“Heh. Well… Earth is… Interesting. There are good people… Bad people… Normal people… Weirdos… It’s kinda hard to describe it without something specific you’re looking for.”
“I understand. Describing Sanghelios or High Charity in only a few short sentence would be a challenge for anyone.”
“Not for me!”
Flapflap spoke up.
“Balaho is big and stinky, with high mountains and air full of methane. It was a pretty nice place till the covenant showed up. But we don’t talk about that much.”
Rick laughed. “Well, then. That is descriptive.”
As 'Zavum and Rick talk, Briggs considers the Elite’s proposal:
Walter knew that the Halos, such as the one he stood upon now, were important to the Covenant religion; they believed that the activation of the array would allow them to transcend the physical world and become divine beings. The UNSC knew better, however: the seven rings were, in fact, designed as weapons of last resort to combat a parasitic organism known as the Flood. When activated, the array would not send the worthy upon some “Great Journey”, but instead wipe out all sentient life across the galaxy in an effort to starve the Flood to death.
Walter and the rest of the forces that had come under his command on this ring had been dispatched to assume control over the installation, to keep it out of the hands of the fanatical Covenant. To that end, the retrieval of this Halo’s activation index, which resided within the Library, was paramount. Unfortunately, Briggs and his men had been unable to proceed further into the Library beyond its’ entrance. Perhaps, on their own, the marines could not hope to fight through the swarms of robotic Sentinels that tended to the structure. With the advanced weapons and zeal of the Covenant now on their side, however…
The red elite returned with multiple plates of food for the humans. On each was what looked like some kind of bread. Though the orange color might have seemed quite strange.
“This is made from a grain found on our homeworld.”
Syro explained.
“It almost never goes bad or stale, so they make for good rations.”
Rick picks up a piece and licks it.
The outside crust of the bread had little flavor, but it all smelled enticing.
Rick shrugged and took a bite.
Nothing about the bread would be inherently bad, but the taste was a bit more… Meaty, than one would expect from a form of bread.
Rick swallowed the bite. “Not bad. Tastes a little like some kinda steak.”
He game Syro a thumbs up.
Briggs also eats some of the alien bread, while Thomas politely refuses, keeping his helmet on.
O’Connor wandered around, looking if he could something or have something make his time pass by.
Briggs clears his throat.
“'Zavum,” he says, “you and the others under your command were deployed here to take control of the ring, yes?”
The golden hunter growled in affirmation
“You are correct. We were tp hold this installation and prevent it from enemy control, so that the great journy may go unimpeded.”
Briggs decide to keep his opinions on the Great Journey to himself, for now. This was to be a time of peace, after all, though perhaps he and his troops could try to enlighten the Covenant later.
“Right,” he says. “We were sent here to take the ring, as well. That entails retrieving its index, of course.”
“You mean the holy icon, yes. Perhaps we cluld assist each other here.”
Briggs nods.
“Yes, that’s what I was thinking, also.”
“Though my question is, what are we to do with it once it is found? Alliance or no, you humans are stil opposed to our religion.”
The three hunters crocked their knuckles, copying a human intimation tatic they had seen on the battlefield