Halo: Indelible Past/Chapter Sixteen

Autel 'Vadam had never thought he'd see the day where he would look back on the Fallen War as the good old days.

Standing in the center of a tight, ringed room within Meru's government complex, he felt the eyes of his fellow warriors and the weight of command beating him down as it never had before.

And they are not my fellow warriors, the weight reminded him sternly. They are my subordinates.

Clad in the black and gold of a special operations commander, Autel faced a room of military officer and civilian consultants, all drawn together to face the sudden threat of human revenge killings. Before him floated a holographic map of the region, with red strobes flashing where there had been attacks. Right now the map looked as if it were infested by red insects, with a massive colony right inside Meru itself.

"Three more attacks today," he reported, the words feeling heavy between his mandibles. "Two villages were burned and one of our air patrols inside the city was shot down."

"Unacceptable!" spat one of the civilians. His robes marked him as a member of Meru's governing council. "How can these humans keep striking at will? Your warriors were supposed to put an end to this madness!"

One of Autel's officers growled a warning, but he raised a hand to wave him down. If there was one thing he'd learned from his father's grueling efforts to keep Sanghelios alive, it was that the merchants and bureaucrats were as vital to success as the warriors. Right now, he needed his makeshift war council to work together if they were to resolve the crisis.