answers to reviewers questions or statements:
Disclaimer: I don't own ay Marvel or Halo characters seen, mentioned or used.
Being captured by the enemy was something all Spartans expected to happen at some point in their lives.
It was, however, extremely unlikely as a Spartan's training and equipment made a capture attempt far too costly to risk. But, in the event that through some unexpected scenario a Spartan is captured, they were taught various counter interrogation techniques, be it through the use of mental manipulation or through physical torture on top of the reciting their name, rank and serial number. Though a lot of good it would all do with the Covenant who didn't seem to care one way or another.
"Doisac. Doisac. Doooiisac. Doi-sac" the orange armored Grunt said with a sniff before he shook his head "Planet of the Jiralhanae everybody! Coulda' named it anything they could have! But they named it Doisac. Doisac!"
But dear god Jun will out every secret in the UNSC he knows just to be moved to another cell if the Grunt sharing one with himself and Peter didn't shut the fuck up! He threatened to kill it earlier, but Peter quickly shot him down and talked him out of it, though it was more he'd keep annoying Jun if he did.
"What does that even mean?" Peter sat across from the Grunt, clad only in his titanium bodysuit, the rest of his and Jun's Mjolnir armor had been removed, quite painfully, and was being held somewhere else in the makeshift brig the Covenant had made for them in the Bowles of a mining facility the Covenant had converted into a sort of command outpost.
"No idea, I don't speak Jiralhanae" the Grunt said with a shrug as he waddled around on his short legs.
The Grunt was in the 'cell' long before Peter and Jun were forced into it based on the smell and sate of the space. All they gleamed from the Grunt on the circumstances for being imprisoned was that he apparently cried while on an important mission... while using active camouflage, thus alerting a squad of Marines to their presence. Personally, Peter thought the Grunt was lucky to get out with only being imprisoned instead of shot dead or eaten by one of the Brute Commanders.
"They have a language? I thought they just barked and growled at each other" Jun said with a snort as he ran a tentative hand over the bloodied bruise he had on the side of his face from where a Brute Captain saw fit to strike him.
Well to be fair he wasn't answering the Brutes' questions and he may have made a remark about their mothers...
"Oh yeahs, Jiralhanae have several languages they talks" the Grunt supplied happily "Really simple names too, not those long ones we give big space time ships!"
"Really, like what?" Peter asked.
He and Jun weren't going anywhere given that the room's only door had some sort of energy field covering it and the hall outside their room was filled with Jackals, all armed with Needlers or those Needle Rifles of theirs and three times as many Grunts. And that was just the hall their room was in, there was no telling how many other Covenant troops were walking about and they had no idea where their armor and weapons were taken.
So if he and Jun were gonna be stuck in this room until the Brutes got bored and wanted to torture them again, might as well past the time learning a bit about their rival space faring super power. Even after close to thirty years of war between the two, the UNSC was still in the dark about the Covenant, they could barely get a handle on their military structure and tactics before they did something new and unexpected that completely threw ONI for a loop and force them to re-evaluate their prior intel.
"Oh yeahs, I was on one for years and I still can't remember the name. I mean, why do we have such long complicating ship time names?" the Grunt asked, as if Peter or Jun had an answer.
"Pride maybe?" Peter said after he spared Jun a questioning glance "We always figured it tied into you guys' religion or something"
"I guess" the Grunt said with a hum before he shook his head, which caused his body to sway from side to side with how forceful the shake was "But every time you make intel in battle, the ship's probably blowed up before you finish. Like 'sir, they're firing missiles into CCS Pinnacle of Shadowy Gumption and ah, ahh, ah too late, it's exploded-ded!'"
"I bet it makes fleet mustering a marathon and a half" Peter said with a laugh while Jun let out a long suffering sigh.
He wondered if he could request a separate cell, because while he may have liked to talk more than most, Peter and his newfound Grunt friend were doing enough talking between their species to make up for the near thirty nears of warfare.
"What's a marathon?" the Grunt asked, his head quirking from side to side as he stared at Peter with his large eyes.
"It's a thing that people run for... well fun I guess" Peter said with a thoughtful look on his face "For good causes and all that"
The Grunt seemed to make a face at this "I don't like running! I gets too tired!"
"They give you drinks to keep going and stay hydrated... I-I-I think" Peter said as he tried to remember what the last marathon he saw as like.
Well the only Marathon he could remember in vivid detail was a Marathon-class Heavy Cruiser, ironically named the Marathon, getting shredded by a Covenant Destroyer. Went down in ten minutes, well five technically, but Peter didn't consider a ship 'down' until it was entirely destroyed and unsalvageable like the Marathon was after ten.
"Ooooh" the Grunt sounded in awe before he glanced at Jun for a long moment and proceeded to point at his face "What's that?"
"My face" Jun deadpanned.
"No, what's on it?" the Grunt huffed.
"Skin" Jun said.
"No what's on the skin, those weird markings on the side of your face where the Jiralhanae Captain hit you" the Grunt gestured to the side of his face where he saw Jun's tattoos.
"Ink" Jun sighed as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall "What's it matter?"
"What's it for?" the Grunt asked.
"None ya" Jun said with a faint smirk on his face.
"What's that?" the Grunt questioned with a head tilt.
"None ya business" Jun stated.
"Huh?"
"Jun, I don't think he's gonna understand that" Peter blinked for a moment before he turned his attention back to the Grunt "So, what do I call you? I mean after all this time together, it's kinda sad we don't know your name, but you know ours"
The grunt blinked in surprise at this "Y-You... you want to know name?"
"Not really no/Yep" Jun and Peter said at the same time with the latter shooting the former a glare before he glanced back at the Grunt with a friendly grin "I do at least"
"No one ever wanted to know my names before" the Grunt said in a sad quiet voice before he seemed to perk up and pointed to himself in a prideful manner, or as prideful as a Grunt could be "My names is Dimkee Hotay!"
"I'm Peter" the Spartan said with a small wave towards the excited Grunt.
"Hellos Peters" Dimkee waved excitedly back at Peter.
"Should you really be giving that thing your name?" Jun asked with a raised brow.
"There's like a million Peters in the UNSC alone, I very much doubt him knowing my name will be the key to winning or losing this war" Peter said with a eye roll "Sides, he's in space jail with us, whose he gonna tell?"
"We're not in space" Jun corrected the Spartan before a distant boom caught the trio's attention shortly before the walls seemed to shake as a faint tremor raced through the floor.
"Whoa..." Peter said with a low whistle "Sounds like things are getting harry outside"
"There are a lot of Jiralhanae out there" Dimkee nodded in agreement.
"Not what I meant but good one" Peter snickered.
"Most likely the UNSC's counter attack to Covenant Forces" Jun said with a frown on his face "Without our intel on what to expect, their gonna be walking into a slaughter"
"I think it was gonna be a blood bath regardless" Peter said with a tired shake of his head "In case you hadn't noticed, but even planet side we rarely won unless we out numbered the Covenant three to one"
And even than the 'victories' were considered Pyrrhic at best and pointless at worse, even with Spartans on the ground to 'turn the tide'. True they've racked up more planet side victories than interstellar ones given that a number of Covenant Commanders didn't seem to be very flexible with their infantry and armor, but those largely tended to end up being for naught when the Covenant decide to hell with it and just commence an orbital bombardment the planet.
Based on Peter's own calculations after reviewing the current rate of progression of Covenant forces, they'll finish off the last major Inner Colonies before they reach the Sol System, and by proxy Earth, in less than a year. After that... well Peter was pretty sure that some sixty five million years from now, whatever life evolves to uncover humanity's remains will be left wondering what sort of cataclysmic event wiped them all out.
"Believe me when I say this... I've noticed" Jun said with a grim expression on his face before he glanced at Dimkee "How did the Covenant find Reach? It couldn't be sheer dumb luck"
"I don't know" Dimkee said with a shrug "Sangheili commanders don't tell us nothing! and the Jiralhanae threaten to eat us!"
"Worth a shot" Peter said with a groan as he stood up and rubbed the back of his neck.
His body was sore all over and a few areas around the tech suit on his torso had a few tears that were smudged with red from when the Brutes all but ripped his armor off. And this was before he got into the injuries' he sustained last night, like the Spiker to the leg that was still hurting.
"How long do you think their gonna keep us in here?" Jun asked as he glanced around the room with a bored expression.
"Hold on, let me ask our jailers" Peter rolled his eyes at this "They'll probably keep us alive at the very least until it seems like this place will be overrun and than shoot us. Or kill and eat us as a last minute snack. I prefer to be cooked medium rare, seasoned with a bit of spice from..."
Jun sighed as Peter began to describe how he'd like to cooked and eaten and was about to make a retort when all of a sudden a chorus of yelling and shooting erupted outside the room. They could hear the sounds of UNSC weapons discharging, along with a few muffled 'booms' of fragmentation grenades going off along with the strange electric buzzing 'boom' sound of Plasma grenades. It seemed that the UNSC had finally reached their location and was taking on the Covenant, though whether it was to rescue the two Spartans or just a happy coincidence was anyone's guess.
"Hurray the UNSC is coming!" Peter said before he glanced at Dimkee and winced "Ooh, probably not a good thing for you though"
"Awww" Dimkee sounded mournfully before he perked up and glanced at Peter "New friends put in good words for Dimkee?"
"I'll do what I can" Peter said as he patted the grunt on his methane tank hump "Can't guarantee anything, but at the very least their hesitance to shoot ya will give you enough time to run for the hills"
Whatever Dimkee's response was got drowned out by the sudden yells of the Jiralhanae just outside the door before two shots, fired from a M6D Magnum from the sounds of it. Jun pushed himself off the wall and approached the doorway to try and see if he could identify their potential rescuers.
"We're in here!" he yelled over the gun fire.
It was than a very familiar Russian accented voice responded.
"YES I KNOW, NOW KINDLY SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
"Is that... the woman from last night?" Jun asked as he glanced back at Peter with a confused frown.
"Captain Romanoff, all around badass ONI agent extraordinaire" Peter revealed with a fond grin on his face "Probably the best ONI Spook you'll ever meet"
"Somehow I doubt th-" Jun began before one of the Grunts outside was slammed into the energy barrier that doubled as a door for the cell.
Natasha, in full ODST combat gear sans a helmet, had pinned the Grunt against the barrier as she brought up her Magnum and placed it behind it's head and spoke in a cold icy tone that could freeze stars.
"Отправляйтесь прямо сейчас, в свое Великое Путешествие..." she said before she pulled the trigger and blew the brains of the Grunt out all over the barrier.
"...Damn" Jun blinked at the sight while Dimkee hid behind Peter, covering his eyes and muttering in his native tongue.
"Hold a moment boys" Natasha said as she wiped some of the Grunt's blue blood off the side of her face and stepped to the side and fiddled with the control panel that operated the barrier.
After pressing a few odd symbols, one of which caused the 'door' to turn a solid white color, the ONI agent finally hit the right button that deactivated the barrier.
"Why am I not surprised to find myself bailing you out of jail?" Natasha asked with a grin as she leaned against the doorway and rested her gaze on Peter with a find look in her eyes.
"Because you know me so well?" Peter suggested with a sheepish grin.
"I should start charging you" Natasha said with a snort before she noticed the grunt behind Peter's leg and raised a brow at the sight of it "Whose your friend there?"
"This is Dimkee" Peter introduced the Grunt before he glanced at the squat alien "Well Dimkee, it's been fun and all, no really it has, but I gotta get out there"
"Okay" Dimkee waved at the Spartan before he quickly hobbled towards the door, brushed past a bemused Natasha, and ventured down the Brute corpse ridden hall for... for something.
Maybe he was going to find food?
"Why am I not surprised that your friends with a Grunt" Natasha shook her head "What's next, an Elite?"
"Eh, you never know" Peter said as he and Jun exited their cell and stepped into a hall filled with Covenant corpses and bullet ridden walls and a blood filled floor.
Peter counted six Brutes and twice as many Grunts while a lone Jackal laid against the wall, it's head bent at an awkward angle. Jun also took in the carnage and shot Natasha an look that seemed to border on respect, it wouldn't have been easy for even a Spartan to take on so many Brutes in a enclosed space and come out on top, let alone a non-augmented, non-power armored human.
"Who else is here?" Peter asked as he reached down and grabbed an Plasma pistol while Jun picked up a dead Brutes Carbine and checked it over to see if it was still serviceable.
"The rest of your team is dealing with a few Elite Zealots that tracked them here while my fireteam of ODSTs provide security outside" Natasha revealed as she unloaded her pistol and slapped a fresh new magazine in.
"How'd you know we'd be here?" Jun asked with suspicion "I doubt the Covenant left a sign outside saying 'Spartans imprisoned here'"
"You can thank Kat for that" Natasha stated with her eyes narrowing slightly at Jun "She tapped into a communication HUB near a Anti-air canon and picked up some chatter about the Covenant holding 'trophies' at a occupied human facility. After that it was simple deduction, what major human facility in the area could potentially hold two Spartans? This place, apparently"
"Lucky us" Peter mused as he and Jun followed Natasha through the corpse ridden halls until they reached a large room that once in the past likely housed heavy mining equipment, now repurposed into some sort of command center.
Various Covenant terminals had been set up, some monitoring weapon emplacements, others communications, while others seemed to be processing data that was as alien to Peter as their masters. Most of the bodies on the ground were Grunts, along with a few Elites, likely the Grunts superiors. But what really caught Peter's attention was a floating purple and pink colored organism that was moving throughout the room, doing it's best to fix the damaged terminals.
"Huh, haven't seen an Engineer in a while" Peter said as he stared at the floating alien with interest "Wonder why it's here"
"Because of your armor" Natasha pointed to a long table at the far end of the room, sitting on it's surface were the pieces that made up Peter and Jun's armor.
The armors were linked up to several terminals that seemed to be scanning and breaking down the armor's systems before likely transmitting the data gathered to some distant receiver to be studied later. Peter and Jun quickly rushed over towards the table and began to pull the various wires and cables that connected the pieces to the terminals while Natasha contacted carter and gave him their location.
"I can just hear ONI blowing a gasket over this" Jun said as he picked up his helmet and examined it closely before clicking his tongue in distaste.
"Well at least the Covenant was nice enough to fix it" Peter said as he saw that the damage that his and Jun's armor sustained last night seemed to be largely repaired.
"Probably the Engineer's doing" Jun remarked before he turned towards a doorway seconds before Carter, Kat, Emile and finally Jorge stepped through "Look six, the cavalry is here"
"Three, Six" Carter nodded at the two Spartans as he placed his DMR on his armor's back magnetic clamps "Good to see you boys in one piece"
"It was like a vacation here. Nice friendly massages from the Brutes that boarded on abuse, pleasant roommates in the form of Grunts, and the 'food' was served by certified Jackals. I give this resort a solid five out of five" Peter joked before he glanced at Kat "You should give it a try sometime Kitty Kat"
"Wish they could've fixed that mouth of yours" Kat fired back dryly.
"You boys had us in a bit of a panic" Jorge said as he approached the two and gave them a pat on the shoulder "Glad something is going right today"
"No need to act all happy about us being alive still Jorge" Jun said with a amused smirk "If one of us died, than Rosenda would've been rotated in"
"You seem to have me confused with someone that likes her. Emile would've like it though" Jorge said with a chuckle before the Engineer Peter saw earlier brushed past him and made a beeline for the Mjolnir armor pieces and began to grab them with it's tentacles.
"Fuck way from that" Emile said as he stepped forward and brought his shotgun up towards the Engineer's head, his finger already starting to pull back on the trigger.
Peter quickly reached out and grabbed the barrel of the gun before he forced it down towards the ground with a grunt. Kat and Jun's eyes both widened at this while Carter and Jorge simply exchanged a brief look. Emile was flat out gaping at Peter, out of armor, physically pushing Emile's gun down while the man himself was in full armor. Even a Spartan-II wouldn't be able to pull off such a thing out of armor, in fact, aside from the larger more physically able members of the Covenant like Elites and Brutes, nothing could pull off such a feat.
'His file did mention Project Rebirth enhanced his physical abilities to be above par of even a Two' Carter silently mused as he watched Peter release Emile's shotgun before turning his attention to the Engineer.
"Hello there, may you please help re-attach my armor you have there" Peter said as he pointed to where his armor was before gesturing to himself than Jun "Also Jun's, but mine first because... well I wanna be first, that's why!"
"Of course you do... man has to be the center of attention. Me, me, me, me..." Natasha muttered jokingly in a low voice, though all of the Spartans present heard it and five of the six chuckled while Peter looked at her with a look they supposed was meant to be a pout of some kind.
The Engineer's head quirked in puzzlement for a moment before it's eyes widened and it began to make a series of chirping like sounds and hums before it began to grab pieces of Peter's armor and reattach them to their specific place on his body. It was... unnerving, with how fast the Engineer was able to re-attach the Spartan's armor, and based on the looks of the rest of Noble Team, they were of a similar mind. Still, it beat having to heft the components back to a UNSC base that housed the facilities capable to maintaining a Spartan's armor and spend the next half hour getting into the damned thing, most of the time being used to all but strip search the thing for signs of tampering by the Covenant.
"Well aren't these things just a good old ball of fucking convenience" Emile said as he watched the Engineer hand Peter his helmet back before he than turned his attention to Jun and began to reapply the Spartan's own armor to his form.
"Can see why the Covenant keeps them around" Kat said as she recorded the sight to have command review later.
She's seen Engineer's in the past manipulate, fix or alter whatever they found interesting enough, but this was the first time one's been seeing handling Mjolnir armor... far as she knew. Command will want to see what and how the Covenant might be removing captured or killed Spartan's armor and look into ways of countering that. Engineers, from what Kat's seen and read, were like biological super computers that seemed to be roughly on par with that of a Smart A.I. in terms of information downloading, storing and manipulation capabilities.
"Huh..." Peter said as he looked down at his armor with a thoughtful look on his face before he slipped on his helmet and booted up the HUD.
What he saw, shocked him.
"Holy shit..." Peter muttered.
"Was is it?" Kat asked with a hint of worry in her tone, wondering what it was the Engineer had done to Peter's armor.
Had it planted some sort of virus in his suit's systems? Or perhaps it extracted any relevant data it had stored in it. Whatever it was that caused her teammate to make such a reaction, it couldn't be good and just as she began to turn towards the Engineer as it began to attach Jun's armor to his tech suit, Peter let out a surprised laugh.
"HOLY SHIT!" Peter sounded again as he began to look around the room "This is great!"
"Report Six" Carter said in a commanding tone, causing Peter to straighten slightly.
"Err, right... sorry sir, hehehehe..." Peter said nervously as he pointed to his helmet "It's just, the Engineer fixed most of my armor's systems, least the ones that were broken. Hell, I think it improved a few of them"
"He's right" Jun nodded in agreement after he slipped his helmet on and booted up his armor's systems for a quick check "If there's anything better than 'green across the board', it's whatever this floating balloon did"
"You know ONI's gonna take that armor from you when we get back, right?" Carter said with a hint of a smile in his tone.
He'll admit, when he and the rest of Noble realized that Jun and Peter may be in this old mining facility, which they discovered was turned into a sort of makeshift command post by the Covenant, he wasn't very optimistic about their health. Covenant very rarely took prisoners and the few they did take ended up dying not too long afterwards... or wishing they were dead. To see his Spartans were in good health and spirits, aside from a few painful looking bruises on Jun's face and a odd gait in Peter's walk, was a blessing of unimaginable magnitudes.
"Can we not tell them?" Peter asked in a hopeful tone.
"Sorry Six, but we can't take any chances the Covenant hasn't done something to your armor that could prove detrimental" Kat stated as she spared a glance at the Engineer as it began to float towards a sparking console, intent on repairing it.
"Well they even give me a new set of Mjolnir?" Peter asked as he tapped the chest plate "This thing cost as much to make as a Cruiser. So unless ya'll are gonna pitch in with some donations, me and Jun, but mostly me, are kinda screwed"
A bit of a overexaggerating, but Peter wasn't wrong in the cost to produce Noble Teams experimental Mjolnir Mark V Powered Assault Armor, let alone two. ONI may up and deicide to just throw the pair some SPI armor usually equipped to Headhunter units.
"Let's just focus on getting through this fight before we start throwing in donations for your new armors" Carter said as he gestured for Emile and Kat to follow him back outside before coming to a stop as he found a grunt standing in front of him.
How in the hell did...?
"Oh, hey Dimkee" Peter waved at the Grunt that shared his and Jun's cell earlier "Your still here?"
"Making friends with the enemy Six?" Jorge said with a chuckle "Should we worry your gonna start going on about a 'Great Journey'?"
"Well I have always found life to be one hell of a great journey" Peter said with a shrug before he noticed the Grunt was looking at him with a look of... betrayal.
"Y-Your... a d-demon?" Dimkee said with wide, almost watery eyes.
Apparently seeing that his new 'friend' was something that all Grunts feared proved to be a massive blow to the poor thing's mind.
"Yeah... sorry Dimkee" Peter said with a wince while the rest of Noble Team, or more specifically, Emile and Jun, audibly groaned at the scene.
Kat rolled her eyes behind her visor and gestured for Carter to follow her back outside so they could properly confirm to Colonel Holland that they recovered Peter and Jun. Natasha followed close behind, with Peter rescued and for the moment safe and sound, she could get back to New Alexandria and help Locke oversee the final withdrawal of ONI's resources from the doomed world.
"Peter, it's a fucking Grunt" Emile said with a hint of anger in his tone as he raised his shotgun slightly "You should be killing it, not apologizing. It damn well sure hasn't apologized taking part in the genocide of our species"
"Says the man that once said he was going to go to the homeworld of every Covenant Species and wipe out every woman and child there and watch their fathers and husbands bury their dead while laminating on the fact their species would be doomed with no more women or children to help continue it" Peter shot a pointed look towards the Spartan.
Even by the Three's standards of nigh xenophobic hate of the Covenant, that was... extreme. So much that even the likes of Jun and Jorge seemed a bit unnerved by the sheer level of violence that Emile wanted to inflict on non-combatants. True they were aliens, but non-combatants all the same.
"Then they'll know what it fucking feels like" Emile bit out with a snarl that while hidden by his helmet's visor, was as clear as a star in space.
"Lock it down!" Jorge said as he shot a look at both Emile and Peter before returning his gaze to the former "Noble Four, get outside and help Captain Romanoff's ODSTs' maintain security. The Covenant isn't just gonna let this place go without a fight"
Emile responded with a grumble as he marched out of the room with Jun close behind. Peter watched the Spartan go with a scowl under his helmet before he felt Jorge give a bump on his shoulder with his fist.
"Don't let what he says get to ya" Jorge said.
"Trust me, I know exactly what it's like to lose everything to the Covenant, but he doesn't have to be an asshole about it" Peter grumbled.
"At least his peoples aren't used as camen fadder and kicked arounds by dumb Jackals" Dimkee bemoaned as he held his head in his hands.
"I think you mean Canon Fodder but yeah, good point" Peter nodded before he realized something and glanced at Jorge "Surprised with how your handling this, being near a Grunt and not shooting it on sight"
"Believe me Six, I'll never let that thing out of my sight, but he's unarmed and Grunts on their own aren't generally a real threat to a Spartan" Jorge said before he spared a glance at the Grunt "So long as he doesn't make any sudden moves"
"How do you make sudden moves?" Dimkee asked with curiosity as the Spartan-II began to back away from the to before finally turning and heading for the doorway.
"Practice Dimkee, practice" Peter patted the Grunt on the head before he made to follo after Jorge before he stopped and turned back towards the Grunt and waved "I'll see ya around Dimkee"
"Okays" the Grunt waved back enthusiastically "If I sees you on battlefields, I'll be sure to gives you warning before shooting you and murder you!"
"Aww thanks Dimkee" Peter said before Jorge grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him towards the doorway.
"Come on Six, we gotta a war to fight, you can play with your friend afterwards if he's still alive" the Spartan-II joked.
"Okay" Peter shrugged as he followed the veteran super solider outside.
Once more on to the breech, as they saying went...
...
Lydus was... displeased, with how things below were going.
His forces were holding steady, in some areas they were even pushing the humans back, and he's suffered relatively light casualties considering the intensity of the battle below. But the battle was dragging on longer than he'd like, and already several Sangheili reported that over a dozen humans ships, all of them being identified as 'destroyers' and 'frigates', though given how small they were, Lydus was hard pressed to not consider them oversized life boats. Still, they could prove to be a threat to his ground forces should they begin to attack them from orbit with their nuclear weapons. He doubted they'd use such measures with their own forces so close tot eh impact zones, though desperation cold lead the humans to make such decisions.
And it wouldn't be the first time Lydus has seen the humans sacrifice large scores of their own forces just to kill a few of his.
"Commander, we've received reports that the Demons that were captured last night were freed by more of their kind" a Sangheili officer reported from his station.
Lydus frowned at this, there goes his gift to Supreme Commander 'Vadamee when he arrived with the main force in a few days, as a show of thanks for giving the Jiralhanae and his Pack this opportunity. With a growl of frustration, he barked out an order to be given to all Covenant Commanders planet side, slay the Demons on sight, apprehension was longer required.
Perhaps offering the Demons heads will be just as good.
'At the very least, it will show my Jiralhanae aren't completely useless' Lydus thought with a growl of anger and annoyance before he noticed a gold armored Sangheili approaching him.
If his mood wasn't sour from the battle below, it was full blown rotten at the sight of the Long Night of Solace's Shipmaster, Rho 'Barutamee. Rho was a long time veteran of the Covenant navy, being the youngest Sangheili to obtain the rank of Supreme Commander until Thel beat his record by a full decade. The Sangheili was prideful, though surprisingly thoughtful and reserved for a former Zealot and a fairly competent commander, with a impressive list of victories under his belt. But what ruined the commander's visage in Lydus's eyes was his bitter hate and resentment of the Jiralhanae, which seemed to grow even worse when he was told by Thel 'Vadamee, that Lydus would have command of their forces until his arrival. Like all good veteran commanders when being told displeasing news by a superior, Rho waited until after the meeting with Thel to make his thoughts and feelings known.
"I hear that you've lost the humans you hoped to gift to Thel 'Vadamee when he arrives" Rho said in a almost mocking tone as he came and stood beside Lydus, his gaze on the holographic projection of the battle below.
"Your well informed, Supreme Commander... so I suppose I 'll spare you the time explaining what's happening" Lydus said with a growl of annoyance at the shorter alien before he turned his gaze back to the viewscreen and watched as the human's left flank was slowly being broken by Lydus's Chieftains.
The Jiralhanae may admittedly lack the grace of the Sangheili in combat, but they were more than able to match their effectiveness in battle with sheer brutality. And the sight of a dozen fully armored Jiralhanae charging an enemy position with Gravity Hammers tended to render even the most hardened of warriors to a terrible fright. still, Lydus knew that it was going to take more than the Jiralhanae's ferocity to win this engagement.
"What do you intend to do now, Commander?" Rho 'Barutamee asked as he spared a glance at Lydus that was almost mocking "The humans have just destroyed another one of your anti-air cannons. Now they'll be able to fly in their own craft and smaller warships to slaughter your forces"
"I am aware of this Supreme Commander, thank you for your input" Lydus growled out as he tried to think of a way to turn this on the humans.
Several ships that have in the past been marked as 'Frigates' had already arrived at the battlefield and were opening fire on the trio of heavy Corvettes he had acting as mobile weapons platforms and carriers for their various flights of Banshees and Seraphs. Several dropships were launching from the human warships and heading for the battlefield, some to drop off more troops and armor, others to attack and destroy the fighter support Lydus launched earlier.
And they were also launching attacks on the Corvettes the fighters and air support originated from.
Lydus could feel a sense of smugness pouring off from Rho 'Barutamee as the first of the Corvettes was destroyed by all three human warships concentrating their fire on the larger vessel. The Sangheili commander had earlier advised they pull the Corvettes back after they launched their flights and ensure that no human ships could approach, it seems that Lydus's refusal to pull the warships back was beginning to come back and bite him in the ass.
"Such a pity that we'll be losing the last of our escort to this system because of your stubbornness" Rho said in a condescending tone "Than again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, your kind hasn't much experience in naval engagements with the humans"
After the second Corvette was destroyed in a storm of fire brought on from the human ships missiles, Lydus made his decision and turned towards the Sangheili and grunted at the ship's Commander.
"Than we shall decloak the Solace and engage all humans forces without mercy... and show them how the Jiralhanae wage war"
...
And done.
Next chapter, The Long Night begins...