Zertus met the sight of a demon mixture of relief and distaste. There was thankfully one other competent warrior on the team now, someone he could at the very least trust to be a capable killer, but it was hard to not face an enemy for decades upon the battlefield and not hate them. Especially if one of their own was the reason the Prophets had died and the Jiralhanae were being hunted down by the Sangheili. Still, he could put aside his feelings. It would get him nowhere to be at odds with the only other useful member on the team. 

Zertus instinctively curled his lip at Griffin Kelly's words. [i]Commanders don't lead from the ship. Or hide their faces.[/i] He could practically feel the man making eye-contact from behind his helmet and while he had been informed that most humans do not think it means a challenge, he was sure that this man knew what it really meant. Still, he bit back his initial urge to strike out and answer the challenge. This was a test. They were seeing if he could play by their weak and backwards rules. Well, he could. It was just another indignity to suffer through, another foolishness he could wait out as long as they held up their end of the bargain. And they [i]would[/i] hold up their end of the bargain, or he'd make everyone on this ship pay with their lives.

He glanced over at the mostly glassed planet and smiled to himself. Through all of the indignities, he had the battle ahead to look forward too. If he was lucky, he could slaughter a large group of pirates before they left the planet. 

He examined the outpost map as the demon asked her questions, a plan formulating in his mind. Obviously, negotiating with the Kig-Yar was out of the question. Not only was it cowardly, as they could easily gut their way through the compound to get to the Matriarch, the filthy pirates would no doubt jack up the price of the ransom when they saw exactly who was coming for Nuc. A Brute, a Demon, a human, and a damaged Kig-Yar asking for the Matriarch? Even their greedy little minds would be suspicious. 

Zertus waited for Kelly to reply, humming lightly to himself. His plan depended on the structure of the Kig-Yar's forces.