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The Revelation of War, Prologue: Part I
Date: 13 July 2004, 6:33 AM

The Revelation of War

Prologue

0520 hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Epsilon Eridani System, in orbit above planet Reach

Lieutenant Colonel Jared Reinker stepped out of the Pelican ship and looked around at his surroundings. He had just entered one of the destroyers' many docking bays, and the sight was not amazing. The gray steel, bright overhead lights five stories above him, the pallets and crates, all of it rendered the ship normal by his standard. Normal and uninteresting.

      Reinker, however, had an important task that was not dull or normal, and that's why the ONI officer didn't appreciate being sent to a normal destroyer to fulfill his task. What he expected was a cruiser, what he got was not comparable.

      But he understood why he hadn't gotten better arrangements. The reason was far more then a simple justifiable cause; the reason was the uncountable number of Covenant ships heading for Reach. The thought of it made him shudder. All his years being posted on Reach he had never suspected that the Covenant would find it, and he often thought that if they ever did, the orbital defenses and fleets around the military planet would be more then enough to hold off any onslaught the Covenant may have. His confidence in the planet's safety, however, was quickly disappearing.

      He tightened his grip around the metal suitcase that was in his right hand as eight Marine Military Policemen stepped out of the Pelican behind him. The MP's were a necessary precaution he knew, but the feeling of having so many made him unusually anxious. Reinker had been on worse assignments before, but this one stuck out for some reason. Maybe it was the immanent attack, or maybe it was the precious cargo he was ordered to secure for evacuation.

      Whatever it was, he didn't like it.

      Two crewmen approached him after entering the docking bay. He recognized the first one as the destroyer's executive officer, but the second didn't look familiar. Two MP's immediately stepped out in front of him and halted the duo of officers approaching.

      Reinker waved the Marines back and they cautiously withdrew, allowing the two officers to come up to him. Reinker nodded to the executive officer and eyed the second closely; he was not a suspicious man, but there was no time to take chances. Not with an armada of enemy ships at their doorstep.

      "Good morning, colonel." Commander Jay Grover said, extended his arm. "As I hear it, there's a special task that you need us to accomplish."

      Reinker nodded. "I need to speak to you and your Captain." He looked at the second officer again. "Alone."

      Grover nodded. "This way."

      Reinker followed the two officers out of the docking bay, his small squad of MP's following close behind. The walked down the long gray corridors of the ship towards the turbo lift. Reinker watched as crewmembers ran pass them quickly; the ship was a mad house as they prepared to get every function of the ship in top condition for the upcoming battle. He was glad that the Captain had all of his crew busy, but little did the Captain, or anyone else on the ship, know was that they would not be staying for the party.

      The thick armored doors closed behind them and the large elevator began rising up. He watched as they quickly moved passed floors towards the top of the ship. So many thousands of men on a single ship, the sight always amazed him at how large the UNSC made their ships, and then the thought of battle flooded over him. Nearly every day they lost a ship to the Covenant, and on those ships were thousands of men and women fighting for humanity's right to live. This war consumed them.

      The turbo lift came to a halt, a large digital sign on the lift's control panel lit up. Deck 14.

      They exited the lift and walked down another busy corridor. Ahead Reinker saw a sign that pointed down another corridor that read 'Bridge,' but the walked passed it. The XO led them down a different corridor and came to a halt outside of a large double door. This was apparently Conference Room 14A.

      Two Marine sentries nodded at the XO, then looked over Reinker's group and his escort. He smiled slightly as the Marine sentries straightened up when they noticed the Helljumper insignia on his own Marine guards. That never ceased to amuse him.

      They entered the double armored doors and walked into a large conference room. He glanced around the large room and saw many paintings on them; depictions of battles and ships. Pre-dominantly taking up the room was a large oak table, and seated at the far end were three officers. Reinker immediately recognized the Captain: Jonathon Baker.

      This was not the first time the two officers had met. In fact, Reinker had seen Baker on numerous occasions, and had come to know him as a good Captain and brilliant leader. He knew now why his commander still on the surface of Reach picked this vessel. They could trust this man.

      Captain Baker rose as he saw the group enter the room. "Lieutenant Colonel Reinker, it's a pleasure to see you again."

      Reinker walked to the other end of the room and extended his hand, his MP's following close behind. "I'm glad to see that my superiors have made a wise choice." He turned and motioned for his guards to move off. The ODST's naturally set up a perimeter around the room and stood silent.

      Baker nodded slowly, his face giving away the obvious distrust. Reinker understood why the Captain before him was weary; any Captain would be in the face of an ONI officer with an assignment for them. Part of him was mad that ONI had such a reputation among the UNSC, but he knew first hand why, and that there was no way to avoid it.

      He looked around the room. "Can we have some privacy? Just yourself and your first officer?"

      Baker nodded and motioned for the two staff members with him to leave. Cmdr. Grover dismissed his own aid and the doors closed to the room. The XO walked over and stood near his Captain.

      "Let's have a seat, gentleman." Reinker said. "This won't take long, for obvious reasons though."

      The two officers nodded and sat. "What is it the Office of Naval Intelligence has for my ship?' Baker asked.

      Reinker sat and opened his briefcase. "With the knowledge that the Covenant are en-route to Reach, there is much concern that some valuable materials on Reach may be compromised. What my superiors have ordered is that these materials be evacuated as a safety precaution and prevent any information leak if the Covenant are able to..."

      He trailed off. He thought about what he was saying and how the message was being portrayed to the two officers listening to him. He had slight suspicions that Reach would not hold, but did his commanders know Reach would not stand? Half of the Executive Command Staff were leaving when he got his orders.

      Reinker continued, but the pause had changed the Captain's and his first officer's perspective already. "If the Covenant are able to land forces, we cannot allow these materials to fall into their hands. That is why we are here, to use your ship as transportation of these materials."

      Baker's eyes were hard; the Captain obviously did not like what he was hearing. "What materials might these be?"

      "I cannot tell you," Reinker said.

      "Then tell me why," Baker said, "ONI doesn't just use one of their many prowlers or stealth frigates?"

      Reinker sighed as he reached into the suitcase and pulled out the official memorandum containing the orders for Baker, directly from ONI command and approved by his fleet commander. He hated the truth, the real reason why ONI couldn't spare any of its own ships. It was the pure and simple selfishness that seemed to corrupt any man with power when their life was threatened.

      "All of our ships are conducting other operations," Reinker said dryly.

      Baker read his orders. The Captain seemed somewhat surprised that his own fleet commander would approve the order when every Captain in the system knew they needed all the help they could get to defend Reach. Reinker knew it all too well, but he also knew the importance of getting these 'materials' off of Reach and someplace safe.

      Baker looked up and set the paper down. He had done enough dealing with ONI to know that most questions he had would go unanswered. Reinker partly appreciated that fact, since time was running out.

      "When will the materials be arriving?" The Captain asked.

      "Three Pelicans will be requesting an inbound vector no later than 0545. The Pelicans will have all of the required materials along with some other ONI personnel." Baker closed the briefcase. "You will also have an escort."

      Baker's mouth almost dropped open. "We're sparing another ship just for escort?"

      Reinker nodded. Baker leaned back and rubbed his eyes, he may not know what he was going to be carrying out, but he was beginning to understand that whatever it was it was of a very high priority. The Captain leaned forward again and nodded for his XO to leave. Grover stood and nodded, then headed for the door.

      "The Triton will rendezvous with you at this location also by 0545." Reinker said. "Then you will receive further orders on to where you will be jumping." He stood slowly and adjusted his Class A jacket and tie. "Captain, this is necessary, far more then you may ever know."

The Revelation of War, Prologue: Part II
Date: 13 July 2004, 7:03 AM

0540 hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Epsilon Eridani System, in orbit above planet Reach

      The three Pelicans slowly entered the main docking bay of the Melbourne. Reinker watched from behind the thick glass as the bay doors closed and the pressurization process began. The three craft settled down onto their landing gear as the internal guiding lights turned off and the normal operation lights came to life.

      Reinker eyed the craft carefully and waited for the duty ensign to call the bay pressurized and safe to enter. The eight Marines waited silently behind the ONI officer as the red light switched over to green on the door that opened up to the bay. The duty ensign nodded and pulled the level, causing the two large doors to part.

      The group waited for the doors to fully open, then walked out into the large docking bay as the side-doors on each of the Pelicans dropped open. The first people out of each ships were Marines; ten Marines shuffled out of each and set up a perimeter, their sidearm's holstered but ready to be used if need be. There was a quick radio exchange among the thirty Marines surrounding the Pelicans, then the rear doors began to slide open. Reinker walked forward as a Lieutenant exited the first Pelican.

      The young ONI officer spotted his commander and walked smartly up to him. "Colonel, all materials are present and accounted for." He said, saluting.

      Reinker nodded and returned the salute. "As you were. Begin unloading operations and standby to transport them to Storage Section 8C."

      "Yes, sir." The Lieutenant turned around and headed off to perform his orders.

      Reinker watched in silence as the crewmen that came along with the Pelicans began unloading massive four by ten meter crates out the back hatch of the Pelican. The crates were standard armor protected security crates that were rarely used over the cheaper, lighter steel crates. Only the best, he thought.

      "Lieutenant Colonel Reinker! Captain Baker is online," a crew member called out from the large entrance doors. His voiced echoed throughout the large docking bay as the crates were loaded onto mechanical transport dollies.

      Reinker walked over and grabbed the phone-receiver. "Reinker here."

      "Colonel, the Covenant have entered the system." Baker said. "I suggest we leave as soon as possible if you wish to get out of system unharmed."

      "Understood, Captain. Has the Triton contacted you?"

      "They have, estimated time to rendezvous is five mikes."

      Reinker thought for a second. "I will meet you on your bridge in five mikes, Reinker out."

      He turned around and took one last look at the unloading operation. So far the evacuation of these 'materials' had gone unblemished, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before something went wrong, and with the Covenant already entering the system, they were running out of time. He turned and walked back out through the large double doors and down the corridor towards the turbo-lift, his MP's close in tow.

      They had to leave, before it was too late.

      Baker watched from the Captain's seat as his thirty-two bridge officers worked quickly, but calmly, to make the proper ship adjustments before they entered slip-space. The emotional environment on the bridge was thick with worry and concern. Sensors, as well as numerous reports that flooded the comm. systems, reported hundreds of Covenant ships inbound to Reach.

      "Captain, the fleet is warning that hostile contact with the Covenant will occur is less then two mikes." His Comm. Officer announced.

      Baker sighed. Before his visit by the ONI officer, his ship was getting ready to prepare for the largest battle he had ever been in. The crew was pumped up, adrenaline rushing, but at the same time scared that this would be their last battle. And he couldn't blame them, he had many of the same conflicting emotions within despite his twenty-three years in the UNSC. Staring down a Covenant fleet was no easy thing to do, never mind fighting one.

      "Sir, incoming transmission from the Triton; they are ready to jump with us out of system." The Comm. Officer said, his voice raw but calm.

      Baker nodded. "Onscreen."

      The Captain of the Triton filled the secondary viewing screens before him. "Captain Baker, it is good to see you again, but I believe the circumstances are less pleasant then the last time we met."

      Baker sighed, his obvious concern and question about this whole ONI set up was evident. "Less pleasant indeed, Captain Scorzio. I believe you have heard from our friends at ONI?"

      Scorzio nodded. "Unfortunately so. Sounds like you have some precious cargo aboard and they want an escort. Usually I might be honored if it were not for the situation at hand."

      Baker turned when he heard the Marine MP at the entrance to the bridge call out: "Captain, Lieutenant Colonel Reinker is on deck."

      Baker nodded a quick good-bye to Scorzio, then looked at the four Marines keeping the ONI officer and his own group of MP's from entering the bridge. "Colonel, come aboard. However, for security reasons and protocol, I will have to ask your guards to stand down and not enter the bridge."

      Reinker nodded and motioned for his eight Marines to stand by, then entered the bridge and walked towards the Captain, eyeing the large bridge of the destroyer. The Trident-Class Destroyer was the second closest thing to a Cruiser, and the class was often refereed to as a 'light cruiser' tonnage and armament wise. Although the design was aging into the twenties, it was nonetheless a formable craft of the UNSC.

      "Captain, now that the Triton is with us, we need to make the jump," the ONI officer said, reaching into the suitcase and pulling out a small digital personal computer. He quickly typed in the access codes, then handed the device over to the Captain, who looked over the results.

      "The Renard Prime System?" Baker asked, obvious confusion etched across the weathered face. "What could possibly do us any good there?"

      Reinker stood without emotion. "This is the system, now order a Cole Protocol sufficient jump and get us there."

      Baker leaned back in his chair, obviously not content with ONI's choice for their retrograde. "This system is barely considered militarily reinforced. We would have a higher chance of keeping our 'materials' safe here at Reach."

      "Negative, Captain, this is our destination. Order the jump."

      Baker sat in confusion. The Renard Prime System was one of the UN's more recent colonization's; having two planets in orbit around a relatively small star with a combined total population of no more then three-hundred million; peanuts compared to anywhere else. He nodded to his Executive Officer.

      Grover walked over and took the device, then moved it to the Navigation console and handed it off to the two officers staffing that station. "Helm, set course for System Alpha 1265+90 in compliance with the Cole Protocol." The senior Navigation called out.

      "Helm: setting course 101 by 300, to Alpha 1265+90." The chief pilot called out from the front of the bridge. "Standing by."

      "Relay coordinates to the Triton," Baker ordered. After his Comm. Officer nodded in approval, he turned to the his XO. "Take us out of here."

      The bridge crew watched as space tore apart in front of them. Around them the UNSC fleet MAC cannons were warming up, and Longswords launched from the ships surrounding Reach and readied for the impending battle. Baker looked around them via the primary screen and saw as the Super MAC platforms opened up with a volley of rounds, the flashes lighting up the nearby ships as the rounds shot out towards the invasion force. He felt guilty; he should stay and fulfill his original orders to defend the planet at all costs.

      But his new orders stood, and he had no choice. The fleet would have to defend the planet without them. The real question that raced through his mind, though, was whether or not he would see his fleet commander, his comrades commanding their ships, or even Reach. The fear that he would never even return to this system crept up to him as he thought about it.

      When the Covenant attacked, they didn't stop until everything in their path was dead.

1850 hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Alpha 1265+90 System

"Entering normal space, sir." Lieutenant Grover announced.

      Baker leaned forward in his chair and pushed the intercom button. "Acknowledged." He then sat back and looked around his spacious office and pondered about the situation hey had just left thirteen hours ago. Either Reach was successfully defended or there was nothing left but a glassed planet.

      He turned to look back at Lt. Col. Reinker, he sat comfortably on the couch along the far wall, taking slow sips from a large coffee mug. The ONI officer was relentless to tell him anything about what his ship was carrying, or even why they were heading towards a low-interest system that contained two small UNSC outposts. Even though he knew Reinker and respected him as one of the few clean cut officers he knew from ONI, the frustration of receiving no information bore down on him.

      Reinker put out his cigar in the tray on the mahogany coffee table in front of the couch. "You will find out more about this unfortunate endeavor soon, Captain," the ONI officer said, almost reading Baker's mind. "You know I would tell you if I could."

      Baker nodded reluctantly. It was true.

      The intercom light flashed on his desk. He sighed and reached to open the channel and expected another routine report. Instead, his heart jumped when he heard the tone of voice from his XO.

      "Sir, three Covenant vessels have entered the system."

      Baker stood up immediately and picked up the phone so it was not over the intercom. "What? Where?" He asked impatiently, pushing the receiver hard against his ear.

      "Five million kilometers bearing 249 by 170. They appeared to have followed us from slip-space and are turning towards us with an intercept course." Grover said.

      Baker stood up and headed for the door. Reinker stood up and followed, not sure what was going on. The two officers made the short walk to the bridge and passed unchecked by the Marine sentries.

      "Status?" Baker asked, moving up to the command console.

      "Three frigate-size enemy vessels on an intercept course. Their weapons are hot and will be in range in thirty seconds." Grover said.

      "Helm, take us on a perpendicular course. All ahead flank." Baker ordered.

      The ship rumble dully as the engines heated up to full speed, forcing the large ship forward. "General quarters, all hands to battle stations."

      Throughout the ship, three alarms rang out; the lighting dulled and the operational red lights came to life. The Marine sentries immediately ran to the nearby by armory locker and retrieved their assault rifles, as did every Marine aboard the destroyer. Crewmen rushed about, trying to get to their stations as fast as possible.

      "Weapons?"

      "Magnetic Accelerator Cannons One and Two are fully powered, sir." The Weapons Systems Officer announced. "Archer Missile Pods Alpha 1 thru Charlie 27 are armed and awaiting a target solution. The guided Shiva Beta missile pods Zulu one and two are also standing by with all fail-safes still activated."

      Baker nodded in approval, they would need to disable at least the first ship with the MAC rounds, use the Archer missiles to engage the second, and maybe resort to the guided nuclear missiles on the third. Above all else, though, they needed to get the first shot off.

      "Open a channel to the Triton," Baker ordered. He waited a second while the transmission feed uploaded. Captain Scorzio appeared on the secondary viewing screen. "We have company, take out the third vessel and we'll deal with the other two."

      Scorzio nodded. Baker wished that Scorzio's ship had two MAC weapons like his own ship, but they would have to work with it. All in all they still had three cannons to deal with three threats.

      Baker's Operation's Officer interfaced with the ships AI and sent the targeting information to the Triton. After it was complete the uplink was severed and both ships turned to face the incoming threats at flank speed.

      "Order Major Sonder's fighter squadron to standby for deployment." Baker ordered. "Then give me a firing solution on the first and second enemy frigates."

      His crew worked quickly to get the information and find the targeting solution for the two enemy vessels. The process took under fifteen seconds.

      "Firing solution set, sir. Cannons One and Two are tracking their targets." The Weapons Officer called out.

      Baker stared at the primary viewing screen as it showed a magnified view of the ships closing in on them. They were outnumbered and partially out gunned, but they would have to do their best to pull through this battle.

      "Fire."

      Two thunderous explosions rang out through the ship as the large cannons fired. He watched as the rounds of fire sped off towards the targets; he never got tired of seeing those rounds impact on the purple objects the Covenant called ships.

      "Impact in 7 seconds," the Weapons Officer announced.

      "Captain, the Covenant are firing! Three inbound torpedoes." Grover called out.

      "Who are they tracking?" Baker replied instantly.

      "Two for us, one for the Triton."

      Baker watched as the Triton's MAC round sped off towards the third ship. He then watched his own rounds find their targets. His Weapons Officer called out in excitement, "Captain, direct hits on enemy ships one and two."

      The magnified view of the ships showed the rounds tear through the first two ships. The shields flashed and vanished, and the supercharged rounds exploded through the enemy frigates decks. Explosions ran through them as secondary explosions sent them into uncontrolled spirals. But on the screen were also two heated plasma balls heading right for them.

      "Fire all Archer Pods and divide them up evenly on our two targets." Baker ordered. "Helm, come left to course 120 by 50."

      The ship began its turn to run perpendicular to the incoming torpedoes. The view screen followed the three enemy vessels still, and the bridge crew watched with satisfaction as the third MAC round from the Triton impact and explode though the third frigate. They had done their part, now they had to avoid the blow the Covenant had sent at them.

      The system had no planets, so there was nothing to hid behind or even try to get to. The only thing that was in the system was the star, and they were way to far away from that to try and use it to their advantage.

      "Helm, prepare to fire the starboard rear emergency maneuvering rockets on my mark." Baker said. "Operations: time to impact?"

      "Eight seconds, sir."

      Baker waited as the bridge crew got very nervous. Two plasma torpedoes would adequately and effectively cut the ship in half. He watched the countdown and waited until it met two seconds.

      "Mark!" Baker yelled.

      Some of the bridge crew not strapped into their seats toppled to the deck floor as the ship accelerated suddenly forward and towards the enemy ships. The entire ship vibrated heavily as the two-second afterburners from the emergency maneuvering rockets fired on the one side. The Melbourne accelerated quickly and turned inside the turn of the torpedoes, forcing them to miss behind the ship.

      Baker quickly sat back up in his chair and looked at the screen, then at the top-down navigational view. They were heading toward the three enemy ships at an alarming rate, the gap closing quickly.

      "Sir, torpedoes are turning and heading back towards us, impact in less then thirty-five seconds at our current attitude and speed." His XO called out.

      Baker nodded but focused on the ships in front of him. The Archer missiles were just now approaching their targets. He watched as the frigates launched hoards of Seraph fighters towards them and the inbound missiles. Plasma fire erupted from the nimble fighters and began taking out the missiles; but they were too many for the Covenant.

      The missiles dived toward the ships and passed effortlessly through where the shields should have been. The crew watched in awe as explosions sprang out all across the two ships. At least half of their missiles found their targets.

      "Multiple hits on the enemy ships, sir." The Weapons Officer announced.

      Baker nodded. "Launch the Longswords."

      "Sir, the two torpedoes have failed to continue tracking us. The damage must have hit their weapons controls systems." Operations called out.

      Baker shot him a glance. That was lucky.

      "Sir, scans show that the two frigates have taken on enough damage to neutralize them completely from the fight." Grover said. "The Seraph fighters are occupied by our Longswords, and the third frigate took a direct hit to their engines from the Triton's MAC; they are dead in space.

      "The Triton has taken a direct hit from the plasma torpedoes fired at them and are currently inoperable." Grover continued. "Communications is not available with them due to the damage."

      Baker watched as both ships' burning hulks floated in space and a small battle around them with the Seraph's and Longswords waged. Had they won? Had they won even though the were outnumbered by the Covenant? All the battles he had been in that they won had been because they had more ships; this experience ran completely contrary to everything he had ever seen.

      "Captain! Cruiser-size Covenant ship was just entered the system, two million kilometers and closing!"

The Revelations of War, Prologue: Part III
Date: 13 July 2004, 7:21 AM

1900 hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Alpha 1265+90 System

      Baker checked the displays and rubbed his eyes; this single Covenant ship possessed the same amount of fire-power as the three smaller frigates they had just engaged combined. They were finished.

      "MAC status?" he asked. They could still go down with a fight.

      "Eighty-eight percent, sir."

      "Close enough, target the enemy cruiser and fire. Any remaining Archer missiles are to be fired as well. Standby to fire Shiva Beta one." Baker said.

      The crew worked frantically to realign to the new threat. Baker watched in near disbelief as the large ship's plasma turrets glowed and launch doors opened and out poured legions of fighters. The only ship that would have a realistic chance against this thing was a UNSC Cruiser.

      "Sir, the enemy ship has fired three plasma torpedoes, impact in twenty-seconds." Grover said. "Sensors detect ninety Seraph's inbound on an intercept course."

      Baker sat back and thought quickly. The MAC rounds should be able to do something to it, but they needed to get rid of those fighters; the Longswords were all busy with the remaining enemy fighters from the frigates and would not be able to help. He sighed. Drastic times called for drastic measures.

      The ship vibrated as the two cannons fired in unison, sending out two balls of fire toward the cruiser. The few remaining missiles fired a second later, their smoke tails disappearing into space as they followed the MAC rounds toward the large ship.

      "Set the Shiva Beta to detonate at these coordinates," Baker said, then called out a positions roughly between them and the enemy cruiser.

      The Weapons officers and Operations officers looked at their Captain, questions etched across their faces. "Sir, that will do nothing to the enemy ship and the EMP will knock us off-line at that close range."

      Baker nodded. "I know. Set the coordinates and fire the Shiva Beta."

      His crew hesitated for a second, then followed his orders. A red warning light flashed on his console, showing him that a nuclear launch was in progress. He hit the authorization button then typed in the code. A second later the fat missile launched from its bay and headed out towards its specified coordinates.

      Baker turned his attention back to the incoming plasma balls. The impact timer read down to six seconds. "Prepare to fire the starboard aft emergency maneuvering thrusters on my mark." Baker waited a second. "Mark!"

      The ship lurched forward as they used their second and last maneuvering thruster. They accelerated pass the first two plasma torpedoes.

      "Sir, third plasma torpedo has cut the corner and is on an intercept course, impact imminent!" Grover yelled.

      Baker grabbed the arms rests of his seat and held on as the plasma round impacted the ship squarely in the side-center. The force kicked the ship sideways and combined with its new velocity from the emergency thrusters, sent it back at an alarming rate. The Melbourne spiraled slowly out of control as it pitched back, then rolled over.

      "Systems on decks four through twelve are failing, hull breaches on those decks!" Grover said, stumbling to his feet.

      "Damage control parties report to your stations." Baker announced over the ships comm. He then turned to his XO. "Status of enemy ship?"

      Grover checked the displays that flickered on and off. "First MAC round was absorbed by the cruisers shields, second round penetrated and impacted the ship towards its nose. Missile impacts scattered across causing minimal damage. The ship is still fully functionally as far as I can tell."

      Baker clenched his jaw. He wished they could have done a little more then that. The looked at his own console and noticed the nuclear countdown.

      One second.

      In space, the soundless bright explosion emitted. At the very epicenter it looked as if a sun had appeared, then forming around it was a shockwave the departed quickly in all directions, creating an enlarging sphere of destruction that shot out in every direction. The swarms of Seraph's heading for the wounded UNSC ship were met head on with a hot blast of destruction.

      The blast wave began to slow and subside, but the EMP wave did not. It shot out with incredible speed, and hit the enemy cruiser seconds after the detonation. The blast reached Baker's ship a mere second after that and all the electronic system flared and ceased.

      The Longswords and Seraphs still battling over the wreckage of the frigates ceased as the small crafts lost all power. The shockwave then reached the enemy cruiser, the Melbourne, and then the fighters, creating a thick turbulence the rattled and even damaged some components.

      "Status?" Baker asked, slowly getting to his feet in the dark after being thrown out of his chair by the ensuring shockwave.

      He heard the shuffle a few around him but couldn't see anything. He felt his way to the primary console and hit the restart button, but to no avail. They were now dead in space, with an unknown amount of casualties and damage to his ship.

      The dull red lights on the ceiling sparked to life, casting a dark eerie glow across the bridge. He looked over and found Grover slowly getting to his feet after initiating the emergency auxiliary systems. A stream of blood ran from his forehead as the officer looked around in disarray.

      Baker looked down at the console as some lights came to life. He reached over a hit the restart button again. The console lit up and came to life, and the main displays went blue. Not a good sign.

      "Central Computer offline." Baker said dryly.

      Grover sighed and touched his head. "That means the AI is too."

      Baker nodded. "Can you get external cameras online and the ships comm.?"

      Grover grunted in pain as he felt the wound on his head. "I'll try, sir."

      Baker waited and moved awkwardly over to some of his crew. Most were moving and looking around slowly, but some remained motionless. He moved over to find his chief operations officer unconscious. The secondary viewing screen flashed to life, then sparked out of existence.

      "Switching to primary." Grover said.

      The primary screen lit up and went through a short static burst, then the picture of the outside world came on. Baker looked intently at the view; the ship was slowly rolling continuously and moving slightly away from the three wreaked frigates. Surrounding the frigates were tiny specks, all of them immobile and floating dead in space. Baker walked carefully over to the Operations console and took manual control of the cameras.

      He panned the camera and zoomed in to its maximum scale at the Triton. The destroyer was probably in the same bad shape as themselves, with a burning hole in its side. There were still running lights active, meaning the ship had survived the EMP blast.

      He panned the camera to see the enemy cruiser. It was venting atmosphere and fluids from the massive hole in its side from the single MAC round that did penetrate. It was, however, able to limp slowly towards them, and the rear plasma turret was heating up, unusually slow, but nonetheless less still formidable. He sighed and thought about it; the enemy ship had time on their side, and the charging rate would soon fully power the last turret; one more hit would take the Melbourne out completely.

      Baker looked around the bridge. His officers were getting back into their positions and beginning what rebooting process's worked. He noticed that there were several still unconscious, but they were already being attended to. He looked toward the rear of the bridge and spotted the ONI officer, leaning against the wall, barely discernable in the dull red light the tried to illuminate the bridge. He appeared to be fine.

      He turned back to face his XO. "Options?"

      Grover shook his head, watching the primary screen and the enemy cruiser close in. "I don't know sir."

      "Weapons status?"

      Grover checked the console again. "Offline, we still only have basic emergency functions such as life support and apparently some limited electronic functions."

      "What system do we have?" Baker asked, desperate to find anything.

      "Doors and lifts are working, emergency lighting system, communications, not much sir."

      Baker sighed and stood there in the red darkness. They had done their best, they had held off the Covenant and almost defeated them, but it was ultimately brought back against them. He looked up at the primary viewing screen and watched as the single working plasma turret on the enemy cruiser lit up to a deep red. It was almost time.

      "Covenant launch imminent." One of his Operations Officers said.

      Damn. And they were carrying this ONI precious materials too, the Covenant would discover them after his ship fell to pieces. Not only would they lose a good ship, but also some highly important resources. He turned and looked at his XO. Grover shook his head slowly and looked back at the view screen.

      Baker was about to walk off the bridge when a bright flash caught his eye on the view screen. He turned around and looked, along with everyone else on the dark bridge, as the space behind the cruiser shook, then tore apart. A black ship exited from slip-space behind the massive Covenant cruiser and disappeared into the background.

      The crew watched in silence as the object maneuvered expertly behind the enemy ship, then small sparks lit up from the ship. The small dots flew the short, unguarded trip and impacted directly into the engines and rear section of the cruiser. Bright explosions and secondary reactions dotted the hull of the cruiser as it began a slow turn away from them towards the unknown attacker. More dots launched from the black ship craft and quickly impacted into the cruiser, causing even brighter explosions from the unshielded craft.

      Suddenly, the core reactor of the Covenant cruiser erupted in a bright explosion, and the entire half of the cruiser turned white hot. Then a blue shockwave shot out in all directions as the cruiser exploded again, shining brightly like a star. The bridge crew watched, not sure what to do, as the enemy cruiser vaporized into fragments.

      "Shockwave impact in eight seconds, sir." The Operations Officer said, doing rough calculations in his head.

      They braced as the blue shockwave shot out towards them, losing force along the way. It moved up on them quickly and the front camera went to static. The ship rocked and vibrated heavily, but it did not put the ship into a sharp spin or roll. The crew looked back up after the turbulence stopped at the screen. Several large fragments of the cruiser remained, along with millions of smaller ones.

      "What just happened here?" Baker asked to no one in particular.

      The bridge staff stood still and silent. Whatever did that had just saved their lives, and the lives of the thousands of crewmen aboard the Melbourne.

      "Sir," the Communications Officer said, "incoming transmission."

      "Put it through," Baker said.

      The visual properties of the transmission would not show, most likely due to their own damages, but the audio worked clear and flawlessly.

      "To all UNSC ships and personnel: This is the Valiant Knight."

The Revelation of War, Chapter One: Part I
Date: 15 July 2004, 9:50 PM

Chapter One: Third Eye

0945 hours, September 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Orbital Ship Yard Station
Renard Prime System, in orbit above planet Westwind

Captain Gary Rayford nodded for the officers to enter the large conference room. The trio of UNSC ships, the Melbourne, Triton, and his own the Valiant Knight, had made the one week journey out of the no-name system to the Renard System, where a surprised orbital station allowed them to dock and carry out repairs on the vessels.

      Rayford understood completely now what the ONI major had told him on the journey back from Milestone; he understood the importance of the artifact they retrieved and also now the capabilities it gave them. In a weird twist of events they had seen what was going to happen, not only to Reach, but to the two ships carrying the second artifact out of Reach.

      Why the artifacts seemed to attract to each other he had no clue. The simple capabilities it had were even further beyond his comprehension, but he knew that it was now his task, joined in by the two other Captains and their ships, to protect the artifacts at all costs. And a gut feeling inside told him that they would also be the ones to search for the third.

      He leaned back and thought as the officer's filed into the conference room and took seats around the large metal table. How were they tied into this? He would have liked to think that he was chosen for the initial mission to Milestone because he was available and the most capable Captain at hand. But now he had had time to think about the events that had encompassed them; was fate a part to play in this? Was there some other motives by a higher hand working the events out in the order they had seen so far?

      The simple fact that they had been able to save the Melbourne, and more importantly the artifact on board, was more then pure chance and coincidence. The artifact they had aboard had showed them what was going to happen and how to prevent it. His mind flashed back the memories of seeing the artifact light up and show the battle between the Covenant and the Melbourne, and he remembered seeing that ship being destroyed by the enemy cruiser. He remembered seeing the thousands of crewmen die aboard it, and he remembered seeing the Covenant find the ship's precious cargo. If that had been reality, they would have lost Earth, along with every other colony.

      If that had been real; he would be dead.

      But it wasn't real, they had stopped that chain of events from occurring. But the fact still remained, if he hadn't received that late night call from ONI almost three months ago to go on the mission to Milestone, how would that have changed the future of humanity? How many lives were saved by his simple act of picking up that phone that late night?

      How much of chance did that simple call give humanity?

      Rayford stopped thinking about it as the final officers filed into the conference room and took a seat. The table was now nearly full with men who wanted to know what was happening; almost half of them had been on the brink of being killed a week ago.

      "Captain Jonathon Baker, nice to see you in person." Rayford said.

      The Captain of the Melbourne nodded.

      "And Captain Samuel Scorzio," Rayford said, nodding towards the Captain just taking a seat.

      The man nodded, silently taking a seat.

      Rayford turned and looked at the entire group of officers lining the table. Many were executive staff members aboard the three ships, but all were anxious to find out what had happened and what these artifacts were. Rayford knew, but he withheld any comment; the ONI spooks would have plenty to tell.

      Silence ensued for a moment until a group of officers entered the room. He recognized the Major that had been on his own ship for the last couple months, and also another higher-ranking officer. He had seen the man before but couldn't put a name with the face.

      They group was followed by several other officers and they moved towards the head of the room. The Major and the Lieutenant Colonel set up behind some podiums at the head while the rest stood off to the side. The ship officers waited patiently for the ONI personnel to share their information. The situation reminded Rayford of a similar briefing that he got months earlier.

      "Good morning, my name is Lieutenant Colonel Jared Reinker, of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Deputy Commander, Section VI." The highest ranking officer said. Rayford thought about what Section VI did but couldn't remember. Or maybe he never knew.

      "This is one of my colleges from Section VI, Major Senderling." Reinker, said, pointing at the ONI Major beside him. "And some of our subordinates," he pointed to the Lieutenants along the wall. "Now that you know who we are, let's begin with why we are here.

      "I know Captain Rayford is aware of our situation, but I shall pass it onto you as well so we are all on the same page. I must stress, however, that the information you are about to receive is highly classified and may not leave this room. The balance of the war depends on it."

      Reinker looked at each officer, the pause reinforcing his point. "We are here because of the evacuation of the artifact that was previously on Reach, obviously. But you may want to know the origin of where this started."

      Reinker explained the discovery of the first artifact during World War III, then of its uses throughout the years following, until the artifact gave them knowledge, with aid from the artifact found at Cote 'd Azur, about the location of a second artifact. The ONI Major then took over and explained Operation Gallant Strife and the mission to Milestone. Then he told of their return journey and then of the foresight of the battle in the Alpha 1265+90 System.

      The ONI officers watched as the men sitting at the table stared at them in disbelief, save one. Reinker expected this from officers who, before these events took place, were running patrols and engaging the Covenant in normal space skirmishes. The change from normality to this new reality was not something anyone excepted easily. They will soon see, he thought.

      "What we have here," Reinker said after a brief silence in the room. "Is a mission that we must fulfill. Gallant Strife is not over yet, all the artifacts have not be recovered. All of you in this room are now part of this operation, and with the recent events at Reach, I doubt we will be getting in reinforcements or support."

      Baker spoke up. "So these artifacts enable us to see into the future?"

      Reinker and the Major nodded.

      Baker grunted in disbelief. "So we have something that allows us to see into the future, and I guess now we have two of them. What's left to do? Let's use them to win the war."

      "There's a third," Reinker said. "And, in case you've been out of the loop, we have been using them to win the war. I'm not going to go into details, but the point still stands that we need to recover the third artifact. It is imperative that the Covenant do not find it, because if they do, they will be able to locate the two we already have, and with the combined strength of the three..."

      Baker shook his head. "Combined strength?"

      Reinker nodded. "They were designed to work together."

      Baker was about to speak but Reinker held up his hand. "Captain, we simply do not have time for this. You must trust me and understand that the three of these put together hold some sort of supernatural force. And to answer any question you might have: No, we do not know who made them or who scattered them across the galaxy, we do not know why one was on Earth, and we do not know how they work or why they show us certain things. We have no control over what it shows us or when, we only have possession over it. We must find the last one, and quickly."

      "So where is it?" Captain Scorzio asked.

      Reinker stared at the Captain. "We will know, and we will know soon."

The Revelation of War, Chapter One: Part II
Date: 15 July 2004, 10:09 PM

1000 hours, September 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)
City of Jameson, one mile south of UNSC Outpost
Renard Prime System, planet Westwind

      The three Warthogs Light Reconnaissance Vehicles and two five-ton transport trucks moved slowly through the dusty streets of the city. Civilians walked out of the homes, stores and buildings as the small convoy of vehicles and troops moved steadily through the streets.

      The landscape was flat, with fields of brown grass, rocks, and the occasional tree extending beyond the city of ten-thousand. In the far of distance of the horizon were rocky mountains that jetted up into the sky to the east, and to the west of the city was the shining blue ocean the dominated most of the planet. The terrain was rough but flat, and it looked similar to the landscape of Earth's most prominent continent: Africa.

      The city was fairly modern, with most streets being paved but still having its fair share of alleys composed of rock-hard dirt. The buildings were made out of steel and cement and had dark tinted windows; the highest building rose only ten stories. Personal vehicles were parked sparingly along the side of the streets, and very few cars were out this time of day. The majority of the city was at work, which made perfect timing for the convoy to make it to the UNSC outpost on the outskirts of the city.

      First Lieutenant Todd Kren walked silently ahead of the convoy and took a long drink from his hydration pack; this planet's normal high was close to one hundred degrees, and it was the middle of winter.

      Kren walked next to his Platoon Sergeant and the Squad's comm. specialist as they made the last leg of their journey through the streets. He watched cautiously as some people and children came out and stared at the military convoy moving through their streets. Some young kids ran around excitedly, while others just stared in silence. The feel of this city was a little off, but he didn't think much of it. The only thing he was concerned about was getting the cargo safely to the outpost where someone would be waiting for them.

      They passed an alleyway and he felt the cool westward wind that this planet was named after. For some strange, meteoritic reason the planet had a pre-dominate westward wind that blew constantly in that direction. While it was soft at the surface, about three hundred meters up it was something of a jet stream, blowing at high velocities. He remembered the trip to the surface in the Pelican and feeling them go through it before they entered the safety of a canyon for landing; the wind kept and ships from safely landing at the outpost or even in the city, which forced them to make the ten-mile journey on by land.

      Every planet had its own quirks.

      They rounded a corner and found the outpost straight ahead along the dusty, hot road half a mile away. The sight was relieving, but they were still out in the heat. He watched as the heat created illusions along the surface of the road, this was not a place to retire on, especially if winters normal temperature was in the triple digits and summer was nearly unbearable to the human body.

      "A change of scenery," Gunnery Sergeant Jeff McCollum said, beckoning around them.

      Kren grunted. From wet to hot.

      The Marines immediately brought their long rifles to bear as a trio of men walked out of an alley way, sporting clubs. McCollum held his fist up and the convoy stopped behind them. The three dirty looking men walked along the sidewalk and stared at the group. The M7A1's in the hands of the Marine's followed the men's temples.

      "Lieutenant, this is the men we told you about at the landing zone." The cities mayor called out over the comm. link from the Warthog behind them, his voice partially conveying fear. Kren recalled the short lecture the mayor had given them about how the city did not have an adequate law enforcement department and gangs pretty much ruled the streets, even in broad daylight.

      The mayor also told them of the local militias that seemingly controlled everything, including his city. There was an obvious relationship between the city gangs and the local militias, and the combination proved quite troublesome, even for the UNSC outpost charged with keeping the city safe from these threats. Kren had witnessed similar situations on other planets; ever since the UNSC had been stretched thin with the war, it had left many colonies open to control by war lords or any other group with guns and men.

      "What are they going to do, charge a passing tax?" McCollum asked quietly, the reticule in his scope centered between one of the man's eyes.

      Kren watched them; they looked drunk and wondered back and forth, before shouting at the convoy. The M7A1 rifles slowly lowered as they made loose threats, yelling about how great their leader was; the name of some militia. He area began getting extremely bright, and Kren shielded his eyes. Suddenly, it retuned to normal

      Kren turned at the sound an object landing ten meters to his left. He quickly spotted the small black object and a fuse burning down. He caught the figure of a men just stepping back behind some cover in an alleyway.

      Kren saw the bright flash of the explosions and felt a sharp pain spike into him across his left side.

      McCollum raised his rifle and fired a trio of rounds into the alley way as the figure disappeared. Dust, rocks, and pieces of cement flew up into the air as the explosive rang out. The flash momentarily disoriented him and he looked around dazed, the sound of rifle fire rang out around them.

      Kren clutched his left side and saw shrapnel imbedded in his body armor; none had penetrated. He quickly looked around them as the dust cleared from the first explosive, had it been one man?

      "Enemy contact, all directions." Came a voice over the comm. link.

      Kren cursed silently and looked around them. His platoon began dismounting from the vehicles and set up a perimeter, rifle fire ringing out periodically. He looked up onto the roof tops and spotted some figures.

      An ambush?

      "Contact, roof tops." Kren transmitted. He aimed and fired at the silhouetted figure, the sun gleaming back down at him. The rounds impacted the figure and it fell back out of sight.

      He quickly ran to the sidewalk, out of the middle of the street. There were more figures on the roof tops. He aimed his rifle and fired two bursts, taking down the threat. McCollum and Corporal Ryder were firing down an alleyway.

      The gunner aboard the only armed Warthog leading the convoy opened up, the large chain gun shattering the air around it as it spewed out hundreds of rounds into to roof tops; debris flew up and rained down upon the convoy as if it were hail.

      Kren spotted three more contacts appear at the roof top on the other side of the street, two were carrying large objects. He fired at the first but missed, then his clip ran out. He ejected it and began the reloading process as he watched one of the figures aim down at the truck, then fire. Smoke erupted from the launcher as a rocket screamed down at the first Warthog, impacting and sending an explosive force of fragments in all directions. Smoke filled the street as more fire broke out.

      Kren looked around as the area began getting bright again. He couldn't tell where it was emitting from, but it lit up everything without casting shadows.

      Kren blinked and found himself walking along the road, McCollum walking next to him, along with his comm. specialist Corporal Ryder. They were in the city, but had not made the final turn towards the outpost. He looked behind him quickly and found the entire convoy untouched, following them like nothing happened.

      He looked around at where they were. Nothing had happened.

      He shook his head and rubbed his face.

      "You okay, sir?" McCollum asked, noticing his CO.

      Kren thought as the continued walking. This was not the first time this had happened; ever since Milestone something had been different. He wasn't sure what had caused it, maybe the short period of time he had with the chrome-ball, or the artifacts, or the combination. Whatever it was, it was telling him something.

      He looked ahead at the final turn to the outpost, and his stomach tightened up. Never make the same mistake twice.

      "Meyers: bring up the map of the city and find us another route to the outpost." Kren said over the comm. link.

      Lieutenant Meyers responded. "Sir? Take a left at the next street, that's the most direct route."

      "Another route, give it to me." Kren said more forcefully.

      There was a short silence. "Continue along this road until we reach the following road, about another block, then turn down that road." Meyers said, not understanding the order.

      McCollum looked over at him, but nodded in acceptance. Kren didn't want to explain it.

      "Inform our drivers and guests about the detour," Kren said over the comm. to Meyers. The Lieutenant acknowledged and passed the word on.

      They walked up to the first road and Kren stared down it. He noticed the exact same spot where the convoy stopped and the roof-tops where the figures appeared. He looked down into the distance and saw the outpost, the heat coming of the road, the empty street.

      Kren wasn't sure if he was losing his mind or not. Something had somehow indicated the future of him, his men, and the convoy they were escorting through the hot, dusty streets of this city. He couldn't help but remember the experience back on Milestone when he was able to do the same thing in real time; except this time, he was able to foresee it. He was able to see what would happen in the future, not what was happening right then and there.

      They continued on past that road. Did that fate really lay down that road? Was what he saw really going to happen?

      He shook his head. Never make the same mistake twice.

      Never.

1030 hours, September 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard ONI Stealth Frigate Valiant Knight
Renard Prime System, in orbit above planet Westwind

      The ONI officers stared intently down at the images on the table in front of them. The silence that dominated the room was only broken by the steady breathing of the men trying to piece the puzzle together, trying to figure out what they were looking at. Time was of the essence, and the sooner they figured out the puzzle before them, the sooner they could get their mission underway.

      The ONI Lieutenant of Section VI cocked his head sideways and moved the images around, reorganizing them. Before him were a set of images taken while the artifact aboard the Valiant Knight was showing them something while returning from Milestone. The suspicions were that where ever this was, it was where the third and final artifact was.

      He looked intently at a mountain range in the background of the picture. It they jetted up thousands of feet and were capped with white ice and snow. In the valley before the mountains were lush forests and strong rivers. The sky was blue and had only high wispy clouds. He shook his head; this could be anywhere.

      He was about to walk away when he looked at the river again. It had a unique S-pattern to it before a high waterfall that emptied into a deep, clear green lake. He had seen this before, not in person, but on a topography map.

      He walked over to accessed the topography maps of that type. He pulled up the most likely match and looked at it from every angle. It matched.

      He looked up the location of this map.

      "Ensign! Get Lieutenant Colonel Reinker and Major Senderling online!" the young Lieutenant said.

      "What do you want me to tell them, sir?" The technician asked.

      "Tell them we found the location of the last artifact."

The Revelation of War, Chapter Two: Part I
Date: 20 July 2004, 10:12 PM

Chapter Two: A Battle Unfinished

0233 hours, May 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Orbital Defense Station
Imbari System, in orbit above planet Imbari V

110 Days Earlier

"Excavation process on the surface is going well; we predict that the entire square kilometer will be finished within the next two days at the most. I must say, though, that the reports of weird lights being seen in the valley have been surprisingly regular, with at least nineteen separate sightings this week. Of course, our workers do not know what to think of it, and some of our engineers have only thrown out theories of what these lights are. I would suggest getting an annalist team down here to document and try and find out what causes those frequent array of lights, but in retrospect, it can remain and simple mystery for now."

      Miller nodded at the screen after hearing the final remarks from his crew chief on the surface of the planet. The important thing was that progress to excavate those materials were going well. "Sounds good, keep me posted. Miller out."

      He leaned back and severed the connection, and the screen went black. He looked around his small office aboard the orbital station and sighed; they had been behind schedule for the last two weeks, but the recent progress had proved especially helpful, putting them back on their original timeline of work.

      Soon he could leave this planet and system and return to his family, along with a load of commissioned salary that would allow him to take a nice long vacation. This rather small planet had its nice areas, but the majority of the green forest world was uninteresting and got old fast. He chuckled to himself at the thought of it. It got old fast and they had been here for almost six months.

      He stood up and grabbed his coat. He walked out of the metal office and down the corridor to the control station for the platform, where the commander was. The UNSC officer had kindly allowed him and some of his staff to work off of his station while his crew finished the mining process on the surface, and he felt it only necessary to keep him informed on their progress.

      He walked around the corner and onto the control station and was surprised to see it busy with activity, its thirteen station crew working frantically. Maybe it was a routine drill.

      "Commander Stevens," Miller said, drawing the officer's attention. "May I ask what is happening?"

      The UNSC officer was distracted. "Just reports coming in, nothing to be too concerned about."

      Miller nodded and gazed towards a screen on a distant wall. It was a slightly fuzzy picture of some ships exiting slip-space. He walked closer and got a better look; they didn't appear to be UNSC or human. They looked rather odd, with big bulbous sections.

      "Commander!" An ensign called out. "Seven contacts entering the system. They're Covenant!"

      Cmdr. Stevens spun around and looked at the display. "Red alert, call all compartments to battle stations. Get Admiral Henderson online and inform him our arriving enemies."

      Miller looked on in awe at the purple ships. He had never seen the Covenant live before, and expected that he never would, but this sent chills down his spine as he watched them move towards them, some large bumps lighting up on its sides and bottom hot red.

      "They're firing, sir! Incoming plasma projectiles: impact in twenty-seconds." A crewmember called out.

      "Target and fire all Archer missiles," Cmdr. Stevens ordered. "Order any docked ships away as fast as you can."

      "The nearby frigate Turner is reporting contacts entering normal space behind us, sir! Multiple small contacts are leaving the ships' and heading for the surface."

      Stevens panned the camera to see three large space craft launch hundreds of tiny specks that headed for the planet. He had never been in a space battle before but had read enough for him to know what was going on.

      Planetary invasion.

      Miller watched with his mouth open as the white balls of plasma curved effortlessly towards them. He started shaking slightly and stood still as the hot charges got closer until they took up the whole screen.

      "Brace for impact!" Stevens yelled.

      The ship rocked wildly, and the crewmen around them fell to the floor. Miller grabbed a hold of a nearby console and held on as warning lights and sirens flashed around him. He could feel the plasma eating its way though the decks and the explosive decommissions of the decks that erupted and echoed through the hull. Then the ceiling above them turned white hot.

      He felt the heat burn him as the metal melted and sheared away. The heat flashed over him and he felt his skin get instantly vaporized. The pain lasted only a second before his world went black.

1200 hours, September 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Renard Prime System, in orbit above planet Westwind

      Lt. Col. Reinker quickly reviewed the images before him as the briefing room aboard the destroyer quickly filled up as officers from the three UNSC ships took their seats and waited impatiently for them to began. He was glad that they had found the location of the third artifact; this was the difference between possibly winning or losing the war. But the situation surrounding the newly discovered location was not ideal.

      It was far from it.

      ONI Major Senderling stood behind him, organizing some information papers and listening one last time to the Lieutenant who had just pieced together the last puzzle. Reinker had heard the ordeal twice already, and the excitement of finding it quickly faded. Now he was looking forward to a messy mission that would encompass them all.

      The room was almost completely full when three Marines walked in. The officers turned and watched as the soldiers, fully geared up with Load Bearing Vests and standard issue MK IAC body armor, walked in and stood off to the side. Many of the crewmen looked nervously at the loaded weapons that were slung from their sides, and a few more seemed to get agitated as the ODST insignias became apparent. The Marines were covered with a fine layer of sand and dust from the hot surface of Westwind.

      "Why do we have Marines present at a confidential briefing pertaining to a sensitive matter?" Scorzio asked to no one in particular, staring at the three soldiers. The Marines returned the Captain's hard gaze but remained silent.

      "These Marines," Rayford spoke up, his tone harsh. "Are solely responsible for retrieving the second artifact. They are an indispensable part of this mission and are probably our only hope for retrieving the third artifact."

      The briefing room quieted to silence as the officers and crewmen looked at the two Captain's after their comments were made. Reinker looked at them as well, and nodded approvingly at Captain Rayford's expressed defense of the Marines. He had heard from Major Senderling the events at Milestone, and viewed them from a different perspective. Before he had thought of them as the jar-head's that did the dirty work on the ground, but these men had shown an unprecedented amount of skill and professionalism when it came to getting the job done; something he failed to see among many of his own staff.

      Besides, with the recent events at Reach, they needed every asset and man they could get their hands on. Every Captain in the room knew that assistance from any other UNSC forces would be slim, which left them with what they had right then and there.

      Reinker motioned for the Marine guards to close the thick armored doors to the conference room, and then dim the lights. The digital projector came to life and showed them a current tactical map of the system they were in, outlined with information detailing the resources they had.

      "We have found the location of the third artifact," Reinker began slowly, switching the view to a star map. "And the situation surrounding the planet are not ideal. As you can see on the display here, the images pieced together by our intelligence analysts show that the planet is Imbari V."

      Reinker watched as the expressions changed dramatically on his audience.

      "And we are all aware of the situation in the Imbari System," Reinker continued. "Nearly four months ago the planet Imbari V was attacked and invaded by the Covenant. The largest three cites fell within the hour and most surface-side bases were destroyed within the day. Two weeks later Ninth Fleet with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Force arrived in system and were able to reclaim the system, and the Marine force went planet-side to combat the Covenant troops that landed. I'm sure we followed the reports as they Marine force secured the cities and bases, and then the new attack by the Covenant thirty-two days later, landing an unknown amount of ground forces on the planet. And again we all followed the reports as the Twenty-Second Fleet with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Force entered the system and repeated the same feats as the prior fleet.

      "But the reports stopped shortly thereafter: August 17 was the last transmission we heard from the Imbari System. To give you a brief overview in case your minds are a little rusty: the space in the system was secured with heavy losses, and the fighting on the planet continued to rage on as the remnants of the 15th MEF and the surviving regiments of the 11th MEF continued to fight an unknown amount of Covenant ground forces. To but it simply, the planet is a devastated battle-field that has been the slaughtering grounds for many of our troops. What does this mean? It means that the artifact is somewhere on this planet and the Covenant must know about it, otherwise the planet would have been glassed.

      "We need to get there and find it before the Covenant do," Reinker continued. "I cannot tell what the situation there is now, but we need to get in there regardless of how bad the tactical and strategic circumstances are."

      The Captain's and their officers digested the information in silence. Reinker knew that this was not the way any of them wanted to find the last artifact, but it was nonetheless the location of this artifact. And they all knew now the potential cost of losing the last one to the Covenant; they needed it to win the war.

      "Okay then," Captain Baker said slowly. "What's our operational plan?"

      Reinker nodded to the ONI Major who stepped up and switched the screen back to the first slide. "Let's first organize our resources," the Major said. "Firstly, we have the Melbourne with its surviving fighters, about twelve, and the remains of Tango Company, numbering in at ninety-eight Marines with limited support vehicles.

      "The Triton has all of its fighters and the surviving members of Foxtrot Company, which is seventy-five, along with a single armored platoon of tanks. Combined this gives us a total landing force of 173 combat ready Marines, fifteen light reconnaissance vehicles, and four armored tanks."

      The Major sighed at the low number of results from the battle in Alpha 1265+90 System. They had taken thirty-two percent casualties among their ground troops and there was nothing those Marines could have done. The Major recalled the tactics guidelines regarding planets; just to secure a sizeable landing zone they needed two platoons, which they had more then enough of. But to launch offensive operations they needed at least one regiment with support. He sighed; hopefully those MEFs were still operational and fighting the Covenant because with these puny numbers they would not get far.

      "And the Valiant Knight," the Major said. "No fighters, one platoon of Marines numbering in at thirty-six, no combat support vehicles except for a single drop-ship that's still in testing."

      The Major could see the look in their eyes, this was a long shot. He flipped the screen slide and continued, despite the overwhelming feeling in the room of hopelessness.

      "Current Operational Plan is to get any needed supplies and leave the system within eight hours. We will then transition to slip-space and reach the Imbari System by September 19. From there we will deploy our ground forces and search for the artifact on Imbari V. With luck we will not have a Covenant fleet to deal with in space, only a ground invasion force that may or may not still be formidable. So expect to provide support for our troops on the surface"

      The Major nodded and took a step back. Reinker grabbed his papers and addressed the group. "This is it, gentlemen. We have found the last artifact, and we can all agree that the conditions are not with us. But despite this, we must make this happen."

      The group remained silent, but the mood was slowly changing.

      Reinker looked around. "We must make this happen for humanity's sake."

The Revelation of War, Chapter Two: Part II
Date: 21 July 2004, 8:01 AM

1200 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard ONI Stealth Frigate Valiant Knight
Imbari System

      Captain Rayford stood up from his chair as the sleek craft exited slip-space and entered the Imbari System. The view of the system flashed up onto the tactical display and the sensors immediately picked up the four planets orbiting the old star, its moons, and the ships in system. Near Imbari V the display was cluttered with contacts.

      "Magnify the surrounding area of Imbari V," Rayford ordered.

      The tactical display zoomed in on the planet and its two moons to show a more accurate picture of the area. The sensors read hundreds of ships floating aimlessly, all of them having inactive reactor cores. There were hundreds more fragments and pieces of destroyed ships, all of which cluttered up the space near the planet.

      "My god..." Rayford's XO said silently.

      The sensors finished a scan and identified the ships. FOF tags began popping up as destroyed UNSC ships were identified, their rotting hulls floating through the black void around the small green planet. The view was depressing and angering at the same time as the identification for the Covenant ships came up.

      Rayford looked over at the command console and brought up the results of the scan. Fifty-two UNSC ships destroyed, twenty-nine Covenant destroyed.

      He looked again at the display and felt his neck tighten. Two fleets slaughtered around the small green planet with barely half the same number of enemy ships destroyed. He knew the Covenant were superior but he never figured by this standard; they had been effectively eliminated, despite having nearly twice the numbers.

      "Scan for any ships with active components." Rayford said, trying to find any survivors.

      "One ship, sir." The Operations Officer replied. "The UNSC ship Turner has no active reactor core, but has life-support and limited electronic functions on decks three and nine, otherwise the ship is lost."

      "Set a course for the Turner," Rayford ordered. "And let Captain's Baker and Scorzio know to head directly for the planet and secure a landing zone."

      His crew complied quickly and the stealth ship headed towards the battle-field around the planet. The bridge crew was mostly silent, taking in the images of the destroyed ships. This was not something any of them were accustomed to seeing.

      "Run a scan of Imbari V," Rayford said quietly, waiting as they closed in on the Turner.

      "Monitoring radio frequencies," his XO said. "Looks empty."

      Rayford sighed. Was everyone down there dead?

      "Negative, sir. We're picking up chatter." His XO said suddenly. "Putting it through."

      The speakers crackled to life as a static transmission filtered through. "...Targets two o'clock! Call in the air support now and wipe them off the board..."

      "Secure the left flank, we will go straight up this street and secure the housing developments..."

      "...Negative, we have hostile fire coming from the roof-tops, get the heavy weapons squad up here..."

      Rayford listened as the reports came through. There were Marines down there, fighting. And from the sounds of things, they were fighting hard.

      "Locate the area of the transmission and relay them to the Melbourne and Triton," Rayford said.

      "Aye, sir."

      Rayford sat back down and leaned back. The battle for Imbari V was not over, and with any luck, they could help change the direction of it and find the artifact. He smiled to himself.

      With any luck, they could win the war.

      Captain Baker sat on the bridge and watched as they moved steadily towards the mess surrounding the green planet before them. The battle had claimed nearly the same percentile of casualties as the Harvest System battle years ago, and that fact made him very uneasy.

      They were making progress against the Covenant; everyday there were breakthroughs in captured technology and improved systems that they could turn against the seemingly infinite race of aliens, but in retrospect it was not enough. The recent attack on Reach was proof enough that the Covenant were indeed slowly working their way into the inner-colonies, and turning the once-great human empire into a fragmented group of the edge of being destroyed.

      But he believed now in the cause they were fighting for. He truly thought that what they were trying to accomplish in finding the last artifact would be the deciding factor against the Covenant. All he had to do was ensure that their troops survive on the surface long enough to recover the artifact.

      "Prepare to launch all fighters to perform and initial sweep of the space around Imbari V." Baker ordered. "And put the Marines on a ten-minute standby for transportation to the surface."

      Cmdr. Grover spoke up, his voice thick with question. "Captain, it looks as if there is heavy radio chatter from Marines in the city called 'Rocere'. It appears as if there is also air support communicating with them."

      Baker thought for a second. Maybe the Marines had done better then he expected; the possibility of them tactically achieving superiority on the surface was not all the far-fetched. While it was obvious that the Covenant probably outnumbered them, it was still possible for those two MEFs to slowly saturate the surface of those aliens.

      "Give me a strength estimate based on the chatter we're receiving." Baker said, thinking.

      Grover interfaced with the ships AI quickly. "Communications on the ground suggest at least three aerial craft and a Company's worth of Marines in Rocere, which is two hundred miles from Opeca, the planets largest city."

      "How large were these cities prior to the invasion?"

      "Rocere was about half a million, and Opeca was reaching two million citizens." Grover replied. "Reports were that at least sixty-percent of the cities' populations were evac'd safely, but rural populations were pretty much untouched. A good estimate of the planets former population of three hundred ninety-two million is about one hundred million, taking into consideration the genocide that must have occurred on the initial landings of the first attack wave May 19."

      Baker nodded in disgust. The Covenant were not known for their sympathy towards unarmed civilians.

      He looked at the tactical display and saw that they were entering a high orbit around Imbari V. The relatively small planet was now huge, its green and blue features visible through white clouds that dotted the planet. He looked around them at the hulls of destroyed ships that were in deteriorating orbits; they would soon end up as large arcs of fire that swept across the sky to their doom on the surface.

      "Contact Major Griffith and his Company: time to head into hell.

The Revelation of War, Chapter Three: Part I
Date: 23 July 2004, 8:39 AM

Chapter Three: The Entrance to Hell

1245 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
City of Rocere, East Side, 12 kilometers from City Center
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

Private First Class Levorie crept up to the corner of the large former-commercial building and peered around it. He looked down the wide main street that led straight for the City Hall, along with the downtown commercial block of the city. The paved street had craters and burn marks scared across it, the buildings lining the street were either heavily damaged or reduced to large piles of ruble. The nice trees that once lined the side-walks were mostly burnt crisps with few green leafs on them.

      A small car burned in the middle of the street ahead, and the smoke rose into their air; its flames blowing swiftly in the light wind that poured down the silent street. Trash blew slowly across the former main street of transportation, leaving the entire view before him rather depressing.

      He waited silently and tried to hear anything over his own breathing, but the only sounds ahead of him down the empty, rubble-laden street was the breeze and the hot flames from the car. He didn't like it, everywhere there were windows that could suddenly harbor an enemy, rubble to hide in, alleyways that had clear shots of the street; the situation had too many uncertainties.

      Had any situation he'd been in not had any uncertainties? He blinked and wiped the sweat of his forehead, remembering the days, months, he had spent on this planet, fighting an enemy that was relentless in their pursuit to kill him. As part of the first liberation force to this planet, he had seen the big camps of the Covenant, the numerous fighters circling overhead, the ships in orbit that would slaughter his comrades. But now, after making his way to this city, things had changed for the quiet. No longer were there hordes of enemies assaulting him, ships circling overhead, mortars tearing away at their positions. Now it was rather peaceful, with quiet being the only thing that dominated the air around him.

      But that very peace, that very silence was the one thing that ate away at him.

      He took one last sweep of the street, then pulled back into the war-torn building and walked cautiously into the main room, a former office of some lawyer. Papers and trash were scattered about, the oak table flipped on its side, the light fixture from the ceiling shattered. Levorie held his rifle tight as the two Marines cautiously looking out a broken window held up their arms.

      Levorie looked out the broken window from across the room into another side-street that intersected with the main road. He gazed up into the blue, cloudless sky overhead, the sun blazing down on the city. If only this would end.

      "Road clear?" Corporal Berkley muttered, chewing silently on some gum. The Marine was now their commander, being the highest ranking among the three of them, and the two Marines on the second floor above them. Levorie didn't mind him; the Corporal had lasted this long, but he lacked the significant enthusiasm to encourage the other Marines. He could not blame him, though, none of them showed any enthusiasm.

      Levorie nodded, kicking some trash across the room. "Looks clear, awfully silent out there."

      His new squad leader nodded slightly and brought his MA5B to bear and looked out the window again. "Can't stay here forever. Jenson: get Warner and Morris down here."

      The young Marine nodded shakily and moved for the stairs.

      Berkley walked away from the window. "Second Squad says their moving up two hundred meters east of us. We need to secure this road and their flank."

      Levorie nodded, but didn't care whether or not they could do that. The only thing that mattered was having a full clip and something to shoot at. He sighed and slung his rifle, scratching his scalp, feeling the uncut three-month old hair. He wished he had a helmet to cover it up with, but nothing was perfect.

      After on and off fighting throughout the country-side and small towns, and now this city, he was beginning to feel it. His muscles ached, his arms were tired of hauling around the heavy rifle, his body called for sleep but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't close his eyes long enough without seeing memories. Memories which he wished he'd never see.

      Jenson appeared from the stairs with Warner and Morris in tow. The three Marines looked at Berkley and awaited his orders. The Corporal looked them over and spit out the gum, fatigue being the most recognizable feature on his face.

      "We're going to secure the next two-hundred meters of road for Second Squad," Berkley said, looking back and forth among them. "Levorie says its clear, but expect some resistance."

      Levorie shook his head; he had never said it was completely clear.

      "Move," the Corporal said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.

      The five Marines brought the rifles to bear and headed for the door to the main street. Levorie followed closely behind Jenson, his rifle shouldered. The young Marine in front of him eased around the corner into the sunlight and darted across the side-street to the a five-story building on the other side. He looked around for a second, then motioned for them to cross.

      Levorie looked up the main road, then down the side street. His gut told him that they weren't alone, but his mind told him they were fine. He started across the road when the sound of rubble sliding caught his ear. The Marines immediately looked around and spotted small fragments of a building down the side-street roll out into view. A high-pitched squeak emitted from behind a blown open wall.

      Levorie made it to Jenson and sighted his rifle on the small alien that came tumbling out into view. The Grunt squealed and tried to get on its feet, but rifle fire quickly punctured the aliens breathing apparatus. The alien twitched briefly then stopped.

      The was a sudden sound and a hot green ball went flying out from inside the building down the side-street. The explosive plasma shot hit well above them, but sent large pieces of rubble raining down on them from above.

      "Covering fire!" Berkley yelled, pointing at the building fifty meters down the street.

      The Marines took aim and fired into the building, sending fragments and pieces of concrete flying everywhere. Some growls were heard, as well as a deep booming voice; the unmistakable orders from an Elite.

      Levorie cursed silently as two Grunts edged up to the corner and poked the weapons out, firing wildly down the street toward them. The green plasma rounds were not accurately shot, and the Marines did not try dodging them. Jenson laughed nervously as the small aliens cowered, their heads poking out from around the corner.

      Rifle fire quickly speared across that wall, sending dust into the air. The aliens moved back into safety as the rounds shattered the silence in the city. Levorie stopped to reload when he heard movement. He walked to the edge of the building and peered down the main street, Jenson firing bursts at the building.

      Ahead of him was the burning car, and silently moving towards them were three Jackals and an Elite. Their weapons were charged and they looked directly at him, their steps quiet and slow. They saw the Marine's head from around the corner and the Jackals brought up their shields; the Elite fired and rolled to the side. The hot plasma rounds hit the side of the building and sent fragments out from the charred building.

      "Four contacts, main street, twenty-meters!" Levorie yelled and jammed a clip into the MA5B.

      The Marines still on the other side of the side-street spotted the small group of Covenant and opened fire, slowly pulling back into the building they had just come from.

      Jenson didn't notice what Levorie had just said, and continued firing at the building down the side-street, his eyes hysterical. Levorie cursed loudly as Berkley and the two Marines with him stepped back out of sight into the lawyer's office building.

      He peered around the corner and saw the group of Jackals and their Elite leader moving up on them, their bodies casting long shadows across the wide main street. He leaned out and fired, the rounds impacted and bounced off the Jackals' shields. The Elite fired at him again and hit the building; Levorie could feel the heat from the plasma.

      "We've got to get out of here," he said quickly. Jenson pulled down the trigger and sprayed rounds at the building down the side street, oblivious.

      Levorie grabbed the young Private's shoulders and shook him. "Jenson, we've got to go!"

      The Private laughed and looked at him. His pupils were dilated and he had a smirk etched across his face. The Marine turned and fired again at the building.

      Levorie looked up at the far off building as another green orb went flying out towards them. He bent down and leaped away from the building into the side-street as the round hit squarely five meters above where he once was. He looked back to see the green explosion engulf Jenson, who screamed loudly.

      He felt the heat wash over him, then looked back to Jenson, who slumped forward face first into the sidewalk, his body black and charred.

      Levorie stared at the sight of the smoking Marine less then five meters away. What was going on? He looked around in confusion as rubble from the building fell on him from the blast. His vision began to get tight as his heart rate doubled. He grabbed is rifle and fired wildly to where the Grunts were, the rounds aimlessly impacting around the area. Plasma fire erupted from ahead and behind him.

      He had survived months of war on this planet, only to come to his demise in a street on some city. He fired again and watched his round impact harmlessly on the ground in front of him. What am I doing?

      He breathed heavily and stumbled to his feet, depressing the trigger which emptied his clip into the street at his feet. He stared obliviously down the street, his mind going blank. He closed his eyes as an explosion nearby threw him to his face on the charred cement. He opened his eyes to find a blurry scene; he couldn't focus.

      He let go of his rifle and brought his knees up to his chest and laid in the street, shaking. He closed his eyes.

      The image of his Platoon Sergeant filled his mind, then the rounds of plasma that tore through his chest, splaying blood over him. The his mind flashed to a scene where a Pelican drop-ship came flying over him, then it took a direct his from a Covenant fighter and careened out of control and impacted into the ground, sending mud and dirt into the air. He stared at the images as the fuel tanks exploded and flames engulfed the ship; screams of Marines trapped aboard filled his head.

      The screams of death. He opened his eyes and heard a yelling noise. He squirmed quickly in the street and looked around, the scream still resounding. He felt his body over, then touched his face.

      And realized he was the one screaming.

      He looked to where the Grunts were in the building and saw nothing, he turned around quickly and looked to where the Jackals and the Elite were supposed to be on the road. He saw four bodies in four pools of blood on the cratered street. He looked around wildly and wiped the saliva from his mouth.

      The sound of a craft filled his ears from over head. He stared up into the blue sky as a large black craft circled and came in low, its rear door open. He stared in silence as dust and small fragments began flying away as the downwash from the craft send debris everywhere. He looked up and saw two long rifles sticking out from the rear, long scopes attached to them and some figures in green-gray fatigues expertly holding them, sweeping back and fourth.

      He watched as two ropes were thrown out from the rear door and land five meters to his left and right. Then figures grabbed onto the ropes and slid expertly down the twenty-meter distance from the black craft to the street. The first one hit the street and immediately brought a long rifle out to bear. The figure swept up and down the street as more slid down the ropes to the street. The figure then slung its rifle and crouched over to him through the downwash of the craft overhead.

      Levorie stared into the black, sleek visor that came down from the helmet. The man settled next to him and grabbed his shoulders. Levorie stared at his own reflection in the visor.

      "Name?" The man asked forcefully.

      Levorie stumbled with the words shakily. "Private First Class Raymond Levorie."

      The figure spoke into a comm. microphone, then motioned for another Marine to come over to them. The second Marine ran over and knelt down, slinging his rifle.

      "Private, are you okay?"

      The words echoed in his head as he stared into the second Marines black visor; his reflection haunting.

      "It's okay, you're safe now."

      Lieutenant Kren and Sergeant McCollum grabbed the shaken Marine by his arms and pulled him to his feet. The Marine required assistance to stand, so they both stood there, holding the man up under the downwash from the Blackspear hovering overhead.

      Kren looked the man in his eyes through the tinting of his visor. "Who's your commander?"

      The Marine stared around them shakily. "The Lieutenant's dead, fucking dead, he was blown apart and we tried to save him but it was too late. The Covenant swarmed around him and the drop-ship left..."

      McCollum looked over at Kren and shook his head.

      Kren activated the comm. link. "Secure the street. Delta Four-One: remain on air support station. Corporal Ryder, scan all frequencies and try and contact any Marines around here." The Marines acknowledged his order.

      McCollum and Kren walked the Marine over to the side of the street and set him down. The Marine was a mess, and was in shell-shock. He would be of little help to them now.

      Kren brought his rifle out and looked down the main street leading to the down-town area of the city. Smoke rose form several different locations, and debris and trash littered the area. The Covenant had obviously made their presence known.

      Now they would.

The Revelation of War, Chapter Three: Part II
Date: 23 July 2004, 8:51 AM

1300 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Imbari System, in orbit above planet Imbari V

      "Give me a look at the potential coordinates of the artifact." Baker ordered, staring at a recent satellite shot of the northern continent.

      Cmdr. Grover nodded and overlaid the locations onto the map. The continent was about two-thousand kilometers long and four-thousand kilometers wide, and the locations were concentrated in the lower right side. Grover zoomed the display in and updated the resolution, revealing the portion of land.

      "There are two possible locations, both of them within fifty kilometers of each other." Grover said. "The terrain is forest with sizeable hills and rivers running in the valleys. Now the two locations match the image properties that were pieced together by our ONI friends; they have rivers in a valley that empty into a lake.

      "We just finished running a scan of those areas, and I think you'll be surprised to find that we detected an usually concentration of metals near this possible location. The analysts suggest that the concentration may be some sort of structure, but we cannot be completely certain until we get eyes on it."

      Baker nodded. He looked at the distance between Rocere and these locations. "This place is at least one thousand kilometers from the city where we dropped off our Spec Ops platoon, who's call was that?"

      Grover noticed the agitation in his Captain's voice. "That of the platoon's commander, a First Lieutenant Kren. Apparently Captain Rayford only heard about the decision to go to Rocere after the platoon had already left. Apparently this Marine officer has some friends in the aviation branch; they took one of ONI's new stealth drop-ships."

      Baker sighed. "Goddamnit, we can't waste our time going into destroyed cities. What could possibly be in Rocere?"

      Grover shook his head. "No clue, sir."

      "And what of Major Griffith and his Company?" Baker asked next.

      Grover brought up a tactical topographic map. "Major Griffith has secured a landing zone near the former theatre headquarters and will attempting to contact any command officers from either Marine Expeditionary Force."

      Baker rubbed his eyes. He was not in charge of these Marines, and had to rely on their decisions on the ground. "Inform them of the potential locations and suggest that they redirect and set up an LZ near them and search for the artifact."

      Grover nodded. The would 'suggest' was not to be underestimated.

      Baker turned at the sound of his Communications Officer. "Captain, incoming transmission from the Valiant Knight." The secondary viewing screen came to life as Captain Rayford filled the screen.

      "Captain Rayford," Baker acknowledged.

      Rayford nodded. "Wondering where our ground forces are going?"

      Baker grunted. "Naturally. We need to get them to the right location to start searching. Hell, where they are, the only thing they're going to find is destroyed buildings and streets."

      Rayford shook his head. "Actually Captain, according to Lieutenant Kren, the commander of the ODST platoon, there's something that must be done first."

      Baker sighed. "How could he know if there's anything that needs to be done? Whatever he knows comes from us, and it's not like those artifacts are in his rucksack, showing him the way..."

      "He didn't explain it to me, but he knows somehow. You need to know, however, do not deploy any troops to the vicinity of the artifact."

      "Why not?" Baker asked. "In fact, the remnants from the Triton's Marine Company are heading there right now."

      Rayford eyes widened. "Why didn't Captain Scorzio tell me he was deploying his Marines to the possible location? Call them back; trust me Captain, I saw the effects of this artifact at Milestone. You must get those Marines out of there."

      Baker leaned forward, taking the serious tone in. He didn't understand what was going on, what was going to happen, or even where this Captain was getting this information from. What even happened on Milestone? In his mind he figured that these artifacts gave glimpses into the future, but he never figured they would have double effects.

      "Comm., flash message to Foxtrot Company. Tell them to reroute away from their specified coordinates." Baker said, his tone serious. The message was transmitted as second later.

      "Captain, Foxtrot Company has aleady landed at the LZ." The Comm. Officer said.

      Baker looked at the officer, then at Captain Rayford on the screen.

      "You're too late." Rayford said.

1305 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Fifteen Kilometers from possible locations
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

      The MA5B's scanned the area back and forth as the Marine disembarked from the Pelican's that had dropped them off. The clearing they had found among the forest was not very large, but allowed for them to land in entirety together. The Marines of Foxtrot Company quickly moved to set up a perimeter, and the Pelican's began lifting away.

      "Sir," the comm. specialist called out. "Flash message from the Melbourne."

      The Company Commander walked over and grabbed the receiver. His eyes widened as he heard the emergency relocation order.

      "Get those Pelicans back down here!" He ordered quickly.

      The comm. specialist got on the radio and began yelling into the transmitter at the Pelican's now well into the air.

      The Company Commander looked up and saw a bright blue flash appear above them. The Pelicans shuddered for a second, then careened out of control. He watched in horror as the craft fell to the earth and exploded in fireballs, others just sending up debris and dirt as they crashed into the trees around them. He had seen no fire, just the blue flash.

      Then the blue light originated around them. He watched as it swept from the far end of the field toward them. Marines disappeared before his eyes and their rifles fell to the ground. The flash swept across the field and headed right towards him.

      He remained still as the blue light hit him. His rifle fell to the earth, right through his hands. He looked around and saw the entire Company of Marines, their bodies blue ghostly outlines.

      Suddenly, there was nothing.

The Revelation of War, Chapter Three: Part III
Date: 23 July 2004, 9:24 PM

1430 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
City of Rocere, South Side, 22 kilometers from City Center
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

Sergeant McCollum ran across the street silently and threw himself against the wall of the building. He gripped the long M7A1 rifle and edged up to the corner of the building, then peered around it. The narrow street ahead of him was devoid of movement or sound; only the debris cluttering up the two-lane road filled the empty street.

      Private Smathers then silently made his way across the street to McCollum and pulled out the motion sensor. The display flickered to life and red dots appeared ahead of them, but the problem with being in an urban setting was very real. They couldn't tell if the threat was inside a building or in the open, only the direction of the target was known. It would have to do.

      The sensor beeped once quietly as a motion appeared within ten meters of them. The two Marines immediately shouldered their rifles and scanned the street. The threat moved rather quickly.

      The silence was broken with a 14.5 millimeter discarding SABOT round. McCollum looked behind them and found the long rifle steadily aimed in the hands of Sergeant Dieter, First Squad's sniper. He looked to his left and saw the body of a Red Elite slump to the ground from behind some debris, a single wound to its temple.

      "Status?" Came Lt. Kren's voice over the comm. link.

      McCollum depressed the button. "Numerous single contacts within the vicinity, and a group of targets bearing zero-nine-five at about sixty meters."

      Smathers tapped him on the shoulder and pointed towards the group on the sensor, which was now heading towards them. McCollum nodded and leaned out from behind the building; the group of ten Grunts and a couple Elites was making their way toward the sound of the single round fired. He didn't notice them taking any precautions in the way of stealth.

      "Jacobs: Concentrate fire on the group, bearing 095." McCollum said over the comm. link. Third Squad Leader Sergeant Jacobs acknowledged the order; his Squad was one city block behind them, securing the road. They would have a clear shot of the Covenant group.

      Suppressed rifle fire was barely noticeable from where Third Squad was. McCollum watched from around the buildings' corner as the first five Grunts fell to the earth, rounds tearing through their little armor. The Elites barked out orders and the survivors scattered, plasma fire flying down the road pass him towards Third Squad.

      McCollum reached into his Load Bearing Vest and primed a fragmentation grenade, then leaned around the corner, spotted where the Covenant had gone, and threw the grenade into the broken window. A deep thump was heard as the remaining glass exploded outward into the street, along with debris.

      McCollum brought his rifle up to his shoulder and walked quickly around the corner, Smathers quick in tow. He kept his rifle sights at where the Covenant had gone and walked quickly, but steadily, up to it. Smoke and dust filled the immediate area around the grenade explosion, hindering his view. A figure moved slowly through the smoke towards them.

      He depressed the trigger, sending a three round burst into the small figure that squealed and flew back from the armor-piercing rounds. A deep growl could be heard form inside the building where he had thrown the grenade, and the tall figure darted through the smoke and dust toward them. Smathers and McCollum sent rounds into the chest of the being as its shields flashed, failed, and the rounds tore through its chest.

      The two Marines ducked as plasma fire arched above them from the street, impacting on the building just above their heads. McCollum turned and found some new foes moving up on them; two Jackals and a trio of Grunts.

      Suppressed rifle fire resounded from the other side of the street as Lt. Kren and First Squad moved up the side-walk, firing at the small group of Covenant, their well-placed shots tearing them apart. McCollum sighted his rife and fired another burst into a Grunt that was now trying to retreat.

      The motion sensor beeped again: new targets at long range.

      "We've got fifteen contacts moving in down the road, seventy-meters out." McCollum transmitted over the comm. link.

      Two shots rang out form the S2B sniper rifle in the hands of Sergeant Dieter and cut down two Jackals from the group. McCollum sighted the targets in his scope and fired, the rounds tearing down two Grunts. The group hesitated briefly, but the Jackals brought up their shields and returned fire.

      Smathers and McCollum ducked into the building, still filled with dust and smoke, as the plasma rounds flew past them down the street. He leaned out and fired off another burst, catching a Jackal in its unguarded side as First Squad across the street began engaging the small force of Covenant. He heard the hissing of a rocket launch and turned to see a single round fly passed him up the street and impact on a building right near the survivors of the group. The explosion erupted with debris flying everywhere, as well as several body pieces.

      "Clear," McCollum transmitted, seeing no more contacts on his motion sensor.

      Kren checked up and down the street one last time, then motioned for his comm. specialist to come over. Corporal Ryder ran up and detached the headset from the LRISC and handed it to his CO.

      "Delta 4-1, this is Foxtrot Oscar, have you located the command post?" Kren transmitted.

      "Copy that, Foxtrot Oscar, we have located the Company Command post and Tango Company has reported that they have secured an LZ near it. Exact location is about twenty-one clicks south." Came the reply. "And I'm going to get my ass chewed up for doing this."

      Kren remembered the request he had given them after they left the Valiant Knight, and also the look on their faces. They had been given the coordinates of the possible location of the artifact, but he had changed their location after he saw what would happen if they didn't stop the Covenant from doing something first.

      "Negative, Delta 4-1, I'll take the heat." Kren said. "Just make sure Tango Company secures that command post. Meanwhile, we need to locate our immediate objective."

      "Copy, Delta 4-1 remaining on station."

      Kren handed the headset back to Ryder and brought his rifle back out. They would not get the artifact without the Covenant knowing if they didn't stop a chain of events first.

1250 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UAS-9A Blackspear, en route to the City of Rocere
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

1 Hour 40 Minutes Earlier

      Kren waited impatiently as the turbulence rocked the black ship. The drop-ship was flying through the upper atmosphere and the ride was not enjoyable. His Platoon was strapped in and waiting silently in the dull lighting of the ship as it vibrated through the air of the planet. The Marines were obviously apprehensive about not using HEVs for insertion, he was too, but they would need the drop-ship with them, for more reasons then one.

      He looked around and tightened the grip on his rifle as the once dull lighting in the ship began getting lighter. He didn't know where it was coming from, but it began getting extremely bright. He shielded his eyes, then looked around as the light disappeared.

      He found himself standing in a passageway room, illuminated only by purple lights in the hands of Grunts. He was standing in a hallway, right ahead of a group of Grunts and Elites, as they made their way cautiously through the tunnel. Odd inscriptions were etched on the wall, and he immediately recognized them as the inscriptions in the structure on Milestone, but he couldn't understand them.

      The Covenant group walked right up to him, then through him, into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. Their weapons were up and ready, and the Grunts nervously squeaked every now and then. The Elites were silent, but their apprehension was clear.

      He followed the group as they made a turn and entered a vaulted room. He stood in shock as it resembled exactly the one room under ground on Milestone: lining the walls were containers, and in the center of the room was a beam of light the filtered through from a shaft, which lead directly to the surface.

      In the center directly under the beam of light, was a chrome ball.

      The lead Elite took cautious step toward it as the other moved around the room, searching. Kren watched in horror as it reached for the ball, its long arm stretching out for it.

      The room suddenly lit up with a new light, a blue flash that filled around them. The Grunts squealed as the light washed over them; they disappeared an instant later and their weapons clattered to the floor. The other two Elites looked frantically around before they were engulfed and disappeared, their plasma rifles hitting the floor with loud cracks the echoed in the room.

      The lone Elite looked around as his team disappeared. It didn't hesitate at the situation and grabbed the ball. The Blue light disappeared in a flash as the Elite flashed, then turned half-transparent. Kren recognized the process; it wasn't all the distant for him.

      The Elite looked around and walked toward one of the containers, its ghostly appearance barely visible in the dull light. It stopped and looked intently at one of the containers along the wall. Kren knew what he was looking at.

      It was the one thing that brought him to this planet.

      Kren suddenly watched as the Elite backtracked exactly the way he had gone. Then the blue light reappeared and the Covenant Grunts and Elites flashed back into existence, their weapons flying up from the ground and into their hands. The one Elite walked backwards from the chrome ball, then the entire group backtracked out of the room and into the tunnel.

      The whole thing just reversed itself.

      He watched as they walked backwards, like a tape rewinding, through the tunnels. They then made their way through a series of turn before the entered a tunnel that sloped up towards the surface. They appeared into daylight, surrounded by a thick forest. The group of Covenant went backwards through the forest until they entered a clearing.

      A single drop-ship flew backwards and landed, opened its bays, and the Covenant group got in. The ship then took off, rear first, and headed into the sky. The ship flew over hills and mountains of the vast forest until it began crossing over country-farms and rural areas. It then made its way into a city and landed, the group disembarked, backwards.

      Kren looked around at the war-torn city, light fighting was going on around them. It was the City of Rocere.

      He looked at the watch on his heads-up-display. It was 1442 hours.

      The area began getting bright, then in a flash, he looked around and found himself sitting in the drop ship, heading towards the planet. His platoon was waiting, strapped in, as they passed through turbulence. The dull lighting in the ship made it barely possible to identify anyone. It was now 1253.

      He was back in the Blackspear heading for the possible location of the artifact.

      Kren stood up and walked forward toward the cockpit. He wavered back in forth as the ship rocked, but made it uneventfully and opened the armored door. Inside the two pilots navigated the craft towards the surface.

      "Lieutenant," copilot Weisfield said. "You need to be strapped in for this flight."

      Kren waved him off. "We need to go to Rocere."

      The copilot looked at him quizzically, then back at the controls. "We're going to were the artifact should be, that's the important thing."

      "No, that's not the important thing. I don't have time to explain, just set a course for the city." Kren said.

      The senior pilot didn't take his eyes off the controls. "Kren, what the hell is at this city?" Abrams asked.

      Kren shook his head. "Just do it. You have to trust me on this one; we need to stop the Covenant."

      "From doing what?" Abrams asked, manipulating the controls.

      "From getting the artifact first."

The Revelation of War, Chapter Four
Date: 28 July 2004, 7:41 PM

Chapter Four: Last Place

1440 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
City of Rocere, South Side, 27 kilometers from City Center
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

It had gotten really quiet now; after they had taken out two more patrol groups of Covenant, there wasn't much left in the way of them and their objective. Everyone in the platoon, however, did not know the new objective that had taken priority above finding the last artifact.

      Kren knew that not informing his Marines would leave them with questions, but time was of the essence. He looked at the mission timer on his HUD, they had two minutes to stop this event from happening; two minutes to stop the Covenant from getting the artifact first.

      He remembered the vision he had gotten barely two hours ago, and tried to piece that with the location they were now at. The city looked very similar at every location, and the fact that it was all in ruins didn't help. He needed to find where that Covenant drop-ship had landed and fast.

      He was running cautiously up the sidewalk of a torn up street, the motion sensor was clear of contacts so he felt mildly confident that there were no threats out there. Rarely would a Grunt or Jackal stay still for too long, but Elites were definitely able to do such a task. He shook his head as he ran along the street, stepping over large debris and around craters; they just didn't have the time for the normal precautions that he would have taken, especially in an urban setting.

      He brought up an overlay of the city map on his HUD and looked for anyplace that could resemble where that U-shaped ship had landed, but there were too many possibilities, especially for him to get to on foot. Delta 4-1 was still in the air above them, but he couldn't use them for transportation, for some reason his gut told him it wouldn't work.

      They had to catch it on the ground.

      The platoon of Marines ran up each side of the street, their M7A1's scanning back and forth from the shoulder of each ODST. The sun beat down on them from above as they moved along, following their CO and trying to figure out where he was going.

      "Lieutenant," McCollum said from behind. "Large contact coming in, 70 meters and closing; it's not friendly."

      Kren immediately came to a stop and held up his fist. The same motion was passed down and across the street and the thirty-six Marines stopped and crouched down, their rifles scanning the street, windows and roof-tops.

      He looked at the motion sensor, it was large and moved too fast to be a ground group. He looked up into the air behind him, and spotted the purple ship flying directly towards them, the noise reaching his ears a second later. The plasma turret on the back swung back and forth, but didn't locate on them.

      The Marines watched silently as the drop-ship screamed over and pulled a hard left up ahead of them. Kren looked at the timer: 1442.

      Kren cursed under his breathe and gave the all forward signal. He jumped up and brought his rifle to bear, then proceeded along the road at a full sprint, initially leaving some of his platoon behind. He had made it this far, now they had to stop this ship from ever leaving the ground.

      Ahead, on the map, was a cross road that led to a open courtyard to the left. The setting was identical to what he had seen, and the drop ship had disappeared behind the buildings in that area; that must be it. He looked ahead of them, just over 100 meters to go before the turn. Kren pushed himself to run faster.

      "Contacts! Twelve o'clock at 100 meters!" McCollum shouted from behind, keeping right next to him.

      Kren looked ahead at the crossroad where they needed to turn. Coming from the right side were six Elites and seven Grunts; he shook his head in question at the number. He recognized the three Elites and five Grunts that had been down in those tunnels, but there were more. Had what he seen been wrong?

      The Covenant group spotted the running Marines and immediately brought their weapons up. Kren hit the comm. link.

      "Incoming!" He yelled as a volley of plasma rounds left the Covenant hands toward them. Kren didn't stop running, and brought his rifle sights to bear on a small Grunt firing at them. He pulled the trigger and sent a three-round burst into the head of the creature.

      Hot projectiles flew past him and he heard a scream; but he didn't have time to look. His training took over and he cycled to the next target; an Elite. The large figure was firing off rounds towards them and dodging bullets here and there. He pressed and held the trigger and spat out rounds, most of which missed, but it forced the Elite to stop shooting.

      Suddenly, the lead Elite stopped firing and brought his hand up to his head, the one Kren recognized who picked up the chrome ball; the one Elite who survived the blue flash that took away every Covenant in that room under ground. He was not wounded as far as Kren could tell, he was listening to something over a radio.

      The Elite suddenly barked orders and the Covenant turned and ran down the side street to Kren's left, the Covenant group quickly made it around the corner and out of sight. Kren ran faster; he was twenty-five meters away from the street.

      He got closer to the intersection and spotted one Elite body and two Grunts, that still left them with more then he had envisioned. Kren breathed hard as he got closer to the intersection. Did it really matter? The Covenant were still on their way to the artifact.

      He got to the edge of the corner, running at full speed, and began a tactically unsound turn to the left without looking. He ran around, rifle first, and spotted the blur of motion that lunged at him. His instinct was to duck, and he did, but it was too close to dodge.

      Kren's body immediately changed direction from a full sprint forward to a flying back as the large body toppled over him. His rifle left his grasp as he landed in the street back first; but he quickly analyzed the situation and kicked his legs up, using the new motioned backward to flip his attacker off of him and over his head. The large Elite tumbled over him and Kren rolled to his stomach, and looked up as the Elite sprang to his feet and looked back at him.

      Plasma fire erupted from behind him, as did rifle fire, and he glanced over his shoulder: a second Elite jumped out of the debris firing his weapon. Kren caught a glance of a Marine taking a round to the chest as movement resounded ahead of him. He looked back to see the Elite charge him. The creature had lost his weapon somewhere, and brought his fists out instead as weapons.

      Nineteen assault rifles erupted from around him and Kren saw the Elites shield flash, fail and the rounds tear through him. The armor-pricing rounds tore through the beast as blood and gore flew in every direction. Kren's visor was quickly covered with the insides of the alien as its limbs got torn to pieces, and its head flexed forward.

      Kren wiped the liquids covering his visor and stared at the sight before him. The Elite slumped forward into a barely recognizable posture and Kren looked around as the ODST Marines lowered their rifles.

      Kren spun around and saw McCollum and three other Marines finish that second Elite off with rounds into its chest. The beast growled in pain, then went limp.

      He grabbed his pistol and brought it out, scanning the area quickly, then seeing the group of Covenant running for the drop-ship two-hundred meters ahead.

      "Sergeant Dieter!" Kren yelled, trying to find where the sniper was.

      The Marine read his CO's mind and ran out into the middle of the road and knelt into a quick firing crouch. The long S2B rifle came up and steadied in the hands of the expert sniper. Kren watched as the group reached the drop-ship and the side doors flung open.

      The ODST sniper settled onto his target that was mounting up into the drop-ship, the safety was flipped off, and his finger glided over the trigger.

      A single round left the barrel and raced at three time the speed of sound toward its target, the round immediately discarding the shell surrounding the SABOT round. The long, skinny projectile covered the distance in less then a second, and broke through the shield of the Elite. The round continued on and entered the aliens skill, then exited through the back of its head; the compression created by the round forced the Elite's brain out the back of its head through the hole created by the round. The round impacted and continued on through the drop-ship, and the former control center for the Elites body splattered against the inside of the drop ship.

      The Elite slumped forward and out of the drop-ship as the bay doors closed.

      Kren watched in horror as the ship accelerated quickly away before they could do anything else. The sniper slowly stood up and they watched as the ship moved away into the sky.

      That was it. Kren shook his head and thought for a second; the drop ship left with exactly three Elites and five Grunts, precisely what he had versioned earlier. He pulled off the blood soaked visor and threw it on the ground, had what he seen a projection of what he would do in the future? Was there something else he should have done?

      It was like the vision of the future he had seen on his way to the surface was what would happen if he saw the vision and acted upon it. He did in fact see the vision, and this was the outcome, the exact vision he saw.

      He holstered the pistol and stood silently as he Marines looked at him. Was the visions that this artifact portrayed really just projections of what would happen, regardless of what they tried to do? Could they really change the future?

      Or maybe the future they saw, the future that this artifact projected, was a future that they created. This artifact showed what they believed was the future, so they took actions to counter and change it, but really they took actions to create that very future they were trying change.

      That couldn't be right. Kren looked around at the Marines around him, at the distant sound of fighting in the city, at the wind that blew debris and trash across the streets. No, they could change this.

      They would change this.

1445 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Imbari System, in orbit around planet Imbari V

      Baker stood up and clenched his fists. The veins in his neck and arms became visible as the Captain's face turned red. Grover had only seen him this angry once.

      "What, the hell, do you mean they're gone?" He yelled at his Operations Officer.

      The Lieutenant cringed at the tone his CO had just used. "Sir, they're off the boards, and the Emergency Locating Transponders for all seven Pelicans are going off; all Pelicans are down and there is not contact with Foxtrot Company either."

      Baker shook his head. "So what? They're just gone? Disappeared into thin air?" He threw his arms up. "I don't believe this!"

      The bridge crew looked at the Captain as he waited and cooled down. Just a minute earlier they had received the ELT's form the seven Pelicans that had dropped off Foxtrot Company near the possible location of the artifact. These transponders were only activated when the craft crashed, and apparently, that's exactly what had happened.

      "Status of Tango company?" Baker barked,

      "Major Griffith just reported that the Theatre Command Post is destroyed, no sign of the command staff or anyone." Cmdr. Grover said.

      "And of our ODST platoon?"

      "No clue, sir. Last report from them was that they were heading to Rocere, which as we know contradicted the plan of action." Grover said. "Also, Delta 4-1, the drop-ship they used, has failed to report in as well."

      Baker clenched his fists. This was turning into the biggest mess he could have imaged. "Tell Tango Company to head for the location of the artifact ASAP, but not to get too close."

      The Operations Officer nodded.

      They would just have to wait and let that ODST platoon figure this out. Baker had heard of their feat on Milestone, but he still didn't trust their judgment. He had no choice now, however; it was all up to them. Baker leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath; this was out of his hands now.

      A red warning light lit up on the command console, as it did on many others. The bridge crew analyzed it quickly as Baker stood up and walked to see for himself.

      "Captain! Three Covenant ships have entered the system! Two-million kilometers and closing!"

1500 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UAS-9A Blackspear, en route to possible location of the artifact
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

      Kren leaned back and closed his eyes. There were too many things to think about, too many things to try and fix. They were heading for the artifact, but the Covenant were ahead of them, and there was no real way to beat them.

      They had to get the artifact first, or everything they had worked for would be lost. But the thoughts flooded his mind again; was this artifact something that really told the future? He began to doubt everything he had encountered before, everything he had seen.

      If this artifact projected what was to come, was there any way to change it? He thought of Reach, how he had seen the impending doom for the planet, of all the other little battles and skirmishes; could they change any of this?

      He thought about it. No, they could change the future. He remembered the way they had seen the battle that almost claimed the Melbourne, the Triton, and the first artifact. They were able to prevent them from being destroyed. He thought about planet Westwind and the impending doom that could have resulted; he had foreseen it, and he had prevented it.

      This artifact must project the future, otherwise everything else would not have worked out. He didn't know what to think about this last event, but there was still a way to stop the Covenant.

      There was still a way to win.

The Revelation of War, Chapter Five: Part I
Date: 28 September 2004, 12:54 AM

Chapter Five: Turning to Final

1500 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
20 kilometers from possible locations
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

The Blackspear dropped out of the scattered cloud cover and began a steady descent towards the ground. Kren gripped the handles tightly and watched through the front windscreen as the ship rocketed through mild turbulence. Ahead he saw nothing but endless hills covered with thick brush; not an ideal place to try a ground search.

      They did have, nonetheless, and very accurate lead, and good place to start. After hearing the frantic transmissions from space, they knew something had happened to Foxtrot Company near the locations of the last artifact. This only gave Kren more confidence that this was where the artifact was.

      Weisfield kept his eyes on the controls as he asked. "Are you sure you want to land at Foxtrot's last position?" The pilot was obviously weary of the situation, and continued in a lower voice. "We just lost over a hundred men there in a mere second."

      Kren didn't take his gaze off the terrain passing by as he stared out the front cockpit window. While the type of vegetation was different from Milestone, the area seemed to remind him of it. But more importantly, he thought about what had been discovered there, and he knew now what had caused it.

      The artifacts. They seemed to be the root cause of the all the abnormal events that took place around them. The disappearances of thousands of Covenant soldiers from the garrison around the first artifact was not accident or coincident. Somehow, these artifacts were controlled and manipulated to change and alter the future or past. Kren thought about this; he had first hand experienced the insight these forces were capable of giving, and he had seen just what effects they could have against beings in real time.

      The disappearance of Foxtrot Company was more then proof of that.

      The real base question that now remained was what controlled or induced these changes made by the artifacts. This was something that he may never find out.

      Kren nodded in the silence of the turbulent ride aboard the drop ship. "Yes, we need to land there."

      The ship adjusted course to the landing zone for the missing Foxtrot Company. In the distance, seven plumes of smoke rose into the air.

1505 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Imbari System, in orbit around planet Imbari V

      Baker stood and walked to the command console as his XO worked to get the target data aligned with their weapons. The three incoming enemy ships had decided to take this fight in the old fashioned way, and continued on towards them steadily. The sight on the Primary and Secondary Viewing screens was not hopeful.

      "Make sure the Valiant Knight and Triton are in their positions." Baker ordered. "This is not going to be a fair three on three fight."

      The bridge crew worked to get their tasks accomplished, but in all their minds Baker could tell they were thinking the same thing. In order for them to even have a good fighting chance, they needed three or four more ships. The Covenant had had the upper hand in space combat ever since First Contact, and nothing had changed in the time he had become Captain of the Melbourne.

      The one pure exception was the fight in the Alpha 1265+90 system. He was completely surprised himself at their stunning victory, but he knew luck, if it played any role, would soon run out for them.

      But they were fighting for a just cause, and in addition to trying to save humanity; they were trying to keep the Covenant from acquiring the most powerful weapon ever known. Baker, as well as the other two Captains, staring down this onslaught, knew that the stakes of humanity now rested upon their shoulders, and their fight in this system on this day would ultimately decide the fate of humanity in the future.

      Baker watched his crew worked, and could feel the MAC charging up in the deep belly of the ship. The fight was about to begin.

      "Incoming transmission from the Valiant Knight, Captain." Cmdr. Grover announced. The secondary viewing screen changed views to show that of Captain Rayford.

      "Captain Baker," Rayford began, his voice projected through the speakers around the bridge. "If this is going to work, we're going to have to flank them somehow. My plan is to remain undetected until they pass by us, and we will flank them."

      Baker nodded, his face grim.

      "That would mean, then, that you and Scorzio must face them head on."

      Baker rubbed his weathered face. The Valiant Knight didn't even have a MAC, which made them ineffective until the Covenant close to Archer missile range. Flanking was the only effective means of action for the stealth frigate.

      "That would be the only course of action for you, Rayford." Baker said, looking down at the sensor screen. "You have thirty seconds to get into position until all Hell breaks loose."

      Rayford nodded on the screen. The two Captains paused in silence.

      "Good luck, Captain Baker. I hope to see you after this." Rayford said.

      Baker looked up at the secondary viewing screen. A feeling washed over him as he looked into the other Captain's eyes; this would be the last time they ever spoke.

      "And to you," Baker said. The connection was severed.

      "Enemy ships are within range," Grover announced.

      Baker turned and faced the bridge, all eyes were on him. The looks of young men and women who had already given up their lives to fight for humanity's cause. Now was the pivotal moment that would define their lives, whether it be for good or bad. Within the next minutes, they would either live to see another day or join their brothers in arms in an everlasting place. Which path they took would solely depend upon what fate lay in the space around the small green planet.

      "Fire."

1500 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
15 kilometers from possible locations, at LZ for Foxtrot Company
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

      Kren swept the field back and forth with his rifle as he walked into the open field. In the forest nearby and scattered in the field were seven burning hulks, sending black plumes skyward. He looked down into the thick lush grass and saw metal.

      Rifles.

      He looked around and noticed them lying everywhere, hundreds of them. The only remnants of Foxtrot Company. Kren turned around and saw his platoon moving to secure the area, rifles shouldered. McCollum was walking his way.

      "Sir, there are no survivors." McCollum said, as the circling Blackspear headed back towards the city. He knew he was stating the obvious, but there was nothing impossible in situations like this. The Gunnery Sergeant scanned the area as he stood next to his CO.

      "All gone," Kren said. "Just like that, they're all gone."

      McCollum remained silent. What was anyone expected to say in a situation like this?

      Kren kneeled down next to the rifle at his feet. He looked at it carefully and thought about why this may have happened. There was no way to stop the Covenant from getting that chrome ball, but getting to the artifact first was still within their grasp. Dealing with the lone Elite that would survive the blue flash purge in the near future would have to take second place to their priorities.

      Kren instinctively dropped face first into the ground, as did the rest of the ODSTs, as the flash followed by a loud explosion rang out nearby. The flash temporarily blinded them all and the shockwave displaced their prone bodies two feet in the air as it rippled through.

      Kren could then feel the heat wash over him as it passed by. The force of the explosion passed by in a mere second, but it felt longer. His body ached from the shockwave and the heat wave flashed upon his exposed skin. He rolled over and felt his face; it was unusually hard and numb.

      McCollum looked up with his rifle scanning the area. His face was much redder than usual. The Platoon Sergeant cursed loudly.

      Kren looked around and tried to find where the explosion originated from. His vision was a filled with bright spots, something he had experienced only during training when using flahsbangs. His vision began to slowly clear and he could see the massive fireball rising thousands of feet into the air. In the space around them, the grass was flattened, and the trees were keeled over as if they were toothpicks in the face of an avalanche.

      He stumbled to a kneeling position and quickly tried to scan the area with his rifle, doing so in a rather sloppy manner as the concussion of the explosion set in. The once lush forest around them was a flat wasteland.

      "Squads, report." Kren said through the comm. link. Only static responded.

      He looked over to where the three squads had generally been, and slowly saw his troops recovering, securing the area wearily, and rather sloppy, but Kren knew why. He was having the same problems.

      He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on where the explosion had originated. It was way too far away to tell, and his scope was cracked and out of service. He wondered even if his M7A1 even worked.

      Kren reached into his Load Bearing Vest and pulled out his binoculars; they were seemingly still in good working order. He brought them up to his eyes and looked off into the direction of the explosion.

      Ahead of him, with no more trees in the way, was a depression. The laser range finder read in at 15300 meters. But what caught his attention was the blue beam of light emitting directly straight up into the sky from the hole. He followed it and found it went far enough that it was into space.

      Kren stood up and stowed his binoculars. That was where the last artifact was, and it was active. He didn't know what it was doing, but it needed to be in their possession before the Covenant could deploy forces to get to it.

      Kren brought his rifle immediately to bear as a ghost-like figure raced across the field and stopped ten meters in front of him. It was that Elite, the lone survivor of the first search party, and it had the chrome ball in its hand. The Elite stared at him, and without making a sound, appeared to roar in obvious rage at their presence so close to the artifact. The Elite, having the chrome ball, had no doubt seen where it was, and was now going to try and get reinforcements to this area.

      Kren gave them less then an hour before the Covenant arrived in force.

      The Elite walked up to him and stood no more then a meter away, towering over him. It then disappeared.

      It knew everything, and it was about to tell it to the one force in the universe who wanted humanity dead.

      This was the final run.

The Revelation of War, Chapter Five: Part II
Date: 28 September 2004, 1:26 AM

1515 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC Destroyer Melbourne
Imbari System, in orbit around planet Imbari V

      Baker watched the primary viewing screen closely as the two bright balls of plasma arched toward them in the blackness of space. His hopes of defeating the enemy were higher then usual, after seeing the three MAC rounds fired by his ship and the nearby Triton rip through the first two ships, causing severe but not lethal damage to the alien vessel closing in on them and the planet behind.

      "Captain, enemy torpedoes are less then fifteen seconds away," Cmdr. Grover said, his voice controlled but portraying obvious anxiety.

      Baker nodded and clenched his fists as he gripped the Command Console on the bridge. He had done this maneuver many times before, but there was never a one-hundred percent certainty that it would work.

      Baker's perception of time slowed down. He gazed into the primary viewing screen and thought back to how many times he had stared down into the face of death. How many times he had seen the Covenant up close and personal from the mild safety of his ship, from the time he had to defend his first command many years ago when his ship was boarded. He had fought against greater odds then these, but he felt a crawling feeling in his stomach that told him this was it.

      This was the final battle he would fight for Humanity.

      The three Cruiser-size Covenant vessels plowed forward at them, and their hot projectiles neared as they filled up the primary viewing screen. Baker looked at his XO as he tightened his grip on the console.

      "Mark! Fire the starboard aft emergency thrusters!" Baker said. The ship groaned as it lurched forward as the explosion rang out from the emergency thruster at the rear of the destroyer. The ship shot past the two incoming balls of plasma and headed directly towards the incoming trio of enemy vessels at a high closure speed.

      "MAC One and Two are both ready for one more shot each." The Weapons Officer announced as he regained his stance over the Weapons Console Station.

      "Target the first and second enemy vessels and fire," Baker ordered. "Relay third target to the Triton..." Baker stopped and looked down at the console, the Triton was at condition red, meaning they had taken a major hit but was still serviceable.

      "Open a link to the Triton." Baker waited a second while it up-linked; a slightly static view of the bridge on the smaller ship came on the secondary viewer.

      "Baker, our Reactor is at critical," Scorzio said, his face grim and dimly lit by the emergency lighting on the bridge. "We're evacuating now, but I can give you all my Archer's and one more MAC round. A.I. tells me I have four minutes to get out of here."

      Baker cursed under his breathe. "We're forwarding you the third target..." Baker paused as the ship rumbled as his own to Cannons fired. "Fire all available weaponry at it and get out of there. Good luck."

      Scorzio nodded, and the link went dead.

      They were running out of options. "Where's the Valiant Knight?" Baker asked.

      "No Sensor contact, sir. They're out there somewhere--" Grover replied, not before being cut off.

      "One MAC hit! Second round grazed the target." The WO announced.

      Baker looked at the displays and ran a quick analysis of their first target; it was dead in space, having received two MAC rounds, but not destroyed. The second target was still fully functional with only minimal damage, and the third was untouched. He watched as the single MAC round raced by them as headed for the third target, followed by a volley of Archers.

      The round impact the ship and its shields flared, but held.

      Baker plotted a quick trajectory to the second target, they were about 30 seconds out. "Helm, set course 120 by 342, full speed. Weapons, fire all Archer missiles at the second target."

      "Yes, sir." Two bridge officers replied in unison.

      They would need to make this quick, before the plasma turrets recharged. The Melbourne turned onto an intercept course that would take it right into the bow of the enemy ship. Baker watched in awe as nearly a hundred Archer missiles sped past them, their rocket flames sending a line of smoke in the black space as the missiles tracked the third contact, now behind the second.

      Baker's own ship vibrated as its own Archer missiles launched toward the second target. In the distance he could see the plasma turrets heating up; they were running out of time.

      "Archer's from the Triton are impacting the third target, sir. Shields holding...no, they just failed, Archer's impacts scattered across the port side of the ship." Grover said. "Damage is mainly to their turrets on that side, minimal crucial damage."

      Baker nodded. It was a shot.

      "Captain, our own Archer's are impacting the second target, having no effect against their shields." The WO announced.

      Baker nodded, but let his head drop. He thought for a second, then looked up again at the primary viewing screen. They just needed to stop them.

      "Captain, collision imminent." Grover said, staring into the primary viewing screen, now completely filled with the purple ship of the same size of their own.

      "Brace for impact!" Baker yelled as the screen flashed.

      The Melbourne's bow plowed through the shields, causing them to fail, and continued into the hull of the Covenant ship. The combined trajectory from the engines and the recent use of the emergency thruster sent the UNSC destroyer tearing through the hull of the enemy ship, biting into the decks of both ships.

      Baker's mind froze the second the impact happened. His life flashed before him as he recalled all the major events in his life that defined him; all those special moments in his history that created and molded him into the man he was today. He thought of his divorced wife, his two young girls who had hadn't seen in eight years, his brother who was killed in action one year after joining the UNSC, his parents, his friends...

      And the realization of how short life really is dawned upon him. It made him mad to waste his entire life fighting a crazed alien foe just to defend the life of humans; it made him mad all the times he had neglected to see his family, his daughters, missed them growing up.

      Captain Jonathon Baker, UNSC, watched as the light in front of him, the light that everyone standing near him was seeing, opened up and engulfed them. He felt the quick flash of warmth, then the instant feel of free falling as he closed his eyes.

      The fight for humanity was not lost upon him. He knew it all too well.

      In death.

1530 hours, Deptember 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC stealth frigate Valaint Knight
Imbari System, near Imbari V

      Captain Rayford cringed at the display as the Melbourne plowed head first into the second enemy cruiser, causing a massive chain reaction of explosions that rippled through both ships. He didn't know what caused it, but it evidently began consuming both warships.

      The Melbourne was destroyed, and not far away from the battle zone the Triton sat abandoned, with heavy damage to the reactor but still not overloaded. These once magnificent ships of the UNSC fleet were nothing more then scrap; their crews lost forever.

      Rayford sighed. It was down to one on one. His small ship verse a mildly damaged Covenant destroyer. Normally, Rayford would skip such an encounter, seeing that his own ship had no Cannon, but it was time to finish this fight here. He couldn't let that ship, no matter how damaged, get to the planet or exit the system for help.

      It needed to be destroyed right here and now.

      Rayford watched silently as the stealth ship maneuvered into position behind the much larger vessel. Its' shields were down, and the entire port side was rubble, but it still had a single turret at the ready, which was more then enough to do his own frigate in. The only way to destroy this enemy ship was to hit their reactor, from behind.

      "In range," the WO said softly, as if they could almost hear him.

      Rayford nodded. They would have to get close enough that the point defense wouldn't have time to take out many of their Archer's. The Valiant Knight loomed closer to the vessel, its black hull masking it from visual sightings and its specialized design keeping it hidden from electronic sensors.

      It was only a matter of time, though, before they picked up the few emissions the vessel gave out. The crew knew this, and their nervousness showed.

      "Sir, Covenant ship has detected us!" his XO said.

      Rayford nearly jumped to his feet. "Fire all archers, aimed at the aft section! Turn 180 by 90 left and hit flank speed."

      The ship shuddered as the Archer's exploded out of their tubes and tracked the large target ahead of them. The small frigate then turned left hard and accelerated.

      "Missile Impacts in 5 seconds." The WO said. The countdown read down to zero. Rayford looked at the primary viewing screen as the screen flashed bright white, then blue as the unshielded reactor got one hundred tons of high explosive charges rammed into it. The shockwave shot out, creating and growing sphere that was followed by the explosion fragments of the ships former hull. The Valiant Knight rolled violently as the shockwave passed, but regained its attitude quickly as the crew compensated.

      His XO looked over with a smile. "We got him, sir."

      Rayford didn't smile. At such a price? Was it worth the sacrifice? He looked down at the command console.

      His XO's smile quickly disappeared as the outer edge of the system filled up with contacts. He quickly ran a diagnostic check to make sure everything was working, then cursed loudly, his words echoing throughout the armor plated bridge.

       "The enemy has arrived, sir, this time in force."

      Rayford looked at the display. The count was nearing triple digits.

The Revelation of War, Chapter Five: Part III
Date: 28 September 2004, 1:49 AM

1610 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
One kilometer from possible locations
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

      Kren reached up to touch his face once more and flinched at the pain brought by the simple act. Flash burns were not only evident on his own exposed skin, but of the whole platoon. Whatever explosion rang out an hour earlier had mildly injured everyone in his platoon, including himself, to some extend or another.

      Aside form flash burns, all were suffering of concussions, and it hampered their efforts to get to the explosion site. In addition to bodily injuries, all rifles scopes were out of commission, as well some other sensitive equipment that could not tolerate the shockwave.

      Kren even wondered if he had internal bleeding from it; his lungs were unusually weak and he had a spreading pain in his chest. But there was no time to check on speculated injuries. By his own estimate, the Covenant would be arriving at this location any moment now.

      The beam of blue light was still shooting straight into space, but what it was doing or where it was going he could only wonder. What he was sure of, though, was that the artifact was at the roots of it, and all they needed to do was...rather ironic.

      Follow The Rainbow. He almost let out a smirk at the thought of it, but his face denied him any emotional expression.

      His platoon was scanning the area with the rifles, but none of them were concerned about anything sneaking up on them; the flattened forest around them let them see for kilometers in any direction. It also let them see the direct source of the beam of light. And to no one's surprise, it was apparently emitting from a hole.

      "Second Squad, flank left, Third Squad, move up the center." Kren ordered, yelling to convey the orders. The comm. system was dead. "First Squad will take the right." The Squad Leaders nodded in acknowledgement and set out with their teams.

      The platoon moved steadily along, over the piled up brushes and trees, towards the hole where the beam emitted from. Kren took note, and no doubt the entire platoon, that the trees did not all fall away from the explosion. As he moved along, he noticed certain areas where the trees and landscape fell away from the explosion, just like anyone would have reasoned logically, but in other areas the vegetation actually fell toward the beam of light where the explosion originated. The side was peculiar and eerie at the same time.

      Nothing was ever normal, though, when involved with forces with abnormal power.

      The platoon slowly encircled the beam of light emitting from the ground. The light was not thin, but was actually the diameter of a Longsword's wingspan. It took up the entire radius of the hole.

      Kren looked around, and with satisfaction noted that his platoon had secured a perimeter around it, but nobody had ventured any closer then a hundred meters to the beam. It was not emitting heat, and it was not too bright to look at; it had a curious harmlessness aurora around it.

      "Inbound bogeys, south!" A Marine yelled out.

      Kren snapped a look up at the sky and saw the object looming towards them. It had a unmistakable U-shape design, and it was followed by four more specks.

      "Take cover!" McCollum yelled out. The ODSTs were standing in a flattened forest, but there was still limited cover from the fallen trees.

      The Covenant drop-ship hadn't spotted them among the ruined forest, and came in quickly for a landing near the beam. The small flight of drop-ships circled as the Marines slipped under the vegetation. They seemed preoccupied with the beam firing up past them to pay too much attention to the ground.

      Kren rolled underneath a thick tree keeled over on its side, as did McCollum. The first of five came in for a landing just fifty meters from their position, and the large side doors raised to reveal the Grunts, Jackals, and their Elite leaders. The sight was not promising as the first two ships barely stopped to unload their warriors, then pull up into the sky, only to be followed by the other three to land. He estimated that there were at least twelve Covenant per ship, and at five ships that was sixty aliens looking for there same artifact they were.

      They were outnumbered two-to-one.

      The fact that they did not have their comm. links working also did not give him the resources to coordinate an ambush from the three Squads scattered about under cover. He was confident, though, that they would not fire unless he did so first, or unless they needed to for their own safety.

      Kren watched as the last three ships pulled away, and their Covenant troops began moving cautiously toward the light. Two Grunts passed within five meters of him and McCollum; their high-pitched squeaks indicative of their nervousness for being around an unknown force emitting from the ground.

      Kren's heart jumped when he saw a quick flash, then the rapid motioned of an ghost Elite darting around the place. It would know that they were there.

      Two Elite's immediately turned and began walk, weapons up, toward one of the hiding places of the Marines. Kren watched in horror as they neared, the ghost Elite somehow communicating with them with physical motions. There was no more hiding from them.

      Kren tensed as he saw a small object fly out toward the two Elites. It bounced once, and the two aliens looked down at it, then roared in rage.

      The explosion rippled through the ground and sent dirt, debris, and body parts of the aliens in all directions. The Covenant looked that direction, unaware and not expecting resistance.

      Kren pushed through the fallen bush covering him and stood up, his rifle coming to his shoulder and the aim settling on a Blue Elite reacting to the explosion. Kren saw in the same split second nearly thirty other figures pop up from the ground.

      The Covenant's worse fear. ODSTs.

      Kren pulled the trigger and spat out five rounds that quickly diminished the Elites shield and tore through its neck. The Elite fell over and reached for its neck as its purple blood spattered out.

      M7A1 rifle fire erupted around him as the Marines nailed their unsuspecting targets. Kren quickly turned and found a Jackal turning to fire on a Marine. He dispatched the threat with three rounds and took a look around to find what else was standing. An Elite aimed and fired at a Marine, hitting him square in the chest.

      Kren aimed and fired, his rounds hitting but bouncing off the alien's shield. It forced the Elite forward, however, and threw its aiming off. At nearly an instantaneous second, plasma fire from the surviving Covenant erupted.

      Kren rolled to the ground as green plasma round flew over him. Rifle tracers crisscrossed the area as Plasma fire bore down in all directions. Kren went up to a knee and fired a burst into a Grunt. He watched the alien fall backwards just as two Marines in the background flew into the air from a Plasma grenade.

      Two fragmentation grenades detonated to his left, sending debris into the air. He watched as the Covenant quickly responded with a wall of Plasma fire onto the Marines that had thrown it.

      Kren turned and fired at another target, missing as it dived for cover behind a fallen tree. He look around and saw the battlefield; the Marines were all separated, and the rifle fire was dangerously close to hitting other Marines. The Covenant were in no better shape, and Plasma fire shot out in all directions.

      Kren felt a warm feeling, and also weightlessness as an explosion erupted from his left. He opened his eyes in time to see his landing spot. He tightened up to avoid from hurting himself too bad as he hit the ground and rolled in the muddy vegetation.

      The whiteness that he always expected but never feared swept over him. He knew where he had just been a second before, but this new place was unfamiliar to him. As the white world that settled around him, he felt unusually calm. He stared into the endless void that slowly began to get brighter.

      Kren flinched as figure appeared in his realm. It appeared up in his face as the background grew brighter. He didn't recognize the being, nor did he understand what it was doing in front of him. The figure pointed off into the distance as the surroundings grew pure white. No sound was heard in this place, nothing was clear or evident except for the figure in front of him and the whiteness that made him squint.

      It suddenly turned black, and the figure mutated into a grotesque scene. The once calm white was now a fearful black. Kren could feel the fear rushing through him as the figure reached out and grabbed him. It was not human, and it did not represent anything good or right.

      Kren could see right into its eyes as the long, ugly arms grabbed him. Those eyes struck him like knives and seemingly cut through him.

      What was this place? Kren instinct was to throw the figure off him, but he had no strength in the realm. He had no power to stop this.

      This was beyond his control.

      Suddenly a beam of light broke into this black world. It intercepted with the figure and cut through it. Kren watched in horror as the being let go and pulled back in pain, letting go of its grip of him. He couldn't see the source of the light, but it ate away at the blackness.

      The light suddenly flashed.

      Kren suddenly opened his eyes and stared up into the eyes of another grotesque figure. This one he had seen before, however, and he knew what it was. The tall figure brought its weapon down in a bone-crushing slash toward his head.

      He wasn't helpless this time. In this world he had his strength, and he was able to fight back. He brought his left arm up and knocked the assailants attack to the side, missing his head by mere inches.

      Kren then rolled over while simultaneously grabbing his attackers' body and thrusting it back. The combined action brought him to a knee and sent his attacker's balance back. Kren watched as the Elite took a step back to recover but trip over a fallen tree. The Elite fell backwards into the debris and let go of its weapon to try and break the fall.

      He brought his M6D pistol out and in one smooth motion aimed at the alien and pulled the trigger. A round ripped out of the large pistol and impacted the aliens chest. Kren looked away as blood spurted from the HE-round wound.

      Kren scanned the area and didn't see anymore figures. What seemed like a few seconds earlier where his Marines and the Covenant were fighting was now an empty zone. He looked down as his body ached and saw the blood being absorbed by his uniform on his left side.

      The pain wasn't there, but he could tell that the shrapnel from the grenade explosion had made its mark on him. Kren couldn't think about why he may have not been feeling the pain, except unless he was in shock.

      He dismissed those thoughts from his head as he heard movement to his right. He turned and saw the Elite get up, and despite the wound to its chest, took a hunting look at him and brought it's arm forward.

      Kren instincts brought his own arm up to deflect the punch, but the Elite quickly used its other arm and his him square in the torso. Kren flew back and hit the ground as his vision went blurry. He tightened his hand, but found no pistol there. He shook his head as his vision regained slowly. He looked up at the tall Elite who, despite the mortal wound to its chest, grunted in laughter as it prepared to finish the job.

      Kren braced for the blow that would break his neck.

      Kren blinked as the Elite's arm shredded before his eyes as rounds ripped into the unshielded body of the alien from behind. The Elite rippled as armor piercing rounds tore through him, sending body fragments and fluid everywhere. Kren covered his face as the body of the Elite fell forward into the ground.

      Kren looked up as the body remained motionless beside him. A Marine lowered the shouldered rifle.

      Sergeant McCollum clasped to one knee and let his grasp of the rifle slip. Kren got to his knees and crawled over to the Marine, who was looking down at the ground.

      Kren got up to him and heard the gasping from his Platoon Sergeant. McCollum coughed and blood ran from his mouth. Kren grabbed his shoulders and helped him down, seeing the wounds over the Marines back as he rested him on the ground.

      Kren cursed silently as his face became visible to him. Half the Marine' face was burnt and the other half bloodied. Kren brought him around to rest his head on him and held his body. McCollum gasped again as blood ran from his mouth.

      "We got them." He said calmly. "We got them."

      Kren looked into the one eye still functional on McCollum face. Before him, resting in his arms, was the one Marine he would trust everything with. The one ODST who would fight along him without question, who followed him into the worst conditions and who also selflessly put his own life on the line. This man was now gasping for air in the middle of a debris flattened forest with bodies of his comrades and enemies lying around him.

      Kren felt the rage inside him as the sergeant coughed up again. How could it lead to this? He held his hands tight as the emotions ran through his veins, as the Marine looked up at him, covered in blood and taking fate to his own mortal wounds.

      McCollum gasped for air one last time and stared up into his CO's eyes.

      "We got them."

The Revelation of War, Chapter Six
Date: 4 October 2004, 11:35 PM

Chapter Six: Blackout

1615 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC stealth frigate Valiant Knight
Imbari System, near Imbari V

Captain Gary Rayford stood up and walked slowly over to the Command Console, not taking his eyes off the primary viewing screen. The bridge crew had nearly fallen into a state of shock and disbelief when the Covenant fleet entered the system, but now remained in tense silence as their CO analyzed the situation.

      Rayford had the primary viewing screen centered on a massive cruiser, no doubt the flagship of this monstrous fleet; it was far larger then anything he had ever seen. The ships surrounding it were not magnificent, but each possessed more firepower then his own ten-times over. This was subdued by the fact that he was also out of Archer missiles.

      The fleet of ninety-two ships was slowing converging in-system on Imbari V, spread out in a line-search manner, obviously searching for any human force before they made their final stop at the small green planet. Rayford's hopes of pulling through this were small, even for his usual optimistic stance on bad circumstances.

      The Melbourne, the only ship that came with them to the Imbari System that had any substantial firepower, was now a floating debris along with the Covenant cruiser it had collided with. The Triton was an abandon wreck waiting to explode, it's crew long gone and probably on the planet surface by now.

      This all left him and his ship the only thing standing in the gap between ninety-two Covenant ships and the fallen world. His thoughts ran to how the Marine's may have faired on the surface. His last direct contact with them, more specifically with the ODST platoon that had launched from his own ship, was when they were en route to the City of Rocere to start the search for the last artifact. After that, he had only overheard reports of the entire Company of Marines go missing, and the ODST platoon heading to that location.

      He hoped that they could somehow get a hold of that artifact, and prevent the Covenant from finding it. But if things were going down there like it was up in space, they had already lost.

      "Captain," the XO said softly, breaking Rayford of thought.

      Rayford turned and looked at him, along with the rest of the crew. Their faces were white and etched with fear, some not blinking as the fleet of enemy ships made way towards them and the planet behind. The worst part about this was that there was no UNSC fleet large enough to save them, even if one were to miraculously appear. The Covenant had dealt a fatal blow to humanity, leaving them shattered and thin.

      "Minimum operating powers, turn to a direct heading for Imbari V." Rayford said.

      The Valiant Knight made a sweeping turn back towards the planet. Rayford calculated they would have twenty minutes before the Covenant would arrive at the planet, and they were ten minutes away.

      There was nothing left to do but hope against hope that something could be done on the surface.

1615 hours, September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)
At the possible location of the artifact
Imbari System, planet Imbari V

      Kren slowly stood up and wiped his face with a hand bloodied by his Platoon Sergeant's fatal wounds. He shakily looked around; the flattened forest was dotted with bodies, some human, others Covenant. In the distance five crashed drop-ships burned, the same ships that had dropped off this group of Covenant soldiers.

      He wasn't sure how or what happened, but the light emitting from the hole was more intense, and it appeared to be more unstable. But his mind was flooded with other thoughts as he stood there.

      His entire platoon, the same men he had fought with at Milestone, the same he had befriended and trained personally, all these valuable soldiers and men lost in a split second firefight with aliens. He couldn't understand how much they had survived together, only to be lost in a single fateful fight. But one question ate at him the most.

      Why had he survived?

      Kren stumbled mindlessly toward the hole, stepping over Covenant bodies and past his deceased comrades, and tried to figure out why he had survived; why he was the lone survivor. How many countless times had he been on death's front step and still pulled through? He was sure that even the last encounter with that Elite should have been his death, but somehow, he had survived by the last act of McCollum.

      His heart raced as he remembered the explosion that had sent him flying, then the horrific images he had seen shortly thereafter. Something was out there trying to stop him, but on the other hand, something was keeping him alive.

      But why had all these events pulled together, leading him to this place? This one point where he stood before a force of unimaginable magnitude, and to get here claim the lives of more then just his own men? What part was he playing in this war?

      He had always expected to die among his men, fighting a relentless enemy. He had made it past all those times that should have claimed his life, he had made it passed all those misfires, close calls, and now the last battle that claimed everyone except himself.

      He took step after step toward the beam of light, which grew in intensity with every passing second. He stopped within an arms-reach and stared down into it. Despite the brightness, he could see down into the hole, to a very plain floor.

      In the center lay the last artifact.

      Kren inched towards the edge, then leaned down to jump; the floor was no more then 5 meters down. He then slowly put his arm out and into the beam of light. Nothing happened.

      He eased forward and jumped down into the hole. All his training was telling him not to, all his logic went against it. But he hadn't gotten this far for nothing, and with the situation he was in, death wouldn't be a bad option out.

      He landed and rolled out of the fall, feeling the pain from his own wounds shoot across his body. The light in the hole made everything an off-tint, but he could still see clearly; the hole was circular and was about 30 meters in diameter. In the center was the last artifact, sitting atop a rectangular crate-like object; it was exactly the same as the containers that lined the walls of the underground room at Milestone, where the second artifact was found.

      Kren wearily walked towards it, his body aching from the abuse it had taken over the last day. The fight with the Covenant, combined with the massive explosion just hours earlier, had left him injured in more ways then one. But he was nonetheless alive, which meant he had to finish this.

      He stopped a step away from it and looked at it for a minute, recalling the events and actions that had happened the last time he came across one of these artifacts. The difference here, though, was that this one was active in a totally different manner then he had ever seen before.

      The artifacts were known for the ability to portray and show the future, thus allowing the future to be changed by taking measures in the present. He had done this personally on numerous occasions, leading him to believe that the chrome ball had a direct affect on how the artifacts acted to a specific person or being.

      The surviving Elite with the chrome ball on this planet was somewhere, and was no doubt getting the same abilities from the artifact that he had.

      Kren paused.

      He had survived, along with his platoon, all those situations because he was able to get insight from the artifact, thus changing the future so certain events didn't happen. In that case, then he may have, along with his men, been destined to die long ago, but somehow they had foreseen and prevented it. For all he could have known, Milestone would have been the last planet he would seen in life.

      Kren clenched his fists. That was how his platoon had been killed. The Elite with the chrome ball took measures to stop him and his men, and it partially worked. The Covenant arriving in force at this location was no accident.

      It was deliberate. It was foreseen and planned by that lone Elite.

      But the problems couldn't end there. Possessing the chrome-ball gave one tremendous amount of capabilities; that Elite would stop at nothing to ensure that the Covenant gained control of this last artifact. That could mean an entire Covenant armada entering the system....

      Kren unclenched his fists, fighting the rage within. It was time to stop this.

Aboard UNSC stealth frigate Valiant Knight

      Rayford double checked the sensor report about the Covenant fleet slowly closing in. They were just passing by the wreckage of three of their own ships and the remains of the Melbourne, and were nearing the still intact Triton.

      How nice it would be for that reactor to explode right as they passed, Rayford thought.

      "Sir, anomalies originating from the planet." His XO announced.

      Rayford turned and looked over his XO's shoulder.

      "What...?"

At location of the last Artifact

      Kren reached out and grabbed the artifact.

      His vision immediately went white.

      Kren blinked several times as his surroundings came into focus. He was floating several meters above the ground, and he could see and discern everything. This was just like having the chrome-ball, except so much more comprehensive.

      While with the chrome-ball he could go where he wanted and see what he wanted, with the artifact he could be anywhere and everywhere at once; almost like he was omni-present. Kren instinctively focused and time raced backwards, bodies from the flattened forest ground rose, their weapons came back up into their hands, and rifle and plasma fire started racing around.

      He watched every minor action in detail, from his First Squad Leader coming back to life after being hit, then back to when they were all still hiding, to when the Covenant drop-ships were circling overhead.

      Kren thought and it reacted at the same speed. He flashed backwards in time, through the weeks spent on the Valiant Knight, then back to Milestone, to his assigned post training his platoon, to Officer Candidate School. Kren watched his life's history race before him, all at the speed of his own thoughts.

      He then snapped back to the present at his own command, then focused on the actions taking place at the present time on the planet. He saw the minimal fighting still taking place in the cities, some human groups trying to evade Covenant patrols, every last speck of information that dotted anywhere on the planet.

      He then turned to face the sky and space. He saw the wreckage of the Melbourne, along with the other three Covenant vessels, to the abandoned Triton, to the Valiant Knight in low orbit, to the massive Covenant armada making it's way closer to the planet.

      He almost passed that last one by. The Covenant were here in force.

      Kren watched and looked into the future. The Covenant ships effortlessly annihilated the Valiant Knight, then dropped thousands of troops onto the planet in search of the last artifact, which they also eventually found. But most interesting, he couldn't find himself in this future. He wasn't with the artifact or anywhere else.

      It was like he didn't exist.

      He shrugged off the thought and looked far into the future. He saw the war progress, saw the millions that dies on both sides, the ships lost in battle, the planets falling one after another as the Covenant progressed.

      But then he saw the end. The end of the war, the moment the fighting ceased to exist between the Covenant and Humanity. He saw the final battle and the victorious side.

      Kren willed himself and let go of the artifact. His vision went bright white again, then slowly cleared.

      He was standing in front of the artifact at the bottom of that hole.

      Humanity didn't need the artifacts to win. They didn't need a special power or a hand-up. All they needed was hope and the will to defeat the foe that had pushed its will against theirs.

      The artifacts weren't going to make the difference in the war, only every life who fought against the nemesis of Humanity would matter, only every soldier and volunteer could make the difference.

      That's all they needed to win.

      The Covenant were still going to get this last artifact, however. He had just seen it happen in complete and perfect succession. Kren frowned as the realization that there was nothing within his power to stop this came to mind. But the future hadn't come to pass yet; he was still in the present and still had the artifact in his possession. If the Covenant were going to acquire it, how could he stop it?

      All his options were gone. There was no way out of this one. It was time to make his priorities, and his top priority was to keep this out of the Covenant's hands no matter what. They could win without it, they could beat the Covenant without having the trio of artifacts. There was only one thing for him to do.

      Kren reached into his Load Bearing Vest and pulled out a remote detonated explosive charge. The Covenant can't get what doesn't exist.

      He set it next to the artifact, then brought out the remote detonator.

      Could he have known? Could he have foreseen this? This would be the final act he ever made to stop the Covenant, but he had never seen it coming down to destroying the one thing they were sent to retrieve.

      He couldn't think about the countless times he was supposed to die, the countless times something, somehow had saved his life. All the events that had taken him up to this point, this one point in time where he was making a conscious choice to end the Covenant's greatest asset, and then his own.

      His life.

      Kren stared at the artifact with the explosive set next to it. This last act would be for his men, his comrades, and for Humanity. It would put them that much closer to winning the war, which merited beyond a doubt his actions to remove the artifact from existence.

      He thumbed off the safety on the remote.

      And depressed the button.

Aboard UNSC stealth frigate Valiant Knight

      Rayford snapped a look back at the secondary viewing screen as alarms began going off. The screen, which had momentarily before showed the planet, was now pitch white. He covered his eyes as the flash fed through the armored windows and turned the bridge pure white. He then felt the initial vibrations as the ship began rocking back and forth; it then began groaning as the reverberations grew more intense.

      "Helm take us out of the system!" Rayford yelled, covering his eyes, knowing that opening them would lead to instant blindness.

      "Sir," the helmsman yelled back over the noise that was growing more intense. "We have no system destination set!"

      Rayford stumbled and fell to the floor as the ship made high-pitched twisting noises. The force from whatever just happened on the planet would rip his ship apart. They needed out.

      "Make the jump!" Rayford yelled forcefully.

      The slip-space engines were already warmed, and the helmsman blindly hit the control panel at his station, hitting several other controls in the process. The frigate's slip-space drivers tore a hole in space, and the frigate slipped in.

      Rayford noticed the background in his closed eyes go back to normal black. He cautiously let his hands off and opened his eyes. They were in slip-space, heading to an unknown system.

The Revelation of War, Epilogue
Date: 4 October 2004, 11:48 PM

Epilogue

1700 hours, June 15, 2553 (Military Calendar)
Sanction Memorial
Cardinal System, planet Redemption

On Year Later

The sun shone down on the armed forces memorial that was established just miles outside of the planet's capitol city. The uniformly short grass spread out in every direction, complimented by neatly trimmed and maintained trees that added diversity to the landscape. Far off on the horizon, grassy hills rose into high mountain peaks that made the setting almost surreal.

      The area was filled up with clean white headstones that were perfectly in line for as far as the eye could see. Resting in the ground among this clean and orderly Memorial were thousands of men and women of the UNSC that had laid down their lives in the face of an ever brutal and relentless enemy that had plunged Humanity into war.

      Gary Rayford, Captain, UNSC, walked in silence between two other men as they walked down one of the many stone-bricked roads that ran through the acres of this burial site for the armed forces of the United Nations. The sight of so many white headstones was hard to look at, but deep inside it reminded him of what he fought for.

      Of what everyone fought for.

      Rayford straightened up his posture and glanced sideways at Lieutenant Colonel Jared Reinker, ONI, as the officer stared straight ahead in grim silence. Rayford then looked to his right at Major Robert Senderling, ONI, who was looking silently at the rows of headstones they passed as they walked down the elegant road leading through the cemetery.

      The three officers walked in unison, the only sound being heard in the entire memorial being that of birds and the swift wind blowing the trees. The silence portrayed both a respectful but haunting feel, despite the beautiful surroundings. The three officers had all seen comrades die before them, they had all seen the casualties of this war, but it never compared to walking through the endless fields that were dedicated to those lost forever, never to return among them.

      The officers, wearing their Dress Uniforms, smartly rounded the turn and headed for the center of Sanction Memorial. Ahead of them, flags rose high into the clear blue sky, and at the bottom of those flag polls was the Memorial Wall that had thousands of names etched across it. Every servicemen and women whose bodies were never recovered were put on this wall, and the wall was unfortunately longer then anyone wished. There was a certain closure to being before the deceased grave, their body buried there for eternity, but that was not always the luxury for most of the casualties in the UNSC, whose bodies were never to be found again.

      So in their place, their name was etched on this wall.

      Rayford and his two companions entered the open space surrounding the wall that stretched out before them in either direction, the flags of numerous military units waving above them in the wind, then the tallest of all being the UN flag. They walked forward to the single place they always visited time and time before.

      "The cost of war," Reinker said softly, coming to a stop before the wall that towered about them. Names endlessly stretched across it, printed small enough for it to hold the thousands of deceased.

      Senderling walked forward and put his hand on the wall, reading down the names of the men and women from his past. The ONI officer once known for his certain annoying ways was nothing in the face of the lives laid down, recorded only on this wall.

      Rayford read down the names who had participating in the most secretive operation that to date still had never been acknowledged, and in reality never will.

      Gallant Strife.

      He remembered back to the day they had arrived at Milestone, through all the events that forever changed them afterwards. The many times they had changed the future and effected the outcome of battles in order to get that much closer to beating the Covenant.

      It brought him to the final and closing act of Gallant Strife, the last effort to finish it off. The battle at Imbari V where the final artifact laid.

      He remembered the Covenant there, the fighting on the surface, and also in space, the good men and women who had died unknowingly to Humanity in the efforts to keep the tides of war from overwhelming them.

      Jonathon Baker, September 2552.

      The men who selflessly sacrificed their own lives to ensure that Humanity's enemy didn't receive anything that would help them in their conquest. There were also the names of those who came along to hold off against the Covenant.

      Samuel Scorzio, September 2552.

      But Rayford knew that the greatest sacrifice had been among them who had gone to the surface in face of heavy Covenant resistance. He had seen firsthand the willingness of these men to do anything to fight against the Covenant, even if it meant destroying the one thing that could have made the difference in the war.

      He remembered the briefings that even the men standing next to him had said before they left planet Westwind regarding the artifacts. He remembered hearing that these artifacts were the only thing keeping the Covenant from obliterating them all, he remembered how it was said that Humanity's only hope of surviving was to have in their possession all these artifacts.

      But he knew the truth now. He knew that it wasn't these artifacts standing in the gap and keeping them alive, that it wasn't supernatural powers that kept them in the fight. But that when it came to the end, it was the lives that stood between victory and defeat, it was the selfless actions of those willing to serve that made humanity survive and persevere in wake of such an unstoppable foe.

      Lt. Todd Kren must have known that, Rayford thought as he read down the names. He had foreseen the end, and had seen that Humanity didn't need an artifact to fight or to win.

      All Humanity needed was faith and will. The confidence to win.

      Rayford's demeanor changed inside as he remembered the sacrifice of these men. The names of the ODSTs in the platoon were etched out one after another, lost among the millions of others.

      Not to him. Not to the men Rayford had fought alongside with. No matter how hard ONI tried to cover up this, they could never take that away from him.

      Humanity had held off the Covenant. They had finally defeated them in the decisive battle that did in fact turn the tides of war. And now, it was the Covenant's turn to run.

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