Sent To Protect and Serve Humanity

Chapter 9: Gone South

3rd POV

To most, if not all, natives of Remnant, Beacon Academy would most certainly be a normal huntsmen academy with a normal student body, but to a very select few, it was the operating base for a variety of extraterrestrials. Much more, former enemies that had more or less learned to not want to kill each other every five minutes.

The UNSC and Covenant Separatists had a mutual interest in the planet, however, feuds still arose. Most of the warships were undergoing a maintenance check in orbit. The frigates and corvettes had finished early, the heavy destroyer was on a mission, the light destroyer was on standby at Beacon, and the cruisers were finishing up.

"I don't like them." Valorous nudged his sister.

The boy was leaning against the lowered legs of a Pelican while his sister sat on the ramp, fiddling with a magazine. On the other end of the room, two Grunts were conversing about some unheard topic next to a Warthog and a batch of crates containing supplies.

"Like them or not, we're not working without reason." Courageous inserted bullets into a magazine. "They've promised to share their tech with us as a sign of friendship."

"You think they're okay because you get energy shields out of this?" Valorous leaned in with surprise on his face. "After everything they've taken from us?"

The girl sighed and paused her loading. "I hate it just as much as you, but they've expressed how much they wanted to help us. I'd say we take the tech, retrofit ourselves, and continue to serve." She spoke as her piercing gaze focused on the Grunts on the other end of the room.

The Grunts, however, we're in a much different situation.

"We's sures the frigates will like these?" Eulogy raised a small device that appeared to wrap around the lower back. "It mights be incom-in- not working for thems."

The device in particular was a purple band with a blue light emitting from a small opening in the center. It had a small arch beneath the opening with the curvy design of the Covenant all over it.

"Like Defiance said, 'We's must give the humans as much as possible to gains their trust'." Adamant replied with his best Sangheili impression.

Hesitantly, the two corvettes slowly started to make their way to the frigates, who eyed them with suspicion.

"They're coming over here!" Valorous muttered through gritted teeth. "I swear if they even try to do anything funny, I'll-"

"Heres!" Eulogy stretched out his short arms with the band in hand. "We's giving yous and your sister a module to help with future upgrades."

The boy eyed his counterpart's gift with mistrust. Their eyes met with one showing hatred and the other kindness. Hesitantly, he snatched the device from the corvette's claws to analyze it.

"Is that it?"

"We's think so. If you try it on-" Adamant tried to speak.

Valorous swiftly wrapped the device around his lower back, it perfectly attaching to his rigging, and suddenly jolted back in a mix of shock and pain.

"Bastard!" Courageous shouted at the corvettes as she quickly primed her rigging for combat.

On the other hand, Valorous watched new elements of his HUD appear, most notably, a blue bar appeared and filled up just above his thin one. As it did this, a transparent hexagonal pattern covered his body from head to toe before abruptly disappearing with crackles of electricity replacing it, leaving a stunned frigate with a depleted energy shield.

"Looks like it still need work." Eulogy groaned in frustration. "We take back for now." He stretched out his palm once more.

Valorous, with some help from his sister, removed the device and carefully set it in the corvette's palm. Although he still didn't like the aliens, credit was due where it was.