The Lair of the Inquisitor

[Huka]

Nearly two quarter-cycles after the Covenant Separatists’ first victory against the relentless Inquisitor forces as well as the occupation of the colony world Templar’s Rest under the governorship of Legra ‘Adantee, however in this victory, the Heretic Special Operations Commander Rakath ‘Vkeelai have lost his recently-discover daughter to the ever-reaching grip of his nemesis Til ‘Muramai, who before disappearing after his grievous defeat, have taken her for a extra measure in his foreseen defeat.

However in his defeat, the Covenant Leadership begins to question his usefulness in the war, and so begins a treacherous test of his worth by revealing the location of Rakath’s daughter to the enemy.

Aboard Covenant SDV-class heavy corvette Shadow of Faith, Templar’s Rest

The middle-aged ex-SpecOps Officer leaned against a communications console, his helmet off to show the wrinkling blue-gray skin, his eyes shut closed in deep thought, his left eye holds a X-shaped scar, and his mandibles was shut in frustration.

He has lost his daughter to Til 'Muramai, that pitiful shadow of his former student transformed into a hateful and malicious hound of the Prophets.

There is no way to contact Roma, her communicator is off-and most likely destroyed-and her beacon is deactivated. He could not find her and he have just got her from years of separation.

Rubbing a hand over his head, he exhaled. He couldn’t think where she could be, what they have done with her, or what they are doing to her right now.

Despite his countless battles, Rakath did not know what to do. Just then, he felt a presence. Craning his head, he opened his eyes to see Renmee ‘Kelvarai. “Sir.” The normally quiet Sangheili announced in himself with the formal salute. “Relax, old friend. Now what is it that you want?” Rakath asked gruffly.

“The shipmaster wishes to see you, his communications officer have relayed a familiar signal that have just appeared in his sensors.” Renmee reported. “Familiar?” Rakath asked, hopefully.

“Commander…he thinks it might be your daughter’s.” Renmee explained with a slower pace. Straightening himself up, Rakath took his helmet and walked through the corvette with Renmee close behind.
Passing a door, he could hear his penned Moonbeast roaring and snarling at its keepers.
“Sir, I still don’t understand why you kept that thing.” Renmee said with a distrustful tone. “Simple, Renmee. I am going to sike it on Til when I see his ugly face.” Rakath joked with a serious tone, which will most likely happen.

Entering the bridge, the two found the Ship Master in his uniform harness, looking down at a cup of steaming liquid. “You found her?” Rakath asked hopefully, but the Ship Master was still quiet, sampling a taste of the liquid. “Phma!” Rakath called impatiently and Phma looked at him with a alien expression after drinking a quick gulp into his inner mouth. Dispite himself, Rakath pinched his snout as he asked, “What are you drinking?”

Blinking, Phma looked down at his cup, and smacking his mandibles before answering, “Not really sure, the humans gave it to me. They call it…” Shivering before shaking it off, “Coffee.”

“Phma…” Rakath said simply, prompting the Ship Master to look at him. “Roma.”

Widening his eyes as if just realized why he called Rakath, he coughed before basically jumping out of his command chair, “Er, yes. Rtas thinks he has found your daughter.”

“Thinks?” Renmee asked with a suspicious eye. “Yes, he says the signal is similar to hers, but it has a signal that is identical to Covenant emergency channels. It could be a trap by the Inquisitors.” Phma explained before taking another sip of his exotic drink.

“I am not sure if Til have sent it, my intelligence told me he is still…messed up from his fall and the others are busy trying to establish other business with the Humans and all.” Rakath said. “I think it is a risk to take.”

“Are you sure about this, if we go after that signal and there is a Covenant fleet on our tails,” Phma said with a glare, “I am going to kick you through the airlock and hope you crash in one of their ships.”
Rakath couldn’t help himself and laughed, “Sure, sure. Maybe more of that stuff would be on the other side, don’t you think.”

Phma glared even more and tipped his drink to get more but felt no liquid. Looking in his cup, he found it empty, and let out a very quiet whine. “You!” He called, pointing an Unggoy, who looked scared. “Can you go and get more of this stuff from the lounge.”
The Unggoy walked over and Phma kneeled to give him his cup.

Straightening himself, he found himself the center of attention of most of the room. “Stop staring, a ex-Covenant Ship Master can’t have a good drink ever once in a while. Anyway, I will step course for the signal if it means this coffee subject is off. Get your team ready or whatever.” He scowled before taking a seat on his chair again.

Chuckling, Rakath nodded to Renmee, and the two left to prepare. Phma waited for his ‘guests’ to leave the bridge before jittering abit. Then Weapons officer Toha said, most likely without thinking, “Ship Master, you should stay off the human exotics.”

In a burst of energy and wildness, Phma shouted, “And I think you should shut up!”

The whole room was quiet and Phma hung his helmed head low in shame and said with annoyance, “Sorry Toha. I was foolish enough to talk to a handful of human soldiers with Rakath and Tavise.”

“Understandable, Ship Master.” Toha chuckled nervously.

[Huka]

In the hanger after a couple units, or human hours, Rakath and Renmee walked infront of their prepared forces; one lance consisted of the newly-promoted SpecOps officer Kallmee ‘Rokai, a couple of Minors and six Unggoy due to the shortage of Special Operators, a lance of Kig-yar under the command of the mischevious mercenary captain Gra, and a lance of Phma’s Fleet Security Commandos led by the normally-quiet officer D’gar ‘Qamal. Rakath was given the direct command of a second lance of commandos.

“Everything is ready, Commander.” Kallmee said with a Sangheilian salute to Rakath, who nodded in response before standing infront of everyone.

"We are about to step into a fan of Gods know what, I want you all ready for anything, from little rats to giant Drinols. I don't care if your own mothers or uncles were standing your way, I want this mission done clean and right, do you understand me? If you don't do as I expect, someone might have to clean my new pet's teeth or worse, his leavings, and I really doubt the Unggoy that are assigned to him are happy right now, so I can't imagine one of you working in their place." Rakath said with his arms behind his back, his eyes looking at each of his soldiers, no one seemed to agree with the punishments as so remained silent. "If you get my drift, I want to hear if you understand you understand me!"

The lances stood straight and tall, shouting in unison, "We hear you, SpecOps Commander!"

Rakath clicked his mandibles as he made a Sangheili's form of a smile, "Very good."

Then Phma’s voice spoke out of the hanger's intercoms with a growling dismay, “We are arriving the signal’s location now…it is in the middle of the inner and mid rim of Imperial space. We are on the rim of the burning cauldron.”

Not caring about the location, Rakath was more worried about his daughter. “Everyone get on the phantom, we are preparing to leave.” Rakath ordered, waiting till everyone was walking in one of the twelve phantoms sitting on the hanger before stepping in himself.

The slipspace rupture opened itself before the Shadow of Faith flew out to find herself sailing towards a planet with three moons. In the bridge, the recovering Trierarch sat in his command chair, looking intently at the planet. “Rtas, where are we exactly?” He asked. Rtas was working intently on his console, he shook his helmed head in disbelief, “I-I can’t get any information for the Battlenet. The ship took us here but…no real information is given as if the whole system was erased from it. Shipmaster, we shouldn’t let Rakath leave, there is no telling what is down on the signal’s location.” He said concerned, starting to look at Phma, who continued looking at the planet with mistrusting eyes. “Where is the signal originating from?” He asked.

“The second moon, Shipmaster.” Rtas answered. Rubbing his lower mandibles, now back in his old self, Phma growled in his throat. “There is something…nevermind. I am sure Rakath can handle it. Fal maneuver us close enough to let Rakath’s dropship drift off.” Phma mused at first before giving his order. Fal acknowledged and the planet started to draw closer.

Despite his indifferent appearance, Phma found it quite odd, If this is some secret prison, where is the orbital fleet, no defenses of any kind, the sensors picked up no proximity alarms floating about. Something is wrong.

Soon the phantom Silent Incantation flew out of the ship and downwards to the signal location. Fixing Hectus’ old revolver, Rakath placed in some ammunition as he thought of tactics to apply to the mission when he felt a cool shadow befall onto him. Looking up, he saw Kallmee standing at his side with untrusting and worried eyes, “What is the matter, 'Rokai?” He asked as he clicked his weapon close and holstered on his belt.

Kallmee seemed off, unusual compared to his usual demeanor, but he swallowed before speaking, “I am not sure about this, commander. Something is not right. If this is where your daughter is kept, one would expect heavy defenses or a trap waiting for us.”

“I understand your concerns, brother, but we are Sangheili. Nothing stops us from reaching our goal.” He said, looking into Hazaii’s hollowed eyes. Rakath could only imagine what this warrior was thinking, Kallmee was young and new to this outward thinking, compared to Rakath. So they have never really interacted, but he is surprised that Kallmee remained so calm about it until now.

“But Commander.” Kallmee tried to say but quickly shut his mandibles tightly. Exhaling, Rakath carefully placed a hand on his fellow’s shoulder, who jerked at the touch. “I know how this is affecting you, Kallmee, but don’t fright. In time, you will get use to the change.” Rakath said gently like a older brother. Lowering his head, 'Rokai accepted it and walked back to his troop.

Renmee stepped beside Rakath and whispered, “Should I keep a close eye on him, Commander?” Rakath looked at 'Rokai for a moment and nodded, “I don’t won’t him to die for nothing, Renmee. I don’t want that for anyone of you.”

“I understand completely, sir.” Renmee said.

“We are entering the second moon’s atmosphere, Commander.” The pilot announced. Rakath walked into the cockpit to view this landscape for himself. Looking through the viewscreen, he saw a blanket of mist and the large spikes of a barren wasteland. “Where are we?” He asked at last.

“I am not quite sure, Commander, but the signal seem to emit from that structure.” The pilot said, pointing a claw at the screen. Leaning forward, Rakath couldn’t believe he have missed the only real detail on the screen. The structure was mostly hidden in a shroud of mist, the parts that were uncovered looked ancient, but the spire that reached higher than the smaller towers in the corners looked like the spire of a Covenant building. Why the place did looked so familiar, as he have seen it in a vid or artwork before.

“Any contacts?” Rakath asked. “No, sir. Except for the signal and occasionally civilian chatter on the planet, nothing, the structure must be abandoned.” The pilot said, his eyes glimmering awe at the structure.

“We will see. Drop us off a couple kilometers from the structure; I don’t anyone in there to pick us up from sensors.” Rakath ordered. “Yes, Commander.” The pilot acknowledged.

After surfing over the misty ocean, the phantom stopped and opened its side doors. The lances jumped out of the ship and landed roughly on the rocky terrain. Landing last, Rakath looked around, barely able to see until he activated his helmet’s visual enhancement to see through it mostly. “We move.” He ordered and the lance made their journey.

[Huka]

Moving through the mist, Rakath and the lances moved towards the structure with caution. It was no telling what was hiding about or underneath them. With Hectus’ revolver in one hand, Rakath stepped carefully but nothing. One of his Unggoy, a quirky fellow named Flippay, had no plasma-based disturbances on his sensors, so active mines in the area and since from the ease of their landing, no anti-air turrets was active either.

That was too easy for comfort. Checking his helmet’s HUD, Rakath could see the signal still blinking in the structure. It took several semi-units to come near the structure, where the mist started to clear some, their boots touching on a marble-like walkway to a massive door that separated their entry into the stronghold. “What is this place?” Renmee asked without thought. “I don’t know but we need a way inside.” Rakath said, touching the door softly. Examining it, compared to the surrounding walls, this door was new and strengthened with Covenant metal. This will take a lot of firepower.

When he was about to call on Phma, the sounds of internal machinery working, and slowly the doors opened wide enough for them to walk though. “I do not trust this one bit.” D’gar said, holding a hand over his plasma rifle cautiously, refusing to break the mainstream belief of drawing a weapon demands blood. “I will step in first, Renmee you will take flank. Everyone else in the middle.” Rakath ordered before stepping in.

Inside, he recognized the place as a grand hall, dark with no light, two-leveled. Looking around, he saw many doors under the balconies of the second level, but the signal did not point to anyone of them, but straight. Following it, everyone was on edge, this place was clearly abandoned for some time, but they felt as if someone was watching them with each step. It was very nerve-wrecking to say the less.

Passing through another large gate, they started to walk through a narrower but just as grand hall, two large stairways leading off to different sides of the places, and another door straight ahead. Wary, they came to the front door. This is where the beacon was strong. Rakath took a deep breath before pushing the door open to find the room empty.

It was easily a council room, semi-circular with four throne-like chairs; the one on the top of a stair platform was more decorated and regal compared to the others. Sitting in its seat was a small device. Drawing close, Rakath realized it was a tracking beacon. Roma’s beacon.

Picking it up, he examined to make sure, but he knew it was. Gripping it in his hand tightly, he felt the device starting to cave in under his angered strength. It was a trick. “Come, there is nothing for us here. They must have moved here and left this here to distract us.” Rakath said dully to the soldiers. When he was walking down the stairs, the room suddenly illuminated with blue light.

Turning around, he found sitting in the throne was an aged San’shyuum dressed in red-violet robes, and instead of the regal headdresses of higher ranked Prophets, this old fool wore a skullcap with a curved mantle resting on his shoulders. His attentive eyes looked at everyone in the room like a surgeon looking at precise points on a body before he grasped his fingers together and a smirk slipped on his face.

“So this is the infamous Rakath V’keelai, the constant vex of one of my Inquisitors. Hmm, I imagined you abit taller.” The San’Shyuum said amused. “And you are?” Rakath asked, actually anxious to be talking to a San’Shyuum personally. “I am the Minister of Inquisition, the one who have casted judgment onto all Heretics and the one to be their judge, jury, and executioner.” The San’Shyuum said grimly.

“Sad,” Rakath said, “I imagined you to be less ugly and mightier than even the Hierarchies.” Frowning at this insult, the Minister scowled, “Your defiance is quite amusing to say the less Rakath, but it is I who holds the cards to this pitiful game that you are foolish enough to play. I know everything that I need to know about you and your renegades. With a simple word, I could purify all of your families and friends, before I drag your beaten corpses at the High Council itself for public executions, making each death slow and painful before your souls are dragged for a far worst punishment.” The San’Shyuum said, leaning forward, his words cold and sharp like ice icicles.

“Purify?” One of the Minors questioned frightfully.

“That is what I can do, but I am merciful enough to not drag your clans to their doom for their relatives’ heretical thoughts. So I am proposing another solution. One that would benefit both of us.” The Minister said.

Rakath’s eyes gleamed under his helmet as he thought to just blast the hologram. “And why should I trust the liars of all people?” He asked. Then a evil smile grew on the Minister’s face before he leaned back, “As Minister, I know all of my agents’ operations, and obviously know about Templar’s Rest.”

A chill ran down Rakath’s back. “Your daughter is still in the Citadel and I will give you a chance to find your child. However I wander if the guardian of this place will approve.” With that, the San’Shyuum vanished with a cruel laugh.

Rakath gripped his weapon hard at the old fool’s cocky attitude but at least he knew his daughter was still here, but his worries were about this guardian.

Turning slowly back to his warriors, Rakath looked at each of them. Some were very concerned, others were…unreadable at the moment.

“Time to move.” He said.

After some scouting about, the Kig-yar lance have found an interesting area. Led by the merc captain, Rakath looked around the dark hall, anxious to find his daughter and figuring out what this place is. A Kig-yar opened one door to reveal the monument of incredible detail standing in the center of the room. It depicted a tall Sangheili warrior standing on a small heap of reptilian corpses, clad in sleek armor that mimicked the appearance of a Helios Skrill, a ragged cloak wrapped around its broad shoulders, one armored hand holding a curveblade, and the other held high with the head of a Moonbeast in its grasp.
“Why does it seem so…familiar?” Rakath questioned himself, looking at the statue’s hollowed eyes underneath its crested helm. Other than that, the room was empty.

Walking ahead, they came to another door on the left side of the hallway. Opening the door, they found two more statues. One was somewhat stocky built, dressed in a mantle and helmet made of apparent scales and underneath was flowing robes, the face in between the helmet’s visor looked familiar as well but it lost his memory of whom. Standing regal and tall despite its height, the warrior held a spear pointing forward to some unknown foe.

The other was much more larger, dressed in such primitive armor that he thought it was an ancient Sangheili of early pre-space time, made of wooden armor pieces and a leather suit, a pair of blades protruding from its right gauntlet, and a short curved sword ready to strike at possibly the same foe. Like the previous statue, its face was showing under a helmet similar to the regulated Covenant combat harness.

“What are these shrines for?” Renmee questioned with a scholar’s interest but Rakath beckoned them to move on to the end of the hall. Opening this last door, the infiltrators entered a large room holding unexpected contents. On the walls, there were the skulls of numerous beasts. All polished and displayed as ghastly prizes.

Looking at each trophy, Rakath’s hearts beated hard as he slowly started to realize and a grave revelation hit him like a typhoon as he looked to the end of the room, where the most ghastly of trophies were held. On the sides of this part of the room was undoubtedly human and sangheili skulls, on the very wall infront of him was seven helmets that belonged to only the Human Spartans, five of the helmets were of the Third-generation Spartans’ SPI armor and the last two over them were the MJOLNIR helmets of the feared Spartan-IIs, and over those skulls were two large Moonbeast skulls and the skull of a crested Moonbeast.

“Commander, where are we!?” The Commando leader questioned, greatly disturbed. Rakath’s throat felt very dry but he was able to swallow before he is answered, “I know who lives here and we got to find Roma quickly.”

On the other side of the planet, a small rapture appeared, and a large Seraph starfighter slipped through. In its enlarged interior, a deep rasping hissed in the darkened area. A few lights came on and on a console, a floating ring appeared horizontally. Slowly moving vertically and started spinning and on its inlay, holographic eyes opened on its celestial form. “It is time to awaken, Holy Deliverer of Justice.” A multitude of voices spoke.

Its light beamed on a figure resting on a sleek command seat, a fur cloak wrapped around him, and light reflected off the pilot’s ruined skin. On the armrest, a clawed hand rested on a skeletal helmet with gleaming green lenses. Its fingers clicked and moved slowly before gripping tightly around the helm.