the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

Much of the flight down would be defined by relative silence. There was little talk - those that inhabited the Phantom's troop bay had no need of it. They knew why they were there, and so far as they were concerned this was not a combat deployment. Their weapons, while cleaned, checked and ready for use were likely to serve the same purpose as their own presence - a show of force and little more. Perhaps a deterrent to those who might have let curiosity get the better of them and a desire to inspect the Phantom itself in closer detail.

At least until a transmission from the planet's surface was made known to them, the dropship's pilot tilting his head slightly as if to recoil from the audiopiece in his helmet. It was an unusual behavior to be sure, and one that attracted Rau's attention from his position just behind the ship's cockpit. Stepping forward and ducking down to lean into the space over the pilot's shoulder the white armored Sangheili would pause as the pilot looked back at the movement.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, Evocatus. I don't believe so. I would suggest you apply translation to it, though." The pilot responded, a hand reaching for a control on the console before him. As he did so Rau would follow the other Sangheili's instructions... and immediately be glad that he did so. While the translation software did its job much as it had back in Triang and in most of Federation space it did not hide the source audio - it merely spoke over it, leaving the Phantom interior to be filled with the disgusting, cacophonic discord of what sounded like a binary code transmission and the annoyed grumbles and grunts of the warriors behind Rau. Laughably primitive by almost any civilized standard, and it did not do wonders for the white armored Sangheili's opinion of the people they were about to see regardless of how well worded and well mannered the translated speech itself was.

"Record it. Send the translated text and speech to the Tithe, and the first half to me. And spare us the binary." Rau said, stepping back to leave the pilot to his work. The ship's internal speakers would fall silent and the warriors themselves a few moments later as Rau settled back into the place he'd been previously, arms folding as he took advantage of the quiet flight to focus on the words being fed into his helmet.

---

Minutes later Rau would be shaken out of his reverie and back to the present, a shouted warning from the Phantom's pilot - a moment later, mechanical hissing and whirring as the Phantom's side doors lowered open, the Sangheili inside taking hold of the racks and railings above to steady themselves against the roaring wind. To either side their escorting Seraphs could be seen maybe two or three dozen meters off, flying in close formation... and beyond and beside them, local aircraft of a fairly unique design. Not one that Rau had seen anywhere else, and the Evocatus found himself leaning forward where he was sitting to get a better look in spite of his earlier misgivings.

It certainly wasn't a practical design with so many points of potential failure, but it brought forth images of predatory arthropods, the kind seen on many of the human worlds he'd visited. Reaching up to grab hold of a railing and pulling himself to a standing position, Rau would offer only a cursory glance to the odd cityscape below as the Phantom began to descend, approaching what was likely their designated landing location from the earlier transmission.

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the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

So they were human.

Slitted reptilian eyes would narrow as the dropship rotated during its descent, giving Rau and the other occupants within a clear view of the surrounding space and the other aircraft present... and, eventually, the locals that awaited them. A number of them were dressed in attire reminiscent of Earth centuries past, while others notably did not. The basic body plan and tones of flesh were unmistakable, though, and between their presence here and the equally unlikely population within the Triangulum galaxy he and his warriors had just departed...

The San'Shyuum had not been held in high regard among his people within living memory to be sure, but to think that they had once believed such a genocide possible? They'd been beyond foolish, ignorant in the extreme, to think themselves capable of eliminating a population so widespread. Even if they'd thought those within Sol to be the root of it all, to know from the beginning that humans had been chosen as Reclaimers by the very gods the very gods the San'Shyuum worshipped? This population had proven themselves maddeningly primitive by comparison but it was that knowledge alone, their cousins two galaxies away, that allowed Rau to hold his tongue and grant them some modicum of respect that normally would've been earned.

Within another few moments the Phantom would finish rotating to display the vessel's port side to the gathered delegation, engines loud but producing no gusts of wind or air as the ship came to settle a handful of feet over the solid surface serving as a landing pad for other aircraft - just low enough for the lowered side ramps to stop a handful of feet above the ground. Enough to be an uncomfortable jump for the humans present, a short hop or large step for the Sangheili gathered aboard. Without a word Rau would move towards the edge of the craft's interior before disembarking, armored feet meeting the new world beneath him as the other warriors moved to follow. Blue armored Sangheili would exit, arranging themselves in a formation that doubled as an honor guard and perimeter around the Phantom with rifles held at ease as the crimson armored Asze dropped to the ground to fall in behind Rau as he started to stride towards the gathered humans - his gait one of practiced confidence.

While Rau would eye the weapons of the individuals gathered, particularly those in white armor whose stances would suggest military much more than the clean uniforms of the officers present, none of them gave him any reason for pause or concern. If anything it would be the ziggurat that would draw his attention as Rau and Asze came to a halt only a handful of meters before the uniformed humans.

"Evocatus Rau and Obentientary Asze of Clan 'Vadam. We are here to answer the Emperor's request for an audience." Asze would speak from beside Rau, the white Sangheili remaining notably silent. Better to leave the initial introductions to the one versed in such matters - until he was addressed directly or they were questioned on matters military in nature he would keep his silence.

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the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

While they by no means made him feel uneasy... curiosity was another matter entirely, and the first time Rau had actually felt such a thing in a long while. The civilians failed to hold his attention for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that the Evocatus always held some degree of difficulty in telling them apart from one another by their dress, at least in regards to most of the human civilizations in the Spur. For the most part they were simply irrelevant to Rau so far as his assigned tasks and duties were concerned, thus not something he had learned to pay attention to or to identify by their role. Military was a different matter, though. While the majority of the conflicts in his life had involved either Sangheili or Kromus Rau had spent enough time around and fighting alongside the humans in the Confederation to identify them by their uniform, rank and role by necessity... and while these were not the same people he'd come to identify as brothers in arms there were enough similarities. Warriors held themselves a certain way, regardless of culture... and even beyond that the presence of blades at the hip of nearly every uniformed human, armor or otherwise, intrigued him in a way that their aircraft and technology - or rather, lack thereof - didn't.

Blades, swords in particular, held a special place within Sangheili culture and their martial traditions in a way that was rarely seen in other cultures within the Spur these days, and to see such weapons feature so prominently here was...

Well, Rau couldn't call it pleasant as he found himself unsure as to whether it was due to their prohibitions against certain technologies or the state of their other weapons, but a curiosity all the same. And much as he wondered after the weapons Rau found himself considering those holding them in a way he hadn't before, slitted reptilian eyes settling on the soldiers standing to attention as the dignitary who'd introduced himself as an Archthinker continued to speak.

With Asze lightly bowing his head in response to Irate's introductions and moving to follow after the human as the man made it clear he was expecting as much, Rau would tear his gaze from the white armored soldiers to move after the pair, gaze now focused on the ziggurat ahead.

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the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

Rau remained silent as the white armored humans fell into position behind them - aware, certainly, but not exactly threatened by the lot. A slight glance over his shoulder and the Sangheili knew what amounted to what other species would've referred to as a "parade" formation, one intended for either formal occasions or as a show of force. Pageantry was all it was, and it was something that soon left his attention as they and those around them began to approach and enter the ziggurat that appeared to function as a palace for their emperor.

Much of Rau's earlier impressions would be broken on seeing the building's interior, however. What appeared to be a martial structure built on a foundation of pragmatism and durability did not hold true once inside, and had he not known better the white armored saurian would have called this place a museum. Many of the individuals present were not of the same build as the warriors that had greeted them, and instead seemed to take after the dignitary that had introduced himself as an "arch thinker". All seemed preoccupied with their tasks at each given station or display, whichever of the two they were seated at- with one in particular catching Rau's attention.

The images of the sand dunes, the desert world, and the worm like creature cutting through them. Things he had seen in the briefing on the way down to the world, what the human empire here seemed to refer to as the source of their power. Arrakis, it had been called. But where they seemed to see strength... Rau saw only weakness. Vulnerability, a thing they had come to depend on rather than their own strengths and ability, the very things that had made humanity such desirable allies in his home galaxy. As individuals began to split off Rau's attention would again shift, only somewhat paying attention to what their guide was saying as the man began to speak.

"Such meetings are rare, it is true. Much of that time has long since passed within our home galaxy, and it isn't often we've been given cause to travel this far ourselves. It's unfortunate, in fact. Were the distances not so extreme the Arbiter himself may have been able to be here in our place." Asze responded, picking up the slack to respond to Irate's attempted small talk rather than letting simple boot steps fill the silence.

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the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

It took some degree of effort to suppress the chuckle that Rau felt following Irate's comment, specifically that regarding "other humanities". As impressive as the "heighliners" orbiting this world were.... they were not warships. Glorified transports for other, smaller vessels, and even given the disparity between the Systems Alliance within the closest neighboring galaxy and the Confederation back in Sol-Daiban... Irate was not incorrect, although Rau's amusement mostly stemmed from the fact that it was almost entirely self inflicted. He'd read enough of the briefing on the way down from the Tithe to be well aware of their purges, this Empire's restrictive and dogmatic doctrines. Many of which all but mirrored that which the Covenant had held, if only to even further extremes. They hadn't merely outlawed research into artificial intelligence, but any technology capable of mathematics or automation - or enough of them to effectively be a blanket ban, punishable by death.

Pure, blind dogma. All to leave something as vague as the "human soul" pure. Spiritualism was nothing new to the Sangheili and they'd maintained a good deal of focus on it in the aftermath of the Covenant Empire's collapse, merely redefining it for what it was as opposed to unthinking devotion to religion... but never once had they mistaken man for machine or vice versa, nor felt themselves at risk of one replacing the other. Their fears had been borne out of historical record, of the tale of Mendicant Bias and his betrayal of his creators... similar, yes, but that fear had faded with time, all the more so with the discovery of the Flood and the part it had played in Mendicant's corruption, and even beyond that the creation of Offensive Bias in response.

And never once had his people tied their existence so closely to a single world that was not their own, an addictive substance as a replacement for tools perfectly capable of achieving their assigned tasks and obtaining the desired results.

Irate seemed to be dismayed by his peoples' position relative to their contemporaries. Rau merely wondered how long it would be until he and those he pledged his allegiance to realized why... and if it would bring his empire a revolution or a collapse.

The comment made of "exodus", however....

"Is there not concern over incidents involving those leaving your empire? 'Thinking machines', as you call them... they are quite common elsewhere. The act of securing ties with your kin in those regions will be difficult should they foist those views on others or should violence occur." Rau said, deep voice echoing through the hallways as he finally spoke for the first time. A slight glance from Asze beside him, but the red armored Sangheili said nothing about the question posed - likely because the same thought had occurred to the Obedientary and he couldn't fault Rau for asking after it. Such individuals would likely not be of much risk to his people even on the Joint Occupation Zone worlds, but the same could not be said for Earth. Unlike Sanghelios they tended to be quite a bit more free with immigrants, and to be rushed with so many at once and all potentially holding fairly extremist religious views... it was all but inevitable that incidents would occur somewhere down the line.

With Irate's comment regarding "stagnancy", however, Rau would once again suppress a less than polite reaction, far more easily done with waiting on an answer to the one and only question he'd posed thus far.

Whether or not Irate chose to reply to Rau, neither Sangheili would speak again as the continued down the hallway, reptilian eyes passing over the humans present in only the most cursory inspection. The vast majority did not appear to be warriors in the same sense that the aforementioned Sardaukar had been, and although a handful wore weapons and had likely seen military service in the past... they most definitely had moved beyond that life, advancing into roles of politics. A sight that once again reaffirmed Rau's belief that he'd made the correct decision in actively resisting such a transition back on his own homeworld, as was typically custom for accomplished Evocati.

A boy, younger than almost every other human Rau had seen there by his estimation - and despite the widening eyes, Rau would return the nod with a small, subtle one of his own, although movement in the corner of the white armored Elite's peripheral vision would not go unnoticed. Nor, for that matter, the look that would pass over Irate's face as he glanced in the other human's direction. Without context it was something that quickly set Rau on edge, although an impulse he forced himself to control as the Archthinker spoke again and they approached a massive set of jade and onyx doors with beasts embossed upon their surface.

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the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

No further words were spoken from either party, although Rau's slitted reptilian eyes would bore holes into the back of the Archthinker's head when it became clear that the human wasn't about to respond - and despite the nervous glance from the red armored Obedientary beside him suggesting otherwise the Evocatus kept it at that. Politics had always been something he'd found tiresome and wasteful in light of action when it could be taken, but Rau had been forced to play the game long enough to understand what the silence meant. Either the Archthinker had no answer to the question... or it was one he didn't want to address. Neither possibility was one that Rau found all too welcoming. While religious freedom was something of a core tenant within the Sol-Daiban galaxy - within both Sangheili space and that of the Galactic Federation - it wasn't to say that new religions were welcome. Or, more accurately put, those looking to actively spread those beliefs. It was one thing for individuals to find something of value within such beliefs, but it was another entirely for them to be forced upon people.

The scars left by the Covenant had been slow to heal, and while not particularly defined as religion in the traditional sense the efforts of the Machine Empire in attempting to instill its values upon the region by force had not been forgotten, either. Crusades of any sort were something that the region had little patience left for.

After a few more moments, however, the Archthinker would bring the procession to a halt before a massive set of doors which would slowly swing open, revealing an enormous hall beyond. Seemingly carved from polished stone with veins of precious metals snaking through the rock, at the far end of the room there would be two lone humans. One seated on the equally large throne, the object dwarfing him, clad in pure white mirroring Rau's own attire and clearly their Emperor... and beside him what appeared to be a female human, although at that Rau could only guess. Most of the features matched up and he'd be the first to admit that he'd only spent a relatively small amount of time among the species, most clad head to toe in uniforms that made distinguishing individuals by physical features difficult enough... but what set this one apart were traits that Rau hadn't seen on any other human within his memory.

As the Archthinker started moving forward again, however, Rau cleared that thought from his mind. On approaching the Emperor the Archthinker would continue forward until he was standing beside the seated human opposite the black clad one, although Rau himself would stop as Asze did - leaving both of them standing a respectable distance away from and before the Emperor as they were announced. While Asze did not kneel - as that custom was reserved solely for the Arbiter and other individuals of similar esteem among their own people - the Obedientary would dip his head in response as a gesture of respect, right hand forming a fist and brought to the left side of his breastplate. Doing the same himself, Rau would again keep his silence as Asze began to speak following their introduction from the Archthinker.

"An honor. We were informed you might have use for our services, but a formal introduction was not expected much less a direct audience."

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