The Device

21 Years Later
9th Age of Reclamation [December 5, 2550]
CCR-Class Research Cruiser Mercy and Devotion
Science Major Naki 'Cimutee

The Mercy and Devotion had emerged from slipspace over a lush and green planet. Its vibrant oceans were pockmarked with small islands and larger continents. There was ancient debris in high orbits, the wreckage of Forerunner ships and stations long forgotten. The ship settled into a low orbit, below the debris field, and launched its complement of reconnaissance probes to scour the planet.

Naki 'Cimutee stood on the bridge and examined the starmap and the data that had come back from the ship's high-tier Auspex array. Everything looked right. The ship had been a generous gift from the Ministry of Sacral Assembly to the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment for use as an expedition ship. It was a special piece of equipment that Field Researchers such as herself could request use of for missions and research opportunities. Unfortunately most of the crew was not from her Ministry and was backfilled from the other military groups from High Charity. To get exclusive use of the ship, Naki had to seek Hierarch approval for her project, and her proposal had gone so well that the High Prophet of Truth had given his personal blessing. She had complete operational command of the vessel, a fact that greatly upset the non-Ministry Shipmaster.

"Does this match the coordinates your studies provided, Major 'Cimutee?" The Shipmaster snorted, standing behind her.

"Yes, this is the location they pointed to." Naki replied. It had taken her years to fully decipher the data she had acquired on Virtuous Sanctum, and she had managed to keep it secret right up until the moment she needed assets to get there. It would have also been irresponsible to walk out of her duties to go after it, she had just begun to mentor a new group of Senior Apprentices after all. So she had to fudge the story slightly and make the discovery much more recent when she made her pitch.

He looked up at the main screen's view of the planet and huffed. "There are some shattered remnants of a station near the planet's pole, but I do not see anything spectacular about this place that warrants the use of this vessel."

Naki rolled her eyes, an expression only she seemed to use among her fellow Sangheili. She brought up the fresh planetary topographical data from the first scan the probes were completing. "Do you see these lines and spots, Shipmaster?"

"Yes, canyons and lakes. Nothing unusual for a planet," he stated.

"Actually, likely no. These are far too straight, and too clustered for natural formations. Over the centuries erosion has gotten to the edges, but with the particle data coming in I am confident that this is clear evidence of harsh large scale orbital bombardment." Naki said. "Something big happened here and the Gods were part of it from the beginning."

"Hmm. Well once our probes return you will be clear to descend. Did your research also tell you where on the planet to look?"

"Indeed it did," Naki smiled. "Down here, at the top of these cliffs." She zoomed the projection into a ridge line bordering the ocean. Internally she hoped that it had not fallen to the same forces that destroyed the dwelling on Sanctum.

"Good, we will not be here for long then." The Shipmaster turned to one of his bridge crew. "Bring us to a better orbit for that location."

Naki nodded farewell and made her way towards the ship's primary shuttlebay. The Shipmaster was a warrior through and through, he did not like taking the Mercy and Devotion to 'safe' areas, Naki was pretty sure it bored him. She was also sure that the assignment had actually been a punishment for him. Most missions with the ship were to non-combat areas, or places where the fighting had already finished. She herself had already served on many tours fully embedded with active combat units.

A small group of her Apprentices had gathered around one of the Phantoms that was preparing to leave the ship. She felt a small twinge of pride for her students, they were turning out to be quite the competent scientists. They also reminded her of her final years as one of them, and the friends she had made along the way.

They were all spread across the galaxy now, Kalo and S`er had gone off to work with different ministries, she had last heard that they were serving with the Ministry of Fervent Intercession and Ministry of Etiology respectively. However they were both thinking about retiring and returning home to Sanghelios.

The story of the other two, Ivra and Re'am, was somewhat distressing. Both of them had quickly disappeared after they had discovered a data-core that revealed some highly scandalous revelations about the war with the Humans and the legitimacy of the Great Journey. It was an open secret between the graduates of the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment that what they found was real, but everyone did their best to pretend that they did not know.

Naki hoped that they had been sent to the Geleterose installation instead of being executed for Heresy. Geleterose was a secret Covenant scientific outpost inside of a Forerunner installation on a barren ice world. The place technically did not exist in any Covenant database, and it was used as a punishment for any member of the Covenant's vital research personnel deemed too precious to outright kill; and when Stewards and Assistants are regularly killed in fleet action with Humans, that means nearly everyone.

"Good morning, everyone." Naki said, walking up to her group. "Are you all ready to go?"

Her students greeted her back and confirmed that they were prepped and ready.

Naki laughed, "You are all lucky, when I was in your place all we did was explore sites on our own worlds. Now get on, we'll be leaving soon."

"Yes, Major." One of her students, a young Sangheili named Rita said as they filed aboard.

The security team moved aboard next, two Lances of Sangheili and Unggoy. Expedition protection had increased ever since the war had continued so many years. Her liaison with the Ministry of Resolution strode up to her and put his arm across her shoulder. He was Ultra Zeik 'Carunmee; a fellow graduate from the Ministry of Apportioned Enlightenment that had moved on to regular military service. The two of them were sort of a thing.

"So Naki, have you thought more about what I asked the last time we spoke?" He asked as he looked down at her.

"With all due respect, Ultra 'Carunmee, while we have had very nice dinners and evenings together, I don't feel that I am ready for that depth of a relationship yet." Naki replied. Almost two years ago, she had been set to marry a promising Major, but he had been killed in combat and she did not feel Zeik was actually ready for what he proposed. Plus any marriage now would be nullified in a year.

"Ah now just you wait until I finally become a full Aristocrat, my sword training is almost complete you know." Zeik chuckled. "You just don't want to have to marry me."

Naki smiled suggestively. "Oh Ultra, you know very well that my state does not acknowledge those privileges."

"Well what's going to stop you, hmm?" Zeik replied.

"Your status has never influenced this relationship and it will not then either." Naki giggled, pushing his arm from her shoulder and tapping the tip of his helmet. "Now if you excuse me, we have work to do..."

"Very well, Major." Zeik smirked.

Naki climbed aboard the Phantom and stepped into one of the stasis-fields that would keep her secured for the journey. "Pilots, take us in."

"Affirmative, Major 'Cimutee." The pilot called back.

The Phantom pulled away from its mooring and flew out of the ship's shuttlebay. The ride down through the alien atmosphere was rough as the most direct course took them right through the outer rings of a dissipating storm. The stasis-fields held everyone safely in place as the dropship was briefly buffeted by heavy winds. Once they leveled out and came closer to the site, Naki disengaged her stasis field and walked up to the cockpit to see what the area looked like.

Large trees had grown up forming around the old Forerunner structures and many of them were covered in ferns and grass. There was a large opening in the trees where there looked to be an old landing zone where dim lights still blinked red and blue. She pointed down to it and the pilot nodded, settling them above the spot and activated the dropship's central grav-lift. The two security lances deployed rapidly and swept the immediate area for any sort of danger. Naki dropped down right after them and unholstered her Plasma rifle from her hip.

She pointed towards the forest, away from the cliff. "Major 'Vatelmee, set up perimeter sensors twelve units into the tree line. Minor 'Netelmee, give me an update."

The Minor led lance had pushed further into the forest, giving it a rapid sweep. "We only see local wildlife in the area Major 'Cimutee, nothing dangerous in the immediate vicinity."

"Perimeter sensors are up! I can confirm, there is nothing larger than a Keifra out there." Major 'Vatelmee called back from the tree line.

"Excellent, keep watch on the area." Naki waved up at the Phantom and gave the signal for it to land and deploy the rest of its passengers. The dropship lowered to near ground level and dropped its two side hatches. Her students disembarked the ship and looked around at the unfamiliar landscape with wide eyes. Zeik remained on the Phantom, just leaning against the bulkhead; he gave her a wave and a smirk, while she shook her head in return.

"Feel free to explore the surface structures but stay in the perimeter. Ultra 'Carunmee is in charge while I am away." She pointed towards a promising ramp that dropped into the lower portions of the site; where her data had told her to go. "I will be looking down there, do not follow until I say."

Her students nodded and spread out amongst the surface. Naki started for the ramp, but Naki headed downward into the darkness of the facility and activated her helmet lamp on low power mode; she only needed enough light to see the ground. If the installation still had power, even the slightest status light would be enough to let her know.

At the bottom of the ramp, there were a pair of bay windows that looked out over the cliff; she could barely make out the edge of a crater that was probably formed from the orbital bombardment, or possibly the impact of a large piece of space debris. The corridor angled deeper into the cliffside, with doors and off shooting passages every few hundred meters. There was no sign of power yet, not even the hint of a system remaining on stand-by.

There had been power signatures detected, and the landing lights were still functioning on the surface. She just needed to find it.

There was not much about the story of this planet in the data she had been given all those years ago. The last update to the dwelling logs may have even been before the fall of the Gods facilities here, but the information she had gleaned from it had told the story of a great Forerunner researcher they had decided to simply call the Scientist. Naki had ended up enlisting the help of her former mentor, Science Major Agu, to make sense of some of the obscure wording, and the actual names of the Gods were still a taboo subject among the Ministry. The information had hinted at a vast trove of technology and resources to be found in the Scientist's laboratory on this planet, and it had been very specific to which room it was located in. That was nearly a decade and a half ago, now Naki had a much better handle on nearly every type of forerunner written language.

Two levels down from the surface, Naki walked into a massive open corridor. Her helmet lamp disappeared without illuminating the end. A few steps in and the corridor's lights activated around her and spread in either direction. A green line appeared on the floor which led to a door on the complete opposite side. Naki had not expected the line to appear, but it was similar to what had happened on Sanctum.

When she approached the door, it slid open, revealing another very familiar view. A heavily modified Constructor Sentinel beeped at her. It was the same configuration that she had met before. The tingling sensation of its invisible scanning beam passed over her before it beeped and went back through the door.

"Hello again!" Naki followed the Constructor into the normal sized corridor beyond. She knew it was highly unlikely that these two machines had communicated but some information about her might have made it to this old ruin.

The machine beeped at her again but did not slow.

It took her to a laboratory which was eerily similar to Sanctum's. In fact, everything was so similar, Naki was beginning to think that the Scientist liked identical setups. The only thing that was different, was that everything the empty.

There were no unfinished machines cluttering tables, every storage box was bare; Naki was starting to think that the promise of a technology cache was probably a mistranslation. Though the Constructor was definitely leading her somewhere. The machine had stopped before a locked door, its holographic control panel winked to life when Naki walked up to it. She had improved greatly at reading the ancient script since the last time she saw a console like this.

The screen was prompting for a simple handprint verification, in lieu of other authorized identity verification procedures Naki did not have. However the Constructor Sentinel was nearly urging her to interact with the screen.

Naki pressed her four fingered hand down onto the six fingered pad and felt it warm through her glove. The screen blinked twice and heated further, then cooled and the accent boxes turned green. The Constructor beeped once.

The lights on the door also switched to green, and it slid open. In the center of the chamber was a single table with a small case sitting on it. As she approached, the case flipped open, revealing a device sitting in a cradle. It was smooth and blue, unlike most Forerunner machinery.

"Well hello there..." Naki reached down and pulled it free of its stand. She noted that it was about the same size as her armor's forearm tactical computer.

The blue crystal cover lit up with Forerunner script which scrolled across its surface much faster than Naki was able to catch. The entire blue side of the device appeared to be a screen of some kind. She pulled out her data-pad with one hand and brought it close to the device, she was thinking it would begin a data transfer of some kind. But Naki had to drop the pad as it heated rapidly.

The Constructor Sentinel flew around and fired its small repair beam at the data-pad. The stream of script from the device began to appear on her screen, but at a more manageable pace. She was also able to scroll to the start of the file.

Slowly she worked out the words on the screen and her eyes went wide. It was not a technology cache, there was no trove of gifts from the gods, just this one piece.

According to the words she was reading, this device could change one's very species.

Such a device could not possibly exist, but it was right there in her hand. Naki read further and found that it was not ready to use right away, the device needs raw genetic data and other chemicals to function initially. The formula and process for creating the necessary components was included, as well as a lot of information on how to use it.

"Okay... Okay." Naki slapped her hand twice on the table and put the device back onto its cradle. She activated her comm and called up to her people on the surface. "Zeik, I need a data-net hub down here as soon as possible, rip the computer out of the cargo Spirit as soon as it lands, I'm on my way up."

She turned for the door, but then turned back to face the Constructor hovering over the table. "Stay there, I need to get some things."

The machine beeped in response.

xxx

Over the next year, the Prophet of Truth took personal interest in the project. Naki had retained use of the Mercy and Devotion and her class of Apprentices had hastily become her diligent assistants. She had never actually met the Hierarch personally, but had plenty of direct hologram presentations.

Last month, they had successfully synthesized the final component needed to jumpstart the Device's functionality, and approval for the next step of Project Leau had followed closely. They were going to turn a Human into a Kig-Yar.

Initially they were going to use an Unggoy, but something about their arthropod nature made them less compatible in early trials. Plus Humans breathe the same air that all the other species do, and they were even more expendable than Unggoy. The eventual plan the Prophet had for the project was to make Human infiltrators to learn where their colonies and fleets were, but Naki was not so sure she could allow it to go that far. One way or another, she knew that the war would be over before that purpose came to pass.

Maybe she would use the Device to ride out the end of the war. It would be easy to hide when she could be a different species every day.

The plan to capture a Human had gone through some debate with her students, but their fleet escort had managed to capture one of the enemy's stealth ships. The vessel's navigation system had been completely wiped, but some of their data storage had been left intact. A vast majority of the files were the medical records of Humans assigned to a fleet that was nearby. Naki had used the Device to cross-compare recorded genetic markers for the most compatible subjects among the Human fleet; it came back with a few thousand results with various percentages of success. At the top of the list were the Demons... Spartans.

When the results had been forwarded to the Hierarch, he was hesitant. However after a little deliberation he came around and authorized the immediate transfer of a Special Operations lance to take up the task. The lance Naki had learned was called Far Beyond Provocation, which was a formidable group. They had been around since the early days of the war and had made quite the name for themselves as an accomplished multi-role unit. The Ministry had made use of them in the past for artifact recovery in very heavy combat zones, but Naki had her doubts that live capture ops were a common use of their skills. She had never met them herself, but that was about to change.

The DAS-Class Storm Cutter Divine Breath was visible just outside the science ship's shuttlebay energy barriers. The ship had been dispatched from High Charity to pick up Far Beyond Provocation from their current duties and bring them to her. Naki watched patiently as a shuttle from the Storm Cutter flew through the field and settled against the docking cradle. She had waited nearly twenty years to find the Device, she could wait a bit longer to see it in action. The hatch on the side of the shuttle craft slid open and Naki stepped back to await the arrival of this 'Kill team.'

After a group of Unggoy cleared the ramp, a single Sangheili stepped out and surveyed the shuttlebay. Judging by the armor's highlights, Naki presumed this was the SpecOps Major in charge of the lance. He said some words to someone inside the shuttle and began to make his way towards her.

"Major 'Tallahamee?" Naki asked as he approached.

The Major smiled slightly and came to a stop before her. "Yes miss, and you must be Science Major 'Cimutee." He nodded. "Greetings to you."

Naki returned his nod. "Yes I am, I hope your reassignment was not too sudden."

He shook his head. "Not at all, my team and I are used to it." 'Tallahamee seemed quite confident at the moment, but Naki was sure that would not last once he knew what she would need him for. "We go wherever and whenever we are needed."

"Good, good," Naki replied. "Your Lance can find Ultra Zeik 'Carunmee waiting by the main door to this shuttlebay, he will take them to your assigned quarters. We'll go to my section and discuss the parameters of this mission."

'Tallahamee glanced toward the door and scanned for the white color of Zeik's armor. "Wait one..." He relayed Naki's information back to the others in his Lance. "Okay, shall we?"

"Follow me, Major." Naki turned and led through one of the side doors. Her office was a deck above them, so she took them through one of the many grav-lifts. Once they were safely inside her office, Naki sat at her desk and then rotated it to face the door so Major 'Tallahamee had a place to sit.

He sat and leaned back slightly. "So, what are you wanting us to do and how much are we allowed to know about it?"

Naki paused for a moment and thought through how she should tell him about her mission. No good method really came to her mind, so... "Major 'Tallahamee, I will just get right to the point. The Prophet of Truth sent your lance to me because I need you to capture a Demon. More than one ideally."

D`rok made a choking sound and stopped for a moment. "...Excuse me?" His jaws drifted apart in a stunned expression.

"You hear me correctly." Naki said matter-a-factly. "I need one, and I already know where to find several."

He coughed and straightened his posture slightly. "How... do you propose we do this?"

"Well." Naki straightened herself as well and brought up a holographic image to aid with her explanation. "We have planned to lure them in with a false Forerunner artifact. The planet they are currently on is home to one of their intelligence installations over a real artifact. We will strike the planet and hit one of the installations and they should respond."

She swiped the screen and brought up the combat record for Far Beyond Provocation. "As for you, I requested someone that had experience with Demons to lead the operation. There are not many that can say they have faced a Demon and survived."

Major 'Tallahamee was silent for a bit. "How are we to put one to sleep?"

Naki brought up an image of a long air rifle on the screen. "We have some high strength tranquilizers that we at the Ministry have developed for a scenario like this. It will put a lesser being in a state which would likely appear no different from death, however on a Demon, it would merely knock them out. Unfortunately, the delivery method is an animal tranquilizer taken from the animal paddocks on our agricultural support ship; it is thus, not armor piercing. Heavy weapons are required for that."

"But you have figured out how to make it armor piercing with the use of something like a Type-33 Fuel Rod gun?"

"No, that is why a lance is required," Naki sighed. Tallahamee was thinking things through, she knew that, but asking if they could make a modification like that was somewhat absurd. However, that was probably a more common issue when modifying technology was restricted to a certain caste.

"This will be quite difficult." He muttered.

"Indeed it will, but I am confident in your abilities." Naki replied.

D`rok gave an expecting nod, but Naki saw some reluctance in her face. "How long do my men have to prepare?"

She put the Auspex array scan information on the screen. "We have not yet exposed ourselves to the Humans in their system, but we need to launch soon before they move on."

He exhaled tensely. "Well... in your best opinion, how long do you think it will be before they leave?"

Naki paused for a moment and thought about what they had learned from the Human Corvette. "Likely not long, a day, maybe more. We are cutting this close."

"Then give my team a half-day and we will be ready to go." 'Tallahamee nodded once.

"That we can do." Naki returned the nod. "However, in the event that you are unable to capture a Demon, there will be a long-range tracking beacon hidden in the artifact. Fall back and we will try again on the next planet if they do not discover the transmitter."

"Understood," D`rok said.

That seemed to be everything Naki needed to discuss with this SpecOps Major. "Do you have any questions, Major 'Tallahamee?"

"No, none about the operation. However where is my lance staying?" He asked.

Naki looked up the necessary information on her console. "They will be in Lance room seven."

He stood from the chair and gave another respectful nod. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Yes Major, and we will see one another once more before you deploy. I'll be delivering the tranquilizer personally." Naki bid D`rok farewell and looked about getting the operation ready on her end. There were just a few details that still needed to be worked out.