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The Empire (Episode-1)
Date: 10 January 2003, 4:06 pm

The Retreat
1 year after the fall of Halo the Covenant attack forces are in full retreat, do to lack of manpower. The Armada destroyed when Halo was taken out was needed to sustain an attack on Earth. That attack still came but was not successful, half of the attack force was destroyed before they got to earth. They continued the attack thinking that there backup would come. What they didn't know was that the armada coming to rescue them was already destroyed. After this happened the Covenant army was in a desperate situation, and was forced to flee. The Humans however not knowing that the Covenant where in this desperate situation started to protest against the system of government.
The Split of The Empire
5 years after Halo fell there was a split in the human forces (those protesting against, called the Alliance, and those who protected the system known as the Empire). By now the Spartan technology was being set up all over the Imperial controlled systems. The Alliance didn't stand a chance against the Spartan technology so they started experimenting on humans to enhance their performance. They fought fiercely and many humans where killed. They scattered through the galaxy claiming systems for there cause. The Covenant then came back into the scene, they where outnumbered by the humans but still fought with great bravery. For the first time since the Covenant came the human race fought its own kind, their brothers, the ones that they loved and protected.

Surfing again
10 years after the fall of Halo In a performance enhancer project testing facility. 5 hours after receiving a transmission from HQ that there had been a breakthrough and to immediately start production of the super soldiers using the formula that came with the message. Commander Jack Mercutia is helping oversee the final stages when Doctor Charles Dibatchy comes up to him and starts talking. "Sir the tests are almost done another thirty seconds in that Yellow gunk and the first squad of our super soldiers will be ready for deployment." As Jack takes the information in he doesn't understand why the doctor came over here to tell him that. But decides to overlook it and hoping to get the answer he replies quickly "Good, how are our volunteers doing in their Doc." "Well sir I am curios about these soldiers." Jacks feelings that something is going on is justified and so naturally he wants to know what it is that his friend here wont tell him straight on "Oh and why might that be Charlie." Charles eager to answer starts talking as soon as the commander is finished "Well sir it's odd, the subjects strength and speed have increased dramatically. However our scanners have discovered something strange." Jack wondering why the doctor isn't telling him the whole story yet decides to keep it calm and give an answer "Well can't it give a reading." Charlie pauses and turned to the tubes holding the subjects as he starts to explain "Yes sir but that's just it the unknown thing is attached to the subject and can't be part of the subject himself." Something is stuck to the soldiers, great, so "And this is a problem because? Is this thing dangerous?" Charlie seeming stressed replies quickly "Not as far as we can tell but the thing is, it gives of the same signs of DNA as the subject. It's as if this thing is becoming part of the human." Becoming part of the subject? That can't be. I mean what thing decides to become part of something else, unless. Suddenly it hits him and he immediately starts talking "Or the human's." The commander is interrupted because of the glass tubes breaking open and mutated human bodies jumping out killing everyone they can reach. Stunned to one place Jack finishes his sentence that has just been confirmed "Becoming part of it."
Jack swiftly grabs his assault rifle and fires at the attacking mutant. The mutant falls to the ground with at least two clips of ammo blown into its body. As they run to the commanders office Charlie starts the conversation again "I don't understand what happened." "I don't know but what ever it is we've got to report it." Jack says in reply to stop the talk and start the work. It works, Charlie gets the hint and decides he wont talk unless he has to. Another mutant jumps up behind the doctor who shivers with fear. But luckily for the Doctor Jack has an excellent aim and pops the creature in the face three times. Charlie slowly goes up to the dead body while Jack gets out his shotgun, walks into his office, and sends out an emergency transmission." As he examines the body he has a sudden urge to talk and so he does "Well what do we say." I'm not calling them yet, first we need help dork, oh well I've got to answer him so "Simple we say it went." Charles cutes Jack short while screaming "It's still alive." Jack knowing that Charlie is dead finishes his sentence. "WRONG!"
The Test
Meanwhile not so far away on an Imperial Command Center looking for a hidden Alliance base somewhere in the area, which was reported as one of the main testing facilities for the performance enhancers, our good old buddy MC the same Spartan that blew up Halo and saved the earth is in a training session with his Spartan Squad C.A.T. "B-1, what is your position?" Says MC wondering where his only ally was. The answer soon follows "I'm right behind a Scorpion Tank B-Lead." MC as he is basically trapped, is relieved and answered "OK well unfortunately we have 8 more guys to drop and we're on our own." A response followed immediately "Well sir I got three right here. Should I take them?" MC now knows that he's out this round and has no hope but still if Nathan can take some down then that's fine "Yeah and pick me up in that tank." Under all the chuckling Nathan managed to say one sentence "I'm on my way sir." Nathan then tried to figure out how he could take these three guys out. The one in the tank won't be a problem as soon as I drop that sniper up there. Then the one in the Ghost I can take out when I get the tank, or I could pistol snip him. Nathan Then took out his sniper riffle aimed for the snipers head and within 5 seconds since Nathan took out his weapon the sniper had a hole in his head. He then jumped up on the tank and hit the driver with his pistol. Then he started getting into the tank when he sees plasma flying over his head. "The Ghost!" He dodges the incoming blasts and then falls to the ground while a Ghost flies right over his head. He turns and fires two clips into the driver. "Sigh, tank now MC." At that very moment MC started shouting in to his com-link at Nathan "What's taking so long I got a Whorthog firing bullets up my ass." Nathan quickly replied just to tell MC he was there "Sorry, coming." The bullets stopped and a man's voice could clearly be heard "B-Lead, this is R-Lead, give yourself up you've lost." MC gives up and in a disappointed manner says "I surrender."
He slowly gets up and starts walking away from the rock he was hiding behind. When the ground begins to shake and a large tank comes out of nowhere. The red team starts to cheer in victory, that is the four by the Whorthog and Jason, designated R-Lead. When MC sees that there is only a driver and no passengers he says "I'd stop cheering." Jason laughing hysterically replies by saying "And why is that, we've got our buddies in the tank coming here with Nathan's body." There's a pause. Nathan fires the cannon of his tank right at the Whorthog, MC jumps back behind his rock as the Whorhtog is blown sky high, all the men stop cheering mainly because the only one left standing is Jason who is simply standing there and firing randomly at the tank. Nathan brings the tank up next to the rock. As he fires the chain gun on top of the tank, and runs Jason down. As the tank roles by the rock MC screams out "TAXI!" And jumps on the side. As he gets in Nathan asks him "Where to mister." "I was thinking the red teams base." MC replied with roaring laughter. Nathan then drives the tank over to the red flag and MC pulls it out. "End Simulation." says Cortana. The room goes dark and once again the squad is standing inside the ship Battle Axe. The same ship they have been training on since three years ago, with their trainer MC.
The panic of the enemy
As the young men that just finished there training get out of their training gear Cortana sys to MC "There's an incoming message from an unknown building on the fourth moon. MC replies to her by saying "Lets see it Cortana." An unknown Alliance officer could be seen in-front of the screen As the figure was obviously in a hurry and started talking after a short pause "This an emergency transmission from a secret Alliance testing facility, any human ships in the area please assist. Our experiments have gone terribly wrong. The labs have been infested with creatures that seem to be sticking themselves to our dead, and I fear." The man is distracted by a noise and the view-screen goes blank for about three seconds until you see the lab facilities, on the screen MC sees his greatest fear or at least he thinks he does. The screen goes blank again but this time for good.
All of the men are stunned by this transmission even MC is completely silent until Cortana breaks the silence with the words "End transmission." "Cortana Where those Flood?" Asks MC still staring at the emptiness of the room in front of him. "Afraid so." Answered Cortana quickly. "But...how?" MC insisted. "I don't think we want to know. I mean does it make a difference?" was Cortana's reply to the questions. "No not really, did you get a trace on that building?" Asks MC as he steps out of his trans. "Yes, but we'll be to late. By the time you can get a strike team assembled, armed and ready to leave for the facility, there won't be anything left." Says Cortana. "Then we'll have to use a team that's already assembled and happens to be right next to the armory." Was MC's quick reply to the negative remark of Cortana. There was a short pause as Cortana searched in her data what squad of men where assembled and near the armory. It suddenly hits her and is forced to protest. "No, you're not taking these rookies out against an unknown foe. It's against the code." "Do you see any other options." Was the quick response of the Master Chief. Nathan then interferes with the discussion "Just say the words sir." He says as if there Cortana's words mean nothing. "Ok suit up!" MC says after a short hesitation. The squad immediately goes to the ready room for briefing. MC gives the young rookies a report and mission profiles which he quickly whipped up when the men where getting suited up. "Now listen carefully, you are going to be the first squad that gets to meat up with these creatures. I'll tell you right now to bring either a shotgun, pistol, or both, these guys won't drop easily with anything else. This post we're about to rescue is the same one we've been looking for, and I know that the Alliance is an enemy, but right now we need each other. We'll be divided into three groups, Alpha commanded by me, Beta commanded by Jason, and Delta commanded by Nathan. Beta will make a frontal assault on the base so that Alpha and Delta can sneak in. After Alpha and Delta get in it's Beta's job to provide escape routes for later. Once inside Alpha will move up onto the second floor while Delta checks out the main floor. Then Alpha and Delta will secure the basement together. Do not enter the testing facilities without my permission. Understood? Good, move out. Alpha and Delta members must have a shotgun or pistol at all times.
The Basement
All went according to plan Beta caused a diversion while Alpha and Delta slipped in with little resistance. They secured the main and second floor with ease. Then they grouped up and entered the basement, which was sealed of from the rest of the base. It's dark, the only light comes from sparks flying from the broken electrical wires which are sparking. "Turn on your lights." Orders MC. Everyone turns on there lights and see how cluttered the stairs are that they're walking down. Cluttered with dead parts of bodies, a leg here an arm, maybe a torso somewhere, a truly gruesome site. It looks worse with the light on but still I leave it on. I can tell that my cover, Delta-2, is about to puck all over his armor. Then finally we get to the bottom. It's not in much better state than the stairs. However I do see a howl body, sitting on the side dead as can be. "Huh" I say as I continue to look at the body. "What." Says MC quickly as if my life depended on it. "Uh nothing I'm just being paranoid." I say, the truth is I was so caught up with my self that I didn't hear him. "Delta-1 tell me what it is." He persisted I told him what I saw as if we where all going to die if I wouldn't tell him so I tell him as I walk over to the dead body. "I could swear that body moved." All of a sudden the dead body jumps straight for me I fall back and fire my shotgun 3 times into the body, which then flies back and falls back to the ground. Before I now it MC is right next to me blowing more holes into the body. "Sir it's dead!" I scream as he continues to blow holes into the body. "No it's not." He answers coldly and angry. MC fires on more time and I hear a big moan. Now I'm feeling nocuous, tired, dirty, and scared. I can tell that the howl group is shivering in fear. Except for MC he seems completely calm, like he's done this before. I don't get it. I get up slowly and stand next to MC. I don't think we where ready for this stuff yet, we should have listened to Cortana. "Be more careful, I doubt there is a friendly thing down here." Says MC to me even though I wasn't expecting him to talk. I simple node my head, I can't reply. We walk down the hall blasting a few of my attackers mates. For some reason they aren't as resistant to bullet fire as the Cheerful Charlie back there. Actually now that I think about it I think the nametag on his lab coat did say doctor Charles Dibatchy. How ironic. we find that the hallway ends in a fork. There are three doors in front of use, well two doors and one busted open piece of metal. For some reason MC doesn't even hesitate. He walks straight over to the busted open door and throws himself through it. He vanishes in the darkness. We hear some bullet fire and a thump then we all cautiously walk to the door. Everyone's looking at someone else as if to say I not going. I decide that if these pussies wont go I will. So I walk up to the door and jump through headfirst, hit the floor and do a roll. When I come out of the roll with my pistol ready see something right in front of me and smack it quickly with the butt of m pistol. "Ah! That hurt!" Yelled MC at me with a little anger. "Sorry sir." Was my reply, I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. When the others hear us talking they all start jumping in. Together we walk down to the end of the lad room we just entered. On the right-hand side there is a constant row of tubes that have been broken open. Still we can tell that they where filled with a yellow liquid. Now and again there is another one of these things we now call Flood. Why? Well last time we where attacked MC screamed out Flood on the right, so we call them Flood. When we get to the end of the hall, MC just turns around and runs back to the smashed door. We all follow him. We jump back through the hole and we see MC standing there with his hand on second door. "Ready for a close encounter with the "third" kind." says MC with a laugh. He then opens the door and tells everyone to follow. Before we even get to the door though we encounter a great amount of Flood coming straight through. Everyone starts firing at the charging dead bodies. After a fierce firefight with the dead we get through, there's still Flood everywhere. By the time we had cleared the second hallway, five of the 12 Spartan's we had come in with where dead. We walked back to the third door, and opened it. To our surprise there weren't all that many Flood attacking us, some were severely wounded. Now that the door was cleared we started to go in when suddenly we heard Jason through the intercom. "Alpha, Delta we need to get out of here. Meet us at the escape vector." "We need more time." Says MC irritated. "Sorry sir but we can't wait." Came the reply. MC sighs and thinks for a moment. He then says "Leave a craft suitable for at least 4 people at the back up escape route. That's an order" "Ok, fine but get out of there. Beta out." was the final reply we got from Beta during that mission. I can see that MC is trying to think. "Delta 1, come here. The rest of you get to the escape vector. Now!" He says. Everyone but MC and I simply salute and run of to the stairs. "Uh sir what are we going to do?" I ask as if I am kind of afraid that he is going to suggest something crazy. "Where going to clear this last lab." He says in return, a reply that justifies my instinct. Hearing those words stunned me, the fact that we are going to do what we barely could do with 12 men. And He's calm. "Coming? Or do I do this on my own." He says as I stand there. Even though I know it's crazy I decide that I should. "No let's go." We walk through and start blasting Flood left and right, taking down all we can. When we get to the end we are both out of ammo and have still eight Flood coming for us. All of a sudden we hear a shot coming from an elevated office on the side of the lab. It continues to fire as we run towards it. We jump in and see an Alliance commander sitting on his own blowing away the Flood. We see that there are bullets all over the floor and boxes of ammo everywhere. We take some and join him in blowing the Flood in pieces. When I glance over at MC he isn't there. I start panicking until I hear a very familiar voice scream "Duck." I do exactly as I am instructed and feel a rocket fly right over my head. My feelings are confirmed when I see an explosion take out the remaining Flood. I jump up and through down my assault rifle. I then pick up a plasma rifle in its place. I find myself examining the lone man they had found. He seems to be called Jack, at least that's what it says on his name tag. That's the same man that was in the transmission. "There's no time for that now, we need to get our asses out of here before there is no here." Says MC concerned. "What do you mean no here?" I say in horror. "Let's go no time to explain." Says MC plainly. "There are two Whorthog's at the East entrance." Says Jack, obviously he agrees with MC. "That's where we'll go then, lead the way Merc." says MC, why I don't know, but for some reason it shocks the commander and so Jack hesitates and takes a long look at MC, one of those what did you just say kind of looks. I quickly fire a shotgun round at the ceiling, to snap him out of it. He runs over to a door and opens it with his access code, runs through it and gets on an elevator. "This will take us to the control room." Said Jack as he activates the elevator. MC and I jump on. I notice almost immediately that MC is looking up. All of a sudden he fires. I look up and to my surprise a hole bunch of those little egg like things are falling straight at me, so I join MC with shooting at them. They stop almost immediately. The elevator comes to a stop and the doors open. As we step into the control room we see that it's covered with green and red blood. "New paint job?" says MC as he walks over to Jack. "I'm not satisfied, that red spot shouldn't be there". Says Jack in response, and points at a big splotch of red blood. "Why are we here Jack." MC asks him. "To activate the self-destruct sequence. Or did you want those things to walk all over the universe again?" Says Jack as he puts his hand on a fingerprint ID reader. "Self-destruct sequence activated, please vacate the premises." "Let's go." I say as the two oldies look at each other. Jack looks at me and nods. He runs to a side door and opens it with his code. He then walks down another colored hallway. As he opens a much larger door I see a shot fly right by my head. I look to the side and see an Alliance soldier laying on the floor with his pistol drawn. He's shaking and fires every time something moves. I walk up to him and see that he's out of ammo. I start to pick him up when the door opens. "Put him out of his misery, he's going mental." says MC calmly. I stand up. Take the pistol, smack the marine in the head he falls to the side but isn't dead. I start walking to the door when MC walks up to me and whispers into my ear. "I know you don't want to but take him out. I had to do it to a friend who had gone mental to. Just kill him." Then MC walked out of the door and fallowed Jack by jumping down. I look at the guy laying there, walk up to him and with the remaining shot in the pistol I shoot him right in the head. I drop the pistol and run through the doors, jump down and land in the back of a Whorthog. I look at MC and nod. Jack starts the Whorthog and starts driving. "Go to this NAV point." says MC.
Do you like your flood scrambled or boiled.
On the way to the NAV point there was next to no resistance. A few men that hid during the attack and making about two dozens men in total that they encountered while in the Whorthog. We know join MC, Nathan, and Jack as they pull up to the ship waiting at the NAV coordinates. "Get on board, in 45 seconds the entire instillation will be blown sky high." MC says as we runs into the ship and starts it. "Come on Jack let's go". I say to the man that if we had met in other circumstances would no longer be living." I grab him and say "If it's between dying without use, or living in captivity I'd choose to trust my enemy." "You're cutting it close" I hear Cortana say as I continue to drag the Commander behind me. The plain closes up and begins to exit the atmosphere. As we leave I can hear the explosions behind me. Even though most of the sound is filtered out by the engines, I can still hear and imagine the base that we where just in blow sky high. I close my eyes to get rid of the visions, but it doesn't work, the images just get stronger. I can imagine being one of the young Alliance soldiers that I didn't kill in the Whorthog. I can just imagine how scarred they must be, if they're still alive.
Coffee break
"Nathan, get up." I can hear MC's voice in the distance. As I think about it, I know that he's right there. Why does he sound far away? I open my eyes and see an array of light come in. It's so bright I can't make anything out. as everything comes into focus, I see an imperial medic kneeling at my side. I then realize that I'm laying on the floor. It isn't the floor of the ship though, it feels like the floor of the Command Center. How did I get on the floor I ask myself. "Am I on the floor of the Command Center?" I ask the medic. "Yes sir, you sure are, it seems you blacked out do to a bullet hole in your suit that was sucking oxygen out and must have given you a major headache." I feel fine and try to take of my helmet. It wasn't there of course. I just got up and walked to the window. I could see the planet where the hidden base was. It had then hit me that the explosions where still going on. The medic walked up to me and said that a fleet of imperial flagships jumped in with orders to do a complete planetary bombardment at the request of the Master Chief. As I took in this new information, I suddenly realized what MC meant when he said "no here." I repeated those words then walked away. The medic followed saying "are you ok?" "I'm fine" I replied. "What did you mean with, no here? I could here you mumble those words and was just wondering if there where any military orders that we civilians should know about." The medic was still standing there as I started to say the word civilian, but she interrupted. "I'm not a medic, my father is and I was just trying to help. You see I was here and my father gave me his coat as he ran to docking bay-B. There where some injuries in Beta squad and he was sent to. Why are you looking at me like that?" I then noticed that I was staring. "Oh sorry, I just realized that you're a girl. I've got to go now, I need to file my report and get out of this suit." "Oh I'm sorry I hadn't thought of that." She replied. As I walked away I turned and sed "Yeah, that'll only take a few minutes. Would you like to join me for a cup of coffee when I'm done with my report?" "I'd like that." She replied with a slight laugh.

Joke: The hero is standing helplessly face to face with the villain. There is no nothing around he can use for a weapon accept for one thing. the hero swiftly picks up a ruler that was laying on a desk nearby and held it up like a weapon.
Hero: "Stay back or else!"          Villain: "Or else what? You'll straighten me out."

At the time of Halo, humans have founded a modest interstellar empire. There are at least a few dozen, but more likely one or two hundred, colony worlds within human-explored space. Some of them, if not most, are relatively heavily populated, suggesting that these colonies have been around for quite some time.

Episode-II The Saviour awakens
Date: 18 May 2003, 5:33 PM

Graduation
As I stumble into my room, I fall straight on the bed. I know I did well, I'll probably even get an award, but man am I beat. I tell yea, after having a week filled with final exams, you to will be glad to go to sleep. Tomorrow, it seems like I only arrived a day or two ago. And I'm about to graduate. Who knows now, the group'll be split up, for all we know we might have to leave tomorrow, right after graduating. I feel like a little boy on Christmas Eve, can't get to sleep. But Nathan was wrong, he didn't even make it further than half way onto his bed without falling asleep, and there he lay sleeping, oblivious to what awaits him, when he wakes up. As I wake up I notice that it's only 06:00 and that I'm not really tired anymore, I've got so used to the military schedule that I can't sleep in anymore. I get up slowly and get dressed in my full uniform, in only 6 hours I will be a certified, Spartan Knight. I'll just go get breakfast. This morning has really gone slow, nothing is going on, well the preparations for the graduation but as a graduate I can't enter until 12:00, and I've still got three hours to kill, there?s nothing to do, Nobody's up, or they're all eating breakfast, which I already did, I've memorised my speech, and I'm fully dressed. "can't I just get this overwith!" As I go to the simulator, as that's all I really can do right now, I realise what I just said and find that it's completely the opposite of what I want. If I get this overwith, I wont see Melissa again. If I finish my training I'll be reassigned to a non-stop action zone, and probably wont ever see this place again, I all of a sudden wish I hadn't done so well on the finals. It's to late though and I know that, in another two and a half hours I'll be doomed to leave this place, leave MC, leave Melissa, her father, maybe even some of my friends and palls from the class. And why, so that I can go to battle and loose friends under my command, and fellow graduates that have been reassigned with me. This is all I could think about until the simulator was loaded and I was face to face with fire. I found that my fighting had changed, improved maybe, but saddened for sure. All I could think about was how I would have to leave the girl who had coffee with me after my first real battle, the girl I met tending my wound, the girl who cares for me, but most of all the girl I care for. As I walk towards mess hall 2, where the ceremony will take place I am cheered up by my fellow mates, I seem to forget my troubles and start looking forward to this party.

Transfer orders
"And so my fellow graduates, I close by saying, ours is the burden that no man should have to face, civilians say that you must be really brave to stay calm when the shooting starts. But I say that that is not what makes us brave, that is not our burden, our burden is the constant pain of seeing our friends die in our hands, of seeing the guy who has known you since high school being torn apart by a man who doesn't know him, the pain of loosing loved ones. Thank you." I then take of my graduation hate and through it in the air, as does everyone else, I then leave the podium to find out my grades, new rank. As I try Get out my holopanel to check my grades, I notice MC standing by the exit, he is in his full battle outfit as usual, and he's completely alone. I walk over to him and I can tell he sees me, it's as if he where following me. "Great speech" he says as I come close to him. I simply respond with a thanks. "I guess I wont see you again will I?" "Who knows war is filled with the word maybe, nothing is for certain, except that what you wish could be wrong." was what he answered. He then said "Have you checked your rank yet?" I shook my head no. He then pointed to my holoscreen and said "check them, and send them to the bored." I was startled "But that would mean I have the highest score." I decided that I wouldn't check them just go straight to the board and tell them to upload it. As I handed it to the man there he said it would be up in a few seconds. I stood there waiting, until I saw her, she came. I ran to her and grabbed her, she was happy, she obviously didn't realise that I might never see her again. Or was she hiding it from me, she was very good at hiding her true emotions. Was she just happy for me? The speaker is now standing up on the podium and the room is still, nobody talked. "I am proud to present not only highest ranked member of this class, or of this shuttle, but the highest given rank at graduation in the history of the Empire." There was a long pause, I could tell he was trying to look at everyone in the room. The people in the room started looking around at who it could be, and at that moment I knew I would never see Melissa again, that I would be transferred more than I could imagine. "Nathan, come on up!" The presenter screamed all of a sudden and it startled me, I knew what was coming but still shocked. I ran up there and as I did they loaded my scores onto the viewing screen infant of the podium. I look at it, and even I am amazed. I got to the podium, The presenter was there with a medal case, he opened it up and it was already almost full. He then proceeded to hand it to me, and saluted me. I was puzzled, why is he saluting me. Nothing shocked me like what was about to come though. As I shook his hand the clapping continued, and then out of the sound system came "Welcome, Commander Nathan Mcat." I was stunned there on the podium, I'd just graduated, and had more medals, and a better rank than most retired soldiers. I walked down and was happy, I was the man. Giving High fives, and smiling, and of course I got a kiss from Melissa. The rest of the students grades and ranks followed. After the celebration the Captain congratulated me. Then he started with the bad news. "I hate to have to tell you this Nathan, but we just got word that a science&Tech centre in the area is under attack, we were told not to go in, but to send a squadron of men down to fight. I'm afraid that you'll be leaving us soon." This news struck me deep, I was hoping for at least one more day with Mel, and know I have to go. though this hurt allot I decided to take it, and stay calm. The Captain, handed me the pad with names of those departing, I walked down to the podium, uploaded the info, and started talking. "I'm very sorry, to have to break up the party but, for some of us this will be the last aboard this ship, we have orders to move straight into action." With that I left, and went to my courtiers. I packed up my things and put them in a corner.

Saying Goodbye
Our goodbyes where short and sweet, I had a lump in my chest that would not go away. Mel, and I had kissed several times in the last few minutes. She was scared, I could tell, I tried to comfort her, but it wouldn't work. I told Jason to look after her and I went to the shuttle. But as I walked over to the Pelican, the alarm went off, people started running all over the place. "What's going on." I asked a passing officer. "The ISCS Mercury, is engaged and on it's way here, they are under attack from the inside, the Alliance is trying to capture it, and they're doing a good job. All ready troops are being sent." At that I jumped into the pelican. It was good I did because the ship almost closed on me. As we left the bay I looked out into the hanger, I say many marines, and Spartans running through, going to the pelicans. I was in a ship that was packed, not a single seat was free, we where all ready for boarding the captured command ship. All the weapons where stored at the sides, this was the new carrier type, the Pelican Havoc. "ETA, thirty seconds." Came through the battle suits radio transmitter. Everyone was looking at me, as if they where waiting for something. Then it hit me, I was the highest ranking officer one the ship. So I told them what to do. I had thirteen men on my ship. I pulled up there states as I told them what to get. Everyone got an assault riffle, and a pistol. There third weapon was up to them. As these where Spartan Knights They where able to carry two or three weapons depending on which weapons. "10, 9, 8 ,7, 6, docking completed, opening doors in 3....." As the countdown was going on, we could hear the explosions, and gunfire in side. We where going to arrive right in a battle. As the doors opened I looked to the left and fired as I saw dozens of Ali's across the hall. Sergeant David looked right, I didn't hear him fire though. "Friendlies over here!" Came from nearby. I then issued an order for the squad to fall back to the friends. Private Doils, ran out under my cover and fired two rockets at the Alliance troops. As the first exploded I told the squad to run for it. Men went running as fast as they could. I kept my ground, continuing to cover my squad by spraying the Ali's with fire from my assault riffle. The squad was across the hall, safe, or as close to it as they will be. I was still by the pelican, which had attached itself to an outer hatch, another benefit, it had over the original. "Sir, over." Came from my communicator. I responded "What!" "I'll chuck a grenade sir, stay there." Was the response, and he did, as did four others. "I've got to go, can't stay any longer" the Pelican suddenly interrupted. As the first frag blew I ran as fast as I could to my squad. Still firing at the enemy. The doors closed behind me, and the Pelican left us. When I got there I was amazed, not a single man was wounded from my squad. "OK from now on we're Cat Squad!" I yelled "I'm uploading your codes now." I continued. All was silent. "Snipers, front and centre!" As I said these words three men joined me, or at least that's what I thought at first, soon after I realised that one was a girl though. I gave them all spots, Cordizo would be at the corner, I'd be at the bunker with Smith, and Requarde, the girl would crouch behind the crate. As the smoke cleared We began to take aim. To our suprise though there where obviously only eight or nine left. "Secure the other corridors." I commanded the others, including the allies we had met. As I said those words, an Ali got in my site, It took me a second to get him. That was one down. More sniper shots followed. As I took another shot the victim once again fell to the floor. But also a Whorthog started firing at my position. I relocated myself to the other side of Smith. Aimed and fired. there went the gunner. "How was that for good shot I asked Smith." I got no response. I looked over and there he was, dead. The gunner had shot him in the head with over twenty bullets. If only I had been faster. I looked at him for a few seconds as Cordizo, and Requarde, continued to take out the remaining Ali?s. I stood up and slowly advanced. They others followed. We had indeed taken out all of the Alliance scum. Well at least the ones that where bothering us at this coridor. The corner was littered with bodies, the door was locked, so I told the others to stop there search and return.

Move like a Butterfly, sting like a bee, time to take down the rest of Ali.
As the group came to gether, the leader of the other squad walked up to me. Unfortunately he was not a superior, which meant that he would probably fall in with me as well. "Sir, Sergeant Luck Caza, sir. The area is secure, my orders are to go and secure this place till the reinforcements arrive. Well those where my orders. That's done I guess. Well I now have to go to the bridge and assist with the recapture and holding of it." He said. "Well we weren?t given any orders so I'll accompany you. What squad is this?" I asked him. "All types of squad names sir, we have mixtures up the wazu." he answered. "Fine join us as Cats." Yep once again I have taken on command of a squad. Now two squads. He also told me that a Whorthog would soon come and pick up some guys. And there it came, with a gunner and a driver. I told Luck to get in, he replied with a usual, yes sir. God was I getting sick of that response. I told Requarde to take place in the passenger seat of the captured Whorthog, then ordered Lieutenant Strong to drive. I myself jumped in the gunners seat. We started moving with the two Whorthogs, and all the men in-between. As we Went I looked at the men, my squad was fine, but the other was in pretty bad shape. What am I telling myself, it's all my squad. As we made the rear of the convoy, it was easy to see everything. We came close to the bridge, I could tell not only because I knew the ships structure, or because the gunfire noise increased, but because we where getting slower and slower, and the amount of enemies doubled, everytime we would slow down. We kept going though. Until we got to the bridge. We where under heavy fire, men where going down all around me, I had the chaingun constantly firing. We where obviously taking down more of them then they where us. I had the Whorthogs parked and had men line up behind them using it as a bunker, Two men where using the chaingns. Not me though, I was sniping everything I could, as where Cordizo, and Requarde. There where bullet holes everywhere. But still we where stuck outside the bridge. One door away. One encrypted door away. We where sure to be lost. We where running out of grenades, and ammo. as I was about to declare a lost cause and have a retreat, a scorpion tank came and blew away the Ali's attacking us. The tank was followed by two squads of men. I then saw who was in the tank. "John!" I screamed. The Ali forces where retreating and so the Spartan jumped out and let another get in. he walked over to me and asked me my report. I gave him a full description of what happened as he walked to the door and stated cracking the code. When I finished he told me his. Apparently, he had luck, he got in with all his men, not a single Ali, or Alliance freedom fighter in sight. They met up with another squad and then came here as was ordered. A bit after he had finished the door unlocked. He screamed. "It's about time." We poured over to the door, took up strategic positioning outside so that we could get in quickly and safely. As the door opened, more shots came. I was sick of the sound, I only had two clips for my sniper riffle, and so I couldn?t snip them all. The shooting stopped as soon, as they determined that we weren't there. As a decoy we had opened another door, John's idea I must admit. We where infact already inside, and had taken positions on the second floor. As the two squads of Ali's where in sight and the snipers had targets I gave the order. "Havoc." I whispered. And as soon as I did all the snipers shot once, including me. It was almost in unison. Seven men dropped dead on the floor, seven bullets seven men. As soon as the men dropped the others stood up and firing short bursts from their Assault riffles at the remaining 93 men down there, taking no chances of being hit, as I told them. JD locked the doors as the gunners stood up. "Closing's easier than opening huh JD?" I said sarcastically to him, he didn't reply. He simply shot at another Ali. I joined him until, I ran out of sniper bullets. in less than two minutes from when we entered, we had taken down most of the forces. Using the comlink I calmly told the remaining Ali's to surrender. "Never, never I tell you, we can take you." He responded, I had the men stop firing before I asked, the few that where near me where looking at me trying to say, can we take down there pathetic butts now? I simply gave the order for everyone to stand up and pick a target, but not to shoot. As we stood up, the 16 men below us stood with there mouths open, as they gazed upon they men that surrounded them from an elevated position. Many of them, dropped their guns and put their hands above their heads, before ordered to do so. The leader of the forces gave out a sigh and surrendered. We had taken the bridge. Finally we had taken the bridge. As we took them prisoner I ordered the leading Ali to tell his attack group to surrender. And he did, the prisoner George Balin, told his men to stop fighting, over the ships intercom. As this was said, battles ended, Imperial troops took hundreds of prisoners. We had won. The only struggle now was locating the disobedient Ali soldiers. Which wouldn't be hard as soon as the technicians that JD took to the engine room where finished and the ones here where finished. I had one of the most powerful positions at that time. I was commanding the whole Command Ship, ordering squads to go places, to assist, to fall back, to protect. It was going to be the only time, I knew that. An hour after the official surrender took place, all the subsystems of the Mercury where working. I we had some minor attacks on the bridge but non where successful. As the battle areas deminished, it almost seemed like all was finished. I was wrong. a small force broke into the bridge, I was vulnerable, standing there, I couldn't us my gun, it would take to long. This wasn't the first time my martial arts training came in handy. I had three men coming towards me, the first was easy, straight charge, I pulled him towards me, need him in the stomach, then knocked him to the floor by sweeping his leg, the man was finished as I smacked him in the face. I was still bent over the first, when the second came running, same way the first did. I decided to make use of my position. I balanced my hands on the dead man under me, and pulled my legs over my head to the other side of his body, my plan worked, I smacked the guy right in the face with both of my feet, this movement also gave my body thrust to get up straight quickly. As soon as I was, I did a cartwheel and that finished the second guy, as I came out of the cartwheel I encountered the third advisary, he was ready to shoot and right next to me, I jerked my leg up knocking his gun in the air and in my direction, the kick was also the start of a backflip, I landed quickly, grabbed the gun, and smacked the guy with it. I thought he was finished but as I walked by, he tried to get up again, so I shot him with a burst from his own AR. By the time I had taken these three out the other attackers where dead. I walked back to the battle screen it was empty, not an enemy squad, or a battle on the ship that was reported.

Emergency at Alpha Genius
We stayed on the ship until the alert statis was over, which took another two hours. In that time I talked to JD and Jason. JD had a lot of action in the engine room, during the repairs. Jason got his share of action to, he had been shot in the arm, you couldn't really tell, he had a bandage but that was it really. He had been securing the docking bays. He lost most of his men, there where still six or so left, all of which where wounded. As the alert statis was lifted, we seemed happy. Pelican Havoc, where docking wherever they could, all personnel where being transferred. We oversaw the transfer and then got on our own ships. Jason got on a pelican going back, while JD and I where getting on a Pelican that would bring us to our next battle. Jason wasn?t being transferred and we where. I was relieved that JD was still with me. But Jason was irreplaceable. There was an emergency at the test facility and we where going from one battle to the next. What will become of us? I don?t know.

Episode-III A shot from the Darkness
Date: 23 May 2003, 8:55 PM

Waiting is Hell
It's been seven hours since our departure from the Mercury. The men in the vessel are bored as can be. They just got away from action and it seemed when they where in it they hated it, but now, they long for it. I'm sure that once we land many of them will long for this silence again. Two more hours and then we should be protecting scientists that are working on new weapons and tech. from an attack that came yesterday. Which means that they most likely are on the run, or pinned down somewhere. I've been gone for seven hours and I already miss Jason. His jokes would have come in handy. But most of all I miss Melissa, I can't stop thinking about getting back to her, I try not to think about her to much. It just puts me in a worse condition. "Coming into the system in five minutes." Came a voice from the cockpit. We must be early, we left early aswell, hope we aren't to early though, we might miss the parade. Orders came in that I was to lead Panther squadron on this mission. There would only be two squads. The Panther squadron, and the Falcon squadron. The commander of the Falcons was some guy I'd never heard of. It was up to me to succure the north side of the installation. The Falcons got the South. As time went on I could do nothing but check my squads list over and over. The squad list is a list of the names of all men in the squad, there specialities, there stats, and there ranks. It continued to make me shiver, the fact that I was leading over five hounded men and women into battle just made me nervous I guess. As time goes on Nathan continues to think, he is trying desperately to hide his feelings from his men. They wouldn't understand, they?d think I was afraid of going to battle, and that would make them uneasy. When in truth I am afraid of something completely different, and some odd feeling inside tells me it's coming. "Sir, what's wrong?" I hear a Russian voice ask me. He somehow knows I'm not going to answer and so he continues to talk to me, telling me how he is scared of going in the day after graduation, and all. His name was Ivan, he was indeed Russian, he had come to the academy because he was following in his brothers footsteps. For the rest of the journey he had talked to me until a voice sounded over the intercom. "Attention all units, we have just received a journal of today's events from the science facility. It will now be displayed, you all need to see this." The voice said.
01:00- The Alliance men attacked and took hold of section B after they finished their sweep of A.
05:00- The Alliance has just had another flight of reinforcements, they know outmatch us 6 to 1
16:00- The enemy forces have attacked C, but we are still holding it.
19:00- All Tech has been moved to section E for security
21:00- The Alliance has made their way into section C
As you all should know we are about 5 minutes away from landing, you will be landing in the middle of a battle folks, expect a hot LZ.

A hot LZ on Alpha Genius
"It's a hot LZ guys, prepare for rope drop!" the pilot screamed at us as we where admiring the light of the bullets heading straight for us. I was about to demand that everyone be in full gear but they already where, they where already throwing the ropes out and the first to drop where ready. As we hovered there with gunfire all around us, I decided to jump before the schedule. "I don't care if they plan on giving us support for our drop, there aint gunna be nothin to help land if we stay here!" I screamed to the pilot. "Men move out!" The men started dropping down the ropes with caution. I hadn't had time to grab my guns so I went to do that while I didn't have some dork screaming help at me because he was scared, or something didn't work, or something broke. I walked over to where I was sitting and took a sniper rifle, my pistol was already on me, and I decided to take the AR aswell, only because there weren't any Plasma riffles but hey what ya gunna do. l could hear the men down on the ground screaming for backup, and what not. I turned on my com link and could hear it allot clearer. there where still 15 or so men in the Havoc and so I ordered three more to stand ready to jump with me, the rest where to stay on the ship until ordered otherwise. I gave orders to the pilot to go down low so the stationary guns on the sides could be used to clear the area, drop off the last remaining soldiers and get out of this place. As I jumped I could feel the air around me, the noise from the ammo going towards me dimmed, I could hear it allot fainter now, but I could hear more for some odd reason, I could hear the empty shells hitting the floor, the men falling to the floor, the very footsteps of each soldier. It was as if loud was soft and soft was loud, at this moment, that fast was slow and that slow was fast. I could see the bullets coming towards me. It felt like an hour but lasted only about eight seconds. It stopped as I hit the LZ with my feet. Everything was back to normal. I shot in all directions and continued to bring down the enemies around us. All went according to plan, the Havoc came down killed off the remaining threats, and the rest of the men jumped out. As soon as the last man hit the ground, the pilot asked for permission to leave. I granted it and then he said the last thing he would say to any of us. "good luck out there, I'll be praying for you. And don't get killed!"

News from home
It was the start of my thirteenth day on this installation and still we where battling the invading Alliance forces off of Alpha-G as we have come to call it. When I came here I was moved by my friends being torn apart by shrapnel, seeing dead bodies be shot again for fun. But now, I've grown so accustom to it, I don't move a muscle, all I think about is killing those assholes who killed my men. The idea of leading five hinder men was no longer a burden for me as only fifty eight remained. Sure I got new men yesterday , and so I am in command of one hundred and three men. the truth is I really don't give a shit anymore. I've been shot crushed, burnt, and hit enough times to have been killed six times. The enemy forces where in retreat however, Alpha G was being defended after all. The only place still inhabited by the Alliance was section A. Which mainly comprised of corters and service providers, such as water pumps and such. The labs where safe though and the scientists where back at work. It was nice of them to give me the Eagle's Claw, a new type of Sniper rifle, and to give me their version of a Plasma rifle, it had the same shape as the covenant one but was black and metallic instead of Purple and what not, it also took clips which where small round things that you stuck in the bottom. The benefits where however that it had a scope like the one on a pistol, laser guiding, and charge up shot. it was by far the best hand held weapon I'd ever seen. They also gave us new types of tanks and Whorthogs. Most where pieces of junk and where destroyed. Some however where very clever. There was a new type of Whorthog, a.k.a. the hedgehog. It had the same stuff as the Whorthog, accept that the driver could lay mines as they drove on. The mines where kept in bullet proof containers behind the gunner, there where five on each side, giving him ten mines to work with. Then they told us they had improved that one yesterday, they put twelve small lightweight missiles on the sides of the gunners turret. They didn't do much damage but could come in handy, if you need a small explosion. They didn't know what to call it though so they asked me. I classified it as the Porcupine, but they said that nothing was going to be called something that stupid nomatter how much scence it made. They ended up with the name Hedgehog, even though it didn?t make scence. Then there was the Panther, a motorcycle kind of thing that had a covering like a tank but you laid on your stomach with your hands in the sides of the front. It was the fastest vehicle we had developed so far that was used in the battle field. it has to missiles and twin plasma rifle fire on the front, well they weren't Plasma riffles put they did the same thing, they shot blue plasma at the enemy, at the same speed as a plasma riffle, they didn't over heat as easily though, and the bike contained a cooling system for cooling the guns. Those where my favourites. The only ones that I got in and liked. All the others where painful, or didn?t work, obviously still in the experimental stage. "They're coming!" a young sergeant screams at everyone. As if something else is new, they're probably sending a final strike against us. They'll retreat before the day is gone, before we arrived the Ali's outnumbered us 6 to 1 now we outnumber them 2 to 1. The sergeant however looked thrilled, exited. Then a lone Cadet came in with news for us all, there was a message from the academy where I graduated, less than a month ago. I walked up and asked the Cadet if anything had come that was interesting. "Well there is a general message for everyone." He said in a soft voice. He gave me a chip to watch. He gave one to everyone that had come from the same place. We all watched it together, but it was not what we expected at all. you could see a massive Covenant fleet jump in. A breaking voice started to speak as the video continued. "Oh my...., they're attack....ng.... the .......command.....save...civil...ns..." It went quite, you could see the fleet starting it's attack, fighters came out and started firing massive amounts of plasma into the command centre. They wouldn't stop. you could just barely see a few escape shuttles blast off from the station. The Covenant quickly attacked them aswell. I also could see the Empirial vessels all firing at the same ship. By the end of the video there was nothing left only two or three covenant ships made it, but they left, afraid of reinforcements probably. The rest was gone, the whole installation was gone. I was pail anyone could tell that. And they knew why. The cadet that had come with this ill news walked up to me and gave me an extra chip. I was afraid, it looked torn up a bit. I was afraid of what it might hold, what might be said, what I might see. With a shaking hand I put it in the reader. It was the inside of an escape pod. Centralised was Jason. He started talking, he looked beet, his arm was hurt and his leg had a bandage. He talked as he cried softly, he was trying to hide it, but couldn't. His hand was covered in blood so I knew he had to be hurt on his arm, by the way he was clutching it and how blood was all over his hands. "I, hate to be the one to tell you this stuff. I.... we needed you, we needed you badly. I know you where probably needed there to but, I don't know, you would probably have suffered the same fate. We're joining you down there, we'll probably be a few days though, if we survive. Mel's dad is dead Nathan, he... was sucked out into space by a break in the hull. So are Terry, Trevor, Sam, Devon, Greg, Sarah, Joanna. They're all dead." He was about to die of crying, I wanted to speak to him, but it was a recording and so he might not even be alive anymore. There was a long pause. He started to say something but stopped and said, "be strong." The screen went black and as I started to stop the video he came back on. He immediately started talking. "I'm sorry bro, but... I." He constantly paused as if he wanted to use the right words. He took a deep breath and let it all out, as tears rolled down his cheeks he continued. "I'm sorry, I did all I could, I didn't want this, I don't want to tell you so you'll have to see it. It was close, she almost made it." with that the video moved down and I could see Melissa, laying there with a puddle of blood on her chest. Blood was on her face, Jason wasn't hurt at all, it was Melissa's blood that he had on his hands. I was about to faint, I had tears all over my face, my body was covered in sweet. He went on. "I didn't know whether to tell you, She was at the pod and as the doors closed a piece of shrapnel hit her in the back, it went through. I couldn't stop it. Kill the bastards, Nait." With that it ended, the video stopped. I felt like I'd been stabbed in the chest, my heart had left me, all I could feel was this pain in my chest. I gasped and screamed in pain. without being able to stop it I fell face first on the ground, like I had just been shot and was dead. I continued to breath with difficulty, my neck hurt when I tried to live. I blinked, and as my eyes opened the pain decreased, my neck stopped hurting. every muscle in my body was flexing, and I wasn't thinking. The veins in my neck popped out, they could clearly be seen. I stood up and screamed. It was a frightening deep scream. My teeth where showing. I didn't care, all I could think was the last sentence I'd herd, kill the bastards. Then I didn't know what I did, I saw it, I herd it, I felt it, but it wasn't me I was in a dark spot. My body had left my soul for what it was. I ran towards the enemy forces which where camped across a valley, and stated shooting randomly, I shot at anything I could. My men where following me, but everyone staid away from me, all of my fellow men had fear in there eyes. It seemed like no time at all when I had reached the enemy camp. I was starting to come back to my sences, the veins in my neck weren't visible, I felt tired and relaxed my muscles. The camp was in ruins, I had destroyed it. In my anger I took what I had herd and made it literal I killed the bastards, there where dead bodies all over the place. my men which where around me where terrified, I wondered why, the enemy was gone a few had fled but the battle was won. Then I realised it, they never where afraid of charging the leftover enemies as I thought they where when I was going mad. They where terrified of me, of what I had done. of how recluse I had just been. I realised this just in time as I feel down again just like the last time. The pain returned I clutched my side, and fell unconscious.

Reunited
As I wake up the first thing I see is that I am in the hospital ward of section C. The fact that my eyesight is still completely fuzzy and I can't see anything but blobs, tells me that I'd been on this planet for to long. I saw a figure walk to the door. "He's awake now." a woman's voice said softly. "Mel...." I tried to say her name but I couldn't get it out. "Melissa." I finally said. The nurse looked at me and turned away. I stuck my arm out, trying to reach her but I couldn't. My eyesight returned to me as, a young soldier walked in. I realised that I had been calling a random nurse that the soldier called Katie. I'm blinking allot because of the light and my eyesight being a bit fuzzy. But after hearing the voice of the soldier I know I'm in good hands. "So Jason, what's new. Dead doctors, torn apart soldiers. is my mother dead?" I ask him sarcastically. "That's not funny and you know it." he replied. "Cause she died ten years ago." he continued after a pause. He exploded in laughter, and so did I. Defiantly not at the joke, but we where happy, it was good to see each other again. I got out of my bed, asked Jason to wait outside for a sec. And as he waited I sliped on my uniform and joined him. It was so good to see him, the only piece of joy that was left in my life was my best friend. "Let's get some food." I said enthusiastically. Jason looked puzzled, I could tell he didn't expect me to take it this well. Infact I was suprising myself. The madness must have dimed the pain of loosing her. I decided to put it behind me, that I'd be me, and that I'd flirt with girls as much as I used to, which was just about constantly. We ate together and talked about everything that had happened since we left eachother. As we walked to the victory ceremony that night I asked him something that was on my mind. "Jason, what about MC, did he make it?" His reply was very comforting. "I don't know, it's like he vanished in the middle of the battle. He's probably still out there though." We arrived at the ceremony a bit late. We looked around for some place to sit, when a young cadet walked up "May I escort you to your table sir?" He asked with a salute. I thanked him and he brought us to a small table in the middle of the hall, it was fancy more fancy than the other tables, and I wondered why our names where on the seats in gold writing. We took our seats. It was obviously the table for the important people, there was a spotlight right on it, so I tried to stay still. During the whole celebration I got the feeling I was being looked at by one person or another. I tried to think nothing of it. So the night carried on, it was a big party. Lots of food, the scientists presented their newly developed, things. And then it came, something I wasn't expecting at all. Jason and I where both decorated with the Imperial Medal of Bravery. In addition I was given a good conduct medal, and the marksmanship award. The night was filled with suprises, from that point forward. The Scientists presented me with two gifts, one for leading the attack and the second for showing such courage in the battle field to protect them. They gave me a one of their plasma disigned plasma riffles that had yet to get a name, and a Panther. The party ended around three o'clock in the morning and we all went straight to bed. The long days of battling the enemy where tiring ones. We where scheduled to leave the installation at 07:00. I couldn't get to sleep that night, every time I closed my eyes she was standing right in front of me. I had slept for about an hour, an hour filed with nightmares, I was missing her, if this carried on much longer I'd have to have my memory of it taken out by surgery. As the hour of five approached I got up, dressed in full gear and got ready to go. After doing that I came out here to see the orange light of the planet's second star descend past the landscape, a sort of "star set." This was supposed to be a beautiful sight. The only problem was, anything beautiful reminded me of Mell. It isn't as painful anymore, I miss her but, for some reason it's ok. She's comforting me. As I stand out here tonight I finally have figured out how I can move on, if you call it moving on. I will dedicate this time of every day to Melissa, the girl who was taken from me to soon. An old saying says that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. That?s bull, I know now the truth. Love is like a drug, it is great when you have it, but when you're without it, you become weak, and sad. But love makes you strong, nothing can hurt you more than loosing a loved one, that?s the most painful experience ever. It is however my job as something that can love to take this pain, and I can overcome it, for as another old saying goes, no pain, no gain. Love all you can, a man that can not love is not human. Love goes on, the saying It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all is wrong for only one reason. That reason is that love isn't lost, you can't loose it. If you could, there would be no pain. Love goes on.

The Empire (Episode IV), Truths & Dreams
Date: 27 July 2003, 9:51 AM

Death for Beauty
Nathan wakes with a shock. He has been having the same nightmare every night for the past three weeks. He has been able to get back into working status and has been handling Melissa's death pretty well. He no longer has the attacks he had been having and he has actually started flirting with the girls again, it seems like he has learned to go on. He often takes his private Panther off of the base and rides it around aimlessly it seems. As he wakes up he notices the electronic message waiting to be seen by him, "Read mail." He says plainly and the mail file opens up, and starts the first and only message. It's a text based message and the computer reads it out for him, "Commander Nathan Mcat, We have been handed information from an anonymous source that leads us to believe that there is an Alliance base on the planet of Neptune, we are initializing a team of seven Spartan Knights to find and destroy the rumored base. Report to the flight deck in two hours, there you shall meet your team." The computer stopped reading and the message left the screen. He slowly gets out of bed, puts his armor on, and eats breakfast. He then leaves the room with his helmet under his arm. He walks to the flight deck taking the swiftest route he knows. As he arrives he sees equipment being loaded into a Havoc. He walks up to the computer and accesses the mission log. So far all it has is information about the stats and equipment the team has. The team chosen was obviously not meant to be a group of experts. As far as Nathan could tell by the stats and history records of the team, he had been stuck with three rookies, a plebe, a hotshot, and one serious man he had heard of before but couldn't place. He decides to study the stats and history until the team shows up. It's fifteen minutes before the designated time and a young girl walks on to the flight deck. It was the plebe, Nathan could tell because he had been studying the team for an hour now. "Good morning Madi." Nathan says in a tone that suggest a previous encounter, the truth is however that this is there first meeting. She looks at him for a second but realizes then how he knew her name. "Good morning Sir." She says in a military fashion. Nathan cringes at the sound of it and says, "Please don't do that, I hate that robot answer that people always give me." She's the same age as Nathan, had long brown hair in a ponytail, and it could be seen that she hadn't seen much action yet. The rest of the team has come in together now, and are five minutes late. I silence them and ask them if they've been informed of our mission. They all responded with a node, and so I ordered them to load into the Havoc waiting for us. As Nathan sits down the door closes and the Havoc leaves the fleet heading for the planet Neptune.
Which one's a dream?
As the seven members load off the last of the equipment, Nathan notices Madi struggling with a weapons container. He walked over and gave her a hand. "We'll be stuck here tonight so start getting comfortable." Nathan says as he presses the button on one of the crates. As soon as he presses the button, it folds out into a sort of cabin. The others started doing the same thing by Nathan's command. After setting up camp, and scouting the area, they team meets up in the cabin, where Nathan is about to give an explanation of what they're doing here. "OK guys let's start, I'll start this by introducing everyone, then I'll explain our mission. First of all, I'm sure you know who I am, but just in case, I'm Commander Nathan Mcat, I've been through lots of combat and have an outstanding service record. To my left is Ricardo Feli, he's been in two combat missions, and is our vehicle specialist, so if we need it, he can steer the thing. Next to him we have Liz, she's our insider, she has good stealth skills and as anyone can see she has the body to go with it, don't judge her by her size, I know what she's capable of, and don't get any ideas guys, Liz here is my little sister. Next to her we have Sharon, and Timothy, two excellent snipers we have in our group, unfortunately neither of them have seen real combat before. Here we have Felix, an experienced man that has been in service for a long time. And Finally there's Madi, who just reported in from the academy two weeks ago, she was top of her class so I think she'll fit in just fine. Ok now that we know each other we can get on with business. We were originally sent here to find and destroy a rumored base somewhere in the vicinity. Well things have changed. Around noon the fleet located a small facility that fit the description of the base in question. It seems that it's a small base and it is believed that we can take it out with just the seven members present. This mission has been coded as 'The Creek.' Our team has been designated 'The coral reef.' Tomorrow night we're going in to do our job. I'll see you around noon tomorrow, until then you're free, but please don't make our presence known, it could make it much more difficult." As the members of the team dismiss themselves, he notices that none of the members are paying attention to Madi, they're locking her out. "Madi, have anything to do?" Nathan says. Madi shakes her head no. "I'm going for a walk want to come?" He continues. Madi smiles "I'd like that." She says. Nathan stands there for a while staring into oblivion, then walks out of the cabin, Madi follows him completely confused, what could have caused him to freeze like that.
Our First Walk
"You mean to tell me that the captain just let you walk up and punch him?" Madi says laughing, as she and Nathan walk along a sandy beach on Neptune. They have been exchanging stories throughout the day and the sun is already setting. Though Nathan has been talking the most, Madi has been telling Nathan of the academy and how it's changed since he had graduated there only two years ago. "It seems like an eternity." Nathan says to Madi, who is still laughing about the stories Nathan has been telling. "What's that." She answers. Nathan hesitates for a moment, as if he were pondering on how to say it. "Nothing, sorry, it's just I miss it. The academy was fun, all my friends were there." there is a short pause and then Nathan continues with his head pointed at the and beneath him, "Nobody died." "Is that how it happened?" Madi says in return, no longer laughing, but with a voice with understanding. "How did you know?" Nathan asks, it seems obvious that Madi has heard the story of Melissa and him. "It was a story that they told us at graduation. Nobody wanted to leave after that, afraid of what could happen." Madi tells him. "So, how did your brother die?" Nathan asks as he lifts his head. Madi looks at him and starts to answer the question, "He was charging an enemy base under the command of a well known Spartan. They attacked quick and unexpected, though it was a crazy attack the Spartan continued, the enemy base was annihilated, and few of our men died, but my brother was ripped to shreds by a Whorthog's gunner." Nathan feels sorry, now that he knows the answer he would never have asked. "Which battle was it that he died on?" Nathan asks. "He died on a tech installation that was being taken by enemy forces. They where doing good now that reinforcements had arrived and were driving the enemy away. The enemy only held one hill with a small base of operations. The attack was code named 'Crazy mad dash." Madi stopped there and Nathan looked away. He knew that attack and he now knows that he was the Spartan mentioned. The attack he had staged after receiving the news that Melissa had died was the attack that caused Madi's brother's death. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." Nathan says. "You couldn't have, it's ok, you were in rage, it could have happen to anyone. I would have been the same way if I heard my soul mate had died." Madi replies with not a hint of sadness. The two sat on a rock and looked at the sunset. "I've got something to confess, I think I love you." Madi says out of the blue. "I'm not sure but I've never felt this way about anyone." She continues. "I, I don't know." Nathan says. "I've loved before and it didn't feel like this, this is a larger feeling. It makes what I've felt before feel like a dream, and this the truth. But if that was a dream and it ended like it did, then I'm afraid of how this will end. How will I react?" Nathan continues. As the sun's last light creeps over the horizon, Nathan and Madeline end the day with a long kiss, a kiss that would bring back a famous hero.
Stakeout
"Ricardo from now on you're Blowfish. Liz you'll be Flounder. Sharon, Eel. Timothy, Salmon. Felix, Cat-food. Madi, Dolphin. And I'll be Piranha. Those names will be ours only until we get off of this planet and back in the fleet. Flounder, you'll have to get inside before the attack, get inside and make your way to the archives as soon as possible, as soon as the attack starts you need to be blasting away, you'll have about half an hour to get into position. Blowfish, you'll drive the Hedgehog to this spot in the forest right outside the gate. Cat-food, and Dolphin will be in the Hedgehog with you, before the alarm is raised, I want you inside the base. Eel, you'll take a sniper position on this shelf of a pillar that sits in the sea, it looks directly over the base. Salmon, I want you to take this tower quietly with Flounder before she attempts entry. I'll be in there as soon as the alarm has been raised. Let's go, get loaded up." The members leave chatting with one another as they head out to the weapons and each take a pistol. Sharon and Timothy both grab sniper riffles as Nathan walks up and nods at them. "Flounder, take a plasma riffle, and an Assault riffle. Eel Salmon, along with that take rocket launchers. Blowfish, Cat-food, and Madi take whatever guns you want, but no sniper riffle, or rocket launchers." As soon as Nathan finishes his sentence, Ricardo and Felix grab shotguns and an Assault riffles. Madi follows their example and grabs an Assault riffle, but as she reaches for a shotgun Nathan grabs her wrist and says no. He then grabs a plasma riffle from the box and hands it to her. "This is what you want, trust me." Nathan says as he lets go of her wrist. Each of them grabs eight grenades, four plasma, and four fragmentation grenades. They then run off in different directions. Felix jumps in the side seat of the hedgehog, and Ricardo jumps in the driver's seat. Madi comes later than the rest and wonders if she should be the one in the gunner's seat. It really was a seat now, they actually took Nathan's design plans and had put a kind of rest extending from one side of the gun and going around for a semi-comfortable rest. Finally Felix speaks to Madi and tells her that even though she thinks she wont be very efficient in the gunner's seat, she'd be even less of a use as a passenger. Timothy and Sharon both started walking towards their spots, fortunately they where close to the base and so they could get there within an hour on foot. Nathan jumped on his Panther and let Liz get on back. The only thing that stopped Nathan from flirting was the fact that it was his sister. As it was Sharon and Timothy would get to their positions last but still would make it there before eighteen hundred hours.
What's easier getting a date or getting inside this place?
"I'm in." Says Liz as she silently slips in-between the air conditioning system and onto a platform. "Better hurry up, you've got twenty minutes till bodies start to drop." Nathan says over the intercom. "I'm well aware of that bro, no need to remind me." Liz says in return as she uses a rope to repel above a group of three inept guards. Liz lets herself fall quickly and knocks two of the three to the floor. The third begins a mad dash for the alarm, but is tripped by Liz. As he hits the floor she comes down on his head with a quick smack in the neck. She ties the three to the Repelling cord that dangles above them and lifts them up high to avoid them being seen. She then continues down the hall to get to an opening were she can slip into the weapons locker. She finds it. Luckily she's small and can just slip in through a duct meant for air. She makes a soft landing and climbs up on top of a tall gun rack. Making sure to stay low and time her jumps she makes her way to a back door that leads outside, in the restricted area. As she opens the door she finds a guard taking a cigarette break and knocks him unconscious with a high kick. "Flounder is in site." Comes over the intercom from Sharon. Liz stops for a second but then continues her journey. She uses a series of jumps and lifts to get up to the second floor. Unfortunately she needs to be higher than this to reach the window on the second floor. She looks around then fires a silent grappling hook at the flag post above the window. The cord is strong enough to hold her, but not for long. She starts to climb up the wall, and up above the window until she reaches the flag post. She sits on the flag post to rest a moment. As she starts to move but then checks the clock, six minutes left. She then swings down to the window, holding on to the flag post with one hand, with the other she cuts a hole in the window. As she completes the hole she swings herself over and jumps through the hole, making a role as she lands to avoid unnecessary noise. She runs quietly to the other side of the room and opens the door slightly, slips into the hallway and closes the door softly. The hallway is small and has lots of lights. If a guard comes around then she'd be seen without a doubt. She walks over to the door marked Archives, designated personnel only. As she starts to pick the lock she hears a voice coming from right behind the door, rips the key-pick out and walks up the wall quickly using the opposite wall as something to lean against. Sure enough the door opens three men walk out and head towards the break room for a cup of coffee, or at least that's what Liz got out of the chatter between the three men. As the men round the corner she slowly makes her way down. When they men were walking down the hallway she had checked her timer again and now had two minutes left. She then started to unlock the door again. "One minute till strike." comes over the intercom. "Piranha I'm going to hurt you if you keep this up." Liz says in return to the update. "Get in there already or I'll be forced to poke you till you pee your pants sis." Nathan says in defense and the com goes quiet. Liz knows he can and will do what he says. "Got it." Liz says to nobody in particular as she hears the door unlock. She opens the door quietly and jumps onto a pipe connected to the ceiling. "I'm in position." Liz says with a sigh.
The Butcher ran out of meat.
"This is Eel I have my target, Say bye to the century guns." Says Sharon as she pulls the trigger on her sniper riffle and sends a bullet flying towards a pile of flammable materials next to the main gate. Sure enough the whole thing goes up in flames as the pile explodes and sends canisters and junk flying into the gate and the century guns. "The door is open." Felix says as the gate is blasted to bits. The Whorthog flies through the piles of ruble and straight into the base as Madi fires tones of ammunition into the confused troops that have been taken by surprise. Already the two snipers have taken down many random targets that wouldn't be seen by the patrolling troops, then the main defense systems were blown to bits. The troops inside were obviously not ready for an attack of this sort, then again who would be. Nathan thinks as he comes screeching through the base after the Whorthog in his Panther, taking down anyone left standing. "This is Salmon, taking down my target." Says Timothy as he uses the last bullet he has left for his sniper riffle into the long-range transmitter preventing the alliance from sending for help. As the Whorthog gets to the center of the base it starts circling. As people run for their lives all around them the Whorthog and Panther continue to make circles around the troops trapping them and taking them down in large scale. "Salmon get inside and find Flounder." Nathan orders Timothy. Timothy immediately gets out of the tower and runs for the nearest door leading into the base. As he closes the door he hears a noise. The alarm has finally started ringing. As he runs he sees few enemies, those he does see are already wounded or dead. There are few exceptions but after he gets past they have joined the rest. He runs up the stairs and through the corridors till he comes to a flame engulfed area near to where Liz is meant to be. He then climbs the walls in a similar way Liz had. He got past the flames and jumped down. Taking a quick look around he finds the door, he runs to inside the room and sees bodies all over the place. There she is, she's fine. She's downloading all the archive information onto a disk. "Flounder, how much longer!" Tim screams at her, she looks over and sees him standing by the door. "Not much longer, hold off the troops would you!" She screams back. He pulls out his pistol and aims for the end of the hall. Sure enough there they come, a load of alliance troops come around the corner just as Tim starts to lower his weapon. He quickly pulls it back up, zooms and fires multiple rounds into the troops advancing on his position. The way things are going it looks good for the team, but will they survive, or is it just starting.
Secure the Base
"This is Flounder, weapons rooms are secure. Nothing interesting though." Whispers Liz, so that it would be noted as secure, so nobody will waist their time checking it again. So far the operation has going fine. Felix had shot in the shoulder during the raid and Timothy had been shot in the leg. As they had already taken out all the attacking forces they now found themselves searching the compound for any survivors. They had split up to make life easier. Liz and Ricardo were securing the east side of the base, most of which had already been secured when Liz was getting Tim out of the building. Madi and I found ourselves securing the West side of the base. Luckily there wasn't much to it, no difficult winding passageways or anything, just large halls and narrow corridors. Sharon kept a look out from her sniper position as we continued to give the base a full cavity search. "We're nearing the archives." Comes another whisper. Apparently Liz had spotted an extra computer that she couldn't get to earlier and so she was going to check it out now. "We're entering the last barracks, after this only one more room." I whisper in response. As I get to the door it opens and there standing in front of me are a dozen troops in full gear. My eyes go wide as I twirl my plasma riffle into firing position, then watch the troops fly as I unload an array of beautiful but lethal blue plasma into them. I jump aside as I fire and Madi to has been caught by surprise, she to grabs her plasma riffle and fires into the crowd of troops, then jumps to the other side. As she lands she kneels and braces her gun with her left hand, ready to fire more when she sees the least bit of Allied flesh. I see her sitting there unmoved by the display of five dead and burned corpses not more than four meters away. I then see that the companions of the dead five have returned, and soon afterwards I notice the bullets flying past my armor, I to kneel and brace myself as the allied forces come storming out of the barracks. Madi screams and fires as she sees the men hoarding out the door, I to fire as soon as I see the scum running to me. As we continue to fire plasma into the hoard of screaming men, I notice that there are a lot more than twelve, at least twenty seven are spread out on the floor and they're still coming, Madi has switched to her assault riffle by my command, she was constantly overheating the thing as she had never been tat how to use one before. Besides there would be plenty of AR ammo to regain pick-up once this was over. The hoard is defiantly decreasing in size there aren't that many anymore. All of a sudden the forces stop. All of the shooting stops. I stand up and walk into the room. Madi reloads her Assault riffle as I walk over the threshold of the door. Two men jump at me as I walk in. I was expecting a trap so I was not caught by surprise. I jump up while spreading my legs. Unfortunately the two soldiers aren't as dumb as the comic book villains and quickly get out of my way. I then come down and do a quick roll to the nearest man, as I get up I smack him with plasma riffle, and then again. Amazingly he's still standing, and so I finish him off with a flying kick. I turn around and find the other man aiming at me. "Madi, I could use some help." I scream right before he pulls the trigger. Realizing that Madi isn't coming I make a low but fast jump in the man's direction and punch him in the face. His head goes back and his arms fly to his sides. I then kick his gun out of his hand, and hit him away. The soldier recovers at a descend speed and draws his pistol. As he does I step on the fallen weapon making it fly up and forward in a spiral movement. The gun hits the soldier in the face, and as it does he falls to the ground. From behind me I hear a scream and turn around. A third soldier was madly running towards me. He caught me off guard and I could not draw my weapon in time. I suddenly hear a burst of ammo from the entry way and the third man falls to the floor. "It's about time you finished picking up ammo Madi." I say calmly. "Yeah well I knew you could take care of yourself." She responds. "Nathan, get your butt over here now, you need to see this." Liz says in what seems like a frightened tone. I look at Madi, she understands my face and starts running through the door. I follow her. We run down through the base to the nearest exit we know of. As we get outside we run to the other building, the entrance nearest to the archive room has been secured and so we head for that door. As we get in we're ready to meet head on with Allied forces but there weren't any. "What's wrong Liz!" I scream as I enter the archives. She was silent; all she did was push a button on the computer she had been checking. As soon as she did however a file was being displayed on a screen that appeared in the middle of the room. As I look at it, everything is explained, and as the transmission continues my eyes go wide with fear.
Attack on Sol
" Ground team this is Havoc five, touching down, and ready for extraction," says the pilot of the Havoc landing right outside the captured base for the extraction of the ground team. I'm standing with my team still trying to think this through. The message that I so desperately had to see was breath taking. The Alliance somehow has been able to get their hands on the defense plans in case of an attack on Sol. And now have devised a plan to take Sol itself. It couldn't have been an accident. Someone had to give them those documents. There must be an insider. So as I have been taught I copied the files and gave two to each member of the team, and called for a transport to pick us up immediately. And here it is, my team is rushing all the captured goods into the five Havocs. I decide to lend a hand. "Let's move people, on the double this data can't wait!" I scream as I load a crate of ammunition into one of the Havocs. "Ricardo, get the Whorthog. Liz, get my Panther. Sharon, get in Havoc-1 and go home. Timothy Havoc-2, same as Sharon. Madi, help Felix into Havoc-4 and drive that Scorpion tank over to the Havoc-1." I say as I load the last of the loot into Havoc-5. "Havoc-1, departing." says a pilot as I lift the last of the crates into the back of Havoc-5. The message is quickly followed by another phrase said by the pilot of Havoc-2 and the departure of the ship with the Whorthog attached. " Ricardo, get in Havoc-4. Havoc-4 you're clear, depart." I say to keep things moving. My order is responded by the voice of a female pilot saying, "Yes sir, understood, departing now." I realize that Liz isn't back yet, and start looking around me, when just at that moment a Panther comes zooming by, it is quickly followed by the sound of loud breaking. "Liz, what did I tell you about that, don't ware out my breaks I might need them one day." I say a little irritated with my sister. But eventually continue, "Madi, get in Havoc-5, Liz you too." They jump in as I take my Panther and drive it over to Hvoc-3. "Havoc-5 departing." I hear the sound of the engines flying by as I walk into the Havoc along side my Panther, which is being hauled in by a belt specifically designed for loading such vehicles. I sit down at the back and tell the pilot to leave, but to keep the back open till we reach a high altitude. By now Havoc-1 should be docking and the data we recovered at the base will soon be seen by high-ranking officials. This probably means we'll be heading to Sol a.s.a.p. And the war will be far to close to earth. The next few weeks will be filled with stress on my part and so I'm going to enjoy peace and beauty for a little bit, before being hurtled into battle again.

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