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Amalgamation is a Universe where a multitude of Sci-Fi videogame universes fit together as one, with it's own timeline, galaxy map and canon and stories. Images are organised into folders on the left:

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The ending of this story was inspired by the last scene of this clip, though you may want to watch the whole thing for context, I absolutely adore the old EHM show!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEskpD…

Co-Written by arbiter690

Proofread by Sombraptor

Featuring Archangel470 's OC Ben-174

---

Watchtower Files:

Vindicates Roster

Vindicates Assets
Vindicate Operations

Location: Watchtower Bridge
- 2183, Aug 8

During the briefing, Rhodey realised just how much more effective her forces now were. She had gone from a five man squad to a small army and fleet over night, and it was intense! And now, her logbooks of tasks to accomplish could all be hit at once! She sent the Shepard twins to investigate the colonies being abducted by Collectors. One had been hit very recently and no one else had made it to the scene yet, a colony called Freedom's Progress. It was assumed that the Collectors hit, though they wouldn't know for sure until they go there.

Cybertronians were getting more bold and actually attacking colonies, Samus was one of the only ones capable of holding her own against one of those machines, so she was sent to Thedus to look into that.

There was a Turian mech prototype which had passed inspection and was soon being scheduled for mass production, engineered to fight Cybertronians. It would be a good asset to have on hand, so she assigned the stealthiest member of the team, Nomad with his Nanosuit to retrieve it.

That left only Isaac and Sam Gideon from Alpha Group. Isaac was good, but he would be out of his element for the mission Rhodey had planned, it was a better idea to have him stay and oversee repairs to the station. Sam Gideon was an excellent combatant, fast, and equipped with energy shields to protect from plasma weapons. But she needed more than just him, she would have to use some of the operatives from Delta Group, as Bravo had no members yet.

Rhodey selected each member from the Delta group of the Vindicates to accompany her on the mission herself. Delta group was composed of ex-special forces from the UNSC, N7 operatives, ODSTs and the lightly augmented Titan Pilots. They had special experience dealing with Covenant, but they weren't enough.

She had someone in her jail cells that could be a massive help to her. He'd even defeated her target before, but convincing him to come around might be difficult. Either way, she needed to get him out of her cells.

---

She approached Ben's cell by herself, with no bodyguards, and only her suit for protection.

"Ben."

The Spartan refused to look at her

"I know it's been a whole day, I said I'd get everyone out of here and back to the UNSC yesterday, but it's been pretty busy out there, and I didn't have time to deal with both issues. But I have a proposition for you now."

"You've kept me from my duties. I could have been out saving lives."

"If you come with me today, you might have an opportunity to save a lot more than ONI would have used you for, or the UNSC."

"I doubt it."

"Well, lucky for me you've got no choice but to listen. I'm pulling an op with your old squadmate Sam, we're laying a trap for a special Elite, one you have previous experience with, one you've beaten before... I could use all of the help I can get bringing him down too."

"You don't mean..."

Rhodey held up a projection of a unique Sangheili Zealot.

"You want to kill Oro?"

"Hmm, well... not exactly..."

Ben stood up and walked as close to the shield door as possible, and spoke sternly. "What are you planning?"

"Tell me, what do you know about Oro?"

Ben tilted his head "Not much, except he's a Zealot, those are dangerous enough, but this one has biotics. He's an odd field commander as well, reports state he's the only one willing to work with mercenaries and outside help to fight the Covenant's enemies. He's also campaigning to get new species into the Covenant, he's quite dangerous both physically, and to the greater war effort as a whole."

"He is remarkable, the only Elite to have Biotics and work with species outside the Covenant, but there's more to him than just that. He harbours a deep hatred for Cerberus, a mutual enemy. These two facts point to something: willing to work with other species, mutual enemies... Oro could come to our side."

"You're insane."

"Not quite. I have some evidence that could fracture the Covenant if delivered to the right people."

"Then give it to ONI, they'll-"

"Screw it up as usual. No, I know how to use this intel properly. Ben, what is it you think I'm trying to accomplish here?"

"You're dangerous. You're building a rebel army to stand again the UEGA."

"Not really, I have no intention of ever attacking Earth or it's colonies directly. I already stated as such."

"I don't believe you."

"Because you don't know what I know. There are bigger threats coming, and if humanity, the Citadel, and the Covenant keep tearing each other apart, these threats will go unchallenged, because the Federation isn't enough and they'll probably get dragged into the war soon too. I'm doing my best to gather as many resources to the Vindicates as possible, so that there's a sizable response to what's going to happen. The Shepards were right about the Reapers, Ben, but there's more to it than just them."

Rhodey started to pace.

"If I can pull enough UNSC, Citadel, and Covenant assets out of the war and into my own reserves, we might stand a chance."

Ben stared at her intensely, visor to visor, each couldn't see the other's expressions, but felt it.

"I'm not sure if I'm buying what you're selling, but if you want help taking down Oro, then you can count me in. So long as you promise that when your ridiculous plan to get him to work with humans fails, you let me end him. And the only reason I'm coming along with you is because I've already seen how you operate. If I wasn't sure you could pull off the mission, I'd be staying here."

"I promise to take you back to the nearest UNSC or Citadel colony once this is over."

"Deal."

She lowered the shields and braced for him to attack, but he didn't. He just casually walked out. She looked at him and said,

"You go first." She didn't want to put her back to a Spartan.

---

She sent away all of the other Vindicates to their duties, and called everyone up from Charlie and Delta group to do a briefing. Ben and Sam were there, too.

"My intelligence says that Oro's fleet is patrolling the borders here, between Covenant and Terminus space. He's on the hunt for Cerberus operatives and ships. He's been giving them an increasingly difficult time, so much so that ONI has decided to let him be for now. They're more focused on hunting and assassinating Thel 'Vadamee, as he is likely the greatest strategist in the Covenant, and the biggest threat so far, but make no mistake, just because Oro is number two doesn't mean you should underestimate him.

We're going to be luring him into an opportunity he can't pass up: as you've seen already, a part of our fairly small, but soon to grow fleet are the Alamo-class frigates. They're common among the business private military sectors, and Cerberus just so happens to use them as well. I got my hands on an old damaged chassis that I've had painted to look like a Cerberus cruiser from the outside. Oro is known to board Cerberus installations and ships personally to take out the crew face to face, he'll know it's not a Cerberus cruiser once he's inside, but that hardly matters. We're pretending to be Cerberus, pretending to be a damaged merchant ship, so that's what the distress signal will sound like.

He's the only Elite ever encountered using biotics, but luckily for us, he uses it sparingly, as it's apparently seen as a... controversy among the Covenant Elite Hierarchy. A mark of shame even. Nevertheless, he is known to use it as a last resort, so be careful. Most of you won't have to worry about that, as me and Ben are going to be the only ones engaging him directly. Sam is going to be leading the rest of you against his forces as a distraction, whilst me and Ben take him down. Operatives from Delta group are going to be riding in the Spectral with Ben, and Sam, and I, and we'll be the ones setting the trap on the ship.

I've outfitted one of our own Alamo-class Cruisers, The Optimiser, with a special transmission jammer prototype. I'm banking on the fact that she'll be maneuverable enough to dodge Oro's ship's plasma weaponry long enough for us to charge up and jump the damaged "Cerberus" ship out of there with the rigged FTL drive I have fitted to it. Once out of danger, we can subdue the Commander, separated from his armies. I'll have a second Alamo-class Cruiser waiting at the jump coordinates to drop off more Delta Groups operatives to help out you guys out with any remaining Covenant forces on the ship.

I know this sounds crazy...but I want you to shoot to maim and subdue, not to kill. Stun rounds once you drop their shields, keep as many alive as possible. I know this is especially difficult with Covenant, but those are my orders, anyone found directly disobeying will be put off the team."

---

Location: CAS-Class Assault Carrier Burning Endurance.
- 2183, Aug 8

Oro stood on the bridge of his command ship, examining reports from the war, and also the Covenant news of his accomplishments. So far the reports have credited Oro for his bravery in storming and taking a Turian Super-Dreadnought. Covenant engineers are hard at work, learning the weaknesses of these new ships, but they Council is still debating on the methods of how he acquired it. Some still consider it heresy that he enlisted help from outside the Covenant, whilst others see it as a sound strategy. A particular Prophet argues that it brought more shame to himself and the Covenant, like those of his clan long ago. Oro ignores this, and though it does unnerve him, he knows he must focus on his current task... hunting down Cerberus.

He awaits for his superiors in the Sangheili hierarchy to give him his next orders, as he looks at reports of his Jiralhanae friend Varkous, who was tearing apart Turians on some uncharted world. He ponders much of the recent events of the Covenant, and what they truly signify. He has doubts that they're actually on the Path, and wonders what he can do to save his clan. These thoughts are interrupted when he recieves a message from the bridge, indicating a merchant vessel beaming a distressing beacon, the signal similar to one they encountered earlier.

Oro is skeptical at first, and finds the ship's emergency beacon disguised to make it seem that they were attacked by pirates. When they unravel the encryption, they see it is indeed Cerberus, pretending to hide as an attacked merchant ship.
Oro then decides that he shall go himself aboard a CCS-class Battlecruiser, with 2 CRS-class light cruisers and 2 SDV-class Heavy Corvettes as escorts, leaving the Burning Endurance to his second for safe keeping. He rather not risk his flagship with what could be a Cerberus trap. As usual, he wishes to board the Cerberus cruiser himself to punish the vermin.

The first thing he does is contact Varkous via comms to alert him of this discovery. He tells him that they will board the ship and see why Cerberus is there, and what schemes are they planning. Varkous protests to Oro that it maybe a trap, to which he agrees. He tells him that if so, he'll have the farthest ship make an emergency jump to the fleet with the coordinates they map on the spot to bring in the cavalry.

Varkous understands why Oro is doing this, but tells him that even what seems to be an end to desperation could be something worse in disguise, like when they tried to find an STG encampment and found nothing at all save for an ambush by mercs to cover their tracks. Varkous then leaves to return to his assignment, while Oro goes to investigate the ship with his seven ship flotilla.

---

Location: The Spectral; during FTL jump.
- 2183, Aug 8

After a short slipspace jump to a Mass Relay, the Relay propelled the small ship across the galaxy, to another Relay close to their destination.

An ODST handed Ben an Assault Rifle. "Good to see you working with us, Spartan."

Ben just had to ask. "What made you betray the UNSC, marine?"

The ODST tilted his head. "I guess I never thought of it that way. The Vindicator promised us that he wouldn't deploy us against the UNSC. Besides, if we ever decide that we don't like what he's doing, we're all free to leave anytime. I volunteered for this mission."

"You would prefer to fight for someone who's identity you don't know rather than the UNSC?"

"I'm fighting for myself, I pick the mission I take and when, they pay us per job we do and house us. I'm just glad someone is doing something about what's going on out there because to me it seems like the UNSC either has it's head shoved into the sand or up the Citadel's ass."

"... You feel like you can do more with these... Vindicates?"

"Not just more, but what I want to do."

Rhodey had been talking to the pilot, getting an estimate on when they'll arrive. As she came back she put her hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Relax Ben, these guys aren't insurrectionists, they're not particularly popular with me either."

"I see."

"We're relatively close but we'll be there in about forty-five mikes. It's a small ship, so the drive doesn't go very fast. Stretch your legs, boys."

---

The Spectral entered the hangar bay of the "Cerberus" cruiser and cloaked itself, awaiting the aliens' arrival. The team quickly went to work setting up the trap, and once set, Rhodey gave the command to send the signal.

The Optimiser was only a short jump away from the scene, ready to be called in when needed. Oro showed up, just as Rhodey predicted, and of course, just as she also predicted, the Shipmaster decided to board the cruiser himself. Oro landed in the hangar with three Spirit dropships, the Banshee escorts breaking off and guarding the hangar from the outside. From there, four squads of Sangheili, Kig-Yar, and Unggoy broke off down different hallways. Oro took six Sangheili with him: they see this through the cameras on the Spectral silently waiting in the hangar, giving them intel. From there, they relied on motion sensors. Rhodey waited for Oro and his men to reach the hallway to the bridge. So far, everyone kept themselves well hidden, and there had been no skirmishes, but as soon as she gave the order... all hell would break loose.

"Now!" she yelled. A door came down behind Oro and his men. He and two of his guards ignited energy swords as she flew into action, backed up by Ben, Sam, and Delta Group. Straight away, she singled Oro out and attacked him, flinging him into the next room with her repulsor beams, a weapon he had not encountered before. The Optimiser jumped into range to block Covenant transmissions, and the slispace drive began charging to jump them to their isolated destination.

"Keep the others busy! Ben, you're with me!"

Oro had dropped his energy sword, but pulled the plasma rifle off of his leg and began firing. Rhodey's shields took a hit, but she fired the repulsors again and knocked the rifle from his hands. Frustrated and worried about his men, Oro outstretched his hand and flung her to the wall with biotics, taking down half of her kinetic barriers. He picked her up again with biotics and held her in place, and activated the energy dagger on his right wrist. Suddenly, Ben slammed his shoulder into the Elite, knocking him again. Rhodey commented, "Two on one is hardly fair, but neither are Biotics."

"You fight without honor!" Oro growled, then he looked up and saw Ben, the recognition sinking in. "DEMON!", he yelled, as he ignited both of his wrist daggers.

"Oro, greshvo!" called out Rhodey, telling him to hold his fire. The Elite was shocked by the use of his name in his own tongue.

Ben began shooting at the Elite with his assault rifle. Oro held up his hands, and threw the Spartan against the wall which he entered the room from, and Ben realised,

"He's gotten better at using the Biotics since we last fought, he's more efficient, and it's less taxing on him..."

Meanwhile the "Cerberus" cruiser had already made its jump to slipspace. The Optimiser had done its job, and managed to evade all of Oro's ships' targeting systems, as that was the only advantage the Alamo's had over Covenant vessels. A second cruiser was on standby at the slipspace destination to unload squads from Echo Group onto the ship before the remaining of Oro's forces broke through the barricade that had separated them from the commander.

Oro charged at Ben and tried to stab him with his energy daggers, but he missed, and the blades began to flicker; out of power, the suit needed to recharge the shields, so they engaged in hand to hand combat. The Sangheili struggled with the Spartan, who was a master in close quarters, but his fury and rage prevailed. He had lost one fight against the Spartan, and his will was simply more resolved this time. He managed to clip the Spartan against the side of the helmet with his fist, disorienting him, as he kicked him into a table a few metres away. Rhodey tried to keep her distance in the fight, still choosing to hover above Oro. Her targetting computers analysed a weak spot in his armour, to try and damage the now reactivated wrist gauntlets' energy daggers. She found a spot which might short out the power conduit and fired. The repulsors burned through the rest of his shields and hit the armour, the left blade flickering and dying. Oro was amazed at which the accuracy of this being had managed to disarm him. He considered that it might not even be human, but there was one weapon it could not take: his biotics. He pulled the Vindicator closer to him with Biotics and slammed her into the ground. With his damaged gauntlet, he took the other one and struck downwards in a stabbing motion. Rhodey fired her repulsor jet in her left hand to push herself out of the way, but she was too late; the blade came down into her shoulder, and she shrieked in pain. Suddenly the armour's chestpiece lit up, and Oro was hit with a massive concussive blast that enveloped the majority of his body and burned his armour before he even realised what had happened.

Rhodey rolled over as Ben approached with the assault rifle in hand, Oro laid against the wall with his armour smoking.

"Don't shoot!" Rhodey called out. Clutching her shoulder, she jumped on the comms to talk to Sam "How's it going out there?!"

He replied "We got 'em pinned down for now, and Echo is already in the hangar bay, just do your thing!"

She knelt before Oro, holding her plasma burned shoulder with her other hand, and spoke again in perfect Sangheili. "I did all of this to have a conversation with you." Oro looked up, obviously in pain, both physically and for his shame. He spoke back but in English "What are you...?"

Rhodey decided to take off her helmet, in front of a Spartan who probably would turn her in, and an Elite who wanted to kill her. She wasn't sure if she was thinking straight, but felt it was the right thing to do.

"My name's Rhodey, I am a human of Earth, and I've lured you here to show you evidence that humans are not your enemy, nor are we the vermin the Prophets have led you to believe. In fact, I think I have enough proof to suspect that the San'Shyuum will betray your species soon, and wish to warn you."

"Blasphemy!" Oro raised his hand to use his biotics again, and Rhodey used her repulsor jet on her good arm to stop him, "If I'm wrong, then you have nothing to fear from listening to me. If you are so sure that the Prophets were honest, then what harm can come from listening?"

Ben looked over them. "Try that one more time and I'll shoot your legs out from you."

Oro was wincing in pain at his burned hand. He put his head down for a moment and considered what she said. "Heretic..."

"Just listen. I'm not here to fight you Oro, and your shields aren't recharging, your harness is badly damaged, so you have no choice at the moment. The Writ of Union states that Sangheili are to command the military arm of the Covenant, isn't that correct?"

Oro just glared at her, both angry and surprised of her knowledge. "Why is it, then, that the Jiralhanae have been granted more and more military privileges recently? I've noticed a lot of changes lately, they're commanding their own ships, getting new weapons, armor, little things that on their own don't look like much, but when looked at as a whole, it seems as if the Prophets are beginning to support them over the Sangheili. Some Sangheili have even cast doubts, or outwardly spoken of their doubts of the war. Some ask why humans were never given the option to join the Covenant? Some question the Prophets wisdom, even the religion itself... it might be in the Prophets' best interests to get rid of the Sangheili, after all, they've failed to protect some San'Shyuum before. They're just one more excuse away, as far as I see it."

"You know nothing of which you speak, human! The Covenant is strong, the humans and the Citadel they hide behind are weak! While we move forward on the path to the Great Journey you and all who follow you will be left behind; broken and defeated as we reach our Journey’s end.”

Ben still had his rifle trained on the Elite. Rhodey sighed and sat down "I'm not your enemy Oro. In fact I was hoping we could work out some kind of deal."

Oro was more shocked, he could not fathom what she was implying, and he looked up at Ben "Hey buddy, don't look at me, I wanted to kill you outright but she wouldn't let me."

Oro shook his head "That would have been preferable. I would never work with a human."

Rhodey continued "We have mutual enemies."

Oro interupted. "And one of my enemies is standing beside you."

"... Yes, but I was talking about Cerberus. I mean, you came all of this way to find some, why should you leave empty handed?"

"I won't take information from a-"

Rhodey snickered "Ah, but you already have. Most of the data, the "leaks" you've been acquiring and acting on, I've been feeding you, bit by bit. And you acted on them, and killed people neither of us want around. What does it matter that the information came from another human?"

"You would betray your own kind..."

"Here's the thing Oro. Humanity and the Covenant aren't so different, you have your heretic groups and we have our rebels, they're the same thing, different factions among factions. Cerberus is no friend of the UNSC, me and my organisation are no fan of them either. Though I'm no enemy of the UNSC, I'll even work with them." she points to Ben "And help build their ships. Cerberus is definitely not a respresentation of humanity, I've killed many of them myself, and others like them. Humanity as a whole was never a threat to the Covenant, we tried diplomacy, and who did the Prophets send to our colony of Harvest to negotiate? Jiralhanae. Yeah like those were the smartest option to send for diplomatic talks. It was the Prophet Hierarchs who ordered the Brutes to attack us. I have the transmissions here myself."

Rhodey began playing audio of the of the conversation, a Prophet Hierarch ordering a Chieftan to massacre the species there. Oro listened, his head tilted. He recognizes the Chieftain as Maccabeus, the uncle of Tartarus, the current Chieftain of the Jiralhanae.

"How...do you know of all these things? You speak Sangheili, and have all this information, where do you get all this from?"

"I'm just a very smart human who has access to a lot of resources. I have spies in all of the galactic superpowers, including the UEGA, and in other groups like Cerberus."

"That's... I've never heard of you."

"You'll hear of us soon, we call ourselves the Vindicates, and we protect the galaxy." Rhodey stood up. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to send you this, as well as other suspicious transmissions I've intercepted between San'Shyuum, along with some more information I have on Cerberus, including a base location if you want to raid that. And all you have to do is order your men to stand down so I can let you leave peacefully. I'll give you information on how to contact me in the future, and if you're interested we can start sharing intelligence, but only if you pull your own forces out of the war."

Oro just stared at her.

"Uh-uh. All I'm asking of you now is to stand down your forces and leave peacefully, you get all of the information I just stated for doing only that, more negotiations can be made after."

"You want me to surrender, Sangheili never-"

"I'm aware of your traditions, I never said surrender, I said stand down. Just cease firing so we can part ways, keep your weapons with you and leave, no surrendering necessary."

"All might not see it that way..."

"Are they your men?"

"Yes."

"Then make them see it that way. You're leaving because we are not your enemy, and we will help you."

"I'll never trust a human."

"I could just kill you now, y'know? If I wanted. Just leave and me, and my forces won't stop you, attack us and you won't see my generous side again."

Oro was cautious of this, he'd never once met a human who had kept their word, but as he stood up Rhodey handed him his Plasma Rifle. He took it, and she relayed orders to her men outside to hold fire, which they did. He made it to his forces, his armour broken and beaten but in one piece. He ordered them to cease firing and go back to the dropship.

"We're retreating?!" another Sangheili asked.

"No." Oro replied "We're just leaving."

---

"You're taking a massive gamble here." Ben said, as soon as the Elite left the room.

"I liked to call them 'calculated risks' and it's what I do." Ben started pacing the room, obviously anxious.

"He won't halt his forces in this war, his superiors will-"

"Oro is dedicated to hunting down Cerberus, who are working too closely with Reaper technology for it to be safe, they'll be indoctrinated soon. It's why I picked him. If I tried to kill him or defeat his forces, it'd cost me my own assets, same with the UNSC, and that isn't good. If I can redirect his forces to attack Cerberus instead... it benefits everyone involved."

"You had a chance to kill one of the most dangerous Sangheili in the Covenant Armada. You might never get that chance again."

"I won't need to." She switched to her comms. "As soon as they're all gone, I want to jump this thing out of here, we're going to strip the paint off and commission it as a Vindicates ship. I have a good feeling about this one, it's lucky."

Ben asked her "What are you going to call it?"

"Hmm..., how about the Venerator?"

---

Location: CAS-Class Assault Carrier; Burning Endurance.
- 2183, Aug 9

Oro sought out solitude to contemplate his thoughts and choices immediately upon returning to his command ship. He said no words to anyone before he locked himself in his private chambers. He looked at the information that was sent to him by the human signal, at first hesitant to look further inside, for he knew once he started on this path, he would not be able to turn back. Oro began to recall what his uncle said to him when he was a little hatchling, that sometimes for the good of all, one must speak up in defiance, to do what is right even if it brings great shame to oneself, for without making the choice to speak up...nothing will change. He remembered this particular uncle because he had a strong feeling that it was his blood father. Sangheili weren't allowed to know who their father was, it was tradition that they be raised by their mothers and taught combat by all of the "uncles" in their clan. It was so no one was given power or prestige according to bloodline... all honour must be earned.

Oro makes a prayer to the gods for forgiveness, as he delves into the files reading the evidence Rhodey sent bit by bit, each piece of data both alarming and somewhat amusing: an honest human that kept their word? Were there more of these out there than just the ones who helped free him from Cerberus's prison lab? Perhaps he had misjudged the rest of the species by a great deal.

---

Location: Watchtower Hangar
- 2183, Aug 9

"It's been a long day, actually standard calendar says it's already the next day, time is relative. But hey, look, we made it back alive!" Rhodey droned on, Ben was already disinterested.

Rhodey paused and considered her words next "So, I guess you're leaving now, going to back to fighting the war?"

Ben paused, thinking about what he was to say next "I understand what you're doing here, I get it. I really do, now. And I know what you're thinking, because I'm thinking it too, but I can't just abandon the war effort. Maybe, when the war's over..."

"There's always another war Ben, but I understand. Here. Maybe we can work something else out, a compromise?" Rhodey pulled out and tossed him a small device the size of a COM pad. "Consider yourself a reserve member, if we ever have need of you we'll call, and vice versa, emergencies only."

"And if I can't come?"

"You can always ask for an extraction. Oh and by the way, if you give it to ONI, it'll self destruct."

"I'll be sure to remember that..."

---

Location: Watchtower Bridge
- 2183, Aug 9

All Vindicates from Alpha group, the main team, were present for debriefing.

As usual, Rhodey spoke first "Ben is on his way to a friendly Citadel colony, it's safer to send him there so he can make his way back to the UNSC. How did your mission go Samus?"

Samus replied in her usual monotone voice "Cybertronians were there, they were digging for energon, apparently the planet was rich in it. I was able to assist the UNSC's mech forces in liberating the planet, earned some brownie points for us."

"That's good. Speaking of mechs, Nomad, I saw you able to retrieve the prototype, and with no Turian casualties, right?"

"To your specifications. They don't know it was us."

"They will eventually, but that's okay. Isaac's been hard at work getting this place into shape, a day's work is noticeable. I wonder what this place will look like when you're done."

"Thanks, Rhodey" sheepishly replied Isaac.

"How about you, Spectres?"

Jane spoke "We confirmed Freedom's Progress was abducted by Collectors. We also ran into an old friend..."

"I saw in your report, Tali'zorah was there. You didn't manage to recruit her?"

John commented next. "She has an important mission to complete for the Flotilla, she says she'll join our crew again when it's over."

"Well, that's good, we could use a Quarian over here."

Jane nodded. "Cerberus showed up as well, but we dealt with them. We managed to get the data from a Quarian named Veetor. We got everything, recorded footage of the Collectors and their sweeper swarms, it might help you come up with an immunity to the paralysis."

Rhodey: "About that immunity, our next two missions are coinciding. I need to go to Omega and meet a contact there about a lead I'm chasing, and I've got a list of dossiers here for you. Now that you've confirmed it's Collectors, I'd recommend you come with me to Omega because there are three people on that list over there and one of them is a Salarian scientist who I believe is already working on an immunity to the Collectors' paralysis, we could work together on it if he joins us."

John laughed. "So you want us on recruitment?"

"Seems like the best place for you."

"What about the rest of us?" Samus asked.

"You're comng with us too, I put out a call to some Bounty Hunters to meet us at Omega, associates of yours that usually work for the Federation, I want them on our roster and I figured seeing as they're your associates, you can recruit them for me. Or you can stay here and help Isaac repair the station?"

Isaac reacted happily "oh I could use someone with her strength to help us lift things"

Rhodey shook her head "that's what the Caterpillar P-5000 Work Loader's are for"

Samus turned to Isaac and appologised "Sorry, I need to stretch my legs"

"You only just got back!"

"Isaac I need you to have a look at that prototype Turian mech that Nomad grabbed. Sam, Nomad, you two can come with me to Omega, I might need backup."

---

Note:

The Patreon version had a slightly different ending with Samus staying on the station to help Isaac, then I remembered I wanted her to help recruit bounty hunters so she's coming with the team on Chapter 9!

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Amalgamation is a Universe where a multitude of Sci-Fi videogame universes fit together as one, with it's own timeline, galaxy map and canon and stories. Images are organised into folders on the left:

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Vindicate Chapters

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The ending of this story was inspired by the last scene of this clip, though you may want to watch the whole thing for context, I absolutely adore the old EHM show!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEskpD…

Co-Written by arbiter690

Proofread by Sombraptor

Featuring Archangel470 's OC Ben-174

---

Watchtower Files:

Vindicates Roster

Vindicates Assets
Vindicate Operations

Location: Watchtower Bridge
- 2183, Aug 8

During the briefing, Rhodey realised just how much more effective her forces now were. She had gone from a five man squad to a small army and fleet over night, and it was intense! And now, her logbooks of tasks to accomplish could all be hit at once! She sent the Shepard twins to investigate the colonies being abducted by Collectors. One had been hit very recently and no one else had made it to the scene yet, a colony called Freedom's Progress. It was assumed that the Collectors hit, though they wouldn't know for sure until they go there.

Cybertronians were getting more bold and actually attacking colonies, Samus was one of the only ones capable of holding her own against one of those machines, so she was sent to Thedus to look into that.

There was a Turian mech prototype which had passed inspection and was soon being scheduled for mass production, engineered to fight Cybertronians. It would be a good asset to have on hand, so she assigned the stealthiest member of the team, Nomad with his Nanosuit to retrieve it.

That left only Isaac and Sam Gideon from Alpha Group. Isaac was good, but he would be out of his element for the mission Rhodey had planned, it was a better idea to have him stay and oversee repairs to the station. Sam Gideon was an excellent combatant, fast, and equipped with energy shields to protect from plasma weapons. But she needed more than just him, she would have to use some of the operatives from Delta Group, as Bravo had no members yet.

Rhodey selected each member from the Delta group of the Vindicates to accompany her on the mission herself. Delta group was composed of ex-special forces from the UNSC, N7 operatives, ODSTs and the lightly augmented Titan Pilots. They had special experience dealing with Covenant, but they weren't enough.

She had someone in her jail cells that could be a massive help to her. He'd even defeated her target before, but convincing him to come around might be difficult. Either way, she needed to get him out of her cells.

---

She approached Ben's cell by herself, with no bodyguards, and only her suit for protection.

"Ben."

The Spartan refused to look at her

"I know it's been a whole day, I said I'd get everyone out of here and back to the UNSC yesterday, but it's been pretty busy out there, and I didn't have time to deal with both issues. But I have a proposition for you now."

"You've kept me from my duties. I could have been out saving lives."

"If you come with me today, you might have an opportunity to save a lot more than ONI would have used you for, or the UNSC."

"I doubt it."

"Well, lucky for me you've got no choice but to listen. I'm pulling an op with your old squadmate Sam, we're laying a trap for a special Elite, one you have previous experience with, one you've beaten before... I could use all of the help I can get bringing him down too."

"You don't mean..."

Rhodey held up a projection of a unique Sangheili Zealot.

"You want to kill Oro?"

"Hmm, well... not exactly..."

Ben stood up and walked as close to the shield door as possible, and spoke sternly. "What are you planning?"

"Tell me, what do you know about Oro?"

Ben tilted his head "Not much, except he's a Zealot, those are dangerous enough, but this one has biotics. He's an odd field commander as well, reports state he's the only one willing to work with mercenaries and outside help to fight the Covenant's enemies. He's also campaigning to get new species into the Covenant, he's quite dangerous both physically, and to the greater war effort as a whole."

"He is remarkable, the only Elite to have Biotics and work with species outside the Covenant, but there's more to him than just that. He harbours a deep hatred for Cerberus, a mutual enemy. These two facts point to something: willing to work with other species, mutual enemies... Oro could come to our side."

"You're insane."

"Not quite. I have some evidence that could fracture the Covenant if delivered to the right people."

"Then give it to ONI, they'll-"

"Screw it up as usual. No, I know how to use this intel properly. Ben, what is it you think I'm trying to accomplish here?"

"You're dangerous. You're building a rebel army to stand again the UEGA."

"Not really, I have no intention of ever attacking Earth or it's colonies directly. I already stated as such."

"I don't believe you."

"Because you don't know what I know. There are bigger threats coming, and if humanity, the Citadel, and the Covenant keep tearing each other apart, these threats will go unchallenged, because the Federation isn't enough and they'll probably get dragged into the war soon too. I'm doing my best to gather as many resources to the Vindicates as possible, so that there's a sizable response to what's going to happen. The Shepards were right about the Reapers, Ben, but there's more to it than just them."

Rhodey started to pace.

"If I can pull enough UNSC, Citadel, and Covenant assets out of the war and into my own reserves, we might stand a chance."

Ben stared at her intensely, visor to visor, each couldn't see the other's expressions, but felt it.

"I'm not sure if I'm buying what you're selling, but if you want help taking down Oro, then you can count me in. So long as you promise that when your ridiculous plan to get him to work with humans fails, you let me end him. And the only reason I'm coming along with you is because I've already seen how you operate. If I wasn't sure you could pull off the mission, I'd be staying here."

"I promise to take you back to the nearest UNSC or Citadel colony once this is over."

"Deal."

She lowered the shields and braced for him to attack, but he didn't. He just casually walked out. She looked at him and said,

"You go first." She didn't want to put her back to a Spartan.

---

She sent away all of the other Vindicates to their duties, and called everyone up from Charlie and Delta group to do a briefing. Ben and Sam were there, too.

"My intelligence says that Oro's fleet is patrolling the borders here, between Covenant and Terminus space. He's on the hunt for Cerberus operatives and ships. He's been giving them an increasingly difficult time, so much so that ONI has decided to let him be for now. They're more focused on hunting and assassinating Thel 'Vadamee, as he is likely the greatest strategist in the Covenant, and the biggest threat so far, but make no mistake, just because Oro is number two doesn't mean you should underestimate him.

We're going to be luring him into an opportunity he can't pass up: as you've seen already, a part of our fairly small, but soon to grow fleet are the Alamo-class frigates. They're common among the business private military sectors, and Cerberus just so happens to use them as well. I got my hands on an old damaged chassis that I've had painted to look like a Cerberus cruiser from the outside. Oro is known to board Cerberus installations and ships personally to take out the crew face to face, he'll know it's not a Cerberus cruiser once he's inside, but that hardly matters. We're pretending to be Cerberus, pretending to be a damaged merchant ship, so that's what the distress signal will sound like.

He's the only Elite ever encountered using biotics, but luckily for us, he uses it sparingly, as it's apparently seen as a... controversy among the Covenant Elite Hierarchy. A mark of shame even. Nevertheless, he is known to use it as a last resort, so be careful. Most of you won't have to worry about that, as me and Ben are going to be the only ones engaging him directly. Sam is going to be leading the rest of you against his forces as a distraction, whilst me and Ben take him down. Operatives from Delta group are going to be riding in the Spectral with Ben, and Sam, and I, and we'll be the ones setting the trap on the ship.

I've outfitted one of our own Alamo-class Cruisers, The Optimiser, with a special transmission jammer prototype. I'm banking on the fact that she'll be maneuverable enough to dodge Oro's ship's plasma weaponry long enough for us to charge up and jump the damaged "Cerberus" ship out of there with the rigged FTL drive I have fitted to it. Once out of danger, we can subdue the Commander, separated from his armies. I'll have a second Alamo-class Cruiser waiting at the jump coordinates to drop off more Delta Groups operatives to help out you guys out with any remaining Covenant forces on the ship.

I know this sounds crazy...but I want you to shoot to maim and subdue, not to kill. Stun rounds once you drop their shields, keep as many alive as possible. I know this is especially difficult with Covenant, but those are my orders, anyone found directly disobeying will be put off the team."

---

Location: CAS-Class Assault Carrier Burning Endurance.
- 2183, Aug 8

Oro stood on the bridge of his command ship, examining reports from the war, and also the Covenant news of his accomplishments. So far the reports have credited Oro for his bravery in storming and taking a Turian Super-Dreadnought. Covenant engineers are hard at work, learning the weaknesses of these new ships, but they Council is still debating on the methods of how he acquired it. Some still consider it heresy that he enlisted help from outside the Covenant, whilst others see it as a sound strategy. A particular Prophet argues that it brought more shame to himself and the Covenant, like those of his clan long ago. Oro ignores this, and though it does unnerve him, he knows he must focus on his current task... hunting down Cerberus.

He awaits for his superiors in the Sangheili hierarchy to give him his next orders, as he looks at reports of his Jiralhanae friend Varkous, who was tearing apart Turians on some uncharted world. He ponders much of the recent events of the Covenant, and what they truly signify. He has doubts that they're actually on the Path, and wonders what he can do to save his clan. These thoughts are interrupted when he recieves a message from the bridge, indicating a merchant vessel beaming a distressing beacon, the signal similar to one they encountered earlier.

Oro is skeptical at first, and finds the ship's emergency beacon disguised to make it seem that they were attacked by pirates. When they unravel the encryption, they see it is indeed Cerberus, pretending to hide as an attacked merchant ship.
Oro then decides that he shall go himself aboard a CCS-class Battlecruiser, with 2 CRS-class light cruisers and 2 SDV-class Heavy Corvettes as escorts, leaving the Burning Endurance to his second for safe keeping. He rather not risk his flagship with what could be a Cerberus trap. As usual, he wishes to board the Cerberus cruiser himself to punish the vermin.

The first thing he does is contact Varkous via comms to alert him of this discovery. He tells him that they will board the ship and see why Cerberus is there, and what schemes are they planning. Varkous protests to Oro that it maybe a trap, to which he agrees. He tells him that if so, he'll have the farthest ship make an emergency jump to the fleet with the coordinates they map on the spot to bring in the cavalry.

Varkous understands why Oro is doing this, but tells him that even what seems to be an end to desperation could be something worse in disguise, like when they tried to find an STG encampment and found nothing at all save for an ambush by mercs to cover their tracks. Varkous then leaves to return to his assignment, while Oro goes to investigate the ship with his seven ship flotilla.

---

Location: The Spectral; during FTL jump.
- 2183, Aug 8

After a short slipspace jump to a Mass Relay, the Relay propelled the small ship across the galaxy, to another Relay close to their destination.

An ODST handed Ben an Assault Rifle. "Good to see you working with us, Spartan."

Ben just had to ask. "What made you betray the UNSC, marine?"

The ODST tilted his head. "I guess I never thought of it that way. The Vindicator promised us that he wouldn't deploy us against the UNSC. Besides, if we ever decide that we don't like what he's doing, we're all free to leave anytime. I volunteered for this mission."

"You would prefer to fight for someone who's identity you don't know rather than the UNSC?"

"I'm fighting for myself, I pick the mission I take and when, they pay us per job we do and house us. I'm just glad someone is doing something about what's going on out there because to me it seems like the UNSC either has it's head shoved into the sand or up the Citadel's ass."

"... You feel like you can do more with these... Vindicates?"

"Not just more, but what I want to do."

Rhodey had been talking to the pilot, getting an estimate on when they'll arrive. As she came back she put her hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Relax Ben, these guys aren't insurrectionists, they're not particularly popular with me either."

"I see."

"We're relatively close but we'll be there in about forty-five mikes. It's a small ship, so the drive doesn't go very fast. Stretch your legs, boys."

---

The Spectral entered the hangar bay of the "Cerberus" cruiser and cloaked itself, awaiting the aliens' arrival. The team quickly went to work setting up the trap, and once set, Rhodey gave the command to send the signal.

The Optimiser was only a short jump away from the scene, ready to be called in when needed. Oro showed up, just as Rhodey predicted, and of course, just as she also predicted, the Shipmaster decided to board the cruiser himself. Oro landed in the hangar with three Spirit dropships, the Banshee escorts breaking off and guarding the hangar from the outside. From there, four squads of Sangheili, Kig-Yar, and Unggoy broke off down different hallways. Oro took six Sangheili with him: they see this through the cameras on the Spectral silently waiting in the hangar, giving them intel. From there, they relied on motion sensors. Rhodey waited for Oro and his men to reach the hallway to the bridge. So far, everyone kept themselves well hidden, and there had been no skirmishes, but as soon as she gave the order... all hell would break loose.

"Now!" she yelled. A door came down behind Oro and his men. He and two of his guards ignited energy swords as she flew into action, backed up by Ben, Sam, and Delta Group. Straight away, she singled Oro out and attacked him, flinging him into the next room with her repulsor beams, a weapon he had not encountered before. The Optimiser jumped into range to block Covenant transmissions, and the slispace drive began charging to jump them to their isolated destination.

"Keep the others busy! Ben, you're with me!"

Oro had dropped his energy sword, but pulled the plasma rifle off of his leg and began firing. Rhodey's shields took a hit, but she fired the repulsors again and knocked the rifle from his hands. Frustrated and worried about his men, Oro outstretched his hand and flung her to the wall with biotics, taking down half of her kinetic barriers. He picked her up again with biotics and held her in place, and activated the energy dagger on his right wrist. Suddenly, Ben slammed his shoulder into the Elite, knocking him again. Rhodey commented, "Two on one is hardly fair, but neither are Biotics."

"You fight without honor!" Oro growled, then he looked up and saw Ben, the recognition sinking in. "DEMON!", he yelled, as he ignited both of his wrist daggers.

"Oro, greshvo!" called out Rhodey, telling him to hold his fire. The Elite was shocked by the use of his name in his own tongue.

Ben began shooting at the Elite with his assault rifle. Oro held up his hands, and threw the Spartan against the wall which he entered the room from, and Ben realised,

"He's gotten better at using the Biotics since we last fought, he's more efficient, and it's less taxing on him..."

Meanwhile the "Cerberus" cruiser had already made its jump to slipspace. The Optimiser had done its job, and managed to evade all of Oro's ships' targeting systems, as that was the only advantage the Alamo's had over Covenant vessels. A second cruiser was on standby at the slipspace destination to unload squads from Echo Group onto the ship before the remaining of Oro's forces broke through the barricade that had separated them from the commander.

Oro charged at Ben and tried to stab him with his energy daggers, but he missed, and the blades began to flicker; out of power, the suit needed to recharge the shields, so they engaged in hand to hand combat. The Sangheili struggled with the Spartan, who was a master in close quarters, but his fury and rage prevailed. He had lost one fight against the Spartan, and his will was simply more resolved this time. He managed to clip the Spartan against the side of the helmet with his fist, disorienting him, as he kicked him into a table a few metres away. Rhodey tried to keep her distance in the fight, still choosing to hover above Oro. Her targetting computers analysed a weak spot in his armour, to try and damage the now reactivated wrist gauntlets' energy daggers. She found a spot which might short out the power conduit and fired. The repulsors burned through the rest of his shields and hit the armour, the left blade flickering and dying. Oro was amazed at which the accuracy of this being had managed to disarm him. He considered that it might not even be human, but there was one weapon it could not take: his biotics. He pulled the Vindicator closer to him with Biotics and slammed her into the ground. With his damaged gauntlet, he took the other one and struck downwards in a stabbing motion. Rhodey fired her repulsor jet in her left hand to push herself out of the way, but she was too late; the blade came down into her shoulder, and she shrieked in pain. Suddenly the armour's chestpiece lit up, and Oro was hit with a massive concussive blast that enveloped the majority of his body and burned his armour before he even realised what had happened.

Rhodey rolled over as Ben approached with the assault rifle in hand, Oro laid against the wall with his armour smoking.

"Don't shoot!" Rhodey called out. Clutching her shoulder, she jumped on the comms to talk to Sam "How's it going out there?!"

He replied "We got 'em pinned down for now, and Echo is already in the hangar bay, just do your thing!"

She knelt before Oro, holding her plasma burned shoulder with her other hand, and spoke again in perfect Sangheili. "I did all of this to have a conversation with you." Oro looked up, obviously in pain, both physically and for his shame. He spoke back but in English "What are you...?"

Rhodey decided to take off her helmet, in front of a Spartan who probably would turn her in, and an Elite who wanted to kill her. She wasn't sure if she was thinking straight, but felt it was the right thing to do.

"My name's Rhodey, I am a human of Earth, and I've lured you here to show you evidence that humans are not your enemy, nor are we the vermin the Prophets have led you to believe. In fact, I think I have enough proof to suspect that the San'Shyuum will betray your species soon, and wish to warn you."

"Blasphemy!" Oro raised his hand to use his biotics again, and Rhodey used her repulsor jet on her good arm to stop him, "If I'm wrong, then you have nothing to fear from listening to me. If you are so sure that the Prophets were honest, then what harm can come from listening?"

Ben looked over them. "Try that one more time and I'll shoot your legs out from you."

Oro was wincing in pain at his burned hand. He put his head down for a moment and considered what she said. "Heretic..."

"Just listen. I'm not here to fight you Oro, and your shields aren't recharging, your harness is badly damaged, so you have no choice at the moment. The Writ of Union states that Sangheili are to command the military arm of the Covenant, isn't that correct?"

Oro just glared at her, both angry and surprised of her knowledge. "Why is it, then, that the Jiralhanae have been granted more and more military privileges recently? I've noticed a lot of changes lately, they're commanding their own ships, getting new weapons, armor, little things that on their own don't look like much, but when looked at as a whole, it seems as if the Prophets are beginning to support them over the Sangheili. Some Sangheili have even cast doubts, or outwardly spoken of their doubts of the war. Some ask why humans were never given the option to join the Covenant? Some question the Prophets wisdom, even the religion itself... it might be in the Prophets' best interests to get rid of the Sangheili, after all, they've failed to protect some San'Shyuum before. They're just one more excuse away, as far as I see it."

"You know nothing of which you speak, human! The Covenant is strong, the humans and the Citadel they hide behind are weak! While we move forward on the path to the Great Journey you and all who follow you will be left behind; broken and defeated as we reach our Journey’s end.”

Ben still had his rifle trained on the Elite. Rhodey sighed and sat down "I'm not your enemy Oro. In fact I was hoping we could work out some kind of deal."

Oro was more shocked, he could not fathom what she was implying, and he looked up at Ben "Hey buddy, don't look at me, I wanted to kill you outright but she wouldn't let me."

Oro shook his head "That would have been preferable. I would never work with a human."

Rhodey continued "We have mutual enemies."

Oro interupted. "And one of my enemies is standing beside you."

"... Yes, but I was talking about Cerberus. I mean, you came all of this way to find some, why should you leave empty handed?"

"I won't take information from a-"

Rhodey snickered "Ah, but you already have. Most of the data, the "leaks" you've been acquiring and acting on, I've been feeding you, bit by bit. And you acted on them, and killed people neither of us want around. What does it matter that the information came from another human?"

"You would betray your own kind..."

"Here's the thing Oro. Humanity and the Covenant aren't so different, you have your heretic groups and we have our rebels, they're the same thing, different factions among factions. Cerberus is no friend of the UNSC, me and my organisation are no fan of them either. Though I'm no enemy of the UNSC, I'll even work with them." she points to Ben "And help build their ships. Cerberus is definitely not a respresentation of humanity, I've killed many of them myself, and others like them. Humanity as a whole was never a threat to the Covenant, we tried diplomacy, and who did the Prophets send to our colony of Harvest to negotiate? Jiralhanae. Yeah like those were the smartest option to send for diplomatic talks. It was the Prophet Hierarchs who ordered the Brutes to attack us. I have the transmissions here myself."

Rhodey began playing audio of the of the conversation, a Prophet Hierarch ordering a Chieftan to massacre the species there. Oro listened, his head tilted. He recognizes the Chieftain as Maccabeus, the uncle of Tartarus, the current Chieftain of the Jiralhanae.

"How...do you know of all these things? You speak Sangheili, and have all this information, where do you get all this from?"

"I'm just a very smart human who has access to a lot of resources. I have spies in all of the galactic superpowers, including the UEGA, and in other groups like Cerberus."

"That's... I've never heard of you."

"You'll hear of us soon, we call ourselves the Vindicates, and we protect the galaxy." Rhodey stood up. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to send you this, as well as other suspicious transmissions I've intercepted between San'Shyuum, along with some more information I have on Cerberus, including a base location if you want to raid that. And all you have to do is order your men to stand down so I can let you leave peacefully. I'll give you information on how to contact me in the future, and if you're interested we can start sharing intelligence, but only if you pull your own forces out of the war."

Oro just stared at her.

"Uh-uh. All I'm asking of you now is to stand down your forces and leave peacefully, you get all of the information I just stated for doing only that, more negotiations can be made after."

"You want me to surrender, Sangheili never-"

"I'm aware of your traditions, I never said surrender, I said stand down. Just cease firing so we can part ways, keep your weapons with you and leave, no surrendering necessary."

"All might not see it that way..."

"Are they your men?"

"Yes."

"Then make them see it that way. You're leaving because we are not your enemy, and we will help you."

"I'll never trust a human."

"I could just kill you now, y'know? If I wanted. Just leave and me, and my forces won't stop you, attack us and you won't see my generous side again."

Oro was cautious of this, he'd never once met a human who had kept their word, but as he stood up Rhodey handed him his Plasma Rifle. He took it, and she relayed orders to her men outside to hold fire, which they did. He made it to his forces, his armour broken and beaten but in one piece. He ordered them to cease firing and go back to the dropship.

"We're retreating?!" another Sangheili asked.

"No." Oro replied "We're just leaving."

---

"You're taking a massive gamble here." Ben said, as soon as the Elite left the room.

"I liked to call them 'calculated risks' and it's what I do." Ben started pacing the room, obviously anxious.

"He won't halt his forces in this war, his superiors will-"

"Oro is dedicated to hunting down Cerberus, who are working too closely with Reaper technology for it to be safe, they'll be indoctrinated soon. It's why I picked him. If I tried to kill him or defeat his forces, it'd cost me my own assets, same with the UNSC, and that isn't good. If I can redirect his forces to attack Cerberus instead... it benefits everyone involved."

"You had a chance to kill one of the most dangerous Sangheili in the Covenant Armada. You might never get that chance again."

"I won't need to." She switched to her comms. "As soon as they're all gone, I want to jump this thing out of here, we're going to strip the paint off and commission it as a Vindicates ship. I have a good feeling about this one, it's lucky."

Ben asked her "What are you going to call it?"

"Hmm..., how about the Venerator?"

---

Location: CAS-Class Assault Carrier; Burning Endurance.
- 2183, Aug 9

Oro sought out solitude to contemplate his thoughts and choices immediately upon returning to his command ship. He said no words to anyone before he locked himself in his private chambers. He looked at the information that was sent to him by the human signal, at first hesitant to look further inside, for he knew once he started on this path, he would not be able to turn back. Oro began to recall what his uncle said to him when he was a little hatchling, that sometimes for the good of all, one must speak up in defiance, to do what is right even if it brings great shame to oneself, for without making the choice to speak up...nothing will change. He remembered this particular uncle because he had a strong feeling that it was his blood father. Sangheili weren't allowed to know who their father was, it was tradition that they be raised by their mothers and taught combat by all of the "uncles" in their clan. It was so no one was given power or prestige according to bloodline... all honour must be earned.

Oro makes a prayer to the gods for forgiveness, as he delves into the files reading the evidence Rhodey sent bit by bit, each piece of data both alarming and somewhat amusing: an honest human that kept their word? Were there more of these out there than just the ones who helped free him from Cerberus's prison lab? Perhaps he had misjudged the rest of the species by a great deal.

---

Location: Watchtower Hangar
- 2183, Aug 9

"It's been a long day, actually standard calendar says it's already the next day, time is relative. But hey, look, we made it back alive!" Rhodey droned on, Ben was already disinterested.

Rhodey paused and considered her words next "So, I guess you're leaving now, going to back to fighting the war?"

Ben paused, thinking about what he was to say next "I understand what you're doing here, I get it. I really do, now. And I know what you're thinking, because I'm thinking it too, but I can't just abandon the war effort. Maybe, when the war's over..."

"There's always another war Ben, but I understand. Here. Maybe we can work something else out, a compromise?" Rhodey pulled out and tossed him a small device the size of a COM pad. "Consider yourself a reserve member, if we ever have need of you we'll call, and vice versa, emergencies only."

"And if I can't come?"

"You can always ask for an extraction. Oh and by the way, if you give it to ONI, it'll self destruct."

"I'll be sure to remember that..."

---

Location: Watchtower Bridge
- 2183, Aug 9

All Vindicates from Alpha group, the main team, were present for debriefing.

As usual, Rhodey spoke first "Ben is on his way to a friendly Citadel colony, it's safer to send him there so he can make his way back to the UNSC. How did your mission go Samus?"

Samus replied in her usual monotone voice "Cybertronians were there, they were digging for energon, apparently the planet was rich in it. I was able to assist the UNSC's mech forces in liberating the planet, earned some brownie points for us."

"That's good. Speaking of mechs, Nomad, I saw you able to retrieve the prototype, and with no Turian casualties, right?"

"To your specifications. They don't know it was us."

"They will eventually, but that's okay. Isaac's been hard at work getting this place into shape, a day's work is noticeable. I wonder what this place will look like when you're done."

"Thanks, Rhodey" sheepishly replied Isaac.

"How about you, Spectres?"

Jane spoke "We confirmed Freedom's Progress was abducted by Collectors. We also ran into an old friend..."

"I saw in your report, Tali'zorah was there. You didn't manage to recruit her?"

John commented next. "She has an important mission to complete for the Flotilla, she says she'll join our crew again when it's over."

"Well, that's good, we could use a Quarian over here."

Jane nodded. "Cerberus showed up as well, but we dealt with them. We managed to get the data from a Quarian named Veetor. We got everything, recorded footage of the Collectors and their sweeper swarms, it might help you come up with an immunity to the paralysis."

Rhodey: "About that immunity, our next two missions are coinciding. I need to go to Omega and meet a contact there about a lead I'm chasing, and I've got a list of dossiers here for you. Now that you've confirmed it's Collectors, I'd recommend you come with me to Omega because there are three people on that list over there and one of them is a Salarian scientist who I believe is already working on an immunity to the Collectors' paralysis, we could work together on it if he joins us."

John laughed. "So you want us on recruitment?"

"Seems like the best place for you."

"What about the rest of us?" Samus asked.

"You're comng with us too, I put out a call to some Bounty Hunters to meet us at Omega, associates of yours that usually work for the Federation, I want them on our roster and I figured seeing as they're your associates, you can recruit them for me. Or you can stay here and help Isaac repair the station?"

Isaac reacted happily "oh I could use someone with her strength to help us lift things"

Rhodey shook her head "that's what the Caterpillar P-5000 Work Loader's are for"

Samus turned to Isaac and appologised "Sorry, I need to stretch my legs"

"You only just got back!"

"Isaac I need you to have a look at that prototype Turian mech that Nomad grabbed. Sam, Nomad, you two can come with me to Omega, I might need backup."

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Note:

The Patreon version had a slightly different ending with Samus staying on the station to help Isaac, then I remembered I wanted her to help recruit bounty hunters so she's coming with the team on Chapter 9!