Chapter 7: Making Camp
N'thiko 'Sattinee finished setting up the Covenant Comm Node that he had requested, along with with the Covenant ammunition crate, which contained 2 Covenant Carbines and cartridges for them, before leaning back against a tree.
N'thiko 'Sattinee reached up to his helmet and detached it, revealing his mandibled Sangheili face.
He looked down at it, looking through the glowing eye slits for a moment before he took in a deep breath of fresh air. It was chilly, as the fall wind blew through the air.
He sighed, this was not anywhere near as honorable as being on the front lines. He should be guarding the engine room of High Charity, or be on the front lines fighting against those blasphemous humans.
He closed his eyes for a moment and placed his helmet back on, and walked over to the Comm Node.
He reached to the control panel and began to input the frequency of Jik's comm system.
"Who this?!" The Kig-Yar sniper screeched
"This is your commander N'thiko 'Sattinee."
"Oh… what do you want?"
"I want you to transmit the recorded data logs recorded by the Unggoy to me for investigation."
"As you wish…" Jik said, grumbling to himself in Kig-yar
After a few seconds there was a beep from the Comm node, notifying N'thiko that a transmission was being received.
N'thiko retrieved an audio download device from his back, and hooked it up to the machine for transfer.
He sat down again and waited for the download to finish…
Twilight finished placing the last dish in the sink and headed upstairs. She wanted to check on her guests to see how they were.
Twilight was very excited to ask them some more questions, or maybe to answer theirs in return. Either way, it would be beneficial.
Twilight came to a stop in front of the guest room and knocked on the door with her hoof.
There was sound of the Unggoy chattering to each other came go a stop and the door opened.
"Hi, how's everything going?"
"Pretty good!" Wulum said
"Glad to hear. So, I wanted to give you a chance to ask me some questions, if you have any that is."
"Okay!"
The Unggoy sat back on the foot of the bed and tried to get as comfortable as he could.
Wulum rubbed his head as he thought what question he should ask first. He had a lot, but decided to start with the biggest one.
"What's all that Unicorn magicy stuff you were talking about earlier?" Wulum asked
"Well, every species of Pony is magical here in Equestria. There are 3 main types of ponies, Earth, Unicorn and Pegasus. Earth Ponies like Applejack have a special connection with the dirt, and are really good at farming! Pegasi like Rainbow Dash have wings, and are able to fly, walk on clouds and interact with the weather! Lastly, there are the Unicorns. I used to be a Unicorn myself before I became a princess, but Unicorns are the only Ponies who are able to actively perform magic.
"But… you have wings too?" Wulum asked
"Well, I said there are 3 main types of ponies, but there is a 4th rare type called Alicorns, who have both Wings and a Horn. To become an Alicorn, one typically had to accomplish some magnificent act of magic! There are only 5 Alicorns in all of Equestria, those being Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, my niece Flurry Heart and my self, who am also a Princess, as I said before.
"Right, makes sense" Zapaw said.
"Do you want to ask me anything else?" Twilight said
"Some other time, we pretty sleepy" Wulum said
"Alright, anything I can do? Do you need extra blankets? Water?"
"No. Thank you for letting us stay"
"Well that's what friends do."
"We your friend?" Zapaw asked
"Of course! Everypony who's friendly is my friend."
They nodded and Twilight stepped out and closed the door.
Zapaw and Wulum looked at the gas gauges on their wrists.
"Im good, how about you?" Wulum asked.
"Critically low, can you help me change it?" Zapaw asked
"Sure sure…" he said, turning his comrade around and beginning to unfasten his backpack's lightly armored outer shell.
A few clicks later and the shell slipped of, a small of methane gas hissing.
Wulum reached to his waist and grabbed Tilm's old Gas module from his backpack. He twisted some valves and Zapaw's slid out, leaking a small bit of Methane Gas before he closed its valve and replaced it with Tilms.
Wulum picked up the backpack's shell and placed it back on Zapaw's back, fastening it into place.
"Thanks!"
Wulum sat back down on the bed, and pulled one of their spare gas canisters from his waist and hooked it up to a hose that had come from Tilm's tank.
"What you doing? I thought you said you were good?" Zapaw asked
"I am. One of my old squadmates taught me how to do this." He replied, hooking the other end if the hose to Zapaw's old gas module and twisting it.
"Since we don't have a gas tank to refill our tanks directly, we can refill our modules and swap them when they empty! It will make it a lot easier. Long as we don't run out at same time, we're fine"
"Wulum, your a genius!" Zapaw exclaimed, sitting down in bed and beginning to curl up in the typical Unggoy sleeping position:
"Thanks!" He said, finishing connecting the tube to the module and and canister, starting the refill process.
Wulum yawned and placed his work on the nearby table, before curling up in bed and embracing sleep with open arms.
"Ahhh…" he sighed…
Back in the wreckage of High Charity,many Covenant were in a state of unrest. Various riots had broken out throughout the city and were being dealt with by Covenant military forces. From within their private quarters, Truth and Mercy prepared for a propaganda speech to discuss the new world they had landed in. Reports from their scouting party had recently come in, and the Hierarchs Truth and Mercy remained in their private quarters alone to personally examining the reports.
"This unfortunate turn of events has complicated our plan to cast out the Sangheili" Truth said to Mercy "every day I fear they come closer to the discovery of our deception."
Mercy nodded
"If they discover the truth, our rule and the Covenant will be finished."
"Precisely why I chose my name brother. To remind myself of the truth I must never speak of." Truth replied
"What do you make of this… world? He asked Mercy, curious on his brothers opinion of this strange planet.
"It seems almost mystical, like the lands the Forerunner supposedly promised us on our Great Journey!" Mercy replied
"You believe this is the promised salvation if the Great Journey?" Truth questioned
"Perhaps…" Mercy began "it is possible Regret activated the Holy Ring he discovered and… caused our ascension to godhood without our knowledge?"
"It is possible."
"Perhaps I can be of assistance in this discussion?" The voice of the Oracle 343 Guilty Spark chimed in.
"Perhaps… Oracle, what is our location? Is Salvation?The promised lands for all who walk the paths of your creators?"
"Im sorry medler, but I am afraid I am uncertain what promised lands you speak of. This location seems to be outside of all my star charts entirely, almost as if we have torn through the very fabric of space in an extreme fashion, almost similar to the methods my creators once used. And The Holy Rings? Oracle? I do not understand why you members insist on using such inaccurate transla-"
"That is all we need Oracle." Truth spoke up
Spark paused
"As you wish medler…"
"If we are in a location that a creation of the gods does not know, then we must be in a personal haven created by the gods personally for us, to reward us for our faith and devotion."
"What do we do Truth?" Mercy asked
Truth hovered away from the Oracle in its restraining field and over to the display screen which showed several photos that had been taken of the land.
"Our Covenant is rioting, and we know what can repair it. We do what we always do, and we will preach that this is our final test to claim this as our paradise. This will recover the faith of those in question, even the Sangheili. We will with or without the help of this planet's inhabitants ascend to our place as gods, like The Holy Ones before us." Truth said, smiling evilly
.
In his camp within the Everfree Forest N'thiko 'Sattinee prepared to settle in for the night. He sat against a tree with his helmet off, with a ration case in his hands. Slipping the case off, he examined the food within. Inside the pack were slices of colo meat; a cow-like creature commonly traded throughout the Covenant, and Irukan grain, along with a canteen of water. Taking a piece of colo meat in his hand, he placed it into his mandibles which quickily tore it apart and moved t back to his throat and swallowing. The meat was dried so as to be able to be stored longer, but satisfied his hunger. He placed a few more pieces into his mouth before taking a drink of his water and sealing the ration package and placing it on his hip's utility belt. Placing his helmet back on, he climbed up into a tree and placed down a set of cot-like sheets, where he laid down and closed his eyes.