Halo - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sangheili Pirate in the UNSC ❯ The New Captain ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Ghostwalker2061
Telek makes his decision and decides that he hates the Covenant more than the idea of working for Kiryuu Knight. Sparks fly though when Telek demands why Kiryuu hacked into his ship.

Non Anime: Halo - Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Cyberpunk / Sci-fi | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 03.05.2008 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.0K | Visits: 350 | Status: Completed

720 Hours, August 31, 2547 (Military Calendar)\Reach
Telek glanced around, standing once more in the familiar scene of the ruined city. The darkness and the mists around him made it difficult for him to see. Then, he turned his head around and saw a sign which read “New York.”
“New York?” he asked. “This is Earth?”
Telek glanced up as he saw flashes of blue flares fall like burning meteors from the sky. Ships, thousands upon thousands of Covenant ships filled the cloudy sky. He could hear the sounds of missiles pelting the ground and he knew what it meant. Glassing. Telek heard the sounds of enormous feet of the Scarab as it walked around the city streets. That was when he saw the girl again, running from him. Telek dashed after once more, hoping to save her from the fate that he knew was about to occur. He heard her scream again and he swiftly picked up his pace. As soon as he made it to the clearing where he heard the noise he saw a building marked `United Nations' partially toppled over. Lying over the downed building was the limp, deathly form of President Knight. But something was different about it. It was a skeleton dressed in the armor with a pool of strange gray and green liquid-like tar dripping off the bones. Wires dangled loosely from the eye sockets and the enormous mouth hung open. There was a black box lying on the ground, beaten and mangled, wires and circuit boards smashed to pieces and scattered all over the tarnished white sidewalk. This must have been the artificial intelligence that was the machine called Kiryuu. The Covenant had killed the leader of Earth.
“He had the power to destroy Harodihg,” Telek began. “But not the power to save himself or the humans from the Covenant's wrath.”
Then, he heard that scream again and turned to find the girl once more in Tartarus' arms—his huge hand wrapped around her neck. He held her by the neck and she kicked and screamed at him.
“Tartarus!” Telek cried. “Let her go! She's done nothing to you.”
“No,” Tartarus replied as he snapped her neck, killing her.
Telek growled again and ignited his sword, charging for the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae. Then, just like in the previous dream, he felt himself being sliced in half, seeing a blue flash before his eyes. Just before he blacked out, he glanced up to find Supreme Commander Otto `Gamamee standing over him, with sword ignited.
“Good bye, Telek,” Otto said grimly. “Heretic.”
“Otto…” whispered Telek as he felt himself slip off again into the darkness of death.
Otto…
Telek's eyes shot open and he gasped as he got up off the bed. He glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was already the next morning. His eyebrows crossed down into a frown and his mouth curled into a grimace. Telek growled as he straightened himself out, straightening out his golden armor. He heard a knock on the door and opened it up to find Shri again, waiting for him.
“So glad you're awake, Telek,” she said. “I was getting worried that you weren't coming.”
“I'm coming,” he said.
“The other Ship Masters are down on the ground with Witcom,” she began. “And Witcom says Mr. Knight is in his office—waiting for you.”
“Can't keep the old cyborg reptile waiting, can we?” Telek asked. “Let's go.”
The moment they reached the ground, Witcom did have something to say about Telek's little trip last night.
“Why did you leave?” he asked.
“It—was Mr. Knight,” Telek began. “He—kinda creeped me out.”
“Not used to a computer talking to you, huh?” Vince asked.
“No, that's not it,” he shook his head. “It wasn't the fact that Kiryuu was a computer—it was the fact that Kiryuu was a sentient computer inside the body of a cyborg twice created by human—foolishness.”
“Say what?” Vince asked. “Now, what just a minute…”
“Human arrogance,” Telek pointed out. “Created all sorts of monsters back on your home world.”
“I will admit that we were a bit foolish back then,” said Vince. “But we were learning. We still are. You can't fault us that much. Isn't that hypocritical?”
“It is,” Telek sighed. “I just have a bad feeling about this President Knight.”
“It's alright, he's not one of my favorite presidents either,” Vince began. “But he's done very well with what he's got and we've learned to deal with him. After this, you won't ever have to see him again. You can just go back out there and do what you do best.”
“I can do that,” Telek said. “Just as so long I don't ever see those green dreads again.”
Witcom nodded as Telek and the others walked back inside the office where Kiryuu sat. Kiryuu read over some paperwork in front of him, mostly the contracts that Telek needed to sign. Beside him was a chain with dog tags attached to it and next to that a case with two pens with silver eagles holding arrows in their claws with their wings spread. These pens were the rank insignia of a naval Captain. Telek approached him and before Kiryuu could say anything—like greeting him or telling him to go ahead and sit down—he just took his seat.
“Ship Master,” Kiryuu began. “A bit presumptuous today?”
“No more than present company,” Telek replied.
Kiryuu's eyebrows shot up, shocked by Telek's own town. He seemed to have gotten some bravery since the last time they met. Kiryuu wasn't expecting this change in attitude. Witcom shuffled around in his spot for a moment and shook his head.
“I see,” Kiryuu added. “Have you thought about your decision?”
“Yes,” Telek replied, then he got up, leaned over the desk and grabbed the hologram by his shirt collar. Kiryuu's eyes widened even more when he felt himself being grappled by the huge Sangheili. Telek's mandibles clacked again and he started to speak. “I just wanna make something clear to you, Mr. Knight, the next time you want information on Covenant secrets, ask me! I don't appreciate you poking your nosy little CPU where it doesn't belong—like the database of my ship!”
“Telek…” Witcom began. “Please, let him go.”
“Ship Master…”
“If you're so insistent on calling me by my Covenant rank title, then say it right,” Telek growled at the mecha. “It's Fleet Master `Herosee.”
Witcom leaned over and whispered to Cujo: “Is he drunk?”
“No, this is Telek blind stinking sober,” Cujo replied.
“Fleet Master…” Kiryuu corrected, remaining rather calm despite Telek's forcefulness. “I'm very sorry for getting that wrong.”
Kiryuu's calm voice seemed to soothe the fire that was boiling inside of Telek's purple blood right now and he slowly let the President go. Kiryuu still could not understand why Telek would suddenly throw a tantrum like that and have that outburst. He tried reading Telek's thoughts again, but found them a bit muddled—as if Telek had put up a wall. He was more prepared than before. It became obvious, someone had told him about Kiryuu's little gift.
“I'm sorry, Telek, have I done something to upset you?” Kiryuu asked.
“I had a hard night last night,” Telek sighed. “Forgive me.”
“Are there any questions you have for me before we sign the papers?” Kiryuu asked, his voice growing concerned.
“My Ship Masters,” Telek began, his voice still holding a hint of hostility towards Kiryuu. “They will only answer to me and no one else. They are loyal to me and only to me.”
“They shall remain in your command,” Kiryuu nodded.
“One other thing,” Telek began. “Why did you hack into my ship?”
Kiryuu's head dropped for a moment and he hefted a sigh: “You knew it was me?”
“Only someone like you could have pulled a job like that and from Earth,” Telek said. “Why?”
“Just to see if I could,” Kiryuu replied. “Who knows, I may have to be able to do something like that if worse comes to worse. I wanted to know if I could.”
“Don't do that ever again,” Telek warned. “Who knows what kind of damage you could have caused to my ship's computer—it's guidance systems, mainframe, star charts…I may not be able to come out of slip-space correctly again after you attacked it. Practice on one of the ships I gave you, don't go after mine.”
“You're quite a different person, Telek,” Kiryuu began. “I don't usually allow people to talk to me that way.”
“Yeah, well,” Telek began. “I wanna give you the berating of your life before I sign these papers and you become my boss.”
Kiryuu just could not help but to chuckle: “I haven't had a good berating since Gordon Knight died.”
“Just give me the papers,” Telek sighed. Kiryuu handed them to him and Telek got out the pen and signed them. When he signed all of them, he shoved them back to Kiryuu. “There, it's done.”
“Welcome to the UNSC, Captain,” Kiryuu said. “You have plenty of points under you now. Do enough deeds of recognition and you will have your advancement—as well as becoming Rear Admiral.”
“Thank you,” Telek said, adding a bit of a conceited tone at the end of his statement. “Mr. President.”
“One other thing, Captain `Herosee,” said Witcom. “You will have another assistant under you.”
“I have an assistant,” said Telek. “Tekn.”
“This one is someone we've picked to stand with you and learn how to captain a ship like yours,” said Kiryuu. “Mostly because he is nearing the rank of Captain himself and we want to put him on one of the ships you've given us. Though the books you've given us are very detailed, we want a more visual guide to how to operate these ships.”
“I see,” said Telek. “No doubt this—new student of mine will also be someone who will watch over me, making sure I don't do anything—questionable.”
“More or less,” said Kiryuu.
“I figured as much,” he sighed. “Well—what's my assignment?”
“We have been getting some reports on a light cruiser patrolling just outside of one of the Inner Planets' systems,” said Kiryuu. “One of our ships the UNSS Iroquois is out there as well. She may need some help. Captain Reynolds can go with you to assist this ship.”
“Are they tailing it?” Telek asked. “Not exactly the smartest thing to do.”
“No, the Iroquois discovered this ship,” said Kiryuu. “The last report was made that our ship was positioned behind a lone asteroid to mask itself from the Covenant ship's sensors. We don't need anymore planets glassed. I want you to intercept this ship before it discovers the Iroquois. If it does…”
“Then the Cole Protocol is issued,” said Telek.
“Not only that, but they may suspect what our ship was doing out there,” said Witcom. “They might go looking and not follow the ship.”
“This area is rather familiar to you,” said Kiryuu. “Yale System.”
“I've been there,” said Telek.
“Good,” Kiryuu grinned. “Ah, here he is.”
Telek turned around and saw a rather caramel-skinned, straight black-haired, lithe human walk in. He was dressed in the usual UNSC Naval uniform with three gold stripes on his black shoulder boards and two silver oak leaves on his collar—which indicated he was a commander. Three gold stripes also ringed his sleeves as well.
“Commander Tomas Jimenez,” said Kiryuu. “So good of you to come.”
“Mr. President,” said Commander Jimenez.
“Telek, meet your `student',” Kiryuu said. “Commander Jimenez, this is Captain `Herosee. You will be stationed on his ship the cloaking assault carrier the Shade of Darkness.”
“Commander,” Telek nodded.
“Captain,” Tom began. “I've heard a lot about you.”
“I hope it's all been good,” Telek said.
“It has,” said Tom. “The infamous pirate.”
Telek sighed and glanced back at Tekn: “Come on, let's go. We've got our orders. Cujo, Mitsu, Tulsa…”
“Right,” Cujo nodded.
“Go back to your ships,” said Telek. “Tom, follow them and wait for me when I come out side. Admiral, I want to have a word with Mr. Knight alone.”
Vince glanced back at Kiryuu, his face showing his protest.
“It's alright,” said Kiryuu. “Go on.”
Vince nodded and followed the others outside the office, leaving Telek and Kiryuu alone to talk. Telek remained standing, staring down at the hologram with burning eyes.
“What is it that you needed to discuss with me about alone, Captain?” Kiryuu asked.
“It seems that you and I have many things in common, Mr. President,” he began. “We've both had the same types of enemies come across us.”
“And what enemies are those?”
“Well, we do share one enemy,” Telek said. “The Covenant. I hate them because they've told nothing more than lies. You don't like them because they've started destroying your planets one after another, killing many innocent people. But there are other enemies we share. You've faced the Simians.”
“Ah, the green apes from the black hole,” Kiryuu nodded. “Yes, I've faced them. Only once though. But my company faced them twice. The first time was in 1977. All but the head remained of their mechanical menace, Mechagodzilla. Gordon Knight—the founder of the Utah Foundation, stole the head and ran off with it. They returned again in 2003 to try to recapture the head. That's when I faced them. I hacked into their ships and activated their self-destruct sequence—completely destroyed the invading carrier—their Mother Ship—and all cruisers and destroyers that followed.”
“Must have been easy, their technology was similar to yours,” Telek said. “About 200 years ago, the Covenant came across them and offered them a chance to join in order to save what civilization they had left. They refused and we glassed all their planets into oblivion, making their species completely extinct. They didn't put up much of a fight—not like the humans.”
“And what's the other enemy we share?” Kiryuu asked.
“The worst of all,” said Telek. “A monster you call Monster Zero.”
“I don't call him that,” Kiryuu growled, his golden eyes lighting up like two sparks. “I call him King Ghidorah. So, you've met him too, eh? And what happened?”
“We drove him back,” he replied. “He never returned. I suppose he came to your planet because he found something more—interesting. But you did something the Covenant could never do—you destroyed him. So, answer me this, why is it that you could destroy King Ghidorah yet you can't muster the power to defeat the Covenant?”
“Because I didn't really destroy King Ghidorah,” Kiryuu replied. “I just destroyed his physical form.”
Telek shook his head, confused.
“Do you know what King Ghidorah is?” Kiryuu asked. “Really? Do you know what he's made of?”
“Not really, our concerns were to try and destroy him before he destroyed us,” Telek replied.
“King Ghidorah is an entity,” said Kiryuu. “A being that's made up of the life force energy that he absorbs when he goes from planet to planet. Destroy his body will only make that energy disperse and reform later. There's no way to kill him. For some strange reason, he's taken up favoritism for Earth. So, he has returned many times to feed on our home world. And I don't know why. I've tried destroying him but he came back—he just kept coming back.”
“The only time he returned to your planet was in 2007,” said Telek. “What's this about him returning many times afterwards? And what is Technomancy?”
“Technomancy?!” Kiryuu gasped. “Hold your tongue! That word is forbidden to utter now. King Ghidorah returned many times in other forms. How do you know that he came to Earth?”
“From my old reels broadcast from your planet over the course of 500 years,” Telek replied.
“Then you must know about the Invae,” he said. “Those spirits were fragments of King Ghidorah returning to absorb the energy from our planet to reform another body for him. There were other attacks—demons and such—and we used Technomancy, a form of advanced technology we once had from the time of the fall of Atlantis. But there had been other artifacts found in around New Mombassa that were a part of Technomancy. We defended our world against the Enemy. Though, I find it rather strange that Covenant technology looks so much like Technomancy.”
“So do I,” Telek agreed. “If you still had it, you'd be on par with the Covenant and this war would have been fought a bit more fairly than it is now. Why don't you have it anymore? It seems you took a step backwards.”
“We had to,” Kiryuu replied, glancing away at the wall. “We were using Technomancy for our own little squabbles and we nearly destroyed each other with it. So, it was banned. I can only use one ability from it—to make myself more human-sized so I can fit inside buildings. Otherwise, it's forbidden. No one remembers how to use Technomancy, Telek. It's because every generation that exists now has grown up without being connected to it. That's why we can't use your technology unless we have proper instructions and teachers.”
Telek sighed and leaned against the wall and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“You have—questions in your mind,” said Kiryuu. “Questions that you want answered.”
“I suppose you would know,” he said. “Since you're a telepath. I don't remember hearing about reptiles on your planet being telepathic.”
“A gift and a curse from a being of great evil,” said Kiryuu. “It doesn't matter. What are these questions you want answered?”
“It's not necessary for you to know, Kiryuu,” Telek replied. “Just pieces of a puzzle I've been putting together since my defection from the Covenant. That's all I will tell you. Don't go seeking those answers, machine. They are dangerous.”
“I understand,” Kiryuu sighed. “Then, I'll trouble you no further. You are dismissed, Captain. Good luck on your journey.”
Telek clicked his heels and turned around to exit the office, taking the dog tags and the pens with him. He slung the dog tags around his neck and stuffed down into green suit and penned the two silvery eagles to his collar. As he walked outside the main building of the base, he glanced up to see his ship, the purple sides glistening brightly in the sunlight. He smiled when he looked at his ship and the other ships there hovering near his. He saw several Pelicans carrying Warthogs, Scorpion Tanks, UNSC guns and ammunition as well as food and supplies to his ship. He had many massive cargo holds that could easily hold a thousand times more than what they were giving him. He saw down below near the gravity beam were the new members of his ship, a mixture of naval officers and enlisted men, as well as Marine officers and enlisted men. They were a small batch. The Naval personnel were a smaller group than the Marines. He saw 10 platoons of Marines. There was Donald and Tomas talking with a female human also dressed in Naval officer's uniform. She had shoulder length black hair, which covered up her neural implant in her neck. Telek walked over to the group and tapped Tom lightly on the shoulder.
“Captain!” he called. “We're almost ready. Uh, allow me to introduce Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes. She is stationed on the Memphis. But it's her father—Commander Jacob Keyes who commands the Iroquois. She was just talking to me about it…I told her that he'll be in good hands.”
“Captain `Herosee,” Miranda began, turning to him. “I've heard about you—the pirate.”
“Seems like I'm quite a celebrity,” said Telek. “Don't worry, I'll make sure your father gets home safely. And while we're at it, I might capture that ship too. Add to the collection.”
Miranda nodded: “Thank you, sir. Good luck. I need to report to my post.”
“So do I,” said Don. “I suppose my ship will be hitching a ride with yours while we're going.”
“Unless you wish to be the last one to get there,” Telek chuckled.
“Well put,” said Don. “See you then. Come on, Miss Keyes.”
“Good bye, Captain,” Miranda said, giving the Sangheili Zealot a rather cheeky smile. Telek's eyes lit up and his brow rose. He just stood there silently and watched as Miranda and Don headed for their Pelican, his eyes never leaving her form.
“Excellency,” began Tekn. “Excellency…”
“Skipper?” Tom asked.
“Hmm?” Telek finally broke his eyes away from Miranda. “W—what did you call me?”
“Skipper,” Tom said. “It's a nickname we use for the commanding officer of a naval vessel.”
“Skipper…” Telek pondered. “Skipper Telek…I like that. You may continue calling me that.”
“Uh, thank you, sir,” Tom said. “We should be getting to the ship. These are the men and women who will be working with you.”
Telek approached them, studying them as they waited for him to speak. They remained at attention, showing their discipline to him which did amuse him. He turned to the Marines and spoke up, leaning his weight back on one hoof.
“Who is the commanding officer of this gaggle of Marines?” Telek asked.
Gaggle? Tom thought. And this guy was once a high-ranking Elite in the Covenant navy?
“I am, sir,” began a Marine. “Lt. Colonel Acanthus Davis.”
“Alright then,” Telek said. “I suppose a Lt. Colonel is proper for a carrier.”
“Yes, sir,” he replied. “We act as the invading troops from one ship to another so that the naval personnel can keep running the ship during the attack.”
“Good,” Telek nodded. “Have you ever hijacked a Covenant ship before, then?”
“No, sir,” Davis replied. “Never have.”
“Then, this will be a learning experience for you,” Telek remarked deeply. “Shri, I want you to work with the Lt. Colonel and his men—have your Spec Ops Sangheili train them on the proper ways of hijacking Covenant ships since that's what we plan to do.”
“I thought our orders are to go and assist the Iroquois,” Davis began.
“Well, there is that,” Telek said. “But our duties as stated are to hijack any lone Covenant ship we find and steal their technology and chuck out the airlock any Covenant who try to make trouble for us.”
“Which will be all of them,” said Shri. “They are highly religious and highly loyal to their false Prophets. Faith in the Great Lie blinds them to reason.”
“Do these orders upset any of you?” Telek asked.
“No, sir!” replied all of the Marines.
“Good,” Telek said. “Then we won't have any disagreements about how I operate when it comes to prisoners.” He approached one of the Marines, a Corporal and motioned for him to step forward. “Tell me, son, have you ever stepped onto a gravity lift and went inside a ship like mine?”
“No, Captain,” the Corporal replied. “I haven't.”
“You look a little perturbed,” he said.
“Just a little, sir,” the Marine replied. Telek could sense he was a bit nervous about it. He placed his hand on the ginger-haired, speckled Marine's shoulder and guided him slowly over to the platform. They slowly ascended the purple platform right in the center of the deep violet beam that came from the belly of the assault carrier. The other human personnel watched the two silently as Telek began to instruct the Marine.
“It's quite simple,” Telek replied. “And nothing to be scared about. You just stand right here under the beam and as you can see the beam is shining down all around you, but nothing's happening. To go up, you basically jump and the beam takes you all the way up and you are zapped into particles and then reformed inside the cargo hold. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing, but going up part does take some getting used to.”
Telek stepped back and motioned for the Marine to start up the beam. The Corporal glanced up and closed his eyes leaping up into the air. He felt the beam grab hold of him and he was whisked away up into the bowels of the ship itself.
“There we go,” said Telek. “Anyone wanna try?”
Davis and his platoons as well as the rest of the Naval personnel climbed onto the platform and followed the Corporal up into the ship. Telek glanced down as Shri and Tekn then rose up into the ship as soon as they got onto the platform. Telek glanced back at Tom and signaled for him to come up onto the platform.
“Well, you coming?” Telek asked.
“This will be the first time for me,” said Tom as he stepped onto the platform. “Inside a Covenant ship.”
“Think of her as not a Covenant ship, then,” the Zealot said. “I mean, look. They've even painted a white serial number on her bow and her name in block letters. She's not Covenant anymore. Covenant ships don't have that. Come on. Best get it over with now.”
“Right,” Tom nodded as he glanced up. He leapt up the beam and disappeared into the ship. Telek took in a deep breath and followed him up into the cargo hold. As soon as they got up there, Tom glanced around. He could not help but to notice how dark it was inside the cargo hold and he was not used to the ambient blue and purple lights lighting the walls and ceiling. Telek straightened out his green body suit and turned back to the commander.
“Welcome aboard the Shade of Darkness,” he said.
“It's so dark in here,” said Tom. “I can hardly see a thing.”
“All Covenant ships are like this,” said Telek. “Doesn't bother us. Our eyes are better than yours.”
“We need to fix this though,” said Tom. “The men won't be able to work efficiently in the dim lights. Acanthus, have your men set up some lighting arrangements in the cargo hold.”
“Yes, sir,” said Davis.
Telek glanced around and then turned back to Tekn: “Your shift is over. Get some sleep.”
“Yes, Excellency,” said Tekn and he walked away.
“Okay, Commander,” Telek began. “Tom—can I call you Tom?”
“Okay, Skipper,” Tom nodded.
“Tom,” Telek began as he took his new assistant's shoulder and lead him out of the cargo hold. They walked down the burgundy, violet, and oily blue, long corridor heading for the bridge. “You are going to be with me during my shift. Until I'm confidant you're ready to share a shift with Tekn—who isn't a good teacher, by the way…excellent pilot of a ship like this—but horrible teacher, you'll be stay by my side. Unless I state otherwise, and I may do that, you'll share the shift with me—follow me where ever I go and see how commanding a cloaking `Covenant' carrier is like. It's a bit different. I'm sure you had some ship commanding experience.”
“I commanded a frigate, sir,” said Tom.
“Well, the Shade is a little bigger than one of your frigates,” said Telek. “Why, I'd say we could fit you frigate inside the cargo hold we stood in and still have room for a Scarab.”
As they stepped into the bridge, Tom stopped in his tracks and stared at the enormous chamber of low blue lights and metallic columns with violet lights pulsating through geometric-shaped cracks. Telek walked up the purple platform in the center of the chamber, which was lit by violet track lighting forming a circle in the ceiling above. The holographic controls of the ship wrapped around the platform in a semicircle while lavender-hued screens showed various images of what was going on outside the ship glowed at the front of the room. The door behind him chimed and then closed shut, locking securely.
“What?” Tom asked.
“That's normal,” Telek replied. “The doors lock to protect the Ship Master inside the room from intruders. Unless you have explosives that can blow those doors apart, you're not getting through.”
“Okay,” said Tom as he walked onto the platform. He glanced around at the lavender and blue holographic screens that encircled him. The screens were rather high and he could not reach most of the controls that were on them. Telek gave a chuckle in realization of this.
“Looks like we need to get you a ladder,” he said.
“Yeah,” Tom nodded. “I can't reach this stuff. You make me look like a midget.”
Telek threw his head back and laughed loudly at Tom. He glanced back at the screens and slid his fingers over the controls. The ship came to life and hoisted its anchor and ascended into the clouds. The other ships followed the assault carrier. As soon as they came to the darkness of space, Telek pressed a button to contact the Memphis.
“Don,” he began. “You ready?”
“Yes,” Don replied. “Ready for link up. Just don't scratch the paint.”
Telek shook his head as he chuckled and opened up the massive doors at the belly of his own ship. The Memphis rose up into the space under the ship and positioned itself inside, allowing the struts and clamps attach themselves to the sides of the cruiser. Telek tapped another button and contacted the other ships.
“Snoitisop ruoy otni teg snordauqs Hpares l'la,” Telek ordered over the comlink.
“Ycnellecxe, sey,” replied one of the squadron leaders. Tom glanced back up at Telek, trying to figure out what he was saying. The big Elite was speaking in his native tongue.
“Kram ym no pmuj ecaps-pils rof eraperp, spihs l'la,” Telek continued. “Kram, e'erht, owt, eno!”
With that, all four ships and the squadrons of Seraphs jumped into slip-space, heading towards the coordinates of the Iroquois. Telek leaned back on his heals again and smiled.
“Sorry about that, Tom,” he said. “Most of my Sangheilis don't know how to speak English yet.”
“Sure,” Tom said.
“So, tell me,” Telek began. “Why did the `Big Cheese' pick you to be my student?”
“Because of my credentials,” said Tom. “Like you, I'm Spec Ops too.”
“Oh, really?” Telek asked.
“Navy SEALS,” said Tom. “I've done some crazy missions too.”
“Where a normal day just doesn't seem so normal,” Telek chuckled. “There's one thing you need to know. Because of our technology, how you're able to tell the difference between a regular warrior and a Spec Ops warrior is this. Spec Ops can go invisible. Regulars can't. That's why I was chosen to command a ship like this. Only Spec Ops can utilize cloaking technology to its fullest.”
Tom glanced back at the screen and crossed his arms: “So, what do we do now? Is there a cryo-tube for us to sleep in?”
“Nope,” Telek replied. “We don't sleep on these ships. We stay away during the whole trip.”
“Oh, wow…” Tom sighed, not really expecting that as an answer. It was going to a difficult journey for the two species who had never really worked together before to suddenly set aside their differences and team up. Telek and Tom would have to be the ones who would be the mediaries for both the Sangheili and the humans on board this ship. Telek had a feeling that this was going to be a bumpy ride.