HALO: Evocatus

Chapter 1

Kusan 'Sunamee was not all that devastated about Halo.

Oh, he probably should be. The San'Shyuum assured him he should be. An extraordinary relic from the gods had been discovered, a massive leap on the Path to the Great Journey had been made, and then all of that had been erased by a single human warship.

High Charity, orbiting Basis alongside the remains of Installation 4, had been spun up into absolute zealous pandemonium. Thel 'Vadamee, in command of the fleet that failed to protect Halo, had just been summoned to the chambers of the High Council, no doubt where he would be branded a heretic and summarily executed.

In all honesty, Kusan was much more broken up about that than about the Sacred Ring, well, breaking up. Even that was an exaggeration: 'Vadamee was one of Kusan's personal heroes, and seeing the former Supreme Commander commit such high heresy had certainly shocked Kusan--but honestly, he had much more pressing matters at hand.

A couple months ago, a young Kusan 'Sunamee had been ripped from his apprenticeship as a historian by the draft imparted by the Hierarchs, an event he wasn't extremely pleased with. Training for the Covenant military wasn't unbearably difficult--even though Kusan had moved to High Charity at a very young age, he had still received traditional Sangheili combat training throughout his childhood, well-preparing him for actual drills--but Kusan still found himself wishing he didn't have to fight in a war he didn't totally understand. Every other species the Covenant had come across had been peacefully assimilated; what seperated Humanity? Why were they slated for extinction? Kusan pondered this more than he probably should.

"I can't believe you're shipping out today," murmured Faie 'Temae with glassy eyes. Her soft fingers caressed Kusan's gleaming cobalt combat harness. "Time just flew by, didn't it?"

"While I'm gone, time will fly even faster." Kusan placed his palm over his lover's, and gently pulled Faie's four-fingered hand from his armor-clad chest. "Well," he added with a slight smile, "Unless I die. Then it'll be a lot longer."

"Oh, come on!" Faie playfully shoved Kusan back, but there was mist in her eyes, risen from that terrible 'what if.' The female Sangheili turned away and lifted Kusan's helmet from the squat wooden table in the middle of their small apartment. Her lover bowed his neck, and Faie slid the helm over his dark gray serpentine head. Kusan looked up, and Faie found herself staring into his bright jade eyes. A knot formed in her throat, and she put her fingers to her bottom mandibles, pledging to herself not to cry. She had already done enough of that last night. "You look so handsome in that armor."

Kusan quickly examined his form. Although he definitely wouldn't consider his lanky body 'handsome,' he did reckon the new combat harness did make him look, at least, more presentable. Of course, presentation doesn't really matter to a human Demon holding a shotgun. But if Kusan ever found himself staring one of those down, he figured he'd have much more important things to worry about than how he looked in a mirror.

"You think so? Maybe I should wear it on our next date." The Elite looked back over at Faie. She had lost her silent battle with her tears, which were now trickling down her cheek, defying her attempts to dry them with the sleeves of her woven emerald and brown kimono. Kusan cupped his lover's face in his hand and dragged a thumb across her wet cheek, then pulled her into an embrace. "I promise I'll be back soon."

"Wow, am I interrupting something?" inquired a third voice.

Kusan's head swiveled to his apartment's open doorway, in which stood N'theze 'Nadomee.

N'theze had been Kusan's best friend for the last decade, and all throughout basic training. The other Sangheili had a slightly bulkier frame than Kusan, with strikingly bright yellow eyes that heavily contrasted his extremely dark indigo skin. A perpetual smirk resided on N'theze's face, a perpetually jovial mindset resided in his brain. His reflexes were nearly as quick as his wit, as Kusan had noted after years of sparring N'theze with wooden swords.

"N'theze," began Kusan, relinquishing his grip on Faie. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing?" returned N'theze. "Our hoverrail leaves in ten minutes! Oh, hi Faie."

"Hi, N'theze," sniffled Faie.

Kusan had completely lost track of time. "Gah!" he exclaimed, frantically running into his and Faie's bedroom. "N'theze, help me get my stuff!"

N'theze unhurriedly picked up a portmanteau of Kusan's. "Why is this so heavy?" he asked, shaking the luggage. The Sangheili opened the bag and spilled its contents onto the wood table in the room's center. "Are you kidding me, Kusan? These are all datapads!"

"Reading is a beneficial and enjoyable pastime!" called Kusan, hauling a larger bag of personal items from his room.

"No it isn't," countered N'theze, inspecting the datapads. "You'll have me for free time! I'll be in desperate need of a sparring partner. Besides, I've seen our personal lockers, they're not big. Seriously, how many of these are there?"

"Maybe," interjected Faie, lifting a datapad from the table, "You could bring one or two; I'll keep the rest for you here while you get back."

N'theze nodded his head. "That's a great idea! Do that, instead of carting around the entire High Charity library with you. Now, what's good to bring? The Song of the Seneschals, Tremors Under Sunaion, The Complete and Unabridged History of Unggoy Food Nipples? Why in the Forerunners' name do you have this?"

"Not important," waved Kusan, plucking Mixed File Tactics and On Humans: A Handbook from the pile and tucking them into his main suitcase. He strode over to Faie and quickly embraced her a final time, then plodded to the door where N'theze now leaned.

"I promise to call every day I can," swore Kusan to his lover.

"I'll remind you," assured the female Sangheili with a wry, if slightly pained, smile. "Don't you dare die without telling me, or I'll kill you."

"Don't worry ma'am!" hooted N'theze, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I swear on my childrens' blood, I'll get him back in one piece."

"You better, or I'll kill you too."

"N'theze," Kusan interjected, "You don't have any children."

"Which is exactly why their blood is such a good thing to swear by!" the other Elite declared triumphantly. "Now, we have wasted way too much time, let's go!" And with that, N'theze dragged Kusan away from the home that had held basically everything he loved in his life so far.