Chapter 3: Spearhead of Dawn

ONI Section Four HQ; The Squad common room; CR#4. January 13th

One hour later, the escorts returned to collect the Chief and the Arbiter. The Arbiter was still examining the sleeping quarters, taking advantage of the fact only him and the Chief were present at the time. All the beds were around ten feet long, with a large amount of customisation. The door to the room opened.

"Your presence is requested by the brass up top." The escort announced.

The Spartan and the Sangheili spared each other a quick glance and got up, and then followed the escort. He led to the shipyard in the center of HQ. The Spearhead of Dawn looked almost completed. The scaffolding had been removed and there were Archer pods, or similar pods being fitted.

"The Dawn is nearly finished. The engineers say she'll be launching very soon. I'm not sure of her crew, though."

The escort shrugged, which was one of the few human gestures that Sangheili instinctively understood. Shrugging must be universal. The Arbiter scratched his bottom left jaw, thinking. The escort led them to an elevator. On the door it read: RESTRICTED

The escort directed them into the elevator. No one else in the room looked over at them. The elevator doors closed. The elevator ascended. It led them to a short corridor with no doors on the sides. A pair of double doors lay directly at the end of the room. The escort stayed in the lift.

"I'm not requested in there. You two are. See ya!" The escort announced.

The Arbiter and the Spartan stepped out of the elevator. Almost immediately, the man closed the doors and the elevator dinged and descended. The two glanced at each other for a second, then walked to the doors at the end of the corridor.

The doors opened as they approached. Inside was an office. A single man sat inside of it, obviously waiting for them. The glanced up as they approached.

"Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam." He said.

He pressed a button on the table. There was screech of metal, then two panels on the floor in front of the desk folded outwards. Two chairs rose from the holes left by the panels. The chairs stopped with a click.

"Sit." The man said.

The two walked over and sat. The man watched them as do so. The Arbiter couldn't help but feel uneasy at the sight of the human staring at them unblinking. After around thirty seconds of awkwards silence, the human spoke again.

"I am Admiral Howard Walker. I'm the lead Admiral of Section Four. I brought you here to brief you on you first mission, Even though it technically isn't a mission." He told them.

The Arbiter noticed the Chief stiffen slightly as the Admiral announced his rank.

"First off, you two will be briefed on you positions in The Squad. You two are the most experienced, being the only two who fought the whole Human-Covenant war. This is you other teammates." Admiral Walker said, pressing another button on his table. Several holographs appeared.

The Arbiter noticed two were of him and the Master Chief. The Admiral swept those two away and they vanished.

"I think you already know who you two are." The Admiral sighed.

He then swept aside one of Cortana.

"Cortana will serve as the management and shipboard AI. You will have a combat AI as well for ground missions." The Admiral said.

"Why would we need another AI for that? Cortana's a perfectly able Combat AI, sir." The Spartan asked.

"Because, She's four years old. She's not a young AI, and she's slowed further by corruptions left in her code by the gravemind and the bulk of Halo data she carries. She's a few milliseconds too slow. In a combat situation, that can be the difference between life and death." The Admiral replied. "The AI you will be getting is still being perfected, but she should be ready by the time you get there. She's one of the first of a cross-species experiments on AI creation. A Sangheili by the name of Fune 'Suttin volunteered her brain for use in the experiment should she be killed and her brian still usable."

The Arbiter parted his jaws slightly at the thought of there being more sangheili in Section Four.

"About three days ago, She was monitoring a band of Jiralhanae - Kig-yar pirates when she was spotted by them. Another operative managed to recover her, but the injuries were fatal, however were mostly to her legs and back. Her brian was still usable, so the process of neural mapping began when she died." The Admiral paused.

The Arbiter lowered his head slighty, saddened by the news of a dead sangheili, and a female, nevertheless.

"Last report I heard, it seemed to be going very well." He concluded.

He then brought up the holograph of a Jackal. The Kig-yar held a modified beam rifle in his right arm and had a Kig-yar combat harness from prior to their covenant induction, complete with a gudi, which was a Kig-yar hat which looked like a human fedora.

"This is Zhab Nin. Famous among the Kig-yar for being a daring sniper. Responsible for the assassination of a Queen on Eayn, their homeworld. No known associates, Little Covenant service and a love of sniping, he's the team's sniper." The Admiral informed them.

The Sangheili hadn't heard of the Kig-yar, and it seemed that the Spartan had not either. The Admiral swiped away the Kig-yar and brought up a Brute. The Arbiter stiffened slightly at the sight of the Brute. While most of his race would kill a Brute on sight, The Arbiter was much more tolerant of the species, but still shared his bit of hatred towards the species. He wondered if that would hinder his judgement during tense situations involving him and the Jiralhanae.

"This is Jimeanius of the Trimmean pack. He was exiled before the Great Schism for not wanting to take part in the genocide of the Sangheili. He made his way an NCA colony, then to a station in the Sol System. We enlisted him voluntarily. Little Covenant experience, His role is Ranged supporting fire." The Admiral finished.

He closed the holograph. He then brought up a pair of Unggoy. The two wore Covenant combat harnesses and held one Fuel Rod cannon each.

"These are Liyik and Limid." Walker announced.

The Arbiter gave a faint snort. Liyik and Limid were practically Unggoy celebrities amongst the Sangheili. They were known for being some of the most independent Unggoy to ever serve the Covenant, but while there were other Unggoy that had resisted or done worse than them, they were well known for the failed execution and shaming of their executor, as well as their partial insanity.

"These two are brothers, almost inseparable since they joined the Covenant. They were spec ops grunts and were, and still are demolition "experts". They were accused of abandoning their unit, and were due to be executed. They overpowered their executor and were pardoned as a result, then discharged shortly after for their mental state being questionable. We've given them evals, and they seem to be sane ninety percent of the time." The Admiral shrugged.

He then brought up a Hunter pair. The Arbiter leaned forward slightly. He noticed the Chief doing the same beside him. The Hunters didn't seem to be wearing combat gear, but instead, they had ship maintenance gear.

"These are Dipugi Xisi Moldo and Nomuxu Xisi Moldo. They are bond brothers, and instead of the warrior path, they chose the path of mechanics. They're not Huragok, but they're as close as we can get. We… don't know anything about their past. We know they worked in ship repair, but that's all. They'll be in charge of keeping you ship running while you have been deployed. But, they are capable of combat, in the event that it is necessary." The Admiral said.

"Can I propose a question, sir?" The Spartan asked.

The Admiral nodded. "Ask away, Master Chief."

"What ship are we getting? A prowler?" The Spartan questioned.

Walker smiled slightly. "Oh, hell no. For the best, you get the best. You're getting the Spearhead of Dawn."

The Arbiter felt his spirits lift at that. At least they wouldn't be throwaway soldiers, they would have some decent equipment.

"When do we deploy?" The Sangheili asked, rising from his seat.

Walker smiled slightly. "Right now. Your first mission- well, "mission" is to pick up the rest of your squad from our other station in the Tau Ceti System. Once you've picked them up, you'll head to you hideout in the system and await your first REAL mission. You two, being the veterans of The Squad, are the commanders. Arbiter, being the former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, you are in the ships organic captain. Master Chief, you are the field commander, In charge of force deployment for ground missions. Now, both of you meet up with your crew aboard the Spearhead; Dipugi, Nomuxu and Cortana and procede to Tau Ceti."

I+-+-+I

The Bridge of the Spearhead was quiet. Cortana was waiting on the holoterminal in the bridge. The Spartan and the Sangheili walked in.

"Well then." Cortana smiled. "Here we are, on yet another adventure."

The Spartan took a seat near one of the consoles. The Arbiter paused and gave the Spartan a quick glance. The Spartan had no emotion written on the helmet. He then gave a slow nod. The Sangheili stepped towards the captain's chair and sat. The chair creaked and sagged slightly, but seemed to hold his weight well.

"Receiving COMs from HQ." Cortana announced. "We're cleared to take off."

The Arbiter scratched his bottom right jaw for a second.

"Fire up our engines." He said.

"Engines online. Vertical thrusters warming up. Hangar doors opening. Ready for launch in ten seconds." Cortana informed them.

"Go when ready, Cortana." The Arbiter replied.

"Aye. Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Online." She grinned.

The thrusters of the Spearhead roared. The Modified frigate rumbled and began to lift. The hangar room was filled with the ear-splitting noise of the engines. The Arbiter felt the G-forces begin to increase. The frigate shook violently. The grey walls of the hangar fell away, turning to sand for a split second, and then all they could see through the bridge window was sky.

"Ascend us to one kilometer." The Sangheili ordered.

"Aye."

The frigate begin to slow, and then slowed to a crawl and hovered over the island. Below them was an endless sea, above them an endless sky, dotted with few clouds.

"Awaiting orders, Arbiter." Cortana said.

"Cortana, Take us into orbit." He announced.

"Engines online, burning at 30% reactor capacity. We will achieve orbit in three minutes." She informed them. "Also, Dipugi and Nomuxu are on their way to the bridge."

The Arbiter inhaled in surprise, then spun his chair around to face the door. On his way, he noticed that the Master Chief had removed his helmet. The Arbiter had not been one-hundred percent certain that the Spartan had not been a robot of some kind, But this did confirm it. It seemed wrong to see the Spartan helmet-less. But before he could dwell on it, the doors to the bridge opened. The two Hunters walked in. They were near identical: They had Hunter gear that had had most of its armor shrunk and removed. They had a series of tools on their Fuel Rod arm and a pair of braces that they would use to push heavy objects or hold them up.

Their translation software was basic. The words were simply pasted into the sentence with no emotion, but the translator served a single purpose, which it fulfilled easily.

"Greetings. Sangheili and Human. It is a… pleasure to meet you." The one on the right said. "I am Nomuxu. My brother is Dipugi. We will serve as the ships maintainers."

It didn't help that you could hear the grunts and growls of the Lekgolo over the translation.

"Very well." The Arbiter replied. "Do you know who we are?"

"Yes. We do. And now, we must go. The ship's third reactor is still shaking down. We should oversee it, and ensure it does not endanger the ship." Nomuxu said.

"Then… Go." The Sangheili replied.

The two nodded and left the room.

"That was surprisingly brief, considering that they share this ship with us." Cortana remarked.

"Lekgolo were never social creatures." The Arbiter muttered.

I+-+-+I

The Spearhead accelerated over the British Isles, slowly climbing into the atmosphere. The sky darkened as it did so. Above the planet lay the heart of humanity's empire, or at least, what was left of it following the war.

It was hoped that the Galactic Alliance would eventually rebuild what had been destroyed, but it would take years to do so. More than it had taken to destroy, certainly.

The frigate rose through the higest cloud layers. It's engines burned brightly against the sky. Its hull shone in the light of Sol. Above the planet below lay humanities defences: Orbital defence platforms jutting up into space, almost a kilometer long. Between these drifted a UNSC fleet, battle-ready and armed.

The frigate turns to the side. The captain, a sangheili; Infact, the first sangheili to ever command a human frigate, gives an order. The ship vanishes as it cloak activates. The UNSC fleet does not notice. The frigate, hidden from sight, passes through the guards of the planet and into deep space.

Still invisible, It adjusts itself, aiming towards its destination star, Tau Ceti. The captain gives another order. The ship's AI complies. At the front of the frigate, space begins to distort. To any watchers, it seems like a slipspace portal has opened in the middle of space, for no reason whatsoever. A few seconds pass, and the frigate enters another dimension. The swirling gateway shrinks and collapses into nothing but a faint ripple.

I+-+-+I

I wanted to add more to this chapter, but I was short of time, so I had to split it in two. Chapter four will be much longer and will have some action in it. I'm trying to keep each chapter a weekly thing, but this evening is cutting it close for me, so the next chapter may be a week or two late.

Review, Maybe?