Wait…could this be an update? Why, yes it is! I know I haven't written for ages, sorry everyone. I've been massively busy with a) uni, b) job hunting and c) my new Bleach fanfiction. I did state at the beginning that this one was going to be a side project, but leaving it neglected for seven weeks is pretty slack nevertheless.

In further news, I have drawn Vassi and Thel! Oh the awesomeness. Unfortunately I can't give you guys a link for one very legitimate reason:

It contains a giant spoiler.

Hopefully you'll get it soon, though. Meaning I'm going to try and get off my lazy a** and write this fic faster.

Oblivion

Chapter 10 - You Asked Me To Dance

K'ruk had done well. They had departed High Charity immediately, and made excellent time within the Slipspace jump. It was vital for the escape pod to be in precisely the right position at precisely the right time in order to board the human military vessel, and K'ruk's coordinates had achieved that.

Thel made a mental note to congratulate his adjutant when their group returned to the Unparalleled Supremacy.

He glanced around at the team he had selected at 'Rtas' request. He had chosen the best of his crew save K'ruk, or so he believed. There was little breathing room inside the escape pod - fourteen Sangheili occupied a lot of space, and there was the occasional whispered rebuke when someone's plasma rifle pressed into his comrade's back.

Thel glanced over at the smallest of all the Sangheili in the pod. Vassiminde was standing against the wall, out of the way of the larger males. She was silent, resting her forehead against the wall.

She seemed troubled, and Thel wondered what was on the navigation apprentice's mind.

K'ruk's voice came through over the escape pod's intercom. 'Ship Master, brace yourself and your group. Soon the pod will impact the human ship.'

The Sangheili Minors began to press themselves against the walls, legs bending slightly at the knees. Thel did the same. He was given plenty of room, of course. He looked in Vassiminde's direction again, and saw that she hadn't been offered the same courtesy. She was squashed between two of the Minors. If she was uncomfortable, her face didn't show it. She still looked preoccupied, her blue eyes not focusing on anything in particular.

The pod latched onto the ship's airlock, sending a jolt through Thel and his group. Several of the Minors momentarily lost balance, stumbling before standing upright again. When everyone had readjusted themselves, Thel began to speak.

'You were all listening when Commander Vadumee gave his instructions,' he rumbled. 'Our aim is to take their construct, swiftly and quietly. We are not to take any longer than is necessary, is that understood?'

The Sangheili Minors voiced their agreement, and Thel continued.

'It is important that they are not given the time to destroy, or erase, the artificial intelligence. If they do that, then we have failed this mission and failed the Prophets.' Thel looked around at all of them. 'I know you will do me honour.' He brushed a finger past a holographic control on the wall. The door of the escape pod hissed open, followed by the matching sound of the airlock doors.

'Apprentice Vassiminde and I will seek out the ship's bridge and the construct,' he instructed. 'The rest of you will provide cover, and keep human reinforcements from following us.'

Thel saw Vassiminde's head lift at the sound of her name. The Minors began to file out of the escape pod, lifting their plasma rifles warily. Thel lingered behind, waiting until they had all left.

'Apprentice,' he said. 'Is something bothering you?'

Vassiminde looked startled, blue eyes widened. 'No, Excellency, of course not.'

'You are not nervous?' he asked.

'No.' Vassiminde shook her head. 'Never. Although I am -' She paused, looking hesitant. 'I am curious as to why you chose me to accompany you.'

'You are a capable and intelligent warrior.' The purple flush touching her cheeks at the praise didn't escape him, and neither did the fact that she avoided his gaze.

Eyes downcast, she responded. 'Surely you would have been better served by one of Commander Vadumee's Special Operations agents. I am sure he would have provided you with one if you had asked - or even an Ossoona.'

'Are you questioning my judgement, Apprentice?' Thel cut in.

Vassiminde bowed low at that. When she spoke, she sounded flustered. 'Of course not, your Excellency! I would never presume to -'

'Then do not devalue yourself,' Thel interrupted, more gently this time. 'I am proud to have you serving as part of my crew. Besides, Commander Vadumee assigned us this mission on behalf of the Prophets. They specifically requested me, and my most capable crew members. To doubt yourself is to doubt the Prophets.'

Vassiminde nodded. Thel could tell the young Sangheili didn't trust herself to speak.

'I know you will not fail me,' he finished, and they exited the room.

Almost immediately the two Sangheili encountered a group of human Marines. Even as the humans raised their projectile weapons, their leader issuing a command, Vassiminde roared a battle cry and fired her plasma rifle through them.

The humans fell back, and screams of pain rang shrilly in Thel's head. He finished off the leader, who was still alive and trying to fire his weapon. They continued on quickly, passing through metallic corridors constructed square and smooth in the primitive human fashion. His sword and Vassiminde's plasma rifle made short work of the occasional group of human soldiers they encountered. There was only once a near casualty on their side - an audacious Marine lobbed one of their fragmentation grenades, which had landed dangerously close to Vassiminde's feet. Fortunately she had caught sight of it in time, sending it flying back towards the humans with a short but deadly kick.

Finally they approached a narrow corridor, which turned into a smaller hallway. Beyond a nearby door, Thel could hear the telltale hum of machines, probably what passed for computers among the humans.

'Vassiminde,' he motioned, and the navigation apprentice halted. 'The bridge is likely to be beyond this door. Proceed with caution.'

'Ship Master?'

Thel turned to face her. 'Yes, Apprentice?'

The female Sangheili looked down in the vicinity of her feet again. 'My name is rather long and unwieldy. If you wish to give me an order in the midst of battle, you would be better served by calling me Vassi.'

Thel nodded. It made sense. 'If you wish.' Part of his mind noted with interest, to the side, that Vassi was a male Sangheili name. Perhaps she merely wished to fit in with the rest of the crew.

Whatever Vassi's reasons for suggesting the shortening of her name, the Ship Master had other things on his mind.

He moved forward, entering the room ahead. A momentary scan of the room confirmed that it was the bridge. It was not dissimilar to the Unparalleled Supremacy's own control room.

The human ship bridge was spacious, with chairs positioned in front of various computer systems. Unlike the Supremacy's control room, which was manned at all times, this ship's bridge was deserted.

'I will retrieve the artificial intelligence construct, Ship Master,' Vassi said, moving towards the main computer terminal.

'Wait,' Thel cautioned, just as the door they'd entered through opened.

The first thing Thel did was to condition himself against the alien emotion threatening to slow his reflexes and dull his battle instinct. It couldn't be fear, of course it wasn't fear. Sangheili didn't feel fear. Lesser species did, but not his race, not the Sangheili.

Even so, Thel had to forcibly tighten his grip on his energy sword as he stared at the reflective orange visor, the pearlescent green armour which was so much bulkier than his own.

He had never seen one before, but he had heard the reports on these creatures, and knew the human name for them.

Spartan.

Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

Sorry to end on a cliffhanger, but I really need to go get some sleep. Right now. Otherwise I'll be dead tomorrow. And every word in this fanfiction will be BRAINS.

Please don't kill and eat me. Vassi tried already. Apparently being stuck in limbo for seven weeks does that to people. Umm, and Sangheili.