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HALO
SECRET FILES/COLLATERAL DAMAGE

By: Scott A. Morrill
Scott wrote this story for his three sons and their friends who love to play Halo. Scott loves the halo games and has read and enjoyed the companion books. All inconsistencies and errors are solely Scott's responsibility.

Cover art by Russell Swinhart (one of the friends who loves to play the game)

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If that does not work, then here is a link to the image.
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HALO/SECRET FILES
Collateral Damage


PROLOGUE- TOBI'S VISION

Mannis Arturis System- Second Planet- Covenant Controlled Space/Many Light Years from Humanity
Grunt Stronghold

Tobi motioned to the rest of his squad to stop and take cover. They had been on the run for fifteen standard days and Tobi did not want to give up his new found freedom easily. The Grunts had successfully staged a revolt from their Covenant masters. After generations of doing all the dirty work, the Grunts had had enough. All it took was a Grunt with the imagination and leadership to pull off a coup. Tobi was the Grunt who made it happen.

Unfortunately, the Jackals were intent on making it unhappen. Tobi's squad dropped and took cover. The Jackal patrol, with its superior firepower, zipped overhead. The Grunts' innate skill for self preservation helped them disappear into the landscape and they were nearly invisible to the naked eye. Tobi's squad did not have the weapons necessary to take on an Jackal patrol mounted on flyers. Known as Banshees, the flyers always gave the Jackals the high ground. No matter, the Grunts were content to cede the high ground and merge with the mud.

Grunts were not called Grunts because of the sounds they made. They were called Grunts because, like all frontline warriors in all races around the galaxy, they controlled the battle by controlling the front lines. Tobi was no different physically than his mates. All Grunts looked more like Terran dogs than humans. They tended to run on all fours, but could rise up on their back legs and hold weapons like any primate. They were neither pretty nor ugly, but only another Grunt could really tell them apart. Tobi was unique because he had a rare trait amongst Grunts. He was a leader.

The Jackal patrol passed. Tobi made one quick gesture with his left hand and his squad moved out. For the last three days his squad had avoided the Jackals sent by the Covenant command to suppress them. The planet Tobi and his mates had chosen suited them perfectly. It had enough nitrogen in the atmosphere to sustain them with very little supplementation, was poorly lit by a weak sun and was squishy even during the dry season. It was not currently the dry season. Grunts could and did eat just about anything and this planet had an endless supply of worms. The Grunts had more than enough protein to keep them satisfied, if not exactly happy.

The Grunts did not really expect their rebellion to succeed. However, even temporary freedom from their Covenant masters was worth the price. The Covenant had conquered the Grunt home world millennia ago and quickly learned that Grunts made excellent frontline soldiers. When they failed to achieve any military gains, they were still valuable as cannon fodder. When the Covenant was between military campaigns, a rare occurrence, the Grunts enjoyed some peace. However, even in times of peace Grunts occupied the lowest position in the Covenant hierarchy and had to bow to all other Covenant species.

The squad moved quickly and quietly to the rendezvous coordinates. Tobi met with his commanders as infrequently as necessary. He feared to use any form of electronic communication as the Jackals had tracking devices far superior to any masking technology the Grunts had managed to steal. Tobi had to meet with his commanders. The Jackals clearly knew the Grunts had taken refuge on this muddy planet. It was only a matter of time before they pinpointed their location. The Grunts had limited ammunition and what they had was far inferior to what the Jackals were packing.

"Form a perimeter," Tobi barked as the squad reached its goal. The squad fanned out. Low Grunts were exchanged between them and the other Grunt squads that had moved in earlier. Tobi squatted under a low ledge and waited for his commanders to assemble. "The Jackals have stepped up their patrols," he noted. The others nodded or Grunted in agreement. "They must know that we are here. Our next move may be our last. The lads are tired."

"Yes," noted Yepyep, Tobi's most trusted squad leader. "But they are energized by the freedom and won't easily give it up. We, and our boys, follow you to the end, sir," Yepyep growled. The others nodded in agreement.

Tobi surveyed them. Their eyes gleamed even though this planet's sun did not give off enough light to really explain the gleam. Tobi knew that they were loyal to him and freedom. He also knew that their freedom was short lived. He only wished that it could have lasted more than the mere two weeks it was likely to last. He came to a decision.

"Time to make the Jackals pay for remaining loyal to the Covenant command. We attack at full dark tonight at their main landing site. If we win, good. Then we will move to another location and wait for the next attack," he said. An attack Tobi knew would come if the first Jackal force did not return. Tobi and the squad commanders quickly worked out the attack pattern. It was typical Grunt tactics. Move head on against the enemy from all directions with speed and ruthlessness. Of course, the Jackals knew what kind of attack to expect if one came. What they were less certain of was if one would come and when.

The Grunts moved off to reform with their squads and make their way to the Jackal camp. As usual, the Grunts checked weapons and ammunition on the go. No Grunt would have any problem field dressing his weapon even in the dark at a full march. It was not even dark yet by this miserable planet's standards and the Grunts were moving fairly slowly in order to remain undetected.

The Grunt scouts had located the Jackal landing zone earlier and had managed to disable or deceive the perimeter warning devices. While the Grunts had technology less sophisticated than what the Jackal used, if a Grunt could get his hands on something, he could disable it without being detected. The Jackals were much too confident in their technology.

Tobi's squad was the last to move into position. Everything was ready. All that remained was the waiting. Full dark took forever to come. Many Grunts used the time to catch up on sleep. Those that could not sleep talked quietly with mates or made prayers of hope to whatever god Grunts believed in. Night settled in all around. Even the worms lay still.

In the darkest hour and without any visible signal the Grunts moved as one. They crept up to the very perimeter of the Jackal camp and raised their weapons. The first discharge of their plasma rifles ruined most of the Jackal's lighting and disabled several of the landing craft. Almost too late, but not quite, the Jackals realized what was happening and rallied to defend themselves. The Grunts had a few precious concussion bombs, which they unleashed on the camp. The camp commander, a veteran of many campaigns, quickly organized the defense.

The better armed Jackals first took cover and then began to return fire. Grunts and Jackals both fell. At first, more Jackals were killed or wounded than Grunts. However, as the Jackals got organized, more Grunts started to fall. As Argnot, the Jackal commander, figured out what was happening and organized his troops, things started looking bleak for the brave Grunts.

Tobi ordered his squad to expend their most valuable prize- a high incendiary flash bomb. The Grunts were ready for it and lowered their face shields in unison. The bomb, more flash and sound than actual destructive force, went off. The Grunts seized the initiative again.

Mannis Arturis System- Second Planet, Date, Earth Survey Camp 75 Kilometers East of the Grunt/Jackal Clash.

"What in the name of frozen mud was that?" exclaimed private Anson. He had seen the flash and heard the sound of the flash bomb 75 kilometers away. It was the second watch of the night. A watch that none of the marines took seriously since they had landed on this pathetic excuse for a planet nearly three weeks earlier. The marines were merely along to baby sit the scientists. None of the marines had any idea why anyone would want to visit this planet, let alone study it. They certainly could not understand why marines were needed to protect the scientists. The only threat anyone seemed to face here was death by boredom.

Pvt. Anson reported to the marine commander, Lt. Haverson. The LT wasn't a bad guy, but he was pretty sore to have pulled this duty and had been riding the enlisted men pretty hard. Anson didn't mind waking the Lt. up even in the dead of night. "Pvt. Anson sir", he reported. "Some sort of bright flash and loud crash 75 klicks west of here. Could it be some sort of natural event?"

Lt. Haverson shook off sleep and found his combat communicator, a tiny pin capable of broadcasting over a scrambled channel over hundreds of kilometers. "How the heck should I know" he barked at Pvt. Anson. "Sit tight and I'll be right there. Have Sarge bring the ORF."

"Yes sir."

Anson waited patiently for the sergeant and the lieutenant to arrive. He thought he could hear sounds of battle and see other less intense flashes, but it was too far off to be sure. Their camp was at the base of a small, muddy hill. All the hills on this rock were small and muddy. However, his guard post on the top of the hill at least offered a fairly good view of the surrounding terrain. Right now all anyone could see was the darkness. The ORF should help. Anson shuddered without knowing why and suddenly wished the UNSC corvette Tandem, which had deposited them on this planet, was still in orbit. However, it had left weeks ago and was not scheduled to return for two more weeks. The eight marine squad that seemed like overkill a few weeks ago now seemed too small.

Lt. Haverson and the Sarge arrived and Anson repeated what he had seen. Sarge set up the portable ORF and fiddled with the controls. After a few moments, he whistled softly. "Someone or something is catching it good" he whispered. "If I had to guess I would say there was a battle raging. But, I don't recognize most of the energy signatures." The LT took a turn and then finally Anson had his chance.

"What do you think?" Lt. Haverson asked.

"Time to make ourselves scarce and wait for whatever is going on to blow over," responded Sarge. The ORF doesn't have any data to identify the energy signatures, but it is clearly a signature with a lot of energy behind it. Maybe after things calm down we can send a scouting party to investigate."

Sarge's words sounded good to Anson, but he knew that lieutenants were not generally smart enough to listen to reason. Lt. Haverson considered Sarge's words for a few moments as he took another look through the ORF. He did not want to just wait, but the energy signature was certainly intimidating. Some of what was happening 75 kilometers away actually was visible to their naked eyes. Pvt. Anson had not imagined it. "OK, we get the civilians to pack up and hunker down so we don't attract any attention. But, we send the scouts out within the hour without waiting for whatever is happening to end." Pvt. Anson's opinion of Lt. Haverson went up a bit. While he didn't take the most prudent course of action, at least he had the sense to limit their exposure.

Lt. Haverson led the scout party with Sarge and two privates. Pvt. Anson had already served most of his watch and was left behind to organize the civilians when the light returned. A small part of him was disappointed that he wasn't going, but only a very small part of him. He remembered the readings he had seen on the ORF. Plus, he got a few more hours of sleep before the civilians woke up. Another private took the early morning watch and whatever was going on didn't appear to be getting any closer. Anson lay down and immediately went to sleep.

Sarge wasn't thrilled to be driving the eight-wheeled mud buggy in the dark on an unfamiliar planet. While Mannis Arturis II had little vegetation, it had lots of mud and rocks to deal with. The mud buggy managed to handle most of what the planet threw at it, but it didn't handle it fast. Shortly before the scout party had left, whatever was happening to the West had died down and now seemed to be finished. Sarge was thankful that he wasn't heading into an obvious hot zone, but the unknown still gnawed at him.

"Okay, we dismount here and make our way on foot," ordered Lt. Haverson. The four marines jumped out of the buggy and formed into the classic marine scout formation. One private out front, flanked by the other private and Sarge, with Lt. Haverson forming the rear point of the diamond formation. They made their way silently toward the point they were pretty sure the disturbance had originated. Just as they were about to crest another small, muddy hill a great roar went up. Three sleek, fast and predatory looking landing craft screamed overhead and disappeared into the lightening sky. All four marines hit the deck and both privates covered their eyes and ears the best they could.

Sarge, a veteran of many combat drops and dust offs, watched admiringly as the three ships blasted overhead. Lt. Haverson made himself watch to prove to himself and Sarge that he was worthy of being an officer. Sarge was actually impressed.

After the alien craft faded from sight and hearing the four marines moved into a defensive posture. "Looks like we have neighbors," Sarge remarked. "And they don't look as though they are quiet and retiring."

"Let's go have a look," Lt. Haverson suggested. But the other three knew it was more than a suggestion and they started off again to see what there was left to see.


Mannis Arturis System- Second Planet-
Jackal Camp

After the flash bomb went off the Grunts seized the upper hand for awhile. The Jackals could hardly believe that the lowly Grunts had managed to get so devastating a weapon. Tobi's squad had pulled a real coup with that theft. Unfortunately, the Jackals were not deterred for long. Their more powerful plasma rifles and their hand held personal energy shields slowly turned the tide again as they recovered from the shock of the flash bomb. Once again, the Grunts realized that they were in trouble.

Tobi had no more tricks to pull. His Grunts fought bravely, but it was now just a matter of time. The Jackals managed to get a Banshee in the air and it had made one pass to survey the battle zone. The pilot took only one reconnaissance pass to confirm that the Grunts were employing usual tactics- attack from all sides at once and in force. The Banshee made a killing pass and sliced through two sides of the Grunts' approach. While the Banshee threw the Grunts into confusion, another squad of Jackals managed to get to one of their Wraiths. A Wraith was something like a tank. But, it had more speed, maneuverability and fire power than any tank a human had ever imagined. The Grunts had no defense for the wraith and they could not even hunker down and avoid it.

Tobi realized that his revolt was nearly at an end. He made eye contact with Yepyep who returned a confirmation that he and the Grunts were ready. Tobi rose up to lead the suicide rush that would end his leadership and the Grunt dream of freedom. Just as he took his first step into the heart of the maelstrom, the Jackals shot off the Covenant universal signal of battle truce. Even rebelling soldiers respected the truce signal. After a few more shots were fired by Jackals and Grunts whose backs were to the signal, suddenly the battlefield went silent. Jackals and Grunts put down their weapons and the Banshee flew off a safe distance to enter a holding pattern. The Wraith's guns and motor went silent.

"Come forward Grunt commander" yelled Argnot. Tobi, while stunned by the turn of events, nevertheless stepped into the Jackal stronghold. "News from the Covenant command. A new race has been discovered and all soldiers of the Covenant are needed to help track down its source and subdue it. It is a race with space faring skill that has just been discovered on the fringe of Covenant controlled space. Their full capabilities are not yet known, but will soon be. Covenant command intends to absorb this new species into the fold or exterminate it if it is not cooperative. This is a task worthy of the Grunts and you are offered immunity from punishment to re-enter the fold. Little is known of this new species. However, it calls itself human."

Tobi and the other Grunts cared little what the new race was called. He was not stupid enough to think that the Grunt's freedom would have lasted the night. This new race offered the Grunts a chance for redemption. Tobi knew that the Covenant command could be trusted in these matters. The battlefield truce was inviolate. Battling the humans with the reward of the right to live was a far better option than being exterminated on this mud ball of a planet. "We accept," Tobi said in a strong voice.

"Pack up and prepare to leave," ordered Argnot as he ducked back into his ship. Tobi and the Grunts knew that order was directed at them. The Jackals would lounge, eat, clean their weapons or chat about the battle and the opportunity for glory in fighting the humans while the Grunts went to work. Normalcy, of the Covenant kind, returned like it had never been suspended. Tobi sighed, filed away his taste of freedom and leadership and started lugging Jackal gear toward the waiting landing craft.

Mannis Arturis System- Second Planet-
Jackal Camp

30 minutes after the Covenant forces left the planet, the marine scout party quietly moved into the abandoned battle zone. Little was left except charred ground and garbage. In a shallow, uncovered pit were the bodies of some dog like creatures. They were tossed in like so many forgotten dolls. On another side of the field were neat rows of what were obviously graves. Each was marked with a banner of various designs. Plaques marked each grave, but the markings were not of any design that the humans recognized. Sarge gathered several flags and plaques for future study.

The humans, unaware that a new threat was brewing, packed up a few other bits of battle junk and started to march back to the mud buggy. Lt. Haverson was deep in thought. Humanity had come across evidence of other species with advanced technology. However, they had yet to actually meet any in the small sector of space they had colonized or explored. They had just missed meeting one on this mud ball. Lt. Haverson was not yet aware how lucky that near miss was. He pondered the significance of this find and started drafting his report to his superiors as he and the other three marines slogged their way back to camp.

FIRST CONTACT/Covenant

Earth high command had taken little time to decide what to do with Lt. Haverson information. It ordered its best commander to take a task force to the Mannis Arturis system and try to find a way to track the ships that had been there. Commodore Roderick Nathan had years of experience commanding task forces. However, he like all other human commanders had never encountered any intelligent space faring races. The worst any earth expedition had found was the giant bug like creatures they had found on Delta Epsilon IV. While the bugs were truly dangerous, they were no more intelligent than cockroaches.

Nathan had one binary class explorer, the Antioch, that he used as his flag ship. It was earth's most advanced ship. While it was primarily a research vessel, earth was not willing to take any chances. It was equipped with a Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace drive, three rail guns, a myriad of smaller guns and counter measures to go along with its survey equipment. The Antioch also boasted charged, metal plate shielding that could repel any weapons the humans had designed other than a direct hit from a planet based rail gun. It was powered by 2 fusion reactors and could outrun and out maneuver any other ship in the fleet.

The Antioch held a complement of 30 sailors, a 12 person squad of marines and two fighters in its hold. Supporting the Antioch were two corvettes, smaller ships with only one rail gun each, three scouts and one re-supply ship, essentially a refrigerator with an engine. The corvettes fanned out slightly ahead and to the side of the Antioch and also contained the drop ships for landing on planets. The scouts could also land, but the Antioch was limited to space. No one cared whether the re-supply ship could land or not. Normally not even given names, this particular supply ship had a crew with a sense of humor that had hand lettered "Sparta" on the hull. Only Commodore Nathan, Captain Andua, the actual captain of the Antioch and Nathan's most trusted advisor, and Major Mark Danton realized how appropriate that name was. Hidden in a life support locker of the Sparta was a secret that neither of them expected to reveal, but that made them feel a bit safer.

Lt. Haverson had been ordered to go on this mission as he was the one that had been on Mannis Arturis and had filed the report that was responsible for this mission in the first place. However, he was not the ranking marine. That job went to Major Danton, a leathery no nonsense type who expected anyone on his watch to do their job and stay out of trouble. As Sarge was the ranking enlisted man in charge of the rest of the squad, Major Danton's expectations were safe.

Commodore Nathan was confident that his task force could handle whatever it encountered. His confidence was misplaced, but he would have to learn that the hard way.

Shortly after the ships went into orbit around Mannis Arturis Two the researchers calibrated and deployed an array of tracking devices. There were machines for detecting radiation, heat, x-rays, residual byproducts of combustion, radio waves and several other things. All the ships had radar and laser trackers to keep a watch for anything approaching from space. Commodore Nathan deployed the marines and most of the researchers to the planet where Lt. Haverson had found the remains of the battle. Major Danton deployed his marines in a defensive circle around the landing site and set up his command post. Lt. Haverson and Sarge took turns prowling around the perimeter keeping the marines alert and checking for weaknesses.

Both corvettes and the scouts rejoined the Antioch and the Sparta after deploying their cargo and passengers. The task force spent an uneventful two days circling the planet and digging around the landing site. The researchers found nothing any different from what Sarge had delivered from his first visit. However, they felt that they were learning something by seeing the burial sites first hand. First, it was pretty clear that the dog like creatures tossed in the uncovered pit were not as important as the aliens buried in the neatly dug and organized graves. They examined the rest of the markers, but not even earth's best linguists had managed to decipher the markings. There simply were not enough marks, repeated often enough to work out a translation.

On the third day things got interesting. Sarge spoke to Lt. Haverson as they moved from one marine post to the next. "Lt. Haverson, I've been thinking about what happened the last time we were here. Don't you find it odd that these two groups were blasting away at each other on this desolate planet and then it all just stopped suddenly? Then they all packed up, buried, more or less, their casualties and left together like they were best friends."

"I've been wondering the same thing, Sarge," Haverson said. "It's like they suddenly decided that they had better things to do. Plus, while they didn't leave any big pieces behind, what little bits and pieces the forensic guys have uncovered suggest that they used similar, if not the same quality, equipment. Its like they are from the same general group and the one was rounding up the other like some wayward child."

"I'd be just as happy if they decided that they hadn't left anything important behind and didn't bother showing up," said Sarge.

"I'm with you, Sarge," noted Lt. Haverson.

Just then, Lt. Haverson's communicator chirped. "Lt. Haverson, this is Major Danton. Captain Andua just radioed that they have picked up something on the long range scanners. Alert the men, tell Sarge to go to alpha post and return to camp." Haverson gave Sarge a look, who trotted off in the direction of alpha post and Haverson moved off toward the base camp. "Stay alert," Lt. Haverson said over his shoulder to Sarge. Sarge needed no such warning.

DISASTER STRIKES

The camp was a bee's nest of activity when Haverson arrived. The researchers were packing up all their equipment and the marines were fidgeting nervously. Several of them were looking through an ORF, but it was pointed up toward the stars, not something it was effective at doing. Major Danton was in the middle of the storm giving orders and putting his own gear in a travel sack. "Over here," he barked at Haverson. "Commodore Nathan says something dropped out of slipspace several thousand klicks from the planet and is making its way in at a leisurely pace. We are ordered to pack up and get ready to dust off."

Haverson quickly stowed his own gear and helped oversee the researchers. "Shouldn't we move into a defensive position, sir?" he asked.

"Already done. The marines are packed and in position. Their orders are to protect the researchers and help them load their gear the second the drop ships arrive. All we can do now is wait and hope Andua knows what he is doing with that fancy ship of his. I hate this part. Marines are no good in space and I'm no Navy strategist," Danton grumbled.

Haverson would be happy to let the Navy take care of any fighting if it meant that he didn't have to face whatever was inbound on the ground. He was not afraid, but he didn't seek out trouble either. Sarge radioed in that the perimeter defenses were ready. Haverson let Danton know, who Grunted like he expected nothing less.

"Bring the aft rail guns to bear on the incoming target" ordered Captain Andua. Make sure the Corvettes are in position. Have the scouts hide in the planet's gravity well and get that useless re-supply ship out of here!" he bellowed.

"Where should I put it?" Ensign Rodolf asked. "I don't care," Andua spat. "Put it on the dark side of the planet and don't let it out until I signal all clear."

The unidentified ship moved closer and everyone held their breath. This was the first alien ship the humans had ever encountered. They hoped for the best, but were prepared for the worst.

The Covenant ship was little more than a scout. The crew certainly did not expect to encounter any problems. While Mannis Arturis Two was technically in Covenant controlled space, it was essentially useless. The only excitement it had ever enjoyed was the brief and recently ended Grunt rebellion. However, the Covenant command had received a signal from the Jackal gravesite that something had disturbed the rest of the fallen soldiers and had ordered a scout ship to investigate. The crew expected to find some of the indigenous worms had disturbed the passive transponders, setting them off.

As the ship neared orbit, the sensors picked up something interesting. A ship of some sort surrounded by two smaller vessels in a flanking pattern. They also picked up three other ships that must have thought they were hidden by the planet's gravity well, a mistaken thought and one lumbering ship on the far side of the planet. Whoever these intruders were, they had a bit to learn about Covenant sensors. They also detected the life forms on the planet, but figured they could deal with them at their leisure after they took out the ships.

The Covenant swooped in with abandon. After all, they had never encountered another race with space faring technology and figured this ragged group that could not even hide itself effectively, was no real threat. The Covenant ship had a plasma cannon, energy shields and armor piercing missiles. It only had a complement of six Jackal soldiers and ten Grunts, more than enough to tackle the 30 life forms scattered around on the ground.

The Antioch tried hailing the incoming ship with no success. "If they hear us, they are not responding" said Ensign Rodolf.

"Fire a shot across their bow," ordered Captain Andua. "That ought to get their attention." Ensign Rodolf sent a missile within three kilometers of the incoming ship. It neither slowed, nor showed any kind of response.

Suddenly and without warning three bright streams of energy shot out of the alien vessel. Two scouts, supposedly hidden by the planets gravity well, were immediately destroyed. Commodore Nathan gasped. Andua, a bit more used to combat, ordered the Antioch to return fire from its forward rail gun. The first shot shuddered the attacking ship, but seemed to glance off some sort of energy shield. It fired again and damaged one of the corvettes. Andua ordered both corvettes to return fire with its missiles and the Antioch to fire at will. Ensign Rodolf coordinated the attack from the Antioch. One rail gun and both of the corvettes' missile batteries fired at the same time.

The Covenant ship took direct hits and showed no ill effects except a slight slowing of its approach. It fired three more of the energy blasts, which finished off the damaged corvette, winged the other so that it went into a spin and destroyed the remaining scout. In less than two minutes the Covenant had destroyed all three scouts, one corvette and had damaged the other. No apparent damage had been done to the Covenant ship. It had not even bothered to return the Antioch's fire yet.

Captain Andua and Commodore Nathan, who had recovered from the shock, conferred quickly. The alien vessel obviously had some sort of energy shielding. Its weapons were also energy based and the onboard computer had determined that it was some sort of concentrated plasma. They were up against some formidable technology. Andua ordered the computer to constantly down load all data to both Major Danton's planet based computer and to a remote communications drone they had dropped on the fringe of this system that would eventually broadcast a scrambled signal to the nearest human outpost.

Nathan knew that if they had any chance at all of surviving this encounter, he had to do something radical and quickly. He radioed the remaining corvette with his plan. Her captain was an old friend of Nathan's and he hoped he was not ordering her to her death.

The corvette blasted into the path of the oncoming ship. "Execute the forward battle roll!" ordered Nathan. Ensign Rodolf entered the necessary commands into the flight computer, but then executed the roll himself manually. The huge earth ship dropped her nose and began a graceful somersault designed to bring her two rear rail guns to bear on the incoming ship. During the roll, she was completely defenseless and could bring no weapons to bear. That was where the other scout came in. It flew into the flight path of the Covenant ship and acted as a sword and shield at the same time. Her captain ordered all remaining missiles fired and kept her ship between the Covenant ship and the Antioch.

The Covenant ship launched a missile that appeared to head off in the direction of the re-supply ship on the other side of the planet. The Sparta was on her own and Nathan gave it no thought. At the same moment, the Covenant ship unleashed a concentrated plasma beam intended for the defenseless Antioch. Fortunately for the Antioch the corvette took the full force of the plasma beam. That was not good for the corvette that essentially disintegrated. By the time the debris cleared, the Antioch had brought its two aft rail guns to bear. Nathan ordered a double barrage and fired his remaining missiles in a desperate attempt to stop the Covenant ship.

Both rail guns made direct hits and the missiles either hit or exploded very near by. However, the Covenant ship had managed to fire one of its plasma cannon at nearly the same instant. Captain Nathan had already ordered the hull plating to be energized the instant the Antioch had fired. She took a glancing blow.

When the dust had settled, rather the debris had disbursed, the Covenant ship was badly damaged. But, so was the Antioch. She had one reactor still barely online, life support and computers, but that was about it. She had no way to fire again and was still fighting for her life as fires burned all over the ship and air vented from breaches on over half the decks. The crew spent all its energy putting out fires and patching breaches. Commodore Nathan, the only person on the ship without an assigned task during combat, watched the Covenant ship enter the planet's atmosphere. However, while it clearly was not undamaged, it looked like it was making a controlled emergency landing- not far from where the marines and researchers were anxiously waiting. Commodore Nathan radioed Major Danton that things were not well in orbit and that he could expect company soon. Then even the Antioch's radio failed.

REGROUPING

On the far side of the planet another encounter was playing itself out. The missile launched by the Covenant ship had been targeted to take out the re-supply ship. It sped unerringly around the planet toward the Sparta. Supply ships had no weapons and no shielding. It was basically little more than a refrigerator with an engine. However, it did have sensors of a sort and an unusual captain.

Lieutenant Keyes was commanding his first ship. Even though he was technically the captain of the ship, his rank remained lieutenant. Most earth captains had to pay their dues by working a supply ship, a mapping ship or an ore hauler before they moved on to a real ship. This was Keyes' first. While the ship only had three crew, Keyes and two mates, it ran efficiently. Keyes had managed to bounce his sensors off some junk that orbited Mannis Arturis Two, junk not big enough to qualify as a moon, but big enough to bounce sensors off. The crew watched in horror as first the task force was decimated and then as the Covenant ship launched what was obviously a missile intended for them.

"What in the name of Mars do we do?" asked co-first mate (as there were only two mates, Keyes gave them equal titles) Kevin Jones?

"Hold our breath and pray," answered co-first mate Sheila Janes.

Keyes had other ideas. "Put us in a steep dive toward the planet," he ordered. Jones and Janes looked at him like he was nuts. Then Janes entered the command into the guidance computer and executed it. The ship started a steep dive. "Okay, Janes, when I give the signal enter and execute these coordinates."

Jones looked at the coordinates and smiled. "Assuming we don't fry first, that should pop us off the atmosphere. But, what if the bird that is after us is not so stupid?" he asked. "Or, what if it bounces off and comes around again?"

"Good Questions. And judging by the way they sliced through our ships, I'm guessing that this missile is smarter than the average bear. That's why we are going to give it something else to think about." While the Sparta had no weapons, it was chock full of stuff, including fuel for cooking and powering the fighters in the Antioch's hold and the vehicles on the planet. With most of the task force already destroyed, there was little need for most of the extra fuel.

"Jones, when I give you the order, blow cargo hold 3a. That's the one with the diesel, right?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." he responded. "And maybe a few blasts of the signal beacons to ignite it all?"

"Exactly what I had in mind," replied Keyes. "But, timing is everything. Janes, I'll give your command first. Jones, I'll give your command second. Why do you have such similar names anyway?" he mused. "It doesn't matter, no matter what I say; you both execute your tasks when I say now."

The three started to sweat as they tracked the inbound missile. They now no longer were bouncing their sensors off the orbiting junk. It was close enough for direct observation and moving fast. Keyes nearly held his breath as the Sparta neared the atmosphere and started to heat up from the friction. The missile closed. He waited until the last possible moment and then calmly ordered "Now."

Janes and Jones executed their tasks. The Sparta shuddered from the release of the contents of cargo hold 3a and from the sudden course change. The new trajectory made it bounce off the outer fringes of the planet's atmosphere and careen into space. The missile looked like it was not fooled by that little trick. However, as it flew threw the fuel, Jones fired the signal beacon that ignited the fuel. The missile thought it was the heat of the ship and exploded without wondering why the ship had appeared three seconds ahead of its computations. No matter, it exploded. The Sparta shuddered again, but sustained no damage. It lived to fight, or at least re-supply another day; assuming there were any ships left to re-supply.

Lieutenant Keyes let out a long breath he didn't even realize he had been holding. "Yeah!" Jones and Janes both exclaimed at once. "It worked," Keyes murmured.

"Set a course for the other side of the planet," Keyes ordered. He wondered if there would be any earth ships left. After an agonizingly slow trip the Sparta finally moved to the side where the human task force had taken on the Covenant ship. It was only later that the humans learned that the Covenant ship was nothing more than a scout with very little weaponry. It had managed to take out three scouts, two corvettes and disabled the best ship the humans presently had to offer. The Covenant ship was not even destroyed. It had made a soft landing on the planet.

Keyes made visual contact with the Antioch, but could not raise anyone on the radio. He spoke with Major Danton on the surface and confirmed that the Covenant ship had landed not far from his position. Then Captain Keyes ordered Jones to signal the Antioch visually with it lights. Even the most modern ships had the ability to signal just like the sailing ships of old.

Commodore Nathan ordered the Sparta to dock and unload repair parts and equipment. However, Lieutenant Keyes discovered that the Antioch's docking stations were damaged beyond use. After some discussion, Commodore Nathan ordered the Sparta to stay and offer any support it could to the marines and researchers on the planet. The Antioch would limp its way back to the nearest human station, effect repairs and send help. She still had one reactor and with luck could use her slipstream drive. Keyes watched the Antioch move off slowly and then gave his attention to the surface of the planet.

"Prepare the ship to land," Keyes offered. Jones and Janes turned from their stations and looked at him like he had three eyes.

"Land?" asked Janes. "Supply ships can't land. Can they?" he asked.

"Oh yes," replied Captain Keyes. "Watch us."

Supply ships were not technically designed to land and Lieutenant Keyes knew that. However, all earth designed ships were designed to survive an emergency crash landing, even the Antioch theoretically could survive one. That was the problem though. It was all theory and had never been tested. Keyes not only intended to survive the landing, but he fully expected to end up in a position to take off again if needed. That little trick was not something even the engineers had anticipated when they designed the supply ship.

Keyes radioed Major Danton and explained his plan. One problem was that Keyes could only approximate his landing site and he also had to find a hill steep enough and tall enough to come to rest against if the Sparta had any hope of taking off again. Keyes explained his plan to Jones, Janes and Danton. "We will come in low and hard and try to make sure we end up with our tail in the mud and our nose pointing up a suitably high hill. But, we won't be able to pick one until we get a visual so we may end up a bit further away from the camp than hoped. Danton considered the plan and wished Keyes luck. He would be happy to have a few extra men and the contents of one particular storage locker.

Jones and Janes buttoned up the ship, which really meant just double checking that nothing had come loose. Supply ships were always buttoned up and packed tight unless empty. Keyes assigned Jones the job of spotting a suitable hill and Janes the job of firing the stabilizing rockets to keep the ship upright when it touched (crashed was not how Keyes wanted to think of it) down. Keyes would handle the piloting duties personally.

He brought the ship in a great distance from the camp and tried to give Jones as much time and as many options as possible to find the perfect spot. Janes hovered nervously over the stabilizing rockets ready to compensate for any roll. The Sparta, never graceful in space, glided remarkably well. Janes only had to nudge the stabilizer rockets a few times to keep the ship steady. Keyes' entire concentration was on keeping the ship level. Jones simply could not find anything that looked like a decent spot to land.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jones let out an excited breath. "There Captain, six degrees to starboard. It looks perfect." Keyes saw it and agreed. He made the necessary course correction while Jones kept the Sparta straight. Keyes let the ship drop into the mud on its belly where it skipped and slid towards the hill. If he had judged wrong the Sparta would either wind up short of the hill and be unable to take off or shoot over the top of the hill and probably crash on the other side.

It looked as if they were heading for the over shoot scenario. Janes saw the same thing. "Captain!" she shouted. "The ship seems level. I can re-align the stabilizer rockets to point forward and act like a brake."

"Do it," Grunted Keyes, sweat running down his face. Janes re-aligned the stabilizer rockets and fired them for a full cycle. All three held their breath as the Sparta came to rest with its nose just cresting the top of the hill, pointing toward the stars like it knew where it belonged. Janes whooped and Jones and Keyes checked all the monitors to make sure no serious damage had happened to the ship. The engineers had done well. The skid plates had absorbed the friction and rocks and debris the ship had slid over without causing a hull breach. The engines and all critical systems appeared intact.

SGT. THOMAS ARRIVES

Keyes radioed Major Danton. "We are on the ground Major. However, we are quite a good distance from your location."

"Understood," Danton replied. Keyes could hear awful sounds in the background. It sounded like small arms fire and something else he could not identify. "We are under attack by whatever was on the ship that crash landed. They have some sort of energy weapon. We won't last long."

"Lieutenant, listen carefully. In the last storage locker is a man in cryo. He is not on your cargo list, but trust me, he is there. His designation is Spartan 101 and his name is Jake Thomas. He holds the rank of sergeant. Thaw him out, give him the situation report and send him here as quickly as you can. Use emergency revival techniques. Don't worry he can handle it. And lieutenant, don't be surprised or frightened by what you see when you unfreeze him. I'll explain him to you later, assuming there is a later."

Mannis Arturis Two- Planet Side Camp

As soon as the Covenant ship landed the crew, Grunts and Jackals both, unloaded. As it was a scout ship, they had no heavy weapons and no Banshee fliers. The Grunts had plasma rifles, body armor and tracking enhancement equipment. The Jackals had hand held energy shields, fully automatic plasma rifles, concussion and shock grenades and enhanced tracking equipment. Both groups were networked for instantaneous communication and the ranking Jackal was in command. His orders were typical Covenant battle orders. Surround the enemy and attack.

It would be a difficult assignment as the intruders, the humans, had already established a defensive perimeter and had dug in over a wide circle. But, the Covenant had no trouble pinpointing each human's location. As the Grunts fanned out to the far side of the defensive circle, the Jackals started to take out the human sentries one by one. A few of the marines managed to get off shots, but they bounced harmlessly off the Jackal's energy shields. Only shots to the back or a sustained burst or a maybe a grenade had any chance of taking out a Jackal.

Sarge started gathering very limited intelligence as the marines were taken out one at a time. "Lieutenant, we are up against something we are not prepared to handle," he complained. It appears the attackers have some sort of energy shield and energy weapons. They also seem to know exactly where we are. I think we are being flanked and methodically picked off."

Lt. Haverson thought for a moment and spoke to Major Danton over a secure channel. They conferred for a moment and came to a decision. "Sarge, pull all our men back to the fallback positions near the camp and wait for my orders. Lt. Haverson took one of the marines and headed toward the attacking Jackals. As he already knew the terrain, he knew where the best cover was. Even if the Jackals could tell he was there, he was shielded by rocks and hills. A Jackal moved past them and Lt. Haverson silently motioned to the marine. Once the Jackal was fully past they opened up with there M6A's which ripped into the Jackal's unprotected back. It went down in pool of blood.

"Major, you were right. The shields only work from the front. Pass the word to the troops and redeploy for maximum effect," he suggested. Danton was no fool and passed the word. However, even attempting to lure the Jackals in and hitting them after they went by was no guarantee of success. The humans were still out gunned.

Just then the Grunts who had worked their way all the way around the defensive perimeter attacked. The marines had to take them on directly. However, they learned that while the Grunts had body armor, direct hits from their guns could take them down. Sarge organized the defense and had his men concentrate their fire on one Grunt at a time. The two sides fought to a standstill But, Sarge knew that would not be good enough. The Grunts just had to occupy the marines long enough for the Jackals to fight through and then the stalemate would end.

Lt. Haverson and the two marines with him fought a running retreat at they tried to hook up with Sarge and the rest of the marines. The Jackals were relentless and their shields gave them an advantage that superior tactics alone could not overcome. One of the marines went down under a barrage of Jackal plasma fire. Lt. Haverson yelled to the surviving marine to follow him at a dead run. They risked being out in the open in order to make haste. By the time they rejoined Sarge, his group had already fallen back to the main camp. Other than the researchers, who had not yet come under fire and had no weapons anyway, there were few marines left. The Grunts were approaching from one side and the Jackals were closing in from the other.

Major Danton ordered the surviving marines to form a circle around the researcher and lay down as much fire as possible. Danton himself directed where to lob the few remaining concussion grenades they had left. However, it was only a matter of time before they all succumbed to the attack. Two marines fell as the Jackals got closer. The Grunts seemed oblivious to the casualties they were taking. Lt. Haverson and Major Danton looked at each other and realized they were doomed.

Then from the rear flank a commotion erupted and Grunts seemed to go flying into the air. The Grunts switched their attention from the marines to the new threat. Danton ordered the marines to ignore the Grunts and focus all their fire power toward the Jackals. He lobbed the rest of the grenades and Sarge opened up with the one tripod mounted machine gun. Lt. Haverson and the rest of the marines filled the air with lead. Under the combined weight of the marines' defense the Jackals shields weakened and failed and they had to dig in. Lt. Haverson could not help but wonder what was slicing through the Grunts. Even while he was firing at the Jackals he looked over his shoulder to see what was going on behind him.

Major Danton yelled, "Don't worry, son. Help is on the way. We just have to hold off these crazy things a few more minutes."

Lt. Haverson knew that the supply ship had crash landed, but he thought it was too far away to be of any help and one brand new commander and two mates were not the kind of help that would amount to much. However, something had sure gotten the Grunts' attention and was smashing them to pieces. And then the most amazing thing strode into the defensive circle and saluted Major Danton. It appeared to be a marine, but he was quite a bit larger than any marine Lt. Haverson had ever met.

His insignia showed Sergeant, but is uniform looked more like a suit of armor than a marine uniform. He was armed to the teeth and looked like he knew what he was doing. The armor had obviously taken some hits from the Grunt's plasma rifles, but had only burned away some of the armor without penetrating. Lt. Haverson overheard Major Danton call the newcomer Sergeant Thomas. And then he noticed a badge the said "Spartan 101."

"Spartan, flank the enemy on the right and pinch them between us and you. Lt. Haverson, accompany Sergeant Thomas in his flanking maneuver. Feel free to adjust his orders based on your observations of the situation, but trust his judgment when it comes to implementing the general guidelines of my orders. Understood?" asked Major Danton.

"Yes, sir," stammered Lt. Haverson. He trotted off after this huge marine as he moved purposely to flank the Jackals. It was all Lt. Haverson could do to keep up with Thomas. The Spartan moved with grace, speed and stealth like no man Haverson had ever seen. Once they had moved far enough around the Jackals, Thomas and Lt. Haverson started to move in from the rear. Lt. Haverson was amazed that the Jackals did not have sentries protecting their rear, but maybe they only thought of moving ahead. Either that, or they had such disdain for the marines that they did not think they needed to bother protecting their rear.

The big Spartan moved in and took out two Jackals without even being noticed. A group of three Jackals was clustered behind a small rock. Sgt. Thomas took aim with M6A submachine gun and started firing. Lt. Haverson did the same. The Jackals went down in a heap, but the firing attracted the attention of the rest. Two popped up and opened up on Sgt. Thomas and Lt. Haverson's position. Lt. Haverson dropped for cover, but Thomas ignored the Jackal's fire and fired back. He held the M6 with one arm and pulled out a M6C pistol and started firing with the other.

Emboldened (and a little embarrassed) by Sgt. Thomas' action, Lt. Haverson stood and fired his own weapon. Thomas looked over his shoulder and yelled for Lt. Haverson to get down. "You don't have the armor that I do" he yelled. It was then that Lt. Haverson noticed that the occasional burst of plasma fire hit Thomas, but his armor appeared to deflect most of it. It glowed red hot where it hit, and must have hurt like mad, but was not fatal. Lt. Haverson decided he could risk lobbing a few grenades from behind the rock he was shielded by. He hurled them in the direction of the biggest group of Jackals. They were scattered by the explosion. There shields partially protected some of them, but they were temporarily out of the fight.

Now the Jackals were confused. This unexpected threat from behind was taking its toll and they could not ignore the other marines that they had been slowly taking out. Without a withering stream of plasma fire now coming at the marines, and the unprotected backs of the Jackals starting to appear, Major Danton and his men started to do some damage of their own. But, not too much as they still had to contend with the Grunts coming from the other side.

Sgt. Thomas waded into the remaining concentration of Jackals, blasting with both weapons and even taking out a few with round house blows when he got close enough. Lt. Haverson continued to provide covering and distracting fire as he ran from rock to rock. He was absolutely stunned by the ferocity of Thomas and his seeming imperviousness to pain. They mopped up the remaining Jackals and turned their attention to the Grunts. Though not as well armed or shielded as the Jackals, they were as ferocious. However, under the sustained fire of the marines and Sgt. Thomas, a one man army, the last of the Grunts was finally dealt with.

Major Danton, Lt. Haverson and Sarge huddled in the main tent and debriefed. "If there are many more of these creatures in the galaxy, we are in trouble" noted the Major. Just then Lt. Keyes and Ensign Janes were escorted into camp by one of the marine sentries. "Welcome, Lt. Keyes" said Danton. "Obviously you were able to land your ship or we would not have had the pleasure of meeting Sgt. Thomas."

"We may have managed more than just landing," explained Keyes. "With the help of Janes here and Jones, who is back at the ship, we landed her so her nose is pointed up. I think we can get off this rock and back to friendlier space."

Danton lit up with that news and started organizing the camp for immediate evacuation to the Sparta. While the Sparta was not going to be the most comfortable ship to carry the remaining marines and the researchers, it was sure a lot better option than waiting on the surface of Mannis Arturis Two for more Covenant ships to arrive. Within twenty-four hours the Sparta was in space and slip streaming back to the nearest human outpost. It was even possible that they would beat the Commodore's heavily damaged ship back.

RETURN TO MANNIS ARTURIS TWO

EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, REACH MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH

Commodore Nathan, Captain Andua, Major Danton and Lieutenants Haverson and Keyes were getting the fifth degree from the tribunal of Generals, Commodores and other high ranking officials that made up the command structure of the human's military. Obviously, they did not want to believe that their most powerful ship and an elite task force had been taken out by what appeared to be nothing more than a Covenant scout ship. Keyes was the one that coined the word Covenant to describe the aliens they had encountered. He had monitored the Covenant ship communications and his computer had partially cracked their language. Covenant was a word the came up over and over and seemed to describe them. It also appeared that they had a hierarchical society structure that the computers translated into religious terms. The beings they had encountered (Jackals and Grunts) appeared to be at the bottom. How many other layers existed was still a mystery.

"Get back out to that miserable planet, trace them back to wherever the devil they came from and learn something useful" barked one of the irritated generals. "And this time make sure that a blasted supply ship is not the only effective one in the lot."

Commodore Nathan knew an order when he heard one and ushered his little group out of the meeting hall. "Captain Andua" he said "Put together a task force of quick thinking and experienced officers. Make sure Lt. Keyes, Major Danton, Lieutenant Haverson, Sarge and Sgt. Thomas are on the list. We will take two cruisers, one corvette and one supply ship and nothing else. I want our task force to be lean and maneuverable. I think Keyes should have the corvette, don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, sir", replied Captain Andua, which was both an answer and an acknowledgment of Nathan's orders. Andua, Danton, Haverson and Keyes went off to put together their team. Within four days the task force was slip streaming back to Mannis Arturis Two; the third time the humans checked in on what was becoming a most troublesome planet.

MANNIS ARTURIS TWO- Covenant CONTROLLED SPACE.

Commodore Nathan was not about to be caught unaware a second time. He sent his landing force of researchers and marines down to the planet's surface and deployed his ships at their extreme sensor range from the planet. The researchers could not really trace a slip stream jump, but could generally determine the direction the Covenant ship had come from. What Nathan really hoped for was that another Covenant ship would show up and they could either disable and capture it or follow it without being detected. Both plans had little chance of success, but there were no other options.

The Covenant was getting more than a little annoyed that Mannis Arturis Two was causing trouble. First, the Grunts had staged a distracting revolt that had drained resources to quell. Then a scout ship sent to investigate their grave site had simply failed to report or return. This time the Covenant command sent a small corvette class ship of its own commanded by an Elite and included several Elite warriors. Elites were a class of warrior that had command capabilities and were a step up from the Jackals the human forces had had serious trouble dealing with. Of course, none of the humans knew what was coming.

The humans had barely finished setting up camp and deploying their ships when the Covenant ship arrived. It quickly landed its ground forces and reestablished orbit around the planet. Commodore Andua waited patiently to see what happened on the ground. Neither he nor Captain Andua was anxious to test this new Covenant ship without more information. Besides, the ground forces had Sgt. Thomas with them who seemed to know what he was doing.

Nathan ordered Keyes to take his corvette to the edge of the system where the Covenant ship had appeared and try to get meaningful readings to determine what direction it had come from. Keyes was anxious to engage the Covenant ship, but decided making that request was going to fall on deaf ears. Besides, he was quite certain that his corvette, while fast, was probably out gunned. Also, his ship was the only one that could easily land and retrieve the ground forces. He moved his corvette, the Stinger, to the edge of the system and started taking readings.

Major Danton had deployed his forces in a rough semi-circle behind the Covenant grave site. His marines, commanded by Lt. Haverson on the left flank and by Sarge on the right, had a punishing field of fire aimed at the grave site. The Covenant forces that arrived had apparently not detected the human's presence. Automatic weapons, mortar and other guided projectile weapons were all aimed at the grave site.

The Covenant warriors appeared unconcerned. Sarge recognized the ones called Grunts and the ones called Jackals, but there was a new kind that looked like they were in control. Sarge considered them to be elite based on their uniforms and apparent authority. His thoughts did not give him comfort. But, he had seen Sgt. Thomas in action and knew that he was with Major Danton in the middle of the human forces. That and the element of surprise had to count for something.

The Covenant forces milled around for a few hours and then became strangely quiet. Lt. Haverson hoped that meant they were in some sort of rest cycle and would not be causing any trouble. He suspected otherwise and his suspicions were quickly confirmed. Suddenly and without warning the Grunts and Jackals advanced and began firing on the human's positions. The attack came so suddenly that the field of fire the humans had so carefully set up was nearly neutralized.

Major Danton gave the order to open fire and the marines cut loose even while making adjustments to the field of fire. While the Grunts had nothing but conventional armor, their speed, ferocity and innate ability to hit the deck made them very difficult to contain. They raced ahead of the Jackals that were even harder to take down because of their personal shields. The Elites (Sarge's name had stuck) hung behind and waited.

Danton kept Sgt. Thomas in reserve until the first wave of Grunts was nearly on top of them. Then Danton ordered Thomas into the fray. His combination of speed, fire power and ferocity drove the Grunts back or into submission. The marines could mop up while Sgt. Thomas turned his attention to the Jackals. They were decidedly more difficult to handle and Sgt. Thomas was forced to use less speed and more caution.

On the right flank, Sarge and his marines were having a slightly easier time of it. Sarge, being experienced and naturally suspicious, had made sure his troops were ready to shift their field of fire instantly. He was not taken by surprise as badly as the rest. He also remembered that the Jackal's shields were only partial and generally only provided protection from head on attacks. Sarge had some of his troops intentionally fire in front of, to the side and behind the Jackals to stir up dust and confusion. He had other troops fire grenades at the Jackals, feet to knock them off balance and had the balance of his troops fire straight on when the Jackals were turned by the confusion. Sarge's tactics were mostly successful.

Lt. Haverson, however, was having a tougher time of it. The Covenant forces had concentrated their troops on the left flank. There were more of them to contend with, the marines were not fast enough to change their field of fire and a few of the Elites had joined in on this part of the battle. Haverson quickly realized that the Elites had full energy shields, making them nearly impossible to take down and even more powerful weapons than the Jackals.

While Sarge and Danton's troops were holding off the Covenant attack or even driving it back due to Sgt. Thomas' skill, Lieutenant Haverson and his marines were getting pounded. If either part of the defensive shield fell, the entire human force was likely to fall. Haverson tried to radio for help, but the Covenant had figured out what band the humans were operating on and had jammed the signal. He was in trouble and his troops had no where left to retreat to. Sgt. Thomas realized that the left flank was faltering and motioned to Danton that he was going to go help. Danton ordered his marines to mop up the remaining Grunts and Jackals and sent off a courier to Sarge to see if he could spare any troops.

Sgt. Thomas had taken a few indirect hits from Covenant plasma weapons, but not enough to burn all the way through his armor. He also realized that he could use the plasma weapons dropped by dead Covenant troops and that they burned through their shields better than a constant barrage of bullets could. He picked up two plasma weapons and ran to help Lieutenant Haverson and his embattled troops.

Sgt. Thomas fought his way to Lt. Haverson's position. Haverson and two other wounded marines were all that were left. They were huddled in a small depression with Haverson heroically blasting away at the approaching Grunts and Jackals. He may have even managed to hold off the remaining Grunts and Jackals, but the Elites and their complete energy shields were unstoppable.

Sgt. Thomas figured the marines could handle the remaining Covenant forces on the other two engagements, but that were not going to be able to deal with the Elites in their weakened condition. He counted five of them and they appeared ready to enter the fray. Sgt. Thomas calculated that they were more than capable of taking out all the remaining human forces unless something drastic happened. He made a decision about how to handle them and made his suggestion to Lt. Haverson. The Lieutenant was nearly exhausted and not thinking clearly, but thought Thomas' plan might buy the rest of his forces some time to regroup and get off the planet alive.

Sgt. Thomas was going to let Lt. Haverson lure the Elites into a trap. His plan was to engage the Elites and set off his one and only mini bomb. A mini bomb was hardly bigger than a hand grenade and would certainly take out even the Elites' shields, or so he hoped.

Haverson started a running battle in which he led the Elites roughly in a circle. The Elites were fast, but Haverson had the advantage of knowing where he was going, of not really trying to do any damage (his gun could not penetrate the Elites' shields anyway) and of knowing the terrain. He only had to last long enough for Sgt. Thomas to find a suitable hiding place and arm the mini bomb. After a few of the Elites' plasma blasts came closer than he would have liked, Haverson made his way to the trap.

Sgt. Thomas stood up started blasting every weapon he had at the Elites. Four of them turned their attention to him. While barely avoiding the plasma blasts, Sgt. Thomas made a hasty retreat. Just as the Elites passed over the hidden mini bomb, Sgt. Thomas hit the remote detonator. He was cutting it awfully close as he had no energy shields and only armor. The blast took out three of the four Elites and injured the fourth. Sgt. Thomas was shaken badly, burned in several places and disoriented, but alive. He moved back to the blast site where the injured Elite was just picking itself up.

Sgt. Thomas engaged the Elite in hand to hand combat. The Elite was stronger, but still shaken. Sgt. Thomas still had armor, but no weapons left with any ammunition. The two combatants attacked and defended in a bizarre contest of similar but different forms of martial arts. Sgt. Thomas used jiu jitsu and the Elite used a technique very similar to karate. They fought furiously.

Lt. Haverson had to deal with the fifth Elite that had gone after him. While Haverson had lots of ammunition and the high ground, the Elite had fully functioning shields and plasma weapons, not to mention a single minded killer instinct. Haverson gave ground and did his best to hold off the Elite.

MANNIS ARTURIS TWO- HIGH ORBIT

The troops on the ground were not the only humans with problems. The Covenant corvette had detected the earth ships and was powering up weapons. Commodore Nathan turned over tactical control to Captain Andua who was issuing orders to his crew and the other earth ships.

Andua's ship and the matching cruiser started a slow dance around the Covenant corvette. The earth ships were bigger, but lacked the energy shielding and plasma weapons the Covenant ship had. Andua had learned from Keyes' last encounter that Covenant missiles were only somewhat susceptible to traditional counter-measures such as chaff and electronic jamming, but could be stopped. He was pretty sure he could hold off a missile attack. The plasma weapons were a different matter. His hope was that if he kept an extreme distance the earth ships could at least attempt to dodge the weapons. While later encounters with more advanced Covenant ships would prove this to be a false hope, this older Covenant ship did not have the targeting capability to allow it to adjust the plasma blast's trajectory. It could only fire in a straight line.

By keeping the Covenant ship between them, Andua was sure he could maintain enough distance to dodge the plasma weapons. The only potential flaw in the tactic was that the earth ships' MAC guns were straight shot capable also. Unless they could actually hit the Covenant ship, it was not likely to bother with one while it hunted the other. Both ships tied their main computers into the targeting system to give maximum computing power. They also engaged their most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) programs to assist. The AI's were relatively new to military purposes, but had been proving themselves very valuable.

The Covenant corvette made a decision and fired at Andua's ship. He had guessed correctly and was able, barely, to avoid the plasma blast. When the Covenant ship started to move at his, the sister ship unloaded its forward MAC cannons and an array of missiles. One MAC shot made a direct hit, which was just enough to distract the Covenant ship and give Andua time to move off again.

Meanwhile, Keyes' corvette was essentially forgotten. Lt. Keyes made the decision that with a battle happening his orders were subject to interpretation. He moved his corvette into the shadow of the planet and kept a close eye on the developments. His one MAC cannon would have to get pretty lucky to take out this Covenant ship. He would later get his chance to test his luck. For now, however, the two cruisers were the main attraction.

ON THE GROUND

Sgt. Thomas took a blow to his sternum from the Elite that spun him around and landed on his stomach. As the Elite sprung to land on Sgt. Thomas' back with the killing blow, Thomas pulled his service knife from his boot, rolled over and caught the Elite in the left shoulder just as it was about to do the same to him. The Elite screamed in agony and Thomas shoved and twisted his blade with all the strength he had left. The Elite rolled off and onto his back. Sgt. Thomas leapt up and plunged his blade into the Elite's torso. He twisted again, but the Elite still did not die. Sgt. Thomas pulled his knife out and got ready to jam it into the Elite's throat. Instead of fear, the Elite's eyes showed defiance and peacefulness- almost like it was pleased to die in battle and was not intimidated by Thomas. Sgt. Thomas hesitated only a moment, wondering what the Elite knew that he did not, and then plunged the knife into the Elite's throat. It gurgled once and then was quiet.

IN HIGH ORBIT

Captain Andua's ship and the other cruiser kept up a dangerous dance around the Covenant corvette. Neither got too close, nor too far in order to make sure the corvette could not focus on just one. However, the space ballet was not really accomplishing anything. Andua was not sure if the Covenant forces could intercept or even translate his radio communications, but was hesitant to find out by sending any messages. However, it was impossible to coordinate an attack. The earth forces were not able to accomplish anything more than a standoff.

The Covenant corvette decided to end the standoff and made a decision. It chose the second earth cruiser and made a concerted run at it. The corvette lay down a spread pattern of plasma fire as it advanced on the earth ship. It also shot off a spread pattern of missiles to its rear to distract Andua's pursuing cruiser. Andua was able to deal with the missiles, but it did slow him down. The other earth cruiser dodged most of the plasma fire, but was nicked slightly as it wheeled around to retreat.

The Covenant cruiser then veered off toward the planet and the earth forces thought it had a chance to bring a coordinated attack against it. Andua's cruiser bore down from behind and the other cruiser reversed course and started back towards the Covenant ship. Both ships started to fire MAC Cannon and missiles.

From the edge of the system, Lt. Keyes monitored the space battle. He also could not risk radio communication. He watched as the Covenant corvette dove toward the planet. In an instant he knew what was afoot and hoped that Nathan or the other earth captain noticed. However, from their actions, they did not seem to understand the tactic the Covenant commander was employing. Keyes screamed at Ensign Jones to set an intercept course and bring the ship to full speed. Keyes agonized over breaking radio silence, but then decided he had to. He opened a channel to Captain Andua's ship and explained what the Covenant ship was trying to do. He got no response. Whether the Covenant forces could translate human speech was still a question, but they seemed able to jam the transmissions.

Keyes calmly explained his plan to Jones and Janes. "The enemy ship is on a deflection course for the planet's atmosphere. It intends to bounce off the upper atmosphere, which will elude Captain Andua's pursuit, aim right for the other Cruiser and take it down with a full frontal assault from its plasma weapons. Neither captain appears to understand and our radio transmissions are jammed. We will calculate the deflection angle and launch a nuke to intercept at the apex. Whether we can get to a suitable launch point in time is dicey."

"But Captain, we don't have any nukes on missiles," noted Jones.

"And the one nuke we have is intended to be a bomb launched against ground forces," added Janes.

"I understand," noted Keyes. "That is why our timing and launch point have to be perfect. We have a prototype AI on this ship that will help us make the calculations. Boot it up and keep our thrusters at full. Don't worry too much about our course for now. Just keep us going generally toward the planet." Keyes, Jones and Janes watched agonizingly as the two earth ships converged on the Covenant ship, but without realizing what it was planning.

ON THE GROUND

Sgt. Thomas took a few seconds to gather his wits. He was breathing hard from the encounter with the Elite. He had none of his original weapons, except his knife. However, he picked up the plasma gun the Elite had been carrying. While the gauges were foreign, it suggested that it was at least still half charged. He looked around and saw Lt. Haverson fighting a controlled retreat against the remaining Elite. While the LT was certainly heroic, he was out gunned and out muscled by the advancing Elite.

Sgt. Thomas picked himself up and started running toward the Elite. Lt. Haverson was pinned in a small depression and the Elite was advancing slowly, but unstoppably. Mere seconds before the Elite struck the killing blow, Sgt. Thomas managed to get its attention with a glancing plasma burst. Lt. Haverson was exhausted and unable to do anything but watch the two battle. Sgt. Thomas covered the remaining distance and slammed into the Elite. They both lost their plasma weapons and started the odd hand to hand combat the Sgt. and the last Elite had engaged in.

Sgt. Thomas yelled at Lt. Haverson to take cover. He rolled out of the depression and down a small hill, ending next to a rock. Lt. Haverson could just lift his head high enough to watch the human and the alien fight. Both had knives, but the Elite was getting the best of Sgt. Thomas. He had gashes in his armor from the constant slashing from the Elite and was getting very few blows in return. At least the Elite's shields were down, but its body armor was tough. Sgt. Thomas was weakening and Lt. Haverson could offer no help. The Elite slashed over and over and Thomas was bleeding from many wounds. A lesser man would already be dead, but he continued to block and parry as best he could. Finally, Sgt. Thomas went down and the Elite sprang on top of him.

Sgt. Thomas held the Elite's knife hand with his own, but the Elite slowly forced the knife down toward Thomas' chest. Sgt. Thomas turned his head toward Lt. Haverson and mouthed one word, "Grenade." Haverson did have one left. He pulled it from his belt and with what little strength he had left tossed it to Thomas. Sgt. Thomas caught it in his free hand and pulled the priming pin with this teeth. The Elite finally managed to force his knife into Thomas' chest, but with his dying breath he held the Elite and prevented him from moving clear.

Lt. Haverson rolled behind the rock and the grenade went off. When he peeked around the rock the Elite was blown in half and Thomas lay unmoving beneath him. Sarge and a bunch of his marines came running from a distance. Sarge and Major Danton's groups had managed to take out most of the Jackals and Grunts that had attacked and Sarge took some of his marines to help Lt. Haverson and Sgt. Thomas. He was moments too late to help Sgt. Thomas. When Sarge knelt next to the LT he saw tears streaking through his dirty cheeks.

"He saved me by sacrificing himself," Lt. Haverson managed to get out. "He took a grenade to put the Elite down, but did not survive the blast himself. Sgt. Thomas took out all the Elites himself without shields and mostly with scrounged plasma weapons. He even fought two of them in hand-to-hand, but was too weak at the end to beat the last one. I am so ashamed."

Sarge looked at the LT and said, "You should be proud, sir. He did what every marine hopes he will have the courage to do when faced with the situation. He did not blink. He took one for the good of the whole and died a hero."

Lt. Haverson was not much comforted that moment, but in future years he would hear Sarge's words whenever things looked bleak. He also vowed to work to find the weapons it would take to put humans on par with this insidious alien threat. It was a vow that would put him at odds with colleagues, but not that day.

Sarge, the marine and Lt. Haverson gathered up the lifeless body of Sgt. Thomas and slowly worked their way back to the base camp. Sarge reported that things on the ground were secure, but that no word had come from orbit since hostilities had started. All they could do was huddle around the communications array and hope that their victory on the ground would not turn to defeat from a loss in space.

IN ORBIT

Lt. Keyes hoped without reason that his little ship could make it to the battle before it was too late. He could tell from the angle the Covenant ship as on that it was a mere moments from bouncing off the atmosphere of the planet and from springing its trap. On the two human cruisers the crew thought they were about to win this encounter. Both ships were converging and unleashing a punishing amount of fire.

Keyes' AI worked furiously to calculate all the variables so that they could launch the nuke and intercept the Covenant ship as it bounced off the atmosphere. The mechanical voice of the AI broke the tension in the command area, "At our best speed we will only be able to launch the thermonuclear device after the target ship has passed by our own cruiser. The distance is too great to do better than that. Also, the timing is so critical that I recommend you give me helm control."

Lt. Keyes shuddered. He recognized the value of AI, but was loathe to give up command to a machine. "Very well," he responded. Jones and Janes looked aghast. "However, my finger will be hovering mere millimeters over the command button that returns control to me. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the AI responded.

The Corvette raced toward the planet and the battle. They watched the Covenant ship start to throw off a fireworks display of light as its shields hit the outer atmosphere. Both human ships continued to fire away and recklessly pursue the Covenant ship.

On the flagship, its battle AI barked out a warning as it finally worked out the probabilities of what the Covenant ship was attempting. It announced, "Warning, the enemy vessel is using the atmosphere to deceive and misdirect our attack. It intends to bounce off the atmosphere, elude our MAC cannon fire and attack the other cruiser. Our ship will be barely able to avoid burning up in the atmosphere and unable to fire. It will then take out our other ship and then be able to focus all its attention on this ship."

Captain Andua heard the AI, but ignored it. How could a machine figure out what the Covenant captain was up to, he thought. "Continue on the pursuit course and fire the MAC cannon as often as possible," he barked at the lieutenant at the helm. Nathan was confident that he and his sister ship were about to crush the Covenant vessel between their fire.

Captain Andua watched in horror as the AI's warning appeared to come true. The Covenant ship abruptly changed course as it hit the atmosphere. Nathan's ship was unable to match the sudden course change and was suddenly preoccupied with not crashing into the planet itself. His ship's weapons went silent as all efforts were focused on pulling out of the pursuit course.

Meanwhile the Covenant cruiser had planned its trajectory perfectly and was lined up with its bow, and its main shields and plasma weapons pointed right at the other approaching cruiser. There was nothing the other cruiser could do. It absorbed the full effect of a Covenant plasma blast and disintegrated.

Lt. Keyes watched in horror and frustration. His ship was still too far away to do anything to help. Keyes watched the Covenant ship start to slow so it could turn its attention to Captain Andua's ship, which was still occupied trying to pull away from the planet's atmosphere. Keye's AI announced, "Nearly ready to launch the weapon." The AI had helm and airlock control, but Keyes was ready to abort that control if he did not like what he saw. The AI spun the ship, opened the airlock and prepared to launch what was supposed to be a ship to ground bomb at a moving target in space. The hardest calculation it had to make was to extrapolate the Covenant ship's course correction abilities to determine where to place the bomb and when to detonate. They could not detonate the bomb remotely. Once it was out the airlock it was set on a timer only.

Keyes and his crew held their breaths. If the Covenant ship had held any power in reserve, or detected the human's plan and accelerated through the blast zone, the effort would fail. The Covenant ship's captain appeared unconcerned with Lt. Keyes, small corvette, probably seeing it as no threat. Keyes began to sweat as the Covenant ship slowed, but came closer and started its turn. He was sure the AI was about to miss the launch point. His hand hovered over the command key that would return control of the bomb's launch to him. However, he knew he could not calculate everything in his head.

Just as Keyes was about to give up and punch the command override button, the AI announced, "Bomb away." Janes tracked the bomb's course and counted off the kilometers to detonation. "Three thousand, twenty-five hundred", she said. The Covenant ship had slowed its forward momentum, turned toward Andua's cruiser and started to move toward it. "Two thousand, fifteen hundred, one thousand, Janes ticked off.

Lt. Keyes was sure the bomb was going to miss. The Covenant ship was picking up speed and Andua's cruiser was only just getting itself under control. However, he was not going to be able to outrun or out maneuver the Covenant ship without the threat of another cruiser to keep it occupied. "Five hundred, four hundred, three hundred," Janes said in a monotone. However, the bomb was not closing the gap nearly as quickly as before. The Covenant ship was accelerating and taking long range pot shots as Andua's cruiser.

Janes announced, "Two hundred kilometers," and then agonizing minutes later, "one hundred fifty kilometers." No one said a word until Keyes asked the AI what the effective range of the bomb was.

"Difficult to calculate," responded the AI. "If the shields are as strong in the stern as the bow, the bomb will have to get to ten kilometers. However, we did not have the speed or time to get the bomb that close. It is set to detonate at twenty kilometers with the expectation that the stern shield are less strong than the bow shields."

Keyes nearly passed out. He had left an assumption to an untested AI. "One hundred kilometers," said Janes. "Eighty, seventy-five, seventy, sixty," and after an interminably long delay, "twenty kilometers," whispered Janes.

Space turned white for a moment. Once the blast had dispersed, everyone looked at the display screen. The Covenant ship was intact. However, it appeared to me unmoving except for inertia and it had certainly stopped firing its plasma weapon. Keyes watched Andua's cruiser finally get under control. Communications was no longer jammed and Nathan spoke directly to Keyes. "Good work, son. You just saved our rear ends. I'm moving in for the kill. Keep your distance in case that little bird has any more surprises."

After what seemed to be forever, Andua's ship worked its way into MAC cannon range. While the Covenant ship did try to move using only thrusters, it was essentially dead in space. One shot from Andua's MAC cannon blew the Covenant ship to bits. Lt. Keyes thought that it would have been better to board and capture the Covenant vessel for study. However, he could not really blame Captain Andua for blasting it out of space.

EPILOGUE

EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM, REACH MILITARY COMPLEX, PLANET REACH

Commodore Nathan finished his debriefing and went to his office where captain Andua and Keyes were waiting. Major Danton and Lt. Haverson were slouched in a corner.

"We are in trouble, gentlemen. I'm not sure that command really believes that it took two cruisers, a corvette and a truly brilliant maneuver by Keyes here to take down one ship that obviously did not expect to find us there. We seem to be able to hold our own on the ground, but they only had a few of those elite soldiers with shields. Who knows what else they have. And, thank God for Sgt. Thomas," said Captain Andua.

"I'm not so sure about that," growled Lt. Haverson. "He may have helped, but he is too much of a lone wolf to suit my tastes."

"He saved your butt," noted Major Danton. "I think the Spartan program needs to go forward.

"Major!" Nathan snapped. "Not everyone in this room is cleared to know about that."

"Sorry, sir."

Lt. Keyes thought about what he had heard. So, Sgt. Thomas was part of a secret military project. What it was designed for he was not sure, but what it could be used for was now painfully clear. If humans were going to be able to meet the Covenant threat, they would need all the help they could muster and if there were more like Sgt. Thomas that would be fine with him.

What Keyes did not know was that the Sgt. Thomas was the only one in the Spartan I project that had survived the process well enough to go into the field. Twenty-four other men and women either died or wished they were dead.

Keyes could tell that Lt. Haverson had a chip on his shoulder about Sgt. Thomas. Amateur psychiatry suggested that he was just feeling guilty because Thomas had made the supreme sacrifice and Haverson had not died with him. Emotions like that could warp a man's perspective.

"I believe that we had better start planning for our next encounter with these Covenant," noted Keyes. The other men nodded somberly.

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