Eyes of the Enemy
Chapter 2
Disclaimer--Halo is property of Microsoft and Bungie Studios.
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Kada'Yisemee, standing resolutely on a tall balcony overlooking the workers beneath her, was not dressed in the armor or energy shielding of her male counterparts, instead clothed in a rough garment that covered little of her blue scaled flesh.
Let the males have their war.
She had the daunting responsibility of a great multitude of tasks, all of them pertaining to the supplying of weaponry and provisions to the Covenant war machine. It was she and the other female Elites who led the construction on the thousands of mighty warships that burned the Infidels from the stars. It was she who oversaw the building of every plasma weapon, every grenade, every instrument of death. It was she—
There was a flutter in her stomach, a disturbance that had become increasingly more commonplace. Her hand gently pressed against her abdomen, and she smiled almost tenderly, a gesture that looked terribly out of place on her hardened features.
It was she who was to bear a child in a mere quarter-Cycle's time.
Her mate this Cycle had been Prophet-blessed, particularly dark and ominous; in her own way, 'Yisemee had found him irresistible. She had hardly needed to be in heat to mate him, as the male had been wonderfully handsome...and surprisingly skillful. She was proud to bear the child of such an accomplished and dangerous warrior, and 'Yisemee had been looking forward to mating him again when the time came. Alas, the female Elite had found that her mysterious lover had been killed in combat. A pity for his loss, but he had died honorably. Still, 'Yisemee wished that he had not left for Paradise before this damnable war was over...he had been so magnificent...
The ways of the Gods are unknown, she mentally chided herself with the Truth Saying. The Ancients will test those whom they find worthy. Do not disappoint them.
Tests. Like all of her people, when she entered the transition from child to adult, she had been tested. The trials of the Prophets culled the weak from the Covenant, and allowed only the strong to survive. It purified them from evil within. Would the child she soon would bear pass such a test? For a moment 'Yisemee was overcome by an instinctual desire to protect her baby, yet she steeled herself against such barbaric impulses with another Truth Saying: Those weak enough to fail deserve their fate.
No. Her child was from her own blood and blood of one Prophet-blessed.
Such a child would not fail.
Content in this knowledge, she barked down a sharp, curse laden rebuke at a loitering group of Grunts, watched them leap up and scamper. She stared after them, her gaze eventually leading to the awesome sight of thousands of Grunts, Jackals, and Engineers below her, working tirelessly on a gigantic ship. 'Yisemee watched as they all took a step back in unison at a loud tone and grinned as she watched its energy shields activate for the first time. There was an explosive burst of air that sounded like a thunderclap, a shimmering, almost beautiful scintillation that bathed the entirety of the chamber in white light, and the Elite was pleased. This enemy, these humans, would fall under the power of the Covenant.
And she would make certain of it.