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Chapter Text

July 2557

Stationed over the Sangheili colony world of Duraan was the CAS-class attack carrier Shadow of Intent. The shipmaster of said carrier recalled how this was not the first significant trip they had made to this colony, especially regarding the type of corvette that was reported to be sighted. But that had been years ago; something different had occurred this time.

Thinking of the purpose of this new mission, Rtas 'Vadum studied the DAV-class light corvette's image on the holotank. Curiously, all it was doing was drifting. It was not heading for Duraan specifically, but would merely pass by. However, this also seemed to not be intentional - simply the choice of the vacuum that carried the ship along.

Extensive damage could be seen on the corvette's exterior. They would have to board it in order to see how the inside fared. This suggested it had been in battle, but... where did it come from? What battle had apparently taken place and who was responsible for its destruction?

"We've gotten identification at last," an officer reported, bringing Rtas out of his inner thoughts. "The corvette is More Than a Night, reported lost after battle during the Great Schism."

"Has it responded yet?" Rtas asked, referring to the message they sent to the drifting ship earlier.

"Negative."

Another officer interrupted. "Scanning is complete, there is only one life form on board."

"Only one?" Rtas turned his gaze to that officer. "Are you certain?"

"Additional scanning may need to be completed... but only one is appearing, Shipmaster."

The shipmaster's second in command, Blademaster Vul 'Soran, cleared his throat loudly after he finished his private comm conversation.

"The boarding team is prepped and ready for orders. When do they depart?"

Rtas glanced at him, then returned to staring at the holotank image. "As soon as we are in position... inform the team that I will be joining the boarding."

"You're going with them?"

"I want us both to be present when they make contact. I have a feeling about this..."

"Good or bad?"

"That, I'm still deciding."

Standing in preparation, the team prepared to enter the hangar of More Than a Night at any moment - a hangar that was strangely open for anyone to enter. That fact only added more to the mystery of the corvette. Rtas would normally be expecting a blatant ambush, except only one life form had been detected. Even if the individual was waiting for them - fully armed - they would still overpower whoever it was. He wasn't bringing along a squad of just any soldiers - accompanying him and the Rangers were his three most trusted warriors.

To start: Blademaster Vul 'Soran. Despite being the eldest of them all, the swordsman still refused to retire - much like 'Vadum himself. His golden armor was just as aged as he was; although to call it "gold" would be a bit misleading. as it no longer glistened and shined. At this point, it was more of a dirty yellow. However, none had the courage to point out to Vul that his proud armor needed changing, while Rtas himself had courage but not the heart.

Except, on occasion, Tul 'Juran would not be able to contain some remarks to the Blademaster whenever her tempers flared. She was the second of his chosen warriors - the Scion of Juran Keep. It was currently one of her commission cycles: a time when Tul would join the Shadow of Intent's crew temporarily to honor her keep's alliance with the Swords of Sanghelios. The young woman was donned in her usual red and gold armor, with a double-bladed energy lance as her weapon of choice. Compared to the rest of the warriors, she stood out in more ways than one.

Even more so than the leader of the Sangheili Rangers. Rtas's other lieutenant - besides Vul - was the Unggoy Ranger Stolt. Taller than most other Unggoy, and given far more respect, Stolt was the last of the notable trio. After all these years, he was the only Unggoy part of the carrier's crew. There were times when small groups joined the crew, but Stolt was the only one to not be reassigned or perish in battle. However, this apparently left him unbothered, as he could always be found in a relaxed state.

A state that was beginning to influence the white-armored, half-mandibled shipmaster on this mission. There should be nothing to worry about, he started to think. The corvette couldn't attack Duraan with a one-man crew, while said "crew" would be unable to fend off their boarding party. In fact, it was highly probable violence wouldn't be necessary. Given the state of More Than a Night, perhaps the individual remaining was in need of rescue - the only survivor of a fierce battle.

There was only one way to find out.

At his command, the team entered the hangar. The mystery life form was not there to greet them.

"It's clear!" Vul announced. "Shall we head to the command room?"

Rtas gave a quick nod. "Regardless of whether the unknown target is there or not, we should still be able to gain control of the ship."

As they began to exit, Tul stalled.

"Hold on..." she commented quietly, under her breath. She raised her voice. "Is that another aircraft?"

Turning around to follow her gaze, the men spotted it as well. At the opposite end of the hangar was another transport ship - one they hadn't noticed. Except, this one wasn't Covenant. It was a completely new model to them all. Nearly all white with gray outlines, this craft was fat in width but thin in length. Glass covered the top, front, and sides of the front - most likely the cockpit. Stuck on its side, the sliding doors were wide open.

Tul approached the strange ship, leaping on top. She peered into the opening, then shook her head towards the others: nothing inside.

Nodding back at her, Rtas declared, "Let us keep going. We'll keep this in mind for later."

They continued outside of the hangar and through the hall. Fortunately, the rest of the ship maintained its oxygen supply. Unfortunately, a stale odor filled the air as well. It had to have been several years since the interior was cleaned...

As evident by the skeletal remains they began to find. Few and far between, it included a variety of different species: Sangheili, Unggoy, Jiralhanae, and Kig-Yar. Although, Jiralhanae were certainly in the minority.

"More Than a Night was reported lost during the Great Schism," Rtas recalled. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes. Contact was lost as Sangheili-commanded ships were fired upon," Stolt confirmed.

"It had to have been boarded... but why would they leave it and not add it to their arsenal?"

"More questions for whoever is still here," Vul rumbled.

When they reached the command room, the team prepared for a potential attack by anyone hiding in there. As they burst in, weapons ready, they were greeted by the usual consoles and equipment. Yet no crew to man them.

Vul voiced the question on everyone's mind: "The survivor isn't here?"

"They could have fled when they realized we were coming," Rtas rationalized. "Assess the controls. See how much is intact."

He himself inspected the shipmaster's chair. The material was worn. Rtas started to wonder about the fate of the Sangheili that once proudly sat here and gave orders to the crew. How the shipmaster died, or if he did at all. Could he be the one lurking inside this corvette? But how could he have survived when supplies surely would have run low over the years?

That thought soon overtook his mind.

How could anyone survive so long when food and water wouldn't have lasted a year, even if only one person was using them up? He cursed himself for overlooking such a simple, yet crucial detail. Could the life form onboard really be a surviving crew member? If so, they'd have to be close to death by now.

No, they would've died ages ago!

It had to have been someone who came aboard recently - most likely on that other ship in the hangar. A scavenger? A pirate? Did they stumble upon More Than a Night by accident, or did they have a purpose to be here? And who were they? That ship could've belonged to anyone, as far as he knew. An experimental new model that had never been encountered before. Or at least one he's never seen.

"Shipmaster, something approaches!" Vul boomed, turning to the entrance of the command deck.

Rtas whirled around, a hand on the sword hilt resting on his hip. It was time for the stranger to reveal themselves as either hostile or friendly. As the doors slid open, the Sangheili and Unggoy raised their weapons.

"Freeze and state-" Rtas started to order, only for the words to die in his throat.

A Huragok floated into the room. It observed each stupefied warrior - as well as the weapons they pointed in its direction. Shaking his head, Rtas barked for those to be lowered. There'd be no point for them. Huragok were completely passive beings.

The floating creature locked its gaze with Rtas’, He assumed it was because he was being the most vocal, although it was possible the Huragok recognized him as the one in charge. It glided over to him, wrapped a tentacle around his arm, then began to tug.

Stolt wadded closer. "It wants to show you something."

"Can you suddenly speak Huragok?" Rtas remarked back.

"No. But it's obvious."

His arm was tugged again, with another of the Huragok's tentacles pointing back towards the hall. Rtas gently touched a hand to its head, trying to let it know that he understood but that it had to be patient. Huragok were hard to communicate with, given their lack of verbal language.

"Call for a secondary team. Have them meet us at the hangar." Rtas groaned as the tentacle traveled further up his arm and looped around, continuing its attempt to move him. "And tell them to bring one of our Huragok."

As previously stated, Huragok were passive creatures. Unlike most other species, the Huragok were artificial in origin. A new Huragok was formed by the combined efforts of two or three "parents" using organic materials they could find and inserting all knowledge they had culminated in their lifetimes. The name of the "newborn" was derived from their first movement and buoyancy.

Their pacifistic nature came from the purpose for their existence. As the human nickname of "Engineers" implied, Huragok did maintenance and tinkering. And nothing else - unless they were the rare type that did "biological maintenance". Although, they didn't lack personality and thoughts of their own. Many Huragok valued life and were capable of attachments. In this case, it was one of only two ways to trigger a violent response - causing them to be defensive of someone or something in danger. Other than that, they'd give their life to protect Forerunner technology.

Huragok were therefore easy to push around. They were obedient most of the time and rarely fought back against attacks on themselves. The cruelest example was the Jiralhanae's treatment of their Huragok during the last weeks of the Human-Covenant War. They strapped the poor things to explosive harnesses, effectively turning them into unwilling suicide bombers in certain cases.

By the end of the war, though, most Huragok had vanished. Any that remained were scattered; mainly possessed by the multitude of factions fighting for dominance in the post-war galaxy. Rtas himself had four within his crew - three given to him by the Arbiter, while the fourth was subsequently built by the trio.

Subconscious Sinker was that fourth Huragok, as well as the one that greeted them alongside the secondary team of Sangheili Rangers. Stolt went to fill his men in on the situation while the Huragok flew over to the one currently trying to divorce Rtas’ arm from the rest of himself. Rtas sighed in relief as Subconscious Sinker's arrival was enough to cause the fussy thing to relent its attack. Rubbing his aching arm, he had gained a new appreciation for their strength.

At the same time, the two Huragok conversed in the form of sign language their species had, but that would not be for long. Humans, after getting a hold of their own Huragok, found the language barrier more troublesome than the Covenant had. Learning the sigh language and whistling languages of Huragok seemed less efficient to them. Therefore, they developed translation software capable of giving a Huragok a "voice". They were even nice enough to give some to the Swords of Sanghelios.

This was why Rtas wanted Subconscious Sinker here. "Sinker, what is your new friend telling you?"

Sinker turned, switching to its robotic voice. "Wanders the Space is complaining about your lack of assistance."

"So that is its name?" Rtas mused. "Can it understand our speech? I have tried to tell it to be patient."

"I believe so. However, Wanders the Space is very insistent."

"Fine. We can have our questions answered on the way to whatever is so important." He then addressed the Rangers, both the new arrivals and the ones that came with him. "Secure the rest of the ship."

With that, Rtas, Vul, Tul, and Stolt followed the two Huragok as they led them back into the halls. Tul got her question in first.

"That white ship in the hangar. Who does it belong to?"

"Wanders the Space is unsure, as it drifted close to More Than a Night a few days ago. Its first guess was that humans owned it, though, when it first recovered the occupant."

"Occupant?" Rtas tilted his head.

"That is what Wanders the Space is insistent on showing you."

Glances were shared between the four warriors. Shadow of Intent's scanning only picked up one life form - scanning that would include Huragok. Unless some mistake was made, then the occupant had to be dead by now.

Rtas decided that mystery could wait a few more minutes, as there were other matters he needed clarity on. "Speaking of... why is the Huragok here? Where has it and More Than a Night been all these years?"

A long tangent of sign language followed from Wanders the Space, with periodic pauses as it allowed Subconscious Sinker time to retell the story for the others.

"Wanders the Space was not originally assigned to More Than a Night. It was part of the crew of Resurgence of Faith, a CAS-class assault carrier, when Jiralhanae began rallying other species against the Sangheili. Realizing that it soon would be under Jiralhanae control, Wanders the Space used the conflict as a distraction to make an escape.

"Alongside a group of Unggoy, they slipped into an escape pod and traveled to one of the nearby ships, which happened to be More Than a Night. However, they found that the corvette had already been raided and heavily damaged. Wanders the Space was able to repair the slipspace drive before their presence was discovered or the ship destroyed after the Jiralhanae dealt with active threats. Although, the sudden jump with the rest of More Than a Night damaged caused a failure in the drive, which is why it hasn't been able to make additional jumps since.

"The Unggoy did not survive. No matter how much methane Wanders the Space produced, food suitable for them ran out."

Rtas gave a side glance to Stolt, but found no change in the Unggoy's usual demeanor.

"Wanders the Space survived by resorting to other materials to digest, although it says that even it is close to starvation by now. It has since passed the time by making repairs to More Than a Night. On occasion it will take in other wrecks to either repair or salvage."

Vul finally spoke up. "Are the communications damaged?"

"Negative."

"Then why did we get no response earlier?"

"Wanders the Space has been busy in the armory... 'repairing'... the aircraft occupant."

"The armory?" Rtas was taken aback. "Why not the medbay?"

"'The armory was better suited'... is its claim."

Right after the statement, the group arrived at said armory. Wanders the Space gave a quick warning about the clutter before allowing them entrance. Rtas immediately noticed the mock operating table in the center, with a few machines surrounding it. Out of the machines came wires attached to the person on the table.

A human girl.

She didn't seem to be an adult, but was close to what he would deem a fully grown human. The girl was on the paler side of the human range of complexions, though even more so than what Rtas was used to seeing. Freckles dotted her upper cheeks. Her body was entirely limp and her green eyes open - black pupils expanded in a way he didn't think possible. An unusual orange was the color of the long hair, rounded at the ends; it was a color he'd heard of occurring naturally in humans, albeit rarely. Stranger was the prominent strip of hair that stuck up at the top. A black bow was at the back of her head, which appeared to also be pink on the other side. The majority of the outfit consisted of a silver blouse, a black abdominal piece with four gold buttons, a light green skirt under that with a darker shade at the very bottom, and a pair of black stockings with green lines on the sides and boots over them. Other details included a black collar piece around her neck with a black ribbon and green symbol at the center, two green suspenders over her shoulders, a small backpack-looking accessory on her back, and a pair of black gloves with golden accents at the knuckles.

This style of attire was unfamiliar to Rtas. He'd hardly seen humans in formal wear. But the few times he did, nothing like this had been worn. Well, the blouse was close at least.

Soon, he realized that Wanders the Space had been "speaking" during his time studying the girl, with Subconscious Sinker beginning the translation.

"The aircraft was not properly sealed. This caused the vacuum to damage the occupant over time. The internal systems were nearly lost by the time Wanders the Space found it. All power was being directed to preservation of the memory banks, leaving everything else vulnerable."

Puzzled, Rtas looked at the Huragok. What was that supposed to mean? It couldn't be replacing medical terms with mechanical ones, could it? Huragok didn't usually speak like that; although he couldn’t discount a rare eccentric personality, especially with a life-story as Wanders’.

Striding over to the girl's side, Tul wrapped a palm around one of the wrists, before shaking her head. "There's no pulse."

Of course. The Huragok claimed she was exposed to the vacuum of space for an extended period of time. No one could survive that.

And yet, Wanders the Space bobbed in the air in a careless fashion.

"Wanders the Space will..." Sinker paused, as if double checking what it was about to say. "'Turn it back on.'"

"Excuse me?" Vul fought back against the urge to totter. "Did you not just say the human was out in the vacuum? Damaged by it? And now you say you will 'turn it back on'?"

"That is correct. You understand clearly" Another pause. "Is what Wanders the Space said. Not my statement."

"We know-" Rtas assured, only to be cut off by Vul, who was still exasperated.

"No! I do not!"

Rtas approached Tul, the latter giving him room to stand next to the table the human was situated on. Putting his hand on the girl's arm, he found it to be cold and hard - completely frigid. And just as Tul said - no pulse.

"Huragok, there is no life left in this human," Rtas stated, in a calmer tone than Vul's booming voice. "You cannot bring her back to life."

An indignant chirp from Wanders the Space followed. It then turned to the wires attached to the human and began removing each carefully. Vul, meanwhile, addressed his shipmaster.

"Shipmaster, the years of isolation must have rendered it mad. Have you ever heard of a Huragok bringing back the dead?"

"I agree on the confusion," Stolt added. "But don't be so harsh! It was stuck on this ship alone for 5 years."

“That is my point!”

“And you’re not getting mine!”

Subconscious Sinker traced its tentacles over the body, interrupting the conversation with a surprised whistle.

"No... Wanders the Space is right! It is simply powered off..."

As Vul began another protest, Wanders the Space removed the last of the wires at the girl's head. Rtas could not see what the tentacle underneath all that orange hair did next, but suddenly-

The pupils of the human constricted back to a normal size as the green in her eyes and stockings glowed. A mechanical whirring sound was heard. Rtas and Tul stepped back from the table - the source of the noise. Tul held her energy lance in front of her in defense while Rtas held onto his energy sword hilt. Vul activated one of his own swords and Stolt brought up a plasma pistol.

All of them watched as the former corpse hoisted herself up to a standing position on the table. Her eyes, now full of life, studied each startled alien. Rtas could see her examining the weapons as well, head tilting in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. When she had taken note of each individual, the glowing green lights of the girl dimmed.

"Salutations! I am P.E.N.N.Y. M374! You may also refer to me as Penny Polendina. How may I be of assistance?"

At the mention of "assistance", Rtas realized this was not a hostile encounter and eased up. He also gestured for the others to do the same.

"Drop your weapons," he commanded. "She is friendly."

"But... what is she?" Tul asked. "She can't be a human..."

"That is correct." "Penny Polendina" nodded. "I am an android created with the aid of the Atlas military. I was designed to be the first synthetic creation to generate an Aura and to pass as an organic being."

"...what?"

"You were designed to mimic organic beings?" Subconscious Sinker bobbled in sudden excitement. "Like a Huragok?"

"I..." Penny turned to face the two bouncing Huragok, head tilting in confusion. "I don't know what that is. Or what you are..." She went on to stare at the Sangheili and Unggoy again. "Or what any of you are."

"You do not?" Surprise slipped out in Rtas' tone. Given how long the former-Covenant species had been in the lives of humanity, he thought their existence would've been common knowledge. Especially so with her estimated age bracket. Then again... "What is this 'Atlas military' you spoke of?"

"Atlas..." Penny repeated. Then she paused. For a moment, her face was blank, before she finally admitted, "I'm not sure either... It's in my scripted responses, but the links to the relevant data in my memory banks are coming back with errors."

That was when Wanders the Space began signing again.

"Wanders the Space tried to explain earlier," Sinker translated. "All power in Penny Polendina's systems weas being directed to the memory banks. While repairing, Wanders the Space had to sever that connection in order to redirect the power. However, messing with the memory systems triggered a self-defense response. The memory banks became locked. At the time, Wanders the Space decided to leave it in favor of repairing the rest of Penny Polendina."

Shifting her head's position, Penny stared off into space. "I see. All I have access to at the moment are crucial operating details, pieces of an education, and programmed responses. Everything else is password protected."

"So there is not much you can tell us about yourself?" Rtas pressed.

"Only what I have access to."

As Rtas thought for a moment, Vul spoke up. "Did the humans create you?"

Looking down at herself, Penny stared off once more. "It's a possibility... My database only lists two different sapient species: humans and Faunus. I also see a vital mission objective to 'protect the people of Mantle', but the links to specifics also draw errors."

Vul looked back at Rtas in confusion.

Rtas could only shrug, then murmured, "Well, we have one clue at least... Humans must be involved in this." Placing a hand onto his chests, he addressed Penny once more. "I am Rtas 'Vadum, shipmaster of Shadow of Intent."

Then, he pointed to the Sangheili and Unggoy in the room as he introduced them. "These are my trusted warriors: Vul 'Soran. Tul 'Juran. Stolt." This was followed by the Huragok's introductions. "That is Subconscious Sinker, one of my own Huragok. And that Huragok - Wanders the Space - is the one who found and repaired you."

Following his hand's movements with her eyes, Penny did not take long to seemingly memorize them all. When she returned her gaze to him, he continued on.

"We were sent to investigate this ship, as it drifted too close to one of our colonies. I must report to that colony first. Only then can we return you to the humans." After waiting a few moments for a reaction to appear on her face, he found that he would receive none. "You do not object to that, do you?"

"Nope!" Smiling, she hopped off the table. "Although I do have lots of questions..."

"Of course..." Rtas pondered the girl. Seeing how the two Huragok already began to flock to her, it gave him an idea. "How about you speak with Sinker and Wanders the Space for now?"

"Alright!" She turned to the Huragok instantly.

"Good." After nodding, he addressed the other three. "Let's head back to the hangar and return to our ship."

"What about More Than a Night?" Vul asked.

"I will speak with the Arbiter about incorporating the ship in the fleet. For now, we will have it moved where it is in no one's way."

With that, he led the group out of the armory. As they made their way back through the halls, his mind raced. He'd have to explain to the rest of his men about Penny and why she'd be staying on their ship. Plus, he'd have to figure out what to do with her until they could meet with humanity. He gave a glance back at her; she was happily conversing with the two Huragok.

Surely the "android" won't be too much trouble for a few days.

"So that's why I'm here?" Penny asked after the two finished retelling the story of Wanders the Space and More Than a Night. She paused, the gravity of one part of the story finally hitting her. "I'm sorry about your friends..."

"There was nothing that could be done," Subconscious Sinker said for Wanders the Space. "They were long dead by the time you and your aircraft were discovered."

"Still, they waited for so long to be rescued... Why did you have to leave Resurgence of Faith, anyway? What is a 'Jiralhanae'?"

Sinker was the one to explain, without any signing from Wanders. "Jiralhanae are large, furred creatures that hail from Doisac. They are generally tribal, as well as ruthless. Humanity refers to them as 'the Brutes', among other unflattering nicknames. At the time of the Great Schism, Jiralhanae were replacing the Sangheili as the right-hand of the Prophets - of the San'Shyuum. They took over positions Sangheili once did in the Covenant. It meant that Wanders the Space and his Unggoy companions would have to follow orders from them.

"And they were smart to flee. Many Huragok put under the command of the Jiralhanae were attached to explosives and blown up on the field. Unggoy mistreatment also grew worse than when they took orders from Sangheili."

Clearly shown on her face was Penny's horror. Sinker gently placed a reassuring tentacle on her shoulder.

"But now those days are behind us. The Covenant remains only as remnants that are slowly being extinguished. The Huragok in the possession of the Swords of Sanghelios and the UNSC are given the utmost respect and care. And as you can see with Stolt, the position of Unggoy in the post-war galaxy is improving."

"That's good..." Penny sighed in relief. "There's something about people getting hurt and abused that really makes me... feel negatively? Is that normal to feel?'

"You're upset. I believe what you feel is sympathy. And that is good... It is generally believed that a lack of sympathy is abnormal - at least by humanity, your likely creators', standards."

"Ah, okay then. It's not in my programming, but... I'll mark it down for future reference."

Soon after, they arrived at an open space where more Sangheili were waiting - some she could only guess were Sangheili, though, due to sealed helmets encasing their heads and obscuring their faces. Alongside all the lifeforms were large metal constructs. Penny figured this was the hangar that was mentioned. Most of the aircraft were sleek - either purple or orange - but she noticed one that was white... That had to be the one she was found in.

Her staring was interrupted when Rtas addressed her, noticing her curiosity. "Do you recognize it? Is there anything in your... 'database'?"

Penny could only shake her head.

"I see..." He then turned to his confused men. "This is the only other survivor onboard. Her name is Penny Polendina. She and the Huragok will be traveling with us, until it is figured out where they will go. I am expecting you to treat them with as much respect as you would a fellow Sangheili."

A choir of "Yes, Shipmaster" followed as they bowed their heads in unison. Although, one still eyed Penny in a way that was different from all the other stares. While confused, she decided to ignore it for now.

Rtas, Vul, and Tul led Penny and the Huragok into one of the orange crafts. Stolt, however, stayed behind with the other Sangheili.

They sat in the seats inside, all quiet. Penny processed the information she was given already. The Human-Covenant War. The UNSC. The Covenant. The Swords of Sanghelios. More Than a Night...

It hardly matched anything in her available memory. The only common factor seemed to be the human race. Speaking of...

"Wanders," she began. "Since you repaired me, is it possible you could unlock my memory banks with a password?"

The Huragok swayed as it signed.

"Wanders the Space would have to check under the proper working conditions - to ensure your safety," Sinker explained. "It is possible, given the protocols that were already activated in your systems, that further damages could be done unintentionally."

"But it would be easier if you just knew the password, right?" Tul cut in. "Do you have any idea on what it could be, or how to figure it out?"

Penny shook her head while Wanders the Space bobbed in a similar fashion.

"If I knew it," Penny added. "Then it must be one of the files I'm locked out of..."

"It would be best to save that for the humans," Rtas said. "If Penny truly is their creation, they will know what to do with her."

"How will you get me to them, though? Sinker and Wanders said there was a war..."

"It is true... We once fought against the humans under the Covenant. Because of that, despite our current alliance, they still are uneasy with us."

Faltering, he seemed to internally debate whether to add an additional thought to that or not. Nonetheless, he soon continued his explanation. "However... If there is one Sangheili the UNSC leaders trust the most, it is the Arbiter. He will be able to deliver you to them, I'm certain."

Penny nodded. This was not the first time this "Arbiter" character was mentioned to her. It sounded like Rtas - as well as the Huragok - thought highly of him. In that case, he had to be trustworthy.

Trust...

As their journey to Shadow of Intent continued, she silently searched her internal systems. For some unknown reason to her, that concept was eliciting powerful feelings inside her. It was almost like what she felt before, when Sinkers explained "sympathy" to her.

Noun - was what her limited memory came up with - a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

That definition surged through her. While she may have lost access to a majority of her memory, something inside her told her that trust was something relevant. She examined her saviors once more.

I can already feel that I can trust them...

Then, she thought back to the strange gaze of the stray Sangheili warrior.

And I hope they trust me, too.

Chapter Text

"Simply an abandoned ship? Are you sure?"

Rtas nodded at the screen that displayed the council of Duraan's kaidons. "We will be taking it away, as well as the survivors found on board, so it no longer bothers you."

There would be no need for him to go into more detail than that. The kaidons didn't need to know nor worry about any human constructs. And given the scarcity of - and therefore value of - Huragok, it was also best they didn't know about Wanders the Space either. Even if Rtas did not want to think suspiciously towards his own kind.

"Very well... Your assistance has been appreciated, Shipmaster."

Once the call had ended, Rtas sat back in his chair and sighed. He had to reassure Duraan of their safety a few more times than should be necessary. While he understood a drifting ship causing anxiety, it was not like they had seen clear evidence of a space battle occurring.

Soon after, Vul entered the command deck.

"Any updates on the android?" Rtas asked him.

Vul shook his head. "The Huragok gave up on the memory recovery shortly after they began. The internal defenses are apparently too intimidating for their liking."

"Intimidating?" One of his eye ridges wrinkled. "For a Huragok?"

"None of them wished accidental harm..."

Not even an hour on my ship and she's already won over my Huragok...

"And what of the new Huragok?" Rtas inquired further.

"It has been fitted with translation software. Sinker will no longer need to shadow it, though... It still follows the construct closely."

"Understandable." Rtas shrugged it off. "It put the work into repairing her. It makes sense it would be drawn to watch over her."

"Yes, about that..."

"And what's this for?'

Penny had skipped over to investigate a tank that stuck out to her. One of the Huragok, Subject to Spin, brushed a tentacle against it while explaining.

"This is one of the re-fueling stations for the Unggoy."

"Ah, right, for their methane tanks?" Penny recalled. "What happens if you run out of stock?"

"Theoretically, the Unggoy would then be in danger of suffocating. However, production of methane is plentiful. Not to mention Shadow of Intent 's special case of having only one Unggoy onboard."

"Stolt is the only one?" Now that she thought about it, most of the aliens she had come across were Sangheili. The only exception to that had been the five Huragok and Stolt. "Why is that?"

Spin lifted its tentacles in an exaggerated shrugging motion, which looked a little silly to her. "We've had others in the past; they just never stayed that long."

She felt her heart ache hearing that. "Really? That sounds very... lonely. And sad."

"Don't worry for me." Stolt's voice came from behind them. Both Penny and Spin turned to see him having just arrived. The other Huragok near them floated over upon his arrival.

Likes to Bobble and Gone with the Wind were the other two "parents" of Subconscious Sinker, along with Subject to Spin. Although, it was hard to see them fitting into that dynamic. They all acted like equal peers. Ironically, it felt like Sinker held most of the maturity of them all, despite being the youngest and "child".

Spin was a learner. He didn't just like to study technology; he absorbed all sorts of information and took pride in teaching it to others. This included culture and social mannerisms. In some cases, this made him act in a way some would call "un-Huragok-like". But Penny found this endearing and often copied motions he did that amused her.

Bobby, as she liked to call "Bobble", was possibly the most adorable of the bunch - being very affectionate, although also quick to get upset. Which was a real feat, because Penny considered them all pretty cute. Bobble went beyond the level of obedience and passivity his kind were known for. He almost always was following someone around, sometimes wrapping around them so he could be led along.

And then there was the clumsy Gone with the Wind. His name stuck out the most, which led to an interesting story that the Huragok told her. When he was created, it was outside. The weather started to grow harsh and the poor guy got blown away. Luckily, he was found right after, but that hadn't been the end of his track record. Yet Huragok were so rare and valuable that letting him go for his accident-prone nature wasn't much of an option.

When Penny had first met them all, they had been very interested in examining her whole body and internal systems. Apparently, androids had not been created in this part of the galaxy - besides, apparently, wherever she had come from. The Huragok had wanted to know all about her functioning, causing Sinker to need to tell them off. But Penny didn't mind the curiosity, as she held just as much towards the aliens and their ship.

"Worry for yourself," Stolt continued his advice.

Tilting her head in response, Penny asked, "What do you mean?"

"Being the only Unggoy is nothing compared to being the only human."

"But I'm not-"

"Do you think being the only android is any different?" Stolt cut her off with both a beefy arm wave and his words. "You look human. You act human. You will be treated like a human."

He eyed some Sangheili passing by. They had been conversing between each other casually, but paused to eye Penny as they walked. Penny caught the stares and waved, which only seemed to throw them off their rhythm.

Stolt sighed as they left. "This is a Swords of Sanghelios ship. You make everyone not a Huragok here uneasy."

"Why?" Penny asked genuinely. "I'm trying to be friendly."

"Humans are allies. Not friends." Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the Huragok. "And you! You're here to work, not run tours!"

Subconscious Sinker floated closer. "As you explained, it is better for Penny to not be on her own."

"Then she will be fine back at your workstations."

"That will only be stimulating for so long. She should move around, learn the layout, and meet everyone."

"I'm really not here to cause trouble..." Penny added, holding her hands back in shame.

"I know..." Stolt sighed again. "Look. The Huragok will go back to work. Minus Wanders. It's technically not working for us yet. It'll stay by your side. Good?" Penny nodded while the Huragok chirped in agreement. "Good. Shipmaster still wants you out of the way, though. Stick by me. I know lots of quiet places."

Nodding, Penny waved goodbye to the Shadow of Intent Huragok. They waved their tentacles back - Spin's with the most exaggeration - before floating back to their duties. She and Wanders then followed Stolt.

I hope this uneasiness is just because I look human. Penny thought to herself. Maybe humanity will trust me more?

"Penny and Wanders, reporting for duty, Shipmaster!"

Looking over his shoulder, Rtas found that the android was giving the standard human salute while Wanders the Space bobbed next to her. Stolt, who had escorted them to the hangar, hurried away once his job was done.

"Good." Rtas returned to watching what was ahead. "Now just stay close to my side and try not to stray. Even Vadam Keep has been dangerous to human visitors."

He felt Penny draw near, to the point where he could just barely see her smaller form in between his own and Vul's. Wanders had its tentacles wrapped around - most likely being protective over the girl. She would be stepping onto the Sangheili homeworld, after all. One still wracked with civil war - the alliance with the humans being at the forefront of the violent debate.

The Arbiter had time to prepare for their arrival, though. Rtas had warned him of the extra guests. Although, he hadn't felt it safe to disclose every crucial detail over communications. Never knew who else was listening in.

A Phantom entered the hangar - their ride to Vadam Keep. Coming out was a Sangheili in red and white armor. He scanned the hangar before setting his sight on Rtas, Vul, Penny, and Wanders.

He bowed his head in respect. "Shipmaster 'Vadum. Blademaster 'Soran." His eyes lingered on Penny and Wanders before continuing, "Is it just you four?"

Rtas nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"It is a simple debriefing and drop off," Rtas assured. "I do not need a whole squad to do just that."

"Right. Forgive me, Shipmaster." Their escort turned and the group followed him inside the Phantom. As it took off, he said again, "Mahkee 'Chava is flying. You are in good hands."

Crossing his arms, Vul said, "Good. She is the only pilot I trust on this planet."

Rtas could not help his amusement. "Really? I thought I grabbed Vul 'Soran for this task - who are you ?"

"Bah! I can recognize talent just fine!"

Yet Rtas could recall a time when that had not been entirely the case. When they first met Tul 'Juran, he had to argue with the old Blademaster when the female Scion requested temporary passage to save her father and brothers. While they did not manage to find them alive, Tul's performance during the mission had impressed Vul enough that he ended up vouching for her continued service.

Although he could've sworn Vul still had a bit of traditional values left in him. Perhaps 'Chava was that great of a pilot? Not that Rtas needed that proven to him further.

As the Sangheili chatted, he also noticed Penny carefully listening in - the translation software the Huragok quickly installed helped her keep track of conversation, regardless of language. Her attention would always be on the one currently vocalizing, even if said vocalizations weren't actually words. He realized how unfamiliar most of what they were speaking about must be for her.

"Thankfully, the Arbiter has an eye for talent as well," their escort added. "To think how differently things could have been, had women like 'Chava been allowed service sooner."

Penny now tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "They couldn't before?"

"It was against the law for females to enlist," Rtas explained. "But the Arbiter has adopted new policies, of which those who respect him have followed suit."

"Why would it be against the law?"

A question laced with genuine confusion. Briefly, Rtas could picture Penny as a Sangheili youngling only just beginning to understand the world around her. The typical answer before would have been dismissive - "Because it is the law." - followed by warnings to not question it any further.

"Because we were blind," Rtas admitted after a few beats of silence. Although, he did not go in depth of the scope of that blindness. Penny stared at him as she registered the answer, before giving a nod that signaled her curiosity was satiated.

Soon, he noticed that their escort had gone quiet as well. The Sangheili was studying Penny again. His expression didn't appear to harbor ill will towards her - merely just getting used to the situation. Rtas did not blame him for being put off, though. The few times the Arbiter did have human guests, they were usually in some way affiliated with the UNSC or ONI. As far as anyone knew - other than Rtas and those he had trusted with the secret - Penny Polendina was simply a civilian.

"Who is she?" was what the escort finally decided to ask.

Before Penny could answer herself, Rtas put a hand in front of her to keep her quiet.

"A child we found in an abandoned ship. She has lost much of her memory." He put his hand down. "The Arbiter has better connections amongst the humans than myself."

Nodding in agreement, the escort leaned back and didn't speak again.

Not long after, the Phantom had landed and they made their exit. Rtas had to lower his head at first. He had been out in space for so long, the suns of Sanghelios were harsh on his eyes. When he had lifted them back up, he found that they were joined by a female Sangheili: Mahkee 'Chava.

"It was a pleasure flying you," she said as she bowed her head.

Rtas bowed back. "And it was our pleasure having you as a pilot."

Mahkee looked over Penny, before nodding her approval. "Arbiter is just about to finish a meeting with the Vadam elders."

"Then we shall go to meet him."

The four from Shadow of Intent were led towards the keep. Some Sangheili citizens were outside themselves. Most were completing assigned duties. Briefly, each one would glance over at the newcomers, only to return focus on their work.

They got a few glares. Mainly those who noticed the human looking girl walking with them. Most were simply curious. Rtas walked closer to Penny. The closer they got to the Keep, the harder it became to shield Penny from all the eyes.

However, looking down at her, Rtas saw Penny was not even paying much attention to anyone else. Instead, the android was mesmerized by the environment around them. Which was understandable to him. Sanghelios was beautiful - and it was a shame he had to spend most of his time away from it.

By the time they arrived at the keep's entrance, some Sangheili were exiting it themselves: the Elders of Vadam. These men immediately noticed them - and Rtas could spot one in particular looking very displeased.

Before this elder could voice whatever thoughts were on his mind, however, another figure exited the keep. He was donned in golden ceremonial armor, except notably his left arm that was left uncovered. Furthermore, red markings were painted on this arm, albeit barely visible due to the light tan cape draped over his side.

This arrival commanded the respect of everyone present. He looked over to Rtas and Vul, then to Penny and Wanders, the latter of whom he gave a warm look. Rtas realized it was because of the visible awe on Penny's face.

"Arbiter," the displeased elder began. "Must you trouble yourself with the humans again? The last time a human was hosted-"

"I recall perfectly well, elder," the Arbiter replied sternly.

Rtas stepped forward. "She will not cause trouble, you have my word."

"You need not assure me of that, my friend." After giving the elder one last look, the Arbiter went on. "Come. We will converse where we will not be bothered."

This was where their escorts, as well as the elders, took their leave. The Arbiter led the remaining four through the halls of Vadam Keep. Only when they were in a comfortable seating room by themselves did the conversation begin again.

"Please forgive my people's suspicion," he said to the girl, while gesturing for her to sit down.

Penny obediently sat down. "It's alright. I don't mind at all."

Tilting his head with a hum at that, the Arbiter then turned to Rtas and Vul. The two warriors had already made a decision to stay standing, which he could tell.

"You mentioned there was more to tell me in person."

Rtas nodded. "I apologize for the secrecy."

"No matter. I trust your judgement, Rtas. What is it you have to share?"

Moving his gaze to Penny, Rtas gave her a tilt of his head. Recognizing the signal, she allowed her eyes and stockings to glow. The Arbiter stiffened in shock.

"Arbiter... We did not find a human on More Than a Night," Rtas explained. "She is a construct that calls herself Penny Polendina."

"Construct...?" the Arbiter echoed. "Is this ONI's work?"

Penny, allowing her green glows to die out, furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Who's 'ONI'?"

"No one to be concerned with right now," Rtas said to her, then continued with the Arbiter. "We are unsure. She was found with an aircraft not seen before, although similar to human design. It does not help that the Huragok, unfortunately, caused a majority of her memory to become locked."

"The only information currently available regarding Penny's origin is the name 'Atlas military' and 'people of Mantle', the former of whom seem to be involved with her creation and the latter related to her creation's purpose," Wanders added.

Arbiter shook his head. "Those terms are unfamiliar to me. Unless they are colonies or cities..."

"Do you believe your human contacts will know more?" Rtas inquired.

"That depends on how involved ONI is," he scoffed. Rtas could sympathize. If there were any humans he still held contempt for, it was that organization. "But if the aircraft is similar to their design, and Penny resembles a human herself, then it is safe to assume she belongs to them. And even if not, the UNSC deserves to hear of this."

He turned his attention to Wanders. "I know the Covenant has mistreated you, but if you so choose to join my ranks, you will be welcomed and given care."

Wanders bobbled, but tightened his hold on Penny's arm. "I appreciate your offer. However, I aim to stay by Penny's side."

"Then I will honor your request." After that, he addressed Rtas one more. "You were right to hide this. Besides the fact that she is so convincingly human, our people may grow further suspicious of humanity if they've mastered this ability. Which is why I ask you to stay until this is sorted out. You are the only one I can trust to watch over her."

Rtas brought a hand over his hearts. "By your word, Arbiter."

"Good. I will get into contact with Admiral Lord Hood and arrange for a meeting. It should not take long."

With that, the matter was over.

The discoveries made on More Than a Night were not the only topic of discussion between the Arbiter and Rtas, but it was the only topic that involved Penny. To keep her from potentially interrupting the rest of their business with curiosity - as well as the possibility of a human-made android recording any sensitive Sangheili intel - she, Wanders, and Vul left the room. While Penny and Wanders were given a little free reign to walk around to stave off boredom, it was to be under the watchful eye of Vul to keep them out of trouble... and to ensure that no Sangheili grew worried at the sight of a human roaming around.

Wanting to see the skies and beauty of Sanghelios again, Penny led her two "guards" outside the building. Some distance away from the main building were planted fields of tall, wispy flora. Penny's eyes landed upon them and her feet carried her a bit swiftly to go take a really close look. Wanders rushed to follow as fast as his floating speed could allow, while the old Sangheili lagged behind with a leisurely stroll as he figured they could not get too far so quickly for him to lose them.

Beneath her green eyes, Penny's systems scanned the plants as she gave one a careful touch. They were a type of crop that was definitely unfamiliar to her. Her systems strained to access flora and food knowledge in her memory, but while she found some "Remnant" crops that were similar, none were a direct match. Still, using some context clues, the unknown crop was sorted amongst her knowledge of food groups and nutrients and added to her banks. As were all the sensations she recorded experiencing - its texture at each part, how it moved when she manipulated it, what her skin felt when in contact, the conclusion that all of it was pleasant. While her old memories were gone, she could at least fill her memory banks with new ones for the time being.

"It's not harvest time for this section yet," came a voice beside her. Penny nearly jumped as she turned to face a smaller Sangheili that was only just barely taller than her. By analyzing how their voice sounded compared to the ones she'd met before, she figured that this Sangheili was a child. They were holding a large bag half their size that was slightly open, revealing some soil-like contents inside, which she guessed was something to help the plants grow.

"Oh, I was just looking," Penny said as she retracted her hand from the crops. "I've never seen it before and I wanted to study it."

A side-eye was given her way. "Is this your pet?"

Looking at her side, she found Wanders had caught up with her. "No, Wanders is my friend."

"I was talking to the Huragok."

As Penny was left struggling to understand, Vul spotted that she had made contact with a local and picked up his pace to get involved. "Do not mind the human and continue on with your chores. I will keep her away from the crops if that will be an issue."

"Eh, she's not tampering with it, just being weird, so it's fine," the kid said, before disappearing back into the crops, bag in tow.

After watching the kid go, Vul's gaze was back on Penny - and stern. "Do not go messing with anything! You could damage something!"

"Oh, I didn't mean for that!" Penny insisted. She was just trying to learn all that she could, with all her available senses.

"Remember that you are in a place where people are trying to live their lives and do their jobs," Vul continued. "Wandering around to keep yourself occupied is one thing, but do not disturb everyone's peace."

She nodded, ingraining the message in her databanks. She'd have to do better in determining what acts were harmless learning and what constituted "disruption".

"I'm not familiar with a lot about Sanghelios..." Penny admitted, after pondering on how to not be a disruption and failing to reach an adequate conclusion, even with her prior experience on Shadow of Intent. "Where can we go that won't bother anyone?"

"Preferably, the guest rooms," Vul muttered. He did it lowly, but Penny's hearing was heightened as an android. She lacked the context to be offended, however, and merely wondered why he didn't speak up and why he offered other, apparently lesser choices. "We should not stray too far from the keep, so that the Shipmaster can reunite with us easily once his business is done. Most of the interior, however, will be busy."

She'd nearly cut in to ask about that, before catching herself. A lot of questioning seemed to count as "disrupting". Although there were times where it seemed acceptable, she'd have to wait for clearer signs that she was in one of those moments. File this question for later, then.

"There is not much occuring outside..." Vul continued, his words dipping into murmuring-territory as he drifted into his own thoughts. It took a few moments for him to settle on the final answer to Penny's inquiry. "There should be gardens built specifically for relaxing and observing Sanghelios' nature. That would do."

In order to reach them, though, they did have to briefly go through the interior. Through this, Penny was already spotting clues for Vul's earlier apprehension with being here. As they walked, they were passing by many Sangheili, to the point of having to side-step and course correct to stay out of each other's paths. A lot of foot travel seemed to occur in these halls - a lot of opportunities to become a disruption. This is what he meant by "busy", but what were they traveling for? Sometimes, they'd even seem to be in a hurry.

These were all filed away, as Penny's mind had a new priority. Upon entering the enclosed garden - with only the top being open to the elements - Penny was completely engrossed with information. Her eyes went to all the colors - all the different types of plants, easily distinguishable as different species based simply on their varying appearances. Her instinctive way of "gathering" information was using her body as a human would, but Penny wasn't incapable of scanning. Realizing that there was simply so much - and Vul might stop her from touching anything - she finally dusted off those scanners and let them analyze the visual data. Some aspects wouldn't be as precise without her senses - mainly anything to do with touch - but she could get close enough to be satisfied.

As she did the rounds of the garden, pointing her eyes at every space she could find, Penny identified at least 3 species of trees, 1 species of vine, 14 different species of flowers, and 5 species of bushes. There were 2 specimens that eluded her initial organization, taking up her fascination just a bit longer based on that fact alone. But it all was fascinating; it appeared, based on some context clues, that not all of the plants were native to the conditions that the rest of Vadam Keep suggested. They at least had adapted to being planted in this garden and being around foreign plants, but did they maybe need extra care in order to flourish? There were no gardeners present - just her, Vul, and Wanders - so she couldn't ask the experts. Her companions couldn't cut it as a next best thing - Wanders' knowledge focused on engineering while Vul just straight up had no clues when it came to plants. He seemingly never even thought of most of the questions Penny could think of, so she stopped trying after the third, "I would not know that!".

He was somewhat useful in one department, though, but it had nothing to do with the plants themselves. When her analysis of the flora came to the end, she switched to the rest of the garden itself - the architecture, the layout, the materials used to build it, and the design. His only insight was with how it was built and the carvings on the walls and containers of some of the plants. In order to ensure full control of the flora inside, the garden was isolated from the outside save for the sky - which was necessary for sunlight. It very rarely rained enough in the area for there to be concern over over-watering - the only usual bad weather was sandstorms, but the entire keep had defenses against those - but apparently in other parts of Sanghelios they would make roofs of glass. As for the carvings, they depicted common Sangheili cultural motifs, adding more decoration to the garden besides the plants. Some of the carvings were actually phrases and some of them - picture or phrase - were part of legends associated with plants.

So of course Penny had Vul on his tenth legend-retelling - something he for once seemed to genuinely enjoy - when she finally remembered her other, earlier curiosity. The memory was triggered by the fact this specific tale of political tragedy featured a keep heavily. Once he wrapped this one up, she finally changed the topic.

"By the way, earlier you mentioned people are busy inside a keep," she began. "I could certainly see that on the way here, but what are they busy with?"

Vul's mandibles clicked, a gesture that Penny came to know as something Sangheili did when they were being thoughtful. Or snide. "This is, first and foremost, the living quarters of many people. Most females are doing chores and preparing for the next meal. Most children are alternating between work and play."

When the pause between words became too great, Penny probed for more. "And most men?"

Her analysis was still on in the background, enough to detect the subtle slacking of his limbs. "Most males... They would not be here. A male's adult life is full of military service. Some of them are currently present on guard duty. Most present are retired or lack the strength, so they take on the duties of clerks, merchants, and politicians."

Penny had to tilt her head at that. "Does that mean there's a war going on?"

Wanders also let out a curious chirping sound, echoing the sentiment. They'd previously been told that the Human-Covenant war was over, with Sangheili at peace with humanity... Although that didn't mean other wars couldn't be going on. For example, all she'd heard of Jiralhanae was of their cruelty during that war, but everything post-war she learned had excluded them. Could hostilities with them still be going on?

"A war... Nothing grand or noble like the past," Vul answered, disgust and faint melancholy seeping in. "It has just been endless conflict. Sangheili against Sangheili, even within our birth lands. Most Jiralhanae continue to harass us, even worse are the rogue elements of the Banished. Some humans even ignore the treaties of their leaders. In spite of the efforts of the Arbiter - of the great victory achieved against the Covenant and the Flood - another generation of Sangheili youth have been sent out to languish and die, with little honor to be gained from spilling the blood of their kin. Neither can those of us who have served our whole lives still bring ourselves to rest."

The process of filing future questions was completely in the background as Penny took in the full emotions of his monologue. With full analytic capabilities on, her brain was constantly updated by the fluctuations of his bio-readings. Even just speaking on this was eliciting strong reactions. Although her "brain" was burning with the need to learn more about all he dropped without context, some other part of her body ached too much and distracted her. She didn't remember anything significant being built into her chest, though. Nothing that would cause this.

It led her to re-evaluate her next move, though. It felt wrong to keep triggering these negative reactions within Vul, so she should put her learning on hold. Unless there was something that he could speak on that'd do the opposite? He'd seemed to thoroughly enjoy retelling all those legends, earlier - if the passionate way his loud voice soared was any indication. When she searched around the garden, however, she didn't find anything new. They'd ran out of stories.

Okay, new plan. Pry a little bit until a new subject was discovered that'd have the same effect as the legends. Which subject would be the best for that? Nothing of what she was told about the Human-Covenant war had mentioned a "Flood" before; but now she was beginning to figure that she just must've not been told a lot to begin with. There was also the Banished, but given they were clearly part of the current "endless conflict mess", she figured they should be avoided for now.

Taking the legends as precedent, she settled on asking about military service itself - more specifically, his. A common theme of the legends shared was epic battles and fierce warriors - Sangheili, at least the males of Vul's age, seemed to value that a lot. Actually, since he mentioned honor and the importance of attaining it and the tragedy that the youth were losing out on it, that only further solidified her theory. And since Vul alluded to having done a lot of service, that'd have to translate to a wealth of stories, right?

"You can't rest?" she finally asked, trying to brush off the fact an awkward amount of seconds had gone by, even with her thinking processors running faster than the average organic. "So, you've done a lot that you need rest for?"

It came out a bit rough, with her trying to transition the subject without being too obvious with her intent, but he seemed to have understood and taken her bait.

"I have a century of life. Of course I have!" Yet, his demeanor was devoid of his usual gruff. His volume - always quite loud and requiring Penny to tweak her hearing on the fly - had pitched off into a subtle mirth, too. The faint wrinkles she could detect between armor plating were stretching together in a way that brought joyous imagery to Penny's mind - although she couldn't recall why.

Yet she seemed to have done the right thing.

Although the time since he'd separated from Penny and her guards hadn't exceeded too many hours, Rtas was still on edge when his conversation with the Arbiter concluded. He couldn't even bring himself to stay for brief pleasantries - words without responsibility and duties. Something that looked like a human girl was running amok in a Sangheili keep - and he was fearing even a blademaster and a Huragok would not be enough to keep anything from going down because of that. And maybe it wasn't just the residents of the keep he was worrying about...

It was still a bit hard for Rtas to give humans the benefit of the doubt. He'd caught plenty of ONI spies invading Sangheili space - even resorted to shooting some down. Even before that, disturbing chatter had reached him and the Arbiter of deeds ONI was doing against the Sangheili. Collusion with their enemies. Breaking peace treaty terms. Secretly striking against them. The UNSC didn't do enough, in his opinion. The Arbiter was at least firm with those in his ranks that went too far, not above using execution to stop their misdeeds for good. Why couldn't the UNSC just do the same? And what about the other humans that acted outside of "official" means? He at least could understand having difficulty with rebels, but it still wasn't a good sign that humanity seemed incapable of keeping itself together and under control. The Sangheili were having the same hardships, sure, but some days it seemed like humans weren't even trying.

Back on the thought of ONI, however, and Rtas couldn't help but wonder, especially with some of his and the Arbiter's talk bringing their and other hostile humans' activity up... Penny had mentioned an "Atlas", which at first hearing would bring to mind the many rebels of humanity - those breaking off from the main government and forming their own civilizations. But when he thought of the higher forms of technology amongst humans, he could only think of the UNSC and ONI. And that wasn't just because he interacted with them the most - he'd been part of an invading army, after all. He had seen human worlds for himself. Glimpsed their civilian technology through the ruins of cities. None of them were capable of a construct as superior as Penny - the best they could do with constructs, their "Smart AI", was all military work.

There was word of Forerunner constructs like Penny - humanoid armor - and Rtas had even seen one of the orb-like monitors before. However, having lived his whole life around repurposed Forerunner technology, Rtas could tell when something was of their hands or not. And Penny definitely wasn't descended from Forerunner technology. No other species would have reason to make a human , either; at least the Forerunners had a special interest in the species, which could explain it if they did. But they hadn't.

What if humanity had advanced more than the Sangheili had noticed? What if ONI had cooked up a secret weapon behind closed doors? Huragok were not known to be deceptive and were extremely resistant to doing any action that could bring harm to even the most minor of lifeforms. However, they were also easy to manipulate, hence their exclusion from being able to stand witness during trials back in the Covenant. And ONI were master manipulators. They could easily lead Wanders the Space to believe that going with their orders wouldn't hurt anyone, and in fact maybe do good. Or Wanders was an innocent caught up in the plan, intentional or not on ONI's part, also being tricked by Penny. Even Penny herself could genuinely have been tampered with by her creators to further ensure any secret plot would stay hidden.

Yett there was more than just a possible spy or even terrorist waiting to make a move to be worried about. In the brief time he'd known her, Penny was clearly naive. She was child-like, whether it be because of how she was built or a side effect of her amnesia. As a male with lots of military service under his belt, Rtas hadn't interacted with children all that much, once he stopped being a child himself. But he recalled the times his mother and aunts snapped at him - rants of disdain continuing even into his adulthood, although thankfully not always about his childhood - and figured they were a handful to manage. And the two persons he'd left to manage her was a Huragok - basically unhelpful, practically the same amount of difficult as her - and a veteran blademaster with a temper.

Urs, he was hoping to return to a calm scene.

After searching around Vadam Keep for a bit - not wishing to disturb its inhabitants with questions, although realizing he was being just as disruptive by acting like a lost child - he finally found the trio within one of the vanity gardens. It was a source of status for a major keep to cultivate plants that didn't serve a purpose as food or materials, especially those not native to the area. Vadam Keep was as major of a place as you could get, so of course it had multiple.

Entering in silence, he caught wind of a conversation in progress. Besides not wanting to startle anyone - even the war-weary veteran constantly on the lookout for stealthy assassins - he didn't wish to interrupt. He'd find his cue to cut in if he just listened... Which he also was admittedly curious about, though not for all wholesome reasons. Vul's voice was clearly dominating, his volume cultivated by years of being a leader being half the reason Rtas finally located them. He hoped Penny hadn't been asking Vul too many questions. She'd been doing that a lot with everyone. Was it a sign of being a naive child or being a secret ONI spy? Either way, it was sometimes to the degree of annoyance. However, with how wide her eyes always were, he felt guilty even just thinking that. He knew not everyone would, though - and especially not someone like Vul.

Yet Vul sounded full of pride and joy?

"Unlike other species, once the pack leader was done, it only ignited all his subordinates to rush me! Two expert shots from my men in the rear kept three of them from reaching, but there were still the other two. With the strength of my left arm alone, I held back one. 'Wait your turn!' I commanded, while my blade went through his fellow's gut."

Ah. He was retelling one of his many career highlights. That would be the one thing Vul would never get annoyed with being questioned about. That and Sangheili culture in general.

With all they had been through, and were yet to go through still... Rtas would let him have his fun for a little while longer. Although he had no idea how Penny could be so enraptured with the bragging tales, as much as she had been with the Sanghelios sky and... everything about Vadam Keep. Maybe she was just one to be interested in everything and anything?

He overlooked how her arm would copy, on a slight delay, Vul's re-enactments of his swordplay.

Chapter Text

As the UNSC shared in the Sangheili's desire to have this situation sorted out, Penny, Wanders, and Shadow of Intent did not stay at Sanghelios for more than two days. They were back in flight even before the exact time and date were finalized - they just needed to know the planet in question.

Before that, Penny got to stay the night within Vadam Keep. On the ship she'd mainly stayed around the Huragok at their stations, being able to stretch her waking hours due to not being a biological entity. She did find a "sleep mode" built into her, which she could enter and maintain even when standing up. However, in order to maintain the facade that she was a regular human visitor, she stayed in a spare children's room that she'd heard other human guests had stayed in, due to the massive size difference between their species.

Inside this room, she wouldn't be observed, so there was no reason for her to actually use the bed. Yet with the opportunity presenting itself, she curiously laid her body out on the surface - it was one of many memories she somehow could bring to the surface of her mind, despite her internal scans coming up blank on their source. On the bed, she experienced what she assumed was "comfort", based on how pleasant and satisfied she felt upon self-reflection. This was in spite of the absence of "true skin" on her body - just a highly advanced reproduction of the feeling of biological matter, attached to sensors to give her equivalent sensory data. But as far as she knew, these sensors had no functional purpose to be measuring for "comfort" - unless that answer laid in her locked memories?

Also during the visit were a few mealtimes. While the Sangheili seemed to have a strong communal eating culture, there was no protest from those outside the loop when it came to Penny "eating" in a separate room. Of course, the food supposedly being made for her was in fact being taken to the cattle outside - none questioning the alternate menu, a pattern she was really beginning to notice. Although, Penny did suspect some of the strange looks were from those who knew better on the dietary front; but if anyone really did know their stuff about humans, they did not speak out anywhere Penny could hear. As for her and her actual food, since even she herself couldn't be sure of her full programming, there would be no risking any food-stuffs jamming her internals.

Because of her temporary accommodations, Penny ended up in a wing of the keep devoted entirely to child-rearing. Besides the children's bedrooms, there were also playrooms for the youngest, some classrooms, a few adult rooms for any guardians assigned full-time watch over the children, and even a chamber for egg incubation - a fascinating detail that Penny whispered with Wanders about, before a lady came over, chided their conversation, and finally gave the full story on Sangheili child-rearing in what started as an annoyed lecture and ended as a passionate speech on Sangheili values. Penny had no specified information on the human side of this subject, but she figured that with her design, the species might share in training their young to defend themselves? Unless there was another reason she was designed like this, one that wasn't filed under "crucial information"?

"The rumors say it was 'a child' that Shadow of Intent brought," that same guardian suddenly said, eyes narrowing at her shortly after that particular bout of Sangheili cultural lessons was done. Penny noted this expression seemed more studious than suspicious. "But I have witnessed past human visits. It is hard to tell, with how small you all are."

"I don't remember my exact age," Penny admitted. "But I'm pretty sure I'm around the final stages of adolescence? That's what feels right when I think about it."

The Sangheili gave a thoughtful hum, before continuing, "Then I suppose the Arbiter was right to place you here. There is no way for you to be a threat. And if you were a Sangheili, you'd be at the age where you'd be shadowing me in taking care of the children."

Then she huffed. "Not that someone asking so many basic questions would be trusted with the task."

Penny blinked. "Is there something I can help with, while I'm here?"

Although her programming didn't specify what she was built to help people for, she still had that strong instinct to be of use. And after a bit more insistence that Penny was amnesiac and ignorant, but not stupid and incapable of learning, the lady gave her and Wanders a few simple tasks and instructions on how to clean her bedroom. At a few points in completing her "chores", she'd cross paths with some of the local children. When an adult was around, they'd direct the children away - even if it disrupted whatever task the children were on. If they weren't, the children would stare at her, talk to each other loudly about her, and sometimes exchange things as odd as the encounter she had with the child in the fields. 

There was a sense in the back of her mind that there was something else significant about these encounters other than them being different to how Shadow of Intent and the Vadam Keep adults approached her, but at first she couldn't pinpoint it. On reflection, she recalled the lady's tone and words when she first discovered Penny and Wanders discussing Sangheili children amongst themselves. While she didn't think she felt agitated, whatever made the lady react like that seemed to still be the same. They'd been curious enough to stare and theorize, but did not reach out to ask directly. But Penny had thought she'd been respecting the unease of the Sangheili towards her by keeping her distance and asking fewer questions of the locals? Unless there was more to the uncommunicated rules than that? Well, on her end at least, she was perfectly fine with the children asking all the questions they had about her - even if several of the ones she overheard were strange, she didn't judge the learning process.

Unfortunately for her, she'd only had this self-reflection during the night, and on the next day there was no more time to mingle with the children before it was time to leave. There was some sadness in her, a lonely type of sadness, but she also figured it wasn't too late to apply this knowledge for the next time.

As for Rtas and Vul, she hadn't seen them much since she was taken to the temporary room. Despite being Sangheili and seemingly well-respected, somehow it felt the woman-only guardians of the child-rearing wing were even more uncomfortable with them dropping in than they were with Penny staying there. When she asked during the mealtimes - the few times they came together - she learned they just talked with the other men about galactic affairs and even responded to some sparring challenges. That sounded like fun. If she'd known about the latter, she would've been sure to ask for more exploration time of the keep so she could watch. But when she eventually brought it up at dinner, before any of them knew they'd be leaving tomorrow, it sounded like she wouldn't be allowed around there anyway.

"There should be training rooms on the ship," Wanders told her. "We can just watch spars there."

"True, but wouldn't it just be the Shadow of Intent's warriors?"

"So?"

"There's differences in fighting styles to consider!" Penny argued, as if she were an expert.

"Such differences would be superficial, I am sure."

"I may not know much about Sangheili, but if I know anything about fighting, everyone's got their own personality when they move. That goes even if two warriors share the same weapon."

Wanders stayed floating in the air, in a stare that Penny at first assumed to be a careful regarding of her response. He'd been regarding it, alright.

"You 'know'?" he finally asked.

Blinking, Penny caught his meaning. "I guess so. I'd already assumed combat training for adolescents was the same for humans, but I guess I forgot to question my training."

"It was one of my theories, while I was repairing you," Wanders admitted. "But your overall design and your demeanor upon awakening threw me off. However, more importantly... I believe this is a point towards my and Sinkers' shared theory on your memory. That if you overall are meant to mimic organic beings, the same would go for your memory. That you could gradually regain access to your locked memories overtime, like a true amnesiac human would."

"That would explain things, and be pretty useful... There's a lot I can actively think about, that I can't tie to any data actually programmed into my base memory. But it had to come from somewhere."

"Then there must be a secret back-door you... for lack of a better term, 'subconsciously' can connect to, allowing you to still access the locked memories. Either that, or it's Wind's hypothesis: that your AI's logical thinking is so advanced as to fill the gaps in knowledge at record speeds."

Based on her track record with the Sangheili, she wasn't so sure about that . But then again, maybe she was only trained to socialize with humans and those mysterious Faunus?

"Anyway, even if you are right that it is a tragic loss to your warrior's mind to miss out on observing Vadam fighting techniques, it is still not too late to observe those present on Shadow of Intent."

With that, her memory was forgotten.

When the duo entered one of the training halls on Shadow of Intent , they were noticed very quickly by some stragglers that were part of the audience watching the ongoing spars. A few pairs of eyes first looked in shock at the presence of the Huragok - a species that barely left engineering, much less to plop their pacifistic selves in front of a spar - before narrowing towards Penny. While she recognized some to be suspicious of her, one of the men made a silent gesture with his head at the others right before making his way towards the duo. His eyes looked a lot softer than the others'.

"Are you in need of any assistance?" he asked, looking between them. "Directions?"

"No, we were merely observing," Wanders answered. Penny was a bit too preoccupied staring at the Sangheili to do the answering herself.

The source of her curiosity was one other difference this warrior had to the others: his armor. While most donned the signature colors of the Swords of Sanghelios, this one wore white armor with red highlights. She'd noticed Rtas' armor was also white and assumed it was because he was a leader or otherwise special. But could there be two leaders of the same ship? Well, Rtas didn't have red highlights, so she could rule that possibility real quickly. And then again, Tul’s armor was slightly different, but it was also close enough to have she’d previously seen that she assumed it was a stylistic choice.

Her staring stopped when he slightly bent his knees to force her eyes onto his own. "I see you take 'observing' quite seriously."

"Your armor is different."

"It is."

There was a pause.

"Is there a reason...?" she probed.

"It is to denote my rank. Evocati. The human title of 'Ultra' has become more popular, however." His hand lightly slammed on his chestplate. "I am Xyha 'Felkor, one of few Ultra who joined up with the Arbiter. Most of my order have been poached by the Banished or similar mercenary bands, the same as the Silent Shadow."

She blinked. Oh, there were so many follow-up questions loaded at the back of her brain, where did she begin?! She had to be careful; if she forgot one, she might not get the chance to ask it again, so whichever one she chose would have to be good.

She chose them all.

"A rank - so is it just a special privilege for 'Ultras' or are a lot of warriors here the same armor-sharing rank? What's different about Ultras from other ranks? And I keep hearing about 'Banished' but no one's told me what they are yet - why did so many Ultra's not go with the Arbiter, he seemed like a really good leader that everyone likes? And a 'Silent Shadow', what does that mean?"

By the end of the rapid-fire ramble, even Wanders was left floating and balking at her - and he was already pretty used to her by this point!

To his credit, Xyha recovered quickly, pointing towards a bench as he said, "If you wish for all those questions to be answered, I must warn you, this will be a long conversation."

For the better part of an hour, she sat and listened to Xyha tackle each of her questions - including all the follow-ups to her follow-ups. His explanations didn't hold as much passion as Vul did when he regaled Sangheili culture and his own military career to her, or the lady in the keep explaining her own duties, but it wasn't a dry lecture, either. Every once in a while, a warrior walking by would overhear the conversation and throw in a few lines of his own, but none seemed interested enough to enrich her as long as Xyha.

Penny finally learned who those Banished people were. It was a large band of mercenaries organized under the leadership of the Jiralhanae Atriox, forming first in rebellion towards the Covenant. From Penny's perspective, they held high ambitions, but strangely low motivations - they wished to amass all the power in the galaxy, but they didn't seem to have much of a plan of what to use it for . Yet Atriox had convinced many to join his side, including those who once sought to kill him. Among them were the Silent Shadow, the deadliest assassins of the Covenant that continued to pursue vengeance even after the empire's fall. But when it came time to kill Atriox, they switched sides. As for the Ultras, a rank consisting of the most skilled fighters and leaders, a Seneschal named Chak 'Lok (a rank related to the Ultras, Penny forgot to ask this time about what it was) convinced many of them to join him in serving Atriox. When Xyha got the message, he refused, seeing the Arbiter as a more honorable leader to follow.

"It's unfortunate that in this day and age, many of my kin have lowered their standards, all to pursue the thrill of war and not the grand purpose of fighting one."

Such a remark almost made Penny feel guilty over her own thrill at watching the warriors spar. But that at least had to be better than the traitorous Ultras - she wasn't intending on any harm, she just wanted to see how everyone else fought.

Yeah... Her code told her it was all for that "grand purpose" - to protect the people of Mantle, to assist all those in need of her. And since she was currently missing from wherever or whatever "Mantle" was, she could make up for her absence by learning new tricks.

"Why would they?" Penny asked.

"I cannot possibly fathom, since I myself could never fall so low. But if I did have to make a guess, it may have to do with taking the pursuit of glory too far. Honor and glory are both important aspects of our culture, but not everyone recognizes how they can clash with one another. Seeking glory may make one throw away their honor. Preserving one's honor may mean throwing away opportunities for glory. We teach to seek both, but not always the wisdom of when to choose the other."

Xyha shook his head and sighed. "Lately, it seems a lot of our teachings had holes, or else why would we be shedding each other's blood over petty disagreements in a time where many other such enemies exist? Our stubbornness, pride, and loyalty were qualities that made us thrive as the swords of the Prophets. But now knowing their true character, perhaps our fall was always inevitable."

His head had been drooping down as his speech turned grim, but when Xyha finally lifted himself up to check on his audience, the ridges above his eyes wrinkled.

"I have spoken too much of darkness."

She couldn't understand, until she finally noticed her hand had been tightly clutching one side of her chest - for how long, she wasn't sure. It seemingly was an instinctual reaction to the strange ache coming from inside her body.

Stubbornness. Pride. Loyalty. Being someone else's sword. Shedding each other's blood, petty disagreements, when other enemies exist elsewhere.

Something was at the tip of Penny's tongue - and it was choking her.

"You should have escorted her out," a familiar voice said, coming from behind her and getting closer. "This is not the place for a human youngling. From what I hear, they are softer than ours."

When the person stopped in front of the bench, she found it was the Scion Tul 'Juran, carrying a non-plasma replica of her usual lance.

"That's not it." Penny's response first came out rather dull, to her own surprise. She cleared her throat and her higher voice partially returned, as best it could with the topic at hand. "I... think I was starting to remember something? But it wasn't a good memory, so I stopped."

"Yes, I have observed that Penny quite enjoys the subject of combat," Wanders added. "Please allow her to stay. It should also make her feel better after this brief upset."

Tul snorted, balancing her fake lance from hand to hand. "She likes combat?"

Just as she was going to respond with some indignation - because why wouldn't she, with how comfortable the things in her backpack were to her body - Penny's brain worked faster. It was unusual for girls to advance their combat skills beyond self-defense in Sangheili culture, so that cultural difference was one reason for a Sangheili to be skeptical of her. And she assumed it was a cultural difference, because the very fact she was a girl made it safe for her to assume that humans had no problem with it.

But... Tul-

Penny pointed her arm out towards her. "Wait. If you're a woman, why are you on board?"

The gesture clearly startled Tul for a brief moment; but even after her recovery, her tightened grasp on her lance's handle remained. "I'm a Scion. It was my right to join the Shadow of Intent the first time, and now the Arbiter does not want my skills to go to waste. He's realized that a lot has been going to waste."

"The first time...?"

"Oh no, you shall not so easily pry secrets out of me," Tul declared, then left them to join in on the training.

Penny looked towards Xyha, who shrugged.

"It is not anything secret. On an earlier mission, Shadow of Intent responded to a distress signal from Tul's colony. But by the time we arrived, the attacking Jiralhanae had already captured her father and older brothers. As her father was also the kaidon, she invoked the tradition of 'right of release' to aid in his rescue, and Rtas accepted her. Her performance on this mission, despite the failure in bringing her kin back alive, is cited as one of the major contributions to the Arbiter's proclamation that females could be welcomed into active duty."

"Shouldn't that be something she's proud of?" Penny asked, remembering Vul as an example.

"Oh, she is. Rather... It is as she said." He paused with a bit of discomfort, but more for Penny rather than because of her. "You are an outsider. And you ask far more questions than we usually receive. She is exaggerating when she says 'secrets', but it is true you've received more information than the average... visitor."

Now it was Penny's turn to shrug. "I'm just really curious. And interested."

"That, I can recognize. But when we have received so much suspicion and indifference - even outright disgust and hatred - from humans, seeing one be so opposite can come across as... off. Wrong. Like something is wrong." He paused at her wincing. "Not that you have done anything wrong. This situation is far from being your fault, and in fact, I believe your actions are a step in the right direction of improving it. But as the one taking the first step, you will face the worst of the hardship."

Nodding, she couldn't think of much else to say. The conversation naturally fizzled out as their gazes went towards the loud and exciting shouts of the crowd scattered across the room. Penny stretched her back as much as she could to see over the tall bodies that blocked some parts of the mats, before she finally just stood right on top of the bench. Xyha kept sitting right next to her, up until he was called out of the room for business elsewhere.

"It's been a pleasure... human," he said, hesitating towards the end. His pause didn't last too long. "Perhaps we will cross paths again, before your departure."

Penny didn't think too much about his words, her processing power still majorly devoted to taking in all the moves - analyzing them, breaking down how each movement worked and what it was meant to accomplish, and storing them in a new memory library.

In all her exploration of Rtas' ship, Penny had seen surprisingly little of him. Wanders explained it was because, as shipmaster, he was helping to command the ship and ensure everything was going smoothly. When he wasn't doing that, he was communicating with individuals outside of the ship through COMMs. Most of this took place on the bridge, but some of his duties could be done from his private shipmaster's quarters.

After Penny grew bored of activity dying down in the training halls (shifts were changing, and those newly on break decided to do other things than hone their skills), the only other thing she thought of doing was checking up on him. There were the other Huragok, but she had spent a lot of time with them the last time she was onboard. She could always count on dropping in on them, so it was best not to wear out the fun with them too quickly.

"The bridge will be very busy in navigating and potential communications," Wanders warned her. "They might just shoo us away. Maybe yell at us."

"But not if we're really quiet, then they won't even notice we're there!" Penny assured him.

As soon as they got to the entrance to the bridge, the closest guard inside saw them, yelled at them, and shooed them back down the hall.

"Well, there's always waiting around his room until he shows up..." Penny said, after the guard left them.

"There's no telling how many hours we will be waiting."

"We could go off and- No, wait, since we never know when he'll show up, we might accidentally miss him." Penny bounced on her feet as she thought. "We can talk while waiting at the door? There's probably still hundreds of questions I could ask you. And maybe if we keep talking a bunch, we'll trigger another memory about me!"

"Is that... going to be entertaining enough for you?" She wasn't sure why Wanders hesitated there, unless it was a glitch with the audio machine.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well... Standing around and talking in one spot... That's exactly what the crew would love for us to be doing."

"Exactly! But...?"

"We haven't." Penny continued to stare at him. "Ever since we first got on the ship several days ago, and even back at Vadam Keep, what we've done is explore and jump from place to place. When we stay in one place, it's usually because something has captured your interest for that long, or we're resting."

"Ah, well..." She hadn't been self-conscious about her behavior much, that being one of the rare moments. Just as she was about to insist that this would be different-

"It's not what the crew are used to, I'm sure," came a voice that suddenly was next to them. Penny jumped an inch off the ground while Wanders wobbled in the air. When they looked back, they saw the striking golden-armored Arbiter. From where he was standing, he likely came from where they did: the bridge. Actually, Penny was willing to bet that was exactly it, as despite hearing that he was joining them for this trip she hadn't actually seen him onboard until now - and the bridge was the one place, barring sleeping quarters not for her, that she hadn't poked her head in at least once.

"I apologize," he said, clearly a little amused at their reaction. Then he went on with what he was saying before, "It's been a long time since I've commanded a ship - truly owned it, not commanded by proxy through the ship's true shipmaster. So, even though I myself don't mind your curiosity towards us, I can understand how it'd be easier for the crew and 'Vadum that you stay still and quiet."

"You owned a ship?" Penny immediately leaped on the detail that stuck out the most, although his sentiments towards her and his lack of title when referring to Rtas were noted.

"Some years ago now, I owned many ships." His tone turned melancholically wistful. "An entire fleet was under my command. Before I lost my rank and was made Arbiter."

Penny tilted her head. "Wasn't that a promotion? You sound like the most important person in the Swords."

"I suppose that's how I'm treated. But when I first became Arbiter, we were all still in the Covenant. And in the Covenant, the Arbiter was lower than everyone. It was a rank only for the shameful - those who could only redeem themselves by dying in battle."

Penny's eyes went wide. "Really?!" And then looked him up and down. "But... You're still alive."

For a brief moment, he mirthfully huffed. "Yes, I never could quite die. Not for a lack of trying on my enemies' part. Once the Covenant fell, so did many of its traditions. The title of Arbiter lost the connotation of shame the Prophets had decreed onto it - at least, for those who are still not displeased with me. Before them, 'Arbiter' was a pinnacle for Sangheili warriors."

"That doesn't sound right. If it was, why did they get to change it?"

The Arbiter regarded her for a silent moment; but even with the delay, his eyes still held a pleasant interest in her. "Because we were too foolish to tell them no. And by the time we finally did, they nearly succeeded in killing us for it."

It was a lot like a previous answer Rtas gave her. "And now you've changed it back?"

This made him scrap his foot on the floor, the one sign of discomfort she'd ever seen from him. "Perhaps that is something on the agenda, now that we are free. I'd prefer it to be done after my time, however..."

She just kept blinking up at him, not catching his meaning.

He stared back, continuing to study her for reasons she couldn't guess. And then... "You have been learning a lot lately, so I've heard. What will you do with the knowledge you've accrued? For what purpose have you been seeking knowledge?"

"I'm just curious." Penny shrugged. This wasn't the first time it was brought up and she still didn't have a deeper answer for it. Was this a part of her that was always there, even when she had all her memories? Or did the amnesia have something to do with it?

"Penny isn't a spy!" Wanders suddenly answered in an outburst of frantic tentacle-signing and a slightly louder volume in the translator. "I would be the first to know of it!"

"I did not mean to doubt you," the Arbiter said to him. "Nor is it that I truly doubt her. I believe, unlike some..." That bit was said in a slight mumble. "That she can be trusted. However..."

His head dipped to the side, looking towards something that wasn't physically there. "I trust many humans. I trust their intentions and their values. That does not mean I have not been betrayed before. Not by them, but by those who call the shots right next to them - and in their shadows."

He looked back towards Penny. "If it is truly humans that built you, then it must be considered which ones. And for what purpose? Was it a coincidence that we found you? Or will it be a happy accident for your makers?"

Penny's fisted hand went up to her chest. Could she have been built by nefarious humans? Well, it's not like she would know, having no access to her memory and all. But what about her vital memories she still had access to? What about the objectives - to protect and help people? That couldn't have been left behind by someone bad, right?

She didn't have to say anything for the Arbiter to pick up on her internal conflict. "I know I have said I knew nothing of the names mentioned, but as I've reflected, there is one possible connection."

At the faintest bait to have a clue about herself, Penny perked up.

"'People of Mantle'... Not many in the galaxy would be aware, but this is an important term. Not exactly as you said it, but close to potentially being the same thing." He hesitated. "There is an idea that only one species is worthy of rule over the galaxy. An idea that fueled a philosophy of governing order that predates our time and currently sits abandoned. Currently."

"I assume you mean something in relation to the Forerunners?" Wanders asked, in the gap in conversation the Arbiter left again. Oh boy, more people that were apparently important that nobody caught Penny up on yet!

"You are familiar?" the Arbiter asked. "They were your creators."

"I believe it is rare to find those of my kind that were of that era. We try to pass on all knowledge, but I currently don't possess everything. But I do remember that my creators held total rule over the galaxy, over all other species. It is hard not to know of that, for us."

"Yes, that is what I refer to. They called it 'the Mantle of Responsibility'." Then he looked back at Penny. "And they have left behind messages that it has an heir. That it is humanity they intended to pass on this 'Mantle'. In that case, you could call humanity 'the people of Mantle'."

"But that would mean..." Wanders answered, quick enough that Penny was still processing everything. "No. I would recognize Forerunner technology. That's already been ruled out. She couldn't be a Forerunner creation."

"But you recognize it to be humanity's?" the Arbiter challenged.

"It... is off, I agree. But what other options are there?"

"Well..." Penny spoke up. She honestly wasn't sure what to say at first, but she wanted back in on this conversation. It was about her, after all. Fortunately, it didn't take a long time of the other two staring expectantly at her for her to think of something. "One of the reasons we're meeting with humanity is because I might be made of a branch of human tech you're not familiar with. What if these... Forerunners-" Her tone seeped an underlying subtext of "You gotta fill me in soon on them". "Also had developed technology different from what you've discovered so far?"

"That is a good point," the Arbiter replied, his gaze back on Wanders. "And if she were left behind, to guard them under the Forerunner's orders, it would make sense to make her in the image of a human. To help her blend in."

Wanders tilted to and fro in the air, still mulling it all over. "But if so... Why now? Why did she appear just now? And why in a ruined ship?"

"There are plenty of old secrets of the Forerunner's that are still just now being unburied. The Halos themselves have laid undisturbed for thousands of years. It is not impossible for her to have waited just as long..." He hummed. "Although, I will give it to you - the circumstances of her discovery are still strange. Perhaps we weren't the first ones to discover her. Or perhaps she had a reason to come out of hiding on her own, which backfired. We can only speculate for now. All of this... is still just speculation."

One more time did he look towards her. "But it is a nicer speculation, than her being an advanced ONI spying construct."

Penny could only nod in agreement to that. And even though they had yet to enlighten her about the Forerunners, she had a feeling she liked the idea of being theirs rather than being humanity's. Maybe the Arbiter preferred the idea, too - even if he still seemed on guard about this "Mantle" concept (probably because humanity were the heirs and not the Sangheili). It'd make people relax around her, she thought.

And she could call herself the Huragoks' sister, too.

Chapter Text

When Rtas was about to reach his quarters, he spotted the trio waiting for him. His back straightened as he immediately took note of the Arbiter; they'd already been discussing the upcoming meeting and the planet in question - very recently there had been an accident there, which was partially why Lord Hood was in the area and could not slip away to Sanghelios - he wasn't sure what else the Arbiter needed to tell him and least of all away from the bridge. Did he forget something? Or did he have something to say not meant for anyone else to hear?

And then he spotted the much smaller forms of Penny and Wanders, and he only became further confounded. True to the Huragok's name, they'd been going around the entire ship. Was Shadow of Intent not enough for them anymore? Had they moved on to disturbing the Arbiter?

Getting close to the point of overhearing conversation, he at least felt safe in assuming that the Arbiter did not mind them. In fact, his tone was rather pleasant. Maybe he wouldn't have to admonish the duo...

"I believe he called it an 'even fight', right before demolishing their fleet. I am sure Truth was sighing in relief when the Flood pierced the ship. Rtas would have seen that entire structure glassed, just knowing that bastard was inside." The Arbiter coughed. "If you would pardon my language. It has been several years, but the wounds always seem fresh once I start speaking of it. In that regard... I am almost glad that the Flood arrived, if that could be believed. It was an honor to drive my sword through his heart. After he got to watch his plans of godhood crumble."

"What of the structure?" Wanders asked. "What did you do with the Ark once the Covenant was dealt with? Oh, and the Flood! Surely with them infiltrating the heart of the Halo array, some safeguard was activated?"

"I haven't seen any spores around," Penny added. "Did the ship get cleaned out? And if they spread so fast, why isn't the galaxy all..." She spread her arms out. "Green and icky?"

That got a chuckle out of him. "If there was any protocol in place for such a catastrophe, then the Flood managed to stop it. And yes, Rtas quarantined the parts of Intent that were touched by the Flood. Even when the ship was used to evacuate all the remaining survivors, he refused to see anyone enter there. And once we were on the way to Sanghelios, he had everything thoroughly checked and cleaned. If even a single spore was discovered, I'm certain he would've sooner thrown us into the closest star than reach Sanghelios' atmosphere. As for all your other questions..."

"The Ark was destroyed, with all the Flood on it," Rtas cut in. His tone was a bit brisk as he did, although it wasn't because he was impatient or unamused - it just suddenly occurred to him that the Arbiter had been talking to the duo about him in between retelling the end of the war, and he wasn't sure he liked everything that was being said.

"You destroyed the Ark?!" Wanders yelped.

"Not permanently, albeit not for a lack of trying. It rebuilt itself and..." The Arbiter let himself trail off as he watched Rtas' face. "That is a story for another time."

"I am here now," Rtas continued. "Is there any particular reason you have been lingering in front of my door?"

"Oh, yes, we've been waiting!" Penny exclaimed in remembrance. "And we bumped into the Arbiter, who started waiting with us and-"

Rtas raised his hand. "I do not need the full report. What is it you want?"

"Huh?"

His own confused blinking mirrored hers. "You have been waiting. What for?"

Penny shrugged. "We hadn't seen you in awhile."

Rtas looked to the Arbiter for assistance - better yet, a more acceptable response than a shrug. But Thel 'Vadam just kept staring at him with amused interest. Even if he did know, he wasn't going to say.

What a time for him to be in that mood.

"Was there anything you needed to tell me? To request of me?"

"Nope!"

"You just-" He couldn't even finish such an absurd statement. "You realize that if anything had befallen me, the entire ship would be on alert and you would have known right away. 'Checking in' on me was unnecessary."

"Yeah, but that's not the same."

And then Rtas was speechless. 

He once again looked to the Arbiter, who only gave a smug show of his mandibles and replied, "Is there anything pressing you have to see to, Shipmaster? As it just so happens, there were some parts of the story I could not elaborate to satisfaction on, as I was not present."

"Yeah!" Penny hopped while her arms vibrated close to her chest. "The fleet battle! How did you do it?!"

"Ah, well..."

To his credit, despite how odd he found this situation to be, he went along with retelling his side of the Battle of Installation 00. And when Penny's curiosity moved on from war stories, he continued to answer all the questions she thought up, mainly to do with Shadow of Intent and warships as a whole. How Rtas acquired Shadow of Intent. What the difference was between "CAS-class assault carrier" and other warships (Kerel-pattern is what the Sangheili call it, he just forgot that Penny wouldn't be more familiar with UNSC terminology until mid-way into the conversation). How everything inside the ship functioned both during battle and in times of peace. The command structure. Rtas wasn't sure why, but her eyes appeared just as "sparkly" during his droning of ship logistics as it did when he described how the cannons tore the Covenant apart. He could understand why Wanders would be interested in this information - he was a Huragok, it was his job to build and repair such things.

Perhaps that's what Penny was. The Huragok-equivalent for whatever military force she originated from. It explained the necessity to look so human-like and unthreatening. Only humans were so foolish as to shoot Huragok on the battlefield before the Jiralhanae had put explosives on them.

It wasn't until one of his officers on the bridge contacted him through COMMs that Rtas, for all his lecturing about shipmasters, remembered that he was one - and still on duty. He would've snapped at the Arbiter for drawing him into this, but by then Thel 'Vadam had made himself scarce.

Rtas had given them a copy of the debrief on Alluvion a few hours before they were projected to arrive. He told them not to get too engrossed into anything else so close to departure and that they could keep themselves busy by getting familiar with their destination. Maybe he himself was too engrossed in his own affairs to notice the entirety of the intel he'd let them access. Or maybe he no longer cared if Penny could be a spy or not.

Alluvion was one of the "Outer Colonies" of humanity's - one of the first built, although it lasted longer than many of its category during the war and was able to be recolonized when it was all over. Prior to the glassing affecting the planet's topography, it had vast oceans and a moderate tropical environment; although its aggressive tidal activity had forced most of the inhabitants to stick to continental interiors. During recolonization, it was discovered that "Forerunner shield pylons" had emerged under the Sundark Sea and caused the seafloor to be revealed. Beyond that, humans discovered a repository containing a new fuel source they sought to replace the "deuterium" they typically used for starships. The Liang-Dortmund Corporation was contracted by the UNSC to head the research of these discoveries, leading to the founding of the Alluvion Research Center and a new economic direction for the colony - a post-war boon for it, and a silver-lining that the war had been the cause for humanity finally discovering what was under their feet.

It just so happened that it was Thel 'Vadamee himself that had seen the planet glassed. And were it not for her earlier conversations, Penny would've thought his name sounded really similar to the Arbiter's and moved on. But at one point Thel had mentioned the change of names most Sangheili underwent after seceding / being ousted from the Covenant - barring the swordmasters, who kept their 'ai suffixes.

As for Alluvion and its research, things had taken a drastic turn earlier that month. Their mining for resources had accidentally triggered a withdrawal of the pylons, causing the sea to return to its proper state - burying not just the repository, but everyone still working in the affected area. The news was still fresh - and was the reason why their meeting had to take place here. Admiral Lord Hood had been scheduled to survey the damage and be part of the final stages of investigation of the crisis; he couldn't divert attention to go to Sanghelios, especially as the Arbiter and Shipmaster Rtas wanted to keep as much of Penny under wraps as possible. It'd draw too much suspicion if Lord Hood himself abandoned Alluvion in favor of one lost "human" girl.

Giving Penny the debrief was to give her information - but of course, it only gave her more points of inquiry.

To get to the surface of Alluvion, an aircraft called a Pelican arrived instead of them going down in one of the Phantoms. When Penny asked, it was told that the sight of a Phantom descending might cause a panic among the populace, even if their arrival was already known. Joining Penny, Wanders, the Arbiter, and Rtas were Tul and Vul as bodyguards - light on the numbers to avoid causing too much discomfort from the humans but highly quality warriors in case the bodyguard part proved necessary. Also with them was a squad of UNSC marines sent to shadow them - a stipulation from Alluvion's government.

None of these marines were in-the-know about Penny's secret identity and Rtas advised her to keep it that way. Prior to their arrival, she generated a list of "likes" and "dislikes" to flesh out a human persona, which she had Wanders review to be sure she seemed normal enough. The results of a semi-organic alien's impression of a human girl couldn't be thoroughly field-tested, though. Penny didn't get far into her introduction before Rtas cut her off - she'd only been able to say that her favorite color was "ruby rose" and her favorite season was winter! In some small-talk with the marines, she was also able to get out that her favorite animal was a cat (oh but her favorite bird was a tie between crows and robins), her favorite gemstone was a ruby, and her favorite type of berry was juniper; but both the squad leader of the marines and Rtas kept cutting in on the idle chatter, apparently preferring an awkwardly silent trip! And she didn't even get to flex her tongue-in-cheek favorite dance of "The Robot"! Or her human character's love of roses and pine, or her fear of whales and magnets and fire, or her utter disdain of scorpions and witches!

Honestly, though, she might just file this under her own true memory. She could get behind a lot of the options of likes she thought up of - and certainly something about "whales" gave her the chills everytime she thought of them - even if she, in retrospect, wasn't sure how she knew some of those things existed. Wanders had to dig through some local archives to fact-check some of the subjects; they all existed within human culture, so a point towards her being of human design? Ah, but Wanders had to keep correcting her spelling of "ruby" - but she really liked "rwby"! It basically sounded the same, anyway!

"You sure the hing- Elites need to keep going, kid?" one of the marines asked near the tail-end of their flight - the one who seemed to be in command of the others. Whatever he stopped himself from saying, the replacement had only been marginally better received by Vul, who continued to glare at the marine over Penny's head. "We can just take over from here."

Even though the question was directed towards her, the Arbiter answered quicker, "There is a bit more to this than just a hand-over. Otherwise, you would not have had to spare two drop ships."

His statement was in reference to the second Pelican - a standard one rather than the yellow-and-white Corp Pelican transporting the guests - that was ferrying over the mystery aircraft that Penny was discovered in. The aircraft wouldn't be following them; instead, it was already on its way to wherever the UNSC wanted to study it.

"Well, whatever happened, we didn't do it," another, more chipper marine quipped. The vehicle around them jerked in a telltale sign of landing.

"I assure you, there is no such suspicion." As the large door opened to reveal the harbor they landed in, the view of a vast ocean in the distance littered with metal scraps greeted them. "We understand you have been preoccupied."

"Fortunately, the city's tap water has a different source," the same chipper marine said. "Bunch'a fuel's poisoned the ocean. Only really lost sushi."

"Only?" one of the women in the squad snapped back.

"Well, and all the casualties." He stepped out of the Pelican, following the squad leader and the Arbiter who had done so earlier. "And jobs. But that’s a given."

As she looked around, beginning to walk herself, Penny spotted prolonged eye-contact between Rtas and Tul. On a hunch, she leaned into Wanders hovering alongside her.

"Are you connected to COMMs?" she whispered. "Are they saying anything?"

Catching her drift, Wanders lowered the volume on his translator, replying, "No, but we can see about adding a 'COMM upgrade' to you. I can program it to tap into any local COMMs - regardless of affiliation."

Suddenly, Rtas tapped them both from behind. "Don't cause any trouble."

"Oh, Shipmaster, we're not-!" Penny started on the defensive.

"You're obviously leaning together and talking quietly. It is the classic sign of childrens' scheming." He huffed. "And you have the stealth skills of children, too."

The marines closest to them laughed. When they turned their heads back to the path ahead, he drew his head close to Penny's ear.

"But if you must know, 'Juran is concerned about us being here. At a time like this."

Brushing off that she must be bad at whispering, Penny asked, "Why? Because of history?"

"Well, there is that. But mainly, that is an insult to injury - to have to entertain old enemies as guests at the tail-end of a crisis."

"It's not like you guys have anything to do with it."

"That is not the point." And then Rtas raised his head, ending the conversation there.

They were walking down the harbor, avoiding the clear roadways into the city.

"Just to be on the safe side, we're going down the road less traveled," the squad leader began. "Sorry to be shoving you to the backroads, Arbiter. Not the fancy escort you're used to?"

"I understand perfectly - it is best we are not seen."

"Exactly."

If the name of the game was to be the least noticeable detail of the harbor, they were given a great advantage by the sudden explosion to their left - on the border between the harbor and the city. Nobody cared about the sight of aliens when a partially-armored militia man with a gun started shooting in the air and shouting.

"Kick those corpo bastards and their UNSC attack-dogs out of our colonies! Their blood for the blood of the fallen!"

"What the hell-! Kennedy, Paris, get between that maniac and our VIPs!" the squad leader started to order over the erupting sounds of chaos. "Jiminy - keep the trail ahead clear!"

As he continued to bark orders, Tul and Vul brought their respective weapons in hand but did not yet activate them. From what Xyha said as a throw-away fact, a Sangheili warrior did not ignite their blade unless they were seeking blood - so if they went that far now, they would be bound by honor to join the fight. Sangheili doing so might’ve only caused more problems than solved them.

The rest of the group was in motion, either hurrying to get behind the nearest shipping crate or to move closer to the explosion site to exchange gunfire. More than one terrorist was evident. Penny could tell - her advanced vision systems had fired up, identifying all the moving targets. She stood her ground and watched the battlefield. She was waiting.

"Penny, there are bullets flying!" Wanders cried next to her. "This place is dangerous!"

Her intelligence processors were whirring, were deciding...

"If you don't want your balloon buddy to get popped," a marine warned her. "Might wanna get it behind cover!"

"Daft girl, what are you doing?!" Vul shouted. He'd been right behind Rtas in backing into cover, but whirled around with the intent to go back and grab her if she didn't start moving.

After some check-ins with her programming - an unseen judge making final approvals from system files she couldn't feel - a consensus was made.

Wanders' tentacles wrapped tightly on her arm, pulling it with ease as her body didn't offer resistance. "Penny, please!"

Her eyes glowed. Her backpack parted to allow a set of ten thin blades - green stripes down the middle and glowing power symbols at the hilts - to take to the air and float in a circular array behind her. She shot her arm out to launch Wanders toward Vul, having the effect of keeping the former out of the way and the latter from catching up to her.

"Hostiles detected." It came out more robotic than ever before. But in the next moment, more chipper and human: "I'm combat ready!"

The jets in her boots activated, lifting her in the air. She and her blades floated right above the urban battlefield, taking up only a portion of a street. Civilians appeared to be cleared out of the way; it was just the terrorists, local law enforcement, and the few marines that were escorting them.

"It is advised you stand down," her voice projected like a stereo speaker. "Or force will be issued."

"What the hell?!" That and other such expletives sounded from terrorist and defender alike. At least one local officer pointed a gun towards her . Her background processors identified him as too frightened to think straight and therefore not a priority target - but he might have to be disarmed if he interfered.

However, the terrorists were quicker to act on their fears. Directed by slight gestures of her arms, her blades twirled to block any bullets coming her way - not that they would've done much against her metal body, but it was better to come out of this with as little damage as possible.

"You will not be harmed. Do not resist arrest."

After a few seconds of twirling, two blades were sent out of formation and launched against two hostiles, pinning them by their clothing onto the ground. Their weapons were dropped but Penny had no doubt that they weren't out of the battle - she just hoped that beyond momentarily keeping them from firing on her, it might give a window of opportunity for their arrest. She could have quicker results by letting up on aiming only for clothes and weapons, but she felt strongly against causing any bodily harm at this stage of the fight. Hopefully, it wouldn't reach that necessity at all.

Penny launched herself on the ground, ahead of where the furthest "ally" forces were behind cover, placing herself roughly center of the battlefield. Most of her still-floating blades formed at each side of her as makeshift shields while one broke away. She held this blade in her hands, then charged to the nearest hostile. Her body enacted the motions it'd recorded of the sparring Sangheili warriors, making on-the-fly adjustments based on the differing weapon-type and how differently it was held. Aiming for the terrorist's gun, she swiped it with enough strength to launch it out of hand and feet away on the ground, then used her free hand to push the terrorist onto the ground. Her leg kicked some of the sandbags they brought to make their own cover, pinning the terrorist by the leg.

Roughly the same occurred as she hunted down each marked hostile. Her blades hovered around to adjust based on where gunfire was coming, she'd use quick sword techniques to disarm hostiles and put them off-balance, and she'd use whatever was in the environment to hinder their movement. She reached one of the terrorists she knocked down first and pinned her down properly; the other had been too frightened by the show of force to move at all, so she ignored him. A sniper on the roof she'd spotted long ago attempted a sneak attack on her from above-

"Wait your turn!" she chided, throwing a blade that not only knocked the bullet off course but also lodged itself down the middle of the rifle, edging just barely in front of the sniper's face (she noted to herself to be more careful with precise calculations in high-tense situations until she'd fully got used to battle again, as the blade was supposed to stop an inch sooner).

"Oi, you seeing this?" one of the allies behind her shouted. Based on how close their voices sounded despite her movement up the battlefield, they'd taken the hint to follow her and apprehend all the hostiles she left for them to arrest. "Do we have combat bots now?"

"What the hell is ONI cooking up behind the scenes?!" another agreed. She recognized it as the squad leader from earlier. "I couldn't tell it wasn't a little girl!"

Detecting lots of movement, she tracked that the few remaining hostiles were gathering in one spot. Before she even caught up with them, she realized it was a hijacked civilian vehicle, as the engine started to fire up. Just running wouldn't get her to catch up with them, so she launched all but two of her hovering blades. One blade each popped the back tires of the jeep, the rest embedded into the body of the car. She stopped moving and held her ground, the string on the blades keeping her and the jeep connected - and therefore allowing her to be a weight that stopped the terrorists' escape. As an extra message, she pulled on the strings to begin bringing the jeep back over.

By the time it was several feet ahead of her, reinforcements had arrived, surrounding the jeep.

"Surrender now!" Penny insisted. "I won't hurt you myself, but I won't step in if they decide to."

The point was further driven in by all the sounds of guns being cocked and reloaded. Between getting caught by an apparent superhero and being surrounded on all sides by guns, the choice was clear.

Her eyes widened as her vision took note of the abnormal movements of the heat signatures on her screen-

"Wait, don't!"

A gunshot for each person in the vehicle rang out. No bullets came for the UNSC-law enforcement defenders. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she imagined the only reason the vehicle didn't explode was that they didn't have the time to rig it like the ones they brought with them.

But at the forefront, all she could focus on was: Why? Why did it end like this? She tried to keep casualties to a zero! Why did they go so far?! Did they hate the UNSC and Liang-Dortmund Corporation that much?! Would they sooner die?!

As her processors searched for anything that could illuminate the confounding depths, she thought she heard someone talking nearby:

"Another Schnee Dust Company train has been hijacked and raided by the White Fang, their hostilities towards humanity and the company in particular leaning more extremist now that the previous founder-"

"Penny Polendina!"

Her body twirled around, the hazy speech abandoned in favor of the voice that was clearly real and behind her. Rtas was still marching over, Vul following close behind with his deactivated sword still at the ready, and Wanders hovering to keep up - she had the faintest feeling the latter wasn't meant to be following them but was coming over to her nonetheless.

She was still hyper-aware of all her blades and strings, but she kept from retrieving them - this was more important, she could see it in the look of his eyes.

"It wasn't supposed to end-" she started, thinking he was upset with the same thing she was.

"The UNSC had it under control, why would you reveal yourself!" he cut in. "No - when were you going to reveal to us that you were armed?! That you are a weapon?!"

She blinked. Somewhere she had done something wrong, but she was still catching up with understanding - too slow for Rtas' liking.

That's when Wanders caught up; and unlike the other two, he was only pleased. "Ah, I was wondering where the strings were supposed to come in!"

"Huragok!" Vul shouted. Through a Sangheili snarl, he tried to say, "Get back-", but he only continued to be ignored.

"So they help guide the blades while in flight? Since you pulled the vehicle with them, does that mean you can also propel yourself with-"

"Wait, you knew?!" Rtas' displeasure went from Penny to Wanders. "For how long?!"

"While undergoing repairs, I took note of all of Penny's build, but I couldn't follow-up on everything at the time. Keeping her systems intact and repairing damage were more important. And after that-"

"The entire time?!" Rtas continued. "And you said nothing?!"

This time, Wanders started to catch on. "It was never relevant. And up until now, I did not know the full scope of the design intentions. Technically, I still don't. I imagine there is more in her arsenal that wasn't brought out for this occasion."

"Let me make something clear to you, Huragok. When it comes to someone entering my ship , it is always relevant to know if they are armed and where all their weapons are. And especially if they have the power to combat a dozen soldiers single-handedly!" His arms gestured to the urban battlefield around them while emphasizing that last part.

Then, he turned back to Penny, "And is this true? Are you capable of more than just this?"

"I think so..." Her head lowered, her responses growing meek. "I really- My memories are still- I only knew once I needed it-!"

"Like muscle memory?" Wanders suggested.

"Something like that. At least, for accessing my weapon. From there, it was a mix of instinct and referencing recent data."

"Recent data-" Rtas started to sputter, but Vul was speaking at the same time.

"Our warriors." Hearing his statement, Rtas looked back and nodded for him to continue. "Their training. I recognized it from some of her movements."

"Yes, and if I recall correctly, you were a bad influence with your war stories."

"I'm sure Penny didn't mean anything malicious to record their techniques!" Wanders interjected in a panic. "I'm sure it's her equivalent of- Of learning! Her own training! Like any student would, she observes all masters of the craft and uses that to-"

"That is enough, Huragok. We get it." Rtas didn't even look at him. His gaze also went away from Vul, even as he said, "'Soran, escort the Huragok back to 'Juran and the Arbiter. We will depart for our destination once the marines give us the clear."

"But Penny-"

"I will handle the android. You are dismissed."

Penny whimpered a small, "I'm sorry", as Wanders and Vul left them. Even though her systems made her aware of all the moving bodies in the immediate radius, she still felt like she'd been left alone with Rtas - an angry, disappointed Rtas.

"Despite being designed to do all of..." Rtas trailed off and looked all around them. "You still have the mind of a child."

Her hands wrung together.

"Ultimately, I am more to blame. Knowing a construct was onboard, I should have had one of my Huragok inspect you and report to me. But, that no longer matters."

Her field of vision aimed to look at the ground around him was broken by the sight of his hand coming down and gesturing for her attention. She powered through childish fear to meet his gaze.

He didn't hold eye contact for very long. Almost as soon as she lifted her head, he was turning his back on her.

"As you become the UNSC's problem to dissect, I give you one piece of advice: know when it is wise to inform your guardians of something, and when to keep secrets."

Chapter Text

"It's the kind of thing I see ONI wanting to be capable of," Lord Hood said. "I'm just not sure if they are yet."

Alongside their explanation of everything leading up to this meeting, Lord Hood had watched over the retrieved security and helmet-feed footage of Penny's fight. It was a bit relieving to Rtas that humanity had not advanced so far with the Sangheili unaware... but it only raised the question: who did?

Penny sat obediently quiet in a seat between Rtas and the Arbiter, on the opposite end of a conference table from Lord Hood. Wanders hovered behind her, tentacles on her shoulders, while Tul and Vul stood on guard a few feet away. Parallel to them, on Lord Hood's side of the room, were UNSC soldiers. In the center of the table, a hologram projected the olive-tinted image of a large, two-dimensional singular eye: an AI of Alluvion, Polyphemus. Based on Penny's actions and the crucial detail of her being an android, it was decided an AI had to be present in the meeting.

They were all caught up on the details: Wanders' stranding, its discovery and repairs of Penny, Shadow of Intent's discovery of the two, the fact no one was 100% aware Penny was an ace in combat (though some's percentage were higher than others'). Penny had only spoken up to give her side of the story: the same scripted-responses she gave the Sangheili, her self-awareness of her body but not her immediate understanding of all her design, her thought-process as she fought, the little memories she did have access to (which was a tad more than what she told Rtas, but only because she hadn't had them back then). All that was left was to hear out Lord Hood's judgement on the matter.

And Polyphemus', for that matter.

"I noticed, Admiral," the AI spoke up in the pause left by Lord Hood's continued processing of all the information, a little point in the center of the eye - the equivalent of a pupil - zeroing in on each subject as Polyphemus referenced them. "From P.E.N.N.Y. M374's testimony is one possibility: her design may not include the Three Laws."

"The Three Laws?" the Arbiter asked.

"The Three Laws of Robotics, first created by a sci-fi author back when all the tech we have now was just a dream," Lord Hood explained. "The first law is to avoid harming a human or allowing a human to be harmed by inaction. The second law is to follow commands, unless it conflicts with the first law. And the third law is to protect the robot's own existence, unless it conflicts with the first two."

"Avoid harming humans?" A faintly amused huff was laced with the question.

"Military AI get some special exceptions. But only if they're operating at full capacity. Otherwise, their actions get restricted as a safety measure."

"I agree with AI Polyphemus' hypothesis, although I will need further investigation of Penny to confirm one way or another." Unlike Penny, Wanders was keen on speaking without being prompted - in its opinion, it seemed, the existence of its expertise was prompt enough. "When conducting repairs, I did not spot much to indicate these 'Laws' were present, but I admit I was focused on other matters at the time. It is, if true, another point of evidence that despite her appearance, it was not humans that built her."

"At least not protocol-abiding humans," Lord Hood stressed. "Arbiter, you remember Cortana? Doctor Halsey took her own liberties when making her. ONI wasn't pleased that she did, but neither do they argue with results."

"And they may have done so again behind your back?" the Arbiter asked. His tone suggested he spoke of more than just Penny's creation.

And Lord Hood's response matched. "For what it's worth, I hope it's wrong."

"I see two roads," Polyphemus interrupted, either unaware or uncaring of subtext. "That the creators of P.E.N.N.Y. M374 hold considerable trust in her. Or that they want her to slaughter everything she wants. Is unwillingness to harm because of amnesia? Or an outstanding trait that persisted?"

Sitting right next to her, Rtas could feel the shifting of her body - even hear the slight scrap of her boot against the floor.

"But then - what of her design?" the Arbiter asked. "Why give a weapon the mind and body of an innocent girl?"

"The same reason some predators make themselves look unassuming. To catch their prey off-guard."

Rtas certainly was left off-guard. It never occurred to him to inspect her more deeply. Even though he knew she was not a human child, he still unconsciously treated her as such when she first boarded the ship. And when he finally grew suspicious, it was only in the context of spywork - only the thought she could collect data on people, not outright kill them herself.

"But Penny spared our attackers," Wanders pointed out. "She refused to bring bodily harm if it could be helped."

And she was devastated when that wasn't enough. Rtas had been pre-occupied by shock and anger at the time, but hearing her recount things made him realize he'd overlooked that reaction of hers in the moment. A weapon that feels sad about its opponents dying? Was Polyphemus' first hypothesis in that regard correct - that she was merciful because of her amnesia? Was it a malfunction of that First Law? Or was there some logic to the madness of Penny's creators that they lacked the full context for?

"I certainly wouldn't expect that from an ONI weapon," Lord Hood commented. "Unless she hit her head too hard inside that mystery ship."

Some investigation had been done with that ship already, first started by the Huragok on Shadow of Intent. The glass on it had cracked into many glistening webs. The six batteries they found powering the aircraft were all leaking; not that they could've done anything if the power was on, as the console at the front had been smashed into at least once. The Huragok believed some of the internal damage to actually be Penny's doing - not on purpose, but a side-effect of her powered-off body being thrown around by some unknown force. Another source of destruction both inside and out was the vacuum of space. The aircraft was evidently not designed for flight outside of an atmosphere. With that in mind, that unknown force that could've launched Penny around was either the aircraft being launched into space or falling out of a larger carrier.

Rtas didn't want his Huragok to repair it, even if they showed great interest in it as a pet project. It didn't seem like their problem to deal with. Ironically, it was a reversal of the time where he insisted a human engineer not get involved in repairing what they all thought was Cortana. But a lot of it was for the same reason: a lack of trust. It resembled the most like human aircraft, so he'd let them investigate it. Maybe that meant that if there was something nefarious afoot, the humans would keep him in the dark of the truth behind the aircraft, but he found himself fine with the risk. If hostilities were going to start brewing between them again, then let humanity be the first to throw stones; his responding fire would end things and he'd do so with a clear conscience.

"A lot of questions," Polyphemus continued. "But observation only leads so far. Breaking through the lock on the memories would be a goldmine. But still, even just some glance at the coding would give clues."

"Delicately," Wanders said, its text-to-speech morphing as best it could to provide emphasis and its floating briefly turning into a bit of a bobble. "Just poking around the memory banks caused them to lock. Other adverse reactions might occur when probing her internals. And a lack of knowledge of how Penny works could lead to accidentally damaging her functioning-"

"That's why you take something apart. To figure out how it was put together."

A nervous Huragok noise was left untranslated. "Well! As mentioned, unlocking the memory banks could save a lot of time and effort!"

"Do you have any idea what the password could be?" Polyphemus' pupil strained in a way unlike when it merely "looked" at the target of its words or hearing. It felt oddly like both entities had forgotten anyone was in the room with them.

"Not yet. It is two four-lettered words, so the combinations are endless, and the choice of which language is also important. I have heard that humans utilize algorithms to brute-force all possible combinations of a password, but without knowing what will happen if an incorrect one is inserted, any guesses would still have to be checked against Penny's memories. It is my hypothesis that the password will have some significant meaning."

"So no time and effort saved. Even more work than the alternative."

"No, the 'alternative' will be more work, because I refuse not to take my time in examining her model! Neither will any subpar engineer be tinkering with or without my supervision!"

"And checking password combinations against non-existent memories will be faster?! Did you break your logic core while in space?!"

Ah, yes, the organics were forgotten. As was the pretense of civility.

The Arbiter brushed one of the tentacles that Wanders started pointing in Polyphemus' direction while Lord Hood tapped something under the table.

"Sorry, Admiral. I'll be calm."

Wanders' vocal chords still bubbled in indignation. But at least it was also calm when it continued to speak. "Penny has displayed the ability to recall some memories despite the lock. They can manifest through a 'subconscious' or be directly triggered by relevant environmental factors. With time, clues pointing towards the password can be coaxed out. Or the password itself, since it will likely be behind the lock itself."

At the very least, this wasn't news that was catching Rtas by surprise. Not that either of these two told him of this discovery - he had to hear it from Tul.

"If this is going to be a discussion on engineering, does that mean our involvement in this investigation is over?" Rtas asked.

"Not quite..." Lord Hood, a bit uncomfortably, looked between the Sangheili and the Huragok. "You've interacted with these... Huragok, more than me. And especially this one. So maybe you know how best to let it down gently."

Ah, good. The discomfort was because of that.

"I can understand other species fine. I can understand the words you're speaking now. There is no secret construct language that keeps us from understanding your words."

"Is there a problem?" the Arbiter asked, directly at Lord Hood and ignoring Wanders.

"Since Penny will be coming under UNSC ownership, the Huragok will have to as well. But even then, I can't guarantee it'll be assigned to her. Maybe at the start, to catch up our engineers on its findings, but there are other projects I'm sure my fellow command wants our limited Huragok supply to attend to."

Yep, that knowledge would make Rtas uncomfortable, too. Which is why he was a little bit peeved Lord Hood was trying to pass off the messenger duty to them!

Because Wanders already started to break down.

"Attend other projects?! My primary objective, from now until the next galactic-wide apocalyptic event, will be attending to Penny! No one but myself and her can dismiss me from that!"

Its tentacles flailed about with no regard towards the people around it. Rtas gazed back towards Tul, his eyes projecting his plea: You have a kid brother! Use whatever magic your mother used for his tantrums!

Just as the Arbiter started to coo something gentle - maybe that magic he was expecting from Tul - Penny's voice overpowered all other noise in the room, Wanders' outburst included.

She didn't get to do a lot of talking, up until that moment. But it left her with a lot of room for thinking.

Penny wanted to get all the answers about herself, but did she want it all costs? Being shut down and pulled apart didn't feel like a doctor running x-rays and bloodwork. She didn't mind Wanders doing anything of the sort - he'd already fixed her up and that did a lot to build up her trust. But a stranger? A stranger that had little attachment to her - and therefore not the same level of urgency as Wanders did in keeping her in working condition? What if there was a mistake done? What if she would never wake up again? What if they purposefully never turned her back on? It didn't occur to her, until this conversation, how much trust she had to place in an engineer with her existence. She didn't like that feeling. At least, not when she didn’t have a say on where her trust could go.

It only sounded worse as Polyphemus kept talking. Kept speaking of rummaging through her and deconstructing her as if it were simple drone work, just another weekday task. Maybe she wanted to take it slow and gentle. Maybe she wanted to re-learn her memories and herself. Maybe she wanted to take the natural approach.

And to be separated from Wanders? Even if she had only known him for a few weeks now, that possibility felt unreal. Horrible! Entirely unbearable. At the very least, she trusted Wanders to do all that scary stuff himself, if it ever came down to it.

Because he cared. That was where all her trust came - the knowledge that he would be careful with her and keep her systems from breaking. Even though he had no responsibility over her - not real responsibility, not something imposed upon him - he made her and her condition his life's mission. He barely knew her longer than she knew him, but he had come to that decision. In response... Yes, being separated from him was unacceptable. Being experimented on by humanity was unacceptable.

Being treated like a gadget that couldn't make her own choices was unacceptable.

Maybe that's the hidden key to her coding that they had all missed - that she can choose. She can decide to kill or not. She can decide what questions she wants to ask and what information she gathers. She can decide what her favorite colors and flowers are and how to spell the names of them, too.

Wanders, as being the one to stick by her side the most and to listen, had already figured out this much. And since nobody else was asking her directly, he was trying to lean them towards the path that Penny would want. Maybe a little bit had to do with the integrity of his skill as an engineer, too, but it was still well-meaning.

But that was unnecessary. She could just say it herself.

Thanks for trying anyway, friend.

"Human intervention won't be necessary. I appreciate the offer of assistance from the UNSC, but Wanders is already doing fine."

"Yes, yes! I don't need human help, and helping humans would get in the way! Just leave the matter of memory and design investigation to me and Penny!"

"Construct, do not encourage it," Rtas sighed.

"All I can promise is to talk to the rest of UNSC command - and ONI - but that won't guarentee they'll agree," Lord Hood said with as much weariness.

"Oh, no, let me clarify," Penny said, her politeness masking her sudden conviction. "As human intervention is not necessary, there is no pressing need for the UNSC to get involved. Or ONI. Or any other human entity. We will likely move on from human territory, out of respect for boundaries."

"You mean - you reject being under UNSC jurisdiction?" Polyphemus asked. His pupil went wider than it ever had in this conversation, much wider than its neutral state.

"That is another way of putting it."

Polyphemus flipped towards Lord Hood. "She can't-"

Her hearing picked up one human guard's murmuring towards the other. "Can she...?"

And Rtas started hissing at her, "What are you doing?! What do you think we came here for?!"

She let her answer be loud enough for everyone to hear. "Since I looked like a human, and the aircraft I was with looked the most like human design, and 'human' was the only known species in my available memory, we came here to see if the UNSC would have answers. But they don't."

Then she looked Polyphemus directly in the eye. So basically at him entirely. "Do you know what a 'Faunus' is?"

"It sounds like 'fauna'. Are you sure the file didn't get corrupted?"

"No, it is capitalized with the same importance as a species. It is treated in my system as equal to humanity." She stopped focusing on Polyphemus specifically. "The aircraft is still mysterious to the UNSC. Faunus are not here. And my abilities, as Lord Hood confirmed, are beyond the current technological capability of any human entity known to the UNSC. There is just as much evidence that I was created by a species other than humanity, that my memory of humanity is not indicative of being built by humanity, that it holds a different meaning. And therefore, humanity has no unique ownership over me. I do not have to stay here."

"Penny Polendina brings up a fair point," the Arbiter spoke up, taking over the conversation effortlessly. He must've come to the same conclusion as Penny before she even finished talking. "It was the assumption of insight, if not ownership, that we directed Penny towards you. But without evidence of her makers, whose authority she follows is currently under her own discretion."

Lord Hood crossed his arms, but his expression betrayed that he preferred humoring the Arbiter over humoring either Penny or Wanders. "You realize my colleagues won't be happy with an android walking around without a leash? A heavily armed, skilled combat android? With full sapience? Just by standing her ground against authority, she'll be labeled an existential threat."

"And who says she will be unleashed? There is still one candidate with some claim."

Yep, she really liked the Arbiter.

What in hells was he saying? Who else would take over watching-

"Wanders the Space, of course, discovered her first. But given the status of Huragok, the proper candidate would be those that discovered them both."

He was also going to pass responsibilities?! At the very least, why couldn't he offer himself up, since he's so keen to play along!

"I wouldn't object to that," Penny said, too sweetly for Rtas' liking. Especially under these circumstances! She was supposed to be a temporary guest, for the duration of her transport, not a permanent ward! 

And what was he going to do with an extra Huragok?! There were already objections to him having so many! Of which included himself! As soon as Shadow of Intent was in better shape, he was fine with passing them along to the first beggar!

Yet, Rtas held his tongue. Unlike the constructs, he wasn't interested in squabbling in the conference room, in front of important allies. He'd scream at the Arbiter in private.

Lord Hood raised his eyebrow. "I doubt being with the Sangheili would ease those concerns from my colleagues. But..."

Apparently, both leaders just wanted to give unruly constructs whatever they wanted!

Leaning in, Lord Hood divulged confirmation of just that: "I admit, I'm worried that even if ONI wasn't involved in making her, getting their hands on her means they will make something to her effect soon enough. Same thing if the Insurrection is able to abduct her if she chooses to wander around unguarded. But you, Arbiter? You've never seemed like the science experiment type. You may use doomsday weapons, but you don't go out of your way to build them."

"I'll never forgive you." The Arbiter told him, during a morose lull in unprofessional conversation, that those words were said back at the memorial in Voi. With how Lord Hood had evolved in speaking of him, one could almost mistake his attitude to have changed. Until he gave little remarks like that one.

One that the Arbiter took no offense to - that some sad conversation had revealed he agreed. That he couldn't let go like Rtas had.

"Would it be possible for us to leave this planet's surface, to depart in our ship, unhindered?" the Arbiter asked. "With her?"

"Knowledge of her hasn't gotten that far yet, so leaving's not an issue - not counting any more incidents with Innies. It's the sentiment once you're gone, once the debriefing begins, that's the problem." Lord Hood went a little grim as he added, "Some would argue just by the very nature of her resemblance to humanity, that we have a claim to investigate her. That you bringing her over here counts as relinquishing custody."

"But they will have a hard time claiming her, once she's back in our territory. And I doubt your colleagues, regardless of their current sentiments towards us, would truly risk war over control of one android."

"They might threaten it, but the fact we're not at war already is sign enough they don't mean it," Lord Hood agreed. "I know all my promises haven't exactly led to satisfactory results in our alliance, but I still have respect within the UNSC. I can buy you time against the hawks' demands. I would use that time, if I were in your shoes, to keep her firmly in Sangheili territory and figure out that password."

"Will they also be taking the aircraft?" Polyphemus asked. It was a lot more pleasant than before.

"It is a clue towards her origin..." the Arbiter trailed off to look at Penny, who was already in obvious thought over the matter herself.

"I don't think it's actually important to me. So I don't really mind what happens to it."

"Nothing indicates that it was more than a simple transport," Wanders agreed. "If all of the Huragok on Shadow of Intent joined me, we could try and get into the console, but that is up to the Shipmaster. Since the UNSC also has Huragok - and eager human tinkerers-" Its text-to-speech garbled a little at the exaggerated emotion. "Then it doesn't matter who investigates it, as long as an honor system is placed on sharing results."

Lord Hood nodded. "I think leaving it behind will appease some of the disgruntled. At least it'll help in buying time. I don't usually follow engineering work, but I'll be sure to check in with the team regularly to ensure nothing's being hidden."

Was that a subtle admission from him that things were being hidden in the past? It didn't bode well - when it came to those rumors, devoid of concrete evidence that they were - that even Lord Hood seemed to heavily distrust his colleagues. Why were they allied again? Not that Rtas was a warhawk like 'Mdama and the Covenant remnants - it just didn't make sense to him that people that loathed the Sangheili's existence would publicly play nice with them for so long. But maybe that was just to distract the many crimes they were stacking behind the scenes. "To catch the prey off-guard", as Polyphemus put it earlier.

But that was besides the point of the meeting. The Arbiter hadn't said anything yet, but it was clear now he had a new mission: occupy Penny for as long as they could keep her, while Wanders continued its investigation. Not that his input was ever asked.

Of course, he already could guess what the Arbiter's response to his locked-room screaming would be. It was the same as Lord Hood admitted, the same reason Rtas was on patrol-duty and the designated lead into the investigation of missing San'Shyuum - Thel trusted him the most. Even if Rtas didn't already have time to get to know Penny, he would've been trusted with this task... with maybe some other candidates to consider, in that alternate case.

What would he even do with her, though? All she'd done since getting on Shadow of Intent was wander and ask questions. The only reason his crew had tolerated her was the knowledge she'd be gone soon. And now that she was staying full-time, divulging the entire situation to them - secrets and all - would be necessary. He wasn't too worried about admitting that he hid some things, since it made sense not to at the time and he hadn't known everything himself either. But not everyone within the Swords of Sanghelios necessarily agreed with the Arbiter on everything - and not everyone with objections would be as obedient as him. How long would his crew's goodwill with him last before an outrage took over?

Not to mention anyone they came across during patrols. Colonies followed the Arbiter because they saw it as pragmatic - colonies followed other factions like 'Mdama's Covenant because they truly trusted those organizations could match the Arbiter in resources and therefore their hatred of humanity could flow freely. Maybe it wasn't everyone in the Sangheili that hated humanity, but a sizable chunk were still uncomfortable and held no unique fondness to the degree as the Arbiter. He could hide Penny away anytime they made contact with colonies or other ships, but eventually the word would get out; he couldn't police all his men's conversation and attempting to would just sour them on the situation further. What would he do then?

By the time they were being escorted back - the final agreement set in stone - Rtas came to a decision. If the Arbiter really wasn't going to suddenly offer to take Penny elsewhere, to make her somebody else's ward, then he wouldn't let her presence go to waste. If she wanted to live amongst the Sangheili - on his ship - then she would do her part. It might not do any favors in making people comfortable; but maybe if done long enough, they'd accept her, or at the very least accept the results of her presence. It was better than her grating on people's nerves and being seen as a free-loader.

Shadow of Intent would have a new recruit.

Chapter Text

September 2557

A few weeks had passed. They'd left Alluvion. They returned the Arbiter to Vadam state. Penny and Wanders stayed on Shadow of Intent.

Shadow of Intent took a pit-stop afterward, resting at a simple fueling station and shipyard set up elsewhere in the Urs system. There was enough atmosphere at the place to facilitate walking around the shipyard area without a helmet, despite not being a full-fledged colony world.

Which was good, as Rtas ordered Penny to follow him outside. Along with them were Wanders, Vul, Tul, Stolt, Xyha, and one more Sangheili named Mrisa 'Varka. The latter was one of the Sangheili Rangers under Stolt.

"I have decided that if you are to stay on my ship, it will be as one of my crew," Rtas had told her not long after they'd departed from Alluvion. "But I need to know what you are capable of if I am to utilize you properly."

"Like I said before, everything I did on Alluvion was instinct and stuff I witnessed," Penny replied. "My current working memory has logged all the moves I did, so I should remember them normally now. But I think I'm gonna have to remember new moves as I go on the battlefield."

"That I cannot accept. I would prefer that you not only regain your combat memories before I officially deploy you, but to see them in action myself."

"How?"

"I will arrange it, do not concern yourself for the time being."

That had been the end of the matter. Penny had tried to ask about the progress of that during the return trip to Sanghelios, but Rtas shut her attempt down. Deciding to just trust that it would happen, however slow it was taking, she stopped asking about it and continued to mingle and explore on the ship like she did before. 

During that time, she was a lot more open that she wasn't actually a human. That at first irked Rtas, since she started sooner than he could on the matter, but he ultimately accepted her reasoning that she wished everyone to hear it from her own mouth. Although, not everyone believed it coming from her and Wanders, so he ended up getting involved in sharing the news, anyway. She offered to demonstrate her abilities in the training ring when some still seemed skeptical, but Rtas forbade that; it was another situation of him wanting to see her full power before making any choices. Who knew what she could do to the training room - or the ship's interior - if she ended up being too powerful. Not to mention accidental deaths while sparring.

"One area we are behind the humans in is their simulation technology," Rtas began, once they'd traveled a fair bit away from most activity in the shipyard. He'd secure them a pretty open space where few people or vehicles were at. Although the UNSC did supply the ship with some War Games technology, he wasn't sure if Penny's strength was enough to break it or not - it was designed with humans in mind, adjusted slightly for Sangheili; and even if she had the same strength as a Spartan, those blades and whatever tricks up her sleeve might pose trouble still. "So an empty space will have to do. This part of the yard is reserved for scrap, so there is no loss if things get out of control."

"Oh, is this the training showcase?" Penny asked.

"Yes. Blademaster 'Soran, Ranger Stolt, and Scion 'Juran will serve as witnesses and judges with me. Ultra 'Felkor and Ranger 'Varka will assist with sparring. But if you feel any attacks will be too lethal, I urge you to aim for the scrap metal instead. If any technological issues crop up, Wanders is here to immediately respond."

As Penny turned her attention towards Xyha and Mrisa, finally connecting the dots on why they both had a long wooden staff attached to their backs, she also took note of a side-eye from the latter towards Rtas. She figured it had something to do with pride. She'd heard both Xyha and the Arbiter mutter about stubborn pride before. And Rtas did imply that he feared Penny could actually be a threat to elite Sangheili warriors...

"Quick question, Shipmaster," Penny said. Rtas nudged his head, granting her permission to speak further. "Why do Ultra 'Felkor and Ranger 'Varka have training weapons, but I'm supposed to use my real weapons?"

"From what we've observed, your blades are metal," Rtas explained. "A different and stronger metal than we've seen humans use, but likely weak to plasma nonetheless. To avoid permanently robbing you of functioning blades, I restricted your sparring partners from using plasma weaponry."

Wanders cut in with, "We haven't gotten to examine your weaponry closely yet, so the possibility of repairing it or replacing lost blades is still unknown. The shipmaster wanted to see what else could be coaxed out of your model before we got to doing that."

"Of course, enemies on a real battlefield will not be as considerate, but that is an issue for another day."

Penny nodded. "I think I would've felt it if there was anything else, but I understand. I'm ready to start."

"I know Shipmaster 'Vadum wishes to avoid unnecessary injury," Xyha said. "But I would find it more insulting if you held back."

Mrisa grunted in silent agreement.

"I agree. I don't think my memory will come out in full force if this doesn't feel as real as Alluvion," Penny replied. As her backpack opened up and blades floated out, she gave a wry smile. "Don't worry about hitting me too hard."

Rtas cleared his throat to regain their attention. "Warriors, take ten paces from each other."

And after they did... "Your battle begins... Now!"

There was minimal concern about standing too close from the "sparring ring". Back at Alluvion, it appeared that Penny had remarkable control over her blades, so there wasn't really a worry about stray shots. Still, Vul positioned himself in a way that most of his body blocked Wanders' from the battlefield, leaving only enough room for it to crane its head around and point two tentacles out. If Stolt was tall enough, he'd be doing the same; in fact he suspected that Stolt outright asked Vul to do so. Huragok were up there as the most delicate species of the galaxy, after all - they were floating sacks of gas and fluid, and they were harder to heal from damage than any other species.

These days, the loss of a single Huragok was to be avoided at even greater cost than back in the Covenant empire era. Who knew if any more even existed out there. Who knew what made them all disappear in the first place.

Penny started off her defense with the basic attacks she displayed at Alluvion - directing her blades to block and aiming them to shoot out at her foe. She moved her arms a lot when doing this; it appeared that's where control of the blades lied, so maybe restricting her arms would effectively disarm the blades from use? Could she control them with just a thought? Originally, Rtas had wanted to be in contact via COMMs with his two chosen fighters, to order them to test out certain theories of her abilities. However, Xyha objected to this, calling it "cheating" and wishing for only the instincts of the involved fighters to lead this battle. Well, Rtas could test all the questions he had when finer training began later.

True to her word, there was a noticeable lack of restraint in how she fought in comparison to Alluvion. Besides it being requested and part of the point of this spar, it seemed the presence of higher quality armor on her targets made her more confident with striking them directly. Blades bounced off both Ultra and Ranger armor - not always from the front. At one point, Penny threw her blades far past her foes' bodies, only to turn them around and have them suddenly fly towards the Sangheili's backs. It was only the intuition of experienced warriors that had seen all - and therefore to be suspicious of every move - that they had dodged in time; having a thruster pack helped Mrisa especially in dodging all of her attacks.

Given her primary weapons were blades - even if they were floating - Penny's apparent martial prowess was no surprise. Although she had recorded many moves from the training room of Shadow of Intent, there were plenty more attacks from across the spectrum. At a few moments, she would take advantage of the smaller scrap and fashion makeshift weapons. One such instance was when Mrisa had knocked one of her blades to embed into a piece of scaffolding; instead of wedging it out, Penny grasped the side of her blade like a handle and utilized the stuck material like a long scythe. Rtas guessed there were other warriors that Penny had encountered in the past, warriors that she similarly recorded the movements of. She looked a little disappointed when Xyha dismantled the makeshift scythe and forced her back to her proper stance. Although wielding her sword like that probably did no favors for her palms, regardless of their make. At the opposite end, there was the time when Penny stamped down on a shard of metal to bring it into her hands like a shield, grasping one of her blades and poking it out from the side for quick-switching between defensive and offensive maneuvers; she even threw the blade out like a spear and swatted her foes with the "shield".

"She's versatile," Vul noted. "That's not common amongst soldiers."

"Penny has the advantage of her AI," Wanders replied. "A regular warrior would have to worry about becoming a 'master of none'. But since Penny can so accurately replicate the targets of her study, she lacks that problem."

"Bah, that's still a disadvantage in of itself. One cannot so heartlessly recreate a warrior's style. I'm sure the true masters she's copied perform better than this."

"Maybe so," Wanders shockingly agreed. "The thought process of an organic and of a construct differ, bringing their own perks and flaws. Constructs can think quicker and more precisely, but an emptiness is always there. Except maybe for Penny... Combining the perks of both organic and construct is likely a design goal of her creators, and not so easily done by most species. Humans have gotten the closest in the current era, but their AI still suffer restrictions, the worst being a faster rate of rampancy. The Forerunners did better - according to your stories and Shadow of Intent 's internal archives, their AI have lasted into the current era, and have been more resilient against rampancy. If the Forerunners had stationed them with companions, I'm sure the instances that occurred would've gone down."

"Wait - our archives?" Stolt asked. Had he not mentioned that, Rtas honestly would've overlooked it. "Since when?!"

"The previous trip, about midway through. We were running out of sources of information - and the debriefing about Alluvion had been so enlightening, we figured similar files would be the same. And they were."

"Huragok - please ask for authorization next time," Rtas said, not as badly exasperated as before. The longer he was around these two, the more he honestly had gotten used to these kinds of antics. Plus, Huragok snooping was a problem he faced since he had the first of them stationed onboard. He'd broken in and trained four Huragok before, he could do it one more time.

"Oh, but we did."

"You did not-"

"Well, we tried to go to you first, but you were busy at the time in the bridge. So we just went to the other Huragok and Spin let us borrow his authorization key. Said it had the most access out of all the Huragoks."

Make that two Huragok to train. He didn't even recall giving Subject to Spin higher credentials than the others - Sinker was supposed to be, and even it didn't have extensive library access!

The little argument was abandoned in favor of continuing to watch the fight, which had escalated. Penny was using her jet-boots to float a few inches off the air, allowing for quicker movement. She was made to dodge attacks coming from all sides - Xyha and Mrisa, not usually combat partners, had now gotten into a coordinated groove. A few of her blades circled at different directions around her - the meaning of these formations made clear when they suddenly fired lasers to function as thrusters, allowing for fluid dodging. She created a sizable gap of distance between her and her attackers, then brought her previously-thruster blades higher in the air. They fired off laser bullets that forced Xyha and Mrisa to go on the defensive.

"They're also guns?!" Stolt yelped. Indeed, the shape of the blades that were firing lasers had taken on a more rifle-like shape.

The changed tide of battle continued as Penny launched two blades to the ground, wedging them in. In a move similar to what she did against the terrorists' jeep, she used her connection to the blades to propel - except this time, it was her body that moved to rejoin the blades. At the same time, a blade she had in hand pointed ahead - everything a swift movement aimed at Xyha. The Ultra twisted, but his perception hadn't been quick enough - the energy shields of his armor flared and sparked as the sword made contact with his retreating form, slashing across his chest and a shoulder. As soon as Penny's feet were on the ground, they engaged in tight-knit sword-fighting, with Xyha moving back in an attempt to give his shields time to repair and Penny moving up in an attempt to keep them from doing so.

Suddenly, Penny's head swerved around, her body caught in the same twisty attempt to escape a blow as Mrisa's body descended from a long, thruster pack-assisted jump. His attack likely came as an attempt to help free Xyha from the sticky situation - Xyha did not see it the same way. Rather than take this opportunity to escape and recoup, he instead lurched forward in the opportunity created by Mrisa's distraction. Penny reacted even slower than before - Mrisa had only managed to hit her arm, but Xyha's staff slammed hard on her torso to the point that a heavily "THUNK" sound echoed across the space. Just like Xyha, energy shields across her body- Wait, what?

"She has energy shielding?" Tul asked at the same time Rtas made the connection.

"Yes, but not really," Wanders... answered? "I never caught the existence of it while doing repairs, although it's possible it escaped my notice or I misidentified something of her design. But I don't think either of that is likely. Penny and I have been considering the knowledge held in her scripted responses and what we can learn from them. Obviously, the 'Atlas military', 'people of Mantle', and 'Faunus' clues are currently out of reach and likely will be for some time now. However, we made some headway into the subject of 'Aura'. Based on cross-referencing what she's learned of us, we've come up with a few theories. It could be her organic-like emotions and personality, since 'generate Aura' appeared to be linked to 'pass as an organic being'. It could be her abilities; perhaps these fighting styles are not unique to constructs and 'Aura' is what they call them-"

"Spin granted you access to the fiction section, too?" Stolt asked.

"Unrelated. The theory I favor the most, after some discussion with Sinker on the etymology of the word 'Aura' and the specific words of 'generate', as well as discussion with Penny on her impressions of Sangheili combat, is that 'Aura' is a defensive ability similar to energy shielding. Not only that, but it is a thing that organics can do naturally from where she is from, and that her creators discovered how to give her this ability without code."

"Fiction section," Stolt insisted. "Juvenile audience, I bet."

Wanders swatted its arms around like a toddler stomping their feet. "We have barely gotten into fiction literature! We only started a few days ago!"

"Would it even be possible?" Tul asked. "To shield without armor? And to give a construct a function without building it in?"

"Before Penny, an android was a thing of science fiction, for everyone in the galaxy. And she's an android with feelings. So why couldn't she have more up her sleeve? Why couldn't her organic creators? Where are the boundaries of possibility now?" Wanders tilted its head. "You must admit, the Forerunners in the past were capable of more than anyone in the current era. There is a reason the Covenant mistook them as gods."

And with so many records mistranslated and even more lost to them, they could only imagine the limits of Forerunner technology. Humanity was ahead of them all in putting the pieces together, although Rtas didn't doubt that they hadn't shared everything. The UNSC Infinity was only one glimpse the Sangheili had, when it demonstrated its capabilities against insurgent forces threatening Vadam state. And that was a ship built to fuse Forerunner tech with humanity's and the Covenant's; the latter of which was derived from studying and imitating Forerunner tech, so the pedigree skewed even more towards the ancient species.

It was also currently out of commission, according to galactic chatter that Rtas could never help himself on overhearing (never knew what valuable intel could be gleaned; he was still conducting a search, even if it was on the back-burner). Based on the footage he saw of Infinity's performance at Sanghelios, he could only guess what would be capable of such a feat.

His imagination took him straight through the category of stories in the archives' fiction section.

"What is she attempting now?!"

He would've already put a cap on his thoughts, but Vul's exclamation helped it come faster. Just in time to see what had the others gawking - even Xyha and Mrisa.

During the time they'd been conversing, Penny had fended against the duo - stunned by the initial attacks enough to miscalculate some of her moves and receive more brutal hits to her body - until she finally blasted out of their immediate grasp, the jet flames serving as a deterrent from them following her. Some of her blades engaged in distant combat with the two, keeping them from trying to close the distance again and buying her time to think of her next move. Despite the faster thought processing, valuable seconds were ticking by as she surveyed her surroundings and weighed her options. With how long she was trying to keep her attackers away, it was also possible that her "shielding" recovered slower than theirs.

Finally, she came to the decision to float a bit high - high enough to be out of melee distance - and recall her blades. They joined a circling formation with the others, in front of her body and pointing horizontally ahead. Their spinning rapidly accelerated, until a large ball of green energy was generated in the center - energy matching the lasers she'd been firing from the individual blades earlier.

That was about the time that Vul yelled and Rtas returned to attention. Actually, an oddly large amount of time had passed since the start of this activity. It was certainly enough time for Xyha and Mrisa to notice it, be curious, and then work out for themselves what was about to happen next. More importantly, it was enough time for them to roll away, Xyha landing within feet of the onlookers and Mrisa flattening his body against a wall of scrap.

Only then did Penny's attack continue, and it became clear their dodges were exactly what she'd been waiting for. Because had she hit them, Xyha 'Felkor and Mrisa 'Varka would not exist anymore. What came from the ball of energy was a thick and devastating laser attack that effortlessly cut through the scrap heaps and even sliced a wrecked Phantom in half, leaving behind glowing, molten metal in its wake. It was a power that rivaled the artillery power of many human and former-Covenant missiles. And it came from a single, human-sized construct.

If she had unleashed this on Alluvion, we would have never been let off the planet's surface, Rtas thought. But she hadn't. She hadn't done much besides swing her blades around and protect her body from bullets. If she'd done half of what she showcased here, there wouldn't have been any terrorists left to interrogate, nor any debate on if the UNSC could have her or not. She really was holding back her potential, even if it was subconsciously - she truly had wanted everyone involved to come out unharmed, despite her power for a 100% casualty rate. Even in this moment, she had ensured to display her power in a way to preserve Xyha and Mrisa.

Xyha may have asked for her not to hold back, but Rtas could hear the deep sigh of relief as the Ultra stood up from the stance he previously landed in - eyes still glued on the carnage.

And then they locked with Rtas'. "Is this enough, Shipmaster?" There were still heavy breaths laced in the words.

It was more than enough. Up to that point, he'd thought he'd only be factoring in on how Penny could do as a ground unit. But not only could she work as a flying fighter - if they could find a way to keep her from getting damaged by the vacuum of space - she could even participate in those battles with her giant laser attack. Even if she couldn't be in space, that laser could still do a lot of damage to in-atmosphere craft. Perhaps she could function as an anti-air weapon or her own small support craft like the Banshees. She also had potential in being attached to the Ranger units, given they shared a common element in equipment - even if Penny could stay in the air indefinitely longer than the common Sangheili Ranger and such an assignment would certainly require an anti-vacuum upgrade.

"Yes, I have seen-" His reply was caught off by a sudden roar on the battlefield. It came from Mrisa, who appeared to have a new vigor in him as he re-adjusted his weapon in hand and charged. Although they'd been ordered to fight as if this were a true battle, only now did it feel like Mrisa had stopped acting - he was serious about either felling his target or die trying.

"Ranger, what are you thinking?!" Xyha yelled out. "The shipmaster has called it!"

They weren't the only ones to notice. Penny's blades peeled back and started firing off as guns again, aiming at each spot Mrisa would step on next and forcing him to constantly change his pathing. The seconds that cost him gave Penny enough time to back up. Her enemy was too keen to follow, however, so more would be needed to maintain distance. In a split second, her eyes scanned and found something useful, with one of her guns firing off not at Mrisa but at a piece of debris hanging off a nearby wreck. The laser cut through and made it fall, but it was not close enough to do much in slowing him down - not at that moment. Instead, her plan progressed when the gun that fired switched back into a blade, thrust itself towards the debris, and embedded itself. Penny pulled it towards her via the string and it launched not just at her but at Mrisa. Seeing all of her body's movements, it clued him in that something was about to happen, and he dodged just in time to keep a full-on collision between him and the debris from happening. Yet it still struck his body enough to fling him off his feet and stall him.

"'Varka, retreat now!" Stolt ordered. Out of some deference towards his commanding officer, Mrisa looked towards him. A confliction was still present in his eyes - just because he stopped and stared didn't entirely mean he was ready to let things end.

Penny was still too deep in her defense to notice the full meaning of Stolt's command, too. Her feet planted firmly on the ground while her arms shot up and slightly behind her head to direct her blades to pull back. They gathered in a straight formation, their tips pointed directly at Mrisa.

The Ranger was eager to rise to the challenge, even if it meant defying Stolt. Had the course of battle rattled his pride too much? Did he genuinely view Penny as this bad of a threat - and this his only chance to keep her from Shadow of Intent? He somewhat knew of Mrisa 'Varka - enough to be familiar that he was hot-headed and had been one of the recruits that needed the most convincing in order to trust and respect Stolt. Maybe that trust and respect hadn't embedded as deep as they thought - or maybe it would take just as much proof for him to ease up on Penny.

Just as Rtas was about to invoke his own authority as shipmaster - to the both of them - he felt a hand on his shoulder. Tul had stepped up close to him.

"Hold off, just a little longer," she said. "I want to see what 'Varka brings out."

"He may not stop, not until he's dead," Stolt argued. Given he knew all the Rangers on the Intent and then some, Rtas was willing to trust that assessment. "That android's offended him. And he already didn't like her."

"That is his own fault. But at least we will know what might kill us."

She pointed towards Penny - and that time, Rtas caught what she meant. Penny's eyes were glowing green. He didn't think it out of the ordinary before, since she always had that feature. But looking back, had they always glowed when she fought? This might've been the first they had this whole sparring session.

Mrisa wasn't the only one locked in life-or-death mode. Either he had tripped some automated self-defense mechanism in Penny, or she recognized what Stolt already knew to be true: that he wasn't going to see her leave this shipyard, one way or the other. But that latter possibility didn't make any sense. Hadn't she tried her hardest to keep terrorists from getting harmed? What would be different this time? If anything, she should have more reason to keep him alive, being fellow warriors on Shadow of Intent - someone she had already seen a bit of already.

Finally, Mrisa made up his mind. His thruster pack launched him a few feet forward - with an activated Energy Blade in hand. But Rtas couldn't bring himself to be surprised. If he was committing, then of course he would do so with full lethality. And he already knew both warriors still had their true weapons on hand - it was standard to still have them on the hip, just in case anything went south and their presence would be necessary.

And then Xyha lunged, with even more speed, after him.

Chapter Text

An audience. Her blades in formation behind her. A skilled warrior ahead of her, armored and armed. Tension in her body as she anticipated something coming at her - too fast to dodge and promising pain once it struck.

Penny had been here before.

When many voices sounded out. When shock set in that this simple match for sport might end in death.

This exact moment.

Aches subtly pounded on her limbs and torso. It hurt so much, despite the lines of it across her body being so thin. Like string. Like she was cut in a razor web.

But the warrior had not hit her. Somebody else flew from behind right into the body ahead, pinning them both to the ground.

"The sparring is over!" a familiar voice sounded. A large hand grasped the back of the warrior's head, bringing it up to stare at her. "Do you think she's in any condition to keep fighting?!"

She thought she could still keep going, but those words made her re-evaluate herself and realize she'd lost track of her own self. Her body was shaking. Her eyes were wide. She was breathing irregularly, and noticing that made her gulp for breath as if she was running out.

Something wrapped around her, over the tendrils of aching. It was soft and moist and immediately made her systems cool down.

A dear friend had made it to her. Her vision was cutting in and out of focus, but somehow her mind knew it intuitively.

"Penny? What happened? You locked up - do I need to run troubleshooting?"

And then it thought something was wrong. But what was it? This voice still sounded familiar - so why was her brain acting as if it were the wrong one?

"Penny?"

Right, regardless of who it was, she was asked a question.

"Something bad happened before..." her mouth started moving, even though her brain still felt mostly empty. "When I did that. In a spar."

"I knew it," the earlier voice said. It sounded much closer to her - she hadn't been tracking the unfocused figures her vision caught, so only then did she realize she was surrounded. The source of this voice turned to another blur. "Shipmaster, I recognized this look, which is why I interfered. It was the same as when she recalled a bad memory before."

The comforting spirals twisted around her further. "This is a worse reaction. I think the shock of the memory disoriented her. Her eyes are malfunctioning, she's not responding to stimuli right, and her voice isn't emotive either."

Huh? Was that right? Once it was mentioned, Penny came to the startling realization that her body wasn't responding to her as much as she liked, either. Besides her voice going rogue, she could barely feel her body, save for the aches that still were present. And when she had a thought about moving a part of her body, nothing happened.

"Did she get hit too hard?" a deep masculine voice different than the others she'd heard sounded.

"Too late of a response," a higher masculine voice answered. "It was definitely 'Varka's actions. Didn't you hear her say 'when I did that'?"

"Just a simple stance of her body-" a feminine voice started to say, but by then, Penny's systems went dark briefly. They were back up in time to catch that Tul's mandibles were closing together, having reached the end of her sentence.

"Uh, I didn't initiate a reboot!" Wanders cried. "Penny??"

"It's fine. I think it was an automatic response, to fix the state I was in." In the time she spoke that sentence, everything rushed back to her. She was in the shipyard, having conducted a spar with Xyha and Mrisa to bring out as much of her combat muscle memory as possible. After she'd fired a large laser, Mrisa had suddenly come at her with more fervor than before, so her systems responded in kind to the detected threat. She still didn't have the intent to kill him, but it was clear she either had to intimidate him to surrender or immobilize him. That's when her body had chosen that position, with some subconscious sense that it was "scary" enough to make the former possible - but apparently, the "scariness" was misjudged, since the one frightened was her.

In a brief moment, she'd frozen. She recognized this was scary to her for a reason but couldn't remember why. She lost sight of the battle as whatever was her equivalent of "subconscious memory" went too far - she tried to dig into her locked memories and instead nearly locked herself up with them. The bare minimum consciousness was still present to keep her systems running, but her full self was in too deep.

And while she was in there, her consciousness had briefly come together; for a few moments, she had been living as her whole self in the past. But after that reboot, everything was back to how it was. Whatever clarity she had in the depths, it hadn't resurfaced with her. Only that vague sense that that lucky moment of remembrance had lined up too well and that she did not want that situation to happen for a third time.

"You have gotten hurt before." That sudden statement had come from Xyha, who grabbed everyone's attention. Later, Wanders would fill her in that she'd be rebooting a bit longer than she first thought - that Tul had said more during the time she was out, including a suspicion that Penny's response meant she had hurt someone before. This was Xyha's counter-argument to that.

"How do you know that?" Penny asked; because his tone was so full of certainty, as if he had personally witnessed it.

"Because you've been rubbing the same spots of your body this whole time."

He was right. Penny suddenly felt very aware of her own body - and therefore, of her hands. One was rubbing her upper arm while the hand on that arm was rubbing her stomach. These were soothing motions, as if to quell an ache. But Xyha had made sure that Mrisa couldn't reach her? And Wanders had been holding her gently, as always. Plus, what could possibly hurt her to that degree? Earlier, when she got hit hard enough to break her defense system (later she and the Huragok would agree that that was her "Aura"), it still felt like the attackers were striking metal - and those places hadn't been the ones she was stuck rubbing, anyway.

Finally, she forced her body to still, too self-conscious of everyone else staring at the unconscious actions.

"Wanders, you are to have the other Huragok join you in examining her and investigating her memories," Rtas commanded, the atmosphere of the situation changing as a result. The sparring was over, as well as the impromptu check-up. "As impressive at fighting as she is, I will not have a warrior with a compromised mind on the battlefield. It's too dangerous for everyone involved."

"I do think these circumstances were rare, and it's not likely to happen again," Penny insisted, a bit on the defensive. Her tone softened at the look he gave her. "But I understand, Shipmaster."

"As for you!" Stolt shouted, directed at Mrisa alone. "You and me are not stepping foot on the Intent until you can hit me three times - since you're still soooo full of fighting energy!"

"Stolt, we should not be stalled-" Rtas began to counter.

"Respectfully, Shipmaster, I have an underling to discipline. And if you bring him back with you, his punishment will be more severe."

That seemed oddly harsh to Penny, but one of the Huragok would later explain to her that this was an act of mercy - that having to punish him in view of his peers would only spread the word of Mrisa's disobedience, therefore hitting his reputation harder.

"Very well. 'Varka-" The Ranger lowered his head, unable to keep the gaze of his shipmaster. However, Rtas was not harsh with his next words: "Good luck."

Those heading back to the ship were already moving. Wanders took her arm, nudging her to follow. But she felt she had to say something soon, while everything was still fresh.

She bowed her body to Mrisa. "That was a good fight, Ranger! I'll be looking forward to being on the same side next time!"

Penny caught a glimpse of him just blinking back at her, before Wanders forced her to get moving.

There are many theories on what dreams are, with no exact answer having been reached. One of these theories is for information archival: that dreams are a transitory process of storing recent information. Another related theory is that dreams are the subconscious retrieval of past information - of memories.

This was the thought process Spin had when he first suggested inducing dreams, based on the many fiction and factual books authored by organics that he'd read. After some intellectual debate, the majority vote for this plan had been achieved.

Penny hadn't powered down a lot since she was first discovered. Days and nights were different during space travel - not entirely existent, at least from her view. "Night" was a time of rest, but people slept at various different times on Shadow of Intent, scheduled in a way that there was always someone on active duty. Therefore, "night" never felt real to her, and in turn she felt no need to go along with it. Her body still benefited from rest, but she could go longer than an organic lifeform and she didn't have to power completely off.

The few times she did, she didn't think she dreamed. To be completely honest, she couldn't remember either way - something Spin had said was normal of dreams. At one point, she was "awake". Then the next, she was "waking up". It felt, in the first waking moments, like no time had passed at all - until her clock recalibrated with local data and calculated exactly how much time really did pass.

If she really was incapable of dreaming, then the process would have to be built into her. She had what essentially amounted to "subconscious memory", so in theory, an approximation of "dreaming" could be done, couldn't it? And if anyone could be capable of making it so, it would be Huragok.

The first day since her sparring match had been dedicated to running diagnostics, then the debate that settled on "dream theory". The second day was examinations on her body - they had figured she had a backdoor to her memory, but they weren't sure how it worked, and knowing would be vital in trying to induce dreams. By the end, they still didn't know where the backdoor exactly was, but Wind believed he'd cracked how to utilize it regardless - he accidentally tripped something that made Penny mutter something unfamiliar, but definitely a memory.

"It'll be just like Beacon again!" Her body had involuntarily moved, likely to replicate the exact moment she had said that in the past. For a little while, the Huragok had gotten distracted in interpreting the brief memory blip, before remembering the task at hand. As they continued to work on her, Penny reflected on the statement's meaning. She'd been happy - ecstatic - at whatever time she'd said that. Even though "Beacon" wasn't in her scripted responses like "Atlas" and "Mantle", she felt some deep sense that it was just as important to her - maybe even more so than her primary objectives? If that was even possible?

Would she rank it as even more important than Shadow of Intent, if she could remember the entirety of what "Beacon" meant?

She decided to stop thinking about "Beacon". Maybe she was mistaken. If it were really that important, her limited memory access would still have something indicating it. It didn't, so clearly, that meant "Beacon" wasn't all that important after all.

The third day after the sparring, the Huragok team had finally felt satisfied with their current iteration of the prototype dream program - enough to run a test. A long wire connected the back of Penny's head to one of the terminals in the engineering room. It was better for the program to stay external from Penny's body and easily unhookable, just in case anything went wrong during the test.

She powered off, but not entirely to 100% - they theorized at least a small bit of power would have to keep running, in order to facilitate communication between her "surface consciousness" and the "subconscious".

Another possibility about the theory of dreams, which seemed to make a lot of sense to Penny, was that the two previously mentioned guesses as to dreams' purpose co-existed. That both old and new information would swirl during the dream state.

Her sparring with Mrisa was still a relatively fresh memory. And it made sense that the subconscious memory it tapped into would still be lingering, as one of the first subconscious memories that a dream might latch onto.

She stood in an arena - a crowd of hundreds were seated and cheering in the circling stands next to and towering the border between audience and combat ring. Ahead of her was a girl her age, her striking red hair pulled back in a long ponytail. Unlike some of their peers, she went ahead and wore armor, albeit only on her legs and arms. What caught the eye most about her outfit was the billowing red sash tied over her black mini-skirt, somewhat matching her ponytail. Amidst all the red and browns of her appearance, her green eyes - usually depicted in pictures as fierce and determined - stared forward with uncertainty and concern. They stared at her.

But all Penny could think about was how exciting this all was. [ERROR] [ERROR] was not just a world-renowned rising star in their field of heroes - she was also her dear friend's friend and finally they were meeting. Of course, they had to put on a show for their lovely audience, so the pleasantries couldn't last long beyond a few short words - and, admittedly, Penny wanted to prove her strength to the world that she would one day be entrusted to protect.

Although maybe [ERROR] would have something to say about that - about her becoming obsolete and replaced.

Was that why she looked so upset?

No, that wasn't right. She wouldn't have known. Only one person in all of Beacon did Penny trust with her secret - and she would never tell anyone. And therefore, it couldn't be nerves about using her magnetism against an android, which was Penny's next guess.

Oh well. Maybe something came up before the match.

It didn't get in the way of their combat. The audience got their show of prodigies pitted against each other.

However, Penny wasn't here to lose. Watching over were all the headmasters - including the general. More importantly, all the way back home, he was watching her. She promised to make him proud. Of course, he still would be, even if she lost, but that wasn't as acceptable to her. He always would be proud. But she wanted it to be because she did something to earn it, not just because she existed and was hi- [REROUTING].

With the match having gone so long and a victor still not rising between them, Penny decided to pull out all the stops. Well, maybe not all of them. She obviously couldn't blast a giant aircraft-melting laser at a human - and definitely not in a broadcasted tournament! But if she threw all her blades out at once, surely even a skilled warrior couldn't block them all.

Rearing back her arms, her blades lined up with their tips pointed directly at her target and floated - awaiting the final gesture to end this match or otherwise be bested. [ERROR]'s eyes widened - she looked even worse for wear since the start of their match. Not just weariness - was that a twinge of fear? Inciting that should've called for a moment of pride, but it didn't feel right. After all that they've been trained to fight - what this prodigal celebrity accomplished up to then - why would a couple of blades get under her skin? Yeah, blocking them all would be hard, yet it didn't seem like the end of the world? It's not like they'd kill her - they had Aura and other precautions in place. And even if, in the heat of the moment, she'd forgotten all that in instinctual fear - was it really that bad in comparison to-

And then the tables had turned.

When Penny fired her blades, not a single one reached [ERROR] [ERROR]. They never got the chance. Mid-air, they suddenly turned and headed the other way. There had been no input from Penny; from the way [ERROR]'s arms flew out, it was clearly her doing.

The difference between humans and androids proved to still be a vast valley. It was the magnetism that interfered - and it was so much more power than necessary.

Before Penny could even process this fact for herself, the strings that connected her to her blades were already wrapping around her at various spots. She had finally reached that conclusion when the first sparks began. Pain was an important facet to existence; despite being unpleasant, it gave valuable data to the brain about the body's limits and what threatened it. A life without pain promised death, because how else did the individual know to be cautious? Of course she was built to experience pain - just as she was built to experience a lot of things deemed vital to a functional existence. Even some things that some of the others involved in the project thought were too frivolous to put effort in...

Regardless of whether agony to this degree was anticipated or not, it didn't matter. It was still happening. And reaching this point meant one thing - it was over. So then, no need to worry about her feeling this, because soon she wouldn't feel anything at all.

Her final moments were of being excruciatingly torn apart. Hearing horrified gasps from the once cheering crowd. Hoping her earlier scans of the seats catching [FAVORITE COLOR]'s absence meant she had missed this whole tragedy. Knowing [BLOCKED] had his eyes on her the whole time. Seeing an emerald mirror of it in [ERROR]'s stare before her.

<Don't be so scared, you didn't kill a real girl.>

Her systems were already powering down, unable to fulfill the request to pass that message on. But maybe that was a good thing - she likely would've been too consumed with screaming to have been able to say it.

As evidenced by how the phantom pain in the dream still made her shout as she "woke up". They said that not feeling pain was a sign that you were in a dream, so what did it mean that she had ? That her experience was always going to be different? Or that her memory banks prided themselves on archiving every last detail to perfect accuracy?

Wanders was already on top of her, having lingered around her body the whole time in case of emergency. Evidently, she hadn't reacted at all until that very moment.

Well, later he'd admit that she was having strange reactions in her "sleep", but that they all were smiles and cheekiness - he'd thought she was having a pleasant dream.

Technically, she had been. It'd just gone south so quickly.

After she calmed down - and all the other Huragok had congregated around her - she retold everything that had led to her waking moments. It surprisingly wasn't that hard for most of it - it was when she reached the finale that her body fought bringing it all to words; not that it did anything against remembering it, it seemed keen to keep replaying it in her head.

Eventually, she had to resort to euphemisms and trailing off. At least Sinker and Spin were smart enough to catch on, filling in when the others got too confused. The only places that couldn't be filled in were the gaps in memory - something they weren't sure were always present, or were memory loss / suppression that occurred when waking. Oddly, they all seemed to be names, save for one moment when the dream glitched out and essentially skipped forwards. As for the appearances of people, most of them had been a crowd, while the one person that had been seen in great detail - the warrior Penny was fighting - could only be recalled in batches of the most striking details but never the full sum: the red ponytail, the armor pieces, the worried green eyes, the red tail-like sash at her hips, the shield, the weapon that always seemed to change between a sword, rifle, and a lance (they were unsure if that was significant or just weird dreamness - definitely the source of debates for an hour straight).

"So Ultra Felkor's hypothesis was correct." Sinker stated, once Penny was finished. "You did not freeze because you hurt someone with that attack - your body instinctively recalled when such an action caused you to be damaged. But because it lacked the full context, it did not know what to do."

"Sounds more like your take," Bobble interjected. "But yeah, Penny got hurt. And it had to've been real bad."

"I think so." Penny said with a nod. Her face strained, anticipating having to once again search through the nightmare, in a way that would definitely trigger an encore of the ending. "Because when I was in that memory... My body looked different, and... It felt different, too."

She hadn't noticed as she was dreaming, since everything felt so normal and she was oblivious to her true reality. But looking back, now she could recognize it: her hair was far shorter, her dress was simpler and shorter, and the overall feel of her body felt like a... It'd be too harsh to call it an inferior version, but definitely a predecessor to the model she was sporting.

"It's not possible for you to look different," Wanders said. "Your model's design is set in stone. To change it would require modification - potentially extensive ones to compensate for the tight-knit complex function of the whole."

Penny replied with more of a grimace than before, "Exactly."

As she continued to stare down at her own body in silence, Sinker finally caught on. "Deep damage to an area like that, enough to cause unfathomable pain and a complete rebuilding... Only being sliced in half would do that."

"But I checked - such a thing would be paramount to death to Penny, her systems couldn't recover from it even if you patched up the exterior!" Wanders insisted.

"That... is what Penny is getting at," Spin said.

Then, Penny wasn't the only one maintaining an air of silence. Not until all Huragok brains reached their conclusions.

"She's experienced death, yet came back... I don't think even human AI can do that," Bobble said. With a prod of his tentacle onto Wind, he added, "Not something we could pull off, either."

"That just shows how much more impress- Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"It's not just coming back, but her memories of her previous iteration remaining..." Spin continued, right over the exchange between Bobble and Wind that continued in the background. "Oh, but maybe this is a topic for another time? Obviously, such an experience... I mean, your recounting already sounded harrowing, and now we're just... Dissecting the technological ramifications right in front of you."

"No, it's fine," Penny insisted, just as a slapfight between Bobble and Wind erupted. "Maybe... talking about it, detached like that, numbs some of the pain of it. It's important, anyway."

"Yes, that detail adds to the list of characteristics of Penny Polendina's creators, which will be useful as we cross-reference them against suspects. But..." Sinker took a moment to wrap a tentacle each around Bobble and Wind's, grabbing their attention again. "The important thing to keep in mind is that Penny was already in her new body when Wanders the Space discovered her. This was not the incident that saw her beat up and drifting in an aircraft. It likely will not lead us to the memories of what did, either. This appears to be an older memory - significant to Penny Polendina as an entity, maybe, and a potential step to unlocking the rest of the memories, but not at figuring out what happened in the meantime."

"Yes, so there's no need to dwell on it any further," Spin agreed. "The only thing we could use is the warrior - to maybe help pinpoint a location or faction to turn our sights to. But there'll be other memories that include notable individuals, so we shouldn't put effort towards deciphering this memory when it can be used to unlock others."

"Unlock more memories... how?" Penny found herself asking. Five little heads all turned to her.

"The same as before," Wanders said. "Our dream prototype seems to be working, and it's more reliable than waiting for trigger-"

"I don't know..." Her head lowered and hands wrapped around herself. "...if I wanna do that again."

Another brief silence, until she felt Wanders' tentacle wrap around one of her wrists.

"That's alright. I know the Shipmaster and the Arbiter stressed that unlocking your memory may be a useful tool in keeping you out of ONI hands, but it's not like ONI will be taking you tomorrow. We can take a break, and you can let me know when you're ready to try again."

If ever.

Looking up at him, a faint smile was brought to her face as she said, "Yeah. Anything important to me will come back on its own. No need to rush."

Nevermind that there was no guarantee those important things would be any more pleasant than what she remembered so far.

But... that was only one side of the coin. When she really thought about it, only the ending of her dream was nightmarish - one stain that overshadowed and poisoned the rest of the memory. A memory that had been full of fun, excitement, and joy. A life she wasn't living anymore. Was that because she had died - that that happy life had ended there and something else took over once her systems were back online? Did any second chances at happiness get ruined, based on the state she was discovered in? Was there still something good waiting for her, wherever she came from? Was it okay... that she stayed here, and wasn't leaping to go back for it?

What if it wasn't just nightmares waiting for her in her locked memory banks...

It's not like she had much choice - she didn't even know where she should be going, so why feel guilty about waiting? But... things changed when it became her avoiding her memory. Would those mysterious creators of hers find "I was too scared of another bad memory!" an acceptable excuse for taking so long to return?

Because of that... "Anything important to me will come back on its own." Since everything so far had been rough, who would blame her if she made the assumption that's all she'd get if she kept digging? And that if there was something good, she should just wait for it to unearth itself?

Well, there was that mission objective about the "people of Mantle"... And that instinctual sense of her being a protector.

Was she letting someone down?

But the ship was ruined... She had been on her way to being ruined...

Maybe there was no one left...? Maybe she'd already failed, and there was no point in worrying?

Would it really be so bad to prioritize the people she'd come to meet and her own comfort as she remembered her past...?

"The Shipmaster also saw it as an easy solution to concerns you'd be unfit for combat," Wanders continued, slowly, as he tried to regain her attention. "So... We still should run some tests? And prove you're okay? You... are okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Penny nodded, flipping a switch inside to make herself fully beam with her mouth and eyes. "Fully operational and combat ready! And I'm sure going on missions will help keep it that way, so let's hurry in convincing the Shipmaster of that!"

Chapter Text

Within a few weeks, Penny was finally cleared for her first mission as Shadow of Intent's android warrior.

She'd felt ready for a long time, but Rtas wouldn't let her until a few different, long processes were conducted to officially ease his concerns. The first was simpler and had the least to do with her memory: the Huragok just had to complete their investigation into her external and internal systems, as much as they could. Their main targets were identifying any unknown weaknesses and abilities that Penny hadn't uncovered on her own. Of course, they still were on the lookout for clues within her construction and design on who built her and how, but for the time being they were still stuck in the heavy debate phase of their investigation. Out of respect to Penny's earlier wishes about taking her time with her memory, they refrained from trying to crack into her memory banks by force.

Also important were the Sangheili's equivalent of a "psych eval" - where she was tested on if she was mentally fit for service or not. Unlike humanity, the process was a lot simpler and included a lot of physical activity - especially sparring. That part of her evaluation was conducted by Xyha - higher-skilled warriors usually always did so, since their experience made them the most adept at "reading" their opponent, but Xyha had displayed an even greater grasp of Penny's tells in a short amount of time. A bit more than a week since the nightmare incident, he was confident that the turmoil was behind her - for now, at least - and would not be an issue on the battlefield. Penny mainly credited that to her great efforts in putting it "behind her" - just ceasing to think about it and let fate take its course.

Unbeknownst to her, a third condition had to be met, but it wasn't anything she could influence herself. Rtas' most trusted advisors were keeping constant watch on Penny and her activities, sizing her up and on guard for any sign she was still suffering from mental distress. But she surprisingly bounced back quickly; begrudgingly, they had to accept there was no valid reason to keep her away from the fight. The final one to come to that decision - and the one that had held things up for this long - was Vul, who still had the concern that her naivety would make her an ineffective fighter. Stolt had him watch the security footage from Alluvion multiple times for him to finally relent that it didn't matter - even if she couldn't handle killing, she clearly had the skill to eliminate an active threat. She also didn't seem to hold any distress when told war stories, so apparently she was fine when her allies did the killing.

Not a moment too soon did Vul's surrender come, as a dire mission came to their attention. Feldokra - a fortress world already fairly ravaged by the civil war embroiling the Sangheili, known as the Blooding Years - had contacted the Swords with an appeal for military support. Specifically, it was the Talot clan that alerted them to the arrival of a small fleet of Covenant remnants. That usually wouldn't be an issue, but they apparently were working with one of Feldokra's clans in a shared goal of conquering the planet - the clan would gain political control while the raiders would gain an abundance of resources for their war efforts. The traitorous clan in question had infiltrated and disabled the anti-air weapons on one side of the planet, allowing the fleet to batter down on the other fleets and provide air support for the conquest. Once that side of the planet fell, they would have the momentum to challenge the other half.

Shadow of Intent and its support fleet were being sent as aid, but there was a problem: just because the anti-air weapons were disabled didn't mean that the enemy that infiltrated them couldn't just turn them back on and focus their munitions onto the Intent. Before they could eliminate the fleet, they'd have to regain control of the weapons. At the same time, the other clans holding out needed assistance - once they were freed up from having to defend their homes, they could aid the Intent's forces in driving out the Covenant remnants.

Thus, a multi-pronged attack on the ground was formed. On one side, Vul would lead a group of warriors - Penny and Tul included - to defend the keep being battered down the most: the very clan that sounded the alarm and were identified as the most loyal to the Arbiter, Talot. In the meantime, Stolt would lead his Rangers in sneaking across the planet, taking back the anti-air weapons. A few other teams were scattered across the planet, aiding in other, smaller skirmishes before consolidating with Vul as reinforcements. The idea was that, believing the Intent was only here to defend their allies yet only able to offer ground troops, they would not think to recall some of their offensive forces to keep the weapons secure. 

Because, fortunately, while these were Covenant remnants, they were not the faction led by Jul 'Mdama. Shadow of Intent had come across them before - and despite 'Mdama's forces being at their weakest at the time, still in its infancy, they had managed to deal a crushing blow to the Intent that left it temporarily combat ineffective. Radical cultists that they were, they had strategic minds among them - just not smart enough to realize they should just submit to the Arbiter and give up the foolish worship of disproven gods. No, the faction targeting Feldokra were one of the many that came and went as warlords tried their luck at securing power in an era of chaos; but not all of them could be like the greats, like the Arbiter, Atriox, Avu Med 'Telcam, and Jul 'Mdama. Not all of them had what it took to achieve full loyalty of their troops and outsmart their enemies.

The fact that intel-gathering hadn't drudged much about the leader of this particular faction - not that he didn't exist, just that he was a relative nobody and still had little impact even after forming his Covenant - made Rtas feel assured they weren't as big of a threat as they tried to appear. Without a strong leader, their coordination and fighting force would crumble at the first strike against them. This was all just simple-minded fools with egos too big for their skills, believing that one shiny opportunity would make them kings.

His delight at the anticipation of crushing such ambitions with his old, worn ship was slightly heightened by the brief thought that this was the perfect opportunity to debut Penny Polendina.

The Battle of Feldokra had already been underway when their team touched down in Talot state. To reach the surface, their Spirit had to dodge enemy aircraft scattered in the sky; fortunately, the presence of friendly craft helped them in flying through without getting blown to bits. Besides carrying a Wraith for them to use on the battlefield, their choice of Spirit over Phantom dropship was inspired by one pro - Penny could exit the ship far sooner than the others, taking to the skies to help with the escort. Once the Spirit breached the atmosphere, Penny was out and blasting enemy aircraft that dared fire upon them.

Their first objective was to meet up with Kaidon Ghe 'Talot at Talot keep. To do so, they'd have to plow through the hundred enemy troops that were already laying siege, with some vehicular support included. Talot clan was clearly being targeted early on for harboring the fiercest loyalty towards the Arbiter - a move that was technically strategically sound, as Shadow of Intent only made it in time because of them.

Between Penny's abilities and the Wraith they brought, it was not as daunting as it'd initially appear to force their way to the keep. While the Wraith destroyed some of the enemy vehicles and batches of the troops, Penny went between adding onto the carnage and defending the Wraith from aircraft and other Wraiths. Her nimbleness in the air proved too much for the enemy to keep up with. The uniqueness of her array of blades also kept catching the enemy off guard - an advantage that likely would be lost the more she fought, but for now she would use it to its fullest potential.

Within the hour, they had made it to where the kaidon was making his stand. He'd been pushed back to the walls of the keep, where the women were waiting to be the final defense between the invaders and the keep's young. Throughout their trek in Talot state, the team had made contact with many scattered squads of Talot's - those squads maintained their positions once the team helped fight off the overwhelm, but they warned that the kaidon and his immediate warriors had gone from the frontlines to the very end of the line. Intent's arrival was not a moment too soon - as the kaidon swatted down the attacker in his face, he found that the rest awaiting their turn on him had been gunned and cut down by the arriving reinforcements.

Only when the area was cleared of hostiles did the kaidon allow a moment of conversation. In full confidence of their victory, he dared to take off his helmet when beginning to approach and speak with Vul - the only one of the arriving forces he did not try to "tower" his smaller body over.

"Blademaster 'Soran - I apologize for the lack of hospitality up to now, but I hope the situation around us is proof enough how grateful I am for your appearance."

Vul bowed his head in respect to the kaidon. "For warriors such as us, there could be no greater welcome. But I still am concerned at the state of your keep - what of the casualties inside?"

"None, thanks to you." Kaidon 'Talot's eyes began to wander from the blademaster, towards the warriors under said blademaster's command. "Your me- people fight well. And even the humans have lended their aid?"

Despite the choice of words, his apprehensive tone was still ever present. Before Penny could disobey all the advice Rtas had repeated at her in the final hour before their departure, Vul spoke up:

"It is more complicated than that."

Continuing to eye Vul with interest, Kaidon 'Talot stepped back. Vul followed these steps until the two were out of listening distance from the common soldiery. Of course, Penny's radius still just barely ensnared them, so she could eavesdrop all she wanted - if she wanted. Out of respect, she instead chose to indulge her curiosity towards the kaidon himself - now the second one she'd ever met and definitely different from the Arbiter even at first glance.

Although she only just then saw him in person, she'd heard enough about him on the way to Talot. Loyalty to the Arbiter was why they were allies in this conflict, but it was clear self-interest was a valid motivation in the kaidon's eyes. Despite his staunch traditionalism and Sangheili isolationist views - to the point his gaze lingered the most on Tul and Penny - this aspect of his personality was ironically pretty mercenary of him, in a way that honorable Sangheili looked down upon. But maybe he just looked at it in a way that made perfect sense with his values: if his clan profited by supplying a necessary military force for the Arbiter, then he'd be a good leader taking care of his people by going with that plan. The mindset made the current conflict with his rivals pretty ironic, although maybe it said something of his trust and personal feelings towards the Arbiter that 'Talot had not been swayed to seek another benefactor to his clan's deep-sea mines. In fact, he also had been eyeballing the abandoned Covenant armories in his state to further supply the Arbiter, something which was not asked of him and was his own pure intellectual reasoning. Was it really so bad to enrich yourself if you chose to do so hand-in-hand with someone else?

Still, the choice of alliance still stuck on when recalling the core traditional values of Kaidon 'Talot - and especially how they rubbed against the reforms the Arbiter was making. For one thing, a terrible head wound was evident on the kaidon's unhelmeted head.

Drawing closer to Tul, Penny said without whisper, "I've picked up skull damage on the kaidon, still somewhat fresh but likely occurring several hours before we got here. If it goes untreated for any longer-"

"I understand," Tul replied. "But keep that to yourself. No matter how much concern you put into the warning, it will not be received as anything but an insult."

That was because of how long the Sangheili viewed medical treatment as shameful, to the point they would sooner die of treatable wounds than have a doctor touch them. It was ironically strange for a warrior culture that favored blades, but somehow they took on a toxically perfectionist version: the idea that losing blood equaled losing honor, and it was extra unacceptable to lose that blood outside of the battlefield. Scars were more like a testament to failure to keeping a perfect record than a testament of an accomplished career - as if anyone could exchange blades or bullets without getting hit at least once. The Arbiter was at least beginning to see reason, but even with his and the Swords' influence, it would still take time for the changes to make sweeping waves over the people's perceptions - not even his own allies were immune to holding out against them.

Just to be sure that the kaidon was safe to continue standing, Penny zoned in on his and Vul's conversation to scrutinize his voice and language. Instead of clues of brain damage, she picked up on one of the subjects of their private talk.

"She has chosen the Arbiter over the humans." It was a true statement, coming from Vul, but did it have to be worded like that? If anything, she was choosing against ONI - and a bit against the UNSC. Her synthetic skin prickled in a way it usually didn't as he continued, "Several Huragok are overseeing her, so doubt in her is doubt in a Huragok's performance."

Nevermind. She'd trust that in spite of long-standing culture, the Talot clan would not leave their kaidon to languish or die. Advice from Rtas came back to mind: 'Talot may be an ally of the Arbiter, but she personally should still tread carefully around him. Back then, she found it odd that he'd think their own allies would be a threat to her... But it was never about threats, was it? It wasn't fear that made her gears whir.

How many times was she going to have to prove herself? And if there wasn't enough time to do so, what kinds of things would her friends have to say on her behalf?

When they first arrived at the keep, she'd thought 'Talot and Vul were very similar men. She hoped that when it came to being impressed by others, they'd be similar, too.

Respite ended as quickly as it came, with the team heading back out to respond to subsequent waves of invaders. Just because reinforcements for Talot state arrived did not mean the attackers thought this battle was lost for them. It was the team's job to prove that was the case.

Penny split off from the other warriors, with orders to fly a bit high in the sky. Besides continuing to take out enemy aircraft, she also was to single out and get the drop on squads of ground troops. By then, she had gotten pretty used to the idea that some people just couldn't be reasoned with - especially when they made the first move and for such selfish reasons. She whispered a mourning of the future that would not be each time she descended on a squad - but it did not keep her from striking lethal blows with her blades.

The sight of Talot keep had solidified that resolve; it'd done more work than any of the talks Rtas and Vul tried to have with her about the necessity of violence and the unfortunate reality that no matter the size of the galaxy, not everyone would ever like the idea of peacefully sharing it. It wasn't as grand as Vadam keep, but she could still tell it was full of numerous children of varying ages and all full of promising futures. Her heat-detecting vision had taken note of hundreds of bodies pressed together, all gathered at the center of the keep - ready to "greet" any that broke down their doors after slaughtering the men. Those attackers would've killed all those children just for being born to rivaling men - that's what she'd been taught by the lady at Vadam keep. Telling herself she was taking out such an evil threat to those defenseless children made it a lot easier to stomach going for the throat while barely exchanging words. How could anyone think of doing such a thing? It felt more wrong to leave them alive - who knew if they would be so unlucky in their plots the next time.

Despite that, as she made for her next drop, something did cause her to pause: rare words that had nothing to do with orders and vitriol.

"What are we even doing here? Requiem seems like the place to be right now." Penny stilled in the air, delaying her pounce on the squad in favor of hearing out this juicy intel.

"Exactly. Eyes are on Jul 'Mdama right now - which makes it the perfect opportunity for anyone else to move with less resistance."

"Except the entire reason 'Mdama has the galaxy's attention is unlocking a holy site and awakening a Forerunner." Penny's eyes widened. She wasn't told much about the Forerunners, but she certainly could tell people spoke of them as if they were long dead. "Does that not mean his claims of being the Didact's Hand are true? Shouldn't we be switching to his side?"

"Bah, he was just lucky. He's been going at it for four years, and he was obviously just the first Sangheili the Didact met. Once someone bests him, the Didact will naturally reward the more worthy. And with the backing of Feldokra, that'll be us."

Swooping in, Penny cut off the conversation when it reminded her of why she was there: to prevent such a thing in the first place. With the addition of this new information, the task only felt more dire. There was no way she could let such people gain power. As for the Didact they mentioned... Without knowing much, she couldn't say for sure at that point if he was good or bad news. If he really would work with such horrible people, then it suggested he was just as rotten. Or maybe he was like Kaidon 'Talot and his rivals - aligning with those who seemed the best suited to victory, going along with the ideals that were packaged with the deal. Either way, she couldn't shake the urge to not avoid him. After all, the best way to confirm if she was of Forerunner creation or not was to just ask one, and so far he seemed like the only one around - otherwise, why wouldn't Wanders and Rtas just point her towards any others they knew? Or just namedrop them? Obviously, it was because, until then, no one even knew one still existed - not until this Jul 'Mdama pulled one back into the galaxy.

And if it did turn out he was an enemy... That just made it all the more important to one day face him.

I'll have to file this audio for later. If the Shipmaster and the Arbiter don't already know, then they need to.

Moving on from this encounter, Penny got back to work in ending similar squads all over the battlefield. On her patrolling, she flew over some of her allies - they were beginning to become a more common sight in the area, more so than enemies. But they still had to remain on guard for any potential bounce back from the attackers.

Case in point: her enhanced vision systems caught sight of something around Tul. As the Scion dealt with the remains of one squad - valiantly taking it on herself and absolutely schooling the soldiers in combat - a shimmery figure was creeping up paces behind her. But Penny could make it out clearly.

Her lips moved in a voice that did not carry over the winds of Feldokra's skies - in truth, her volume didn't matter, as she was connected to COMMs.

"Tul! Stealth ambush right behind you!" At the same time, she launched one of her blades ahead.

Fluidly, Tul's body veered around and swept her Energy Lance along with it. It caught the neck of her would-be assassin and forced his body to flail back. As he descended backwards, the metal blade of Penny's - embedded in his back - sank deeper until it impaled right through the front.

Ascending at the same time were Tul's eyes, glaring at the android that hovered a few feet from the ground. Her voice came out the natural way instead of COMMs. "Do you think I am not used to such tactics? I have taken out many cowards that strike from behind and he was no different. Your warning was unnecessary."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to steal glory or diminish the kill for you."

A harsh exhale preceded the reply of, "No, do not apologize. You've misunderstood."

Penny tilted her head, replaying the last minute to see where this misunderstanding lied. It really had sounded like she was being reprimanded - but maybe it just sounded harsh because of the stress of the fight?

"But... Unnecessary as it was, I am still grateful," Tul continued, the words coming out slow and strained. "Grateful you value my safety and are willing to cover me."

"Of course!" Penny said. "That's what teammates do! I'd be a very bad teammate if I didn't have your back."

"Yes... I suppose you are a good teammate." It almost sounded like a question, despite how Tul tried to maintain the tone of a statement. Underneath her armor, Penny couldn't help but detect tension and temperature fluctuations. No enemy was around to trigger it and it would've been a very delayed reaction if previous combat were the cause...

"Speaking of, I am sure there are others on our team who are not as careful," Tul said, clearing her throat and relaxing her body a bit too much for it to appear natural. "You should check on them."

"Right! I'll see you later, Tu- Scion!" Penny said this with a salute, nearly forgetting their current status.

Taking back to the skies, Penny flied overhead and scanned the battlefield. By then, it was real easy to pick them out, as the enemy forces dwindled and some areas finally were cleared up and made peaceful. The latest invading wave was almost wiped out, with the next not yet being in sight - potentially never coming at all, if the attackers lost too many numbers to keep responding.

At the border of the state, Kaidon 'Talot expertly coordinated his warriors to decimate the enemy as if he had never sustained injury to his skull. Over to the left, Vul was doing much the same with foes that attempted to slink through another path to the keep - and further up to said building, the guards and some of the women had just dispatched a few scarce warriors that snuck the furthest on their lonesome. To the right of the border skirmishes, Xyha - having joined up with them after completely clearing a different state's invaders - had gathered a few warriors from both Shadow of Intent and Talot to rush and destroy some of the still-working enemy heavy vehicles. As for their vehicle, the Tankmaster Thiga 'Ganam drove the Wraith around in a patrol for more targets to destroy; when Xyha regrouped with them, one of his Minors took up the extra turret on the Wraith to provide more firepower, but by then it seemed unnecessary.

Up in the air, not much was left flying alongside Penny over Talot. Rtas had said he'd sent aircraft once the anti-air guns were reclaimed, but maybe he'd underestimated how well Penny would clear the skies on her own. Oh, wait, there was something streaming over from a different battlefield. She aimed her blades and blasted another large beam, the Ghost only being able to veer enough that only half of it was caught in the blast - it still plunged to the ground, a fiery wreck with nothing crawling out of it once it crashed. Yeah, the pilots they had could skip over Talot state.

In another few minutes, COMMs crackled with a familiar voice.

"All anti-air weapons are back in our control!" Stolt announced.

"Good. Start eliminating their dropships and air support," Rtas ordered. "I will take care of their fleet."

A chill went down Penny's spine, although not leaving an unpleasantness in its wake. Was this how he sounded over the skies of the Ark?

Within half an hour of the anti-air weapons being reclaimed, the Covenant remnants were noticeably retreating. Subsequent waves weren't just not coming - the survivors that remained were starting to depart from the battlefield and run from them. Penny saw dropships ascending through the atmosphere and not coming back down - partially because Stolt's Rangers aimed and blasted artillery in their paths, so maybe those chunks raining into the oceans were the dropships.

Eventually, Penny stopped seeing aircraft in the sky altogether. But she did not stop detecting ground troops. They'd been stranded - both bearers of Covenant harnesses and of local, clan-themed gear. In spite of the lost battle, these warriors started to hold their ground at half-wrecked buildings and terrain-forged strongholds.

"What are they doing?" Penny asked - the question directed at Vul. He cornered some of these last-standers and she descended with nothing else to do but provide him support in finishing them. "It's over. Their allies are gone. There's no way out of this. Why are they still fighting us?'

"A Sangheili would sooner choose death than imprisonment. And that is but one of the punishments that await them for their treachery." Vul huffed. "Personally, I feel most of the population would respect them more for going out this way. At least they still had some dignity and honor, to not beg for mercy they do not deserve."

"Do they not? If those Covenant leaders hadn't..." Her voice trailed when Vul broke his gaze from the targets at hand and settled it on her.

"Many have listened to gilded promises. Not all of them go along with the required trade. They chose to betray their colony and their people for their own prosperity. They chose this fate. And now that they have revealed themselves as traitors, how can they ever be trusted to be faithful in the future? When the next selfish opportunity presents itself, will they finally turn their head from it?"

Yeah, but... all of them can never be trusted again? Not a single one could change their mind? We could never appear undeserving of betrayal in their eyes?

Penny kept her mouth shut. Not even she was sure if she truly felt that way towards these soldiers, or if she was just mourning a version of events that were never to be.

Once all that remained in the atmosphere above Feldokra were Shadow of Intent and debris, the Battle of Feldokra was officially over. Ships had managed to slip away - although too small for a chase to be considered. Insurgents on Feldokra remained - albeit scattered, and it was only a matter of time until Talot's wrath scorched them. Such hunts did not require the Intent any further. In fact, while the aid up to that point was appreciated, it was preferred that vengeance ultimately come at their own hand and their hand alone.

Penny and the other ground troops were recalled to Intent - not enough time on both sides to hold any hospitable victory feasts. There was no specific need to track down the escapees of the space battle - yet accidentally stumbling across them before they got too far away was welcome - but Intent's patrolling had to continue. Today's conflict only further proved the necessity for the Sangheili to be alert. The ship itself was pushed continuously to the limit, but for now the warriors she harbored could have some rest.

Chapter Text

One of the first things Penny did, once she was back within Shadow of Intent's hull, was show Rtas the audio files she created of the Covenant warriors speaking about Jul 'Mdama and the Didact. A lot was still going on post-mission, so he promised to bring it up in his future report to the Arbiter and speak with her in depth about it later. Rtas didn't usually seek her out to speak with her, unless there was some pressing message or suggestion in mind, so she was expecting the necessity of initiative in order to get her follow-up.

A few days later, as soon as she'd heard from other officers that he'd completed a call with the Arbiter, Penny stood at the hall leading to his personal quarters at a time she knew his working hours would be coming to an end. This time, Wanders did not join her for the ambush - a combination of too much engineering work and feeling secure in her safety on the ship.

With a shockingly relaxed expression as he spotted her in the hall, it appeared as if Rtas was expecting this. He wasted no time in guessing and addressing her main concern.

"Shortly before I reported to the Arbiter, he'd already heard from the UNSC," he began, still embarking on his walk to his room. "Admiral Lord Hood felt he should know what occurred on Requiem and with Jul 'Mdama's faction of Covenant. Not everything was news - the Arbiter doesn't just rely on the UNSC for intel."

As he passed Penny, her legs moved to start keeping pace with him. "And?"

"It is as those cultists said. 'Mdama awakened a Forerunner. But it is no longer a pressing issue."

"Why not?"

Rtas tapped the code to his room at a panel. "Because the humans took care of it. We will still hear from 'Mdama, but first he must lick his wounds - and the blow to his ego, if it did not inflate too much prior."

The door before him automatically moved, but Rtas stood in place. Neither did he look back at Penny.

"Is that it?" Penny asked - and not referring to Requiem's events. To further make her point, she added, "What happened?"

A sigh passed from top to bottom within Rtas' body. He stepped aside and gestured his arm from Penny to the entrance.

"Sit inside. I would prefer to use this time to sit somewhere comfortable. My break should be long enough for this conversation."

Entering the quarters for the first time, the difference between the shipmaster's and the others' was immediately apparent. Most of the crew slept in dorms with multiple people sharing, but Rtas had a room larger than the average dorm all to himself. The normal bunks were enough for one Sangheili body (slightly slimmer than a human's queen-sized double bed), but the massive mattress close to one corner of the room was large enough to fit at least two. The quarters were more of a fusion of a bedroom and a sitting room, as there also was a couch, armchair, and table set on the other side opposing the bed and bed-side table. Some ports for holographic COMMs were scattered around the room, so Rtas could relax and converse at multiple points of his choosing. Even a small refrigeration unit was thrown in. A door close to the couch led to what Penny assumed to be a private bathroom.

Rtas tapped her back, making Penny realize she'd been standing and blocking the door as she stared prolongedly around the room. She stepped further into the center of the room, giving Rtas enough space to enter, and twirled around with her mouth already opening.

Nothing came out in time, with Rtas already saying, "Yes, a shipmaster gets more privileges. An assassination means a newly open position, so a private space with personal rations and extremities was safest. Did I get everything?"

She blinked and cycled through the details she took in again, then pointed towards the bed and couch with both hands. "Why-"

"A shipmaster owns his ship, the others are just allowed on it. I can entertain my guests how I please, but my soldiers have to make-do elsewhere." A pause. "The San'Shyuum were an influence on sizing, I will admit. Amongst other opinions we may not feel inclined to shed."

Penny nodded, and before she could think if there was anything else on her mind, Rtas already gestured her to sit at the couch. Oh well, getting distracted with new questions might deny her answers to the old ones, and there'd be plenty of other opportunities to remember her curiosity at Sangheili room decor. Rtas sat on the chair, leaving a sizable space between them with how long Sangheili furniture was. He said the San'Shyuum were to blame for the size, but it looked like this bedroom needed the extra space for another reason - she vaguely remembered the furniture at Vadam keep being roughly the same as here, at least in terms of construction (detailing was another, but not entirely far-off, story).

"The Arbiter was telling you about the battle at the Ark," Rtas began. "How much did he say?"

He didn't get to everything - and not just because Rtas had cut them off. Only anything he personally witnessed was what he divulged. Anything he didn't, he could only give vague references to - if he even knew of it, which she suspected there were such details, since some holes felt present anytime she reviewed. The Battle of the Ark was basically the end of the Human-Covenant (it technically wasn’t marked officially over until a few months later), with a lot leading up to it that the Arbiter only paraphrased: that the Master Chief (one of the major players) had been a thorn in the Covenant's side for the entire war and an augmented super soldier in power armor capable of more strength than the average human (the Arbiter admitted this was not natural but in fact the result of experimentation, but Penny never got to ask the specifics of that), that the Sangheili had been betrayed by the Covenant and allied with humanity in response, that they fought quite a bit on Earth before the portal to the Ark had been discovered and activated, that a Flood outbreak on one of the Halos had started to spread and follow them. She and Wanders had been asking a lot about Rtas and the Arbiter's roles, since she wanted to learn more about them as people, so a lot of the story was focused on the Sangheili's side of the battle. Anything to do with humans was only said whenever the Sangheili were personally working with them.

After Penny recounted all that, Rtas took a moment to pick where to start off.

"Once we dealt the Covenant the decisive blow and stopped the firing of Halo, only then could we turn our attention towards the Flood. The AI companion of the Spartan, once retrieved, had a plan for that: she still held a key for the rings from a previous engagement, and could activate one of them. Specifically, there was an under-construction Halo that, if fired prematurely, would not kill all life but instead cause a chain reaction of explosions across the installations. And the Flood had made the grave mistake of congregating all their forces on the Ark - a move that must've seemed logical at the time, when stopping the death of all organic life was the primary goal, but doomed it in the end."

Which just went to show how desperate the last months of the war had been, even for the bad guys.

"This destruction would be quick and engulf anyone still on the Ark, so the surviving forces between us evacuated on my ship while the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn was left behind as an escape plan for the Spartan, his AI, and the Arbiter. There was another human and construct present with them, but they did not make it out. Once Halo was activated, the trio made it just in time for the ship. The Arbiter took control of the command room at the front to guide the ship through the portal, the Spartan and AI stayed behind at the vehicle bay.

"They were quick enough to ensure their survival - but not all of them made it home, in the literal sense. The front half completed the journey to Earth. But the portal destabilized, tearing the ship in two and making the bottom half disappear. For years, it could not be answered if they died on the Ark or were merely deposited elsewhere. The Arbiter was one of the few with faith that they were alive, but there was not enough evidence to justify a search effort at the scale that'd be necessary - not even when it was discovered the Ark recovered and life still flourished upon it."

"Wait, does that not mean-"

"What remained of the Flood is still quarantined on a sector of the Ark," Rtas reassured her. "Currently, they are deemed not a threat. I would go and ensure it stay that way, but there are concerns that interfering with the area would bring more trouble - that a spore may slip past. I admit, I can see the reasoning, so I have not pushed the issue."

Despite the attempts to assure the safety, his body had notably tensed as he spoke of the Flood. What parts of skin remained visible outside of his armor plating, Penny could watch in real time as each muscle relaxed.

"As for the Spartan and his AI... It turned out, all this time, they were still alive. Their half of the ship was stuck adrift who-knows-where in the galaxy, but eventually they made it to the shield world Requiem. At the same time, Jul 'Mdama had been overlooking the shield world, having been led to it in his search for the Forerunner known as the Didact. But the shield world remained sealed - until a space battle between his Covenant and the newly discovered Spartan began. This finally stirred Requiem and caused the shield world to pull all of the ships inside itself. Their battle continued on the surface, where the Spartan unknowingly awakened the Didact when trying to contact the UNSC. Of course, Jul 'Mdama took the credit."

A feat that made him a star amongst the Covenant sects, Penny surmised. "What about the Forerunners? Everyone keeps mentioning them, but no one has said why they are so important. Even the archives have holes, talking as if the missing details are obvious and I should already know."

"Our Covenant..." Rtas' two mandibles tightened. Even the stubs slightly moved, but were unable to complete the expression he once was capable of. "Worshipped the Forerunners. Believed them to be gods. But we were wrong. They were as mortal as us - technologically superior and capable of great feats, but flesh and blood nonetheless. It was they who built the Halo Array and the Ark, because even they could not defeat the Flood. Their only choice was to kill all life in the galaxy, including themselves. They defeated the Flood via starvation. But we misinterpreted - we thought they ascended to godhood by firing the rings, that that was why they were no longer around while their facilities and relics remained."

"But one is still alive?"

"Both the Arbiter and I are still unsure why the Didact remains... But based on what has been observed of previous shield worlds, and the fact that the Didact was sealed in a crypt, it is likely Requiem was built to endure Halo's firing. For some reason, the Didact was chosen to be spared. What reasoning was behind it, I'm unsure... Texts suggest that the humans were favored by the Forerunners as their successors and inheritors - that this was why the Hierarchs ordered their eradication - but the Didact holds a fierce, violent hatred of humanity. That is exactly why Jul 'Mdama sought him out in the first place. Together, they sought to finally bring humanity's end."

Rtas stopped looking in Penny's direction, but seemed to gaze nowhere in particular. "And they got close. The UNSC Infinity finally arrived to support the Spartan, but its then-captain did not believe the warnings of doom. The Spartan was forced to go rogue and challenge the Didact himself. But, unfortunately, the Didact was able to reach as far as Earth - with an artifact known as the Composer in his possession. The Composer was targeted at one of the human cities and decimated the entire population in one go. The Arbiter has been told that this artifact is different from a traditional weapon - that the victims were transformed into the mechanical soldiers that serve the Didact, called Prometheans."

Mechanical soldiers? Like... Penny bristled. That sounded like another point towards Wanders' theory, depending on how these Promeathans were like. But it also soured some of the hope she had in being the Forerunners' creation...

"The-"

"They are not like you." Rtas faced her again. "The Arbiter shared with me some of the files and video feeds that were shared with him. They may have been made from humans, but they bear no resemblance. Neither do they have a personality like yours, if they hold any at all. You could not be a Promethean."

Relief filled her, even as she thought that it still didn't mean she wasn't of Forerunner make - and that her creation could've still been just as cruel.

"Of course, those privy to the truth are still limited." A grimace set in, a different flavor than when he recalled the Flood. His throat fought to contain a growl interlacing with his words. "Human leadership adore secrets, especially towards their civilians. It was seen as fair to warn the Arbiter of the Didact and Prometheans, especially as the humans' influence on information does not work as well outside of their territory. But for diplomatic purposes, the Sangheili and other races that wish to maintain alliance with humanity must respect their secrets and hold our tongues. We cannot openly speak of the Didact's attack around humans - instead, we must speak as if it were the Covenant that attacked, even if it was merely the Didact's personal ship and his Promethean army that made it to Earth."

With even more bitterness, he added, "Just as we cannot openly speak of the Flood."

Again, Penny saw it wise to keep from asking questions about them to Rtas, and instead veered back to the main topic. "But since they can lie about it, that means the Didact isn't around to prove them wrong?"

"Yes. The Spartan finally defeated him, although the price was his precious AI companion. I have seen first hand how he cherishes that construct. What must make the loss worse is how the death of the Didact cannot be confirmed. His body is missing and it is just as possible that the means meant to kill him instead transported him elsewhere, where he can lick his wounds and plot revenge. That was the main reason the UNSC divulged Requiem's events to the Arbiter - because Jul 'Mdama may still hold him as a powerful ally, and it is not just the humans that 'Mdama seeks to eradicate. He would take Sanghelios from us with the Didact's aid. Even just the arrival of a living Forerunner would sway those who still hold some faith."

"So... are we going to fight him?" Look for him is what Penny really wanted to ask, but she switched directions mid-sentence. Fighting him still meant having to seek him out - and for what other reason would the others want to do that?

Back going straight, even ironing out the hunch that Sangheili usually formed, Rtas replied, "We will do whatever mission the Arbiter asks of us. For the time being, that is patrolling our territory and providing back-up to any who need it, as well as keeping our ears peeled for hints on San'Shyuum activity. Unless the Didact makes the first move, we will not see him. And for now, we have no reason to seek out someone who might as well be a ghost. We are neither his only targets nor his only hunters, anyway."

Nibbling her lip - and trying her best to hide that she was - Penny weighed the wisdom of prodding further. An interrogation of the Didact would sound too silly at this point - only she had any real interest in that, at least among Shadow of Intent. Well, maybe the Huragok might have some questions, but there was no way anyone was letting squishy, valuable engineers get near a brutal and dangerous warlord. At least Penny had swords and lasers.

It really seemed like she'd have to agree - there was no real reason to go after him themselves. Any interest wasn't above the security of the colonies. And as time passed since the Didact's awakening, that security would be tested further - already were some of the other Covenant factions learning about the Didact and considering their allegiances. Plus, as Rtas said, for some even loyal to the Arbiter, a Forerunner may weigh more in their minds than the Arbiter's ideals. Conflict may only get worse from here - Shadow of Intent's necessity may only grow.

Could she justify abandoning the ship - her new allies - for her questions? To seek someone that might not even answer her, who might not be able to give her the answers? To leave people to die just so she can know what she was and why she was made?

She already knew why she was made... kind of. Still a vague answer lacking a lot of context, but more than nothing. That had to be enough for her - for now, it had to be enough.

Hands in her lap, Penny bowed her head. "Thank you for telling me all this, Shipmaster."

The green in his eyes expanded. Maybe she'd asked so many questions of him before, he wasn't used to her capping off a conversation so cleanly.

"Yes... I understand the need for secrecy at times, but humans indulge in it too much, in my opinion." She picked up the additional mutter, "You would not have let me get away with it, regardless."

After a clearing of his throat, Rtas tested, "If that is all..." Penny nodded. "Then you are dismissed, Polendina."

Her legs had a bit too much energy when she lifted herself up. Looking back, he rarely used her name. It was just her surname (actually, why did she have that?), but she knew Sangheili used each other's surnames a lot in professional settings. They were paired with ranks, but she didn't really have one - she technically existed outside of the hierarchy, and she wasn't sure how comfortable they were with granting her a Sangheili title.

But he gave her the respect of saying her name.

He was not the only one to make that decision, following the Battle of Feldokra.

Dec. 2557

Many UNSC ships have their own shipboard AI designated to help run the craft and assist during missions. In some regard, some spoke of Shadow of Intent having just that - their own AI. However, she did not have the capability to do anything "shipboard" - she merely did the latter part of "assist during missions", operating just as much outside of the ship as she did inside and maybe even more so.

Penny had gone on a few more missions since the Battle of Feldokra, although never without at least one of the key Shadow of Intent members alongside her. She'd tagged along with Stolt and his Rangers in infiltrating a hostile ship commanded by a fanatic San'Shyuum and his legions of loyal, bloodthirsty Jiralhanae; she had to stay in the air most of the time when it came to the Jiralhanae, who were the second strongest melee fighters she'd encountered (the first were the Mgalekgolo worm colonies, shockingly) and made her too nervous to test her body's durability. She'd taken Tul's spot in a mission when the Scion had to depart back to Rahnelo on urgent matters the Intent couldn't follow her for, then teamed up with her as a duo during another, smaller infiltration mission as soon as the Scion returned - eager and a bit bloodthirsty to make up for the lost mission. On another occasion of defending Sangheili colonies from their enemies, Penny had Vul's back from the air when their forces got outnumbered 5-1 in a mad zerg rush of mostly Unggoy; he'd let her borrow an Energy Sword from a fallen ally, which she wielded alongside her blades flying in the air, back-to-back with him by the end.

With each one, Penny's usefulness and resolve solidified more in the hearts and minds of the Intent's crew. Nobody really spoke up dissent on her presence on the ship - she was certain her worth had been proven, oblivious to the possibility that even after all this time, there could still be some that'd always be uncomfortable with a non-Sangheili in their midst. But for the time being, at least, the crew got along with her. They even included her in casual activities.

Such as casual conversation while relaxing in one of the rec rooms. Not all of the Intent was accessible - due to previous damage still, even years later, requiring the ship to constantly be worked upon for reconstruction - so the one she, Wanders, and several others were in was in fact a repurposed storage room. Still, the Arbiter and Rtas knew the common soldiers needed rest spots during the long patrol periods, and said soldiers were happy with whatever they got.

"Since one of his suppliers got taken out of the picture, I'm sure 'Mdama is feeling the heat even more," said Juvo 'Tadam, a SpecOps that had worked under Rtas since the latter's SpecOps Commander days.

"Next year could be the last of his Covenant?" Minor Zeto 'Zoran mused, after gulping down some of his drink. His back pressed further down on the old, worn cushion they got from who-knows-where. "Good. His was the worst of the bunch."

"There's still time this year," Cykan 'Nazamai, a Stealth Sangheili still wearing bits of his black and cyan Infiltration armor across his bodysuit, pointed out in a cool tone. "For unfortunate circumstances to strike."

"Maybe. Striking at Earth was a dumb move on 'Lhar's part," Minor Kel 'Sraca said with a laugh. "Maybe more of his men will blow themselves up until there's nothing left to reign over."

"Earth?" Penny asked, tilting her head. "Blowing up?"

"Ah, that was a turn of phrase. Maybe he tried to blow stuff up, but he didn't get too far. UNSC forces were already well on top of him when he showed his ugly mug. Guess someone must've tipped them off."

Well, that was some of the info she'd been prodding for. To keep from asking too many questions - a habit that she'd grown self-conscious of, despite how many people had grown used to it - Penny first tried scouring through her backdoor into Shadow of Intent's archives. Another perk of the built-up trust had been permission from Rtas for Wanders to forge such a connection between Penny and the ship's systems. It still wasn't to the degree of humanity's shipboard AI, but it allowed a number of things to aid Penny in their operations, such as swift retrieval of data.

As a close collaborator of Jul 'Mdama's, Gek 'Lhar did indeed have a file on their records, just in case they ever came across him and his mercenary activities. Some memories of when she'd scanned through as much of Intent's files in her early days were already coming back to her, but she saw the file had recently been updated with new intel. He was rare among the Sangheili for his savage personality and salvager tendencies, yet made him useful to 'Mdama as a supplier of weapons and ships for his Covenant. When she'd first scanned his file, the latest update had been the report of his left-eye going blind and having a scar across it; checking it this time, Penny came across all the info she'd just learned about his capture, along with a note that the UNSC failed to disclose what they'd done with him. For the time being, they weren't ruling him as dead.

During the time that information went through her head, Zeto spoke up, "He targeted Earth. Of course it wasn't going to go well. That place is sacred to them."

"As all homeworlds are," Tankmaster Thiga 'Ganam piped up, from the back of the room. He wasn't actively part of their conversation - keeping most of his focus on the tinkering he was doing, utilizing one of the few storage room amenities that remained - but he'd occasionally interject when he had a particularly strong thought he had to voice.

"Yes, will the attack not affect human-Sangheili relations going forward?" Wanders asked. "Even if Gek 'Lhar is a mercenary working for Covenant remnants, I have taken note that human attitudes do not always separate us from them."

"No, they do not," Juvo agreed. "Neither can all of them move past the war-"

"Not like they're the only ones," Zeto cut in, then going for more of his drink.

"Right, well, they are the subject right now," Juvo briefly shot back with a growl. 

Before he could continue on as normal, Cykan chimed back in, "Sangheili attacking human worlds is still a sore spot for them, and it is not just a thing of the past war. Only last year did a different Sangheili terrorist unleash a bioweapon on one of their colonies." 

"And every time one of these attacks happen on their turf, the Arbiter is inundated with questions and demands about them - as if he isn't already trying to bring the Sangheili under his control."

"Which is why we should hurry up in eliminating Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, before he bounces back?" Penny asked, bringing the conversation back around to Juvo's original meaning.

"Easier said than done. Even with the minor setbacks, 'Mdama has lasted this far for a reason," Cykan said. "Putting aside 'Lhar's blunder, 'Mdama himself has a tactical mind and a charismatic mouth. Many shipmasters and warlords try to claim themselves as founders of a new Covenant. Only 'Mdama has amassed enough size and longevity to prove himself. He, 'Telcam's Servants, and the Order of Restoration are the biggest hurdles to finally quelling the 'dream' of godhood."

That last name was one they'd only recently learned of, but had actually been combating since before Penny arrived - a shadowy, near-mythical branch of the old Covenant empire that persisted after the fall, with their secrets only recently coming to light. In fact, that fanactical San'Shyuum mentioned earlier was one of their leading members - up until his arrest and subsequent trial by the Swords, that is.

"Only them? Not the Banished?" Kel asked, a bit incredulous.

"Their threat goes without saying. But Atriox is not exactly bending the knee in prayer, now is he? His goals are something else."

"We have also amassed size and longevity," Juvo argued. "We are strong. Stronger than we were years ago. We are strong enough to take 'Mdama on in true battle, and if we do not hurry in that, we may lose our advantages."

"I think you're underestimating how many have flocked to 'Mdama," Zeto said. "And overestimating ourselves."

"Our ship alone has had an excellent track record as of late, have we not? We could do what we did to Patience and Prudence-" Referring to Penny and Stolt's mission against the Order of Restoration. "On a larger scale. We could track them down while they're still recovering from their losses at Requiem."

"By the way, how was the Patience and Prudence mission?" Kel cut in, directing the question towards Penny. "Someone like me only hears the details way after the fact, through rumors. But you were there, right? How'd you do it?"

"Well, it was only my second after Feldokra..." Penny started, a bit nervous at the sudden attention. "My part was mainly to serve support on exit - keeping the escape path clear, within the vehicle bay and outside the ship."

It was the best she could offer during the stealth mission. She didn't have any cloaking tech (yet, at least) and her body would've stuck out like a sore thumb, so most of the mission was done by Stolt and the Rangers. Once they'd been inevitably detected, however, she was to reveal herself and start blasting infantry and aircraft alike, especially once the Rangers had confiscated enemy craft for their escape plan and needed their pursuers off their backs.

"It was a field test of then-recent upgrades," Wanders continued, giddy to divulge the technical aspects. "Mainly of vacuum-protection and a COMMs upgrade, making Penny capable of being in the vacuum of space without concern for damage and able to answer COMMs without physically moving her mouth."

"I'm sure a flying human firing lasers was quite the final sight for those pilots," Kel said with the Sangheili-equivalent of a smile.

"Upgrades, though..." Zeto added, staring at Penny in a way that betrayed he kept forgetting what she really was. Or maybe needed to put a cap on his "relaxation". "Is that okay? To be tinkering around with her like that?"

"My purpose was to take part in combat, if that's what you mean," Penny answered. "Maybe these features were not originally part of the design plans, but that is likely because my creators lacked the need or capability to make them."

"Yep, and we've still been discussing more potential combat upgrades to add to Penny's arsenal, beyond those swords and their laser features," Wanders added, not as excited as some of the other Huragok when discussing it. "We're just taking it a bit slow, in order to be sure these features integrate well with her pre-existing ones, instead of causing malfunctions or damage."

Likes to Bobble had termed it as "slowly forging her into the ultimate weapon". When he said that before, Wanders' floating in the air skipped a beat like a human might tense in discomfort. After they'd gone off on their own, away from the other Huragok, Wanders had told her not to worry about her combat capabilities. Unless she really wanted to, she was allowed to deny whatever ideas regardless of how "useful" they appeared to be. 

She understood what he meant; and although she agreed on the sentiment - of being more than just a weapon - she also appreciated that Wanders recognized that maybe Penny wanted to be upgraded to the nines. To be honest... she was still undecided herself. Really, it sounded like the problem was how people spoke of her. But if she could take any measure to protect others in the field? Anyone who couldn't fight for themselves? It was hard to see herself rejecting more add-ons that could help her with that.

"How unfortunate that for us, the path of getting stronger is not so easy," Cykan remarked, a bit dryly.

Juvo nodded, then looked towards the two Minors as he said, "Yes. For us, it is the natural path of training and discipline. You cannot rely on the passage of time alone for any promotions. Do you even know what you will do, when your service time is done? Such a mindset is proven to be an effective motivator for-"

Zeto had already been rolling his eyes, as soon as the lecturing-senior voice had kicked in for Juvo. He apparently saw an out, as his eyes landed back onto Penny.

"Polendina-construct," he started. In lieu of a proper title or rank, some of the crew substituted it with that "construct" term - seemingly their preferred equivalent for humanity's "AI" term. Zeto had perhaps gotten a little creative with it, though. "You've just been sticking with us since the shipmaster found you. Does a construct have any creative ideas on 'future goals'." Those last words came out in a bit of a gag.

Blinking, Penny didn't respond immediately, giving Juvo enough time to go, "I wasn't talking about her-"

"Inspiration. And now it's gotten me curious."

What to do when her time fighting was over... was that even a possibility? She seemingly was built for combat. Likely, she was only intended to stop fighting once she was dead. There was her inquisitive personality and her capacity for compassion... could that translate into any long-lasting peaceful life?

How much of a lifespan did she even have? Her only two references were the Smart AI of humans and Forerunner AI. The former were only capable of lasting seven years before falling apart at the seams; there were lesser forms of human AI that could last longer, but their mental capabilities couldn't compare to her, with that factor seemingly being part of the reason Smart AI didn't live as long. As for Forerunner AI, they could apparently last indefinitely, although they still ran the risk of "rampancy" - that mental undoing - or destruction.

Might she outlive everyone on the Intent? Might they outlive her by a longshot? What didn't help in these calculations was her lack of knowledge of how long she existed prior to her amnesia. What if she was already at the end of her lifespan? What if she had already breached the threshold for rampancy and it was only a matter of time? Or, if she was immortal... what if that was why her creators and intended protected charges were out of the picture? What if they had died centuries ago, in an era no one remembered?

"I am not sure..." Penny spoke, after registering all eyes were staring at her in anticipation. "I guess that depends on how long I live, and if my programming even allows for me to integrate into a peaceful society."

"So the Intent gets an android warrior, forever?" Kel said, perhaps only half-joking.

He was smacked over the head by Juvo. "That is not what she meant."

"Either way, it's good there's only one of her," Cykan added. "The rest of us would be out of a job if she could be cloned."

"Producing androids like Penny, exact copies or not, would require more extensive study of her systems that I am not yet willing to inflict," Wanders said.

That was when Thiga interjected from the back again. "Be careful with your jokes around the Huragok. They don't need humor to repair gear. Do you not recall the Huragok that nearly upended the second Ark operation because a human spoke too candidly?"

As they kept talking, Penny divided her attention between listening and continuing to ponder the question poised at her. Would she stay with the Intent forever, if she could? At first, she'd been sticking around them because they were the first to find her, alongside Wanders. She had chosen them over the UNSC or ONI due to being a marginally more comfortable presence than what the former two sounded like - and because she had gotten to know those onboard. She'd gotten to know them even better since then. Maybe that was why, when the thought came to her regarding being stationed somewhere else - regardless of human or Sangheili leadership - it made her nervous. Meanwhile, regarding her memories, if she recovered them and had to make a decision based on what she remembered... that also gave her anxiety. All that felt comfortable to her was just staying put - more missions with her new friends and talks with them in between.

Something would have to give eventually. Lifespans. Her memories. The state of the galaxy. Change would come eventually. But for the time being, that didn't have to be anytime soon, did it? And she didn't have to think of it yet?

Before their conversation could keep going, to topics both comfortable and not, Stolt suddenly entered the room. Poking his head in first, glancing around, it was clear he was on the lookout for someone in particular. He ended up waddling right up to Penny.

"Meeting with the Shipmaster. You've been requested personally."

"By the Shipmaster...?" Usually, Stolt didn't phrase it in that way, since such a thing spoke for itself. Despite already anticipating something to be up, the bombshell he dropped still made a sickening dip in her systems:

"By ONI."

Oh no. The future wasn't going to wait after all.

Chapter Text

Penny could still live in the present - a present full of missions alongside her Shadow of Intent allies. That's exactly what it was: a mission request, by ONI of all people. And for some reason, she was specifically required for it.

While Penny was still lounging around and chatting with the crew, Rtas was in communications with the Arbiter where he learned just that.

"It is their idea of repairing some of the damage to the goodwill between our species," Thel regaled, in reference to Gek 'Lhar's recent terrorist attack. "Although, they heavily suggested the utilization of Penny Polendina."

Before he could explain why, Rtas already had his own suspicions on the reasoning. He'd seen Penny in battle many times by then - he knew she was capable of more than most fighters, or assassins, in the galaxy. Deploying her to swoop in, slit the throat of a target, then fly away was far easier than deploying anyone else. Well, as long as she managed to get past the legions of troops that'd surely be guarding this target in particular. That was why Penny could not do it alone - and where "repairing goodwill" came in.

"And what of your suggestions?" Rtas asked. "Do you believe the time has come to cut down 'Telcam? Do you believe it possible?"

Avu Med 'Telcam was the leader of a fanatical sect following pre-Covenant religious beliefs called the Servants of the Abiding Truth. They were ancient, hiding in the shadows since the formation of the Covenant, and finally revealed themselves once the Great Schism broke out and the empire oppressing their version of faith collapsed. Still, they considered the Arbiter and his Swords of Sanghelios to be blasphemous and took offense to the decline of reverence towards the Forerunners, becoming one of the most successful rebel groups splintering the Sangheili post-war. After the monks went militant, they led a nearly-successful assault on Vadam state that forced the Arbiter to reluctantly accept aid from the UNSC Infinity to quell; although 'Telcam himself managed to survive the battle and regroup the Servants elsewhere. 

Between them and Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, they were the greatest obstacles in uniting the Sangheili under one banner - preferably the Arbiter's. Eliminating them would eliminate a loud voice of dissent amongst their people and further prove the Arbiter's strength to those still on the fence. Yet they were a great obstacle for a reason. And although the intel ONI provided of 'Telcam's current base of operations should have been seen as a boon... knowing the agency's reputation only made Rtas feel uneasy about this plan.

Especially when it came to the rumors floating around about ONI's involvement with this whole mess starting.

"I believe that if it is, you and your crew are the ones to do it," Thel answered. "I have considered the proposal thoroughly. I only bring it up to you now because I see the merit in it. And we do need to see 'Telcam's threat eliminated, sooner or later. Regardless of how ONI has come about their knowledge, it is not a guarantee 'Telcam will never hear of it, nor that he will stay put if he never does."

Sighing, Thel closed his eyes and seemingly had a brief debate on what to say next. He chose to speak up.

"But I do have concerns. Just not with the assassination itself." His tone, despite getting into a tenser topic, had relaxed from the commanding air of an Arbiter. It was apparent this was on the back of his mind for a while - he'd even requested Rtas take this holographic call in his quarters rather than in the bridge. "I am sure you, in constant patrol and in dealings with all walks of life in this galaxy, have heard the same... concerning rumors."

Rtas growled at the thought, even if they were technically unconfirmed. "About ONI's treachery? Their dealings?"

"Turncoats from both 'Telcam and 'Mdama have alluded to me that much, and even more," Thel explained. "That ONI gave 'Telcam weapons. That it took place on the very planet he resides now. That one of my human guests was helping with this alliance, and even spotted amongst the Servants. That they shot down our ships during the Siege at Kolaar. That they held 'Mdama hostage at the very site I secured joint-species study for. That they have a secret bio-weapon designed just for us."

Rtas cocked his head. "That is more than what I have gotten. Do these turncoats have any proof to these claims?"

"No, but I do not doubt their loyalties. They do not seek to sabotage relations. And if they speak the truth... it is not they who have done the sabotage."

"But it is merely the word of ex-enemies."

"Yes... as Admiral Lord Hood has expressed to me, fighting ONI without evidence is a fool's mission. Even he has difficulty dealing with them, and has learned when to relent and when to push. And this is not an area that he's been pushing, as of late." Thel shook his head, letting it dip and his eyes lose focus on Rtas. "The word of enemies may be worth as much as the turncoats', but I still wish 'Telcam and 'Mdama would tell me for themselves what the truth is, if humanity will not. They see me as docile when it comes to humans, but I do not take treachery lightly. If only they would cooperate with me and see that for themselves. It is yet another example of how our squabbles are making the Sangheili weaker, when we should be strong together."

"I know your hearts very well, Thel," Rtas reassured. From anyone else, it might be a boundary crossed. But Thel opened up to Rtas for good reason. "Even if they never will, even if we must do it alone... We will see the Sangheili secure and prosperous."

Taking a moment to absorb Rtas' faith and resolve, Thel finally nodded and returned, mostly, to Arbiter-mode. "Then I will leave the final decision on whether to conduct this mission to you... Rtas."

For a few moments after the Arbiter's hologram disappeared, Rtas stared off towards the space that it once occupied. For even longer, he dwelled on their recent discussion - of plans, of rumors, and even their own trust in one another.

Finally, he sent for the principal members, and went to join them in the bridge. Vul entered around the same time as Rtas did, with Tul suspiciously already waiting at the holotable they utilized for these sorts of meetings. Not long after, Stolt arrived with Penny... and Wanders clinging to her side. Rtas hadn't sent for it, but it was a normal sight to see it tagging along where she was summoned. They'd all learned to just stop fighting it. At least Wanders knew how to be unobstructive.

Well, except for now.

"Stolt said ONI!" Wanders was already "shouting", even before the trio made it to the holotable. "Stolt said ONI requested Penny! Shipmaster, please tell me you-"

"You misunderstand, Huragok," Rtas said, his tone laced with the slight threat of kicking Wanders out for real this time. "If you would let me get to the briefing, you will understand perfectly."

"ONI?" Tul looked at him. He'd only told Stolt that part, and it was merely to provide context as to why Penny had to be collected.

"Not long ago, ONI provided the Arbiter with some intel... and a request on how to proceed with it. This request involves Polendina, and Shadow of Intent by extension."

With visual aids from the holotable, Rtas recapped what the Arbiter told him: the location of the Servants' main base on the former human colony of New Llanelli (known to the Sangheili as "Laqil"), the proposal to have Penny infiltrate the base and assassinate 'Telcam, and the necessity of the Intent to back her up against the many Servants forces present there. He took note of apparent relief coming over Penny early on in the presentation, as well as growing suspicion from Tul as it went on.

Which she finally voiced. "And you both trust this? Trust the word of those who hide in the shadows? Who do not do this work themselves?"

"The Arbiter took the time to dwell," Rtas assured. "Even if it comes from ONI, it is still wise to take advantage."

"But with recent talk... doesn't something seem off, Shipmaster?" Stolt asked. "Seem awfully coincidental?"

So Rtas was not the only one in the room to have heard things.

"Of course, the Arbiter would love to discuss with 'Telcam rumors of ONI dealings with him," Rtas replied, perhaps a bit too candidly. "If only the foolish bastard would see reason to talk than to fight. Alas-"

"Then why not just ask?" Penny's urge to jump on a curiosity overrode her recent progress in letting a superior finish his words. But maybe, for one time at least, it was for the best. Blinking, she realized what she'd just done, yet decided to fully get her thoughts out while she still could. "There is not a time limit on when he has to die. We can ask questions first. Maybe it still won't work, but is it not better to try before it's too late?"

"She has a point," Tul agreed. "If these rumors are true, then an assassination plays into their hands. It would cover their tracks. We should not do the bidding of nishum."

Blinking, Rtas gave Tul a look that made her course-correct. "As in, cowards that lurk in the dark, playing us all for fools."

"Please say that next time," Rtas said. Glancing over at Penny, he saw the android was looking between them, and he had no idea if anyone had taught her that word before. Likely, her translation software was merely translating it as an intestinal parasite - if it could even translate it at all - without noting the nuance that it had become a slur for humans. Not that Rtas believed Tul's usage of it would bring discomfort to the android; but perhaps he needed to put in his schedule a pre-emptive discussion with her on what Sangheili words to repeat or not.

In the meantime, Vul spoke up, with rare hesitancy coming from the hardened blademaster. "It does feel odd to accept an assassination mission, yet try to keep the target alive behind the proponent's back. Even if the mission is from ONI, I am unsure about potentially betraying its purpose."

"ONI was the one who was underhanded first," Stolt argued. "And if it was them, they wouldn't be agonizing over the decision.”

"Vermin lose the right to honor by their own choices," Rtas reluctantly agreed. "And I have yet to hear of an honorable Sangheili that can avoid their traps, and maintain the high ground."

Very quickly, the consensus became that ONI was untrustworthy enough that they would not follow the assassination plan to a T. Their goal would instead be to capture 'Telcam for interrogation first. If he could provide nothing, they would execute him. But if there was something valuable in his testimony, maybe even a path to concrete evidence... then betraying ONI did not matter. There would be more problems for the humans, too much for the Intent 's actions to make a difference.

After the rest of their briefing went by and Rtas had dismissed them, Penny lingered and had her eyes obviously on Rtas.

"Anything else, Polendina?"

"Yes. Shipmaster, what did Tul mean by nish-"

His hand clasped over her mouth. "My room. Talk. Now." And before he lifted his hand, he added, "And do not repeat words right after you hear them. Especially those said with disdain."

He should at least count it as a blessing that it took this many months for her to hear a slur while on his ship... even if he'd preferred such a thing to never occur at all. Which reminded him: Tul was due for her own one-on-one chat. Because why the hell did someone working with the Swords and the Arbiter think that was okay to say openly?!

Jan. 21st, 2558

Several weeks later, three strike teams were deployed to New Llanelli. The first two were led by Stolt and Vul, with Tul deployed with the latter. Splitting far apart, these teams were focused on engaging with ground troops around the ruined city that was pinged to be 'Telcam's present location. These engagements were to simultaneously deny 'Telcam reinforcements while also making it appear as if his would-be assassins were still on the way to him, giving a false sense of security.

Of course, that would divert attention from the encroaching third strike team, led by Penny. With her were only three other warriors: SpecOps Juvo 'Tadam, Stealth Sangheili Cykan 'Nazamai (bearing the "Ossoona" stealth assassin title for this mission), and Ultra Xyha 'Felkor. The first two were to assist with stealth, with the Ossoona especially present for advising Penny on matters of assassination. Originally it was just going to be those two backing her up, but Xyha was brought on due to his familiarity with Penny. Since this was her first time leading the charge, Rtas thought it best to have Xyha around in case there was some conflict with an android leading Sangheili and if she needed some guidance from a graceful source. Their strike team was far smaller than the others to make stealth easier, but holding high quality warriors so they'd still win any fights.

As combat started for the other two teams, Penny's team remained in hiding amongst the glass mountains surrounding the ruined city. New Llanelli had once been a small agricultural colony, with this city being one of only three settlements on the entire planet. However, almost a hundred years after its colonization, the Covenant found it and glassed it in 2546, during the Human-Covenant War or "War of Annihilation". The planet had slowly started recovering, although it was still covered in glass remnants and would need thorough rehabilitation from advanced terraforming technology to be as habitable as it once was. The sudden takeover by the planet by the Servants had prevented such.

"I have taken note of three Sangheili commanders in that building," Cykan said, pointing to the two-part building within the ruined city before them. One part was a taller tower with an open walking area within the roof, while the other was a slightly shorter tower with a glass dome on its roof. "One matches the description of the primary target. However, the secondary target appears to not be present."

"Right." Penny sent her voice through the wider COMMs linking the strike teams together. "The Pale Blade is not with 'Telcam. You guys might encounter him."

"Got it!" Stolt answered for his team.

"We will be on guard," Vul added on behalf of his own.

Although the assassination order had come for 'Telcam, the Pale Blade was identified as a useful target to get rid of if the opportunity presented itself. Named for his pale skin and armor color similar to that of an energy sword, he was a mysterious leading member of the Servants and 'Telcam's apprentice. Assassinating 'Telcam would deal a major blow to the Servants, yet it was still highly likely they would recover under the Pale Blade's leadership. Even disregarding that, the Pale Blade was a dangerous warrior that might pose a threat to their mission.

"Three Unggoy combatants," Juvo continued, pointing out one of the rooftops. He moved on to the roof next to that. "And another three Kig-Yar scouts."

"Combining that with the Phantom roaming above and the Shade on the tower," Cykan said, a "Shade" being a form of alien turret. "This is pitifully easy. Only one assassin was necessary. Even the SpecOps could have done it himself."

"Well, we have more goals than just assassination," Penny reminded, before Juvo could catch the insult. "And your support will give me that opportunity."

"How do you wish to do this?" Xyha asked.

Scanning the area once more, she answered, "I am the best counter to the Phantom and Shade. 'Nazamai, you should enter the building normally and draw out 'Telcam's commanders. I will come in through the roof to catch him off guard, after I deal with the other threats. 'Tadam, Xy-" Ah man, she'd gotten so close; and after practicing the last two weeks to be a proper leader of Sangheili, too. "'Felkor, you both take out the other infantry on the roofs."

None of them mentioned her slip-up as they split-up, appearing as professional as if Rtas himself gave the order. Thank goodness for that, although the awkwardness was still lingering in the back of her head as she took to the air.

In the time it took for the Phantom to notice her arrival, it was too late. Her blades had gotten into formation and charged up her largest laser attack, slicing the aircraft in two. Before the destruction, the Shade's Sangheili operator had taken notice of the charging laser and hopped behind the turret, beginning a barrage. Penny's Aura held her defenses and kept the barrage from interrupting her attack, but she was quick to begin flying out of the path and avoid more plasma; she didn't want to test her defenses too much, and unnecessarily. While the operator kept trying to track her body and get his plasma barrage to catch up, he was distracted from two of her swords flying off, swerving back to his position, and slicing him and his turret from behind. She let some of her blades go into rifle mode and shoot the Shade into oblivion for good measure.

Just as she started flying toward the glass rooftop, she received a COMM from Stolt.

"Warning - one of my Rangers took note of what appeared to be a human aircraft in the skies!"

Penny froze in the air. "What? Is he sure?"

"This man's eyes have never failed us before. I would bet credits on their accuracy."

"There is not supposed to be any human assistance, and wouldn't Intent have caught it and given us warning by now?"

"I don't know. Ask them?"

She did just that, switching to the COMM link connecting them to the Intent. While they were completing the operation planet-side, the Intent was engaging the nearby Servants ships within the system, trying to hold them off from reaching the planet for as long as possible.

"Shipmaster, a human aircraft was reported to be in the area. Do you know anything about this?"

She counted down nearly a full minute before a response came from Rtas. "Our scans did not take notice of anything of the sort. That does not discount that we have additional company. ONI has particularly stealthy aircraft."

"They could have also arrived before we did," Vul cut in, giving his own input. "Waiting in the shadows, waiting for our mission to start."

"Polendina, if humans truly are in the area, you must hurry in your mission," Rtas affirmed.

Not needing to be told twice, Penny shot through the air and used her body to break the glass roof of the building. She stopped herself from landing, hovering close to the ceiling while her blades circled around her in a neutral formation. Below her, 'Telcam was alone, backing away slowly from the holotable in the center of the room. It was unmistakably him - donned in golden armor and a purple cape, he’d be the only Sangheili on this whole planet with such a get-up. He didn't yet make for the exit, which was likely because he knew Cykan to be on the other side.

Before attempting capture, Penny first wanted to see how much she could get out of him peacefully, which is why she didn't close the distance nor point her blades in his direction. Instead, she tried initiating conversation.

"Salutations, 'Bishop'," Penny started, unsure what title to go with, so she went with the codename that ONI kept referring to in the operation details. "I am Penny Polendina, of Shadow of Intent. We are on opposite sides of the galaxy's conflicts under usual circumstances, but at this moment I was hoping we could hold off our blades. There are burning questions the Arbiter has that you might have the answers for."

She'd hoped he was the type of Sangheili to indulge in pre-duel chatter and dramatic dialogue. It was a good sign she was able to get all those words out without him firing the carbine he'd unhooked and held in his hands.

"I have heard of you," 'Telcam replied. Some venom leached into his voice. "The new puppet of the false Arbiter and Shipmaster 'Vadum. A construct that has cut down countless of our kind, on their behalf."

"They were going to hurt people. I was not going to allow that," Penny defended, just barely keeping herself from entering an offensive position. Because, just maybe...

"Then you understand..." 'Telcam brought up his carbine. "Why I will not surrender!"

Plasma shots fired, but Penny ducked out of their way. Her blades swirled to point at 'Telcam, yet she still wasn't ready to go that far. She touched down onto the floor.

"Do you also understand why ONI has asked for your assassination?"

Her attempt backfired, as she heard over more plasma: "Because you are not the only puppet in that vile order! Thel 'Vadam would see the Sangheili destroyed in his misplaced trust and grief with humanity. And his blasphemy against the gods leads too many Sangheili to damnation - his voice must be silenced for their sake!"

Ducking behind a wall for cover, Penny re-evaluated her options. She'd almost been tempted to share her suspicions she was a creation of those gods; but with his fanaticism, her human resemblance, and her own lack of clarity, that'd only likely infuriate him further. Might he believe the Arbiter and her shipmaster's irritation with ONI?

"You are wrong!" she shouted back. "He stood up for me against ONI! I am not his puppet, I'm not anyone's - he kept me from being ONI's!"

'Telcam did not respond. After a few beats of silence, Penny was forced to bring up her blades to shield from plasma fire as 'Telcam had caught up with her. Letting him unload the current charge of plasma, she backed up with every step he took forwards. Once he ran out of his current ammo, she used the gap of time created by the need to reload to direct two of her blades to break formation and start slashing towards him. His dodges kept him from noticing that the strikes were not truly aimed to make contact.

"If an ally has been plotting against him, he deserves to know!" Penny continued, in between slashes.

As he moved away, he threw his carbine to the ground and activated his energy sword, eventually swinging it to meet one of Penny's. Even with the distance between them, Penny caught how his orange eyes widened at the realization the sword did not cut through - locking into place as if it, too, were an energy sword.

That was the result of two factors: the first being that, over the course of her missions, Penny discovered that her blades did not sustain damage as usual, even amongst plasma. Perhaps it was because they were an extension of her body or made of the same material as it, but the built-in energy shielding they assumed was "Aura" seemed to also affect her blades. With that discovery in mind - and some foresight that this assassination might include more energy sword duels than usual - the Huragok originally planned to tinker with the blades to add a similar superheated plasma to them. However, due to running out of time and concern the metal might melt, Gone with the Wind suggested a different, odder strategy: what if the shields themselves became the weapon? After some experimentation and training, Penny found that with some mental work on her end, she could concentrate the Aura on her blades to function similarly to energy swords; although, it seemed like this drained overall "energy", potentially leaving her vulnerable to damage if she depleted her Aura too much. Fortunately, she had gotten good at maintaining her Aura, even after sustaining a lot of hits from plasma, and her skill at dodging made her confident she could chance diverting some resources for defense into offense.

Glaring with a new vigor, 'Telcam declared as he engaged her in close dueling, "He was a fool to trust them in the first place. To not expect their treachery, after years of facing such on the battlefield."

"And? Do you know anything about treachery?" Penny challenged. "Their treachery?"

"Construct, Ossoona, be advised!" She heard Juvo's voice in her head. "A Spartan has been spotted! It's heading your way, from the rooftops! It bypassed 'Felkor and I completely!"

"Wait, really?" she answered through comms, trying to keep her external face as neutral as possible. Why was a Spartan here? They were under the impression they were doing this mission on their own. Unless this was yet another layer of ONI duplicity? Were they made to be bait while the Spartan was the true assassin, or was a completely different mission on ONI's mind? Or had ONI sniffed out their idea of interrogating 'Telcam first?

Please, hurry...

Things would get real awkward if she had to fight a Spartan to keep 'Telcam alive. Because at this point, Penny did not trust ONI not to be hiding something 'Telcam could enlighten them on. There was no way she was letting them have their way anymore.

"From the rooftops?" Cykan echoed. "I cannot intercept them before they arrive. But I can come in and-"

"No," Penny said. At the same time, she was caught in a combative dance with 'Telcam - and starting to suspect he was catching on to her unwillingness to truly hurt him, utilizing that information in the worst way possible. "Stick to what we agreed before. Make sure no one else tries to interfere, I'll handle both 'Telcam and the Spartan."

They'd already concluded that Penny facing 'Telcam alone was the best option to getting him comfortable enough to open up on the field, saving them time in capturing him if successful. She was still sure that was the case; although the Spartan's presence would affect said chances, so would a clear Ossoona coming into view.

"You wish to know." It came out more like a statement, but not completely like a realization. He must've already known, yet only now was willing to entertain the idea.

"Yes. We don't have to come to a wider agreement," Penny said, trying to coax him more. "This war might still continue. But if you think the Arbiter will just let ONI do as it pleases without consequence, you are mistaken. I wouldn't be his ally otherwise. But those consequences only come if-"

Catching the motion of something flying before anything else, Penny lurched her body to push 'Telcam's just enough to avoid the explosion from behind. A few feet back, a Spartan stood with one magnum in hand, the other grabbing a second from the hip. That hand likely had been the one to just throw that grenade.

Penny had learned enough about Spartans to be prepared for this moment, but it still didn't change the fact that the only humans she'd fought so far were unarmored, amateur militia. And good Spartans could be tougher than a whole legion of Sangheili warriors. The potential weaknesses in their armor were fewer and their combat prowess close to her own.

This one was definitely going to be an obstacle in getting answers out of 'Telcam.

"Wanders," she sent through her personal connection to the Huragok. Another was established between her and the whole contingent of Intent's Huragok, but Wanders was always upgrading his to be sure far distances couldn't get in the way. "I'm sending you visual details. Find out as much as you can about this Spartan."

"On it! Stand by, I will need a few minutes."

But that Spartan wasn't going to wait that long and neither would 'Telcam.

Chapter Text

"What are you doing here?" Penny shot out towards the Spartan, creating some distance between her and 'Telcam as the Sangheili's sudden body movements made it clear he was still hostile towards her.

From what she'd heard, most Spartans were professional enough that her gambit of stalling with talk would probably not work. However, the Spartan cocked their head in silent debate, before revealing a feminine voice.

"You were a terrible pick for an assassin."

"Did ONI send you?" Penny ventured further.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Then, she let bullets fly from her magnums - one stream towards Penny and the other towards 'Telcam. Both of them effortlessly dodged, but it was clear the attack was meant to make them go on the move rather than outright successfully kill them.

They both ducked behind opposing pillars within the room, angling to hide as much of their bodies from each other as they did from the Spartan.

When the sound of gunshots stopped, it was replaced by 'Telcam's voice. "Vadam faced his own consequences for letting a human set foot!"

It took her a moment to realize he was referring to their earlier conversation, before the Spartan interrupted. That interruption hadn't completely undone her progress. Or maybe the realization that ONI was after him made 'Telcam far more willing to return the traitorous favor.

"That professor," he continued, lower and with a growl but enough for Penny to still be able to make out. She wasn't sure if he was aware of her heightened android senses or if he was merely talking to himself now. "His clan should be thanking me for removing the blemish, even if the nishum still lives."

Penny bristled. First, when she registered he was referring to a specific human, which seemed too suspicious. Then, at the dropping of that slur Rtas recently educated her on. But, if his insinuations about that previous guest of the Arbiter's were true, maybe the sentiment was a little warranted?

Because what kind of person happily walked into the home of one they were helping to see weakened and maybe killed? Appearing like a friendly, curious guest? What kind of researcher tried destroying the very subject of his field? A living, sentient subject - an entire group of people that deserved their sovereignty and peace, regardless of the actions of a corrupt government and military force?

"Don't you have orders?" the Spartan cut in, seemingly to distract from 'Telcam's revelations. After all, if Penny was still allowed to live after this, it'd probably be better for the Spartan's bosses if she learned as little as possible from 'Telcam. "Or does this betrayal go all the way to the top?"

"People die eventually," Penny cracked back. "Who said he had to die now? And I think suspicious orders from shady people deserve a little scrutiny, do you not?"

With a familiar determination in her voice - a familiarity that went beyond the warriors she'd seen on the Intent - the Spartan replied harshly, "No. I will see my target dead, one way or the other. I will see all threats to the mission destroyed. Even you."

Penny truly believed that. Deep in her mind, something screamed at her to believe that. She knew nothing about this Spartan specifically - little about Spartans' attitudes in general, beyond pure obedience and danger - but somewhere, she knew there existed a class of soldier that'd follow their superiors to damnation and beyond, with a mental fortitude even greater than the religious fanaticism the Servants' held.

Bullets from the Spartan, creeping around the pillar to chase after Penny, kept her from dwelling on if she knew such a soldier personally.

In her maneuvering to dodge, whilst taking care of whenever she entered 'Telcam's line of fire, her COMMs sparked to life. Her body went into a semi-auto pilot as she focused on the ensuing conversation.

"I can't find a name on this specific Spartan," Wanders finally answered. As he kept talking, she had the sinking feeling he - and any of the other Huragok he potentially asked for assistance - had been pulling from sources outside of the Intent's archives and the Swords' network... yet decided it best not to openly ask about it. Plausible deniability and all. (But also, humanity started the spying, so in her opinion: take that.) 

"But the armor matches the model designated 'Semi-Powered Infiltration armor' and details align with the SPARTAN-III program. Amongst SPARTAN-IIIs that are particularly relevant are the LONEWOLF Headhunters, which would match this one's potential role as an assassin of a high priority target in a precarious battlefield. The fact I can barely find any personal identifying detail suggests the Spartan is a covert agent for ONI, dealing in secret missions."

A bit late and with some conclusions she'd already drawn for herself, but still appreciated. "Is there anything about the armor I should know about?"

"As you can see already, one of its identifying features is its enclosed helmet, even more so than most Spartan armors. The other major feature of the model is the photoreactive panels built-in that facilitate camouflage, making it a useful piece of equipment for stealth missions."

Penny deflected a bullet with her blade, aimed back towards the Spartan. "No time for details, let's save those for later and focus on what might help me?"

"Right. This armor is weaker than the type seen on SPARTAN-IIs like the Master Chief, and can take only a few hard blows before failing, which your usual tactics should be effective with. The energy shielding is also a bit different. Since the Spartan is a SPARTAN-III, the presence of energy shielding should be assumed, but the camouflage systems require power to be diverted from the energy shielding."

"That's it! Thank you, Wanders."

She'd wanted to avoid killing the Spartan if possible, and it seemed like that plan might just be viable. If Penny lowered the armor's defenses enough, she might choose to retreat to preserve her life.

Of course, at the time, Penny did not know that SPARTAN-IIIs were made to be expendable, and that many Headhunters had given their lives if it meant their targets would go down with them.

First, she took note of where 'Telcam ended up: far closer to the exit than he was before, having ducked around the many pillars within the room. He wasn't yet trying for the final stretch, but it was noteworthy that he was setting up for his retreat. Was he becoming aware that these two hostiles were fighting over him? If he did, he'd likely see it as an opportunity to make a break for it while they both were distracted.

Taking care of the Spartan came first, though. Penny circled around one of the pillars separating them both, coming up from behind to begin slashing with two of her blades while two more fired off as rifles above her. She'd overwhelm the armor with as many attacks as she could, multi-tasking to the point it'd also overwhelm the Spartan's brain too much to keep up. Something would have to strike, eventually. Something would make her armor give.

At the same time, the Spartan quickly became aware of Penny's intent to beat her into submission. Any intent to cut down 'Telcam herself was gone, replaced by the need to preserve herself long enough to see that mission fulfilled.

"You'll let him get away," the Spartan chastised. 'Telcam's heat signature was not yet on the move. Strangely, his limbs were apparently moving around, despite his legs staying in place. What was he doing back there?

"I know what I am doing," Penny insisted, emphasizing with a gesture for some of her spare blades to loop back around for sneak attacks at the Spartan's back. They both missed - as the Spartan was apparently aware of the meaning of Penny's gestures, perhaps another thing to tinker around with later - but they still had the effect of distracting the Spartan and having her surrounded. "And I am not letting 'Telcam or ONI get away."

Penny lurched forward seconds after the Spartan twisted to bat away the sneak-attack blades, bearing a super-soldier's backhand strike as the price for getting in two slashes across the front of her armor. Although, she wasn't going to chance any other hits, leaping back to avoid a punch and pistol-whip. All her blades came back to her, half of the formation going in front of her to prepare a smaller version of her large laser attack. The Spartan, whose armor looked beat up but not yet flashing from broken shielding, started to run. Beginning a slower pace in pursuit, Penny counted down the seconds before she'd be forced to let the laser loose or risk a backfire.

"You have no idea what they've done!" the Spartan shouted, sounding the angriest she had this whole encounter. Somehow, Penny didn't need the elaboration, but she kept ranting anyway. "How many planets fell like this one! How many billions of humans they killed!" With the most venom, she hissed out as her head poked out from her latest pillar-cover, "Families."

There was a point made, hidden beneath the wrath. Penny did not fully know what came before. She was told a lot, but she had the emotional impact of a student learning about a historical conflict or tragedy. The numbers and some of the details might make her lose her breath at times... yet she could recover far faster from the knowledge than someone who actually lived through it. And likely, far better than someone who'd known her allies as enemies for nearly their whole life.

Because she knew the Arbiter to be a wise, just leader and fair ally - benevolent, but not to the point of being a pushover. Rtas was all those things too, and his total concern and compassion towards those serving under him was likely the same as the Arbiter; she'd just been with Rtas longer. Vul was slower with change than them; but once he embraced it, he went all out, such as the upgrades to the blademaster's yard on Shadow of Intent that even Rtas hadn't thought of. Stolt was a hard worker that proved himself worthy of all he achieved, but also laid back enough to balance things between the leadership trio of himself, Rtas, and Vul. Tul was maybe the most grudgeful of humans, but Penny could understand her grief at the losses the war had sent her way and her youthful inexperience keeping her from making the best judgements regarding that grief.

They all were people. Say that she hadn’t experienced firsthand the devastation they were likely capable of nearly a decade ago, or her amnesia kept her from remembering experiences that'd make her more empathetic to the Spartan's point - she just could not have her opinion soured on them. They were people. They worked hard to do what they thought was right. They were capable of being manipulated and making wrong choices. They had enough moral character in them to work towards making those wrongs right, as best as they physically could.

Which brought her to what incentivized her so much about ONI's actions...

"Is this what justice is to you?" she demanded. With every phrase she threw out, another volley of energy bullets came out from the rifles she had scattered around the air of the room - ensuring there was no place the Spartan could run to that a rifle could not redirect its aim towards. "Destabilizing peace efforts? Sabotaging the merciful and propping up the violent? Manipulating a civilization to destroy itself? Dooming civilians to pay for military actions they were not involved in? Dooming children born long after? Sowing distrust and trauma as the only way for your plans to succeed?"

Finally, the Spartan stopped moving, standing right in the open. The volleys stopped. They had served their purpose. The Spartan's armor was flashing in the tell-tale warning that only the natural durability of the armor's physical materials stood between life and death.

Rifles floating around in a circling motion above the Spartan, Penny stepped out in the open as well. The Spartan turned to face her. Nothing could be seen behind the wide visor's coated glass, but Penny was sure it was pure rage and indignity.

"No," the Spartan finally answered, her voice coming out cold and dark. Her magnums fell to the ground, her arms splaying wide. "I'm just returning the favor: the suffering."

A moment later, Penny registered that more than the guns had fallen. Several frag grenades had been expertly unhooked from her hips in the small window the Spartan had contact with them, Penny having completely missed it in favor of focusing on the guns. There was no way to know which ones had their pins undone... and therefore, which ones were about to blow.

That didn't matter. A bunch of explosives were rolling across the ground, in the center of the room, and the Spartan and Penny were in the midst of the potential radius. She could not afford taking chances - Penny directed her rifles to return to blade form, exit their current formation, and begin swatting the grenades to the far sides of the room. Just barely through her panic did she remember there was one side of the room to avoid - and maybe the Spartan had hoped she'd have forgotten.

With a second to spare, four grenades had activated a safe distance from all three of the room's occupants. Just to be safe, Penny had her systems check... and realized they were down to two. Whirling around, she found that 'Telcam's heat signature was nowhere to be found. There was no way the Spartan could've gotten to him during their cat-and-mouse chase, nor that Penny's rifles would've had a stray bullet, which meant...

"Cykan!" she shouted into the COMMs, perhaps a bit too loudly than necessary. "’Telcam is gone! Are you still in the building?!"

"No, Leader," Cykan replied, briefly reminding Penny of the breach in professionalism she let her panic cause. "No other combatants were left and you had 'Telcam. I left to back-up the SpecOps and Ultra in holding off reinforcements, a few minutes ago."

"All three of you, focus on intercepting him! The Spartan is still-"

Just as Penny turned to confirm what she was about to say, she found the opposite to actually be true. The Spartan was utilizing built-in thrusters in her armor in leaping through the hole in the glass roof that they both came from. Whether it was to pursue the fleeing 'Telcam or to retreat with her life, she wasn't sure. Until...

Once at the top, the Spartan peered back down the hole at Penny and stated calmly, "ONI will remember this, too, robot girl."

Retreating with her life and intel, it was. Did Penny go after the Spartan to keep that from happening? But that would inevitably have to end in death, as Intent couldn't just hold a Spartan hostage without humanity eventually catching wind. Three Sangheili were trying to intercept 'Telcam, yes, but that didn't guarantee they could accomplish it. If Penny came up from behind, she could help surround him. If he hadn't gotten too far, that is.

She made her choice, turning around to go down the only path 'Telcam could've gone. Along the way, all available scanning tools within her systems were running at maximum potential, seeking any sign of 'Telcam or his movements. It was because of this that she zeroed in on a strange clue.

On the ground - near the bodies Cykan left behind - a datapad still warm with recent use was a little busted up from a fall, yet still operable. Picking up, Penny found it was wiped of all contents except one file. When she opened it, she read this message:

Three days from now, go to Sqala at these coordinates. You will find what you seek there.

It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on. Thinking back to 'Telcam's odd behavior while in hiding, she realized he had been preparing to leave this message behind. While he had been on the run, he had left this behind somewhere he believed either Penny or her back-up would stumble upon.

That didn't mean it wasn't a trap. But even if 'Telcam escaped, maybe they wouldn't be ending this mission as a total loss...

She held onto that silver-lining as Xyha updated her through COMMs:

"Terrible news, Leader Polendina. We were pinned down too much between ground reinforcements and an incoming Phantom's cannons. The Phantom was able to retrieve 'Telcam."

"How long ago?" Penny dared to ask. If any hope remained...

"Just a moment ago. I am watching the Phantom fly off."

...she would take it. "Begin the retreat. I will follow the Phantom."

"Proceed with caution," Xyha advised. "We will await your return. You will return."

"Promise."

Shooting out of the building's exit and into the air with her jet-boots, Penny scanned the sign for any silhouettes that might've been a Phantom. Along the way, she sent lasers down at ground troops that dared to try firing their guns at her. Xyha had said he'd been watching the Phantom fly off just a minute ago, so it couldn't have gotten far. She just hoped it was the only one in the sky within this radius, otherwise she'd just be chasing the wrong lead.

Finally, she spotted a shape that seemed promising enough. As she flew closer in pursuit, she identified it as a Phantom. Its trajectory suggested it had recently lifted up from the ground into the air and was seeking to climb further, possibly to escape the planet in favor of one of the Servants' larger spacecraft.

This has to be it. she thought to herself. The question is... do I just go for it? Shoot it down? Even if I got the wrong one, it's still troops denied from the enemy... 

But that note... He might need the three days to set up whatever it is. I could be missing out on something big if I kill him here. Or I could capture him alive and save us all the trouble.

Can I do that without risk of him dying, though? I have not tried attacking these things with intent to keep the occupants alive before. One mistake is all it takes. I could try following it to wherever it lands or boards, then capture him, but I could be risking going too far behind enemy lines, with too much ammo stressing my Aura...

Penny was saved from the deliberation by a new development, announced to her by Rtas.

"Polendina, we are detecting more incoming reinforcements," he said. "Intent is at risk of getting overrun. We are reaching a point where we will have to abandon the planet, and anyone who cannot extract in time. What is your status?"

"I am right behind 'Telcam's Phantom," she answered, feigning confidence in her chase. Except for a dip as she added, "But I do not think I can destroy it."

She briefly debated going over her whole thought process, but realized there wasn't much time. Plus, Rtas may just order her to go ahead with the kill if he believed her incapability was anything but physical restrictions. Although she still was unsure of the correct move, she was heavily leaning towards keeping 'Telcam alive as part of it.

"Very well. Return to Intent at once," Rtas ordered. "There will be other opportunities, as long as we survive."

Yet this had been a very good opportunity, served nearly on a silver platter. There was no way 'Telcam would be returning to this base of operations; he'd set up shop somewhere else, and the whole process of sniffing it out would have to begin anew. Plus, the element of surprise on Penny's part was gone - he'd know exactly what she was capable of and could plot defenses accordingly. Most of all...

Disappointment. From their informants, who had trusted them to utilize this intel well; even if they themselves hadn't been all that trustworthy, letting them down still hit a chord somewhere for Penny. Disappointing the Arbiter, who had trusted them enough to leave the operation's details to them, felt even worse. And the rest of Shadow of Intent, who had worked so hard on their ends to see this mission succeed...

And from herself. The factors of this failure rested on her. She hadn't been able to stop the Spartan from posing a threat, both during and after the mission. She hadn't been able to get anything useful from 'Telcam, the best being a possible trap or trick. Neither had she been able to neutralize his threat, peaceful or otherwise.

Penny let herself hover in the air, watching the Phantom grow distant in her vision. Other aircraft started to dot the sky and soon would risk her ability to at least escape with her life.

It was strange. In the moment, all her choices seemed at least decent. Looking back at the context that failure was the result, her judgement started to grow muddy, and the right path didn't stand out. But the thought of having to explain all this to Rtas and the others? That was where all her regret lay.

Finally, Penny flew off to the ends of New Llanelli's atmosphere, catching up with the dropships extracting her strike team and the others. There was an opening for her to slip into one before the void of space would threaten the occupants... but she just kept flying. Until she was forced to pass the Intent's fields to enter the hanger, Penny avoided having to be in the presence of anyone for as long as possible.

Chapter Text

Jan. 24th, 2558

By "Sqala", the note had been referring to the human colony world of Venezia. Well... that designation was still debatable. For one thing, since even before the end of the war, Venezia became home to an increasingly mixed-species population. These inhabitants ranged from all walks of life... within the criminal and morally dubious underbelly of the galaxy. Criminals, smugglers and dealers, terrorists, mercenaries, and various other factions intersected on this planet, forming an odd peace that seemed impossible for their wider peoples' to achieve out in the galaxy. Why 'Telcam had chosen this place stopped being baffling, once they identified agents of various Covenant remnants and even the Banished making purchases for their arsenals and exchanging intel. A bit later, they'd learn 'Telcam had even done business on this planet before.

However, for all intent and purposes, this was still "UNSC space". They merely had a hard time keeping the criminal activity low and Venezia had established some sovereignty for itself... but unauthorized access by an ally like the Swords of Sanghelios was bound to cause trouble.

Which is why Penny's team had come alone.

The decision was not made easily by Rtas, who needed a lot of convincing from Penny that it was worth it, that it was their only option, and that their team would be safe. Still, there were many restrictions on this plan. The greatest of the restrictions was that Shadow of Intent could not follow them. Just one sighting of the assault carrier in the system would bring too many questions and unravel their scheme, so Penny and her three-man team had to take their own smaller craft, with only a small crew accompanying them to pilot the craft and make their arrival on Venezia less suspicious. For a den of lawlessness, the colony still had its own tight security.

Instead of any of the usual aircraft in Intent's hanger, the team was able to secure a Mudoat starsloop to further distance themselves from suspicion of Swords of Sanghelios allegiance. The Little Flare was owned by an ex-Covenant warrior named Sota 'Zutam, who decided not to join any active military factions following the fall of the Covenant. Yet he and his brothers were sympathetic to the Swords, agreeing to requests for transport as long as they remained in control of their vessel - even if danger was ahead. The vessel in question was a transport vessel capable of slipspace; it was small enough that a limited crew would not ring as suspicious, especially as the 'Zutam brothers were skilled enough to operate it with even fewer numbers than usual. Just to be safe, some Unggoy working under the 'Zutam clan were also present; they knew enough about the craft to not be a hindrance, but mainly they were there to add more numbers and a degree of belief to the idea Little Flare wasn't Sangheili-only.

Another restriction on them was the necessity for Penny to hide herself under a cloak. It wasn't inherently because a human girl traveling with Sangheili warriors would be suspicious, although that was still a factor. The main reason was actually that her appearance was becoming too iconic - 'Telcam's "Puppet of Intent" comment had only proved it. Even disregarding that anyone on Venezia might recognize her, her striking appearance would leave behind a story that any UNSC or ONI official visiting the planet could potentially hear - and then they would recognize her. To combat that, Penny donned a long cloak that covered most of her body, using the extra length it had on her to also wrap it around her head.

For some reason, she thought it'd look better if it were red. Alas, it was a tawny color matching some creature the Sangheili hunted for their coats.

After all that preparation under short notice, the team was able to infiltrate Venezia with surprisingly no difficulty. The make-up of their team raised some eyebrows, but apparently Venezians were keen on keeping to their own business; at the very least, the suspicion did not lead into an assumption of an incoming threat or infiltration by the Swords, which was what they were going for. They might be the talk of the town for a week, but it was not like they were going to be there long.

All of Little Flare's crew stayed behind in the area at the border of New Tyne they'd landed at, either taking care of the vessel or mingling with the local population under the guise of a short pitstop. Penny, Xyha, Juvo, and Cykan all departed into the vast expanse of vacant territory, following the coordinates in the note that indicated a spot far from civilization. Occasionally, they'd see the silhouettes of small satellite towns or farms, but took care not to approach and avoid encounters with anyone. The swifter they could just slip in and out of this planet, the better. No one needed to "know" who they were, even if it was a fabricated story they'd shed the moment they were back in space.

Before they'd departed, there had been talk of having more of the Intent crew accompany them. For a few reasons, they'd eventually settled on keeping the same low numbers. For one thing, the fewer that risked their lives out here, the better. Plus, the Intent had been growing more famous since the end of the war. Of course everyone knew its shipmaster, the "Half-Jaw". The female scion was famous in her own right, for being a young female warrior and part of the reason the Arbiter lifted gender restrictions on military service within the Swords. Stolt was talked about for similar reasons as Tul - an oddity amongst his kind that inherently sparked gossip. Blademaster Vul 'Soran was perhaps the least "interesting", but his skill and the amount of time on the field still risked him being recognizable.

In that regard, Penny shouldn't have been allowed on this mission, but they knew the foolishness of denying her this. Perhaps one of the others could've covered up her appearance like she did... yet there was the possibility that 'Telcam would make an appearance. If Penny had managed to get through to him, she could continue on that progress; but having more warriors show up alongside her might make him too uneasy to peacefully talk. Thus, they were back to the "few but quality" team, with emphasis on stealth. When they got close enough to the coordinates, the other three would begin to slow their steps, allowing Penny to reach it first. If there was danger, they'd be close enough to hear and respond in kind; but if not, she'd be able to carry out the rest of... whatever was about to occur, on her own.

She'd be able to put this mission to rest and redeem herself a little from the failure. That was the main reason Rtas finally caved, to this mission and to Penny going herself - so this wouldn't hang over her in the future. That's the impression she got from him, at least.

THREE DAYS EARLIER, POST-EXTRACTION

"We have made it this far, and now there is a Spartan that knows we were questioning 'Telcam," Penny insisted.

She and the core Shadow of Intent members were gathered at the holotable in the bridge, discussing the mission and its outcome. In the time since they reached the hanger, Penny had emboldened herself with the purpose of chasing after the coordinates 'Telcam left behind. It was the only option left in turning this situation around, even just a little bit.

The others just had to be convinced first. Unfortunately, the failure of both the interrogation and the assassination was still a more pressing matter to some - especially in regards to the mystery Spartan.

"And why did you not go all out on that Spartan?" Tul hissed. She was perhaps the angriest of them all at the mission's outcome. Despite concurring on the shadiness of ONI, she still ultimately had wanted 'Telcam dead by the end for all the damage he'd done to the Sangheili post-war. "The humans would've believed the Servants had felled her. They'd have no reason to suspect us. And now we have lost them both."

"I had to be careful of 'Telcam," Penny said, trying not to let the berating get to her. Tul had grown more comfortable with her since her first days on the Intent. Maybe they weren't as close as they were with some of the others onboard, but Penny tried to tell herself this anger wasn't personal... hopefully. At the very least, it wasn't the first time she'd seen Tul this incensed - she took assassination failures hard, was all, because she cared about justice. That had been the reason she first set foot on the Intent, after all.

"Perhaps that was the problem..." Vul cut in. Over the course of the discussion, she got the impression he was more at a loss over the failure itself than he was at the Spartan or 'Telcam getting away. That... almost felt worse than Tul's anger, for some reason. Had he truly had that much faith in her? That he still couldn't believe what happened? "Perhaps, if Polendina had given up on keeping him alive sooner, we would have at least achieved the original assassination goal."

"But that's just it," Stolt argued. "The involvement of a Spartan that definitely was working for ONI just proves we were right. Killing him at that point would've just made ONI and the Spartan win."

"And since he has survived, he is able to give us something," Penny concluded, trying to bring things back to her central point. "He would not have taken time out of his escape to leave that note otherwise."

"Or-"

Rtas held out his hands in a silencing gesture, keeping Tul from snapping at Penny further. Reluctantly, Tul tightened her mandibles to a close, letting the shipmaster speak.

"Stolt and Penny make a good point," he said. "ONI is trying to keep something from us, and we need to give the Arbiter the tools to finally push back and address their scheming. At the very least, we need something to counter this setback. They are the exact type of people to try to use it against us - or worse, the Arbiter. We have nothing more to lose at this point. We have three days to make preparations. But for the moment, you all should rest after the fight you've had."

She didn't know if he meant the combat on New Llanelli, or some of the verbal sparring he'd suffered through in the last several minutes.

"You are all, except for Polendina, dismissed." Penny blinked at the callout. "Polendina, I have additional words I wish to have with you."

The others only gave her a momentary glance before they left the two alone at the holotable. Rtas, in that time, peered around at all the activity in the bridge ongoing around them - seemingly debating if this spot was private enough or not.

He'd apparently decided it was, as he spoke up, albeit in a lower voice than before. "I know you could not bring yourself to kill the Spartan."

Ah. So this was about that. Penny let silence linger, unsure of how to respond.

"I am certain I am not the only one to suspect it," Rtas continued, to buy Penny's mind some more time. "But I opted to not say it out loud. Our debriefing did not need to be derailed any further... and I wanted to give you the chance to discuss it without embarrassment. So, do not fear, Polendina. I will not yell at you as you answer... but I do want an answer for what happened down there."

Despite that, Penny still winced, and took an awkward amount of time to begin speaking. "I... was uncomfortable, yes. Even though I knew ONI had done something wrong, that that Spartan was helping them and had her own cruelty... I do not know, though. I do not know why I could not kill her. I am still not sure what I would have done instead, if things had not unfolded so fast... Maybe I hoped she could be convinced, like I was trying with 'Telcam? Maybe I hoped that, if she kept living on, she might live long enough to find peace with us? It... sounds stupid when I say it out loud, now. I was still figuring this out on the fly and the situation kept developing... 

"I just feel this hope that the answer to all the machinations of ONI is not made up of all blood and death. That the Arbiter can keep turning enemies into allies. That one day, the only enemy remaining is something mindless and uncompromising, something... easier to stomach killing without regard, than a fellow thinking and feeling person."

As she kept talking, the words started to spill without conscious input. Her feelings about fighting had been going all over the past, for the past few months. She had tried to be merciful with the terrorists on Alluvion, who barely registered as combatants to her and seemed too desperate in their motivations to truly hate. She’d been far more okay with slaughtering the Covenant remnants on Feldokra, when it was clear the lengths they'd go for selfish ambitions was unacceptable to her values of guardianship. She could handle the missions against the Order of Restoration and other splinter factions, because their attitudes were much the same; just hearing of Tul's vengeful resolve against the Order, who had a hand in making her kid brother - forced to become a kaidon at an extremely young age - her only remaining family... that made her shockingly okay with fighting against them to the death, although she was also okay with the usual standard of the Swords' to arrest the key members and put them on trial. When she and Vul had been up against hordes of Unggoy, she hadn't let herself get distracted by how their species was usually bullied and coerced by other species and utilized as meat shields... she had been more focused on how dire the situation was, how close the old blademaster might get to finally being permanently retired, and how she was one of few things keeping that fate from befalling him.

But now she was being held up by discomfort? When the Spartan had expressed as much malice as the Covenant remnants? When ONI had clearly done as much damage as the Order of Restoration? Why? Was it because the vengeful speech reminded her too much of Tul's own mutterings when a San'Shyuum was brought in alive? Was it because mercy was already too much on the mind, with her trying to reason with 'Telcam? Did she think that ONI might be rehabilitated after suffering enough consequences, made as reasonable as Lord Hood? She'd heard Rtas mention once that Lord Hood had still held bitterness towards the Arbiter and him, when the war had still freshly ended and despite all they achieved in their alliance; that seemed to no longer ring true, given how he spoke with them on Alluvion. Could those in ONI undergo the same transformation, if enough time passed? Did that... really matter, if the Intent found the proof they were looking for, and rumors stopped being rumors? Where was the line drawn between reconciliation and retaliation? Would pinpointing that distinction make her time on the battlefield easier? Could there ever be combat without guilt and philosophical questioning?

Why... did she think that there could be?

Why had she been made capable of such incredible violence, yet in-depth empathy for other living beings?

Was that a glitch? Was it why she had gone on a decent amount of time without having to confront any complexity about violence and peace? Was she not supposed to do that part? Had it not been necessary, wherever she came from? Why had her level of combat prowess been necessary? She... easily destroyed so much, on her missions.

Could she have butchered the Spartan, if she really tried to? Could she have leveled that whole building, snuffling all life within, if she had given up on a peaceful resolution?

Maybe the problem wasn't that the enemy wasn't mindless, or at least it wasn't the only part of the problem. Maybe the problem was that she was not.

"Can we end a conflict with everyone walking away alive?" Penny finally asked, after having gone quiet with her contemplation and Rtas sensing enough of that to not yet interject. She asked, as if Rtas held the ultimate power over the universe, "Can we just have one of those, at least every once in a while?"

Rtas regarded her with a gentle, almost pitying stare, before finally starting, "Sometimes, a life spared leads to more lives lost in the long term. True maturity in this field of pursuing justice and security is knowing when mercy will alleviate evil, and when it will only beget more. And... there is no perfect success rate, in that regard. But you will suffer more failure if you hold to only one path or the other."

After closing his eyes for a long moment, he added, "The Arbiter has trusted my own judgement, when it comes to that. I am at the forefront on investigations and pursuit of the San'Shyuum, because he trusts that vengeance against their species for the crimes of the Hierarchs and the Order of Restoration will not blind me into culling fellow victims and other innocents. That when I approach with my blade, I will know who to cut down and who to walk past. I am not always sure of myself... but someone must do it, and not as many Sangheili are willing to. Not even on this ship."

He said that as he opened his eyes and looked back in the direction of where the others exited. Tul immediately came to mind; but she also recalled the indignation in Vul's voice as he recounted the Intent's mission against the Prelate Tem'Bhetek and the Minister of Preparation, who had plotted the extinction of the Sangheili and already caused a lot of grief in their path to achieve that. It hadn't been from him that she learned the Prelate switched sides at the last minute, choosing to sacrifice himself to end the threat against the Sangheili. When she thought back to it, only Rtas had shared that detail, some time after Penny thought she'd gotten the whole story (in pieces, not knowing the entire time it was the same story being referenced), even though it wasn't anything secret or something no one else would know about.

Maybe because he'd been the only one to actually care about the last minute redemptive death. He'd also told her of the mercy he'd spared the Prelate, when they had managed to capture him alive at first. Of singing him parts of a ballad. Of sharing a little bit about their lives. Of revealing to him the truth of the quarantine of High Charity, while remorsefully apologizing that it resulted in the deaths of the Prelate's family.

"Maybe... I should not be the one making the big decisions on the field," Penny said, thinking not just of her still-nebulous view of right-and-wrong, but also the pit in her stomach at the thought of if she'd been in Rtas' shoes, during that mission. If she had learned her efforts to stop the spread of the Flood had killed the Prelate's wife and unborn child. If she was unable to keep him alive past the conflict with his boss. If she had to be there as it was revealed Tul's "right of release" rescue mission was going to turn into a revenge-killing mission, that the ship had been too late in saving her father and brothers. It was all so unfair and messy and... just made her feel sick.

Clasping Penny's shoulder, bringing her attention back to him, Rtas said, "This was your first time as a leader. Rare is it for the first run to go perfectly - there is always something that can be criticized, that will be. You have a lot to learn still, but I do not see you as completely unfit. Be grateful you all made it back to the ship."

Then, as he continued, he turned away - the distance between them helping in keeping his voice from shaking further than it already did in the process of recalling: "I have led many warriors into massacre. I have been the sole survivor of more engagements than I should have been. These failures are not all old. In the twilight year of the war, when the first Halo was discovered... I was sent with command of my Special Operations team to investigate a distress signal, unaware of the parasitic threat we were walking into. Every last one of my Unggoy and Sangheili died, turned into monstrosities for the parasite to puppeteer. My second-in-command had to be felled by my own blade. A fine warrior and accomplished blademaster. My... friend."

With that behind him, he faced Penny again. "There will come another day where you will be called upon to lead, whether by my command or the necessity of the battlefield. The lives I have lost and mistakes I have made weigh heavy, are always in mind, but I do not let them stop my march onwards. So too will your failures and misjudgements prepare you for the next day. As long as you allow them to."

By that point, tears were in Penny's eyes. Yet she wasn't in the throes of a depression or a breakdown, like she felt on the verge of before. Maybe a little bit, the emotions of her contemplation combined with sympathy towards what Rtas shared had overcome her; but mainly, there was relief and happiness.

"Thank you, sir," Penny said. She thought about adding something else, but in the time she debated what that could be, Rtas had already nodded affirmation and spoke.

"You are dismissed, Polendina. And... take these three days to rest."

PRESENT

She had genuinely tried to, yet she felt oddly energized after only a few hours since their talk. There was still one obstacle for her mind to reach inner peace from recent events - recognizing it, she perhaps got a bit too insistent on getting to go to Venezia, but she tried not to sound too obsessed about it. Tried to. Maybe it was a bit difficult not to sound obsessed. But hopefully, she made it sound like her usual "perky Penny Polendina" obsession, and not a mentally-concerning one...?

Just... having this last chance to make all her choices since they first heard about the assassination request worth it, she was too eager to act upon it. Her newfound clarity... she still wasn't sure what the answers were, but she no longer felt grief over the debate and potentially making the wrong calls in her path of figuring things out. But she definitely didn't want to stall in figuring them out.

Finally, Penny reached the exact point of the coordinates. She was entirely alone - besides her team having stalled earlier, her scans confirmed no other lifeforms were in the vicinity. There was no ambush - nor a last-minute peace meeting with 'Telcam himself.

But there was evidence someone had been there recently, potentially not too long before Penny herself showed up. Sangheili boot-steps in the dirt. Tracks of a vehicle even further than that. The distant shape of something flying towards space, in the direction the tracks came from.

The main centerpiece of evidence was a half-buried care package, sticking out just enough to not be missed. It looked so recently buried - likely 'Telcam waited just long enough so that no one else would stumble upon the package, only just now making his getaway. If he had even left the care package behind personally; it was also likely that, just to be safe, he sent a proxy to do it.

Bending down, Penny dug out some of the dirt surrounding the package, loosening it up before finally prying it out of the ground. Thick cloth was wrapped tightly around a few different digital pads of Sangheili-make. She activated the one on top, deciding to go in order - just in case they were arranged for a specific reason.

The screen opened to a text file, which was last modified a day ago:

"I share this not as an ally to a false Arbiter or blasphemous order, but as a concerned Sangheili citizen who no longer wishes to see our people toyed with by humanity. Even if the false Arbiter takes his blade to humans, his denouncement and slander of the gods cannot be forgiven, nor do I expect him to so easily come to their side. But... I still look forward to the humans' punishment, even from the likes of him. And the next time he speaks with Serin Osman or Evan Phillips, tell them this: Avu Med 'Telcam sends his regards, and will regret not getting to see them in person one >final< time. As for Jul 'Mdama or that youngest son, wherever he has been taken... That I truly hold sorrow for what happened to Raia, and to not worry about Dural."

Some of the message confounded her, until she started going through the other data pads. It turned out, she was missing some context, but the evidence filled the blanks: logs of his movements from 2553, which included meetings with then-Captain Serin Osman and a Professor Evan Phillips, as well as an interesting pathing during the Siege at Kolaar that revealed his retrieval of said professor from Vadam State and his own rescue from the conflict by a prowler captained by Osman; receipts of shipments he received from ONI, comprising of both Sangheili and human weaponry, before and after the Siege at Kolaar; journals and communications referencing the involvement of Raia 'Mdama during the assault, her motivation being to search for her missing husband, Jul 'Mdama; and communication logs of various Servants members discussing his retrieval of the professor, the professor's subsequent disappearance from their temple via a Forerunner relic, and his rescue from a siege on a smaller keep by 'Telcam's human allies, which included Raia and a Forze 'Mdama's brief contact with them when it was initially their job to retrieve him.

With some confusion still present about "Dural", Penny was nonetheless able to piece the story together, and likely the Arbiter would be able to figure out even more than she did. Not only could this prove ONI's involvement with the Servants of Abiding Truth and their assault against the Arbiter, the parts with Raia 'Mdama could even back up the rumors about ONI taking Jul 'Mdama hostage. Or at the very least, it showed he had been somewhere during that time, and a questioning of his side of the story was warranted.

By that point, Penny took notice that her team had caught up with her, silently letting her finish her investigation while they were on guard around the perimeter. She turned her body towards Xyha, bearing a smile under her hood.

"We got them."

And they had them.

Not long after delivering the Arbiter the care package and briefing him on everything that occurred, an ominous message was sent. It had appeared to be a hacked message on the transmission lines with human diplomats - a compromising of their secure lines warranting a "hotfix" - but the sender was quite obvious to the Arbiter and Intent crew.

"We have video. We have audio. Possible collusion with the Bishop wouldn't look good from >anyone<. But we can be quiet, as long as we don't have reason to make noise."

A stalemate. That's what all their effort had led to. They couldn't do anything with the evidence they found... but at the very least, the status quo between the species wouldn't change for the worse. Not anytime soon, anyway.

To add further insult to injury, as February rolled around, word of the terrorist Gek 'Lhar's escape from ONI captivity spread.

As the kind-hearted Penny listed around the ship, worrying about what his next attack may entail, Rtas considered the "convenience" that Shadow of Intent had learned this news before anyone else in the Swords, by an anonymous... "concerned" source.

Chapter Text

March 3rd, 2558

"And you trust them?"

"If the Chieftain has agreed to speak with me, that is already a good sign."

"That is not what I meant, although I am concerned about him as well..."

On that day, the Arbiter had graced Rtas with his holographic presence to discuss a recent proposal that he'd accepted. With Jiralhanae raids in joint-occupied territory ramping up, the UNSC had decided to get involved - even though it was the Sangheili that were specifically being singled out in these attacks. The UNSC's solution was to identify a moderate-seeming Chieftain and arrange peace talks between him and the Arbiter. They may not have been the universal leaders of their entire species, but their influences were enough that the benefits were worth it. There were always rivaling factions that wouldn't accept any treaties or alliances, but it wasn't like that was anything new to any species. Even the Covenant empire had always been squashing rebellions and pirates.

As he explained the details, Rtas took note of a bit of displeasure in Thel's voice. Despite his usual willingness to negotiate and be diplomatic, this was clearly not his idea - merely something he agreed to. Rtas could somewhat relate, as he himself was constantly juggling with the concept of forgiveness when it came to the San'Shyuum. But both of them could see the importance of the UNSC's idea and how good it would be for the Sangheili - to have some of the hostility off their backs, to have access to new sources of resources, and to even potentially gain more allies.

There was just one other thing that bugged him, even more so than the thought of peace talks with a species that had earned their human nickname of "Brutes".

"The third-party mediators being humans," Rtas continued. "They have not arranged this out of pure altruism, and they have the least to gain or lose. And with what's happened recently..."

Thel alleviated the burden of having to voice the specifics; nodding, he replied, "Yes. No matter how good Admiral Lord Hood has been to us, we cannot be certain of every human's agenda. That is a large part of why I am consulting with you now."

At first, Rtas hadn't caught the meaning. Sure, it was sometimes inconvenient, but they were close enough that they sought each other's counsel on matters that didn't always include the other.

Yet Thel's next words proved it was more than that. "I mean no offense to the UNSC when I say I would be comforted with bodyguards comprising of my own warriors. After giving it some thought, I decided the potential danger, should talks go wrong or secret agendas be enacted, was enough to warrant a request for Shadow of Intent to accompany me."

Blinking, Rtas echoed, "You want us as bodyguards?"

"Yes. Particularly your primary crew. Penny Polendina, Blademaster 'Soran, Scion 'Juran, Ranger Stolt... and yourself."

Rtas caught that pause, and its hidden message, and fought the urge to wince. "Get out of your ship for a while and do something on the ground," was what he was saying. At least, that's what Rtas first interpreted. It was also just as likely Thel was meaning that he trusted him the most with his life. Instead of dwelling on that, though, Rtas focused on another thing that caught his attention.

"Polendina? Are you sure that is a good idea?" he asked. "With humans crawling around, running the whole event?"

"I know Polendina to be a good warrior, in both skill and heart," Thel insisted. "And I trust her. Her heart may be more useful than her blades in a diplomatic setting, even. But also... If you are concerned about any challenges regarding her and her station with us, which was brought up by Lord Hood in our discussion, we can use this moment to make it clear where Polendina's loyalties lie."

That was part of the problem, though. Would it actually encourage ONI to keep out of their business - her business? Or, between the failed assassination and now this, would it just make them further concerned about not having her for themselves?

Yet Rtas held his tongue. Not that the Arbiter wouldn't hear out his concerns, but neither did he think there was anything meaningful that could be said in response. At this point, what wasn't possible with ONI? Plus, Rtas was certain that Thel had had similar considerations in his own time. Ultimately, they could only do their best and respond in turn with whatever ONI wrought.

As if to prove that point, an alert came from the bridge - his input on a sudden matter was required, ASAP. Rtas agreed to the request and hastily wished the Arbiter well, before making his way to the bridge. Once there, his officers were quick to fill him in on the issue: three ONI prowlers were detected, and they were trailing Intent. Trailing, deep in sovereign Sangheili space, where any human visitors would have been reported - no, they wouldn't be wandering like this, they should have escorts.

They were not supposed to be here.

Rtas gave the order for the trespassers to be destroyed. No complaint was made by ONI to the UNSC. Neither did he elect to inform the Arbiter. There was, just like with the 'Telcam business, an unspoken agreement that mutual silence would be maintained to "keep the peace".

How ominous, though, that this should happen days before humans were set to mediate between two alien species - at least one of them they couldn't make up their minds on if they liked or sought a rematch with. And neither did he miss how it seemed that every concession for "peace's sake" was always made because ONI did something. He wondered what their reaction would be, if the day came that the Sangheili decided to no longer tolerate their transgressions and "be the bigger person". Alas, the catharsis would not last... Rtas may have been growing exhausted with ONI antics, but he was even more tired of losing good Sangheili warriors and especially when it could otherwise be helped.

Instead, he moved his mind towards the near future - reviewing the details in his mind, preparing for when he would brief the relevant parties.

Later that same day, Penny was called to the bridge for a new mission briefing.

"In two days, the Arbiter will be appearing at Ealen-IV in peace talks arranged and mediated by the UNSC," Rtas regaled. "The other main party is Chieftain Lydus, leader of the Children of Oth Sonin. The UNSC has identified him as a prominent leader amongst the Jiralhanae, and certainly more willing than most other chieftains to speak with the Arbiter. Nonetheless, the Arbiter has requested the Intent to escort him, and all those present specifically to be his bodyguards on the ground." He eyeballed their regular uninvited guest, Wanders. "Barring the Huragok, obviously."

"Peace talks? With Jiralhanae?" Vul echoed, nearly scoffing. "Can such a thing even be done?"

"We are about to find out," Rtas said. "And if the Arbiter cannot manage..."

He let the insinuations hang in the air. In the meantime, Penny gauged everybody else in that moment. Tul was silently seething in a way that reminded Penny of her demeanor whenever the Order of Restoration and San'Shyuum were brought up. Stolt was the one maintaining the most professionalism - even Rtas appeared as if he were holding something back. Despite not being part of this mission, Wanders' tentacles were still occasionally thrashing out in a rare display of brewing stress.

Oh boy, how could Penny clean up the air here? Perhaps it was time to lean on an old friend - questions!

"These 'Children of Oth Sonin' have not been brought up before," she commented. "Who are they? Besides being Jiralhanae."

"Admittedly, they have not been brought up because they have never been relevant before," Rtas explained. "And thus, we do not know much about them. All I can say is that if the chieftain is willing to negotiate with the Arbiter, it means he must be wise and reasonable... or he is neither of those things and merely extremely desperate."

"Eh, if you think about it," Stolt piped up. "If the UNSC thinks he's a good match, and he's got enough respect from his kin, and his faction is named after his home... Maybe he is the Jiralhanae's equivalent to Arbiter? And we have nothing to worry about?"

"Yeah, about that..." Penny looked over everyone again. "Why are we so grim and..." She searched for the nicest word that could apply to what she was seeing. "Stressed? Is this situation not a good thing...?"

"You have not been here long enough," Vul said, as if she hadn't fought plenty of Jiralhanae at this point. Then again, those encounters were still not giving her the full picture, so maybe he was right. "Even within the unified Covenant, there was conflict between us. It was half the reason for the Great Schism!"

"Even without the San'Shyuum leading them on, the Jiralhanae continue to strike at us..." Tul added, with a slight growl.

"Why?" Penny asked.

"You remember how I told you Kig-Yar and Unggoy have never gotten along?" Stolt asked, referencing a previous conversation. It started when the mention of an "Unggoy Rebellion" and its associated Arbiter was brought up, which led into some explanation of the fierce rivalry between species that claimed countless lives. "Sangheili and Jiralhanae are similar. Sangheili always at the top of the military hierarchy, at the side of the Prophets. Jiralhanae wanted that. Sangheili not keen to allow it."

"And so they colluded with Truth and butchered us!" Tul argued, a bit on the defensive.

"To give some grace towards the Jiralhanae," Rtas cut in, wincing. It might have occurred to him how... unproductive the overall attitude was, when it came to a diplomatic mission. "Their homeworld has been ravaged by civil war, to the point their civilization got decimated and returned to an earlier state. They had just recently rediscovered how to use radio when the Covenant discovered them, only a few decades before the war with humans began. 

"When it comes to recent events... as the Arbiter pointed out to me, the Jiralhanae were placed on resource-rich worlds by Covenant leadership, but never taught the skills to utilize said resources. They were to act as deterrents for thieves and scavengers. But now that they are their own masters, these worlds would be beneficial in bringing them back to their former glory, to before their 'First Immolation'. They may hold some gratitude to those that help them in that goal."

Penny saw that there was still some skepticism around the room, although everyone had gotten the silent message from their leader(s): despite what happened in the past, alliances were more beneficial to the Sangheili than grudges, and that meant sometimes having to make the first concession.

Still... How bad was it? During the war, during the Covenant? In spite of the truths that came out, people were still fighting. Humanity wasn't deemed a blight by any god... yet former Covenant members still hated them and fought them. The Prophets had been manipulating their members to do their bidding... yet those same members had a hard time coming together; if there was any unifying purpose that did work, it usually involved violence in some way, even the type of violence that defended a civilization. Why was everyone... so hateful? Vengeful? Not that she wasn't entirely so different; but still, she usually waited to determine if an individual had a threatening attitude that warranted her spite. She still, at the end of the day, wanted peace.

There was nothing indicating to her how this degree of wrath, even from those who usually were pleasant and kind, could come about and be sustained. Well, as far as she knew...

In the back of her mind, she had the vague notion that she did know. That same back of her mind where so many old memories were stored, out of reach for her conscious awareness. Had she known others like this? Had she experienced it? If she had to make a half-educated guess...

Old grudges seemed part of it, yes. That's where the "first concession" came in... the willingness to just let things go. But what if said things had been so bad? What if the other side didn't feel so deserving of that forgiveness? What if... it just fed into what they always wanted? Control? Obedience? Subjugation?

She didn't think the Sangheili could be so bad. Then again, she was fighting a lot of warlords that were completely fine in seeing whole families burned away for their ambitions...

Maybe even their own.

Thinking suddenly of the color white, and then specifically of the white-thing called "snow", Penny had such conflicting thoughts about if it soothed her or stressed her. Snow could be soft in a fluffy way, but also cold enough to freeze off fingers and toes. Even though her own metal body couldn't experience the latter, there was a tightness in her chest that other damage could be made to her.

In her rumination, the briefing had reached a close. Oh snap, it didn't look like she spaced out, did it? No one was looking at her with concern or irritation, so she must be in the clear... Thank goodness for Wanders always butting into these things - she could just ask him for anything she missed.

Once they had made a considerable distance away from anyone involved with the meeting, she'd done just that, while waving off any in-depth explanation of why she needed his recapping. He took her white lie (ah, darn it, darn it, outta her head!!!) of being too distracted by thoughts of the Jiralhanae and peace in stride.

It helped her lie that, when his recap was over, she was back on that very topic.

"So... Between the Arbiter being good at this sort of thing, and Chieftain Lydus sounding like a reasonable leader that will hear him out, this might actually work out?" she probed. "Sure, they do not represent their whole species, but it is a start? It could grow throughout their kinds? And all of space?"

Wanders suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallways they'd just been doing laps throughout. Hovering in place, his tentacles just hung there, with only the occasional bob of his floatation maneuvering showing that he wasn't just a misplaced statue.

"Wanders?"

"I think..." he replied, after a considerable pause. "That the Sangheili may sooner find peace with ONI than with any Jiralhanae."

She blinked, needing a bit more time than usual to process the response. Because it wasn't just the words... it was how it was spoken. The sudden dip in his voice's volume and tone. The strain of his text-to-speech in conveying an emotion it hadn't been designed for.

That's right, she suddenly realized. The Sangheili weren't the only ones to have conflict with the Jiralhanae. Wanders... all his friends had died because of their raiding, of their ambition drawing blood during the Great Schism. While he himself had been spared from such a thing, others of his kind had been strapped into explosive harnesses. The explosives were to keep them obedient and out of the hands of the enemy, but... it sounded like their masters didn't mind turning them into impromptu weapons, even with their value to the Covenant.

Crap. Maybe part of the reason Huragok were so rare these days was because so many of them had died in the final months of the war.

And it wasn't just Huragok. From what she'd been told, Unggoy had it just as bad; although not all Covenant Sangheili had been that better to them either. Thinking back to Stolt in the meeting... he didn't seem as incensed as Vul and Tul had been, but he didn't appear as chill as he usually did. Stolt helped explain the situation, but he still seemed to hold back on some of the "grace" Rtas had tried to impart as well.

Again, something burned in the back of her brain. She was certain now that she wasn't that naive about these kinds of complicated situations - of one party wielding power over another, of incurring wrath from their oppressees, of maybe... deserving some of it. If only she could just remember. It sounded like it might be of some use now. Could it tell her how these peace talks would end? How they should end? Would it let her fall in line with the cynicism the others were exuding? Would it grant her the clarity and grace to help smooth things over with advice and insight?

Would it... tell her something about herself? About where she should stay?

"I'm sorry if that's not a satisfactory answer," Wanders stated, bringing Penny out of yet another rumination.

"No, I am sorry," Penny replied. "For spacing out, and for... bringing all this up. I keep forgetting... reasons why peace doesn't happen."

"Yeah..." Wanders bobbled around, his response still leaving something up in the air. If he was debating on anything to add, he must've concluded to just hold back, as he resumed floating onwards.

At the first unlocked door, they stopped and rested their bodies. It took the arrival of some random crew members for conversation to return to either of them.

March 5th, 2558

The Sangheili were the first to arrive at Ealen-IV.

A small fleet had been attached to Shadow of Intent for this mission, with the Intent itself serving as the head - a position it inherited on the virtue of being the main ship escorting the Arbiter. On the ground, the core Intent crew - Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum, Blademaster Vul 'Soran, Ranger Stolt, Scion Tul 'Juran, and Penny Polendina - were serving as the main bodyguards, but there was a mix of infantry between Intent's Rangers and the Arbiter's regular Swords of Sanghelios warriors that fluffed up their numbers. 

Reportedly, they weren't the only ones who'd gone out with their retinue. Heading the fleet of the humans was the legendary ship, the UNSC Infinity. It was a pinnacle of combining human, Covenant, and Forerunner technology and had even saved the Arbiter and Vadam Keep as its first mission. A while later, the Jiralhanae would arrive last with a sizable fleet of their own. So, they weren't the only ones who were still on edge... What a sign for the peace talks themselves.

Ealen-IV was not actually a populated planet - not a proper colony at all - and that was exactly why it had been chosen for this delegation. No potential casualties if things went wrong, no potential hostiles blending in with civilian populations. This planet was terraformed for the sole purpose of producing plasma for the large-scale industrial projects of the Covenant empire. As such, a unique phenomenon was present: "plasma storms", which resulted in constant electrostatic discharges. Perhaps that sounded like too dangerous of a location for peace talks, but it did mean that all the ships with guns would have to stay behind on the atmosphere; surely, it would also discourage attacks from any outsiders, regardless of if they knew about the peace talks in the first place or just wandered too close. It would just have to be the most vital of retainers accompanying each of the three delegates on the surface of the planet.

Shortly after the arrival of the Sangheili, the humans appeared. That was not too surprising; if anything they should have been the ones to show up first, given the planet's proximity to their Outer Colonies. Then again, given the Outer Colonies' rocky relationship with the UNSC, any headstart was maybe non-existent there. Rtas knew that the appearance of the Infinity had given pause to many on Sanghelios, and not just because the Arbiter was accepting human assistance in Sangheili matters. That awe likely had a different effect on their rebellious and rebel-sympathetic colonies.

When their shuttle dropped down at the landing platform the Sangheili forces already occupied, several Spartans filed out alongside the familiar face of Admiral Lord Hood. Based on their intel, there were enough Spartans to compromise two fireteams, and later dialogue would reveal that to be the case - Fireteams Jackknife and Bailey. Along with them, it appeared that just like himself, the captain of the Infinity had also left his ship - Captain Thomas Lasky. Also with them was another Spartan not apparently tied to either fireteam, Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer.

Despite the diplomatic purpose and the long-standing alliance between the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios, Rtas allowed a brief moment of gauging the strength of the human forces against his own. Of either ensuring himself that the Arbiter and his warriors would be safe if weapons got drawn... or if there was an added necessity to seeing peace prevail today.

Once those thoughts passed, he took further note of how many eyes and visors had turned towards Penny, even for just a second. Stolt hadn't warranted as many, despite him being just as much of a novelty. He wondered how many of them had been made aware of Penny's android status. Of the whole history so far accrued between her and the UNSC - more like between her and ONI, but still. And he also wondered if any secondary objectives had been requested of them; like it seemed wasn't uncommon, even with missions without apparent ONI presence. If they would have to weigh human interests - ONI interests - over the whole galaxy.

The distance between both entourages closed, with the leading delegates getting the closest to one another. Lord Hord extended his hand in the human gesture of hand-shaking, with the Arbiter completing the gesture with so much ease you would think it wasn't a foreign thing to the Sangheili people.

The Arbiter spoke first. "Greetings, Admiral. Your presence is a great boon to these proceedings."

"The UNSC's happy to help, my friend. Let's hope Lydus feels the same," Lord Hood replied. Rtas kept his body still and face stoic, even as the human's demeanor surprised him. It certainly was a 180 from the end of the war. Ah, but given their encounter last year, perhaps he was playing up the friendliness a bit - to help with the caution in the air, especially between the main delegates. Bodyguards could afford being on edge, but it held a unique disadvantage to diplomats.

The Spartans were already placing themselves in position, spreading out to defend various points of the delegation site. Rtas began sending similar orders to his warriors through COMMs, carefully placing them in blindspots the humans couldn't stretch themselves to. The UNSC, as the organizers of this event, were charged with most of the defense of it, but it brought Rtas peace of mind to be of assistance in said defenses - even if it betrayed his inability to leave his life, his Arbiter and his warriors' lives, in the hands of their human allies.

"I trust our new friend has been getting treated well, on Intent?" Lord Hood continued, eyes going towards the android at the Arbiter's side. She and Rtas would be the two main guards at his side within the main room - only two at a time being permitted. At least, for the Sangheili and Jiralhanae. Humans got special permission to surround them all with Spartans, of course.

Penny did her human salute; the one where the hand went to the forehead. "Yes, sir! Everything's a-okay!"

Rtas barely contained a wince at her over-acting. They'd made the agreement, before touching down on the planet, not to mention anything of their... "difficulties" with ONI. But now it just looked like she was hiding tension between herself and the crew, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Thankfully, Lord Hood still had his not-entirely-wrong impression of her being a strange one. "Good."

Joining the little circle of conversation then was Captain Lasky and Commander Palmer. It was hard to gauge an emotion behind the Spartan visor, but Lasky's human face was clear in pleasant, friendly intent.

"So, this is the android we've heard about?" he mused out loud. "Since I don't see any weapons, are you assisting the Arbiter in the talks-side of this event?"

"Oh, no, sir," Penny replied, waving her hands. "I am still too uninformed on relevant matters to be of assistance there. My weapons are currently concealed - I only bring them out when necessary."

"So... you're fighting?" Palmer asked, her helmeted head clearly making a once-over of Penny. Neither did she correct herself on fighting being an if. "In a dress?"

Suddenly, Penny put her hands on her hips, lip pouting out. "It's a combat skirt."

She blinked, being just as confused with her reaction as Rtas was. That was... oddly catty? And lightly aggressive? And just when he was going to rely on her to help keep some others in check...

"And... yes, ma'am." Clearing her throat, as if that was the cause of her outburst, Penny resumed her usual demeanor. "Armor is technically unnecessary for me. My body holds enough defenses, and wearing cloth instead of additional metal layers keeps me light enough for flying."

"Alright..." Palmer replied, still skeptical. "Hopefully, we won't be needing any demonstrations today."

The conversation stilled there, but it ended up being perfect timing. It was at that moment that noise came above and heads turned up to see the arrival of the final party. A Spirit descended, dispensing as many Jiralhanae warriors as there were Spartans (should he have pushed Stolt to bring more Rangers?), with most of them blending into a sea of familiar blue armor, save for two individuals. One was in a golden armor, clearly a superior over most of the others. But the other...

Bearing scant orange armor, darker orange markings painted over his white fur, and giant tusks protruding from his helmet, Chieftain Lydus, also known as the Ghost Father, was easy to pick out even before he stepped out of the crowd of Jiralhanae. It wasn't just in his unique and eye-catching uniform - it was his commanding presence. Only such a man could herd a species infamous for berserking personalities. The aged Jiralhanae was one of the few remaining that had been around since before their integration into the Covenant; it was likely that he'd even fought the Covenant himself, before being forced to submit.

He held himself high, like any leader and like any Jiralhanae, but Rtas was at least eased at the confirmation of a lack of bloodthirst in his pale eyes. For now. Although, there was a judgemental mind not being hidden; Rtas would be something of a hypocrite to fault him on that.

"And there's the other man of the hour," Lord Hord greeted, using a human phrase Rtas could only partially ascertain the meaning to. Lydus did not match the thin smile Lord Hood gave him; in fact, Rtas nearly lost his breath at the sight, until he noticed the human had known better than to actually show teeth.

Briefly, he recalled the lecture he'd given Penny, giving an encore every few hours in the last two days.

"Do not speak to the Jiralhanae. Do not look at them, even, unless such a gesture would display fear or rudeness. Never appear afraid of them, but neither should you appear so bold as to be a challenge. If you are forced to converse, do so as briefly as possible, and choose your words carefully, and inform me, 'Soran, or the Arbiter through COMMs to come assist you in exiting the encounter. But, again, do not try to speak to them in the first place."

So, of course, she had broken that rule, near-immediately.

As they'd started their walk to the meeting room, Lydus made one of his observations - and his underlying opinion of it - known. "I recognize the infamous Half-Jaw. But Arbiter, are the rumors of you being on humans' leash true? You gave one of your precious bodyguard spots to a human whelpling?"

Before the Arbiter's mandibles could even part, Penny was clarifying, "Oh, no, Chieftain, I am not a human. I am what lifeforms around these parts refer to as a 'construct'." And for good measure, she hit a fist of hers against her skull a few times, a metallic bang ringing out with each one. "See? I am with Shadow of Intent and am well-equipped to fend off hostiles, should they appear."

Rtas' blood pressure shot through the roof, somehow finding a new high with every twist she threw. He had explicitly forbidden this! She had just corrected a Jiralhanae Chieftain nonchalantly! Against his orders! She had spoken for the Arbiter, for one of her leaders, in front of a rivaling leader! And in a way that defied his orders!!

"Polendina," he hissed through COMMs, keeping his face turned away so the others could not see his mandibles move. "What did I say?! Over and over again?!"

"I thought an introduction was necessary?" Penny asked, not a sign of the conversation present on her face. "I was referred to. There was a misunderstanding."

"The Arbiter was asked about you. He could have answered just fine!"

"I could answer just fine..."

"You-!" Rtas' shoulders sagged with a silent, yet deep sigh. 

At the same time, the Arbiter and Lord Hood were carrying conversation with Lydus - starting with reaffirming Penny's clarification, emphasizing her recent discovery and amnesia, and leading it into a diplomatic air of, "and doesn't it benefit us all to work together on these sorts of matters?" in preparation of stepping into the meeting room.

"Yes, you are correct," Rtas continued. "And I promise that asking of you otherwise is not something I will always do. But this situation is delicate. And you have only ever had hostile encounters with Jiralhanae. I... Cannot give you much advice on how to interact with them otherwise. And I do not want to see you hurt because of Jiralhanae wrath."

"He didn't seem too upset by my response," Penny pointed out. "And, shipmaster... we are at a peace talk. I will follow your advice about interaction, I recognize there is sensitivity in formal events and you are my superior, but... is it actually necessary? Won't our cautious, distrusting attitude be subtly picked up on by the Jiralhanae, and responded to in kind?"

They were the last two to enter the meeting room. Seats were arranged for the three main delegates, Captain Lasky, and even some of the bodyguards, but Rtas and Penny chose to stand within the formation made by the surrounding Fireteam Bailey. Continuing to stand allowed them some grace in having their own private COMMs conversation, without the diplomatic talks getting in the way or vice versa. Although, it did mean they were essentially stuck standing for the rest of the duration.

"I understand, and while I see your point that we should be treating our guests as guests..." Rtas recalled the slaughter of the Sangheili Councillors, at the onset of the Great Schism. The fierce battle for ownership of Shadow of Intent. The fleet battles Shadow of Intent became necessary for. The brutal raid against Rahnelo, the many deaths of its population which included Tul's father and brothers. Perhaps the Prophets had been the puppet masters, but the Jiralhanae had been gleeful puppets. That he would never forget.

Yes... the Flood were the greatest nightmare he had endured, but they were not the only foe to have left behind scars. Let Penny stay naive and maintain her hopes of a peaceful future - because that would mean she'd never have to witness evidence to the contrary, what he and the others on the Intent had lived through. Yet...

"But do not lower all of your guard," Rtas added, for his own peace of mind. Penny was a skillful and even ruthless warrior, but only when she allowed herself to be. If she did not give her all immediately... He'd just hoped there were things as strong as rampaging Jiralhanae, wherever she came from, so that the chances of her defenses being reinforced enough were still high.

"Of course, shipmaster," Penny replied, and despite her stoic face, he could still hear the smile. "I have already caught on that you cannot be that trusting when politics are involved. Even the diplomatic kind."

As the peace talks went on, Rtas' defensiveness would be validated - even though he'd, underneath it all, truly hoped to be wrong. And technically, he had been... and the ways he had been correct, he never would've guessed.

Chapter Text

Continuing to hover a distance away from the seated Arbiter, Penny tried to keep herself from appearing as distracting as possible. Most everyone else had the benefits of helmets to keep at least their faces partially concealed, if not completely covered. However, in her case, her expressions were visible in their entirety. She could at least be reassured a little bit that the only ones with the clearest view of her face, should it start appearing strange or distracting, were the humans. For Lydus and his golden-clad clan member, they would have to purposefully veer towards her to get a peek.

Which was good, because many moments of this meeting seemed reaction-worthy to her. Some might find it boring, especially those of her estimated "age range", but Penny was fascinated by the politics on display before her. There was her favorite thing: new information!! The delegates didn't entirely ramble about the whole history of their factions, but there was a bit disclosed that Penny was putting together like puzzle pieces.

The Children of Oth Sonin were based on one of Doisac's moons, Teash. Lydus had first formed the clan when the Covenant was still around, but they got their chance to expand greatly once the empire actually fell. They were a source of security and provisions to the citadels around the Jiralhanae's home system, and resource shortages between themselves and their overall species was one of their motivations for raiding the Sangheili.

Besides the history and cultural scraps, it was hard not to have her own thoughts at the conversation playing out before her. Despite the seemingly desperate situation, Chieftain Lydus still acted hostile towards both the Arbiter and Admiral Lord Hood - especially the former. She understood some of it was to do with old grudges - which, from what she was hearing of Lydus, wasn't just the Jiralhanae harming the Sangheili during and after the Great Schism, but even mistreatment from the Sangheili towards the Jiralhanae during the Covenant era (kinda what Stolt tried to imply) - but still! Was pride and vengeance worth his people starving to death?! What would happen to those that depended on his clan for safety if a famine weakened them, if an opportunistic rival took them out in this state?! She really thought just showing up to these talks, despite all she'd heard and even witnessed in battle of Jiralhanae, was a good enough sign that he wouldn't just argue and try to stand tall by himself. Apparently not!

Seriously! People's lives are on the line! Why can he not listen-

She stopped and blinked. Even though she had been reacting to something Lydus said in that moment, she could've sworn a different face flashed in her mind. It appeared to be a human... Ah, but the memory of anything was gone just as fast. Her only guess was that it was a man, since her interrupted thoughts of Lydus still seemed to line up.

"Jiralhanae are strong," the golden-armored one sneered, in response to something Lord Hood said that was roughly the insistence Penny would've tried to get through. "Our people lasted thousands of years on our own, more than the Sangheili can say, having been on the San'Shyuum's leash the longest. If the First Immolation could not destroy us, nothing will. These days are but a minor setback in comparison to that."

Penny could tell Rtas was biting back a retort, likely something about the Jiralhanae having abandoned the San'Shyuum later than the Sangheili - about more of them making up the military of the Order of Restoration than Sangheili did. 

The Arbiter might have also had much more on his mind, but instead he took the taunting in stride and replied calmly, "I will not argue on whether that is true or not. My questioning lies on whether you should shoulder that hardship further. There is no harm in lightening burdens. As leaders, our people hope we bring less struggle, not more. We would not be sitting here otherwise."

Yet the same taunter had more up his sleeve. "You speak for the Sangheili. And not even the majority of them."

"Remember, Dygedius," Lydus suddenly cut in, before anyone else could think of a diplomatic response. "We speak for just as many Jiralhanae."

"Right, Lydus," Dygedius replied, in a shockingly softer tone - and Penny took note of how he did not use any titles for his superior, yet no backlash came. "I cannot forget."

Again, Penny was questioning why they would purposefully make things hard for themselves. Was there that much distrust?

But things were going to be different than the Covenant era. All these leaders were equal to each other. The direction of the galaxy was going to be determined by them equally, not by three guys in their big chairs... Okay, wait, bad comparison. Still, tyrannical Hierarchs ruling based on the alleged words of gods and fear of heresy - that wasn't this. The Arbiter nor the UNSC were interested in raiding the Jiralhanae for their resources, unlike the other way around.

It was strange. This was not the first moment that "raiding" came to mind, with the context of why these peace talks were occurring having been disclosed to her days ago. Yet, perhaps it was because of the jab to her memories started earlier, slowly building up...

A snowy expanse. A mission well-done. A truck. Supplies. A barricade. Two women approaching, two men... her friend, trying to keep things civil, but weapons drawn... another two trying to flank, out of sight.

Penny flies out of the truck, her swords already levitating around her. "[FAVORITE BIRD #2]. I would like to politely ask that you call off the Huntresses approaching the rear of the truck."

A leader with white hair. "The Protector of Mantle, huh?"

"Let us through, please." 

Yes, this is all sketchy. Yes, she has reason not to trust them . But it's true. This will help. It... It's a bit strange to keep it secret, and it's causing more problems than just being honest - like now - but it's still help. Please let her understand that, to intuit it enough to trust them.

The tense air suddenly gives way as the leader sighs, giving the order for the group to stop obstructing... and they all move on.

But once that little nugget of trust - in faith in Penny - went away... that's when the raids had started, the attacks from enemies and lost allies. That's when a lot of things had gone downhill. But then... these people she tried to help weren't the only ones who had thrown away trust...

Blinking, Penny was back in the present. Her first thought after coming back from the haze was to ensure she hadn't distracted everyone, but she found the peace talks to be going as usual. No one was sparing her a glance. How long had she been out? Not that long? Was that why no one had noticed, or had her spacing out appeared to be too natural to draw anyone's attention?

Just as her eyes went to look at Rtas - whether to check if he had noticed or in preparation to outright tell him something had happened, she wasn't sure and she'd never figure out - an alert sounded from within herself.

WARNING: REMOTE TAKE-OVER REQUEST

DENIED

Penny fought not to have her eyes widen, because that'd surely start to alarm the humans that had a view of her. First things first, she needed to figure out what the hell just happened. Her internal systems investigated, finding the source was "resembling human origin", but it was obscure enough that she couldn't get anything else. Not where it came from, not who specifically had done it.

But the fact that it was potentially humans terrified her. What if it was ONI? What if it was the UNSC?! Right here, right now?! They were actually going to try something?!

"Rtas, we have a problem!!" she attempted to send through COMMs, so frightened and stressed she forgot all professional standards.

An error message was the response. Her systems informed her that her speech hadn't even gone through. And to throw salt onto the wound...

WARNING: REMOTE TAKE-OVER REQUEST

DENIED

Now Penny couldn't help the involuntary bounce of her feet. She was on top of investigating the hostile take-over even faster than before, yet it still only yielded a result of "resembling Covenant tech origin". So it... either was not ONI; or it was them, but somebody else was trying at the same time.

Neither attempt was successful, though. It was stressful, but she had to focus on that. The failures were frankly pitiful; it was apparent that the wannabe-hacker(s) didn't hold enough knowledge on her systems to actually be a threat to them. And once she was back on Intent, she'd inform Wanders and the other Huragok of what happened, and they'd definitely make sure no one ever would be.

She just had to make it to Intent, first. She didn't even try to question if she could last until then; it'd be utterly irresponsible of her to try and maintain bodyguard duties if there was concern of compromise. If only she could inform Rtas she had to withdraw - and maybe not be the only one. Yet with COMMs acting out, the only other way to inform him was to speak up... within earshot of the delegates and everyone else. Nope, that'd cause even more problems. But what other options did she have?

"These tribes take what they are owed! Nothing more!" Lydus' sudden shout brought Penny's attention back to matters outside of herself.

"We know the Jiralhanae are months away from an out-and-out famine, Lydus," Lord Hood replied.

"Without true leadership," the Arbiter added. "Soon their attacks will expand beyond the Sangheili, and unto one another."

Everything was still proceeding smoothly; only she appeared to be having problems. Well, beyond the fact that the delegation wasn't actually getting anywhere...

And that somebody was trying to ruin them.

Politics had bothered Rtas since the days of the Covenant. He would sometimes get emboldened enough to speak his mind, even in front of the Hierarchs - such as when the changing of the Honor Guard occurred - yet that was because he'd grow impassioned enough, even angry enough. These days, he was exhausted more often than not... and still angry, yeah. Exhaustedly angry. Exhausted with anger. All these years of service, yet relief from strife only seemed further away than when they'd started.

Rtas had given passing thoughts to how Penny must be holding up, during the whole meeting. At first he was concerned that she'd easily bore, then remembered exactly who he was thinking of and all the questions she'd been capable of in her first weeks. He did still wonder if she could handle standing all this time... But at this point, it'd feel too awkward to take a seat.

He caught the eyes of one of the unarmored humans sitting at the table - one who was neither Admiral Lord Hood or Captain Lasky, just a nameless mediator that none of the others was paying heed to and therefore had the freedom to throw out such a gesture towards him. Those eyes darted between him and something near him, then seamlessly went back to being engaged in the meeting.

Ah, shit. What was Penny doing?

Tilting his head to peer as discreetly as possible, he found that anxiety was exuding from Penny - regardless of her best efforts, which he could tell she was trying. He glanced around their view of the room, but nothing caught his eye on what could be causing it. Why didn't she just COMM him? Or was she trying to hide something? If so, she was doing a bad job. Unless...

With a sudden tilt of her own head, bringing a brief contact between his curious eyes and her wide, panicked ones, he realized some of this antsy act was on purpose. She was trying to bring attention. Which only made him question again why she couldn’t just try to COMM him.

Whatever. He would assume she had good reason not to COMM him, and instead get them to somewhere they could talk in private. However, when he attempted to contact Vul and Tul - in order to swap positions with them, as someone still needed to bodyguard - it suddenly was revealed why Penny was quiet on COMMs.

"'Soran, 'Juran, take mine and Polendina's positions in the meeting room for a moment."

"Shipmaster! So we have not- BZZZT ...COMMs just-" A long period of static ensued, during which Rtas assumed Vul was trying to impart a lot towards him. Unfortunately, the blademaster's voice never returned, even after the static ceased. Rtas only gave that a brief thought, though, as another detail worried him even more: he could've sworn he'd heard plasma fire behind Vul's words.

That was only confirmed as Stolt tried to break through, even more weapons fire present and the pants of running-breath laced between his speech. "BZZZT -your position! We're heading as fast- BZZZT"

What in hells was going on out there? And did it have anything to do with Penny's anxiety? He didn't think they'd try contacting her first; but with her systems, it was possible she caught on to a sign of the turmoil even before he had.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught him in that tense moment, but he found it was Commander Palmer. Still, it didn't ease him too much; he noticed she was exiting the room, two fingers at her helmet in the tell-tale sign of communicating with human COMMs.

Yet that was the best opportunity. He leaned over to tap Penny on the shoulder twice, then pointed in the direction of the retreating Spartan. Fortunately, she caught on quickly and did as silently instructed. Within a few seconds of starting his actions, Rtas was back to standing as firm and straight as a statue. Whatever was going on, there was still opportunity for them to stall chaos long enough for this delegation to end. 

End properly, at least. If that was possible, even without threat of an attack.

"Commander, what have you noticed?" Penny asked the moment they were both out of the door to the meeting room, trying to seep into her voice the implication she had her own stuff to share.

She didn't catch it, putting on the "scolding-a-child" voice. "Hold on, Infinity is trying to..." Her own frustrated hiss cut herself off. "I need to get a hold of my people. You should, too. Tell me how that goes."

"I already tried," Penny insisted. Issues were cropping up too fast for her to be bogged down by lack of cooperation. "COMMs are down. And what's more-"

"Aw hell..." Palmer suddenly said, making Penny follow the visor's gaze.

Sangheili legs were sticking out from a doorway across the hall, purple splotches of blood underneath. Penny boosted herself ahead with a thruster-jump, peering into the darkness of the attached room. Many dead bodies were scattered about, with the silhouette of Tul wrestling with an enemy Sangheili warrior at the very back. They were the only two left alive from whatever skirmish occurred.

"Tul!" Penny shouted, drawing both warriors' attention to her for a brief moment; the enemy's went wide in shock while Tul's looked momentarily clouded. The hostile's eyes narrowed at the sight of her, hissing something in Sangheili she could only barely hear at a distance-

"A youngling? You adopt human younglings now-"

-and Tul took the moment to get a hit on him on the back. It took another jab once he'd fallen to his knees to kill him, but his life was over in a matter of seconds. By the time he breathed his last, Penny was up in Tul's space.

"What happened?! I can not COMM anyone, neither can the Spartan, and-"

"Save your breath," Tul cut in; a bit curt, but likely because of the seriousness and intensity of the situation. She was already on the move towards the room's exit as she kept speaking. "We must alert the delegates. The planet is currently being overrun by hostile forces, ground and air. They were-"

"Lying in wait," Vul's voice finished. As the duo emerged from the room, they found Vul, Stolt, and two Rangers had joined Commander Palmer in the hallway. Around the same time Penny had gone for Tul, they had rounded the corner and began explaining the situation to the Spartan. "We have just informed the Spartan Commander. These hostiles were already here."

"And they didn't sound surprised to see us, either," Stolt added. "But we Rangers were, when we accidentally stumbled onto one of their hiding places outside! If only COMMs hadn't started blacking out at the same-"

"We have to evacuate the delegates, now," Palmer cut in. "We don't have time to chit-chat, if what you said was true."

"I can get there slightly faster!" Penny announced, already activating her boots to hover her off the ground. "Follow me!"

Not waiting to hear an affirmative, Penny was already zipping down the halls. Slightly faster was maybe misleading - it was more like leaving her companions in the dust. Which meant that, even with the delays caused by brief dialogues, she was still in time for-

Dust clouds illuminated by a yellow and orange glow filled her whole vision, the moment she opened the door. A force set her back a few inches, but her jet-boots allowed her to bounce back quickly. When her vision was clear of debris and light-

The night sky. Dark clouds of smoke billowing over the rooftops, a shrill boom having preceded them.

Penny's mouth moved in the present, but she heard a different girl's voice in her head, echoing her same, dismayed sentiment from the past: "Oh nooo."

As the aftermath of the sudden explosion settled, Rtas took stock of the situation. The explosion had come from the other side of the wall, opposite the exit, so the biggest killer was the chunks of wall slamming into bodies thrown off by the blowback. Looking everyone over, he immediately felt relief at the signs that the Arbiter was both alive and in good condition. His fellow lead delegates also appeared to have been spared the worst of the explosion. That infuriating Dygedius appeared okay... as did Captain Lasky...

Ah, but besides the armored Spartans, everyone else was dead. The survival of a little over half the delegation was apparently partially due to the position of their seats. When the table flipped over, a human and two Sangheili that had sat on the other side from the survivors had been crushed by both the table and debris falling upon it. There was still a chance they were breathing under there, but...

There was no time for him to check. Action was already requiring his full attention.

From the hole formed in the hall, three Rangers that clearly were not theirs hovered in the air with weapons drawn.

"Guardians of the righteous! Silence the blasphemers!" one declared. Rtas and the Spartans began drawing their weapons, prepared to fire on the flying targets and any others that emerged from the smoke. Igniting his blade - and leaving ranged attacks to the Spartans - Rtas went to the Arbiter's side.

"This is an outrage!" Lydus shouted at the same time.

"Palmer! On the delegates!" Lasky ordered, making Rtas aware that the Spartan Commander had returned.

In spite of the dangerous situation, Rtas dared to turn his head away from the hostiles and towards where Commander Palmer had come from. While Spartan armor moved in a flash, going to meet some of the descending enemy Rangers, Rtas caught Penny wobbling in the doorframe and Stolt keeping her from toppling over. There was some movement of arms between him, Vul, and Tul - emphasis for whatever they were saying - before the blademaster and Rangers moved out, leaving Tul to guard a strangely paralyzed Penny.

"What's going on, 'Soran?" Rtas asked once the blademaster had joined him and the Arbiter. Stolt and his two Rangers began assisting the Spartans in shooting enemy invaders, which had quickly increased from a mere three Rangers. At least Stolt's were wearing a different armor, so he could keep track of who was friend or foe. He... had a feeling he wouldn't have to worry, when it came to the other Sangheili infantry ranks.

"We tried to warn you," Vul began. "We made contact with hostiles outside-"

"No, with Polendina."

All three men spared a glance, seeing the scion with her lance and body covering Penny from enemy fire and slashing at two enemy Unggoy that drew too close. Penny showed no reaction to anything going on in front of her... well, except for the grim, shocked face, but that appeared to be frozen in time.

"We... are not sure," Vul continued, the men drawing their gazes away. "She was supposed to enter first, then... froze. She will not respond. The Spartan Commander elected to plow through her."

There was no time to discuss further, as the trio were forced to begin moving to avoid all the gunfire. The Spartans were positioning themselves to serve as shields, while the delegates were being pushed further by their bodyguards to head for the exit.

"What treachery is this, Arbiter?!" Lydus demanded, when the trio drew close to him and Dygedius. "Are all your promises built from lies? Or just the ones to the Jiralhanae?"

"Your safety means more than mine own, Lydus!" the Arbiter assured. "Even you can see-"

As a Kig-Yar dared to try sneaking up on them, the Arbiter slashed him with his own Energy Sword before Rtas or Vul could even react. "These men are clearly not mine!"

Eager to still make themselves useful, both men fanned out to cut down any Kig-Yar or Unggoy trying to follow the delegates; although, to a bit of his ego's dismay, the remaining Sangheili warriors were engaging Spartans.

Just as the thought crossed his mind about if Penny would be in the way of the delegates' escape, he heard her voice call out.

"Spartan Newman, bend the knee!" she called. Rtas didn't have the luxury to turn around and see what the hell she was doing, nor could he tell which in the sea of Spartans she was referring to.

Until the one with green armor with white stripes yelled back, "Uhh, okay?"

Doing as he told, awkwardly, he earned from Penny, "Perfect! Many thanks!"

"Pol-" Rtas was just about to call over his shoulder, until the sight of a giant laser from behind cut him off. The laser cut across the room, one side to the other, shearing the top halves and heads of the remaining Sangheili warriors and the silhouettes of enemies that would have entered the room while just missing the top halves and heads of Spartans. Had Spartan Newman not listened, no angle the laser could've taken would've spared him.

Now Rtas looked behind him, seeing Penny slightly off the ground with her blades in the giant-laser-firing formation a bit above her. Even the delegates, who were now behind her and standing in the hall, had paused to view the sudden display.

He had the momentary realization that not even the Arbiter had gotten the chance to see that attack yet.

A moment passed as Penny overlooked the results of her attack: a fiery line incising the wall across the room, making dust emit from the ceiling as a tell-tale sign of imminent collapse. Nodding to herself, her blades came together - still hovering at her back, but pressed against each other and pointed away from any targets.

Then she looked to Rtas and said, "Apologies, Shipmaster. This room might be... unusable, for the foreseeable future."

"I think we got all the use from it," Captain Lasky replied before anyone else.

At the sound of something cracking, Commander Palmer waved everyone to move. "Come on, people, we have new reasons to be on the move!"

"Correct," Penny added, only beginning to walk once Rtas had caught up to be by her side. "All hostiles in this section are neutralized, but I am detecting further encroaching enemy heat signatures from... all sides. Everywhere. Even above."

Up ahead, the Spartans were coordinating, guiding the delegates and clearing the path further on.

"Shipmaster, what should we do?" Tul asked, in response to all the Spartan activity.

"Alleviate the Spartans of the duty of covering the Arbiter and Lord Hood," he decided. "The more of them taking out enemy forces, the better."

He didn't include Chieftain Lydus - not out of prejudice, but as an acknowledgement the Jiralhanae would likely not be keen on it. Dygedius and one other Jiralhanae were already at Lydus' side, anyway.

As they continued to move through the hallways, Rtas spared a glance at the bodies of Stolt's rangers and the Arbiter's warriors. With the number of them racking up, he doubted any of them would be waiting outside.

Oh gods. Were they the only ones left?

That appeared to be the case, once they exited the building and were on approach to the platform containing their dropships. Purple dots in the sky tore his vision from the sight of the dropships, and his mind realized what was about to happen seconds before it did.

"Polendina, those Banshees!"

Her blades were back in the laser-firing position. "On it, but-"

At the same time the laser fired out towards the Ghosts, their green plasma barrage had already lit up the dropships.

"-my charge-up time..." Penny continued, her voice growing glum as something exploded on the platform. A chain reaction swallowed up the dropships. "...might be... too long... I am sorry."

"That is alright," Rtas assured. "I knew there was too little time, even when I noticed..."

They were interrupted by two things: the first was the sound of Lord Hood desperately trying and failing to hail Infinity, and the second was the oddly amused huff of Dygedius near them. Being a little alarmed at what would humor the Jiralhanae at the time like this, Rtas followed his gaze and found the Arbiter prone on the ground.

His heartbeats were just barely kept from stopping completely when he registered that Spartan armor was on top of him, and the limbs of the Arbiter were still moving. Right, the explosion. It was close enough to warrant those in the front to get down. Commander Palmer had covered the Arbiter's body from the explosion and blowback. Yet Rtas could've sworn...

Vul. The blademaster was also on the ground, slightly ahead of the Arbiter and both swords still laying in their active state around him, but there was no Spartan on him to have been the cause. Rtas and Penny rushed to his side.

"I detect his vitals are still stable," Penny said. Despite that, her voice was still worrisome. "The explosion merely knocked him out. He-"

Sudden coughing interrupted them, as Vul awoke with a start. "I am fine, Polendina! But the Arbiter..."

His eyes glanced over to confirm what Rtas and Penny already had. Except there was a new addition: Tul was at the Arbiter's side, helping him up while glaring plasma daggers towards the Spartan. She at least kept quiet, likely recognizing that despite the insult of tackling her leader, it had saved him from injury.

Speaking of...

"I apologize," Vul continued, in a rare moment of weakness. "You tasked me with his protection, yet... It was too fast..."

"Hey, it was too fast for everyone," Penny gently argued. Then paused, remembering it hadn't been the case for one person in particular; she apparently thought better than to actually voice it, though. "Your body still likely shielded some of the harsh wind and pressure, so..."

"Can you stand?" was all that Rtas was concerned about.

"Of course I can stand!" Vul yelled back in offense. His palms went behind him, his body lurching up... and a deep groan bursting through his mandibles during the whole ordeal. He was on his feet, but...

"Let me rephrase: are you injured? Are you truly in shape for more combat?" And just before Vul could answer, Rtas added sternly, "And remember, it is not just your life your sword swings are for. We must see the Arbiter get off this planet, alive."

There was some guilt in the way he insisted, especially with the insecurity Vul just displayed, but Rtas had to be a commander in that moment. Gentle sympathy could come later, when they all were safe and not in the middle of an active battlezone.

"There is... a lot of aching," Vul admitted, his head lowering. "The arm I landed on... I should not carry a sword in that one. But the other is still fine."

After a moment of thought, Rtas ordered, "Take 'Juran and stay at the Arbiter's side. If we are separated, only 'Juran is allowed to stray from him. If he complains, tell him I insist and will not accept otherwise. You can both bond over how the dirt tasted, if you lack conversational topics. Do not leave him, do not let him leave you."

It was the best compromise for this situation. Vul could still be useful as the Arbiter's bodyguard, and the combat prowess between the Arbiter and Tul would cover any weakness the injuries had opened up. But given how the winds were blowing, sticking by the delegates meant he would see the least battle. Unfortunately, it wasn't like he'd see no battle. For the time being, they seemed stuck planet-side surrounded by enemies.

As Vul nodded his acceptance of the command, they overheard another one from Commander Palmer: "Parts depot! Go!"

Their entire gathering followed in the direction she had pointed out, heading towards the building she identified as the "parts depot". By that point, the last waves of enemies had died, with only a scant few trying to tail and being picked off by weapons fire. Still, that didn't mean they were out of the clear - that's exactly what holing up in the building would guarantee, at least for a little while.

Once the last of them stepped into the building, the Spartan called "DeMarco" by Commander Palmer began sealing the doors behind them. There wasn't too much space in the room, leaving them to be closer to each other than any of them would've liked.

"Please tell me the cavalry's on its way," Commander Palmer said to Captain Lasky.

"All COMM traffic's being jammed. If you're waiting for the cavalry..." He swept a glance across the room. Lord Hood as the only unarmored human. Lydus and his two Jiralhanae. The Arbiter and the remains of the Shadow of Intent escort. Their own Spartans. "I'm afraid we're it."

And that just confirmed it. All Rtas had of their combined warriors was Blademaster 'Soran, Scion 'Juran, Ranger Stolt, two Rangers, and Penny... He already knew Vul would be limited in what he could offer going forward, and he would need Tul with him to compensate. Stolt had managed worse missions with just as many men at his side. Penny...

Looking at her, long enough that she noticed and stared worriedly back, he finally decided to direct her to as far a corner as they could get, with the others following suit and even the two Rangers posting themselves in a partial blockade between the others and their small group. 

He had to know.

Was she in just as bad a state as the blademaster?

Chapter Text

"What was that, back there?" Tul was already asking, even before Rtas could. At least they had the same idea. "You stalled. I had to cover you."

"I know..." Penny whined. Rtas was struck with the realization that with their positioning, it would appear from her perspective as if they were cornering her. Yet he assured himself that this was the best way of keeping as much of their conversation private as possible... He would just make it up by playing the "good cop" to Tul's "angry".

"We just need to know if this will be a problem when protecting the delegates or not," Rtas reassured. Then, added even softer, "And if you are okay. So, is there anything going on, Polendina?"

Her eyes could not face his, her lips pursing in deliberation. Unfortunately...

"I am sorry if it is difficult, but we have little time to discuss," Rtas reminded. "We must make our next move soon."

Nodding, Penny started a bit slowly, "I... Besides my COMMs going down... I have been getting alerts. Of someone trying - but failing - to achieve remote control. Sometimes it is with human technology, and sometimes it is that of the Covenant. I believe some of my blips are because of my systems having to fend them off."

"Remote control of...?" Vul pressed.

"Of me."

A pin dropped between them. Discussion of ONI attempting something were had, yes; but a blatant confirmation? That maybe not ONI, but someone, was trying to take Penny away right from under them?

"You said Covenant were involved?" Rtas asked.

"Do they not have some of their tech?" Tul added, her meaning and argument clear to him.

"That is true..." Stolt agreed. "But there's also Covenant right outside the door."

"And I have fought them significantly more than humans..." Penny said. "There has been more time for them to get familiar with me, than a human hacker would have."

"But still, I may not be an engineer, but it does not sound right." Rtas wracked his brain, but he rarely paid attention whenever engineers and other workers spoke of their work. He rarely understood. At most, he tried to educate himself on ship's systems, especially whichever one he was in active command of, so that he could make better judgement calls on the field. "Being able to begin hacking just from observing you on the field? There would have to be more to their study, surely. Enough for us to anticipate a move like this. And regardless, few should be aware you would be here."

"There's a lot few people should've been aware of," Stolt cynically said. "But here we are. Trapped in a parts depot, surrounded by enemies, peace talks ruined."

"It must point to the ONI pitho," Tul argued; at least she had downgraded her expletives, and Rtas couldn't one hundred percent fault comparing ONI to a twin-tailed serpent. "They would know of these peace talks, and of Polendina's presence. They have the technology to pull such an attack. They want her. And they are the type to ruin the Arbiter's hard work, just to have their opportunity to thieve."

"Well, regardless of who ..." Penny let her eyes linger on Tul specifically for a bit - likely trying to figure out if another "do not repeat" word was dropped or not. "All of the attacks have been failures, even when I freeze during them. My core tech is still unfamiliar to the hackers - to anyone not our Huragok, likely. I am still combat ready, Shipmaster."

Her little slip of Penny-cuteness, however, did little to assuage his concerns. Stalling on the battlefield was life or death - and not just for her. A spared glance towards Vul and he also wondered if letting her off the hook would be a bit hypocritical of him.

"We do not have a Huragok on hand to address this," he finally said. "Stick to the rear, Polendina. We will still take your ranged support-" In her case, that included directing the swords around the battlefield. "But keep your main body out of the fray. If you are damaged, we do not know how long it will be until we can get you to the Huragok."

"Right, I understand, Shipmaster." Shockingly, Penny accepted the decision graciously, with no disappointment apparent on her face or in her voice. She likely viewed her goal - of keeping them from worrying, and maintaining usefulness - as still sufficiently met.

By that point, the larger group were on the move for their next destination. A tunnel system had been discovered and they were to use that to make their retreat to a safer location: a redoubt where previous Covenant empire occupation had left behind fortifications. Captain Lasky and one of the Spartans were no longer with them, having departed for a different objective. On the way through the tunnels, the Arbiter would inform him of said objective: to try and re-establish communications with their ships.

Unfortunately, something else had to occur before he could hear of that - for them to even get into the tunnels:

"My Captain has informed me, Arbiter," Lydus suddenly, venomously cut in. "That your warriors were whispering amongst themselves, about their construct being compromised. What is the meaning of this?! Do your Sangheili still yet hold a threat to us?!"

Rtas held back a snarl of his own crude language, but not just because Lydus and his minion had been pissing him off since the beginning. Especially that minion. No, he was also frustrated with the risk they had taken with COMMs being down. Their sensitive talk had been out in the open - even with their best efforts, he knew there was always the chance of eavesdropping, and that's exactly what happened.

"Wait, what's this about the android?" Commander Palmer said. When they'd entered the depot, she'd taken off her helmet, so her hardset, suspicious gaze was clearly visible as she turned to Rtas.

At the very least, when the Arbiter also looked at them, it was with a softer expression. But also one that definitely wanted answers.

"No, there is no present threat," Rtas began to explain.

"But?" Commander Palmer pressed.

Internally, he sighed, but knew he could not show such weakness outwardly. "At the same time as the COMMs black out, hacking attempts from both human and Covenant technology have been assailing Polendina. She is too foreign to these hackers, however, and they do not appear to be capable of succeeding."

"We have only just finished discussion," Rtas added, with a glare towards the Jiralhanae. "We have not yet been given the chance to share."

With a scoff, Dygedius replied, "During the battle's start, the construct was paralyzed! She had to be guarded!"

"Yet she came through in the end," Lord Hood argued. "I don't think there's anything to worry about. The fact she went so long without freezing since is a good sign."

"But if even one of those hacks is successful..." Commander Palmer said grimly, and let that sentence trail in emphasis of that bloody future. "No, we need to be certain. What's it going to take to keep that threat off our backs? Does anyone here know how to do maintenance on a robot?"

"Even if they did, Penny's too unique," Stolt said. "Only our Huragok have become 'experts'."

"And they're not here. In that case, turning her off is the only way."

Before any of the Intent crew could protest, Penny had gotten the first word in:

"Alright."

Everyone looked at her in surprise - even those distrustful.

Penny's face was mainly stoic, though, and her hands entwined in front of her, as she said, "If it will put everyone at ease, I will consent to being powered off, until the Huragok can check my systems."

"Well, hold on," one of the Spartans piped up. "She's still one of the most effective weapons we have at the moment. And if the people who regularly work with her aren't concerned, maybe we shouldn't take her off the field just yet? And if she turns mid-battle, we still outnumber her. Whatever gets damaged in the process can get repaired."

"You are not fighting a robot that shoots giant lasers, DeMarco," Commander Palmer scolded, in a manner that reminded Rtas of when his mother would scold him about wanting a new toy. "And if you are , you're not leaving a scrap behind."

The calm facade on Penny faded, one foot swaying in anxiety and eyes unable to focus on one spot for too long.

"I do not think it works like that... I believe my system is complex enough that 'rebuilding' would be too much of a toll, in particular on the creator's side." Creator? Why specify that role, when a lot of different people could serve as her mechanic? If she thought that the Huragok would be unable to work out, eventually, the finer details of rebuilding herself from scratch - should destruction of her get so drastic - then she was poorly mistaken. She should've already realized that, given how much time she spends with them. "I have... a strong instinct to avoid any significant damage, that'd require extensive repairs. To be... injured to the point of a shutdown."

"Ah, then... yeah, maybe powering down is the best," Spartan DeMarco replied, with some sincerity and awkwardness.

That was when the only lower-ranked Jiralhanae remaining decided to chime in, being just as grating to Rtas as his two superiors. "The construct would have to be moved. Carried! Another warrior would also be unable to fight."

"That's true. We need all hands on weapons right now," Commander Palmer agreed. She didn't speak it out loud, but it was clear in her eyes when they met Rtas': Penny wasn't just to be turned off, but to be left behind.

"Hold on, Commander." The Arbiter finally spoke up in the midst of this mess, having been taking in every word thoughtfully. Rtas knew that despite not having been around her as long, he cared as much for her protection as the Intent crew members did. However, getting everyone else on board with her continued presence would require a well-crafted response, and that's exactly what he was good at.

"Most of the fighting is being done by bodyguards," he continued, and Rtas caught a bit of frustration seeping in. Ah, but giving it more thought, it was likely not because of the current argument - it was because the Spartan Commander was enforcing that position of his as delegate hard. And regardless of the diplomat that he was now, Thel had spent even longer as a warrior, and he wasn't entirely in favor of letting that go. "There are some hands free to carry the construct, such as my own. It should be mine. She is one of my own, after all."

"But aren't we forgetting something?" a different Spartan spoke up, just as it seemed Commander Palmer was willing to relent. The bald man continued, "If she's being hacked into, that means someone wants her. Yeah, leaving her behind to be scavenged is just handing her over to whoever. But if she's turned off, that also means she's defenseless if those thieves move from hacking to physical force."

"That's exactly what I believe Shadow of Intent was concerned about, Spartan Scruggs," Lord Hood agreed. "Whether or not those hacks are tied to the current attack on us, we cannot let Penny fall into adversarial hands." 

Rtas took note of how he did not go so far as to say "enemy". So even he thought that was possible? And yet he still couldn't treat them as such?

Still, it was enough for Commander Palmer to finally go, "Whatever. We've lost enough time debating over this. We'll leave the android running for now. But one more incident, and we're flipping the switch."

Her head turned to Lydus. "Is that good enough?"

The Jiralhanae merely huffed.

And with that break in their escape plan concluded, the group was back on the move.

Traveling through the tunnels, Penny found herself losing focus on the moving bodies around herself save for the bare minimum of trying to keep from bumping into anyone. Her mind was still reeling between the hacks against her and the fierce argument it spawned between the group. As grateful she was for those that came to her defense... the whole energy of it was still getting to her, especially that brief thought about getting left behind or destroyed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that couldn't be allowed.

Even expressing consent to being turned off had been a monumentally grave decision to come to. But she didn't want to be the reason a fight broke out. She didn't like being seen as a potential threat to her allies, or being given distrustful and fearful looks. No matter how she looked at it, though, the concern about her being turned against her allies in the heat of battle was still a valid one. Not valid in that she believed it would come to pass, but she understood why the others would still hold it in the back of their minds and need more reassurement than just her words. After all... who would want to be turned off? Of course she would try to say anything to avoid that happening... but even with that, she still was confident in her assessment.

And besides that... it was still weighing on her that, even without her own hacking contributing, the diplomacy had been a disaster. Stolt had said as much, and she felt the Unggoy had proven an impeccable judge. Plus, she had seen it for herself: the argument about her status had been held up by the distrustful foundation fostered by the interruption of the peace talks. Dygedius had been suspicious enough of them to eavesdrop and report to his chieftain. Lydus was still badgering the Arbiter; even after recognizing the Arbiter was not the mastermind of the attacks, he still held responsibility for it in Lydus' eyes. Even humanity was beginning to sink into cynical, dubious waters. Somehow she felt that that was the final crack for everything to come tumbling down. 

Suspicions and doubt. Turning on each other. Allegiances dead.

What would have been the fruit of negotiations, had the talks been allowed to go unimpeded? The longer this went on, the more Lydus spoke with fury and cynicism - the only Jiralhanae willing to set weapons aside and talk, even with prejudices still in the back of his head, now seeing the Arbiter as too incompetent and incapable to be trusted. This might be the last time any Jiralhanae walked into a room with them just to speak. Peace might be over.

The dreams of a united front against a common enemy, of sharing resources instead of hoarding and plundering, of not looking at and speaking to each other with derision...

If she had to choose...

Her directive of "protect the people of Mantle" flared up in the background, followed by the reference of her construction involving an "Atlas military".

If she had to choose?

It was obvious that between the Swords of Sanghelios and the Jiralhanae, she'd choose the former. And if this thought was about the choice between fighting or working together, that was also an easy one. Why was she even asking herself...

Again, her memories jumbled. She paid extra attention that time, in case it was a sign of someone having somehow broken through - of flipping through her files. Yet she felt alone in her head, so... It was her own self? Another subconscious thing? Or were they just stealthy, capable of blending in with her own consciousness? Ah, but if she kept down that train of thought, she'd just descend into paranoia...

What was it about those two terms again? Would that help her-

Oh. It hadn't occurred to her before that the two most relevant names to her past... were different. Were they not associated with each other? Yet, why would she side with someone that weren't her creators?

Well, looking back at her time with the Intent, that was also obvious: because she can make choices, and she makes those choices based on what she likes. So... maybe trying to search for an "Atlas military" among humanity hadn't been a good idea before. Maybe she had left them behind on purpose. However...

Did that mean she should keep looking for "the people of Mantle?"

If she had chosen them over her creators, why was she no longer with them...?

In her contemplation, her body had slowly stepped off to the side. She'd strayed from her friends and lingered a lot closer to Lydus and Dygedius. It was entirely accidental on her part, and she only became aware of the development when a few words breached past her thoughts.

"...not just the Sangheili..." came from Dygedius.

Her head perked up, but then Penny remembered herself. This was eavesdropping. This was spying. This was...

Exactly what they'd done first!

Maybe she wouldn't go so far as to call them out in front of anybody, but they'd been eavesdroppers first, so could they really complain if Penny helped herself to any juicy intel they had? With that in mind, she did not draw closer, but her auditory systems ramped up to hear them crystal clear and them alone.

"The humans are suspicious as well," Dygedius continued. "Especially all those Spartans..."

That guy! He just hated everybody, didn't he? Lydus a little too, maybe, but Dygedius only seemed to push him further.

"They were mere rumors," Lydus responded, sounding oddly reasonable in comparison to literally everything else that'd come out of his mouth for the past hour. "Circulated by jumpy, hungry men. And look around, Dygedius. Do you see the colors of that rumored Spartan?"

"No... but that does not mean the orange-visor Spartan is not one of their own. It would not be here because it is too busy sneaking through our territory."

Widening her eyes, Penny jumped at the opportunity to cut in without even thinking through the idea first.

"Wait, what does that ‘orange-visor Spartan’ look like??" she asked. "I mean, besides the visor color..."

Yet both Jiralhanae swerved their heads with disgusted and apprehensive looks in their eyes. Neither of them spoke vitriol, but the sight of their teeth being bared betrayed their thoughts, anyway.

Just went to show that Penny would've crashed and burned if she'd actually gone to ONI.

Taking a lengthy step away from the duo she'd pissed off, Penny returned her focus to the path ahead - and just in time to take notice that the situation was changing. People were beginning to charge out of the tunnels, onto an exposed bridge that lay ahead of the exit.

"Polendina? You still with us?" Stolt called, having taken notice of her stalling.

"Ah, sorry, I am catching up!" She ignored the two giant masses of fur that were at her back, reminding herself that they were just following along.

Commander Palmer charged further up the front of the pack, yet her helmet was still in her hands. Penny's brief thoughts on how dangerous and odd of an action it seemed were interrupted by a need to figure out what her plan was before the results came in, as the Spartan Commander suddenly threw her helmet towards the gravity lift of a Lich depositing new infantry forces nearby. A moment after the helmet had entered the Lich, the whole vehicle suddenly exploded - on the way up, Penny detected a few grenades stuffed inside, so she got her guess in just as the explosion occurred.

Still, that was a way more expensive and elaborate plan than Penny just using her lasers. She really should've paid attention more to the front of the pack, rather than focusing her all on eavesdropping, so she could've caught on sooner and saved Commander Palmer the loss of her expensive and necessary helmet as well as all those grenades. Or...

Penny's lasers had already been displayed earlier in battle. Commander Palmer should've known Penny could've just destroyed the Lich herself. Which meant, barring a momentary lapse of memory... Penny was no longer trusted to the degree of utilizing her lasers, despite the defenses made on keeping her on the field. Then again, she had only agreed to keeping Penny turned on, not that she would be relied on during battle.

Well then. I will just remind her of the hit combat capabilities are taking by excluding me in her plans.

Pettily, she aimed some of her swords at the infantry units attempting to surround Commander Palmer - who had fallen prone but conscious on the ground after the Lich's explosion. The swords cut down the infantry with ease, allowing the Spartan to return to the group with no difficulty. As she caught up with them, her visor caught Penny's smug face only briefly.

"Spartan!" the Arbiter suddenly shouted, pointing towards the sky. "The Lich-!!"

Heads turned upward to see the wreck of the Lich beginning to descend towards them. Although there was still plenty of time for them to run out of the way of the crash, the impact with the bridge would still be problematic.

"The gravity lifts! Make for the gravity lifts!" Commander Palmer ordered, referring to some structures on the other side of the bridge. Penny briefly considered delaying her own retreat in order to blast the Lich, but calculated she didn't have enough time to laser the pieces as small as she'd like - there'd still be a collusion, and it'd likely still compromise the bridge's integrity. It was a better use of her time to simply follow along with everyone else.

WARNING: REMOTE TAKE-OVER REQUEST

DENIED

No blip in her consciousness came. She chalked it up to her being more on guard, as the attempt against her system - despite being slightly off from human or Covenant origin - had been nipped in the bud even faster than previous ones. Maybe this counted as an "incident" in Commander Palmer's book... but nothing really resulted, it hadn't even tripped her up in her retreat. It appeared as if the worst of the hacking was over and she had everything under control... so she could wait awhile before alerting anyone to this new attempt, regardless of the oddity of its tech. Some people just seemed too jumpy about it, too eager to use it against her...

Lifting up in the air, Penny then hovered along the gravity lifts' pathing in a guarding position. Her swords were in rifle form, prepared to take any shots at any Ghosts or gunmen that tried to snipe the group as they, one-by-one, lifted themselves up with the gravity well. With confidence in Spartan ability, Penny touched down on the surface of the gravity lifts' other side the moment the delegates had cleared the lift. The rest of the Intent crew were on the other side, having gone along with Dygedius to ensure any ambush would've first faced them rather than the unguarded delegates. Fortunately, it had appeared they were clear of any enemy forces...

Until Commander Palmer had surfaced, with an enemy Sangheili warrior attached to her. Just as Penny was ready to bring out the blades she had put back in dormant mode, she detected movement from Spartan Scruggs and decided the Spartan Commander wouldn't need to be saved by her twice in one day. The first one had already gotten the point across, anyway.

Instead, she turned her attention onwards. They were nearing the redoubt, but now the enemy had displayed knowledge of the planet's systems - enough that they knew to park that Lich exactly where it needed to be to nearly intercept their escape. What if there were more ambushes on the way? At least from where she stood, her visual systems didn't catch any signs of enemies ahead, but still...

"Hey there," a voice came next to her. Spartan Scruggs had stopped his walking to stand behind her, while many other Spartans had started to jog ahead of the pack.

"Yes, Spartan?" a different voice came. It was Rtas; he and Stolt had also drawn close, their expressions betraying that they had noticed Spartan Scruggs' approach and were investigating.

"Commander Palmer just ordered me to take Jackknife to scout ahead," he explained, looking relaxed. "I know the Commander has expressed concerns about her... but I think she's being a bit too paranoid. Having an 'ultra-killing robot' at our side would be nice."

"Oh, I was actually just thinking about the possibility of an ambush up ahead!" Penny piped up. "I would be happy to assist. My eyesight can detect far more than yours can, such as heat signatures."

"Perfect!" His head turned back to Rtas and Stolt. "So, can I borrow your bot for a few minutes?"

Hearing that he merely wished to ask Penny for assistance, whatever suspicion the duo had apparently dissipated. Mostly. Stolt still waved his arm towards his two remaining Rangers and said:

"Sure. You should still take those two." Looking at Penny specifically, he added, "I'll put you in direct command of them. Take care of my men, okay?"

With a salute, Penny declared, "Affirmative!"

"Fine by me," Spartan Scruggs added. "We've got a lot of numbers, so I think having most of our fighting force clearing the path ahead would be a better use of our resources. Meet you both at the redoubt."

Yet they only walked a little bit before Spartan Scruggs again stopped, this time at the side of the Jiralhanae. He echoed his belief in having most of the warriors tag along with Jackknife in scouting the path towards the redoubt; and although the Jiralhanae still looked at him with apprehension, Dygedius barked an order to follow along towards the other guard on Lydus.

"You will not join their hunt?" Penny caught Lydus asking with her hearing. Admittedly, she also wanted to be assured of Dygedius' reasoning of staying behind.

"As much glory that could come of it..." Dygedius' voice went surprisingly soft. "Ensuring your safety is more important to me."

"I do not need babysitting like I am a child!" Not that much aggression as Penny expected seeped through the chieftain's voice as he said that.

"I know, my Chieftain... It just puts me at ease to stay by your side."

"...hmph. Fine."

Her long-distance hearing continued, but Penny kept it merely on alert for an ambush. Not that either Jiralhanae spoke anything more that she could eavesdrop.

I see. So even Dygedius...

Despite the grief that the duo had put her and her companions through, her opinion of them slightly shifted. In Dygedius' voice, she imagined her own sentiment of wishing the safety of her friends and the Arbiter. And for Lydus... she could almost picture Rtas. Maybe it was reaching and too presumptuous of her, but perhaps a similar situation existed between them both? Of a loyal, grateful ward?

Which reminded her. She had to be a good leader towards Stolt's two Rangers, to further show her gratitude - in Intent's trust and faith towards her, to still be putting their lives in her hands in spite of the precarious situation with her systems.

Now I am extra fired up to fight off these hackers! I bet I will not even see the next one coming, with how fast my systems will shoot it down!

Rtas stopped his motion to begin the walk to the redoubt - a few minutes delayed from the scouts - as he felt the Arbiter's hand on his shoulder, and the other man's eyes signaled that something was to be discussed away from the others' ears. A moment later, Lord Hood had caught up.

"What is it you found?" the Arbiter asked.

"That Covenant body over there. I took this off of it," Lord Hood explained, holding up a datapad he hadn't held before.

"You're telling them?" Commander Palmer asked, coming up from his rear, a little displeased at that.

As he handed it off to the Arbiter, he said, "They deserve to know. And it could be an important clue."

Instead of asking, Rtas just peered over the Arbiter's arm as he flicked through the datapad. It was full of profiles on the UNSC personnel present on the planet. A datapad with the UNSC's logo containing that shouldn’t have come as a surprise, yet the fact it was in Covenant mercenaries' possession...

And then the Arbiter stopped on the only odd profile out of the bunch. Instead of the uniform headshots of all the others, the picture accompanying the scarce text was of Penny floating in the sky, parts of buildings visible in the backdrop. As for the scarce text, it detailed only a fragment of her combat abilities and various question marks on the make-up of her model.

After taking in all the information, the Arbiter tried to go on to the next profile, but it merely looped back the beginning. There was nothing on the Swords of Sanghelios or Children of Oth Sonin. Were it not for Penny's presence, this would be intel on the UNSC only.

"This attack has more layers than we thought," the Arbiter concluded.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Lord Hood agreed.

"Is there any particular reason this intel came from an UNSC source?" Rtas pressed.

"That... would suggest a leak, I'm afraid. A traitor."

"Yet they appear to have more interest in Polendina than they do Lydus or I," the Arbiter pointed out.

"There's still the possibility you delegates are a jackpot to them," Commander Palmer insisted. "They just didn't feel like writing about you."

"Or their leak only has knowledge of UNSC personnel," Lord Hood argued. Then, with a grim face, he added, "And Penny, of all people..."

"Their information is still limited..." Rtas mused. "But I believe ONI would have more on their profile by this point. Perhaps they truly have been ruled out."

He withheld the fact he believed this because of the footage of her fighting the Spartan assassin to protect 'Telcam. Still, the others appeared to believe just the same.

"The only other opportunity for human-dominant forces to see her in action..." Lord Hood said, searching his memory. "Was Alluvion last year."

Taking another glance at Penny's profile, Rtas found that the details lined up. All the attacks listed were the ones she'd displayed against the terrorists, with the profile lacking any that hadn't made their debut then. Plus, it matched the picture accompanying, which had to be her mid-battle at Alluvion.

"Who was it that had made that attack?" the Arbiter asked, jumping on a different angle of that train of thought.

"Rebels... They were small fry, attacking out of desperation, but... Other eyes could've been on the aftermath of that day."

"But why would the Covies work with them?" Commander Palmer asked. "They hate humans. And there's only one robot to go around..."

Right. That brought another concerning thought to Rtas' mind. "I know the Rangers went along, but I feel we have made a mistake in letting her stray from our sight..."

"Huh? You sent her ahead?! Why?! I already had Jackknife on that."

"I know. It was your Spartan that asked for her accompaniment. I believe he also asked the same of Lydus, but merely received one warrior."

The moment of silence from the commander, whose face scrunched up and eyes looked to the ground, only nourished Rtas' anxiety. They'd messed up. Something was wrong.

"Why would he do that...?" she finally questioned out loud, gaze going towards the redoubt's faint shadow in the distance. "Fireteam Jackknife should've been enough. He didn't need a damned army. And if anyone is in need of one, it's the delegates."

"I believe his reasoning was that the warriors could clear the path ahead," Rtas recalled. "Keep the delegates out of danger by taking it out sooner."

Commander Palmer kept staring, the explanation turning in her mind. Finally, she replied, "Yeah... I guess that makes sense."

She began the walk towards the others, who were beginning to stare back at the quartet with concern - they should have departed a minute ago. Looking over her shoulder, she called out to the trio of them:

"C'mon. We should hurry."

Despite her attempts to rationalize, her voice was dripping with worry. It only added to the edge that Rtas was dangling from. He had professed a lot of trust that Penny could take care of herself, that current events did not mean any significant danger, that no threat could prove capable...

Now he wasn't so sure.

Chapter Text

No enemies had moved to intercept between splitting off from the delegates and stepping inside the fortified redoubt. It appeared as if their attackers had not thought to investigate this part of the planet - not yet, anyway. There was still the possibility that they were hot on their heels, rushing to catch up with them.

Maybe they should've kept some people with the others after all? At that moment, the only people guarding the delegates were Commander Palmer, Dygedius, and everyone from Shadow of Intent that wasn't Penny or the two Rangers. If they were beset by another wave of hostiles, that was still a decently okay size of fighters... but if there were airborne hostiles, Penny should've stayed behind. Commander Palmer couldn't just do an encore of her grenade-helmet trick.

"Something up on your radars, making you nervous?" one of the Rangers asked.

"Ah, no," Penny replied, feeling a bit self-conscious. Maybe she should invest in a face cover like the Spartans had. "I was just considering that a lack of hostiles here might mean a group of them on approach to the delegate group. Perhaps our distribution was too unequal after all."

"Well, look on the bright side," Spartan To of Jackknife said. "We just do a once-over of this building. Then, if there are bad guys in pursuit, they can just rush into here and we'll lock up."

"Right." She turned towards the two Rangers. "Can you use your packs to check the exterior? And the skies?"

They both nodded, with one verbalizing, "Your will be done, construct."

Meanwhile, the Jiralhanae just scoffed. "My nose will sooner sniff out vermin. I was born to hunt! Those keshkra were not."

As he went off down a different hall of the building, one of the Jackknife Spartans trailing him out of wariness, Penny filed another word in her dictionary of things to be aware of but not repeat.

Turning a corner out of the hallways and stepping further into a room at the top of the redoubt, Penny scanned for any cloaked or otherwise hiding hostiles. She got a blip behind, but noticed it was just Spartan Scruggs and relaxed. Just like her, he was walking cautious, as if jumping into kill-mode was necessary in the next few seconds.

Suddenly, he hissed, "Shit- Fuck!"

Penny's blades were up in the air, prepared to aim at whatever triggered the outburst. "What is-"

And then Penny felt something jab harshly into her back, her Aura flickering before shattering. Effects set in a second before she could register them. Her body went slack, her blades clanked against the floor, none of her systems were responding to her, and she fell with a hard thump on the ground. She had to do a mental once-over just to be certain that she hadn't "passed out". But no, she was still conscious... mentally. Everything else about her was "asleep", even most of her internal systems.

That's when her security systems finally caught up, alerting her to the fact that she'd been penetrated by a foreign object - both externally and internally. Whatever jabbed into her had been a conduit for an up-close jamming of her systems. So much data was scrambling inside; rudimentary, but sudden, and unending, and ruthless. She imagined, with this sort of mess of a jamming, that this was the type of attack reserved for hijacking battle cruisers.

"What was that?!" Spartan Newman yelled as he rushed in.

"I saw her eyes flash red," Spartan Scruggs answered. "Couldn't take the risk. Think the split-lips will be pissed?"

"Jesus, man..."

Why? Why, out of all the Spartans, had the one who defended her the most... been the swiftest to move against her? Her eyes had gone red ? As in, the signs of rampancy? The tell-tale warning of when a Forerunner or human AI was about to betray everyone? No, she... she swore a hack had not gotten through, not in that moment and not over the course of the crisis. So why ?!

"Wait, what are you-"

A tug was felt at Penny's back. Around the same time, Spartan Newman's voice was gurgling, followed by the thud of armor collapsing to the ground. She assumed his body was still attached to it.

Sensations as if her limbs were being severed came a second after, but Penny still felt her arms and legs. No... it was her blades. Two of the strings had been cut - one of them being attached to the blade that had tugged earlier, that had... likely been the murder weapon against Spartan Newman.

She desperately wanted to cry out - to ask what was going on, to warn that there was danger, to call out to Spartan Scruggs. Yet her voice did not come out. She couldn't speak at all. Only seeing and hearing.

Her gaze was fixed ahead, looking up from the floor at most of the room save for the doorway. On the other side, there was a large window. One of Stolt’s Rangers floated past it. For a brief moment, his head flicked in her direction. He paused all of a sudden, trying to confirm the sight - then rushed back to the ground, gesturing wildly with his arms at an unseen person that was likely the other Ranger.

At the same time, she heard a few shouts and even a gunshot. Then the roar of the Jiralhanae, which was cut off midway.

Armored Sangheili hooves were soon blocking everything.

"Polendina?!"

"Construct?!"

She could not give an answer. Could not warn them to be on their guard. Could not ask them where Spartan Scruggs had gone off to. Could not tell them to just run.

"I'm sorry..." came Spartan Scruggs' voice. It was colder than before; trying desperately to sound sympathetic, but clearly something was wrong. "Her eyes flashed red, I- Everything happened so fast. She killed everyone."

"No... You must lie!" She thought she heard a plasma pistol charging.

"It was the hack. She likely didn't mean to... But I couldn't take the risk. She would've killed us, too."

That charge of the plasma pistol was released - to the ground. "You... It cannot be. The shipmaster, he would not have..."

"Wait a moment. Are those not... her blades, in your hands?"

The three pairs of legs in front of her suddenly shuffled, with Spartan Scruggs charging at the duo. She heard the clank of a gun hitting against armor, then the pained cries of one of the Rangers, followed by a grunt from the other as a knee struck his gut. They both fell, with Spartan Scruggs slashing wildly at their faces and throats with her blades.

Spartans were truly terrifying soldiers, even when scarcely armed. That whole massacre, she didn't believe Spartan Scruggs had relied on his guns one bit. Just her swords...

Again, she asked herself: Why? It was clear now that it was more than just Spartan Scruggs believing her compromised and moving hastily. No, he...

"Scruggs reporting in," the man said, after walking towards the window and taking off his helmet. He spoke into his wrist as he gazed out. "Fireteam Jackknife has been eliminated, as have most of the bodyguards. All that remains protecting the delegates are the Commander and those Shadow of Intent guys.”

A break ensued, as he listened to a short response that Penny could not hear. Then, “The robot? It took a long time, but finally found a method that worked. Just had to get close and personal. Minimal damage, at least... that I can tell from the outside. Nothing the brains of the alliance can't put back together, I'm sure. She actually was pretty useful. I can just pin the deaths on her, and none of them will be the wiser. Now I won't even have to take a hostage - just let them think the redoubt is safe, and wait for your men to come extract.”

After another response from the mysterious other party, he said sharply, “Right. I'll be seeing you shortly, Captain."

That last word was spat out snarkily; less of an insult and more out of doubt of the meaning. She had a feeling it was not addressed to Captain Lasky, either. So...

He was the one compromised. He was the threat!

All of them... Fireteam Jackknife, Lydus' man, Stolt's Rangers... he had just butchered them all!

And Penny realized that with her blades being the only murder weapons, she was going to take the fall.

That was only confirmed as Spartan Scruggs changed his tone completely - panting out of breath, tensing his body, and even straining his voice - as he spoke into his arm a second time. "Commander! Shit- Redoubt is finally secure, but - The android! She went berserk! I just barely managed to put her down... everyone else is dead. I repeat: murder bot rampage, only one survivor... me."

As her mind desperately tried to will words past her stiff mouth - "I didn't. I didn't!" - Penny saw a woman's face fade in and out of her vision. With each flash of it, she took in another detail. Tanned complexion. A beauty mark under her right eye. Another close to her mouth. Light blond hair, in a ponytail, easily mistaken as white. Violet eyes glaring distrust and betrayal. 

It didn't match what she'd seen of the unhelmeted Commander Palmer at all, but this woman was eliciting some similar sentiments…

Please believe me. We are both heroes, just trying to protect the people. I am not your enemy. But... you do not believe that.

A marching of boots came up upon her, until she soon saw the legs of everyone else. They milled about in the room, unaware of the danger they were in. Corpses of the Spartans and other bodyguards didn't alarm them... because they thought the killer was taken care of.

Briefly, everything went dark. A moment later, she realized it wasn't pitch blackness - it was the darkness of having to use her night vision in otherwise pitch blackness. In front of her, the soldiers and armored delegates were replaced with apparent civilians in regular clothing. They were all human... well, she was assuming those with extra features, as if plucked off of animals, were also humans. So many people... and some of them falling to the ground.

A male voice whose identity was on the tip of her tongue seemed to speak directly into her ear. "Penny, what's going on over there?"

Her pupils forced themselves to peer as far to the side as she could. For a second, she saw an armored Spartan slouched against the wall, limp. One visual glitch later, the Spartan was replaced by a human girl without any armor. And then the Spartan was back. And then the girl. So quick, Penny could not get a full description - and not for a lack of trying. She tried to catch as much as she could, losing most of the details just as she registered them. When looking back in her memory later, all she could really "see" was a blob of red, black, and gray. But in the moment-

Ugh, her head huuuuurt.

Tearing her view away from it, she looked back at Scruggs with the primary leaders of this operation. No- A disturbing-looking man in a flock of defenseless people. As he held out an arm, Penny saw a scorpion tail going through a civilian's body. When Scruggs flashed a smile, Penny saw lips being licked.

"Put down your weapon and surrender!" Penny heard her own voice, even though she felt the stillness of her physical form. Neither did anyone seem to react.

Except... maybe Scruggs, definitely the scorpion man superimposed into his place. Feeling Scruggs' eyes upon her, just giving a knowing glance as he likely kept feeding the delegates lies, Penny heard a demented giggling. It wasn't Scruggs' voice, but... she knew it. If it were possible, hearing it made gooseflesh erupt.

He did this. He did it! Penny didn't hurt the innocent, she didn't massacre the defenseless, she didn't crash parties or peace negotiations. So...

Searching around the rest of the area, she found Tul and Dygedius of all people had stepped away from the others and closer together, whispering between them as Dygedius pointed at her and Tul couldn't keep her eyes off her. They broke off to approach Rtas and Stolt.

...why didn't anyone believe her innocence?! How could they just see a massacre and her swords and think she was the one? Why couldn't they at least consider the possibility of her trying to fight off the real killer? How could this farce speak more to them than her long service as a loyal, caring defender?

Penny felt sick at the dryness on her cheeks; because, if only she still had control, they would've been drenched by now...

Nothing had felt right since the moment they got there. Even before they arrived, the sounds of battle had traveled through the air, reaching their ears. Hearing that it was because of Penny, however? No, that didn't make sense. Putting aside the precedent of the hacking attempts... that couldn't be true.

Yet when they arrived, all the bodies were there. As was Penny's, with her eyes still wide. Not out of any shock or pain, though - it was close to when she had been powered off, way back when they first met.

Would Wanders the Space and the other Huragok be able to fix this? Not just the compromising of her systems - she didn't appear too damaged, despite the claims of battle, yet the Spartan's claims of just barely getting her to turn off appeared true. So what kind of damage was there? And could it be fixed? Could she be saved?

Rtas' mind went all the way back to the end of the war - to the Battle of Earth. When Shadow of Intent had arrived in pursuit of a rogue Flood-infested ship. When he had extracted the Master Chief and the Arbiter from the pit it created, with the Spartan having been drawn in while others fled. When the fragment of the AI Cortana had been revealed as his prize, yet only revealing a message when the monitor 343 Guilty Spark had finished his repairs.

When the legendary Master Chief's - the infamous Demon’s - head dipped, his body slouched over the table, his visor just... gazing at the crumbled form of Cortana, clearly in pain at whatever the Flood was doing to her.

Now more than ever could Rtas feel the despair and longing that had been barely contained by the Spartan's helmet. Because now it was his construct that was on the line. One of his warriors, one of his closest companions, his...

Rtas had sworn off the gods after the fall of the Covenant and the revelations of the Prophets' lies, yet he found himself praying both to the ancient mythology of the pre-Covenant Sangheili and the Forerunners - begging them that Penny's mind would not be lost, that the Spartan had not "took her out" too hard, that the Huragok could perform a miracle. Even if her memory was reset once again and she'd have no idea who he was and maybe would feel more inclined to stick with humanity the next go-around... just let her wake up. Just let her be okay.

He could not lose another life on his watch. He could not lose another life. Not another occupant of his hearts.

Yet with all that in mind, the worst part was that Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum was not off-duty. There was still a mission to be completed. As one of the highest ranking warriors present - as one of the few warriors still standing - he had to ensure the Arbiter made it out of there alive. He had to keep himself on alert. He could not appear compromised by his emotions. If the enemy saw, they would capitalize on the weakness. If his allies saw, it would hit morale. If the Arbiter, if Thel, saw... he would jeopardize his own safety and the mission to force Rtas to rest, would not let this go. And although Shipmaster 'Vadum was much the same caring-type of commander, as a subordinate he couldn't recognize the irony of his own frustration.

Standing close to Stolt, he let the Arbiter be the one to hear out Spartan Scruggs' tale of how Penny had been successfully hacked, proceeded to murder everyone else, and was just barely brought down by the Spartan himself. Instead, he was on guard, while being in proximity of the other subordinate he was concerned about: Stolt, the last Ranger, who had trusted the lives of his men in Penny. Just like Rtas, he appeared unbothered, yet he was certain the Unggoy was still reeling inside. 

The spot that they lingered at was near the corpses of the two Rangers, with their surviving leader murmuring "burial" rites mixed in with his own personal laments. In that regard, Rtas was also on guard for Stolt - keeping an eye on if anyone would disturb the mourning, spotting the momentary vulnerability.

That was when Tul and Dygedius, a strange pairing to be sure, approached them.

"Something wrong?" Stolt managed to ask first. His voice came out a bit lower than usual - and the Unggoy coughed to clear his throat, not having expected it either. No one elected to bring attention to the blip in his stoicism.

"Dygedius has made a concerning observation," Tul said. "About Polendina. I believe you should hear him out, Shipmaster."

Oh great, more slander against their companion. Or... Rtas had to catch himself; it technically wasn't slander when it was true, as hard of a reality it was to live in.

"I am listening."

"The eyes are still moving," Dygedius explained. "Wild motions. Sometimes they are circling around, and sometimes they are rapidly widening and shrinking."

All their heads directed towards Penny, staring at the ends in question. Indeed, a burst of dilation and contraction, dilation and contraction, was occurring in that moment. It suddenly ceased, yet the pupils were still in motion, as if...

She was still watching them. She was still awake and could see everything, was seeing everything.

Tul recognized as such. "As soon as he pointed it out to me, I knew she was not powered off. The Spartan is lying about something. The most generosity I can give is that he is lying about defeating Polendina. But I do not trust him. I believe it is more than just that."

To be fair to the Spartan, Tul being distrusting of their human allies wasn't anything new. Yet this time, Rtas couldn't help but agree.

"Can you three just..." Stolt began, taking a cautionary step towards Penny while peeking back at the other side of the room - where the delegates and Spartan Scruggs were at. Commander Palmer had stepped out of the room at some point.

"Unggoy?" Dygedius asked.

"Just a few steps... to the left..."

A bit baffled, Rtas and Tul followed the command first. Dygedius still needed a moment of looking between all of them, before apparently either recognizing Stolt's plan or figuring that whatever it was, he should follow along.

With their long shadows covering Stolt and Penny, the former continued his waddling towards the latter. His head craned to the side, inspecting the android, before he took a step over her head. Her flared pupils strained to follow, trying to see behind her but failing, and it was the most obvious sign yet that Penny was still with them. Behind her body, Stolt continued to stare at whatever caught his attention, before suddenly lifting his knee and stomping at whatever her body was concealing from their view.

At that same moment, Commander Palmer walked in, announcing, "COMMs are back up, Lasky and Ray pulled through. Reinforcements are already en route."

When Rtas looked at her, he found a little grimness on her features in spite of the good news. She was quick to cover it up, sparing only a glance at the trio, at Penny's prone form, and at the odd placement of Stolt behind her. Her focus zeroed in on Spartan Scruggs.

Before Rtas could ponder if the Spartan Commander had come to the same conclusion under different circumstances, the situation was already rapidly developing...

RECALIBRATING...

"COMMs are back up, Lasky and Ray pulled through. Reinforcements are already en route."

ALL SYSTEMS GO - YOU ARE COMBAT READY

The moment Penny had full control, she already knew the first thing to do. Her systems searched through all the various COMM links, connecting her to Rtas and the Arbiter only. Besides not being sure of how Spartan Scruggs would react the moment he realized his plan was foiled, she was also a bit unsure of the reactions of all the others. For the time being, she trusted Rtas and the Arbiter to figure out the next step calmly and rationally.

As she searched, she made a brief note of data on Jiralhanae communications, yet could not afford the distraction at that time. Later, she told herself. That could come later.

"Shipmaster! Arbiter! He's a traitor!" she shouted through COMMs. "He's the one who killed them all! He jammed me with something, then took my swords and killed everyone! I heard everything! Even his report to his leader! You gotta get everyone out of here, his allies are already on the way to capture you!"

During her plea, she didn't register any changes in the expression of Rtas or demeanor of the Arbiter further back. She at first was scared that the damage to her systems was worse than she thought; that even with the sabotage resolved, she still couldn't connect. Would she have to jump up and expose the traitor out loud after all?

And then Rtas turned on his heel, facing the delegates and the Spartans at the window.

"I apologize, Spartan Scruggs, but I was preoccupied," he began. "Can you recall, again, what occurred between you and Polendina? How exactly did you strike her down?"

"No problem, Shipmaster," the Spartan replied, although his face looked rather strained. Maybe that was most apparent to Penny, knowing the full truth of who he was. "It was right after she cut down the Rangers, but I'd realized what was happening before then and was preparing a sneak attack - direct approach didn't seem to be working for anyone else. I came up from behind with the combat knife to try and disable her quickly, but she swerved and it cut two of her strings instead. We grappled against each other a bit before I finally managed to bash her against the wall enough times that she finally went limp and fell to the ground."

Subtly revealed was the other reason for Spartan Scruggs to look strained: the false story was thought up in the time before the group had arrived, partially based on the true events out of necessity, yet it had many holes that anyone familiar with Penny would catch. The only reason he'd been capable of "sneaking up on her" was because she had considered him not a threat, electing to ignore him. Plus, Penny was just far stronger and tougher than most - perhaps a Spartan could prove enough to handle her in close-up, hand-to-hand combat, but there would surely be more evidence of their tussle on the both of them.

Indeed, with every sentence, she found her companions were stiffening. Stolt fought back an angry hiss from above her at the mention of his Rangers. Tul's grip on her energy lance - which she had brought back into her hands in between Stolt's discovery of the jammer and now - had tightened during the regaling of the sneak attack, to the point the muscles visibly popped underneath her gloves. Vul's hands were at his hips, prepared to quick-draw both his blades, by the time Spartan Scruggs had finished the part about their close-combat.

And during the entire spiel, Rtas had slowly stepped ever closer. Unlike Vul, he made no effort to hide his retrieval of his sword. Yet Commander Palmer did not lift her gun at him, nor did Dygedius move to get between him and Lydus. About the only two people who looked concerned were Lydus and Lord Hood; although the former apparently showed, in his flicking gaze between the Spartan and the shipmaster, that he knew whatever violence might occur would be no threat to him.

Igniting his sword, Rtas said while still keeping his head aimed towards Spartan Scruggs, "And now, Polendina, what is your rebuttal?"

Eyes went wide even before disembodied words echoed against the walls:

"Wait a moment. Are those not... *her* blades, in your hands?"

That had already been a decent bullet against Spartan Scruggs' defense: a voiceline that completely shattered the timeline he'd established, showing a Ranger had still been alive when he cut her blades. Yet Penny was not going to leave room for doubts - and she was eager to twist the knife further. She let another audio clip broadcast from her speakers, much longer than the first.

"Scruggs reporting in. Fireteam Jackknife has been eliminated, as have most of the bodyguards. All that remains protecting the delegates are the Commander and those >Shadow of Intent< guys."

Her arms finally went on the move, palms pressed on the ground to help push herself up. Wobbling on her feet a little, she first granted herself a moment of checking over her own physical frame before lifting her hate-filled eyes towards Spartan Scruggs - and him alone.

"The robot? It took a long time, but finally found a method that worked. Just had to get close and personal. Minimal damage, at least... that I can tell from the outside. Nothing the brains of the alliance can't put back together, I'm sure."

Outrage was silently spreading across the rest of the group, with more weapons being drawn. With one hand, Spartan Scruggs aimed his M739 SAW at Lord Hood's head while his other hand lifted up one of Penny's stolen blades in a silent challenge for anyone to dare approach him. Despite this, Vul ignited both of his blades, Dygedius aimed his Spiker at Spartan Scruggs, and even Stolt was aiming one of the guns of his fallen Rangers. Lydus also appeared ready to personally rip the Spartan apart, hostage be damned, but the Arbiter held an arm out to block him for Lord Hood's sake.

"She actually was pretty useful. I can just pin the deaths on her, and none of them will be the wiser. Now I won't even have to take a hostage - just let them think the redoubt is safe, and wait for your men to come extract."

Their standoff was broken by Penny, although not from her own body moving. With the combined distractions of her body's movement, of the audio playback, and of everyone getting into defensive position, no one - most crucially Spartan Scruggs - had noticed her own weapons were on the move along the walls and ceiling of the room. That is, until one of them thrusted down the barrel of the M739 SAW, shearing right through the gun and into Spartan Scruggs' hand. His scream was cut short by the triggering of another grunt, that time by the second blade that pierced the same juncture in his back where he thrust that jammer into her. The remaining blades began to circle around him in rifle form, daring him to try and pull through the pain for a counterattack. 

During all that, Penny started her approach towards the Spartan, stepping past her companions, Commander Palmer, and Dygedius as she did. She gave a nod for the delegates to keep their distance.

"Right. I'll be seeing you shortly, *Captain *."

As Spartan Scruggs leaned forward from the wounds inflicted, Penny caught him by the shoulder.

Glaring him in the eye, she demanded, "Who is this 'Captain'? Who has plotted against us, alongside you?"

A spot of blood was spat on her cheek. "The Covenant will be here any minute now. You can wait to meet him for yourself."

Penny narrowed her eyes as she wiped her cheek clean. Then, her grasp on his shoulder fell away. Before he could move, however, her leg had already geared itself for a stomp onto his kneecap, making him crumple onto the ground. If one dared to look, they'd find that his knee was completely inverted - a petty show of force, in response to his earlier claim he could beat her up.

She looked up at Commander Palmer, who had walked to stand at her side. "He will not be able to escape. He should not die anytime soon without medical treatment, but I will be taking my swords back before we part. He will be in danger of bleeding out at that point."

"We've got biofoam. That'll hold him long enough, 'til we get him to ONI interrogators," Commander Palmer replied. She flashed a grin. "Then he'll need loads of biofoam."

"Didn't you hear me?" Spartan Scruggs groaned out. "The UNSC-"

"You're right. Covies are on the way, and I fibbed about reinforcements to see if I could draw out the traitor. But I wasn't being reckless - weapons are being manned elsewhere as we speak, ready to shoot down your buddies." Then her eyes went stern. "Your ambush plan was already a bust. You can spare yourself a visit to the interrogators if you just spill everything now. You know they're not gentle with Innies."

A bit more blood speckled out with the chuckle that got out of him. For once, Penny did not care the meaning of this new term or not - she was just certain that Commander Palmer had hit the nail on his coffin.

"Listen to yourself. You think there's just two sides to the world?" His features settled into a grim conviction. "Why do you think the UNSC blamed the Covenant remnants for the attack on New Phoenix? Why do you think Arbiter hasn't been able to make peace on his own in the past five years? What about your pal, the Master Chief? Any of you heard from him lately? You don't understand half of what's going on, Commander."

The traitor's words might've just been to mess with their heads and maybe even loosen the backlash... yet, knowing that, the words still cycled through Penny's mind. How much did this one Spartan know? How much did his former colleagues know, or his new superiors? Was the information on the sabotage against the Arbiter... more widespread than they themselves, the Arbiter's people, knew? And with that in mind, what did that imply about the Master Chief? Just what was going on within the UNSC's - humanity's - side of the galaxy? And was it about to become part of their problems? Were their problems already intertwined?

"Not part of this mission, not my current problem," Commander Palmer replied, unbothered.

"Of course not. I didn't expect to be changing minds, especially yours." Then he lifted his head to peer as best he could at Lord Hood behind him. "You know, 'capture alive' wasn't the primary goal of this op, Admiral. Just an optional bonus. My boss wanted you dead in particular. You're a perfect example of the blood staining the UNSC-"

At some point during his second speech, Tul stepped forwards until she was standing with Penny and Commander Palmer. She wrapped her hand around his neck and brought it up far enough for her own dipped head to meet. Then, she headbutted him, leaving his unconscious body to flop ungracefully to the ground.

"Alive does not mean he should be left to yap like a-" Her mandibles clamped shut, as she spotted the Arbiter across from them and remembered herself.

"Aw great. Now someone will have to carry his ass." Yet Commander Palmer merely leaned down to drag him by the arm, before beginning the walk towards the exit. "By the way, we do need to get a move on. Bailey's got the guns - there's a cargo tug that the delegates can use to evac, anyone unable to join in will have to wait for later extraction. This place isn't going to hold much longer against the people Scruggs called in."

Conversation continued as everyone followed after her, making for the cargo tug she mentioned.

"You said 'anyone unable to join in'," Rtas echoed. "I already am aware of the size of our cargo tugs. But who exactly is getting left behind?"

"Fireteam Bailey, by virtue of the guns," Commander Palmer listed. "The Captain and Spartan Ray already got their own escape plan. He's already commanded me to jump on. We have room for one more body."

Several pairs of eyes searched and scanned everyone present, before each and every one finally settled on Rtas - the Jiralhanae ones taking the longest time to.

Even before they did, Rtas' mandibles drew together tightly. Finally, he said, "Me? You believe I would be that last body, when all my warriors will be left behind?"

"We can send for extraction later," Commander Palmer countered. "When we get out of here, alive."

"That still does not explain to me why it should be me."

"Because you are the last leader," Stolt piped up. "Admiral, Arbiter, Chieftain, Spartan Commander... and you, Shipmaster. If you get back on the ship, you can command it in the space battle and rescue mission more efficiently. Better than being down here. Better than the alternative."

The argument kept Rtas silent, but it was clear there was still displeasure and defiance within. Before he could finally formulate any further debate, Penny cut in.

"You are also assuming that 'leaving behind' is paramount to certain death." She flashed a reassuring smile, with a hint of underlying confidence. "That is not the case. We will survive for however long it takes to send us transport."

"Fine. I can see your points." Rtas took a moment to glance each of his warriors in the eye. "But do not be reckless. Hide out and wait for reinforcements if you must. I will be retrieving your living, breathing bodies."

As each of them gave their own affirmative, Penny caught the expression on the unhelmeted Commander Palmer. She interpreted the grimness to at first be cynicism or even disgust, but then she recalled that Fireteam Bailey was also going to be stranded with them. And then the commander glanced her eyes at Spartan DeMarco - preparing one of the nearby AA guns - and began stepping towards him, that grim face not evaporating...

Oh. Despite her reassurance to Rtas about extraction, Commander Palmer was not as optimistic about their chances to actually last that long.

She wasn't the only one with concerns. Returning her gaze to everyone else, she saw the most displeasure on Chieftain Lydus' face than she had all day.

Yet it was Dygedius who spoke up. "Go on, Chieftain. One of us must make it back to the ship... and by that, it obviously must be you."

"I would rather fall with my clan than outlive it," Lydus countered, just barely containing a growl.

"That is a luxury for everyone in our clan - everyone who is not the leader. There is no clan without you, Lydus. Believe me - this is more of an honor for me than you can understand."

Again, pessimism about their odds was reigning. It only emboldened Penny to prove them wrong. She noted down in her systems that this mission would not be a success unless every one of her allies made it off this planet alive.

"You are right," Lydus continued, already turning his body in preparation to walk away from Dygedius and towards the cargo tug. "I cannot understand. I feel more pain than honor at this moment. I never would have come here to parlay if I knew it would cost lives, not save them."

"Then I promise you, Lydus," the Arbiter cut in. "Your warrior is in good hands. And when they are extracted, I will ensure he is back at your side swiftly."

The promise was warranted - their saviors were likely to be between the UNSC and the Intent, so Lydus was placing considerable trust that either of those parties would rescue Dygedius and send him back. Well, despite their repeated hostility during this mission, Penny was for sure going to see that Dygedius didn't become anything like Jul 'Mdama - disappeared, allegedly, for shady human benefit. She was also certain that this time, the Arbiter was going to see such a promise not sabotaged by ONI, too.

Although, speaking of extraction, it reminded Penny of one more thing before the cargo tug departed. She approached the body of Scruggs - laid only half cautiously on the floor of the aircraft - and placed her hands in preparation of reclaiming her blades. Commander Palmer hovered with what Penny assumed to be a canister of the previously mentioned "biofoam".

"Are those actually going to be of use, cut from their strings?" she asked. "Not that I don't want you to let him have a bit more sting."

"I am sure I can make more use of them in battle than they are currently," Penny replied. She could sense the pain behind the commander's tone - she must've been the most betrayed, him being one of her Spartans after all. Ironically, that closeness must've been precisely why she was so venomous with her words.

Penny, for once, could relate.

Both were quick in the pulling of the blades from flesh and metal and the subsequent spraying of foam that made Scruggs' unconscious face wince and hiss somehow even more than when the blades were extracted. She wondered if he was on the verge of awakening... and what the ride would be like if he did. But as she stepped back and let the cargo tug's doors close, she was content that anything of note would have to be regaled to her by Rtas later.

For the time being, she had enemies to kill and allies to protect. All of her anger and despair at Spartan Scruggs and his actions evaporated when confronted by that new mission objective.

With her two disconnected blades in hand, Penny took to the skies with her jet boots. Much of this battle would be fought aerially, as aircraft of all sizes made up the bulk of the Covenant reinforces racing to somehow still acquire the delegates. The few pure ground troops - the remaining Intent crew and Dygedius - would have to contend with any forces that got deposited to try and overwhelm the AA guns, or otherwise hope their guns would be enough to down some of the smaller craft.

But before that, dropships containing ground troops would have to actually reach the area, which Penny was not keen on allowing. Perhaps she was testing her limits, but Penny was liberal in her use of her ranged attacks - with the two blades stuck in melee form permanently, she kept the remaining attached ones in rifle mode and shooting down ships. She even attempted to fire her larger laser beam a few times, but found that the output was a little less than before. Plus, it was truly a strain to try powering it up without the full array around. As determined and emblazoned as she was, Penny still remembered the wisdom that if she burned herself out too quickly, her protection of her allies would go along with her.

The other two blades still came into use, however, despite the aerial battle. For one, when she could not destroy a dropship, she barreled into the path of the leaping ground troops and slashed at them with her blades. They were also strong enough that she could deal damage to the wings of Banshees and the guns of various crafts. A vehicle that could not fly or fire was still, in a way, a neutralized threat.

Still, some squads managed to hit the ground; but Penny was assured in her friends' ability to handle those that did despite their lower numbers.

As the cargo tug still lifted itself to the atmosphere, Penny caught sight of a Banshee that had snuck past her and her rifles, tailing the delegates. At the same time, she noted a second Banshee headed for the closest AA gun that could respond to the threat against the cargo tug - Spartan DeMarco's gun.

No more Spartan deaths. No more today.

Making a risky gambit, Penny launched herself towards the Banshee on Spartan DeMarco while keeping her rifle array in place. Something in her systems screamed at her that she'd never tried this before, that this wasn't going to work out. Yet she still persisted, her strings lightly tugging on the array but not completely knocking it off its course - its laser still fired, just as Penny impacted against the Banshee. The Banshee on the cargo tug obviously exploded first, with the second on a delay as the damage her body and the shearing of her blades created took a moment to register and do its thing.

Penny turned her head at the unhelmeted, bleeding-from-the-forehead Spartan DeMarco that she could see from the open entrance into the gun. He flashed her an appreciative and impressed grin, which she attempted to match...

Only for the low power to hit her then, making her stumble in the air and the fire of her jet boots sputter. Quick thinking bought her some more air time by cutting the power to her blades, causing them to plummet and hang in the air by her strings; this weight only fought against the remaining fuel that kept her afloat, but all she needed was the time to land properly rather than crash.

"Polendina? Were you struck?" she heard from Stolt, imagining that the Unggoy was somewhere below with eyes on her.

At the same time, Spartan DeMarco shouted, "Hey, you alright?!"

"Yes, I am still good! But maybe close the door - I will not be around for the next one!" she shouted back, already descending slowly. She had just finished her response when she officially lost sight of the Spartan, and elected to continue her landing quicker rather than wait for more words from him.

During that landing, she sent to Stolt, "No, I am unharmed. But I believe my airtime is over for now, possibly also my guns'."

A few beats after, she heard Vul reply instead. "Penny. What did I say about overexertion?"

He was referring to an incident that had occurred during their final stand against hordes of Unggoy last year. During the first half of the battle, she had been doing fine in cutting down the Unggoy in great numbers by sweeping the battlescape with her larger laser back-and-forth. However, she suddenly hit a point that she nearly overcharged, with her systems shutting down the laser attack to avoid the threat of herself burning up or otherwise shutting down. Up to that point, she hadn't been certain she had power limits. Once Vul caught on to what was occurring, though, he ordered her to strictly stick to manual sword-fighting to conserve her energy; later came the proper lecture about stamina and overexertion, with him even having the foresight to bring on Subconscious Sinker for the engineering prospect on the matter.

Those efforts, however, had seemed unnecessary in Penny's eyes - back then, at least. For a long time, she never hit the danger zone of overburdening her systems again. There was only a little doubt that she never would again - you could never say never, after all, and it had already happened once before. But during the course of the delegation, circumstances had brought her back to that point. She'd already fought a few battles, but that on its own did not usually challenge her systems. It was Spartan Scruggs' betrayal and the damage it incurred that set Penny on that path, with the fierce determination to overwhelm the enemy with her firepower before they could overwhelm her allies with their numbers that finished the trek.

"I apologize, Blademaster," Penny replied, unable to bring herself down from the level of professionalism out of shame. "I did not think it would get that bad."

"You have been blasting flocks of aircraft left and right, doing maneuvers you have never attempted before!" Vul shot back, his loud commander's voice ever booming. "How could you not have foreseen this?!"

Penny was unable to reply - more like unable to think of something acceptable. With the time passed, Stolt elected to speak up again.

"Whatever. Thanks for the assistance, Polendina, but we can handle being beset by hordes. We of the Intent have survived worse odds."

Her eyes set upon him as she made it back to their side, close to the entrance of the redoubt. Dygedius was thrashing his body around one of the latest waves of dispensed ground forces, in an odd combination of gunfire and wrestling. Tul was nearby, flanking any that tried to retreat from their foolish charge against the Jiralhanae captain. Stolt and Vul had strayed to another part of the area, giving themselves rest and space to chat with Penny in a display of their confidence that everything was still under control.

At first she looked at him with gentle appreciation at the sentiment; then it slowly dawned on her that she had only directly COMMed Stolt earlier, so how did...

Tattletale. She did not need to speak the words for Stolt to avert his gaze, dragging his legs to bring him closer to the nearby carnage in a silent debate on whether to join in. Were he human, he might've been whistling.

"Remember, to have faith in your allies, on top of the care for their survival," Vul continued his lecture, taking back her full attention.

"To be fair..." Penny said, looking over at the AA guns. "Despite my agreement with your advice, I do not believe Spartan DeMarco would have survived that attack."

"That is true." Vul nodded. "Yet you should have conserved your energy for such a situation, rather than waste it earlier. And... He is manning an AA gun. All you had to do was cover him."

Right. That kind of slipped her mind.

"I... got a little too into it," Penny admitted, looking down.

"Indeed." Her downcast eyes caught the exact moment his blades ignited, bringing her back to attention on his face. He was glaring out from behind her. "Now, shall we complete the reenactment of the Unggoy surge? I believe Dygedius and the Scion need to catch their breaths."

Looking toward the approach of more enemies, Penny was already fixing her grip on her two blades. She was in the middle of an internal debate on what to do with the deadweight of the remaining array that littered the ground when she recalled something.

"Blademaster... Your arm is still-"

"Do as I say," Vul cut in. "But not everything I do."

"I am telling the shipmaster."

"That will still not change what is about to happen."

"If you mean a heroic charge on your lonesome, that was never going to happen," came Tul's voice beside them. The scion was already brandishing her energy lance, standing close to the side of Vul that sustained injury. "I have not forgotten the shipmaster's orders regarding you."

"Bah. You just got some kills. Let others get their turn-"

A large thumping cut him off as Dygedius joined the huddle. "My fill will not be done until either I or the last foe falls."

Those enemies Vul and Penny spotted were nearing then, with plasma fire already beginning. Penny stepped forward and swatted some of the plasma that threatened to actually hit their grouping. When she lowered her blades, her vision was free to peer at the increased numbers, the stretched line - those guys were merely the tip of the iceberg on course to strike them.

She was not the only one to notice; Stolt had waddled to the front of Dygedius and spoke out loud the observation. "Huh... More than before, but still not as bad as expected. See? You didn't need to go too hard with the blasting."

Penny scanned the sky, taking note of the changed trajectories of the AA guns. "It is because the delegation has officially escaped. The AA guns are now free to fire on everything in the sky. They are basically taking on the same burden I had."

"But not as well," Dygedius noted, and Penny couldn't help but bask in the complement - as well as the 180 Dygedius had undergone.

"Well, we better get a move on," Stolt said. "If they've made it back to the ships, that means their reinforcements are about to deploy - and tear us away from this playground."

With those words, all five warriors' hearts were set ablaze. They lurched out as one - subconsciously coordinated as such that they did not trip over each other - and met the enemy with guns, swords, and even fists.

The sudden camaraderie, of course, was not exclusive to those who had already fought side-by-side before. In the midst of the carnage, Penny's maneuvering around foes brought her to Dygedius' side - this flexibility unhindered by the powered down array, which she had used a little power in helping to bring back inside her pack. Catching a clicking sound that denoted the need for reloading, Penny extended her arm towards him and captured his partial attention - one of his hands still absent-mindedly pushing and shoving encroaching enemies away. He stared at her for a moment, a gesture of wriggling her fingers finally clueing him in on her suggestion. His hand grasped hers; swirling his own body around, Penny was sent into lift-off as her blades mowed down all the enemies unfortunate enough to get caught up in the deadly spin. At the same time, his other hand was adeptly re-loading his gun one-handed - and once it was, he added an onslaught of gunfire into the mix.

Despite the dizziness of the spin, Penny still caught a reading of Tul across the battlefield - the scion was being meticulously separated from the others, in a move to likely better pick them off one-by-one.

Penny narrowed her eyes. "Dygedius - toss me, towards the southeast quadrant!"

"To the..." he slowed down, but that didn't help him in understanding.

Penny landed her feet on the ground, matching the Jiralhanae's strength and grinding them to a halt. "That way!"

He only just barely caught where her arm was pointed, still trying to wrap his head around how strong a little robot human could be. "A...ffirmative?"

The spinning kicked back up, with Dygedius paying no mind to any straggling enemies trying to either challenge them or flee from them. After a few laps, in which he lifted his arm further in preparation to throw, he finally let go and let her soar through dozens of armored bodies of various sizes.

"Thank youuuuuuuuuu-!" Her voice carried as she flew. Once she reached Tul's side, she let her heels and fingers dig into the ground to slow to a stop - but not before plowing a hole through the enemies encircling Tul. "Salutations, Scion!"

"Penny?! Where did you-" The scion's head veered towards every direction, but she quickly gave up. "I suppose that is not important. What are you doing here?"

"I predicted these mercenaries were trying to isolate you," Penny answered. As she spoke, she swung her dual-blades at those that dared to charge during their conversation. Tul was doing the same with her energy lance. "I decided to ruin their plan."

"I know what they were trying to do," Tul insisted. "I had it under control."

"I believe the shipmaster disapproves of such risky moves."

"And I believe I am entitled to my own judgement in the absence of a commanding officer."

"Except his last orders for us were to not be reckless..." Penny reflected a bullet from a Kig-Yar in the backline to instead hit one of the Unggoy in the head. "And you took his orders to keep the blademaster out of trouble seriously."

"Well, you are one to talk." Tul pulled her energy lance out of her latest victim, beginning a dash towards that Kig-Yar. "You were just told not to waste your energy, and what do you do?" She stuck one side of the energy lance through the small gap in the Kig-Yar's hand-held shield, impaling him. Her foot came up to kick him off her weapon and fling his body towards a Sangheili attempting to get at Penny. "Fly anyway."

"Oh, I did not fly." After bashing her head against that Sangheili warrior, as the weight on him lurched him too far forward into her personal space, Penny turned it around to briefly catch Tul's disbelieving look towards her. "In the usual sense, I mean. Dygedius threw me."

"And that is supposed to sound saner?! Why in the hells would he-"

"Got you now!!!" an Unggoy shouted, as he came barreling in with two plasma grenades in his hands.

"Not now!" both girls shouted, each slashing a blade at each arm and prematurely ending his bomber-run.

They stepped back as the grenades went off in different directions, based on where the arms had landed. After the higher-pitched booms fizzled out, they heard no more noise in the immediate vicinity and realized they had cleared the area.

"We should fight side-by-side as a duo more often," Penny said, giving Tul a smile. "It is very fun. In a different way than other match-ups."

"You say, as if you do not end up barraging into at least one of my battles each mission," Tul shot back; yet her mandibles betrayed an amused expression clashing with her tone.

"That is true..." Penny replied, showing no acknowledgement of Tul's annoyance. "Then, we should do something new as a duo."

Tul began scanning the area for any concealed enemies, as well as the bodies for signs of continued life. "As in, what?"

Penny paused, having to think about that herself. By that point, she and Tul had interacted a few times outside of the battlefield and the Intent's training halls. Although, most of those interactions involved others - chatting in leisure rooms, sharing snacks obtained from stops or received as gifts, and even playing a table-based game. Not much between them and them alone. All of those things could be done between them alone, but Penny felt something else was warranted - and, besides, others might butt in and turn it into a group activity again.

Her own voice echoed in her mind, different from an internal monologue: Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!

Eyeing Tul up and down, Penny wasn't sure how much of that description really applied to the scion. All she really knew of the older girl was that she wanted to get revenge for her family by her own hands and stay on the frontlines of the Sangheili's conflicts, carrying a temper and grief that came with that. Part of the reason they rarely interacted was not just due to the scion taking so long to get used to Penny, but mainly that she did not use downtime as often as other warriors on Intent. When she did, it was clearly mandated and her mind was elsewhere for much of the duration - but, eventually, she could be coaxed into a relaxation, just not for long enough for Penny to get an accurate read.

Simultaneously, she also realized she had little of an idea of activities outside of entertainment between bored soldiers and engineers' pet projects. What did Sangheili girls do when they wanted to hang out by themselves? What did human girls do? Perhaps that was an inquiry for Subject to Spin and his endless research on organic cultures.

Or just the girl in front of her.

"Whatever Sangheili friends of our demographic do," Penny answered with a shrug.

Tul's eyes shot up from her surveying and back onto Penny. "Friends?! What gave you the idea we were more than fellow warriors?"

The potential hurt from the accusation was not allowed to brush against her for too long, as she took the question seriously. "You called me 'Penny' just now. And you responded when I called you 'Tul' earlier."

"That... was a slip-up."

"It is the first one of your kind."

"And you have done it more frequently! I am used to it!" A little of the defensiveness broke away as she admitted, "And... back there, when the attack first started. You reminded me of my younger brother and cousins. Especially when... when our home was attacked, years ago. I was responding to that."

"I see..." Penny slowly nodded, taking in that explanation. It was much like what she had been experiencing as of late. Yet, just when she was about to let it reassume her perception, a little bit of hope still sparked.

"Wait, you see me as-"

"I have strayed from the blademaster's side long enough," Tul cut in, and Penny was unsure if it was on purpose or perfect timing. In addition, Tul pointed towards another side of the battlefield. "And I believe Stolt requires assistance."

Following her arm, Penny saw the Unggoy Ranger perched atop a Sangheili warrior, who himself was on top of the scrambling bodies of numerous Covenant mercenaries trying to get to Stolt.

"Are you sure? I think he is-"

"Go to him," Tul hurriedly ordered, then began her walk towards where Vul was on the battlefield.

"Okay..."

Just as Penny began the jog, however, she heard behind her, all of a sudden: "My next shore leave, Polendina!"

Penny whirled her head to see that Tul had paused her own walk, although was still not facing her. A moment later, she continued:

"My younger brother has expressed curiosity about you. We can surprise him."

A beat passed as Penny registered it, then with a wide smile responded, "As have I! I look forward to it, T-"

"Of course, survive this battle first." And then the scion returned to walking away.

Ah. I pushed it. Still, Penny arrived at the base of the pile of bodies still beaming with joy. She slashed her blades at the legs of those at the very bottom, causing the whole group to collapse. Stolt was the only one to manage a landing, crushing one of his stubby legs to choke the mandibles and throat of a Sangheili.

He peered at Penny, puzzled behind his breather. "What's got you giggly...?"

"Tul said I remind her of her brother!" she clapped, knocking down the arm of a Kig-Yar in the pile that had attempted to fire on them. "And now she is taking me to meet him!"

"Ah." He leaped off the Sangheili face, leaving behind a grenade that stuck to the pile. "Does it make it worse for the scion if I say you're the first from the ship she's purposefully hosted back home...?"

Turning around, he could see Penny's eyes had become saucers, her knees prepared to start bouncing.

"Yes it does. So, you didn't hear it from me." Then, sounding as if a smile was being concealed by his breather, he added, "At least you're back to your usual self."

However, just the acknowledgement made Penny remember all that came before, and particularly something in regards to the Rangers.

"Stolt... About earlier, in the redoubt..."

"Hold that thought." Stolt looked up at the sky, making Penny follow his gaze. "We've got company."

Indeed, the sky that was becoming scarce of aircraft had suddenly seen a new wave - yet they fired upon the remaining Covenant ones, keeping the AA guns from shooting them at the last minute.

"Didn't take the shipmaster long," Stolt continued to comment. "Better finish cleaning up."

"Agreed!"

In another few minutes, the extraction team sent from Shadow of Intent would reach the ground. However, while the warriors they were sent to back-up had just barely enough energy left to stand... they were the only ones still standing.

That was how the delegation on Ealen-IV came to an end.