Chapter 14: Perilous Journey
-One year into enlistment-
Glancing down to my muddy armor, I sigh deeply as I try and wipe off the brown sludge only to smear it more deeply into my red plating.
My last mission had me as an overwatch sniper on what had to be the rainiest planet in the known galaxy.
We were dispatched to the system due to some intel that someone was selling underground weapons to extremist groups.
Turns out that our intel was off yet again. The idea that the sheer amount of contraband we found was considered contraband was an understatement.
Thankfully, the resulting firefight was quick and rather painless. The small group quickly surrendered once they realized they were surrounded, allowing us to collect the arms and depart without incident.
I still don't know how he even got those heavy plasma cannons down there… Those things were huge!
Sadly, we still had no idea who he was selling the shipboard weapons to. The arms dealers remained quiet no matter how much we tried to get out of them. In the end, we simply took them prisoner, shoving the responsibility of their care off to the shipmaster.
Looking up to the rest of the phantom, I could see that the other sangheili were mostly clean if a little wet. Their role during the mission had the majority of them on their feet as they apprehended the arms dealers, unlike how I was stuck prone in the mud on a nearby hill providing cover.
Hearing the whine of the engine as we arrived back onto the ship, everyone began to file out towards the hatch.
Waiting my turn to leave, I watch quietly from the back of the phantom as each of the sangheili exit the drop ship.
Eventually, it became my turn as I stepped into the gravity lift.
Slowly drifting into the floor, I begin to quietly make my way to my room. I needed to wash myself badly at this point, and I knew that my training would continue tomorrow.
Shivering at the idea, I speed up my pace a bit.
You know your training is intense when you honestly prefer to go on missions where you might be shot at for a bit of a break.
At this point I knew the ship well enough to reach my room without setting any waypoints. Reaching one of the doorways, the signature hum of the door's activation rang out as it hissed open.
"Bbbbbwooooo."
Stopping in my tracks, I turn my head only to see Floats drifting towards me enthusiastically. The balloon like creature was excitedly waving one of his thin tentacles in my direction.
Conflicted for only a moment, I hesitated before sighing and turning around to meet my friend.
Sleep can wait for a bit longer.
"Hello Floats, how are you?"
The engineer let out a happy whistle as he signed some things in return.
Now, at this point I was well on my way to becoming at least partly decent at the strange species' language. I couldn't hold long conversations, but there was one thing I definitely understood every time he asked me.
"You look hurt, can I-"
Not even bothering to wait, my response came quick as I gave him a deadpan look.
"No."
Seeing the engineer become a bit agitated at my immediate response, he dips his head and tries again.
"But Sohm, why can't I just-"
"No!"
"Bbbbbbwwooooooo."
Watching as my emotional friend deflated in front of me and slowly sank to the floor, I felt horrible. I know my friend was simply trying to heal my wounds, but the rules were rules.
"Get out of the way!"
Realizing there was a grunt attempting to move some crates down the passageway, I stepped aside and toward one of the unused corners of the hangar.
"You too huragok!"
Looking back, I could see Floats was not living up to his nickname at this point. Another sad whine came from the blob-like creature as he stared at me from the floor pleadingly, doing an excellent imitation of a kicked puppy.
If a puppy glowed blue, had a blob body, six eyes, and a lizard-like face.
I exasperatedly rush back over to the engineer and begin to roll the hyper advanced alien across the floor and off to the side.
Plopping my back against one of the purple walls of the hangar, I try to ignore the baby-like whining coming from my friend as I turn to see the routine buzz of the workers in front of me. The unggoy were casually working on a wraith on the deck while the rest took a break.
It turns out that it was actually rather odd to have unggoy working on the tech, something I found out over the last few months of my service. Most of the sangheili that were stationed on board this cruiser did not trust any of the tech they could not service themselves.
Something I quickly found out was rather wise policy when I witnessed a ghost blow up when someone tried to start it up on a mission.
Feeling something poke my helmet, I watch as several words scroll over my optical display.
"Please? Your commander can't even see your bruises through your armor!"
Throwing my arms up in exasperation, I glare at the engineer.
"No! Why do you always bring this up Floats? The answer never changes."
"Bwwwooo."
Sighing deeply, I try and comfort my friend by placing one of my hands on his head and beginning to pet him. Hearing the whines begin to turn into soft purrs, I start to feel a little less terrible.
I have long since learned that this engineer does not like to see anyone hurt, and heals anything and anyone he can get his tentacles on. I found it quite odd, but honestly it wasn't even the weirdest quirk I've seen in the last week, let alone year. All in all, I'd say that is a pretty positive thing rather than something that should be shunned.
Sadly, rules are rules.
Thinking about my situation, I glance back down to my mud stained clothes. Other than the dirt and grime, I was actually pretty well rested and unharmed. Other than remaining bruises and wounds left over from earlier training, I was relatively unharmed.
Deciding to spend a bit more time with my emotional friend rather than simply getting some rest, I try and redirect his attention away from his odd healing obsession and back towards my progressing knowledge of the huragok sign language.
"Hey, Floats?"
The engineer lifts his head off the ground and looks to me curiously.
Turning to face the engineer fully, I fold my legs and sit down next to my friend. Making the motions as best I could, I think back toward my previous lessons as I form the signs carefully.
"How… are… you… today… friend?"
Seeing the engineer's mood brighten, he brings up his tentacles and begins to adjust my hands while using one of them to touch my visor again.
"Close, but the sign for 'friend' is slightly different. You need to shift your wrist slightly…"
((*v*)/)
-Two years after Enlistment-
Studying my opponent closely, my breath was ragged as the two of us circled around each other.
Clutching my wooden staff tightly, I try to shake off the feeling of exhaustion. At this point we have been at this for hours, and thankfully Bero has yet to land a hit against me.
This wasn't the first day of training I have been able to successfully evade my mentor either. After two grueling years of getting absolutely thrashed by the master swordsman, I have managed to become quite good at close quarters combat.
During this training, Bero has me defending the entire time. While counter attacks were common, for the most part he instructed me on defensive strategy.
Whipping my stick up to parry a blow aimed toward my arm, I deflect the attack with practiced precision while keeping my weapon tightly in my hands before spinning back into a defensive posture. These motions have become almost second nature to me at this point.
The elite seems to study me for a long moment from his position a few feet away. His eyes ran over my form before his entire body seemed to relax as he smiled.
"Good, good!" Hefting his well beaten staff up, he begins to walk away toward a small pile of our equipment. "I believe you have mastered what I can teach you with these staffs, my apprentice. It is about time we move on."
Move on?
The thought was almost foreign to me. I've been doing the same training for two years straight as he continued to critique my form and technique.
Keeping myself alert, I react in time as an object is hurled at me from where Bero was standing. Catching it before it smashes into my face, I quickly realize that it is my sword.
Looking up, I see Bero clutching a similar blade and a large amount of fear builds within me. Sure, I have been able to hold him off for the last month or so, but now?
I am so dead.
"Activate your blade."
Steadying my nerves, I press the activation rune on Destiny's hilt. Watching as the orange blade hisses into existence, I fall into my familiar defensive ready pose again, only to quickly realize that the blade acted much differently than the staff.
For instance, I couldn't place my other hand on the blade to steady it for obvious reasons.
Hearing another hiss of a plasma blade activating, I look up to see Bero with his electric blue blade facing me not even ten feet away. Adrenaline filled my veins, snapping me out of my exhaustion immediately as I stare down the physical embodiment of death.
I am so, so dead.
"The next step of your training will be to master the control over your blade."
Bero begins to perform a few odd long stretches with his sword, exaggeratedly swinging his sword in a way that didn't appear very comfortable.
"A well crafted energy sword isn't like most blades. Unless it encounters another magnetic field similar to its emitter, the blade will always slice into the target with next to no resistance. You must now relearn how to attack and defend now that impacts against your weapon mean little to nothing to you now."
Relaxing slightly, I feel the fear of being cut into pieces slowly leave me as I realize I was going to be doing simple control exercises.
Alright, I can do this!
"Now, you will need to follow my motions perfectly. Once you master the basics, we will move onto holographic enemies. If at any point you slice into something I don't tell you to, you fail and will need to start the entire exercise over again."
Switching my pose to mimic his stance, it only took about half a second before I failed. Deactivating his sword, the sangheili walked over to me and began to adjust my pose.
"No, your legs need to be more spaced apart. This is the start of your offensive training, so act as if you are lunging."
Doing as I was told, I began to think a bit more aggressively. Imagining an invisible enemy in front of me, I pretend as if I was trying to finish a fight quickly.
"Wrong, you are overexposed. You have openings here and here."
Feeling the elite poke two places on my abdomen, I feel dread beginning to fill me once again.
Somehow I think this might be worse than being beaten to a pulp.
"Now, begin again. For reference, the opening stance is..."
((*v*)/)
-Three Years After Enlistment-
Walking down a crowded street, I look down to my invisible body. I knew that even though I couldn't see myself, I was still encased in my new armor.
Recently, I have been promoted to the rank of Murmillo. The new orange armor definitely reminded me of the armor my mother donned years ago. Thankfully, this armor actually came with some major technical upgrades compared to my previous armor, like the two small point defense gauntlets on my wrists. Sadly, as of right now, I couldn't use them if I wanted to stay hidden.
Currently cloaked in active camouflage, I stick to the shadows as best I can. Surrounding me is a Covenant market city, full of every known race from unggoy to sangheili. The bustling streets in front of me filled to the brim as people went about their day.
My task right now was to try and spot any evidence of heresy, rebellion, or piracy in the area. Grumbling, I continue to walk around as I look for any suspicious behavior but as far as I could tell, everything was normal.
Walking from alley to alley, I begin to lose track of my mission. The way that Rtas made it out to be on the ship had me a bit paranoid at the start of this mission, but now that I'm here, I can't spot a single thing that was out of place.
Not to mention, I am most likely the worst pick for this. I'm trained as a close quarters expert and marksman, not a spy! What am I even supposed to be looking for?
Sadly, over time, gaining the trust and respect of the higher caste sangheili above me and ranking up had an unfortunate side effect of making them trust me. The silly idea that I was the only trustworthy kig yar sent to our special operations division almost made me laugh, but the truth of the sentiment wasn't exactly hard to see.
After all, most of the other kig yar transferred to the lance were overconfident jerks that always wanted more money. It wasn't hard to see where the stereotype came from.
Yawning, I look up to see the sun beginning to make its descent down below the horizon. This entire day was simply a waste of time.
"Clandestine Devotion, this is Murmillo Sohm 'Bir, requesting…"
Seeing movement out of the corner of my eye, I glance over only to see an extremely sketchy looking kig yar wearing a cloak and scanning his surroundings as he makes his way down a particularly dark looking alleyway. The tan poncho-like garment did little to hide the obvious long bulge on his back that signified a rifle, nor did it hide the obvious bag he was clutching under one of his arms.
"Say again Murmillo, we did not receive your transmission in full."
Deciding to see what this jackal was up to instead of returning to the ship, I responded.
"Belay my last transmission. Following a possible target. Standby."
"Understood. Standing by."
Trailing behind the kig yar, I began to pick out a few things my previous quick examination missed. For instance, the sketchy looking jackal was definitely a t'vaoan. The quick glimpses of the inside of his cloak allowed me to pick up that he was armored, and the precise movements of his body signaled that he definitely knew how to handle himself in a fight.
Eventually, the kig yar reached a shadowy building with a single large hatch leading into what appeared to be a basement. Looking around, he scanned his surroundings one last time before he lifted a rock and pressed a previously hidden command button which opened the door.
Watching as the jackal quietly makes his way into the building, I wait a few moments outside before deciding to follow him.
Slipping in behind the jackal as quietly as I could, I follow behind the suspicious kig yar. We walked down a darkly lit hallway for a moment before it opened up into a large octagonal room. Each side had a similar hallway leading to it, which made me feel slightly better about my prospects of escaping if I was caught.
After doing a quick scan of the room, I then focused my attention on seven armed kig yar standing in a circle around the entrance all pointing everything from plasma pistols to needle rifles toward me. My breath caught in my throat immediately, knowing that if they decided to open fire I was done for.
I knew due to the darkness behind me that none of them could actually see me, but I nonetheless brought my hand down to my sword.
The suspicious kig yar took the time to casually drop the hood over his head, revealing a mane of crimson red feathers.
"Is it really common practice to shoot your supplier now? What is the galaxy coming to these days?" The kig yar makes a tsk sound in his throat before he gestures to the bag he was holding. "I mean really? Who would you even turn to for this kind of stuff besides me eh?"
My eyes widened comically as my mouth fell open at the kig yar's words. It wasn't particularly what he said or how he said it, but the voice. It was a voice I recognized quite clearly.
Dad?!
After a moment, the grouping of kig yar lowered their weapons and returned to what they were doing. Every single one of these jackals were very different. Some appeared to just be wearing normal clothes, while others were heavily armored and were obviously carrying contraband all over their person.
A particularly bejeweled ibie-shan kig yar spoke up, her scratchy voice showing off her gruff nature even through the glimmer of her outfit. I haven't met a pirate queen before, but this person definitely fit the bill.
"About time you arrived Moruun, there was a Covenant ship in orbit. I almost thought you were caught."
My father scoffed, simply pointing one of his thumbs back toward the exit ironically pointing directly at me.
"Oh please, those Covenant patrols don't see anything. I swear they have object permanence problems. Walk right around a corner and-"
An armored and scarred ruuhtian interrupted him as he unsheathed a pink glowing crystal and began to eye my father hungrily.
"I have been sent here by my matriarch for the auction. Get on with it."
My father's nonchalant attitude remained strong as ever, though I could tell from his stance that he was ready to move at a moment's notice.
"Yeah, yeah. Calm your feathers. I got the goods." Throwing the bag into the center of the circle, he walked over to a wall and casually leaned against it. "Start bidding then. I got places to be."
The grouping began to argue amongst themselves about the pricing of whatever my father brought, but I didn't care. Watching my father closely, I ignore the auction going on as I feel a flood of emotions fill me.
I'm supposed to be finding evidence of piracy, but can I really bring the wrath of the Covenant down on my own father?
Silently stewing on the situation I was in, I didn't even realize that the group had slowly gotten louder and louder.
"That is far too expensive, you can't be serious!"
"If you can't outbid me, then leave. This is the whole point of an auction."
"My clan needs these schematics to begin reopening trade now that the blockade has been lifted! You can't just-"
The bejeweled ibie-shan snarls violently, stopping the rant halfway through. Watching as the casually dressed t'vaoan recoils back away from the furious pirate, I realize this person wasn't exactly used to situations like this.
Hearing my father speak up from his spot sitting on the wall, the other jackals turn back to him. "Is that the final bid?"
Hearing grumbles of agreement coming from the group, my father stood up from his spot on the wall and scooped his bag back up off the floor. Casually walking over to the pirate queen, he holds his arm out expectantly.
Pulling her bony maw back into a sad imitation of a smile, the ibie-shan pulls out a small device and hands it over to my father in exchange for the bag.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
"If you would be amenable, I would love to conduct another… Transaction with-"
"Not a chance. Your teeth creep me out. Can you even chew with those?"
Hearing another deep snarl coming from that side of the room, I decide to ignore the stupid interaction between the two pirates. Turning to look towards the other group of people, I can see two different reactions based on each group which made me a bit curious as to what was being sold.
The ones that fit the bills of pirates were definitely disappointed but not overly inconvenienced.
The three casually dressed t'vaoans appeared crushed, almost defeated. The one that was arguing about the bidding even began to cry.
The pirate queen snarls before turning around and making her way out of the hallway behind her. The others began to file out, with the pirates being the quickest to leave.
My father sighed deeply from where he was, before speaking up.
"Moru, please wait."
The devastated skirmisher turns around from the hallway and looks to my father curiously.
Looking around, Moruun examined the room closely for a moment before he dropped his cloak, revealing his oddly colored armor. He had a beam rifle proudly strapped to his back, and had added a few more pieces of armor to the assortment since I last saw him.
But more importantly, it revealed that he was holding a softly glowing datapad in his hand.
"You honestly thought I only had one?"
The t'vaoan's eyes widened comically, as she stared back at the softly glowing screen of the datapad. A moment of stunned silence came and went before she smiled brightly.
"By the gods, you are a lifesaver! Nearly all of our ships were confiscated or destroyed when the Covenant came… I don't know what we would have done if…" Tearing up, the Skirmisher rushed over and hugged my father deeply, something that he definitely wasn't ready for.
My father grunted before he carefully pried the t'vaoan off of him. He carefully placed the datapad into her hands before backing up before he began to scratch the back of his head where his feathers are.
"Yeah, well, I hope your clan will remember this when you get back on your feet eh? Those schematics were extremely hard to come by, and I nearly got myself killed trying to get them."
She nodded furiously, placing the datapad into a small bag.
"Always. You will be welcome among my clan anytime. Thank you. Thank you again." With that, she turned and began leaving toward the door, but before she left she turned back around. "If you ever find yourself back on T'avo…"
Throwing his hands up into the air, my father groans loudly. "Oh not you too! Sorry Moru, but you aren't nearly terrifying enough to be my type either."
Visibly confused, the Skirmisher only lingers for a moment more before disappearing down the hallway.
Moruun's gaze seemed to remain glued on the dark hallway for a moment longer, obviously lost in his thoughts. The soft shifting of his weight from side to side told me he was lost in his thoughts and wasn't paying very much attention.
Seeing as my father was alone in the room, I decided to take this moment to mess with him.
"Object permanence problems hm?"
Spinning around, my father pulled his beam rifle out before he began to scan around the room. The sight would definitely be something that would intimidate me, had he not been pointing towards the wrong exit.
Dropping my camouflage, I give him a deadpan stare. "I think I followed you well enough around those corners."
Locking eyes with me, I could see the moment he recognized me. Placing the weapon back into his magnetic holster, he gives me a bright smile before walking towards me.
"Well of course you did. You aren't the rest of the Covenant are you?"
Smiling back, I began to close the gap. Meeting in the middle, the two of us embrace each other for a moment in a deep hug. The metal of our two armors clanking loudly before we broke apart.
Deciding to ask a question about what just happened, I point toward the exit where the t'vaoan left.
"So what did you sell anyway? I heard it's a schematic, but to what?"
Seeing a cringe go across his face, he takes in a deep breath before he speaks up.
"That was the schematics for a slipspace borer."
Unable to prevent my surprise from reaching my face, my mouth fell open.
A borer? That is one of the most regulated pieces of equipment in the entire Covenant!
Floundering for a moment, I reorganized my thoughts before I asked, "How did you even get his hands on that?"
He began to laugh haughtily before nudging my shoulder playfully.
"Oh come on now, you haven't been impressed by my thieving skills in years now Syma. Why the sudden compliments? Is it because our daughter finally left the nest hm? Want me all to yourself now eh?"
The words took a moment to register, before I felt a wave of emotions wash over me. The first to be recognized were definitely disgust and horror, but after a second, mischievousness and anticipation came through.
Bringing my talon to my chin, I pretend like I'm thinking deeply. When my response came, my voice was deep and foreboding.
"Moruun?"
He tilted his head, hearing the seriousness of my tone.
"Yes?"
"I'm Sohm."
The silence that followed after I said those words was deafening. The sheer amount of shock and horror on my father's face will be something I treasure until the day I die.
"What?! Sohm! Why are you wearing your mother's armor?!"
Gesturing to myself, I begin to explain.
"This is my armor. I earned it by joining the Covenant and ranking up."
Looking like he was physically blown back by the knowledge, he falls down on his knees and looks toward the ceiling.
"Oh gods, why? Why did I make two of them?"
Shaking my head, my thoughts return back to the situation at hand. Despite the situation, I was on duty and technically had a mission.
Even though I'm not sure what to do now.
Remembering the casually dressed t'vaoan, I decide to ask about who exactly he sold those slipspace drive schematics to.
"So who was that?"
My father grunted, simply shaking his head before standing back up. "That was Moru 'Tsu. Clan representative of the biggest merchant clan on T'avo."
Blinking, I become a bit more confused.
"I thought these underground black market deals were always filled with vagabonds and criminals..."
"Gee thanks."
Ignoring his outburst, I continue. "What was she doing in a place like this?"
"It isn't too hard to puzzle out if you have all the details." He said, standing up. "The Covenant, or more specifically the Ministry of Preservation has been occupying T'avo for about three years now. During that time, any signs of rebellion have been put down violently, and no one has been allowed to escape. Ships have been shot down, and the world has suffered for it.
Gasping in horror, I bring a hand to my mouth.
Seeing my father shaking his head sadly, he continues. "Since the planet hasn't been able to trade off world, the food situation has only gotten worse. She," he tilts his head toward the door, "Was here to secure what she needed to get the economy back home working again. I wasn't going to let her leave without it, because like it or not, I'm the only one that can get those kinds of things."
Smiling to my father, I nod deeply.
"That was a very nice thing for you to do."
His feathers puff up, as he gestured to himself.
"What can I say? I'm the best. Now let's get out of here."
Laughing at the silly sight in front of me, I nudge him playfully as we make our way out of the room and back to the surface.
Breathing the fresh air in, I look toward my father who now has his oversized poncho back on. A moment of comfortable silence came and went as the two of us looked toward each other, happy to simply know that the other was okay.
"Murmillo, are you still there? Status."
Blinking at the words that came across my visor, I hesitated in sending my response. Before I could answer, my father closed the distance with another hug before he began to speak.
"I need to leave now Sohm. Your ship overhead isn't exactly filled with friends of mine… but I want you to know I love you. Stay safe out there Sohm."
Returning the hug with everything I had, I felt tears reach my eyes when I realized this was another goodbye.
"I love you too dad."
All too quickly, he broke the embrace and made his way around the corner.
"Murmillo, status."
I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew what the correct response was, as there was no telling what that pirate queen would do with slipspace capable ships, but I knew that telling my commanders about what I just saw would also bring the Covenant down upon my own people even harder than they already were.
My mind made up, I focus on my communications, forming my response.
"Target was a false positive. Moving to the extraction point."
((*v*)/)
-Four Years After Enlistment-
"No! Stop touching that! … Yeah you!"
The skittish unggoy drops the plant he was rubbing against his face for some reason and backs away from me.
We were on patrol, guarding ancient forerunner ruins from…
"Hey! You! Don't walk on the stone!"
Ourselves.
I was in charge of an unggoy division that was tasked with making sure no heretics stepped foot on the holy grounds nearby.
I knew that keeping track of every single one of them wasn't ideal, so I came up with an easy system to let them do their own thing mostly, but once I yelled out the code phrase, they all needed to line up.
There were rules, of course, but thankfully most of them stayed away from the plants that caused them to break out into a rash.
Watching as an unggoy began to furiously scratch at the exposed parts of his face, I shook my head before pointing him towards a small pond nearby.
Hearing a loud splash, I began to examine my surroundings for the thousandth time that day.
The ruins themselves were definitely not your typical Forerunner hyper advanced facility. These were ancient ruins that eroded over time. The yellow worn stone buildings lining a street that seemed to be overgrown with different plant life that wished to claim the land as its own once more.
Thankfully, due to how remote this system was compared to normal Covenant space, and also how the stone ruins held no advanced technology, this posting was the most relaxing yet.
Honestly, compared to all the chaos I've gone through these last four years, a few weeks babysitting some rookie unggoy guarding an ancient stone town is like a vacation!
"Stop touching the statues!"
"Eep!"
Thankfully, I knew that my post here was almost done. Looking up, I could even see the small dot that signaled the approach of a phantom. Feeling relief filling me, I turned back to the unggoy.
"Code red!"
Watching as several unggoy stumble over each other in their attempt to reach me, I laugh as they all make their way into a line.
"Red!"
"Line up!"
"Nap time is over!"
Watching as the grouping of twenty one unggoy all lined up, one soaking wet, I waited for my relief.
Watching the ship make its slow descent, I began to feel relief fill me. Today was a day I could fully relax on the ship, with no duties and no training planned.
Eventually, the ship opened its gravity lift, and a single kig yar major stepped out. Passing each other, the two of us nod before I step back into the same lift he just exited.
"Alright listen up! I don't want to hear any of you whining when I-"
The hiss of the hatch closing cut me off from the rest of his rant, allowing me to relax on the ride back.
((*v*)/)
—Five Years After Enlistment—
"We have actionable intelligence that a group of slavers are using this facility as a base of operations."
Looking at the holographic display on the bridge, I see a zoomed in picture of a cliff side facility. I didn't quite know what was inside, but in the end it didn't matter. Slavers are the worst of the worst among the galaxy as far as I am concerned.
"The objective is to secure that facility and capture any of the people inside or around it that you can, slaves or slavers. Once done, we will interrogate and imprison the lawbreakers onboard the ship. Any of the slaves will be brought back to their home planets. Understood?"
Giving a salute to the shipmaster, I hear the similar thump of fists impacting armor next to me.
"Yes Shipmaster."
"Good. Get it done."
Bowing our heads respectfully, we begin to make our way to the hangar.
Next to me were my two commanders, whom I have grown close to over the last few years. Thankfully, Rtas cares more about results than caste which allowed me to move up quickly through the ranks as he promoted me to the rank of champion not all too long ago.
Glancing down to my golden armor, I began to feel pride filling me. It's only been five years, and yet I've reached much higher than I thought I would within my first contract.
Over the years, the anxious feeling that I needed to be prepared for the inevitable first contact with humanity nagged at the back of my mind.
Knowing that one day I would have to fight against those I deemed brothers in all but blood filled me with anger and frustration. The thought of crossing blades with Bero on the field of battle, not as mentor and apprentice, but as enemies filled me with a sense of dread that I have been pushing away and ignoring.
Every time the thought came up, I always put it off as something that I would only have to worry about in the distant future. The constant reminder that I still have made no actual progress in stopping the apocalyptic war looming over my head, but also the striking reality that I couldn't do very much as I was. Champion was the highest rank that I could attain as a t'vaoan, and I wasn't moving any higher where I was.
Thinking about how best to influence the events directly, I thought about trying to apply to become a shipmistress.
The only ships that were typically given to kig yar were either small frigates, or missionary ships. Both of those options were not exactly game changers on the battlefield, but beggars can't be choosers.
I knew that soon my contract was nearing the end of my service term, and I could reapply for a specific duty section. My combat prowess and battle history at this point were exemplary. I knew that I should be able to get my own ship at this point, but in the end I still have to complete my contract first, something that expires at the end of the month.
Sadly I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't even notice we had already arrived in the hangar. Glancing around in confusion, I saw that several sangheili were filing into a phantom already.
"Sohm, are you well?"
Looking up to my mentor, I give him a disarming smile.
"Yes, I'm fine."
The swordsman examined me closer for a bit before he grunted and gestured towards a banshee.
"The commander wants you to provide close air support on this mission, then meet us at the entrance of the facility."
Feeling my fake, disarming smile morph into a giddy grin, I nod before making my way to the banshee. Climbing into the vehicle, I close the hatch and do my normal pre flight check.
Checking off all the marks for fuel and armament, I begin to follow closely behind the phantom that carried my lance.
After all, I don't need to worry about any of that until my contract ends.
—Author's Note—
Alright so, this chapter is odd.
I spent a few days simply debating on if I want to simply skip 5 years ahead to the point where I wanted to be, or do something similar to chapter 3.
Obviously I ended up with the latter, but not after writing about 3000 words, only to realize that I'm literally jumping ahead without explaining anything.
I will go over her training in full next chapter, and also do a basic summary of what happened that you didn't see, but it basically boils down to this.
She can snipe, she can fly, she can fight in close quarters. She ranked up to Champion, but she doesn't have shields.
I couldn't help but feel this chapter was filler, but I feel like it was filler with a purpose. If I just jumped straight ahead and went "boom! She's stronger!" I feel like that would be both jarring and not creative of me. So here you go.
Next chapter we are back to the plot.
Also, yet again, It is 2 AM and I have work... later today? Tomorrow? Eh, whatever. I haven't checked or edited this yet. I'll look it over when I get off.
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