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"Pay the Toll"

March 12 2527 - Hour 0721

General Thela 'Vadamee

Core Section, Shield 0459

Fear is such an odd thing.

Many would say it is the inner feeling that prevents ones from running into danger. After all, one feels fear the most when they are facing something that, logically, can't be beaten. Thela felt fear regardless of the many times she showed herself fearless. Some of which she was good at hiding, but she found her newfound concern to be difficult to hide as Ripa had struck her in a manner not many hadn't. And that was putting through a plan which she couldn't exactly counter without a safe counter-measure. It made her feel weak- no, it made her feel like a little girl and... and she hated it.

Years of training and war experience, and she was turned into a mess just like that. It was so embarrassing, so infuriating even. And she knew that things would have been different had another Arbiter been picked. Why Ripa? Wasn't the Arbiter meant to be a paragon of virtue? It was a question that had been burning in her mind for days now. Why? Why him?! And then... then the bastard snapped at her refusal. First by threatening her and putting her in a bad spot, but also... by giving her the chance to retaliate.

When Rtas had told her how a large part of her battalion had been seized and captured, and among those there was Chol Von, Thela had broken away from her reluctance and doubt, allowing her irritation to take over. The cause of this harsh move? Attempted sedition and high treasons. On which grounds? Unknown. In layman's terms, she now had reasons to march to Ripa and make him a female because of this horrible mistake.

To Thela this was personal, but in the eyes of the high command this was just a commander punishing a leader's effort to sabotage their own operations. It was clear what had forced Ripa's hands in that regard, why he made such an erroneous call during a time when they needed all potential manpower to hold back the humans. It was her. He wanted to come back at her for resisting him. And in his harshness, he made a mistake. One that set her straight-

Well, first there was that which straightened me up.

The hug set her straight, but it was Ripa's own mistake which gave her that inner strength to be this bold with her manners. Two of the guards had tried to stop her, they tried to undermine her rank. Sadly, a blade was unwilling to listen to this sort of mannerism. While Rtas wasn't there, that didn't mean Thela was weak. Never weak, just... distracted. And now that her mind was focused, no obstacle was going to stop her from handling out a proper punishment of what the bastard was doing.

Tediously so, he wasn't alone. Ripa looked surprised, the Prophet of Regret looked merely intrigued as she stormed into their meeting by the platform giving to the dormant fleet they were trying to activate. Sadly, with the Oracle of this Core Planet turning on them, it was no longer a viable option. Not when their other Key managed to slip out of their grasps during the massive barrage that tore through their external defenses.

"General 'Vadamee," The San'shyuum greeted, glancing calmly between her and the Arbiter. "I wasn't told that you were to join us for this meeting."

"She wasn't."

Ripa's tone cut coldly into the pleasantries, but Thela spared him no concern.

"High Prophet, I apologize for my interruption. But I believe the Arbiter is currently trying to sabotage our campaign."

"Slander. Lies," The taller Sangheili angrily hissed, but his attempt to rush at her was stopped by the hand raised by the prophet.

"That's quite the strong accusation. What proof do you have to corroborate this?"

A nod, and Thela started to list out all the problems she found on a more strategic side of things. She couldn't bring up personal conduct, not when Ripa was elevated to the position despite his treacherous behavior against the Covenant. Trying to use that was going to yield little momentum.

Which is why her focus was the many mistakes her leader made, the many times he was advised to better options but outright refused and allowed the losses to be as excessive as they were now. And even then, the High Prophet of Regret was a dubious figure due to its peculiar passion for Forerunner Technology. In this case, this played in her favor. This situation had escalated to the point it was safe to assume they were not going to survive if they tried to retrieve the technology within this core world.

"That's... indeed a distressing escalation," The San'Shyuum argued. "And you mentioned your own force was mostly detained for bringing this up to the Arbiter, correct?"

"They were planning to betray me-"

"And if they had, I would have praised them for not being mindless drones to a fool," The Prophet raised his voice. "If I recall correctly, our talk was to address how your actions had created friction between us and this planet's Oracle. We were meant to befriend it-"

"The humans lied to it. We would have made the Oracle see our point."

"Through brute force. Such a flimsy way to address this matter considering an Oracle is above any strength you may have," Regret sardonically rebuked. "And I can tell that the situation is indeed terrible. Can you secure our victory, General?"

The sudden question almost had her stutter, but Thela held up. "I'm afraid this battle can't see us with the victory you asked of us before this campaign started. However I can make sure most of our force survive and make a safe return home after sabotaging the Forerunner fleet."

It was a risky explanation due to what this entailed to them but... Regret slowly nodded at this.

"Considering how we no longer have certainty in our steps, I agree that it is best to deprive our foes of means to destroy us."

"We can still secure the fleet," Ripa argued angrily, barring his fury for all to see. "The humans- they are going to yield to us if we manage to destroy their ships-"

"The Oracle is protecting the humans. We would enrage the old defensive system even more if we go through that ordeal."

"Hence why I agree with General 'Vadamee."

"She is a mere General, your holiness," The Arbiter shot back. "The high command is clear about this sort of-"

His argument was cut short as a new intruder came through. A low-rank Sangheili, and one Thela could tell was subordinate to Ripa. He looked terrified by something and Thela felt a chill go down her spine.

"High Prophet, I come bearing bad news!" The Sangheili looked incredibly terrified.

"And that is?" Regret hummed, his smoothness half-lost at that unplanned interruption.

"Th-The prisoners. They were caught and- and it was the humans."

Thela felt her mind burn as her anger grew twice in intensity compared to before. She never felt this furious towards someone to the point of murdering them. Actually, she did. But never against a superior. Never so intensely. She thought of Chol Von- did she survive? She had to. But what really troubled her was the one thing that could come out of this. And that was a case of defections. Still, dreadful silence ensued, but Regret looked amused than anything else.

"And I guess this could potentially lead to numerous genuine defections to humans."

"No," Thela replied instantly, the swiftness of her response gaining the overall attention. "While some may have grown disgruntled with the steps taken in this campaign, I can confidently say only a few will defect."

"Traitors-"

"I said to keep your mouth shut, Ripa," The Prophet harshly interrupted, a glare now aimed at the Arbiter as Ripa was brought to a state of muted fright. The outburst was new to Thela too, and she could tell her tormentor didn't expect this sort of reaction. "The rise of mistakes and failures will not be ignored. I stand by my decision and I believe you are right- a mere General can't take charge of the army."

He turned to Thela. "Yet a Field Master would. A fitting promotion considering the risky task given to you. Prove us that you are worthy of this, Thela 'Vadamee. Bring this army back home and destroy anything that the humans could use against us."

Thela offered a polite smile and left after bowing at the prophet. Ripa growled, but he was spared no greeting and the Prophet smiled widely back at him as he quietly promised him eternal suffering for ruining his plans like that. But Thela couldn't muse over his despair. She had to save her troops, impose the destruction of the dormant fleet and then force through the limited human blockade so her troops and Regret could live to see another day.

A smile appeared on her face, knowing that she will not accept a loss this time around.

AN

The 'Woot Woot Woot' is strong in Thela.

P.S. I now have a discord server! Discord .gg/ceBMM2Zz6c

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Austin: I didn't play much Warhammer 40k and I know very little of the lore. I can't generally produce an opinion without sounding extremely ignorant of the general events usrrounding the lore and the events in it.