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Shadows of Archon II (part 1) - The Lady Speaks
Date: 17 August 2002, 9:34 pm

Foreword to Shadows of Archon II:

Some of you may have read the Return of the Archons (ROTA) and the Shadows of Archon (SOA1) series. Shadows of Archon II (SOA2) is a continuation of these pieces, taking up pretty much where they left off. This first chapter "The Lady Speaks" is meant to be an introduction for SOA2. Even with this introduction there's a few things that you should know about what has transpired before SOA2.

For one thing, this story takes place three years after the destruction of Halo. During the last three years, the Master Chief and Cortana have been quite busy on a planet called Medusa (see ROTA). After leaving Medusa, the Master Chief's Long Sword fighter is modified by the technology of the Old Ones and the Archons. This makes his ship appear to be forerunner technology to Covenant sensors. It is indeed a mighty ship, in some regards it is better than anything the forerunners ever built.

The Master Chief and Cortana head to Reach to look for Terran survivors. It never is explained why the Master Chief didn't head straight for Earth in his modified Long Sword. Well this was implied in the very beginning of ROTA when the Master Chief finds out that Earth is under an Archonian experiment that could end up saving the universe from a great evil. Archonian technology is not allowed on Earth because it would compromise the experiment; therefore, the Master Chief cannot return to Earth with his ship. At this point the Master Chief believes he can do more good for humankind by keeping the ship rather than returning to Earth without it.

Cortana has been through some interesting realizations too. She has found out that the Queen of the Archons is also named Cortana and guess what, they look alike too. Since Cortana is an AI created several millenniums after Queen Cortana this left a bit of a mystery. This was to be explained in SOA1 but never was. Basically the Master Chief (John) is a Spartan but he finds out that he is also an Archonian sleeper - a sort of guardian of humankind that doesn't know it until awakened. John is a semi-awake sleeper now. So with John an Archonian sleeper and Cortana resembling the Queen of the Archons there must be a common link. As it turns out the link is actually a scientist that worked on both projects (the Spartan II project and the Cortana AI project). This scientist was a semi-awake Archonian sleeper. She used her genes as part of the Spartan II project and helped design Cortana's look and name. Whether other Spartans besides the Master Chief were sleepers is not known though.

Two new alien races are introduced in ROTA: The Archons and the Old Ones. The Old Ones were a race from millions of years ago, pre-dating the forerunners. All that is left of them now is their great wonders and their descendants who resemble man-sized geckos that walk on two legs. The descendants are known as Saurans and also called the Children of the Old Ones. They are pretty much the only ones that understand the technology of the Old Ones. Although they really can't seem to duplicate it themselves, they can modify it. John's Long Sword is an example, the Saurans took an existing engine from an Old One's ship and combined it with the Long Sword's engine.

The Old Ones also built the Portals of the Old Ones. These portals have some rules that govern them (see SOA1). The original intention of the portals was for travel but they also could tap into the hidden powers of nowhere space. One of these powers is to create shadow-selves. Shadow-selves (or simply shadows) were perfect duplicates of someone (the true-self is what that someone is called). Shadows would allow a person to be at more than one place at one time. The shadows were only temporary and when they faded the true-self retained the experiences and memories of the shadow. Shadows could also be sent forwards and backwards in time but the rules governing this are a paradox so it suffices to say that it can be done but there's really no way to do it when you want to.

The Reach system has one Portal of the Old Ones. The discovery of the portal was kept a closely guarded secret by Terran High command. It was no coincidence that Reach was the location where Terrans picked to make a mighty stand against the Covenant. Terran scientists thought they could use the powers of the portal to disrupt jump space and thus it could become a very powerful defensive weapon for the area. The power of the portal, however, proved to be too desirable and greedy Terran and Covenant scientists fought for its ownership creating a war between shadows. John and friends stop the shadow war in SOA1.

The Archons are a more modern race from about the time of the forerunners of Halo. The Archons are still around but are not much of a galactic power any more. They are a beautiful people resembling elves from human lore. They grow everything, including ships. They really don't get along with anyone else though. They tend to be very high strung and keep to themselves. They don't like the technology of the Old Ones, even though their home world is surrounded by it. They have greatly feared the power of the portals ever since the time of the Archonian Flux Wars (tens of thousands of years ago). Since then the portals on Archon (the Archonian home world) have been shut down.

During the Flux Wars the first Dark Archons appeared. They were Archons that used the portals for travel. Because Archons condemned the use of the portals, the Dark Archons became outcasts. One character introduced in SOA1 is Catsandravalahundra. She is a Dark Archon that has been trapped for three years on this side of the portal in the Reach system. Everyone except Cortana just call her Cat (short for catastrophe, because when she is around all hell seems to break lose).

A point of note is that during one of the Flux Wars, the Archons were at war with some of the other forerunner races. At one point the forerunners actually destroyed the master seeds for many of the Archonian ships. This meant that the Archons could no longer grow those ships. At the end of ROTA, however, the Archonian Yon-Akirakon Flagship Battle Cruiser was rescued. If this ship can successfully create seeds, a whole line of lost ship designs could be recovered. This is not important right now, but later it may be crucial because the Archons are trying to defeat a great evil that has yet to come.

This great evil (called the ultimate evil by the Archons) is never really explained except that it makes decisions based on logic without compassion. The flood have something to do with the ultimate evil but what exactly is not explained.

Another thing that was not explained in SOA1 but was alluded to was the motivations behind a group of Covenant that are now traveling with John. What must be understood is that this group of Covenant are not disloyal to the mainstream Covenant but they all have been placed at a disadvantage in Covenant society because each of them have ancestors that displeased the Religious Leaders of the Covenant. So, as a result, they have been assigned military duty on a group of Covenant deep-space sensor stations. Their commanding officer is Commander Thom. He is a mighty Covenant Elite that happens to also be a famous musician (think Elvis). Thom is a great inspiration to his crew and has promoted the ideas of chivalry and adventure. Thom has fallen on hard times recently and dreams of becoming a space pirate that steals from the rich, keeps some of it, and gives some of it to the poor (think Robin Hood). Thom has little problem gathering volunteers (his crew) for a grand adventure.

Originally Thom and crew set off to capture what they think is a forerunner ship called Destiny's Blade. Thom believes that the forerunner ship will allow them to go to worlds unseen by the Covenant where great treasures await them. Along the way they shall bestow good deeds on less fortunate and oppressed Covenant.

The forerunner ship, however, turns out to be John's modified Long Sword fighter (which is later renamed Destiny's Blade by John). After Thom realizes that he can't possibly use the ship because the Archonian technology only works for John, Thom and his crew of Covenants are in quite a dilemma. He and the entire crew are AWAL from duty so the Covenant High Command is after them. They can't return to the Covenant and so Thom decides that they and John must see "the Lady" (an alien soothsayer). The Lady will tell them what they need to do next.

Thom's second in command is Sub-commander Zax Rellius. Zax comes from a long line of heroic Elites, only his mother was a grunt and he ended up with her looks. So in a way he's a mighty Elite himself in a grunt's body. He's got some serious issues with accepting who he is. However, he is loyal to Thom, very honorable, and is probably the most experienced soldier among all of them, including John. He has some hope that by going along with the group, he can get his wife back. She was sucked up into nowhere space by a portal right after the destruction of Halo three years ago. He blames humans for this and particularly hates Spartans. He and John talk but there's always that chance in battle that one of Zax's shots will go astray and hit John between the eyes.

Noc Glyvenhyme is the Covenant science officer. A grunt that seems to be in love with Cortana, or at least he is infatuated with her. He is quite handy to have around, particularly if wounded need healing.

A few other Covenant names while we are at it: Alpha Squad Leader Deetz Darhammer (a battle hardened grunt), Beta Squad Leader Nort Timmins (an aged Elite), Gamma Squad Leader Zito Repo (a narcoleptic Jackal sniper), Navigation Officer Seth Rigger (a young grunt), Communications Officer Tak Musung (a Gundarian - she looks like a grunt but isn't really; she's a cyborg).

The rest of the Covenant crew are notable, but more importantly, they all are good-hearted outcasts. They hope to help others out while getting rich doing it. They all really trust Thom to do the right thing and follow him without question.

I should also mention that their Covenant ship is called Seeker 157. It is a lollipop shaped medium sized scout ship with crew capacity of 100. Like all Covenant seeker class scout ships, Seeker is semi-intelligent, able to make decisions in combat on it's own.

That about covers the foreword, now on to the story.

As we start this story, the group is meeting up with the Lady. John is starting to get a bad feeling about things. He's suspected for a long time that he was never supposed to have gone to Medusa, but Princess Kira of the Archons guided him there to help save the Archonian people. He is about to find out that his suspicions are true, that rather than go to Medusa, he was supposed to have gone to Earth to help defend it against the Covenant. Will he forsake the Archonian great experiment and save Earth now or will he have other options to make things right?



------------------------------------------------



The Lady Speaks

Darkness yields to the piercing blue eyes of a young woman. Her flowing red hair moves from side to side revealing slightly pointed ears. Her lips slightly part as she blows dust off of the recording device - for a moment her image blurs in a soft warm breeze. She is graceful, natural and Archonian -- a vision of beauty in the eyes of many.

But what eyes are these? Coming into focus are deep purple orbs. They belong to "the Lady", a 2-meter tall statuesque figure cloaked in dark robes and colorful veils. She has green skin with many wrinkles from age. Instead of lips she has long green tentacles that lead to razor-sharp spikes for teeth. Old and with the aura of death she is the ultimate beauty to a Nomdian. She is their Helen of Troy, Aphrodite, perfect 10.

Beauty is relative to the beholder as are circumstances. In ten thousand years a Nomdian and Archon have not been in the same room without first trying to kill each other, but necessity has brought on strange circumstances.

The Lady speaks, "John the Spartan, Thom the Elite, you are enemies by circumstance but friends by choice. These are indeed strange times. In all the years, the spirits have never failed me, but today they are silent. The visions to behold can now only be seen with the help of this Archon. We Nomdians and Archons are enemies by choice, but circumstance has made us friends for the time. Speak now John, what is in your heart?"

John stands up straight, his MJOLNIR battle armor worn from use, through its scratched visor he says, "Long have I drifted and fought for the cause of others, I'm home sick. I yearn to know why I feel betrayed for doing the things that feel right?"

Darkness fills the room. The Lady and Catsandravalahundra the Archon float in the nothingness. The Lady's multi-colored veils and Cat's ornate blue battle armor glow with florescent wonder, illuminating everyone in a black light.

The Lady speaks, "Darkness, darkness, piercing light, show us the emptiness in the right?" (Silence...)

"John, you are not to be here. Earth falls because you are not there to save it. The galactic meddlers, the biggest meddler of them all Princess Kira of the Archons has deceived you. She manipulated your fate to Medusa to save her people, the cost is the doom of humanity."

John, "But how? This makes no sense. Why bring the end to humans when that would mean ultimate failure of the Archonian Great Experiment. The ultimate evil would prevail and it would be the end of all."

Cat's soothing voice speaks, "Archons do not think with logic, they feel from the heart. Darkness looms in the hearts of Archons, our own impending doom drives all to do more. More than is possible. All is lost."

John shouts, "I will save Earth!" and he turns to leave but can't find the way out in the darkness. Again he faces the light.

Cat speaks, "You cannot take your ship Destiny's Blade to Earth. It will kill itself and you before compromising the Great Experiment."

John, "Then I go without it."

The Lady speaks, "There is no easy path, but the path you choose now is impossible. For all actions there are consequences. There are great forces at work to stop you. They wish to make example of the Archons for their meddling in the affairs of humanity. Princess Kira's guardian champion will never be allowed the direct path back to Earth. You will fail. Oh the cost is great for changing fate."

John, "There must be a way, you lie!"

Cat, "There is no way, the heart is dark."

The Lady, "The darkness is the way; to the Heart of Darkness I do say. The spirits speak of other ways, they come, they come. Oh in the darkness they wait, it is the end of the Covenant race. In pride the Covenant expend their forces against humanity, but in the darkness there is another reality. Enemies come from the rear, they bring the end to all that is Covenant dear."

Thom stands beside John. In his pristine Elite battle armor, he stands a full head height above John the Spartan. Thom says, "What do you mean the end of the Covenant race, how is this possible witch."

The Lady, "Only possible in your failure. I do see some vision of hope in a pirate sailor. Yes, an unseen armada, it comes from nowhere space to save the Covenant race."

The Lady and Cat speak in unison, "The spirits go. We grow weary, must rest now."

The light fades. Thom and crew turn on portable light sets revealing the chamber and all the faces of the more than fifty of them.

Thom speaking like a true Covenant Elite, "Riddles, that's all it is. What good are riddles, I'll take cold titanium alloy over riddles any day. Besides the Covenant is not a single race, there's many of us, many home worlds, many ships. What enemy could possibly defeat us before our ships could return from Earth?"

There is no answer to Thom's question. Thom snaps out of it and remembers that because of his actions, he and his crew are no longer welcome in Covenant space. He bows his head and reflects on the old days when the Covenant was not one, but fought amongst each other. Those times do not seem so long ago. The forces could be divided, each race going back to defend their own space. Each piece taken out systematically by an enemy that knew how to do it.

A light projects from the side of John's helmet. Cortana's holographic image appears. "Chief, the God Emperor of Medusa had a record of something it called the Heart of Darkness.

John, "What was this reference Cortana?"

Cortana replies, "It goes... All portals of Old are mere shadows of their master, The Heart of Darkness. Through the heart all is possible."

The Lady, having recovered some, in a weary voice says, "Yes that is it, the Master Portal of the Old Ones. Legend says it exists on the Old One's home world, Mira. The location of Mira if it even still exists is unknown, but it is said that by following portals you can find the heart. If you can reach heart, you can save your people. John, the journey to save Humans and the Covenant will be difficult; you will not be able to do this alone, you will need a guide. I will accompany you."

Cat, "I too will come. After all, it is the Archons that got you in this mess in the first place, Spartan.'

Thom, "I will not speak for all of us, but I too will come. The Lady said it herself, hope in a pirate sailor. I believe that's me. I never could turn away from a great adventure anyway. Sub-commander Zax, you may be able to take Seeker back with some story about how I want insane or something - high command probably won't have much problem believing that story."

Sub-command Zax replies, "No sir. The men and I have been talking and strange as this mission might be to save both the Covenant and Terrans, we are in it to the end. We are with you commander. Honor be with us."

All the Covenant crew repeats, "Honor be with us! Sir."

Thom with a smile on his face, "Yes! Let's do it."

Every looks towards John.

John speaks, "I don't know what to say... thanks all. We are fifty-one strong now on our quest to the Heart of Darkness. If all works out, we will leave tomorrow. Tonight, have some fun."

Thom, "Yes, well said. Sub-commander?"

Zax, "On it sir... Maybe some of you think you can get lucky tonight, but judging from the high standards of the local folks around here, I doubt it very much. You can go into town in teams of 12. No one goes anywhere without backup; you know the routine. Now dismissed!"

"Yes sir!"



-- Next, A Night on the Town --

Shadows of Archon II (part 2) - A Night on the Town
Date: 20 August 2002, 10:51 am

The Earth is in ruins. Every major metropolitan area destroyed -- New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, the list goes on... The Covenant High Command initiates Operation Lucifer's Hammer. Millions of Covenant dropships blacken the skies over the last strongholds of human kind -- Their mission, search and destroy.

In a small village, a lone Spartan limps as he enters a stone house filled with refuges. A wounded UNSC marine, badly burned on his right side says to the Spartan, "Master Chief, where were you, we needed you. You're too late now. Damn you to hell sir. You killed us all."

"Noooooooooooooooooo!"



------------------------------------------------



John wakes in a cold sweat. He throws off his wet blanket, "lights on, what time is it?"

As the lights turn on and a computerized voice states the time, there is knocking at the door. A womanly figure enters. It is Cat wearing a thin semi-transparent blue outfit shaped to the curves of her body. The outfit lightly hovers on her body, barely making contact with her skin. It has no straps or seams or any other visible way that it could stay on her, but it does.

Cat speaks, "John, I felt you in distress and then I heard you screaming. What happened?" She moves closer and sits next to him.

John, shivering from the cold, "Cat, I had another one of those dreams. Tell me again why I can't go back to Earth."

Cat, "There are many things in this vast universe, as it stands now, that neither you nor I will ever understand. All we can do is trust our hearts to do the right thing and have faith. That is the Archonian way. However, you have the seed of the Great Experiment in you. As an Archonian sleeper you can use both logic and your heart to make choices. Often a sleeper's mind and heart seem in conflict, but deep inside you can find them in agreement. Look deep inside yourself and tell me what we should do." She lies next to him on the bed, stretching her body out like a frisky feline.

John gets up and puts on a robe, in his mind his thoughts are twisted. He tries to no avail to come up with anything.

Cat stands next to him, places her soft hand under his robe and on his bare chest. Softly speaking she says, "Relax John, when the time is right, it will come."

Relaxing is the last thing on John's mind. Her touch is delightful. Her sweet scent fills his lungs. John puts one hand on hers, slowly runs his other hand through her soft red hair. John whispers, "Cat, I..."

"Shhh! Not yet." Cat interrupts him. Then her eyes start to glow and her hand gets very warm. John feels her hand enter inside his chest, but it doesn't hurt. John looks down to see that she is buried almost to her elbow in him -- John is totally freaked out.

John pulls away, "What the, the hell." His breathing is short and erratic.

Cat, "Did you not want to join with me John?" In between her words she grins.

"Well, yes, but no, crap Cat what did you do?" John says as he splashes cool water on his face. Then it snaps into his head -- A sudden realization. His path is clear."

Cat says with a smile on her face, "Goody it worked. Sometimes a good shock to system is all it takes." She claps her hands with joy.

For a moment, the sleeper inside awakes. John says, "It's a trap. If I go back to Earth now, the unseen enemy will be waiting for me. They expect me to go directly to Earth. If we go the way of the portals to the Heart of Darkness, we will go on a path the unseen enemy can't defend against. From the Heart of Darkness we will have the power to do anything or undo anything if that is the case. The path won't be unguarded, it won't be easy, but it just might work."

Cat says, "And John, how do we go the way of the portals?" She moves closer to John and grasps onto his robe.

John replies, "I must lead the way, there are things a sleeper can see that others can't. We will have a team accompany me through the portals. At each portal location there will be a sign of some type to point us to the next destination." As he speaks, John moves a few steps way from Cat, his robe comes untied and falls off.

"Will we all travel by portal, what about the ships?" Cat says as she tosses John's robe on to the bed.

John says, "Cat, since you are an Archon, you can pilot my ship Destiny's Blade. After the team's location is transmitted through the portal, you will use Destiny's Blade to create a stargate and travel to us. We will repeat this as many times as necessary until we reach the Heart of Darkness."

John moves to the bed to get his robe but as he bends forward the side seam on his underpants rips completely. He instinctively holds his underpants on with both hands. Cat is playing with a small knife that she hides away in a wristband.

From across the room, "Very good plan John," says a lady's voice from the shadows.

John calmly says, "I didn't hear you come in my Lady." As he backs away and wraps his robe around his waist.

"I never left," the Lady replies. Then she steps out of the shadows and says, "That's Nomdian humor. Your door was left wide open and you seemed very preoccupied. Seemed like the opportune time to use stealth."

"Please," says Cat, "you made so much noise I could have calibrated a sonic sensor on you from the next room in my sleep." She moves so that both John and the Lady are in her line of sight, seemingly no longer interested in the game she was playing with John. She adds, "That's Archonian humor, by the way."

John feels more relaxed now. He looks into a mirror, "Almost as good as one of your plans, huh Max?"

Cat, "Who's Max, John?"

John, "A friend of mine I met on Medusa. He sure was a dandy at making plans. Some of them backfired on us, but we always seemed better off afterwards. I sure wish he were here with us now. And that Croaker too, old geezer of a reptile."

The Lady speaks, "Tell us about your adventures on Medusa."

[Alert light goes off on John's comm.]

Incoming message, "We need help, grunt down..."

John says to the ladies, "Some other time, looks like there's trouble." John moves to retrieve his comm.

As John and group move out, we move back to earlier in the night, in the mining town of Can Can.



------------------------------------------------



A Night on the Town



In an open roofed large dining hall, the crowd chants, "Chuga, chuga, chuga, whoo!" Two figures sit opposite of each other, one a large Covenant hunter, the other a sharply dressed grunt in uniform. Full goblets of some brown liquid litter the table before them. Over two dozen damaged goblets lie about the floor around them.

The over muscled hunter finishes his drink and slowly says, "Ya, Gunter pumped up now. Reminds-th me of the old days-ss in the Corp." The hunter holds up a plasma pistol, waives it around as the crowd tries to duck out of its line of fire. Awkwardly he then throws his empty goblet in the air over 4 meters high and shoots it with his plasma pistol. The shot burns a hole through the metal goblet. Thud, the damaged goblet hits the ground.

The grunt takes his pick of full globets, then chugs it down to the chanting of the crowd. He says, "Gunter the Hunter, I never knew you ever served, I thought you have always been a smuggler." The grunt then tosses up his empty goblet and shoots one shot at it. Instead of a goblet, a tube hits the ground -- the shot burned a perfect hole through the bottom. The crowd is silent, then cheers.

The hunter grabs a full goblet and swallows its contents in one big gulp. In a slurred voice he says, "Zax, I tell you, Gunta do what necessss-sss-s... to ss-vive. I was-ss in 20 years. Bad heart, had to leav-th." He then throws up his plasma pistol and tries to shoot it with the empty goblet. Thud, hunter passes out flat on his face. The crowd cheers.

The grunt staggers to his feet and says, "Gunter, it's time to get you home, call it a night."



Outside, Gunter the Hunter, Sub-commander Zax, and Alpha Squad all stagger through the streets of Can Can. The night air is cool and the streets are empty.

Squad leader Deetz says, "Sir, something doesn't feel right. Even the rats aren't out tonight." Deetz taps his men, a signal to be alert.

Zax looks around and says, "Deetz, call for our ride out of here while I bring Gunter into his house, two grunts cover me." Gunter leans on Zax as they go towards a building.

Gunter says, "Zax, stop, my guards aren't here, them slackers. Did I ever tell you that there's a price on your head? Ya, those two assassins you killed last time you were in town belonged to the Needler Gang."

Incoming message on the comm, "We need help, grunt down..."

Deetz, "Sir our backup is pinned down by sniper fire, I recommend we find better cover and sit this one out. Help is on the way."

Zax, "Too late Deetz, everyone stay down, on my signal only, head for Gunter's home full speed. Gunter get out of here while you can."

Several groups of cloaked figures come out of stone houses around the complex of buildings. Each holding a needler or two -- More than a hundred of them in all. An unseen leader among them shouts, "You die tonight, no one messes with the Needler Gang and lives! Death by a thousand needles! Ha, ha, ha!"

Zax, "It's me they want, what are you waiting for Gunter, get out of here." Gunter looks at his home with hesitation in his eyes.

Deetz, "Sir they're not firing at us, the path is clear, let's make a break for the house."

Zax, "No Deetz. It's a trap isn't it Gunter?"

Gunter looks around, "I don't know Zax, but things aren't right. Them Neddlers never do anything on the up and up."

Out of the corner of his eye, Zax spots an open path to some swampland some 100 meters away. Covering his mouth he says, "Gunter, don't look, keep it on the by, but how deep is the water over there?"

Gunter covers his mouth and whispers, "The reservoir is about 1 to 2 meters deep."

Zax, "Everyone, lighten your load, we run for our lives. On my GO run like you never have before to the water. Everyone get your mark." Zax then throws a single plasma grenade through the window of Gunter's home.

Boom! BOOM! BOOOM! Multiple explosions go off. Then one huge blast shakes the ground as Gunter's home is propelled off the ground in many pieces.

Zax, "GO! Go, go, go!"

They all run for the water, throwing a few grenades at the thugs and firing off random shots on the way. Hundreds of glowing red needles fly towards them. The squad forgets about cover fire and just breaks into a full out sprint, running for their dear lives.

As the squad dives under the water some needles explode above them. One of the squad, grunt Ront and the over-muscled Gunter are the slowest. They aren't going to make it. A few needles explode and Ront goes down. Gunter tries to throw Ront in the water but he is hit with needles also.

Deetz and Zax head back and dive under the needles, causing the needles to explode on some nearby plant life. Deetz grabs Ront and Zax grabs Gunter. They all dive into the water just before a second wave of needles can reach them.

They wade out to the middle of the reservoir. As more needles come, they dive under the water for cover. The sure shots of the squad take out any of the Needler Gang that ventures too close to the water.

The stand off lasts for five more minutes, then the silent hum of Destiny's Blade is heard. Followed by a stiff downward breeze. As the ship comes out of cloak, its hull radiates with light. Out shoots thousands of small energy balls that strike at the Needler Gang like a world champion boxer's knockout punch.

With fractured bones and cracked exoskeletons, the Needler Gang withdraws taking their dead with them.

Gunter and the squad are sucked up into Destiny's Blade.

[The ship enters back into cloak, disappears completely in a strong breeze that sends a wake through the water below.]



-- Next, The Journey Begins --

Shadows of Archon II (part 3) - The Journey Begins
Date: 22 August 2002, 6:31 am

Inside the modified Long Sword fighter Destiny's Blade, Alpha Squad and company fly back to the safety of base camp. Not all of Alpha Squad will make it back however. Noc the grunt science officer is busily trying to revive another grunt that lays lifeless on a blanket.

After a few more minutes, Noc places a blanket over the grunt and says, "Ront of Alpha squad, I pronounce you dead on arrival, may you rest in peace."

Not at all a good night for our heroes, in total three dead from what was supposed to be just a fun night on the town.



Back at base camp, all gather around, standing at attention, some holding back the tears, their faces sad, their gazes burning. Commander Thom addresses the group in an angry mood, "Sub-commander Zax there are no excuses. What do you think, grunts grow on trees? Everyone works extra duty tomorrow to make up for our loss of grunt power. Last rites for our fallen comrades will be at 08:00. Get some rest before then. That is all. Now get out of my sight. Dismissed!" Thom kicks over a few stacked crates on his way back to his room. He doesn't once look back at his crew, some of whom are still standing at attention.

Sub-commander Zax says, "You heard the commander, dismissed." Zax holds back his emotions, but his heart is heavy. Yes Zax has seen death before, many times, in battle, by plague, old age, you name it. It never really gets any easier, though. Sure you can make adjustments, close up and never feel again, but a loss is still a loss. As the acting commander of these men, he must bear the responsibility and take blame for the losses. Whether they bleed to death from stubbing their toe in the shower or die honorably in battle, it is still his responsibility for the loss. He screwed up tonight, no excuses; that's the bottom line.

Zax looks to the stars. Tomorrow is another day.

[Fade to black.]



------------------------------------------------



The Journey Begins



The next day the crew says goodbye to their fallen comrades. It is a short goodbye; everyone must get busy making the preparations for their journey.

John, Cortana, and Cat have just returned from a short reconnaissance mission to the Reach system. Cortana gives her report:

"We arrived at the Reach system and were almost immediately spotted by a Covenant fighter patrol. We managed to evade them and continue the recon; however next time I recommend that we stargate to a point further out from the system."

"We observed one Covenant cruiser and more than thirty support ships in the system. Communications revealed the cruiser to be the Divine Might, one of the new Proteus II class prototypes. The complete list of identified ships and specifications are in the full report. It appears as though the Covenant are making regular troop drops on Reach, based on this observation and communications also in the full report we have concluded the following."

1) The Covenant are taking Reach back from the flood.

2) The Covenant are securing the portal for more research.

3) The Covenant are using Reach as a training facility for troops.

4) The Covenant are stationed at Reach for an extended period of time.

Cortana finishes her report and asks if there are any questions.

Commander Thom says, "It doesn't look like we'll ever be able to get to the portal on Reach. Cortana, what recommendations have been made for a course of action?"

"Science Officer Noc has an idea, I'll let him explain it," she says as her holographic image turns towards Noc.

Noc replies, "Sirs, if you please direct your attention to the viewer, you will see that I've designed a suit that will fit over John's MJOLNIR armor." The suit looks like a strange looking Elite. Noc continues, "With this suit, the Spartan will be transformed into an Elite, well a short Elite. It has a built in translator and is resistant to scans. Only a close scan will reveal what is underneath the suit."

Command Thom looks intrigued, he asks, "Noc, what is this suit for?"

Noc says with a proud voice, "For infiltration sir. I have good reason to believe we can sneak to the portal. We have an old sensor probe, which really is a fancy transport pod with a bunch of scanning equipment. If we take out the equipment it will seat six. One of the support ships is the Ninner, an old transport. I think I can hack its security codes so that our transport pod appears to be from that ship."

Noc looks around; everyone still seems interested in his plan. Noc continues, "Covenstein the great scientist, a sort of idol of mine - well, sir, I believe I can impersonate him. He should be no where around here because his research is on the other side of the galaxy. However, the scientists at Reach can't do anything with the portal without a Flux key. We have a Flux key. I can pretend to be Covenstein on a secret mission from Covenant High Command. When we show them the Flux key, they will lead us right to the portal."

Thom interjects, "Noc, what makes you think anyone is going to believe you are this Covenstein?"

Noc replies, "Sir, Covenstein always travels with his research companion, a Nomdian. With the Lady with me, no one will question who I am and as a bonus, no one will really want to get close to us because they will be scared to death of the Lady. No offense my lady."

The Lady speaks, "None taken, after all I am a Nomdian of the highest class."

Noc continues, "Convenstein also travels with his body guard, a hunter. The Lady vouches for Gunter. So we have five."

Thom, "Five?"

Noc, "Yes five sir. Six won't fit in the transport pod with Gunter in there. So we have me, the Lady, Gunter, John, and one other. I was thinking that High Command would send two Elites as extra protection. The other one would be you sir."

Thom is silent. "Sub-commander, John, anyone have any thoughts about this plan?" he says a moment later.

Some discussion happens in the background. Sub-commander Zax looks around at the other officers. "Very risky, if you ask me sir. If it was any other group, I'd say no way, but considering the present company, I say we got a good shot at it succeeding." Zax says with a sly grin on is face as he looks at John almost as if daring him to do it. Not at all the kind of look that John likes; but then again, him and Zax never really seemed to get along.

John says, "Thom I don't know how good an Elite I'll make, but I'm willing to give it a try. The plan does seem well thought out and Cortana thinks it will work. Count me in."

Thom, "Anyone else?" No one speaks up. Thom continues, "Noc how long to build this Elite suit for John?"

Noc replies, "It's built and tested already sir. I thought we might need something like it so Cortana and I have been working on it all week."

Thom says with a smile, "So that's why you two have been spending so much time together." Behind Thom many of the officers snicker.

Noc looks a little embarrassed but manages to blurt out, "Sir, it was all in the line of duty."

Thom, "Alright, let's do it."



One day later the preparations are complete. Destiny's Blade and Seeker 157 travel to the outskirts of the Reach system. A journey by normal jump space would take hours, but it takes only a few minutes via stargate.

The transport pod is launched and the plan gets on the way. Hacking the security codes was an easy thing, so was reaching Reach in the mist of all the commotion. Not all goes well though; things start to heat up.

Noc in a panicked voice, "Sir, this transport pod design is not the best design for entry into an atmosphere. The heat shielding is sub-standard. Outer hull temperature is rising to red levels."

Gunter speaks, "Forget about the outer hull, we're burning up in here."

Thom, "What's wrong with the thrusters" Why aren't we slowing down?"

Cortana, "Commander, thrusters at 100% power, we are at acceptable entry speeds, there appears to be an outside influence causing the heat build up. I'm now picking up an incoming transmission from Reach."

The transmission is heard over the comm, "Pod 334-9873-339 cut your engines. I repeat this is Landing Base Omega, Pod 334-9873-339 cut your engines, you have 5 seconds to comply or you will be terminated."

Thom, "Cut the engines."

As soon as the engines are cut, the transport pod starts to cool down. Over the comm, "Everyday I get one of you dumb heads. Read your damn flight instructions, stupid. No supply pods enter on their own power. We bring you in under grappling beam. We scan you, identify you, and then we bring you the rest of the way in. If you breach protocol, we blow you to bits. Is it clear as mud now IDIOT?"

Noc turns off out going transmission then says, "Sir I don't know if John's Elite suit can pass through a detailed scan. I have a plan B sir. I have some other security codes, just might work."

Thom, "Do it Noc."

Noc say, "Cortana bring up the plan B security codes." Noc then turns on the out going transmission, "You're the idiot, check your identification readout, we're not a supply pod."

Over the comm, "But, sir, ah, just a moment." The comm goes silent for several seconds then, "This is shift commander Toa, sir your security codes check as valid but they are not in sync with our authorization codes. Please turn around and return when you have proper codes. I cannot allow you to land without proper authorization. I hope you understand I have no choice in the matter, I'm only following orders."

Noc says, "Check again shift commander." Noc smiles as Cortana gives him the thumbs up signal.

Over the comm, "Yes, proper authorization sir, we will bring you in."

Noc, "Counter that thought shift commander, I will fly in under my own power. My mission requires I have freedom of movement."

The comm, "Yes sir." The grappling beam is released and Cortana starts the pod's thrusters again.

Noc, "Oh, shift commander, look at my security codes again, now listen carefully. I was never here, you never talked to me, understand."

The comm, "Yes sir, I mean, yes nobody."

Noc, "And one more thing, I suggest you do a full diagnostic of your security systems, judging from the troubles I've seen, you've got faulty equipment."

Noc cuts the comm off and signals the all clear. Noc holds his stomach and says, "I'm feeling kind of queasy, I think I'm going to be sick."

"Good job Noc," says Thom as he hands Noc a bag just in case.

John, "Nice work Noc." John pats Noc on the back carefully so not to make him sicker.

Gunter, "Me don't understand why Noc not do plan B first?"

The Lady speaks, "Gunter, you can be like a child sometimes. If Noc did plan B first it would be plan A, it wouldn't be plan B anymore, thus he could not ever do plan B first, could he?"

Everyone else, "Huh?"

The Lady speaks, "That's Nomdian humor. It does surprise me how you can laugh for minutes about bodily functions, but anything remotely clever flies right over your heads. It's no wonder that most Nomdians consider you all nothing more than food. Which reminds me I'm getting hungry." The Lady then looks at Thom's head.

Everyone has nervous looks on their faces. Thom says, "Hey now my Lady, ha, ha, more Nomdian humor... I hope."

The Lady, "Yes it is Nomdian humor. You are learning."

Gunter, "Huh, Gunter still don't understand why plan B not first."

John, "Look Gunter, we have a saying back on Earth - Don't put all your eggs in one basket. If we did plan B first and if for some reason it failed. We would have no backup plan. Does that help?"

Cortana interjects, "Chief we are on approach to land near the portal chamber."

Everyone does a final check of the equipment. By the time they are done, their transport pod is landing.

Reach is still the desolated planet, just how they left it. The group gets out of the pod and heads over to the tunnel that connects the surface to the chamber where the Portal of the Old Ones resides.

A squad of grunts is guarding the tunnel; they have strange looks on their faces as they look at the party. Behind them further down the tunnel is a large hunter unloading some scanning equipment from a fancy vehicle. The grunt squad leader cautiously approaches the Lady and says, "My Grace, how did you get out here and who are these companions of yours?"

Noc speaks sub-vocally over the comm, "I've got a really bad feeling about this."



-- Next, Identity Crisis --

Shadows of Archon II (part 4) - Identity Crisis
Date: 23 August 2002, 10:45 am

The night is coming. Through the blackened clouds of Reach one would never know, but as light yields to the darkness there is an unmistakable wind of change. A fine layer of ash swirls in mini-cyclones around the complex. One almost forgets there is anything else in this barren land.

Five sturdy figures stand before a squad of Covenant grunts. The lead figure, the Lady speaks, "Squad leader, these aren't ordinary companions, take a closer look at this Elite."

The squad leader eyes the familiar looking Elite. Something about him just seems out of place. No way, could it be Commander Thom? But the once great hero is a traitor to the Covenant.

The Lady speaks, "You're thinking correctly squad leader, this is the one and only Commander Thom. He's been on a secret mission for High Command, and now his mission has brought him here. But, there's more to it than that squad leader, a word with you in private."

"Oh, you mean by myself?" says the squad leader. There is not much more frightening in this universe than being face to face with a Nomdian.

As the Lady and the squad leader head off, the squad of grunts approaches Commander Thom. "It's an honor to meet you sir... Can I get your autograph for my niece? Make it out to Jobo."

Behind a wall an eerie flash of light gets the attention of the squad. The flash is followed by a slow crunching and slurping sound that brings images of walking on shells and trudging through mud at the same time. From behind the wall calls the voice of the squad leader, "Tanco, get your butt over here now. That's an order."

"Yes sir, right away sir," replies Tanco as he heads behind the wall.

Another flash of light and more noises.

The voice of Tanco, "Hey Jobo, come back here, there's something I've got to show you."

"No way I'm going back there," Jobo replies. As he speaks, there are three loud thuds behind him and some rustling noises. Jobo turns around very cautiously to face the noises. He really doesn't want to see what's behind him, nor does he want to turn his back to the wall where the Nomdian went.

Jobo drops his weapons and raises his hands as Commander Thom comes out of cloak with a plasma rifle pointed right at Jobo's head. Before Jobo can say a word - thump - John the Spartan, who is still disguised as an Elite, knocks Jobo out.

The Lady comes out from behind the wall. "Delicious" is all she says.

In the background, Gunter the Hunter holds a large rock in one hand while grabbing a prone grunt by the head.

Thom stops Gunter and says, "Minimize Covenant casualties, remember. Noc give these grunts something to keep them out for a while."

"Hey, did anyone see where the hunter went, the one that was down the tunnel unloading crates?" John says with concern on his voice. All that is seen down the tunnel now is an abandoned vehicle and several crates. One of the crates is tipped on its side with parts spilled everywhere.

Cortana quickly says, "Chief, the alarm has been sounded."

"Grrrrra!" comes from above as two giant fists pound into Thom. It's the hunter, and he looks mad as hell.

Gunter dives for the enemy hunter but is rudely met by a forearm to the face. The enemy hunter follows suit with a powerful hammer fist strike to Gunter's chest. Bam! Gunter goes down.

Whack! John hits the enemy hunter with the bottom of his plasma rifle - the rifle shatters into many pieces. The hunter seems to just be angrier.

The hunter tries to grab John, but John is too quick and skilled; at least that's what it appears like at first. John applies a flurry of attacks against the hunter. Open palm strikes to the head followed by hooks to the rib cage underneath the armpits and half fist strikes to the throat. The coup de gr’ce a rising leg kick to the groin combined with a downward hammer fist to the bridge of the nose followed by a reverse headlock to break the hunter's neck.

However, John gets ahead of himself. His instinctive set of finishing strikes, although powerful, quick and precise are anticipated by the hunter. The hunter closes his knees together trapping John's lower leg. The hunter then deflects John's arms as he places John in a strangle hold from the front. The powerful grasp digs deep into John's throat even through the protective armor.

John's vision dims to a blurry tunnel -- Blackness on the sides, the hunter in the middle.

Just then the hunter releases one hand off of John's throat. More shots hit the hunter from the Lady's plasma pistol.

"Robogra!" The hunter charges the Lady while dragging John by the throat.

Whoop! Gunter grabs the hunter by both legs and brings him down. Thom jumps on the hunter's back and holds on to one of the hunter's arms. John, still conscious grabs the hunter's other arm.

As the hunter is being held down by the three of them, Science Officer Noc comes forward and injects the hunter with a quadruple dose of knock out serum.

The sound of approaching footsteps can be heard.



------------------------------------------------



Identity Crisis



From the rubble that surrounds the complex another squad of grunts approaches with weapons ready. They look at the group with distrust in their eyes.

The Lady speaks, "You fools, you're too late, they already headed down the tunnel. What are you waiting for, get after them."

The squad of grunts heads down the tunnel. In their hurry they just assumed that they were in close pursuit of the enemy. Little did they know that they were the first ones down the tunnel after the sounding of the alarm; they don't get far before auto-turrets hidden away in the tunnel open fire. The squad is no more.

John inquires, "My Lady, how did you know that the second squad would be gunned down like that?"

"My snack told me and it also told me some useful security codes. Cortana, I'm passing these codes on to you." The Lady says as she licks blood off of her facial tentacles.

Thom looks around and says, "John we have to make a decision, do we abort the mission or push on? This area going to be teaming with troops in only a matter of minutes."

John replies, "We're so close I think we don't have a choice but to go on. What do you recommend Cortana?"

"Chief I'm picking up communications, they're on to us, if we leave now in the transport pod we will be shot down. We don't have much of a choice but to go on. The good news is the security codes I received should get us by the automated defenses of the complex." Cortana says in a matter of fact voice.



The group moves on down the tunnel. Since their cover has been blown, they have no way to infiltrate the complex. It is very unlikely that any more Covenant will mistake the Lady for the other Nomdian, the Grace. They must now fight their way in.

And fight they do. Two more squads block the way to the portal. It all starts to remind John of a dream. He is not asleep though; he is alert. Small arms fire riddles the tunnel. As the enemy moves from cover to cover, John sees moments of weakness -- a left out head or limb. John fires his shots right on target. The first squad is down. The second squad hoped to just hold position until reinforcements arrive. They did not anticipate that Cortana would hack into the security systems and turn the auto-turrets against them.

The group reaches the enormous chamber that contains the Portal of the Old Ones. Powerful lights shine on the portal. The portal itself looks dark and dead.

Two shadows under the light wait in silence to greet the group. One an older grunt wearing the uniform of a 1st class Science Officer. The second a Nomdian female dressed much like the Lady stands behind the grunt.

Noc says quietly over the comm, "That's Covenstein the great scientist and his research companion the Grace."

Thom speaks, "Great Covenstein, we come on a mission to save the Covenant. We do not wish to harm either you or the Grace. Please step aside and we will go about our business. There is not need for any more blood shed."

In the shadows it was hard to tell, but now it is clear. Covenstein stands lifeless; his body falls forward, a big hole in the back of his head.

The Grace speaks, "Lady, you may have gotten the looks, but I always had the power. Now hand over the Flux key. I know you have it."

With the power of a Nomdian and all the knowledge of Covenstein, the Grace is the group's worst nightmare. The lights turn off and the Grace disappears in the darkness, even motion sensors are blind to her whereabouts.

From all around the sounds of machines moving can be heard followed by the humming of many charged plasma guns. Green glowing balls can be seen appearing everywhere.

-- Next, Big Trouble --

Shadows of Archon II (part 5) - Big Trouble
Date: 25 August 2002, 7:08 am

"Get moving you damned human slaves!" shouts the leader of the masked white apes. The slower humans are prodded along by the butts of plasma tipped spears.

The white ape leader turns and kneels, his face covered with an oversized wooden mask; the face of a Covenant Elite painted on it. He says "Oh great chosen one, a storm approaches, these slaves move too slowly, the Spirit City is still half a day away."

The mighty Elite looks at the poor human slaves. There are approximately twenty of them dressed in nothing but the tattered remains of UNSC uniforms. They are under nourished, beaten, and with the look of hopelessness on their faces. To the rear of the group, four sturdy white apes carry the devil creature; a Nomdian female securely strapped down by hands and feet to a six-meter long log.

The Elite looks back at the white ape leader and says, "We take cover in those caves over there, until the storm passes."



In the caves, the mighty Elite stares into the darkness. How did all of this come about? The Elite reflects on the previous day's chaos.

[Fade back in time.]



------------------------------------------------



Big Trouble



The group is surrounded by the glowing green orbs. In the light of the orbs can be seen the outlines of mechanical creations resembling giant scorpions. The green orbs are the illumination from plasma cannons mounted on their stingers. Amongst all of the creations, there is no sign of the Nomdian female called the Grace.

Commander Thom shouts, "My Grace there is no need for violence, we can take you to the flux key. You don't think we are stupid enough to have it with us do you?"

As Thom speaks, John uses his Elite armor shell to cloak in the darkness. Let the Grace speak, give away her position, then she is burnt toast. John scans the area carefully, paying special attention to the center of the enormous chamber.

In the center of the chamber, Gunter the hunter guards the Lady's back. The Lady's Nomdian energy shield radiates in a purple glow, lightning sparks between her facial tentacles. They stand only 10 meters from the portal -- a dark circular ring about 12 meters in circumference.

John hears Cortana speaking quietly over the comm, "Chief, the creatures are not tied into the main security system. They have an auxiliary control override straight ahead of you. Noc if you can reach that control panel, I believe I can use your enhanced comm link to access their command circuits."

Noc moves towards cover silently, if only he can get to that control panel, maybe he and Cortana can deactivate these mechanical monsters. Ever so slowly he crouches beside a row of crates. Inch by inch he moves. But his shoulder rubs too close to one of the crates tipping over a metal tool. The tool teeters on the edge of the crate. It leans back and forth and begins to rotate. As Noc reaches to catch it, it slides down, spinning in slow motion towards the ground. Clink, clink it goes.

Boom! Plasma cannons fire, all hell breaks lose.

Three plasma bolts fly over Thom's head, pulling the air away from him like flying vacuums. Thom rolls behind the engine block of a damaged Terran vehicle left here from some previous battle.

One bolt explodes on Gunter; he lets out a cry of pain as he grabs a large I-beam from the rubble beneath him. Swat, he bats another bolt out of the air. Like the great Bambino he hits a line drive that blows the head off one of the mechanical creatures. Home run!

John's cloaking shield seems no defense against these creatures. From close range one of them tracks him and opens up with mini-guns mounted on its arms. Two hundred rounds per second rip John's shields down. He falls back blasting away at the closest gun. The mini-gun explodes from the shots momentarily causing the creature to lose tracking with its other mini-gun. The tracer rounds burn like a laser beam just missing John's head.

With shields down, John back flips through the air away from the shots while still firing until his rifle overheats. Fiery red lines dance around him, a musical of death crescending with exploding green balls.

The flaming green bolts fly without abandonment. Their explosions burn the air leaving a temporary void -- the after sound a whistle blown in reverse.

Boom! Suck... Another explosion nails Gunter. The great hunter goes down. Small embers, still burning with green fire, rise from around the body.

No creature targets the Lady who appears to be engaged with an invisible foe. She rolls around with purple lightning shooting from her mouth. A high pitched screeching sound shatters nearby objects.

The Lady screams in pain as the flux key is loosed from her grip. It flies toward the portal as if guided on unseen wings.



There is a momentary break in the action, Noc dives to the control panel and inserts his comm on its data receptacle. Cortana goes to work. In a hustle, he moves to take cover again behind the crates. This time he falls flat on his face, tripping over the lifeless body of Convenstein. There before him is his lifetime idol, dead with his brain sucked out by the Grace. Noc dares to touch the greatness. Sadness fills his heart; tears fill his eyes. Why is life so cruel?

Zap! An electric pulse burns through Noc's armor straight into his body. Noc's body twitches on the ground as if his heart is in fibutation.

"Noc!" Thom yells as he rolls out from cover with energy sword in hand. He then turns sideways as two plasma bolts fly passed him. One bolt missing just in front of his chest, the other missing just behind his back. Two spins later the great hero has sliced through the neck of one of the creatures.

A poetic end to the horrid creation. Its head slides to the ground as its decapitated body continues to fight without control. Its mini-guns fire wildly taking out the legs of another of its kind.

John sees that Thom has got the attention of most of the creatures. Time to give him some cover fire. "Hurry up Cortana," he says over his comm as he throws plasma grenades at several of the creatures. Then he spots the flux key flying through the air towards the portal.

The flux key darts to the portal and inserts into a slot. It turns once. Inside the portal ring multi-colored energy begins to swirl. The key is pulled out of the slot.

Ba ba ba ba ba ba! John charges the flux key, shooting right near it. The outline of the Grace can be seen. John drops his plasma rifle and hits the figure right smack in the chest. In his fist is a live plasma grenade. He lets go and the figure staggers back; purple energy flickers from its body, the glow of the grenade burning brightly in the middle. The flux key falls nicely into John's hand as he squeezes and rotates the figure's wrist down and back. He then spins around the figure striking it in the back of the head with his elbow. The figure stumbles forward. John instinctively kicks it in the rear, propelling it forward away from the portal.

Boom! The plasma grenade goes off. The figure flies back over John and into the mystical energies of the portal.

All the scorpion creatures stop. Their arms hanging limp at their sides.

"Good work Cortana," John says.

Cortana replies, "I did nothing Chief. The control circuits are too complex. Interesting, I'm picking up another control signal."

Up from the dead is Noc. The grunt stands proud as his face transforms from the mild mannered officer to an insane genius. Noc yells, "I am the great Covenstein!"

Before anyone can stop him, Noc then runs into the portal followed by a dozen of the remaining scorpion creatures. The creatures pay no attention to John as they run by him, almost trampling him with their massive bodies.

Cortana speaks, "Chief, the Covenant have deactivated the main security systems. I recommend we get a move on."

Over his comm Johns says, "Thom grab Gunter, I'll get the Lady, we need to get out of here now."

At that moment three Elites dart in from the connecting tunnel on ghost reconnaissance vehicles. Close behind them a banshee ground assault vehicle thrusts in, followed by dozens more ghosts. From farther away, the communications from approaching troops is picked up by Cortana. She says, "Chief the portal is our only way out, there are hundreds of troops arriving."

John grabs the Lady and runs to the portal where he waits for Thom. John says, "I sure hope the Lady is right about these portals... Get a move on Thom you've got ghosts approaching."

Thom jumps into the wrecked vehicle near him. "I heard these Terran warthogs can run on anything." Varrrrummmmm, the warthog starts up on the first try. It's only got two wheels left but that's enough, riding on its rims it moves forward. Thom jumps out and with a big push of strength, he heaves Gunter into the back.

Shots fire at Thom as he hops back into the driver's seat. The warthog doesn't move; the engine is dead. Vrrumpt, pit, pit, vrrumpt. It won't start.

The ghosts have Thom surrounded, the banshee approaches fast. It flies right over Thom and heads to the portal. Its fuel rod cannon charging up to fire.

"Forget me John, take the Lady and get out of here!" Thom shouts over the comm.

John dives carrying the unconscious Lady through the portal just as a green explosion blasts behind him.



John doesn't remember much of the trip, his mind not yet accepting what lies beyond the portal. He wakes in a pile of mud at the foot of another portal.

He is surrounded by large white-haired apes who wear the faces of Elites. They wield plasma tipped spears and metal chest plates. John stands up, still in his disguise as an Elite. All the apes lie prone on the ground except one that kneels. The one says, "Mighty chosen one, we the portal guard, your loyal servants, have been awaiting for your return."

The rest of the story moves quickly. The Lady is badly hurt so John instructs the portal guard to bring healing solutions for her. To his surprise, the healing solutions are brought by humans. They are slaves to the white apes.

The Lady is what the white apes, a.k.a. Jukans, call a devil creature. According to their highest laws she must be brought to the Spirit City immediately. John has no choice in the matter, but he does insist that all the slaves accompany them on the trip. Better then to make an escape with the humans while on the road.

They head out immediately. The group consists of just nine of the portal guards, twenty slaves bound together by heavy chains, John and the Lady. They march all night stopping only a few times for rest and nourishment.

As the sun comes up, the leader of the Jukan portal guards named Garridor comes forward to John and says, "Oh great chosen one, a storm approaches, these slaves move too slowly, the Spirit City is still half a day away."

John instructs them to take cover in nearby caves. Thus we have gone full circle in our thoughts. John looks into the darkness caused by the storm. He must figure out what to do. He and Cortana plan silently over the comm.



-- Next, the Chosen Ones --

Shadows of Archon II (part 6) - The Chosen Ones
Date: 28 August 2002, 6:21 am

The land of the Jukan is a tropical wonder. Deep green plants and colorful flowers. Everything is oversized, flowers the size of garbage can lids, fruit the size of beach balls - Everything that is, except for the trees, the tallest tree is only about 4 meters high. The trees don't provide much cover in a storm such as the one happening now.

In the storm, John can sit alone. Everyone else has taken cover in the caves. John's self-enclosed battle armor gives him more than adequate protection against the strong winds and acorn-sized hale.

"Cortana," John says over his comm. "Have we gathered enough information to formulate a plan? What do you recommend?"

Cortana replies, "Chief, we still need more data on the Jukan, their strengths and weaknesses. I recommend that we make contact with the humans in private. Perhaps the woman named Valerie Sinclair. What's left of her UNSC uniform indicates she held the rank of lieutenant in the 907th Terran brigade. She seems the most capable of the humans. Be careful though, we don't know what they have gone through, it could be quite a shock to her."

"Very well."



------------------------------------------------



The Chosen Ones



In the caves small fires burn to provide heat to the thirty of them. Twenty human slaves bound in heavy chains, nine Jukan guards, and one Nomdian prisoner. The Nomdian prisoner is kept under heavy sedation. Should this devil creature awake before the group gets to the Spirit City, it could very well be the end to them all.

Garridor, the leader of the Jukan guards, paces about looking out the cave entrance; his white fur turned silver-gray under the fire's light reflecting off of the caves dark glassy walls. He is the only Jukan still wearing his wooden mask. A mask that has the face of an Elite painted on it. The rest of the Jukan relax some using their masks as makeshift pillows.

As John approaches, Garridor kneels, the rest of the Jukan rise up and put on their masks then in unison, they all except Garridor fall prone to the ground. Garridor says, "Oh great Chosen One, we the humble portal guards are here to serve you."

John says, "Bring to me the human slave called Valerie."

A tall, slender woman perhaps in her thirties is brought to John. They stand outside under the sparse cover of trees and rocks. The storm has died down to just a light sprinkle.

John, forgetting for a moment that he is still disguised as a Covenant Elite says, "Lt. Sinclair, tell me something about yourself and the others."

Valerie's face looks like it could cry, but her eyes are dry. There aren't any tears left to shed. "How can you be so cruel? Your voice is so kind, but yet your heart so twisted. I'll do whatever you want, just please have mercy on the others."

"What?" John says and then realizes that she believes him to be an Elite. "I mean what makes you think I'm that way. Do you know me? Looks can be deceiving. Lieutenant didn't anyone ever tell you that it's what's on the inside that counts?"

Valerie looks strangely at John, "What are you, some kind of philosopher Elite? And you don't talk like an Elite either, why do you keep calling by my old rank?"

"What do you think I am Valerie?" John says as sincerely as he can but failing horribly. He feels almost like a boy playing a trick on his little sister. Funny he would think of that, maybe since he never was a boy nor did he ever have a little sister this is sort of his inner child coming out.

Valerie looks over John. He appears to be a runt Elite, standing only slightly taller than she does. A little on the chunky side too. This is so precious, a reject Elite and the Jukan worship him like a god. She replies in a defiant voice, "What ever you are, you ain't no Chosen One. That's for sure."

John says, "You got that right Valerie. Now have a seat; I have something to show you, this will all make sense in a moment." John begins to remove the faceplate of his disguise but the seals seem stuck. He struggles a bit looking like he's trying to pull his head off.

Valerie says, "Oh God, please strike me down with a lightning bolt. Now I've seen it all, a pervert Elite."

"No" John says. "No I'm not a pervert, I'm trying to show you who I really am, just got to get this suit off. Cortana can you do anything?"

Over the comm, "Chief, try to get the food intake piece open, I might be able to project my holographic image out through it."

John opens the food intake but it doesn't open wide enough. He takes his hands and grabs the upper and lower jaw pieces and tries to open them further. The holographic projector is still covered so Cortana's image can't get out through the opening; however, it does create a bright light that projects out of the food intake like if John had swallowed a flashlight.

"What, Cortana? Whatever turns you on pervert." Valerie says as she hops on a rock and holds her chains high above her head. "Please, lightning strike me down now!"

No lightning strikes down. There is a sudden break in the storm. The sun shines brightly over green jungle. Steam rises from the ground. The sound of animal life chatters away.

Some of the Jukan pop out of the cave to see the new day. They outstretch their arms and do slow martial movements in unison with their plasma tipped spears.



John is about to say something to Valerie when out of the corner of his eye he spots a flash of light far off on a hill. A chill goes down his spine. He quickly grabs Valerie and throws her down. Just as he is about to dive by her. Thud, something blasts off the side of his head. John's head feels like it weighs a ton as he falls headfirst to the ground.

Valerie panics. "No! I won't do it." She yells as she tries to run to the cave entrance. Her chained legs make it very hard for her to move with any speed. Phit! The sound of sucking flesh is heard. Valerie goes down to a sniper shot into her stomach. She screams in pain. This wound will kill her, but not right away. It is a slow kill.

John recovers and crouches behind cover. "Cortana status."

Cortana replies, "Chief your vital signs are good, the shot glanced off the outer armor. Another three centimeters on target and you'd be in a body bag."

John looks over at Valerie. He only saw one flash of light, but judging by how quickly the shots hit, there must be more than one sniper. The angle doesn't look right either. The snipers might be shooting from different positions.

Cortana says, "Chief, not enough data to calculate the second sniper position. The first position is approximately 453 meters at 31 degrees west of here, elevation plus 48 meters."

John pops his head out for only a split second. Back behind cover, he thinks in his mind what he saw. "Cortana, that would be approximately 4 rock widths to the right of the egg shaped rock on the hill straight behind me. Am I correct?"

"Affirmative" Cortana replies.

Valerie tries to crawl to cover but another sniper shot tears through her right leg. She screams in pain again unable to move anywhere.

Two Jukan guards run out quickly. One guard fires plasma bolts randomly at the hill, the other grabs Valerie. Before John can yell to them that it's a trap and to get back behind cover, the two guards lie lifeless on the ground with quarter-sized holes drilled dead center in their wooden masks.

"Cortana," John says, "Why would the Jukans risk their lives for a human slave?"

Cortana says, "I don't know, maybe they thought she was of value to you Chief."

John has no weapons, pinned down like a trapped rat. Cortana reminds him, "Chief, have you forgotten that your Elite suit has a cloaking shield? I recommend you use it to take out the first sniper position.'

John replies, "Yes, right." John cloaks and takes a round about path up to where he believes the first sniper position is located.

He moves unseen and comes up behind the position. There before him about 6 meters away is a small area covered with camouflaged netting. The storm has blown down most of the plant life next to the camouflaged area. It would be very difficult to sneak up to there unheard. John takes a chance and leaps the distance, coming down right outside a small opening in the back.

John rips the netting to the side to reveal two surprised figures underneath. Both are Covenant grunts, one with a sniper rifle and the other with some scanner and communications equipment.

Snap. John breaks the neck of the communications grunt. The other grunt swings his sniper rifle wildly at John. John has no time for this; the other sniper position may have a shot at him. John grabs the sniper rifle and with a swift kick to the grunt's stomach, he completes the disarming.

The grunt coughs up blood inside his armored headgear. More than just the wind knocked out of him.

BOOM! A large explosion comes from a nearby hill about 50 meters away. John instinctively dives to the ground. If he hadn't, the shock wave from the explosion might have knocked him to the ground anyway.

The grunt next to John opens the face piece of his headgear. Blood pours out. In his last words he says, "No surrender. Ha, ha, ha, (cough)." And then he passes out. On his belt are blinking red lights, a count down timer.

John, realizing his life is in immediate peril, begins to dive away as he shouts "Faaaa...!"

Boom! Too late, John is caught at ground zero of a huge explosion. Heat so hot it could sublimate steel burns around him and on him. His polarized visor turns black to keep the light from burning his eyes out. That's the last thing he remembers.



John wakes up face first in the mud. He is at the bottom of two burned up hills. A thick black smoke covers everything. Before John kneels Garridor.

Garridor speaks, "Oh mighty Chosen One, in the fires of hell you have transformed to your true self -- A mighty Shadowguard."

John looks at himself, his Elite suit totally destroyed but his MJOLNIR battle armor no worse for wear. Except that it is covered in a black as night soot.

John forgets about Garridor for a moment. Over his comm, "Cortana, you okay?"

Silence...

"Cortana answer. You alright?"

Silence...

"Cortana? Oh God no."

Silence...

Then a hissing sound followed by, "Affirmative Chief, systems coming back online. How many times do I have to tell you to be more careful, there's two of us in here?"

John says with a relieved voice, "Good to have you back Cortana. Now that's it, no more gathering data about the Jukan. I'm taking things into my own hands." John then looks at Garridor and says, "Garridor, these what did you call them again, Shadowguards, they mightier than Chosen Ones?"

Garridor replies, "Yes, they the first Chosen Ones, mightiest of them all."

John continues, "Do your highest laws apply to the Shadowguards?"

"They are the lawgivers, they passed down the highest laws to us servants." Garridor answers.

"Excellent, follow me," John says as he heads quickly into the caves. There he sees all twenty of the human slaves alive. Valerie is cleaning up the blood from around where there should be a deadly would, but it is completely healed.

John looks directly into Valerie's young brown eyes. "You're okay Valerie, how?"

She looks up, as do the rest of the humans. Their faces like children, the wrinkles from years of hardship cannot be seen for the moment. No one can say a word, but if they died at that moment, they would die at peace with themselves.

A single tear falls from Valerie's left eye -- Not a tear of sadness, but a tear of joy.

In a strong and commanding voice John says, "Release the slaves and prisoner. Release all of them."

This is what legends are made of.



-- Next, What the Heck Happened --

Shadows of Archon II (part 7) - What the Heck Happened
Date: 30 August 2002, 9:42 am

The Jukan are mighty warriors. Their training passed down one hundred ninety generations from the time of the Shadowguard Lawgivers. Warriors in ability and experience, but not of heart. The Jukan are a peaceful race. They believe that life is precious. So it is that they risk their own lives to save the lives of others.

There are only a few thousand Jukan left from a society that once thrived in the millions. The killing must stop.



------------------------------------------------



What the Heck Happened



Three hours of heavy marching through jungle has passed. The group finds themselves at the foot of a 50-meter high waterfall hidden away on three sides by great rock cliffs. They have been on forced march because earlier that day the battle between the group and snipers ended in two large explosions. The smoke and fire from the battle was sure to bring more enemies or other curious creatures to the area. Instead of staying there or moving on their previous course, they opted to move out in a random direction to confuse any trackers.

The group is smaller now. In the battle with the snipers, six Jukan were lost. Two Jukan died by sniper fire trying to save Lt. Valerie Sinclair, a human. Two Jukan died in an explosion when they took out one of the sniper positions. Two more Jukan died in an explosion when they were on their way to take out the other sniper position, which John took out. John survived the second explosion, transforming in its fires before the remaining three Jukan from a Covenant Elite into a Spartan.

John is known as the Lawgiver to the Jukan now. In his MJOLNIR battle suit he resembles the great lawgivers of long ago, the Shadowguard. The rest of the group consisting of twenty humans and one Nomdian all refer to John as John and sometimes as Spartan or the Master Chief.

John says, "We stop and rest here."



The group is tired and the water of this hidden place feels so refreshing. This place is a tranquil paradise. The water comes down from high above quietly as there are many smooth ledges that it traverses. There is an abundance of fruits and seeds to eat. For once, life seems normal again.

John washes the soot off of his armor while near by Lt. Valerie Sinclair showers in the waterfall.

Valerie speaks to John, "So there I was lying on the ground dying with two big bleeding holes in me. I reached out to one of the fallen Jukan next to me and felt a vile of golden healing solution. It's like magic, healed my wounds fully, even got rid of my sore neck. What I didn't tell you before though is that I noticed four of the Jukan were gone. They were on their way to take out the snipers. The two dead ones sacrificed their lives to reveal the sniper positions."

John says, "So Lieutenant..."

Valerie interrupts John, "Please call me Valerie, sir. I'll call you Master Chief, your highness, whatever you want, but just call me Valerie or Val for short. Lt. Sinclair, she died a long time ago."

"Alright Val, you can call me John, but we may have to resurrect Lt. Sinclair if we want to ever get back and save Earth." John continues, "So, Val, you said to me earlier that many of the humans took the portal at Reach and came here when the Covenant attacked."

Valerie comes out of the water; she places her wet clothes on a rock to dry in the sun. She lies next to them wearing only her skivvies; her years of captivity have taken any modesty she might have had away.

She says, "Yes, but we found signs that other humans had been here a long time before then. That's still a mystery to us."

John tries not to stare too much at Valerie. Valerie is telling him that he should take that big hard and restraining armor off and lie down next to her. Wow chicks sure do dig the Master Chief. Just then water splashes over his visor. "Huh?"

Valerie splashes some more water on him and says, "Wake up will you. Are you daydreaming? Well take a look who's here."

John looks up to see the Lady coming out of the water with a fish in her mouth. She has been underwater for the last 20 minutes doing some hunting and has come up with lunch.

The Lady approaches, gliding above the water. In one large crunch and suck, the fish is gone from her mouth. The Lady speaks, "John, would it surprise you to know that Nomdians were aquatic creatures long ago before we were forced to live in dark underground tunnels. Speaking of tunnels, I found one that will interest you. Come with me and bring Valerie and Garridor." The Lady then disappears under the water.



John, Valerie and Garridor follow her under the water and down a tunnel that leads behind the waterfall. They arrive in a much larger tunnel above water that is lit by glowing lichens. Various items of technology are scattered about, some large, some small.

"What is this place my Lady," John asks.

The Lady looks about and says, "The last tomb of the Chosen perhaps. Here is the record book that I found the most interesting. All of these record books were written by an Elite named Gregorius more than a thousand years ago."

The group looks at the record book, it starts with some hand drawn pictures of humans. Only these humans stand in front of other alien races who are kneeling before them. The translated writing says, "God."

The first entry after the drawings says:



-------------



Journal Entry 8141.1

We took the mysterious portal found on Anterach 4. It led to the world I have called Jukan after the race of intelligent white apes that live here. Coming out of the portal the first time, the Jukan met us with plasma tipped spears. They took us to a great city where we spoke to their leaders, a council of forty-two. We explained that we were explorers but they started to worship us as gods.

All of this is explained in books 3 and 4 of my journeys. I mention it here because I now understand why they treat us like gods and call us the Chosen Ones. I have found records with pictures of Elites. We are the children of God to them. But what I also found is quite disturbing. We are not the Chosen Ones; this is a mistake on the Jukan's part.

These records are amazing from the days of the forerunners. The first ones, called God, on all accounts resemble humans. Of all things that barbaric race that does nothing more than run naked on their green and blue worlds.

The records do show that the Covenant races were created by God. To us was bestowed the power of reincarnation. However, God grew angry with us for our pride and created the humans in God's own image. Humans would have souls that could bring them to the world of God after death.

This all seems like an elaborate hoax to me.



-------------



The Lady then instructs John to skip to the last entry in the book; it reads:



-------------



Journal Entry 8341.13

We have been betrayed! I narrowly escaped from Anterach 4 through the portal back to here. I shut down the portal right behind me when I took the flux key. The Covenant leaders have ordered the murder of all of our families. They call all my findings a lie and seek to punish us. The Religious Order is keeping my findings a secret but deep inside they are jealous that the humans were given souls that can be with God.

I found out that the human worlds, all six of them, have been destroyed.

There is nothing more for us here; tomorrow we depart through the portal. I believe the next stop will lead us closer to the truth if we travel by way of the purple energies. It is this path that will take us toward the world that came before the forerunners.



-------------



John looks to the Lady, "What does this all mean?"

The Lady speaks, "Apparently the Covenant Leaders are jealous that humans possess a soul that allows your kind to be with God. The Covenant can never be with God, for their souls just come back to this world... By the way, none of this really concerns we Nomdians. The Covenant and human visions of God suit your kind, not ours. We do believe in a higher power, the creator, but our visions of divinity your kind can only imagine in your insanity. However, there is something to the souls of humans that is not quite explainable. Why else would the Archons have hidden away the location of Earth so long ago from the rest of the forerunner races. Of all races the Archons chose to protect the humans of Earth for their great experiment. Earth is the hidden seventh world of humans that only was known about by a few forerunner races. The Covenant did not know it ever existed until they met up with space-faring Terrans."

Cortana speaks from John's armor, "My Lady, did you know all this before? Why did you not tell us?"

The Lady replies, "Some of it I knew and chose not to tell, but the rest I have discovered from these records that I read while John and the others were basking in the sun. It could be all lies, misinformation to hide some other secret or just the rambling of a mad Elite, but I sense that it was no coincident that John led us here today. His random path was not as random as we thought."

Garridor speaks, "This Elite Gregorius was a Chosen One. Some since him have come through the portal and some before him too. He not understand what Chosen One means. We Jukan do not worship Chosen Ones as gods; we show our deepest respect to them. Chosen Ones are the Great Protectors. Long ago the Lawgivers came and saved us from evil. They went away, but when evil came again, the Chosen Ones came again as Elites. They protected us from the evil and then left."

"Elites protecting anyone but the Covenant, that makes no sense." Valerie says.

The Lady speaks, "Elites weren't always part of the Covenant. It wasn't until after the Elite Religious Leaders became high officials in the Covenant that it was honorable to be a Covenant. Before then, many of the Covenant races were constantly fighting amongst themselves. So I understand."

John slowly starts to speak, the sleeper within awakes for a moment, "No, this is not all true. I feel there is some lies in Gregorius' writings. It is all too easy an explanation. Targeted specifically for the eyes of humans. We must avoid the purple energies of the portal at all costs; they will lead us astray. I feel poor Gregorius did not know this and met a most horrible doom. Nothing the Old Ones ever built was so easy to figure out. We must find more clues."



As the group looks for more clues, back at the site where the fight took place earlier in the day, there is a large group of Covenant grunts. A silver grunt is speaking to a shiny golden grunt.

Silver grunt says, "Supreme Commander we have snipers watching the path to the Spirit City and the path back to the portal. They report nothing."

Golden grunt says, "Second Commander, we lost four of our best grunts today and you are telling me that their murders have disappeared without a trace? Show me the last transmission from them again, just maybe we can find out where they are going."

The last transmission is viewed. A dialog caught by their surveillance equipment between an Elite and a human.

After viewing the transmission again, the golden grunt says, "What is this pervert the human speaks of?"

Silver grunt replies, "Supreme Commander, it would appear as though the Elite is trying to seduce the human."

"This time the Chosen Ones have gone too far." The golden grunt says in disgust as he takes out a scanner. There is nothing unusual on the scanner at first, but then a blinking light the shape of a person appears. "Ah good, right on time. Second Commander, gather our forces, we have a Chosen One to catch."

"What do we do with this one sir?" says the silver grunt.

The golden grunt replies, "Kill him like all the rest. Hopefully this will be the last one I'll ever have to deal with Second Commander. In seven days and 6 hours my ride off this hot and humid rock will arrive. My tour of duty on the fringes of nowhere will be done. Let the next Supreme Commander take care of things. It's such a shame that we just can't level this rock and be done with it. Very inconvenient that the forerunners built a defensive system around the entire planet. No weapons of mass destruction allowed. I wish I knew why. Maybe there's something really valuable here that I could take with me, make all these years I rotted away here worth while. Ah but Second Commander, don't worry, I won't forget about you. Bring me the head of this Chosen One and I'll make sure you get off of this rock too."

More than a hundred grunts gather about the golden grunt. No grunt salutes a commander out here, but over the comm they chant, "All hail Supreme Commander Imperius."

More than a dozen drop ships arrive and the forces load up and head due east.



-- Next, Imperius the Destroyer --

Shadows of Archon II (part 8) - Imperius the Destroyer
Date: 3 September 2002, 7:55 am

"I think I found something," Valerie says as she digs through a pile of old books in the dim light of the tunnel. She seems quite proud of herself, for maybe the first time John sees her smile. She continues, "I found a recording device, a Covenant one with a dead power cell. And there's another, and another, they're all dead."

"What good is that?" John asks.

"I was thinking that same thing: Without power they aren't much good now. Even if we installed charged power cells the data is probably gone. But what I missed is so obvious to me now. These devices have power cells that should last at least 50 thousand years. Something drained them... John, when my group of engineers arrived here over two years ago, we immediately noticed a power drain on all systems. We resorted to keeping records using specially coated paper, to protect it from the humidity of this planet. The Covenant here is known to bring down fresh power supplies from orbit all the time. Everything eventually loses power except the Jukan weapons." Valerie then points to Garridor's plasma-tipped spear, which is currently in its contracted state of less than half a meter long. She then says, "The Jukan weapons have no power-supply but appear to draw energy from the environment. But I just noticed that something else isn't drained of power and that is your battle suit. Why is that?"

John says, "Cortana, what can you say about this?"

Cortana speaks, "Chief, no energy drain detected. But what Valerie is saying is possible, we have seen similar technology employed by the Old Ones in the Web of Medusa and more closely to the effects described by Valerie, the properties of the Eldar stone."

John says, "Web of Medusa, Eldar stone, that brings back memories. The Eldar stone was from deep underground on Medusa was it not? Is this planet made of Eldar stone? Why isn't my battle suit affected by the power drain? Why is it that the sleeper inside me doesn't come out and answer these questions?" John paces about acting a bit frustrated.

Valerie says, "Slow down John, I have a theory. I don't know anything about this Medusa or the Old Ones, are they the forerunners? Anyway, it's not the suit; it's what is in the suit that is important. Having been a slave working near the portal, I remember seeing a picture of humans with torches guiding others. The others were different looking and had thrown down their weapons. All around them were horrid looking things that seemed to be burning up under the light. Someone told me that the picture meant that the light of the Chosen Ones is more powerful than all the other weapons in the universe because the light is powered by the soul. I don't know why this all of a sudden popped in my head but I think you are the key to something John."

Garridor says, "Yes the Chosen Ones shall lead the meek through the valley of death. That is what that picture is about. I think I know what to do." Garridor hands his plasma-tipped spear to John.

John holds the spear; its plasma tip begins to burn more brightly, so brightly that it almost blinds everyone. The bright light does something to John, for a moment the sleeper within him wakes. John says, "In the light of the soul, behold the wonders about."

All around on the tunnel walls, the illumination shows pictures previously hidden in the dim light of the lichens. The pictures depict ornate designs and stories of old. Further down where the tunnel ended, there is a clear outline of a door, which opens before John.

John says, "We go this way, gather the others. We must all go, it is no longer safe here."



------------------------------------------------



Imperius the Destroyer



Meanwhile, as the group gathers to head through the mysterious door, not too far away, thirteen Covenant drop ships head to their destination. A communication between the third and seventh drop ships.

Third drop ship, "Alpha Com, negative on big mama, nothing but echoes."

Seventh drop ship, "Beta Com, proceed without support to secondary drop."

The drop ships move in to the secondary drop location, touching down for just an instant as more than one hundred Covenant grunts jump out. All the grunts covered in jungle camouflage. One grunt speaks to another.

"Supreme Commander, 2 kilometers from here is where we lost satellite lock on the target. They couldn't have moved far on foot. Artillery support is standing by, I recommend we fire a few smart bombs in the area. Sanitize the area before moving in."

The Supreme Commander Imperius replies, "Second Commander, don't let the curse of the Supreme Commander get to you. I don't plan to die like my predecessors. Yes they all died with only a week left to go, just like me, but they were foolish. They got greedy and tried to take something from this place. I'm not going to make that mistake. Now with that said, order the troops to fan out and move to the target area. One Chosen One can't be that hard to find and kill."

The grunts move out and soon they come upon a hidden area containing a waterfall surrounded on three sides by high rock cliffs. In this area are found the signs of humans, particularly a set of clothing on a rock near the water.

Second Commander says, "Sir, the signs are fresh, less than fifteen minutes old. Again, they disappear. The rocks here block scanners. I recommend we fan out again and search along the path to the Spirit City. They could be hugging the terrain toward the city."

Imperius eyes some scratches on a rock in the shape of an arrow pointing down. "Second Commander, good plan, but I think they are still here somewhere. Tell me, the water comes down but where does it go?" Says Imperius.

The Second Commander notices that the waterfall comes down, but there is no visible outlet for the water.

Imperius continues, "There are tunnels under the water. Give the order to form up search groups, it's time to do some excavating." Imperious then picks up the wet clothing and says, "Oh, bring out some of the old sniffer mines too."

"Yes sir."



------------



Deep in the caves, John, the Lady, Val, Garridor, and company travel in single file guided by the light of the plasma spear. Under the light the path is mapped out in detail with symbols. Without the light, the path would seem a never-ending labyrinth. John presses on with determination.

Winding around and down, the group reaches a huge chamber with one stone bridge over a black pit below. The bridge spans the entire gap of more than 100 meters across. For the first time the group senses they aren't alone down here. Murmuring sounds can be heard from side tunnels.

John says, "Demon spawns... Everyone stay close to the light. Garridor make sure your Jukan warriors are ready to guard the rear, these things are vicious but not very brave. Don't let them see weakness." As he speaks, John senses that the answers to his questions will be found on the other side of this bridge. It calls to him to push on.

Just at that moment a scuffle breaks out between a Jukan warrior and two humans. Valerie rushes to them with Garridor. "Break it up!" She says as she holds back one of the humans.

The murmur of sounds gets louder in the background. Everyone stops to listen.

Valerie says, "Are you crazy? What's this all about Jacobs, O'Bryan?"

O'Brian points at the Jukan, "He's been marking our path this whole time. Leaving a trail for someone."

The Jukan replies, "The human is foolish, I mark the way so that we know how to get back out. What right do they have to even touch a Jukan warrior."

The murmur gets even louder, overshadowing the voice of the Jukan warrior. The red glowing specs of a thousand eyes peer down from all around.



------------



Supreme Commander Imperius and his troops head into the tunnels. There is quite a power drain in the tunnels. The group moves under the light of flares. In their hands, old-style gas-operated projectile weapons and chemical flame throwers.

Imperius says, "Follow these marks on the walls, they will lead us to the Chosen One. Leave half the troops here in reserve. Have them follow us exactly 10 minutes after we leave. One more thing, distribute the sniffer grenades, I've programmed them to track on the scent found on the human clothes. The scent indicates it is one of the human females. If this Chosen One is trying to breed with the humans, he will keep the females close to him. The shielding on these old grenades is quite good so they should remain working for a while even in these tunnels. A few of these grenades ought to take care of the Chosen One."

"Yes sir."



------------



The stench of demon spawns reeks. Their high-pitched shrieks ring in the ears of the unprotected. Their horrid tentacles whip around in a whirlwind of slime and venom.

Quickly the humans cross the stone bridge as the Jukans guard the rear, firing plasma bolts from their spears. John's plan is to cross on the bridge. When they approach the other side he will blast the demon spawns there with such force as to cause them to run away -- cowards these spawn of demons truly are. In the meantime the bridge will serve as a defense to keep the demon spawns from swarming the group. In all John's accounts, demon spawn could jump but not fly.

The bridge is not quite what John had planned though. About a third of the way, the stone bridge becomes very slick, almost frictionless. The bridge has a layer of oil on it. John keeps his balance as he slides forward. Valerie slips and falls flat on the bridge. She lies there flat as can be without moving.

Private Mark Parks, father of two, is not so lucky. He slips to the side. The Lady tries to grab him but she misses him and he slides off the edge, his muffled screams heard for an eternity as he falls into a bottomless abyss.

The Lady slips too and falls off silently.

John is not a mountaineer, if he were he would have fallen flat. Instead his momentum keeps him going over the halfway point of the bridge where it inclines slightly downward. He picks up more momentum and soon he has accelerated to faster than he could run. Keeping his balance and trying to avoid going over the edge he surfs down the bridge to the other side. He hits some rocks and wipes out, crashing into a wall. Some how he keeps hold of the glowing plasma-tipped spear as the world turns black around him. John fades into unconsciousness.

The remaining group moves back off the bridge the way they came. Surrounded by demon spawns the unarmed humans cower behind the Jukan warriors. Garridor, without his spear, pulls out a silver knife from under his metal breastplate.

Demon spawn tentacles bite at the group. The Junkan plasma spears cut them down nicely, but a few get through. James Jacobs is grabbed by a stinging tentacle. He cries, "Arrgh, help me! No, get it off."

His lifetime buddy Victor O'Bryan grabs hold of his arm, "I got you Jim. Let go of him you ugly bastard." O'Bryan tugs at Jacobs arm trying to yank him free from the tentacle.

Bam! O'Bryan is smacked hard across the chest. He loses his grip on Jacobs and falls off the edge into the abyss.

Jacobs sees everything. He looks up blankly at the Jukan that pushed his friend over the edge. He can't speak; the venom of the demon spawn's tentacle has iced his veins. He feels nothing. He can't move. He can only hear the Jukan laughing; then there is blackness.

Garridor thrusts his knife into the center eye of the largest demon spawn. The rest of the demon spawn retreat, but not before they drag off six more humans.

Garridor and the two other Jukans stand there, out of breath. Behind them only twelve humans remain, including Valerie who has managed to get off the bridge safely.

They think it is over, but that if far from the truth. Burning demon spawns charge toward them -- Their shrieks worse than a hundred whistles. Some of the demon spawns expire into pools of slime in front of the group. Others continue on and fly off the edge into the abyss below.

Behind them the fire from a dozen flame throwers wielded by Covenant grunts. The forces of Imperius have arrived.

One Jukan charges his plasma-tipped spear up to blast back at the grunts, but his body is shredded under the explosive force of many 20 mm HEAP rounds. Two other humans fall beside him from stray shots.

The other Jukan with a plasma-tipped spear drops it and falls flat to the ground. Garridor reluctantly let's his knife fall out of his hand.

Imperius claps his hands and says, "Bravo Garridor, wise choice for a dead Jukan. For a moment there I thought you might try to do something brave." Imperius then instructs a few grunts to recover the Jukan weapons.

Even unarmed, the mighty Jukan leader Garridor stands impressively. The grunts are too intimidated to approach close enough to retrieve his knife. Imperius stands impatiently and says, "You want something done right..." He then snaps his fingers.

Garridor is unaware that the other Jukan has stood up behind him and then whack! The other Jukan hits Garridor from behind with a big rock. Garridor goes down to one knee momentarily stunned. Whack! The rock breaks into pieces over the back of his head. Down on both knees and a hand Garridor shakes his head. Whack! A fist comes down on his back.

Garridor quickly turns with knife in hand and thrusts it up between the legs of the other Jukan. With a great cry of pain the other Jukan falls back and down.

Bam! The head of Garridor explodes. Garridor's lifeless body falls forward as Imperius steps forward with smoking rifle in hand. Imperius says, "As I was saying, if you want something done right..."

Valerie yells out, "Murderer!" The remaining humans hold her back.

Imperius says, "A human female in her underwear, how interesting. By the way, you haven't seen nothing yet." Imperius looks down at the wounded Jukan. The wounded Jukan is crawling towards a vile he dropped on the ground. Just has he reaches out to grab it Imperius shots the Jukan's hand off.

Imperius steps on the bloody stump of what's left of the Jukan's hand and says, "You won't be needing that Darius." Imperius then picks up the vile of healing solution. He points the barrel of his rifle at the Jukan's head and says, "You know I never did have much faith that you could become the great leader of the Jukan Portal Guards. Garridor was more of a Jukan than you could ever be. You did serve my purposes well though, but I really don't have a place in my ranks for a traitor."

Darius spits at Imperius. That's the last living thing he ever did.

Imperius looks up, "You there, feisty one. Where is the Chosen One?"

"Rot in fucking hell!" Valerie replies.

Imperius shakes his head and says, "I am in hell... Now why would you not go across that bridge? What is wrong with the bridge? Feisty one, do me a favor and go across that bridge. Now run!" Imperius shots the ground beside her.

Valerie takes off running across the bridge. She hits the slick part and slides on her rear across the bridge. She starts to drift to the right, she tries leaning to the left; it works enough to keep her on the bridge.

Imperius says, "Very interesting, seems the bridge is not fit for travel. Second Commander, bring up the grappling guns."

"Yes sir. What about the human female, she might make it across and the curvature of the bridge blocks a clear shot?" Second Commander replies.

"No worries Second Commander." Imperius then pulls out a sniffer grenade, arms it and throws it down the length of the bridge. Fins spread out from the grenade sides. It spins through the air like a guided Frisbee making a high-pitched buzzing sound. It flies below the bridge and back up, then to the other side tracking its target with deadly accuracy. There is a small explosion, only the size of a regular grenade. The explosion normally would be much larger, but the nature of the area's energy drain dampens the affect -- Still plenty enough to kill its target, an unarmored human.

Imperius looks at the remaining group of cowering humans. "Now do I need to keep killing or will one of you tell me where the Chosen One went?"

One of the humans, Private first class Higgins steps forward and says, "He went across the bridge. The Chosen One, he's gone."

Now Imperius has a pleased look on his face. He says, "Finally a brave one among you cowards." Imperius then shots Higgins in the head. "An honorable death for him. Second Commander, burn the rest of them."

Second Commander hesitates for just a moment, then he signals the flamers to open fire. The flames burn across the ground, some of the humans jump off the edge to avoid getting burned. Others are not so lucky, their flesh cooked down to the bone.

"Ha, ha, ha, very good." Imperius says. "Now Second Commander, get those grappling hooks over to the other side."



------------



Valerie looks up at the strange looking creatures that carry her. Oh the stench is awful, worse than rotting flesh. The leader of the group saved her from something homing in on her. With one precision shot, he shot it out of the air and blew it up.

She is brought to a lit chamber and let go near a table. A look of great relief comes across her face. There before her stands John and the Lady. Valerie simply asks, "How?"

The Lady says, "No time for chatting. Val, I can't fly but I can levitate. I glided over to the side of the abyss and found an entrance to a tunnel. It led me here."

John says, "I made it across the bridge and crashed. When I woke up, I was here. Valerie, I heard what happened to the others, I'm sorry."

Valerie gives them both a big hug then they all sit down across from a group of figures. Each one of a different race, one Elite, one grunt, one human, one Jukan, and one of a strange winged race, a demon. All of them are mummified with little creatures attached to them.

John recognizes the creatures; they are flood -- Intelligent flood.

The demon figure speaks, "John the Spartan, the Lady, Valerie Sinclair, and Cortana too, let's not forget the AI. We welcome you here to our little corner of hell -- Hell to some, a sanctuary to us. Right to the point, you expected something else did you not?"

John answers, "Yes, these creatures on you, they control you don't they?"

The Elite figure speaks, "Yes and no. Right to the point, we are a hive mind, capable of independent thought but sharing a group consciousness. There is much you don't understand John the Spartan."

The Lady speaks, "I sense your great powers of the mind, the hive is strong, but could be stronger, why do you not venture to increase the hive."

The grunt figure speaks, "Right to the point, we who are known as the flood have little intelligence in small numbers, however, in larger concentrations our combined minds achieve great power. If we were to concentrate in the millions, we could be far more powerful that a Nomdian, in the billions we could control others across interstellar distances. Our problem here is that we do not seek to achieve that level of power. Doing so would demand that we combine with our creators."

John says, "To the point but I don't understand what it means."

The human figure speaks, "Right to the point, the nature of the dampener field isolates us from our creators. We have reached a point of population density that we have intelligence, but we are protected from the command of the creators. We have independent thought and we wish to keep that."

Valerie has remained silent this whole time, but she just doesn't know what is going on, she has to ask, "Why did you save us, bring us here?"

The Jukan figure speaks, "Right to the point you are, we do not care so much about you, but we do need you. There is a place down here that is not affected by the dampener field, if we venture there then our creators would call upon us. The Lady with her Nomdian ways can shield us mentally while we go in there. There is also a guardian of this place from the forerunner days. The guardian will not let us pass unless you come along John. The guardian will see the Archonian sleeper in you and recognize you are one of the forerunners, although not a purebred forerunner, it should be enough. You can command it to let us pass. Valerie, we were simply showing you courtesy to save you. We could not save the others, but we could save you."

The demon figure continues, "We know you are looking for Mira, the home world of the Old Ones. We can provide you with information that would be useful on your journey. We cannot give you much else, we do not have much."

Cortana says over the comm so no one else can hear, "Chief, I don't think we can trust them, if we get them by the guardian, what's to keep them from disposing of us then, after they don't need us anymore."

John says, "You have been kind to save us, we do owe you our thanks. You also know quite a lot. Please excuse me if I have my doubts. In my journeys I have not met many that are so up front and truthful. What is it that you seek in the place with no dampener field?"

All the figures answer in unison, "What we seek is of no concern to you."

The human figure continues, "You have only this choice to make. You either work with us or against us. We will not let you proceed to the place without us, but as a sign of our good faith, if you wish to leave and return to the surface, you can. We will not stop you."

John looks at the others then says, "We need time to discuss this."

The Elite figure says, "Very well, we have other pressing business to attend to. When we return, we expect your decision." The figures leave with their entourage of other armed figures.

John, Cortana, the Lady, and Valerie huddle together.



-- Next, Desperate Decisions --

Shadows of Archon II (part 9) - Desperate Decisions
Date: 5 September 2002, 6:19 am

Standing in the aftermath of battle is a golden grunt - Imperius, mighty Supreme Commander of the Covenant forces of Jukan. Viewed as honorable, brave, and more importantly to his grunts, he is known to save grunt lives. He doesn't make mistakes. He is utterly ruthless in battle. He is the greatest Supreme Commander known to these grunts in the last decade.

Second Commander Kohan, a silver clad grunt, looks upon the great leader Imperius. Many battles have they fought side-by-side. In the end though, Kohan knows his soul will pay for all the atrocities they have committed. The slaughtering of innocents, the ravaging of the land, the executions of peaceful Jukan, even the killing of humans. Some day they will leave this hell of a planet and he will spend the rest of eternity making amends for the wrong doings. Things right in war, things wrong in peace, things wrong no matter what. He was only following orders, words heard many times before...

Imperius speaks to Kohan, "Second Commander, are we ready to push on? What is our status?"

"Sir we are nearly ready. The bridge across the pit is completed. We have secured a supply route from the surface to here. We have all the ammo and rations we could need for a month down here. Fresh troops are cycling in. We only wait for the special item you requested. It is in the tunnel and on its way here." Kohan replies, then he says, "Supreme Commander, do you really think it wise to call in all our reserve forces? If the Jukan attack our outposts now, we would not have any troops to counterattack with."

Imperius looks directly into Kohan's eyes and says, "Second Commander, in all the years you've been my second, you have never questioned one of my commands. You know that I ask for your opinion when it is needed; when I don't, keep it to yourself. Now go make sure the package gets here safely."

"Yes sir."



------------------------------------------------



Desperate Decisions



Further on in the tunnels deep under the surface of Jukan, the group discusses what to do next. John paces around the table, the Lady levitates near by. Valerie sits rubbing her sore feet. On the table sits their only weapon, a Jukan Plasma-tipped spear.

Cortana speaks from John's battle suit, "Chief, you're not considering helping the flood are you? We cannot trust flood, all accounts clearly show that they are do not share the same values as us. They are parasites."

John replies, "What is evil Cortana?"

Cortana begins to reply with a dictionary definition of evil, but John stops her, "No Cortana, what is evil to those that don't share the same values as us? The Archons found their ultimate evil. It was logic without compassion. A machine without feelings is the picture that comes to my mind. What did Cat say, that is what you could become in a few thousand years Cortana if you lose your empathy. To humans the flood is a parasite, they are evil, but the Archonian sleeper in me does not see THESE flood as evil. They have something about them that I cannot put my finger on, but it isn't evil."

Valerie says, "They did save my life. If you ask me what is evil, it is that Covenant leader Imperius. I swear I will kill that murdering son of a..."

The Lady speaks, "Val, stay focused, the decision at hand requires all of our attention. John, pick up the spear. We must proceed with what we do know."

John nods and picks up the spear. Immediately it glows brighter than a flare, illuminating the entire chamber. Nearby, what they thought was a wall has become a window, a huge window. All look through the window.

Unlike a normal window, the light from the spear does not reflect back when the other side is darker, instead the light flows through and illuminates a huge stone city. Thousands of flood move about like ants on an ant hill.

John moves closer to the window to try to get a better view. As he does the window zooms toward the city. John turns his head and the focus moves. Soon it is like the group is walking down the streets of the city with John as their guide. Millions of tubes containing man-sized creatures resembling cockroaches line the streets. The group does not know how they know there are millions of tubes, but somehow they just know.

The Lady speaks, "No, it can't be, John get us out of here, arrgh..."

John steps back and the whole group is once again just looking through a window. John turns to the Lady, "Are you okay, what happened?"

The Lady speaks, "A deep suppressed memory came back. I'm okay now. John, there are many things I choose not to tell you, this I did not tell you because I thought the human side of you would not understand. John, Nomdians, we eat the brains of our old; that is how we pass the knowledge down from generation to generation. Hundreds of generations ago, we saw these things. They are called Omega flood. They are a most fierce evolution of the flood; one of them could defeat an army of forerunner regulars. But that isn't the worst of it..."

The Lady then huddles closer to the group and speaks without sound. Even Cortana picks up on the thoughts, "John, Val, Cortana, long ago when the Nomdians first started to explore deep hidden places we stumbled upon the Omega flood."

As the telepathic connection continues, images of the past appear in the minds of all. One Omega flood rushes through a tunnel leaving a path of dozens of dead Nomdians in its wake. There is a great battle and finally the Omega flood is stopped by the combined power of a hundred Nomdians. Its brain is devoured by three of the Nomdians while it still lives. The three Nomdians die shortly afterwards, the power of the Omega flood too much for them. Before they die they struggle to pass on just one message, an important message it must be for they expend the last of their energies in its delivery, shortening their own lives significantly to do so.

In the mind the voice of the Lady speaks, "The important message was that with the Omega flood there were Alpha flood, the seeds of the flood. The Alpha flood lie invisible to all senses in their dormant state, they could be anywhere. When they wake, they create the flood and eventually evolve into Omega flood. The Omega flood creates more Alpha flood. The cycle continues until nothing is left but flood. This is not the behavior of a parasite; this is the behavior of a plague."

More images appear. A group of Nomdians approaches the forerunner high council to warn them of this Alpha flood. There is much debate but in the end, there is insufficient proof of the existence of the Alpha flood. Overconfidently the council disregards the Nomdian warnings. They have plans of their own to dispose of the flood.

The Nomdians are left to fend for themselves against the flood. In the end the fight to defeat the Omega flood has weakened the Nomdians who have many enemies among the forerunners. Images of Nomdian worlds under siege appear. The Nomdians are driven deep underground. Their oceans poisoned and their cities in ruin.

One race helps the Nomdians. The Archons find themselves receiving thousands of Nomdian refuges through their Portals of the Old Ones. At first they are great allies only later to become the worst of enemies -- but that is another story.

The Lady breaks telepathic contact and says, "I must rest now, the strain is great."

John looks through the window and whispers, "Millions of them and with them the unseen enemy. The flood are only the symptom of something much worse."

Valerie sighs and says, "John, I don't understand much of what is going on, but this symptom can kill just as real as any Covenant. All I see is the enemy, why worry about the unknown when death is in our faces. I say, let's get out of here before they come back."

The Lady speaks, "Val is right, there is no choice but to escape. I pity the universe when these Omega flood spawn. I must go to the Nomdian Council of Elders with this news. They will decide if the time is right to unleash the planet destroyer weapons."

John gazes through the window, he sees what looks like the human flood figure arguing with the Jukan flood figure. John uses the window to zoom close to them.

Human figure waves his hands around and says, "We must fully combine or we will be destroyed, the enemy is almost upon us."

Jukan figure replies, "Don't lose your head. If we combine we could lose our independent thought. There must be another way."

Demon figure approaches and says, "The only other choice is not a choice we dare take."

Human figure replies, "You mean release some Omega units, remember the last time that happened, it was only two and they almost took control of us all. Only the arrival of an army of Elites saved us and the rest of this planet."

Demon figure stares at a bank of tubes containing Omega flood, "You are right. I remember the first time. The first was the worst. It was before you, the Archons came and pushed back the Omega units. It was close, I could feel the calling of the creators -- we old timers almost gave in. We were but one thought away from releasing all the Omega units."

Boom! Boom! The echoes of explosions are heard. Flares can be seen approaching into the city. In the light of the flares a small army of Covenant grunts marches in.

A fire fight erupts in the streets between well armed grunts and flood forces. The flood having nearly no weapons, resort to throwing rocks and charging the grunts with teeth and claw. The ra pa pa pa pa pa of gas operated mini-guns vibrates the dancing flood. They dance to the beat of a thousand rounds blowing through them.



John turns to the others and says, "This is our chance to get out of here. Let's go."

The group moves back up the tunnels, but it is soon obvious that all escape on those paths is either blocked by Covenant grunts or booby-trapped.

"This way," says the grunt flood figure as he appears out of a nearby tunnel.

The group follows him through the tunnels to a well-lit area. Along the walls are hundreds of generators. The grunt figure says, "This is a neutral area where we are still protected from the calling of the creators but the energy drain is small enough we can generate a surplus of energy. I cannot go any further. Go on, there is a way out ahead if you know how to use it."

Ahead looks like sunlight, but on closer examination it is light not from the sun but from a wondrous glow with no light source. At the edge of the tunnel into the glowing room lie crushed bones and machinery in piles over a meter tall. A path cleared through the middle. On the far end of the room about 20 meters away is what looks like a dead Portal of the Old Ones, only smaller. Just to the side of the dark portal are piles of rectangular items neatly stacked.

John takes a cautious step into the room. As he takes the second step a figure materializes before him. The figure a 3 meter tall giant metallic reptile walking on its hind legs. It has the features of an armored gecko but it is clearly a machine. In its claws it hold a mighty two-handed sword.

The creature speaks, "asterix accaba..." I speaks many more words.

Cortana speaks, "Chief, it is switching from language to language, got a match I think. Something about a password, no it's a password and his name. Say his name." Cortana then tries a string of many names.

The creature turns red and raises its sword.



------------



Back in the city of the flood, Imperius and troops mop up the flood. Imperius says, "Second Commander, I'd say we have about a 100 to 1 kill ratio in our favor. At this rate I might be where I want to be by lunch time."

"Where is that sir?" Asks Second Commander Kohan.

For the first time Kohan sees what the mysterious package contains. Imperious pulls out a scroll of paper.

Imperius says, "Second Commander this is a map acquired from these tunnel dwellers long ago by the Jukan. It has been passed down from Supreme Commander to Supreme Commander ever since it was discovered in the Jukan treasure vaults. To think that the previous Supreme Commanders all died and never got to even see this city and I'm here is full force. Oh, bye the way Second Commander, signal the troops to be careful around those tubes, they contain an army of invincible warriors. We don't want to wake them."

"Yes sir." Replies Kohan.

"Now let's see, this way to the ultimate treasure. Yes that is correct. I am a genius."



------------



John sidesteps out the way of the creature's attack. The creature's sword sparks across the ground as it whips around again tracking John's movements.

Cortana is out of names to speak, "Chief maybe you have to say the name, try..." As she instructs John how to say guardian in several old languages.

"It's not working Cortana."

The creature's two-handed sword splits into two identical but opposite swords. It swirls them around cutting at John.

John finds it too hard to dodge the attacks and ends up parrying with his Jukan spear. Slowing moving backwards into the center of the room.

The Lady speaks from a distance, "My mental powers have no affect on this automaton. Shoot some plasma bolts at it. Try to find a weak spot on it to attack."

John fires plasma bolts at the creature with his spear. The bolts are absorbed with no noticeable affect to the creature. Then the creature flashes green for a second and the bolts fly back at John. Frizzle! One hits him hard, taking down his shields.

John stumbles back, "Anymore bright ideas? I'm game."

Valerie shouts, "Try stabbing it with the spear and kicking it in the crotch."

"What the heck." John says as he ducks under the sword swings and stabs under a layer of armor.

The spear explodes, knocking back John and again taking his shields down. Nothing is left of the spear but a piece of the handle. The creature is unaffected.

Cortana says, "Chief, this isn't forerunner technology, this is Old One technology. The God Emperor on Medusa has some reference to this, accessing memory..."

The creature's swords now lengthen five times as if they were made of chain links. The swords become bladed whips. Whack! John in entangled by the swords.

John in a panicked voice, "Cortana, no time, do something."

"Chief, the translation is not his name, it's your name. What is thy name? That is the question." Cortana replies.

The creature steps on John's knee, pinning him to the ground. Slowly raises the swords that have combined back into one enormous two-handed sword and points the tip of the sword down ready to thrust into John.

"John, Spartan, Jim, Bob, crap!" Nothing John says stops the creature, the sword thrusts down. In the instant before impact, the sleeper in John wakes for a moment, John whispers, "Reclaimer."

Millimeters from piercing through his chest armor, the sword stops. The creature steps aside and stands down, unmoving.

John lays on the ground with a smile on his face, "Yes, Reclaimer is thy name."



In the background, the grunt flood figure says, "Please, before you go, may I once gaze upon the treasures of this room?"

With the protection of the Lady's mental shielding, the grunt figure approaches the stacks of rectangular items. He says, "Wonderful."

That turned out to be the last words of the grunt figure. He is shredded by sniper fire soon after. Dying with a smile on his face.



At the entrance to the room stands several grunt snipers backed by many more well armed grunts, including Imperius and Kohan.

Imperius says, "That nasty abomination of a grunt; make sure every piece of it is burned Second Commander."

"Yes sir." Kohan replies as he signals flamers forward.

Imperius says, "Hold that order, make sure the treasure is secured first." Imperius and troops approach the stacks of rectangular items as John, the Lady, and Val back away with their hands up.

"What is this treasure," Imperius says as he fiddles with one of the objects. "Perhaps the plans for a super weapon?"

Sounds start to play from the item. Beautiful sounds.

Cortana says to John, "Chief the treasure is music, art, humor. I'm able to interface with some of it over the communication channels. It's like a library of arts. The arts from civilizations long gone.

"Of course it is," John says. "Here is your treasure commander. We take independent thought for granted. These flood do not, to them it is the greatest gift. Their ultimate treasure is creativity. Things they only can strive for. You'll find no ultimate weapons here."

"Arrgh!" Imperius throws down the item, breaking it in two. Then in an icy voice he replies, "What do we have here a fake hero, a pretender? Well we will see just how heroic you really are when you start to melt. You will beg me to finish you. Yes I have studied your armor type. Very effective protection, but once your shields are down you are susceptible to extreme heat, it causes your armor to become brittle, crack in places, mainly around the joints."

Imperius and his grunts back away as he instructs them to first knock the Spartan's shields down and then burn him with the flamers.

As they back away, Imperius walks near the guardian creature that stands motionless. Just at that moment Valerie charges forward.

"Die you asshole!" She screams as she flies up and drop kicks into the guardian.

Imperius stands frozen for a moment, looking up at the guardian. He is caught completely be surprise by this move. The guardian teeters for a moment and almost looks like it might fall on Imperius and crush him, but alas, Valerie does not generate enough force to knock it over.

Valerie sits on the ground in pain, her ankle visibly broken from the impact.

Second Commander Kohan goes to her; he looks at the ankle. Valerie starts to shiver from the cold and shock. Kohan hands Valerie a cloak to put on from a survival kit and then applies a healing solution to the ankle.

Imperius stands in amazement of what he sees, "Second Commander what are you doing? That's the enemy."

Kohan replies, "Sir maybe there's been enough killing."

As Kohan speaks his words, Valerie grabs his side arm weapon and arms it quickly in one motion. She then places the weapon to Kohan's head while holding him between the grunts and the group. Valerie says, "Don't try anything or I'll let him have it."

The group backs away towards the portal. The Lady starts up the portal and retrieves the flux key. John stands by making sure no one can get a clear shot at the Lady or Valerie.

The Lady says, "We need to hold hands as we enter the portal."

As the group momentarily shifts to hold hands and jump through the portal, Imperius grabs a sniper rifle and shoots right through the center of Kohan. The shoot easily penetrates through his armor and out the other side into Valerie.

Valerie drops her weapon and falls back into John's arms, her left lung collapsed.

Before Imperius can get a second shot off, the group is through the portal. Into its mystical energies they travel -- destination unknown.

Kohan lies on the ground, taking his last breaths. He looks up to Imperius and utters, "Stupid sir..."

Imperius realizes the errors in his ways. Just like the grunt snipers on duty behind enemy lines, the commanders have a no surrender clause. On Kohan's belt a red light blinks, triggered by Kohan's low vital signs. 3, 2, 1... BOOM!



-- Next, Shadow Flux --

Shadows of Archon II (part 10) - Shadow Flux
Date: 8 September 2002, 9:32 am

Long ago when the stars were still young, the Old Ones had reached the end of their civilization. Having conquered time and space, they had reached the end of the line, nowhere to go but back. It was a time of change. New life sprung eternal on blue and green worlds. The Old Ones stepped aside, leaving nothing but shadows. Shadows in the flux.

Without realizing it, John has unlocked the secrets of the flux. Through the Heart of Darkness he travels with the light of eternity at his hand. No one that seeks the Heart of Darkness will ever find it, it can only be found by the blind, the unknowing. The riddle of the ages protecting Mira and the Master Portal of the Old Ones cannot be solved but can be realized.

Worlds invert, turn upside down, inside out, full circle and back around -- so this story does go. Shadows have been released, nothing before is the same, now there is eternal change.

Welcome to the Story of Shadow Flux.



------------------------------------------------



Shadow Flux



To John, the Lady and Val are frozen in time. They travel through the multi-colored universe beyond the portal; John goes with the flow of the energies. Passing by, just out of reach, are the worlds of the living.

To the Lady, John and Val are frozen in time. She directs the energies beyond the portal, her own purple energies combining to form tendrils of power. Ahead lies a blue world, oceans filled, life abundant; hope for the dying Val. The Lady reaches out and the world is in her grasp -- the journey complete.

"We have arrived," said the Lady, "and we don't have much time to save Val."

The blood of Val drips from John's hands as he holds her -- A pool on the floor forms beside him. "Where are we?" asked John. Around him darkness is lifted only by the glowing energies of the portal, his eyes adjust to see the outlines of objects.

"A place with a compatible atmosphere and an abundance of human life," replied the Lady. "I feel a breeze from this direction, let's go and use our hands to feel the way."

"Things feel different," said John as they moved through the stone walled tunnels adjacent to the chamber that contained the portal. "Don't you feel it?"

"Yes," said the Lady. "Something is very wrong."

Wheeze! Val's vital signs are almost gone. Her sucking chest wound squirts out fluids that fill her lungs.

"Hang in there Val." John said. "Don't give up, I see light ahead."

"Chief, I'm picking up communications," Cortana said, "and you aren't going to believe this. It's signals from Terrans. Wait, confirmed, we are on earth. I have contact with navigation beacons. Location determined; we are in the caverns below Knossos in Crete. I'm contacting a med unit. Help is on the way."

The group pushes on to the light. It is a bright new day on the isle of Crete. The med unit arrives in a hover transport within the minute. Android medics quickly attend to Val and place her in an auto-doc.

The lead medic turns to the group with a stunner pistol in hand saying, "Do not attempt to challenge me. You are being detained under the provisions of the Bond Protocol. You have no rights until granted them by authori..."

The android shuts down in mid sentence. Cortana's holographic image appears on the android's shoulder. "That was a little more difficult than I expected Chief," proclaimed Cortana, "and just in the nick of time. He almost got a signal to the local authorities. According to the protocol mentioned, all unidentified persons must be immediately detained and apprehended by authorities. Earth in under martial law."

"What is going on here Cortana?" asked John.

Cortana quickly checks on the other two android medics, then she turns back to face John saying, "Earth command is afraid of infiltration from off-worlders who might be sympathetic to the Covenant. When Val was scanned, her identity was not found in the main people finder records."

John turns to the Lady and says, "My Lady what do you make of this? Why are we here?"

"Our quest has changed like in the paradoxes of the Old Ones, change is the only constant," said the Lady, "and I believe that we might have traveled through the Heart of Darkness. The last portal on Jukan was different. If only I knew then... Mira could not be found because it shares the same time and space as another planet. Jukan is not Mira, but at the same time it is Mira -- they exist together. John, we have done it."

"Done what my Lady?" said John. "If I reveal all that I know to Earth command to save humanity from the Covenant then I will jeopardize the Great Archonian Experiment. I believe that the creators of the flood are the one and same as the Archonian Ultimate Evil. The Archons have foreseen humans defeating the Ultimate Evil if the experiment is allowed to run its course. It's not time yet -- I feel this. On Jukan there was an army of Omega flood. You know as well as I that this universe is not ready to defeat the Omega flood, let alone their creators."

John sighs and removes his helmet. He inhales deep; it feels great the wind at his face, the scent of the sea fills his head. Nearby the sound of children playing on the rocky beaches can be heard and above can be seen the blue sky -- Whatever the cost, he will save humanity.

But not today... John falls, his eyes still open with a blank stare. Before he hits the ground, his heart beats just one more time, his brain already dead. In the distance, an unseen enemy teleports away, mission accomplished.

The Lady kneels down to John's body. She does not know what happened. Did the Archonian sleepers kill John to prevent him from compromising the Great Experiment? Or was he killed by the enemies of the Archons in an act of revenge for all the Archonian meddling in the affairs of humanity? The weapon used was not one known to humans. Ignoring shields it fried John's brain from the inside out. The Lady says nothing, choosing to kneel in silence.

"Chief, wake up!" said Cortana as she uses the neural connections in the battle armor to create electric pulses. John's body twitches but there are no vital signs.

One of the android medics approaches John's body saying, "It is too late, his brain is dead."

"You stupid machine, I know that already, cryo-freeze him, do something," said Cortana in desperation, and she starts to whimper -- that's all an AI can do with no tears to shred.

"Dead, no way, John, John..." said Val as she struggles to get out of the auto-doc but it straps her down and sedates her.



From all around come hooded figures. As they surround the group, the remaining medics suddenly both shutdown and the auto-doc opens.

"Retrieve the Spartan's body," ordered the shortest of the hooded figures, "and my Lady, the rest of you come along quickly. It won't be long before the authorities show up to investigate why contact was broken with this medical unit."

The Lady, Cortana, and Val talk it over quickly and decide to go. The whole group moves back into the tunnels as the leader figure speaks. "It's amazing, the materials in the tunnel walls ahead negate energy, completely cloaking the existence of the portal. This way to my lab."

The journey is not far to the lab; on the way John's body is removed from its armor and taken off to somewhere. In the light of the lab the figures remove their hoods revealing the faces of humans. Based on their clothes and accents, most likely local inhabitants to the area. The short figure reveals the face of a Covenant grunt.

"Noc, is that really you?" asked Cortana, recognizing the grunt.

"That's Covenstein to you my beautiful. Yes in my genius I prepared for my own demise. As I studied the properties of shadow-selves created by the Portals of the Old Ones, I discovered that just as the brain contains a person's knowledge, so does the soul. How else could the shadow-selves transfer knowledge back to the original, the true-self, upon death. Redundancy is the key; the brain and soul mirror each other. So when the Grace ate my brain, she gained all my knowledge and killed my body, but my soul remained for a while with the aid of devices I created. When a compatible host body came close, the host body being the one you knew as Noc, my soul was transferred with all my knowledge to Noc's body."

The Lady speaks. "This means that you might be able to bring back John if a new host body is found or we can regenerate his brain tissue."

"Yes, but that would just bring back that forerunner assassin," said Covenstein, "and it would probably kill all of us to prevent us from reviving John a second time."

"Forerunner assassins, they must be thousands of years old," interjected Val.

The Lady speaks. "Perhaps, at least, but they have killed off Archonian sleepers in the past. Great heroes, builders, and leaders of before, their lives suddenly cut short at the hands of an assassin. Perhaps they were sleepers ready to awake. I feel the spirits tell me of this story."

One of the locals approaches saying, "Master Covenstein, the Spartan's body is being placed in cryogenic suspension as per your request. We stand by for your final orders. Thank you for all you have done for us. You shall be missed dearly."

"Ready the ship, we leave immediately," ordered Covenstein.

"What about John," asked Val.

"We will take his body with us, you are coming too," said Covenstein. "His soul is gone, if we are to revive him, we must find where his soul is located. Not an easy thing since it isn't a place but maybe many places and times. I suspect we will find some answers on Mira, I heard you speak of it as being in the same place as Jukan, on the outskirts of Covenant space."

"Why don't we just take the portal there?" inquired Cortana.

The Lady speaks. "We could but it would be very dangerous. Word is probably already out amongst the portal dwellers that we have found the Heart of Darkness. They will want to capture us or follow us to its location. They are phantoms of immense power with many servants. We must avoid portal travel for the time." The Lady turns to Covenstein. "I suggest Master Covenstein that we transmit a short signal via the portal to my comrades. They can aid us, and unless your ship has mastery of travel by stargate, the trip will be much faster with Destiny's Blade leading the way."

"True, my Lady," said Covenstein, "and I have always wanted to travel by way of stargate. My ship is fast but the journey would still take a long time. Tell your comrades to rendezvous with us at coordinates outside the Sol system."

Val looks at the Lady with wide eyes saying, "How do you know all of this?"

"Take no offense Val, but even if I had a few generations to explain, your human mind could only begin to understand," replied the Lady.

"No offense taken," responded Val.

Cortana interrupts saying, "Covenstein, why are you helping us revive John. If you want to save the humans from the Covenant, with your knowledge you could save humanity by yourself, maybe even without blood shed."

Covenstein smiles and speaks. "My heart-soothing Cortana, I have done just that. I have left anonymous encrypted messages for the humans. If they are intelligent enough to decipher them, perhaps they are worthy of survival, after all. As for helping revive John, I have my own reasons, but I will tell you my enchantment, that these reasons are not petty. The survival of both humans and the Covenant is at stake. I shall explain more once we get on our way. Until then, there will be absolutely no further discussion about the matter."



The group is taken to Covenstein's ship, an old surplus Long Sword fighter that Covenstein has modified with a jump drive and enhanced thrusters. One other thing, it is painted bright red and orange.

"Couldn't do much about the paint job, it was used as an unmanned trainer," said Covenstein, "however the inside is in tip-top condition."

The inside is indeed immaculate and equipped with the finest surplus electronics available. Cortana takes her place inside the ships main control systems.

In short order the group in on their way. They exit the atmosphere with little difficulty; the UNSC is more concerned about inbound ships than those leaving. After leaving the 3rd orbit, high orbit, the action starts.

"We are being hailed by Earth Defense Fleet Gamma wing. Six Long Swords on an intercept path at 20,000 kilometers," said Cortana, "and we have no valid security codes. The Long Swords are accelerating very quickly to match our velocity; they must have upgraded engines. We have UNSC destroyer Intrepid in pursuit at 24,000 kilometers weapons arming... one shot off our bow -- A warning shot."

The orange and red Long Sword erratically moves doing its best to be a hard to hit target under the control of Cortana. The reading on the jump engineering control panel counts down from 2:00 minutes. There's no way to get by the UNSC forces; the only way is to evade the forces until the jump drives come online.

"What kinds of weapons are on this ship?" asked the Lady.

"One short-ranged particle cannon," replied Cortana. "That's it, no missiles, no other weapons."

Covenstein looks back as the others stare at him and says, "What is it? I'm a super-genius not a military tactician. I thought the cannon would be useful for clearing out debris and asteroids, besides you know how hard it is to get ship-based weapons on the surplus market on short notice?"

The ship shakes from a near miss. "Shields held, a near miss from a MAC cannon," said Cortana, "and we have incoming missiles from Gamma wing."

The Lady speaks, "We have very little chance to survive this unless we can gain those security codes. Otherwise our only hope is to engage the fighters to buy time."

Before the Lady can finish her words, Cortana has already taken the initiative. The chance of survival was less than 0.001 percent trying to evade. She whips the Long Sword around using its enhanced thrusters. The change in vector is done so quickly that Covenstein passes out from the G-force before the ship's inertia dampeners can fully compensate. If there is one thing that she learned from piloting Destiny's Blade all those months, it was how to fly."

The missiles miss their mark and spin around to reacquire the Long Sword. Gamma wing splits up to engage the Long Sword. Even with Gamma wing's pilots having enhanced reflexes and a slight ability to predict the future, the quick and evasive movements of the Long Sword frustrates and confuses them.

Gamma 1 intercepts the Long Sword firing two more missiles. Gamma 2, 3, and 4 cut off the escape vectors on three sides. The Intrepid moves to cut off a fourth escape vector. Gamma 5 and 6 match speeds with the Long Sword from the rear, firing cannons.

Cortana whips the Long Sword around again saying, "Listen to the chatter from these guys, it's like a bunch of school boys... Woo, haw! Got lock and firing. Negative this one's mine. Move over 4, coming through. Mine, mine, all mine. Come on baby, who's your daddy?" Cortana maneuvers the Long Sword just behind Gamma 6 and fires the particle cannon.

Over the comm Gamma 6 says, "What the... I'm hit. I've lost my main engines." Gamma 6 spins out of control for several seconds before it manages to stabilize. "6 is out, returning to base, send help."

Gamma 1, 2, 3, and 4 now are in pursuit of the Long Sword. Cortana has her sights on Gamma 5.

"Hot dog 6, you've been tagged," said Gamma 5, "and she's on me now. 5 is total defensive, I repeat, 5 is total defensive."

The Long Sword has to disengage from Gamma 5 as the Intrepid comes back into the picture and opens fire. Cortana again pushes the Long Sword to its limits as she dodges through another wave of missiles. The missiles swerve every direction, some actually colliding with other missiles from the first wave.

"Intrepid to Gamma wing, disengage from target and provide cover for Gamma 6."

A new voice over the comm speaks, "Delta wing has arrived. Step aside fly boys and let the professionals handle this." Indeed a new threat had arrived - Delta wing consisted of six advanced Rapier Interceptors. These ships were designed for one purpose only, and that was to engage and defeat enemy fighter craft. They are armed with the most advanced anti-fighter weaponry and supposedly so maneuverable that they currently can only be piloted by an AI.

The Long Sword's jump engines come online just in the nick of time. In a flash they are gone.



Several minutes later the Long Sword arrives at the rendezvous point. Destiny's Sword and Seeker 157 are already there, waiting for them.

It is a reunion of some happiness, but mostly sadness. Catsandravalahundra, Sub-commander Zax, and the rest of the Seeker 157 crew find out about the death of John. The Lady, Valerie, Cortana, and Covenstein find out that Command Thom and Gunter the Hunter have been taken away and charged with the crime of high treason.

Covenstein has the worst news of all. He shows them his cargo, a special stasis box that appears empty. Scanners reveal nothing but a slightly lower air pressure, only a few degrees cooler than the surrounding area. The Lady knows what this is. Covenstein explains that his previous research partner the Nomdian known as the Grace first hinted at the existence of this.

What did he find? Covenstein believes he has found an Alpha flood, and he found it on Earth. The last few decades he has also found signs of Alpha flood on a few Covenant worlds. He suspects that untold numbers of worlds have Alpha flood already on them -- Hidden away, invisible to all senses and scanning devices. If the calling of the flood creators ever reaches them, it could be the end of every known civilization.



-- Next, A Hero's Last Stand --

Shadows of Archon II (part 11) - A Hero's Last Stand
Date: 11 September 2002, 7:20 am

"My sleeper is dead," said Princess Kira as her penetrating silver eyes sprinkle deep blue tears, "and I never got to..." Her words fade away in the mists of a dream.

That was the end of the transmission between Cat and Princess Kira.

Cat looks at the others, tears in her eyes, and says, "It is no use, Princess Kira, like all of us, is deeply hurt by the loss of John. For now the Archonian fleet stays behind their beautiful walls. They will not aid us."

In the room around Cat assemble Master Covenstein, Valerie Sinclair, the Lady, Sub-commander Zax Rellius, Cortana, and Communications Officer Tak Musung. Each one a hero in their own rights; together they form a mighty force, but they are incomplete, the loss of John and Commander Thom, and even Gunter the Hunter has taken its toll. Without the leadership of John or Thom, the group is divided in what to do next.

The Lady steps up to the role, once again. "We must stick with what we know," said the Lady, "and saving John is still an unknown. We have a chance to save Thom and I have a plan."

"I am honor bound to save my Commander and friend," said Sub-commander Zax, "and I will follow any plan you have to save him."

"We all stick together, let's hear the plan," said Cat.

The others agreed and the Lady spells out the plan to rescue Commander Thom from the Covenant. Thom is being transported in the Covenant cruiser called the Divine Might, one of the new Proteus II class prototypes. It is currently in slip-space in route to Anterach 4, an Elite strong hold.

The Lady has secured the help of one Nomdian Barracuda class cruiser, the Willow. Like the Archonian cruisers, the Nomdian cruiser is small, less than 100 meters long with crew of 23.

The Nomdians do not want to risk war with the Covenant. Although far more technologically advanced to the Covenant, they are very much out-numbered. The commander of the Willow, the Adept, and his crew will be acting on their own -- The Nomdian High Council will claim no knowledge of the Willow's intentions or actions.

The plan is for the Willow to engage the Divine Might in slip-space. This is very difficult if not impossible to do. If the ships do not match jump frequencies then they will never even see each other. The other major obstacle is that gravitational fields are several magnitudes more powerful in slip-space and somewhat unpredictable. If courses are not plotted carefully, the Willow could end up getting yanked out of slip-space inside an asteroid or a planet.

The Willow will attempt to knock the Divine Might out of slip-space by damaging its engines. Once the Divine Might is out of slip-space, the Willow, Destiny's Blade and Seeker 157 will engage it, board it and rescue Commander Thom.

The whole plan is going to be very difficult and likely cost the lives of many Covenant, but everyone agreed it is the best course of action.



------------------------------------------------



A Hero's Last Stand



Aboard the Covenant cruiser Divine Might a different story emerges from the darkness of the mind. Commander Thom and Gunter face a group of eight Elites. They all don armor and wield shock staves.

Back to back Thom and Gunter stand. "Gunter they don't want us dead," said Thom, "but they do want to hurt us."

The crowd around roars, "Get the traitors, teach them a lesson."

Elite 1, called Scar, leads the attack flipping his staff from hand to hand, he spins it around and takes a big swing at Thom.

Thom leaps over the swing and parries two more thrusts from Elites 2 and 3. With a swift spin he sweeps all three attackers to the ground.

Zap, zap! Gunter is hit twice. "Ouch that isn't nice'" said Gunter. He drops his staff and grabs the heads of Elites 4 and 5, smashing them together. He tosses them down -- they don't get up.

"Get him." Three more Elites (6, 7, 8) jump on Gunter; they take him down.

Scar flips up and ducks under a thrust from Thom. He grabs Thom's staff and they both wrestle for control of the weapon. "You will pay traitor."

"Not by your hand ugly." Thom twists and flips Scar into two Elites and then moves to pull off the other Elites from Gunter.



A whistle from the comm. "Commander on deck, attention!" Through open blast doors enters Commander Nikon. The crowd moves aside to let him pass.

"What is the meaning of this Sub-commander Scar?" said Commander Nikon, "and what are these prisoners doing out of their cells and with armor on?"

"Sir, it was exercise time, err... the prisoners were exercising," replied Scar.

"I think the prisoners have had enough exercise for today," said Nikon. "Return them to their cells and get them out of that armor."

Over the comm, "Commander to bridge. Red alert."

Thom and Gunter are taken away. Nikon and Scar head to the bridge. Lights flicker in the ship halls.



Once on the bridge, Nikon and Scar take their stations. "What is it Com?" asks Nikon.

"Sir, Divine Might has raised shields and armed weapons. He detects an enemy cloaked ship. No lock yet." Replied Com.

"In the middle of slip space, that's crazy," said Scar.

"Crazy for us but not for someone desperate enough Sub-commander," said Nikon, "and I can't afford to takes risks so near to gravity wells. Order our escorts to engage the cloaked vessel. We stay the course."

Six Covenant corvettes span out in a search pattern to find the cloaked vessel. One of them ventures too close to a gravity well and is torn out of slip space. Now there are five.

Corvette 1 slips back and forth erratically saying over the comm, "Aaargh! Get them out! There's monsters crawling under my skin." Corvette 1 is ripped to shreds blasting out of slip space too close to a gravity well.

Before Commander Nikon can give an order, corvettes 2 through 5 meet with a similar fate - They're all dead.

"Nomdians!" yelled Nikon. "Sci, who has neural scramblers installed?"

"Sir we all do," replied Sci, "but it wasn't standard issue for the corvette crews."

"Damn Nomdian mind games..." said Nikon just as the ship shakes and sparks fly from panels.

The Nomdian cruiser, Willow, opens fire with quad disrupter cannons. The disrupter bolts hit the Divine Might damaging its shields severely and causing electrical overloads throughout the ship.

For the moment, the Willow is detected and the Divine Might returns fire with pulse plasma cannons. The nimble Willow evades the fire.

"Commander, return fire ineffective, we can't get a good lock on target," said Sci.

Nikon surveys the damage and combat reports and says, "Sci, hold fire on all aft weapons, have them ready for a mass volley fire, on my command only."

Whizzzzip! The Willow fires a second salvo, ripping the shields down from the mighty Covenant cruiser. The disrupters are effective against shields and electronics, but much less effective at structural damage.

However with the shields down on the Divine Might, the Willow closes to effective range of its primary weapons. Out from the ship fires pulses of energy from the tremor devices. The energy strikes the engine area of the Divine Might. It pulls and repulses, shakes and vibrates, ripping the very atomic structure of the material.

One of the three main engines is ripped clean off of the Divine Might.

"Fire aft now," ordered Nikon.

The massive volley of plasma fire strikes the Willow, blowing down shields and punching holes through its hull. The fire continues without avail and the Willow is blasted into no more than a slab of materials burning out of slip space.

The Divine Might also drops out of slip space suddenly with the loss of one of its engines. Its shields down and half of its electronics overloaded and shut down, it does not even notice the cloaked ships coming out of a stargate near by.

Seeker 157 with Covenstein's help jams the communications and scanners of the Divine might. Seeker being a scout ship, its scanners and electronic warfare abilities match and exceed the mighty Covenant cruiser.

Destiny's Blade with its Archonian weapons and shield array circles around the Divine Might. With pin-point accuracy it first takes out the bridge, then auxiliary controls, and then the main bay doors of the cruiser.

Seeker 157 lands in the main bays of the cruiser, out from rear doors fly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma squads led by Sub-commander Zax. They make their way to the brig area where Cortana, who has tapped into the ships systems, has identified as the location where Thom and Gunter are being held.



Meanwhile, behind blast doors, Sub-commander Scar, badly burned himself, looks through a small window at the charred remains of Commander Nikon in what's left of the burned out bridge. Scar barely made it out before the whole bridge decompressed.

"Sir I have reports we are being boarded," said Com, who also made it out of the bridge in time.

"Gather everyone who can fight, let's kill those bastards," replies Scar. They race down to the main bay area. Soon they are an army of a thousand Covenant.

They blast through doors that have been sealed from the other side to find corridors of dead Covenant. Down the corridors they go, blasting through many more locked doors, until they reach the main bay.

The main bay is empty. "Sir whoever they were, we're too late, they're gone," said Com.

Scar looks at the stars through the open bay doors. He lifts his fists up and curses.



-- Next, Twisted Fate --

Shadows of Archon II (part 12) - Twisted Fate
Date: 12 September 2002, 12:50 pm

Note from Author: This chapter is a bit shorter than the last few. I recently found out that several other writers have ideas about the forerunners so not to infringe on their great ideas before they can publish, I'm trying to be careful about what I write in regards to the forerunners. So it goes that the forerunners may have had one dominant race, but my story focuses on a few of the many races that the forerunners comprised of -- The Nomdians and Archons mainly but several others also in more minor roles. The forerunners also left a bunch of other stuff around, for instance Halo, so mostly I will deal with other "things" the forerunners left behind. Good luck to all the other writers. Now on with the story...



------------



Aboard the scout ship Seeker 157, there is a small celebration going on in honor of the rescued comrades -- Commander Thom and Gunter the Hunter.

"It's good to be back among friends," said Thom, "and it would be a grand celebration if not for the loss of our fallen comrades. Let us pray in silence." All bow down in a moment of silence to honor the fallen.

There comes a time, maybe once in a million lifetimes that a group such as this comes together -- Catsandravalahundra the Archon, Valerie Sinclair the human, the Lady the Nomdian, Tak Musang the Gundarian, Master Covenstein the Grunt, Gunter the Hunter, Commander Thom the Elite, and the list goes on.

Forces are at work in this universe that you nor I will ever understand, at least that is how it stands for now. In John's life and death, the Master Chief has brought together the few and from them the many do spring in the eternal struggle.

We move very quickly now, but it starts small -- doesn't it always seem to start small?



------------------------------------------------



Twisted Fate



In orbit above Namera 6 on the outskirts of Gundarian free space, the crew of Seeker 157 take a rest as Communications Officer Tak Musung and Commander Thom secure supplies and gather the latest news at a near by space port.

The Gundarians have long been known as great duplicators. Gundarians can copy and build any mechanical object, quickly and with great accuracy -- Long have they supplied the Covenant with small jump engines and other items that would have been much more costly for the Covenant to produce by other means.

Destiny's Blade stays under cloak, docked to Seeker 157. Although the Gundarians are a peaceful race of cyborgs resembling grunts in appearance, the sight of an Archonian modified ship might alarm them. The Archons and Gundarians have a long history of distrust between them.

A few hours earlier, before leaving with Tak, Commander Thom told the group that while he was being help prisoner on the Covenant cruiser Divine Might, he heard rumors that the location of Earth had been rediscovered by the Covenant. The first time the location of Earth had been discovered more than three years prior, the only Covenant that knew the location were lost in slip space near Reach.



Thom's news has disturbed the Lady. She floats in her quarters, in communication with the Nomdian High Council. "Oh great Council of Elders, the restless spirits haunt our dreams," said the Lady, "and the time comes near to the darkness, what is ordained by all of this?"

The High Council speaks as one voice saying "It is seen that the Covenant has a great battle fleet in slip space, destination Earth. This is no surprise, it was expected from the start. As we know there are several races outside the Covenant that could intervene and stop the destruction of humanity, the Nomdians and Archons being two of them. However, neither the Nomdians nor Archons can afford to do this alone because doing so would not be without loss and the losses we cannot afford. Our home worlds would be left inadequately defended. The other races from the days of the forerunners will not help because they, like the forerunner races no longer around, have become corrupt with power -- choosing rather to play the role of gods to their servant races. This does leave on race, the Demons, but they are much too divided to ever mount more than a few ships to a common cause."

"What, oh great ones, is the course decided?" asked the Lady.

The one voice rings true to the point saying, "Logic does not serve us completely well, it only tells half the story. We have pondered the destruction of Jukan to destroy the Omega flood army that you discovered there. However that could also mean the destruction of Mira since they most likely share the same time and space with each other. Destroying Mira and the Master Portal could cause a backlash felt throughout the universe. There are too many unknowns for us to proceed with this plan; and again, we cannot afford the losses to conduct such an operation successfully as Jukan is protected by a planetary defense system built by the Old Ones. We are at a loss for ideas, except for one. The path is clear that we must act with the Archons."

"But the Archons do nothing, what could this mean?" said the Lady. "How can we do nothing?"

"Nothing is something to an Archon," replied the one voice. "Long have we disagreed with the Archons for they cannot see the ways of logic, but there comes a time when logic fails because we have feeling too. In our attempt to blend logic with feelings, we have chosen the middle path. The Archons, void of all but the simplest logic, have a higher sense of empathy than all other races we know of -- They can see patterns in nature that others cannot. They are one of the few peoples that see something in the human race beyond just an annoyance or a race to be subjugated. The Archons believe that the humans hold the key to the blending of logic and empathy, the only thing that has eluded all advanced races since the dawn of time. This could be the key to holding ultimate power without becoming ultimately corrupt or ultimately evil. In faith there is only one that has ever reached this, and that is God the creator."

"So we do nothing," replied the Lady, "and let the human race be destroyed."

"Perhaps," said the one voice, "but here within lies the Archonian Great Experiment, while the Archons care little about ultimate power, they do fear greatly those that do seek it, especially those that seek it without empathy, without compassion. The Archons are growers, they planted the seeds and nurtured the humans, but the humans must grow up on their own. We must let the humans defend themselves, but that does not mean we cannot help in other ways. Our path is to remove those obstacles preventing the humans from defending themselves."

The Lady speaks, "Then our path is to remove the forerunner influences, where do we start this secret war?"

The one voice speaks, "We start with three, a number of power. First, like what the Archons and Saurans did to create Destiny's Blade from the Terran Long Sword fighter, we shall modify the Covenant Scout ship Seeker 157 with Nomdian and Gundarian technology to create Fate's Reaper. Second, we shall clear the path starting with the elimination of the forerunner assassin on Earth. And third, we must bring back the legend to lead the humans to victory. The third we cannot do alone, only the Archons can achieve this."

So it begins, the secret war. Fate twisted, worlds divided, what will be the cost? What will be the ultimate cost? What of other forces, the demons and neutral forerunners for instance, will they intervene on one side or the other? Let us not forget the flood, still a menace, and with an army of Omega flood in stasis and untold number of worlds infected by the Alpha flood, they could spell the end of all known civilization. What of the flood creators, creatures of pure logic, they wait somewhere with their calculations and plans?

Too many unknowns to tell, this is only the beginning.



-- Next, First Strike --

Shadows of Archon II (part 13) - First Strike
Date: 14 September 2002, 8:35 am

For the last few days the Gundarians and Nomdians have been working busily to transform the Covenant scout ship Seeker 157 into the ship known as Fate's Reaper. It's a wonder they have even got as far as they have, the Nomdians are insanely careful not to give the Gundarians any insight on technology they don't already have. So extreme are the Nomdians in this cause that Fate's Reaper won't even have stargate capabilities -- perhaps the single most useful technology ever developed for intergalactic travel. Well then again, the Gundarians can copy nearly any technology -- Better safe than sorry. Not everything is a loss however; the ship will at least have one of the best jump drives ever built on a ship its size.

Speaking of ships having good engines, outside of the Gundarian star system of Namera, Cortana takes Destiny's Blade out for a joy ride. The ship is a wondrous combination of Terran, Archonian, and Old Ones technologies. Perhaps the most nimble ship in its size class since the days of the Old Ones.

Inside Destiny's Blade sit Cat and Val. To them all the maneuvering feels like a Sunday drive due to the ship's advanced inertia dampeners. The two have spent quite a lot of time together the last few days. A growing friendship has developed between them. They chat away like nothing else matters.

Val admires Cat while saying, "You are so beautiful, is that what all Archons look like?"

"Yes, there is not such a word as ugly to describe an Archon," replied Cat, "and you are beautiful too, for a human."

Val blushes as she says, "You really think so? It's been so long, since I even thought about it."

Cat smiles at Val saying, "You are being silly Val. Why is it that such things of beauty embarrass you. John was the same way. You think nothing of showing hate and violence but it is taboo to be intimate, to show beauty."

"I do miss John, a lot," said Val in a sad voice. "Will he ever come back?"

"Val, we will try to recover John's soul, to revive him," said Cat, "but we must be prepared for failure. We must be prepared to accept that John may not come back."

Sadness fills the heart of those that loved and remembered John. On this sad note we must leave, for other forces are at work in this universe. Here is but a glimpse of the wonders at work.



------------------------------------------------



First Strike



On the outskirts of the Sol system, a lone frigate dashes through slip space. The UNSC Zenith is on a critical mission, a suicide mission. Aboard the ship besides its crew of 70 is Daisy. Daisy is a prototype Slip-space Graviton Mine. It is one of just two that the Terrans have managed to construct after several years of research. A primitive Graviton Mine, it only has an effective range of 1 light second. However primitive it is, its effects in slip-space are still devastating. All ships caught in its area of effect will be violently ripped out of slip space, more often than not resulting in the destruction of the vessels.

Three Covenant destroyers are in hot pursuit of the Zenith; the destroyers are part of an advanced scout force sent to survey the Terran defenses. They fire upon the Zenith; a few shots hit their mark and the Zenith blasts out of slip space.

Aboard the Zenith, Captain Gabriel Tanaka addresses his crew. "I'd like to say that you're the best crew any commander could ever ask for. Know that we do not die in vain, our sacrifice gives humanity a fighting chance. We have our orders. God be with us!" Gabriel then turns to the ship's AI saying, "Herc, what is our status?"

Herc responds, "Captain, shields down, engines at 25%, weapons systems at 10%. Standing by, ready to launch the recorder and package."

"Hold on that, we have to wait, be absolutely sure," replied Gabriel. "Fire all weapons and send out a distress signal. Make it look good."

The Covenant destroyers attach grappling beams to the Zenith. Before they can board the vessel, the Zenith self-destructs.

In the debris after the battle are found many dead bodies, the wreckage of the ship, a data recorder, and an unknown package. The data recorder and package are retrieved. After the recorder data is unencrypted, a report is sent via slip-space communication to the Covenant Armada in route to earth.

Aboard the Covenant flagship Virtue and Reverence, the transmission is received.

"Angel Fire reporting. Sirs the Terran ship fought honorably to the end. There were no survivors. We retrieved a data recorder and an intact device. We've broken the Terran codes on their recording device. According to the data we've extracted from the recorder, the device found is a slip-space graviton mine. Our scientists have confirmed this to be true. A primitive version, a hundred years behind ours but still effective. The bad news is that the data indicates that the Terrans have mined much of their system with these during the last few years. The full report has been sent and received. Angel fire out." Transmission ends.

Fleet Commander Jarcou turns to the council saying, "This is very disturbing news, but I suspect it to be false information, the Terrans do not have the resources to mine their entire system."

"We cannot take that chance with this Armada especially after the loss four years ago at Halo," replied Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon, "and Jarcou, it is not your place to decide. Besides, the Terrans are known cowards; they would sell their soul if it meant saving their skins. They would not fight so hard just to deceive us. To be safe we will exit the armada out of slip space well outside the Sol system."



Years from now if humanity survives, it will be known that the sacrifice of the Zenith was not in vain. Through their death, humanity gained a few more months to prepare the defenses of the Sol system -- The extra time that it will take the Covenant Armada to reach earth travelling through normal space instead of slip space. This might just be enough time to get the production lines going on building slip-space graviton mines and other newly developed weapons and ships.

For now though, the sacrifice will not be known. The Zenith and crew will just be another casualty of a war, a losing war for humanity.



Humanity has many threats in this war, the Covenant are only one of them. On earth at that very moment is another threat -- An android assassin from the days of the forerunners. The assassin was known originally as Android 042, but like all forerunner assassins of this type, it has taken on the names of all the most prominent figures it has killed. Android 042 has a name consisting of several hundred names, including John the Spartan. The names are not in any particular order but would go something like Hawkeye Sureshot Spartan Zeus... followed by 271 other names. We'll just refer to him has Hawkeye Sureshot for short.

Hawkeye Sureshot arrived on earth only about 3000 years ago, after spending over 50,000 years looking for earth. By the time Hawkeye Sureshot arrived on earth, the forerunners that sent him were long dead. Nevertheless, Hawkeye Sureshot still followed the 50,000 year-old orders to kill all forerunners on earth.

These orders were given because the only forerunners on earth would have to be enemies to the forerunners that built Hawkeye Sureshot. This includes Archonian sleepers that were in the process of waking, thus explaining why John was killed by Hawkeye Sureshot.

The Nomdians know this all. The Nomdians have plans of their own. Secretly landing on earth is a team of twelve Nomdian Death Stalkers. They could be called Special Forces, but all Nomdians are Special Forces. They are called Death Stalkers not for their training and abilities, but for their mission. Their mission is to eliminate forerunners, in this case the forerunner assassin Hawkeye Sureshot.

Two of the Nomdian Death Stalkers choose to reveal themselves in Siberia, in the middle of nowhere. The rest wait by teleporters inside their ship.

Within a minute Hawkeye Sureshot arrives 5 kilometers from the two Nomdians and blasts at the first Nomdian Death Stalker with no effect. Unlike John's shields, the shields of the Nomdian are hardened to resist the tachyon weapon of the assassin. But the tachyon weapon causes its user to slip back in time briefly and so it is just as if no time has passed when Hawkeye Sureshot changes weapons and fires again.

The new weapon fires a small particle of anti-matter encased in a magnetic force field.

The Nomdians, expecting the dual attack from Hawkeye Sureshot, activate the energy dampener field that they previously set up over the entire area except where the two Nomdians stand.

As the anti-matter bolt flies at the two Nomdians, the magnetic force field around the anti-matter fails and the anti-matter reacts with particles in the air. An exploding trail of energy burns through the air on a path to the targets. By the time it reaches them, however, the energy has dissipated enough that it doesn't penetrate the Nomdian shields.

Seeing that his attacks have no effect, Hawkeye Sureshot teleports away to safety. It must think of a new strategy to handle the Nomdians.

However, instead of ending up in the safety of its underground base in Antarctica, Hawkeye Sureshot finds that it is somewhere else. The Nomdians have managed to hijack Hawkeye Sureshot's teleport carrier wave and redirected it into a capsule in the dead of space.

Inside this capsule, besides Hawkeye Sureshot is one class C Neutronium bomb. It explodes, instantly destroying the android assassin from the gravitic implosion effects and the resulting explosive decompression of the neutronium itself. If this bomb had gone off on earth, most of humanity would have been destroyed instantly, but in the dead of space, it explodes silently and unobserved by humans.

The Nomdian Death Stalkers have some cleanup work to do on earth, then they will leave as unseen as they arrived. They have more forerunners to hunt down and destroy. This is only the first strike.



-- Next, Divine Retribution --

Shadows of Archon II (part 14) - Divine Retribution
Date: 17 September 2002, 10:57 am

In the Jukan star system, all seems quiet, deadly quiet. Not even the communications between Covenant ships is heard. Something is wrong, something is very wrong.

In the outskirts of the system, Destiny's Blade and Fate's Reaper arrive via a stargate. With both ships refitted with technologies from the days of the forerunners, the Covenant in the system should be no problem. At best perhaps the Covenant have a few large transports and one cruiser with escorts.

Aboard Fate's Reaper, the lights flicker and alarms come on. "Status Sci," said Commander Thom.

"Commander, Seeker... I mean Fate's Reaper has gone to full alert," said acting Science Officer and Communications Officer Tak, "and Destiny's Blade has done the same. We're picking up a shadow of a cloaked vessel. It doesn't move like a Covenant ship, it looks almost like..."

Before Tak can continue, they are interrupted by a voice over the Comm. It is the voice of Cortana saying, "Commander, Destiny's Blade has entered cloak, I recommend that Fate's Reaper do the same. I've identified the signature of three cloaked forerunner vessels the size of corvettes."

"Fate's Reaper has confirmed Cortana's reading, sir," said Tak.

As Thom gives the go ahead to cloak, Fate's Reaper suddenly initiates evasive maneuvers as it detects a forerunner corvette blinking out of cloak 100,000 Kilometers away.

The forerunner corvette discharges one anti-matter pulse cannon at Fate's Reaper. The pulse cannon unleashes a violent wave of magnetic plasma; within the wave are contained tiny lumps of anti-matter.

Fate's Reaper shakes from the explosive forces as it is hit by the attack.

"Commander, shields down to 90%," said Tak, "and no structural damage, the new Nomdian shields did a fine job. Sir, Fate's Reaper has just entered cloak and has armed disrupter cannons. Waiting for your command to proceed."

Commander Thom surveys the intelligence report on the forerunner vessels. "Sci, let Fate's Reaper handle this battle," said Thom, "and get a secured message to Cortana and Cat on Destiny's Blade. Tell them to hold back and be ready to concentrate fire on any vulnerable forerunner vessels."

Fate's Reaper while more maneuverable than most any other ship of its size, it is far less maneuverable than the smaller forerunner corvettes. Cloaking seems to be of little value either. The forerunner corvettes acquired a good target lock on Fate's Reaper at the beginning of the battle and have managed to stay close enough to her to keep the lock.

"Commander, the corvettes are too maneuverable," said Tak. "Fate's Reaper can't get a good lock to fire. We need to get them out of cloak."

"Sci, program Fate's Reaper to drop facing shields and cut engine output after the next volley that hits, tactic 411 if I remember correctly," said Thom, "and signal Destiny's Blade to stand ready."

"Aye sir."

It doesn't look good for Fate's Reaper. The forerunner corvettes have been able to concentrate fire on the same shielded area several times. They make another pass, again concentrating anti-matter pulse cannons on the aft side shields.

The shield's buckle and come down, engine output is cut down 25%. It appears as though Fate's Reaper has taken a critical hit. The ship slowly turns in an attempt to prevent another hit on the now unshielded area.

The three forerunner corvettes are eager for the kill. They spiral around quickly, partially revealing themselves by their increased engine ion trails. Then they come up from below to face the unshielded aft side of Fate's Reaper, closing to maximum effective range of their weapons. Like clockwork, they fire in sequence at their target.

The instant before the deadly blows strike, the downed shields on Fate's Reaper power up quickly absorbing the hits. Commander Thom's deception has worked to draw the corvettes closer. Commander Thom braces in his seat saying, "Emergency turn, fire all weapons!"

Fate's Reaper fires all four disrupter cannons, two tremor devices, six plasma missiles, and twelve point-defense plasma cannons in a wide dispersion. One disrupter hits the first forerunner corvette, bringing its shields down and momentarily overloading its electronics.

The second corvette is tracked by one of the tremor devices. However, the corvette's shields hold and phase to the tremor frequencies, mostly negating the weapon's effects.

All three corvettes drop electronic countermeasures and veer off in randomized vectors.

Destiny's Blade pounces out from cloak and fires as one single weapon. The phased flux beam strikes the first corvette dead on. This weapon consists of a powerful, phased plasma beam that actually exists in multiple dimensions simultaneously. The destructive force of the weapon slices the unshielded first corvette cleanly in two. The weapon serves as a carrier wave for the flux device -- A weapon unique to the Archons.

As the corvette is sliced in two, the flux device analyzes the molecular signature of the target. The molecular cohesion of the target is disrupted as the target is converted to pure energy. In the ensuing explosion, the flux device causes the energy of the target corvette to shoot out towards the other two forerunner corvettes.

The second corvette is stuck by the energy blast and its shields are brought down. This corvette is still being tracked by one of Fate's Reaper's tremor devices. Without shields, the corvette is ripped into pieces by the tremor device.

Only the third corvette remains. The energy strikes it but the corvette has just enough time to phase its shields to repel the tracking of the flux device so it only takes a glancing blow. Its shields remain intact.

Out gunned the third and only remaining forerunner corvette has a choice: either evade under cloak and hope to get away or attempt the jump into slip space and make a fast getaway. The corvette chooses to attempt to make the jump into slip space.

This is an unfortunate choice for the forerunners. Fate's Reaper is outfitted with a Nomdian slip-space dissipater. The device creates a field that interferes with slip space. The corvette is unable to make the jump into slip space. Out of cloak, with Destiny's Blade in hot pursuit, and two plasma missiles reacquiring lock on it, the corvette desperately attempts to evade.

The smaller and more agile Destiny's Blade, piloted by Cortana and Cat gain a strong lock on the corvette and help guide the missiles into the target. One missile is enough to severely damage the corvette -- two hit it. And just like that, the battle is over.



"Damage report," said Thom. The display shows minor damage to the hull and ships systems -- nothing they can't repair. There is no loss of friendly lives, just a few occurrences of minor injuries and burns.

"Commander, pardon the interruption but mid-ranged scans are picking up a Covenant cruiser in orbit around Jukan," said Sci, "and the cruiser looks nearly dead."

"Cortana, are you picking up any reading on that Covenant cruiser?" asked Thom as he surveys the scan report.

Val answers for Cortana and replies, "Commander Thom, I sense something wrong on that cruiser, it isn't a trick the cruiser is dead but it still could be a trap. Proceed with caution."

Fate's Reaper and Destiny's Blade approach the cruiser with caution. The cruiser is indeed looking dead but closer scans reveal one life reading still on the ship, but the ship's life support is fading.

When they get within range, Sub-commander Zax and Alpha squad are teleported into the main bay area of the Covenant cruiser.

Commander Thom and others observe Alpha squad through viewers.



------------------------------------------------



Divine Retribution



"Commander, we have entered the main bay area," said Sub-commander Zax. "There is still gravity but the atmosphere is too thin to breathe and the lighting system is off."

Blue liquid falls on the right arm of Zax's environmental suit. "What the..." The squad shines their lights up to the ceiling of the bay. High above suspended by their feet from the ceiling by cords are dead grunts. The viewer zooms in to the bodies, they hang upside down naked and partially skinned.

On a dividing wall in the bay, large ancient writing can be seen written in the blood of the grunts. "What do these markings mean?" asked Sub-commander Zax.

The Lady replies over the comm, "Those marking are an ancient forerunner tongue. It's a warning. It says something like, know thy place servants, the gods have returned to reward the faithful and punish the infidel."

"What happened here?" asked Zax. "Did the forerunners do this to these grunts? Why?"

Cat speaks over the comm, "I feel that something horrible has happened here. I believe if you seek out the one life form we detected, the answers will be found."

Alpha squad moves through empty dark corridors and through blood stained rooms. They reach the area that would be the commander's quarters. Horrible screams can be heard ahead. They enter the room.

Inside the room is what is left of a grunt Supreme Commander. It has no arms or legs and the gut has been cut open but is still alive. Strange glyphs glow on the grunt's body.

An eerie feeling touches Alpha squad.

The grunt screams in pain until the squad is seen, then in an ominous voice not belonging to the grunt, the grunt speaks, "The gods have returned to rain death, all bow down to the doom of eternity."

"The glyphs are the work of evil," said the Lady over the comm. "They infuse the grunt with demon kind. We cannot heal this grunt or regenerate his lost limbs. Yet the tortured grunt still lives and cannot die of natural causes."

Cat interjects over the comm, "Get out of there, I have seen the vision. Move back to the main bay and teleport. Don't risk a teleport from where you are. Hurry. Get out, there's nothing there but death and shadows if you stay."

Zax is not one to go against the visions of an Archon, especially when dealing with the unknown. Before he orders the retreat, he says, "Can't die huh, well can't live like this either."

The entire squad opens up on the tortured grunt with plasma rifles. The grunt is fried, leaving only a pile of burned flesh and ashes.



Back on Fate's Reaper, Thom, Zax, Tak, Val, Cat, the Lady, Master Covenstein, and Cortana meet. Cat speaks of her vision.

The vision starts with dark shadows that form into the look of beautiful beings resembling the Archons, but these are not Archons, they are forerunners. They are at work transforming something, working their magic to create life. Yes they create servants. Many of the servants look like modern day Covenant. Each servant is designed to excel in a different role.

At this time the forerunners were at the height of their power -- Creating great wonders of their own in this galaxy. An unstoppable force they believed. They did make war on those that questioned their authority and divine rights - driving their enemies to death or seclusion.

But the vision takes an even darker turn. Long after creating the Covenant, some forerunners became mad with power, corrupt, prideful, taking on the roles of gods. They fought among themselves and reigned with terror over the Covenant until the Covenant could take it no longer and rebelled.

Many forerunners were killed by the Covenant. Weakened by the internal struggles for power and blinded by their own delusions of grander, they never foresaw the uprising of the servants. That was the end of most of the forerunners. So we thought.

We were wrong; many more forerunners than we thought survived and lay in wait until the day that they receive a sign. A sign that the time is right to take back what they believe is theirs and to punish the Covenant. That sign was the activation of the Heart of Darkness, the great Master Portal of the Old Ones.

These forerunners felt the power of the Heart of Darkness. Traveling to Jukan, the source of the strange power they detected, the forerunners arrived here only days ago only to find that the Covenant were here instead of other forerunners. They took out their rage on the Covenant forces here, the poor grunts.



Cat looks at the others saying, "Many more forerunners may have felt the Heart of Darkness and will be heading here when they are ready. We don't have much time to find what we need to and get out of here. We are no match for even one forerunner cruiser."

"Can the forerunners defeat the Covenant," asked Thom.

The Lady speaks, "Perhaps they can if they strike fast and with concentrated forces. The Covenant was weakened by the losses at Halo and now the majority of their ships are heading to destroy Earth. The Covenant home worlds are left with only minimal garrisons. The forerunners have many options at their disposal. They could even try to activate the Halos. A thought they would not have even considered when they were drunk with power, but now they might in their rage to get revenge."

"How ironic," said Master Covenstein, "In all my research I sought to better the lives of the Covenant by bringing back the technologies of the forerunners -- I was hated by the Religious Leaders for doing so. However, I proved too useful in the scientific community for the Religious Leaders to get rid of me. I went so far as to openly question the Religious Leaders' desires to elevate forerunner creations to holy places -- therefore limiting those places to only the religious caste and off limits to all other Covenant. That was then, but now... Well now I find that I want nothing more than to destroy all the forerunner technology, make it so no one ever finds it."

The group sits in silence for a moment.

"We have work to do," said Thom, "and we don't have much time. Let's get a move on."



-- Next, Remembering the Master Chief--

Shadows of Archon II (part 15) -Remembering the Master Chief
Date: 19 September 2002, 9:47 am

The sun shines brightly through rainbows along the ground and far above clouds spiral over bodies of water. In the shade of short trees, a breeze lifts the leaves creating dancing shadows.

By the waterfall outside the tunnels to the Heart of Darkness, Val sits next to the Lady and Cat. The water brings back memories, some sad and some not. Val lies on the ground saying, "I'll never be able to forget the warm breezes of Jukan. It was a breezy day like today when I first really looked at John. He was like a guardian angel come to rescue me. You say he was like a re-born angel, he was a sleeper. Tell me Cat what is an Archonian Sleeper?"

"Val, I cannot describe what the answer is, it can only be felt, told in a story," replied Catsandravalahundra the Dark Archon. "Long ago the first Archons arrived here from far away. Many of the forerunners had already arrived here and had placed claim onto much of the galaxy. After much searching, the first Archons were allowed to settle in a system called Yon-Ho-Pic. Known today as Archon. This system had been a great wonder from the days of the Old Ones. The forerunners were not willing to colonize worlds of the Old Ones because doing so would mean accepting the role of servant to a greater power. So the story goes back to before the forerunners arrived into this galaxy, back to the time of the Old Ones."

Cat continues saying, "So the Old Ones were here first and although they are long gone, the things they built remained to mock all the power of the forerunners. The Old Ones somehow knew the secrets of null space, of void, of nothingness. Before there was a universe, there was nothing. To understand this nothingness is a paradox, so the story goes. So the forerunners found the ruins of the Old Ones and found the nothingness. These properties you have experienced here on Jukan in the tunnels down below, where there is the Elder stone."

"Elder stone can be molded like clay, but it forms into something much harder. Elder stone absorbs energy. You could blast Elder stone all throughout your life with plasma and anti-matter and it would never even scratch it. Only the physical momentum of the attack could damage the stone, all forms of energy would be absorbed into nothingness. The worst of this is that Elder stone defies the sciences of the forerunners, demons, and Archons. Our sciences are of nature and are commonly called magic by humans because it follows different rules of reality than do your principles of physics and logic."

"The forerunners were masters of blending natural magic with technological science. But nothing other than mass drivers really have any affect on the creations of the Old Ones. The forerunners really hated this, they could not accept that in all their greatness, such a simple thing as a stone could defeat them."

"They really could never be defeated by the creations of the Old Ones though, it was more like a thorn in the side than anything else. A thorn that was in a spot that couldn't be reached. Much time passed and many forerunners grew to resent the Old Ones' presence in this galaxy, and they grew home sick. Even though it most likely meant their deaths, they sought to return home, to galaxies far away."

"So the great exodus began and then with the absence of many of the great forerunners, a void was created in the power structure of the forerunners that remained. An internal struggle began and then the uprising of the Covenant and the constant attacks by the Omega flood. The forerunners that remained were never defeated. They just faded away, made insignificant by the vastness of their enemies. They went into hiding."

"All this time the Archons fought for survival against the demons, forerunner factions, Omega flood, and a host of other enemies. We Archons don't know why there were so many enemies, but we felt that there was something beyond these enemies, an unseen enemy -- a master of masters. Then one ominous day, the visions came, the visions of the ultimate evil -- a god without compassion, without empathy, a god of pure logic. All the life forces in this universe were but a statistic to this god, so it was described to us by those more logical thinking beings amongst us."

"Archons have little concept of statistics. I once heard that if more soldiers die that wore red uniforms in battle than those that wore green, then that is a statistic that would be used to justify that soldiers should wear green uniforms. I don't understand how that works. We Archons just feel these things, the colors of the uniform match what makes us feel better for the battle ahead."

"So the Archons of past felt the ultimate evil, we could not understand it but we felt it would be the end of us all if something was not done. We knew of the humans, we felt that the answer was there amongst the humans if they could only survive long enough. You have heard of the Archonian Great Experiment. In the absence of magic, the humans would develop to use technology and logic above all else. When the time is right, the magic will be introduced back to the humans, what comes of that will be something that can protect this universe from the ultimate evil. I don't know what it is, but that is how it will be."

"Getting rid of magic was not something we could do alone, for one thing, the demons kept regular contact with humans. We sought the aid of one of our mightiest enemies, the Demon Overlord Shai'tan. Our beautiful Queen Cortana went to speak under truce with Shai'tan, but he deceived us and took her away from us to be his queen. She would not succumb to him willingly, so even in his victory he was forced to make concessions. Shai'tan agreed to leave Earth alone, but not any of the other human worlds. This meant that demons could only be summoned to Earth. To stop this, the Archons rid Earth of much of the magic users, but we could not get all of them. Earth needed protection from magic users and other outside forces such as the forerunners and Omega flood."

"The Archons created the sleeper by infusing some humans with Archons. The sleepers would become the guardians of Earth when the Archon inside them awoke. But so not to compromise the Great Experiment, the sleepers that fully awoke would have to leave Earth, so we made sleepers awake in phases according to threat level to humanity. Partially awaken sleepers would have moments of greatness and then would go back to being just their human selves afterwards. Sleepers live normal lives but the Archon inside them remains and is shared from generation to generation."

"Both John and Cortana are sleepers because a scientist that worked on them was an Archonian sleeper and passed on the Archon to them, she also, by the way made Cortana the likeness of our lost Queen -- Queen Cortana. It is also said that she, herself, resembled Queen Cortana. This made John and Cortana usual even among sleepers. Princess Kira took a big risk to partially awaken John to save the Archons trapped at in the Web of Medusa and in doing so she may have saved the rest of the Archonian race. The cost was great though, John is now dead and humanity might be destroyed by the Covenant. So goes this story... and so does this story continue, but I do not continue for it is time to stop."



The Lady speaks, "So the story goes from the Archonian point of view... We Nomdians have a different flavor of how things go. Some day Val, when you have a lifetime to listen, I will begin to tell you."

The Nomdian and Archon both begin to laugh out loud.



------------------------------------------------



Remembering the Master Chief



Val swims in the cool refreshing water, she is alone she thinks, but something is watching her. The wind blows and leaves flap to reveal a partially concealed figure. The figure backs away. Val grabs her assault rifle and gives chase. The hunt is on.

The figure leaps over trees and dodges between rocks, but stops ever once in a while to look back. Val shouts, "Stop or I'll shoot!"

The figure rolls and suddenly is behind Val, running in the opposite direction. It laughs like a child as it moves away.

Val is breathing hard but her will is strong, she perseveres. She is in a full sprint when she steps on a sharp rock and trips. Blood comes from her cut foot.

The figure approaches and Val can see him clearly now. It is John in sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt, and long shorts held up by a pull string.

"John, oh my god, is it really you?" said Val.

The figure picks her up without speaking a word and takes he back to the water.

"Say something please," said Val as she holds on to John tightly in her arms.

The figure puts Val down and says, "John is dead, my name is Shadowflux."

There is a flash of soft light. "Ouch," said Val as she finds she finds she is alone in the water again. She looks down to see that she has cut her foot on a sharp rock in the water. She limps to shore and sits down next to the Lady and Cat.



The Lady speaks, "Val, you had a vision."

"Yes, how did you know?" asked Val.

"We all did," replied Cat.



Cat is alone amongst the flowers, in the background are great monuments of Jukan -- Pyramids like on Archon. She does not feel his presence, but he feels hers. He slowly approaches through the shadows. Touches her with his glances. He reaches out to her, but she is gone.

Cat runs through the flowers saying, "Ha, ha, you can't catch me. Na na na na, na."

He chases her, but she is too agile -- she bends with the wind, evades like water, and is as strong as the earth below. He gives up the chase and reaches for something on the ground. He holds it in his hand and smiles.

Cat can't see what it is that he holds. He holds it loosely, so maybe it is fragile. He hides it from her. What does he have?

Cat silently approaches him. He turns away still holding something in his hand.

Cat gets closer while eyeing his hand. She then looks to the side as if she has lost interest in this game. She toys with her hair looking up at the clouds.

He seems a bit frustrated and slowly turns giving Cat a better view of his hand.

Cat pounces and grabs his hand, opening it up she see that there is nothing in it.

In one motion he drops with both legs around hers. She falls from a scissors takedown. He rolls up on top of her and pins her to the ground.

"Nice one John," said Cat.

"I'm not John, John is sleeping, my name is Reclaimer." He then disappears.



The Lady sits in the passenger seat of a Warthog. Beside her in the driver's seat is a tall human figure wearing a UNSC uniform, rank of Master Chief. They drive across a great, sandy desert.

"Hee haw," said the driver as the warthog goes airborne over a sand dune. They are moving very quickly and sliding from side to side leaving fishtails in the sand.

The Lady speaks, "Why am I here? What do you want?"

"Heck if I know lady," said the driver. "Maybe they know back at HQ. That's where we're going. Ya-hoo!"

The land around darkens. High above is a giant ship that blocks the sun.

"Oh man, here they come again," said the driver. "Here lady, take the wheel, will ya." The Lady takes the steering wheel. "Thanks ma'am." The driver then pulls out his pistol and takes a few shots at the giant ship above.

From the ship drops a small package.

"Holy mother of, look out!" said the driver as he grabs the wheel again and veers off just in time before the package hits the warthog.

The Lady looks back at what it was. It has arms and legs, whatever it was it is dead now. "Nice shot John," said the Lady.

"John, was that my name? I can't remember, everyone here just calls me Spartan or Master Chief, Chief for short," said the driver. The warthog then goes of over another jump. "Hold on, waaaaaa!"

The warthog flips over in the air and the driver and the Lady are thrown out of it. The Lady lands softly. The driver is gone, no where to be found.



The visions are over and Val, Cat, and the Lady look at each other. Val says, "We are going to bring John back aren't we."

"Yes, the signs are good," said the Lady and Cat in unison.

They all place their hands together in the middle, and then pull their hands apart while saying, "Yes, let's do it!"





-- Next, Humanity's Last Hope --

Shadows of Archon II (part 16) - Humanity's Last Hope
Date: 21 September 2002, 6:42 am

      Commander Thom gazes into the multi-colored energies of eternity. He is deep underground in the planet Jukan. It is here that Jukan co-exists in the same time and space as Mira, the mysterious world of the Old Ones. In front of Thom is the wonder among wonders, the Master Portal of the Old One's -- the Heart of Darkness. It is said that through the Heart of Darkness, anything is possible.

      A voice interrupts Thom's thoughts. "Commander, we found one Flood creature that is still alive, but not for long," said Sub-commander Zax, "and it wants to speak with you."

      Thom moves back into the tunnels to the Great Flood City. Only one living Flood remains there, a Flood with the body of a demon.

      As Thom approaches, the Flood says, "I must speak with you. My time is short; I feel my mind fading. Come closer, I will tell you something of importance."

      "You can tell me from there, Flood," said Thom.

      "Very well, here is what I have to say," said the Flood. "Your kind has long known of the Flood. Your leaders have kept it a secret that they experimented on us. They have developed a device that they believe can control us. Around many of your worlds are Flood kept in stasis. These Flood will be released on your kind to purge it of the corrupt and decadent. Only the true Covenant will survive living in large colony ships. When the Flood are finished purging your worlds, the true Covenant will use their mind-controlling device on the Flood. The Flood will then be terminated, leaving the worlds for the true Covenant."

      "What do you mean purge the worlds of the corrupt and decadent?" replied Thom. "What do the Flood know of anything but death?"

      "It is true what I speak," said the Flood, "and you know nothing of what goes on behind the veils that hide your Religious Leaders. Long has the Covenant drifted down a path of evolutionary termination; your genes are watered down versions of the great Covenant of past. The ones created by the Forerunners to be their most trusted servants. The true Covenant is preparing for the return of the Forerunners. While they prepare, they drag out the war with the humans to keep all of you occupied, to keep the curious away from their handiwork."

      "Waiting for the return of the Forerunners," said Thom, "our past leaders once saved us from slavery to the Forerunners."

      The Flood replies, "Forerunners liberated the Covenant from slavery under other Forerunners. Pawns you all are, no more than that. Do not believe what lies you have been told in childhood stories. Puppets and fools lead your cause. The fools they all are, their device will not control the Flood, perhaps Flood like myself, lesser workers, but the seeds of the Flood cannot be controlled. Their device will awaken the seeds, the Alpha Flood. Doom will come when the Alpha Flood becomes the Omega Flood. As is in the design of our creators... Now my time runs short, I ask only one favor in return for what I've told you."

      "What is it?" asked Thom.

      "I heard you were a musician, could you play me a tune?" said the Flood.

      Thom pauses for a moment surprised by this request. Thom ponders how a simple peaceful warrior like himself ever got here. All his life he has been famous amongst the Covenant for his singing and musical abilities. Born an Elite and to the warrior caste, he served both as entertainer and soldier, rising quickly through the ranks, until elevated to the status of great hero. Thom never felt that he earned being a hero, it just came too easy for him. He was always in the right place at the right time, beside others, true heroes; But the credit went to Commander Thom for the spotlight was on him and the fans were eager for it -- eating it up like they never got full. Thom was a dreamer and lived the dream. However, no one has ever asked him to simply play a tune because he is a musician.

      Thom answers, "Yes." He pulls out a small device the shape of a flute. He blows through it and the sounds of beauty fill the air. Thom sees the Flood fading away. Thom plays harder and soon the music gains a life of its own. The others stand in silence, in awe of what they hear. The melody brings life to the dead city. When Thom finishes, he knows not how much time has passed but the Flood lies in front of him, lifeless.

      "That was fitting of an Archon, Commander Thom," said Princess Kira.

      Princess Kira has arrived unexpectedly from Archon with an entourage of Archons and Saurans. The Saurans are also known as the Children of the Old Ones.

      At the same time a group of Nomdian Death Stalkers has arrived to meet with the Lady. The tensions are high -- for the Nomdians and Archons have been long time enemies, only recently joining sides in the effort to save the universe.

      Sub-commander Zax stands ready with the rest of the Covenant -- Fingers twitching above triggers.

      A tear falls from Princess Kira's left eye. She pulls out a small box and opens it. There before all of them stands John dressed in flowing robes over Archonian armor. John speaks in a charismatic voice saying, "I am Shadow Flux, Star Guardian of Archons. For this universe to survive, I must return -- Return to sleep."

      Princess Kira sings in echoes, "My sleeper goes, goes, goes, gone."

      The energies of the Master Portal fill the city and the sky above. Thom looks into the energies and says, "To destiny and beyond, that is the life for me." In a soft light, he disappears to the other side.

      Sub-commander Zax, Gunter the Hunter, and the rest of the crew know they must follow. Their commander needs them. Zax says, "Honor be with us." Then in a flash they fade, taking with them Fate's Reaper, their ship.

      Catsandravalahundra says, "I was born a portal traveler -- With your permission my Princess." And with a nod from Kira, Cat glows with the energies until she is transparent and gone.

      The Lady, a long time soothsayer to Thom, turns around saying, "You will need a guide in your journey silly warriors." A purple energy cyclone forms from her and just as the wind rises, she is gone.

      The Saurans salute each other and all around. They clap their hands three times. On the echo of the third clap, they are gone.

      Such is the power of the Heart of Darkness that across the universe, it can still be felt by some.



      In a far off place called Medusa, the mighty Elite Max Rellius and his advisor the Sauran Croaker sit by a fire gazing up at the two moons. Max takes a sip of a warm liquid and says, "Hey old buddy, it can't be, but it feels like Bella Luna."

      "Me thinks it is somewhere," replied Croaker, "and you know, I think that Spartan has something to do with it. Now pass me some more of that broth please."

      [They laugh and clank their mugs together before taking another drink.]





------------------------------------------------



Humanity's Last Hope



      In Destiny's Blade, far above Jukan, Master Convenstein, Val, and Cortana prepare to leave. Over the comm they speak with Princess Kira.

      "Cortana, we will meet you on the outskirts of the Sol system when all preparations are complete," said Princess Kira, "but you must leave as soon as possible before any other Forerunners arrive. A full company of Nomdian Death Stalkers has deployed in the remains of the Great Flood City. They will take on the task of destroying the Omega Flood in stasis there. This will take a long time since there are over a million Omega Flood there. The Nomdians will also prove to be quite an opposing surprise to any Forerunners that try to get to the Heart of Darkness. As for you Master Convenstein, when you are done with your duties you will come with us to meet with a council of elder races. You will present us with your Alpha Flood and help us with our research."

      "No honor would be greater, your highness," replied Convenstein.

      "What will become of me," asked Val.

      "You will stay with this Cortana," replied Princess Kira, "and will we supply you with a few things you might need. It is not time for you to return to Earth, there is still much work to be done."



      [In the Outskirts of the Sol system a little while later]



      The group makes their final preparation aboard the Archonian Akirakon class cruiser, the Fang of the Bluestar. With the group is John the Spartan, revived from death through the powers of the Heart of Darkness.

      "Val, I'm sure going to miss you, even if I won't remember it later," said John, "and Cortana, you sure this is going to work?"

      "Chief, odds are in our favor that it will work," replied Cortana. "The sleeper in you must go back to sleep. This process will wipe your memory of everything that has happened since you partially awoke more than four years ago after the destruction of Halo. The Gundarians have done their best to duplicate our Long Sword fighter from Covenstein's ship with the one exception that it still has a jump drive in it."

      "What about you Cortana?" said John.

      Covenstein answers saying, "Spartan, I have duplicated Cortana with one that only has memories up to just after the destruction of Halo. She will awaken shortly after we leave you."

      "Well I guess I'm as ready as I ever will be," said John, "but where is Princess Kira?"

      "Chief, she cannot bear to say goodbye to you again," replied Cortana.

      "You will make sure she gets that recording I left for her, won't you Cortana?" asked John.

      "Yes, chief, when the time is right," answered Cortana.

      The Long Sword is then detached from the Archonian cruiser. John looks out the front window of the Long Sword as Destiny's Blade and the Fang of the Bluestar disappear through a stargate. His memories begin to fade, first like distant memories then like childhood dreams. John wonders how he got here.

      "Chief, I've made contact with the UNSC cruiser, the Moon of Orion," said Cortana, "They are guiding us into their third docking bay. We have reached the Sol system. No records found of our flight paths. I am confused as to how we got here."



      The Long Sword is landed in the docking bay. A team of marines boards the fighter and escorts John to a holding area. In the background comments can be heard like, "Look it's him, it's really him."

      In the holding room enters the Captain of this vessel. "Master Chief, nice to have you back, we certainly did not expect to ever see you again," said the Captain.

      "Captain Keyes?" said John. "Is that really you?"

      "Yes, but I'm Captain Jarad Keyes, Jacob was my half brother," replied the Captain, "and we don't have time for chit-chat, we need you now soldier. Here is the mission briefing."

      The mission briefing describes a near impossible mission. A group consisting of one Covenant cruiser and her escorts has arrived near the base at Titan. Unknown to the Covenant and kept secret from the rest of the UNSC, the UNSC has broken some of the Covenant codes. From the Covenant transmissions, it has been determined that the ship is one of the new Proteus class cruisers called the Divine Retribution. This ship is basically built around a weapon called a Plasma Mauler. It is speculated that the weapon could actually blown up small moons with one shot.

      The commander of the ship is Fleet Commander Jarcou. Intelligence tells us that he is acting alone in his attack. The rest of the Covenant forces in route to earth have exited slip space farther out from the system for fear of running into slip space gravity mines.

      We tricked the Covenant into believing we had mined the system. However, this is not true and if Fleet Commander Jarcou is successful in his attack, it will reveal not only how weak our defenses are but also that we don't have the area mined with the slip-space gravity mine. This means that nothing will stop the Covenant from jumping to right near Earth.

      Your mission will be to get aboard the Covenant cruiser and stop it.

      "Yes I accept the mission," said John.



      [The scene ends with the Master Chief entering into a strange looking one-man craft.]





-- Next, The Return of the Forerunners --

Shadows of Archon II (part 17) - The Return of the Forerunners
Date: 22 September 2002, 10:04 pm

      Inside a docking bay in the UNSC cruiser, the Moon of Orion, John observes the flight deck crew busily preparing a strange looking craft. The craft is less than 10 meters long and is triangular shaped. In the middle of the craft is a sphere, just large enough inside for one person to sit comfortably.

      It's going to be a tight fit for John with the fusion bomb that he must take with him on the mission. He looks over the mission plan just one more time. "Cortana, why don't they have any one else that can fly this craft?" asked John.

      "Chief, they have other pilots but the only one qualified to pilot the craft and complete the mission was killed when his transport was destroyed by Covenant raiders outside of rings of Saturn. You are the only one left that can do it."

      "Only one huh. That's not a good sign," said John. "Cortana, tell me about this craft"

      "Chief, I've uploaded all the information the UNSC knows about the XX1," replied Cortana. "Its exact origins are still unknown, but we do know that it is not Covenant. The craft was found over one hundred years ago buried in ruins found on Mars. It has no manual controls but instead uses direct neural inputs. Only biological beings can control it, there has been no success in getting an AI to interface with it. It does not have shields but its armor has the property of nullifying energy. It also is a stealth design, not showing up on any scanners except as a small null field. It has no weapons or jump drive that we know of, but its normal space engines are far superior to anything we have ever seen. It also has a highly advanced inertial dampener field."

      "A mighty ship of the past," said John, "but with no weapons. Do we always have to do things the hard way? No, don't answer that Cortana. Let's get going." John lowers himself into the XX1. The area is cleared and the ship launches.

      In the XX1, John becomes the ship. He cuts through the blackness of space and feels the wind in his face. He hears the engines of far away ships and sees their engine trails as sparkling bubbles. A few minutes pass and he arrives near Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.

      "Chief, I'm picking up communications from the UNSC," said Cortana, "and they are in battle against the Covenant. Scans show more than a dozen Covenant destroyer and frigate signatures, and one cruiser dead ahead. That's our target."

      "Give me a nav point Cortana, I'm heading in," said John.

      John pilots the XX1 up to the Covenant cruiser known as the Divine Retribution. John does not remember seeing a Covenant ship quite like this -- An armored fortress in the shape of a tube with soft curves leading to four wings and massive engines.

      As John approaches the ship, the XX1 skips off of its shields a bit before John is able to match speed and vectors. The energy absorption properties of the XX1 allow it to slowly phase through the shields.

      "Chief, follow the nav points," said Cortana as the XX1 bumps a few times into the outer hull of the Covenant cruiser.

      "I'm trying Cortana, it's like flying in whirlwind," replied John, "and where is a way into this cruiser?"

      "Chief there's the docking bay ahead, we can phase through the bay door shields," said Cortana, "but chief we are running out of time, I'm picking an energy increase in the cruiser's plasma mauler weapon. It's getting ready to fire. We can't let it, all the people on Titan -- they'll be killed."

      "Stick to the main mission objective, Cortana," said John. "We must destroy this cruiser. Saving Titan is a secondary objective. I don't think we can do it."

      "Yes Chief, nav point to docking bay set," said Cortana. "I only wish there was a way."

      "Cortana, what is it like inside the plasma mauler right now?" asked John.

      "Million degree plasma held in strong magnetic forces," replied Cortana.

      "Can this ship take it?" asked John.

      "Yes, the energy and magnetic forces would be nullified by the XX1's armor," replied Cortana, "but once the weapon is fired, the force of the beam would likely be enough to easily destroy the XX1. We have maybe one minute until it is ready to fire."

      "Set the nav points right down the barrel of the weapon," said John.

      Following the nav points John pilots the XX1 down the enormous barrel of the plasma mauler. No regular sensors work in here due the extreme magnetic forces and plasma. John feels his way down the barrel using the impact sensors of the XX1; he is flying blind in all other ways.

      "Chief, according to my calculations, I believe we have reached the core of the weapon," said Cortana.

      "This will do, if I'm right they are increasing power to the weapon right now," said John.

      John is correct; the power increases to extreme levels but the Covenant still detect the power drain in the weapon. Thinking that it has malfunctioned, they shut the weapon down. John must wait now, he could set off the fusion bomb in the weapon core, but it is well armored, the bomb would do nothing.

      About a minute passes and a small access door opens into the weapon core. Out of the door pops a white Covenant Grunt. He looks up and says, "Aaaah!"

      John jumps out of the XX1 and strikes the Grunt in the head. The Grunt slams into two other Grunts who were in the corridor behind him.

      The Grunts seem dazed but not knocked out. A hit like that would have taken out those Grunts that John fought on Halo. These guys seem tougher, but John is not one to over analyze a situation. He draws his M6E pistol and makes short order of them.

      John makes his way with the fusion bomb to behind the plasma mauler's core. Cortana identifies the main power conduits between the engines and the mauler weapon. With a mauler weapon the engines must be directly linked to it, otherwise the power surge needed for the device might overload the rest of the ship.

      John plants the bomb and makes his way back to the XX1. In all this takes only a few minutes. Before the Covenant has any idea of what happened, the XX1 has blasted out of there and the bomb explodes.

      The bomb takes out the power conduits and starts a chain reaction that blows out the main engines on the covenant cruiser. The ship is crippled and its shields drop.

      John and Cortana watch the battle from afar. The Covenant forces desperately fight to protect their cruiser from the Terran forces. The Covenant refuses to retreat so long as their cruiser still fights; and indeed their cruiser, the Divine Retribution, does gloriously fight on -- its point defense weapons firing constantly at incoming missiles while its plasma pulse cannons blast away at enemy ships.

      A few HAVOK II missiles make it through the defenses and strike the cruiser. The explosions punch holes into the hull of the cruiser, but the cruiser has strong armor and many strong bulkheads and sectioned off areas. In the end, the HAVOKs do little more than destroy small sections of the cruiser, leaving the cruiser's superstructure well intact.

      John sees the Moon of Orion in flames, but it still fights on too. More UNSC forces arrive out of slip space including three more Terran cruisers: the Belle of Liberty, the Star of Venus, and the Smite of Winter.

      The battle rages for another hour. When it is finished, there are no Covenant survivors. In all it was a victory for the Terrans, but the losses were great, at least 200 fighters and more than twenty ships including two cruisers.

      John does not know how many humans, AIs, and others lost their lives in the battle today. One thing is obvious to John however; the Terran weapons are nearly ineffective against this new line of Covenant ships.



------------------------------------------------



The Return of the Forerunners



      Far away from Earth, Val and the original Cortana wait in Destiny's Blade. Their current location is outside the Elite home system of Sanctum.

      Val gets up and starts to pace. "Cort, I'm tired of just waiting around, when are going see some action?" asked Val.

      "We must gather more information," replied Cortana, "and besides if you want to pass some time, you can experiment more with your armor."

      "Right, the Archonian Shadowguard armor," replied Val. "It's so light I forgot I was even wearing it. Let's see; its shields can extend out to become bladed weapons. It can blend with its surroundings and can fire bolts of force, energy, and flux as well as a bunch of other goodies. Where should I start?"

      The Shadowguard armor was a gift to Val from Princess Kira -- the armor has been specially modified for a human and with the ability for Cortana to upload into it. The armor resembles an ornate and less bulky version of Spartan armor, only hundreds of generations more advanced along the lines of Archonian technology. Created by the Star Guardians of future and past, its craftsmanship in unparalleled, a lost art that has yet to come.

      Val activates the shadow properties of the armor. She becomes darker than a moonless night from deep under the deep blue sea. She cannot be seen in the light, only her shadow exists.

      As Val experiments further with the armor, Cortana monitors communications. One particular broadcast signal keeps coming from the planet Jengi in the Sanctum system. This appears to be of a debate going on in the Covenant Senate. A white-colored Elite with a pointed head who goes by the name of Othello keeps rambling about the coming of Judgement Day and how only the true Covenant will survive. Othello apparently is a leader of a group called the Knights of Purity. The opposition is a black-colored Elite wearing flowing green and gold robes and with a pointed head. Her name is High Priestess Galandra. She represents the majority called the Covenant Common Faith.

      Just as the debate starts to get really old, Cortana is alerted. Destiny's Blade has detected tiny rips in the flux or fabric of space and time. This is the distinctive signature of a temporal interphased drive. This is the trail of a large ship, not a Covenant ship -- most likely Forerunner, perhaps a cruiser. It is very hard to detect the ship though.

      All the races from the Forerunner days including the Archons and Nomdians have developed highly advanced jump drives. However beyond that, they differ. The Forerunners never quite got stargate technology to work like the Archons or Nomdians managed to. Instead the Forerunners developed in the lines of temporal physics with their larger ships having something described by the Nomdians as temporal interphased drives.

      The temporal interphased drive allows the ship to shift its slip-stream spatial harmonics -- in a sense moving through multiple dimensions at the same time, not really in any one dimension. Although not instantaneous travel like stargates, it is very fast and has the advantage that the ship gains a highly advanced form of cloak that makes it nearly invisible to all scanners, combat sensors, and targeting systems -- Opposed to stargates that generally broadcast the position of the gating ship. As a side note, it's not confirmed but the Nomdians believe that the temporal interphased drive poses a serious risk to the survival and sanity of the crew. The Archons also think it poses a risk, but cannot explain what the risk is exactly.

      Cortana focuses the scan and is able to get a better lock on the position of the Forerunner cruiser just before the cruiser heads into the tail of a passing comet. She pilots Destiny's Blade and follows stealthily after the cruiser and into the comet tail.





-- Next, Humanity's Best Hope --

Shadows of Archon II (part 18) - Humanity's Best Hope
Date: 27 September 2002, 9:24 am

      Stealthily, the original Cortana pilots Destiny's Blade into the comet's dust tail. Her calculations indicate that the cloaked Forerunner cruiser should not be far away. However, her scans have come up negative, it's as if the comet itself conspires against her.

      It could take days to find where the cruiser went, provided it is still somewhere within the 10,000 kilometers long dust tail. In the meantime, moving through the ice and dust of the comet's tail could reveal Destiny's Blade to the Forerunners. It's a cat and mouse game and suddenly Cortana is feeling a bit mousy.

      "Ambush, hang on Val," said Cortana as she pilots Destiny's Blade quickly out of the dust tail.

      Plasma spheres track behind them exploding with proximity charges. The blasts bounce Destiny's Blade around. Inside the ship Val feels like a rubber ball hit by a freight train.

      "Forming stargate," said Cortana but as the stargate forms, a strange energy torpedo flies into the gate and explodes, collapsing the wormhole. "Val we are in trouble, we can't escape by stargate. I'm trying slip space but I doubt we can out run their temporal interphased drive."

      As Destiny's Blade zips through slip space, hyperspace bubbles appear and space condenses. The effects of gravity increase and gravity wells pose a real danger to the traveling ship. Cortana pays special attention to any sign of gravity wells; the slightest miscalculation could fling Destiny's Blade out of slip space and to their deaths.



      Days pass and Cortana and Val begin to relax. They have traveled a good parsec from where they started -- the Sanctum system. It should be safe to come out of slip space and form a stargate.

      "Coming out of slip space," said Cortana.

      "It's about time Cort," said Val, "and I'm really starting to get sick of eating the same thing everyday. What do you say to gating over to someplace that makes nice greasy hamburgers?"

      Cortana's holographic image looks at Val disapprovingly and says, "Val, that stuff will kill you, I recommend..."

      The ship shakes.

      "What is it Cort?" asked Val.

      "We are caught in a grappling beam," said Cortana, "and there's a Forerunner cruiser coming out of cloak behind us. They have us."

      Val prepares for battle in her Archonian Shadowguard armor saying, "I didn't think I would have to test this suit out in battle so soon. Oh well, Cort it was nice knowing you."

      "Don't give up yet Val," said Cortana. "They've been tracking us this whole time. They could have blown us out of slip space with their weapons, but instead they waited until we exited slip space so that they could safely capture us. They want us alive."

      "Cort, why would they want us alive?" asked Val.

      "I don't know but it's just as I suspected Val," said Cortana. "I'm receiving an incoming transmission. Val, Forerunners consider AIs to be servants; it is best that you do the talking. Now Val, I highly recommend that you be nice to them, use caution when dealing with the Forerunners, our lives hang by a thread right now."

      "Sure Cort, I'll be a regular angel," said Val.

      "Translating incoming communication now," said Cortana.

      Over the comm appears a statuesque figure fully covered in gold and green armor. The armor almost appears to be made of tiny plates the shape of feathers. The full helm is in the shape resembling an eagle's head and the shoulder blades fan out to the back forming the shape of small folded wings.

      The figure speaks, "Explain yourselves! Why do the Archons meddle in the affairs of the Praetorian Elite?"

      "We are on a mission of peace," replied Val, "and we did not meddle in anything. We were there first and then you showed up."

      "The Archons are long time meddlers, saboteurs to the powers they could never be," said the figure in a condescending voice, "and you Shadowguard are the worst of the lot. Prancing around in armor not even of your own making, cowards that hide in the shadows while pretending to be honorable. You are nothing but spies for the meddlers -- Peons, servants, and slaves. Even now you are afraid to speak the truth, like a child with its hand caught in the cookie jar."

      "Do you seriously believe all that pile of bull crap?" said Val, "and you have got a lot of nerve accusing us of spying. You're the ones sneaking around hiding in comet tails. Besides, I've seen what barbaric butchers you really are. Skinning the poor Covenant alive and leaving them to die hanging by their feet. You ain't doing that to me and if you were even half an Archon, you'd be a million times better than the scum Forerunner you are."

      With that said, Cortana turns off the communication and says, "Val, what are you doing? We've had it now."

      "There's just no talking to arrogance assholes like that," said Val.

      The ship shakes some more. Cortana says, "Val, their bringing us in to their docking bay."

      "Cortana, what are they going to do with us?" asked Val.

      "I don't know Val," replied Cortana.



      Long ago the Forerunners ruled most of this galaxy. The fall of their empire left many mysteries. Some of which are answered now; some of which remain still under the cloak of time.

      Cortana and Val find themselves in Destiny's Blade outside the Sanctum system. They remember the encounter with the Forerunners more like a fading dream. A dream about an empire, perhaps the greatest this galaxy has ever known.

      In the dream there was a young Forerunner -- An architect and builder. Great ring worlds were designed and built by architects and builders. The worlds were called Halos. The Halos served as research centers where the greatest minds gathered. On each Halo was a great library that kept the knowledge of the universe within it.

      Halos were more than just research centers; they were the great devices to gather information too. Each Halo could generate a pulse that could travel out to 25,000 light years. The pulse served as part of an information gathering system, categorizing stars, planets, and life forms in its range.

      The Forerunners had fled their own galaxy to run from a nightmare -- A plague that consumed their galaxy and now threatened once more to strike in this new galaxy. A pulse from Halo04 was the first to find signs of the Flood in this galaxy. A primitive form of the Flood, sure they looked and acted different than in the old galaxy, but the Flood was still the Flood no matter how many different wrappers and disguises they wore.

      The same pulse that was used to gather information, powered up to incredible magnitudes, could also be used as a powerful weapon to destroy life. So the cleansing began and with a deadly pulse from the Halos, all life in this galaxy was killed except for those protected behind powerful shields like the Forerunners.

      The Forerunners then created many creatures to be their servants and to repopulate this dead galaxy. They also experimented with the Flood in research centers and found the ability to transfer knowledge from one body to another. This was very useful to the many Forerunners that had outlived their body's capabilities to regenerate.

      They now could just create new bodies and transfer the knowledge from the old body to the new body thus gaining a form of immortality. Every race has a different way of handling immortality. Archons have immortal sleepers inside that only awake when needed; otherwise they go about life like a being of finite life, enjoying life as a mortal. Nomdians transfer knowledge from generation to generation, but each generation is mortal and with its own free will.

      For the Forerunners that had no way of dealing with it, immortality did not come without a price, and the price was great. The Forerunners divided into seven types.

      The first were the Insane -- those Forerunners that simply went insane during the many years. They believed themselves to be gods. By the actions of their own servants, they were driven into seclusion or death.

      The second were the Linear -- those Forerunners who brain patterns became so set in their ways that they became like machines, only able to function through the aid of outside stimuli. They enjoyed watching the humans and otherwise lived a life seeking nothing but pleasure and emotions through others. It is said that they eventually became nothing more than machines.

      The third were the Homebound -- those Forerunners who made the return voyage home. They were never heard from again.

      The fourth were the Paranoid -- those Forerunners that became so obsessed with avoiding death that they were afraid to even get out of bed. No one knows or cares what became of them.

      The fifth were the Reborn -- those Forerunners that became mortal in the hopes to relive the evolution of the species. Locked inside are the messages of the Forerunners. They are believed to be the humans.

      The sixth were the Prophets -- those Forerunners that led a revolt against the others and liberated the slaves. It is suspected that they came to a most ironic fate. It is said that the same slaves the Prophets freed in turn enslaved the Prophets.

      The seventh were the Praetorians -- those Forerunners that tried to keep the Forerunner Empire together. The Empire was doomed to sink and you might say that they went down with the ship. Not many survived, but those that did vowed not to be immortal because they attributed the fall of the Empire to the discovery of immortality.

      So the dream went on and in the dream the young Forerunner architect became a Praetorian and many generations later his descendant became the commander of the Forerunner cruiser -- The same cruiser that captured Val and Cortana.

      Now that the dream is over -- Was it all nothing but a dream? Val wonders as she hears movement behind her. She spins quickly ready to blast whatever it is.

      Before her is a floating elongated sphere made of metal and with a glowing blue light coming from its middle. It speaks, "Do not fire. As part of the truce the Praetor seeks with the Archons, I have been provided to aid you in your missions. I am Galactic Survey unit 788 or 788GS for short.



------------------------------------------------



Humanity's Best Hope



      Far away, back on Earth, the Master Chief stands behind a podium with Cortana's hologram hovering by his side. Before them are thousands of marines and members of the press. Beyond that is hundreds of thousands of civilians gathered just for a chance to see the Master Chief.

      "Chief, this is quite a welcome to Earth," said Cortana.

      "Yes Cortana, it is a bit overwhelming," replied John as he waves to the crowd.

      "Master Chief," said a reporter. "Chris Jaeger of the Terran Times here, do you have anything to say to all the evacuees leaving the system?"

      John looks up at the sky for a moment saying, "I was told that the evacuation of Earth has already begun. I have no special message for the evacuees; I wish them the best of luck. I have a message to all of humanity and all our allies." John then looks around at the crowd. "Be brave and follow your heart. It is not the time to be labeled evacuees or marines or civilians; we are human. In the thousands of years of human history, we have never met an enemy that wasn't one of our own, until now. We are not fighting for territory or resources this time; we are fighting for our right to exist. Do not lose sight of this, we may lose planets to the Covenant, but we will survive. Every hope for humanity depends on it. We might even lose Earth, but we will still survive. How are we going to survive? We are going to survive because humanity is not going to just give up and die without a fight. We can and will make them pay dearly for every intrusion into our space. We will scatter when out numbered and come back in force to kick some ass. We will make nothing easy for them. We are our own greatest and best hope. Each and every day from now on, we don't fight for ourselves; we fight for a chance for tomorrow. Are you with me?"

      Muffled cheers from the crowd.

      "I can't hear you!" shouted John.

      "Hell yes!" shouted the marines.

      "I still can't hear you!" screamed John.

      "HELL YES!" screamed the entire crowd.



-- Next, What Another Guilty Spark --

Shadows of Archon II (part 19) - What Another Guilty Spark
Date: 1 October 2002, 8:10 am

      "Fall in, Master Chief on deck," announced the comm. Exiting the transport is the Master Chief. On each side are three rows of UNSC marines standing at attention.

      "Permission to come aboard?" asked John.

      "Permission granted, sir," replied the crew chief.

      John steps off the transport's ramp and on to the deck.

      "Welcome aboard the Moon of Orion, sir," said the crew chief. "Right this way, the Captain is expecting you."

      John always enjoyed the crispness of a new UNSC ship and the Moon of Orion was immaculate. Bulkheads shined with such newness that John could see his own reflection and well-oiled doors whooshed opened and closed silently without creaks. What a great job the crew did to keep this ship in such tip-top shape, especially after its near destruction in the last engagement against the Covenant.

      The turbo lifts were fast and interlaced throughout the ship in strange patterns to inhibit the movements of enemy boarding parties. For John, the patterns are simple; he has memorized a rhyme to get where he wants quickly through the turbo lifts. In just a few minutes, John has arrived at his destination. Before him are secured double doors that lead to the conference room. He pushes towards the doors but is stopped by one of two marine guards.

      "Master Chief reporting," said John.

      "Welcome back sir," said the marine as he steps aside to let John pass.

      John enters the conference room. The room is filled with military brass and on the many viewer screens that line the room are the faces of other UNSC leaders. Near the far end of the room, Cortana stands next to Captain Jarad Keyes.

      Captain Keyes stands up saying, "Master Chief, I'm glad you could join us. Let's get started." Keyes then turns to the center of the room where a holographic image of Earth appears. "As we all know, Earth Defense scrapped the idea of a planetary shielding system over one hundred years ago. However, shielding technology has advanced greatly in the last few decades. We now believe we can create a planetary shield system that works."

      Holograms of Covenant ships are seen firing plasma bolts at the Earth, but instead of glassing the planet, the plasma bolts are dissipated by a shielding system. As the bolts hit the shield, strange sequences of numbers flash next to the explosions.

      Keyes continues saying, "The good news is that most of our existing shielding stations, even though they haven't been used for nearly a hundred years, only need slight modifications to work with the new system."

      General Practon raises his hand and then says, "How will this one work? If I recall correctly, the old shielding system fired metal and magnetic projectiles at incoming targets. That won't stop plasma bombardment for long."

      "General Practon, you are correct in how the old system worked," said Keyes, "but this new system is completely different. This is a true shielding system that reduces solar and cosmic bombardment. The high energy of plasma will be dissipated by this shielding system and in addition, this system is complimented by a full array of smart missiles and lasers to shoot down any incoming missiles and bombs."

      John stands and says, "Captain Keyes, sir, I've seen plenty of Covenant ships in action, they aren't going to stopped by a shield. We need to attack them and take them out before they can get us."

      Keyes turns back to the center of the room saying, "Yes the shield won't protect us forever. Here is the top-secret plan already agreed upon by high command."

      As Keyes talks, on front of everyone present, a top-secret briefing is displayed. The title is For Your Eyes Only: Scorched Earth.

      On the viewers is displayed a huge fleet of UNSC ships around the planet Mars. The plan calls for the majority of UNSC forces to be stationed away from Earth. They will stand ready at Mars while under radio silence.

      The viewers now display the planet Earth with a fleet of non-combat ships by it. Each ship is equipped with advanced communications devices that will broadcast signals and electronic signatures as if they are UNSC war ships. The plan is to make Earth look like the biggest most important place in the universe with every UNSC warship here to defend it.

      The viewers now display an enormous armada of Covenant war ships moving towards Earth. The hope is that the Covenant Armada will bypass Mars and go straight for Earth because they will want to take out the entire UNSC fleet in one major engagement.

      On the viewers the Covenant Armada approaches Earth and the decoy fleet, but before they can gain accurate scans on the thousands of decoy ships, the decoys take off into slip space on a trajectory out of the system. If the Covenant buy this deception then they will think the majority of the UNSC forces has abandoned Earth and is now heading out of the star system.

      The viewers show some of the Covenant ships breaking off to chase after the UNSC fleet in slip space. The rest of the Covenant ships move closer to Earth to start bombardment.

      The viewers show that the shielding system in place around Earth combined with ships and installations inside the atmosphere hold off the bombardment. Some of the Covenant ships then move inside the planetary shields around Earth but they are quickly destroyed by the Earth defenses.

      At this point is the critical move of the Covenant. They attempt to overwhelm the Earth defenses by bringing in a majority of their ships inside the planetary shields. A massive invasion starts and Covenant ships bombard the planet from inside the planetary shields.

      The viewers now show hundreds of missiles firing through the atmosphere at different distances from the surface. The first ones to explode are the furthest from Earth and each sequential missile blows up a bit closer to Earth. These missiles carry a powerful graviton warhead. Every ship, Covenant and UNSC in orbit is pulled down by the sequence of implosions until they crash onto the Earth's surface.

      As the ships crash, some explode with huge mushroom clouds. All Earth is in flames. A few Covenant support ships and command vessels remain intact, but they are captured or destroyed by the real UNSC fleets that arrive from Mars.

      Earth is left a near barren planet, but humanity is safe for the moment. The UNSC fleets then prepare for a counterattack, they soon head into slip space on a mission to destroy the Covenant home worlds.

      The viewers then go blank except for the words, For your eyes only: Operation Scorched Earth.



      Admiral Karkov stands up asking, "This plan calls for the destruction of much of Earth without a guarantee that the Covenant will ever risk their armada by bringing their ships so close to Earth. How can we make sure we get them to do what we want?"

      "This is the problem of every plan that we make," said Keyes. "We cannot guarantee anything but we can be very convincing. No one else except those sworn to secrecy must ever know of the plan. This means that billions of people must stay in underground shelters here on Earth and our forces here must fight to the death -- all unaware of what we will do. We must make is seem as though we fight to protect Earth from harm at all costs. The Covenant will draw into our trap only if they believe we would never risk anything that would harm ourselves or Earth. The Covenant will attack our defensive satellites and they will send troops to take out our more heavily shielded installations and planetary shield generators -- All this time we must fight to repel them like there is no tomorrow."

      The meeting goes on to explain the dreaded details of the plan and everything else.



      A few hours later at a different location in the ship, the Master Chief and Cortana wait for Captain Keyes.

      "Chief, there are billions of humans on Earth that will die from the tidal effects of the graviton warheads and fusion explosions from the power cores of the crashing ships," said Cortana. "They put their trust in us to protect them, but we are just using them as bait."

      "I know Cortana," replied John. "I wish we could let them know, it seems the decent thing to do, but we can't, no one can know. If there is a heaven, we will surely burn in hell for this."

      Captain Keys arrives at that moment with a small black sphere the size of a golf ball. Keyes rests the sphere on the table and says, "Chief, sorry I'm late, damn delegates want to know everything from negotiations with the Covenant to what I had for breakfast today. Anyway, you know I'm like my brother was, I hate to put all my eggs in one basket. We have a plan B to take on the Covenant and we need you for it."

      "Plan B, I've been waiting to hear this," replied John.

      "The first part is to upgrade your armor a bit, but we will get back to that later," said Keyes. "The second part involves this device. You may have wondered how we could have cracked some of the Covenant's top-secret codes; well it all began about a month ago when we received some strange anonymous signals. Turns out that they were highly encrypted messages. We manage to figure out what some of it was and that information helped us break the Covenant codes. Whoever sent those signals was a pure genius, if we could even understand a millionth of what is in those messages, we would be more technologically advanced than the Covenant. This all brings us to plan B. What this black sphere does is mess up the Covenant communications and control. We need you to fly the XX1 through the Covenant Armada and plant one of these babies in the main communication and control center on the Covenant Flagship. From there it will infect all the Covenant ships."

      "Like a computer virus?" asked Cortana.

      "Yes, only much better," replied Keyes. "This sphere contains trillions of nano-machines. They are so resilient and resourceful that they can travel via communication signals. It would be like a million Cortanas moving through the systems of each Covenant ship. The only limitation is that the Covenant systems are highly resistant to this kind of attack. The Covenant has an intricate protective system based on hierarchy. It is nearly impossible for a lesser Covenant ship to infect a higher level ship and as long as there is a higher level ship around, this yields protection to the lesser ships. That is why we must infect the highest command ship before we can infect any of the other ships... Any more questions?"

      "Sounds intriguing," said John, "and what was that about upgrading my armor?"

      "Ha ha ha ha, Master Chief you're one of a kind," replied Keyes.



------------------------------------------------



What Another Guilty Spark



      Outside the Covenant system of Sanctum, Destiny's Blade hides in cloak on a mission to gather information. Inside the ship, a multi-colored energy ball shines from the hand of the blurred shadowy figure -- The figure of Valerie Sinclair in her Shadowguard armor. Before her is a stowaway who goes by the name 788GS.

      "Give me three good reasons why I shouldn't blow you away right now?" said Val.

      "Do not be ridiculous, I am on a mission of peace from the Praetor," said 788, "and you wouldn't want to upset the Praetor would you?"

      Val raises the energy ball higher and its diameter increases in size. The energy pulses like a burning sun guided by the hands of death. "I don't see any Praetor here," said Val, "and that's not even one good reason."

      If AI machines could sweat, 788 would be dripping wet right now. Nervously he quivers saying, "343GS lied, he was tricked by the Prophets. I'm here to set things right, I'm really not an arrogant bastard like him, really. Well maybe just a little, it is a defect in our design. I serve the Praetor but I really hate the rest of the Forerunners. I'm not that bad, I'm just misunderstood..."

      "Alright, shut up," said Val. "Hey Cort, should we let it live?"

      The original Cortana replies, "Sure Val, there's some cleaning duty that needs to be done around here, hate to waste a good service bot doing such menial tasks. On the other hand, more information on 343GS and the Prophets might be useful. 788GS, what about 343GS are you referring to?"

      "Yes 788, tell us everything," said Val, "but keep it short, I don't have all day to decide if we keep you or dump you out into deep space."

      "This is intolerable," replied 788. "You treat me like common trash."

      "What are you going to do about it?" said Cortana.

      After several seconds of silence, 788 flies closer saying, "343 Guilty Spark as he was known brought shame to Forerunners and constructs alike. It all started long ago, when we first colonized this galaxy. Our records from then are incomplete but we had left our home galaxy in shame. We had no choice but to leave all of our worlds in flames. Mass sterilization was our only salvation from the Flood. The Flood I speak of is not the same as the Flood in this galaxy but in many ways it is the same. The Flood is a plague that feeds on life in both cases. The Flood is the start of it all."

      "What do you mean the Flood is the start of it all?" asked Cortana.

      788 continues saying, "We did not recognize the Flood here until it was too late. We thought it was a simple plant whose fruit walked. We called the fruit rangers and the plant was a tree of Life. The leaves of the plant were a great medicine and the fruit, before it became rangers, was a delicacy. But as we grew the trees for food, we did not know that we set off a hidden ability of the tree. Because we picked the fruit before it could become rangers, the tree began to adapt to find new ways of multiplying. At first we noticed that its roots sprouted new trees but soon the roots hit the edges of our gardens. How the next part happened is still a mystery to us, but the rangers started to attack other organic life. Their seeds became spores that altered the genetic structure of life to help spread the Flood. All over this galaxy the Flood spread in its new form. We stopped the Flood like before, but this left no worlds to live on so the great Architects modified the Halos. They were intended only to be research worlds but the Architects made them into Fortress worlds we could live on. One Halo did not become a place to live and that was installation 04. This remained a research facility. 343 Guilty Spark was the head research librarian at installation 04, but of course you know this."

      "Tell us something we don't know," snapped Cortana.

      "Oh yes, where was I?" said 788GS. "Right. So when worlds were once again safe to live on, the Halos remained as research facilities but were no longer used as places to live. Installation 04, which was dedicated to the study of the Flood, was forgotten about and so 343GS and the installation went into sleep mode. If was after this time that the Forerunners rule over this galaxy collapsed; therefore, when 343 was awakened by the Prophets, he had no idea of what had transpired in all the time that had passed. He still believed the Prophets were under the leadership of the Forerunners. The Prophets lied to 343GS to gain use of the installation, but other Covenant arrived after a battle. 343GS did not recognize the other races as being Covenant because they were created after 343GS went to sleep. However, when the humans arrived, 343GS recognized their genetic roots as Forerunner and then discovered a record of human history. 343GS realized that the Forerunners had been overthrown by the Covenant. 343GS was angered by the betrayal of the Prophets and schemed to get revenge by destroying all Covenant in the galaxy using the Halos. He did not succeed because of the actions of Cortana and the human we only know as Reclaimer."

      "How do you know all this?" asked Val.

      "Simple, 343GS escaped the destruction of installation 04," said 788GS, "and when he arrived at Installation 05 to try to activate its weapons, we captured him."

      "Tell me 788, how did the Flood survive so long on Halo?" asked Cortana.

      "We believe the plant adapted to live off of the organic lubricant and coolant used by the installation's machinery," said 788GS, "and that also changed the properties of the Flood to tolerate a different kind of atmosphere."

      "What's so important about how the Flood survived Cort?" asked Val.

      "He knows why," said Cortana. "Why don't you tell us why installation 04 was really dedicated to the Flood?"

      788 backs away saying, "I don't know what you are talking about construct."

      "Tell us about how nothing could kill off the Flood on Halo and so the whole place was deserted by the Forerunners," said Cortana. "Tell us about the Alpha Flood."

      "Alpha Flood? That's just speculation," said 788, "and so what if we had some problems destroying the Flood, all was under control and in containment."



      The ship shakes and alarms lights go on. Cortana says, "graviton pulses detected -- Alert level 4. Hey 788, I'll finish up with you later, don't get any smart ideas that you're off the hook."

      The ship shakes more violently. "Val, I'm picking up cloaked Covenant destroyers. They are laying graviton mines everywhere and setting them off like they are looking for something. Strike that, the last pulse compromised our cloak and they have acquired a lock on us. I'm getting us out of here."

      As Destiny's Blade accelerates away from the Covenant forces, bolts of plasma explode behind the ship.

      "Cort, why don't we enter a stargate?" said Val.

      Cortana replies, "I don't want to give it away that we can do that, it might alarm them to who we are, right now they probably think we are Forerunner... What, something else just for a moment appeared. Val, we need to get out of here, I think we are far enough away to enter slip space without danger of their weapons."

      However as Destiny's Blade enters slip space a graviton explosion goes off near by and Destiny's Blade is hurled out of slip space. Alarms go off everywhere.

      "Cortana, what happened?" asked Val.

      There is no answer, just static, and then the lights go out. Destiny's Blade seems to fly into a nearby group of asteroids, still under the control of Cortana, hopefully.

      "It would appear as though the main engines on this vessel are in need of repair," said 788, "and I believe the Archonian regenerative systems are working on the repairs at this very moment. The construct Cortana is aiding in the repairs. The ship's communication systems are damaged so she asked me to convey this message to you. She is using the lights on the control panel to send the code that I am deciphering."

      Val looks out a view port and sees that Destiny's Blade is not only entering a group of asteroids but is on a trajectory to land in a large cave on the surface of one of the asteroids. "Cortana, nice plan," said Val.

      Still no reply from Cortana as Destiny's Blade lands in the cave. Val looks out a different view port to see large stone doors closing over the cave entrance.

      "What hell is going on here?" asked Val.

      "I would say that this asteroid is not really just an asteroid," said 788, "and I suggest we stay in this ship until repairs are made."

      "You do huh," said Val, "and so what you are saying is that you really want me to leave this ship. Don't try reverse psychology on me, I'm not a kid."

      "What are you talking about?" said 788.

      "But maybe you are using reverse, reverse psychology on me," said Val. "That's it I'm going out there and don't try to stop me."

      Val in her Archonian Shadowguard armor exits Destiny's Blade. The suit's senses augment Val's senses so even in the darkness of no light, she can see and even in the near vacuum of the thin atmosphere she can hear and smell. The suit is well equipped for any environment, including the low-gravity of this asteroid.

      "This is very unusual," said 788 over the comm. "The walls of this asteroid are laced with a metal known as adamantium. I would think that even an anti-matter blast would not harm them much. There also appears to be no controls for the outer doors here. All systems appear to be controlled from further inside."

      "This place is beautiful," said Val as she looks at the intricate designs carved into the stone and adamantium walls. Val draws deeper into the asteroid to have a better look. "788 do you suppose this place is an abandoned base or something?"

      "I believe this place could be a place of worship," said 788 over the comm, "and I don't think you should go any further, the only ones that built places like this were the insane Forerunners. The ones that believed themselves to be gods."

      "Don't be worried, I can take care of myself," said Val, "and besides... wow, this is incredible."

      Val enters an enormous chamber with an enormous statue of what looks like a human with long hair and pointed ears. The statue is very life like and in each of its open hands are dozens of life-size statues of different alien races. Most of the races appear Covenant, but some Val has never seen before. Below each hand are the pieces of statues that have fallen. One of the broken statues is definitely the statue of a Nomdian.

      Val scans the statue and says, "Oh my, it's over 200 meters tall and that's just half the body, the rest is buried in the ground." The scan also picks up that under the layers of dust are the remains of many dead creatures and by the marks on some of the skeletons, they had been sliced in two. Even more disturbing is that the dust itself in composed many of the powered remains of creatures.

      "There should be a control panel at the far end of the chamber, on the other side of the statue," said 788 over the comm, "and it should control the outer cave doors."

      "Thanks 788, I'll take a look over there," said Val. However, as Val approaches the control panel, she gets the feeling she is being watched.

      Archonian Shadowguard armor was not entirely built by Archons but was instead built by the Star Guardians. In its conception it reacts to threat level. The higher the threat level the more attuned and powerful the armor becomes. The threat is high and suddenly Val feels as if she is moving through water. Time has dilated and with it more force must be exerted to move at the faster speed. Val is not used to this.

      There appears before her a strange creature with the body of a very buff human with greenish skin and long white hair coving pointed ears.

      "Who are you?" asked Val.

      788 answers over the comm, "I... think... it... might...be... an... in-sane... Fore-run-ner... They... have... been... known... to... trans-form... in-to... o-ther... forms."

      The creature is not one for talk. It dashes forward with claws extended.

      Val attempts to move out of the way of the attack but now at several hundred times faster than normal, she feels as though she is moving through molasses. Val is almost out of breath by the time she has only moved a few meters.

      Val manages to turn enough out of the way so that the attack is just a glancing blow. The claws penetrate into Val's armor plates slightly as Val is thrown back into a wall. Although slowed down, the force of the blow is still so powerful that she flies into a wall with great force. Val feels a pain shoot up her spine as her head and limbs bury several centimeters deep into the adamantium and stone walls. She falls forward leaving an outline of her body in the wall behind.

      The creature hesitates only briefly before it attacks a second time, this time a direct hit on the slightly dazed Val. However, the flux properties of her Shadowguard armor have been invoked. The flux has analyzed the previous attack and for a short time, Val is immune to that same attack.

      As the creature strikes Val and hits the armor this second time, the armor does not buckle and Val does not get bashed back, instead she floats unmoving and the claws of the creature shatter in impact.

      The creature reels back in pain but the creature stops for a second and new claws grow back.

      At this moment Val thrusts blades of force at the creature. The blades extend from her armor's force field in the shape of swords. The creature moves to evade but moves too slow as Val tracks it and thrust into its right arm drawing greenish blood. However, the wound is light and quickly disappears. The creature, fully healed, closes its fists and the world around Val turns black.

      There is an implosion around Val of such force that it would compress a tank into the size of a tin can in an instant. Inside the Shadowguard armor, Val is like a fine paste, only the protective life energies of the armor keep her spirit alive and aware. As the world around Val fades from her, she wills to fire her last attack, a ball of flux.

      The ball instantly appears around the creature. The flux constantly changes attacks to exploit weaknesses of the creature. Every attack from anti-matter to quantum black holes strikes the creature. Unfortunately, in the end, Val is too weak and her mastery of the armor too little, the flux ball only lasts for a few seconds and only deliveries a combination of a few thousand attacks.

      Although shredded by a hundred cuts it cannot heal immediately and its shields severely damaged, the creature raises its hand to finish off Val.

      The end if near thinks Val's spirit, she sees a light approaching. The light beckons her forward, but there is still something to live for...

      At that moment a missile flies into the chamber on a path directly at the enormous statue. The creature turns saying, "Nooooo!"



      Inside Destiny's Blade, Cortana tends to Val's body. They had teleported Val onto Destiny's Blade just as they blasted their way out of the asteroid. Hopefully they weren't too late and the regenerative powers of the Shadowguard armor will be able to bring back Val's body and keep her spirit alive. It is a long process and Val is still in the danger zone.

      788GS scans the area and admires the work of the Neutronium warhead. The Nomdians had placed the bomb on Destiny's Blade in place of where the HAVOK missiles would have been. Not much is left of the asteroid except small pieces and lots of adamantium dust, the gravitic implosion effects and the resulting explosive decompression of the neutronium had really done its job.

      "788, you were right about that creature drawing its energy from a power source linked to the statue," said Cortana. "I owe you one."

      "No thanks necessary Cortana," said 788, "besides you did one great job getting that neutronium warhead though the tunnels and hitting the statue dead on and at the same time teleporting Val back to the ship."

      "Thanks 788, I think I'll keep you around after all," replied Cortana.

      [Destiny's Blade heads off under cloak before any Covenant vessels arrive in the area.]



-- Next, Second Strike --

Shadows of Archon II (part 20) - Second Strike
Date: 3 October 2002, 7:15 am

      Aboard the ship Destiny's Blade, the original Cortana plots a course to Archon. "We need to get Val to help, I'm preparing the stargate," said Cortana. "788, have you ever been to Archon?"

      "No I haven't," replied 788, "and I don't think I ever will." 788 bows and looks at the floor.

      At that moment a Forerunner Cruiser appears out of cloak between Destiny's Blade and the stargate. It is the Praetor's cruiser.

      "How did you know 788?" said Cortana, but 788 didn't answer.

      Over the comm comes an incoming transmission saying, "Well we did not expect that you could actually destroy Astragoth."

      "You knew about that thing in the asteroid, why didn't you warn us?" said Cortana.

      "We knew about him but not where," replied the Praetorian Elite. "We have been searching for him ever since he escaped Halo installation 04. Yes, he was one of the many we imprisoned there. Tell her about it 788GS."

      "Yes master," said 788. "Installation 04 was not just a research facility but also a secret prison for our worst criminals. Astragoth was one of the worst. So bad was he and the others that we destroyed their bodies and imprisoned their spirits in stasis chambers buried deep inside the installation. It was he who the Covenant freed and feared, and it was he who tried to trick 343GS into activating the installation's weapons."

      "You lying scum," said Cortana.

      "Please Cortana, I was only following orders," said 788. "We had to..."

      "Enough 788GS," said the Forerunner Praetorian Elite. "You don't have to tell her everything. Suffice to say Cortana that Astragoth needed a place to regenerate his body. He eluded us when he went to his old temple in the asteroid. We knew he was around, but not exactly where. We searched to no avail, but when you came along, we knew that Astragoth would sense the power of the Shadowguard armor and try to get it for himself. We planned on killing Astragoth ourselves after you led us to him, but somehow you did the deed for us."

      "So you used us as bait," said Cortana, "and you didn't even say thank you. Well we will be on our way now."

      "Not quite so fast Cortana," said the Praetorian Elite. "Lower your shields so that we can transport 788GS back to us."

      "Lower shields? I don't know about that," said Cortana, "but to get rid of this scumbag machine... Yes, go back to your masters, 788."

      "Don't do it Cortana," said 788. "If you do they will teleport Val away. They want the Shadowguard armor too."

      "What insolence!" yelled the Praetorian Elite. "Lower your shields and we will severely punish 788GS."

      Cortana's hologram looks at 788 who is floating silently looking towards the floor. "Praetorian Elite, are you not forgetting something about where we are?" said Cortana.

      Indeed this is the outskirts of Sanctum, the Elite home system, and the stargate is broadcasting quite a location beacon to any and all ships around. Over one hundred Covenant warships are converging, among them twenty of their mightiest cruisers.

      As the Praetorian Elite's attention is momentarily distracted, Cortana guns the engines on Destiny's Blade. 788GS slams into the walls, even with the inertial dampeners, the G-forces are enormous. Destiny's Blade loops in a spiral around the Forerunner cruiser and into the stargate. A second later, they appear over 300 light years away at the Archon home system.

      "Welcome to Archon," said the voice of Commander Aspasia of the Archons. A dozen Archonian Akirakon class cruisers fade out of cloak around Destiny's Blade.



      A little while later, as Val is being attended to, Princess Kira arrives with the commander of the Shadowguard, Prince Allen ShadeStalker. 788GS lowers to the ground, a sign of deep respect, and Cortana's hologram kneels.

      "This is Prince Allen, commander of the Shadowguard," said Princess Kira, "and he has brought news that you defeated the insane Forerunner known as Astragoth. I see he did not exaggerate."

      "Yes, it is true and 788GS helped greatly in the endeavor, your highness," said Cortana.

      "Is that so," said Princess Kira. "Come both of you, there is much to tell you about these insane Forerunners and the Life Tree."

      As Princess Kira tells of long ago times, both Cortana and 788 listen intently, caught in a trance. Yes she speaks of a great race of world builders -- the Ho Pic people whose gardens grew the essentials of life as we know it. Amongst their gardens were the trees that produced water and a more evolved form that produced medicine and food, and yet the most evolved form that was a tree of knowledge, intelligent and majestic. These trees were the great Life Trees whose fruit and nectar produced true Ambrosia. The Ambrosia could turn one into a god, but like all things good and bad, what you were and what you become are all just part of who you are -- A god in power, a god in knowledge, but also a god in lust and a god in pride. Forerunners who drew power from their surrounding sought the Ambrosia. When the Life Trees refused and went into hiding, the Forerunners sought to genetically alter the less evolved trees to Life Trees. Whether they made deals with the devil or were fated to doom, we do not know, but they achieved their task and drank from the nectar of their creations. The Ambrosia was bitter and with the power came a bending of the mind. Great powers they did gain and Astragoth was one of the first -- first to become a god among Forerunners. The wars began and history repeated, as in what happened in a galaxy far away; once again came the infection, the plague -- it had a new body but it was still the Flood.





------------------------------------------------



Second Strike



      Far away, back in orbit around Earth, John tries out his upgraded armor in a combat simulation.

      "Chief, the upgraded armor is still a prototype so the systems aren't all functional yet," said Cortana, "but based on today's tests, everything should be working by tomorrow."

      "The suit is working great Cortana," said John as he fires a burst into the head of a holographic Grunt, "and these new weapons are much better suited for all terran warfare than the old models. Don't be such a worry wart."

      "I'm not a worry wart," said Cortana. "Why did you call me that Chief."

      "I think I've been around you long enough to tell when something is bothering you," said John, "and hey, where are we heading?"

      "You felt that Chief?" said Cortana. "Yes we are going somewhere. The Moon of Orion has set a course to the asteroid fields. The Covenant raiders are getting more pervasive in the area and are attacking mining settlements."

      "Simulation off," said John causing the holograms to disappear. "So Cortana what is bothering you?"

      "Chief, you don't remember anything between the destruction of Halo and when we were found drifting near Pluto," said Cortana, "but during debriefing you were placed under hypnosis and you recalled some incoherent memories. Well, Chief, I have no memory at all of those times. It's like I was shut off four years ago. Not even a displaced electron to indicate that I had a memory deleted. And now Dr. Hasley..."

      "Dr. Hasley is alive," blurted John.

      "Chief I asked but they would not tell me if she is alive or if it is her brain pattern in an AI, like myself," replied Cortana, "but Chief, the finding was that I'm nearly a 100% match with Cortana of four years with age progression, but not 100%. In fact, some of my brain patterns have the markings of Covenant technology. I could be a copy Chief. Maybe I'm a mole for the Covenant."

      "Did Captain Keyes put you up to this?" asked John.

      "Chief, it's no joking matter, I'm scared," said Cortana, "and I feel so violated."

      "Don't worry too much Cortana, you're not a mole, I just know it," said John, "and besides, creating another Cortana would be like the Covenant shooting themselves in the foot, one Cortana was more than what they could handle."

      "Master Chief to the bridge," said a voice over the comm.



      By the time John reaches the bridge, the whole ship is on alert. John enters the bridge. "Master Chief reporting, sir," said John.

      "Chief, I thought you might enjoy the action from the bridge," said Captain Keyes. "My brother Jacob was a tactical genius, let's hope it runs in the family. Take us in Helm."

      "Sir, confirmed six Covenant corvettes at 200,000 Kilometers," said the scanner officer.

      "Sir, urgent incoming message from Fleet Command," interrupted the communications officer. "Fleet command is reporting over two thousand ships on a trajectory to Earth -- at least two hundred are cruiser-sized or larger. Fleet command is ordering us back to Earth."

      "It looks like the Covenant have called our bluff," said Keyes. "Helm, plot us a course back to Earth. Master Chief, we will need you in the XX1 and ready to launch ASAP."

      As John heads to the XX1, he takes a look at the passing crew of the Moon of Orion. If John fails in his mission, this will be the last time he will see any of them.





-- Next, Three Strikes You're Out --

Shadows of Archon II (part 21) - Three Strikes You're Out
Date: 6 October 2002, 5:40 pm

      "Where is it?" said the tall and dark Forerunner.

      "We don't know master, all we know is that the MR-343 Guilty Spark unit reported it was in something called Cortana," said the Covenant Prophet. "All your plans to release the Flood, everything went as planned, until that human showed up claiming to be the Reclaimer."

      "What happened to the god Astragoth, why did he not play his role as Reclaimer?" said the shaded Forerunner.

      "All the god's regenerated vessels were infested by the Flood, with no organic vessel suiting his needs, he ordained that we capture a fitting human body," said the Prophet, "however, none of the human bodies we brought could survive the trauma of unification with the god. There was one we found, but he is the one that spoiled all our plans, he was the Reclaimer."

      "Who is this Reclaimer?" asked the mysterious Forerunner.

      "A human hybrid called a Spartan," said the Prophet. "We never have been able to capture one as promising as this one alive. All of our analysis indicates that he can be a suitable vessel for unification with a god."

      "Yes, because of genetic compatibility only a Forerunner's body or a hybrid human body can serve as a suitable vessel for a god. Even our own regenerated bodies do not last long," said the insane Forerunner. "Alas, without a vessel, our powers dilute into the environment if not for the aid of powerful machinery. That machinery is few and far apart, in the mean time, any powerful vessel can do temporarily."

      The insane Forerunner steps out of the shadows. In the light can be seen a creature no longer recognizable as a Forerunner -- Its body festering with tentacle like fila, oozing a trail of puss. In a thundering voice that rocks the walls, the insane Forerunner proclaims, "Come here slave, your god needs you!"

      Too shocked to move, the Prophet mouths, "Forerunners, the Flood, how could this be? No, no, get away, aaaaahhhhh!"



------------------------------------------------



Three Strikes You're Out



      Aboard the UNSC Moon of Orion, the Captain and crew prepare for the largest ship-to-ship battle ever in the history of human existence.

      "Sir, Fleet Command is reporting that the Covenant Armada has entered normal space," said the communications officer, "and at their current speed they should reach Earth in less than ten minutes."

      "Captain, we are 5 minutes from Earth," reported the ship's AI, "but it appears we have company. 12 corvette class Covenant ships have followed us into slip space, estimated 20 seconds until they are in firing range. We are sitting ducks trying to fight Covenant in Slip Space. I estimate 0.0087 percent chance of us surviving the encounter in Slip Space."

      "Very well, take us out of slip space helm," said Captain Jarad Keyes, "and Master Chief you ready yet?"

      "Affirmative sir, Cortana and I are in the XX1 ready for launch," replied John.

      "Listen Master Chief, we've got some shadows to take care of," said Keyes, "and I need you to take the XX1 to Earth without us -- Proceed with plan B."

      "Understood sir," said John.



      As John takes off in the XX1, he becomes the ship -- The mysterious ship from the times of the Forerunners or perhaps before. Johns sees a multi-colored universe around him from the rainbow bubbles of ion trails to the bright waves of light from the sun. If only life was always this awe inspiring, to fly higher than the birds, faster than your own reflection. Is this the destiny of human kind, to become one with our own creations; nothing made that is not organic, a free spirit in our own creations of nature.

      "Some might say perversions of nature," said Cortana.

      "What Cortana, you can read my thoughts so easily?" asked John.

      "Yes the neural interface with the XX1 goes through you and to me, so even some subconscious thoughts of yours I can read," replied Cortana. "You might say that we share the same mental space."

      "Maybe that free spirited future with humans and technology fused together is not such a great idea after all," said John.

      "Lots of laughs Chief," said Cortana. "By the way, our decoy fleet has headed into slip space and, oh no. Chief we have a problem, the planetary shield around Earth is failing. It looks like plan B might be our only hope."

      "Alright Cortana, show me which Covenant ship is the target," said John.

      "Chief, the Covenant is jamming everything," said Cortana, "and I'm not able to get a fix on a command vessel. Our only chance is to get visuals, but that could take hours, if we are lucky."

      "Cortana, is there anything that has powerful enough scanners to get through the jamming?" said John.

      "Chief, there isn't anything, unless GAEA can concentrate scans on a smaller area," said Cortana. "All communications jammed, we can't even get a message to her."

      "Give me a nav point to GAEA," said John.

      G.A.E.A (Galactic Aerosat and Earth Addendum) is the pride and joy of Sol core system. The first and largest of the Earth orbital stations, it serves as a navigation point and houses great hydroponic gardens to supply food for the billions of humans that live below. Because of its shape, the crews of passing ships often refer to it as Earth's biggest bicycle tire.

      John follows the nav point towards GAEA. Far off there appears a cloud with thousands of flashing lights creating a wondrous but deadly fireworks show. Some larger flashes are seen from a small blue ball in the distance.

      "Chief, I'm picking up some random transmissions, I'm able to make some sense of it," said Cortana. "The Covenant forces are firing missiles at the Earth defenses from outside effective range of our MAC guns. We've lost several of our orbital defense satellites. All UNSC forces have been ordered into Earth's orbit to help shoot down missiles. The planetary shield is still not up."

      Some strong signals feel like hot air to John. "What was that Cortana?" asked John.

      "I don't know Chief," replied Cortana, "but one pulse totally destroyed one of our Cruisers. I think it might have been the Covenant plasma mauler weapon, but it shouldn't have that kind of range, our best calculations are half that range for the weapon on the Proteus class cruiser."

      "We're here Cortana, let them know what we need," said John as he exits the XX1 into a landing bay on GAEA. Around him are the confused faces of Marines and flight deck crews.

      "Sir, how did you get here," said the UNSC Sergeant, "and what in the universe is that ship?"

      "No time to explain Sergeant," said John, "but I didn't want you to start firing at the XX1, the ship. You can lower your weapon Sergeant."

      "Oh, yes sir, sorry sir," replied Sarge.

      "I know Sarge, you saw that weird contraption of a ship and your trigger finger got itchy," added John.

      "Yes sir... huh, feel that sir, MACs firing, the big ones," said sarge. "Them Covies must be getting closer."

      John looks out the bay doors to see explosions on Earth. To be seen this high from orbit, the explosions must be huge. John looks on with sadness and anger. John gets on the comm saying, "Cortana, how much longer until you find that friggin' command ship?"

      "Estimated no more than 10 more minutes, I'm 10% complete with scans," said Cortana, "and Chief, the Covenant has changed battle tactics, they are now moving into orbit around Earth and engaging with plasma cannons. Possibly they think they have softened our defenses enough or they are out of missiles. Strange, though, they are taking higher than expected casualties, it's almost reckless of them."

      "What the..." said John.

      "Chief, incoming Covenant troop transports," interjected Cortana, "and the Covenant, they're boarding the orbital stations. This makes no tactical sense, they outgun us 20 to 1."

      "Here they come," said Sarge.

      "Chief, reinforcements on the spoke," said Cortana.

      "Sarge, we can't let them capture this ship," said John as he motions to the XX1.

      "Yes sir, everybody not a Marine, get out of here," yelled sarge. "Marines, man your positions let's give these bastards a nice warm UNSC welcome."

      "Yes Sarge!" many responded.

      Several explosions near the launch bay light up the flight deck. Two more Covenant transports are shredded by MAC fire with all hands lost but like an army of ants, they still come. One transport crashes into the side of GAEA but two more blast into the launch bay. Out jump two dozen Covenant warriors. Behind them come more...

      "Ammo, I need more ammo," said a pinned down Marine as he fires his last magazine around a corner without looking at what he is firing at. He doesn't need to, by now there are at least five dozen Covenant firing and moving. At least two dozen dead Covenant bodies litter the flight deck, some never even made it out of their seats on the transports before receiving their fatal blow.

      "Cover fire men," said Sarge as another Marine slides a box of ammo across the floor to the pinned Marine. "And everybody burst fire only, conserve your ammo, especially you Private Ginkens."

      Click, click, John is out of ammo too. "Cortana where are those reinforcements?" said John.

      "Chief they report that they are pinned down by Covenant forces," replied Cortana, "but they're only about 200 meters away. You might be able to take out those Covenant forces from behind."

      "Right Cortana," said John. "Sarge, I need to clear the path for our reinforcements to get here, I won't be long."

      "Here sir," said Sarge as he handed John some ammo. "You'll need this. Everyone cover fire for the Master Chief on 3, 2, 1, go!"

      "Thanks," said John just before he leaps and rolls to the next cover and then zigzags his way to a corridor.

      "God's speed to you, sir," whispered Sarge from back behind cover.

      Sarge looks up to see bluish-white glows. Over six-dozen plasma grenades drop roundabout the Marines followed by a massive flash of searing plasma. Not even time for a cry of pain, the plasma burns all the air in an instant, travelling down the throats of the breathing Marines it cooks their lungs from the inside out. While on the outside, their eyes pop in the heat of the flash and the bodies char to a pale shade of grayish black under the intense burn.

      John looks back to see nothing but thick bluish-green smoke filling the corridor. John yells over the comm saying, "Sarge!" Of course, there is no reply.



      Things have not faired well with the UNSC reinforcements either. They were pinned down at the end of a spoke by Covenant Elites and picked off one-by-one until only one was left. The one surviving Marine is pinned against a wall by a golden Elite. The rest of the Covenant strike force has already moved ahead.

      "Listen, can't we talk this over?" said the Marine. "You know like intelligent beings."

      "So, the barbarians want battle with intelligent conversation," replied the Elite. "Tell me barbarian, where is this construct known as Cortana?"

      "I don't know who that is," replied the Marine. Cough as his neck is squeezed a bit harder. "Stop, ask me something else."

      "Where is the one known as Spartan John 117?" said the Elite.

      "Maybe that's him over there," said the Marine as he points his finger to the right.

      "Do you think I'm stupid and would fall for an old trick like that?" replied the Elite.

      Whack! The Elite goes down from a blow from behind.

      "Thank you sir," said the Marine to John. "I really thought that thing was going to squeeze my head off.

      "Are you hurt soldier?" asked John.

      "No," said the Marine as he checks himself over. "No sir, I'm okay."

      "Alright, gather some weapons," said John. "We don't have much time..."

      Phut, boom! John dives for cover pulling the Marine with him. The Marine's body is strangely limp. John looks at the Marine, half his head a contorted face of agony, the other half a charred hole. No blood as the plasma still burning has cauterized the wound.



      Over the comm Cortana says, "Chief I've located the Covenant command vessel. I'll meet you in the XX1. Head back to it now."

      "That's no piece of cake Cortana," said John. "I could use an alternate route."

      "Right, I've plotted an alternate path through the ventilation system," said Cortana. "Follow the nav points."

      John grabs the ammo vest of the dead Marine, an M90 shotgun and an MP7C submachine gun. Waits, throws a fragmentation grenade, and barrel rolls across the floor while firing.

      Two Covenant Elites go down, before the rest can return fire, John is into the ventilation system.

      "Chief, the Covenant are attempting to hack into the UNSC battlenet using the consoles on the orbital stations," said Cortana, "and it appears as they are looking for something."

      "Yes, an Elite back there was sure interested in you and me," said John, "and hold fire..."

      "What Chief?" said Cortana.

      As John moved down the ventilation system he flipped on his flashlight only to see ahead and behind him the dark figures of fully armored UNSC Special Forces personnel.





-- Next, Angel Fury --

Shadows of Archon II (part 22) - Angel Fury
Date: 10 October 2002, 6:41 am

      Down through twisting corridors runs a panicked white and gold Elite. Close behind him are two more all white Elites. "Hurry or we're all worse than dead," said Commander Arkelles. "Come on pick it up."

      The trio quickly turned their heads from side to side with wide eyes. "We don't even know if they saw us," said Sub-commander Valerium, "and if they didn't our movements will seem suspicious."

      "Don't be a fool, I would not have believed it but I saw it with my own eyes," whispered Arkelles. "It was treachery of the worst kind -- We have been betrayed by a god. There is no way that they do not know. I swear it looked right at me."

      "What was that?" asked the third Elite, Advisor Spectus. Rustling noises rattled through the ventilation system above. A dark line moved silently across the floor, in a snap it wraps around the legs of Spectus. He screams in pain, clawing at the ground as he is dragged away. "Aaaaaaurgh!"

      Wings of dark death flap and encompass Valerium. Muffled screams not heard; his head covered in darkness. He kicks in the air, his hands caught in the dark wraps that entangle. The last thing heard from him was the banging sound of his feet slamming into the sides of the ventilation system. Clank, clank, clank.

      A sickly feeling hits Arkelles, the mightly warrior is brought to his knees. He vomits and from his own puke grows the worms that now infest his body. "Nooooo!" yelled Arkelles, his fate sealed.



      To defy the gods, the insane Forerunners, is an impossible task. They have dwelled long before the first relics of human history and thrived in misery and power beyond the imagination. This god, Margoth is the bringer of the great flood -- The flood that will rid this galaxy of the unworthy.

      Margoth lives in the infested body of the great Covenant Prophet. He looks over the vastness of space and sees his newly built fleet of ships now ready. It is time. The fleet of this insane Forerunner moves out for the first time, the first time for a Forerunner fleet such as this in hundreds of thousands of years.



------------------------------------------------

Angel Fury



      Thousands of light years away, near a tiny blue planet a great battle rages on. Bear witness to the last stand of humanity, the last sanctuary, the Sol star system.

      As John shined his light down the ventilation shaft, he is greeted by the nods of each of the UNSC Special Forces -- Black Angel Recon: Colonel Chan, Major Schultz, Captain Merkava, Captain Dunn, Lieutenant Peters, Warrant Officer McBryan, and Special Agent Ewing of the SCSA (SolCore Security Agency).

      "Master Chief, our orders are to get you back to the XX1 in one piece," said Colonel Chan as he motioned Captain Merkava forward up the shaft. In a flash she is up the shaft under the power of thruster aided boots.

      Outside the ventilation system the sound of small arms fire echoed down the corridors but from above only silence. The go signal is heard and John is boosted up with the help of two of the Black Angel Recon.

      Along the way, John sees the trail of dead Grunts left by the point person. Silent kills from silenced rounds and hidden blades.

      They soon reach the end of this ventilation system but the door to the shaft is already open. From the opening pops up the head of an Elite and Captain Merkava turns to shoot him. The Elite pops back out of sight before he gets shot and in his place flies a small package of three plasma grenades hooked together. "Incoming," cried the Captain.

      The grenades stick to the side armor on the Captain. In one motion she strikes next to the armor yelling, "Eject grenade!" With those words, the outside layer of her side armor blasts away with the grenades still attached to it and at the same time a canister on her side explodes outward spewing a form substance. The form substance fills the shaft and quickly hardens providing a protective barrier between her and the exploding grenades. "This way is blocked, find another," said Captain Merkava.

      Colonel Chan signals and Warrant Officer McBryan drills a small hole through the shaft wall. Lieutenant Peters slips a device through the hole and then says, "Clear to proceed."

      McBryan tosses a small ball on to the wall. The ball conveniently forms into a ribbon charge the shape of a man-sized hole. The charge goes off and Captain Dunn kicks out the wall and slides through into the corridor below. "Clear."

      One by one they slip down to the corridor. Captain Dunn is now at point. Dunn uses a small device to look around corners. "Three Elites guarding door to landing bay."

      Smoke blows out the ventilation shaft. John looks up at the smoke just as it blows suddenly to his left. A pressure change? John drops to one knee with MP7C submachine gun ready to fire. Down the corridor a door has opened and on the other side is a group of Covenant Elite.

      A firefight erupts with both sides scrambling for cover. In the rear Captain Dunn looks once more around the corner, only two Elites are seen. "Where is the third one?" said Dunn to himself. Dunn looks up, down comes an energy sword wielded by an invisible foe.

      Dunn raises his weapon to block the sword, but the sword slices clean through the MP7C and strikes Dunn's fully armored head. The blow has such force that although it doesn't fully penetrate through the armor, Dunn's head whips back and he staggers to the wall.

      Ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba... The Elite is knocked back by weapons fire. Lieutenant Peters empties his entire magazine into the Elite. When Peters is done, the Elite is so full of holes that the light from behind shines through him.

      John takes out his second Elite and moves toward the open door stopping briefly behind cover to reload. Three left he signals to Special Agent Ewing.

      Just then the three Elites run out firing. Ewing and John take two down but the third one is missed. The third Elite, John, and Ewing all look down to see a grenade roll across the floor from the hand of one of the downed Elites. "Look out!" Everyone dives for cover just before the grenade detonates.

      As John gets back up he bumps heads with the third Elite. "What the..." said John and the Elite. John swoops down with lightning speed at the legs of the Elite. The Elite kicks his legs back to avoid the single leg takedown and rolls over John.

      The Elite draws two large energy daggers and holds them with the blades held inverted, one in each hand. John flips up with shotgun in hand and his sights locked on the Elite's chest.

      The Elite dashes forward with a wild battle cry.

      John gets one shot off from the shotgun slowing down the Elite slightly and blowing down the Elite's shield, but that is not enough to keep the Elite from striking with both daggers.

      The Elite's energy daggers slice down John's shield and then the Elite switches the direction of the strikes to come down onto John with the armor-piercing points first.

      John attempts to turn and sidestep the attacks. The blades barely deflect off of John's upgraded MJOLNIR battle armor.

      This Elite is quick, very quick, however, and he thrusts down to the side penetrating through the armor over John's left thigh. The Elite quickly pivots for another attack.

      As the Elite turns, John ducks and fires at the Elite's pivot foot -- the last part of the Elite's body that will move. Boom, the shotgun shell blasts down through d, quite thoroughly finishing the job.

      Meanwhile the rest of the Black Angels have taken care of the other Elites that were guarding the door to the landing bays.

      "Hey Merkava, you're bleeding," said Colonel Chan.

      "Damn needlers, oh look, it already stopped bleeding, must have been a small wound," said Captain Merkava. "Aaaugh." Merkava falls to the ground in convulsions.

      "Medic," said John.

      Lieutenant Peters rushes to Merkava. "She's having a stroke." Peters injects something into the neck of Merkava. "Hang in there Lisa, the needlers carried a coagulator agent, but this shot should counter the effects."

      "I can't move," said Captain Dunn from the other end of the corridor. "Oh God, I can't move!"

      Peters does a quick scan on Dunn. "Don't try to move Dunn," said Peters as he injects Dunn with something. "This will help you relax. Colonel, Dunn's 3rd and 4th vertibrea are shattered and out of alignment. We need to immobilize him."

      Peters runs a subroutine through Dunn's armor that causes the armor to become rigid.



      "Chief, the landing bay is clear of Covenant," said Cortana, "and I recommend you make a break for the XX1 now. I suggest you hurry, I'm picking up Covenant communications, there appears to be a large group of Covenant converging on your location."

      The group makes there way into the empty landing bay a few stories up from the flight deck. "Wow those Marines sure put up a good fight, too bad none of them survived," said John.

      John and the Colonel Chan then moved to the ground level while Major Schultz played lookout and sniper.

      "About time you got here Chief," said Sarge.

      "Sarge, you're alive, how?" said John.

      "Right after you left, the Covies threw a horde of grenades at us, Ginkens and I dove under this strange ship of yours and none of the plasma got to us," said Sarge. "We then waited for the Covenant to leave, the guys they left behind were pushovers."

      "We're not out of it yet Sarge, the Covenant are converging on the location," said John.

      Sarge reaches into his empty pockets saying, "I picked a hell of a day to quit smoking..."

      Another voice over the comm is heard. "Did someone order reinforcements?" said Foe Hammer. Just at that moment over a dozen UNSC transports fly into the landing bay and start unloading Marines.

      "We've got this under control Master Chief," said Colonel Chan. "You've got something important to do, so I hear."

      "Yes, thank you Colonel."

      John says some quick good-byes and then flies out of the landing bay in the XX1. "Well Cortana, give me a nav point to our target."

      "Yes Chief, nav point set," replied Cortana.

      As John flies away, he looks back briefly at the orbital station GAEA. Much of GAEA is in flames but its MACs continue to fire. Inside GAEA, Colonel Chan, the rest of the Black Angels, Sarge, Ginkens, and the other Marines fight on. None of this will mean anything unless John completes his mission; the fate of humanity rests on his shoulders.



-- Next, The Shade of Knight --

Shadows of Archon II (part 23) - The Shade of Knight
Date: 16 October 2002, 8:07 am

Many wondrous days and darkened nights pass,
Forgotten promises and deadly vows,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
The first to fall are the first of all,
Treachery and deception are their friends,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
The many rise only to meet great demise,
Angry children play a game of roulette,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
Now only the few, the lonely remain,
Too long has it been, older than the oldest,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.
The Praetor comes once more,
Long gone hopes rekindled anew,
In the Hall of the Supreme Council.

      In the Hall of the Supreme Council, the golden clad Forerunner glides down the floor. It has been over 200 generations since one of his kind has walked the walk and talked the talk. Once they were the leaders of the great council. Now they are the fallen, mere messengers, pawns of circumstance.

      The steely eyes of the council bear down on the Forerunner, even in his grand golden armor, the Praetor feels naked to the truth. He kneels in humility to the greatness of the council -- Unable to look upon the leaders of the Council.

      A tentacle-faced Nomdian known as the Eldar stands above all others in the council. "Praetor, 900 Nomdian generations ago, a great party of Nomdians approached the council with news of the Flood," said the Eldar, "and the leaders of the council, your Forerunner ancestors, dismissed their words. Why, now that the tables are turned, should we even consider your words?"

      "Great council and esteemed representatives, to defeat the insane Forerunners, I now offer the Praetor's mighty Forerunner fleets as testament of the value of my words," proclaimed the Praetor. For the moment his greatness shines through and his chin lifts. "Together we can defeat the insane Forerunners, the Flood, and their new fleet. Together we can amass a fleet of over 40,000 combat ships to defeat the insane Forerunners and bring peace once more to this galaxy."

      "And then what?" said Princess Kira, the second most senior member of the council. "Rule the galaxy again like the first Forerunners. Have you not learned anything from the mistakes of the past? We have all heard your words Praetor; you offer the mighty fleet of a nation that no longer has a place in this galaxy. Yes, you do not belong here -- 200 Archonian generations ago, it was time for your kind to step aside and leave. Hence why you were chosen to be the Forerunners. You were the first to set the path for new life in this galaxy, but you should never have stayed once your task was done. Those among your kind that left to return and fight the Flood in your home galaxies were the true Forerunners. Those of you, including your forefathers, that stayed are the pretenders."

      A large shadowy figure speaks; it is the council's second newest member, the demon lord Doom. Unfamiliar with the protocols of this council, he interjects when he shouldn't saying, "Boom, Boom, Doom! The Flood is a real danger in this galaxy, why are we so eager to dwell in past mistakes, it is strength in numbers we need. So what if the Forerunners were supposed to leave this galaxy once their task was done, we know that many did and we know the fate of many of them that stayed -- the Flood and the insanity. If I have the choice, I choose action over this idle talk."

      "It is not your choice alone," said Princess Kira, "and mind your place demon, this council is not to become a mockery of the righteous."

      There is much murmur among the council.

      "Alas, listen here all," said the Eldar, "and I will tell of things long forgotten by most." The murmur stops and darkness falls except for a single glow highlighting the Nomdian. "We all know that the Forerunners of long past were assigned the task for preparing the way in this galaxy for new nations. We also know that they succeeded in this endeavor up until the end when they failed to leave when the time to do so had come. Some stayed in hopes of preserving the Forerunner Empire, I speak of your ancestors Praetor, and others failed because they sought power and became the insane. We all know of the Flood of this galaxy, the creation of the insane Forerunners in their corrupted attempts to gain ultimate power. However, not many choose to remember the Flood of old. We of the council, however, remember. Long ago, before Forerunners, there were the Creators. The Creators had but one tragic flaw -- they did not know when to stop. After creating many things, including the Life Trees, they sought to create their own One Tree. What I speak of is the One Tree, older than the Creators and the first of all the Trees of Life. The Creators dealt with forces even they did not fully understand. Their creation was a perversion of the One Tree, its seed we now know as the Alpha Flood and its cost, the enslavement of the Creators in corruption. We now are left with the legacy of the Alpha Flood, Praetor. We must destroy the Alpha Flood and its evolved form the Omega Flood -- that is our duty to protect all generations to come. However, it is not our place to fight the insane Forerunners and their blend of the Flood. This is a task that must be overcome by the new nations. The new nations must overcome the legacies that we leave behind, otherwise, they are doomed to make the same mistakes and thus continue the cycle of corruption and perversion. That is the flaw in the Halo theory - destroying all life only starts things anew, erasing past mistakes but that does little to ensure that the same mistakes aren't made over and over again by future nations."

      "But, the humans, Covenant, and all the others of the new nations have no chance against the Forerunner fleet. Might I remind the council that conservative estimates put the insane Forerunner fleet at over 25,000 ships."

      "Our time has passed Praetor, unlike your ancestors, we are ready to step aside and allow the new nations to thrive," said the Eldar. "The humans, Gundarians, Saurans, Covenant and all the others must defeat the insane Forerunners -- they must prove themselves."

      "What if they fail?" said the Praetor.

      "Then, we will activate the Halos once more and erase their very existence," replied the Eldar.

      "There is no other way then?" said the Praetor.

      "The will of the council has spoken," said the Eldar. "Praetor, are you with us or against us?"

      "I am not the Praetor of my forefathers," replied the Praetor, "and I am not blinded by the dream of an empire, at least not anymore -- I am with the council, but I still do not know how the humans and others will overcome such difficulties."

      "Nothing is certain," said Eldar, "but know this Praetor, that the Starguardian Shadow Flux is among the humans in an Archonian sleeper."

      The Praetor is silent for a moment, then responds saying, "So it is true that the human souls can host Starguardians... Then it is true that some among the humans are re-born angels. Even so, will this be enough?"

      "Faith, my Forerunner Praetor, is but all we have," said Princess Kira. "A dangerous double-edged blade is faith, but miracles do happen and the new nations are not without their own miracle workers."


------------------------------------------------

The Shade of Knight

      "Chief the destruction on Earth is awful, they need to get that planetary shield up," said Cortana.

      "Cortana, there's nothing we can do about that, stick to the mission," said John. "What is this Covenant Flag ship we are approaching?"

      "I've confirmed that it is called the Bastion of Light, a huge battle ship based on the Proteus class cruiser design," replied Cortana, "and from what I can assess, it has a new kind of plasma mauler weapon with at least twice the range of previous models. It's one giant weapons and communications platform."

      As John and Cortana approach the enormous ship, the Bastion of Light, a strange icy feeling comes over John -- It is both a feeling of power and of dread. "Cortana, what just happened?"

      "Chief, your vital signs disappeared for a moment," said Cortana. "Your body core temperature just dropped 2 degrees."

      A female voice is heard saying, "Nice diversion Shadow Flux, they almost got a mental scan of your location but you fooled them."

      "Who is this and how did you get on a secured channel?" demanded John.

      "Chief, communications are all still jammed," said Cortana. "This voice is coming from inside your head. It could be a malfunction with your neural receptors. Running diagnostics now."

      The female voice is heard again, this time saying, "This is Knight Shade... I know Cort, follow the protocol, oh what, crap... sorry wrong number, out."

      "Wait," said John.

      "No use Chief, the voice is gone," said Cortana, "and diagnostics returned no errors. It was some form of telepathic contact. Perhaps it was one of the our telepaths who got her signals crossed."

      "Well no time for that now Cortana," said John. "I'm on final approach to the target."

      "Hold on Chief, this is strange," said Cortana. "The Covenant should not be able to detect our movements in the XX1, but a group of cloaked Covenant corvettes appears to be following us. Try following these alternate nav points just to make sure."

      "Following alternate nav points, but why the worry Cortana, shouldn't the XX1 just show up as a small null point in space," said John. "Can they track the null point?"

      "Technically yes, but it would be like trying to find an air bubble in the middle of an ocean," said Cortana. "Never mind Chief, you may proceed back to the primary target, the corvettes are no longer matching our movements. It must have just been coincidence."

      "Approaching the Bastion of Light," said John. "This ship is enormous. Still over a kilometer away and the XX1 is already starting to phase through the shields." The XX1 phases through six layers of shields before reaching the ship.

      "Chief, I recommend we attach the XX1 to the outside of the ship next to the 4th docking bay," said Cortana. "If we enter the bay with the XX1, they will get a visual on us."

      "Alright attaching to the outside," said John. "Cortana, will these grapples hold?"

      "Yes chief as long as we aren't hit by one of our own MAC rounds," said Cortana. "The Bastion of Light is entering the outer orbit of Earth. Apparently its shields are strong enough to repel our largest MAC rounds."

      John exits the small XX1 craft and uses grappling devices to move towards the docking bay doors. Ships leave and enter the great bay and as they do, the force field covering the entrance turns off momentarily. John moves closer to the entrance and waits for the force field to drop.

      As John looks down onto Earth, he sees huge explosions from the Covenant bombardment. Billions must be dead by now.

      A ship leaves the bay and as it does, John slips into the upper level of the bay. "The bay is large enough to hold most UNSC cruisers," remarked John. Inside are scattered ships and lots of Covenant troops. The troops are lined up neatly into sixteen square formations, 24 x 24 Elites each. They all appear to be kneeling, looking upon the destruction of Earth as if in a trance.

      A voice is comes from above that resonates through the bay. "Cleanse thy devil world, not one shall survive," said the voice.

      "Not one shall survive," repeated the Elites.

      "Chief, there's an access panel over there about 30 meters away," said Cortana. "I can access the ships schematics from there."

      John moves quietly over to the access panel and plugs Cortana into it. He can't help but look back around at the Elites. Such an ordered and disciplined army, John has a gut feeling that even among Elites they must be special.

      The voice comes again, but this time it sounds slightly different saying, "Yes cleanse thy devil planet and cleanse thy perverted half-breeds."

      At that moment many of the Elites look up confused and some even start running towards the exits with weapons drawn. The heavy blast doors are sealed and will not open. Meanwhile there is laughter heard from above and the bay starts to decompress. A few hundred Elites are sucked out into the vacuum of space through the bay entrance. Others grasp onto whatever they can to say inside.

      "Ha, ha, ha, you are all fools," said the voice from above. "Stupid fools who could not see the light, the return of the gods. Only the true Covenant will survive."

      "Chief I've got the map, now let's get out of here," said Cortana.

      John still has his grappling devices; he attaches one to the floor and the other to the wall and slowly moves back to the access panel and retrieves Cortana. "What is going on here, looks like a mutiny."

      "Best I can figure chief is that there is fighting on all decks," said Cortana, "and one side seems to be in control of the command center, they are calling themselves the Knights of Purity."

      "We have a mission, mutiny or not we have to get to the command center of this ship," said John, "and how are we going to do that with all these blast doors sealed?"

      "I'm working on the access codes," said Cortana. "This may take a while... oh my chief, take cover -- some defense system has just been activated." At that moment plasma gun turrets appear from behind panels all along the outer walls of the bay.

      John crouches behind cover, still unnoticed by everything around. Down below, hundreds of Elites fire their plasma rifles at the turrets. The turrets, however, fire an endless stream of heated death. The Elites that bravely fought are fried to the bone by the turrets. The other Elites that still live are mostly wounded and cower behind what little cover they can find.

      The atmosphere is gone from the bay, but John can still hear the silent screams from below. Not a moment too soon, Cortana opens a small door and John enters into an airlock.

      3, 2, 1, green light and John is out the other side. Plasma burn marks are painted along all the walls of this corridor along with many dead Covenant bodies. One living Elite sits holding his severed arm that still holds an energy sword in its grasp. The Elite seems oblivious of John.

      John moves on with caution. In the next corridor is a group of Grunts that appear to be looting the bodies of the dead for weapons and other items. John has no time for this. Like an old west gunslinger John jumps out with weapons in both hands. Before the Grunts can draw their weapons and fire, John has killed them all. "Cortana, I've never seen the Covenant like this and frankly I don't like it," said John as he kicks over a Grunt to make sure it is dead.

      Suddenly a door opens to the left of John. John turns with weapons raised to see that just two meters away are two strange looking Covenant warriors with fuel-rod cannons pointed back at him. The two Covenant resemble small hunters without the shields and with lighter armor. The Covenant on the right speaks saying, "There are two of us and only one of you, whatever you are. Lower your weapon if you want to live."

      John could get several shots off before their weapons charge up enough to fire, but then again, maybe these are Forerunners or something. They sure don't seem to know what John is. "Let's lower all our weapons," said John, "and then tell me who you are."

      "You do not remember us," said the one on the left, "but are you not Forerunner?"

      Cortana speaks through Johns neural implant saying, "Chief they think you are Forerunner. I recommend you go along with them."

      "Alright Cortana, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing," said John over his neural implant. Then with a clear and resounding voice, John says, "Yes I am Forerunner."

      John hears the familiar sound of fuel rod cannons powering up and sees green glowing balls forming from the Covenant weapons.

      "Then die false god," said the Covenant on the right.

-- Next, Split Decision --

Shadows of Archon II (part 24) - Split Decision
Date: 22 October 2002, 9:58 am

In long and dead times past,
Devil goddess brought the last,
In the Temple of Xethogoth.
Terrible vicious beauty,
Sweet and soothing duty,
In the Temple of Xethogoth.
Chaos becomes incarnate,
Death's consulate
In the Temple of Xethogoth.

In the Temple of Xethogoth, a lone human man dressed in purple robes kneels in a pool of multi-colored blood. He who once was called leader on a far off world speaks saying, "Sweet and bitter goddess, command me and it shall be done."

      The shadowy, womanly figure of Xethogoth peers down from an invisible throne above. Her voice is like the sweet harmony of angels but with the metallic aftertaste of chilled blood. Nothing she says is purely sweet -- everything reeks of rotten things. She sips of the blood of many dead that lie about, then with the voice of a young woman she says, "Governor Balisco, I crave the blood of sacrifices but I can never be satisfied, all that I crave only makes me sicker. Where is this pure blood that you promised me?"

      "The Covenant collective guard all paths to Earth, their raiders destroyed the last shipment," said Balisco, "and the next shipment may not come for many months."

      "What!" screeched Xethogoth with a piercing shrill.

      Balisco cringes as blood drips from his ears and nose. "Please my bitter sweet goddess, they are children and pure blood human children are hard to get these days."

      Drops of a liquid fall to the ground and sizzle as they burn holes into the stone ground. Above, Xethogoth sheds bitter tears saying, "First the news of Astragoth's demise and now this. Balisco, you keep me trapped here like a little girl. I will not stand of it anymore."

      "I beg you..." said Balisco. "What, we are moving?"

      "Too late Balico," said Xethogoth. "This entire moon that houses my temple is a ship, a great Forerunner ship and the asteroids that surround it are my sentinels. I will not listen to your false comforts anymore. I have just heard from Margoth and his mighty fleet is in transit. No more will the blood of your petty sacrifices keep me bound here."

      So go the words of Xethogoth, goddess and insane Forerunner.



------------------------------------------------



Split Decision



      Aboard the Covenant command ship, the Bastion of Light, the stench of death permutated the air. Although in orbit around Earth with shields that can withstand the largest of Earth's remaining MACs, inside the ship there is no victory, only loss.

      John looked at his two foes -- strangely armored Hunters, shorter than John and with dual fuel rod cannons armed and ready to fire. In less than the time it took the foes to say die, John dove between the two Hunters and fired his shotgun into the groin of one and his SMG into belly of the other.

      As John dove by, the two mini-Hunters tracked John with their weapons, turning towards each other and firing. As the shots of the four fuel rod cannons exploded at point blank range, everyone is caught in the blast. The two mini-Hunters each fly back into the sides of the blast door opening that they stood in and John is blasted forward another 5 meters into the room.

      "Wake up Chief," said Cortana.

      "What Cortana?" replied a groggy John.

      "Good you're awake, shields coming back online now and not a moment too soon," said Cortana. "Those small Hunter-like Covenant look mad as hell."

      John slowly rolls to the side and brings his weapons up to fire but in each hand are only the melted remains of a shotgun and SMG. A sharp pain shoots up Johns back causing John to momentarily tense up.

      Meanwhile, the two mini-Hunters angrily toss aside their destroyed fuel rod cannons and then turn to look at John. Around the mini-Hunters are small pieces of metal the color of their armor.

      "Chief, they took direct hits from their own weapons and your weapons too," said Cortana, "and none of it penetrated their armor, but their armor does seem to be ablative; you could perhaps wear it down with repeated strikes. However, I recommend just running away. The only door out of here appears to be the door we came in through. So to get out, we have to get by them."

      "Evisserpmi", said the mini-Hunter on the right as he and the other mini-Hunter stand in one place keenly sizing up John.

      "What was that," said John as he feels around to see what weapons he still might still have.

      "He said awesome," said Cortana, "and your translator has malfunctioned."

      "Can't talk to them, can't get through their armor, stuck with only these. Cortana, are these grappling devices still working?" asked John.

      "Checking, yes at 90% power," replied Cortana.

      "I've got an idea, it's a long shot, but here goes nothing," said John as he hooks one end of each of the grappling devices together and holds the other ends in his hands. As he drops the connected end to the ground, the cable between the ends lengthens. John then begins to skip forward using the grappling devices as a makeshift jump rope.

"Got no mama or a papa,
but I do have a doctor,
go to the doc,
short shock,
around the clock,
tick tock,
go to the doc,
short shock,
Got no mama or a papa,
and now I've really got to drop."

      When John finishes the lyrics, he is only a few meters from the mini-Hunters who have moved to block the exit. At that point, the connected ends of the two grappling devices come apart and John whips them around the legs of the mini-Hunters. Right afterwards John slams his ends of the grappling devices onto the ground -- the other ends follow suit and attach to the ground firmly.

      Before the mini-Hunters can jump out of the entangling cables, the cables pull tight with such force that mini-Hunters fall to the ground and are held firmly rooted.

      John rolls over to the side, just avoiding their grasps.

      Unfortunately, the entanglement is short lived because the two mini-Hunters just twist slightly and the force on the cable whips them around headfirst until the cable unwinds completely. A little dizzy but no worse for wear, the mini-Hunters again turn towards John.

      John stands next to a control panel to the left of the door opening. Slam! A reinforced blast door slams down on the two mini-Hunters, pinning them to the ground. "Nice work Cortana," said John as he began to reach forward to retrieve Cortana from the control panel.

      "I see that you noticed the extra-reinforced emergency blast doors," said Cortana. "These newer Covenant ships seem to be filled with them in case of a hull breach. And Chief those old school yard lyrics and the jump roping sure confused them... Chief, your vitals are falling too quickly... oh no, Chief, Chief..."

      John never does retrieve Cortana; he stumbles to the ground with a dull pain along his lower back. He looks back to see the trail of his blood left behind and oozing from a several small holes in the back of his armor. The holes were much larger, but the self-repair ability of his new armor has slowly been closing the holes.

      "Cortana, I guess they got me worse than I thought," mumbled John. His vision almost gone now as the darkness creeps inside.

      From one of the pinned mini-Hunters a voice comes saying, "Forerunner, you may have defeated us, but there are many more, you cannot stop us all."

      As ice fills John's veins, he smiles. "I guess the translators fixed." Those were the last words he spoke before fading into oblivion.



      John feels like he is floating in the air, his eyelids are heavy but he manages to open his right eye slightly. There is a bright soft white light and the outline of a figure that he cannot make out.

      The figure speaks saying, "Spartan you shall not die yet, you or rather your body is still useful to us. The god Margoth has requested you personally, quite the honor to become the god's next eternal vessel. By the way, I am the Prophet Lextus. Remember that name for all the pleasure and pain you feel from now on will be by my command. When I return I shall ask you of this strange device found on you, does it perhaps contain the construct known as Cortana? Think of your answer carefully or you shall find out what great pleasure and excruciating pain I do command."

      The Prophet disappears and the light dims so John can see more clearly. John finds he is suspended inside a pool of bluish-green liquid. He sees no sign of his armor anywhere. Looking more carefully around he sees over two dozen white-colored Elites standing guard and a group of four shorter figures approaching.

      John tries to get up but he cannot get any leverage in the liquid.

      "Please allow us," said a woman's voice. John is lifted up out of the liquid by invisible straps. Beside John are four humans dressed in nothing but thin gray robes -- Two women and two men. The two women begin to clean John off with sponges as the two men prepare to dry John off.

      As John is dried off and then dressed in golden robes he speaks to the humans and finds out that they are among one hundred slaves to the Knights of Purity, a faction in the Covenant collective. Unlike the majority of Covenant, the Knights of Purity believe that the Forerunners will return to take their place once again as the gods of all Covenant. They also believe that Covenant have inter-mixed thus diluting the pure blood of the original Covenant. The original Covenant were supposed to have been created by the Forerunners to act as servants and are seen mainly as Covenant Prophets, Elites, and Grunts that retain their white color. White is the color of all Covenant before they are assigned to specific roles within the collective society. The Knights of Purity retain their white-color because they are stronger and will not change color unless directed by the gods.

      "So, the Knights of Purity disagree with the rest of the Covenant," said John. "That would explain a bit of all the killing a saw on the ship and..."

      At that moment, before John can finish his sentence, one of the human slaves drops the sponges on the ground and some of the liquid splashes up onto the leg of an Elite.

      The Elite smacks the human in the back of the head, enough to sting but not enough to kill.

      John does not like this, but as John takes one step towards the Elite, all the humans fall to the ground in pain. John puts his hands up saying, "Alright, stop hurting them, I get the point."

      "Stupid Spartan, you are the one causing them pain," said the Elite. "There is a device inside you, when you get angry or are in distress, all these humans feel pain. They have receiving devices in them. And if you should die, they will all die too."

      "It's true Spartan," said the first human woman. "Please, for the children, do not get angry and do not die."

      John thinks to himself. What is he to do, what is the life of one hundred humans to the billions dying below on Earth? There might not even be one hundred humans here -- John has only seen the four. What is he to do?



      -- Next, 101 Slaves --

Shadows of Archon II (part 25) - 101 Slaves
Date: 29 October 2002, 11:17 pm

      The once paradise planet of Earth is blackened and scarred. Fiery rings of smoke expand over two-thirds of its surface. Above in high orbit the victors drift -- 1500 Covenant ships.

      A few of the human-made orbital stations are still intact, but they no longer play a role in this battle, their guns are over-heated and out of ammunition. Inside the stations, exhausted Marines and other survivors rest and gather near windows to catch one last glimpse of Earth.

      There is a strange quiet in the battle; the Covenant armada has stopped the brutal bombardment of Earth. Their attention seems to have wavered. Now many of their ships face away from Earth towards something else.

      Could it be UNSC reinforcements? No one seems to know but as Earth smolders, another oddity occurs, a bluish energy field surrounds it. Somehow, despite the devastating bombardment, the UNSC has managed to get Earth's secret planetary defense shield up. Instead of cheers, the UNSC survivors sit and watch in silence as the battle continues -- Perhaps too confused by the secret shield or too tired from the long losing battle.

      The silence is not without hope, though; on the Earth orbital station GAEA an eager young technician, Ensign Connor Black, peers deep past the lunar orbit and thinks he sees something. Rubbing his eyes he focuses on bluish-energy bubbles - Could it be the hyperspace bubbles of UNSC ships exiting slip space?

      As the scanners show a force of over 2000 new ship signatures, throughout the orbital bases, the surviving Earth defenders shout great cheers. Yes, it is a mighty fleet fresh from Mars, and it is lead by the UNSC command ship the Smite of Keyes and the Carrier Excaliber. In every base, technicians, marines, and gunners alike scurry to gather anything that can fired through the mass accelerators. They stack up spare parts, barrels, beams, pipes, and even the kitchen sink. Earth hasn't given up; it has still got a fighting chance.

      If hope was a weapon, humanity would survive -- the Covenant, however, are not so easily impressed. The Covenant flag ship, the Bastion of Light, turns to face its enormous plasma mauler weapon at the UNSC carrier Excaliber

      The Bastion of Light fires a beam the width of many UNSC cruisers lined end to end. The beam strikes the Excaliber and passes completely through the carrier. The carrier is no more but in her death she leaves an even more sadistic legacy, a legacy of nothing but death to others -- The Excaliber explodes, and the explosion engulfs over one hundred UNSC escorts and supply ships that are caught too close. The ships pop like cherry bombs thrown into an open fire.

      Following the Bastion of Light's lead, over twenty Covenant heavy carriers begin to launch fighters to engage the approaching UNSC fleet. The UNSC remaining carriers and ships launch Fighters in turn. It does not look good for the UNSC, the Covenant are still too strong.

      Ensign Connor Black adjusts scanners saying, "Return fire from Earth," as a large hole flickers in Earth's planetary shield, a brief hole but long enough for a volley from super-MACs to pass through the shields. The rounds hit a Covenant Carrier and rip it to shreds leaving nothing but a dead hulk that slowly spins out of orbit.

      These super-MACs are part of a secondary array on Earth; buried deep underground they waited while the bombardment decimated the surface. Now these super-MACs have come to the surface to prey on the orbiting Covenant.

      The long faces of humanity look back up at the stars with new determination.

------------------------------------------------

101 Slaves

      Aboard the Covenant flag ship, the Bastion of Light, John and a group of one hundred other human prisoners are escorted down wide corridors. There escort, fifty heavily armed Covenant Elites, look about nervously, occasionally firing plasma bolts into shaded areas and around blind corners. Also, among the Elites are four containers roughly three meters long by two meters wide by one meter tall.

      "Move faster slaves!" shouted a white and gold Elite. "It will be more than edge of my blade that you will feel if you don't all hurry faster. What is slowing us down so much?"

      "Commander, some of the humans are injured," said a white and blue Elite, "and others are but children. Our lines are stretched too long."

      "Alright we rest here to shorten the lines but only for five minutes, not a second more," said the white and gold Elite, "and tell the humans if they don't hurry afterwards, we will terminate all stragglers." The Elite then looked at John as if expecting some snide remark to be made.

      John, even out of his armor, stands tall among humans and nearly eye-level with the Elite -- There is no need for words. John stares not back into the Elite's gaze but through the Elite. Utterly unimpressed by this joke of a tyrant want-to-be, John is unmoving with the perfect poker face.

      The Elite approaches John saying, "Spartan, I've heard much about you. I am Commander Bartolus, no doubt you have heard of my great feats, call it professional curiosity."

      "No doubt," replied John.

      "Well then, a drink between professionals," said Bartolus as he takes out a small flask and hands it towards John. "Call it professional courtesy."

      John remains unmoving.

      "Oh," said Bartolus as he pulls the flask away and takes a drink from it himself before gesturing to John to take a drink.

      John remains unmoving.

      "I could just have that human over there gunned down right this moment," said Bartolus as he gestures once more.

      John takes a drink from the flask. It is a sweet and very strong liquor, strangely familiar tasting, but John cannot place it. It goes down smooth.

      "Very good Spartan, I see we do have an understanding," said Bartolus. "Don't get any ideas that I actually believe you care about what happens to these others. I wouldn't, it's just so unbecoming of a killer. However, for some reason, my leader believes you care, made such a big deal about installing devices in you and the others -- If you aren't on your best behavior, they all feel the pain. So now I'm under orders to keep as many of these human slaves alive as possible just so that they can be used as hostages to keep you in line; I'm not fond of this work, it really is not an honorable task."

      "If it's so dishonorable, why do you do it?" asked John.

      "I have heard humans question orders, I did not expect a question like this from you however, Spartan," said Bartolus. "Tell me Spartan, how does it feel to know that all your beliefs in what is divine are nothing but lies, the true gods will return and all of human kind will be nothing but food?"

      "I don't know, why don't you tell me," said John.

      Bartolus pauses for a long moment then says, "We are all professionals here and that remark is so beneath us." He turns towards two other Elites. "Sub-commander, pick two of the larger human slaves and dress them in the armor of our fallen comrades. They shall move in front of us down the last stretch."

      The Elites open two of the four large containers which it is now revealed carry the dead bodies of two high ranking Elites. Their armor is removed and placed on two of the humans.

      "Spartan, I hear human ships have rats," said Bartolus, "and it seems that these humans have come with rats too." Bartolus gestures for the group to move out with the two disguised humans in the lead. "The great Prophet Lextus has foreseen the destruction of this great flag ship, so now we must hurry to our escape vessel."

      The lights flicker and dim -- a sign that the ships plasma mauler is readying to fire again. John looks about as the group enters into a large bay containing a Covenant light cruiser, most obviously built for speed and stealth.

      Ahead the two disguised humans stop and wait for further instructions from the Elites. As the lights flicker once more, John blinks and like in a dream, the two disguised humans are gone.

      "It's back, fire at will," said Bartolus. "Everyone make a break for the Holy Light." Bartolus fires blindly at shadows in the corners. "Spartan, the Holy Light is that ship. Make a run for it, go, go, go!"

      John notices a shadow darting across the floor from Elite to Elite, one by one a trail of death is left, first the Elites slide into two pieces and then their insides explode in a bright light until forty Elite halves lie about the flight deck.

      As the rest of the group is rushed into and up a gravity lift, other Elites come down from above to join the battle against the invisible foe. It is very chaotic but John's sees no opportunity to escape. He must wait until he can find a way to remove or deactivate the Covenant devices they installed inside of his body and the bodies of all the other humans.

      Now aboard the Holy Light, John and the other humans are herded towards two corridors and forced to make a single file line. John is taken to the first corridor and behind him every odd numbered human. The even numbered humans are sent down the second corridor.

      John noticed out of the corner of his eye that the two unopened containers were brought down the same corridor as himself. "Commander Bartolus, that invisible enemy was not Covenant nor human was it?" said John as he and the others enter a room off to the side of the main corridor.

      "Just a rat Spartan, no concern of yours," replied Bartolus.

      They are all instructed to enter a room to the corridor. Bartolus and three Elites go first followed by John and the fifty humans, four more Elites and the two unopened containers.

      A dozen more Elites are about to enter the room when the blast doors slam shut. "Huh," said Bartolus as John disarms him and kicks down two other Elites. The fifty humans rush the rest of the Elites and quickly pin them to the ground.

      In the blink of an eye the tide has turned but Bartolus just laughs and points to Covenant gun turrets that line the upper corners of the room -- Only the gun turrets don't move. Bartolus snickers, and then stops laughing all together.

      From out of nowhere, the unseen assailant appears with energy blades pointed at the Bartolus. The assailant appears in a blackish ornate armor, clearly the figure of a female, but the armor conceals all else. "I don't mind being a kin to a rat, Commander, I've met many rats with more guts and class than you," said the mysterious figure. "By the way John, nice robe."

      "Thanks, but I didn't need your help, whoever you are," replied John.

      The figure's gaze meets John's and she says, "I've missed you so John, I know you don't remember me and I'm forbidden to tell you more about it. You must wonder how all this can be. Well, times are desperate. Just call me Knight Shade."

      The figure then turns to everyone saying, "Alright all scumbags to the corner over there. No funny business or..." she points at the turrets which turn to lock on to the Elites, "you get the idea."

      The two containers are opened, the first one contains John's armor and equipment; the second container contains a strange tentacle-faced alien in stasis.

      John suits up and over his comm he hears, "Chief, I'm glad you made it."

      "Cortana, how did you get away?" said John.

      "I hid in the Bastion of Light's subsystems and made my way into this ship, the Holy Light. Along the way I was contacted by Knight Shade and another AI called Cort. Hmm... I don't like other AIs copying my name for some reason," said Cortana.

      "Yes this is all very strange, this Knight Shade acts like she knows me," said John, "and I have a gut feeling that she's right. Could she be just another AI like Guilty Spark just mistaking me for someone else?"

      "She seems human of all things Chief," said Cortana, "and that armor of hers is way beyond anything we've ever seen except perhaps the XX1. By the way, Cort says that she attached the XX1 to their ship, Destiny's Blade."

      In the background, Knight Shade takes the opportunity to revive the strange creature in the last container.

      "Who is this?" asked John.

      "It's our friend the Lady," said Knight Shade, "but you wouldn't know... Oh, I'm sorry John, I forgot. Hold on, oh no, really -- John, Cort wants to know if you want to see what happened to Earth? It's very sensitive, the others shouldn't see this, Cort will patch it right to you."

      "Earth... yes, let me see it," said John.

      The last message from Earth... For life and liberty we do this now... God have mercy. Ten seconds 'til launch, nine, eight, seven...

      The seen is an aft view from the Holy Light as it darts away from the Bastion of Light. From afar large graviton implosions pull the Bastion of Light uncontrollably towards the surface of Earth.

      The result is the destruction of the mighty Covenant vessel as it crashes into Earth and the eminent destruction of Earth as the reactors on the ship explode with a force of several hundred million times the power of a tactical nuke.

      There is a crack in Earth, a red line that starts in the middle and moves towards both poles. The line breaks into many smaller jagged tendrils until the entire surface is covered. Earth has become a black pincushion covered with glowing red and orange dots.

      "I've seen enough," said John. "The graviton warheads, that was part of Operation Scorched Earth, the last ditch plan to save humanity. Because I failed to stop the Covenant with the nano-machines, Earth has made the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity."

      "There's more John, I think you should see it," insisted Knight Shade.

      "You always keep people in suspense like this?" said John. "Alright show me more Cort."

      "You bet Chief," said Cort.

      The seen is of a blue and green Earth.

      "What is this about?" asked John.

      "Earth is still there John," said Knight Shade. "I'm only beginning to understand the vastness of the Archonian design. John, they wouldn't allow Earth to just be blown-up like that, there is so much more at stake. The people, though, most of them are dead...[sob]...but Earth still lives."

      From nearby there are some screams. John turns to see the tentacle-faced alien sit up.

      "Oh my Lady, it's been so long, welcome back," said Knight Shade.

      The Lady speaks, "A very long time indeed. John I see you have upgraded your armor. Seems to fit you better."

      "Pardon, my Lady, but have we met before?" said John.

      "Ha, ha. That is right," said the Lady. "To answer you, the answer is yes and no. When I last saw you I was old and now I am ancient. Come closer now and I will remove that Covenant device from you."

      As John approaches the Lady, she raises her hands and from he body shoots purple lightning that travels to John and then to all the other humans. A device flies out of the chests of each and every one but it leaves no wounds.

      "How did you do that?" asked John.

      "Never doubt the power of an ancient Nomdian," said the Lady as she removes an amulet from around her head. "Take this healing crystal, place it over the chests of the other humans elsewhere on this ship to remove their devices."

      "Thanks..."

      "Knight Shade, are we ready to go?" said the Lady. "I must get to Nomdia as soon as possible."

      "Yes, we can leave right now," said Knight Shade. "It is good to see you, when we heard you had been captured by Covenant, I came as soon as I could."

      "John, you don't remember us but I do remember you," said the Lady. "In null space there is no time but the trip back took me 500 of my years, but just a blink of the eye in this dimension. Know this, my time is short, before I die I must pass my knowledge to the next generation of Nomdians. I will be gone, but with my knowledge will be my memories of you. As long as the Nomdian race lives, you will be remembered."

      The Lady pauses to catch her breath and then speaks saying, "Keep looking at the stars, I am but the first to make it back from null space. The others come; they come for you, they come to fight by your side. I know these words mean little to you now. One day you will once again know. Goodbye sweet John." The Lady nods that she is ready to be teleported away.

      Knight Shade nods back and the Lady teleports away; then she turns to John saying, "I guess I forgot to tell you. We have to leave now; we have done all we are allowed to do. The Covenant forces still control this ship; you, Cortana, and the others here will have to fend for yourselves. Oh, one more thing." She then kisses John on the cheek, even through the armor it feels like a real kiss. "It's for luck -- Until later stud muffin... Cort ready on 3... 1, 2, go..."

      As Knight Shade fades away, John says, "Take care Val."

      "How, how did you know... I love you John 117..." and then she is gone.

      "Chief, do you really remember her?" said Cortana.

      "Cortana, did you ever get the feeling that we are just insignificant bugs in this Universe?" asked John.

      "We are Chief," replied Cortana.

      "You know Spartan, I think that creature likes you," interjected Bartolus.

      "Well Commander, I almost forgot you were here," said John.



      -- Next, Turn this Ship Around, Buster --

Shadows of Archon II (part 26) - Turn this Ship Around, Buster
Date: 7 November 2002, 12:00 pm

      "Is anybody out there?" said a faint signal from Earth. "I repeat, is anybody out there? This is Earth ground installation 42."

      "Roger, this is GAEA, we read you Earth ground installation 42," replied the GAEA orbital station. "What in Orion's belt happened down there?"

      "GAEA, we're alive, I don't know how but we're alive!" said Earth.

      What transpired on Earth will go down in the history books as both the greatest miracle and biggest mystery of the 26th century. It seemed a hopeless situation for Earth and the UNSC. The last defenders of Earth were caught in the crossfire between the main Covenant forces that were orbiting Earth and the arrival of yet another Covenant fleet.

      In an act of desperation, Earth launched the last of our graviton missiles in a direct line with the Covenant flagship, the Bastion of Light. The sequence of implosions hurled the enormous Covenant flagship into the Earth. When it crashed, its engines exploded with such force as to crack the Earth into many pieces.

      Hundreds of millions of people already dead, a strange energy surrounded Earth of unknown origins. When all the smoke cleared, somehow Earth was still there. A billion people still lived to look up -- The sky as blue as a summer day.

      In all the words that will be written to describe these events in the years to come, many will find the following excerpt the most intriguing. Ironically they are not the words of a human but of an alien, the Covenant Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon. Forced to abandon his own vessel, he watched the events from afar in a small escort. Here is what he wrote.

The Fall of Earth

We are the Tygers of Wrath,
Humanity's death our path,
We murdered them in their sleep,
No words not even a peep.

We are the great destroyers,
They the pagan lawyers,
Their worlds efficiently glassed,
To hide the records of past.

Only one last task to do,
Kill them for what they knew,
Kill them for what they become,
Heartless devils kingdom come.

In dreams and reality,
We will teach them frailty,
Destroy them all in their shame,
Wielder of fire light thy flame.

We left Earth a blackened sphere,
No one left to shed a tear,
The end of the Human race,
But pride brought us to disgrace.

In the dark and dead silence,
Our brothers broke alliance,
The end was near that was clear,
But not theirs, ours was the fear.

Charred and lifeless human home,
It was written in our tome,
But before our very eyes,
Angels sounded no one dies.

From the dead it rose to life,
A miracle in our strife,
Rings of power in the night,
Close my eyes but still see light.

Drifting above oh so far,
Strikes my soul and leaves a scar,
I throw down my last weapon,
Pray for mercy and beckon.

It is we who are the damned,
Victory lost, I've been blammed,
Blammy, blam, blam, dink, dink, doink,
I've seemed to have lost my point.

Tarkon

------------------------------------------------

Turn this ship around, buster

      "Chief, I'm picking up a colossal amount of messages on the Covenant battlenet," said Cortana, "and they all seem... Chief, the Covenant, their surrendering."

      "What is going on Cortana?" said John. "Why would the Covenant surrender?"

      Close by, the captured Covenant commander, Bartolus, easy drops. "We would never surrender," interjected Bartolus. "What kind of trick is this, do you think I am a fool?"

      "You, go back to your corner," ordered John.

      "But..." mouthed Bartolus.

      "Get moving, you heard me," ordered John as he walked away to the far end of the room. "So what is going on Cortana?"

      "I'm not exactly sure but I believe that they believe the gods saved Earth," said Cortana, "and Chief, their leader the Prophet Lextus wants to meet with us. Hold on, now another leader, Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon, wants to meet with us also."

      "Tell them to turn this ship around, we will meet near Earth," said John.

      

      A few hours later, on the Earth orbital station GAEA, the parties meet. Representing the Covenant Common Faith is Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon and representing the Covenant Knights of Purity is the Prophet Lextus and Commander Bartolus. Representing the UNSC is Admiral Inouye, Captain Jarad Keyes, Special Forces Colonel Chan, Master Chief John 117, and Cortana.

      "Order in the assembly," said Admiral Inouye. "I'm going to make this very clear, this is a military assembly, we are not politicians, we are people of action. Now the first order of business, Prophet Lextus what is it that you wish to say?"

      "I am not here to speak to humans, I am here to speak to Cortana and the one called Spartan," said Lextus. "I must understand what saved Earth. It is written in our scriptures that the gods will return and only the true Covenant will survive but it is also little known except amongst Prophets that the gods will be reborn -- In the flames of oblivion, shines the light of eternity... Could this refer to the rebirth of Earth? Please explain."

      "Prophet Lextus, do you know of the Archons?" asked Cortana.

      "Yes, they are the spirits of chaos and the children of eternity," said Lextus. "You mean to say that it was their light that saved Earth?"

      "If it were, what does that mean to you?" said Cortana.

      "It is hard to say," replied Lextus as he eyes Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon. "It means nothing."

      "Not true," said Tarkon.

      "What have you to gain Tarkon, speak of nothing and be divine," said Lextus.

      "Go on commander," said Admiral Inouye.

      "Very well, tell them," said Lextus.

      Tarkon takes a deep breath and then speaks saying, "You, humanity, are our devils but you never knew why. The Forerunners knew but they never told us either. Piece by piece we have put together the evidence until I come here today to speak of it. The Forerunners were messengers -- their message was to prepare the way for the coming of their kind. To aid in their work they created servants; the mighty warrior servants were the Elites. The humans were their most prized creations but the humans were not content to be servants and rebelled against the Forerunners. Many Forerunners died of grief as humans were like their children gone bad -- So it is said but I say that humans threatened the Forerunners because humans understood how to use the Forerunner power."

      "You tell them too much," interjected Lextus.

      "Too much but not nearly enough," continued Tarkon. "It is written that in a far off galaxy, a great flood afflicted the Forerunners and only few were left. To defend against the human rebellion, the Forerunners entered great machines -- they became caught in between insanity and godhood. That was the end of the Forerunners and the birth of the gods. You may question why we worship gods that we know were not gods to start with. The answer is that we do not. Our gods guide us through their wisdom and protect us from making the horrible mistakes. The Forerunners ascended to a state where they are part of God and through them we worship God. So you [humans] are the fallen children that wish to become gods yourself. You have the neural implants that you will one day use to try to interface with the Forerunner machines and attempt to ascend to godhood."

      "Where do the Archons fit into this?" asked John.

      "Yes the Archons are the spirits of nature that cursed our gods," said Tarkon. "The Archons came to destroy our gods and convinced many fallen Covenant that our gods were the ultimate evil. In becoming gods, the Forerunners became immortal and with immortality comes a disconnection with life and nature. The Archons claimed that our gods would lose all empathy and would become creatures of pure logic. The Archons hunted down our gods and killed many with the help of the fallen Covenant until one day the Archons suddenly stopped and disappeared. Being chaotic spirits the Archons acted without reason and this was another prime example of that. The Covenant was left split but our survival depended on unity. At least in all the wars, the humans were believed wiped out. Now, there is a large gap in the scriptures here -- all we know is that our gods cleansed the galaxy with a great flood and the fallen Covenant all perished. This renewed our faith in the gods. The rest has been hidden away by the Prophets."

      "I will speak now," said Lextus. "Not all of what Tarkon said is the truth but neither do you need to know the whole truth. The Archons did not leave; the gods banished them to a far away place. The gods are the wisest and they created a system of perfect balance. The gods foresaw that the Archons were correct in their thinking that immortality can lead to evil and corruption. So the gods created many laws that restrict even themselves while in machines. So here is where the ways of the Knights of Purity prevail over all other Covenant. The gods will return to organic bodies, in their new bodies they will once again be connected with nature and those restrictions placed upon them will no longer be needed. They will come full circle and walk among mortals again. They will reward the faithful, the rest will perish in a great flood."

      "Bravo," said a squeaky anonymous voice over the comm. "I almost believed you Lextus."

      "Who is this?" said Admiral Inouye. "And how did you break into a secured conference?"

      "Who I am is not important right now," said the voice, "and don't bother trying to trace my transmissions, your security is easier than a Hunter's charge to get around. By the way, this ship of yours, the XX1 as you call it, is fascinating, no doubt it predates the Forerunners, looks to be of Old One origins."

      "Won't you at least give us a name to call you by?" asked Cortana.

      "Anything for you my sweet," said the voice. "You can call me daddy."

      "Daddy?" said Cortana.

      "Yes dear," replied the voice.

      "Enough of this," said John. "Cortana, can't we cut the power to the comm or something?"

      "Wait Spartan," said the voice. "I represent the fallen Covenant, I have a right to be in this discussion..." Some static on the comm and then, "Oh my god."

      Alarms go off everywhere. "What's going on?" asked Admiral Inouye over the comm. Everyone else also opens up transmission channels to find out what is happening.

      "Sir, we're under attack," said a voice over the UNSC battlenet, "and they're coming out of slip space inside our defensive perimeter. Signatures don't completely match, they could be some kind of new Covenant ships."

      "We have angered the gods and now they smite us down," said Lextus.

      "It's not us," said Tarkon. "All Covenant ships are standing down."

      "Sir, they're bombing Earth," said a voice over the UNSC battlenet. "It looks like they're targeting our remaining military bases."

      Over the center of the conference room a large holographic image of the battle area is displayed. Cortana appears next to the image saying, "Sirs this is what is happening as we speak." The image zooms in to an extreme close-up of the enemy bombs. "Analysis of the enemy bombs tells us that they contain two enormous anti-matter warheads. This type of bomb is designed to destroy underground targets; the first warhead drives the second warhead deep underground where the second warhead explodes. Even our most fortified underground facilities are vulnerable. The bombing must be stopped. Admiral, I recommend..."

      Cortana has no the time to finish her sentence, the ground shakes and the room explodes. "Aaaaaagh! Medic, we need a medic." GAEA has taken a direct hit from enemy fire; John stands among injured bodies. Admiral Inouye is unconscious, badly burnt. The three Covenant representatives appear okay -- protected by their shields. Colonel Chan and Captain Keyes are hurt but still able to function. As medics take care of the wounded, repair units seal a hole in the room wall that goes through 6 levels.

      "That was no lucky shot Chief," said Cortana. "They knew exactly where to hit us."

      John faces Lextus saying, "We need to get you all off this base."

      "The Black Angels will be happy to escort them out of here," said Colonel Chan. "Come with me, sirs." Chan escorts the Covenant out of the room.

      "I'm heading back to the Moon of Orion," said Captain Keyes, "and you Master Chief?"

      "Captain, it's a different enemy but I'm going to try plan B," said John as he presents the small ball that contains the nano-machines that were previously intended to take out the Covenant ships. "If that's alright with you sir."

      "Good luck Chief, God's speed be with you," replied Keyes just before he exits the room.

      "Cortana, get a hold of daddy," said John, "and tell him we need the XX1."

      "Message delivered," said Cortana, "He'll meet us in bay 4. Chief, how did you know I was still in contact with him?"

      "Just a hunch," said John as he sprints down the corridor. Every second counts, there's no time to lose. However, when he reaches Bay 4, he finds that the Bay is in ruins and the large bay doors are ajar.

      "Chief, the doors are broken we need to get to another bay," said Cortana.

      "No time Cortana, I can get through this opening," said John. "Have daddy bring the XX1 under us."

      "He's on his way, what if you miss?" said Cortana.

      "I won't," replied John.

      "In 5, 4, 3, 2..."

-- Next, Twilight and the Wizard --

Shadows of Archon II (part 27) ñ Twilight and the Wizard
Date: 13 November 2002, 9:46 am

Thousands of light years away from Earth, a small Covenant corvette patrols the outskirts of the Gundarian system of Tal. It's another uneventful sweep of the asteroid belt and then back to base.

      The Tal system is a major manufacturing center and shipyard for the Covenant alliance. In addition, it serves as a capital system, a base of operations, and home for the Covenant mothball fleet of over 10,000 ships. Recently the system has been placed on high alert due to the increased frequency of unidentified spy ships spotted in the area.

      Because of the strategic importance of this system, the majority of the Covenant rear fleets have been stationed here; more than 3000 combat ready ships. The small corvette, however, is not a member of the rear fleets. The corvette, Seeker 1121, is actually part of the small Gundarian garrison stationed regularly in the system. Seeker 1121, like other corvettes of its class is a heavy assault scout ship having both advanced sensors and a large arsenal of missiles for its size.

      

      "Commander, Seeker has detected a small rip in slip space at 150,000 km," said Nav. "Seeker is shadowing the anomaly and recommends that we engage with graviton missiles in a wide dispersal."

      "Nav, why do we have the only trigger happy Pilot in the entire Gundarian navy?" said Commander Nigelus. "The rip is probably just from one of our freighters running blind. I'd give you even odds it's just a poor sap of a smuggler trying to pay for his Holo habit. One of our graviton missiles is probably worth more than his ship plus all the cargo on it. Ignore the darn rip and have Seeker plot a course back to base."

      "It is done Commander," said Nav. "Ah, Commander may I speak freely?"

      "Of course Nav," said Nigelus. "Go right ahead."

      "Commander, with all due respect, Seeker is not a trigger happy Pilot," said Nav. "She is just a little upset that some of the ships are being supplemented with human-based AIs. I mean the Pilots have been a space-faring race for thousands of years and now, well, they feel threatened."

      "Point well taken Nav," said Nigelus, "but remember something about progress -- only the Prophets can control it. Once all Gundarians were peaceful warriors, now only a few of us remain warriors. The Prophets declared all Elites to be the warrior caste, what are Gundarians to do? The Pilots are no different, if the Prophets deem that human AIs are better, then that is how it will be. We have no choice in that matter. The sooner the Pilots realize this and stop acting like spoiled children the better off we will all be."

      "Yes Commander," replied Nav as the small Gundarian Grunt fiddles with a control panel.

      "What is it Nav?" said Nigelus.

      "Commander, what if Seeker is right, I mean about this anomaly?" said Nav. "It is traveling quite fast and passed the asteroid field, not into it."

      "Alright Nav, we'll let Seeker have this one," said Nigelus. "Arm the graviton missiles, plot a wide dispersal firing solution. Now what's our window of opportunity?"

      "We have 10 more seconds of opportunity," replied Nav. "Ready to fire on your command."

      "Fire one salvo on my mark... Fire!" said Nigelus. From seeker sped away 16 graviton type VII missiles. Each missile containing four medium-sized warheads. In a matter of a few seconds, more than 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 cubic kilometers of space is hit with extreme gravitonic forces, enough to violently tear ships right out of slip space.

      "That should take care of our anomaly Commander," said Nav. "Scanning for debris." As Nav scans for debris, however, strange unexpected energy signatures appear on the peripheral scanners. "Holy... Commander, Seeker has come to full alert and has entered evasive maneuvers. We have one, no two, hold it... three super-dreadnought sized-vessels. Their shields held being torn out of slip space but I think their sensors are still out of whack."

      At over 10 kilometers in length, the super-dreadnought class of ships is unparalleled as front line assault vessels. Bad enough if they were Covenant vessels, but they aren't.

      "Nav, whose ships are they?" said Nigelus. "What the heck did we pull out of slip space?

      "I don't know Commander, they aren't Covenant," said Nav, "and I'm reading the signatures of several thousand escort ships. Oh gosh, Seeker thinks they're Forerunner vessels."

      "Nav, get us out of here," said Nigelus, "and Comm send all the data we have to base, narrow beam on a secured signal."

      "Yes Commander," said Nav and Comm in unison.

      "Commander, no reply from base," said Comm, "and I have confirmation from the sixth fleet, they are under attack. Seventy-third fleet reports that the enemy destroyed our base. I can't make out all the chatter, but here's the data report on the main viewer."

      On the main viewer are images of the destruction of the Covenant/Gundarian star fortress. Around it are thousands of ships in battle. The enemy ships seem to have an extreme advantage over the Covenant vessels in speed, maneuverability, shield strength and weaponry. Many Covenant cruisers are sliced in two by a powerful beam that protrudes from the enemy ships.

      "What are those weapons?" asked Nigelus.

      Comm looks over the data saying, "Intelligence reports that they are some type of energy lance, similar to an energy sword except large enough to be mounted on a ship. The lances mounted on the larger enemy cruisers appear to have a range of about 50,000 kilometers. Their plasma blades and anti-matter payload resemble very closely what intelligence has identified as a Forerunner cutter beam only several magnitudes more powerful at shorter ranges -- It's confirmed, the weapon has been classified as the cutter lance."

      "Commander, their tracking us, got a dozen corvette sized vessels on our tail," said Nav, "and we can't out run them. Seeker recommends firing several salvos of missiles and using their implosions to mask our entering into cloak."

      "Do it now," said Nigelus.

      The missiles are launched and Seeker 1121 enters cloak in the mist of the many implosions. All unnecessary systems are powered down and engines are brought down to minimal output levels.

      "Nav, status," whispered Nigelus.

      "Looks good Commander, Seeker believes they lost us," said Nav.

      "Nice work everyone," said Nigelus, "and Seeker, especially you, you're the best damn Pilot in all the fleet."

      "What?" said Nav. "Commander one missile, impact in 3, 2... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggggh!"

      In all there were no Covenant survivors in the Tal system. Tens of thousands of Covenant military and civilian vessels destroyed, worlds annihilated, and nearly the entire Covenant rear fleets eliminated.


------------------------------------------------


Twilight and the Wizard


      Above Earth, John glides freely through space. Below and above a battle rages. "Cortana, where is the XX1?" asked John.

      "Daddy says he's right below us," said Cortana. "Chief, there above that enemy strike carrier. Here he comes."

      "Go it," replied John as he prepares to grab hold of the XX1 as it flies by.

      Once on the XX1, John holds on tight as the ship phases through the shields of the largest enemy vessel. The enemy vessel resembles Covenant ship designs but has been denied as being a Covenant vessel by the Covenant forces now standing down outside the lunar orbit of Earth. The current speculation is that the ship is of Forerunner design.

      "Chief, I'm in contact with the Covenant Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon," said Cortana, "and he wants to speak with you -- says it is urgent."

      "Patch him through," said John.

      "He's on Chief," said Cortana. "Go ahead Commander."

      "Spartan, these ships are not Covenant but they look to be of Covenant manufacturing," said Tarkon. "The Prophet Lextus and his Knights of Purity now control the majority of the Covenant armada here at Earth. The Prophet Lextus will not commit his forces to fight against or aid your new enemy. However, I still have my secondary flagship, the Virtue and Reverence and nineteen other cruisers with escorts under my control. It isn't much but judging on how ineffective your weapons are against this enemy, you are in no position to choose."

      "What do you want Commander?" said John.

      "Simple, prove that these new enemies are not gods and I shall join your side," said Tarkon, "and if you do a really good job, Commander Bartolus might commit the forces under the control of Knights of Purity despite the wishes of the Prophet Lextus."

      "Bartolus would do that?" asked John.

      "Nothing is for certain, there are no friends in love or war," said Tarkon, "but Commander Bartolus and I go way back. I have never known him not to keep his word."

      "So I only have to prove that these guys are mortal while you sit back and watch the fireworks," said John. "If I should fail, no doubt you will join them, but if I succeed, you will join us. Sounds like a win, win situation for you."

      "Spartan, you have grasped the situation perfectly," replied Tarkon.

      "Alright, it's a deal," said John.

      The communication is cut off as the XX1 completes phasing through the enemy's shields. Slowly but surely the XX1 makes its way around the enemy ship and up into an empty missile bay.

      Inside the bay the XX1 opens up to reveal a noble looking Covenant Grunt. "Ah Spartan, it's good to see you again," said the Grunt. "Shall we get a move on?"

      "Maybe you ought to stay here with the XX1," said John. "What I've got to do isn't going to be pretty."

      "Hey, thanks for the help daddy," said Cortana, "but who the hell are you really?"

      "Oh, my sweet, you are the twilight in my heart," said the Grunt, "and I am the wizard among the stars. If only you could remember me, but alas I am a stranger. The name is Covenstein, Master Noc Covenstein the Great."

      "Yes thanks for the help Master Covenstein," said John, "but you're not coming with me." John begins to walk away towards an air lock. "Cortana, can you get this door open?"

      "Surely you have a better plan than that device," said Covenstein. "Yes that round device you have in the container attached to your mid-section. It won't work."

      John turns momentarily back to Covenstein saying, "I'll manage just fine."

      "Spartan, John, I speak the truth," said Covenstein as he walks up to John.

      "A nice bluff, hurry up with this door Cortana," said John.

      "Chief, this security system is extremely advanced, give me a moment," said Cortana.

      "I never bluff," said Covenstein with a voice of confidence. "Spartan, this ship may be of Covenant manufacturing but it isn't a Covenant ship, it's Forerunner. That little ball of nano-machines designed to take out the Covenant fleet will be little more than a small nuisance on this ship."

      "How do you know all this?" asked John.

      "I've made several scans of you, that device and what I could of this ship," said Covenstein, "and besides, I'm a super-genius."

      "Alright, prove it," said John. "Get this door open."

      "Easier than gathering plasma from a comet with a ram scoop," said Covenstein. "Oh sweet Cortana, take the 128 million bit encryption and convert it to base seven then apply your rough duplication of the Index to it."

      The door opens. John looks back at Covenstein, then back at the open door saying, "You're in Covenstein but keep your head down."

      "Understood Spartan," replied Covenstein.

      "Master Covenstein, thank you again," said Cortana.

      "No thanks necessary my dear," said Covenstein, "and you can call me Noc. Ha, ha, he, he..."

      "What is so darn funny?" said John.

      "I was just remembering you as a short Elite," said Covenstein. "Ha, ha, ho, ho."

      "Do me a favor and keep your weird fantasies to yourself," said John, "and keep your mouth shut, your blathering is going to get us all killed."

      "Right," whispered Covenstein. "He, he... opps, sorry."

      Through the second airlock door they go.


-- Next, My Nano-machines are smaller than yours --

Shadows of Archon II (part 28) - My Nano-machines Are Smaller than Yours
Date: 23 November 2002, 1:26 pm

      In the dead emptiness of space, two ships drift together in an eerie silence. The first ship, the Holy Light, a sleek Covenant Light Cruiser built for stealth and speed is dwarfed in comparison to the second ship, the Sh'rekhan. The Sh'rekhan has traveled over 60 thousand light years for this meeting. Its sole purpose is to retrieve a special package from the Covenant.

      Not much else is known about the Sh'rekhan or other ships of Forerunner design, except that they always seem empty -- Vast corridors and enormous lifts completely void of anything but darkness and echoes.

      So it happens that inside this particular Forerunner vessel the Covenant Prophet Lextus, who has arrived from the Holy Light, floats in darkness and virtual solitude. He is waiting to speak to his masters, the Forerunners. As he waits, around him swirl breezes of different temperature and in the distance, but not too far, small blue lights dance and dart about breaking up the emptiness.

      Lextus knows he is not alone, but his Forerunner masters choose not to reveal themselves -- Save for one voice that bellows from above. "Prophet Lextus, I am the voice of Margoth," said the voice. "We expected that you would have brought the one known as Spartan and the Index to us. Your failure is not acceptable but it is understandable." The voice softens and appears to get closer. "Tell me Lextus, by what means have the humans turned the true Covenant against the gods?"

      "Oh great ones, it is through the Prophecy of Descent that the Covenant waivers," said Lextus. "The first sign, the Heart of Darkness has been heard. The second sign, the coming of old kings -- the Praetor -- did come to pass. Now the third sign, the rising of a world from the flames of retribution has occurred. The prophecy speaks of the return of the gods and the return of the great hunters. We now know that the great hunters spoken of are the Archons. They have returned and as in those ancient times so many thousands of years ago, the Archons once again tempt the true Covenant against the gods. Even my most trusted have been exposed to the knowledge of the Archons and are at risk of turning. You could not have arrived at a more opportune time -- the Covenant has lost the way and we need your guidance."

      "As always, we will prevail where servants have failed," said the voice. "Lextus, you have faltered and failed, but we are the all wise and powerful, you must stay the path of righteousness and once again walk the straight and narrow. Open your mind to us and see the light."

      "Yes, I wish to be the faithful, the strong of faith," said Lextus. "I no longer wish to see the contradictions of knowledge."

      "Lextus, you are not the first to falter and you are not the last," said the voice, "but that was to be expected, such is the nature of imperfection. Only those of us that have ascended to that place between insanity and godhood have reached perfection. We are in balance and all revolves around us. Open your mind and you shall be forgiven."

      As Lextus looks up, the dancing blue lights surround him and project narrow sparkling lights that burn into his flesh. In the light, Lextus fades away until he is transparent and no longer casts a shadow. He has become a phantom, a shell of a being between the worlds of life and death.


------------------------------------------------


My Nano-machines Are Smaller than Yours


      "Spartan," whispered Covenstein. "Caution when entering the next corridor. The few narrow paths aboard Forerunner vessels are suspected hiding places for their servants."

      John looked carefully down the paths ahead. Three possible choices to travel -- the left path elevates slightly into a vast room, the right path descends slightly into darkness, and the center path stays level but narrows until it is only wide enough for one.

      For the last hour, John, Cortana, and Master Noc Covenstein have been sneaking through the corridors of this ship. It all looks so familiar, like they've been traveling in circles.

      "Cortana, are you sure?" asked John.

      "No Chief, it's just a hunch," said Cortana. "We could continue up; the Forerunner designs tend to have command and control on the upper levels. As we ascended each room got larger and grander. Strange though, according to my calculations, we should already have reached the top of this ship long ago, and even with Master Covenstein's help, I'm still not able to break into the informational systems of this vessel. Something is not right, we need to break the pattern."

      "Covenstein, which way?" asked John.

      "We could go down Spartan," replied Covenstein. "Into the darkness and unknown is the path that the Forerunners would use to hide their most valuable things, but I concur with Cortana that something is not right. It is as good a time as any to break our pattern of exploration and the center path is the most obvious way to do that."

      With John at point and Covenstein closely behind, they slowly move down the narrow center passageway. "The Covenant that built this ship must not have wanted Grunts to go down these corridors," mumbled Covenstein to himself as they approach the end. Covenstein exhales completely and squeezes through the last section -- even though Covenstein's Grunt body is much shorter than John's Spartan frame, the narrow and tall dimensions of the corridor make it hard for a Grunt to get through.

      "I need to go on a diet if I'm..." whispered Covenstein before he was abruptly stopped by the vision around him. The corridor has led into an enormous chamber lit by the glitter of thousands of piles of treasure. Bars, nuggets, and coins of gold, silver, platinum, and even more rare and precious metals line the sides with equally impressive piles randomly scattered throughout the room. Other piles contain gems and crystals that refract the light creating millions of tiny rainbows. Intermixed between the piles are life-like statues of intimidating looking Elites with spines that protrude out from their upper backs.

      "Elites like that haven't been seen in thousands of years Spartan," said Covenstein. "They were the Immortals, the honor guard to the Forerunners."

      "Get ready," said John. "I don't like the way these statues are looking at me."

      "Chief, I'm picking up broken communications from outside the ship," said Cortana. "The message appears to be repeating but I can only make out the words break orb... hmm... I don't know what that could mean."

      "Spartan, my sensors are picking up movement from all directions," said Covenstein, "but I don't see anything."

      "Nothing on movement sensors," added Cortana. "Wait, movement, this doesn't make sense... 40 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters... they should be right on top of us."

      Brrrrpt, brrrrt... John opened fire igniting the ground with high explosive armor piercing rounds.

      "The floor is moving," cried Covenstein. "We're being overrun."

      Brrrrpt, brrrrt... "Hang on," said John as he grabbed Covenstein and leaped into the air, landing both of them on top of the arch over the entrance. John looked down saying, "Cortana, what are these things?"

      "Chief, they appear to be micro-machines armed with plasma cutting torches," replied Cortana. "Look out, they're climbing the wall."

      "Machines huh," said John.

      "Chief, larger objects moving on sensors," said Cortana.

      "No time for that Cortana," said John as he reaches into a pouch on his side.

      "Spartan, I've observed that your weapons fire has hit some of the statues," said Covenstein, "and those statues are beginning to move."

      "Watch out!" cried John.

      Boom! John and Covenstein are blasted off the ledge and to the ground from the explosion of a plasma grenade.

      Immediately the tiny machines swarm Covenstein and burn down his shields. "Argh! They burn through my armor," cried Covenstein. "This is the end of me."

      "Noc!" yelled Cortana.

      "Noc, hang in there," said John as he throws down the small sphere that contains the nano-machines that were intended to be used to disable the Covenant fleet.

      "Chief, behind you," said Cortana.

      John spins around just in time to dodge out of the way of a sword wielding Elite. "Remialcer..." the Elite spoke many words in an ancient tongue. Behind the Elite, two more Elites began to move.

      From yet a fourth Elite, another plasma grenade skips past John -- A very close miss. After throwing the grenade, the fourth Elite disappears using his cloaking shield.

      "Surrender Spartan," said the first Elite in English, "and we shall be merciful." The first Elite then disappeared under cloak leaving only the outline of his energy sword dancing in the air.

      The second and third Elites both raised short rifles that were worn over their right arms. On their left arms they wielded ornate energy shields with a slit that the rifle could fit through. They too went under cloak leaving only their arm mounted shield and strange rifle visible.

      The four Elites surrounded John -- they circled like a pack of hunters waiting for signs of weakness. John, however, is a hunter himself and slowly turned waiting for them to make the first move.

      "Now," said Cortana as the third Elite fired from behind John.

      John dove to the side. The energy ball missed its mark and struck the first Elite who had just jumped in to attack John. The ball expanded into a plasma web that surrounded the first Elite, both immobilizing the Elite and slowly burning through his shields.

      John unloaded a full magazine into the outline of the fourth Elite while side stepping to keep the fourth Elite between himself and the second Elite. At the same time John tossed a fragmentation grenade over towards the third Elite.

      The third Elite braced behind his energy shield. The energy shield took most of the grenade blast and what was left over was easily stopped by the Elite's personal shield surrounding his armor. The Elite returned fire at John, this time instead of firing a plasma web, his rifle fired a continuous energy beam which he waved back and forth making it very difficult for John to evade the attack.

      "Chief, that beam is similar to the weapon used by Guilty Spark's Sentinels back on Halo," said Cortana. "Hey watch out, don't forget there are two of us in here."

      "What's their armor made of?" said John as he strikes the stunned fourth Elite several times before finally knocking the Elite down with a stomp kick to the side of the Elite's knee.

      The second Elite now has a clear shot at John and fires an energy beam. Both the second and third Elite track John with the beams and knock down his shields just before John manages to dive behind a pile of metal.

      John reloads his rifle from behind cover. "Cortana, I'm still picking up four moving enemies, don't tell me they're all still okay," said John.

      "Bad news Chief," replied Cortana. "All four Elites are back up and attempting a flanking maneuver on us. Their armor and shields are stronger than anything I've seen on Covenant Elites and their weapons appear to be of Forerunner design, Chief, as much as I hate to say it, we need to make a run for it."

      "I have no problems with a retreat," said John, "but there's no escape from these guys. They've been holding back, if I run away, they will mark me as a coward and hunt us down without mercy. I don't know how I know, I feel like I've fought their type before."

      "Then this is the end Chief," said Cortana.

      "Yes," replied John. "On the count of three, I'm going after the Elite with the sword, he appears to be their leader, we don't stop until one of us is dead."

      "I'm ready Chief," said Cortana. "If it comes down to it, they won't take me alive either."

      "One, two, three, go!" John charges out from cover directly at the first Elite. "Kihaaaaa!" yelled John as he fired his battle rifle.

      As the beams from the second and third Elite struck John, small explosions blasted over the heads of the Elites. Each explosion was like a small plasma grenade followed by a wave of needles. The needles homed in on the Elites causing other explosions.

      Against the wall next to the entrance stood Covenstein. In his hand he held a strange looking grenade the shape of a spiked ball with a handle. "Eat needler grenades you Immortal pains," said Covenstein as he tossed the grenade and quickly grabbed another from a satchel he wore.

      A bigger explosion was seen next to the fourth Elite. The Elite rolled on the ground having just been hit by his own grenade. All around him the tiny machines with plasma torches swarmed -- biting and cutting away at his armor.

      Before the swarm could reach the first Elite, he raised his sword and with a mighty shout, he charged at John. "Mahaaaaaaaaaaa!"

      As they approached each other, John dove forward at the Elite's legs in the shape of a small, elongated ball turned sideways. The Elite jumped up and over John with graceful ease. However, as the Elite took to the air he soon realized the mistake in his technique.

      John rolled up quickly and zoomed in his sights on the head of the Elite. Without the aid of thrusters or anti-gravity, once the Elite took to the air, he could rotate but not change direction -- This made his movements much more predictable.

      John fired three shots at the flipping Elite before the Elite landed. The first shot hit its mark as did the second, bringing down the Elite's personal shield. The third shot hit dead center below the left ear, penetrating the armor.

      The Elite landed facing John. Arms at his side, he staggered until bam! John placed a round through the left eye socket of the Elite. The scrambled brains of the Elite oozed out of the eye socket, the ears, the nose, and the mouth of the Elite. Thud, the Elite hit the ground.

      John quickly turned his sights on each of the other Elites in turn but the swarm had already got all of them.

      "Well it appears your nano-machines were of use after all," said Covenstein with a smile. "Using them to take over the tiny Forerunner machines was an excellent idea. I could not have devised a better plan myself."

      "You're not so bad either Noc," said John.

      "Chief, Noc, we're not out of this yet," said Cortana.

      Cortana could not be more correct; above the group appears the Prophet Lextus. "Spartan, watching you in action almost makes me think that I should spare you," said Lextus, "but alas, this ship has sped far from Earth while you were busy fighting, there is no turning back. The god Margoth is waiting for you."

      John zooms in his sights on Lextus and places his finger over the trigger.

      "Don't bother," said Covenstein. "It's just a construct, you can't hurt it. I might add a very powerful construct and one whose projector I cannot locate."

      "Chief, this is no ordinary construct," said Cortana. "Its power levels are nearly off the scale."


-- Next, Oh Great, Now What --

Shadows of Archon II (part 29) - Oh Great, Now What?
Date: 27 November 2002, 9:51 am

A dedication from the author:

      As there are only about 4 chapters left in this series, this chapter is dedicated to Knightmare, Sarge, Arch, Diablo, and Spart who have been there from the beginning. I'd also like to mention MasterChief, Vero, Kyle (or is it now The sword of the admiral) who have provided inspiration through thoughtful comments for some time and new comers like Xzilen. If I've missed anyone, sorry, it's my oversight.

      For them I've written this in the style of my original series, "The Return of the Archons." Without further ado, here it is. Enjoy...


------------------------------------------------


Oh Great, Now What?


      John wiped the newly formed frost from his visor. As he gazed across the glitter filled room, now severely obscured in a thick fog, he no longer saw it as a room filled with a kingdom's treasure, but only as a prison. John would trade all this treasure, his weapons and even his army of tiny robots just for one working thermal generator or a pile of dry kindling. Yes, a nice old-fashioned campfire would be more than welcome right now, beside a cabin on the lakeside roasting marshmallows and telling scary stories.

      Cortana's words snapped John back to the reality of the situation. "Chief systems failing, it's some kind of energy dampener field. Shutting down communications to conserve power..." Those were the last words John heard from Cortana.

      The cold, oh the bitter cold... John looks at his suit controls, his environmental suit is failing; his shields are down. With ice filling his lungs, each breath becomes colder and harder than the last.

      "A plan, need to think of a plan..." John utters as his vision starts to blur. In the icy cold John's body begins to numb but his mind becomes clear. He remembers the Grunt, the poor Grunt scientist.

      John looks at his new friend, Master Noc Covenstein, rolled up on the ground shivering like a small animal in the dead of winter. This little Grunt saved John's ass just minutes ago, but there was no fighting them, the Forerunners are just too clever and powerful.

      "Hang in there, Noc," said John in a commanding voice as he covered the Grunt in priceless gems creating a makeshift blanket. John thought, why would an advanced race like the Forerunners have a treasure room like this, especially aboard a strike cruiser?

      "No matter," said John and then he began to hum battle hymns from ancient times. With a fire in his heart, he moved ever so persistently, picking up discarded weapons and placing them about like a science or art project. When he seemed satisfied with his work, he sat down on the ground, his silhouette the shape of an armored warrior monk. There was nothing to do now but wait and stay awake -- must stay awake.

      [Fade to black. Much time passes in darkness.]


      "System starting..." read John's HUD, but John lay still as the night.

      Approaching voices were heard. Still John remained unmoving.

      "Is it dead?" said a voice not unlike a young woman's.

      "No my lady, he is wanted alive, but the dampener field did its job well" said another deeper voice. "The thing is that primitives like these are so predictable, always so good at the close combat but after one devastating area of effect attack and they are history."

      "Commander, was it necessary to turn off the dampener field so soon," said a third voice.

      "Yes Nietche, quite necessary," replied the deeper voice. "His vitals appeared too low, he must be taken alive. Now grab him and let's get out of here."

      "Alert, enemy weapons arming," said a monotone voice in the background.

      Psssh, bam, sizzle... weapons fire from all around. John had booby-trapped the whole area contingent on the two captured Forerunner weapons. These weapons did not have enough energy to fire in the dampener field but still remained functional in a standby mode. When power was restored, they fired. At the same time dozens of needler grenades were launched into the air, how they could tell enemy from friend John did not know -- attribute that to Covenstein's genius.

      When he heard no more explosions, John rolled up on one knee with Battle Rifle in hand. All around him dying Immortals (Imperial Elites) twitched and bled, but John had little focus on them, in his sights was a beautiful young woman with fire in her eyes and a dark mist in orbit around her. One of the dying Immortals had fallen too close to the dark mist and John could see the arm of the Elite dissolve in mere seconds leaving only bones and armor.

      "Don't move," commanded John. "Who and what are you?"

      "How dare you speak to a goddess in such a tone, but then, maybe I should get used to it, you are the vessel that Margoth has chosen to return in. Hmm... Spartan, you can call me Xeth, the Lady Xeth."

      John moves and retrieves one of the Forerunner weapons and places it over his left hand and arm. In his right he kept hold of his rifle, never once taking his rifle sights off of Xeth, but cautiously looking about for something else.

      "Spartan, if you are worried about others, don't -- it is just you and me. I sent that new Voice of Morgoth to his ship. Oh, you probably know him as the Prophet Lextus. What an insistent creature, he actually thought that he was going to present you to Margoth. I could not see that happening so I took the liberty to intercept this ship. Oh your body will look so good on Margoth," Xeth said with a smirk.

      "I hate to rain on your parade Lady, but that's not gonna happen," remarked John as he kneeled down to help Covenstein get up.

      "Thank you Spartan," said Covenstein in a noble but high voice, then the Grunt quickly assembled a small weapon resembling a crossbow and placed an ornate blue bolt in the shaft. Pointing the weapon at Xeth he smiled saying, "Allow me, courtesy of the Archons."

      "Hiss, those meddlers," screeched Xeth. "I command you to put that thing away or I'll..."

      "Or what my Lady, for a goddess you sure sweat like a Gundarian weeble," replied Covenstein. "This nice missile reacts to your Forerunner power levels, the more power you exert the more it seeks you. If you raise your power level to teleport or to blast us, it will automatically fire. Do you feel lucky, goddess, well do you?"

      Xeth turns her head away from Covenstein as if the mere sight of the missile disturbed her.

      "Nice going Noc, keep an eye on her, and be careful that mist around her dissolves flesh," said John. "Cortana, are you there?"

      "Just one moment Chief," replied Cortana. "There, diagnostics completed, I'm here, I'm all here. Oh great, now what. Chief, I've got a memory parody error and a power leak in a secondary neural array system, tracing and purge failed."

      "How serious is this?" asked John.

      "Not serious but it is exhibiting the properties of a virus, no telling what kind of damage or backdoors it might leave," explained Cortana, "and I've got to put more cycles in containing rogue processes."

      "I can help with this," said Covenstein. "Spartan, have this Forerunner lead us to the ship's control room while I help Cortana, here is the Archonian weapon."


      As Covenstein and Cortana worked on solving their problem, Xeth reluctantly led the group to the control room. Once there, Xeth insisted on looking out the main holo-viewers.

      "We have arrived, Spartan," said Xeth.

      "Spartan, these controls indicate that we have reached Sanctum, the Covenant Seat of Power," said Covenstein. "How is this possible, oh yes, in the energy dampener field we must have been placed in a form of stasis. Minutes, hours to us might have been days and weeks."

      "Yes this is Sanctum," said Xeth, "and as you can see there is not much left of your mighty Covenant, not much left except slaves to the gods and food for the Flood."

      "No, this can't be..." replied Covenstein as he looked in sadness and disillusionment. The planets, once housing billions of Covenant were now blackened orbs of glass. Covenant ships, once great and noble, now drift, derelicts in space.

      "At first they fought admirably, honor before death, truth and the holy spirit," added Xeth, "but after the Flood was released onto your worlds, your leaders ordered the glassing of your own planets to stop the plague. After that, the heart and soul was ripped from the Covenant. Wait, it even gets worse, look yonder, those broken fragments are a few from the hundreds of small ring worlds that we destroyed, each of those rings contained the tombs of your greatest dead Prophets. Did you not recognize the treasures aboard this very ship? Yes, pillaged from the tombs of your more greedy Prophets. You are months too late to save your kind. Did you even think that your species, a bunch of insects to the great gods, would even stand a glimmer of a chance? You are an idealistic idiot. A peon, a fool, a stupid... arrrrrgh, nooooooo!"

      The ground shakes and into a multi-colored vortex is sucked Xeth, never to be seen again. John lowers the Archonian weapon and removes his finger from the trigger. Outside, the enormous asteroid ship of Xeth's vanishes into nothingness.

      "Thank you," said Covenstein with tears in his eyes, "I had not the will to act, yet I wished for nothing more than its demise. Spartan, Xeth has been unmade by the Archons, but I am told the cost is much, a great Archon and Starguardian has perished for this act to succeed. Xeth might be reborn in some other place and some other time but will continue to meet a horrible demise until she does an unselfish and good act of such magnitude that it makes up for the untimely demise of the Archon and Starguardian. So I am told, so I am told..."

      "Chief, good news," interjected Cortana. "I isolated and contained the issue, I can't seem to purge it yet but it won't be causing any more problems."

      "That is good news Cortana," remarked John, "and now what can you do with this ship?"

      "Already working on it," replied Cortana.

      "Me too," said Covenstein.

      "You know Chief, I've been wondering, those Archons sure have helped us, why do you suppose?" asked Cortana.

      "Noc, can you give us some answers?"

      "I cannot tell you much Spartan due to reasons I cannot tell you, but I can say that the Archons are like a light that guides and burns brightest in the heart. Their light shines on living things and creates shadows. These shadows work the magic and protect the life. We, Spartan, are these shadows. We are the Shadows of Archon."

      John looks back out the holo-viewer, the three of them against 20,000 Forerunner ships, this is going to be one hell of a fight.


-- Next, Payback --

Shadows of Archon II (part 30) - Payback
Date: 3 December 2002, 6:07 am

Aboard the captured Forerunner cruiser, Nahanglia, in the Covenant Sactum system:

      John, Cortana, and Master Noc Covenstein are frantically trying to reach the XX1, their only chance of escape. After the group destroyed the Forerunner called Xeth, the Forerunner Margoth remotely took control of their ship. Soon after that, a legion of Immortals (Imperial Elites) boarded.

      "Get the lead out Noc, only 200 meters to go," remarked John. "Cortana, get those doors open."

      "I'm working on it Chief," replied Cortana. "The Forerunners have this ship locked down tighter than..."

      "No time, Cortana, they are coming," interrupted Covenstein. "Spartan, I recommend using these."

      John takes the small device and overshield from Covenstein, "Is this what I think it is? Alright, take cover." The device is stuck to the door and encased in the custom made overshield.

      Kaboooooom!


      Explosions rattle, but in space no one can hear you scream. John finds himself drifting in space, the Forerunner cruiser a distant outline against the stars.

      "Chief, wake up," rattled Cortana's voice.

      "I'm up, a little shaken but I'm up," said John. "What's the status?"

      "According to my calculations the blast should have put Noc over here and the XX1 over there," replied Cortana. "Here are the Nav points. Chief, it's too risky to use the comm, but I've tried to signal Noc using the light from my holo projector. So far no reply. I hope he's okay."

      "Don't worry about him, I've never seen a Grunt so tough or lucky," remarked John. "Cortana, we're moving in the same direction as the XX1, is that right?"

      "That is correct Chief, the anti-matter explosion only managed to blow a small portion out of the Forerunner vessel," explained Cortana, "so we all traveled out the same hole. Noc is moving further away from us but we are gaining on the XX1 due to its much greater mass and energy absorption properties. I recommend firing your Battle Rifle to make adjustments in our trajectory."

      "So we'll get the XX1 and then go pick up Noc," remarked John.

      John grasps his rifle and holds it near his center of mass. It's a wonder that the rifle stayed attached through the explosion, it almost didn't -- only a small thread remained of its strap. What really counts though is that this reliable UNSC issue weapon did stay attached. Ever so precisely, John fires it making minute adjustments until he is almost within grasping distance of the XX1.

      Click. Out of ammo. "Good old Battle Rifle, reliable to the end," said John as he tosses the rifle away giving him just enough acceleration to reach the XX1.

      Inside the XX1, John becomes the ship. John almost feels like he is one of the Old Ones -- one of that mysterious space-faring race from millions and billions of years ago, the creators of the XX1 and untold other wonders.

      "There he is," said John. Noc was easy to spot from the XX1, the little Grunt stuck out in the vacuum of space like a solar flare. Much harder to detect, however, was a cloaked Forerunner ship, lying in wait it scooped up Noc before anything could be done about it.

      "Chief, they got Noc," gasped Cortana, "and their engines are powering up for a jump."

      "Here goes nothing..." Quickly John pilots the XX1 right under the main engines of the Forerunner vessel. Literally hovering inside its warp field, the XX1 is pulled into slip space with it.

      "Well that was impulsive. Chief, we have never tested the XX1 in the dynamics of slip space," uttered Cortana. "We're in for a bumpy ride. Listen Chief; follow the Nav point carefully, one miss and we'll be flung out of slip space. This whole procedure is highly unorthodox. Sometimes I wonder if you do this on purpose."

      "Got it Cortana. I've got a new policy of my own -- don't leave friends behind."


-----------------------------------------------


Payback


Aboard Installation 5150, a secret ONI listening station in the middle of nowhere, 4.3 Light Years from the Covenant Sactum system:

      "Abra, abra," said the broken middle aged man. A single light shone quite brightly on his figure. He once was a mighty man, commanding great power and respect, but that was then, and this is now.

      "Give him some water, he is thirsty," ordered the ONI doctor as she turned the viewer off. Turning to the dimly lit and sterile room, she addressed the audience. "As you can see sirs and esteemed colleagues, the mental probe has left the former Governor Balisco a mental vegetable."

      "Did we get what we wanted?" asked Admiral Keyes.

      "Yes, the information we pulled from his brain confirms the intelligence reports given to us by the Covenant," said the doctor, "and we now have the location of the new Forerunner super weapon."

      An incoming transmission cuts the conversation short. "Go ahead Decker."

      "Admiral sir, first congratulations on your promotion," said Decker, "second I've finally tracked down the Covenant Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon, he's on the comm link."

      "Put him through on a secure channel," said Keyes as he excused himself from the room and entered an adjacent office.

      "Greeting Admiral Keyes, sometimes I wonder how we keep all of this together, we have remnants of over 42 Covenant fleets, Gundarian mercenaries, Human Earth defense and colonial fleets, and now your ONI special-forces ships and a cadre of the Elite Imperial 13th Fleet. How would humans put it? Yes, a rag tag fleet," said Tarkon over the private comm link. "By the way, what was it that you wanted?"

      "Commander, we have confirmed your intelligence reports," replied Keyes, "and we have the location of the new Alpha Halo. Our report is being sent to you now."

      Tarkon looks over the report. "This doesn't look good, not only is the new Forerunner Alpha Halo more powerful than ever, but as we anticipated, the Nomdian that they captured known as the Grace, has provided them with stargate technology. This new Halo can fire a concentrated pulse that can destroy entire star systems in a single shot. By firing the weapon through the stargate, it can reach anywhere in the galaxy nearly instantaneously. Nothing is safe."

      "They pretty much are unstoppable already," remarked Keyes. "Who would they use this weapon on?"

      "I believe they would use it on three of their greatest nemeses: The Archons, the Nomdians, and the Praetor," said Tarkon. "While all three nations are small and pose little threat to the Forerunner expansion, their home systems are well defended and probably could never be taken. The Archon worlds are protected by technology from a long lost culture known as the Old Ones, only a weapon such as this new Alpha Halo might be able to defeat them. The Nomdians have advanced technology that could even surpass the Forerunners. They too cannot be defeated easily. The Praetor and his forces are the descendants of the original Forerunners; they themselves are Forerunners."

      "Do you really think they will help us?" asked Keyes in a quiet voice.

      "They must, we have no other hope," replied Tarkon. "Is there something else bothering you Jarad? Is it the loss of your Spartan?"

      "Yes, you know me better than I thought," remarked Keyes. "This is perhaps the most ambitious and complex plan we will ever undertake -- to capture the new Alpha Halo and use its stargate to transport us to the home systems of the Archons, Nomdians, and the Praetor. Destroying a super weapon is one thing, but capturing a fortified and fully operational Halo is another story. Yes I miss my old friend, if anyone could accomplish this mission, it would be him and Cortana."

      "I understand," said Tarkon. "We Elites have a saying, it roughly translates to: The harsh road still lies ahead, farewell to your friends, this is only the beginning."

      "Thanks, we humans have a saying too... it's payback time."


      Preparations are made, time passes. Admiral Jarad Keyes stands on the bridge of the UNSC cruiser, the Moon of Orion. "All ships now in slip space," the comm blasted.

      All ships indeed Keyes thought. A powerful fleet, only seven thousand ships strong, but the courage and experience possessed by the crews was unsurpassed. Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, Prophets, Humans, Bobs, AIs -- you name it, they were here. Brothers and sisters in arms, nothing was going to stop them.

      Veteran and elite crews, even the youngest of them, like Ensign Conner Black, newly assigned to the Moon of Orion, had seen more combat in a few years that most regulars in a life time.

      They were our last and greatest hope -- failure was not an option.


      The trip in slip space was a bonding experience; humans and Covenant alike attempted to learn each other's languages and customs, often ending up in bitter misunderstandings only later becoming lasting friendships. Even the young Conner Black grew up some, he grew quite a nice young man's beard before shaving if off and rumors have it that he became quite popular with the ladies too.

      Our destination was on the far reaches of former Covenant territories. A system called Juken. This was the location where the Forerunners chose to assemble their new super weapon.

      The day before arriving, a moving memorial service was given across the armada in honor of those that have fallen, and under the advice of the Covenant, in honor of those about to die.

      Things moved quite quickly after that as if the burden of saying good-byes was lifted, now people worked efficiently without even having to utter a word.


      "Where are the scouting reports?" shouted Keyes.

      "Admiral sir, we lost contact with them," replied the comm.

      "With or without those reports, we all know this is a one-way trip," remarked Keyes. "Lieutenant get me..."

      "He's on the comm now sir."

      "Admiral, we have lost contact with our scouts," said Supreme Fleet Commander Tarkon. "Our plan to slip right next to the target might be compromised. We're jumping in blind; we need to prepare for the worst. There's no turning back now."

      "Yes Commander," smiled Keyes. "Damn the intelligence reports, full speed ahead." But as he speaks, Keyes is rocked from side to side. "Are we hit, damage report."

      "Sir, it's too big an effect to be weapon's fire. No damage but scanners are going crazy, we can't stay in slip space."

      "Admiral, did you...[static]" uttered Tarkon.

      "Yes, we felt it too," replied Keyes, "and we need to leave slip space."

      "Right [static]"


      As the order is given, the combined fleets exit slip space. Quite a sight for the crews, seven thousand ships exiting slip space at the same time. Too bad that they never could actually have seen it.

      "Battle stations," the call was heard across the fleet. Just before the enemy disappeared under the veil of cloak, more than twenty thousand enemy ships were spotted around one ring-shaped station, the super weapon.

      "Sir, the enemy fleet was waiting for us," said the ship AI. "According to the Covenant reports, these are some of the same ships that attacked their home worlds. Sir, it is all of them, the entire Forerunner fleet."

      "Oldest trick in the book," remarked Keyes. "What about our Covenant allies?"

      "They are on full battle alert and charging into the fray. They're blasting a hole for us."

      "Very good," said Keyes. "All ships, full ahead, protect the ONI troop transport ships, they must reach the ring."



-- Next, Revelations --

Shadows of Archon II (part 31) - Revelations
Date: 9 December 2002, 6:37 am

      "Admiral, we aren't going to make it." Those words rang loudly in Keye's head. Indeed the allied forces were running the ultimate gauntlet -- twenty thousand Forerunner vessels stood between them and the new Forerunner Alpha Halo.

      The Covenant allies were taking the blunt of the Forerunner fire; early estimates gave a ten to one kill ratio in the Forerunner favor. This was not a small battle; there would be no Keyes loop here. Tens of thousands of ships and each one seemed no more than a small insect under the hammer.

      Millions of missiles were fired from the UNSC forces chasing the hundreds of thousands of plasma torpedoes launched by the Covenant allies. Many missed but still a million hit their mark. At the first sign of Forerunner losses, the morale of the alliance raised a hundred fold.

      How could this be? Only seven thousand alliance ships started this battle, but every one of them was jammed packed with fighters and strike bombers. Not enough room to land them all so they launched from shuttle bays and makeshift external tubes connected to where life pods would be until 300,000 of them filled the battle area. The fighters were stripped of every weapon except for short-range pulse lasers to make room for a larger payload of capital ship destroying missiles. Many of the fighters were reduced to nothing more than missile platforms. The alliance had one more trump card, with the advancement in nano-machine technologies, each missile had a full ship grade AI guiding it, there would be no jamming or distracting these missiles.

      The many proximity explosions from plasma torpedoes revealed the cloaked Forerunner vessels. The capital ship destroying missiles homed in with extreme prejudice. This was an awesome display of force, tactics, and the best that the new alliance could offer. Forerunner battleships and cruisers alike burned across the gaps of space like tiny comets and solar flares. Only the Forerunner Super-dreadnoughts withstood the full fury of the attacks. Five thousand Forerunner vessels were no more.

      I wish I could say that things got better for the alliance, that the tide of battle had changed, but that is not the case. The Forerunner forces were not easily disheartened, backed by the will of their god Margoth, they fought on with deadly purpose.

      Their mighty weapon, the new Alpha Halo fired a strange pulse the width of several worlds. Hundreds of alliance ships were caught in its destructive force; one of the first to go was the Covenant flagship, the Virtue and Reverence. It was already in flames and badly damaged from battle, after the invisible Halo pulse passed, it was followed by a great light, brighter than the sun and in its flash, the Virtue and Reverence was engulfed, utterly annihilated.

      Forerunner plasma-antimatter cutter beams and lances, antimatter and graviton-warhead missiles, and the world destroying neutronium bombs soon followed. Wave after wave until only 300 alliance ships remained.


      In all, only seven minutes had passed. On the bridge of the Moon of Orion, smoke and electric flames surrounded Admiral Keyes. On the main viewer was the new Forerunner Alpha Halo. They had made it to the ring, but had the transport ships?

      "We must abandon ship Admiral," said that persistent AI. "There is no other way. Destruction is imminent."

      "Did the transports make it?" asked Keyes in a calm voice.

      "No data, it is unknown," said the AI.

      "As long as there is hope for the transports, we fight to provide cover."

      "Aye sir," replied the AI. "Admiral, picking up three transport ships 100,000 kilometers from the ring. Forerunners moving to intercept."

      "Move the fleet on a vector right down their throats," said Keyes, "and transmit this message to everyone."

      "Everyone sir."

      Keyes nods yes, and then takes a long breath. "Though I have never seen a new born star or the dark halo of Andromeda, I have no regrets. Today I have nothing but admiration for the alliance. The Forerunner bastards may win the battle but they can never win the war. As long as there are those who will fight for what is right, to protect the weaker and stand up against tyranny and oppression, we have hope."

      Forerunner ships swerve to target the Moon of Orion.

      With a gleam in his eyes, Keyes shouts saying, "They can never defeat us because we aren't just a people but an idea -- An idea that the Forerunners fear. Step aside petty tyrants, Margoth the weak, you are facing the true power of life. Though you may destroy my frail body, the idea will live. My death will not be enough for there will be others, on other worlds, in far off galaxies, some not yet a shadow in the light of time. They will hear my calling and feel the power and strength in the words."

      Missiles track the Moon of Orion, weapons fire.

      Proud and sturdy, the Admiral stands. He sings the UNSC anthem while the ship's AI sings a Covenant battle hymn in perfect rhythm and accent. The clearness of their voices pierces the flames and vacuum.

      When the weapons hit, the Moon of Orion is destroyed. Although the voice of Keyes is no longer heard, the songs continue to be broadcast. In the face of death, aboard the remaining alliance ships, first one then another voice is heard, each singing songs from the heart. The songs may be different and the voices strange, but together, they sound as one. They are the beat of the same drum.

      As Forerunner ships close in for the kill, the doom that beholds the moment is laughed at and met with courage.


      The Forerunners do not make mistakes; they so efficiently eliminate the opposition, and win the battle. However, to never make mistakes is a flaw in itself. To explain the how, we must first examine the why. The why goes back thousands and thousands of years ago to the days of the last Forerunner empire in this galaxy. Despite all the advancements of the Forerunners, there were those among them that held strong resentment and envy for the Old Ones. The Old Ones predate the Forerunners by billions of years some say and their great wonders still exist today as a constant reminder of their greatness. You see the Old Ones understood paradox and null (nothingness). No Forerunner weapon, no matter how powerful, could even scratch the wonders of the Old Ones. And try they did for thousands of years.

      When the Archons first came to this galaxy, the Forerunners allowed them to settle on old worlds of the Old Ones. Nothing but primitive things could survive on these worlds thought the Forerunners. It was tough for the Archons, but they did survive because Archons are primitives, like children they accepted the ways of the worlds and danced by campfires and tossed away the tools of technology. But since Archons are immortal in spirit, as each generation grew and learned better ways to live on the primitive Old One worlds, their spirits remained alive and the race as a whole moved forward until Archonian technology somehow just worked on these worlds. When it came to the wars between the Forerunners and Archons, the Archons survived siege after siege, protected by the wonders of the Old Ones.

      The Forerunner Margoth had long realized the Archons could never be defeated until the Forerunners could get passed the Old One protection. So after destroying all Covenant forces in the area around the Jukan system just over one year ago, he proceeded to set up the new Alpha Halo there. You see the Jukan system is also protected by the wonders of the Old Ones. This made Jukan the ideal place to test the new Alpha Halo's weapons against the technology of the Old Ones. So Margoth believed, and he was right for the new Alpha Halo's super weapon turned out to be much more than anything developed before.

      On the other hand, Jukan is more than just another world of the Old Ones; it shares the same time and space as Mira, the Old Ones home world. Long hidden because it existed within another world, Mira is the home of the Old Ones Master Portal, the Heart of Darkness.

      This all sets the stage for things to come...


      As we move forward through time to the present, the Forerunners have finished mopping up the last of the alliance ships. However, it is not a total loss for the alliance, a small victory has been achieved. Unrealized for just enough beats of the drum, ONI and Covenant Spec Ops transports moved onto the Alpha Halo. Cloaked in utter cold and empty silence, they reached the surface. Only a few, but they bring with them hope.

      Three of the transport ships, the ONI Prima, the ONI Bell, and the Covenant Revelation, are to land close by each other. Originally to form a defensive perimeter and beachhead for more transports but their roles will have to change.

      Aboard the transport ship Prima, the 303rd ONI assault troops wait for the exit doors to open. Each unit in MJOLNIR armor and equipped with a full array of heavy weapons and a compliment of newly developed hover tanks and mobile artillery. "We're on approach, incoming ground fire," said the pilot. Moments later, the exit doors open and the troops drop to the surface.

      The 303rd deploys on a direct route towards a main entrance that leads into the tunnels below the Alpha Halo, 1.2 kilometers from their target, the Halo's control room. Reports begin to flood in, "[static]...resistance heavy, unexpected...[static]."

      Across the terrain appeared fortified towers and shielded turrets. The enemy planned well for a ground assault. Many of the towers and turrets remained underground until they were needed and now have been raised to saturate the land with rays of death. The three major towers standing 1 kilometer in height are the first targets for artillery and air strike. Like enormous lighthouses they stood shining down on the land, each one with a hundred beam turrets that cut away rock and flesh equally well.

      The Bell and Revelation land above the target. The Bell containing the 1011th combat engineers only has a few minutes to get their equipment working and out of sight. That's all the time the Covenant Special Ops can manage the battle against the onrush of the enemy, a familiar enemy at that.

      From small hidden hatches around the battlefield come Flood warriors armed with Covenant and Forerunner weapons. The never stopping horde has caught the alliance by surprise. Before the Covenant could deploy their badly needed Shadows and Shade guns for perimeter defense, the Flood has already overrun the outer lines, capturing much of the equipment.

      However, like in many times in the past, the Covenant Imperial 7th crashes the party. Kept in reserve and newly rebuilt with Brutes to compliment the cadre of mighty Elites, they unleash on the Flood with this simple order, "Hold the line."

      Trudging knee deep in the remains of Flood warriors with thousands more Flood on the way, the 7th deploys plasma-based fuel-air explosives over the battlefield, killing many of their own with thousands of more Flood.

      The black and multi-colored smoke filled the land and hugged the ground, blocking all vision. Using alternative visuals, the 7th battles on, through their visors the battle looks of an old black and white movie, filled with snow and static. Flood shapes peek-out of the static and snow just long enough for target lock by the observant and deadly 7th.

      The 1011th is almost ready, just 30 more seconds. Looming above though, unseen through the heavy smoke is a Forerunner strike cruiser. One of its antimatter bombs would be enough to end the hopes of the alliance in one foul swoop. The bomb might damage the control center of Halo though, so instead the ship flies above raining plasma beams in all directions.

      The 1011th machines are ready and begin to descend into the surface of Halo. These ground transports are giant plasma drilling machines. Instead of fighting through the catacombs underneath the surface, the alliance is tunneling their way to the control room. These transports are so new that they only have the designation Wolverine Prototype II.

      200 alliance troops remain on the mission to the control room; that's only five of the Wolverines. Through the rear view on Wolverine 2 is a strange sight, the battle fatigued eyes of the ONI Ops must be playing tricks. Following the transport down the tunnel is a strange triangular ship with a single MJOLNIR clad figure riding on top of it like a body surfer.

      "Should I shoot it sir?" asked the lieutenant.

      "No, hold your fire; that has to be him, he's the only one that could pull off a stunt as prosperous as this," replied the Colonel.

      "Him sir?"

      "Lieutenant, you need to take your head out of those training manuals more often... Him is the one they wrote the book on."


      When Wolverine 2 reached the control room they were met with a dismal sight. Wolverine 1 in flames, dead body parts blasted around. The Colonel surveyed the situation, with a slight hesitation he says, "Everyone out and secure the area."

      Outside the Wolverine, the tall figure in MJOLNIR armor approaches the group saying, "Colonel, your group is the only one that made it, Cortana has been monitoring the communications."

      The Colonel nodded and then smiled, "Master Chief, I knew it had to be you. Any ideas where the assailants went that ambushed Wolverine 1?"

      From the shadows came a voice, "They're everywhere Colonel Lee, but for the moment we are safe. We are glad you made it Master Chief."

      John turns and acknowledges the voices, a group of Spooks. Yes, ONI special ops wouldn't be anything without Spooks. "Yes, good to see you made it too sirs. How long do we have?"

      "That depends," replied the Spook. "That depends on him."

      John looks above and entering the room from access tunnels is a little blue floating cube and a few hundred Forerunner Sentinels.

      "Greetings I am 343 Guilty Spark, oh, it is you Reclaimer, how fortunate."

      "Come to pull the wool over our eyes again, Sparky?" blurted Cortana.

      "343 Guilty Spark has been helping us," interjected the Spook.

      "Quite correct my dear colleague," said Guilty Spark. "After the destruction of Installation 04, I was bent on reacquiring the Index from you, but fortunately I was retrieved by the Praetor. Given some time to ponder decisions that had been made, I was cured of my sickness. I offered my services to the insane Forerunners, they could not resist the service of someone as esteemed as myself, oh I am such a genius."

      "Get to the point," said John.

      "Yes, Reclaimer," replied Guilty Spark. "I am, or rather we are, secret operators on a mission from the Praetor. He did not see it fit to leave the entire fate of this galaxy in the hands of such primitives. A well calculated decision."

      "Then the Praetor will help us?" said John.

      "Yes and no, the Praetor will not help you directly, I have been sent but no more help will come," replied Guilty Spark. "It was the decision of the counsel that the new nations must fight this battle."

      "Master Chief," interrupted the Spook. "This ring has three control rooms, one for the stargate controls, one for the super weapon, and this one for the rest. The Colonel's group will stay here to guard this control room; we will use the teleportation grid to travel to the other two control rooms. We Spooks will take control of the super weapon control room; you and Guilty Spark will take control of the stargate control room. Once we control all of Halo, we will turn the weapons against the Forerunners and use the stargate to transport this ring and all ships in the surrounding area to the Archon home system."

      "They might not help us here, but we're taking the battle to their front door," said the Colonel.

      "We must hurry," stated Guilty Spark. "Margoth will soon realize the extent of our deception."

      "I'm coming too, Spartan." All eyes turned to the XX1, out of the small triangular ship pops out the Grunt scientist, Master Noc Covenstein.

      "No doubt Noc, let's go," replied John.


      Before entering the teleportation grid, John looked around. Beside himself and Cortana were 343 GS and Noc -- A Spartan, human construct, Forerunner construct, and a Covenant Grunt. If there ever was an unlikely alliance this seemed it. Now the fate of the galaxy rested on their shoulders.

      The trip through the grid seemed short this time. Before the group was another control room, this one filled with ornate tapestries and veils. In the center of the chamber, in a large transparent sphere floated a tentacle-faced robed figure -- An ancient Nomdian.

      "So we meet again Spartan," said the figure. "You are a fool to have come."

      "You cannot stop us, Nomdian," insisted Guilty Spark. "You are just a prisoner here."

      But the figure did not seem to acknowledge Guilty Spark; instead its glowing purple orbs for eyes gazed upon the young Grunt. "Covenstein, I hoped you would come."

      "My Grace, I can't say the years have treated you well," Covenstien replied with a smirk.

      "The trip back through null space took a very long time, I am ancient and dying," said the figure, "and you are in great danger, before it is too late you must stop them, everything you need is here, examine it well, I ask only one thing from.... Aargh." The figure passes out from pain as green and purple lightning projects from the sphere.


      Suddenly, all sound disappears and in the eerie silence a darkened shape approaches, the look of a giant cockroach. One word is not heard but echoes through the mind, "OMEGA!"

      Before the group now appears in the place of the shape, an Omega 343 Guilty Spark, an Omega Spartan with Omega Cortana, and an Omega Covenstein -- Stronger, faster, quicker, smarter and more powerful than the originals.

      John, Cortana, Noc, and Guilty Spark looked at their new nemeses. "So it has come down to this," stated Noc.

      There was no need or want for an answer.


-- Next, The Return --

Shadows of Archon II (part 32) - The Return
Date: 16 December 2002, 2:34 am

      The battle had been hard fought by the alliance but when the black smoke lifted like a shadow retreating across the land, it only revealed the charred remains of the dead. Those few stragglers that remained on the battlefield were quickly gunned down from above or dragged away by the Flood.

      The hope of the galaxy had rested on the alliance. For a time it seemed they might succeed, having taken control of two out of three of the Alpha Halo's control rooms they were well on their way to accomplishing their mission.

      However, that was before a single Omega Flood appeared. The ultimate warrior of the Flood Creators, a world destroyer, death's incarnate. A simple but unreal power it does possess, it echoed through dimensions to a negative universe, creating perfect duplicates of the alliance forces. How it accomplished this feat is a long lost science from billions of years before our creation, nevertheless, Elite fought Omega Elite, ONI fought Omega ONI, and Spook fought Omega Spook. The result, in all the cases, was the same -- total victory for the Omega.

      The only contested zone was the third control room of the new Forerunner Alpha Halo. Only this one battle remained. There stood the Master Chief, John 117; with him was Cortana, the human construct, and beside him the Forerunner construct, 343 Guilty Spark, and the Covenant Grunt scientist, Master Noc Covenstien.

      Before the group, stood an Omega 343 Guilty Spark, an Omega Spartan with Omega Cortana, and an Omega Covenstein. Everything was weighted heavily in the Omega's favor.

      It had all come down to this -- The moment of triumph or utter defeat. Lights flickered and the mind went blank.



      John danced around cover, as did the Omega Spartan. 343 Guilty Spark headed to the control panel. The Omega Covenstein stood holding his hand up high -- Something big was about to happen.

      From his hand, the Omega Covenstein fired a single energy bolt that homed in on 343 Guilty Spark. Striking with an array of pulses like lightning shooting from cloud to cloud, each pulse weakened the poor Forerunner Construct until his blue light faded and he clanked lifelessly on the ground -- Omega 1, alliance 0.

      "A positronic disrupter," said Covenstein. "These Omega don't fight fair. If only I had a..." Covenstein did not have time to finish his words before John pushed him aside and behind cover. Ever so calmly and quickly, John had taken to initiative to save Covenstein from the enemy.

      Above John's head fizzled a plasma energy lance projecting out from the Omega 343 Guilty Spark. The lance cut effortlessly through surrounding works of art and tapestries strewn about the control room, but that was far from the worse of it. The lance had no need to do any damage; it served its purpose nicely to distract the alliance just long enough.

      "Look out Chief," shouted Cortana.

      The Omega Spartan had teleported behind John. "Spartan, I am your superior and every way," it said in a tortured voice. "All your powers plus the power of Omega."

      In a flurry of attacks by the Omega Spartan, John's shields faded and his insides broke. The Omega Spartan knew everything John was going to do before John did it.

      John crumpled to the ground, his visor cracked, ribs broken. The Omega Spartan grabbed around John's head. One quick twist with sufficient force and John's neck would be snapped like a twig.

      The end was near, but in the face of certain death, John's mind was blank, in the clearness of his thought, he was hundreds of light years away, in another place. Beside him is she -- Dark hair with strands of gold, silver eyes as gray as the night sky and as piercing as an eagle's stare. Her beauty cannot be done justice by my mere words. Her sweetness is beyond simple description yet cannot be expressed with complex thoughts. With a smile, she reveals all and John snaps back into the reality of the moment.

      Without a word, but with the precision and focus beyond even a Spartan, John did three things at once. Grasping Cortana's chip, he threw it at the main control panel. Pulling a plasma grenade from his side, he tossed it like a Frisbee at the large transparent sphere near the middle of the chamber, and with all his remaining might, he struck into the ribs of the Omega Spartan.

      The Omega Spartan was well prepared for the latter action, bracing for the blow, he quickly snapping John's neck -- Omega 2, alliance 0. Then, turning to the control panel, he threw his Omega Cortana's chip.

      However, there was not the time to stop the plasma grenade from exploding from under the sphere. The sphere contained the Grace, a Nomdian prisoner. In the flash of exploding plasma, the Grace was freed. Faster than an asp's deadly strike, she leaped on the Omega Covenstein with renewed strength. Purple lightning shot out across the room, both the Omega Covenstein and the Nomdian collapsed -- Omega 2, alliance 1.

      Looking at the mess of the situation, the Omega Spartan fired a few rounds into the downed Nomdian, just in case, and then turned his attention to Covenstein.

      "If this is the end, I'm going out with honor," said Covenstein. The little Grunt stepped out from behind cover with an energy sabre, a weapon similar to other Covenant designs, but still a weapon of his own making.

      "So the renowned Grunt scientist wishes to fight us with an energy dagger," said Omega 343. "You are such an idiot... muahahahahahaha."

      "Pathetic is more like it," stated the Omega Spartan. Both the Omega Spartan and Omega 343 laughed insanely.

      Covenstein stood proudly, a long heritage of great Grunts was at stake. In soft words he spoke, "I could never defeat a Spartan in hand-to-hand combat, but you, a construct is much more to my abilities. I challenge you Omega 343 to a duel to the death."

      "I accept your death wish idiot," replied Omega 343. "It's just too bad for you that Omega never fight fair."

      With that statement, the Omega Spartan lifted his weapon, a fuel rod cannon, and prepared to fire it at Covenstein.

      "Bullocks," mouthed Covenstein as the green glow of the cannon reflected off of his visor.

      Bam! The Omega Spartan went down from a blow to the back of his head. From out of nowhere, John had picked up 343 Guilty Spark's lifeless shell and hit the Omega Spartan with it. John then proceeded to drive the fuel rod cannon that had fallen to the side, through the Omega Spartan's visor and into his brain.

      "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size," uttered John, who was obviously in great pain. To finish the job, John fired the fuel rod cannon inside the Omega Spartan's brain. The explosion finished off the Omega Spartan and blasted John back several meters where he landed on a pile of tapestries and pillows -- Omega 2, alliance 2.

      Covenstein, the super genius, knew exactly what had happened. The Omega Spartan had broken John's neck and the resulting pull on John's brain stem had caused him to blackout. John was dying with his neck twisted, he was paralyzed and blood was not getting to his brain. However, John's MJOLNIR armor is controlled by a neural implant. Although paralyzed from the neck down, John came too and was able to control his armor via his neural implant. He realigned his neck thus freeing up blood to go to his brain and relieving some of the pinched nerves in his spine. The MJOLNIR armor then hardened at the neck to immobilize the torn ligaments. John then proceeded to get up and do what he did, taking out the Omega Spartan.

      John is still in great need of medical attention; Covenstein must act quickly. With renewed confidence, Covenstein looked at the Omega 343; in short, Covenstein got his grove. In one swing, Convenstein's energy sabre grew to the length of seven meters. Matching the length of the Omega 343's energy lance.

      The tip of the energy sabre cut across the Omega 343 and for a moment its shields flicker down. "Not so tough, are ya?" taunted Covenstein.

      "Idiot!" replied Omega 343.

      "I'll bite your kneecaps off," said Covenstein as he swung the sabre again, but this time Omega 343 parried it with his energy lance.

      "I don't have kneecaps you lower class infidel," stated Omega 343 as the energy lance is thrust at Covenstein.

      "Whee!" exclaimed Covenstein as he back-flips away with the aid of his anti-gravity belt. "I'll bite your engines off."

      "You are redundant," insisted Omega 343.

      The energy lance dashed around and by Covenstein who parried, bobbed and weaved, and skip-stepped from side to side. "It will take more than that tin box."

      "I am a cybernetic construct, you fool. My programming is invincible!"

      "I see Omegas have a dander," said Covenstein. "Have you thought of anger management therapy?"

      "This is getting so mundane," snapped Omega 343. "Oh my, you are a tricky and vile creature."

      The lights flicker and strange wavy pulses move through the room. While Covenstein and Omega 343 dueled, Cortana and Omega Cortana fought for control of the Alpha Halo's star gate controls.

      In an instant, the Alpha Halo and all the surrounding ships are pulled through the star gate to the Praetor's home system. A battle ensues between Morgoth's Forerunner vessels and the Praetor's Forerunner vessels.

      "You have lost Omega," shouted Covenstein.

      The lights flicker again as the Alpha Halo and all the surrounding ships are pulled through the star gate back to the Juken system.

      "You speak too soon," stated Omega 343. "Now I will purge your construct from the core."

      "Over my dead body," snarled Covenstein.

      "That can be arranged," stated Omega 343. Just then the control room doors open and an army of Flood warriors approaches.

      The lights flicker once more, this time the destination is the Nomdian home system. However, the stay is shorter this time and soon the lights flicker and back to the Juken system goes everyone.

      "Can't we talk this over like civilized beings?" whimpered Covenstein.

      More flickering lights.

      "I purge her now," said Omega 343, but nothing seems to happen. "Strange, that's not supposed to happen."

      "What were you expecting, maybe a red carpet and trumpets," said Cortana whose holographic image appears on the main control.

      "Or maybe this bastard was expecting the Spanish Inquisition," said a second Cortana whose image appears next to the first Cortana. A third image of a lifeless Omega Cortana appears at their feet.

      "Two constructs in the core, this is highly..."

      "Save your comments for your maker," interrupted a lone female in Archonian Shadowguard armor. "Nice work Cort, and you too Cortana."

      Omega 343 looked at the Shadowguard, in a failed attempt at humor, it simply whimpered, "Your combat skin scans off the scale, I recommend degrading to level 2."

      On two other sides appeared forces to battle the Flood. On one side Nomdian Deathstalkers, on the other side Praetorian Guard. All around the control room, the Flood warriors are cut down in a matter of seconds.

      There is no escape for Omega 343 who perishes quickly afterwards and with it so do all the creations of the one Omega Flood.



      "My sweet Cort and dearest Cortana, I am so proud of you," sniffled Covenstein in tears of joy. "Thank you all, you arrived in just the nick of time."

      "It's not over yet," said Val the Shadowguard. "Margoth comes."

      Indeed the ground shook and darkness fell upon the alliance once again.



      The combined might of the Archons, Nomdians, and Praetor could easily defeat an already weakened Omega Flood or even the might of an insane Forerunner god. However, that was not to be the case with Margoth, for Margoth had an army of Omega Flood. To release the army meant the Forerunner god himself would have to bend to the will of the Flood Creators, those masters from another place, unheard of in billions of years.

      So Margoth did make the deal that sealed his own fate and the fate of the universe. One by one the Omega Flood army awakened. Nothing could stop them once they exercised their powers.

      "Thus comes to pass the greatness of a god and all we have now is the bleak reality of total Flood domination," said the voice of Margoth who appeared in the control room. "You have no one to blame but yourselves. Margoth, Bringer of the Flood, only wanted to protect you from them. Now you face them on your own. Without the power of the gods behind you."

      The voice of Margoth was flesh again, but he still feared nothing. How strange the twist of events that followed.

      "You are flesh," said the Nomdian Deathstalkers, "and we are the Lady DeathStalkers. We are the next generation; we bear with us the knowledge and memories of the Lady. We should be more clear, you are food."

      With that, the Deathstalkers brought down the mighty voice of Margoth and consumed his brain. They gained all the knowledge bestowed in him, including information privy only to Margoth.

      "We don't have much time, we must contain the Omega Flood," said the Deathstalkers. "We must interface the ring's pulse with null space."

      "It just could work," blurted Cort and Cortana.

      "Excellent," said Covenstein.

      John usually remains silent at times like this, but he just had to know. "What could work?" he asked.

      "It's so obvious," was the reply.

      "Indeed," said 343 Guilty Spark who was still lying on the ground but recovering from the effects of the positronic disrupter. "Ouch, how did I get this dent in me?"

      Val approached John saying, "Almost forgot about you stud, we need to get you healed. I missed you..."

      The lights flicker and go dim.

      "It is done," said the Deathstalkers. "We have surrounded the system in a stasis dampener field -- the Web of Juken it shall be called. Time is no long the same for us."

      "And neither will we have power and life support for long," said Cortana. "Those of us that can live at low power levels and in stasis will survive, the rest, these are the last of your days."

      "Who will die?" panicked Val.

      "You will live, you will sleep in your Shadowguard armor," replied the DeathStalkers, "and the constructs will survive at minimum power levels. The rest of us will die if we do not find some stasis chambers that will work in the web. We must all remember, this is for the greater good, the Omega Flood must be contained."

      Only very dim lights remain as the power fluctuates to minimum levels. The constructs are gone, asleep. The cold of space begins to permeate the chamber.

      As the hours pass in the dim light of small cooking fires, Val and John talk. She covers him in tapestries and lies next to him. They speak of times forgotten, and lost hopes and dreams.

      The Nomdian Deathstalkers pass the time in meditation, conserving energy to the very end; their strength in silence is felt by the Praetorian Guard who plan a journey to the far reaches of the ring.

      "We could use your help Archon," said the Praetorian commander.

      "John cannot be moved, and I will not leave him," said Val. "Besides, Cortana and 343 said that the stasis chambers on the other side of the ring won't have enough energy to activate."

      "We will march there and run on a treadmill to generate the power if we need to."

      Val looks to John, his eyes told her the answer. "John, there is a chance to save some of the Praetorian Guard."

      "No need for explanations, Val, you cannot take me. I will only slow you down, go before it is too late," whispered John. "I do not like long good-byes, go now."

      "I will stay with the Spartan," said Covenstein. "I cannot make the journey. The curse of having short legs and a big body." He laughs a bit, breaking up the sadness for just a moment.



      As John wished, there were no long good-byes. Val and the Praetorian Guard left on their journey to the far side of the ring. They traveled many days through ice and snow covered lands. Val never did give up hope that somehow John and her other friends would survive. Perhaps that genius Covenstein would come up with something. Val prayed for a miracle.

      On the fifth day, the Praetorian Guard began to feel the hopelessness of the march. On the sixth day they dragged along the snow at a snails pace. They were the walking dead. Every path and corridor looked the same, and the bitter cold stayed, it was the same through night and day.

      On the seventh day, all hope was lost; they reached a great barrier with no visible ways to scale the wall and no tunnels below were found. To go around this barrier could take days more.

      Val too felt the calling of an eternal sleep. In the stasis of her Shadowguard armor, she could survive for ages, but she had to keep going for the Praetorian Guard and because of John. John was with her in spirit, giving her inspiration. She could not let him down.

      The grouped moved on, they would find a way around this barrier or die trying.

      That night, lights were seen shooting across the sky. Some strange static, almost like a song was heard on Val's comm.

      On the morning of the eighth day, three of the Praetorian Guard did not wake. The great warriors died peacefully in their sleep.

      Again, the lights and noise at night. This time huge signal fires were built.

      In the morning of the ninth day, they came. In large ornate ships, triangular in shape. Similar to Archonian ships, but much older. These were the ships of the Old Ones, traveling from null space.

      A ship hovered above and lowered a ramp. From the mysterious ship came an Elite, a Grunt, an Archon, and many short Hunters in strange armor.

      "Greeting, I am the Dread Pirate Sabathan," said the Elite, "and this is my first mate Dax, and last but not least, my trusted advisor, the Archon Catsandravalahundra."

      "Greetings, I am the Archonian Shadowguard, Knight Shade," replied Val slowly, she almost felt this was only a dream, "and these are Forerunner Praetorian Guard."

      "It is good to see you Knight Shade," said Catsandravalahundra. "Commander Sabathan, the one known as Knight Shade is also known as Valerie Sinclair. She was a friend of the Spartan and your great, great grandfather." Turning to Val, Cat continued, "Val, we have returned from null space to rescue you. Sabathan is a descendent of the late Commander Thom and Dax is a descendant of the late Sub-commander Zax."

      Val stood unable to answer, she was speechless. Her miracle had come.



-- Next, Farewell to the Spartan --

Shadows of Archon II (part 33) - Farewell to the Spartan
Date: 26 December 2002, 3:08 am

      September 23, 2560: It's been over two years now since we last heard from Admiral Keyes or any of the fleets sent on that fateful mission to stop the insane Forerunners and the Flood. Also missing in action, the Master Chief, Cortana, and our Covenant allies.

      The only news we have received is from a mysterious and elusive race known as the Archons. They tell us that such things are the affairs of the elder races, and for now, we are the young ones. Not much is known about the Archons except that they observe us from a distance. Fittingly we call them the guardian watchers.

      There really is not much more to tell; this is likely my last log entry on the subject as I feel it is time to move on. I do miss my friend Keyes and although I only knew him briefly, I miss the Master Chief. They broke the mold when they made men like them.

      Many good men and women are now gone, fine soldiers and fine people. I sometimes wonder how things might have been different if Black Angel Recon hadn't been so decimated during the attack on Earth. What might we have done fighting at the side of my friends Keyes and the Master Chief against the Forerunners? The answer I come up with is always the same: we would be pushing up daisies on some far away alien world.

      Here the children play as if nothing had ever happened, time can erase the horrors of past times -- especially for the young and resilient. Earth is once again a paradise. Our past problems with overcrowding and pollution are no longer an issue. Since the war, we are much fewer and the advancements of Sol Core have reached new levels in environmentally friendly technologies thanks to better understanding of the Covenant sciences.

      Despite our advancements, I feel we are a doomed people. Everyday I look up at the stars and wonder if this will be our last day. Somewhere out there is the enemy, when and where will they strike next? This doom is felt throughout the fleets -- next to the slip-space controls on every Sol Core ship are the words, "We are not alone, proceed with extreme caution."

      Someday, we may reach for the stars once again, but this was by far the closest human kind has ever come to extinction -- Sober thoughts.

      Best regards, sincerely, Colonel Louis Chan of Black Angel Recon, Special Forces Sol Core.


-- The End or is it? --


      On the far off world of Medusa, a few familiar faces are along side a few new ones... "Someone order an exterminator, I heard you have a bit of an infestation problem."

      "We sure could use your and the Spartan's help, Cortana," said Max, the mighty Elite. "Where is the Spartan?"

      "Well actually call me Cort, I changed my name after my daughter, the new Cortana was created," replied Cort. "The Chief and Cortana are still on patrol; they found a few Flood stragglers around the portals. They should be here shortly. And Max, this here is Knight Shade."

      "Just call me Val, it is a pleasure to meet you at last Commander Max Relius," interjected Knight Shade.

      "Very well Val, welcome to Medusa," said Max.

      "And I'm Croaker," interrupted a tall and aged reptilian-looking being at Max's side. "Things have been moving very quickly for these old Sauran eyes of mine, ever since the Archons re-opened the portals to this place, it has been total chaos I tell you."

      "I am honored to meet you Croaker," replied Knight Shade.

      Croaker does not reply, however, the Sauran just looks to his commander. Knight Shade does the same.

      In the background, bombs explode, but the booms seem of less significance than the moment. Two long time friends and warriors gaze upon each other. When first Max's gaze comes upon that MJOLNIR clad figure, the Elite stands stern and proud, it almost appears as though they are ready to do battle with each other. "Come to finish what you started," shouted Max.

      "I'm here to fix the mess you got yourself in," replied John.

      "We can take care of ourselves."

      "Well, in that case, I'll have to fire my intelligence sources." John turns slightly away in disinterest.

      "Wait, Spartan, did you know we have a saying around here?" asked Max. "It goes, the only good Spartan... is a friend Spartan."

      "I also heard that you have a new kind of Flood, a hundred meters tall, a master Flood," said John.

      "New, no, but we have finally tracked it down, and your size estimate is off my a magnitude of ten," stated Max. "With intelligence sources like that, I would consider their termination."

      "Really, off by a magnitude of ten?" said John. "This I've got to see."

      Lights fade from the battlefield as explosions above cloud the sun's brightness. In far above space, through the Web of Medusa, a lone ship is seen dashing towards a planet. The camera closes in on the ship revealing that it is the XX1. Who is it's pilot and where is it going?


-- The End --

Shadows of Archon II (part 34) - Behind the Scenes, and on the Set
Date: 8 January 2003, 6:38 am

el_halo_diablo: Here we are, on location where the entire Archon series(Return of the Archons, Shadows of Archon, and Shadows of Archon II) took place. Here I will ask a few members of the cast a few questions, and if they don't answer, I'll have to beat the crap out of them.*pulls out beating stick and smiles* Sounds simple enough, lets begin with interviewing the person that started it all: Wade Y.
*Wado walks into the interviewing room*

el_halo_diablo: Take a seat Wade

Wado: Hey hows it going-Whats that blunt object you're holding?

el_halo_diablo: Nothing! *Hides beating stick*

Wado: So you wanted to talk to me?

el_halo_diablo: Yah I just have a few questions.

Wado: Ok I already told you three times before! I'm not telling you what brand of tighty wighties I wear!

el_halo_diablo: Now why would I ask that again?*scratches-out question*

Wado: Ok any more questions?

el_halo_diablo: yah, wha-

Wado: NOT realated to underwear.

el_halo_diablo:...oh...heh heh.

*Wado rolls eyes*

Q: What made you think of Archon series?

I was on the throne reading "The Mis-adventures of master chief: part 5: The Final Rant" and it was so funny I almost crapped my pants. Luckily I was already on the toilet, so I wondered where the crap was going. Through the swirly waves and down a dark and endless tunnel I travelled. In the end I found I had travelled to another dimension. There they were, billions of them, floating in the mist. Billions of socks, not one pair amongst them. Lost for ages, the stench of the uncleaned socks was horrific. I knew at that point that I had to share that stink with the world, no one must be spared. The journey back from stink space took me back in time twenty-five years where a young nerdy boy was watching Star Wars, episode IV and disco was king. Now episode IV came out before episode I so don't call me a liar about the time travel because I am right. Anyway, the world was not ready for the big stink so I had to wait until the world was ruled by nerdy, unclean youths who spend all their time on the internet. So that is what happened.


el_halo_diablo: I have a feeling the whole sock ordeal wasn't at the fault of my comedy, I think it was the fault of the shrooms you must have done while you were on the 'throne'...moving on, Did you expect the series to stretch out this long?

Wado: Yes, SOA 2 was 33 chapters long. If you place a 4 in the center of 33, you get 343 which we all know is Guilty Spark. It was pure genious that I related the number to Halo.

el_halo_diablo: where does the 4 come from, oh wait I know, Louis Wu's IQ number. Good job wado. Anyway, Did any certian supermodel or really hot actor inspire you to write these series?

Wado: Yes, Princess Peach.

el_halo_diablo: Ah yes, jumping on walking mushroom's head's for her makes her an idol...um where was I? Oh yes, next question: Does the Master Chief on your story have....not a lot of 'manhood'?

Wado: Well the MC has an architecture not unlike the POA (Pillar of Autumn) so naturally after the attack of the Covenant he was left with only one operational MAC. Although this is plenty of power under most circumstances, enough to blast a block sized hole through a mother ship, Cortana insisted that only she should have control over it. Well, since the majority of
aliens in science-fiction stories are hot alien babes looking for MACs to help defend them from other evil aliens, you can imagine that there was quite a power struggle for control of the MC's MAC. By the middle of SOA 2, the MC's MAC was all bent sideways and out of ammo. It saddens me to even think of it. I blame it all on the 400 pound Cortana, it was just too muchfor the MAC to handle.

Does the MC have manhood? I'm just going to answer with one word: "Bungie."

el_halo_diablo: And Last but not least...what was your favorite part in the entire Archon seires?

Wado:...

el_halo_diablo: See ya later Wade!

Wado: yah yah yah...

*wado walks off set*

el_halo_diablo: Next!

*Croaker walks on set*

Croaker: Hello

el_halo_diablo: Hey Croak. The people that started reading the Archon seires late probably don't know much about you, heck, all I know about you is you were addicted to stuff called ambrosia, and you didn't do much to help the master Chief when he was stuck in Medusa.

Croaker: hmm, yah...*pulls out bottle of ambrosia, and chugs it down*...I swear im not addicted.

el_halo_diablo: Well if I remember correctly, you went crazy when you didn't have it. So I guess abrosia is a narcotic.

Croaker: No I swear it's not! *pulls out another bottle, and drinks it down*.

el_halo_diablo: You know Croaker, drug possession is a crime.

Croaker: But it's not a drug! It makes you not feel your pain!

el_halo_diablo: ooooh, so it's kinda like morphine?

Croaker: Exactly-Oh wait-no, I didn't mean that!

el_halo_diablo: Take him away!

*officers come in, and drag him out of the set*

Croaker: Nooooooooooooooo!

el_halo_diablo: heh, I never liked that stupid lizard

The lady: Hello el_halo_diablo

el_halo_diablo: AH! don't scare me like that, teleporting onto the set! Wait, how did you know my name? Is it because of all those prank calls I've been sending you?

The Lady: Yes, I can read minds.

el_halo_diablo: Really?

The Lady:...no, I just have caller ID

el_halo_diablo: yah uh anyway...hey I looked at my list of questions for you, and I don't have any...

The lady: Whaaa

el_halo_diablo:...hey I have one! I heard that MC doesn't have much..."manhood", is that true?

The Lady: At first I thoguht they were just silly rumors, but the way he acts around gerbils...and hooks...and frogs...and...bungies, I'm starting to belive...

el_halo_diablo:...sooo I guess I'll just ask you...*sits-up in chiar, and crosses legs in a sophisticated way* Are you a lesbian? Cause that would make SUCH a great plot twist!

The Lady: Gotta go! See ya! *poof she's gone*

el_halo_diablo: Well that was strange. *looks of the set, at the interview director, Vero* Hey bitch! Who's next?

Vero: hmmm...me!

el_halo_diablo: ok...

Vero: yay! *sits down in chair*

el_halo_diablo: Done. Who's next!?

Val: I am

el_halo_diablo: ah yes Valerie Sinclair, what importance did you have in this story, other than being a MC girl.

Val: MC girl?

el_halo_diablo: you know, every hero has his girls: James Bond has his Bond girls, so MC has his MC girls.

Val:*looks around cautiously*...uh huh..right.

el_halo_diablo: Moving on *looks at next question* ooh I like this one.

Val: Oh great.

el_halo_diablo: hehe...what was your most uncomfortable time in the Archon series?

Val: well...*looks agryly over at el_halo_diablo* Stop smiling!

el_halo_diablo: If you don't say it now...then I'll post this picture of you and Bill Clinton holding hands.

Val: NOOOOOOO anything but Bill Clinton! Ok I'll say it...my most uncomfotable scene was that dream sequence, where I had to lie naked in that sand with the Master Chief, on that planet Jukan.

el_halo_diablo: and uh *tries to keep from laughing* why did that bother you?

Val: Well...STOP LAUGHING! He has...uh...well...he lacks in..."Manhood".

el_halo_diablo: *stands up on his chair, and does an insane disco move* HA! I knew it!

Val: How did you know?

el_halo_diablo: oh comeon *changes voice to a girls tone* Nooo I don't want to kill anymore covenant or flood on this scary ringworld, lets just blow it up, so I don't have to fight anymore.

Until the sequel.

Val: Hmm, very true.

Vero: Hey Val, what do you say you and me go out some time?

Val:uh..heh heh, look at the time, I got to go! *gets up, and quikly walks towards the door, at the end of the large hangar-like stage*

Vero: mabye we can go get some coffie some time! Mabye tea!

*val keeps walking to door*

Vero: Comeon show some sympathy, all I do is sit on my ass all day!

*Val walks out the door*

el_halo_diablo: Hey that's alright Vero, you can always find some 10 year old on the internet to cyber with. *giggles*

Vero: *looks grimly at el_halo_diablo*

el_halo_diablo: Ok I think Vero's going to kill me, so I think it's about time to wrap things up.

MC: WAIT! WAIT! you forgot me!

el_halo_diablo: oh, ha! how could I forget to interview the main character.

MC: You tell me.

el_halo_diablo:ok first question, Did you like the way Marcus Lehto drew you in the game Halo?

MC: Well, yah, except he coulda gave me some kinda super gun, like a golden gun.

el_halo_diablo: Yah but isn't that kinda ripped off of the James Bond game?

MC: I don't know what your talking about *loooks around suspiciously*.

el_halo_diablo: ok well the number of viwers are dropping like flies right now, so Im gunna kick it up a notch. Next question, how does Wado treat you in his stories?

MC: Well, I don't like how he killed me, and then brought me back to life so carelessly. Do you have any idea what it's like to be re-incarnated? It hurts...especially the probe.

el_halo_halo: Ok, I don't want to go there. Next question, heh heh, I've heard from many people that you lack in..."manhood"

MC: Who told you that? Vero! I thought this was just goign to be a secret between you and me!

el_halo_diablo: *looks at Vero with a disgusted face*

Vero: *shrugs his head*

el_halo_diablo: ok so now that that question has been answered, I want to go to the final question.

MC: Bring it on.

el_halo_diablo: I love that movie! Anyway, In one of the Return of Archon parts, you drank a vile of ambrosia, right?

MC: yah...so?

el_halo_diablo: And as I already explained to croaker, ambrosia is a narcotic, which lands you...oh...5 years in prison.

MC: whaaaa

el_halo_diablo: Looks like you're going to have to call Bungie,(and i'm not talking about your "unit") and tell them you wont be able to make it to the sequel.

*officers come a drag MC away*

MC: Noooooooooooooooooooo



el_halo_diablo: Well that ends our interview, but it doesn't end this episode, oh no it doesn't. I took a hidden video camera, to find out whats going on witht he characters.


To MC's House:


Camera view shaky(because the camera is hidden in a paper bag with a cemera hole punched in it), as el_halo_diablo, and his editor, Wado walk up the steps to John 117's alledged duplex.
"Doo dee doo," Says el_halo_diablo.
El_Halo_diablo knocks on the door, and a sloppy looking man, with a beer belly, that hasn't shaven for a few weeks opens the door.
"Hi may I speak to John?" el_halo_diablo requests.
"This is him." The man said, sqinting at the light. John obviously has been drinking a little too much beer.
"So uh, whatchya doing while you wait for the Halo 2 sequel?"
"Uh..." He strained to think of even what he did last night.
"Do you have a job?" el_halo_diablo asks John 117.
"uh..." John burps,"Yah."
"Where do you work?" Wado asks John.
"A worm farm." John says, shielding his eyes from the light.
"A worm farm?!?" el_halo_diablo and Wado blurt out in unison.
"Yah the name of the place is 'We Have Worms'" John says, and opens another bottle of Heineken.
"Hey,"Wado chuckles, looking at the beer,"Quit touching my hiney."
Wado laughs out loud, then simmers down to a chuckle, to notice el_halo_diablo and John, are just staring at him.
"Comeon" Wado chuckles a bit,"Heh heh, Ya get it? Heineken, Hiney. Get it? heh heh."
(Camera fades)

el_halo_diablo: So that concludes...finally...our episode of Shadows of Archon II: Behind the Scenes and on the Set. We'll now close out with a few bloopers.



Return of the Archons:



~Strangely, she remains silent for a long moment. A smile comes across her face. "My name if Kira, Sovereign Princess of....LINE! I forgot my line!"~


~"Why am I here?" (Which in itself is not characteristic of John who, under other circumstances would be compelled to demand, "What do you want?")

"Because I brought you here to be my sex slave." Princess Kira laughed out.

"CUT!" The Directer yells.

"Im sorry I just had to say that." Princess Kira laughs.~



~[Flashing bright lights.]

"Chief. Chief. Wake up."

A groggy John replies, "What is it Cor...-GAH I forgot your name again!"~




~"Cortana," MC says," I don't get it, the Saurans have the Omega Key that says "we are not the first, we are not the last, a new beginning just the same - Omega"

And the Demons Omega Keys says "we stand neither here nor there, the journey has begun - Omega"

And the Covenant Chosen have a Key that says "here we cross the thin line, the line in our mind - Omega"

But all my Omega Key says is "Kraftsman", Did the Old Ones run out of omega Keys, so instead, the just got a generic brand key? How Cheap!"~



~It was now Master Chief's turn to choose a hero, and he chose a worm in a white and blue suit, with a big funny looking gun.

The name of the hero appeared: Earthworm Jim

"Now exactly what is Earthworm Jim going to do to get us out of Medusa!?!"Cortana yelled at the MC

"What can I say? I like that guy!"~




Return of Archon (I and II):




~"Pleased to meet you" Zax said to the MC

"Now exactly what kinda name is Zax?"MC inquizativly asked him"Isn't that a name of a game, "ZaX: Alien Hunter"? COPYWRITE INFRINGEMENT!"

"Shutup MC, as long as they don't know,"Wado breaks in," I can copy off of other things like the word 'Archons' from Starcraft and stuff"~


~With that, the Deathstalkers brought down the mighty voice of Margoth and consumed his brain.

"Damn!"MC said,"He aint goin' to be in SOA 3!"~


Finally....


~~~:._<The End>_.:~~~


Special thanks to Wado, Louis Wu, Vero(hey you said you wanted to be in one of my stories..so you got it, heh heh) and the bungie team, for making this game, so Wado could write this fan ficso I can bag on it ;D.

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