Chapter III: Shadow on the Wall

John stood up and surveyed his surroundings. The conduit had shut off before he had made his way into the vehicle reception area. Maybe it’s a good thing. No telling how many Brutes were on Truth’s Phantom. He noticed only one exit, a large opening that most likely led to where the Phantoms had deposited their passengers. Cautiously, he made his way to the edge of the opening and glanced around the edge. It opened to an even more cavernous room that housed numerous Phantoms and was filled with Brutes and Jackals mulling about between the ships. Drones hovered in the air above and clung to any surface they could find. They all appeared to be waiting around for something. The Chief couldn’t stand around forever, he had to do something. Still in his possession were two plasma grenades and his M6C sidearm, barely enough to cause a distraction, and certainly not enough to keep him alive if they all decided to attack.

Two Brutes were patrolling the perimeter of the room, slowly progressing toward John’s location. He needed to act fast—they would be on him in under a minute. He assessed the situation again. There’s a slim chance of pulling this off, but it could give me enough time to dash to the exit across the room. John pulled a plasma grenade and brought his arm back, aiming for one of the mounted guns of the nearest Phantom. At the same time, he aimed the pistol at the exposed methane tank of a grunt sleeping among a handful of other grunts. This will take a miracle. He made as if to prime the plasma grenade when a voice boomed over the loudspeakers, halting the Brutes and startling the Grunts. John listened as the Covenant speaker was translated by some of Cortana’s subroutines she had left in his suit.

“Loyal brethren of the Covenant, the time has come to be rewarded for our faith!” It was the Prophet of Truth speaking. “The Holy Oracle has shown me the way to the Ark, where we shall begin the Great Journey. But there is one final obstacle in our way—one final battle between here and salvation. The humans would stop us from reaching to the heavens! They would impede our progress and defile the holy relics! But we now have the final answer to this problem! The legends speak of a warrior, a champion who shall lead us to victory, one who lies dormant on this very ship, waiting only for us to wake him and call upon him. Friends, this is his chariot, the Swift Hand of God. We need only to find him, and the humans will feel his all-consuming wrath!”

There was a cheering that filled the entire landing area and lasted for nearly a whole minute before interrupted by Truth once again. “Now we must prepare. I wish to speak with all Jiralhanae immediately in the control center. All others proceed to your designated stations to await further instructions. We will soon rain destruction on the humans.” The two guards who had been approaching broke off and followed the rest of the Brutes out the exits across the room. Soon enough, the rest began to filter out, eventually leaving the Chief alone. A champion? Something tells me this will be a rough ride. A small smirk crossed his lips as he realized that the Covenant had left the Phantoms and equipment unguarded.

The Prophet of Truth hovered a few feet off the ground in front of a holographic display. A number of Honor Guards stood at attention by the door, admitting only other Brutes into the presence of their leader. The room was not large enough to fit every Brute comfortably; most waited outside while those of higher rank conversed with Truth.

“Bracktanus, you are the highest ranking officer onboard this vessel. Tartarus is completing his final task and Gargantum is keeping the Sangheili at bay. They will meet us when their jobs are done. But for now, Bracktanus, it is your job to find our Gods’ warrior. The Huragok seem to have a general location, but we have been unable to explore that section yet. Many doors were locked from us for quite some time…”

“Where can this be found?” Bracktanus asked. Truth waved his hand at an Engineer who fiddled with a holographic panel. A three-dimensional set of schematics appeared in the air before the party.

“They say that he is located somewhere around this set of rooms. We knew this was likely—these rooms were even more secure than anything else here. Now that we have access, it should be explored. That can wait until our champion is found. Take however many Jirhalanae you need for this and do not disturb me unless it is urgent.”

“Yes, my lord.” He replied and made ready to leave when Truth stopped him. Truth turned to go, but he turned his head to glance over his shoulder.

“And one more thing. I have been assured that the Parasite has not made its way onto the ship, but I will not be naïve. Arm yourselves before you depart. Our plan will not be ruined before we even reach the Humans. Do not disappoint me Bracktanus.” With that, he glided out of the room, leaving the Brutes to prepare.

John had scavenged what weapons he could carry that he felt would be of use—a carbine, a plasma pistol, and two plasma grenades. That would have to hold him for now. He had hidden his M6C behind the entranceway from which he had entered. Now what do I do? As if in answer to his thoughts a commotion arose at the far exit which turned out to be a returning party of Brutes. They headed for a group of Phantoms that John hadn’t had time to search. He could only barely make out what they were saying now that there was no other noise in the room. It was clear that they were gathering weapons, but they were dragging out containers that looked different from the usual Covenant cases.

The leading Brute reached into one and brought out something metallic and red. He placed it on his head and turned to the other Brutes. They all laughed and said something about “looking pretty”. The head Brute chuckled and placed more armor on his body while the others did the same with more mundane pieces. Inside other containers were weapons that John had never seen before—he knew that the UNSC had never documented the use of these, but that wasn’t unexpected since they hadn’t even known of the Brutes’ existence until he had arrived on High Charity. His mind flashed back to the last time he saw Cortana… but that wasn’t his focus now, he’d come back for her when this was done.

At last, the Brutes appeared to be fully geared and ready to leave once more. Something big is happening... John made as if to follow the Brutes when their leader climbed into the Phantom. He appeared seconds later wielding something large and bulky. The Brute held it high above his head and the others gave a sort of cheer, hailing their new leader. He quickly silenced them and spoke in a loud voice which allowed John to hear clearly for once.

Bracktanus lowered the Gravity Hammer and quieted the others. “Silence! We have had enough cheering over the conquest of the Sangheili and will have much more when the Humans are crushed into nothing. But for now, we have been given a task by our holy leader. We find this… ‘warrior’ and our dreams will finally be in sight. Let’s get moving. I want to finish this quickly and without error.” They began to file out into the adjoining hallway. Bracktanus stopped once on the way out and snapped his head toward a figure he thought he had seen, but there was nothing—just a shadow on the wall.

Moments before, a message had flashed onto John’s HUD, drawing his attention away from the scene. It read:

He sees you. Move. Now.

Despite his confusion and questions, the moment he saw the Brute leader stop, John realized the message was most likely correct and from someone who didn’t want him to be caught. He quickly ducked back behind the wall into the darkness.

“Thanks. If he had seen me, I might not have gotten out of this alive.” John whispered in his helmet. Another message flashed in response.

That would have been unfortunate.

“Who are you?”

I’m sorry, but there’s no time for introductions. Suffice it to say that we have mutual enemies.

“The Covenant.”

And The Flood.

“What can—”

—you do? I’m glad you asked.