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Chapter 0
"Prologue"

"Well, he's still breathing, Jim" The man stood up. He took a puff on his cigarette and took a look at his surroundings. It was a wash of white with a few buildings scattered around. They were Covenant, but had been empty for a long time,
"It's amazing this suit still had enough power in it to send out a distress signal. Its old. Very old. EOD. Man, that's retro."
The second figure approached from the Mongoose, carrying some medical equipment.
"Lets just get this over with, Larry, I hate the cold. I'll radio for some medical transport for this guy." He took out a radio, "There's no way he'll be able to sit on the 'Goose with us two."
Larry loomed over the suit of steel. The chest rose and fell rhythmically. He could hear the person in the suit wheezing.
"Are you ok?" He plugged the equipment into the suit. Checking the screen, he called over his friend. "This guy is showing no vitals. He's dead, Jim."
Jim looked over. "But I can see him breathing! He has to be alive!"
"Nope. No pulse, no blood pressure. He definitely is dead." Larry checked the screen again. "Yep, cancel that order for transport. This thing just became low priority."
Jim looked puzzled.
"So we just leave him here?"
"I placed a beacon next to him. VTOC will be here eventually. C'mon, we got a lot more important things to do." Larry stood up and began to walk toward the mongoose.
Jim just stood there, perplexed by the constant breathing.
"Is it just a reflex action then?" Jim walked toward the mongoose, never turning his back from the suit.
"Must be. C'mon, I'm freezing my balls off here!" Larry started the ignition on the mongoose. "Oh, shoot, I left my equipment plugged into that guy. Go and get it for me will ya?"
Jim once again walked toward the suit. He was cautious, he could hear the wheezing through the rebreathers on the suits helmet.
He knelt down to pull out the wires on the equipment.
Suddenly, the suit jumped alive and grabbed Jim by the neck. A voice boomed out from the suits speaker.
"ARE YOU JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME HERE?" Jim frantically tried to release himself. "LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE?" Jim started choking. Larry ran over and turned the safety off of his Magnum.
"By the order of the UNSC military, put him down or so help me god I will shoot!" Larry aimed at the head of the suit. It's twin visors turned towards him. Within seconds, the EOD clad figure had pulled out his own gun. I looked almost like a one handed shotgun.
"I order you to put down your weapon, and let him go." Larry sounded scared. This was the closest to combat he had ever been in. He had just been transferred from Natrix Maura, a planet that was oddly peaceful, despite the fact it was home to some of the System's most deadly PMC's. The suits speaker blared out again.
"THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH THE MILITARY! IT'S ALL OFFICIAL! C'MON, TAKE A SHOT AT ME!"
Larry had only fired a gun in the shooting gallery. Even then, he wasn't very good.
"Even if you kill me now, a squad of highly trained marines and Spartans will converge on this location and kill you." Larry saw Jim's face had gone slightly purple form being choked. The suit spoke once more.
"IS THAT SO?" and with that he tightened his grip so hard on Jims face, it tore it from his neck. At the same time, he fired the gun into Larry's face. It was a shotgun, and hundreds of shards of metal became lodged in his face. He fell back from the force. He heard the sound of snow crunching under foot. It became louder and louder.
He saw the EOD helmet in front of him.
"IS THAT SO?" and with that, the suit's metal foot came down so hard on Larry's face, it covered the snow in blood and brains.



Chapter 1
"Recruitment drive"

The hall was cold. That was the problem with this building, no heating. Even Natrix Maura's coldest Tundra felt like a sauna for the three CQB clad men walking down it, BR's at the ready.
"You ready guys?" one of them said over the local radio. It was responded by a series of dots flashing in the affirmative sign.
"Blue team, you ready?" the lead figure called again. A second series of dots flashed.
"Ok, lets go. We won't be beat by some hotshot and their computer." The three men moved forward, exiting the corridor and into the forest. They quickly setup vantage points, scouting the area for movement. The radio buzzed in.
"Blue team here, no sign of him ye-" the radio cut out and three KIA symbols appeared on the HUD.
"Farg, all three in one go?" one of the CQB men was getting anxious, running his scope around a lot more.
"Kay, red team, get to some decent cover. We'll let him come to us."
The local radio chimed up again, with a female voice.
"Peek-a-boo!" The Hayabusa newcomer hit the leader in the head, knocking him to the ground, and fired two controlled bursts into the other twos head.
"Too easy." She remarked. A holographic image lit up on the ground in front of her. It looked like an Old Norse God, wielding a large hammer.
"Nice going!" He said, "That's a new record!" A klaxon sounded and the three CQB men got up. The leader rubbed his head. The other two shook theirs.
"God, I hate the training exercises. The shocks you get really farging hurt!" A Pelican escorted by a Hornet flew overhead. The Pelican dropped off a hog. The CQB leader walked towards the drivers seat. The other two got in the gunner and passenger seat.
"Here's our ride. I dunno how you're getting back to base." The warthog's wheels spun and dirt flew everywhere as they drove of. The local radio was full of "She's a really farging betch." And "my head farging hurts." The hologram spoke up again.
"That man has a point, Venus. How are we getting back to base?" the Norse god stratched his head.
"I'll race ya!" Venus said before starting to run deeper into the forest. The Norse god shook his head.
"Fine! Sandman, out!" What Venus meant by race was that Sandman would copy a fragment of himself then send that out to the furthest planet in the system then back again to base. If the UNSC were truthful about the speed of the extranet, the race would be very one-sided. But like always, the military lied their socks off. It was usually a very close race and Venus won most often. Today was no exception. She ran, ducked and dived through the forest until she made her way to a clearing with some old buildings in the middle. She ran to the centre, but something was wrong. There were two unmarked civilian Warthogs parked outside the main building. Sandman arrived a moment later.
"You win agai-" Venus muted him mid sentence, and Sandman resorted to text based comments on the HUD.
S4N0M4N//*: What's wrong? Why have you muted me?
Venus pointed toward the two warthogs, then towards the building and made the "louder" sign with her hands. Sandman got the hint and magnified the sound emanating from the building.
"Four million? Are you crazy?" Venus thought it sounded like her squad leader, but it was so distorted it was hard to tell.
"That's all we have right now. Just give us the girl, and we will send the second half into your account." This voice however, she didn't recognise.
S4N0M4N//*: Do you think they are talking about you?
Venus signed "affirmative" and drew her Magnum. She crept toward the building, as quiet as she could. She pulled out her fiber optic cable and slid it under the door. At that moment, two men walked toward the door, about to open it. She jumped back and aimed the Magnum. The door opened.
'Freeze!" she screamed. The man who opened the door fell back. Venus could see her squad leader behind his desk. There were more men in the room. She sweeped over them with her sights. Sandman relayed any information he could about who these men were. They all seemed to come from a company called NXM, but the UNSC records on these guys was limited. They were locked, codenamed Harlequin. The squad leader piped up.
"Venus, put the gun down." Venus stood even straighter and pointed her gun at who she thought was the leader of this entourage and undid the safety. "Venus that's an order! These are friendlies!"
"What were you discussing earlier?" Venus asked calmly, aiming at each member of the group in turn. The squad leader look puzzled.
"Frank!" Venus shouted, "You mentioned four million and a girl! Were you talking about me?" The tallest of the men walked forward.
"Please let me explain." Venus fired a shot into the air. Everyone but the squad leader ducked.
"I'm sorry Venus. I didn't think it would have to come to this." He pulled out his own Magnum and fired. Venus fell back and whispered,
"Frank…" before everything went black.


Chapter 2
"Fugitive"

Hercules worked best alone. That's what his file said and it was true, he did. Especially when he was on the run from twenty armed UNSC officers. He ran down the dark street, his armour clinking as he went faster and faster. The title of his helmet fitted his personality, "Rogue". A sniper bullet landed in the wall next to him as he sneaked into an alleyway.
"Where'd he go?" one of the Spartan's asked. The torches on their guns lit up the deserted alleyway. They look in bins, behind closed doorways and behind fences in the residents' gardens, but never up. That would be their downfall. One of the rookie ODST's thought he had found something, but before he could call for his CO, his neck was broken and body crushed by Hercules. Unfortunately, other's heard the thud of the 1-ton of ex-Spartan land on the ground, and suddenly Hercules was lit up. He didn't flinch however.
"Someone get a medic on that guy over there!" The guy in charge aimed at Hercules. "And you, ye farging freak, don't move a muscle!"
Hercules looked toward the ground. He picked up some rocks from off the floor. It may come in handy, he thought.
"Sir, you requested a medic?" a CQB clad medic walked up behind the CO.
"Yeh, see what you can do on that guy over there." He pointed to the rookie. "Everyone keep their sights on this guy, if he moves, shoot!"
The medic walked over to the rookie very slowly, never taking his eye off Hercules. But he was to become another pawn in Hercules's escape.
Hercules threw the rock at the CO's helmet and at the same time, grabbed the medic. The other Spartans weren't as quick as he was as opened fire straight into the medic. There was another clang in the confusion that ensued, as Hercules threw another, larger rock into the crowd of troops. The CO was really confused and shouted,
"Grenade! Hit the decks!" Instantaneously the entire platoon hit the floor, but there was no explosion. The CO looked up to find Hercules and the Rookie ODST's BR gone.
"God-dammit!"

Venus woke up in a cell. She tasted blood in her mouth. She must've hit the floor pretty hard. She felt the back her neck. Sandman was gone. Looking around her cell, she tried to take in where she was. The stone definitely was from Natrix Maura, so she hadn't gone planet side, and the design looked that of Sipedon. She walked toward the cell door and banged as hard as she could against it. An intercom buzzed from inside the room.
"Hello Venus!" The man sounded old. "We're so happy you decided to join us!"
Venus didn't like the situation.
"It's not like I had a choice? Is it?" She checked the objects in the room. There was a bowl of food, a toilet and a bed.
"Yes, well, we had to get you here at all costs." Venus was thinking of a way to escape.
"But where IS here?" She tried to act inconspicuous as quietly went about dismantling the toilet, trying to find a sharp item to use as a weapon.
"We are the NXM, Natrix Maura's only PMC. Some even say the best PMC in the universe. You may have heard about us." Venus looked out of the small window of her cell. She was high up to say the least.
"What is project Harlequin?" She could hear footfalls from along the corridor. The positioned herself behind the door, ready to strike.
"All in good time my friend." The door opened and a man walked in. Venus jumped out and held the makeshift knife against his throat. "All in good time."

"What do you mean, 'we lost him?'" said the general. The CO in charge of the capture of Hercules felt uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. He kept silent.
"You failed the mission, had one of your squad killed AND you killed your own medic. Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you on the spot for incompetence.
"Sir, I-" he was cut short. A large red hole was now in the spot where his eye was. He gasped and fell forward.
"Because you would beat me too it!" Hercules stepped over the body placed his gun against the general's throat. "I wouldn't try to call your guards. They're all dead." Hercules started circling the general.
"You're a mad man! You'll never get away with this!" The general stood completely still.
"Won't I?" Hercules asked. He jabbed the barrel of the gun into the general's spine so hard he fell over. "Now tell me why I'm being chased!" He was getting angry.
"Your actions today wont help in any way!" the general now realised he was paralyzed.
"Before that though!" Hercules was busy setting up a small package on the wall. "I was your best! Then one day, you sent all the kings horses and men after me! Why?"
"You're AI, Harlequin, was going rampant! He was feeding you false information and injecting a serum directly into your brain. It was a mind control serum." Hercules was now at the nearest computer, typing rapidly.
"I knew that. That's why I destroyed him and threw him away!" The general looked surprised.
"What? Where? When?" Hercules turned around and faced the general.
"Operation Snowbound, I crushed his AI disk when he started telling me weird things. I threw the remains into the snow. That's when you sent everyone you had after me!"
"We had no idea! Just stop this! Let me go!" the general looked like he was wanting to move, but he couldn't.
"No! You went after my family! You killed them! When it was me you wanted!" Hercules went back to the package and press some buttons.
"It was a mistake! We had no idea you weren't in possession of Harlequin!" The general gave up struggling. "Please, lets sort this out!" Hercules walked toward the window.
"It's too late for that now!" he smashed the glass and jumped out. A moment later, the room exploded in a huge fireball. The entire building collapsed.

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