[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=2876689] Student [/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=2902088] Soldier [/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=2905118] Officer [/url] [quote]It was just as well KhePal had met his end on the surface. He was one of the Elites that were beginning to ask questions. He did his duty without question, but he had an overblown sense of honor that didn’t fit in well with the Covenant’s plans. Orapa had never understood the preoccupation with honor. His job was to finish his mission, alive. That meant taking whatever actions were necessary. He had proven himself time and time again, and was about as far removed from your typical Grunt as it was possible to be – hardy, agile, and cunning, he was also a superb fighter if the need presented itself. He had amassed a collection of human weaponry - a practice frowned upon but tolerated under his specific circumstances – he was after all, the only Grunt in history to have been granted a legion to command. Elites, Jackals and Grunts stood at attention while Orapa moved up and down the rank and file. The Elites wearing pained expressions which pleased Orapa, the Jackals barely kept in line by the Elites, and the Grunts heartily amused by the whole thing. The Elites under his command were, in a manner of speaking, demoted. But Orapa knew they would soon have an advantage over whatever enemy they faced. Orapa’s collection of human armament wasn’t merely for personal enjoyment, although he had grown fond of the shotguns and sniper rifles, it was also for education. Orapa knew that the key to beating any enemy was to know its strengths and weaknesses. He droned on for the better part of a day on the effects of human weaponry, on the true dangers of it, on how long it took them to reload it, and how to recognize it from extreme distances. He finally had the Elites’ attention, and he decided to continue the lesson outside. One Jackal, named Bortak, was continually a problem, however, and even the Elite in charge of the company of Jackals had problems keeping him quiet. Bortak kept muttering about indignities, and working for a nipple-sucker. Excellent – it was time for a demonstration. “Bortak!” The Jackal paused in mid mutter and looked up. “The lesson boring you Bortak? Or am I too much of an indignity for you to bear?” Bortak wisely kept his mouth shut. “Well, let’s make this lesson more interesting – Pick a squad mate to come up here for a demonstration.” Bortak silently waved another Jackal forward. “Oh, you too Bortak” Bortak followed his squad mate up. Orapa was holding a long black gun in his arms. “The rest of you pay attention. This is one of the most dangerous of all the human weapons. It can and will kill you in one shot, if the aim is true. Since Bortak apparently thinks the lesson is boring, I have decided to give you a demonstration of this weapon.” Orapa took out a timer and set it for 45 seconds. “General Orapa, I did not mean to offend! I must apologize for my behavior.” Orapa ignored this and sighted through the scope and checked the weapons magazine. 40 seconds on the timer. “General?” Orapa clicked the safety off. Loudly. 35 seconds left on the timer. The Jackals started running. They had heard about the ruthlessness of this particular Grunt before, but did not really believe it. Orapa’s calm manner convinced them of it however. They ran for almost half a minute. They happened to run across a small group of Brutes and attempted to hide in between them, surely the fool grunt wouldn’t- *KRAK* With one shot Orapa put the thoughts out of both of their minds. The Brutes wheeled and looked towards Orapa’s impromptu classroom, where some approving yells were cycling amongst the Grunts, and more than a few Elites. A couple of the brutes were angry that they had been soiled with Jackal brains. Not that the mess itself was offensive – but that they didn’t cause it. Orapa turned away from the Brutes. “Thus ends your lessons for today. Respect the enemy. The weaponry may be primitive, but it’s just as deadly if not more so than ours” Orapa was being summoned to the council room. The Prophet of Truth stared at him for what seemed an eternity, and then spoke. “The Brutes have been complaining about your legion here.” “Do tell.” “Taking potshots towards the Brutes is not something to be tolerated, even for one such as you.” “Did I hit one of them?” “No, but that is far from the point.” “I train the Elites in my command as I see fit – you will see their worth on the field of battle. One of them against the Humans will be worth five Brutes.” “The Humans are running scared, Orapa. We will have victory, with or without your small legion.” “You speak the truth, of course. Your Grace.” Orapa bowed and left the chamber. Orapa found it ironic that even though the Prophet was chastising him, it would be his legion in the entourage with the Prophet of Regret once they went to the Ark world. One thing the Covenant seemed blind to, was the tenacity and resilience of the Humans. They were a proud race, and not to be taken lightly. The “incident” at the Halo should have been enough to convince them of this, and maybe in a small way, it had. More and more regiments had been using Orapa’s training techniques. There had been a beam rifle developed that could almost directly compete with the Sniper Rifle that Orapa was so fond of, save the reloading capability. The process of restocking the Beam Rifle had to be done on ship. There had been other tweaks to Covenant weaponry done specifically to deal with the humans. Yes, Orapa thought, the Prophets either respect or fear the humans. As evasive as they were with announcements, Orapa was willing to bet it was the latter. Orapa did not fear the humans, but he had an admiration for them brought on by a deep respect. Orapa almost always was armed with a Carbine and a Sniper Rifle. He admired the Rifle a great deal – deceptively simple, and excruciatingly brutal. The day they arrived with Regret at the Ark-World would prove to be quite memorable. The humans were actually there already! Regret showed something which Orapa knew meant the inevitable downfall of the Covenant… Surprise. The Prophets’ base of power was the ideal that they were infallible in their tactical superiority, yet here were the humans. Regret had made an error. Quite a large one. Orapa sent his legion into action at once. There were a few large explosives on each flagship – meant for beginning any excavation that might be necessary. Quickly he had landing parties made up to run diversions while the bombs could be planted on those guns. The orbital guns had been seen before on Reach, and they were devastating. “The platforms are exploding General. One is still functional though, the charge must have malfunctioned.” “Malfunctioned?” Orapa disliked the word ‘malfunction’. All that meant was that the humans got a free piece of their technology to fiddle with. As the Demon proved – giving the Humans the technology of the Covenant or the Forerunner was dangerous. They had no misconceived notions of heresy when it came to modifying weapons or equipment to improve it. Orapa needn’t have worried, however. About a minute later his missing bomb turned up, in one of the other flagships. It was going to be a rough demotion. [/quote] [Edited on 4/6/2005]