Back with the next chapter, and we get to see how the meeting between the Chief and the Historian pans out.

Should hopefully be interesting at the very least, and without further ado let's get to it!

Credit for the idea for this story goes to worldwonderer2.0. And as always, all rights go to their owners as I own nothing!

"I'm sending out the landing code now. I'll let you know if anything comes up." Cortana informed the Chief who responded with a small nod.

As this trip had been two days in the making ever since Chief had spoken with this Historian. For two days he and Cortana had talked over the pros and cons of hearing him out all the while Chief had spent the time repairing the damage that the Pelican had taken from the rather hard landing planetside. But for the most part, the damage the drop ship had suffered upon landing had been mostly superficial; even so, Chief had run a quick diagnostic and did a patch job so that Pelican was ready to go... well mostly.

Because there were certain things that you couldn't exactly expect to be reliable on a ship that you had crashed from orbit. Even so, it did help that the Pelican was built tough as nails; but despite this fact, the Chief was planning on seeing if he could acquire the necessary parts and materials for the Pelican if the need occurred. But this would take place once he had finished his meeting with the Historian.

As Chief was thinking over just how he would acquire such materials for repairing the Pelican in the future, a message then flashed across the Chief's main communication panel. Looking over to see what it was, Chief quickly recognized it as their landing area; as such he quickly maneuvered the Pelican onto the correct course as a waypoint then appeared on his HUD, thanks in part to Cortana.

"Try not to bring us down too hard, as we wouldn't want an unfortunate accident now, would we?" Cortana tried to make it sound like a joke, but she was quite serious.

Despite their best efforts to midget the damage from their choice of entry onto the planet with the extra armour, the front landing gear had been damaged by the force of the impact that the ship had taken. Because of this, there was a chance that it could fail if Chief brought the Pelican too hard down on it. As such, he needed to make sure that he didn't do anything that would cause it to fail until he could acquire the parts to repair it, as it would be easier to repair it rather than start from scratch.

But thankfully this didn't seem to be a problem that Cortana needed to remind Chief about. As with a satisfactory thump, the Pelican was safely on the ground. And with the front landing gear still intact.

So as the Master Chief began the shutdown process, Cortana then started to feed him all the information she had managed to gather about this place. This process took him a couple of minutes to do, and as such he was able to listen as Cortana explained that this place was a large pop-up town; supporting the small mine operations that the government was allowed to take place on the moon itself.

"-Other than that, there's nothing really of note that I'm aware of here," Cortana said as she finished her brief at the same time that Chief finished shutting down the Pelican.

"We'll make it work." The Spartan assured her, as he then made his way to the Pelican troop bay.

"I'll set the alarm in case anyone gets any funny ideas," Cortana informed her partner, as he continued walking towards the manual release for the ramp.

All the while he scanned the crates that were piled in the normally empty Pelican troop bay.

"I would remind you that we're here just to talk." Cortana reminded him, as the Chief continued scanning the half dozen crates that were filled with weaponry.

"I'm aware," John replied as he then grabbed a plasma pistol plus a Magnum and hit the ramps and released the switch.

Once the ramp was fully extended, it then revealed the same man in black decorated armour that Chief had met previously.

"It's rather difficult not to miss you given the ship you're using. Still, we can talk more about that once we're at my residence." The Historian said as he gestured for the Chief to follow him.

Which the Spartan silently did, as he fell in behind the old man. The Chief guessed he was an older gentleman given the gate of his walk; as it was slow almost as if caused by a previous injury. Even so Chief didn't the full details, only what he had been able to observe and from what he knew walking patterns like that were usually from injuries that were old indeed.

But Chief quiet observations of both the man currently leading him and the small market around him were then broken with a most unwelcome question.

"So, where's your partner?" He then asked, and it took a moment for Chief to realize who he was talking about.

"They're staying with the ship." The response was completely automatic on the Chief part.

All the while he tried to figure out how this Mandalorian could've learned about Cortana. As such Chief needed to gather more information to know just how much the Historian was aware of before he made his next move.

Luckily for the Chief, he wouldn't have to wait long for this opportunity, as the Historian continued their conversation not knowing that he was now every word was now being weighed by the Spartan only steps behind him.

"From what I hear, she struck me as someone who would've been at this meeting between us." The Historian committed, but all this did was raise more red flags in the Chief's head.

Because by his seemingly innocent comment, the Historian had tipped his hand in showing that he had some way of intercepting the transmissions between the Pelican and the airfields controller tower. As you could imagine, the Chief didn't like the idea that he was dealing with someone that could easily do that, as it raised a lot more questions than he would've liked to deal with.

"..." Chief didn't respond to the Historians committed, as he then felt his hand start gravitating towards the plasma pistol that was on his thigh.

"Easy Chief, before you do anything just remember that I made contact with the control tower. So, if I would guess, he must've had someone pass on my conversation to him." Cortana said as she tried to defuse the situation before anything happened.

Because the AI was more than aware of just how protective John could be towards her. Still, she just hoped that this would keep John to keep to verbal probing for the time being.

Thankfully, John seemed to get the hint that Cortana was giving him, as he then moved his hand away from the plasma pistol and into a resting position. Well, what passed for resting with a Spartan-II in unknown territory mind you, as John was still on the lookout for the sights hint of trouble.

"How did you learn about them?" Chief then asked the question rather bluntly.

The Historian responded with an amused chuckle, as he then revealed what Chief wanted to know.

"Please, you should know as well as I do that it's a rather small community out here. As such if you know the right people and you can get a lot of things out here." The Historian stated simply as the Chief took a mental note to look further into that later.

"Anyway, we're here." The Historian said, as the two of them now stood in from what Chief guessed to be an old mining shaft.

Upon looking through the doorway, Chief immediately saw that there was a frigate elevator that would take him deeper into the mines. Knowing that, John checked and made sure that it could take his weight.

"Does everyone here use this?" Chief then inquired, using some of the questions that he and Cortana had been practicing to use for such situations.

"No, just me; besides I need a lot of space for what I have planned." The Historian explained to the Chief.

"Also, if you're worried about your weight, this is rated to rise ship engines." The old man then assured him.

Knowing that there was no reason to refuse to get on the lift, Chief then walked over to the older Mandalorian who pushed the button once he was standing beside him. As the elevator slowly started taking its three occupants down into the mineshaft, the while Chief wondered if he had made an error in judgment as they contained their descent.

When the doors opened moments later, Chief and Cortana were surprised by what they found. As instead of a dark and barren rock tunnel, Chief and Cortana instead looking into what could only be described as a large, museum. John was of course familiar with what a museum was, given that he had training in multiple simulated environments in case he and the Spartans were ever on a mission on which they found themselves in one.

But this place wasn't like any of those museums that he ran simulations in or had even been having been aware of. Because it seemed only halfway completed if he was being honest, as there were large scrolls of texts in Mando where Chief knew that exhibits and displays should've been. While he did see that some had nothing in them; as if they were meanly waiting until something was ready to place within them. But what was the most notable thing in the room were the large scrolls, as each one seemed to have differences between each passed.

"Well... this is different." Cortana quipped as the two men continued walking through the converted area.

As John and the Historian continued making their way through the barebones museum, one of the exhibits caught the Chief's attention. As it seemed too different from the others around it because, for the most part, it seemed to be complete; but that wasn't what caught John's attention. Because this exhibit almost seemed to be a shrine of some sort.

The Mandalorian armour in the center of it all was surrounded by many texts, images, and items that Chief couldn't identify. But strangely enough John could tell that they were impotent, even though he had no idea as to why that was.

"Ah, I see you've noticed our main exhibit." The Historian said as the Chief then approached it for a closer inspection.

As he now stood less than five feet away from the strange armoured; Chief could make out more of the details regarding the armour, but this did little to tell him why this armour or the person who wore it had a shrine dedicated to them.

"Interesting," Cortana committed as she took in all the texts, banners, and other seemingly important items that made up the exhibit.

But the Chief wasn't interested in any of that, as he was still trying to understand why this exhibit had caught his attention when the others hadn't. But for one thing, Chief was certain that it had to do with the armour itself. As he could now see many of the similarities between this set and the others, he had encountered others on the planet wearing, but there was something about it that had drawn his attention.

"That, there is a replica of Mandalore the Ultimate armour," The Historian explained to Chief as he continued to scan the armour for what had gotten his attention, "Sadly it's only a replica as I've been unable to locate where the original might be so that I can retrieve it." The Historian sounded frustrated by this fact.

John wasn't entirely sure as to why this was the case. Even so, John could take a good guess, given how the exhibit was currently set up around him and its implied importance.

'He must've been an important leader,' Chief thought to himself as the Historian then spoke up again.

"I've been hunting for it for ten kriffing years. Still, in that time I've managed to recover some things related to the Mandalore Wars which he was a part of." There was now a hint of pride in the older man's voice as he said this.

But Chief didn't notice that, as he finally figured out why the Ultimate's armour had caught his attention.

"He wasn't human." The Chief said this as a statement, not a question.

"Yes, he was of a race called Taung. Still, I doubt you came for an education. Come on, the meeting rooms just further down this corridor." The Historian said, as he then started to move away from Chief.

Taking one last good look at the replica of Mandalore the Ultimate's armour, Chief then turned and fell in behind the older man as they continued down to where the meeting was going to take place.

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the room in which the Historian had intended to have the meeting. At this time Chief and Cortana had passed at least four other exhibit areas in varying states of readiness. As they passed each one the Historian would give a summary of each gallery, whether John asked for it or not. Not that it was wasted; as Cortana learned a lot more that she could research for the Chief later on.

As these talks gave them both a little more understanding as to the current society they were currently working with. Needless to say, Cortana was fascinated with it, while Chief, on the other hand, couldn't care too much about it; other than the fact as to how this would affect their current situation in the near or far future.

But otherwise, Chief did gather some interesting bits of information from the Historian as he continued talking about the museum.

'They must have a strong sense of their history.' Chief thought to himself as his guild then opened a side door and gestured him inside.

Going inside the room that the Mandalorian had set up for their meeting, Chief was then once again found himself surprised by what he saw in the room.

It wasn't because of the nature of the room; as John had expected it to be impervious. What surprised him however was what was in the room itself. As there was a mess of papers, stones, and other items with what looked like writing scribbled across them scattered across it. Alongside all that were banners of those, you would usually associate with medieval times, hanging on the walls as well. Needless to say, it was nothing that Chief or Cortana had been expecting at all.

"I know it's a mess. But I don't have any other space available for this." The Historian apologized, though Chief didn't mind.

As the room gave the two of them a lot of visual information regardless, something which Cortana would probably spend hours looking over once they had left. But this room also raised a lot of questions for both her and the Chief; even so, those questions could be answered later. As the Chief still had immediate business to attend to the Historian then gestures for him to take a seat.

"..." Chief stayed silent and made no move towards the chair that had been offered to him.

As he knew that chair wouldn't support his weight. Seeming to understand that he wasn't going to sit, the Historian didn't make a big deal out of it as he simply got to business.

"Well, Chief you're probably wondering why I dragged your shebs out here." The Historian started only to be met by silence by the Spartan.

This went on for a minute and a half before he got the hint.

"Well then let's get to the heart of the matter then. Just who are you Chief, and what business do you have on Concordia?" The Historian asked the question, getting straight to the point.

"Why does that matter to you?" The Chief asked rather bluntly.

As he deflected the question with one of his own. At this point, the Historian sighed heavily, seemingly knowing that he was going to take some effort in getting anything from him. But it seemed he was willing to put in the work necessary, as he continued probing.

"Well, you can say that I'm interested in little oddities." The Historian then shrugged. "Besides you've been making rather big waves around here. Most of the local Clans in the area are already talking about a giant stranger in green armour." The Historian explained.

As he said this the Historian tried to read the Chief body language to get a hint of what he might be thinking. But even with his years of experience doing so with other Mando'ade, the Historian found that he couldn't get anything out of the man standing in front of him. This of course only made him more certain that he would have to play his cards carefully around him; knowing that he couldn't tell what he might be thinking.

"Do you know anything of what they'll be saying about me?" Chief then inquired; hadn't been aware that this had been taking place.

As such he needed to know more details so that he could take the apportion actions to deal with it in the future, should this become a problem.

"Since you're asked, I'm guessing that you haven't heard or don't care. Still from what I've gathered, apparently, you've been bargaining or chatting with every Mando'ade that comes into your sight. Also, you're starting to gain the attention of those higher in the food chain." The Historian explained to Chief; all the while he laid out his bait to see how the Spartan would react.

And it was in the way that he was expected.

"I'm assuming that you're offering to help me with this? If so, what will it cost me?" Chief asked once again getting straight to the point.

For a moment, the Historian had to weigh his response, as he had to decide just how much he should tell him.

"It depends; as that would be negotiated into our agreement." The Historian then showed the hand he was willing to play.

Because despite the interest that he might have in the Spartan, what the Historian needed at that moment was someone to help him with putting together this museum. So, he was hoping that he might be able to accomplish both things, and if he wasn't able to at the very least make some sort of partnership with the man at the very least.

Then again, the Historian had already realized that selling such a partnership to the Spartan would take some effort on his part. But that could be figured out later on as John finally spoke up.

"What might that price be?" Chief asked.

But as he asked this Chief couldn't help but feel that there was some kind of trap involved. But despite that feeling, John was more than confident that he and Cortana could navigate through any such traps that might be set up to ensnare them.

"For starters, you would be helping me put together this museum. As I'm getting too old to do that kind of work Chief, besides someone needs to watch over this place." The Historian admitted this much.

As he wasn't getting any younger, he had a feeling that even if he was that his opportunity to gather what he needed was closing fast. As there were already signs of what was to come from the kriffing Republic meddling in the Mandalorian system. Because the Historian was seeing this play out firsthand, he wasn't happy about it but there was little he could do about it at the moment besides completing his project to act as a culture reserve should things continue down their current path.

Besides, it wasn't the first time that he had seen events play out this way.

"Is there anything else that you need besides that?" Chief then asked the question.

As this offer simply sounded too good to be true, as such he wanted more info before he committed himself to anything.

"You would still have to explain as to what you're doing here; if only so that I can get the Clans off your back." The Historian stated simply.

As the old Mando knew that he was going to at least have something that he could feed the curious Clan if he was going to be able to hold up his end of the barge.

"..." Chief didn't respond right away, as he was trying to weigh the pros and cons of this possible arrangement.

As he knew that he couldn't tell the man everything that he wanted. But despite any misgivings Chief still had about this possible arrangement, the opportunity for him to decide his response was taken away from him when Cortana suddenly entered into the conversation.

"That would be a part of the larger negotiations of course." Cortana's voice then came out of the Chief's helmet speakers.

Cortana's sudden entrance into the conversation took both parties aback. Chief because he hadn't been expecting her to do this, and the Historian as he realized that someone other than those invited was listening in on this conversation.

"I didn't realize that your partner was going to be a part of this." The Historian said as he recovered from his earlier surprise.

"Cortana, what do you think-?" Chief started to ask before she cut him off.

"You know what I'm doing Chief. Just trust me, okay?" Cortana assured him even though Chief had something completely different to say.

But John knew that Cortana wouldn't reveal herself without a reason. So, he would simply have to trust her for the time being. Even so, Chief couldn't help but feel his hand move towards his Magnum as Cortana started to speak.

"Sorry I couldn't meet you in person. But someone had to say behind on the ship." Cortana explained her fake story to the Historian.

"No need to explain, I can understand that given the... reputation Chief acquired in his short time here on Concordia." The Historian replied.

"So, this arrangement you were talking about, do you happen to have it in writing?" Cortana inquired.

This was because Cortana was interested in what the older man was offering them, but she wanted to ensure that there weren't any hidden oblations they would have to deal with should they agree to it.

"No regrettable; as I was just testing the waters out while doing a favour for an old ori'vod." The Historian explained to her.

"Ah, so what would we be looking at if we were to join into an arrangement with one another?" Cortana then asked the Historian, as she wanted to confirm that he was giving them exactly what he was promising.

"They would be the same points as I brought up before. Help me with setting up this museum, in which I would pay you for your efforts of course. Also, if you tell me something about yourself, so I can smooth things over with the other Clans." The Historian explained his position to them.

"We could come to a deal if it's centered on that. Though we would have to talk about just how much of our business that we can reveal to you, as we're under contract not to reveal certain details about our activities." Cortana explained, keeping her answer as vague as possible.

This was because the AI didn't want to have to explain everything to this old man. At least not at this moment; as Cortana knew that Historian had to gain Chief's trust before they could tell him anything really that the Spartan might consider: Sensitive.

"Just as long as there some answers are given to the Clans aruetiise. As the Clans, aren't known for their patience." The older man then explained.

As this was what the Historian cared about. Because he had been the one to originally purpose to the Clan that they try the diplomatic option first; as such it was up to him to deliver on his purpose. Because if the Historian wasn't able to deliver on his plan, well the Clans would simply use the other option since this one failed. Something the Historian would rather like to avoid, given that in his opinion this wasn't a matter in which to spill blood over. As many other things required it much more.

"Can we make an exchange right now?" Cortana then asked as she saw a possible opening.

"Depends on what it is you're offering." The Historian replied, feeling a faint feeling of hope come up inside of him.

"What I'm purposing is that I give you an answer to your question; in exchange, you'll tell the others the same thing. Is that acceptable?" Cortana asked.

"So long as I can explain it to them, then yes." The Historian showed his hand.

As he hadn't cared about where Chief was from, but more about who he was. And honestly, from this meeting, the Historian couldn't help but feel that this man in front of him would play a big part in events to come.

"Good, do you have any problems with this?" She asked her partner in case he had any objections to this.

"The deal is acceptable." He stated simply.

As Chief trusted that whatever Cortana told the Historian wouldn't in any way breach UNSC regulations, at least that's what the Chief hoped. As it was Cortana that was choosing what information they would be sharing; but in all honestly Cortana was the better person to make that decision rather than himself; as John would've given the Mando barely anything to work with.

"Are you also potentially interested in my earlier offer to work with me?" The Historian then inquired.

There was a pause that followed, in which Chief and Cortana spoke in the privacy of his helmet's closed circuit before Cortana spoke up again.

"Can we contact you once we've made a decision?" Cortana asked him.

"Of course, just reconfirm your Com info with me and let me know once you've come to a decision." The Historian said simply, as he knew at this point that this meeting was all but over.

As the last couple of minutes were spent with both parties swapping contact information, Cortana gave the Historian the answer he and the Clans were looking for.

Though, she did starch the truth mind you, as she would entrust Chief to judge when to reveal the whole truth to him.

"We're done Chief. I'll have the ship ready to go when you're ready to depart." Cortana informed her Spartan as he started leaving the room.

But before he walked through the doorway the Historian called out to him.

"Also, one last thing Chief, I would advise you to learn the language rather than relying on that translator. Many here tend to take it as an insult." He informed the Chief about this little bit of Mandalorian edict.

As most aruetiise could get away with this, but there was a certain experience here in the home system. Especially if you were wearing what could pass for Mandalorian armour, then it was seen as a disgrace and an insult to the culture.

"Understood," Chief stated simply as he then left the room.

Minutes then went by as the Historian sat in his office, going over the conversation that had just taken place.

'If there's one thing to say about the aruetiise he's a verd.' The old Mandalorian thought to himself, as he then went over what little hints, he had picked up on in Chief's body language.

There wasn't that much to speak of in the first half of their conversation; that was until Cortana revealed herself and joined their conversation. At which point he could gleam something that he guessed to be a surprise enter his body language for only a moment before he regained control and once again shut him out from his inside world.

But before he could think deeper on this subject a most unwelcome voice spoke up.

"Is he gone?" The voice asked.

For a moment, the Historian thought about not responding to him, but he couldn't do so. As he had been the one that had brought Chief to his attention in the first place, it was only fair that he held up his end of the bargain.

"As far as I know," The Historian gave him a rather vague answer.

"You're not certain?" The other man then asked.

"You never know, especially given what's in buy'ces these days." The Historian was only half joking.

As the Historian was more than aware of how certain Mando'ade had certain specialized tech in their helmets that allowed them to eardrop on their targets. So, there was the possibility of Chief having that, still, the point was rather mute now given that his partner had relieved himself.

"So, let's make this quick then." The other Mando said as he then emerged from his hiding spot.

Sighing to himself, the Historian then waited as the old man sat in the chair that had originally been meant for the Chief.

"The Clans are going to try and claim him; that much I can already tell." The Historian stated this as fact.

As there was no point hiding this fact. Besides, he preferred this to be an open conversation considering what was possibly at stake.

"The aruetiise has shown skills and has technology that would benefit any Clan that can claim him." The other Mando stated the obvious fact.

And that was it; the thing that the Historian knew wasn't the reason why his Mandalore Jaster Mereel had fought the Mandalorian Civil War for. As it seemed that many of the Clans didn't see the potential in Chief that he had during his conversation; as they only saw him as something to be used.

So surely, he and all his True Mandalorians brothers didn't galar tal'galar of fellow Mando'ade just to see all their hard work be lost!

'Ni ceta ruug'la ori'vod.' The Historian then thought to himself.

But at this point, his choice had been made for him. As the Historian simply couldn't stand by while the Clan started to undo all the hard work that he, Jaster, and all the other true Mando'ade had worked so hard to preserve during the Civil War and currently under Satine regime.

"And if I would lie came to him?" The Historian then asked.

His question was only met with laughter until the other man realized that he was serious.

"I never took you to be an utreekov jare." The other Mando sounded shocked by this sudden development.

As the Historian had so far kept out of the current power struggle that was taking place between the Satine sect of Mandalorians and the rest of the population at large. So, it was a rather big surprise for him to take this kind of stand considering how long the Historian had been on the sidelines for most of this time.

"Not when I can do better." The Historian then retorted.

"You can do better than the Clans? You are a ruug'la utreekov." The mockery was evident in his voice.

"Why not," The Historian retorted, "As it's obvious to me that the Clans can't beat him, at least not openly."

The Historian was willing to put all the credits how to own on this statement. As he could tell that Chief was a verd that could only be approached from a position of respect. As such the Chief simply wouldn't be cowed into anything he didn't wish to. As such you had to play fair with him, less you met the wrong end of the blaster, or in Chief's case slug thrower.

That much the Historian had managed to gather from their short conversation.

"If you were to do this ori'vod; then I can't protect you. As the Clans leaders wouldn't allow me to do so should you do this." His ori'vod informed him of this obvious fact.

"I've survived without the Clan's support before. I can do so again." The Historian said this as if this wasn't a big deal.

"We will see ruyot alor; we'll talk soon." The other man said as he then got up and left.

Leaving the Historian there to think about what he had just done. But there hadn't been a choice, not if he was going to live up to the legacy of his old burcyan and Mandalore.

As he just hoped that this outsider; this Master Chief was worth the risk he was taking. But somewhere deep within the Historian's heavy burden heart, he knew that he had made the right choice.

But now it was a question as to whether he could keep the Chief and Cortana out of the Clans' clutches, as he then turned back to his workbench to ponder just what he could do to ensure that it didn't happen.

And perhaps show them all what he saw within the man himself.

Mando'a dictionary:

Shebs - Short for shabiir, meaning screw up or screwed up

Buy'ces - helmets

Aruetiise - traitor, foreigner, outsider

Galar - spill, pour

Tal'galar - spill blood, bleed

Ni ceta - sorry (lit: I kneel) grovelling apology - rare

Mando'ade - Mandalorians (Pl) - sons and/ or daughters of Mandalore

Jare - kamikaze - someone taking a fatal, foolish risk

Utreekov - fool, idiot (lit. emptyhead)

Ruug'la - Old

Ori'vod - big brother, older brother, special friend

Ruyot - the past, history

Alor - leader, chief, *officer*, constable, boss

Burcyan - friendship, comradeship, close bond

Verd - soldier, warrior

So, I hoped that you enjoyed that little chapter.

As Chief got to make a choice, while the Historian has made his. Still, I hoped that I didn't butcher the Chiefs character too much by doing this, anyway, let me know if that's the case and what I should adjust in future chapters.

Still, I hope that the reediting worked out well, also the dictionary was needed, but that's all for today and until next time, have a good one.