"Sir, the Imperial Admiral has just arrived, and I have placed him in a holding room where he is awaiting your arrival" reported Lieutenant Commander Taylor. He had was the second in command of Axel's Flagship and oversaw everything that went on within the ship.
"Good" responded Axel as he stood up from his command chair and walked towards the elevator.
Once inside, the two of them proceeded to the holding section of the base. As the elevator moved between the floors on the ship, Axel and Taylor chatted about their personal lives.
"Taylor, how is your wife" Asked Axel.
"She's doing good, she just had our second child the month before we set out, so now I am a proud father of 2 sons" said Taylor as a big smile appeared on his face, he was very happy with his current life and was glad that he was given this opportunity.
"What about you Axel, besides Miranda of course, how are the twins" asked Taylor. When it was just the two of them, he would use Axel's name rather than saying Sir as the two of them have spent almost 30 years together.
"They're an amazing pair, unbeatable when they team up. Always cooking up some scheme," remarked Axel. Taylor's smile widened as the two continued to share stories from their personal lives.
As Axel and Taylor approached the holding section of the flagship, their conversation drifted back to their duties and the upcoming meeting with the captured Imperial Admiral. The elevator slowed to a halt and the doors slid open, revealing a corridor filled with a few members of the ship's crew.
"Sir," Taylor began as they walked down the corridor, "What do you think the Admiral will have to say? How cooperative do you expect him to be?"
Axel considered Taylor's question as they navigated through the corridors leading to the holding room. "It's hard to say, Taylor. The Imperial Admiral is fiercely loyal to his cause. Capturing him alive is a major influential factor to getting more covenant to join our side. He could also be used as an example showing that even the most powerful covenant leadership can't resist us."
Taylor nodded thoughtfully as another question popped into his head. "Do you think they'll attempt a rescue?"
"They don't have the means to attempt a rescue so we shouldn't have to worry about that, and if they do, they will have to get through hundreds of ships before they can even rescue him." Stated Axel.
A few moments later, they arrived at the holding room door, which slid open automatically upon their approach. Inside, the Imperial Admiral stood tall and imposing, his mandibles twitching nervously as he eyed Axel and Taylor with a mix of defiance and resignation.
A/N: Mandibles is what the Sangheili mouth is called for those that didn't know.
"Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree," greeted Axel as he stepped into the room. "it's a pleasure to finally meet someone such as you who has such a well-rounded reputation. I hope that you have been treated well since you got here?"
The Admiral hesitated for a moment, then responded, "As well as can be expected, human."
Axel approached him slowly, "This conflict between the Covenant and the Humans needs to stop, I'm sure you saw the evidence that we are the inheritors of the Forerunner Empire whom you regard as Gods, right"
"Almost everybody within the Covenant have seen the evidence, though not many believe it" responded Xytan 'Jar Wattinree.
"Including you, right?" Questioned Axel. In response he only got silence which answered his question.
"I'll get straight to the point; the entirety of the Covenant will be liberated by me and be showed the correct path that won't misguide them like the Hierarchs did. We will not follow the path of extermination as that would put us on the same level as Hierarchs, instead I will create a united government that will represent all the races in the galaxy, bring about peace and uniting the galaxy as one massive empire. With your help, I could end the war quickly" explained Axel.
Whether or not the Imperial Admiral agreed did not have a major impact on anything, already the other 4 Fleets were making great progress in other areas of covenant space. And unlike in the normal Halo timeline, the truth about the extermination of the Humans was already known by the Covenant, which would make it easier to influence the Imperial Admiral.
"My hesitation to join is not because I don't believe that you are the inheritor, it is because I have navigated the political structure of the Covenant and made it to the position that I am today, by joining you I will lose this position which would bring shame upon me and my Sangheili brothers as I would have accomplished nothing as the first and only Imperial Admiral" said Xytan 'Jar Wattinree explaining his reasoning.
"I see," began Axel, "But that is not a problem, if you agree and swear upon your honor to uphold our agreement, once the war is over I will put you in charge of the entirety of the remaining Covenant fleet granting you more power than the Hierarchs gave you and a considerable amount of political influence within the new Government once it is established." offered Axel.
Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree was silent for a moment considering the agreement. He didn't have any true Hate for the humans besides the fact that the Hierarchs regarded them as heretics, but now that there was evidence that the Hierarchs tricked him, he had no true hatred for the humans. And when he was defeated, the humans displayed a sense of honor in not outright killing him while he was defenseless.
After long silence, Xytan 'Jar Wattinree finally responded, "I accept Lord Protector, I will join you and assist you, as long as you honor our agreement."
"Good, and don't worry I will honor our agreement as long as you do the same. If I see any sign that your about to betray me then I will kill you myself" Axel's face turned dark for a moment which caused even Xytan 'Jar Wattinree to experience a sense of fear for the first time in his life.
With that out of the way, Axel had left 100 ships above the planet, while taking the rest back to High Charity.
Once he arrived at High Charity, he didn't waste time and started to use Xytan 'Jar Wattinree's influence to bring in more covenant to join him.
Getting Xytan 'Jar Wattinree to join him was a major accomplishment and he was glad that he didn't have to send him to get 're-educated'.
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A/N: Yes, the end of the war is near, but that doesn't mean the end of the story. Axel will travel to another Galaxy, how will he do it? You will have to find out when that Chapter comes.
Now onto the vote. Below are the potential names that will represent the new Government that will represent all the races within the Galaxy. These are the names that I think will represent all races while not leaning towards a particular race.
Also, I'm not going for a crazy name just trying to keep things simple:
- The Imperial Ascendency
- Galactic Imperium
- Orion Empire