Well here we are again. Hello, Hello to all of you readers old and new, but it wasn't my idle banter that you've come for now was it. Well to bad, if you don't like it you can skip it. Anyways one important announcement, today July 9, 2005 is my sister's (Mistress of Azure) birthday, and so in honor of the occasion I dedicate this chapter to all the hard work she has put in for her stories (and mine (editing/proofreading)) over the last year. Well enough of the festivities on to the story.

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN HALO (as I am forced to reminder myself every chapter.) All I own are my hopes, dreams, and my OC's.

Language (important this Chap.)

Covenant- plain text

Human- italic text

MC: 1400 hours, November 8, 2537

Nexus V, Aboard Covenant Cruiser Ascendant Justice

Kara sat before the Computer terminal in Drek'nari's room, scanning through the reports that filtered in from the search parties. The data was almost two days old before it dropped down to her clearance level. Fulsamee had seen to it that she had that much, but that was ok; she was just using it to study after all. At least, that's what she told Drek'nari. He didn't need to see how desperate she was to hear about what was going on outside the Ascendant Justice. Though she suspected he knew more than she would have liked him to.

For the last month this had been her home. She lived here with Drek'nari as he taught her the ways of the Covenant. For the most part she hadn't left this room since arriving and she had stayed hidden from the rest of the Covenant on board thanks to an active camo belt Drek'nari had procured from the ships armory. Even with the belt, however, she needed to be careful when moving around the ship; the Covenant knew their technology far better than humans did and most could recognize the telltale shimmer that announced that someone in active camo was moving. It was infuriating having to stay cooped up here, but she could see the necessity and hadn't complained much.

She realized that was idly fingering the slim silver band on her wrist. She sighed as she looked at it, the last link to her old life. The bracelet had been a gift from Kelly, the first friend she had made upon arriving on Nexus V. She had always thought the thing gaudy and had rarely worn it; back then she hadn't needed a constant reminder of her best friend. Now she wore it constantly, along with a simple golden ring that had been her mothers; they had been the two things she had insisted on getting when Drek'nari had taken her back to the Human barracks to get some extra clothes.

Kara sighed haply and smiled a little as she realized that her thoughts had not conjured the voices. The voices, her own guilt and fear given life by an overactive imagination, had plagued her waking hours for the better part of the last month, but they were nothing beside the nightmares that had stopped only two days ago. Turning back to the terminal, she buried that line of thought. It was bad enough that she had broken in front of Drek'nari once already.

Her eyes once more began to scan the reports as they were released or filed. None seemed of any importance or interest, an annoying trend that had persisted for almost a week. Then something caught her eye; the report of one 'Dek', an Unggoy and the demolitions expert for one search party, concerning finds within forerunner ruins. Quickly she opened the report and read it through. The group had been doing a routine search for the ruins when they had stumbled upon a small group of human survivors. A firefight had ensued and Dek had been one of two survivors. The other, an elite, had died shortly after from his wounds.

Kara felt a pang of grief as she read the casualty figures, then a wash of guilt as she realized whom the grief had been for. She was still human, she told herself; no matter what she had to do to survive she was still human. She would never be one of them, she promised herself that. She would never forget what they had done, and more importantly she would never forgive them.

The door hissed open and Kara snapped back to reality. Drek'nari stepped inside and the door slid shut. In one hand he carried a tray of food, in the other he held a small crystal disk. Setting the tray down on the desk, he pulled a second chair up to the desk. "Found anything useful today?" Kara held her composure as best she could; and to her credit, she did refrain from asking how long he had known.

"What makes you think I'm looking?"

Drek'nari gave the Sangheili equivalent of a smile. "Because unless humans really are as different as Unggoy believe, I know our kind."

"Our kind?" Kara knew at this point that arguing was futile; if he wanted the information he would get it, but after her promises to herself only moments before she did not appreciate being in any sort of grouping with any of them.

"Yes, our kind. I've know you for little more than a month, but everything you've shown me says that you and I are more alike than you believe. We are the kind of beings that are never satisfied with our situation unless it is as we would have it, and your situation is far from ideal. Unless I miss my guess, you're not satisfied with sitting here being told what to learn."

Kara sighed in frustration; this was not the first time Drek'nari had shown her that he knew her as well as she knew herself. That was not the worst part in her mind, she could accept that he knew her that well. What she could not accept is that she couldn't hate him for it. She had tried many times over the last month; when the voices would rear their heads and throw images at her she could hate every Covenant she could think of, but whenever her thoughts came to Drek'nari she found her temper iced and hate slipping from her grasp. Kara understood why, she had stumbled upon the answer some time ago, but the answer only made her want to hate him more. The simple truth was he reminded Kara of her father.

"Not really." She said, and gestured to the hologram that served as the screen. "They found what they were looking for, but they can't get in." He didn't move, being able to see the hologram just fine from where he was; the terminal projected the hologram in all directions with equal clarity, and in such a way that no view interfered with any of the others. The end result made the hologram appear to track your movements as you moved around the room. "But you already knew that, didn't you? This is at least 2 days old."

He nodded not appearing to notice or care that she had slipped back into her native tongue. "Yes I did, but what's important is that you found it, you have a good eye for details." He reached across the desk to hand the disk to her.

Kara sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time since Drek'nari had returned and took the disk "What's this?"

"A message from the Fleet Master."

As calmly as she could, Kara placed the disk in the terminal's reader and waited for the message that had been a month coming. "The meeting with the hierarchs went… well. They have said they will think on my request, and will contact me once they reach a conclusion. Drek'nari, make sure she is ready, the hierarchs could call for her at any time." The recording ended at that. There was nothing else, but both Kara and Drek'nari noticed that Orna' had taken care not to mention the alternative. Either he was confident that the Hierarchs would agree or he was very afraid they would not.

As Kara ran over the message in her head her emotions began to lean more towards anger and less towards fear. For the last month her grief had made her life a living hell. Now, she may have finally won out against it, and it still might all be for nothing. No. She would not die. She had to live, live and remember. When she turned to Drek'nari there was fire in her eyes. He returned her gaze and clicked his mandibles in satisfaction. "I was right, we are alike. It is good to see you haven't given up yet." Kara smiled. She would never give up. Not while there was still a chance to live.

1-2-3

Yes, Yes I know short, but I promise more soon. So until then, bu-bye