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This topic has moved here: Subject: [Story]Diary of an Arbiter
  • Subject: [Story]Diary of an Arbiter
Subject: [Story]Diary of an Arbiter

What a waste....

Prologue

12th Age of Rejoice
Deroo, system Solus IV
Toral clan family dining house

Sona Toralee scrubbed the rusty pot roughly with a battered, old sponge. The grime upon the little wok was very arrogant and would've preferred not to have been removed by lethal force. However, its host was eager to rid the disgusting muck off its black surface. And so, the old Sangheili woman scrubbed all the harder. As Solus IV's twin white dwarfs began to set in opposite directions, a beautiful light tried desperately to clamber back over the horizon, but in the end, it conceded and let the darkness fall over Sona's side of the planet. The old woman hung the dish beside many other pots in the kitchen, thankful for the peace and quiet. She smoothed her cyan tunic and stained apron down. The once-white room was spattered with rust.
She left the kitchen, donned her cloak, and stepped in the cold, windy air of the desert at night. On Deroo, there were few street lights. Only the moon and stars could give her direction. A chilly breeze stung her eyes, and Sona wrapped her cloak tighter as the wind picked up, spraying dust across the desert landscape. She clicked her mandibles together as she approached her home, a two-story shack. She had made it herself. Of course, with some help, as an 80 year old Sangheili woman couldn't do all that on her own.
Sona pushed the key into the door and turned it. The hinges creaked ever so slightly as she stepped over the threshold. Sona flicked on the lights and strode up the steps of her little cottage. Making her way to a rotting wooden door, she opened it and stepped into her room.
Contrary to popular belief, the Sangheili colonies were not the most wealthy of places. In fact, 90% of buildings on places like Deroo were modeled after human architecture with low-tech materials. Not the prettiest method, but a very efficient one.
In her bedroom, Sona had a small hammock and a plasma lantern. She had a storage container for her clothing made of a thick, impenetrable purple alloy. There was another feature of this place, however, that most would not immediately think important--a tiny wooden closet. Sona opened it and looked inside. Sparkling reds, blues and gold colors shimmered off armors that stacked on the floor. And, woven onto the wall, was a huge script from ancient Sanghelios, which depicted battles of the highest honor. Pictures of Elites standing over fallen enemies hung over this poem. There was another thing that might seem very minute among the clutter--a silver set of armor, smaller than the others, and with it, a curved helmet with glittering sides and mandible guards. She slid on the helmet. It felt good. The last time she had worn this, she was saving the galaxy from tearing itself apart. Good times, she thought, laughing to herself. Funny, how all her friends thought she was dead. Well, Sona Toralee was dead to them. She lay in her hammock, just like she had that first night of training... Ah, she remembered that night. The stars shimmering above her, the wind splashing against the grass...
Then came a knock on the door. "Nana?" Her granddaughter. She and her daughter were staying here on their way through to Sanghelios. Husband was in the military, a damn fool he was... Sona knew how the government worked. Corrupt and devious. She sighed, and replied, "Yes?"
"I had a bad nightmare." Children. Always being so... childish. But alas, Sona thought, weren't we all once? She thought about how her society had changed after her 'death'. Sona pondered that for a moment and came to a conclusion she often came to: How one person who would've been so insignificant was rapidly changed, and suddenly altered their world in one single moment. "Come in then, child." Sona crossed her hands on her chest, flexing them. The door opened, and a little child strode in. However, "little" was not exactly the word. Sona's granddaughter stood at nearly 4'11. Big for a 5 year old.
"What are you wearing, Nana?" The small child took a step forward.
"A little special something. My mother always used to tell me a story if I had a nightmare about my father or brothers killed in battle. Which happened often, mind you. So now, let me tell you a story..."

  • 06.30.2010 2:59 PM PDT

I liked it! You don't often see a side to Sangheili that isn't war torn or aggressive. I look forward to the next part.

  • 06.30.2010 6:59 PM PDT

What a waste....

Posted by: Heretant
I liked it! You don't often see a side to Sangheili that isn't war torn or aggressive. I look forward to the next part.
Glad someone finally responded. I've actually redone this multiple times without success, so I hope I get a better reaction this time.

  • 07.01.2010 8:13 AM PDT

What a waste....

Shameful Bump.

  • 07.01.2010 8:00 PM PDT

How'd you find me?

I'm glad I finally read this. Hmm, a female arbiter. Female's aren't allowed in the Sanghelli military...

  • 07.01.2010 8:10 PM PDT

What a waste....

Posted by: kingwrench
I'm glad I finally read this. Hmm, a female arbiter. Female's aren't allowed in the Sanghelli military...
Wait, and you will see. It will all play out. Also--note that this takes place after Halo 3. Just so you know.

  • 07.02.2010 1:13 PM PDT

How'd you find me?

I guessed as much.

  • 07.02.2010 1:38 PM PDT

What a waste....

Murder, conspiracy, and assassins. Enjoy!

10th Age of Restoration
New High Charity, orbiting Sanghelios

Sona Toral sprinted through New High Charity, just ever so slightly tapping her hooves on the cobbled ground, just enough to keep moving. Of course, running in a robe was not very easy. Sona wore her Bachelor robe--today was graduation day. After today, she would be a scholar. Sona's robe was white--the males' were blue, and the High Scholars wore black. She kept running despite stumbling on her cloak every so often. The crowd parted with wide eyes and raised eyebrows as she ran. Sona breathed heavily and started to sweat. She threw a glance at her chronometer--and fell. Her breath was knocked out of her, but Sona got up and kept on running. She was built short and thin, weighing in at only 180 kg. and standing only 7' 1". Even among female Sangheili, she was small. Her classmates often teased her with the nickname "Shorty".

At last, the High Library came in sight. Modeled after the original that was lost on the original High Charity, it was a tower that held the title of largest structure made by the CORE (Coalition of Races). The CORE was comprised of the Humans, Unggoy, and Sangheili. After the battle of Installation 00, the Sangheili had retreated to Sanghelios to rebuild. The Unggoy had the largest population, so when they had little work or economy after the dissolving of the Covenant, they joined the Sangheili to fight against the Brutes and helped the Humans rebuild. The Sangheili, after defeating the Brutes, terraformed humanity's glassed planets back to habitability, using advanced Forerunner technology to speed the process up by hundreds of years. Once all three races had reached stability, in 2560 formed the CORE. Combined, they only had a population a little over 10 billion, most of which was Grunts. The humans had 2 billion, and Sangheili 3. In 2564, glassing was outlawed. However, in 2580, a rebellion surfaced. At the moment, the war was in full swing.

Sona rushed up the flawless blue antigrav steps. They shimmered under her feet, and finally, Sona reached the door. Opening it slowly, she shuffled her way as quietly as possible to the graduation room. Sona lined up and listened to the High Librarian recite a long speech that depicted a scholar's line of work.

"You are the perfect embodiment of what our Covenant was based upon. You are the epitome of intelligence, the greatest of the great. Never will you..." the High Librarian continued on like this for an hour. At last, Sona was at the feet of the Librarians.

Sona kneeled, and they handed her a black cloak and a diploma. She could not wait to be home to show her parents.

After they were released, Sona took transport throught the city to the Toral clan tower. It was the family's representation on High Charity. At last, the purple alloy shone in the glow of Sanghelios' sun, visible through a huge window built into the magnetic 'south' side wall on every level of New High Charity's mushroom design. Sona raced into the tower and through the corridors to the backside, where the family room was located. When Sona entered, she saw an Elite in shimmering camouflage armor pull out his sword from her father's prone body. The assassin shoved the sword into her hand, ran out the back door, and shouted "Murderer, murderer!" into the crowds.

Sona could only stare in horror at the dead bodies of her brother, sister, mother, father, and High Councilor Muvam as the Sangheili police force took her into custody.

  • 07.02.2010 3:18 PM PDT

What a waste....

No readers? Seriously? *Jeopardy Song plays*

  • 07.03.2010 6:45 AM PDT

EXistence PROhibited!
Feel free to join my group, the Vault of Lore

PLEASE make smaller and better paragraphs. I love stories but it's juts too hard to read walls. I am reading with though. And I just don't like the thought of a female Sangheili Arbiter... They're not even allowed into the militaary...

But I like your writing style. Just please do something about the legibility.

  • 07.03.2010 11:41 AM PDT

What a waste....

Posted by: DataBase90
PLEASE make smaller and better paragraphs. I love stories but it's juts too hard to read walls. I am reading with though. And I just don't like the thought of a female Sangheili Arbiter... They're not even allowed into the militaary...

But I like your writing style. Just please do something about the legibility.
Okay. What do you think I should do exactly with the paragraphs, etc? I'm kinda confused.

About the female thing-it's all a CONSPIRACY! No seriously, just wait.

  • 07.04.2010 4:53 PM PDT

What a waste....

Okay, seriously guys? POST COMMENTS! Make it worth posting!

  • 07.06.2010 11:02 AM PDT

How'd you find me?

Just read part 2, good job Nocbl. Maybe you should make your chapters a bit longer?

  • 07.06.2010 9:57 PM PDT

What a waste....

Okay. This next one'll be longer.

  • 07.07.2010 9:32 AM PDT