N'thuza 'Trakam

Gateway Temple Testing Grounds – Present Day

N'thuza stood in the center of a large temple made of black steel. He walked around and analyzed his surroundings, unsure of what to expect. The Sangheili warrior was familiar with the customs surrounding the temples. The A.I. construct he witnessed would test his worthiness, though he wasn't sure how. Three of four elevated platforms were windows to outer space, while the fourth showed the planet from which he'd come. "Eudemon," he suggested.

Two glyphs appeared below opposite platforms. The blue one showed the glyph passed down by the Divine Ones to the Humans, while the other was red and that of the Sangheili. "What is this?" N'thuza asked, unsure what the symbols meant. "M'rutan, where are you?"

A different voice responded. Not M'rutan. It resembled that of the A.I. the Humans had communicated with. "Sha'aloukuuaa. Suura kyeh sutoh wah?"

N'thuza understood the question, introducing himself as N'thuza 'Trakam: the new kaydon of the Sangheili colony of Hesduros. The A.I. grumbled something quietly, thinking deeply about the current predicament. A bright flash appeared from the temple's center, blinding the kaydon momentarily. When it dispersed, N'thuza scanned the room. Feeling lighter, he walked to a reflective pillar and noticed he was naked once again. A single plasma pistol sat on the floor behind him.

"What is this trickery?" asked N'thuza, walking to the weak weapon and picking it up.

"Trickery? This is no trick. This is your execution, heretic," another voice responded. The sound of a key activating echoed through the temple.

N'thuza turned to see the one he hated the most. "Khasan," he spat, watching the traitor appear on a platform above him. "On what basis are you doing this? And on who's orders?"

The sound of a metallic collision exploded nearby. N'thuza saw the warrior he'd previously killed standing on the platform left of the red Sangheili symbol. "Mine," the former kaydon spoke with pure hatred. His golden armor seemed larger, stronger, and more vibrant than before. "N'thuza. You left against my orders. You murdered young Kexa in cold blood."

"That was mercy," N'thuza interjected. "Do you think I wished to kill her? She begged me to kill her for her heresy against the High Council. And going against your orders saved our people from that frozen Oblivion! Your inaction would have—"

"Silence!" Vykan bellowed. He retrieved a gravity hammer and slammed it into the ground to silence the accused. "You will die. Here and now."

N'thuza sat in silence, taking in all that which was said. He knew, in his bones, that this was wrong. Those around him saw him as a hero. The leader they needed, the one Vykan was not. He would not back down from his accuser, whether or not this was real. "I demand a trial by combat," N'thuza ordered. The golden prism hovering far above the temple's center pulsated.

"A trial by combat? Do not make me laugh," Khasan sneered. "You are a weakling. You, who has no armor, whose only weapon is a plasma pistol. You may die before your official execution." The key bearer pointed the energy blade at N'thuza.

"We may grant you a warrior's death through our trial. But that does not mean the Divine Ones will receive your soul. You have tarnished your soul far beyond being redeemable. You will find yourself in a new Oblivion when you die," Vykan warned.

"If that is to be my destiny, I accept. But I refuse to go down without a fight," insisted the warrior, placing a fist against his chest.

"Very well." The Sangheili's adversaries jumped down from their platforms and landed in front of him with a loud thud. N'thuza placed his free hand on the plasma pistol as he watched his opponent's melee weapons. Khasan's energy sword pulsated intensely, its glisten revealing the marauder's deep black eyes. On the other hand, Vykan's gravity hammer seemed to transform, growing to twice its original size—one fit for a titan like himself, towering over the new kaydon. The golden-clad warrior let out an explosion of a battle cry.

N'thuza jumped back, knowing he could only win if he created distance between them. He fired a volley of plasma bullets at Khasan before hiding behind one of the tall pillars. Khasan slashed through each bullet with a laugh. "You will have to try harder than that to do anything against me!" he yelled.

The warrior sighed. Khasan was right. Listening to his opponents' footsteps getting closer, N'thuza rounded a pillar to escape and try to get the jump on them. As he dashed between the pillars, he noticed the golden-clad warrior's heel walking by. His stealth tactic seemed to be working so far. Without seeing or hearing Khasan, N'thuza wondered if he moved from his initial position.

N'thuza continued shifting around the far row of pillars, barely peering out to see Khasan remained still. The new kaydon had no choice. Weak blasts would be useless, but at least it would give him the element of surprise. If he were to charge a more powerful attack, the weapon's green glow would alert his opponent to his location, and he would lose his advantage.

He sighed. If I take too long, they'll find me. But if I go now, they'll slaughter me, he thought. N'thuza turned and saw the faint glow of Vykan's armor getting farther away from the other. When Khasan wasn't looking, N'thuza snuck toward him, using the lack of armor to his advantage.

Knowing there was no other way to deal effective damage against his foes, N'thuza charged his attack. The temple lit up green as he predicted, but the room was far too reflective to tell where the attack was coming from.

Khasan's eyes panned over the battlefield for his hidden enemy. By the time he found N'thuza behind him, it was too late. The warrior fired at Khasan's torso, creating a large perforation in his armor. Khasan stumbled back a few units but didn't slow down. He lunged at the kaydon and swiped his sword. "How dare you!" he growled.

N'thuza couldn't make enough space between himself and his opponent in time, tripping and falling back before the sword collided. Khasan swiped his weapon vertically at the Sangheili. N'thuza instinctively raised his arm, thinking his armor would block it. Instead, the blade cut seamlessly through his limb, amputating it immediately. N'thuza screeched in pain as he held what remained of his arm, his blue blood spraying on the floor.

He scurried back, realizing too late that he lost the arm that had been holding the plasma pistol. Khasan stepped between the kaydon and his weapon, dragging the sword through the steel wall beside him. Its high-pitched cutting sound and the sparks from it alerted Vykan to their encounter.

N'thuza had to do something; he couldn't just sit around and wait for his death. In the distance, he heard the powerful collision between the gravity hammer and the ground before witnessing Vykan flying through the air at him. The downed Sangheili quickly rolled away just in time for the gravity hammer to slam where the accused previously sat. N'thuza sighed with relief that he was still alive, but the feeling vanished when he saw Khasan picking up the plasma pistol and attaching it to his armor's storage unit.

The kaydon was outnumbered and outgunned, needing to fight two of the strongest melee weapons using nothing but a single hand. How he would do that, he had no clue. "I cannot quit now." He flinched as the searing pain of losing a hand traveled up his arm. "I am a warrior. I am the kaydon of the Hesduros clan! And you will bow!" he yelled.

N'thuza sprinted at Vykan. When the titan jumped and swung at the kaydon, N'thuza slid under the airborne warrior. He then ducked under Khasan's sword swipe, placed his hand against the warrior's waist, and slammed him into a nearby wall. He punched Khasan several times across the face to disorient him, not caring that every punch caused him more pain.

The kaydon knew he had to act quickly when he heard Vykan's footsteps approaching. He glanced back and saw his pistol. The weak weapon wasn't capable of much, especially with its limiter. Thus, he grabbed it off Khasan's armor, jumped back, and slashed through its energy cells as he had done on the ship. He then kicked the weapon between the two adversaries. The constantly droning sound grew louder until the explosion encased the duo.

The brilliant flash of red and yellow flames danced around each other. The explosion dissipated, revealing a massive hole in Khasan's armor and severe burn marks throughout the rest of his body. He cried out in pain as his soul escaped from his body. The sword in his hand deactivated as the former key-bearer perished.

Without skipping a beat, N'thuza darted at the corpse and picked up the energy sword, not caring that his feet burned from the heated metal. Vykan swung his hammer horizontally at the kaydon, though N'thuza rolled under it. He activated the energy sword; its warm glow was calming. The plasma-like currents traveling within it reminded him of the cracks in the frozen lakes he'd passed while trying to escape Hesduros. I can do this.

"Khasan was weak," Vykan scoffed. "A fully-armored warrior who couldn't defeat a naked heretic. He did not deserve to live. I, on the other hand, will not fall like him." The former kaydon spun the gravity hammer in his hands, eventually slamming the long hilt into the ground. "Prepare yourself. You will not escape this alive. You will die here for what you did to me. To us," Vykan warned.

"Then come at me," N'thuza replied, glaring at his former leader. When Vykan swung at the revolutionary, N'thuza jumped over it and jabbed the sword into Vykan's arm.

"Son of a—" he yelled. Despite the thicker armor, the energy blade cut cleanly through his arm, and a deep wound of viscous, blue blood gushed. "I'll make you suffer for that!" he yelled, headbutting the Sangheili into the ground. Vykan swung the hammer over his head and toward the ground. N'thuza barely parried it with his sword, sparks flying on collision as the impact bent the metal below him. "What?" Vykan asked, tilting his head in confusion. "How are you blocking that?" He pressed harder, believing that would help him take down his opponent.

"As long as I... am still breathing... you will not... best me in battle!" N'thuza struggled to respond, feeling the weight of the gravity hammer over him. "I am Kaydon N'thuza 'Trakam! The leader of the Hesduros clan! I will not allow myself to fall to the likes of you. You, who has no honor. You, who is unworthy. You are weak and pathetic. You called yourself the kaydon but refused to fight for the others. Only you would have the title and fall in battle. How dare you lecture me on strength when you failed our people time and time again!" he yelled, a burst of energy coursing through his body. He pushed back against the titan who stood over him, knocking Vykan back as he stood up.

Vykan's scream exploded with rage. "This is your trial. Your execution! Not mine! You make these baseless accusations when it is I who has done the best for our people. You brought the Lich so we could escape. But you fail to understand the repercussions. We knew Hesduros like the back of our hands. We would have lived in the safety and solitude of our caverns without worrying about what might happen to our people. Now, their lives are in jeopardy. Their lives are in your hands. You cannot save them all, even if you wish to. You cannot protect them against what is coming. They will die. And their blood will be on your hands."

N'thuza's sword glowed brighter. "Where is your honor, shizno? We are a proud warrior race. We do not cower in fear of what our enemies may do. You defy everything we stand for. The Divine Ones will take pity on you and drag your soul to the deepest depths of Oblivion for even insinuating that we are anything but fighters. It is the same reason we fought against those Humans. It is the same reason we have faced the Flood despite the threat to our existence. We would not travel the galaxy to find safety from them. We would face them head-on to protect our legacy against those who would try and eradicate our very existence! But you would know nothing of that. You refuse to fight for others. But I? I would gladly die for my clan. I will protect them until I can no longer stand. Only when I fall will I let them fall too," N'thuza yelled.

The warrior charged at his former kaydon, ready to defeat the traitor once and for all. As he charged, the temple's color changed from a deep black to a radiant purple. Vykan's armor slowly reverted as the former leader shrunk to his regular size. A blue glow surrounded N'thuza's dismembered arm as Vykan swung his hammer at the kaydon. Not only did the rest of his arm return from thin air, but purple armor surrounded it, too. N'thuza caught the gravity hammer mid-swing, preventing the powerful weapon from dealing the slightest damage to him. "What?" Vykan asked, standing astonished, unable to comprehend what was happening. "How could you withstand the strength of my gravity hammer?"

The A.I. construct was no longer in command of this place. N'thuza was. "Your hammer is weak. You are weak. You cannot stop me. Every time you challenge me, you die. You will always lose," N'thuza warned. He crushed the gravity hammer effortlessly with his hand, the resulting gravity waves bringing Vykan to his knees. Conversely, N'thuza's body glowed as armor continued enveloping him.

"Goodbye, Vykan," N'thuza stated, jabbing the sword through his former kaydon's head. The golden-clad warrior's lifeless body fell to the ground. "I will lead our people to greatness, not you. Never you," he scoffed. "They deserve a leader willing to die so they can live their best lives."

N'thuza stepped back and took a deep breath. The purple walls shifted to black once again. A golden ring appeared in the temple's center, expanding outward until it engulfed the room. Then, a white light formed in its place. A red, holographic Sangheili warrior appeared in its place. "Welcome, true warrior."