Halo: Atonement

Part I: Prologue

"The Elites have failed to protect the Prophets, and in doing so, have put all our lives at risk. Let no warrior forget his oath, 'Thou, in faith, shall keep us safe, whilst we find the Path'. With my blessing, the Brutes now lead our fleets! They ask for your allegiance, and you shall give it."
-High Prophet of Truth

November 3, 2552
Installation 05, Coelest System

    The Shipmaster looked on in horror at the viewscreens on the bridge. A Brute warship fired it's plasma lances into the unsuspecting ships of his Sangheili brothers and comrades, bringing honorable warriors to a dishonorable end. Not even a rotation ago, he had been awestruck by the holy ring, the Halo, that his Covenant had found, and now he had been betrayed by his species' longtime rivals. More Brute ships turned on the Sangheili vessels, sending them to their deaths. His terror quickly congealed into an icy rage as he prepared to attack the Jiralhanae traitors.
     "Navigation, bring us around to those Brute ships. Their hides will burn for this heresy," said Shipmaster Naru 'Kosuvai. His navigation officer, a young warrior named Eilu 'Nardramee, looked shocked, but followed his Shipmaster's command without question. His ship, an ORS-class heavy cruiser named Retribution's Compunction, moved to engage the smaller Brute RCS-class warship, the Glorious Advance.
     'Kosuvai shouted another command: "Weapons, heat all plasma turrets and send these beasts on the Great Journey." The Compunction's plasma lines changed color from a cool blue to a bright red as they charged for firing. Streaks of white-hot plasma fire left the Shipmaster's vessel, tearing through the Brute warship, the energy shields popping under the heat, nanolaminate armor bubbling and peeling away. But the victory was short-lived.
    "Shipmaster, the Glorious Advance is vaporized, but we have two more CCS-class battleships moving to engage," reported 'Nardramee. Shipmaster 'Kosuvai realized this was a fight he could not win alone. He swept back his kaidon's cape, trying to create a mental list of Sangheili-crewed ships in the immediate area. The Valorous Esteem and Boundless Grace had been destroyed by the Jiralhanae, and the Uncanny Restraint was surrounded. The Omens of Woe and Sacred Transcendence had never stood a chance against the traitor's vessels. The Shipmaster looked down in shame as he realized his only true option: live to fight another day.
     "Navigation, plot a course for the Station of Constant Sustenance. We will regroup with our brothers from the Second Fleet of Consecration there," said Shipmaster 'Kosuvai, defeated. The crew was in shock. A Sangheili was supposed to accept his fate in combat, not run from a fight. But they were not stupid. They knew that the Brutes would massacre them if they chose to fight, dishonoring their clans.
    "Aye, Shipmaster. Course plotted, moving to jump," responded his navigation officer. The Retribution's Compunction turned and accelerated away from the Brute ships, the Halo, and their brothers. The slipspace drive created a rift in space-time off the forward bow and the ship entered, abandoning the other Elites to their fate as ships silently engaged each other in the shadow of the ringworld.