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Solace's Weapon Chapter 5: Sympathy and doubt
Posted By: RogueDragon
Date: 26 October 2006, 9:57 pm
Read/Post Comments
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Chapter 5: Sympathy and doubt
Covenant Command Ship Holy Will
Moored in High Charity Dry Docks
Ship Master Eva' Korrander sat in his quarters studding his control panel and sipping from a glass of blue alcohol when the door chimed signaling there was someone waiting to come in.
"Enter" he said loudly, the door then slid open.
Tai' Nakita entered the room and approached his desk, "Commander Kel' Putamer is attending a relatives Bonding anniversary, several of the crew are attending, Excellency we wondered if you wished to attend".
Smiling Korrander replied "I think I will take a pass on that, our soldiers should be able to relax without there commanding officer looking over there shoulder".
Nakita jerked his head and said "You should come, it would be better then spending tonight alone here Excellency, what could be so important to keep you here".
Korrander sat back in his chair and replied "Do you remember Nemesis's little rampage".
Nakita frowned and replied "I do Excellency, that 'incident' is still fresh in my mind", the Commander sighed and added "I know you feel responsible but there is nothing you can do, we will just have to wait"
Korrander stood up and said "that's not entirely true", he turned the holo panel to face Nakita, displayed on it was a jumbled up series of numbers and letters. "This flashed on the holo panel before Nemesis reacted to the Prophet of Malice, I don't know about you but that doesn't seem like a coincidence to me".
Nakita looked at it then replied "Excellency, this is just gibberish, nothing more, the Profits technical team ran a full background test and diagnostic test and found nothing".
Korrander sat back down and replied "the Prophet of Solace underestimates his creations awareness and intelligence as does his technical team".
From under his desk Korrander reached down and came back with a small metal disk and put it into a holder in his holo panel, realizing what it was Nakita gasped. "Excellency, possession of human interface equipment is punishable by Death, were did you"
He was cut of by Korrander, "An old friend in threat assessment, I needed it, watch, this may seem like gibberish but played through this disk and", the gibberish was replaced by a single word written in human language. Korrander activated the translation matrix, a faint humming could be heard and after a minute or so the alien word was replaced once again with another word.
Nakita looked at it frowning; he looked up at Korrander, "Roa… Roven"
Korrander looked at him and replied "Raven, it says Raven"
Nakita looked at him and said "what by the Forerunners is a Raven".
"I have no idea but keep this a secret, should Solace find out"
"I will not breathe a word of this Excellency", he replied.
Korrander smiled and said "The beasts actions were no accident, there is someone behind the scenes here, manipulating our actions to serve there own purpose, the results of this could be, disastrous".
Council Accommodations
Suku' Nakita sat down comfortably in her chair shifting through the recent reports; she sipped a glass of pale red liquid.
She was just about to drop of to sleep when she became aware of a faint winning noise coming from the intercom that she had connected to the room where the human girl was locked in. She listened closer but could not understand what it was. Suku stood up sighing and walked towards the room at the far end of her accommodations; she pressed her access code into the door panel entering the room and found the child crying on the bed.
Lara lay curled up on the bare mattress sobbing, she had no idea where she was, no idea where home was, she didn't even know if her family was still alive or why the elite had been so hostile towards her. She then heard the door slide open and heard the soft clicks of the elites feet touching the ground, coiling further up Lara didn't dare turn around. If the elite was to carry out its threats she would soon be dead, she felt the bed slide down slightly and assumed the elite must have sat down.
Suku sat down on the bed and reached out towards the child, for some unknown reason she could not bring her self to punish this child but she could not hunt down the reason for this. She pulled her claw like hand around the girl's waist and pulled her closer to her gently placing the girl by her side with her arm around her. She then noticed the girl was shivering slightly, her own armour protected her from the elements as it maintained a constant environment inside the suit but the girl only had thin torn cloths on, hardly adequate clothing.
Lara huddled up as the elite pulled her closer and rapped an arm around her, she did not dare alter her gaze to the giant elite sitting next to her but could not help sliding down and resting on its armour. She began to shiver slightly, she tried to huddle up, the elite seemed to notice this as it reached down positioning its slender claws up to her chin and forcing her to look up into its gaze.
Suku cupped the girls chin in her claws and pulled her face up slightly so she could look at her, breaking the silence she asked in a soft voice "why were you crying little one".
Lara was so astounded by this question she did not no how to answer, she tried to hold back her tears as she tried to give an answer before she angered the alien "I didn't mean to, please don't…" her voice began to quiver as tears formed in the corners of her eyes.
Suku noticed the girl's voice quivered slightly, she placed her other hand on the girl's thin shoulder and pulled her slightly closer before saying "Don't be afraid, I will not harm you."
Lara could no longer hold back her tears, she began to cry and sob lowering her head and tried to pull away, the elite kept hold of her and seemed to pull her closer wrapping its arms around her. She felt the elite pull her up onto one of its legs as she rested her head on the elites silver armoured chest.
The girl broke out in tears as if the weight of the conversation was too much for her to bear, Suku did not know how to silence the child and so rapped her long arms around her pulling her closer. She gently lifted the girl onto her leg and pushed her up against her silver chest armour and ran her claw like fingers through the girls thin strands of hair pulling it up then letting it fall, she lowered her head bending her long neck down so her mandibites brushed against the child's head.
The girl was still sobbing slightly, Suku gently squeezed her until she fell silent, she pulled the girl slightly away from her chest and wiped her tears away with her free hand. The girl looked up at her from her lap; Suku asked "why were you crying".
Lara finally found the courage to speak and said "I'm sorry, I, I was scarred, I thought you were going to kill me, I thought I would never see my family again".
It was then that she saw the elite smile, or at least what she thought was a smile to the elites, it's mandibites stretched outwards slightly and its eyes seemed to perk up, it then said "I assure you child I will not hurt you".
Lara was now tired, she curled up into the elite chest, the elites arms formed around her and the soft movement of its chest seemed to cause her to drop of to sleep.
Suku felt the girl go limp as she held her tightly; carefully she put the child down on the bed and stood up. Opening a compartment high in the wall she removed a thick grey blanket, she sat down again and covered the human with the blanket, she tucked the girl in then stood up and headed towards the door. She turned around and looked at the sleeping child just as she was at the door; she took a deep breath and whispered "I'm sorry", then left.
The Prophets private sanctuary
In the Prophets private sanctuary the Prophets of Malice and Solace sat in there chairs looking up at the stars. Both had glasses of alcohol in there bony fingers, surrounding the two Prophets were dozens of ancient Forerunner artifacts from all across the galaxy, all brought here to the Holy City.
Malice turned to Solace resting his glass on the arm of his chair, "Tomorrow will hold the conclusion to all our work, do you think we will succeed."
Solace turned to him taking a sip of the drink, "Of course we will, it is the will of our Forerunner lords" Solace said grinning.
Malice did not return the grin but instead looked on with a stern face, "I trust you have met my request for the additional honor guards to be present tomorrow during the", he searched for the right words, "awakening."
Solace turned to him, "of course, do you think of me as a liar."
Malice went to speak but shut his mouth; years of being at Solaces side had taught Malice that the Prophet of Solace was anything but truthful; not surprising that he was a politician.
Malice watched as the Superior Prophet knocked back the rest of the alcohol sipping the last of the blue liquid down its throat. Malice bit his lower lip rather nervously before asking, "Is it true that the Prophet of Truth is planning to replace the Prophets Honor guards with the Jiralhanae."
Solace looked at him, his eyes narrowing, "Planning, he's been looking for an excuse to change the guard for months you see the Sangheili are beginning to question our place in the Covenant. Truth wants the Jiralhanae to protect us, they may be mindless but they are loyal, for the most part."
Solace clapped his hands, an Unggoy and Kig-Yar approached, servants or slaves of there Prophet masters. The Kig-Yar approached with a towel and cleared of the Prophets hands before the Unggoy slave approached with a tray, on it stood to glasses of alcohol, Solace reached over and his bong fingers picked up the glass as did Malice a few seconds later.
"But how will Truth be able to change the guard, the Council will never allow it." Malice asked.
Solace let out a throaty laugh, "The human's Demon will see to that, Truths been manipulating the Prophet of Regret into a trap, the Demon is closing in and mark my words, soon, someone important will be lost."
Malice leaned forward grinning, "Do you think the reform will hold."
Solace leaned back in his thrown, "Who knows, if may it may not, besides, it should prove to be, entertainment at best."
"What of Councilor Suku' Nakita, she does not approve of our little plan, I can see it in her eyes, she could prove to be a problem in the future." Malice snorted.
Solace moved his thrown forward and lent close to Malice, his fowl breath came out, "Accidents happen Malice, they happen all the time, even to Councilors."
Malice finished the glass and handed it out to the Kig-Yar as the creature nervously took it as fast as it could, looking back to Solace the Prophet asked, "What if Truth discovers our little, side operation here."
Solace turned back to him and grinned, his rotted stained teeth turned Malice's stomach, "He won't, because this conversation never happened, and we were never here this night."
Malice glanced sideways as the Kig-Yar and Unggoy slaves standing humbly to there masters side, "And how will you make sure of that" he whispered.
Solace grinned at him once again and tapped his bony finger on the security panel of the hover chair he sat on. The entrance to the Prophets private sanctuary suddenly swung open and the hulking form of a Jiralhanae loomed in the entrance. Malice looked closer at the Jiralhanae, large gashes dug into its face and several teeth were missing, it had the look of someone who loved confrontation and liked to push others into confronting him, in human terms, he was a thug.
Solace gestured towards the hulking warrior with his bony hand, "Malice, may I introduce my new bodyguard, Chief Broxinus, he will also be handling my security, both external and, internal" he said looking towards the two lower species standing beside him.
With this the thuggish warrior launched himself forward, the Kig-Yar was the first to die, the Jiralhanae grabbed it by the neck and hurtled it into the wall. The bird's fragile beak crumbled into its head, the Jiralhanae dropped the body to the ground as it twitched on the floor before dying.
Upon seeing the death of its long time friend the Unggoy ran of screaming, the Jiralhanae chuckled a throaty laugh and chased the slave down. The thuggish warrior delivered a rib cracking kick to the Unggoy's stomach making it keel over in pain. The Jiralhanae then threw its full weight down on the slave crushing its bones to pieces.
Malice was shaking slightly, his lower lip trembling then he looked at Solace who stared back at him and said, "Never cross me, you are a witness just as they were, remember your place."
Malice nodded and watched as Solace slowly hovered out the room escorted by his new, 'Bodyguard'.
Ceta lab, holding facility
Down in the holding facility Nemesis's stood silent locked away in a reinforced holding cell. In the darkness a control panel lit up, it appeared blank until a strange alien language appeared on the screen, it read
Project Raven
Time: 0500
Date: 7th November 2552
Message Received
Package Delivered to Covenant System
Project Raven activated
Then just as the writing appeared it faded from the screen and was replaced by simple Covenant diagnostics, the screen then flicked of. The room once again returned to darkness.
Council Accommodations
Councilor Suku' Nakita was outside her accommodations sitting on the large balcony watching the various ships pass High Charities domed roof. She reached down and detached a small device from her belt, activating it a 3-D image appeared of her and her past mate, Vari' Nakita. The holoprobe was taken two weeks after Tai was born, they were both standing there in there armour, she was holding Tai while Vari had his arm around them both. She missed him; ever since he had been killed it seemed as if something had been missing from her life, as if it had been torn out of her by force.
She stood up and clipped the holoprobe to her belt, she altered her gaze to the massive ring, Halo as it orbited the Gas giant. She turned around and walked back into her accommodations, the doors automatically locking behind her. She stopped by the door in which she had her human captive and typed in her access code, the door swung open.
She slowly walked in, it was almost pitch black inside the room, luckily the Sangheili's reptilian eyes could see in the dark very well, she looked closer to see a small bundle curled up under the blanket. Suku sat down on the bed; she reached over placing her claw like hands under the girl's arms and turned her around. She was shivering slightly and was completely pale, Suku placed her claw like hand on the child's head, her skin was cold and there were faint twitches from her mouth, she also appeared to be having trouble breathing.
Lara felt as if she couldn't catch her breath, she was freezing and shivering and felt like she would be sick but there was nothing in her stomach to throw up. Suddenly she heard something open the door and sit on the bed; two claw like hands reached around the top of her torso and turned her around. A warm claw like hand was placed on her forehead, she tried to open her eyes but her vision was blurred, she could just make out the shape of the elite. Fear grabbed her; she was still scarred of the elite, although it had not acted hostile to her in there last meeting that didn't mean she wouldn't this time.
Suku saw the girl's eyes drift open, she remained silent but Suku could tell that she was scarred; years of being on the Council gave her a certain advantage when it came to seeing through people. She slid her claw like hands around the girl's upper torso and gently lifted her up along with the blanket holding her at arms length; she then brought her closer pressing her against her silver armoured chest. The girl let of a faint cough, Suku could tell that something was wrong with her; she expected she had caught some type of fever, she vaguely remembering an autopsy report saying human children were venerable to fevers when they were young.
Setting a hand around the girl's waist she stood up and carried her out of the room, she walked into the seating area and sat down one of the large padded chairs with the girl still in her arms.
The silver armoured elite pulled Lara close to her chest locking her arms around her; Lara coughed out as she was moving still feeling ill. The elite stood up, Lara felt its arms tighten as they left the room; Lara raised her head and looked over the elites shoulder, they had entered a large room but she could not see much else. The elite sat down on a large chair, she loosened her grip on her allowing the girl to slide slightly down the elite's chest.
Suku carefully moved the child of her chest and set her down on the chair and stood up rising to her full height, the child looked up at her curling up to the back of the chair. Suku knelt down staring into the child's blue eyes, turning her head slightly she reached forward brushing her claws against the child's face.
The elite set her down and stood up to her full height towering over Lara, she looked up at the giant elite staring down at her, Lara felt its size and presence very intimidating and curled up at the back of the chair. The elite knelt down slightly but still exceeded Lara's height considerably; it turned its head slightly, its mandibites producing a faint clicking sound. It then reached forward, Lara tried to pull back but found she was at the back of the chair and could not pull back any more, the elite's claws gently brushed her face.
The elite withdrew it hand, it then opened its mandibites and said in a deep soft voice, "Child, do you feel unwell."
Lara was astounded by the question, she had never thought that an elite would be concerned with her heath, she didn't want to anger it, "I'm cold, and I feel sick" she mumbled nervously.
The elite still knelt down looking at her before replying "Stay here little one."
The elite stood up and turned around walked away leaving through the entrance on the far side of the room, after the elite had left Lara took the opportunity to look around the room. It was most compatible with what she could perceive as a lounge; there was a vast assortment of large chairs and seating apparatus varying in colors. Towards the far side of the room was some sort of display apparatus, all around the room there were large pictures of alien landscapes but she had no idea of there nature.
Just then the tall elite entered the room again and headed towards her, she appeared to be carrying a tube like instrument but Lara could not tell what it was.
Suku walked towards the chair were she had placed the human girl earlier; the girl flinched upon seeing her clearly still intimidated by her presence, Suku sat down next her putting her arm around her. Taking the container she slid the lid open and was greeted by the smell of Telasis oil, a foul smelling Jiralhanae drink but she had found that its affects were good at clearing infections from the system. She looked down at the girl who was still shaking slightly, she reached down putting the canister on the girls lap, "Drink it little one."
Lara looked at the strange black liquid in the canister, deciding to do it she lifted the canister up to her mouth and drank it, the substance was warm and sticky, she had a hard time trying to force it down. She had overestimated her own strength at the time and ended up spilling a bit if it, she felt the elite take the canister and hold it while pulling her closer, when she finished the elite withdrew the canister placing it on a nearby table.
Suku withdrew the canister taking it away; she then returned her attention to the child wrapping the blanket around her closer. She found the girl to be very thin, her muscle was virtually non-existent, Suku had seen Unggoy slaves with more fat on then the girl had. She reached towards the table picking up a small package she had brought in earlier, she unwrapped it giving it to the girl, the child looked up at her confused, "Eat it child", she said.
Lara looked at the strange food in the package; it was a slab of brown material about the size of a few slices of bread, she decided to do as the elite said and eat it, she was hungry after all. She took her first bite; it was soft but dense at the same time and had somewhat of a sweet flavor. She ate it quickly starving from her weeks of captivity, it was better then the food she had been forced to eat then, the elite removed the wrapping and pulled Lara closer to it gently holding her.
Suku looked down towards the small human child, she then saw something under the top of the child's ripped and torn shirt, she reached down lowering the blanket slightly. The girl seemed to notice this and made a grab for it, Suku saw it was attached to some kind of thin chain going around the girl's neck. Suku clasped the girl's small hands in her own grey claw like hands easily pulling them apart to reveal a tiny brass circular instrument.
Lara clasped the locket as the elite reached for it, its grey claw like hands effortlessly pried her hands apart and it took her small locket in its hand. Lara looked up at the elite who looked slightly confused as it tried to open the locket.
Suku held the instrument in her palm using her claws to try and pry it open, she easily pulled the catch open and the top sprung open to reveal a small picture. Suku looked closer to see it was a picture of the girl standing with two adult human's one male, one female who she assumed was the girl's parents. She then noticed that the girl was sobbing and she tried to reach for it, "Please give it back" she said breaking into tears. Suku understood the child's reason for crying, this was all she had left of her old life, her family, to have someone take it away would be, upsetting to anyone. She closed the small device clasping it in her claws, she looked back down at the girl who was still sobbing and curling up, Suku reached down grasping the child and lifting her up onto her leg. She squeezed her gently against her chest stroking her short hair, the girl eventually stopped sobbing Suku looked back down at her; "This is your family" she asked in a soft voice.
The elite pushed Lara against its chest using its muscular arms to hold her close, she felt the elite running its claws through her hair, after a few minutes she stopped crying. The elite then said, "This is your family."
Lara nodded looking up at the elite's head, it looked down at her before turning her around placing Lara on its legs then took her hand in its own opening it. It then put the locket on Lara's palm closing her hand and folding her own claws around Lara's small fist.
Suku clasped the human's tiny fist in her own hands with the child sitting on her lap, she pulled her long neck down placing her head just above the child, "Keep it with you child, family is important" she wisped into the girl's ear.
She released her claws from the girl's fist wrapping her arm around the girl's waist pulling her closer, she detached the small Holoprobe from her belt and held it in the palm of her hand. She activated it and the hologram pop up showing Suku, her mate and Tai, the girl looked at it with interest, "This is my family little one."
The girl rested her head on Suku's silver chest armour, Suku placed a hand on the girls back, she was not shivering as much now so Suku assumed that the Telasis oil must be taking affect. She looked down at the girl and asked, "What is your name little one."
The girl looked up at her and said slightly nervously, "M… My names Lara."
Suku smiled placing a hand on her own chest, "Lara, my name is Suku' Nakita."
The girl curled back up in her arms, Suku stood up and walked to the balcony sitting down on one of the seats, she felt the girl suddenly begin to wriggle in her arms slightly. The massive sight of High Charity as well as the vast fleets of starships must have both inspired her with awe and terror, Suku clasped her tightly and whispered, "Don't be afraid, Lara, your safe."
The girl hung limp in her arms as she dropped of to sleep, Suku looked out into the city and looked at Halo in the distance, somehow she felt the Great Journey was further away then her Profits thought. After about two hours she stood up and walked back into the accommodations, she walked into the girl's room placing her on the bed and tucking her in taking care not to wake her. Running her hand over the girls head she stood up and walked out of the room to get some sleep herself.
Ceta Lab, Holding facility
In the dark lab Nemesis stood silent behind the blast doors awaiting the Prophets to activate it, or was it?
The Dark eyes suddenly flared up turning dark green, a control panel next to Nemesis turned itself on, a single caption of text flowed onto the screen.
Project Raven now active
Military Subroutines online
Objectives open
Objective 1: Kill Prophet of Malice
Objective 2: Kill Prophet of Solace
Objective 3:Gather specified information
Objective 4: Link up with Pre-emptive assault fleet
Mission accepted
Mission Profile Closed
The screen shut down and the green light leftNemesis's eyes, every thing turned to darkness as it had been awaiting for the next day.
Authors note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter, next chapter could contain some moderate violence but should be very entertaining, should be up next week, hoped you enjoyed this chapter.
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