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: Bet you didn't think I'd update you guys with another chapter so soon, huh? Anyway, here is the next chapter in Rtas's story. I will try to update once a week, usually around Friday-Sunday. I can't make any promises though, because School seasons coming up, and I may not be able to write as much. At the very least I will put in around 10-20 chapters, each 7-20 pages long. Also, just for those of you who haven't checked out the revised prologue and Chapter one, Klasz's name has been changed to what it was revealed to be by the Halo graphic novel. Don't worry though, he will go by Klasz soon enough…
P.S: This is the revised chapter by me, Noah. Enjoy it!
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Rtas' Vadumee: Rise of a Recruit
Chapter 2
Alien Encounter
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The Prophecy came out of slip-space into the human colony known as Harvest with a slight rocking. Harvest's three orbiting planets had been glassed earlier by Covenant ships, leaving them barren deserts in the galaxy without any form of nourishment for species that might be unfortunate enough to live on them.
Rtas's stood in the command center, peering at the Gold armored Sangheili who stood in the center of an ascetically barren platform held in place by a latticework of opposing gravity beams. He was gazing at the ships data projections that appeared in front of him, their shimmering lights glowed heavily. He was sending a transmission to an enemy ship; apparently these "humans" were trying to communicate. What a primitive race, thought Rtas as he stood at attention.
Rtas allowed himself to pride his new armor, an azure blue color with a black stripe along the helmet's side. The name of the Sangheilis sacred wear was Tzoku, the material mined from the Sangheilis own home world, the name had been taken from a forerunner of legends in Sangheili mythology. It had been several months since he went on his first mission, and during the time up until now he had gone on various other missions, mostly boring or simple patrol through space with his superiors. But soon the drollness of not having a worthy battle was rewarded with a new enemy: The humans.
The Prophet of Truth had told of a great threat that would menace the Great Journey. Rtas did not know exactly how these primitive monkeys calling themselves humans could possibly harm the Covenant in any way, but he was happy with just having the chance to engage in true combat again. After all, there hadn't been many rebellions lately, after the fall of their base the Heretics retreated to hiding, and were soon destroyed by the Covenant's mighty force, few escaping the attacks.
Now a high private, Rtas could now lead lesser Unggoy and Sangheili then himself into battle, and earn the glory and honor that was sure to follow. He identified three human ships two of which were frigates and the third a Destroyer class, named the Heracles, Arabia, and the Vostok. They had prehistoric like metals, and their ships command centers could be viewed from the very front of the ship, an easy target unlike the Sangheili Destroyers who had their command centers deep within the heavily armored hulls of the ship, were Rtas was currently standing. Of course lesser Sangheili staff members were not allowed in the command center, but Rtas was a special exception to the rule.
They looked similar to the ships Rtas had seen from an assortment of briefings on the humans. When the Covenant had come and destroyed the Harvest Colony in the search for the Sacred Rings, they had encountered the creatures. The Covenant soldiers had instinctively vaporized them instantaneously, after knowing that the race was not of the Covenant and therefore potentially dangerous.
Rtas of course agreed with the situation the Shipmasters made. Since then, Rtas's holy sector, led by none other then his own Shipmaster father Alzeke' Vaduamee, was sent to make sure the human creature's worlds were burned to a crisp. Rtas was proud and fortunate to be under his fathers command. A Shipmaster was a very high rank within the Covenant, given to only the mightiest and holy of Sangheili, whose skills were tremendous in both physical combat and strategy.
Rtas decided to pay close attention to his father, as it could give him Intel as to when the next battle progressed. Alzeke' responded to the translated message calmly, and in a matter of fact tone, as though the mere human's existence was a blemish on the galaxy's face.
"Humans, you have disgraced our grand Covenant with your wretched existence. Your destruction is the will of the Gods…and we are their instrument. Prepare to be exterminated."
With that said, Alzeke lifted his arm and beckoned the signal to fire the plasma turrets, now aimed at the Arabia. Pulse lasers flew at the human vessel, beautiful white light hit its hull, and it went up in an explosion of pasty white and sapphire fire. The meters of armor plating boiled away, and a plume of ignited atmosphere burst from the breach in the ship's hull.
The inhabitants of the Prophecy's bridge cheered loudly, including Rtas. The pathetic human ships stood no chance against the supreme firepower of the Covenant destroyer.
The remaining two ships fired off salvos of missiles towards the Prophecy, only to be halted by the advanced shielding systems of the Covenant vessel. Rtas chuckled, admiring the great gift given to the Covenant by the Gods. The Covenant's Sangheili and ships were equipped with a type of shielding system which could halt nearly any attack, at least until the shields died.
As the destroyer's shields shimmered and went back to normal after the useless missiles impacted, the Shipmaster ordered another attack, hitting the Vostok with plasma torpedoes on its bridge; effectively crippling it and eliminating any possible options of escape. The Prophecy also fired at the Destroyer class ship, sending pieces of it flying through space, debris floating among the stars over the system.
The Sangheili warrior chuckled to himself, as he watched the pitiful human ship tried to escape. Its weakened hull and thrusters could not possibly make for a jump. As it limped through space, trying to move out of the alien's ships range, Alzeke' noticed something. The ship was actually going for a jump. But before the gold clad soldier could voice this, the ship got behind its companion vessel, and maneuvered its way out of the plasma that was sent crashing towards it. And in an instant, it disappeared on the radar.
The ship had managed to initiate a jump out of the system, to the Ship Masters great distaste. Fortunately, the other ship was not firing back or getting away. Alzeke' Vaduamee clicked his mandibles, deciding what to do with the remaining human ship. It obviously was going no were, and destroying it completely now could prevent them from researching this new species. Still, they would be exterminated in the end. Deep down in the Sangheilis heart, he knew they always would.
"Excellency, shall we fire on the human vessel?" asked one of the Sangheili on the bridge in control of the divine weapons the Prophecy had to offer. He looked into the green eyes of Alzeke', pools into a warriors mind. His hand was close to the controls, ready to fire at any moment.
Rtas's father turned to face him with the respect he deserved. Sighing almost lazily, he closed his eyes and responded in a hazy tone,
"No, that won't be necessary. I want you to send in several squads of our warriors all the way through their ship to search through their navigation computers in addition to the devices they have to possibly find more star charts of other inhabited human worlds. Besides, I believe that our warriors require a refreshing and invigorating battle..."
Alzeke' said the last part with his mandibles together, the equivalent of a smile for his race. The Sangheili in the ship cheered in unison and gratefulness. Finally a battle for them, after watching the human's ships get obliterated it was time to see how well they fought, up close and personal.
Rtas was most pleased with the chance to gain more honor, and began to step out of the room and make his way to the docking area of the ship when Alzeke' Vaduamee called him.
"Rtas', be sure to get many victories from the fight, and not to let your guard down. I am counting on you to return."
Rtas could feel the softness in his father's voice, and knew that those mere words met far more then they may have appeared to the average creature. What Alzeke said was not meant to be just an order, but an oath that he would bring honor to himself and return. Rtas was his father's only son, after all.
"Yes Excellency, you can believe in me to rid us of this scum."
Alzeke turned back to the ships Command Center, and told him to make his way to the docking area as quickly as possible. Rtas was only too happy to oblige.
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Rtas had boarded a ship with his fellow brethren and Unggoy. He sat opposite of his squad captain, a red armored Major known as Naku 'Malikzee. Rtas had gone on earlier missions with the Sangheili, and knew from experience that he was a well trained warrior and knew what he was doing, although at times could be almost overzealous.
Rtas was second in command of the little troop, which included two other Sangheili and four Unggoy. Of course it was not a large force, but Rtas was still proud of it. The dropship's doors slid shut, and it began rearing out of the cruiser, behind several other dropships which matched the one he was in. They were code named Spirit's, swooping in and dropping off units and then returning to pick them back up.
The dropships took off to intercept and board the frigate known by the humans as "Vostok", the human vessel was completely defenseless due to its systems shutting down from the previous attack. As the dark purpled colored dropship made its way through the stars towards the Frigate, Rtas mentally prayed to the Forerunners that this mission would go as a success, as many Sangheili did before battle.
With his prayer carried out, the young Sangheili secured his Plasma Pistol, and pulled out the blue plasma rifle he so favored. The weapon was beautiful to him, it's elongated style and the ability to rain holy fire upon enemy troops had its worth. Of course, as with most of the weapons it could over charge and burn his hand. He checked to make sure that the Unggoy were well equipped, two held Needlers, which would go into flesh and explode, a devastating effect. The other two held Plasma pistols while the Sangheili were all equipped with plasma rifles and the typical secondary weapon, the plasma pistol.
Naku 'Malikzee spoke loudly so that his whole crew could hear him, and in a deep tone that was not uncommon for Sangheili his age.
"Warriors, prepare for combat! We have little knowledge of these wretched beings, but we know they walk on two legs upright and use primitive technology. Still, you must be prepared for anything, don't let your guard down."
The group listened intently, consuming all that their leader said.
"Now then, we shall split into two groups to search through the ship. The Unggoy and Prezal' shall follow under Rtas's command, while Vekune' will come with me. We will regroup at the bridge of the ship, and go from there. Pick up will be called after wards."
As Naku finished, the ship had managed to dock near the back of the ship, an opening made by the plasma cutting tools, revealing the strange human dwellings. As Rtas got out his first thoughts on the human ship was that it was too crowded, and of the odd design. He pondered why the humans couldn't have made it much simpler, but decided to get to the mission instead of just sit and absorb the surroundings.
"GO, GO, GO!" Naku 'Malikzee yelled, and the soldiers got out of the drop ship. The warriors moved in through this part of the ship, which appeared to be storage for human weapons. As the two groups split down the halls, Rtas encountered a short creature running from him and his warriors, nearly five feet tall who barley stood over the typical Unggoy. From the briefings he identified this as one of the humans, and not too pretty of a species in his eyes at least.
The human had short shaggy brown hair, and wore an orange jump suit of sorts that reminded him of the Unggoy's regular attire. The creature turned and an expression of fear made its way onto its face. It raised a metallic object at Rtas with one of its hands, and pulled the "trigger" of the weapon.
A small projectile that flew faster the Rtas could see hit his shield, and it shimmered for a moment, only losing ¼ of its total power, causing Rtas to be slightly pushed backwards. Rtas yelled in his own language, and fired his plasma weapon in three quick bursts at the human's chest. The orange suited human screamed in pain, falling to the ground in a pool of its own red blood, and promptly died.
Rtas laughed at the pathetic human. It had fallen so quickly, that it was made abrupt to Rtas that these Humans could not take much punishment. Rtas's group of four Unggoy and the Sangheili Prezal'followed close behind him, their weapons ready to fire at a moment's notice.
At the end of the human armory was a door that slid open, revealing four of their kind outside of it. These ones looked different then the human that Rtas had killed just moments ago, these one had a brown colored metallic armor, and carried large rifles. Rtas knew then that these were the warriors of the humans, not the pathetic one he had encountered earlier.
One of the humans turned and looked as Rtas along with his group moved in through the door, and shouted in a language Rtas couldn't understand without the help of his COM device.
"Dear god! The aliens!! Their HERE!!!"
Rtas saw the other humans turn and aim their fire arms at Rtas as well as his warriors, the other human being alerting them of their presence. He would pay dearly for that.
Unfortunately for the human Marines, Rtas reacted faster then they could have predicted, rolling to the left and using the cover of an armored crate object. His soldiers followed him, as bullets pinged off of their shields and armor, falling harmlessly to the ground.
Rtas barked out in his own tongue, over the battle that was starting as bullets passed through the air.
"Kill the humans! On my mark, jump out and return fire!"
After several more of these human projectile bullets had passed, Rtas heard clicking, and took that time to retaliate with a vengeance. Using the large crates as cover, Rtas moved out of from the side of it and shot of a burst of six plasma shots at the nearest Marine, who had earlier shouted to his presence.
Backed up with support fire from Unggoy, the Marine fell, his gun and corpse clattering to the hard metal floor with an emotionless thud.
The remaining three Marines fired back, their bullets pinging off the Sangheilis shield, some of the fire hitting the wall. A round cut an Unggoy off guard, and blew him off his feet, its blue blood spurting across the walls as his corpse was sent tumbling through the enclosed space. Rtas rolled forward and crouched slightly to avoid more fire. Prezel and an Unggoy wielding a Needler felled another of the humans, who crumpled to the floor, needles exploding in the open spots of their armor.
Another of the humans screamed as several needles dug into his skin, causing blood to flow out.
"Damn, what the hell are those things???"
The Marine ran behind one of the crates in the room, his companion covering him and following as a plasma pistol's bolt hit him square center in the shin.
Rtas fired at the crate in controlled bursts, having him and his warriors move up. One of the Marines rolled out from the crate, and threw a small fragment grenade at the alien intruders. Rtas rolled forward, as well as Prezal avoiding the majority of the explosion and their shields absorbing the damage. The Unggoy foot soldiers were as not as blessed to have the energy shields that had protected their leaders.
The explosive had bounced of the wall, and hit one of the Unggoy in the face, blowing him away mere seconds later as it exploded. The last two jumped forward, and only got slight burns, shrapnel hitting them from the explosion. The human Marine shouted in victory, the other creature coming out and firing at Prezal'. Prezal's shields had already been weakened by the human grenade, and it soon flickered and faded, allowing the metal bullets to pierce their way through his armor and into his flesh, making their way through the leather before going through the young Sangheilis body.
Purple blood splattered across the wall, as the Sangheili reeled his head back from the blows. Rtas would not allow another one of his warriors die by these sniveling creatures, his anger magnified by his dead Unggoy foot soldier. Rtas jumped up in front of the barrage of bullets, and fired his plasma rifle at the humans in a deliberate burst.
Rtas ushered the Unggoy to get back up and fire, and they struggled to regain their footing. Several of the bullets managed to cut through Rtas's shields, and a few went into his flesh, purple blood oozed from his gash. Prezal' took this time to get back into the fight, his shields recharging as he fired his plasma back at the human soldiers.
One of the Marines took a plasma shot to the face from Prezal, screaming as he fell to the ground with a splat, the red blood surrounding him in a salty pool. The last marine pulled his rifles trigger, but all that came was a "click" sound. The Marine gazed in terror as he realized his clip was empty.
Rtas rushed past the dead bodies, gathering strength to his arm. The marine kept pointing the gun at the incoming alien in dark blue armor, hoping that there might be some chance there were still bullets in the weapon, but it was in vain.
As the human gazed up to the towering Sangheili, his face was crushed by the alien's fist and butt of the Plasma Rifle. The human fell down, his armor making a metallic sound as he hit the ground, his neck snapped.
Rtas relaxed, allowing his shields to recharge to max. He looked at the dead humans that lay a strewn across the floor in a gory mass, their weapons flung to the side or even still clutched in their dead hands. Rtas also looked at his own fallen warriors, one Unggoy had his arm ripped off by bullets, and the other was blown apart by the human's primitive grenade, resulting in an equally unsatisfactory site for any creature.
Sighing for his dead, Rtas commanded the remaining soldiers to follow him.
"That was an exhilarating battle, was it not?"
Rtas asked his fellow soldiers, turning his elongated head slightly to face his comrades. He hoped to lighten the mood of the dead; the stench was making him want to puke.
Prezal' lifted his head and chuckled, placing his rifle in its holster after checking to make sure of no survivors.
"That it was. These humans may not be quite as weak as we had thought, eh?"
The Unggoy simply nodded, not wishing to get involved any further. Whether or not the Sangheili noticed, they were starting to breathe again, and beginning to grieve for their dead. They waddled to follow their superior's anyway, not wishing to dawdle in the chance of angering their leaders.
After a long walk through the ship, Rtas encountered more human soldiers, but only in pairs of two, sometimes less. They were all felled quickly by plasma and needles, and soon Rtas had made it to the "bridge" of the ship. He saw the dead body of Vekune' near the doorway, the body had been riddled with bullets. Sadness came into his heart for the moment, but he allowed it to pass as he went into the bridge, carefully avoiding the dead corpse of his ally.
He was relived to see the dead corpses of five human soldiers and two humans in orange jump suits. At the end of the bridges command center stood Naku 'Malikzee, and beside him a human with long white hair, and a white suite with many medals of sorts on it.
Rtas guessed that the dead human beside Naku' was the Ship Master of the human vessel.
"Excellency, we have killed many of these humans as we made our way to this part of the ship. I have lost two of my Unggoy, but other then that we are fine. Awaiting your following orders."
Rtas felt several of the bullet wounds from the projectiles that made it past his shields and armor. Fortunately, his training allowed him to push the pain aside. After all, it's only a flesh wound.
Naku' turned to face Rtas, and said in his normal tone of voice,
"Good, I am glad to hear you had little casualties against these humans. Unfortunately, these vile humans managed to catch Vekune' off guard, but not before he took out a few with a holy grenade. I have managed to take the humans navigational data, we shall take this back to the Prophecy and have it translated. We must go immediately."
Naku 'Malikzee called in the dropship using his COM device telling them that they were on their way and to prepare to return to the ship, as well as that they had important human data. After closing the COM channel, Naku' had them form up and make their way back to the ship.
As they rounded another corner, Rtas spotted six human marines getting into a pod of sorts, apparently trying to escape from the doomed human vessel, which Rtas could feel falling apart underneath him.
Rtas yelled in his language and pointed at the fleeing humans. The Sangheili and Unggoy began firing at them, but most of them were in by now. As the last one was getting in, he fired his assault rifle in a long burst at the alien warriors, backing into the pod.
Rtas allowed the bullets to hit his shield, depleting it by about half of its original shield, Rtas moved up and broke into a run as the Marine started sealing the door. With all his strength, Rtas threw a plasma grenade into the closing room.
"Holy light!"
The grenade dropped in, and the doors shut with the human's face in panic. The escape pod flew off and exploded from the inside due to Rtas's grenade. Satisfied, Rtas rejoined his group.
"Excellent work Rtas! You shall be rewarded for your duties here."
"I was merely following my oath to the Covenant."
Naku' clicked his mandibles and had them move up, and into their drop ship. The ship began pulling away from the human frigate as its doors slid shut. Soon they were completely separated, and were heading back to their ship. They were behind the other drop ships, and would be pulling into the Prophecy soon. Rtas had finally been enthralled with combat, and had delivered a blow to the human forces.
In the ship, the Admiral of Vostok slowly died. As blood came from his mouth, he could hear the ship around him blowing up. No doubt the Covenant had left. After being shot in the chest by the plasma like weapon, the alien had smacked him down and crushed him with its massive hoof. The admiral had managed to delete all information about Reach and Earth; he hoped it would be enough. As the ship exploded around him in a blaze of white and blue, he closed his eyes...
To be continued…….
A/N: Well, there ya go. As you can see, the story will get better as it goes on, with more action as well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I liked it. Be sure to keep an eye out for my next one. Also, Mr. Xiran will no longer be editing my works, as he has told me I have improved enough to do it on my own (unbelievable, eh?). I thank him for all his help, as well as for making such a great fan fiction Halo 3 Fall of the Covenant