Novum Acies Chronicles/Was it all worth it?

{|style="width:100%; color:#FFF;" The sky of the planet was blazing red, and then the beam finally struck, so bright that it hurt Jez 'Varum's eyes. He turned away for a moment, blinking his eyes and then, slowing down.

He was looking at the glassing of Algerion IV, a human planet, now laid to waste. As the Covenant ships one by one activated their glassing beams, the atmosphere of the planet began to boil. The land had turned molten red, so much that it was clearly visible from space, in the screens present on the deck of the CAS-class assault cruiser Ardent Inquisitor. Jez was standing right there, silently, examining the glassing of the planet.

Soon, the oceans began to evaporate, hot fumes rising up speedily. Entire continents, millions of people and other animals, infrastructure, everything was burned down. The planet was a very hot rock now.

As Jez stood there, he began thinking. Again, the souls of those people damned to die over there pictured in his mind. "No wait, what am I thinking? Why do I feel pity for these blasphemous creatures?" Even though he tried to think away, his mind was still in a moment of doubt.

Ever since he joined the Covenant, Jez had always felt regret of killing humans. Even though they weren't as advanced in technology as the Covenant were, they were still good enough. The Prophets had said that they had tainted the Forerunner structures, but who could blame them? The humans knew nothing of the Forerunners, or the Great Journey. Granted, they altered the artifacts, maybe even destroyed them, Jez didn't know for sure, but that didn't mean they deserved total annihilation.

Annihilation reminded him back to the planet, and the battle on it just before. They were sent as an invading army in moderate size, underestimating the human forces and their artillery. No sooner than their phantoms had reached the surface, three of them were shot down by what the humans called the "MACs". Jez's phantom too was shot at, with the shot just hitting hit lightly across, but the damage was enough to send the aerial vehicle down. Most of the grunts, jackals, and a few elites died on crashing. Jez and the survivors were forced to search for the other squads. Along the way, they were assaulted and attacked, and although they fought back, casualties were inevitable. They did manage to escape the planet, but nobody could have undone the losses they had encountered.

Jez's train of thoughts came down to one thing, "Was it all worth it. Dozens of warriors lost, weapons destroyed, ships damaged." Winning the war might have been easy, but that didn't mean they were completely invincible. They still faced losses, casualties, etc.

This brought him back to questioning the Covenant's liability. They had said all of this was nothing compared to the Great Journey, which seemed very near now, as far as the Prophets be trusted. But was it, really something? His banishment time from Qikost was over now; he could return if he wanted. But it wa a crucial time in the war, and leaving now might have great consequences in the future.

"Just one last chance", Jez thought. "One last try for the Covenant to prove me wrong. That this was all really worth it. If in the next battle the same situation arises, I'll have no choice but to desert the Covenant. Go back to Qikost, back to where he belonged."

Alas, he had no idea what the future had in store for him. Or did he?