A/N: I will refrain from putting author's note's here in the future, but this is an important one. If you read the first chapter before I made my revisions, you will have read that the Arbiter clearly understood something Garrus said. This was a mistake, as I foolishly forgot that the Arbiter would have to have somehow procurred a translator that understands the languages of the aliens in the Mass Effect verse. So I went back and made it so that he responded to Zaeed, and subsequently in this chapter the Arbiter will not be able to understand aliens. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter.

Arbiter Thel'Vadum liked space travel. Knowing that there were only a few bulkheads between him and a quick and painful death brought him clarity, allowed him to think. There was something serene about space travel, in that it was just you and the great beyond that was the inky nothingness of space. This thought often floated into his mind when he stepped aboard a ship, ready for the takeoff. Not this time, however. This time he wasn't even walking aboard.

The engine of the warthog roared as the vehicle sailed into the open hangar bay of the Forward Unto Dawn, flipping through the air and throwing its occupants out right before it crashed with a loud bang. The Arbiter jumped to his feet as he felt the Human ship lurch underneath him, and just barely had the time to jump out of the way of a loose tank before it squashed him. Taking cover behind some crates, Arbiter was worried for a moment that the other occupant of the warthog hadn't made it, but he was quickly proven wrong. A respectful nod from the Spartan whom he called comrade, and perhaps even friend, was met with the same gesture from the Arbiter, and Thel quickly dashed his way to the bridge to see if he couldn't help stabilize the ship from there.

Taking a seat in the pilots chair, the Arbiter did everything he could keep the vessel from being obliterated, but it was proving more difficult than he would have liked. Behind the Forward Unto Dawn the Ark was being torn apart due to the fact that the unstable Halo it was trying to build had initiated its firing sequence. The resulting explosion made it almost seem like the Ark was reaching out for them, trying to bring the ship down with it. Thel would not let that happen, but it may not be up to him.

The portal back to Earth loomed ahead, promising safety if only they make it in time before it closes. The Arbiter frantically worked the controls before him to speed the ship along, but it looked as if they wouldn't make it. Pounding the armrest of the chair in fury, Thel bellowed, "We will not die here, not today!"

Thel now worked twice as hard on the controls, darting his hands around so fast that they seemed to be moving of their own volition, as if they were just as concerned for their own safety as he was of his. The ship was practically falling apart around him, panels and wires exploding outward and showering sparks everywhere. The glass of the holoprojectors shattered into a million pieces, and the Arbiter briefly worried that he would in fact die in space around the Ark.

Suddenly a blinding white light smacked into him, and he lost all sensation.

When he could feel and see again, what he felt and saw displeased him.

Evidently they had made it through the portal, because they were no longer in the life threatening space around the Ark. Instead they were flying uncontrollably into a brown planet that Thel recognized as not Earth. Additionally the Arbiter felt like he was going to implode before he could even figure out what this planet was.

An incessant beeping by his side temporarily made him forget about the pain as he brought his attention to a terminal next to him. At first he didn't understand what it was trying to tell him. It presented a diagram of the Forward Unto Dawn but blotted the back half of the ship out in red. Soon enough though he read the text Hull Integrity Compromised. His thoughts immediately turned to his comrade stowing away in that half of the ship.

The Spartan-

The ship shuddered as fire blossomed around it as it entered the atmosphere of the planet, interrupting that thought and forcing Thel to dive onto the controls before him once more. He would have time to ponder what happened to the Spartan later, right now he needed to make sure nothing happened to him. His hands flew across the controls once more, but now every time he tried something the terminal just told him that that function was either malfunctioning or that the ship no longer had the required components. This lead him to only one conclusion; the ship was doomed to crash.

As the ship continued to sink, soaring through the air as if a bird of prey diving for the kill, the Arbiter resigned himself to the fact that the only thing he could do now was let the ship crash. His only hope for survival now would be to strap himself in and hope for the best. He quickly fastened the safety harness of the seat around himself with several clicks as everything locked into place. Now as secure as possible, all he could really do was wait.

The Arbiter looked out the view port as the planet rushed up to meet him. Already he could make out that it was a desert planet, clearly seeing an expansive sea of dunes. It was a very dull planet by any means, and he couldn't make out any sign of civilization in the short time he had up in the air. Thel barely had time to brace himself for impact when he was violently thrashed in his seat as the ship smacked into the planet. All around him he could hear the roar of metal being sheared off as the ship shook erratically, forcing the Arbiter to wince as the straps dug into him. After what seemed like an eternity the ship finally lurched to a stop as it buried itself into the sand. Thel took a brief moment to take stock of the situation before deftly removing the straps of the harness. His body ached all over, first from the pain that followed his exit from the portal and then from disastrous landing he had miraculously lived through, but he had to get moving. His legs cried out as they lifted him up out of his seat, and he turned around to find the bridge of the ship in chaos.

The panels and coverings that had fallen off earlier had now been thrown every which way. The electrical wires of the ship were exposed and hanging down like vines, precariously showering sparks everywhere. Shattered glass was everywhere, coating the floor with thousands of little shards. The terminals that once serviced ensigns had now all exploded, leaving them as ruined husks that looked as if to be judging him. You Failed they seemed to say, and he couldn't help but feel that perhaps they were right.

The Arbiter shook his head to expel that thought. He had more important things to focus on right now. Patting himself down he found that his armor seemed to be in relatively good shape, and all of his weapons were in their places, a plasma rifle on his left thigh, a plasma pistol and his energy sword on his right. He didn't know if there was any life on this planet, but he wanted to be prepared for anything. Carefully moving through the bridge as the glass crunched underneath him, Thel set about discerning whether or not he could find a way to get some sort of distress beacon off. If he couldn't his only other option would be to hope that someone did live on the planet and that they were friendly. Thel wasn't going to hold his breath for that, though.

The Arbiter tightly pressed himself into an alcove of a hallway inside the ship as a group of the yellow armored newcomers passed him by. The movement was mostly useless, as he had his active camouflage on and was thus invisible, but it just felt natural to do something in the anticipation of combat.

Thel had long since given up on trying to activate a distress beacon, as he lacked the technical skills to repair anything in the light of the catastrophic crash landing. The ship was dead and silent, and the Arbiter had accepted that. After that he set about discerning what had survived the crash. The simple answer was: not much of anything. Most of the things that he could have made use of were in the part of the ship that was gone. What he did have were only the weapons he had on him and a few random weapons scattered throughout some of the ship. The power was offline and most of the terminals were destroyed, not that he had much use for them anyway. The most valuable thing that had survived was he himself.

Just when he was about to lose hope of their being life on this forsaken planet, he heard the sound of what could only be aircraft of some sort descending from the sky around the ship. He had activated his camouflage and gone outside to investigate, and was immediately confused by what he saw. There was a veritable fleet of aircraft outside, and the crafts themselves were unlike anything he had ever seen, looking like nothing more than glorified flying bricks, adorned with a yellow paint scheme and an insignia for some faction he didn't know. He had at first thought it was some rebel human group until he saw the armored figures coming out of the craft, armed with a plethora of armaments that were new and foreign to him. While some these beings were indeed Human, easy to identify due to a lack of helmet on some, there were some who were...aliens.

Thel had hardly used the word before, as the Covenant had comprised of many different races, but these aliens were of a species he had never encountered before. Or rather, there were at least three different species that he had never encountered before. This was when the Arbiter decided that something was very wrong. The first of the new species seemed to be the most disciplined, even among the Humans. They were taller than most everyone around them, and their skin almost seemed to be made of metal. The second was a lizard looking species that had big, round eyes and two cranial horns on their heads. Curiously their chests also seemed to be caved in, as if they didn't have any ribs. The third and final of the new species was also the most interesting, as they all appeared to simply be blue Human women with head tentacles instead of hair.

The Arbiter filed all of these observations away for later consideration and went back inside the ship. There was at least a hundred of the armed and armored newcomers that had come from the craft, and they were all descending on the ship like flies to a corpse. Thel didn't know if they were hostile or not, but he wasn't about to make first contact with them out in the open and severely outnumbered. That was how he found himself in his current situation, watching as a group of five aliens passed him by. Thel spotted at least on Human and decided to test the friendliness of these people. Once they had gotten a few feet away, Thel slipped out of the alcove, deactivated his camouflage and spoke.

"Who are yo-" he didn't get to finish his question because as soon as he spoke the intruders all turned around and opened fire on him. Idly noticing that these weapons resembled neither UNSC or Covenant weapons in terms of ammunition, Thel activated his energy sword with a snap-hiss and lunged forward. The bullets that the intruders kept shooting at him splashed harmlessly against his shields, and the tight hallway insured that they could not get away from him fast enough as he closed the distance instantly.

The first to die was a member of the species that looked like blue Humans. Fortunately for her it was a relatively painless death as he decapitated her in one swing of his sword. The other four intruders looked on in horror as her body slumped to the floor and her head flew through the air, straight into the Human Thel had identified. They began to rout almost immediately after that. Before they could get far the Arbiter stabbed straight through one of the metal aliens, pulled the sword out and bisected another one with a downward slice. The two remaining intruders consisted of one of the lizard people and the Human, both of which were screaming in abject terror as they attempted to flee. Lashing out and grabbing the neck of the lizard from behind and crushing his windpipe, the Arbiter heaved and threw the body at the Human, sending him crashing to the floor while the lizard's body flopped on top of him.

As Thel stalked up to the Human like a predator would his prey, he could hear the Human whimpering. Leaning down he took hold of the Human's neck, albeit with much less force than he did the lizard, and held him up so that Thel could look him in the eye. The Human began outright crying as he clawed fruitlessly at the Arbiters hand.

"No, please don't kill me!" he pleaded between sobs, and the Arbiter sneered in disgust. What a pathetic creature.

"If you want to live, you will tell me who you are." Thel lied, shaking the Human for emphasis. He wasn't particularly fond of executing someone who had been beaten so easily, but the Human had attacked him first, even when he had tried being diplomatic. Any sympathy he might have gleamed from the Arbiter was lost then. But the lie worked, for as the Human now had a small hope for life, he exploded into a rambling mess.

"My name is Michael Sorenson. I was born on Earth, I'm 23 years old, and I-" Thel shook him again, more violently this time, to shut him up.

"No!" he snarled, "Who do you answer to?"

The Human looked at him in confusion, clearly not understanding the question. "Captain...Tasera?" he said hesitantly. Thel rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Are you rebels of the UNSC?" he asked, quickly losing his patience. Unfortunately for him this question only seemed to confuse the Human more, who did his best to shrug while dangling in the Arbiter's grasp.

"No...we're Eclipse...mercenaries. UNSC?" That stifled Thel's anger, if only for a moment, as he searched through his brain for any memory of such a group. Coming up empty, Thel decided that the Human was no longer useful. Impassively he stabbed the Human straight through the stomach, while he gargled and went limp in his hand. Tossing him aside like a used toy, Thel stepped over the bodies of the other mercenaries he killed and went about deciding on his next course of action.

He was stuck in a ruined ship on a desolate planet, and the only other living beings in close proximity were a bunch of Human and alien mercenaries calling themselves the 'Eclipse'. Apparently they hadn't heard of the UNSC either. None of this did anything spectacular for his chances of getting off the planet alive, but Thel did have an idea of how to escape. He was going to have to steal one of the Eclipse's aircraft. It shouldn't prove to be too much of a problem, these mercenaries didn't seem like the most formidable bunch, but he wasn't about to get overconfident about his chances. That might get him killed.

Long story short, his plan failed miserably. Using his active camouflage he was able to successfully sneak his was outside of the ship and into one of the aircraft that had been idling on the ground. The side door was wide open and he simply sauntered in behind a few mercenaries. That was when everything went wrong.

Before Thel even knew what happened the craft lifted up into the air, kicking up dirt every which way as it took flight. Realizing he had to act quickly the Arbiter activated his energy sword, the familiar hiss alerting everyone in the craft to his presence immediately. Unfortunately for them he cut down every single merc inside the craft before they could even contemplate what was going on. All except for the pilot, who managed to sabotage the controls beyond repair, resulting in the craft plowing straight into a sand dune.

After surviving his second crash landing for the day, Thel emerged from the ruined aircraft to find himself several meters away from the Forward Unto Dawn. He also found that all the remaining craft were fleeing from the battlefield and that every single mercenary left in the area was pointing their weapons straight at him. He activated his camouflage and tried to make a mad dash for the UNSC frigate, but every mercenary opened fire on him at once, sending bullets crashing into his shields and lighting him up for all to see. Equipping both his plasma pistol and his plasma rifle, he sprayed bolts of searing hot plasma in every direction, trying to suppress the mercs. Unfortunately there was just too many of them and the unstability of the loose sand, as it shifted under him every time he took a step, meant that his shields would not last for ever.

His armor started beeping incessantly, as if panicking, as his shields failed. The Arbiter was just a few feet away from the ship now, but he didn't know if that was close enough. Suddenly there was pain in his side as two bullets found there ark one right after the other. Thel unconciously clutched at the wound and turned around to fire plasma at anything that moved when he was suddenly smacked straight into the ship without warning. He flew through one of the many ruined hallways for a few feet before landing unceremoniously on his back, trying to make sense of what he saw.

He had indentified what had hit him, some sort of blue, floating ball, but he didn't understand it. It had come out of nowhere and soared right into him, as if locked on, and the force of the impact had thrown him several feet, an impressive accomplishment given the size of the Arbiter. He chest felt a little sore where the ball had hit him, and he was bleeding a little from the bullet wounds he got, but he that the mercenaries would likely advance into the ship now that he had made it back inside. Bolting onto his feet, barely registering the bite of his wounds, he activated his camouflage right after his shields recharged and slinked into a hiding spot, waiting for any mercenaries to fall into his trap. He would have to think of a new plan to get off this planet, as the Eclipse had taken their craft and run, weary of another hijacking attempt. The Arbiter found this admittedly worrisome, as there was no other way he could think of for his getting out of here alive. In the meantime though, he would slaughter any mercenaries who dared stand against him.

He didn't have to wait long for a new plan to form, though he would have to admit that he mostly just got really lucky. He had spent countless time already fighting the mercenaries, he mused, that it almost seemed like there was never a time when the Forward Unto Dawn didn't have a gunfight happening in it. However, the bullets were almost always aimed at him, which is why he was then surprised to find that there was gunfire going off in parts of the ship nowhere near him. It had happened a few times before, when some untrained mercenary got jumpy and shot at shadows, but in those cases it was always just a short burst. This was different.

It wasn't hard to draw the conclusion that someone else had boarded the ship, and that they were hostile to the Eclipse. Whether that meant they would be hostile to him or not remained in doubt, but it presented him with a knew opportunity. Regardless of if they were friendly or not, these newcomers were only hope of escape. But he wasn't about to let his guard down.

After dispatching a group of Eclipse in the bridge, he finally got to see who the newcomers were, as he hid in the shadows invisible. There was just four of them, which led him to believe that they were much more capable than the lowly Eclipse, and would not falter as easily. Surprise would be key in subduing them, if necessary. There were two aliens, a metal one wearing blue armor and a lizard wearing white and red armor. He still could not understand them as they spoke, which was slightly maddening. He had tried interrogating a few aliens before, but while they seemed to understand him, they could not speak the Human language themselves. In the end it was pointless though, as he had killed them all just the same.

The other two members of the group were Human, which meant that he could understand half of the group's conversation. The younger of the two , who wore black armor with a re stripe going down his right arm, seemed to be their leader as he ordered the group to clear the bridge. The older Human, who wore a beat up set of armor, seemed to have more experience, if the scar that ran across his face and ruined one eye said anything, but still he defered to his younger for leadership. Thel found this curious. But soon enough he found his moment to strike.

"Well shit." the old Human said in relation to something the lizard said, shrugging absently. "At least the bridge is secured, for now." the Human added lamely.

"Were it so easy." Thel said, and snapped into motion.

The metal one was the first to go, falling down onto the floor in a heap as Thel tackled it. Next was the old Human, whom Thel kicked away viciously, sending the Human flying across the bridge. As he turned his attention to the younger one his shields lit up, highlighting his invisible outline, as the Human fired into him at point blank range. Quickly batting the weapon out of the Human's hands he kicked him away as well, and whirled on to the lone lizard. Snatching it in his grasp he grabbed its cranial horn, held its head high and ignited his energy sword. The familiar crackle of the sword brought the rest of the group's attention to him as they focused their weapons on him. He paid it no mind, however, as he wasn't planning on killing the lizard yet, and they wouldn't attack him for fear of him killing their companion.

A deafening silence grew to fill the bridge, as neither side did or said anything. The Arbiter had little time to waste though, so he broke the silence with little regret.

"You do not appear to be with these Eclipse mercenaries, which is the only reason you are not dead." he said, pouring as much authority into the statement as he could. "But I will not hesitate to kill you the next time I strike, should you force me to act." He needed these newcomers to back down, if only to have an even greater advantage should they try to attack him.

For a moment he was worried that his threat would go unanswered, and that this talk was about to collapse into another gunfight. But soon enough the leader among them motioned for everyone to lower their weapons, and Thel relaxed slightly. Perhaps he could get off this ship peacefully after all.

"Now speak, Human. Who are you?" he demanded of their leader, curious as to the indentity of the newcomers.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and these are my squad mates Zaeed Massani, Garrus Vakarian and...Mordin Solus." the Human said after taking a breath to steel himself, gesturing to the older Human, the metal alien and the lizard in his grasp respectfully. The gesture was made somewhat awkwardly when it came to the lizard, as Thel had yet to release it from his grasp. "We came here to investigate your ship, and to help any survivors." the Human added lamely, obviously in an attempt to appease the Arbiter. Thel mulled his options over n his mind and quickly came to the decision that he should at least reveal himself to the newcomers. If they were being truthful he would have to start building a bridge, as it were. Besides he had lost the element of surprise, but he was still confident in his ability to neutralize them if he had to.

Deactivating his camouflage he watched, slightly amused, as the newcomers all stared at him in shock and bewilderment. To be fair, these reactions were not born out of fear, as the Arbiter could tell, but merely out of surprise. Clearly they had never seen a Sangheili before, which did not bode well for his present situation. But he would have to overcome one obstacle at a time, starting with this one.

"I am called the Arbiter, and this is not my ship."

Thel then deactivated his sword and released the lizard. Surprisingly he looked the least relieved out of the four, as he casually walked away from the Arbiter and took a position next to the Human called Shepard, looking no worse for wear. The Commander soon recovered from his shock and furrowed his brow. A glance at the other Human, Zaeed, and the alien called Garrus told Thel that they were both equally confused, and while the alien called Mordin looked only mildly curious, the Arbiter decided that perhaps he should clarify.

"This ship is the property of the UNSC. I merely...sought passage."

Clearly this did nothing to help the group understand, as they all looked even more confused than before. They glanced between each other warily, probably trying to decide if they should trust anything the Arbiter was saying. Eventually the Commander just shrugged and holstered his weapon, the others soon following suit. Similarly the Arbiter reattatched the hilt of his energy sword to his belt, and the newcomers seemed to collectively relax.

"What is the, uh...UNSC." the Commander asked and inadvertantly confirmed a suspicion Thel had had for a long time. He knew there would be no easy way to skirt around the issue, but he decided that now was not the time to dwell on it. They had other issues to solve.

"I will have to explain that later, then, but now is not the time. The ship will no doubt be swarming with mercenaries soon enough, and I do not wish to remain here any longer."

The one called Shepard furrowed his brow at that, as if he wanted to argue, but he apparently decided against it and simply nodded his head. Before anyone could do anything else, however, an orange, glowing apparatus sprang to life over the Commander's arm, something the interrogated mercs had called an "Omni-tool". The Arbiter noticed the look of concern on the Human's face as he brought his hand up to his ear. "Alright, thanks for the warning, Joker. We're on our way out now." he said after a few moments of silence. He then turned to the Arbiter, saying, "My pilot just informed me of Eclipse reinforcements landing around the crash site. I meant what I said about helping the survivors of the crash, so you're welcome to come with us. But we need to go. Now."

Thel silently equipped his plasma rifle in his left hand and the hilt of his sword in his right. With a resounding snap the sword came to life menacingly in his hand, but it was clear that he meant Shepard and his companions no harm. Underneath his armor his muscles rippled slightly in preparation for the fight ahead, and he gave Shepard a curt nod. A silent agreement was formed in that instant; the Arbiter would follow the Human's lead for now, just until they made it off the ship. Then they would have a lengthy conversation that would hopefully be enlightening.

"I am ready." Thel said simply, and the four newcomers readied their own weapons as they made to leave the bridge. They had just one last hurdle to cross before they could all get some answers.

A/N: I know not a lot really happened, but worry not. There will be lots of action in the next chapter. Also, sorry for the long wait, but certain circumstances made updating, not impossible, but...difficult. Regardless, no matter how long it takes between updates, I will finish this. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Thank you.