SGTLEGENDKILLEЯ

Fate Continuum

Act VI

"Appeal To Reason"

Chapter IX

"Damning The Heavens"

H.D. November 3, 2552

Sig woke up slowly in the comfort of Venko's bed following a rather pleasant night. After the two had begun their so-called 'endeavor,' they had quickly and quietly relocated to Venko's personal quarters. They had a great time, especially after even more drinking in between other activities. With a soft yawn and stretch, Sig checked the bed next to him to find the bed empty. He gave a slight huff and wondered where Venko had gone. Sig soon got up and tidied up a few things before venturing downstairs where he would find Venko sitting in a chair half-dressed, smoking.

Sig came up behind him and lightly placed a rubbing hand along Venko's shoulder. "Good morning…"

"Oh… it is definitely a morning." He said starkly. Even before Venko looked back up at him, Sig could tell something was off. Venko was tense, and judging by the smoke lingering in the kitchen, he had been there for a while.

Sig grew tense, looking past Venko and quickly noticing a Plasma Rifle and datapad on the table next to him; Venko had been watching the door. "What is wrong?" Sig asked quietly, stepping partially towards where his gear was.

Venko looked at him for several moments. Sig could see what must have been a hundred emotions go through Venko's eyes. Whatever it was obviously serious, but Sig sensed that it could be dangerous. "We…" Venko choked. "We need to leave High Charity, Sig."

"Why?" Sig looked at him concerned.

"It isn't safe here, Sig..." Venko spoke shakily. "I had a very brief meeting with a few select colleagues this morning. Some facts and truths were thrown out and…"

"And what?"

"The Holy Prophets… Are going to betray the Sangheili."

Sig took a step back. This was the most heretical thing he had ever heard in his life, and that was after years of dealing with K'an's drunken antics. "How-"

"The foundries," Venko said, cutting Sig off. "They have contracted the foundries to recently mass-produce weapons for the Brutes. They have been deliberately ignoring any hearings or meetings with the Sangheili counselors since the Prophet of Regret had passed. In fact, they gave me transcripts from our fleet's dispatchers and mission handlers that show that the Prophet of Truth ordered our Phantoms away from helping Regret."

"What … Are you saying?"

"The Prophet of Truth directly ordered the ship to specifically glass on The Prophet of Regret's location… He wants to blame us for his loss. And they soon plan to demote the entirety of the Sangheili in the Covenant."

Sig shivered at the implication of this. "Venko. How can you be absolutely sure?"

"We read through all of it several times to be sure. And now… None of the others there have responded to my messages or comms." He paused, swallowing heavily. "I fear they have been silenced.

Sig's heartbeat skipped a beat; this was all very unsettling information. He wanted to have some sense of doubts, but he had never seen Venko so upset or worried about anything this badly before. After a moment of thinking, Sig gave a huff as he shook his head. "Get your things. I will watch the door."

"You are sure?"

"It is my job. Now go." Sig told him firmly.

Venko got up without question and went upstairs to quickly grab his armor and other necessities. Sig, keeping his eyes firmly on the door and closed windows as he slipped into his armor as fast as he could. Once he was suited up, he picked up his Plasma Repeater and turned the weapon on. While he was midway getting himself ready, his datapad binged on the table. It was Ryau wondering what the plan was with D'rok's lance member on this day. Sig grumbled at himself and quickly typed up a reply telling him the specifics. They were going to meet in less than an hour at some diner towards the center of the city. He watched the door with paranoid eyes as he typed, and by the time he was done, Venko was quickly coming downstairs. Venko had only been a minute or so; he had grabbed a bag to go and was doing something on his datapad.

"Are you sure about partaking in this, Sig?" Venko asked, popping his comm piece into his ear.

"Of course... Now let us leave before I change my mind." Sig shook his head, shoving his doubt into his belly.

"Alright, we must go to the Diplomatic Hanger. It isn't far... I am calling ahead my Shipmaster to prepare for departure."

"Of course. Make haste." Sig spoke before opening the door with his repeater leveled at his side.

He quickly peered down both of the directions down the hallway and saw that it was empty. His mind quickly traced out three potential routes in case one of those were blocked off. Waving Venko out behind him, Sig began to lead him down the corridors for the Hangar. He kept a brisk and steady pace as they continued on, keeping his gun in both hands in case of any sudden surprises. Having a drawn weapon in the corridors was fairly against regulation, but if the other security staff and Honor Guards had issues with this he would direct them to kiss his ass; he was the Director of Security for the Zelso Sector, and in such a trying situation, he would do as he liked.

"Alright, the Shipmaster will be ready for us by the time we arrive."

"Good… I hope the engines are warmed up by then." Sig said as he turned a corner in an intersection to see a trio of Jiralhanae walking quickly down the corridor towards them. "This way, Venko. Let's go." Sig said, doubling back and going back the way they had just come.

"Damn, I was hoping we would not encounter any issues getting there." He said, sticking close to Sig as he watched the Jiralhanae pick up the pace to follow them.

"As was I."

They did their best to keep their distance on the Brutes as they turned a few other corners to lose them, but due to them not wanting to draw even more attention to themselves by running, the Jiralhanae eventually gained on them. Sig's new path would take them through a secure hall of the Political branch where there was a strict authorization checkpoint guarded by nearly a half dozen Honor Guards on top of many of those in the Security Division. The two luckily made it to the desk of the checkpoint with a few strides to spare.

As Sig was quick to tell the Security members at the desk the urgency of passage, the Jiralhanae reached them; their presence and pace already drawing several cautious gazes. The trio of Jiralhanae confidently approached them and the leader of the three made a grab at Venko's arm. Sig had just turned to see this happen and quickly snapped up a fist to the Brute's cheekbone, sending him staggering slightly off to the side only a pace or two against one of the others behind him. The other took a firm step forward to which Sig aggressively shoved his armored shoulder into the Brute's sternum as he got between the Brutes and Venko, weapon lifted to the group of the Brutes. The other Brute had staggered back as well, and by the time the three had formed back up, several of the Honor Guards had moved in quick with their Energy Staffs ready in case of conflict.

"Get your weapon out of my face, Elite." The Jiralhanae Major in charge said while furiously glaring at Sig.

"Try me." Sig challenged back with fierce authority. With the lobby filled with his subordinates, he was quite confident in his outcomes if there was to be a confrontation.

"The Representative is coming with us." The Brute Major demanded.

"You have no authority here, Major. Leave this wing immediately."

"Step aside, Four-Jaws. Our orders come from the Holy Prophet of Truth." The Major snarled firmly.

"That is Director Four-Jaws to you, Ape. Honor Guards! Please escort these Beasts from the tower." Sig smirked at the Major as several of the Honor Guards approached quickly to do as they were told. "Bring your orders back in official format and then we shall talk."

The Jiralhanae seemed to stand down as the Honor Guards closed in, complying with Sig's request. They hadn't come fully ready or prepared to collect Representative Makatonee in the eyes of other officials, and so they would have to leave for now. The Guards quickly lead them away, escorting them out of view. Sig pulled aside one of the Honor Guards and asked them to double their patrols so that there would be no more issues with any random unneeded 'collecting' of other representatives. Now that the drama had subsided, they gained access through the secured halls and continued on briskly for the Hangar.

"So…" Venko started as they pressed on, now making steady ground again.

"Hmm?" Sig kind of glanced over towards him.

"Would you be willing to tell me where that aggression was last night?" Venko asked with a grin.

"Do not start with that, Sir." Sig said somewhat sternly, turning his gaze forward to hide a mild blush on his cheeks.

Soon the two of them made it to the dock terminal of one of the Ships at Zelso State's diplomatic disposal. The ADP Class Escort was obviously speedily being readied for immediate departure. The deckhands were running as fast as they could around to finish what needed to be restocked as the engines had been turned on and given partial forward power to lessen the time needed to warm up to operating temperature. Venko stopped before the glass for the terminal to watch the ship for a moment.

"Well… We should get going, Sig. Let us get out of here before this place dissolves into chaos." Venko said with a sigh.

Sig swallowed and looked down slightly. "Darling… I fear I must stay back."

"Huh?"

"I have too many dear allies here. I need to be here for them." Sig said regretfully.

"Sig. No. We must go." Venko looked back at him seriously. He took Sig by the chin and lifted his head to match his gaze. "You need to come with me. I wish to have you by my side in my manor."

"Venko…" Sig trembled at what he had said. He had always dreamed of such an offer; He could have a pleasant home life to relax, how enticing.

"Maybe… Even in some time it would be legal to be married." Venko proposed tenderly. He didn't want Sig staying behind, the two had grown so close.

"As… Difficult as this decision is for me… I must decline."

Venko closed his eyes for a moment and without saying a word stepped closer and wrapped his arms tightly around Sig in an embrace. Sig trembled again and wrapped his arms around Venko too; he felt as if he was melting. This was one of the first times he had ever been held so passionately outside of a closed-off room. He expected to feel exposed and vulnerable, but instead… He felt safe. It was a bit overwhelming to him and the embrace seemed to go on for far longer than it should have.

"You know…" Venko said quietly. "Last night you told me you were tired of potential mates slipping from your grasp… And now you are turning one away."

Sig sniffled, wiping his eyes with a finger. "I would say that I am used to it by now.'

"You will not change your decision?"

"No, Venko." He smiled. "If there is to be a civil war here then we should ensure that not all of the capable warriors leave before it starts, mmm?"

Venko shook his head with a sigh.

Sig leaned up and kissed Venko passionately on the mouth. "Thank you… For everything."

Venko returned the kiss and stepped back. "If you change your mind… I will always have a spot for you at home, Sig. Be safe."

Sig smiled and waved the Representative off.

As Venko quickly left for his ship, there was a huff from an elderly Sangheili sitting on one of the terminal chairs. The elder barely looked up from his datapad as he huffed again. "High Charity is becoming more progressive by the day…" The man grumbled. "By the Prophets… I miss the 8th age of Reclamation'

Sig smirked slightly and paid no attention to the old man before going to watch Venko jog to the ship as he quickly boarded. Only a moment or so after the door had been sealed before the Ship disconnected from the dock energy locks. With an obvious sense of haste, the ship hardly pulled away from the dock before engaging hard forward engines. The swiftly heating engines crackled and rumbled in the hangar bay, shaking the boarding terminal under Sig's feet as it accelerated firmly from the dock. Had it not been for quick standard procedures to clear the dock bays, anyone to the rear of the ship would have been roasted alive. The ship buckled slightly as it continued accelerating, the ship plowed through one of the smaller cargo barges that hadn't been able to move quite out of the way of the speeding ship. The Unggoy crew of the barge were nearly ejected from the craft as the much larger Diplomatic ship forced them off to the side, causing the barge load to tip and dump partially over the dock bulkhead. The ship quickly exited the hangar barrier, and just as the tail of the ship had passed through the thick energy barrier, the commander of the ship threw the engines on full. The ship blasted off far quicker and began to distort slightly as it entered Slipspace as soon as it could, causing a fiercely opened rift that blocked the view of the hangar barrier for several moments. Sig was surprised; he had heard Venko tell the ship commander that they were in a hurry, but he hadn't expected such a fierce departure. All around the area were confused gazes, and Sig could see the dock supervisors in the distance razing all sorts of a fuss about the damaged barge and it's cargo.

Sig shook his head and looked around, now coming back to his senses to the gravity of the situation. If what Venko was saying was true, and by this time there was plenty of evidence to support that, Sig was very much in danger. He knew what Venko knew, and that meant he was most likely to be next on the chopping block. He had to move. Figuring it would be best to get out of the tower cluster, he began to quickly make his way from the terminal for a small hover pad a few moments away so that he could hail for a small private transport. He hailed for a short distance transport, he felt the risk of calling for a military Phantom would be far too risky at the moment. Worst case scenario, his face could spread about High Charity and plaster him as a criminal. He doubted it would come to such a thing, but he would lay as low as possible. Even now, he glanced around in every place he could as paranoia quickly began to eat at his nerves.

Soon a small personal craft arrived and Sig hastily slid in. He gave the Unggoy pilot directions to a courtyard very near where he was to meet Noma with Ryau. The transport driver was competent and seemingly picked up on Sig's nervousness as he opted to omit a sightseeing route for a low flying and cautious one. Without hardly a question, the pilot set the craft down quickly near an alleyway on the side of the courtyard destination. Sig thanked him quickly by paying him several times the amount of his fare before waving him off. Once the craft had left, Sig took a careful look around to make sure he saw no Jiralhanae or anyone who might be looking for him. Luckily the place that they were to meet was in a Sangheili Civilian District, so above all else, he would be in some sort of cover from any sort of action, but he knew it would only be a safe area for so long. He had to be careful. With a nervous stride, Sig walked on towards the diner. It was close enough time to meet, so he was not surprised to see Ryau standing outside one of the walls of the Restaurant.

"Ryau. I am glad to be with you." Sig said, looking around with a nervous sigh.

Ryau couldn't help but look around as well. "What is wrong?"

"Well." Sig looked around once more before leaning in somewhat. "That just depends on how much trust you have in the current state of the Covenant."

Ryau gave him a serious look. "I just watched a Jiralhanae kill a Fleet Security officer at the base of the Ministry tower, so I am rather skeptical currently."

"I fear we may have some serious problems in our near future." Sig swallowed before leaning in closer to Ryau's ear. "The hierarchs have begun rounding up some politicians and killing them off..."

Ryau shook his head as if he was not surprised. "Things will collapse here faster than you think they will, Sig. Are you armed?"

"Y... Yes of course... They tried to take Venko... He left High Charity... but now I worry for my safety"

"Then you should get out of here too," Ryau said without hesitation. "But I'm concerned about more than just infighting here."

Sig paused and looked down slightly, thinking... "But what of you and D'rok? I cannot leave you two to this mess." He made it sound like he had no other choice

Ryau stiffened. "Sig, unless we act quickly, the mess is going to get worse before we have time to leave. We're in orbit around another Halo. Remember what was kept on the first one we found?"

"Yeah... I remember." Sig frowned; he remembered all too well.

"Things here are going to snowball. I'm sure you heard the rumors already?"

"What are we to do?"

"We move quickly," Ryau said rather confidently

"That is quite vague, Ryau." Sig snorted lightly as he crossed his arms while leaning back against the wall behind them.

"Well, why don't we see if this Major we're meeting is here or not?"

He frowned again. "Yes... Lets"

Sig stepped around Ryau to head into the restaurant. He still was severely paranoid of what was to happen, but now he was with others, or most of all, he was with Ryau. Sure, Ryau may not have the level of combat experience of D'rok, but having him close made him feel almost as safe as he had been before Venko left. Luckily the Jiralhanae seemed distracted with the exchange of position with the Sangheili. He hadn't seen hardly any Brutes since he had joined Ryau; maybe it was for the best.

Towards the back section of the diner, in the first table on the left passed the divider wall between the main restaurant section and the booth and larger tables in the back, sat a SpecOps Sangheili with a weapon case next to him. The warrior was alone with nothing but a cup of tea. Sig approached the warrior with a hint of hesitation; he wasn't expecting the Sangheili to bring such a thing for this meeting. As Ryau and Sig came closer, the Sangheili looked up towards them curiously.

"Major Vallumee?" Sig asked as he stepped closer to the table.

"Mmhmm," The Major nodded slowly. "You must be Director" Valhamee." His eyes glanced past Sig to Ryau. "Oh, I don't believe I've met this person yet… Who is this with you?"

"This is Major Ryau Cinotee... A close acquaintance of mine." Sig answered, still trying to calm down. "...May we sit?"

Major Vallumee nodded again. "Absolutely." He said, clearing a thing or two on his side of the table.

Ryau and Sig slid into the booth in respective order and made themselves comfortable. From their position, they could see the front entrance through an opening in the section divider. This helped ease Sig just a little bit more… That was until his datapad began to buzz on his side as his messages updated. He sighed softly and pulled the datapad from his side.

"I am sorry… Give me one moment, Major." Sig apologized as he turned the screen towards him.

Major Vallumee gave an accepting wave to Sig and looked over towards Ryau. "So… How do you know Director Valhamee?"

Ryau hummed slightly, not expecting much conversation from this meeting. "I am a former lance member of Far Beyond Provocation."

Noma lifted his head slightly, impressed. "You were with FBP?" He asked. "Well, that is something isn't it, Major?"

"It was only briefly, less than half a solar cycle."

Sig ignored the two as he began to see the messages on his datapad. The messages were reports from the Zelso Sector about the changing of the guard. From the several reports, he could see it was far from being handled appropriately; it was resulting in spurts of violence between the Jiralhanae and a few the Sangheili guards. Not of the Honor Guards, but of some of the security staff who were very loyal to their posts. It also seemed like not only were the Jiralhanae trying to bait conflict as they were trying to use their new Honor Guard status to force the Security Staff out of their checkpoints. Some of the leads and senior Security members were asking for orders from Sig while they still were under him. Not knowing what to do until the meantime, he typed up a quick message to them all, instructing them to take all the staff they could head to the unused reserve barracks at the bottom of the tower quickly and go into lockdown until he personally ordered otherwise. They would at least be safe there. No one used those sectors anymore.

The senior members and leads responded quickly that they would do as he instructed. Sig sighed and set his datapad down as he rubbed his face helplessly. He had hoped that all of this wouldn't happen, but the pieces were very quickly being laid out. Venko may have been right.

"What is it?" Ryau leaned over and asked quietly.

Sig didn't say anything as he slid his datapad over towards Ryau to look at. Sig sighed again and took a second to clear his head. He had to focus. One thing at a time. "Major Vallumee…"

"Noma. Please." The Major said.

"Very well… Noma… When I requested the highest-ranking member present I was not told what role you had in Tallaham's Lance. What position are you in the Lance? Are you in charge of equipment?"

"I am second in command... Well, first as of late it seems…" Noma sighed and sipped on his drink again. "Why do you ask?"

Sig poured some water into a glass and took a sip. "I ask because no one is telling me anything. Nothing is in the records; there is no information on anything after the beginning of your last mission" Sig shook his head "So now I am pulling rank to find out what I can..."

Noma frowned and grew quiet for a moment. "Well… Officially, my mandibles are sealed. What you see in the reports is what I know." He chuckled and sort of smiled.

Sig, not having time for games, shot Noma a frown. "I would like to know."

Noma's smile faded. He didn't mean anything by what he said, and now he felt bad. "You must be close friends for you to pursue this as such."

"I consider him my brother. And besides, at this point, my only concern is for his well-being. So please. Tell me everything you can."

Noma sighed and looked down. "What I can say…" He started quietly. "...Due to returning a certain person who he is tied to, the Commander has been incarcerated."

Sig blinked, slightly taken aback by this. "D'rok was arrested?"

"It was M'riana wasn't it?" Ryau asked quickly.

Sig sat up quickly at this. "Major. What happened?"

"It seemed she was amongst the ranks of the Heretics we put down on the gas mine over Threshold…" Noma explained. "And now she is here… I am sure you can fill in the blanks."

Sigh sighed exaggeratedly as he gave a baffled look to Ryau.

Ryau sighed in agreement.

"I guess it is better than him being dead… But I have no idea what you can do with that information." Noma shook his head, kind of sharing their moment of exasperation.

"There is not anything we can do… I need something to eat." Sig grumbled in defeat as he took the menu pad on the edge of the table. "Anyone else?

"No... I'm fine," Ryau answered.

"I will take that when you are finished..." Noma said.

Sig hardly could calm himself after hearing what had happened. He was thankful that D'rok was alive, but he was hardly in a better position. If he wouldn't be killed for what he did, he would be in prison for quite a length of time. Sig grumbled and ordered something simple and passed it off to Noma who quickly ordered something before setting it back down.

"Do you have any questions for the Major?" Sig looked over to Ryau.

"No." Ryau shook his head. "I do not."

"Very well. Take your time. We have plenty of time for questions." Noma said, leaning back into his seat.

"What else happened on your mission?" Sig sat forward, not wanting to sit in silence. "I am curious as to why the reports have not gone out yet."

"Well…" Noma shifted in his seat as he thought. "I was about done with my paperwork then R'tas dumped another pile of it on my desk, so to speak… I've been waiting to get it all done to file it, I am sure you know how the system gets to be. And trust me, the mission reports have just been messy."

Sig hummed. "Well, if the reports were so messy that can only mean one thing..." Sig sighed. "Something serious happened."

Noma frowned slightly; Sig had been right. However understandably so, Noma wasn't sure if he could fully elaborate. The conversation would go no further as a pair of Sangheili children rushed past their table from the main part of the restaurant, zooming past right for the large corner booth behind Ryau and Sig. They were followed by a pair of Sangheili women who looked to be in their mid-30s or so, as they herded a group of more children to the same booth as the first two. Sig shook his head at Noma. They definitely couldn't talk about the mission now with several young ears nearby.

"Thank you for all the information you have given, Noma. I think that is enough for me." Sig sighed yet again.

"I am glad I could help at least a little…" Noma said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I am sorry that it is not the best news."

"It is fine… Though I am curious… What is with the weapon case?" Sig asked, his eyes motioning towards it curiously as he looked for something else to talk about.

"It is some things that R'tas instructed me to keep close."

"Are they D'rok's weapons?" Sig asked outright.

"Why yes…" Noma hummed. "R'tas told me that someone with your name would be interested."

Sig raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I am surprised that he did not try to keep them for himself."

"He mentioned that too." Noma chuckled. "But… He explained that D'rok would want you and… K'an I think… Either way, he wanted you two to have his weapons."

"You have his sword?"

"I do… and his Carbine in the other case." Noma smiled. "That Carbine is very nice."

"Yeah. His questionable miss got it for him as a kit. She was an armorist before… You know." Sig explained.

"Ah. Cool."

"May I hold onto those?" Sig asks quietly. "I know you will have to submit his other things to his estate if his life is to end… But I would like to hold onto his weapons... K'an can wait for the carbine" Sig says before looking to Ryau. "Unless you wish to have the Carbine."

"No, it's best if we wait to give it to K'an. I barely knew D'rok after all." Ryau shook his head.

"If you insist, Director." Noma nodded before sliding the cases over towards Sig.

Sig took the smaller case that housed the hilt of D'rok's Energy Sword and set it lightly on the table in front of him. He opened the case and took the hilt out, gripping it lightly as he inspected it for a moment, and thinking. "I remember when he received this... It was quite a nice ceremony." He sighed and slipped the sword onto his waist harness before placing the small case between Ryau and himself.

An Unggoy approached, carrying their food to their table. Soon Sig and Noma had their food to nibble on. Sig had ordered some very chunky and meaty soup and some hard bread, while Noma had ordered some stuffed loaf of some kind. Sig was kinda jealous of Noma's choice, but either way the food helped Sig be a little at ease. At least he wouldn't also be cranky from an empty stomach. After a minute or so, there was a short, quiet giggle from just behind Sig and Ryau.

Noma looked past them with a smile. "Can I help you, little one?"

Sig glanced back to see one of the little girls of the child herd looking up at the three of them with intent and happy eyes as she stood on the bench behind them. She bounced and giggled again, grinning widely now that she was being noticed by other big people than her caretakers.

"Zama, please." One of the women chaperoning the children said, waving her hand lightly at the child. "I am sorry about that, Majors." She apologized.

"Oh, don't worry ma'am," Noma said, smiling again. "It is no bother to us."

The woman nodded respectfully to Noma before she continued to try to corral the children into behaving as the first round of their food began to arrive. Sig couldn't help but watch for a moment; the innocence of children always made him happy. He always wished to have a family somehow.

"They seem happy..." Noma commented. "At least the food is good here."

Sig looked back towards Noma and gave a slight nod. "I've been here a few times… There is usually a good company of folk here…" He commented as he noticed a pair of Sangheili Majors enter the diner and head directly for the bar top for food and drink.

"I like it. I think I shall come back here in the future." Noma commented. "With much better circumstances I hope."

"I hope so too…"

"At least Commander Vadumee insists that we relax, for he is hopeful for D'rok's eventual release..." Noma said.

Sig paused with many thoughts rushing through his mind. "As am I…" He trailed off to continue nibbling.

Ryau nudged Sig's side lightly after a few moments and kind of looked forward towards the entrance. Sig's hearts sank into his stomach as he saw the group of seven Jiralhanae entered the front of the restaurant. Two of them stayed by the door while two other briskly approached the bar area to address the staff of the diner. The remaining three glanced around before looking towards the group's direction. Once they had noticed Sig, they already had begun to approach the rear section of the restaurant.

"I think we have a problem here." Ryau muttered tautly as he watched the Jiralhanae pair near the front of the diner casually lock the doors.

Fuck. Sig thought as he slid the Carbine case closer to Ryau. This couldn't be any good news for any of them. Noma had glanced back to see them after noticing Sig and Ryau's sudden expressions. What were they going to do? There wasn't much time to do anything before the Jiralhanae would get to their table.

"Valhamee!" The Major at the head of the Jiralhanae trio growled. "You are coming with us!" The Brute ordered as he fiercely gripped Sig by the wrist and yanked him from the booth up to his feet.

Sig couldn't help but lightly yelp out. It was so sudden, but once he had been lifted, he somehow got his footing and wiggled his wrist somehow from the Brute's grasp. "Calm yourself, Jiralhanae! I will comply willingly!" Sig said loud and stern.

Somehow this caused the Brutes to pause, possibly not expecting that response. Behind them, a few of the children had started whimpering and making frightened noises. This was going to be too much for them.

One of the Brutes has stepped closer to their table. "Quiet, you runts!" The Brutes barked at the group of children, upsetting them even more.

Sig snarled with distaste. That is something he would not stand for. "You leave them be!" Sig stood firm at their defense, only to have one of the other Brutes backhand him in the face.

The strike caused Sig to nearly topple over onto the booth they had been sitting at. Enraged and finished with the situation, Sig yelled and shoved himself off the table quickly, snapping D'rok's sword hilt from his side to drive the corner of it into the face of the nearest Brute, using the hilt as a sort of elegant brass knuckles. Before the Brutes could react, Sig continued his motion and activated the sword mid-swing at the other near Brute. The fresh blade sliced through the Brute's forearm and several inches deep across his entire chest. The Brute next to the children's table advanced a pace or so, drawing his Spiker to fire at Sig. He was only able to fire a small volley of shots before Sig harshly swung the sword down through the Brute's elbow, slicing it clean off and leaving the Brute to stagger back. Ryau, by this time, had picked himself up to pull his Carbine from his back. He followed up Sig's attack by shooting at the disarmed Brute several times in the chest over the terrified children.

Sig turned around to see the remaining Brute pulling a Mauler from his belt. Sig reached out and managed to grip the top of the Brute's weapon as he plunged the tips of the sword into the Brute's chest. The Brute, while mortally wounded, continued to fight, and fired the Mauler as fast as he could. Luckily Sig had shoved the weapon to the side just enough that the shrapnel blasts of the Mauler missed him enough to slam against the wall of an unoccupied booth. Sid let go of the sword still stuck in the Brute's chest to grip the Mauler with both hands so he could strong-arm the weapon from his attacker. Once Sig had torn the Mauler from the Brute's grip, the Jiralhanae staggered back to try to at least deal with the sword sticking from his chest. Before he got too far, Sig stuffed the Mauler into the Brute's face and fired it point-blank, dropping the Ape instantly.

Several rounds from the other Brute weapons tore through the restaurant over Sig's head, causing him to duck for cover. "Ryau! Get them out of here!" He shouted, pointing to the children and women ducking for cover. "Noma!" He shouted again, before pulling his Repeater off of his back and tossing it to the unarmed Major.

Noma gladly caught the Repeater gladly before he ducked behind the small wall between his booth and the Brutes in the front. Luckily, a sound that lightened their spirits substantially, the sound of several plasma rifles being rapidly from the front of the diner. The two Sangheili Majors who had entered just before the Brutes were joining the fray, and firing at the Jiralhanae, each of them holding a Plasma Rifle in each hand.

With the Brutes near the front distracted for a moment, Sig scrambled for the Carbine case that had been kicked away from the booth as he had been yanked to his feet moments before. Quickly he opened the case and saw that not only was the weapon perfectly intact, but Noma had also put in D'rok's office reserve of ten or so Carbine magazines. Sig took the weapon and loaded it quickly before pulling the heavy bolt along the left barrel of the T52M. As he lifted himself over the section of wall he was behind, Ryau had taken quick action into getting the child group to safety. He had turned and shot out a nearby window with his weapon before busting out the rest of the glass with a nearby chair.

"Go! Get through!" Ryau ordered, letting one of the women before starting to hand bundles of screaming children through the open window to her

Noma had also gotten from the table to find better cover to help Sig shoot at the Brutes in the front to get them off of the two aiding Majors. Between all of the crossfire, only two of the seven Jiralhanae that came in were remaining. They had flipped over a table for cover but were still sort of exposed. Unfortunately, the front door was suddenly blown in by an explosive as another large group of Brute's, led by a Captain with a Brute Shot, charged in to help their brethren. This was about to get messy, but at least everybody was on the same page on either side.

Everyone ducked slightly as the Jiralhanae Captain fired a pair of Brute Shot rounds through the pathway towards the back of the rear of the restaurant. The large explosive slugs slammed into the back wall and exploded, shattering the decorative wood and furniture around the area of impact. The remaining woman that had been with the group had luckily covered her ears before the rounds popped off. Angered and now free of the children, the woman quickly dove down to snatch a weapon from a dead Brute and got to cover. Such a situation wasn't ideal for any civilian to partake in, but now the additional gun was widely appreciated; regardless of how crazy the woman was.

Before the Captain fired again, one of the Sangheili members of the restaurant staff stepped out wielding a plasma repeater. The Sangheili tried to move in to join the two Majors behind the bar but was quickly gunned down by the Brutes. While the Brutes were somewhat distracted, Sig, Noma, and Ryau fired as much as they could at the group. Despite the volleys, the Brute's fired back and began to advance on them. The Brute took several strides towards where Sig and they were where suddenly, a swiftly thrown Spike grenade sailed through the doorway and into the chest of the first approaching brute. The crazy lady had also claimed one of the Brute's grenades and threw it with surprising expertise. It ended up being enough of a notion to scatter a few of the Brutes while the one stuck exploded; falling back missing the front of his torso.

The Sangheili ducked down slightly to let the shrapnel riddle the restaurant only to snap back up and quickly fire at as many of the disoriented Brutes. They were lucky enough to take out three of the Jiralhanae attackers in the temporary confusion, and even now, the remaining Brutes were visibly growing angry at their lack of progress. Between the crossfire, there were only four of the Brutes left. With even numbers, and the help of energy shields, the Brutes were quickly dwindled down to just three; the Captain and two underlings. The Brutes were slowly beginning to get in the flow of keeping all of them down in cover. They were trying to advance more so on the Major's behind the bar and were beginning to get closer by the moment.

The woman who had taken to the fighting scored a few lucky shots on one of the Brute underlings, sending a group of red hot Spiker rounds into his face and neck, causing the Brute to stagger and collapse to the side from taking several batches of weapon fire. Noma and Ryau had paired together in condensing their fire together at the same targets, the pairing of molten plasma and the impacts of high-velocity rifle rails working very well in tandem. Sig and those around him ducked back down again as the Brute Captain fired the Brute shot several times in their direction; this time most of the explosives slugs destroyed a good bit of the section of the wall that Ryau and Noma were behind, luckily they were spared from damage by what was left of the wall.

The Captain grew enraged and tossed his weapon to the floor as he growled loudly. With a sudden burst of agility for its size, the Brute charged swiftly at Ryau and Noma, slamming through the wall and barreling into them. The Brute tried to quickly grab at the two as they jerked around from the attack. Sig jumped up and tried to fire some shots into the Brute but was unable to; he was at a bad angle and Noma was between him and the Ape. Just before it was able to get a hold of Noma, the Brute suddenly jerked upright, inhaling sharply as his gaze rose towards the ceiling. The creature jerked a few more times before crumbling straight to the ground. Behind where he fell was Ryau, panting briskly as he stood still, clenched fists shaking slightly with both of his wrist blades extended. He had punched several blades into the Brute's back as soon as it had turned his back on him.

Everyone stood still for a moment; the fight had been quite the spectacle, and the restaurant had been completely destroyed by the shootout that had developed, only a few tables and chairs remained upright. The place smelled of burnt fur and plasma scorching.

Both of the Majors stood up from behind the bar up front, both with dual plasma rifles each. "Are you two alright?!" One asks, panting, looking back towards the others.

"I think we are well enough." Sig answered as he exhaled, catching his breath. "Ryau? Noma? Are you two alright?"

Noma stood up slowly from the floor before pulling an embedded Spiker round from his chest plate. "I sure am… I think at least."

"Yeah, just fine here." Ryau picked up his discarded Carbine and reloaded it.

Sig nodded to him before going to the woman who had joined them in the fight. He was happy to see her unharmed from all of the crossfire. "That was an impressive throw, Miss." He told her.

"Thank you." She says as she brushed her dress off, standing up. "My Uncle trained warriors at an academy. He trained me at home in case I would need it."

"And it seems this called for such a thing. Thank you for your hand in battle." Sig nodded with a sense of respect for her. Very rare was it to see any female in combat. Usually, it was only the members of the Sangheili Home Guard.

"Of course. I could not have done otherwise, Director." She exhaled.

Sig grew a slow frown. "You should get your friend and all of those children to somewhere very safe… Get them off of High Charity if you can..." Sig told her. "I fear it is soon to get quite crazy here."

"Of course, Director. May the Gods grant you their blessings." She said, before collecting another weapon and ammo in her shoulder pack as she left out the window to rejoin her children group.

"What was the cause of this fray?" One of the Majors asked as they both walked over to see the carnage in the middle of the room.

Sig looks up to them. "The Hierarchs were rounding up Councilors and politicians late last night to be silenced..." He said, holstering his weapon on his back.

"By the Gods..." One of the Majors uttered in shock.

"These Jiralhanae most likely came here to silence me for knowing that information..." Sig said with a huff.

"How do you know this all for sure?" Noma asked, appearing genuinely concerned now.

Sig looks up at Noma. "As I told you earlier: I am the Director of Security for the politicians of Zelso… We have been monitoring the situation since this morning and after several others came forward to my corresponding representative, he took several others and left High Charity. I chose to stay and find out what happened to my friends"

"A noble cause to be sure…" Noma said, pausing for a moment. "We should probably get out of here before more Brutes show up."

"I agree… But I am unsure where we would go." Sig frowned.

"Wherever you go we shall follow, Director. After this ordeal we might be suspect to whatever mess you are connected with." One of the Major's spokes.

"I would not wish both of you two with such things."

"Nonsense." The other Major clipped both of his Plasma Rifles on each hip. "Today was far more exciting than the last year we have been stationed here. We are at your word, Sir!"

"Well…" Sig swallowed and looked between them all. "What are our options?"