Chapter 8 NAME "Shit Happens"

=They push into the base=
=Him still hacking=
=A Brute runs at him=
=He opens the jackel shield as the big fists come down=

=He pops it in its legs with the HC=
=As it goes down, He slices off the head=

Lynn-Cmon!

=They continue through=

(Dormii)
=to himself=
Screw this...

=i comm everyone=
Hey, just a heads up, I'm going to use your suit's external speakers for a second. Grace, you may wanna turn off your internal comms. This is loud.

=Torres emerges on the side of the throne room overlooking the first floor. He stands there paitently. Watching=

=They do as instructed=
=Beforehand=

Lynn-Whats going on?

Draco-Banshee Scream. Do as he says.

Grace-Aww. I wanted to lose my hearing as well!

=She turns off hers=

(Dormii)
=i broadcast a Scream through their armor, the closest Covenant who hear it collapse to the ground in pain, hands to their ears. A few brutes bleed from their ears but stay standing, barely=

=She raises the DMR and fires shots into the covenant's heads=

Draco-Boom

Lynn-Headshot.

=The continue through. Clearing it out=

(Dormii)
=i move up, firing as I go. i reload and move into melee range of the troops who were shooting at me, now on the floor and just starting to get up=

zeru wrote:

=blasts open the door to the room and sees several honor guards=

(acting as Zeru) =He stand there looking at the honor almost taunting them. The honor guards open fire on him but the sheild stands, not faultering one. Zeru nudges a little as if to scratch and it. he make his move running through the honor guards, grabbing the plasma grenades on them and planting them exactly as he passes by them. He stops right in front of the prophet. Chuckling through his helmet. He sees a notice in his helm=

Impact mode 30 seconds.

"More than enough time"

(Dormii)
=i extend my arm blades and start cutting at the troops who are a bit more awake than normal=

=He grabs a jackel's head and snaps its neck=

=Lynn takes a few shots, taking out three grunts=

=Grace fires off her AR, killing a Brute=

--Cont. From "The Shepard and the Lamb."--

(Jason)
=I was impressed with how Molly was doing. She really was a natural. I checked the clock: it was going to be at least a few hours, before we got to Haven. I decided that, with all that had happened, I needed some sleep. I went to the elevator, but stopped=
Listen, feel free to give the reigns to Argo if you get tired. Other than that, goodnight Molly.

(Molly)
Night Jason. And thanks, for bringing me along.

(Jason)
No problem.
=I took the elevator down to the crew deck, and I went for my room. Miri was lying in bed, the covers over her, and she was playing with the omni-tool=

(Miranda)
Finally getting some sleep?

(Jason)
=I climbed in bed=
Yup. Goodnight.

=I gave her a kiss on the cheek, and fell asleep=

(Miranda)
=I shut down the tool, and went to sleep as well=

=They stand in the middle of a three way hallway=
=Draco taking the wall to the right, Lynn to the left, Grace to the front=

=He brings out a firebomb=
=Lynn and Grace take out a grenade=

=They can hear the footsteps and yelling=

Draco-Now.

=They toss their grenades, the confused covenant forces try to dodge but are consumed in explosions=

Draco-Form up, center.

=They move into the center, A waypoint appears on their visors=

Draco-Im taking point. Lynn, get Grace's six.

Lynn-Right

=They go up the middle hallway to where the throne room is=

(Dormii)
=i stab a brute in the neck, but he keeps on fighting. He swings his Carbine at me, and knocks me over, draining a good chunk of my shields. Luckily, the motion also ends up slicing his head off. I get up, staggering. I kinda stumble into the base, only to come into a veritable wall of needlers. I quickly move back behind the wall, maybe a bit too fast, because I trip and fall over. I look back and see that the needles ares still flying=

I can't risk a shot with that many needles. I'd get my arm blown off...

=i emit a Banshee Scream, trying to get them to stop firing, but either they were deaf, they had ear protection, or they were automated turets, because it didn't work=

Well, dammit...

=Lynn trips and goes down=
=A Brute Chieftan approaches her, Hammer raised=

=He looks back and stops=
=He runs back, taking out the Hydra and firing=
=The shells fire out, Hitting it right in the chest=
=It goes down in a pool of blood=

Draco-Do not touch her.

=She looks up as he offers his hand=

Lynn-Thank...you...

=She takes his hand and they continue on again=

Draco-Im not going to let you die. Im never going to let you die.

Grace-Im about to get sick, shut up you two and keep moving!

(Jason)
=I woke up with ten minutes on the clock, before we would exit slip-space. I got some clean clothes on, and went to the kitchen for a snack. I found Molly sitting at the table, talking with Argo=

(Molly)
Okay, so it's agreed; I'm the pilot of the ship, but if I'm ever incapacitated, or not available, then you control the ship. Until then, you can serve as the co-pilot.

(Argo)
Agreed.

(Jason)
Should I be worried that you're making a deal with my ship's A.I.?

(Dormii)
=i try throwing a grenade, but a needle hits it in mid-flight and detonates it=
Well, that's just great...

=i comm the others=
Hey, anyone near a hallway with a lot of needles in it? I'm pinned down and nothing I've used so far has worked.

*Locating comms origin"

=He stops running=

Lynn-What are you doing?

Draco-Get to the throne room. Ill catch up.

Lynn-Are you sure?

=The waypoint appears on his visor=

Draco-I make you a promise I will.

=He runs off, Hydra out=
=Lynn nods and continues on=
=Making it to the blasted doors of the throne room=

(Dormii)
=over comms=
Anyone at all? I really don't want to try Impact Mode, that'd just make things wrose.

=Comms=

Draco-I am on my way.

=He fires a few shots as some enemy forces come at him=

=He opens the bubble shield as a grunt throws a grenade=
=It explodes and he collapses it, bringing up the jackel shield=
=He pushes through as the triangle gets closer=

(Molly)
Hey, he was starting to get snippy with me. He thought I was taking his job.

(Jason)
=I tried not to laugh=
Really Argo? Don't get me wrong, you're good at this, but Molly is better. Besides, she wanted to fly.

(Argo)
Very well Jason. I will assume my duties as co-pilot.

(Jason)
Okay.
=I faced Molly=

Molly, get back up to the bridge, we should be exiting slip-space soon and I want you to see Haven.

(Molly)
Got it Jason.

=Torres hears Dormi's message and rushes to him. A couple minutes later Torres appears behind Dormii=

Need assistance.

=He arrives across the hallway from Torres and Dormii=

Hmm.

=He takes a cryobomb out and tosses it=

Catch.

=The covenant turn around and are iced=
=He fires his Hydra to the others that survived=

zeru wrote:

quite a nice thing you have mind telling me why your still here

"How dare you! You enter this place, kill my Honor-Guard, and then you presume to talk to ME in such manner! You, a Demon, of whom we've killed in the hundreds during this war! You will not be the first! nor will you be the last! This Covenant will lead us to our salvation! None will stand in our path! You've yet only killed a handful of my Guards! When I rise to the rank of High Prophet, I will not be so foolish as my predecessors! I will attack the seat of our enemy! I will [i]glass your planet! So that not even the Parasite would want to take root on the grave of your collapsed civilization! I will DESTROY YOUR RACE JUST AS OUR FOREFATHERS SHOULD HAVE DONE!"

=He Pauses for a moment, a moment of disturbing silence=

"This time, the Catacomb you enter, will be your own as you descend

Fighting the inevitable will get you no where fast

a Solution stands just out of reach, but is of Nervous transgression

The end here will be of Unknown consequence to you, your actions doom more than you have yet to learn."

=The silence thereafter the cryptic speech was eerily quiet.=

=He hears the Hydra go off=

I guess Draco arrived.

=Torres looks around the cover and see snipers above taking aim at Draco=

*Over comms* Draco above. Snipers. Watch out.

=Torres takes out his pistol and headshots the closest to him, then proceeds to shot the one beside it=

(Jason)
=I was on the bridge, sitting in the empty chair meant for the captain, Molly sat in the pilots chair. We exited slip-space, and i found myself looking at a familiar site: Haven, with a backdrop of the galactic core. Trust me, it was a site one did not forget=

(Molly)
Wow, this is Haven?

(Jason)
Yup. Argo, open a channel to Haven, contact Silver.

(Argo)
No need, we are already being hailed. I'll patch him through.

(Silver Light)
=I had detected the ship exit slip-space, and immediately contacted it=
Attention, you are entering restricted space.

(Jason)
Silver, it's me. I'm back.

(Silver Light)
Inheritor! Welcome back. Things have been going smoothly here in you absence. I will direct you to the nearest opening to the interior.

=He looks and switches quickly to his HC=
=He fires, nailing the last in the head=
=A fuel rod bursts in front of him, heading left and exploding behind him=
=His shields go down as he is sort of propelled forward=

=He activates the blade and runs at the Brute=

Your time has come.

=He brings the blade straight up and stabs=
=He forces the blade up through it's chest=

Die.

=He takes it out and slices the neck=

(Dormii)
=i stick my assault rifle around the corner and blindfire=
So, what were they? Troops or turrets?

They were troops.

=He picks up Dormi and regroups with Draco. They stand there looking at the battlefield. They begin to regroup with the other when they hear the door in front of them make a loud noise. The metal door begins to poke out as if it was getting thrashed on the opposite side=

Hunters.

Take defensive positions.

(Jason)
How smoothly are we talking here? There haven't been any problems?

(Silver Light)
Only one: someone tried to break into a weapons room, but he has been detained, and is now in the recently made prison.

(Jason)
Okay. Inform the council that I'm back, and I'll be meeting with them shortly.

(Silver Light)
Very well, Inheritor.

(Molly)
=I got the flight path, and I sent the ship along it, down into a massive opening in the planet=

=He kneels down=
=Taking out the AM=

It has been awhile since,
Ive killed Hunters.

=He smiles=

=Torres's helmet scanner reads something else. Torres turns around and looks at the door behind him. The door opposite of them makes the same noise=

Behind us to.

=As Torres said this the doors on the side of the rooms do the same=

They are pulling all the stops on this one.

We are surrounded, be careful you two.

=Dormi nods and takes cover behind a pillar=

Draco you do what you do best then procced to the middle. Dormi cover fire and watch our six's as well as the raptors. We don't want any unnecisary visitors.

=Torres heads to the other side and gets ready=

(Jason)
=It was a few minutes before we got to the "center" of Haven. Even though I told her what to expect, Molly still gasped in awe, at what she saw. Hell, it was still shocking to me=

(Molly)
Holy son of a......
=I lost track of what I was going to say. I brought the ship down onto the landing pad, and got up=
Can I, go outside?

(Jason)
Sure. Just take the elevator down to the cargo deck, and exit out the doors there. Just don't go too far, okay?

(Molly)
=I was already at the elevator=
Sure, yeah, no problem.

=He nods getting up and grabbing cover by a pillar=
=The doors rumble open as pairs up Hunter's enter=

=He loads incendiary ammo and takes aim at ones feet=
=He fires and the bullet makes contact, beginning to burn the beast=

=They continue walking and he continues firing=

(Lynn and Grace)

=At the blasted doors they are in a firefight against wave after wave of enemies=

Lynn-God!

=Comms=

Lynn-Draco! Where are you!

Draco-Im with Dormii and Torres. How are you holding up.

Lynn-Could always be better!

=She dodges a plasma grenade=

(Jason)
=I contacted Silver again=
Silver, transport me to the Council Tower. I want to be brought up to speed on recent events.

=The second I had finished, golden light surrounded me, and I found myself in the Council's tower. I was outside, standing on what must have been a patio. I walked to the edge, and found that the whole thing, the whole freaking tower, was floating=
Well, it is a Forerunner building.

=I turned around, and walked back into the tower, towards the Council chambers. I heard footsteps, and saw David walking towards me, a smile on his face=

(David)
Jason, welcome back.

=A pair of hunters burst through the doors, entering with blast from their fuel rods. Torres dodges to the right and runs toward them. The hunter tries to hit him with his sheild. Torres sees this and slides under the swipe. He makes a quick 180 making him stare at the back of the hunter. He pulls out a metal cylinder from his belt and presses something on it. A blade protrudes from the cylinder. Quickly Torres stabs the hunter in the back. The hunter growls and turns around. Torres makes a chuckle as the cylinder lets out a bright blue light creating a large blue sphere absorbing the hunter and the right arm of the other. The ball dissipates and the only remains of the hunter is the burnt mark on the ground where is stood=

(Dormii) "Some assistants is needed."

=Torres looks at Dormi and sees him behind a pillar getting double teamed by the two pairs of hunters=

Shit need to hurry.

=Dormi sees a hunter try and flank him. He uses this opportunity to leave the corner. The runs at the hunter full speed. The hunter aims his fuel rod at him and fires. Dormi uses a ledge by him and jumps over the shot barely dodging it. He land and the hunter tries to swipe him with his sheild. Dormi rolls under it=

(Domri)"Too slow."

=Dormii uses his blade and slices the hunter in the back making a hole. Dormii puts his AR inside of the hunter and loads a round of lead into the hunter blowing his head off. Dormi takes out his AR, reloads it and heads behind some cover=

He can hold them off.

=Torres puts his attention to the other wounded hunter. The hunter lets out a loud roar and charges Torres reaying his sheild. The hunter closes in almost touching him, Torres jumps and barrels rolls over the sheild while planting a plasma on the back of the hunters head. Torres lands on the ground and stands up. he looks at the hunter. The plamsa ignites and blows off the head of the hunter. Torres turns around and sees Draco not so into the battle=

Draco what is wrong.

=Comms to Torres=

Nothing to concern yourself with

=He returns to his conversation with Lynn=

Draco-I will try to finish up as soon as possible.

Lynn-We'll be here. Waiting.

=He nods and cuts it off=
=He activates the camo and runs behind the pair=
=He aims at the neck and fires two shots point blank at them=
=They go up in flames then fall with a crash=

=He turns his head=

More entering.

=He grabs two fragmentations and tosses them, they land and explode. The Hunter twins take the impact and begin firing the cannons=

(Jason)
David! Good to see you. I guess the others are here, or on their way?

(Grimm)
=I heard Jason as I was walking down from the other hall=
Well, I'm here.

(Jason)
Hello Grimm.
=I held out my hand, and he shook it=

Shall we go inside?

(David)
Sure. We can wait for the others, while we bring you up to speed.


=the three of them walked into the chambers. Councilwoman Carolyn was there. A few minutes later, and Alvin and Nagasae entered. Once the Council was in attendance, they brought Jason up to speed: an economy had been established, based off the economy they knew from the UNSC. The security force had doubled in size, though crimes were almost nonexistent. Stores had been opened, mostly centered around food and clothing. Nearly everyone on haven now had an omni-tool, which meant they could be tracked, though only in emergency situations. At the same time, the tools were also able to monitor the wearers vital signs, so in case anything happened, emergency services could be notified immediately. However, there was an issue at hand, that was rather odd=

(Jason)
You guys want to form your own military? Why? I mean, we aren't going to be attacking anyone, and the sentinels here are more than enough to defend you all.

(David)
We feel that dependence on the sentinels, no matter how powerful they may be, is too great a weakness. All we ask is the opportunity to make our own military, to serve as a defense in the event the sentinels are ever disabled.

=One of the shots go wide and impact a column, It rumbles and is nearly taken down=
=He goes into a sprint and runs up that column=

=He activates the camo again and sets up his AM=
=He can barely see the exposed flesh=
=He pinpoints and fires a shot. The Hunter throws up his shield in anger=

=Its bond brother fires a shot and hits the column=
=It begins to go down and he jumps off=

=As he jumps he fires a shot, killing the one in anger=

Sleep in Eternity

=He lands and looks at the second hunter=

Waste of my time.

Ok.

=Torres rushes to Dormii's side=

(Dormii)"Good now we can finish these guys."

You take the one on the right, I got the one on the left.

=Domrii nods. They both leave their respective positions heading to the hunters. Dormi throws a grenade in between the hunters=

(Dormii)"Go!."

=Torres raises his pistol and shoots the grenade in the air. Using the grenade as a distraction they maneuver around the hunters. Dormii unleashes the blade in his arm and swiftly slices the head off. With the hunter staggered he stabs the blade in the hunters abdomen and forcefully cuts the hunter in half. Meanwhile Torres rolls around the hunter he takes a step back and runs at it. Torres takes out a plasma and jabs it inside the hunter. He then kicks the hunter away, the plasma explodes moments later killing it.=

You done over there Draco.

=He looks over to them=
=Raising his index finger=
=Comms=

One minute

=He runs at the Hunter, his blade active=
=As the Hunter throws up its shield he dodges to the left=
=With the Hunters back partially exposed he jumps onto it=
=Inserting the blade into the Hunters neck=

=It begins to thrash around=
=He takes the Hydra out and fires directly into its back=

=It drops=

Enter the darkness.

(Jason)
I understand that, but truth be told, a military was something I had planned to form in a year, maybe two. Look. the weapons here, are far too powerful, and while I mean no offense by this, I can't help but wonder how long it would be before you would use this military against Delta and his people.

=That shit them up. They all had a guilty look on their face=

(Nagasae)
I admit, that may be a reason we want a military formed now. If that is the case, then perhaps it would be best, if we follow your advice, and wait a year.

=the others all voiced agreement=

(Jason)
Okay. Thank you.

(Lynn and Grace)

=They kill off the remaining forces=

Lynn-There...

Grace-Are we clear?

Lynn-For now

(Draco)

=He gets off of the corpse and begins walking=
=Comms=

Draco-Where are you.

Lynn-Hold on =sets a destination= There.

Draco-I will be there soon.

=He goes into a run=

=The meeting shifted to a less aggressive topic: the surface. While the Council acknowledged that current population numbers were nowhere near high enough to require migrating to the surface, everyone knew that at some point, they would need to expand to the surface=

(Jason)
For now, we stay here, inside Haven. We can place some outposts there, and maybe even a town. But I'd like to make something perfectly clear: if, or when that happens, the authority of this Council will not be diminished. This Council was formed, with the goal of governing all of Haven, both the surface, and the interior.


=the Council agreed, and the meeting was over=

=Torres watches as Draco leaves in a rush=

(Dormi)"Something must be up."

Forget him, he can handle himself. Let's meet up with Zeru in the throne room.

(Dormi) "Right."

=They had off down another corridor to the throne room=

(Dormii)
=i rememberd that I need to retract the blade. I did so, and the plates on my arm locked open=
Let's hope Zeru didn't take all the fun...

=He gets to where Lynn and Grace are=
=Bodies strewn everywhere=

=Lynn is facing the door to the throne room=

Lynn(sighs)-Alright, I guess we should go

Draco-Mind if I join you.

=She turns to face him=
=She smiles and nods=

Lynn-Get out of here! No one likes you!

=He smiles=

Draco-Fine. Ill leave.

=They walk towards each other and hug=

Lynn-Thought you were leaving?

Draco-Why would I abandon you again.

=They turn towards the door and enter in=

(Jason)
=I didn't leave the Council tower right away. I walked back to that patio, and stood at the edge. It was a site, that no matter how many time you looked at, never did get old. I heard motion behind me, and next thing I knew, David was standing at my left, looking out=

(David)
You know, I'm not sure anyone will ever really get used to all this. Don't get me wrong, we're settling in nicely. But, a lot of us feel......like we don't truly belong here. Like it's not our world.

(Jason)
Well, to be fair, it isn't. At least, it wasn't meant to be your world. But, seeing as how it's mine, I saw no harm in letting you all stay here. I may be the landlord, but you? Each and every one of you, are the tenants of this world.
=I sighed=

Look, like I said when I first brought you all here: you're not prisoners. You're all free to leave.

(David)
=I chuckled=
I don't think any of us really want to leave. We may not feel welcome, but we're humans. That makes us stubborn, and gives us the will to live through the harshest of things.

=I leaned against the railing, and face Jason=
So, were you being honest, when you said you were going to let us form a military in a year?

(Jason)
Yeah, I was. Don't take this the wrong way, but I have no intention of being in charge of lambs.

bla bla bla heard it before sorry you ain't going anywhere


=picks up a grenade and stabs it into the prophets chest before turning around and walking aay=