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Description
The Ninth Age

Chapter One

Stars glimmered on the main view screen, showing their calming benevolent light, but something blocked a small patch of starlight. It was so rapid that he had almost missed it. And he was so transfixed that he temporarily stopped sending commands to dropships.

“Vecr!”

The Sangheili rapidly spun around to face his superior commander.

“Yes Ship Master!”

A Sangheili in gold armor stalked up to Vecr. It slammed its fist on the holo-panel behind him. They flickered violently as the Ship Masters fist disrupted the data flow.

“Are you not supposed to be sending the command to all Spirits for immediate return to Truth and Reconciliation?”

“Yes Ship Master Idso ‘Zuludee.”

“Then why has your hand faltered to do so!”

Vecr clicked his four mandibles in a shrug.

“When we joined the Covenant we took an oath!”

“According to our station, all without exception.” Vecr replied.

“Without exception Half-Commander.”

“Forgive my transgression Ship Master, but I witnessed something that drew my attention.”

Vecr pointed at the view screen as both he, the Ship Master, and all who stood on the Truth and Reconciliations bridge watched as a small human ship created a hole in the fabric of reality and disappeared into its depths. Vecr looked back at his Ship Masters face and saw his eye twitch. The Ship Master turned and saw all the other Sangheili on the bridge staring at him.

“All of you, tell the Spirits to begin immediate extraction of ground troops!”

He turned to a Sangheili in smooth dark grey armor.

“Special Operative!”

“Yes Ship Master!” it answered in a low gruff voice.

“Contact the Supreme Commander! There’s been a breach in the blockade!”

“Yes Excellency!”

As the Ship Master contacted the Fleet of Particular Justice’s Supreme Commander Vecr watched an Unggoy waddle in from an entryway. He immediately recognized it because it lacked its left arm. The small grey skinned creature stopped in front of Vecr and bowed deeply, nearly falling over from the unbalanced methane tank on its back.
“Yes Donod what is it?”

The nervous Unggoy stepped back and straightened itself a best it could. Its head came only to Vecr’s waist.

“Merciful Half-Commander, their has been an outbreak in the nearby hanger!”

Vecr looked back at the Ship Master. He was busy reporting the breach. He looked back at the diminutive Unggoy.

“Take me.”

“Yes Half-Commander.”

Vecr followed Donod down the ramp leading to the mid-left doorway. It slid apart with a quiet ding. As they walked down the dimly lit hallway Vecr witnessed a pair of Huragok fixing a coolant leak. The pink bulbous creatures split their already thin tentacles into finer cilia. They walked through a second pair of doors and came into an open room three stories high. The Unggoy pointed down to the second level below them.

“There Half-Commander.”

Sure enough there was trouble. Vecr’s lance had gathered around two Kig-yar that were bullying a smaller Unggoy. The peculiar avian creatures were trying to push the Unggoy off the deployment level and onto the hanger floor below. The Unggoy resisted, but without much success, one of its feet perilously hung off the deployment levels edge. Vecr knew there wouldn’t be enough time to simply walk down a level. If he did things would surely turn sour. The Half-Commander jumped down to the deployment level directly behind his lance who were observing the confrontation. He wasn’t surprised to see Unggoy on one side, and a group of Kig-yar on the other. Vecr swiftly walked past them heading for the two Kig-yar and as they saw his presence and registered the rank of his glorious crimson armor, they immediately backed off the cowering Unggoy. Vecr touched its quaking arms that covered its face. It attempted to stop shivering but still twitched slightly.

“What is the meaning of this!?” he roared.

The Kig-yar looked at each other and exchanged words in their odd fast paced tongue, then one of them, a major evident by its orange shield, stepped up to Vecr.

“Half-Commander, we found this retched parasite stealing our rations from the barracks!”

Vecr turned and knelt to eye level with the still shivering Unggoy.

“Is this true?”

“No merciful Half-Commander!”

It opened its four fingered hand and inside lay a handful of dark brown flakes.

“This is merely a dried portion from the food-nipple.”

Vecr knew this to be true. The flaky substance in the Unggoy’s hand gave off no odor, and he knew that the rations given out to the Kig-yar had a sharp chemical smell to it. Vecr stood to his full imposing height.

“The Unggoy is not at fault here!”

He began to step towards the now nervous Kig-yar.

“He has been falsely accused of a crime he did not commit!”

He stood over the two, frighteningly forcing them close to the edge.

“And you two will do well to remember to alert me of a transgression before you attempt to dispense justice.”

They both replied in unison,
“Yes Half-Commander.”

He huffed at them.

“Good.”

They were beginning to return to their duties when a thunderous voice boomed over the internal communication system.

“All spirits are aboard! Be prepared for immediate jump, we will follow the heretics to whatever godforsaken place they flee to!”

Vecr rallied his lance.

“Everyone, to the boarding craft now!”

He led his lance to the boarding craft bay. Vecr checked to make sure all were present then entered the boarding craft himself. He was pleased to see that his lance was already strapped in and ready to go. There were five Kig-yar, two were majors. And at least ten Unggoy, two of which were majors. Vecr walked over to an empty harness meant for his kind and strapped himself in.

“This is Half-Commander Vecr ‘Xemoree ready for jump.”

Vecr heard another lance commander.

“This is Minor Ioch ‘Tamasee prepared for slipspace transition.”

Many others sounded off as Truth and Reconciliation joined the rest of Fleet of Particular Justice. As the flagship Seeker of Truth activated its slipspace engines others followed suit. Vecr rested his head and began to drift into unconsciousness. The jump would only last a few units, but it was well worth sitting in an uncomfortable harness.

Vecr arose slowly from his deep sleep in paranoia. He had enjoyed a wonderful dream of salvation that quickly turned into a nightmare of damnation. At first he saw a bright light, it was beautiful benevolent. As he had come closer he realized the light took the shape of a ring. Vecr knew this was a sign portraying the holy rings of salvation. But with the beautiful rings came a terrible change. At first there seemed to be nothing wrong, then a strange darkness began rapidly seeping out from within the ring. At first only a small portion of the holy ring was infected, but soon it began to spread. Anything that was on or around the ring was consumed quickly, it seemed as though nothing could stop it. But at the last minute, when the holy ring seemed lost a light shown from one end of the ring and slowly became brighter and brighter, till all the darkness and the ring itself disappeared into the blinding light. Then Vecr began to come around.

“By the gods…”

“Incredible..”

“Salvation for ALL!”

“At long last we have found it.”

Vecr’s head lolled about until he found the will to lift it. He saw that most of his troops were asleep except for the two Kig-yar majors who were playing some sort of game involving their three fingers. They locked their middle fingers together and attempted to use their two thumbs to pin the others down.

“What is happening?”

The two Kig-yar stopped playing their game and one answered,

“They found a sacred ring Half-Commander.”

Vecr was overjoyed, his dream had come to light! But after thinking for a while he became infuriated.

“How long since it has been found?”

“Since the first Stealth Corvette dropped out of slipspace.”

“And that was?”

“Only two units ago.”

“And you didn’t think to awaken me!?”

“Why? It’s not important.”

“It is! It means salvation for all who walk the path!”

The other Kig-yar laughed. It sounded more like it was wheezing.

“You Sangheili and your ‘Path’! Do you not know there is nothing greater in the universe than us?”

It pointed at itself and began laughing with its fellow Major.

Arrogant creatures, Vecr thought. Not all who walk the path are deserving of it. Vecr then heard the Ship Master roar over the com-channel.

“The human ship is too close to the sacred ring for plasma torpedoes. All craft prepare to board! Do not let the humans desecrate its holy light!!”

Vecr felt a tug as the boarding craft he was in shot towards the human ship. The Unggoy who had been sleeping were startled terribly. One even pulled out its plasma pistol and started waving around while screaming gibberish.

“Calm yourself Yanod!”

The little grey skinned alien lowered its pistol but still seemed a bit too nervous. The other Unggoy began laughing, embarrassing it further. Yanod reached over and attempted to punch the Unggoy nearest it but missed inspiring further laughter. Vecr activated his ocular implants and saw through the boarding crafts holo-cams. They were approaching the human ship, but he found it peculiar that such a heathenistic species could find, even blindly, one of the sacred rings. He did not have time to ponder this question further as his boarding craft slammed into the hull of the human star ship. Thankfully the stasis field activated and took most of the force.

“Be prepared when the antimatter charge burns through, throw grenades only on my word, and watch for friendly fire!”

Vecr activated his plasma rifle and checked to make sure his shields were working properly. There was then a soft thump as the antimatter charge destroyed a section of the hull. The boarding crafts doors slid in four directions and revealed an energy shield.

“Kig-yar from a defensive barrier! Unggoy fall behind them, use their protection!”

They followed his orders without question. The five Kig-yar tightly locked their shields and fired through them as the more vulnerable Unggoy stayed behind them. Finally Vecr rushed out and surveyed the field. A few humans had set up a barricade of some sort in a thin hallway and cowardly fired from behind it. He fired at the barrier melting it severely alongside his fellow troops. None of the crude metal projectiles fired by the humans broke through the Kig-yars defense but his lance was just wasting plasma battery.

“All Unggoy light holy flares!”

All ten complied, and soon the air was filled with the beautifully glowing yet awfully dangerous grenades. Vecr heard one of the humans scream its grating tongue as a plasma grenade landed on its face. He watched as the grenades lit the hallway in their magnificent blue light and all was quiet. Vecr signaled the Kig-yar to from a loose circle while the Unggoy were centered in the middle and he brought up the rear. They continued down the hall until they came to a open room that had three directions. There were strange markings on the ground but Vecr’s ocular implants translated them for him. One was “engine room”, the other “armory”. He decided to take the armory. If he could secure the room it would ensure the humans would be cut off from further resources.

“Form up! Create a barrier!”

“Yes Half-Commander!”

One major went ahead, two minors interlocked their shields next to his, and the last two raised their shields above the others making a box formation. They marched through the door as it slid to the side and found a long room with crates and there was a rack that stretched the entire length of the room filled with the humans inferior weaponry. And at the other end was a group of humans, some were wounded badly. Vecr roared.

“Open fire!”

Vecr shot two in the face with a short burst and they both collapsed to the floor in gurgled screams. His lance was able to kill most of them before those that were left hid behind the weapons rack. Vecr stood up to his full height and taunted them in his own language.

“You are no warriors! You fight like apes!”

He heard one of them shout something that his translator was unable to catch, but soon he did not need to know what was said. A single round object soared through the air, smoke trailed behind it, time seemed to slow down as he saw it slowly bounce off the ground. It landed right in front of the Kig-yar’s defenses. Vecr was about to order them to scatter when the innocent enough looking object erupted into light and flame. Vecr was flung back against a wall as all the Kig-yar died in the resulting explosion along with a handful of Unggoy.

Vecr lifted himself from the wall he had fallen against to assess the damage done. Only six Unggoy remained, not including Donod.

“Retreat! We are not in the gods favor!”

As he gave the order a courageous human jumped from behind its cover and dared to fire at him. A single round hit him in the thigh and it was then he realized his shields had failed during the explosion. Curse them! Another projectile punctured the synth-skin around his shin, and he knelt to one knee as the pain became unbearable.

“Half-Commander!”

Vecr tried to locate who shouted when a Unggoy Minor waddled in front of him and laid down suppressive fire.

“Quickly Half-Commander! Before the heretics regain composure!”

Vecr limped to the door as the Unggoy walked backwards and continued to fire into the armory. At the last minute, before the door slid shut, it threw a plasma grenade. As they caught up with the others Vecr heard a dull thump and the shrill screams of some human. He looked down at the heavily breathing Unggoy.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure Half-Commander. It is the least I can do considering you saved my life earlier.”

As they settled in the boarding craft Vecr turned to the Unggoy.

“What is your name brave one?”

The Unggoy thought for a moment, then said,

“I have none Half-Commander. I was conscripted into the Covenant before I could receive one.”

What a pity. Then Vecr decided on something he would have never thought of.

“Perhaps I should give you a name then, considering you saved my life.”

“Yes. I would appreciate that!”

“Very well.”

Vecr thought for a moment then said,

“Since you showed considerable bravery I shall call you Corte!”

The Unggoy thought deeply for a time.

“I like it! But what does it mean?”

Vecr widened his mandibles in a smile.

“It means ‘one of skill’ as you showed a considerable amount when facing the humans.”

The boarding craft doors slid shut as it prepared to disembark from the humans ship.

“Thank you Half-Commander. I am honored.”

Vecr felt the boarding craft rumble as it jettisoned itself from the human ship. Eventually he allowed himself to succumb to the loss of blood and watched as a darkness slithered across his vision. Then he knew no more.

Vecr woke with a start. He had no idea where he was until his vision cleared. As he looked around he saw that he was in a darkly lit room with many ledges outstretching from the four walls. They held many metallic objects probably meant for surgery. He was trying to get off the metal table he was on that was being levitated by an anti-gravity unit when a Huragok floated by. Vecr didn’t even try to communicate with it, the single minded creatures only communed with the Prophets. Vecr simply got up and headed for the only door in the room.

“Thank you.”

The small bulbous creature actually turned around to signal Vecr something, but by then he was already out the door.

As he walked around he wondered what ship he was on. Hopefully his own. Vecr came to a corner where a few Unggoy were resting peacefully by a central vent. He marched past them without making a sound and touched the holographic controls that glowed so brightly. He touched a Forerunner symbol and queried where he was. A small holograph projected a ship, the glorious Ring, and data on its current location. Vecr touched the holograph of the ship and the image rushed to greet him, and the common language scrolled down from the top of the holograph. He read it easily, as he had learned to read, write, and speak in the Covenants common word. He was currently on Righteous Fury, an Assault Carrier. It had picked up his boarding craft during the attack on the humans ship that hadn’t succeeded, yet it had not failed. Vecr selected a blue holograph at the corner of the projection. It took him back to the image he had previously seen. This time he selected the ring. The holograph brought the image closer and multiple holo-controls of light showed up all along the rings surface. Vecr saw one that had a significant importance level, it was the… Vecr withdrew a sharp breath.

The Control Room!

Vecr stepped away from the projector. It was so amazing! Salvation was so close at hand it would have been more appropriate to say it was nigh. He began walking to the barracks to get his bearings when he was contacted over the com-channel.

“Vecr ‘Xemoree, your presence is requested at the bridge.”

“On my way.”

Description
The Ninth Age

Chapter One

Stars glimmered on the main view screen, showing their calming benevolent light, but something blocked a small patch of starlight. It was so rapid that he had almost missed it. And he was so transfixed that he temporarily stopped sending commands to dropships.

“Vecr!”

The Sangheili rapidly spun around to face his superior commander.

“Yes Ship Master!”

A Sangheili in gold armor stalked up to Vecr. It slammed its fist on the holo-panel behind him. They flickered violently as the Ship Masters fist disrupted the data flow.

“Are you not supposed to be sending the command to all Spirits for immediate return to Truth and Reconciliation?”

“Yes Ship Master Idso ‘Zuludee.”

“Then why has your hand faltered to do so!”

Vecr clicked his four mandibles in a shrug.

“When we joined the Covenant we took an oath!”

“According to our station, all without exception.” Vecr replied.

“Without exception Half-Commander.”

“Forgive my transgression Ship Master, but I witnessed something that drew my attention.”

Vecr pointed at the view screen as both he, the Ship Master, and all who stood on the Truth and Reconciliations bridge watched as a small human ship created a hole in the fabric of reality and disappeared into its depths. Vecr looked back at his Ship Masters face and saw his eye twitch. The Ship Master turned and saw all the other Sangheili on the bridge staring at him.

“All of you, tell the Spirits to begin immediate extraction of ground troops!”

He turned to a Sangheili in smooth dark grey armor.

“Special Operative!”

“Yes Ship Master!” it answered in a low gruff voice.

“Contact the Supreme Commander! There’s been a breach in the blockade!”

“Yes Excellency!”

As the Ship Master contacted the Fleet of Particular Justice’s Supreme Commander Vecr watched an Unggoy waddle in from an entryway. He immediately recognized it because it lacked its left arm. The small grey skinned creature stopped in front of Vecr and bowed deeply, nearly falling over from the unbalanced methane tank on its back.
“Yes Donod what is it?”

The nervous Unggoy stepped back and straightened itself a best it could. Its head came only to Vecr’s waist.

“Merciful Half-Commander, their has been an outbreak in the nearby hanger!”

Vecr looked back at the Ship Master. He was busy reporting the breach. He looked back at the diminutive Unggoy.

“Take me.”

“Yes Half-Commander.”

Vecr followed Donod down the ramp leading to the mid-left doorway. It slid apart with a quiet ding. As they walked down the dimly lit hallway Vecr witnessed a pair of Huragok fixing a coolant leak. The pink bulbous creatures split their already thin tentacles into finer cilia. They walked through a second pair of doors and came into an open room three stories high. The Unggoy pointed down to the second level below them.

“There Half-Commander.”

Sure enough there was trouble. Vecr’s lance had gathered around two Kig-yar that were bullying a smaller Unggoy. The peculiar avian creatures were trying to push the Unggoy off the deployment level and onto the hanger floor below. The Unggoy resisted, but without much success, one of its feet perilously hung off the deployment levels edge. Vecr knew there wouldn’t be enough time to simply walk down a level. If he did things would surely turn sour. The Half-Commander jumped down to the deployment level directly behind his lance who were observing the confrontation. He wasn’t surprised to see Unggoy on one side, and a group of Kig-yar on the other. Vecr swiftly walked past them heading for the two Kig-yar and as they saw his presence and registered the rank of his glorious crimson armor, they immediately backed off the cowering Unggoy. Vecr touched its quaking arms that covered its face. It attempted to stop shivering but still twitched slightly.

“What is the meaning of this!?” he roared.

The Kig-yar looked at each other and exchanged words in their odd fast paced tongue, then one of them, a major evident by its orange shield, stepped up to Vecr.

“Half-Commander, we found this retched parasite stealing our rations from the barracks!”

Vecr turned and knelt to eye level with the still shivering Unggoy.

“Is this true?”

“No merciful Half-Commander!”

It opened its four fingered hand and inside lay a handful of dark brown flakes.

“This is merely a dried portion from the food-nipple.”

Vecr knew this to be true. The flaky substance in the Unggoy’s hand gave off no odor, and he knew that the rations given out to the Kig-yar had a sharp chemical smell to it. Vecr stood to his full imposing height.

“The Unggoy is not at fault here!”

He began to step towards the now nervous Kig-yar.

“He has been falsely accused of a crime he did not commit!”

He stood over the two, frighteningly forcing them close to the edge.

“And you two will do well to remember to alert me of a transgression before you attempt to dispense justice.”

They both replied in unison,
“Yes Half-Commander.”

He huffed at them.

“Good.”

They were beginning to return to their duties when a thunderous voice boomed over the internal communication system.

“All spirits are aboard! Be prepared for immediate jump, we will follow the heretics to whatever godforsaken place they flee to!”

Vecr rallied his lance.

“Everyone, to the boarding craft now!”

He led his lance to the boarding craft bay. Vecr checked to make sure all were present then entered the boarding craft himself. He was pleased to see that his lance was already strapped in and ready to go. There were five Kig-yar, two were majors. And at least ten Unggoy, two of which were majors. Vecr walked over to an empty harness meant for his kind and strapped himself in.

“This is Half-Commander Vecr ‘Xemoree ready for jump.”

Vecr heard another lance commander.

“This is Minor Ioch ‘Tamasee prepared for slipspace transition.”

Many others sounded off as Truth and Reconciliation joined the rest of Fleet of Particular Justice. As the flagship Seeker of Truth activated its slipspace engines others followed suit. Vecr rested his head and began to drift into unconsciousness. The jump would only last a few units, but it was well worth sitting in an uncomfortable harness.

Vecr arose slowly from his deep sleep in paranoia. He had enjoyed a wonderful dream of salvation that quickly turned into a nightmare of damnation. At first he saw a bright light, it was beautiful benevolent. As he had come closer he realized the light took the shape of a ring. Vecr knew this was a sign portraying the holy rings of salvation. But with the beautiful rings came a terrible change. At first there seemed to be nothing wrong, then a strange darkness began rapidly seeping out from within the ring. At first only a small portion of the holy ring was infected, but soon it began to spread. Anything that was on or around the ring was consumed quickly, it seemed as though nothing could stop it. But at the last minute, when the holy ring seemed lost a light shown from one end of the ring and slowly became brighter and brighter, till all the darkness and the ring itself disappeared into the blinding light. Then Vecr began to come around.

“By the gods…”

“Incredible..”

“Salvation for ALL!”

“At long last we have found it.”

Vecr’s head lolled about until he found the will to lift it. He saw that most of his troops were asleep except for the two Kig-yar majors who were playing some sort of game involving their three fingers. They locked their middle fingers together and attempted to use their two thumbs to pin the others down.

“What is happening?”

The two Kig-yar stopped playing their game and one answered,

“They found a sacred ring Half-Commander.”

Vecr was overjoyed, his dream had come to light! But after thinking for a while he became infuriated.

“How long since it has been found?”

“Since the first Stealth Corvette dropped out of slipspace.”

“And that was?”

“Only two units ago.”

“And you didn’t think to awaken me!?”

“Why? It’s not important.”

“It is! It means salvation for all who walk the path!”

The other Kig-yar laughed. It sounded more like it was wheezing.

“You Sangheili and your ‘Path’! Do you not know there is nothing greater in the universe than us?”

It pointed at itself and began laughing with its fellow Major.

Arrogant creatures, Vecr thought. Not all who walk the path are deserving of it. Vecr then heard the Ship Master roar over the com-channel.

“The human ship is too close to the sacred ring for plasma torpedoes. All craft prepare to board! Do not let the humans desecrate its holy light!!”

Vecr felt a tug as the boarding craft he was in shot towards the human ship. The Unggoy who had been sleeping were startled terribly. One even pulled out its plasma pistol and started waving around while screaming gibberish.

“Calm yourself Yanod!”

The little grey skinned alien lowered its pistol but still seemed a bit too nervous. The other Unggoy began laughing, embarrassing it further. Yanod reached over and attempted to punch the Unggoy nearest it but missed inspiring further laughter. Vecr activated his ocular implants and saw through the boarding crafts holo-cams. They were approaching the human ship, but he found it peculiar that such a heathenistic species could find, even blindly, one of the sacred rings. He did not have time to ponder this question further as his boarding craft slammed into the hull of the human star ship. Thankfully the stasis field activated and took most of the force.

“Be prepared when the antimatter charge burns through, throw grenades only on my word, and watch for friendly fire!”

Vecr activated his plasma rifle and checked to make sure his shields were working properly. There was then a soft thump as the antimatter charge destroyed a section of the hull. The boarding crafts doors slid in four directions and revealed an energy shield.

“Kig-yar from a defensive barrier! Unggoy fall behind them, use their protection!”

They followed his orders without question. The five Kig-yar tightly locked their shields and fired through them as the more vulnerable Unggoy stayed behind them. Finally Vecr rushed out and surveyed the field. A few humans had set up a barricade of some sort in a thin hallway and cowardly fired from behind it. He fired at the barrier melting it severely alongside his fellow troops. None of the crude metal projectiles fired by the humans broke through the Kig-yars defense but his lance was just wasting plasma battery.

“All Unggoy light holy flares!”

All ten complied, and soon the air was filled with the beautifully glowing yet awfully dangerous grenades. Vecr heard one of the humans scream its grating tongue as a plasma grenade landed on its face. He watched as the grenades lit the hallway in their magnificent blue light and all was quiet. Vecr signaled the Kig-yar to from a loose circle while the Unggoy were centered in the middle and he brought up the rear. They continued down the hall until they came to a open room that had three directions. There were strange markings on the ground but Vecr’s ocular implants translated them for him. One was “engine room”, the other “armory”. He decided to take the armory. If he could secure the room it would ensure the humans would be cut off from further resources.

“Form up! Create a barrier!”

“Yes Half-Commander!”

One major went ahead, two minors interlocked their shields next to his, and the last two raised their shields above the others making a box formation. They marched through the door as it slid to the side and found a long room with crates and there was a rack that stretched the entire length of the room filled with the humans inferior weaponry. And at the other end was a group of humans, some were wounded badly. Vecr roared.

“Open fire!”

Vecr shot two in the face with a short burst and they both collapsed to the floor in gurgled screams. His lance was able to kill most of them before those that were left hid behind the weapons rack. Vecr stood up to his full height and taunted them in his own language.

“You are no warriors! You fight like apes!”

He heard one of them shout something that his translator was unable to catch, but soon he did not need to know what was said. A single round object soared through the air, smoke trailed behind it, time seemed to slow down as he saw it slowly bounce off the ground. It landed right in front of the Kig-yar’s defenses. Vecr was about to order them to scatter when the innocent enough looking object erupted into light and flame. Vecr was flung back against a wall as all the Kig-yar died in the resulting explosion along with a handful of Unggoy.

Vecr lifted himself from the wall he had fallen against to assess the damage done. Only six Unggoy remained, not including Donod.

“Retreat! We are not in the gods favor!”

As he gave the order a courageous human jumped from behind its cover and dared to fire at him. A single round hit him in the thigh and it was then he realized his shields had failed during the explosion. Curse them! Another projectile punctured the synth-skin around his shin, and he knelt to one knee as the pain became unbearable.

“Half-Commander!”

Vecr tried to locate who shouted when a Unggoy Minor waddled in front of him and laid down suppressive fire.

“Quickly Half-Commander! Before the heretics regain composure!”

Vecr limped to the door as the Unggoy walked backwards and continued to fire into the armory. At the last minute, before the door slid shut, it threw a plasma grenade. As they caught up with the others Vecr heard a dull thump and the shrill screams of some human. He looked down at the heavily breathing Unggoy.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure Half-Commander. It is the least I can do considering you saved my life earlier.”

As they settled in the boarding craft Vecr turned to the Unggoy.

“What is your name brave one?”

The Unggoy thought for a moment, then said,

“I have none Half-Commander. I was conscripted into the Covenant before I could receive one.”

What a pity. Then Vecr decided on something he would have never thought of.

“Perhaps I should give you a name then, considering you saved my life.”

“Yes. I would appreciate that!”

“Very well.”

Vecr thought for a moment then said,

“Since you showed considerable bravery I shall call you Corte!”

The Unggoy thought deeply for a time.

“I like it! But what does it mean?”

Vecr widened his mandibles in a smile.

“It means ‘one of skill’ as you showed a considerable amount when facing the humans.”

The boarding craft doors slid shut as it prepared to disembark from the humans ship.

“Thank you Half-Commander. I am honored.”

Vecr felt the boarding craft rumble as it jettisoned itself from the human ship. Eventually he allowed himself to succumb to the loss of blood and watched as a darkness slithered across his vision. Then he knew no more.

Vecr woke with a start. He had no idea where he was until his vision cleared. As he looked around he saw that he was in a darkly lit room with many ledges outstretching from the four walls. They held many metallic objects probably meant for surgery. He was trying to get off the metal table he was on that was being levitated by an anti-gravity unit when a Huragok floated by. Vecr didn’t even try to communicate with it, the single minded creatures only communed with the Prophets. Vecr simply got up and headed for the only door in the room.

“Thank you.”

The small bulbous creature actually turned around to signal Vecr something, but by then he was already out the door.

As he walked around he wondered what ship he was on. Hopefully his own. Vecr came to a corner where a few Unggoy were resting peacefully by a central vent. He marched past them without making a sound and touched the holographic controls that glowed so brightly. He touched a Forerunner symbol and queried where he was. A small holograph projected a ship, the glorious Ring, and data on its current location. Vecr touched the holograph of the ship and the image rushed to greet him, and the common language scrolled down from the top of the holograph. He read it easily, as he had learned to read, write, and speak in the Covenants common word. He was currently on Righteous Fury, an Assault Carrier. It had picked up his boarding craft during the attack on the humans ship that hadn’t succeeded, yet it had not failed. Vecr selected a blue holograph at the corner of the projection. It took him back to the image he had previously seen. This time he selected the ring. The holograph brought the image closer and multiple holo-controls of light showed up all along the rings surface. Vecr saw one that had a significant importance level, it was the… Vecr withdrew a sharp breath.

The Control Room!

Vecr stepped away from the projector. It was so amazing! Salvation was so close at hand it would have been more appropriate to say it was nigh. He began walking to the barracks to get his bearings when he was contacted over the com-channel.

“Vecr ‘Xemoree, your presence is requested at the bridge.”

“On my way.”