Daryyk 'Pehlamai

"I rode the path of the Great Journey until the end. Past even the point where even my kind had decided to turn back. I turned on them. That makes it too late for me to ever turn back, and now I come to realize that it was never really a path at all."

- Daryyk Pehlamai

Daryyk 'Pehlamai (Oracle Code S8-M08470-0981), also known by his adopted mercenary title Katil, recognized as Daryyk 'Pelhamee prior to the and referenced in  documents as Operative WYVERN-9, was the final   of the Pehlam family as well as a once revered. As a devoted operative of the, Daryyk participated in numerous battles of the , such as the , the Loss of Hope, and the Battle of the Zenith Complex. Daryyk had also participated in the Battle of Earth, however, upon learning of the Great Schism and the betrayal of the sangheili, Daryyk emerged a changed sangheili. At this point, he was both an outcast amongst the Covenant Empire, as well as the rest of sangheili civilization, and Daryyk was forced to go rouge. Eventually, it was discovered that Daryyk had become an enigmatic independent mercenary that had been hired by a variety of organizations. In fact, Daryyk was even discovered to have served both sides in certain post-war conflicts, without preference.

Early life
Daryyk was born to the retired and family kaidon Jael 'Pehlamee and civilian female Sahl 'Kalhom, on November 13th,   in the state of Pehlam. Supposedly, his parents were engaged in a meaningful relationship with each other, which was scarce in sangheili society while under Covenant rule. This was especially rare, considering how males serving in the Covenant military would often mate only as an honorary rite. Daryyk's early life was also one of the rare cases where a sangheili child was to be raised by their true parents. Unfortunately, Daryyk had experienced his mother's death firsthand at the hands of an infamous outlaw going by the name of Katil, due to a stray bolt of plasma in a local shootout. For three years following the this event, Daryyk had become a mute, constantly lost in thought, mourning for his lost mother. Even upon receiving rehabilitation, Daryyk would continue to suffer from his emotional scars for the rest of his life.

Vengeance against Katil
At the age of 21, years after the apprehension and release of the criminal responsible for Sahl's death, Daryyk embarked on an independent venture to murder Katil. Although the task was left to Daryyk, he was supported by his like-minded associates and even his father. On the tenth anniversary of his mother's death on February 21st,, Daryyk traveled to the Katil's home in the Yelham region and staged a dramatic murder using a civilian-grade plasma pistol. In the process, Daryyk would frame Katil's rival from the initial shootout as Katil's murderer, who would later suffer a similar execution at the hands of Sangheilios' civilian law-enforcement. Daryyk swiftly left for home without any regrets after preforming the murder, as though it was an enormous burden being lifted. Jael 'Pelhamee was greatly impressed by the elaborate plot, and how it was such a success.

Claiming leadership over Pehlam
As of, the state's aging leader Jael begun receiving death threats from rising competitors, who were eager to take his place. In April of 2512, Daryyk's father resigned as the kaidon of Pehlam, and would promote that his son assume the roll of the kaidon. This suggestion would further enrage the other candidates, as Daryyk was very young and without military experience. The council elders felt compelled to prevent Daryyk, as a prime candidate, from assuming control of the State of Pehlam. In order to do so, the council would enact an audacious and never-before preformed feat. The council would unanimously elect Daryyk, and then secretly order a coordinated assassination attempt against him. The council had figured that lack of experience would be Daryyk's downfall, and upon his death, they would be able to select a more suiting candidate. Daryyk's father, Jael, took heed to the curious terms of Daryyk's election, and urged Daryyk to enlist the military without first receiving a university education. Jael never revealed his suspicions to his son, figuring that if he was correct, he would have all of the proof that he would need upon returning home. This had all occurred prior to the Great War, and Jael did not yet know how in joining the military, Daryyk would be endangering his life to an even greater extent. Daryyk did as his father had wished, and was first assigned to a legion in 2515, at the age of 26, as a minor.

Second Battle of Harvest

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Eleven years after joining the Covenant military, Daryyk saw action during the, near the start of the Human-Covenant War. Daryyk's legion was deployed directly into the heart of Belisknir, a city of , and they were amongst the first strike force to invade the metropolis. In this his initial battle, Daryyk experienced his strike team's savage fighting style. Daryyk had always looked up to his superiors, yet he soon discovered that in order to excel, that he had to break from his strike team and roam the city alone. Daryyk swiftly abandoned the rest of his team during the first firefight that they had engaged in. In this battle, Daryyk learned the value of guerrilla warfare and reconnaissance. Supposedly, Daryyk learned of the impending glassing of the city, and had escaped the from the city on a stolen UNSC, which he had maneuvered directly into the side-hangar of a.

Harvest Campaign

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While the Second Battle of Harvest would mark his introduction to the once-colony world, the that had followed almost made it seem as though the initial battle had never ended. For the five years that followed, Daryyk would come to call the ravaged streets of Harvest's many cities home. Occasionally, however, Daryyk would be granted a reversed "shore leave" aboard the Covenant Destroyer Shallow Atonement. Daryyk turned abandoning his strike teams into a habit, and for the first two months, Daryyk would receive a new team after nearly every large-scale engagement. In 2527, Daryyk was granted the raise to major, by the then-general, Darc 'Varmenee. It was also revealed to him that the had taken a liking to him, and that he was a possible candidate for an exclusive special operations unit. Daryyk's preference of fighting alone, however, was the deciding factor in him not being accepted as a member of this exclusive unit. Daryyk would continue to look back upon this event throughout the rest of his military career, making him strive to always preform to the best of his ability. The downside was that he would continue to look back, and feel as though he could never preform to the extent that the prophets had wished him to. This concept would come to madden him, making him zealous over Covenant religion and enhancing his combat skills.

Battle of Arcadia

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On February 9th,, Daryyk arrived at in the  aboard the CSS-class battlecruiser, the ', alongside the '. The arrived soon after. The, , , and engaged the two ships immediately, catching the Fateful Entente with its shields down and destroying it. However, the UNSC force suffered for its part in the battle. The Texas and Belfast were both destroyed, the Armstrong was venting atmosphere due to damage, and the Autumn suffered severe damage before being assisted by the Spirit of Fire.

While the majority of the land battle was occurring on the continents, and , Daryyk, along with the spec ops  that he was to command, were transported to the  (DSRA) facilities on the Pfhor Archipelagos off-of the coast of the continent of. Their mission was to discover wether the station held any classified information on the Covenant Empire, or. If any artifacts or curious information was to be found, Daryyk was trusted to extract it. The conception of the entire mission was attributed to the wishful thinking of the Prophets. The sum of nearly a decade of data was successfully re-routed to the Grandest Sense. The loss was primarily humanity's, as the information gathered from intensive studies were never fully evaluated, and were lost. The Covenant considered the main prize of this undertaking to be a small meteorite fragment that had been on display in one of the complexes' lobbies, supposedly containing traces of raw metals once used by the Forerunner. While Daryyk would look back on the mission as though it was a failure, the Covenant had measured Daryyk's growth in professionalism during this mission. The Prophet of Mercy would brag about him for some time, speaking of his ambition as a prime example for sangheili and jiralhanae officers alike.

Battle of Shield 0459

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The

Fall of Reach
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Battle of Earth
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Post-war
Two years prior to the Great War, Daryyk was identified as an individual mercenary. Although he was now considered an outcast amongst his kind, and far from aristocracy, Daryyk had removed the -ee suffix from his surname, informally replacing it with the -ai suffix to denote his skilled swordsmanship. It can be assumed that this was only done for display, as it well could have benefitted him as a mercenary-for-hire.

Trivia

 * This article was created because Pikapi felt like creating a Boba Fett-like mercenary sangheili, with a well fleshed-out background for the Aftermath Universe.