The Truth of the Rings - A Halo story

Part 3 - Truth and Reconciliation

The Spartan awoke in a small cell. Small being an understatement to some degree. It was barely 2 feet taller than him, and probably only about 10 feet wide. Outside the cell, stared 2 Elites. Likely one of which being the one that knocked him unconscious. They were speaking in their native tongue, almost seeming to taunt him. Floyd payed no mind to this however, as he examined the room.

He somewhat recognized the Layout. This was more than likely a covenant Battle cruiser, and a highly ranked and decorated one more than likely due to the somewhat clean nature of the ship. He couldn't identify which one however. what caught his eyes was the dead Marines in the cells across from him. None of them were Keyes, so there was hope, however he worried they had already killed the Captain. Luckily, if he was alive, there was a chance so was Keyes. Regardless, he couldn't hear anything but the elites in the room, so more than likely they were alone. He knew there was usually more than one room for prisoners on a Battle cruiser due to its nature of forcing surrenders, so it would probably suffice to say that Keyes was in another was he still alive. The lights were on and nothing was happening, so they were either in orbit around the ring or docked and not under attack, that or he really underestimated how good the ships stability was.

He looked down at himself to see his armor was still on, helmet included meaning they either didn't know how to remove it or didn't bother trying. He was however disarmed. No weapons, not even his knife. His hands could suffice against single opponents but a whole cruiser? No. Originally, Floyd began getting thoughts of Pessimism, but then remembered something; Chief wasn't here. He wasn't even near the ship when this all went down. Last he heard, chief was on a life pod, likely saving other life pods. That meant there was hope. So he did the smart thing, and probably exactly what Scared the covenant most. He sat down against the wall, put his head down a little... And waited. Motionless. Silent. Not reacting. Like a machine without a battery.

Minutes passed. Then an hour. The two. Eventually he lost count. But he knew John couldn't be dead. Master Chief was still in the fight. And sure enough.... Eventually he heard that door open. And a weapon. But it wasn't a fire sound, or an energy sound, or even a needle. It was a click. Assault Rifle fire rained down on the elite guards, slaughtering them both with relative ease. And the green armor-clad Soldier stepped past. He looked at Floyd and tapped the cell twice, letting him know who it was as He made his way to the cell controller.

Once it was open, Floyd stepped out of the cell and stretched his arms and legs a bit, then lifted the guard's Plasma rifle "Keyes?"

"Not yet."

"I'll follow you." Floyd took a place at the door and followed Chief as they made their way through the Halls of the ship. The Purple glow was unmistakable for a Covenant ship, but even less mistakable was the prison block that held a VIP. Unlike Floyd who warranted 4 guards of his own, this block had 8. Twice as many. They were scared of Floyd breaking free, but they were so much more scared of Keyes. Jackals at the door, Elites and Grunts inside. Inevitably, the pair killed the jackals and stepped inside.

Floyd dodged as soon as he stepped in, grabbing the Invisible elite's arm who had thrusted the sword at him and putting the rifle to its chin, unleashing a large burst into it. Once it died he took cover at a pillar and began firing on the grunts. Chief meanwhile let his AR loose onto the next Invisible elite, however this one was strong enough that he made it right up to chief before death. Chief dodged the lunged attack by strafing to his right, then punched the elite in the back of his neck. Once the room was clear, Floyd checked the cells. Not only was Keyes alive, around 3 or 4 Marines were too. "Chief, he's fine. Right here."

Chief made his way up to the controller and released Keyes, opening the gate as Floyd linked everyone up in the middle. Keyes looked at the Spartans. "Coming here was Reckless, you three know better than this...... Thanks..."

The duo nodded, Floyd only then remembering Chief had Cortana.

Keyes stood in the middle of everyone, looking at them "while the covenant had us locked up I overheard them talking about this ring world. They call it.... Halo."

Cortana spoke up. "Accessing the Covenant Battlenet.... According to the data, the ring has extreme religious significance. If I'm analyzing this right, they believe halo is some kind of weapon, one with Vast unimaginable power."

Keyes looked up, then at Chief "so it's true.... They kept saying 'whoever controls the ring, controls the fate of the universe'."

Cortana spoke again. "Now I see..... I've intercepted a number of messages about scouting for a control room. I thought they were looking for the Bridge of a cruiser I damaged in the battle above the ring, but they must be looking for HALO'S control room."

Keyes shook his head "if Halo Is a weapon, they will use it to wipe out humanity. Chief, Floyd, new orders. We need to beat the covenant to the control room. But first, lets get out of here. MARINES, LETS MOVE." He lifted a needler "Chief, you've got point."

The group began cutting through halls, quickly moving toward the hanger Floyd assumed they entered through. When they made it, Cortana called for EVAC.

"Negative, I've been engaged! You'd be better finding another way out!"

"Roger foehammer, acknowledged." Cortana closed the comms "air support is cut off, we've gotta hold out here."

Floyd pointed to a stationary drop ship "can't we use that to fly out of here?"

Cortana got to work "interfacing with the ships controls now, good ca-"

The captain smirked and cracked his knuckles "No need Cortana. I'll take this bird out myself.... "

Not long later, after they got the locks off it, everyone got inside including the captain. Hunters began coming out of the top floor, a pair of them to be exact. The captain crushed them against the wall however with the front end of the ship, then slowly began turning for the hanger door "time for some payback...." And with those final words, out they went to face their enemy head on this time.