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An Osoona's Story
Posted By: Lance Johnson<jett_mann@msn.com>
Date: 27 April 2004, 6:43 PM
Read/Post Comments
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An Osoona's story
Huri walked over the floor, his heels, which usually clicked on the floors of the ring world Halo, stuck to the sticky flooring. It was covered in blood. He looked over each body, trying to surmise what had killed them.
He reached down and picked up a small metal tube. It was a cylinder that the projectile weapons of the humans discharge when firing. He snarled and crushed it. Huri moved over the bodies of fallen elites, jackals, and grunts. Death was something he saw all the time as an Osoona. But it wasn't something he relished.
In fact, he hated being the prophet's lackey. They sickened him, thinking they were better than the rest of the covenant. But if he did not obey, they would kill him and place his head on a pike. He shuddered at the thought.
Huri reached down, and lifted the head of a fellow elite. It was dead. How could one human cause so much death? He pondered that, but moved on. He came to a large room, filled with cargo canisters.
He suddenly heard a shuffling noise. He jumped behind a canister and pulled out his rifle. A grunt showed itself, it moved slowly across the blood splattered floor.
"Grunt, what happened here?"
It screamed and fired at him, but missed.
"Stand down!"
It saw he was an elite, and it lowered its pistol.
"We couldn't stop him, he was too strong. We couldn't stop him."
Its breath came in wheezes. It was low on methane. Huri pulled a methane package from his pack and slipped it into the replacement nozzle. The liquid flowed into the grunts pack. It breathed deeply and sat down.
"Thank you, I was out. Why you help me?"
"Because I do not wish to see death that can be stopped. What happened here, you said something about not stopping someone?"
"Him, the human green thing. He come, he shoot, he kill everyone."
Its eyes suddenly widened, realizing what had happened. It started to wheeze. And it curled itself into a little ball.
"Where is he?"
"He left, long time ago."
"Did he reach the cartographer?"
The grunt nodded.
"No!"
Huri bounded towards the cartographer. The bodies of two elites, a red and blue one, were in the hallway, their chests torn open from the human's projectile weapon. He reached the map room. It was activated.
"Nooo!"
A smashing sound suddenly rocked his ears. He snarled and ran back down the hallway. A hunter had fallen from a walkway above the floor. It wasn't hurt, but it was dazed.
"Hunter, what has happened?"
It looked up, and collapsed to the ground. Its torso heaved. It said something about its bond-brother. Huri caught enough to tell him that this hunter's bond-mate had been killed by the green armored human.
"Are you injured hunter?"
It shook its head. Huri noticed a puddle of what looked like red blood forming under the hunters head and down its armor. It was human blood!
"What happened to you?"
It finally spoke.
"It killed Gerag, my bond, it killed him!"
The hunter roared so loud, that Huri covered his ears. The grunt spoke up from the hallway.
"Found humans!!"
Huri ran over. It was two of what the humans call "marines". They were crushed.
"I killed them" the hunter said.
"Come, I have a dropship waiting, we will leave this death trap."
The grunt barked its version of a cheer.
The dropship touched down, and four other Osoona's showed themselves. All were ready to give their reports to the prophets.
"What are those two doing here?"
"They are survivors of the humans attack. They are coming with us."
The Osoona who had spoke snarled at the hunter. It huffed back.
"They don't belong with us!"
"Do you wish to challenge me?!!"
Huri stood tall, almost a full two units higher than the other Osoona. He was stronger than most hunters, almost as strong as a brute.
"I do!"
The Osoona snarled a challenge. Huri simply stepped forward. The other Osoona leapt at him. A solid punch sent it flying back into the dropship.
"Any other challenges?!"
The other Osoonas lowered their heads in submission.
"Hunter, you and the grunt will ride in the other bay; there are matters of privacy we Osoonas must speak of."
The hunter nodded. The grunt barked a comply, obviously just happy to be alive.
"Why would you allow a hunter, and a grunt, onto our dropship?!"
The Osoona that challenged Huri growled when he came to.
"They are under us!"
"If you speak of it anymore. I will report you to the high prophet, and he will deal with you in what matter he chooses."
The Osoona snapped his mandibles shut.
"Good. I found that the human made it into the cartographer and knows where the control room is."
The others all inhaled slowly, pondering this new mess.
Once back at the prophet's council room. The Osoona who challenged Huri walked out of the council chambers.
"They wish to see you."
Huri bowed before the prophets, snarling curses under his breath.
"The Osoona Demi who just left this room tells us you challenged him in a fight. And that he did not accept the challenge. You struck him down. Tell us, why did you attack a fellow Osoona when he had done nothing to you?"
Huri snarled, imagining twisting Demi's head from his body.
"He challenged me your graces" he said, barely holding back his rage.
"He told us you would deny it. There is only one way to decide this. You will both fight in Dem'ho'chi."
"To the death? Your graces?"
"Yes, the honor battle will be held now."
Huri stripped his armoring, down to what only was modest. He enjoyed these battles, only because he would be able to show that Osoona what he got himself into. The other Osoona walked in, but still had his breastplate on.
"Your graces, armor is not allowed in honor battles, is it not?"
"Demi, remove your armor."
But Demi snarled, and lunged himself at Huri. Huri side-stepped and kneed the breastplate. It cracked and shattered.
"Now we may begin."
Demi's rage was obvious. He breathed heavily, and his skin was turning a slight purple. The prophets raised their claws in unison, signaling the fight. Demi lunched again, but was caught by Huri's large fist.
Demi's jaw cracked. A second whistling punch caught his neck, it cracked. And a quick motion and Huri detached the dishonored Osoona's head. Holding it below his own, he bowed before the prophets. It took him less than forty deci-units to kill Demi.
"Very good Osoona, you honor us by defeating the weak. Go about your business."
Huri bowed, and then walked out. Once he was out, he snarled. Once in his quarters, his personal assistant helped him out of the entire armor suit.
"I won another honor battle today Zayap, it took me less time than the last one."
The grunt chuckled, admiring his master. Huri was a marvel of nature. He stood a little less than half a unit shorter than a full sized hunter. His muscles bulged from his arms. He stood almost six units high [about eleven feet]. And was even more powerful than a hunter in strength. But he was also an honorable elite. Not like the other stuck-up members of his kind. But he cared more about those in his charge than himself.
"What is the news today?"
"Well sir, a grunt named Yayap, was assigned to the Osoona Zuka' Zamamee."
"Zuka, hmm, that's interesting."
"Sir, if I may ask, who did you fight?"
"Demi' Koramee."
"Ah, he had it coming."
Huri laughed, he enjoyed having Zayap around, the little grunt was always making him feel better.
"How long until you go out again your grace?"
"I have four cycles until my next assignment."
"That's a long time."
"I need the rest."
Huri trudged over to his locker, and pull a breather out. Fitting it onto his head he changed the atmosphere in the room to what grunts breathe. Zayap happily removed his breather.
Huri sat down on his bunk, then quickly fell asleep.
Huri woke up one cycle later. He looked over at Zayap, he was fast asleep. Huri got into some casual clothes, and slipped out of the methane filled room. He walked towards the eating hall. Once he walked in the entire room fell silent.
They all knew it was him, because of his massive stature. He grabbed some small food bars, and sat down by himself. He was still eating when a hunter walked in, without a bond-mate.
It saw him and trudged over, making no noise without its armor on.
"May I sit here" it asked him quietly.
"Of course."
The hunter sat, a feat impossible inside of its bulky armor.
"You saved me, why?"
"I do not believe in leaving those under my command behind."
"But, my bond was killed, usually the elites leave us, we no longer have any wish to fight."
"Do you still have the will to fight?"
"I don't know."
"We are called to fight because the prophets order us to, but if you find a way not to fight. It may be the best course of action."
The hunter looked at him, pondering what he said.
"You do not enjoy battle?"
"I may have used to, but not now. I don't like to watch friends, even family die."
"But, it is a part of war."
"Yes, but there are other choices, other than fighting."
Huri got up after saying this. The hunter's face twisted in thought. The hunters, thought stupid by the jackals and most of the elites, were in fact an intelligent race, Huri just needed to give him a chance to think about what he said.
Back at his quarters, Zayap was awake, the air was oxygen, and his black armor was polished to a shine.
"I believe your four cycles are up sir."
"I wish I didn't have to go again."
"Isn't that your job?"
"Yeah, I just wish they would pay me."
Huri winked, then trudged over to the dropship.
"What is our mission today?"
"We are investigating a breach of security in the human's vessel."
"Let's go then."
The dropship blasted off, reaching the PoA in roughly one and a half cycles. Huri jumped off and followed a group of jackals towards the massive ship. The jackals spoke in their hissing language to each other, then all looked back at Huri, then hissed to each other again.
"Do you have something to say to me?"
"No, no your grace."
The jackals looked scared, but confident. Huri clicked his mandibles at them, and they shut their mouths. He lengthened his stride to a comfortable walk, leaving the jackals in the dust.
He reached the ship; it was huge compared to the Truth and Reconciliation. And it was very dark inside, but he preferred the dark over anything else. It gave him an advantage over the other members of the covenant, and the humans.
He went straight to the human bridge, looking over the strange controls. Touching some, pushing others. They all did nothing.
"Strange, it seems almost superior to our own consoles."
He walked out, into a large room filled with tables. The human's eating room obviously. It was designated "MESS HALL". He walked in, and opened a food storage container. It smelled good; he picked up a small, red sphere and bit into it. It had a sweet, fleshy taste.
He looked at the label, it said "APPLES". He looked at another food item. It was a small, brown rectangle. He bit into that too, it had the best flavor of anything he had every tasted before.
The label said "CHOCOLATE BARS" on it, so he stored a few for Zayap, who seemed to have a thing for sweet foods. He finally found what he was looked for, the engine room.
It was so big; he could tell what was what. There were pipes, tubes, and doors everywhere. He found a working console and began tapping on its buttons. The item he was looking for showed up.
"SLIPSPACE DRIVE"
He clicked on it, and new letters appeared.
"SHAW-FUGIKAWA DRIVE MATRIX"
He knew that covenant ships were faster and more accurate than human ships, but the human slipstream drive was something he marveled about. They had invented it on their own, while the covenant used the Forerunner's technology.
He finally downloaded all the information onto his data pad. Then walked outside, right smack into a human. It was a female, and she screamed very loudly. Huri grabbed his ears from the shrill sound, as projectiles began to hit his shields he jumped out of the doorway.
"Bad day, bad day, bad day."
Huri returned fire at the humans, hitting two of them with his rifle. He also fired at the door mechanism, hoping the door would close, it didn't.
He jumped up to a higher level, then even higher. On top he found large tubes, horizontal to him. Leading to sockets in the wall, the ships reactors. He ran down a ramp, down another, and finally down the last one and out the door. He galloped down passageways and hallways until he got to the exit from the ship.
Finding an unused banshee he jumped in and powered up, flying off towards his camp. Back at the encampment he reported to the prophets, then went to his quarters. Zayap was asleep on his bed. He shook the grunt softly.
"Huri, you're back fast!"
"I brought you a little souvenir."
He handed Zayap the chocolate bars, telling him to eat them. Zayap's face brightened at the taste.
"Good, good!"
"I thought you would like them. But I want to tell you something, I'm thinking about blowing this assignment, and going somewhere else than this ring."
"How?"
"The other cruiser, the Sovereign Shield. It isn't far off, and I am a higher rank than any ship master."
"Am I coming?"
"Yes, your coming."
Huri and Zayap walked towards the vehicle bay, when a hunter blocked their path.
"Osoona, I believe I understand now."
"What do you man?"
"What you said to me three cycles ago."
Huri looked the hunter over, in its armor he couldn't really tell, but it had to be the hunter who lost his bond-brother almost ten cycles ago.
"I wish to follow you; you are wiser than even the prophets. I may learn more from you."
"I accept your request, come, I will need your strength,"
Zayap looked sideways at Huri; he was stronger than any hunter, why was he asking this hunter to come?
"Don't worry Zayap, he is a friend."
"If you say so sir."
They reached the hanger, and boarded a dropship. Blasting off towards the cruiser, they encountered no resistance. But once on board another Osoona stopped him.
"Huri' Furomee, you are not supposed to be here, turn now andreturn to the encampment"
"When was authority given to you to order me?"
"I come with the authority of the prophets!"
"As do I, now step aside."
But the Osoona did not step aside, it reached for its rifle, but was stopped by the hunter's massive shield.
"Thank you."
The hunter huffed, a response no doubt. Huri walked to the bridge, ordering the ship master to lift off. He looked cross, but complied. The cruiser lifted off, and in no time at all, was in slipspace.
"So now what, sir. What are we going to do now?"
"Now, we go where we want to."
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