The stars over Sangheilos were perfect and undisturbed. Then the giant hole opened in space, disgorging nine Covenant CCS-class battleships as well as a massive assault carrier. The Shadow of Intent took up position at the front of the formation as the fleet moved into orbit. On the carrier's bridge, Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam stood, looking down on their homeworld as the crew worked behind them. Rtas sighed. "So, it is safe."

"Once and for all," the Arbiter agreed. He placed a slim, dark hand on 'Vadum's shoulder and then turned to the bridge crew. "Send a message to the Vadam keep. Tell them that their kaidon has returned."

The crewman stationed at communications nodded and tapped several buttons on his display. The room was silent for a moment as he spoke into the small microphone integrated into the terminal. "Attention Vadam Keep. This is the carrier Shadow of Intent with the Sangheili Fleet of Retribution. Do you copy? Respond, over."

There was only static. They listened to it for a short while before the crewman tried again. "I repeat, Vadam Keep this is the Shadow of Intent. We are requesting clearance to disembark, over."

Still static. 'Vadum looked at the sensors operator. "Are you picking up anything strange? Life signs of Jiralhanae? Anything?"

"No, Ship Master. It would appear that…wait…I have something, coming up on the holoprojector."

"Surface signal synchronizing with shipboard generators," the communications officer said. "Coming online now."

The holoprojector sprang to life to reveal a monstrosity the likes of which no Sangheili in the room had ever encountered.

It was a large creature, a sort of alien. It had a long, lozenge-shaped head, ending with a fearsome maw that showed a hideous protrusion that possessed its own mouth. The tail that whipped in and out of view was long and ended with a sharp, bladed tip. Claws gleamed in the light of the projector and painted the thing's carapace a ghostly blue. It screeched at them fiercely before the connection cut out.

'Vadum looked at the sensors operator. "What in the name of the gods was that?"

"I…I don't know, Ship Master."

The Arbiter looked at the security officer. "Prepare the drop pods and instruct the Special Warfare detachment to report to the bays. Have them reserve two for the Ship Master and me."

The security officer slammed a clenched fist into his chest. "By your will, Arbiter."

The Arbiter looked at 'Vadum. "Come. Let us discover the meaning of this intrusion."

Both Sangheili exited the bridge and made their way to an elevator. As the car rode downwards to the pod deployment bay, 'Vadum looked at the Arbiter. "What do you think it was?"

'Vadam shook his head. "I don't know. Some kind of demon?"

Rtas shrugged. "Possibly. Or a Jiralhanae weapon or some kind of trick."

'Vadam stopped the elevator at an armory level. As the two Sangheili exited the elevator, Rtas looked at him. "Do you think it could be the humans?"

The Arbiter shook his head. "No. They are occupied with rebuilding their home world. They are in no position to make trouble with us, and most likely would not wish to, especially not after we helped them defeat the Covenant."

The two entered one of the larger armories. Both took a pair of plasma rifles, a plasma pistol, and an energy sword. Rtas took a portable shield from a shelf. Turning it on briefly, he examined the humming rhombus before deactivating the device and placing it on his arm. The two returned to the elevator and resumed their journey to the bay. After the elevator stopped, they disembarked.

Sangheili in black armor were moving to and fro on the launch pad, going to their assigned pods. Two that stood next to each other were empty. Those were the ones that 'Vadum and the Arbiter would be taking. The Special Warfare commanding officer approached them and saluted. "We are almost ready, Ship Master."

"Good," 'Vadum said. "Once we are on the ground, have all of our Phantoms on standby with lances ready for emergency combat deployment. Keep the shields up, too. If what we saw is a new threat, we must not be caught unawares in space by it."

The commanding officer nodded and relayed the orders to the bridge. The Arbiter looked around at the Sangheili in the bay. "Move!"

The warriors ran to their pods. The Arbiter and the Ship Master barely fit inside theirs with all of their gear, but once the lids hissed shut over them they could do nothing to stop it.

In his own pod, 'Vadum felt a loud hiss reverberate through his pod as the Shadow of Intent lowered its shields to allow the pods to launch. Once the shields were lowered there was a loud bang and Rtas was pressed into the cushioning on the inside of the pod as the thing shot towards the surface of Sangheilos. Rtas looked at the hatch separating him from the cold blackness of space as the air inside his pod began to heat up. They were entering Sangheilos's atmosphere.

Inside his own pod, the Arbiter mused. What had been that strange creature they had seen? It could not have been one of the humans, or one of the members of his keep playing a trick. They would not dare do that to their kaidon. But he did not go through countless battles, humiliation by those he had once obeyed without question, and into the living hell of a parasite to lose all that he held dear to him in one fell swoop. He heard a loud crack, followed by a violent jerk that popped the seal on the pod. The Arbiter was thrown forward, fell on a hard, jagged surface, and lost consciousness as something hit his helmet.

Rtas was luckier. His pod landed on the shore of the sea that Vadam bordered, along with nearly all of the other Special Warfare soldiers. He looked around. All of the regulars were accounted for… He snapped his claws at one of them. "Where is the Arbiter?"

"I know not, Ship Master. Perhaps he landed somewhere in the city."

Rtas looked towards the mass of buildings that awaited them. He just now noticed that it was eerily quiet. No Sangheili citizens walked the pier; none peeked out from behind cover. There was nothing at all. Not even the local avian species made noise. He drew his plasma rifles and held them akimbo as he looked at the others. "Split into lances and make your way towards the keep. Search every house, every workplace, and every street until you get to the main gates. I go to find the Arbiter. Contact me if you find anything interesting."

The Sangheili saluted in unison and split up into teams. Rtas, unburdened by organization, ran into the streets of the city to find the Arbiter.

He found him quickly. A building with a conspicuously fresh-looking hole in the roof led him inside. The main room was dominated by a pile of rubble. Sticking out of the pile of rubble was a drop pod, and sprawled out across the pile of stone was the body of the Arbiter, lying spread-eagled and face down on the rocks.

Rtas, one plasma rifle trained on the doorway, the other on the Arbiter, kept one eye on his motion tracker as he approached the Sangheili. Stepping forward, he poked the Arbiter with the rifle. A hand instantly shot up and grabbed his arm. The Arbiter groaned and lifted his head slowly.

Good, Rtas thought, he's still alive.

"What happened?" the Arbiter asked groggily.

"Your pod was apparently knocked off course, and you knocked unconscious."

"The others?"

"All landed safely. I've ordered them to make their way towards the keep and search the city. If they find anything of importance, they will let us know."

Their communications systems both beeped at once.

"Arbiter, this is Shadow of Intent."

"Ship Master, this is Major Domo Derma 'Tharan."

Both answered in unison. "Yes?"

"We conducted a scan of the space surrounding Sangheilos, and there is another ship in orbit around the planet on the opposite side, out of our visual sensors."

"We found something of…importance, sir. Very great importance. You need to come and see."

The Arbiter pressed the button on his communicator again. "Shadow of Intent, stay your explanation. I will contact you shortly."

He released the button as Rtas informed the Major Domo that they were on their way.

The two warriors ran through the streets. Rtas stopped suddenly as something flashed across his motion tracker. He looked around, first at street level, then the rooftops. The Arbiter looked curiously at him. "What do you see?"

The Ship Master looked at the rooftops one more time, then turned back. "I…don't know."

They began running again, finally coming to what the Arbiter recognized as the proving grounds of young Sangheili warriors that had been seeking entrance into the Covenant military. Now the place was covered with a sort of sticky webbing. The Special Warfare lances were positioned by every entrance. 'Tharan snapped to attention as his superiors approached. "Sirs, we have determined that there is something inside the stadium. The webbing above the arena seems to be covering the smell, so we had to venture inside a short distance before detecting it."

"We will go inside. Stay out here and watch for threats," the Ship Master commanded.

He and the Arbiter carefully walked forward. They moved through the tunnels, eyes on their motion trackers. The Arbiter flicked on the flashlight built into his armor. Rtas looked at it, curious. "Where did you get that?"

"The humans modified the armor to accompany it. They call it a 'flashlight'."

"It doesn't look like it flashes."

"Their name, not mine."

Rtas gave an amused huff and they kept walking. Things skittered in the darkness. The Arbiter recalled that the noise was that of the small rodent creatures that infested Sangheilos. The arena security would have a lot to answer for by failing to keep his stadium free of pests.

Soon, a smell began to grow in his nostrils. He looked at Rtas. "Do you smell that?"

Rtas nodded. "Yes. It reminds me of the battlefield."

They both then stopped. "Death," they said in unison and began running.

The Arbiter reached the arena first, stopping short at what he saw.

Piled high in the center of the arena was a mountain of Sangheili bodies.

I got the idea for this story from a Halo crossover forum on this site. Anyways, despite what most people thought I loved the first AvP movie. This'll also be shorter than my other stories, so expect it to wrap up in about seven more chapters. R and R!