The crew...mutilated. The smell...unbearable .The sight...absolutely nightmarish for Thel Vadam and Cynder. This room was able to reveal how savage and monstrous the Jiralhanae are, how terrifying they can sometimes be. But ever since the start of the Covenant centuries back, the Jiralhanae has not done anything like this. Back then, they would torture their victims, make them suffer, kill them, and leave the bodies to rot. This though, this was entirely different. In his years, Thel has never seen murder like this, even during the Great Schism. Something has devoured the Brutes pack minds, infected them. Was it anger? Vengeance for their dead prophets? Were they still blinded by their lies? What was the Jiralhanae's motivations for doing this? It was just sickening. This...this wasn't like them. They've truly gone mad.
The Shadow's crew, the Arbiter's crew, was nothing more than flesh, blood and bone. Vadam was holding himself up, both hands on the blood stained floor, still on his knees. He's never seen his race get ripped apart like this. He just hoped that all these elites, his brothers and comrades, died in the crash. If they survived the crash...oh the horror. The truth will probably never be revealed, but this is what's left of the crew, and this only filled the Sangheili Arbiter with anger, rage and even more sorrow then what he had when Shin died. His whole body was trembling with fear.
Gone are the days, when the Shadow its crew fought the Brutes...no more. Thel lifted his hands and looked at his palms. Sangheili blood was on them, covering every part of the palms, stained with what's left of the crew. As much as she wanted to vomit, she set foot inside the bridge to go to her friend's side. This was almost exactly what she experienced during her past, the slaughter of your race. She covered Thel's back with her right wing, as his position that moment was levelled with her height. She comforted him as much as she could, knowing Thel is going through a phase that most individuals in the galaxy hardly endure, but both him and Cynder shared an equal experience.
"Thel...are going to be ok?" she caressed his backside with her wing, her head sided next to his.
"Gone Cynder...they're gone. What does the Jiralhanae have against my race? Why do they ravage us like this? I WASN'T BORN CENTURIES AGO TO KNOW THE ANSWER! SO WHY IS IT? WHY? I WANT A BLOODY ANSWER! WHY DO THEY ERADICATE US LIKE ANIMALS?" Thel slammed his fists in the ground with rage.
The fury welled up in his body, fuelled by the intention to annihilate the Jiralhanae. Cynder backed away by Vadam's angered voice. She spoke to soon when telling herself that she's never seen Thel in a state like this. This place revealed his true anger, his true intention to kill Magnaruckus and his lackeys.
"IF I EVER GOT THE CHANCE, I WOULD SEND A THOUSAND SUPER CARRIERS TO GLASS THE BRUTE HOMEWORLD, I WOULD STRIKE DOWN EVERY INHABITANT OF THEIR BLASTED PLANET, NOT JUST THEIR WARRIORS, I WOULD KILL EVEN THE FEMALES, EVEN THEIR BASTARD CHILDREN! I WOULD DESCEND THE JIRALHANAE INTO TOTAL EXTINCTION!" clenching his fists, the Arbiter was about to go mad with vengeance, with the desire to rip the Brutes apart chunk by large chunks.
Cynder noticed he was going mentally insane and she had to stop him, or all hell might break loose. She jumped directly in front of him, grabbing both sides of his head with her paws, holding the back of his mandibles, trying to keep the Arbiter still. They both caught eye contact with each other, staring face to face the fury driven Sangheili.
"Arbiter! I know what it feels like to see your own people die, I know how it feels to see someone close to you become a lifeless corpse! But if you ever did do those things to the Brutes and their home, you'd become what Magnaruckus is right now, a murdering psychopath bent on exterminating creatures that don't deserve what rest of their race has done! That's not the Thel Vadam that I've known these past few days, the one I know is a gentle, peaceful and honourable warrior of the Sangheili race, not a Brute or Grublin that enjoys killing the innocent just for the fun of it! I know you would never do that in both our lifetimes put together!" she was doing her very best to break through his mental state, reaching to his hearts and mind. It was working.
Thel's orange eyes stared into Cynder's emerald gaze of beauty and grace. She was desperate to bring him back to the real world, out of his foolish acts. For some reason, staring at the black dragoness seemed to calm him down. It wasn't her beauty that calmed him down, or the fact that this was a way of her holding him down. Maybe it was because she was his friend, one of her closest companions besides Spyro. She loved Spyro though, and he's probably going to become her mate in the future ahead of them, but Thel is still one of the closest friends she'll ever have in her lifetime.
Besides, Vadam has lost Shin and Rtas, both brothers in arms to him, and the Jiralhanae took them out of his life. The desirable protection to defend Sangheilios and defend Cynder to the death were the only things keeping him impaling himself with an energy sword. If the Brutes planned on killing her, Thel will not let that happen. He failed to protect Shin and Rtas, but it won't happen a third time. He die before they'd ever get their hairy palms on Cyn.
There were still signs of him trembling, but it wasn't as bad as it once was a minute ago. While still holding his head, Cynder rested her forehead against the front of his metal helmet, but behind those pieces of metal that makes him one ultimate warrior was really a peaceful Sangheili that has a soft spot for defending the people he holds closely, and will do anything to stop the Jiralhanae from annihilating them. He let out a gentle sigh, trying to enjoy a moment with the female dragon. She pulled away to stare face to face with him again, this time, he seemed more relaxed, calmed down...but the smell wasn't helping the mood.
"I need you to be here with me Thel. I need you to come out of this ship sane. It will never be like you to kill an entire species, even if they've done some terrible things to yours. If you try to kill an entire species, most will die that never even deserved it. That's not you. The one I know is kind to me, as well as to the rest of his race, and kinda has a soft spot for me" she smiled, but Thel raised a brow in total confusion. What the hell did she mean by soft spot?
"In the protective and caring way I mean, not the, you know, that we're both different species and well, that'd just be weird and-" she was suddenly cut off by the Thel's calm voice.
"Cyn, I care for you dearly, just not in that way. You have Spyro anyhow, I don't think you'll leave him for anyone else since you spend so much time around him" Thel told her, grabbing her paws and placing them back on all 4. She blushed a little. What was she thinking?
"But...thanks. You at least given me a bit of hope in this dark time. Your right. Magnaruckus and his fanatic army deserves it, not the rest of their race. I can't speak for all of my race about that, but at least I go by your words" he caressed his right hand down the back of her neck, and she enjoyed it more than she really should. Suddenly, a voice Thel's transceiver has been listening to every word the dragoness and Arbiter spoke of.
"Oh this is priceless, Jabjab, you should be hearing this! Thel and Cynder sitting in the Shadow, k-" Yapflop's voice was instantly cut off, stopping him from annoying the two.
"I thought I turned that off, little runt, I'm going to have a quick chat with him after this" Thel stood up, clenching his fists, but Cyn put a little smile on her face as a reaction from Yapflop's comment, thinking about what the runt said and giggled about it, but right now wasn't the time and she shook it off.
"Sorry if I lost my mind a bit. Just seeing my crew mutilated like this...I just...can't define the Jiralhanae's motives for doing this. Revenge? Fanaticism? or just for the fun of seeing us die like a wretched animal. It's this kind of thing makes me wish the Flood was here right now, they'd clean up the mess...most of it anyway" he thought. Cyn hasn't seen what a Flood looked like, but judging from what Thel told her, that's probably a good thing. The Arbiter glared at the piles of the deceased crew. He was mourning them, remembering them. They died for the survival of Sangheilios and its inhabitants. They shall never be forgotten.
"Rest peacefully...brothers" Thel bowed his head down for the fallen, honouring their long lost spirits, and Thel wasn't alone. Cyn did the same as he did, lowering her head for the dead warriors.
In the midst of the silence, Thel could faintly hear a strange, beeping sound. He looked up to see where it was coming from. Slowly, Cynder started to hear it too. Where was it coming from? It definitely wasn't Thel's transceiver device or one of the bridge's power systems. Thel looked back at one of the piles of dead elites, closest to the bridge's main power to hear the beeping coming from that area. What was it.
Turning to look at each other, they both knew they had to investigate it. Thel carefully traversed through the dead piles to get to that noise, moving as fast as he could. Since this was a large room, Cynder could simply take off and get to it first, but she respected the deceased, and this was one way to avoid causing any further disruption. Arbiter was skilled at traversing the piles. It just saddened him even more to see the piles from a different view now, but he shook it off and continued to track that beeping, but Cynder got their first.
After a brief 30 second run through half the room, quite close to the bridge's main console, and windows, Thel found Cynder frozen, just standing there total fear. He then knew why. Coming to stand next to her, the sound came from a data pad in the left hand of the deceased Rtas Vadum, Thel's first ever trusted and respected comrade during his entire Covenant and Separatist career. The sight was...unbearable for Vadam. A shallow gasp came over the elite.
Rtas had been ripped apart by the Brutes, his corpse seemed to be the most ravaged of all the bodies of the crew. His right arm has been almost ripped out of its socket, showing the blood, muscle and bits of the bone. A large chunk of his abdomen was taken out of him, revealing the inner organs, mostly the intestines, which were slowly seeping out, and his left foot was completely bare boned, leaving distinct blood signs. The rest of Rtas' body was bloodied, on his skin, face and armour, and that was his blood.
The data pad he had can produce recordings. How did Rtas even acquire a data pad if he already died at the crash. This was a bit of a mystery. While Thel could show the sorrow and vengeance in his expression, Cynder couldn't take no more and spun around to upchuck on the floor behind her and Thel. Vadam didn't blame her. It was a sickening sight. Disposing of her last dinner, she coughed terribly, almost losing all her breath, and wiped away what's left of her waste on her mouth. Now she really needed to take a shower.
"Sorry Thel, oh, that's going to scar me for life! I think that's Magnaruckus' work" she thought. To Thel, it had to be.
"Why chieftain...why did you do this? Rtas already left his body after the crash. What sick suggestion made you do this you savage!" Vadam was angered. Did Magnaruckus have any respect for the dead? Cyn then remembered this elite when she first found Thel, when he was mourning Rtas. Not the same way she remembered it, but was the same elite anyhow, that means,
"Thel...is this Rtas you told me about?" she looked up at him. He let out a sigh.
"It is. My most trusted brother throughout the Human-Covenant war, as well as during the Great Schism. Apart from the Spartan, Rtas was the most honoured warrior I ever fought side by side with. He had the same exact desire like I did, to annihilate the Brute traitors for spilling the blood of thousands of our race. He commanded the Shadow of Intent before I did. He's a survivor also, he fought Humans, then Flood, then the Brutes. So many enemies fell before his blade. I guess that's one reason why Magnaruckus did this, but he was already dead, why make things look uglier than it already is?" he wondered.
As much as he wanted to mourn and vow vengeance, he can't act the same way he just was a few minutes ago. Cynder won't be able to stop him again. He retained his sanity and took the data pad away from Rtas' cold, dead hand, honouring the deceased warrior, comrade...and brother of Thel Vadam and the rest of the crew.
"Rtas is gone...the Spartan is gone...the crew is gone...oh the horror" only Darst and those survivors are left of the Shadow, but Thel's most trusted companions and allies are all but a memory. Is Cynder the only one left he truly cared about that is still among the living?
"Maybe there's a clue to why Magnaruckus did this, maybe that thing's got the answer" Cynder suggested. Thel nodded, maybe the pad had the evidence Vadam needed to solve this. Putting in a small code, the pad revealed a recording, already to play. The pad was the size of Thel's hands, so the video was going to be in full view. He held in his left hand and got Cynder to hang onto his arm to watch the recording with him, standing on two legs like a dog. She could see it clearly now.
After a minute of buffering, and having the uneasy feeling that some of the bodies are looking at them with dead eyes, the video started playing. It was Rtas. He was alive. From the look of his state, he was injured, but he was still alive when this was made, that means only one thing.
"R-Rtas?" Thel stuttered in total shock and confusion. Cynder could see it in his expression. The video continued, only revealing Rtas' face with a dark background.
"(Sigh) I don't know if you'll ever find this, maybe those vile, disloyal beasts might have destroyed this before you find it, but still. Arbiter, or Thel if you'd like to call you that, I survived the crash of the Shadow. You probably thought I was already dead when you woke up, but I was only knocked out cold. By the time I came out of it, you were long gone. I knew there was no hope for me when I couldn't find anyone else alive inside the ship, let alone ones that were dead outside it. My right leg was broken and I wasn't able to walk. I dragged myself into the ship to find the bridge" Rtas' words mentally struck Thel with each hard blow. It wrecked Vadam to find out his most trusted and honoured friend was actually still alive at the time. Cynder continued to take up every word the former Shipmaster spoke.
"It took me half a day to get to the bridge, along the way, I found many of the crew dead. The way I took, I didn't find any survivors. Maybe there are some but, I'm too tired and too damn weak to find them. I'm a wreck, just like the ship. Now, when you do find this...do me, the deceased crew and the Shadow herself a favour to us all. When you're finished salvaging the ship, please go to the her engine rooms...and detonate the plasma reactor. It will cause the ship's engines to overheat, sending shockwaves throughout the ship. All major power systems will shut down completely, giving out no power to the main reactor in the cleansing beam room, and causing a chain reaction to all the smaller reactors throughout the ship. It will generate an cataclysmic explosion the size High Charity, disintegrating everything in a 17 mile radius. The land around it will be a wasteland, and there will be nothing left of the Shadow...everything will be gone" Thel and Cynder's eyes completely widened. Detonate Shadow's reactors? disintegration in a 17 mile radius?
"Rtas? the Carrier we had left from the battle of the Ark and the entire Schism! We can't-" Thel was cut off, by Rtas' next few words. This was a drastic measure.
"The Brutes are already here, salvaging the head part of the ship. Once they're done here, they'll probably soon come back to take the rest of it at the main area, and if they have those reactors, they'll have the technology to make Assault Carriers like the Shadow, and maybe even Super Carriers. They will we able to attack Sangheilios. A full on war between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae, and our planet will pay dearly. Our history, our culture, all will be lost if they take those reactors. The Brutes will be in this room in a minute, they're coming, and they'll kill me. Vadam, you have to destroy the Shadow, salvage whatever you can then detonate that plasma reactor. I can hope you have found some survivors of the Shadow and maybe a few new allies along the way, but whatever you do; DESTROY THE SHADOW OF INTENT!" Rtas demanded this task. Thel couldn't even speak, he was too distraught from what Rtas is actually saying. He's never seen him act like this.
"These are my last words Thel, may honour guide you and your allies paths-" in sudden act, the doors behind Rtas open, revealing Magnaruckus and some Brutes carrying dead elite bodies. Thel knew what was coming, and Cyn would have to watch as well.
"Shipmaster Rtas Vadum, we thought you were dead! I think I better finish the job!" Magnaruckus cracked his fists, ready to kill Rtas where he stood.
"You will regret ever doing this chie-(static, recording cuts out)" there was nothing else after that, but it was obvious what happened to Rtas. The body said everything.
Instead of throwing the pad away, Thel gently placed it next Rtas' cold corpse. Almost every emotion overcame the grief stricken Arbiter. What was worst is that Rtas demanded the Shadow to be destroyed, he still couldn't believe that. Cynder decided that it was best if Thel had some time to himself, decided to go over to the main console of the ship, where it was positioned next to the large, hardened, symbol looking windows. Dawn was finally approaching. She looked back at Thel. He clenched his right fist, placed his arm across his chest and bowed his head down for the fallen Rtas Vadum; a warrior, a leader, a survivor of the war...a trusted friend of Thel Vadam. He honoured the fallen Sangheili veteran.
"Goodbye. Brother" he whispered.
"Thel?" Cyn called out to him, and hoping that she didn't disturb him. He placed his arm back into a normal position and turned to look at her. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't angry either. He wanted to savour his revenge for when he and Magnaruckus meet again. Leaving Rtas to rest in peace, it was time the Arbiter reactivated the power of the ship, to bring the lights back up and get communications to the Phantom. He went on over to the console, taking him a good 20 seconds, and stopped in the middle of it, standing right next to the black dragoness.
She looked up at Thel, as the dragoness didn't even know how this stuff works. She could only make a fake smile, failing at trying to activate the power, let alone she didn't even know what to press. He smirked at her, letting Cyn know that so far, even if they're trip in the ship has not gone to plan, he still kept the kind smile on his face. That's the Thel she's known this whole time. At the single press of a holographic button, the power throughout most of the ship, reactivating the all the lights, the operational doors and some of the ship's gun batteries. Now he and Cyn can traverse through the ship with ease. They could now also communicate with the grunts using a better connection too, so Vadam decided to do that first.
"Yapflop, are you there grunt?" he spoke through the console.
"Arbiter, I told you, use my codename!" Yapflop demanded. Cynder shook her head in disappointment.
"Is this really the time?" she mumbled.
"(Sigh) Grunty guy 25 (what kind of a codename is that?), the power to the ship has come back online, have you picked up the survivors?" he asked the idiotic Unggoy.
"Yes, we're here Arbiter, what are we going to do now?" the red armoured captain elite spoke through Yapflop's transmitter.
"Fly the dropship down to the hanger, me and Cynder are going to move to the armouries and salvage any weapons we can get, we'll meet you at the hanger and I'll tell you the rest of the plan by then, Arbiter out" Thel stood back up, from lowering himself down to the console.
"Ok, we got it, do it Grunt!" the captain ordered Yapflop.
"Eh, whatever" it cut out after Yapflop's sentence.
"Let's get go Cyn, let them all rest in peace" Vadam turned away from the main console and made a move to the door.
"That's until you detonate that reactor Thel" she raised a brow at him. He didn't respond, instead, he gave her a not so happy look.
Somewhere in Thel's mind, he didn't want to destroy the Shadow of Intent. He's having a mental war with himself, deciding whether or not to detonate the reactor, and Cynder could only hope he chooses the right one.
I found this chapter to be really dark. eh, my opinion anyway. review if you liked to, I'll soon get started on the next one. Have a nice day
