Spartan 058 - The Tale of a Sniper – Part II
Chapter 10 – En Route to Sangheili homeworld Silone

Aboard UNSC Destroyer Demosthenes

The Demosthenes, Chamarajanagar, and Honor Without Mercy emerged from slipspace. The two former billowing out of the giant hole that remained as the two titanic ships emerged while Honory Without Mercy glided out gracefully from the alternate space. All three flew parallel towards what was now known as the homeworld of the Sangheili, Silone. Linda sat eighty decks down between layers and layers of durasteel, only able to take in the beauty of the planet from a tiny video feed in the weapons storage area.

John had sent the three other Spartans down below decks to keep them busy, and to keep their minds of the recent happenings. They all knew as well as John did that this new situation could completely change the whole outlook of the war. Sure they had always fought the Brutes, and other members of the updated Covenant, but never alongside the Sangheili. She was now supposed to fight with what she had once knew to be her mortal enemies, sure the elites had been betrayed by their own leaders, and found out that all that they had known previously had been a complete sham, but what about all of those humans that they killed in cold blood?

She was beginning to think to much she said to herself, after all the Chief had sent her down her to keep her head out of exactly what was coming to mind. She finished stowing the gear and headed to the lift with Fred and Will.

"What do you think this new place is going to be like?" asked Will, "I mean sure, it looks nice on the view screen, but it's probably no Earth."

"I don't know, I'll be excited either way to get off of this damned ship," chimed in Fred.

Linda could only sit and laugh at the two, she was glad that the four of them had finally been reunited. She hated the idea of losing another one of her brothers, but she knew that within these next few weeks that could become an all too real possibility.

The three exited the lift to find John, the Arbiter, along with Sergeant Johnson and two other marine escorts. She knew the plan as well as all of them; they had to travel to Silon's capital city in order to receive an audience with the Hierarchs of the Sangheili Council. They knew that word had probably not reached Silone about the excommunication of half the Covenant, and that it would be quite a task to rally the Sangheili in a fight against the presumably powerful Prophets.

They all entered the D77 – TC Pelican and started their decent planet side. The Arbiter had told them little on what they were supposed to do or of the customs of the Sangheili. What if they were to do something wrong and end up paying a price that could jeopardize the whole mission? She decided someone had to ask what they were supposed to do; she was about to throw out the question as soon as the Arbiter came out of the cockpit who had most likely stopped them from getting shot down by one of the many orbiting ships, but Sergeant Johnson had beater her to the point.

"Excuse me Mr. Arbiter, but could you at least shed a little bit more light on what we're supposed to do when we get down there? How can we be sure that we won't be arrested and used as leverage in this war?" asked the Sergeant.

"Please don't call me that anymore Sergeant. I was given that title by the Prophets; I no longer bear the right to wear it. If you're wondering what you shall call me from now on please address me as Gann Aonlum seeing as that is my given name. Secondly, I ask that you trust me and my people, you have shown me your good faith and now we as an honorable race shall show you ours," commented the newly named Aonlum.

"Well, seeing as that's probably the best answer I'm goin to get from one of you guys I'll just have to be ok with that," said the Sergeant.

Taking the conversation to be over with the two Aonlum went on with what kind of things were going to happen once they landed planetside. He told them that the High Council had been reluctant to let outsiders come down peacefully, but then again they were curious as to hear the rest of the story that Aonlum had condensed down for them with the short radio time.

Honor Without Mercy was to remain outside of an orbit and to maintain a safekeeping watch over the two human ships. They watched as two squadrons of Seraph fighters surrounded the Pelican and guided the dropship towards the capital city of Corinphi. They landed on a small pad next to one of the most complex and beautiful buildings that Linda had ever seen; she noted all of the intricate sculpture and artwork surrounding the buildings main spire. She also saw all of the hidden weaponry that was placed in and all around the strangely beautiful architecture; apparently the engineers had been as keen to the defenses of the building as well as the overall artwork.

Aonlum exchanged a brief word with the apparent leader of a heavily armed Sangheili escort, Aonlum told them the story as they walked through endless corridors towards some apparent meeting, apparently the few members of the Covenant on the planet had staged a mutiny consisting of guerrilla tactics and sabotage. The Sangheili forces on the planet managed to suppress the attack, but by doing so have not had a chance to hear their motives.

Aonlum, the arrangement of Elites, and the few humans made their way to a large chamber inside the building; it was roughly the size of a football field with a center platform surrounded by many rising platforms. The ragtag group made their way to the ground floor as hundreds of Sangheili politicians and officials started to migrate into the room. They sat in silence, and uncomfort as the seats were meant for the build of something clearly inhuman. Finally nine robed figures entered the room and sat at a large semi circular orating platform that surrounded the center speaking platform. The council was called to order as Aonlum stepped up to state his claims, Linda could only imagine how old this must be getting for the Sangheili who had just several days ago stated the very same story to a fairly similar group of beings.

"I come here to present to you the story which I have just recently witnessed on the Covenant City of High Charity, the betrayal of the Prophets, and the real story about the so called Great Journey," stated Aonlum with practiced rhetoric.

There were some gasps at the last remark towards the all important Great Journey, but no real outbreak erupted. The council told Aonlum to continue with his accusations. He told them of the dealings on the two Halos and the slow excommunication of the Sangheili, Unggoy, and Lekgolo from the Covenant. He went on about his appointment as Arbiter and the dealings with the supposed heretic leader and the Gravemind, who had reinforced his suspicions about the Great Journey. He finished his story with the final attack on Earth and the shaky alliance with the humans who had been the Covenant's enemy up until these events. He thanked the High Council and retook his seat with the group of humans.

"Thank you for coming to us and shedding light on some awkward happenings that we have been experiencing here on Silone as well, it seems that indeed we have been betrayed by the Prophets and that much has been hidden from us," said the apparent head of the Council, "We also would like to reinstate you with the title of Arbiter, one that has true meaning behind it. If not for you Aonlum dire consequences may have befallen the entire Sangheili race along with those of the Unggoy and Lekgolo. We as a species will need a figurehead and someone to lead them against the tyranny of the Covenant. I am sure that all of the Sangheili share this idea and would be over joyous if you would accept the title and honor of that position once again."

"Thank you your honorary, I gladly accept the title and position of Arbiter once again," said the newly christened Arbiter.

"What then Arbiter would you suggest as our first plan of action towards the newly formed Covenant?" said the High Council Member.

"We shall take revenge for every Sangheili killed in the name of the Great Journey, for every being ever trampled by the tyrannous Prophets, and for ever life taken before it's time," said the Aonlum. "We shall let them see the true might of the Sangheili and all that follow them, we will make them pay."

Author's Note

Wow, seriously, who thought that this chapter would ever come? I knew that some of you doubted me, but it's finally here. A lot of the names in this chapter come straight from MrClarks fanfic The End of a War. He let me use some material, and I want to thank him for it and to give him credit for some awesome names and story elements. If you have any questions please feel free to ask, thanks everyone!