Within a shoddy apartment, we see the flashing light of a TV screen. On it, an ODST is being pummelled by another wielding a gravity hammer.
"Fuck you, Jake, you camper bastard!" shouts a young male voice.
The speaker sits up from his laid-back position, yelling into his headset."No, I will not 'just chill,' you raging, baiting piece of shit. I could be doing something productive, but you've got me like this."
Laughter erupts through the headset as the young man leans forward, his posture like he's going to war, hunched over his controller as if it has personally betrayed him. More voices join in, and he snaps back,
"Oh yeah? Let's all target Calum, is it? Right, you guys are tossers."
The now-named Calum reaches toward his side table for a drink of water. Before his hand can grasp it, an incredible pain explodes in the left side of his chest. Before he can even process what's happening, he's screaming.
The previously chatty headset goes quiet—until someone shouts that they're calling an ambulance.
It's too late.
By the time the ambulance arrives at the apartment, Calum Jones is dead, killed by a massive blood clot that cut off circulation throughout his body. And so ends the life of Calum Jones. His friends mourn him when his family does not appear, and then, eventually, they move on.
???
A bright yellow light drifts through a white corridor. Lining the corridor are countless doors; if one had to imagine it, it would resemble the drifting hallway scene from Drifters.
The light floats forward until it reaches a desk. Behind it sits a man—though not an ordinary one. He's dressed in what would be an excellent outfit for golfing, smoking a cigarette while reading a newspaper. He glances briefly at the yellow light, hums, and sets the paper down. Folding his fingers together, he extinguishes his cigarette.
"Ah… well, that's somewhat rare. A person ending up here with no body," he says mildly. "Interesting. From what I can see, you'll be a good fit for a universe in need of a shake-up. After all, it was requested."
And from the last words the man said came this:
T̴̢̻̰̼̗͇̹͖̃͐̃h̷̖̊́̿̄̊͗̏̓͂͋͜ȩ̸͈̺̩̻̰͚̳̬̬͕̖̜̖͋̊̋̕ͅ ̷̢̢̢̛͎̙̹̖̠̺͔͖͈̗̰̿͊̋̃̇̏̒̃̓̀̏̐̏̐̚͝p̸̲͙͓̥̠͚͉̞̬̣̲͚͂̕̚ͅͅr̴̬̺̙̓͝e̸͉̺̤͙̺͇͇̹̩̓̓̅̀̋͑̇̇̂ͅ-̵̣̗̖͈̹͂̍́̐͂̆́͘͠c̶̮̝̘͕̠̬̼̰͓͇̟͑͛̒ų̶̢̥̝̼̻̖̥̯̳̯̝̹̦̃̈́r̷̟̆̓̂͘̚ş̴͕̼̭̄̎̌̀͗̑̑̋̈̌̽͛o̷̧̢̹͙͈̣͇̿̚͝ŗ̵̭̱̥̮̫̬̖̜̳̱̘̦̘̘̽͘s̸̨͇͚͓̞̝̙̮̻̮͉͛̽,̸̨̡̢̡̱̹̜̹͔͔͚͈̘̮͙͊͑̂̊̊̈́͘͠ ̸̪̩͇̪̥̬̥͚̳̱̭̰̓̈̎̄̓͂͜t̷̼͙͑̈̐̒̉͂͛̀̒̃̉̌͠h̸̨̛̬̘̦̣̐̉̈́͗̂̄͘͝͝͠ę̸̧̧̝̤̜̩̺̹̲̘̭̬̩͙̐͑̓̔́̃ͅy̶̭̟͖͙̹͚̱͍̱̪͇̮̖͛̉̿̈̓͌͐̈̓̈̎̓̆ͅ ̶̢͙̲̠̪͔̹̹̥̝̔ͅh̷̦͋̽́̉a̶̢̮̹̯̻̰̲̪̹͉͉̭̳̙̻͗̀̓͐̋̈́̉̅̉̒͒̓́̕͠v̶̧̢̢̦͖̪͔̖͚̪̲͔̦̮̾͌̽͐͐͠͝͠ͅě̴̢̨͕͍̠̱̭͓̯͉̼͍̥̞́̐͑̐́̍͗̂̿̀͘̕̚ ̴̮͓͎̀͐͗̈́̌̇́͆͐̓͗̔͘͘͝p̸̣̱̞̿̌ą̸̤̪͈͖̝̗̈́̽̈̍͊͌̄͗̓͜͜͜͝ï̶̡̧̟͎̭̫̺͚̮͇̠̘̘̘͖̏̀͑̿͊̒͛͜ͅd̵̨̧̘̟̺̱͎̬̗͇̱͎̃̍̇͆̾̃̈́̐̔͑̈́͂̋̎͂̒ͅͅ ̵̢̍̋̋̍͊̇̎͂̂̇̄w̵̧̼̤̋͋ị̶̲̣͓͍̜̟̈́͒̊̑̉́̓̋̌͑͝͝t̷̰͓̫͖̦͇̲͔́͌̊͛̽̅̇̑́̄̊́̋͝ͅh̴̹̥̟̪̣̞͙̩̫͉̳͂̆̋̄̎̔̾̚̕͜͠ͅ ̵͇̉͌̃̅͘ţ̵͎̻̫̼̬̫̼̫̤̯̹͐̃̊͐͆̎͑̊̕ͅh̶̡̧̡̧͓̱͕̖̠̰̺̖̥̍̅͂͂̂̃̆̅͋̈̿͋̄͘͘͜e̵̪̪̟̤͐̄̽̋͊̃̀̅͑͐͝͝ ̸̡̺̱̠͉̯͕̰̦̣̍̋̍͐̐̈͜͜͠ͅS̴̯̩̭͓̯̈́͛͒̾̍̈́̈́̎͊̈́̄̎̃̾̕o̷̢͓̗͚̱͗̈̈́̓́̊̓͝͝u̵̳̠̿͊͑͆͂͛̚̕̕͘͠l̸̼̺͓̯̀̈́͆̅̀͌ṣ̴̡̧͓̳̪͈̹̩͓̣̳̬̃̽̀̉̽̂͐̂̋̓́͠ ̴̡̨̛̜̥̗̝̠̐͐͑̾͛̊̏́̑͝͝ͅͅo̴̡̳̞̘̜̯͚̙̪̯̦̠̎́̾͋̓̾͋͗̆̋̚̕̕͘̕͝ͅf̶̩̼̹͕͍̦̣̗̋͛̍͂̀̀͑ ̵̡̩̀ť̷̡̨̬̳̣̪̩͔̋́͋͒h̴̛̳̒͌͋̅̒͑̋̈́͗̔̑͒̕͝e̸̡̨̟͚̲͙͓̭̦̮͙͐̈̓̂́̈́͜͝ ̵̢̢̹̲͙͚̘͙͕̩̩̥̠̰̭̽̓́̀̒͊̒̒́͊͜͠͠͠͝F̸̡͕̠̹̭͓͔͙̭̙̞̜̗̩͗̽̀̑̏̄̋̍ö̴̫̥͕̪̼̼̰̮̦̜̀̋͊̈͋̍̀̓́̾̂̚͝͝r̷̦̯̾͑̿̏̔̓̒͆̆͊͜e̵̛̛̮̭̱̻̹̋̈́̋̊̾͂̊̋͠͝r̶̢̥̺̬̯͕͚̲̰͎̹̎̈́̈ͅṵ̶̢̥̩͇͎̗͖̄̓̍̑̑͌̇͊͐̔̓̀̇͘͜͝n̶̨̠̘̘̱̣͉̳̗̗̯͙̞̭̙̰̉̊̀̋̄̄͋͝n̶̛̤̮͙̯̬̯̖̄̀̌͜è̷̩̣͓͔̼̳̜̥͑̈́̇̍̃͘͠r̵̛̖͇̮̖̺͂̈́͌́͐̀̎́̆̿́̒̉̕͜ṡ̵̛̻̖̩̺͙̼̯̣̼̘͔̅̓̒̃̑̊̚͝
As the light shuddered, a massive wheel appeared beside one of the doors. It spun and spun—an eternity that felt like seconds—before landing on "Sangheili." Another pointer followed, stopping on "Augment abilities from the Eugenics Wars."
The being behind the desk hummed again."Well, why not make it interesting? Hope you do better than that one Kig-Yar did—became someone called Yap Yap, of all things. I think I made him insane. Lots of talk, though. Now then… any questions?"
"U-uhm, RO—" the light began.
It never finished.
A pair of tentacles yanked it through the door. The being picked up his newspaper again, reading about a new heir of a shipmaster clan. The text shifted, the name Kukan 'Chazumai turning bold.
The being chuckled.
"Well, 'Khan,' let's see how you do. After all, we're all drifters, searching for our own sense of purpose."
He glanced to the side, where a Japanese man in samurai armour of House Shimazu stood, glaring.
"Haa… it never ends, does it?" the being muttered.
Sanghelios — 2500 (Human Calendar)
Inside a heavily fortified residence, a pale Sangheili female lays her eggs within a sealed chamber. Of a clutch of twelve, only one survives. The rest are swiftly disposed of in a plasma furnace.
Cradling the lone egg, she whispers the hymns of her clan.
Within that egg rests the bright light, now given the name Kukan 'Chazumai—though to others, he will simply be known as Khan.
As the years pass, the young Elite proves a prodigy. Taught by tutors and veterans alike, his way of thinking is constantly questioned, as is his refusal to follow honour when it is not returned. Labeled a troublemaker, he more than compensates through excellence in his studies, often offering suggestions to improve combat simulations.
He gains a reputation: talented, brilliant… and troublesome.
His mother is beyond proud, wishing only that her general husband could witness their son's growth.
It isn't just his mind that excels. Physically, Khan grows into a towering Sangheili, even by their standards—standing a staggering eleven feet tall. Trained in the way of the sword, he possesses an uncanny ability to adapt mid-duel. He competes with others his age and even bests his household swordmaster using a plasma blade.
In 2523, his record reaches the High Council of Sanghelios.
Soon after, he is called to serve as Shipmaster of an SDV-class heavy corvette.
Author here i hope this is alright if you couldn't tell i used ChatGPT for helping making it flow better and with punctuation its been rolling around in my head and i was inspired to write, not sure where I'm goanna take this yet but we will see how we go, let me Know if you guys want to see any plot points.