Chapter 7: Alpha
CovenantCorvette, Hallowed Spirit
[August 14th, 2552, 14:20]
Appeasement is a silly thing.
The weaker party, whether they know they are or not, does their best to keep the stronger from raining havoc upon them. This is usually done by turning a blind eye to the stronger of the two or even giving a gift as to hope that no harm is to come to them.
Fear is always the biggest contributor to the weaker's motivation. It is a natural instinct to want to live on, continue without consequence. The hope of living another day is a very powerful driving force to make anyone do anything.
Complacency can always be an issue as well. The stronger in this case gives into the demands of the clearly weaker in an attempt to keep things the same, however, they disadvantage themselves and are caught severely lacking when the time comes.
The problem is that the weaker believes it still has something that it could possibly use to come out on top of a situation. The stronger exploits this very problem and uses that small chink in their defense and strikes.
Should the weaker continue to appease it would surely lead to their demise.
And I had caught myself in that very situation.
Badadum Badadum Badadum Badadum
That impossibly dim-minded little shit.
There I was once again, imprisoned in the brig, sitting against the wall.
My jailers had removed all of my armor, so I was left wearing the same black undersuit I had been adorned in for days.
I believed that my offering of the Oracle would be enough to appease those above me. While that did technically happen, the damned AI decided to go 'night night', or
whatever the hell that meant.
When I finally showed it to the recovery team, they only scowled and talked down to me, lambasting me for 'breaking an important forerunner artifact'.
Important? The poor fools.
I was expecting that I could have the thing talk and say something along the lines of 'She didn't break me! I did this myself', but my luck proved null.
Thoughtful Janitor stopped talking, in fact, I'm sure it deactivated itself.
I had no proper alibi anymore.
Perhaps it is a good thing that they never heard what it had to say. From my few interactions with the Oracle, I'm sure it would have accidentally brought up… Daniel…
Daniel.
Daniel, the human I had met on Reach. The first person in the longest time to try and treat me as an equal. The one who hardened my opinions on humanity, this war. If anyone learned I had conversed, even held a human...
I pulled my legs into my torso, a cold shiver running down my back.
If they had found out about Daniel…
The thought scared me. If anything, I would have been violated before being flayed on public display on High Charity.
Another shiver rolled in my spine before I subconsciously covered my groin.
I fucking hate this place.
My fist balled up before I punched the ground in frustration, briefly leaving my hand sore. I quickly looked at my hand, before my eyes were drawn up to movement on the fringes of my vision.
The field that closed the cell off from the rest of the brig was deactivated.
And, as I expected, gold armor flashed before me.
"Of course you are here N-"
I looked closer, seeing another familiar face before me.
"He's dead."
I wasn't surprised.
Although, the man standing before me seemed familiar, even down to his voice. I stood up, nearly face to face with him.
"Hm. Well, what do you want from me?"
"I want you off my ship."
I frowned, "But, this isn't your ship? That responsibility belongs to the Shipmaster?"
"Semantics."
"Might I inquire why?"
"I don't want a woman in my forces, and you also dare defile an Oracle? Shameful wench."
"Gh…"
I could not refute him, not because I was guilty, but because like most men he was stubborn.
"If that is the case, what will you do with me?"
"I'm sure the Fleet of Retribution needs its share of motherly love."
So that's where he's disposing me to.
"Well, fuck you too," I said under my breath.
Before I knew what was happening, I was sprawled out where the base of the wall touched the floor.
"Perhaps you need to be sullied so you can learn your place, whore!"
He kicked me in my stomach, stealing my breath and nearly making me nauseous.
"I was absolutely embarrassed when you cowardly beat my brothers and I over a few harsh words-"
The only thing I could do was curl up and try and outlast the assault.
He berated me
"You know what? You aren't worth my time."
I heard him spit on me before feeling the liquid hit my hand.
"Although, it was nice to finally get you back after my humiliation. There is a phantom departing for the Vadam fleet at sunset. If I find you onboard afterward I will hand you over to the Jiralhanae, do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes…" I barely croaked out.
He left without another word.
My vision slowly faded as I drifted into unconsciousness...
drip
drip
drip
drip
The darkness of the cave was odd. My eyes were shut, enclosed in blackness, only to open up to the same thing. Disorienting would be the best way to describe the experience.
Had I already been here before? This situation seemed oddly familiar.
I was sitting down on the cold, rocky floor, leaning my head on something.
Moving my head to get a better look at whatever it was, the first thing I could make out was the matted hair of a human.
Human.
Every nerve in my body told me to jump up, run away.
But I didn't, I couldn't.
Because I knew who it was.
After my brief moment of startlement, I calmed down, knowing I wasn't in any imminent danger. From this angle, the sleeping human seemed...
I couldn't put a word to it; Pathetic? Helpless? Cute? He seemed so calm by my side it made me feel happy.
Why am I seeing this?
A snicker escaped my mandibles as I sat up, a shiver ran down my back. It would have been best for me- us, if I found some sort of fuel for a fire.
I looked down at the human one last time before leaving.
Daniel. I hope I get to meet you again.
I coughed up a bit of blood onto the cell floor before trying to stand up.
My hand tried to grasp the ground but the sudden pain in my stomach caused me to cringe and nearly fall over. I caught myself before I completely tumbled.
That bastard.
I did my best to ignore the pain, using the frame of the door for grip, and walked back to my room to collect my belongings.
Those that I passed in the hall regarded me with disgust, purposely doing their best to stay out of my way. I did not care, all I needed to do was get out, one way or another. I passed a few bends, puked by some fusion coils, and carried on.
Of course, by the time I got there, it had been looted. My clothing was strewn all over the floor in varying conditions, some spare coins that I kept were spilled out or missing. I prayed that nothing too valuable to me was taken, but really that would just be a small painting of my family.
But even that was left in shreds.
Nothing of use here. Not anymore.
My mind wandered to what was happening to me.
Why? Why why why? What did I do to deserve this? Why did I deserve any of this?
I bent over and picked up the tattered remains of the painting, holding it in my hand as I stood up again.
A raindrop fell on my hand.
Rain?
I was crying and I didn't even realize it. My vision was blurry and I was just oblivious to that.
Why?
I sat on my bed one last time in silence.
Is this my punishment for cowardice? For running away from the fight? Or is this the gods informing me of my heretical thoughts and actions?
I rubbed my eyes, getting a little bit of salty water into my nostrils, leaving a weird smell in my nose.
On the ground.
I kept a set of cutlery for personal use in my wardrobe but rarely used it. But it was on the ground now, open and revealing its contents.
A metal blade shone from the dim lights of my bunk.
Without thinking I stood up and grabbed it off the ground and sat back on the bed, looking at the sharp object in my hand.
"Maybe if… maybe if I…"
I took the edge to my throat, holding it dangerously close to my skin.
"It can all be over…"
I looked one more time at the painting, seeing my father.
"The only thing that you should be worried about when it comes to your family is letting your father see you again."
Daniel.
I dropped the blade, letting it bounce off of my lap before clattering to the floor.
Below me, humanity's most fortified world was burning. It would only be a little while longer until I would be able to return home.
I need…
Hope.
I… I have to see my father again.
No. I will see my father.
But…
The thought of that damned human pervaded my mind, and I couldn't help but smile.
No, that won't be possible.
Will it?
I got up and walked to the door, knowing I wouldn't have long until I had to leave for the Vadam fleet.
The day I see him again is the day the Covenant falls.
But the thought saddened me for whatever reason, but I carried on.
I chuckled, "Gods, maybe I really am a wench."
Covenant CCS Hail Apostate, in orbit over Reach
[August 30th, 2552, 13:00]
Another banshee landed into the hangar, its forward-swept wings nearly scraping the ground as it came in hard and a little too fast. Unggoy and Huragok crew alike rushed to get it out of the way for other fighters landing afterward.
The sangheili piloting the banshee popped out and patted down a small flame that was on his flank. With haste, he quickly started to assist the underlings pushing the craft out of the way of others trying to take off and land.
In a moment, the banshee was moved out of the way, and two more took off.
It was the third time that day a spacecraft came in critically damaged like that. The others came back whole, or they didn't come back at all.
It was a common trend for the last few days as the battle in space was nearing its conclusion. The occasional shaking of the ship as its weapons fired, the scuffling of the crew, and the bustle of the very busy hangar.
Said hangar was where I was posted ever since I had been reassigned to the Vadam fleet. It was a place that I might not cause much trouble in, seeing as there are a plethora of vehicles that could shoot me down in an instant, as well as the fact they could just shove me off the second floor where I was standing. On the other hand, they probably sought more defenses, considering the reason behind the loss of the Long Night of Solace.
Make the woman work on the home front. How traditional.
But it was nice to finally have a single duty that I had some sort of set schedule for, the last cycle had been a tumultuous amount of event after event.
The Fleetmaster, Thel Vadamee, of course, had nothing to do with me, I still had not seen him nor heard anything from him. But what did he have to do with me anyway? He is busy with the human fleet, certainly much more important than some troublesome female.
Then again, how many women even leave home? Certainly, he would like to observe such an anomaly.
I didn't think too much about it, just jostling my weapon in my hand before watching a large seraph speed out into the void.
"You know, I don't think I've heard you say a single word since you showed up a while ago."
I jumped, startled by the sudden conversation. My head turned to face the voice.
A kig-yar, the Ruutian kind, leaned against a supply crate next to me. Her face was masked with mild interest as though I was just something to quell her boredom with.
"Eh?"
"Ah good, you aren't mute."
Why do people always...
She momentarily looked at her claws before returning her attention to me.
"What do you want?"
I was confused by her motives.
"Oh nothing much, just wanted to see what your whole deal is. You know, it's very rare to see a sangheili bunk with the lower races, and even rarer to see a lady such as yourself."
Her statement had a basis to it, seeing as each member species is usually assigned their own bunking. There were however no spare rooms for me, so they stuck me with the pirates. I still reeked of them.
I'm guessing I just never noticed her.
"They had no rooms," I said morosely.
A skeptical gaze swept over me.
"They would have kicked some poor unggoys out of their beds if that were the sole reason."
A grunt resonated from my throat.
"What, you don't want to tell me?" she said with a grin.
I put my hand up to her snout.
"Leave me alone."
The kig-yar was unwaved.
She leaned her head to the side so she could see my face, "The more you push away the more I want to learn."
"There is nothing more."
"I would bet twenty gekz that there is more. It's hurting you and you know it."
I kept quiet and continued watching the hangar. She stayed next to me for a while before she began waking off. The kig-yar stopped before spinning completely around and putting her hands on her hips.
"If you want to answer me, ask for Agg. Better yet, bother talking to me in the bunks tonight."
And without another word, she walked off.
Damn dredges. They know nothing of privacy.
There was a little subconscious thought that irked the back of my mind.
What if I did tell her? Surely she could hold a secret?
…
Why am I becoming so trusting of total strangers?
"W-wait."
She was about to walk through a door before she stopped and turned around, her head tilting out of curiosity.
"...yes?"
"I… uh…"
I scratched my eyes before noticing an influx of crew running around and fighters returning to their bays.
An unggoy was scurrying past, and I promptly stopped him.
His eyes widened in fear before calming down.
"Y-yes madam?" he squeaked.
"What is happening?"
"O-oh I heard from good friend that important human ship is fleeing!"
I sighed before waving him off. He scurried off to wherever he was needed.
Looks like I am finally leaving this planet.
The now annoyed Agg coughed before speaking up, "What is it? I don't have all day."
"Oh, uh sorry. I would be willing to tell you. Only, and only if you speak of this to no one else."
She scanned me again.
"I don't think I have ever heard a sangheili apologize. You have most certainly piqued my interest… Caso, was it?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Mmm… consider it a deal. Meet me in the storage bay after we jump to slipspace."
She spun around once more and leisurely strolled through the nearest sliding door leading into the labyrinth that was this ship.
I let out a brief sigh before returning my attention to the bustle of the hangar.
"I need to stop opening myself to complete strangers."
[A few moments later]
I did as the kig-yar asked and went to storage to meet with her. Nobody batted an eye as I made my way to the lower levels, they either did not notice or did not care to stare long. The last ramp revealed itself, and I went down it.
The door slid open, revealing a sleeping Agg atop a container full of what I could only guess were grenades. Her eyes fluttered as some drool seeped out of her mouth to the floor below.
It certainly wasn't the most flattering state to find her in, but I had come to expect very little from her species.
"Hey."
The Kig-yar fidgeted up and quickly took in her surroundings, noticing me almost immediately.
"Oh you actually came," she said while wiping her mouth.
"Of course I came. Why wouldn't I?"
"Because internally you are a coward and don't want to face your problems."
I was bewildered.
"What did you just-"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."
I clenched my fists before releasing a heavy sigh.
"As you already know," she started, "I am Agg. I come from a family of great kig-yar pirates, at least that's what I tell most people I meet. I'm only here to make some extra cash to pay for some debts I owe."
Another unsurprising fact.
"Since we are introducing ourselves, I am Caso Tarumee. I grew up on a poor farm with my father and late mother. I decided to take up arms in place of my father."
I thought I caught her snickering, but she must have suppressed the action very well.
"Now that we have that out of the way, why are you here, on this ship?"
I sat down on a container and thought for a moment.
"Well, I was reassigned. Most likely due to me fighting my peer, who eventually far outranked me, in combat."
"You bested him and he kicked you out?"
"Well, more like he and two others harassed me so I kicked their asses."
"Ah, I like you," she said before yawning.
An irritated expression dawned on my face.
"Tired already?" I asked with a touch of malice.
"Hm? No no. So you are here because they harassed you, you retaliated against them, and then they didn't want you on their ship anymore? Seems reasonable to me."
"Well, no. I was imprisoned for several days following that incident, but I don't believe that was the catalyst for my expulsion and reassignment."
"So that isn't the sole reason? Please, do tell."
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"It's the main reason most likely but there is still more."
"Hmph. Continue."
I can't tell her the full truth.
"After which, one of the generals on board, N'Thuza, bargained for me to be released and immediately posted planetside following a human incursion the previous night. A whole heap of events happened, but most importantly I discovered a Forerunner temple, inside contained a living oracle."
She seemed quite surprised.
"Wow, quite the adventurer, are we?"
"Right, so the Oracle was attached to an arm of sorts and wanted to leave, even to the point where it broke off from where it was anchored to and I decided it would be best if I took it with me. However, when extraction crews came, she just didn't talk. I believe leading to them believing that I defaced a forerunner artifact and gave an excuse to get rid of me."
"Those dogs. Makes you see why we 'lowly races' hate those arrogant sangheili men, eh?"
"I have shared that sentiment for... a while."
She shook her head and leaned back, looking to the ceiling before sitting back up again.
"Wait, so it sounds like this N'Thuza guy had a thing for you, so why didn't he vouch for you?"
"He died."
"O-oh..."
I shifted in my seat.
"At least I don't have to see the creep any longer," I took a deep breath in before exhaling.
"Why, you got your heart set on someone else?"
"What? When did I ever imply that?"
She smirked.
"You said it with your eyes Tarumee, you said it with your eyes."
"W-What is that supposed to mean?"
"The Fleetmaster of course! Marry your way into that sort of power and you are set for life!"
She crossed her arms and puffed up her chest, attempting to impersonate him.
"Oh beautiful Caso, will you bear my children?"
She began to laugh while I felt horribly offended.
"What? I have not seen him yet, so why would I want him?"
"Again, power…"
She eyed me one more time before thinking something to herself.
"Could I leave now? I am terribly hungry," I said standing up, seeing as this conversation was going nowhere.
Without mistake, she pushed me back down; an action I was not expecting.
"Before you leave, answer me one thing: How the hell did you even get here?"
"What do you mean?"
"How did they even let you leave your home? I know how particular your race is to women."
"I… I… grew up around boys?"
Agg almost keeled over on the spot.
"That's a good one…"
If anything, I really didn't understand how they even let me leave Sanghelios in the first place. I received my fair share of face-spitting and unsavory comments, but not once was I ever denied access to anything, it was strange, to say the least.
She stopped laughing, calming down and taking a moment to think. She stayed quiet for what seemed like ages before speaking up again.
"What if you had someone higher up helping you?"
I couldn't help breaking out into laughter at the suggestion.
Someone higher up? Helping me? For what purpose!? Preposterous.
Agg became increasingly annoyed by my laughing fit as if she had wholeheartedly believed herself to be correct.
"Caso," she spoke as eloquently as possible, "It is entirely possible and very likely that someone had to puppeteer to get you through things. Who and why? I wouldn't be able to even start, but that seems like the only logical step at this point."
I was beginning to see a completely different side of the Kig-yar, no longer boisterous, but now analytical. To see the rapid change was quite a spectacle for me.
But she also seemed to be the type that would act serious in order to entrap their victim in a lie so they can laugh at them later.
"Why would someone go out of their way to help a poor little female such as myself? It seems very… contrived, does it not?"
Agg shrugged.
"I like you Tarumee, now get out before people think lower of you because you are talking to me," she said with a wave of her hand.
I chuckled as I stood up, "Ha, any lower and I would be buried beneath the ground."
[September 19th, 2552, 0800]
A young girl stands alone in a field. She stands in awe of something in the distance. I cannot see her face, but I can feel her emotion.
Overjoyed.
Content.
I do not know why she is feeling these emotions, only that she is.
The orange tint of the sunset casts her shadow far, the wind rustling the vegetation and her dress.
She begins to turn her head to me.
Horror.
Her face was melted, twisted, mutilated beyond recognition. The only way I could tell that she was sangheili was from her dangling mandibles, held on by sinew
.
I wanted to scream, but I could not.
Become dust like us.
Become dust like us.
"Caso."
…
"Caso"
I opened my eyes to a kig-yar looking down at me.
"Agg."
"That's the fifth night in a row."
I sat up and tried to wipe the sweat off my body, an effort that was futile. Groggily placing my hand on my head was the only thing I could attempt to quell the burning headache I had.
I briefly eyed around the room, not for any particular purpose other than to just make a note of my surroundings. It was dingy and dark as usual, and to my surprise most if not all the bunks were vacant. It still reeked of kig-yar, but the smell had become tolerable by now. I had the largest bed in the room, neighboring right next to Agg.
On the topic of her, Agg herself had been witness to my troubled sleep for the previous weeks and had been awoken many times in part from my fearful ramblings. I always apologized, and she always shrugged it off.
She had even started helping me with them, probably not out of charity but It did seem to help when I talked about them out loud.
"So what was it time?" Agg asked as she observed her talons.
I rubbed my eyes.
"It was evening, and there was this lone sangheili girl in a field."
She motioned for me to continue.
"I couldn't see her face, and don't know why, but she was happy. That's when she turned around to look at me. Her face was disfigured, damaged beyond recognition."
Agg scratched the back of her bald head before speaking, "That certainly is disturbing, to say the least. Did she say or do anything, or…?".
I nodded, "She said 'become dust like us' over and over again. Well, at least some voice did."
She responded by scratching her chin and nodding. Of course, I knew she wouldn't be much help, but it was better than nothing.
"I don't know what to say," she bluntly stated.
I rolled my eyes.
She raised her arms above her head, stretching out, "Funny enough, we came out of hyperspace right as you woke up."
"Oh really?" I said as my mood lightened a little.
"Yeah, I have not had the chance to check where we are. The rest of our roommates are off doing their duties or looking outside as well."
I got out of bed, stepping on my balled-up undersuit. I didn't really care to put it on, seeing as I was still adorned in an evening dress and didn't plan on leaving the room for the longest while. I didn't notice that Agg had left the room, and once again I didn't really care, although it was quite rude of her to leave so suddenly without even informing me.
Out of slipspace, huh.
I cleaned up my cot before bending over to pick up my suit.
Before I could blink, Agg was standing in the doorway, mouth agape. She stuttered something, but it was incomprehensible to me.
"What?"
"The- the-"
She tried to signal something with her hands, but I still couldn't understand.
I walked over to the doorway and she just pointed to the left.
Turning my head, I saw the last thing I would have ever expected to see in my lifetime.
Outside the window lining the wall, it was there. Orbiting around a gas giant, the most sought after artifact- no, step in our religion.
A Halo.
I sincerely apologize for putting this chapter out so late. There were a few factors, mostly due to just my writing and such. I hit a block during the chapter, had finals, and while that happened I was working on the Date Night rewrite, so that took up a big chunk of time. I also finally found myself a job, but that shouldn't affect my writing too much. I will however be working on the next chapter of Date Night, so the next update should be in a little while.
Stay Safe, Happy New Year.