Warning: If you copy/plagiarize any part of my story, you will be prosecuted to the maximum legal extent. If I can't really do anything to you legally, I'll just flame you and/or report you, unless it was honestly a coincidence. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine. Klasz Hakamamee (the name) belongs to Mr. Xiran and the character itself belongs to Bungie and Microsoft. Yes, he let me use the character, so don't flame me.

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated FOREVER, but I had to deal with a lot of problems , (including my computer shutting down and me having to get a new one, family members funerals, and complete and utter laziness) but I' m finally back on track. I decided to rewrite the second and third chapters before posting them, because they were kind of lame. I'd like to thank my friends, for telling me to keep on writing, especially are favorite Halo Fanfic writer, Mr. Xiran! He's my favorite Fan fiction author and his main story "Halo 3: Fall of the Covenant", is going to connect with my story of Klasz, (who I helped him originally come up with) so tune in to both of our Fics. Now then, on to the show! Note: Recently my dreams came true and the HGN (Halo Graphic novel) was released a long with Half Jaws story and true name, Rtas' Vadumee. Sadly, this makes my story make less sense P. I decided to change my story up a little and had Klasz become Rtas. Of course, this doesn't mean that Rtas wont take on the alias Klasz ) Just read to find out. Special thanks to those who gave me their suggestions.
P.S This chapter has recently been revised by me, Noah. Enjoy it.

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Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit

Chapter 1

Lesson one: Mercy

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The briefing room of the dropship glowed dark blue and violet, illuminating the area and setting the scene. In the crowded room stood nine Sangheili, seven of which wore leather-like material around their body and no helmet, signifying that they had not obtained a typical rank in the Covenant army yet. The other two were of nobler ranks; they wore deep azure and dark red colors, standing high over the new Sangheili. Rtas looked up upon his leaders, standing silently among his peers. Off to his left stood one of his oldest and most loyal friends, Yzeree. Yzeree was slightly shorter then Rtas, his eyes a dark black color, his build was skinnier in truth then most other's of his race.

Rtas's green eyes drifted slightly to the side of the dropship were he spotted the barren wasteland of a planet, named Bezakumem by his race. This planet was previously the main base camp of the Heretics, who gathered potential soldiers and supplies from this station. Rtas was sent to the base with a handful of academy trained Sangheili to hunt down and capture the now fleeing Heretics. They had supposedly taken fifty Unggoy with them to escape with, possibly to either brain wash or use as some form of hostage. Impudence.

Along with Rtas and his fellow new recruits, the two high ranking Sangheili were to make sure the enemy didn't escape off planet, as well as to give orders to Klasz via COM link. The blue armored Sangheili was known as Zoka 'Xavémee, who Klasz had never known until this point. The red armored Sangheili was the officer who trained Klasz and his group, and his name was Kakuz 'Sanamee, a warrior he had many scars from his brutal time in the Covenant military.

A sudden rocking of the Spirit drop-ship indicated that it was nearly time to drop off the units aboard. Zoka 'Xavémee shouted to the warriors in a gruff voice, his mandibles clinking together loudly as he uttered his speech, sending out spit.

"Recruits! Today is your day to prove your selves to the Covenant! You shall go down and hunt the Heretics, and let not one draw breath from its unholy corpse!"

'Xavémee raised his fist for emphasis, as Sangheilis usually did. The pilot shouted for the recruits to get into place for the landing. Klasz followed the order and put his arms in an "X" shape as he got into position for the drop, his knees bent and ready to absorb the shock from falling to the hard ground.

"When you drop off, you will be supplied with seven Ghosts in order to rendezvous with the Unggoy that were not captured; they are the ones who alerted us of the Heretics fleeing their base. When you find them, radio me in and we will come down and pick you up A.S.A.P. May the grace of our ancestors be with you, and let not fear or indecision stop you!"

With that, the dropship doors slid open and the Sangheili recruits got out from both sides, jumping onto the hard dirt ground. The ship dropped off Ghosts for the Sangheili warriors; they dropped to the ground with a thud as the dropship called Spirit's doors slid shut. Rtas looked as the ship left the atmosphere, spiraling upwards until it was nothing but a speck in the distance.

Fortunately the oxygen on the planet was breathable, and the atmosphere was normal, that simplified things a bit. Rtas looked at his fellow soldiers, and decided to call the foot soldier Unggoy who had spotted and were tailing the Heretics on the ground. The radio made static as it connected with the small foot soldiers.

"Unggoy, this is Rtas of squad division alpha, tell us your location and that of the Heretics."

As calmly as Rtas said this, he felt anticipation about his first mission. His hand drifted slightly to his Plasma Pistol, resting on the butt of the weapon.

"Excellency! We are currently using stealth to track the Heretics. There are four Sangheili Heretics and about fifty or so Unggoy with them! Three of the four Heretic Sangheili are armed; the grunts have four plasma pistols. We are nearly twenty kilometers south from your location."

The Unggoy's voice was both high pitched and excited, but Rtas could sense the nervousness in it even over the COM channel. Either way, he was pleased with the results that were coming through. Rtas clicked his mandibles in glee; the heretics were only seven or so minutes away from them if they rode their Ghosts. Not only that, but they were virtually equally matched with fire arms. Rtas was however, suspicious as to why the dignified Covenant soldiers didn't just attack with a larger group and wipe them all out.

"Perfect," Rtas growled as he walked toward his Ghost and gave the hand signal to the others to get to their own vehicles, the raising and dropping of his fist. "You shall be well rewarded for your duties, what is your name?"

"Zakwaz, your Excellency. But I don't deserve such an honor."

"Nonsense. Continue tailing them, but do not allow them to realize they are being followed. We shall be closing in on your position within seven klicks."

Rtas shut off his COM link, and proceeded on to his Ghost. Yzeree was behind him to the side. He led the Sangheili recruits in a "V" shape, him in the front followed up from units on the sides. Yzeree didn't turn his head, but muttered in his raspy voice to Rtas,

"Good hunting, dear friend."

Rtas raised his hand, returning the favor.

"As to you, comrade."

And then they were off. Passing large rocks and dirt, their Ghosts hovering a mere three feet off the ground. They plunged through the dirty landscape, passing various rocks and small hills. The twin suns of the dirt planet shone on the alien warriors as they made their way towards the Heretics. After passing over a deep trench, Rtas ordered the others to slow down, so that the humming of the Ghosts turned to a soft whine, sensing that they were finally near.

This mission required stealth, and the object of surprise. Rtas found this sort of thing interesting, and decided to not screw his first mission up by not be cautious enough. Using a tracking device that he had kept in a pouch, the Sangheili monitored the area, and found that the Unggoy were right in front of them. Possibly past a hill ahead of him, they were moving slowly.

After crossing through a short distance more, Rtas made contact with Zakwaz. At first, all the young recruit could hear was static, but after a few moments he heard the familiar barks and shouts of the Unggoy soldier.

"Zakwaz, we are approaching your position and are radioing in Zoka 'Xavémee to take control of the situation."

"Yes, Excellency."

Rtas quickly switched his COM channel to Zoka, speaking as deeply as he could, indomitable respect showing through his words.

"Commander, we are at the rendezvous' spot with the Unggoy team. We are near the Heretic's. We believe they are trying to flee to their ship. Waiting for your orders Sir."

He could hear Zoka 'Xavémee anticipation over the COM link, one that always came when a warrior was about to catch his prey.

"Good, good. We have effectively cleansed the area of all Heretics trying to leave the atmosphere. We shall be arriving on your position soon, hold tight."

The COM link turned off and Rtas waited for his leader to arrive. Fingering his pistol again, Rtas clicked his mandibles together tightly and looked at the team he was in.

It consisted of the seven Sangheili recruits, many of which he recognized from the academy, including Yzeree. Out from the distance the young Unggoy appeared, along with him two other's in bright yellow armor. Zakwaz himself wore that of a more veteran red sort of armor. They waddled up closer, sniffing the air and bowing their heads to the Sangheili upon walking over the dirt. Of course, no Unggoy could ever become close to ranking with a Sangheili. Rtas wondered if he was ready yet, if his training would be enough. The doubt was instantly extinguished from his mind as he spotted the incoming dropship, Spirit. It was difficult to see at first, and he hadn't heard it from afar as it was humming lowly for stealth. Nearly touching the ground now, the dropship halted and out of it jumped Zoka 'Xavémee, his blue armor shining in the sun. The dropship flew up towards a nearby mountain in the north. Zoka 'Xavémee strode towards the Sangheili.

"Alright recruits, form up. Unggoy front, Sangheili behind them. The Unggoy will provide us cover fire from the accursed Heretics. We shall pursue them on our Ghosts, but when we get closer we will continue to hunt them on ground to avoid detection, let's go, go, go!"

Rtas followed Zoka in the hunt for the Heretics. They had traveled for nearly eight minutes but in this time had gained on the Heretics and managed to sneak to the side of them, hidden by the mountain. At this point, the Sangheili ditched their Ghosts off to the side of the mountain, hidden by rocks and trees so that they could pursue on foot.

Ah! Rtas realized now exactly why they had left the Ghosts. Not only were they not stealthy enough for the strategy, but they couldn't make it through the rocky terrain of the mountain side easily. He felt stupid for not really thinking about it before.

The Covenant warriors had made it past the Heretics by using the mountainside. Now they stood approximately fifteen feet above the Heretics on a ledge. The Sangheili crouched and quietly sneaked further ahead of the Heretics, who were moving at a steady pace towards the south.

Rtas noticed the Sangheili Heretics wore a yellow colored armor, and marshaled the Unggoy Heretics onward. They wore the colors of the Sangheilis home planet, Along with that; they carried plasma rifles, and plasma pistols. These Heretics were fairly well armed, at least for what Rtas had seen in his time and briefings on these things.

The four Unggoy Heretics mentioned earlier were armed with plasma pistols, and stuck close to their Heretic leaders, looking over their shoulders as they went. They wore the same armor of the Covenant, as they had just recently defected to the Heretics' side.

Rtas sneered in slight disgust. The Heretics had up taken the armor of their homeworld, and were disgracing their culture with their insidious acts of heresy. Oh well, they would soon be taken into Covenant custody. All would be as it should. Rtas thought to himself, as he paced himself, pulling his plasma pistol free of its harness in the name of justice.

This was the final fleeting moment he had heard so often about from his superiors, the moment before the decisive first strike. He braced himself, and followed the plan.

In that instant, Zoka commanded his Unggoy and Sangheili to throw their Plasma grenades down upon the Heretics as they were passing the Covenant strike force from beneath the rocky mountain side.

The Heretic Unggoy barely had the chance to scream as twelve plasma grenades landed in different sections of the line of Heretics. The explosion was massive. Blue fire lit up the area, blowing the small aliens off their feet and causing wide spread panic across the Sangheili traitors, who had managed to roll out of the way and assess the situation. As this went on, Zoka's Unggoy continued to hail grenade after grenade down upon the panicking heretics forcing them to split and try to take cover from above. Now even some of the Sangheili were throwing their grenades into well aimed spots.

When Rtas ran out of grenades, he and his fellow Sangheili recruits jumped from the ledge, landing near the Unggoy and Sangheili heretics. Rtas's job in the strategy was to eliminate as many heretic Unggoy as possible before moving in with his comrades to take out the Heretic Sangheili, hopefully cutting off the smaller creatures fire completely before they could strike back in a large force.

They began ripping into the remaining Heretics, their plasma pistols singed and burned through the traitors tough hides, their screams and roars of pain tore through the sky. Rtas smacked a nearby Unggoy heretic over five feet away were it hit a large rock, its skull crushed and leaking fluid.

Rtas had never been in a combat situation for real and it was invigorating. Still, he felt a great sadness killing the Unggoy. It was difficult to believe any would stray from the Covenant, especially noble Sangheili. He had killed animals back on his homeworld before to survive, but this seemed almost cold blooded. It was a tough galaxy they lived in.

Unfortunately, the distraction of grenades didn't last, and the enemy managed to retaliate. Plasma soon flew through the air, many bolts dangerously passing Rtas. One bolt stuck a recruit in the face, ending his life in a painful way, and causing him to fall to the ground screaming, his hands clawing for his face as he died.

Rtas fought with all the skill he had acquired from his days in the academy, his fellow recruits aided him, taking down multiple Unggoy and a Sangheili Heretic. The other two armed Heretic Sangheili dodged plasma by hiding behind a nearby rock, while the unarmed Heretic warrior rolled to find cover, instructing the remaining Unggoy to calm down. But it was futile; the Heretic Unggoy ran around uncoordinated and even ran into their own kind, crushing several of their own companions without meaning it in the bloody chaos.

Zoka jumped down and fired his plasma rifle at the rock which hid the two armed Heretics, as well as at several nearby Unggoy Heretics, silencing them quickly and painfully as the rifles plasma burned through their weak armor.

Rtas fired his plasma pistol in quick bursts, taking out enemies as he ran towards the rock, his fellow Sangheili covering him as he went, running faster to the final point of destination. He knew this move was reckless, but he had to get the Heretic Sangheili into the open, and it was the duty of the lower ranked to through themselves into the midst of combat to aid their fellow warrior.

Rtas rushed in and caught the enemy Sangheili off guard, firing a fully charged shot into the Heretics face, depleting its energy shields. The alien reeled back in pain as some of the plasma singed his face. Sadly, the plasma pistol burned Rtas's hand and was now overloaded from the heat and would take time before Rtas could fire it again. He dropped the weapon instantly as it starter to burn through his hand.

But the Heretic attacked back, blinded by the shot in the face he gave an under cut to Rtas's stomach with his fist. Firing his plasma pistol, he tried to aim for the recruits head but the plasma still stung his wounded face, and the plasma bolts cut through Rtas's shoulder instead. The Covenant Sangheili screamed in horrible plain, clutching his shoulder and falling to one knee. Purple blood flew from his mouth and shoulder to the ground, and his vision blurred for a moment due to the other Sangheilis superior strength and powerful blow.

The Heretic never got the chance to finish him, because plasma fire ripped through the Sangheilis side, and it fell down face first, its hand twitching. The final armed Heretic yelled in rage, and said in a harsh tone. "Brothers, can you not see that the Prophets are misleading you?!"

The Sangheili rushed at the injured Rtas, dropping its weapon in a berserk rage as it dodged more plasma fire from the Covenant. Rtas knew he would be unable to block or dodge the blow, and he thought he was going to die right then and there.

The Heretic's arm went to a swinging motion, and was about to nail the wounded soldier, only to be hit by Zoka 'Xavémee's solid fist. The Heretic was then hit by several more plasma bursts, courtesy of the other Covenant soldiers, ending his life quickly. Zoka kicked the Heretic down, and wiped his bloody boot on the soil.

With this done, the Covenant soldiers aimed their plasma weapons at the cowering Heretics, as well as picked up the fallen weapons left by the Heretics. Rtas could hear a few remarks from his comrades, most of them insulting the surrendering traitors.

The final Heretic Sangheili was ordered down on his knees, as well as the Unggoy that followed him. The Sangheili recruits gathered their dead; two Sangheili and one Unggoy. Rtas felt grief that they had lost those warriors, but was relived to see Yzeree still alive. The Covenant warrior's placed their dead soldiers' bodies in a pile, and resumed watching the prisoners.

Zoka called in the transport, assuring that they would be picked up soon. Rtas pointed his plasma pistol in the general direction of the prisoners, for if they moved they would receive a face full of plasma.

"Alright, congratulations warriors! Our mission was a success, we shall be leaving this dirt planet soon, and all of you have earned a place in the holy army of our Covenant! There shall be time to grieve for our fallen warriors, but that time is not now. Know that though they have died in battle and are now on their way to the great journey ahead of us."

Rtas knew of the promise, and those who died honorably in battle were blessed by going to the Great Journey. Rtas allowed himself to swell with pride, his first mission completed.

But Commander Zoka was not finished yet.

. All that remains..."

Zoka raised his plasma rifle in the direction of the Heretic Sangheilis face, right between the warrior's eyes.

"...is to finish this mess."

Rtas lifted his head in surprise. There was no reason to kill the unarmed prisoners; they were defenseless after all. What purpose would killing more men serve, were would the honor be?

Rtas lifted his mandibles to object, when Zakwaz spoke up and looked at his superior.

"Excellency, were we not to bring the Heretics back alive?"

Zakwaz gulped as Zoka 'Xavémee turned his head towards the Unggoy.

The blue armored Sangheili fired three bursts of white hot plasma into the Unggoy's head, taking him down.

Rtas's eyes widened in shock. Zakwaz was dead now and all because he had objected to killing the defenseless prisoners?

Zoka looked at the recruits and remaining Unggoy. He spoke in a dark voice, his eyes drifting from soldier to soldier before returning the Heretic Sangheili.

"Rule number one of the Covenant with prisoners..."

He aimed his gun back at the Heretic Sangheili, who showed no fear, perhaps a hint of sadness. And then Zoka fired his rifle in a sustained burst, and the Heretic fell.

"...we don't TAKE them."

Zoka turned and his eyes betrayed sadness and regret, but if this was what he was feeling he did not show it. Zoka took the liberty of taking the body of the fallen Unggoy and placed him by a large rock.

With that done, Rtas was forced to eliminate all the heretics along side his comrade recruits. They didn't look too pleased either.

The dropship was over the horizon and had taken the Ghosts as well. As the ship was loaded with the bodies of the dead or at least the Covenants soldiers including Zakwaz, Rtas looked at the dirt planet as they took off. He had successfully completed his first mission, and was most likely going to get some type of promotion. He had also learned that the Covenant was not big on mercy.

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A/N: Well, that took a LONG time...well, at least it didn't turn out terrible. I swear to have a chapter a LOT faster from now on. The chapters will be around 7 Pgs. Some longer even. Again, thanks to the help of Mr. .Xiran's editing. Oh well, Enjoy!