Painful Confession

Fireteam Thunder and Oru ‘Mdama are on Sanghelios, after being assigned to work together. 2558.

The silence around the team of five was loaded with hard questions, that none of the Spartans seemed able to give voice too. They sat in silence, trying to distract themselves by tinkering with their weapons. Despite their efforts, it was impossible to ignore the red, white, and gold armored Sangheili just meters away from them.

Riley-G315 silently seethed, her strong jaw set hard. It was an expression that her team wasn’t unfamiliar with. It usually preceded a legendary ass-beating. But instead of cutting loose, Riley closed her eyes and took a relaxing breath.

It was a move unfamiliar to Isabella-G238, who had been watching for some minutes now. She’d been waiting to potentially step in, but now it seemed her assistance would be unnecessary. Nathan-G187, who’d also been standing by, was confused. The two glanced at each other, then Isabella gave a silent indication to relax.

Riley pushed up off the ground to stand, then walked over to Oru. She leaned back on the Banshee, arms crossed. Oru looked up at her, away from his aimless work on the vehicle.

“I thought we should get to talking, instead of sitting around pretending neither of us are here.”  Riley couldn’t bring herself to smile, but her scowl softened.

“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 infamous glassings, a thought Riley tried not to dwell on.

“I only ever stepped foot on one human world, and it was destroyed within days. It shall haunt me forever.”  Oru confessed, his orange eyes cast down, “I’ve only come to know its human name in the last few months.”

Riley’s green eyes narrowed, her expression blackening into her previous scowl. Isabella noticed immediately, and began to approach, hopefully to prevent an outburst.

“What planet?”  Riley demanded, her voice sticking on the words.

“Alluvion.”  Oru answered, the name falling awkwardly out of his mouth.

Riley didn’t seem to notice the mispronunciation, but rather, stepped back from the Banshee. Isabella was only a few meters away, when Riley threw the first punch.

Her metal fist collided with the Sangheili’s head and knocked him down, onto the Banshee. Oru groaned when his head launched into the metal hull of his Banshee, splashing violet blood on the scarlet metal. Riley’s metal fingers took hold of Oru’s head, and slammed him back against the Banshee, then down into the rusty dirt.

“Fuck you! And fuck your god-damned honor!” Riley shouted, her voice amplified into a shout that echoed across the rocks. She stood over the Sangheili, shouting in his bloodied face, “You killed my family! You destroyed my home!”

“Riley!”  Isabella jumped in, and grabbed Riley’s arm before she could throw another punch, “You need to stand-”

Riley wrenched her grip away from Isabella, and glowered straight into her eyes, “Don’t you fucking touch me.”

“Be angry all you want, but he is a teammate. Killing him is bad for all of us.”  Isabella kept Riley back, “Take a breather.”

Riley’s jaw clenched, her whole body tensed, ready to continue the fight. But all of her fire faltered in the face of her teammate. Riley whipped around and stormed away, disappearing over a nearby rise in the rocks.

“You’re lucky she didn’t kill you.”  Isabella said to the Sangheili, offering a hand to Oru. One of Oru’s mandibles was cut, and a few of his teeth were broken, but his expression had no anger.

“I would not blame her.”  Oru took Isabella’s hand, and stood up. He felt the injury on his face with a finger.