The Untold Story of Zeta Squad
Chapter 6: A Stronger Threat
Eaite' Randjamee stood on the bridge of the Sanghelli Capital ship, Divine Wind, relishing in their victory over the Demons. The battalion had proven to be a useful scapegoat, which is why he allowed no other Sanghelli to be a part of it, so they would not perish.
'The Jiralhanae were fools to think we would truly allow them to lead such an invasion force.' he thought with a chuckle
"General." said the Sanghelli officer in charge of communications, "We are being heralded by The Unyielding Hierophant. They request to speak to you and the other three generals alone."
"The Hierophant?" Eaite' clicked his mandibles in confusion.
'The fleet of Unrelenting Force's mobile command and control center. Something big must be happening.' He began walking to the exit to find the other generals.
"Patch it to my chambers. The four of us shall answer their call.'
Jesse stared out the view deck, as he always did when he was thinking. He had just left the comms, learning that all the Covenant forces on the planet had disappeared. Something didn't add up. The Covenant were acting strangely here. Jesse had been part of many battles with the Covenant during his entire career. He had witnessed the awesome might of Covenant ships as they lay waste to entire planets. He knew their system, where they would send their ground forces in to destroy the major cites and all the planets defenses, then retreat and rain hellfire down on it with their ship's weapons. If they met any resistance, then they attacked continuously until it was crushed, but theses ones had retreated just as they turned the tides in their favor. It was almost as if they were waiting for something. Jesse kept the ship on high alert.
'Whatever it is, it can't be good.' he thought to himself as he looked away from the planet and into space, 'But the longer they wait, the better for us.' He walked over to the security station on the bridge, loking over the shoulder of the man sitting at the terminal. He gazed at video footage of the Spartans training to regain their strength.
The four generals all stood in Eaite's quarters, all facing the communications transponder. The hologram of an old, gold-armored Sanghelli sparked to life. The four put their right arms to their chests and dropped to one knee, heads bowed.
"Noble Fleetmaster, to what occasion do you owe us such an honor?" said Eaite' in a formal tone. The old elite clicked his mandibles.
"The Prophet of Regret himself is gathering a large invasion force, and is rearing his head at a newly discovered human planet, which they seem to call 'Eeeaarrth'." he proclaimed, struggling a bit to pronounce the human word, "They must pay for their unending heresy." Quen' Quitonmee looked up, puzzled.
"Fleetmaster, what have the humans done this time?" he asked. The Fleetmaster gave a murderous growl.
"My brothers, after ages of devotion, we have found one of the sacred rings." All four generals heads jerked up to face the hologram, shock etched into their faces.
"But this is glorious news." stated Hona' with a wicked grin, "We can use the ring's limitless power to wipe out the Heretics once and for all." The gold one shook his head.
"The fleet of Particular Justice was sent after a human ship and stumbled upon it." he paused. The four stayed politely silent, but thought about what he was saying. The humans had also found the ring, but the fleet of Particular Justice was under the command of the great Thel Vadamee. There should have been no problem. The old Sangheli bowed his head.
"The fleet was wiped out. The ring was destroyed." he said quietly.
The four generals froze. What had they just heard?
"How could this have happened?" asked Glew', "How could the humans destroy one of the Sacred Rings?"
"One of their Demons was aboard that ship." replied the Fleetmaster, "One of the larger, stronger ones. He caused the destruction of the ring." Quen's mandibles gnashed together furiously.
"How could a single Demon destroy the Ring when Particular Justice was there to stop them."
"While the fleet did suffer casualties in the confrontation with the the human ship, they eventually brought it down. It crashed on the holy relic, and the fleet followed. While on the ground, the Demon slaughtered all in his path, defeating them on almost all confrontations. To make matters worse, the Field Marshal in charge awakened the Great Parasite." The four generals hissed at the mention of the Flood. The Fleetmaster continued.
"With the appearance of the Flood came the awakening of the guardians of the Sacred Ring. The Demon somehow befriended their leader and gained their trust, then it turned on them, destroying their crashed ship, causing the Ring to break apart. We have lost a great holy item, and the humans will pay for it with their blood." he shouted that last statement, which led the other four to roar in approval. Then something occurred to Eaite'.
"You stated that it was a Field Marshal who was giving orders. Why was Fleetmaster Vadamee not the one in command?" The great Thel' Vadamee was not the type of Shipmaster to call orders from the bridge of his ship, he would have led from the front lines. He also would likely have not have been as foolish as to awaken the Flood. The Fleetmaster clicked his mandibles.
"The Ascendant Justice was not among the fleet, it had held back to report on the last human planet that was destroyed. It was not present when the Ring was destroyed. It arrived to nothing but wreckage. They just now reported of this catastrophe." Hona' finally decided to speak up.
"And what of the Demon? Has there been any evidence that it survived the destruction of the Ring?"
"No." replied the hologram, "Nothing of value has come up as of this moment, but as far as I am concerned, Demons are never dead until you see their corpse before you."
He paused.
"But returning to the matter at hand. The Prophet of Regret himself is leading an assault on another human world. His fleet is preparing to depart for it, and the fleet of Unrelenting Force is to follow when we are ready. The holy one has also requested that we gather additional forces. Which leads me to you four." He stretched his neck to his full hight, so he was towering over the kneeling generals.
"We are taking ownership of your forces. We require additional smaller ships for supporting our cruisers. Your ships will join Unrelenting Force, and will depart immediately." The four generals stared at the hologram in disbelief.
"With all due respect Fleetmaster, the world we are currently assaulting has not yet fallen." said Eaite' with an annoyed growl.
"How are we to destroy this world without ships?" said Hona, also expressing his concern. The old Sanghelli gave a small chuckle.
"Worry not, my brothers, for we will not simply take without giving. We are sending you three new capital ships. They do not even have names yet, so that will be left to you. Congratulations, you four are hereby promoted to the rank of Shipmaster."
Silence fell over the room. The four Generals, Shipmasters now, Stared up at the hologram of the Fleetmaster.
"What?" asked the hologram, chuckling, "Is four Capital ships not enough?"
"I-...We-...No Fleetmaster." stammered Hona'.
"It is a great honor for this opportunity." said Quen' with a hiss of an inhale.
"With these ships, we can destroy this world once and for all." stated Glew with a look of wicked satisfaction on his face. The Fleetmaster nodded.
"Then it is settled. Your ships shall depart immediately and join the fleet of Unrelenting Force. Divine Wind shall retreat for now and await the three incoming ships. They are scheduled to arrive in 32 cycles. When they do, see to it that that world burns quickly."
"Yes Sire!" the four shouted
"Return to High Charity when your mission is compete." ordered the hologram once more, then it fizzled and died out. Eaite' turned to look at the other Sanghelli, a grin on his face.
"Fortune has shone upon us my brothers. This also proves to work precisely in our favor. When the ships arrive, the cloak and dagger game is done. We will attack this world head on, and eradicate everything in our path." He stared of into nothing, deep in thought.
'32 cycles. you had best be ready for us, Demons.'