A low hum of a Phantom's engines disrupted Yar's thoughts. By right, he shouldn't be hearing any from the fairly soundproof room he had found, but the fact that its engines were loud indicated it was something special.

His curiosity got the better of him and he walked out. The Phantom that had landed had a dark blue strip running through it, indicating it was one designed for transporting high priority items. Yar could guess what it was.

The Phantom's only occupant, a Kig-Yar pilot, poked its head out. 'Me take relic,' it gibbered.

Vora strode into the courtyard. He handed the Kig-Yar the disc, looked inside, and frowned. 'Only you?'

The Kig-Yar shrugged. 'They overstaffed.'

Yar thought about Tene's comment earlier, that her commander did not have that much faith in the Great Journey. Looked like it was true, Gled had not sent a proper escort to accompany the Forerunner artefact. Vora wouldn't be happy.

Vora wasn't. He spotted Tene and N lounging by the corner of the courtyard, and beckoned the male zealot over. 'Nox. Go with Yar, guard the relic until it reaches the Supercarrier.'

'Sir, Gled wants to me to – '

'The Great Journey transcends everything. Yar, you're up.' Vora nodded to Yar, pressing the disk in his hand, just as a new voice entered the fray.

'I'm afraid not.'

That voice, so arrogant and high pitched, came from a pack of Jiralhanae. Yar inwardly groaned as three of those beasts hulked into the scene. Two of them were Captains, one missing an eye, and the other with a dented helmet. The third Brute was a chieftain, and with a shock Yar recognised him as the skinny fellow who had interrupted him earlier.

'We will guard the relic, commander,' the Chieftain sneered, pronouncing the last word as if it was a joke. 'No need to trouble you, sir.'

Everyone present could sense the disrespect in the chieftain's voice. Tene bristled, and stepped forward. 'Show more respect, Jiralhanae.'

'Oh, too proud to address me by name? It's Carcarus, Sangheili. Remember that.'

Out of the corner of his eye, Yar could see Unggoy and Kig-Yar slowly backing away from the group. This wasn't good.

Tene crept closer, and Caracrus hefted his gravity hammer. In that instant, in the sudden, dead silence, there was a sharp hiss of an energy sword, and N was suddenly next to Carcarus, holding two blades to his neck.

Almost immediately both species had their weapons out. Yar hefted his plasma repeater in a kneejerk reaction, knowing vaguely that the whole situation was balancing on a prepice. One muscle jerk, on plasma bolt, would send everything in this base hurtling into chaos.

It was so quiet that Yar could hear N breathing heavily, itching to cut the brute's head open. And he might have, had Vora remained silent. But he was one of the Covenant's best commanders for a reason.

'Stand down, Nox,' he said sharply.

N didn't move a muscle. For a moment, Yar thought that N was just going to do it anyway, but slowly, impossibly, N put his swords down and backed away.

'Lower your weapons, all of you.'

No one moved a muscle.

'For the sake of Covenant, lower your weapons!

Yar heard the palpable anger in Vora's voice and holstered his weapon. The others saw this, and slowly followed suit.

Carcarus jabbed his finger at the Sangheili. 'Very nice and all, sir, but the fact remains – '

'You're going with it.'

Carcarus blinked. 'What?'

'You'll join Yar and Nox. Go on.'

'Isn't that what you wanted?' Tene chimed in.

Yar jumped into the Phantom, beckoning N to do the same. The two captains with Carcarus scowled, and looked to their leader for orders.

'Certainly, commander. I would be honoured. After all,' Carcarus walked to the Phantom and threw an arm over N. 'We're all friends here.'

N flinched, as if a slug had landed on his back, but thankfully didn't move. Carcarus grinned and climbed in next to them, followed by his two Jiralhanae lackeys. The hanger doors closed and the floor beneath Yar rumbled. Soon, they were off. Yar breathed a sigh of relief.

He looked down at the perfectly smooth disk in his hand. For some insane reason, he felt an urge to throw it away, destroy it. Instead he wrapped it in his hand, furious at his heretic thoughts. His fathers came to him, as it often did, berating him.

He was a zealot. That was who he was. He had no choice but to live up to it.

'Hey, squid-face,' Carcarus said.

'You talk like a human.'

'Thanks,' Carcarus displayed a yellow smile. 'I know I may be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but it's all a way of releasing stress. Once you get to know me, I'm really nice.'

Yar highly doubted that, but said nothing.

'Anyway, I see you're a bit under the weather. No worries. I'll cheer you up. Just like Jano Huzamee.'

Yar's head snapped round. 'You knew Jano?'

'Of course. And, it might interest you to know I knew him in the early days, back then where he was just any other loyal zealot.'

It was well-known that Jano Huzamee was one of the sleaziest and unfaithful zealots in the entire Covenant, but there had been rumours that he wasn't like that in the beginning. Yar leaned forward eagerly, trying to ignore the stench of Carcarus's armpits.

N suddenly growled, as if to say, 'Carcarus is fooling you.'

'Think what you want, but I did know Jano. Let me put it this way...there is something interesting aboard the Supercarrier up there. When I show you it, you'll understand.'

Carcarus was being maddeningly vague. And yet, somehow, Yar believed he actually was hiding something important.

'What are you trying to say, Carcarus?'

The Jiralhanae winked at him. 'Patience. I'll show you, in good time. You look like the type who can handle it.'

N growled again, and walked towards the side of the Phantom. There was a tiny window located at the side of the wall, and N peered down, uttering a soft, moaning noise.

Yar thought about the Supercarrier above them, and shivered for no apparent reason. He had the distant feeling that he was heading into the lion's den.

Tene watched the Phantom disappear into the sky, and sighed. She was already missing N. Turning to Vora, she said, 'You handled that well, sir.'

'You did too,' Vora replied. 'Now if, you'll excuse me...' he paused, and hesitated. 'Are you free right now?'

'Now that N's gone, yes.' Her face lit up with alarm as she realised what she had said. 'Not meaning to offend you, sir – '

'Of course not. I just want someone to meditate with me.'

'On what?'

'The death of my comrades.'

Kraz and Jano were possibly the two most annoying zealots in the history of the Covenant, but Tene didn't mention that fact. She looked into Vora's inscrutable eyes, and nodded.

'Thank you. Now – '

A squawk of a jackal split the air, shattering the tranquil moment. Both of them immediately snapped into combat positions.

'What was that?' Tene hissed.

'Could be a false alarm...' Vora scanned the courtyard, looking at the various Covenant species that were looking around in alarm. And then suddenly, an Unggoy collapsed in a spray of blood, a bullet buried in its head.

Several squads of marines charged into the base, their guns blazing. Kig-Yar failed to activate their shields in time, and perished in a mass of writhing bodies.

Now humans were swarming all over the courtyard, on the upper levels, and even behind them. Tene began to feel the first vestiges of panic.

Vora saw Spartans among the attacking humans, and without knowing it, searched for anyone in grey armour. He wasn't here, but they were being attacked, nevertheless.

A barrage of projectiles slammed into his back, and he twisted round. A contingent of marines had been sneaking up on them from behind. He activated his energy sword and started slicing and dicing, Tene providing covering fire with her concussion rifle. Within minutes, all of them were dead.

'What should we do, sir?' asked Tene, looking at him with a kind of awe.

'Fight, of course,' Vora looked back, and saw that his Sangheili brethren were already launching a counterattack. Roaring, he leapt into the battlefield.

After a full five minutes, he lost count of how many he killed. All he knew was that there were humans, and he needed to take care of them. The crackled of plasma and the rattle of bullets constantly stung his ears. When his sword struck down the last marine, there was a brief reprieve as all fell silent. Vora stood there, trying to catch his breath, just as a Spartan clad in yellow armour rose up.

In his hands he held a grenade launcher, which he fired twice. Two Majors beside Vora were killed instantly, blown off their feet. Roaring in anger, Vora charged at him, but faltered as a grenade exploded in his face. He rolled to the side as a second one flew past him.

He darted behind cover, but a third grenade bounced off a wall and hit him square in the chest. Vora stumbled backwards, his shields gone now. The Spartan rushed into view, ready for the kill.

Tene rushed forward, her shields already flickering. The Spartan let loose a final grenade. Tene leaped, caught it in mid-air, closed her fist around it and brought it down on the ground.

'No!' yelled Vora, but it was too late. The grenade exploded. Vora hurled his sword, and it went right through the Spartan's chest. Vora ignored him. Images of Kraz and Jano swirled in his mind as he turned to look at Tene. He blinked.

She was perfectly intact, her whole body encased in a glowing blue light. She unlocked her armour with a loud click, and turned to look at Varo wearily.

'Be less reckless next time,' Varo said sharply, glancing left and right for more opponents. 'I would have survived it.'

'If the Covenant loses Vora Oracee,' replied Tene, moving up to cover him, 'what would become of it?'

A surviving Sangheili Minor rushed up to them, giving a hurried bow before opening his mouth. 'My brothers, we have been ordered to retreat.'

'What! We are fleeing?'

'Prophet's orders, mam. We are falling back to the Spire.'

Vora growled. 'You heard him. Let us proceed.'

The two of them sprinted towards the back of the base, where all the vehicles had been kept. Already the Phantoms were lifting high up into the sky, and zooming across the landscape. Vora picked out a Revenant and climbed into the driver's seat, and turned his head to see the battle in front of him. Yes, it appeared the humans were winning, at least, for now. They were swarming all over the base like ants.

He fired the plasma cannon repeatedly to cover his brethen's retreat, al the while thinking that this was a tactical manoeuvre, not a retreat. If he kept telling himself that, it would get him at least a little sleep tonight. At least he wasn't abandoning any comrades this time.

As soon as every single Covenant member had reached a vehicle, Vora turned the Revenant around and hit the boost lever, narrowly avoiding a rocket that slammed into the ground behind him. The base now belonged to the humans again – and that familiar hate for those wretched heretics rose up in him.

Tene had jumped in beside him. 'Are you alright, sir?'

'Never better,' Vora steered the Revenant towards the general direction of the Spire. 'I cannot wait to be done with this accursed planet.'