Chapter 24: Kel
Kel had nearly given up on repairing the Phantom as another day went by with no progress. He couldn't possibly understand what he was missing, but he refused to ask for help. He saw that as admitting defeat, and he never wanted to lose again. Everything that Kel had once considered a victory he had begun to consider a defeat.
He could hear General 'Chelamee's voice in his head again, telling him about how there is no shame in asking for assistance. But if Kel couldn't rely on himself, he wouldn't be able to rely on anyone else.
The Phantom's lights turned on, and he had even been able to get the gravity lift working, but he just couldn't figure out the ship's impulse drives. He wasn't sure if Era would be able to figure them out either, as he didn't know how familiar the monitor would be with Covenant technology.
Maybe it was just a fuel problem, and that the ship's impulse drives had nothing to keep them going. He had no idea where he would be able to find fuel for them on the planet, but he got up and decided to go looking for some.
Kel stopped in his tracks just before he left the clearing where the Phantom was landed, and he punched the nearest tree so hard that he had to recoil back from the pain. Why am I like this? Kel asked himself, as he had so many times since he landed on that planet for the first time.
He stormed off in the direction of Era's facility. He was done being stubborn, he was getting impatient and he needed help. Salvation was just around the corner, along with the promise of helping the Sangheili rise up against the Covenant. Kel wasn't sure how much difference an outcast would make in the ranks of the Sangheili resistance, but he assumed they would need him anyway. Sometimes all it took to make a difference was one life.
When Kel arrived at the facility he made his way straight to the monitoring room. There was no sign of Era there, so he called out its name. There was no response, so he called out again. He continued to shout for Era, but the monitor never came. Kel let out a frustrated grunt and sat down against the wall, maybe the monitor would appear eventually if he waited long enough.
The sound of an alert caught Kel's attention after he had waited so long that he couldn't tell how long he actually waited for. It had come from the holotable in the middle of the room. Kel got to his feet and looked at the table, a display of the whole system had come up.
There was something at the edge of the system, it was marked in red. Kel waved his hands to zoom the projection in, and he saw what looked like a ship at the edge of the system before it suddenly disappeared.
"Ah!" Era exclaimed from behind Kel as it approached the table. "The facility has made contact with a spacefaring vessel!"
Kel stared at the monitor in disbelief. It had been absent for so long when Kel needed it, and just now it suddenly showed up. He wondered what other business the thing could have possibly had.
"Where the hell have you been?" Kel asked, his voice sounding more frustrated than he meant for it.
"Performing maintenance," Era said, turning away from the table. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes, the problem is that I need your help."
"Have I done something wrong? You sound angry…"
Kel sighed and took a step back. Even though Era was a machine, Kel needed to remember it was another sentient being. His anger wasn't warranted, nor his frustration with the monitor. He realised that maybe he was just really lonely.
"Sorry, I have just been frustrated," Kel sighed. "I did not mean to yell at you."
"Do not worry!" Era exclaimed. "I took no offence to your tone. I was merely wondering if you were okay."
Kel was surprised to feel gratitude at that. It felt good to know that there was someone out there who cared about his well being. Maybe if you didn't kill everyone else who might've cared about you, he told himself. I did this all to myself.
"You mentioned a spacefaring vessel?" Kel asked, forgetting all about what he was actually there to ask Era about.
"A ship has just exited slipstream space at the edge of the system," Era said, turning back to the table. "It appears to have systems aboard to reflect scans, but the facility is capable of getting a visual on the vessel."
Kel felt his hearts beat a little faster. Why and how did a ship just appear in the system? He was supposed to be the only one that knew of the planet's existence. It was a blind jump that brought me here, Kel remembered. Is it that crazy to think someone else ended up here with a blind jump?
One of the screens on the wall extended towards them as it displayed a visual of the ship that had just entered the system. Kel hadn't been in the Covenant military for long enough to get to know all of the ship classes, but the ship was definitely Covenant. He couldn't tell the ship's exact size, but judging by the shape of it it looked like a corvette.
The ship wasn't moving, it appeared to be waiting for something. Maybe it was scouting for enemy fleets, moving system to system. Kel hoped that was the case, and that it would disappear within the next few minutes. But that wasn't what happened. The ship began to move, it was coming straight towards his planet.
Kel panicked internally, a part of him figured the ship was there for him. That after all these years, the Covenant had found him and was on its way to kill him. Or it could be a Sangheili ship fresh from the Prophets' betrayal searching for another ally. Maybe they didn't know of his existence at all, and that they stumbled upon this world by accident.
There were so many different possibilities of the ship's purpose, and he wouldn't know which was correct until they got there. And he really didn't want them to get there. If they knew who he was, they might kill him. If they didn't, they would probably kill him if they found out. He didn't know how many people were aboard the corvette, but he doubted he could take them on in a fight. He had been able to best a General and escape a Covenant strike force, but that was nothing compared to the crew of an entire ship.
"How much time do you think it'll be before they arrive?" Kel asked.
"Based on their current speed and trajectory, I estimate they will be here in exactly one rotation."
One day… that was as much time as he had to finish repairing the Phantom and to get the hell out of there.
"Would you like me to contact them?" Era asked.
"No," Kel said quickly. "No no no no, absolutely not. I don't want them to get here at all in fact."
"May I ask why?"
"It's the Covenant," Kel explained. He didn't want to take chances with whether it was Sangheili resistance fighters or not. "I betrayed them, killed their warriors and fled here like a coward. They could be looking for me, if they get here they might kill me."
"I see," Era said. "I am not capable of destroying them, as there are no weapons in this facility. But I believe I can slow them down, if you would like."
"Yes, that would help," Kel said, feeling a slight bit of relief. Now he had more time.
Era returned to the holotable and interacted with the controls by producing a beam of light from its eye. Kel couldn't tell what it was doing that would slow the ship down, but he simply trusted that the monitor knew what it was doing. He nervously watched the display, and soon noticed that the ship did seem to be slowing down.
"I am sending a virus to the ship to take control of its systems," Era said. "Though it is more difficult than I expected… There doesn't seem to be a lot of automation on these Covenant ships."
"Just do the best you can," Kel said. "I only need time to finish repairing my ship."
"The virus has been sent," Era said as it turned back to Kel. "It will slow them down for a time before their ship's systems can fight it off. Now what did you need my help with again?"
Kel tilted his head, he had entirely forgotten what his original purpose was for his visit to the facility. It quickly came back to him when he stared at the display of the approaching corvette.
"I need help repairing my Phantom," Kel said. "I had hoped to do it myself, but… I cannot. And with that ship approaching now, I need to get out of here quickly before they get here."
"Let me come and examine it," Era said. "I may not be familiar with the ship's design, but I may be able to figure out what is wrong."
"Thank you," Kel bowed.
"Do not thank me just yet, let us go."
Kel and Era left the facility together. He realised that this was probably the monitor's first time being outside in the thousands of years it had been here, but it didn't make any kind of big deal out of it. It was silent during the whole walk back to the Phantom.
The sun was beginning to set once more when they made it back, and Era began its full scan of the Phantom to find out what was wrong with it. It took significantly less time than Kel was expecting, the monitor came to him with the results after only a minute.
"It seems your ship's impulse drives are damaged," Era explained. "And out of fuel. It appears the ship had been leaking fuel for several years after you landed here."
"Hm…" Kel grunted. "I didn't think anything had damaged the ship."
"I believe it was the local fauna and flora that caused the damage. Seeing as the systems are based on Forerunner technology, they should be quite easy to fix."
That was something Kel didn't know, that the Phantoms' drive systems used Forerunner tech. Or at least were based on Forerunner tech. This whole time he had been staring the Forerunners in the face, and he had no idea that he was. Every revelation, no matter how big or small, made everything that Kel had done in his past worse.
"I can have my sentinels perform the repairs," Era said. "And I will be able to synthesise more fuel…"
"But..?" Kel asked once the monitor's voice trailed off.
"Even after slowing down the approaching ship, I don't believe I'll be able to synthesise enough fuel for your ship to leave before they get here. You won't be able to go anywhere."
Frustration and disappointment filled Kel's veins, both feelings so overwhelming that he couldn't feel anything else. He had no choice now but to face the crew of this Covenant ship head on. It had been so long since he had actually fought something that he didn't know if he would be capable of doing it again. He might as well just accept his death, or kill himself and get it over with. No. I'm stronger than that.
"Then don't bother with the fuel," Kel sighed. "Just repair the thrusters."
"Understood," Era said. "I have informed my sentinels of the task. Would you like me to stay with you?"
"Do whatever you want."
"Very well. I will return to my facility. Goodbye, Kel 'Dauram."
"Goodbye, Era."
The monitor silently floated away, leaving Kel to be alone until the sentinels arrived. All he could do now was wait and see what happened. No matter if it was Jiralhanae or Sangheili, Kel figured they would want him dead. He was at least going to try to fight back, but he was sure he would die trying.
If only he had gotten to follow the message, and to have the chance at reaching the Assembly. It suddenly came across his mind that the Sangheili who sent the message could be the one coming to him, maybe he had known Kel was listening and somehow tracked him. It didn't make any sense, but it was the only good scenario he could come up with.
Kel wished he remembered anything about his childhood. All he knew was that he grew up on Hesduros, and like most Sangheili, never knew his father. It was only when he joined the Covenant military when he had experiences that he actually remembered. At the time they were good experiences, but now he only saw them as mistakes. Things that he would have changed if he was able to travel into the past.
He closed his eyes and laid on the ground outside of his Phantom. It started raining after night fell over the forest, and he didn't care when he felt the droplets wash over him. He felt himself sinking into the mud, and he felt all of the blood that he spent so long coating his armour in getting washed off.
When Era's sentinels finally arrived, they had to scan him to make sure he was still alive. Whether or not he was, he didn't think they would care. They moved on to work on the Phantom while Kel enjoyed the rain washing over him. In the sound of the drops hitting the ground Kel could make out voices, whispers in a language he didn't understand.
Someone was talking to him, and he couldn't tell where they were. When Kel had gotten onto his feet the rain had suddenly stopped, and a dense fog had set into the forest. He looked back to the Phantom, but it was gone. There was no sign of his campfire or any of his other possessions, upon closer inspection the forest wasn't even the same. He was somewhere completely different.
He couldn't tell if he was on the Assembly or somewhere else, he was simply somewhere he didn't recognise. When he walked he could barely feel his legs, and he nearly fell over with each step. The whispers continued, and almost seemed to be some kind of backward speech.
Kel didn't know where he was going, but he continued walking. The shadows grew longer with each step, the fog began to clear but Kel could see nothing past it. Am I going insane? Kel wondered. It surprised him that it had taken that long for him to start going insane, he had expected it to happen much earlier.
Even though everything Kel could see was complete black, he could still feel the ground beneath his feet. When he looked down he thought he would fall, but he stayed standing with each step.
There is no future for Kel 'Dauram, Kars's words echoed through Kel's head. That was when he knew he had fallen into another one of his cryptic dreams, though for some reason this one felt more real than the last few. He still felt like he was awake, and he still had complete control over his body.
There is no future for Kel 'Dauram, Kars repeated. The dense fog eventually came back, but there was no sign of any trees. The sun began to rise in the distance, but the sky was completely black. The sun was only a point of white light over a landscape that he couldn't quite make out through the fog.
There is no future for Kel 'Dauram. This time it wasn't in Kars's voice. It was in a voice that Kel didn't recognise in the slightest. The sun rose over the top of a mountain in the distance. At first he thought it was the mountain that held Era's facility, but he could tell it wasn't. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME? Kel shouted, but his voice didn't leave his mouth.
There is no future for Kel 'Dauram, unless you come with me, the voice said. I will take you where you need to go. Come with me, submit. Do not be afraid, I am peace. I am salvation.
Kel tried to ask who was speaking to him, but nothing came out of his mouth. He closed his eyes and tried to think of the question. Who are you?
I am the one who knows what you've done. I am the one who knows where you will go. I am a monument to all your sins.
Kel didn't know what any of that meant, but the realisation began to set in. Though he still didn't know who it was, he knew it was whoever was giving him the dreams. The dream he had when he first entered the mountain, the other repeats of it, and the one where he had been confronted by everyone he killed. Is this the voice of the Gods?
There was no answer to that question. The sun rose above the mountain, and lit up the landscape before Kel. He recognised it once more as the landscape of the Assembly, the landscape that had been torn apart and ravaged by some ancient war Kel knew nothing about. It was all shaded in black and white. Was this what he was going to find when he got there?
I know where you are going Kel 'Dauram, the voice said again. I will be with you every step of the way. Do not be afraid.
Kel 'Dauram awoke breathing heavily. He thought it had just finished raining before he realised that he was covered in sweat, and that the rain had stopped a long time ago. He tried to get up, but the mud had crusted around his back and trapped him there. With significant effort, he was able to push himself free and stand up.
He hadn't realised he was sleeping, and he felt even more tired than he had when he had experienced whatever that vision was. The sky was overcast, the setting sun in the distance made the clouds glow a brilliant orange. Wait, the sun is setting? He had slept nearly a full day. The approaching Covenant ship would be on top of him anytime soon. He rushed for his camp and grabbed his concussion rifle, and he also saw that all of the remaining damage to the Phantom had been fully repaired.
He was still confused as to what had happened, and he was sure he would be confused until he got to the Assembly. Whatever voice that spoke to him wanted him to go there, and it had something to show him. That was the second time he had seen the war ravaged landscape of the Assembly, and it made him uneasy. He really hoped that wasn't how it would look when he got there.
A distant humming told of a Phantom flying through the air, and Kel then knew he was out of time. He sprinted through the trees as fast as he could in his exhausted state, straight towards the sound of the Phantom. When he eventually saw it through the trees, he was able to make out the shape of a Sangheili leaving it.
At least it's not the Jiralhanae, Kel thought. He stalked the Sangheili through the foliage as it searched the area, he was surprisingly quiet with all of his heavy armour. He was able to get a good look at the Sangheili as they paused in a clearing.
Their armour was white, which signified a higher ranking Sangheili, but it was covered in splatters of blood from all different kinds of species. The only colour he didn't recognise was the sickly yellow-green, which was splattered all over the Sangheili's boots and torso. Wherever they had come from, it must have been hell.
The Sangheili had surprisingly good senses, it managed to notice Kel who hadn't moved a muscle while he watched. The Sangheili reached for a carbine on his back and aimed it at Kel as he drew his concussion rifle. The look in the Sangheili's eyes was one of relief, they weren't there to kill him after all.
But even then, Kel didn't feel safe. The two of them lowered their weapons at the same time, yet Kel still felt he was in more danger than ever.
