Awakening

27 years ago: 9th Age of Reclamation [January 22, 2525]
Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment, High Charity
Science Apprentice Naki 'Cimut

Michelle blinked repeatedly, her eyes were blurry, and she was having a hard time clearing it. She was not sitting on the couch anymore, instead she was lying down in bed. At the edge of her recent memory, she recalled a void enveloping her and Nathan, and then nothing. Now she was in a bed in a very purple room. A small block of indigo light shined at her face from her stomach.

Rubbing her eyes, she felt something off about her face. Not only her face, but her hand only had four points of contact. No hair fell down into her face or was felt through her hands. Something was very wrong. Her mouth dropped open, and she felt it split apart. It felt so normal for her biology but so weird mentally. She brought her hand down in front of her face and blinked.

Two fingers and two thumbs, grey leathery skin, not the tan skin and five fingers she had expected. She stared at it in confusion. It felt right but looked wrong. Then it clicked; it was the hand of an Elite, a Sangheili, an alien!

Michelle screamed and shoved herself off her bed. Whatever had been on her when she woke was launched across the room. She collapsed to the ground in a heap, her legs and mind failing to communicate properly and hold her weight. Crumpled on the floor, Michelle pushed up against the bed. "Holy shit, holy shit, this can't be real." But all that audibly came out sounded vaguely like spoken English. She did not know how to even talk in this form.

Leaning against the bed frame, she felt double heartbeats in her chest going rapidly beyond what could be considered normal. She flexed her fingers and just stared at her hands as moments passed. She was scared and confused.

Suddenly a splitting headache rolled through her skull, and like that new information trickled in to her brain. The basic understanding of how to walk with her backwards legs was present, only they were not backwards legs anymore; they were her normal legs. Memories appeared and rooted themselves in place. She remembered being a child and running through deep forests, homes, fields, and into the arms of a Sangheili father and mother. Her name, Naki 'Cimut, practically fell into her lap.

Everything she should remember as Naki 'Cimut was finding places in a fragmented mind. Culture and language.

The conflicting memories from the Human dream still held firm to where they had latched themselves, but they were slowly starting to feel more dreamlike than they had seemed originally. She stood slowly from the ground and her legs strongly supported her now.

Naki sat back down onto the bed and rubbed her forehead. It had to have all been a dream. A very strong lucid dream. She figured it had to have been brought on by the rigorous classes she had been taking and the volunteer position to learn the human language. The Covenant had found a heretical species less than a solar cycle ago, and they desperately needed translators to understand the language. She had put herself up to it to help in the war effort while she studied to become a Scientist. Apparently, she had been putting so much pressure on herself that she had begun to dream that she was a Human.

"Well enough of that... I think I'll take a break from that for a while." She mumbled to herself. "That felt like a nightmare..."

Standing from her bed once again, she retrieved her data-pad that had been flung across the room. Something still did not add up in her head with her own conclusion. Curiously, she did a quick search on the Ministry data-net; the dream had a lot of Human customs that she was not sure she had learned about, plus this whole universe being a piece of digital entertainment like a game was very bizarre. Strangely none of the archives she had access to held any data on Human entertainment, or super soldiers her kind had called Demons. The knowledge the dream had left her with was not in any resource she could find.

The bit in her mind that held onto the truth of the dream memories pulsed to the forefront, but she shoved it back down inside. Crossing into another world and body was crazy talk. Naki tossed the data-pad onto the bed and walked slowly over to the window.

The world beyond appeared to be a sunrise over red sandstone cliffs, probably somewhere near the coast on Sanghelios. It was a warm and welcomed sight, but she reached out and tapped a holographic tab floating beside the window. The morning light flickered away to what truly had been hidden beyond the glass. The massive city at the center of High Charity sprawled out before her. It was a beautiful view. The Gods' vessel sat in the center of the city directly below the harsh white light that illuminated everything. She was truly blessed to have the chance to study here at the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment.

Behind her, the door chimed open, and a small creature waddled in pushing a hovering cart. It was an Unggoy, they were humming a little tune to themselves but stopped as soon as their small eyes saw her by the window. "Apologies, miss superior! Nipap hoped to have armor back before you rise." He shrank down behind the cart in fear.

She could detect a bit of worry in the high pitched voice. "It is fine... I woke early..." Naki took a moment to think of a reason that did not have to do with the dream or other life. "...to enjoy the view a bit before I was needed." She smiled, that worked.

"Oh... okay miss superior ma'am." The Unggoy visibly brightened. He pushed the cart up to an open socket on the wall and walked out the door without another word.

The cart silently slid up the wall, and once vertical the lid opened to reveal a set of light green armor. It was her armor, a light set for students to wear while on field exercises. It had everything the full size sets had, only at a lighter weight and smaller shield capacity. She would earn her full armor set when she graduated. She ran her fingers over its glossy surface. Everything still felt like she was seeing it for the first time, no matter how absurd that notion was.

There was a ping behind her, and the wall of indigo lights shifted and formed a holographic computer interface. A message had just come in from her field operations teacher. Naki remembered Science Major Agu 'Roniee as a tall female who was fearless in the face of anything they could find in a Forerunner ruin.

Naki opened the message and scrolled through its contents, there was a whole line of notes and messages from the Major, and the recent message was an invitation.

Students:

Forerunners be praised. A new Forerunner temple on Virtuous Sanctum has been uncovered. I was able to petition the Ministry of Discovery for our study to be the first inside, and the Ministry accepted. It appears to be another dwelling structure and may even have some powered functions. I know many of you have other studies to complete, but I will have you excused for this wonderful opportunity. Early hands-on experience is valuable for any field researcher. Meet at the courtyard landing pad after the breakfast bell. Bring your field gear of course.

Science Major Agu 'Roniee

Naki stepped back and read the message again. On another tab, she brought the planet Virtuous Sanctum up onto a star map. She had not heard of it before, in either memories. According to the star map's data, it was an old, albeit ancient, and small Sangheili colony on the edge of patrolled space. Mostly agricultural. No wonder they had taken this long to unearth the ruin. It would be a good distraction for her head.

She walked over to the armor and slipped out of her clothes and pulled on the bodysuit that had been neatly folded in an adjoining cubby. It smelled clean and felt cool, all thanks to Nipap of course. Naki pulled on the armor, making sure to strap everything into place securely. If she could not master a simple set like this, how would she ever be able to wear the real thing? A bag sat in another cubby, and she loaded it with some exploration tools; a flashlight, a roll of old fashioned rappel cord, and some physical paper in case she lost her data-pad somewhere. She would be able to get any other supplies she needed when they arrived on site eventually, at least that was the hope.

As she headed out the door, her eyes spotted an unwrapped package on the table nearby. She had almost forgotten it with all the uneasiness that the day had started with. Naki grabbed the new thigh holster for her data-pad and strapped it on. It had been a gift from her mother back on Sanghelios; locally made from Colo leather, it was water resistant and had plenty of other pockets for anything she might need.

Out in the hallway, she passed an inscription on the wall. The mission statement of the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment; We Sangheili serve the Hierarchs in the exploration and study of the Gods' artifacts with their grace. To continue and advance the march to Glorious Salvation. For the Covenant, for the Great Journey.

The Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment was founded during a particularly brutal Age of Conflict nearly one thousand years ago; its purpose was to teach a select group of Sangheili how to properly discover, research, and implement the technology the Gods left behind. The San'Shyuum Holy Stewards had been becoming fewer in number and were too valuable to risk in field expeditions or being deployed with the fleets. So they began to teach Sangheili their ways, and eventually, graduates from the Ministry began to teach new apprentices themselves. Now only a small handful of Stewards oversee just the specialized classes.

The Ministry works with every single other Covenant research and military focused Ministry. Many of Naki's classes were all about the proper procedures and dictates needed by each one. Part of the Ministry's deal with the others was that their representatives would have operational command of sites as long as they were following the agreed upon procedures.

Naki was training to be a field researcher; someone that went in with the first wave to explore and document holy sites before they were fully secured and possibly damaged. She had been receiving advanced combat training, more than a female would normally get, so that she would not be a liability on the field of battle. If Naki had desired something less... exciting, and safer, she could have followed the path of a Steward Assistant. It was a poorly named position, the Assistants did not spend much time with Stewards anymore; they mostly served in the many ministerial labs or at sites with a field researcher that had been well secured.

She found her way to the ministry cafeteria which was crowded with other Sangheili wearing a mix of cloth uniforms and armor like hers. The cafeteria had a row of bay windows that opened to hanging balconies that overlooked the city with a breathtaking view. Over at the kitchen window Naki grabbed a plate of Salam'is, which was fried sausage wrapped in a pan fried pastry; it was one of her favorites.

She glanced around the hall, it both feeling brand new and warmly familiar to her. Seated over by the windows were two Sangheili that Naki recognized as Kalo 'Naman and S`er Velum. The memory of their meeting popped into Naki's mental eye. She had met them during her first year and found that they were all from the Verano region of Sanghelios; Naki and Kalo were from the state of Zelso, and S`er was from the neighboring state of Koros. Naki brought her tray over and plopped down into an open seat across from them.

"Good morning, Naki." Kalo greeted her, then looked up into her face. "You look absolutely tired."

Naki nodded and sighed, "I had a nightmare last night." She mentally debated whether or not to go into detail about it. Kalo and S`er were her closest friends, they had known one another for a few years now. She was sure they could be trusted. "...Do you ever study something so hard you start to dream about it?"

S`er and Kalo glanced at one another, and Kalo shook her head. "Not personally, however I have heard of it happening."

Naki looked at her food. "I dreamt that I was Human. It was a strange thing... I blame all the extra work I gave myself."

"Maybe you should see doctor Verso. That does not seem healthy." S`er said.

"I'm feeling better now, it was only a dream." Naki ate some of her food just to illustrate that she was telling the truth. It was only partly true.

"Well still, it might be best to get checked up." S`er pressed her again.

A deep bell ringing sounded through the cafeteria calling for the official opening of the kitchen. It also meant that Naki should head for the landing pad. "Maybe later, I do not want to miss that trip." She took one final bite of her Salam'is and got up to put the tray away.

"So right," Kalo laughed and joined her by the disposal cubby.

S`er dropped hers into the bin "Are you sure it's going to be safe?"

"I trust Major 'Roniee, if she thinks that it will be safe, then it will be." Kalo replied.

Naki smiled and forced all her nervous and confused feelings to fade away. This was a new day, a new world, and a new her... whether or not the dream was real. The three young Sangheili walked across the tower courtyard where at the far end a platform held an aging DX-Class Dropship, or a Spirit as her other alien memories recalled.

She spied a small group of Sangheili standing just outside one of the loading bays. Other than various other classmates, Naki recognized Science Major 'Roniee and the male Sangheili wearing red armor beside her was Major Ttpa 'Sojomee. He was their liaison with the military Ministries and mainly the Ministry of Resolution. Naki followed behind Kalo and S`er as they walked up to the landing pad.

Science Major 'Roniee gave a long wave as they approached. "Good to see you here! You three round out our group quite well." She turned to the Major. "I think that this is everyone that I messaged."

"Very well." The Major stepped onto the ramp of the dropship. "Come aboard now, bags in the stowage bay and take your seats."

Naki followed her friends aboard and placed her bag into the cubby beneath her chosen seat near the front of the prong. She had been the last apprentice to board and when she took her seat Major 'Roniee and Major 'Sojomee sealed the doors. As the Spirit lifted off, holographic displays showing the environment outside snapped on across the entire hatch way. Naki smiled, happy that her life was truly beginning

xxx

Eight Years Later

Senior Science Apprentice Naki 'Cimut stepped out into the warm, damp air of Virtuous Sanctum. She frowned and looked around the dig site being drenched in a heavy rain. This was the ninth expedition to the backwater world to excavate another dwelling structure. Nevertheless, she was inwardly excited for another opportunity for some hands-on experience.

A cluster of temporary structures were located just a few hundred meters across the mud from landing pads, and the site leader was making their way to meet them halfway. Naki glanced back at her two friends who huddled behind her; they were not dressed in the green armor Naki wore. Kalo and S`er had decided to become Steward Assistants instead of Field Researchers. They no longer wore armor, just tabards and robes. They looked displeased with the mud in their white uniforms.

"Alright everyone, let's get a move on." Science Major Agu said, pushing between the group. The last eight years had not been kind to the aging instructor. She had a noticeable limp from an old injury but continued to lead them wherever they went.

Naki shifted her bag fully onto her shoulder and followed the Major into the muddy field. The site leader did not appear to be with any of the official ministries; he was most likely a local.

"Major, we have not explored that much of the holy temple, only as far as they foyer. I am glad that a proper detachment was sent by the Ministry of Discovery." He gave Major Agu a haphazard salute.

"Indeed, we'll store our supplies and then have you show me the entrance. We should begin just after the first meal in the morning." Agu said.

"Yes, of course, Major." The site leader nodded and turned back towards the cluster of purple structures. A raised walkway connected all of the buildings, so they did not need to step in the mud to pass between them. Naki thought it would have been a good idea to run one to the landing zone, but she was not in charge of this site.

They stepped up onto the platform and were pointed to a boot washing station near the steps. Naki activated the system and high pressure water blasted the mud from her armored boots. The site leader led them into a barracks building filled with small camp beds. She stowed most of her unneeded equipment in a storage unit under the bed but kept a bag of illumination sticks and a miniature Kindler mapping drone. Naki was eager to get started.

Kalo and S`er chose beds on Naki's left. The two were always more friends with one another, Naki was sort of the third wheel as Humans would say. The three of them had slowly drifted apart ever since Naki had that weird dream.

The others in the group, an Ivra 'Vaman and Re'am 'Venot, occupied the beds across the walkway. Those two were also Field Researchers, but they kept to themselves for the most part. They were from more conservative states further south in the Verano region.

A few younger apprentices filled in the other beds. They were from a newer class Naki was not familiar with and did not yet know anyone a part of it.

Major Agu stood near the door, not entering the room. "I will go survey the structure, and we will get started in the morning, weather permitting. For now, relax and get settled in. I have brought Science Minor Undi 'Telotee to act as your shepherd for tonight. You all know her by now."

A woman in similar green armor walked in and surveyed her charges either sitting on the beds or standing near them. She held the firm gaze until Major 'Roniee left the room, and then dropped the facade for a look of absolute boredom. Undi walked right for the officer's room in the back. "If you need anything, feel free to not bother me in the other room. Don't make any noise."

Naki glanced among the other women who were slowly unharnessing their gear or pulling off soaking robes to dry them. One of the young apprentices tentatively prodded the ration station in the back of the prefab and squirted a blob of nutrient paste onto a plate.

Naki walked over and put her hand on the much smaller girl's shoulder. She popped open one of the cabinets above the dispenser and pulled out a couple instant meal kits. "Here, this is better than that stuff, only the Unggoy are expected to eat that."

"Oh, thank you senior apprentice." She accepted the meal packets and dumped the tray into the waste receptacle. The new student was probably only fifteen years old, the same age Naki had been when she went on her first expedition to Sanctum.

With a nod, Naki reached higher and popped open another cabinet. She removed a packet of sleep suppressants and popped one into her mouth.

"What are you doing, Naki?" Kalo asked from her bed. "Are you not going to sleep?"

Naki shook her head and grabbed her pack from her bed. "No, I'm heading into the structure."

"But Major Agu said we would begin tomorrow!" Kalo said.

"I'm just going to check some things out. I'll make sure to leave plenty for you all to explore." Naki shrugged. "Besides, Major Agu told us that we should take more initiative."

Much to the surprise of everyone, Ivra leapt to her feet and grabbed her own bag from a shelf. "I'll go with you, Cimut. If that is okay?"

Naki nodded and headed for the door. "Sure, follow me." She was a bit off guard by Ivra's request, Naki had only planned for herself to sneak in. Flipping the packet of stimulants over, she offered one to her new tag-along.

Ivra took one and ate it, then hopped along in Naki's wake. "Do you think it's still raining?" She asked.

"No, it started to taper off just as we were coming in." Naki left the barracks room and quietly strode down the raised walkway.

The rain had indeed stopped, but the ground was still all mud and muck. Naki knew from experience that this planet could keep an area wet after rain for days or weeks. In the moonlight she could see the iconic shape of a forerunner structure barely protruding out of a low hillside. The main entrance the locals had excavated already was brightly lit by portable lights, so there was no way they were getting inside there.

"Do you have a plan?" Ivra asked. "Have you done this before?"

"Snuck out or found a different way into a Forerunner structure?" Naki kept herself low and ran up to the top of the hillside.

"Well... both?" Ivra kept close behind.

"Mm, maybe once or twice." Naki smiled.

They inspected the crest of the hill for any sign of structural failures. From her experience, the dwellings were not built as long lasting as the other kinds of structures and tended to fail in some places. It was difficult to spot any potential ways in from where she was, as the site crew had uprooted all the trees from the hill, leaving divots and holes everywhere.

Most had a bit of water standing at the bottom, so when Naki found one rocky hole without a bottom she was sure it was a way in. Ivra clicked on her illumination lamp and shone a narrow beam of light around the hole. At the very bottom, nearly six meters down, the two saw the telltale reflection of Forerunner metal.

Naki looked over at Ivra. "Here we are, I'll go down first and let you know if it's actually a way in." Ivra nodded, but Naki saw the concerned look on her face. "Do you have any rope?"

"Yes," Ivra pulled a line of tightly woven rope from her pack and looked for somewhere to tie it off to. Finding nothing, she pulled an anchor out and firmly buried it in the ground. She handed the other end of the line to Naki, who was already climbing down the hole.

Lowering herself into the sinkhole, Naki stepped onto protruding rocks and natural hand holds to get down to a good height. Everything was still wet and slick from the rain. She stepped down onto a rock and slipped, falling down to the floor below. She hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Naki! Are you okay?" Ivra called down, but then watched as the pool of glowing blue fluid oozed out of Naki's backpack.

She pushed herself up and rubbed her lower back. "Yeah... I am, but I think all my illumination sticks aren't." Naki flipped on her helmet lamp and glanced around the space she was in. The corridor was in poor condition, but passable. There were ancient windows and skylights every few meters, but they had long broken away millennia ago, and dirt had poured into the hall. "It's open down here. Climb on down, just be careful."

"Uh, I think I'll stay up here." Ivra backed away from the hole. "I will stand guard and let you know when the door is clear."

"Well... Fine, head to the door and see if it's clear. I'll try and exit that way." Naki stood up and started to follow the corridor in the direction she thought the door was.

The only light other than her helmet lamp came from the bioluminescent cave fauna sprouting up from cracks and piles of dirt across the floor. All at once, Naki noticed that everything was tilted differently; some of the corridor sections ahead were almost forty-five degrees. The damage she was seeing suddenly made sense. The structure must have been up on the hillside that overlooked the site at some point, and a landslide brought it down where it was now.

Naki stopped where she was and took the small Kindler from her bag. The small drone beeped and hovered off of her palm before starting down the corridor in front of her. She took out her data-pad as the data started to form a rough map around her. But she continued walking on.

The Kindler map showed that she was approaching what might be a ramp section, but the area was extremely damaged. When she arrived at the doorway, she was surprised to see flickering light from the bottom of the shaft.

"There is definitely something down there..." She muttered to herself.

After a quick survey with her helmet lamp, she found that it was at least something she could climb down. Naki took one of the cracked illumination sticks from her pack and dropped it down the path. The stick slid and bounced down the distorted ramp, before falling a meter into a pool of water; the water was not deep, it would only come up to about her knee from her point of view.

Naki sighed, this was where Ivra would have been a big help.

Slowly, Naki eased herself down the old ramp surface until it came to an end on a pile of rather large rocks. The rocks dropped away into the water and Naki shinned her helmet lamp across the space. She was in a cave of some sort with the ceiling being the bottom of the structure; she figured this had been the washout area, and the collapse had left some pockets open.

The flashing light she had seen was coming from the original bottom half of the ramp, a damaged accent light flickered just below where the break had happened. That part of the structure still had power, and it emboldened Naki to push on.

The inside of the still powered part of the structure was less ornate than the ruined corridors above. It was more reminiscent of another more common type of Forerunner construction used for nearly everything other than dwelling structures.

Somewhere further inside, Naki heard a grinding sound of an old door sliding open. Naki's hand went to her hip. She had been issued a Plasma pistol specifically for the possibilities of security systems. Aggressor Sentinels were most common and had a powerful energy beam, but they were very susceptible to plasma. If something... Other than an Aggressor Sentinel showed up, the pistol would be almost useless.

The sound of a small anti-gravity unit came from around the corner, and a soft blue light reflected off the damp walls.

Naki raised her Plasma pistol up, casting the corridor in front of her in its green glow.

The blue glow rounded the corner and Naki lowered her weapon, she let out the breath she was holding. A small Constructor Sentinel hovered in the hall; that was all it was.

Though on closer examination she saw that it was slightly different. The Constructor was modified with what could be extra optics and possibly a larger power unit. The little machine floated right up to her and beeped once; she felt a tingle as it scanned her with some unseen sensor.

Naki nearly jumped out of her armor when something bumped her from behind. She spun around to face a dirty looking Aggressor Sentinel that had come out of nowhere. It did not seem to be aggressive at all, it's energy beam weapon was still stowed inside its chassis.

A double beep from the Constructor brought her attention back just in time to see a trail of grimy green lights blink to lead her down the corridor. The Constructor began to follow the line, and the Aggressor bumped into her back for encouragement. She made the obvious decision to follow wherever they were taking her.

The trail of lights ended in a wide chamber with a low ceiling, hardlight control consoles and screens lined one wall and long tables were along the opposite side. The tables were covered with various pieces of nondescript technology. Naki did not recognize anything that was on the tables, but none of it was whole. Grime and dirt had long ago taken hold across the entire ruin, but the only seemingly active piece of machinery was a long machine in the center with some sort of electrical current running through it.

The Constructor Sentinel stopped in front of a hardlight panel that sat over a small collection of databanks. Naki looked from the panel to the Constructor, and then back again. It beeped at her and briefly turned towards the panel, almost as if it was telling her to interact with it. She peered at the screen, slowly working out what the words on the screen were saying.

It was a prompt for a data transfer. Other words on the screen changed too fast for her to get a solid read on them. She took out her data-pad and held it out to the screen, looking at the Constructor. It beeped once, and Naki took that as a yes.

Cautiously, against her better judgment, Naki reached out and tapped the most prominent blinking button under the prompt. The screen on her data-pad flashed in sync with a box on the hardlight panel and she felt the device begin to heat with use.

"Major Agu would never have approved of this..." she muttered as the process went on.

The Aggressor sentinel turned away and disappeared into a wall compartment, leaving her alone with the small repair unit. Naki's attitude lightened somewhat now that the looming threat had decided to leave.

She glanced again at the Constructor and tried something she should have started with. "Is this what you wanted me to do?"

It beeped once in response, which was what Naki continued to take as its affirmative.

Naki gave a slight smirk. "So, you can understand me?"

Another beep.

The screen on her data-pad flashed again, and the hardlight panel vanished. The transfer must be finished. Naki sifted through the data that had been added to her device and could barely understand what she was looking at. It would take some time to work through everything there. Some was easy to understand though; she recognized the format of Slipspace coordinates.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Naki asked cautiously.

The Constructor Sentinel did not beep this time. "Keep it safe."