Lighter Than Some

"I help because that is who I am"

- Lighter Than Some, to the AI Sif

Lighter Than Some was a Huragok onboard the missionary ship Minor Transgression that was exploring the Epsilon Indi System, near Harvest, during the 23rd Age of Doubt.

Pre-Harvest
Unlike other Huragok, who normally keep to themselves, Lighter Than Some befriended the Unggoy Deacon Dadab and taught Dadab the Huragok sign language during the voyages of the Minor Transgression. When the Covenant vessel stumbled across a human freighter and disabled it, Lighter Than Some was able to extract the coordinates of the freighter's point of origin: the human colony Harvest. During the transit to the system, Dadab tried to share a game—in which the Unggoy used a rock to kill scrub grubs—with the Huragok; however, Lighter Than Some found even the extermination of pests immoral. Upon reaching the system, Minor Transgression raided the This End Up in search of what the Covenant ship's Luminary designated as a Forerunner relic. The "relic", the sole human and pilot of that vessel, Henry Gibson, attempted to repel the boarders, and Lighter Than Some killed him with Dadab's hunting rock. This event deeply disturbed the pacifist Huragok.

Not long after, Minor Transgression attempted to raid yet another human ship. Unfortunately, this was no derelict freighter: this was a trap set by ONI Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni, Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, and Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne. In the ensuing battle, Lighter Than Some and Dadab evacuated the Covenant ship in an escape pod. Lighter Than Some then risked his life in an effort to preserve Dadab's, due to the Uggnoy's need to breathe methane and the Huragok's ability to produce methane as a by-product; however, the process was dangerous and painful for the Huragok. When the Rapid Conversion recovered the escape pod, Dadab forced the Jiralhanae crew to wait on the Huragok to restore itself to a stable state before emerging from the escape pod.

Harvest
Quite thrilled by this unexpected bonus to his crew, the Brute Chieftain Maccabeus put Lighter Than Some in charge of his ships repairs, the job previously held by the Yanme'e. His duties included repairing the plasma cannon (a weapon deactivated by the Sangheili before they turned the ship over to the Jiralhanae), polishing the cruiser's central shaft, and repairing a damaged Spirit dropship. However, instead of restoring the dropship, he built plows as a peace offering and recompense for the life he took aboard This End Up. His creations were slightly modified by the Jiralhanae crew to become the Brute Chopper, which served to help expand the war and spread the bloodshed: the exact opposite of his pacifist intentions.

Lighter Than Some was soon after dispatched to the Tiara Orbital Space Station at Dadab's request. Lighter Than Some repaired the Tiara's data center and interacted with Loki. In the interest of ending the war, Lighter Than Some gave Loki the Forerunner symbol for Oracle, a sure lure for the pious Jiralhanae. He then restored Sif's core programming, and enabled her to aid Loki in the evacuation of Harvest.

Death
In the aftermath of the failed meeting in the gardens, Maccabeus pressed the Yanme'e into combat service. However, they found the transition difficult and wished to reclaim their former duties: maintaining the Rapid Conversion. In order to return to those duties, the Yanme'e came to the conclusion that their usurper, Lighter Than Some, must be eliminated. After several failed attempts on the Huragok's life aboard Rapid Conversion, they finally succeeded in ambushing Lighter Than Some aboard the Tiara and tore him to pieces. A furious and vengeful Dadab gunned down the Yanme'e murderers shortly afterwards. He then attempted to kill Tartarus, only to be crushed by the Fist of Rukt. This act, however, managed to drop Tartarus's shields with an overcharged bolt from the Deacons's Plasma Pistol so he could be injured by Johnson and his Marines and subsequently forced to retreat.

Trivia

 * According to Huragok designation schemes, Lighter Than Some's name literally means that upon initial completion/birth he was more buoyant than other Huragok.


 * Lighter Than Some is the first and only engineer recorded in a violent act when he threw a rock at the head of Henry Gibson to save the life of Dadab.


 * Lighter Than Some's attack on Henry Gibson makes him the first member of the Covenant to kill a Human, which is ironic because Huragok are mostly peace-loving and neutral creatures.


 * Lighter Than Some was the first known alien to attempt to help the Humans, by making them a plow as a peace offering, and by repairing the space elevator.


 * He was probably the only Covenant species to help Humans before the Great Schism.


 * Lighter Than Some accidentally made the Brute Chopper. His attempt at making a plow as a peace offering was ruined when the Brutes discovered his doing. In order to protect him Dadab told the Brutes it was a weapon. It then became the Brute Chopper.


 * Dadab is the only known Unggoy to understand their language; Contact Harvest does however indicate that at least some ascetic San 'Shyuum priests also communicate directly with the Huragok via their sign language.