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Halo: The Covenant Frontier
Date: 14 November 2002, 4:19 am

1 - The Pillar of Autumn

The Elite Master Warrior walked to the front of the boarding craft, his red armour reflecting a deep violet light. The Chief Elite wearing the inferior blue armour stood in a side compartment along with a squad of Grunts, who stood readying their plasma pistols and needlers. A few of them chatted among themselves.
      The Red Grunt, Harghu, looked at the other squad members. "We will avenge our brothers in this siege! These measly humans will drop without mercy, and the gods will have their victory."
      One of the Orange Grunts, Egha, then looked up from the needler he held and spoke of their primary goal. "The death of the Green One will be to the diligence of my paws! This needler's sacred burden will be unleashed upon his flesh!"

The Master Warrior checked the autopilot's monitor, before walking to the front of the cylindrical boarding craft and looking through its forcefield window. He embraced the craft's crew and pressed his finger on the forcefield, in the direction of the human ship, "We board when that lifeboat leaves the ship. Then our siege begins on 'The Pillar of Autumn'. We must clear the ship before it lands on Halo."
      The Chief stood and took hold of his left shoulder with his right arm, the Elite salute. "Master Warrior, together we will take down the Green One before he awakes! Our objective lies in the human cryo-chamber."
      The Master Warrior saluted back to the Chief, and turned to Harghu. "Red Harghu, you will take an assault team of two Orange Grunts and storm the bridge, where you will take down the Captain and steal the ship's AI."
      Harghu nodded and turned to face his team.
      The Master Warrior continued, "Orange Egha, you will meet with the parallel boarding craft's Chief Elite, and take your needler squad along with his. I believe his squad is moving to secure the area around the human armoury. May the Gods choose your path!"
      The boarding craft moved into the small port as the human lifeboat blasted out. The plasma clamps fused themselves to the hull, and a forcefield activated, sealing any gaps that led to the vacuum of space. The forward forcefield on the craft disabled, and the Master Warrior stepped into the human airlock. The inner doors were sealed. The Master Warrior gave orders, "Red Harghu, disable this door!"
      Harghu popped the cork on his plasma grenade, igniting the shell with a blue aura. He then stuck it to the human inner airlock door and stepped back into the boarding craft. The door buckled under the force of the powerful energy blast. The crew of the boarding craft entered the Pillar of Autumn.

A shower of bullets greeted the Covenant troopers. The Grunts let out snorts as they began to fire their needlers and plasma pistols. The Master Warrior let out a huge roar as he saw a marine trying to take down his shield with his assault rifle. In his own tongue, and not in the general Covenant dialect, he screamed out, "Your blasphemous life ends here!" And with that he struck the marine under the chin with his forearm, catapulting him into the air with a bloody scream, his primitive weapon flying out and clattering against the metal floor.
      The clash of human projectiles and plasma blasts continued, every so often a marine screaming out and falling to the floor. As their numbers dwindled, the marines grouped together, long enough for the Master Warrior to throw his plasma grenade. The blue flare stuck to one of their faces, and the small human screamed, trying to tug it away as the super-hot plasma fused to his skin. The rest of the group of marines shouted out as they ducked for cover from the explosion, but all were hurled out by the concentrated charge and its wide shockwave. Their bodies were steaming as they hit the ground.

The Master Warrior and the Chief then departed from their company of Grunts and made their way through the corridors of the Pillar of Autumn. The airlock was not far from the cryo-chamber, but a wall of burning canisters obstructed the entrance.
      The Chief let out a spontaneous cry of anger. "The humans are trying to impede our progress! They wish to save the Green One!"
      The Master Warrior let out a deep scream, before shoulder barging the canisters. His full-body shield lit up as he entered the fire. The wall of canisters collapsed, and the two Elites stepped through the flames, into the cryo-chamber. Another blue-armoured Chief Elite had arrived via the other corridors, which had not been blocked.
"He is not here," said the other Elite, "My group has left to find him, but they do not know where to search. I am here to guard the room."
      Then the Chief looked up into the observation deck above the cryo-chambers. "The Green One! There! Break the glass!"
      The two Chief Elites let out bursts of plasma energy onto the glass, whilst the Master Warrior watched, looking straight into the human's visor. Plasma splashed all over the window, but it would not melt. The green-armoured human was almost as tall as the Elites, but just stood and watched as they tried to shoot him through the glass.
      They stopped firing, and the tall human continued to watch them. The Master Warrior shouted, "We can travel round and catch up with him before he leaves the ship! Let us make haste!"
      The two Elites ran from the room, leaving the other to guard the doorway, and came to a midsection of the wall where two low pipes were venting gas. They hopped over the pipes and ran through a network of corridors, eventually reaching a wider corridor, where a large gunfight had previously taken place. Several Grunts lay dead on the floors, in pools of viscous blue blood.
      One Chief Elite in blue armour lay behind an active stationary plasma shield, injured but not dead. He was trying to reach for a human pistol. As the two approached he embraced them. "The gods wish for me to leave this world and cross over to the next. I must die at the hands of a worthy opponent. This pistol... It belongs to the Green One. He took my needler. He is a worthy opponent... Please... Give it to me. I will use it to end my life."
      The Master Warrior kicked the pistol to the injured Elite, and saluted. The Elite saluted in return, saying, "Although he took me down, I hit him with a tracker needle. Its signature is the same as mine. I hope the gods help you in your quest to find him."
Then, he pulled the pistol trigger. Slowly, his head dropped, and the pistol clattered to the floor.
      After bowing their heads and saluting, the two Elites activated the tracker signal on their Heads Up Displays and followed the quickest route that would take them there. They travelled through more corridors, and eventually came to a fork. Human marines were patrolling in this area.
      Whispering, the Master Warrior gave his orders. "We shall both concentrate on one path each. You take the right path, and I'll take the left. Go!"
      The two Elites jumped out, spraying the surprised marines with plasma. The front lines fell without firing one shot, but the marines further back dived out of sight and waited behind cover.
      "We'll need to follow the Green One," shouted the Master Warrior, "so take the path on the right! I'll cover your back from the humans, and you push forward!"
      Without being hit by a single bullet, the Elites pushed back to back through the corridors, eventually coming to an opening into a huge hangar, where Covenant Bandit dropships and Banshee one-man-fighters poured in. The Master Warrior and the Chief had followed the navigation point on their HUDs in the correct direction, but the green-armoured human was already half way to Halo.
      The Master Warrior cried out in anger. "We must chase the human before he gets to Halo! He must not make planetfall!"
      Running to the nearest group of Covenant troopers, the two Elites manned one Banshee each and flew from the hangar off the back of the Pillar of Autumn. One Bandit was flying ahead of them, also following the human's lifeboat. As they began to enter the atmosphere, the two Elites set their shields to encircle the whole of their Banshees, so that the equipment would not be damaged on planetfall.
      The insides of the Banshees began to heat up.

2 - Halo

The Master Warrior and the Chief descended above a huge structure, obviously native to Halo. Every so often, out of the structure erupted a huge blue burst of plasma that soared up into space. Under the huge structure, the Master Warrior saw small moving specks, most likely humans.
      As the two Banshees swooped over the structure, the specks began to fire at them. Several bullets pinged of the shields of the Banshees, disabling them, but failed to reach the thick purple armour underneath. The Chief fired a shot from the Banshee's fuel rod cannon, but the bright green explosion failed to catch any unlucky marines.
      The navigation point on the Elites' HUDs was all they needed to worry about for the moment. It was positioned just around the face of a cliff.
      As the two Banshees swooped around the cliff, the pilots both noticed the small group of Covenant troopers hidden among the rocks below. In front of them, on a lower level, crossing the chasm between two tall cliffs, were two parallel bridges, one below the other.
      The green-armoured human was crossing the higher bridge across to the other cliff. The Bandit dropship that they had followed down was landing next to the lifeboat. It hadn't seen the human.

It was the Chief who fired the first shots. He soared down to the Green One, who was just leaving the bridge, and showered him with shots from the dual plasma cannons. The Green One rolled to the side behind a short tree.
The Master Warrior fired his fuel rod gun at the tree to lure the human out, but it did not work. The Green One opened fire at the Chief's Banshee with a continuous hail of bullets, denting the purple alloy on the outside, and disabling one of the anti-gravity pods on the "wing" of the Banshee.
      The Chief lost control and spiralled to the ground, drawing a helix of smoke in the air behind his vehicle. The Green One reloaded his rifle, and his full-body shield lit up as the Master Warrior showered him with yet more plasma.
The Chief's Banshee detonated as it hit the ground. His body was hurled from the cockpit and off the edge of the cliff side, and the Green One had turned his fire towards the Master Warrior. The Banshee began to smoke as bullets tore through the armour, and before it was disabled, the Master Warrior flew it around the side of another cliff, out of sight of the Green One.

His Banshee had lost too much power to exit the atmosphere and get back to one of the cruisers above Halo. He opened the communication channel to check if there were any camps nearby, but both the Covenant and the humans were scattered very sparsely all over Halo.
      Then, after a few minutes in flight, a beep sounded on the Banshee's control panel, to indicate a large Covenant body nearby. It was a battle cruiser, damaged, that had fallen to the surface around ten miles spinward. It was the very cruiser the Master Warrior had served on before storming the Pillar of Autumn, one of the largest in their task fleet, the Truth and Reconciliation.
      Setting his speed to full, he made his way spinward to meet a familiar crew.

The Truth and Reconciliation had landed in a cliffy region, consisting of rocky valleys and canyons. Although disabled, it was still hovering, and slowly drifting spinward. The Master Warrior flew his Banshee into a hangar on the starboard side of the ship, where Bandit dropships were constantly coming and going.
      The hangar was filled with Covenant warriors, who were gathering in order of ranks. Landing his Banshee, the Master Warrior made his way to a group of red-armoured Elites, who were missing a higher ranked leader such as himself. The group was arranging itself in a square and the Master Warrior stood at the front, facing the large group.
As the groups of Grunts, Elites and Jackals formed squares, a huge roar was heard. A huge twelve-foot tall Hunter stood, raising his wide arrow-shaped shield into the air. The Hunters were huge beasts, whose strength alone could kill a fully shielded Elite. Although they had not the mind power to control such large numbers of Covenant forces, they were seen as the main authority in the armies. Right now they stood towering above all of the troops in the hangar, but in their combat states they contracted to eight-foot, which was shorter than most Elites.
      The Hunters were arranged in a long rectangle, made up of three rows of warriors, standing facing the regiments of Elites, Jackals and Grunts. Behind them stood a sparsely organised square of gold armoured Praetorian Elites, the real commanders of the Covenant Forces.
      The hangar became silent as the Hunter ended its shout. A Praetorian stepped forward to face the squares of troops. "The Gods will be disappointed in our assault on the Pillar of Autumn. The Green One that the humans call a 'Cyborg' escaped from the ship with the main AI." The Praetorian began to pace the alleys between the regiments. "The Pillar of Autumn has been taken down, but it is an outrage that it managed to land on Halo. The Humans must be wiped out. And it must start with the Cyborg's death! Troops have been sent to intercept the Cyborg in his journey. It is important that he is stopped immediately!
      "Human transmissions that we have decrypted suggest that he is attempting to rescue the surviving crew of the Pillar of Autumn. We are going to take advantage of this Human's soft foolishness. We believe that he will attempt to rescue any prisoners we take, and this weakness will lead to his death." The Praetorian stood facing a regiment of silver armoured Elite Knights.
      "Knights of the Elite Warrior Sect, you are to form most of the task force sent to capture the Captain of the Pillar of Autumn." The Praetorian then made his way to face a group of small red armoured Grunts. "Pawns of the Grunt Warrior Sect, you will display valour and courage in the assault on the primary human defences." He then moved over to the regiment of grey armoured Jackals, wearing small yellow circular shield projectors on their wrists. "Foot Soldiers of the Jackal Warrior Sect, you will form the frontline of the assault. And," he continued, looking towards the Master Warrior, "I will need a small group of Elites selected for the infiltration of the ship, Master Warrior" The Master Warrior gave the Elite salute.

Soon, the task force was nearly assembled fully. There were ten full Bandit dropships, each carrying two Ghost one-man combat skimmers, and also the cargo dropships carrying purple crates in their side sections. The Master Warrior stepped up into one of the side sections on an infantry dropship, checking that both his plasma blade handle and his rifle were attached firmly to his armour. He looked at the rest of his squad of blue armoured Elites, before opening a communications channel that would serve as their team radio when they arrive.
      "Beta team, may the Gods choose your path."

When they landed, grey armoured Engineer Elites climbed out and began to unload the crate contents. Some contained the bases of stationary plasma shields, and others contained Shade stationary gun turrets. One crate served as a large field computer and generator that managed power and served as a communications station. Other crates contained essentials such as weaponry and food supplies, and served as emergency medical stations. Some if modified correctly, could serve as emergency cryosleep tubes for Grunts, Jackals, and even contracted Elites.
      Contraction was something the Elites learned in their advanced training. They could fold their legs to half the size, so that their hooves still faced downwards. It was one of the advantages of having triple jointed legs. They could also compress their necks and stomach, the overall effect making them shorter than Jackals.

As the camp was being set up, the infantry dropships took off once again to the location of the wrecked Pillar of Autumn, passing over the arid desert land to reach a huge trench of land caused by the ship's crash landing. As the dropships slowed, the Master Warrior could hear the splash of plasma bolts hitting the ground beneath, as the belly-mounted gun turrets opened fire on the marines below.
      The dropships stopped and descended, still spraying the marines with plasma to clear the landing zone. The side compartment doors opened and Covenant troops spilled out. The tractor fields between the two tusks of each dropship disabled, dropping Ghosts for the Elite Knights to use.
      A volley of bullets showered the Covenant as they began to react, covering the marines in plasma and super-charged glass. As the Grunts and Jackals moved into the battle on foot, the Knights mounted the Ghosts and drew their plasma blades, piloting the small one-man skimmers single-handed. The Master Warrior and his squad covered them from the rear, taking cover behind rocks and boulders, before leaping out and letting off other bursts of fire from their rifles.
      After the first attack, the Elite Knights, as if on horseback, swooped in on their Ghosts, cutting down marines one-by-one with their plasma blades, and mowing them down with plasma from the front-mounted dual cannons. Although the marines stood no chance against warriors of such a calibre, the Master Warrior was impressed at their skill in dispatching the first wave of Pawns and Foot Soldiers that made up the Grunt and Jackal Warrior Sects. However, he was sure that although stronger and of more cunning than the Covenant first wave, these marines were the human equivalent of Pawns, sent out of the Pillar of Autumn to dampen the assault.
      Soon, the attack was over. The remaining human marines were sedated and taken back to the temporary Covenant camp, where an Elite Praetorian was waiting. The majority of the Knights departed on their Ghosts, human marines slumped over their shoulders. The other Knights redeemed their plasma blades, sheathing the handles and drawing their rifles. The Master Warrior took out his plasma blade handle and held it in one hand, his rifle in the other. In close combat, nothing could serve him better than the plasma blade. Just a single swipe of the blade could incapacitate an Elite warrior, wearing both a standard full-body shield and an overshield. Even a near miss would fry an armoured marine.
      He signalled to his group, who moved forward, rifles at hand. The remaining Knights sped ahead on their Ghosts, towards the open launch bay on the port side of the Pillar of Autumn. The Master Warrior and his squad ran forward, checking the burnt marine bodies for signs of life as they passed.

As the warriors entered the launch bay, two special cargo dropships flew overhead, carrying cuboid crates in their side compartments instead of troops. There were large shelves high up on each side of the huge launch bay, where the dropships landed. Elite Engineers jumped out of the dropships and began to assemble Shade turrets that were contained in the crates.
      The Master Warrior looked towards the centre of the launch bay, where a raised platform held a human ship; a large fighter craft that the humans had used to attack the Covenant fleets.
      Following the Knights far ahead, the Master Warrior and his squad moved to the small door at the side of the launch bay's large internal entrance.

The Knights had stopped and dismounted from their Ghosts, moving on foot through the rows of heavy crates and barrels that the humans had arranged to prevent the Covenant entering the ship with any heavy land vehicles. As the Knights passed through to the other side of the crates, the Master Warrior heard the rattle of chaingun fire as fiery lines streaked across the launch bay. He signalled his squad to speed up as he heard the angry cry of an Elite Knight.
      Short bursts of plasma fire accompanied the chattering machineguns as well muffled plasma grenade explosions. As the Master Warrior and his team approached the crates, he heard the clinking sound of a human grenade settling on the floor. A Knight shouted to keep clear, and in the split second before his reaction, the Master Warrior caught a glimpse of the fragmentation grenade among the barrels.
      Diving and landing into a roll, he heard the hiss of his shield disabling, followed by a shockwave of indescribable heat that ate away at his red armour. Several blue-armoured comrades were caught among the scatter of explosive barrels and heavy crates, crashing down near the internal entrance.
      The Master Warrior heard bloody screams, as his team members' smoky bodies were grinded along the metal floor. A wrecked Ghost spun past his face, leaving a trail of fire and ash behind it, crashing and exploding into the far wall of the launch bay. He was pushed further and further forward, skidding along feet-first on his back. Shards of metal and debris engulfed him, stabbing into his armour and the floor around him.
      As the chain explosion died down, the machinegun rattles and plasma discharge began again. The Master Warrior leapt to his feet, picking up his plasma sword handle and slightly blackened rifle. The two remaining members of his squad recovered themselves and began to follow once again.
      They approached the mess of crates and barrels, and, taking cover behind anything they could, readied themselves to take on the marines on their vehicle-mounted turrets.
      Leaping out from behind the crate, the Master Warrior primed a plasma grenade, pulled the cork and hurled it towards the human "Warthog". The bright blue flare hit the tyre of the vehicle and stuck to it. The marine in the turret turned immediately to face the Master Warrior. Rolling backwards, the Master Warrior counted the seconds.
      The Warthog was thrown up with a bright blue flash, rotating in the air and coming down on top of the other vehicle's gunner, crushing both of them. The Master Warrior stood, accompanied by the humming of his shield's recharge.

After checking his other comrades' bodies, the Master Warrior and the remains of his team passed through the small door on the inside of the internal entrance. They arrived in a network of narrow corridors. The Master Warrior ordered his team to activate their helmets' thermal vision.
      Their surroundings transformed into a kaleidoscope of bright colours, and the Master Warrior began to navigate through the mazes of corridors towards the nearest pockets of orange heat signatures.
      The human Captain and command crew appeared to be staying at the front of the Pillar of Autumn, near where the Master Warrior had encountered the Cyborg for the first time. Although he could not be sure whether it really was the Captain due to the heat interference from the occasional power ducts, heated air pipes and fuel fires, the Master Warrior guided his comrades throughout the ship on the quickest route he could find.

Eventually, the Master Warrior emerged into familiar-looking corridors. The heat signatures were becoming larger and clearer.
      Soon, they had arrived at an adjacent room to the Captain's hiding place. He was in the armoury, with the command crew and several marines, who had weaker heat signatures where they wore armour.
Approaching the entrance to the armoury, the Master Warrior noticed some smaller heat signatures either side of the doorway. They were blinking on and off. The humans had tried to set a trap.
      Turning to his squad, he whispered quietly, "The humans have laid primed fragmentation grenades on either side of the doorway." He looked up for a second. "And look, one of them holds a rocket weapon for a makeshift detonation." He pointed at a heat signature appearing to hold a shoulder-based weapon.
      Taking out a plasma grenade and arming it, he pulled the cork and threw it near the doorway. The huge explosion of all the grenades at once forced the metal wall at the front of the armoury outwards, throwing shrapnel across the wide corridor.
Drawing his plasma pistol and holstering his rifle, the Master Warrior charged up a burning ball of green plasma. "Remember, Beta team, the Captain and the command crew must be captured, not killed. Save as many marines as we can." The two blue-armoured Elites saluted to him. "I will disable the rocket weapon from the front. Beta-two, you will take the left flank and attack from behind. Beta-six, you will take the cover of the right flank behind the human stationary shields and penetrate to the centre of the human forces."
      The squad took immediate action. The Master Warrior rolled in front of the group and released his charged plasma shot. The front of the marine's rocket weapon melted and folded over the barrel. As the marine fired, the weapon self-destructed, sending him and several other marines soaring across the armoury.
      Targeting the humans' weapons, the Master Warrior fired off more bolts of plasma, disarming several other marines before his battery ran out. He discarded the weapon and ignited his plasma blade, cutting the weapons out of the marines' hands whilst also burning them into submission.
      The Master Warrior's teammates had already holstered their weapons and were knocking the humans to the ground with their fists. Redeeming his plasma blade, the Master Warrior hit the remaining marines to the ground.
      The humans and their Captain were sedated and transported back to where the Knights were waiting with their Ghosts.

3 - Truth and Reconciliation

"You, Master Warrior, who has committed great services for the Gods and the Empire, are worthy of a Knighthood. I, Praetorian of the Elite Warrior Sect, present to you this, the silver armour only a Knight is worthy of, and this, a personal cloaking device that only a Knight has the skill to use. May the Gods choose your path."
The Knight, former Master Warrior, stood and saluted to the Praetorian.

Deactivating his cloaking device, and hearing his shields hum back into operation, the Knight approached the Praetorian pacing near the control panel at the raised platform in Detention Centre Beta.
"Your honour, Praetorian, I have been sent with my Knight companions to bring tidings of the Cyborg's presence. He and a squad of humans are approaching the gravity lift via the canyon passes. They have taken out the first post of our valiant warriors. They are approaching the second."
"I will be prepared."
"My companion Knights will accompany you." The Knight saluted.
"May the Gods choose your path."

The Knight ran through the familiar corridors of the Truth and Reconciliation, grasping his plasma blade handle in case the humans had already arrived. Grunts and Jackals, who patrolled the corridors, passed him, carrying plasma pistols and needlers. He was making his way towards the hangar, where his personal Banshee was waiting.
As he entered the Alpha Hangar, he saw hundreds of crates lying on the floor. The Elite Engineers had gathered them here because it was nearest to the centre of the ship, and contents could be distributed easily about.
The Knight's Banshee was in fact the same one he had used as a Master Warrior, when he first made planetfall on Halo. It had just finished being restored in the Engineering bay, where several of the damaged Ghosts from their mission to capture the human Captain were currently held.
The Knight passed a sprawled-out dead human marine, who had resisted when they had brought the prisoners aboard. A medical sack and some equipment lay around his body that had not yet been cleared away.
Passing under the overhead walkway to Beta Hangar, the Knight climbed into his Banshee and opened a communication channel with the forcefield operator.
"Banshee Omega Sigma requesting Beta Hangar forcefield be disabled."
The blue-armoured Chief's voice crackled in. "Acknowledged Omega Sigma. Good hunting."

The Banshee's anti-gravity pods whirred into action and the Knight took off from the hangar bay, into the dark Halo sky. Diving down towards the canyon below, he tried the communication channels to see if any of the first, second or third post had survived. He received only static. Trying finally the post around the base of the gravity lift, he received an automatic distress call from a Grunt's body suit. In the background he could hear the roar of a Hunter, followed by a solitary human pistol shot. A human marine spoke,
The Knight gave out a cry of anger.

As he approached the base of the gravity lift, he saw a rainbow of different coloured blood painted all over the rocky ground. Landing his Banshee, he climbed out and checked several of the bodies. Next to the gravity lift were two dead Hunters, both with single bullet holes in the weak spots on their backs.
Turning on his helmet's thermal vision, he scanned the area for warm bodies that may still be alive. There were none, apart from a weeping Grunt lying injured next to an overturned Shade turret. The Knight ignited his plasma blade and slid it into the Grunt's back, putting an end to its misery and sending it to the Land of the Gods. Gathering any salvageable weapons into a small pile, the Knight climbed back into his Banshee and moved on to the previous three posts.
He witnessed many bodies, and also the pleasing sight of a few dead marines, but there were no more Covenant survivors. As he reached the last post, he let off a cry of rage. The Cyborg was a fine and cunning warrior, but his life had to end, as should the lives of every human in the galaxy, and the Knight would make sure that he took part in the destruction of the human homeworld.

The Knight landed under the gravity lift and took it up to the ship, leaving his Banshee in the cargo bay, which was full of Covenant bodies. He made his way through the engineering bay where the grey-armoured Elite Engineers were attempting a salvage operation, attending to the injured warriors, and fixing the Ghosts in time for the next operation.
Taking a route off the side of the engineering bay, he made his way through several corridors until he reached a walkway in the hangar bay. The smash of super-charged plasma glass accompanied his entrance, as two Hunters fired upon a Bandit dropship with their fuel rod guns.
The Knight drew his plasma rifle, but as he approached, the dropship smashed into the walkway, each tusk hitting a Hunter, the tractor field in the centre of the dropship's side compartments making contact with the support pillar that the Hunters were standing either side of.
The Knight heard a marine shout from inside the dropship.
As the dropship backed away and departed from the hangar, two bloody Hunter bodies slumped to the floor, one rolling from the walkway and clattering on the metal floor below.
The Knight let out a roar of anger.

4 - The Silent Cartographer

The Knight stood among his comrades in the dropship, holding his rifle and plasma blade handle. He lifted his hand and waved it about, observing how it refracted the light on the other side, almost as if he was made of water.
The cloaking device was on, but his shield was disabled, making him vulnerable if he were to be detected. The defect of the suit was that it could only supply enough power for one or the other, meaning he could be stealthy and vulnerable, or non-stealthy and well protected.
In this mission, the Knights had been ordered to be stealthy. Even facing up to several Elites, the Cyborg could easily hold his own. And when he was faced with Hunters, he could take them down with two shots of a pistol - one bullet each. Thus, it was essential that they took him down before he saw them, that way they had a chance of surviving.
The dropship stopped for a moment over the island's shore, opened the side gates for long enough for the squad to jump out, and then flew on top of the island. The marines were around the other side of the cliff, standing under a large structure that stretched along the beach to the beginning of the sea. They had seen the dropship and had radioed back somewhere about the attack, but they had not yet seen the squad of warriors closing in on the kill.
Whispering to his team-mates, the Knight relayed his tactics, "Gamma team, I believe the best course of action would be for myself, Gamma-two, Gamma-three and Gamma-four to approach from this side of the structure, forcing the marines to the other side. Then, Gamma-five, Gamma-six, Gamma-seven and Gamma-eight should move around the other side of the structure and fan out to trap them in a pincer movement."
Gamma-eight, the second in command, saluted and whispered, "Understood."
The team moved into action, standing either side of the marines. The Knight shouted, "Go!"
The Knight ignited his blade, swinging it over his head and slicing through a marine. As he flung the blade about, he fired off rapid plasma with his other hand. The marines, not knowing where to fire, let off bullets in all directions.
The Knight spun on the spot, catching a fleeing marine with the tip of his blade, bringing it back to a forward position and cutting down a suicidal marine, about to detonate a grenade.
As the Gamma team fired, the sound of bullet fire gradually became less and less frequent, eventually halting. Gamma team ended their assault, leaving a solitary marine, who held his weapon, trying to shoot without any ammunition.
The Knight holstered his rifle, clutched the marine by the throat, and pinned him up against the wall of the structure. The marine coughed and looked the Knight in the eye.
Putting together the sentences as best he could in the human dialect, and raising his sword, the Knight said,
The Knight sliced the marine, his body slumping to floor among the others. As the dropship landed again, he redeemed his blade, ready to face the Cyborg for the last time.

Flying over the island, the dropship stopped on a platform that hung over a hill in front of the entrance to a structure, with two extensions that were spaced apart as far as the side compartments. It was almost as if the platform was made for landing the dropship on.
The side gates opened, and Gamma team jumped out. The Knight gave quick orders, "Gamma-eight, you, Gamma-seven and Gamma-six move into the structure and wait for the Cyborg to come up from under the island." Almost immediately the second in command ran into the entrance tunnel of the structure with the other two. "Gamma-three, Gamma-four and Gamma-five wait outside and give covering fire." They ran to the entrance. "Gamma-two, come with me, we will wait under the platform if he tries to escape. He must not leave the island with the location of the Control Room!"
The Knight and Gamma-two jumped from the platform to the ground below and almost immediately heard gunfire. An Elite screamed out as the chattering of the Cyborg's assault rifle continued. The Knight waited, hearing a mixture of plasma fire and bullet fire. Another Elite screamed out in pain. The Knight got ready to move, signalling his teammate to brace himself.
Another team member shouted in the Elite tongue, "Your life is mine, human!" Followed by the buzz of something hitting the human's body shield.
Another painful Elite scream sounded as the human fired more bullets. As the last scream sounded, a human dropship appeared around the corner of the cliff in front of the last remaining members of Gamma team.
As the dropship approached the platform, the Knight shouted, "They've come for the human! Stop them!"
They ran back up to the platform via the hill on the right. The dropship had stopped and the Cyborg was getting in. "No, the Cyborg will escape!"
The Knight and his teammate fired a couple of shots in vain, angry that the Cyborg was getting away. "They're making towards the entrance to the underground at the centre of the island! If we return to the Truth and Reconciliation we can be debriefed and catch the human before he gets to the Control Room. If he gets there, we can trust his foolishness that he will activate Halo and destroy all life in the galaxy. It must not happen!"

5 - Assault on the Control Room

The Supreme Praetorian paced in front of the two warriors, repeating, "Six Knights!" over and over, the angry expression on his face hidden by his helmet. The Knight and his teammate stood at attention in the debriefing room, waiting for their next mission.
The Supreme Praetorian stopped. "The Cyborg has been inserted via the underground passage, and is going to fight his way to the surface once again. Grunts are sleeping, Elites are pacing, and they are all unaware of his presence. He is indeed cunning, and that is why I am not sending you to take him out again.
"You have proved yourselves to be valuable assets to our army, in the capture of the human Captain especially. The Gods will be proud. But now, we have a new mission for you, which is the easiest you will have faced. If you can cut in front of the Cyborg, you can alert all of our warriors that he is coming, and they will be ready to take him down. I will not risk your lives again."
The Knight spoke out, "Your honour, it is a job fit only for a Grunt!"
The Supreme Praetorian stared into the Knight's eyes. "I will decide what you do and what the Grunts do! At this time, the Grunts are being used only as scouts and shields for our more valuable soldiers. You are the only soldier fit for this job, and its completion brings promotion. This could mean the death of the Cyborg, and with that the complete annihilation of humanity! You seem not to realise the magnitude of this objective."
As the Supreme Praetorian was about to dismiss them, a grey-armoured Elite Chief Engineer approached. "Your honour, we must evacuate Halo."

The Chief Engineer continued, his voice presenting fear. "They have been released. There is no way to stop them. The whole excavation team has been killed. We tried to warn them when we saw what they were facing. The Control Room is unimportant now. If the Cyborg is not killed, then let him find out for himself. They will kill him too.
"We have angered the Gods. They are punishing us. We must repair the Truth and Reconciliation before they get here. The Engineers are searching the land below for the pieces that have been dismembered from the ship."
The Supreme Praetorian stared into space. "Do not let them escape the containment facility. The fate of Halo must be preserved! And bring all Engineers on Halo to this ship." He turned to the Knight and his teammate. "The Cyborg is now unimportant to you. Our other army will attempt to take him down, but if he gets to the Control Room, he will only find out his imminent fate. He shall be killed if he attempts to activate or escape Halo, but for now your mission lies in the destruction of all active human dropships. All means of escape must be destroyed. We will be the only ones leaving Halo!"
The Chief Engineer held his earpiece before speaking out. "Your honour, the Engineers have discovered what Halo's creators, the Forerunner, called this race that they have contained. They are the 'Flood'. The Engineers say that the Flood consume sentient life and 'copycat' its intelligence, operating weaponry and even machinery. The Forerunner have warned that if the Flood were to be released into the bowels of Halo, they could alter the atmosphere and even activate the weapon.
"The main body of the Flood consists of the small bulbous creatures that leech life from their host, before gradually enveloping their bodies in a nest. These nests will serve as food when the bodies emerge, reborn as one of the Flood."
The Supreme Praetorian was silent for a moment, before saying, "Elite Chief Engineer, we lost warriors down there to those creatures. The Flood will soon turn our own warriors against us. Gather all of the active warriors on this ship, and organise transport for all of our troops on guard posts. I am calling for a mass gathering in Alpha Hangar, so get the crate moved." Pausing for a second, he continued. "Order your Engineers at the Control Room to download what they can from the archives into their suit memory blocks and return here to help with the salvage operation."
The engineer left from the debriefing room, and the Supreme Praetorian opened a channel with another Praetorian, who was waiting outside the Control Room. "Brother Azkall, I wish for you to set up defences behind the first set of blast doors leading to the Control Room. Gather your warriors, and get them ready to ambush the Cyborg when he tries to enter. I believe he may even get that far. At the moment he is the splinter in the Covenant side that we shall not tolerate as long as we have the Flood to take care of. May the Gods choose your path!"
Turning to the Knight and his teammate, the Supreme Praetorian spoke for the first time about Plan Beta, their last resort. "Valiant Knights of the Elite Warrior Sect, I regret to tell you about the activation of Plan Beta. Our sub-Praetorian soldiers are being gathered as we speak to join the Dark Operations final strike force. Crash course extra training will be given to our Grunts and Elites, and both of you... will join the honoured ranks of our Praetorians and become part of our brethren."
The Supreme Praetorian stepped over to a control panel and pushed a light on the holographic board. Two pedestals rose from the floor each holding a suit of shimmering gold armour. Next to both of the armour suits were transparent personal overshield cubes, replacing the personal cloaking device pyramids that they had been given to them as Knights.
Presenting the armour and overshield to both of them, the Supreme Praetorian said, "As new members of the Praetorian Brotherhood, your personal name accompanies your title of 'Brother'." Turning to the Knight's teammate, the Supreme Praetorian said, "I greet you..."
The Elite replied, "Brother Ankylo is my name."
Then, turning to the Knight, the Supreme Praetorian said again, "I greet you..."
And saying his name for the first time in over thirty solar cycles, the Knight replied, "Brother Ta'ul is my name."

Ta'ul, standing amid the now thinner ranks of Praetorians, watched as the Supreme Praetorian, Brother Shyk, gave his speech to the huge remaining armies of Covenant troops. "Armies of the Covenant Empire, we now face a real enemy. No doubt the Cyborg has been taken out at the entrance to the Control Room, so humanity is now no more than an insect under our hooves.
"It is the Flood, a scourge sent up by the Demons of the Underworld, that is our problem. Earlier in this day I did hear that the security at the Flood containment facility was breached. The creatures have escaped. They downed our fleeing dropship in the swamp, using our own weapons, and chased out the task force sent in to contain them. They must be stopped at all costs!
"I am aware that this gathering is only part of the military body we have here on Halo, but every Elite and every Grunt in this hangar will assemble to form the cleanup force described in Plan Beta. You will be gowned in advanced black armour and equipped with more powerful weapons to form the ultimate troop force, the Dark Operations. Trained by members of the Truth and Reconciliation Praetorian Brotherhood, you will be ready to face the full force of the Flood."
Addressing the ranks of Jackals, Brother Shyk began again, "Members of the Jackal Warrior Sect, you will continue your great services to the Gods and act as suppressors to narrow the Flood numbers down. You will be transported separately from the Dark Operations, supporting our fragmented forces in their battle against the Flood. Protect our troops and fight for victory.
Addressing the gathering as a whole, Brother Shyk continued, "As we speak, friendly forces are below, protecting our Elite Engineers and the belly of this ship in the event of Flood attack. Although we shall not risk transporting them up to be re-equipped, many of you will be joining them down there when the Flood arrive.
"As for your briefing, I have nothing more to say. May the Gods choose your paths, courageous warriors!"

6 - 343 Guilty Spark

As the Jackals moved into Beta Hangar for transportation, Brother Shyk put his hand to his earpiece, before growling with rage. Turning to the Praetorian regiment, he said, "Grunts reported a Cyborg sighting at the containment facility. Then he killed them. I don't know how he got past the guards at the Control Room. At least he will die at the hands of the Flood."
Changing the subject, he began to brief the Praetorians. You will all self assign a group of warriors to train. They are assembling now." He looked back at the troops shuffling around into groups. "They have all been assigned different jobs, and as you can see are not arranged by Warrior Sect or rank, but are a mixture of Elites and Grunts." Pointing at several crates, he continued, "The new weaponry is contained in those crates. I salute you fellow brothers." The Praetorian saluted and dismissed the group.

Ta'ul, pressing the release catch on the purple crate, lifted a gun from the hanger. "This," he began, "is the new shoulder mounted fuel rod gun. It fires super-charged plasma glass torpedoes, called 'fuel rods', loaded into the rack above." Taking one of the glowing green pill-shaped torpedoes from the ammunition box at the base, he slid it into the rack and pointed the gun at the target. Squeezing the handle, he fired the weapon, the burning projectile launching through the air and into its target. "The resulting explosion when the torpedo hits its target will generate a circular shockwave with a radius of around two metres, and sometimes shards will fly further, so be sure to stay as far away from the enemy as possible.
"This is not the same suit powered electric model that the Hunters use in combat, and will not have the same effect, since it is gas powered. Because of this fact, the shoulder mounted fuel rod gun will only be possible for Grunts to use, as it can fuel itself via a link to their environment backpacks.
"In the event of a disconnection between weapon and user, the weapon will ignite its ammunition rack, starting a two-second fuse. This will not only harm nearby enemies if the user is incapacitated, but also prevent the Flood from taking control of this powerful weapon in the wrong hands."
Stopping to open another crate containing black Grunt armour suits and removing one from the holder, Ta'ul continued speaking. "This armour is made from an advanced plasma-fused alloy that will stop sixty-percent more attacks than your current outfits, including more advanced plasma defence, which is required when the Flood are using our own weapons against us. There are also more grenade and battery holsters, allowing troops to carry eight plasma grenades and eight batteries at one time. Armour on the rear mounted gas tank is improved, making for less chance of a leakage, and the suit will also intercept exothermal emissions, making the user almost undetectable through thermal vision"
Ta'ul then opened the next crate of black Elite armour suits, lifting one out. "The Elite armour suits are basically the same, but with dual back battery packs, recharging your shield in half the time. The in-helmet displays have also been dramatically improved, adding anti-fog vision, a zoom scope function that can be used with any weapon, and a grenade elevation calculator that places a virtual target where a grenade will land, improving overall accuracy.
"Although the Dark Operations suits are generally improved over your original suits, they will not allow for the use of personal cloaking devices, as the radiation would interfere with the new computer systems.
"The Engineers have set up the Dark Operations training course in Delta Hangar. Follow me."

Ta'ul led the group throughout the Truth and Reconciliation's complicated network of corridors, eventually coming out into Delta Hangar, which was basically just the exact reverse of Beta Hangar, and on the port side of the ship. A makeshift shooting range had been set up for the troops, where Grunts were shooting at targets with their new fuel rod guns.
Ordering the Grunts to join the queue for armour and weaponry, Ta'ul took his Elites to a weapon station and picked up one of the new plasma rifles. "Elite Warriors, although the majority of you will not use these modified weapons, I have been ordered to instruct you.
"The new plasma rifles have recently been developed by our honourable Engineers, to prevent the Flood from using them. Like the shoulder-mounted fuel rod guns, these plasma rifles render themselves useless if disconnected from the user without deactivation." Lifting the weapon and pointing to a switch underneath, Ta'ul continued, "This is the deactivation switch. Make sure you press this before you holster the weapon, or you will need to get a replacement rifle. If the weapon was to be disconnected from the user's hand without pressing this switch, the weapon would discharge a single plasma shot, super-heating the weapon, exhausting the battery and melting it's internal mechanism."
Replacing the weapon in its stand, Ta'ul said, "All Elites in red armour move away to receive Dark Operations armour. All Elites in blue armour move with me to the next station.
Taking out one of the plasma blade handles from the next stand, Ta'ul began, "You will all be familiar with the plasma sword. Our most prized weapon development is based on the traditional alloy designs of the Elite battle swords. The handle is a horizontal grip that projects a stabilised plasma energy field from each end, similar to the workings of our stationary plasma shields. It is pressure activated, and its blade is hotter than the surface of Halo's star.
"When holding the handle, your hand will be protected by a projected energy film that uses the same technology as the Jackal combat shields. The blade also possesses no weight, and so it is imperative that you are always aware of its position.
"As has been the case since the original issue of plasma swords, the handles will detonate if disconnected from the user for one second without deactivation. Remember, the plasma blade is both valuable and powerful, and must not lost for the user's foolishness.
"Join me now for a sparring session."

The first Elite stepped forward, his blade hissing as he ignited it. Ta'ul took out his blade handle and activated it, setting the power down to sparring mode. As his opponent began to swing his blade, Ta'ul spoke. "The spar ends when your shield is depleted. Three hits. Go!"
The Elite jumped forward, swinging his blade, aiming for a horizontal slash across Ta'ul's waist. Leaping over the Elite and turning midair to face his back, Ta'ul plunged his blade into the Elite's neck. "One hit!" He shouted, "Your blade is for both offence and defence!"
The Elite nodded and turned, switching his blade between hands, creating a spiral of blue in the air. He stopped for a moment, spinning his blade in a semicircle before slashing again towards Ta'ul's neck. Ta'ul brought up his blade, deflected the attack, lifted his hoof and dug it into the Elite's chest, knocking him off balance and down to the floor. Bringing his blade about, he waved it up above his head before slashing diagonally across the Elite's chest. "I am not dishonourable," Ta'ul shouted, "But there is no doubt that your enemies will be. You must trust that they will attack you when you are down, or when your back is turned. Two hits!"
The Elite leaped upright, trying to catch Ta'ul off guard, but his attack was rebounded and the Elite's plasma blade cut through his shield, and burnt the surface of his faceplate. "Three hits!" Said Ta'ul finally, before dismissing the Elite.

The next Elite had natural talent. When the duel began, the Elite slashed and dodged in an aggressive yet effective fashion. Using the Elite's aggressiveness against him, Ta'ul backed away, inviting the Elite in for an attack, before hitting him with the base of the blade. "One hit! Never enter an enemy's air space. Focus in a battle is so often more effective than aggression."
Fighting through another heated showcase of swordplay, Ta'ul tried another trick on the Elite. Deliberately slashing and missing, Ta'ul turned his back and ran towards the wall, pursued by the Elite. Arriving at the wall, Ta'ul jumped, his hoof connecting with the wall, ran into a backflip, and vaulted himself off the wall, somersaulting over the Elite, kicking him in the back and thrusting his blade into him. "Two hits! An enemy is never cornered."
The Elite stood once again and paused for a moment, controlling his aggression and preparing himself. As Ta'ul became ready to block and deflect, the Elite charged, diving and sliding backwards under his legs, jumping up and swinging his blade vertically to hit Ta'ul on the top of the head. As the blade descended, Ta'ul turned, caught the wrist of the Elite, hurled him over his head onto the floor, and sliced through his shield, simmering the thin jumpsuit material that covered the Elite's stomach. "Three hits." Said Ta'ul. "Your attack was wise and your movement was skilful, but I am more highly trained than you are. That is the only reason why I won."
After sparring with the remains of the group, Ta'ul sent them to receive armour and weaponry from the crates.

As Ta'ul rejoined the group of Praetorians, Brother Shyk put his hand to his earpiece again, listening to traffic on the battle net. As he dropped his hand back down, he spoke out to the group. "Good news, fellow brothers. An automatic transmission from an Elite's helmet computer aboard the crashed Pillar of Autumn has told me that the signal from a tracker needle attached to the Cyborg has been lost. The Cyborg has been killed whilst awaiting transportation from the containment facility."

7 - The Library

Now that the Cyborg had disappeared from any scanners, the Covenant could now concentrate on the primary enemy: the Flood. The Flood were spreading all about Halo, now, and soon they would lay siege on the Truth and Reconciliation. Ta'ul held himself to only one objective: he had to stop the Flood from getting too far.
He made his way from Delta Hangar to Beta, where waves and waves of dropships were coming and going, taking vehicles and infantry with them. Ta'ul hopped into one of the dropships that was carrying a Wraith one-man mortar tank. The dropship was full of mainly Jackals, with a few Grunts in normal armour. Apart from himself, there were no Elites.
The dropship was slow because there was a fair amount of strain on the anti-gravity drives with the tank's weight. The dropship made a deep hum as it flew. Ta'ul had brought his cloaking device with him, seen by the Empire as an unnecessary item for a Praetorian to be carrying, so that in an emergency, he could regain an element of the surprise, if there was such a term when speaking of the Flood.
Ta'ul thought himself as a rational warrior. Although he believed in honour, and respect towards the Gods, he saw it irrational to make oneself an easy target. If he were to flee from battle to allow his body shield to recharge, he would be seen as dishonourable. However, in his eyes, being killed by an inferior enemy would be humiliating and not an honourable way to die. If he were to analyse the Covenant system of honour, he could find many flaws. If one was supposed to be honourable, would it not be a sign of cowardice to use a body shield? And it was the body shields that were the keystone to making a Praetorian just about invincible to an enemy.
As he readied his plasma rifle, the dropship came to a halt. Ta'ul jumped out onto the green grass, into the orange sunset, pressing an earpiece command to unlock the Wraith tank's rear entrance. As the tank landed, Ta'ul climbed in the back, pressing his earpiece again to close the tailgate.
As he revved it up, the engine hummed into action, and he felt the jolt as the anti-gravity drives on the underside of the tank lifted the vehicle up into a hover. He pressed another earpiece command, and his helmet interfaced with the Wraith tactical computer. The crosshair that indicated where a mortar round would land popped up on the HUD inside his visor, and he pushed forward on the left yoke, bringing the tank forward.
There was a crackle on his earpiece as a Grunt radioed in to him. "This is Red Goghugh," said the Grunt, in the general Covenant dialect, "reporting from command of Grunt Team Epsilon. I have spotted Flood units forward, 002 degrees. Requesting you thin them out, Your Honour, send them back to the underworld, so that dropship Omega Omega can insert turrets."
"I cannot see them on the scanners," Ta'ul replied.
There was a short silence, before the Grunt crackled in again. "Grunt Team Epsilon reporting visual confirmation. Set fire coordinates to 000, 002, 979, Your Honour."
Ta'ul did not reply. He hated wasting breath on Grunts. Those little creatures had signed the Covenant Pact of Brotherhood long after the first treaty was made between the Elites and the Prophets. The Grunts had been defeated in a very short war against the original Covenant long ago in their history. They had been military slaves for nearly a millennia, but their small brains disallowed them to grasp the idea of honour and respect, and so the only ways that they served the Empire properly were the ways that had been drummed into them by countless incidents.
Punching in the coordinates, he pressed the firing trigger twice. The first blast forced its way out of the barrel, sailing through the sky, leaving a bright hissing tail of plasma behind it as it soared through the sky, closing in on the target. Then, around five seconds later, the second blast pushed through, bursting through the air, steadily approaching the point on the crosshair.
There were two distant explosions five seconds apart, each sounding like a short spray of water. Tiny specks flew up above the horizon as the blue bombs set them flying upwards. Several slave explosions, throwing up clouds of green-brown gas, lit up, making popping sounds as they were triggered. The smaller explosions were the carriers that let off tiny little infection creatures, which leeched life from sentient organisms, turning them into Flood drones.
"Thanks be to you, Your Honour," said Goghugh. "Bandit Omega Omega, insert turrets 850 metres from this point. Oh, radio's still on-"

Around five minutes passed, and Ta'ul moved steadily into the battle, pushing the left yoke to full throttle, strafing the tank side to side, avoiding any obstacles. Wave after wave of troops passed his tank, and soon, more dropships came and inserted more tanks to accompany him.
As they came closer, the hull shuddered. The tank company was under a barrage of fire from all weapons. There were plasma rifles and pistols, human pistols and rifles, shotguns, needlers and, they soon realised, rocket launchers. The burning projectiles impacted with the Wraith's frontal armour, and before he could let out a shot, Ta'ul's tank was showing red lights all over the inside of the cockpit.
"Gods have mercy! They will surely slaughter us!" shouted Ta'ul, pressing the firing button three times.
There was a crackle. "This is Wraith Theta Zeta, on full red alert! Evacuat-"
"Wraith Theta Epsilon," shouted Ta'ul to the rest of the company, "also reporting severe engine damage! Set self destruct sequence!"
Ta'ul threw the yoke forward, locking it into place with the autopilot. The top compartment of the tank then disconnected, and a small anti-gravity pack attached to his armour from the seat revved up, flinging him from the cockpit with controlled lifter bursts of anti-gravity.
The tank sailed forward, underneath Ta'ul, and he could see the bright blue flare of the ignited ammunition rack inside the short barrel of the cannon. As he soared through the air, he let off bursts of plasma from his pistol, seeing the tortured faces of the Flood as they limped into battle.
He could see several other tank pilots being thrown from their vehicles, a few tagging their tanks with plasma grenades before they landed. The Wraiths themselves began to explode, sending chunks of hull armour and waves of pure blue energy outwards, following up with the cloudy blasts of plasma as it burned the air around it away, and ate into any Flood warriors in the blast radius.
He landed on his feet and ejected the anti-gravity pack, immediately swapping his plasma pistol for the more powerful rifle. In the other hand, he ignited his plasma blade, before charging into the battle, cutting down Flood left and right.
The small infections types of Flood jumped up at Ta'ul, only to pop on his shield, setting of a chain reaction as the others burst as well. He found out that if he let off a single burst of plasma, he could explode a whole group of them. The remaining Grunts were struggling with the creatures, which were grabbing onto them and leeching life from them.
Ta'ul showered the enemy with plasma, knocking heads and limbs off the Flood warriors, who seemed invulnerable to their attacks. Many tumbled to the ground after being rattled with shots, only to rise once again, fighting until they were critically damaged or reduced to gory remains.
He sliced many in half with his blade, attacking vertically and horizontally to segment the God-violating creatures. Having seen these creatures, he now had a much better opinion of humanity. It was true that the Flood blasphemed in everything they did, whereas the humans were just puny and insignificant creatures.
As Ta'ul paced the battlefield, shooting down waves of Flood, he stamped on all weapons that had been dropped with the base of his hoof. If in the unlikely event of a Covenant loss here, many of the fallen weapons could be used by the Flood against them.
Ta'ul ran up onto the blackened carcass of a tank, throwing his whole supply of plasma grenades down at the Flood. In the distance, a human dropship was approaching, carrying no doubt several marines. As the dropship flew over, the battlefield was showered in fragmentation grenades as the marines emptied their belts.
As he turned, a rocket blazed past his face, the slipstream whipping his neck to the side. He pivoted on the spot, screaming out at the top of his voice, "You will all die and burn for your sins against the Gods! As their fists plummet down from the heavens, a whole race will be wiped out, and your lives will be ended, blasphemous creatures of the underworld!"
He reset his nearly depleted plasma rifle to ignite the battery, setting a five second fuse. Hurling it angrily into the midst of the Flood, he whipped out his plasma pistol and waited.
The rifle detonated, sending up a peppering of limbs and rotten flesh into the air, before triggering dozens of the carrier explosions. Thousands of the infection types created a blanket over the battlefield, covering Jackals and Grunts all over. The only warriors who stood out were the Elites, who were protected from the infectious creatures by their energy shields.
Ta'ul jumped down from the tank, slicing his blade all around him in a rapid display of acrobatics. Pieces of Flood flew everywhere, and as his blade gave off the quiet low-pitched hum, he could hear the slicing of flesh and bone, and the splash of blood on the grassy floor.
Bullets pinged off his shield and made a "thrup-thrup" sound as they tore into the soil and earth around him. Plasma bolts splashed all about him, some being absorbed by his shield, some hitting other Flood creatures. The battle was a hectic mess, and the Flood cared nothing for losses, only for the death of the Covenant troops to make more warriors for their terrible armies.
As Ta'ul turned, he saw a platoon of Grunts fleeing from the battle, being chased by lines of Flood. They screamed as they ran. Cowardly creatures, thought Ta'ul, immersed in the heat of the battle.
His shield began to beep wildly, as the energy ran low. He needed to find somewhere to take refuge for his shields to recharge, but in the centre of the battlefield, amongst thousands of the Flood, he didn't stand much of a chance.
Shouting at the top of his voice, he swung his blade side to side in front of him, running and cutting Flood creatures up into meaty chunks, creating a narrow passage for him to run through to escape the battle. He was hit by slabs of flesh and fat, tumbling over his now weakened shield, before slapping onto the ground behind him. Just a little further, and he would make it.


8 - Two Betrayals

"Do you receive me, Brother Shyk? The Flood ground forces have been suppressed; we have destroyed seventy five percent of their units. I affirm you shall now be able to insert turrets to hold them back."
"Acknowledged, Brother Ta'ul. Hold your position, I will call for some Bandits to come and pick you up. From now till then, may the Gods choose your path, my Brother."
Ta'ul disconnected the line. Rolling out from behind the blackened hull of the dropship he had hid behind, he sprayed a volley of plasma at the Flood forces that were still very numerous. As he laid siege on the enemy, he picked up grenades wherever he could, throwing them to the centre of their groups, sending up clumps of soil, grass, flesh and bone alike.
He heard a whirring noise behind him. Turning about, he met face to face with a human dropship, its huge dark body interrupting the flow of the sunset, hovering over the grassy hill, sending up clouds of dust and grit.
shouted one of them,
Clamping a grenade to the windscreen, even knowing it was in vain, Ta'ul dived back, reverting his attention back to the huge armies of Flood firing at the Covenant forces.
and Flood, Sir! > Ta'ul heard from behind him.

Ta'ul heard the hissing explosion of his grenade and a single human scream, followed by more human rifle shots joining the already hectic battle. The rest of the Covenant forces were fanned out on the other side of the battle, holding together in their platoons. Ta'ul had been the leader of the tank company, but his troops were now either dead or alone.
If he wanted to survive, he would have to rejoin one of the groups, preferably a group of Knights or Master Warriors. He could see no path, other than going around the tightly packed centre of the Flood forces, to where their warriors were more thinly spread across the green country.
He turned, back pedalling towards the outer ranks of Flood, fending off human and Flood warriors. The Humans were slaughtered almost immediately, but more of their dropships persisted to arrive, dropping off more loads of troops.
Ta'ul now had no fear of any human. Now their military keystone, the Green One, was dead, they were mere insects under the hooves of the Covenant. That Cyborg had been their only real enemy up to now. If he were still alive, they would still have missions set up to kill him, even with the threat of the Flood. But he was gone now, and they had "only" the Flood to take care of.
The radio crackled on. "This is Brother Shyk. I have some grave news." And if only Ta'ul could have only known how grave. "The Green One is alive. Somehow, he managed to get into the Control Room without us knowing. He came out and slaughtered all forces at the entrance. He appears to have created a new enemy."
Ta'ul stood silent as bullets, energy rounds and explosive needles tore into his surroundings. The pure rage boiled up from inside him. "I don't believe it! And a new enemy? How is this possible?"
"The new enemy is Halo itself. There are hordes of hovering robot drones, firing on everything with constant laser beams. They are even attacking the Flood, supposedly native creatures to Halo. The Cyborg is also attacking these drones, and is traversing the area about the Control Room, shutting down Halo's weapons."
"Gods have mercy! How does the Cyborg resurrect himself and begin to destroy Halo's weapons with such arrogance? He is as powerful as a whole army of Covenant, and poses a similar threat to the threat of the Flood, now."
"Indeed, Brother Ta'ul, we must dispense of the Cyborg along with the Flood. If we can trap him on Halo, he will no longer pose a threat. I have already reordered the mission to destroy all active human dropships. But now, I want you to return to the Truth and Reconciliation. The Flood are closing in and we need to hold them back. Forget about the Cyborg for now."
As he shut off the radio, Ta'ul realised the danger he had been in, standing in the line of fire. As he turned the bypass the Flood forces, a rocket exploded behind, knocking a huge portion of shield off him. He turned, more enraged than ever, and begun to swing his blade.

The Supreme Praetorian began to pace. Ta'ul could not stop rolling the picture of the Cyborg over in his head, wondering how he managed to put on such an act of trickery in the faces of the Covenant. It angered him that it all may have never happened if the Pillar of Autumn was destroyed at the human colony world, Reach, before they even arrived at Halo.
"It is a shock to all of us that the Green One is still alive. It appears that a robot monitor known as 343 Guilty Spark, teleported him from the Flood Containment Facility, and he went out of range of the scanners. His death is now more important than we assumed. He has now retrieved the AI that he stored inside Halo's Control Room, and has just passed a huge posting of forces, including several turrets, Ghosts, Banshees and a Wraith.
"It goes without saying that he indeed is dangerous, and seriously jeopardises our chances of escape from Halo. The Dark Operations troops have been sent to the Pillar of Autumn to patrol the area and prevent him from leaving there, and we also have sent Dark Ops people to rendezvous with him at his next destination, at the mountains.
"It has now been discovered that he is travelling about Halo, destroying the pulse amplifiers that are required to allow Halo to fire. If our Dark Ops people get to the third and final amplifier before him, he will surely fail in his mission.
"But for you, Praetorian Brothers, I can only tell you that the Gods shall support you greatly if you command our armies and protect this ship from the terrible scourge that is afflicting us, the Flood."
Ta'ul was going to fight down in the canyon area, where the Flood were approaching. He had been appointed as leader of the ground forces down there, and would make sure that the Flood did not arrive. He collected his gear, and took a Ghost to the gravity lift, whizzing as fast as he could to the outer regions of the canyon area.
As he was approaching the first line of defence, the wet, metallic voice of a Jackal crackled in crackled in, "Damn you, devils! Help us anyone, they are here!"
Ta'ul cried with rage at the top of his voice, "I am the Praetorian here! You foolish blasphemers, you have let them arrive! May you be damned to the underworld for your disservice to the Empire and the Gods!"
The fragmented voice of a Grunt crackled in, accompanied by plasma and bullet fire in the background, "Please, Your Honour, they have come up the sides of the chasm! There was nothing we could-No-ho-hooooo!" The radio abruptly cut off.
Ta'ul opened a communication channel with all troops in the area. "Listen, I am Praetorian Brother Ta'ul, and I shall lead our ground forces to victory. First post, suppress the Flood forces. You shall sacrifice yourselves for your stupidity, and perhaps you shall at least obtain an honourable death that I do not believe you deserve!
"Second and third posts, move back to the gravity lift and wait in the loading bay! I shall send a message that the Truth and Reconciliation must be moved two kilometres to spinward to prevent the Flood from boarding the craft. I require fifty Elites, fifty Jackals and a century of Grunts to surround the gravity lift, when we arrive."
Ta'ul ran over to a red-armoured Elite standing by a Banshee. Moving him aside, he climbed in and flew up to Gamma hangar, ready to give orders to the pilot.

Ta'ul stepped up onto the Control Platform. "The Flood have broken through our defences. We must move the ship before they begin to board."
"Yes, Your Honour," said the Jackal on shift, whose shield was disabled. "Where do you want the ship moving to?"
Ta'ul pressed a button to bring up a holographic relief map. Pointing at an area, he said, "Here, there is an enclosed canyon. We will find it easier to protect the ship if our troops are posted inside this 'fortress' of land. Make sure the gravity lift is disabled when our Knight gives the signal from the loading bay."
"Yes, Your Honour."
Ta'ul then left the Bridge for the Hangar, where he waited for the forcefield to disable. Many more troops accompanied him, with Grunts and Jackals waiting for dropships and Elites waiting to use their Banshees. As the ship began to move, Ta'ul opened a communication channel with Brother Shyk.
"Brother Shyk, I have ordered the ship to be moved."
"Yes, I can see."
"Shall I remain in control of the ground forces, Brother?"
"I will assign both you and Brother Ankylo to control the ground forces. Brother Ankylo is taking control of the forces around the base of the gravity lift. I wish for you to be their tactical commander, giving orders and strategies from the air."
"I understand, Brother."
"May the Gods choose your path!"

Ta'ul jumped into the rear of the Banshee, whirring up its engines. "This is Banshee Omega Sigma. Chief, disable Gamma Hangar's forcefield."
"Acknowledged, Omega Sigma, good hunting."
As Ta'ul lifted the Banshee out of the hangar and into the late evening sky, he remembered how he used to feel almost bored. Every time he had left the ship, he was given the farewell in exactly the same way. On foot, it was "May the Gods choose your path" and in a vehicle it was "Good hunting". Before the Flood were discovered, he had craved something different, but now he wished he was bored again. He was not going to stay here. He wanted to be back at his home world, being praised by the Prophet High Council for his service to the Empire.
He swerved the Banshee sharply downwards in a spiral, leaving a double helix trail looking not unlike a strand of human DNA. He looped around to face the direction that the ship was slowly drifting, and saw the fortress of land ahead. Underneath him, a huge see of specks were following the Truth and Reconciliation, and every so often a few shots from a rifle or a plasma weapon whizzed past him. The Flood were hard, but had no conception of organisation, like the humans did.
Ta'ul dived the Banshee down, firing off one fuel rod cartridge every six seconds. The green tubes plummeted down at an astonishing rate, erupting in bright green blasts as they hit the rocky floor below, sending up piles of Flood bodies, setting off the carriers.
As he got closer to the ground, he yanked back both joysticks, turning the craft 180o in only ten metres. He towered upwards, trusting the high-tech antigravity pods not to stall, before spinning about and flying further on towards the land fortress.
As he flew, the engines gave a light whistle, and he took the chance to align the dual plasma guns at the front of the craft. There were many different pre-set configurations to use, such as spiral shots and alternating fire, but Ta'ul liked to manually align the nozzles so that the plasma bolts fired simultaneously and parallel in the air.
Overtaking the ship that was just arriving at the fortress, he brought the Banshee down, and turned to face the main body of Flood, approaching behind him. He sped towards them, slowly descending until he was only a metre from the ground. Facing the Flood army, he rocketed over the ground, bringing up columns of dust as he drove forward, quickly approaching the frontline.
He held his finger down on the plasma trigger, colliding with the first lot of Flood. Burnt corpses, fried by the rapid plasma, rolled over the Banshee, launched into the air and soaring up, smashing into the ground behind him. Carriers burst unwittingly as he punctured them with the wings of his craft, and their loads, the infectious leeches popped like vast Mexican waves as he set of chains of their mini explosions. Warriors, once Elite and human were cut and crushed by the hull of the Banshee moving at such an incredible speed, and thousands of used weapons clattered against its armour as it ploughed through the hordes of enemies.
Ta'ul had the advantage. If the Flood fired in such an intense group, they would only hit themselves, and as he mowed them down in their hundreds they did not have enough time to react.
Pulling the craft upwards, Ta'ul glanced at the hull integrity monitor. The Banshee had lost only a tenth of its armour strength, and yet had killed so many of the hellish creatures. Ta'ul pushed the left yoke to its extent, accelerating away from the Flood and towards the fortress of land, where the Truth and Reconciliation had just stopped.
As he watched, he saw the belly iris of the ship open, and out emerged a shaft of purple light, created by the ship's strong inertia drives. As the shaft hit the floor, the ship emptied troops in their hundreds, into the bowl that the canyon formed. At the cliff walls, thin numbers of Flood were already arriving, and as the numbers increased, the fortress became lit up with a confused painting of lines and colours, scribbled on by the huge variety of weapons.
Ta'ul approached the fortress, flying over the first cliff to see the dark rocky ground beneath. As he began to circle the gravity lift, his radio crackled, and Brother Shyk's voice sounded. "Brother Ta'ul, beware, you are up for a hefty challenge! The Flood have huge armies approaching from all directions! They are going to surround the fortress! You must organise the troops well, or the Truth and Reconciliation will be violated by these foul creatures!"
"Yes, Brother Shyk, myself and Brother Ankylo shall work cooperatively and lead our great armies to victory!"
"I have great trust in you, Brother Ta'ul. May the Gods choose your path!"

The Flood armies were beginning their siege, jumping over the cliff walls and swarming everywhere. Ta'ul stood atop a cliff, using his helmet's scope to zoom in on the battles below, in a panicking rage. His radio was on, and a Grunt was contacting all frequencies to warn of an impending disaster.
"No, get off me, vile creature! No, help m-somebody! The Flood -ey have used the grav-help, repeat get hel-noooo!"
Ta'ul tapped frantically at his earpiece. "Repeat message! Where are you?"
Ta'ul knew that the Grunt was in the loading bay, which meant that the Flood must have boarded the ship. Turning his scope on the gravity lift, he saw more units boarding. It could only be the Flood. Ta'ul shouted with rage.
Jumping into his Banshee, he lifted from the cliff top, and saw below a huge gathering of Flood. Nearly all were armed with rocket launchers. As he ascended, they fired upon him, and rockets began to blaze past him. His Banshee was now on yellow alert, all systems, since he had taken part in the first wave of defence, and just one rocket impact would kill him without fail.
He swooped and turned, dodging every rocket with a near miss. Using a manual control input, he set off a very low velocity fuel rod that fired up, before turning in a vertical arc and plummeting down. It never hit the Flood, but collided with a rocket about to impact, taking the hull integrity down another ten percent into red alert.
More rockets shot past, travelling at twice the speed the Banshee was, nearly hitting it, but missing and continuing on to hit the ship above. As he approached the Truth and Reconciliation, Ta'ul thought about his life. At any moment, he could be blown out of the sky in a yellow blast of shrapnel, and it would make no difference to the Flood. Just another frag added to the list, already in its hundreds at this battle alone.
The barrage of rockets was getting thicker, as more Flood began firing, and Ta'ul knew he wouldn't make it. As he became level with the hangar opening, he felt his doom approaching from below. The rockets were beginning to fly closer and closer to his Banshee, and so in a fast manoeuvre, Ta'ul spun the Banshee horizontally using a combination of the rudder and his own weight, before sliding out of the back to be caught by the strong wind. Almost immediately, a rocket hammered up into the hull of the Banshee, puncturing up through the armour, before detonating in the cockpit, blowing out chunks of armour, shrapnel and myriads of metal slices, erupting in a flaming glow as the rocket's fuel supply ignited.
Ta'ul was thrown back with immense force, his shield beeping insanely as his energy pack was disabled. He turned in the air, seeing the hangar opening approaching as he flew forward, arms out in front of him. He began to fall, and the opening was just out of reach. As the lip of the gate sped past his face, he blindly grabbed out for a handhold.
It was a great relief to feel his arms being wrenched from his sockets, because he knew he was safe. He hung there, hearing the hissing of his burnt armour, until a Jackal poked its head over the edge. Reaching out its arm, it clutched onto Ta'ul's wrist and hauled him up to safety. After that, he just lay there, waiting until his shield hummed back up to full power.
Standing in the briefing room, Ta'ul was addressed by the Supreme Praetorian. "Brother Ta'ul, this ship is in grave danger. The Flood are on board already, and the infection types will have already infiltrated the ship's complex plasma vent system. They have attacked the bridge and are collecting bodies. We need to protect the ship at all costs!
"Brother Ta'ul, I want you to move to Alpha Hangar, and take command of our mechanized battalions."
"Understood, Brother Shyk."
Ta'ul left from the briefing room to the hangar. On the way, he passed through the engineering bay, where the engineers were moving crates about. They all had the high explosive sign on the side, obviously carrying grenades or fuel rod ammo racks.
The hangar, consisting of three different levels, was steadily emptying, with Banshees leaving through the forcefield doors and Ghosts driving to the loading bay. The tanks in there could not be used in the land fortress, and so only a few were deployed, on the other side of the cliffs.
Ta'ul adjusted his earpiece to the universal frequency. "I am Praetorian Brother Ta'ul, and I resume command of our vehicular battalion. I wish for all-" He was interrupted by gunfire.
An engineer, wheeling in a trolley of crates stopped, and shouted, "Clear the area - no! The carriers will destroy the crates! Move all personnel!"
Ta'ul focussed on the crates. They were the high explosive crates.
Everything became slow and fluid as the Flood carriers dropped from the vents and inflated. Ta'ul turned, seeing everything in slow motion. The air felt viscous as he waded through at a quarter of the speed, thinking in the present, four times faster as the adrenaline pumped through his brain. He ran as fast as he could, each footstep taking four times as long.
He turned, seeing the crack drawing itself along the skin of the first carrier, leaking a green smog like blood in water. More cracks scribbled along the surface of the carrier's skin, and flaps of it began to float away from the beast. As chunks of thin flesh drifted slowly away from the carrier, the green smog accelerated outwards, hurling the next carrier away.
Ta'ul's vision returned to normalness for a split second, in which the carriers set off a chain of bursts. It was when he heard the crack of the grenade crate that his vision was plunged back into the water-like feeling of slow motion.
He saw the blue flash of the first grenade casing, throwing out pieces in all directions. Then the second and third exploded at the same time. Then one hundred all at once. The floor of the ship rumbled like an earthquake at normal speed, as Ta'ul failed to exit this fluidic world of slowness. The metal floor buckled, sending a creaking burst along the walls and ceilings, and then when the second and third crates detonated, the floor sunk and snapped into huge chunks of starship grade hull plating.
His vision returned to normal and Ta'ul was lifted from his feet as if by a strong gust of wind. As he sailed through the air, he heard hundreds of screams and the sounds of slave explosions from grenades and plasma weapons.
He watched the top corner of his HUD as the shockwave disintegrated his overshield, and then took down his standard personal body shield as well. Clattering to the floor, he slid forward for a while, before the depressurisation of the room caused by the hull breach pulled him back towards the gaping hole. Amidst the panic, the Flood began to invade the hangar in overwhelming numbers.

"Brother Shyk! The Flood have destroyed a huge chunk of the hangar, and have breached the hull of the ship!"
There was no answer.
"Brother Shyk! Acknowledge!"
There was a crackle, before, "and this is the first sign of any true tactics the Fl-we must destroy them all for the sake o-and this damned artefact will burn lik-rother Ta-cknowledge me!"
"Brother Shyk, I acknowledge!"
"Brother Ta-ave been several hull breac-ajor coolant leak! The engines are offli-he Flood ha-aken over the bridge, are breedin-already taken prisone-how d-must have known where the damned grenade crat-were being take-ay they burn in the underwo-all within ten seco-and they are defeating our groun-report on vehicle los-a'ul!"
There must be some interference with communications, some high dissipation of energy somewhere on the ship. What it could be, he couldn't imagine, since the engines were offline and he could feel the ship sinking.
"We have too many losses, Brother Shyk!"
There was a long silence
"-ait, Gods have mercy! I know-hy there is interfe-the Cybor-ere, he travels using Hal-eleportation technology! Huge energy leve-Dam-arrgghh!"
If he had heard correctly, amidst the panic of the Flood attack, the Cyborg was on the ship once again. Ta'ul let out a scream of rage.

9 - Keyes

Ta'ul had no time to stand still, since shots and bolts were starting to ping all around him, narrowly missing each time. The Flood were filling the vehicle bay, and Ta'ul stood out among the other Covenant troops because of his golden armour. Whipping out his plasma rifle, he began to spray shots at the Flood invaders, burning holes in their weak decaying bodies.
      They were pouring through the doors and through the side ports, with rocket launchers, rifles and plasma weapons. As they surrounded the Covenant troops, Ta'ul felt something smash on his back. Turning, he saw one of the human warrior types stumbling towards him, its head hanging loosely on its neck, the sensory stalks protruding from its chest, flailing around as it limped. In its hand was a needler, and from it fired the small pink plasma glass needles, homing in on Ta'ul and sticking in his shield, before bursting into smaller shards.
      The Flood warrior was firing slowly, and so not doing much damage to his shields. Ta'ul ran towards the warrior, taking his plasma sword handle from its holster and squeezing the grip, the air around it fizzing away as the ultra-hot plasma ignited, forming the blade of the sword.
      Raising it into the air and jumping, Ta'ul crashed down upon the warrior, thrusting the blade down through the shoulder and through the torso of the beast, the blade emerging on the other side of the groin. The creature fell into two halves, and Ta'ul felt a shake to accompany his victory as the ship came to rest atop the cliffs.
      More of the beasts charged at Ta'ul, swinging their arms and loose limbs at him, but he dodged them and sliced them, cutting them up into fragments of flesh and bone, hauling their steaming corpses to the floor. Some, he filled full of plasma, throwing bolts all around the room in an almost random manner, hitting some and missing others.
      He would not die on this damned ringworld, at the hands of his own comrades, killed and resurrected. He fought hard, alternating between hacking and shooting, taking off heads and limbs, burning gaping holes into their rotten bodies.
      As he pirouetted on the battlefield, swinging his blade and firing his rifle, he came face to face with the tortured bodies of his companions, seeing fragments of gold, silver, grey, red and blue armour on their Flood alter-egos. However, he could not show sensitivity in battle, it being an act of cowardice and stupidity. He relentlessly cut them down wave after wave, forgetting that they once served the Covenant Empire and the Gods, slaughtering them like the scourge they had become.
      After a while, his shield began to beep as it became low on power. Leapfrogging over an Elite Flood warrior type, Ta'ul ran towards the gaping hole in the floor of the ship, stopping short of it just to let his rifle cool down, replace the battery, turn off his sword for a short while, and to wait for his shield to recharge. As he stood panting, the door on the other side of the hole opened. The Cyborg stepped out.
      For a second, he stopped breathing and stared at the green-armoured human, seeing him look over the edge of the hole before turning to see the Flood behind him. As Ta'ul began to pant again, the Cyborg took one final look, turned to face him, and jumped feet first down the hole, followed by a blanket of Flood infectors.
      Ta'ul, forgetting the raging battle behind himself, charged to the edge of the hole, glaring down at the landscape far below. Brother Shyk had meant it when he mentioned the coolant leak, since the whole valley was pocketed with pools of the fluorescent green fluid, which lit up the dark rocky land for at least a mile around. The Cyborg must be heading for one of the pools, thought Ta'ul.
      He knew that the attacks here would never stop, and so, taking a final run through the battle all guns blazing, he made for the door that could lead him to the other, undamaged hangar. If he could get to a Banshee, he would be able to follow the Cyborg and kill him, if the Flood did not kill him soon. The Cyborg had been pain enough, and his life had to end this night.

Ta'ul entered the hangar. The Flood had not yet got this far through the ship, and there were not many vehicles in there. There was one solitary Banshee in the centre of the floor, and there were a few troops running through the hangar to get to the affected areas of the ship.
      Climbing into the Banshee, he revved its motors and took it out of the hangar, swooping sharply down towards the land fortress, now flooded with fluorescent green coolant fluid. He avoided the still heavy volleys of missiles that lanced out into the belly of the ship, taking a route around the shadow of the Truth and Reconciliation to avoid being hit.
      It took him a couple of minutes to arrive at the land fortress, the anti-gravity pods on the Banshee's wings slowing his descent to cut down on G-force. The Cyborg would now surely have moved from where he landed, but since in the section of the land fortress that he was in was basically a one-way path, it was fairly easy to guess where he was.
      The battles were calming down on the ground, since the Flood had little resistance left to deal with. The floor of the canyon was carpeted with bodies of all kinds, and then painted with pools and splatters of multicoloured blood. The canyons were steadily filling with Flood, attracted to the great shaft of purple light that was the gravity lift.
      The Cyborg must be fairly nearby. Swooping down to just above the canyon ridges, he flew a bit further on to get a clearer view of the gravity lift base. He would be annoyed if the Cyborg was there already, since Ta'ul's trip down here would be a complete waste of time.
      As he approached closer to the huge purple cylinder protruding from the belly of the ship above, he saw the speck of the Cyborg fighting off waves and waves of Flood alone, cutting them down. He was standing under the gravity lift's beam.
      Ta'ul made sure he was pressing the left yoke to its furthest limit, ready to roar if the Cyborg made it up on the lift's next tractor pulse. However, as he approached, the shaft of light flashed and the Cyborg began to ascend. Ta'ul's journey had been wasted.

Pulling around in a horizontal circle, Ta'ul set a HUD timer for a minute, in time for the next pulse. He did not know how far the Cyborg could get in a minute, and flying back up to the hangar would take longer than a minute, but since the area around the loading bay was the most badly hit as far as Flood numbers went, he would probably die before he got very far.
      As Ta'ul circled the beam, his timer clicked onto thirty seconds. He needed to time it right so that he flew into the beam at the exact time of the pulse, since the base was full of Flood creatures again. He would also need to leave his craft, since the Banshee had an automatic mechanism that disallowed it from being affected by tractor beams.
      This would also give him another problem. If a Banshee in perfect working order was to crash down onto Flood controlled territory, they would learn how to use it like they did with the weapons. So he would need to destroy it as he left it.
      The timer struck five seconds, and Ta'ul flew into the beam. Reaching for his waist and pulling out his plasma blade, he ignited it and swiped through the front armour and the computer, completely removing the canopy of the Banshee, and the anti-gravity pods whirred to a halt.
      The top half split from the bottom, and Ta'ul fell out into the beam of the gravity lift. Falling for a couple of seconds, he soon felt the G reversing and cushioning him, and as he hung in the air for a second, only just above the ground, Flood warriors swiped at him, all but one missing him. The beam stopped his fall, lifting him upwards again towards the ship. The segmented Banshee's bottom half hit the ground below him, but the top half was lifted up with the beam. Just below, the Flood were flying up with the beam as well.
      The belly iris of the ship opened, and for several seconds, he hung in the air above the open floor, as the Flood below approached. Zapping off a few bolts of plasma at them, he tried to swim to the edge of the circular hole, to get away from the beam as fast as possible. The Cyborg would be rampaging throughout the ship as he floated there.
      He fell to the floor as he pulled himself from the edge of the gravity beam, picking himself up and running on through the huge blast doors to the engineering bay. Entering the large room, he could see the Cyborg had already been here. All the Flood in the room were dead, and there were semi-mutated Covenant bodies slumped in the corners. Ta'ul held in a scream of rage, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

Entering the hangar once again, having made a complete loop, Ta'ul looked around. The Cyborg had most likely been in here, but the room was still full. A huge clash of Covenant and Flood warriors was in progress, and as he looked down at the ground floor, Ta'ul could see Dark Operations troops being attacked by the Flood.
      As he stood, one of the beasts swiped at him, narrowly missing his face. Lashing out with his elbow, he splattered the creature's head, before digging his fist deep into its chest, his hand emerging at the other side. Their bodies were surprisingly tender and fragile, their skin being rotten and decayed, and inside, their bones were a mush, eaten away by the infection.
      Detaching his plasma sword handle from his belt, he pushed the pressure-sensitive pads on the grip, the bright blue blade bursting into existence. Slowly, he walked through, slicing down Flood warriors left and right in a casual fashion. As he stepped, he considered the path of the Cyborg.
      His only method of escape would be from the hangar, where there were now no vehicles, the loading bay, which may now be dysfunctional, or Halo's teleportation grid, in which case no-one would be able to stop him. However, Ta'ul doubted that the Cyborg would be able to find enough power on this ship to warrant a teleport, and so his most likely escape route would be from the hangar.
      Ta'ul looked at the deactivated forcefield doors. If the Cyborg had already made such a jump, there was no reason why he could not make it again.
      He broke into a run, waving his sword like a horizontal pendulum in front of his, cutting through the crowds of Flood. He turned at the middle of the platform and leapt down to a tongue of platform below, where the forcefield controls were, and a makeshift stronghold had been put together with plasma shields and a turret. As he ran to the other side of the tongue, he tapped a shield with the tip of his sword, disabling it immediately, before jumping over the base and onto the ground floor below. Stepping to the lip of the forcefield door, he peered over the edge, watching his back with one eye in case he was to be attacked.
      Down below, the valley was lit green by the fluorescent coolant that was flooding the land fortress below. There was a constant peppering of orange explosions as the battle raged on, but Ta'ul knew that the Covenant forces could not hold off the inexhaustible armies of Flood for much longer. For every troop the Covenant lost, one troop was gained for the Flood.
      Dropping a grenade from the edge of the doorway, he watched as the wind took it and shook it about as the blue flare plummeted to the land below. A bright blue blast accompanied its soft landing.
      Ta'ul then took out his rifle and turned to face the Flood.

As he gored one of the Flood in the face with his rifle butt, he heard a tone as a door opened on the third floor. Ta'ul looked up to see the Cyborg peeking from the edge of the third floor platform. He pointed and shouted, but the Cyborg began to run across the platform towards the tongue on the second floor. Firing plasma off towards the Cyborg, Ta'ul's radio crackled as another Elite contacted him.
      "Your Honour, this is Dark Ops Centurion Kappa Lambda, reporting approach to Gamma hangar. Confirm, the forcefields are deactivated?"
      Ta'ul kept his eye on the Cyborg, firing off another couple of shots as the green-armoured human jumped down onto the tongue. "Yes this is Praetorian Brother Ta'ul, the forcefields are disabled. And the Cyborg is in the hangar."
      "I shall fire upon him if I see him, Your Honour."
      Two Banshees entered the hangar and looped to face the doorway again, landing next to Ta'ul, but the Cyborg had ducked out of sight. As the pilots got out, the Cyborg stood and jumped down towards Ta'ul, shooting him and hitting him. The pilot of the Banshee shouted with rage as the human came down, firing at them all.
      Ta'ul ran towards the Cyborg, firing plasma at him, surely taking down his shield. The other Elites fired off a continuous stream of blue bolts, as the Cyborg ran for one of their Banshees. Leaping forward, Ta'ul lunged forward with his rifle butt and hit the Cyborg on his back, disabling his personal shield, and knocking him forward into the cockpit of the Banshee.
      The Cyborg glared as he shut the top section of the Banshee down and took off from the hangar floor. Ta'ul rattled off plasma as he tried to destroy the Cyborg's transport, chasing in vain after the Banshee as it rocketed from the hangar. As it left, Ta'ul charged to the other Banshee, cursing in the Elite dialect at the damned human. The engines whirred into action and Ta'ul zipped from the hangar, even more determined to see the Cyborg burn.

10 - The Maw

As he flew over the beige rocky land, ever nearing the crash site of the Pillar of Autumn, which he could see in the distance, Ta'ul heard a buzz in his earpiece as a friendly unit radioed in.
"Acknowledge, Praetorian Brother Ta'ul," shouted the unit on a background of gunfire, and the whirring of a Banshee, "This is Brother Striichan, and the ground forces under my command are taking heavy fire from the Flood. They have laid siege on our camp, and we require further air support. If you read, lock my Banshee's signature, Lambda Omega Zeta."
      Ta'ul pressed the receiver button and said, "Brother Striichan, I could have sworn that you were dead. Did you not perish on the island of the Silent Cartographer, along with the rest of Gamma squad, when the Green One made his relentless push through?"
      Striichan sounded relieved to hear the voice of Ta'ul. "I was injured badly, but I managed to crawl inside the structure after I was struck down. I announced vendetta upon the Cyborg, but I have heard that he was killed at the Flood containment installation. I fear that we may soon face him in Flood form."
      "No Brother, you have missed the grave news of his return. He has been travelling using an internal teleportation grid that runs throughout Halo. That is why we lost his signature at the installation. I have pursued him from the Truth and Reconciliation, which, Gods have mercy, has been overrun by the Flood. He stole a Banshee and is making his way to the Pillar of Autumn, for a reason I can only guess. I couldn't lock his radio, that damned AI construct is blocking me."
      "Then my vendetta is renewed. I will make sure that this time, I shall be responsible for his death. Oh, and tell me, brother, what do you know of the Cyborg's mechanical pursuers?"
      "I have heard but snippets of information on them, Brother Striichan, only that akin to the Flood, they are native to Halo. I can only hope that they are not yet another factor to this three way conflict, and all I am certain of is that they are hostile and must be annihilated."
      As they spoke, a bleep sounded on the dashboard of Ta'ul's Banshee, followed by an orange arrow on his helmet HUD. Swerving right to centre the navigation point on his visor, he could see the multicoloured flashes of a raging battle on the bleak terrain below, not far from the rear of the Pillar of Autumn. Circling above was a Banshee, firing down blazing green globes and bolts of blue plasma at the Flood forces.
      "Locked on your position, Brother Striichan, I'll fire as soon as the cannons are in range."
      "Acknowledged, Brother Ta'ul, but aim carefully since our forces are mixed."
      Hovering his forefinger over the left yoke's fuel rod cannon firing trigger, Ta'ul watched the distance record under the navigation marker on his HUD. "Tell me, Brother Striichan of the ground forces. We shall assure that the survivors receive promotions for their services, even the Grunts."
      "There are many Grunts in battle, but they are least likely to survive. A caste of Dark Ops knights recently emerged from the launch bay, and are cutting through the Flood from the rear. The Jackals in dishonourable cowardice have retreated further into the camp, despite their superior defence, but Elites under my command are hacking into the Flood frontline. The end of this battle shall see to the creation of Master Warriors from Chiefs, Knights from Master Warriors, and Praetorians from Knights."
      As the radio crackled off, Striichan dived down towards the battle, firing a fuel rod and showering the Flood with plasma. As he pulled of a corkscrew turn, rockets skimmed his Banshee, but he skilfully tipped and turned, emerging from the crossfire unscathed, having created such a diversion that the black armoured knights punched through into the centre of the Flood forces. Striichan was a pilot well endowed.
      The navigation point on Ta'ul's screen went green as the cannon reached a plausible range. Firmly pressing the trigger, the green capsule blazed through the sky and arced down, planting itself among the Flood, carving an empty circle in their forces.
      Striichan was swooping about to face the battle once again. Dipping down towards the ground, he flew level with the Flood on the battlefield, before flipping his Banshee upside down and shouting down the comm, "Brother Ta'ul, I shall continue my fight among our honourable soldiers, join if you wish, but make sure the treacherous Flood are not in a position to steal our Banshees, it would be disastrous if they should learn how to harness our technologies further in this war!"
      Then, in an amazing display, the hatch of Striichan's Banshee hinged open, and Striichan, his left arm gripped still tightly within the cockpit, swung out and ignited his plasma sword, dragging it through the Flood that his Banshee was ploughing through, taking limbs and heads off as he sped onwards. Swivelling then, to face forwards, he released his grip and landed in a roll on the ground, whipped out his plasma rifle, and began to lay siege on the Flood, as his Banshee slid forwards spraying sparks as it went. As Ta'ul began to dive towards the rocky ground, Striichan's Banshee skidded to a halt, still overturned.
      "You are a skilled pilot," said Ta'ul.
Approaching the ground, he performed an inverse loop, his vision going deep red as he was exerted to incalculable negative G. He felt his eyes bulging in their sockets as he pressed the catch to release the locks on the hatch, before sliding out and backflipping into an upright position, igniting his blade in midair and then landing in a crouch.
      He heard the war cries of the rest of the Covenant troops as he joined the battle, before demonstrating his experienced swordplay and marksmanship upon the Flood. As he fought them off, he felt amused by the way that he could damage the Flood so easily. Looking at an ex-human warrior, he hammered the back of his rifle into its chest, collapsing its rotten ribcage and pressing a rifle-shaped mark into its decaying flesh. Then, as it recovered and stumbled towards him once again, he cleaved the creature in two with a swift and simple movement of his sword arm.
      Looking through a gap in the battle, he could just about see the glimmering gold armour of Brother Striichan, beneath the layers of thin green fluids that had splashed from the wounds of the Flood. On Ta'ul's left approached a shadowy figure, fighting through the armies of Flood armed only with a rifle and an ample supply of grenades. As Ta'ul passed, the Dark Ops Elite said, "Your Honour," and nodded. Ta'ul returned the nod, pleased that there was time for such meetings in the midst of a battle.

Soon, the numbers of Flood began to thin out, but not without Covenant losses. The numbers of Grunts were dwindling, and several Elites had been killed. In the distance, nearer the ship, were sparse numbers of Flood approaching the camp, but they would be picked off by the Elite riflemen or Jackal scouts before the got too close.
      As the last Flood warrior fell, Ta'ul retracted his blade and looked up at the sky, inspecting a trail of grey smoke in the distance. Pointing at it, he said to Brother Striichan, "A damaged ship in the distance. Could be a Banshee."
      Striichan glared. "No, its big. It looks like a human ship. A dropship."
      "There are still humans alive on Halo? No, it must be Flood."
      "If the Flood can use human dropships now, it will not be long before they start using offensive vehicles. We must put an end to their learning campaigns. I shall return to my Banshee and try and get a fix on the frequency."
      "Follow my lead, we shall destroy this dropship and its Flood crew quickly, and then we shall move on to kill the Cyborg once and for all."

As Ta'ul climbed into his Banshee and whirred up its engines, the radio buzzed and Brother Striichan's voice crackled onto the line. "-opship is human, it is the Green One's escort from Halo! We must destroy it before it can pick him up! Listen!"
      Ta'ul took off and began to fly towards the already damaged dropship, firing off plasma, and the radio beeped as Striichan transmitted the uncrypted radio conversation to him.
       said the female voice with urgency,
      There was a pause, in which the two Elites swooped in for the kill, behind the dropship as it approached a gap in the Pillar of Autumn's hull. Then the dropship responded, another female voice,
      As the radio crackled off, the two Banshees fired their fuel rods, blowing both engines, which began to billow smoke and fire. The dropship tilted and swerved, and then Ta'ul fire off a volley of shots onto its weakening armour. Striichan then fired, and more smoke billowed from its rear.
      The dropship turned into the gap, and as the two Banshees followed, they saw a solitary bridge in the centre of the gap. In the centre of the bridge was parked a human ATV, and inside the driver's seat, Ta'ul could just about see the Cyborg.
      The human radio crackled on again, as the dropship uneasily rocketed towards the bridge. Ta'ul felt a wave of excitement passing over him as he realised that this was their chance to kill the Cyborg. And this time, they had the advantage. Without the dropship's escort, the Cyborg would perish on Halo among the Flood.
      
      As the dropship was rocking from side to side, an explosion went off in the centre, sending it whirling and spiralling out of control.
      Ta'ul grinned widely and chuckled as the dropship spun wildly, and began descending at an incredible rate.
      It fell under the bridge and dropped down, passing out of view out of the other side of the gap. Ta'ul let out a huge laugh.
said the Cyborg's AI companion, before Ta'ul disabled his radio link, laughing triumphantly, having heard all he needed to hear. The Cyborg was going to die on Halo.

Striichan looped, shouting, "Mere anticipation of his death will not suffice! He shall die, and I shall be his executioner," before launching a fuel rod that sailed down, impacting the floor behind the now moving Warthog, lifting up its rear end. But the Cyborg controlled the vehicle, driving it at full speed through the entrance at the other end of the bridge, disappearing back into the Pillar of Autumn.
      Striichan wailed with anger.
      "Calm yourself," said Ta'ul, "and be happy of our triumph. The Pillar of Autumn is overrun with Flood, and the Cyborg has nowhere to go. He will die down here, and we shall be victorious."
      But before Brother Striichan could reply, another friendly signature radioed in, "-vacuate! Damn the Green One, he has set the timer for a self-destruct sequence! Repeat, evacuate! The human ship will detonate in two minutes! All friendly units, get to the dropships and Banshees!"
      There was a silence as the two Praetorians immediately tipped the noses of their Banshees up, curving upwards towards the sky. As Ta'ul looked up, he could see the ring of Halo like an arch over the heavens, and the closeness of space, only several miles up. They flew from the Pillar of Autumn, which, Ta'ul could see, was now violently shaking with bright yellow-white fires and explosions all over the hull. The whole thing looked more of an engine meltdown than a self destruct sequence, but Ta'ul did not care as long as the Cyborg was killed.
      "Like a foolish animal, the Cyborg has been caught in his own trap," said Striichan, the triumph gaining control over his disappointment. "We could be the only survivors, Brother Ta'ul."
      "Indeed, Brother Striichan, but we must not lose speed. The nuclear self-destruct of a starship is more than sufficient to create a fissure large enough to fragment Halo. We must make haste in our slow Banshees or else we will perish along with the Cyborg and the Flood."
      The Banshees began to rumble as they exited the atmosphere of Halo, and when they were back in space after all that time on Halo, all but the static crackle of the radios inside the sealed helmets of the Covenant warriors was silent.
      "We should travel faster now that we are in a vacuum," said Brother Striichan.
      "Yes, but it is not over yet. By my time, we have less than one minute to escape from harm's reach. I recommend we travel towards the gas giant that the humans named Threshold. If Halo splits, we are less likely to be caught by the drifting fragments, and once the detonation is complete, we can use the giant's gravity to catapult us to the nearest cruiser or colony."
      "We must make haste, then."

The two Elites flew towards the horizon of the planet, checking behind them every five seconds. Although Halo was getting further away, slowly, they seemed not to be making any forward progress. As his timer struck zero, Ta'ul looked behind to see the detonation.
      At first there was nothing in the silence, but then a huge globe as bright as a sun, began to expand at the centre of the ringworld surface, growing to blanket a quarter of the giant artefact world with nuclear napalm. A gleaming blue heat shockwave travelled around the inner loop, as Halo split in several places. Everything was silent and seemed slow, but the pieces were moving out far faster than the Banshees were travelling.
      Ta'ul had felt inspired as the world fell into fragments, the seas and atmosphere pouring off the edges, no longer contained, but he soon realised that they would be skimmed by one of the pieces by only a couple of miles if they did not evade.
      Striichan had been thinking exactly the same thing. "That piece is coming for us! We must divert our course away from the gas giant if we wish to survive."
      They turned, but Ta'ul knew that if the piece came near, they would be hurled into the planet by Halo's remaining gravity. The Banshees weren't moving fast enough to escape such a doom, and Ta'ul realised that his fate now rested in the hands of the Gods.
      As the piece came ever closer, Ta'ul could feel the control of the Banshee being eased away from him as the gravity of the remaining piece began to affect him. Ta'ul could only be pessimistic about the next few seconds, and shouted down the comm, "Brother Striichan, may the Gods choose your path!"
      "I salute and wish the same for you, Brother Ta'ul!" He replied, "Our reunion was short, but we shall stick this test together, as blood brothers!"

Ta'ul kept his hand on the throttle as the huge piece swung by, but it was useless. The gravity yanked him back like a sling shot, into the clouds of debris from the explosion, and shards of metal and foundation fabric ripped through the hull of the Banshee, tearing away its armour like fruit peel. Exposed to space in the torn bottom half of the Banshee, Ta'ul could only watch as his shields shrunk away, and Brother Striichan's Banshee was catapulted uncontrollably towards the surface of the huge fragment.
      Further fragments carved into the bottom half of Ta'ul's Banshee, eventually tearing the controls from his hands, and he disconnected from it, in the hands of the fragment's gravity. He moved forth from the debris clouds, the immense G slinging him away from the gas giant and out into the dark void of space, free floating, separated from the harsh vacuum only by his combat suit.
      Dazed and concussed, he looked back at the blur of debris, hoping to see the fuzzy image of Striichan's Banshee coming back to collect him, but in the eerie silence the only thing he was aware of was the fast pumping of his heart. The Gods had spared him, but his life would last only a few days longer before his life support systems failed and he perished out here where no-one would ever find his remains.
      A few minutes later, when the freezing cold penetrated his armour, he passed into blackness listening to the hypnotic hum of his shields recharging.

It was the voice of the Prophet that woke him, distant as if in a dream. "Praetorian Brother Ta'ul, last survivor of the destruction of Halo, do you read? This is Sarvaniuz Rertoxi Plidovi, Prophet leader of the veteran battlecruiser, War and Peace. We are approaching through slipstream space and will be arriving at the grave of Halo in several minutes. Gods give you strength, respond!"
      Ta'ul, playing along with his last dream, pressed his earpiece button to respond. In a hoarse and confused voice, he said, "The Green One is dead."
      And before the vision drifted away, he heard the words, "...we have located the human homeworld, a pathetic blue orb named Earth. Without the Cyborg, we may now begin the final step towards the annihilation of humanity... Join our campaign, Brother Ta'ul, and lead our armies to victory against the human forces."

And before long, Ta'ul looked out of the bridge of the War and Peace, watching a steadily approaching star named Sol.

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