Chapter 1 – Shadows of War
Sanghelios, 2569
The room was dark. The only light came from his twin energy swords. There was nothing in the room either. It was empty. At least, it seemed to be empty. The Arbiter knew that he was not alone. He then glimpsed movement in one corner of the room. His eyes locked on to what he knew to be another Sangheili. A burst of blue plasma spewed from that corner of the room. The Arbiter leapt. He grabbed at what appeared to be empty air, looking for something to hold on to. He found what he was looking for. He allowed himself a smile, knowing that he had won.
"Lights!" He commanded. The room was instantly flooded with blue light. The training exercise was over.
"As always, Thel, you are a worthy opponent. But training with you is not the only reason I came here." The elite ranger, Rikar Vadam said.
"Speak, then." The Arbiter replied
"My lord, the distant outposts of the Sangheilian Empire are under attack by the Jiralhanae."
"So. The bastards have decided to rekindle our old war. They are fools for thin king that they can win. Ready my fleet. We leave as soon as our armies are assembled."
"Yes, my lord." Rikar replied.
Once his friend had left, Thel let out a deep sigh. He had hoped that the Jiralhanae would not decide to attack again. The empire had thrived for nearly 20 years after the end of the human/Covenant war. But now, the shadow of war would once again fall across the galaxy. Inevitably, the Kig-Yar were already a part of this war. The Unngoy would be drawn in, as many of them had found sanctuary in the empire after the destruction of their home world by the Jiralhanae 7 years ago. And as for the humans…there had been little contact with them since the joint effort to find the Arbiter's friend John Spartam-117. But it was inevitable that they would be drawn in. Just when peace had begun to settle in, the Jiralhanae had attacked. Oh well, he thought to himself. He'd secretly been aching for a real fight ever since the battle for the Unggoy home world. And now, the Sangheilis would burn the inferior bastards. They would kill every single one of them.