Chapter 18: Raku

Raku awoke somewhere dark without the knowledge that he had fallen asleep in the first place. His helmet had been removed, and when he turned he saw it sitting next to him. He was laying on the floor of a cave somewhere. He figured he might have been dead until he tried to move, and the pain he felt in his limbs told him he was still alive.

Despite his body telling him not to, he managed to sit up. He couldn't see in the darkness of the cave, but he could tell he wasn't alone. There was someone else next to him, who also seemed to have been woken by Raku's movements.

"Relax, do not move so much," came a smooth voice, definitely from a Sangheili. "Your wounds are still healing."

Raku didn't know who was talking to him, but he recognised the accent. He'd heard Sangheili from the Vaardma continent on Sanghelios speak with a similar inflection, one of the notable keeps from that region of the planet was the Rylan keep. Despite not spending much time on Sanghelios, Raku knew a lot about it.

"Who are you?" Raku asked. "And where am I?"

"I am Mace 'Rylanee," the Sangheili said. Raku felt a little satisfaction at correctly guessing where he was from. "You are still on Zezar, but away from the conflict."

Raku closed his eyes and coughed. He remembered fighting against the Jiralhanae, and nearly dying after his attempt to avenge his brother. He still couldn't believe it. He had fought by Sen's side all his life, and now he was gone. Cursed Minister of Animosity. You will pay for this.

"I'm a Shipmaster," Mace 'Rylanee continued. "Or… I was. I arrived with orders to glass this planet, but Jiralhanae attacked my ship just as I entered orbit."

"The Jiralhanae attacked you too?" Raku asked. He thought he and Sen were the sole targets of the Minister's betrayal, he wasn't expecting other Sangheili to be attacked as well.

"Yes. The whole fleet was Jiralhanae ships," 'Rylanee said. "They boarded the Supreme Crusader and took it from my hands. Few others survived. We found you by monitoring Jiralhanae communications."

The Supreme Crusader was a ship that Raku had heard of. It was among Thel 'Vadamee's Fleet of Particular Justice, the one that had found Halo. It was mentioned during 'Vadamee's trial. Raku had no idea he was talking to someone who had been there when Halo was found, and when it was destroyed.

"You're some kind of assassin, correct?" 'Rylanee asked.

"Correct," Raku sighed. He tried his best not to move, as 'Rylanee had told him. "The Minister of Animosity sent me and my brothers here to find Forerunner data. Then out of nowhere, he tried to kill me."

"The Minister of Animosity…" 'Rylanee looked away for a moment. "He is the one who sent me here as well. Do you have any idea why he did this?"

"He just hates Sangheili, I guess," Raku sighed. "I have no idea. But I will make him pay, I swear it."

"You won't be doing much for a few days at least," 'Rylanee said. "You must let your wounds heal."

Raku groaned. He was starting to feel like a Jiralhanae who was told to wait before a fight started. He hadn't finished avenging his brother, that cursed Chieftain Raxum had escaped. He wanted nothing more than to chase after him, and relieve his head from his body. Raku's determination was almost enough for him to push past the pain, and leave the cave at that moment. But the pain he felt was just too much.

"Fine…" Raku grunted. "I can wait."

"Good," 'Rylanee said, rising to his feet. "We will be off this planet very soon."

"You have a plan to leave?"

"Sort of," 'Rylanee looked away. "I'm fairly well acquainted with a group of mercenaries. They will be able to slip past the Jiralhanae fleet and pick us up undetected."

"Great…" Raku growled. "Non-believers."

"They are not blasphemers," 'Rylanee explained. "But… Money is more important to them than faith. In your condition it's the only way you're getting out of here, unless you think it's more honourable to freeze to death."

"I suppose I don't have a choice then."

"Not as you are, no."

Raku sighed, and attempted to lay down again. His back was still in immense pain from where he had been stabbed, and he could still feel where he had been shot by the spike rifles. Thankfully the spikes were removed, so his body was allowed to heal.

Everything had happened so quickly. Raku's command had been taken over, Nos was pulled away from them, and they were betrayed all in an instant. After working for the Minister of Animosity for so long, Raku was still in disbelief at what had happened. Why would he turn against the Sangheili now?

Raku couldn't possibly put the pieces together, not on his own. None of it made sense, yet at the same time he saw it coming. Since the moment he was ordered to babysit Axus and his pack, he had figured that the Minister had for some reason turned against him.

Raku slowly reached into his pocket, and he found that the drive with the Forerunner data was still there. He gripped it in his palm and stared at it. The information on the drive was all that Raku needed to get his revenge, he swore he would find the secrets of the world of the Assembly.

"What is that?" 'Rylanee asked.

Raku had already forgotten that he wasn't alone, and he was hesitant to share what he found. 'Rylanee could still be another agent for the Minister of Animosity, he wouldn't know until it was too late. But he heard the truth in the Shipmaster's words. He had heard the sadness when he talked about losing his ship, the Supreme Crusader. If 'Rylanee was just a really good performer, Raku figured he wouldn't find out until it was too late.

"Some of the data the Minister was after, found it in a Builder archive," Raku said. "I kept it from his Jiralhanae. I gave him everything except for this…"

"What is the data on, if you don't mind me asking?"

Everything. Our salvation. The true gift of the Gods. Chel 'Quraee's new obsession.

"A fortress world," Raku explained. "And a forge world. Built by the Forerunners to construct immense fleets. It's what the Minister of Animosity wants… But I will get it first. And I will use it to get my revenge."

'Rylanee stared at Raku like he was a madman. Raku couldn't blame him, it did sound like something crazy. But the Shipmaster nodded anyway, choosing to humour the assassin. Whether 'Rylanee believed him or not didn't matter, but he was still going to need his help.

"I will need your assistance," Raku said. "You, and these mercenaries."

"They work for profit, not power," 'Rylanee said. "Unless you have money on that drive as well, they're not going to help you."

"Then I will make them help me," Raku said, looking up at 'Rylanee. "You will help me too."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you believe, do you not? The Minister of Animosity is a prophet of lies, a heretic that spews blasphemy as the words of the Gods. He knows not what he talks about, and pretends to be some kind of holy messenger. You were there when Halo was found. You know the true might of the Gods, and you know that those who tarnish their name must be silenced."

"You know I was there?" 'Rylanee asked, his face twisting in confusion.

"I studied 'Vadamee's trial extensively when I had the time," Raku admitted. "But that is besides the point. The Minister is a liar, and if we don't take his head, then he will take ours. This is our best chance to do that."

'Rylanee fell silent. Raku saw in the Shipmaster's eyes that he knew he was right. The Assembly was their best chance for anything. The Minister could have done this behind the backs of the other Prophets, so the only way to get back was to go against the Covenant itself. Attempting to expose the truth would only have him being ignored. The Shipmaster sat back down next to Raku.

"So how do we find this… Assembly?" 'Rylanee asked.

Raku didn't have the answer to that question, not an exact answer anyway. Despite all the data the archive had on the Assembly, there was nothing on its location. But he had an idea. He knew he wasn't the only one who was after the Assembly. The one who had begun the siege of Zezar in the first place, the one who had abandoned it just to find this place.

"We need to find Chel 'Quraee, and the Fleet of Sanctity," Raku said. "If anyone knows where it is, it's him."

"You mean the one who initiated the fighting on this planet, and then left?" 'Rylanee asked. "Are you sure the Assembly is what he is after?"

"No," Raku admitted. "But what else could have drawn him away?"

"If that is the biggest discovery you found in that archive, then I doubt it's anything else…" 'Rylanee nodded.

With how obsessed Chel 'Quraee was over the Assembly, Raku was surprised that 'Rylanee's mercenaries wouldn't care about it. Raku found it hard to believe that somebody would value making money over becoming a powerful being. If the Assembly was everything that he expected it to be, then finding it wouldn't just make him a powerful being. It would make him a God.

"These mercenaries aren't your friends, are they?" Raku asked.

"No, just people I have paid for work a few times," 'Rylanee. "If you plan on killing them, then I don't care as long as you do it after we're off this planet."

"Good," Raku said. "I'll only kill them if I have to."

'Rylanee nodded. Raku could tell there was something weighing on the Shipmaster's mind, he couldn't tell what it was. Maybe he was lying, and he had just agreed to letting him kill his friends. Even though they had just met, Raku already considered 'Rylanee a friend for saving his life, and he always wanted his friends to be honest with him.

"Is there something else?" Raku asked, wanting 'Rylanee to speak his mind.

"Just one thing," 'Rylanee said. "If I help you with this, then I want your help in return. I want you to help me take the Supreme Crusader back."

"If you help me with this," Raku replied. "I will do whatever you want."


Days passed before the mercenaries arrived. Raku had spent that time lying in an uncomfortable makeshift bed, being slowly nursed back to health by Mace 'Rylanee. He had also met the other survivors from the Supreme Crusader, who were all Sangheili of the Minor and Major ranks. They weren't much, but they would be a good start of an army.

It was also when he met the mercenaries that his goals became even clearer, and he learned the extent of not just the Minister's treachery, but the Prophets' as well. Raku couldn't believe what he was hearing, none of it could begin to make sense to him.

Oko 'Veraskee was the name of the mercenary leader, a Sangheili who had somehow escaped the Covenant military back when it was in its prime. 'Veraskee told both him and 'Rylanee about the fighting happening on and around High Charity. He spoke of how the Sangheili were officially denounced by the Prophet of Truth himself, and that they were all being replaced by Jiralhanae in the military.

Nothing justified this. Not the destruction of Alpha Halo, not the death of the Prophet of Regret on this new Halo that was found. There was nothing that could possibly be said that would make any of this right.

After all that was explained, 'Veraskee was immediately asking for his payment, which 'Rylanee swiftly gave to him.

"I didn't call you here just to get us offworld," 'Rylanee said after transferring the payment. "We wish to join your crew, and fight alongside you."

"I suppose it is a good time for it," 'Veraskee said with a sigh. The tone of his voice made him sound more annoyed than anything, though Raku couldn't tell if he was annoyed with them or with something else. "If the Covenant doesn't want you anymore, then I will take you."

"Thank you, 'Veraskee," 'Rylanee said with a bow. "You have saved us all."

"Do not thank me yet," 'Veraskee said. "The life of a mercenary lacks the luxuries of the Covenant. And you are a Shipmaster no longer."

"I understand," 'Rylanee said. "I would not have asked if I didn't know what I was getting into."

'Veraskee nodded without another word, and led them to the transport he had arrived in. It was an old model of the Spirit dropship, the Taaku Xur-pattern to be precise. Raku hadn't seen one of them since the earliest years of the war, which led him to question how long 'Veraskee had been operating as a mercenary.

Raku and 'Rylanee strapped into the seats on the side of the Spirit's troop bay while 'Veraskee's soldiers helped the other survivors from the Supreme Crusader inside. The transport lifted away, and Raku was finally no longer on Zezar.

It was good to be off that planet, Raku never wanted anything to do with it again. The only thing he regretted was that Sen's body was still down there, and it was far too late for him to do anything about it. What mattered most was that Raku would never forget Sen, or what happened to him. The Minister of Animosity was no longer the only one who had to pay, it was now the Covenant itself that was Raku's enemy.

Screens mounted on the troop bay doors showed Raku the outside surroundings of the Spirit as it left the planet's atmosphere. The transport began to approach what looked like a Ket-pattern battlecruiser, an older model of the cruiser too. The nanolaminate hull was silver, and shone in the light of the stars, unlike the newer purple ones. It only had two sensor vanes on the front, unlike the four that the newer models had.

Raku had a feeling that everything he was going to see aboard that ship would be outdated. The only problem with that was that things would be just a little more frustrating.

"See that?" 'Rylanee said. "That's the Sacred Provenance. Old ship, but still tough."

Sacred Provenance… Raku wasn't expecting an even slightly religious name for a mercenary ship. Maybe there was some hope of converting them to his mission after all. The Spirit landed in one of the ship's hangar bays, and everyone made their way out.

After spending so long on the surface of Zezar, the interior of the battlecruiser was almost unfamiliar. There were several Kig-Yar and Unggoy gathered in the hangar, working on repairs to a couple of Seraphs and an old Ru'swum-pattern Phantom. So far 'Veraskee was the only Sangheili Raku could see in this mercenary group.

"We're leaving this system as soon as possible," 'Veraskee said as he marched through the hangar, making his way to the cruiser's control room quickly. "As soon as the Covenant notices we're here, they'll shoot us down."

"Agreed," 'Rylanee said.

Raku and 'Rylanee followed 'Veraskee to the control room through a series of lifts and corridors. When they arrived, they were the only ones there other than what appeared to be a Kig-Yar T'vaoan, which weren't exactly the most common sight. The feathers on her head were all painted in different colours, and her armour didn't seem to follow any sort of specific colour scheme either. She looked like she was going out of her way to show she wasn't a member of the Covenant military, despite wearing a Covenant combat harness.

"New recruits?" the T'vaoan asked.

"Yes," 'Veraskee said as he stepped onto the command deck. "Is the slipspace drive ready?"

"Affirmative," the T'vaoan bowed. "Ready to leave when you are."

'Veraskee nodded, and accessed one of the consoles on the command deck. Raku could feel the ship shift beneath his feet as it entered the slipstream. There were no large screens lining the walls that the newer Ket-patterns had to show the outside space around them, so they just had to use their imagination to watch the ship move. Everything on this ship was built to be practical, rather than convenient.

"Ah, is that you, Mace?" the T'vaoan asked, approaching 'Rylanee. "I hardly recognised you in person."

"We would be speaking through a screen if I still had my ship... Actually, we wouldn't be speaking at all," 'Rylanee sighed. He turned to Raku. "This is Vhark, 'Veraskee's second in command."

The T'vaoan bowed as she was introduced, and she looked up at Raku with an excited look in her eyes, she seemed happy to meet someone new. Raku always liked T'vaoans, they were always more sophisticated than other Kig-Yar.

"Pleasure to meet you," Vhark said as she rose again. "And you are?"

"I am Raku 'Sol," Raku said, dropping the suffix at the end of his name. He wasn't a member of the Covenant military anymore, no Sangheili was anymore. He didn't know why the others even held onto them, maybe it was something they hadn't considered.

"Well, nice to meet you, Raku 'Sol," Vhark said with a toothy grin.

"If you don't mind, I would like to speak with 'Veraskee in private," Raku said.

"Anything you want to tell me, you can tell her too," 'Veraskee said. There was still an annoyance in his voice, and in his expression. Maybe he was just a permanently annoyed person.

Raku looked between them, and then at 'Rylanee, who gave him a nod. Trying to convince 'Veraskee to follow him would be much harder with another voice in his ear, especially from someone close to him. After everything that had recently happened, Raku had a hard time wanting to kill either of them now.

"I need your help," Raku said. "I need to find the Fleet of Sanctity, and its Fleetmaster, Chel 'Quraee. If we do, we will be on the path of something greater than any riches you can acquire, I guarantee it."

"And what is that, exactly?" 'Veraskee asked.

"A Forerunner forge world known as the Assembly," Raku explained. He told 'Veraskee of the possibilities that finding the Assembly would bring. Revenge against the Prophets, the end of the humans, all of the material possessions that they could ever want. With the Assembly, they could do so much, and no one would be able to stand in their way again. 'Veraskee's expression finally changed, but it was to one of amusement.

"Let me guess, this all came to you in a dream?" 'Veraskee asked.

"No," Raku said plainly. "I found the data in a Forerunner archive on Zezar."

"Oh of course you did," 'Veraskee shook his head, going back to his annoyed expression. "Everyone finds everything in some kind of Forerunner archive."

"Do you vouch for him?" Vhark asked 'Rylanee, drawing a surprised look from 'Veraskee.

"I do," 'Rylanee said. "He has the data on him right now."

Raku took the drive from his pocket and held it out for 'Veraskee. He was hesitant to give it to someone he didn't know, but he needed 'Veraskee's support. He really didn't want to end up killing him and taking the ship. 'Veraskee suspiciously eyed the drive as he brought it to a console and inserted it. The downloaded information on the Assembly was soon presented on a screen.

'Veraskee stared at the information as it scrolled past. An image of the planet rotated in one corner of the screen, the shipyards in the planet's orbit were visible there. Though none of them could read the Forerunner text other than Raku, they all knew that the information was real. 'Veraskee eventually sighed, and handed the drive back to Raku.

"Allow me and Vhark to discuss this," 'Veraskee said. "In private."

"Of course," Raku nodded, sliding the drive back into his pocket. He and 'Rylanee left the control room, and waited outside.

The empty halls outside of the ship's control room were almost unsettling. Every cruiser Raku had been in had been mostly crowded. Despite the big ship that they owned, the mercenaries definitely didn't have the crew to staff it. Raku wondered if he would be able to recruit more to the group on his own, he would pull them off of High Charity if he had to.

"I don't think he'll go for it," 'Rylanee said.

"Vhark seems more open-minded," Raku replied. "I think she'll convince him."

Raku had originally seen Vhark as a problem, but her presence seemed to be working in his favour so far. He hoped he wasn't misplacing his faith in her the same way he misplaced his faith in the Prophets.

The door to the control room eventually opened, and Vhark beckoned the two Sangheili inside. 'Veraskee sat on a munitions crate at the base of the ramp to the command deck, his arms crossed. The mercenary leader was hard to read with the permanent annoyed look on his face.

"I'm not giving you the ship," 'Veraskee said. "Nor am I giving you command over anyone or anything."

Raku stared blankly at 'Veraskee; he tried not to sigh and let his disappointment show, but he felt his fingers flexing involuntarily. He was ready to ignite his blades and take 'Veraskee down.

"But," 'Veraskee continued. "I will take you on as an advisor. I can say I believe you when you say the Assembly is real, but I'm not sure if it will give all that you promise just yet. Do you know where this Chel 'Quraee is?"

"No, but I've thought about it," Raku said. "If we can build up an army of Sangheili and retake the Supreme Crusader, we can use its databases to locate the ship. I am correct in assuming an assault carrier of that class would have the positions of other Covenant fleets?"

"Correct," 'Rylanee nodded. "If we get others to join us, we can take the Crusader back, and find the way to the Assembly."

"I will need access to something that can monitor Covenant communications traffic as well," Raku said. "Would you have that aboard this ship?"

"I do, but you must be careful with it," 'Veraskee warned. "We cannot have the Covenant finding us."

"I am an assassin," Raku said. "Being careful is my specialty."

"Then Vhark will give you access to the ship's communications systems," 'Veraskee said.

"Thank you," Raku said with a bow. "This means a lot to me."

"I'm sure it does," 'Veraskee waved him off. "Now go, gather your army. If this Assembly truly is what you claim, then I want it as much as you do."