Menagerie, Kuo Kuana International Airport

November 6th, 1257 Local Time, 2552

The last few days had left Fairfire feeling considerably better about Menagerie. Her earlier homesickness had begun to fade as time passed, and now, she relished every chance that she could get to step outside into the brilliant golden sunlight. Today, however, she had a hard time enjoying the weather.

At the moment, she and around forty other Marines were sitting in a large grassy field that was technically part of Kuo Kuana International Airport, which was on loan to the UNSC for the sake of stationing aircraft in Menagerie. They were waiting for the green light to board their dropships and attack the White Fang, who were currently in the process of laying an ambush, unaware that their element of surprise had already been given away.

There was more than the usual pre-mission anxiety weighing on her mind, however. Even though it had been weeks since she had even been to Atlas, she still felt utterly ashamed of what she had done while she was there.

Why can't I just focus on the here and now? She wondered, frustrated at the guilt and fear that loomed over her like a raincloud. Winter said that I'm ready to fight, the psychiatrist said that I'm "good enough", and I got through the last battle just fine! Why won't this damn feeling go away?!

"Hey, Liz, you feeling alright?" Nathan asked.

Get a goddamn grip. She thought to herself, there would be time to regret her mistakes later. Right now, her squad needed her, and they were what was really important. "I'll be better once we get into the air, I can't stand just waiting around like this."

"Well, I can relate to that." Nathan replied with a scowl, obviously unconvinced by her blatant lie, but thankfully not pushing her for a more honest answer. "You let me know if I can help, alright?"

For a moment, she remained silent, but eventually raised up her head again. "Actually, there is. You got any smokes?"

Nathan gave her a small smile and dug into one of his pockets, retrieving a small grey carton. "Sure thing. Hell, sorry for not offering you one earlier... I uh, didn't know that you smoked."

He retrieved two from the pack, passing her one while placing the other in his lips. Fairfire took the cigarette that he offered and lit them both with the low-quality lighter from her kit. "Rarely. I mean, it's not exactly good for me."

Nathan pondered what she said for a moment as he took a puff, but eventually shook his head. "Alright, now you've lost me. So you're more than happy to fight the Covenant, throw down with Innies, and wrestle goddamn Grimm, but you think smoking is the worst thing that you're doing to yourself?"

In spite of all of the horrible thoughts in the back of her head, she couldn't help but softly chuckle. "Hey now, having your lungs in good shape is pretty important when it comes to a fight. If you don't believe me, just ask Ben, I'm sure he'd love the chance to complain a little more."

Nathan whistled sympathetically, trying his best attempt at a smoke ring. "Hey, I can relate to that too, I'd much rather be here with you than stuck in Sickbay, White Fang be damned."

What, you don't think that I'll find a way for you to get shot because of me too? Again, her regrets bit away at her, and it was incredibly difficult not to flinch outright. She busied herself by puffing another cloud of smoke, the tobacco burning her lungs providing ample distraction.

"Hey." Nathan said, getting her attention again. "Seriously, are you sick or something?"

For a brief moment, she struggled to think of something to say, but was saved by the sound of the blowing of a hand whistle. Across the field, Clark lowered the whistle from his lips and shouted. "Green light, Marines! Let's get going, you know your roles! Remember, watch your back, these bastards have years of experience running ambushes!"

Nathan gave her one final look of concern as he threw his helmet on and grabbed his Sniper Rifle, and she gave him a cool nod in reply.

Maybe a bit of action is what I really need to get my head clear. She thought.

She joined the rest of Onyx Team and a team of Marines from Zulu Company in the back of Fireball's Pelican. It was a bit of a tight fit, squeezing two full squads of Marines, including a Spartan, into a single dropship, but it was certainly doable.

"Hey Jorge, aren't we going after the same bitch who staged that kidnapping?" Nathan asked.

"Vermillion Redwood." Jorge said with a nod. "Her physical description is in the mission file."

"No need, I remember her." Nathan replied as he fine-tuned his scope. "This time, I'm planning on blowing off a little bit more than just her arm."

"Don't get in over your head there, psycho." Yu interjected. "She gave Ben a few new scars, don't go thinking you're hot shit!"

"Relax! You really think that twit's spear is gonna do her any good at four-hundred meters?" Nathan rhetorically asked, patting his rifle to emphasize his point. "Besides, It's Meadows' job to get wounded, right Sergeant?"

Meadows didn't even look up from adjusting his Battle Rifle's scope. "Fuck yourself."

"Not while I'm on duty, Sergeant." Nathan replied with a smile.

There was a little bit more banter back and forth between them, but Fairfire gradually tuned them out as the Pelican turned skyward, instead trying to focus on keeping a level head.

Enough! I can do this. She told herself. I did just fine in the last battle, so this isn't going to be a problem.

But no matter what she did, there was a terrible empty feeling in her gut that she just couldn't seem to shake.

Thirty-Two Minutes Later

Edge of Habitable Menagerie Territory

The somewhat turbulent flight over Menagerie's vast and dense rainforests hadn't done much to lessen Fairfire's unease. The sound of roaring autocannons and the distinct whoosh of missiles, however, proved far more effective at clearing her head. The distant smell of burning shrubbery and gunsmoke only further indicated what was to come.

This is exactly what I needed. Fairfire thought, feeling a great sense of relief as she drank in the atmosphere. No mistakes, no regrets, just us against the enemy.

The plan was to land a short distance away from the White Fang, so as to avoid dropping in directly on top of their ambush. The Hornets would clear a landing site with large purpose-built rockets, and then soften up the White Fang with their other weapons. They would also be responsible for protecting the Pelicans from the inevitable Grimm, who would certainly be drawn to the battle. Once the Marines were dismounted, they'd move through the jungle and cut down anything in their way. It was hardly the most complex strategy, but sometimes it was the simple plans that worked best.

A pair of massive explosions erupted somewhere on the ground, creating a shockwave so fierce that the Pelican momentarily shook. In the seat across from her, Jorge got off of the radio with somebody, probably one of the other officers, and spoke up to brief the squad. "From what the Recon Birds are seeing, it looks like the White Fang's already tied up with the Grimm. If we move quickly, we can catch them off-guard."

"Since when did we use Hornets for recon?" Meadows asked, although the excitement in his voice made it clear that he wasn't complaining.

"I don't know, but I like it!" Yu answered. "I wonder if there's even gonna be anything left by the time we get down there?"

If our last jungle op is anything to go off, the answer is yes. Fairfire thought. The jungle and the old prison had offered ample fortification for the White Fang, and while there were no buildings to protect the terrorists this time, they had already demonstrated their resilience once before. This was their home turf, and these survivors were more than prepared to fight to the last. "Don't get cocky! Air support or not, expect heavy resistance!"

"Coming in now!" Fireball warned them over the radio. "LZ looks hot, so get ready to come out swinging!"

At the pilot's prompting, Fairfire performed one final inspection of her trusty M90, and was satisfied to see that it was operating in flawless condition. As she examined her weapon, she noticed a flying Grimm briefly dart past the rear hatch of the Pelican, before being blown out of existence by one of the Hornets.

If we aren't careful, the Grimm will bog us down too. She realized with a scowl.

At last, the time came to deploy as Fireball brought them down into a skillful hover over the jungle floor. With only a couple meters of space between the ground and the bottom of the dropship, the pilot released the M12 Warthog that was magnetically attached to the Pelican, allowing it to fall to the ground for the Marines to use.

"Pile out, go go go!" Fireball gave the signal.

Fairfire was one of the first out of the door, and the first thing that stood out to her was how badly the surrounding jungle had been torn apart. Gigantic trees were snapped in half, collapsed outwardly, or obliterated into wide swaths of splinters. A few fires were already roaring amongst the bushes and undergrowth, only kept in check by how damp everything was. They threw pillars of ash-leaden smoke into the sky, like beacons heralding destruction. So far, she couldn't spot any of the White Fang, nor any of the Grimm for that matter, but that was bound to change sooner rather than later.

"Jesus." Nathan said, his low whistle audible as Fireball's Pelican roared away and the Marines around them shouted orders. "If the flyboys did this to our landing site, what the hell did they do to the Fang?"

"Stay focused!" Jorge shouted. "Form up on me, and watch your flanks, the White Fang could be all around us."

The rest of the Marines hastily reformed into their own squads and crewed the three Warthogs. Meanwhile, Onyx Team began to move out right away, taking the lead of the advance. So far, it seemed everything was going to plan, but the first obstacle immediately made itself apparent, the jungle itself.

Thanks to the vast amount of trees and saplings that stood in their way, keeping a steady formation was practically impossible, and so Jorge gave the order to loosen up. Then, once they left the landing zone, the mud became much wetter and deeper, making movement increasingly difficult as they progressed. Ahead of them, the sound of small-arms fire and more explosions could be heard, but the enemy was still nowhere to be seen.

"No eyes yet… strange, where's all the Grimm?" Meadows asked. "Normally we'd be neck-deep in them by now."

"Maybe they're all going after the White Fang for a change." Yu replied. "I say let em', it ain't like we-"

She was interrupted by a large, furry black mass that fell from the trees above. It landed directly on top of her and knocked Yu down into the mud with a cry of alarm. Without hesitation, Fairfire raised her shotgun and sent the Grimm to hell with a spread of buckshot. The ambush predator was dead and disappearing before anybody could even identify it.

"Yu, are you alright?" Fairfire asked, reaching down to pull her fellow Helljumper to her feet. She was utterly coated in mud, and pulling her from the ground spread the mud out even further thanks to the suction, ensuring that everybody was covered.

"Ow… good enough." Yu replied. "What the fuck was that?!"

"A Grimm, they must be hiding in the canopy." Jorge answered, scanning the tree cover above with heightened concern. "Nathan, check above us as we go, there might be more up there."

Nathan shook his head and swore under his breath. "Well, that's reassuring… Yes Sir."

Fucking hell, how the hell did none of us notice that thing? Are they just all around us, waiting until our backs are turned? Fairfire wondered. For the sake of her team's nerves, she kept her thoughts to herself.

Onyx Team continued forward, occasionally spotting and swiftly killing Grimm either in small groups or one at a time, but still finding no sign of the White Fang. Progressing through the mud certainly felt slow, but according to Jorge, they were moving a lot further than it actually seemed; the lack of landmarks in the jungle just made it seem like they weren't moving very far.

"I don't like this… where the hell are they?" Yu asked. "Nathan, can you see anything with your Semblance?"

"Nada." Nathan answered. "Lieutenant, what about the Recon Birds, can they see anyone? I haven't heard them shoot anything for a good minute now."

Jorge didn't respond for a moment, seemingly checking in with the other units. As they waited, the sound of gunfire erupted once again, this time much closer to them. The familiar roars of MA5s and BR55s rang out as well.

"That's gotta be them, right?" Meadows asked.

"Second Squad just found them." Jorge confirmed. "We're going to back them up, double time!"

Thanks to the larger formation that Onyx Team had been keeping with the other Marines, they weren't far away at all, and within a minute, they were in a position to assist the embattled Marines. They found the Leathernecks caught in a very close-quarters three-way fight between the White Fang and the Grimm, and their Warthog had already been flipped over by something. At a glance, it was impossible to tell who was winning.

"Weapons free, but check your fire, we have friendlies in there!" Jorge ordered.

Onyx Team obligingly unleashed hell into their exposed enemies, who were caught completely off-guard by their arrival. Fairfire managed to blow an Ursa into black confetti, only moments before it would have mauled a Marine who had been separated from their weapon. For a brief moment, it seemed like the Marines and Onyx Team were going to secure a swift victory, but as was now typical, something had to ruin it.

"Specialist, one o'clock!" One of the Marines shouted, shortly before a massive, blinding explosion erupted right where he was standing. A split second before the Marine had detonated, Fairfire spotted the distinct trail of a rocket moving towards him, which had to have been the cause of the blast. The smoke cleared quickly, and there was no sign of the Marine or a corpse when it did so.

The trail of the rocket led Fairfire straight back to the perpetrator, a White Fang Specialist, just as the Marine had announced. Although their uniform was seemingly no different from your average terrorist grunt, the fact that they were holding a large, obviously custom-made rocket launcher highlighted them from their peers. They were overlooking the battlefield from atop a large tree branch, perhaps a hundred meters from Onyx Team.

Of course one of them has to have a goddamn rocket launcher. Fairfire grumbled and shifted her fire onto the new target, but at that range, most of her buckshot was missing.

The terrorist replied to her relatively ineffectual attack by launching another rocket, this time aimed squarely at her. Immediately, she followed her training and took cover, only for a translucent shield of spectral energy to appear before the rocket, causing it to harmlessly explode in the air. Clark's shield dissipated immediately afterwards, but it had served its purpose and saved Fairfire from being blown to smithereens.

"I could use a little help here!" Fairfire called out to her squad as she dug around in her pockets for something that would work a little bit better at a range. After a moment's search, she found the shells she was looking for.

Shotgun flechettes had originally been developed for use in some old jungle war, and while the ones that Fairfire loaded into her shotgun were obviously a bit more advanced than their old Earth counterparts, the general principle remained the same. Rather than firing a bunch of round balls, the shells were loaded with small fin-stabilized darts, perfect for penetrating vegetation and for reaching just that little bit further than buckshot. Of course, they didn't have the same raw firepower as buckshot, but anything coming out of an eight-gauge bore was bound to cause some damage.

As she advanced and reloaded, the rest of Onyx Team took up the mantle and engaged the Specialist. The results, however, were less than promising. Yu, Peggy, and Meadows were forced to duck for cover to avoid being blown up by a pair of rockets, and Jorge was momentarily occupied by a Recluse that was threatening to rout the Marines. Thankfully, at least one member of the squad was having better luck than the rest of them.

"I've got you covered, Liz! Keep moving!" Nathan said over TeamCom. A quartet of bullet trails flew over her head as he spoke, and while only one of which actually struck the enemy Specialist, it was enough to force the terrorist back into cover. When the Rocketeer tried to peek again, he was suppressed by a long burst of machine-gun fire from Jorge, who had apparently made short work of the giant spider.

"I don't have an angle on him!" Jorge warned. "Fairfire, flush him out!"

Now with a full magazine of flechettes loaded and the distance between herself and the rocketeer reduced to around fifty meters, she was in the perfect place to do some damage. Without pause, she slam-fired five shells downrange in rapid succession, and while the recoil was great enough to make her Aura flare up, it also created an absolute hellstorm of flechettes that tore up the Specialist's Aura and forced him out of cover. He stumbled from behind a patch of vegetation, visibly bleeding. In an act of final defiance, he shouldered his launcher in an attempt to take her with him, but Fairfire knew that wouldn't be the case. There was a deafening bang… and the Specialist's head erupted in a red mist as Nathan launched a sabot through his temple.

"Woohoo! Chalk up another one!" Nathan shouted. "Come on, give us a challenge!"

"Easy for you to say!" A very shaken-sounding Yu replied as she dug herself out of the mud, Meadows and Peggy right behind her.

"Any injuries?" Jorge asked.

"A little sore, but no…" Meadows answered with a grumble as he wiped the mud out of his visor, before looking around in confusion. "Hey, where did everybody else go?"

It was only once he pointed it out that Fairfire realized all of the Marines were gone, as were the White Fang. The sound of gunfire and screaming rockets could still be heard however, only now it was coming from behind them, back towards the landing site.

"The White Fang's trying to retreat, the Marines are in pursuit. I told the Captain that we would catch up once that Specialist was dealt with." Jorge explained. "I'll get that Warthog flipped."

"Wow… I guess I got a little tunnel-visioned there." Nathan said, perfectly mirroring Fairfire's own thoughts, she had truly lost her sense of what was going on around her.

"For once Nathan, I ain't gonna blame you." Yu replied. "Oh goddamnit, how the hell did mud get in my helmet?!"

After effortlessly killing some of the smaller Grimm who had chosen to linger, Jorge flipped over the Warthog and had everybody climb aboard. Admittedly, fitting five Helljumpers and a Spartan with a chaingun onto a Warthog was a bit of a tight squeeze, but it was better than walking. There were a few Grimm on the way back to the clearing where they had landed, but between the M41 rotary-gun mounted in the Warthog's bed and the vehicle's bumper, none of them proved to be anything more than a speedbump.

By the time that Onyx Team arrived back at the edge of the clearing, it somehow looked even more destroyed than when they had landed. The Marines had dug in with superior positions along the treeline and forced the White Fang into the open, where they were boxed in by the Grimm from the other side, and by the Hornets from above.

"Now that's more like it!" Yu cheered. "We've got these bastards by the throat!"

"Maybe." Jorge grumbled in response. "Dismount and move in, and keep your eyes out for the primary target, we still haven't gotten a positive ID on her yet."

Between all the Grimm and airstrikes? I'm hardly surprised. Fairfire thought as she hopped out of the Warthog and joined the rest of her team in wrapping up. That bitch is probably a corpse by now.

Meanwhile

Vermillion watched through a pair of stolen Atlesian Binoculars as a trio of UNSC troop transports took to the sky, escorted by a squadron of airships. In their wake, they left dozens of smoke plumes, and a large ugly scar in the rainforest.

"Damn… we're too late." Vermillion muttered.

"What do you see, Leader?" One of her commandos asked.

"What do you think?" Vermillion grumpily replied. "Clearly, Connor's team decided that they weren't going to wait for us to lay the ambush… and look how well that turned out for them."

The plan had been for the two teams to meet at the rendezvous point, then, once preparations were laid and traps were set, to broadcast the distress call that would lure the UNSC in. In retrospect, she should have predicted Connor's moronic leadership choices; he had never been a capable leader.

"It looks like the UNSC is leaving, we should check for survivors." One of the other commandos suggested.

Vermillion opened her mouth to give the order, but paused as she processed what her subordinate had pointed out. Why would the UNSC leave so quickly?

"Hold your positions." Vermillion ordered. "The UNSC have always held the ground that they've taken. So ask yourselves, what's changed?"

Much to her disappointment, her warriors remained silent; apparently they were failing to draw the same conclusion as her.

"They came looking for something, likely us. They knew it was a trap." Vermillion clarified. "They think that they've defeated all of us, so they have no reason to stick around."

"But… how did they find out?" One of her subordinates asked.

"Now, that's the million lien question, isn't it?" Vermillion rhetorically answered. Surely they couldn't have just seen our ambush coming… right?

There was also the remote possibility that the UNSC's rapid response and equally quick withdrawal was all some massive coincidence, and the UNSC had just happened to have a full platoon of soldiers, complete with air support, ready to deploy at the worst moment possible.

Above all of her suspicions, however, was a certain disgraced Atlesian Scientist, who just so happened to be a Human, who had outwardly said that he had no love for the White Fang, and had been in Sienna Khan's camp while Vermillion was planning her mission.

If that pasty bastard sold us out… She briefly saw red, but calmed herself with a few controlled breaths. Whatever happened next, Sienna Khan would want to know about it, and that meant that she needed to return to camp.

With one final glance back at the pillars of smoke that marked the battleground, she leapt down from her perch, and began the long walk home.

UNSC Dominion, Brig

November 5th, 0501 Local Time, 2552

Like all Sangheili Warriors, Set had always held a firm belief in Spirituality. Even the reveal of the Prophet's lies had done nothing to shake his faith in the Gods, in no small part because they were the ones who had shown him the truth. In spite of that belief, he had never put any kind of serious thought toward magic or witchcraft, as that had never been something that any of the Hierarchs had taken seriously. Outside of the odd heresy conviction of the lower Castes of the Covenant, many such cases were simply disregarded as 'fringe' or 'unimportant.' Thanks to the Gods, and to Penny, that had very drastically and suddenly changed.

She had already told him about the Huntsmen of Remnant, an entire order of warrior magicians who were honor-bound to slay the creatures of Grimm and defend their people. Their "Auras" and "Semblances" were clearly the same kind of divine magic that the Gods had granted him, but Penny's ignorance regarding the Forerunners was proof enough that they did not know the truth of the Gods.

I wonder, are all of the Humans who possess this power blessed by the Gods? How tragic it must be, to possess such remarkable gifts and abilities, and not even know who they came from. It wasn't the first thought like that to cross his mind, and it likely wouldn't be the last. The Oracle, 421 Bound Intention, had implied some kind of link between the Gods and Remnant, or rather, Shunspace as a whole. Perhaps this is indeed some kind of prison as the Prophets claimed, or maybe even a sanctuary of sorts. If the latter, it would certainly explain why the parasite must never be allowed to taint this place.

Despite Penny's politeness, even kindness to him, the rest of the Humans still treated him as a prisoner, and rightfully so. Regardless of the fact that he had been blinded by the Prophet's lies, there was innocent and righteous blood on his hands, and it would ultimately fall to the Humans themselves to cast judgement upon him. In the meantime, there was little for him to do but master his gifts and wait for Penny to return.

Through his toils and the blessings of the Gods, he had been granted two more objects, neither of which were as large, complex, or as alive as Functions Inconsistently was. The first was what he believed to be the Forerunner equivalent of a herbal synthesizer, a useful tool for producing medicines that was prized by any San'Shyuum cleric. Like most Forerunner contraptions, it was mostly featureless, grey, and displayed a number of simple holographic controls and glowing lights.

The second object, however… to be quite honest, he had no clue what it was. It superficially resembled the hilt of an energy sword, and it was comfortable to hold in a similar way, but it didn't actually seem to do anything. The Huragok would probably know what it was, but seeing as it was away assisting the UNSC, he figured that there was no harm in waiting until it returned.

After many hours of waiting, as well as more unsuccessful attempts to summon any other objects, the door to his cell opened to reveal Penny, as well as another strangely-dressed woman. She was seemingly human, clad in some kind of white uniform, with a curved blade affixed to her belt, sheathed in a scabbard. Despite obviously being a warrior, she did not seem to have a helmet, which was most unusual.

"Penny, it is good to see you again." He said. "And who are you, female? Are you also an android?"

The stranger immediately gave Penny a glare of disappointment, not unlike that a mother would have. "You told him?"

Penny, in turn, looked just as guilty as a disobedient child. "He doesn't know much, just thatCurie and I aren't... normal girls. He figured it out on his own."

Ah, I see, that must be some kind of confidential information. Set thought, feeling the slightest bit of guilt at having unwittingly sold out somebody whom he considered a friend. "Penny speaks the truth, and I saw no purpose in prying further into her… personal life, not while there was work to be done. I do not care whether or not you are an android as well, Human, I was merely curious."

"We'll talk later." Winter briefly whispered to Penny, apparently unaware that Sangheili ears were quite a bit sharper than those of a Human. "My name is Specialist Schnee. Penny told me that she intended to come and visit you, and I wanted to see you face-to-face."

Penny had spoken at length about Winter, a Warrior for the Kingdom of Atlas who was much like a Huntress, but bound to a specific "Kingdom" rather than Remnant as a whole. In more than one way, hearing about her had reminded him of Sangheili Warriors, and seeing her in person only reinforced that comparison. She had an unwavering confidence in her stance alone, and her sword was positioned in such a way that she could draw it and bisect him with one swift motion.

"Hey, what's this thing?" Penny asked as she picked up the herbal synthesizer. "Did you summon this?"

"I did. It is a device for producing medicines, I imagine that your Doctor may find some use in it." Set answered, before reaching for the other object. "I also summoned this, although I admit, I am not sure what it is."

Winter gave him a skeptical look. "How can you summon something without knowing what it is?"

"From what we've observed, that isn't how Set's Semblance works." Penny answered.

"Indeed. When I summon things, I do it by asking for some kind of solution to a problem." Set added in, figuring that perhaps it would be best to explain the process to Winter. "In the case of the Huragok, I summoned him inadvertently by asking for help understanding the mystery of the Forerunners. When I summoned the herbal synthesizer, I wanted something that could cure a headache."

Winter nodded in understanding, before pointing at the mystery object. "I see… and what about that?"

"I asked for something that would be useful to me, as an experiment, of sorts." Set replied. "Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, I now know that I should have been more specific…"

"Well, you're a Warrior, so maybe it's a weapon." Penny proposed. "It even kind of looks like the alien sword that Curie showed me."

He wasn't blind to the suspicious glare that Winter gave him, but he ignored her and kept his attention on Penny's question. "I had thought similarly at first, but it has no controls. My plan was to wait for Curie to return with the Huragok, but alas, it seems that she has been keeping him busy."

"Hmmm." Penny hummed aloud. "I know! Maybe you can summon another Engineer, and then you could ask them instead!"

"Penny, are you sure that bringing more aliens aboard the UNSC's ship is a good idea?" Winter asked.

Out of curiosity more than anything, Set scanned her features for any signs of fear, but found nothing.

"Why not? Curie says that Funk is very helpful, I'm sure that they'll appreciate it if they had two." Penny replied. "What do you think, Set?"

He shrugged. "I could try, but this may not work. In any case, stand aside, the portals may be harmless, or they may not be, and there is no wisdom in taking a pointless risk."

The women stood aside and cleared a section of the cell for Set to use. Then, he reached out with his Aura as Penny had taught him, before stating his request. He wasn't sure if he could summon things through thought alone, but now was not the time to test that. "I require the assistance of another Huragok."

Almost instantly, a small Void Rift opened just before them, it's howling wind-like sound catching both Winter and Penny off guard, but they quickly recovered. Through the dark blue border of the portal was the infinite blackness of Slipspace, hovering in the corner of the room like an astronomical maw.

Then, a spectral whisper began to speak into his ears, but Set was not alarmed; this had happened the last two times that he had summoned things as well. It had probably even happened when he had summoned Functions Inconsistently, but to his shame, he had been too busy panicking to hear it.

Unlike before, the voices caused him no pain, although he could still barely make out anything meaningful about what the voices were saying. Occasionally, he could make out several words spoken in the Human tongue, words like Manifest, Support, and perhaps most curiously, Domain. Their deeper meaning, however, was totally lost on him.

The three of them watched as the portal stormed, Penny's eyes were wide and glowing with wonder, while Winter seemed a bit more wary, but still showed no fear. After perhaps twenty or so seconds, the portal steadily faded, and the shadowy form of a Huragok began to emerge into reality. When the rift closed, however...

"Funk? Is that you?" Penny asked as the Engineer floated forward.

"Hello Penny, yes, it is." Functions Inconsistently answered, before turning immediately to Set. "Greetings Warrior, how may I help you?"

Well, I suppose we only get the one Huragok, although it is nice to know that I can call upon him at any time. Set thought. The spell had left him feeling a little winded, but it was far from anything that he couldn't handle.

After a moment catching his breath, he handed the Huragok the mysterious Forerunner artifact to examine. "I need you to tell me what this is."

"It is a Z-104 Adaptive Weapon Template, it has apparently already been coded for your use." Funk answered after not even a second of examination before handing it back to Set. "Would you like to know more?"

"A weapon… so it is dangerous." Winter said. She glared at Set with sudden hostility. "Just what are you planning, alien?"

"Calm yourself, Human. I am not your enemy." Set cooly replied. "Huragok, is the Human correct, this is a dangerous weapon?"

"Yes." Funk confirmed. "This weapon was designed by my creators as a means of arming other races against the Flood, it is highly configurable for use by any-"

"I've heard enough." Winter barked, placing her hand on her sword's hilt. "Drop the weapon, now!"

She was clearly taken a little aback when he dropped it to the ground without a second thought, which she immediately picked up and slotted into one of her pockets.

"There, are you satisfied, Specialist?" He grumbled as he softly kicked the weapon so that it slid across the floor to her feet. "I would very much like to cease this pointless hostility. I had no intention of summoning some sort of escape tool, regardless of whatever paranoid machinations you may have thought up."

"Paranoid?!" Winter demanded. "Don't think that I don't know what your kind does! You're a butcher, don't act like you're anything different!"

The woman's comment snapped away the last bit of patience that Set had been holding on to. He was guilty of many crimes, yes, but he would not stand by and be insulted. "Use your wit, Specialist, and not your idle tongue! What do you expect me to do with a weapon, kill the entire crew of this Warship? Engage a Demon in single combat, and then what?! Even if I had the means to return home, I would not, for the Gods themselves commanded me not to, and who am I to question their orders?!"

It was not an easy thing to look an angry Sangheili in the eye and not even flinch, so Winter's stoicism admittedly caught him a bit off guard. She may be brash and paranoid, but at least she's brave.

"I believe that you'd try! You're a maniac!" Winter shot back. "To think-"

"Winter, stop it!" Penny shouted, catching both of them off-guard. Set had been aware of her watching, but he hadn't expected her to intervene. "Set didn't even know that was a weapon, and he gave it to you! Why would he do that if he wanted to kill you?"

"You should listen to your Ancilla, Specialist. Her kind is purpose-built to operate on logic, and you have let your emotions cloud your mind." Set added.

"Set, please, stop talking." Penny said, a distinct air of exasperation about her.

Just trying to help. Set thought, resisting the urge to chuckle as Winter contemplated chopping his head off.

"Spec- Winter, please, don't hurt anyone." Penny said.

Before Winter could reply, however, Penny's datapad-scroll-thing, he wasn't sure what to call it, interrupted the confrontation as Curie's voice joined the noise.

"Penny, it's Curie!" The other AIs voice came through the device, she was clearly in the middle of panicking. "Funk is gone, and none of the Marines can find him! Do you know what happened?"

Penny looked up at Set and Winter with a guilty expression, before answering Curie. "Yes, don't worry Curie, we've got him right here! I asked Set to try to summon another Engineer, but we got Funk instead."

Curie's sigh of relief could practically be heard from the other side of the ship. "Oh thank goodness. Please, warn me the next time you try something like that! I'll be down to pick him up in just a moment."

"Sure thing! We'll wait here for you." Penny cheerfully replied, before looking back up to Winter with a pleading expression. "I am sorry about that, I probably shouldn't have asked Set to summon anything else."

Winter, after one final moment of consideration, removed her hand from her sword. "And I should not have let you."

"So, does this mean you will not kill me?" Set jokingly asked, and was deeply satisfied with the look of annoyance that he received in return.

"The Commander probably wouldn't appreciate it if I started executing his prisoners, even you." Winter coldly replied. "Set, from now on, don't summon anything else without Penny here to keep an eye on you."

"I take my commands from Penny and the Shipmaster, Specialist, not from you." Set said with an equally cold inflection.

"Set, please, just do what she says." Penny swiftly added.

"As you wish." Set said. "On the note of the Shipmaster, I would ask that you bring these devices to him, I am sure that your crew would find them most useful. Do be careful with the weapon, you may harm yourself, and that is something I would hope to avoid."

Winter fixed him with one last glare, albeit one that was notably less hateful than the last. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Come on Penny, the Commander will want to have a look at these, and I want to have a talk with you."

"Yes, Specialist." Penny dutifully nodded in turn. "Bye Set! I'll be back before too long!"

And then, just like that, he was alone again, but that lasted only around a minute before Curie opened the door to retrieve the Huragok, and she was visibly relieved at the sight of him.

"Oh thank goodness. Set, please, warn me the next time that you do that." Curie said.

"Of course, Curie. I did not know that I would be summoning him, indeed, I specifically requested a different Huragok."

Curie looked at the Engineer with a curious expression for a moment. "That is unfortunate. Funk has proven to be very helpful so far, even if he only seems to respond to Ben's commands, and not mine…"

"You are an unknown construct. Protocol forbids me from-" Funk began to speak, but Curie cut him off.

"Yes, yes, you've said that before, thank you. Set, can you tell him to follow me?"

"Of course." Set nodded. "Huragok, follow the Android."

Funk wordlessly complied, and after some final formalities, the two of them left, leaving Set with nothing but his thoughts once more.

I wonder what my Brothers would think of me now. Do they still hate the Humans thanks to the lies of the Prophets? Would they believe my encounter with the Oracle was genuine? What would they think if they could see the sorcery that I do on a daily basis?

Alas, there were no answers, and there likely never would be any.