I understand your distaste for such an offensive. I understand your reasoning, that we would simply be trading one monster for another. May I offer a counter logic; let the lions fight the wolves. Do not believe the propaganda, I'm the one who makes it. Don't believe the civies who think that we are holding back, that we have the means but not the will to slaughter another sentient race. We are losing this war. Everyday our casualties mount, every day another colony is found and burned to glass. Any defense is cast aside like dust. They will burn our kingdoms, one by one until there is nothing left. I am aware of your affinity for the Spartans, but they cannot save us. Their numbers are too few, and should they ever encounter the Covenant's best soldiers, their elites, I doubt they will survive the encounter. We will lose this war unless something drastic is done. This plan will remove one of the monsters from the galaxy, and thin the ranks of the other. At the very least, it will buy us a few more moments.

Chapter 2

"Why is Sornelus making us save this one?" Thantus asked. "Little welp. Pathetic little mutt. He should fill our bellies, not lay on our table. It's been so long since I've had one. I wish they claimed heresy more often, good eating."

Lazar chuckled, and shook his head at his uncle's rambles. Strong of body and covered in a thick layer of crème colored fur, he was still dancing on the brink of maturity. As such, Chieftain Sornelus had seen that he rarely engaged in direct combat. Not that the crew of the Red of Nail ever engaged in combat. Their position was mostly token, patrols and security, grunt work that the Sangheili believed themselves too good for. Long, endless days of wandering around, making sure that everything was in order.

Lazar was bitter, and decided that this Sangheili should be the vent for his frustrations. The Sangheili, a major judging by the armor that had long been removed, was still unconscious, but he would be in immense pain when he finally woke up. Whether he could feel anything in his unconscious slumber was a mystery, but with luck, he was dreaming of this agony. He could feel every stitch, every rend, every rip. Jiralhanae were not known for their tender care, even in such delicate situations as surgery, but perhaps Lazar was being even more rough than normal. He had a basic knowledge of what to do, Sangheili anatomy wasn't drastically different from his own, and he had removed bullets and sutured wounds on several of his pack mates. He knew the entire routine. It was sloppy work, the Sangheili would have a jagged scar running down his pectoral muscle to the very end of his navel for the rest of his life, but truth be told, Lazar didn't care. He had his own scars, one or two of them given by a Sangheili of such a high office, retaliations was impossible.

"Father's orders," Lazar finally said. "How these Sangeheili have ever made it to where they stand. Look at this build. Look at these arms. I could snap him in two. A couple bullet to the gut, a little blood loss, and he's down."

"A wound like this wouldn't stop a Jiralhanae," Thantus said proudly. Perhaps it would, he wasn't actually sure. He cracked a back hand across the Sangeheili jaw, the force enough to knock the major off the operating table and splat on the floor. Thantus was hesitant to take the Sangeheili by the hooves, Lazar by the shoulders, and together they hoisted him back up. That was when the Sangeheili started to stir. Perhaps he was dreaming of the battle, because he clawed and bit, once or twice lifted his hand and squeezed as if trying to fire his weapon. Lazar gripped his wrists, nearly snapping the weak appendage in two, and forced them into shackles. Thantus did the same with the legs. The restraints were meant for a Jiralhanae, and were a tad large for the sleeker body, but they served their purpose since the Sangheili wasn't actually trying to escape, at least until he woke up.

"Where?" Orff asked. "Who are you?" His mandibles dripped with venom as he confirmed that he was not only being bound, but by Jiralhanae. "Release me."

Thantus didn't quite take the Sangheili by the throat. Instead he took his head, fingers at the back of his skull and a thumb just under the eye, and pushing hard enough that Orff gave a pained whimper.

"Uncle," Lazar said. "Sornelus wants this one alive."

"I'm not going kill him, just making his position clear. Beasts like this have to be broken in." Thantus threw the Sangheili's head back. It bounced off the operating table, and Orff had to suppress an urge to pass out.

Sornelus had to be the largest Jiralhanae that Orff had ever seen. He had to bend to step through the threshold, but ships usually had very high ceilings incase a Mgalekgolo needed access, so he could stand straight backed. Sornelus probably rivaled the Mgalekgolo. He was simply huge. To say Sangeheili feared nothing was perhaps incorrect. Orff was terrified of this chieftain.

"I am Major Orff 'Schulwerkee, serving under Special Operations Commander Zard…"

"I can't seem to care," the chieftain growled. He picked up the discarded helmet, crimson in color, and held it between two hands as if any moment he was going to crush it. A tightening of the pectoral muscles, his hands closing, and it would be turned into a ration can. The same could happen to the Sangheili's skull without much problem. Orff flinched. "We are smart enough to intercept transmission. You are fortunate that we were in the area, or you would still be on that planet. The human resistance was minimal. And no artifacts were discovered. You are fortunate that we found you, the glassing will commence shortly."

Jiralhanae were too stupid to lie convincingly, but Orff kept his suspicions to himself. "I would like to be put in touch with my commander."

"I am afraid that is impossible."

"You are refusing to allow me to contact my commander?"

"No, major, I am informing you that it is impossible. You're Council has seen to it that this ship is lacking certain basic necessities, such as reliable long range radios. We also lack a functioning slipspace drive, or we would drop you off at one of your stations. Trust me, major, your presence on this ship is no more appealing to my pack than it is to you."

Orff growled to himself. "Then what is to happen to me?"

"We will finish our present operation and return to High Charity. You will serve on this ship in the mean time. We are in need of the extra hands, I'm sure you will be able to do something."

"No," Orff growled. "You are not my commander. I will not follow your orders."

His hand pushed Orff's head down, grinding it into the cold steel of the table, increasing the pressure until the major was sure his head would pop. All Orff could think to do was open his mandibles and clamp down hard on the chieftain's fingers, sharp teeth not even breaking the thick skin. The chieftain thrust his hand down, sharp enough that Orff saw purple blotches.

"So you've some fight in you? Understand major, you are going to serve this pack, as a soldier or as a meal. When we have finished our operation and dock at a station, you can go find your precious superior. Until then, I am your commander, and you will treat me with the respect that my station offers me. Thantus is your commander. Lazar is your commander. You will treat them with respect. You will obey their every order. Or you will fill our bellies."

The chieftain snorted, crushing Orff's head again between the table and his palm. "If he resists, kill him," he said to Thantus. A moment later, he took Thantus' arm in his grip. "Only if he resists, he is more useful alive, at the moment."

"Yes chieftain." Sornelus shuffled through the doorway, off to tend to other problems. "Watch him," Thantus said to Lazar, before he too shuffled out.

Lazar snorted at the scent of Sangeheili. Even still a youth, he was equal to Orff in size, perhaps a tad smaller, but there were his teeth which his kind weren't above using and he had armor, however sparringly. A shotgun hung loosely on his belt, a majority of the barrel cut off so that it wouldn't drag on the floor. Disgusting to use human weapons. He went about undoing Orff's bounds, and Orff thought of taking the youth as a hostage, but a pain in his stomach stopped those thoughts. No doubt he would have been better off with the bullets beneath his skin, let his anatomy stitch itself back together.

"I am Lazar," the youth barked. "Come along."

The Red of Nail was sizable, and boasted a crew of roughly fifty Unggoy, as well as the chieftain's pack, composed of ten Jiralhanae. The chieftain was Sornelus. His beta, if that was the proper term for such a placement, was Thantus, who Orff had had extensive intimacy with. The others were given the name Mackirus, Fenus, Domin, Grevus, Vanus, Gorgon, and Cascus. He passed Cascus as he was guided along. Cascus was a large creature, fully grown, but his most striking feature was his jet black fur, which was something that Orff had never seen, though admittedly he had very limited experience with these creatures.

As they passed each other, a shift in Cascus' weight threw Orff into the wall, and for a moment he really knew how strong Jiralhanae really were. A shift in his weight, no substantial push or a step in that direction, the slightest movement, that was all it took.

"Watch out for Cascus, he doesn't like you. None of us like you actually. You should bow down and thank Chieftain Sornelus that he has shown your mercy, any of us would have you slit your throat by now."

"The sentiment is mutual, Brute."

Lazar turned, and thrust a foot forward, catching Orff in the stomach. It felt like a shotgun to the gut, minced with the sharpness of the stitches, he fell to his hands and knees, into Lazar's awaiting knee, which cracked him in the mandibles. His mind spun. His strength left him and he fell flat on his back, barely able to breath, his chest felt like it was weighed down with cement. He realized that Lazar was stepping on him, one hand extended to the wall to keep his balance. "We are not Brutes," he growled, pushing Orff harder. "We are Jiralhanae."

"My mistake," he growled.