Author's note: Ohhh finally chapter 7 :) Hope you like!!
Chapter VII – Betrayal
Duthaz typed in some encrypted messages and sent them to the Forerunner vessel, hoping they wouldn't see them as a human threat. So far, even though there were intense battles in the space around earth, they hadn't been attacked by any of the sides. He was tired and his head hurt from the several tests the humans performed on him earlier.
As the image of the greater beyond slowly passed by him while slowly closing in to the immense ship. He leaned back, let out a soft sigh and observed the several but swiftly dying out dog fights. It seemed that they were easily winning the orbital fights, it was simply too easy.
As soon as he heard a bleep he sat up again and stared at the screen where a small message popped up, "Duthaz 'Kinomanee, We have received your message and are surprised to learn you are still alive. We noticed you have managed to capture a human vessel and use it against them. Very cunning, we didn't expect less, please follow the guiding into the vessel.".
"How unnaturally kind…", he said softly as he placed his four-fingered hands on the controls and gently flew the ship in trajectory to the Forerunner ship.
Chakuth walked into the cockpit, he too looked worn out. It seemed his entire team was still quite in pain from the rough crash they endured. He had been hearing his holo-pad beep a lot lately, and eventually decided to turn it off, not really caring what could be the disturbance in his needed rest.
"As soon as we get a little refreshment stop and some Methane refills we can leave back for earth again.", the Unggoy said as he stood next to the Sangheili. The ex-commander nodded slightly and watched how the automatic guidance lights of the ancient vessel showed him his landing spot.
"For a piece of junk it's quite modern, don't you agree?", Duthaz said smiling faintly.
Chakuth smiled underneath his mask, "Now that you mention it, it is, isn't it.".
There was a long silence until the human Longsword fighter touched the deck underneath it and it was secured.
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The mood of Chakuth's team remained awfully low, no one spoke a word until they were asked something from outsiders, their answers were short and distant. And Kahlanx decided to remain quiet, even if others asked him things.
The atmosphere on the ship had severely changed, there hardly were any Sangheili or Unggoy, just armies and armies of Kig-Yar, Yanme'e and Jiralhanae, even some Lekgolo, but Kahlanx could easily identify those as the scum of his race, 'they who didn't follow ancient Lekgolo codes'.
As soon as they reached the gate to Truth's council chamber they were suddenly surrounded by an entire flock of armed Jiralhanae.
"You will be escorted to the prison cells, please follow without further ado."
Chakuth stepped forwards, "Excuse me? Prison cells? We didn't do anything wrong!!", he said surprised and slightly offended.
The Jiralhanae gave him a penetrating death stare, "Hold you mouth Unggoy, your race is no longer of service to the Covenant, all remaining leaders of the Unggoy race are to be neutralized or locked away until further notice.".
The High Commander gritted his sharp teeth and let out a frustrated growl, "I don't have to take this from a fur ball such as yourself! You don't outrank me at all, you're just a lousy Major, means nothing! Get out of my sight, I have to speak to the Prophet of Truth, NOW!", he shouted, surprising his team with his tenacity.
The Jiralhanae let out a huff, then growled and made some gestures to smack the Unggoy down. Chakuth noticed, ducked and jumped aside, drew his plasma gun and released a charged bolt into the back of the alien's head.
The team drew their weapons to take on the rest of the Jiralhanae. Kahlanx had no weapons, he just had the thought of his brother on earth, most likely murdered by humans, he had only hatred as a weapon.
Enraged, he smashed his armoured hands on the head of a unsuspecting Jiralhanae, crushing the helmet the alien had, and fracturing it's skull. He roared, ready to take them on.
Calith and Vemeth had positioned themselves back against back and shot anything that came to close to them, while Miph did his backstabber strategy. Duthaz was glad he finally had the time to shoot some Jiralhanae, he had been long wanting to give the hairy monsters what they deserved.
As soon as the 6 ape-like aliens were eliminated, Chakuth turned towards his team, "Well, if you didn't believe me before, now is a good time to start believing…", he said dryly.
Duthaz rolled his eyes, "Let's just go talk to Truth…", he said as he walked towards the bulkhead to Truth's council.
At the door Kahlanx smashed the controls that held it shut from the other side with ease. He stared at the Sangheili, nodded and waited for his team to enter first. To their utmost surprise Truth was the only one that inhabited the room. He sat in his throne, staring out over the battles in space, which his fleet, of course, were winning. A faint grin overcame his face, then he turned around to face the team he had sent into it's death.
"Why have you returned here, what's the point…", he asked silently.
Chakuth stepped forwards, his face grim and his burning eyes fuelled with the renewed hatred for the 'Holy One'.
"Why, why did you send them into their deaths, and why did you send me and my friends there, you knew didn't you?! I have been faithful to you and the Covenant as long as I have memories, why dispose of me so suddenly?!", he shouted, his high pitched voice resonating through the empty chamber.
The grin on Truth's face faded, his arms crossed, "Heresy, that's why… Your kind has the habit to turn against the Covenant, and your leading capabilities are a threat to us. It's simple, one of your pesky kind stands up for your rights and the rest follow like mindless puppets. It has happened before, and it will not happen again, which is why I have decided that the Unggoy are no longer in service of the Covenant.".
Silence, the five Unggoy of Chakuth's team stared wide-eyed at their former Prophet, "So you're actually saying, that the Unggoy on this vessel are all gone…?", Chakuth asked. "No, merely locked away until further notice, we're not yet sure what to do with your kind.", Truth replied calmly.
"I can't believe this, all the Unggoy that were left behind on High Charity… all just condemned to their certain death by the Flood… and strangely enough there are no Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar or Yanme'e there… coincidental isn't it…", Chakuth said gritting his teeth.
"It's been all one big lie, it already was kind of suspicious that no one knew that there was a life threatening parasite on the sacred rings, that thousands of Unggoy died as cannon fodder, just because you high-and-mighty liars thought we served no better purpose!!", Chakuth shouted.
"I've been watching how my kind has suffered from the orders of the Prophets, how the Sangheili and Jiralhanae, and even the more useless Kig-Yar have been using and sacrificing us for 'the greater good'. Well enough of that, if you want to get rid of the Unggoy, that's your business, Truth. But I will not let my kind be locked away until further notice. You will find out how useful the Unggoy can be, just watch me!", he said as he turned around, pulled his Fuel Rod Gun off his back and hefted in onto his shoulder.
"Anyone with me…?", Chakuth said as he turned his head back at his team. Miph already stood next to him with his plasma pistol in his hand. Calith and Vemeth, with a slightly scared Denakh walked towards Chakuth, shaking their heads slightly.
Kahlanx felt betrayed anyway, his brother had left him, he felt no obligations to the Prophets or Covenant for that matter, he slowly walked towards the small group of Unggoy, leaving Duthaz standing in front of Truth.
"You too, 'Kinomanee? Are you too leaving the Covenant?", Truth asked, not showing any signs of regret.
The Sangheili moved his bright orange eyes from the reflective floor to meet with Truth's eyes, "You have shoved my people aside, to make place for furry monkeys with no greater brain then that of the Yanme'e, yet you still want me to work for you?".
Truth's face showed no emotion, just a sly hand wave, then his throne descended further into the bowels of the ship. The silent honour guards stepped off the elevator plateau that had just descended and drew their weapons.
"Die, Heretics!", they shouted in unison.
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Xehn sat in a darkened room, his big hands placed on the ground. The pain he felt earlier from separating with his brother had gotten worse. His head hurt a bit and he had hoped the darkness would calm the pain.
"Humans, humans on our side… Us Lekgolo submitting our pride… it's awkward on it's least.", he held his head down, "Yet, we were forced to fight them… Fight or be extinct…".
He stared at his hands, "Though… these hands can crush a Prophet like a Yanme'e… why have we not tried…".
He clenched his hand and felt a hint of anger flow through his body, "Why… how could I live with the fact I have never even seen my home planet… How can I live with the fact that I've been born on a Covenant planetoid…", he rose, "Why am I doubting to bring them down…", he said with a low voice and walked out of the room.
The hall was filled with humans, they had to get used to the immense alien in the base, his strength was something that had cost numerous marines their lives. He was still young, but he had his fair share of human deaths.
'It's been enough… ', he said to himself as he pushed away some humans waiting in front of a bulkhead for clearance.
As he made his way through he found himself in the laboratory he had killed a human earlier. The female lab worker who had given him the translator worked here, he knew. She had her hands down on Covenant technology, "You, human!", he said as he noticed her standing over some computer monitors.
She looked at him, her green eyes priming at him, "I have a name you know, your kind is rather rude…", she said and looked back at the screen. Xehn clenched his fists again and growled softly, "The nerve…", he said as he walked closer, intentionally making the floor underneath her tremble.
"You're not intimidating me, Hunter.", she said dryly, not even looking at him while talking.
"Listen to me, human. I've decided to side with you now, and you just act like this in my presence, you have some nerve to not look at me while talking!", he stated, his voice lower then usual.
She turned towards him, pushed her glasses up and cocked an eyebrow, "Well, my, my, my… Such ego for such small of a brain. Enough tests have proven the human brain capacity to be at least twice the size of that of your kind. Don't make me laugh, and don't even try the 'rude' trick on me, it's not working.", she said and turned away from him.
He couldn't help but roar, charged towards her, and within a few unexpected seconds his big hands were gripped tightly around her fragile shoulders, "I don't lose my patience very often, but I guess this entire situation and this awful white light make me very uncomfortable. Listen to me, I need you… to give me some way to try and communicate with my kind within the Forerunner vessel, is that so hard for you to do for me? Or do you believe that my brain capacity doesn't understand 'Right Frequency' over 'Kill a human'?", his voice was cold, and had a very strict tone to it.
She knew, he was smarter then the average Lekgolo she had heard of on the field, and to annoy him more could result in a lot of damage. Not to her but certainly to her lab. "Fine, I'll get you something…", she said calmly as he winced from tight grip he had on her shoulders.
Xehn let her go, and rose carefully not to bump his head against the ceiling again, "Why do you doubt my intelligence…?", he asked quietly as she searched her data-pad.
"I don't really doubt your intelligence, it's just that your kind we have registered never really showed any significant battle strategy, but you're very different; not just in size and armour…", she said with her normal gentle voice.
"I'm a Behemoth class, bigger, stronger and bred for war alone… I have greater intelligence and had a different training. To put it simple, You had your Spartans, we have Behemoths…", he said as he looked around the room.
"I see… I'm learning so much from your team I couldn't dream of discovering from dead bodies…", she said and walked towards him.
He titled his head a bit, "I see…", he said calmly.
She smiled, "May I… please?", she asked and held a hand out to him.
"May you what, what do you want…", he asked her.
Before he had time to ask more her hand was pressed against his skin, carefully exploring his irregular skin pattern. "Amazing…", she said to herself.
Xehn felt horribly violated, "What's so amazing…", he said as he grabbed her arm and pushed her away from him.
She stared at him a bit shocked, then her face showed a glowing excitement, "The fact that you're not actually what we have speculated you to be. You're warm, you have a skin, it's not like a scaled cold skin like that of the Grunts, or a smooth hide like that of Elites and Jackals, I've never thought of your kind being as warm as you are…", she rattled.
Xehn felt a twitch, his hand, "What were you thinking…", he asked.
"There are theories about your kind consisting of worm like beings, that you were spineless and had no skin, but just a slimy membrane to prevent dehydration, and yes, we thought you were cold blooded…", she said and opened the bulkhead.
"Incompenten…", he felt her stare at him, shook his head slightly and followed her out of the room.
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Even though their resistance had taken quite the few Jiralhanae victims, they couldn't fight off a whole battalion of them. They had been imprisoned in the same block, no bars just a plasma field, deadly if touched. Chakuth sat close to the pulsating field and had his eyes cast down on the floor, his mind wasn't in the prison cell, but back on his home planet, in his beautiful swamp where he grew up.
Miph sat leaned against his friend, he was asleep, and Chakuth was always the one to serve as his pillow. He dreamt, Chakuth knew, occasionally he'd mutter some words about how good his skills were. It made the young Unggoy commander smile, his friend was quite the ego-tripper, but he was loyal to Chakuth and never let him down.
Chakuth inhaled and felt himself return to the prison he sat in, he stared at Kahlanx, who had settled himself in the farthest corner, he was quiet, he didn't move at all, almost as if he was dead. Duthaz 'Kinomanee was swearing, he had started swearing since they were locked away and hadn't stopped since. Even though Chakuth couldn't understand the Sangheili native language, he knew that the ex commander cursed, the tone alone was enough to identify the string of foul words the Sangheili muttered.
Denakh slept near Calith and Vemeth, who had talked about past war experiences. Even though it started like they would pick on the rookie Unggoy, they seemed to have taken him under their protection.
Chakuth smiled again, faintly, even though their future was grim and there was no way of breaking out of the cell they sat in, he didn't see the future as grim as it really was. He was learned by his father, a former Unggoy General, that giving up hope is like dying.
Kahlanx had his hands placed firm on the floor, occasionally his fist clenched and twitched, it felt like a forceful motion, but not something that came from his own body. He ignored it as much as he can, he had no intentions to think about a stupid spasm in his hand, it was his brother that mattered to him most. His brother was murdered by humans and he wanted to go back and show them that alone, Lekgolo could be just as lethal.
The sound of the doors opening at the end of the hall woke up Denakh, but Miph slept straight through it. Chakuth sat straight up and peered down the hall, where at least 6 Jiralhanae commanders waited for some sort of clearance. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the giant monkeys coming their way, 'Now what…', he thought as he carefully placed his friend on the floor and rose.
The highest ranking of the small group gave Chakuth a degrading stare, "Chakuth Zhetey, your and your team are found guilty by the council.".
"Guilty of what?!", Chakuth shouted.
"Guilty of heresy and siding up with the human race.", The Jiralhanae commander stated.
Duthaz rose, "What?! You have got to be kidding me!", he roared and walked closer to the force field, "Siding up with humans?! And just where did that bullshit originate from?!", he shouted, clearly very upset. The ape-like alien huffed a short laugh and signalled to shut down the plasma field.
As soon as the curtain of pulsating plasma was lifted, the Jiralhanae stepped inside and smashed the Sangheili to the ground with a single blow, "Justice has been served, split-chin… Take them to the execution chamber.", he said.
Chakuth fought as fierce as he could, but he had no chance against the massive monster that held his arms to tight. He looked back and saw how they had chained Kahlanx, their only hope, he had not even fought them and his head was contracted into his huge armour. All he could sense from the usually almost cheerful Lekgolo was pain and sorrow.
He had supposedly lead his team into heresy, and sided with the humans. He thought it over a few times and it became harder to understand every time it re-entered his mind.
'I'm so sorry… I'm so, so sorry…', was the mantra that repeated itself through his head. He wasn't sure who it was directed to exactly, but he could feel that, with every repeat of the sentence, his heart and body hurt more.
Miph hadn't spoken a word since he was ruthlessly dragged out of the cell, over the ground, and was later swung over one of the shoulders of the Jiralhanae. He couldn't stop thinking about Chakuth, and how it'd hurt for him to bear the responsibility of the deaths of his own friends. Usually only the Sangheili were forced into such trials, and he knew it was a lot of strain on the back of a young Unggoy with noble blood.
Even though Chakuth was able to keep his own given birth and family name, he knew it wasn't going to help him out of his current situation, like his father warned him once, 'There are some things, money and a high rank or noble family can't save you from.'
The Jiralhanae commander tied Kahlanx down with thick chains and magnetic force fields, which stuck to the Lekgolo like glue. Kahlanx' mind was blank, he felt nothing, just his childhood memories with his older brother, even though there was a war waging at the time he was born he still had some remarkably happy memories.
He slowly lifted his head to face thousands of Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar and Yanme'e cheering, and shouting at them. Not even to think about the hundreds of minor Prophets, mocking their previous attempt to kill the demon, which only resulted into getting the human off the ship. 'No, this is not how I have planned myself to die… this is not how I want to meet my end…', he thought to himself as he burrowed his head in his armour again.
A pack of Jiralhanae Honour Guards walked forward, they had ornamental weapons, Chakuth figured they were going to be skewered. An old fashioned way, but horribly painful, and if done the right way, it'd take long to die too. He closed his eyes and inhaled, feeling his eyes burn, "It has been a pleasure to have been in the same team with you, you guys…", he said softly, hoping they didn't hear him.
Just when the spear of the Jiralhanae was about to penetrate Chakuth's scaled skin the bulkhead doors to the chamber got blown off. A huge flock of massive sized Lekgolo recycled their weapons, and the other division fired, killing the honour guards with their powerful weapons. Chakuth opened his eyes and saw how two Lekgolo had taken Truth as a hostage. "Release the prisoners, or Truth is going to be sorry he tamed my kind…", a heavy voice sounded, the Lekgolo representative and General, Zehkaz Gosu Lihx.
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Hope you liked, I'm working on chapter 8, I hope to post it soon :) Please keep R&R-ing :D