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"Political Rodeo"

February 17 2528 - Hour 1733

Field Master Thela 'Vadamee

Halls outside the High Council's chamber, High Charity

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"How did it go?"

The question from Rtas was met with a shake of head. The subordinate was clever enough to pick up the mood and the situation weren't favorable for an explanation on the spot, but the expectation for this to change by the time they reached back the dropship waiting for them to get out of the palace allowed for calm and ease to lead their steps.

The guards around them were all loyal to Thela, a circumstance that was precautionary due to the high tension rising within the capital of the Covenant Empire. The War had once again met a stall, but rather than being as brutal as many had expected, the worst damage came through the various antics deployed by the Hierarchs.

Desperation was mounting, that much was evident for everyone and any plans to try and pull the Jiralhanae closer to the San'shyuum was ruined by the growing mutiny within the brutes' ranks. It was no surprise, really, as nepotism was damaging the originally meritocratic system that existed for the apes.

Then again, it would be a lie to say that Covenant's politics were the main factor around the issue. It was also a matter of the war itself, and the introduction of the new worry made by the Humans recruiting former Covenant troops in their own. The Algolis Case had been a strong enough argument to enforce an equal distribution of better rationing and better conditions for troops.

They were losing manpower that they needed to keep up sustaining the conflict and... the politicians in the Council and even those out of it were growing weary of the war efforts yielding not the results promised by the hierarchs. The irritation was building up, the rumors of potential coups were in the air but... Thela's presence in High Charity was not one to fuel such news.

She had been summoned by the High Council in an emergency session to provide her testimony of the war situation and be cross-examined by members of a commission to understand the full situation and how much of what was being relied to them was true or not. And from what she could discern without listening too much to the previous interrogations, a few shady issues were coming up to the attention of the wide public.

So, Thela was not surprised when she saw that the Hierarchs weren't happy of her honesty, with only the Prophet of Truth seemed to bear genuine anger at her full report. The council was pleased as many had reasons to start stabbing on the rhetoric advanced by the Prophets, but it would be a lie to say that a change was going to arrive within the end of the month or even through the next one.

The tension was rising, yes, but it wasn't going to get to the point where the radical moves would be made. Legislation to limit the Hierarchs' powers for the time being? That was a must, but expecting a full-on investigation this early on? Not really, not without a proper proof that they had personally propagated a lie.

And Thela was not within the intention of being the one doing the illegal investigation. Not when the truth is... that it wouldn't stop the war. As much as she wanted this to be the move that could potentially urge the political government to consider peace, the stakes they had employed for this clash were too high and the humans had hardened their stance on potential peace.

Which is why, she had a few ideas on how to put an end to this all in a somewhat reasonable and respectful way. But she couldn't bring herself to tell to anyone, not even Rtas despite her loyalty being assured to her. Not when there were too many variables to be worried about. So, the discussion back to the ship had to happen with Thela's own pace and by her control.

Just as Rtas stepped inside the ship together with the rest of the guards after Thela had taken her seat inside, the Field Master finally spoke.

"The Hierarchs are losing power. And they will start to lash out against everyone as soon as they realize how fragile their position of power is."

Rtas hummed. "Will they target the military too?"

"Only those willing to remain close to High Charity. Which is why we will be back to the front as quickly as possible," Thela remarked, giving Rtas a dry look. "This also means that I want no political discussions by officers under my command. I want them to have no reason to start targetting good troops subordinated to me. This extends to you too, Rtas."

A nod, and yet the conversation didn't end here. There was another matter to bring up regarding the war effort.

"Have you heard the recent speech from Tartarus? He still seems obsessed about that human."

Who hadn't heard of it? The stupid brute had gone out of his way to make his extreme hatred for Logan Sutton be known to everyone and relatives. It all started on Harvest, when Tartarus was first allowed to join in military operations and had seemingly scored a successful invasion of the planet. Then the human happened and the extensive sabotage had deeply damaged the reputation of anyone involved in this.

Soon after, the various defeats contributed by Sutton further cemented the notion that Maccabeus (the Brute in charge of the military operations on the surface) and Tartarus by extend by being his nephew and involved in the campaign, had been responsible for these defeats due to them not 'cleaning up as they thoroughly as intended'. Expectations were built, promotions were withheld for months and it all started to irritate Tartarus to the point that the recently-promoted War Chieftain was now eager to kill the human whenever possible.

That was going to be a potential issue to her plan, but one that could be worked in a way that it should be neutralized together with the fall of the Hierarchs. Tartarus' ilk was deeply involved with the current Prophets and any downfall was going to cause a complete collapse of their reputation. There would be no grand success that could restore that after the event unfolded and...

"I did, but this hardly matters right now. After all Tartarus' chances of breaking into the Humans' defenses are quite insignificant."

Logically-speaking, Thela knew that was the truth. But surprise can come out of nowhere and hit one on the face if they aren't watching for those. And it didn't help that humanity had its own brand of... instigators.

AN

Gambles are being set, and a big issue is soon to manifest by the next few chapters.

Also, I recently posted a new story concept in the Pxtreon. Balor Over Hell is a DxD Fanfic with a SI!Gasper. It unfolds before the DxD plot and around Gasper's late childhood. The MC goes Dio expy, but as a vampiric trap wanting a harem and having fun in the process.

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