A/N: An incredible thanks to 8Ball3 on FF and Visitor on Spacebattles for their help!

Tim took advantage of the rest time he'd been granted by the ship doctor to familiarize himself with the schedule of the ship. Time operated differently than on UNSC vessels, but it wasn't hard to pin down the length of shifts by the comings and goings of troopers to and from the SpecOps barracks he now called home. The Covenant answer to "Reveille" and "Taps" was quite helpful in determining the length of a standard covenant "day"; wake-up was announced by a gong-like sound, followed by a holographic projection of some Covenant leader—a prophet—giving a religious ministry. The sermons, though long-winded and full of obvious nonsense (the talk of massive rings and holy oracles in particular nearly brought an eyeroll out of him once or twice), at the very least had some entertainment value in that the Gregorian chant-like nature of the delivery was pleasant to listen to. A similar sermon marked the middle and end of each day. This, combined with helpful chatter and the occasional announcement over comms, made learning the ins and outs of the ship's schedule a virtual non-issue.

By the time his rest period had ended and the Unggoy physician had given him a clean bill of health, Tim had grasped the general order of things well enough to step right into his role with little issue. That being said, nearly a week passed from the time he had been "rescued" with no word from Khor on any new assignments. Evidently, not only had the covenant leadership had chosen to send scout probes through the Rhodes system, but they had ordered the Inspiration to remain still until all scouting reports were received and processed by the higher-ups. Tim found himself relieved at this development—an irony that was not lost on him—if only for the reason that it meant he wouldn't have to fight actual humans for at least a little while longer.

Finally, around the fifth day of waiting, the veteran shipmaster called all SpecOps fireteams to the command center for a briefing.

"We have at last heard back from our scout probes," Khor said matter-of-factly; if he were as irritated by the wait as everyone else, he hid it well. "They confirm what Brother 'Valarmee reported to us earlier; the human outpost is indeed equipped with a long-range communications center capable of speaking with outposts in neighboring systems, if not further. Our superiors have deemed it a worthy target for destruction, and have assigned us to a small group assembled for the task. The probes managed to uncover the defenses of this world; ship-wise, there is little to speak of—two corvettes, one frigate—but this is compensated for by a strong surface defense in the form of five surface-to-orbit cannons, each capable of taking down a battlecruiser. These last must be destroyed if any attempt to assault the comms center is to be successful, to say nothing of the glassing."

The holo shifted to display the ships and cannons in question; Tim felt a brief sensation of anger at the sight of what was obviously stolen UNSC hardware. How many lives could have been saved had the insurrectionists not stolen such valuable assets? How many colonies would still exist if those cannons had been there to protect them? Whatever reservations he had harbored about fighting other humans faded away in the light of this outrage. Fucking Innies...

Khor continued his briefing. "We will be accompanied by the frigates Warden of Faith and Journey's Promise, with additional support from the battlecruiser Thunder of Sacred Wrath. However, we are the only vessel with a SpecOps contingent aboard, so the task of destroying the cannon emplacements falls to us. Upon arrival in orbit, the Wrath will begin jamming all outgoing enemy communications to prevent the humans from alerting their other colonies. Their corvettes will be destroyed first; once they are disposed of, our other two frigates will provide a distraction to allow us a brief window of insertion."

The display shifted once again, this time showing an aerial view of a hilly plain marked by various military buildings, along with the cannon emplacements; a number of markers appeared a distance away from the latter. "You will be deployed via drop pod at these locations; your objective is to fight your way up to the cannons, then plant explosives to destroy them so that a full ground assault can begin. Once a hole has been punched through, reinforcements will arrive to ferry you to the enemy comms center. You will seek to capture this location intact, so that information on other human outposts in contact with this one may be obtained. Once all objectives have been successfully completed, you will return to the ship so that the glassing may begin. Are there any questions?"

The silence that followed brought a smile to Khor's face. "Very well. We will arrive at the enemy planet within the next day; rest well, for soon we will taste glorious battle! Glory to the Covenant!"

*"Battlecruiser Thunder of Sacred Wrath to fleet; All ships, move to ready condition!"*

Khor nodded at the transmission before looking over the command deck railing and shouting to the rest of the bridge. "Acknowledged, Fleetmaster. All hands, to stations! Charge weapons, power to shields, sensors active!"

As each area of the bridge finished their preparations, its commanding officer shouted back up to the top level. "Ops, ready!"

"Navigation, ready!"

"Weapons, ready!"

"Shields, ready!"

With a huff of satisfaction, Khor turned back to the transmission and relayed his ship's status over the fleet channel. "Frigate Great Inspiration, ready for combat!"

*"Frigate Warden of Faith, ready for combat!"*

*"Frigate Journey's Promise, ready for combat!"*

*"All ships, prepare to return to realspace on my command,"* came the voice of the fleetmaster. *"Now!"*

As one, the small fleet dropped out of slipspace into the orbit of the human planet, just in time to surprise an enemy corvette—by way of the Wrath smashing through it. The other corvette barely had time to respond before it, too, was destroyed. However, at this point the surface cannons began to open fire, forcing the fleet to pull back slightly, allowing the remaining human frigate time enough to fire a mac round. The attack merely glanced off the battlecruiser's shield, whereas the frigate was utterly obliterated by a single volley from the covenant vessel.

*"Frigates Faith and Promise, begin diversionary tactics. Inspiration, send your troops to their pods and make your pass at your point 3-44-7."*

Khor grinned in anticipation. At last, we are where we belong: in the thick of it. "SpecOps troopers, to your pods at once! Prepare to bring this fight to their soil!"

In spite of his current situation, Tim found the procedures and orders over the ship's internal comms as the fleet neared its destination to be oddly familiar. As with the UNSC, the urgency was high, but the emotional response was stoic and professional as each individual rushed to their stations. As he passed through the armory and awaited the command to enter the pods, Tim caught himself automatically start to check his rifle before realizing that he no longer wielded an MA5, but rather a Type-51 energy carbine. Old habits die hard... Thankfully, none of his fellow troopers noticed, as they were all focused on their own preparations. Tim had just enough time to add a plasma rifle and a couple of plasma grenades to his collection along with the standard energy sword strapped to his hip when the order to enter the pods finally came.

He found himself slightly nervous as he approached his assigned pod; he'd never applied to join the ODSTs, and he was definitely certain he didn't have quite the degree of "the right stuff" to cram himself into one of the million-dollar coffins the Helljumpers used. Now he was about to step into a multi-occupant covenant equivalent, with barely enough elbow room to avoid feeling like a sardine. The presence of N'Tho sharing the cramped space with him was a mixed blessing; on the one hand, it was a familiar face. On the other hand, a small part of Tim still worried the actual Sangheili warrior might somehow recognize him in spite of his own altered physical form.

"I assume this is your first drop, Brother?" asked N'Tho, snapping Tim out of his musings.

"Indeed, Brother," Tim replied. "Though my eagerness outweighs my nervousness."

This elicited a laugh from N'Tho and the other two Elites sharing the pod with him. "Prepare your stomach, then, Brother Tam," one of the unknown pair said, "for you are on a high-speed lift to the underworld, going down, and I would not have my armor sullied by your last meal!"

N'Tho shook his head. "As you did upon your first, Koze?"

The elite in question was unable to get out much more than an offended sputter before a voice came over the comms.

*"Warriors, when we joined the Covenant, we took an oath!"*

The occupants responded in unison; Tim did his best to follow along and repeat each word as closely as possible. "According to our station, all without exception!"

*"On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the Covenant!"*

"Even to our dying breath!"

*"Today we march against the human heretics, for their destruction is the will of the Gods!"*

"And we are their instruments!"

After this last shout, the pod erupted into proud roars, which Tim managed to join in what he hoped was a convincing performance. A gong-like sound rang out, signaling the occupants to grab onto the internal railings and clamp themselves in. A second ring announced the floor beneath the pod opening to reveal the planet below. Tim closed his eyes and braced himself as best he could; the wait for the third and final gong stretched on for what seemed an eternity. And then, before he could barely register that it had just sounded, a loud bang followed it and the pod was fired from the ship, falling through the atmosphere.

The other Elites had not been lying when they told him to prepare his stomach, as the speed of the drop and the negative G force accompanying it shot through his body, causing him to gag slightly. Thankfully, he did not lose his lunch, though the jolt of the retro thrusters slowing them down nearly forced the issue. As the pod landed, the clamps released, and the walls of the pod shot out, revealing the battlefield through the energy shield. Tim steeled himself for combat, breathed deeply in and out... then charged with a shout into the chaos, his marine instincts kicking in and narrowing his focus enough that he barely noticed several other pods landing nearby, along with the burning remains of those that had been shot out of the sky by artillery guns.

The cannon stood at the top of a hill, beyond a gate and a series of small buildings; in between his team and their goal were around twenty insurrectionist troops, armed with a wide assortment of weapons. Taking aim at one and raising his carbine, he took the head off of one and nailed another in the gut with two well-placed shots. The sound of an RPG whizzing toward him sent him leaping behind a boulder, the projectile missing him by such a small margin that Tim would later swear he felt the heat of it as it flew past.

Koze clicked his mandibles as he too took cover, gesturing to Tim. "Brother Tam, target that heavy weapon at once!"

"Understood," Tim replied, counting to three in his head before strafing with his carbine aimed up the hill. Time stretched out, another product of his training; as the launcher was loaded again, he lined up a shot and fired twice, the first bolt of energy forcing the opponent to dodge as the second caught the man in the side mid-leap. A third finished him off, and a fourth blew open the skull of the human nearest the rocketeer. It was at this point Tim began to truly notice the difference between combat as a human and combat as a Sangheili; for one, the adrenaline rush—or whatever hormone served the same purpose in Sangheili—was much more powerful and lasted much longer, boosting his reflexes further than he'd ever experienced before. Every marine was a marksman, a point of pride in the UNSC, and his aim had always been true. But with this new body, he almost felt as if he had an eternity to make his shots count. Another element made itself known in that the rush continued in a mild form after the fact, sending a feeling of excitement unbidden through his body to the point where he couldn't help but smile.

"Impeccable aim, Brother Tam!" N'Tho commented as he fired a few shots of his own. "I am surprised you were not already a member of SpecOps!"

Tim chuckled. "Said the SpecOps trooper who slew just as many in as little time!"

"It takes skill to notice skill, Brother! Let us demonstrate it further to the heretics!"

The charge continued, their human opponents fighting for every inch and even briefly forcing them to stop once more as a number of reinforcements arrived, filling the air with bullets. In spite of the situation, Tim allowed himself to fall into the thrill of combat; it would have been difficult not to do so, considering the discovery of just how formidable his new anatomy was. Every step felt like he had a rocket on his back; every shot felt like time stopped just for him; every leap into cover felt like crossing a mile with each bound. As a human, he had always been aware of his body's limitations, and kept his emotions as stoic and muted as possible in combat; now, with this incredible, powerful form that could surpass far beyond such limits, he was free to let his exhilaration run wild, to let his instincts guide him as he charged further towards the enemy cannon. The cordite in the air stung his nose, the din of grenades and rockets and gunfire nearly deafened him, to say nothing of the mass driver emplacement keeping the covenant ships in orbit at bay.

As they reached the heavy iron gate protecting the cannon, Koze quickly took one of the explosive charges from his belt and attached it to the offending obstacle, gesturing for the others to move out of range. As soon as the gate blew open, the charge continued, but Koze was quickly cut down by a sniper, the bullet striking the other explosive charge and setting it off. The explosion flung Tim and his two remaining comrades to the ground, bringing down their shields in the process. It was only through sheer luck that they were able to recover in time to kill the sniper with a couple of well-placed shots, though they were once again forced to take cover and wait for their shields to recharge as two more humans took some shots of their own, the cannon's gunner leaping out of the cockpit to join the fight.

N'Tho managed to dodge the enemy fire well enough to join Tim behind cover. "What shall we do now? Without those charges, we cannot destroy the cannon, and even after we clear them out there is no guarantee that the humans will not retake it unless we hold this position."

Wracking his brain, Tim tried to come up with an alternative, and then noticed the telltale sound of the mass driver ejecting steam after each shot. If I know my tech... "I have an idea. Cover me, Brothers!"

With a nod, the trio strafed out of cover, opening fire on the humans. One of them nearly managed to bring down Tim's shields again, but was quickly cut down before he could capitalize on the opportunity. With the cannon now unguarded and unmanned, Tim grabbed his plasma grenades and placed them in between the magnetic coils of the massive cannon. With that done, he leaned into the cockpit and aimed it at an empty spot in the sky, then primed it to fire before leaping off and shouting at his two allies. "Get back, Brothers, quickly!"

The mass driver let out a loud hum as it charged up... only for the arcing electricity to spark through the plasma grenades, setting them off and blowing the barrel apart just as the gun fired. The shell, unable to escape the barrel, went off inside the cannon, blowing it apart and sending massive chunks of itself flying in every direction. Even from behind cover, Tim felt the pressure wave and heat of the blast, and a huge chunk of the cannon landed mere feet in front of him. It took a few seconds of mild awe for N'Tho and the other Elite to shout in triumph, slapping Tim on the back.

"Brilliant thinking, Brother!" N'Tho exclaimed; "They'll tell stories of that explosion!"

Tim couldn't help but bask in the praise for a moment. In the UNSC, achievements like this were mostly considered a simple act of duty. To the Sangheili, however, glory in combat was something to truly celebrate; not only that, Tim couldn't recall doing anything particularly noteworthy in battle as a human. In all, this was his first truly impressive achievement, and it was difficult not to feel a small degree of pride. A voice in the back of his head reminded him of whose side he was truly on, but the moment allowed him to briefly push that aside. A few distant booms announced the destruction of the other cannons as phantoms began to descend for pickup; upon boarding it, Tim centered himself once again as it ferried him to the human comms array.

Upon arrival at their destination, the phantom dropped the team on the roof along with a number of grunts and jackals. Entering the building via an access door, Tim switched out his carbine for his plasma rifle in preparation for more close quarters combat. The remaining human forces put up a fight, even more so than at the cannons; with the narrow corridors, the defenders were able to more easily pin down the advancing covenant force. Upon reaching the control room, a group of human soldiers managed to charge at them from the rear, forcing them to bunker down again. It wasn't long before Tim's ammunition ran out, leaving him with only his energy sword.

"Brother Tam," N'Tho said, "Hurry and get in there! We will hold them off for you."

With a nod, Tim opened the door to the control room and charged in; as the door closed behind him, he heard the muffled sounds of plasma fire continuing on the other side. Any worry he had about N'Tho and the others was put aside as the three remaining humans dropped everything they were doing, abandoning their stations to attack him. Once again, time slowed down as Tim activated his blade; one human foolishly charged at him with a loud yell, and was sliced from the right shoulder down to the left hip. No sooner had this happened than Tim leapt at the next closest target and sliced the man nearly in half. The last one fired shot after shot at Tim, nearly bringing down his shields before his gun clicked empty. Tim wasted no time in running his sword through the man's stomach. The look in his victim's eyes gave Tim some pause; there was no fear, no despair, only defiance as the human choked out his last words. "Fuck you... split-lip..."

The final insult rang through Tim's head like a gunshot. Split-lip. All of a sudden, the events of the battle rushed back to him; every kill, every shot. The destruction of the cannon. The deaths of every human in the room he currently stood in. He had fought and killed insurrectionists before... but this time was different. This time—to Tim's horrified realization—he had reveled in it. Enjoyed it. He had been fighting not as a human, but as a Sangheili, ruthlessly slaughtering every human in sight, and feeling nothing but the thrill of combat.

His hearts beat nearly out of his chest, his stomach churned. For a moment, he thought he would vomit, even pass out. He only managed to avoid this by reminding himself of something even more important: The Cole Protocol. I have to wipe the data of anything relating to Earth and the Inner Colonies... Refocusing himself as he deleted the data from the computers, he brought up the data on the other insurrectionist colonies, downloaded it onto a datachip, then pocketed the chip before destroying the console. The door opened just as he began to move towards it, revealing the victorious covenant forces lead by N'Tho.

"Do you have the data, Brother?"

Tim shook the last remnants of dark thoughts from his mind and nodded, holding up the chip. "It is done, Brother. Let us be off of this rock..."

The view from the bridge of the Inspiration was spectacular. Through it, Tim saw the glow of the planet's surface as the Wrath began the glassing process. Thoughts of what had transpired ran through his mind again, and this time he couldn't stop them. This glassing was possible because of him. Every single human on that planet, soldier or civilian, was doomed to die because of him. He had damned his own soul that day, he was sure of it.

"First glassing?"

Tim was mildly startled by the voice of N'Tho as the latter walked up next to him. "Yes..."

"I thought so. I know that look. I bore it myself the first time I saw a world burn."

"You did?"

N'Tho nodded. "It was a beautiful world, too. Rivers, forests, mountains... I would have called it a paradise. The humans fought valiantly, as valiantly as they fought us here. And then, as soon as the battle was over... we destroyed that world, left it barren and lifeless. The rivers gone, the forests burned, the mountains leveled."

"And you felt regret... for human lives?"

"Is it so strange, Brother?" N'Tho asked. "They fought with great honor. They died the deaths of true warriors, with as much bravery and courage as a Sangheili. I always thought it a terrible waste; after all, other races had been brought into our covenant through warfare, but they had been allowed the chance to see the light of truth, to join us on our Great Journey. Surely, the humans would be worthy of such honor..." The elite trailed off at that point, holding the silence for a moment before shaking his head. "But the word of the Prophets is clear, even if we do not understand it. The destruction of humanity is the will of the Gods... and we are their instruments."

With that, N'Tho turned away, leaving Tim alone with the slowly dying glow of a dead world.