Halik

Warning Spoilers through River of Bones.



Halik was a fighter for entertainment—essentially a gladiator. He did well and, after Hisashi Kurokawa convinced the Celestial Mother that she had to think more strategically, Halik was promoted to lead Uul troops in battle.

Halik was the first Grik General to negotiate a truce with the Alliance. He agreed to not eat Alliance POWs and asked the alliance to treat a badly wounded General Orochi Niwa after a second truce General Niwa was returned to him.

Halik was well past his prime as a sports fighter and only one thing kept him from going to the cook pots, he won his fights. He had begun using a defensive strategy, which exploited weaknesses in the attack of his younger, more aggressive opponents. Even this would not have kept him from the cook pots for much longer, except that it was at a time when Kurakawa, supported by First General Esshk, began to develop the concept of defensive Uul. These new kinds of Grik troops would need a leader and Halik was chosen to be that leader.

Already older than most Uul, Halik had begun understanding and reasoning. When he was elevated to Hij status and taught tactics and the use of the new weapons, his understanding and sense of self continued to increase. He was sent to Ceylon along with General Niwa where the two began their friendship and mutual respect. Originally, they were to observe and advise, but seeing how inept traditional Grik tactics were, Halik took charge.

Even as Halik suffered defeats, he learned and became more innovative. He was struck by this thing called courage that his enemies seemed to possess. Long talks with the Japanese human Niwa provided Halik with enlightenment. He sought to develop this courage in his Uul troops through respect towards them and foster self-respect in them. As Halik retreated across India, his goal was to keep his army together and not throw their lives away needlessly. To accomplish this he made agreements with his enemy, General Pete Alden. Even going so far as to agree not to eat prisoners. When Niwa was badly wounded, Halik realized that the Grik really had no doctors to heal him. He made the very human decision to turn Niwa over to General Alden so that their doctors could save his friend.

Eventually Niwa was returned to Halik in exchange for his agreement to leave India. There was little trust between Halik and General Alden, but it was in both their interests to keep the bargain. By this time Halik had forbidden the Grik practice of prostrating and groveling when reporting to a superior. He saw the practice as demeaning and his goal was to instill self-respect. His army now followed Halik, not because it was expected, but because they were personally loyal to him. He respected them and they respected him.

The Regent of Persia was disdainful of the new army and ordered Halik to accompany his forces to retake India. Halik knew it was foolish to try and it would also break his agreement with General Alden, therefore Halik declined. The Regent would not tolerate Halik’s insolence and attacked him. Halik and his army were ready and with unexpected, but welcome assistance from his former enemy, the Regent’s army was defeated and the Regent was killed.

Halik understood that his new army and their elevated self-respected was a danger to the Grik Empire and declared himself in charge of Persia. There he would keep his army safe. By “River of Bones” with Esshk’s back against the wall, he sought out Halik for help, but wasn’t aware of Halik’s own enlightenment. Contact was made and Esshk is looking forward to Halik’s help. But will Halik come to rescue Esshk or will he prove to be Esshk’s downfall.