Disclaimer: Halo and all related materials are the sole property of Bungie Studios and its publisher Microsoft. This story is non-profit and written solely for the enjoyment of the fan community of Halo.

Takes Place: Post Halo 3, Pre- SkinoftheTeeth 2

A/N: This is an AU story; NOT canon for the Halo Universe. Unfortunately, Johnson did NOT make it off the Ring alive. It's one of the hallmarks of this AU, since Miranda will be without the Chief or Johnson for years to come.

A/N2: Since I posted SOTT-3, I have received reviews both good and the not-so-good. Feeling that I might want to take them both to heart, I have these people to thank.

Mariosonic: A fine story idea on some fronts, but worth a little tweaking in my mind. The basic concept will be the one you stated, with some twists occurring due to some stories in HM that are coming down the pipe.

Reviewer: First off dude/dudette, I was going to reply with sarcasm and what usually passes as wit hoping to make you feel embarrassed at the fact that you didn't even have the guts to leave me a name or email address to try and talk to you about why you feel as you do. Have no fear, for in your apparent attempt to make me feel stupid, you have provided me with the brainstorm I needed to write a semi-proper Rtas tribute that helps to explain why he would undergo such a drastic change in behavior from typical elites towards humans.

And JUST for the record, Elites are NOT 'very very superior' to humans. They are bigger, stronger, and leap farther than the average marine. But by their own admission, despite these superior physical abilities and armor on almost all of their soldiers, humans have kept them at bay for over 20 years. Despite being technologically inferior, the humans have ingenuity and sheer bloody resolve on their side. Humans fight differently and on par with the elites, sometimes even surpassing them. (As evidenced by the Spartan-II program)

If you want to continue this conversation, perhaps leaving me an email address I can reach you at will allow you to have the last word.


Formerly Covenant Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum trekked through the halls of his ship, his demeanor almost hesitant in nature. His shoulders and frame were tense and the air around him seemed permeated with tension of some kind, though he did a very good job of concealing the nature of that tension as well as its source as he made his way back to his quarters.

The source of his tension was no doubt the fact that mere hours ago, he had gone before the newly convened Elite High Council to propose a daring initiative, even for him, the Sangheili Separatist Fleet Commander. Many had been shocked, others had been appalled. Some must have thought he'd finally taken leave of his senses. To his own shock, he'd found several on the Council willing to hear his words.

As surprised as he'd been, he also acknowledged that many on the new Council were younger than their predecessors, many of whom had died when the Great Schism had broken out on High Charity. As a result, there were many on the Council whom he knew had been secretly questioning the Prophet's mandate of annihilating humanity in the closing days of the war. Those Sangheili who had thought that the humans were worthy adversaries and should be given admittance into the Covenant, and their opinion would no doubt help move his current agenda forward.

It was a radical idea to simply GIVE humanity such a valuable resource, but in recent days, he found the idea more and more fitting, given the circumstances. He was still having disturbing dreams at night based on that centuries old 'motion picture' he'd glimpsed while waiting several days for the Arbiter to be debriefed when he'd arrived back on Earth with the forward half of the Forward Unto Dawn.

It was almost laughable, how something so old and insignificant had made such an impact on him. Because the words he'd heard had struck the heart of the matter. When he'd been floundering, trying desperately to find some purpose to propel himself forward and give him some measure of hope to pass onto his elites, he'd been walking along on the base that the Arbiter was being debriefed at when he'd heard a series of unusual voices, and had proceeded to investigate, against his better judgment.

He'd been about two steps away from the door, when a female's voice had rang out.

ANY OF YOU PRICKS MOVE ... AND I'LL KILL EVERY LAST MOTHERFUCKING ONE OF YOU!

Rtas had nearly drawn his plasma pistol as he covertly peered around the doorframe, only to find several soldiers sitting back in several pieces of furniture with some white snack food filling huge containers between them.

"Oh man, this never gets old mate!" One of the marines thought aloud.

"Damn right it doesn't, I still can't believe Gorman had this all along, that asshole held out on us!" Another female added.

Deciding to see what could possibly come of the situation on the viewscreen before him, Rtas held his tongue and watched, growing somewhat interested in the standoff that occurred seconds later.

Minutes passed and Rtas began to genuinely feel as if he were missing something, before the words that would give him nightmares appeared.

"You read the bible?"

"Not regularly."

"There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

"Now I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd."

Rtas could hardly breathe. He stood there like a bump on a log for several seconds, and only when a marine noticed his presence did he mange to snap out of his daze.

"Hey, what's goin on Shipmasta'?" Rtas inadvertently recognized the man named Hawkins, one of the marines that had made it back onboard the Shadow of Intent for the journey back to Earth after the Battle of Installation 00. He wasn't able to answer him for a handful of seconds.

"Interesting form of entertainment you have here." He thought aloud, at a loss for anything else to say.

The marines all visibly eased at his observation, even if their faces were still drawn and tight at his presence.

"It's a classic; over five hundred years old, or so Gordon says." The female explained.

Rtas couldn't begin to fathom why he did what he did next.

"Do you think it would be possible to obtain a digital copy? I'm curious about the rest of it."

The marines' eyes all widened significantly at that, but since Hawkins was a tech head, it was a simple matter to rip Rtas a complete copy of the highly-outdated disc. While he waited, the other marines spoke of other 'movies' they liked, both current and classic, shocking him further when the female handed him a small written note with the names of a few other movies he might want to look up if he was ever on Earth again.

Less than 20 minutes later, Rtas left the room with the digital copy on his datapad as well as a heavy heart. He had pondered over the topic at great length in the days to come.

The truth is you're the weak.

And I am the tyranny of evil men.

But I'm tryin', Ringo.

I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.

After he'd watched the whole movie (and admitted that some parts he didn't particularly care for), he came to see the similarities that could be drawn between the film and what was happening around him daily.

But there was no doubt in his mind that the Elites had, in all respects, become the Tyranny of Evil Creatures under the Prophet's rule. But at the same time, all hope was not lost. Because he also knew that even though he was the former symbolism of Tyranny, he could find a way to be a shepherd ... a guide.

Perhaps he'd been lied to by the Prop... the San 'Shyuum ... and perhaps he'd been their ignorant tool. He could not change that fact, no matter how much he'd like to justify attempted genocide in the name of his former gods. But that also did not mean that he and his kind were beyond redemption.

The Sangheili had a choice now, for the first time in a long time. There were certainly humans he found deplorable and infuriating, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be civil with them. He disagreed with other Elites daily and had been against certain doctrine in the past. He'd gotten through it all back then just fine and he had no doubts that he could do it again.

A few days later, when the ceremonies for the dead were held, the Arbiter attended the service honoring the Spartan and those who had died at the Ark. While he and the crew awaited the Arbiter's return, he surveyed the blue holographic jewel before him.

Earth; in all its splendor. It truly was beautiful planet that he'd only barely stepped foot on. He caught the sound of footsteps behind him to his right, and knew it was Arbiter. Although it was difficult to admit, his next words needed to be said.

"Things look different, without the Prophet's lies clouding my vision. I would like to see our own world... to know that it is safe."

"Fear not, for we have made it so." The Arbiter responded.

Rtas couldn't put a name to what he felt. Endings were never easy to accept and they could bring widespread depression if you allowed them to do so. And as such, he raised his head and silently vowed to look to the future. The damage this war had wrought was nigh-on incalculable for Humans and Sangheili alike.

Centuries of tradition and prosperity on both sides; undone in a few decades of blood, sweat, and anguishing grief. But where there was life, there was hope. He'd checked up on Commander Keyes shortly before leaving Earth. She'd survived hours of surgery and fallen into a coma, which was both good and bad. Only time would tell if she would make a full recovery, but at the very least, he was glad she'd been given the chance. He was all but certain he'd see her again; she didn't seem like the type of person who'd stay down.

And so he would do what he could to aide and guide the humans. His words had a fair amount of pull in the Council chambers at the current moment, and he'd taken the first step towards being a shepherd when he'd proposed giving the humans a mothballed Sangheili Shipyard to help them rebuild and bolster their defenses.

Although he had feelings of trepidation about the ending of such a long conflict and uncertainty about what would become of the Sangheili now that they were no longer a part of the Covenant with no hope of the Great Journey ever coming to pass, he took comfort in knowing that, for now, life would go on.

There was certainly much to do and he was never one to rest on his laurels.


A/N3: There are currently three main stories in my hopper; likely to appear in this order;

Sparta Unbound – Summary Pending (Potentially Multipart story)

Search and Rescue – Who's rescuing Who Here?! (Concept by mariosonic; includes original characters from Sparta Unbound, Miranda, Rtas, etc.) (Multipart story)

Never Stood a Chance – Part 2: Reunion; Years after the Ark, John-117 and Cortana meet up with a pair of unlikely Shipmasters and their crew well off the beaten path. (LONG one-shot, for now...)

I ask for everyone's lenience about the posting schedule of these stories as there are roughly 6 weeks of school left this semester and my grades are currently not where I want them to be. Priorities come first, and I have at least three papers, 7 tests, and four presentations to prepare in those six seeks.

Hence, updates will come when I can spare the time for them, when I feel inspired enough to pump out a chapter in a few hours (reviews and ideas help me here), and when I just plain need a break from schoolwork to balance out my frazzled brain. Expect a few grammatical errors in my writing as I will not be proofreading them to any great degree.

If you readers feel the need to criticize my work, feel free to, but please leave me an email address to reach you at or leave me a pretty detailed review about WHY you feel the need to criticize me. The choice is yours.