.
Abnormal
Bhekar Ro was a strange world.
Touched by some ancient alien species, whoever they were. Settled by those seeking to escape the Terran Confederacy, yet refusing the benevolence of the Dominion. Barren apart from the area around where the relic of said alien species was due to some…thing that her clearance wasn't high enough to tell her about. Heck, she suspected even Cauley didn't know the full story.
But at least she had a lot of dead bodies to deal with. And dead bodies always made things easier-fewer witnesses, fewer thoughts that she had to filter out, and knowing that her target was somewhere in the pile…well, it wasn't an optimal victory, but she thought it would be well within an acceptable limit for Cauley. Or whoever had given the orders to extract the Alpha Squadron lieutenant, and somehow, she didn't see her master being the one to pass it down.
Bhekar Ro was a strange world, the Ghost reflected. Strange in that it actually had people willing to fight and die for one of their own, even when she had no quarrel with them as an agent, and besides their rejection of Dominion rule, had no quarrel with the Dominion either. Strange in that they had so much loyalty to one of their own, yet no sense of loyalty to their protectors and governors, even when the forces of said protectors and governors had saved their lives two years ago. The Ghost cast her gaze over the bodies-all ghosts of their own to her, none of them warranting a file bar her target. She wondered how many people were left in New Haven, and whether someone else from the Dominion would be sent to finish the job. Maybe she'd be the one to do it herself. Even if she had considerably less ammunition for her C-10 than when she first landed, it should be doable.
Bhekar Ro was a strange world, all things considered. Never mind the presence of life such as the glider hawk, a pack of them already circling the mound of bodies like something out of an Old Earth legend. No…there was also the sun to consider. Turning her gaze towards the setting orb, the Ghost reflected on what little she knew of astronomy-a luxury for someone in her position. Shouldn't Bhekar Ro be tidally locked against a star that was a K-class? Had the aliens who visited this world changed the laws of astrophysics? Had they anticipated how close to red the star seemed right now, casting its gaze over the blood pouring out from the bodies and in some cases, splattering the feathers of the buzzards?
Bhekar Ro was a strange world. So strange that as soon as the Ghost received a transmission from her masters, she answered immediately.
"Where next?"
A/N
I probably don't need to make a oneshot sattirizing Shadow of the Xel'naga because its shortcomings are probably self-explanatory. Rather, what 'inspired' this was a more subtle tidbit from the novel, namely that Bhekar Ro orbits an orange star-borderline red dwarf on the spectral scale. Can't say I fully understand the astrophysics behind it, but current understanding is that any life-supporting world in orbit with such a star would be tidally locked, yet the planet clearly has a day-night cycle. And coupled with the unexplained colonist massacre in the comic series, came up with this as a result.