Kig-Yar pirate camp, Valyanop – April 9th, 2558

Saia scowled at the Kig-Yar perched across from her. She was Ruuhtian, of high social status among her peers on this rock. The table between them was littered with trophies; small knives and personal sidearms, baubles and broken bits of technology. All practically worthless, but impressive to the bird-like creatures all the same.

The Ruuhtian was adorned with almost as much junk. Chains hung from a headdress - made to look like the male's quills - and draped around her large, bright orange eyes. Eyes that darted between Saia and the human female at her side.

"You speak chatty crazy!" The Jackal snapped, spittle flinging from her beak. "Hunt piyrats, they kill!"

Saia's mandibles drew back into a snarl. She was about to let the Kig-Yar have it, until the human female next to her butted in.

"With all due respect, Queen Chur'R-Maat, I think the both of us have fought worse than a few scraggly pirates." Talitha Macer was young, even by human standards, at only two decades. Yet she had survived a life of constant combat with the Colonial Marines of her homeworld, Sedra, and had attained the rank of Lance Corporal after enlisting with the Office of Naval Intelligence. Now she worked for Section One, the branch of ONI that gathered intelligence. They had assigned her to Valyanop – a Kig-Yar colony world – to assess the threat that growing numbers of raids posed, but Talitha suspected that there was more to it than just pirates. Her long, dark hair was tied close in a bun, effectively giving the human an authoritative look.

Chur'R-Maat made a chortling nose, amusement flashing in her eyes. "Why need my help, you thhight so good?"

Saia chuckled. Sangheili had trouble pronouncing human phonetics as well, but they didn't often try for that very reason. The "queen" only sounded like a fool. "The pirates are your soldiers." 'Vusan retorted. "Should we charge in and slay them all, you would likely retaliate."

The Kig-Yar threw her head back, cackling. "She smart! You luckee she wit you." She said to Macer. "So be! I tell piyrats they no shoot at you. You poke at ruins—but one day, no more!"

They stood, giving a short bow. "It's been a pleasure working with you." Macer said, with a slight hint of sarcasm in her voice. She stepped out of the Kig-Yar's tent, Saia following after her.

The atmosphere of Valyanop was humid, and thick with foliage. It had rained recently, and mist rose from the forests around the camp.

"Surely you are not so foolish as to believe the Kig-Yar will leave us to your investigation?" Saia asked once they were a good distance away.

Macer glanced up at the Sangheili warrior. Now that they were in the light, her crimson armor gleamed majestically. Gold adorned and accented it, denoting her status as an accomplished warrior. That must have been difficult for her to manage as a female.

"I doubt it," Macer replied plainly, "but when they do attack us, that'll give us something to hold over the junk-queen."

Saia smirked. "ONI has taught you a dangerous game, Agent Macer."

Talitha had joined the government agency after her experience on a shard of Installation 04. ONI had been reluctant to accept a colonial pilot with no enlisted experience, but with a recommendation from Lieutenant Commander Jameson Locke, she was hard to refuse. Her late superior, Aiken Randall, often said that her gods didn't let ONI into Valhalla; the resting hall of their honored dead. Talitha hoped to change their mind, and show them that even spies could have honor.

She had met Saia 'Vusan when the Sangheili was assigned to her mission as a liaison for her faction. The warrior had made quite a name for herself in the up-and-coming Swords of Sanghelios, and making the assignment a joint-operation would further prove the UNSC's commitment to amicable relations with the Sangheili.

Talitha climbed into the seat of a M121 Light Strike Vehicle - commonly called a Jackrabbit – and punched the ignition button. The three-wheeled reconnaissance vehicle's engine purred to life. Saia mounted her adjacent Ghost. "The pirates are holed up in some old Kig-Yar ruins; pre-Covenant." Talitha said over their comms. "They're about ten klicks north of here, shouldn't take us long to get there."

"And when we get there?"

Talitha gave a shrug. "We're just there to ask questions, 'Vusan."

Saia's Ghost drifted to a stop, the propulsion drives humming softly. Macer's vehicle pulled up beside her, the front two wheels separating to stabilize the bike.

The Kig-Yar ruins stood off in the distance, roughly two kilometers away. They looked almost like the castles of humanity's ancient past, but patched with rusted ship parts, defunct turrets, and held together more often than not by the dense foliage of Valyanop.

Saia and Macer were just outside the range of Covenant beam rifles, and with luck any snipers wouldn't even notice them. To ensure this, their vehicles were parked behind a small but dense grove of trees, out of sight from the fortified ruins.

Talitha pulled a DMR from the back of her Jackrabbit, fixing a suppressor onto the muzzle. She donned a helmet – modeled closely after the Recon helmets of the MJOLNIR armor systems, but optimized for ONI operatives – and holstered an M6C/SOCOM pistol. Her armor was a variant of the standard ODST battledress, also modified for ONI field use.

Saia shook her head as she donned a closed helmet, a hand drifting to her hip where her Energy Sword was held in place. It was all she needed. While Sangheili generally did not name their weapons, or regard them as significant in their own right, Saia could not help but feel a sense of pride in her blade. As a female, she had fought harder to attain it, and so it represented far more to her – and others – than the blades of most other swordmasters.

Macer raised a brow. "That's all you're bringing?"

The Sangheili scoffed. "They are Kig-Yar. Not well-known for being master warriors, or even good soldiers." She motioned to Talitha's weapons. "You said that we are only here to talk. We have the word of their queen that they will not fire upon us."

Macer nodded, buckling a tactical pouch of medical supplies to her right thigh. "You are correct. We do have her word." The human glanced to Saia's armor. "Does that have strong shields?"

"Indeed."

Talitha gave a small grin. "You get to ring the doorbell, then."

A moment of confusion passed over Saia's face before she understood. The Sangheili gave a deep huff as she stepped past the edge of the grove, her hands held in the air.

There was no sound of a shot, but an energy beam slammed into Saia's chest, flaring her shields. She dropped, rolling to the side and back into cover of the trees. The warrior snarled. "Are you content with their answer?"

Macer exhaled, sliding a magazine into her rifle. "Oh yeah. I can't wait to rub this in Maat's smug beak."

"Wait." Saia handed Talitha a slender, curved device. "They are snipers, which is why we are better to use these. It is a cloaking device, similar to those used by the Covenant during the Ninth Age of Reclamation."

Talitha eyed the device with contempt. "That doesn't seem very honorable. A warrior should meet their foes and death head-on, without cowardice."

Saia shook her head. "The Kig-Yar are without honor, as you have just seen. You humans are often reckless, but do not be a fool; you would fall before even stepping foot inside their fortress. A wise infiltration is not cowardice; you must learn this, with the agency you have chosen to work for."

Macer's mouth pressed into a thin line of disapproval, but she clipped the cloaking device to her belt all the same. Her pride would have to take a back seat. The operatives activated them, fading from clear sight and becoming nothing more than mirages.

They made their way towards the ruins, being sure to avoid foliage and streams; anything that could show their presence. Footsteps were almost unavoidable, but snipers wouldn't spot those.

Talitha pressed herself up against the stone walls just as her cloaking timed out. A thin smoke rose from the overheated device. She clicked off the safety of her pistol, motioning to Saia to move in.

The Sangheili warrior slipped around a corner into the ruins, Macer following directly behind her. "I'll take point," she said over their comms, moving to the front, "you watch our six."

They moved silently through crumbling halls, their path illuminated by low-light enhancing optics of their helmets. The dim sound of industrial work could soon be heard, and the operatives moved in its direction. Saia peered around a corner, her hand moving to her blade.

The courtyard of the ruins had been all but gutted. A scrapped Locust mining walker was positioned in a corner of the yard. A Kig-Yar manned a makeshift cockpit of the mining craft, blasting the center of the grounds with plasma.

"We need to nab one of these Jackals," Talitha said, "find out what the hell is going on here." She poked her head back around the corner, looking quickly for one of the pirates that were on patrol. One of the birdlike aliens was on a clear path around the perimeter of the dig site. He was equipped with a Carbine, as well as targeting headgear. The Agents would need to be very careful.

Talitha pressed herself to the wall, just to the side of an archway. The Jackal's headgear would spot the heat thrown off their active camo, so she relied solely on her armor's stealth principles; reduced infrared signature and reflective coatings. Her helmet enhanced her hearing, picking up the slightest scuffle. It was hard to discern anything with the constant drone of the mining laser, so Talitha tuned her helmet to filter out that noise source. ONI tech sure had its perks.

There it was. A slight scraping as claws dragged across stone. The pirate was no more than two meters away from her. She waved two fingers down low, directing Saia back. As the Jackal passed by, Macer grabbed his beak and held it shut, ripping the Carbine out of his surprised hands as she dragged him back.

The Kig-Yar struggled in Macer's grip, almost breaking loose until Saia slammed a fist into his gut. The pirate doubled over, the breath driven from his lungs. Her next blow came to his temple; subdued, but enough to knock the Kig-Yar out cold. "It would be wise to take this beast far from here, so that our interrogation will not alert the rest."

Talitha nodded. "A sound idea. Let's head back to our rendezvous point—that'll put us back out of range."

The two agents retreated from the dig site. Saia held the unconscious Kig-Yar by his feet; the pirate was light enough that she draped him over her shoulder with ease. As they crossed the threshold of the ruins, Saia and Talitha activated their active camouflage. Macer was pleased to see that Saia's system covered their prisoner as well.

When they reached the grove that hid their vehicles, Saia tied the Kig-Yar securely to a tree. The Sangheili pulled her hand back, prepared to smack the Jackal to wake it. Before she could, Talitha laid a hand on her arm. "Let me—you hit too hard."

The human slapped the Kig-Yar a couple times, jerking her hand back as he came to with a start and snapped at her. "Woah! Mouthy little shit, aren't you?" The Jackal hissed angrily, struggling against his constraints. His breath was rancid, even through her helmets air filer, and she was glad he couldn't see her wince. She snapped her fingers, drawing his attention back to her. "Here's how this is going to work. We ask you some questions, you give us answers. If you don't," she motioned back towards 'Vusan, "she gives you a nasty scar."

The Kig-Yar spat and hissed, answering in his native tongue. Macer looked over her shoulder for a translation. "I didn't quite catch that." Though her helmet was equipped with a xeno-lexicon, the Kig-Yar language was far too complex to get an accurate translation. Large parts of it relied on tone, quill color, and pheromones.

Saia leered at the pirate. "He said that he ate the hearts of your mothers, and passed them quickly because they were bad meat."

Talitha nodded, pulling her M6 and pistol-whipping the Kig-Yar. He shrieked as a few teeth flew in an arc of bright purple blood. Macer pointed the gun at his face. "Don't talk about my ancestors like that, Tree-Turkey."

The pirate lunged at her again, the ropes creaking as he growled and screeched angrily.

"Now he threatens to eat your eyes and heart, indigestion or not."

Talitha shook her head. "I love it when they play hard to get." She dropped her pistol, balled her fist and drove it into the Kig-Yar's gut. "How about we just start with your name. Can you give us that? Huh?"

The pirate gasped and hacked, Saia translating again. "He says his name is Dak, Shipmistress' favorite."

Macer feigned impression. "Queen's pet, huh? So Dak, what're you doing in those ruins? It was hard not to notice the Locust you rigged up."

Dak cackled, squawking as he glanced from Talitha to Saia. The Sangheili gave a tired sigh. "He says that they are digging our graves, and that Chur'R-Maat said to use their dung as mortar to seal them."

Macer cracked her knuckles. "Y'know, holding out? Only makes this worse for you."

The Kig-Yar spat at Talitha's feet, hissing in English defiantly. "Iy ssay no word! Yuu no—no see any-thing!"

Saia growled in annoyance. She was in no mood to listen to another pirate struggle with the humans' speech. "The Kig-Yar barely has grasp of your language, Agent Macer; worse than their queen." She loomed over the pirate. Talitha's comm translator kicked in as 'Vusan spoke to the Jackal in her native language. "Enough false-bravado, pirate. Your lance—what do you unbury here? You work as though the coin of the San'Shyuum fills your coffers once more, eager to turn up trinkets to make you rich."

Her face was but inches from the birdlike alien, who shrunk from her presence. "But it does not. You scavenge and steal, piecing together ragged ships barely worth calling a fleet."

The Kig-Yar snarled. "And you are so mighty, 'warrior'? You are a mercenary, just the same as us. You have no San'Shyuum-coin; you do not even have Sangheili-coin! What do you think you can buy us with?"

'Vusan glanced back to Talitha. The human gave a small shrug, as if to tell her Make something up. She returned her glare to the Kig-Yar. "For starters, I will not break every bone in your body. Then – if you aid us – we will give you a ship."

The Kig-Yar's eyes gleamed jealously, darting from Saia to Talitha. "Nuu ship!? Sshiney sship! Yuu give to Dak, Chur'R-Maat maayk Dak maayt!"

Saia snatched the Kig-Yar's neck in her hand, prying his attention back to her. "After you tell us what you are doing here."

The Kig-Yar gave a hard swallow, his beak snapping in anticipation and greed. "We dig. To find the Great One, hidden beneath this temple. The San'Shyuum did not lie, not always. It sings to us, beneath the rock."

Talitha stepped forward, suddenly nervous. Something in the Jackal's voice sounded too zealous, and humanity had seen what that caused. "What sings to you?"

The Kig-Yar's eyes glazed with fervor. "The Demon in the Rock. It will grant us more than ships; it will destroy Humanity, who killed the Kig-Yar's greatest contract!"

Saia fingered the hilt of her sword. "This demon… name it."

Dak hesitated for a moment, but was too swept up to stop himself. "Lee-vru-kah."

The Sangheili drew her blade with a sharp, static 'crack!' and plunged it through the Kig-Yar's thin body, burying the twin sheets of plasma into the tree. He screeched in agony before Saia drew the blade out to remove his head from his slender neck.

"Gods, 'Vusan!" Macer's eyes went wide at the show of violence, taking a step back as the Sangheili dropped the corpse. "What the hell was that about?"

Saia didn't bother to explain, a wild look in her eyes as she holstered her blade. "We must stop the Kig-Yar; the Lee-vru-kah must not rise, or you will see how terrible gods are!"

Talitha sensed the urgency immediately. She quickly grabbed a satchel charge from her Jackrabbit, stowing it in her pouch. "This should take care of their Locust, and put a stop to their operation."

The Sangheili scowled, but did not say anything. She had heard tales of what the Kig-Yar searched for, dread stories whispered around campfires, but nothing that she had ever considered real. Or at least, something that she hoped was not real.