Halo:Darkened Serenity

PROLOGUE: The fall of UNSC outpost Zulu
UNSC Outpost Zulu 1800 hours 2552 Terrene System

The two ODSTs walked down the road, laughing and chatting. They reached the first set of gates at their outpost. For a small outpost in the middle of the mountain it was very well guarded, thought an unseen watcher. The creaked nosily open. One of the ODSTs dropped to the ground, then the other one. At the sound of them falling to the ground 4 more men rushed out of the gates. They were killed in a similar fashion. Several Kig -Yar aliens walked out of the forest seeing that no more soldiers were forth coming. But, as they walked through the gates several ODSTs threw a bunch of grenades at the Kig-Yar, blowing some of them apart. At the sound of the explosions hundreds more came streaming through the gates. These were led by Jiralhanae, large brutish aliens with iron muscles and rhino-like skin. They fired their brute shots at the ODSTs sending them flying into walls and other soldiers. The Kig-Yar swarmed around the humans killing in a manner of vicious ways. Then it was over as quickly as it had begun. The Jiralhanae chieftain, Tamuk stood watching a pair of Kig-Yar torture a human lying on the ground. Then a scream attracted his attention. At the bottom of the mountain a human on a mongoose ATV was hurtling towards the bottom.

"Karagy."

"Yes Chieftain?"

"Kill the human."

"With pleasure." Karagy as the best Kig-Yar sniper that any general could wish for. His ruthlessness was incredible and he could shoot an Unggoy's tooth at 800 units. A single human on a noisy vehicle was an easy target. Tamuk smiled as the human pitched forward off his vehicle.

"Chieftain!"

"What is it, Varok?"

"More human ships are coming!"

"How many?"

"About 8!"

"Damn it! Kwazeer, are those shades set up yet? Karagy, get all snipers into good positions!" Kig-Yar, Unggoy and Jiralhanae all scramble around yelling and following orders. Then it was quiet. Nothing moved exempt for a couple of crows feasting on dead soldiers.

Suddenly 7 UNSC Pelicans and 1 Albatross Heavy Dropship roared across the sky. A spray of machine gun fire crossed the ground. Out of each pelican dropped 15 ODSTs and out of the Albatross came 15 ODSTs and one Scorpion M808B battle tank.

"Ha, should have known that those ugly bas-" He twitched and dropped to the ground not moving. Then in a matter of seconds twelve others joined him. Then and the shades opened up, blasting rays of plasma into the human soldiery. The Jiralhanae charged from hiding while the humans were confused, yelling shooting their brute shots at the tank. Tamuk roared his delight at the battle. He then waded in to the thick of things swinging his gravity hammer. Charging at the tank, Tamuk lifted his muscular arms and hurled his hammer at the tank. It connected at the junction of the turret and the tank's main. A blossom of white fire filled his vision.

"Hahahahahaahahahahahahhahahahahaaahahahahahaha!" Flames surrounded him and his energy shield sparked but he didn't care, so engrossed was he with the destruction of the filthy humans.

As the flames died out, he saw a single frightened ODST pointing a pistol at him. Tamuk grinned and calmly brushed dirt and soot off his armor and bent down to pick up his helmet. The pistol coughed once. A single bullet pinged of this armor. With a snarl, Tamuk pulled a fuel rod gun of his back.

BOOM!

The human disappeared. Tamuk shot another and another until there was no more left. Outpost Zulu has fallen.

CHAPTER 1
Seventh cycle, 151 units (Covenant battle calendar) Aboard destroyer Revealing Dawn In orbit above Tartan system, Sillvvass planet

Tamuk watched as the Sangheili ship's energy shields fail, then several plasma torpedoes hit it, making it burst into many pieces.

"Shipmaster."

"Yes?"

"The Sangheili are trying to land on the planet."

"So what." The gigantic Jiralhanae turned and glared at the obviously smaller subordinate. "Do you think I am so stupid that I do not notice? Perhaps you seek to embarrass me so you may become shipmaster!"

"No Shipmaster. I only thought-"

"Well stop before you hurt yourself, fool." As that final comment was spoken, Tamuk walked onto the bridge. He released a short bark of laughter.

"Shipmaster with all respect Varok here," He winked at the angry Jiralhanae, "is a completely loyal to me and has no reason to want to become a shipmaster. Unless he wants to betray me?" Varok's mind was going a million miles per second, trying to think of something good to say that would not anger either the Chieftain or the Shipmaster.

"Um." Suddenly Ki-yaggi, a Kig-Yar major burst into the room.

"Shipmaster, Chieftain! Sangheili in the hangar bay!"

Several minutes later, Tamuk and his squad entered the hangar. Two Separatist Phantoms had landed and covered the whole hangar with a hail of plasma fore. Several Sangheili majors advanced under covering fire form the dropship's plasma cannons. Seeing the Jiralhanae enter the room, they opened fire with carbines, needlers and plasma rifles. The Loyalists returned fire with plasma rifles; spiker rifles needlers, fuel rod guns, and beam rifles, carbines, brute shots and all sorts of other weapons. Tamuk charged forward with little regard for the hail of needles and plasma coming his way. His squad followed loyally. After a few minutes, two Lekgolo dropped into the battle from the dropships. Karagy spotted the dangerous pair and shouted a warning to Tamuk, who usually only sees those in front of him. As the Jiralhanae Chieftain spotted the Lekgolo, he started to slow down and ready his gravity hammer. The first of the pair charged forward, while the other charged his fuel rod cannon for a shot.

"Bring it on, you ugly worms!" Tamuk stood his ground, with his gravity hammer slung over one shoulder. His other hand held a plasma grenade. At the last possible minuet, Tamuk dodged the shot from the second Lekgolo's cannon and hurled the grenade. It stuck onto the charging giant's "face." The Lekgolo was staggering back trying to get the grenade off his face, when the hammer struck it in the face. The grenade detonated in a blue flash, and that combined with the strike from the hammer sent the Lekgolo into the path of the next shot from the second beast. By the time the second Lekgolo realized what he had done, a hammer struck if twice in the back. A Sangheili commander stepped up on a raised section of the hangar.

"Sangheili, back on to the Phantoms. We are going to the Shade of Forgiveness!"

"Not on your life traitor!" The Sangheili half-turned and then a huge hammer caught him in the chest, sending him flying. "You should burn with the humans for your treachery!" An energy sword flashed in the Sangheili's hand.

"Do you really think you can kill me, A'rik' Sraomee? I will slice you into ribbons." The energy sword impacted with the hammer, sending sparks flying. Tamuk swung his hammer again and again, but A'rik calmly blocked every blow. Tamuk snarled, angered by the fact that his opponent seemed to not try at all. He gathered all his strength into one blow, and then lifted the hammer behind his back to bring it down onto the Separatist commander.

"Big mistake," muttered A'rik. The Sangheili lashed out with his sword, striking deep into the Jiralhanae's chest. Tamuk roared with pain. A'rik energy shields sparked as Karagy and Ki-yaggi shot him to protect their chieftain.

"You're below my level, scum!" A'rik sneered as he said his parting comment. Tamuk screamed all sorts of Jiralhanae curses at the retreating Sangheili.

"I will kill you, traitor." A'rik stopped suddenly at those words. His energy shield was sparking as well as anger in his eyes. It was a frightening sight.

"Traitor?" A'rik's voice was deadly calm; "You are the traitor here, brute. You and your race slowly pushed us down the Covenant hierarchy and them convinced the Prophets to rid of us. You betrayed us for no bloody reason!"

"Fleet Commander!" a SpecOp Sangheili commander ran up. A'rik turned sharply.

"What is it?"

"We must leave. Orders have been received from the Holy Shield.”

“Then let us go. This stench of Jiralhanae sickens me.”

Chapter 2
Seventh cycle, 201 units (Covenant Battle Calendar) In a Phantom landing on Tartan system, Sillvvass planet

Two Sangheili stood to attention as A'rik Sraomee walked into the passenger area. Several Unggoy and two Lekgolo also were in the passenger area.

"Commander." A'rik looked at his second-in-command, Isna ‘Sumai. "The Jiralhanae have landed on the planet, and are setting up a defense. They are gathering strength and weaponry as we speak."

"Good, any other reports?" A'rik glanced around the hangar bay. An Unggoy SpecOp waddled in front of the Sangheili commander.

"Um. I, on behalf of my fellow Unggoy, want to say that we thank you fir giving us a chance to escape along with you. My name is Sayyap.” The Unggoy shuffled back into the group of Unggoy.

“Commander!” Isna was pointing at a view screen. “Two Seraphs are on our tail, but they are more of us.”

“Good. Hail them and let them know of my rank as Commander of the current fleet.”

Tamuk sat up. By looking around, he saw he was in a medical bay. Glancing down at his chest he saw a white line where A’rik Sraomee had stabbed him. He snarled as he thought of the Sangheili commander. As he rose from the bed he swore and oath of vengeance against the Separatist Sangheili. Putting on his armor he walked down the hall to the hangar bay of his tribe’s air force. As he walked onto a Seraph, his heart swelled with pride at the sight of his tribe’s infantry. Almost a 1000 Unggoy, 3-400 Kig-Yar and 150 Jiralhanae. Also 4 Lekgolo pairs had been granted to him.

“My brother Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar and Unggoy! The Sangheili that we have chased for hundreds of units are now cornered on the planet below! Today we will exact vengeance on those who have betrayed the San ‘Shyuum! We will strike with the anger of Truth! The Great Journey is upon us! We will kill the heretic bastards! Kill them all!” The crowd roared it approval. “Now get on these ships and on the ground!” Tamuk jumped down from the Seraph. Varock and Karagy walked up. “Karagy you have control of the Kig-Yar. Use them well.” Karagy nodded and ran off, yelling orders.

“What of me Chieftain?” Varock seemed skittish to Tamuk’s eyes.

“You will be given a special mission. You will some Choppers and Prowlers and circle around their forces. But leave the commander to me.”

“Yes Chieftain.” Varock abruptly turned and walked off. You fool, he thought, you got practically killed by him last time and you had to be saved by a Kig-Yar. Another Jirlhanae captain walked out from behind a Wraith. It was Vakros, Varock's brother.

"Hey, how's the rebellion going?"

"Shut it! The Chieftain is old and will be killed going after the Separatist commander. He will die and I will become Chieftain!"

"Sure. Oh yeah, we intercepted a message from a Phantom to two Seraphs. It said that Fleet Commander A'rik Sraomee was taking control of all Sangheili forces on the planet Sillvvass and they are supposed to land at coordinates 30,106,95,63. It’s a small rocky island with great defensive positions. We wont be able to land a big enough force without getting annihilated."

"Very well. I'll report to the Chieftain."

Karagy looked out of the passenger hold of the Phantom that they were in. Ki-Yaggi and 16 other Kig-Yar that made up his sniper team we also there. They were supposed to land on various rocky out-croppings and snipe all anti-air weapons they could see so the main attack force could land and attack the infantry. One-by-one the Kig-Yar dropped out of the stealth Phantom and landed in sniping positions. Looking over his shoulder he saw all the specks of the Phantoms and Seraphs that houses the main army of Tamuk's tribe. Looking up he saw the Revealing Dawn. How could they lose?

Isna 'Sumai walked over to A'rik.

"Sir, 17 Kig-Yar snipers have landed in strategically sound positions. Should I take my squad and kill them? We can also bombard them with Wraiths."

"Their Chieftain is back so soon."

"What?"

"He will be smarter this time. His Kig-Yar are no longer his comrades, they are cattle. Slaves. He uses them to draw you and our Wraiths out. The weapon we found let us use that to eliminate the traitor snipers. "

"Yes Commander." As Isna walked off, A'rik stared at the Phantoms in the distance.

"Your move, brute."

Tamuk watched the exchange on the video from the Kig-Yar. He couldn't hear anything but he got the message.

"Karagy. Enter stage one. Eliminate the rangers. "

Chapter 3
Seventh cycle, the last unit (Covenant Battle Calendar) On a unnamed island at 30,106,95,63 On Tartan system, Sillvvass planet

Deep in the rock of the makeshift Separatist camp two Sangheili walked toward a gigantic object that was covered with a cloaking device.

"You drive and I will aim. Ready?"

"Yes."

"Here we go!" He reached out and turned the device off.

Karagy heard the Chieftain give the order to activate the first stage of the attack. He opened up the channel.

"Snipers 9-16 attack the shades, 2-8 shoot the rangers. On my mark. " A pause, "Mark! Make your shots count!" A flurry of particle beams lashed across the water at the Sangheili defense. Several explosions occurred from the Shades being hit in the plasma reactors. A group of Sangheili rangers fell to the ground dead. After about 5 were dead then the rest took flight and tried to avoid shots.

BOOOM!

A huge green flash lit up the shore. Half the Kig-Yar were killed in the blast. The rocks that the Kig-Yar had been hiding on had disintegrated in the explosion.

"What the hell was that? Is Karagy dead? Hurry up and get me some answers! What was that? If that hits us what'll happen?" Tamuk was freaking out that this new weapon the Separatist Commander had found was destroying his perfect plan.

"Oh my god, look at that!" Out of the smoke a shape was rising. "It's a Scarab!" The monstrous walker took a step toward the fleet of Phantoms and Seraphs.

"If that traitor wants to fight big we'll fight big." Tamuk turned to the comm unit. "Revealing Dawn. We need something of yours."

A'rik smiled at the stupidity of the Jiralhane Chieftain. He did everything the way A'rik wanted him to. He contacted the ship in orbit for an orbital strike. Even the Shipmaster did what he was told. Watching as the plasma torpedoes hit the former Sangheili camp was very amusing to say the least.

"Okay Isna?"

"Yes?"

“You may proceed with the plan of attack. Your rangers are to attack the Jiralhanae ship’s engine while the rest of us will attack the tribe of this Tamuk. We will win this fight and make it to the Holy Shield. Then we will receive orders from the Grand Commander of the Sangheili.”

“Okay!” Isna turned and walked off giving orders through to his ranger team.

Tamuk grinned as the plasma torpedoes incinerated the island. He then scowled, knowing his Kig-Yar snipers were dead.

“Chieftain!”

“What?”

“We have multiple readings of movement! They’re coming this way!”

“WHAT!” He slammed his fist down on the unfortunate pilot. “Who are they?”

BAM!

Something hit the ship making the Phantom tilt almost at a 45-degree angle. “What was that!?"

“Banshee fuel rod gun.” All of a sudden, as if on cue, the air was filled with the sound of Banshee engines and cannon fire.

“All ships return fire. Revealing Dawn can you provide back-up?”

“Tamuk. I’m busy. We have borders.”

“Curses. Do we have any other contacts?”

“Chieftain. You have me.”

“Karagy! Glad your alive!”

“Yes. No thanks to you”

“What?”

“A plasma torpedo barrage? What the hell are you thinking? I thought you were smarter than that. “ Tamuk was stunned. He got an even bigger surprise when another voice came over the communications.

“So, Chieftain. I hear you’re a bad commander. Is what this says true? I quote’ that stupid Chieftain. He sits there in his nice stealth Phantom, while we sit out here in the line of fire expecting us to ‘soften them up’.” It was A’rik Sraomee.

“Who said that, traitor? Did Karagy say that or did another one of the snipers?”

“Do you really think I’ll just tell you? Well you were wrong. But I will tell you one thing. The Holy Shield, it is the next Unyielding Hierophant. Just better. It is the new command center of the Sangheili. Oh and one more thing.”

“What?”

“Boom!” Then a great explosion filled Tamuk’s vision. He fought for conciseness for a moment then lost, and blackness claimed him.

Chapter 4
Eighth cycle 1st unit (Covenant Battle Calendar) Assaulting the Revealing Dawn, Above the Tartan system, Silvass planet.

Isna jumped free from the side of the Jiralhanae ship. A second later the power drainer flashed on, draining the ship’s energy shields enough for Isna and his squad to get aboard. “Fire team 1 get to the engines, Fire team 2 with me, we’re going after the bridge. Se’Aeka, you’re in command of team 1. Let’s get a move on!” The two teams of rangers split up going their separate ways. Back on the ground the attack on the tribe was going well. Half the Phantoms were in flames on the ground, and the underling forces (Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Lekgolo) were all having trouble fighting back without the Jiralhanae to command them. A’rik Sraomee was having a good time killing all the traitor brutes. Other Sangheili were hunting down the enemy in small groups of 4 or 5. Looking ahead A’rik saw the silhouette of two Lekgolo. He heard the high-pitched whine of a fuel rod cannon charging up. Leaping to the side, he barely dodged the first shot. The second impacted a few feet in front of him sending him flying back. He landed hard on the corpse of a large Jiralhanae. Seeing the gravity hammer on the ground he realized whom he was sitting on. “Who’s the traitor now? I’m the one alive.” “No, not for long>” The weak voice came from the body on the ground. With a savage kick, A’rik rolled the body over. The Chieftain was grinning weakly and holding a power drain. With a flash of blue the power drain ignited. The meter on A’rik’s HUD started to drain really fast. Tamuk grabbed a needler from the ground, reloaded it and opened up on A’rik. He dodged the first few shots, but then they began to lock on to him. He screamed with pain as the needles impacted on his chest. He began to pass out when the shooting stopped. Looking up he saw Tamuk staring at the sky. Looking higher he saw Thousands of Covenant ships coming out of Slipspace. The Revealing Dawn exploded, creating a miniature sun. A’rik swore at the same time Tamuk did, but Tamuk’s curse was of a greater potency. A’rik turned and ran towards the banshees that were circling the Jiralhanae forces about a mile away. "Where are you going, Sangheili?" A'rik turned and called as he was running. "I don't fight worthless enemies!" Tamuk stood up and let his rage build up. As he started he started to chase the Sangheili, he paused to rip a wing off a crashed Banshee. Then he broke into a rage fueled sprint. A'rik had a second to react to Tamuk hammering the wing into his back. It wasn't enough. As A'rik hit the ground, Tamuk hit him again and again. A bone cracked under Tamuk's rage fueled assault. Blood came in spurts. After a minute A'rik suddenly rolled out of the way of the next swing. Grabbing his energy sword, he swung it, chopping Tamuk's improvised weapon in half. Without a weapon, driven by rage, Tamuk tackled the Sangheili to the ground. Then he set of a plasma grenade. In the blue blast A'rik was pressed into the ground by he pressure. Tamuk was tossed onto a Wraith. Then they got up and continued fighting. As they fought, far away a Spartan was covered in brute blood.

Chapter 5
Friday, April 30, 2551 (UNSC battle calendar) Aboard unknown Covenant destroyer, During SlipSpace jump, Destination Unknown. Tears fogged up Spartan-W13's faceplate. He sat on the floor of the bridge of a covenant destroyer. That he had lived on and killed every one of the crew. Brutes, Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, Engineers, everything. The only thing left alive was a bunch if orange worms in a water tank. But he planned to change that. Walking to the area of the ship that the worms were located, he dropped a grenade into the vat. "Hee, hee." Walking of the grenade detonated, spraying him with water. Walking onto the bridge he shot all the computers with his BMS-07. As sparks jumped from the wrecked computers across the floor, W-13 sat on the floor again. Glancing at his motion sensor he saw two red dots coming to the bridge. Standing up he pulled out his BMS-07 and a pistol. Something banged on the other side of the door. "Oh, come in!" He kicked a piece of metal towards the door, making it open. The sound of the BMS twin shots filled the bridge, followed by the less destructive sound of the magnum. After the smoke cleared he saw the mangled bodies of two Engineers. "Humph. Waste of ammo." A beeping came audible to his sensitive ears. Turning he saw a blue light flashing on and off. Walking over he hit the button. A voice, distorted by static, came through. "Shipmaster S'ares. Are you there?" As the Spartan looked at the smashed image screen, he realized who was on the other end of this transmission. "Shipmaster S'ares is dead. I killed him."

"Who are you?"

"I am Spartan-W13 a.k.a. Raptor. I have killed everything onboard this ship." No answer came over the line. Then the light shut off. Grinning he walked over to the intercom. Turning it on he said, "Welcome to W13 cruise lines. There will be some turbulence, so suck it up. All combat units prepare for battle. Thank you, have a nice day." Then he ran all the way to the hangar bay. Turning to the intercom there he contacted the bridge that he just left. "Yes sir. We'll do our best." He proceeded to do this through out the time the other Elite ship attacked his ship. He would yell orders from the bridge, and then go complete those orders. Now you may think that this Spartan-W13 is completely insane, so I will tell you a little story.

Interlude:Operation Ballista
0100 hours, Monday, March, 22nd, 2552. Aboard UNSC Prowler, The Silent Blade In orbit above unknown Covenant-held world.

Yapyap walked nervously towards the crash site. 6 meteors had landed within 100 miles of each other, and the jumpy Covenant forces on this planet had launched an all-out alarm. 60 Unggoy, all super-charged for action were sent to investigate. One squad of ten to each crash-site wasn't the smartest ides the grunts ever had, but it was their last. Yapyap was the unlucky Unggoy that got to go first. Walking forward he saw no daemons coming out of the some and rubble. Turning around he laughed at the 9 other Unggoy that were waiting behind. His laughter died as he did, with a bullet in his back. Two humans jumped out of the rubble, with guns blazing. The chatter of assault rifles sounded at all of the crash-sites.

"HA! A job well done, if I do say so myself." One of the two turned and looked back at the hole, from which they came. "Hey! Where's Falcon?" Then, as if in answer, a voice came over the comm-net.

"All the Spartans are at RV-point Bravo. All SPT's are to meet at RV-point Gamma. Hawk out."

"Roger that Hawk. Zulu out."

"Man those guys are pretty weird, eh?"

"Affirmative, soldier. Move out." All around the crash site, similar teams of two SPT's moved to RV-point Gamma. "Hey Boss?"

"What?"

"I think we have trouble," he said pointing up ahead of their position, "I don't think thats the welcome party we want."