Hello readers! This is my first Fan fiction. This story will follow a Unggoy Deacon. If you haven't read the Halo books, Unggoy is the Covenant name for Grunts, and Deacon is the only religious position open to Unggoy. This story takes two years prior to Halo 1.

Human-Covenant Names:

Grunts-Unggoy

Elites- Sangheili

Hunters-Mgalekgolo

Drones-Yanme'e

Jackals-Kig-Yar

Brutes-Jiralhanae

Engineer-Huragok

Prophets- San 'Shyuum

HUMAN TIME CLOCK AND LOCATION: JULY 18, 2550, XSPILON ESPANDIL SYSTEM.

COVENANT TIME CLOCK AND LOCATION: 91ST MONTH CYCLE, 21ST DAY CYCLE. 9th AGE OF RECLAIMATION. ABOARD SUPERCARRIER SUBLIME TRANSCENDENCE.

Yayab fast-walked down the hallway, forcing several other Unggoy aside. The methane tanks all Unggoy are issued clanged against the metal hallway walls as they side-stepped for the Deacon to get through. He squealed a quick "Sorry!", and continued his run, his white tunic shining in the artificial light. In his hands, he held a standard issue staff, given to all Deacons. The staff was a mini Luminary, a device used on Covenant Ships to find relics, pieces of technology and art left by the Forerunners after they initiated the "Great Journey". They did this by activating all 7 Halo Rings, structures that, when fired, destroyed all life within 3 galactic radii. The seven Halo rings combined covered most of the Milky Way Galaxy. Anyone destroyed by the Halo Rings also takes the Great Journey. These beliefs were the crux of the Covenant Empire, a organization of aliens bent on finding the 7 Halo Rings, and taking= the Great Journey. Yayab, and all of his Covenant brothers and sisters, believed this absolutely.

Yayab entered the bridge. Many Sangheili were at control panels, monitoring the ship's weapons, crew, and armor status. They were dressed in red armor, indicating they were of the Major Domo rank. On a elevated platform in the middle of the room, surrounded by complex controls Yayab didn't understand in the slightest, was a gold armored Sangheili. This was the Ship Master.

"Excellency! I have some information you must know!" Yayab said excitedly. The Ship Master growled. "What is it, Deacon?" Even though Yayab held the highest rank available to Unggoy, he still didn't have command over any other species, even a Kig-Yar Minor, the lowest rank available to the Kig-Yar. So the Sangheili was understandably annoyed when one of the diminutive aliens rushed into the bridge. "Sir, my Luminary suggests that there are relics on a nearby planet." Every Covenant ship had a Luminary, but Sublime Transcendence's Luminary was powered down for updates to its software. The Sangheili's four mandibles formed what Yayab could only guess to be a smile. "Thank you, Deacon. Halamee, set a new course for…" He sighted the coordinates displayed on the Unggoy's staff. "… point 25895, 45237, and 11769. Were going to be heroes." The Sangheilian navigation officer typed in commands into his control panel, and pressed enter.

The Covenant Supercarrier Sublime Transcendence opened up a portal in space. These portals were known as "Slipspace" are dimensions where travel goes much faster. What could take months to traverse in normal space, took weeks in Slipspace. Humans also had this technology, but the Covenant's Slipspace drive was much more advanced, allowing faster travel. The massive ship entered the gaping hole, and after fitting all the way through, the portal collapsed. The Ship Master, whose name was Thel Vadamee, smiled. "Glory is near." He thought.

COVENANT TIME CLOCK AND LOCATION: 91ST MONTH CYCLE, 21ST DAY CYCLE. 9th AGE OF RECLAIMATION. ABOARD SUPERCARRIER SUBLIME TRANSCENDENCE IN SLIPSPACE, ENROUTE TO PLANET.

Yayab sat in the methane suite, relaxed. The room was empty, except for himself. The methane suite was for Unggoy to refill they're methane tanks and eat. Remembering that he was quite hungry, Yayab pulled down a food nipple, which consisted of a food pouch which hung from the roof, and a tube leading to the floor. Yayab sucked of the food nipple. The sludge the nipple held was horrible, but it was the only thing the Covenant provided in terms of food to Unggoy. Unggoy were more or less cannon fodder and slaves to the Covenant war machine. They were sent out in front of other Covenant forces to distract the enemy, set off traps, and scout. Many of his kind were used for hard labor.

The Ship Master's voice crackled over the PA, this voice booming in the small room. "All assault forces report to the hold and prepare for a drop to the planet. That includes the Deacon. The Human infestation has reached this planet, too. All shall be glorified on this day!" Yayab sighed and, with his stomach still growling, got up, retrieved his staff, and set out for the hold. Walking out, he saw a file of Unggoy and Kig-Yar walking down the hall towards the hold. The bird-like reptiles stood tall and proud as they marched down the hall. The Deacon slipped into the file, staying at the back of the formation. The other Unggoy chattered about how bad the food nipples were. Yayab chose to stay silent. Sublime Transcendence's Unggoy were fairly uneducated about… well. Everything. And he preferred to talk about religion, something the other of his kind weren't very interested in. He intended to change that though.

The file plus the Deacon entered the hold. 20 Spirit dropships were parked, floating off the bottom floor, just high enough so that the crowd gathering on the second floor could enter. He entered the Ministry's own, special drop ship. It was painted white instead of the regular purple. He entered it. The dropship held a few other Ministry Sangheili and Kig-Yar. The Deacon entered the dropship's "slot", which was used for holding infantry. It was quite uncomfortable, and his methane tank only made it worse. He still managed to fit in, though, and soon after, the dropship's doors closed, and Yayab felt acceleration

COVENANT TIME CLOCK AND LOCATION: 91ST MONTH CYCLE, 21ST DAY CYCLE 9TH AGE OF RECLAIMATION. ABOARD SPIRIT DROPSHIP ENROUTE TO UNKNOWN PLANET.

A explosion rocked the dropship, and Yayab fell to the floor. Ever since the ships had left Sublime Transcendence, the human's had started firing AA, and 5 of the 20 Spirit's had been destroyed by the explosive shells. Yayab's ship had taken a fair amount of damage, and Yayab could hear the engines fighting to stay active. Spirit Dropships were outfitted with powerful Shade plasma cannons, which would have taken care of the AA instalations if they weren't miles above them., way out of range of the cannons. A Sangheili next to him opened a COM channel to the Ship Master.

"Sir, where are the Banshees? We cannot take much more." As if on cue, 15 Banshees flew past the U-shaped craft. The Banshee lived up to its name; the assault craft's engines roared over the Spirit's engines, and the explosive AA fire. The attack ship's split into groups and descended to the planet's AA installations. The Banshees fired they're Fuel Rod Guns, the green energy flying through space, and struck the AA guns. The Covenant troops cheered. A few guns still remained, however, and they continued firing. 3 direct hits impacted on the dropship Yayab occupied. The Spirit broke into fragments. Time slowed. Death happens to other Unggoy, not me!

Luckly, there was another dropship directly below him. He landed hard on the purple metal, but otherwise, he was fine. There was noting Yayab could do but hold on to the dropship as it descended. The Banshees finished the rest of the AA guns, and the rest of the way down was rather boring.

"What do you mean 'The Deacon is the only remaining Ministry official.' ?" Thel demanded. He was surprised to learn that all Ministry Sangheili and Kig-Yar were killed, and even more thrown back by the fact that a Unggoy, especially one with no combat experience, outlived a Sangheili. "Very well. The Deacon has command of the search for relics." "Yes, sir. I will inform him." With that, the Special Operations soldier closed the COM, and strode to the Deacon.