Chapter Nine: The Pride of Xerxi
Planet Therisalli, UNSC Heavy Cruiser Yucatan, December 16th, 2552…
I awoke to the blaring of a UNSC klaxon and the rumble of an explosion. My throat burned, and my right arm, my prosthetic, was completely out of power. I sat up and looked around - but I wasn't sitting up, I was already in the air? The Yucatan was dead in space, and debris filled the hangar of the ship. I looked around frantically for D'Suvai. He was next to me trying to pry his leg out of the air brake of a half-destroyed Longsword Interceptor. I called out to him, and he looked up.
"Zealot Major! I thought you were dead! You were hit full on with a tank!" D'Suvai exclaimed, finally freeing leg from the fighter. He kicked off it and glided over to me, stopping in front of me with his jets.
"What happened?" I asked, looking around the destroyed hangar. The only light in the room was the bright illumination from Therisalli itself.
"A Brute Reverence-class Cruiser rammed this ship, killing most of the crew and knocking out the artificial gravity. You've been here for two hours, I think." D'Suvai reported. "I haven't seen any other humans in that time. I think that we are some of the only people left on the ship."
"Indeed." I looked outside to see the worn and blackened nanolaminate hull of a Covenant ORS Heavy Cruiser lodged in the Yucatan a tad forward of the hangar.
"The only reason we're breathing right now is because of that loose airlock. I would advise you to put on your EVA mask." I nodded and slid the membrane over my face, breathing in the mildly stale oxygen. And, as if on cue, the airlock door burst, and all of a sudden, the floating fighters, boxes, other equipment and dead personnel flew rapidly to the door. I careened towards it quickly, smashing through a Broadsword Strike Fighter in the process. D'Suvai hung onto the back of my armor, firing his Plasma Rifle at pieces of debris in front of us. We flew into the hallway, which was ripped open on the outside to reveal space. I yelled out as we hit a box and went spinning out of the hallway into open space.
"D'Suvai! Your boosters!" I yelled as we flew farther and farther away from the Yucatan and away from the battle, moving towards Therisalli in the distance. D'Suvai scramble to activate his jets, and in the process let go of me. He flew aimlessly away from me, his arms and legs flailing as he tried to get back to me. I tried to stay as calm as I could as we grew farther apart. I flipped myself over and kicked off of a piece of a wing, flying towards a Brute Frigate few kilometers ahead of me. I got out my Energy Dagger and the extension cord, attaching one to the other. I threw the cord with the dagger on the end, the dagger melting into D'Suvai's back armor. I pulled, hard, and soon had him careening towards me. I activated my boosters one last time and went to full power, using up the last of the fuel in them to go towards the Frigate.
"We're much too small to be noticed by the Brutes' radar. Only by visual will they see you. Turn on Active Camouflage." D'Suvai said into the comms, turning his on. He vanished from sight, except for the small shimmer of refractive light. I activated mine as well, and I watched in mild awe as my one hand disappeared from view. My prosthetic arm drifted behind me, and with me not being able to see or feel it, the sharp metal structure cut through the cord without my knowing. I looked back and saw D'Suvai drifting with me, not connected to me. I swore and grabbed the prosthetic, ripping it off, clenching my teeth as it pressed against the semi-healed stump of my arm. Luckily enough, when Mizume had bandaged my arm, it was airtight, so I didn't implode when I took off the destroyed arm. I flung the robotic limb away from my and went into a cannonball position, awaiting the impact on the Frigate. I smashed into the purple hull and skidded along it, trying to grasp something with my left arm. My fingers snagged on an antenna, and I was jolted to the side, my shoulder dislocating. I still held on, though, as D'Suvai boosted over to me and grabbed onto the antenna as well. D'Suvai let go for a second to put my arm back in place before I turned to him.
"We're going to get inside, kill the crew, and drive this thing back to the fleet."I commanded. "Do you know how to fly this?"
"No, but the shipboard AI will." D'Suvai said, pulling out his Energy Sword with his uninjured hand before cutting a circular hole in the hull, letting the atmosphere in the corridor inside vent. Four stunned Brutes flew out with alarmed cries, drifting into space in stony silence. I jumped into the hole after letting it cool, running down the dark hallway of the short ship to the bridge. I kicked down the magenta door and fired aimlessly with my Plasma Rifle into the room. I downed a Brute Chieftain and four Majors before D'Suvai ran in with his guns blazing. The other bridge crew held onto their seats as the air in the room vented down the hallway and out the hole in the ship. I threw a grenade that landed next to four Brute Minors. It exploded, and suddenly, the room was very quiet. D'Suvai ran over to the forward control panel and tapped something in, a glowing sphere appearing on the center dashboard.
"Hello, I am Covenant Shipboard AI Arcus. How can I assist you, Chieftain Numar?" The AI said in a higher-pitched Elite voice.
"Arcus, I need you to fly this ship out of system to the Mendirae System. I also want to override the identification on this ship from 'Covenant' to 'Sword.'"
"Acknowledged. Slipspace course set. Identification override complete, ship now known as the Sword Frigate Pride of Xerxi." The AI said, its form pulsing as it spoke.
"Should we strap in? I don't know what it's like to be exposed to the elements in slipspace, and I don't particularly want to be sucked out in a dimension I have no experience with."
"Yes." D'Suvai replied simply, sitting down at a chair left of the captain's to strap into the emergency harness. He pulled out the flickering dagger from the back membrane of his armor, letting it and the cord fall to the ground. I sat down on the captain's chair and pulled down the harness over me, wrapping the strap around my stomach.
"Arcus, can you open a comm to all of the UNSC ships in the local area?"
"Yes, sir." The AI replied, bringing up a screen on the frigate's bridge window. "Relay your message."
"To all UNSC ships in this battle, follow the frigate broadcasting this message! This will lead you to a Swords of Sanghelios fleet! Please, stop fighting and follow us!" I yelled into the comm. The comm line turned off, and the frigate turned hard to its port side, the slipspace core activating. The ship rumbled, and in an instant was in another dimension.
Planet Mendirae, Sword Assault Carrier The Servant of Recompense, December 16th, 2552…
"This information is most… interesting, brother." The hologram of Thel 'Vadam said. I leaned over the hologram and flared my mandibles before speaking, my usually flowing crimson cloak wrapped around me. "Admiral 'Te Misakan, you must keep this SPARTAN a secret from the Brutes and the Servants of the Abiding Truth."
"The 'Servants of the Abiding Truth?'" I asked, unknowing of the term. The Arbiter sighed and nodded.
"Indeed. After the Great Schism, and after the Shadow of Intent touched back down in Vadam Keep, many of my brothers have risen against the destruction of the Covenant, calling themselves the Servants of the Abiding Truth."
"A very alarming thing to know. But alas, keeping the Zealot Major a secret is impossible now. He has seen battle among the Brutes, and they have more than likely passed on information of his presence to their leaders." I answered, putting a four-fingered hand on my armor-clad hip. The Arbiter clenched his mandibles together and looked at his hooves, his hand fiddling with a piece of his gray cloak.
"Then keep him from becoming popular among your soldiers. He may soon be a war hero, but we can't have our Sangheili knowing too much about him. You may yet have Covenant supporters in your ranks."
"We have been looking through our men and making a list of possible suspects. For some reason, the Field Marshal decided to allow one of the suspects to go on a covert mission to Ceresa!" I exclaimed, snarling slightly at the thought of 'Zehirae.
"You allowed for him to go back?! We can't have him among the Brutes!" The Arbiter yelled, infuriated. I frowned and stared him down.
"It was not my doing, kaidon. It was the doings of Mizume 'Zehirae."
"You blame him for an order that came from you."
"It did not! I would never authorize the mission he's on!" I said, mildly annoyed that 'Vadam would accuse me of this frivolous action.
"Then what you must do is-"
"This is Zealot Major Reynards to Imperial Admiral Tsutar 'Te Misakan. Do you read me? We're on the Sword Frigate Pride of Xerxi approaching from slipspace followed by a UNSC fleet. Do NOT fire on them!" Zachary butted into the network, his form appearing next to the Arbiter's on the holotable. The Arbiter looked very surprised at seeing and hearing the SPARTAN.
"I'll take care of this, sir." I said before quickly closing off the comm channel to Sanghelios.
"Admiral. We need you to open the shields to the ventral hangar! We're coming in too hot to dock with the underside of the Recompense!" Zachary exclaimed, pixelated sparks flying around his holographic form.
"Acknowledged." I turned from the holotable in the war room to the rest of the bridge. "Officer, lower hangar shields and evacuate."
"Yes, sir." Replied the black-clad Sangheili Minor. The Supercarrier vibrated slightly as the gargantuan shield system went offline. I looked out of the bridge window to see a frigate trailing smoke coming for the side of the ship. I squinted my eyes to see far in the distance as multiple slipspace portals opened up behind the formerly Brute frigate. Dozens of human warships came out of slipspace with their gunports closed and shields down.
"Order the fleet to not fire on those ships."
"Of course." The comms officer replied before saying something on the fleet-wide comm network. Two RCS-class Heavy Cruisers left the fleet to form up with the humans to guide them into formation with the Sword Armada.
"I need the Zealot Major in here now." I ordered before turning back to the holotable with my eyes closed.
D'Suvai had fallen unconscious during the slipspace flight, his body giving up after being up and fighting for three days straight. I let Arcus fly the frigate into The Servant of Recompense's hangar before I let myself relax in my seat, removing my EVA mask and breathing heavily as four Honor Guard Sangheili came into the ship and scooped both of us up, dragging us out the door as our weak forms recuperated from the long slipspace exposure. They dragged us from the hangar to the bridge, and let us down just inside the door to the war room. The Imperial Admiral stood at the holotable with his arms crossed, looking very mad.
"I don't care if it was your fault or not, Zealot Major, but I do not condone you going on reckless missions that could get you killed easily. We lost contact with five ships during that escapade that may or may not ever come back." He sighed. "I won't punish you or the Field Marshal, but know this: You are not in command here."
"Understood… sir." I muttered, my eyes very blurry. The Imperial Admiral smiled and walked over, helping me up.
"Then we are in agreement. Go to your room, restock your weapons and get some rest. I have something else for you to do."