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Author's note: Thanks to Velker for coming up with the idea for a Covonet "pig" vehicle, which I used in part 2. If you haven't already read any of Velker's work, you should. Also, I should say not to expect any more of Demosethnes work for a while, because I have been informed that he moved on the 15th. His series, 5-way-war, has a character named Locke!

Covonet cruiser: Trime
"Missionary" fleet
High orbit around the ice world Thor

Nahara sat in his throne in the center of the huge ship-control room, and I mean HUGE! You could probably fit a Covonet Cathedral in here! The room was shaped like a giant circle, with lots of observation balconies and control computers everywhere. The wall on the front half of the room was a huge, purple, semi-transparent window. All the balconies faced this window, and it was out the window the Nahara gazed. He looked out longingly at the void of space, imagining the Covonet fleet spreading across the universe, uniting all races and finally ruling with peace and order, living together as ONE race, and ONE people. With his persuasive speaking, he would work his way up through the Covonet ranks, until his name was known as much as the names of the great prophets! He, then, would take charge of the TRUE objective of the Covonet. Of course, in his quest for peace, he would face the occasional obstacle that would have to be eradicated. Suddenly, a purple dot appeared off in the void of space. As it grew, Nahara could see it was a large, Covonet cruiser.

"Cruiser! Identify yourself at once! This is Admiral Nahara of the Trime!"
He said his new rank with pride. He had convinced the prophets to give him credit for the work Salivar had really done, and made up some story about how Salivar died in battle. Luckily, he thought to himself, all the men who saw me destroy Salivar were eradicated by the grunts. These rebel grunts have proven to be useful after all! Suddenly, a jackal appeared on the huge screen in front of his thrown. The Jackal was obviously sitting in front of a control panel of some kind.

"This is the Deliverer, commander Nahara! The grunt army has been fully loaded up and armed!"

Obviously, the Jackal had been given a script of what to say to Nahara.

"More excellent news as well! Commander Garsh survived! He docked recently in Hangar5 and has been given control of the ship".

A look of horror crossed Admiral Nahara's face. Had Garsh told the prophets what he had done? Still, he knew he had to play along with this Jackal.

"Excellent, Private! Tell Garsh to pull the Deliverer up next to the Trime! We'll proceed to Domicile from there!"
Domicile is the Covonet "home" planet. It was not really a home planet because none of the Covonet races originated on Domicile. It was more of a "headquarters" planet.

"Also, before you tell your commander, may I see the..."

The Jackal pressed a button before Garsh could finish talking. Either this was one smart Jackal or some earpiece was telling him what to do.

An amazing sight suddenly appeared on every screen on the Trime. It was an overhead view of what looked like a sea of blue and orange. It was actually the Grand Grunt Army, marching in a proud formation across a cathedral sized room. They held plasma rifles and pistols up to their chests as they walked, some just looked confused, and others glanced around the massive room with aw and wonder. There were several steel balconies around the top of the room, where scaly-skinned prophets looked down with pride at what "Nahara" had accomplished. Now they could accomplish the Covonet dream of making sure the Forerunner did not interfere with their uniting the universe by peace and force. They would invade Halo at the next "sunrise".

Covonet Cruiser "Deliverer"
Onboard citadel of mourning

Garsh knelt before the alter in the huge, red-walled citadel. The alter was covered by a thin, red cloth, and a large "urn" sat in the center of the alter, containing Salivar's body parts. Blue candle-like devices were on either side of the urn. This was the citadel of loss and mourning, and so it was red to represent the blood of both triumph and loss in battle. Tears streamed down the sides of Garsh's head and neck. He could not see at all, his eyes were watery, and more water would continue to come. He now knelt alone in the citadel, kneeling in the middle of a large puddle.
             I know you were my brother by blood, Salivar, but if you were not, I would mourn this much for your loss still, for you were truly my brother by heart. You were always with me in times of grief, and I for you. I truly can never be happy in the mortal world without you by my side as a brother of heart, but I will stay here and avenge you, and then fulfill your dream in your name. Nahara did not know we were brothers when he slaughtered you, but it would make no difference if we were not, and so he will learn in time. I can only be slightly happy, only go for a day without crying for your loss, when I have avenged you. And then, and I can only be truly happy when I have fulfilled your dreams, for this will truly reserve a place of a honor for me among the gods, so I can re-join you and live eternally in your presence when I have passed on.
       He stood and walked out of the citadel, leaving a trail of water as he walked. He didn't care anymore. Only Salivar mattered now.
             The first of my promises will be accomplished immediately, my brother. Nahara will die this day!

Back in the Trime control room

Nahara stared at the cruiser. It was almost next to them now. Covonet cruisers were very massive ships. There were so many hangars on them; they looked like flashing bright lines moving across the ship. Suddenly, a large purple cloud burst out of the side of the ship, coming from one of the bright lines. The cloud began moving toward the Trime, expanding, and getting denser. Nahara was about to contact the Deliverer and ask them if they were insane, but the image of a gold-armored elite appeared on the screen. It was Garsh.

"Greetings Nahara. I only pretended to be happy when you appointed me captain back on Thor. Everyone calls me commodore here!"

"What is the meaning of this Garsh!? You can't just deploy whatever that thing is without clearance!"

"Nahara you fool! Salivar was my brother!"

A smile of satisfaction appeared on Garsh's face and the screen shut off. Only then did Nahara realize what was happening. "Private!" He barked to a Jackal. Get on radar and tell me what that that purple cloud is!" The muffled voice of the Jackal sounded confused.. "There must be a virus implanted in the computer! According to this, its 10,000 banshees moving in thousands of perfect little formations". Nahara cursed (In his language). He suddenly barked orders to everyone on deck. "Launch all plasma torpedoes at the Deliverer! NOW!" Before they could respond to his orders, a massive green beam of energy shot out of the side of the Deliverer, aimed directly at the window of the bridge. Some Covonet launched the torpedoes, but most ducked for cover or grabbed air helmets. The cloud of banshees eradicated most of the few torpedoes before they could reach the Deliverer. Only 3 torpedoes struck the ship. One did no damage, it was hit earlier and was flying off course, and another failed to penetrate the shield and exploded in a flash of blue. One penetrated the shield. The huge, green, beam however, had penetrated the shield so easily you could barely tell one was there. Most of the window shattered. Shards flew everywhere, things exploded, and the entire Trime shook violently.
       In all this time, the growing cloud of banshees split up into thousands of formations, and the biggest formation was beginning to pour into the Bridge like water flooding a damaged submarine. Some of the bridge survivors hopped swiftly into plasma turrets and stationary guns, and fired away at the wave. Elites and Jackals threw plasma grenades that stuck to the banshees and caused a chain reaction. The Deliverer suddenly deployed a fleet of stalkers. They moved toward various spots on the Trime, intending to slice them open and make way to deploy troops. Some elites on a distant part of the cruiser realized what was happening and released a rain of plasma torpedoes that killed several banshees and inflicted considerable damage upon the Deliverer. Still, this was a bad choice. In the split second that the Trime lowered its shields to fire, the Deliverer launched another green beam that made a clean slice through the hull of the Trime. This was not as strong, because the first one used so much energy. It would not have made it through the shield if it weren't for the elite's mistake. All of the stalkers moved now towards the huge gash In the Trime, except one, that moved towards the bridge of the Trime. Its mission was to capture Nahara and bring him to the Deliverer.       Nahara tuned around, and hovered across the balcony to a huge steel door that separated the bridge from the rest of the cruiser. When he reached the other side, he commanded the computer to seal off the bridge. Several Elites and Jackals were still fighting the incoming fleet back on the bridge, but they would not die in vain. The huge door slammed shut behind him, just as a rain of missiles struck the bridge, finishing it off. The whole cruiser shook as the bridge broke away from the rest of the cruiser, or what was left of it. It began drifting away in space, and then it burst like a huge bubble, and shards bounced of both cruisers. Fortunately, the steel door was air tight, but unfortunately, the Covonet stalker was coming up to the area were the bridge once was, and it had plasma cutters that could easily slice through that door.

Later
Onboard a Covonet stalker

Nahara looked out the window of his cell on the stalker. The Trime was slowly blowing up behind him. Flares and fireballs were flashing everywhere, and chunks of the ship were crumbling off and floating away into the void. Garsh's stalkers and drop ships were in full retreat, leaving Nahara's troops to burn in the doomed ship. It was a glorious thing to watch, not in a good way, but still amazing, exciting. But that window had been sealed off, and another had opened. Garsh wanted him to see something other than his entire army burning in the void of space. What could be worse? Nahara knew he wouldn't want to see, but he turned anyway. Another cloud had burst out of one of the hangars on the Deliverer, and more clouds continued to burst out like an ongoing stream. It was a fleet of cargo ships; drop ships, and several Covonet corvettes. What is he... then Nahara realized. The grunt army is ready! He's attacking Halo ahead of schedule! Nahara's thoughts ended when the stalker docked with the Deliverer. Garsh would no doubt want to face him alone. "I am ready!" he said to nobody.



Interior of Halo, below the lab ANIM
Sometime after the next "sunrise"

The squad of Forerunner infantry stood in the center of the huge metallic chamber. These to, were wearing silver armor that was shaped like Spartan armor. Several halls branched off from the main chamber. The commander of the squad began to yell out orders to his infantry. A large number of Flood spores had apparently taken shelter in Halo's interior, and it was their job to clean them out. The Forerunners split up, each one running down a different tunnel. When they had almost finished splitting up, the commander stopped one of the soldiers. <Anar, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news, you have the hardest assignment, the bad news, your brother died>. <When did he die? > <2 minutes ago. He was guarding an observation ship near ANIM. Some Flood had escaped there>. Anar cursed (in Forerunner). He hated the Flood. He never could understand why Forerunners had even created them in the first place. <How did he die?> <Some engineer named Shang-Zaer survived and gave a report. He says Flood warriors eradicated the whole ship. I really don't trust that guy. I think he's hiding something>. Anar was startled. High-ranking commanders never shared their personal opinions with a soldier, unless it was about the enemy. Another part of him felt like mourning for his brother, but he wouldn't do that in front of a commander. He could grieve later. <What's my assignment? > Anar noticed all the other soldiers had already left. The commander motioned to a tunnel to his right. <We detected a large number of Flood down that passageway. I know you can take them all alone. Just slaughter them before they do any damage to the main power core. Go avenge your brother>. The commander started to walk away, and pressed a button on the side of his helmet, activating his com-link. <Lieutenant, get me a transport, I'm heading out>.

* * *

      Anar continued to walk down the endless hall. His weapon was leveled in a defensive position. He had not seen any enemies for six minutes. He was un-able to relax at the thought that more flood stalked him. His weapon swerved from left to right. Once he even tossed a grenade at a massive pillar. Shaking, he realized there was nothing there. Why didn't the commander come with me? He thought. He knew he was giving me a hard assignment, but he left anyway! He could have helped! Anar knew he had given him this assignment so he could have revenge, but it was only then that he realized he would only be satisfied if he avenged his brother on his own. The commander had known this, and Anar had not. He knows me better than I do! Anar realized.

Later

<NASTY! > Anar looked down at the thing lying on the ground that he had tripped over. It was a mutated, zombie like creature holding Forerunner weaponry. An infested Forerunner. Or at least, it used to be. The Flood were so ugly that Anar couldn't even tell if this corpse has started to rot yet! Soon he saw more Flood corpses. He even saw the headless corpse of Flood carrier. <There was a battle here! > Anar said aloud. But who could've killed these Flood? The commander had said he was the first person down this passageway! Someone else must have gotten here first! Anar looked down and saw the corpse of a Flood warrior. The corpse was holding some kind of plasma weapon that definitely was not built by Forerunners. Some other species had landed on Halo!
      The farther Anar walked, the more Flood corpses there were. Soon there were piles of corpses in every direction. Green blood had splashed against the steel floor and stained the metallic walls. Arms and legs and heads were piled up in every direction. The floor was practically made of dead Flood!
      Suddenly, Anar heard what sounded like a high-pitched laughing in the distance, then a squeal, and faint plasma fire for about 3 seconds. Startled, Anar raised his rifle and looked through the scope, glancing around. When he found nothing, he followed the sound. It lead him to a smaller hall that branched off the main one, which was a relief because it was hard to spot enemies in that cathedral-sized hall. However, here there were even MORE Flood corpses. Carrier's body parts, infested Forerunners, and other corpses he had never seen where piled up or stacked along side the wall. Whatever had killed all these Flood, it had moved this way. Soon he saw strange plasma weaponry, too. Some were fully charged, and lying randomly on the ground. All the empty ones were tossed carelessly into huge piles. There was even more green blood, and singes covered the walls, along with huge black dents and craters all over the metal floor.
      There was another turn up ahead, and the noises were even louder now. He could hear high-pitched voices arguing, and plasma fire every now and then. It was strange; the arguing seemed to have nothing to do with the plasma fire! With his rifle held in a defensive position, he jumped swiftly around the corner and saw... 3 small creatures with orange armor and plasma weapons, shooting the giant, yellowish body of a flood corpse. Anar ducked behind a pillar as he watched. The creatures stood about 5 feet away, and continued to fire upon the dead corpse. They talked in annoying, high-pitched voices. "OOOOOOOH! Look at the big gun he's holding!" "I get the gun!" Anar jumped out from behind the pillar and leveled his rifle at the grunts. They instantly turned and noticed him as they stopped firing. "Look! Another Flood!" "I get his gun!" One of the grunts dropped his weapon and began running towards Anar, eyed fixed on his gun. Anar shot him in the head, and then quickly leveled his weapon at one of the other 2 grunts. <Don't move, and nobody gets hurt!> The grunts froze, and he blasted one's head off in a quick, clean shot. The head bounced off the wall and hit the other grunt in the back, knocking him over. Anar leveled his weapon at the fallen grunt as he walked toward him. "NYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOO! DONTSHOOTSONTSHOOTDONTSHOOOOOOOOT!"

Anar dropped his weapon and raised his hands in the air, sarcastically. Unfortunately, most grunts can't sense sarcasm.

"That's better!" said the grunt, regaining his balance. He spoke in a terrible, high-pitched version of the elite language, which sounded to Anar like WHOOO-WHOMP- WHYOO. Luckily, Anar's helmet solved the translation problems.
Anar walked up to the grunt and kicked the weapon out of his hand. He grabbed the grunt by the neck and lifted him to eye level.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" yelled the grunt "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SPECIES YOU ARE!"

<Don't be dumb!> said Anar. <I know what happened from looking at hours of flood corpses! It would take a billion of whatever you are and probably some other species to take out an entire hive of flood! Therefore, your army must be clearing a path to the central ANIM power core, and you're probably the intentional left behinds who stayed back to look at all the cool toys! IS that it? >

"I can't tell you anything!" The grunt screamed, and wailed his arms around.

Anar silently took several pictures of the grunt and his weapon, as well as the surrounding flood corpses, then he sent them all to his captain. His helmet did all this in 2 seconds. He returned to his "conversation" with the grunt.

<The only thing you need to tell me is where you're pathetic strike force is now. If it gets to the ANIM power core, the fortress will be helpless, your army will invade it easily, and you'll know everything there is to know about Halo. You're forces must be planning an invasion!>

Anar thought for a minute. These creatures were much to dumb too build plasma weapons or plan invasions. They must be in an alliance with another species. Several species, in fact!

"I don't know anything about a power core or an invasion! All I can say is the big blue machines were carrying lots of prefab something missile silos or something like that!"

A look of horror crossed Anar's face. <Enough said! You're coming with me! >

Meanwhile
Back in the NOAH landing site on Halo

The sentinel regiment moved like a cloud, only 343guiltyspark flew in front of the cloud. Shang-Zaer had re-programmed them, and they were now perfectly obedient to all of 343guiltyspark's orders. Suddenly one of the sentinels that was scouting ahead beamed an image to 343guiltyspark. It was the image of a tall cone-shaped spacecraft that was landed in a face up position in the hills below. With one command from the monitor, the cloud broke apart, and all the sentinels descended in a ring formation around the craft, and began spinning around it, lasers pointing at the vessel, waiting for their next order, which they would obey unquestionably.

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