Part IV: The Truth
Posted By: DarkZipper<crayolaj@comcast.net>
Date: 5 November 2005, 8:46 pm
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It was one thing for Gnarlg to have a battalion of troops under his command, but a whole other thing to have an army. Under his command were sixty Grunts, forty Elites, and an endless number of Sentinels. Of course, it wasn't as grand as the Covenant army, but it would suffice.
Every Grunt and Elite now wore the armor of The Heretics. The Elite armor looked like a stripped down dark brown and red version of their old armor. Also, they had lighter helmets. They did have their own shield technology designed by Guilty Spark himself. He was very proud of this accomplishment. They also carried carbines instead of plasma rifles. It was one of the weapons that could be made in the factory.
The Grunt armor was a light brown color, and the methane gas that they breathed was inside of two transparent tubes that rose vertically from their backs. These were much easier to manage than the old triangular methane packs. A large number of the Grunts were also given needlers instead of plasma pistols. In this army, everyone was equal.
The greatest aspect of it all was that the installation could even mass produce heretic banshees, fuel rod cannons, and they had upgraded the phantoms that they brought!
But of course, Gnarlg was given the best that Guilty Spark and the Forerunner structure had to offer. He had been given armor with slightly better shields than the other elites, a booster pack that allowed him to fly, and best of all, three small orbs that if activated would make exact copies of him. It was amazing how advanced the Forerunners were. He also carried two plasma rifles with him instead of the carbine. And of course he still had his energy sword strapped to his armor. Just in case…
Gnarlg was no longer The Architect of the Covenant anymore. He had been given a new title. He was now the Heretic Leader. He thought it was a bit ironic that he was the worst fighter there though.
"Oracle, I need to send a message to High Charity," The Heretic Leader said. "I need more warriors."
High Charity
The Prophet of Truth had just finished dealing with an Elite General that had failed to protect Halo from the Demon. He had enjoyed watching him suffer by the hand of Tartarus. But now he had something very important to attend to. The Architect had not contacted him for over two months. He had ordered some of his subordinates to do so, but they had received no response. He feared that The Architect and his battalion had encountered the flood; and whoever did that never came back alive.
He turned on his hologram communicator to contact the Special Operations Commander. Once the Prophet saw the Commander on the hologram he began to speak.
"Commander, as you know, The Architect and a large battalion of warriors were sent to investigate a forerunner structure on Threshold. They have not reported back since. I want you to-"He had been cut off! Someone, or something, was sending another transmission that was overriding his. The hologram of the Commander disappeared, and was replaced by…The Architect?
"Our Prophets are false! Open your eyes, my brothers! They would use the faith of our Forefathers to bring ruin to us all! The Great Journey is a lie! Our Prophets were too stubborn to notice this fact! Halo will not bring our salvation…it will bring only death, and destruction. The wretched parasite is the weapon of the so called 'holy rings'! They will destroy all life in the galaxy if that horrible installation is activated. For those of you, who believe in honor and truth, join me! For those of you that don't, I pity your foolishness." The Architect ended his transmission as soon as he had finished, and he once again saw the (now dumbstruck) face of the Commander.
The message had been set to show on every holopad in High Charity. Every single warrior of the Covenant saw it. Except for one…
Truth had to catch his breath. This had all happened right under his nose! He could've crushed them at any time! Once he regained his confidence, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Commander, I have a new mission for you and your warriors. Destroy this Heretic Leader!" He paused for a moment. "The Arbiter will accompany you."
"The Arbiter?" the Commander asked. "But there hasn't been an Arbiter for-"
"I have a new warrior in mind that will suffice." The Prophet said.
The Forerunner Installation on Threshold
"Do you think that anyone will come to your aid?" asked Guilty Spark.
"It is hard to tell." Gnarlg said regrettably. "It is near impossible to force open the eyes of the blind, but we shall see my friend."
Deep down inside of the structure, a Grunt was speaking to a hologram of The Special Operations Commander. He was inside of one of the assembly lines of the installation. He had decided that it would be a good hiding place.
"Yes, leader. They made many big weapons from the building. The Heretic Boss has made big army. Mostly Sentinels." The little traitor said quietly.
"Thank you for this information Yig-pah. We will come for you soon." he replied.
"Thank you. I-" The Commander heard another voice in the background.
"Yig-pah! What are you doing?" one inquired.
The Commander saw Yig-pah getting nervous, and trying to fiddle with the controls to turn it off. "N-n-nothing sir."
"Who are you talking to?" The elite pushed the little grunt to the side and looked at the hologram. He looked closely at the commander. "You will not destroy us," He heard carbine shots being fired in the background. "You can kill us all, but our message is being spread as I stand here. The truth will never-"
The Commander turned off the hologram. The Prophets had better choose the next Arbiter wisely, or these Heretics could become too great to handle.
Another transmission was coming in. It was from the Prophet of Mercy. He accepted and bowed. "We have a problem in the docking bay Commander." The Prophet said, obviously hiding rage.
"What is it great Prophet?" he asked.
"Over five-hundred Grunts and Elites have stolen ten phantoms from our holy city!"
The Commander was dumbstruck. "Where are they headed? Do you know why holy one?"
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