The Book of Zar, Part 7

I was cleaning plasma pistols when I heard a raucous laughter approaching me. I looked up and, across the far end of the workshop, there came Verth and several of his subordinates in Bronze Team.
“Yeah, I especially liked how you threw that one out the window!” said one of the younger warriors.
“Yeah, yeah,” uttered Verth. “Zar! My brother, how are you?”
“I’m well, Verth,” I responded. He rounded the table I sat at and threw his arm around me, patting me on the shoulder. “Yourself?”
“Ah, I am healthy, living, and covered in glory!”
“Don’t mind us brother, we just shot down some enemies of ours,” said another one of the Sangheili, who stood a bit taller than either Verth or myself. “Got some spoils, earned some kills, put my name out there. Working the grindstone, you know.”
“Indeed,” I responded plainly.
The tall one furrowed his brow at me curiously, then looked to Verth. “Brother, are you sure he’s well?”
“He’s fine,” Verth answered. “He’s just a bit melancholic that Atriox demoted him after a... an incident on a Zarid planet some months ago.”
“And how’s Bronze Team been since then?” I asked.
“We’ve been doing well in the field, Zar,” responded Verth. “But ah…” He sat down on the table. I stopped my work, putting down the pistol and rag in my hand, and turned to look at Verth. He let out a short breath. “Complications have arisen in the quest to get you back into the field.”
“Naturally,” I responded. “En’Geddon still quite displeased with me.”
“Oh yes. He is only willing to place you back into the field as a raw recruit. A common Mercenary. And… he will transfer you to another sector.”
My eyes widened in surprise. I stood up out of my chair. “What?” I asked breathlessly.
“You are too good to dispose of, but too difficult to place in positions of great responsibility,” Verth admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “At least, that’s how I remember Atriox describing you.”
“You spoke with Atriox?”
“Well, I was in the room. Far from him, but I could hear him speak, yes.”
“Verth…”
“Hah, yes, alright. But this is true, brother. They do not want you in Bronze Team anymore, I am afraid.”
“So they give me a choice? Peculiar.”
“Indeed there were questions, but En’Geddon strangely defended you. It was as if he still felt perhaps… a certain gratitude towards you for all the satisfactory results you have procured for us over the past few years.”
“His anger did much to obscure that,” I uttered.
“Oh yes,” responded Verth with a nod and a chuckle. “Perhaps in the heat of the moment his emotions got the better of the chieftain, I do not know. But I know this: he was not quick to forget your talents.”
“Thus, I have a choice,” I said. “I may stay here and rot, or I may go, that I may work towards restoring my former position.”
“Yes indeed, brother. Those are your options. The fact that they allow you to choose is extraordinary in and of itself. Woe to you if you were to squander this opportunity.”
I almost refused to agree to this. I would sever myself from Verth, my one true family in the Banished, and cast myself into parts unknown, at the mercy of unfamiliar commanders. But I could win back the glory and fame I lost, and claw my way towards my former position once more. However, my freedoms would be severely curtailed. No longer would I act with such freedom, no longer would I operate with such impunity. My commander, whoever he would be, would have oversight that I would chafe under. Such struggles should be tolerated, though. I am a man, what man can fail to withstand this?
“Very well. I am willing to go forth.”
Verth smiled and nodded. “It is good you agreed. I shall relay the message back to En’Geddon. Orders will be delivered to you forthwith. Garso! Vitan! Let us away. And brother…” He placed his hand on my shoulder one more time, and I mirrored the movement to him. “Good luck, and I hope to see you soon.”
“Same to you, brother,” I said earnestly.
The two Sangheili left with Verth. I let out a long breath as I went back to cleaning the plasma pistols, awaiting the orders to come. I was given a second chance. A reset. One more opportunity. If I was a fool… I would have called this a miracle.
Category:The Weekly