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Ladies and gentlemen, it is I "Pickles" actually my name is Ink Sikes. I am warning you now that if you hate to see a fan-fic that strays very far from the original story line then don't read this. I began work back in 2005 and finished at 2:43 am July 7th 2006. It honestly is a good piece of work for itself but DO NOT TIE THIS IN WITH THE HALO GAME!!!! I can't tell you for sure when this actually takes place in the story line... I guess after the first Halo game since that is the only one that I have played and understood. It's a fan-fic okay so give it some slack and read it as if you never have heard of Halo 2 in your life.
I know that Halo 2 disapproves and destroys a lot of this and so does a bit of the first Halo game. But like I said, read it alone and without going over and saying "Oh that's wrong" or "Where the hell is the Master Chief?"
Finally the characters in the stories are based off of my close friends. There are many 'inside jokes' wrapped up into the stories so if you don't understand a certain situation you probably never will. I've put in a pronunciation guide that you need to read first! Many people anger me by saying a name incorrectly or getting mixed up with weapons and such. I'm trying to get pictures of certain elements drawn up but progress is slow. Anyways read and enjoy. E-mail your comments to inksikes@yahoo.com PLEASE NO HATE MAIL! Hate mail goes to starwoodone@sc.rr.com okay please don't get them mixed up!
Thanks for reading my stories!


-Ink Sikes



This novel was compiled from a schizophrenic, suicidal, homicidal, psychopathic, unstable and otherwise mad person by the name of "Pickles". He claims no responsibility to any changes in your mental or physical state if you read this story.
This is an un-official and most likely illegal novel which was written by a disturbed, misunderstood, mental, self mutinous, crazy, pyro-freak and otherwise a "Crack-Case" by the name of "Pickles". He has no idea why he wrote this piece of illegal literature except for mere pleasure.
This is the long, suspenseful, exiting, drastic, sad, freakish, sci-fi, illegal, un-official, copyright infringing, thrilling but mostly amazing story by a man named "Pickles". He is still running from the demented burrito that has been under his mattress for two years.
And to the people at MICROSOFT, I wrote this for mere pleasure, if you feel offended well too bad. Your games were cool and so were your books, but mine is COOLER. I like your company so much that I wrote the story on one of your programs (Like I had a choice!). I even wrote your name in CAPS. So if you're gonna get me, you'll have to go through the drunk monkey covered in a dirty tablecloth and singing "Beverly Hills" backwards while waving a lamp cord around his head and drinking Canola oil before I stop writing this stuff.
I hope to write more stories like this. A sequel or something would be great... Man, I need to go to sleep; the 45 spf sunscreen is talking again...ZZZZZZZZZZ.


Huh...?
Oh yeah, my spell check sucks so there might be a few typo errors in here but just read them over... Crap, my hot-pocket just exploded in my stereo...ZZZZZZZZZZ


Section I
Double Advantage


September 17, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +23 hours: 05 Minutes: 34 seconds
(Master Chief Alex Mission Clock) / Spine Mountains,
In Stealth Observation Vehicle (SOV) On Sodom IV

They were every where: Hundreds, maybe thousands of Covenant soldiers flowing over the hills below them. SPARTAN-62 Alex pulled the periscope down and sighed. As he surveyed the masses of Covenant marching over the foothills of the Spine Mountains below him, he was spotting the commanding Elites in their golden armor. He then accessed the satellite map of the mountain range and located the other SPARTANs. He activated the COM, despite what he had told the rest of the team. "Squishy, Nikko, Aliana, hold your current position and cover Smooth Talker, Goose and Pickles." Six blue lights flashed on.
He viewed the map as three green dots moved quickly across the valley on modified Ghosts as the SPARTANs deployed Lotus anti-tank mines and Antlion mine packs to destroy the troops and confuse the Wraith tanks that lead the assault on New Age City. Those who made it past would be met by a barrage of Jackhammer and M-19 missiles, complete with a dozen stolen and enhanced Shades. The SPARTANS had recruited the help of Eighty-Sixth and One Twenty-Four Brigades of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Some of the ODST's had advanced hybrids of human and Covenant weapons technology.
The Wraiths, Ghosts and Banshees will be easily taken care of, but what of the thousands of foot soldiers. Alex thought. He watched as the alien tanks hovered over the unarmed field. He wondered if they could detect the hidden mines.
His queries were interrupted by Pickles, "Sir all mines in place, awaiting arming codes." Normally the mines could be armed individually but since these mines were set to go off in the middle of the army by radio, they were rigged to detonate by code in case somebody accessed the wrong frequency. "Copy that, the codes are, Echo one three four, Hotel six niner one and Delta five duce niner."
"Roger that," Pickles hesitated, "Mines armed and ready. Detonation in ten, nine, one." The SOV vibrated as two hundred mines exploded in groups of ten at one second intervals. Their plan worked: The Wraiths turned to face the chaotic army as the mines were still blowing body parts, equipment and bloody dirt into the air. The hidden SPARTANs and Helljumpers opened fire at the back of the tanks which exploded and began to belch black smoke. The ODST's emptied their rocket reserves at the remaining Ghosts and Banshees before switching to their modified MA5B assault rifles. Some pulled out hybrid weapons that wrecked havoc in the army. The SPARTANs However switched to their sniper rifles. The Helljumpers took up position behind the smoldering hulks that were Wraiths while the SPARTANS awaited orders.
Alex had finished identifying the leading Elites and those that could pose a threat. "SPARTANs, listen up, I'm down loading important information for you before I fall back to New Age City to help the other assault groups. There are about three hundred primary targets, impress me. 62 out." Six lights winked on as Master Chief Alex put the SOV in gear and tore down the backwoods road followed by three 'Hogs.
Squishy's HUD identified three Elites as top priority. Three shots and they were no longer a threat. Unfortunately, a division of Jackals was headed in his direction with modified shield/ plasma rifle generators. Squishy cursed under his breath. He knew that one of the human scientists had built them for use by the Marines. The Covenant had overrun his home base and his prototypes were confiscated. His payment for years of hard work was a plasma bolt in the chest. He spotted the Jackals commanding Elite and took aim.
The Jackals were awaiting orders from a nearby Elite who had spotted Squishy. The lead Jackal looked over at him just in time to see his head explode, spattering his shield with gore. He lowered his shield gun and began firing at the stand of trees where Squishy was hiding.
The sniper rifle had no use now. He pulled four frag-grenades and threw them into the throng. His last grenade was in his hand when a stray bolt blew the roots off of the tree. He tossed the grenade and watched it detonated in the air above the Jackals. He began climbing the tree and leveling himself perpendicular to it. He pulled out two M6D pistols aimed and fired. Three Jackals were dead by the time he hit the ground and he had another primed grenade in his armored hand. The grenade bounced and didn't explode. Just then Dropships and Phantoms appeared and evacuated the remaining forces. The group was joined by another band off trigger happy Jackals. "Crap, my luck just ran out."
He emitted all of his ammo reserves on the advancing Jackal line. Not only were the Jackals able to fire while still being protected, but their shields were five times stronger. Almost as strong as his personal shield. He was thrown back by a overcharged plasma pistol round from a Grunt nearby. He exploded in a shaking pile of body parts as a sniper round from Nikko hit him. The line still advanced towards him.
Squishy had no other choice but to run. With his MJOLNIR armor, he could easily make a speedy getaway, but with bodies, wreckage, craters and fires littering the ground it was hard to do. The Jackals continued to follow him. Squishy jumped over a dead Elite when he saw a bluish glint under him, an un-detonated Lotus mine. He continued to run and vaulted over another pile of gore that was a division of Grunts before they were hit by a rocket. In mid air he spun around and shot the mine between the legs of the oncoming Jackals. The bird heads are finally airborne. He thought as a leg fell in front of him. He turned and ran to the front lines.
He took up position behind the line of Wraith tank hulls with the remaining ODST's. "That was one hell of a stunt you pulled," one of them said handing him a rifle. He nodded, spotted another red Elite. He laughed to himself as its own blood polluted the sheen of his crimson lined armor.
"All forces pull back, find cover, three Covenant Cruisers are entering the atmosphere. All SPARTANs report to Delta Base."
Sodom IV was one of the Navy's most scientific planets. The first MAC guns were developed there. And all of the Covenant technology was analyzed and improved upon in their secret underwater bases. They also had in-ground Super MAC's. The superior shock absorbent design was inspired by the SPARTAN's own absorbent system. Plus, in ground MAC's couldn't be disabled because they had an armored underground generator. These were built after the terrible defeat at Reach when the orbital MAC's were destroyed because the ground based generators were taken out. The in-ground MAC's could swivel and had massive absorbent shocks that went half a mile into the ground. And the whole planet was covered in them. There were rumors of plasma weapons that were a match to the Covenant torpedoes that were hidden beneath the oceans.
The investment that it held scientifically and strategically for the Human race was immense. Decades of study and trillions of "No Market Policy" money had been spent in it. That's why Sodom IV couldn't fall into the hands of the Covenant.
Alex pulled up to Delta Base in time to see a Captain enter the bay. He saluted. "At ease," The Captain said, "All minor conflicts have been eliminated, thanks to the ODST's and your skill in deciphering their tactics. And your division did a he** of a job scrambling their main assault. However, we are being threatened by a trio of Cruisers that are rendezvous with this base; let's give them a warm welcome." The captain smiled. "Yes sir, Captain Barella. My unit should be reporting in soon. The ODST's did well. They neutralized 32% of the enemy on their own."
A wail sounded from a mega-phone on a tall pole. "WARNING- COVENANT CRAFT DETECTED IN AIRSPACE!" A air raid siren sounded out side. Three pelicans landed and the remaining ODST's poured out and went to man the AA guns. Lot of good it'll do them against the huge ships. Alex thought glancing at the sky.
The SPARTANs appeared in another Pelican that was smoking badly. They jumped out just as it exploded. The pilot inside, didn't make it out in time. Captain Barella winced as he heard him screaming in the inferno. "I hope it's quick." he said. "ALL HANDS, REPORT TO BATTLE STATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL, REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"
Pickles looked up and saw three streams of fire as the Cruisers sped through the atmosphere of Sodom IV. "Captain," He said "Fire at those ships, now." The captain looked confused. "You know that we can't do that, they could miss and it'll be a big waste of our very limited arsenal. Besides these projectiles were designed to enter space before they impacted anything." Barella looked back up and began to march into a cargo elevator with a group of Marines. "Sir, I know for a fact that their weapons can't charge up in a super heated environment like that. All of their power is diverted to their shields that are just barely holding up. If we fire now, we may need to hit them only once. When their shields are down, they'll disintegrate and crash. If we wait until they are within combat range, you'll be risking the lives of this entire base and possibly the entire planet." The Captain listened silently. "Very well soldier, you have a point. A very sharp one." He pulled out his COM microphone and tapped into the bullhorns frequency. "ALL PERSONNEL, BRACE FOR MAC BARRAGE!" The lift stopped.
The captain stepped off the lift and into the control center. Pickles could feel the whole base rotating as the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon aimed at the oncoming Covenant ships. The floor vibrated as the thirty ton projectile was charged. "Sir, firing in three, two......" The countdown was interrupted by a large WHUMP! as the huge Tungsten-Carbide projectile shot out of the cannon at three fourths the speed of light. All monitors switched to see if the shot would make its mark. The lead ship was just pulling shallow as it violently exploded as the round tore through it's weakened shields and through the bridge. It slowed down and the Cruiser behind it was going to fast to avoid it. There was a cheer from the Base as even the third suddenly exploded as a round from New Age Cities MAC gun gutted the ship. Huge chunks of the burning hulls plunged into the sea at mach 3, sending massive waves to devour the Covenant camps where the Dropships were placed.
Captain Barella smiled and saluted Pickles, "Soldier, that was a good call. I underestimated the power of our guns."
"Yes you did sir, but that's not all the action that we're gonna see today sir." Nikko jogged in with a radar sheet in his hands. "Radar confirms sixty two Covenant ships exiting from Slipspace on the outer rim, and counting. The first to enter were two Flagships sir. And from past experience, I know that they head one Flagship for every hundred and ten ships. With all due respect, I say we evacuate and reduce casualties." Alex, who had just appeared, jumped at him. "What are you thinking Nikko? The space port was destroyed by the Covenant. And there are nowhere near enough Pelicans or Longswords to evacuate the whole base and the city, not to mention the planet. We're gonna fight this one out. And that means all of us. Captain, I need to speak with you and Pickles. The three moved into a nearby conference room.
Nikko looked at a data pad then approached them before they could talk. "Sir, radar has confirmed sixty-three Covenant craft and counting." Nikko said glancing at the pad. Barella was stone face as he looked it over. Alex came back out of the room, "Captain, shall we? Nikko, go gather the other SPARTANs in the bay. Now Captain Barella, I'm not requesting a suicide mission, but this is still just as wild to you."
"Continue."
"From what I see, they have given up on taking the planet over. That force isn't even meant for us. Look," Alex pointed towards a holo-deck in the room. "The flagships are taking positions behind our moon. That means they're gonna glass us and move on. Why kill somebody with a bullet when you could use a nuke. From what I have seen..." The captain was massaging the bridge of his nose when he looked up suddenly and interrupted Alex. "The flagships are behind our moon you say?"
"Yessir." Pickles said questioningly. "Interesting. Our radar can't penetrate through it. They must know that we don't know what they are doing. Do you boys have any idea what we've been putting on that moon for decades? Ships, thousands of old rusted ships, failed experiments, old MAC guns, fusion reactors, plasma weapons gone wrong, junk, trash. Even the early Shaw-Fujikawa drives are there; the "Junkyard of the Galaxy" as we called it."
Pickles was confused. "Sir what does this have to do with the Covenant force?" Once again the Captain smiled, "I want you to set up an observation post in one of the old ships and set up a radar scanner. I want to know why they have such an interest in our moon. And because most of the ships have unstable reactors you can let them know you're leaving by destroying any other pieces of our technology by lighting the wick. The reactors are within a close enough range to all go off."
There was a knock at the door, Nikko stepped in. "Sir, the final count is in, four hundred thirty five ships, there are now three flagships. There is also a division of Destroyers heading this way." he closed the door quickly. The trio could hear people shouting outside as the MAC was brought back online.
"SPARTANS, I have a suicide mission for you, you operate on no other mission any ways. Your mission is to set up a radar relay station then set that moon on fire, draw the Flagships out so we can take them out with our little friends." He patted the wall. "Pickles, you're in charge of this one, Alex I want you to over see the stations function. I'm going to send a message to the other MACs about the mission." "Yessir!" Pickles saluted as the captain left the room.


September 18, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Aboard Covenant Flagship Sleeping Helios
Behind Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")


A Golden armored Elite named Krao 'Ghammeele walked down the pale blue hallway in the lead Flagship, Sleeping Helios. A minor Prophet had requested his presence at a hearing. Krao' had survived three encounters with the armor clad humans. Aside with being honored for bravery, leadership and loyalty, he was just as skilled as any other Elite. He never saw much combat before it was over or he had been wounded. But his military tactics won on Reach and many other Human colonies. He also lead the ships to destroy Harvest, the first human colony to be destroyed.
He rounded a corner and saw another Elite coughing fitfully. He was stripped of armor and being held by two Brutes. I can't believe he did this. What was he thinking? He thought to himself. He entered the door which led to the vast room where subordinates, failures, weaklings and traitors had been tried for many years. He was escorted to his place beside seven other Elites behind the Prophet.
The old alien wore an elaborate headpiece covered in twenty jewels from the twenty conquered systems the Covenant had destroyed. He nodded and the doors opened. The Brutes entered dragging the dishonored Elite between them. They dropped him on the floor in front of the disgusted Prophet. For being a minor Prophet, the one aboard the Sleeping Helios was known for his cruelty. He sat taller in his seat, balancing his headpiece.
"So you are to blame for this horrible failure. Your plans were thwarted time after time again. Your frontal assault was a disaster. You secret infiltration forces were discovered before the main attack was! Then, when you sent three brand new cruisers on their maiden voyage to incinerate the alien city, they were destroyed before ever seeing combat! I see no reason why I should spare you from the most elaborate torture room that I can imagine." The Elite winced and stood up off of the cold floor. "I am surprised after your impressive advancement that you have failed and failed me, miserably!" Krao', who had felt these word like they were being directed to him, then said, "Do you have any thing to account for your actions?" The Prophet leaned back and side-glanced at Krao', he didn't look too happy, and then again he never would show it.
The ragged Elite looked evilly at Krao' but then spoke. "I know that I could die for this, and if so then I leave you with this information. The main assault was slaughtered by the Armored Ones, the secret teams were discovered by the Armored Ones, and assassinated by the other aliens under the command of the Armored Ones. And the weapons that shot our cruisers down were commanded by the Armored Ones."
The prophet eyed him sternly. "And how do you know all of this if you were commanding the rear battalions?" The Elite began to loose his morose appearance. He stood up straighter and said, "Because, your Excellency, three of the ten teams did make it in and have tapped all of their communications systems. And if you had read the mission board, that was the objective. They were, however, too late to warn the Cruisers. And only I know the frequency that they are operating on. My teams are your eyes and ears on Sodom IV, Your Lordship. "
Once again the Prophet shifted in his seat. Krao' could feel his anger radiating. He also felt glad that one more Elite would be spared, especially this one. The Elite was right, he couldn't be put to death for accomplishing the mission. Despite the cost of the forces the gain was immense. "And, your Excellency, if I can lead another team, I'll tell you where the Armored Ones are going to next." That was not the best thing to say. He had bribed a Prophet, an action that carried a death sentence. But amazingly, the Prophet didn't seem to care.
"Very well. I will lend you one battalion. But I want them all back alive, and with a communications link within the whole fleet established. With that battalion, I want you to establish a communications array on the moon to relay your findings back to High Charity. And remember, this will be your final mission if you fail. Once we're done with Sodom IV, we're going to destroy the whole system. I have given you another life, don't disappoint me again." The Prophet dismissed him. His chair descended into the floor and a platform rose with the golden armor of a battalion commander.
Krao' couldn't believe what he had just seen and heard, neither did the other Elites. Not only had the most ruthless Prophet let him live, but gave him a battalion and the mission that was the whole goal of the blockade. He had ,however, accomplished what Krao' had tried to do for eight years.
He stepped down to congratulate him while the other Elites talked among themselves. He saw the Brutes look in to see what had happened. The new Commander nodded and brought his helmet over to Krao'. "Sir, do you have a plasma pen?" He looked at the golden head piece the other Elite held in his hands. "You know defacing military property is against regulations." Despite what he had just said, he pulled a plasma pen out from the Prophets side table and handed it to the new Battalion Commander. "Thank you sir." He etched his clans symbol inside, and then his own. Krao' had done the same thing when he was promoted two years before. And this Elite had become Battalion Commander in the same amount of time it took him to become a Platoon Leader.
Another Elite entered, this one in crimson armor, a veteran. "Battalion Commander, you." He said pointing at the newly promoted Elite. "I'm your assistant. Battalion six oh four reporting."
"Carry on." he said.
The veteran went on to list the entire 604's resources. "All we need is a ship large enough to carry the 604. A Cruiser would do." he concluded. Then Krao' stepped forward. "I will volunteer my ship, the Forcible. It's a battle ready cruiser and can comfortably accommodate yours and my battalion and their equipment."
The assistant clicked his jaws, "Very well. We leave in thirty units. You'll need all of our commanding personnel to report to the mission control room now."
"Good, I'll retrieve the information on the array." Krao' said.
Later, with all thirty commanding Elites in a control room, Krao' gave his rundown of the mission. "We will land in this clear area, shaped like the human letter "Q" or like our third insignia, without the marks on the outside. Once there, all units will establish residence and secure the interior perimeter, and then, your division," He pointed to a group of Elites, "Will secure these piles of wreckage as an outer perimeter." He pointed to areas that were raised hundreds of meters above the ground on the topography map. They were ancient hulls that had not collapsed or fallen over after years of isolation in the corrosive atmosphere. "We will be escorting one hundred and fifty Engineers to help build the array. Top executives say that we might be there permanently if things go well. The Prophets will not risk any chance for the humans to discover our frequency or copy any more of our technology. If the Armored Ones attack they will destroy the moon immediately. But we won't let them enter our communications facility will we?" This was met with the loud clicking of mandibles from the group of Elites.
"This mission is vital. Failure will result in all of our deaths, and another victory for the humans. And, as promised by our own Prophet, we will be promoted two ranks and given ample time off, and as an extra incentive, the best platoon to perform will receive their personal pleasure cruise ship. Dismissed." Once again there was a loud clicking of mandibles as the Elites stood up and saluted him and left to inform their divisions.
Krao' turned to his own assistant, Haba 'Jineevee, and said, "Begin stocking the Forcible, we leave in twenty six units." "Yessir." He said as he turned and exited. Krao' sat down in the empty room. The quiet whirring and hum of machinery made him feel sleepy. He laid his head back against the soft seat, just to close his eyes.
He was back home, in his residence on a planet far from High Charity. He could smell the coppery air and felt the damp breeze flow over his un-armored body. He saw the three familiar suns in the sky. He remembered his last night with his soul mate, felt a sting of sorrow. He turned and heard his spawn clicking their mandibles wanting to be fed in their pods. He loved them, every one of them. They were all his and nobody, he thought, will ever take them away. He heard someone call him. Who is it?
"Sir...Sir... Sir we need to leave now. Sir!" Krao' jerked awake. It was Haba'. "Sir, I am pleased to tell you that we are ahead of schedule, despite your absence. The ship will be leaving in one and a half units." Asleep that long? Krao' thought. "The Prophet wants to personally hand you the mission parameters. And bless the ship."
The Forcible was a custom fitted cargo cruiser with a new plasma weapon which was commandeered from plans found on Sodom IV. The turret could swivel and it had its own shield generator which prevented any foreign objects slipping under the Forcible's shields if it fired. It also had six coils which allowed it to fire upon six different targets at one time. The coils all had their own individual generator which were supported by the ships gravitational field. This gave the weapon unlimited energy unless the ship lost a large amount of its mass. The Battalion that he commanded consisted mostly of a thousand Grunts and five hundred Hunters. There was also nine hundred Elites. He had no Drones under his command because they were not part of his military branch. All of this was under the command of Battalion Commander/Ship Commander, Krao 'Ghammeele.
After jogging down the corridors of the Flagship to the docking bay, he finally reached the Forcible. The Prophet sat in a low riding platform with four Brutes surrounding him. He approached the Prophet slowly, bowed and held out his hand as he was given the orders. He then went and joined the leaders on the main bridge gangway. The Prophet stood up and stepped onto the floor. There was quietness as he did this for no Prophet had been seen doing this in a ceremony. He raised his bony hands to silence nobody.
"I, although only being a minor Prophet, bestow upon this ship and its crew the highest and most honored blessing of the Forerunners. May their spirits guide you to victory. May they command you to what must be done. Punish the human race for the destruction of the most holy relic that they have left for us. Redeem yourselves in their favor. For, if you do, you will all be admitted into Paradise. May this blessing protect this ship and it's crew. Bring them all back in the name of the Forerunners, go and avenge them."
Krao' gave the sign of Vengeance and went into the ship. The door sealed with a hiss. Once he was in the bridge he asked for a systems check. The ships pilots saluted signaling for the whole ship to do so as they pulled out of space-dock with the Sleeping Helios and began her decent onto the moon.
Luckily, the moon had a generated atmosphere which prevented the Covenant from having to bring bio-tents and extra equipment, besides the Grunts methane tanks. The ship hit the dense atmosphere and began to flare. Krao' and the new Battalion Commander braced themselves for the jolt. "Divert all power to shields and main gun. Set frequency to high and remain on course." The screens turned red-white. A cursor blinked and a countdown began at ten units. "All first strike units prepare for ejection in five, four, three, two, one." There were fifty thumps as pods launched top Elites and ten Hunters jettisoned to the surface in order to secure it; a tactic also incurred from the humans. The fire flowing over the shields began to disappear and the ground was coming up fast. "Pilot, pull into descent cease," He saluted and grabbed onto a swivel rod. He then said at the top of his voice, "All ahead stop!" The ship slowed down dramatically as it was met with the whine of the superstructure over-stressing. One of the pilots turned to face Krao', "Atmospheric pressure is stable Commander!" Krao' glanced at a monitor, "Equalize!"
There was aloud hiss as the air from the ship vented and equalized with the moons corrosive atmosphere. The heavy scent of rust filled the Bridge as it leveled out thirty meters above the ground. "Activate the gravity lift; begin assembly on the array as soon as all forces are in place. I want all residence established in one unit. All supplies will be in position in twelve. Proceed." Haba' approached Krao', "Sir, Two of our soldiers died in the re-entry pods. But, the surface is secured."
Krao' signaled for all extra bridge personnel to exit. The halls were bustling as secondary grav-lifts were established for all of the soldiers to exit. By the time Krao' had landed on the dark, damp surface, half the force was in place. Hundreds of Shades were placed on rusted hulls of ships that surrounded the clear plateau that the Covenant were busy setting up the array on. Domed tents sprouted up in the darkness and were illuminated by tall lights. The massive Flagships were still visible in the sky.
The Covenant fleet had one purpose, to protect the array from any attack and keep any ship from landing on the moon. Once it was firmly established and no alien forces had detected it then they would pull around to the front side of the moon and destroy any ship that attempt to leave the planet. That way, they would be able to learn the human emergency codes and routes, decipher their battle tactics, learn where their hidden bases were and of any military actions that they would be taking so that they could prepare counter measures. And with the dish, they could relay it all back to the Covenant homeland where the information could never be lost.

September 18, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +5 hours: 23 Minutes: 12 seconds
(Master Chief Pickles Mission Clock) / Delta Base MAC Gun,
Loading bay for Longsword Spacecraft on Sodom IV

Master Chief Pickles, Goose, Squishy and Smooth Talker marched down the hall after a tall, quick paced man who was called, Admiral "Strawberry" Raziel. The SPARTANs could easily confirm his call-name from the crop of copper hair under his beret.
"Mind those exoskeletons, there a bit wobbly. Well her she is, the best in the bunch. She's called 283-FA-45 but we here like to call her "Anna". It's after her pilot, a da** good one too." He bounded up the gang-way into a ship that looked like it used to be a Longsword that had been through hell and back then went to hell again. The most prominent feature was the fact that it was many times larger than a typical Longsword and looked like a conglomeration of many space craft. Huge fire arms were mounted on the sides, complete with six Shiva nuclear warheads.
Goose whistled into the COM. Pickles thought he was commenting the ship when he spotted a rear view of the pilot in her jumpsuit with the name ANNA-283-FA-45 on the back. She was barefoot and had a pair of special issue boots in her hands. "I'd let her pilot my rocket ship any day. Is that woman really gonna fly this sucker into space?" He said looking at her backside.
She finished talking and then flipped around and jumped across the .5 gravity bay into Gooses face. Her eyes glowing red. "You bet your balls I can." She said wagging her finger in his visor. "And if anybody does so much as ditz my ship and my skills as a pilot again, I'll have you processed so much that we'll have to ship you back home in a used ditty bag. An icky, sticky ditty bag got it. Any questions?"
Goose scratched the back of his helmet then said, "Uh yeah, when do we get into the action?" Anna paused trying to decipher whether or not this was one of his dirty jokes or an honest question. "You will see no action if all goes well. And if that was to be directed in any other way, Master Chief Goose, then the only action you'll see from me is my boot up your armored a**." She walked over and began talk with the Admiral. Smooth Talker stepped up beside Goose.
"Yikes, Goose, got a little shamed did we?"
"Shut up Smooth Talker, I saw you lookin' the whole time."
"Yeah but I didn't say any thing. Silence pays Goose, silence pays."
Pickles returned from retrieving mission orders and seeing the two SPARTANs arguing in silence over the COM made him wonder if they were the right ones for the job. "Okay ladies after you're done with your little squabble I'd like you to retrieve your weapons from the locker, I expect you back in ten minutes. "Yessir." they said in unison.
"Squishy, you're in charge of supply. Admiral Raziel has issued us three tactical nukes." Master Chief Pickles looked at the mission papers. "They have a neutron bomb built to go off a fraction of a gigasecond first. That'll set off the chain reaction we need. But as the papers say, if we're any where in a hundred mile radius, those neutrons will set off our own reactors, even through our shields and armor. Here are the clearance codes, go get'em. And please, don't drop them." Squishy smiled behind his visor as he was handed three slips of paper in glass cards. Each one had a micro sensor. If the glass was broken, Headquarters was notified and if the bomb was in friendly space, it was instantly deactivated.
Pickles sighed and wondered again if the select group really would be the best on this mission. Squishy was a nuclear warfare expert. He had countless hours in zero gee medical school and also was the only one authorized to handle the advanced nukes code named "Lucifer".
Goose, besides being a ladies man or trying to be, was an excellent technician. He would be the one to operate the mobile radar station of the moon. He also had trained for three years in the toughest terrain's the Marines and Navy knew.
Smooth Talker was there only because the Admiral said that he must take four. Nikko, Aliana and Alex were still at the MAC Research Center. He did have one good talent besides making every one angry; he could speak some Covenant and knew a bit of the Engineers language.
Anna appeared right beside him and watched as Goose and Smooth Talker came back with guns and ammo draped over their massive shoulders. "You did tell them to pack light right? We shouldn't be encountering any forces on the moon. Hey! You two, put those weapons down, take only one! By the way Master Chief, here's the landing spot, there, the "Q" shaped patch." Anna handed Pickles a map. "If none of the hulls have collapsed in, that would make an excellent area to land my ship and these tall ships here, would serve as an excellent area to set up the radar." Pickles looked over the map. "Good, it'll do. Is the radar equipment loaded up?" Anna pointed to a clanky exoskeleton bringing over a large wooden crate. "That'll be it. Well, how 'bout you get your perverted and smarta** soldier in here. They were on my frequency."
Pickles motioned for the two to follow Anna. Smooth Talker kicked the boots in the doorway aside. "Hey, you, get out of my ship!" He looked at Goose and back to Anna. "Yeah, you, the one who just kicked my boots. The smart a** one." Smooth Talker walked over to her, she wasn't in the least bit intimidated by the green armor or his tall height. "Listen bub, there are some rules on my ship. Rule number one, I'm number one. Rule number two, my boots are number two. Rule number three, you're just cargo and you'll do what I say. Rule number four, break any of these rules and you'll die."
Smooth Talker went and set the boots back up after brushing them off. Just then Squishy appeared followed by three specialized exoskeleton suits with extra stabilizer packs on their backs. The exoskeletons walked slowly and steadily because they each carried a Lucifer tac-nuke launch pod in their cases.
"Sir, we need to take some of the weapons off of the wings." Squishy said to Pickles pointing at the ship. "You tell that to Anna, she's running this show from here to the moon." Squishy went into the cockpit of the ship. There was suddenly loud yelling as she was told the news. She burst out from the cargo door. "What do ya mean we got to take the weapons off? You can't they're permanent, so there." Pickles looked at her until she got over her fit. "Put them on the tail wings." She huffed and went back into the ship picking up her boots on the way. The exoskeletons wandered onto a gravity platform and were lifted up near the tail. There was a shower of sparks as they attached the pods to the tail wings.
Just then Captain Barella and Admiral Strawberry entered. Smooth Talker saw them first, "Group, Tench Hup!" The SPARTANs, exoskeletons and Anna saluted the Captain and Admiral. "At ease. I came to wish you good luck. Although that's probably what you've been running on to survive all this time." Barella said. "Oh, your buddies said that they'll join you up there as soon as they're finished with their duties down here, got that. So keep your rooms clean. Also if there is any military action needed in this mission, against the ships, its code name is Tiller, Anna, you know the process. All Squadrons know that they'll be following you so be careful. Also..." "WARNING- COVENANT CRAFT DETECTED IN AIRSPACE!"
The bay suddenly came to life as combat pilots poured out of doors and jumped into their craft. "Well so much for that goodbye! Anna, bring them all back alive!" The bay shuddered as a MAC round tore through the air and into the outer atmosphere where the Destroyers were maneuvering to destroy any leaving ships. Anna fired up the engines. She strapped herself in her seat and put her boots on. "Hold on to your life lines, were in for a long haul!" She shot out of the bay dragging un-tethered crates in her wake. The other space craft followed her. The sky was ripped in half as a huge plasma torpedo landed in the sea and flash-boiled millions of gallons and set huge waves to wash away the pieces of Covenant wreckage and bodies on the shore.
Huge ships that were far beyond the size of any human craft began to rise out of the sea just as another plasma torpedo hit one and sent it back into the depths. The gigantic hulks glowed red along their sides. "Those are our experimental plasma weapons. They have nobody operating them. They're all controlled by our central AI, Chris, back at headquarters. This is their first time seeing combat. Whoa! Hold on!" Some alarm sounded as she ship lurched left and descended rapidly. The windshield went black. The temperature shot up suddenly and static danced across the SPARTANs visors and COM. "Nice shot but not good enough." Anna said to nobody. The ship cooled off quickly as Anna pulled back up into space. There was a concussion wave as a MAC round sped through the sky a mile away. "All fighters arm and run!" The Longswords spread out along both sides of Anna's ship and primed their weapons. In the distance, between the Destroyers a vibrating purple cloud appeared. "Bogies at three twelve!" Someone called in the COM. "Roger that, all fighters standby for Bravo Squadron." There was a slight pause in COM traffic until, "Acknowledged, Bravo Squadron has arrived."
Anna looked back into the cargo bay at the SPARTANs. "You, Squishy, you get left, Pickles, right, let's go!" The two SPARTANs jumped into the gunners pods and took aim at the oncoming Seraph fighters. "Shoot the ones with the oblong engines. They're displaced by radio equipment." Pickles said to the Squadron Leaders over the COM. "Lead ships right? Good call." Another person said over the COM. The horizon lit up as the sun cam over it. "Crap! We've got the fricken sun in our way! Smart little buggers aren't they? Not too smart though." Polarizing cells in the glass blackened and blocked out the sun. She launched a IMPACT missile towards the cloud. "That's what you get for messing with a planet ruled by nerds!"
The Seraphs were getting closer. "All Squadrons break up and keep forward heading. Fire at will." There was a hail of missiles and bullets as the Longswords and other modified craft fired away at the Covenant fighters. Pickles and Squishy let lose with the 102mm cannons, identical to those on a Scorpion tank. There was a line of light as another plasma torpedo tore through the Seraph and Longsword ranks to the surface. "Commander! We lost Bravo Leader, assuming position." A red light blinked on the COM panel in the cock pit. Goose switched to its frequency and put himself on mute. "Yes Admiral Raziel?" Anna said.
"Abort mission. They are sending more ships. All MAC's and plasma units are designated to your sector."
"No can do Admiral, we're already past the point o'no return."
"Fine, you got thirty seconds before the plasma reaches you, ten before the MACs do. Raziel over and out."
Anna sighed and wiped her forehead. The Seraphs had regrouped and were coming in for a second round. "All units break up, meet back at point Charlie." The Longsword fighters scattered in time to avoid thirty MAC rounds followed by countless plasma torpedoes. The thousands of Seraphs that weren't destroyed by the MAC projectiles were vaporized with the exchange of plasma fire. Unfortunately so were a handful of friendly fighters. The Longswords regrouped and returned to Sodom IV leaving Anna against the fleet.
Anna continued towards the remaining Destroyers that were still firing at the surface. Their turrets turned to her and fired plasma at close range. The torpedoes had no time to adjust before they slammed into the wreckage of another Destroyers reactor room. It lit off, imploding itself and the other ships shield in time for three MAC rounds and a plasma torpedo to rip it into chunks of debris. A stray MAC round impacted the moon in front of them sending a cloud of dust and debris into it's dense air. "That moon has a stable atmosphere, but it's hot and very humid. It was designed to decay the ships faster." Another light flashed. Pickles, feeling that nobody was pursuing them, unstrapped himself from the pod and entered the cockpit. "Is there anything I can do Ma'am?"
"I think somebody just scanned across our frequency and there are no ships close enough to do that except...Can you find out if we were just spotted by the Flagships." Pickles signaled for Goose to scan the radio for Covenant signals. Smooth Talker looked hurt. "But he doesn't know the lingo." Nobody heard him.
"Negative, just a stray distress message from the Destroyers." Smooth Talker laughed, "You make it sound as if it was complicated Goose. I ,however, can read and speak Covenant." The ship angled itself to enter the atmosphere. Goose continued to listen on the radio. He switched frequencies every second.
Once again Smooth Talker tried to take a stab at his ego, "You know, listening to the radio on duty is a major offense. Come on, you won't find any thing this close to the moon unless they are on it which is impossible." He stopped at one and tuned it in. "Once again, Goose tries to act professional in detecting something." Goose grabbed a piece of paper and wrote some numbers on it. "Anna, did we put a NAV marker in our landing zone?"
"No, what's wrong?",She said making a face at him.
"Do we have friendlies on this moon?"
"Yeah, yo mama."
"Shut up Smooth Talker. No, now tell me what's wrong or I won't be able to pull out."
"There's no base established, no system or anything?"
"Yeah, yo mamas house."
"No, should I pull out or not?"
"Just shut up Goose and stop trying to impress the lady, there is nothing on the moon."
"Pull out now. Land somewhere far away from that area, far away." Smooth Talker jumped up, "Don't do that! He doesn't even know Covenant! How could he possibly know what or where it is?!" Pickles stood over Goose as Smooth Talker said this; he snapped around and got in his face till their shields were flaring. "Because soldier, we have translators, because we use them, because we're smart, because we fill our helmets with brains and equipment and not selfishness and ego. Now sit down before I demote you again."
"What's wrong?" ,Anna asked Goose. "I detected a signal; the distress signal from the Destroyer was directed too..." "Oh please, he can't possibly..." He was cut short as Anna punched him in the face hard enough to cut his shields in half. "If you don't shut the he** up! And please, I know Covenant too." She paused for a moment then said, "And you're not all that cute." Smooth Talker was about to protest that she hadn't seen him without his armor when Pickles handed him a slip of paper for him to sigh authorizing his demotion. "But, sir, I know Covenant. I know what they are saying without a translator. What's so important any ways Goose." Pickles turned around to face Goose, "Yeah Goose, I need a reason for his demotion, what is it?"
Goose listened for a while more then said to Pickles, "Sir, there is a Covenant Cruiser in our LZ."

September 18, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Surface of Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")
Covenant Base for relay station beside the Forcible.
Battalion Commanders Mission Tent

"Sir, it's been confirmed, mission failed." Haba' handed Krao' a data sheet. "All ten destroyed? Really. Are there any survivors?" The red Elite kept his head down. "No sir, after our ships were crippled they used plasma torpedoes to vaporize the wreckage." Krao' looked the veteran Elite in the eye. "Plasma torpedoes? They've duplicated our technology?" Once again the red Elite kept his head down when he answered, "Yessir, they have around three hundred plasma cannons in the ocean surrounding their civilization they call New Age City. We never finished counting before the division was destroyed. We do know however that an unusual ship that we scanned called the "Anna" got past the Destroyers and was last seen heading for this moon." Krao' was already linking his COM to the speakers placed around the camp. "ALL UNITS CODE RED, REPEAT, CODE RED!" Krao' grabbed Haba's shoulder and then hurried to his golden dome tent where the other commanding Elites had assembled and were now awaiting a briefing for the alarm. The new Battalion Commander arrived last. He stood panting and he began to go into a coughing fit. He held it back forcefully and saluted Krao'. He saluted back and said, "Sir, Haba' must have already told you, one ship got past the failed blockade, it was last heading for this moon. I believe it is the armored ones, we must not let them enter the station." He turned to look at the building that was taking shape.
The Engineers were running to and fro waving their tentacles and welding things in place with plasma torches. They were oblivious to warfare and would keep building until their brains were blown out from their forehead. The Grunts, Jackals and Hunters that had work detail were now heavily armed and hiding in the structure.
The Shades warmed up as new plasma packets were inserted and their heavy shields were activated. That reminded Krao' to turn on his personal shield. His eyes were covered with a pink film as the shield covered him and dissipated into it's normal transparent color.
"I want you all to take control of your units; I want a division from both battalions patrolling the outskirts of the perimeter. No moving, just monitor the area, I want feedback from all bio-monitors." He turned to a pilot, "I want the ship ready to fire cannons if all else fails!" As he said this a Jackal descended from he gravity lift with another data sheet. "Sir, the ship was on a path to land in this area, they detected a distress signal from one of the Destroyers sent to us, and they traced it and know where we are." Krao' read the sheet and handed it to the other Battalion Commander. He looked it over and gave it to the next Elite. "Sir, I don't think they knew that we were here until they detected the signal. How they deciphered where it was going, I can only guess."
Later the Jackal returned, "Sir, we cannot identify the class of ship that entered the moons atmosphere, we know that once it detected us, it changed course but landed approximately fifty clicks from here. The contents were not confirmed but they were carrying nine nuclear weapons." The Jackal looked around at the towering Elites glowering at him; he decided to return to the ship before he was mauled for being the bearer of bad news.
The last Elite to read the sheet connected with his unit and ordered them to take up defensive positions the outskirts, he commanded sixty pairs of Hunters, a very deadly force, but hard to hide. He centered himself in front of the new Battalion Commander and saluted, clearly newly appointed also. "Sir, Heavy Arms Platoon 23, Division 6, and Battalion 604 under Commander ..." Traditionally, a platoon leader is supposed to recite his battalion commander's name but since the leaders changed suddenly nobody was aware of the newcomer's name. "At ease, Ghale' will do." The Elites took a moment to remember that and the platoon leader continued, "...Battalion Commander Ghale', report, one hundred twenty Hunters taking position of southern flank, requesting additional support." Ghale' clicked his jaws, "Denied, I only want expendable units, vermin soldiers, on the outskirts. If they die, we know where they are attacking from, then we can effectively mount a good defense and destroy them, that is if the Armored Ones did come." The Elite looked let down but he radioed his Hunters and ordered them to the fallback position.
Krao' looked at his solar timer, "I want this place on red for three solar days, if nothing happens, we'll send out search parties." For a third time the Jackal arrived, this time, with a stack of info. "Your Excellency, the Prophet... The Commander of the Sleeping Helios sent these. They are detailed maps of the area; they finished tracking the ship and know exactly where it landed. There is one human pilot and there are four of the Armored Ones. The Prophet expresses great concern for this mission but will not hesitate to destroy us if they enter the facility." "Fine, begin cutting all secondary systems; we don't want them seeing all of our lights."
Ghale' and Krao' looked over the maps until one of the Elites who had been yapping into his COM said, "They found them, they are moving toward us at a slow speed, they carry large boxes of equipment. They do not know we are watching them. Any action needed?" Krao' and Ghale' looked over the maps. "No action, continue observation. Return to your unit tents, I'll send copies of further combat activity later. I want to see what they are up to first."
He went into his tent and put the maps together to form a 10,000 square kilometer area which was dominated by the mountains of rusted ship hulls. The ten kilometer wide "Q" shaped clear patch was dead center. Small orange dots marked the Shades, other multi-color spots located Wraith tanks, Banshee patrols and other important factors. In the top left corner was a red circle marking the landing site of the human craft: A small glob in the middle of a clearing.
Krao', Ghale', and two other Elites discussed the worst case scenarios and how they could handle them for two hours until all was considered done for the moment. Ghale' began to plot the courses of patrols to locate the humans and ambush them. "The moons constant darkness would help them greatly in staying hidden if they had movement indicators. And if they are hidden behind all of that old Titanium-A armor, they will have perfect deflective shielding." Ghale' said as he picked up a scrap piece of the metal. "One more thing that could help us is the fact that most of the soldiers are accustoming with this environment and are most comfortable in it. The air, however, has a quick corrosive effect on metal. If we don't have a shield around the relay station quickly then it'll be out of usage in less than a year." Krao' said. Another group of young Elites entered and saluted the two Battalion Commanders. They then went off into a corner with Ghale' and began to talk about the days back at the Academy. "It would be more helpful for you soldiers to carry these copies to the other commanding personnel than be caught reminiscing." The group stood up, embarrassed that they had been slacking off when the base was under red alert. They took the stacks of map sections and went out into the damp darkness.
After the Elites had left, Krao', feeling that most action would not happen for the next day due to the humans limited resources and far distance, lay down to rest in his tent.
Sleep came quick for the control-obsessed Elite. Once again he was on his lush green and watery home planet, Claghonoa. He was at the mourning chamber in the Temple of Sadness. His soulmate had died after giving birth to fifteen, sickly spawn. Ever since the two were joined in the Ceremony of Conjunction back when he was still a dock hand to the last days in the Birth Room, he had felt the connection.
Now all he had were his sick spawn who were dying slowly from the same virus that killed their producer. They all cried to be fed with their gurgling voices as the biotic fluid filled their lungs, slowly suffocating them. He lowered the feeding tubes into their throats, wanting to see them live longer and become Honored Ones. He saw them die one by one until there were two left. After eight years of constant effort he had only two spawn left.
He remembered them going through the brutal military training from which he still bore scars from. He saw them command small units and advance to the Academy of the Elites. The vision of their graduation rolled by, followed by the promotion of his younger son, Saghleeka'. He now commanded the Carrier, Heretic Vengeance.
He dreamed then of they day he was called off duty to report to the Prophet onboard the new ship called the Sleeping Helios.
A new Prophet addressed him, "I am sorry to say that your youngest son, Saghleekee 'Ghammeele was MIA when the Armored One assumedly destroyed the Heratic Vengeance near the Incad'lousae Nebula. Few escape pods left but none were recovered. Reason for him stationing himself there is unknown and is not to be investigated further. I have ordered that you and your remaining son be transferred under my authority. You are assigned the ship Forcible and battalion number 345. Now go." Krao' felt his soul break again and another piece fall away into the darkness. Only one of his sons left and the most formidable enemies that he had ever come by tore him. His oldest remaining son had lots of potential and lots of motivation but was limited due to the illness that still plagued him from time to time. He watched him in his incubation pod on the terrace of his home on Claghonoa. He promised to make him the best soldier the entire race of Covenant and Humans had ever seen.

September 18, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +10 hours:03 Minutes:34 seconds
(Master Chief Pickles Mission Clock)
Surface of Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")
56 kilometers North of Covenant Base for relay station

Master Chief Pickles jumped out of the door to the hodgepodge ship and onto the warm dark and damp ground. He scanned the area while the other SPARTANs leaped to the ground. Pickles vision adjusted to the darkness quickly thanks to the visor and his ocular augmentation. There was a faint light in the distance. He stared at it until his visor was fully adjusted.
Goose and Smooth Talker ran out and explored the perimeter in case they landed in a bad spot. "Perimeter all clear." Goose said over the COM. "Smooth Talker, begin unloading the field equipment." He said. "I'll do what I feel thank you." he said in return. "Smooth Talker, do it now, we're a team and you're jeopardizing the mission." Pickles said still looking at the lights in the distance. They began to go off as if somebody knew that he was looking.
Just then Anna came out stretching her arms. "You know we're being watched." She said looking up through a break in the clouds. Squishy was inspecting the Shivas and Lucifers for any damage when he looked up and saw the Flagships in the sky. "Makes me wonder if they know we're here." Anna walked over and punched a code in by the cargo door. It opened with a hiss. She went inside and came out with two rifles that were extremely odd looking. They were a cross between a Covenant Needler and a human assault rifle. "These are fully automatic Needler rifles; experimental of course. Courtesy of Admiral Raziel." Anna said handing one to Pickles and keeping the other for herself. "Sorry, there's only two but we also have many other toys. That's why I told you to leave your weapons back at the base." The other SPARTANs went back into the ship and came out with an array of odd weaponry. Goose however was still looking in a crate which he hadn't left. Pickles went back into the ship to get his pistol and extra ammo. "Sir, could you help me with this?" Goose said as he pulled out what looked like and addition to the MJOLNIR armor of his right arm only it had holes in it and had micro sensors. Goose took off his arm units up to the shoulder-plate. His pale but muscular arm looked odd coming from something that looked like a machine. Pickles helped Goose put the odd looking glove on then the other pieces. Goose could feel the temp-gel mold onto his body and equalize with the rest of his suit. The other SPARTANS were out side of the ship still waiting for the two. "Goose, do you need any more help?" Pickles asked before going to his weapons bag. "No sir, thanks." Pickles retrieved his M6D pistol and some extra ammo. As he walked down the ramp and into the group of SPARTANs and Anna he pulled the map up on his HUD. "We move out as soon as Goose gets out and all the maps are downloaded into your HUD. And be careful, these ships and their reactors are very unstable, they could collapse at any moment if somebody puts a foot in the wrong place, Anna, I suggest that you stay with your ship and keep the Lucifer's safe." Pickles said glancing at the tail of the ship.
"Aye Aye sir." She said mockingly as she went back to the ship brushing by Goose as he came out. "Woman, do you ever wear shoes?" He asked. "I wear my boots only when I fly, that's it." Goose shrugged and continued down the ramp.
"Good grief boy, what are you hunting?" Squishy suddenly exclaimed. Every one turned to see Goose join them with a huge modified fuel rod gun mounted on his arm. The difference it had to a regular fuel gun was the fact that it had eight barrels and was clearly meant for total destruction. "I'm huntin' whatever scum there might be on this moon besides us." Goose said brandishing the weapon that must have weighed half a ton. Pickles nodded his head.
"Goose, we're going to keep this as quiet as we can. You can't be hauling around a weapon that'll probably get all of us killed. Get a smaller, easier one to hide." Goose dropped the huge not-so-mini-gun. "But I just wanted to have some fun kickin' E.T.'s a**. Aww, Master Chief Pickles can I please keep it, please?" Pickles was about to say something about demotion and insubordination when he saw something move on the horizon and on his indicator. "Did you..." "Yessir, we got it too, don't move." Goose and Squishy initiated their active camouflage and began to stalk what ever was hiding on top of an old ship. There was a quick scuffle as one bullet was fired from a pistol, then silence. "Sir, we were being watched and I think we still are. He has a short range COM that had an open frequency, nobody is talkin' now though." Squishy said over the SPARTANs COM. "Smooth Talker, wait for them here and say something to make them reveal them selves, and make it snappy." Pickles said. "You two get back down here. And Squishy, you're staying with Anna to guard the ship. You know what to do."
Anna looked out of the cockpit window to watch Squishy come down with a handful of equipment. Goose came down after him wiping purple blood off of his new toy. SMOOTH TALKER took the radio out of Squishy's hands and began to fumble with it. He causally began to recite something that the translators decoded as "All right, immediately come out or us will you shoot." Pickles once again wondered whether this was the right crew for the job. "Smooth Talker, just forget it, use you're translator to say it, you can't get the words in the right order." Goose said.
"But I know Covenant, Goose, what else do I need?"
"The ability to speak it right. You sound like you're reading from a dictionary now use your translator because we're wasting valuable time." Pickles said waving his hand towards the dimming lights in the distance. The shape of the bulbous sections of a Covenant Cruiser were now clearly defined in the distance, as was the warm pulse of their plasma cannons being kept hot. "The Prophet warns of the Armored Ones. He orders all forces to retreat to the base immediately; they are attacking secretly from the other side. This ship is a diversion." There was a sudden flurry as fifty or so Grunts jumped from their hiding places and tried to run for the base, glad they didn't have to stay in their cramped hiding space any more. Goose nudged Pickles and pointed to his gun. "No Goose, use this." He handed a Needler Assault Rifle to his free left hand. He began to fire single shots at the individual Grunts. When all of them lay in masses of gore, the SPARTANs began to push farther into the wreckage of the ships. They came upon what looked like a cliff but was really the backside of a huge repair station that was now obsolete. The wall of Titanium extended into the hulls of other ships. Pickles punched the massive walls with his fist, they crumpled like paper. There was a slight rumble and a long creak as the SPARTANs stepped in. "Sir, this hull is very unstable." SMOOTH TALKER said. Just then the entire wall behind them peeled off and fell with a loud crunching noise as two Elites were crushed. Goose looked around and said, "Sir, I think we just walked into an am..." Pickles jerked his gun up in time to be surrounded by a hundred Hunters, Grunts and countless Elites. "...Bush" He concluded.
The entire Covenant had the advanced personal shielding technology stolen from Sodom IV. Smooth Talker found himself staring down the wrong side of a fuel rod cannon and two plasma rifles. "You will disarm all weapons and take your MJOLNIR armor off now or you will die." ,One of the Elites said in perfect standard. The clicking and whine of plasma weapons was heard from all of the creatures who had what could be called a smile on their faces. "Do what he said. They win this one." Pickles said taking off his helmet revealing his pale white face on an armored body to big for him. Just then Anna and Squishy, who was stripped of his armor, were brought in between twenty Hunters and a group of Elites. "You have one unit to begin doing so or you will all die a most horrible death." Someone else said in a crackly voice. And that's when the Prophet appeared.

September 18, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Surface of Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")
Covenant Base for relay station beside the Forcible.

"Sir, they are arming themselves with weapons that are hybrids of ours and their own; I hope not to see what they can deal out." Ghale' entered the tent and handed a set of heat scan pictures to Krao'. He looked over them and shrugged. "I have sent the entire 26th Division to intercept them, that's one hundred twenty Hunters, eighty three Elites and seven hundred Grunts. The Jackals were lent to the 533rd three weeks ago. There were one hundred fifty of them. They plan to intercept them here." Ghale' pointed to a huge ship that was almost a half kilometer long and almost as tall on the map. "The interior is hollow and has many areas where the troops are being put. We've weakened the hull to allow a easy entry for the humans. Twenty Hunters and a platoon of Elites went to the ship to bring back the human pilot and the lone armored one, code named Squishy."
The messenger Jackal entered. "Your Lordship, the Armored Ones have intercepted one troop, killed him and is currently trying to speak our language. He can't get it right though." Ghale' tuned into the frequency and heard someone say, "Smooth Talker, just forget it, use you're translator to say it, you can't get the words in the right order."
"But I know Covenant, what else do I need?" a high and haughty voice said. "The ability to speak it right. You sound like you're reading from a dictionary. Now use your translator because we're wasting valuable time." A commanding voice said in the distance.
There was a buzz then a mechanized voice saying, "The Prophet warns of the Armored Ones. He orders all forces to retreat to the base immediately; they are attacking secretly from the other side. This ship is a diversion." There was a sudden sound blast as the many radios were destroyed as the concealed Grunts exposed themselves to fire. There was a long pause as the Elites and the Jackal listened for any other troop to tell of what had just happened. The Jackal moved and then said, "The entire force was killed sir." He said looking at a vital stats indicator on the pad he held.
He dismissed the Jackal and addressed the other Elites, "Stupid vermin. Well thanks to the human radio frequencies, we know quite a bit about these Armored Ones. They are called SPARTANs after a violent group of their ancient race. They wear a specialized armor called MJOLNIR. They were selected at a very young age and trained as soldier their entire life, much like ourselves, we just lack their technology." There was a long pause; no Covenant had ever said that about the humans. "They are incredibly intelligent and each has killed well over a million of our own in many various encounters. They are equipped with weapons that far surpass our own, because they are highly innovative and resourceful; they are hard to kill because of their high shields, armor and tactics." Ghale' paused for a moment then said, "But no worries, the entire 26th is in place and ready."
Krao' was impressed, an entire division in an area that was perfect for an ambush from only their point of view and not the SPARTANs. "Very well, let us go there." Ghale' looked up. "Are you sure that would be a wise decision?" Krao' looked up from the maps he was reading, "Of course, somebody has to protect the Prophet besides the Royal Guard." Ghale' jerked involuntarily. "The Prophet? He's coming down here? He's going to see the armored ones! We need to make sure he doesn't..." Ghale' suddenly straightened up as a lead Brute entered the tent.
Krao' leapt out of his seat and approached him. "The Prophet has arrived and wants you to personally escort him to the site. He is fully confident that with these resources and the humans lack thereof will give you complete victory. His Lordship is waiting outside." The Brute waved his hand toward the door.
Krao' and Ghale' quickly donned their armor, holstered their weapons and went out to greet the minor Prophet. He was on a shielded platform wearing his ceremonial robes and headpiece; he also had a set of the heat scans that he was looking over thoughtfully. "It is about time for the capture of the infidels to be initiated, is it not?" He said without looking up. "Uh, it is, your Excellency. I have a prepared craft to transport you there now." The old alien looked up and said slowly, "You have no such craft, nor if you did, I would not travel in it. I will travel in this to your site and speak to them my self. This is not a show of stupidity or pride. This is to show that we Prophets are not lazy and over ruling as you think we are. This is to show the humans that nothing is more greatly wanted than their destruction and our admittance into Paradise." He tapped some buttons on the arm of his seat and the platform rose and sped off followed by ten Banshees and a dozen Ghosts.
Ghale' got into his Banshee and took off following the troupe. Krao' stayed long enough to load himself with extra cartridges and grenades in case something went wrong, which he ironically thought was impossible. He got into his own Banshee, activated the controls and sped over the camp, took a round over the nearly completed array and went over the Outer Perimeter which was crawling with Ghost and Banshee patrols that were lit up by the charged Shades. Wraith tanks made their slow rounds to his left where the Shades were scarce.
The old hulls of human craft sped by as Krao' looked down to see stray troops wandering around in their patrols. The distant out line of a large ship came into focus; he deactivated the boosters and cruised to a stop where a hundred other Banshees had landed. He nodded as the other pilots saluted; they stood ready to intervene in case of an emergency. Krao' entered the hull through a blasted hole and was letting his eyes get adjusted when he was jerked to the side by Haba'. "Sir, they'll be here in less than twelve units. The wall is significantly weakened; hopefully they don't use any explosives that will threaten the Prophet. We have a unit of Covert Ops Elites following them, if they suspect something is amiss, they'll give the signal." There was a beep as the warning signal was given. The clear area quieted down as the troops took their positions. The Prophet sat up in his chair ready to speed out if the humans put up a fire fight. There was silence for a full five minutes. Then a whisper broke over the COMs. "They're approaching the hull. I'm sending two soldiers to come in behind them." There was a tap that resounded through the empty space. There was another silence followed by a crash as a stream of dust and light filtered into the dark and cavernous space. One, two three of the SPARTANS entered. A second beep resounded as one of them said, "Sir, this hull is very unstable." After a long creak and a few screeches of metal the entire section of the wall fell killing the two Elites that were following the SPARTANs One looked around and said, "Sir, I think we just walked into an am..." One put his gun into the sir only to drop it as the area lit up as nine hundred Covenant soldiers aimed their weapons at the Armored Ones. "...Bush" the human concluded. Krao' stepped forward and said in his best standard, . "You will disarm all weapons and take your MJOLNIR armor off now or you will die." The force activated their weapons; the heat filled the chamber quickly as the plasma packs were primed.
The lead SPARTAN then said "Do what he said. They win this one." He took off his helmet, revealing to the Covenant that The SPARTANs were in fact only humans and not cyborgs as was rumored. Twenty Hunters crunched over the pulverized wall with Anna and Squishy, who now wore no armor. It was being carried separately between the Hunters. Pickles saw Anna's boots in one of the Hunters arms. The Prophet turned his COM on and said over the dull murmur, "You have one unit to begin doing so or you will all die a most horrible death,"
He moved the platform towards the edge of the "bridge" and looked down upon the SPARTANS. He watched them take off the armor and eyed the Hunters carefully that took it away. Grunts rushed forward, confident that the humans were harmless now and gave them prisoners robes. A trio of Jackals proceeded to link their arms, legs and neck together by a series of clasps and energy chains. The old alien then put his hands into the air; a single motion that silenced the hundreds of troops. He motioned for one of the humans to come forward. A pair of Hunters picked up Goose three feet off the ground and took him before the Prophet. He stood up and walked off of his platform. He looked into Gooses eyes then grabbed him by his shoulder. His bony fingers dug into his white skin. Goose winced because the old alien was much stronger than he had thought.
"See here, my fellow Covenant, these Armored Ones are no more than humans in suits. They can be beaten. They are not immortal; they can all be killed, as you will see tonight." He brought his hand hard across Gooses face. He felt his lip split and warm blood drip off his chin. It clotted quickly as his augmented body systems kicked in.
The Prophet began to shout, "He bleeds, and he is no god. He can be killed. And the human who piloted the infidels' ship is even weaker. She is a female, a spawn-bringer. All must be killed. And shall be. They will be killed because of what their kind has done to the holy relics." He threw Goose off the tall balcony. He flipped and landed on his feet, to the disappointment of the Prophet and headed over to the group of prisoners.
The Prophet hobbled over to the edge, "The humans will no longer have confidence in their SPARTANs when they learned that four have been killed in one single execution!" There was a sudden roar as the Covenant screamed in agreement. Hunters picked the SPARTANs and Anna up and began to carry them back to the camp in a parade fashion. Plasma bolts were fired into the sky as the division marched back to the camp.

September 19, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +7 hours: 34 Minutes:53 seconds
(Master Chief Alex Mission Clock) Delta Base MAC Gun,
Command Center on Sodom IV

Nikko ran down the hall carrying a set of heat scans from a probe sent to the other side of the moon. It was destroyed before it could finish its task. But the information is gave them was vital. He vaulted over a gurney caring a wounded soldier. He kept moving his legs in midair and continued running at clock speeds down the hall and into the Command Center.
He burst in and quickly surveyed the area for Admiral "Strawberry" Raziel. He spotted him in a corner looking at a screen thoughtfully. He rushed over to him and taped him on the shoulder. The Admiral turned to face him slowly as he read the last stats on the screen. Nikko handed him the heat screens. He looked at them for a while before reading the summary on the back. Nikko followed his eyes as he read it line by line. Raziel looked up and handed the papers back to him. He took them back suddenly. "I want Master Chief Alex and Aliana in the conference room right away." He said. "Already are sir."
The two walked briskly to the door in the side where a very tall SPARTAN stood, almost two and a half meters. "Good morning Master Chief Alex." Raziel said pulling him inside. He ducked in time to miss the top of the door. "Here, take these." Raziel said shoving the scans into his hands.
"We have a class three issue on our hands. All four SPARTANs and Anna were captured at 1123 hours this morning. They issued and entire division from a Cruiser that was not seen until they had no choice but to land. Scans show a huge array being built for some reason. Aliana, I want you to find out what it's for. Three of the galaxy's most deadly weapons are possibly in the hands of our enemy. Nikko, find out where and if the Lucifers are armed and if the Covenant know about them. Alex, I want you to ring up any forces you may see necessary for a full scale recovery Spec Ops. C'mon do it now!" The Admiral had been up for almost 48 hours and was clearly in need of sleep. But past events rendered him unable to do so. His eyes were puffy and his breath was heavy with Espresso. The bunkhouses had been converted into hospitals because of the recent plasma bombardment.
Aliana ran to the AI mainframe. Delta Bases AI was a clone of the legendary AI, Cortana. Only this one was reformatted into a male form and had much larger memory storage. His code name "Chris" was chosen from an influential man back in the early 2000's. She entered her personal code and sat down at the holo-deck. The platform could show multiple AI and information. "Chris," She said taking her helmet off and waving her hair back and forth. The AI appeared in the form of a guy with glasses dressed in early 2000 clothing with a cheesy goatee and long red hair pulled back into a ponytail. Aliana had to put her helmet back on in order to keep from laughing. "You called?" He asked. She thought a moment, "The Covenant are building an array of sorts on the moon. It's out of our normal screening area so we can't keep constant observation. Any ideas?"
Chris thought for two seconds. "Well it's quite obvious that they know we can't keep that side of the moon in observation. If they are able to know that then they would have to know our radar and radio frequency to know that they are not present there. They could be deciphering every message coming in and going out from Sodom IV. That's how they knew where our experimental plasma weapons were. That array, I'm logically guessing, is to relay our transmissions into deep space and therefore, into the Covenant systems. They were using our own radar and radio systems to follow our every course of action. That's how they knew where the ship "Anna" was headed and where it landed and how they coordinated the attacks so precisely. I also picked up a heat signal during the bombardment in the transmission room. There were seven teams that were destroyed. Covenant only operate in equal numbers, in which I am guessing, ten groups. If it were eight, the mission would have been aborted because the single group would have had no back up. So there are three stealth Elite units still on Sodom IV and possibly still in Delta Base. I'll run a security check on all communications equipment."
Aliana listened on her silent COM for awhile before Chris appeared again, "There was a disturbance before the bombardment, and it must have been a distraction and a test for our fire power. I also detected a secondary route for all communications, angled towards the moon.
Also, as it was said, that fleet is not meant for us. It is here to deter any ships from entering or leaving this system until they have all the information they need. They will destroy Sodom IV once they do. Logically it is there to protect the array and destroy us when they're done. Why they ordered four entire divisions, I don't know." Aliana opened a link with the other SPARTANs and down loaded the conversation.
Nikko was sitting at a console with two scientists in his side. "That's the frequency for the tracking device, problem is, it can be removed." He pointed to a list of numbers that represented the devices tracking code. Nikko tapped them in and let out a sigh of relief with the scientists. "All nukes are present and accounted for. And the devices are not separated." He said. He activated his COM to Razid's frequency. "Admiral, this is Nikko, all hot heads are safe and accounted for." There was a sigh from the Admiral over the COM, "Good, now I need you to read what Aliana has down loaded. Then I want you to join Alex for his briefing in room 534." "Yessir!" Nikko said. The scientists took over the computer to check on their own worries.
Meanwhile, Alex had hand picked three units of ODST's to assist in the search and recovery mission. He and the team leaders were waiting for Nikko when Razid entered. "Group, tench hup!" Alex saluted the Admiral. "At ease." He said wiping his eyes and pulling his jacket off. "You may begin Alex." he said wearily. "Yessir. You all have read Aliana's report and understand the caliber of the situation. All communications will cease. Only personal COMs will be used. If it is possible, Chris will feed a loop through the communications array so we can resume normal communication. Admiral, I have thought that we can use this as a double advantage. If the loop is successful, we could hack into their frequencies on the moon and know exactly what they are up to." The Admiral slowly opened his bloodshot eyes. "So now you want to perform a search and rescue, search and recovery, and a sabotage mission all in one fell swoop." He stood up and began to walk out of the room, "Permission granted. I'm going to bed." After he left Nikko and Aliana stood up and began to go through the scans.
At that moment, Alex got a call from another person. "Hallo? Is dis, da robo man? Massa Sheef Alex? 'Ow ya doin' mate? The name's Darren, Darren Bivens. Look, I know it's not my plice to be snoopin' 'round in but uh... I sort of...Look, meet me with you li'le friends in the exoskeleton storage room in one owa. You wone regre' it. See you dere." Alex was bewildered. He had a mission to head up and some anonymous guy named Darren Bivens hacks into a private COM meeting and tells him to be in some strange place. Every thing was falling apart. He checked his Mission Clock. He could make it.
He opened a COM link with Nikko and Aliana. "Hey, guys, listen to this." He played back the message from the man. There was silence as it was played. Nikko spoke up first at the end of the anonymous message. "So are we going to meet him?" He asked. Alex checked his Mission Clock again. "Yes, we have time. Let's head down there now."
As the trio walked down the hallways of Delta Base, Alex opened the mans military record. He read his bio, and then his record. "Listen to this guys: Took anger management classes, violation of dress code, more than eight times, theft of government property, copyright infringement, computer crimes, scenes of violence towards a fellow staff member and faulty engineering. Hmm… Who is this guy?" He flipped through some more photos and court hearings as they entered the elevator. Nikko spoke up, "The only reason he is still enlisted is because he is the grandson of one of the designers of MJOLNIR and he is the best at what he does. The elevator began to slow down.
It stopped on the loading bay floor, the gate opened and they were greeted by a short, stocky girl with bright red highlights. "Hello! I'm JD, nice to see you. Darren is waiting for you. Follow me!" The spirited girl skittered across the docking bay and into the farthest door. Alex looked back at Nikko. He just shrugged and looked over with Aliana. The corridor was lined with shelves of equipment used for routine maintenance. Alex had to duck because of the parts that hung from the ceiling were hitting his helmet. The short girl ducked around corner after corner leading them deeper underground to the storage space for the exoskeletons. Soon the walls widened and became less filled with greased parts and complex looking objects. The girl, whom Alex guessed was a mechanic, stopped at a large pile of Titanium-A plating. She pulled the cart aside revealing a small door in the wall which was marked "Technicians Lounge". "You might have to turn sideways." She said giggling. The door opened after she entered some codes. The room inside was dark but the SPARTANs visors adjusted and revealed the bay where the exoskeletons were stored. There were rows of limp looking steel gorillas. The lights came on and three people jumped out of the exoskeletons and approached them. One was a tall lanky man who wore a cowboy hat and boots. The other was a skinny girl with a huge wrench in her hands. The last, as Alex thought, would be the one Goose would be looking at. Her jumpsuit was unbuttoned so that the top of her cleavage showed. She had a sleek face and highlighted blondish hair. She smiled as she looked at Alex and the other SPARTANs. "Well hallow, friends." He held out his hand and shook the SPARTANs armored gloves. "Well, lets get stoted' show we?" He motioned to another door. Alex didn't move. "Look, Mr. Bivens, what is this all about? I have a mission to look after." The man turned around and clasped his hands. "You may tink dat we just a group of dumb mechanics roit? Well, we sor of got into da compua' and got the info on yours armor. Simple really, we improved it, wait 'ill you se it. She'll tell you she did it awl." He ran into the next room and left the three girls to explain every thing.
There was an awkward silence until the one with the wrench spoke up, "You'll have to excuse him, he gets a little exited when he talks about it. He got the plans to your MJOLNIR armor from Chris. We picked out the flaws, improved what was good and made a whole bunch of improvements. Come look." Alex turned his COM on and said, "Looks like this is going to be just a hyped up exoskeleton. These mechanics get pretty crazy when all they do is fix crap." They entered the room; it was empty except for a small lift at the end. Nikko sighed and went over and went down first. Then Aliana. Alex sighed again and looked at his Mission Clock. He went down the small dark shaft; he watched the wall rise above him and counted the rivets in the side as he went down. His visor darkened as a bright light appeared over the rim of the lift. It stopped in the middle of a white tiled room full of equipment. He saw the other two SPARTANs taking their armor off. He ran over already strung out.
"Look, we don't have time for this, we need to leave now." He growled. Nikko hit his shoulder and pointed. Alex trued to see what he was pointing at. What he saw astonished him.

September 19, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Surface of Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")
Brig of Forcible, cell number 45, Maximum Security

Pickles slammed his fist into the smooth metal, denting it slightly. "I can't believe we let that happen to us. Do you realize that they're copying every ounce of information on our MJOLNIR armor right now? From our shielding system to our friggin' visors. All of it will be incorporated into their suits." He leaned up against the wall and then slid down with his head in his hands. Goose continued to tap the shield frame which buzzed him every time he touched it. When he was finished burning the tip of his finger, he made faces at the Jackal in the cell across from them.
Anna stood up, "Well I don't care how much security were buried in, I'm gonna get out." After she said this, two Brutes walked in and looked at them. They joined the other three in the next room. The slow scrape of a whetstone on metal sounded as they sharpened their stylized Brute Shots for the execution. They could hear them talk about the plan they had conceived to capture them and how they would be the ones to get the Pleasure Cruiser in standard. Smooth Talker began pacing around the cell. "Well, two things are obvious; the only time we can escape in one piece is the moment we are being taken to the execution. We're lucky; they usually would have just finished us off. Second, we only have our frequency emitters for our suits and no weapons. We're screwed."
There was a long stretch of silence as they continued to mill around while the Brutes left after putting their weapons away. Pickles fell asleep. He was beginning to dream about something important: Something he couldn't identify...Then he was awoken as a squeal from a Grunt was heard.
Instinctively he thrust his hand in the place where his holster would have been an pulled up an empty hand to face the Grunts. They jumped back, believing that he actually had a firearm, despite the shield wall between them. The Brute kicked another one in through the door. "Now, clean the cells before I rip your masks off and shove them up your..." He was cut off as the door shut in his face. The Grunts pulled out some tools and began methodically cleaning the walls of the cell across them where there was an assortment of bloodstains and pieces of flesh where the Jackal remained before the Brutes finished him off. They held a quiet conversation while they did this.
"They did it, while you were asleep. Lucky you." Anna said, her face was pale and a bit of vomit still lay on the floor. Squishy finally spoke up, "They skinned him then had a good time pulling his insides out, and he was kept alive through the whole thing, until they pulled out the wrong part of the brain, they had taken almost half of it until he died." He grimaced as he said this. "He was only like, twenty years old." He paused for a moment. Pickles though, Twenty Years...What was so important about today...Birthday, it's my 32nd birthday. Well happy birthday Pickles. The Grunts continued to talk among themselves.
Anna laid down in the corner of their cell; he couldn't tell whether she was trying to sleep or not. Suddenly Goose stood up, "Smooth Talker, what are they saying?" Smooth Talker looked up, "I am astounded. Is there actually something that all-good, no-evil, honest schoolboy Goose can't do? And he needs my expert deciphering skills to know what is amiss? Well let's see..." He listened for a while. Anna sat up slowly, "They were talking about the Brute. They don't like them, always bossy, crappy jobs... One lost all of his brothers because of an accident caused by an Elite but blamed on the Jackal who was just..." She swallowed hard. Smooth Talker sat back down, angry because she could decipher what they were saying better than he could.
Anna stood up and went to the shield wall. She made a barking noise at which made all of the Grunts stop and look at her. One slowly approached her. He fumbled with a small box in his holster and then set it between them. He made a series of barks and squeals at it before it came to life. "I think it's a language translator." Sure enough, a second later eruption of what could be laughter was heard from the Grunts who all crowded around the wall. They began to fight over the box until one held it and squealed into it. "How you feel, human?" It said. Anna replied slowly, "I feel bad for you." There was a pause as everyone listened to the translation. "Why you feel sorry for us? You kill our brothers at will." He said coming closer to the wall. "We have too, but me and my people have an idea."
The Grunt then said, "And you want us to let you out, yes?"
Anna smiled then said, "No, you need to be free, not us. You're in a cage just like us." The dumb aliens looked around. "You have to do what every one else says, your brothers, fathers, sons, nephews are killed against their will. I bet you never wanted to fight." There was silence for a long time before a muffled voice came from another cell beside them, another Grunt who had been listening in spoke in broken standard, "They say right, we all be killed, none survive. If not in war, in anger from leader, we all never die from age, always from them." The pack of Grunts gave a nod. Anna looked at the Grunts and made her face look sad. "If you let us go, we will, the human race, pledge never to kill another one of your kind, you will be welcomed on Earth, you will not be vermin to us, you will be friends, equals, leaders. You will even be..."The door opened and a Brute stepped in. He bellowed in his language at the Grunts. He took a stray and threw him against the wall, his tank began to leak but none of the other Grunts dared to help him as he gasped for methane and died. The Brute walked up to the cell wall and kicked it, his foot slammed into the shield and made it flicker on and off for a few seconds. He looked down at the SPARTANs and saw the translator box.
He snatched it up and then went to the Grunts. He began yelling and waving his firearm in the faces of the terrified aliens. There was a small clatter as the Brute dropped the box and picked up a Grunt and was about to crush his head in his hands when Anna jumped up. The Brute jumped over to the shielding and brought the Grunts face up to it. He then said in standard, "So you think you can wave the minds of these stupid creatures, they're like you're dogs, only one master. Me!" He began to press the Grunts face into the shield. His face began to fill with blisters as the heat burned it.
There was a slight chatter between the Grunts behind him. He pulled the Grunt away and turned towards the group. "And don't even think about coming near me. I'll rip you all to shreds if you try some thing stupid!" He had just turned when one of the Grunts said, "Like this you mean?" There was a flash as his pistol lit off and hit the Brute in his back. He paused for a moment before turning around, apparently unharmed. He was met by a huge wave of over charge plasma pistol rounds that flash fried his face. He bellowed and dropped the Grunt who was unconscious on the floor. He grabbed for his weapon only to have his hands burnt to a crisp. The little aliens jumped on him and began shooting in his already open wounds. Blood poured all over the floor and the sickening smell of burnt hair and flesh came through the vents. The shield flickered and went off as a Grunt deactivated it. "Come on!" He squealed.
Squishy went in to the Brutes guard room and found the rack of fancy Brute Shots. Goose came in and got two and gave one to Anna; Pickles got a gold and blue embroidered one. "Crap! These are just fake pieces of crap!" He said. He threw it on the floor where it fell with a clatter. The blade fell out. "Hey, the blades come out; we'll just have to use those!" He picked it up and headed out into the room and nearly choked. The Grunts were still shooting at the body which was smoldering and smoking. "Hey, Where is a weapons locker!?" Pickles asked a nearby Grunt. "You follow me, let's go!" The group of blood spattered Grunts opened the door just as two Elites rounded the corner. The Grunts pushed Pickles and Goose back into the brig before they could see them. "Sire," he yelled, "They're going mad!" The Elites pulled their rifles out and approached the door. The Grunts overcharged their pistols and shot them in their backs. The Elites turned around confused before their heads were lopped off by Pickles and Squishy.
A Grunt picked up one of the Elites COM and shouted into it something about vermin. Anna came up behind him and said, "He said 'Begin the cleansing of our leading vermin.'. Weird, they must have had this planned for a long time, just needed an incentive I guess." The troop was suddenly joined by a mass of Grunts from a bunking room. They all rounded a corner and vaporized another unwary Elite. They went up a flight of wide steps and began to load up on a series of lifts.
When Pickles got on and went up, a Grunt handed him two Needlers. Perfect, he thought. He wrapped the prison garbs around him tighter so that he could run. The lift stopped and there was a body of another Brute, his mouth was still open in a roar of anger before his chest cavity had exploded from a hail of needles, their fragments still glittering inside of him. He stepped over and picked up the Brute Shot. Even Better, he thought handing the Needlers off. There were now hundreds of Grunts swarming through the ship. The leaders, however, were now aware of what had happened and were returning fire. Pickles was careful moving past hall ways because one hit and he would be dead. He no longer had his armor to protect him. The Grunts were putting up a good resistance until a troop of Hunters entered the ship and began to blast their way through the filled hallways. Pickles ducked and felt his skin sear as the radioactive blast shot past him.
None of the other SPARTANs could be seen, they had gone in different directions. He raised his Brute shot and fired at the Hunters who were already being brought down by hundreds of overcharged pistol shots. The blast blew a Hunter from the waist up apart. He legs still twitched as the Grunts pushed him forward still. Anna came down the hallway, slamming her boots into an Engineer. He then saw some more Engineers fly out of a room. They were blown to pieces as a series of fuel rod cannon rounds tore through the door. Oh, great, another pack of Hunters. Pickles began to turn, letting the Grunts do the work. He stopped and listened for the shots when he heard Goose say, "And that's what you get for F***ing around with my swag!" He stepped out of the door with his automatic fuel rod cannon attached to his armor. "It's about time you showed up, Hurry, put your stuff on! Oh and by the way, I have a birthday present for you." He handed Pickles a small silver disc with a profile of some one on one side and an eagle on the other, it was dated 2003. "Happy Birthday."


Section II
MJOLNIR-X


September 19, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +10 hours: 01 Minutes: 21 seconds
(Master Chief Alex Mission Clock) Delta Base MAC Gun,
Secret laboratory under Command Center on Sodom IV

"There, that's the last one. Comfy?" The mechanic asked tightening the last connection rod. "Very." replied Alex. "Code named MJOLNIR-X. Made for this kind of Spec Ops mission." She stepped back and pulled the step ladder away. "Man, Ima thinkin' we is gonna have to puch ya'll through da cogo bay door, lets go, and be cayful." Darren said tapping in codes for the door. Alex tried to stand. He was a bit wobbly at first until the suits gyro's kicked in and stabilized him. He had to duck now to stay below the ceiling. "Lets go." One of the mechanics said waving her arm towards the door. Alex lifted his leg, with feather light reactions it shot forward and hit the ground, cracking the tiles that covered the rock floor. "Slower! Slower!" she said. "The suits use micro fibers to use your brains natural frequency, like the Flood, except all they do is translate your movements into mechanical action before the signal gets to your muscles. So all you really have to do is think of moving." Alex lifted his leg slowly and began walking at six foot strides to the door along side with Nikko and Aliana.
"Your HUDs are hi-def. They include zoom X400, night vision, infrared, UV, negative, B&W, heat and so on. They can identify enemies and friendlies from fifty miles away. And my favorite part, the specialized armor is actually organic so if it's destroyed in any way, it re-grows. It was inspired by fungi that lives on the planets located closest to the Sun, so it can take extreme amounts of heat. We tested two direct plasma grenades and it with stood. The only reason that we didn't use three is because the base that held the suits was melted by then. Suit temps only went up by thirteen degrees. The armor was fully re-grown in less than an hour too."
By now they were at the top of the ramp that led to a huge lift. "The suits also have enough propellant to last an hour; that is if you're caught in space. The air can be recycled for five hours and, it can even be scented."
Nikko broke into a hysterical laughter when the mechanic said that. "I, I, I want Apple-Cinnamon!" he said putting his arm in the air which broke a lights cover and sent sparks out. "You can get it then, there's also vanilla, wildflowers and spring-breeze, roses, chocolate, strawberry and lilacs. I thought that it was a good idea. Better than breathing in fried Grunt carcass. Oh yeah, the filter's logged with bacteria that can breakdown harmful combinations, like ozone. And the suits intake closes down if the air-combo is too poisonous."
Aliana was pressing buttons on her arm to test it when she suddenly faded from sight. Not even a shimmer was left. "Oh, your active camouflage has been fine tuned. You actually are visible if you're too close, like half an inch, but the suit bends light around it's self and not on it. That way you can't even see a shimmer from it. You're generators are SOTA, (State Of The Art) so take care of them. They can run for a thousand years clean. Your suit also has EMP blockage, your communications system is unbreakable. Only your on-board AI can decipher the messages. But they haven't been fully formatted yet." Alex tried his camouflage then asked, "Are there any more gizmos and gadgets you want to tell us about?" "Yes," She said. "Your call name is being changed for security reasons. Alex you are now Shrouded Death. Nikko, yours is Cortez. And Aliana... Lily. Don't ask. Your personal signals have been changed, Cortez, yours is a dragon inside of a hexagon, Master Chief Shrouded Death, a Grim Reaper. And Lily, a flower of the same name with a jolly roger holding it in it's teeth. Have fun."
The group had arrived at the top of the lift in the corner of the bay. A special craft was awaiting them. "We were operating on a "No Market Policy" so we built you a toy. Same materials and every thing, courtesy of Sodom IV Research and Project Development Board." The ship resembled a stretched glossy black faceted nightmare. It was clearly a knock off of hi-tech SOTA Human-Covenant technology. Inside was lit by the hull itself. Four extra suits of the armor were anchored in pods in the Back Bay. The cockpit had seats for all the SPARTANs and four passengers. The hybrid weapons in the locker were like the same that Anna had loaded onto her ship, except they too were encased in a glossy black fungi-metal. Darren entered through the bay door and ran his hand down the sides. "Ya know, Ima gonna miss dis ship. Yeah. No hand held weapon can even scratch this job." ,He said rubbing a blemish of the wall. The short mechanic appeared again.
"The shields are of the same grade that Covenant Cruisers use. The AI is programmed to hail a Covenant signal and of course, this ship was built to enter in and out of Slipspace. Weapons include six plasma cannons, one high-precision sniper cannon and twenty anti-plasma grenade launchers. Sorta like de-polarizing bombs. Also, two Lucifer missiles, eight probes, four anti-personnel cannons and one experimental Slipspace drive bomb. Use as directed." She jumped around the ship for a few minutes before running back out into the bay. "Oh yeah, you'll find dat da controls are familiar..." Alex looked into the cockpit again and saw that they were a duplicate of the Pelican landing crafts controls, except with a side holo-pad and extensive weapon stat screens. "Deres so many extras we don't know about. You should find dem out yo self." He pulled out a pile of sixteen thousand pages that documented the building and architecture of their suits and the ship
Cortez suddenly had a flash back, "Sir, what about all of the other resources for the mission!" Shrouded Death thought for a moment and then activated his COM. "Admiral Raziel sir, call off all resources and abort ground mission. This one is for SPARTANs only. Mechanic first class Darren will debrief you."
"ALL HANDS, CLEAR LAUNCH BAY. REPEAT ALL HANDS, CLEAR LAUNCH BAY!" The mechanics went behind the blast wall and waved at the SPARTANs as they powered up the silent engines. Darren saluted them and ran out to inform the Admiral. The ship flew out of the hangar at breakneck speed. A sonic boom followed it over the ocean and the smoldering hulks of the destroyed experimental plasma weapons, now salt encrusted and covered in seagulls. The ship suddenly shot straight up, blowing a mountain of water away as it performed a near 90 degree turn upward and into outer space. Shrouded Death let his hand off the control stick as the AI appeared and told him it would see to all ship functions.
The AI took the form of a well rounded woman with glasses and shoulder length brown hair that Goose was sure to enjoy. "All systems functioning at 100%. Weapons primed and hot. Auto pilot engaged. Blah blah blah and all that jazz." She looked around at the SPARTANS in their shiny black MJOLNIR-X armor. She sat down cross legged and said in a high pitched voice, "I'm hungry, this ship smells weird, I have to go to the bathroom, I don't feel good, I'm scared, are we there yet?" The glowing figure giggled and disappeared.
"Well I'm glad to see that somebody is in good spirits. Cortez said sitting down in the co-pilots seat and watching the atmosphere clear and billions of white stars come into focus. A million purple stars suddenly lit up with pale blue fire. The ship shuddered as it reached space and cooled suddenly.
"We got some people sore at us. Let's give them an apology." Alex said. "Roger that sir!" The AI said. The air filled with a hum as the anti-plasma grenade launchers charged their rounds. "We apologize," The first round went of with a THUMP. "For breaking your precious ring," THUMP "And killing millions of your troops," THUMP "And making countless others rust their armor." THUMP "We're sorry for killing your Prophets," THUMP "We are also sorry that you ever found us." THUMP "Because we sure as he** didn't want to find you." THUMP "And with all that said," THUMP "We'll do you a favor." THUMP "We won't be sending you to hell," THUMP "We'll be sending hell to you!" THUMP! The SPARTANs recognized this as a rigged version from Sergeant A.J. Johnson's "Regret" speech and all yelled in unison, "HOORAH!"
The AI swung her hips from side to side and said, "All Covenant plasma weapons off-line for about six hours, or until they're re-polarized. Just cruise on through." Sure enough, she was right, there was not one shot fired. In fact the Covenant had no idea what had happened. Their cannons simply went off-line as the coils de-polarized and cooled off. Seraphs drifted lazily through space waiting for commands as their communications were filled with the urgent messages for Engineers to be brought from one ship to another in order to fix the cannons. They never saw the ship slide between two Destroyers and under a Frigate and onto the moon. Not visually and not on their detection devices.
The SPARTANs braced themselves for entering the dense atmosphere of Sodom IV's moon. The nose edged up above the horizon and the shield began to glow red. The ship jumped a bit as course corrections were made but nothing else was eventful. The ship leveled out as it slowed down and came with in mach 1. The outline of thousands of old ships appeared through a dense fog that was settling on the area.
"Air reading...Odd, that's smoke, not fog... Any ways, it's good...LZ achieved, get ready to bail." The side door opened and the three SPARTANs picked up their weapons on the way out. They jumped down on to the ground and took defensive positions as the ship disappeared behind the horizon, bluish light reflecting off of its hull.
Okay, this is it. Aliana, sorry, Lily, you are to infiltrate the communications array and set up the bug and loop. Cortez, you and me will rescue the others and evac via the "Anna". Let's do it." Shrouded Death put his spiked hand parallel to the ground and was met with the other MJOLNIR-X gloves. "HOORAH!" they said as they ran towards their destination two kilometers away.
After vaulting over some ships the group stopped. "Hold it!" Cortez said. "The Covenant had patrols out here... Where are they?" A buzz of static was heard. "Funny, there are none from my readings... The old hulls are disrupting my instruments. There's too much interference to scan any closer than where you are." The ships AI said. "Fine, lets hurry." Lily said.
The new suits enabled them to clear through the wreckage in no time. They were at the outer perimeter in three minutes when they noticed that something was wrong. The bodies of Elites and Hunters were laying out, burned to a crisp and there was blood every where. The carnage continued to the base of a high wall of wreckage that surrounded the "Q" shaped clearing. "Guys, do you notice something weird... There hasn't been one Grunt body out here... Not one." Lily said. "Well let's scale this baby and find out why. And why can't I hear any thing out side my suit?" Another buzz of static was heard, "Should have read the manual. You see that panel on your left arm, press the top green button." The three SPARTANs did so and after a loud wail were greeted by the sound of screams and gunfire. "Let's go and find out who started the party without us!" Cortez said leaping twenty feet up onto a ships tail fin that was sticking out.
They jumped up to the top of the ridge and took in what they saw. Thousands Covenant soldiers were fighting in and amongst themselves. Fires dotted the landscape, as did the bodies of every kind of Covenant soldier. Small packets of Grunts went about trying to dispose of the remaining Elites, Hunters and Brutes only to be disposed of by grenades.
"Hey, that's the armor of the Royal Guard. There must be a Prophet here." Shrouded Death said when he saw an orange armored Brute with his face burned off. A body on top of a hundred foot spar confirmed his thoughts. The Prophets eyes were glazed over and blood trickled over his silver teeth. His robes waved in the dark breeze which made the fires send sparks into the air. A sudden fire fight caught his eye. He zoomed in and little prisms formed to indicate the threat level. A squad of Hunters came down the grav-lift and were being killed before they reached the surface by a thousand Grunts who bore weapons from fuel rod cannons to plasma pistols.
The AI buzzed in again. "There's the insignia of two battalions down there. And the Royal Guard. I'll scan for the others before you go through." Shrouded Death watched as the mass of Grunts filled the lift. A steady column rose up towards the ships hull. Then just as they were about to enter it, the lift was deactivated and they all fell down four stories, followed by a volley of grenades.
"Lily, we'll cover you, the area is to hot to go in alone. Activate your camouflage." The three disappeared from each others view. "Turn on your heat vision." Cortez said. The colored prisms shrank into tiny specs as he zoomed out and back to normal range. They leaped off the top of the ridge, hung in the air for a moment the fell two hundred feet to the bottom, landing softly and quietly as the boosters countered their speed quietly. They sprinted across the battlefield and in through an unfinished wall of the array. It was surprisingly empty besides a few Engineers who went about as if nothing was happening. They continued down the winding hallways following a map that the ships AI had given them.
"This is it: Do it." Shrouded Death said to Lily upon reaching a room filled with humming boxes. She expertly opened one up and cut a handful of fiber optic cables; she reinserted them into a box and clicked it back on. She stuffed the box behind the other cables and closed the door. She then went to a wall and stared at it for a while. She then selected a panel and cut out three wires. She bent them and reinserted them into each others sockets leaving one to go into another small device. Once that was done she closed the panel and clapped her hand together. "All done!" She said.
Once again the buzz sounded as the AI opened her link to them, "We have a problem. The ship "Anna" is abandoned of human signals and so is the Cruiser. No humans are present. Either they're hiding in the wreckage or they were..."
"They weren't. I thought you said you couldn't scan this close." Lily said.
"Oh c'mon, it's not every day you get to see a Grunt revolt. And this one's been pretty successful. That is until those two Cruisers land and unload two battalions of hell to take the place back. I'll scan the COM frequencies." The SPARTANS went back to the ridge while she did this and watched as two stars floated in the sky and flared up as they hit the atmosphere.
"Master Chief, I've detected four COMs operating on a vacant frequency. I've hailed them six times but they won't respond. Any ideas?" "Link the frequency to my COM." Shrouded Death said. "Done." He smiled and remembered the old days when he and the legendary SPATRAN-117 trained right beside each other; they always had a safety code to know that it was a fellow SPARTAN calling them, a six-note whistle. "Oly, oly oxen free!" He called into his COM. A jumble of static poured in then, "Glad you could make it!"

September 20, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Surface of Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")
Covenant Base for relay station beside the Forcible.

Krao' was asleep in his bunk, dreaming about his last son. He relived the moment when he saw Reach destroyed and the Holy Relic stolen by the Armored Ones. He saw his son command a ship to extract the remaining forces before they destroyed the rest of Reach. Then he was given an high profile assignment, to plan the main assault and head it up on a new planet. He was suddenly jerked awake by Haba' who was in disarray. "Sir, it's happened, a 234!" He said looking around cautiously. Krao' was tired, he thought for the codes of an emergency. A two meant Grunts...A three meant that they were heavily armed and a four... what was it?... Ambush, no that was three, four was... Revolution.
Krao' jerked his rifle from its holster and aimed at the door. He sat up and said, "Jam the door. Wake the others. And clear an area to the weapons bay." Haba' ran over and typed in the jamming code for the barracks doors. Gun fire began to rattle through the halls. The other head Elites were awake and donning their armor. They pushed the curved beds over to form a barricade in front of the doors. There was silence before the door banged open as the Grunts detonated plasma charges next to it.
The Elites waited for them to look into the door and then lobbed grenades into the hall and jumped out. There was a thunder clap and a wave of blood and body parts rushed into the room. "Move out let's go!" The Elites jumped out and cleared the corridor. "Listen! If you find any other fellow soldier other than these scumbags, give them a weapon and don't let them get off this ship. Just because there is four times the number of maggots on this ship than us, it doesn't mean they have four times the amount of brains. We need three teams. Ghale' your team needs to secure the hangar bay so they don't get off this moon, destroy the ships if you have to. Haba' get to the weapons locker. Deck your selves out and go out to arm the others. My team, we'll secure the bridge and sterilize the grounds. Any questions?"
An Elite in silver armor exclaimed above the buzz of the charged rifles, "What of the prisoners?" "Do not engage them. If you see them at your destination then find a better place to hide. We're already up to or necks in methane filled festering pus warts, we don't need to be in over our heads. They are no doubt going to get their armor back. Now let's go!"
The small group split up and went their separate ways. Ghale' had the least amount of resistance because the bay was down the hall. He looked in on the security monitor and saw a large group of Hunters already at work. "Two at a time. If your buddy dies, get his grenades and ammo. Go! Go!" He opened the door and the Elites spread out and began to kill each of the fleeing Grunts who had lost confidence in the revolt. When there was no more returned fire they went and jammed the doors. "I need you to secure the bottom of the grav-lift." Ghale' said pointing to the Hunters. He looked down. There were only about a hundred Grunts in his view. "Go!" The Hunters jumped into the purple stream. They floated slowly downwards. Suddenly they swarmed from all sides. A thousand Grunts vaporized the Hunters before they had reached the ground.
"Shut it off! Shut the lift off!" The Grunts filled the lift and a steady column rose up in it. Bolts of plasma began to shoot through the air as they came above the lip of the ship. Ghale' watched in horror as a hundred methane tanks rose above the edge. "Hey maggots, get back in the dirt where you belong!" The silver Elite shot the grav-lift panel and the mass of Grunts fell to their deaths. The ones that didn't were killed by a volley of grenades from the Elites. "Secure the perimeter. Set up barricades and salvage all weapons. We're here till this is over." Ghale' said tightening his holster. "Sir the ships COM has been destroyed!" "Too bad! We stay here! The hangar is the only thing that you need to worry about now."
Haba' looked carefully around the last corner. He rubbed his charred shoulder from a pistol blast. He couldn't see through the dense smoke that filled the hallway. He turned to face the three last Elites in his group, all were injured in some way. The Grunts were heavy around this primary target. "Activate your camouflage. The revolt ends here." He jumped around the corner and crept up too the door. A trio of Grunts were standing at the entrance. Haba' took another step and hit a piece of sheet metal. A Grunt heard him and looked in his direction "Hey, isn't that a..." his face was blown off before he could finish. The other two were killed before that could react to the invisible threat. The four Elites checked the room before knocking over some shelves and blocking the door.
"The Armored Ones were already here." One said seeing that the suit racks were empty and the bodies of two Engineers lay on the floor. They armed them selves with energy swords, plasma rifles, Brute shots, grenades and extra ammo. They were about to pull the shelves away when something began to push them. They Elites hid and pulled out their weapons.
The door opened and the spined backs of Hunters appeared over the top of the shelves. "Relax, we're friendlies!" Haba' said putting his rifle back into its holster. "Hurry, we need to secure the corridor. Grab what you can." The Hunters pulled out extra ammo and side arms. They didn't care much for grenades. They pulled the shelves out and dragged them to the end of the hall and laid them on their sides. Before they had time to brace it an swarm of Grunts appeared. Luckily, they were unarmed and expected for the area to be cleared. It was only a minute before the group was only a pile of smoking flesh. They pushed the shelf farther down the hallway.
Two stray Elites rounded the corner and helped them selves to the endless ammo and weapons. They learned that the bay had been secured but the bridge team was met with harsh resistance. They had come as a group of ten to get extra supplies, but had met heavy resistance and crossed paths with an Armored One. "Okay, you two stay here, I need you two to load yourselves down and follow me." Haba' said waving his hand at two bond brothers. The Hunters grunted and piled their backs with ammo, rifles, grenades, fuel-rod cannons, and Brute shots. "Okay, the rest of you, guard this well. Keep expanding the area but don't get over confident, we have the whole ship to clean up. Let's go." Haba' and the Hunters sprinted down the hallways littered with scorch marks and bodies.
"Where's the recovery group!" A Brute yelled above the whine of plasma bolts flying past his head. "I don't know! Pay attention, keep firing!" Krao' said to a shaking Elite who was looking at his rifle. "I can't sir, I'm out of ammo!" "Well then retreat, you're no good here." The Elite nodded and went back into the hallways to find a weapon. Krao' looked around the corner. He could see triangular shaped moving through the smoke. He looked across the hall, the only route that lead to the lift which went to the bridge. Krao' stared at the great six meter expanse across the adjoining, Grunt controlled passage. He looked at the lift again, trying to figure out a plan. A fire extinguisher, control panels, and a vent. He got an idea when he coughed as the smoke filled his lungs.
He fell behind the remaining group. "Listen, pour the rest of your ammo into that hallway, and then get ready to run!" The group nodded and took their positions along the wall, just shy of the field of view for the Grunts. "Fire!" The remaining ammo was finished off in seconds. There was loud chattering as the Grunts tried to hide, believing that they were going to enter the hall way. Krao' sprinted across the cross section. No bolts were fired until he was across. He opened the box that held the blue can of liquid nitrogen. He aimed into the hall and opened the valve. There were squeals as the -450 degree liquid made contact with the revolutionaries. The vapor condensed and filled the corridor and gave the group a chance to sprint across to the lift. And just then, two Hunters and Haba' rounded the corner, all covered with supplies.
Krao' waved his hands and pointed to the hall. Haba' understood and tossed grenade after grenade into the hallway and let the Hunters take care of the rest. He ran over and distributed his supplies. The Hunters returned from the carnage and gave theirs out. "It's about time you showed up. Where's the recovery team?" said the Brute who had run across with the Hunters. "All but two were killed. They're securing the lower decks as we speak. Oh, the hangar bay has been secured with minimal casualties." Haba' said.
"Good, you need to return to your post soldier. You'll be promoted for this act, we all will." Haba' saluted and ran back with the Hunters at his heels.
Krao' looked up into the lift's shaft. There was no movement at the top. He aimed and shot a bolt upwards. It hit the ceiling above him with a hiss. Nothing happened. "Okay. We'll split up. One half stays here. The other goes up. If there is mass resistance and we can't kill it then the second half will retreat to the locker. If there is light, then you'll join us." Krao' stepped onto the lift with three Elites and a Brute who threw his deformed armor off of his shoulder. He activated the lift and jumped to the side. They pointed their weapons towards the lip of the next floor. The horizon narrowed and the bridge came into view. Krao' let out a sigh of relief. There was only a lone Grunt going to and fro looking at the outward camera, watching the battle rage on. The Brute disposed of him quickly. Krao' leaned over and yelled down the shaft, "All clear!" The elevator was called back down. "Okay, I need you to man the turrets, clear this moon of the maggots that fester in its dirt." There was a whine and a thump and the first charge wiped the area around the array clean of any alien presence. The second cleaned the rest. "Krao' looked through the monitors, still not convinced. The lift came back up with the second half of the group, plus three new Hunters. Krao' tapped a few control panels. "ALL DOORS CLOSING." a speaker announced. "HULL PRESSURIZED." The ship shuddered as some thing passed over them.
"Sir! We've got heavy reinforcements! Two battalions and two Battle Class Cruisers!" Haba' exclaimed. Krao' hailed them. "The Dawn Resistance and Triumvirate are here; all resources are at your command!" Said a captain over the COM. Krao' jumped back. "How did you know we were in trouble!?" He said looking at the ships landing in the glassy area and unloading thousands of troops who crowded under the belly of the Forcible.
Sir, you need to activate you grav-lift." The speaker said. Krao' acknowledged and tried the ships COM. It was still down, no doubt destroyed by the Grunts. "It will be a while before I can do that, just mop up the mess out there and secure the array. It is eighty-nine percent complete." Krao' let go of the ships controls and de-pressurized the ship. "ATMOSPHERE STABILIZING." The screen said.
He jumped up and went to the lift. Two Elites joined him. He descended and walked down the hallway. He found the lift and went down to the lower decks. He stepped off and was greeted by two Hunters. "Sir, lower decks U-W secured." "Krao' thanked him and was escorted to the hangar bay door by the two Hunters who immediately returned to the entrance of the lift. Ghale' saw him and stood rigid. Krao' looked him over. "Your, armor's not polished soldier." He said. "Sir, you missed quite a few spots yourself." Ghale' saluted him while he said this. Krao' chuckled and then said, "You need to activate the grav-lift. We have reinforcements." Ghale' signaled for another Elite to activate the lift. The doors slid open and the purple stream appeared. Then, hundreds of troops began to fill the bay and purge the halls of the Grunt presence. Two golden clad Elites entered the bay. Ghale' saluted them. Krao' nodded. "Battalion Commander, Ship Commander Krao 'Ghammeele is it not?" The taller of the two said. "It is. Your contribution was timed right and we are grateful for your battalions." Krao' said giving them the sign of thanks. They nodded and the shorter one said, "Not in time enough though." ,He said looking at the body of a Hunter. "We were updating the maps when we saw what was going on. We also had to keep an eye on the Prophet. Those filthy pus filled methane breathing maggots will pay for what they have done. The Prophet from the Destructor expresses his deepest sympathies. He sent us here thinking it was the Armored Ones." Krao' rubbed a scorched spot on his armor and then asked, "I thought if that was confirmed then you would obliterate the moon." "That's the problem, it wasn't confirmed. We just saw the huge mass of destruction."
Krao' turned to face Ghale' who jumped to attention again. He turned to say some thing to the golden Elites when he saw them snap too. Then saw the reason why. A tall Elite in black armor with red outlining and a billowing purple cape had appeared and was approaching Krao' followed by six of the Royal Guard. Grand Admiral Gastin' Forbeechee.
"Krao 'Ghammeele, on behalf of your actions, the Council has agreed. You are no longer Battalion, Ship Commander." Krao' felt his gut fall out. "You are now, by the power vested in me and by the decision of the Council, Admiral Krao 'Ghammeele." Krao' tightened his muscles and felt like he was going to puke. Gastin' motioned and the Brutes brought a box to him.
The black and red armor shone in the bright light. Ghale' looked over his shoulder at Haba' who had come in and froze at the sight of the Grand Admiral. He slowly approached, saluted and saw the box. He looked at Krao' then saluted him too. A Brute whispered into the Grand Admiral's ear. Gastin' jerked and said, "Oh that's right, you're Assistant Commander Haba 'Jineevee. You are hereby promoted to Ship and Battalion Commander." Another box was brought around. "I see that every thing is in order. Good luck in your new positions. I need to return to the ship. I don't want to end up like the Lordship outside." He turned and began to walk slowly away. That was his style, quick shows of greatness. Ghale' had always wanted to meet him.
Krao' then felt his gut twist again. Ghale' hadn't been promoted at all. What was he going to say to him? He straightened up and looked at Ghale' who still stood at attention. His jaws were clenched tightly. "Commander Ghale' I don't know how he could have..." Ghale' turned around and walked out of the hanger.
Later, Krao' found him in the bridge. "Admiral on deck!" Someone shouted. "At ease." He went to Ghale' who looked out over the monitors. "Look, you may not have made the cut but... I don't know how he could have over looked you." Ghale' looked at the monitors. "Maybe because my team had eliminated the threat in ten minutes. Maybe because there's nothing worth taking on the lower decks. Maybe because I didn't get a good enough or tough enough job."
Krao' felt the words hit home. "Listen soldier, I don't care how vital you are to me or the fleet. You are still under my command and as long as you are you will never talk back to me or you will not be worth more than the filth you helped eliminate. Is that clear, soldier?" Ghale' nodded.
An Elite stood up, "Sir, we're receiving a message. Respond?" Krao' looked at Ghale' one last time. "Put it on." He said sitting in his chair. The vision of the Grand Admiral flickered focus. "Ah, I apologize for this inconvenience. As soon as I got into my transport I remembered something. I forgot to give you your new side arm." Krao' turned to look at Ghale'. He began to approach the lift. "They are being transported to you now, along with uh..." A Brute whispered into Gastin's ear again. "...Battalion Commander Ghale's new armor. I completely forgot about it. Age does that to you, so can a head injury." He said pointing to the metal plate that covered his skull. "Ghale', you are hereby appointed to Vice Admiral, under the leadership of Admiral Krao 'Ghammeele. I apologize again; I forgot your last name but no matter. Good luck. You are the youngest in... Well youngest ever. May the Forerunners protect you as they have done." The screen blinked off and four Brutes appeared from the lift bearing two boxes.
Later Krao' and Ghale' were toting their new armor to the barracks when Ghale' spoke up, "Sir, I owe you an apology. I just felt unnoticed. Unrewarded." Krao' nodded. "It was your point. That was an honestly stupid mistake. Ahh, they didn't clean the rooms up!" The beds were still on their sides and there was blood still on them. There was a rustle and Krao' asked, "Who is in there?" When there was no answer, he primed a grenade and tossed it in. But before it had exploded a Grunt appeared and shot a bolt right at Ghale's chest.

September 20, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +17 hours: 09 Minutes:45 seconds
(Master Chief Shrouded Death Mission Clock)
Space between Sodom IV and its moon

"This new armor is, well, new." Pickles said looking at himself in the window. Anna was flying her ship over the terrain to deploy the Lucifer Tac-Nukes. She took some time to lace her boots up. After the SPARTANS had donned their new suits, they split up again into their groups. The other group had taken the radar and was hiding it in an old ship.
"Listen, we don't want to kill the rest of the Covenant that have landed, Then they'll know that something is up. So, we'll save the Lucifers and give them a Shiva instead." Pickles, now called Rune, nodded and went back to talking with Goose, who was now LBC. Smooth Talker was still reading the papers that specified the new class ordinates for the suit and the rest of the SPARTANs. "So, Smooth Talker, what's your new name, loud mouth?" LBC said laughing.
"No, it isn't. And despite your hopeful thoughts, I actually got a name that they didn't have to abbreviate."
LBC stood up. "Hey they abbreviated it for a reason!"
"Knock it off you two." Rune said.
"Well my call name is now Mandible. Take that LBC."
"Yeah, you use it to much."
"I think it stands for Larry B. Cruise, the man who invented the first aircraft/ space craft that could be readily fueled and..."
"Thank you Anna, we don't need a history lesson. So are you happy now, Larry B. Cruise?"
"That's not what it stands for guys." LBC said jumping up, "It's Lord of the Booty Crank!" He started to impersonate the ancient dance move made popular by the F-22 pilot Joseph Webb five hundred years ago. "Yeah! Can't beat this can ya!?" Rune stood up again, "Look, don't get too comfortable in that armor if you can't control your mouths. This is a military situation with a real threat and real people. If you two can't take a few hurtful words then how in the devil do I expect you to survive in the heat of battle? Now pull your acts together or join the Army." The two were left in silence when he went to the cockpit to check on their location.
"You should arm the nukes now, just one will do." Anna said handing him a glass card from her pocket. Rune took it and gave it to Squishy, whose call name had been changed to Le Grunt. "No offense," The AI had said on the other ship, "It's after a French Marine Biologist."
He took the card, broke it and read the codes written on the paper inside. He punched the numbers in then announced. "Missile armed and ready ma'am." "Good job, hang on, we need to be at a good altitude for this baby." The ship slowly angled upwards.
Meanwhile, the other ship was prepping for take off. "Radar is fully operational. Just a few minutes and you'll be getting your readings. Yessir. You too sir. Goodbye. Admiral Razid congratulates us on a job well done." Cortez said to Shrouded Death. "Good, lets join the others. They'll need our help to get back to Sodom IV. You did good Lily, the reports are flowing nicely with decoded Covenant transmissions." Shrouded Death sat down and felt the chair lock him in. The AI's womanly figure flickered on. "So I don't get any thanks?" She said wagging her finger. "You did a nice job getting us here, now lets see if you can get us back." "Aye Aye captain." The AI said mockingly.
The ship rocketed towards the horizon where the nukes were supposed to be deployed. "Anna, this is Cortez, do you copy?" "Loud and clear, were climbing to three clicks. Be ready to run and laugh." "Roger that Anna." The ships AI had over heard the conversation and was already climbing to the designated altitude. The Anna appeared on the screen. "Get ready to get out of here. The majority of this moon will be a smoldering wreck if we're successful." "Copy that, drop in ten, nine, one." A cylindrical object dropped off from one side of the Anna. A parachute opened up and it drifted lazily to the surface. "Hold on to your guts." The ships usually quiet engines hummed loud. "WEEEE'RRRRREEEE OUTA HERE!" The sleek black ship disappeared as it shot across the space between the moon and Sodom IV. They rounded the planet till they reached it's dark side then stopped, waiting for the Anna to join them. "The Covenant weapons should still be off-line." The AI said. "I'll bring us about and see what's going on." The ship went over the dark surface and stopped itself above the north pole.
The Anna was seen slowly making it's way through the blockade, unsure of what was happening. They boosted their speed and came along side them. "It should detonate soon." "Tell Delta Base Command." Rune said. "Informed them already." Their monitors suddenly blinked white and faded as a ball of fire exploded on the moon. Then another, then another, and then another.
It took three minutes for half the moons surface to be destroyed. The explosions stopped when the Covenant vaporized any of the remaining rectors around the relay station. By then the Flagships hulls had slowly appeared above the moons backside.
"This is Bravo Squadron reporting. This is Alpha, Charlie reporting ma'am, Hotel, This is Echo, Delta, Golf Squadron reporting ma'am. Awaiting further orders." Six thousand green blips appeared on the screen indicating the individual Longswords and other war-hardy spacecraft forming behind them. "Roger that Squadron leaders, await for orders from Admiral Raziel. Keep COM open on Beta frequency." Anna switched her COM to the seemingly vacant frequency. "Pineapple to Strawberry, Plant the garden and pull the weeds?" There was a silence before some one else said. "Affirmative, This is Strawberry. Operation Tiller is a go." There was a blur from the planet and a series of explosions as MAC rounds tore through the Flagships shields. They weren't powerful enough to do much damage to the hull though. "Here, use them now!" Anna handed the last cards to Le Grunt. He put the codes into the panel and launched the Shivas into the Flagships. One went back behind the moon before the missile hit and the other two were vaporized by the surplus nukes.
"All squadrons open fire after next MAC battery." As they acknowledged the barrage obliterated thirty Destroyers. The entire fleet began to close in on the planet. They powered their fixed cannons and fired into the oceans to destroy the experimental plasma weapons that were wrecking havoc in their fleet. "All squadrons forward. At point zero break up and assume individual targets." Anna engaged her ship and took it toward a Carrier which was vomiting flames out of its hull. Seraphs still poured out only to be obliterated by the huge fighter fleet. At an invisible line, the six thousand fighters dissipated and filled the battle field with more confusion.
Anna activated a Lucifer. "All Squadrons abandon sector 34-B! Lucifer going down in one minute!" She dropped the nuke off her tailfin. It hung in space while Anna put her ship in full throttle and shot upwards. "We'll have just enough time to escape the blast, CRAP!" Two Carriers were about to cross one another right above her. She pushed the throttle stick forward till her knuckles turned white. One of the Carriers began to turn towards them, slowly exposing its hangar, which is located in the whole front end of the ship. She pulled the speed down and turned to face Rune, "Fire away!"
Rune and LBC Jumped into the gun pods and shot at the Seraphs that still hadn't take off. Elites and Grunts were running to and fro as the ship went in one side of the hangar and went out the other. She pulled the ship into a steep backwards climb as she skimmed the surface of the next Carrier which poured Seraphs from the hangar. A solid wall formed as they came out. "Hold on!" She pulled the throttle to half and shot through the steady stream of the alien fighters. A few Seraphs broke off and followed her. They were destroyed before the Anna could take a hit from three Longswords that were following her. There was a white flash followed by a wave of blue that dissipated before it reached them. Any ship in a hundred mile radius that wasn't destroyed by the blast now had no living organic matter and had seconds before the reactors exploded.
Huge balls of plasma rocketed towards the surface of Sodom IV. "AI, can we deploy anything to counter that?" "Negative, we used all of the anti-plasma grenades. We could use the sniper cannon and take out each turret individually." LBC looked out the front window at the ships that were destroying the fleet. "We haven't' engaged even half of their fleet and two thirds of ours are being destroyed. We need to do something more drastic. Like what Anna did." The AI sat down on her heels. "We don't have that many nukes but I could deploy the two that we carry into the intact fleet." "Do it." Rune said from the upper deck. "And do it now." He was met with two streams of fire as they rocketed out of their pods and into space. "That's the wrong way! You stupid computer!" Mandible said. "I put them out of the way so they won't be brought down by their anti-missile fire which, if used early enough, would kill us too." Mandible looked around. LBC smiled to himself as he saw him sit back in his seat
The nukes exploded in balls of fire across the system. A faint blue bubble was seen for a split second. After thirty seconds or so, there was a series of more explosions as the reactors over heated and detonated. "The remaining fleet is approaching via Slipspace. Wait, twenty two ships of various classes are taking a detour to the backside of the moon" The AI warned. "Leave them alone, we got bigger fish to fry." Sure enough two hundred more Cruisers, Carriers, Destroyers, Frigates, Schooners and many other ships appeared with an eerie green flash. They immediately opened fire on the remaining Longswords.
"Crap! How are we supposed to defeat this!?" Le Grunt said waving his arms at the new arrivals. "We use Anna's remaining nukes." Rune said. "Anna, put one of your nukes into the middle of that fleet!" Le Grunt said. "Already done." A flash, blue wave and another delayed series of explosions. "Put the last one in the other side!" There was silence. "I can't, it's locked. It's not going!" Rune looked at Le Grunt. "Bring your ship up next to ours; we'll see what's going on." There was another stretch of silence. "I can't, you're on the other side of the fleet." Rune thought for a moment, then said from his gun pod, "Fine, we'll come to you!"

September 21, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Surface of Sodom IV Moon/ ("Junkyard of the Galaxy")
Medical Bay in the lower decks of the Forcible.

Krao' Held his head in his hands. He looked down at the blood from Ghale' on his chest. He had carried him all the way to the medical bay. Now doctors were working frantically to revive him. They constantly pumped fluids into the massive hole in his chest. He could almost hear Ghale's heart slowly beating. He watched as the doctors cut something out and put something else in.
Took things out. Put things in. Krao' felt sick. There was a series of beeps as he became conscious. Krao' jumped over and put his hand over Ghale's eyes. "You don't want to see." Two medics put up a screen around Ghale's neck. Krao' stepped back. Ghale' looked at him with bloodshot eyes. "I, I can't do this... I'm sorry." Krao' looked at him sternly. "Soldier, you are a one of a kind. You are exceptional. You are the youngest Vice Admiral. You had to have gone through harder scrapes than this to get it now pull through!"
Ghale' coughed, blood trickled down his neck. A doctor came and swabbed it off. He pushed over a large tank of aesthetics. "I can't. Sorry... I did my best, father." A loud wail sounded as a monitor flickered. The doctors put the mask on and worked quickly for a short time. Then they stopped. One looked at Krao', "Sir, should I?" Krao' looked up. "Go ahead." He said. The medics turned the monitors off and pulled all the instruments and pipes out of Ghale'. They left the room after closing the hole as best they could leaving Krao' with the body of his last son. He just sat there and stared. After half an hour he stood up and left.
Before he could even get the vision of Ghale's body out of his mind, Haba' appeared. "Sir, I am very sorry that this has happened. He wasn't supposed to be on the deck. I was told that they were all killed." Krao' kept his face in a tight grimace. "The Grand Admiral is waiting to inform you of something else, more important, he says." Krao' continued to keep his face straight, but his hands twitched to pull his rifle and shoot the Grand Admiral for claiming that something was more important than his last son.
"On screen." He said upon reaching the bridge. Gastin' appeared. "Admiral, I am deeply sorry about the loss of... Your son. But we have a more important situation on our hands..." Krao' glared at him. "My son just died from vermin that your team was supposed to kill. He died defending you god forsaken relay dish!" The Admiral looked off-screen. "I understand your frustration but two of our flagships were just destroyed and so was a third of our fleet. There are going to be many sonless fathers out there now." "Yeah, they died for a good reason. Mine died because your team couldn't kill a sh** eating pus filled vomit wart!" "Listen I hate to do this to you... This mission was a lost cause...Abort the mission. Destroy the dish and any other technology. We leave for Slipspace in one unit." The screen went off.
Krao' punched his chair. "Admiral, you can obey him or disobey him." Said one of the two ship captains. "We're with you either way." The bridge fell into silence. Krao' looked at the soldiers who were all now under him. "Charge all weapons, destroy the dish." The two captains nodded and left to return to their ships. There was a thump as the dish which bore the blood of twenty three thousand Covenant lives and counting, including his son's
"Admiral, we'll follow your lead. Your fleet has not engaged in warfare yet either." one of the screens said. The faces of twenty two Elites blinked on in his monitor. Krao' thought for a long moment. "Engage in battle, with the Sleeping Helios. Make sure none survive." There was a hesitation then the acknowledgment of the commanders. "Okay listen up, once we're done with the Sleeping Helios we'll be going into Slipspace, do not linger or you'll be left." The ship shuddered and then lifted off the ground. The Dawn Resistance and Triumvirate followed closely behind. The ten cruisers, seven Destroyers, three Frigates and two Carriers were right behind the Sleeping Helios.
"Charge your cannons." A monitor showed his fleet power their cannons up. Another monitor flickered on, it was Gastin', "Krao' what in the Forerunners name are you doing? This is high treason! You'll never get away with this!" Krao' stood up. "Won't I? The rest of the fleet's being destroyed so why not you? And because you made me destroy the array how will anybody else ever know. You're out Gastin'. Fire!" A wave of plasma rocketed towards the ship. Gastin' waved his hands up "Wait we can discuss this like..." The screen flickered and went out. The Flagship broke in two and burned up in the atmosphere of the moon. "Prepare for Slipspace in three, two, one!" The monitors turned green as the fleet exited the Sodom IV system.
Later, the next day Krao' donned his armor and went up to the bridge where his new Vice Admiral, a long-time veteran named Jaka 'Bisnueenee was over seeing the preparations for the jettison of Ghale's ashes. Jaka' had overseen thousands of such events, he had been fighting the humans and other alien races for all of his life. The Commanders from the other twenty-two ships lined the carpeted aisle to the ejection tube. Other leading officers made up the audience, along with the soldiers who had been in the three groups that had liberated the Forcible.
Krao' took his place near a tall pulpit like structure. The glow of the room dimmed and Haba' entered carrying a brilliantly glowing urn. The shadows changed as Haba' solemnly walked to Krao'. Haba' handed the urn to him and stepped to the side. Jake began to talk, the death rights of the Forerunners. Krao' didn't listen; he looked into the eyes of the sculptures of past Elite heroes. The Grand Admirals statue still stood in the room. Krao' grimaced as he looked at his prideful face. Head turned up and his jaws open in a shout of victory. Somebody tapped his shoulder.
It was Jaka', "Do you want to say a few words, Krao'?" He sat there then handed the urn to Haba' carefully. He stepped up behind the podium.
"I have hoped that my son would have out lived me, it was not so. Three solar days ago, Ghale' was asked to plan, coordinate, and execute an assault on the human establishment called "New Age City". Despite the fact that the Armored Ones intervened, he accomplished the mission and tapped the human communications channels. Then, the same day that he was being tried because of a decidable failure. Despite the devastating loss, Ghale' was asked by the Prophet to head up a vital mission to establish a Covenant presence in this system in the form of a relay dish for the human signals." Krao' looked at the urn.
"I was told that this dish was the last key to the lock that held the humans together. I was told that this mission would not see any interference, but I took no chances. Two fully armed battalions guarded the dish. The plan was laid so carefully that we caught and studied four of the Armored Ones. A success that no other Elite group has ever done." The soldiers clicked their mandibles in unison.
"They influenced our vermin soldiers to rebel; two thousand of them wrecked havoc on the moon. We were able to overcome them finally with the help of two more battalions. We were no longer fighting for the moon; we were fighting for our lives. There were no ranks, no leaders. We were all equal, fighting for the same reason. But then the Grand Admiral arrived, promoted me and my past assistant and forgot to promote my son. He forgot to promote my son.
Our lives were in the hands of somebody who can't remember to promote a Vice Admiral. Not only that but when the humans got fussy he labeled the dish a lost cause. In the name of the Forerunners! Three entire naval divisions, over a million personnel were dragged out into this worthless stretch of space to guard a lost cause. And he expects us to stand by and guard him, somebody who can't even kill vermin!" The Elites shifted in their seats and Jaka' took a step forward. Krao' shot a glare at him and he stepped back.
"I did what I had to because one Elite who does not watch for the life of another is just as selfish as the maggots we exterminated. We are still welcomed by the Motherland, they will have no word of this. It is up to you to decide what we do now. As for me, I thank you for your unwavering detection to your Admiral and to your Homelands. You have already secured your place in Paradise." Krao' looked back at Jaka' then stepped down and picked the urn from Haba's arms.
Jaka' hesitated and stared at the urn. "We now have casualties mounting to almost three hundred thousand because of Grand Admiral Gastin 'Forbeechee's lost cause. Personally, I believe he was unstable, selfish and more devoted to getting into the Archives for his massive invasions rather that the accomplishments of them. He will be in them for the massive deaths and "lost causes" that he has inflicted upon the mighty Covenant Fleet. We were beaten at Sodom IV but not broken. Our Fleets were destroyed but not forgotten. Our friends were killed but will be avenged. And now I believe that a new leader take the place of the irrational, ex- Grand Admiral. I believe that Krao 'Ghammeele is the only qualified Elite left in the Covenant populous good enough to lead the mighty Covenant Fleet. Any who oppose my thoughts may speak freely." Jaka' looked out over the battle-hardened soldiers. None opposed. Or none dared too. "Then I believe I speak for all of us then. Krao 'Ghammeele we, the 35th Fleet division, pledge our allegiance to you, the Forerunners, Prophets and the sovereign Covenant race. Will you accept our offer as our leader as the Grand Admiral?"
Krao' once again stood in silence for a moment. "I accept." he said finally. There was a stretch of silence before Jake' spoke. "We now, with heavy souls, give our best and most sincere wishes to the deceased son of Grand Admiral Krao 'Ghammeele." The crowd stood and watched in silence as Krao' slipped the urn into the sleek black tube and closed the door. A counter appeared for one unit. The group saluted the pod in unison and recited the Elites Creed.
"I as a Covenant Elite, believe in the past existence of the Forerunners, the power of our all-seeing Prophets and the will power of the mighty Covenant race. I am to defend the sovereign systems that created this sovereign Nation in life, anguish, sickness, sadness, pain, war, peace and in death. I will defend our great Empire for which the eternity past Elite patriots have sacrificed their lives to build. In the conclusion of my actions I will be admitted to Paradise at the will of those before me." The pod ejected into deep space leaving the room in silence. Krao' watched the pod till he could see it no longer. He didn't leave the room until long after it was emptied.

September 21, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +12 hours:34 Minutes:54 seconds
(Master Chief Shrouded Death Mission Clock)
Space between Sodom IV and its moon

"Here we go!" The SPARTANs braced themselves for the AI's erratic driving. She rocketed toward the huge fleet that was obliterating all human craft before they began to pummel the planet. MAC rounds still flew into the Covenant ships bringing their shields down but the plasma fire from Sodom IV had ceased hours ago. She dodged hundreds of plasma projectiles directed at her or some other human craft. "Git darn lady you can drive!" Cortez said. A Cruiser blocked their path and began to fire huge plasma torpedoes at them. The ships temp shot up and they could see the shields flicker as one made a direct hit and sent the ship to the side. The shields went down to half and regained quickly.
Still the persistent AI flew onwards. She pulled up and skimmed the hull of a Covenant ship. She pulled up and went between two Frigates that were charging their oversized guns till they were red hot. There were even more ships, the entire screen was filled with plasma fire and purple hulls. She weaved in and out of the fleet and eventually got out the other side. Huge chunks of wreckage floated around aimlessly. There were bodies, thousands of Covenant bodies that were frozen in the vacuum of space that floated and bounced off their shields. "This is awful." Lily said. A lone Carrier appeared from behind a smoldering Destroyer. It sent its fleet out of it's belly and after the SPARTANs. Alex grabbed the arm rests and braced himself for whatever the AI would dish out. Three hundred of the alien craft flew onwards towards them.
The engines hummed. The first wave fired and the carrier went up and out of their view, or rather the ship dived downwards. The top shield flickered as she skimmed over the pieces of wreckage. The Seraphs followed them, losing a few at every turn. Huge pieces of the wreckage were colliding and sending more debris into the cramped space. "This is even better than canyon riding!" Cortez shouted.
The AI was blazing red and thousands of characters flowed over her womanly body. Two halves of a Carrier and a Cruiser were closing on each other, fast. "No you can't do that...Can you?" The AI blinked. "Watch me..." She continued on till the ships were two kilometers of front of them. Plasma shots flew over them and into the hulls. "Brace yourself." Shrouded Death said grabbing the arm rests again. The two halves began to collide only meters in front of them. "Holy shi..." Cortez was cut short as the ship changed direction and went straight up. Huge pieces of the ships were breaking off and hitting them, bringing the shields down till a buzzer sounded. "Hold on! This is gonna be a bumpy ride!" The AI said with streams of orange sifting through the red letters and numbers that raced along her curves.
The Seraphs were much less numerous after that, but they began to edge closer to the ship and their weapons kept lowering the damaged shield. The buzzer began to wail as the ship began to lurch as the shots hit their hull. "C'mon! Is that all you got!" The ship jerked to a immediate stop and shot backwards. The Seraphs made way, leaving their backsides facing the ship. "See-ya!" The cockpit lights dimmed. A bright light illuminated the cockpit as the six plasma cannons went to work. Drawing their power from the main reactor enabled them to fire an almost constant stream of plasma. Many met their marks and others sent wreckage spinning in odd ways into space.
The shield buzzer shut off and the lights turned green. Then, another alarm sounded. "Hey, lady, you're going to blow the reactor!" Lily shouted. The guns ceased and the ship powered down. There was a wave that distorted the fires, stars and the pieces of ships that flew away.
A lone Seraph slowly floated out from behind a Frigates tail section. It flew slowly past them. "Peekaboo, you can't see me but I can see you." There was a thump followed by a flash. "All targets neutralized." The wave went over again. The ship took off slowly. The SPARTANS were still crushing the arm rests in their seats, Cortez's chest was heaving. "Well, that was one thing that I won't be forgetting soon." Lily let go of the chair and flexed her fingers. Shrouded Death let his breath out. "Cortez... See if you can contact Anna." "Yessir."
"Anna, are you out there." Cortez said into the COM. There was silence. "Roger that, we're right below you. That was one he** of a show you guys put on. The engines are shot and my boots are off. No flying with me." The monitor switched to a belly view. A very battered ship that could be mistaken as a piece of wreckage drifted along in space. "We were hit badly and Le Grunt's been knocked unconscious, don't ask how."
Rune looked out of a porthole and up at the new ship and decided to go out into space. He turned to Anna and said, "Listen, I need some tools, a plasma cutter if possible, wires and a length of chain." He looked up again. "If we're going to launch this baby, we're going to have to fix the darn thing."
When Rune had secured the items he went out and was on the tail fin of the battered ship. "It looks like the exoskeletons welded it to tight. No, it was hit by plasma fire, your lucky." Rune took a breath. "Here, I'm bringing it in." Rune cut a hole underneath the casing for the two megaton bomb.
"Rune watch it! Fighters coming in!" Rune looked up in time to get pelted with a plasma shot. He rocketed backwards. His shield indicator flared orange but went back to green quickly. More shots were fired at the Anna and pieces began to break. "Hey, we're de-pressurizing in here, kinda need some help." The alien fighters turned to take another hit at Rune but were cut short by the plasma cannons from the new ship. Rune's vision cleared and the jets pushed him back to the tail. The tools were gone.
"Anna, we're going to bring our ship right next to yours, you need to activate your airlock so that you can get on to our ship, we have an AI aboard that could help." Lily said over the COM. The two ships coupled and the AI flew them above the field of wreckage which was assembling around the equator of Sodom IV. "Hey Rune, when you get that Lucifer off you need to mount some cushions on it." Rune looked up in frustration. "No time." Rune said. "Looks like we've become the candy apple of the Covenant fleet." Anna looked out the front window, and choked at what she saw. A hundred or so ships began to move towards them, their sides glowing red. "Anna, wire this thing for one minute...twenty seconds, no twenty two, do it and activate in ten starting...Now!" Rune jumped off the Anna and jetted over to the external air lock. "Done, countdown at one ten."
He let himself in and ran to the ship airlock where LBC and Mandible were bringing Le Grunt in. His suit was halfway off and a deep gash was still oozing blood on his temple. "He insisted on polishing it." LBC said to Shrouded Death who stood shaking his head. He walked over to Rune and shook his hand. "Dude, no time for formalities we need to be packin' a hundred kilo's step on it!" Anna came out of her ship real quick when the AI started the engines. She hesitated then kissed the interior. "Goodbye old geezer." The door shut and the ship fell away. "Lets get the he** outta here!" She said. She was broken off by the nukes engines firing, only thirty seconds left. The Anna was pushed forward and into the approaching fleet. They didn't care about the unmanned vehicle; they wanted the SPARTANs dead once and for all.
The AI appeared, she was the normal purple but there were orange fissures covering her body. "I went over my operating capabilities; I'm cut off from the controls by the emergency systems. One of you has to pilot this thing." Every body looked at Anna. Anna looked down at her bare feet and started to cry. LBC turned around and tried to console her. "Oh, please, you can do it. Look it was a good ship, I loved it." Anna looked at him. "It's not that, I left my boots on my seat." LBC turned his speakers off and laughed his brains out until he was knocked in the head by Anna.
"I don't need stupid boots to fly." She jumped into a seat and pushed the throttle all the way up. Rune had grabbed the back of an empty seat when LBC was sent flying into the back of the ship by a jolt. "Here we go, we're entering Slipspace." Anna said. LBC got into the seat closest to the holo-pad and was enjoying the view of the AI nicely. Rune jumped into the co-pilots seat before the screens turned green. "Oh man, they're following us!" There was another huge jolt. "Bomb went off, only 24.9% of that fleet was destroyed, darn. And that was the last Lucifer, ever." She said. LBC turned around and looked at Cortez "So how did, never mind." The AI appeared and he turned back around quick. She glanced at him saw what he was doing. She quickly disappeared from view after giving him a one-fingered salute. LBC chuckled and then leaned towards Cortez. "Hey, guess what just happened, that AI..." Cortez interrupted him, "Caught you staring at her boobs." LBC looked away. "LBC, what's wrong?" Rune asked. "Oh, nothing sir, the AI caught me..." "Staring at her butt?" He said. LBC slammed his fist into the chair and looked out the window. "Did she finally catch you LBC?" Anna asked from the cockpit. "Okay so what, a man has needs now cut it out." There was a huge jolt and a flash. The AI appeared, and looked at LBC angrily. I'm gonna get you one day. Watch it." Anna switched one of the monitors to rear view. The AI thought for a moment. "They're all following us, except that one fleet that went behind the moon, they already disappeared. Oh and funny thing, they destroyed the last Flagship just before they left for Slipspace." "Great googly-moogly man, that's weird, and that's a huge fleet following us."

September 22, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Covenant Controlled System of Claghonoa
Bridge in the appointed Flagship the Forcible.

Krao' looked at the monitor at the familiar planet. Claghonoa, his home planet, the place where he raised Ghale' and Saghleekee'. The place where his soul mate and other sons and daughters were cremated. The urns lined the Temple of Sadness; he would drop tokens of thanks off every week to honor them.
Now he was home again. After twenty-three years of war and terror, he had come finally come home. "All hands under my command are hereby given two weeks leave. When you return, we head back for Sodom IV to destroy it once and for all. Those who do not return will not be thought of as cowards. They will be thought of as traitors and will be killed. Good luck and may you all return, for your own lives sake." The ships entered the atmosphere and flared. The Forcible shook violently but Krao' stood unaided in the bridge. Soon the flames cleared and the lush oceans dotted with islands of Claghonoa spread out before them. A cliff appeared suddenly and the city of Frud'hichd appeared. The immense docking station was empty.
When the ship slowed enough for the city to come into focus, hundreds of Covenant flooded the streets. They were shooting rifles into the sky, throwing ghala leaves into the air and some were waving at the ships. "And remember, crew, not a single word on what happened." The bridge personnel nodded as the engines cut off and the glow dimmed. They all filed onto the lift and went down where the rest of the crew was pushing to get out. They flatted out against the walls and saluted as Krao' went by. He entered his chambers where Jaka' was. He silently handed Krao' a black cape with purple lining before walking out. It was very heavy. Krao' looked at it and felt it with his hands. There was something inside of it.
Krao' sat on his bed and unfolded the cape. A shiny golden box dropped out and rolled on his bed. He picked it up and looked at it. "Vice Admiral Ghale 'Ghammeele" was etched onto the side. Krao' sat in silence for a long time looking at the box that held his sons ashes. He now understood why Jaka' jettisoned the urn without hesitation, as the law dictated on deaths in space. He was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. It opened and Haba' entered, he saluted then said ecstatically, "Sir, they want you, the entire city is out there! They want to see their new Grand Admiral, the hero that captured the four Armored Ones!" Krao' stood and allowed Haba' to put the robe on. He quickly polished the black armor and toned the red lining. Krao' walked out of the room followed by Haba' who quickly passed him.
Krao' stepped out into the docking bay where the sunlight, let in by windows, hurt his eyes. There were thousands of Covenant civilians who were all cheering, yelling and all were looking at him. He put the gold box down on a banister which surrounded the balcony. Krao' raised his hand to silence the huge mass which became quiet in seconds. Krao' allowed for six Brutes to line the wall behind him before he spoke.
"Citizens and soldiers of the mighty Covenant race, I come before you now not as a god, not as a hero, and not as a Grand Admiral. I am not here because of my heroics or my leadership. I am before you now because of the million lives that were lost to preserve mine at Sodom IV. Even my son made the journey to Paradise that fateful day when Grand Admiral Gastin' made his last mistake. He thought that the Covenant could sit and wait for good things. He sent your sons, fathers, soul-mates, cousins, uncles, nephews and maybe even grandfathers on a mission that he, quote "deemed a lost cause." I however would not let him continue to deplete the Covenant fleet of ships, good believers of the Prophets and Forerunners for his "Lost cause" missions.
I had him destroyed and by the will of the remaining crew, I was anointed your new Grand Admiral. Well we real Covenant soldiers know that you cannot wait for good things to come. You must go get them by force if necessary.
The humans have a saying, "The chain is as strong as its weakest link." Gastin' was supposed to be the strongest link in the chain. He wasn't, he was the weak link. My chain will be forged from the mighty powers of our military and it will have no weakness. With it we will bind the Human race till it dies.
And this I pledge to you. Sodom IV will be taken. The Armored Ones will be killed and the human race will be annihilated. I will do all in my feasible power to do this before they have the chance to strike back. I will increase the number of ships in my fleet and with the new technology from the humans, we will overcome them.
We will not wait for good things, we will not be sent on lost cause missions we will not stop, we will not hesitate, we will not dwell on our home lands, we will not think we are safe, we will not ask for what is ours and we will not lose this war!"
The crowd erupted into a hysterical clicking of mandibles and shouts. Krao' waited till they calmed down before he spoke again.
"The humans are persistent. So are we. The humans are intelligent. So are we. The humans are determined. So are we. But, the humans are not, however, backed by the immense morale that is the mighty power of our Prophets and our race!" Once again the crowd erupted. Krao' didn't wait for them this time. "The humans have made a bet. A bet that they can beat us with copied technology, more advanced soldiers called SPARTANs. Only the SPARTANs hold the thin line to the human race. If it is cut they will be doomed. I propose that we create our own group of special individuals who are physically and mentally capable as these human scum soldiers. I also propose that we not be blinded by our apparent safety, that our strong able bodied civilians not be street inspectors, tenders or engineers, but soldiers that represent all we stand for. And last, I propose that we build our navy to the strongest point that it will ever be. Any designer who can create a ship that requires the fewer amounts of men, and has the most firepower will be rewarded with one hundred and fifty million units!" There was a collective cheer.
"Our navy will strike fear among the humans as it never has. And under my command, the human blood will flow and there will be pain and suffering as they could never have imagined among their kind!" The crowd began to yell and Krao' felt the balcony vibrate as Hunters bellowed their cheers and Elites stomped the ground.
He began to descend the steps followed by the six Royal Guard Brutes. Jaka' appeared right beside him and said into his ear, "Sir, the people are yours. You wishes are now their command." Krao' put his hand in the air and made the sign of his clan, more cheers. "You know that you suggested an industrial spike that could bring billions into the economy?" Krao' replied, "Yes but what they don't know is that we'll be using a strategy that the humans use called "No Market Money Policy". It means that the supplies used to build and design any thing is seized and is, by the policy, not paid for because it is put into use that will ensure the survival of that industry. That's how they have the kind of weapons that they have. It won't cost a thing so we have more units to use as incentives for the new recruits." Jaka' fell back with Haba' and relayed the info.
Later that night, Krao' was on his way to be sworn in at the Grand Palace in the heart of the city. The lead Prophets from many systems would be present to witness the event. There was going to be an estimated two million in spectators. "Sir, when you accept you need to say a few words and the guards will guide you to your place. Oh yes, and the ceremony for Ghale', may he rest in peace, is scheduled for tomorrow." Krao' nodded and waved to the crowds that lined the streets for the homecoming and coronation. "Sir, the Prophets are concerned, they believe that you are becoming too popular and that you may over power them. I think you should tone down on the speeches."
The transport stopped and Krao' stepped out and walked the one hundred steps up to the Grand Palace. The huge spiral columns were decorated and banners bearing the different systems flags were placed all around the Palace. He stepped inside of the main hall and was met by a loud applause from the Commanders in his fleet who were dressed in their special armor. Each sported a blue cape that showed that they were veterans now. A Jackal showed him to a set of huge double doors that opened into the Great Hall. It was very silent despite the thousands of Elites and special guests; and in the front sat thirty Prophets. They all wore the headpieces that resembled the designs on the banners. Krao' halted and bowed deeply. "Come forward." One of the Prophets said loudly.
Later, after many words, vows and parameters of power were reviewed and Krao' had said "I will." a thousand times he sat kneeling in front of an old Prophet whose hands shook as he placed the ornamental helmet on his head. "By the power vested in me and the members of the Council, and by the will of the people of the mighty Covenant race, you are now, Grand Admiral Krao 'Ghammeele. May you bring the humans to their ultimate destruction and send us all into Paradise." The hall erupted in a noise of clacking jaws and hoots.
Krao' stood and faced the crowd. The many broadcast pods sent his face all over space. Pronouncing him as "The Elite Prophet" and "The Beginning of a New Breed of Elites". He stepped slowly out of the Great Hall and onto the front terrace of the Grand Palace. There were hundreds of thousands of Covenant that filled the streets, leaned out of buildings, crowded the tops, climbed on top of public transports and hug off of lamp poles, all cheered the same cheer, "Krao'! Krao'! Krao'!" A million voices silenced as he raised his hand.
"Brothers, followers of the Great Ones, you have shown me the true might and determination of the Covenant. Thousands of voices sounding as one. If one said otherwise, they would have been sounded out. Like wise, a single opinion can be lost in the old, same chant. I am here to break the old flow. No longer will we try and learn more about the humans, no longer will we sacrifice the lives of your family and friends, no longer will the human race impede our immanent journey to Paradise!
Under me, we will build a navy like no other. Unmatched in power. Undeterred in skill. Unmatched in size and indestructible. I am saying what should have been said twenty five years ago. That one small voice has been spread. That one opinion is now the one voice of the people of our great Empire. And that opinion calls for the humans to die now. No more waiting for good things. You cannot take their food and water away, they will adapt. You must kill every single one. The men. The women. The children. And all that oppose this and want to wait longer can go back to Sodom IV and see what good waiting did. The bodies of a million good soldiers now float through space because of an ignorant, selfish and egotistical ex-Grand Admiral. But no more.
The stench of the human race will be gone; the breeze of Paradise will welcome us. The filth of humans will be wiped away by our fleet. And the humans themselves will be killed if we have to do it with our bare hands! So join me now, as the one opinion, the one will, the one last step to have us all admitted into Paradise!"
Once again a million voices began to chant, "Krao'! Krao'! Krao'!" Haba' leaned over to Jaka' and said, "There's no stopping him now."

September 23, 2557 (Military Calendar)/
Deployment +02 hours: 28 Minutes:23 seconds
(Master Chief Shrouded Death Mission Clock)
In Slipspace, Random destinations

"They are still following us." Rune said. "No really you think?" Anna replied. "AI, how long can we stay in Slipspace?" she asked. The AI appeared, "Well, technically forever, the reactor is good for far past your life-span." Anna looked at the numbers again. Ninety six Covenant ships continuously followed her through Slipspace all over the galaxy.
"Hey, he's awake." Lily shouted from the back where Le Grunt lay. Cortez had bandaged his head and stitched the gash up. Le Grunts vision was blurry for a moment. "What the funkle happened?" he asked rubbing his eyes and then his head. "You took your armor off when we were going at mach 4. It was bound to be a bumpy ride but you insisted to polish your stupid armor." Anna yelled from the front. "Oh... Well what happened?" he asked again, annoyed at Anna's always being right. "Well, after you went unconscious, we were disabled and then they came to tow us out, then we had to sacrifice Anna's ship because the nuke was stuck. It didn't destroy but thirty percent of the fleet. They decided that we were the grand prized for their whole mission and came after us." Rune stopped to take a breath but the story was taken up by Mandible.
"We jumped into Slipspace about fifteen hours ago and we've been running all over the galaxy." After a few more stories of how the AI got through the fleet and such Le Grunt put his armor back on and they all sat into their seats.
"AI, do you have a name, I'm getting tired of saying that." LBC asked. She looked at him with red eyes, the orange fissures were diminishing very slowly as she reorganized herself. "It's NU-356-543-FHY-0926-56543, type-C." LBC just looked at her steadily till she finally said, "My creator called my series Chell. I'm the third prototype, "C". The other two, my sisters, are copied and are inactive in your suits right now." LBC sat back in his seat. "Chell-C huh. Like it." The AI still looked away, "Apology accepted." LBC still kept his eyes on her backside. "Uh-hu." She turned around, "Forget it, you'll never change." She disappeared. "Don't worry, I got all I needed." LBC said pulling up the picture of her chest and backside from his head mounted camera. There was a buzz and the word "delete" appeared over the two pictures. "No! you can't do that!" "Yes I can. No stop doing that and feast on these." A picture of a extremely obese and hairy nude woman appeared in LBCs monitor. "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Chell-C, is there any way to get these guys off our tail?" Lily asked.
"We should use the Slipspace bomb. It's theoretically supposed to collapse the field around a ship, causing it to be spread out across space. We used an old cruiser and it was vaporized as it was thrown out three lightyears long. But that was a small one. This one does that to any ship in Slipspace." She stopped for a moment. "There are thirty two human craft in Slipspace right now, total body count, 12,645."
"Then that's not an option. There's to much collateral involved." Rune said. "I could send out a galaxy wide warning using the Covenant broadcast systems." Rune thought, "Why do you wait to tell us this kind of stuff? Do it." "I just like to seem like the only one with answers. Done." There was silence as she engaged the bomb. They're dropping out. 10,345...4,435...212...23...8...still 8...Oh that's us. He he." "Good, come out one second before we exit. This is our last chance. By the way, where are we going?" The AI still was working on the bomb. "Random places, we past Reach one minute ago. Three seconds till bomb drop., CLEAR!" The screens flashed and a gray moon filled the screen. "CRAP! Hold on!" The ship pulled up and began to throw dust up behind them. It landed with a skid. The dust quickly settled. "It...It worked. No Covenant ships are in Slipspace... We did it!" there was a collective release of breath.
"Weird, I didn't get a chance too see where we stopped." The AI said. "Hold on I'm gonna try and find out where we are." Rune looked out at the surface and up at the stars. "I don't think you need to." He said looking up at the blue planet covered in white clouds in the sky. Anna came to the window. "Hey what planet is that?" Anna asked.
Rune still stared fix eyed at it. The clouds and water reflected in his visor. He finally said,
"Earth."


TO BE CONTINUED...

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