User:Baccus78/Ath 'Taranee

Ath ‘Taranee was a Sangheili active during the Human-Covenant War. He was officially executed in 2539 for disobedience, but was in reality replaced by a flash clone before the execution and became the Prophet of Truth’s personal assassin and Enforcer.

Early Life
Ath was born in the anarchy-status State of Taran, one of the states on Sanghelios. The State had become crippled after its last Kaidon, Nuth ‘Taranee, had declared war on the neighboring states in an attempt to give the state more territory and recognition, as well as reminding the Sangheilian race of how powerful the Taran lineage had been 200 years before. However, the state was now weak, and lost after a month against the neighbors. For their losses, the states demanded massive repayment and more territory, which the Kaidon had to give away. Due to being unable to pay the bill, he raised the taxes in his state by over 60 percent, ruining much of the state’s economy. Shortly afterwards, the Kaidon was assassinated by usurpers, and since then governments and Kaidons replaced each other almost yearly in the State of Taran, turning it into a state of utter chaos and controlled by Marauders, Bandits and Pirates. When Ath was 15 years old, a Marauder gang struck his town, killing his family. Sorrowed and lusting for revenge, Ath took his father’s ancestral Energy Sword and started to follow the Marauders back to their hideout in the forests. When they fell asleep, Ath entered the hideout and killed all of them. After that, Ath would continue to hunt down other criminals, seeing it as a revenge for his losses. He was ruthless, killing everyone that got in his way, even innocent people that had been forced to cooperate with criminal groups or gangs. Then, in 2534, he managed to gather himself a small army of weapon-able townsfolk and used them to attack the ancient Taran Fortress, which was currently held by Bandits that had kidnapped the new Kaidon. Ath and his forces managed to take the fortress, and then killed or locked in the remaining bandits, although Ath would have preferred to kill them all. Ath and his troops then allowed the Kaidon to return into service, and agreed to help fight other threats in the state. However, the more Ath fought against enemies, the more bloodthirsty he became, and in 2535, the Kaidon and the Taran elders agreed that he was too dangerous, and banished him. Angered, Ath left, but not before killing the Kaidon’s son, who had been assigned to Ath’s army. He and a select few loyal soldiers continued to fight criminal organizations in an attempt to cleanse the state. After five months, there efforts came into fruition – their fighting had made the Covenant High Council aware of the state’s horrible status, and started to deploy troops to deal with and take control of the state. The operation succeeded, and three months later, the state was stabilized. For his deeds, the High Council allowed Ath and his men to join the Covenant Army.

”Executed” and becoming Truth’s Assassin
After sacrificing his whole unit at the Siege of the Atlas Moons in order to kill a human leader, Ath was trialed by the High Council and marked with the Mark of Shame, expected to be paraded through the city and executed the next day. However, during the night, Truth, with help from loyal Jiralhanae under Tartarus’ command replaced Ath with a flash clone and brought him to safety in some abandoned chambers underneath Truth’s tower. The next day, the clone was executed, and Truth approached the real Ath with an offer: become Truth’s personal Assassin and Enforcer while remaining secret in an attempt to regain the lost honor, or be found and executed. Ath accepted, and was by truth given a new identity, the Vanguard of the Glorious Truth, officially becoming an important Zealot dignitary subordinate to Truth, but in reality, being an expert assassin and enforcer. Ath quickly learned to use his official title well, which allowed him to take temporary command of other Covenant forces or to get to nearly anywhere in the Covenant empire.

Trivia

 * The character was loosely based on Altaïr from Assassin’s Creed and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.