Skirmish on Pious Inquisitor

The Skirmish on Pious Inquisitor was an isolated engagement aboard the former Covenant vessel Pious Inquisitor in the Shaps system near Shaps III in April 2553.

Background
In March 2553, Kig-Yar pirate Sav Fel stole a, the Pious Inquisitor, from the Servants of the Abiding Truth. With the battlecruiser, he fled to the lawless world of Venezia, where he intended to sell it for the highest bidder. On Venezia, Insurrectionist Staffan Sentzke agreed to purchase the Inquisitor, intending to use it to threaten Earth in order to finally learn the truth about his daughter's disappearance. Sentzke kept the vessel in the Shaps system, until he would be able to gather a crew. Meanwhile, a highly covert ONI intelligence unit, Kilo-Five, learned that Fel had stolen the Inquisitor. Kilo-Five set out to reclaim the vessel and return it to Thel 'Vadam.

However, Avu Med 'Telcam, leader of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, wished to steal back the Inquisitor. He hired Kig-Yar Shipmistress Chol Von to find Fel and the battlecruiser. But Von wished to use the vessel as the flagship of her united Kig-Yar navy. Eventually, Von captured Fel at his homestead on Venezia and interrogated him aboard her ship, Paragon. Fel cooperated with Von and her crew, telling her the location of the ship in the Shaps system.

The skirmish
The Paragon arrived in the Shaps system and the Kig-Yar quickly located the Pious Inquisitor. Chol Von led sixteen Kig-Yar aboard the ship, but the Inquisitor's eccentric Huragok, Sometimes Sinks, was highly apprehensive of the Kig-Yar and hindered with their attempts to use the battlecruiser's systems, even transitioning the ship to a location designated by its current owner, Staffan Sentzke. The slipspace jump uncoupled Pious Inquisitor from Von's ship, killing Lig and Ved in the process. Sinks put the vessel into lockdown, preventing the remaining Kig-Yar onboard from leaving. Von was locked in a compartment with Noit and Bakz. The three were eventually able to break their way out of the compartment with laser-cutters and made their way to the bridge. With Von's crew locked down in different compartments of the ship, Sometimes Sinks offered the Kig-Yar the chance to leave, opening passages to one of the shuttle bays. She refused the offer, determined to take over the ship.

Meanwhile, Kilo-Five and the captured Staffan Sentzke arrived at the Inquisitor's location to retrieve the ship. However, the team quickly realized that the Inquisitor had been boarded by the Kig-Yar. Sentzke convinces Sometimes Sinks to allow them to come onboard and restore order. Kilo-Five intended to insert their AI, Black-Box, into the ship's systems so he could take control of the Inquisitor and force the Kig-Yar to leave. ODSTs Vasily Beloi and Malcolm Geffen, Naomi-010, Sentzke, and Black-Box boarded the ship, while the rest of Kilo-Five provided support from the. Once BB was placed into the ship's systems, he helped Kilo-Five make their way to the bridge, while taunting the Kig-Yar. To avoid future conflicts, Rear Admiral Serin Osman had BB give the Kig-Yar a chance to escape, but Von still refused, despite Bakz's recommendations. Once aboard, Sentzke revealed that he intended to escape in order to avoid his otherwise likely fate of life imprisonment by ONI. He asked Beloi to take care of Naomi, and promised to end his campaigning against Earth in return.

Mal and Naomi made their way to the Inquisitor's bridge, killing five Kig-Yar on the way. With the two pressing on the bridge, Von ordered Ril to detonate the ship's plasma torpedo reserves, choosing to destroy Pious Inquisitor over leaving it to the humans. As Chol and her team attempted to leave the bridge, Naomi entered the bridge and killed Noit. Von and Bakz were able to flee from the Spartan. She and her remaining crew then made their way for a shuttle bay in order to escape. Sinks estimated that Kilo-Five had a limited amount of time to make it out of the ship to a safe distance. While Kilo-Five escaped to their dropships, Sentzke and Sinks took a Spirit from the shuttle bay but stayed in range to ensure Naomi was safe. Kilo-Five watched the ship explode from a safe distance, while Staffan and Sinks escaped in the Spirit with the slipspace drive that Sinks had installed earlier, unbeknownst to the others.

Aftermath
Following the engagement, Kilo-Five was granted shore leave on Cascade. Back on Port Stanley, Kilo-Five received an anonymous package in the mail. The package's contents were revealed to be a miniature chair for a doll's house Staffan was building for Naomi, and a planetarium lamp he had planned to give her on her sixth birthday. From this, Kilo-Five surmised that Sentzke is still alive, but they chose to quietly bury the matter.

Margaret Parangosky, Commander-in-Chief of ONI, believed that the loss of the Pious Inquisitor was unfortunate, although she was satisfied with the information Black-Box had taken off the vessel. The information included data on the Jiralhanae, Sangheili, and San 'Shyuum that were previously in possession of the Inquisitor.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Mortal Dictata