The UNSC Dominion
September 11th, 1643 Local Time
Ben had a relatively uneventful day given the circumstances, spending most of his time helping around the ship in whatever ways he could. While he probably should have gone to sleep at some point, he figured that staying awake and making himself useful was a better use of his time, as his need for sleep was reduced by his augmentations.
He was helping a group of technicians with lifting a large titanium panel so that they could access the circuitry beneath, when he was approached by a man in an ONI uniform.
"I take it you're Sergeant Benjamin?" The man assumed, looking over the Spartan as if analyzing every component of his armor.
"Yes Sir." Ben confirmed.
"I'm Lieutenant Thomas, Office of Naval Intelligence. I'd shake your hand, but you seem busy." Thomas said.
"Well, the sentiment is appreciated." Ben replied. One of the technicians gestured for him to put the panel back in place, which he did. They quickly set to securing the metal plate back in place while Ben held it sturdy.
"Once you're done with that, I require your assistance with another assignment. Lieutenant Bradford has already signed off on it." Thomas explained.
"I would be happy to help." Ben said. The technicians finished their work, and gave Ben a thumbs-up, which he returned.
"Follow me, I'll brief you as we go." Thomas instructed, with Ben following him as they began to walk. "I believe that you've already been informed about the Elite in our brig. I've been tasked with interrogating it, and I believe I've reached a roadblock."
Ben remained silent and let him continue to speak as they walked.
"As you can imagine, any Elite is extremely stubborn when giving up information. I'm sure that you're familiar with their dedication to their duty, and their obsession with their personal honor." Thomas continued.
"It's an exploitable tactical flaw." Ben stated. "But it also makes them a formidable foe."
"Indeed, unfortunately it means their psychology is incredibly tough to break." Thomas said.
"Have you been torturing him?" Ben asked, wondering just how far the agent had gone with his interrogation.
"I don't want him to suffer, I want him to cooperate." Thomas asked, obviously offended at Ben's question. "That being said, he's a smug son of a bitch, so I'm not having much luck on that front."
"How can I help?" Ben asked, not understanding where he came into all this.
"That's actually quite simple. Elites may hate Spartans, but they acknowledge your strength in battle." Thomas explained. "That acknowledgment has led to a sense of begrudging respect for you."
"And you think he'll cooperate because of that?" Ben asked.
"No, but I believe he'll be intimidated, which is one step closer to cooperation than I'm currently at." Thomas clarified. "You'll be doing the talking."
"I see." Ben said, now understanding Thomas's line of thought.
"I'll give you the list of questions to ask before you go in. I don't expect you to get anything out of him, but this will be a good way to start wearing down his resistance." Thomas said.
"I'm not a psychology expert. I'll take your word for it." Ben replied.
"Thank you." Thomas said, an air of relief about him. "Too many people on this ship who think they know everything..."
They walked in silence until they finally arrived at the brig. The brig of the Charon Class was larger than the brigs on most other ships of its size due to its role as a troop transport, although they were rarely used for anything besides disciplinary action. Following first contact with the Covenant, minor conversions were made to the cells to make them suitable for holding extraterrestrials as well as humans.
The cells themselves were larger than their historical contemporaries, largely due to concerns about the mental effects of solitary confinement. They contained a bed, a bench, a sink, and a toilet, along with a protected video screen for remote communications. An air vent provided atmosphere, and was small enough that nothing could crawl through it, even if the grate was somehow removed. The hallway featured one-way windows looking into every cell, allowing for safe monitoring of the prisoners.
In the final cell, furthest down the hallway from the only entrance, he could see the first living Elite that he had seen since he was a child, when he was fleeing for his life from them. Ben allowed himself a small amount of pride at how far he had come since then. It's armor had been stripped, and from what he could see it was visibly healthy. In order to prevent him from being completely naked, it appeared he had been given a large blanket or some kind of oversized bathrobe to wrap around himself. It was sitting on the bench, his alien knees having some difficulty sitting on the human made bench.
"Here he is." Thomas said gesturing at the elite through the window. "His name is Set 'Vadum, at least, based on what we understand from the computer systems in his armor."
"Has he disclosed anything I should know?" Ben asked.
"Nothing but creative insults." Thomas said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "It's worth noting his rank, when he was captured he was wearing the armor of an Ultra, except for the headdress, for some reason."
"So this isn't some average grunt." Ben noted.
"Exactly. That's why it's so important we get him talking." Thomas insisted. "If we can get it home, we could potentially save a lot of lives."
"What do you want me to say?" Ben asked, trying to stay focused on the task at hand.
"I've prepared a list of questions and topics to cover, give me one moment." Thomas said, making a few gestures on his datapad. A quick download to Ben's HUD confirmed that he'd received the information, which he elected to display where the information on his weapons was typically stored.
"I have them." Ben reported.
"Excellent, I wish you the best of luck." Thomas said before walking over to the door's control panel and opening it.
Set looked up at Ben as he walked into the room, the door closing behind him. Elite's facial expressions were notoriously hard to read, so Ben was unable to read it's facial expression as he inspected Ben, but the noise the sangheili made very much indicated he was surprised by Ben's presence.
"I was not expecting a Demon." The Ultra said. His voice was rough and seemed to possess some difficulty with the words, but he still seemed to possess some familiarity with the English language.
"You're typically not supposed to." Ben commented. "Since we already know who each other are, shall we skip the introductions and get right to the questions?"
The Ultra laughed. "If you wish, but don't expect many answers."
"We'll start with some simple ones." Ben said. "What's your name?"
"The short one already knows it. Why don't you ask him?" Set asked, probably referring to Thomas.
"I want to hear it from you." Ben pressed onwards.
"You are not worthy of existence, why should I tell you anything?" It simply responded. The malice in his voice was cold and calculated, giving nothing to
"On whose judgment are we not worthy?" Ben asked, deviating from the questions to see if he had anything interesting to say on the matter.
"Our Noble Hierarchs." Set said like it was obvious.
"The Prophets?" Ben asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"That is what your kind calls them." Set said. "It is a name fitting of their position, even if your language makes me want to rip off my own mandibles."
"They're the leaders of the Covenant, right?" Ben asked.
"Why should I explain anything to you?" Set asked, with what was the closest thing a Sangheili could manage to a smug grin.
"Because you're never going home, you're never going to be free again, and your fate will largely be determined by whether or not you cooperate." Ben said, making an effort to better convey just how the crew felt about him. "Just because we don't torture our prisoners doesn't mean we won't flush you out the airlock if you're not useful. If you're not worth the air you breathe, why should we bother keeping you around?"
The Elite looked to him more with curiosity than anything else. "Do you really think I fear death?"
"No. I know all about you, you're all a bunch of fanatics." Ben answered. "Of course, fear or not, it would be really satisfying to drown you in the toilet." he gave the appliance a nod for emphasis.
"I accepted my fate once I allowed myself to be captured, have you accepted your destiny, Demon?" Set asked. "I'll give you a hint, it's the same end that the rest of your race will face."
"I don't believe in destiny." Ben simply answered. "Fate has no place on the battlefield, so it's irrelevant to us."
"What about honor?" It asked. "I already know you possess none, but I wish to hear how you view yourself."
"I was taught how to fight honorably, and that it was possible to win a battle without violating our morality." Ben said. "But I'm supposed to be asking the questions here."
Ben wasn't sure of what to make of it's expression though he did note how It seemed to sit taller with the information. "So humanity chooses to lack honour?"
"You haven't left us much choice. To fight "honorably" is to lose, therefore we fight in ways that let us win." Ben flicked his eyes over to the next question displayed on his screen. "What do you know about the planet Concord?"
The prisoner was slow to answer. Whether that was due to apathy or him genuinely thinking about the question, Ben couldn't say.. "It was one of the most recent of your worlds to be discovered."
"What's got your Prophets so focused on it?" Ben asked.
"It is of no significance." The Elite did something that might have resembled shrugging one's shoulders, but Ben very much doubted that was the intention.
"If the world is of no significance, why not overwhelm our fleet and glass the planet?" Ben waited for it's answer.
In the end Set's reply was simple. "I do not know."
"I find that difficult to believe." Ben stated, knowing well that the Elite was toying with him.
"I was not involved in the purification of that world, nor was I informed as to the Hierarchs intentions for it." It adopted the same crooked 'smile' from earlier. "Take that information how you will, be that as truth or as lies, that is for you to decide."
Ben sighed and moved onto the next question. "How old are you?"
Ben had to resist smiling at the surprise displayed by the sangheili's body language, at least that's what it seemed like. The smile was quickly gone and his madables were closed tightly. "Do I need to repeat the question?"
The Ultra seemed to think for a moment more before deciding on an answer. "I believe I am around thirty or forty in human years. I would ask you the same."
Ben pointedly did not answer the question. "How long have you been a soldier?"
"I am a warrior, and I have been all my life." Set stated, sitting proudly with the proclamation.
Ben broke off of the questions for a moment in an attempt to gain more insight into his answer. "What's the difference?"
The smile returned, this time with more genuine glee then before, although the smugness remained. "The difference is one of experience, of understanding. A soldier is one of any army, a cog in a machine, nothing more. A warrior is unique to whom he serves. One possesses a code of dignity, and the other does not."
"What does that make us humans then?" Ben asked.
The Ultra let out what might have passed for a chuckle. "The Hierarchs spoke clearly and without a shred of doubt. Humanity is wretched, weak, and deserving of nought but annihilation. Humanity is without purpose or honor, as the Heirachs have stated. Your defeat is all but certain, I have seen much of your kind in my life, and you cannot hope to survive."
He seems to speak a bit more... clearly, then some of the Zealots. Ben noted. Although he wasn't presumptuous enough to say that Set might have some doubts in his leaders capabilities, it was readily apparent that he lacked the same anger as some of the more Zealous Elites that Ben had studied in training.
"You've got firsthand experience with humanity, that's more than your Prophets can claim to have." Ben pointed out, noting a key claim in Set's statement. "If we're so weak, then why do so many of your Warriors die taking our worlds?"
The sangheili seemed to ponder a moment more. "Humanity has courage, it would have died long ago were it not for that. Humanity may be called many things by my kind, but weak is not rightfully one of them. You are like what you would call a cockroach, admirable in that you resist being crushed, although I cannot say why."
Determination. Ben thought. High praise from an Elite.
Ben asked the next few questions and received what might have been considered answers, more often than not they were word games intended to convey nothing. He had prepared to leave when one more question appeared on his hud, a last minute addition by Thomas.
"What experience do you have with Slipspace?" Ben had taken a step closer to the door, making his intent to leave rather clear.
The smile that had persisted through most of the questioning remained as cocky as ever. "I am a Warrior, not a menial laborer, I have no use for such knowledge. But if you are referring to your current predicament howeve...r"
Set stopped speaking momentarily, apparently trying to gauge Ben's reaction. When met only with an unflinching visor, he seemed disappointed. "...I can offer nothing."
Ben left the cell without another word. As soon as the door was shut he was approached by Thomas.
"Thank you. Normally I'd criticize you for going off the script, but I'll admit I was also curious about what he had to say." Thomas said. "Regardless, you did a good job."
"My pleasure, if you need any further help with him let me know." Ben said.
"I certainly will." Thomas said. "That being said, while you were in there, we received the order for all nonessential crew to head to cryosleep. Check to make sure you have no further orders, then get yourself sorted for cryosleep."
For the first time since the accident with the Slipspace drive, Ben felt a hint of worry. If they were going into cryosleep, it meant that whatever Richard decided was the best course of action was going to take a long time.
"Aye Sir." Ben confirmed. "And Sir, do you mind if I ask a question?"
"As long as it's quick, we've got duties to attend to." Thomas answered.
"How did he find out about the Slipspace drive malfunction?" Ben asked.
Thomas sighed. "I wish we knew. He didn't find it out through me. I've already had a squad check the ship for any listening devices or spy cameras, but they came up empty."
"I understand." Ben said, offering a brief salute before leaving once Thomas dismissed him with a wave of his hand.