chapter 15 - A Strayed Path

"WRETCHED HERETICS!!", an elite rages in anger. He lashes in rage, as a grunt cowers next to him. The elite paces back and forth, as the rest of the grunts run away. The jackals, and elites in the room on the other hand leave quietly, as they are used to their leaders outbursts.

The elite had looked at his report as nothing had gone right for him since he took charge of securing the control center. In order to have this opportunity, he had even begged Supreme Commander Thel Vadam himself for the chance in commanding this holy mission.

A day ago, the supreme commander was skeptical of him, asking him if he was truly ready, as his previous contributions against the humans in the recent invasion barely met the requirements.

He stared at the supreme commander, resolving himself to his reckless pursuit in taking charge, and responded that he was, as he stood firm with conviction in his abilities.

Seeing this, Thel Vadam relented at first, but then agreed after much thought. Telling him he would take sole blame should he fail, ignoring those words, the Elite thanked him, as he was finally given the chance.

In his arrogance, he quickly donned his new armor rank colors that he prepared beforehand as he recited prayers in joy over the final moments before the great journey.

He quickly took charge of his new post, and commanded his forces to reach their assigned points of defense, as he was sure of himself in his victory over the humans. As such, the elite had started strong but when he received communication about the parasites, everything went wrong. He had wanted to build a weapons cache at the location as they had already found the control center, but the unit he sent reported that they were retreating. He was furious, as they should have easily taken care of the situation.

He was even more furious when one of his men tried to report the intercepted warnings the humans sent to the supreme commander. That made him seethe, as the fact the others believed the humans disgusted him. He ordered them to exterminate the parasites, but they refused. Livid once again in his anger, he labeled them traitors, and heretics. Seeing his orders go through he felt good to have that power, but moments later he realized his mistake.

He would not let the commander see his mess, and ordered the rest of his forces to kill them on sight. After which, he focused on sending more of his men to the weapons cache, but communication with some of the Units cut off.

Seeing the situation worsen, he changed his orders and sent his remaining troops to the control center far more than he planned before, but even then it would take hours before they arrived.

Soon after, he finally got word from some of his units that lost contact, they had come into battle with the humans near the control center. He yelled at them to kill the humans as he was livid, yet, nothing was going well.

When he received word that the humans had gotten through, he roared, thinking of the failure he just faced, and seeing that he was going to fail his mission. He quickly pinned the blame on supreme commander Thel Vadam, he typed report after report to the council, and sent it through without the commander knowing. He blamed the commander, that it was his fault the humans landed on the holy land. That he was responsible for the heresy against the council, and that he failed them.

After, he contacted the units he could, but the ones near the control center didn't respond, he was worried that the humans had already defeated his men, but that seemed unlikely as they had barely broken through.

Just in case, he tried contacting them again, but no one was responding, paranoid at this point, he assumed they had betrayed him. He didn't label them heretics, as he didn't want the rest of his men to doubt his leadership, so he prepared. If they didn't want to follow his orders, then he will do what he must to make sure they end up fulfilling his orders whether they wanted to or not.

He knew full well what he was doing, if anyone realized his actions, death would be the least of his concerns. He ordered his personal unit to allow the parasites near the control center so that in the chaos when the commander found out, he wouldn't be held accountable for the worst of the mess he created. The Units that betrayed him would die to the parasites, and the rest of his men would clean up what was left. No matter who died, he will succeed, and those heretics will never have the honor of being a part of the Great Journey…no matter what it took, he would succeed.

....

Captain Keyes looked at his reports, he was supposed to have fallen to the parasite already, but he was alive, and well. At this point, he did not doubt the corporals words, too much of what he spoke of has already occurred. Sadly, because of that, the changes they have made has already changed much of their future. Regardless, he's thankful that many of his men are still alive.

He has done much to rescue their stragglers, and as the covenant pushes them back, they have conserved much of their weapons, and supplies. His units have already acquired the ships on the pillar of autumn, and the flood have yet to reach the location, even the engines have been primed as the required systems were repaired enough to initiate remote detonation, while his other forces get ready to commandeer the covenants ships.

The master chief has also made great strides in securing the control center, but he has noticed something odd. Some of the covenant have betrayed them, and yet they still act as if they don't care about the control room. The messages we have intercepted don't show panic either, what is going on with the covenant, and how far have we strayed from that future?