Moving On
Chapter 1: What Now?
Thirty Two years, Thirty Two long years.
Thirty two years thrown away for the act upon a belief proven false by our own. So much time spent on war, so much time that could've been spent on improvements of our race. This however was not fates intention.
But at what cost? The death of billions, of our once falsely alleged foe, for the belief of the purification of our universe, the preservation of our lord's vision for our future?
Those senile irrational fools, how could we have trusted them? We gave them our sword as protection, yet they used it as a knife to carve up the galaxy as they saw fit. Grinning as we slaughtered millions of women and children of the once believed enemy, and for what? So they could stay atop of their pillars, overlooking all of us with death's greed in their hearts?
We should have seen it coming. We should've known by the signs. Even when we did, it was too late. There was nothing we could do. There was nothing I could do. We had succumbed to the same fate as our enemy had. We were betrayed by our own leaders of faith. Finally we were able to see the war through 'their eyes', witnessing the horrors that we had once placed onto our adversary.
As our races fell to their knees from the foothold of their enemy, and our leaders, our eyes shot towards each other. Staring at the face of the one race we had almost exterminated. The one enemy we had for so long. The one enemy we never imagined aligning with.
Fear was driven away. Anger was replaced by the longing for the end, understanding exchanging revenge, unity aligning our fates and visions for our common goals. Witnessing our similarities, seeing our own reflection in the eyes of the other, above all was the acknowledgement of a common enemy.
In the span of thirty two years, so much can alter. The once hated enemy of before, was now our greatest ally. Our once so called, honorable leaders were abolished along with their empire crumbling below them as they fell into the black void of unwanted history. Their traumatized loyalists left behind, with no leader and no goal, disappearing into the darkness of space to start anew.
So much can change in twenty seven years. It barely even feels like it's been that long. Now things will be so much different. Questions of what or where are a constant that clings onto the minds of all of those that live during these days. Where do we go from here? What do we do? What…what….
"What now?" the thought lingered into the mind of the being as he gazed at the opened container in his hands. He breathed in deeply as he read through the data pads, each one with the same date of year '2557'. The being stared at the symbols representing the date as his mind lingered, "The year that changed it all."
2557, was the year that the war finally ended. The brutes surrender on their home planet. Hard to believe that was little over four months ago.
The being breathed out as he closed the container and placed it back in the storage unit. He gave one last look at the container, watching as the words 'letters of the deceased' disappeared along with the carton into the darkness of the storage unit. The room remained quite as the storage unit sealed beeping in recognition of its cargo it now held.
The being stood there, letting his mind wander on different ideals and thoughts. He brought his, dark gray four-fingered, hand to rest upon his golden ornate helmet, the thoughts in his mind haunting him as he remembered all the planets he had destroyed with his fleet all those years ago.
The nightmares faded as the rumbles of the ship stuttered his train of thought. Entering slip space had always been a hatred of the elite however today he thanked it for interrupting his minds traumatizing journey. He breathed out as his heart beat relaxed understanding that the images were of the past, resting his body as he stood remembering the dreads of war.
His body had succumbed to a plentiful amount of torment during the conflict. Scars riddled his torso and arms most of them from battles and debris. Some however, were from a different kind of torment altogether. The elite brought his hand to his golden armored chest remembering the mark that was given to him for his failures. Some Sangheili had told him that the mark means nothing now seeing how the covenant has broken, but the mark continues to carry that sting. Like poison to the brain and salt on the wounds. The feeling of complete collapse of his life all due to that de…
The elite clenched his fist as he remembered the event in his life, the event that changed everything, not only for the war but for his beliefs. The destruction of halo had brought the elite into a trance of shame, an unrelenting storm that continued to fog his mind without mercy.
Even if his title and mark had no meaning since the fall of the covenant, the same sense of weakness and sting that the two brought, remained in there spots among the darkest corners of his mind. The same sting that never left him and will never leave him.
The sangheili breathed in calming his mind from the torments of the past as his senses picked up on the sound of the door opening.
"Arbiter?" the deep voice echoed among the room as the elite in the door watched the golden hue of the beings body.
The Arbiter turned his head to see an elite minor standing in the door staring at him intently. "What is it?"
"Rtas requests you on the bridge Arbiter." The minor replied slightly agitated by the darkness of the storage bay.
The Arbiter stared back at the sangheili, his mind registering the order for his appearance on the bridge. "Tell him I will be there momentarily."
The minor seemed quite relieved of the answer as he bowed with his fist to his chest, the trademark elite salute, before hastily leaving the Arbiter with his thoughts.
The Arbiter sighed as he gave one last look at the surplus of data pad containers that had filled the storage bay of the ship, all of them with the same symbol of 'letters of the deceased', before turning around and exiting through the doors of the storage bay.
The rumbling reverberation of the ships engines kept at a rhythmic pace in tuned with the drumming of the fingers from Rtas's fingers as he eagerly waited for the exit of slip space. The ship master had become used to the rumbling sound of the Shadow of Intent for he had commanded the ship for almost his entire career as ship master. This trip in slip space however, felt like an eternity to him.
The old commander had been through a lot of battles with the old vessel both of them acquiring plenty of scratches form the constant enemy fire. Rtas's reputation of being the frontline charge leader had taken a toll on his aged body. From incoming lead by humans to the spikes of the brutes, he had been hit by all.
The aged sangheili brought his hand to what remained of his left mandibles remembering his close encounter with a certain parasite that he despised. All the fire he had come under over the years had not prepared him for what the flood was capable of. The elite shuddered as the memory came to his mind, the image of that disembodied…creature lunging at him.
"If only I had more experience at the time then I wouldn't have lost so much." The elite thought as he brought his hand away from the bumps of what was left of his mandibles.
Rtas's gaze fell upon the forward observation window distracting his mind from the memory by watching the stars zoom by. His hand continued its repetitive drumming while his mind wondered on the thought of seeing his home again. Decades of war had caused a vast amount of excitement to boil up in the old commander at the thought of seeing the old planet again.
The commander's repetitive drumming ended, as he heard the doors of the bridge slide open. Rtas's mandibles twitched into a grin as he saw the golden colored armor walk through the doors.
"Ah Thel, I believed that the Arbiter should be one of the first of our brothers to witness the site of our return home." Rtas stated as he waved his hand towards the frontal viewing window, his grin remaining.
The arbiter turned his head down as his old name was called. Rtas should know better. He was one of the first commanders told of the trial. He knows the meaning of the mark. "Rtas you know how I..."
"Thel, the covenant is dead; the mark has no more weight to it…" Rtas replied as he gazed at Thel his expression emotionless. "…besides my rank remains above yours in a way, so consider this a command." Rtas completed as he gave a slight grin to follow his mischief.
Thel brought his eyes up slowly to look out the pane into the vastness of slip space as he contemplated Rtas's orders. He was right… in a way. The mark's power remains bound with the fate of the covenant and now since the covenant has fallen the mark followed…in theory. To Thel the mark meant something so much more, something that Rtas would not understand.
Rtas watched as Thel stared out the window. He brought his vision forward seeing that the elite was deep in thought at the use of his old name.
The long silence continued for the time leaving the two elites deep in thought of visions of what was to come. The silence however, broke as a commotion between two elite minors brought the attention of everyone on the bridge.
"I can't wait to see home. It feels like it's been a decade since." One of the minors stated as the other gave him a slight glare.
"You've only been in the war for three years. You have no place to weep over the sight of seeing Sanghelios again." The other minor replied with slight frustration in his voice.
At this point a sangheili major stepped in to break up the squalor, irritated by the young ones outburst. "Silence your tongues both of you. Do you not understand that all of us have equal rights and desires to see our home again?"
The minors brought their heads down in shame understanding the older Elite's words. The war was a tough one no matter how many years you were in it. Their expressions brightened however, as they saw a slight grin growing on the major's mandibles. An unsteady air resided in the room as the commotion had brought the interest of everyone from the bridge towards the trio.
The bridge lit into a commotion of laughter while the trio of elites began making fun of each others expressions. The humorous uproar brought up conversations from the other sangheili seeing that Rtas seamed to not care of the squalor.
"Aw come on Ver, leave the two minors alone." Another major replied as he walked up to the trio, curious of their conversation.
The minors, who had recovered from their laughter, looked back up at the major who had 'pestered' them of their discussion smiling at Ver's grin. "I actually believed that you were angered at us. Were did you learn that trick?" one of the minors asked impressed by the aged elite's show.
"A human captain showed me, well after he was more comfortable with me being around his men. He said that if I wanted to scare the living shit out of my soldiers I should give them a death stare, I believe he said." The sangheili completed as he rubbed his head remembering the conversation he had with the human.
"What was his name?" the other major asked curious of this human's sarcastic lineage.
Ver scratched his mandibles bringing up the humans name. "I believe his name was…Buck."
The other elite minors looked at the major as the name came out. "Another human's sarcasm brought out by their leaders. Fascinating isn't it?" The minor replied curious of human leadership.
The conversation continued as more and more sangheili began their own discussions about a close call with a brute or talks of human sarcasm. One of the bigger topics however, was the mention of home.
Thel watched as the entire bridge began to fill with stories or laughter. His mandibles twitched into a smile as he heard the elite's discussions. For the first time in years he was hearing sangheili jokes and stories of their past. No discussion of war or placement of the brute fleets, just brothers sharing their stories and experiences of home.
His smile dimmed slightly as he looked up to see Rtas's emotionless stare continue out towards space. Thel questioned the commander's contempt ways, however he let it go believing that Rtas' main goal was to see home again.
The arbiter's gaze turned forward watching slip space travel by, knowing that soon they would see their home again. His mandibles formed into a brightened stare as his mind rested onto the thought of seeing Suban and Oikost again, the two moons revolving around the reddish hue of Sanghelios. With its blue skies horizontal to the turquoise seas bordering around the forested continents, the old planet will be a sight to behold once again.
The arbiter stood as his mind wandered on Sanghelios, waiting to see the home planet again.
He looked forward to the return home and the war finally ending for all of them.
There you have it. Chapter Uno.
Hurray! I actually feel very good about this story.
I hope you guys do as well.
Until next time!
-Jdizzle57