Jameson Hill Country, Outside Hidalgo, Blue Sky, Weiran System, 01/26/2526

I watch the sky. In between the burning skyscrapers and clouds of smoke, flocks of phantoms and spirits fly in between the towering spires of the city. The air itself is pungent with the rancid smell of ash and decay, slowly emanating from the now devastated city. The land itself recoils from the destruction, previously unmarred hills of plantlife burned away or replaced with incinerated craters from plasma mortars, while the sky coughs its last as the heat of the destruction carries ash into the wind and transports it across the planet.

I sit down on the hilltop and watch it all. An unlit pyre of sticks sits next to me, a campfire that I built but don't have the spirit to light.

There's a solemn catharsis in watching everything happen, in a similar vein watching clouds drift by is. Something that you have no control over but has an odd ephemeral beauty that somehow I can't just turn away from.

The wet dirty patter of footsteps comes from behind me, I turn around to see Bahad walking up the hill. He gets close to me, takes a couple of seconds to regain his breath and says, "We're headin' back soon. Don't want you to miss the ride."

"I know."

Bahad walks around me so I don't have to twist my head to look at him, he traces my gaze to the city, "You are comin' back, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I dismiss, "Just want to enjoy the last moments on this planet before it gets incinerated."

"You like bein' here?" Bahad asks incredulously.

I smile, "Too warm for you?"

"Too much fightin' for me. I like my planets without plasma fire please," he says stressing the 'without'.

"I'm not sure," I sarcastically drawl, "I kind of like plasma rain, adds a bit of character."

Bahad seems unimpressed with my joke, deadpanning back, "Good, you can take all the shots for me then, help build up your character."

I chuckle at his response, but find the statement too awkward to immediately respond to. Bahad takes the momentary respite to scratch his arm while I stew in my thoughts.

"Hey," I speak up, "Where'd Zoya go? I thought she was still planetside."

"She is. Last I heard she's doin' some recon with some ranger buddies of her's," he answers, "didn't seem that happy about it though."

"I thought the humans escaped on ships," I say, "I didn't know there are any left planetside."

"I'm no officer, so don't take my word for law," Bahad starts, "but from what I can tell there are a few pockets of humans that didn't escape. Zoya and her buddies are just making sure they aren't going to be a problem."

"While we sit here and wait to head back?"

He answers my question with one of his own, "Would you rather go out and fight some more?"

"No," I defend, "just thought they'd send out more than rangers."

"Rangers are mobile, we'd just slow them down."

We would, he's right about that. "Fair enough. By the way, where's your friend that was there when I first met you. Kilim right? Haven't seen him in a while," I ask.

I can see Bahad grimace from under his mask, "It's Kilm. And, uh, he died. In the same attack you held me back. Probably would've joined him had you not helped me."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I console, recognizing that for a horrible reason I can commiserate with him.

"We get used to it," he brushes it off, "not many of us live to see retirement."

I let out a laugh, unsure of if it is appropriate. Judging by his relaxed tone I didn't offend him, "so what are you gonna do now?" I ask.

"Probably the same thing you are gonna do."

"Which is?"

"I have absolutely no fuckin' clue."

I laugh again, it feels good to be able to do so. "You've had more experience than me, what do you think is gonna happen?"

He shrugs, not out of not knowing but out of apathy, "Our squad already got decimated and we lost our squad leader. So we're probably gonna be reassigned, most likely to separate units, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"It would be more of a hassle to do so than it is to keep us together. It's hard to tell though, lots of people died in these attacks, there's gonna be a lot of movin' around the next couple of cycles," Bahad says.

"You have any place you wanna end up?" I ask.

"I wanna end up alive," he stresses, "just gotta hope that the next squad leader doesn't view me as expendable."

"Must be fun."

"Extremely."

A chime from my armor, an alarm letting me know that I'm returning to the Illuminate Elegy soon, and based off of Bahad's reactions he got the same message.

I stand up, "guess we're heading back now. It was fun while it lasted."

"Ah yes, I'm absolutely riveted with fightin'," Bahad replies.

He nods and starts walking down the hill. I gaze at the pyre and kick it over. As much as I want to get one last picturesque look at this planet that I'm so conflicted about, I just look away and follow Bahad.

We didn't stay at Blue Sky much longer. There wasn't much reason to do so, with most of the remaining humans being driven apart and executed. A somber thought, and one that I do my best not to linger on.

On the bright side, if you can call it that, as I mentioned earlier, during the same time when I was in the ruins a group of humans escaped. It wasn't that much, but it's nice to know that at least someone escaped.

But after that, and all of the soldiers on the surface had returned, the Iluminate Elegy glassed the surface as one final 'Fuck You' and we left less than half a day-cycle later. I should consider myself lucky that I have no uses when it comes to glassing a planet, so I get to wait it out in the relative comfort of a CSS cruiser, while I waited out the situation.

I was busy for most of that time. It turns out being the sole survivor of an expedition to an undiscovered forerunner compound made me extremely important, for about a couple of days. I did things from debriefs, to helping out with a team going through the ruins, to simple prayers that I was asked to take place in. However, once it was largely revealed that the ruins didn't have much besides a malfunctioning AI, my newfound fame disappeared instantly. Not that I'm too upset about it.

Once that was gone I found a new problem that had sprung up on my time aboard the Illuminate Elegy. Despite the relative familiarity of the ship, I just felt lost. I supposed previously I had latched onto Yr as my guide into the Covenant, and now that I don't have that safety net, I just kind of feel unsure of what to do.

I suppose I could always just turn my mind off and blindly follow orders. Stay alive until I'm in the prime opportunity to change something, but it just feels wrong. Having lost a friend, and being deep within an organization I fundamentally disagree with, doing nothing just feels wrong.

But that leads me to the same notion of what do I do?

I don't know why I'm asking that. I have no solution to it, and have little notion of what to do to work on that. Great.

If I make my internal rebellion too obvious then I will be executed without second thought, if I'm lucky. If I'm unlucky than I will be interrogated for all I know, and will probably regret every living second. It's a delicate balancing act and in this case I have no idea how to balance properly.

It kind of led to me to do nothing for the past couple of days, with the excuse that I will live another day and figure it out then. Going from event to event paying barely enough attention to warrant remembering it.

That lead me here, in a chapel. For the moment it's being used as a sort of memorial for Yr, with many sangheili who knew him coming to pay their respects. It's quiet, and that's just why I like it. As much as I automatically try to reject any traditions somehow the emotional depth of the situation makes it easier to appreciate.

I've been here for a little less than half-an-hour. It's a nice new place to think, and that's something I could use.

Someone comes up to my right. A familiar looking ranger leans against the wall a bit to my right. Her head tilts towards me as she acknowledges my presence. "Hey Zoya," I say.

"Vol," she simply replies.

"Uh, how are you doing?" I ask, trying to start a conversation to distract myself from confronting reality.

"No," her words come out blunt, almost as if she could barely deign herself to reply to me.

"No, what?"

"Don't try to make small talk with me," she simply snarks back.

I momentarily debate escalating the situation just out of spite, but ultimately decide it's not worth the effort. So I simply just say, "Oh, ok then."

She turns her head away and stares off into the other wall. Without much to do I go back to tracing circles on the ground in front of me with my eyes. Out of the corner of my eyes I watch Zoya, she has her gaze locked on the purple curved wall across from her, as if it somehow had wronged her. Her head turns in my direction, and I gaze back at the ground.

A moment later and more noise to my right, more footfalls. I look over to see another ranger stroll up. This one is about the same height as Zoya, nearly half-a-head taller than me, and wearing nearly identical armor design wise. The only difference being the heavily marred material composing Zoya's armor. Despite as much as I try otherwise I can't help but listen in to their conversation.

"Chatting with a friend?" the newcomer, a male, says.

"What do you want Khore," Zoya replies, the last word coming out in a sneer.

"Do we have to play this game every time we talk? You don't have to avoid me," the aptly named Khore asks.

"We have nothing to talk about."

He moves and positions himself in a spot so that Zoya can't avoid looking at him, "These childish games grow irritating. When will you grow past these delusions?"

Zoya visibly stares down the offending sangheili, "You're adorable," she sneers, "Trailing me like a lost youngling."

Khore hisses under his breath, teeth grinding together as he replies, "I'm not doing this for personal gain. I'm going out of my way in an attempt to reconcile with you, I don't understand why you are attempting to make this so difficult."

Zoya tenses up, "You assume I want to return. I told you before, and I will tell you again, stop dwelling on what was. I have grown past it, but you are a parasite, clinging in a desperate hope to gain what little left is there."

Khore looks at me, looks back at Zoya, pauses, snarls something I can't quite hear and leaves. Using his departure as an excuse, several other sangheili milling around in the room follow suit. Khore, however, waits just outside the chapel, waiting for Zoya to leave.

Zoya watches them leave, once they are out of the local vicinity she turns her sight to me, "Uh, hi," I say as Zoya gazes at me.

"I do not appreciate you listening in to my conversation," she says.

"Oh," I pause for a moment unsure of how to respond, "My apologies."

She stops, quietly chuckles to herself, seeming to find something amusing in what I just said. Just as I'm questioning if I forgot some very obvious tradition Zoya says, "You still owe me a spar," her tone just a tad lighter.

"So that's what you wanna chat about?" I ask, "I thought you were using me as some excuse to not talk with your friend over there."

"I am. Now allow me to validate my reasoning for not training with my fellow rangers."

"Do you really hate being a ranger that much?"

She tilts her head side-to-side in thought, "I don't hate the profession, I just think everyone I associate with to be unbearable invalids," Zoya drums three of her fingers on her thigh, "Regardless I want to remind you, again, of the spar you assured."

"You really seem to care a lot about this random spar."

"I want to see if you earned your survival or if it was a mere stroke of luck."

I frown as I realize what she is talking about, "is this some personal vendetta thing? Because I survived when Yr died?"

"No, I simply liked and respected Yr, more than most of the imbeciles I deal with. He seemed to respect you and I want to see if it's earned," Zoya says. As bored as she normally sounds, there's an almost amused tone fading in and out, dancing on the cadence of her voice.

"So," I surmise, confused more than anything else, "What I'm getting from you is that all your interest in me boils down to this spar you want. Is that correct?"

"That's a lot more than I give most people..." almost on queue, another ranger walks by and Zoya locks visors with him and she pointedly makes a move of ignoring him. She looks back to me and continues as if nothing happened, "and if you genuinely were apathetic to me then you would have left the conversation."

"No," I sarcastically retort, "I'm just here because I have my own friends I'm trying to ignore so I'm talking to you to waste time."

She continues, completely ignoring what I said, "Regardless I want to test your skill against mine before we part ways."

That last bit sticks with me for a bit. 'Before we part ways'. Reminds me that my squad basically got destroyed for all intents and purposes. When I get reassigned, even if I'm on the same ship, there's a fair chance that I won't see most people I've met again.

"Hey," I start, "on a completely random note. Why did you choose to become a ranger?"

She crosses her arms. Before she can say anything I speak up, "if I agree to do this spar with you. Will you tell me why?"

Her arms stay crossed but her amused tone betrays her serious demeanor, "Agreed. But I must ask first, why?"

"Passing curiosity."

The way she slowly sighs and shifts shows her dissatisfaction with my answer, but nevertheless she responds, "So as to why I chose to be a ranger," she pauses and tilts her head up in thought, "It is where I would be respected more than anywhere else. As a ranger skill is paramount. Incompetency will drive you to an early death here more than anywhere else. So as long as I continue to excel in it, the fools I work with will have to respect me."

Zoya tilts her head back down and levels her visor to my eyes, "Why? Do you intend to become a ranger?"

"Probably not," I admit, "I don't like the idea of dying in space."

"Regardless it is on a volunteer basis," Zoya says, "Provided you are fit to do so, more of our type is always welcome."

"Is that an invitation?"

"It is a statement," Zoya corrects, "You are welcome to attempt to prove my expectations wrong."

Zoya peeks over her shoulder, Khore, her ranger friend who was waiting nearby, is gone. She acknowledges this by saying to me, "I'm curious where you will go from here. Can you make a name for yourself before you are drowned?"

She starts walking away, turning back around just as she reaches earshot, "I await the answer, and our spar."

I give a semi-sarcastic wave of a hand and shout back, "Thanks for the chat!"

She stomps her way away, leaving me in the same room with a quickly dwindling number of sangheili.

In a short amount of time I find myself with only two other people in the room. One of them a san'shyuum caretaker, and the other a sangheili major I don't recognize. With most of the personnel gone I walk up to the altar, intending to give my own thanks to Yr before leaving. As I make my way up the sangheili spares a glance, following me with his eyes as I give my thanks under my breath.

I do my best to ignore his close watch, but as I turn to leave, something I did must have set him off as he steps in my way, preventing my immediate leave. I turn to face him, giving him a mixed confused glance and glare at the same time, unsure of what he wants with me.

"Vol, am I correct?" he speaks. His voice is low and non combative, relieving my mind of the idea that he is upset.

I nod, "Yes, but I'm afraid I don't recognize you."

He slowly shakes his head, "We never got the chance to become acquaintances. Yr told me of you, however."

He steps out of my way, letting me leave if wanted, and stares at the memorial of Yr, "It is a shame. He was a good friend."

"That he was," the sangheili claps his mandibles together in agreement, "But despite the circumstance, I am not conversing with you out of loss."

The sangheili reaches behind his back. I now notice a vaguely curved shaped lump attached to his back. He fishes it out and holds it in front of me; it takes me a good moment to recognize it. It's the same instrument that Yr played, when I first boarded the Illuminate Elegy.

The sangheili continues, "I have no use for it. I think it best if you keep hold of it."

I slowly shake my head, "Thanks, but I can't play it."

"Neither can I," he replies, "but I would find it disrespectful if I would keep it. We were brothers in arms, but I cannot, in good faith, call Yr a close friend. I would imagine he would rather you hold onto it than I."

"Can't we just give it back to his clan?" I ask, "I feel bad holding onto it especially if I don't know how to use it."

The sangheili gives a grim smile, "That's the point. There is no one else close to him that would keep it. His clan ostracized him for owning it in the first place. To them it is dishonorable. Try as he did, he was never able to right that wrong."

Before I can object he gently shoves it into my hands, taking a step back to prevent me from returning it, "Get rid of it if you want, I do not care," he continues, "But as it stands, I would rather you make the decision than me."

I slowly inhale, trying to keep myself from getting upset at this random sangheili. "Very well," I agree, "I see that you aren't going to let me argue. I'll keep it, and, uh, thanks."

He nods in responds, "With pleasure. May your hand be swift, and your strikes deadly."

And with that, as quickly as the conversation has started, he ends it, leaving the room and me by myself. The instrument sits in my hands, uncomfortable and vaguely alien. I can't get rid of it, unless I am a heartless bastard, but at the same time I don't really have a use for it.

For the time being I'll keep it anyways, maybe I'll find a use for it later. But for now it can sit with the golden flask I got with Blue Sky as mementos.

"Vol!" A voice demands from next to me, "wake up!"

I sit up and run my hands over my face. I have a splitting headache that threatens to cleave my head in two. I look at the person who woke me up.

"Oh, Zoya," I say, closing my eyes in hope that I can fall back asleep for a moment, "what's going on?"

"Are you awake?" she asks.

I once again cover my eyes with a hand, and press my fingers to the side of my temple as if that could squeeze out the pain of the headache, "as much as I'll be," I respond.

"Good, I was told to get you," she states.

Suddenly I'm more awake than I was a moment ago. I look at her and ask, "wait by who? What time is it?"

"It's late in the day cycle, and I'm not sure who asked. An automated message was sent, but you were deep in slumber."

"Then why'd they send you to wake me up?" I ask, "I thought you would be asleep."

"Sleep accomplishes nothing. I was awake, I know you, hence they sent me to get you," she simply replies.

I get up from my cot and stretch a bit, standing up next to Zoya. She has her helmet off, and for the first time I can actually see her face. Scars litter her entire head, with a single large one going over her left eye, with it almost swollen shut. It looks old, but not old enough to have healed properly. Maybe it never will.

There's an odd dichotomy to her, resplendent youth crossed with wartorn scars. In a way, with how much damage her body has sustained it's a miracle she is still even alive.

"You were awake training with your friends of yours?" I absentmindedly ask as I stretch my sore body.

"They are not my friends, and I wasn't training with them," she declares. She watches me slowly wake up with displeasure, "How long is this going to take?"

I look at her and give a half-smile, "I'm awake," I placate, "Where do I need to go?"

"An office situated near the front of the ship," she says, "I'll show you the way."

I give her a side-long glance, "I'm assuming because you enjoy my sparking conversation?"

"No, because it's close by to the gym I was training in."

"Thanks for the compliment," I sardonically drone.

She starts walking out of the room, "Let's go. I don't intend to wait another cycle."

I jog up to her, she's slightly taller than me so I have to walk at just an uncomfortable pace to keep up with her long strides. "If you don't mind me asking," I start, "Do you even like being a ranger?"

"Why?" she returns, "What is with this sudden interest in being a ranger?"

"What else would you rather talk about?"

"Nothing, preferably."

"And here I am thinking we had something special."

She walks up to a tetrahedral door, it opens just enough for her to avoid hitting her head, "Let me put it this way, I don't dislike only my coworkers, I dislike everyone," she says stressing the last word with a hiss.

My thoughts pause at the callousness she describes everyone, I hesitantly ask, "Does that include me?"

She turns around just enough to get a side glance at me, "not yet."

"I guess I should feel honored," I sarcastically retort.

She acknowledges my point with a near silent huff. I follow from just next to her as she navigates the twisting passages with ease. We pass by a small squad of jackals who steps out of the way as Zoya storms her way through.

We pass through another hallway, and another door. Zoya seems comfortable in the silence while I feel it wearing away at me.

"What's your plans from here?" I ask, breaking the heavy silence.

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Asking questions. What exactly do you want from me?" she pushes.

"I don't want anything," I explain, "I'm just curious."

"Cute," Zoya replies, under the uninterested tone of her voice hides frustration and annoyance, "but I'm not interested."

"You're the one that came to me," I placatingly reply, "I'm not talking with you because I want to be mates with you."

The slight tilt of her head combined with a barely audible grunt indicates she heard my statement, but beyond that she doesn't respond to me at all.

Along the hallway we are walking is another curved trapezoidal doorway. This one is marginally more ornate than the other doors with an ocean blue metal arching over the doorway and decorative linings of a silver metal dotting the doorway.

Zoya stops at the side of the door and turns to me. "Go in there," she jerks her elbow in the direction of the door. By the tone in her voice she seems done with any conversation I would have.

But as I walk up to the doorway Zoya grabs my arm. Her grip is uncomfortably tight but just a shade below actually being a threat. She stares at me, visor angled downwards and body deathly still, "I care not what you want," she whispers, her voice almost blending into the background noise of the ship, "so whatever you want from me better be in our shared interests, or else I will end you."

Before I get a chance to reply, or even fully digest what she said. Zoya is walking down the hallway, long strides and turned back indicating that she is done with the conversation.

I sigh, run my hands over my face and groan internally. Sometimes I wish things were just easy, I suppose it would make things uninteresting, but at the very minimum not everything would be a pain in the ass.

I walk into the room. There's a san'shyuum sitting on an anti-gravity chair in the middle of the room, surrounded by a table with an assorted medley of foods, a terminal mounted on another table, and long liquid-like robes that cover himself. The room itself has screens all along the dome shaped, showing a view of the stars around, giving the impression that we are on the edge of the ship. A departure from the sleek yet militaristic design of the rest of the warship.

The San'Shyuum waves me over gently with a single hand, "greetings," he says warmly, as if we are old friends, "My name is Elkh Prasa, I work as a liaison between the shipmaster aboard the Illuminite Elegy and the Ministry of Discovery."

I give him a curt nod, "It's a pleasure, sir."

He lets out a warm laugh, "Skip the decorum. I'm not but a servant of the gods, to assume otherwise would be folly" he leans back in his chair, letting the cushion wrap around him, "Would I be correct in saying your name is Vol' Zotanee?" he asks.

"Yes, s-" I respond, cutting out the last bit.

"And would I also be correct in saying you were there to discover the holy ruins with your squad leader Yr' Mdazumee?"

I realize where this is going, "Yes, you would be correct," I reply.

He nods and taps away at the terminal next to him. It takes me a moment to realize he's recording the information that I'm saying.

He looks back to me, "May I be the first to say, how blessed you must be to be given the opportunity to be the one to discover holy ruins. Many devote their life to that goal, only to be led short."

"With all due respect," I reply, "it wasn't me, it was my squad leader, Yr."

"Of course," he says, "And I would like to formally offer my condolences. I hear he was a devout adherent and honorable warrior, his keep will be pleased to hear of his journey. I only wish that he would have been given the chance for his skills to flourish."

This guy talks a lot. "Thanks, he was a good friend."

"You were close enough to call him a friend?" Elkh casually asks.

"I would like to think so. Why do you ask?"

Elkh lets out a small grimace from the corner of his mouth, "He had a history of glory-seeking, to put it bluntly. Whether or not it is justified is of little use now. However it cannot be denied that Yr was prone to seeking out danger at the possible expense of the people around him."

"But he let himself die to save me," I protest.

"And in turn earned more honor than he would ever have otherwise," Elkh says, "but I didn't mean to offend you. I still defend my statement that he was a capable warrior. Albeit one with faults, that his squadmates often suffered for."

"What do you want with me?" I bluntly ask, done with whatever small talk he wants to have.

Elkh looks slightly taken aback. He quickly recovers, straightens his robes with a flick of his hands, and leans forwards, "Yr, he is a martyr for our cause, emblematic of the virtues we adhere to in the Covenant. He had faults, but that is of no matter anymore. I want the people to know of his sacrifice, know of what he did."

"You want to make him an icon," I surmise.

He looks me in the eyes and nods slowly, "Yes. A beacon for those lost in the path."

I take in a deep breath, I would like the idea of Yr being respected in his death, but there's something about this I just don't like, "So why am I here then?"

"You were the only person there to witness what happened," he says, "And not only that but you were his squadmate. Your words as both carries weight. I want your support in this endeavor."

My mandibles flutter, ideally this would be good. But there's a nihilistic negativity I hold about this idea. I don't like the idea of encouraging even more to join the war against the humans, I lean back and purse my mandibles, "Are you asking me, or are you ordering me?"

His eyes widen momentarily and he lets out a shrill laugh, both playful and amused, "Ah, a bit of both. But, we don't need to be enemies here Vol, I'm not asking you to fight, just remember someone you lost. I'm asking you to honor your friend, not defame his grave."

"So what do I get out of it?"

He eyes me, slowly drawing his gaze across my face with the practiced deftness of an artist, "A place among others in the Great Journey. Recognition by our gods and the knowledge that you did good for the Covenant," he watches my reactions closely, or rather the lack thereof.

I hold my breath and stare back at him, after a moment thick with deliElkhtion he continues, "Or, given your exploits I'm sure a reward is in order. If you are to help me I'm sure I can find a reward suitable for your sacrifice."

I do my best to keep my voice monotone, "What kind of reward?"

His voice lowers, "I pray you understand that my options are limited. But most requests, provided they aren't too egregious should be easily accomplished."

I clench my mandibles, the next words out of my mouth are not as sure as I would want them to be, "I want a promotion."

Elkh leans back in his anti-gravity chair and crosses his hands on his lap in a relaxed motion, "Ah. That can be done. I must ask though, most of your brethren tend to want to earn ranks via skill and honor, your deviance intrigues me, is there any particular reason?"

I assume the persona he wants me to be, "Am I not good enough? I seek to bring honor to my name, is that not a good reason?"

"Promotions tend to happen without the request of the promotee, given your circumstance I can see your position, but out right demanding one is unusual, not that it cannot be done," he yawns, seemingly relaxed and unfocused, "I just would have thought recognition within our sect would have been satisfactory."

I go to answer but hold my breath, I don't quite like how much he is asking, "can it be done or not?"

He nods placatingly, "It can. Pardon my query, I was just merely curious. But in order for that to be done, I need more from you…"

"Like what?"

"What happened that accursed night?" he asks, tapping on the terminal once again, "I read your report, but I would appreciate more information."

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me the story of your squad leader's death, with as much detail as you are willing to give. I need to know the full story before I can do anything else.."

"Well," I start, thinking of how much to reveal, "there was a group of humans. They attacked the ruins and had desecrated the remains. Yr and I went to stop them-"

"How did you know of their location?" Elkh asks, typing on the terminal as I talk.

I hesitate for a moment, something Elkh seems to notice as he eyes me from the corner of his vision, "We trailed them as they left their bunker."

"Wouldn't it have been prudent to ask for reinforcements?"

"You said it yourself, Yr sought too much glory for his own good."

Elkh nods and records what I said, "Very well, once you went to defend the holy monument from those blasphemous infidels, what happened? Was the fight short? If you don't mind me asking, how did Yr die?"

"We... the humans had stripped the forerunners of their weapons, they used it on us. Yr sacrificed himself so save me," I stop but quickly add on, "I made sure his death wasn't in vain."

My reply is short, sweet and gives out precious little information. Elkh seems slightly annoyed by this, his gaze lingering on me expectantly as I finish, waiting for more details. Once he realizes I'm not sharing any more he doesn't say anything and types down additional notes on his terminal.

"Ah, honorable in death as he was in life. His house will be proud. What happened afterwards?"

"I left," I say, keeping my face as expressionless as possible, "There was nothing there left for me."

"Nothing else happened?" he prods.

I eye him closely, "Why do you ask?"

He doesn't answer for a moment before continuing, "A pyre was found near the holy moment. Desiccated human remains were found within, as well as a destroyed energy sword. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that?" He makes a very obvious tilt of his head, his gaze directed at my waist where my energy sword once was.

My mind reels but I do my best to keep a calm exterior, I flare my mandibles in an amused shrug and reply, "I have no control over what the humans do with their dead."

He watches my response under a gaze that betrays his relaxed demeanor, after a second of unmoving deliElkhtion he responds, "Very well," he types down another note on his terminal, "That is good enough for now. I thank you for your assistance, and I'll get your request in order."

Elkh eyes me closely, watching my reaction for a moment, "However, you ask a lot of me though. I expect your assistance shall I need it."

I don't answer, seeing if he wants me to say something, he looks at me expectantly and I respond, "Should you need my help, I will do what I can."

Elkh lets out a wide smile and leans forward in his chair, "Then it has been a pleasure! I thank you for your assistance and I shall see your requests done in haste. I pray that the gods watch over you and your place in the Great Journey be ensured."

I nod in thanks and reply with a simple, "Thanks."

I go to leave the room, turning around as the door opens to get one last look at Elkh before I leave. He stares directly into my eyes, focused with an attention not given easily.

Maybe I'll try to go back to sleep.

"So what do you plan to do now?" I ask Bahad.

He lets out a small shrug, "Now that we're back I'm headin' out to the unggoy section of High Charity. Have some stuff I need to get done."

"Have some family there?"

"No, got some work."

"I see."

In the Covenant there is no shore leave. The martial nature of the sangheili made sure of that. Culturally the sangheili would never stop fighting, as to them breaks are wasted time. Yet biology dictates differently. A warrior is no good if their body and mind is broken, hence unofficial shore leave where you are supposed to be 'practicing'.

"What are you doing, if you don't mind sharing?"

"Why, you thinkin' of joinin' me?"

"I'm curious."

"Just doin' manual labor to help the forges."

A sangheili major brushes past us. He turns his head, stares at Bahad and I talking, snarls and walks away. I shoot him back a glare despite the fact he doesn't see it. Bahad just ignores the remark.

"What're you doin'," Bahad now asks in turn, "Can't possibly be more boring than what I'm doin'."

"Have a friend in High Charity. Last I heard he was actually working in the forges actually. I'm most likely going to pay him a visit."

"And afterwards?"

"Good question. Have a lot of things going on that will probably keep me busy."

We walk through another doorway in the maze shaped hallways of High Charity. The room in front of us dips down with a large ramp leading to another doorway a level below.

"Heard you got promoted, congrats," Bahad says, his voice completely emotionless.

"Yeah well, lucky me. Now I get to die in red."

"You don't want it?"

"I do, but just not for the reasons you think."

"And I'm guessin' you're not gonna share the reasons?"

"Yeah, not yet."

"Hmm," Bahad hums in affirmation. We reach the doorway at the bottom of the ramp, I stride through with Bahad a pace behind me. There's a group of unggoy moving weapons, they shoot us a glance and go back to their work, sparing an occasional peek at us and what we are doing.

Bahad turns and looks at me mid-step, "As much as you seem to hate fightin' you run right towards it."

"Uh, thanks?" I rub the back of my neck, "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to reply to that."

"It's just what I noticed. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that you want to be spec-ops as well," Bahad says, "Or, I dunno, a ranger."

"You're the one that enjoys using explosives though," I change the topic, "Can't say it's much safer."

"I challenge anyone who I'm fightin' to kill me when they are ribbons. All I have to do is not be a dumbass and avoid blowin' myself up."

We pass through another door leading to the forges. It towers above us with many menials making their way through the passageways on their own duty.

"I'll talk to you later Vol, enjoy talkin' with your friend," Bahad walks away as he says that, joining the veritable sea of unggoy workers.

I step into the main entrance. Compared to the rest of the forge it's rather cramped, with a mixture of san'shyuum and sangheili personnel making their way in and out of the forges for some reason or another. Deep within the forge itself I can feel the faint electrical vibration of it running non-stop, helping fuel this war that has just started.

The front desk itself has a couple san'shyuum servants working behind a large desk. Their gravity chairs are as close as the space will allow them, allowing the chairs to work together to keep them afloat together.

As I step up to the desk, the closest one, a younger san'shyuum with a rich mahogany brown smooth skin, spares me a glance and asks, "What is your business?"

"I'm meeting with Kurc Jreskhal. He is supposed to be working here," I say.

The san'shyuum stares at me impassively, "I don't have a meeting registered for this time. Are you sure you got the correct date?"

He thinks I have some sort of business or professional meeting with Kurc, "Just tell him I'm here. That should be enough."

The clerk responds with a sigh and taps away at his terminal, "what do you want me to tell him?"

"Just tell him that Vol is here," I respond.

"That's it?"

"Yes," I nod.

He turns his gaze down to the terminal and taps away for a moment. A notification pops up with a quiet chime and the clerk says, "your request is sent. It may take some time for it to process, you may want to leave and return-"

Another chime. He stops mid-sentence and reads it, "nevermind. Your meeting has been approved. You shall find Kurc Jreskhal in his office. Down the hall, past intake, head into offices and second door on your left."

"Down there, into offices, second door, got it, thanks," I say stepping away. I give a small wave of thanks, but at this point he is already looking at the terminal probably processing some other request.

I follow the steps and find myself at a door virtually indistinguishable from the other offices around it. The door itself is unlocked, and unsure if I'm supposed to knock or not, I just step in. There's a table in the middle with a holographic screen positioned behind it. The table itself is surprisingly sparse with only a couple trinkets and tools sitting on the desk, while the rest of the room looks like it hasn't been used for a while.

Beyond the desk, in a normal chair is Kurc. He looks up from his desk and lets out a large playful grin, "Vol, thank the gods you're back!"

"Uh," I smile back awkwardly, unsure of why he is so excited, "glad to be of assistance."

"Well, you gave me an excuse to not work," Kurc explains, "while giving me time to catch up with you, so it's a win-win for me."

"Speaking of. What happened, when I left you were still working in the same shop in the back corner of High Charity," I make my way up to the desk and lean on it as I ask the question.

The same plasma pistol energy core necklace I gave him is on his desk, he absentmindedly grabs it and taps it on the desk as he talks, "Well I would be, but the war has really kicked production into overdrive. Had an old friend contact me and offer me a spot."

"And you just accepted it, just like that?"

"Truth be told, I was getting tired of running the shame little shop. I was due for a career change, and this happened to present itself. Not to mention the pay is really good," Kurc sits up in his chair, and straightens himself, "But enough about me. I doubt you came here to talk about production statistics, what have you been up to? Gimme the juicy details."

"Well," I mentally recap what happened since I last talked to him, my entire escapade with the Covenant and Yr, "it's kind of a long story. It's interesting though, I hope."

I recall the entire story to Kurc who sits and listens to the entire thing. At first anxiety makes it difficult to talk, but being able to talk about it makes it a bit easier. Once I'm finally done silence reigns throughout the room for a good moment before Kurc says, "sorry to hear about that friend of yours. I'm glad to see you in one piece though."

"Thanks, I'm doing as well as I can be. Haven't completely lost my sanity so that's always a plus."

The door to the office opens behind me. I stop leaning on the desk and twist around to see who is there. An unggoy menial worker, stained with a bunch of different oily substances stands at the doorway, seemingly unsure of if he should do anything.

"What do you want?" Kurc demands, "spit it out."

"Sir, one of the assembly vats is not working. We are trying to fix it, but we don't know why it's not working," the unggoy informs, wringing his hands together while doing so.

Kurc sits up in his chair, suddenly a lot more professional than he was a moment ago, "shut it down and let the huragok do their thing. If they are unable to fix it within half-a-cycle let me know."

"But-"

"If there are any complaints, send em' to me. Otherwise, stop wasting my time and get back to work. You may leave," the tone in Kurc's voice lets the unggoy know the conversation is done with. Luckily the unggoy picks it up, bows and leaves the room.

Kurc sighs, and rubs his forehand with his free hand, "where were we? Have you made any friends? Anyone you're interested in?"

"Well, besides Yr, you have Bahad, he's the same unggoy heavy I told you about. We seem to get along rather well," I pause for a moment, drum my fingers on his table and continue, "and uh, I guess there's also Zoya. I briefly mentioned her, she's the ranger. And no, I'm not trying to bed her."

"She's that ugly?"

"No," I sigh, "first off, that's rude. Second, we're barely acquaintances. She seems to dislike me for some reason and I'm not quite sure why."

"Do you think she's just playing hard to get?"

"Again! I'm not trying to start a relationship. And no, she is definitely not playing hard to get."

"Ah, I see," Kurc leans back in his chair again as a mischievous smile creeps on his face, "You just like a woman who takes control."

"Stop, before I drag your lazy ass to an airlock and eject you."

I do my best to appear intimidating, but Kurc just laughs it off and says, "Ah, I'm just giving you shit kid. Glad to hear you're making friends, keep em' close. You'll never know how good you have it until it's gone."

"Yeah, I know," unfortunately that's something I can relate to a bit too intimately. It has been far easier to distance myself from those around me. Maybe I should work on changing that

"You doing alright kid?" the question comes out of nowhere. I focus my gaze on Kurc and can see the worry etched into his aging face.

"I'm fine, don't worry," I don't know if that's the truth or not.

"Good to hear, if you ever need to chat, I'll do my best to listen," Kurc grips the battery charm in his hand. He slowly unclenches his hand and continues, "anything else you wanna talk about?"

I do my best to mentally distance myself from my previous thoughts and reply, "Uh, not that much. Well, actually I may become a major soon, but, uh, that may or may not have been me leveraging a situation in my favor."

"Besides that, uh," my hand brushes to my waist where my energy sword used to be, "I lost my energy sword. But, I can do just fine without it."

"Wait, hold up," Kurc twists his head so he can see the now empty spot where my energy sword was, "Why didn't you just tell me? I'm literally helping manage an assembly, I'm sure I can allocate some resources to get you a new energy sword."

"Well," how can I share this with him, "Truth be told, I don't really want another energy sword. I dunno," I rub the back of my neck through my armor, "I want to make my own weapon, if I'm going to make one at all. Not have one be handed to me."

Kurc shrugs, "well if you ever choose what you want, just lemme know. My offer still stands, unless you request an assault carrier or something."

"Now that's a good idea, I expect mine to be finished by the next cycle."

"Get to a rank where I can and I'll be happy to do so, until then the most I can make you without drawing eyes is probably a dingy."

The door opens again. The same unggoy, this time a bit more nervous, "Uh sir. We need your help."

Kurc straightens up and levels a dangerous glare at the unggoy, "Didn't I already give you orders?"

"Well, yes, but..." the unggoy swallows and regains his composure, "They need authorization from you to turn off the forge."

"I gave you my authorization."

"They need it from you in person," the unggoy shrinks as he says this, "They didn't believe me when I said you gave me permission."

Kurc presses his palm into his forehead and groans, "Wait outside," he tells the unggoy, "I'll be there in a moment."

The unggoy lets out a sigh of relief and steps out the door. Kurc turns to me, "If you ever decide fighting just isn't your thing. Would love your help, you can't be worse than the dimwitted morons I deal with on a daily basis."

He stands up, wobbling for a second as he gains his balance, "Looks like duty calls, I'm off to the frontlines again. Be sure to keep in contact, if you need anything I'm here. Anything else you wanna talk about before we split up?"

"No," I respond.

I clench my teeth, "well yes, actually. Can I ask you a random question?"

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

I take in a deep breath and try to compose my thoughts, "if you have a goal in life, do you think it is better to run straight towards it, at the possible expense of yourself and the people around you, or is it better to work towards it at a reasonable pace, yet unsure if you are ever going to accomplish it?"

"Well, uh," Kurc stammers, "wasn't expecting that. Well first off, I think any situation is more complicated than that. I don't know what situation you are in, and why are you asking this, so all I can offer is my personal, limited advice."

He pauses for a second, "but, if I would have to choose one of the two, I would go with the latter. Working towards a goal is nice, but you never know what could happen. Enjoy life while you have it, because one day it will be different and you'll look back and miss what you had."

"But," he smiles, with sudden energy bouncing back into his voice, "I'd like to think I have a large portion of my life left, and there's still a lot to do. So, do what you want, do what makes you happy."

His terminal chimes from his desk and he scours at it, "Sorry for being rude, but I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, and register you as an advisor so you don't have to go through bureaucratic nonsense every time you wanna visit."

He leaves the room, not even checking if I'm following him, leaving me in my thoughts for a moment. My armor chimes, letting me know I got a notification.

With little else to do I open it up. It's from Elkh.

Greetings Vol,

Your presence has been requested. It is in your best interest to be expedient. Make sure you are presentable as we are meeting with the shipmaster of the Illuminate Elegy. Attached below is the location. I will see you in due haste.

First Accessory Liaison Elkh Prasa of the Ministry of Discovery
By Order of the Shipmaster of the Illuminate Elegy

I check the location. It's a hallway near the bridge of the Illuminate Elegy. A part of the ship I have never been to before, and didn't really expect to go to.

Well at least things are interesting.

Elkh is standing, anti-gravity belt shining on his waist, next to the door as I arrive. His welcoming smile betrays what he says, "You're late."

"I came as fast as I could," I return, "There's little I could do about it."

Elkh waves his hand in a dismissive manner, "Well it is of no use dwelling on it."

"Care to tell why I am needed?"

"Follow me," he says, opening the door and stepping into the hallway, as he walks he turns back to me and continues, "We are setting off soon. Preparations are being made of what to do next."

"I see, but what is my role in this?"

Elkh shoots me a mischievous smile, "You asked to be a major did you not? Surely you were aware of the responsibilities accompanying your request?" Elkh shakes his head, moving onto another point, "Nevertheless we are following the escaped humans from Blue Sky. The shipmaster found it prudent to include you in conversations considering your involvement groundside."

"I'm honored," I sarcastically reply, hoping that Elkh doesn't pick up on it. We round a corner and reach another door, this one far more barricaded and ornate than every other door I have seen on board.

"Shush," Elkh says with a wave of a hand, "I expect that you will give the proper respect, watch your tongue, and don't speak unless spoken to."

Elkh steps up to the door with me right behind him, it takes a second for the door to open, most likely verifying our biometrics. He steps into the room with me right behind him.

This room is the largest I have seen on the ship, and I have to take a good second to take it all in. It's ovoid shaped with screens and terminals dotting the entire thing. In a ring around the room are 4 pillars feeding into the structural integrity of the room while having terminals of their own feeding info to sangheili who work on the bridge.

Despite most of the crew not being onboard there is still bustling activity as many go between terminals or absentmindedly type into a screen in front of them.

In the exact middle of the room is a starmap with numerous high ranking sangheili standing around it examining it. With my little knowledge of starcharts I think it is showing the star cluster around Blue Sky.

Closest to the starchart, wearing far more ornate armor than I have ever seen is the shipmaster. As Elkh and I walk up to the gathered crowd he turns around, scanning both of us.

His eyes drift from Elkh to me, slowly drawing his gaze over me and seemingly examining my every being. I keep my gaze just below his, making sure not to make eyesight. He has a martial rigidity famous of an accomplished sangheili combined with the brutal air of authority expected of a shipmaster.

He speaks, his voice low yet still demanding the attention of everyone around him, "you are the one who discovered the ruins, correct?"

I nod, "yes shipmaster."

"Hmph," he grunts, clacking his mandibles and turning away. Try as I might I cannot tell his emotions. I always found sangheili mannerisms painfully expressionless, and little gets through the veneer of a politically competent shipmaster.

He steps in the middle of the rough circle formed by those attending. He twirls in place verifying that he is the center of attention before starting, "As many of you know we are setting off soon in pursuit of the humans that evaded our grasp. We have crossed referenced the coordinates the escaped humans jumped to and we have found a habitable planet in the system where we expect humans to be infesting."

The starchart in the middle shifts and focuses on a star close by. Data trickles in the hologram as a rough approximation of what the system looks like is formed. A large class M star sits in the middle of the system, nearing the end of its natural life cycle yet still millions of years away. 4 rocky planets sit orbiting the star with a thick asteroid field sitting right between the second and third planet.

"Due to the ever crushing entropy of time it has been deemed that we shall give the humans no escape," the shipmaster continues, he gestures to the second planet in the system, and the hologram zooms in, "If it expected that this planet is the one that is occupied, and most likely preparing defenses for our imminent invasion."

The hologram zooms back out, showing the planet in close proximity to the asteroid field, "While I expect little more than pitiful resistance from the humans it should be known that due to the close proximity to the asteroid field some of our technological advantages could be negated, especially with the dishonorable tactics of those we hunt."

The image zooms out to the full system once again, "Due to that, as well as the unknown forces we shall be facing it has been decided that we shall receive two supporting frigates: the Horizon Focus and the Lament for the Scorned Martyr." The image once again shifts, showing the detailed outline of the Illuminate Elegy and the two mentioned ships on the edge of the system.

The shipmaster scans the surrounding sangheili with his eyes once more, "As such I pray for a unmarred mission, and in doing so," he points to an ultra standing close behind him, "You shall be transferred for the time being to the Horizon Focus to work with their shipmaster and ensure effective communication" he points to another ultra next to the first," And you to Lament for the Scorned Martyr to do the same."

"Understood?" he asks. The two ultras bow and nod in affirmation.

"Good," the shipmaster continues. He then turns to my section of the group and points to me and two other majors standing close to each other, "In addition you three shall receive EVA training and shall work with our contingent of rangers for fleet defense."

This time he doesn't even wait to see if we accept, instead using his authority to demand our compliance. And I can kinda understand that. Rangers have always been an infamously dangerous occupation, while many seek the thrill, just as many are wary of a horrific death in the vacuum of space. In ordering this of us, he is making sure we can't say no.

The shipmaster once again scans the room, locking gaze with each person present for barely a moment. "That is all," he says, "You are all dismissed."

Everyone present slowly files away, the officers going back to the post on the bridge, while the lesser ranking sangheili leaving the bridge to go back to their duties. Following the queue I go to leave, but Elkh grabs my arm, whispering, "Wait a second."

Without any reason to argue I simply nod, and he lets go of my arm. Once the group has departed Elkh walks up to the shipmaster, who turns around at his approach.

"Speak," the shipmaster demands.

Elkh looks up to the shipmaster, and speaks, just loudly enough for the surrounding workers to hear, "If I may voice my lowly opinion. I would advice patience. As heretical as the humans are, they have proven themselves to be resourceful. In spite of our superiority they will grasp every thread of survival that they can."

"What is your point?" while sounding annoyed the shipmaster doesn't immediately dismiss the notion.

"Your lowly servant here," Elkh gestures to me, "As you are aware, was present during the attack at the ancient temple. He experienced the depths of depravity they would go to survive and lost an honorable comrade in the process."

The shipmaster turns to once again inspect me, mandibles clasped tightly to his face, speaking in a low gravelly voice, "what is your opinion in this?"

Elkh subtly bumps his arm into mine, doing what he can to remind me of proper manners. I steel my resolve and speak, "Revered shipmaster, Elkh is correct. The humans are fighting for their very existence, I would exercise caution. In this situation there is little they wouldn't do if it were to give them the upper hand."

There's little else I can really say in the situation. The best I could do is give the answer they want and pray it's good enough. That combined with the fact that delaying our attack might just give the humans the time they need to escape makes it easy to respond appropriately.

The shipmaster's eyes linger on me for a moment after I finish, face as expressionless as ever. "Noted, you two are dismissed," he eventually says.

Elkh tugs on my arm we leave the room.

"You could have told me before you put me on the spot," I grunt to Elkh.

Elkh pats me on the back, "Yet you did fine. If you are to request a promotion, like I said, you need the tools to navigate the political landscape. It seems you are apt to do so."

"Fine, is this all you want to talk about?"

"Yes, but there is more information I think you would find useful to have," Elkh speaks, stepping out of the way as a sangheili steps out of the bridge and past us, "your father is stationed on the Horizon Focus."

Ah. So things just have to get more and more complicated doesn't it.

Happy MLK day!

This chapter took a while, didn't it? Writer's block sucks a lot. That and the fact I've been playing a lot of Cyberpunk, League and FFXIV.

So… about this chapter. This is probably the third time draft of the chapter I've written. I'm not talking about minor edits, I'm talking about completely different drafts because the first 2 I hated. I know part of being a writer is hating what you write, but this chapter will be the black sheep of chapters for a while in my eyes because how much I hated writing it. This chapter is ultimately uninteresting, but I did my best.

Anyways, thank you for everyone who reviewed last chapter. For it being a chapter I was extremely unsure about I got a lot of positive feedback and advice, so thank you all. (P.S. do y'all want me to respond to reviews or not?)

Side note, since last chapter we reached 200 followers. Thank you (for a third time) to everybody! To avoid beating a dead horse I'll leave it here, but still express my thanks.

Also, for some reason I listen to a lot of Video Game OST's from other games. I'll start sharing the ones I like. This isn't supposed to be a song you have to listen to as you read the chapter, it's just a song I enjoy. First off: Making Your Way Home - Masatoshi Yanagi (The Evil Within 2)

See y'all next time.