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This topic has moved here: Subject: [Novel] True Sangheili (Part 29 available!) ~ 15th April
  • Subject: [Novel] True Sangheili (Part 29 available!) ~ 15th April
Subject: [Novel] True Sangheili (Part 29 available!) ~ 15th April

-Not an Elite Roleplayer, i fancy the name, Deal with it.-


Posted by: The Anti Troller
As immature and impossible as this sounds. I have this strange and sudden urge to live inside of the story...

yes.... i wish i lived in the story too, but only if i was invisible and immortal so i could watch the story unfold before me like a movie!
BOO-YAh!

  • 04.23.2011 7:07 AM PDT


Posted by: Rovil Taham

Posted by: The Anti Troller
As immature and impossible as this sounds. I have this strange and sudden urge to live inside of the story...

yes.... i wish i lived in the story too, but only if i was invisible and immortal so i could watch the story unfold before me like a movie!
BOO-YAh!
Mhm. However. I would pay money to be a badass elite in this story.

Maybe even some sort of antagonist Human spartan thats out for REVEEENGE raaarguh! -clears throat-

[Edited on 04.23.2011 1:49 PM PDT]

  • 04.23.2011 1:48 PM PDT

Posted by: The Anti Troller

Posted by: Rovil Taham

Posted by: The Anti Troller
As immature and impossible as this sounds. I have this strange and sudden urge to live inside of the story...

yes.... i wish i lived in the story too, but only if i was invisible and immortal so i could watch the story unfold before me like a movie!
BOO-YAh!
Maybe even some sort of antagonist Human spartan thats out for REVEEENGE raaarguh! -clears throat-


There are many years left to come in the war. That's all I'll say for now.

  • 04.23.2011 2:22 PM PDT

"And shepherds we shall be,
for Thee, my Lord, for Thee.
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand,
that our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.
So we shall flow a river forth to Thee
and teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti."

I have shared your story with my sangheili brethren within the Legion of Righteous Martyrs. So far they have all enjoyed your stories of the war and wish you luck with your future writings.

  • 04.23.2011 11:01 PM PDT

Comin' down in three-part harmony.

Just caught up with the story, pure awesome. I LOVE the way you're writing this from the Covie's point of view, you manage to put just enough humanity into it that I can relate with their thinking, but it's still easy to tell that they're aliens. This hooked me faster than Insurrection. I'm looking forward to the rest of this story. Also, I've got a hunch Sorran and Ahkrin will run into each other again, somehow. Actually, I have a pretty specific idea of how they'll meet, but I don't want to risk accidentally spoiling the story.

Well anyway, you've got yourself another reader. I might not comment, but I'll definitely be reading. Can't wait for the next part.

[Edited on 04.24.2011 8:12 AM PDT]

  • 04.24.2011 7:58 AM PDT

Posted by: sh228
Can't wait for the next part.


I'm afraid you might have to. From now until the middle of June I'm doing my GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams, and I'm very busy revising and preparing for them. They're incredibly important and I won't have much time to write.

Maybe I'll be able to write a chapter when I have a bit of time between exams, but don't hold me to that.

Good news is after I've finished my GCSEs I have no school-work to do at all until September. But for now the wait may be a sizable one.

Thanks for reading and being patient.

[Edited on 04.26.2011 6:11 AM PDT]

  • 04.26.2011 6:10 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
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Posted by: chotato
smart, interesting, seems out of place.


Official fan of Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, (Problem with that?) Halo, and Bungie, also a total gaming junkie.

>:O

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

  • 04.26.2011 10:04 AM PDT

Comin' down in three-part harmony.


Posted by: Wolverfrog

Good news is after I've finished my GCSEs I have no school-work to do at all until September.


You brits have a summer break too? Good to hear. Good luck on your exams. I have work of my own to do- school and coding a website (by hand), so I can somewhat understand your situation. Thanks for writing this, I haven't had any good fiction to chew on for nearly a year.

  • 04.26.2011 12:38 PM PDT

Why hello there.

Microwave ovens are quite large.

WORT, WORT,WORT!

-NUMS!

Don't worry, I have a way of nagging Wolvers into writing.

  • 04.27.2011 3:24 PM PDT

WOW this story is AWESOME!
Only just started reading about a week ago and got hooked from the title.
Can't wait for the next chapters!
I hope we get to see Sorran and Savara to actually get back together.
And Sorran meeting back up with Zharn and Ahkrin
Once again- this story is AWESOME!

This part is one of my favourite quotes;

"You," was all he could bring himself to say, throwing as much animosity into his sore voice as possible.

"Me," Ahkrin agreed, taking a seat next to him. "I brought you flowers."

Also, glad to be able to post while its being written.
I'm afraid you have another FAN on your hands.

:-D

p.s. I hate exams :-D

:-D
  

[Edited on 05.12.2011 7:44 AM PDT]

  • 05.04.2011 3:36 PM PDT
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  • user homepage:

Yes I'm fairly young. No, that doesn't mean I'm automatically dumber than you or have less life experience, thats just generally the case. I am not your general case.

Really like this story. Just finished reading Insurrection.. Very nice.

  • 05.04.2011 8:21 PM PDT

Sincerely, the voice inside your head for whenever you read things.

Your story is really awesome.

I keep thinking I am reading an actual book.

[Edited on 05.05.2011 6:46 AM PDT]

  • 05.05.2011 6:46 AM PDT
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  • user homepage:

Bungie.net member Since 2001

"A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him"
"You are the last of your kind: bred for combat, built for war. You're the master of any weapon, pilot of any vehicle, and fear no enemy"

Sweet! Looking forward to read this :)

  • 05.06.2011 5:29 PM PDT

good luck with your exams!
I started reading this at 7:30 its now 1:35 you owe me many many hours of my life-only joking great story keep it up could you mybe check out my first post/story its called after reach i would be deeply honoured thanks

  • 05.07.2011 5:37 AM PDT

░█▀▀ ░█▀█ ░█ ░█▀▀ ░░█▀▀ ░█▀█ ░█ ░█ ░░░
░█▀▀ ░█▀▀ ░█ ░█ ░░░░█▀▀ ░█▀█ ░█ ░█ ░░░
░▀▀▀ ░▀ ░░░▀ ░▀▀▀ ░░▀ ░░░▀░▀ ░▀ ░▀▀▀ ░

I've been reading this for months now. And I need MOAR!

  • 05.08.2011 12:55 PM PDT

­

I can wait if it means more True Sangheili. :D

  • 05.15.2011 8:42 PM PDT

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

Bloody hell, I've got some catching up to do. I don't think I've been to the Gallery in over a month!

  • 05.16.2011 5:20 AM PDT

Posted by: random no337
Bloody hell, I've got some catching up to do. I don't think I've been to the Gallery in over a month!


Don't worry too much there mate, I haven't written a chapter in over a month.

Well, I've been writing one despite my exams. It should be finished soon, I'm just sorting the pacing out.

  • 05.16.2011 8:18 AM PDT

yay
:-D

  • 05.16.2011 9:55 AM PDT

This is even better than your Halo Insurrection story.

I look forward to more chapters. Keep up the good work!

[Edited on 05.17.2011 7:47 AM PDT]

  • 05.17.2011 7:46 AM PDT

Managed to get this written between revision for my exams. Hope you enjoy.


Part 30 -- Honour

"You're getting good!" Hem told Sorran as they sparred, their two swords clashing in a flurry of sparks. The flickering cobalt lights cut through the quiet dawn, casting faint half-shadows across the wall of the training room.

"Really?" Sorran wheezed as he met a thrust of Hem's, creating a discharge of energy which nearly blew him over. Hem suddenly leapt forward and in three graceful moves, had his sword out of his hand; the fourth knocked him to the ground. The older Honour Guard's blade descended mere centimetres from his armoured throat, and Sorran could feel the dangerous heat even through the mail he wore.

"No," Hem told him blankly, deactivating his sword and reaching out a hand. Sorran begrudgingly grapsed it, and was hoisted up to his feet. "But at least you're not entirely awful now. I swear, I'll make a swordsman of you yet, Sorran."

"Swords are antiquated relics of a time long passed," Sorran muttered bitterly, rubbing the side Hem had smacked with no little force painfully.

"Do not speak so ignorantly, my pupil. They symbolise a Sangheili's honour, and there is little more important in this world than honour," Hem began to lecture, and Sorran groaned inwardly. Not the honour speech again.

Half an hour later, he finally stopped talking, and began to remove his armour. The practice had taken its toll on him; that much Sorran could see by the perspiration blanketing his wrinkled skin, which was as tough and enduring as hardened leather beaten by the mid-day sun.

Pel was watching them absently from a corner. His injuries had almost healed, but Restraint had insisted he stay until he was back in peak condition. The Minister had chosen not to let the zealot into their little circle of heresy, and although Sorran felt bad for concealing the truth from Pel, he knew it was the only thing that could be done.

"You've been training hard lately," Pel observed as Sorran walked over, grabbing a drink from an amused Jajab. "What for?"

Sorran took a long swig of water, taken from deep below the planet High Charity was currently stripping. It was an arid world and water was scarce and dirty, but thanks to the seemingly infinite power of the Forerunner Dreadnought it could all be purified without so much as denting the energy reserves. He then looked down at the Sangheili he had saved, who seemed to be reading a book.

"Just training," he replied engimatically, taking a seat next to him. Pel smiled.

"Of course. You know, it's kind of odd that an honour guard needs combat training," he observed in an odd tone of voice. Sorran blinked.

"I'm not too experienced. Restraint likes to recruit his guards when they're green, so he can have Hem beat them into younger versions of himself without any other habits getting in the way," Sorran laughed. Pel nodded slowly.

"Right. Restraint has been kind to me," he commented, with a tinge of regret in his voice for some reason.

"Don't feel like you're imposing," Sorran told Pel sincerely. "Trust me, he has done far more for myself. You're a good man, Pel."

"... maybe," Pel smiled softly, staring down at the ground. For a few moments there was nothing but the sound of birds chorusing through the early morning, until Pel finally spoke, haltingly. "Listen, Sorran. There's something I should tell you."

"Oh?" Sorran asked, looking at Pel now. He seemed troubled by something, that much was clear. "Speak freely, friend."

"I--" Pel started, when he was suddenly cut off by a sharp whistle from Hem.

"Sorran! This isn't a tea break, boy! Get over here, and this time at least try to block my attacks!" he barked over, and Sorran rolled his eyes, crying inside. He took one last drink and moved to get up, but not before turning back to face Pel.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" he asked softly, tightening the straps on his armour. For a moment Pel looked as if he would spill, but finally settled into a taut smile and shook his head.

"It's nothing, never mind. Go, train," he said, brushing Sorran away with his hand. Sorran looked at him for a few moments, before nodding himself and turning to run towards Hem. Pel watched him go, fidgeting nervously.

He knew no amount of training would help him in the end.

* * *

"Xatan'ee has rightly inherited control of the fleet; he was sub-commander, remember. The previous fleetmaster obviously trusted him," placated Supreme Commander Thel Vadam'ee over the holographic communication interface, a link made private by Ahkrin. He, Zharn and Orpheus sat clustered around the small visual representation of the Supreme Commander grimly.

"And with all due respect, great one, the previous fleetmaster fell off a platform and broke his neck," Ahkrin retorted bluntly. "So you'll forgive me if I don't completely believe in all of his actions."

"My hands are tied, I am afraid."

"Can't you just remove him from power?" Zharn demanded, the fresh memories of the humans Xatan'ee had executed en masse at breakfast whilst eating at the same time still haunting him. "You're the Supreme Commander, now."

Vadam'ee laughed.

"Were it so easy," he muttered. "My hands are tied, ultra. I hope you realise that I can do nothing."

Zharn sighed, nodding slowly.

"Very well," he exhaled. "Thank you for your time, Supreme Commander. We know you must be busy."

"I always have time for noble Sangheili such as yourself... Jiralhanae too," Vadam'ee answered, before turning around and murmurring a few words to someone behind him. "I'm sorry, I must go; Regret has returned from whatever recent failure Truth is so livid with him over, and I must receive him onto my ship. You must not spread this news, but I hear the Arbiter is dead as a result of his actions."

"Truly?" Ahkrin asked skeptically. "Demons?"

Thel laughed bitingly, before saying with what almost seemed like awe: "No, just a lone man. I do not grieve; it is an Arbiter's mission to die. And this particular Arbiter was not one I cared for, anyway.

"Whoever this man was, we should get him up hear to deal with our own pain in the rear," Ahkrin muttered.

Thel laughed at that, before nodding. "Would that we could. Unfortunately, you're on your own. Good luck with Xatan'ee, all of you. I hope you'll do what's right."

The holographic interface closed, leaving Zharn, Ahkrin and Orpheus alone in the quarters Zharn had been assigned. They were spacious, well-befitting an officer of his rank. But even this far away from the main battery, they could still feel the terrible shuddering of the plasma cannons as they tore their way into the flesh of the planet below.

There was silence for what must have been a minute, as they all sat back despondently in their chairs.

"It will be hard, being under the command of a madman," Orpheus finally spoke, breaking the silence. "And I hear he harbours no love for my kind."

"But what can we do?" Zharn asked hopelessly. "My command lays vested on the ground, not here in the stars. Ahkrin is barely respected due to his status as both a stealth Sangheili and member of a disgraced house--"

"Thanks," Ahkrin butted in with mock indignation. "If anyone needs me, I'll just be slitting my wrists."

"-- and Orpheus is a Jiralhane," Zharn finished, not even dignifying Ahkrin's sarcastic interjection. "Vadam'ee was our last hope."

"I say we kill him," Ahkrin suggested.

"That's your solution to everything," Orpheus replied bitingly. Ahkrin shrugged.

"I find it works well. But no, there is a way we can kill him legitimately... well, Zharn can."

"I'm not about to challenge my superior, Ahkrin," Zharn cut in sharply. "No matter how insane he is, there are some things more important. Honour, loyalty and duty; these are what make us Sangheili."

"True," Ahkrin conceeded. "And Xatan'ee is besmirching all of these traits. Vadam'ee told us he could do nothing, and stressed the 'I' part multiple times."

"You're reading into it far too much," Zharn muttered darkly, folding his arms.

"He hopes we'll do the right thing, Zharn. You know what that means."

* * *

The gravestone was but one of thousands, scattered across the fields of mourning in the morgue of High Charity. An unassuming shaping of blue light, a chalis holding the stasis-ball which held within Sorran's ashes.

Savara wrapped her hands around the ball tightly, tears streaming down her face as she did so. The touch sent an impulse to her brain, stimulating the thalamus and trawling through the network of syapses.

Subtly, memories of Sorran rose to the surface; almost every moment she'd spent with him played in her mind in a montage of reminiscence. The first time she'd set eyes upon him, knowing he was indecent but not averting her gaze. Their first courting, a walk through the ship ending at the aft observation deck, where they had held each other in the warm gaze of the stars. A kiss, warmth cutting through the cold of the room and setting her hearts aflame. Their passions had continued, feverishly making their way back to her quarters.

  • 05.25.2011 4:17 PM PDT
Subject: [Novel] True Sangheili (Part 30 available!) ~ 26th May

"An assignment already? You only just arrived here," she pouts the morning after, as they lie entwined in each others arms. He grimaces reluctantly as he pulls away from her slender arms, looks down at the order beeping on the communicator bound to his skin.

"War does not care for the wants of those who fight it," he replies sadly, rolling out of bed and standing up. Her eyes follow him with admiration as he moves to pick up his clothes and armour, strewn across the floor wrapped in her own.

"I'm sure it can wait a few more minutes," she retorts coyly, an impish grin crossing her face. He turns, a sly smile gracing his too-young-for-war face as he moves back towards her. He reaches down, shadowing her with his large torso, gently pulling the covers away from her body--

With a start, the memory ended and Savara found herself snapped out of the dream, back in the cold, unforgiving morgue. A biting wind had swept in, a snatch of the atmosphere from the planet High Charity mined.

Sorran's grave stared up at her, the flowers she had laid by it fluttering in the breeze. And finally, Savara was hit by the realisation that he was gone forever. Tears sprang into her eyes, falling like tiny diamonds down her ashen face, striking the harsh purple of the ground as they fell yet further.

She felt two frail hands grab her shoulders with all the tightness those old hands could muster, and she turned her weeping head slightly to find Convalescence smiling at her sadly. He didn't say anything; he didn't need to.

With a final, great sob, Savara lapsed into his embrace and cried into his shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's just a standard siege. I'll be back to you before you know it, my sweet. I love you," he says with passion, before pulling away to join Zharn and Ahkrin in their shuttle. She stands and watches him leave, too stunned by his proclamation of love to return it.

Now she would never have the chance.

* * *

"Well, well," newly appointed Fleetmaster Xatan'ee grinned, pacing up and down the line of chained humans in the ship's prison. "How the tables have turned."

He pressed a holographic button fixated around his wrist, and the opaque shield obscuring the viewing window that was the entire outer wall of the narrow corridor turned transparent. Xatan'ee had the window installed personally; he loved his prisoners to see the harshness of the vacuum he would toss them out of.

This time though, he had something for more chilling to show them.

Eridanus II was burning.

The planet which had once been a core colony of humanity was being subjected to the ultimate punishment of the holy Covenant. Hundreds of ships swarmed over the stratosphere, firing down glassing beams and turning the surface into molten glass. Their capital cities, their megastructures, their museums, houses, history; all of it, burnt to ash.

Xatan'ee turned back to face the five hundred or so prisoners he had spared for his enjoyment. Tears were in many of their eyes; primal rage was etched into all of them. A little girl clutched her mother's leg tightly, burying her sobbing face into trousers still stained with the blood of her father, who Xatan'ee had executed minutes before on a whim.

"You bastard!" a young man shouted, his fury making him forget the chains which bound him. Xatan'ee laughed as the man strained pathetically against the plasma bonds which held him firmly in place, clapping his hands with glee.

"I like your attitude, boy. I think I'll kill you last; we'll see how gutsy you are standing amidst of the corpses of all your fellows," the fleetmaster decided, nodding. The young man suddenly stopped struggling, and fell back.

"For god's sake, there are children here. Surely you won't kill them?" a dark man with a haunted look in his eyes asked softly, hand tightly grasping the shoulder of his young boy, shielding his gaze from Xatan'ee.

"It is not I who will kill you, heretics. It is the will of the Forerunners, blessed be they; I am merely the instrument through which they play. Perhaps, through my holy cleansing, your souls may be deemed fit to travel the Journey," the fleetmaster replied with reverence.

"Fleetmaster, we do not kill children," Zharn finally spoke up, after having watched the scene before him uncomfortably for so long. "It is not the Sangheili way."

Xatan'ee glanced over his shoulder at Zharn, and when he spoke it was in a completely normal tone, absent of any insanity that marred it when he spoke to the captive humans. The juxtaposition was chilling.

"They aren't children, Zharn," Xatan'ee laughed uncertainly, seemingly puzzled by the other Sangheili's words. "Merely smaller versions of the daemons they will soon become. You must know this."

Zharn merely nodded slowly, disturbed. He knew now why the Covenant had appointed Xatan'ee as fleetmaster; he was utterly ruthless, and a complete psycopath.

The perfect man to commit genocide without so much as blinking.

"You can kill us all, split-lip, but it'll be a mercy compared to what the UNSC will do to you!" a female marine screeched defiantly, tears burning fierce trails down her bruised face. Xatan'ee murderous gaze turned to her, and he walked over to where she stood chained, towering over her.

"The UNSC? Your UNSC has left you all to die," he breathed loudly into her quivering ear, before suddenly drawing out his sword, hilt stained to the core with crimson, and drove it into the marine's stomach forcefully.

And he didn't stop there.

Still leaving the sword lodged firmly in her, he drew out a smaller knife and hacked down with it into her head. The plasma blade entered through the back and emerged through her now-dead eyes, burning her once-pretty face away into boiling flesh.

Xatan'ee then dug his claws into her limp neck, and with a bloodthirsty rar began to tear at the frail skin, puncturing her trachea as if it were the wing of a butterfly and tearing her neck open, the blood splashing all over the floor. The little girl screamed as she was drenched in the fluids of the dead woman, blood and sinew flying over the floor.

Zharn watched with disbelief, sick to the gut. The rest of the human prisoners could only stare helpless in horror as Xatan'ee continued to defile to corpse of the one who had spoken out against him. He looked beseechingly to the guards, but they had simply turned away from the barbacity pointedly. They'd obviously encountered this aspect of Xatan'ee many times before.

Finally, the man of about ninety who had been chained next to the dead marine couldn't take it any more, and tried in vain to push to much taller and stronger Xatan'ee away. The Sangheili fleetmaster laughed at the pitiful attempt, and, dropping the corpse, turned with a malicious grin on the old man.

"Why do you fight? Surely you know you can never defeat us," Xatan'ee mocked, towering over the small, cowering man. Zharn stepped forward against his better judgement, hearts pounding nervously.

The blood-crazed fleetmaster took his sword from what remained of the woman's body, and brought it up, the plasma crackling dangerously as it ionised the blood trapped within. With a feral cry, Xatan'ee thrust the blade forward--

"Enough!" Zharn shouted, intercepting Xatan'ee's arm as it came crashing down and staying his blade.

A deadly silence suddenly fell on the room, and even the humans were too shocked to be relieved. Xatan'ee's guards finally turned around, and converged on Zharn, but the fleetmaster held them at bay with his free hand. He stared incredously down at Zharn.

There was silence for what seemed hours, pervaded only been the fountain of blood still leaking from the dead marine, what remained of her face staring blankly up at the ceiling. Finally, the fleetmaster broke the quiet.

"You dare to interfere in my holy crusade?" he demanded with rage, looking for all the world as if he was about to do to Zharn what he did to that poor marine woman. Zharn stared up at him defiantly, terrified inside but determined not to show it. He drew in a breath, and chose his words carefully.

"Holy crusade? You're a disgrace to our people, Xatan'!" he bellowed, intentionally leaving the honourific 'ee' off the end of his name. "Where is your honour? Your respect for blood and death? You are no Sangheili."

Xatan'ee finally wrestled his arm away from Zharn's grip, and backed away a little. He chewed his jaw angrily, eyes bulging with anger.

"You have authority on the ground, Zharn. But this is my ship, my fleet, and you will obey my command! Do you comprehend me?"

"No," Zharn replied defiantly, his hand on his own sword now. Xatan'ee stood quiet then, framed by the destruction of the planet below.

"... so, it has come to this. We have only just met, Zharn, and already you are invoking the right of challenge?" Xatan'ee demanded, unable to believe he was being defied.

"There is no need to for anymore violence, Xatan'ee," Zharn replied placatingly, shaking his dead. "All I am saying is that I believe you are unfit to be fleetmaster, and I cannot stand by and let you tarnish the honour of all Sangheili through your insane actions. But I have no wish to challenge you."

The words echoed through the long corridor, reverberating off every beating heart in the room. Xatan'ee shook his head, smile long gone now.

"You already have. We will meet in the dueling arena at dawn, and fight in a duel to the death. The victor claims the other's honour, and any command he may possess. Do you agree to these terms?"

Gods help me, Zharn prayed.

"If there is no other way for us to resolve this. then I will duel you, Xatan'ee. And if there's one thing you realise before you draw your blade tomorrow, make it this -- I will win... and I will kill you."

[Edited on 05.25.2011 4:24 PM PDT]

  • 05.25.2011 4:19 PM PDT

'There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance only implies ignorance that may someday be conquered. To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.'
-Isaac Asimov

I'm guessing you are done with exams now or very close.

Very gruesome part loved the details, can't wait for the duel.

  • 05.25.2011 11:37 PM PDT

The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!

Goodness. Even with exams, the quality of your work is amazing.

  • 05.26.2011 12:46 AM PDT