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“We’re on approach. Be prepared, Arbiter.”
The sound came out crystal clear, almost like a drum in his head. However, Thel ‘Vadam’s mind remained focused. Pensive as he looked at the visual representation of the Rahnelo. Located in the Bothra system, with a lighter gravity than Sangheilios, it had been a prime place for colonization.
Though the climate was far more temperate and humid than their home, the biosphere wasn’t dangerous to the Sangheili. Unlike a few other worlds, it didn’t have dangerous species of parasites or bacteria that required quarantine before and after transit.
The problem, however, was different: he looked at the pristine world and saw only a few urban centers along the equator.
A few cities peppered the northern hemisphere, precisely around points that had been rich in iridium and other rare earths. But that world was definitely… Underdeveloped for a reason obvious to anyone with a faint knowledge of its history.
For as long as the Sangheili had colonized this world and lived for the Covenant, the Firstborns would automatically be conscripted into the military. On other worlds, the conscriptions were enforced under specific circumstances.
But such forced conscription had limited Rahnelo's growth… And now? Now, it was the source of the problems on the surface.
“Arbiter? Don’t you want to sit?”
For a moment, Thel ‘Vadam froze. His twin hearts stopped as he turned, looking at a face. The same armor, the same eyes… It was almost the same, yet with two mandibles present where they ought to be missing.
Thel ‘Vadam shook his head before the young Sangheili, confused to see the Arbiter’s dismay. “Tell me, Saza ‘Kogan. What do you think of the situation on the planet?”
“Explosive,” replied the Soldier, without thinking as he sat down. They were going smoothly through the atmosphere, though the ozone in the air was telling about the transition.
“And then?” asked Thel ‘Vadam, taking a deep breath while he waved his hand towards the display, focusing on two urban centers located close to the southern hemisphere, on the coast of an inner sea but far from any big communication hub. “Anything?”
“It’s a civil war brewing. Two discontented groups.”
“And yet, my right hand could not appease the tension,” commented Thel ‘Vadam. “Why?”
“Maybe the Firstborns captured him? They were clear they would use weapons to be heard.”
Firstborns.
It was simple. The Firstborns were always conscripted. As such, the Secondborns were always picked to become the Kaidon of the clans. But with the Schism ending, the Firstborns wanted the rules to change.
It wasn’t only about some wanting to return to their clan and assume the position of the Kaidon. Even current Kaidons promoted that change. But the traditions were rigid.
The Swords of Sangheilios could enforce military rules, but nothing on the legal aspect, hence why Thel ‘Vadam had sent Rtas ‘Vadum to help with the matter.
But he was gone.
His armor’s last location was lost deep in the jungle further south, beyond the coast. There were no urban centers, no hold. Estimations were that a Firstborns bastion had been built there, on the ruins of a city before the colonization focused elsewhere.
Yet, it was odd. Something was wrong, and Thel ‘Vadam couldn’t pinpoint why exactly.
The Firstborns had nothing to gain from capturing Rtas ‘Vadum, since he was a proponent of the reform. As for the Secondborns, they had nothing but respect for the Swords of Sangheilios since they had defended Rahnelo before.
“Was I wrong?” asked the young Sangheili, his voice high and eager to please.
“No,” replied Thel ‘Vadam. “More likely, we are missing something.”
He stood up, checked his blade at his hip, and then turned to Saza ‘Kogan. Still sitting, even as the ship’s engines were turned off. The constant droning ended, leaving the place silent.
The CIC was almost dead. There were only six Sangheili inside, nothing but an escort for an old Sangheili. An old Sangheili pressing his hand on Saza’s shoulder.
“You have my orders. Be there, represent me, and make sure to hear every side.”
“And… You-“
“I will find an old friend,” said Thel ‘Vadam, feeling restless.
Restless even as his feet stomped on the soft soil and advanced under the canopy.
The droning from the engines had died minutes ago, but he’d waited for it to be gone before he walked forward. With a movement of his wrist, his map appeared and showed his position, the position of a scout unit, as well as the last known position of Rtas ‘Vadum.
“Report?”
He reached for his helmet in a manner similar to Humans.
Yet, he frowned when he heard nothing but white noise.
White noise as he walked towards Rtas ‘Vadum’s last position. His armor and body shimmered with a veil of purple until it covered him entirely… Active camouflage.
He wasn’t invisible; it was still possible to see his contour if one squinted enough.
For a covert operation in a forest, it was more than adequate as the Arbiter advanced, stalking beneath the canopy and approaching the point of contact.
“Report,” he repeated, reaching for his ear. He should’ve had a squad of scouts ready and waiting for him. They were all spread on a perimeter around Rtas ‘Vadum. So, Thel ‘Vadam broke protocol to approach one of them.
Or so he thought.
Instead of a scout, despite what his map indicated, he only found a chunk of metal. It reacted to the pings. Otherwise, it was but a fraction of a Sangheili’s armor.
And… Thel ‘Vadam only felt his worries exacerbate as he circled the position. He prowled, sticking to the shadows like he’d been taught.
“It cannot be the Firstborns,” muttered Thel to himself as he found Rtas’ last position. No armor, no metal, nothing. Only a dirt trail leading further south. “If it’s them.”
If it were them, they would have left a trace. They would have left a token of their action, anything to say they had a purpose in capturing Rtas. Unless they wanted it to be quiet, but the Firstborns wouldn’t.
Hence, the Arbiter was now beginning to search for other conclusions as he followed the trail, but in parallel with it. By following it, he found another ‘scout’ or chunk of armor.
Then, he found traces of intelligent life.
Cut trees. Disturbed bushes. Traces of mushrooms and plants that grew around poisoned soil. It was all coalescing to one point… To… A half-open door, hidden on the hillside. The Arbiter had to pass around it twice to find it, but once he did… He couldn’t ignore the open reinforced door, the rusty metal covered with ivy.
Even the camera above the door looked dead, without a red light or movement.
Still, the Sangheili didn’t dare to destroy it or open the door any further than it was. No, he slipped inside with his plasma sword in hand. Unlit. Only one twist and the plasma would appear, cutting through anything. He was ready.
But for what?
Inside, the bunker was a ruin.
The walls were covered with rust, the ground with dust. The metal shelves were empty, the cardboard boxes rotten, and everything had that grime sticking to it.
But it was… Small.
Too small as Thel ‘Vadam lurked around.
“Too obvious,” he mouthed as he approached a wall, one of the cleanest with no shelves in its vicinity. He touched the surface, finding it was… No. It was painted over.
He poked, touched. And only then did he find it.
An analogical interface. Click.
“Human,” he said right as the wall opened onto a whole different facility.
This time around, the walls were white and pristine. The darkness was replaced by constant neon light, vibrant and blinding, while the Sangheili slipped inside and the door closed behind him.
The corridors were direct, with sharp angles, an economy of decoration, yet everything, like the pipework, was kept out of sight. It was definitely not from the Sangheili, nor any other Covenant races. Only the Humans had that style of architecture: brutalist, efficient, cold.
A detail confirmed when, by approaching a corridor, Thel ‘Vadam heard voices. Human voices are coming closer. He jumped against a wall, holding his breath, and waited. Waited until the figures in black armor moved past him without noticing his presence.
Only then did he sigh and continue to walk deeper into the facility.
He noted the office spaces with humans glued to their interfaces. He saw a mess hall with the fragrance of human cuisine hanging in the air.
He even passed by the barracks, hearing human shootings with their aged weaponry. H
He frowned and grunted,“Who are they?”
He found no sign of the UNSC flag, no sign of affiliation to the Human Marines. Odd.
It felt akin to one of those laboratories Thel ‘Vadam had the displeasure to witness and observe during his stay on Earth.
All the probes, the verifications, the constant examination, even the ‘collected samples’ were something he wasn’t fond of.
Same as the heavy scent of antiseptic hanging in the air, caustic to his sense of smell.
However, if there were humans, what were they doing on a Sangheili Colony, and how did it tie everything to Rtas’ Vadum's disappearance?
The question was quickly answered as he snuck behind scientists and… Stopped.
Froze in the middle of an alleyway while the humans walked ahead, carrying styrofoam cups of coffee and digital clipboards, before they disappeared and a whistling replaced them.
They didn’t notice or hear the silent gasp from Thel ‘Vadam. Nor did they say his widening eyes as he observed that corridor flanked with pods. Each pod was filled with a Sangheili, submerged in a green solution.
Beep
No, beyond that, they had tubes inserted down their throats and nostrils, many syringes planted inside their limbs, tied behind them. Similarly, more tubes were attached to their bodies. To their groin, to their chest, to their face. It was absurd… It was inhumane. Yet, he continued to advance, searching for a familiar face.
For someone he could recognize, though it was easy to assume they were the Scout squad that had disappeared. Then, here it was.
Beep
Rtas ‘Vadum. A soldier, a Veteran, someone who’d been with Thel ‘Vadam even as he was the Arbiter. A no-nonsense soldier who’d seen through the scheme from the Prophets.
He was inert, his eyes closed, his limbs dangling in the solution.
Then… In unison, all the Sangheili shuddered. Thel ‘Vadam turned his head, seeing that all the Sangheili were moving at once.
Their muffled groans filled the room, their hips thrusting. They groaned, mumbled something, and then… They returned inert while the tubes shuddered in their stead.
Beep
Whatever it was, it seemed… Terrible. Or painful.
Already, Thel ‘Vadam raised his blade to activate it when he stopped. His fingers were unsteady. Twitching.
He raised his other hand and noticed the same shaking before he took one step, and his limbs dropped under him.
His reflex was to look up at the alerts above his helmet, where the display message appeared in bright purple. Poison. All those beeps he’d heard, it was that.
It was too late. The poison ran through his system, flaring with pain as he suffocated.
He’d… He’d let them catch him. The Sangheili’s eyes rolled as he coughed, frothed at the mouth… And then collapsed on the floor.
He tried to move his arms to activate the alert beacon. But even as he pressed it… No signal.
His world faded to black.
Even though most Sangheili are covered with scales, their bodies remain sensitive to pressure and touch. So, when Thel ‘Vadam felt the pressure upon his fingers, like a veil dragging along his movements, he was aware.
He was aware as he fought against the reflex to keep his eyes closed… And then opened them, revealing his irises dilating and contracting as he adjusted.
Everything had that green hue, that coloration that affected his perception of distance, too. As he exhaled, bubbles followed and… He shook himself.
His arms were bound behind his back. His knees and ankles were joined together.
The best he could do was squirm inside that very pod, seeing from the inside what the other Sangheili saw. The tubes applied a low suction to his chest, a constant drum that was both pleasing and disconcerting. Impossible to focus on.
Similarly, he could feel something cold and warm pressed inside his slit, pressing against his cock inside. And something cold in his posterior, though he couldn’t get a view of it or to what it was attached.
“- already awake!”
It was a cry, but it was definitely faint. The liquid reduced most sounds, turning the exchange ahead of Thel ‘Vadam into a mix of dull exchanges. Tones, at best, he could pick while the Humans gestured at him.
One was sipping his coffee or any liquid, eyeing Thel ‘Vadam up and down, while another in a white jumpsuit waved his hand.
Sometimes, he could get words that were spoken more clearly: ‘Fit’, ‘Breed’, ‘Soldiers’.
Well, they could recognize a true Soldier. A reflex took Thel ‘Vadam as he wanted to scoff. Yet, he frowned and grimaced, his nostrils flaring with pain as he’d contracted them.
Pain that was starting to settle, with the presence of the tube down his throat, splitting into his lungs and esophagus.
It was… Painful. Displeasing. And soon, the Sangheili was shaking as he tried to dislodge the tube. A thought. An attempt before… Fuzziness.
Subject awake. Subject distressed state. Milking process engaged.
His eyes returned to the Humans who now looked at him, curious, then up to the source of the clear voice. The fuzziness in his throat was spreading. His sense of touch was dulled first, and so was the pressure inside his throat. So was the tension along his bound limbs. He turned his head, looking at the syringe and the purple liquid it delivered into him.
It was a painkiller. And not. Not as the fuzziness reached his nipples, and though his body’s pain was lessened, the sensation from his nipples was… Intense. Nerve-wracking.
He trembled, squirmed further. Shaking. Twitching. His body was warming up. His twin hearts were beating faster. He could feel the cocktail of drugs spreading through his veins.
Spread… Down. Down until he felt the tickling sensation of the tube inside his groin change to become… To become a suction. A suction on his cock. Delicious, wondrous. Terrible, perverse. Invasive, undesired. Satisfying, mind-breaking.
He shook his head, trying to clench his thighs while the humans spoke along. Then, the pressure of the suction increased, and he couldn’t clench his thighs anymore.
He couldn’t use his muscles to keep his slit forcefully closed, and the result appeared as well as the sensation of air pressing against his sensitive skin… And he gasped, only for more air to be pumped inside his lungs.
Subject Ready. Analysis… Scan. Scan… 8” length-
Not only were the specifications appearing on the surface of the pod, but so was the representation of Thel ‘Vadam’s cock. Of the sleek organ, with a tapered tip. It was even focusing on the veins, on the skin… Then, the hologram shifted to represent points along his organs before the representation was… Encompassed in a tube?
Thel ‘Vadam would’ve frowned if he wasn’t doing it already.
But the suction stopped before he felt the tube change. Inflate, with the walls shifting until he felt it. Where the points were, where his cock was the most sensitive, the tube had shifted to form rings around those spots.
In between, brushes were ‘sprouting’ and pressing against his organ in a ticklish touch.
Milking Device successfully calibrated
His eyes widened, his fingers twitched. And sure, he tried to pull on his bindings to free himself despite the resistance they offered. His body was that of a Warrior, trained and tested through war. Yet, the metal cuffs digging into his wrists were too much.
So was the extra pressure applied onto his genitals, making him… Weak. Trembling. And forced to focus on both his resistance to the assault and on the effort itself.
Subject resisting Milking. Stimulation increased.
Thel ‘Vadam definitely felt that stimulation as the rings inside the tube moved at once, rubbing against his sensitive spot at an increasing frequency. The staccato was brutal, making him shudder and his groin clench on his prostate.
He would have groaned, but nothing came as his throat clenched. Instead, he was silent as he felt the first buzz. The first electric hit onto something inside… Inside his ass.
The result? Oh, his eyes widened, his breathing hastened while his nipples were sucked on and even pulled on, to the point that the pleasure was making him hurt.
It was… Overwhelming, overwhelmingly intense. Overwhelmingly potent.
His abdomen tensed, revealing his chiseled pectoral muscles under the scales. His fingers endlessly twitched while his hips thrust weakly, in an attempt to dislodge the tube.
Yet the friction continued. On the glans, still inside the slit, and onto the shaft. The more precum dripped from his cock, the more it was used to turn the suction into a pleasurable… penetration.
The brushes were excessive, abnormal… Yet, they added to the slew of touches that were driving Thel ‘Vadam crazy. That was making him tremble, sweat, and almost collapse as the electric shocks into his ass were syncing with… His movements.
If he accelerated his thrusts, so did the shocks onto his organ as it soared with pleasure. Slowed, they slowed.
He still attempted to dislodge the tube, to free himself, to free his body despite the Humans watching… He would have cried, he would have roared. His mandibles and teeth pressed against the tube inside his throat, without success.
The plastic was too hard… And his focus, his will, his rebellion. It was starting to die down before he closed his eyes and moaned.
Subject’s resistance decreasing. Collection Sample.
There was a shift. A brutal, intense, raw shift.
The synchronisation stopped. Instead, the electric shocks became a constant rumbling inside his prostate. A constant assault while his groin was on fire.
Even the tube onto his cock was different: ceaseless, crude, brutal. But efficient.
Efficient in making Thel ‘Vadam’s mind crack, in making him gurgle, in making his eyes roll and his entire body burst from the pressure.
He wanted it to stop. But it didn’t, and… So came an intense and powerful cumshot. One he couldn’t see but could ‘guess’ by watching the gauge filling on the Pod’s screen, on the charts, as well as pie diagrams, and so on. It was all data he couldn’t read, but it had to mean something… It had to because people were reading it.
Subject’s Semen analysis. Quality beyond the 90% centile. Subject 54 recommended.
The voice echoed above Thel ‘Vadam as an insult, a cold intelligence commenting on his quality. An affront to a proper Sangheili. Yet, as he shook himself and groaned, he then… Cried. The sound was muffled, but it was definitely an exhalation when an arm protruded from the edge of the pod and pressed against his chest.
Right over the brand.
In one instant, the Sangheili experienced the pain of the branding, the shame of it, the humiliation of his exposed body to be seen by all. He cried, he pulled, he kicked before his head lowered. And… The pain was gone. Instead, his scales were burned. The flesh was seared, revealing that atop his brand, the number ‘54’ had been etched.
Etched on his flesh, on his scales.
Then he looked up and saw the pod’s surface; the Humans were gone.
Subject 54 recovery confirmed. Milking resuming.
Fuzziness. Suction. Electric shock.
All returned at once for the Sangheili as the electric shocks hit him in his prostate.
It was relentless, even in letting him rest.
He didn’t know the period between each milking. But each time, it would leave him drained and exhausted, his cock burning and still lodged inside the tube, unable to return to its slit.
His body… His mind.
They were breaking it, pumping more and more aphrodisiac until he collapsed. Until he was to break down.
But how long? Only after three sessions, he felt the effects of the withdrawal. After five, his asshole would ache without stimulation? Seven? His body ached and craved.
He was losing a battle he hadn’t picked. He was about to join them, to become but another Sangheili in the long corridor of moaning and groaning proud Soldiers.
And… He was hard. Terribly hard at the thought.
“I will find an old friend.”
The recording was clear, casting purple light into the chamber. Saza ‘Kogan remembered those words and the date well. Yet, with only one eye, he could only glance at the Arbiter.
Thel ‘Vadam seemed so impressive, so daunting to approach. In the recording? He looked the same as any Sangheili, yet clad in the Arbiter armor.
Saza pushed the recording aside. He glared at his interlocutor, Thasa ‘Vuram. One petty Warlords who’d been fighting over the scraps left by the Swords of Sangheilios.
“What is it?” asked Saza, shaking his head while his artificial fingers tapped the table.
“You were there. You are a fundamentalist, Saza. But you were there when he disappeared,” grunted Thasa ‘Vuram, sitting and crossing his arms. “Tell me. What happened?”
“Humans,” said Saza, eliciting a groan from Thasa ‘Vuram. Honestly, he hated the Warlord, hated what he represented after the purge of the Swords and the establishment of the Dissidents. Nevertheless, he was a necessary evil compared to what was behind Saza.
“Human. It is always what you say,” said Thasa ‘Vuram, with a thin smile saying ‘liar’.
“It is the truth,” said Saza as his fingers stopped, and then he turned to a Sangheili guard. The guard produced another projector. One that represented… An empty bunker plan.
“What is this?”
“A map. Consider it a gift, a sign I am willing to work with you against the Humans,” huffed Saza ‘Kogan while his counterpart observed it. “It was a complex installed right under our noses. When we lost contact with the Arbiter, we sent scouts. It took us… Five days to find it. By then, the content of the base had been extracted to a hidden launch pad.”
The map shifted to show the said launch pad.
After that, the recording shifted to represent… A pod. Then, they combed over the extracted data from one pod: a Sangheili’s vitals, his genome, as well as more data about their semen.
“It took us five years to open the databanks in the storage units left behind. It was all a Human project to capture male Sangheili.”
“For what-…” Thasa began, only to stop, his fingers under his chin. He was looking at the window behind Saza. “The traitors.”
“They were never traitors,” said Saza, shaking his head as he turned to see in the same direction. Through the large window and below, the planet Eudolaan. Thasa’s hold.
The planet was being bombarded; the urban centers were quickly destroyed. It looked as if a fire had spread through the planet’s atmosphere. But the truth was more cruel… It was a conquest. Many worlds had fallen like this before, and Saza? He could only broker deals in an attempt to end the wave.
The wave of indoctrinated Sangheili, bred in prison from inseminated females, that were dropped on the field instead of Humans.
They’d underestimated Humanity's danger. They thought they could have been allies. But what is an ally that retro-engineers all your communication systems, all your technology, even twists your kind against itself? Saza shook his head, returning to Thasa.
“You know it. You are alone in this. Only by helping me can you prevent the worst.”
“The worst? I have already lost everything I had. What else could it be?”
“The end of our Freedom. The conquest of all Sangheili to live under the dominion of Humanity,” said Saza, his voice grim. But certain.
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