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Halo The fall of Humanity

Chapter 1
In the Beginning…

The year is 2525 and a group of power hungry aliens have made they're move against all humans. United in they're oaths to the prophecy they sweep the galaxy in search of halo. Though an alliance through hatred is a fragile one at best. Though the ages there have been rebellions between races, they were quickly put back in line. Through the years to come these aliens destroyed many of the human colonies one by one. In they're darkest hour the government decided to go ahead with DR. Hasleys project codenamed SPARTEN II. They sent scouts out to the remaining colonies in search of children with special skills that could save them in battle. The chosen subjects were then 'escorted' to the fortress world of Reach the last barrier between the Covenant and Earth. These children were trained and given special enhancers to give them stronger bones, better hearing and eye sight. As they grew older the received special armor that only a person with the Spartans skeletal strength could use, this armor was then code named MJOIR. A lot of people thought of them as freaks in they're new lime green battle suit it made them look sort of half human, half robot. Most people who saw them for the first time stared at them will slack jaws, since they would have never seen armour like that. It covered the Spartans entire body made of different components that made them look they were part of the Covenant.

After the final world had fallen all that was left was Reach and Earth. The Spartans were given they're most important mission to capture a covenant ship, access they're navigation computer and discover the location of the covenant home world. Then use the ship to infiltrate the plant and capture the covenant leadership known as a Prophet. Then return to UNSC (United Nations Space Colony) controlled space to sign a treaty with the covenant. But just a few days before the mission something went wrong…

Chapter 2
Aboard The Pillar of Autumn
2/3/2525

All the Spartans were aboard the Pillar of autumn, the ship appointed to take them to find a covenant ship and capture it. They were all in the Spartans weapons bay preparing their weaponry (such as they're combat knifes, assault rifles and shotguns) when the ship suddenly began to tilt, like a boat about to capsize. The Spartans grabbed the wall for support as they're weapons tipped onto the floor. The Master Chief Spartan-117 Stepped towards the COM link and clicked the button for the bridge. Captain Jacob Keyes face snapped onto the screen "Yes master chief?" Keyes asked. "Sir we've changed our trajectory, what's wrong?" " Maybe I should tell you this in person chief, I'll brief you in the armoury. Keyes out" he replied as the link snapped off.

The doors to the elevator shaft slid open as Keyes walked out onto the deck, "Captain on the deck!" Kelly (Spartan-039) exclaimed over the COM channel in the Spartans helmets. All the Spartans stopped what they were doing and snapped a crisp salute. Keyes returned the salute "at ease". "Master chief we have a situation here, the covenant have found Reach I revived a message from the admiral we have to abandon the mission" Keyes explained. John never liked being in a ship-to-ship battle; he felt so venerable and had no control over what was going to happen. "There are two main objectives once we reach the planet, first the covenant have breached the generator compound for the orbiting cannons, if those guns go offline we won't have a chance. Secondly there's an orbital defence platform in Reach orbit, the covenant are attempting to board. They've killed the crew and are attempting to breach the mainframe. If the covenant got a hold of the information in that database they'll learn everything force deployment, weapons research, Earth. Our only hope is to blow the whole station to pieces with the Autumns MAC gun". "Sir if we use the autumns weapons the data may still survive" the chief explained. "So what do you suggest?" Keyes asked. "What if I split my squad, 4 of us destroy the database and the rest defend the compound," he inquired. "Very well, I'll prepare a pelican drop ship for the ground team and ill arrange for some backup to arrive on the surface to help. As for the others?" he asked. "Just bring the autumn as close to the station as you can, and we'll take care of the rest" the chief said. "Very well have your teams ready in fifteen minutes" Keyes replied as he boarded the elevator to leave. Fred then ran to the chief's side. "Sir, permission to lead blue team sir?" Fred asked. "Denied!" the chief answered "I'll be leading that team, Simon, Sam and Joshua your with me, the rest of you prepare your gear and get to the drop ship" john ordered. "Yes sir!" Everyone shouted as they gathered their gear. The chief knew he would lose team-mates on this mission but that was something he had to face. Chief Mendez had always told him that you would have to sacrifice your team-mates. And there's a difference between spending they're lives and wasting them.

Chapter 3
The Pillar of autumn
Hanger 224
2/3/2525

The Spartan red team boarded the elevator as Sam hit the button for the hanger. There was a sudden jolt as the elevator descended down into the bowels of the ship. There was a shudder as an announcement boomed over the speakers "Attention all personal we have re-entered normal space and are engaging the covenant fleet above Reach. We have received a report of multiple boarding craft among the fleet. Marines prepare for boarding action" as the speakers snapped off the ship began to shudder as enemy plasma began to impact the ship. "Attention all combat personal sensors show inbound covenant boarding craft, stand by to repel borders". That wasn't good the enemy knew the Spartans were on board and the elites honour dictated that enemies so powerful must be destroyed on equal ground.

As the door slid open the Spartans saw gunfights between human forces and the covenant invaders. "All Spartans report to the pelican. Do not engage the enemy unless you are engaged first". Though the Spartans never liked to back down from a fight they needed to get to the ship. The Spartans ran for the pelican as James took the pilots seat. Fred watched out of the back as he saw a group of grunts heading towards the pelican. "Contacts". Linda ran out of the back of the pelican and fired her assault rifle at a control panel next to the door as the bulkhead door began to close locking the aliens behind it. The door hissed closed as the aliens tried to blast they're way through with no affect. James came in on the COM "Ok everyone we're all set. We just need the ignition codes from the hanger terminal". Fred then opened his channel "Err sir would that be the smoking terminal with sparks coming out of it". "Please tell me you didn't shot the terminal". "Ok Linda didn't shoot the dock terminal with her assault rifle". "The only way we can take off is with those codes. The only other place we can get them are from the sub-terminal through the armoury. Linda since you blew up the last terminal you go get them, Fred you too" "What why me?" "Because we need someone to make sure she wont blow up this terminal too" "Ok sir".

Fred and Linda ran through the armoury watching for any sign of the enemy. All the weapons and ammunition had fallen onto the floor during the engagement. As they exited the armoury they looked around to see a large terminal over looking the cryo bay. "I've got this" Linda stepped towards the terminal and began to download the codes to her armours computer. "Look" Fred pointed down into the cryo bay; a group of elites were interrogating a cryo officer. Two elites in blue armour stood back as an elite in black armour raised the officer by the throat and yelled something they couldn't make out before he slammed the officer onto the deck. "Ok got it". The elite looked up and spotted the Spartans. He sharply looked to the other elites and pointed up to the Spartans. The three elites ran out of the cryo bay. The Spartans jetted out of the control room. Fred looked over his shoulder to see the three elites in hot pursuit. They ran back through the armoury as Fred sparked an idea. He grinded to a halt just by the exit and yelled to Linda "GET BACK TO THE SHIP". Linda ran out of the armoury as Fred drew his pistol. He took aim and watched as the perusing elites ran through the door into the armoury lasers blazing. He fired his pistol at the door control, which took the bullet and slammed the door shut. He swivelled around, grabbed a frag grenade from his belt, pulled the pin and lobbed it. He sprinted out of the armoury as he hit the control as the door slid shut. In the locked armoury the elites were standing in a minefield explosives waiting for the spark to give the go ahead for an enormous fiery death. The elite looked down at the crude device that the human had abandoned in time to see it explode.

Fred looked over his shoulder to see the doors blow off and drive 3 inches into the wall. Fred took one last look at the fiery inferno he had created as he and the others scrambled onto the waiting pelican. James keyed in the ignition codes as the engines roared to life. The ship levitated slowly off the deck. James brought the ship about towards the air lock and initiated the rear thrusters as they shot out of the docking bay.
Back in the hanger there was movement in the armoury. From out of the burning heat a large figure with glowing red eyes emerged from what should have been his grave. He stood and watched as the pelican shot out of the hanger. He lost his prey. But not for long.

The space battle was raging past them as they flew avoiding the debris field toward the planet. He looked out the window to see hundreds of covenant drop ships heading towards the surface of reach. As they entered the atmosphere the hull of the pelican flared red hot, the ship would need to slow on they're decent or it would burn up on re-entry. Amy walked into the cockpit to find a worried James fiddling with the controls. "Everything ok?" "No, the control systems are fried". "Can't you do anything"? "I'll see if I can by pass it. You just leave it too me. Go in the back and make sure everyone is ready for when we touch down on reach". Amy left the cockpit as James opened the maintenance hatch.

Meanwhile down hanger 21-A7 a squad of Orbital Shock Drop Troopers or 'Helljumpers' under the command of Major Rowley were preparing for they're mission. "Listen up we've got one important mission. Those Spartans are heading down there to keep that generator facility in one piece. They're going down in a pelican dropship sipping champagne and nibbling appetisers. But we're made of sterner stuff. How are we going down…."? "FEET FIRST" they all yelled together. "Damn right. Now get you're gear and meet at 'hells gateway' in 5 minutes". Shock Troopers entered fights in individual pods; they're weak against anti-air fire and have no weaponry, but made a smaller target and quick to deploy once they hit the ground. Also one hit would result in one death rather than a dozen. The eggheads at fleet HQ had spent millions of Dollars and years developing a way in and this was what they came up with. Upon re-entry the pod burnt inside to temperatures reaching 100 degrees, and that's why they were called the helljumpers. All they had to do was agree, but that took a special kind of crazy. The helljumpers assembled by the pods as they each loaded they're personal craft. Rowley waited until the last pod was filled until she got into hers. She strapped her restraints on, tapped in the ignition codes for the pod and released the safeties. The clock counted down as she looked up to see the last number hit 0.There was a sensation of weightlessness as the pod ejected.

Chapter 4
Location:
Pelican Crash Site
Surface of Reach Unknown Jungle

James awoke on the surface of reach badly hurt; the fall had knocked him unconscious. He rose to his feet and checked his life signs, no permanent damage. He looked around for any of his teammates out of the sixteen that had jumped only 5 remained, Kelly, Fred, Linda, Joseph and himself. "Everyone ok?" he inquired over the COM. As four-acknowledgement lights winked on his helmets HUD. The rest f his squad rose to their feet and looked around confused. Only 2 of his team had assault weapons, so he sent them ahead as scouts. Kelly approached him from behind. "I told you couldn't hotwire it". "No you didn't" James snapped back. "Well I meant to tell you. Instead of hotwiring the controls you fried them". "Kelly why don't you go secure our supplies". "We don't have any supplies." "WHY". "Well judging by the large flaming balls heading for the surface over their looks like our supply canisters broke open" She pointed to some large red dots trailing smoke in the distance. "Well go see what did make it down" James ordered. Kelly saluted and ran back to the pelican. He opened the team roster on his HUD display containing the profiles on all of the Spartans. As he scrolled down searching for the others. He marked the other Spartans MIA, Missing In Action on his mission roaster. So many Spartans were dead and the mission had barley started. He had lost team-mates on missions but never this many and so soon. The others were like family to him they had grown up with each other since the age of eight now they were gone. "Sir you might want to take a look at this" one of the scouts reported over the COM channel. James shrugged the thought out of his mind and ordered his squad to the coordinates Fred had set as a NAV point. They're first priority is to get to the generator facility and see if there are any survivors.

They were into the deep forest when James raised his hand meaning for his squad to get down. He listened through the forest and gave his squad the signal to hold position. Two metres away were two jackals out patrolling the area. Jackals stood about 5 feet high, bony thin bodies with bird like heads and razor sharp teeth. They held covenant plasma pistols that fired large bolts of heated plasma at tremendous speed and portable plasma shields on they're right wrists. A well-aimed shot from one of those would fry the Spartans shields and a second would have a good chance of a kill. He grabbed a rock and instructed Kelly cover him. He waited until they were just in front of him as he leapt from his hiding place and threw the rock right into the first jackal's skull. The second one yelped with surprise as his team-mate fell dead, he charged his weapon and aimed at James head. Just as it was about to fire Kelly leapt out and slammed her fist into the back of the jackals neck. Blue blood gushed from the wounds as the creatures fell to the ground dead; they grabbed the jackal's weapons. "Sure beats throwing rocks" he humoured. But he never liked using covenant technology it felt strange and he had never trained using these types of weapons, but he had no choice.

They continued through the woods till they found Fred, "What is it?" James asked. "Look sir, I think I see survivors, marines," he said as he pointed down the hill. A battlefield lay before them with broken covenant and human weapons all around, at the far end stood the generator facility with a small command bunker. He was right there were marines down there. He opened his records and they checked out. "Could be a trap, I'll go down there but stay sharp, it may be an ambush" James ordered as he slid down the hill to greet them. As he approached them the frightened marines began to fire towards him. He rolled behind a downed covenant banshee. "James" Fred yelled. He remained behind the ship as it took continuous assault rifle fire. "That's it" Fred slid down the bank towards James. "Danm. Better go get him" as Kelly followed him down the slope. They took up positions behind the wreckage as James stumbled upon an idea. He tore of his Spartans seal "Cover me" he yelled to the others as he leapt from his hiding place and threw it towards the marines. And hid behind some debris. They stopped firing and came out from cover. "Well if it isn't the deluxe models. Come to save us with your 'superior' training" one of the marines remarked. "This deluxe model is the only thing standing between you and a bloody death" "Ye… yes sir" "Now what happened here?" James demanded to know. The marines showed the Spartans into the bunker. They said that thousands of covenant troops came and destroyed the first defences and left only a small squad behind. "Where's your commander" "In the war room sir, this way" James looked towards the hill and whistled a strange birdcall into the COM link, It was the Spartans signal for all clear. As the others slid down the hill towards the base.

They followed the marines into the bunker. They came into a large room with a holographic projector in the centre. Two marines stood guard next to the projector with their fingers on the triggers of they're assault rifles. A tall man with white hair stood over a control panel as he turned to see them. "So you're the intruders that decided to pick a fight with my sentries. I am admiral Stafford, we also got word of your ship coming down and taking out our off planet communications array ensuring we can't call for reinforcements in case of another attack. You've had quite a busy day. That ends here. There will be no more fighting in my base. Am I clear!" "First your sentries shot at us, second your lucky we showed up or you'd be dead by nightfall and third I was put in charge of this team to ensure this facility remains active. So you better stay in line or we'll have no trouble filling your head full of lead" James remarked at the admiral even though he knew he was breaking the chain of command and a possible court marshal. The marines standing guard raised they're weapons to the Spartans as they took a step back. "Wow" said the admiral as he signalled his troops to lower they're weapons. "I'm in charge here and I am your superior. I say shoot you say who and how many times. I say crap you say how much, what colour and where do you want it. Are we clear now". James looked back at the others, we could really use they're help in protecting the facility. "Yes" "Good now to brief you on the situation". James and the others gathered round the holo projector. "At 0 eight hundred hours the covenant launched a full scale assault on this facility they breached our perimeter defence. They were repelled but at great loss. We fear they may be coming back for another try at killing us all. If you have any ideas lets hear them now". "We don't have nearly enough troops to take on that many covenant," Kelly acknowledged. " Kelly I want you to go out onto the battlefield and find whatever weapons you can. Linda and Joseph keep a look out for any approaching troops and see if you can find any other survivors in the surrounding areas. Fred I want you to drive you and me in a warthog to our pelicans crash site and find anything we can salvage weapons, armour anything. We're going to be stuck here for a long time might as well make it secure.



Chapter 5
Location: Unknown Jungle Terrain

Sam's vision was black as he opened his eyes. His head throbbed with pain as he tried to scramble to his feet he looked around the jungle terrain and saw no other saviours or even any corpses. He opened the Spartans secure channel and all he heard was a crackling sound. He looked around and saw a weapons create had impacted nearby. He walked over and cracked it open to find a standard issue pistol, assault rifle, two grenades and some ammo clips. He removed the gear satisfied that it all worked he brought up a map on his HUD. He believed his position was ten miles south of the rendezvous he pinpointed the location closed the map and set off.

It had been hours before he had touched down on the jungle terrain of Reach and he missed the security he felt with the rest of the team watching his back. And he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. As he took another step forward he heard a rustling from the bushes to the right. He drew his rifle as 5 figures appeared from the bushes and opened fire. He ducked behind a rock for cover. "Hold your fire" a voice called out as the guns fell silent. Sam looked out from cover to see a human walking towards him. "Terribly sorry for that I'm Major Rowley head of hell jumpers squad beta, we were assigned as back up for your mission. Where are the others?" "I don't know" Sam replied as he turned away from Rowley. "Well then we should continue with the mission and hope that we can Uhh…" Sam quickly turned back to Rowley in time to see her collapse to the floor with large purple needles stuck in her side. Blood ran from her mouth as she groaned in dying pain. Sam looked up to see a squad of what the humans had named 'grunts' running from the bushes to the northwest. They held weapons with hedgehog spikes sticking out of them. They fired these needles towards the marines as they impacted and exploded causing severe pain and bleeding. Sam rolled in front of them and peppered the aliens with bursts from his assault rifle. The aliens collapsed in a pool of their own blood satisfied that they were dead he turned his attention to Rowley, she was quite dead. He looked up at what was left of the marines, there was only 4 left in the group. "Oh no. OH NO! Rowley's dead we're dead we're all dead" a female marine named Sophie called out. Her assault rifle in her hand shook with fear as she tried to stop her uncontrollable shaking. "We may as well give up now, it's only a matter of time until they find and kill us all." James looked over at the shaking marine. "Look were not going to die". "Yes we are we're stuck out in the middle of this jungle with no supplies, cut off from our reinforcements. WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE". "Calm down". "No we might as well just give up now we might be let off easy they may disarm us and leave us in the jungle". "The covenant don't take prisoners. But maybe you'll be the first. You disarm her of her weapon and supplies," Sam pointed to one of the other hell jumpers. He just stood there, frozen. "I am currently your commanding officer and I order you to remove all supplies and ammunition from the mutinous soldier. And you tie her up". He pointed to the next helljumper in the row as they stripped her of all munitions and left her tied up in the jungle.

Chapter 6
Aboard covenant warship
Reach orbit

A grunt named yayap waddled towards the suspended platform in the centre of the ships Bridge. The shimmering purple glow of the high walls reflected off his armour as he approached the captain. "Sir we searched the wreckage of the ship that crashed as you ordered, but there was nothing there, except for this" yayap held the emblem of the Spartans in his small hand, all covenant troops recognised this as the sign of the DEMON. The elite named Sngalin stared at the controls never moving then finally turned. His black armour shimmering against the glow of the holo panel. He looked at the piece in surprise. The Spartan emblem was an eagle holding an arrow in one of its claws and a parchment in the other. "What the demon is here?" The demon was the name given to the Spartans by the covenant because they alone were responsible for thousands of covenant casualties and deaths. "We must not allow the demon to interfere with our plans, deploy the troops!" Sngalin ordered the grunt. "I want you to report back to me if you find anything, failure is not an option" "Yes master" the grunt replied as he waddled away to his task. "Wait! I have a better idea instead of looking for the demon we will be taken to him. Those barbaric apes would never miss an opportunity to capture one of our kind alive. You yapap will be left in the woods mortally wounded. The humans will capture you and return you to their base" he explained "We will then follow a signal from a tracking device tagged under your armour and we will find you and wipe them out" "Um sir I can't fight the demon on my own he's too strong" "You wont be fighting the demon. I will" "Sir forgive me for asking but why do you want to fight the demon on the ground?" Snaglin turned back to the controls with he's eyes closed "Questions like that will get a person killed the military. It's none of your concern now go". "Yes sir" he turned and headed for the docking bay. The truth was he was safer with the humans than the elites, one wrong move with them and they'll be throwing his bloody corpse off the ship. Snaglin watched as yapap waddled out of the control room as the door silently closed behind him. Snaglin raised his arm and pressed a button on his armband as a rotating holographic projection of a squad of elites appeared. It showed the squads glorious victory over a group of humans. He closed the file. "I will avenge you my brothers I swear it" He looked down at the Spartans emblem in his had and crushed it in his grip like a flabby grape as he opened his hand again and the shards fell to the floor. Snaglin raised his hands to the computer as he typed into the computer "demon". As soon as he finished hundreds of files opened containing information collected on the demons. As he touched a file it opened a list of all the known Spartan soldiers, most had large red X's over they're faces and read terminated. Only a handful remained. "I came so close to killing them on that ship. But I won't miss again"

It was always a hard life being a grunt he was forced to enlist and made to fight by the elite commandos and if he didn't like it there was one other option, suicide. He met with the team of three grunts assigned to help him; "Is the ghost on board the drop ship" yayap asked the grunts. "Yes commander" they all replied together. The ship looked like a large purple Y with a plasma turret below the cockpit at the joint; there were hatches at either side of the Y shape to effectively deploy troops on the battlefield. A hatch opened in the side of the ship as they all boarded the covenant drop ship; before he got on he hit a button on the holo panel by the ship to disengage it from the landing claw. He took the pilots seat, started the engine, brought the ship about and flew out of the docking bay bound for the surface.

Up in the skies above the jungle a squad of banshees scanned the area for any sign of enemy activity. As the COM system crackled to life the harsh voice of an elite came over the channel "Attention all patrols we've received reports that the demons have made it to the surface. I'm ordering all patrols to begin a search for them. Report any sightings to command immediately. As of right now all other orders are retracted until further notice. Command out" The COM snapped off as the elites changed course to begin the search for the demons. The elite pressed a glowing circle on the control panel as a thermal projection of the area snapped on. Down below there was a group of targets moving away and one target holding position that had been left behind. What did this mean? Was this the demon they left behind? The pilot signalled to the others as they began to descend into the mist of the jungle.

The marine wriggled to try and free herself from the knots of the rope tied around her. As her hand squirmed free she grabbed her combat knife and cut the rope. She rose to her feet in time to see three banshees land in the clearing before her. As the pilots dismounted they're metal steeds a jab of fear hit her. On the one end she wanted to run but was frozen by they're cold glares. They raised they're weapons and she knew she was dead.

The covenant dropship touched down at the crash site of the Spartans pelican, intelligence claimed that the humans were seen heading towards the crash site and would arrive in an estimated 20 mins. This gave yayap and his crew long enough to set up the broken ghost and make it look like he had crashed. Once they had finished his crew wished him luck and flew in the drop ship back to base. 5 minutes passed as a light humming came from all around and a human vehicle flew out of the woods manned by two Spartans. The warthog grinded to a halt as Fred and James dismounted. They looked towards the downed pelican and saw it wedged tightly into the base of a collapsed radar tower. "I guess that must be the off plant communications array the admiral mentioned. Looks like we really did a number on that one no chance of fixing it" "Go see if you can remove some of the armour plating of the pelican. I'm going to search the interior". Fred approached the pelican and got a grip on the plating and pulled some of it off. James walked up the cargo ramp into the interior of the pelican. Nothing seems to have survived the crash; the whole place was a mess. He walked into the remains of the cockpit and saw the burned out controls and the windscreen destroyed. He looked down and saw a secure crate that had been left behind. He pulled up the inventory on his HUD, it wasn't listed. He picked it up and keyed in the code used on the other crates. ACESS DENIED flashed on the box's screen. He removed his pistol and shot out the computer lock. Sparks flew from the wound as ACESS GRANTED flashed. He opened the box and was stunned by what he found. A tulip. He remembered this from his training. As he removed the preserved flower as memories of his training began to flood his mind.

Chapter 7
Location:
Reach Training Ground 1B-8D
Date: 10/6/2503

"Get up," screamed Chief petty officer Mendez as he burst through the door of the Spartans bunker with the trainers behind him. The stunned cadets screamed as chief Mendez threw one of the cadets off his cot onto the floor. "Fall in report for showers and be ready by 0600 hours for warm up exercises" he ordered. James got out his cot and formed a single file line with the others ready for they're ice cold showers. They prepared themselves and reported outside onto the grass field for exercises.

They had been at this facility for about 3 months now but were still a bit traumatized about being kidnapped at the age of 8 and being screamed at by army drill sergeants and beaten by trainers. A line of identical bunkers ran beside side they're stretching as far as the eye could see. "100 push ups cadets. Anyone seen slacking will be disciplined and have to start over." All the cadets knew what that meant. Being hit with a stun baton by the trainers. So they all knew not to slack. "Too easy cadets I want a single file line and were goanna jog round the compound. Last one to finish is doing it again". James knew that wasn't going to be him as he set off the others. The sun had risen onto the compound now as some of the cadets were blinded by it. If any fell down or slowed they were hit by the trainer's batons. They finally reached the end as they all collapsed on the rough ground. "Ok take a break ladies" chief Mendez called out, as the trainers brought round carts of water and distrusted them among the cadets. It was warm and a little salty but James didn't care. "Ok weaklings. Double time it" they scrambled to they're feet and followed the chief to a large roman building with a women standing at the top of some old concrete steps. The women wore an old roman robe just like they did back in roman times, "Welcome students please come in your lessons will begin shortly." The women spoke in a soothing voice far sweeter than the barks of chief Mendez. All the children ran up the stairs into the building. They arrived in an old classroom as they each took they're seats. They women came in last as she approached the board at the front. She seemed strange her body seemed to glow a faint white. She walked to the front of the classroom to address the students. "Welcome students my name is Dejia. And I am your teacher. Today will learn about the Spartans conquest over the Romans". A light shone from the ceiling as a hologram of a valley appeared in the centre of the class. The children gathered round as they watched the Spartans army wait at the south end of the valley. Over the horizon came the roman army. They out numbered the Spartans 10 to 1, the armies ran towards each other as the children watched the Spartans rip through the roman army like swish cheese. "You see children numbers aren't everything. The soupier training and skill of the Spartans lead them to victory over the Romans. That is all for today go outside to meet chief Mendez for your next assignment" James was the last to leave as he looked over his shoulder and saw Dejia start to crackle like static on a television screen then disappear. How could she do that? Unless she was an AI. He had read about them at his old school. They were holograms of humans that thought for themselves. They were thinking computers.

All the children filed out to meet Mendez. "Ok today we are doing a cross country hike. Single file line now MOVE OUT". All the children set off jogging after Mendez. The hike was long and arduous there seemed to be no end. Some of the children fell over or slowed down and were immediately 'corrected' by the trainers. One girl in particular seemed to stand out. She had long red hair with gleaming blue eyes. James didn't recognize her or even know her name, even though they'd stayed in the same barracks for months Chief Mendez's training schedule left little time for interaction with the others. He was so dazzled and busy looking at her he didn't notice a huge rock in front of him. He tripped and went head over heels onto the rough grass. When he realized what had happened he tried to get up but just collapsed on the floor again. "Must have sprained my ankle". He looked in front of him and saw a single tulip growing among the weeds and sharp grass. He removed the flower. "GET UP!" one of the trainers yelled as he rolled him over. James quickly put the flower in his pocket. "What's that? Give it to me". The trainer raised his baton. "GIVE IT TO ME". The trainer raised his weapon. "LEAVE HIM ALONE" A girls voice yelled from behind the trainer. He turned around to see a red haired girl coming towards him. "Get back in line cadet". The trainer took a swing at her with his baton. She grabbed the end and slammed it straight into his ribs as bones cracked and muscles tore. She grabbed the baton and threw it into the arm of the other trainer coming from behind as they fell to the ground. Two more saw what was going on as they reached for they're weapons the mystery girl leaped up and slammed her legs into they're necks as they spilt and fell to the ground. Blood spilled from they're wounds as she turned to James. "You ok" her voice was so soft like the touch of Egyptian cotton. She helped him up on her shoulder as chief Mendez came to see the damage she had done. "What did you do cadet!" he snarled as he saw the dead trainers at his feet. "Sir they were trying to…" "Enough!" He turned to the other cadets. "This cadets is an example of stupid courage. You try this kind of thing in the field and your going to get your head blown off." The chief removed his communicator. "Get some medics out here no on the double". Ten minutes passed and the sound of a pelican drop ship roared over the gentle sounds of the wildlife. The ship touched down as the loading ramp lowered and Fleet HQ medics poured out. They placed James on a stretcher and brought the bodies of the trainers onboard. James starred into the eyes of his saviour as the ramp closed shut. The engines roared to life as it jetted back to the compound. "Ok cadets move out the last one to finish this course goes without rations tonight". The girl took one last look at the pelican before following Mendez towards the end of the course.

James lay in the medical ward at the compound. The white sterile sheets were a welcome change to the coarse sheets in his barracks. Turns out he'd broken his foot tripping over that rock, his recovery would be slow and painful but at least he wasn't out doing Mendez's death marches. "Ok you can see him" he heard a voice from down the corridor. "Third door on the right" that voice again. "Thank You" a different voice this time, something about it seemed familiar. It was soft and caring. A figure appeared in the doorway, the mystery girl from the hike. "Hi I came to see you were ok". She sat down on the chair next to his bed. "Thanks. For helping". "Its ok I just couldn't stand by and watch them hurt you". "My names James". With her silky voice she replied "I'm Kelly". He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tulip he picked. "I found this on the hike and I want you to have it" he handed her the flower. "Thank you I haven't seen anything like this in months". She blushed embarrassed as they moved closer together. They kissed as a sensation ran through James body.


Chapter 8
Location:
Pelican Dropship Bravo 497
Inbound to Spartan Training Site H4-8UJ
19:21 14/9/2505

James sat with the rest of the five Spartans that were assigned to this mission they had been at reach for over 2 years. Chief Mendez came out of the cockpit walking down the pelican past the rows of Spartans seated on either side. "Today cadets we have a very special mission for you. You will be combat dropped 1 mile from an enemy base". As the chief pressed a button on a control panel on the wall of the pelican a holographic map appeared. "You will be dropped here, you will be supplied with standard combat packs and weaponry. Your mission is to infiltrate the enemy base, capture they're flag and then contact us for extraction. Are there any questions?" Everyone just stared at each other then towards the chief. "Good, we touch down in 10 be ready by then. That is all". Mendez walked back into the cockpit and slammed the door behind him.

10 minutes passed as James looked out the window and only saw forest beneath him. The pelican slowly descended as the loading ramp opened and Mendez stepped out of the cockpit and the Spartans ran down the ramp together. "Remember cadets the marines your facing will be using LIVE AMMUNITION and have been instructed to use all necessary force in removing any intruders, so don't get too carried away that you forget to cover yourself". The ramp slammed shut as the pelican's engines roared and the ship ascended. The pilot activated the rear thrusters as the ship shot out of view. James looked over the rest of his squad, John was they're leader, the others were Sam, Amy, Fred and the girl he kissed Kelly. "Ok Spartans you heard the chief Kelly you're the fastest you move ahead and check for any perimeter defences, the rest of you follow me," John ordered as they set off towards the base.

The Spartans looked down the hill towards the enemy compound. It was surrounded by a 10ft high chain fence, with a guard post at the main gate. John surveyed the area and saw a large dirt road leading to the compound. "Ok squad the key to this is the element of stealth. Fred and Amy I want you to move that log onto the road and block they're path. James look over the equipment and see what we have to work with," John commanded as the Spartans set off to they're tasks. John remained on the hill continuing to survey the compound for activity.

Moments later James ran back to John and handed him they're inventory list. John scanned the list as he froze half way down. "This" he pointed to the small mirror. "We can use this call back the team," he ordered. As the team gathered round john began to explain his plan. "Ok Spartans we're going to use this mirror to our advantage. Five of us will jump underneath the next supply truck that comes down that road. It will be stopped while they move the log we placed there. When they reach the gate the guards will use mirrors to scan the bottom of the truck to make sure there are no stowaways. We will then use this mirror to reflect the bottom of the truck to make it seem as though it's clean. From there we move into the flag-room, obtain the flag, get out and call for evac. Ok everyone that truck is going to arrive soon and I want us ready move out.

John and the others waited under the cover of darkness behind a large plant as they waited for the supply truck. Suddenly the silence of the night was broken by the engine of the approaching truck. It approached the target area and grinded to a halt. "Mendoza get your ass out there and move that log" a tough voice ordered from the truck. "Yes sir" another voice replied. The Spartans snuck from they're cover and crawled under the waiting truck. They grabbed onto anything they could as the truck began to move towards the base. The vehicle grinded to a halt at the security checkpoint. John listened as he heard two marines talking. "You know what's going on, I mean this morning sarge gives us another lecture on staying alert and making sure to check everything thoroughly". "This better not be one of those training exercises. I'm not taking a bullet in my back for those section 5 kids". "So how are the dogs doing?" "Not to good. Must have been something they ate" the other marine replied. The night before the mission Linda had fed they're dogs a mix of rancid meat and battery acid. Enough to keep the dogs out of the picture for a while. "Hey! Quit your yammering and check the bottom of the truck" the stern voice came from the truck again. "Yes sir" the marines snapped to they're duty. They took a large pole with a mirror fixed on the end and began sweeping the bottom of the truck. It first went by john as he removed the mirror shard from his pocket and began to move it in time with the marine's mirror. He slowly handed it to Kelly who passed it to Fred. Suddenly the shard slipped through Fred's fingers as it began to fall he grabbed it and put it back in time with the other mirror. The marines then retracted the mirror as the Spartans passed the shard back along the line. "Ok its clean" the marine told the driver as the gate slid open. The truck moved slowly through the compound as it passed a deserted hanger john gave a signal and the Spartans dropped from the truck. The quietly moved into the hanger to plot they're next move. The large hanger housed a Pelican Dropship with a reinforced grade A titanium nose and explosive charges lining the tip. "Ok we're in now we need to find out where the flag is and deactivate they're perimeter defences". "That means we need to access the control console and implant this" Fred removed a disk from his pocket. "What's that?" asked john. "A little something I found during computer slicing training. It will create a ghost account and give me access to all the bases systems". "Good use it. We'll formulate a strategy while you find the flag". John ordered. "Yes sir" Fred replied as he slipped out of the hanger.

Fred's heart raced as he leaped from cover to cover avoiding detection by the guards. He continued to jump behind cover as he proceeded to the control tower. As he crept up the stairs into the control room and silently opened the door and slipped the door close behind him. He looked around the blue glow filled room as he walked quietly to the control console and inserted the worm. As the worm began to create a ghost account icons flashed as it continued its work. He found the control for the defences and instructed the worm to disable them in exactly 1 hour. As he continued to scan through the maze of files he found a report sent to the base just this morning. He clicked on the icon as the message scrolled across the screen.

Message Beta 24537UIH2
From: Data corrupted. Sender unknown
To: Reach outpost 186
Priority: Red
Encryption: None

To play message press //ENTER//

As he pushed enter the image of a tall grey haired man snapped on the screen. "Attention reach outpost personal. I just discovered that those section 5 kids are planning a little insertion into your base. And I would rather like to see these kids and the entire Spartan project 'forgotten'. So I want you to ensure those kids go into the base and don't come out, ensure not to underestimate them send a group of your best men to kill them. They're objective is the flag, Ensure it's held inside the security tower and that the tower be locked down immediately". As he finished the image faded out.

End of recording: To replay message press //ENTER//

This must be one of Mendez's little twists, and these twists were dangerous. Fred quickly opened the COM to his fellow Spartans, as all that came back was static. He quickly copied the file onto a disk and placed it in his mission pack. If the Spartans didn't answer the COM they were in trouble.

Chapter 9
Location:
Reach Outpost 186: Military Hanger 197
23:01 15/9/2505

John felt the sweat trickle down his back and the tenseness in his throat. He never liked just sitting around waiting he felt, exposed. Every so often he felt like something was right outside the door, trying to kill him. Suddenly a group of hell jumpers stormed the hanger. "Freeze Spartans, you've all done well to make it past our defences but your not leaving this hanger alive. Drop your weapons". The Spartans never gave up they're weapons but they had to. All the members of the squad dropped they're assault rifles except john. "You want to be a hero kid. Drop it DROP IT NOW!" the marine yelled. John did as instructed and dropped his weapon. As it fell to the ground john leaped down grabbed it and pulled the trigger. As the gun fired the two marines in front of him fell to the ground with blood gushing from they're bullet wounds. John and the others scrambled for cover as the remaining three marines returned fire. He grabbed a discarded frag grenade as he pulled the pin and chucked the grenade over the crate he was hiding behind. As the grenade went off the gunfire stopped. John peaked out from cover and saw the hell jumpers lying on the floor dead. He crawled out from cover as the rest of his Spartans removed the marine's weapons. "We need to get out of this base now. Somebody get Fred on the COM and tell him to meet us at the rendezvous so we can find the flag". Behind johns back one of the marines reached for his weapon as he lined up the sight with the back of johns head he put his finger to the trigger. When a pistol bullet went though his neck and the marine dropped to the ground. John looked to the source of the shot to see Fred clutching a smoking pistol. "Thanks, find out where they have the flag". "Know where it is. I've got it" Fred reached into his pack and removed a flag with the UNSC insignia on it. "Good now how do we get out of here". As soon as he finished the sound of assault rifle fire rang through the hanger as marines began to take positions outside the hanger door. "Damn. I guess they all know about us now. How are we goanna get out of here?" "How about that" john looked up to see James pointing to the Pelican Dropship docked inside the hanger. "Ok everyone hold them off don't let them get inside. I'm going to see if I can hot-wire that pelican". John ran from the gunfight into the pelican's cockpit. He scanned over the controls; none of them seemed even remotely familiar to him. He tapped a large red button, as the rest of the controls seemed to glow. He pressed another as a holographic map of the area flashed on the view screen. "I don't know how to fly this thing" Then an idea hit him. He opened the COM link and typed in a series of numbers and letters as the picture of Dejia flickered to life. "Hello Spartan 117 are you having trouble with your homework?" "No dejia I need you to tell me how to fly a pelican Dropship". "Well I'm afraid you're not authorized to fly a pelican. But I am. Press the three green buttons to your right". "Wait dejia". John ran out of the pelican to find his squad still in a gunfight with the marines. "Everyone get on," he yelled as the squad moved back continuing to fire on the marines. He ran through the ship and back to the cockpit. "Ok go ahead". "Press the three green buttons to your right". John raised he hand as he tapped the keys. "Now press the large bird shaped switch in front of you" John tapped the switch as it glowed white. "Hold on" dejia's picture snapped off as AUTO PILOT ENGAGED flashed across the screen. "Hold on kids we're going home". The marines ran into the hanger and fired they're weapons as the bullets pinged off the armoured hull. The ship blew out of the base and onward to freedom.

Chapter 10
Location:
Reach Training Ground 2Y-X9
3/12/2505

All the Spartans lined up before a large dirt canyon as chief Mendez patrolled back and forth along the line. Everyone who had ever been here referred to this place as 'Blood Gulch'. This was where the UNSC tested some of their vehicles in live combat, many went in none came out in one piece. "Today students you're going to learn about the next step in battle combat. Lieutenant bring up the vehicle". As he finished a jeep burst over the hill and ground to a halt behind Mendez. "May I introduce our new light reconnaissance vehicle. It has four inch Armour plating, magnificent suspension and total seating for three. This is the M12 LRV, code-named. The Warthog. And today your test driving it". He pointed a stern finger to john, then Fred and finally Linda. "You'll go first" The three chosen Spartans stepped towards the vehicle. Fred took the passenger seat, Linda took the gunner position and John drove. He started the engine as some cheesy circus music came over the radio. "Turn that crap off". Fred reached down and turned off the radio. "Now I want you to drive around that base over there". Mendez pointed to a large structure at the left side of the canyon. It glowed with a red light "Then drive around that one," He pointed to the base on the other side that also glowed, but with a blue light. "And report back here. And expect to encounter surprises" "Surprises?" john thought to himself "What kind of surprises. Ambush, land mines. Air Strike. Anything the chief could come up with was dangerous". "Ok Spartans go" Mendez screamed as the warthog ran towards the first base. John built up speed as Linda scanned the skies with the machine gun and Fred looked ahead with the assault rifle. Mendez waited with the rest of the Spartans. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a COM link. He hit the button as a buzz of static came in "Beta squad go". Inside the structure a team of drivers waited. "Yes sir" they're leader closed the COM and motioned for them to board they're vehicles. As they watched the warthog pass by the opening in the garage. They burst forth after them.

"Contacts. Two enemy warthogs, this must be the chief's surprise". Linda yelled as she brought the machine gun about and fired. Bullets stuck into the ground as the enemy warthogs maneuvered behind them. John punched the pedal as the warthog gained speed. Linda steadied the gun as she peppered the enemy driver with bullets. As the barrage continued the driver lost control and barrel rolled over the warthog. The other warthog continued fire. Bullets flew inches from john's head as he dodged the rocks in his way. Linda changed target as the other vehicle went up in smoke. On the hill Mendez watched as the second warthog burst into flames and crashed into a rock. "They're good". He reopened the COM "Alpha squad, security code GAMMA-12. Arm a pelican with everything you got and terminate the enemy vehicle on sight". He closed the COM with a superior smirk on his face.

"Sir targets terminated" Linda yelled as john slowed the warthog and regained more control. "Sir I'm picking up a target on my sensors, a big one". John sped up, as the sky above them grew darker. "Sir look alive we got a pelican inbound" Fred yelled. Linda looked up to see a pelican drop ship armed with 4 hellfire missiles and a 5mm machine gun turret mounted to its nose. Linda fired at the machine gun turret as bullets pinged off the hull. But some shots punctured the machine gun. "Fred climb up and see if you can damage those hellfire's" john ordered. "What do I know about missiles"? he screamed in response. "Learn" john butted in. John slowed the vehicle as he held position below the pelican's hull. Fred slung his rifle on his back as he clambered onto the missile. He opened the hatch as he tinkered with the wires. Fred had always been good with electronics he once had to be excused from virtual reality training because they feared that his personal slicer program would damage the equipment. "I'm done," he yelled as he dropped back into the seat. "I've damaged the claw, if they fire that thing it won't launch and will detonate. Move ahead and have them lock on". John trusted Fred's skills, but part of him feared for this plan. He punched the gas as it pushed ahead of the pelican. "They've locked on" John held position. The missile's engine flared but the claw jammed and it stayed put. There was a flash of smoke and light as it detonated. Out of the smoke dove the pelican as it crashed into the dirt behind them. The warthog burst forward from the wreckage and stopped on the hill before Mendez. The three Spartans disengaged the warthog and lined up in front of it. Mendez starred at john with cold unforgiving eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out in his fist. He opened his hand to reveal a medal. "Spartan 117, you are now promoted to chief petty officer second class". He placed the medal on johns chest as a sense of pride came over john.

Chapter 11
Location:
Wreckage Pelican Cockpit
4/6/2525

James placed the flower back into the box and secured it in his mission pack. Outside something on the edge of the woods caught Fred's eye. He raised his weapon as he stepped towards it. The remains of a covenant ghost lay broken before him. he came around the other side to find a grunt. "Huh what happened"? He knelt down next to the creature; Yapap threw his arm up towards the Spartan. "You're alive". "Hey James get out here we've got us a covenant grunt here, looks pretty beat up but its alive" he said over the COM. James came out of the pelican and stepped towards the grunt. He knelt next to it, "Looks like it's got a broken arm and doesn't look to good". "If we take it back to base we may be able to get some information out of him and find out what's going on here". "Your not serious we're not bringing that thing back to our base, he's the enemy, we should shoot him now". "No don't" James ordered as he grabbed Fred's gun. "Maybe we can convince him to release some information. With the proper, persuasion" "You know the admiral will never go with this. But I like the way you think. " "I know you do. Ok help me get him on the warthog and bring over some of the Armour plating you pulled off" James ordered, "Yes sir". Yapap was placed at the back of the hog next to the supply crates as the Spartans mounted the vehicle and began to return to the facility. The plan had worked, he was going into the human stronghold, but he feared he would never come out.

They pulled up the warthog inside the bunkers hanger bay. The tall walls of the room stood hundreds of feet up and were large enough to hold a Cruiser class warship. The hanger doors closed behind them, clanked shut and secured. The side doors slid opened as the admiral came out to greet them with his marine guards behind him. "Find anything useful"? He asked the Spartans. "We found some Armour plating, weapons and this". They showed the admiral they're captured prisoner. "You brought a grunt to our base, that is a major breach in security. I could have you court-marshaled for this" "I told him you would never go with it" Fred remarked. "Sir this grunt is injured he can pose no threat to us and we may be able to convince him to release some important information that may be vital to our survival" James pleaded. "Very well I will abide his presence for now place him in the brig. And you make sure that you never try something like this again without my clearance to do so" as the admiral turned and left the hanger. The marines removed the grunt and followed after him. "Way to go James. I can't believe you did that" Fred congratulated. "Don't thank me for breaking the chain of command. That is setting a poor example for my team".

James climbed up the ladder to the observation platform to find Kelly scanning the area. "Hey". She turned to see him "Oh hey, find anything at the crash site?" she asked him. "I found this in the cockpit" he handed Kelly the box he found. She slowly opened it and was shocked by what she found. She gently removed the flower. "I thought I lost it in the crash. I remember when you gave this to me" "Yeah. And I remember when the trainers tried to take it off you. Broke a few thumbs that time". They laughed together as they're hands moved slowly closer together. James could feel her warmth on his fingertips, as a huge explosion knocked them both to the ground. "Oh, what was that"? Kelly got to her feet and scanned the area with her scope. "Oh no. We've got wraiths on the ridge. With grunts and elites approaching from the south-east". "They're not going to do any damage," James boasted. "What makes you think that" "This does" as he raised a jackhammer 229 rocket launcher. He aimed the weapon and pulled the trigger as a huge barrel flew from the weapon towards the army of grunts. It impacted as they blew up like Chinese New Year. "Nice shot" But more just poured out of the forest yelling with they're strange language of growls and barks. "But not good enough. That was my last rocket." Kelly opened the COM channel to the marines. "Marines, prepare the warthog for combat. We're gonna take down those wraiths".

Marine's Walker and Jaggers waited by the warthog in the hanger. Walker drew his lighter and twiddled it in his hand. Lighting it and closing it, lighting it and losing it. "Can you please stop that I'd rather like to return to my kids without being burned alive". "If you return to your kids" general Hughes walked through the hanger doors. "I just got off the horn with the Spartans we've got wraiths on the ridge and they're sending the warthog out to take them down. "Us alone" walker spluttered out. "Either that or they break our necks for treason. Any more complaints marine" "No sir" he sputtered out "Good, now man that warthog and lets do some damage". Hughes drew a cigar from his pocket, lit it and took a puff. They manned the hog as walker stood by the release for the hanger doors. He hit the switch as the warthog sped towards the opening doors. Walker grabbed the side and pulled himself into the gunner seat. The vehicle sped out into the battlefield the chain-gun turret blazing shredding the grunts and elites that ran in front of them. One of the wraiths turned its attention to the approaching vehicle and fired a flaming ball of plasma directly at them. Jaggers turned hard narrowly dodging the bolt knocking the general nearly out of his seat. His cigar went flying into the methane tank of one of the grunts. It struggled to remove it before it burned through the Armour and sent it sky high. "Damn that was my last cigar" Hughes jumped out of the warthog with his assault rifle ready. "Ok who wants a piece of me? Maybe you" he blows the head off an approaching grunt. "Yeah what about you. You want some to". The warthog sped towards the first wraith "Ok aim at the wraith and fire. Walker drew the jackhammer rocket launcher and fired. The rocket sped towards its target as it impacted the front of the vehicle. It went up in a fireball of burnt metal. "Look fireworks". Jaggers sped towards the next target as walker reloaded the weapon. Walker looked into the sky and saw an approaching covenant drop ship. "Dropship inbound" he yelled, "Well don't just stand there admiring it. Take it down!" Walker readied the weapon, took aim and fired at the ship. The rocket impacted on the port side of the ship sending it crashing down into a group of trees near to the facility. "Yeah burnnnnnnn". He prepared the weapon for his next target.

Chapter 11
Uncharted Jungle

Sam and the remainder of the marines trekked through the jungle in hope of finding the facility or other humans. Sam halted the marines as they approached a large clearing. The gentle sounds of the jungle were broken by the hum of a dropship. Not a human dropship, a covenant one. The dropship landed length ways as two escort banshees landed at either end. As the pilots disembarked they took positions in front of the dropship. The marines raised they're weapons as the elites began to lower theirs. The hatch in the side of the dropship opened as two more elites disembarked, with someone between them. The figure stepped out of the ship as a large black boot hit the ground. The soldiers stared with slack jaws at, Sophie. The marines lowered they're weapons. One of the elites approached the marines and disarmed them, he returned to the other elites side clutching the array of human weapons. The second elite leaned over they're hostage. "So human which one is the leader"? She wore what could only be described as a superior smirk as she raised a slender finger to Sam. "That one". The elites were satisfied as they raised they're weapons and opened fire. The marines were cut down left and right. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" Sophie screamed as she grabbed the closest elites arm. She was thrust back onto the ground. Sam looked down at Sophie. "I'm sorry I thought they were going to let you go" the elite turned to her and crashed his boot down on her stomach. Sam was the only human still alive, the aliens turned to him. A jab of pain struck his back as he collapsed to the ground. The elites approached his unconscious corpse, sneered at the remains of the marines and hefted Sam up between them. They dragged him onto the ship, shoved his body between them as the ship lifted into the air.


Chapter 12
Generator Facility

The Spartans stepped into the command room, as the admiral was perched over the holographic projector. "That attack has proved my fears. The covenant wants us dead and they're not going to stop until we are". "What do we have to work with" asked James. "The grunt has revealed that it was sent to the surface of the planet on a ship called 'The Truth In Reconciliation'. It's touched down roughly 2 miles down river, it seems like an impenetrable fortress. They've got stationary turrets all along the perimeter, the only way onto the ship from the ground is the well-defended gravity lift but that place is locked down tight. They've got thousands of troops on board and on the surface even if we get on board there's no way to take out a ship that size". "Except by taking out the main power generators, if we set a charge to destroy the generators, the power will overload and bring the ship down"."Very well. I don't like it but I guess that's our plan" the admiral grounded out. "Good, Kelly your with me, marines I want you and the rest of the Spartans to protect this facility and the artifact we found. We don't know what it is but if the covenant are willing to risk they're army to get it, it must be valuable" James ordered. "Yes sir" they finished as the Spartans headed for the banshees. "Something about that attack doesn't feel right." Fred mumbled under his breath. "What do you mean?" asked Linda as she turned to Fred. "Think about it. The covenant have an entire army at they're disposal and they've been known to use thousands of troops in single assaults why only send such a small group". "Maybe a play back of the battle will tell us more" Linda suggested as they walked over to the admirals Holo projector. Fred pressed a number of keys searching for the recording from the marine's eyepiece inserted into they're helmets. "Nearly there. What! Damn it's locked down. We have to find the password". "Men everything the hard way" Linda remarked as she nudged him to one side and keyed in an override sequence. "You're pretty good at this little girl" "Well watch and learn little boy". The screen filled with a list of the marine's names as they cycled down to private walkers name. Linda opened the file as the feed began to play. A blurry picture came on of the marines out on the battlefield. "Look fireworks" the vehicle turned towards another wraith "inbound dropship". "Dropship?" Fred whispered. "Don't just stand there admiring it take it down". Fred watched as the dropship crashed into the woods northwest of the facility. "That's it. The dropship". "What?" Linda asked wondering what he was on about. "Those covenant drop ships are practically invulnerable to infantry fire it wouldn't have been taken down by one rocket". "Maybe so. But why would they deliberately crash they're own ship? The covenant aren't known for using espionage" "That's the million dollar Question. I want to find out what it was carrying and why they crashed". The two of them left the command room.

The warthog groaned to a halt as Fred and Linda dismounted at the crash site. They approached the remains of the ship, but it seemed to be in relatively good condition covered in blood and surrounded by dead bodies. "There's no way this ship crashed. Look this blood is far too old; it's been here for at least 3 days. And this ship is in too good condition to never crashed even the most skilled pilot wont have been able to save it". "But why did they want to trash they're own ship?" "Because they wanted to get in. that battle was a diversion. They've infiltrated the facility" Fred checked his mission timer. The drop ship crashed 3 hours ago. "There may still be time" They ran back to the warthog as they sped off back to the facility.

Meanwhile in the Generator Facility brig. "What happened to the Spartans?" asked one of the marines on guard of the prisoner. "Some are attacking a warship and the others are investigating some crashed ship. So I guess we're the only defense between the covenant and the artifact we found". "artifact, master will want to know this" yapap thought to himself as he sat in his cell tending to his wounds. It had been a few days since the humans had taken him to they're base and yapap wondered if the elites were ever going to come. He had overheard the guards saying that the demons were going to attack the ship; he had to warn his master but he couldn't fight all those demons by himself. Suddenly the vent shaft slammed on the ground as the two guards went to inspect the damage. Unknown to them was that Sngalin and another elite had come through the vent, he hit the butt of his rifle into the back of the first marine's skull as it collapsed onto itself as he fell to the ground. The second turned just in time to have a plasma grenade stick to his chest as it detonated. "Master you found me" yapap blurted out with happiness. "Master I heard the guards saying that they found something" he explained "Something, what something?" he asked. " Something to do with us they think, down there" yapap pointed down a flight of stairs. Sngalin shot the cells lock with his rifle as it melted away. "Show Me," he ordered.

Yapap escorted him into the depths of the facility, until they reached a large metal door. Sngalin used a decoder he had used to disable the automated turrets inside the facility to decipher the code. The door slowly and silently slid open and in a blinding light a metal sphere shaped machine floated in the center of a strange beam of light. "The oracle" Sngalin said with disbelief. He approached the pedestal and stared at the controls trying to decipher them. He pressed a selection of buttons as a quiet grown came from the machine as the beam deactivated and the machine hummed to life. It floated off the pedestal and tried to Asses where it was. "Uhh oh, hello I am 343 Guilty Spark; I am the monitor of installation 04" spark pronounced in a paunchy high-pitched voice. Snaglin knelt down on one knee pinning his eyes to the oracle "Oh holy oracle I ask of you, please come with us to meet the Prophets there is much you can teach us about Halo and the great journey" Snaglin said. "More questions? Splendid I would be happy to assist, but Oracle, great journey why do you use such complicated terms?" Snaglins COM link crackled to life as the sound of battle raged in the background "Sir we have a situation at the base, we have come under attack by the demons. We require your prescience they're heading for the grav…" as the COM link filled with static and went dead. "Oracle please go with this elite he will guide you to the prophets, Yapap your coming with me were going to finish this" Snaglin turned and ran back out the stairs.

The drop ship touched down by the gravity lift to The Truth In Reconciliation as snaglins vice captain arrived to meet him. As he left the dropship snaglin saw the chaos that the demons had inflicted on his army. The wreckage of gun turrets littered the area as he saw a group of grunts trying to put out a fire of one of the wreckages of the crashed banshees. He starred as one of the team got a little too close and had his methane tank go pop. "What's the situation?" he asked his vice captain. "The demons are aboard the ship, one of them has broken out of the brig and they appear to be headed for the engine room, they may be attempting to sabotage the engines," he explained. "Very well no one is to kill the demon leader, he is mine" He ran for the gravity lift that was used to carry troops and supplies between the ship and the surface of the planet. "The demons have infested the ship, I want all troops to report to the docking bay if the demons show up intending to steal a ship annihilate them," he ordered over his wrist COM link. Yapap knew his master was doomed and he didn't want to offer himself to the demons as target practice. When Snaglin wasn't looking he slipped into a near by hanger and found a ghost. He collected a days worth of supplies and put them in the compartment of the ghost. He dragged himself into the cockpit, started the engine and sped off out of the camp. He knew that the elites would kill him for running, but they were planning to do that anyway.

Fred and Linda ran into the brig of the facility shocked as they stared at the bodies on the floor and the melted lock. "We're too late. They're dead the prisoners gone". "The artifact" Linda yelled as they ran down the stairwell to the machine holding the artifact. "The artifact is gone," Fred said. "But looks like they left something behind" Linda stepped over to the machine and reached for a small device they'd left behind. As her hand brushed it the image of an elite flicked to life on the screen. "Hello demons I see you managed to decipher our decoy strategy at that battle. What a shame you didn't manage to get here in time to save your friends, but we left you a parting gift" as the screen crackled the cartoon image of two Spartans appeared. They walked to either side of a black box as it exploded and they're heads flew up in the air and landed on the floor in a pool of blood in a comical manner. Fred and Linda looked over they're shoulders as the door hissed shut. The cartoon replayed over itself as a timer appeared on a second screen. The timer ticked down 3.2. "Oh Shhh…" 1.BOOM!

Chapter 8
4/5/2525 18:30
Location:
Reach
1 mile from perimeter Of covenant camp

Meanwhile overhead James and Kelly swooped towards the ships docking bay in they're acquired banshees. "Hey James I'm picking up some weird readings on the ships sensors from behind us. Massive energy levels maybe its". Suddenly the COM link crackled to life as a loud voice boomed over the COM "Attention this is a restricted area. Inform me of your business and entry code or we will open fire," the voice of an elite ordered. "Ur hum" James removed his pistol and shot the banshees COM link. "Boring conversation anyway" "Kelly we're going to have trouble, use evasive maneuvers and keep on target," he told her. Seconds later the sky was filled with enemy ground fire. The banshees spun dodging the shots until the ground fire suddenly seized. "What happened?" Kelly asked, "Don't know" James replied, "Wait, enemy banshees approaching on our six" he announced. The enemy banshees flared towards them their plasma cannons charged and ready to fire. James attempted a loop the loop behind the enemy and succeeded. He charged the cannons and opened fire on the left banshee, it impacted on the cockpit killing the pilot and sending into a full tailspin towards a gun turret. Seconds later it impacted taking one of they're turrets with it. The second pulled a barrel roll and ended up behind them. It charged up its secret weapon, the plasma bomb and fired towards Kelly and James. James spun out of the way but Kelly was not so lucky, it impacted on Kelly's starboard wing sending her into a spiral towards the ground. He watched as her banshee impacted on the ground and exploded. "NOOOOO!" James screamed, but he knew she was gone he'd lost team mates before and he knew he had to go on, he put the death of Kelly behind him and kept to his mission objective if he died then Reach would fall to the covenant would take Earth.

He saw the docking bay was full of grunts, jackals and a few elites. It had high purple ceilings with three floors accessible through a maze of doors and corridors. He landed and dismounted the banshee, he was spotted instantly and the battle began. A squad of grunts came from the right and fell victim to the power of the assault rifle, on the second floor platform three elites leapt down and surrounded James, he leapt up and threw a fragmentation grenade into the cluster before they knew what happened it detonated blowing them all over the place. After every thing was dead he noticed his counter on his assault rifle was empty, he slapped a fresh magazine in the weapon and began his search. He stepped towards a door, but stopped. He looked up to the second floor and saw hundreds of covenant elites, jackals and grunts. All they're guns were charged and aimed at him; he knew if those guns went off it would be the end of him. On the third floor stood two black elites and some kind of floating machine. The three of them boarded a floating disk as it slowly lowered onto the hanger floor. It wasn't a machine; it was what the humans had named a 'Prophet'. It was a withered old man floating on a strange metal pod, he wore red robes with a large diamond shaped gold headdress. This wasn't the covenant leadership it was a lower ranking prophet. One of the elites took possession of James weapons and returned behind the prophet. "Ah so the demon has come here to my ship, I've been waiting for this a chance to exterminate the enemies of the Forunners and the great journey. And you will make an excellent start". He raised a withered hand as he floated back to the disc with his elite guards. Four more elites came towards him with restraints. They wanted him to surrender. Spartans never surrendered but his old teacher Chief Mendez back when he was training to become a Spartan said, "Be prepared to do anything to see the complication of your mission, even surrender". He didn't want to but he had to, the elites came up and restrained his arms. Then the other slammed its rifle into the back of his head and James fell to the ground unconscious.

A hand grabbed the edge of the deck at the entrance to the hanger bay as Kelly scrambled onto the deck. She saw the elites and took cover behind some supply crates to her left. They dragged James by his leg out of the bay through a door leading to some corridors. "James" Kelly said to herself in worry. When the coast was clear Kelly came out from her hiding spot and stepped out into the bay. She stepped towards the door the elites went through but it was locked. She looked around the bay for another way in, but there wasn't one; instead she saw a terminal near the bay entrance. She stepped towards it and searched the system for anything useful. She pressed a button and a small chip came out of a slot. She took the chip and inserted it into a slot in the back of her helmet. It was the schematics of the ship, she pinpointed the brig, it had multiple detention stations and James must be in one of them and it was time to begin her search. She noticed a small air vent behind some crates. She moved them out of the way, pulled off the gating and crawled in. Her shield was set to thick and she couldn't get far. She adjusted it but if she got hit in here she would be defenseless.

Chapter 9
Low Reach Orbit
Aboard Covenant Cruiser: Truth in reconciliation
Location: Brig

James awoke in a covenant cell, with a see through electricity field that glowed white and purple. He got to his feet approached and touched the field. As he placed his finger on it repelled him on contact. He was amazed he was even still alive, but his shields had got fried during the fight. There were two elite guards patrolling between the cells and two grunts asleep on the job behind some pillars. He sat on the bench attached to the wall to plot his escape. Hours past and he still didn't know what to do. A silent hiss came from the brig entrance as someone come through, a black elite. The new figure approached the guard on duty as he ordered him to lower the shield. The guard approached the controls as he tapped a glowing square. The field in front of James disappeared as the black figure entered his cell. "So this is one of the last demons I'm surprised you haven't made an escape attempt yet. But I'm in the process of eliminating your kind once and for all. I've just made my most recent kill yesterday" He stepped back to reveal Sam's corpse in the cell across the room. "And you will be my next one. But I think I'll leave you here for a while and make you suffer". He stepped out of the brig as the guard reactivated the shield and James was left with his thoughts.

Many more hours past until the same hiss came from the door this time it was two more elites and a strange creature he had never seen before. It was like a green slug that floated by a metal ring with tools all along it, attached to it were mechanical arms stretching out. He pulled up the Spartans mission history and saw that John had made a report on these creatures.

Covenant mechanics
File Originally Created By: SPARTAN II 117. John
Current Rank: MASTER CHIEF
Location: Cote Auzr

These creatures were sighted on the old human colony Sigma 4 in the city of Iziz. They are harmless and they're only goal is to disassemble and reassemble machinery. They seem to be the covenant scientists due to they're fascination with any kind of technology. Nothing will stop them from they're goal even putting a gun to there head, let them do they're job and they won't sound the alarm. They seem to take absolutely no interest in combat.

James closed the file and saw the new elites talking to one of the guards; the guard stepped onto a raised platform and touched one of the buttons on the glowing holo panel. The field started to fad away, and the engineer entered the cell, he floated over and opened up a hatch and began to repair the wiring. The elite pressed another switch and the field came back up again. The two elites left the brig leaving the engineer to his work. Suddenly it looked over at James and floated around his back. The engineer opened up the hatch in the back of his suit and tinkered with the wiring. Soon James saw that the shield bar on his HUD display, began to rise, the engineer was fixing it for him. It closed the hatch and returned to his work. As announcement boomed over the speakers "ATTENTION! Another demon has infiltrated the ship and is heading for the brig; all guards report to station alpha ten and shot to kill. Repeat shot to kill". The guards sprang to life and took up positions around the door in case the demon showed up. James radar showed only covenant signals and one that showed up as neither UNSC nor Covenant. But no one moved from their post and kept their weapons pointed right at the door. The doors to the brig slid silently open as a barrage of assault rifle bullets impacted in the chests of the two grunts. The elites saw the target it was Kelly, see fired her rifle again using up the clip on the first elite. Then noticed she was out of ammo so she beat the other elite to death with the butt of her rifle. She approached James cell. "James"." Kelly, I thought you were dead" he exclaimed. "I managed to hitch a ride on a supply ship and jump into the hanger bay" "Well its good to see you" "Same here, how do I get you out of here" she asked. She shot the door with her pistol but the rounds just bounced off "You need to deactivate it using the panel over there" James pointed to a holo-panel on a raised platform at the back of the room. She approached it and touched one of the buttons, the cell doors started to fade. As the door faded the engineer floated out of the cell towards the door. "Thanks, come on we should be able to reach the engine room from the second floor elevator. So lets get out of here and find it" As James stepped out of the cell another announcement was heard "WARNING! WARNING! Intruder detected all systems lock down, repeat all systems lock down," a computer voice yelled. The doors out of the brig slammed shut trapping the three of them inside. The engineer rammed into the door, but was repelled. "Damn we're sealed in" Kelly grunted. "Not for long" James remarked as he stepped towards the console. He tapped the keys on the console as symbols started to react to it. "Damn its an encrypted lock I thought this was going to be mechanical lock". "Is there a difference?" Kelly asked. "Er yeah. Hence the two names". "Well can you bypass it or not?" "Yeah I just wanted you to know how kick ass I am". James hit the last button as the door hissed open.

They worked their way through the twisting corridors, killing what ever stood in they're path as they finally made it to the second floor. But the most deadly member of the covenant, The Hunter, guarded the elevator door. A large beast armored all other its body with a large metal plate, The same metal the covenant use on their warships mounted on its left arm and a fuel rod gun on its right and to make things worse, there were two of them. Kelly and James reloaded their clips and ran down the path firing at they're stomach the one tiny exposed bit of their body. They succeed in getting they're attention. The hunters charged they're weapons and an enormous bolt flew from the barrel sending a crate through the docking bay entrance sending it barreling down to Reach. The first hunter charged at Kelly, she threw a grenade into the barrel of the hunters cannon stunning it as it flew past her, falling off the platform crashing to the ground, dieing from the impact. The other hunter had watched has his enemy had slaughtered his friend, now he was really angry. The large hedgehog spikes on his back stood up as he charged towards James, his gun was empty and just as the hunter was about to strike him with its shield crushing James bones, when the hunter flung over his helmet missing him by CMs and orange blood splashed across his visor. He got up and saw that Kelly had shot it in the back with her shotgun she had hidden before she left. "Thanks", "Don't mention it, and come on the elevators this way" she pointed down the platform. They boarded the elevator and hit the switch for the engine room, as the doors slid shut and the elevator started.

The doors slid apart and they stepped onto the deck, surprisingly the engine room was empty, they heard the engine roar so loud they had to change they're speakers to cut out the sound. James kept his weapon raised and searched for the main reactor. "There" Kelly pointed to a large machine in the center that glowed with a strange purple the Covenant favored so much. James stepped towards the machine and was just a few steps away when he hit something. "What happened?" "Shield, and by the looks of it its quite a strong one" Kelly told him. "The only way can get through is to divert power from the shield system so it will go off line" "Ok, which way?" James asked, "Well before I found you I stole these schematics from a ship computer. She pulled up the schematics and pin pointed the location of the control room. "Lets go" as they walked towards the elevator again. The elevator rose, and ground to a halt. They dismounted and found the control room; it was a large room with an ery purple glow and a large suspended platform. They stepped up the path and found a large holo panel circling the platform. Kelly stepped towards a terminal at the far end and began to hack. She had been trained to hack computer systems covenant or human making her invaluable to the UNSC. "Err there's something else in the system, I'm trying to locate it". "I don't think you'll be doing that," a piercing voice said over the speakers.

"Oh hell, I can't tell what it is, it might be a hacker, or it could be a covenant AI" Kelly explained. An AI was a computer system that thought for itself, like a human made up data. It was designed to calculate trajectory, speed and other complicated calculations that would take a human hour's to complete. "Now what might two humans be doing aboard this ship, trying to destroy it maybe? Tisk tisk now we can't have that can we" a voice smirked over the speakers. A groaning sound came from the terminal as the power went off in the entire room "Its shut down the power I can't deactivate the shield." A hissing sound came from the vents "What's happening" "Oh not much I'm just filling the control room with poisonous gas to ensure your not going anywhere." The voice called out. "Hah we've got air tanks try again mate," Kelly laughed. "Kelly how much power does that terminal need to function" "Not much James, but why". "Take my power pack and hock it into the terminal that will power it up so you can take out the shield" "But without that your helmets air supply will turn off" "I know". "I wont let you die here" "Its to late for that" James removed his glove and showed Kelly a massive piece of his lower arm that had been burned away by covenant plasma. "Its to late for me" James called out as he discarded his pack, he collapsed to the floor from the gas. "James" Kelly cried. She took his pack and walked up to the terminal and hooked the pack into the terminal. She searched the database and found the source. It was an AL. "This is for James" She inserted an overload disk into the slot and chose its target. "What are you doing human. No Nooooo" the voice screamed as the speakers went dead. She redistributed the power supply so the shield would go off line. She turned and mounted the elevator. She watched the doors close as she took her last look at James's corpse.

Once again the eerie purple filled her sight as she set the mine next to the engines and hit the detonator. A huge flash of lightning enveloped the machine as the sound of it went dead "Mission accomplished, all that's left is to find a ride" Kelly finished as she turned to see someone exiting the elevator, something not human. It had the out line of a human but it wasn't human it was an elite. "Demon at last we meet again I've waited ten years for this but at last I will have my revenge!" he roared. "Revenge for what?" asked Kelly. "For my brothers. Your killed them demon" "I've never seen you before" "Back at sigma 4 me and my squad were stationed to guard an artifact at an old Human city and your kind your Spar-tans murdered them" he explained.

Chapter 10
Sigma 4 Cote Azur
08/02/2515

Banshees flew over the city like a swarm of wasps preparing to chase down they're prey. Sanglin and his squad positioned themselves outside an old human structure in the core of the city. Snaglin raised his hand and pointed towards the door. A member of his squad set a charge on the door. "CLEAR" he yelled as he leapt out of the blast radius as the door was blown to bits and they stormed the entrance. They scanned the area for any movement but it was completely undefended. It was filled with human artifacts from they're past, ancient weapons and statues lined the walls. These were of no concern to him or the covenant, what they wanted was deeper inside. "Move out" snaglin ordered as they headed for the door at the far side of the room. They're objective was to secure an ancient artifact that was said to be able to lead them to the 'Ring Of Holy Fire'. They continued out of the room along a long corridor as snaglin gave them the halt sign. A squad of marines were waiting at the far end. "Kill them". The elites charged towards the marines they're plasma rifles blazing as the marines fell to the ground one by one. They returned fire, but too late as the last of their numbers fell. They moved ahead to inspect them, They were dead. The elites continued until they came to a heavily armored door. "This is it, this is what will lead us to the holy ring, Open it". "Yes sir" one of his squad members approached the door and connected his wrist computer to the control console. He tapped a selection of keys as the locking mechanism of the door showed up on the screen. One by one the code was deciphered as the door hissed open. The room had a certain roman design to it. In the centre of the large circular room was a pedestal with a red egg shaped stone on it. "This is it, this is what will lead us to halo. Report this to command." "No need" a strange voice that came out of nowhere. "Who. Who's there"? "I'm commander of this fleet, I'm your soupier officer and your doom if you do not show me more respect. You will follow my orders without question or suffer my rage," the voice ordered. "Of course. Forgive me sir" snaglin pleaded. "Good. Now I have a new assignment for you. We've just learned of a human camp in the area. We've deployed a detachment of the fleet to destroy it but we fear they may be after this artifact. Your squad is to defend this room until our research team can arrive and decipher it's meaning, is that clear". "Yes sir" snaglin replied as the voice faded away.

The next few days were the worst his squad had ever been in, a mimicked routine of patrolling the inside of the museum and standing guard at an impassable door. This is not what they signed up for, they signed up to crush the human demons and feel the pride at seeing the enemy ships burn in space as they're fleet destroys they're planet. Snaglin finished his patrol and returned to the command post positioned in the room with the artifact. He inputted the code for the door seal. As it hissed open he entered the room. "Any progress in deciphering the artifacts meaning yet?" he asked the research team. One of the elites rose to his feet and addressed him. "Nothing yet sir. But we are certain that this is the artifact we've been searching for" "Keep searching this artifact is our top priority. The sooner you find out what the artifact means the sooner we can get back to the killing." "Then we shall double our efforts sir" "Good now get back to work." Snaglin turned around and approached a console that had been brought in to help with the research. Once again it was time to check on his squad's status while on they're patrols. He opened the COM link with the first patrol "Patrol delta, what is your status?" "We're good sir, we've found nothing" "Stay alert". He closed that channel and opened the next one. "Patrol beta, what is your status?" "All green here sir". Next was patrol gamma "Patrol gamma what is your status?" All that returned on the COM link was static. "Patrol gamma, I repeat patrol gamma what is your status?" he repeated. Again all that he heard was static. He opened the channels to the other squads "Patrols I've lost gamma can any of you reach them on your COM". "Its all white noise on my end sir" delta replied. "Nothing from me. What do you think happened to them?" asked the leader of patrol beta. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out. Stay alert" as he switched off the channel. He opened up a holographic map of the museum. Patrol Gammas route was along the west wing of the building; if they're anywhere they're there. He rose from his seat and ran out of the room to find out what happened to gamma.

Questions ran through his mind as he walked along they're path. What happened to them? Are the humans here? Did they turn rouge? All these questions were pushed out of his mind as he ground to halt. He couldn't believe what he saw, gamma squad had been murdered. They're bodies littered the ground and they're blood covered the walls. He approached one of the bodies and knelt down beside him. He looked into his bullet wound and saw a small metal cylinder in his chest. He removed it and took a closer look at it. It was a bullet from a human assault rifle. They were here. "Patrols come in". All he heard was static, they had got to them. He charged back to the room with the artifact hoping he could protect it. He finally reached the corridor to the entrance. At the end of the corridor he saw a fire fight occurring between humans and 2 hunters. He saw an enormous explosion come from the hunters side as he saw they're bodies slam against the wall leaving a trail of blood. Out of the darkness he saw a figure appear, a Spartan. "Sir, mission accomplished I have the artifact and are preparing for extraction." The creature said with a sense of pride. Snaglin ran towards the creature as he saw the door slowly hiss closed as the creature walked through it. "Nooooo" he yelled as he slammed into the door. He smacked his fist against it, the demon had got away. The human that had killed his squad and his brothers had escaped and with the artifact. He looked down and saw the human had dropped something, it was the Spartan emblem. But this one seemed different in some way, special. It had the eagle with the arrow and the parchment but it also had an MC crest on its chest. This was the emblem of they're leader, he was the one he had to kill to avenge his brothers.

"My brothers died that day and it was you that killed them. For ten years I've dedicated myself to exterminating your kind and with your death, my revenge will be nearly complete. Prepare to die" He tapped a button on his wrist as he started to fade away. "Elite camouflage" Kelly groaned with frustration. Sngalin drew his energy sword the covenants most powerful anti infantry weapon. She searched to try to find the creature; Kelly turned and saw a shimmer in the air and knew it was the elite as it leaped down on her. She fired but her gun was empty, she knew this was the end. Then as from nowhere a rocket struck the elite in the chest knocking Kelly to the floor and killing Sngalin, he hit the wall falling to the ground leaving a trail of blue blood everywhere. "Huh" She looked up and saw James clutching a rocket launcher. "Your alive. How" "When you shut down the AL the air scrubbers kicked in inside the control room and purified the air". "Thanks", "Just repaying the debt" James told her. Then they noticed they only had 3 minutes left. They boarded the elevator and hit the button for the docking bay.

The bay was in chaos grunts were running around in a panic and ships were leaving taking troops into orbit to board other Covenant warships. They were to busy panicking to notice them so they were ok. They saw that were still two banshees but two elites were just boarding. "We'll never make it" Kelly told James. "Yes we will we're going to have to jump onto the banshees and knock the pilots out". "WHAT!" But insane as it was Kelly knew it was the only way. They leapt off the platform and landed on the leaving banshees. They each fought with the elites for control of the vessels but it was the Spartans that came out the victors. As they mounted their banshees and steered they away attempting to clear the ship. Behind them the ship exploded in a glowing ball of heat that was catching up with them, they would never escape in banshees; they hit them into full power but were consumed by the destruction. Meanwhile out on a hill Yapap watched as his home was consumed by a ball of destruction. All his possessions were vaporised, all the friends he had made were all gone. He watched never moving an inch. He didn't want it to end like this he drew his plasma pistol, charged the weapon, put the gun to his head and released the trigger.
Above the destruction the prophet sat in his chair in the council room as the elite stepped towards him. "Noble prophet I bring before you the one that will lead us to halo". The elite stepped aside to reveal the oracle. "More questions how wonderful. Where can I begin"

Chapter 11
Location:
The Pillar of autumn bridge
Unknown system

The autumn had made a hasty escape from the dangers in Reach orbit with the most precious of cargo on board, the last known surviving Spartan known only by the name "Master chief". "Cortana all I need to know is did we lose them?" Keyes asked, "I think we both know the answer to that" a female voice replied through the bridge speakers. "Huh, we made a blind jump how did they". "Get here first, the covenant ships have always been faster as for tracking us all the way from Reach at light speed my maneuvering options were limited" Cortana finished "We were running dark, yes?" Keyes asked, "Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace," She explained as Keyes stepped towards one of the bridge control stations. "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet" she finished. "So, where do we stand?" he asked as he stepped towards the main control panel. "Our fighters are mopping up the last of their Recon picket now, nothing serious. But, I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS-class battle groups. Make it three capital ships per group. And in about ninety seconds they'll be all over us." She told him "Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their station," he ordered as the alarm came to life and bridge personal ran for their stations. "Everyone sir?" she asked "Everyone. And, Cortana..." he finished. Once he finished the image of a young women appeared on a near by holo station it was the AL Cortana. She had been created a few years ago from a clone of DR. Hasleys brain. Cortana was not human she was a stream of data, but she had been given an image form that reflect her. This could be shown on a holo panel as a moving figure that moved as she moved. She was created to calculate movements to give battlefield intelligence and hack into enemy computer systems. She was what they called a smart AI. AI's like dejia were dumb AI's hey can't learn any thing beyond they're original programming. But smart AI's like Cortana can absorb data from other computer systems and increase her knowledge. But eventually she'll use so much of her memory in storing info she'll overload and burnout. It's like a human using so much of they're brain that they forget to send signals to they're heart and lungs. She may only live a few more years in the UNSC, but she is still invaluable to the war effort. "Hmm?" "Let's give our old friends a warm welcome". "I've already begun," A smirk grew across Cortana's face.

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