Well hello you lucky people who happen to have stumbled upon this fic. This is the first story I have written however I am no stranger to good fiction and I hope this story lives up to some of what I've read. And here's my little sis Mistress of Azure with the disclaimer.( http/ Azure: He owns nothing, not Halo (game or otherwise), nor the Idea for a Covi raised human (THAT'S CAUSE HE SUCKS, THAT LOSER!) (DSK: -smacks-), anyway those two belong to Bungie (may their games never suck) and Gin-Ryu respectively. He does, however own the OCs, Drek'nari and Kara, and the actual story of this fic.
Ok for those of you who don't know here are some key terms.
Sangheili - The Covenant name for the Elites
Unggoy - Grunts
Kig-yar - Jackal
Fleet Master - Exactly what it sounds like, the commander of a fleet of ships. Equivalent to the Human Admiral (I believe)
Languages
Human-plain text
Covenant-Italic text
Second Chance
1-2-3-GO
MC: 1200 Hours, September 2, 2537
Nexus V
The harsh noon sun beat down on the POW as they were marched to the center of the square. Waiting there were two-dozen Grunts, their gas rigs gleaming in the light of the twin suns. The Grunts moved restlessly, impatient for the action to begin.
The humans avoided looking at them as best they could, every one of them knowing exactly what this was all about, the military videos had made that fact all to clear. Occasionally when the Covenant captured a settlement they took prisoners, never more than a dozen or so, but enough, then they would be executed in any number of grisly ways. This was one of the most common methods.
Grunt-feeding frenzy.
"Today is a good day to fight." The sudden voice startled many of the weeping soldiers. The Sergeant in charge of Delta Company had spoken up, trying to hearten his solders and put the fight back in them. His remark, however, only brought laughing from their escort of Elites.
The prisoners entered the square still weeping and begging for a swift painless death. All save a small girl of fourteen. She stood tall, staring at the Grunts as though she dared them to charge. The Elites laughed as they gave the order to attack.
Two-dozen Grunts charged half their number of humans; unarmed and unarmored, the humans didn't stand a chance and they knew it. Most simply fell to their knees or fainted straight away, a handful fought back, but none with any vigor. Except for grizzled sergeant and the little girl. While he lashed out with his fists at the oncoming aliens she faced down the three Grunts that came for her with grim determination.
As her ravenous attackers came close, she reached beneath the vest of her oversized uniform and pulled a small combat knife from where she had stashed it before being captured. She slashed out at the methane rig on one of the Grunts, the attack severing one of the tubes that carried the cooled methane from the tank on its back. The Grunt squealed and clutched its severed breather, liquid methane bubbling out of the wound.
Its companions halted their advance, now suitably wary of their intended target. As chaos raged around them, the three combatants circled, sizing each other up. Without warning the human attacked, threw her knife at one of the Grunts. She leapt on the fallen Grunt and grabbed its pistol. Rounding on the last one, she pressed the barrel to the creature's skull and pulled the trigger.
Letting the smoking corpse fall to the ground, she looked around. None of her fellow marines were still alive and most of the Grunts were still engrossed with their meals but one had finished and looked to her for seconds. She slammed down the trigger on the pistol and turned on the would-be attacker. As she lined up the shot an Elite on the perimeter took an interest in the events and fired its own pistol at the girl.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the shot and had barely enough time to bring her hand up to her face. The bolt of plasma slammed into the barrel of the gun turning it to slag. The child screamed as the molten metal and plasma seared her flesh, lashing out she threw the ruined weapon at the Elite. The weapon fell short by a foot and the Elite laughed looking at the projectile. He kept laughing until the overcharged gun exploded.
When the dust cleared the Elite no longer moved and the Grunt no longer looked hungry. Two of the Elites companions growled at her and charged she looked desperately for a weapon. Her eyes fell on her discarded blade, she leapt for it…and was pulled out of midair by her attacker. The other Elite came around to face her, its mandibles twisted into what could have been a smile, or a sneer.
"You have overstepped the bounds of entertainment," he said in a passable human dialect "now I will teach you fear." His companion laughed as he drew his plasma sword. "Perhaps I should skin you alive…" he cooed pressing the blade to her cheek. She grimaced as the blade seared her flesh anew. The Elite removed the blade from her cheek and reached for his plasma rifle. Taking the opportunity the last survivor of Delta Company reared back and spit in the eye of unsuspecting Elite. "Why you little," the stunned Elite roared, baring it's blade once more. "I'll teach you more than fear. When I'm done with you, you'll beg me to kill you, beg me to just give you to the Kig-yar." He reared back to strike her.
"Stand down soldier!" a loud, commanding voice barked from across the square. The voice belonged to an Elite in golden armor, who stood with authority.
"Fleet Master," stammered the Elite as he hastily stowed his blade. "I was just showing this vermin proper respect."
"I saw what you were doing," the golden Elite said, strolling up to the group leisurely. "And I don't approve. There is no point in fighting an unarmed opponent, especially one who should be dead already." The Elite continued plowing over any and all protests. "I told you last time I won't tolerate this sort of blood sport." The commander's gesture encompassed the entire courtyard. The human watched this spectacle with growing dread, unable to understand the Elites she could only watch and wonder what they were talking about.
"But Fleet Master, the Unggoy desire entertainment." The offending Elite said humbly. "This keeps them placated, it keeps them from causing trouble. Anyway, they're just humans." As soon as the words left his mouth, the Elite knew they were the wrong ones.
"Well this 'just human', has just put up more fight than any ten of the others." The commander replied quietly. "She is young, and strong. At least as strong as some Sangheili." The other Elite flinched at the thinly veiled rebuke. "We have found cause to bring lesser beings into the covenant, I say why not let this one have a chance to prove herself, to be purged of what weakness there is and made into something great. Wouldn't you agree?"
"O-Of course, Fleet Master."
"Good," the Fleet Master said as he pulled his Com uplink from his belt. Bringing up the rosters from all the ships in his command, he began looking through the lists of crew and soldiers. After passing over almost two thousand Sangheili, he happened upon one who might fit the requirements to care for this child. Drek'nari Zoultel was a good soldier, part of an elite black ops unit, and he had served under Orna' Fulsamee long before Fulsamee had become a Fleet Master. Better yet, he had no family and an unlikely record of being generous even to the lower caste.
Fleet Master Orna' sent a request for Zoultel's presence as soon as possible. He turned his attention back to the two Elites and the human whom he had just saved, and wondered if he hadn't just made a very big mistake. One Elite still held the girl off her feet, and she looked more afraid than ever. The other Elite looked like a cornered animal, ready to fight or flee at any moment. "Don't you have some work you should get to?" The pair jumped at the sound of his voice, hearing that they were free to go they left far more quickly than was proper, but Fulsamee had already put them out of his mind.
He looked once more at his young charge; he was ultimately responsible for her now. If she caused trouble or turned out to be less than he had thought, the blame, ridicule and dishonor would fall to him. She looked plain enough if one overlooked what she had just done. She was of average height for her age and of a slight build. Her light red-brown hair hung just below her ears and framed a face that may once have been innocent. His inspection came to her eyes; they were crystal blue and without fear. He could see a light deep inside; she was calculating her odds of escape, he realized. There was fear there as well, but it was well hidden, pushed aside and buried beneath cold determination. Fulsamee decided to intervene before this got out of hand. "I wouldn't suggest escape. I don't plan to hurt you, but I can't make assurances for all of my troops." This open declaration of her thoughts clearly startled her, but she recovered quickly enough.
"What do you plan to do with me then?"
"Turn you over to a friend."
"Whose friend? Mine or yours?"
"Both I hope." This he said in a whisper, hoping she would not see his doubt. This child was sharp. She did hear, however, and did see.
"You're nervous," she said carefully, and when he did not speak she went on. "And your not telling me everything." Fulsamee silently cursed the human tongue; it was so much harder to hide emotion when speaking it. Over the hill a plume of dust rose and the Fleet Master was spared explaining. Moments later a ghost rode into view, but Fulsamee hardly needed to see the distinctive black armor of the special ops to know its rider. Zoultel stepped off of the ghost and strolled over to Fulsamee with a deadly, fluid grace. His eyes noticed everything as they surveyed the area, widening only slightly at the sight of the human standing beside Fulsamee.
"You requested my presence, Fleet Master."
"Yes, and there is no need for formalities between us, Drek'nari."
"As you say, but it's not good for the Unggoy to see anyone talk casually to a Fleet Master."
"Never mind what's good or bad for the Unggoy to see. I need a favor, I need you to take care of this child until I can get a meeting with the prophets."
"I assume there's more to this than just watching her or we'd be talking in our tongue."
"Prepare her for a meeting with the prophets, teach her language, etiquette and any thing else you can think of."
Drek'nari sighed. "How long do I have?"
"You know the prophets. It will take at least a month to get one meeting with Truth much less a second." Drek'nari considered this carefully, before clicking his mandibles in annoyance.
"Why?""I think she should join us."
"Are you sure?"
Now it was Fulsamee's turn to consider. Long seconds past before he answered. "Yes."
"Very well," Drek'nari replied before turning to the girl who stood silently, waiting. "Come with me." She hesitated, turning to Fulsamee with a questioning look. Fulsamee returned her gaze and was surprised to find something like trust in her eyes. He nodded his assent trying to look reassuring, and silently hoping this human was everything he believed. Smiling, she finally followed Drek'nari to his ghost. He sighed again as the ghost sped off towards a cruiser in the distance. He spared his thoughts a moment longer before going and mounting his own ghost. He had work to do.
1-2-3-
Under the still boiling light of the twin suns, Drek'nari's ghost sped across the arid landscape. He could hardly believe what had just happened. Orna' had done crazy things before; of course, they were usually tactical maneuvers that were later praised as genius, but this, this came very close to heresy. He glanced down at his passenger, a human. The high prophets had decreed that the humans were to be eradicated, and no one ever questioned a prophet, much less one of the high prophets. Usually Drek'nari knew Orna's intent almost before Orna' knew it himself, but now he was in the dark. He did not like to be in the dark.
A few minutes later they arrived at the gravity lift of the Ascendant Justice. Dismounting, Drek'nari motioned for the girl to follow him. He stepped into the lift and keyed his comlink. Moments later a reply came from an Unggoy onboard running the lift. "Excellency, there is an unidentified being on the lift pad with you. What should I do?"
Drek'nari replied quickly deciding that the truth was best for now. "Activate the lift. The Human is with me by the orders of Fleet Master Fulsamee."
"O-Ok" the technician on the other end stammered, clearly confused.
"You can check with him yourself if you want, but I believe he is busy at the moment." The Unggoy needed no more prodding and seconds later the pair began to ascend into the ship.
As soon as he touched down inside the cruiser, Drek'nari started off towards his room hoping that the human would follow, he didn't need any more attention than he already had. With luck they reached his cabin without any more incidents. He keyed the entry code and stepped inside, glad to be away from the prying eyes of the rest of the ship.
His cabin was simple, if somewhat larger than a standard two-man cabin. It was three meters cube with a pair of bunk beds set into the far wall. Next to the door was a desk with an odd curving chair designed to fit the contours of a Sangheili. On the desk was a standard computer terminal, and on the wall next to the door were the light switch and a COM system. "You're nervous too, like the other one." Drek'nari jumped as the human spoke. He spun to face her.
"Yes, little one, I am nervous, and you should be too."
"Because I'm not suppose to be here, am I?" Drek'nari was surprised by how astute this human was. She had already puzzled out a lot. "But the other one, he's important isn't he? He's in charge around here. Right?"
"Yes, but even he has someone above him." Drek'nari had no idea why he was telling the girl all of this. Then again, Orna' had said to teach her, and that included teaching the dangers of the situation. He needed time to think, he hated not having the answers he needed. "You should rest, little one. If the fighting was half as hard for you as it was for us, you're exhausted. We will talk again in the morning."
"My name is Kara, not little one." She said fixing him with a stare fit to kill.
"Very well Kara, the bottom bed is free." He said pointing at the two beds set into the far wall of the room. The bottom bunk had belonged to a pilot friend of his who had died during the fighting in orbit. He turned and left the room, leaving Kara alone. He needed to think.
Kara waited a moment to be sure he was gone then she removed her boots and lay down on the strange bed. It reminded her of the formfitting gel beds in cryo tubes. She had only travel in slip space once before. When her father had been transferred to Nexus V, her mother had packed up the family and followed.
As she lay there alone she began to sort through the events of the past few days. Days? Or were they weeks? How long had it been since she had seen her family? All she could remember was fighting, endless waves of Grunts and Jackals. Always another target, until last night. The line had broken and they had been overrun, they tried to retreat but it was too late.
Kara lay there a moment longer before realizing that tears had begun their silent flow down her cheeks. She tried to fight them back, she would not let those monsters see her cry, but it was to late. Unbidden, the flow came slowly at first then faster, silent sobs racked through her as she remembered each of the ones she had lost. "Mom, Dad, Kelly…Raul…" she drifted into silence and finally cried her self to sleep.
1-2-3-
Well there you have it, the first chapter is up. There will be more to come, that I promise to you…all two of you out there that actually read this and liked it. Plz no flames I just want reviews, good, honest reviews…
Miss Azure: … And the first person to flame him I swear, so help me… -brandishes giant flyswatter- I'm (semi) friendly with some of the big names on this site! I'm warning you!
