| abstract | - Fireteam Thunder and their new guest had set up camp on the cliffs of the coast, with Sunaion in the distance. Oru ‘Mdama hated being away from the Arbiter; He was an Honor Guardsman, and his charge had nearly died just hours ago. He didn’t want to be here. The silence around the team of five was loaded with hard questions, that none of the Spartans seemed able to give voice too. Riley especially seemed tense, her stare boring deep into the red stone she was sitting on. Nathan and Isabella had set to cleaning their assault rifles, which had accumulated an unholy amount of red dirt in only a few days. Despite their efforts, it was impossible to ignore the red, white, and gold armored Sangheili just meters away from them. Except for Kiara, who had fallen asleep with her head propped up on her helmet. Isabella and Nathan were prepared to step in, seeing as how Riley was clenching her fists hard enough that her servos groaned. After a few more seconds, Riley let out a frustrated sigh, and then relaxed her fingers. The tension in her face and neck seemed to dissolve as well. Isabella’s brow furrowed, then glanced over at Nathan, mouthing a question. He shrugged, then waved a hand. Isabella went back to her cleaning, but kept her attention divided. She didn’t know what would happen, but she shifted the way she was sitting so she was sitting on her knees instead of cross-legged, ready to stand in a moment. Riley blinked, and then pushed herself up off the ground, still frowning at the dirt, but her gaze was more distant. She then turned and began to walk over to Oru, who was wrist deep in his red Banshee. Riley wiped down her face with her hand, trying to hide her barely contained contempt. “I thought we should get to talking, instead of sitting around pretending neither of us are here.” Riley couldn’t bring herself to smile, even a fake one, but she could at least not clench her jaw. “I realize this is hard for you.” Oru tried to establish some kind of rapport, “You have lived your whole life, fighting me and my kind. I should not expect you to forget it all in a day.” “We gotta start somewhere, right?” Riley shrugged, then fell silent again, out of topics. She examined the Sangheili, looking for something to discuss. “We stand here to destroy the Covenant.” Oru sighed, and stood up. The pride and confidence that most Sangheili exuded was absent here, “At the very least, to prevent more harm. I may not ever be able to restore my honor, for all the things I’ve done.” Riley’s expression hardened minutely as she listened. She knew the Sangheili had burned many worlds to ashes, killing billions of people. It was a fact of life she’d been born with. Oru may have even personally been involved in the destruction of Reach, something that burned Riley inside her chest. She felt at least it would be good to ask, to at least be sure of what she could reasonably be angry about, “Like what?” “I have killed many humans, believing it would bring me closer to the Great Journey. I may not have helmed the ship, but I am still responsible for the destruction of a human world, and I may never be rid of that shame.” Oru sighed, his orange eyes unable to meet Riley’s, and instead stared at the ground. “What world?” Riley’s fists and jaw clenched, her muscles tense. The image of her world burning projected on the back of her mind. “I believe its human name is ‘Alluvion.’” Oru struggled to get the words out, and looked up at Riley, just in time to see her teeth bared and eyes wide. Riley took a shaky breath, trying to not picture Oru slaughtering her world. Her arm servos groaned loudly, then she looked back up. She couldn’t bring herself to talk now. “I thought there was glory in combat, but now I see that the killing of innocents brings me nothing but pain.” Oru watched Riley’s face, unsure what to make of her expression. Riley couldn’t keep herself in line any longer, and her tension exploded into a furious right hook straight into the side of Oru’s head. The impact launched the Sangheili’s helmet away, and cracked several of his teeth. Riley followed up by grasping Oru’s head in her fingers, and slamming his head against his Banshee, splattering his violet blood on the scarlet metal. “You think you know pain?!” Riley shouted, as Isabella rushed to her and break it up, “Fuck you and your goddamned honor!” “Riley!” Isabella grabbed Riley by the shoulder. “Don’t you fucking touch me.” Riley growled under her breath, releasing the bloodied alien from her grasp. “He’s an asset to us, you don’t have to like it, but killing him makes it that much harder to get this done.” Isabella stared down Riley, forcing her to redirect, “You want to blame someone, blame them.” Isabella pointed at Sunaion on the horizon, and Riley glanced over. She growled, and stormed off into the tent Oru had set up earlier. Isabella offered a hand to Oru, who accepted it. “I suppose I deserved that.” The Sangheili muttered, his words slurred by his likely broken jaw.
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