Phase 23: Alpha Moon

Within a week, the UNSC secured the new rebirth of Venus and began setting up research centers there to test the planet, which now has perfect conditions for humans to live on.

Alisa, Cortez, Yuri, and Sela were traveling to a Sangheili colony world called Glyke, which is known for its strong rivers, thundering winds, and sand. The ocean moon of Glyke, Sofu'Eron, orbits the planet, showing off its beautiful green sea in the purplish blue sky.

The team was on a double date within the markets of the city-state of Tana on the huge island in the middle of the planet's vast blue-green oceans. "This is beautiful," Alisa said as she was in a simple blue dress fitting her tall shapely figure while Yuri and Cortez were wearing casual wear.

"Thank you, Glyke has been a colony for my people for thousands of years. Over 7 Billion Sangheili live and work here. It has one of the covenant's biggest shipyards and forges. It will help aid in rebuilding the Swords," Sela said.

"The only beautiful thing is you Sela in that lovely gown you got on," Yuri said as Sela was sporting a bright red flowing gown fitting her well-rounded pear frame. Sela feels a purple flush appearing on her face.

"Thank you, my dear, I only look the best for you," Sela said to show her serpentine tongue from her throat to sweetly lick his soft human lips. "So warm and soft. Wish I could properly kiss you," she said as Yuri kissed his tall graceful partner.

"What you do is enough," Yuri said as Sela curled her mandibles into a smile or something similar. Yuri then placed his hands on her long neck to stroke it softly, melting her insides with his tender touch.

"Get a room," Alisa teased them but they didn't care.

"That would be a wonderful idea," Sela said letting out a low growl from his gentle caresses.

Sela is guiding her human friends towards a shop serving the bounties from the rich fields of fruits and vegetables from the farmers on Glyke.

"Welcome Mistress. You brought your human friends," the Sangheili merchant said.

"Yes, we are enjoying these lovely sights of the city here. We are here to try your food wares," Sela said as the Elite bowed his head.

"Yes, milady. Come to the table here and we will set up food dishes for you," the merchant said as the four sat down at the table to enjoy the local culture to see the many Sangheili looking curiously at their three human guests led by a lady of high status.

"Thankfully we never went with nuking this place," Yuri said.

"Yeah, it was the plan but I am glad it didn't go through with it. This is a lovely place," Alisa said.

"We are friends now. I am thankful no more blood would be against our species. Now you will enjoy some Rust berry wine and the other fruit delights from this planet," Sela said as the server Grunt came in with a data pad.

"What will you be having ma'am?" the Grunt asked.

"I would love to get Rust Berry wine and a Golden bouquet, please. Share with my friends here," Sela said as the Grunt put their orders on his data pad. Sela transfers her Gekz, which is money used by the Old Covenant and is now in the Swords and other groups.

"Alright, we are going to serve you up some delightful greens," the Grunt server goes back into the building.

"So how is the operation going with Kamchatka?" Alisa asked.

"We have a battle plan in place. Your ship the Eternity will aid in our assault on the last bastion of the Storm Covenant. Jul will not escape this time," Sela said.

"Getting Doctor Harley as well. It's going to get rough down there," Cortez said.

"Indeed, also we found out about a shadow contract made by the Banished in Iriru Armory," Sela said.

"Really?" Cortez asked.

"Yes. One of our shipmasters one rouge joined the Banished. His name is Let 'Volir. He was part of the fleet of Recalcitrant Ire which is one of the many fleets within the Swords. He hated the Arbiter making peace with humanity. He took his ship and crew to join the Banished to claim some nonsense honor which he didn't have to begin with,"

"These Elites joining the Banished are only seeking military honor and can't change with the times," Yuri said as Sela nodded her head in agreement.

"Indeed, despite the Covenant corrupting our honorable ways. He wants to keep the war going. Spiteful bastards. All Elites who join the Banished are considered dead and will be killed on sight. After we deal with Jul, I am going to gun for Let next. We closed the loopholes he and other high-ranked Elites made to keep the Banished out of our business on Sanghelios," Sela said.

"Seems like there are still outlining within your society," Yuri said.

"Yes but once we took out the Storm. The others will fall in line and see the writing on the walls. The Swords will be able to rule over the rest of the colony worlds connected to Sanghelios. Then we can focus on the Banished and the Didact's forces," Sela said.

"I have been seeing your weapons and vehicles are getting massive upgrades," Cortez said.

"The Prophets were holding us back. Now we can modify and improve our patterns and ships. Along with all the forerunner tech, we are gathering. We can give us a big boost to get ahead of other splinter factions like the Storm and Banished," she said as the Grunt returned with glasses of Rust Berry wine along with bowls of various fruits and vegetables.

"Enjoy the meal guys," the Grunt server said to let them enjoy.

"Good, our food has arrived. Time to crew on it," Sela said grabbing onto the wine to put the glass in her mandibles to hold it in place to put it down her mouth and throat. "So sweet and a bit of buzz," Sela said as the humans drank the wine as well.

"Wow, this is pretty good," Cortez said as his cybernetic eyes showed surprise at the wonderful taste.

"Delicious indeed," Yuri said.

"Killer drinks here," Alisa said as Sela was happy her friends were enjoying this.

"I am happy to hear it. We got an assortment of greens here like Rust Berries, Tear Melons, Root Bulbs, and Vice Drops," Sela said as the bowls were very colorful with Sangheili fruits and vegetables.

"Smells nice," Alisa said as she grabbed a slice of tear melon to bite into it. "Very sweet and refreshing," she said.

"They are my favorites," Sela tears pieces and puts it down her throat with her tongue taking in the wonderful tastes swelling within her.

"So got any war stories to share to kill time?" Yuri asked.

"I got a sad one. It involved me and our group seeking out what remains of the Heretics after the Arbiter killed their leader. The second in command Loka 'Bandoleewas part of my keep and we were sent in to finish the job to kill the traitors," Sela said to bite into her fruit to shove it down her throat.

"Regrets about it," Alisa asked as Sela hung her head in shame.

"Enough to fill a nebula. They speak the truth when we cut them down. I had my troubles with the Prophets and their sneaky moves but by then it was too late. I led a fleet to take the moon of Threshold Basis where the heretic made camp within the ruins of the Halo," Sela said as she recalled the mission.

Flashback Begins

Sela gets sent by her keep to take out the traitors of the Covenant on the moon around Threshold where Alpha Halo was destroyed by The Demon. She commands her father's Blockage Runner the Whispering Death along with a small task force consisting of 4 CPV-class heavy destroyers and 10 CRS-class light cruisers. She has a group of Grunts, Slugmen, Hunters, and Elites under her command to take out the remaining heretics on the moon.

"Seems like the Arbiter missed a few ones here. We need to deal with them," Dek said in his Keepward combat harness to wield a Concussion Rifle, Energy Sword, and a Needler.

"I should be going after the Banished but these Heretics are still clinging here after the death of their leader," Sela said.

"Of course, dealing with those savages should be a concern but the hierarchs see them as a mere afterthought," Dek said feeling suspicious about all this. "Things are getting hazy lately," he said.

"The Prophets always seem to push their agenda. Getting wildly close to the Brutes," Sela said.

"Indeed. We got a job to do, deal with the Heretics and clear out their second in command who had taken over the remaining forces," Dek said as Sela was within her custom Scion combat harness with an enclosed helmet with a blue glass visor. She is using a Particle Carbine, Energy Sword, and Plasma Rifle.

"Lobo should have never left and now he needs to deal with the consequences," Dek said as she commanded her troops to get into dropships and drop pods to go into the reddish moon's surface. They look upon the ruins of the Halo ring along with the Gas Giant Threshold and its moon in the background.

"Everyone prepare for combat. Show no mercy to these heretics," Sela ordered on their battle network for she got into a drop pod.

Soon enough the moon is ablaze with Covenant forces invading it with the rebels trying to hold them back. She falls onto a valley to kick the door on her pod to see she is spread out from her team. "Mistress, are you okay?" the Shipmaster said on her comms.

"Yes I managed to get down onto the surface," she said as she checked her armor systems including her Overshield, Energy Dagger, Point Defense Shield, and Active Camo are all online.

"Good, we got some troubles. They set up some large guns knocking down our gunships. We need to take out to make a hole in their defenses to land more of our troops," the shipmaster said.

"Okay, I need to move," she checks the energy gauge on top of her Particle Carbine to see it at 100 percent.

"Good hunting mistress," the Shipmaster said as she wielded her carbine to use her cloaking device to sneak up on the ridges to see incoming patrols of Heretic Elites and Grunts. She grabs a Needle Grenade to toss it below to let it spread out pink shards which trigger several super combines reducing them to bodies of broken bloody corpses.

"We can't let his word be silenced," an Elite said using his Carbine to put shots onto Sela with her Overshield easily eating the shots. She turns her Particle Carbine to put purple energy beams onto his head to take him out quickly.

She keeps moving to see a Heretic Grunt appears holding a Fuel Rod Gun. She pulls out her point defense shield to block the incoming explosive shot to draws her weapon to put the beam into his head killing him quickly. Her shield was weakened to see it flicker but still functional.

"Always have a backup shield just like this," she thought to keep going to see Heretic Spectre seeing her and opening fire with the turret. Bolts of blue plasma skirt across the desert landscape with Sela rolls behind the cover.

She tosses a Flare grenade to let out a big flash of light blinding their vision. She comes in from a different angle to put precise shots into their heads to knock their shields and kill them off.

She can see the first anti-air battery covered with multiple enemies and Ghosts protecting it. She comes down to use her cloaking to begin picking off the weaker units to cause panic within their ranks. She pulls out her Energy Sword to slice and chop off their heads leaving behind corpses behind.

"Death to the Prophets," one of the grunts said as she used her Plasma Rifle to gun down the grunt with her using her arm shield while using the Plasma Rifle in the other hand. She rushes forward to the big gun turret to take out more Grunts and take out Shade turrets with tossed Plasma grenades.

"Don't let her near the gun," an Elite fires his Carbine to hit her powerful shield with her unloading blue bolts into his shields to melt through them and take him down. She sets up an anti-matter charge underneath the tower to run away to see the anti-air tower getting destroyed in a big blast.

"So Mistress, you have shown up to lead the charge against us," Loka said on the battle network via using his old commlink with Sela.

"How dare you speak to me so casually traitor. You abandoned your keep," Sela is not pleased to hear his voice.

"Milady, you must understand I didn't do this lightly. You can see the Prophets are blinding us with lies and you have noticed the Brutes are getting special attention from them," he said as what he said is true but she has a job to do.

"Sorry I need to take you out," Sela said.

"I am sad to hear that milady. Your comatose father would have two broken hearts when I send his daughter's head back to your keep on Sanghelios," Loka said to turn off the line.

"What's happening?" Dek asked as he was nearby to regroup with Sela.

"Loka contacted me. Wasted his breath," Sela said.

"We need to stay focused milady. The enemies here are getting more desperate. The last gun is nearby," Dek said as he regroups with Sela for the two to push forward.

"Push forward, I will cover you," she said wielding her Particle Carbine while Dek came in with his Concussion Rifle to pepper the battlefield with explosive plasma scattering Grunts across the desert floor.

"Watch it, they have Sentinel support," one of the Elites said on the comms to see a huge Steward Sentinel blasting apart Spirits and Phantoms out of the sky.

"The reports a correct. The heretics have aid from the holy warriors of the Forerunners. This doesn't add up at all," Dek said as he took down groups of Aggressors with his explosive plasma shots.

"I know. The Heretics with the Sentinels," Sela said as they approached the last gun tower in the region to see Grunts, Elites, and Eliminators.

"We need to take control of that tower to take out that Steward to clear up the skies within this region," she said as she fired from afar with Dek rolling in to with Needler. He tosses a Needle Grenade to super combine multiple enemies to scatter their bodies across the field. Sela is knocking down Eliminators with purple energy beams with Dek killing off the remaining forces with his Needler.

He gets onto a terminal to control the anti-air gun to strike down the Steward turning it into scrap metal. Then they place an anti-matter charge to destroy it to free up the skies. "Good. We wiped out the defenses. Time to flood the area with manpower and firepower," the Shipmaster said as the area was engulfed with battle and blood. Sela's forces fight against the defending heretic forces along with their Sentinel allies.

A few Spirits drop in Wraiths and Revenants to give ground support while Gigas Fighter Bombers swoop in to destroy sections of rebel formations with plasma barrages turning them to burning ash.

Slugmen Minors wielding Pulse Carbines to put targets down from afar, Hunter Majors come in with their Fuel Rod Cannons to pepper enemy positions, and Banshees come in from the sky to bomb turrets and vehicles.

"Come my milady. Let's take the Revenant," he said as Sela piloted it while Dek was on the side using his Concussion Rifle to speed off with the battlefield consumed with conflict. Heretics were getting back into the corner with the full might of Sela's task force overwhelming them.

"You can't do this. You will be betrayed by the Prophets. To be tossed aside for those savages," Loka said.

"Keep going," Dek said to fire his rifle to tip over Ghosts to kill off the grunts piloting them. Sela is strafing away from Wraiths to fire her vehicle's plasma mortar to hit the tank a few times until it explodes killing the driver. She takes on the next Wraith with Dek firing his weapon at the Ghosts trying to flank them.

The others take out the Ghosts with Sela taking out the second Wraith to clear the way through the ruins of Alpha Halo. There is a dugout where rebel troops are trying to hold them off with the Hunter Spec Ops armed with Disintegrator Cannons unleashing streams of burning plasma into the underground holdout burning everyone alive while hearing their terrible screams from the Hunters' vicious attacks.

"Coming in on the hideout of the rebels. They can't hide from us any longer," the Shipmaster said as Sela was using a boost to slam through hordes of Grunts scattering their broken bodies across the desert sands.

"You can't run from this, Loka," Dek said.

"I would rather die than be a slave to the Prophets' lies," Loka said on the battle net with they came into a cave opening that led into their main base of operations. He prepares his final stand to get into a Locust Walker equipped with a powerful shield barrier.

Sela's force cracked inside to wipe out his forces with his Sentinel allies trying to stop them. The Locust appears along with Guardians and Enforcers backing him up. A Guardian uses its eye laser to vaporize a pair of Hunters with ease. An Enforcer is destroying Wraiths and Revenants turning them into burning scrap.

"By the gods, take cover," Dek said as the two leaped out of the vehicle to see it get destroyed by the Locust's focus cannon.

"You got to be kidding me. Focus on the walker, take out its guards," Sela ordered with Tan-Tan coming in with a Fuel Road Gun to lob into the Enforcer to knock it back onto the ground exploding from the strikes.

Dek uses his Energy Sword to cut down incoming Grunts and Elites trying to stop them from reaching their leader. "Out of my way," Dek said as he switched to his rifle to fire his explosive plasma bolts to take out the Guardians.

Sela switches out her Plasma Rifle with a fallen Fuel Rod Gun. "I am going in," Sela uses her Active Camo to sneak up with Dek using his Needler to trigger super combines on Aggressors and Grunts to scatter their bodies across the cavern's floor.

Ten-Ten backs up Dek with his own Fuel Rod Gun to clear out groups of enemies. Dek is using both his sword and Needler to clear out rebels and robots with his expert use of his weapons.

"Face the truth. The Great Journey is a lie and will doom us all," Loka said as Sela was behind him to use her heavy weapon to crack the barrier while striking the Locust. "No don't," Loka begged as Sela fired her last shot which killed Loka in a deadly explosion.

"Okay, 1 dead heretic down. Mission complete," Ten-Ten said to give them a thumbs up.

"Oh how cute, a human gesture. You picked that up somewhere," Sela said to be amused by it.

"Yep, saw some humans do it and I thought it was neat," Tan Tan said.

"Indeed it does. Come on, let's head back to the ship and clean. Reporting the rebel leader is dead," Sela said on the battle network for their mission is successful despite the Forerunners weirdly helping the heretics.

"Something truly awful is happening here," Dek said.

"The Prophets are acting wield but he betrayed his keep and now the debt has been paid," Sela said.

"I feel we are getting closer to ending this war with the humans but I feel uncertain about this," Dek said.

"I know the feeling. We have to take it one step at a time," Sela said as they routed out the rebels on Basin.

-Flashback Ends-

Sela recalls this story to sigh at this. "Another learning experience. We should have listened but we were bound by duty. Now Loka and Sesa are sent as heroes. They have monuments on the moon of Basis where their bold rebellion led to rest. They moved us all to undo the past and move forward into the future. Where the Elites will become honorable warriors like we once were before the Prophets twisted our honor and grace into savagery," Sela said sounding regrettable about her past actions.

"Well, everything all worked out," Alisa said as Sela smiled at this.

"Indeed it did," Sela said as they finished their meal. "That was refreshing," Sela said as they went off to check out the rest of the city with the two couples splitting off.

"Man, this place is quite a treat," Cortez said.

"It is, everyone is so lively here and friendly too," Alisa said as some of the Elite Citizens about humans being here.

"Some of them giving us bad looks," Cortez said to see others look at them with suspicious stares.

"It will go away in time. We are friends now," Alisa said.

"Would ONI even allow this?" Cortez asked, despite the high command and the government telling them to cut operations against friendly factions of the Elites. They were still trying to undermine them but the Arbiter still keeps going despite that," Cortez said.

"We will reach that point when we get there," Alisa said.

"They experimented on the Flood. Everything that almost doomed Earth and the galaxy almost twice now. Fucking around with stuff like that is an act of betrayal yet they are still around," Cortez said feeling uncomfortable with what they did.

"Lord Hood and Madam President are doing a shakeup of ONI since their acts led the Storm to create an even bigger threat with the Didact. If this keeps going, they are going to be replaced with something else. They have gotten too strong for their good," Alisa said.

"Yeah but we still need to defeat the Storm and recapture Doctor Harley to focus on," Cortez said as Alisa poked his nose cutely.

"Hey, we should be on our date, right? We should be enjoying this alien world," Alisa said as Cortez sighs at this.

"Yeah, you are okay Six. Things are going too fast lately," Cortez said as Alisa pressed her hand on his chest.

"Come on, there is a clothing shop nearby. I want to see what kind of Elite clothing I can get my hands on," Alisa said taking his hand to guide him to the shop to see a display of lovely female clothing on the shelf. "So pretty," she said as the shopkeeper was excited to see humans in her humble little shop.

"Hello there humans. I am Tel, the owner of this well-worn shop to serve your clothing needs," the female Elite clerk said. "Oh, you must be the guest that Lady Sela was hanging out. You are the talk of the town," Tel said sounding excited.

"I bet. You look very nice ma'am," Alisa said as the female elite was wearing a bright red dress framing her graceful slender form.

"Oh thank you, I have made myself. It's all knowledge I gain throughout the decades my family has been doing this," she said.

"Well I want to buy a dress here to be a nice token of my trip here," Alisa said as Tel was happy to hear this.

"Oh making a dress for a human. That would be a lovely gesture. Normally, I can't fit you due to your unique traits," Tel said to look at Alisa's overly large chest.

"I can see that. I am a mammal creature after all," Alisa said lightly.

"Indeed, I need to account for your beautiful curves. I need your measurements, come into the room and we can begin. Your mate can come as well and see the progress," Tel said as they went into another room filled with fabrics and materials made for custom-fitted outfits for her female clients.

Alisa strips out of her dress to only be in her blue sports bra and light blue panties showing off her wonderful lean curvy frame while having scars, plasma burns, and bruises along with her deathly pale skin.

"Wow, your body paints a big picture about your skills as a warrior. Very interesting and it's quite fit for combat," Tel admires her fit body.

"Thank you, I train a lot," Alisa said putting her hands on her hips to be proud of what she could do.

"He is quite the keeper," Cortez teased her as Alisa blushed from this.

"Stop it," she protested but she enjoyed his teasing.

"She is so cute when she flustered like that. Acting all serious but she can be silly sometimes," Cortez said.

"Okay little bit," Alisa admitted enjoying this back and forth with her boyfriend with Tel laughing at this.

"You two are cute together. Wish I can find a proper mate for me but I am too busy with work," Tel said.

"So how are people feeling about humans on Glyke?" Cortez asked.

"Oh, it's fine. Some old heads are not fond but the youth of our kind are taking you in with open arms," Tel said.

"With two Spartans here," Alisa asked as Telcouldn easily tell they were Spartans due to Humans normally being a bit bigger than a Grunt.

"Indeed. Our best warriors have been training with you at Anvil Initiative since several earth cycles ago. The word Demon we gave you was once an insult and then turned into a sign of respect. Together we can push further than ever before," Tel said.

Both Spartans know the Anvil Initiative is a cross-training and evaluation program of the United Nations Space Command and Swords of Sanghelios, aimed at providing a framework of mutual cooperation between the two species in the increasingly hostile post-war environment of the Milky Way Galaxy.

"Makes sense," Cortez said as they had seen firsthand how Spartans and Elite fire teams were able to do crazy things together.

"We know you have bad apples like ONI but we know your leadership is doing this in good faith. I am excited to see what we can do together," Tel said as she was finished. "All done," Tel playfully pats Alisa on the butt to make her jump.

"Thanks. I will send you the information to send the dress to," Alisa said.

"Good. Your credits will be converted into Gekz and we can set this up. Good doing business with you," Tel said as they went off to see other areas to enjoy the rest of the day.

Elsewhere near the rebel planet of Gao, the Warden is on the bridge of a forerunner warship to see the composer being deployed to turn millions of humans into Knights adding to their growing army. "These human rebels are easy to pick off. Defenseless against our might," the Warden said.

"Indeed, things are going smoothly. A bit too smoothly," the Didact said.

"We have found Guardians but something is wrong with them. Seems like your wife managed to slip in something to make them unusable," Warden said.

"Still trying to protect them like children. It would matter if the Guardians can be used or not. The Forerunners will return and that can't be stopped," the Didact said as his Composers have been purging entire human rebels getting turned into Knights for his growing army against the galaxy.