The Field Marshal walked through the hallways of the Seeker of Truth, the flagship of the Fleet of Particular Justice. The Supreme Commander had summoned him for a meeting about the plan for the upcoming insertion on one of the human worlds.
He was an old general; his first year in the Covenant Army had also marked the year they had discovered the humans and began their war of extermination against them. Because of his long and decorated career, his name was eligible for a position on the High Council. It was quite likely that whatever this next campaign would be, it would also be his last.
The doors opened for him, and waiting inside the room was Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee. The Field Marshal's peer turned as he heard the door opened, and spoke a simple greeting to him.
The Field Marshal returned the salutation, and then inquired, "What do the Prophets require us to do?"
"We managed to track one of the humans' vessels to a major base of theirs," replied 'Vadamee.
"Did you? Most impressive," complimented the Field Marshal, "The humans are usually quite thorough in eliminating all evidence of the location of their worlds."
"We latched a stealth probe onto one of their vessels after a battle, and traced it to this base," explained 'Vadamee, "Unfortunately, the planet is also undoubtedly the most heavily defended and most fortified world we have seen yet, so I am taking time to gather more ships to my fleet before attacking.
"In the meantime, I need someone to complete an infiltration mission, to gather information on relics on the planet. As ranking Army officer, and former Commander of the Special Operations of the Covenant, I believe you to be the best choice."
"I am honored."
"I will also send a stealth corvette with you, to supply troops as a diversion, in case our presence is discovered. Here is the complement."
The Field Marshal nodded his assent as he took the datapad from 'Vadamee's hands. He gave a brief look at the list before blinking in surprise and looking back at the Supreme Commander.
"Skirmishers?"
It was general knowledge that there was a subspecies of Kig-Yar known as the Skirmishers. While they were stronger, faster, and more agile than their more common cousins, they were also far fewer in number, and reproduced slowly. It was because of their limited population that the High Council had allowed the majority of Skirmishers to stay out of fighting the war against the humans. To date, only a few small teams had ever seen action. In fact, it took a vote from the Council to allow even that small number to participate.
"How did you get the Council to allow you to have such numbers into your fleet?"
"I convinced them that we would need every asset available in order for this campaign to succeed," the Supreme Commander replied, and gestured the Field Marshal to the middle of the room, where a holographic projector stood. "Come, and look at this."
The machine came to life, and the holographic image of a planet appeared.
"This is the world we are to attack," explained 'Vadamee, "The humans call it Reach."
The Field Marshal cared little for the naming habits of the enemy, but did not comment on it.
"It is defended by two dozen satellites, twenty of them possessing heavy guns powerful enough to take out an average cruiser in one or two hits," 'Vadamee continued, "Along with those satellites are no fewer than a hundred warships. And this is only the information our probe was able to pick up from space. We do not know of their ground numbers, although it reasonable to assume that they, too, will be great.
"Field Marshal, out of all the battles against the humans, this will be our hardest."
"Victory is inevitable," he replied confidently.
"Indeed," he agreed, "But at what cost? Casualty rates in previous human conflicts have been alarmingly high, and none of those planets were as heavily defended as this one."
The Field Marshal reluctantly conceded the point. As much as he despised humans, he knew from personal experience on how determined they could be.
"We are going to need every advantage to win this conflict," reiterated 'Vadamee, "That is why I believe adding Skirmishers to our ranks will aid in the battle; the Council agrees."
The Field Marshal merely nodded.
"If this meeting is concluded, I will ready my team," he said, saluting the Supreme Commander.
"All who walk the blessed path will find salvation," dismissed 'Vadamee, returning the gesture.
The Field Marshal blinked in slight surprise, but finished the mantra of a Minor, the first mantra all Sangheili were taught to recite upon entering the Covenant military. "Even in death."
Author's Note: Basically, this is my take on the Field Marshal's point of view from Halo Reach. As the only recurring Covenant character of that game, he always interested me. And no, I will not be thinking up a name for him. I will always refer to him as just the Field Marshal.
Since this will be from the Covenant's POV, 'Vadamee (A.K.A. the future Arbiter) will play a significant role in this story. One thing I was disappointed about in Reach was that he didn't even get a cameo role, since technically he would be the unseen Big Bad of Halo Reach.
I also used this chapter to help explain why Skirmishers had never been seen before Halo Reach. While I thought the Skirmishers were cool, I was disappointed that they came so late into the series, and without proper explanation on where they came from. Yes, it's canon that we don't see them after Reach because of the heavy casualties they sustained, but why haven't they been mentioned before? My guess is that Skirmishers weren't exactly the most populous of races before Reach either.
And yes, I did purposely publish this on September 14, the second anniversary of the release of Halo Reach.