Chapter 30
UNSC Moonlight Sonata
May 6, 2545
2126
Luzader
Luzader passively watched as, on screen, one of the Rangers carefully placed a black strip on the edge of the door.
"Preparing to breach," Captain Rogers reported. "In three, two, one... execute."
The point man pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang, and the door was blown to shreds. Almost immediately, another Ranger leaned around the corner and hurtled a small device into the room.
WHAMP WHAMP WHAMP
Seven flashes could be seen going off inside the room, and a sort of ringing noise filled the speakers.
"Breaching, breaching!" the lead Ranger yelled and entered the room.
Luzader watched as a second Ranger follow closely behind before Rogers and the camera moved in, weapon raised. The screen briefly flashed to compensate for the change in light, but Luzader could see the two Rangers on either side of Rogers, covering the left and right sides of the room, respectively, while Rogers swept the center. The room was empty aside from two Grunts struggling to recover from the flash bangs, but before they could -
PFT PFT PFT
- Rogers and his men gunned them down, riddling them with holes with their suppressed assault rifles.
"Left clear," one of the Rangers declared.
"Right cleared."
"Room secured," Rogers announced, putting his rifle on safe and lowering it so that the muzzle was safely pointed at the ground. "Romanoff, how's the exit?"
"Rear access is secured boss," came the reply. "No movement."
"Copy. Barton, how's the view from up there?"
"No sign of any Covenant QRF."
"Alright, understood. Wodenson, cover our six. The rest of you? You know what to do: SSE. Let's move it."
Luzader placed his hands on his desk and intently watched as the rest of Rogers' team poured into the room and began sweeping the area. There wasn't much to see. This room wasn't anything special: it wasn't any sort of Covenant command center or armory or even a barracks. It wasn't even a Covenant building. It was just a room, inside a simple human civilian building that appeared to have been a sort of souvenir shop in a past life.
But it was because of that simplicity that made it so interesting the Covenant had felt the need to post several guards both outside and inside the room...
Rogers' helmet camera swept towards the back of the room, revealing several human bodies lying on the ground in a neat row. Luzader had been fighting this war too long to be bother by a sight like that any longer, but he could hear Rogers sighing.
"Sonata? Be advised, we have located several bodies inside the room. Human bodies," Rogers reported. "Barnes? Check them and make sure they're not wired to anything."
The team's assigned EOD tech walked up and carefully began checking the bodies. After a few tense moments, he finally stood up.
"They're all secured Captain," he reported.
"Sam."
"Sonata, we have eleven bodies here," the team's medic reported. "I'm seeing both male and female. Victims' ages range from, I'd say seven to about eighty. All victims appeared to have been killed sometime between the hours of -"
Luzader leaned forward and grabbed the microphone from his technician. "Sergeant Wilson, I don't give a shit about the civilians," he snapped, interrupting the medic's report. "Tell me about that soldier on the far left."
Luzader could almost hear Rogers' frown of disapproval from here as Wilson moved over, and it took Luzader just about everything to avoid snapping at the Captain. This was what they were here for. Not the civilians.
The view of the camera shifted to that of the corpse of the soldier Luzader had spotted lying on the ground on the far left.
"Okay, victim is a military aged male, approximately nineteen, twenty years of age," Wilson reported. "Multiple stab wounds across upper and lower torso, as well as the back and the legs. The circular shape of the wounds would indicate he was being stabbed by, I don't know, a spear or even a stick of some kind. Fractured forearms and bruises would indicate he was alive and fighting back when this happened. Death was caused by a single plasma shot to the back of the head."
"So he was tortured and then executed," Rogers summarized.
"Basically, yes," Wilson grimly confirmed, before continuing. "No weapons, armor, or gear, but he is wearing the uniform of the UNSC Army. Checking the division patch..."
Wilson leaned over and turned the body over, revealing a simple subdued insignia on the body's left shoulder depicting a jackalope with the words 'airborne' written over it.
"Shoulder sleeve insignia is that of the 222nd Airborne Division," Wilson announced.
"Check for identification," Luzader ordered.
Rogers reached out to the corpse and began search around the man's neck before fishing out a pair of dog tags. He activated them, revealing a holographic image of the victim.
"Falco, Puck," the hologram read. "Eight niner zero seven six dash niner six seven seven one dash Papa Foxtrot. Religion: Hellenism -"
The hologram continued to read off the dog tag, but Luzader was no longer paying attention. Instead, he glanced at his technician, who was hastily typing the name into the search computer. She looked up and gave Luzader a single nod.
"Confirmed Captain," Luzader immediately announced. "That's one of the men Major Volkov had requisitioned for his airborne detachment. Continue searching the body for more clues. See if you can't figure out where Major Volkov and his men went from there. Report back to me the moment you've found something, over."
"Understood sir. Rogers, out."
The screen blinked off and Luzader plopped down into his seat with a mute grunt, feeling conflicted. On one hand, this corpse was the first sign of Major Volkov and his team ever since the man had dropped off the grid two hours ago. On the other, the corpse wasn't exactly a giant sign indicating where Volkov had gone or what his status was.
Luzader mentally sighed. Damn that man. Why he felt the need to take a ground team in and go searching for the missing Spartans instead of taking the safer option of using indirect, Luzader had no idea. But fact of the matter was, Volkov had gone in, and now they were left without a clue where the Spartans' corpses were, without a clue where Volkov and his men were, and little to no time left to search for any of them.
And speaking of no time...
One of Luzader's men suddenly leaned towards him.
"Sir," he quietly said, "I have Admiral Parangosky on the line for you."
This time Luzader really did sigh. Great, just what he needed.
"Transfer her to my console," he ordered. "And set privacy screens to maximum."
The technician nodded, and Luzader took a second to straighten himself up before nodding. At once an image of Admiral Margaret Parangosky, director of the entire Office of Naval Intelligence, and widely agreed to be one of the most dangerous women in all of the UNSC, appeared on his screen.
"Report," she demanded.
"We found a corpse ma'am," Luzader began, "belonging to one Specialist Puck Falco, whose last known assignment was to 1st Platoon, Quebec Company of the 3rd Brigade, 222nd Airborne Division -"
"Lieutenant Commander," Parangosky said and Luzader immediately shut up.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Commander, I don't care about the losses of the rank and file," Parangosky coolly said. "What I care about are those Spartans. Do you have any future leads to their status?"
Luzader nervously swallowed. "No ma'am," he admitted.
Parangosky did not look happy. "Commander, I don't need to remind you about the considerable value, both strategically and monetary, these Spartans represent, do I?" she asked in a low voice.
Luzader quickly shook his head. "No ma'am."
Parangosky stared at him with a cold look, and Luzader could start to feel sweat forming on the back of his neck. She held his gaze for almost a minute before finally turning away, much to Luzader's relief.
"I want them found, Commander, dead or alive," Paragonsky demanded. "And I want them secured. I don't care if you have to burn the entire city to ash, just. Get. It. DONE."
"Yes ma'am. Of course ma'am. Right away ma'am," Luzader quickly stuttered.
With barely another glance, Paragosky's image disappeared, leaving Luzader sitting there, wondering how on Earth he was going to accomplish this mission.
Realizing nothing would be achieved by him just sitting there, Luzader reached out and switch off the privacy screen.
"Lieutenant!" he called out, and his communications officer looked up.
"Sir?"
"Reconnect me to Captain Rogers and his Rangers. Informed them they need to redouble their efforts - we're running out of time. We either need to find Major Volkov and his men, or Spartan Team Argon."
"And we need to do it now."
XXXXX
Covenant designated Landing Zone: Deliverance
Forerunner Designated World: MS 222-53 a
9th Age of Reclamation
8th Cycle of the Planet's Rotation
Zek
Zek was no one special. In fact, he was a rather all-around average Kig-Yar. A poor Ruuhtian who had been born and raised on the outskirts of Tilu City, one of the largest cities on Eayn, the Kig-Yar homeworld, Zek didn't possess much in terms of looks, riches, or even religious fervor. Which may have seemed odd, given he was a soldier of the Covenant as opposed to a member of one of the pirate crews, but truth of the matter was, Zek had joined the Covenant for one simple reason: to make himself more attractive to any potential mates. That was it.
Sure, he told everyone he believed the humans were heretics. Sure, he told everyone that he believed they deserved to be exterminated from the very face of the galaxy for offended the very Gods with their continual existence. He even occasionally went to the sermons given by the more fanatical members of his kind and cheered along with everyone else when they demanded the Matriarchs do more to support the Covenant in their Crusade to expunge the filth of humanity from the very face of the galaxy. But for him to take an active part in that purging? That, Zek saw little reason in.
Which is why he had joined the Navy, instead of the Army. Zek had no real desire to risk his life for a cause that was not his own. Other members of his kind may have thought him a coward, but Zek had been perfectly content seeing all the fighting from behind several lengths worth of nanolaminate plating.
So how was it, Zek found himself stumbling through the snow and the cold, tightly gripping a Type-51 carbine, wearily and fearfully looking in all directions, hunting for Demons?
"This is no good," Zek muttered to himself. "This is no good."
He hadn't seen any humans, aside from that one the Unggoy had been torturing back at the shrine... museum, but the sound of fighting had been echoing through the streets since the time Zek had set foot here.
"What we do is but for the glory of the High Prophets."
Zek snapped his beak in annoyance in Rezan's direction.
"Yes, you've said as much," Zek grumpily retorted. "Many times, in fact. But now, methinks you are attempting to convince yourself of this, not me."
A guilty look passed over Rezan's face.
"I am merely attempting to assuage you," he began, "that our actions are not for ourselves but - "
"QUIET ON THE LINE!" their new Sangheili commander, whom Zek didn't even know the name of, snapped from the front of the column.
"Why?" Zek defiantly muttered under his breath. "Are we not nearing the base?"
Rezan made a gesture of ignorance, and Zek mentally sighed before falling silent. It wasn't worth attempting to argue.
From the moment they had reached the former firebase at the human museum, Zek and Rezan had been immediately drafted by the Sangheili at the front of the column and despite Zek's protest that they belonged to the Fleet and not the Legions, the Sangheili had demanded both Zek and Rezan join the hunt for the Demons. And so, they had journeyed through much of this city, looking for clues, but finding little in actual results.
Fortunately, the entire patrol had been recalled to another nearby firebase the landing force had established. The reasoning behind their recall was unknown to Zek, but he cared not, only that he would hopefully be able to obtain a break. As well as possibly some food.
Forcing their way through snow banks and mounds of debris, the patrol soon reached the location of the firebase, Firebase Reformation as it was called, or so Zek heard the Sangheili say. The base had been established within the confines of a former human facility. By outward appearances, the facility appeared to have been once a central logistical center for vehicles that traveled on rails.
Zek resisted the urge to snort. How primitive these humans were: they were still utilizing wheeled based vehicles as opposed to anti-gravity ones.
They were approaching the outer edge of the perimeter when someone yelled out in accented Sangheili, "Halt! Stand and be identified!"
Zek's Sangheili commander gestured for the column to stop before stalking forward. "It is I, Evocatus Thon 'Quetshadee! Who dares challenge me?"
There was a mute yelp of surprise, and two Kig-Yar came tumbling out of a nearby building. Zek resisted the urge to sneer when he realized they were both T'vaoans. T'vaoans. Always saw themselves as superior to all other Kig-Yar, but in truth they were about as undisciplined and rabble-like as the Unggoy. Pathetic.
"Many apologies Evocatus 'Quetshadee," the larger of the two T'vaoans began groveling. Based on the configuration of his armor, Zek could tell he was a Major. "For we did not recognize you."
'Quetshadee immediately silenced them with a look.
"You two are the perimeter guards?" he demanded.
The two T'vaoans exchanged a nervous look.
"Yes sire, we are," the Major replied.
"Then you both are very poor guards!" 'Quetshadee snapped. "For why were my forces allowed to approach so closely before being challenged!? And where are the rest of the guards!? There should be a full File protecting this section!"
The T'vaoan Major hurriedly bowed low. "Humble apologies 'Quetshadee. We have but just arrived. For there was a File here, led by one Minor Kitun 'Refumee -"
"Of the House 'Refumee?" 'Quetshadee interrupted. The T'vaoan Major paused.
"I believe so, yes," he started to say when he was interrupted again.
"Bah! I know the young fool!" 'Quetshadee declared. "What of him?"
"There was an explosion. Approximately one sixth of this planet's cycle ago in that direction." The Major pointed roughly in the opposite direction Zek and the rest of the column had come from. "Minor 'Refumee, fearing this was the result of Demon activity, decided to take his File and go investigate -"
"You mean the young fool decided to abandon his post and charge out in the hopes to achieve fame and glory for he and his House, leaving you two fools to protect this base!" 'Quetshadee abruptly interrupted, much to the Major's shock.
"Evocatus 'Quetshadee," the Major began, "I would never presume -"
"Perhaps you don't, but I do!" 'Quetshadee snapped, before sighing. "Ah, the young are always impatient. If he was not but of House 'Refumee, I would punish him harshly for this, but no matter. Young Kitun will merely feel my wrath in other ways."
'Quetshadee suddenly fixed both T'vaoans with a harsh gaze.
"But you two should be grateful to the Gods no human dare violate this perimeter whilst young Kitun was cavorting. For if there had been, your punishment would be far more severe."
"Yes, of course Evocatus 'Quetshadee," the Major stammer. "Many thanks for your mercy."
'Quetshadee snorted in disgust.
"Resume your duties," was all he snapped before marching towards the interior of the base. After a split second hesitation, the column moved to follow him.
The guards moved aside to allow the rest of the soldiers into the base and as Zek walked by, he couldn't help but sneer in disgust at the Major. Neither of the T'vaoans seemed to noticed as they both appeared too shakened by the dress down they had just received and Zek was about to walk past them when -
He hesitated and glanced past the T'vaoan's shoulders. For a moment, he thought he had seen some footprints in the snow behind them, the size and shape of which matched that of a single human that had been walking towards the center of the firebase...
"Zek!" Rezan called out, causing Zek to jump. "Hurry up! I don't wish to be in this cold any longer than is necessary!"
"Yes, I'll be right there!" Zek called back before glancing in the direction he thought the footprints had been, only by then the wind shifted and whatever Zek had seen was forever erased by the snow.
Zek stared at the spot for a moment, before shaking his head. He must have been more tired than he thought: he was staring to see enemies everywhere. Yes, that must have been what it was: a mere figment of his imagination.
He hurriedly chased after Rezan, catching up to him and the rest of the column as they entered a large building located near the center of the base. Looking around, Zek realized the building had been some sort of central storage facility for the rail vehicles, only at this point, all of said vehicles had been removed and replaced by Covenant equipment. Recharging stations, weapon racks, supply crates, and even some food.
The sight of the food automatically made Zek's gizzard grumble, reminding Zek of just how long it had been since his last meal, and he looked around to see if he could obtain permission from Evocatus 'Quetshadee to leave the column. However, 'Quetshadee had already disappeared, presumably to report to his superiors or perhaps obtain a meal of his own. In fact, much of the column Zek and Rezan had been traveling with had already dispersed, and Zek decided to do the same.
"Come on Rezan," Zek said, patting Rezan on the shoulder. "Let's get some food."
"Yes, I could use some sustenance," Rezan agreed.
Walking over to the nearest food crate, Zek looked around. There didn't appear to be anyone monitoring the food, so Zek merely reached out and grabbed a couple of cans, one for himself and Rezan. Moving over to an empty weapon's rack, Zek stuck his carbine inside for safe keeping, before throwing himself on the ground.
"Ah!" he sighed in relief. "That's better."
"You would imagined with the amount of walking we were required to do on the Hammer, we would have been used to this type of exertion," Rezan pointed as he too, plopped down on the ground.
"Artificial gravity versus natural," Zek pointed out. "The planet's pull here is much stronger than it was on the Hammer."
"True," Rezan allowed as he tore open his food and Zek quickly followed suit. Ah, bottarga. Excellent.
As he sat there, stuffing his face, Zek couldn't help but feel extremely relaxed and at first, that didn't make much sense to him. He was, after all, still on an extremely hostile world that contained plenty of angry humans that would more than likely be pleased to kill him. How could he be relaxed at a time like this?
But as he looked around, Zek suddenly realized the answer: surrounded by all sorts of friendly forces, guards, and weapons, for the first time since Zek had been forced to abandon the Hammer, he felt safe. Secured. With this many guards and defenses around, there was no way a human could hope to enter this area. This was perhaps the only place on this planet that Zek was completely safe from harm. And looking at Rezan, Zek realized he wasn't the only who felt that way.
"Lots of guards around," Zek gleefully pointed out between bites.
"Yes," Rezan rapidly agreed. "And have you see their armor configuration?"
In truth, Zek had not as he'd been distracted by other matters, but now that Rezan mentioned it, Zek took a closer look and quickly realized what Rezan meant.
"They're almost all special forces," Rezan said, vocalizing Zek's unspoken realization. "I've never seen so many special forces troopers gathered in one place before."
Looking around, Zek realized Rezan was right. More than half the crowd was sporting some sort of purple or jet black armor on. In fact, aside from Zek and Rezan, there appeared to be very few "regular" soldiers around.
"They must all be hunting for the Demons," Zek speculated out loud. "This must be the central command center for the Demon hunt."
"The High Prophets have dedicated quite a lot of resources in finding these Demons," Rezan noted. "I -"
Whatever Rezan was about to say next, Zek never found out as, at that moment, there was a loud commotion coming from the other side of the building, and looking up, Zek could see a large crowd gathering.
"What is that?" Zek asked. He and Rezan shared a questioning look before the two of them abandoned their food and hurried over.
Over the crowd, Zek could just barely make out a line of people being led down a nearby staircase, but as Zek drew closer, he realized it wasn't just people...
...it was a line of humans. More specifically, a line of human prisoners.
Each of the humans had been stripped of their gear and weapons, making them look rather small and pathetic in comparison to how they normally appeared. Each of them had their hands clasped around the back of their heads as they were led to the ground floor, and nearly forced to intermingle with the ever growing crowd of Covenant soldiers. In the meantime, said crowd was yelling and jeering, and screaming out insults at the humans.
"Look at the worms! Look how they wiggle!" a nearby Ruuhtian was shouting.
"Dead to all the heretics!" an Unggoy standing right beside Zek screamed.
"Let me kill them and serve up their flesh for a meal!" someone else was shouting. "Especially the females; their bodies are especially succulent!"
Someone threw something, which hit one of the humans square in the face, and the crowd let out a loud cry of laughter as the human fell over. The Unggoy Special Operations guards paid no heed, only pausing long enough to drag the human back to its feet, but when a regular Unggoy Minor carrying a stick charged forward to hit one of the humans with, the guards launched into action. Grabbing their fellow Unggoy, they punched and kicked him until he was subdued, before shoving him back into the crowd.
"Get back!" the guard yelled, in a surprisingly deep voice for an Unggoy. "All of you, get back! The Shipmaster wants all these prisoners alive and untouched, and he will put to death anyone who dares disobey!"
The crowd, however, was hardly deterred by the guard's threats.
"They killed my bond brother!" one of the Unggoy's was yelling. "Let me kill them!"
The guard immediately punched the speaker in the mouth, but it wasn't enough.
"Kill them!" the crowd was starting to chant and much to Zek's own surprised, he found himself chanting alongside with them.
FWOOZ!
The entire room reflexively ducked at the sound of a plasma rifle being discharged and Zek looked around wildly for the source. He spotted Evocatus 'Quetshadee standing at the top of the staircase with a smoke plasma rifle in hand. Next to him was -
Zek automatically felt the saliva in his mouth dry up in fear. Standing next to 'Quetshadee was a Sangheili clad in golden ceremonial armor.
A Zealot.
But not just any Zealot...
Zek always had a bit of troubling telling Sangheili's apart. It was their mandibles; they all looked the same to Zek. However, as a member of the Fleet, Zek knew this Sangheili very well:
Shipmaster Iam 'Oteree. Zealot and commander of all Covenant forces present in this system.
"These humans are to remain alive until I decide otherwise," ''Oteree declared in the now very quiet room. "Any being who dares defy this command, will be declared a heretic, and treated as such!"
Slowly walking down the stairs with 'Quetshadee in tow, 'Oteree looked around the room, as if daring anyone to protest, but no one did. In fact, no one in the room could even met the Shipmaster's eyes. Everyone bowed their heads and did their best to avoid staring directly at 'Oteree, least they somehow incur his wrath.
Reaching the ground, 'Oteree stopped right in front of the Unggoy who had attempted to attack the humans with a stick. The Unggoy immediately dropped the stick, which hit the ground with a loud clatter, before prostrating himself in front of 'Oteree. 'Oteree glanced at 'Quetshadee, who jerked his head and immediately the Unggoy guards leapt into action. They roughly grabbed the prostrated Unggoy, who didn't protest, and dragged him away.
'Oteree didn't even as much as glance at the scene.
"Take these prisoners outside," 'Oteree growled. "I will question them myself out there. It is clear this rabble is unable to control themselves. These prisoners are to remain alive; the Minister demands it."
Without another word, 'Oteree turned and headed for the door. There was a mad scramble as all Covenant soldiers hurriedly moved to get out of his way, and in the gap that developed, the remaining Unggoy, led by 'Quetshadee, proceeded to force the prisoners out of the building.
It took quite a few moments after the entire procession had left the building before the crowd began to stir once more. It first started with a few twitches and tremors from some of the Unggoy, followed by some slight murmuring from some Kig-Yar, before the crowd as a whole abruptly decided it was safe to return to whatever they had been doing before the humans had arrived. The crowd started to separate, and the noise within the building began to return to its original level.
For his part, all Zek could do was sigh in relief. Zealots were finicky creatures; even more arrogant and short tempered than the regular rank and file Sangheili; there was no telling what exactly would attract the ire of a Zealot.
Zek turned to Rezan, only to see a troubled look on his friend's face.
"What." Zek demanded.
"I wonder what will become of those humans..." Rezan began.
"Who cares?" Zek bluntly replied. "They're heretics: they'll get exactly what they deserve."
"I guess," Rezan reluctantly agreed, and Zek couldn't help but squawk in irritation. It was strange: in terms of religion, Rezan was a far more devote member of the Great Journey than Zek ever was, yet he seemed strangely sympathetic to the heretical humans. It seemed to Zek to be quite the contradiction: how could one be so devote, yet doubt the actions of the Covenant's Most Holy Warriors?
"Come on," Zek gestured. "Let's return to our meal before we are commanded to return to the city and resume our hunt."
"Yes," Rezan agreed. "Probably a good idea."
They walked back to where they had left their food and as they arrived, as Zek felt the shudder of an aircraft passing by overhead. Grabbing his can and shoving a talonful of food into his mouth, as he sat there, chewing, Zek tried to think of something to say to Rezan, some sort of topic for a conversation, but nothing really came to mind.
"Rezan, I -" Zek started to say, when he noticed another crowd was beginning to gather again at the back of the room. This time, instead of rage or fear, the crowd had adopted an air of reverence. Zek looked around to see -
He let out a loud gasp and quickly surged to his feet. Blindly reaching behind him, he slapped around until he hit Rezan's snout, who looked up with a hiss of annoyance and a curse on his lips, only to cut himself off as he immediately saw what Zek was gesturing at. He too, hurriedly shot to his feet.
Descending gracefully down the staircase in an anti-gravity chair and escorted by a small Lance of bodyguards, was a member of the Covenant High Council: a San'Shyuum. At first, Zek thought it was one of the High Prophets, but then he realized that wasn't possible as this San'Shyuum was far too young to be one of the Most Holy Trinity. This one had to be a Minister of some sorts.
Still, as a simple Kig-Yar, Zek had never seen a San'Shyuum with his own two eyes because, as both the political and religious leaders of the entire Covenant, San'Shyuum were far too important to be visiting the likes of Zek and Rezan. So, to see one here and now, Zek couldn't help but be flabbergasted.
"A Minister of the High Council? Here? On this world?" he heard Rezan mutter out from the side of his mouth.
"Well, the entire fleet was reassigned to be under the control of a single San'Shyuum Minister. This must be the one," Zek muttered back.
"No, I understand that. However, what I don't understand is why the Minister of Contentment would be here, on the surface of this world, when it has yet to be rendered safe? I do hope the holy one is being protected."
"Guess this hunt for the Demons is more important than we thought. And the Minister's presence here certainly explains the amount of defenses dedicated to one simple firebase," Zek noted. He frowned when he noticed a single Jiralhanae Stalker walking near the Minister. The Minister had a Jiralhanae bodyguard? That was an... interesting choice, given that everyone in the Covenant knew the blood feud between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae was far worse than the one between the Ruuhtians and the T'vaoans.
Both Zek and Rezan stood there, at attention, in respectful silence as the Minister and his escorts traveled to the same door the Shipmaster and the human prisoners had exited from. Perhaps the Minister had been hoping to watch the interrogation himself?
At any case, as soon as the Minister had left the room, Zek finally allowed himself to relax.
"Well, this day is certainly turning out to be different," he noted.
"It is certainly a blessed day," Rezan excitedly corrected, his earlier discomfort about the fate of the human prisoners forgotten. "We should consider ourselves lucky Zek: how often do Ruuhtians like us get to see not only the Shipmaster of the entire fleet, but also one of the holy Ministers of the High Council with our very own eyes?"
Zek shot him a confused look. "It is not as if we were able to interact with either of them."
"Yes, but they were close enough for us to be able to bask in their presence!" Rezan retorted, sounding as if he was in a daze and Zek had to resist the urge to snort in exasperation, if only to avoid offending his friend. There were some days where Zek was honestly jealous of Rezan's faith. To be able to believe in an ideal with such certainty? Zek personally could never do it.
But then, there were days like today where he wondered if Rezan was taking it a bit too far with his devotion...
"Well, it pleases me that you are so pleased," Zek said as neutrally as he could.
"I wonder what it would be like to sit on the Council," Rezan unexpectedly asked. "To not only be able to sit side by side the Sangheili as an equal, but to also see the High Prophets in all their glory!"
This time, Zek couldn't stop the derisive laugh that escape his mouth.
"That would be naught but a dream: the Kig-Yar have no presence on the Covenant Council," Zek pointed out. "And even if we did, the Matriarchs would be the ones to become councilors, not you."
"Yes, I know. But, could you just imagine what it would be like?"
Zek tried, he really did, to see what Rezan found so appealing. But when Zek thought of the Council, all he could think of was political power plays, non-stop committee meetings, and endless religious ceremonies, none of which interested Zek in the least. But, then again...
"Well, I suppose it would certainly be more enjoyable than having to trudge through the thick snow, searching for Demons," Zek allowed. "At the very least, it would undoubtedly be warmer."
Polishing off the remaining contents of his can, Zek tossed it to the side and climbed to his feet.
"Come Rezan," he declared. "Let's find some place we can warm up before we're forced to return to the cold and -"
BOOM!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The entire building shook as something exploded just outside. Zek looked up in dismay as the grating shrill of an alarm began sounding overhead.
"What is this?" Rezan asked, looking worried. Before Zek could respond -
"We are under attack!" someone yelled. "All warriors, defensive formations!"
"Voi paska!" Zek spat out.
"The Minister! We need to protect the Minister!" Rezan screamed.
"I know!" Zek yelled back as he raced for the place he had left his weapon. He shoved his way past several warriors as the entire room had exploded into action. Sangheili commanders were shouting orders, numerous Kig-Yar were preparing their shields, while the Unggoy were all on the verge of panicking.
Reaching the weapon's rack he had left his weapon, Zek was annoyed to find someone else had already claimed his Type-51 carbine. However, sitting in a rack nearby was a Type-50 particle beam rifle and a Type-31 subanese crystal rifle, both of which Zek seized.
"Rezan!" Zek yelled as he tossed the crystal rifle over before glancing at the particle rifle in his hands. It had a full charge; good.
"Zek, we must go!" Rezan screamed and started to head for the door, where the sounds of plasma and blamite fire had erupted, but before Zek and Rezan could get far, a heavy hand landed on their shoulders.
"All Kig-Yar sharpshooters, to the roof!" the Sangheili Major demanded, and with a start, Zek realized because of their weapons, the Sangheili had assumed he and Rezan were sharpshooters. Still, the roof would be further away from the firefight that, from the sounds of, was only being waged just outside, so Zek had no interest in protesting.
"As you command sire!" Zek yelled as he turned and ran for the staircase. He and Rezan began racing up the stairs as every other warrior in the room began pouring out of the building.
"How could the humans have gotten so close!? And how could they have known to strike now, when the Minister was on the planet!?" Rezan demanded to know as they ran, but Zek had no answers.
"I don't know!" Zek yelled back.
"Could there be a traitor among our ranks, informing the humans of our every action?"
"That is not for us to determine! We just need but focus on defending this base!"
Zek reached the top of the stairs and burst through a door, emerging on the roof of the building. By now, the plasma fire had reached a crescendo though strangely enough, Zek wasn't picking up the distinctive sound of human weapons, which was odd as humans were many things, but passive fighters they were not.
Glancing over the side of the roof, Zek quickly found out the reason for the seemingly one sided battle: the human prisoners he had seen earlier had somehow managed to escape their bonds and captured several Covenant weapons, of which they had promptly turned against their former users.
"Heretics in the clear!" Zek screamed. He spotted one human armed with a Type-25 pistol, gunning down a nearby Unggoy and Zek hurried leveled his Type-50 and fired.
FWOOZ!
Zek's first shot missed the human entirely, hitting the ground right next to it and leaving a nasty burn mark. Zek's shot did cause the human to duck, and then run for cover, but fortunately Zek's position over the battle meant there was no place for the human to hid.
Re-sighting his rifle, Zek fired once more.
FWOOZ!
His beam lanced right through the human, spearing the creature about where the liver on a Kig-Yar would be. The human instantly collapsed, and Zek hurriedly searched for another target. One of the humans must have captured a Type-33 blamite launcher, as the air was filled with subanese projectiles, but Zek was able to trace the rounds back to its source. A human was crouched behind one of the recharging stations, firing at the reinforcements pouring out from the inside of the building. Given the position of the human, Zek didn't have the best shot, so instead, Zek opened fire on the recharging station itself.
FWOOZFWOOZFWOOZFWOOZ!
Firing until his rifle grew too hot for him to handle, Zek was nevertheless able to watch as the battery located within the recharging station exploded, taking the human with it.
"There's a human sharpshooter on the bridge!" Rezan suddenly began screaming.
"What!? What bridge!?" Zek distractedly yelled back.
"That one! Over on my side! Over -"
CRACK!
"AHHHH!"
Rezan started screaming and Zek looked over in alarm to see blood squirting out from Rezan's hand.
"My hand!" Rezan was screaming. "That ryökäle shot my hand!"
"Where is it!?"
"That bridge!"
Rezan pointed and for the first time, Zek noticed the bridge sitting near the edge of the base's perimeter. Dashing over towards Rezan's side of the roof, Zek began scanning for the human sharpshooter. He spotted a destroyed human aircraft laying in the middle of the bridge and just in front of the aircraft, Zek could just barely make out the figure of a small human. He hurriedly leveled his rifle and -
CRACK PING!
"AHH!" Zek let out a shriek of alarm as a bullet struck his Type-50, destroying it completely and sending Zek diving for cover. "VITTU!"
Tossing aside his now useless weapon, Zek grabbed the Type-31 from Rezan, who was still sobbing, "My hand!"
"I know!" Zek frustratedly shouted. "Just keep your head down! We can't leave until that ryökäle human sharpshooter has been eliminated!"
Throwing all caution to the wind, Zek carefully poked his head up, only to see someone else had managed to locate the area the sharpshooter had been firing from. Shells from a Type-30 were bombarding the bridge and of the sharpshooter, Zek saw no sign.
Figuring the human was at least being suppressed enough, Zek grabbed a hold of Rezan.
"Rezan, let's go!" he demanded, and together they stumbled back towards the staircase and back down to the ground floor.
"PHYSICIAN!" Zek began screaming as soon as they reached the ground floor. "PHYSICIAN!"
A Kig-Yar, an Ibie'shan, came running up. "What happened!?"
"He shot my hand! That ryökäle shot my hand!" Rezan immediately screamed and lifting his hand up, Zek was finally able to see how bad it was. And it was bad: the human had somehow managed to sever two of Rezan's three fingers while the third was merely hanging on by a couple strands of flesh. Zek couldn't help but grimace.
"Set him down here!" the Physician demanded and as Zek helped ease Rezan down to the floor, the Physician pulled out a medical laser. "This will help!"
Zek anxiously hovered around Rezan as the Physician worked on trying to stop the bleeding. Meanwhile, plasma fire continued to ring out as the battle raged outside. At one point though, Zek thought he heard the bellowing of an angry Sangheili, but he couldn't tell who or what had been said, so he ignored it.
"Will he need to be evacuated?" Zek demanded to know.
"I don't know yet," the Physician admitted. "It will depend on the availability of the transports, but ever since these cursed humans have returned to the skies, our fighters have been hard pressed protecting everything. Your bond brother might have to stay here."
Rezan looked worried and Zek couldn't blame him. With the battle raging outside, it only went to show that nowhere was safe, even deep within a firebase. And the last thing Zek would want was to be wounded in the middle of hostile territory, as humans were a bit like jörmungandr: the moment they tasted blood, they went crazy.
The door to the room suddenly opened and Evocatus 'Quetshadee came running back in. Zek glanced at him, and then did a quick double take. 'Quetshadee looked pissed while at the same time, absolutely terrified, and that sight scared Zek. What could cause a Sangheili such great terror?
"You, you, you, and you: come with me, right now!" 'Quetshadee snapped and to Zek's surprise, he was one of the ones 'Quetshadee had pointed out. Zek was tempted to ask why, but one look at 'Quetshadee's face and whatever words Zek had were instantly swallowed.
Making sure he had his weapon as well as extra charges, Zek gave Rezan a reassuring pat on the shoulder before running after 'Quetshadee. Emerging outside, Zek was able to see the source of 'Quetshadee's distress.
The very Minister Zek had seen mere moments ago was dead. His body was awkwardly sprawled out across the ground while his head... well, it appeared to be all over the place.
Zek was flabbergasted by what he saw. He had never heard of a San'Shyuum being killed while in the field. In fact, a small part of him had been even wondering if they could even be killed. And yet, here one was. No wonder 'Quetshadee looked so scared. The High Prophets would not be pleased.
Standing around the Minister's body was an entire Lance of some nervous looking Ruuhtians, and one very infuriated Shipmaster.
"Take your File and go hunt down the rest of those insects," 'Oteree was snarling at a nearby Sangheili. "Slaughter them all: it was a mistake to have taken them prisoner. Evocatus 'Quetshadee!"
"Sire!"
"The death of our beloved Minister was no doubt by the hands of the Demon." 'Oteree pointed at the bridge the human sharpshooter had been. "Find it, and BRING ME ITS HEAD!"
"It shall be done!" 'Quetshadee turned to the warriors he had gathered. "Warriors, with me! For blood! For vengeance! In the name of the Minister of Contentment!"
With a loud war cry, the File charged forward, covering the distance between them and the bridge in mere moments. Zek wasn't sure what 'Oteree hoped to achieve as, if the Demon hadn't already been killed, it most undoubtedly would have left the area by now. Nevertheless, he didn't want to direct 'Quetshadee's ire on to himself, so he kept his questions to himself as he charged forward with everyone else.
Reaching the bridge, 'Quetshadee began barking out orders.
"You and you, get up there and secure the top," 'Quetshadee demanded and to Zek's horror, he realized 'Quetshadee was pointing at him and another Kig-Yar, a T'vaoans Minor. "The rest of us shall protect you from here."
Zek and the T'vaoan exchanged a nervous look.
"NOW!" 'Quetshadee roared.
Seeing no other option, Zek slowly placed his Type-31 onto his back and got ready to climb onto the top of the bridge. He could only hope his earlier assessment was correct, and the Demon had already left.
Trying to climb as slowly as he could without making it seem like he was dragging his feet, Zek carefully ascended. The top of the bridge came faster than he could have imagined, and the next thing he knew, he was moments from swinging over the side and onto the top of the bridge.
Praying to whatever Gods that were listening, Zek and the T'vaoan exchanged one last look, and Zek made the Kig-Yar hand sign for good luck, one that the T'vaoan returned. Inhaling sharply, Zek abruptly leapt onto the bridge -
- and found himself standing there with no Demons or humans in sight. He let out a sigh of relief.
"The area is safe!" Zek called out over the edge. The response was not quite what he expected.
"What!? How could there be no one there!?"
Zek exchanged a startled look with the T'vaoan. He didn't know what to say.
There was a loud grunt that caused Zek to jump in fright, and he looked around to see 'Quetshadee and the rest of the File awkwardly climbing over the edge of the bridge. 'Quetshadee in particular seemed to be having quite a bit of trouble, and briefly Zek wondered if he should help, but then he realized any such help from him would cause 'Quetshadee great humiliation, humiliation 'Quetshadee would feel the need to return in kind, so all Zek did was turn away and awkwardly wait for 'Quetshadee to right himself.
"How can there be no one here!?" 'Quetshadee demanded to know the moment he was upright. To Zek's surprise, 'Quetshadee actually sounded indignant, like he wanted a Demon to have been here, which was abnormal to Zek. As bloodthirsty as Sangheili were, Zek would have thought even an Evocatus would have been hesitant to face a Demon in close combat.
Insight occurred to Zek in a flash. It wasn't so much as 'Quetshadee wanted to fight a Demon, it was more he needed a body to present to the High Prophets when the High Prophets demanded blood in retribution for the loss of one of their kind. And if 'Quetshadee or the Shipmaster couldn't present a Demon head to the High Prophets...
"Spread out!" 'Quetshadee roared. "Find the Demon!"
At this point, Zek was absolutely sure the Demon was long gone, but he wasn't about to argue. Lifting his Type-31, he feebly began kicking the snow around, trying to make it look as if he was searching for clues, without actually having too.
"Evocatus! I have discovered something!"
Zek's head snapped up at the call. It was that T'vaoan Minor, the one that had initially climbed up to the bridge with Zek. The T'vaoan was crouched by that destroyed human aircraft that Zek remembered seeing during the fight.
"This must have been where the Demon was firing from," the T'vaoan reported, pointing at a small imprint in the snow as well as the yellow metal cylinders all human weapons seemed to leave behind.
"The coward," he added as an afterthought.
The rest of the File growled their agreement, however Zek took one look at the imprint and resist the urge to snort.
"That's not the mark of a Demon," he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say Kig-Yar!?"
Zek jumped and looked around wildly, only to see 'Quetshadee staring at him with an intense look on his face. Oh no. Did 'Quetshadee actually hear him?
"Nothing of importance sire," Zek tried to assure him, but 'Quetshadee clearly was not believing him.
"No," 'Quetshadee growled. "You said this was not the mark of a Demon. Explain, now!"
Realizing there was no way around it, Zek opened his mouth to elaborate.
"The Holy Scriptures are very clear about the description of the Demons sire," Zek quickly said, trying to remember everything the Holy Scriptures of the Covenant had said, only it had been a long time since Zek had bothered looking at them, and he was regretting that decision now. Still, it sounded plausible and 'Quetshadee didn't seemed inclined to remove his head, so Zek continued.
"As stated by the Scriptures, Demons are large terrifying beast of the Uncleaned," Zek recited from memory. "'Their hides are as thick as armor and colored as green as that of the Parasites. Their faces are covered by those souls who have been abandoned and set aflame by the fires of the Great Journey, and their bodies are weighed down by the sins of the Heretics.'"
Zek pointed at the imprint in the ground. "That? That was not made by any Demon. It's too shallow for that. This surely was made by a mere human."
"You dare claim our beloved Minister was assassinated by a mere human!?" 'Quetshadee demanded.
Zek nervously swallowed. "I do, sire."
'Quetshadee seemed to have been taken by surprised by Zek's answer, because he immediately calmed down.
"And how would you know what a Demon would look like, Kig-Yar," he demanded to know, staring at Zek through narrow eyes.
"I... I have seen them sire. With my own eyes. I was aboard the Hammer when the Demons dare defile her," Zek stammered.
'Quetshadee took a closer look at Zek, and seemingly for the first time, noticed the Fleet insignia imprinted on Zek's armor.
"So you were..." he growled, before whirling around on the first T'vaoan. "This one claims this is the mark of a mere human! What say you!?"
The T'vaoan nervously glanced in Zek's direction, and Zek felt his heart freeze as he realized what this T'vaoan was about to do. No! In order to save face, this T'vaoan would claim Zek was nothing but a liar and that he was the one that was correct! Stupid, traitorous T'vaoans -
"I believe this Ruuhtian is correct in his analysis sire, and I, premature in my judgement," the T'vaoan nervously admitted. "I humbly beg thee for forgiveness."
...huh. That was... unexpected.
'Quetshadee growled, and at first Zek thought he was about lash out, but all he said was, "Then we must report this to the Shipmaster."
With that, he clambered off the bridge, leaving the rest of the File to follow. Zek waited until everyone else had left, until it was just him and the T'vaoan, before turning to his fellow Kig-Yar. As much as he disliked T'vaoans, Zek supposed he should at least thank this one for reinforcing his conclusion, even if doing so might have cost the T'vaoan his life.
"Thank you," Zek simply said. "I am Zek. You are?"
The T'vaoan grinned. "I am also Zek," he said.
It took Zek a moment to understand. The T'vaoan's name was also Zek, though undoubtedly it was spelling the T'vaoan way of "Ziik" instead of "Zek."
"You are very different from the rest of your people Ziik," Zek couldn't help but note. Ziik made a gesticulation.
"Perhaps you don't know the T'vaoans as well as you think you do," he said simply. "We need to return to the base."
"I agree," Zek said. He waited until Ziik had leapt from the top of the bridge. Taking one last look around the area, Zek moved to follow him.
Dashing through the snow, Zek rejoined the rest of the File near where the Minister's body still laid. 'Oteree stood over the body, staring at the former Minister with a furious expression on his face, though he looked up as 'Quetshadee and the rest of the File approached.
"Well?" he demanded.
"The cowards have fled," 'Quetshadee reported and Zek could hear 'Oteree grinding his teeth in anger. "But I will be able to track them."
"Do so," 'Oteree hissed. "I want the Demon prostrated on the ground in front of me by the end of this planet's cycle."
Zek could see 'Quetshadee hesitating ever so slightly, a move that 'Oteree also noticed.
"Speak."
"It was not a Demon," 'Quetshadee reluctantly reported.
Zek reflexively took a nervous step back as 'Oteree whirled around.
"Explain," 'Oteree growled.
"We searched for signs of a Demon. We found none. Instead, we found signs that a human had taken position on the bridge, and that a human was responsible for the murder of our beloved Minister."
'Oteree stared closely at 'Quetshadee. "And you are sure of this?"
Zek could see 'Quetshadee's eyes flicker towards him ever so slightly, and Zek mentally braced himself to have to try and explaining his reasoning again, but this time to a much more deadly Shipmaster. But ultimately, that didn't happen as 'Quetshadee said instead –
"I am sure."
'Oteree merely grunted in acknowledgement, leaving Zek to silently sigh in relief.
The meeting was suddenly interrupted by a loud commotion, and Zek looked around to see an entire Lance of Special Operations Sangheili approaching them, with a single Sangheili Minor and two T'vaoans in tow. Zek recognized the T'vaoans as the two perimeter guards that had first accosted his File when they had initially arrived at the firebase.
"Shipmaster," one of the Sangheili, a Special Operations Officer, spoke up. "We found the path the Demon took to infiltrate our base –"
"Human," 'Oteree interrupted. The Officer paused.
"Pardon, sire?"
"It was no Demon, it was a human," 'Oteree growled. "A mere human was allowed to penetrate our defenses, and assassinate our Minister!"
'Oteree lurched towards the Officer, who automatically took a step back in alarm.
"Who was guarding that sector of the perimeter!?" 'Oteree demanded to know. The Officer wordlessly gestured at the two T'vaoans, who immediately whimpered as 'Oteree turned his attention to them.
"You two were the guards?" 'Oteree demanded. At once, both T'vaoans threw themselves onto the ground in front of him.
"Mercy sire!" the Major begged. "We were but replacements for the one who had abandoned his position!" The Major pointed a talon in the Sangheili Minor's direction. "He and his File were the ones that should have been guarding the perimeter, not us! The blame lies with him!"
'Oteree looked up at the Sangheili as the two T'vaoans continued to beg. Then, with a speed that Zek almost failed to follow, 'Oteree whipped out his plasma sword and swiftly decapitated both T'vaoans in a single blow. His sword was deactivated and back on his hip by the time the T'vaoans heads hit the ground, and it took about everything Zek had to avoid flinching as their bodies followed soon after.
"You," 'Oteree growled as he casually stepped over the rapidly cooling corpses of the T'vaoans. "Who are you?"
"I am Minor Kitun 'Refumee," the Minor proudly declared. Zek could see 'Oteree staring very closely at him.
"You are of House 'Refumee, are you not?"
"I am," 'Refumee replied.
"House 'Refumee is a proud and noble clan," 'Oteree declared. "I have proudly led many of your clanmates into glorious battle after glorious battle, where they have won glory and honor for themselves, and for that of your House."
"As I have heard," 'Refumee replied, bowing his head slightly.
"Yet, you have chosen to dishonor your ancestors by abandoning your sworn and scared duty?" 'Oteree rumbled, reminding Zek very much of a volcano that was about to erupt. Zek carefully began taking a few steps backwards as he waited for the explosion, but unfortunately for 'Refumee, he didn't seem to notice. "Explain yourself."
"There was an explosion," 'Refumee explained. "Several of our warriors were killed or injured. Not only did they require aid, the explosion matched that of several cowardly traps set by the Demons. I knew your orders, and I knew my duty: I had to investigate."
"So you abandoned your post? You vacated the defenses of this very firebase and allowed a human, a mere human! to infiltrate our defenses and arrive within striking distance of our beloved Minister!?" 'Oteree snarled.
'Refumee stiffened. "I did what was expected of me," he insisted. "Shipmaster, surely you would have done the same in my position."
"Do not presume to know what I may or may not have done in your position you insolent childling!" 'Oteree abruptly roared, causing all present to hastily rear back. "You abandoned your post in order to seek personal glory, but all you have done is brought shame and dishonor to your House! Because of your failure, your clan's name will forever be associated with disgrace and degradation! House 'Refumee's saga wall will forever be stricken from the records! The proud history of House 'Refumee: forever discredited! Your clanmates, casted out from their ancestral homes and treated no better than mere Unggoy! All because YOU could not refrain from indulging in your narcissist desires!"
Zek could practically hear 'Refumee's arrogance snap, as the full weight of his failure abruptly cascaded over him, and he began to sweat. The smell of fresh fear began to permeate the air.
"I will regain my honor by the victories I shall achieve on this very battlefield!" 'Refumee desperately declared, but 'Oteree shook his head.
"No. You shall not," he bluntly said. "For a failure of his magnitude, there is but one recourse left for you."
Zek jumped as 'Quetshadee abruptly pulled out a deactivated energy long knife, and handed the hilt over to 'Oteree, who took it and shoved it against 'Refumee's chest.
"You know what to do," was all he said, before walking away.
Zek could see 'Refumee was practically crying as he stared at the hilt, and then up at 'Quetshadee's unsympathetic face, before slowly nodding. At that, 'Refumee turned around and began removing his combat harness. Zek would have stood there, watching more, if not for 'Quetshadee turning around to glare at the remaining Covenant warriors in the area, and Zek abruptly realized he need to make himself scarce.
He quickly scurried away, but before he could get too far, he heard the sound of an energy blade being activated, followed by the sounds of someone grunted in pain. The smell of burning flesh started to fill Zek's nostrils, and he almost turned around to find out why, when he heard another energy blade behind activated before it was swung through the air. The sound of a body hitting the ground made Zek decide he wasn't actually all that interested in what was going on, and he quickly ran off to go check up on Rezan.
As he left, he could hear 'Oteree bellowing, "Find the Demon! And find the human assassin! I want both brought to me…
ALIVE!"
1. The Sangheili family name of 'Refumee is taken from the Sangheili character Sesa 'Refumee, the heretical Elite you fight against in Halo 2's level The Arbiter. He's the first "boss" you fight against when playing as the Arbiter.
When writing this chapter, I had this idea that I thought would be kind of cool, to have a minor Elite character that would be forced to commit ritual suicide because of some made up failure, and it would turn out that that Elite was the cousin/brother/close friend of Sesa 'Refumee, and out of anger, he turns against the Covenant which is what allows him to discover the fact that the Great Journey is in fact one giant lie…
All in all, it's not something I'm really going to explore, but it was just something I thought I'd throw in just for fun.
In case it's not clear, the second part of this chapter ties in directly with chapter 9 of Missing in Action, being the Covenant perspective of the events that took place during that chapter. The mysterious "sharpshooter" is of course, Moss. I thought it would be fun to expand on just how Moss was able to get close enough to the Prophet to assassinate him without setting off any alarms. As it was kind of hinted at, but actually shown here, he just sort of accidently stumbled upon the opportunity.
As for the first half, that's intended to tie in with the first half of chapter 27, the last time Zek appeared in this fiction. As mentioned in the author notes for that chapter, Doc Falco was a minor character from Missing in Action, who disappeared after the end of chapter 4 of that story. As revealed in chapter 27, Falco had actually be captured by the Covenant, tortured by a trio of Grunts, and granted a mercy killing (of which the UNSC has confused with a mere execution) by Rezan.