The Nature of the Sangheili (14)

Thank you SpacePaladin15 for this wonderfully fucked up Universe! Heya everyone, I went on week long vacation two weeks ago and decided to take the time off to relax before I had to start packing up for school, and as such I took time off writing too. It's uh… It's been more than a week. Sorry about that. That being said, enjoy the latest dive into our Sangheili crazed little world!

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Memory Transcription Subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date: [Standardized Human Time] August 28th, 2136

“I listened to people, Piri.” I said with conviction. The statement was strong, and spat in the face of everything we had ever known to be true, but reality is often unkind to the truth. I needed her to understand the predators like I did. 

The atmosphere of the room was choked by deafening quiet, as Piri looked from me to the predators repeatedly, as if trying to discern whether or not this was real life, and not just fantasy. Her eyes told me all I needed about her thought process, frantic and scared. I tightened my grip on her shoulder, pulling her close to me for a hug. She didn’t resist, only quietly whining. “It’s okay Piri, you’ve been having a conversation with them this whole time, you know they’re not like the Arxur, take your time.”

I turned my attention to Noah, who wore a dejected expression on his face. I swished a sympathetic gesture with my tail and he nodded, “I-I apologize if my features have caused you stress, Governor Piri, I’ll put my mask back on now.”

Piri was a sniveling mess in my arms, but her quills lowered by the smallest amount when Noah placed the covering back on. “T-Tarva… H-Have they threatened you, i-if we run we might be able to make it back to my-”

“No, they haven’t threatened me, Piri.” I stated matter of factly, lashing my tail in a truthful manner, “And before you ask, no, nobody has been eaten, tortured, or harmed in any way. They’ve even constructed those masks to make talking with them easier for our instincts to handle, though given time you grow used to the eyes.”

Silence invaded the room again as Piri looked from me and to the floor again. Before long she took a deep breath and turned to face our guests, “I’ll be honest, I-I’m not exactly sure how to feel about…” She gestured to the group, “All of this.”

“It’s an expected reaction, Governor. It’s not everyday that what you believe to be possible gets flipped. But we’ve given you the evidence that we are what we say we are. We know you’ll have a difficult time accepting us, but we’re sure there’s at least one thing we can agree on for now.” Nok added, leaning back in his chair in an attempt to make himself look non threatening.

“A-And that is?”

“The Arxur are a blight against the galaxy. Their continued existence spits in the face of anything even resembling a sapient mind. They are a scourge which needs to be culled, and we will gladly assist you in doing so.”

Noah shook his head and clenched his fists till his knuckles were white, “Every time I accidentally startle a Venlil my mind goes back to those damn videos…” He shuddered, and Sara rubbed his back.

Piri jammed a claw at the humans, “D-Don’t pretend like you don’t have pests in your field, predator! I know what you are, and I know what you’ve done!”

My tail shot up as I realized what she was talking about, somehow I had completely  “Piri I- don’t think-”

Sara cocked her head, “What do you mean? We haven’t done anything?”“Yes you have, I know of your history, human! We know that you’ve employed the most barbaric and sadistic methods of weaponry imaginable against yourselves, we know the true extent of your species' monstrousness and incapability for mercy!” 

Though I couldn’t see their faces, Noah and Sara’s posture seemed anything but relaxed. Nok craned his neck to face me, “Tarva, what is she talking about?”

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, “W-Well… t-this would exactly be the first t-time the Federation has… encountered humanity.”

All of the predator’s heads snapped towards me, ““”WHAT?!””” They shouted in unison, causing my ears to pin to the back of my head, and Piri to lurch back in her chair.

“I-I’ll tell you all about it later but I promise you, I didn’t withhold that out of malice!”

Sara brought a hand to her mask and slouched onto the table, “That certainly makes things harder for us…”

“A-Aha! I knew it! You were trying to trick me!”

“We aren’t trying to trick you Piri, but we know how flighty and untrusting the members of the Federation can be. And to be frank, there are a lot of rather… unsightly parts of our history that we’d rather not discuss right now.”

“S-See Tarva! They’re not even t-trying to hide it!”

“Piri please-”She slammed her claws on the table, silencing the room. Ragged breaths were the only noise I could make out coming from her maw, “Tarva, I will ask you only once. Return Sovlin and his crew to my custody, and… I will pray that I can save you from this madness.”

Noah hitched a breath, “Sovlin is a criminal who is to be charged under Venlil jurisdiction, you can’t just-”

I raised a paw, “No, that’s acceptable. I know Piri well, Noah. Sovlin will still face trial on his homeworld, that I am certain of. But Piri, this isn’t madness, accepting these predators has been the only decision I’ve been sure of these past few cycles.”

Piri looked on with an expression that I couldn’t read, loss, pain, fear, confusion, it was as if every single negative emotion blended into one, “…It was a pleasure to know you, Tarva.” She said with shaking breaths before pushing out her chair and storming out of the room. She didn’t even look me in the eye.

Icy pain gripped my heart as I watched the door slam behind her. I wanted to go out there, to grab her and bring her back, but I knew she made up her mind. Besides, it was far too late to avert the course I was taking, even if I wanted to. I couldn’t even be mad at her for not listening, I knew how completely insane I sounded, but couldn’t she see the evidence?!

Water teetered on the edges of my eyes and I hung my head in shame. Warmth enveloped me soon after, as Noah wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug, “I-I’m sorry. I… I thought she’d listen.”

“It’s okay Tarva, we tried everything we could think of. She refused to listen now, but that doesn’t mean she’ll stay stubborn forever.” He wiped my tears away with his fingers as he spoke, pulling me in closer to absorb more of his warmth.

“I don’t mean to interrupt you both, but we’re owed answers Tarva. How did she know about us?” Sara interjected, crossing her arms.

Prying myself out of Noah’s arms, I attempted to make myself look presentable, “A-Again I didn’t withhold this information out of malice or to d-deceive you. But… the Federation has known about humanity for a little under two hundred years now.”

Nok’s eyes widened, and Sara brought a hand to her mask to tear it off her face, utter shock was plastered across it, “Two hundred years?! If that’s the case then how are we still alive? I was under the impression that the Federation would want to wipe us out!”

“They did, we saw and documented terrible things you humans were doing to one another… And… I’m ashamed to admit that the Venlil were the loudest proponents for Earth's extermination due to how close we are to your planet.”

Silence. Nobody said a word. Noah’s eyebrows were knitted and mouth agape in a look of sheer horror. Sara held her blank stare, only her eyes were wide with disbelief. Nok still had his mask on, but judging from how he didn’t so much as move a muscle, his reaction was most certainly the same.

Noah stammered, “Y-You… You wanted…” 

“People long since buried wanted you dead. Who we are now is not who we were yesterday, and from what little I know of your species history I think you can agree with me.” That statement made my soul feel dirty, as if I was simply washing my hands of anything to do with their judgment when not even a month and a half ago I completely and utterly agreed with their ruling, “I don’t mean to sound rude, but I don’t want to be associated with an opinion from a Governor from two centuries ago.”

The humans winced but remained silent. The sound of clacking caused me to swivel my ears to the source, only to find Nok typing away at his holopad, “You said a little under two hundred years, yes?”

“Y-Yes, if I remember correctly it was one hundred and ninety four years ago.”

Nok nodded before typing away at his holopad again, “O-Oh… I suppose I can understand what Piri was talking about.”

“What do you mean?”

“By my estimates, that would plant you firmly into humanity's second world war. And… Well if these photos are anything to go off of, horrible wouldn’t even begin to describe it.”

A groan escaped Sara’s mouth and she covered her face with a hand, “That… Yeah, the second world war was, to put it lightly, one of the worst time periods in human history. No wonder you got a bad impression of us.” I turned my attention to Noah, who had a lost look on his face.

The room was enveloped in silence again, but with so much whirling around in my mind, I appreciated the break, ‘What’s going to happen now? Will the predators leave us? What about Piri, what’s she going to do? Does Noah hate me?’ The final question rang through my head several more times, and yet again I was left puzzled by why the human managed to worm his way into my thoughts.

Noah cleared his throat, “We should warn the UESSA, I don’t like the implications of anything Piri said during this meeting.”

My heart sank, “Noah, you don’t think she’d-”

“I don’t know, but we should at least prepare ourselves for a coming fight. I’d rather not have them get the drop on us. Do you think there’s any way we can prevent her from attacking us?”

I crossed my arms and wriggled my tail in an affirmative gesture, “The Federation will most likely hold a summit to discuss their next course of action regarding both of your species. Maybe we could crash it, bring a Human and a Sangheili to argue your cases and convince them of your intentions!”

Nok grunted, “That seems incredibly foolish and dangerous.”

Noah let out a dry chuckle, “Yeah, but it’s the best idea we have for now, I’d rather we not get pulled into an intergalactic war with the people we want to work with. I’ll get Meier on the phone, Nok, can you contact Kaidon Foro ‘Kajara?”

The Sangheili nodded and swiftly typed away at his holopad, the predators all preoccupied themselves with preparing for the sad reality we now found ourselves in, leaving me alone with my thoughts once more. I cursed myself, maybe I could’ve said something, done more! But there’s a time and a place for self reflection, and now is not it. These predators were more than just that label, they’re people, people with their own thoughts, ideals and dreams. And I wouldn’t let them down.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Memory Transcription Subject: Kip, Junior Venlil Exterminator

Date: [Standardized Human Time] August 28, 2136

The walk through Dayside was wonderful, I felt like a tour guide showing off all the landmarks and monuments strewn about town as we walked past them. Though she was wearing a mask, I could tell she was starry eyed by the sheer glee and whimsy from each question she asked. It was a welcome distraction from the knot forming in my stomach.

Hujin had messaged me asking me to report to him as soon as I got back on the ground, he wanted as much information as I could give him on Jury and the Sangheili. I didn’t like it, not one bit, but if it could remove my diagnosis, if it meant I could finally live a normal life, then I’d do it.

We turned a corner, accidentally startling some poor passersby who clearly wasn’t expecting to be face to face with a predator so soon, and faced Dayside University I let out a small sigh, “And this is where I’ve been going to school for the past three years.”

Jury stopped dead in her tracks to stare at the sprawling campus view, and honestly I couldn’t blame her. The various schools and classrooms which made up the campus were all originally gigantic meteorites high up in Venlil Prime’s orbit. The original headmaster, being some rich Venlil with nothing better to do, decided to pull some down and paid metric freighter loads of credits to have them chiseled and sculpted down to the most intimate detail for his students. Several people accused him of being predator diseased, but it didn’t stop him from creating one of the most beautiful campuses the planet had ever seen.

Unfortunately, time was not kind to the school. Centuries of rain and damage from Arxur attacks had left their mark on more than a few buildings, but the central hall remained, tall and noble, a shining beacon of the Venlil’s perseverance despite our flighty lifestyles and proximity to predators. 

“It’s… beautiful, I-I don’t even know what to say!”

I chuckled, “That’s the normal reaction, you see how the road curves around the entire campus like one big circle? It was literally designed that way because the original headmaster was so proud of how the school turned out; he wanted anyone near it to be able to marvel at the design.”

“Heh, great to see ego is a universal trait. Anyways, which way to your office?”

“It’s further down this way, the black building down the road.” I pointed a claw at the office, to this day I didn’t fully understand why we needed such a large exterminators office in the center of a city. I knew better than most that predator diseased individuals were statistically more common in cities, but with the size of the building and amount of equipment we had you’d be forgiven for thinking the office was on a remote colony world sprawling with non-sapient predators.

As we made our way over to the office, the sidewalk became less and less populated. People were walking across the street to the other side, ducking into stores, or pressing themselves up against the buildings to try to avoid us. I glanced at Jury, who was rubbing her shoulder and holding her arms close to her torso, and formulated a devious plot. I slowed my walking down until she was in range before slapping my tail right into her chest, “Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll be in and out and then we can head over to my apartment, alright?” Her posture softened, and she nodded.

A quaint bench outside of the office made for the perfect waiting spot for her, even if she was comically oversized for it. Fishing the keycard out of my bag, I entered through the employee’s entrance and ducked into the office. The receptionist glanced up then looked back at her computer before her eyes went wide and she stared back at me, “Y-You’re alive?” 

“Uh… Yeah?”

“Dammit… I owe Gonij so many credits.” The receptionist moaned and let her head fall into her paws. Leaving me slack jawed in horror.

“You… You placed a bet on me dying?”

Her head shot up, “I-I uh…” She started but I didn’t let her finish, I whipped a harsh insult with my tail and moved deeper into the office. I became keenly aware of the amount of eyes on me, it’s not like I wasn’t used to people staring at me when on the job, but most never stopped what they were doing. If I stopped walking, I could probably hear a pin drop on the carpeted floor. 

After a few moments, I saw Gonij get up on top of his desk, “Hah! I told you! Pay up chumps!” An assortment of groans and squaks erupted from the cubicles as people started transferring credits to the now giddy Yotul. 

‘From the sound of it, most of the damn office bet against me, what the hell!’ I lashed my tail in agitation and stormed towards Hujin’s office, only remembering my dread once I reached the door. The knot in my stomach grew, but the knowledge that this was the last time I’d ever have to see him was reassuring, I took a deep breath and turned the handle.

Hujin was clacking away at his keyboard before he noticed me in his periphery, “Ah! So he lives! Come in, come in!” He excitedly yelps, I had never once seen him like this, he looks… actually happy?

Without a word, I strode into the office and sat in the chair in front of his desk. He fiddled with his computer for a while before eventually folding his claws together and staring me down, “Alright, you got me excited boy! What do you got for me? I want details, no matter how horrifying!” 

“Well, the Sangheili still ate meat while on the station-” I said, suppressing a shiver, “Though they didn’t hurt anyone. Jury explained how their diet is a lot more meat heavy than a humans, so they still need to eat a lot of it to survive.” 

Hujin chuckled, “And to think Tarva is letting those damn monsters onto our planet, what the hell does she think is going to happen.” He shook his head clacking away at his keyboard, “What’s the speh they’re doing to justify letting those monsters down here?” 

“They gave out these tubes of synthetic meat paste. Apparently it tastes terrible but it has all the nutrition they need to survive.”

He grunted, continuing to assault the keys of the holopad, “What else? What about the predator food that’s ‘safe’ to eat?”

My mind immediately wandered back to the heavenly plates on the station, “Captain, I really don’t know how to say this but… The food they made for us was divine! They had this one plate called carrot cake which is apparently derived from this sweet root that grows on the human’s homeworld and… Gods above I can’t even begin to describe just how incredible it is! It’s as if Solgalic himself baked Staryu and used fruits from his own divine garden! Honestly it… Uh…” I stopped when I noticed he was just staring at me, confusion plastered cleanly across his face and ears, “S-Sorry. It was good.”

Hujin didn’t say a word, but kept typing away at his keyboard, “Right… Anyways, what about your partner? Did that monster let any of their secrets slip?” 

I managed to mask my anger and flicked a negative with my tail, “No sir, honestly if I close my eyes she just seemed like a normal member of the herd.”

His expression dropped further, “Kip… don’t tell me you’re one of those loonies who think they’re actually telling the truth.” 

I sat up in my chair, “Sir, with everything I’ve seen and talked about, I have no-” Before I could continue defending my partner, Jukim burst through the door, his feathers puffed all the way out.

“S-Sir ther-” He began, before Hujin slammed his paw on the table.

“Jukim! I’m in the middle of getting information about the new predators! Whatever it is, it can wait!”

“It can’t sir! One of those predators is sitting right outside of the building!”

A chill ran up my spine as my gaze drifted from Jukim to Hujin, the old Gojid looked mortified and his eyes darted around the office, “W-Well what are you waiting for! Go equip your pack! Let’s teach this damn monster that it never should’ve come to our home!”

“S-Sir wait!”

Hujin pushed me aside, marching towards the door, “Not now Kip, one of those damn things must’ve followed you here, but we’re not going to let it hurt you, or anyone else here!”

“B-But sir I-”

“No buts!” He turned away from me, exiting his office. The floor was in complete chaos, papers flying all around and more than a few people were trying to find a place to hide, “EVERYONE, I need our on duty exterminators to move out now! We have a Code Orange! Pull yourselves together, you children! It’s one predator versus the whole herd! We’re exterminators damnit, let’s show that lizard it should’ve never crawled out of the rancid hole it calls a home!”

He clenched his paw into a fist and lifted it into the air, a few people mimicked his action, but most still flailed around panicking. I grabbed onto Hujin’s arm, “Sir, please! Let me just-” I started, before the blunt end of his claws connected to my face, sending me tumbling onto the ground.

“Damnit Kip, not now! Now get back into my office, so we can continue our damn talk after we torch this damn monster!” Hujin practically snarled his response at me. Jukim looked from me to Hujin, craning his neck in discomfort.

“Sir, you can’t treat him like that. He might be predator diseased, but he’s still trying to-” Whatever Jukim was saying, along with the noise from the office all melted into a slurry of sound and ringing. I couldn’t get the Captain’s words out of my head, he was going to kill Jury. He was going to try to kill the only person on this planet who gave a damn about me.

I rose to my feet and bolted, ‘No!’ I rushed through the office, pushing through the stampeding crowd to the door, ‘No! I won’t let them!’ I practically flew past the receptionist’s desk, who herself was busying herself with barricading the civilian access door with chairs and whatever else she could find behind her desk. ‘No!’ I burst through the employees only entrance, startling my only friend.

Heaving, I made my way over to her, my lungs felt like they were on fire but I wouldn’t let that stop me from saving her life. ‘-ip! Kip! Talk to me, what the hell is going on?!” The ringing in my ears faded, the sound of the world finally returning to my ears.

I tried to speak but my mouth was dry, and my breath was raspy, “Hujin… E-Exterminators… L-Leave!” Is all I’m able to gasp out.

Jury just cocks her head to the side, “Kip, breathe, I can’t understand you. Are you okay?” She’s still worrying about me? Now of all times?! It was flattering but now wasn’t the time! I grabbed onto her claws and tugged her towards the sidewalk, we had to get out of here befor-

“HALT PREDATOR! PUT YOUR CLAWS IN THE AIR AND STEP AWAY FROM THE VENLIL!” 

“Speh.” I turned to find four suited up exterminators and Hujin lighting their flamethrowers, pointing them at the two of us.

“Kip! Get over here kid, you’re safe now.” My heart sank, I knew exactly what they’d do if I moved to them, I wasn’t a naive pup! Instead, I pushed myself in front of Jury. She’s done so much for me, if I can even stop one of the streams of flame for half a second it might give her enough time to get away! “What the hell are you doing kid?! Get away from that monster!” I could feel Jury flinch at the insult.

“I’m not moving an inch! I won’t let you hurt my partner!”

“Your partner? Kip step the brahk away now! That thing is a killing machine that’d cut you head to tail and wear your wool like a coa- Wait…” Hujin stopped, “You brought that damn thing here?!”

“K-Kip? What’s going on?” Jury’s voice wobbled, clearly uncomfortable about the flamers being pointed at her.

“S-Sir please, put the flamers away.” I pleaded, but Hujin wasn’t having any of it. His quills were raised higher than I had ever seen him, and he looked like he was on the verge of snarling.

“YOU BROUGHT THAT-” He gestured towards Jury, “-MEAT EATING BEAST INTO OUR CITY?! AFTER WHAT IT’S KIND DID TO YOUR FATHER?! AFTER I RESCINDED YOUR-” He stopped, his eyes going wide and his expression morphing into sheer disbelief, “BRAHK! BRAHKING SPEH!”

He might’ve stopped himself from speaking, but I wasn’t stupid, I could connect the dots, yet I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “You… You actually rescinded my diagnosis? I-I’m… I’m not on the list anymore.” The words leaving my mouth didn’t feel real… But there was a time and a place for celebration, and now wasn’t it.

Hujin actually growled, not like he spoke in a gruff tone of voice, he seriously growled like a wild animal, so much so that two of the exterminators flanking him scooched away from their Captain. He had a crazed look about him, the flame from his pilot light reflecting in his eye as he stared the two of us down and his teeth bared to the extent that his gums were showing, “As if you’re not on the list anymore you mongrel! As soon as we’re sorted here, you’re getting dragged back to the damn facility to rot with that bitch mother of yours! I knew it was a mistake letting them fish you out of there the day I heard of it, but I never thought it’d yank my quills out like this!” 

His words felt like sledgehammers beating away at my will, but more than that, they added fuel to the fire burning in my chest. Who was he to insult my mother?! Two exterminators marched forward in measured steps, keeping their eyes firmly trained on Jury while trying to extend a paw to grab me. Before I knew what was happening, I could feel Jury’s bulky arm tug me close to her, rendering their efforts null.

“You aren’t taking him anywhere!” She roared, pulling the attention of many passerbyers who observed the escalating situation from a safe distance. Many pulled out holopads to record the altercation, I had no doubt that this would end up on at least one local news channel.

Hujin snorted, “What? Trying to ensure you have an easy meal for yourself once you're in private? Monster!”

“Not in the slightest you overgrown hedgehog. Under the Sapient Predator Protection act passed by Governor Tarva herself, any and all citizens of the Venlil Republic are under the protection of the state, and cannot be ceased for suspicion of predator disease for associating with Humans or Sangheili!” 

The exterminators glanced at one another before turning to look at Hujin, clearly at a loss for what to do next. The Captain wasn’t doing much better though, sputtering, trying to formulate a proper response, and growing in agitation when he couldn’t. Jury chortled, “What? Didn’t think I was smart enough to read or something?”

“You’re a predator! A mindless beast only driven by bloodlust and malice! Don’t think you can mock me, beast!” He practically exploded, “Mark my words, we’ll be watching you closely. VERY closely. And Kip? When your new ‘friend’ finally snaps and decides to tear your intestines out, don’t come crying to me!” 

He whirled around and stormed back to the office. Assumedly not wanting to be trapped out with a predator alone, the other exterminators quickly followed suit, and so did the crowd. A low rumbling vibrated my body as Jury fell back onto the bench, rear first. 

A twinge of guilt made its way into my heart. I never wanted anything like this to happen, but I was so preoccupied with getting my own personal baggage sorted out I never once considered what would happen if I took Jury here! Some friend I am, “Jury, are you alright?”

My Sangheili held her head in her hands before leaning back, staring at the sky, with ragged breaths, “Y-Yeah, it’s just… T-That was a lot more than I was e-expecting.” Her hands were trembling, and I let out a sorrowful bleat. 

I quickly closed the distance between us, embracing her and trying to pull as much of her into my wool as I could. I knew she liked how fluffy I was, “It’s going to be okay, Jury. Let’s… Let’s just get to my apartment, okay? We can rest there.” Jury bobbed her head rapidly, rising up on shaky legs.

As we marched towards the campus and approached my apartment, it looked like some people were moving out. It was to be expected, not everyone stayed there forever, and it was rare for schools anywhere to offer permanent housing to its students, but knowing how small my room was, I was probably going to need to speak with the headmaster about transferring… Wait… That bed looks familiar… “IS THAT MY STUFF?!”
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