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Chapter 2

"Entering planetary orbit now sir" The helm reported . Gamaliel nodded and pushed a button on the right armrest of his command chair opening a communications channel between himself and Owatana. "Owatana, where are you ? We are almost to the academy. Come to the bridge at once."

The speaker in his chair squawked back, "Yes father just let me finish my game with t'albirth and maltween"

Gamaliel shook his head anxious to have his son in school and off of his ship. In the three months since they had left the homeworld Owatana had turned what once was one of the fleet's proudest and mightiest spacegoing vessels into a deep space psycho ward. Owatana just could not comprehend what the words "do not touch, biohazard, explosive" and the most costly of all "depressurization hazard." meant. So far only two elites were in sickbay and no casualties had occurred for that he gave thanks to the forerunners. So far Owatana had managed to somehow get his hands on some plasma grenades and worked his way into the artificial gravity system, and set them off in the master control area causing several accidents due to the fluctuation of power to the artificial grav. which had lasted for a week. He had deciphered a way of contacting High Charity and had raised concern of a new enemy. Gamaliel had contacted the Prophet of Conceit and managed to work things out albeit after the whole fleet had been notified to keep watch for this eight legged two headed creature with six eyes. Owatana had also managed to get into the ventilation system that controlled the grunts' methane system which supplied them with the necessary gas so that they could breath not only in their designated areas of the ship but also for their breathers and concocted a form of laughing gas,much to the `UN-amusement` of the elites who already had a difficult time working with them let alone the nonstop cacophony of laughter that broke out anytime they spoke. For three days they had torn the ship apart trying to locate the cause, two days to air out the grunt's quarters and then another day to move them back in. Owatana had also depressurized two cargo bays costing them the rations for the hunters until they had put into port. The grunts had tried to help by giving the hunters half of their rations until it was discovered that hunters and grunt food resulted in a supernatural mixture of gas and diahreea. This was the cause of his two elites being in sickbay.The elites had been doing a standard row by row inspection of the hunters, had gotten approximately halfway through when a hunter's stomach gurgled and the elites had found themselves blown into a bulkhead by a mixture of wind,stench,and feces. The hunters had since the incident been known as the mighty "`ass-assins`".

Were it not his ship and his son, Gamaliel himself would be laughing behind the father's back. Unfortunatley, it was his son and he was still attempting to find a way to word the accident reports so it would not appear to be his fault. The trip had been a disaster and he was relieved it was almost over.

Gamaliel activated the ships public address system in his chair "Owatana Owasso to the bridge right this minute! " He shouted over the p. a. sending his voice into every nook and cranny of the Loathed Melancholy. Gamaliel heard one of the bridge staff mutter "coming mother" followed by a wave of stifled laughter flow across the bridge. Gamaliel roared out of frustration as order slowly resettled.

The bridge doors opened and Owatana appeared, "You bellowed father?".Followed by another cascade of laughter from the bridge staff. Gamaliel spun around and retorted "The next comedian to spread his mandibles with something not pertaining to war or the rings suddenly showing up in front of us has kitchen duty with the grunts for the next month!" Silence was restored again as Gamaliel gazed a furious glare over his bridge staff and nodded and huffed once. Gamaliel turned his attention to the helm.

"E.t.a. to the academy?"

"Ten minutes to target my lord."

"Onscreen"

The helm pressed a series of buttons causing a screen to lower itself from the ceiling showing an ovular shaped red and blue planet, Ceti Alpha IV. This was where the hopefuls went to become covenant. It was a harsh, cruel place covered in deserts and oceans with massive storms appearing without warning. Whomever had discovered the world had been wise beyond words. This place was cold, hot, sadistic, inhuman and gave no corner to those that challenged her. Those that survived her trials would become full covenant. the hunters of the rings, the guardians of the prophets. Gamaliel nodded as the ship made its way over the rock stained landscape. It was here that would be owatana's home for the next twenty years, if he survived at all.

Owatana watched the screen his eyes wide and mandibles agape.He knew that every being on this ship and any other ship despite their varied origins collectively had hated and loved this world at the same time. This world had made everyone of them what they are and at the same time there was not a single person here that had not lost a friend or a relative to this rock's inhospitality.

The main part of the complex was kept underground the only "safe" place on the planet. Excursions to the surface were deemed fit only for training missions or in extreme cases, punishment. The Loathed Melancholy had started its final approach to the pressurised airlock as twin massive doors slid open. Contained inside the hanger were innumerable ships from all species of the covenant. Owatana marvelled at the ballet of action going on in front of his eyes. Gamaliel pointed to a ship that was a quarter of the size of the Loathed Melancholy. "Grunts, if you ever see one of those in combat, steer clear of it."

Owatana looked at his father confused as he had not ever known of a grunt to be a threat. "Is it a powerful ship?" Gamaliel shook his head, "Only if it gets hit where the methane is stored. The explosion from the gas alone will take out any vessel within five hundered yards, even one as big as the Melancholy " Owatana swallowed audibly as he made a mental note under "stuff to not forget".

"Open a channel to control." The communications officer pressed a series of buttons on his console and a channel opened. "Gamaliel Owasso Admiral of beta fleet, commanding officer of the Loathed Melancholy requesting landing instructions."

A nameless voice replied back, "Welcome home sir, we weren't expecting you for another fortyeight hours. Please hold position pending further notice. We are clearing a space for you as we speak."

"Thank you command. " and motioned for the comm to cut the signal.

Owatana pointed to a ship in the shape of a disk, "That one father?" Gamaliel glanced over, "Jackal,exceptional shielding,high manoueverability but unable to cause much damage. Used in combat to evacuate wounded."

"Is that how Khavik was brought home?" Gamaliel nodded then went back to his seat and started his dreaded task of documenting the journey from the homeworld to the ship's log.

A rumble shook the hangar bay as Owatana went to the viewports to take in the largest single ship he had ever seen. It was easily eight times the size of the Loathed Melancholy. It moved to it's landing spot with all the grace of a drunken albatross bumping a few walls on its way in. Owatana looked at his father, "What is that....thing?"

Gamaliel answered "Hunter transport, light duty, you'll rarely see anything above that in use though." Gamaliel glanced to the comm "Open another channel to control."

The comm clicked open and Gamaliel stated as calmly as he could "Control, this is Admiral Owasso, e.t.a. to initiate landing procedures?" The radio squawked back "e.t.a. another ten minutes sir, just recieved word that prophet consulate are inbound, once they have unloaded you're next. Thank you for your patience sir." Gamaliel rolled his eyes. "The consulate...thank you control"

Owatana looked up at his father curiosly as a medium sized ship with 4 engines large enough to power the hunter's vehicle pulled into the bay and gracefully landed. The ramp opened and a total of sixteen honor guards poured out and lined the pathway eight per side. Gamaliel kept watching the viewscreen as he answered Owatana's unspoken question. "The consulate is a branch of the prophets led by two upstarts. Truth and Regret with Truth being the more powerful of the two. He's been campaigning recently though some would say it more of a witchhunt for heretics."

Out of the ship came seven prophets with one having a larger ornamental headpiece than his bretheren. Gamaliel nodded towards the prophet in the front of the pack. "That's Truth, the one to his right is Regret. Be mindful of yourself in their presence my son. They have climbed rapidly to their lofty position of power. Some would say too rapidly." Owatana nodded he had not even landed at the academy yet and already had so much to remember his head hurt. A quartet of jackal ships departed and over the ship's speakers came that same no name voice of the controller. "Admiral Owasso,this is control, you are cleared for landing on four through eight."

Gamaliel looked to the helm "You heard him, let's park this beast before someone grabs those spots and I have another accident report to fill out."

The flagship jockeyed into position and landed with a soft thump. Gamaliel activated the ships p.a. system. "Attention crew, this is Admiral Owasso, we are here to refuel,restock,and to send my son to the academy.Non essential personnel have four hours r and r, be back and at your station or you're walking home. That is all." Gamaliel turned off the p.a. system and looked to Owatana. "Go to our quarters, pack your things and meet me at the ramp. We've got to get you enrolled, choose your classes, get your weapons and armor, then partake in the opening ceremonies. We don't have much time."

Owatana nodded and dashed for his room leaving Gamaliel with his bridge staff. The helm and tactical officers spun around in their chairs and looked at Gamaliel who rubbed his eyes from the stress of the journey. The helm spoke first.

"Admiral, is this the first one of your clan that you've sent to the academy?"

Gamaliel shook his head. "No but it may very well be my last." The helmsman nodded and went back to his duties, the tactical officer spoke next. "Sir, permission to speak freely?" Gamaliel nodded. "Permission granted ensign" as he adjusted his logs and signed off on a digipad a grunt handed him for his authorization.

"Sir with all due respect to your personal standing and position, I hope for great things for your son. May the forerunners guide him to unknown heights in the covenant. His enthusiasm,though overzealous will be guided and granted direction by the academy."

Gamaliel nodded "I hope you are right ensign." Gamaliel gave command over to his first officer and proceeded down to the exit ramp for the ship. Gamaliel's heart was heavy in his chest. For the first time in his life he was unsure whether or not he was doing the right thing.
He made his way to find Owatana there with his satchel over his shoulder with his eyes glimmering with all the hopes and dreams that he had of what would happen when he graduated. Gamaliel could not help but smile back at him as he caught up with his son. "Eager to get started my boy?"

Owatana grabbed Gamaliel's hand and dragged him off the ship. "Come father, which way?" Gamaliel recovered his footing and pointed to a long line of covenant ahead of them. "There, that is where we begin." Owatana pulled Gamaliel towards the line. "What do we do here father?" Gamaliel leaned down to Owatana. "This is where you will be registered. This may take a while so be patient."

Owatana nodded and gazed about the room. There were more grunts, jackals, and elites than he had thought possible. "Father,where are the hunters?" Gamaliel glanced about the room and noticed a rack of jars being pushed along by a quartet of grunts. "There they are. Hunters start out as smaller beings and are genetically mixed together to find the best matches. They are then merged together to become one single physical being. Since the hunters have a collective mind, they continue individually to think as one even though they are seperate beings."

Owatana wasn't sure what usefulness this knowledge was, but he was stunned to find out that the largest of them started out as the smallest. Gamaliel and his son made their way through the line for what seemed like hours until they finally reached a desk with a blue clad elite working feverishly behind a control panel.

"Name of recruit?"the elite asked
"Owatana" Gamaliel answered as he shifted his weight to his back foot and monitored the room.
"Surname?"
"Owasso"
"Father's name?"
"Gamaliel."
The elite snapped to attention with his right fist over his heart. "Admiral Owasso sir! My apologies for not noticing you sir! Just doing my duty sir!" Gamaliel returned the salute and calmly stated "As you were, I'm just enrolling my son for the academy."

The blue elite nodded and sat back down behind his desk. "Admiral, what classes will your son be partaking in?" The elite handed Gamaliel a holopad with a stylus. Gamaliel read the holopad over taking note of the classes the academy had available and selected all that had vacancies then signed his name at the bottom and handed the holopad over to the blue elite. The blue elite read over the holopad making sure that nothing had been left out, then slapped the holopad into a slot and the computer buzzed opening a door out of the ship's landing bay and deeper into the facility.

A voice came over the p.a. system. "The covenant welcomes all of you to the academy. We thank you for joining us in our search for the great journey. Please have your size ready for armor distribution. You will be issued your plasma pistol, plasma rifle, carbine, beam rifle, and needler shortly, your sword will be given to you upon graduation. Those that deviate from the walkway will be disallowed entry into the covenant for one full year" then repeated.

Owatana found the voice monotonous and distracting until he started studying the hallway and the portraits on the walls. They were elites of that there could be no doubt, but their armor was unlike any that he had ever seen any other elite wearing. It appeared heavier than the normal armor that his father and other elites wore. It was metallic in color and bore symbols that stood for wisdom, protection, life, shelter, and hope. The right side of the chestplate came up higher than the left almost as if to protect the wearer's neck. The headpiece had a sharpened blade on the forehead. The armor was ancient as he laid eyes upon a warrior that was wearing the armor wielding a sword that was made of metal and not energy. Owatana looked each individual over with reverance. He wondered if any of these warriors had attended here, if they had stood where he stood. Some of the pictures were more recent including one wearer slicing through a wave of grunts with a single deft slice, decapitating two and gutting another three.

Surely this warrior was an elite's elite. Gamaliel noticed Owatana's eyes looking at the paintings. "The blade of the prophets, the Arbiters. You will discover more about them at a later time. Time to get your armor and your weapons my son. "

They approached a table with two blue elites and one red elite. All three noted Gamaliel's presence and responded to him in the same way that the blue elite earlier had greeted his father. Gamaliel returned their salutes and ordered them to go about their duties. One of the elites in blue asked for Owatana's name, pulled up his file and scrolled down the list, grunted his approval and pulled a chip out of the computer and handed it to the red clad elite. The red elite popped the chip into his holopad and went behind a wall. The second blue elite looked to Gamaliel "Armor size?" "Seven" Gamaliel replied. The elite nodded and went to a rack off to the right that was full of more suits of armor then Owatana had ever seen. The blue elite returned with a set of green armor small enough that Owatana knew it would fit him just right.

Gamaliel pushed Owatana toward the blue elite. The elite knelt down and suited Owatana in the armor from the legs up. With each click of the straps Owatan felt himself come closer and closer to his dream. The elite placed two pins one on each lapel of his armor. The blue clad elite instructed Owatana to look at his lapels. "Those shields let everyone know that you are new but in time you will come up." The elite pointed to the lapels on his own armor, they were similar to Owatana's but had a single bone going at a fortyfive degree angle across the front of the shield. "This is what you will acquire when you graduate." At that moment the red elite emerged with Owatana's weapons which he handed to Gamaliel. The red elite handed a holopad to Gamaliel to sign and looked to Owatana "And if you make it to my level you get these." Owatana looked up at the red elite's lapelsand noticed that they were two bones crossed over his shield. The red clad elite continued, whilst taking the stylus from Gamaliel "But if you want to be the best of the best which you are already signed up for, then you go for spec ops they get the double bone and skull. the highest deemed marker outside of the arbiters." Owatana tilted his head and gazed up at his father. "What's spec ops?" Gamaliel answered, his voice could as ice, "The best that there are son, they are the elites that do not exist. They go on the hardest missions, they are the very best that the covenant has to offer and you will be one of them." Gamaliel puffed his chest out, the blue elite told Owatana to kneel down before him and he finalized his armor by putting the helmet on Owatana's head. Owatana reached up and adjusted the helmet so the fit was better. Gamaliel squatted down and hooked the plasma rifle to Owatana's left leg, the needler to his right, the plasma pistol was slung under his right arm, the carbine slung over his right shoulder and the beam rifle over his left shoulder. Gamaliel nodded and folded his arms over his chest. "Now that's how an elite should look." The trio across the table roared their approval, Owatana tried his best to roar back at them but could only manage a squeak of a roar. Gamaliel laughed and patted Owatana on the shoulder in approval. "Don't worry son, it comes with time."

The red elite pressed a button on the table and the door to the next area opened. "Time for him to be sworn in sir, the consulate will be handlinig the ceremonies." Gamaliel covered his eyes with his hand. "Is there nothing that Truth has not gotten his hands into?" The red elite merely shrugged "Apparantly not my lord. They say that his consulate has nothing that is beyond his reach, there are those that say his eyes reach for the heirarch's position next." Gamaliel humphed to himself "That will be the day."

Owatana grasped his father's hand and pulled him toward the door and on to the next phase of his journey. Gamaliel and Owatana entered a large auditorium that surrounded a small platform in the center, every seat had an elite, a grunt, jackal, or hunter with a vast mixture of ranks from spec ops to council to blue and red, there was no position available which had not gone unrepresented. Yet for all those that were represented Owatana noted that for every graduate uniform there was a green cadet sitting to either side of the ranked individual. Owatana could not begin to estimate the sheer numbers of covenant that were present and well over or near half were cadets. Owatana was speechless at the size of the audience in the aditorium. With this many at their disposal surely there was no foe mighty enough to overthrow the strength and number of the covenant.

Owatana and his father located some vacant seats after much searching and settled in. Gamaliel sitting in the aisle and Owatana found himself seated next to another elite cadet in green. Owatana leaned in and whispered to the cadet "What did you get signed up for?" The cadet whispered back "Science and weapons, for anything else." Owatana nodded as the cadet asked "What about you?"

"Spec ops and everything that wasn't full" The cadets laughted as the lights in the auditorium row by row from the outer ring inward. Once the auditorium was sunk into total blackness, a lone spotlight flicked on illuminating the center podium. From the floor a platform arose bearing seven prophets with Truth bearing the point, the circular emblem in his headpiece reflecting the light from above out into the crowd as he gazed upon his audeince. He was well muscled for a prophet and very young, probably just under a century. Truth moved his throne forward to the edge of the platform slowly gazing about with seeming intent he seemingly had sized up everyone in attendance.

"Greetings hopeful members of the covenant and welcome to the Academy. Here you shall follow in the footsteps of your forefathers in becoming part of the most sacred and powerful military in the universe. We shall train you to become the best that there is. It shall not be an easy road, there are many of you which will not survive the training but for those of you that do, you will have the honor of having earned your place in the ranks of the covenant. You shall have the skill, desire, and will to utterly conquer any foe in your path. No matter the odds you will be victorious. Your families shall be witness to the glory you bring to covenant, species,and clan. The holy ring shall forever be your guiding light. Honor courage and integrity will be your duties above all else. Wherever you go you shall represent our way of life, our thoughts, our ideals. Not only will you be our defenders from outside threats, but you shall be called upon from time to time to purify and cleanse the heretics who would destroy you just as quickly as any foe that we are at war with. For those of you that do not fully understand what this means, you may be called upon to kill members of your own species. Fear not for them and shed not a tear either. Their heresy is what makes them weak. You shall in time discover that the covenant will become your family, your strength, and your sanctuary in your time of need"

Truth paused to allow this information to sink in. "If there are any among you that feel that you are incapable of accomplishing these tasks, leave now, return home to domestic life and live knowing that you were unable to defend those that cannot defend themselves."

Owatana glanced about and heard some shuffling of feet but found it impossible to see anything but the platform that the prophets were on. Once the noises had ceased, Truth raised his arms and seemingly as if by the power of his will alone, the lights came back up. Owatana was surprised to find almost a third had refused to serve. It was unthinkable that so many would walk away from the opportunity to become part of the covenant.

"So, already as you can tell from our smaller numbers, some have departed. Harbor them no ill will for their failure is your success! You have already started proving your commitment by not returning home. You have all taken the first step toward salvation. I commend all of you individually and collectively. Cadets, I apologise but I must ask your parents to depart now. We must begin your training. You will be allowed weekly contact with them via holocron. You have ten minutes to say your farewells. Following which you shall be escorted to your quarters where your lives will truly begin."

Truth then returned to his position at the spearhead of the prophets as they were lowered back into the floor. Owatana looked up at his father "Is that it?" Gamaliel looked softly into his son's eyes fighting tears. "Yes my son, you are in the hands of the covenant now. They will take care of your needs. Do as you are told and you will do well, every order they give you take as if they were given from me." Owatana nodded and Gamaliel embraced him. "Your mothers and I are proud of you. Make sure that you keep up informed as to how you are progressing." Tears filled Owatana's eyes and he nodded his consent to his father's requests. "Now go make us even more proud, see to it they sing songs of Owatana the warrior, Owatana the finder of the rings and most of all Owatana the mighty."

Gamaliel pulled himself away from Owatana."Be strong my son, I must return to my ship." Owatana stood at attention and saluted his father,Gamaliel returned the salute then turned and left to return to his ship.

Owatana looked at the cadet that had been seated beside him. "My name is Owatana Owasso" and offered his hand.The cadet took his hand and gave it a firm grip. "Zuka Zwamamee, pleased to meet you." Owatana glanced about the auditroium as he noticed the cadets filing into their species' specific doors. Zuka looked at Owatana "So shall we face this alone or together?"

Owatana widened his mandibles in a smirk, "I say we watch each others' backs on this one." Zuka nodded, "We go it together then." The two cadets filed towards the door ready and waiting for the challenges ahead.

Back aboard the Loathed Melancholy Gamaliel took his place in the command chair. "Helm set a course for the brute's homeworld and get us underway." The communications officer spoke as the helm entered the command into the computer.

"Sir , a message for you incoming from your lifemate." Gamaliel nodded and pointed to his office. Gamaliel left the bridge as the ship exited the planet's atmosphere. Gamaliel entered his office and accepted the message on his personal monitor, he was not surprised to find Erebus on the other end of the screen.

"Is it finished Gamaliel?" Erebus asked, she looked as though she had been crying since he had left the homeworld. All Gamaliel could do was nod. "Do you feel better now that your son is where you wanted him to be?" Gamaliel gathered his nerves. "I feel drained Erebus.Of Owatana's future I see only the best but I will worry about him unceasingly until he graduates." Erebus nodded silently.

"Khavik perished a week after you two left. He just gave up living. We buried him according to tradition." Gamaliel felt a part of himself die after she spoke. Gamaliel wished that he could let his pain out but being on the ship did not give him that luxury. All he could do was close himself off and allow that blackness that had carried him through so many battles to fill the void. "I am headed for the planet of the brutes to finish negotiations with them then I'll be headed home to grieve Khavik." Erebus nodded "We will be awaiting your return dear, Forerunners guard you my love."

"I must go Erebus, duty calls" After closing the transmission, Gamaliel returned to the bridge. "Helm, maximum speed to the brutes home." The first officer looked at Gamaliel, "Something wrong sir?" Gamaliel merely stated "Another of my blood is on the great journey. I pray it will be the last."

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