Chapter Two: A Friendly Chat

Tano stood up and hopped out of the vehicle with surprising dexterity.

"Come, James. We musn't keep our 'distinguished guests' waiting.

He opened the large front doors wide, as if he were a feudal lord entering his palace.

Kane peered about, expecting Brutes the come rushing from the shadows to tear him and the old warrior apart.

They strode through a large hangar, empty except for a few Seraph single fighters and a Spirit dropship that James suspected was the same one that had brought him into this strange situation.

Milling around the Spirit was a group of tall Sangheili warriors, all clad in dark green-grey armor, and armed with what what looked like a cross between an energy sword and a spear.

Tano called out a greeting to them in an alien language that was strangely melodic yet slightly sinister.

The warriors formed into a semicircle and barked a reply in unison.

"Good, the barbarians are waiting in the receiving bay." He said to Kane. "We shall meet them there."

That said, the aged warrior gestured to James that he should follow and walked through an arched door and down a hallway.

The Sangheili squad followed close behind the pair. Reaching a wide doorway, Tano stopped abrubtly and the other warriors formed up around the door and readied their weapons.

"Now would be a good time to ready your weapon, Human Kane." Tano whispered as he grasped the hilt of his own weapon in his hand.

James racked a round into the chamber of his M6G, ans spoke out the corner of his mouth. "Ready."

To which Tano replied in a whisper, "Good, hide it, and do not fire until my warriors are in position."

Kane tucked his pistol into his waistband at the small of his back.

With that, the door opened with a hiss and they strode into a large, brightly lit hangar.

Nine Jiralhanae turned to face them, seven of them in dark bluish-teal armor,one clad in gold armour with a menacing headdress, a Major, the final one donned the maroon and gold-orange armor of a Chieftain. James had seen this type of armor only once before, and the headdress struck him as odd; looking like a cross between the carapace of a large crustacean, and a rhino's horn.

A pungent smell permeated the air as the Jiralhanae spotted the human walking alongside the Sangheili warrior.

"What is this?" Barked the Chieftain.

"Heresy!" He roared and unslung his Hammer as his packmates drew their spike rifles and brute shots, and aimed them at Tano and James.

"Explain yourself Sangheili," he growled, hefting his gravity hammer.

The wizened warrior glared at the Brute.

"There is nothing to explain, the Great Coveneant Schism has begun.

He activated his energy sword with a crack; twin blades of white-hot plasma shot from the handle to form two needle sharp spears of energy.

"Now!" He shouted in a clear voice.

James drew his M6G and let loose a barrage of fifty caliber bullets at the Jiralhanae Major, emptying his magazine in seconds. The rounds sparked off of its shields, but the massive projectiles finally managed to break through, cracking the chestplate and finally coming to rest in its left lung. As the bullet reached its desination in the lung of the Brute, the HE part of SAP-HE reared it's explosive head, blasting a large hole in the Jiralhanae's chest with a large gush of dark red blood. A fount of blood sprayed from the savage warrior's mouth, and as he collapsed, his fingers depressed the trigger of his Brute Shot, sending a barrage of grenades shooting into the wall and ceiling.

While that was happening, Tano was rushing the chieftain. Dodging a swing of the hammer, he crouched low and swung his sword in a hissing arc. The JiralhanaeChieftain collapsed as his leg was severed below the hip, falling into one of his subordinates in proccess. Tano jumped onto its chest and stabbed his sword through it; impaling the torso of the lesser brute in the process. He dragged the blades upward, effectively cutting the Brutes in half.

The thundering of hooved feet filled the hangar as Tano's squad streamed into the room from various doors with a battle cry roaring from their mouths. "For Sangheilios!"

They dove into the fray, energy staves flashing as Brutes were cut down.

In under a minute, the Jiralhanae were dead; their blood pooling upon the flagstones of the hangar.

James walked over to the Chieftain's corpse, kicked it, and thought aloud.

"So much for a friendly chat."