Kopar Keep, State of Rolam, Sanghelios

May 30, 2558

"Impressive." Vaal remarked, taking a bite. It was only a small slice of a dark red fruit that was nearly as large as a watermelon. When Trip had tasted it, he nearly gagged from its sour and bitter taste. However he actually learned to tolerate it because of its sweet aftertaste. Vaal and Iere did not seem to be bothered by it, likely because of sangheili taste being different than a human's. Aegis did however try the wine and found it tasting very similar to burgundy made back in the UEG. He smiled, politely declining another offering of the fruit from a servant. The male sangheili was elaborately dressed and had a smaller build than the ones seen in the military. He looked like a lost soul, but had an open and relaxed posture.

"I have to ask." Trip began to his host. Iere was deep in conversation with a servant when he started talking to her. "These servants seem like they don't want to be here." She listened intently, "Are they slaves?"

She laughed softly, "No. Despite what you see as an impoverished person, these servants chose to work in the keep. Our species rarely used slavery with the exception if the Unggoy. You see, as a keep, we must sustain a suitable population in the state. Anyone is welcome in if they pitch part of their work into our community. Some choose to stay with their professions such as merchants and combat instructors. Others serve in the military and families seeking the life inside the keep will become servants and the caretakers. Not only do servants provide us with necessities, they also carry out messages as well as other things that the keep's lord can't do by himself. The servants you see here have chosen their occupation. I try not to discourage or impoverish any if possible."

"You know, this reminds me a lot of kingdoms back on Earth." Aegis added, "Seems like both elites and humans have more in common to begin with."

"Human history is as bland as it is fascinating." Vaal told her, "I apologize for going off topic, but could you tell us about your husband's research?"

"Of course. I have a lot to show." Iere began, "When I first met my husband, he was just starting off in the Covenant. He had graduated from the Rolam War College with studies in the archaeology of our gods. We married just as the word of humanity's discovery came. Hoda was then whisked off and I was left to raise our four children. He was very successful as a frontline soldier, earning many human kills to his credit."

"I'm guessing that Hoda' successes got him the archaeological area?"

"Precisely," Iere said with her head down in somber for her husband, "Hoda was then promoted to a high archaeological director. They gave him the Ultra title and sent to several invaded human worlds that had recorded finds of our god's remnants. He commanded a small group of other likeminded elites, jackals and grunts for research. He was granted temporary leave after nearly twenty years of being out and spent the last week here, which was the last time I saw him."

"Did he tell you anything about what he discovered?"

"He did. His discovery of more artifacts got him a position onboard a frigate as the secondary Shipmaster or the executive officer in human tongue. Under his guidance, he discovered a device used by the Didact."

"The Didact." Vaal repeated the word to Aegis, "The most powerful and influential of the gods. Finding it could have finished the war in our favor."

"So what prevented him from finding it?" He asked, sipping more of the wine and accepting a refill from the flower shaped pitcher offered by the servant.

"He found a diagram of what the Didact called a Composer. This was used by him hundreds of thousands of years ago to convert humans into his personal army, the Promethean constructs."

"The Composer?" Aegis asked, "The Didact was awakened about a year ago and used it on Earth before being stopped by the Master Chief."

"During the war, about a year before our kind rebelled against the Prophets, Hoda's ship came under attack by a human battlegroup. Although he managed to escape, the shipmaster was killed. Acting on the Prophet's orders, Hoda began searching for the Composer and finally found a location of where it was. He had found it on a planet inhabited by the gods that was now derelict and desolate."

"I'm a little confused here. The Composer was found on a Halo. You say it's actually on a Forerunner Shield World?" Iere raised a finger to silence his next question,

"You humans are quite impatient." She stood up, calling for a servant. "We're finished here. Please clean the table up and prepare for dinner. I will be showing something to our guests."

Trip and Vaal followed Iere further down the hall, passing by other sangheili that gave the Spartan looks of surprise, but nodded politely as they passed. It struck him that even though they were likely told that humans, Spartans in particular were in association with the devil and dubbed "demons" they still showed a lot of respect. Perhaps it was more of the fact that they were aware of the peace between the two species.

Iere paused at a section in the wall and waved her hand in front of a circular section. The pad pulsed purple as a section of the wall opened. She made sure that nobody else was watching before beckoning for them to follow. It was a narrow corridor with dim lights and smooth metal walls, just like what was on Covenant ships.

They entered a chamber with rows and rows of what seemed to be tablets. Lights twinkled at various intensities, making it seem like an infinity ceiling. Trip's mouth opened in awe, while Vaal chuckled to himself, having seen a keep's archives many times.

"Here." Iere held out several tablets with the runes of the sangheili language. Although his translator only was able to decipher spoken languages, Vaal was easily able to read it.

"I appreciate your generosity." Aegis commended, "Is it alright that I can copy this to my datapad and have it back with us when we leave?"

"Of course Spartan."

The name struck him off guard; there were few sangheili that dared to call any Spartan their respective title. Often, he was called Demon, despite being allies with them.

"Hey!" Rak's voice cut in, "You're about to have company! There were a couple of drop pods with a dozen grunts, some jackals and a couple elites! A Zealot is leading the force."

"Roger that. We can spring an attack before they reach the keep's hallways."

"Well you better hasten! They will invade the inner chambers within the next minute!"

Iere looked back to the heated banter, "What's going on?"

"Storm reinforcements." Aegis answered, "They must have not heard from their buddies and are coming in a bigger force, thinking that they were wiped out." He tapped on his datapad some more, fully downloading the information. "Does the keep have an armory?"

"Yes." Iere took off, followed by them. Vaal took a small moment to peer outside. Sure enough, there were masses of Storm Covenant advancing on the keep. The grunts moved in a pack while the stealthy jackals prowled around like predators. The elites kept a watchful eye on the lesser races and the Zealot in front raised its energy sword in his left hand, a needler pistol in his right. The elite unlocked another door down the hall and it slid open to reveal a cache of Covenant weapons crates. Trip's assault rifle was nearly empty, so he discarded it and chose a plasma rifle, grenades with a carbine. Vaal kept his sword, but helped himself to some grenades.

"You ready?" Aegis asked Iere, she expertly inserted the caddy into a pair of needlers and clicked them. The familiar glowed pink, indicating that they were armed.

"I've been dying to use these." She excitedly as they moved to have a vantage point in the courtyard.

"Rak, are you at a good high point?"

"I am. But the zealot is out of my view."

Aegis nodded, Vaal would deal with the officer. "Engage."

The Covenant force had nearly reached the hallways when Rak targeted his first victim. A purple beam cut through an elite's skull and his shields popped before falling down. The grunts stopped, looking at their fallen warrior before raising their arms and running around, screaming. Both Trip and Vaal armed a plasma grenade and tossed it at the small aliens. The explosives hit the back of two grunts, adhering to their methane reserve tanks before detonating and cooking off the gas, which wiped out three jackals beside them.

The elites roared in anger and growled, trying to rally their scattered troops for a counter attack. Iere rose from her hiding position, targeted a commander and held down the trigger on both needlers. A stream of pink spikes spat out of the pistols, accelerating towards the target. The elite jumped to the side, but was too late, as the needles adjusted their path and began sticking to him. The needles combined and detonated, sending the body a few feet away caused by the blast. Aegis fired his carbine at another elite commander. The elite dodged a few of his shots and returned fire with the newer rapid-fire storm rifle. He adjusted his aim before ducking as a flurry of plasma rounds impacted the wall in front of him. After a second, Aegis aimed again, firing three shots, finally breaking the shields. Another three rounds punched through the armor and one impacted its elongated headdress. The elite dropped down, with his finger still on the storm rifle's trigger. The weapon fired a few blue shots before resting beside its dead user. Vaal had jumped down with his sword already powered. He rushed over to the Zealot, who had only a second to perform a half of a slash. That was all he got before Vaal easily evaded the move before tripping his opponent and delivering a fatal blow by impaling him through the stomach. Another thin beam cut the air, killing a jackal hiding behind his shield.

Aegis and Iere jumped down as well. She swung her needlers at a jackal, which stood no chance and was thrown back. Aegis stiff armed the last elite, who howled in pain from the blow from having the wind knocked out of him. He easily took advantage of the stunning moment by forcing the plasma rifle up his mandibles and squeezed the trigger. The heat from the discharge was felt even through his armor. Releasing his dead opponent, the face was barely even recognizable from the charred flesh that the plasma had cut through. All was silent as he breathed heavily to regain his breath.

"Okay. Threat is eliminated." He got green clear lights from his elite partners. Looking at Iere, who couldn't help but grin, it looked like him when he first joined the Spartans, enthusiastic, lethal and eager to start a fight. "You're not bad."

"Bad?" She lamented back in a teasing manner, "I've probably been trained in fighting longer than you've been alive."

Trip laughed, "I suppose so. We can offer you a ride to a safer area if you want." The familiar Phantom came into view, as Rak guided it over. The green gravity lift activated and Vaal stepped into the light, effortlessly being raised into the bay.

"I appreciate your concern Spartan. However, my keep needs me to govern. It has been a miracle from the gods that I've still been able to stay in power. Come, I will walk you to your ride out."

"Your information will be most helpful. I can't thank you enough. Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

"If you can, please find out what happened to my husband."

"Will do." Trip pulled Iere towards him and embraced her in a hug. She seemed quite surprised and awkward.

"It's a human way of saying that you take care of yourself." He explained as he released her. The Phantom accelerated away from the Kopar keep and went skyward.

"Really?" Vaal asked once Aegis was now in the sealed cabin.

"What?"

"You know exactly what."

"He's jealous." Rak revealed from the cockpit's seat. The other sangheili shot him a death look, but he ignored it.

"I disagree with that statement!" He declared, "Although I find her most attractive."

"I thought you were married." Trip inquired.

"Swordsmen don't marry, but are allowed to mate with any female of their choice."

"Learn something new every day I guess. Was she a pick for you?" He asked Vaal. Rolling his eyes in response, he opened the cockpit door and stared at the screens as the blackness of space began to fade into view.

"I have enough children as is."


We'll be changing a bit to the Covenant side for the next few. For those who want to see some ship to ship combat, you're gonna get your wish.