Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Halo universe, which is the property of Bungie Studios. Note: To people who don't like the story, PLEASE DO NOT READ THE FAN FIC, JUST LEAVE. NOTE: As if its not that obvious I'm still gonna say it, This story is not following the
However, original characters belong to me.
the original canon of the Halo series.
Author's Notes: Rtas was by far the most challenging for me to write a dialogue since he speaks in a 'formal tongue'. I hope I did a little bit of justice for the guy.
Chapter 11 Duel
Everyone looked up when the door slid opened. Three Sangheili walked through the door. One was wearing white armor, the other a black Spec Ops armor and the other wearing the Arbiter armor.
Thel and Azu sat next to N'kev whilst Rtas walked up to the front.
"We meet again." whispered Azu to N'kev. He smiled in response. N'kev couldn't help but stare at Rtas's face. He felt like he had seen it before but just couldn't remember it.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Rtas 'Vadum; Special Operations Commander and the head of Homeland Security. All of you here are the best of the best. Soldiers, take a good look at your brothers and sisters, as they will be your comrades and allies in battle. Let me make it clear, that people look up to us and expect us to keep them safe from harm.
"I want all of you, to live up to your oaths. The oaths that we all said when graduated from our respective academies. You are no longer just a soldier, but a Spec Ops Soldier. I expect you all to do your best in protecting our wonderful race from the people that bring harm to it. And you can expect from me as well, that I will be a good leader to all of you." he cleared his throat.
"Now, orientation is basically synonymous to squad assignment. All of us here are exactly 12 people. Meaning there will be 2 squads composed of 6 members. The 2nd squad will consist of 5 members and 1 leader. The 1st squad will consist of me, the Arbiter." as he said this Thel stood up and stood next to him, "My close friend Azu 'Zestom." Azu stood up as well and stood next to Thel and crossed his arms, "And 3 other Spec Ops soldier who are in this room right now." said Rtas.
Almost all of the Sangheili in the room started whispering to one another excitedly. It was quite clear to fight alongside the Arbiter, The Spec Ops Commander and his close friend would be an honor for them.
"What's the catch?" asked a Sangheili. Rtas looked at him.
"Good question. The catch is… you have to beat us or at least come close to beating us in a duel using energy swords. Of course will be using 'training' energy swords, but as long as you manage to 'kill' us then your in." said Rtas with a hint of challenge.
All of the Sangheilis in the room felt their morale just got thrown out the window. It was quite clear that this was a near impossible feat. The 3 Sangheilis in front of them were the best amongst the rest. They were practically living legends. Even worse it was on a challenge that utilized energy swords. The 3 were practically beast with it.
Olut nudged N'kev in the ribs, "Do you think we can beat them?" he whispered.
"I don't know. They seem…Tough." answered N'kev.
"What do you think Xue?" asked N'kev. Xue thought for a moment then replied,
"We'll we never know until we try." N'kev and Olut nodded. Yeah she was right; you'll never know until you try.
"Who will we be fighting against?" asked another Sangheili.
"Me, of course." said Rtas. Thel and Azu just smirked at one another.
"Your enjoying this, don't you?" asked Thel quietly to Rtas.
"Every second of it." replied Rtas.
"You know, there is a possibility you may get beaten." said Azu.
"Let's hope for the opportunity then." said Rtas then he turned to the students,
"So who wants to go first?" he asked.
The 'auditioning' was quite intense. All of them gave it their best since this was one of those 'once in a lifetime' achievements. But Rtas was practically a badass in the energy sword. In only 2 minutes he 'killed' his enemy with ease and grace. There were actually 4 people who actually managed to last longer. It was N'kev, Olut, Xue and another Sangheili.
Olut's fight was quite straight forward. He charged up to Rtas and gave him a death lunge. Rtas quickly dodged to his right, the blade inches from his body, and returned the attack. Qlut managed to get out of the way just in time as the blade landed onto the floor. He returned with a swift upward lunge that was deflected by Rtas's blade and was quickly countered by spinning the intertwined blade. This move made Olut loose his footing since Rtas was stronger. He toppled to the floor and was 'stabbed' by Rtas. "Very good. You nearly had me with the death lunge." was the only thing Rtas said as he helped him up.
Next was Xue's fight. Hers was quite more about strategy. She swung her blade fluidly, making accurate slashes in the air. Rtas quickly adapted and started returning the slashes. Soon there was sparks flying as the blades collided in flight. But Xue was to a great disadvantage. Rtas was a male and was generally stronger. With each collision, he added more strength. Xue's arms were beginning to numb by the constant pressure. Not long after, with a strike, her blade was sent flying out of her hand and she was 'stabbed'.
Rtas comment on her was, "Excellent usage of strategy. You nearly had me with your slashes." Xue bowed her head and returned to her seat next to N'kev.
The last fight was N'kev's. This was by far the most interesting amongst them all. He stood up and grabbed the training energy sword at the table. He stood in front of Rtas.
"Your name?" asked Rtas.
"N'kev 'Xem." answered N'kev. He noticed as he said his name, Rtas seemed to have blinked in a surprised manner. He quickly regained his composure and bowed. N'kev did the same and armed his energy sword. Thel looked interested at the side. He was curious on how N'kev would perform since he never saw N'kev fight against another person.
Everyone was at the edge of their seats as the two dueled. It would seem that they could go on forever. Rtas gave death blows that seemed impossible to evade; but to their surprise N'kev managed to dodge with ease. Sparks flew as the blades collided. The two grunted as they tried to push each other from their intertwined swords. Both broke away, being blown away at each other's force.
N'kev was running out of breath. He arms were becoming to feel numb as he had been fighting for what felt like hours to him. But he didn't want to give up since he wanted to be in the squad. He tried now to think on how he would engage him. He remembered that Rtas was good at dodging lunge and slashes, so he shouldn't do those anymore.
Then he noticed that when he attacks his upper body, he deflects it in a manner that leaves his legs open. N'kev quickly thought that this was the key in beating him. A crazy idea came to his mind that seemed possible if done correctly.
He started backing away from Rtas leaving a large gap. As he backed away he checked the floor. It was slippery. Perfect. He armed his energy sword again but this time he armed it in a manner that his right elbow was covering his face. Everyone was curious at what N'kev was trying to pull off. Olut and Xue watched excitedly, wondering what N'kev would do this time. He managed to dodge lasers doing a wall run; they wondered if he would beat Rtas in the same weird manner.
N'kev took a deep breath as he ran over his plan for the last time. After making sure that everything was set he moved. Everything went into slow motion. N'kev threw his energy sword at Rtas, the same way a ninja would throw his kunai knife at the enemy. The blade flew through to the air and everyone's eye followed it. Rtas who was surprised by the sudden move quickly deflected the flying blade. The blade flew through to the air upwards.
He was about to lunge at N'kev whom he was expecting to be unarmed now when he was toppled to the ground as he felt something hit his feet. He was utterly confused and was wondering who had hit him. Apparently the maneuver that N'kev did was downright unexpected. After he threw the blade he immediately ran up to Rtas. A few feet away he slide tackled Rtas, the same way a soccer player tackles another player, his feet hitting Rtas' legs.
Rtas whom was diverted by the flying blade didn't notice him slide resulting to him not being able to dodge his slide tackle. N'kev saw that Rtas was falling to the ground completely stupefied by his sudden maneuver. N'kev saw his chance and quickly stood up. He reached his right just in time to catch his blade, which was in the air the entire time, on the handle. He placed his left hoof onto Rtas' back and 'stabbed' him. He could feel that time seemed have gone back to normal.
"Dead." was all N'kev could say as he was completely out of breath and was tired. Nobody moved a muscle as they were all shocked by the sudden turn of events. Rtas himself couldn't believe at what just happened. He was still trying to make everything make sense.
Olut and Xue had their mandibles agape as they witnessed at what just happened. They had seen N'kev do extraordinary things like the laser dodge but this kicked it up a notch. Azu was clearly speechless as he saw what had transpired. Never before in his life had he seen Rtas be beaten by a rookie Spec Ops Soldier.
Thel on the other hand was swelling with pride as he saw N'kev beat Rtas. He was filled with pride as he realized his student had managed to beat a Spec Ops Commander. At this statement he couldn't help but clap his hands to congratulate him. Azu was surprised when Thel started clapping but realized he deserved it.
N'kev felt embarrassed as he removed his hoof from Rtas back and looked at his audience. They were clapping for him. He just smiled weakly and bowed. Thel and Azu came to the stage and helped Rtas up. A few moments later Rtas cleared his throat.
"I have said my word and I am keeping my word. N'kev 'Xem has managed to beat and he has now earned the right to be in my squad." Everyone clapped at the statement and N'kev even received a few 'Nice ones!' comments from the audience. Rtas cleared his throat and everyone became quiet again.
"I have studied all your techniques and I am quite proud to say you were all very good. But I can only accept 2 more Sangheili who had managed to nearly beat me with their skills. I call upon…" everyone was quiet as they hoped for the best.
"....Olut 'Fulgal to come here and join us." As Olut heard this, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was actually chosen by Rtas to join on their squad. He wanted to scream so bad but kept it in and walked towards N'kev. Everyone clapped for him and became quiet again as they waited for the final member to joint Rtas' squad.
"And lastly I would like to call... Xue 'Quaram to come and join us." Xue couldn't help but blush as all eyes turned onto her as she walked down the path and stood next to N'kev and Olut. The 3 bowed as their fellow Spec Ops gave them a standing oblation.
The second squad was leaded by the other Sangheili who also came close to beating Rtas. Everyone was dismissed out of their room and went to the lockers to change. They were all given orders to report back to their squad tomorrow.
"That was quite amazing, what you did back there." said Thel. N'kev looked at him.
"Grandfather, you're the Arbiter, you had done things way more amazing than that." he replied in a whisper to avoid anyone from overhearing. Thel just smiled at him.
But there was one thing that was bothering N'kev; he noticed the fact that Rtas seemed to have flinched a little when he heard him say his name; That and the fact that Rtas' face seemed very familiar to him; oddly familiar.
Rtas walked up to them and said,
"You 3 should go home and get some rest. Report back to tomorrow here, ok?" asked Rtas. The 3 nodded in acknowledgment. Olut looked at the wall clock at the side as they passed it and said it was already 6:00PM.
"Hey you guys want to hang out, we've got nothing to do anyway." suggested N'kev.
"Sure why not." said Xue.
"Sorry I can't, my back is aching and I need to get some rest. You two can go I'll go home." said Olut.
"Too bad, ok then." said N'kev. Xue suddenly felt panic-stricken. She didn't want to be alone with N'kev. Not now that she had just developed a crush on him. But the damage was already done and she couldn't do anything about it anymore.
They headed into the armory and changed their clothing. The armor where they stored their clothes earlier now had their last names. It was now officially theirs. Only Spec Ops Soldiers get to have a locker at HQ. They changed their clothes and were headed for the main entrance. They exited HQ and Olut said goodbye to them as he rode onto a bus.
"Where should we go? A restaurant? I've got some extra money," Xue told him.
"That sounds like a nice idea, I have extra too...I'll buy for you." Xue chuckled.
"That's ok I can pay for my own meal, thank you." she replied.
The 2 then went down the streets in search of a restaurant to eat at.
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