Chapter 3

Leo saw the vitals of his men rising on the HUD inside his helmet. They were tense; the entire unit coiled like a rattlesnake, waiting for their enemy to make a mistake that they could then exploit. It seemed like the enemy were taking their sweet time to get to their position, but the fervor and adrenaline of battle always slowed things down.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right about the incoming enemy force. Traditional Covenant tactics dictated an opening salvo of heavy plasma bombardment – if they knew the humans were there, they would have opened fire already.

Unless this wasn’t an attack group.

At the moment that thought ran through his helmeted head, Omega Company’s AI, Sophia,
chimed in across the COM channel in their helmets.

“Spartans! Stand down. This is Sophia. I have just received a message from UNSC CENTCOM on Earth- the incoming force is friendly! “

Leo was taken aback by her remark. He quickly questioned the statement in his head, but knew that Sophia wouldn’t lie to him… he wasn’t even sure she could if she wanted to. The humans had been fighting these same monstrosities for decades, and they were right at this very moment attacking Earth, and fighting the UNSC to the last man, committing atrocities in the name of their heathen gods -

“The Elites,” Sophia continued, “have just signed a treaty with the UNSC. You are to treat any of their kind as an allied force. The group you see now is on a peace mission, to greet you. They are very eager to help you defend this planet and her human refugees against the Covenant Loyalists.”

There was a general exhale among the troops, and the tension abated a bit, although not entirely – many of the men were not yet ready to trust the alien soldiers they had just been killing the day before. Sophia crackled in again over their helmets: “Again, Spartans, I repeat – Stand down.”

As the Sangheili warriors drove their alien vehicles perilously close to the Spartan front line, many of the human soldiers still gripped their rifles with white knuckles. The closest, a white-armored fellow, slowed his Ghost to a stop and got off the small transport, its alien technologies keeping it suspended eerily in the air. He carried no weapon, and neither did the others – in fact, upon closer inspection, the plasma turret on their Spectre had been removed and replaced with another seat.

Leo set down his sniper rifle, jumped over the reinforced barricade, and removed his helmet when he landed, revealing the youthful face of a twenty-something conscripted to fight when the Earth had nothing else left to give. As he walked across the short, sandy distance to the eight-foot-tall warrior clad in white, he held his helmet under his left arm and his right hand out in a sign of peace.

“In the name of Earth and the UNSC, I bid you a peaceful welcome.”


* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sr’Tas ‘Rolamee dismounted his Ghost, brushed a bit of dust off of his white armor, and walked toward the human warrior. Behind him, his second-in-command G’do ‘Nosahmee cleared his throat, and Sr’Tas turned to look, but signaled that he stay behind. He didn’t need to appear any more intimidating than he already was to these humans, so he left the backup behind. Though he carried no firearm, he did have the deactivated hilt of an energy sword on his right leg, just in case the Spartans weren’t true to their word.

While he was no fan of the humans, G’do Nosahmee did admire their tenacity. The race had stood up to the onslaught of the Covenant for decades, and hadn’t budged. When added to the fact that he had suspected the treachery of the prophets all along, G’do was rather happy to have an ally in the war against the Covenant Loyalists. The Sangheili were going to need all the help they could in fighting off the Brutes, and the humans had proven their valor in combat time and time again.

The white-armored elite walked until he was within an arm’s length of the sandy-haired human. There was a moment of awkward silence, until the alien soldier held out his hand in greeting.

“In the name of Earth and the UNSC, I bid you a peaceful welcome. I am the commanding officer of this unit, Omega Company, and my name is Leo.”

Sr’Tas stared at Leo’s hand for a moment, unsure of the gesture he was presenting, but extended his own when he deemed the ritual to be diplomatic. Although he knew that the warrior he was shaking hands with was strong and battle-hardened by numerous engagements, he was surprised at how he dwarfed him in size.

‘Rolamee responded to the welcome. “And I greet you with good will from my people, human,” he said. “I am called Sr’Tas ‘Rolamee and I trust that your leaders have informed you of the détente between our races?”

Leo smiled. “Actually, we all came out here when we heard you were coming. We were going to open fire, until we received word of the truce about 3 minutes ago. But I assure you, we have every intention of fighting the Brutes with you at our side. “

Sr’Tas smiled. “The feeling is mutual, human. Although I must return to my ship and proceed with the creation and fortification of a base for my warriors here, I am sure we will be in close communication.”

And with that the elite was off, back to a location where he would be lifted to his cruiser in orbit. Leo let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t explain to anyone how nervous he had been during the exchange with the elite commander – he had seen these monsters rip men to shreds – his men! And he had just shaken hands with the leader of one of their detachments.