Halo - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sangheili Pirate in the UNSC ❯ Reach for the Decision ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Ghostwalker2061
Telek must make a decision--work with a 500-year old telepathic artificial intelligence inside a cyborg reptile's body that seems to have a hacking addiction and that is a border-line megalomaniac, or dealing with the Covenant. First impressions are very important to the new boss.

Non Anime: Halo - Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Cyberpunk / Sci-fi | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 03.05.2008 | Pages: 7 | Words: 10.2K | Visits: 339 | Status: Completed

2034 Hours, August 30, 2547 (Military Calendar)\Reach
The Shade of Darkness followed by the Righteous Fury, the Devine Journey, and the Holy Justice finally broke out of slip-space over the shipyard world known as Reach. Telek stood silently as the view of Reach came onto his screen.
“You can disengage my ship,” began a voice over the speakers.
“Right, Don,” Telek said. “Disengaging locks.”
He pressed several buttons on the holo-screen and heard the sounds of the struts unlocking from the smaller ship below him. He peered down just as he saw the Memphis break away from his ship, and pulling up into formation alongside the other `Covenant' ships that escorted Telek's ship.
“Welcome to Reach, Telek,” said Don.
“It's beautiful,” Telek commented. “This is the shipyard, isn't it? This is where all of the ships are made for Earth?”
“Yes,” said Don. “If we loose this world—that's it. No more ships.”
“Then, I've got my work cut out for me,” Telek added solemnly.
“In coming message, Excellency,” began Tekn.
“On screen.”
“Ship Master Telek `Herosee?” began a voice as a weathered face appeared on the screen. “I'm Vice-Admiral Vince Witcom. Welcome to Reach.”
“Thank you, Vice-Admiral,” Telek replied. “I'm hoping that I'm not causing any—trouble for the ships who just saw me break out of slip-space.”
“We knew you were coming,” he said.
“That's good,” Telek added. “If you didn't, I'd probably be dead by now.”
“Shade of Darkness,” began a Longsword squadron leader with a Southern Accent. “Turn to vector 3580 and prepare for docking procedures at landing zone David-Alpha.”
“Roger,” Telek said. “You heard the man.”
“Entering coordinates now,” said Tekn.
“I'll see you when you land, Telek,” said Vince.
“Thank you, sir,” Telek nodded just as the image faded. He turned back to Tekn. “Well, here we are.”
“Yes, here we are,” said Tekn. “But—what do we do?”
“Make the most of it,” Telek replied. “Trust me on this one, it's worth it. I'll finally have the means to ram something hard up Truth's ass.”
“Is that all you think about, Excellency?” Tekn asked.
Telek sighed and glanced away, taking out his tin of vodka and took a sip of it. It had been all that he was willing to think about. Ever since the day he discovered the truth about the Halos, the lies about what the Covenant really was about and the ideas that the Prophets were withholding information that could spell out doom for his own species, he could not think of anything else. This was important to him. Telek's mind slipped for a moment back to the dream he had of that girl and Tartarus and his old commander Otto `Gamamee. He could not save the girl, Tartarus killed her, and then Otto killed Telek—and there was nothing else. He could not understand why he kept having that dream. It disturbed him night after night. Not even the sweet numbness of alcohol could rid his mind from that strange dream. Telek felt locked in some sort of delusion that he was going to fail and that all of the universe was going to be destroyed. Though joining the UNSC was partially about his own guilt for having a hand in destroying a species that came to no harm to the Covenant, the rest was for stopping Truth and his schemes.
The ship slowly descended down into the atmosphere of Reach with the other five ships following it. As they descended, Telek saw his screens flicker and information scroll across it. It looked as if someone was trying to access information on the ship itself through an unauthorized channel in the mainframe of the ship. Telek knew a computer hacker when he saw one.
“Tekn, did you see that?” he asked.
“The screens flickered…” said Tekn.
“Someone's trying to hack into our ship,” said Telek.
“From Reach?”
“No, this is coming from somewhere else,” Telek replied. “It's being masked though. Looks like he's having trouble hacking through because my ship's computer isn't something human built. But—I'm amazed he managed to get this far into the system. Say nothing about this to Witcom.”
“Yes, Excellency,” nodded Tekn.
The Memphis hung in a low orbit while the Shade of Darkness lowered its gravitational lift platform to anchor itself to the ground. The other three Covenant Separatist ships followed, descending their anchors down as well to attach themselves to the concrete below. Telek, Tekn, and Shri rode the Shade's lift down to the ground as the Ship Masters of the other three ships—Cujo, Tulsa, and Mitsu came down from their ships. As soon as they were down, Telek spotted Vice-Admiral Witcom standing along side other officers. He was dressed in his white dress uniform and gloves. Three stars shined upon his golden shoulder boards and a braid of gold draped over his shoulder. Telek's own golden armor shined brilliantly in the sun.
“Telek `Herosee,” said Witcom as he held out his hand to the Sangheili.
“Vince Witcom,” Telek returned the handshake.
The Vice-Admiral glanced over and saw the white Jolly Roger painted on the shoulder plate. He noticed that the other Elites also had the same symbol on their armor as well.
“The Jolly Roger,” he said. “I shall make a note of it that any Covenant ship we see that bears that symbol shall not be attacked. Lord Hood made a similar statement to which the President agreed upon.”
“I hear that I'll be meeting him as well,” said Telek. “The President I mean.”
“Mr. Knight,” said Witcom. “Yes, you will.”
“Vice-Admiral Witcom,” Telek began. “I'd like you to meet the rest of my pirating crew.” He turned behind him and motioned at the other Ship Masters. “This is Ship Master Mitsu `Kimamee of the Holy Justice, this is Ship Master Tulsa `Duroshee of the Righteous Fury, and my old frat brother Cujo `Mentatalee, Ship Master of the Divine Journey.” He turned to the others standing beside him. “This is my assistant Tekn `Morudee and my Special Operations Commander Shri `Canthonee.”
“Ma'am,” Witcom said as he tipped his hat politely to the female Sangheili. And this made her blush bright red. He turned back to Telek and the others and motioned for them to follow him. Tekn could not help but to notice Shri's coloration.
“What's wrong, you sick, Shri?” he asked.
“He called me `ma'am',” Shri giggled. “That's so—different.”
“They're culture is different, so are their manners,” he said. “You find it offensive?”
“On the contrary,” she replied. “I find it cute.”
Tekn chuckled back and followed a few steps behind Telek. Cujo walked beside Telek, glancing over his shoulder to the number of armed guards that had gathered.
“They don't trust us,” Cujo began. “They still don't trust us.”
“Can you blame them?” Telek asked. “Only now have we decided to make some sort of peace with this strange species. It's quite understandable that they still show some hostility towards us. They just have to make sure we're not going to do them in.”
“Maybe with this Knight's backing,” began Cujo. “They'll seem less hostile to us. If their leader will trust us, then perhaps there is some hope for the others.”
“It's not as simple as that,” said Mitsu. “One being does not dictate the personal values of another—no matter how powerful they are.”
“Not unless they hold some sort of religious sway over the group,” said Tulsa. “Such as the Covenant.”
“The Prophets never held sway over our views,” said Telek. “Have they?”
“No, Excellency!” called Tulsa. “Of course not.”
“No, religion has its own power, a dark power when used the wrong way,” said Telek. “When religion and politics ride in the same cart—it's like feeding fuel to the fire. It can only get hotter and do more damage.”
“The whirlwind blows when those two meet face to face,” said Cujo.
“Yes,” Telek agreed. “It does. But this Knight does not hold any religious sway over the people he leads. So, it will be different.”
As they entered the base, Witcom paused for a moment and glanced back at Telek. He heard their discussion and knew what was about to happen next. It was time that Telek learn of the being he was about to meet.
“Telek,” he began. “There's something you must know before you enter that office and meet with Mr. Knight.”
“Something?” Telek asked.
“Yes, it's about President Knight,” began Witcom. “About what kind of person he is.”
“Okay…”
“Kiryuu Knight,” began Witcom. “Is a being of great power in the UNSC. Not just because he's the president. No, he had great power before he became president. He's a dictator, for one. He has allowed the civilian population only the simplistic of basic rights. He has full control over the information coming in and out of all the various servers belonging to the Office of Naval Intelligence. You might think something like that came with the job, but not with Kiryuu. He held sway over ONI before he came to the UN. There's a term called Plausible Deniability. Sometimes what one president knows, and when he leaves, does not share with the other president because of security reasons mostly because of how it can go against the laws that were enforced at the time. Plausible Deniability does not work in Kiryuu's case. He knew information so far up in security before security was even granted to him. He knows everything, everything we do, everything we say—nothing is kept from him.”
“How did he gain this information?” Telek asked.
“You're about to meet the greatest hacker Earth has every produced,” Witcom replied.
The hacker! Telek thought. The hacker that attacked my ship was President Knight? How could he have done that all the way from Earth? How? Then he spoke aloud. “And how did he become so powerful?”
“If I told you now, you wouldn't believe me,” replied Witcom. “But I'll tell you this, before he came into power, though we had established a fair hold on information control through ONI—it was not as efficient as it is today.”
“Information control?” Cujo asked. “What information?”
“The war of course,” said Witcom. “Not just secrets we're trying to withhold from the Covenant, but secrets we're holding from the civilian populace as well.”
“Why?” Shri asked.
“Because,” said Telek. “They don't want the civilian populace to know they're loosing. Bad for moral. Am I right?”
“Yes,” Witcom replied. “There's nothing more dangerous than scared, maddened, and enraged civilians finding out that their planet could be next in Covenant glassing. Dangerous for us. The whole colony system we had established, rules, and such—would all completely crash and total anarchy would ensue. And basically the whole Earth Empire would just collapse on itself and commit social suicide. And for Kiryuu's first term, he managed to save Earth and its colonies from just that. Of course, it then required him to take on a full dictatorship to keep control. Commerce was regulated, travel was regulated, and even the, megacorps were also regulated. The government under Kiryuu Knight has full autonomy over everything you stand on right now. When he says jump, the UNSC jumps.”
“Sometime such control is necessary at times,” said Telek. “But I hope it hasn't gone completely to his head.”
“It's not just that,” said Witcom. “You're job here was defeated by Congress several times over as well as the motion to allow Kiryuu a third term. Then, Kiryuu pulled his puppet strings on every single one of them. That's why you're here now. Not only has his strings forced Congress to vote to allow you this commission, but has also given him the option of a third term where only two are allowed.”
“Third term?” Telek asked. “To do what?”
“That I don't know,” Witcom replied. “His second term isn't even up. He still has nearly 2 and a half more years to go. But—somehow, he knows that staying in power will allow him to remain in complete control over the actions of everything that will happen. Apparently he wants to ride this war out to the end.”
“This guy is beginning to sound like a Prophet,” Cujo whispered.
“Shirking off one tyrant to go serve another,” Telek sighed.
“Kiryuu Knight holds a benevolent dictatorship,” said Witcom. “But yes, he is a tyrant in many ways. But the people don't mind it so long as they have their basic rights to go and live their lives. One thing Kiryuu doesn't interfere in—the basic lives of others. It's the big decisions he's concerned about. And this one is one of the biggest. And if your wondering, the people wanted it. It's because he's a notable Caesar among leaders.”
“Then it is the people's choice whether he remains on,” Telek said.
“Yes, it is,” said Witcom. “In the end, it is. And that's what granted him the third term even before his second was over.”
“Can't wait to meet this guy,” Telek sighed. “What is he, some sort of wrinkly old, grouchy prune?”
Witcom chuckled: “I wouldn't say that to his face. You'll see.”
He opened the door to the office and they stepped in. There was a large, suede office chair with a very high back. Telek glanced around, trying to find the screen in which he would see the image of President Knight.
“Mr. Knight,” began Witcom. “I'd like you to meet Telek `Herosee.”
The chair swung around and Telek's blue eyes lit up like two headlights. Cujo froze, confused as to what he saw. Tulsa blinked with his own confusion, and Mitsu just stared with in blank expression. Tekn and Shri even gave similar looks. Telek could not really fathom what he saw. There, sitting in the chair was a being—that was not to say the least human. He looked reptilian, from what Telek could gather, with gray pebbly skin. Two golden eyes that had cat-like slits for pupils sparkled in the light of the office. A fanged grinned crawled up the wedge-like muzzle of the creature that sat in the chair, showing off many rows of dagger-like teeth. Metallic plates framed the face and tubing ran down the creature's temples into the metallic plates that adorned his neck. From what Telek could deduce, this—whatever it was—seemed mechanical in nature. A mane of green, fleshy, dreadlocks sprouted from the top of the creature's head and draped about its shoulders—wiggling like Medusa snakes. He wore a blue polo shirt with black triangular stripes on his shoulders, which covered the plated armor underneath—though the arm plates were exposed. Telek could see some sort of black rubber-like body suit that the creature wore under the, silvery, metallic armor. The creature stood up and extended its armored claw.
“Ship Master `Herosee,” he began in a voice so rich and deep that it sent a chill down Telek's spine. “I am Kiryuu Knight.”
“You—are?” Telek asked, taking the hand, still really unsure what to make of this.
“Yes, I am,” said Kiryuu. “Sit down.”
Telek's eyes remained wide just as he promptly sat down in the chair. This Knight fellow was as tall as a regular Sangheili, and also a bit heftier than one too.
“I—thought you weren't coming,” Telek said.
“I'm not really here,” Kiryuu began. “This is a hologram.”
“It's a very good hologram,” said Telek. “I don't remember reading about humans being able to produce holograms that were solid enough you could actually touch them.”
“You haven't been studying hard enough,” said Kiryuu. “We do have holograms like that.
“This is—what you really look like?”
“You were expecting a human?” he asked.
Telek clacked his mandibles, still trying to blink away his stunned expression: “Yes.”
“I see,” Kiryuu said. “Sorry to disappoint you. But I'm not human. Nor have I ever been human.”
“You're a machine,” breathed Cujo.
“Yes,” Kiryuu said.
“A machine is the leader of the UNSC?” Mitsu asked.
“I take it in the Covenant there aren't machines that run things,” he chuckled.
“Not anything like you,” said Telek. “We have AIs, but—nothing like you.”
“I'll take that as a compliment,” Kiryuu said. “I am one of a kind.”
“So, there's not any other AIs that are like you?”
“No,” he replied. “There aren't. There have been attempts, but all have failed. One attempt was to create AIs with copies of human synapses. Unfortunately, those AIs completely shut down after 7 years of activation.” He paused for a moment and stared directly into Telek's eyes. “They think themselves to death pondering paradoxes that their logical circuits cannot handle. It overloads them and they're no more. But me—I've got a special ability that allows me to compute paradoxes without harm to my processors. Which is why I've been active for over 500 years.”
“500 years…quite a long time for a computer,” said Telek.
“Yes,” said Kiryuu. “But it's a mere blink of an eye compared to the age of my body. But—I won't go into the details. Now, about this commission…”
“I've been wanting to know about it,” said Telek. “For one, will it include those loyal to me?”
“Not if they don't want it,” replied Kiryuu. “I wanted you. So, I have you. That's the only thing I wanted.”
“You have me…” Telek began to ponder this. “I feel like a prize won at a state fair.”
“Excellent analogy!” Kiryuu laughed. “You are very informative of our culture. In some ways you are and some ways you're not. I need you because you have information that could help us win this war. We're fighting for our survival now—fighting against extinction—fighting for the lives of our loved ones. We didn't ask to be at war with the Covenant. We were contempt at just going about our own business.”
“I know…” Telek sighed, his head lowering. “It wasn't your fault…”
“You seem to place much of the guilt on yourself,” Kiryuu said.
“There are reasons why I do…” he replied. “Many dark reasons.”
“Don't let your guilt bring your spirit down,” said the bio-mechanical dinosaur. “I don't want you to join us just because you feel you have demons to slay.”
“I'm not,” said Telek.
“Be honest…” Kiryuu's eyebrow perked up.
“There is one…” began Telek. “Tartarus and Truth. I've—been lied to. My faith, my religion. It's not easy to cope when you just found out that the very thing you were willing to die for was nothing more than some fairytale.”
“I see,” Kiryuu sighed as he rose up from the chair again. “And these two were the ones who told these lies?”
“No, it was Truth…and Mercy…and Regret…” he replied. “Three Prophet Hierarchs.”
“Religion and politics,” Kiryuu noted. “Dangerous gamble. They are the ones who control the Covenant?”
“That's them,” Cujo replied.
“And what would happen if we try to assassinate one of these hierarchs?” Kiryuu asked, glanced back at the other Sangheili.
“It could make things worse for your people,” replied Telek. “A lot worse.”
“We had a planned assassination once,” said Kiryuu. “Actually, we planned to capture one of the Prophets and ransom him out for the war to cease.”
“It wouldn't have worked,” Telek said. “Still would have made things worse.”
Kiryuu sat down in the chair beside him: “You see we need you. We need you to tell us these things. This is a careful war we are fighting.”
“What about my crew?” Telek asked. “And my ship?”
“We need them,” said Kiryuu.
“What are your terms in this?” Telek asked.
“Alright,” he began. “Here it is. You'll have a commission within the UNSC. You'll be commissioned as a Naval 06 officer.”
“A what?”
“Captain,” Kiryuu replied. “Your pay grade is 06. Your rank will be Captain. Because of your knowledge, I shall grant you ONI clearance. At the same time you will be handed a UNSC crew to serve on your ship.”
“I already have a crew,” Telek advised.
“I know,” said Kiryuu. “We'll need that crew of yours to help train the UNSC crew that will be on board with you. Whether they decide to be commissioned is up to them, but I want you personally on the payroll. And the only way to do that is to have you as a 06.”
“Alright,” Telek said as he listened in.
“Here's another thing,” Kiryuu continued. “I want you to continue what you're doing. Stealing ships, technology, information…whatever you can get your hands on. That would be perfect enough—but whatever secrets that you have you must hand over to ONI.”
“All of them?” Telek asked.
“Covenant battle tactics,” said Kiryuu. “Technology you might know how to use. How to speak the language—and anything else that we could use to shorten this war against the Covenant. You were a fairly high level officer in the Covenant, that means you must know about various secrets we have practically died in getting our hands on.”
Secrets…Telek thought. Yes, secrets. But—not everything. Certainly not—about the Sacred Rings.
Kiryuu's right eyebrow cocked up. Unbeknownst to Telek, Kiryuu was a telepath. He heard what Telek had thought, though he was shocked that he could hear an alien's thoughts in the first place. And especially this far out. Though with his consciousness settling itself down inside the system of the base, he could actually pick up thoughts. He thought his powers only worked on humans. Apparently Erika gave him more than he had hoped for.
Sacred Rings? Kiryuu thought. He's hiding something. Interesting… Kiryuu rose up again. “I don't expect you to make your decision now.”
“Of course not…” Telek began.
“You will be granted supplies, personnel,” Kiryuu began. “And—it'll make it easier for you to get a hold of our alcohol as well.”
Telek's head popped up: “Alcohol?”
“Have you ever tried Moonshine?” Kiryuu asked.
“No,” Telek replied.
“Excellent brew,” he said. “Made from corn. In the South they call it `Corn Squeezin's.' Whiskey it's really called. You should try it some time. Packs a bit of a kick.”
“I've mostly had vodka and rum,” said the Sangheili.
“Whiskey,” said Kiryuu. “Much better.”
“Unlimited supply?”
“Till you're drowning in it,” Kiryuu whispered. “I hear you're quite a drinker. Of course there's a time for drinking and there's a time for being sober.”
“I am—rather responsible with my drinking habits,” Telek said.
Kiryuu turned his head when he heard Shri sneezed. He could have sworn he heard her say “liar” when she sneezed. He let loose a small chuckle after that.
“We will conclude this meeting,” he began. “Till tomorrow. It is growing late, here, is it not?”
“It's supper time here, Mr. President,” said Witcom.
“I'm a few hours behind you,” Kiryuu said. “It's still lunch back on Earth.”
“Telek,” said Witcom. “I hope you don't mind staying the night at Reach.”
“I've got nothing else to do right now,” Telek said as he rose up from his chair. “Besides, I do need to speak to my other Ship Masters about this offer.”
“I wouldn't expect you to do otherwise,” said Kiryuu. “As it's stated. We shall meet back at 0800 hours Reach local time. Until then, I bid you all good evening.”
At that very moment, Kiryuu's hologram flickered and then disappeared. Telek took in a deep breath as Witcom sat down in his chair.
“Well, what did you think?” Witcom asked.
“I don't know what to think,” Telek replied. “He's a—machine that kinda looks like an alligator.”
“Actually, he's a dinosaur,” said Witcom. “Alligators have longer snouts.”
“Sorry, don't know much about Earth fauna,” the Sangheili began. “Still—he's a bit much to—take in.”
“You're only getting a small serving of what Kiryuu is,” chuckled Witcom. “If he was standing in here without the hologram and in full size, it would be much different.”
“Full—size?” Tulsa asked.
“He's 60 meters tall,” said Witcom.
Telek's head swam after he heard that: “Oh, good gods…that guy could swallow us like a pill.”
“Why—why would Earth create something like—this President Knight?” Tekn asked. “He's a machine after all—he must have had a purpose for being built.”
“He did,” said Witcom. “500 years ago, he did. But I'll not go into that. Better for him to tell you when he gets the time.”
“Which may mean we'll never know,” said Telek. “It's not important right now. He'll be my boss if I agree to do this—that's all that will matter.”
Witcom followed the Sangheili back outside and below their ships.
“We'll stay in our ships,” said Telek. “I'll need to debrief everyone about Knight's proposal.”
“Of course,” said Witcom. “Then I'll see you when the sun rises.”
He, then, turned around and returned to the base's main building. Telek heard the sound of Donald Reynolds' voice coming up from behind him.
“Hey, you crazy ole pirate!” he called. “How was the meeting? You see Mr. Knight?”
“I saw him,” Telek said.
“What did you think?”
“Why the fucking hell didn't you tell me he's a cyborg dinosaur?” Telek asked, placing his hands on his hips.
Don laughed: “Sorry, you wouldn't have believed me if I did tell you.”
“That's not funny,” Telek said. “He's a cyborg dinosaur.”
“He's a mutated, radioactive, cyborg dinosaur,” said Don.
“He's a fucking B-movie!” Telek cried. “Your President is a B-movie!”
“He's your President now too.”
“I haven't even made my decision on this,” said Telek. “We're just now going up to discuss it, right?”
The other Ship Masters nodded.
“Don, what the hell happened 500 years ago?” Telek asked. “Why—why would they create Kiryuu Knight?”
“Actually, he was reanimated and supplied with an artificial intelligence,” said Don.
“Why?”
“Human arrogance,” said Don. “You can set your watch by it. We did these nuclear weapons tests back in the 1950s, and one of the islands that got hit with the fallout was the island that two dinosaurs were on. One of those dinosaurs was Kiryuu—or what will soon be Kiryuu. The creature mutated and grew large and started attacking an island called Japan. Nothing could stop this monster. The weapons at the time only made it angrier. Then, there was this weapon—a weapon even today still undisclosed—that was used on the monster and it killed it. Turned it into nothing more than a skeleton. Then the second dinosaur was mutated and it started doing the same rampages. It was then that a medical company called the Utah Foundation brought up the skeleton of the original monster and made it into a cyborg—giving it the AI and called it Kiryuu—sending it after the second monster.”
Telek just eyed Don with a pungent expression: “Are you insane?”
“No,” said Don. “That's the real story. Apparently, because of the cells used in Kiryuu's creation made him sentient and the laws at that time actually gave him rights as a citizen—which even allowed him to run for office 50 years later. Of course now, sentient AIs don't have that privilege, but Kiryuu's citizenship wasn't taken away when that changed. I mean, are you gonna tell a 60 meter tall, radioactive dinosaur that he isn't allowed to vote anymore?”
“He's been in power for 500 years?” Tulsa asked.
“No, he's been in charge for the last 5 years of the UN,” said Don. “But he did become President of the United Canadian-American States in the mid to late 21st Century. And at that time, the whole world was just going to hell in a hand basket.”
“And I thought the Covenant was nuts,” Telek breathed. “What was this monster called—before he became Kiryuu?”
“Godzilla.”
Telek knew that name from some of the old news reels that he watched from time to time. Like most of what he had, these reels were from 500-year old transmissions from Earth.
“Plasma spouting Godzilla?” he asked. “He's that monster?”
“You didn't recognize him?” Don asked.
“Not with those dreadlocks,” Telek crossed his arms. “Is he wearing a wig?”
“No, those really do grow out of his head,” said Don. “You should see the State of the Union Address he gives us ever so now and then. Those things wiggle like snakes—give me the creeps.”
“He gives us the creeps,” said Cujo. “I just can't believe that's your leader.”
“Just think you'll see him again tomorrow and that'll be it,” said Don. “Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention. Mind your thoughts. He's telepathic.”
Telek slapped his own head: “Now he tells me.”
“Come on, Telek,” said Cujo. “Let's just get this debriefing over and go to bed. My head hurts.”
“See you tomorrow,” said Don as he walked off.
Telek had to agree on that as he followed his fellow Ship Masters, Spec Ops Commander, and assistant up into the gravity lift of the assault carrier the Shade of Darkness.
“Tekn,” Telek began. “I want you to hoist anchor.”
“Excellency?” Tekn asked.
“You heard me!” Telek barked. “Ready the cloak, I want it activated as soon as we have weighed anchor. Get this ship out of the range of their satellites. Put it just behind one of their moons.”
“What are we doing?” Cujo asked. “Where are we going?”
“Just to one of Reach's moons,” said Telek. “But out of the range of their satellites.”
“Why, Excellency?” Tulsa asked.
“Because,” Telek replied. “I think someone's watching us in here.”
“We're in the ship, who could be watching us?” Mitsu asked.
“HIM!” Telek cried. “Get moving, Tekn! If you don't obey your Fleet Master, I'll have you thrown out the airlock!”
“Yes, Excellency!” Tekn called as he dashed off towards the bridge.
“Telek, what the hell are you doing?” Shri asked. “Him who?”
“Him!” Telek called again. “That—thing! Their leader—Kiryuu Knight!”
“How could he be watching us?” Shri asked. “He's on Earth for one.”
“He was the one who hacked into my ship when we descended,” Telek growled.
“Hacked?” Mitsu began. “He—hacked your ship?”
Telek started off towards the bridge as well with the others following close behind him.
“Yes!” he called. “Hacked it! He hacked my ship; he actually was able to hack my ship!” He turned around and grabbed Mitsu by the collar. “No UNSC personnel has ever hacked my ship! Ever!”
“Calm down, Excellency,” said Tulsa.
“I didn't think they had that ability, but apparently Kiryuu does,” Telek began to hyperventilate. “Oh, I need a drink badly.”
He pulled out his tin and opened it up, ready to gulp down the alcohol inside. But then, he found out it was empty.
“Oh, why the hell is the rum always gone?” he asked in defeat. “I need my medication! Now! Shri, go get some Jack Daniel's or Vodka, or whatever liquor you can find.”
“You're a drunken maniac, Telek,” said Shri.
“Go get the booze, Commander!” Telek bellowed. “I need it to calm down! I'm having withdrawal problems.”
“Apparently, you're paranoid,” said Shri. “Alright, I'll be right back.”
As she left Telek felt the ship begin to move and break orbit from the atmosphere. Down below Don glanced up from the landing pad and noticed the Shade of Darkness leaving. Then, he noticed the ship fading into invisibility, indicating that the cloak had been activated.
“He activated the cloak?” Don asked. “Where does he think he's going?”
Don dashed off towards the office of Vice-Admiral Witcom.
“Admiral,” he called. “Telek just took off.”
“What?” Vince asked.
“He took off with the other Ship Masters,” he said. “They left the other three ships behind, took off and cloaked.”
“Where the hell is he going?” Vince asked.
“I don't know,” replied Don with a shrug. “But he seemed a bit—disturbed. I think it had to do with the meeting with Kiryuu Knight.”
“Must be going off to get his thoughts ready,” said Vince. “If he's cloaked, we'll have a hard time trying to locate him. Though you could do a sweep for his engine trails since you have his engine's signatures programmed into your ship.”
“Yes, sir,” said Don. “I'll do that right away.”
“Good luck,” said Vince.