As the humans and aliens walked, Neerg studied his captive humans. He noticed many things, among them was their armor which was not shielded, like the Elites and brutes were, but it was certainly effective against both plasma and bullets.

The humans were not uncivilized, like for example the Jackals, even if that's what the Prophets said.

Maybe the Prophets aren't always right he thought, but he quickly shrugged the thought of. Thoughts like that could lead to being stripped of his rank, or even death. He did not want to face the Arbiter saying such things.

The Elites activated energy swords lit up the whole corridor, so Neerg, and probably the other Elites too, saw the sign for the reserve power room before the humans.

"You go in first," Neerg pointed at the two elites in the front of the group. "Then you two," he said neutrally to the humans. "Then we will go in" The Elites at the front walked in. Neerg pointed at the humans with his energy sword to do the same.

A small journey finally became fruitful as the Arbiter exitec loak behind Neerg. "How amusing . . . these Human's seem to be quite . . . intelligent." He gestured for two Elite's to cover the wing's of the small formation, as he turned his back on the squad to cover the rear. He raised a carbine and slowly backed in, pushing Neerg with his back.

"Fleet Master, your ship must be ancient to still utilize such . . . delicate system's. After this battle I will ensure you get a ship of decent capacity, immune to such sabotage." He drew a plasma rifle from a nearby body, dual wielding it in procession with the carbine. The Arbiter knew something, or someone, was coming. "No Convenant ship is so vulnerable to sabotage . . . it can't of been the Human . . ." The Arbiter raised his left eyebrow in recognition of a slight blur of vision afront him.

"Heretic's! Weapon's free!" The Sangheili on the wing's released a burst of fire, dropping thee Heretic Grunt's out of cloak and into a pool of blood. "Fleet Master, send a distress signal, the Heretic's have returned!"

Such a strange twist of event's was strange, especially considering the nature of the Heretic's. Alate there was more and more of such beast's but Ripa was adept at hunting out their pathetic kind. He dropped both weapon's and drew out two energy hilt's spinning them and advancing slowly. The Heretic's ceased fire for a moment.

"I am the blade of the Prophet's! I am foremost of the Convenant's reach! I am your doom!" With that he ignited the weapon's, moving forward at astonishing speed. He allowed a loose rage to overcome him, allowing him to fight with immense effort. A few small pulse's across his chest signified that by the end of the battle, his shield's still held strong. He moved over to a nearby corpse and kicked it, causing a Human weapon to slip from it's grasp.

"Human technology . . . ?" He knelt down and raised the weapon to his eye's, scanning the side of it. "Rebel technology." He returned to the squad and thrust the weapon at the Ship Master. "What do you make of this Fleet Master?" He cocked his head quizically and glared at his comrade's quarry, the Human's. His four-jawed maw again twisted into a slight grin, as a few ragged breath's emerged from his four-hinged lip.

The Arbiter raced out from the bridge suddenly, in response to a call down the corridors. Then, another call followed.

"Heretics! Weapons fire!"

The Elite turned to Valkanar. Suddenly multiple plasma bursts erupted across the bridge, barely passing between them. Valkanar activated his cloak, and threw his friend out of the way. He landed none too gently at the end of the room, and Valkanar unleashed his energy sword upon the intruders.

They were Sangheili, and very skilled ones at that. They easily noticed the disturbance of his cloak and met his blade in midair. They all deactivated their cloaking and began to spar with the blades. Valkanar was not very cut out for this, but neither were they, in fact. However, one bad move and suddenly his arm was beat down and he was flailing on the floor.

Suddenly a grenade flew out of nowhere and the Elites, well, exploded.

Score 1 blue-armored Sangheili.

He put forth an expression of grim satisfaction to his friend, and rose to go find the Arbiter.

The fight had literally come from nowhere.

Kendrick used the moment of confusion to his advantage.

He moved quickly and grabbed a nearby Elite, and hauled him into the shadows, choking him to death. He took the Elite's weapons and sword, he then moved to free Sam, making short work of the other gaurd.

He disappeared into the shadows once again. He'd have to wait for the right moment.

With Sam finally fre, he picked up the Plasma rifle from the corpse, running towards... anywhere he could hide. He finally found a spot, next to a dead human.
Any dock in a storm, he thought as he jumped in the air, landing randomly, his arms and legs splayed out. The plasm rifel was still in his grasp, any Grunt or Elite that tried to mve him would be in for a surprise.

Xan had been making sure the glassing was going according to plan when the lights shut off unexpectedly.

"Damn ship, The Fleet Master's ship is far too ancient."

Xan went to go find out what had happened when he the destroyed power supply. Xan bent down and noticed some shrapnel on the ground. He recognized the work of a human hand grenade anywhere in fact he was a little impressed by them. Xan turned to leave when he felt a gun on his back.

"Don't move."

He was face to face with a demon... was it the Chief? No, this demon was smaller than the chief but that didn't mean it wouldn't be a good warm up. Xan lifted his arms up as if to surrender but activated his shield instead. The caught the demon by surprise. Xan kicked the demon into a wall and activated his energy sword. The demon hit Xan in the gut with its gun and pushed Xan back. It fired but Xan's shield was able to block the round. The demon was forced to reload giving Xan his chance. Xan swung his sword down on the rifle and it cut the gun in half. the demon gave Xan an uppercut and readied a knife. The demon swung down but was cut short by Xan's shield. Xan pinned the demon at the wall with his shield slowly crushing its chest. Xan readied his energy sword and stabbed it in the throat. The demon's body dropped to the ground, lifeless. Xan now had a strategy for the Chief, get it into very tight quarters. Xan took the helmet off the demon and exited the room. He heard the sound of gun fire and took off after it, breathing heavily along the way. There were dead sangheli on the ground with human weapons next to them... heretics. He looked up and saw two humans escape into the darkness. Xan looked back to the heretics and then to the Arbiter. Xan walked up to him and placed the helmet at the Arbiter's feet.

"Noble Arbiter, I do not wish to cut the Fleet Master off but I feel these filthy heretics were not working with the humans. The fact they had human weapons was an attempt to confuse us into thinking they were human. Besides the two that escaped would have probably attempted to attack if they knew the heretics were on their side. I would highly recommend we get you off of this ship in case their are other heretics on board."

"Fleet Master, send a distress signal, the Heretic's have returned!" the Sangheli on the wing's shouted.

Neerg raised his energy sword, talking into the commlink at the same time.

"The Heretics have returned! Alert all ships!" he shouted while leaping out and cutting down a few Grunts, his golden armour was now stained with cyan blood. He regrouped with the Arbiter, cutting down foes gracefully. The battle was short, and soon the heretic bodies lay spread out all over the floor. Neerg walked back to the group, and deactivated his energy sword. The Arbiter turned and thrusted a human weapon at Neerg.

"What do you make of this, Fleet Master?"

"These filthy heretics are not mine," Neerg said coolly, kicking a dead Grunt. "They must have gotten onboard when we left Sanghelios.And about the weapons? They must have used human weapons to confuse us."

The Supreme Commander arrived, bowing down towards the Arbiter and placing a Spartan helmet at his feet.

"Can we focus on restoring power to the ship?" Neerg asked. He waved at a Sangheli on his side. The Sangheli ran in, andd the corridors lighted up.

"At last," Neerg said. The ship rocked violently, throwing the squad off their feet.

"The humans must have destroyed the engines too, we have to leave!"

"I am fed up with this incompetence! That's it . . . initiate a full assault upon Harvest itself. No more town's, base's . . . this time we capture the entire planet."

As if in answer what seemed like a thousand more ship's joined the fleet out of slipspace. "Initiate self-destruct and evacuate the personnel. We evac to the surface to regroup with Assault Corps 09."

The Arbiter drew two energy sword's and twirled them in the air, twisting them into what seemed like distorted vision, causing the corpse's of Heretic's to collapse afront him. Seven Heretic Sangheili decloaked and drew their blade's, meeting the Arbiter head on. In a roar of rage he ran forward, slashing two of the creature's as he leapt into the formation. His landing caused the floor panel's to give way, causing another Sangheili to tumble into the service tunnel. Two thrust's brought another pair down, leaving only two remaining.

One of the two drew a Spartan Laser from his harness and aimed it at the ceiling squarely. The tip of the weapon gleamed a brilliant crimson, illuminating the dim corridor. His partner nodded to the Sangheili in question and retreated, falling back into cloak. The ceiling gave way as the entire corridor came down upon Ripa and company. A large MAC round hit the same area precisely, causing the shield's to give way and leaving the corridor open to space. Even as Ripa gripped a loose bar, holding on for his life, a Phantom moved in to retrieve them.

Ripa released his grip and soared into the back of the compartment, just as the exit panel flew shut upon him. The Phantom moved toward's Harvest, going into the midst of what was billion's of Phantom's and drop ship's, all making haste toward's various sector's upon the surface. The battle for Harvest had truly begun.

"I am fed up with this incompetence! That's it . . . initiate a full assault upon Harvest itself. No more town's, base's . . . this time we capture the entire planet." the Arbiter shouted, and soon hundreds of Covenant ships joined the battle.

"Initiate self-destruct and evacuate the personnel. We evac to the surface to regroup with Assault Corps 09."

The Arbiter activated his energy swords and leapt out towards a cloaked heretic elite, killing him. Seven more dropped out of cloak, and as Neerg activated his energy sword to help the Arbiter, Ripa had already killed five of them.

One of the remaining two brandished a Spartan laser, and shot a hole through the ceiling, and at the same time a MAC round hit the same place. The corridor was open to space.

Neerg grabbed on to a bar, and saw the Arbiter had done the same. He looked up and saw a Phantom closing in towards them, opening the exit panel. He dropped his grip, and flew into the compartment, the exit hatch closing a tenth of a second later.

Neerg breathed heavily, and opened a commlink to the Divine Justice speakers.

"Activate self-destruct sequence and evacuate," he said slowly, hesitant to destroy the ship that had served him for many years. He stood up and walked into the cockpit.

He saw that the Phantom was closing in on Harvest, as did thousands of other Phantoms from every ship. The real battle of Harvest had begun...

The ship shuddered for a moment. Obviously the Heretics had tried to take the bridge, but he doubted they would want it anymore. The impact from the MAC gun had taken out a large portion of the ship, and Valkanar noticed the frenzy of dropships through the bridge's massive windows.

Coryntar reached out his hand, and Valkanar took it. Pulling himself up, he noticed that his energy sword was depleted. He threw it to the ground. Leaving the beam rifle on his back, he took the two energy swords from the Heretics and wielded both in each hand. There was one left for his friend, who at the moment was weaponless.

"I do not know how to use such a weapon, my friend."

"Neither do I, just take it. Unless you'd like to take your chances against more of these Heretics with that?" He gestured towards a Needler.

"No, brother, I'll take my chances." Coryntar did the Sangheili equivalent of a grin, taking the weapon and activating it.

Another MAC gun hit, followed by several smaller hits.

"I suggest we take a dropship out of here, now." They raced down the corridors. They encountered a few Heretic Grunts, but no other resistance. After easily dealing with them, they faced a collapsed corridor versus a clear one leading to the hangar. As they entered the hangar, there were a couple of dropships leaving, but otherwise it was vacant of people.

There were a few banshees. That would have to do. He turned to Coryntar.

"Follow me, brother."

With that, they left the hangar, and Valkanar did his best to figure out where they were going to go next. Finding the com, he activated it.

"This is Valkanar 'Crolunee and Coryntar 'Crolunee. We are flying two Banshees from the remains of the Divine Justice. We require assistance."

The Phantom's glided into the atmosphere, a few blast's of plasma whizzing past as the Capital Ship's levelled the cities below. A huge flood of UNSC soldier's was running in terror, trying to find some decent ground to hold a line. Whenever they tried to reinstate order another plasma blast sent them into disarray. The UNSC Fleet also entered the atmosphere, but under different circumstance's. Huge chunk's of debris smashed into the solid ground, creating a small graveyard of ship's.

The Phantom's began to land troop's, as the larger Capital Ship's dropped vehicle's and small armies via grav lift's. Within second's more than a million assault force's had touched down, with Type-47's(Scarabs) and Wraith's supporting the advance. More and more ship's arrived, unloading their cargo upon the scarred face of Harvest. There was still huge pocket's of resistance, but the Convenant had the momentum. The Arbiter's Phantom dropped down just inside a village, being one of two surviving Phantom's in a drop squad.

The rest had been designated to touch down in the village also, but Anti-Air emplacement's put an end to such plan's. The UNSC had a large presence in the village, so the Sangheili would be required to utilize the best of their number in this area. The Holy Prejudice dropped a small amount of Sangheili and Brute's before propelling away from the sector, wishing the Arbiter and his retinue well. Three Pelican's whirred overhead, a couple of Hornet's with them. A Banshee pursued, taking down a Pelican before being, in turn, destroyed.

The Arbiter directed two nearby Hunter's to the small squadron, ordering them to concentrate their awesome firepower upon the Pelican's. Another fell, but the other escaped out of range, dropping it's quarry upon a nearby roof. A few ODST pod's fell from the sky, small part's of debris still showering down upon them. Spark's flew as the hunk's of metal came down upon the rooftop, one narrowly missing the Arbiter.

A nearby Sangheili Zealot yelled at the squadron, barking order's and commanding men to take up certain position's. A Helljumper emerged next to the Arbiter, only to be stuck with an energy blade and pushed from the rooftop. A few Kig-Yar took up sniper position's, using their keen sight to narrow down upon their target's. The Phantom's flew low, trying desperately to outrun the AA Defense's. Their plasma turret's provided decent support for the crashed squadron, taking out numerous defensive position's nearby.

"Neerg, Kralok, with me! Karosh take your squad and clear out the building's, one at a time. Miren, hold here and provide cover with the Kig-Yar and Hunter's!" He nodded to Neerg and Kralok, then moved to the roofedge. A quick jolt of movement in his leg's propelled him onto a nearby building, crashing his muscular form into the Marine's there. A few swipe's from his energy blade and the twist of a neck finished the survivor's, leaving the rooftop devoid of life, save Ripa.

He drew his Carbine and fired a few shot's into the street, providing support for Karosh's squad. The Brute in question nodded thank's to the Arbiter as his squad advanced, moving into a nearby building. Ripa answered in a suttle smile, then checked the surrounding hostile's.

"Neerg, Kralok! I said keep up!"

Valkanar didn't think that the Banshees would survive entering the atmosphere of Harvest. They were closing towards it anyway, but he was expecting a ship to answer them.

All the ships were heading down to the planet, however. Only some cruisers remained still behind them, and they were far away. Not too far behind was the Divine Justice. And, suddenly, that wasn't there either.

Secondary explosions rocked the ship and then in a large mixture of plasma and fire the cruiser exploded. It was the second explosion of a ship Valkanar had seen, and both were within a very short period of time.

The ring of fire nearing towards them was dissipating, but the shockwave hit the Banshees nevertheless.

The power was out. He couldn't see anything, and he couldn't contact anyone. Finding the manual release, and taking a deep breath, he exited the craft and drifted into space. He rocketed to the other Banshee, and grabbed Coryntar. He pulled out as well. Then he pushed off the Banshee as hard as he could and aimed for the nearest cruiser.

Valkanar had great luck. The ship must have spotted them, and a dropship was heading towards them. They were nearly out of breath when they were finally picked up.

Inside the dropship, Valkanar and Coryntar were gasping for air. The pilot approached them. He was wearing white armor.

"After the destruction of the Realm, I did not expect to be seeing you again."

Valkanar let out a laugh, and then began coughing. He stood, helped up Coryntar, and locked arms with the pilot.

"Well done, brother. I suppose I am now in both of your debts. Let us go to the surface of the planet. There is work to be done."

With that, the dropship began its descent towards the landing site of the Holy Prejudice.

Neerg followed the Arbiter, and jumped over to his rooftop. He grabbed a nearby weapon, a human sniper rifle, and helped the Arbiter shoot the enemies on the ground.

Although he did not question his orders, he felt more at home at the bridge of a ship, and he planned to take a PHantom to the nearest Assault Carrier of his fleet.

Suddenly, a Marine jumped over to their roof, Neerg raised his sniper rifle and hit the Marine with the butt of the rifle. The Marine fell off the roof, and landed hard on the ground, blood pouring out of his head.

"Arbiter, an ambush!" Neerg shouted and pointed at a large group of Marines which had landed on a nearby rooftop, and jumped towards the Elites position.

Neerg dropped his sniper rifle and brandished his energy sword. He jumped over to another rooftop, closer to the Marines, and activated his sword. He jumped over another rooftop, and was now alone with the Marines.

The Marines started shooting at him, but his shield saved all of their shots. He leaped out to the middle of the Marines, slicing at least four with his energy sword on the way. Once in the middle of the Marines, he cut everything in reach of his swords, the ones that didn't get cut, he leaped after and struck down. At the end of the battle, his armor was soaked in red blood, and he breathed heavily.

Kendricks had manuevered through the ship carefully until he reached the brig.

Just as he'd hoped, there were many Marines and Naval Officers that wanted to be freed.

Kendrick did it with great pleasure.

"Alright, everyone, we've got to get to the evacuee hangar. From there, we'll be a major pain in the Covenant backside! Let's move!"

The troops cheered and Kendrick led the way out. But he found something strange.

There was no resistance. No grunts. No Elites. No one.

Then it dawn on Kendricks. They were going to scuttle the ship.

Kendricks cursed aloud, "We need to get to the bridge...."

Ripa observed Neerg as he moved to engage the oncoming platoon. He had potential, but was still, for the most part, a space-pup. His failure's were expected, of course, as the Arbiter knew full well how resourceful these Human's could be. To add into the equation was how Neerg was relatively . . . new, to ground combat. Sangheili were meant to embrace such a concept, yet Neerg seemed to shun it and condemn it. He also followed every protocol to the letter, which showed he either lacked creativity, or the wisdom to use it.

He was profficient with an energy blade, true enough, but he did not wield it to any great standard of quality. Or maybe rage simply overcame him. The latter was a good-bad omen, as Ripa knew how to and when to utilize his emotion's. Primal fury was a great aspect of the Arbiter, but he kept it on a short leash to say the least. The Arbiter decided to leave Neerg to himself and see if he was worthy of his rank, or not. The Arbiter to start with had been a normal Sangheili, but upon ataining his rank he quickly found his epic skill's and strategy.

In space, the Convenant easily dominated, but on the ground Humanity seemed to have some sort of edge. They were far more intelligent and creative than the Convenant gave them credit for and this was obviously the biggest flaw in their thinking. He knew how two Human's and a 'Warthog' were more than a match for a Type-47 Heavy Weapon's Platform and how a single Human could easily defeat a squad of Grunt's. The Convenant was too strick and freestanding, they needed to utilize more advanced strategem's and to be more flexible.

The Arbiter was successful because he stood apart from the majority of the Convenant in that respect, but whilst he could order unit's where and when, he could not get the message across on how to operate once they arrived. They simply stood in a line or used cover and fired. No flanking, no basic strategy, just head on combat. No Sangheili could ever best a Spartan and even the Arbiter was only their equal. He was awakened from his thought's as a plasma bolt whizzed past his head.

He whirled on his heel to face three Marine's all in a spread formation. One was equipped with a Plasma Carbine, whilst the other's utilized standard battle rifle's. A nearby Kig-Yar jumped to aid the Arbiter, only to be shot in the head. The Arbiter cought his wrist-shield and attatched it to his wrist, activating it just in time to defend against another salvo. He drew an energy pike from a nearby weapon dispenser, which had only moment's before landed from space and advanced. He held the pike out from the indent in the side of the shield, ready to deal with the Human's.

Suddenly a small beep echoed in the Arbiter's ear's as a small metallic dish on the ground radiated a fierce crimson. He cursed aloud as the shockwave struck him, sending him flying into a nearby stack of crate's. The shield offered no protection as the explosion sheared through it's defensive layer. Upon impact the Arbiter backflipped and landed on his knee and foot, then lurched forward anew. He drew two Spiker's from his waist harness and leapt over the Human's, front flipping as he went. As soon as he faced down upon them he extended his arm's and open fired, sending them to the floor.

One survived and drew a Sidearm, firing it profusely at the Arbiter as he hit the ground. The small pellet's threw him off balance, giving the Human enough time to recover and grab the fallen Plasma Carbine. A quick salvo to the Arbiter's chest was more than enough to enrage him, as he advanced upon the lone Human. The shield's pulsed as he came closer, unarmed, to the Human. The Carbine fell uselessly from the Human's grip as he sank backward's, desperate to find some salvation in a nearby fallen weapon. He found none, as the Arbiter's gloved hand closed around his neck and drew him from the floor.

He applied pressure to the Soldier's neck, until he heard a satisfying click. The body fell limp and lifeless, eye's still contorted in terror and mouth open as if in a silent scream. He cast the body from the rooftop and watched as the form shrunk from his view. A small blast of smoke signified the bodies crash as the Arbiter cocked his head uneasily. Ripa quickly turned and leapt from the rooftop onto a huge meadow outside the village. As he moved away from the battle he cast a look one last time at Neerg, shook his head and departed.

Neerg jumped back towards the Arbiter, putting his energy sword back on the belt. He saw the dead humans at Ripas feet, and picket upp the Carbine on the floor.

He saw a Phantom flying by, and raised his hand towards it. The Phantom flew closer, and opened it's hatch on the side. Neerg jumped in, and saw a squad of 3 Elites, a dozen of grunts and some Jackals.

"At ease," Neerg said calmly as he walked by to the cockpit. Through the window he saw that the Covenant didn't dominate as much as they had first thought. The humans were skilled strategists, and had pushed the Covenant forces back in many places. As he looked over the battle, he saw something strange; a Scarab attacked that attacked the Covenant forces. He reckoned that the humans had captured it.

"Where are we heading?" he asked the pilot, a green armored Grunt.

"To drop off this squad in sector 4," the Grunt said, frightened by the Fleet Master's sudden arrival. Neerg nodded, and a plan started forming in his head.

"How many explosives do you have onboard?" he asked.

"The squad's grenades, and some fuel rod guns," the pilot squeaked. Neerg was pleased with the answer, and walked back to the troop compartment.

"Give me all your explosives," he said sharply to the squad. The Elites began to protest, but Neerg silenced them with a wave of his hand. The Grunts held out their plasma grenades, looking terrified at Neerg. The Elites were hesitant, but they eventually handed over their grenades. The Kig-Yar didn't have any explosives.

As the Phantom landed, and opened the hatches, Neerg started putting the grenades in a pile at the back of the dropship, but kept one plasma grenade for himself. Once the squad was out, Neerg walked back to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot seat.

"Go towards the enemy Scarab," he shouted at the Grunt. The Grunt seemed hesitant at first, but followed the order. As they approached the Scarab, Neerg shoved the Grunt out off the pilots seat, and sat down himself. He was about to give the Grunt his plasma grenade, but changed his mind. He did not want to rely on a Grunt for something this important.

He flew the Phantom straight towards the Scarab, and opened the hatches on the sides. He ran out to the troop compartment, pushing the Grunt in front of him, and the Phantom continued on its suicide course towards the captured Scarab. When they were a few meters from the Scarab, he activated his plasma grenade, threw it at the pile of explosives, pushed the Grunt through the hatch, and jumped after him. As they flew towards the ground, the Phantom crashed, and the Scarab was destroyed by the explosives in it.

A hornet flew by, and Neerg grabbed on to the side, grabbed the Grunt and heaved himself up. He opened the windshield with just his strengh, and threw out the human pilot. He told the grunt to pilot the aircraft, and grabbed on to the metal handles on the "skid". They flew towards the Covenant positions.

The Phantom dropship was facing increasing turbulance, and it began to shake heavily as they descended through the atmosphere of the planet. While he was rather skeptical of a Banshee's ability to descend to a planet, he knew that the Phantom's more powerful engines and hull plating would be able to withstand it. Barely.

Slowly, buildings came into view. Not very concentrated ones, but there were some skyscrapers in the midst. The humans had obviously had some time to colonize this world.

As they pushed out of the hazy atmosphere and into the clearer sky of the planet, they saw many battles already taking place. A few cruisers hung in the sky, but the Holy Prejudice was on the ground. They were nearly passing over it.

"Continue your present course, pilot." The Phantom continued. The battles were taking place farther out, and something had caught Valkanar's eye.

There it was. A human flying vehicle, a Hornet. A Grunt and a Sangheili were hanging onto it.

Valkanar got closer and pointed out of the window. "There! See them? We...wait...that is the Arbiter!" The ancient armor of the Arbiter was easily distinguishable from the much advanced and colorful armor the Sangheili wore these days.

"How shall we approach? I can overtake the craft and lift them aboard. Their weapons will not harm our dropship."

"Do so."

The Phantom accelerated. They were approaching the Hornet, and fast. Soon they would be directly over it.

"Pilot, see if you can direct the Arbiter's attention. Fire a shot at one of the buildings ahead."

"This could be difficult."

With timing, the Phantom managed a well-placed shot of plasma into the building next to them, clearly within the Arbiter's angle of view. Now, hopefully, the rescue would go smoothly.

((Carsew, Scarab's are Convenant armor, not UNSC. As such, you should not be destroying them and calling them 'enemy vehicles'. Just thought I'd clear up any confusion.))

((Yeah, but as I wrote: As he looked over the battle, he saw something strange; a Scarab attacked that attacked the Covenant forces. the UNSC had captured a Scarab and used it against the Covenant.))

((I apologize for not fully reading your post, my ignorance astound's me. :())

The Arbiter and his Honour Guard's formed a small circle, pike's extended. A few Kig-Yar stood behind them, their rifle's and carbine's loaded and aimed. A few Human's scurried about the formation, moving into cover and priming their weapon's. A large Scorpion rolled in, it's main cannon directed at the Arbiter himself. The turret swerved about as the Gunner positioned himself, a sign of the catastrophe moment's to come.

The Arbiter closed his eye's and prayed silently to the Forerunner's, as he allowed his mind to slip into a primal rage. He roared in fury as his eye's became red, fixing upon his target, the Scorpion. His Guard's echoed his roar as they too charged at the Human's, pike's forward and shield's up. The Kig-Yar unleashed salvo's as they squawked at the Human's. Ripa positioned his hand's under the front of the Scorpion, then lifted it clean off the ground. He swung it as a club at the nearby Human's, swatting them like flies.

A Pelican flew directly at the Arbiter, unleashing a volley of turret fire at his torso. He countered, chucking his makeshift club at the vessel, sending it into the ground alight. He drew a Brute Shot and attatched it to his wrist, igniting an energy sword in his other hand. A Demon snuck behind the Arbiter, a Spartan Laser fully charged. He pointed the gun barrel at the Arbiter's back and poked him twice, his hand caressing the trigger in anticipation. Ripa brought his elbow into the Demon's chest, causing him to sloop forward. He followed with a swift flick of his wrist, connecting the Brute Shot's blade with the creature's neck, causing the form to fall limply to the ground.

"Your Demon has failed you! Your brother's dead! Die now, die for the Great Journey!"

The scene around him was much the same, as the Honour Guard dug into the Human formation's. Ripa put away his energy sword and cast the Jiralhae weapon aside, not giving it a second look. He pulled an energy pike from a nearby Human, then impaled it into the ground, placing the Demon's helmet on top. He pulled the creature's body and slumped it against the pike, a mark of the Convenant's victory. Suddenly a bright flash caught his eye, as he looked up to see a Phantom speed overhead. He and his Guard moved with it, jumping into the Cargo Hold as quickly as time allowed.

The Guard's formed two line's alongside the center of the bay, forming a small path for the Arbiter as the crew was shoved aside. He strode into the cockpit accompanied by two guard's, then found to his surprise Valkanar.

"Valkanar, a pleasant surprise to say the least. This isn't the best of time's, but why aren't you in uniform?" A nearby Guard handed the Arbiter a suit adorned only by the legendary Honour Guard's, along with a Pike.

"Welcome to the Honour Guard, you earned it. I have read your impressive report and these time's are pressing. The Prophet's agree with my decision . . ." He handed the armor and pike to Valkanar and offered a subtle grin.

((No problem, it's my fault for not explaining clearly.))

Neerg's Hornet flew over the Covenant positons, not being bothered by gunfire since Neergs golden armor shone brightly in the evening sun. He saw the Arbiter squad, battleing a Scorpion.

"Land over there!" he shouted at his pilot, who responded by stopping the engines, so that the Hornet sank a few metres before he restarted them. "And don't kill us both in the process!"

The terrified pilot learned how to lower the craft, and they sank slowly towards the ground. As soon as they landed Neerg jumped off, killing two humans with his Carbine. He walked slowly towards the Arbiter, while shooting his weapon at all the humans he could see. He saw a Demon sneaking up behind the Arbiter charging a Spartan laser.

Neerg was just about to yell, but another demon pushed him aside, brandishing an energy sword towards his throat. Neerg was just able to get his own energy sword, and he cut at the Demons left arm. The sword hit its target, cutting through his foes armor and burying deep in its arm. The Demon loosened its grip, and Neerg was able shove it aside. As he leaped on top of the demon he thrusted his sword through the Demons helmet, red blood staining his armor and helmet. He jumped off his dead foe and deactivated his energy sword. He walked over to the Arbiter, whom had defeated the other demon and was just putting its helmet up on an energy pike.

"Your Demon has failed you! Your brother's dead! Die now, die for the Great Journey!" the Arbiter shouted to the humans, his voice drowning the weapons fire.

Suddenly a Phantom dropped out of nowhere, landing close to the Arbiter. The battle was won, and the Arbiter walked in to the troop compartment with his honour guard. Neerg followed him. He saw the Arbiter walk in to the cockpit, and then a suit of honour guard armor was passed to him. As the Arbiter came out again Neerg kneeled.

"Noble Arbiter, I request permission to return to a starship," he asked...

((Guy's, can we not exterminate all the Spartan-II's okay? There's only say, 32 in existance at the time so . . . Yeeh, no more overkill's. :)))

The Arbiter turned and considered Neerg's outburst, wandering as to his motive's excatly. "Granted and I'm coming to. You'll operate from my flagship at my side, as I now instate my power's over two third's of the fleet. The remaining fraction fall's to you, whilst the Supreme Commander is given control of our ground forces, well the majority."

The Arbiter signalled for the Phantom to land at a small Convenant camp, or more accurately a captured airfield. It was small, but the position was sound and it's importance strategic. He moved past Neerg at a calm pace, with his Guard's following suit. "Valkanar, you have my leave, return to the ship soon however, we have much to . . . discuss. Neerg, with me."

He leapt from the craft with his Guard in tow, with a line of Convenant soldier's amassing around him. The Unggoy yelped as his Guard's tapped them aside with their polearm's, keeing the way clear for their leader. A few Kig-Yar remained isolated from the rest of the camp, sitting keenly as they polished their rifle's whilst a pair of Mgalekgolo bond brother's watched the proceeding's, still as stone. Yanme fluttered about the camp uninterested, more focused upon ensuring the camp's functionality than formalities.

The Sangheili moved to pay homage to the Arbiter, a quick smile fluttering across their often saddened expression's. The Brute's simply glared and snarled, obviously discontent with their rival's 'fame'. A trio of Kig-Yar pilot's stood around three banshee's, their gaze primed upon the Arbiter. Upon seeing him move toward's a Phantom they quickly polished their craft's and checked the system's, knowing full well the demand of guard protocol.

A nearby Zealot pushed through the mass, moving to the Ripa's side and asking a few simple question's of tactical import and such such. The Arbiter stopped and responded, finishing with a short-lived smile. The Zealot returned it, bowed and fled the scene, returning to his duties. The Guard's became more devout in their duties, lowering the pike's and surrounding the Arbiter and Neerg. Despite his awfully vicious and agressive reputation, Ripa was actually respectful and understanding, even under the most trying of circumstance's.

He held great suspicion about the Prophet's alate, but did not bother to voice such concern's. He could easily break the Convenant due to the respect he was held in by all, but he knew such a move would only lead to the Sangheili's demise. If anything, Ripa loved his people and would never put them in a position of pain, or risk their death's. A small firefight erupted over a nearby hill, the plasma mortar of a wraith illuminating the encampment as it blasted the oncoming Human's. The crowd swiftly dissipated as they rushed to engage, many more than happy to finally get some action.

The Honour Guard's softened slightly, leveling their pike's skyward as they advanced in pace with the Arbiter. His Guard's flooded into the Cargo Hold, allowing some Kig-Yar Spec' Op unit's to take up position's at the aft door and gunner port's. The grav lift was left inactive for the time being, it's functionality nulled due to the purpose of the flight. A Honour Guard Ultra moved to beside the Arbiter, who stared out of the aft boarding ramp as the ship sped into the air.

"Arbiter, something wrong?"

"No, that's the problem with this entire war. It's making my skin crawl."

The White-clad figure nodded and glanced through the aft ramp just as it closed, the viewport made foggy by the ascent through the atmosphere. A moment later and an ebony black filled each viewport, a few white light's twinkling in between. The fleet glided silently, each frigate moving slowly in procession. The UNSC had long abandoned any attempt's at a space reclamation, knowing such a move to be futile against this sort of enemy.

With moment's the Phantom had glided into the flagship's hangar, allowing it's cargo to disembark with speed and skill. The Arbiter and his Guard's move at a brisk pace to the bridge, with Neerg (Hopefully, up to you.) in tow. Upon arriving at the bridge they moved about the outer viewport's, lining up in a huge semi-circle about the bridge. The Arbiter took mid-center, as the bridge crew wheeled about their respective task's. His crew comprised only of extremely skilled and intelligent Kig-Yar, supplemented by a load of Sangheili. There were also Mgalekgolo bond brother's and Drone's, along with 'Engineers'. No Unggoy or Brute's were upon the vessel for appropriate reason's, at the Arbiter's personal request.

The Unggoy were much more suited to ground engagement's and the majority lacked any sense of self-indepence. The Brute's earned their name well and little more need be said on that subject. Jirog'kae, the only Brute War Chief aboard the entire ship, had earned his place well as the Arbiter's right hand. He lacked the more distinctive trait's of the race and put his physical size and strength to a much more practical use rather than hurling one's self into the fray.

He was also the Arbiter's close friend, who had saved his life many'a time before. Jirog moved beside Ripa and smiled to him, with the Arbiter returning the gesture briefly.

"It's been far too long Jirog'kae . . ."

"Indeed, the road has been long and hard without your guiding hand, my Arbiter."

The Arbiter laughed and returned his focus to the center viewport, the image of a thousand battle's raging across the holo-screen.

"How many casualties so far?"

Jirog'Kae silenced his chuckle as the joke turned sour, then considered.

"Already far too many."

"As I expected . . ."

"Arbiter, what would you have me do?"

"I want you to move over to The Divinity and sieze command of the incoming fleet, then move to a ground support role."

"Understood, it will be done."

Jirog'Kae moved to the doorway, glancing over his shoulder one final time at his old friend, then departed for the hangar.

"Neerg, you have the bridge, I will be in my quarter's."

Ripa moved through a nearby doorway into his quarter's, which he had previously attatched to the bridge for more practical mean's, rather than being away from it. He moved to the viewport and silently counted in his head how many death's he'd witnessed upon the day so far.

Neerg followed the Arbiter closely as they walked to the Phantom. He had a small grin on his face, but his eyes remained without emotion. He knew that if he did anything hostile, the Arbiters honour guard would not hesitate to kill him, even if they officially were lower in rank than Neerg.

He jumped up in the Phantoms troop compartment, stopped, and turned back, facing the exit hatch. He saw a Wraith plasma blast firing upon an incoming Human squad. The crew of the Phantom jumped down and attacked, and Neerg smiled at so many humans getting killed with so few Covenant deaths. As he looked away he saw the Grunt he had rescued eariler sitting close to the Phantom, not knowing what to do. He waved at the Grunt to go into the Phantom.

"This Grunt has saved my life," he said as the Grunt was climbing up. "I would never have been able to fly that Human craft myself." That was problably a small lie, but he liked the little guy, and for some reason felt he had to protect him. He chuckled at his sudden compassion.

The Phantom flew towards the Arbiters flagship, The Prophets Blade, and since the UNSC didn't attempt to attack in space, they were not bothered by gunfire. As they landed, everyone on the craft jumped out and started walking to the bridge. Neerg was astounded by the size of the ship. The corridors they walked through glowed with a purple light.

They arrived at the bridge and the Arbiter positioned himself in the mid-center, Neerg followed him, and stood on his right side, and the Unggoy on Neergs right. He immediately noticed the absence of Unggoy, and no Jiralhane except for one, but that was to expect since the Brutes were generally stupid, but he could not see why the Jackals were there, but no Unggoy, since the Jackals were almost crazy. They had no respect, and it was unusual to have them on the bridge, they were thrown in the prison cells for most of the time by almost every commander in the Covenant fleet.

The Arbiter talked quietly with the Jiralhane, and after a few minutes of talking, the Brute departed towards the Hangar. The Arbiter walked away to his quarters, and Neerg stood alone on the bridge. He shouted a few orders to the crew, but overall stood quiet...

The Honour Guard's cleared the bridge as they silently mourned the loss of their brother's. Ripa sat alone in his quarter's, staring at a holo-screen that listed the current casualties of war. He hung his head in silence, an eery feel of regret overcoming him. "I sent them all to their death's, my brother's, my kin . . ."

A tear fell from his eye's as he realized the truth. To fight an innocent foe had about as much sense as a meaningless death, about as little honour . . . The Prophet's condemned them of heresy, though when in truth they did not even know whom they faced. He removed his helmet and placed it on his lap, caressing the ancient symbol's gently. The empty helmet echoed him precisely, hollow and useless. Ripa stared at the ancient symbol of the Arbiter, finally realizing the truth about who he was meant to be. The Sangheili, the Convenant, it was a weapon, a tool, not an extension of the Prophet's religion.

As his ship's name clearly showed, they were simply a mean's to an end's for the Prophet's. The silent realization shook every fibre of his being, but he knew it wasn't he who was meant to put an end to the lies, to the corruption. It would be an Arbiter, yes, but not this one, not this war-mongering fool. He replaced the helmet and moved to a nearby wall, examining his reflection. He had fallen to far into the web to be of use to his people now, all he could do was serve the hollow purpose that had been created for him. He realised that many of his fellow Sangheili had gone through this already and he expected that Neerg and Valkanar were amongst the number.

Perhap's that's why they were wiser, they were more free-thinking. A new sense of energy and power fluctuated throughout his being, filling him with a hope, a flicker to a flame. Not in his life-time, but he knew that the oppression of the Prophet's would come to an end and that his people would only gain for it. The first sacrifice was the freedom of his race, until such a time could come. A sacrifice he, personally, was able to make. He knew that trying to spark a rebellion at such a time would be trivial and only make him a 'Heretic' in the Convenant's eye's. He could wait, he could watch.

He drew his blade and held it inches from his face, his expression one of stone as the energy singed the surface of his skin. The purple light radiated fabulously, the radiance skimming his face. "I am the Arbiter . . . the blade of the Prophet's . . ."

He flicked the blade off and cast it into it's respective holster, leaving it ready for use. He replaced his harness and strode boldy onto the bridge, an expression of strength and power about him. He eyed each of the crew carefully, ensuring they were doing their correct duties. A quick glance at two chatting Kig-Yar set them back about their work, three-fold the efficiency of your standard worker. He nodded to them, then returned his focus to Neerg and his Unggoy companion.

The Arbiter spoke this time with a sense of power and respect, ensuring that his sub-ordinate's knew he meant no disrespect in his order's. "Fleet Master, you have full command over the fleet. I expect you to show five-fold the efficiency of your predecessor as his failure's before were not forgiven. You will make a brilliant Councillor one day, but until that day come's, I expect you to follow my order's, to the letter! Move the fleet into position and prepare to send in the second wave and issue a fall back to the first. We will reinforce our position's and advance further with the second force, as the gaping hole's in their defense's will be exploited. This time we will make a lasting impression upon the Human's, is that clear?!"

Kendricks had reached the bridge without problem.

The other prisoners began to look around the massive room, trying out the controls.

Then Kendrick noticed what he was looking for.

There was a large timer above a panel of flashing lights.

The self-destruct control panel.

He went over and began pressing random buttons. Hoping to deactivate the self-destruct in time. It seemed they had alot of time, but then again, he couldn't read the Covenant language as well as some.

Suddenly he got an idea.

He took out his pistol and fired four shots into numerous parts of the panel.

The timer froze, and the panel nearly exploded.

He smiled and looked at the other Marines, "Well, guess what, I think we just captured the first Covenant ship of the war."

Their faces registered surprise, and then suddenly a cry rose from them as they found out that they had indeed survived, and with some Covenant handiwork.

"Okay! Everyone! Pick a station, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out how to drive this thing. Let's take it back to the USNC, and we're home-free!"

((Sorry, but the Master Chief was the first person to capture a Convenant ship and that happen's alot later. As such, your about to get owned, sorry. :)))

A nearby Convenant ship burst to life and Ripa recognised it as the ship he had earlier thought destroyed. It registered that the Human's must be the pilot's in question and as such they were trying to steal Convenant technology. His flagship was at laest a hundred time's larger and faster than the ship in question, with it's system's alot more advanced that it as well.

"All batteries, open fire upon that ship!"

In truth it would only take one of the ship's highly advanced weapon batteries to destroy that ship in second's, but he preferred to ensure that there would be no survivor's. The engine's of the target ship exploded instantly, setting off a chain reaction across said ship. The Arbiter directed more and more weaponry to sweep the ship, from aft to bow, wasting no time in totalling the vessel. With second's the aft section of the ship was gone, incinerated by The Prophet's Blade.

"Unleash a salvo of missile's! Aim directly for the bridge!"

The projectile's struck home as the bridge seperated from the ship, it's hulking structure falling rapidly into Harvest's atmosphere. The structure disintegrated upon the entrance to the atmosphere, leaving the occupant's to fall and die . . .

"Send five Phantom's to the surface! Sweep the area; search and destroy."

A nearby Sangheili nodded and signalled for two of his kin to follow. They departed from the bridge swiftly, wasting no time in making for the hangar.

"I thought as much."

Kendrick was congratulating the Marines when he looked out of the Bridge's main window.

"Damn.....they caught onto us..."

One of the Marines spoke up, "What? You mean you didn't think they were?"

"No, I just thought it would take them longer to notice that everything was working again."

He pointed to a Naval Officer who was standing in front of the navigational controls.

"You...is it possible to get a course to to collide with one of the Covenant ships?"

The Naval Officer nodded, "Yes, Sergeant, that it is."

"Get it done, if this ship is going down, then we're taking them with it."

He looked to the other men,"The rest of you get to the Escape Modules or Hangar, anything that can get you down to Harvest in one piece. We can still fight them down there, the Covenant is dominant here in space."

The Marines and Naval Officers began running to whatever form of transportation. Kendrick looked to the Naval Officer, "You almost done?"

A few minutes later, "I'm done. Let's get out of here..."

Kendrick nodded and they both started running towards the hangar.

"This time we will make a lasting impression upon the Human's, is that clear?!" the Arbiter said to Neerg.

"Of course, noble Arbiter," Neerg answered with a bow. As he looked out the viewports, he saw, to his astonishment, the "Divine Justice" coming to life, a ship he had thought destroyed.

"Humans," he muttered, and was about to tell the Arbiter, but he saw that Ripa had thought the same as he.

"All batteries open fire on that ship!" the Arbiter shouted, and the crew readied the batteries in a few seconds. For a few seconds everything was blue by the plasma tropedoes, but then Neerg saw the projectiles hit their target, and utterly divide it into small chunks. He grinned sadly at his ships destruction, but controlled himself and walked back to the mid part of the bridge.

Just as he positioned himself on the Arbiters right side, three Sangheilis raced off the bridge towards the hangar. Neerg looked over the crew, and called a red armored Sangheili to him.

"Open up a commlink to every ship on the Fleet," he said, and the Elite walked off to a nearby console. He nodded at Neerg when he was done.

"Ship Masters, and Fleet Masters," Neerg said. "Move your ships to their positions, and fast, every slacking commander will be fed to the Jackals in my prisoncells." His voice was emotionless, and very threatingly. He immediatley saw every ship moving towards their positions, at full speed.

"You inserted your authority well. The Zealot's will respect you for it. Your order's for the meantime are to provide ample ground support and tactical feedback, whilst keeping our supply line's open. Intercept all and any incoming UNSC Vessel's and capture or destroy them, situation's varying. Any strong spot's in the Human's defensive chain and you are too directly assault them with Phantom's and Banshee's, coupled with the defense system's. I would also not worry about the ship's functioning or integrity all to much, as the system's have been proved invulnerable against all and any of their weaponry, even our own cannot scratch the surface."

He moved forward slightly, putting his palm against the viewscreen as flying limb's and blood sputtered the terrain beneath. Huge vehicle's were sent flying as three Wraith's provided artillery support for an advancing Grunt squadron. A Phantom dropped a second to the battle-field and proceeded to destroy a nearby outpost, allowing the squad's to form a defensive barrier against the counter-attack.

"Drop five Type-47 Super Heavy Weapon Platform's along with a supplement of infantry. Send down a few armor division's also, as to ensure success upon this front."

Ripa had read tactical report's upon the region before him, which contained a super-heavy base amid it's numerous ridge's. A single Scarab would be enough to defeat it, but the Arbiter's weapon was not his soldier's, nor vehicle's . . . it was to be fear. The Scarab's would allow the force's in the region to utterly annihalate and decimate the occupying Marine's, with minimum casualties. The Platform's he dropped were not standard issue, as he had made the Reactor and Leg's much less vulnerable.

Moment's later a UNSC fleet emerged from behind a nearby mountain, with thousand's of craft rising out of concealed hangar bay's. Prowler's emerged from cloak as they unloaded their payload of missile's upon the Blade, hoping to deter the vessel. Missile's and machine gun's unloaded all they had upon the collosal vessel, causing the shield to sputter up in reaction as small pool's of energy circulated to intercept the oncoming slaughter. Ripa's reaction was a laugh that would strike fear into the very heart of the stoutest Human.

"Show these fool's their error! Destroy the UNSC Fleet, destroy them all!"

He knew full well that the Human's had likely sent a huge portion of their fleet with this attack force, in a hope to destroy the Convenant's greatest asset. A wave of plasma spat out from every turret and cannon, sending the enemy craft in all direction's.

"Belay that order! Glass the entire section of this planet, now!"

A huge torrent of energy came down from the craft, striking into the ground and destroying all life wherever it touched. The energy wave flooded across the horizon, destroying every ship, every soldier, every life caught within. The debris fell from the sky, a few survivor's screaming in terror and agony, as they fled to whatever they could find. That wave was but a premise of the true weapon, as a small disc slid down the large cylinder bombarding the surface. As soon as the disk touched the ground the wave began renewed, burying everything in site under a pile of plasma, literally turning the surface to glass.

The Grunt squad's had evacuated before the sequence began, ensuring no Convenant casualties.

"Fleet Master, you have just witnessed our greatest victory upon Harvest . . . the UNSC fleet is no more . . . now victory is assured . . . they can only delay the now inevitable . . . the credit goes to you Fleet Master, you are the Conqueror of Harvest! All heil Neerg, great warrior of the Convenant!"

A cheer erupted from the bridge crew, as chanting began about the ship. All across the planet the war turned in the Convenant's favour and the chanting became audible across the entire globe. Every Convenant upon or near Harvest, was singing a song of victory, all in Neerg's name . . .

The fact that the Battle of Harvest was won so easily startled Xan. He had foguht humans before and this by far was too pathetic for them. They had to be planning something but why would they give up Harvest so easily? He heard the cheer from inside the ship. He looked over to see the Arbiter and the rest of the crew cheering Neerg. The only time to rejoice is when you slaughter the enemy with your blade. Xan walked over to the group and waited for the singing to stop.

"I mean no disrespect but I feel the rejoicing here will be cut short. I have fought these humans before and they are much more cunning than the display down below. They would have put up a better fight on harvest if they wanted to protect it. I think they wanted us all in a cluster such as this so they could launch a counter invasion with their fleet and take back Harvest."

"Your concern's are valid Commander but you misunderstand me. This battle is far from over, in fact now it has truly begun. Neerg has stared the battle for Harvest, truly and Commander, you are going to finish it. You are given full command over all Convenant forces upon Harvest, do not fail me." The Arbiter placed a hand upon Xan's shoulder and dipped his head, then retired to his quarter's for a short rest.

"I will not fail you Ripa" Xan whispered to the Arbiter so that he alone would hear it. Xan stared out into space while to most it was hollow, to Xan it was home. Xan turned to Neerg.

"Fleet Master I want you to get the ships ready for a counter attack, raise the shields and ready the plasma turrets. We can not give them the chance to attack back. And Fleet Master, I've already given a report to the High Council during the skirmish. I trust they will promote you unless the read my report wrong."

Neerg kneeled to the Supreme Commander.

"I will not fail you," he said. "And thank you." He stood up and ordered a commlink to open once again to the Fleet. All the ships were in their positions, frightened by Neergs threat, since they knew he would not hesitate to fulfill it.

"All cruisers raise the shields, and ready your weaponry. Every human ship that tries to either go to Harvest or escape it must be destroyed. Failiure in this order is not acceptable, and I will think of a punishment, for each and every one of you, if you fail. Is that clear?" Neergs voice was calm, and he breathed heavily.

As the commlinks closed Neerg saw on a console that a group off Covenant were under heavy fire.

"Drop off a Wraith at their position," he said to the Kig-Yar at the console. "But if that dosen't work, do not send more." The Kig-Yar grinned at the assumed cruelty, but Neergs purpose was not to be cruel, he was trying to win this battle with as few casualties as possible. Neerg walked away to a chair in the mid-center of the bridge. As he sat down the chair flew up to a meters height, allowing Neerg to float in the air, and fly to different places of the bridge.

A message fluttered onto the viewscreen afront the Blade. It was the Arbiter ...

"This is the Arbiter, prepare the ship for my arrival. The delay was due to an unexpected twist of event's to say the least. Now tell me, how goes the assault upon Harvest? I expect it goes well and if not ... you will not live to regret it."

Meanwhilst in the Heretic's hidden base ...

"Commander, the imposter has worked fabulously. The Convenant is unaware of our trick ... finally, perhap's we can reveal the Prophet's lies ..."

"No, not yet ... what of the real Arbiter?"

"He is en route to the fle--"

"You fool! You insolent fool! How could you not foresee such an event? You risk the entire rebellion?"

"Forgive me ..."

An energy blade ignited and a simple motion of the wrist sent the foolish Captain to his end. The Heretic's had to abandon their plan, before it was too late ...

Neerg was confused, the Arbiter could not be enroute towards the Blade, he was already there, in his quarters.

"Track the transmission!" Neerg shouted to the crew, which looked confused. "Now!" The crew got back to their work, and a Sangheili managed to track the CSS cruiser that had sent the message.

"Found it!" he shouted. Neerg walked over to him.

"Good. Send out a squadron of Seraphs to lower their shields, then send in a Phantom to capture them. I want them alive, is that clear?"

"Yes, Fleet Master."

As the Seraphs engaged, Neerg turned to the honour guard.

"Do not let either the Arbiter, or the Supreme Commander out of sight," he said sharply, and they obeyed.

"Fleet Master, shields are down!" the Elite shouted. "Sending out Phantoms now." Neerg saw on a console that the Phantoms arrived safely.

The Arbiter emerged from his quarter's to find the bridge crew well active.

"Fleet Master, shields are down!" the Elite shouted. "Sending out Phantoms now." Neerg saw on a console that the Phantoms arrived safely.

Ripa advanced upon Neerg to find a squad of Phantom's boarding a CSS Cruiser, with Seraph's providing ample support in the guise of cover fire.

"Neerg, status report ... ?"

"Heretics," Neerg said shortly. "They had an impersonator of you, telling us to let a ship dock, we tracked the transmission to that cruiser," he pointed at the cruiser on the screen. "and I've sent a squad to capture them alive, so that you may interrogate them." Neerg bowed.

Meanwhile on the Heretic cruiser...

"Go, go, go!" a red armored elite, named Terga, shouted to his squad, consisting of more than thirty Grunts, seven elites (plus himself) and 10 Jackals. They went towards the bridge, encountering no resistance from the Heretics.

Terga saw something flicker in the shadows. He raised his plasma rifle, and shot at it. A large group of heretic elites and grunts appeared, and attacked Tergas squad...

(I got confused, it seemed like we all had conflicting posts and I was on spring break. Is the Arbiter an Honor Guard now?)

The Phantom was finally docking on the great cruiser, and Valkanar and the Elite from his training school both entered the hangar. The pilot came in behind them.

"Where are you going, Valkanar?"

"My orders were to protect and obey the Arbiter. I must find him. He said we had some things to discuss."

Coryntar locked arms with him. "I shall have to report back to my squad when I am able."

"Very well. But take this so that we can contact each other again." He handed him a tracking device, one of several he had for special operations. "They equip us well." He did the Sangheili equivalent of a laugh.

The nodded farewell, and Valkanar began a long walk to the bridge. Finally he arrived. There was a great deal of comotion going on, and there were explosions both in space and on the planet. He attempted to spot the Arbiter.

"Very good Fleet Master, I trust that you will not" Xan replied.

The Arbiter who had just left a few minutes ago was on the screen, it was a trick. The heretics must have tried to trick the covenant again, they never have been able to do so. Xan watched as Neerg sent out a fleet to go capture the heretics.

"and I've sent a squad to capture them alive, so that you may interrogate them."

Xan laughed a deadly cold laugh.

"Correct me if I am wrong Fleet Master but I believe it only takes one stubborn heretic to be interrogated for information, The rest sound like they're just up for grabs."

((Ataris, you've been given the rank of Honour Guard and the Heretic's are trying to strike at Covies' flagship. The Human's are on the retreat and are beginning to lose ground.))

"I have had enough of this trickery, these delay's ... Xan! We are headed to the surface at once. Fleet Master, you have the bridge."

The Arbiter departed through the doorway and descended a grav lift to the hangar bay. He swiftly input the code and entered the massive structure, making godspeed to the nearest Phantom.

"You are correct, Commander," Neerg said. "I will change my orders immediatley." Neerg bowed quickly. He opened a commlink to the squad he had sent.

"Find the imposter, and the leaders also," Neerg said. "You can kill the rest." The commlink shut down. Neerg bowed his head in sadness. He was sorry for the Heretics, misguided as they were. Or were they? The Prophets never told any of the other species about the nature of the 'Great Journey', and its destination was commonly known to be 'Glorious Salvation'. He didn't think of it more at the time, but he was sure to discuss it with the Supreme Commander later.

On the Heretic ship the Covenant squad had managed to kill the Heretic group that attacked them. After a few minutes they were at the bridge and placed a charge on the door. As the charge blew up the door, the squad stormed in and quickly secured the bridge, not killing any of the Heretics. They did not find the imposter anywhere, so the squad leader opened a commlink to Neerg.

"We have found the leaders, but not the imposter, Fleet Master," Terga said into his commlink. There was a pause before Neerg answered.

"Interrogate the leader, he must know. If you do not find out where he is, you will take the leaders back to the Blade, where we will interrogate them further."

Terga closed the link and walked over to the leaders. He studied them, trying to figure out which one was highest ranked. He picked one and hit him in the face.

"Where is the imposter?!" he shouted, a little bit of saliva landing on the Heretics face. The Heretic did not answer, so Terga hit once more, harder. He asked the same question, shaking the Heretic as he shouted.

"I will never tell you, pawn of the Prophets," the Heretic said, enraging Terga, who brandished his plasma rifle and held it close to the Heretics face. The Heretic just looked more resolute. Terga shook his head.

"Fine," he said chocked, and angered. "Fine. I was trying to save you from this, but you give me no choice. I will take you to the Fleet Master, and he will interrogate you." He leaned his head one centimeter from the heretics face. "I heard he once tortured a prisoner so much, the prisoner went mad, but not before telling the Fleet Master what he wanted him to know." Terga laughed as the Heretics eyes filled with fear.

"Feel like telling me now?" Terga said, delighted with the fear he had caused. The heretic shook his head and Tergas smile was replaced with anger. He paused for a few seconds.

"Take them to the Phantom, we are leaving," he said. His squad forced the Heretics to stand up, and pushed them through the corridors to the Hangar. The Heretics were forced into the Phantom, and then the Phantom left the Cruiser.

The Phantom docked with the Blade and after a few minutes the squad and their prisoners arrived at the bridge.

"Terga, status report," Neerg said.

"We have their leader with us."

The Arbiter passed by, and Valkanar stood there. Something about Heretics was all that he was able to catch. Then a nearby Sangheili shouted at him.

"Honor Guard, where is your uniform?" He chuckled at this. He was in red armor, but obviously didn't care much about authority. Valkanar didn't mind. He had only recently gained this new rank, and had forgotten about it nearly himself. He simply stared and then left the bridge.

It didn't take him long to find an armory. Inside he managed to get the Honor Guard accessories equipped. He also was able to get himself a charged energy sword and a plasma pistol. Nothing else could be spared, apparently. He checked his beam rifle. It was out of charge. He left it in the care of the Grunts in the armory and raced to the hangar, both weapons attached to his midsection. He had two plasma grenades left. That would have to be enough, he thought grimly.

He saw the Arbiter boarding a Phantom just in time. Making good use of his agility training, he got onto the ramp just in time as it was closing.

"Arbiter! You weren't going to leave me behind after our Phantom failed to save you?" he did a slight Sangheili grin and took a place on the side of the Phantom.

"I have had enough of this trickery, these delay's ... Xan! We are headed to the surface at once. Fleet Master, you have the bridge."

Xan bowed to the Arbiter, "As you wish holy Arbiter."

Xan walked past Neerg but not before putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck Neerg, may the Prophets guide you."

Xan followed the Arbiter and went into the grav lift and followed the Arbiter into the Phantom. He took notice of the honor guard, he must of been a personal guard of the Arbiter. Xan did not take a seat though, he preferred to stand.

"Ready to leave when you are Arbiter."

Neerg grinned a little bit as the Arbiter and the Supreme Commander left. He turned to Terga and the Heretic leaders.

"Why do you do this to yourselves?" he asked. "Betray the Prophets." He shook his head and walked towards the exit, waving his hand at Terga and his squad to follow him. They walked towards the Prison cells, Neerg hoped to find some Jackals there.

They arrived, and Neerg saw that indeed some Jackals were in one of the prison cells, he checked a console and saw that they had not been fed for more than week.

"They're probably hungry, don't you think?" he said as the Kig-Yar jumped at the Sangheilis, only to be stopped by the energy shields in the way. "Send his legs down." He pointed at one of the Heretics. The squad quickly put him on a crane, and a grunt at a console sent the crane down, so that the Kig-Yar could eat at the Heretics legs.

"He is in the Cruiser!" the Heretic shouted.

"We know," Neerg answered, and didn't send him up again.

"He is in the brig! Just please, send me up."

"Thank you. Do whatever you want with him." Neerg walked out, and went to the bridge. As he arrived he ordered a commlink to open to the Arbiter.

"Arbiter, I have the location of the imposter, what do you want me to do with him?"