Chapter 15: Raku
Raku and the others had successfully waited the three days the Minister of Animosity had told them to wait, which was somewhat of a surprise. The Jiralhanae somehow had done nothing to compromise their safety. Nos had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time, only speaking when spoken to. Raku wondered if Nos had any idea what the Minister wanted from him, or if there was some kind of plan in place between them. Whatever was going on, Raku was concerned by it.
The group stepped outside together when they heard the Phantoms arrive. Three Jiralhanae left from the one that would take Nos back to the Minister. Each Jiralhanae was clad in power armour, which was significantly more than what Axus and his pack were wearing.
"Reinforcements?" Raku asked.
"Affirmative," said the Jiralhanae leader. The horns on his helmet, jet black armour, and long black cloak over his shoulders caused him to stand out from the rest of them. He also held a gravity hammer in one hand, and he walked with it as if it was a cane.
"A Chieftain?" Sen whispered to Raku. "Did you know about this?"
Raku shook his head. He didn't know if he should be relieved, or even more concerned. The Minister of Animosity seemed to be less concerned about Raku and Sen's specialisation in stealth with each passing day. He wouldn't have sent a Jiralhanae Chieftain if he wasn't planning a full scale assault. That also led Raku to question what kind of human defences they were expecting to go against.
"My name is Raxum," the Chieftain announced. "I have been sent to take over command."
"I didn't agree to this," Raku said, crossing his arms.
"You don't get a say," Raxum replied, his voice booming over every other sound in Raku's ears. "It was your minister who assigned me this position."
"About time they sent us someone who knows how to fight," Axus laughed.
Raku could almost feel his blood boiling. Now not only would he not have control over the reckless Jiralhanae, but it was now another Jiralhanae who had control over them. He felt his chances of dying in this next battle growing exponentially higher with each second. He couldn't see Sen's expression through his mask, but he knew his brother hated this as much as he did. Nos only stood with a defeated expression, like he knew some kind of storm was coming. There was definitely a malicious intent behind the Minister's actions, and Nos could very well be in on it.
There was nothing that Raku could do short of betraying the Covenant. He wanted his place on the Great Journey, being left behind was the only thing that he feared. He knew Sen felt the same way. So he would be compliant for as long as he was needed. But if the minor Prophet was planning on betraying him, he would make sure the entire rest of the Covenant knew.
"Fine, take your command," Raku said with a sigh.
"If you need to sort anything out, I'm free once we're done here," Raxum said with a smirk, his voice dripping with challenge.
"Good, I'll remember that," Raku replied.
Raxum laughed, and he made his way to the other Phantom with the other Jiralhanae reinforcements. Axus and his pack eagerly boarded the Phantom, and Raku gestured for Sen to go with them. He approached Nos, and got close so he could talk quietly.
"Well, Nos, it was good to fight with you," Raku said. "I wish you well with your… Politics."
"Thank you," Nos said quickly. His voice was empty, as hollow as he looked with his hands at his sides.
"Are you alright?" Raku asked, fully expecting to not get the truth from him.
"I'm fine," Nos assured him, though his voice wasn't entirely convincing. "I just don't like sitting out big battles."
Raku slowly nodded. It was the best excuse the Blademaster could come up with. Nos made his way to the gravity lift of his Phantom.
"Good luck," Raku said again before turning to join Sen and the others.
"Good hunting," Nos called out to Raku.
Raku boarded his Phantom, and the troop bay was crowded. Other than Raku and Sen, it was all Jiralhanae, and they didn't seem happy to see the Sangheili. Of course none of them wanted to be working with each other, but they didn't dare betray the Minister. Betraying a San'Shyuum was the same as betraying the Covenant as a whole.
"The plan is this," Raxum spoke, gaining the attention of everyone in the back of the Phantom. "We are assaulting a human base, and we will kill every human inside. Underneath the human base is the archive the Minister is after, that is where our Sangheili friends will retrieve the Forerunner data. This will be quick, and it will be easy."
The Jiralhanae roared, all excited for the battle ahead. Raku's uneasiness only worsened, and he couldn't talk to Sen about the situation either. Raku still didn't want to believe the Minister of Animosity was purposely sabotaging him, he hoped this was just some kind of test. To see if his loyalty was still true.
The screens on the walls of the Phantom activated to show the view of the planet as they moved. Raku could barely see past the lumbering Jiralhanae in front of him, but the planet had seemed very boring. Little more than frozen plains, and rocky plateaus. When the human base came into view, Raku knew their force was more than overkill.
The human base was simply a fortified command centre with a bunch of tents around it. Flimsy turrets were scattered around the few fortifications around the command centre, and tiny human soldiers rushed to them as the Phantom approached. The Phantom's main plasma cannon opened fire on the human positions, the whole ship vibrating with each shot. Raku witnessed the globs of plasma tearing the humans apart, and melting the turrets down.
The Phantom came to a stop above the human fortifications. They were just bags of sediment and metal panels lazily stuck into the ground, clearly the humans hadn't had a lot of time to prepare for an attack. The Jiralhanae all jumped out of the Phantom as the doors opened, two of them were immediately killed by fire from human sniper rifles. Sen and Raku did the smart thing, and cloaked themselves before they left. The human snipers took out another Jiralhanae before they themselves were taken down by a spike grenade.
Human soldiers took cover close to the command centre's entrance, and they tore another Jiralhanae apart with their rifles. That was already three of the reinforcements gone, deaths which could have been completely avoided if Raku was in charge of the mission. If he were, he and Sen would be in and out without the humans even knowing they were there.
Raxum sprinted up to the command centre, and he brought his hammer down on the humans before they could shoot him. A single slam of the hammer warped the ground, and tore the skin off of the poor humans' faces. Even the door had been busted down, and the walls around it dented. Raku knew he wouldn't survive even a single hit from it if the Chieftain really was there to kill him.
A Jiralhanae soldier lobbed a grenade into one of the tents, and it was consumed by a massive fireball. Another Jiralhanae blasted the sides of another tent with its spike rifle, killing whatever human occupants might have been inside. The fighting was already mostly over, and neither Raku nor Sen had even taken a step past where they landed.
"Sangheili!" Raxum shouted, raising his hammer to the sky. "Come, join us!"
Raku and Sen de-cloaked, and obliged as if they had a choice. Raku took the hilt of his sword in his right hand, and gripped his plasma rifle in his left. Sen did the same. The two Sangheili formed up on the door with the Jiralhanae.
"Go," Raxum said to the two Sangheili. "Lead the charge."
Raku was surprised that Raxum let him take the lead, but he didn't complain. The two Sangheili rushed through the door, and were met with the resistance of the humans inside. Raku jammed his blades through the chest of one human soldier, and he fired at another behind them with his plasma rifle. Sen and the Jiralhanae rushed past him, blasting the remaining human soldiers with their weapons.
They cleared corridor after corridor, just like they had with the previous human base. This time there was no sign of any humans escaping, but that didn't mean the way to the archives was clear. Raku opened the door to a room to make sure it was clear, and was met with a shotgun blast to the face. It wasn't nearly enough to break his shields, but it did stun him. The human was melted by Sen's plasma rifle before it could get another shot off.
Raku waited for his shields to charge before checking the next room, and before they knew it, the area was clear. The group continued down another corridor that led underground. They entered a corridor just like the one before the Lifeworker archives, lined with doors where any humans could be lying in wait to ambush them.
A Jiralhanae wielding what seemed to be a crudely put together flamethrower moved ahead of the group, and began kicking doors open. It didn't bother checking any of the rooms before dousing them in flames. The screams of humans filled the hall with each room where a human was lying in wait. There wasn't a death more dishonourable than one given by a Jiralhanae.
"Alright, Sangheili," Raxum boomed. "You take the archives, we'll hold off the human reinforcements."
"Understood," Raku sighed.
He and Sen rushed to the other end of the corridor as the Jiralhanae retreated back to the surface. Sen opened the door, and they were met with a large square room of Forerunner design. This place was already nothing like the Lifeworker archive. They navigated through Forerunner halls until they ended up outside a door to a large circular room.
The motion tracker on Raku's HUD told him that there were humans inside, so he and Sen cloaked themselves once more. Sen opened the door, and they crept inside. The human soldiers next to the door were cut down before they even realised it was open, and that caused a panic through the rest of the humans in the room. Raku noticed that most of them weren't even soldiers, just researchers and civilians.
Sen closed the door behind them, and they slipped around the room, cutting human soldiers down with each step. Every time a human thought they saw either of them they opened fire, and missed. Frightful screams and whimpers sounded from the grouped up researchers every time a human soldier fell, one of them even got hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet.
When the room was clear of combatants, Raku approached the researchers, and ordered Sen to open the door. Raku revealed himself to them, and put away his sword. Even if the war with the humans was meant to wipe them out entirely, there was no honour in the slaughtering of those who can't defend themselves. He knew the Jiralhanae would end up killing the humans anyway, but at least it wasn't him doing it.
"Humans," Raku said, knowing they wouldn't understand him. He gestured to the door. "Leave this place, or die."
Even though they didn't understand his words, they knew what he was telling them. The humans rushed out, carrying their wounded colleague before they could bleed out. One of the researchers chose not to leave the facility, and they picked up a gun from one of the dead soldiers. Raku felt the impact of a bullet against his shields, and he calmly approached the human. It fired two more times, and none of the shots fazed Raku. He ignited his blades, and cut the poor human down, wishing it hadn't picked up the weapon and tried to fight back. It could have saved its own life, but it chose to die.
"Sen, cover me," Raku ordered. Sen gave him a nod, and he watched the door.
Raku approached the main terminal in the room, the platform in front of it lifted into the air when he stepped on it. Several screens projected from the terminal, and Raku inserted a drive into it to download the data. He mused over the screens as the information went past. There was a lot there, but nothing of particular interest to Raku. That was until one file came up.
'The Assembly' the file was called. According to the data it was a Forerunner fortress world designed to hold off any assault thrown at it, and it had several shipyards of grand scale orbiting it. The means to build a Forerunner fleet. Raku had seen Forerunner shield worlds before, but none were described as fortresses in the way the Assembly was described. Raku wondered if this was what Chel 'Quraee had discovered. If it were to be captured by anyone, they would be able to stand up to the Covenant itself.
Raku removed the drive before it finished downloading all of the data, and he inserted another to download everything on the Assembly specifically. He didn't plan on letting the Minister of Animosity know any of this. He wasn't going to betray the Covenant, but hopefully he could use the Assembly's discovery to gain power over the Minister, that was if Chel hadn't told anyone about it first.
Raku approached Sen as he waited for the data to finish downloading, and the two exchanged a glance. Though neither of them could see each other's expressions through their helmets, they knew each other's thoughts as if they were their own.
"I don't trust the Minister either," Sen said, echoing the thoughts Raku had been having for days. "Not after this."
"But is he planning to kill us?" Raku asked.
"I don't know," Sen sighed. "But he certainly is against us."
Raku let out a frustrated sigh. There was nothing he could do. No matter how he tried to fight back, he would be seen as a heretic and a traitor. He wanted neither of those things. All he wanted was his place on the Great Journey.
"If he does try to kill us, it will be him getting left behind," Sen said, assuring Raku after knowing his thoughts. "Not us."
"I hope that is true," Raku said before returning to the terminal.
All of the data finished downloading, and Raku informed Sen that it was time to leave. The facility began to shake around them, explosions were going off on the surface. Human reinforcements had arrived, and the Jiralhanae were clearly having the time of their lives. The two Sangheili sprinted ahead before the place could cave in, and they made their way to the command centre on the surface.
Human transports landed in the distance, dropping off more soldiers to enter the fight. The Jiralhanae surrounded the command centre, firing off shots at the approaching soldiers from a distance. Raku and Sen watched the battle rather than partaking in it. Three more Jiralhanae had died, one of them was Volus. He was the one Jiralhanae that Raku hadn't entirely hated.
Raxum took on the fight up close, tearing the humans apart with blasts from his gravity hammer. He sent human bodies flying all over the place, and none of them were able to take him down. The humans eventually decided to flee, and the Chieftain shouted at them like a fledgling having a tantrum.
"Chieftain," Raku called to him through his communicator. "We have the data."
Raxum made his way back to the command centre. Now that he was up close, Raku could see that his armour was riddled with bullet holes. He was bleeding from the holes in his undersuit where the human bullets had hit him. His shields only began to recharge now that he was back. He fought so recklessly that he could have easily been taken down had the humans been more competent. Raku kept that in mind.
The Chieftain barked at his Jiralhanae, and they all gathered inside. Only seven Jiralhanae remained, including Raxum and Axus. So many had died when they never needed to. Even if Raku didn't like the Jiralhanae, he never celebrated the unnecessary loss of life.
"We'll contact the Minister from here to let him know the mission is done," Raxum said. "The Phantom is on its way back to take us off this planet."
"The siege is over?" Sen asked.
"It is," Raxum said. He messed with the controls on a human holotable in a way that made him seem like he had no idea what he was doing. "We'll leave this world before the fleet begins to glass it."
"We can't destroy it," Raku said.
"There's still artefacts here," Sen added. "I thought the Minister was against this kind of destruction."
"Take it up with him," Raxum said, stepping away from the table.
A projection of the Minister of Animosity appeared from the table, and he looked over all of the warriors there with a satisfied expression. He already knew this call meant that the mission had succeeded.
"Good work," the Minister said with a smile across his lips. "I knew I could count on you to get along."
"Are you really going to destroy this planet?" Sen asked.
"I am," the Minister said, folding his hands. "It is no longer of use to us."
"The holy artefacts of the Forerunners aren't for you to cast aside after they've served their purpose," Raku said.
"Says who? You? The one who nearly destroyed an entire server worth of Lifeworker data?" the Minister's voice took on an annoyed tone. Raku was taken aback by the statement. Axus must have told the Minister about that when he wasn't paying attention. "You're not the one who gets to make that decision, Sangheili. You will bring the data to me, and the world will be glassed."
"Please, rethink this," Sen begged to the projection.
"No. I've thought about it too long already. Now, on the topic of that which has served its purpose…"
A massive force slammed against Raku, pushing him over onto the holotable. He had seen this coming from so long away, yet he wasn't prepared for it. When he turned to Raxum, he noticed that Sen was missing. Raku wasn't the one that had been hit by the hammer, Sen was. He was blasted straight into the wall with so much force that his body was now embedded in it.
The world came to a standstill. Raku's hand was on the hilt of his energy sword, and Raxum's hammer was inches away from his face. All of the other Jiralhanae in the room had their hands on the grips of their weapons as well, all staring at Raku with the intent to kill him. Even Axus glared at him with rage, as if he had been waiting for this moment the entire time, which wasn't a surprise either. This was the Minister's plan since the very beginning, since he put Nos on their team. The Blademaster's mood earlier only confirmed that he knew this was coming.
Raku drew his blades at an incredible speed, cutting the head off of the hammer before it could collide with him. The blades sliced through the top of Raxum's helmet, cutting into the skin on his head as well. He swiped again, slicing Raxum across his chest. When the Chieftain stumbled aside, Raku lunged for Axus. The massive Jiralhanae shot him with his spike rifle, but it did nothing to him. He slammed his blades into Axus's chest, and twisted them. He was killed almost instantly.
Raku turned as he felt something slam into his side, another Jiralhanae had tried to tackle him. He cut through the Jiralhanae's shoulder and tore its arm off like cutting a piece of paper. Another swing of the sword cut the brute's head clean off. The other four Jiralhanae on the other side of the room fired at him with their spike rifles and grenade launchers. Raku's shields were failing, but he didn't care.
He jammed his blades into the neck of another Jiralhanae, and he felt something slice into his back. The Jiralhanae wielding the grenade launcher had cut straight through his armour with the blade on the gun's underside. The pain only fueled Raku more. He whipped around, and cut through the grenade launcher as well as the Jiralhanae wielding it.
With his free hand, Raku drew his plasma rifle and blasted through the shields of the two remaining Jiralhanae. He felt a shot from a spike rifle pierce his hip, and his armpit. Another grazed the top of his head, and another burned straight through his thigh. None of it stopped him. He brought his blades down on top of one of the Jiralhanae, and cut its head in half. He stabbed the last remaining one through its heart, and only then did Raku fall to the ground.
Raku was blinded with rage, he could see nothing but red. When the rage began to fade, he saw the projection of the Minister of Animosity looking down at him with an unknown expression. There was fear from not expecting the attack to fail, but there was also a disgust there. A hatred for the assassin that he had done nothing to gain.
All Raku could say was "Why?"
"Because…" the Minister spoke. "It is the will of the Gods."
The projection faded, and Raku pulled himself across the floor, to Sen. The armour covering his back was completely shattered, and his body had been ruptured so bad that Raku could see his spine. Raku pushed himself to his feet, and he pulled his brother out of the wall. He was still alive, but he wouldn't be for long.
Raku lifted Sen's helmet off his head, his pained expression hurt to see. He hadn't even seen his brother's face since before they joined the siege, and he knew this was the last time he would see it. Raku lifted off his own helmet to look his brother in the eyes one last time.
"I'm sorry, brother," Raku whispered.
"Don't," Sen rasped. "It was... a good run."
"Yes, it was," Raku sighed. He clutched his brother's hand in his own.
"It would have been nice… To see the war end," Sen rasped again.
With that, Sen was gone. Raku pushed himself to his feet. His entire body screamed out in pain, but he wouldn't leave his brother without saluting him one last time. He placed his fist against his chest plate, and bowed his head. The sound of an approaching Phantom caught Raku's attention, and he limped out of the command centre after paying his respects.
He saw that Raxum was still alive, and that he was stumbling to the Phantom. Raku raised his plasma rifle, but he couldn't hold himself steady enough to fire on the Chieftain, not that it would do any good. The Chieftain boarded the Phantom through its gravity lift, and it flew away with him left behind.
Raku was at least glad that he had won, and that the Minister hadn't gotten what he wanted. He knew he wouldn't risk destroying the planet with the data still down there, but that meant that there would be more Jiralhanae coming after him. And he was no longer in any shape to fight. When he tried to step forward, his leg gave out. He stumbled into the snow, and closed his eyes.
He would either bleed out, or be killed by Jiralhanae reinforcements. None of it mattered. He would die not having avenged his brother. An incomplete warrior. If only he hadn't been so focused on staying alive. I told myself I wouldn't be selfish.
Raku closed his eyes, and let the cold take him as night fell over Zezar.
