The Halo Universe belongs to Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries. But these characters are my own creation and cannot be used without my permission. If you do use them without my permission, then Tracer will disable your internet and ban you from Xbox Live. Enjoy the show.
The Sangheili 800 Squad
Chapter 2: Training Round
February, 2550 (Human Calender)
1213 hours
SSMB 800
The Sangheili 800 Squad's training grounds weren't actually above ground. Rather, they were in a cave for protection against the wind and ice.
It was split into three, smaller caverns which each held a different purpose. The smallest cavern held the firing range, where large targets were put up in the hopes of getting the soldiers to actually hit something. The longest cavern held the obstacle course, which Atar built himself. It was ridiculously complicated for such poor soldiers.
The largest cavern held what Repora, and the others once it had caught on, called 'the Map.' It was a complex of buildings that held military significance. Of course, they were all fake, but they were so realistic that one was easily fooled into thinking otherwise.
The largest building, right in the middle, served as a watchtower. Atar would stand in there during training, at the very top, so he could see what was going on at all times.
The base simulation was, however, way too big for six Sangheili. Rather, it was designed for battalions rather than teams.
"Alright men!" Atar snapped once everyone had gathered around. "Today, we will be doing a simple exercise: a game of capture the flag! You will be split into two teams. One will be defending the flag and the other will be trying to take the flag back to their base! I will decide what teams you will be split into and where your respective bases will be. Any questions?"
"Yeah," Zen said. "Why is this place called 'the Map'?"
"Honestly? We don't know." Atar replied. "Repora just started calling it that and it just caught on. Any more questions?"
"Why are we doing this?" Utarz asked.
"Shut up."
"Who'll be on what teams?" Tracer asked.
Atar thought about this. "Well Tracer, you and Zen will be the attacking team and Miara and Repora will be the defending team."
"Wait, Repora's going to be defending?!"
"Yay!" Repora said happily. "Although I prefer to be attacking in these sessions."
"Well, we are low on soldiers, Tracer." Atar said defensively.
"Why don't we just use Utarz, sir?" Zen asked.
"I've actually given up on training Utarz to be a soldier." Atar sighed. "So instead, he'll watch the session from the tower under my supervision."
"It's not as good as it sounds." Utarz muttered.
"Yeah, you're not on the ground where I can kill you." Repora sighed.
"Speaking of killing others, we don't have any training weapons." Atar added. "So the weapons we have will be the ones we use."
"What?!" Zen exclaimed. They didn't have training weapons?!
"Sir? Zen doesn't have a weapon yet." Miara pointed out.
Now that she mentioned it, Zen realised that everyone was holding a Covenant weapon. Atar had a Concussion Rifle, Utarz had a standard Plasma Rifle, Tracer had a Carbine, Repora had a Fuel Rod Gun and Miara had a human-made flamethrower. Zen was currently holding nothing.
"Oh yeah." Atar looked at Zen. "He needs a weapon. But we don't have much."
"What about that Needle Rifle?" Tracer suggested.
"Yeah!" Miara agreed. "I mean, it's functional and no-one ever uses it."
"Except that day when Repora tried to use long-range guns." Utarz added.
"That was the least damaging rampage I ever went on." Repora said.
"Very well then." Atar nodded and turned to Utarz. "Go get that Needle Rifle."
"Me? Why me?" Utarz asked.
"Because otherwise, you'll be doing jack shit! Now get a move on!"
Utarz grumbled and walked off. He was in no hurry.
About thirty boring minutes later, Utarz came back.
"What took you so long?" Atar snapped.
"I was conserving energy." Utarz replied. He gave the rifle to Zen. "Here's your stupid rifle."
Zen took it from him, glaring at Utarz as he walked back into place.
With that problem out of the way, Atar said, "Right! Now that we've solved that rather minor problem, let's decide what will happen. Attacking team, your base will be the science lab. Defending team, your base will be the grocery store. Move out!"
"Where's the science lab?" Zen asked.
"Follow me." Tracer said. Zen did.
When they reached the science lab, Tracer explained what was going to happen. "When you hear an alarm go off, that's our signal to start moving. Once that happens, we'll need to sneak around the back of the grocery store."
"Won't they be prepared for that?"
Tracer blinked and cursed. "Shit, they will. Alright then, we'll take the sewer system. They won't expect an attack from below."
"This place even has a sewer system?" Zen said in amazement. "Who built this place?"
"I did."
"You did?!"
"Yeah, during the time when it was just me, Miara and Atar. Once you get the power back on, the base takes care of itself."
Zen was lost for words. What was this guy doing in the 800 Squad?
An alarm blared. Tracer straightened up. "Let's go."
Zen nodded. They both went out of the door and to the nearest manhole.
"Utarz, where are Tracer and Zen right now?" Atar asked.
Utarz looked at a map of the Map and looked for two yellow, glowing dots near the science lab. He found them and said, "They're entering the sewers."
"What about Miara and Repora?"
"They're just standing there."
Atar brought up a Beam Rifle. The thing was actually damaged so that it couldn't shoot, so Atar just used it in place of binoculars. He focused on the grocery store and zoomed in. Miara and Repora seemed to be talking, although Miara's body language suggested that she didn't find the conversation to her liking.
Atar lowered the rifle. "So Tracer and Zen are trying to attack via the sewers."
"Hasn't Tracer tried that plan already?"
"That was when he was paired up with Repora. So it failed. This time, he has that Zen person…"
Utarz snorted. "What's so great about that Zen guy?"
"His records suggest that he's a competent soldier."
Utarz glared at Atar. He didn't know what it was, but Zen irked him for some reason. "Atar, maybe if-"
"General or sir!" Atar snapped.
"Whatever. Maybe if you weren't so old and senile, then you would know that he belongs here."
In response to this, Atar punched him in the face.
Tracer and Zen reached a fork in the sewers. There were two bends in the sewers, meaning that there were two ways to go.
Tracer looked at Zen. "A strategic option would be to split up. Two ways to go might give us an advantage."
"Agreed." Zen nodded.
They both turned and went the other way. Tracer was thinking of a battle plan. If he went undetected, he could just sneak around and grab the flag. If he was discovered, then he would have to knock out his discoverer and then continue to the flag.
He reached a ladder that reached to above ground. He climbed up and looked around. So far, nothing. This was good.
He climbed out of the sewers and brushed off some fake sewage. He ducked into a street and looked at his motion detector. No-one about. He looked at his map. The grocery store was about four cycles away in Direction X (About 80 metres away to the South). He could use the streets to avoid detection.
And that's what he did. He crept along the streets, all the while looking at his motion detector and map in an attempt to avoid confrontation with anyone. Especially Repora.
Suddenly, a little red dot showed up on his motion detector and he froze. That was definitely not Zen. He couldn't be here already.
Which meant that the dot was either Miara or Repora. Neither were ideal sparring companions.
Tracer gulped and held up his Carbine. He waited for the red dot to come close to where he was and then he spun around and said, "Freeze!"
It was Miara who was around the corner. She jumped and held up her flame thrower.
They stood there, staring at each other for about ten seconds. Each one was pointing their weapon at the other.
Then Tracer cracked, shouted, "NEVER MIND!" and ran off.
Miara lowered her flame thrower and sighed. This happened every single time…
Zen had barely crawled out of the sewers when he saw a red dot appear on his motion detector.
He immediately scrambled back in, wanting to avoid whoever it was who was coming near his position. He waited, staying perfectly still as footsteps walked over the manhole he was hiding under.
When the red dot passed by, Zen crawled out of the sewers and looked around, rifle at the ready. He looked at his map. He was close to the grocery store. He could just sneak by and grab the flag.
Zen crept along, eventually reaching the grocery store. The flag was just standing there, no-one guarding it at all. Sloppy.
Zen approached the flag and looked around, just to check. Then he grabbed the flag and took off back towards the sewer.
He almost ran into Repora, who was just standing there.
"Hello!" Repora said cheerfully. "I need that back."
Zen smashed the flag into Repora's head. Repora stumbled back and Zen dashed forward to the manhole. He quickly opened it up and jumped inside. Repora started to follow, so Zen quickly dropped the flag and got out his Needle Rifle. He aimed up and just as Repora's helmet showed, Zen fired at an angle to the wall.
Zen then dashed off. Since he fired at an angle, the needle would reflect off the wall and hit the wall. It was only one needle, so Repora's energy shield would survive the hit. The needle would only disorient him and give Zen time to get back to base.
He didn't notice Repora collapse with a hole in his helmet.
POOF
"Oh dear…" Heaven muttered.
"Well, that's a shame." Hell said sarcastically.
"What the hell?" Utarz muttered.
"What?" Atar asked.
"It's Zen." Utarz pointed to the map. "He's got the flag!"
"He's what?!"
"He's got the flag and he's heading back to his base!"
Atar rushed to the map to see for himself. Sure enough, the red dot that belonged to Zen and the blue dot that belonged to the flag were heading back to the science lab.
This had never happened before. During training sessions, the flag either got accidently destroyed, or everyone got lost. No-one had actually won in the training sessions.
It was a sad fact of their reality that this was effectively a breakthrough.
"Anything else?" Atar asked.
"Oh, he shot Repora in the head."
"Good."
Tracer wasn't lost yet, so that was a good thing.
He looked out onto the street. Miara was there, turning everywhere with her flamethrower. Right now, Tracer had climbed up on top of a building and was looking everywhere. Stuff like this usually happened during training sessions.
Quite frankly, Tracer was really annoyed that he lost his nerve again. This didn't used to happen when Utarz was in the training sessions. Tracer would just punch his face and walk on. In fact, everyone used to do that.
Just shoot her in a non-lethal area. Tracer told himself, turning around and aiming at her. Like the leg. Legs can heal. Slowly, easy does it…
Fifteen seconds of aiming later, he fired and missed her by several metres.
Miara stared at the point where the round hit the wall, then to where the shot came from. She then shouted, "That was an awful shot!"
"Hey, don't judge me!" Tracer shouted back. "I'm a reject!"
"I'm a reject as well, and even I can't shoot that bad!"
"I… well…" Tracer began.
The horn sounded, followed by Atar's voice. "The attacking team has won!"
Both Tracer and Miara blinked.
"Wait…" Tracer slowly, coming to terms with what Atar just said. "What?"
Both Miara and Tracer went to the science lab, where Zen was standing, waiting for them.
"What?" Zen asked in response to their stares.
"You actually managed to get the flag." Miara said in shock.
"…Yes…" Zen said uncertainly. "That was the goal."
"We know, but…" Tracer wasn't sure how to explain this to Zen. "That's never happened before."
"What do you mean?" Zen asked.
"Well… we usually lose our nerve, accidently break stuff, run out of time, etcetera*…"
Zen stared at him.
"We know." Miara said. "We're not that good."
Atar's voice sounded over the intercom again. "Tracer! Please help me and Utarz take Repora to the medical bay. He has a bullet wound in his head."
Zen double blinked. "Wait, what?!"
Tracer sped off. Miara looked at Zen suspiciously. "What did you do?"
"I… I shot him." Zen stuttered. "But I assumed his energy shielding would hold up!"
"We don't have energy shielding." Miara replied.
This statement took a few seconds for Zen to comprehend.
"You don't have energy shielding?!" He exploded. "You don't have the most basic piece of equipment that every Sangheili soldier has?!"
"You have a lot to learn about our squad." Miara commented.
February, 2550 (Human Calender)
1224 hours
SSMB 800
Tracer exited the medical bay, taking off the eyepieces he was wearing. Everyone minus Repora was standing there, waiting for the news.
"I've got bad news." Tracer said sadly. "He's going to live."
At this, everyone except Zen swore and complained loudly. Zen double blinked again.
"What?! But I shot him in the head without energy shielding!"
"Yup." Tracer said bitterly. "That's what the x-ray showed as well."
"Then how-?"
"Dunno. But he was talking to me during the whole operation, so he must be alive."
"Can I come out now?" Repora's voice floated in from the medical bay.
"Yeah, I don't see why not."
Repora strolled out of the room and said cheerfully, "Hello! You're a good shot!" He said to Zen.
"I don't believe this." Zen said disbelievingly. "You just cheated the demons of hell."
"Yup!" Repora chuckled. "Suckers. They won't be getting me yet! Not in this chapter!"
"Chapter?"
Utarz explained. "Repora is convinced that he can see the 'real world' through the…" He looked at Repora. "What was it, fifth wall?"
"Fourth wall, you dumbarse." Repora replied, annoyed.
"That is irrelevant." Atar butted in. "What I find fascinating is how well Zen performed in that test."
"That wasn't really anything special, sir." Zen said, trying to be modest. "A million other troops could do that."
"Exactly." Atar looked at Zen. "Competent soldiers can do what you just did. Not us."
"Well…" Zen looked at them all. "You can't seriously be telling me that you guys can't do that."
"We're in the reject pile for a reason." Tracer said. "We suck. More than any other troop in the Covenant."
"More than the Grunts." Miara added.
Utarz nodded. "Most of us can't aim for shit."
"And our strategies are poor at best." Atar added.
"And most of our equipment is broken." Repora chimed in.
"Courtesy of you, by the way." Tracer said irritably.
If Zen could've frowned, he would've. These guys seemed like a negative bunch of Sangheili.
"Well, then… if you guys suck so much, then why am I here?" Zen asked.
"That's my point." Atar said. "Why are you here?"
"Maybe command made a mistake somehow." Miara said.
"No." Atar seemed to be realising something. "If you failed all three tests, yet pulled off what any normal soldier can do, then I think it's much more likely that your test was rigged."
A feeling of elation and annoyance filled Zen. "That's what I've been telling everyone this entire time!"
"Who'd do that?" Utarz asked.
"Dunno." Atar said. "But I've recorded the training session, so I'll show it to command to show them their mistake."
"And then what?" Miara asked. "Will he get sent to another squad?"
"But he can't!" Repora protested. "He's part of the main cast now! He can't leave at the beginning!"
Everyone ignored him.
"Zen, follow me." Atar ordered. "We're going to talk to command."
Zen nodded and followed Atar out of the room. Hopefully now, he'd get the chance to go to a regular squad and fight the humans.
That left Tracer, Utarz, Miara and Repora in the room.
Utarz looked at Tracer. He decided that if he was going to say something to him, then he would do it now.
"Hey, could I talk to Tracer alone for a minute?" He asked the room at large.
"Huh?" Tracer asked.
"Okay!" Repora walked out of the room. "I have bombs to make, anyway."
Miara was a bit more stubborn. "Why?" She asked.
"Just because." Utarz shot back. "Why don't you go talk to mom and dad?"
Miara grumbled, but went off to do just that. She hadn't spoken to her parents lately and she reckoned she owed them a call.
Now, it was just Tracer and Utarz in the room. Utarz glared at Tracer, who looked back uncertainly.
"Can I help you?" Tracer asked.
"Yeah, you can." Utarz said simply. "I'm only going to say this once: stay away from my sister."
Tracer double blinked. "What?" He shook his head. "Can you say that again? I don't think I heard that correctly."
"Oh, you heard me correctly." Utarz said. "Stay the fuck away from my sister!"
"Right." Tracer glared back. "Why?"
"Simple. I don't want anything growing up between you and Miara. She's not gonna marry a doctor."
Annoyed now, Tracer snapped, "First of all, I'm a field medic. Secondly, what's it to you?"
"None of your business!"
"Neither is this." Tracer glared at Utarz. "Miara is free to make her own decisions."
"Yeah? Well how about you make a decision and make sure that nothing stirs up!"
"You have had two years to discuss this." Tracer said. "Why bring it up now?"
"Just… because!"
"Right." Tracer folded his arms. "Why would I heed your request?"
"Because if you don't…" Utarz raised his Plasma Rifle threateningly.
Tracer rolled his eyes. "Utarz, I've seen you shoot before. You couldn't hit a Phantom if it was right in front of you."
"I don't have to shoot you just to give a message." Utarz hissed. "This thing doubles as a pretty hard club."
Tracer tapped the Plasma Rifle.
It fell to pieces.
"It would double as a club," Tracer pointed out. "If you took the time to learn maintenance."
Utarz picked up the pieces in his arms and glared at Tracer. "Seriously dude… I'm warning you… stay away from Miara."
And then he stormed off.
Tracer sighed and went back into the medical bay to pack everything away. "Stay away from Miara." He repeated. "If he thinks of himself as the big man, then he must not have gotten past the written test.
"Atar, my man!" The Kig-Yar said dazedly. "What's up?"
"I see that they still haven't replaced you." Atar grumbled. "Can I speak to someone worth speaking to?"
The Kig-Yar looked at his screen. "Well, there's a Brute free on this other channel. Wanna chat with him?"
"No." Atar said bluntly. "No I do not."
"So what's up, man?"
"I believe that command has made a mistake in sending Zen here." Atar said, pointing to Zen.
Zen was usually okay with most Kig-Yar, but there was something about this one that immediately lowered his respect for him.
It was probably the stupid way of talking. It would set anyone on edge.
"A mistake?" The Kig-Yar said. "Naw, command doesn't make no mistakes."
"Trust me, they've made one." Atar said. "A big one."
"Can you, like, elaborato?"
"That's not a word." Zen pointed out.
"Zen is a competent soldier." Atar insisted. "He succeeded in our training program. No-one in our squad has ever done that before."
"He failed all three tests, man." The Kig-Yar said lazily. "He belongs in your squad."
"I believe the tests were tampered with." Atar said. "I don't know by who or for what purpose, but I believe that they were set up to make sure that Zen was put into the 800 Squad."
"Yes!" Zen pitched in. "That's what I've been saying all along! Someone wanted me in this squad!"
"Command is gonna need a little proof, ya know." The Kig-Yar said.
"And I've got some." Atar said, sending the video file of the training match. "I think it'll be all the proof you'll need."
The Kig-Yar looked at the part of the screen where the file showed up. "Do you guys mind if I put you on hold for a mo?"
"Not at all." Atar lied.
"Groovy." The screen went temporarily blank.
"What an idiot." Zen commented.
"You don't know half of it." Atar said. "I believe that he takes too many drugs. I feel myself getting high just by looking at him."
They waited patiently for a while. Then they waited impatiently for a while. The video wasn't long, surely he would've looked at it by now.
Finally, the Kig-Yar's face showed up again.
"Well?" Atar grunted.
"No-can-do." The Kig-Yar said. "He has to stay there."
Atar blinked. "What?"
Zen double blinked, then exploded. "WHAT?!"
"But, you saw the footage!" Atar said.
"Yeah, but he still has to stay." The Kig-Yar repeated. "The Prophets ordered it. And you can't make a Prophet mad, y'know?"
"But I don't belong here!" Zen raged. "I'm a COMPETENT SOLDIER!"
"Sorry, man." The Kig-Yar sounded slightly sympathetic. "Orders are such a bummer, right?"
The screen turned off.
Zen shook with fury for a moment at the injustice, then stormed off with a cry of anger.
Atar just stood there, frowning. "Why would the Prophets want him here?" He wondered.
In an old spaceship, a red Sangheili was monitoring the call. When it ended, he straightened up and turned to two shadows behind him, one large and one small.
"They've figured it out sooner than I predicted." He said to the shadows. "While this shouldn't cause any major implications to the plan, we should still quicken our operations, just in case."
"But we don't even know where this guy is!" The smaller shadow said. It was high-pitched and squeaky. "We don't have access to the Covenant database, specifically the maps. How are we supposed to find one guy on a planet that we don't even know the location of?"
"I have a few ideas." The Sangheili replied. "It'd obviously be a planet of little to no value far away from the main battle front. And the Covenant only has three planets like that, so that narrows down our search."
The larger shadow spoke with a deep, slow voice. "And once we do find Zen, how do we make him listen to us? He is deep, religious Sangheili, just like the rest."
"I don't know." The Sangheili admitted. "But we have to make him listen. Zen is one of the most open-minded Sangheili I've ever known. We need people like him. We need to make him realise the truth… even if it means forcing him to listen."
Author's notes
WELP, THERES A MYSTERY
*Or whatever the Sangheili equivalent of etcetera is.