The Wilted Planet

Chapter 18: Questions

Kipa didn't know what he was doing. He had been split up from his brother when the Phantoms had dropped them off onto the battlefield below. He heard strange foreign wails in the air, the human structures around him collapsed in flaming heaps. This felt so wrong to Kipa. When he had heard his brother's stories about slaughtering thousands of evil creatures he hadn't expected it to look like this. The enemy in the area had been subdued, yet the screams in the air seemed lighter, much more feminine. 

A squad of jackals ran past the elite rousing him from the strange thoughts in his head. It didn't matter what he thought, all that mattered was proving to his brother he could kill the enemy. Following the loud wails that the other troops around him seemed to ignore, he entered one of the more stable human structures. The smoke in the air didn't effect the elite, but it did hinder his ability to see. He stalked into the room nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling. 

Humans must be very small.. that doesn't seem right. Brother always told me they were mad demons that could kill us all in an instant. Kipa thought. The wails were growing much more panicked, much more desperate. The cries were bothering Kipa more than anything. Brother told me that this was a human military base. Why are there women here? Are humans really so evil that they use their women as decoys? Well it won't work on me...

Kipa turned into the next room spotting where the wails were coming from. A creature that he only could guess was a human was pushing a smaller human girl into a hole in the ground. They both were very small. The human female was screaming in their strange language. The war with the humans had granted the Covenant with translators that Kipa simply clicked on. He wasn't entirely sure why he didn't just strike them both down there and then. Curiosity was dangerous as he well knew.

"FATHER NO YOU CAN'T! THEY'LL KILL YOU! PLEASE! Just...just hide in here with me! It'll be a tight fit... but we can fit! I know we can! Father please!" The blonde human female wailed. The male was calm throughout the female's screaming and finally pushed her head down into the hole. "You know I can't do that... Rose just stay here. I'll come back to get you once this is all over. They won't find you in here." He said. The human male then did some strange human act of affection where they place their lips on the other's head.

Kipa had listened long enough and stepped forward, he had to put an end to this. His brother must have his enemies killed. The prophets demanded the humans were destroyed so they must be evil. The extra loud step caught the human male's attention. He looked up to meet the eyes of Kipa and he let out a human curse. His hand strayed to his weapon, but Kipa wouldn't have it. He moved swiftly, striking the human in the head with his plasma rifle. The male human didn't react, he simply crumbled to the ground after the strike.

The easy defeat stunned Kipa for a moment. Had he already killed the human? Kipa couldn't believe it. Surely this was some kind of trick. He kicked the body of the human into the wall. The motionless figure didn't even breath. After waiting a few moments Kipa was finished with his little test. His brother had exaggerated the humans to him. They were nothing more than another species to feel the might of the Covenant. Surely they were nothing more. Kipa stared down at the broken figure beneath him. 

This was too easy... Kipa thought to himself. His gaze drifted back to the closed hole in the ground where the human female was hidden. His stomach turned at the thought of killing a defenseless female of any kind. The words of his brother hung over him. All humans are evil, they have killed many of or brothers without a moments hesitation. You will not hesitate to kill any that you find when the time comes. "You'll see the evil in their eyes. The prophets will, will be done." If they are so evil....then their females will be evil as well. Kipa reasoned with himself.

Moving back to the sealed hole, the elite began to kneel down to remove the cover. Just as his fingers gripped the metal, a loud cry came from in front of him. Kipa looked up as the human he had thought was dead, clambered to his feet. The effort was evident in its actions. The shaking steps it took to get over to him were almost pitiful to behold. Kipa glared into the human male's eyes, but as he did, he saw no evil there. 

The human punched him in the chest, a loud cracking sound coming from his hand as he did. A wail of pain came from the human as he clutched his hand, the bones had broken on impact. Kipa couldn't understand why the human was trying so hard to stop him. He wouldn't accept defeat, or simply play dead as he had before. Surely the creature knew he couldn't win. It was then that it all clicked in Kipa's mind. His gaze dropped to that of the human female's below. 

The human male... is protecting the female... that isn't savagery or evil that is... Sangheili... that is what we ourselves do. No matter the cost... The thought in his head started to conflict with one another. Kipa didn't know what to do any longer. His brother was mistaken. The prophets... had lied to them all.. The humans were too much like their own kind to be evil. Kipa had to find his brother, he had to tell him to call off the attack.

He turned his back on the human male and that was when everything had gone wrong. The human male spoke a few words, misunderstanding the situation. "T..that..That's right! You better get out of here while you still...can..." The male called to him, stumbling over his words as the pain got a hold on him. Kipa planned on letting the human live, he really was. He left the room in a hurry ignoring the uncertain taunts from the human.

Once outside he ran through the forces around him. Covenant soldiers were everywhere. His brother was still no where to be seen. Figuring he could possibly just show the human male  and female to his brother, Kipa went back into the broken human dwelling. Inside he heard a cry of alarm from the human. Then plasma fire lit up the smoke filled area. Kipa raced forward but was too late. 

In the room from before, the human male lay dead on the ground. A squad of jackals had found him. Before they could do anything to the body Kipa shouted at them to move onto the next building. Earning himself some hisses of displeasure, but he out ranked them all easily. Following his orders, they left after stealing a suspicious glance back at him. When they were out of his sight, Kipa stared at the body.

So much death... but what for? The "Great Journey"? Kipa thought bitterly. He had never believed that part of the prophets banter. Now he was seeing what it was causing his own kind to do. Kipa moved over the body and grabbed it, lifting it away from the semi covered hole in the floor. The human female gazed up at him in horror, her body trembling. Kipa ignored her for the moment and stashed the human's body away where the jackals wouldn't be able to feast upon it.

A brief sense of guilt swept through him as he looked back to the hole in the ground where the human female hid. The male had defended her well, as well as he could. Kipa wouldn't let the creature's sacrifice be in vain. He couldn't, or his honor would be tainted the rest of his life. He stepped over the metal cover, hearing the soft cries of the female. The guilt hitting Kipa a second time. Storming out of the human dwelling, Kipa followed the other Covenant forces around him.

They all seemed to be going somewhere, and Kipa knew his brother must be there as well. He had no idea how to convince his brother of what he had seen. How to show him that the humans were not their enemies after all. Maybe there was some other human... someone he could show to his brother before it was too late. 

These thoughts raced through Kipa's head as he ran towards his brother, lifting a human boy above his head. Kipa couldn't let him die too, it wasn't right. He couldn't let this happen. His hand yanked his plasma rifle out and he pointed it at his brother. Kipa called out to his brother who was ready to plunge his blade into the boy, but he was too late. The blade seared right through the frail human's body. He had already been stabbed.

Kipa loud out a roar of dismay and rushed the last strides forward slamming his rifle into the back of his brother's head. The blow crumpled his brother to the ground instantaneously. The heavy body of his brother made a heavy audible thud, but he was not his concern. The dying human on the ground was, he had to save him. Kipa had no idea what could save the human.

He knelt down next to the dying human's body. His four fingered hand touched the holes where the blade had torn through the boy's body. The damage was clear, if the humans were as frail as the one whom Kipa had encountered before, he had no chance of surviving a mortal wound like this. The only thing Kipa hadn't noticed, was Caleb's hand reaching around beside him very close to the handle of the blade that had peirced his chest.