghosts sit unused near the position. The Arbiter and Tesa pilots a couple of them, and the Sangheili follow.
Tesa and the Arbiter takes the vanguard and surprise-attacks the nearby Jiralhanae camp head-on. The Sangheili follow, as a big battle takes place between the two sides. After the initial garrison is defeated, Covenant reinforcements appear. The group efeat them and move on to the next camp, where a cowering Unggoy is being threatened by a Kig-Yar. The Sangheili eliminate the Kig-Yar, and the Unggoy mounts a nearby Shade turret to aid the Sangheili. More Jiralhanae-controlled Ghosts and even a Spectre try to stop the Sangheili forces, but fail.
A small Kig-Yar camp awaits in the next area, and is easily taken care of by the Sangheili. Some of the Sangheili take the opportunity to pilot the Ghosts throughout the camp. A Phantom dropship flies overhead, but pays no attention to the conflict below.
After oing down a steep hill with a waterfall, another Jiralhanae camp awaits on a shallow river with several methane recharge stations placed at the front to block the Sangheili, and a few Kig-Yar Snipers as support. As the Sangheili forces approach the camp, the Jiralhanae try to kill them by detonating the methane recharge stations. This ploy fails, and the Sangheili crush the defenses and follow the river to the next area.
Fight Club
The river stops at a waterfall, and in front of a Forerunner structure guarded by multiple Jiralhanae and two Wraiths. A huge battle begins, with more Jiralhanae coming out from the structure. In addition, many Kig-Yar Snipers try to engage the Sangheili from long range, but they too are defeated. Once most of the area is cleared of Jiralhanae, two more Covenant orbital insertion pods land and reinforce the Sangheili.
The group moves on into a room, which appears to have been used as an armory by the Jiralhanae. Many weapons and equipment, both human and Covenant are stored all over the room.
One of the Sangheili Minors stops, and looks around. "What vulgar taste! Even as trophies, these weapons are wothless!"
he Sangheili break through another line of Jiralhanae forces and approach a cave. More Covenant troops and two Jiralhanae-controlled Ghosts come through the cave in a final effort to stop the Sangheili. They fail. There is a door at the end of the cave. The Arbiter and Tesa heads through it alone.
The two exit the door as it closes behind them They spot a Wraith approaching them slowly. The two Elites ready their weapons. The Wraith stops in front of the two. The hatch opens to reveal Rtas 'Vadumm. The two calm down and lower their weapons.
"By the rings, Arbuter?! 'Tratam?!" Rtas is surprised. "The Councilors! Are they-"
"Murdered... by the Brutes." The Arbiter informs.
Rtas angrily pounds his fist on the Wraith. "Vile, disloyal beasts! The Prophets were fools to trust them!"
They look up to see two Phantoms flying over them. One flies over the Control Room while the second stops above the platform of the Installation 05 Control Room.
Tartarus emerges from the gravity lift, with Commander Miranda Keyes and 343 Guilty Spark in captivity. Four Jiralhanae guards awaits behind the Control Room door. Tartarus stops momentarily, sniffs the air, and continues into the Control Room. Tartarus enters, and the doors slams shut behind him with a loud bang.
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08-29-2023
1701 words