AN: Warning, descriptions of torture ahead.
Tartarus held the whip in his hand as he marched down the walkway to the oval shaped ledge, he was going to enjoy this. He had never liked the Sangheili much, so being able to punish one for such heresy would be beautiful. Behind him he could hear the footsteps of the incompetent, they were heavy as if the Sangheili, knew he was doomed.
As they approached, they could hear the chanting come from hundreds of thousands of throats, melding together into one continuous roar of "Heretic! Heretic! Heretic!" It was to him, a sound of music. The sound of a Sangheili getting his much deserved comeuppance.
As he came up the ledge, he could see far across High Charity, the glittering downtown that was dominated by the massive Forerunner vessel Anodyne Spirit; a massive silver dagger that rose from the cityscape. It was visible even from here and even Tartarus had to admit, it was intimidating that he could even see it from here, a testament to the power of the Gods. He came to the ledge as the incompetent, Thel came up to a raised altar where his punishment would be carried out. He swept his gaze over the tiered stadium as little camera drones began flitting around in order to film this and allowed himself to chuckle in a soft yet dark tone.
"You've drawn quite a crowd." he chortled at Thel and the Sangheili gave him a glare that could have slagged a planet had he been physically capable of doing so. A tiny note of fear welled up within him before he quashed it, he wasn't a Supreme Commander anymore, he was going to be a dishonored wreck by the end of this.
The other two Jiralhanae he had with him wrestled the Sangheili's arms into the Plasma cuffs which came to life and glowed with electric blue light.
He watched as Thel gave him a defiant snap of his mandibles as the Sangheili growled "If they came to hear me beg, they're going to be disappointed Tartarus."
Tartarus allowed himself to grin, he had to admit that the Sangheili even after being convicted and in the face of his punishment, was still defiant. But he would make him beg for mercy. "Are you sure about that?" he growled.
A moment later, the soft humming of a Gravity Throne heralded the entrance of the noble Hierarch of Conviction, his voice amplifier squawked and he spoke with a reverberating thunder that seemed to echo through the city. "For crimes most heinous and heretical, Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee has for allowing the destruction of Halo been sentenced to be shamed and stripped of his titles and honors, cast into exile by his family, lashed twenty-one times, and branded with the Mark of Shame!" he boomed and the crowd roared approval at the punishment that was to be handed down to the incompetent Sangheili that had allowed one of the Sacred Rings to be destroyed. Tartarus noted sourly that he would get to use the whip thrice against the Incompetent, but then again he needed his strength so he could survive the branding.
The plasma cuffs thrummed with power and blue light began dancing across the gold and black armor of the Sangheili, who to his delight immediately began shaking in pain as the energy wracked his body and began to char the armor. But to Tartarus's dismay, the Sangheili didn't cry for mercy nor did he even cry out in pain despite the heat and shocks that were tearing through him.
He watched as the process continued and the Sangheili continued to remain silent beyond heaving for breath as the energy continued attacking his armor and bodysuit, weakening them considerably.
The pain was unending and was agonizing, his muscles were clenching at random intervals as the electricity crackled and the stench of ozone filled his nostrils. It was taking everything he had to not cry out in agony or beg for mercy. He knew that he deserved this punishment, that the blame for the failure of Covenant forces fell upon him and him alone.
More than that, this was a sacrifice that would spare his family from eternal shame and dishonor. This was his dishonor and his alone to bear.
The cuffs, having worked their fell power over his greaves now began to attack his cuirass. The energy crackled over the Nanolaminate plating of his armor, plating that was durable enough to stop practically everything. Its high sheen quickly became dulled and the gold coloration began to blacken as the pain that had wracked his arms and was still wracking them, spread to his chest.
Tartarus rumbled with glee as he watched the scene in front of him as the crowd cheered at the sight of the heretic being tortured, his armor blackened and scorched by crackling waves of energy. The Sangheili's body was literally shaking in agony as his mandibles clenched tightly. The sight of the incompetent going through such agony, it was simply delicious.
But sadly it was also going far too fast for his liking, the chest plate was already scorched beyond recognition and now the crackling beams of energy seemingly lessened as they started attacking the helmet, this puzzled him but he didn't question it. He savored the quaking of the Sangheili, yes, he was no longer the Supreme Commander, just a Sangheili.
The helmet and mandible guards took even less time to be blackened beyond recognition and Tartarus had to remind himself that they couldn't remove those too forcefully, otherwise they could deal traumatic damage to the Incompetent and he knew what lay in store for this Sangheili so such damage couldn't be done.
However, it seemed that the energy went further at weakening the bonds between plate and body glove as he watched, the mandible guards detached from the body glove and fell to the floor with light clangs. The sounds drew hearty cheers from the assembled throngs.
He had to stop himself from laughing as the energy now done with the helmet shifted downward, crossing over the Sangheili's chest and intensifying again as the energy continued crackling downward towards the thighs. The incompetent convulsed with agony but again he didn't cry out. Tartarus had to admit that the incompetent was certainly made of tough stuff if he could handle this agony.
But the process now seemed to accelerate as it ravaged the armor and then the energy ceased, the last parts of the armor were now blackened and scorched beyond recognition. Now the fun could truly begin.
He raised his mighty hammer, Fist of Rikut and bellowed at the top of his voice. "FOR ALLOWING THE DESTRUCTION OF HALO! THERE CAN BE NO GREATER HERESY! LET HIM BE AN EXAMPLE FOR ALL WHO WOULD BREAK OUR COVENANT!" and then he slammed the haft into the ground, the boom reverberated through the small half chamber they were in and the crowd's cheering intensified.
He then turned, glowering in a dark fashion and thundered at his underlings. "Strip him of his armor!"
With grunts of acknowledgements they strode forward and first they grabbed the cuirass, then they pulled. Nanolaminate squealed in protest until with an alarming bang, a fracture appeared near the sternum. More and more the Jiralhanae pulled and that crack in the plating grew until with a titanic scream of fracturing alloy, it gave completely and came free from the incompetent's chest, the portion of armor covering his back fell to the floor with a clang and the two Jiralhanae now took the halves of the chest plate that they had tossed them away, they clattered to the floor several units away.
Then they drew plasma knives and with almost delicate precision sliced through the plating covering his legs and arms as they took care to not damage the body glove or the flesh underneath. Then those were removed and cast aside by his underlings. With a subtle gesture, they retreated for now it was his turn to punish the incompetent.
He drew his ceremonial dagger, the steel of the blade had been refined to a cutting edge, a scant atom wide. He made several quick slashes, the blade slicing through the body glove of the Incompetent like it was made of paper, yet he was skilled enough to not harm the Incompetent. With another barked command the underlings came forth again and removed the ruined body glove.
Then he sheathed the blade, before grabbing the helmet and pulling it off with one sharp yank, then he dropped it without ceremony. Then he strode around behind the Incompetent and unfurled the whip, he gutteral snarl he cracked it and the Incompetent cried out as the instrutment sank into his flesh and carved gashes into his back, sending indigo blood splashing to the ground. "ONE!" he boomed out and the crowd bellowed approval.
He cracked the whip again, seven more gashes appeared in the Incompetent's back and more blood splattered to the ground as he cried out again. "TWO!" He thundered and the watching crowd cheered.
He brought the whip up, raising it over his head and he flexed his arm again. There was another crack, more blood splattered and another pained cry came from the Incompetent. "THREE!" he bellowed and the crowd cheered as the pain became too much for the Incompetent and he seemingly went limp.
The whip was no longer needed anymore however and he furled it up before then striding back to be in front of the incompetent as a large pole that thickened towards the end facing the floor rose up. It was glowing bright red with insidious heat. He grabbed it and strode towards the Incompetent, who pulled his head up weakly too look at him. He glared and then thrust the staff into the Incompetent's chest.
Immediately the sizzling sound of searing flesh filled the Jiralhanae's ears as he pressed the brand with the Mark of Shame into the Incompetent's chest. Who, to his delight, finally rose his head up till it was facing the ceiling and roared in agony, the sound was deep, moronful, and pain-filled. He held the brand thrust against the Incompetent's chest for several more seconds until he pulled it away, revealing the mark seared into the Incompetent. Who went limp, having evidently passed out.
AN: This was actually fairly hard to write, but in case you're wondering why Tartarus has his attitude change so drastically. He respected Thel prior to his conviction but with said conviction and now branding, that respect is now gone.