Attempted assassination of the Prophet of Truth
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| Attempted assassination of the Prophet of Truth | |||||||||||||||||||
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 The Prophet of Truth, as viewed through the sights of John-117's Vostu-pattern carbine. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Covenant victory
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In early November 2552, the Prophet of Truth, then-the sole-surviving hierarch and leader of the Covenant, was the subject of an attempted assassination by the United Nations Space Command. The assassination attempt came amid the onset of a large-scale civil war within the Covenant which had itself been in-part triggered by the previous assassination of the Prophet of Regret earlier that day, and the death of the Prophet of Mercy due to an emerging Flood outbreak on High Charity. The assassination was attempted by Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, a SPARTAN-II commando of the UNSC Navy, who had forged a temporary alliance with the Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee and the Flood's Gravemind in a bid to prevent the Prophet from firing the Halo Array and destroying all life in the galaxy.
On November 3 the Master Chief was teleported into High Charity's High Council Chamber by the Gravemind amid a sermon by the Prophet, triggering a chase through the city that concluded in Truth's escape aboard the keyship at the city centre, Anodyne Spirit. The Chief was able to stow away aboard the ship, where he would again attempt to kill the prophet while being hunted by the ship's security forces. Ultimately the Spartan evaded capture for two weeks before being driven off the ship, where he landed in the jungles of Kenya on Earth.[2]
Background[edit]
- Main article: Battle of Installation 05
On November 2, 2552, fighting erupted around Installation 05 after the arrival of Solemn Penance and the UNSC frigate UNSC In Amber Clad in pursuit.[1] Penance was commanded by the Prophet of Regret, who was fleeing a botched invasion of New Mombasa, Earth, with the UNSC on his heels. Over the next few hours, In Amber Clad deployed a small force of Marines led by Spartan John-117 onto the ring to assassinate Regret.[6] As the Chief converged on Regret's temple, High Charity and its support fleet also arrived at Delta Halo to reinforce.[7] However, the fleet did not deploy to Delta Halo to save Regret as the Prophet of Truth intentionally held it back, allowing Regret's death as part of his broader scheme to accumulate power for himself. He also used Regret's death as an opportunity to oust the Sangheili from the Covenant Honor Guard and replace them with the Jiralhanae.[8] This sequence of events quickly lead to the outbreak of civil war around High Charity as the Jiralhanae attempted to usurp the Sangheili.
At the time of the war's start, John-117 had been captured by the Gravemind, who brought him and the Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee together and explained the risks facing all life in the galaxy—human, Covenant, Flood, and other alike. The Arbiter was tasked with stopping Tartarus from activating Installation 05 at the ring's Control Room, while John was tasked with finding the Prophet of Truth, killing him, and securing the activation index. The Gravemind used its access to the ring's slipspace translocation grid to teleport the two to their respective locations, inserting the Spartan into High Charity's High Council Chamber directly in front of the Prophet of Truth.[9]
Attempted assassination[edit]
On High Charity[edit]
The Master Chief boarded High Charity in the middle of a sermon by Truth proclaiming the security of the activation index, and the imminent activation of the Halos. He gained access to a needler, though the Prophets of Truth and Mercy quickly retreated behind their guards and escaped the chamber, leaving the Master Chief to try and follow. After dispatching the guards sent into the council chamber, the Chief deployed Cortana into High Charity's computer networks to provide intelligence updates and door access as he traversed through the city. By this point fighting between Sangheili separatist and Covenant loyalist troops was breaking out across the city, which allowed the Master Chief to take advantage of the chaos accordingly. As he attempted to pursue Truth, the hierarch continued to broadcast speeches over loudspeakers.[9]
After the Chief breached out of the council tower, the fighting was interrupted with the arrival of In Amber Clad—now-infected by the Flood—which proceeded to crash into another tower close to the Prophet of Truth's escape shuttle.[9] Flood forms began to pour out of the frigate to infest the city, with captured D77 Pelican dropships deploying Flood far and wide. The Flood was able to converge on the Prophet of Truth's position before the Spartan, with him, Mercy, and their personal guard being attacked by a swarm of pod infectors. One infection form was able to break through the group's defensive lines, latching onto Mercy and beginning to convert him to the Flood. The Prophet of Truth prevented Tartarus from saving Mercy, allowing all remaining political power in the Covenant to be concentrated in himself. Truth then boarded a Phantom dropship and proceeded to Anodyne Spirit, the Supernal Spiral-class keyship at the centre of High Charity, to depart for Earth to gain access to the Ark. John arrived at the hierarchs' landing pad just as the Phantom departed, and as such was forced to retrace some of his steps to get to a dock that could transport him onto Anodyne Spirit.<