Part 1: Truth
It is amazing what can change in the course of a day, I muse to myself. Just yesterday, on this very battlefield I fought against humans. At the time I believed them to be unholy vermin, equal to the Flood. Unworthy of the Great Journey. Now I know the truth. They were merely a young species, new to the stars, trying to survive against impossible odds.
How we must have seemed to them. Strangers from other worlds who swoop in to eradicate them like so many rats without a word of warning. No wonder they hated us. But their hate made them strong. As did their hope, and their love. Humans drew strength from anything they had left, which, while it wasn't much, it was enough to keep them alive.
Now as the Great Schism opened up between my people and our former masters, the false prophets, we needed that strength more than many would be willing to admit. The Arbiter has extended the hand of friendship to the humans, our former enemies, now allies? I can only hope that they will not slap that hand away, as deserved as it may be.
The heavy silence of my thoughts is uninterrupted by those around me. The dead have no use for the regrets of the living. I wander the last battleground I stood upon as a Covenant general, lost in my own mind. The fighting ended the day before and now the field is abandoned by all those who survived. Except for me. The corpses have cooled, the blood dried, and fires burnt out, left to whatever scavengers live on this planet.
Then I hear it.
Quiet, almost a whisper, but there.
A voice on the wind.
"Please" it begs, but there is no hope in the raspy tone "Don't leave me out here. I don't want to die alone."
Quiet sobs as the speaker realizes they are alone.
One last living soul among the dead.
Part 2: Regret
Without any conscious consent from me, my body heads towards the voice. The speaker is human, I am certain of it. And they have been out here all night, likely injured or somehow unable to leave this open air tomb, calling for their comrades. But they are all dead, my men killed them all, all but this one.
The human is easily located by the continuous hopeless sobs it chokes out, interrupted occasionally by more pleading for other humans who will not come. It is pinned underneath the wreckage of an overturned revenant, pressed between the lifeless bodies of those who will never leave this field.
It notices me and for a moment there is stillness between us. We are both holding our breath, waiting for the other to react first. After a moment I realize the human is playing dead, hoping to remain undiscovered and I break the stalemate, walking towards the helpless human, uncertain as to what I will do when I get there.
Once it is clear I have not fallen for the ruse, the human abandons it, thrashing wildly and cursing. I do not speak as I approach, too caught up in my thoughts.
Deep sorrow lances through my heart as I watch the human. It is young, I can tell that much, far too young to die here on this bloody field. But it is badly wounded as well, a deep laceration to its left flank which has begun to bleed profusely as the human struggles to free itself from the revenant. An improvised bandage is wrapped loosely around it, but it is not nearly enough. I know nothing about human medicine, only how to best kill them. There is nothing I can do for this young soldier to save his life.
Still I am slow to acknowledge what I know is truth. Instead I continue to watch the human in its fruitless struggles. It has to know it is dying. Even if fate had not brought me to its side the human would have died from its wounds. Still though it fights, screaming defiance to me and to death itself.
Defiance aside, the only mercy I can grant this young soldier is to end its life now. A mercy killing, but a killing none-the-less. I stride forward with a heavy heart. Our peoples are to be allies, but still more human blood will stain the hands of a Sangheili.
I ignite my sword.
Part 3: Mercy
"Do it!" The human challenges, snarling up at me, the emotionless visor of its helmet does nothing to diminish its ferocity. But still I cannot let the blow fall. As difficult as it was to raise my weapon, it is even more so to let it fall. To once again bathe its glowing edge in crimson lifeblood.
Can I truly destroy another human life? They are supposed to be my allies, honor demands that I do whatever it takes to protect those who stand beside me in battle.
I deactivate my sword. "I am not going to kill you." I return my energy sword to its place at my hip, plans already whirling through my mind. My ship is waiting to lift off. Waiting for me in fact. On board there is plenty of medical supplies and despite my nonexistent knowledge of human medicine it won't be too hard to work something out. Just stop the blood from leaking out and replenish the human's strength. Same as any other medical procedure, theoretically, at least.
"Damn Covenant bastards!" The human roars, fighting vainly against my hold. Gently as possible, I unpin it from the revenant. The human screeches in pain, one leg seems to be broken, but other than that there is no other damage.
The human is quickly tiring, from blood loss, the ordeal of being awake and alone on the field all night or from using so much energy now I do not know. But it is a small mercy that I will not accidentally cause harm to my new charge while trying to help it. Still though I must get it to the ship before it becomes too weak.
I lift the human into my arms. I have never really thought about how small they are compared to my race. Certainly I've noticed it, but it never occurred to me just how utterly tiny they are until now.
I set off for my ship, determined to save this human's life. I do not know what fate has in store for us, but I hope that we will face it together.