"Are you insane, Sangheili? We'd be killed in seconds." "Maybe," Ahkrin answered, softly. "Or they might be surprised enough by such a foolhardy action that they will stall. My shields will protect us for an instant, and hopefully by then we will be in our midst." "That's a very slight chance, Ahkrin!" "Maybe!" Ahkrin shouted back again, wincing as another Unggoy was mercilessly stricken down. Only two more of the diminutive warriors remained. "But it's still a chance. If we carry on like this, we will die anyway." The two locked eyes for what seemed like hours, each trying to read the other. Finally, the Jiralhanae conceded, nodding reluctantly. "You're right. But by the gods, Ahkrin; if we're killed doing this, I'll smash in your idiot skull!" "That would be a sight," Ahkrin chuckled, surprised at how natural it was to converse with a [i]Brute.[/i] Almost like talking to Zharn, or Sorran. [i]Almost.[/i] "On three, then?" "On three," the Sangheili nodded, diverting all power from his weapons to shielding; they wouldn't be much use up close anyway, and he'd kill far more with his bare hands. Three. Two. One. [i]Crack![/i] [i]Crack![/i] [i]Crack![/i] The two Covenant stopped their suicide mission, each looking automatically out of the window to find what was unmistakably a void rupture, shaking the ship ever so slightly. What they saw astounded them. "Sh­it!" the human wearing the darkened glasses cried out, stumbling back, his cries echoed by the others in his squad. Four Covenant vessels hung in space, eclipsing Epsilon Eridani in their violet glory. Their took a few seconds to reorientate themselves after the excursion into the void, before spinning to meet the human ships. A blue bolt sailed from the flagship, arcing effortlessly through emptiness and striking the [i]Everest[/i] squarely in its hull. A great trembling hit the UNSC ship, sending all standing flying to the ground and knocking out the heavy lighting of the room. They did not turn back on. Ahkrin's prayers had been answered. Whoever had convinced the council to take this action was now his favourite person in the galaxy. Darkness had swept the room like a hurricane. Ahkrin's element had finally arrived, and not a moment too late. * * * Savara stood aboard the [i]Immortal Repentance,[/i] her hearts still heavy with loss. She looked with sadness at the table he had lied on when first brought here, poisoned by the humans and near-death. It had been months since that day. And almost as long since word of his execution had reached her, sent along by his grief-stricken commander, Zharn. She did not quite know why she had been so drawn to Sorran. He was hardly the fittest male she had ever been courted by, and possessed about himself a stumbling lack of grace. Perhaps that had been it, she realised. He was so unlike any Sangheili she had ever met, with his scholarly analysis of everything he saw and hesitant behaviour. Savara corrected herself; he [i]had[/i] been all these things. And now he was gone. "Still distraught, my dear?" the familiar, wizened tones of the father Minister of Convalescence asked her in a soft rasp, hobbling behind her and placing warm, wrinkled long fingers on her slender shoulders gently, squeezing in a consoling manner. "You will meet him in the next life, you know." "Heretics do not ascend to the Journey," she quivered. "Come now, Savara. I treated that young Sangheili for weeks and there wasn't a single bad bone in his body; I could tell. He'd speak often of how much he hated the killing and innocent slaughter this war entailed. Unlike any Sangheili I have ever met." "Yes," Savara answered hauntingly, pulling away from Convalescence's hands and checking the blood level of a patient in the far corner of the room. "He was." "No heretic, though. You [i]will[/i] meet again," the Minister told her kindly, and she let a small smile grace her tired face. "I hope so. I still cannot truly believe that he is dead," she shook her head, eyes moistening. She wiped them hastily with the hem of her sleave; to cry in public would shame her and her family name. That reminded her: "Has my father been in contact?" This far out into non-Covenant territory, messages were all deposited in the central communications' hub rather than personal units. In his old age, Convalescence had been assigning more and more medical duties of this particular ward of the ship to her, and often was now the one to take the walk to the hub, which he deemed 'refreshing.' "He has. He does not understand why you wish to be on a ship such as this, risking yourself in battles. He wants you back home, where you will meet a fine mate and produce many offspring to carry on his lineage." "Next time you're at the hub, tell him to mind his own affairs!" Savara yelled, pounding the table near her. Convalescence smiled. "I already have, my dear. As I have the past nine times. But... he is your father. And our noble shipmaster is being pressured by him more often than the trouble is worth." Fear gripped Savara, and she spun sharply. "He won't make me leave?" The elderly Prophet chuckled, and he shook his head. "No, child. I have known Thel Vadam'ee since infancy; I was his family's physician, remember. He would not interfere in the personal matters of another, no matter who asks." "Even an Imperial Admiral such as my father?" "Even an Imperial Admiral, dear child. Oh, before before I forget; you know how my memory is these days: our ship is to dock with High Charity within the week. Many of our warriors are long overdue their pilgrimage, and we must resupply anyway... I hear that Sorran's friends had a gravestone erected in his memory on the station." A sad hope dawned in Savara's eyes, and she nodded. "Do you think I could--?" she couldn't finish the question, it hurt too much. Convalescence smiled with his old, warm eyes which instantly reassured all who saw them. "Of course, my dear. Thel has already signed the sabbatical documents... would you like me to go with you?" Savara studied the kindly old Prophet for a few moments, and saw no ulterior motive in his gaze. He was simply being the gracious Minister she knew and loved far more than her biological, pretentious father. "I'd like that very much. Thank you." * * * The lights woke up. The humans lying at Ahkrin's feet, their necks snapped or their hearts pierced with burning blades, did not. The glasses of the sergeant were smashed, sanguine blood seeping between the spider-web cracks in their dark confines. "... remind me never to argue with you in a dark room," Orpheus laughed nervously as he clambered up the narrow stairs, with the two surviving Unggoy in toe. Ahkrin observed them for a moment, allowing himself a small smile and turning away. The [i]Everest[/i] had mobilised to full alert, and was now trading fire with the newly arrived Covenant ships. With Cole's brilliant strategic mind, Ahkrin could not predict the outcome. And to be frank he didn't really care. Zharn would, but all Ahkrin called about were the people he considered friends and himself. Everyone else was a tool to be used. All that mattered was getting Zharn and he away from this nightmare... and Orpheus, too. Ahkrin owed him a blood-debt, after all. And although he was loathe to admit it, the Jiralhanae wasn't an unlikable person. "We must hurry. I can hear the cries of the mob behind us, and they grow louder," Ahkrin spoke softly, facing the human lift expectably. Then he remembered that a button needed to be pressed for its operation, and hit the small dial with a finger far too large to comfortably press it. After a few moments, it gave way, and the numbers on the lift header fell, presumably as it descended to their deck of the ship. "This will take us directly to the bridge?" Orpheus asked. Ahkrin nodded. "Yes." The lift finally arrived, and the doors slid open. The Jiralhanae and worn out Unggoy traipsed wearily towards it. Ahkrin held out a strong arm, stopping them. "Only I shall go." "[i]What?[/i]" Orpheus demanded. "No, Ahkrin. I can't let you." "I'm the only one with a stealth system!" Ahkrin snapped back it him. "You would get us all killed. I will go alone, find Zharn and hopefully get him out without alerting the humans. Meanwhile, you take the other lift down to the escape-pod deck; you can read human, yes?" "English, Spanish, Chinese and Russian," Orpheus answered. The four most widely spoken human languages. Ahkrin's brow rose at this; the Jiralhanae was obviously far more intelligent than he seemed. The Sangheili nodded. "Good. You keep the two Unggoy safe, and wait for me and Zharn in an escape pod. If we don't arrive in the next twenty minutes, or if you're discovered, leave without us. And turn your armour's transmitter on; it would not bode well for you to be gunned down by a Banshee mistaking you for fleeing humans." There was an uncomfortable silence, until finally Orpheus' shoulders relaxed and he accepted Ahkrin's proposal. "Very well. May the gods be with you, Ahkrin," he blessed, holding his hand out. Ahkrin looked at it for a few moments, before slowly taking it with his own. Sangheili and Jiralhanae joining hands like brothers. What a sight! "They'd better be, or I'll be in trouble," Ahkrin muttered, walking into the lift. "I shan't be long." He pressed the button on the complicated dashboard which would take him up to the bridge, and after a few seconds the lift slowly closed its doors and began to play soft, melodic music, made surreal by the sounds of plasma torpedoes smashing into the hull of the mighty vessel. [i]This metal box had better not fall. What an embarrassing end that would be.[/i]