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This fanfiction article, Lance of Unseen Influence, was written by Ahalosniper. Please do not edit this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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- "Out of darkness, these blades will light our way."
- ―Mantra of Sangheili Special Operations.
The Lance of Unseen Influence was the first and only known Ossoona team, commissioned in 2531 by the High Prophet of Mercy to learn more about humanity and the UNSC. Composed of five veteran warriors of Special Operations branches, the Lance served as Mercy’s right hand for the years it was active, responsible for a number of the Office of Naval Intelligence’s classified incidents.
History[]
Formation[]
- "I fear we have heralded the Age of Reclamation too soon, for in my mind, the Age of Doubt still lingers."
- ―Mercy to a close confidant.
After the five year battle for Harvest, Mercy, like his colleague Regret, realized the war with the humans would be far more costly than expected. He also recalled his experience with the Oracle housed in the Forerunner dreadnought, and logically determined that it could not have lied. Fearing the repercussions of its words, he determined to try and discover the connection between it, humanity, and the Forerunners. However, he knew to even suspect such things, that their religion was based on lies, would be the greatest of heresies. Thus, he needed a way to gather information on humanity without being traced. It would have to be hidden even from the other Hierarchs, whom he suspected might go so far as to kill him for digging up these secrets.
Rather than send one lone agent, Mercy formed the first known team of Ossoona to work together over a long period of time. This was for a number of reasons, mainly that they would need to return alive to relay the information they'd gleaned, and there was safety and strength in numbers. Immediately, he began painstakingly careful reviews of the Sangheili at his disposal. His choice for a leader would be Vract 'Aeramee, last of his line following the Harvest Campaigns. Though not an experienced infiltrator like the vice commander, T'ramee, he was willing to order a retreat rather than simply die for honor, a quality which Mercy needed. The other three members were selected on the basis of what their team would need; a skilled pilot, a weapons master, and a ranged expert.
After first calling the five together, Mercy explained that they were to retrieve all data they could find in human systems relating to Forerunner artifacts, and anything else of possible importance. To keep them from questioning their unusual task, Mercy granted them the ability to kill any humans they deemed necessary during their exploits. They were stationed on Mercy's personal corvette and given a number of dropships, light vehicles, and a well-stocked armory to work with.
Service[]
The Lance's first tests were boarding two human remote scanning outposts on separate occasions, providing first evidence of three new human worlds which would be located and glassed months later. The findings were frustrating to Mercy as they did not prove useful to his personal goal, but praised them for their success. They would soon turn up results. Infiltrating both human facilities and Forerunner reliquaries, scattered logs were found from Artificial Intelligences, civilians, and even histories of their wars. However, due to mistranslations and ages of biased misunderstanding, Mercy was unable to understand most of it, and what he did grasp either made no sense to him or was too fragmented to be of use. Had he succeeded in translating it, the universe's events might have played out very differently.
Over the seven years they were active, tensions began to form between the Lance's members and Mercy himself. Weapons Master 'Konaree entered a disagreement with his superior during a mission, and attacked him. 'Konaree was defeated and disgraced, and for their short remainder of time cooperated poorly. While 'Vallenee, 'Konaree, and 'Kedaree were merely grateful for their task and freedom to kill humans as they pleased, 'Aeramee and T'ramee speculated on Mercy's motives, and began to pay closer attention to what they found.
Their most significant operation was one of their last, for it breached the center of human space, a mere 38 light-years from Sol itself. After a suspiciously small but repeated detection of human activity in the Zeta Doradus System, early in 2536 according to UNSC military calendars the Lance of Unseen Influence was sent in on a stealth ship to investigate. Discovering human activity on one of the planets, they departed quietly to the ground, the world humans named Onyx. There, they learned that hundreds of demons were being trained, and soon would be fielded against the Covenant. Without sufficient means to kill them all, they withdrew immediately to report what they'd found.
Mercy never launched an attack on Onyx, mistakenly believing it to be temporary training ground, as there was such a limited human presence compared with their usual complete development of worlds. However, after many separate debates with the Lance and his fellow Heirarchs, they planned a trap for SPARTAN-III Alpha Company at K7-49, a potentially fuel-rich asteroid. Though the Lance ended their formal service together before the plan was executed, Vract 'Aeramee would lead some of the forces that lay in wait of the demons for a counter-attack.
Disbanding[]
Fearful he might be discovered or revealed by one of the Lance, and still unable to come to any conclusions, Mercy disbanded the Lance of Unseen Influence before any ill could come of them. Its members were spread into different branches of the Covenant military, never discussing what they had seen or done and, like Mercy, left without answers to their many questions.
Members[]
- Vract 'Aeramee
The Lance’s leader, a brilliant tactical mind with conception of the wider strategic view. After its disbanding, Vract was given the position of Fieldmaster and distinguished himself in the counterattack on K7-49, earning the title Demonslayer. But directly after at Kholo, he failed to kill two Demons that had been cornered, because of Lieutenant Erin Coney’s intervention. He was the sole survivor of the tank platoon he commanded, and returned injured but alive. Vract would be imprisoned until escaping with the self-proclaimed Prophet of Redemption early in the Great Schism.
- Veral T’ramee
An unparalleled duelist and already experienced Ossoona, T’ramee was Vract’s lieutenant and responsible for electronic aspects of the Lance’s activities. Hacking, codebreaking, and electronic warfare were his talent, and he was put to the test repeatedly as an Ossoona. After the Lance, he was promoted to Ultra and led the strike at CASTLE Base on Reach. There, he personally killed Isaac-039 and captured Vinh-030. He was killed in the Great Schism by Vinh, moments before he would have slain Jiralhanae Chieftain Attilus.
- Daak 'Vallenee
Pilot and vehicle operator for the Lance. His entire line was shamed by the actions of their Kaidon, not so much that they would all be killed, but they were all recalled to Sangheilios and placed under a wide form of house arrest, having a length of time before even given the chance to redeem themselves. The line of 'Vallen was liberated during the Great Schism by the self-proclaimed Prophet of Redemption, vanishing into the far regions aboard a hijacked CCS-class cruiser dubbed the Renewed Strength.
- Cor 'Kedaree
Before and after the Lance, 'Kedaree was a member of Sangheili Strike Teams, Special Operations groups meant to eliminate high-value targets. A master of the Focus Rifle and Energy Daggers, his comrades believed he was more interested in the bloodshed than any glory. He was stationed on a Covenant ship during the Loss of Hope, and after the planet's collapse was killed during the Battle of the Zenith Complex, attempting to destroy Blood Heresy founder Turok 'Moramee.
- Rorn 'Konaree
Ordnance master and gunner. After being shamed, he did not commit suicide and instead served the will of the Prophets on High Charity as an Inquisitor, examining cases of possible heresy. He was responsible for Aeramee’s imprisonment, which was highly controversial given their history, but his own newfound influence silenced any formal review. After helping negotiate a truce with the humans in the Battle of Tokyo following the Great Schism, he would lead forces at the Battle of Doisac alongside Vinh-030, negotiating the cease-fire in their sector with Parthius.