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Continuing where I left off. I'm particularly proud of this section of my stroy. Please comment.


Interior: Carrier Shadow of Intent. Makeshift waiting room outside the bridge.

The team went with their new ally, Cordo Kemdadlem, to the Shadow of Intent and awaited for the conclusion of the meeting within the bridge. They all sat outside. Johnson, Buck, Dare, Mickey, Dutch, Romeo, the Rookie, Cordo, and several other Elites. Names have already been exchanged and they are waiting to see what their leaders have planned.

"So what exactly happened on this…. Halo?" asks Dutch. "What made you split from the Covenant?"

"Betrayal" says Cordo. "The Prophets had our councilors murdered by the Brutes. Then they attempted to destroy the rest of us."

"Ain't that a bitch" says Romeo.

"I must say, our race has come to admire your defiance and determination. In the face of impossible odds" says Cordo.

"That's humanity for ya" says Buck. "Thanks to you, these odds ain't so impossible anymore."

"Your Demon has given the Covenant hell for many years. With us on your side, we now have a fighting chance" says Cordo.

"Demon?" asks Mickey.

Just then, the doors to the bridge slide open.

"Officer on deck!" Buck says as the team stands at attention with firm salutes.

Lord Hood walks in between the Elites and humans. He is followed by Shipmaster, Rtas 'Vadum, Miranda Keyes, and several Elites. After the team stands at ease, 343 Guilty Spark flies out of the bridge.

"What the hell is that?" asks Romeo.

Mickey then looks into the bridge. He gasps at the sight. The Master Chief walks out side by side with the Arbiter.

"The Spartan!" Dutch whispers.

The Arbiter nods at Cordo. He returns the gesture. The Arbiter then continues down the hall. The Chief stops to talk to Johnson.

"So what's the plan Chief?" asks Johnson.

"We're following Truth through the Portal" replies the Chief. "Hood's sending the message now that we're accepting all volunteers."

Buck interrupts.

"Sir, Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck at your service. If there's gonna be a suicide mission then my men and I would be more then happy to volunteer."

The Chief looks at the team and sizes them up.

"Good. We need all the experienced soldiers we can get. A few hardened ODST's like you will be useful" says the Chief.

Interior: Shadow of Intent. Launch Bay.

Cordo stood before a line of Elites. He was wearing golden Spec Ops Armor with a normal helmet. Their were thirty, all in Spec Ops Armor. He paced back and forth. These were his troops. They were some of the best commandos in the Separatist Fleet.

"Brothers, we do not know what we face when we go through the Portal. But when we are called to launch in our pods, I do not care what surface we land on. If we are called to land in the fires of the netherworld, I do not care! We will do so with ferocity and honor. We will cut down and burn any mindless servants of that coward Truth that stand in our way!" says Cordo.

The Elites let out a unified roar. Twenty feet away, Buck stands in a Pelican with his team. There are also nine ODST's that have been placed under his command. Nine troops, including the team, sat down while Buck stood with the other four. One seat remained vacant.

"That sounds very familiar" says Mickey, commenting on Cordo and his Elites.

"Turns out we're not so different" says Dutch.

"Oh we're different alright" says Romeo.

"How do ya figure?" asks Mickey.

"They almost completely wiped us out. We wouldn't have done that. Even if our leaders were crazy" says Romeo. "I mean-"

"Romeo, before you finish that sentence take a long look back at human history and think about it" Buck interrupts. "We may not be as proud a race but we're definitely as blind and warlike."

Captain Dare then walked into the Pelican followed by Vergil. The ODST's walked away from the Engineer cautiously. Buck stares at it then focuses on Dare.

"What's our orders?" asks Buck.

"We're being moved to the Aegis Fate. We'll have to remain in the HEV facility in case of a drop" says Dare as she sits in the empty seat. "We have no clue what to expect so we're trying to be ready."

Cordo then approaches the Pelican.

"Trooper!" he yells as he nears the ship. "I look forward to fighting alongside you and your men."

"Thanks Cordo. See you on the other side" says Buck as the Pelican's door closes.

Cordo then puts a piece of armor on which covers his mouth and eyes. This was incase of a mission in vacuum.
The Pelican takes off and exit's the Shadow of Intent. As it exits, Romeo says,

"Lets hope this flight goes better than our last few."


Exterior: Aegis Fate.

The Pelican containing Buck and his men lands in the Aegis Fate. The frigate then flies in formation with the other ships towards the Portal and enters, leaving Earth behind.

Exterior: Orbit above the Ark.

The Elite ships exit Slipspace and get in formation above the Ark. The Covenant Fleet gets in a staggered formation and nears the Elite's ships.

Interior: Bridge of Covenant Separatist Cruiser, Just Atrocity.

The shipmaster of the Just Atrocity goes over the COMM channels and raises Rtas 'Vadum.

"Shipmaster, we have located the Prophet's Dreadnought. He has landed on this strange construct" says the shipmaster.

"Good. Send in Field Master Kemdadlem. Contact the Aegis Fate. Tell the humans to send in their troopers as well. Have them disable the Prophet's vessel" says Rtas.
"Of course" says the shipmaster.

He then raises the Aegis Fate.

"Captain, stay in the shadow of my ship. We will shield you from the Brutes fire. Launch your troopers to these coordinates" says the shipmaster as he presses buttons, sending the coordinates.

The Captain of Aegis Fate, Captain Joseph Cordain, responds.

"Roger that, I'll drop the ODST's on your mark."

Interior: Aegis Fate. HEV launch facility.

Buck, Dare, and all the other ODST's stand around and wait for orders. They load up on weapons and ammo. The voice of Captain Cordain goes over a loudspeaker.

"ODST's, gear up. We're launching HEV's in ninety seconds."

Buck loads his Assault Rifle and looks around the room. The troopers were nervous. He could see it in them. He was too. But like the Rookie, he didn't show it. The men needed a morale boost. And he knew just what to do.

"Listen up troopers!" Buck yells.

The ODST's stop what they're doing and look at their Sergeant.

"We've been fighting this war for a long time. Too long if you ask me. But we could end it today. Those alien bastards have been picking us off one planet at a time. Now, we've only got one planet left. Earth is the last thing we have close to a home. The enemy may not be at our home anymore, but we still need to fight as if this is Earth, as if we're defending our home. By some ridiculous amount of luck, we've formed a very unexpected alliance with the Elites. With their help, we can save our home. We can defeat the Covenant and their leader, the Prophet. Now, I don't know what that Prophet plans on doing here, but whatever it is, it's gonna kill us all. Now, we're gonna stop him! We're gonna stop them! After we get in these pods, I don't know where we'll land! We could land in the blazes of Hell for all I care! So if we're going to Hell…."

"WE GO FEET FIRST SIR!" all the troopers say in unison.

"That's what I like to hear!" says Buck. "Now, get in your pods, and make these bastards pay for what they've done!"

All the troopers, even the Rookie, raise their fists in the air with a loud "OOORA!"

As the troopers make their final preparations before entering their pods, Dare confronts Buck.

"That was a side of Eddie Buck I've never seen before" she says.

"They needed it" says Buck. "And so did I."

"Well, you gave them one hell of a boost, will I see you on the ground?" she asks.

"Of course, now get in your pod. We've got a job to-"

Dare cuts him off with a kiss.

"Good luck" she says.

Dare puts on her helmet and walks towards her pod. All the other troopers are settling themselves within their pods except for the Rookie. He stood outside his, looking at Buck. Buck put his helmet on and nodded and went for his pod. The Rookie returned the gesture and got in his pod. Captain Cordain's voice played from the pod's internal speakers.

"HEV launch in twenty seconds" he says.

Other than Buck's face appearing on one of the pod's internal screens and a picture of the Dreadnought on the other, ten seconds went by without event.

"HEV launch in ten seconds. Give'em hell troopers. And may God be with you" says the captain.

The clock hits zero and the pods launch. The Rookie looks down and sees a desert, dotted with several structures below. As they near the surface, the Rookie makes one of the structures out to be the Prophet's Dreadnought. The other, to the far left, is an assortment of ancient shrines covered by the sand.
As they continue to fall, the Rookie hears Buck's voice.

"The Elites have just launched their pods. They'll be catching u to us in ten seconds" says Buck. "Chute launch on my mark………… Mark!"

All the HEV's jerk upward as the umbrella like parachutes deploy and slow them down. They are all getting closer to the ground. As they near it, weapon emplacements become visible.

"Aegis Fate we've got AA batteries being set up. Advise you let us clear the area before touching down" says Dare.

"Roger. Take them out quickly. We're not gonna last long up here and we've spotted a Brute camp in that shrine. We're planning on taking them out and using it for ourselves" says Captain Cordain.

"Acknowledged. Out" says Dare.

The Rookie watches as the Elite pods catch up and start to pass the humans.

"Show offs!" yells Romeo.

"Don't worry trooper. We will save some Grunts for you to kill" says Cordo.

"Grunts?" says Romeo.

Cordo tries to respond but his pod has already landed. The Elites burst from their pods and come immediately under fire. Right in front of them, about one kilometer away, is the Dreadnought. Cordo bursts from his pod and draws his sword. He then rips off the armor that he had placed on his mouth for the fight in vacuum that never happened. He charges the Brutes.
Ten seconds after the Elites land, the ODST's hit the ground. Several troopers emerge from their pods and fall in behind the Elites. Romeo bursts from his pod with his sniper, Dutch from his with his Spartan Laser, Mickey from his with his rocket launcher, Dare from hers with a Battle Rifle, Buck from his with an Assault Rifle, and the Rookie from his with an SMG.
The Covenant have been setting up AA batteries but have not finished any. The team of Elites and ODST's run the full kilometer towards the Dreadnought and the incomplete batteries around it.

"Aegis Fate, the AA batteries are incomplete. Requesting air support" says Buck.

"Roger that trooper we've got Longswords inbound. Keep your distance, they'll take care of most of their forces" says Captain Cordain.

Buck stops in his tracks and screams over the gunfire.

"Everyone fall back! Longswords are inbound!"

Every soldier stopped and turned around. The Longsword fighters flew in from the sky.

"Hit the deck!" Buck yells.

All the troopers hit the ground and watch as the fighters wipe out majority of the Covenant forces. After a series of explosions and screams of the enemy, the Elites and ODST's rise and charge the ship. Surviving Brutes walk around, disoriented and wounded. Cordo takes the lead and slashes any Covenant down in his path. All others fire on the survivors.
The Forerunner ship was at least seven miles in length. It would take hours to completely take it. They did not have that much time, so the Elites and ODST's decided to just enter the ship and self destruct it. The problem though, was getting in. The team gathered around where one of the ship's legs touched the ground. The debris of many Covenant vehicles cluttered the area under the ship. The Longswords had taken out all the real threats.

"Alright Cordo, how do we get in?" asks Buck.

"The entrances on this level have been locked" says Cordo. "The only other way in is though the conduit entrance on the ship's midsection."

"That's no good" says Dare. "All dropships are preoccupied."

Aegis Fate then entered the atmosphere and flew past the Dreadnought towards the shrine. Dare stares at the ship and smiles.

"I have an idea" she says.

Ten minutes later, a Pelican flies in and touches down at the team's position. The door opens and Vergil comes out and hovers towards them.

"Hey Vergil, can you open this door for us?" Dare says in the sweetest way possible.

"Why does she speak to it in such ways?" Cordo asks Buck.

"I don't know" says Buck.

Vergil hovers over to the leg of the ship. It is over a hundred feet wide. The entrance was invisible, but the alien knew where it was going. It stopped right in front of the metal structure and touched it with its tendrils. A few seconds later, seams appeared on the ship and the door appeared. It was about ten feet tall and twenty feet wide. Steam shot out from the seams and the door split in half and slid open.

"You three, come with me" Cordo says to three of his commandos. "The rest, help clear the Brute command post at the shrine."

"Mickey, Romeo, Dutch, Rookie. Your with me. Veronica, bring that squid with us. We're gonna need him. Everyone else, assist the Elites" says Buck.

The ones who were chosen entered the ship while the others followed their orders. Once they entered the ship, the doors closed behind them.

"There is a lift that will take us to the midsection three levels up" says Cordo. "From there, we must get to another lift that will take us to the control center."

"Then we can blow this thing straight to hell" says Mickey.

The team does as Cordo says. He and his Elites were the only ones who knew the way around this ancient vessel. The flight up the three levels is hard fought. There were many small groups of Covenant still guarding the structure. But once they make it to the lift, they are taken at lightning fast speed up the ship's leg to the midsection. Once they get to the midsection, they are greeted by a large force of Brute Honor Guards.

"Honor Guards!" Cordo yells. "Truth must still be aboard!"

Several guards charge with their Energy Staves. The Elites see this as a challenge and withdraw their Energy Swords. The ODST's stay back and shoot at the guards that did not charge.

(Author's Note: The Energy Stave will be usable in game-play. They will be wielded like Gravity Hammers and would have the effect of the Energy Sword. They have infinite ammo since they require no energy.)

The skirmish with the Honor Guards quickly ends, but the three Elites which Cordo led have been slain. Cordo kneels before their corpses and mutters a prayer. After this they continue up the next six levels until they reach another lift. This one takes them to the ship's central spire.

"Four more levels. Then we shall board another lift and enter the control center" says Cordo.

The team follows their Elite friend up the next four levels to the final lift. Upon reaching it, they see that it has been jammed by the Covenant defenders. The team then defends Vergil for the next three minutes until he has the lift back online. They then board it and head for the top.
The control center is three stories high. The lowest point of the center is surrounded by several landings and stairwells. The shape of the room is octagonal with a glass roof.
Upon reaching the top floor, the team exits the elevator and walks down a hallway that leads to the control center. As soon as Buck exits the hall, he sees the glimmer of the Honor Guard armor on the top landing.

"Brutes!" he yells.

The team fires, but the Brutes do not return. They just run. Among the gunshots, the team hears the Brutes speaking.

"Get the Holy One to the ship! We must get him out of here!" says the Brute Captain.

Upon hearing this, Cordo draws his sword and chases the Brutes. Buck and his team try to follow, but he is moving to fast. Cordo reaches the highest landing and sees a Brute Honor Guard run down a hall. He chases him. He turns the corner into the hall and is nearly crushed by the Brute's Gravity Hammer. He evades the weapon and drives his sword into the Brute's chest. Cordo then watches as the Brute falls on the floor. He then turns to see the Prophet of Truth at the far end of the hall. Behind him is a landing platform with a Phantom hovering over it. In an instant, Truth fires his throne's Gravity Cannon and hits Cordo dead in the chest. Cordo's shields flicker and fade and he is sent flying back ten feet. Buck makes it up to the top landing and sees Cordo laying there, lifeless.

"Cordo!" he yells.

Buck and Dare run over to Cordo as Romeo, Dutch, Mickey, and the Rookie run for the hall to confront Truth. When they reach the hall's entrance, they see the Prophet being lifted into the Phantom. They run out to the platform just as it flies away. Romeo lets four shots go from his sniper. Dutch charges his laser and fires, hitting the tail section of the dropship. Mickey sends two rockets towards the ship. They both make contact on the same rudder as Dutch's shot. The Rookie just fires his SMG until the clip runs dry. All of their shots are in vain. Their ammo was wasted. The Phantom flew out of their range and disappeared into the sunlight. Romeo, Dutch, Mickey, and the Rookie all returned to the control center where Buck, Dare, and Vergil all stood over Cordo.
Slowly, the Elite rises. There is a smoking black dent where he was hit.

"Dam, your lucky to be alive after that" says Buck.

"Luck?" asks Cordo. "Luck does not exist."

"I disagree" says Buck.

"You should let Vergil repair your armor" says Dare. "We'll start the self destruct sequence."

"Dutch! Rookie! Get on that platform and flag for pickup" says Buck.

The team spreads out. Dare goes to the lowest point in the room and begins examining the control panels. Mickey and Romeo stay on the top level and do the same. Buck stays at Cordo's side as Vergil repairs his armor. Dutch and the Rookie wait on the outside platform.
Dutch looks off the far end of the platform. He sees Aegis Fate hovering several hundred feet off the ground while a battle ensues at the shrine below.

"Hey Rookie! Check this out" yells Dutch.

The Rookie runs over and Dutch points to the battle at the shrine. They use the image magnifiers on their visors and watch as an Albatross Heavy Dropship is hit by a Phantom and crashes. The Phantom is then hit by intense ground fire and it explodes as it tries to escape. The debris falls in a cluttered pile to the left of the shrine. Two Elephant Tanks slowly circle to shrine and fire on whatever Covenant are left.

(Author's Note: If you haven't guessed, they're witnessing a battle on the multiplayer map, Sandtrap.)

Meanwhile on the inside, Mickey and Romeo walk around the top level. Mickey looks up at the glass roof. He notices a swirling cloud in the sky and realizes what it is.

"Romeo!" he yells. "Look up at the sky."

"Why?" asks Romeo as he lifts his head and sees the swirling cloud.

"Is that what I think it is?" asks Mickey.

"Wouldn't surprise me at all" says Romeo.

Cordo was sitting up against a wall facing the hallway to the landing platform. He had taken off his chest plate and let Vergil repair it. He got up and turned around towards Dare on the lowest level.

"That female" he says. "You care for her?"

"What makes you say that?" asks Buck.

"The way the two of you look at each other" says Cordo. "And the way you always make sure she is not wounded after a fight."

"We had something a long time ago. But now, I'm not sure" says Buck.

"In my culture, we believe that we are guided to our mates through a force hidden in our hearts and our spirits" says Cordo.

"My people have a word for that" says Buck. "It's called love."

"This force, the one which you call love, my people believe that it never dies" says Cordo.

"Well, nothing lives forever Cordo" replies Buck.


"Yes. Yes they do" says Cordo.

Buck smiles.

"And then again, maybe you're right" he says as he looks down at Dare.

Dare walks around the lowest point of the control center. She is looking for the means to start the self destruct sequence. That was the ODST's mission there. Theirs, but not hers. ONI had seen the capability of this ship. They had heard all about how it powered a space-going super city. In their final hours on Earth, before they left through the portal, the Elites had mentioned the power the Dreadnought had to ONI. Now, ONI wanted it for themselves. They had very little operatives left. Most had died in the previous battle. Captain Dare was one of the few who had volunteered for the mission through the Portal. Her mission was to either have Vergil fly it back, or to falsely try and self destruct it, in which case she would have to take it back to Earth for repairs so they could self destruct it then. Only they wouldn't. They would study and use it. This was their only option since the ship was capable a taking an immense amount of damage before being destroyed. They only wished to keep it a secret because of the Elites who wanted to destroy the Covenant's most holy relic.
Vergil finished repairing and applying Cordo's armor. Dutch and the Rookie had called for pickup.

"Vergil! Start the self destruct sequence!" yells Dare from below.

The Engineer floated down to Dare and tapped the control console. A countdown started at twenty minutes.

"Pelican's here!" says Dutch over the COMM channel

"Vergil, transfer an abort code to my COMM" whispers Dare.

Vergil does as she asks. As soon as she has the power to fake the ship's need for repairs, she does. The countdown stops.

"There's a problem!" she yells.

Buck and Cordo run down to her.

"What happened?" asks Buck.

"The countdown stopped. I think it's been damaged" says Dare.

"What now?" asks Buck. "We can't possibly destroy it from the outside."

"We'll need to repair it" says Dare.

"How the hell do you wanna do that?" asks Buck.

Before Dare can reply, an alarm goes off. Red lights flash and a large screen rises from the control console. Digits appear quickly one by one:


UNKOWN ANNOMALY HAS OCCURRED///////////////////////////////UNKOWN ANNOMALY HAS OCCURRED////////////////////////ERROR///////////////////////ERROR
CLEARANCE FOR ABORT NOT RECEIVED//////////////////////////////////////////
FAILSAFE ACTIVATED. DESTRUCTION IN TEN MINUTES//////////////////////
SEARCHING FOR EMERGENCY GATE TO ACTIVE SHIELD/////////////
SEARCHING.............................
SEARCHING.............................
SEARCHING.............................
EMERGENCY GATE FOUND: Installation 00: Ark 4324I63HFIDSFJFHDJDBUR8489
CLOSURE IN: TWENTY FOUR HOURS

"Uh, what the hell is that?" Buck asks.

A map then appears under the message. It shows the Ark. It then magnifies on a single point several times until it is clear. It shows a structure that is on a cliff surrounding the Ark's core. Deep beneath this structure is something important which will disappear in a day's time.

"Veronica, this thing's gonna blow. If we don't leave now, I got a feeling that we won't escape the blast" says Buck.

Dare had failed her mission. The Dreadnought was about to rip itself apart. It was her fault too. She had no way of knowing this would happen. She had only one option now: get to this "gate" that had been mentioned and see if it could be of any use.

"Right, lets get out of here" she says as she follows her teammates out of the control room.

They board the Pelican and fly away. They have been in the air for ten minutes, but could still see the Dreadnought. They watched from the passenger bay as small internal explosions tore up the ship's hull. In a flash of light and a crack of thunder, the Dreadnought exploded.

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