บท 65: Chapter 64
Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee was brought before the Hierarchs chained up, and forced to his knees once he stood in front of the three Hierarchs.
The Prophet of Regret looked at him in shame, as he had pardoned him and gave him a fleet so that he could be a powerful agent against the other Hierarchs. But instead, he just brought constant shame to his name and lost his fleet twice already.
As the room descended into quietness, the Prophet of Truth was the first one to speak, "Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee, you have brought shame and dishonor to the entire Covenant with your repeated failures against the Humans."
Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee could only lower his head in defeat while in his mind, he thought that it wasn't his fault that the enemy had a secret weapon that they used against him.
He even gave the data that they had collected on the ship to the Hierarchs to explain himself, but it seemed that they didn't care about that and only focused on his failures.
If that is the case, then there is no need for him to speak his case as he could tell that the Hierarchs have already decided on his punishment or possibly death.
"You will be stripped of your rank of Arbiter and will become the servant of the new Arbiter who is take your place" Stated the Prophet of Mercy. He was the oldest and the first Hierarch to be elected.
He had read over the data that Ripa 'Moramee had sent over and what he saw was something that he didn't thing the Humans had access to. It was a Forerunner ship, but not just 1 of them but 2 of them.
When he saw this data, he had thought to himself 'How could Humans claim the Holy Relics'. The Covenant themselves only had a single ship alongside several other Artifacts. But the Humans have 2 of them that they knew of.
After going through his thoughts, he was about to contact the other two Hierarchs to get a reduced sentence for Ripa 'Moramee since it was not his fault that he lost the battle against the 2 Human ships when they were wielding two Holy Relics that held unimaginable power.
But when he contacted them, they had both came to the decision to pin a lot of the Covenants failures on Ripa 'Moramee and make him a scapegoat in their plans to continue the war on the Humans.
Mercy didn't like this as Ripa 'Moramee had no way of knowing that the Humans had Holy Relics nor did the Hierarchs know. Despite his ruthlessness Ripa 'Moramee was a devout follower of the Path, getting rid of someone as capable as that would be a waste at least for his plans.
So instead, he managed to convince Truth and Regret not to kill him using the excuse that killing him would be too easy of a way for punishment, instead having him become the servant of another Arbiter would be better as it would force him to swallow his pride and live with the torment of his failures.
So, it was decided. The once mighty Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee was reduced to a servant, the lowest of the low in the Covenant hierarchy. The Hierarchs dismissed him from their chamber with a wave of their hands, emphasizing his insignificance.
Yet, as he was led away by the guards, Mercy discreetly moved aside to follow them. He waited until they were out of earshot before he spoke to Ripa 'Moramee.
"If you wish to live and regain your honor, I suggest you take this punishment and turn it against the Hierarchs by achieving something so great that even we cannot dismiss it so lightly" Mercy Whispered.
Ripa 'Moramee grunted in acknowledgement but did not look up from his bound hands. He wasn't sure if Mercy was using him for some hidden agenda. But it didn't matter. This was his only way to redeem himself or perhaps there was something else that he could do.
With a final glance at his former position of power and prestige, he set off on his new mission as a mere servant. His mind raced with plans and strategies, promising himself not to disappoint this time around.
Meanwhile Mercy had returned to the chamber where Truth and Regret were still their talking. Secretly the two had their suspicions about Mercy and his plans, but things like that was common among the three of them.
"So the new Arbiter will be Khega 'Votamee, a very capable commander who is known for his clever tactics and strategic mindset. I believe that he can guide us to victory," Truth announced.
Mercy nodded, feigning approval while inside he seethed with indignation. The three Hierarchs always operated in a delicate balance of power and this move was clearly another subtle maneuver by Truth to consolidate his dominance. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter.
"But let us not forget how the Humans have in their possession two Holy Relics, where did they get it from?" Questioned Regret.
Mercy turned to Regret and looked down on him after he just asked a question that he knew not even they had the answer for, "Obviously they found them on some world, but then that brings up the question, Are their more of them?"
The three of them sat in discussion talking about the how the Humans have access to Holy Relics. Once they were done, they had brought in the new Arbiter.
Arbiter Khega 'Votamee was brought before them and ceremonially granted his rank, Mercy watched him with a cold, unreadable gaze. He made no show of approval or disapproval and let the ceremony run its course.
Meanwhile back on Earth, Axel was looking over the report on the MCUs. With the increase in factories the UNSC was able to produce the 300,000 MCUs within 10 Months rather than a year.
So, Axel would continue to have the factories producing MCUs until the 12-month period is over. The MCUs produced during this time would be utilized for military purposes.
The Construction of the Mega-structure had also been proceeding on schedule. But due to the massive number of resources needed, it was instead estimated that it would finish being built within a year and a half.
Which is nothing to worry about since an extra 6 months won't affect anything as long as they have the Dreadnoughts they can defend worlds against Covenant invasions.
At the same time the Spartan-III Program had kicked off and was using Axel's new appearance as a motivator for recruitment.
After he took over the Rubble, Axel had returned to Earth and was asked to appear in front of some reporters concerning him not appearing physically in public for over 6 Months.
So when he first appeared naturally everybody was shocked about his new appearance. He stood towering over everybody and was often compared to a titan by some reporters.
When they asked how he got this way, he could only tell them that it was classified. They tried to press for more information, but he just wouldn't give them anything.
Then a week later the announcement of a new military program called the Spartan-III program was announced to the public to increase recruitment.
The image was of Axel's new towering appearance and had the slogan 'Become the titan of tomorrow. Join the Spartan-III Program.' The image was broadcasted on every channel, every billboard, it had become a symbol of hope, strength, and unity.
The first batch of recruits for the program who passed all the entrance tests numbered 500.
And that number kept increasing as the days went by.
Axel didn't forget about the original Spartan-IIs as he wanted them to be the first to receive the gene-seed enhancement. Then on a later date when he completes his own version of the Primaris gene-seed, he would give it to them.
And since the Primaris was based off the original gene-seed then it would not affect them when they are upgraded with the Primaris gene-seed, in fact it would probably help that they don't need to go through the entire process from step one.
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A/N: Just some random quote from the Art of War
"The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim."
-Sun Tzu
-The Art of war
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