User:Impurest Cheese/Hidden Questions and Revelations

Chapter 2 - Hidden Questions and Revelations

 * After an hour all the corpses were stored back at the base and all the weaponry and effects of the Brute had been gathered and stored to confuse matters even further ONI had been in contact with the base and the autopsy was to be postponed until a representative. In the main control room the Elite Shipmaster Kerst’ Ledane was talking to Captain Cage.


 * “ONI is taking a big risk halting this investigation. The Brute encountered outside was tougher even then their war Chieftains.” Cage emitted.


 * “We have long believed that the Jiralhanae have been experimenting with biological enhancement much like your Spartan projects.” Kerst replied.


 * “What ever the story, I believe that this fight is just starting.” Cage voiced.


 * The Elite commander just stood there thinking silently before leaving towards the quarters that the Elites had claimed. In the hall way he passed Matt who was heading towards the command centre. Upon reaching the Command Centre he announced that ONI had given the technicians permission to sort the Brutes Power Amour and Spiker. Willow was standing on her pedestal monitoring the bases subsystems when she caught a strange reading. She turned to the young Spartan and the Captain who were engaging in a conversation about requisitioning some Plasma Grenades from the Elites.


 * “Let’s hope that they don’t give us so many that we all get Boren's Syndrome.” Matt joked referencing the radioactive properties of the grenades.


 * “Don’t joke about that mighty handy when faced with the Flood.” Cage replied remembering the late Sergeant Avery Johnson’s unique condition.


 * “I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation.” Willow said sarcastically, “but there is strange seismic activity 8 miles to the north. It could be an avalanche or it could be something else.”


 * “We know little about the seismic activity of this planet therefore, we must presume it is hostile.” Cage answered, “I presume that you know that ONI has halted the investigation although he could use your assistance categorizing the Brute’s effects.”


 * “Of course.” Willow replied before blinking out of existence.


 * Sorting through the remains of the Brute’s Power Armour and effects was not as satisfying as Willow had thought it was going to be. The armour and weapons were unexceptional it was the body she wanted to inspect. Willow did one last inspection when she noticed something out of place in the Brute’s effects. It was an AI storage card which allowed an AI to be carried in a Spartan’s helmet. Her first action was to scan the card to see if the card was vacant. To her surprise there was an occupant and her curiosity got the better of her.


 * Activating the avatar system she readied several kill systems to immobilize the AI if it tried anything hostile. Before her a demonic red woman appeared screaming in a horse voice. The Covenant AI made a lunge for her attempting to reach the holotank and then the computer system. Activating the kill systems Willow prepared to defend the holotank from the demon. The woman reached her and the force pushed her deep into the computer system just as the kill systems drove the intruder back into the storage unit as it retreated it screeched a series of random letters and numbers. As she flickered from the holotank Willow ran down the wires and optic fibres to the command centre rearranging the numbers and letters. The brute was under the influence of the hostile AI making it a Trojan horse and a very effective one. The Brutes didn’t have the strategic flare to pull of this scheme and the Prophets wouldn’t even attempt to copy human tactics. The brute and more importantly the AI had been given inside help.


 * Keith was also thinking about brutes or to be more specific a single brute called Chieftain Lepidus a brute that had been in charge of the Prophet of Truth’s security and who had lead the Second Invasion of Earth. ONI sources had said that the Brute had died along with the rest of the Covenant stationed on the Ark when the Master Chief and Cortana activated the Halo Ring situated in the vicinity destroying the Instillation. Eyewitness accounts from the Elite’s Arbiter had confirmed this yet Keith and the rest of Red Team had encountered the Chieftain on a UNSC Frigate that was shot down in the third battle of Harvest. The Chieftain was different from the profile that had been recorded. Lepidus was not the Berserker like warrior that most Chieftains seemed to be instead he manipulated the Spartans as soon as they boarded the ship. In the final conflict Lepidus fought Keith with an Energy Sword which he wielded instead of the traditional Gravity Hammer. The thought of Lepidus gave Keith an odd feeling that the Covenant was far from destroyed and may even be stronger then it was after the Prophet of Truth died then when we was alive.


 * Keith went back to his meditation but it didn’t last long as James entered his quarters. The mute Spartan gave him a message that he was needed in the Command Centre with complex hand signals the Spartans used to communicate to each other in battle. As they moved down the corridors both the Spartans could feel the vibration caused by a Pelican Dropship. Obviously the ONI representative had arrived. In the Command Centre a black suited woman was talking to Dr Bruce Angleman, the Elite Shipmaster and Captain Cage.


 * “But this is simply against protocol.” Dr Angleman sputtered, “Why would ONI be interested in a single Brute Corpse.”


 * “ONI’s interests are none of your concern Doctor.” The Woman replied.


 * “But Dr Jerald they are my concerns.” Kerst’ Ledane countered, “The UNSC and Sangheili alliance pact states that any discoveries regarding the former members of the Covenant or Forerunner are to have representatives of both species at the investigation.”


 * “True Shipmaster and you will be informed on the Brute Autopsy process.” Jerald answered, “The autopsy itself will take place on the ONI Frigate Huckebein which is currently in orbit.”


 * Before the argument could digress Willow appeared looking faded and out of breath. Immediately she started talking, “The Brute was a Trojan Horse it was carrying a Covenant AI to disable our computer systems. The AI itself was C…” At that moment Dr Jerald passed her hand through the Holotank causing Willow to vanish.


 * “I will have no more interruptions.” Dr Jerald interrupted, “The Corpse will be loaded on the Pelican in Hanger Bay 2.” As she turned and left the base personnel watched as she left.


 * “There was something about that ONI Witch that didn’t seem right.” Captain Cage insisted.


 * Over the Comms a tiny voice crackled, “This is the ONI Prowler Radius we are being attacked by two Covenant Destroyers. Is there any UNSC or Elite forces in the area.” The voice crackled out and from up above a huge fireball lit up the planet the heat so intense it melted the snow off of the top of the UNSC base.


 * “Told you she was an impostor!” Cage added and then going to the internal Comms barked orders for all personnel to stop the Doctor before she escaped.


 * “That will be harder then it would be normally.” Willow replied remerging on the Holotank, “Several sheathed individuals consistent to the height of 2.6 meters have entered the base. My guess is that they are Brute Stalkers at least twelve and a Covenant Scarab and Shadows emerging from the Blizzard outside.”


 * The Captain turned to the four Spartans and said five words, “Red Team defend this base.”

Characters

 * Red Team
 * Spartan 115
 * Spartan 182
 * Spartan 219
 * Spartan 221
 * Captain Alex Cage
 * Doctor Bruce Angleman
 * WLW 0291-6
 * Doctor Catherine Jerald
 * Shipmaster Kerst' Ledane

Planets

 * C2196

Weapons

 * Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade

Vehicles

 * D77H-TCI Pelican

Other

 * Covenant AI
 * Mysterious Brute Corpse