The Halo Universe belongs to Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries. But these characters are my own creation and cannot be used without my permission. If you do use them without my permission, then Zen will snipe your head off from afar. Enjoy the show.

The Sangheili 800 Squad

Chapter 5: Revelations

February, 2550 (Human Calender)

0900 Hours

SSMB 800

"We leave now." Tank said suddenly.

Everyone else in the room blinked and turned to him. For the past couple of hours, after talking to the one he called 'Iro', Tank had went to a corner and sat silently, looking at everyone, especially Atar for some reason.

After getting past the fact that there was a Hunter in the room, everyone relaxed a bit, although they stayed in the room as the result of a decision made by Atar: They needed to know when Tank was ready to leave.

So the squad jumped into casual conversation. Tank took no part in it, although he seemed to make a noise similar to a chuckle when Miara punched Utarz in the face during an argument.

Now, he said this so suddenly that no-one moved for a moment.

"Okay." Zen said. "Where's your leader?"

"On outskirts of your base." Tank replied, pulling himself up.

"Outskirts?" Utarz raised the ice pack from his face. "You mean the area outside the base?"

"Yes."

"Which is blocked off by cliffs."

"Yes."

"Well, how the hell is Zen gonna get up there?" Utarz asked.

"The Phantom, dumbarse." Tracer replied. "We can fly up there and drop Zen off at the meeting point."

"No." Tank said. "Only Zen is allowed in meeting."

"Why just me?" Zen asked.

Tank said nothing.

"This guy is a proper fucking conversationalist, isn't he?" Utarz said sarcastically.

Even Atar had to admit he that was amusing.

"Well, let's go then." Miara put down her drink. "No sense staying around here."

"Aye." Tracer opened the door and gestured to Tank. "After you."

Tank nodded and walked through the door.

When they reached the vehicle bay, Zen got a first look at the Phantom. It was a lot like the rest of the base: shabby, mostly broken (there was no roof for instance) and much too oversized for a mere six soldiers.

Well, plus one.

Tracer pressed a button on the side of the ship. This button caused the doors to move down and allow soldiers to climb in.

Nothing happened.

"Not again." Tracer muttered. "Repora, could you…?"

"Sure." Repora walked over to the button and savagely kicked it.

The doors swung downwards.

"You just need to apply a little force." Repora said happily, skipping inside.

Tank turned to Atar and asked, "Is he well?"

Atar blinked in surprise, then said, "No, he's actually clinically insane. Apparently something happened to him in the past, but Repora himself has forgotten what it was."

Utarz scratched his head guiltily at this. But since he was at the back, nobody noticed.

Once they were all inside, Zen walked up to Tracer, who was at the driver's controls, and said to him, "Tracer, if you can fix an entire base, then why can't you fix a Phantom?"

"I've never gotten around to it." Tracer said. "I'm sure you can understand that."

Zen's memory flashed back to the past two days plus the morning, where he and Tracer had been working on the exact same piece of wall for the entire time.

"Yes. I can." Zen sighed.

Zen half expected the ship to not even lift off of the ground. But it did, albeit with some flashing lights and sparking. And it was slow.

Finally, they reached the top of the cliffs. Tracer opened the doors. He turned to Zen and said, "Good luck."

Zen nodded. He then stepped off of the Phantom along with Tank. Then, the others bid farewell, minus Utarz and then the Phantom dipped out of sight.

Zen turned to Tank, who gestured to follow him. Tank then set off in a seemingly random direction into the snow-covered fields.

Zen followed him for what seemed to be half an hour. As he walked, he noticed that the area was actually pretty nice for a planet without civilisation. There were trees of unknown names (frozen at the moment) and alien animals that seemed neither intelligent nor brave, as they scampered away from them as they approached.

"How much further?" Zen asked Tank.

"Not long." Tank grunted.

'Not long' turned out to be five seconds.

Zen stepped into a clearing. He knew he was at the right place because there was a Phantom parked right in the middle of the clearing. Standing inside it was a Sangheili in maroon custom armour. Leaning against it was a Grunt in silver armour, looking quite bored with the whole thing, really.

Tank held out his shield in order to stop Zen from walking any further. Then he walked to the Phantom and, like the Grunt, stood at the side of the door.

"Greetings, Zen." The Sangheili said.

"I take it that you're Iro, then." Zen said.

"Yes, that would be me."

Zen looked at the Grunt. "You're the one who was spying on us two days ago."

"Yeah." The Grunt nodded. "The name's Buzzsaw."

"Why, exactly, were you spying on us?"

"I was looking for you." Buzzsaw replied. "I didn't find you on the other two planets, so…"

"You were looking for me?"

Iro nodded. "Zen. I expect that you're wondering what exactly is happening."

"That, and 'why me'?" Zen replied.

"First, I feel that I should explain who were are." Iro pointed to Buzzsaw. "You see Buzzsaw over here?"

Zen nodded. Iro continued. "He used to be one of the bravest Grunts in the Covenant. He got sent on missions that no other Grunt would dare to go on."

"What kind of missions?" Zen asked.

"Minor ones." Buzzsaw stated. "Recon, assault, assassinations… pretty much any role that isn't cannon fodder."

Iro nodded. "One day though, he made a mistake and found himself in a lot of trouble. He requested for backup from his command. He got refused."

"Miserable, high-and-mighty, think they're so…" Buzzsaw grumbled.

"Right…" Zen wasn't sure what this had to do with anything, but he kept listening.

Iro then gestured to Tank. "Tank lost his bond brother to a human Demon, or as the humans call them, Spartans. He would try to avenge his brother by attacking only Spartans, but command tired of him and abandoned him on a random planet."

"Plant was one Buzzsaw was stranded on." Tank added. "Tank helped him survive. Tank had no quarrel with Buzzsaw. Only Demons."

"Uh, huh…" Zen said. He was starting to make a connection with what these guys had in common.

"I, myself, was a high-ranking warrior. Unfortunately, on one mission to retrieve a Forerunner artefact, I was paired with a squad of Brutes. We got into trouble and I got stuck. They left me for dead.

"Thankfully, I freed myself and fled the planet using a human spacecraft. Thanks to a friend of mine, I discovered the location of Tank and Buzzsaw. I went to their planet and…"

"…Formed your own band." Zen said, having made the connection. "Joined by hatred of the Covenant."

"Pretty much." Buzzsaw agreed.

Tank shrugged.

"In a sense." Iro said.

Zen wasn't sure if he trusted these guys. He was dead loyal to the Covenant and its cause. For these guys to be defectors, well…

It wasn't exactly a good first impression.

"What this have to do with me?" Zen asked.

"Do you fancy yourself an open-minded person?" Iro queried.

"…I guess so." Zen said. He certainly kept his options open.

"That's why we need you." Iro said. "You are the most open-minded Sangheili I've ever met. You also good at speeches, good at rallying others."

"Well, I wouldn't call school speeches that impressive…" Zen said modestly, then blinked, realizing what Iro just said. "Hold on, are you suggesting-?"

"You're a good soldier," Iro continued. "One of the most fearless I've seen…"

"Stop, stop, stop." Zen put up his hands. "Are you suggesting that I join you guys?"

"That is correct." Iro said, seemingly satisfied.

"And what, try to convince everyone that the Covenant isn't all that great?"

Iro hesitated. "Well… not exactly."

Zen looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Zen… I know you may not believe me… but the Prophets have lied to you."

"About…?"

"The Great Journey."

"The Great…" Zen suddenly realised who these guys really were. "Hold on a minute… you guys are Heretics!"

"That's certainly one word for us." Iro commented.

Zen immediately reached for his rifle.

Tank pointed his cannon towards him.

Zen moved his hand away from the gun, but he still glared at Iro. "You guys are part of the organisation that's trying to cause the Covenant to fall apart! Trying to seize control over us! And you come up to me and ask me to join you guys?!"

"Told you he'd take it like this." Buzzsaw said to Iro.

Ignoring him, Iro said, "Those are ignorant accusations. We do not require control over anyone. We simply want to convince everyone of the truth. And we don't work for an organisation."

"Iro found evidence of lie back on Forerunner planet." Tank said. "Artefact was catalogue. Had an entry on humans in it. Showed that humans were Forerunner inheritors, or Reclaimers."

"Iro tried to tell the Prophets about this." Buzzsaw said. "But you know what? Turned out that they already knew that. They just didn't tell anyone."

"Oh, bullshit!" Zen said angrily. "If the Prophets knew that the Journey was false, then they would tell us! They wouldn't just keep us in the dark!"

"Yes, they would." Buzzsaw countered. "Think about it. The Prophets have complete control over the Covenant. If they revealed that the journey was false, then they would lose that power. There's also the possibility of revolution…"

"Ridiculous." Zen shook his head. "Next, you'll be telling me what the Rings do."

"Unfortunately, we don't know what they do yet." Iro said. "But they are irrelevant at the moment. What is important-"

"I am not joining you three!" Zen snapped. "You think I'm just going to publically declare myself an enemy of the Prophets?! My parents have already disowned me!"

"Zen, listen." Iro urged. "If you consider yourself open-minded, then why are you being so blind?"

Zen started to say something, but stopped.

"Truth's name is a title of irony." Iro declared. "He does nothing but sprout lies in order to keep the Covenant intact. He's known the role of the humans for the entirety of this war and yet he still orders their extinction."

"You can change this." Tank said to Zen. "You can help us reveal actual truth."

Zen glared at the three. "Even if I were willing to help you, how would I be able to help you lot? I'm completely out of contact with everyone else I know and the only ones around are a bunch of idiots."

"Who could be our latest recruits." Buzzsaw said.

"…What." Zen said blankly.

"Just because they aren't good soldiers doesn't mean they're useless." Buzzsaw said. "They might be good at other things."

Zen just shook his head again. "No. I will not join you."

"Open-minded." Iro reminded.

"The Great Journey is a faith, remember?" Zen pointed out. "It exists to give others hope. I need that hope. Here, I have literally nothing else. Except those guys back there."

"And this is your final decision?" Iro inquired.

"Yes." Zen said with a finality that said that the meeting was over.

Iro sighed in disappointment. "Very well. Metal Team, we're leaving."

Zen nodded and turned away. He walked off back to base without looking back.

The Metal Team jumped back onto their Phantom. Iro looked at Zen before closing the doors and flying off.

"Well," Buzzsaw said drily. "That went about as well as could be expected."

"If you had so little faith in Zen," Iro snapped. "Then why were you trying to convince him as well?"

"Call it a last ditch effort!" Buzzsaw snapped back.

"We can still convince him." Tank said.

Buzzsaw snorted. Iro looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"We can show Zen truth." Tank responded.

"Show him the truth?" Iro asked. Then he said with understanding, "The artefact!"

Buzzsaw blinked, then jumped up. "Of course! Why didn't we think of that?"

"Evidence from artefact would be too confronting to deny." Tank continued. "Zen would join us, maybe 800 Squad if we showed them too."

"Of course, of course!" Iro said. "But it'd be difficult to show them the artefact. Now that they know who we are, they won't trust us."

"Maybe we could set it up so that they find the artefact." Buzzsaw suggested. "That way, they'll discover it, find out the truth and they'll have to admit that we were right!"

"Brilliant!" Iro said happily. "So… where's the artefact?"

Buzzsaw double blinked. "Eh… Tank knows where it is, don't you, Tank?"

Tank stepped back. "No…" He said uncertainly. "I thought Iro knew where it was."

There was a small silence as they processed this.

"Oh, gods above." Iro muttered.

"Great. Just great!" Buzzsaw said angrily. "So no-one knows where it is?! Congrats, Iro, congrats!"

"Do not blame Iro for your misplacement." Tank growled.

"My misplacement?! Iro's the one who found the damn thing in the first place!"

"Yes. Over five years ago!" Tank snarled. "Is not Iro's fault!"

"Oh, yes it is, big guy!"

At this, Tank's cannon arm did something strange. Parts of it shifted as though they were trying to move, but then they moved back. Tank looked at it, frustrated. The parts moved again, then shifted back. Move, then shift. Again and again.

"So your arm still isn't working, huh?" Buzzsaw asked.

"No." Tank grunted. "Tank needs Gears to repair it."

"Maybe Gears knows where the artefact is." Iro suggested.

Buzzsaw snorted. "Gears hasn't been to the base for almost two years. Why would he know where it is?"

"Well, he still monitors the base in his almost endless free time." Iro said. "He would know where everything is because of the surveillance cameras."

"Alright." Buzzsaw said. "But how'll we contact him? We can't blow his cover."

Iro activated the Phantom and took the driver's seat. "He'll find a way. He's Gears."

"They were WHAT?!" Atar thundered.

Zen had just gotten back to base and told everyone what had happened and who the group was. As expected, their responses were more or less outraged.

"Yeah." Zen said. "Heretics."

Atar spluttered in fury. "They- They're part of the group that is trying to ruin everyone's faith?!"

"Just for control?!" Miara added.

"Actually, they seemed pretty convinced." Zen said.

"Seriously?" Utarz exclaimed. "Those fuckheads actually believe that the Journey's not real?"

"I'm surprised you do." Zen replied.

"Hey, I need something to believe in, don't I?"

"What's a heretic?" Repora asked curiously.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" He asked.

Atar sighed. "A heretic is someone who doesn't believe in the Great Journey and actively goes about trying to disprove it. Which they can't. Our religion is completely foolproof. Nothing could possibly go wrong with it!"

Repora had to stop himself from blurting out the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Tracer refrained himself from speaking his opinions.

Everyone else agreed and didn't pay much attention to the others.

"And they had the nerve to ask you to join them?" Miara asked, disgusted.

"Yup."

"I assume, of course, that you said no." Atar growled.

"Yes sir." Zen said. He added quickly, "In the sense that I'm confirming your assumption."

"Good." Atar said. "We'll make sure that those three don't every come here again."

"How?" Utarz asked.

"By strengthening our defences of course!" Atar declared.

"Right. So how'll we do that?"

"Simple!" Atar said. "First, we'll build motion-sensing turrets all around the perimeter of the base that will be programmed to shoot at anything that moves unless the target is green, purple, white, yellow, or red."

"What about blue?" Utarz asked nervously.

Ignoring him, Atar continued. "Then, at midday sharp, everyone will patrol the perimeter to make sure that no-one is around and then we will perform a quick check of the personnel and surveillance cameras. We will also have anti-aircraft cannons that will shoot down their Phantom should they approach. Finally, we will have Utarz dance in front of the turrets. Everyone understand?"

Atar was greeted by five blank stares.

"That is highly…" Tracer searched for the right word. "Ambitious, sir."

"What do you mean?" Atar asked.

"Well, for a start, we don't have the resources to build any sort of automated guns, let alone an AA gun. Every piece of metal we have is being used to repair the base."

"Which we wouldn't have to use if the base didn't get constantly blown up." Zen muttered.

"Secondly, we're not allowed to kill Utarz, remember?" Tracer added. "His father is strangely protective of him."

"He thinks I can change for the better." Utarz snorted.

"Which is a delusion." Miara said.

"Finally, they don't seem to be much of a threat." Tracer said. "They're only three abandoned soldiers. Sure, Tank seems to be intimidating, but if they wanted to harm us, then they probably would've killed Zen before he got back."

"Alright, alright." Atar muttered. "Still, I want to do something militaristic about them."

"What about joining them?" Repora asked. "It could be seen as a tactical decision and therefore a militaristic decision. And if we join them, they'll never bother us about joining them."

Everyone stared at Repora for a few seconds.

Then Atar pointed to the door and said, "Get out."

The ship that Iro, Tank and Buzzsaw had built wasn't especially large, but everything was everywhere and it was virtually impossible to find small to medium sized objects. The artefact was about the size of a computer monitor, so it too was lost.

Thankfully, Gears had a photographic memory.

Iro opened a door in the ship and talked into a radio. "Right, so it's in this room?"

Buzzsaw and Tank couldn't hear the reply, despite being right behind Iro. A moment of silence passed before Iro said, "Under the…? Okay."

Iro walked over to a large piece of sheet metal and lifted it up. Underneath was a smooth, cone-shaped object with a cut-off top. Around the edge of the top were hooks. All around the artefact were markings. Forerunner markings.

"Thanks Gears." Iro said. "You really are a help sometimes."

A pause as Gears talked.

"Yes. He's worth it." Iro replied. "Somewhat."

Another pause.

"Yes, okay Gears." Iro said, slightly impatient. "Thank you, goodbye."

Iro hung up.

"Good old Gears." Buzzsaw said. "Chatty, but trustworthy."

"So how will we do this?" Tank asked.

"We'll launch an escape pod with the artefact in it down to the planet." Iro explained, picking up the artefact. "We'll make sure that it'll create a large noise, loud enough for the 800 Squad to hear it. If they're curious enough, they'll go check it out and see what's inside."

"And then, they'll switch on the artefact." Buzzsaw finished. "And realise the truth."

"Precisely."

"So… where exactly are we launching this thing, anyway?" Buzzsaw asked.

"Well, what are the 800 Squad base coordinates?"

Buzzsaw thought about it. "Uh… 53.47, 2.23."

"Good! We'll just send it there."

"Won't it just land in the middle of base?" Tank asked.

"Well yes, but they'll still look at it." He handed the artefact to Buzzsaw. "Send this down."

Buzzsaw nodded and went off to the escape pods. Once there, he shoved the artefact into a random one and set some coordinates.

"Let's see…" He said. "53.47… 2.23… and there we go!" Buzzsaw walked away from the airlock and pressed a button.

The pod ejected into space.

Satisfied, Buzzsaw walked to the control room. In about an hour or two, they'll probably hear pleas for forgiveness and requests to join them.

Buzzsaw looked at a screen. He zoomed into the coordinates he set in and waited.

The screen showed what looked like a forest.

Buzzsaw blinked. That wasn't the 800 Squad base. What was going on?

Buzzsaw zoomed out and looked for a purple half-destroyed complex. He found it at the coordinates of 51.51 and 0.13.

It took him a few seconds to figure out what this meant.

"Shit." He said.

Author's notes

And now, you know!

Thanks for watching.

Potato.