Zertus bared his teeth at the implied insult from the human. He would bite his tongue around the 'commanding officer' but with these weak insects? No, that was asking too much. Before he could reply, Kax moved closer to him, looking nervous. Zertus leaned down towards the Kig-Yar as he leaned up to whisper in the Jiralhanae's ear. As disdainful of the other ex-covenant may be, Kax was still the enemy of his enemies. The brute pondered what the Kig-Yar told him, then shook his head. He didn't bother keeping his rumble of a voice low, it wasn't made for quiet whispers in the dark, but roaring victories in the battlefield. "I don't think so. If the pirates had something as such, they would have made it well known to prevent attempts such as ours. They need the appearance of strength, otherwise their rivals or enemies will pounce on them and tear them apart." He gave a small grin. "Like we're about to do." He looked over at the two others of their 'task force'. "And they might be willing to sacrifice the marine, but not the Spartan. Not for an ex covenant matriarch.  Still, we should be on guard. Something about this is strange." 

He moved forward, behind the human that had been complaining about the presence of aliens. He wasn't going to hurt the man, yet. Just remind him of his place.  "As for your complaint, human, it's simple. I could kill all of you without much effort in these close quarters. The Kig-Yar can outshoot any of you, even if he's forced to use your primitive rifles. We're better than you. Better warriors. Better survivors. If they sent your kind in there, you would all be butchered by the Kig-Yar and the matriarch would either be killed or left to rot for even longer. So they're sending us in to do what you cannot." He stared down at the man, waiting for the response. He wished the human would react violently. Show some spine before it was ripped out of his body.