Ch. 10 A Grand Meeting
Well here we go as the Arbiter/tress reunites with an old friend and the Chief meets his opponent in his typical fashion.
I do need to reiterate this: my schedule is on a bi-weekly basis. This week is Were It So Easy, next week is You Are Mine, Dovahkiin and then back to Were It. That's how it has been and will be for now so please note that. It gives me time to work on other stuff and time to plan my chapters so that they continue to be good quality that you all enjoy reading.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters are copyright of Bungie and 343.
"This was your idea wasn't it?" The Chief asked Cortana as he sat in his assigned room. His mind was repeatedly going over the talk he had the day before and he really couldn't wrap his head around it.
Cortana appeared on a portable terminal on a desk with a smug grin. "You wound me John…how could you believe that I had anything to do with this?"
The Chief merely raised an eyebrow. "That grin that you can't seem to hide tells it all."
Cortana for her part, laughed. "It wasn't all my idea you know. The Arbiter had her part to play in this entire scheme as well."
"And I was targeted why?" The Chief asked.
Cortana shrugged. "Considering Sangheili are attracted to strong people and you and the Arbiter had your constant arguments and battles, I guess you could say that you grew on her."
"What makes you think I know anything about this? I'm a soldier Cortana and that's all I'll ever be." The Chief replied smoothly as Cortana frowned.
"John." she said softly. "You've come a long way since the Autumn and I know that this is new but you can do it. Think of it as a new experience that your training won't help with; you need to think on your feet now and do what it seems best. If not for yourself or her then for humanity and its best interests."
The Chief fell silent in contemplation. He couldn't deny that this situation would prove useful to furthering the peace talks and strengthen any alliance that comes from this. The only downside would be that he had no say in what would happen but the rewards for humanity far outweighed that. Ensuring Humanity's survival was always the order they were given in training and that hasn't changed even though the war ended.
'Sometimes I love his training.' Cortana thought to herself as she saw the Chief deep in thought. 'Only one way forward Chief and you know it all too well.' "Chief you really don't have to go it alone you know. You have me here and you know that I won't lead you astray." she heard the Chief snort and frowned again. "Ok except for that one time when I accidently sent the elevator to the wrong floor and you ended up in the female barracks on the Cairo but that was one time!"
"One time too many." The Chief muttered.
"Hey you know that she is in the same boat as you are. You think that she knows what this entails?" Cortana asked as he shrugged. "She is just as blind as you are in this. You both are career soldiers and hold the title of best of your race but that's all you both know. She only knew the customs but that's all she knows."
"You already know my answer." The Chief said quietly as Cortana nodded.
"I know but you aren't alone here John. You have a support system like your old team and we are here to help you."
"I know." The Chief replied simply.
-Scene Change-
"Nothing new has turned up?" The Arbiter asked tensely.
"No Arbiter, we have yet to find anything else. This was done with precision and skill, practically an execution." Luka 'Vadamee stated.
The current head of security for the keep was grizzled male who had fought in the beginning of the war before being wounded and transferred back to the Keep for treatment. He lost his left eye and his lower mandible and sported a scar running from said eye all the way down to where the mandible use to be. Clad in burnished grey armor with the Keep's sigil on the shoulders and an energy pike in his hand he stood at an impressive seven-foot seven-inches with grey skin and a very muscular build. Though he was wounded by humans, he didn't have a disdain for them like the others at the time. The fact that one race had held off against an alliance of many races for so long made him think that humanity deserved respect and he gave it.
The Arbiter glanced down at the corpses of two Sangheili soldiers in an unused storage room with a snarl. "The list of suspects is short I presume?"
Luka nodded. "The Mulamaa were kept out of the Keep's main building and the prisoner was executed the next day. Only those inside the Keep could've done this and I doubt it was a member of the Keep."
"This only leaves the humans." The Arbiter growled lowly.
Luka nodded again and scratched his neck. "We can rule out the Sergeant and the Private, they wouldn't have had the training necessary. Which only leaves the Spartan and the Admiral and out of those two, I would believe it was the Spartan over the Admiral."
The Arbiter shook her head. "He has either been with me or with the other two and he has always been in sight. There has been something off about that Admiral since he was assigned here and these were the ones that were suppose to be watching him."
Luka narrowed his eye. "You think he isn't who he is trying to be?"
The Arbiter nodded. "I do and the fact he is running around unchecked isn't an issue to be taken lightly. He is here for something and we don't know what."
Luka hands tightened into a fist. "He won't be unchecked for long." Luka snarled before walking off angrily.
The Arbiter called for some servants to remove the bodies for autopsy and burial as she walked off. 'If he thinks he'll disturb the talks or my engagement then he is going to find my sword in his running through his neck.' she thought angrily to herself.
-Scene Change-
"Ah Falo my old friend." The Arbiter's father said as he embraced Falo 'Mesumaa.
"Dava 'Vadamee, still turning greyer every year I see." Falo replied as he too embraced his old friend.
"I may be grey but I still have some of my old strength." Dava replied as he led Falo into the Keep. The entire Keep had worked overtime to get it in shape for visiting dignitaries and this was no different. Banners hung from the walls and every inch of the courtyard was freshly trimmed and cut to be perfect and the warriors had donned ceremonial armor of orange and black with matching weapons.
"I see you continue to do well for yourself despite the incident." Falo murmured lowly to his friend.
"It's all I can do to take my mind off of it. I am the only one responsible for it and if I had been more careful it could've been avoided." Dava replied just as lowly.
"You and I both know something was up, if anything I too share the blame for not assisting you." Falo said as the warriors and servants bowed as they passed.
"My daughter still assumes what was said is true and I haven't told her otherwise." Dava replied softly.
"Better for her to hate you then incite a Keep war." Falo said with a frown.
"Yes, as much as I wish it otherwise." Dava replied sadly. "But enough gloom, we are here for a different reason."
"The "fight" I presume?" Falo said with a knowing look. "It was difficult to get my daughter to go along with this scheme."
"It was difficult to nudge my daughter to do what she did in the first place but things have worked out greatly." Dava replied with the same look.
-Scene Change-
"I'll tell you one thing; the Elites do know how to throw a party." Dubbo replied as he saw the courtyard was a flurry of activity as the occupants of the Keep mingled with the visitors from the Mesumaa.
"I'm just glad they took our advice on making some human edible food." Stacker replied as he ate a plate of potatoes and carrots with some weird-looking deer meat from the surrounding forests. It was a little tougher than on Earth but it was tasty.
"Their food isn't really half bad; it just looks weird." Dubbo replied as he ate some Sangheili dish that consisted of a weird blue paste rolled in a green leaf with some rice-type meal and a dark red meat.
Stacker shook his head. "You won't see me eat that." Dubbo only shrugged in response.
On the other side of the courtyard was the Chief standing like a sentinel guarding a room. He was asked by Cortana to mingle with the guests but didn't really feel up to it and for good reason. His gut instinct was going off like a bell.
"I'm sure you're overreacting." Cortana said cautiously.
"No, something is going to happen soon but I don't know what." The Chief replied as he saw a figure approach him out of the corner of his eye.
"Yea, you're about to meet someone new." Cortana laughed as the Chief shook his head.
"You must be the Spartan the entire planet is talking about." The figure said in a friendly tone.
A glance by the Chief showed a slim female Sangheili with black eyes and a toned build if her arms were in indication. She wore a black robe with a gold trim that hung down around here and a small sigil that told the Chief that she was a member of the visiting keep. (I apologize but descriptions aren't my thing if I'm doing things from scratch. If anyone has a better description please let me know.)
"I am Kela 'Mesumaa and I am your opponent tomorrow." Kela said as she looked the Chief over. 'Not too bad for a human but looks aren't everything.'
"Spartan-117." Was all the Chief replied as Kela did her best Sangheili frown.
"That's it? No name?" Kela asked as the Chief shook his head.
"No." The Chief said simply as Kela's eyes narrowed.
'No boasting about how he's the strongest or no stare down to intimidate me? Is this human that disinterested or does he have so little respect for anyone?' she thought angrily. "It's customary for two warriors to inform each other of their names."
The Chief shrugged. "My name is unimportant anymore."
'Is this human being seriously?' she thought to herself but before she could speak she caught sight of her old friend approaching.
"Kela, how are you these days?" The Arbiter asked as she stepped up to the two of them.
Kela snorted. "Very well after being discharged and sent home."
"You never could stand up to the rigors of combat." The Arbiter replied as the Chief took the time to sneak away.
"I told you." he said to Cortana and she laughed in return.
"I did well enough when I faced you in a spar. What was I…oh yes I was a Minor and you were a Zealot. I wonder how well that went over with the rest of your troops." Kela shot back as the Arbiter snarled.
"And yet I still won in the end." The Arbiter said heatedly.
"And yet there was talk of replacing you after the fight. Face it; you were being bested by a lower ranked subordinate." Kela said as the Arbiter snarled again.
"And tomorrow is when I prove just why I am the Arbiter." She said as she turned her back on Kela.
"And you wonder why you never had any friends as a youngling." Kela said as the Arbiter turned around. "I was your only friend and yet event that was always strained by your attitude."
"You know nothing." The Arbiter shot back as she walked away.
"I know more than you think Thela." Kela said as she pulled a small energy blade hilt from her pocket. It was a small token of their first fight when they were younglings and was what cemented their friendship. "I know more than you think."
-Scene Change-
"Any updates Admiral?" a female said from the communication terminal.
"Only that I have made contact with a Keep that is very interested in seeing the Arbiter taken down a peg or two. They despise her simply because she is a female and they are very traditional in their ways and customs. It won't be hard to play on their beliefs to get some cooperation." Selmon stated smoothly.
"Is that all?" the female asked again. "We need more than that."
"Would blackmail help?" Selmon asked as he held a data chip. "Apparently, they tried to force the Keep to turn over the Arbiter for marriage but she left for training in the Covenant before any message got out. They demanded compensation in return for a slight against them and Rela 'Vadamee was sent as a mediator with a small escort but they were ambushed and captured by the Mulamaa Keep and then drummed up false documents that claimed the Arbiter's father sold her mother as a slave and that destroyed this Keep's credibility."
"You have evidence of this." the voice stated calmly.
"All right here ma'am." Selmon said as he pointed to the chip. "Threaten to release this and they will sing any tune we want them too."
"How is the Keep still standing after the scandal?" the voice asked curiously.
"They control most of the off planet and they have the strongest warriors in Sangheili culture. Those two facts alone make others wary of expelling the Keep for fear of a severe shortage of goods and warriors." Selmon replied as he checked the door.
"Is something wrong?"
"I thought I heard something." Selmon replied as he turned around. "I'll contact you when I have something else." He shut off the terminal before standing up and walking out of the door unaware of a blue figure appearing on the terminal.
"So that's your game." Cortana said to herself. She was curious of an unknown channel being broadcasted off planet and listened in. "So Rela wasn't sold after all and Selmon isn't actually here for talking." Cortana allowed herself a grin. "Selmon zero, Cortana one; now let's see about that chip."
Whelp, here is another chapter and what a doozy it was. Filler but it did help explain some events of the past that no one knows about and now Cortana is onto Selmon. What happened between Thela and Kela that caused a big rift? Find out later!
Nothing really to say except read and review and I can't wait till H5 releases! Already got my copy pre-ordered even though I don't have an Xbox One lol.