Yay! Warrior's Call is about a year old now! For those who are returning to this story, I re-edited the first chapter and fixed a lot of stuff. I'm going through the other chapters and doing the same leading up to the release of chapter 10. For those who are new thanks for trying this story out and hope you enjoy. Now to the story.
"Get up! Quit sleeping. All hybrids are to report in for today's mission."
They called us hybrids. Us? We were a group that consisted of ten female Sangheili. Each of us was highly trained for one purpose. I was one of them. I was a 7ft 11in tall Sangheili known as Caxa 'Lonamai. Only a few days ago did they inform us of our hybrid status. They referred to the shipmaster Mrozo 'Garalumee and his close crew.
"Being a hybrid is an honor," they told us, "You will, supposedly, have the ability to resist the parasite and advance the Sangheili race so the Flood will be finally defeated." We had been altered in our DNA so that a singular gene of our DNA sequencing was removed and grafted with a gene from the parasite, a part that didn't affect our appearance or behavior. "You will be set on a program to strengthen your mind, body, and soul so when the time for the destruction of the Flood comes, you can crush every last spore." They told us. The Flood was a parasitic entity that fed off of sentient beings, absorbing their memories and knowledge, making the Flood the most dangerous threat in the galaxy.
One of us, the one called Tami, asked why they had chosen females instead of males for this experiment. In our culture males were the warriors and females were supposed to stay at home and take care of the clans. To this question, they replied with, "Females are more accepting of this genetic change, unlike males. Also, we need all available males to fight in the Covenant, against humans." Some of us had our conspiracies button most trusted the shipmaster's reason.
Caxa, get up." I heard the voice and then the hard knocking on the door. I groaned and stretched in my small bed, yawning, before setting my feet down on the hard, cold, metallic floor. I sighed and stood up fumbling my way to the nearest wall in my dimly lit room.
My room was moderately sized square shaped room, two Sangheili could lie down in a line from head to foot and that would be about the width of my room. There was very little in my room. My bed was sitting across from the door that leads into the hall. At the foot of my bed was a small nightstand which held healing supplies to treat wounds after training battles.
I tapped on a small keypad on the wall closest to my bed, opening a door to my closet. The only thing in there was a nicely polished charcoal gray colored suit of light armor. Since we were not a true part of the covenant ranks we could have any color armor we wanted. The only restriction was that we could only have the traditional minor armor. Well, close combat training today. I thought, then sighed, What a way to start off the day. I quickly suited myself with the armor and opened my door to the main hall.
To my left, there were seven doors and to my right two more. Soon their occupants would be waiting patiently in front of their doors in their light armor.
The door farthest on the left belonged to Tami 'Zudomee, a lean and smart elitess who usually did more thinking or talking than action. She was highly valued at the bridge for her intelligence and natural ability to strategize. During light battles between ships, they would ask Tami for her opinion on their next move. Tami had tan armor, she said that it would make her harder to spot on the sandy battlefield. It was true, she would be harder to spot if her undersuit wasn't gray, like everyone else's, and made the sand color pointless.
To Tami's right was Koyo 'Rosum. She could care less about a battle and focus on if her armor was or wasn't polished right. Though every training session she always stayed put, trying to keep the sand out from the crevices of her armor. Her armor was not meant for camouflage, but it was bright blue, so bright that it was an eye strain to even look at her.
Next was Roma 'Hatam, a quite talented elitess in close quarters combat. She usually wore a dark red colored armor. I once asked her why she chose the color red. "It was my mother's favorite color and it is mine too. Wearing red to me seems like I'm bringing her with me as if she is always there for me."
Tuse 'Shamee was the door after Roma's. Tuse was the most powerful elitess in our group. Her strength shown through her muscularity that almost made her appear male. Before now she had often been called upon by Rtas to lead platoons into battle. To impose her absolute strength over us as she tried to make her armor look like a zealot's armor, including the maroon color.
Seme 'Vasumai was next. She was the best with a blade. The only one who could match her in swordsmanship might have been me. Seme chose a silver color for her armor, the color worn by most sword masters and ultras.
Tupa 'Srangam was our fastest and could almost match a skirmisher in running speed. She chose a golden color armor to match the color of a skirmisher champion's armor. Most of us laughed at her for wanting to be lowered to a skirmisher's level. Tupa would always argue back saying that their armor was interesting looking with the frill like crest about the head.
The next door belonged to Cala 'Roralum, who was hesitant to harm anyone or anything unless it was in the process of killing her. She was usually trying to avoid everyone during battle. Her armor was a warm color of green, like a yellow-green mixed with a little brown.
Then there was me, Caxa 'Lonamai. I was skinnier than most mainly because I had come from a poor family. Unlike the others, whose families reluctantly gave up their daughters and frequently wrote to them, my family only gave me up for 25 shorums (a Sangheili form of currency) and not for family honor. My family never wrote to me. For all, I cared they could stay that way. I had nothing to tie me back from what I needed to do.
The sharpshooter of the group, Laio 'Vraman, was the next door over. On a long-range course, you stood no chance against her and her needle rifle. She adorned a blue-violet armor to match her rifle.
The last one was Bushe 'Zusum. She claimed to be OK with all her training aspects but I beg to differ. I could tell she was hiding something, but what, I did not know. Along with claiming to not being anything special, she wore regular blue minor armor.
Each of us had a different Flood DNA code in us, eventually, they would drop us in the middle of a high-density Flood-infested area, called the Burn. Our goal was to find out who was resistant to the parasite and who would make it out alive. Practically a suicide mission but they still trained us.
The doors of the other's rooms slid open and closed as they entered the hall then they stood, waiting in front of their doors. Tuse gave me a smirk when I had walked into the hall. I could tell she couldn't wait to make me the first to sit out as a "casualty" in our upcoming training battle.
In the first few years of my life here, they tried to teach us to fight as a team but Tuse always got everyone to gang up on me. They usually did this because Tuse would beat them to a pulp if they didn't. None of the others really liked me, for reasons I did not know, and would usually give looks as if I was dirt or something unpleasant in their way.
"You're going to wish you had never been born," Tuse whispered to me, or the best she could being four doors over. I shifted my mandibles and ignored her.
Soon after our male instructor N'thyvu 'Lofum turned the corner and came down our hall. His silver-white armor (an indication of his ultra rank) contrasted well with the blue-violet and maroon of the ship's interior.
We had been living inside an SDV-Class Corvette for the majority of our lives. At the age of three, we were taken from, or given up, by our families and were to begin our training on High Charity, after our genetic alterations. We trained there for five years until we were transferred onto the Corvette. It's been 12 years since then. If anyone outside of the trusted few who trained us and our families, found out of this controversy to our sacred ways, there would be an uproar. Therefore only authorized personnel were allowed on our vessel. Sometimes this included the prophets themselves.
"We orbit our species home planet of Sanhelious. You will have your final battle here before we transfer you to our surface base. From then on we will not be your trainers but you will be trained by Vevo 'Vrnamee who has firsthand knowledge of the parasite." N'thyvu informed us while pacing back and forth along the line of standing hybrids, "You will finish your last month of training there. Many of you will get chances throughout your week to reunite with your families while the rest of you get further training."
That last comment was specifically directed at me since I would be the only one staying. I could tell that Vevo was going to be harsh in these further training sessions by the way N'thyvu was glaring at me. I wouldn't let this Vevo faze me though. It will be just the same as with the previous instructors.
"While the transports are being prepared your last training session will be in the arena." He continued.
"What battle type?" Tuse inquired practically brimming with excitement.
"Free for all. No weapons, just skill."
Tuse turned her head to me. I locked eyes with her not showing the dread that was growing inside me. Her mandibles shifted to a wicked smile and I knew she was going to make this extra painful for the special occasion.