I GIVE ABSOLUTE CREDIT TO ERIC NYLUND WHO WROTE THE NOVEL, GHOSTS OF ONYX, AND THE HALO FRANCHISE THAT INFLUENCED THIS FANFICTION TREMENDOUSLY.
A Note
I disliked the fact that there was this epic 11"6 sangheili/elite in the Halo universe and they simply took him out of the picture with a dumb accident. Instead of him dying, I'd like to imagine alternative occurrences. I wondered what would had become of him if he escaped in a ship when he had the chance to do so, if he took his chances and entered slipspace with the NOVA bomb exploding, if he lost all faith in the Great Journey instead of clinging to dying Covenant beliefs. I like the fact that his life and everything under his persona is unknown since he was practically an abandoned character. I could morph or shape him in a fanfic and he'd still fit the him who got atomized in a comical accident. Damn that was really a slap in the face when I came across him. His potential was too great so he was practically killed off.
I didn't feel like creating entirely new storyline deviating from canon Halo, since I heard that the new "Halo 6" would deem Halo 4 and 5 non-canon, but I wondered, "Hey! Let's just toss him into the Mass Effect universe and see what happens to him." I love Mass Effect and read and remembered a lot of lore, but it's been a while since I played them so forgive or criticise any inaccuracies before I build on them. In the end I'd like to change him up to my kind of alien hero.
Let's begin.
Chapter 1
"I, like all of you, believed in our leaders and their holy Covenant."
"How could we have been so willing to believe a Covenant of lies!"
"The Great Schism is upon us. The unbreakable Covenant Writ of Union has been split asunder. This is the end of the Ninth, and final, Age."
"I call upon you all to join me. Let the old ways fade and battle by my side. Together we can forge a new, better union—a new Covenant among the stars."
Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, the sangheili Imperial Admiral and commander of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose, recalled moments of his inspiring speech to the colony, the Joyous Exultations, and the subsequent incident that followed his boarding of the ship.
He was in the main deck when, "Admiral!" a sangheili minor shouted and burst forth from the sliding doors. The surrounding shipmasters eyed him and his blue harness with obvious disdain, but allowed him to speak.
"Who are you, young one, to barge in?" Xytan asked. He stepped down from a pedastal and stood in front of the minor, towering above him.
Though in awe, he shortly screamed, "There is no time!" All the sangheili in the room were startled by his volumed and turned their attention to him. "A foolish unggoy has come across a human nuclear device and it'll wipe out our entire fleet!"
Many gasped and clamored.
"And how do you know this?" asked the newly appointed Fleet Master, Voro 'Mantakree. "I thought we had agreed to mutual peace with these humans."
"I know their language! This bomb was snuck aboard before the Great Schism and the unggoy was toying with the damned thing as I passed by. I heard a voice from the device and itit w a warning! Any time now it will activate. Escape from the ship your eminence. I've prepared a-"
"Kanel! Activate the A.I.!" Xytan commanded a nearby sangheili and rushed up to the consoles.
Many of the ex-covenant were in disorder and confusion by the sudden warning, some of it contributed by Xytan's command. Artificial intelligence was decommissioned by their higher-ups out of fear of the Flood's corruption, but despite this, a few ship masters were already aware of the illegal entity and trusted Xytan. After his exile to the outer fringes of Covenant space he developed heretical traits, always questioning the 'Great Journey' with only his closest men and voicing his suspicions of their prophets' gods. An A.I. was but a fraction of his rebellious streak, and his men were utterly devoted to him.
None knew, though, that his hatred for mankind was but a facade to inspire his people. He was aware of the prophets' false promises, and he took advantage of them to control his zealots. He had little love for their absolute fanaticism, but their strength and skill were unmatched among his men.
"A.I. 374, 'Beta' has been activated," a new voice presented itself, heard clearly from the ship's very depths. "What do you need, Imperial Admiral?"
"A theoretical question Beta!" Xytan said, running to a panel and frantically clicking away at the holographic keys. "If an atomic bomb were to explode within the ship during slipspace, what would transpire? Quickly!"
"According to my extensive knowledge and the faces of many around you, something of that like has never occured. but theoretically, sir, you would be taking the explosion with you and into slipspace."
"We must do so quickly! There's no time to disarm the bomb."
"But Admiral, we will die!" a nearby shipmaster argued.
There was little time to talk and most arguments were made for personal survival. It was self-preservation that instinctively pervaded their minds, a feeling that was shared among all races. Xytan was above it and knew of the horrid results that would yield from possible explosion. His fleet would be devastated and the planet they hovered above could be razed. The fall of Prophets might never come to full fruition if this was to happen.
Xytan activated the ship's communications and screamed a very concise statement, "If any of you wish to escape I suggest you do so with haste! We have a bomb."
The ship rumbled with the rapid stampede of tens of thousands of aliens.
"Preparing for slipspace travel," the A.I. followed, its voice echoing throughout the entire ship.
"Before activation, close off every door!" Xytan shouted as he typed.
Many were outraged and all crowding through the doors and hallways to escape the vessel through all means possible. Only his loyal shipmasters stood with him, but the sudden situation had struck them with the force of a ramming cannon. None were prepared for this momentous threat. Xytan finally wrapped up what he was doing with the console rested his palms on the glass. He stayed standing there, sighing, and then, despite all the surrounding rampancy, calmly turned around to face his subordinates. Even in the face of calamity the great admiral remained unperturbed.
"I know you all fear the imminent disaster, but this is the best solution."
Most shipmasters were soothed by his untroubled voice and logic. He was correct and they knew it. They felt it. This was the best solution.
"And if we live through this!" he bellowed with an odd smile on his 4 mandibles. "We will become legends! And even if not! We will remain legends!" He raised his fist. "Our sacrifice will be remembered through the ages!"
His subordinates roared in approval and raised their fists. His heroic and tall figure inspired in them enough confidence to match pure religious zealotry. Their Admiral was a hero, a legend, and nothing less than a god in their eyes. His glistening silver armor, ornate with glowing golden forerunner glyphs and symbols, reflected through their eyes and glowed with heavenly light, brighter than anything they've ever seen.
"Closing doors," the A.I. informed, "And activating slipspace."
As a Sublime Transcendence slipped through the portal, there was still much commotion in a small, deserted part of the ship. Kwassass, the unggoy responsible with messing with the human bomb, was watching in shock as a group of Huragoks gathered around it. A few sparks from its panel drew his absolute attention and suddenly a voice came from the black box.
"This is the prototype Nova bomb, nine fusion warheads encased in lithium triteride armor. When detonated it compresses its fusionable material to neutron-star density, boosting the thermonuclear yield a hundredfold. I am Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, temporarily in command of the UNSC military base Reach. To the Covenant uglies that might be listening, you have a few seconds to pray to your dammed heathen gods. You all have a nice day in hell."
Kwassass, in sudden realization of his tiny and meager understanding of the human word 'bomb', rushed towards it, waddling, and pushed past the Huragoks. He had to disable it.
But then it exploded as the ship entered slipspace... The outer edge of it was released from the wormhole.
"So what happened?" Xytan wondered
The Imperial Admiral sighed and slowly slipped back into his white pod.
"Wake me when needed, Beta," he said to the A.I.
"Command acknowledged, Admiral."