This time, the noble Minister did not deign to come down to meet them in their great Keep. That he had decided to do so the first time was itself more than merely a kindness, though, R'Tas knew. Coming into their home and demanding they host him had been a test of loyalty, to see that they would submit to the Covenant and obey him as they were sworn to. That they had done so without hesitation had, he hoped, silenced some of the murmurs of sedition and heresy that hounded their name.

Young he might have been, but he was no fool.

However with that matter at least set aside, the Minister had no cause to test them. And so instead of coming down to them, he demanded they come to him. And so, once the brief naming ceremony was concluded and R'Tas was officially named Vadum'ee and granted the worn but nonetheless sturdy armor of a Minor, while Kipo was left in her divinely smithed body glove, they were herded out towards a waiting Phantom. A trio of Honor Guard were waiting aboard it, and were silent as the grave as the craft lifted up and away.

"Oh!" Kipo gasped excitedly as they rose and turned, presenting their open side to the sea as the sun glinted off it. Smiling, she murmured, "Beautiful…"

"Leave the sea-side windows open." One of the Guard murmured into his communicator, low enough that had he not been next to him R'Tas doubted he'd have heard the warrior's words. "For a time, at least."

"Thank you." R'tas murmured just as quietly, "She has not seen a sight such as this, I do not think."

"Hmph." The Guard grunted, "Then it is good to let her see it. Perhaps the gods will bless our journey for it, hm?"

"Perhaps indeed." He nodded, "Perhaps."

Soon, the air began to thin and chill, and the pilot was forced to seal the compartment in preparation for atmospheric exit. As they broke free, he felt the ship begin to tremble in the disconcerting way he'd been trained to expect. His stomach didn't seem to have gotten the lesson, though, spinning and tumbling as the craft shook around him. One of the older, more amused Honor Guards told him to kneel and close his eyes against it, and he did so.

It helped, marginally, and none of them mocked him for it.

None save for Kipo, who prodded his back and chuckled, "Lightweight~!"

"Silence." He growled warningly, "Or I will hide everything sweet I can find where you shall never find it."

Fortunately, the tremors ended swiftly as the craft punched free of the gravity well of his homeworld. With the trembling gone, his stomach swiftly eased and he stood finally, more than a little glad at the absence of mockery he saw from the Sangheili around him. Foolish it might have been, but his pride stung for being forced to grovel merely for some shaking.

But it was over, now, and he had greater matters to attend to.

"Stay with us." The eldest of the Honor Guard grunted shortly, flicking his gaze between the two of them meaningfully. "The Minister has made time for the two of you, but not so that you may wander about."

"Of course." He rumbled and Kipo nodded. "Lead the way, if you please."

Without another word, the armored Sangheili did so, the side door of the Phantom hissing open quietly as he stepped out. R'Tas and Kipo followed him closely, while the other Honor Guards stayed to keep vigil over their Phantom. Why that was, he hadn't the faintest idea, but he didn't question their decisions as he was led through the spacious hangar of the cruiser's belly.

It quite simply was not his place.

"Oh!" Kipo smiled as they walked through the long hangar of the cruiser, pointing a long, gloved finger at the dozens of sleek fighters moored in the ship. "Those are Seraphs, right?"

"Indeed." Their guide rumbled his answer, "An older design, at least for those fielded by this vessel, but an excellent superiority craft nonetheless. You know of it, Sacred One?"

"Kipo." She corrected automatically, rushing on before anyone could comment. "And yeah. Some of the Elites back at the Keep were big fans of it. Used to overhear all kinds of stories 'bout 'em while we were eatin' and stuff."

"They are a bit more popular than the type twenty-seven exo-atmospheric Banshee, to be fair." The guide nodded contemplatively, "I suppose it's for their armor and shield, but personally, I favor the type twenty sevens."

"Speed to evade rather than armor to withstand." R'Tas summarised easily, "The master instructor of arms at my Keep favored the same approach."

"Hm." The old warrior rumbled, armor shifting as he turned to regard him. "And you?"

"I favor a bit of both." He answered instantly, his opinion born from hundreds of similar conversations as he'd grown. "At least insofar as I can favor anything, right now. Enough armor and shields to survive what cannot be avoided, but not so much as to slow me. This, I feel, would be the best of all possible offerings."

"A fair enough answer, and offered with the kind of tentativeness that most your age should offer all such answers with. Alas that they ydo not." The guard rumbled lowly, humming his satisfaction, "And one I shall keep in mind, young one."

That was more than a little foreboding, but he didn't ask for an explanation. Speaking frankly, the Honor Guard ought not have spoken to them at all, so he'd suspected something more to their talk all the while. What it was, though, he'd simply have to wait and find out. Even if his instincts were screaming at him to be on guard.

But then, what was he supposed to do in any event even if he wished to?

Nothing, obviously, save for his duties.

Eventually, finally, they were led to a wide set of large, doubled doors covered in the sigil of the Minister of Fortitude. A pair of Honor Guards flanked the wide doors and watched their approach warily, hands tight on the hafts of their long polearms. They didn't move, though, only paying their guide polite nods in greeting as he stepped forward to open the door and then stood to the side and gestured for them to enter.

"We will be outside, as the Minister has requested." He rumbled warningly, "His Eminence has the means of his self defense, though, and should we be called we will rush to his attendance. And you will not prevail against us. Am I understood?"

"Yep!"

"You are." He nodded, "Rest assured, I would not dare to harm his holiness."

"Hmph." The old warrior rumbled, stepping away and gesturing with a jerk of his head to the open door. "Enter then, young ones, and know that his words carry with them a charge of holy duty and honor. Accept them with the proper reverence and humility."

"Of course." He nodded, turning to his smaller companion and nodding. "Let's go, Kipo."

Inside, the room was a bit more spacious than what lessons told him ought to be the norm for a cruiser of this size and type. The middle of the room was taken up by a large holo-display he'd seen hundreds of, scattered throughout the Keep to enable communications all across the territories controlled by the Vadum. Consoles of a hundred varieties he couldn't discern lined the back from one side to another, worked by a handful of squat, mostly silent Unggoy. A couple of the small creatures turned to regard them as they entered and Kipo waved, earning a few awkward gestures in return as they went back to whatever their work was.

As the door closed, the display flared to life brightly, showing a heavily armored Sangheili warrior with the wide, smooth front plate of the Special Operations branch. He was frozen for a moment, but at the press of a button courtesy of one of the working Grunts, the figure began to move and speak.

"The Prophets speak lies and self-aggrandizing legends, all to enable their own power and control!" The Sangheili ranted, pacing from side to side in an odd way, given the holo-display didn't actually move him. Instead, it was like he was walking in place in a strange sort of… Dance of some kind. "They send us to explore, to search, but neither know nor care what we might find! And what we do, they turn to their own ends, or none at all! But what of the Sangheili? What of the Unggoy? The Kig-Yar?"

"Nothing!" The obvious heretic snarled, "Nothing but a life of servitude and death! And now they seek our death because we have found something which tells us the truth of-"

The display flickered there, and then died in a flash of dark blue light. Kipo stepped forward as it failed, murmuring confusedly, "Why'd it cut out there? What was he going to say?"

"The transmission was intercepted, and corrupted there for it, I'm afraid." A tired, almost slimy, though he would never voice the words, voice answered from behind them. As they turned, the Minister floated away from the table set against the back wall and waved a hand at the display. "I don't think whatever was going to be said was worthy of hearing regardless, though, so perhaps the gods sought to spare our ears."

"I guess…" Kipo shrugged and crossed her arms, clearly put off by something, though he wasn't sure what. "Do we know what he was talking about then?"

"Unfortunately, no." The Minister frowned, hovering in a slow circle around the holo-display. With a wave of his hand, a Grunt pressed a button and brought up a still image taken from the transmission, and he began to speak. "This is Arkun Raman'ee, and he was the lead of one of our exploratory flotillas, pursuing data points recovered from the sacred archives of mostly holy High Charity itself."

"A sacred duty." R'Tas rumbled, more for Kipo's sake than any other. "To be tasked to follow in the footsteps of the gods themselves… How does one chosen for such a task fall to what seems to me to be heresy?"

"We don't know, unfortunately." The Minister sighed, waving a hand at the hologram. "We sent speakers in the hopes of finding out, and perhaps bringing this to a peaceful close if the poor fool simply misunderstood something he found. But he butchered the speakers we sent, and the scouts we sent after to try and find out what happened more… Independently."

"Butchered…?"

"Yes, Sacred One." Fortitude frowned distraughtly, "All that was recovered were their heads. Including the head of another Minister similar to myself. The Minister of Discovery."

"To murder a Prophet…" His blood boiled at the mere prospect and he growled under his breath. Quietly, he said, "You were kind to offer this heretic a chance at explanation and perhaps redemption. A shame that it was spurned so brutally. Is this why you summoned us then?"

"It is." He nodded, waving a hand at them, now, and explaining coolly, "The Council and the Hierarchs have… Taken notice of your coming of age. Both of you. And they want to make a grand show of bringing you into the Covenant proper, as the holy warriors you ought to be. It is their opinion that, with proper support and equipment of course, expunging this filth should be a proper show of power and an introduction all in the Covenant can respect."

"You… Want us to kill a bunch of people so we look good?" Kipo asked, face twisting nastily at the idea.

"No, no, they need to be silenced regardless. And wagging chins need to be stilled, regarding the strangeness of your joining us, Sacred One." The Minister smiled as warmly as he seemed able to manage, seeming to catch on to how she felt fairly easily and indulging her. "Not all believe you to be a friend to the Covenant, unfortunately. Not like I do. And this has caused some tension among the Council as a result."

"Tension?"

"Questions of an… Uncomfortable bend, Elite." The Minister nodded, waving to Kipo at his side and explaining quietly, "And allegations as well, unfounded and thus unpursued though they may have been."

"Such as?" He asked, "What manner of allegations could the Councilors have regarding the two of us."

"And your Keep." The Minister pointed out purposefully, "And they were rather what one would have expected. Why Vadum Keep? Did they lie about what they found? When they found it? What could they be planning? Why are they building up their Keep and forces so quickly?"

"We only wished to be worthy protectors…" He answered quietly, mandibles pinching shut as he considered his words. The Kaidon might not have told him if the truth were otherwise, of course, but, "I know of no evidence that could give cause to these concerns, your eminence."

"Oh I'm sure." He waved the matter off with a low laugh, "Neither did those posing them. Which is why nothing ever came of the questions. Still, it's for the best to silence these troublesome little murmurings. Is it not?"

"It is." R'Tas agreed, quickly putting the idea together with the broadcast they'd been shown. "That's why you want us to see to these heretics then, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" The Prophet's brow rose even as he smiled, "Please, do explain what you mean for me."

"A convenient solution to two problems." He summarised briefly, "We prove our loyalty by silence the same manner of traitor that these wagging chins and wandering whisperers fear we are, and the heretics themselves are silenced."

"Yes, that was my plan." The Minister smiled, steepling his fingers and reclining in his chair. Gesturing to him with both hands he smiled, "My, my, but you are an astute one. I would be surprised, were it not for the fact that the Oracle chose you. Clearly, its divine wisdom did not fail in that."

"I should hope not." For more than just his own sake, too. His Keep and Kipo's life rested on the Oracle's judgement being accurate. If he should fail… No, he couldn't afford to even consider the matter. Instead, he asked, "When do we depart, then?"

"When do you…" The prophet laughed, then, the harsh sound echoing around them until one of the Grunts joined him, cackling madly. A short glare ended that, another Grunt chittering at his friend's pitiful whine. Shaking his head, the Prophet turned back to them and smiled, "My friends, you already have departed. The ship was underway as soon as you boarded."

"Ah…"

"Proper plans will be made to handle this rather unfortunate matter when we arrive in a week or so." The Minister said, turning away from them as he seemed to decide the conversation had reached its end. "One of my guards will see you to quarters, and tomorrow you may pursue the equipment stores for something more befitting your station and task."

"Just like that?" Kipo asked quietly, looking… Confused, as the Minister turned back to her. "You just snatch us away from home, and run us off to do stuff without even telling us about it beforehand?"

"Well… Yes." The Minister answered, cocking his head to the side curiously. "That is how things are done within the Covenant. I took you two into my service, for now at the least, and so am taking you to your task."

"But how is that-"

"Kipo." He rumbled, laying a hand on her shoulder to calm her. "It is fine. To be in service of such a high office so soon is an honor."

"I guess…"

"For now, I believe it's time we rest." He nodded for the amused Prophet's benefit. "In the morning, we will… See about equipment, as you said, to prepare for our coming mission. If you would grant us leave, we will go."

"By all means." The Prophet smiled, waving a hand for the door, "And prepare well. I suspect that the fight to end this heresy will not be an easy one."

Nodding and with Kipo on his heels, he turned for the door. One of the guards already knew what to do when they came out, stepping forward and gesturing for them to follow before turning and marching off. Silent, the two of them did as they were told.