Chapter 11: Raku
Raku and Sen reached the bottom of the shaft at the same time, landing perfectly on their feet. The area was pitch black, it would be impossible for them to navigate the area were it not for the night vision built into their helmets. Clearly the humans were running out of ways to deter them.
As the two began to step forward, Nos reached the bottom. He stumbled as he tried to land on his feet, and he fell onto the floor. The sound of his armour cracking against the metal floor rang out all along the shaft. If the humans hadn't already known they were coming after them, then their cover would have been blown. Raku would have scolded him if he had the time, and if the Jiralhanae's arrival hadn't been worse.
Axus gracefully slid down the shaft on his back, and got onto his feet when he reached the bottom. But Volus tumbled down the shaft like an idiot, banging against the metal and exposed wiring. He shouted with each impact as if he was getting repeatedly shot by a needle launcher. It almost seemed like he was doing it on purpose. When Volus reached the bottom he rolled along the floor before finally getting back to his feet. When the two exchanged a glance, Raku wondered if Jiralhanae could even feel embarrassment.
Without a word they continued. Ahead of them was a very long corridor lined with doors, behind any one of them could've been a human waiting to ambush them. Raku looked at Sen and signalled to him with his hands, telling him to watch their back. Sen nodded and moved to the back of the group.
The group slowly moved along the corridor. Raku made sure his footsteps were silent, but Nos didn't care. Raku could tell the Blademaster was impatient, and he silently prayed to the Forerunners that he wouldn't step out of line and rush ahead. Raku was trained entirely in close quarters combat, as were Sen and Nos. But even then, human weapons were deadliest in tight spaces such as these. Raku admitted that he admired that humans could put even warriors like him to the test. It was truly unfortunate that they all had to die.
Raku was surprised when they reached the end of the corridor. There was no human ambush, at least not yet anyway. If there were no humans around, that meant that they could at least speak quietly. Quiet enough that any recording devices nearby wouldn't be able to hear them. He doubted they had enough time to set any up, but he still didn't want to risk it.
"Nos, door," Raku whispered.
Nos nodded and crouched in front of the door. He placed the circular spoofer device on it, and used it to cut off the power to the door's locking mechanism. After that he put the spoofer away, and the door automatically opened for them. Unfortunately for them, the door was very loud. The shriek of metal grinding against metal echoed throughout the chamber that the door led to.
And in that chamber was what they were looking for. Towers of what looked like Forerunner servers extended from the top to the bottom of the chamber, and from where they were it was a long way down. Makeshift human platforms were built between the towers, allowing them to move between them. It appeared that the humans had been studying them for a long time.
There was still no sign of the humans that they had chased down the elevator. There was no way out of the chamber, so they had to be hiding in there somewhere. He signalled to Volus with his hands, telling him to watch the door. But the Jiralhanae clearly didn't understand.
"Volus, guard the door," Raku whispered with a sigh.
Volus's expression was one of clear disappointment. There was nothing that Jiralhanae hated more than abstaining from a fight. The Minister of Animosity put me in charge, you will do as I say, Raku wanted to tell him, but he already gave Raku a reluctant nod.
"Sen, Nos, go right. Axus, you're with me. Stay close," Raku ordered. He trusted Sen to keep Nos in check, and he wanted to keep watch over Axus himself.
Axus's acknowledgement came in the form of a snort. He followed Raku as they went down the platform to their left, Sen and Nos went to the right. The humans were hiding there, and they would find them before they completed their mission.
The human soldiers were very well hidden. Even with the assistance of night vision, Raku couldn't see any of them. Then again, the chamber they were in was huge. It was completely silent aside from the sound of dripping water echoing in the distance, and also aside from the heavy breathing and footsteps of Axus.
Then in one instant, the silence broke. A missile was fired from somewhere at the back of the room, and Raku didn't get the chance to see it before he felt something heavy push against his back and launch him forward. He landed hard on the ground as the missile exploded behind him. Axus had pushed him out of the way, and saved his life in doing so. Raku would have to thank him after they were out of there.
So, that's what it takes for the humans to kill me, hm? An entire missile? Raku pushed himself back to his feet and looked to where it exploded. It made a hole in the platform, scorching and bending the metal around it. Axus had retreated in the other direction after pushing Raku, and the two were separated. And now that the humans knew they were there, there was no use in staying silent.
"Find where that came from!" Raku shouted to Axus. The Jiralhanae nodded, and sprinted away in search of the human.
Several booms sounded on the other side of the chamber, Raku recognised them as the sound of human sniper rifles firing. Sen and Nos had been spotted as well. Raku looked up and squinted. Closer to the top of the chamber he noticed a flash of light followed by another boom. He could see two humans there lit up with each flash of their rifles' muzzles.
Attached to the Forerunner data stack was another platform that a pair of humans were using to rain fire down on them. When Raku saw a bright burst of plasma headed towards it he knew that Sen had seen them too.
Raku cloaked and quickly sprinted down the platforms, weaving between the data stacks. He heard something crash in the distance, and he caught a glimpse of Axus throwing a human soldier into one of the data stacks. Fool, he'll compromise the data! There was no time to stop the raging Jiralhanae as he brutally killed the human, he had to take out the snipers.
Raku eventually found a ladder that would bring him up to the human snipers. They had stopped firing, which Raku assumed was due to them running low on ammo. If he climbed up the ladder they would definitely notice him. It wasn't a very high climb, but the humans would have enough time to throw him off if he tried. Rather than risking his own life, he took a plasma grenade from his belt and primed it, praying to the Forerunners that he wouldn't damage the data stack with it.
He tossed the grenade up, and it stuck to the bottom of the platform. The humans had little time to react before the ensuing explosion ripped the platform apart and killed them. Three humans down, two left. The sound of a spike rifle firing in the distance let him know that the last two humans tried to escape, and were cut down by Volus.
"Sen, Nos, sweep the area," Raku ordered, speaking into his communicator. "Make sure we got all the humans."
They gave no acknowledgement, but he knew they would get it done. Raku looked up at the data stack. The side where the grenade went off was scorched, but thankfully it didn't look like there was much actual damage to it. If he did compromise the Forerunner data, he would never be able to forgive himself. He had been reckless, just like Nos and Axus.
Raku searched through the area, looking for a terminal he could use to either access the data or communicate with the Minister of Animosity. His own communicator didn't have the range to reach High Charity, especially since it was several systems away. But before he could find that, he found Axus. And he had a few things to say to the Jiralhanae.
"You are reckless, Axus," Raku said to him, moving past him as he searched for a terminal. "You may have compromised the data."
The Jiralhanae stood still as Raku approached, but he slowly turned to the Sangheili after he walked past. A low growl came from the beast's throat.
"I'm reckless? What about you?" Axus challenged him. "Yeah, I saw that. A grenade that you threw went off right next to one."
"I made a choice," Raku stopped and turned. "Needlessly risk my life, or kill the enemy. You let your rage blind you, risking both your life and the data. We are not the same."
It was with those words that Raku realised he was being selfish. He saved his own life at the risk of the data the Minister of Animosity wanted, and the Minister didn't take kindly to any kind of failure. Raku would never admit that to Axus, but he would make sure to not make that kind of mistake again.
"I can't help my nature," Axus growled.
"Yes you can," Raku said. "You can always change who you are. Now return to Volus. I will finish here, and we will leave."
Axus reluctantly obeyed his order. The Jiralhanae stormed off to the entrance of the chamber with the others. Raku continued searching through the data stacks, and eventually he found what he was looking for. He accessed a terminal in the side of one of the stacks, human instruments lay scattered around it. It appeared the humans had been trying to access the data themselves, but they clearly had no idea what they were doing.
Raku lifted a drive from a hidden pocket in his armour and connected it to the stack, and he used it to download the Forerunner data. He didn't know what the data actually was, that was for the Minister of Animosity to deal with. With the amount of stacks there it was clear that the transfer would take a while, and Raku didn't want to move for fear that there were more humans down there.
He didn't have to worry about that for long. An energy sword ignited behind Raku, followed by the yelp of a dying human. Raku slowly turned around to see Sen with his blades through the abdomen of a human soldier. Sen tossed the human aside after the light faded from its eyes.
"That was the last one," Sen said.
"Good," Raku replied, turning back to the terminal. "I will remain here. This data will take a while to transfer."
"Then I will stay with you," Sen said. Though they were sure all the humans were dead, Sen still watched Raku's back.
Raku always welcomed Sen's presence. There was no one else he would rather have watching his back. As the time passed and the data continued transferring, Raku began to grow restless. There was nothing to do other than stand there and wait for the transfer to finish. To pass the time, Raku accessed the terminal once more and began searching through its systems.
He found that the data complex was connected to several other Forerunner facilities across the planet, such as the one where Chel 'Quraee had found the luminary that was worth enough for him to abandon his own siege. He found more data complexes in the area, and he discovered that there was more than just Lifeworker data hidden on the planet, such as a Builder archive. Did the Minister know about the other data? Raku wouldn't mention it during their next communication, unless the Minister already knew. If he had the time he would find the archive on his own.
The transfer eventually completed, and Raku lifted the drive from the terminal. He exchanged a nod with Sen, and they retreated to Axus and the others. They all waited by the door, all just as restless as Raku had been. He slipped the drive back into his pocket as he approached them.
"We've got the data," Raku said. "Let us go back to the camp."
"More humans have arrived," Axus informed them as they made it back to the elevator and began their slow ascent. "My Jiralhanae are holding them off as we speak, but we will have to fight our way back."
Axus had a toothy grin across his face. Of course the Jiralhanae was excited for another fight.
"Good," Nos said, "I'm itching for another fight."
"Let's make it quick," Raku said. He didn't want to be there for any longer than he needed to.
"Of course," Nos said with a sigh. "It will be quick."
The group assembled on the elevator and took it up. It moved so slowly that Axus, Volus, and Nos began to grow restless again. It had been easy to slide down the shaft, but it was too steep to feasibly make it back up in a short time.
The sounds of battle grew louder as the elevator reached the top of the shaft. Human projectile weapons popped with each shot, followed by the cracks of the Jiralhanae's spike rifles firing back. What surprised Raku was that he also heard the screeching of Banshees outside. Nice to know we have reinforcements.
The three Sangheili cloaked and rushed back through the base as Axus and Volus joined their Jiralhanae brothers. The human soldiers were very aggressively trying to push into the base, so much that they had blasted several holes into the walls. Raku rushed out one of them and saw a small human aerial transport landing on a still intact landing pad. He was about to throw a grenade at it before he realised he had used his last one on the human snipers. He wouldn't need to worry about it for long before one of the Banshees swooped towards it and destroyed it with a fuel rod.
Dozens of human soldiers lay dead across the open platforms of the base, each of their bodies in various states of dismemberment. Not one more Jiralhanae had been lost. That was… respectable. The humans had stopped coming, and the Banshees that had joined them broke off and flew into the distance, back to wherever they had come from. Raku called the others back to him as he approached the ramp to the ridge.
"I guess we missed the fun," Nos said with a disappointed tone.
"There will be more 'fun' soon enough," Raku replied. "Our mission is accomplished. Let us return to the camp at once."
The Jiralhanae weren't thrilled about another journey, but they had no choice. The group set off along the ridge, and back along the frozen plains that led them back to their camp.
The sun had risen again on their journey back to their camp, and it was on the verge of setting once more. Something Raku had learned about Zezar during his extended stay there was that the nights were long, and the days short. He had gotten used to it, and the darkness of night was a place where an assassin like him thrived.
When they made it back to the camp, it was just as they had left it, though some of their communication equipment had begun to freeze over. Nos turned on a heater in the middle of the cave, and they let the place thaw out for a moment. Raku then contacted the Minister of Animosity, who answered the call very quickly.
"I take it your mission is complete," the Minister said before his projection even appeared from the table.
"Correct," Raku said. "The Lifeworker data is ours."
He reached into his pocket, and he presented the drive to the Minister. The San'Shyuum squinted, silently inspecting the drive in his hands. He eventually grunted, and sat back in his gravity throne once he was satisfied.
"It is too dangerous for you to transmit the data from your current position," the Minister said, folding his hands across his chest. "Give it to Nos, he will bring it to the Fleet of Sanctity."
Raku tilted his head in confusion. He was perfectly capable of doing that himself, why did it need to be Nos? I suppose it is because he is the Minister's pet. He reached his hand to the side, and dropped the drive into Nos's palm without breaking the Minister's gaze.
"I have arranged for a Phantom to bring him to me," the Minister continued. "But for now, the rest of you will remain on the ground."
So Nos is leaving us… Raku took a slow breath and nodded. He couldn't help but feel slightly relieved, but things still weren't adding up. The worst that could happen in Raku's mind was that the Minister was planning on using Nos to kill him for whatever reason, but that no longer made sense.
"Do you have another task for us?" Raku asked.
"I do," the Minister said. His expression was unreadable. "There is more than just Lifeworker data on this planet, as I'm sure you're aware."
So he knows about everything else. Raku wondered why the Lifeworker data took precedence over something like a Builder archive, but he just had to assume that the San'Shyuum knew more than him. That was all the Sangheili had ever assumed since the Writ of Union was signed.
"I am indeed aware," Raku said, clasping his hands behind his back.
"There's more data that I need recovered," the Minister began. "On the other side of the planet is a Builder archive hidden underneath the ground. I do not know if there's a human presence there, or how large it is if there is one, but you are to take the Jiralhanae with you."
"Of course," Raku said with a bow.
"A Phantom will be there to take you. Both should arrive in three days."
"Three days?" Axus suddenly shouted from behind Raku. "We've barely even done anything in one! Now we have to wait three?"
"That is correct," the Minister's expression turned to one of annoyance. "Now, Axus, is there a problem?"
"No," Axus grunted. "I suppose there is not."
Axus was another of the Minister's pets. Of course they wouldn't argue for long. Raku was just thankful that the Jiralhanae hadn't brought up the incident in the Lifeworker archive.
"That is all. Once the Phantom arrives you are to carry your mission out at once."
The connection dropped before anyone could ask any further questions. The group turned to the heater in the middle of the cave and huddled around it for warmth. A three day wait was nothing for Raku, he had often spent longer just tracking a single target. But he feared for the sanity of the Jiralhanae; they were already insane enough as it was.
Now that Nos was leaving, Raku didn't need to worry about him reporting anything back to the Minister. If the Jiralhanae took even one step out of line, he would deal with them. A Builder archive could possibly lead the Covenant to any major Forerunner installation in the galaxy; they couldn't afford to have anyone stepping out of line. Their mission was just that important.
