Chapter 266: The New Covenant! Serving the Conglomerate Is an Elite's Honor!
At this moment, after learning the entire sequence of events, both Moramee and Vadamee were utterly stunned, frozen in disbelief.
They genuinely couldn't believe that anyone within the Sangheili elite could be plotting a rebellion—
And right under their noses, with the divine envoys watching!
Did they really think Reed, Jack, and the rest of the Astartes were as stupid as Brutes?
Moramee's mind raced. He immediately stepped forward, taking the initiative to admit his mistake to Li Ang , speaking earnestly and humbly:
"Boss, this is my failure. I didn't detect these dangerous elements beforehand."
Despite confessing, Moramee was filled with fear. He should have realized sooner that the Sangheili were a complex and massive tribal system—not everyone could possibly share the same interests.
Especially not those so-called elite councilors.
His own position in the Sangheili ranks was merely that of a shipmaster, while these councilors held real power—most of them had their own spheres of influence and even private armies.
So if they truly wanted to incite a rebellion, Moramee might really be overwhelmed.
After all, he wasn't even part of the upper management within the Sangheili hierarchy.
"Don't let it happen again."
Li Ang didn't hold Moramee accountable for this "negligence"—this incident was indeed beyond his ability to control, and Li Ang had no intention of punishing him.
"Shipmaster Moramee, focus on improving your personal capabilities. From this moment on, you will serve as the Supreme Commander of the Sangheili. As for the councilor position—there's no need for it anymore."
"Let's just abolish it!"
Li Ang declaration instantly stirred a storm in the council chamber. Every elite councilor was dumbfounded.
Abolishing the councilor role? That meant losing everything—how would they survive? They couldn't accept it. The ancestral rules were sacred!
To the elite councilors, this was like a blade severing their lifeline. But for Li Ang , the decision was clear: the councilor system had to go.
This position only served to dilute the conglomerate's authority and governance. Since he intended to bring the Sangheili tribe under control, he had to reform their political structure to suit the conglomerate's system.
In Li Ang 's vision, the ideal model for the Sangheili was the pure and straightforward military state—simple, clear, and efficient hierarchical management.
All that messy talk of councils and politics? Utterly unnecessary!
The elites' sole job should be to fight wars and train soldiers. As for governing and scheming—totally outside their wheelhouse. Their political maneuvering was laughably immature and utterly redundant.
After briefly outlining his plan to implement the military-state system within the Sangheili, Li Ang promptly promoted Moramee to Deputy Grand Admiral of the Sangheili Navy, with Reed temporarily acting as the Commander-in-Chief.
This personnel arrangement was as clear as day— Li Ang had tossed Moramee a hefty bone. So long as he didn't rebel, his path to becoming Grand Admiral was basically guaranteed.
Having forcefully reshaped the power structure of both the Covenant and the Sangheili, Li Ang rewarded Moramee and Vadamee for their merit and loyalty in helping him ascend.
"Boss, your wisdom is divine!"
Overwhelmed by the appointment, Moramee felt like he'd just been knocked dizzy by a meat pie falling from the sky.
But he quickly regained composure. Glancing around at the frightened, stunned, and furious councilors, he offered a pointed reminder:
"All of you should cooperate with the boss's decisions. Don't be stubborn. Once we eliminate the Prophets and the Brutes, you and your troops will also bask in the divine glory!"
The meaning behind Moramee's words was crystal clear:
Forget that title of councilor—it's empty and worthless. Obey the boss, and you won't be treated unfairly!
Li Ang was only abolishing the councilor role, not confiscating anyone's military authority or other privileges. Follow his lead, and what's yours will remain yours.
The real priority now was joining forces with the conglomerate's army to crush the Brutes and Prophets. The spoils of war would be more than enough to satisfy these mutts!
Moramee's reminder was spot-on. The elite councilors quickly caught on.
They each voiced their support for the conglomerate's reforms, fully backing Li Ang 's policies and pledging to cooperate with the conglomerate's troops to continue fighting the Brutes and Prophets.
Serving the Universal Conglomerate is the greatest honor of the Sangheili!
At this point, the councilors recognized the obvious: Li Ang had the guts, and the conglomerate had the strength and methods. They were utterly outmatched.
Back when they served the Prophets, they endured pay cuts and betrayals—and still never dared rebel.
Now that the conglomerate had arrived, offering better welfare and a bigger slice of the pie, how could they even think of playing petty games?
That would just be self-destructive.
What's more, the Universal Conglomerate was nothing like the Prophets.
The Prophets were your typical fragile scholars—high intellect, low constitution. Their tech was impressive, but they relied on the Sangheili to do all the fighting.
The conglomerate, on the other hand, was a dual-threat powerhouse—brilliant in both governance and military prowess. From their institutions to their technology and battle-tested legions, the proof was undeniable. They didn't even need the Sangheili to fight on their behalf.
The Prophets needed enforcers like the Sangheili and the Brutes. The Conglomerate didn't.
Once the power dynamics were clear, the councilors—who'd been filled with righteous fury only moments ago—completely flipped, condemning the dead councilors as traitors who deserved their fate.
Meanwhile, in orbit above the City of Charity, something "minor" occurred under Li Ang 's orders.
Six Traveler-class dreadnoughts formed a powerful gravity field array, ruthlessly twisting and destroying over a hundred CCS-class cruisers.
Two Long Night of Solace-class carriers had their main engines disabled by the same array, leaving them adrift in space.
Soon after, Astartes warriors boarded the vessels via drop-pods, capturing crews and shipmasters alike. The primary instigators were executed on the spot.
According to intelligence from the United Intelligence Agency and the conglomerate's own Info Division, these warships belonged to the elite rebel faction—and their commanders were the very same dead councilors.
Although the rebels hadn't taken overt military action yet, Li Ang opted for a preemptive strike to eliminate the threat.
Because no matter how compelling a political show may be, words alone are too superficial.
Without bloodshed, you can't leave a lasting impression on the Sangheili.
After all, the only reason the Sangheili ever served the Prophets was because they'd been forced into submission after centuries of war.
If the Universal Conglomerate wanted to take control of such a defiant species, it had to demonstrate its strength—let them see with their own eyes the price of betrayal and the agony of defeat.
Sure enough, when footage of the incident was transmitted into the City of Charity, all elite councilors and Covenant members were shocked and terrified.
At that moment, they finally understood just how ruthless Li Ang was when it came to maintaining control. Disobeying him meant one thing—death!
Though the councilors had no grounds to object to Li Ang 's actions, they were still dissatisfied.
The conglomerate's authority had been established—but where were the benefits they craved? Surely they wouldn't have to wait until after the war to be rewarded?
Li Ang had already anticipated this.
Not long after, he introduced a formal agreement to the council chamber regarding the Universal Conglomerate's governance of the Covenant and the future development and administration of the alliance.
The core of the agreement came down to two points:
First, the Covenant would now serve as a special division within the conglomerate, dedicated to recruiting and integrating outstanding alien civilizations as full-time employees.
Their benefits and pay would be on par with official conglomerate staff—and the Sangheili would be the very first members of this "New Covenant," finally receiving that coveted official status.
Until now, the conglomerate had never offered full employment to alien species.
They were all treated as outsourced labor—worked to the bone like cattle.
Now that the conglomerate had grown powerful enough, it was finally time to establish a proper department to recruit top-tier talent and offer real employment.
Of course, that didn't mean the outsourced model would be scrapped. Some civilizations were born to be beasts of burden. If they were made to suffer and bleed, they ought to be drained dry.
As for this clause, the Sangheili were quite pleased.
After all, in this New Covenant, they were the first members. When the conglomerate grew even more powerful, the Sangheili would be the founding elders.
With seniority comes greater influence.
The second clause was a mandatory requirement: the Sangheili must learn the culture, customs, and language of the Universal Megacorporation.
As far as the corporation was concerned, there was absolutely no need to respect or accommodate all those exotic traditions or alien cultures. The corporation had its own rules.
Divergent ways of thinking and different work styles would only delay administrative efficiency and create internal chaos.
Collaborators who couldn't see eye to eye would only sabotage the operation.
That's why Li Ang placed such emphasis on a unified culture, customs, and operational style. And the corporation's style was: efficiency, clarity, and decisiveness!
Even alien civilizations had to follow the corporation's rules—if they couldn't learn them, they could leave.
Of course, this agreement required long-term enforcement and persistence. Li Ang was in no hurry to immediately transform the Covenant's alien members.
In his eyes, species discrimination was irrelevant—those in power got there through strength. Either contribute value or stay out of the way. That was the rule of the Universal Megacorporation.
Everything Li Ang did was rooted in administrative efficiency. That's why he imposed mandatory changes and training for elite personnel.
As the elite delegates in the assembly hall unanimously raised their hands to pass the agreement, far away in the Eridanus II system, an emergency military mobilization was already underway!
Planet Segudos!
In the near-orbit of this desert-covered planet, more than ten old-model UNSC frigates and destroyers had assembled.
However, emblazoned on the sides of these ships were the characters for "The line," indicating that the fleet belonged to the local rebel faction.
Soon, the fleet launched multiple dropships and fighter craft toward the planet's atmosphere.
It wasn't long before the dropships and fighters arrived at a military base in the city of Segudos.
Da! Da-da!
The sound of gunfire and explosions from within the base grew louder as the flight formation approached.
Upon landing near the base, the lead rebel officer immediately gave the order to his troops:
"Everyone, follow me into the base and kill that unknown bastard inside! No mercy—I want her dead!"
Rita's destruction and the chaos she caused had already alarmed The Front's top brass.
After all, she had stormed into their base's command center alone and, damn it, held off wave after wave of soldiers at the front gate for hours.
Nearly a hundred or two hundred casualties—it was unimaginable!
For a moment, Robert Watts, leader of The rebel, even suspected a UNSC mole had infiltrated his ranks.
Otherwise, how the hell had Rita pulled this off?!
But right now, their top priority was regaining control of the situation and either capturing or killing Rita on the spot.
"Yes, sir!"
Fully armed and clad in desert-colored combat gear, the rebels moved into action.
But before they could even reach the command center's main entrance, they were met with a horrifying sight: fellow soldiers everywhere, crying out in agony, clutching bloody wounds, screaming in pain.
Just as one rebel moved to help a wounded comrade on the ground, a sudden gunshot rang out—catching him off guard and dropping him where he stood.
Everyone turned toward the source of the shot and caught a fleeting glimpse of a figure dashing behind cover.
Seeing this sneaky hit-and-run tactic, the rebel officer's rage boiled over. Ignoring the wounded on the ground, he roared:
"Goddammit! Kill her!"
As his shout rang out, the officer raised his MA5B—now loaded with armor-piercing rounds—and pulled the trigger toward the cover.
The rest of the rebels followed suit, advancing while firing toward Rita's last known position.
However, Rita had already relocated and ambushed several more rebels, still prioritizing non-lethal shots to disable them.
Cunning and agile, Rita kept the rebels completely off balance. The screams of their wounded comrades made it even harder to focus. They wanted to help, but feared drawing Rita's fire.
Truthfully, her strategy—isolating pockets of enemies and picking off reinforcements—was causing The rebel a world of hurt.
Some of the inner wounded, left too long without aid, had already bled to death.
Those still alive on the outskirts were just wounded moments ago and had the strength to scream for help. But it was precisely those anguished cries that made the newly arrived reinforcements hesitate.
They didn't want to watch their own people bleed out!
What frustrated The rebels even more was that they couldn't just bomb the base into oblivion to wipe out Rita.
If they deployed large-scale explosives, they risked killing all the hostages in the nearby prison, resulting in massive civilian casualties.
If that happened, both the UNSC and the UEG would launch devastating retaliatory strikes.
Besides, the base housed critical data and sensitive materials. If all of it were destroyed, the loss would be incalculable for The rebel!
That was the last thing they wanted.
At this point, the rebel troops involved in the Rita-hunt had no choice but to temporarily retreat and rethink their approach.
They were truly at their wits' end. Rita had used weapons and ammunition scavenged from fallen enemies to set up a terrifyingly effective one-woman defense line.
After witnessing her lightning-fast mobility and unnervingly accurate marksmanship, the rebels suspected she was a specially deployed second-generation Spartan.
A new class of super-soldier, specifically designed to fight them!
Inside the command center, Alex and Reid watched the battle unfold via surveillance footage.
On screen, Rita kept repositioning, using terrain to her advantage to pick off advancing rebels. Occasionally, she'd even fire extra shots at the wounded, forcing reinforcements to divert efforts to rescue them.
But whenever the rebels opted to save their comrades first, Rita would seize the chance to injure even more of them.
Using this nearly unbeatable strategy, she had managed to hold the line solo from midnight until dawn—the field was littered with her handiwork.
"Damn... she's brutal."
Watching the monitor, Cage couldn't help but admire how Rita held her own so effortlessly.
"She really stole the show this time. Honestly, I think she's more than qualified for the Ace Vanguard Squad."
William Cage was full of praise for Rita's combat instincts and tactics. Sure, her methods were twisted—something right out of a villain's playbook—but they were undeniably effective.
Someone like Rita—decisive, ruthless, and skilled—was destined to rise to the top of the corporation.
"Maybe. No one can say for sure."
Alex shook her head. These things couldn't be predicted.
After all, many employees in the megacorp had accomplished great feats. Take David Martinez—an absolute beast who once singlehandedly fought off thousands of Reaper drones.
And yet he never made it into the Ace Vanguard. He remained in the Celestial Vanguard, where the top commander was Reed, and David served only as a squad leader.
As someone with experience, Alex understood well that achievements and seniority were merely tickets to enter the competition. They only qualified someone to be considered for promotion.
Being eligible didn't guarantee advancement.
It all came down to what leadership actually needed.
Beep—beep!
Suddenly, the console in front of Alex signaled an incoming transmission.
She quickly accepted the call, and the figure of AI Loki appeared on the screen.
"Employees, the corporation's fleet is about to arrive in orbit above Segudos in the Eridanus II system. Your extraction shuttle is ready and awaiting deployment."
"Hold out until the reinforcements arrive!"
Relieved to hear help was finally on the way, Cage exhaled deeply. "Alright, I've already marked the location and the hostage detention point. Uploading the coordinates now."
"Understood. Please stay in contact."
With that, Loki entered standby mode to process the uploaded data.
Alex stepped to the tall observation window and looked up at the sky. Before long, she saw a swirling vortex of light twenty kilometers wide.
It signified that the Universal Megacorporation's fleet had exited slipspace and arrived in orbit above Segudos!
---
Meanwhile, in Segudos orbit...
A ghostly blue slipspace vortex tore through spacetime, and the corporation's fleet emerged not far from The Front's rebel ships.
Leading the way was a Voyager-class dreadnought, its ten-kilometer hull flanked by Endless-class carriers, RCS Armor-class cruisers, and numerous escort vessels.
In terms of naval strength alone, the corporation's fleet could easily steamroll any human faction in the Halo universe.
But those who run households know the true cost of war—if conflict can be avoided, it should be. If diplomacy can be pursued, even with some extra effort, it's worth it.
At this moment, the rebel fleet detected the anomaly and quickly shifted formations to prepare for confrontation.
Aboard a two-kilometer-long heavy cruiser, the command center's observer urgently reported:
"Captain Robert, AI scans confirm that bladed-looking ship is ten kilometers long! Also, our fire control systems are being jammed—we can't lock on!"
The captain, Robert Watts, was none other than The rebel's leader.
Just yesterday, he had planned to take this very ship to other colonies for networking and fundraising.
But before he could depart, he received word of the Segudos base being under attack.
As if that weren't enough, now a mysterious, powerful fleet had suddenly appeared—it was chaos on all fronts.
"Ten kilometers? The UNSC can't build ships like that!"
Watts had once been a high-ranking UNSC officer himself. He knew full well the limits of their shipyards.
The biggest, most advanced vessels the UNSC had were the Epoch- and Carthage-class carriers, but even those were toys compared to this monstrous "bladed" warship.
If not for the Paris-class frigates trailing behind it, Watts might have thought aliens had arrived.
'Could the UNSC be using us to test some kind of new supercarrier? Those sons of bitches...!'
With that thought, Colonel Robert Watts turned to his communications officer and barked:
"Alert all fleet captains. Prepare for full barrage! Let's show these bastards some pain!"
He wasn't going to retreat that easily. Watts knew the UNSC couldn't possibly produce such an absurd ship.
Maybe the whole thing was just for show. Maybe it would fall apart after a couple hits.
"Yes, sir!"
Just as the communications officer was about to relay Watts's order for coordinated fire, their command center experienced a sudden disruption.
The lights and holographic displays began to crackle and flicker, emitting harsh static. Communication signals were forcibly severed across the fleet.
Clearly, the enemy fleet had deployed some kind of electromagnetic interference!
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