Sixteen: Sacred Icon

The Arbiter arrived at the inner sanctum leading to the Prophets' chambers just as Rtas 'Vadamee was leaving with two other Sangheili, and the SpecOps Elite nodded to him as he passed before the silver-armored Elite approached the Prophets.

"Politics," Truth sighed, "how tiresome. Did you know, Arbiter, that the Elites have threatened to resign? To quit the High Council? Because of this... exchange of hats?"

"We have always been your protectors," Thel 'Vadamee replied, shuffling his hooves slightly.

"These are trying times for all of us," Truth conceded.

"Even as the humans' annihilation filled us with satisfaction, the loss of one of the Sacred Rings wracked our hearts with grief," Mercy interjected before Truth held up a hand to silence him.

"Putting aside our sorrow," the Prophet said, "we renewed our faith in the promise that other rings would be found. And see how our faith has been rewarded." He gestured to the ring spinning slowly in the void of space beyond the glass, and the Arbiter took a step back, only then realizing that this ring was, in fact, a Halo, virtually identical to the one at Threshold.

"Halo," Mercy said with all of the zealousness borne of years of fervent worship, "Its divine wind will rush through the stars, propelling all who are worthy along the path to salvation."

"But how to start this process?" Truth said, stoking the strange fleshy lobes that dangled from his chin, "For ages we searched for one who might unlock the secrets of the ring... an Oracle. And with your help, we've found it." the Prophets guided him over to where 343 Guilty Spark was caught in a stasis field, preventing him from moving or speaking.

"With appropriate humility," Mercy said, "we plied the Oracle with questions, and it, with clarity and grace, has shown us - the key." He pushed a button on his throne, and an image of the Index appeared next to the helpless monitor.

"You will journey to the surface of the ring," Truth told the Sangheili, "and retrieve this Sacred Icon. With it, we shall fulfill our promise -"

"Salvation for all!" Mercy interjected.

"- and begin the Great Journey."

The Arbiter dipped his head to the pair and turned to go complete his task. Once the door sealed behind him, Mercy murmured to Truth, "Do you think he suspects?"

After a moment of silence, the other replied, "No. They all suspect nothing."

-------------------------------------------

Later, the Elite was on a Phantom headed for the surface of the ring, vaguely listening to Tartarus as he spoke; "Once the shield is down, we'll head straight to the Library," the Jiralhanae said as he tended his ship, "I do not wish to keep the Hierarchs waiting."

The Sangheili decided to voice a question that had been on his mind ever since he heard the news: "The human who killed the Prophet of Regret," he asked, turning his head slightly to better hear the answer, "who was it?"

"Who do you think?"

"The Demons are here?!"

Tartarus snorted an affirmative. "Why? Looking for a little payback?" he asked the Elite.

"Retrieving the Icon is my only concern," the Arbiter replied, 'Though the Holy One foretold this, I would still very much love to pursue the beasts and give them a piece of my mind.'

The Brute flying the transport chuckled. "Of course."

The Phantom swept in towards the Sentinel Wall protecting the Library, and there were clear signed of a battle having just been concluded, as evidenced by the wreckage of Halo's defenders and splatters of blood from Covenant fighters. The Arbiter confirmed his assessment as he dropped from the Phantom before Tartarus guided it away, and there was a sudden prickling sensation running though his spine, making him turn.

A Sentinel Enforcer was now floating level with him beyond the edge of the platform, and the Arbiter was able to get off three shots at it before Tartarus swooped back in, the Phantom's plasma turrets doing substantial damage to the Enforcer and luring it after the transport as it flew away. "Lower the shield, Arbiter," the Brute said, "I'll pick you up when you finish."

The Elite acknowledged the other alien and turned to complete his task, moving past swarms of Constructors doing repair work in the wake of the recent battle. There only seemed to be one way to move on: activating the pistons and dropping through the spaces they had taken up, falling through the curving passages clearly not meat for organic life forms but able to accommodate them just the same.

He finally reached solid ground again in a room similar to a plasma conduit, what with the power stream running right through the center of the room, Sentinel channels opening up on either side of the stream. There was also an Unggoy and a pair of Kig-Yar fighting a small swarm of Halo's defenders. Knowing that he could use the assistance they would provide, however much or little, the Arbiter unhesitatingly jumped in to help.

As he led them further into the Sentinel wall, the Arbiter kept catching brief wisps of a familiar but faint scent borne to him on the wind, a scent that was much stronger after he defeated the Enforcer guarding the power source of one of the shield generators. He deactivated the locks and opened the blast door, the platform moving out along an unseen but preset track toward the far side. The stench of dead was stronger now but understandable; there were bodies all around him, corpses that the Arbiter ignored as he watched Tartarus' Phantom swoop in next to the platform. "Our path to the Library is clear," the Brute told him, "I'll pick you up on the ledge ahead."

The blast doors slid back, revealing yet another Enforcer, and the Jiralhanae growled, "Blasted machines! Make your own way though the wall, Arbiter!"

The Sangheili clicked his mandibles in irritation, then paused as he once again caught the scent of death and rotting flesh. 'No... It cannot be...'

It was; a Flood combat form leapt to the top level of the platform and began firing on him with its SMG. The Elite gunned it down with his plasma rifle and briefly assessed it; 'It's an infected human... that must mean that they have already passed through here and are on their way to the Library.' He gritted his mandibles and ignored the battle taking place between the Sentinels and the combat forms below, leaping through an open hatch to try and catch up with the humans.

He followed the hall beyond around a slight curve and activated another piston, dropping down to the floor below. The divided hall stank of dying things and Flood spores, the air so tainted that it had taken on a slight greenish tint, and the sound of gunfire in the distance, coupled with the hiss of Sentinel lasers let his know that there was combat ahead. He was met by three lone combat forms, much to his surprise. While he won handily, he kept expecting enemies to pop out from every shadow, despite the fact that Sentinel remains explained the machines' disappearances. In the next small chamber, a small army of Infection pods waited for him, leaping in his direction the moment he came into view.

They died with their brethren, and he made another controlled fall into the next room, where the Elite was met with yet another firefight between Halo's defenders and Halo's prisoners, but this time, at the far side of the room, he caught a glimpse of a hazy figure, only maybe a little shorter than he was, but it was gone before he could get a good look at it.

He fought his way through wave upon wave of combat, then carrier forms, finally able to make it through down to the level below.

It opened up instantly; he was outside now, and there was a battle already in progress between an Enforcer and its supporting Sentinels and the combat forms skittering around on the lower deck. Rather than interfere and get himself killed before the completion of his mission, the Arbiter hung back and took cover behind a large column, waiting for the other foes to duke it out so he could come in and clean up the mess.

After almost a full minute of silence, the Elite ducked out from behind his cover and saw that all of the Flood had been killed, the Sentinels not even paying attention to him, and he used their distraction to sprint across to the opposite housing, where he was promptly detained by the Flood. Though there was only a handful of combat forms, they seemed more vicious than the last ones he'd fought, leaving him with a handful of injuries, none serious.

He pulled a similar tactic in the next room, making it to the piston housing without further incident, but all bets were off in the following conduit room. The air was thick with Flood spores, so much so that they obscured his surroundings and sent visibility plummeting. Based on what he could see, there were cargo modules scattered about here and there, all helter-skelter, and while there were no visible combat forms, it didn't take a degree in philosophy to guess that they were around somewhere.

Thel slipped further into the room, plasma rifles at the ready, wary for any sort of attack -

There was a slow motion just visible in of the corner of his eye.

He whirled just in time to see the same ghostly haze slide back into the gloom, its slightly hunching posture and silent sliding movement marking it as a predator of the highest order, the top of the food chain. It hadn't attacked him yet, but its very presence set the Elite on edge and sent chills down his spine.

He hadn't even noticed its approach. It could kill him at any time.

Despite the taint in the air, the Arbiter forced himself to take slow, deep breaths to calm his racing heart before moving further out into the open to lure in the Flood. It came, swiftly, and in waves, just like its namesake, and it took forever to kill the shambling monstrosities. When he reached the end of the traversable conduit path, he found another piston of the left side and dropped further into the Sentinel Wall.

An equally contaminated room waited for him below, and he took a moment to catch his breath before peering around the bend to see what awaited him: another piston. He activated it and found himself in a large cavern set into the wall, open to their air but there was no visible means of continuing forward except by going downward again.

Despite the remains, the cavern was eerily devoid of life, and he picked up a plasma sword to replace the human pistol that he had picked up before switching out his plasma rifles for ones with higher battery charge. He sighed resolutely, then activated the next piston, falling though a stinking series of curving paths to a steel beam that crossed the opening. He heard the sounds of the Flood undergoing what was unmistakably a plasma bombardment and held his position for the moment, waiting for silence.

When he emerged, there were bodies everywhere, both Flood and uninfected Sangheili, the latter having fallen in battle against the former and taken some with them. Unfortunately, there were still some parasites left, though they quickly fell to the Arbiter's blade, permitting him to continue downward. He got the most spectacular view of the Library, however, when he looked over the edge to see if there were any more potential foes; the Forerunner's creation seemed as pristine as ever, illuminated with golden light as it was, the flawless angles and lines of the home of the Sacred Icon.

"At least you know how to appreciate art."

The Sangheili whipped around; the invisible figure was there, standing next to the piston as if nothing was amiss. It had spoken in his tongue; despite a slight accent, it was clearly understandable - and clearly male. "Who are you?" the Arbiter asked suspiciously, trying to peer through the haze of its active camouflage to get a clearer outline.

"No one you need to concern yourself with yet, and even then, it won't be as an enemy. But I warn you now: when you enter the Library, do not turn your back on Tartarus."

"…he's going to betray me?"

"When the time comes, you shall see."

And then the camouflage strengthened, the figure vanishing on the spot.

The Elite tensed but continued on, thinking on the person's words and the fact that he had only noticed it because it allowed him to. This time he came to a stop on a short stretch of flat passage with a rusted steel door at the far end, which slid open as he approached.

There were Flood all over the canyon ahead, and as the Arbiter slashed the nearest to bits, Sangheili Orbital Insertion Pods began landing all around him, bringing proper comrades for him to fight alongside. With their help, they easily cleaned up the mess, and one of them said, "Forerunners be praised! The Arbiter!" He came to stand next to Thel and continued, "This Quarantine Zone has been compromised. We must do what we can against the Flood. Our Commander has landed further in, let us join him."

The Arbiter nodded and made an affirmative noise, moving for a small stretch of tunnel that would lead to the next area, and the two other Elites followed, joining him in his assault against the first combat forms that they encountered. There were three other Sangheili holding the camp, including one Rtas 'Vadumee. "Arbiter!" he called, "What are you doing here?"

Flood cries began to erupt all over the place, forcing them to stave off their reunion until reinforcements arrived in a Phantom.

"At the center of this zone," the Arbiter told Rtas, "is a Sacred Icon critical to the Great Journey. I must find it."

Rtas nodded and clenched his fist. "We shall cut into the heart of this infestation, retrieve the Icon, and burn any Flood that stand in our way!" The other Sangheili roared their approval, and the SpecOps Commander said, "The Parasite is not to be trifled with. I hope you know what you're doing.

"Forward, warriors, and fear not pain nor death. Go, Arbiter; I'll follow when our reinforcements arrive."

Thel jumped into the Spectre that the Phantom had dropped off and waited for the others to board, the remainder of the warriors claiming Ghosts that had been dropped off for them, and they sped through one of the rusted-steel doors, following a similar path through a short stretch of wall before they emerged in a large room a human would equate to a machine shop. Enforcers and Sentinels ruled the air, bombarding the Flood with powerful attacks to destroy their vehicles. "Commander," one of the Sangheili cried, "we found a human vehicle!"

"Keep moving," the alien told them, "I'm on my way."

They tore through the enemy ranks, but neither the Sentinels nor the Flood went down without a fight, and their Spectre was severely damaged as a result when they emerged from the next stretch of tunnel.

They had arrived on a wide, spiral ramp covered in snow, and over the far side, they could see a human-controlled transport - a "Pelican," and honestly, who names a ship after such an ungainly bird? - firing at the Flood virtually carpeting the area with their monstrosity. The Elites gunned their way through the army of parasites, and passed through one of two doors to a canyon riddled with deeper crevices and filled with Flood in Wraiths fighting Enforcers and their Sentinel support.

Because the state of their vehicle was so bad, they hung back and fought off the individual combat forms that raced their way, while the Enforcers fought and, eventually, won against the tanks. They raced through the area, taking out what they could to help clear the way for their allies to follow, and passed through a short stretch of tunnel, pulling to a stop when they found a Flood-controlled human tank blocking their way. The whole space looked like it had been hit by a plasma bombardment, the metal so hot it glowed, and they could feel the heat even at the distance they were at. An Enforcer was taking care of the other tank on the far side of the room, but they had to deal with this one on their own.

The Arbiter told the two Sangheili to remain hidden and sprinted at it, managing to get inside its field of fire with only a few scrapes; getting on top of it was another matter, especially when it decided to run him over, but the back was just as good as the front. He shoved a plasma grenade through the exhaust vent and leapt away before it exploded, destroying many vital parts and killing the driver.

The Spectre raced up next to him, and he quickly hopped into the side seat, the driver swiftly taking them through the web of Sentinel beams trying to kill them, the three Elites ducking into the ruins of a side passage. They found themselves in what once had been a magnificent building, now only a derelict groaning under the weight of the structure above it; it was not safe, so they stayed to replenish their ammunition and no longer, joining the Sentinels in the battle against the Flood even as they searched the room for a way out before the whole thing collapsed.

They found a passage out when the Flood came charging out of it, letting them know to expect enemies on the other side. They made good their escape, honing their plasma swords on Flood flesh as they charged through the tunnel. The Arbiter pulled up short as they reached the end, and a good thing, too; he likely would not have survived the fiery remains of the Enforcer crashing down on top of him.

-------------------------------------------

'How far along is he?'

[He's almost there. Johnson and Miranda?]

'They're getting close, too, sir. I've got a good visual.'

[Oh? And where are you exactly? Invisible, on top of their gondola?]

'You... asshole.'

John snickered silently.

-------------------------------------------

Finally, the last canyon.

The Arbiter pulled his Wraith to a stop and assessed the situation ahead. There were yet more Flood in tanks, apparently guarding the structure that he needed to get to, and there were at least three Enforcers covering the whole canyon.

He guided his vehicle across the dip in the highway and charged one of the Flood's tanks, bombarding it with plasma bombs before it had even noticed him, and by then it was too late. There was an opening on each side of the Forerunner transportation complex, and he swiftly ducked into the one he had just cleared, though the tell-tale sound of one of the steel doors sliding up gave him pause; some combat forms dropped from two of the doors, but a well-placed plasma bomb annihilated the lot.

More were inside, and while it took a bit of maneuvering around the cargo modules in the way, he was able to bring the tank in with him and wear away at the enemy ranks. This proved especially useful when a panel slid back and admitted more into the room; he was able to bring the tank around in time to catch them still bunched up and lobbed a bomb at them, sending the Parasites back to hell.

As his allies swarmed around him, he paused at the side of a dead human combat form lying next to that of a Sangheili, and within his already-doubting mind, he thought, 'In the end, we are not so different, are we?'

The call of one of the other Sangheili made him lift his head and put aside his heretical thoughts, moving on to the transport room, Rtas somewhere behind him. They both charged up a ramp to the controls of the gondola, but another grinding caught their attention; the humans were launching one from another tower, and Rtas said, "They must be after the Icon." Just as the Arbiter was about to start their own to give chase, the unearthly screeches of the Flood caught their attention again. The white-armored Ultra ignited his plasma sword and said, "On your way, Arbiter. I'll deal with these beasts."

He nodded and murmured a soft prayer while in the background, the Chief started swearing. "God dammit, Rtas, you asshole! Couldn't you just leave it to someone else?!" He sighed. "No. No, I suppose not." [Dacien, Lil'Ame, make sure he doesn't hurt himself, would you?]

'You got it, Commander.'

'This is going to be the death of me,' the Spartan thought to himself as the gondola jolted into motion beneath his feet, 'Seriously, trying to keep so many people alive is going to kill me, and if it doesn't, my insane crew will.'

'HEY!'

[Don't even try to deny it.]

The Spartan listened absently as one of the Elites said, "Look, up ahead. The Parasite gathers for an attack."

Indeed, there were a bunch of enemy combat forms doing their thing on a platform to their forward left, and the Sangheili with ranged weapons fired on them as they approached. The accessible part of the gondola passed under their platform, and the Flood leapt after them, making the jump onto the gondola.

The Spartan snorted and began chuckling quietly, and Venera silently questioned his mirth; [Oh, there had to be at least twelve combat forms total who made the attempt and over half of them missed.]

Several others snickered along with him before they returned to their duties; the immense and stylized blast doors up ahead slid open, permitting the gondola with the Sangheili on board to begin its ascent. John watched as the Elites fought off wave after wave of Flood charging up from below even as he monitored their biosigns; it would do both humanity and the Sangheili no good to lose some of their best fighters.

Finally, the path leveled off again, and the infected Spartan knew it would not be much longer now. 'That's the problem with your cover-up of humanity's ancestry, "Prophets;" the truth... always has a way of coming out.'

The moment he was close enough, the Arbiter jumped onto the main deck of the Library and sprinted into the curving hall beyond. There were Infection pods all over the place, along with countless bodies for them to take over, but he had no time to deal with them, instead tearing right past them and into the Index chamber, where the remains of an Enforcer lay smoldering on the deck.

Miranda Keyes looked around the Index chamber, glancing about for something to hold on to while she retrieved the Index from its holder. Something that could only be described as a tentacle seemed to be her best option; it wasn't as slimy as she expected and had a good amount of grip to it. She tugged it a little closer to the Index and leaned out over the gulf, unaware of the invisible Spartan ready to step in at a moment's notice should Johnson not get there in time. Fortunately, he had nothing to worry about; the S-I caught hold of the tentacle a scant second after is began to slide, and he growled, "You know, your father never asks me for help either."

"The Index is secure," Miranda said by way of a reply as she hooked the T-shaped Key of Death to her belt, and Johnson helped her back up to the platform.

"McKenzie, Perez, how's our exit?" he called to the Marines who were supposed to be guarding the door. "You hear me Marines?" When there was no response, he said, "We've got trouble."

Miranda lifted her SMGs to the ready position even as Johnson warily swept the room with his battle rifle. Though they could not see the enemy, their intuition told them that it was there, a belief confirmed when Johnson spotted the tell-tale distortions in the air that marked the presence of an enabled active camouflage unit. It vaulted over a piece of the destroyed Enforcer, and Johnson cursed as he fired at it, trying to slow its progress.

The sergeant major managed to slam his battle rifle against the Arbiter's head twice, but it did nothing to phase the Elite, who simply gripped him by the shoulders and steadied his position on the floor. "How you doin'," Johnson grunted, and the Arbiter growled quietly before headbutting the human, knocking him out cold.

The Elite's neck was beginning to ache; the human's blows had had some real power behind them, which meant that he would have to finish this quickly. He dropped the male when the female began to fire on him, following him around the room. He heard her calling out to her male companion and used her distraction as an opportunity to leap in close and bat her weapons away with a single swipe of his hand. The Sangheili was about to render her unconscious as well when a crackling field of gravitational energy surrounded her, formed by the Fist of Rukt.

'Do not turn your back on Tartarus.'

The Arbiter tensed his muscles in case he needed to attack, only vaguely hearing the Brute speak as the figure's voice echoed inside his head. He was not even conscious of the fact that he himself had spoken, only that the hormone humans called 'adrenaline' was rushing through his veins with every pulse of his hearts, eyes flicking between the three Brutes that approached from before and either side.

"When the Hierarchs hear of this, they will have your head."

"Fool. They ordered me to do it."

Betrayal.

Betrayal from the ones who were supposed to lead his people.

Betrayal from the ones who were supposed to guide them all on the Great Journey.

A pulse from the Fist of Rukt. Falling. Black.

**********

It's the fear

Fear of the darkness

Growing inside of me,

That one day will come to life.

Have to save

To save my beloved,

There is no escape,

Because my fate is horror and doom.

- "It's the Fear," Within Temptation (The Silent Force)