User:Blemo/Marine Tales

Marine Tales
The Marine Tales is a story of how the UNSC would be like if the Master Chief was never on the First Battle of Earth and Installation 05. This was written in the sixth grade by Blemo, so don't expect a super-awesome-pwnage story. -Blemo

'''UNSC Marines

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers “Feet first into hell.” That's the motto of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers - the razor's edge of the UNSC's armed forces. Serving a similar purpose to the historical US Navy SEALS, these troopers rely on strength and stealth to make incursions directly into hostile territory. NSWG2-ODST Team-5 is known as the “Helljumpers”, their primary mode of incursion is the sub-orbital drop - a fiery plunge through the atmosphere in an SOEIV (Single Occupant Exo-atmospheric Insertion Vehicle). Specialists in all modes of armed combat, they can drive, fly or shoot anything they bring or find.

Leathernecks Leathernecks are the backbone of the UNSC's ground forces. Dropping into hostile territory, securing beachheads, and taking the fight to the enemy, the Leathernecks live up their credo: "First to Fight". But the Covenant is an entirely new order of challenge, and their powerful weapons and alien tactics have taught them a bitter lesson: "First to Fight" means you may also be the first to fall.'''

'''Weapons and Tools

Humans M6C Magnum M7 Caseless Sub Machine Gun (SMG) BR55 Battle Rifle S2-AM Sniper Rifle M19-SSM Rocket Launcher M90 Shotgun M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade M247 GP Machine-Gun Turret Covenant Plasma Pistol Plasma Rifle Needler Carbine Particle Beam Rifle Energy Sword Plasma Grenade Plasma Turret Active Camouflage Shield Generators'''

STORY ONE

SECTOR ONE: SPACE Section 1A: Cairo Station

“I need a wrench over here, stat.” Gunnery Sergeant Gregory Gunns ordered. Dubbo handed him the wrench. They were aboard the Cairo Space Station, one of the three defense platforms orbiting Earth, along with the Malta and the Athens. “Darn, damn screwdriver can’t drive through this nut.” Gunns tossed the screwdriver across the desk. He turned towards PFC Chips Dubbo. “Private, take this rifle and give it to Sergeant Marcus Banks, ASAP. He’ll be in Commons Blue.” “Yes sir.” As Dubbo left, Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson snuck in. “Gunns? I need a new scope for my battle rifle. It seems to be malfunctioning.” “Look, Johnson. I ain’t some kind of person that works at a gun shop. This is an armory. But… I will help you with your scope.” Gunns replied. Dubbo had returned. He snapped to attention when he saw Johnson. Johnson saluted him back. “Sergeant Banks was very happy with the gun, sir.” Gunns nodded. “About time he got a new flashlight for it.” Johnson looked around the armory and prepared to leave. As he stepped in the elevator, Gunns caught him. “So, Johnson… How did you get back from Halo in one piece?” Gunns questioned. Johnson scoffed and looked at him, “Sorry, Gunns. That’s classified.” “Huh! My left foot! You know, you can forget about your A2 scope! Well, I might as well---” “Enough said, Gunns.” Johnson closed the elevator door. Gunns sighed and looked at Dubbo, who was watching the conversation. “Dismissed, Private.” Dubbo saluted and walked out of the armory. Gunns shook his head.



Private 1st Class Marc Hoover and Corporal Max Perez strolled around the hangar bay. “…No! I’m telling you! Elite would totally slaughter a hunter with two Plasma Rifles!” Perez argued. “Actually, a Hunter would tear the Elite’s arms off, along with the rifles.” Hoover countered. “Cut the chatter, boys.” Master Sergeant Antonio Silva interrupted. “Unless you’re an ODST, you are supposed to be in Hangar Bay A-02. I see that you are two are Leathernecks. We need you to migrate to that hangar.” Perez and Hoover saluted, “Yes, sir!” and walked off. “…The Elite will still win, I’m telling you…” Perez whispered. “Shut up…” Hoover exclaimed. As the two Marines left, Silva rounded up his group of troopers. “Alright, Helljumpers! Prepare for your daily piloting simulations. In case if you are marooned on some island of whatever, stuck with a rifle and a ship, you can probably pilot the craft off the island safely.” Silva lectured, “Now, who would go first? PFC Jones! You’re up!” PFC Lance “Snaky” Jones jumped in surprise and nodded. He started forward and stared out the station’s window. He squinted out of the window. “Private, I have no time for daydreaming. Now, scat!” “Sir! Sir! Look out the windows! There’s something out there!” Silva and the other Helljumpers turned around. “It looks like some UFO.” Corporal Hugh Black said. “Nah… It looks like a… spaceship.” Private Charles O’ Brian replied. “Oh, no. Wait. It’s the Covenant! We’re screwed! Screwed! Oh, god!” Black yelled. “Stow the BS, Black! We’ve dealt with the Covenant plenty of times. This isn’t any different.” Silva yelled. Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker came over. “What is it, Antonio?” he asked Silva. Silva raised his eyebrows and sighed. “Some of us say it’s a UFO. Some say it’s a Covenant ship. I’m pretty sure the radars picked it up.” Stacker frowned. “Marines! Report to battle stations! We are in for a beating!” Soon, the alarms started blaring over the intercoms. Marines scattered all over the space station started assembling their “toys” and loading them full of lead. Stacker could see Marines running around with their rifles and Warthogs roaring in the distance. “Another day, another battle.” he sighed. �Section 1B: Home Field Advantage Sergeant Johnson grabbed a portable turret and started down the stairs with three Leathernecks and a warrant officer by his side. When they reached the phone booths, a blast door was taking heavy pressure. “How’s it going, Malta Station?” he asked over the COM. “Stand by… they’re latched! Check your targets, watch the crossfire. They’re in standard formation: Little bastards up front, big ones in back. Good luck, Cairo.” Malta Station replied. “Watch that gate, Leathernecks! When it opens, let them have it!” the warrant officer yelled. Johnson laid the turret on the floor. The blast door was not going to hold up any longer. It finally blasted open and yellow Grunts poured in. Johnson and the Leathernecks fired their weapons. The Grunts fell and died after a couple minutes. “Be careful, men! They’re always Elites with them!” Johnson yelled. True enough, more Grunts poured out with a couple Elites. “Grenade!” A Grunt yelled and threw a Plasma Grenade toward the Marines. “Take cover!” a Leatherneck shouted. It stuck onto the warrant officer and exploded. Johnson saw his body fly onto a vending machine. A Leatherneck shot the Grunt with his battle rifle. Johnson shredded an Elite’s shields, as another Leatherneck made a headshot. “Let’s keep going! Advance through the blast doors!” Johnson yelled.



Gunns peered at his admired shotgun and embraced it. He heard a pounding sound at his door. He aimed at the door with his shotgun. BOOM! The door came down, as two Elites popped out. Gunns shot down one of them and aimed at the other one. It threw a grenade at him. He dodged it and fried the Elite. Silva and O’ Brian came down the hall and found Gunns being ambushed. O’ Brian aimed his SMG at a Grunt and fired. It dropped dead as a Spec Op Grunt looked at them and fired his Fuel Rod Cannon. He missed, but Gunns was able to shoot him. Silva told O’Brian to stay with Gunns in the armory, as he headed toward the hangars. Staff Sergeant Marcus “Bradley” Banks was running through the halls until he ran head first into an Elite. It screeched at him, until two Leathernecks, Perez and Hoover, shot him down the opposite end of the hall. The Elite retreated into a compartment to wait for his shields to recharge. Hoover locked the Elite inside the compartment by closing the blast doors. “Yeah! Our fourth catch today!” he yelled. “What are you doing?” Banks demanded. “We’re trapping the Covenant in separate compartments, where we’ll lock them in and drain the air. We won’t need to waste ammo on them, in this case.” Perez explained. “Very clever…” Banks admitted. “But that’s too risky. We need you two to go to the hangar bay.” “Yes, sir!” They followed Banks down the hallway. They worked their way downstairs, where they heard footsteps on metal floors. They paused and waited. Perez breathed silently and crept behind a vending machine. He looked up and found a dead officer on top. He looked back down and heard gunfire. When the firing died down, they found Johnson and the three Leathernecks. “Hey, Johnson.” said Banks, “we need to find the hangars.” “They’re upstairs, down the left corridor. Follow me.” They crept into a compartment and opened the doors. They found three dead Grunts and two dead Elites. “What the” Johnson muttered. “Long story. Ask them.” Banks said, pointing at Perez and Hoover. Johnson shrugged and led them into the hangar. �Section 1C: Authorized Personnel Only They proceeded into the catwalk over the hangars. They could see two docked Pelicans, or UNSC dropships, and ODSTs firing. They saw another officer and Private Melinda Laura on a turret. They were shooting down at the Jackals below. A grenade flew overhead and stuck onto one of the Leathernecks. He ran around the catwalk screaming as the explosion killed him. They found Silva, who was shooting at three Grunts when the group jumped down the catwalk. He was seriously injured, as blood ran down his chest and thigh. “We could use your help, sir.” Silva said. He limped over to Corporal McKenzie. “Target the Grunts, McKenzie.” “Aye-ay, sir.” he gunned down two of the Grunts. Stacker fired at the Jackals that approached the doors. “We can’t hold them off any longer. We lost twelve Leathernecks here.” he said. Laura, who was still on the turret, fired down at a couple Elites. “Maybe we can lock them out, so we can take cover here.” she suggested. “Excellent idea, Private. But five of us with have to retreat to the armory for some supplies.” Banks said. “I’ll go,” Silva said, “along with Hoover, Laura, Black, and Jones.” They climbed down the stairs and found Gunns and O’ Brian holding the armory. Gunns started to get shot with crystalline needles. “Get the hell out of my armory! Split” He was cut down by the barrage of Needler fire. “Sergeant!” O’ Brian yelled. The five veterans busted into the armory, as O’ Brian killed the last Elite. “What happened here?” Silva demanded. “Gunns was hit by a Needler shower, sir.” O’ Brian reported. “Pity,” Silva said, “he still owes me that suppresser.” O’ Brian shuddered. “Before he died, he sent twenty-two Leathernecks into Commons Red. They all died there, but took out an amazingly amount of Covenant there. Maybe we can mop up.” he suggested. Laura scratched her head. Silva shifted side to side in thought. “Maybe, but we need reinforcements.” Silva answered. Stacker and McKenzie popped up behind a door and looked at the dead bodies. “We lost Gunns, but we can use his armory as a shelter.” Silva said. Then, Jones saw Covenant fleets retreating from the Malta. “Look! The Malta’s already driven off the Covenant!” he announced. “Impossible…” Stacker said. He reached for his COM. “Malta? What’s your status? Over.” “I don’t believe it!” the Malta station exclaimed, “They’re retreating! We won!” Just a couple seconds later, Jones saw a fiery explosion coming out of the Malta. The Malta was obliterated. “This is bad, real bad.” McKenzie said. “Now… we’re really screwed.” Black whimpered. “Come on, we have to hoof it across Commons Red and into the second hangar bay.” Stacker said, “Move out!” As they busted through the door to Commons Red, they approached the room with caution. “Area secured for the moment. No Covenant detected.” Laura announced. “Contact! Lots of contact!” Black yelled, pointing at dozens of Grunts and Elites. The sound and smell of gunfire, plasma, and burnt flesh filled the room. “I’m hit! Argh! It burns!” Stacker yelled, stripping off a piece of his armor. Blue-hot plasma bolts splashed against the walls. The Marines started to burn cartridges on the Covenant. When the last Grunt fell, they rushed to the stairs toward the second hangar. When they reached it, a battle was over. Injured ODSTs and Leathernecks were sitting or lying against walls. “Uh, oh.” a Helljumper said, “They’re deleting the Athens.” The Marines stared in silence as they watched the second space station explode. “Oh, god!” a Leatherneck screamed, “I’ll bet we’re next!” “Stow that bellyaching. Remember you’re a Leatherneck.” Silva said. “Silva, Stacker…” Johnson called. “What is it?” Stacker asked. “The explosions from the Malta and Athens were inside of the stations. Maybe it’s a bomb.” Johnson explained. “The hell they’d bring one here. We’d better find it and deactivate it. The Covenant probably put in Fire Control, to take out our MAC cannon. That’s where they put it on the last two stations. We won’t make it there in time if we go through the station. We have to go outside the station and take a service elevator there.” Stacker said. “My Leathernecks can’t go in space.” Johnson said, “But the ODSTs can.” “That is why we are the ‘Helljumpers’.” Silva smiled, “Alright! All volunteering, able-bodied ODSTs come with us! We’re going to find a bomb in Fire Control!” Stacker hollered. Twelve ODSTs shrugged and followed them to Shipping. They stowed in blue shipping crates and where “shipped” into space. The ODSTs used their daggers and clawed out the crates. Now they can float to the service elevators. Private Lars, one of the volunteering ODSTs, said on the COM, “Stay close. Ranger Elites with jetpacks are just along the next pillars.” Dual-wielding Plasma Rifles, the Ranger Elites flew about. One of them spotted the ODSTs. They fired their plasma bolts. Human bullets are useless in space, so the Helljumpers used their daggers to knife the Rangers. Drones, insect-like aliens, poured out of the service elevator. When the Rangers were killed, the ODSTs struck at the Drones with vigor. Silva saw a Covenant cruiser fly toward Earth. “Whoa! That Covenant cruiser just completely ignored us and headed toward Earth! I don’t think we were the target. Earth was.” “Dang! So this isn’t my last mission!” Lars yelled. The Drones were dead, as well as five ODSTs. The rest of them charged into the elevator. They pressed FC, which stood for Fire Control. The elevator descended, as Private Lucas, another volunteer, closed his eyes. Stacker looked at him. “Don’t worry, Private.” he said. Lucas smiled. When he opened his eyes, they were in Fire Control.�Section 1D: Return to Sender The ODSTs took cover below a catwalk. There were dozens of dead Leathernecks scattered all over the floor. The Helljumpers took their ammo and rifles. Then, Dubbo jumped out with a shotgun. “Freeze!” he screamed. “It’s okay, Dubbo! It’s us!” Lars shouted, putting his hands up. Dubbo lowered his shotgun and apologized. “My platoon was stationed in Fire Control. They all died. I hid behind these crates after the mayhem.” “Where’s the bomb?” Silva asked. Dubbo pointed at a purple object that looked like a sea cucumber with spikes and blinking lights. Lars raised an eyebrow, “Come on. This is easy.” He walked toward it. Needler fire and plasma bolts sprayed onto Lars. “Holy!” Lars sprinted back, taking cover. Silva crouched behind a crate with Dubbo. “Back me up!” he yelled. He fired three rounds into a Grunt and the chaos started. Bolts of plasma and needles sprayed everywhere and shredded two ODSTs. BLAM! KA-CHUNK! Dubbo killed an Elite then threw a grenade, killing three Grunts. When the last two Grunts ran cowardly, Stacker deactivated the bomb. The lights gone blank. Lars shot one of the Grunts, as Dubbo got the other. Silva tore off his helmet and sighed. “That was the easiest mission I was ever in!” he laughed. The Cairo Station was defended. “Oh, yeah! We bad, baby! We won!” O’ Brian shouted. “…Not yet…” Stacker said, scratching his hair. “We still have to rid the cruiser that sped to Earth.” “Ditto.” Lucas said. “Man! There’s always something!” Jones stomped his foot on the ground. It looked like the Marines were onto another mission… on Earth.

�SECTOR TWO: EARTH Section 2A: In Amber Clad “We have reached New Mombassa, the target of where the Covenant is attacking.” the pilots of the In Amber Clad, a personalized cruiser, said. “We are approaching the city in twenty.” Johnson said. The Leathernecks and the ODSTs were suited up and in a Pelican. Silva inspected the troops. “Alright, marines! This is the most important mission of all. We must protect Earth from the alien scum. The Covenant has set up various artillery and troops. We must impede their attack on New Mombassa. The ODSTs will be divided into two groups. Each group inside a Pelican. Sergeant Stacker will be in charge of Blue Company. I am in charge of Red Company.” Silva announced. “The Leathernecks will be assembled into three groups. One group per Pelican, as well.” Stacker said, “Johnson is responsible for those three groups.” Johnson nodded. “Now, mount up the Pelicans, and we’ll be on our way!” The Pelican pilots grabbed their pistols and rushed to their assigned Pelicans. The Engines roared as the Marines loaded their SMGs and battle rifles. O’ Brian was overeager to finally return to Earth for two years. “Lucas! Perez!” Johnson hollered, “We need you to be recon. Scout out the area, report your sights, and rendezvous with us at the CP.” “Roger, sir.” Lucas and Perez said and climbed onto a Pelican. “Marines! We are leaving!” Johnson shouted. The Pelicans rose into the air and sped off! One of the Leatherneck’s Pelicans dropped off Lucas and Perez on a building that the earlier Leathernecks secured. Lucas grabbed his binoculars and a tripod. He stationed it at the north side of the building, where all the Covenant where. Perez grabbed a sniper rifle and caught up to Lucas. “Wait’s your status? Over.” one of the Pelican pilot’s asked over the COM. “Kilo 2-3 is hot. Recommend mission abort.” Lucas reported. “Roger, recon.” the Pelican pilot answered.



The Pelicans roared over the streets. McKenzie could see Warthogs being driven a couple meters below. The pilots punched a few buttons and said, “We’re in for a landing. Steer clear of Covenant patrols in your way.” Blue Company’s Pelican flew overhead. Stacker clung at the cockpit’s doorway. O’ Brian, Lars, Jones, and Black sat in the Pelican’s seats. “Alright, be careful while down on the battlefield. We are defending a target this time. This will not be as easy as attacking it.” Stacker yelled over the roar of the engines. “Oh, yeah!” O’ Brian yelled punching Lars playfully on the shoulder, “We are going to kick real butt now!” “Sarge! There’s something in the way!” the pilots yelled. Stacker went to look. There was a metal spider-looking Covenant machine. It was called a Scarab. It was impervious to all human firearms. The Scarab was loaded with a disintegration ray and two anti-aircraft plasma cannons. “Crap,” Stacker pronounced. This wasn’t good news for the Marines. The Scarab’s rays brightened and fired a beam at Red Company’s Pelican. It caught on fire and exploded, killing most of the passengers on board. Stacker looked at the wreck and sighed. He was pretty sure Silva would survive the crash. The Scarab fired the cannons, hitting Blue Company’s Pelican, hurtling it toward Hotel Zanzibar, a resort next to the beach that was overrun by Covenant. Rivar Voon Machkroona, an Elite Spec Op Commander outside the Hotel Zanzibar, saw the Pelican soar past the hotel with a stream of fire and smoke following it. He yelled at the Grunts and the Jackals to go check it out. Stacker and his group clenched to their seats tightly, as the Pelican wobbled from side to side. O’ Brian and Lars were tearing the fabric out of the seats. Stacker closed his eyes. Black gripped his gun so tightly, he almost fractured it. The Pelican pilots fumbled with the controls attempting to land the Pelican in a non-lethal crash. Everything grew silent for a couple seconds and then the Pelican crashed violently to the ground with massive impact. �Section 1B: Another Day at the Beach Everyone flung forward and slammed their heads into the walls. Stacker, who was bleeding from the left side of his forehead, leaned onto the left wall and coughed. “Status!” he hollered. “Sir, O’ Brian’s down.” Lars reported, feeling for the pulse in O’ Brian’s limp body. Black stared into the cockpits. “We lost our pilots, too.” he sighed. Stacker grabbed a battle rifle. “Take their tags and ammo.” “Sir…” Lars called, gazing around, “We better get moving.” “Agreed. We’ll find better cover in those buildings.” Stacker flinched, “Butkus! Back center point.”



Machkroona stared at the crash site. He called the two Grunts over to inspect it. He let the Jackal stay behind to snipe the survivors. The ODSTs took cover behind a rock, hoping none of the Covenant spotted them. Lars stepped out to check the area, when the Jackal sniper fired. It missed him by an centimeter. “Hello!” Lars yelled in surprise, “Sniper. Third floor.” “Here,” Jones said aiming his sniper rifle, “Let me give him a ‘Welcome to Earth’ gift basket.” He aimed his sights on the Jackal and fired. The Jackal fell two stories and landed to the ground. The Grunts yelped in surprise and dropped their Plasma Pistols and ran cowardly back to the hotel. Machkroona, who was not pleased, grabbed one by the throat angrily. “Get back to the battle, soldier!” he yelled at him. The Grunt shook his head, as he threw him three yards away. The Grunt got up and rejoined his comrade inside the hotel. “I’ll deal with these annoyances myself!” Machkroona hollered, turning on his active camouflage. The Helljumpers approached the Hotel Zanzibar cautiously. A Marine named Private Butkus found Machkroona with an Energy Sword. Machkroona sliced his rifle in half and knocked him down. He found the Plasma Pistol that the Grunts dropped and armed it, but Machkroona was gone. Stacker looked around. “Dang it! Where is he?” he yelled. A plasma grenade flew overhead and landed on Black’s helmet. He took it off and threw it randomly. It exploded on Machkroona, which took out his shields. He landed on top on Jones and seized him with an Energy Sword. Jones struggled to break free, but failed. He knew he was going to be killed. Butkus had a charged plasma shot ready on his Plasma Pistol and had a clear shot on Machkroona. Sergeant Stacker looked at his squad, then at the terrified Marine. He peered at the Elite scornfully. “Cook the bastard.” he whispered to Butkus. He left go of the Plasma Pistol’s trigger and hit Machkroona with the charged shot, taking out his shields. With precise timing, Stacker shot Machkroona square in the head. Machkroona fell limp with Jones beside him, gasping for breaths. Stacker helped him up. “Nice shot, sir.” Jones complimented “Thanks.” Then, a signal came through by Silva. “Stacker? What’s your status? Over.” “We’re operational. Barely. Our pilots didn’t make it.” Stacker responded. “Find a hole, stay put. We’ll come to you.” Silva answered. Stacker reloaded his rifle. They proceeded into the Hotel Zanzibar.



Silva and his two of his surviving Helljumpers turned around. They called for a Warthog to be sent over at the Hotel Zanzibar. They had already climbed and hiked for two hours without finding any other soldiers. They were exhausted and thirsty. Then, they heard gunfire from the next couple buildings. The ODSTs found Johnson’s Leathernecks down a beat-up street with a lot of dead Grunts and Jackals. There was also a Pelican that Johnson was about to board. “Wait!” Silva shouted. The Leathernecks turned around and found them catching up to the Pelican. “We need a lift from here to the Hotel Zanzibar.” Silva told Johnson. “Sure. It’s on the way.” Johnson replied. “On the way to where?” “To our garrison. We’re getting some heavy armor for the bridge toward downtown.” Johnson answered, “Come on! We’re wasting time!” Banks, who was already on the Pelican, said that he was going to rendezvous with the Marines at the Command Post. Silva boarded the craft and flew to the hotel. The Leathernecks, Dubbo, McKenzie, Laura, and Hoover proceeded to an alley. Jackal snipers were patrolling the alleys, with their Beam Rifles in their hands. Hoover sniped one down, as the others started to fire on their position. Dubbo shot one down with his Battle Rifle. Then, an buzzing sound appeared. “Drones!” Hoover yelled. The four Leathernecks fired relentlessly as bottomless amounts of Drones flooded the alley. Then, a Warthog, driven by three Leathernecks, appeared. They jumped off and gave the Warthog to them. Dubbo stayed behind with the three other Leathernecks, as Hoover, Laura, and McKenzie drove the Warthog to the Hotel Zanzibar.

Thirty minutes later, Silva arrived at the Zanzibar; Stacker went out to greet him. “There’s a beach on the other side of the hotel. The Covenant are crawling all over it. Follow me.” Stacker greeted. Silva followed him to the arcades with the ODSTs. When they reached outside to the downed Pelican, a Phantom, a Covenant dropship, unloaded twenty troops and started firing plasma bolts at them. The men took cover, but Butkus wasn’t so lucky. He was cut down by the lances of red-hot plasma. The Phantom started to deposit troops. A Warthog ran over twelve of them, as Hoover, the gunner, swept up. They climbed out and gave the Warthog to the Helljumpers. “We’ll meet you on the bridge toward CP.” Laura said. They went into the Zanzibar. Silva sat into the driver seat, as Stacker climbed in the gunner seat. “Jones! We need an escort!” Stacker yelled. Jones looked behind him. “A Ghost!” he ducked, as the Ghost zoomed over him. Stacker shot it, as the engines exploded. Silva drove up to Jones. “Get on.” he ordered. Jones looked around and hopped on the passenger side of the jeep. “Showtime!” The Warthog sped off along the beach. “Oh, man. I love the beach.” Stacker smiled. “I hope you packed a suit, mate!” Jones joked. “Cut the chatter. Enemy Phantom on approach!” Silva yelled. Dozens of Grunts and Elites jumped out and attacked the ‘Hog. Two Elites managed to climb on top. Stacker tried shooting them off, but they were to strong. They knocked the sergeant off the turret. Silva turned the Warthog around to save him, but the Elites started firing their Carbines into the Warthog.



Machkroona opened his eyes at the beach. He stood up and looked around. He had three bullets lodged in his head, but he was too concerned about the Helljumpers to feel the pain. He saw a couple Shadows, Covenant transports, zoom by. He jumped on one and searched for the humans. The Grunts on board whimpered as they saw the Elite Commander. “We must find the humans before they destroy our holy army.” he checked his bluish-black armor for any scratches. Then, he heard gunfire. Bullet gunfire. He told the driver to catch up to the noises.



The Elites on the Warthog and pulled Silva off the driver seat. The Warthog crashed into a wall. Jones jumped off to kill them, but was knocked down by an Elite. Another Warthog, occupied by Dubbo and two Leathernecks, ran the Elite down. Stacker ran back onto the Warthog and mounted the LAAG turret. Jones helped Silva up, until a Ghost smacked Jones into a wall. Stacker opened fire, sending blood flying out of the Elite. The Ghost exploded, as Jones got up to mount up the LRV. Silva climbed back in. “Thanks, Dubbo.” he said. “No problem. I’ll follow you to the bridge.” Dubbo offered. “We’ll need as much help as we can get to stop that Scarab.” Jones said, wiping blood off his face. Silva drove to where a plaza used to be and parked. “Look for some kind of tunnel entrance.” he said. “Over there! Mira!” a Leatherneck yelled, pointing at an underground tunnel. The LRV’s started up again and drove into the dark, eerie tunnels. �Section 2C: The Tunnel Machkroona arrived at the plaza. The Spec Op Commander jumped off and observed the scenery. He sniffed the air. He saw tire tracks leading into the tunnel. “There!” he hollered at the driver, “Follow the tracks into the tunnel!” he climbed back on and they lumbered in. He mounted the turret on the Shadow and searched the area. He could smell the scent of humans inside the tunnels. Then, at the corner of his eye, he saw the Marines shooting at Covenant clusters, which were stationed inside the tunnel to prevent Marines from passing. Machkroona told his comrades to stay alert. He fired his cannons. The Warthogs skidded around the tunnels, shooting at everything in sight. Then a large human tank, a Scorpion, blasted out of a wall and fired its machine guns at the Shadow. The Grunts on board were shot and fell off the transport. The cannon turret started to turn at the Shadow. Machkroona jumped off immediately, as the cannons turned the Shadow into a pile of ash. He jumped onto the Scorpion. He beat onto the hatch and dropped a grenade into the tank and climbed out. The grenade exploded, killing the driver as the Warthogs surrounded Machkroona. The gunners opened fire. Machkroona hopped into the damaged Scorpion and fired at the Warthogs. They drove off, leaving the Elite with the tank. He climbed back out and called for reinforcements.

Stacker sighed, “I thought I killed that guy!” Jones looked behind him, “No wonder he looked familiar.” 	An allied Warthog drove by, when a sudden beam of light blasted the Warthog into the air, almost landing on Silva’s Warthog. The Scarab! It was back! Silva performed evasive driving to avoid the blasts and the Covenant clusters. Dubbo followed him around the tunnels. The plasma turrets served as a threat in the tunnels, so he ran over the gunner Grunts before they deployed the turrets. Stacker turned the LAAG around and fired at the clusters. Two Needler projectiles had struck him in the back. He fired his turret until the three Grunts died. “Ghosts, inbound!” Jones warned. Silva rammed one of them, but the others dodged Silva’s attack. Stacker fired at a Ghost until one of them tackled the LRV, tumbling it over. Dubbo’s Warthog shot that Ghost. Silva’s Warthog kept rolling until it was on the upright position. “That was scary. I thought we were cooked!” Jones yelled. “We’re reaching the end of the tunnel!” Silva announced, “This is where we’ll rendezvous with Johnson’s men!” The Warthog jumped a ramp and landed onto a long bridge, with Dubbo behind them.

SECTOR THREE: METROPOLIS Section 3A: On the Bridge Silva parked the Warthog and found a Pelican dropping off a Scorpion. “Whoa…” Jones said, “I call shotgun!” Johnson, who brought the Scorpion tank, over jumped off the Pelican. Stacker saw McKenzie sitting on the floor breathing harshly. Laura sat next to him, observing the Scarab heading downtown. “The Scarab just blew past everything!” Laura exclaimed, “.50 cal, rockets didn’t do a thing! That thing… it’s… it’s invincible!” Johnson looked at McKenzie. “Boy, where’s the rest of your platoon?” “Wasted, Sarge.” Laura answered, not taking her eyes off the Scarab, “And we will be too if we don’t get the hell outta here!” McKenzie whimpered. “You hit Marine?” Johnson asked holding McKenzie’s shoulder. “N-No, sir.” Stacker turned around. The Scorpion and two Warthogs were ready to go. Dubbo, Lars, and Silva piled up in one Warthog, as Laura, Hoover, and McKenzie piled up in the other. Stacker, Black, Jones, and another ODST mounted up the Scorpion. Johnson stayed on the Pelican, as it flew off to CP. The tank and Warthogs started rolling down the bridge.



Machkroona did not know the controls to the damaged Scorpion in the tunnel, but he managed to drive it towards the last, surviving Covenant cluster. “I need another Shadow here, STAT!” Machkroona yelled at the Grunts. “Aye-ay, commander!” they chirped and readied a Shadow. Two Ghosts drove in and were parked. The drivers came to collect supplies from the dead Covenant clusters. Machkroona did the same and clipped an Energy Sword to his belt, holstered two Plasma Rifles, stuffed four Plasma Grenades in his pockets, and carried a Carbine. When a new Shadow was deployed, he climbed onto the gunner seat, as Grunts rode passenger. A ghost was stored inside the Shadow as a quick escape vehicle. An Elite drove the Shadow onward. Soon, they were out of the tunnels.



BLAM!!! The Scorpion tank was attacked by Hunters and Wraith tanks on the bridge. The Warthog jeeps provided additional firepower, but it was not enough to stop the Covenant tanks. Laura, Hoover, and McKenzie’s Warthog was not doing to well. Laura ran out of ammo for the LAAG and one of the tires popped. A wave of Banshees, Covenant air flyers, fired their Plasma Cannons onto the Scorpion. Then, when Hoover was attempting to run over a Hunter, the behemoth blasted the Warthog, sending the three Marines soaring through the air. They crashed onto the ground. Hoover stood up and limped his way toward the Scorpion, but a large Hunter smacked him to the ground, face-up. The blow shattered half the bones in his body. The last thing he saw was the Hunter’s boot that rose in the air stepped into his face. McKenzie climbed toward the tank for cover, until he found Laura on the floor, bleeding. He turned around and helped her up. He dragged her towards the tank and hauled her on. McKenzie climbed off and followed the tank. Just then, a Wraith tackled the Scorpion. Lars fired at the Ghosts that followed it. Then, the Wraith fired the plasma cannon, knocking the Marines off the tank. The Scorpion returned fire, but was too damaged to carry on. “Abandon tank!” yelled Stacker. The Helljumpers jumped out of the tank, as the Wraith finished it off. McKenzie carried Laura toward the end of the bridge. Besides the Warthog, the other Marines will have to reach the end of the bridge on foot.



Perez and Lucas looked around from the balconies. They could hear screams and explosions in the distance. Banks came up behind them. “Lucas, tell our Marines to get ready.” he said. Lucas nodded and proceeded downstairs. “Perez, greet the Marines coming to the CP.” he ordered. “Aye, sir.” Perez hopped down the stairs. Then, twelve Wraiths and twenty Ghosts zoomed into the streets and attacked. The Marines in the building returned fire, as the two sides exchanged gunfire downtown.



Machkroona observed the bridge. “Commander! There! A car and humans!” the driver yelled. Machkroona turned the turret around and opened fire. The Warthog turned around. Purple-red plasma splashed against the windshield. Silva drove next to the Shadow, giving the Lars a clear shot. The Shadow smacked the Warthog into the wall, sparks flew in all directions. Both the gunners, Machkroona and Lars fired at one another. The Warthog’s tires busted! Silva had a hard time driving, so Dubbo shot the driver of the Shadow. The driver groaned and kneeled over. The gargantuan transport slowed to a stop. Machkroona watched in frustration as the Warthog rolled away. The Grunts looked at him. “Do you need the Ghost?” they asked. Machkroona nodded and grabbed the Ghost. He zoomed to catch up with the Warthog. Black, who was on the bridge with the other Marines, ducked as the Ghost hovered overhead. He got up and took off his helmet, scratching his goatee. He fired his rifle at the Ghost. Machkroona’s Ghost tackled the Warthog, sending Lars flying off. Machkroona jumped off the Ghost and onto the jeep! He clawed Silva off the jeep, as Dubbo took over the wheel from the passenger’s side. He crashed the ‘Hog onto a wall, as Machkroona flew off and slammed into the toll booth. Dubbo disembarked the LRV and met up with Silva and the rest of the group. They ran past the end of the bridge and past the smashed toll booths. Banshees surrounded them! The Marines took cover behind the gates of the toll booths. The entire group of Marines fired at one banshee, sending the Banshee onto the ground. The Elite pilot climbed out and fired his Plasma Rifle at them. Lars struck a headshot on him. McKenzie set Laura onto the ground. She was bleeding from a wound on her chest the size of a dinner plate. “Man, we’ll need a medic for this.” Dubbo frowned. Stacker checked her pulse, “Nah. It‘s too late... The blast from the Warthog killed her.” The Marines frowned. “We’ll have to leave her here.” Silva replied. He grabbed his dagger and chipped a sewer grate open, “Everyone in.” He turned to reload. He was out of magazines! He grabbed the Banshee pilot’s Plasma Rifle and jumped into the sewers. “Ugh. I hate that smell.” McKenzie murmured. “Take deep, shallow breaths. You’ll get used to the smell.” Jones said. On the surface, Machkroona got up and turned to look at his surroundings. He stepped out of the glass and metal from the toll booth and saw an open sewer hole, a dead human, and a dead pilot. He peered down the hole and leaped in. He armed his Carbine and saw the Marines heading south. He looked through the scope and pointed it at Jones. He cautiously pulled the trigger.

Section 3B: Sewer Chaos “Oof! I’m hit!” Jones yelled. The Marines took cover behind the piles of dirt and walls. Machkroona fired the green-white projectiles down the corridor. The Marines proceeded down the corridor, guns blazing. Machkroona took cover behind some pillars to reload. Silva and Stacker told the Marines to back off to the objective, but not lose eyesight on the Spec Op Commander. When Machkroona rose to fire, the Marines pinned him near the pillars. So, he shot through the gaps and hit Silva and Lars. They fell to the ground, blood streaming down their chests. “Damn it!” Lars yelled. Dubbo shot a chunk off the pillars with his shotgun. Machkroona hit him as well. He went to reload, but ran out of ammo. He strapped his two Plasma Rifles and fired non-stop automatic fire. The sewer grounds were littered with shells, guns, and cartridges. “Gah!” Stacker yelled, “Retreat! Get to downtown! We can’t afford losing men to this annoyance. Get to the objective!” The Marines turned around and ran as fast as they could, taking cover between shots. Then, when they neared the corner, Grunts and Jackals surrounded them. When they turned around, Elites surrounded them. “We’re flanked!” Black cried. “We’re dead!” McKenzie yelled. Lars limped and leaned onto a wall. Silva turned around in circles, looking for a way out. He wiped the sweat off his face. McKenzie looked at all the rifles that we’re stuck in their faces. “Waste them.” Machkroona ordered. As their plasma weapons glowed, Silva unclipped one of Machkroona’s plasma grenades off his belt and threw it onto one of the Grunts. He ran around into the Elites and exploded. This caused a lot of confusion. The Grunts got scared and fired at the Jackals. The Elites came to stop the problem, but the Grunts shot them as well. The Marines dodged the plasma crossfire and escaped. Machkroona ceased the nonsense. “Find them and eliminate them. Spare no one.” Machkroona ordered. The Elite ignited their Energy Swords and charged, looking for their prey.

BLAM! “I got one!” Perez yelled, after he sniped out his fourth Elite. Lucas and the other Marines stayed on the second level and fired down on the enemies below. A couple Pelicans flew by dropping missiles onto the Wraiths. A Phantom flew over past building and dropped off more Covenant troops. “Brace the doors!” Lucas yelled. Covenant troops came charging at the doors with rams. They busted the metal doors down. “The Covenant has breached the factory!” Banks reported. Grunts poured into the building, as two Leathernecks defended the stairway. They ripped the Grunts apart, until the senior Elites arrived. They slashed them down unmercifully with their swords. They continued up the stairs, when two other Leathernecks, one with a turret, the other with a M19-SSM rocket launcher, shredded the Elites. Banks called onto the radio. “Helljumpers! Where the hell are you?! We can’t hold them off any longer!” he yelled, dodging a body that was flung towards him. “We’re in the sewers, Banks. We’ll be downtown by the time we reach the surface. Besides, we sent Lucas with you guys. He’s a Helljumper.” Stacker replied. “When are you coming?” “T-minus ten seconds.” Stacker answered, “We’re already on the ladder.” he chuckled.

Section 3C: Downtown The Marines have reached the surface. They heard gunfire on the next two streets. “Let’s go.” Silva yelled. He dropped a grenade down the sewers, in case if any Covenant followed them. They found two Warthogs tipped over. With the strength and agility the Helljumpers’ cables produced, The ODSTs’ cables and ropes were able to flip the ‘Hogs to its upright positions. The Leathernecks mounted up the LRVs and drove into the city. The Helljumpers traveled on foot. Banks fired down onto the enemies. “Helljumpers! Where the hell are you?!” “We are ten meters away from CP.” Stacker replied. Then, Banks saw two Warthogs into view. They were shooting the Ghosts, as the ODSTs attacked the infantry. Now all that Banks’ men needed to do was to target down the Wraiths. He went inside and grabbed a rocket launcher on the floor. Banks leaned near a flower plant and fired charges at Wraiths. Dubbo drove the LRV around in circles, until the Covenant backed down. “Yo, Chips!” McKenzie yelled, “stop going in circles, I can’t get a good angle!” “Sorry,” Dubbo parked the Warthog in front of fallen doors at the CP. The Leathernecks parked the Warthogs and held their position at the front of the CP. The ODSTs soon joined them. A Phantom landed and dropped off troops. Banks and a trio of Marines with launchers shot the Covenant dropship down after if unloaded the Covenant. “Get a group of Marines to support the Helljumpers!” Banks yelled. The Leathernecks went downstairs and called a couple Marines to help them. “Whoa! The Calvary’s arrived!” Black smiled. A large group of Elites from the sewers regrouped with the troops. They were being followed by Machkroona. The Elites swung their swords at the Marines outside. A clash of Marines and Elites swarmed around the front entrance. Machkroona gazed upon the battle. When the Elites were dead, and the Marines were wounded and distracted, he activated his active camouflage to mop up. Silva found a shotgun on the floor and picked it up. When he turned around, he heard a clack! and saw a Leatherneck fly into the air. “We have contact!” he yelled, “Keep your eyes peeled! There’s another straggler!” The Marines raised their guns. Then, another clank! sound was heard again, as Black fell onto the floor, bleeding from a deep cut that ran across his back. “Over there! A bad-ass Spec Op!” Stacker warned. The Marines opened fire, to little effect. It tore Machkroona’s shields, as he ran for cover. “McKenzie, check Black.” Stacker ordered. McKenzie felt Black’s pulse. “Yeah, so… he’s dead.” he reported. He grabbed his tag and put it in his pouch. Silva turned to aim at the Elite, but saw Machkroona slash at his leg. He fell onto the floor, groaning. The Marines pulled their triggers, as Machkroona lunged at a Leatherneck, cutting him down. He slashed and countered at the Marines, lunging at the ones that were reloaded. Silva stood back up and retreated into a corner. Jones fried Machkroona’s shields with a dropped sniper rifle. Silva crouched, aiming patiently and quietly as the Spec Op Commander killed two Leathernecks in one stroke. He pretended to reload, as Machkroona charged at him. With precise accuracy and timing, Silva squeezed the trigger him down before he reached him. Machkroona was killed instantly and fell onto the floor face up. Silva stuck his shotgun onto his chest and fired two times. “This time, stay down.” Silva hissed.

Section 3D: The Command Post Corporal Perez came out. “Sir, Corporal Perez. ‘A’ Company. CP’s this way.” he ran into the building, as the remaining Marines followed. They found a Leatherneck groaning and bleeding on a stretcher. He was identified as Lieutenant Tyler. “The Lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped in.” Perez reported. “Who’s in charge now, Corporal?” Silva asked, peering at the cut in his leg. “Uh, Sergeant Banks, sir. He’s pinned down on top. Come on. I’ll show you.” Perez ran up a flight of stairs. The Leathernecks and the Helljumpers sighed and ran up with him. A door opened, as they saw Banks standing over Lucas, who was on a turret. They realized that the CP was a sewage plant! “When I ask for reinforcements, come faster.” he hissed at Stacker. They could see a metal machine. It was the Scarab! “We got trouble!” Banks yelled. Down the balcony, they saw a Scorpion firing shells at the Scarab. One blast of the disintegration ray blasted the Scorpion to bits, as five Marines fell off the Scorpion and died. I don't think it's stopping; get your heads down!” Banks and Lucas started firing at the Scarab, which was heading right towards the sewage plant. This wasn’t a problem, but it knocked down a network tower, that crashed through the floor. Piles of rubble and debris scattered everywhere on the balcony. “You see this look? It’s terror!” Lucas yelled. He ran up to the third floor, where a garden was. “Marine! Did I give you permission to ditch?! Alright. That thing is starting to PISS ME OFF!” Banks yelled, “Front and center! It‘s time to kill us a Scarab.” he ran up the stairs, as the ODSTs followed. The Leathernecks took the elevator as an alternate route. The Scarab stepped over the building and into the next part of the plant. A door slid open, as Perez jumped to the main control room. He activated the dam that could block the Scarab, unless it fired another disintegration ray at it. The Scarab stepped into the sewer filters, as wide and long ditch full of filthy water and rubbish. They ran to the sideway of the ditch. Jumping off the sideway and into the ditch would break every bone in a human’s body thus killing them. There were three catwalks that were high enough for the Marines to jump onto the Scarab. The whole sideway and catwalks were littered with bodies, guns, ammo, and field medic packs. “Get loaded with ammunition, soldiers! We are attacking that Scarab now or never!” Banks yelled. Silva grabbed some shells and reloaded his shotgun. He stuck extra ammo in his pouches. Jones followed up behind him. Lars grabbed some sniper ammo and ran over to the last catwalk. There were dozens of Grunts and Jackals on the Scarab deck. Lars sniped some of them out. The Marines fired at the Scarab crew. When the Scarab was directly underneath the second catwalk, Stacker came up with a plan. “We are going to have to board the Scarab. Since we can’t stop it with lead or explosives, we need an electric magnetic pulse. We can deactivate it. After that, our techs can reactivate it and study the weakness of that damn machine. Who’s with me?” Stacker asked. The Marines agreed. “The Helljumpers will board the Scarab with an EMP. The Leathernecks will stay on the catwalk and provide additional fire.” Banks said, “After all, Helljumpers are supposed to jump into hell. I called in an air strike to stall the Scarab from blowing down the dam. The dam is our only trap to stop the Scarab for at least three minutes.” The Leathernecks stayed on the bridge. The ODSTs stared at the Scarab then at each other. “Ready?” one of them asked. When the Scarab reached the last catwalk, they closed their eyes and leaped…

Section 3E: Assault on the Scarab The ODSTs landed right onto the deck of the Scarab. The Grunts whimpered in surprise and ran. The ODSTs hid behind a panel, until all off the Grunts and Jackals were shot by the Leathernecks on the bridge. Then, Ranger Elites with jetpacks came out of an opening and flew onto the catwalks. They charged with their Plasma Rifles. Banks cocked his Battle Rifle. “Eat this.” he fired and shot one down. The other was enraged. He lunged forward with his jetpack and grabbed Banks swung him into the wall. Banks landed with a thud on the sideways. “Man down! Man down!” Dubbo yelled. The Ranger Elite flew back up onto the catwalk and relocated his Plasma Rifles. “Take the shot!” Silva yelled. Lars fired his sniper and nailed the Elite. “I’ll show you to hurt our sergeants.” Lars mocked. Soon, more Elites came up the ramps. The Helljumpers fired at the Elites. The Elites fired their Plasma Rifles at the elite team, until they took cover. Then, one of them was shot by McKenzie. The others fired at the Leathernecks. Then, Silva charged towards them, punching through flesh and armor, with his shotgun. The ODSTs followed him. “The Scarab can’t go any further than this.” Perez said over the COM, “We have it trapped.” Longswords, which were UNSC air force fighters, fired missiles at the Scarab. The dam also blocked the Scarab. The ODSTs proceeded down the ramp. They found white-armored Grunts and an Ultra Elite. They took a long time to kill the Grunts, until the Ultra Elite fired at the attack team with his Plasma Rifle. “Lars, target the pilots. Silva and I will get the Ultra Elite.” Stacker ordered, “Use caution. That is Ultra Elite, and those pilots aren’t saps.” Then, Lars ran across the inside of the bridge and shot the red Elite pilots. He managed to kill one, but the other three turned around and fired their Carbines and Needlers into Lars’ torso, legs, and arms. He fell to the ground, moaning. He closed his eyes. He took out a grenade and unclipped the pin. He held it in his hand. “Suck on this.” Lars hissed softly. The Elites stared at the green device, when the grenade detonated. Lars and the two Elites were consumed by smoke and fire. The Ultra Elite turned to look at the pilots, until Jones, Stacker, and Silva assaulted the Elite. They tore his shields, but then, he dropped the Plasma Rifle to the ground and ignited his Energy Sword. He lunged at the Marines. Jones dodged the attack, but slashed Lucas across the chest. He fell on the ground. Silva fired at him with his shotgun and retreated to reload. He backed off to the Elite pilots’ smoldering bodies. Then, while the Elite was distracted, Jones pressed the button on the Ultra Elite’s plasma grenade on his belt. He tried to get it off, but then made a final attempt to charge at the Helljumpers. The grenade exploded, as the Elite’s body flung onto the ramp. Lucas stood up and limped over to Jones, Stacker, and Silva. They planted the EMP onto the control and pressed the switch. They could feel an electrical surge in the Scarab, as it deactivated. The whole Scarab went dark. When the regiment of Marines walked up the Scarab’s ramp, proudly, they turned around a found a Pelican. “Yeah, that’s right you mothers! Run!” Johnson laughed in the cockpit. Commander Miranda Keyes, the daughter of the now-deceased Captain Jacob Keyes and the commander of the In Amber Clad, viewed on screen. “Johnson. I need you to extract the remaining Marines and get aboard the In Amber Clad. The Covenant Cruiser is ditching Earth!” Keyes reported. “Aye, ay ma’am.” Johnson saluted. The ODSTs climbed on board, with the rest of the Leathernecks.

Section 3F: The Blind Jump The Pelican boosted off and docked in the hangar bay of the In Amber Clad. The In Amber Clad engaged all thrusters to catch up to the cruiser. On board the In Amber Clad, Banks was getting a cooling patch for his eye. Lucas, whose back was covered in bandages, looked out the window. Silva came up to the bridge. There, he saw Commander Keyes and her five pilots. A screen of Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood, the leader of the Cairo Station, “What’s your status, Keyes?” “Sir, the Covenant cruiser is bugging out. Permission to engage.” Keyes looked out at the windshields. “Negative, Commander. I'll vector two heavies for star-side intercept.” Lord Hood answered. The Covenant ship began to accelerate. “Ma’am!” a navigation officer yelled, “Slipspace rupture off the target's bow! It’s gonna jump… inside the city!” Keyes looked back at the screen. “There’s no time, sir!” Lord Hood thought for a minute, “Green light. Green light to engage.” Keyes smiled and turned off the screens. “Punch it! Get us close!” she ordered. The navigation officer stared at her. “Ma’am, without a destination solution-” “We are not losing that ship!” Keyes ordered. The entire Covenant cruiser entered Slipspace and engulfed New Mombassa in a white, fiery explosion. The whole ship rocked back and forth. Silva clung onto the wall. The whole crew clenched onto something and closed their eyes. They felt a series of disorientation and felt like the room was spinning. There was a magnetic purple ball forming on the outside of the ship. Then, everything in the In Amber Clad went dark…

STORY TWO

SECTOR ONE: IN AMBER CLAD Section 1A: The Blackout Master Sergeant Antonio Silva stumbled over and landed on the metal floor. Commander Keyes fell forward almost off her command chair. The navigation officers leaned forward in surprise. The lights flickered and exploded. The electricity was fried. The whole ship fell into a sea of darkness. “You,” Keyes pointed randomly at a navigation officer, “Find out where we are.” The officer groped around the panels, “Highest apologies, ma’am. I can’t see anything and the Slipspace portal busted our electricity. Someone please get some flashlights or anything that glows.” Silva stood back up and turned his helmet setting to night vision. He walked to the emergency surplus room and checked around. He nearly bumped into Sergeant Pete Stacker. “Sorry, Pete.” he said. “No problem. Where’s the bandages? Lucas and Malcolm are bleeding.” he asked Silva. Silva pointed to a small package at the end of the room. He smacked the glass in a box on the wall and took the flashlights out. He switched off his night vision and tossed one to Stacker. Silva grabbed a four glow sticks and returned to the bridge. Silva gave one to Commander Keyes. “Thank you, sergeant.” she cracked the glow stick and peered around the room, squinting her eyes. Eleven of the commanding officers on the bridge were dead. The panels were flickering with sparks. She climbed off the chair and looked out the window. She could see the giant gas planet, Threshold. Keyes turned to Silva. “Sergeant. Check Engineering.” she ordered, “check if any of the engineers made it.” Silva nodded and left.



PFC Lance “Snaky” Jones coughed and promptly puked as Stacker came out of the door. “Pucker up, Private.” he said. Jones put his helmet back on and looked at the dark silhouette of Stacker and nodded. Private Roy Xavier sat next to him, followed by Sgt. Marcus “Bradley” Banks, who was bleeding from his thigh and chest. Private Chips Dubbo walked carefully as the Marines scattered around the ship, looking for a light source. He could only hear sounds of metal clanging in the hallways. He bumped into a wall and fell down. “Smart move.” Private Shane Grant laughed. Dubbo got up and rubbed his head. He pushed him playfully and walked down the dark corridor.

Section 1B: Halo An hour passed and the backup lights were online. “Okay. I’m locking in on our coordinates to find out where we are.” the navigation officer said. He his fingers danced across the keyboard. He pressed a number of buttons and switches. Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson walked to the bridge with Silva. “What’s the situation, Antonio?” he asked, chewing on his cigar. “We’re trying to find out where we are.” Silva answered. “Got it!” the navigation officer announced, “We are near this weird ring thing.” Johnson raised an eyebrow. “Impossible…” he whispered to himself. He walked over to the pilot controls. Silva looked at the ring, “That… is another Halo.” Johnson sputtered and coughed, “Say what?” he yelled, almost dropping his cigar, “I barely survived the first one!” Corporal Danny Anderson stared in disbelief. “So this is what my father found before he died.” Keyes glared at the ring. “Ma’am.” the officer called. “What is it?” “Look! The cruiser is dropping off Phantoms onto the surface!” the officer yelled pointing. The pilots scratched their heads. “Quick.” Keyes ordered, “we have to find out what the Covenant are up to on Halo.” Stacker rubbed his neck. He had a feeling they were onto a new mission. He stayed and listened, hoping that the commander wouldn’t mention it. The pilots flew the In Amber Clad close to the cruiser. “Alright,” she sighed, “I know you guys are tired.” Damn, Stacker thought, She’s gonna say it. “We have to go on a new mission. We need to know what the Covenant need on this Halo thing. I need…” Don’t say my name, Stacker crossed his fingers. “Stacker on Red Company this time. Silva on Blue. I’ll need Johnson on Green Company. He’ll stay with me. I will provide Leathernecks to help us infiltrate the Covenant, however.” Keyes stated, “Perez! McKenzie! You‘re with Johnson and me.” She climbed onto the chair and stared at Halo. “Officer. I want you to fly between the Halo ring. I want to send the ODSTs on a sub-orbital drop. The Leathernecks will go in through dropships.” Keyes ordered. “Aye-ay, ma’am. Approaching the target in five.” The Helljumpers suited up and clung to their weapons. They approached the pod bay and climbed into a SOEIV pod. They were much more advanced and certified than the older versions, the HEV pods. “Lock and load, men!” Silva yelled, climbing into a pod with Jones, “This is going to be a bumpy ride.” Then, the SOEIVs were shot out of the ship and started hurtling toward Halo. “Everyone try to stay together to land in one spot.” Stacker announced onto the COM. �Section 1C: The Sub-Orbital Drop After thirty minutes cramped inside a pod, hurtling through space, The Marines rubbed some gel over their body gloves to loosen the armor a bit, so the impact won’t crush their organs. “We have another five minutes until we reach the atmosphere.” Stacker yelled over the COM, “It’ll be fifteen minutes when we land on the surface.” Jones wiped his nose and turned to the little space. He put on his helmet and snuggled it in tight. The sergeants, except for Silva, don’t really wear helmets, but this was an exception. Stacker snapped the helmet on. “How do you breathe in this thing?” “You’ll get used to it.” Silva said over the COM, cocking his rifle. The pods hit the atmosphere. The Helljumpers started to perspire greatly. It felt like their skin was on fire, and they couldn’t breathe in the heat. They wished they were in the HEV pods. The heck with that… they wanted to be in a Pelican The radio signals went out. The Helljumpers were sure the Leathernecks were more comfortable. They rode in an extremely large Pelican with a large bay where all the Marines could chat and have air conditioning. They doubted that the Leathernecks could feel any heat inside the safe Pelican bay. The bottom of the pods caught on fire. Silva took off his helmet and wiped his sweat. He looked at his multi-purpose wristwatch. It was ninety-eight degrees. This was his eighth time dropping inside a pod into enemy territory. He thought this was the longest and hardest. For Jones, Xavier, and Jackson, this was their fourth time. The seats started to heat up and the oxygen in the air thinned. The Helljumpers sat in silence as they listened to the roar of the flames outside the pods. In a sudden flash, they exited the atmosphere flaming-hot.



Revor Laonna Macoronamic, an Spec Op Elite and his lower-ranked comrade, Viggs Huga Loomercka, the grayish-white Stealth Elite gazed into the sky filled with bright “shooting stars”. He could see his troops arming their weapons and shields. The flaming fireballs grew larger and larger. “I’ll find those humans.” Macoronamic said. He activated his Energy Sword and waited for the Marines to come. The pods crashed into the earth, leaving rubble and debris flying everywhere. “Great!” Stacker yelled, tearing off his helmet. “A dramatic entrance!”

SECTOR TWO: HALO Section 2A: Crash-landing on Halo Jones climbed out with a battle rifle and looked at Stacker. “Sir! We have to neutralize those turrets!” he yelled. He glanced at a pod next to him, that had two dead Marine next to it. RYAN, CARSON. PFC and GEORGE, GUMP PFC ,read their tags. He grabbed them and peered into the sky. Stacker looked up to see four plasma turrets splashing reddish-purple plasma behind the hills. Xavier pushed his way into the hills. He avoided a blast from a turret. Lucas grabbed his sniper and scoped the Grunt on the turret. He squeezed the trigger and saw a long line of white smoke. The Grunt fell to the grass. The Helljumpers proceeded into the hills and toward the ruins. Silva looked at his rifle. He agreed that when his ammo display read below 10, he would reload. He released the magazine slot and slapped a fresh clip into his BR-55 Battle Rifle and searched the ruins. There were pods scattered all over the hills. Covenant aliens popped out of the ruins’ windows and fired. The turrets had flanked the Helljumpers. They were forced to take cover behind a boulder. Lucas was able to snipe the second Grunt on the turret. Silva tossed a smoke grenade into the windows. The Helljumpers ran forward into the cloud of smoke. Loomercka, the Stealth Elite, saw gunfire and screams in the cloud of smoke. When it cleared, he could see dead Covenant bodies. The Marines had went onto the second floor. Jones was the last to come up the ramp. He ran into an Elite on the way. It was Macoronamic! He ignited his sword and charged toward Jones. He backtracked and made sure he was clear of the Spec Op Elite. He jumped onto ramps and behind pillars. The massive Elite missed. “Hold still so I can kill you!” When Macoronamic had a good aim at Jones’ torso, a barrage of rifle fire splattered against his chest. The Elite shook his head in confusion, as more bullets blasted him into a crippled heap. Macoronamic fell to the ground, dead. Jones kicked at the corpse. �Section 2B: The Ruins Corporal Michael Fitzgerald gazed to the sky. “We got another dropship!” he yelled, pointing. Private Jane McKay sighed. “Take cover!” she hollered. They went behind the pillars. Covenant troops were dropped off. Silva’s rifle barked and hosed down three Grunts and two Jackals. McKay hid on the ramps, her two Magnums at the ready. Xavier and Lucas hid behind two pillars, as the two sergeants crouched. They eyed the dropship as it left, until the alien goons marched toward the ruins. The Helljumpers opened fire and splashed away three Elites. Loomercka activated his active camouflage and charged into the building. McKay blasted four Grunts and reloaded. Silva found a secret passage and crept toward it. He found a crashed pod on top of the ruins along with three dead Helljumpers and excellent cover. He grabbed some ammo and called his troopers to him. They ducked and saw a plasma grenade fly toward them. “Scatter!” Fitzgerald screamed. He leaped onto the other side of the roof as the grenade exploded. They returned fire, as the aliens charged into the building. “We’re flanked.” Xavier reported. Lucas stared at a large crack in the roof wall. “Not yet. Follow me.” He squeezed himself into the crack. The other Marines shrugged and followed them. Private Anderson shivered. “What? Scared of the dark?” Jones mocked. “Shut up.” The Covenant have already checked the ruins. “Everything is secured, Excellency.” an Elite said to Loomercka. “Nonsense. I saw more humans than there are dead bodies. Check again.” he barked. The Elite grumbled and left. Then, he saw the same secret passage. He called his Grunts over and checked the roof. They could see blood and shells and plasma explosions. “There!” the Elite yelled. “My Excellency! Over here!” Loomercka moaned, “Now what?” “That crack!” the humans are hiding in there!” He tried to squeeze through, but his armor was too wide and think. “This is frustrating... GRUNTS!” Loomercka hollered. The Grunts whimpered. “Check the crack.” The Grunts went inside. Loomercka lowered his bottom two mandibles. Then, they heard gunfire and plasma bolts. “What in the name of the ?” the Elite sighed. He heard the Grunts’ screams echoing in the rocks. The humans climbed out of the other side of the crack and threw a grenade straight through the hole. Loomercka and two Elites stared at the grenade and ran. The Elites were fried to a crisp of smoke and fire, as Loomercka was able dodged the grenade. However, he jumped off the ruins and landed onto the grass. He had twisted his leg when he landed. His shields went crazy, and then faded. He sighed and called for reinforcements.

“Double kill, baby!” Fitzgerald yelled, “That was my luckiest grenade kill ever!” “Cut the chatter. We’d better move.” “Hello? Hello? Can you read me?” a voice over the COM yelled. It was easily identified as a pilot’s voice. “Roger. We read you five-by-five. What is it?” Silva asked. “I found a temple on the north side, approximately six miles from your position.” the pilot of the Pelican answered, “Do you need a ‘Hog?” Silva glared at his troops, who were war-torn and exhausted. “Sure, bring it in.” he replied and turned off the COM. Twenty-six minutes later, a Pelican arrived with some Leathernecks. “Whoa!” Dubbo said, looking at the bodies over the floor. The Helljumpers boarded the Warthog and drove into the hills. Fitzgerald was hit by a charged plasma shot. He swiveled the LAAG around and pulled both triggers. The Jackals fell to the ground. “Whoa! Dear Sarge, kicking ass in outer space… wish you were here.” Jones smiled, accidentally leaving the COM on. Johnson heard the transmission, “I heard that! Jackass!” Fitzgerald smiled. Silva laughed quietly. They reached the end of the cliff. Luckily, they found a bridge that they can cross if they activated it. They bridge was connected to a large building. Perhaps if they went into the bridge master’s building, they can activate the bridge and go across… “Wraith on the far side!” Jones yelled in the passenger seat. Silva saw the Wraith tank on the opposite end of the cliff. He parked the Warthog next to the building full of alien goons. “Fitzgerald… Don’t abandon the ’Hog. I’m going to activate the bridge with Stacker. Jones… Stay with Fitzgerald.” Jones nodded and watched as Silva disappeared into the building. He spotted two Ghosts charge at them. “Ghosts! Look out!” he alerted. Fitzgerald turned the LAAG around and found the rest of the Marines arrive at the building on foot. He turned the turret a couple more and spotted the Ghosts. He and the Marines opened fire and smashed the Ghosts to a crisp. Then, Stacker breathlessly asked, “Where’s Silva?” Xavier approached them. Jones pointed at the building, “In there.” Stacker nodded and headed toward the doorway when he heard a large explosion and a loud agonized scream. He turned around to see Fitzgerald fall off the LRV. He saw glassy, pink projectiles shimmering in his armor. He turned to see three Elites holding Needlers. The Helljumpers and the Leathernecks blasted one of them, as they took cover behind a large tree. He waved some signals at his team and tended to Fitzgerald’s wounds. Stacker stared at Fitzgerald’s right leg, which was bleeding. He called a medic over and he wrapped bandages around his thigh. They helped him up. “You okay?” Fitzgerald nodded and mounted the LAAG again without another word. Jones sat patiently in his seat, as more alien goons surrounded them. The Marines aimed their guns toward them. Elites armed with Carbines and Grunts with Fuel Rod Cannons pointed their deadly weapons at the humans. “Put your guns down.” one of the Elites said. Stacker nodded and the Marines cautiously lowered their guns to the floor. Private John Jackson raised his arms up. He sputtered, “How the hell did this happen?” He could see the Wraith tank waiting for them on the far side of the cliff. “Who is the leader in charge of the group?” the Elite asked. Stacker knew that the Marines would point at either him or Silva. Most likely him, since he was the only one present. McKay pointed at Stacker, with no surprise. Jackson looked at McKay, as if he was betrayed, “Why, you little bastard! I’ll” No one knew what Jackson was going to do until he was shot in the head. He crashed to the floor. As Fitzgerald limped slowly away, the Elites and the Grunts fired their weapons. Private Nathan Li grabbed his rifle on the grass and ducked for cover. Private Edward Klein grabbed for his sidearm, before he was blown into the air by a Spec Op Grunt’s cannon. Private Grant started to run, but a plasma bolt hit him between the shoulder blades. More bolts hit his legs, then his arms, and then his torso. He crippled to the ground. A Pelican flew overhead and shredded the Elites with its .50 caliber machine gun. The Leatherneck gunner in the back of the Pelican provided additional fire and blew away the Grunts. Once the carnage was over, the Pelican dropped a sixty-six ton Scorpion tank, another Warthog, and more Leathernecks. They heard a noise from the other side of the building. The bridge was activated! Silva came back out and saw the dead bodies. “I missed a lot.” he murmured. He climbed back into the ’Hog and backed up. The Leathernecks climbed onto a vehicle and headed for the temple! They crossed the bridge, as the Scorpion driver blasted the Wraith. More Ghosts and infantry stormed out of a cave. In mere seconds, they were ripped apart and the Ghosts exploded. “This is what I call a team effort!” Stacker yelled. He was still angry at McKay who nearly betrayed them and killed Jackson. Silva twisted the steering wheel and lunged the LRV into the ruins next to a waterfall.

Guatou Yannki Hookgerda, the white Ultra Elite gazed into the ruins with his assistants, Hudssa Lanns and Jagad Humikda. He looked around his CP and walked over. “Status!” he barked. “Sir.” a Minor Elite said, “One of our Elites have been hurt. He’s identified as Loomercka.” “How many dead? How many injured?” Hookgerda asked impatiently. “The body count isn’t complete yet, my liege. So far, it’s thirty-nine dead and three injured. None were in perfect condition.” the Elite answered. “Hmm. Lanns!” he called. Lanns trooped over, “What is it?” “Get this ‘Loomercka’.” Lanns nodded. Loomercka strolled over. “I want you to find these humans that did this…” he ordered. “Sir!” the Elite in the background called, “There are nineteen humans dead. Most of them died in these so-called ‘pods’. So primitive.” Hookgerda nodded and turned back to Loomercka. “Find them… and kill them.” he growled. Loomercka took one step back, “How?” “Use all the resources that you can use. Take all of our weapons. You were a Stealth Elite. You should know how.” Loomercka frowned, “What do you mean I was a Stealth Elite?” Hookgerda said, “I am promoting you to Spec Op Major.” “I am honored.” Loomercka smiled. “Now find the disgusting humans and demolish them to dust!” Hookgerda ordered, as he turned away. “How can I find them?” Loomercka asked. Hookgerda frowned, “Oh, that’s easy… Follow the bodies.” �Section 2D: The Landing Zone The engines of the ‘Hogs roared into another clearing. “Great.” Dubbo said, “More ruins.” The Warthogs engaged the enemy. The Scorpion rolled around the ruins, making sure the Covenant are losing ground. Silva parked the Warthog on a ramp, as they exited the vehicle. A fuel rod bomb landed onto the ‘Hog and exploded! The three Helljumpers fired their rifles onto Covenant enemies. When the ramps were clear, the Scorpion tank rolled up the ramp, as all of the tank crew disembarked. “We have a Pelican coming in! Let’s clear an LZ!” Xavier yelled. The entire Helljumper and Leatherneck group held their positions on the ramp.



Loomercka saw dead Covenant bodies as he rode around in a Ghost. He climbed off and polished his new bluish-black armor. He liked it very so. He crouched next to an injured Elite on the way. “Who did this to you?” he demanded. “There… the humans…” the Elite struggled. He pointed toward a cave, “I saw the humans go in there.” Loomercka nodded and accelerated his Ghost into the tunnels.



Lucas had just sniped an Elite thirty meters away. Li had shot three Grunts in two bursts. Silva turned to see the results. Three Marines dead… Not too bad. He reloaded his rifle and waited. McKay reloaded her two pistols and holstered them. The Pelican dropped off some ammo pods and four more Leathernecks. McKay favored the SMG. She gripped it and smiled. Fitzgerald and Dubbo grabbed shotguns. Li grabbed some ammo for his sniper. Lucas, who was tired of the sniper rifle, gave his ammo to Li and grabbed a basic Plasma Rifle. Silva grabbed a Plasma Rifle, because he ran out of ammo for his rifle, so he used something equivalent to the battle rifle. The Marines advanced to the shelter of the ruins. The ruins linked up with a valley, which also linked up to the temple. “Over here!” Li yelled, pointing at a doorway. The Leathernecks went in first. “Clear!” they hollered. The ODSTs walked in and found more Covenant aliens. The Marines fired their guns and blew everything in their path. The sniper, shotgun, and battle rifle gunfire were a perfect combination to Lucas and Silva’s Plasma Rifles, as well as well-placed grenades. Three Jackals came into view. All of the Marines’ bullets ricocheted off their personal shields. Silva and Lucas fired their Plasma Rifles and fired the shields. Li made two headshots, as Private David Sanderson killed the last Jackal. The ruins were secured. The Helljumpers and the Leathernecks passed through a small tunnel and reached a small waterfall. They crept behind a Jackal sniper. Corporal Drew Fredric leaped onto the Jackal and twisted his arm. The Jackal screeched and clawed Fredric to the floor. Jones tried to fire at the Jackal, but Stacker lowered Jones’ weapon. “What is it, sir?” he asked. “We have the element of surprise. We have to keep it that way.” Stacker replied, watching Silva, Fitzgerald, and Xavier attacking the Jackal. The Jackal hissed and Fitzgerald grabbed his neck. He tossed the Jackal onto the floor and broke his neck. The Jackal laid still in the waterfall. Fitzgerald strapped his shotgun to his back and grabbed the jackal’s Particle Beam Rifle. “Okay,” Silva said, peering down the valley full of alien goons, “Let’s start sniping…” �Section 2E: Snipers in the Valley Loomercka parked his Ghost on the ramps. There were the ammo pods and saw dead bodies everywhere. Armed with a Carbine, a Beam Rifle, two Plasma Rifles, two Plasma Pistols, an Energy Sword, and half a dozen Plasma Grenades, he was a force to be reckoned with. He armed his Carbine and entered the doorways. He checked the inside. Yes… more Covenant bodies. He looked at the three dead Jackals lying on the floor. He saw plasma scoring inside the Jackals. He was sure the humans have armed Plasma Rifles. “Tricky bastards.” he cursed. He jumped onto a ramp and searched the area for survivors. He could see some dead Marines on the way. Loomercka checked their pulses to make sure they were dead.



ZAP! Fitzgerald had sniped yet another Elite with the Beam Rifle. A freckled-face private, Greg “Dude” Hosky, stared down the small waterfall. “Drones!” he yelled. The Marines looked at Hosky, then at the bottom of the valley. The insects flew into the air and fired their Plasma Pistols and Needlers. One of them had grabbed Xavier with its claws and flew into the waterfall. “Help me!” Xavier yelled. McKay raised the SMG to fire, but Silva stopped her. “You might hit Xavier.” he warned. “Get Li over here.” Li raised his sniper and scoped onto the Drone. He cautiously pulled the trigger and saw the two beings fall to the ground. The Drone landed onto a boulder, dead. Xavier crashed into the bottom of the small waterfall. Jones looked down and motioned Fitzgerald to follow him. “We have to get to Xavier!” Jones yelled. “Back me up!” Fitzgerald yelled. He closed his eyes and leaped off the waterfall. The others looked and saw that Fitzgerald had survived the landing. “Get to the bottom of the valley!” Stacker yelled. Jones went next. All of the Marines jumped except for Stacker and McKay. McKay was scared. She looked at the bottom and gripped her SMG tight. “Go, private!” Stacker yelled. McKay started backward, “Maybe I should-” Stacker sighed and shoved her off. Her scream echoed in the valley, warning the Covenant to their position. As Stacker prepared to jump, he saw Sergeant Banks pointing behind him. He raised an eyebrow and turned. A Spec Op Major, similar to the one he encountered on Earth, shot him with a Carbine. He fell to the floor and clenched his teeth, as Loomercka approached him. He punched the Elite viciously in the chest, to little effect. Stacker tried kicking the Elite, but he had caught his legs in mid-kick. Stacker shifted all of his weight and fell to the bottom of the valley, with the Elite clinging to his leg. They crashed to the bottom of the waterfall, kicking up dirt, water, and blades of grass. Stacker got up, his leg caught with blood, and stared at the unconscious Loomercka. “Waste him!” he bellowed. The Marines frowned. “Sorry, Sarge. We’re a little short on ammo.” Xavier said, looking at his rifle. The ammo count said: 27. He had no more reloads. The others with battle rifles stared at their ammo displays: 24, 03, 18, 06, and 01. Even Silva’s Plasma Rifle read 8%. Stacker sighed and grabbed a clip from his belt and gave it to the Marine with the less ammunition. Fitzgerald threw his Beam Rifle away and armed his shotgun. “Maybe if we leave now, he’ll never find us.” he suggested. The Marines had no other good idea, so they started into a small cave. They had lost thirty Marines so far from the sub-orbital drop to the valley. They agreed to use hand-to-hand combat when they had the chance. Anderson hiked between a couple hills along with his group, after killing various Grunts, Drones, and Jackals. They walked into through the hills. It was filled with dead Marine bodies, tall grass, and bugs. Anderson and Banks used their machetes to cut down the tall plants. Then, they reached a large clearing. The Marines looked around the beautiful scenery. They were, all of a sudden, standing on a ramp that was connected to an ancient building on top a large sea of water. These buildings were surrounded with giant supports, that help “carry” the buildings over the water, like a pier. The most important part on the ramps that the Marines needed the most were the ammo pods that were dropped from some kind of human ship. Anderson sighed, “The only flaw in here is the Covenant being here.” “Hey!” Fitzgerald exclaimed, “there are dead Covenant bodies!” True enough, there were dead six Grunts, three Elites, and five Jackals lying on the ramp. Banks and the others had already scurried to the dropped ammo pods. They loaded up on supplies. The Leathernecks all had Battle Rifles and shotguns, as the ODSTs used snipers, shotguns, Battle Rifles, and SMGs. When they were fully satisfied with their new arsenal, they continued down the ramp, that connected to the building. Fitzgerald, who had five whole reloads on his shotgun, embraced and checked around. He heard an odd, but familiar noise. Drones… he frowned and saw large swarms of them, crowding the ramps. They were flanked! Silva stomped his foot, cursing under his breath. “Fire!” he hollered. The Marines looked at him in surprise, before they squeezed their triggers. The smell of bullets and smoke filled the air, as the Marines fired their guns until the last Drone fell.



Loomercka had woken up twenty minutes ago, as he shook his head. Pain flowed through every artery and vein in his body. He kind of admired the pain, because it kept him more alert. He briefly glanced at his battered Carbine, which was snapped in half, after he fell off the waterfall. He rubbed his hands and saw wet footprints in the grass. Shells, bodies, and weapons littered the valley. He turned and followed the footprints. He found himself inside a cave. He squinted his eyes in the shallow dark, and continued walking. The next thing he knew, he crashed into a soft, white object that made noises. “Ah! It’s an Elite! The Excellency will show us the path to victory!” a Stealth Grunt named Jaga yelped. Loomercka sighed, “ ‘Us?’ You mean there’s more of you?” Jaga nodded, “Yes!” A group of Jackals and Grunts emerged from their hiding spots. Loomercka lowered his lower two mandibles an equivalent to a grin--- and marched the group onward to battle.

Silva glanced at his ammo counter: 00 empty. He reloaded his rifle and grabbed more clips at the ammo pods. “Alright! Let’s get into that building!” he bellowed. The rest of the surviving Marines walked down the ramp and entered through the doors. �Section 2E: The Building Banks peered into the room. The Marines looked around the building, made of ancient rocks. The room was filled with six dead Elite Honor Guards. Silva had found a dead Helljumper without a helmet. That meant that the Marine must have been a sergeant. The dead Marine had a used shotgun lying next to him, and the Honor Guards had a large spread of bullets in them. The shotgun next to the Marine must have hit them. Jones gasped. “Jeez! This guy killed all of these Honor Guards! That’s why we found the dead bodies back on the ramp!” he marveled that the Marine had made it so far. He peered at the Marine’s tag. The tag read, “MOBUTO, MARVIN. STAFF SERGEANT. SERVICE N0. 01928-88092-MM” in bold Gothic letters. “I don’t know you, Sarge. But I sure as hell wished I did. You would have been one hard-core S. O. B.” Fitzgerald smiled. He ripped the tag off Sergeant Mobuto’s neck and placed it gently in one of his pouches. He turned to Jones and the others. Then, he had a strange feeling. If Marvin Mobuto had killed the Honor Guards, then who killed him? As if his question was answered, McKay screamed and saw Anderson fly into the air and land on the ground, dead. He turned and saw a Spec Op Elite shooting at them with two Plasma Rifles. The Marines scattered apart in the room. McKay fired at the Elite with her SMG. The Elite backtracked and fired his rifles at McKay. She ducked for cover, when Stacker came to engage the Elite with hand-to-hand combat. The Elite dropped his Plasma Rifles and ignited his sword. Stacker had made the wrong move. The Elite slashed Stacker in the leg, as he fell onto the ground. McKay dragged Stacker’s prone form behind two pillars for cover. “Thank you, private.” he gasped. McKay nodded and peered at the Spec Op lunging at the other Marines. The Elite was surrounded by Jones, Silva, and Fitzgerald. In a sudden movement, the Elite slashed Jones, spun and knocked Silva off his feet. Fitzgerald was about to sneak up on him with the shotgun, until the Elite reeled back, as the sword cut through a thin section of his armor. He fell back and watched in horror as the Elite turned around and ran at the injured Stacker. McKay was tending to his wounds, when she fired at the Elite nonstop, taking out his shields. The Spec Op hid behind a pillar to recharge his shields. Before he could, Fitzgerald had grabbed Silva’s rifle and pulled the trigger. The Elite was hit, as he dropped the sword. Fitzgerald pinned the Elite to the wall and tried to strike a blow, but the Elite knocked him onto the floor. He skidded across the room, as McKay and Banks came over to help. The Elite groaned and lunged at McKay and Banks. McKay’s eyes widened and ducked for cover. Banks fired his rifle and without warning, the Elite stopped, howled, and then crashed to the floor. The Spec Op Elite was dead. Banks raised an eyebrow. How did I get such a lucky shot? he wondered. He briefly checked his gun and then saw Gunnery Sergeant Stacker breathing heavily with a smoking M6C Magnum in his hand. He dropped the sidearm and sighed. Banks pulled him up to his feet. “Not bad for a corporal.” he laughed, “Thank you, Marine.” Stacker shrugged and then saw that Banks was praying. He holstered his Magnum and slung his Battle Rifle over his shoulder. �Section 2F: The Prophet of Regret A holograph of a Prophet appeared. According to McKay, it was the Prophet of Regret. The holographic Prophet spoke, “I shall light this sacred ring, release it's cleansing flame, and burn a path into the divine beyond!” The Marines’ eyes widened, “He’s going to activate Halo!” one of them hollered. Private Hosky and Fredric were confused. “What’s the big deal?” Hosky asked. “Is there something wrong?” Fredric inquired. “If Halo is to be activated, all sentient life will be destroyed! The Covenant, us, some kind of other species or alien race will be killed in an instant.” Silva described. Jones looked at Fredric, “See now? Hosky and he nodded. Stacker turned on his COM. “Commander! We have problem.” he said. “So I hear.” Commander Miranda Keyes replied over the COM, “But from what I understand, the prophet will need an object, the Index, to activate the ring. I've located a Library similar to the one we found on the first Alpha halo. If the rings work the same way, the Index should be inside.” Sergeant Johnson and his two comrades, McKenzie and Perez, had entered the conversation, “I bet the Covenant are thinking the same thing.” Johnson replied. “Then we have to beat them to it, sergeant.” Keyes said, “Extract your men and meet me at the Library.” “Yes, ma’am.” “Stacker, I’ll secure the Index. You and your men must take out the Prophet, ASAP.” Keyes ordered, “He’s given us the INTEL we need…” �SECTOR THREE: NEW OBJECTIVE Section 3A: The Mission Stacker turned to his squad. “Alright! Here are our objectives!” he shouted, “Our main objective is to kill us a Prophet. We’ll split into two groups. Silva on Blue Company, and I will be on Red Company. Silva’s squad must go through an alternate route” As he spoke, three Grunts charged into the room, blasted one of the Helljumpers in the face with Needler shots, and ran. Before the ODST’s body landed on the floor, three 9.5mm armor-piercing rounds from Silva’s Battle Rifle struck one of them in the chest. A well-placed grenade blasted the two other Grunts in to the air. Stacker finished the speech, “Blue Company, just follow Silva. Make sure you guys rendezvous with us at the gondola on the other side. Good luck.” He headed back to the ramp, as a Banks, Dubbo, Fredric, and the other Leathernecks followed him. The ODSTs headed through the door on the upper levels. Fitzgerald stayed behind, grabbed a couple shotgun shells from Mobuto, and caught up with his Blue Company. A Beam Rifle laid on the floor, with a dead Jackal next to it. They were outside, on another ramp. As, they turned the corner, all hell broke loose. The ODSTs quickly fired their weapons in quick succession and retreated behind walls. The Grunts and the Elites marched over to find the humans, as two Jackals stayed behind as defense. Silva looked at his tired Marines, “On the count of three, attack.” He peered around the corner. “One…” The Elites had ordered the Grunts to take the front position. “…Two…” The Elites and Grunts saw the humans and their plasma arsenals started to glow. “Three!” The Marines turned and squeezed their triggers hard.



Loomercka looked at the ammo pods and the dead bodies on the ramp. He stretched his neck and called Jaga over to him. Jaga laughed, “Hah! Those humans are primitive fools! They still use projectiles!” Loomercka replied emotionlessly, “Sadly, those projectiles are still a threat to us.” He glanced the bodies again. A lot of Drones and other Covenant bodies were scattered all over the ramp. He sighed and had Jaga’s Grunt troops in front, as he called Koon, the Major Jackal, to station his Jackals in the back. Jaga smiled, “Let’s go!” “You’re a little confident for a little air-sucker.” Koon said, scowling. “It’s methane. If you were one of my species, you’d understand, cause we can’t live with it. Until then, keep your mouth shut.” Jaga replied. The Jackals and Grunts laughed. “Silence!” Loomercka replied, “Let’s find the humans now, so I can get back to my life.” They went into the building and found two dead Marines. Both of them were Helljumpers. He looked at Anderson, then at Mobuto. “Looks like they already killed Dredrikca.” he said, looking at the dead Spec Op Elite on the floor.



The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Blue Company had already lost four Helljumpers. Silva looked at his troopers. There only five left: McKay, Xavier, Lucas, Li, and Fitzgerald were the only ones left. He shrugged and moved on. He could see the gondola station already. But it was filled with alien scum. “Red One, this is Blue One. We’ve reached the gondola station. Over.” Silva said over the COM. “Acknowledged. We are approximately a couple meters away. Turn the corner.” Stacker replied. He almost bumped into Stacker. “There’s the Covenant!” Li hollered. He raised his sniper and aimed it at an Elite patrolling. He pulled the trigger, as the rifle kicked his shoulder. The sniper spat a disabling-sabot round and killed the Elite. He looked down and zoomed the scope setting to 5x. He eyed a Jackal sniper and then zoomed it to 10x. The fired, and the Jackal fell over. He sniped two Grunts and then reloaded. He aimed the sniper again and watched a couple Drones in the air. When the Grunts saw Drones falling out of the sky with bullet holes in them, they shrieked before a barrage of rifle fire struck their chests. The gondola station was secured for the moment. A Phantom came over to ruin the fun. It dropped off two Hunters. The Hunters eyed their location and then saw Hosky and Fredric. They fired their Fuel Rod Cannons, as the two Leathernecks ducked for cover. The freckled-face private wasn’t scared of these Hunters. In fact, he stood in the clearing and fired his BR-55 at them. Fredric threw a grenade at a charging Hunter, thinking it would die in the explosion. The grenade exploded, as Fredric watched in disbelief as he saw the Hunter emerge out of the smoke and continued charging. Hosky kept firing at the Hunter, even when it smacked him with the Hunter’s shield. He flew across the station and landed in agony. Fredric turned to see Hosky on the floor, when a Hunter had pierced him with its razor-sharp spikes on its back. Fredric fell limp and crippled to the floor. Hosky attempted to stand up, when a blow to the back of his head sealed his fate. He landed onto the ground next to Fredric. The other Marines had been taking cover and firing at the Hunters. Stacker had an idea. He turned to Silva. “May I borrow your match?” he asked. “I don’t think that” “Now!” Silva reached in his pouch and handed his matches to him. Stacker pulled out a beer bottle and sprayed over the floor. He chirped and the Hunter came charging toward him. When the Hunter had stepped in the alcohol beverage, Stacker lit the match and threw it into the flammable liquid. The Hunter was covered in flames and ran around. “Remind me to tell Johnson that I owe him a new bottle of beer.” Stacker told Jones. The other Hunter gazed at him, as Li had thrown a Plasma Grenade onto his Fuel Rod Cannon. It exploded, and now the Hunter was only equipped with his shield. Confused by its destroyed weapon, and his smoldering comrade, he did not know what to do. He stood in the middle of the battlefield, thinking what to do. The Marines still held back, even it they couple team up on the Hunter with hand-to-hand combat. They might win, but they might not. It was too risky. Then the Hunter had made its choice. He would find and crush as much humans as he can, before he dies. He bellowed an angry war cry, only to be pelted in machine gun fire. A Pelican had come to save the day! The Hunter fell on its knees and finally gave way. The Pelican started to launch more ammo pods. “Sarge, the covenant are getting nosy.” Commander Keyes said over the COM. “I don't want to give away my position, so I'm rerouting a few stragglers back to you… I apologize, these pelicans are all the support you're going to get.” The Pelican dropped off the ammo pods and fresh Marines. The Helljumpers and Leathernecks gazed longingly at the Pelican. Stacker turned, “What? Never saw a UNSC dropship before?” he knew he wanted to board the Pelican as well, but he knew he had a job to do. The Marines boarded the gondola and sped off toward the temple. �Section 3B: Gondola Ambush Loomercka gazed down at the hologram of the Prophet. “So fools!” he yelled, “The humans must’ve went to stop him!” Jaga turned to him, “But the Honor Guards! They are skilled! They can kill them!” Koon rolled his eyes, “Air-sucker.” he whispered. Jaga turned to him. “It’s methane! All of the Grunts need it! Now, I am your commanding officer, other than our Elite Major! You will show me some respect!” Koon laughed, “What are you going to do?” Jaga charged his Plasma Pistol and shot his shields out. He aimed the pistol at the Jackal’s head, “This…” he hissed. “Point taken.” the Jackal grunted, as Jaga let him go. Loomercka sat in thought, “The Honor Guards may assassinate my prey for me, but I don’t trust them. Telling by the way this human…” he gestured at the dead Mobuto. “…killed the Honor Guards here, I don’t think the Guards will do a great job. I’ll do the task myself of ridding those annoyances.” He started for the door.



Jones and Lucas stared at the gondola. “Uh… What do we do now?” Lucas asked. He saw a holographic panel at the front of the large gondola. He saw a peculiar button on the panel. He reached out, thinking that his finger would pass through the hologram, but he felt something. He pressed the button and the gondola made sudden noises. “God, Lucas! What did you do?” Jones asked. Lucas shrugged. “I don’t know…” he admitted. Then, the clamps on the gondola were release, it started moving. The Marines really enjoyed the gondola ride, since the machine doesn’t wobble like boats do on Earth. The gondola provides a lot of excellent cover when attacked. They sat in the “cabin” and waited. Another gondola passed by full of Covenant goons. Fitzgerald blasted an Elite with a twelve-gauge shotgun shell. Drones made an airborne attack with their plasma and needle fire. Plasma, needles, and bullets were exchanged around the gondola. Elites with Carbines boarded their gondola and blasted everything in sight. Fitzgerald fried one and continued. McKay was able to overload an Elite’s shields, as Silva’s Battle Rifle made a headshot. Two Banshees in the sky appeared, after the Covenant on the gondolas were demolished. The Marines took cover in the cabin and watched at the Banshees tried to stop the gondola. They fired Fuel Rod Cannons, blasting off and chunk of the gondola. When the Banshees bailed away, Stacker had a GPS. It looks like our trip will be longer than I suspected. This gondola doesn’t take us to the main temple, but… it’ll get us close.” “This lake couldn't have been created by volcanic action, which means it was either built this way on purpose, or was created by some other cataclysmic event.” Stacker reported. “Smart ass.” Silva smirked. Lucas looked at the front of the gondola. He could see another temple-like building in the distance. But it wasn’t the main temple. Lucas looked at the building. It was another a minor temple. He nudged Li and pointed. “Right,” he said. He zoomed in and saw two Plasma Turrets and three Jackal snipers. He fired, hitting two snipers in one shot. The other warned the Grunts on the turrets and returned fire. Plasma bolts sprayed against the gondola, as the Marines ducked. Silva dropped into the cabin and took cover. The clamps on the gondola station secured, as the Marines ran across to the temple’s doorway. It looked like a room with a hole in the middle, and ramps scattered around. Jackals and Drones attacked! They surrounded the Marines, waiting for the opportunity to strike. But it was the other way around; Silva blasted two Drones, as the others shot the Jackals. The Marines took care of the last Drones and peered down the hole. There was water on the bottom. Probably the lake water that they traveled on in the gondola. Stacker was fumbling with his GPS. “Ah, now I see. There's a submerged section that connects these towers to the outlying structures. Looks like we're going down. Unless you'd prefer to swim.” �Section 3C: Large Temple in the Lake “Full car coming up!” Dubbo yelled. Banks peered down and saw an elevator-like thing start coming up the hole. The elevator stopped on their floor, as Jackals poured out. Banks tossed a grenade into the elevator and roasted the three Jackals. “This thing’s not going to hold all of us, so we’d better make two trips. Red Team, you go first. My team will catch on with you.” Silva ordered. “So we’ll meet you outside of the temple?” Stacker asked. “Affirmative. Let’s go!” Blue Company occupied the elevator. They all stared at the activation holographic panel, then at Lucas. “What?” he asked. “Press the button.” Jones said. “Why me?” Lucas stared. “Cause you’re the one with the lucky touch. Go.” Silva said. Lucas sighed and pressed an identical button and the elevator sank into the hole. It splashed in the water and found out that the temple was under the lake. The water surrounded the elevator, as the Marines gazed toward each other. The elevator finally surfaced, as the Marines found themselves inside the temple. “Go! Go! Go!” Silva yelled.

Loomercka’s gondola was en route to the minor temple. There were Elite corpses, exploded Banshees, and dead Drones. He saw the minor temple and grabbed his monocular. Jaga and Koon came up behind him. “What is it, Excellency?” “It’s the humans I’m hunting for. They’ve already killed two Jackals.” Loomercka explained, without moving. Jaga sighed, “Too bad it wasn’t you!” he hollered at Koon. Koon rolled his eyes and walked back into the cabin with his Grunts and Jackals. The clamps locked and they disembarked. They sprinted into the temple and saw the Marines climb into an elevator. “Stop!” he yelled. He equipped his Plasma Rifles and aimed it at the humans. The elevator sank into the hole, as the aliens shot plasma at it. Jaga looked at him. Loomercka glared angrily at Koon. “No worries, Excellency. We can catch the next one.” Koon chirped.



“That was a close one!” Dubbo yelled, “That Spec Op Elite would have nailed us!” “The private’s right. He had an angry bloodlust look in his eyes.” Banks said, “Once we get in the temple, I want you Marines to run across and find the Helljumpers.” “Yes, sir!” “We can’t afford to lose to that Elite. I think he’s tracking us down.” Stacker said, checking out the window.



Silva’s troops had just creamed the last Grunt in the temple’s main hall. They had already killed the two Hunters with sniper rifles. “Fitzgerald! Haul your ass up here!” Silva called. Fitzgerald ran into the front of the group. They proceeded into a flooded corridor. “What’s with the water on the floor?” Xavier asked. The corridor seemed empty… until they saw splashes in the water. “Over there!” They opened fire and shot camouflaged Elites and Grunts. One of the Stealth Elites leaped down the platform with an Energy Sword. Fitzgerald shot him in mid-air. They walked up the platform and approached another elevator. They climbed inside, as Lucas activated it. McKay glanced at her SMG. She was running low, so she tossed it on the ground and drew her pistols. The elevator was back on the surface and they ran across the hallways. They finally reached outside, where they were assaulted by Grunts and Drones. They stood on the hilltop and fired at the Helljumpers below. After six minutes hiding behind a rock with six Grunts left to kill, Stacker’s Red Company came and swept up the Grunts. “This is my last run, Sergeant Silva, I’m nearly out of fuel. We’ve secured the last tower cluster, so I’ll set down there. Call me when you’re ready of extraction.” a Pelican pilot said over the COM. A Pelican zoomed over and dropped ammo and Leathernecks. The Helljumpers and Leathernecks restocked on ammo and continued over the valley. �Section 3D: More Ruins “Great, more old stuff.” Dubbo said, sticking shotgun shells into his pouch. Fitzgerald turned to Li, who had already sniped four Elites and six Grunts. Jackal snipers struck him, as he fell over. Dubbo threw a grenade and helped him up. “Look out!” Banks yelled. An Elite sniper fired his Beam Rifle at Dubbo. Banks jumped in front of him to push him away, but he was shot through the lungs instead. He fell onto the floor and bled. “Get him and med pack!” Xavier yelled. “It’s too late…” Stacker responded, “He’s gone. Come on! We have to kill the Prophet of Regret before we are all killed!” The Marines nodded and charged into battle. They could see an Phantom dropping off reinforcements.



Loomercka dragged his feet along with the other aliens. All he could see where dead bodies and water in the flooded corridor. He checked the bodies, in case one if of them were alive. He trudged into the elevator and activated the switch. Jaga and Koon stared at their troops, in which they dragged along to help find enemies. “We’re close to the humans.” he sighed. “Why do we want to find them? We’ll only find our deaths.” Koon said. “I hate to say it, but I agree with Koon.” Jaga responded. “Maybe, but I was assigned to kill all of the humans.” Loomercka said. The elevator reached the top and they climbed out.



The Phantom had dropped off Elites, Grunts, and two Hunters. The Marines had already returned to the ammo pods to collect sniper rifles. McKay was in charge of the sniping group. The two sergeants stood back and watched. “Concentrate whatever you have on the Hunters. I don’t want any of us smacked anymore by them.” she ordered, “One… two… Three! Fire!” A heavy barrage of 14.5mm fin-stabilized discarding-sabot rounds took a toll on the Hunters. When they were dead, the snipers aimed at the Elites, then at the Grunts. This was the most effective and quickest method of killing Hunters, that the Marines had ever seen. They returned to the ammo pods, got their original weapons and hoofed across. The Leathernecks held their positions near a clearing full of ruins. Li and three helljumpers with sniper rifles scouted ahead. Li strapped his sniper away and drew his sidearm. “Grunts!” one of the ODSTs hollered. Li spun and shot two of them. The others ran cowardly away, as the ODSTs sniped them down. Li brushed his pistol and continued walking. He reloaded, then holstered the weapon and aimed his sniper around. He saw another gondola filled with goons. He magnified the scope and saw that the gondola would take them directly to the main temple. He turned on the COM. “Sir, there’s a gondola on the other side of the hills! Big surprise… It’s crawling with Covenant warlords!” Li explained. “Acknowledged, Marine. We’re on our way.” Stacker replied. “Move it out! We’re leaving!” he called to his Marines. They trotted to Li’s position. Li took off his helmet and scratched his hair. He put it back on and turned. The Leathernecks crept behind the hills and peered at the Covenant. Nothing big, just Grunts and Jackals. Li sniped two Jackals. The ODSTs joined them. “Commencing cover fire!” Xavier yelled. He popped up behind the hills and fired his rifle. The other Marines hesitated, but all pulled their triggers. The last Grunt fell, as they boarded the gondola and headed off for the temple. �SECTOR FOUR: THE TEMPLE Section 4A: The Second Gondola Loomercka gazed at the gory carnage. “What happened here?” he demanded. As he walked through the ruins, examining the Covenant bodies, he was sure everyone was dead, until an arm surprisingly grabbed his leg. It was Guatou Yannki Hookgerda, the Ultra Elite that had sent him to kill the humans. “Major… You didn’t kill those humans in time,” he gasped between breathes, “You’ve failed.” “Sir, I” “No, Major. You did not kill the humans. They sniped all of us before we even located them. Even the Hunters were shot down! It was a surprise attack! If you’d terminated them earlier, you would’ve avoided this chat.” Hookgerda said, “Now… this time, look for them faster or someone else will be dead! They’re already looking for our holy Prophet. Annihilate them now!” he coughed and bent over. “Should I get help? I can get a Phantom over.” Loomercka offered. “No, Major. I’m finished.” Hookgerda fell limp in the Spec Op’s arms. Loomercka called a Phantom anyway and continued his journey. He saw three Banshees in the sky. “Pilot! Set the Banshee down! I need to commandeer your craft.” he called over the radio. The pilot acknowledged and turned the flier around. The other two Banshees headed toward the gondola. He landed the Banshee, as Loomercka got on.



“How’s it going, you guys?” Commander Keyes asked over the COM. “So far, so good. We’re approaching the main temple now.” Silva responded over the COM. “Roger that. I'm as close to the library as I can get. There's some sort of... barrier. We're trying to find a way around it. I'll” Two Banshees ambushed the gondola. “Sorry, ma’am. We’re being attacked. We’ll keep you posted.” Silva turned of the COM.



“Well?” Johnson asked. Keyes shook her head. “They’re on the gondolas now.” “Huh… Marines! Move it up!” Johnson screamed. Corporal McKenzie and Perez came over. “Yes, sir?” “We need to get through this barrier.” Johnson said. “Move aside, ma’am.” Perez said. Keyes stepped to the side and watched him toss a grenade. It exploded, but the barrier wouldn’t budge. McKenzie was about to stick a bomb onto it, but heard a familiar gurgling sound. “Oh god.. Not again!” he hollered. Perez aimed his Battle Rifle. An old, familiar “friend” jumped out with tentacles and launched it itself onto McKenzie. Perez shot it off. “Thanks.” McKenzie said. The four humans huddled in a circle, weapons at the ready. When more “friends” came to join them, the Marines circled Keyes. “Protect the commander!” Johnson yelled. When another creature leaped at them, the Marines and the commander opened fire.



The Banshees rolled in the sky, dive-bombing the gondola. Shooting at it with a shotgun isn’t going to work. Fitzgerald thought. He found two ammo pods on top of the gondola. There was a Battle Rifle and a M19 Rocket Launcher. He swapped his shotgun and checked if any ammo was in it. Five rockets… Good enough. He aimed it at a Banshee. He activated the lock-on system and fired. The launcher kicked back, as the rocket collided with the Banshee. The Banshee was in flames and was hurtling towards him. He grabbed his shotgun and rolled over to another side. The Banshee crashed into and gondola and into the lake. The dead pilot flopped onto the deck, along with his Plasma Rifle. Fitzgerald aimed the launcher at the second Banshee, but its dive-bomb swept him off his feet. He smacked on the ground, dropping the launched in the cabin. McKay picked it up and shot the Banshee with the last rocket in the clip. She handed Fitzgerald back the launcher. He placed two rockets in the launcher chamber and strapped it over his back. He armed his shotgun and detected a third Banshee. This one landed on top of the gondola! Loomercka looked at the human with his eyes. He ignited his Energy Sword and charged at him. Fitzgerald ducked, as the Elite flew over. McKay came out with her two pistols. “Suck this!” she yelled, firing both pistols at the Spec Op. Two Ranger Elites came to assist him. One of them shot McKay’s hand with plasma bolts. “Argh!” she screamed, dropping one of the pistols. Loomercka slashed her down and saluted to his fellow Rangers. “We lost McKay!” Stacker yelled. The Marines took cover in the cabin, as the three Elites took the top deck. A Plasma Grenade flew into the cabin, scattering the Marines in opposite directions. Loomercka cut down Xavier, who had his back turned to him. “Man down! Man down!” Li’s sniper cut through Loomercka’s shields, as he went back to the deck to recharge. He saw the human with the sniper kill one of the Ranger Elites. He lunged at him, slicing at Li. “Foolish humans!” he mocked he smacked Li over to the side. He looked around to exact his revenge on the humans. He found the more important-looking humans, Stacker and Silva. He charged at him. Bullets struck his chest, as he brought his sword on Stacker’s shoulder. “Oof!” he shrieked, holding his wound. Loomercka pounded on him, as Silva, Fitzgerald, Dubbo, and Jones held him down. The massive Elite smacked the four Marines off and retreated onto the deck again. The Ranger Elite was still firing his Plasma Rifle at them. “That’s it! Showtime, baby!” Dubbo yelled. He blasted the Ranger Elite with his shotgun. The Ranger’s body fell into the cabin. “Two down, one more bastard to go.” Jones said. Lucas dodged Loomercka’s assault. Li got up, shook his head and examined his S2-AM sniper rifle. He armed his magnum, but was knocked to the ground again. Loomercka activated his active camouflage. He crept into the cabins and looked at Silva. He activated his sword again, but Silva was too good for that. He shot the sword out of his hand. Loomercka tried to pull out his Plasma Rifles, but he had lost them earlier. He grabbed the dead Ranger’s Plasma Rifle and used it as a club. He smacked Silva onto the ground. He was dizzy and disorientated. He rubbed the side of his helmet, as Loomercka picked him up and pinned him onto the wall. He aimed his Plasma Rifle at his face. Silva closed his eyes, waiting for death to come, but somehow, it didn’t. He heard a loud Blam! and heard the massive Elite scream in agony and anguish. Another Blam! was heard. This time, Silva fell onto the floor, gasping for breaths. He saw Loomercka lying on the floor, next to a pool of blood. Jones, a smoking sniper rifle in his hand, had the Elite’s blood splattered all over him. Lucas checked the Elite. “thank you, private.” Silva coughed. “Don’t mention it.” Jones smiled, handing Li back his sniper. �Section 4B: Storm the Temple After the twenty-six Marines were thirty yards from the temple, they opened fire, and killed two turret gunners. The clamps were locked in, as Fitzgerald loaded his rocket launcher. They walked on the outside of the temple, as four Jackals started running up a flight of stairs. Li sniped them out. The Helljumpers and the Leathernecks looked into the sky. Dozens of Covenant cruisers emerged from Slipspace. “That's the largest Covenant fleet I've ever seen!” Stacker pronounced, “ Let’s get inside the temple and kill Regret, before it can stop us.” “Look! The fleet just launched a crap-load of Phantoms! They’re planning to wipe the temple from existence!” Jones yelled, pointing. The Marines ran for their lives into the temple. A cluster of Honor Guards came out and started slashing at the Marines. The Marines used ballistic gunfire to fend them off, but bottomless amounts of Honor Guards came crashing through the door. Dubbo had shot three of them already. Fitzgerald wished he was Sergeant Mobuto. He blasted four Honor Guards, as the Marines went inside.

Jaga and Koon, who were forced to chase the humans on a gondola, looked at plasma bolts flying everywhere. “Come on! Let’s get to that battle!” a Jackal screeched. “Go! Come on!” another Jackal yelled. “Patience…” Koon replied. Jaga turned to confront Koon. “Koon, I think we should really go protect the Prophet.” Jaga ordered. Koon sighed and attempt to turned to look at Jaga square in the eye, but his head exploded. Jaga whimpered.



“Gotcha, little Jackal.” Li said, reloading his sniper rifle. He turned around and caught up with the others. The Marines entered the Grand Hall. The Prophet of Regret was stationed in the very back. “Your very existence offends me, human! Kill them!” the Prophet laughed. Honor Guards flanked them from the left and the right. “I’m taking the left flank; watch my six.” Fitzgerald said. Jones nodded and helped Fitzgerald kill the Honor Guards on the left side. Silva, who had snuck up behind Regret, was able to cling onto his floating throne. Regret twisted around, shouting orders to his protectors. The Honor Guards turned to look. He lunged at Silva, who was knocking Regret’s head. A Honor Guard pulled him off and seized him. Li sniped the Guard off of him. The Marines opened fire, but something was protecting the Prophet; a shield. Jones motioned at Fitzgerald, who shot a rocket at the Prophet. The shield ricocheted the rocket and hit the pillars. The pillars smashed two Honor Guards. He backtracked and aimed his launcher when it was a good time. Jones ran out of ammo for his Battle Rifle, so he grabbed a Plasma Pistol from a fallen Honor Guard and charged it up. He fired the charged shot at the shield, which took it out. Fitzgerald fired the launcher, knocking Regret off his throne. “The Great Journey will not be postponed!” Regret hollered. Silva did a gesture at Jones and Fitzgerald. The two Marines nodded, as Jones distracted the Prophet, shooting at him. Prophet wrestled with Jones over the Plasma Pistol. Fitzgerald stood over the upper level balcony and leaped off, kicking the Prophet’s holy headset off. “Goodness!” the Prophet hollered, knocking Fitzgerald to the ground. Silva gripped his Battle Rifle and fired at the Prophet’s head. Three bullets were lodged into the Prophet’s head, as he paced backwards awkwardly and then fell over. “Bad news!” Li shouted, looking outside, “The Phantoms are coming! They’re firing on our position!” The Marines ran out of the temple without another word.

Jaga looked at Koon’s dead body. He sighed and saw the Marines charging at him. Dubbo ran out of ammo for his shotgun, so he used his pistol. Two Hunters came out and attacked them. “They’re soon to die!” Jaga yelped. His Grunt and Jackal platoon went out to help the Hunters. Fitzgerald had ran too close to the Hunter. His shoulder was pierced by the Hunter’s spikes. “Argh!” he screamed. Silva turned and saw Fitzgerald crash to the floor. He came to tend to his wounds, but he was smacked around by the Hunter’s shield. He leaned on the floor, dizzy, but he was able to drag Fitzgerald’s prone form toward Jaga’s gondola. Eleven Marines, had already ran toward Jaga. He hid behind the cabins. Dubbo clipped his head with the butt of his pistol. The alien’s skull caved in and died. He emptied the last of his clip into Jaga’s dead corpse and reloaded. Silva dragged Fitzgerald, as Fitzgerald fired pistol shots at the Hunters and Jaga’s Grunts. The Jackals had already been killed. “Argh! Die, you S.O.B.!” The Phantoms’ firing rays started to glow, and a purple beam of light surrounded the main temple. When Silva dragged Fitzgerald onto the gondola, they launched off, watching the Phantoms blasted the temple into thin air. The Hunters and the Grunts were vaporized. Stacker wrapped several bandages on Fitzgerald. He struggled to his feet and watched the Phantoms leave the temple area. The temple was completely disintegrated. He sighed and stared at his Marines. Silva turned on the COM, “Lieutenant, we’re ready for extraction.” “Aye-ay, sir.” the lieutenant announced, “I’m coming over…” The Marines sat on the gondola and waited for the trip home.

STORY THREE

SECTOR ONE: THE RENDEZVOUS Section 1A: The Gondola PFO Fitzgerald peered at his comrades. They were tired and hungry. They had barely survived an explosion from a temple and are now headed back to the gondola stations. Sergeant Antonio Silva and Pete Stacker, were checking out the view on the gondola. “It’s lovely scenery.” Stacker said, “Pity that its filled with Covenant bodies,” He looked at the dead Grunts and Jackals on board. Private Nathan Li switched his sniper’s safety on and brushed his arm. Silva gazed at the remains of the temple and shuddered. “Private!” he bellowed. The sniper looked up and reported to Silva. “Check if there’s any Covenant bastards we missed earlier, at the stations.” Li nodded and turned to the opposite side of the gondola. Jones and Fitzgerald were playing cards in the cabins. Corporal Lister cocked his Battle Rifle and laid back. He went to join Li. “What’s your status?” he asked. “Nothing so far…” Li said, observing the gondola station through his scope, “Wait… There’s something over there!” Silva came over to check. The Marines huddled next to Li. Lucas sat next to him. “I think it’s a platoon of Marines…” Li said. Stacker turned on his COM, “B Company, this is Red One. Over.” He heard static and muffles, “I repeat. This is Red One. Are any other UNSC forces there?” Yet again, he was rewarded with more static. He sighed and turned to leave. Li shouted, “There’s an ODST! Over there! He’s on the COM!” Stacker heard voices over the COM. “Sergeant… This is Major Marshall F. Bradford. We read you five-by-five. Is that you, Red Company?” “Roger. We need more reinforcements.” “No worries,” the Major said, “We’ll be right with you.”



“Sir!” Staff Sergeant Parker yelled, gesturing at a Grunt. Major Bradford stared at it, “Don’t kill him. I want this one alive.” He shot the Grunt’s leg, as Parker jumped on it. The Grunt whimpered and yelled. It took three Helljumpers to stop it from squirming. He restrained it and let go. When the Grunt was flopping on the floor, the Marines stared back at the gondola. “What the-” Bradford spun around to see the Grunt, which was flopping toward the bushes. He shot it again, when it stopped. He reloaded and holstered his pistol. He cocked his rifle and checked the area. The ruins were secure. He was sure he heard something. Bradford saw a Helljumper mock the captive Grunt. He chuckled and watched the gondola approach the station.



Lister saw the gondola’s clamps lock and climbed out. His squad followed him. The Marines snapped to attention. Bradford obviously outranked all of the Marines present. “At ease.” he said. Parker was sitting on the ground, watching Covenant bodies littered all over the ruins. Most of them were sniped. Parker rubbed his forehead, “What’s your status, Pete?” “The Prophet of Regret has perished.” Stacker said, “I have a feeling we have a lot to cover.” Parker raised an eyebrow and sighed, “That’s true.” Bradford turned to Silva. “Come on. Hop on the Pelican and we’ll take you to Death Butte.” “Death Butte? I thought the Covenant took control of that butte!” “They were in control. We took over. I guess it’s not Death Butte after all.” A Pelican rose into view. “This is Lieutenant Cedric Peterson. We are lean, green, and extremely mean. Over.” “Roger. We need a trip to Death Butte. Will you be our pilot today?” the Major asked. “Sure thing, I’ll come in nice and smooth.” Peterson replied. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Bradford out.” The Pelican made a ninety-degree turn and landed. The Marines stretched their arms and quickly boarded the dropship before any delays occurred. The Pelican’s engines roared and blasted off. �Section 1B: Death Butte The Pelican landed about four days ago. It was now 0511 Hours. The early dawn sky was filled with blue clouds, that were hiding the sun from the mesa. A mild fog filled the air. The Marines, who had arrived, wolfed down RTE, or Ready to Eat, meals and slept for several hours. Lister, Silva, and Li were taking a shower. The Helljumpers and Leathernecks, now stripped down to fatigues, were scattered throughout the mesa. Silva and Fitzgerald were the only ones who wore a white T-shirt and camouflage jeans. Jones looked around the base camp. There’s the smell of lead and plasma, he thought, sniffing the air. He searched through the camp, looking for PFC Chips Dubbo. He brushed some dirt off his fatigue and heard munching. That was definitely Dubbo. He spun around and saw Dubbo sitting on the benches, nibbling on a buffalo wing. He sat down next to him. Stacker had just woken up and yawned. He crawled out of his tent and peered at the armory sheds. Heavy-Duty Marines with rocket launchers slung over backs glared at the crowd. Stacker shuddered and dressed into his fatigue and walked off. Silva was dressing in his shirt and brushed his hair. “Sir…” a Private called. Silva turned. “What is it?” “Major Bradford would like a word with you.” the Private said. “I’ll right there.” he said, wiping his hands with a rag. The Private reappeared, “He wants to see you now… ASAP, sir.” Silva scoffed and muttered. He placed the rag back. He sighed and managed a “Thank you, Private.” The young Marine nodded and left the showering tent. Silva jogged toward Bradford’s office. He found the tent, guarded by two buff Helljumpers. He started forward, when the ODSTs stopped him. “Give me your name and service number.” one of them said. Silva didn’t feel like speaking, so he handed them his tag. It read, SILVA, ANTONIO. MASTER SERGEANT, followed by a couple numbers and letters. The Helljumpers looked at him and waved Silva into the tent. “Hello, Sergeant.” the Major’s crisp voice boomed in the tent. “I’m quite familiar with your records, Silva. You’re one helluva soldier.” Silva did not know what to say. The Major’s words could be a compliment or a complaint. He added, “Thank you.” questioningly. “I need you to help us on a mission. Actually, we need you to help us with a mission.” The Master Sergeant gulped. “We need to capture the Calm and Cooperative from the Covenant. It is a cruiser similar to the one on Alpha Halo, the Truth and Reconciliation.” the Major said. He spun his chair around. The chair seemed to be one of the pilot’s chairs on the Pelican. It must have been hauled off. Silva rubbed his chin. “You want me to help you and your squad?” Bradford nodded, “Yes. I’ll have one squad of Marines take control of the cruiser, and another to retrieve the Index from the Library. They will be leaving in a couple hours.” “What happened to the group that Keyes assembled?” “We lost contact with them. So far, Keyes, Johnson, and those two Corporals McKenzie and Perez, are all MIA.” the Major explained, opening a bag of chips next to him. “Is there a plan to get onboard the cruiser?” Silva asked. “Oh! Yes. Thank you for reminding me. Um… We’ll cover that in the briefing. Thank you for your time.” the Major said, grabbing Doritos out of the bag. Silva stared vacantly at his walnut desk and pushed his way out of the tent. No one understood the weather on Halo. Warm reddish- white drops of water fell onto the butte. The “rain” brushed Peterson on the face, before he retreated into his tent. He sat onto his hammock and stared at a picture of his wife. He hadn’t seen her in about three years, due to the Covenant-Human War. He put the photo away in his backpack, when Jones came crashing through the tent door, soaking wet. Dubbo, who was on the opposite side of Peterson’s hammock stared at him. Jones had a cup of instant noodles cradled in his arms. “Crap! The weather’s bizarre here!” Jones slurped up a large amount of noodles. Dubbo rolled his eyes and continued his journal. Jones put the noodles on the floor and then dropped the tent’s emergency pistol onto the table. Peterson walked outside. Then, all of a sudden, they heard a Pelican roar. “That’s our signal.” Dubbo said, placing his journal onto his hammock. He and Jones climbed outside and onto the Pelican. “Man, I don’t really feel ready to go on this Index mission.” Jones sighed, throwing his cup of noodles onto the camp grounds. Corporal Haverson, Stacker, Fitzgerald, and ten more Marines climbed, as Peterson and his copilot fed fuel to the engines and blasted off. Haverson watched the butte grow smaller and smaller, as they flew away. All of the Marines could do were to lean back and wait for a sign to kill “Covies”. �SECTOR TWO: THE ASSAULT Section 2A: The Drop-Off Five hours later, the Pelican dropship landed in a snowy, misty land. The Marines jumped off and scanned the area. Bits of snow and gravel covered the cliffs. Sergeant Stacker made a “Clear” hand gesture, and the Marines rested. Dubbo cocked his rifle and looked down at his footprints. Stacker cautiously approached a building. “So… What now?” Jones asked. “We wait and fight anything that comes our way for now.” Stacker replied, “Follow me.” They continued to an overturned Warthog. The Helljumpers were able to haul it up to its upright position with ropes and cables. Stacker turned to Jones. “Private, take this Warthog and scout ahead for us. Meet me back here in two hours. Am I clear?” “Crystal, sir.” he grabbed a sniper rifle and climbed into the LRV and turned the key in the ignition. Corporal Wellesley climbed on the gunner seat, as Private Cesar called shotgun. The Corporal swiveled the M41-LAAG turret, scanning for Covenant, or as the Marines call them, “Covies”. Jones kicked the accelerator pedal and sped off. Stacker looked at his group and signaled them to move on. The ‘Hog flew over ramps and hills, kicking up divots and snow. It was hard maneuvering on such slippery snow, but Jones managed to handle it, after a couple crashes. The Corporal spotted two Jackals in the distance, and called at Jones. He nodded and spun the steering wheel over. The Private next to him shot the Jackal’s shield, when Jones sucked one of the Jackals in the bottom of the LRV, and blowing chunks out the back. The Corporal overloaded the other Jackal’s shield with the LAAG and cooked it. The Warthog spun in circles and stopped. The Corporal climbed off and peered over the next set of hills. A couple Elites and Grunts guarded a small shed. “Sarge. We’ve found a shed guarded with Covies. Request permission to engage. Over.” Wellesley said into his COM. “Roger, draw off what you can. We’ll come to you.” Stacker replied, “Over and out.” The Corporal slung a launcher over his back and turned to the LRV. He called the Marines over. “Cesar, target infantry.” Cesar nodded and grabbed his Battle Rifle. “Jones, target armor.” Wellesley pointed a couple Ghosts, or “Gees”, and handed Jones the launcher. “You set it up, I’ll knock them down.” Jones loaded the launcher. “Alright. Commence attack… Now!” Wellesley fired his rifle at the Elites. A Ghost hovered over, only to be blasted to pieces, by Jones’ launcher. “I’m on fire, baby!” he called. Jones drove the ‘Hog to a good angle and mounted the gun. He shredded three Elites with the LAAG, as the other two Helljumpers moved in. Stacker’s group had arrived, when half of the Grunts and Jackals were killed. He took cover behind a Ghost and shot a Grunt in the head. The LAAG toasted another Grunt. Jones dismounted when the Elites were killed. When Cesar had shot the last Grunt, Stacker approached the group. “Status.” “No one’s killed, injured, or incapacitated. The Warthog is still operational.” Wellesley announced. “Thank you, Corporal.” Stacker said, “Take the ‘Hog to north side. Maybe the Library’s there.” The Corporal nodded and jogged over to the LRV. Cesar and Jones joined him and drove into a large, deep cave. “A Phantom!” the passenger yelled. Wellesley swiveled the LAAG and opened fire. The Phantom exchanged fire. Red-hot plasma splashed amongst the windshield. A regiment of aliens, armed with deadly alien weapons, emerged from the dropship. Jones turned the LRV around, “Sarge. I think we may be delayed. We’re under attack by Grunts, Jackals, and the other tall, ugly things.” “No worries. We’ll hold our position when you radio us in.” Stacker replied over the COM, “Just don’t leave us hanging here for a long time.” Jones started zooming around the stalagmites. He crashed into one and cursed. “Let’s get outta here!” Wellesley hollered, “I’m running low, man!” Jones backed up and smacked into another stalagmite. “Goodness, Jones! You see that thing on the left? It’s a brake!” “Hey!” Jones yelled, “You want to see how hard it is to drive under fire and pressure… mister sergeant general?” “Maybe later, Jones.” Jones sighed and slammed the gas pedal. The ‘Hog screeched and zoomed out of the caverns. “Whoo! We made it!” Cesar shouted. A bunch of Needler crystals slammed into the Private’s bicep and chest. “God!” he yelled in pain. He shot the three Grunts, as Corporal swept up. Jones punched a dial on the light switch and headlights winked on. He cautiously drove around the perimeter of the battle, waiting for Cesar and Wellesley to clean up. “You want some? You want it? Come and have some!” one of them yelled fighting back pain, after being hit by an overcharged plasma shot. The little Grunt S.O.B.’s liked to dump energy into the weapon and waste it all at once. It drained the Plasma Pistol quick, but can inflict a lot of damage. Cesar killed one of the Jackals, and emptied an entire clip into an Elite. Jones drove the LRV away and ditched the Covenant there. “We need to clear the way for Sarge!” Cesar yelled. “I know! But he’s capable of killing them himself. Besides, he has a platoon with him.” Jones said, not taking his eyes off the road. The LRV was driven into another cavern again. He drifted the ’Hog around stalagmites. “Oh, yeah!” the gunner yelled. Suddenly, in a wink of an eye, a large, green energy bolt slammed into the side of the LRV, rocking it side to side. Wellesley was thrown off. “Dammit!” he yelled. Jones turned the Warthog around. He got back up to his feet and was ready to man the LAAG again, but a tree behind him exploded into wooden smithereens. Wellesley screamed, as a meter-long shard of wood penetrated his abdomen and pinned him to the ground. Jones was about to get off to help him, until an explosion came up behind him and heard Cesar’s scream as well. He felt the Warthog rock sideways and land with a thump. He climbed back up on his feet and turned to see the Private fall over, with the Warthog in flames, toppled on top of him. He was sure to die. Jones turned back to Wellesley, who was now silent and stared, his eyes pointed absently at him. Jones was screwed. He got his sniper from the burning Warthog and hid behind a stalagmite. He could hear Grunts with Fuel Rod Cannons whimpering about the two dead Helljumpers. Jones sprinted over to the other side of the cavern, and heard the whine of plasma bolts following him. He passed three holes when a plasma bolt struck his back. He groaned and dragged himself to cover. He accidentally fell into a deep ditch. “Oof!” he crashed onto the bottom. He waited for the Grunts to leave. One of them said, “I think we got him!” The other replied, “No, I don’t think we did. We would have found the body.” The shorter Grunt shrugged. “Come on. Let’s get outta here. I don’t like these dark caves.” The three Spec-Op Grunts left, as the first one saw a white stream of smoke. He turned and saw the shorter Grunt fall. The two Grunts looked at each other and ran. The second Grunt was shot in the head. Jones inserted a fresh clip into his sniper rifle and looked for more Grunts. The third one had escaped. He was sure that he would come back with more Covenant troops. He preferred to stay in the ditch before more Covies arrived. He was told various times by drill sergeants to go jump in a ditch. Maybe some of them thought Jones was taking it too literal. “Sarge!” Jones called over the COM. “Private? Is that you? Where the heck is the rest of your ‘Hog group?” Stacker asked. “Dead, sir. I’m hiding in a ditch. I don’t think I can get out by just crawling. The Warthog is totaled, sir.” There was a heartbeat of silence. “Don’t worry. We’ll come to you.” Stacker said turning off the COM. It was a good thing that Jones whisked twenty king-sized candy bars from the butte’s camp. He tore off his helmet and started munching. Section 2B: Back to the Butte “Aw, it burns!” Corporal McKenzie yelled. “Suck it up, Marine! Perez! Get your butt over here!” Sergeant Major Avery Johnson hollered. Corporal Perez scanned the area, “I’m coming.” “Ma’am. I think this is the closest that we can get to the Index. We’re trapped inside.” Johnson turned to Commander Miranda Keyes. Keyes reloaded her two SMG’s and nodded, “At least we made it far. The Flood would have killed us!” The Flood were a mysterious, disgusting species that feed on hosts using parasites to create a combat form. These things can multiply by minutes. A Flood parasite flew down on them. It landed on Perez. “Oh god! Get it off! Aw, jeez! Sarge! Help!” he screamed. Johnson sighed. He drew his pistol and blasted the parasite off Perez. Perez sighed and thanked Johnson. He recollected his Battle Rifle. A green, heavy mist filled the room. Endless Flood forms came at them. Each Marine in the room had at least killed seven Flood combat forms already. That was a lot for three Leathernecks and a commander. The Marines were tired and hungry. They were stuck inside the same room for a half hour already. Then, a door was blasted down. Flood parasites, or infection forms, poured out. The four humans opened fire. Each of the forms popped, as the Marines pushed on forward. McKenzie checked the area. Keyes walked into a room. “I think the way is through here.” The three Marines looked through the misty room. They walked in and found a room identical to the one they were in earlier. “What the---” Johnson started forward, “This is jacked.” “Don’t worry sergeant. We’ll find a way out of here.” Keyes said, although she was not sure how. The corridors and hallways were a maze inside the Library.



Corporal Anton and Li walked around tents and peered around the base. The rain had not stopped. Anton stuck his tongue out and said that the rain tasted like chicken soup. “I guess we can live off these.” he said, smacking his lips, “These aren’t so bad, compared to these.” he pointed at an RTE meal. Li laughed. “The spaghetti dinners aren’t so bad.” Li said. They saw Silva marching around camp, with a bunch of weapons. It looked like he was packing for a mission. Anton and Li approached him. “Sir. What are you doing?” Silva looked at them and went back to his work, “I’m loading these up for our mission.” “What mission?” “The Major hasn’t told you? We are going on a mission to capture the Calm and Cooperative.” Silva said, surprised. “I’m sorry, sir. But… No.” Anton said. Silva raised his eyebrows, “Well, I’m sure he’ll tell you later. I’m sort of busy right now.” When the two Marines left, the same Private that called him to Bradford’s office, arrived. “Sir. The Major wants to speak with you, now.” he announced. Silva grumbled and thanked the Private. He loaded his last batch of weapons and went to Bradford’s tent. The two buff ODSTs were still there. He pushed through the tent before the ODSTs stopped him. “Just think, sergeant… an entire Covenant cruiser captured and returned to Earth with all that technology and knowledge. We could get INTEL on this sort of stuff!” the Major exclaimed after five minutes of conversation. Silva just nodded and agreed to the annoying Major. Jeez, Major! Just stop flapping your gums and tell me what you want, he thought. He stretched his head side to side, to see if he could turn the Bradford’s words off in his ears.

Zealot Captain Orka ‘Gamamee gazed into his binoculars. His Grunt assistant, Commander Zawaz, accompanied him. He heard the captain murmuring. “You see that butte over there, Zawaz?” ‘Gamamee asked, giving him the binoculars. Zawaz looked into the binoculars, “Very clear, Excellency. Why?” “I want it.” ‘Gamamee said, “Suit me up.” Zawaz nodded and called Lieutenant Junga over. “Yes, sir?” “Get your battalion ready. We’re recapturing the human’s butte.” Zawaz ordered. “Under whose authority?” Janga asked. “Mine.” ‘Gamamee said emotionlessly. “Of course, sire.” Janga pointed at a Wraith, “Do we need that?” “Look for yourself.” Zawaz gave him the binoculars. “What-- Oh, yeah we need it. Let’s go. Commencing attack in three.” Janga waved at the Wraith, the driver climbed out. “Yes?” the driver asked. “Look at those filthy humans. Hmm… Spare no one.” ’Gamamee ordered. The driver climbed back into the Wraith and drove into the butte.

As the Major started speaking, Lister was polishing his pistol next to Lucas. He turned and saw Li come out of his tent. “Hi, Li.” Lister said. Li nodded and sat next to him. He sipped his soda and peered at Lister’s pistol. “It’s perfect.” Li said, “You don’t need to polish it.” Lister stared at it for a heartbeat, “Yeah.” he muttered. Then, they heard a roaring sound running. Lucas looked up and saw a cloud of smoke on top of the mesa. The guard on the watchtower peered into his monocular and saw vehicles and machinery inside the clouds of dust. He sounded the alarm, as the machines fired plasma bombs into the butte. Covenant troopers scattered and ran like angry ants toward the Marine camps. The humans suited up and grabbed their weapons. The Marines took cover behind a couple tents and fired. A barrage of rounds splattered and killed a couple Grunts and Jackals. Lister holstered his beloved pistol and armed his SMG. Lucas looked at him. “Good to go!” Lister told Lucas. “It’s party time!” Sergeant Parker yelled. He shot down an Elite and continued forward. Silva and Bradford jumped out of the tents. The two Helljumpers guarding the tents had disappeared. Silva and Bradford grabbed rifles and ran into the fray.



When Jones had finished his eighteenth candy bar, he heard a Marine yell, “There it is!” and gunfire. All he could do was wait helplessly in the ditch. He yelled, “Over here!” Stacker showed up. “Here. Grab the cable.” Jones did as instructed and was hoisted to his feet. Three Marines dropped like a rock to the ground. “Jackal snipers!” Stacker yelled, “Wang! Kill them!” Private Brandon Wang nodded and grabbed Jones’ sniper. He shot the snipers. “Come on, piggy!” he yelled. Grunts emerged from a rock and blasted a couple stalagmites. He sniped one, as a couple Marines had killed them in mere seconds. Wang returned Jones’ sniper and his hand dipped for his sidearm. The Marines examined the damaged Warthog. “Dang!” Stacker exclaimed, “What happened here?” he looked at the dead Corporal. “Fuel Rod blast. Real deadly.” Fitzgerald said looking at the LRV, “This ’Hog’s not operational.” he grabbed their tags and moved to join up with his group.



“Roar!” an Elite screamed. He was hit by a sniper and fell to the rocky earth, “Yeah, and stay down!” Bradford yelled. “All radiomen, medics, and officers! Get back to the center of the base! We can’t risk any of you!” a colonel shouted over the noises. Usually, enemies would target these Marines first. A medic started backward, but was shredded to bits by a Needler. “Damn it!” Silva yelled, triggering a grenade. “Catch!” The Covies looked at him in confusion. A device flew towards their feet and exploded. Three Grunts and a Jackal disappeared into a cloud of smoke and fire. “Nice!” Lucas yelled. The Elites charged into the camp. Two Pelicans flew overhead and landed inside the butte. Bradford, Silva and a large regiment of Marines boarded one of them and took off for the Calm and Cooperative. The rest of the Marines would have to defend the butte from the Covenant. Corporal Lister stayed on the butte with Anton. The second Pelican dropped off Marines. The machineries, or the Wraiths, blasted plasma balls into the butte. “Take cover!” Anton yelled. Lucas stared at Anton, then at the huge bomb hurtling at him. He ducked and pounced onto the ground. He found Lister on the ground, with his assault weapon missing. He saw Anton dragged him towards cover. Lister got up and looked at Anton. “Thanks.” “I suggest you go to the armory.” Anton said, dodging a plasma bolt. Lister armed his pistol and shot a Grunt. “Follow me!” he yelled. They ran past two dead officers as three hours of battle passed.



“Crap!” Zawaz yelled. He ran past the battle and toward the captain. “Excellency! Murru and Furra’s battalion are headed toward the south side of the butte to flank the humans. Acknowledged?” “Yes, commander. We need to surround the humans in case if any of them get the high ground.” ‘Gamamee said. Murru and Furra are Hunter Commanders. “Commander,” ‘Gamamee started on the COM, “We need you to attack now!” “Of course.” Murru said. He turned to Furra and gave a thumbs-up. He received the same message. They charged toward the battle and attacked. �Section 2C: Behind Enemy Lines “Fire in the Hole!” Fitzgerald screamed. He tossed a grenade toward the doors of a building. FOOM! The Marines crouched and crept inside. “Sarge! Check this out!” Wang yelled. Stacker looked over his shoulder, “What?” The walls inside were smeared with blood and gore. “Jeez!” he hollered, shoving a clip into his Battle Rifle. He proceeded inside and saw to their horror that it wasn’t human or Covenant blood. It was green and had little liquefied substances in it. “What do you think it is?” Jones asked. “I dunno. I reckon its--” Fitzgerald trailed off, “-Flood.” Then, a gurgling noise filled the halls. Weapons were raised and tension heightened. Something slammed Wang from behind. “Ah! Get it off! Oh god, I’m gonna die! Help!” he screamed. “Hold still! Hold still!” a Marine went over him and tried to pull it off. Wang felt the infection form tap into his spinal cord and nervous system. He had memories of his life flashing in his eyes. He could feel the pod-thing climb into his body. He heard a faint, “Wang! Stay with me!”. He closed his eyes and fell silent. The Marine next to him looked at the dead Wang. Then, he heard a liquefied noise. “What the heck” Wang turned yellowish green and made noises. That thing that used to be Wang jumped up and clawed the Marine down. The rest of them yelled and opened fire. This “Wang” Flood jumped at them, growing long tentacles and liquefies insides. He picked up his weapon and lunged at the Marines. “Oh, crap!” Jones yelled, “Get it off me!” Wang went berserk and smacked at Jones’ helmet. He heard a report of a pistol and Wang fell backward. He saw Stacker holding a pistol and scanned the zombie-Wang. “Hold on…” he said. Jones turned his head and looked at Wang. Wang hopped to its feet again and charged at Stacker, arms flailing. He shot it again, and again, and again. Each time the Wang-thing fell down, it reanimated and climbed up to its feet. Stacker groaned. “Screw this…” he emptied the clip into Wang’s head. Wang fell to his knees and slammed to the floor. Dubbo went over it and shot the body. “You mess with us, you mess with the best!” Stacker slid a new, fresh magazine into his Magnum, then holstered it. He recollected his rifle and grabbed for Wang’s ammo and tags. He put them in separate pouches. “Let’s get a move-on.” The Marines followed him into the building. They found a lift filled with Covenant, stupid Covenant. The ones Silva liked-apart from the dead kind. The Grunts saw them and shot the Jackals in the back by accident. The Jackals turned to the Grunts, screeching. This gave the Marines an opportunity to shoot the Jackals. The Grunts separated and ran. The Marines all shrugged and boarded the lift.



When night fell Lister, who had escaped an explosion next to the gas tanks, ducked between a cart and a tent. He had seen Lucas die in the explosion earlier. The Wraith had already been inside the camp. The driver had rammed two Marines a couple seconds ago. Now, he found himself face-to-face to the Wraith. Lister knew there was no choice. He raised his arms up in surrender. The entire human casualties had surrendered to the Covenant. As restraints were attached to the humans’ arms, Zawaz and Janga collected the human weapons. One of them mocked Lister in his own language. Anton hisses at him. “Piss off, you faggot.” Janga looked at him and laughed. ‘Gamamee marched toward the Parker. He switched his translator to the human language. “Foolish human. Resistance is futile. Give up.” he smacked Parker to the floor. Parker was hauled back up by the Elite guards. “Get this human out of my sight.”

The Pelican approached Silva’s platoon to a small plateau. The Calm and Cooperative was docked on the surface. “Alright! We have a small score to settle with the Covenant!” Major Bradford exclaimed, “Luckily, we can hang back when Silva snipes the Covenant forces. He will take out as much Covies as he can with his sniper rifle. The other Marines can wait for his signal to engage. He will be your ‘swabbie’, tonight. Personally, I like to have a swabbie.” There was general laughter. He gave Silva a thumbs-up. Silva smirked. “However! We will stow in small cargo crates. The Covenant will send us up through the gravity lift. What a generous decision!” he said. “Sir!” the pilot yelled at the Major, “We land in T-minus ten seconds.” “Affirmative.” the Major said, “Okay, team. We’ll get reinforcements. We’ll drop some in when you’ve cleared the gravity lift. We will also support you in the ship, as well. You’ll will open the hangar bays and the Pelicans will drop off some Marines to your position.” Silva and five Marines jumped off of the Pelican. “Good luck. We’ll keep you posted.” The Marines took cover next to the cliff walls. Silva found a cover behind a tree and zoomed in the scope to 5x. He clocked the enemies’ patrolling pattern. He zoomed in to 10x. He pressed the trigger and watched an Elite holler and die. He could hear his breathing and sniped another Grunt. Two Jackals stared in confusion. They were both killed. Covenant forces spotted him. “I need help on the way!” he yelled over the COM. He could hear a Lance Corporal yell, “Come on! You heard the man! Let’s go!” The Marines started over to his position. The Lance Corporal crouched and fired his Battle Rifle. Three Grunts whimpered and hid behind a rock. “Frag out!” the he yelled. He lobbed a grenade towards the Grunts. The Grunts flew around in opposite directions. Drones buzzed around the rocks. “Drones! Look out!” Plasma fire hit the Lance Corporal, “Ah! Take that!” Silva sidestepped and targeted the Drones one by one with the sniper. The Marines jumped down the rocks and ran to the cliff ledge. Two Jackals appeared. Silva caught one off guard and killed it. The other shrieked in surprise and was blasted to a pile. “Here’s a little something to remember me by.” the Lance Corporal said, shooting the dead Jackal in the head. A Plasma Grenade flew overhead and stuck on him. “Damn it!” he yelled, running around trying to grab it off. He stepped toward the ledge, that gave away. He fell down the cliff, as the grenade exploded on him. It looked like someone had sprayed red paint on the cliff wall. What was left of the Lance Corporal fell into the depths below. “Over there!” Silva yelled, gesturing at a Spec Op Grunt. The rest of the Marines fired at the Grunt, as it backed away toward its group of Elites and Jackals. A Warthog drove into view. “Special delivery from Major Bradford, sir!” A PFO yelled jumping off the LRV. Silva smiled and climbed in the driver seat. The engines roared, as two of his Marines got on. He drove the 4x4 around the cliff ledge and came into a clearing. He heard the gunner, Lance Corporal “Cookie” Murphy, fire the LAAG at incoming Elites and Grunts. “Eat it!” he yelled, lodging 12.7x99 rounds into a Grunt’s cranium. The M12 Warthog LRV swiveled around the dirt. “Hang tight!” Silva yelled. He spun the wheel at a 360 degree angle. The Elites were about to make debris out of the Warthog with a Fuel Rod Cannon, but was slammed by the bumper on the Warthog. “Whoa! There’s another one!” Murphy yelled, “Oh yeah! That’s it!” He spotted a Ghost on the far side of the canyon. He creamed the Elite driver and blew the Ghost up. “Screw that Ghost good! Suck on this, asshole!” Silva found out that the Helljumper was an enthusiastic little fellow. The LRV had reached the gravity lift. The rest of Silva’s Marines had already reached it, by an alternate route. The ‘Hog roared into the clearing. Murphy frowned. “Whoa! So many of ‘em!” He fired the LAAG to little effect. Covenant stationary guns, or Shades, shot purple-blue plasma toward the LRV. The passenger yelled something indistinct. Silva drove the ‘Hog around the perimeter, as the Marines took ground attack. When the Shade gunners were killed, the ‘Hog parked, as Silva jumped off. The passenger yelled, as Murphy got hit by an overcharged plasma shot. He fell to the ground moaning. One medic came over to treat the wound. Silva saw a Grunt in the distance. He aimed his sniper and emptied his last bullet into the Grunt’s head. He discarded the empty weapon and found a shotgun next to a fallen Marine. He saw that Murphy was back on his feet again. He heard him alter between praying and cursing. Silva cocked the shotgun and called over the COM. “Major. We’ve reached the gravity lift. Awaiting orders.” There was static and echoes. “I repeat. We’ve reached the gravity lift.” “Roger, sergeant. Our Pelicans are coming in. I’ll support you here.” Bradford said. “While you’re waiting, look for some shipping crates that you are near. Stow away in those and wait for us inside the gravity lift. If we don’t come to you before the Covenant come to put the crates in the ship, we’ll meet you in the control center of the ship.” “Roger. Stowing away in crates, sir.” Silva responded. “Acknowledged. Bradford out.” �SECTOR THREE: THE FLOOD Section 3A: The Attack on the Butte Peterson pushed the throttle and tilted the Pelican forward. He neared the butte, as he saw a blue plasma ball hurtle at the Pelican. His eyes widened, as he pulled the lever towards starboard. The Pelican leaned over, dodging the bomb. “Dang it!” he muttered. His copilot, Haverson, screamed. “Look out!” He shifted the Pelican to port. “Butte camp, this is Echo 349, what is your status down there? Over.” Haverson asked over the COM. A muffle of static blared through the transmissions. “I repeat. What’s your status? Over.” Still nothing. Haverson switched it off. “I reckon the Covenant had taken control of the base. We’d better head to the butte.” “Negative.” Peterson said, “We can’t do that. We need honest-to-god Marines… Like…. Like… Silva.” “Sir, he’s currently on the Calm and Cooperative. We can’t bust through the ship and day ‘hi!’ to Silva, undetected!” Haverson said, “We’re going to that butte. Don’t disagree with me, Peterson!” Peterson stuck a pistol to Haverson’s left ear, “Disagree this,” he hissed, “That butte has been recaptured! Explain the bombs hurtling toward us! There’s nothing the rest of us can do!” Peterson firmly pressed the pistol deeper into his face. “Alright, but this better be good.” Haverson said.

“No! Come back!” Anton yelled, looking at the Pelican that rerouted back to the opposite direction. Lister gazed at two Plasma Pistols on the floor, next to a couple of sleeping Grunts. He nudged Anton. Anton nodded and crept toward the sleeping Grunt. When he grabbed a pistol, one of the Grunt awoke. “Human!” the Covenant alien yelled. Anton scowled and twisted the Grunt’s hand. The Grunt jabbed a plasma dagger in Anton’s waist. Anton clenched his jaw and smacked at the Grunt’s head. The Grunt twisted and spun around. Anton was able to grab hold of the Grunt’s methane rig and snatched it off. The Grunt started to wheeze and fell onto the floor, rolling around. Anton grabbed the Plasma Pistol. He smacked the other sleeping ones and grabbed their pistols. He threw one to Lister and another to Parker. “Thanks, but I’d rather prefer my rifle than this piece of trash.” Lister said, examining the wimpy pistol. “Beats the hell out of throwing rocks.” Parker said. Several Covenant guards pointed at them and charged. An Elite equipped his Plasma Rifle and lunged. Parker overcharged the pistol and blasted the Elite’s shields. The other two Marines zapped the Elite down. Parker had only eighty-five percent left in his Plasma Pistol. He holstered it and grabbed the Elite’s rifle. He clipped a Plasma Grenade onto his belt and tossed a couple to the Marines. Lister snatched it and clipped it on. The rest of the Marines in the camp twisted their assailants’ arms and grabbed their weapons. “Over there!” a Marine with a Needler yelled. Parker turned and fired blue-hot plasma onto the Elites. The same Marine with the Needler blew a Grunt apart with the pink, glassy needles. Half an hour later, a gurgling sound echoed around the butte. All of the Marines and Covenant stopped. Janga whimpered. “Oh, no. Run!” Janga and a group of Grunts scattered around. Small, fragile pods floated around the butte and stuck onto the Grunt. “Oh no!” Janga collapsed. “The Flood.” Anton whispered. He grabbed the dead Janga’s grenades. The Marines and the Covenant turned and fired at the Flood. But they were overwhelming. Four Marines had collapsed, as ’Gamamee ignited his Energy Sword and slashed three Flood forms. He saw Zawaz running around with an infection on his arm. He pulled it off and shot it with his Plasma Pistol. The Marines ran out of the camp and climbed toward the outside of the butte. Lister had found a Beam Rifle on the way. He zapped a combat form, but it passed through it without damage. He cursed and ran and faced the back of Parker’s head. He had switched to a Carbine. Everyone had reached the top of the butte, watching the battle unfold. “Lister. Keep fire on them with the Beam Rifle, try to kill that Zealot captain down there, first.” Parker instructed. “Anton You and your platoon lob grenades into the butte. I want to camp to be torn down.” Lister found a good hiding spot to snipe ‘Gamamee. Anton and his platoon triggered their grenades and threw them all in sequence. They saw an explosion that killed half of what was left of the Covenant. ‘Gamamee looked up and saw Zawaz fly into the air and land in a puddle of blood. ’Gamamee also detected Lister sniping him. He dove for cover and scowled. He yelled at an Elite sniper to kill him. He sliced through a Flood combat form and watched as the Elite fired a beam at the Marine. ’Gamamee saw the human fall over. “You’re next!” Lister yelled wiping the blood off. He picked up the sniper and zoomed in the scope. “Take the shot now!” Parker hollered. Lister squeezed the trigger, but was hit by another beam. He fell over and clenched his wounds. He hollered and pulled the trigger again on the Elite. This time it zapped him. ‘Gamamee waited for a place to recharge his shields. Lister crouched over and aimed through his scope again. He saw another beam hit his arm this time. “Gah! That’s it. You’re going down!” Lister aimed the Beam Rifle and fired the last couple beams into the Elite sniper. The Elite fell over and was attacked by infection forms. ‘Gamamee scowled and charged at the Marines with renewed vigor. The Marines armed their Plasma Pistols and overcharged them. Before ‘Gamamee could screech to a halt, the charged shots smacked him everywhere. It blew out his shields. He was obviously vulnerable to anything now. Several infection forms slammed him from all directions. ‘Gamamee watched his last glimpse of paradise and fell backwards like a rock. Parker called for evac, when the mayhem was over. He stared into the night sky. Section 3B: Calm and Cooperative Sergeant Major Johnson peered at his Battle Rifle and grimaced. Keyes slung her SMGs over her back and reached forward to grab the Index. “Hold my belt.” Keyes ordered. Johnson nodded and gripped her belt. She leaned forward and her fingers had only brushed the Index when they heard screaming and shouting. Johnson turned to look and turned back. Keyes snatched the Index and embraced it. “Alright!” “McKenzie! Perez! How’s our exit?” Johnson asked. There was silence and echoes in the hallways. “Marines! You hear me?” Still no answer. “Ma’am, please stay close.”



An Elite clad in special armor picked up a Plasma Rifle and peered at the two dead Marines at the entrance. The bodies weren’t pretty. They were mangled, that the Flood couldn’t make use of them. He kicked them to make sure they were dead, and approached Keyes and Johnson with his active camouflage. Johnson sniffed the air and smelled the scent of Covenant. He saw a shimmer of air in the chamber and fired at it. The Elite was struck and fired his Plasma Rifle. He knocked him down and picked him up by his shoulders. He threw Johnson across the room, unconscious. “Sergeant!” Keyes yelled. She fired her two SMGs, hoping they would kill the Elite. The Elite’s shields flashed as he slammed the SMGs out of her hands. He head-butted her and fell over. The Elite looked at the two humans and sniggered. “Arbiter!” A Covenant alien named a Brute called. The Arbiter turned to see the Brute Chieftain, Tarturus. “I have incapacitated the two humans, sir.” he said, crouching. Tarturus looked at the Index in Keyes’ belt. He unclipped it and put in his pouches. “We’ll take this.” “But… the Prophets wanted me to retrieve the Index.” the Arbiter insisted. “No, they didn’t. They wanted you to come here to your death. Am I correct? That is the role of the Arbiter; to serve and die for your race.” Tarturus said smirking. “But…” “I’ll just have to send you to it, then.” Tarturus swung his on his Gravity Staff and sent the Arbiter flying into the dark abyss below the chamber. The Brutes chuckled. “Now, I’ll just take this Index and I’ll be on my way. Take the two humans. Keep them prisoner.”

Silva had entered the Covenant cruiser. Major Bradford and his troops had arrived on time. They found that parts of the ship was covered in yellow blobs of sticky substances. Silva tore off his helmet and sniffed it. It smelled like sweat socks and skunks wrapped in rotting cheese. The Flood, he thought. “What is it, sergeant?” Bradford asked. “That stench, sir. It seems to be the Flood. They’re back!” Silva put his helmet back on and cocked his shotgun. The Helljumpers entered a door and scanned the inside. It was a hangar bay. Flood mutants and Covenant goons were battling inside. “Let them fight.” Silva said, gazing at a Major Elite that had killed three Flood combat forms in one stroke of an Energy Sword. He was soon overwhelmed by infection forms. When the battle was over, the Flood mutants controlled the hangar. But not for long. The Marines ran in the hangar bay, guns blazing. The Flood seemed to absorb the bullets! Silva shot one with a shotgun and watched it stagger backward and fall. More Covenant forces were able to get the high ground and shoot down at them from the higher levels. A Grunt managed to jump down and land on top of Murphy. He reached up and grabbed hold of the Grunt’s methane rig and jerked the device off. The Grunt fell off and started to wheeze and flop around on the deck plates like a fish. Murphy pulled out his Battle Rifle and shot it. Twenty minutes later, the hangar was nearly secure. A Jackal named Hagat stared at the Marines in puzzlement. He gripped his shield tightly as the humans’ bullets ricocheted off the shield. Silva shot the Jackal’s shield, as it struggled to put it back in place. He pulled the trigger again, and saw Hagat screech and fall to his knees. Murphy chirped, “Take that!” Silva stuck twelve shells into the shotgun’s receiver. “Li, take the left flank. We need a sniper over here.” Li nodded and proceeded to the left side of the troops. “Look out! Hunters!” Li yelled, pointing at a door. Bradford and his teammates scattered into separate directions. He aimed his Battle Rifle at the Hunter’s but Li was in the way. “Move!” he yelled. Li turned to face him and run, but the Hunter smacked him to the ground. He was bleeding when the first Hunter smacked another trooper into the air. Li crawled back over to his sniper and fired at the Hunter’s orange, leathery skin. The Hunter twisted over and crashed to the deck plates. He looked over toward the other Hunter, who was already killed. The Marines waltzed over to the next door.



“Hey!” a pilot yelled over the COM. “I heard you needed reinforcements and vehicles!” “Roger, Echo 411. We need a couple ’Hogs over here.” Stacker yelled, chuckling to himself. “Alright, Sarge. You the man! Just give me some four-one-one when you’re done. Echo 411, out.” the pilot cut the transmission off. Stacker watched as the Pelican dropped off Leathernecks and a Warthog. Jones, Fitzgerald, and another ODST mounted the LRV. “Don’t trash this one, Lance.” the ODST warned, as he sat in the passenger seat. Jones placed three Battle Rifles and a med pack into the LRV. He pulled the Warthog in reverse and drove into a large gate. He brushed some snow off his armor and winced at the road. Jones neared the caverns again, when a Wraith interrupted them. “Wraith! Look out!” Fitzgerald yelled. Jones spun the wheel and made a 360 degree spin. The Wraith launched comet-like plasma balls at them. Jones drove the LRV closer to the tank, so it can’t shoot bombs at them. He felt the burn of the LAAG gun. “The bastard’s gonna ram!” the passenger screamed. The tank was about to drive them into a boulder. Jones backed up the smaller vehicle. The Wraith turned around. It fired its proximity plasma cannons. The Wraith activated its boosters to ram them again. Jones dodged it in time, as he drove the ‘Hog behind the Wraith. “Target the rear side, Fitzgerald! Maybe it’s weaker there!” The gunner obeyed, and shot the back panels on the Wraith, in mid-ram. A blue explosion occurred and chunks of purple-blue metal flew in all directions. When the Wraith belched smoke. Stacker walked outside and heard muffling over the COM. He frowned and turned on his COM, “Repeat, over.” “Sir! Fffffff….. I have the fffffffff… ffffffff… caverns fffff… clear. Requesting fffffff… orders.” Jones said over the COM. Stacker could tell that Jones was in the caverns, by just listening at the static. “Hold your positions.” he ordered. He heard two clicks on the COM. That meant that his order was acknowledged. He trooped over and went inside the caverns. It felt damp inside and heard beams. “What the” he looked up and saw a stalactite fall off the ceiling. His eyes widened and leaped for cover. The spike blew up with it impacted with the cold floor. “Jackals!” he coughed. Next thing he knew, LAAG fire appeared and blood splattered on the cave walls. He shrugged and marched his team forward.



Silva inspected the aftermath of the battle. They had taken over the cargo shipping chambers. Forty percent of the Calm and Cooperative were under the Marines’ control. The Flood and the Covenant had engaged in battle in the control room. The Marines locked themselves inside the safety of the shipping chamber. “Major,” Silva began, “I need a platoon to scout ahead. Conquering the control room is a pivotal objective if we are to take over the ship.” “Negative, sergeant. There’s too much activity going on there. We need to wait for our opportunity to strike.” Bradford said loaded up on weapons. “Sir, with all due respect, that opportunity is now. The Covenant are softer targets now that they combated Flood mutants for hours. I think we can take them.” Silva said, handing the Major a clip. “Tell that to the marines.” Major Bradford scoffed. “I know you’re filled with disbelief, but I” “An order is an order. We wait for the Covenant to be infected then we move in.” the Major stood up and paced away. Silva stared absently at the floorboards and sat down. The Major knew he was ambitious, which was why he thought about it for a couple minutes. Bradford nodded and turned to Silva after an hour passed. “Now’s the time.” Silva reloaded his weapon and grinned. “Got any plans, Major?” The Major looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Yes, Silva. Yes, we do. We’re gonna kill everything we find.” The Marines stormed through the maze-like passages and toward the control center. They placed C4 on the blast doors. “Hit it!” Bradford yelled. The demolition specialist pressed the button and the doors disappeared into a poof of fire. The Marines jumped in, guns blazing. Marines fell, triggers were pulled, grenades were thrown, and yet the Marines would not stop shredding ammo on the Covies. Bradford yelled, “Spare no one!”. Murphy was hit by two Needler shots. Murphy bent over behind a pillar. He turned over to shoot at some Grunts. “How’s my mayhem? Call 1-800-GET-BENT!” he shot the Grunts in the head. The battle lasted for half an hour, because Covenant and Flood kept crawling in from the doorways. “Hello?” a female Pelican pilot asked over the COM, “Are you guys ready for reinforcements?” “Yes, ma’am!” Li said to himself. “Of course.” the Major said, “Okay. I’ll send someone over.” he switched the COM off. “Murphy! Take a group of twelve Marines and head to the hangar bays! Open the control panels and let the Pelicans in. They will trade your places here.” Murphy nodded tiredly and wiped some sweat off with his hands. He put his helmet back on and called twelve random Marines to follow him back. The Lance Corporal yawned and walked back. The Major stood on the top platform, waiting for the Marines to get used to the controls on the ship. Silva slung his shotgun over his back and followed him. “Where are you going? I need you.” “I know, sir. But I think the reinforcements might want a map.” “Oh… Alright, sergeant. Carry on.” He followed Murphy’s troops onward. Bradford sighed and tapped his foot impatiently. He felt three stabs of pain in his back and gunfire. He fell over. One of the Marine medics came over with a med pack and fixed him up. A Grunt named Kakook, who had been lucky enough to shoot the Major, ran away screaming. Five Helljumpers chased him out of the door. “I want that one alive!” Bradford hollered, struggling back to his feet. One of the Marines shot his legs in the corridor and two Marines pinned Kakook down. Another one checked the Grunt for any booby traps. The last one put restraints on Kakook. “I don’t see much blood.” one of the Marines said. “But if he’s leaking, plug the holes.” a PFO said, checking the Grunt’s wounds. Kakook did not understand a word they said. The Helljumpers hauled him back to the command center. Bradford wanted to interrogate the Grunt to see if it knew how to pilot the craft. Now, the humans had sixty percent of the ship under their control. Kakook whimpered and flashbacked to a time where he saw Marines shoot all-ready fallen Covenant warriors and curse at them. But so far, no one stuck a gun in his direction and no one yet had tried to kill him. Maybe just maybe he would survive.

Section 3C: Healthy Competition Stacker peered at his watch and scowled. He had picked up reports that the Covenant had invaded the butte. He stared across the valley, with Jones’ ‘Hog circling the perimeter of their temporary camp. He saw him park the jeep and disembark. Lieutenant Brent Smith and his Helljumper and Leatherneck troops, that platoon had met previously in the caverns, walked out of their tents. “Sir!” Jones and Fitzgerald saluted him. Smith quickly pulled their hands down. “Do not salute me. There are goddamn snipers just waiting to grease an officer. Keep it low.” he said inspecting the caverns around them. “What have the Corps been teaching you?” Jones’ eyes lurked around the cave and spun. He grabbed a pistol off his waist. Smith and Fitzgerald did the same. Smith led the trio to the armory. Stacker heard a rustling noise echoing in the distance. He felt wet, green juice land on his shoulder. He inspected it wiped it off. Another drop landed onto his arm. Terrified, he looked up and saw a Flood combat form staring back at him. He shouted and a trio of bullets penetrated the form’s body. Stacker kept firing the rifle until the integrated ammo counter read 21. The Flood form fell onto the floor. He heard shouting and spun to see infection forms emerge from the stalactites on the cave ceiling and pounce onto the Marines. When they were shoved and forced out of the cave, the Marines peered into the night sky and ran for cover. One Marine with a Battle Rifle yelled, “I’m leaving, man. This is suicide!” he blasted an infection form and ran away behind a dead tree. They found dead Covenant troops of all kinds lying on the snowy floor, along with their weapons and vehicles. Stacker and his honest-to-god troops have been blasting away the Covenant. “Dang it!” Dubbo yelled, shoving two shells into the shotgun. He had a scar on the left side of his face. The Marines had pulled the triggers on their guns when Flood combat forms poured out of the cave. Stacker shoved his last magazine into his BR-55 and fended off his position, until he heard his gun click several times. He discarded the empty rifle and pried a Needler out of a dead Grunt’s hands. He fired ten glassy needles into a combat form’s torso and watched it explode into pieces. At the corner of his eye, he saw a Marine shoot a fat, bloated Flood figure. It puffed up on the Marine, exploded, and expelled green juice everywhere. The impact killed the Marine and sent him flying twenty meters away. A LRV drove into view, with Smith, Jones, and Fitzgerald on it. “Knock ’em silly, Corporal!” Fitzgerald fired the LAAG, tearing Flood forms apart. The bloated Flood forms, or Carrier Forms, bobbled at them. The ‘Hog slid and smacked one over. The explosion sent the Warthog rolling down a hill. “God! Jeez! Somebody take that out!” Smith yelled, after the Warthog had landed on the upright position. Pretty soon, all of the Marines ran out of ammo and grabbed Covenant weapons. Some of them grabbed the weapons from dead Flood forms. Stacker buckled a Plasma Pistol next to his magnum and dropped the Needler. He picked up a Plasma Rifle from a Major Elite and looked for more targets. They were soon driven to a large chamber. Two of the Marines’ weapons were dried, and were using M6C’s. The ‘Hog, which was outside of the chambers, skidded around Flood forms, and smacked into a carrier form. Before the Marines on the LRV could bail, the jeep exploded into flames and fell off of a cliff. The Marines clung onto the LRV until it crashed to the floor. The LAAG snapped off of the Warthog. The three humans were thrown free. Smith’s helmet, which had fallen off, landed somewhere else in the cliff. Jones shook his head out of disorientation and rubbed his bleeding arm. Smith was about to contact Stacker, but found that his helmet was missing. He found it next to the totaled ’Hog and it was cracked. No helmet meant no reinforcements and no extractions. They were screwed. Even when Jones and Fitzgerald had helmets, they did not have Stacker’s COM channel. However, they managed to recollect some of their supplies and find cover in a large, deep, but thin ditch. Jones grabbed his last two candy bars and threw it to the Lieutenant and Corporal. He laid back and placed his pack onto his side. He switched his sniper’s safety switch on and watched, as Fitzgerald and Smith checked their BR-55s. It was nice to relax a bit and lie down without the air being alive with rockets, grenades, bullets, and plasma. It was quite peaceful on Halo if there was no war.



“Later dudes!” Murphy yelled, running behind a couple columns. He sprinted over and ducked, hosing bursts of bullets onto the Flood and Covenant. “On your feet, soldier!” Silva yelled. Murphy shot three Jackals, before he stood back up. “Status!” “Sir! We lost Wellington.” Murphy said. “…and Donald.” he grabbed their tags and proceeded to the hangar bay. They opened up the bay doors and ten minutes later, two Pelicans flew in. One of them was Peterson’s Pelican. Haverson was really freaked out when they approached the hangar. The other dropped twelve Leathernecks, as Murphy and the other troopers boarded the craft. “Ready to roll!” Murphy yelled. The Pelican pilot nodded and flew off into the night sky. Peterson’s Pelican was still docked. “Sarge, my Pelican will hold its position here in the hangars, in case if you call a mission abort.” Peterson said over the COM. He heard two clicks on the COM and was acknowledged. “Sir! Corporal reporting for duty!” the Leatherneck yelled. Silva nodded and grimaced at two dead Marines that were transforming into combat forms. The Leatherneck shot them and turned back to Silva. “I’m show you the way back, Corporal. Follow me.” Silva led the Leathernecks back to the control center. The Major was waiting in the control room. “Our little friend here says that we have conquered over eighty percent of the ship.” Bradford said, gesturing to Kakook. “All we need is a few more ODSTs in the engineering room and we’ll” he paused to look at Silva, then at the Leathernecks. “Never mind. All we have are Leathernecks. I already sent Helljumpers to the shipping rooms, the armories, the kitchens, and to fire control. We need Helljumpers to engineering. Pulaski smiled. “Corporal. I need you to secure the engine room. Stat.” Silva said, “Bring back nothing.” The Leathernecks wandered off. “Major, I think this plan of yours might work. We took over almost everything. The Calm and Cooperative is almost able to swim through space now!” Bradford stared in thought, until a COM transmission came through. He switched it on. “Sir! Fffff…. We need Fffffff… We have Fffff… Flood Ffff… Help!” a desperate Marine yelled. It was Sergeant Parker, no doubt. “We are under Ffff… Attack! Ffff… The butte is under Flood control. We pulled out, but Ffff… We need reinforcements! We are ambushed! Fffff… Anton, look out!” the Major heard an explosion and the Marine scream in the background. Gunfire and plasma whines filled the COM. “Anton! No! Ffff…Need reinforcements! Fffff… Lister! Ffffff… Man down! Man down! We lost Lister! Ffff… Major, we need reinforcements! Fffff… repeat! We Fffff… need reinforcements Gah-argh!” They heard a thud on the COM and knew Parker was shot. Marines shouting took over the conversation. The COM was soon filled with static. Bradford turned it off. The butte was taken over. There was no chance of going back. The Marines on the Calm and Cooperative were to die there, or take it over. He preferred to take it over, than die. Most of the humans preferred this.

Parker glanced up and wiped blood off his chest. The trooper that Parker loved to bark at, Anton, was killed in a grenade explosion. Lister had been shredded into bits when a Needler exploded on him. The last hundred Marines had taken cover two miles away from the butte. He lost his COM device ten minutes ago. His Marines were all equipped with Covenant guns. They were no match for Flood. The shotgun would have worked nicely. They saw a dropship fly overhead. Finally, he thought, reinforcements! As the Pelican neared, Flood forms jumped out of the back hatch. “Figures.” he zapped his tenth Flood form and jumped into the battle.



Stacker glanced briefly at his watch: 0016 Hours. Enough time before the Covenant can beat them to the Index. They lost contact of Smith, Jones, and Fitzgerald. “Keep it up!” The Marines had taken refuge in the chambers, after the gurgling noises stopped and Flood forms laid dead at their feet. A Helljumper had a rocket launcher slung over his back. He slammed two rockets home and placed it against the floor. “Fourth platoon, on your feet!” the Marines stood up and gazed around. “Everyone take cover. We’re burning night time! We have to cover the Index before the sun comes out!” Stacker barked. He smacked a Leatherneck in the head. “Move!” The Leatherneck rubbed his helmet, wincing, and planted his foot onto the floor. They heard Grunts whimpering and Elites hollering in the corridors. When they approached the chamber, they spotted the Marines, as they threw grenades at the Hunters. There were two Hunters along with the group. The grenades bounced harmlessly off. The first Hunter pointed at Dubbo, whose shield accidentally knocked a Grunt over. The grenades erupted into a cloud, and all hell broke loose. The first Hunter was yelled at by a Jackal and turned around. It was in a Grunt’s line of fire. A plasma bolt struck the Hunter in the weak spot and howled. An Elite nudged the Grunt aside and take aim. When the Grunt fell over, the Hunter corpse’s spikes penetrated his body. The second Hunter charged in a slammed into the Elite, spinning him around on the cold, metal floor. Three Grunts managed to get in front of him. He blasted the Fuel Rod Cannon and knocked all of them out, cold. There were only three Jackals and one Hunter left. The Marines hid behind pillars and under rocks. They shot the Hunter, then moved on to the Jackals. The battle only lasted about two minutes. “We need to regain our positions.” Dubbo said. “Acknowledged. Let’s move on.” �SECTOR FOUR: THE LIBRARY Section 4A: Marooned and Destroyed PFO Jones had salvaged the LAAG off of the Warthog’s remains. He placed it with Smith. “Private! Corporal! I found a cache here!” Smith yelled. They followed the Lieutenant into the deeper parts of the ditch. Four Marines were found dead in a pool of bloodstained earth, with weapons scattered all over. Jones collected sniper ammo and grabbed an SMG to the side. Fitzgerald only went for the ammo. Smith, who was thinking about busting a tank, grabbed grenades, pistols, and a rocket launcher. “I’m guessing they were knocked off of the Warthog like we were.” he said, inspecting the bodies and the LRV that was toppled over behind them. “Maybe, but… a Warthog can’t fit four Marines.” The bodies seemed to be scorched with plasma fire. Fitzgerald glanced at the side of the Warthog. They had plasma marks all over, too. Jones came up behind him and looked both sides. He found a destroyed Wraith tank. He climbed on it and examined the dead driver. He climbed back into the ditch with the two other Marines. He picked up the salvaged LAAG and followed them. He felt something rock him off his feet and heard people shouting his names. He landed face-up in the snow, watching the beautiful sky. It was a perfect image. Two Banshees screamed through the picture and fired their plasma cannons. Jones sprang to his feet, as he and Fitzgerald held the LAAG in their arms, to carry it. Smith squeezed the triggers on the LAAG and small sustain bursts of 12.7x 99mm rounds shot one Banshee down. The other dodged three bullets, as two of them hit the hull. Smith and Fitzgerald dropped the LAAG and fired bursts out of their Battle Rifles. Jones aimed the sniper’s rifle made the most impossible shot ever. The 14.5mm fin-stabilized discarding-sabot round flew into the Banshee’s thin slits from the sides. It ricocheted off the interior two times and hit the pilot. The cockpit was splattered with blue-black blood and the Banshee came crashing down. “I think it’s still working.” Jones said, gesturing at the Banshee. “Sir, maybe you can take it up.” Smith nodded and placed the launcher into the Banshee. He threw his other supplies inside and smiled. “Private… Corporal…” he dismissed the group. He hopped in and familiarized with the controls. The Banshee disappeared on top of the cliff.



Kakook shrugged and grabbed some food in the cafeteria. All of the food there smelled like donkey and dog excrement. Bradford covered his nose. The café, was under UNSC control, which meant that they were able to eat there. Li dangled a green-glowing goop of paste from his fingers. He threw it across the room. To his disgust, Kakook looked at him and muttered. He trotted down the room, picked up the glowing goop, and put it into his mouth. Li retched, as Kakook licked his fingers. Bradford spun around, weapons at the ready. “What is it?” Silva asked. “Covenant.” “Where?” “There!” Bradford lodged three bullets into an Elite’s chest. Silva joined him and saw that the Elite was dead. Li had an Elite pinned onto a wall. “Eat it!” he yelled, shoving the sniper barrel into the Elite’s mouth. He closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger. A loud, booming report filled the air and blood splattered all over the wall. The Elite’s body crashed onto the deck plates. More Jackals came in, but they were not firing. They had combat forms chasing them, and were reduced to paste, when the Flood slashed them down. The Marines protected Kakook, since he was their only map and guide throughout the ship. “Sir!” Silva heard over the COM, “We have a security breach in the engine room! Requesting to pull out!” Silva switched his COM on. “Negative, Corporal. Hold your position.” He heard gunfire and then a scream, following by and line of static. He and the Marines charged to the control center again. Kakook indicated that the Flood had taken over the engine room and are breaking the pipelines. “But if that’s happening… Then, they’ll create a gas leak!” Bradford yelled. “To the engine room! Quick!” Li shouted. The Marines had made it to the command center. “Where’s the engine room, Grunt?” Bradford asked. Kakook pointed at the directory. Silva was about to run off the platform, until he was flung off. “What the hell?” he found out to his horror that the Calm and Cooperative was flipped to the side. Kakook was flung off as well, and slammed onto a pole that was driven through his chest. “Our guide’s dead!” Li shouted. Peterson, who was still aboard the Pelican saw Haverson yelling, “I can’t take it anymore! I’m ditching!” Parts of the ceiling crashed down. “God! What did you do, Haverson?” Peterson hollered over the explosions. “Nothing! I swear!” The Pelican was undocked and started to fly into the night sky. “We’re gonna make it!” Peterson shouted. A large piece of metal from the ceiling slammed into the Pelican’s top, and sent it spinning to the ground. The Pelican burst into flames, as the two pilots flew back in their seats and died. Before Silva could react in the command center, the stern of the cruiser was ripped off and explosion rippled through the ship’s hull. “Goddamn it…” Silva cursed under his breath. He felt an entire explosion consume him. He saw Bradford in the background, screaming and yelling. The last thing Silva ever saw was Li’s screaming face that was covered in smoke and fire. The Calm and Cooperative flipped over onto its belly and exploded into one entire fireball. Everyone aboard the craft ceased to exist.



Smith looked at the purple fuel gauge and winced. He had been informed that Silva, Bradford, and the other Marines on the Covenant cruiser had been entirely obliterated. He tried to land, but a comet-like bomb flew over toward his position. He jerked the Banshee to the left and made a 360 degree flip. He nearly nauseated when he spun the Banshee around three times, dodging two bombs. He headed to the Calm and Cooperative, but two Wraiths interrupted him. He fired the plasma cannons, but they merely bounced off of the armor. He bailed out of the way. He dropped two meters and spun around. “This thing is falling apart!” he told himself. He pushed the throttle until it reached a ground speed of a hundred miles per hour. Smith neared the ground as low as possible. He grabbed his launcher, SMG, and med pack and jumped off of the Banshee. He landed into the snow and got back up. The Banshee had crashed into one of the Wraiths. Perfect, he thought. He unslung the launcher and aimed it at the second tank. It fired another bomb at him. He rolled over and fired a rocket at random. The rocket hit the tank square in the hull. The Wraith seemed to charge up its boosters and throw itself at him. The beetle-like tank smacked Smith’s side. He flew over and landed into the snow. He shot the last charge into the tank. It exploded and black smoke poured from the hatch. Blue flames engorged the outside of the tank. What was left of the Wraith slammed into a boulder and the vicious two-on-one battle was over. Smith pressed two new charges into the rocket launcher and recollected his dropped SMG.



The yellow-uniformed technician, Harper, gazed at his messenger. It read: OPENING M. B. HARPER’S ACCOUNT… EYES ONLY… FILE # A-71: <> OPEN FILE? Y/N He looked at the clock, bolted on the wall. He pressed Y and waited for the next screen: SEARCHING… SEARCH SUCCESSFUL…FILE OPENED. He looked at his pictures of his wife and his anniversary. He hadn’t seen his wife in a long time, due to the war. Don’t worry, he thought, I’ll come home to you. “Marc!” another tech hollered. “What is it, Cooper?” “there seems to be a breach in the U. S. S. Odyssey!” Cooper screamed. Harper’s eyes widened and he switched off the messenger. He buckled an M6C to his waist and followed Cooper down the hall. “This way!” They passed three Leathernecks, who were about to shoo the two, until a large, fiery explosion consumed them. They armed their pistols and nodded to each other. They joined up with more Helljumpers. The Odyssey was large ship that hovers over Earth, since two of the three defense platforms had been destroyed. Harper and Cooper clung behind a couple pillars and spotted some Grunts. He nodded to Cooper and leaned forward. The pillar collapsed onto a Grunt, as the others whimpered and ran. Harper shot two and retreated. Cooper followed him and fired another 12.7mm round. They ran back into the engineering chambers, with a bunch of crewmen wearing orange uniforms. Jackals filled the chambers, as the two technicians scurried through past the engineers. The engineers clubbed them with screwdrivers and wrenches, even drills! Two Leathernecks stormed in, guns blazing. The rest of the Jackals were reduced to paste. “You want it? Come and get it!” Harper slid a fresh chip into his M6C and shot a Grunt four times. “Eat that, foo!” he barked, as he emptied another couple shots into another Grunt. He ran back, only to see Cooper missing. “Where the-” he spun and saw Cooper on the floor, holding his pistol menacingly at a couple “gas-suckers”. Harper ducked behind him and fired the last of his clip. He dragged him into an armory filled with Leathernecks. A combat load of security crewmen in red uniforms ran out. The techs shrugged and followed them. Pretty soon, blue science-testing crewmen joined them, followed by a group of gray commanders, (They must have been forged out of the bridge by the Covenant). They all carried their pistols and ran around. “I wish we were Leathernecks…” Harper sighed. �Section 4B: That Old, Familiar Feeling Stacker glanced at his watch. He peered over Dubbo’s shoulder and saw the dead combat form. It reanimated and he shot it… again. “Watch that S.O.B.!” he hollered. He discarded his empty Battle Rifle and scooped up a Needler, that was dropped by a combat form. “Sergeant!” a voice called over the COM. It was Smith, no doubt. “Is there any luck on the Covenant cruiser? I’m dying here! There’s Charlie all over this area!” “The cruiser exploded a couple minutes ago, Lieutenant.” Stacker replied. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, you tell those S.O.B.’s that you’re hanging with that I’m trying to find a way to get the Covenant’s weak points.” Smith hollered, “I left Jones and Fitzgerald down in the cliff. They’ll find a way back up.” “Aye-ay, sir. We haven’t had jack squat here, sir!” “Come on, look for something! Kick some ass! Smith out.” Stacker scratched his ear in confusion.



Jones switch the rifle’s safety on and charged over to Fitzgerald. They had shot down three Ghosts, after Smith had left them. They had found one Marine survivor hiding in a hole for three days. He had hoisted the LRV back up with the other two Helljumpers. Jones placed the disassembled LAAG back onto the LRV and tested it to see if worked. “Gees!” the Marine yelled, sitting in the passenger seat. Fitzgerald had just climbed in the driver seat when the Ghost rammed the side of the ‘Hog. Jones squeezed both triggers and fried the Ghost’s engines. It exploded into two pieces, as the Elite driver flew off into the air. “Screw that Ghost good!” Jones yelled, shooting at the purple pieces on the ground, “Yeah! And my mom wanted me to be a doctor!” “Let’s go, Snaky!” Fitzgerald hollered. He slammed the gas pedal and sped off.

Smith pushed through the large leaves and saw a Covenant camp. He glared at the menacingly, gargantuan beetle-like Wraiths and then at the small, compact Ghosts. He had to hijack either, but didn’t know which one. The Wraith moves very slow, but has a heavy amount of armor. The Ghosts were fast, but the driver was too exposed. He headed toward the Wraith. He had to head toward anywhere but here. He climbed down the hatch and threw his supplies in. At least the Covies will think I’m one of them anyway, Smith thought. He drove the Wraith over and crashed into a tent. Grunts poured out and yelled at the Wraith. Smith winced and backed up, this was my stupidest idea yet, he thought. He gunned the beetle tank away. The 180 degree viewing screen surrounded him as, he pressed a greenish-blue circle on the control panel. The bulky tank reached a security checkpoint in the camp. He saw a gate and tried to stop, but didn’t know the controls to it. He smashed through the gate, and Elites came out and fired their Plasma Rifles yelling, “Imposter! Imposter!” “Sergeant! Get over here!” a Spec Op Elite hollered. The gunner Grunt, clad in green armor, whimpered and grabbed his turret. “Good to have a cannon fodder, sergeant.” The gunner, Blamo, deployed the turret on the floor and fired away. Smith ran over another tent, filled with Jackals. He located two Banshees circling the air. He managed to get the firing controls ready and pressed a blue-purple level, which fired a plasma bomb that hit a Banshee directly. “Target hit!” he felt a chunk of armor fall off of the rear part of the Wraith. He turned the Wraith around and faced Blamo. He fired the onboard plasma cannons, that scorched three Elites next to him. Blamo was able to roll off to the side to cover and fire his Plasma Pistol. Smith spun the tank around and gunned the engine. He boosted up and tried to roll into a cave, that was located thirty meters from his position. He pushed the throttle and saw a blue-white ball fly over to the front of the Wraith. “Grenade!” he hollered. He slammed the tank into a boulder and dislodged it. However, the Plasma Grenade detonated and tore off the front-left part of the Wraith. Smith then saw a greenish explosion circle around him. “The Banshee!” he looked around the control pad and saw no eject button. “Yeah, and they call themselves advanced…” he muttered and climbed out of the seat. Blamo had moved the turret over and started to fire onto the Wraith. Blue flames appeared, as Smith popped out of the hatch. The Banshee dive-bombed him, but he rolled over to the side and launched a charge onto the flyer. The rocket hit the Banshee, that flew into the caverns smoking. Smith grabbed his SMG and watched his captured Wraith belch black smoke and blue flames, until it exploded and chunks of armor flew in all directions. He ran deeper into the caves, past the smoldering Banshee. He ran like there was no end, until what felt like a sledgehammer hit him and fell over. He had landed in a small puddle of blood. His blood. He had been hit by an overcharged plasma shot. Smith shot his last SPNKr rocket into the distance without aiming and started to charge forward. He threw the empty launcher out of the way. Blamo holstered his Plasma Pistol after a rocket came streaming towards the camp, blowing away a couple tents and tanks. “Sergeant Quikis, assemble your men. We’re going after him.” Blamo said. The other yellow Grunt nodded and started backward.



Stacker had fired his last energy bolt into a combat form and dropped his weapon. He grabbed his sidearm and turned to his team. They had traveled deeper into the complex. “Any sign of PFC Jones and Corporal Fitzgerald yet?” “That’s a negative, sir.” the team’s radioman said. “Mitchell! Get over here!” A Marine approached Stacker. “You and three other Leathernecks head topside. We’re going in. When we radio in to you, call for evac.” The Leatherneck nodded and turned around, accompanied by three other Marines. “Malcolm, take center point. Price, take lead.” Stacker called. Malcolm ran up with the rest of his group. Mitchell and his team entered the outside of the complex and waited there. “I wonder what’s going on at the butte. Man, I want to eat again!” a Marine groaned. “Yeah, but we’ll need to stay here. That seems like an easy job.” Mitchell forced a laugh.



Back a couple miles, Wang’s vision started to clear again. He felt a pain his stomach, but he couldn’t move. He was stuck on the ground. He felt something burst out of him and saw an infection form. He was back on his feet again. Or rather, someone else’s feet. Wang started to walk for no particular reason. He tried to stop, but couldn’t. His vision started to blur. He made raspy breath and started to pick up a Magnum off the ground. He moved mindlessly toward Stacker’s teammates. Wang could only move his eyes, but nothing else. Everything but his eyes were controlled by someone else. Or something. He saw two Flood mutants, one looked like his friend, Bob, and the other was an alien. They started to advance toward the opposite direction of where he came. Maybe that’s where Stacker went to, Wang thought. His head was clouded with thoughts of dying. Practically, that was what he wanted to do right now. Just sit there and die. He started to feel the ground disappear from his feet. He looked down and saw that he was jumping. The combat forms could jump from a great distance. He gazed around in his blurred vision and saw a bunch of infection forms. He tried to shoot them, but his finger wouldn’t allow it. He cursed in his thoughts and started to walk with his Flood battalion. Wang struggled to move, but only fell over. He was picked up by his other subconscious. His face grimaced and looked down.



Blam! Jones reloaded his sniper rifle. “All clear!” The light reconnaissance vehicle pulled up next to him. “You got them?” Fitzgerald asked. “Uh-huh. Let’s shake, rattle, and roll!” Jones mounted the LAAG. The ’Hog kicked up divots and roared against the cliff face. The passenger aimed his Battle Rifle and pointed. “Incoming!” the Marine yelled. “Spectres!” Jones swiveled the turret to face them. Purple-red machines zoomed into the clearing. They were the similar counterparts to a Warthog, but was more fast and deadly. The LRV drifted along the ground, as Jones unloaded a barrage of bullets. Three Spectres dodged the barrage, as the Elite gunners fired their onboard plasma turrets as well. Fitzgerald spun the wheel a couple times and smashed into the cliff wall. Jones was able to target one of them in the mist and squeeze the trigger. Large bullets penetrated the red armor and exploded. The other two zapped a chunk of the bunker off of the LRV. They were too close for Jones to shoot them with LAAG. Instead, Jones grabbed for his Magnum and shot the gunner off of the second Spectre. Seven bullets left in the clip, Jones reminded himself, regarding the Magnum. He emptied the rest into the driver and slapped a fresh clip in. The Marine in the passenger seat emptied his magazine into a Spectre before it exploded into pieces. “Yo, Chips! Did you guys find anything?” Fitzgerald asked over the COM. “Yes. As a matter fact, Fitzgerald, we found McKenzie and Perez.” Dubbo replied. Jones gave a cheer. “So they are alive!” he whooped. “However, they’re both KIA.” Jones’ smile twisted into a grimace. “Anything else, Chips? We’re stuck here and we could use a hand.” “Stacker sent Mitchell topside. Try to look for him.” Dubbo replied over the COM channel, “Oh yeah! By the way, we found the heart of the Library.”

STORY FOUR

'''Spartans Historically, Sparta won many wars simply by arriving to fight. Appreciative of this reputation, the UNSC decided to use the name for their grand project. The result would be a group of super-soldiers gifted with inhuman abilities. With this goal in mind, Doctor Halsey set out to gather children who were genetically suitable for the project. She found a total number of one hundred-fifty trainees, but for budget reasons only half that number were "conscripted," a process that involved kidnapping the child in question and replacing him or her with a flash clone. These clones were unstable and quickly died of what appeared to be natural causes. They were officially conscripted by Section Three of the Office of Naval Intelligence, which is why some Spartans hold a Naval rank and is not a member of the Marine Corps, despite typically fighting with Marines.'''

SECTOR ONE: THE VERY BEGINNING Section 1A: The Spartans have Arrived Sergeant Stacker holstered his Magnum and picked up Perez’s Battle Rifle. PFC Chips Dubbo cocked his shotgun and slid a new shell into place. He kept a roster of his veteran friends in his journal back at the butte, by seeing as the Flood took over the mesa, he didn’t think he’d get it back. His roster currently read…

Private Bisenti								KIA Private Mendoza								KIA Corporal McKenzie							Active Corporal Perez								Active

At this moment, he would mark McKenzie and Perez as KIA. All of his veteran friends were all infected or killed by the contagious Flood. He looked at their bodies and ripped their tags off of their necks. He placed it in his pouch before the Sergeant and his team moved into the chambers. “Hey!” Stacker said looking down at the floor. He nearly stepped on a cigar. “So, what, Sarge? It’s just a cigar.” a Leatherneck asked him. “Not just any cigar… Johnson’s. He’s been in the chamber before. If McKenzie and Perez were with him, then that means… the Commander!” Stacker spun around. “Commander Keyes is gone.” he kicked Johnson’s cigar. “Marines! The Index is gone. It is now our mission to retrieve it and find the Commander and Johnson! I have a feeling their still alive.” Dubbo looked at the side of the cigar: Sarge’s in the House! “Yeah, that’s Johnson’s cigar alright.” He’d always jot down the inscription on his cigars before puffing on them. “So, I guess so it was a good idea to designate your cigars!” Stacker stared down at it.



Spartan-084, Warrant Officer Fred, cocked his Assault Rifle and headed He was one of Spartan-117’s clones. The legendary Spartan-117, or John, had given parts of his DNA to create more Spartans in the SPARTAN-II program. Fred and his group consisted of William-208 and Kyle-987. They walked into the hills and found the Covenant camp. Many of the Spartans liked to use MA5B Assault Rifles more than the BR-55 Battle Rifle. Fred hit one of an Elite in the back with his pistol and holstered it. Kyle gave the “Hold Your Position” gesture. Fred and Will crouched behind a Wraith tank. Two Jackals came up in front of Fred, surprised, as he slammed one with the butt of his Assault Rifle. He spun and fired the MA5B from the waist. Four bullets hit the Jackal’s side and collapsed, dead. Sergeant Blamo, the green-armored gunner Grunt, spun around and directed his attention away from the caverns. Fred and Will crouched in their positions and waited. Kyle glanced over Will’s shoulder and armed his M6D Pistol. He used the 2x smart-linked scope and saw a crosshair burst in front of his faceplate. He squeezed the trigger and hit a Grunt in the head. He almost landed in a ditch and yelled. “Jeez!” Will whispered. “Keep it low! We want to pick off as much Covenant without being detected.” Kyle nodded and aimed his pistol again. He spotted Blamo and tried to squeeze a shot off of him. Blamo reacted quick enough to dive towards cover. A magnum round penetrated the snow. The Covenant stared around at the pistol’s booming reports and fired their alien weapons. The three Spartans took cover behind a beetle-like Wraith tank. Two Hunters charged with their Fuel Rod Cannons and kicked up divots with the blasts. “Stem the tide and move on.” Fred ordered. He peppered the Hunters with Assault Rifle fire, but the bullets ricocheted off of their armor and whined through the rocks. He emptied his first clip into the two Hunters. “They’re still standing.” he warned Will. Fred racked a fresh magazine into his rifle and searched for more smaller assailants. Kyle zoomed in on the scope again, but was knocked off his feet by a fuel rod blast. The hulking behemoths stared at each other and stomped into the camp grounds. Kyle tried again and succeeded. He was able to stall one of the Hunters, as Will fired bursts into the Hunter’s soft, leathery skin. The Hunter heeled over and crashed. His bond brother was enraged. He shook his head in fury and bellowed a war cry. He charged at them. “Incoming!” Kyle yelled. A shield slammed into the side of his head. His shield alarms blared and shrieked. Fred and Will were just firing at the Hunter with their AR’s until Kyle climbed back out and zoomed in on the scope again. The Hunter turned around to face Kyle, but a bullet from Fred’s Assault Rifle sealed his fate. The Hunter twisted at an odd angle and collapsed. “Two down, a hundred to go…” Will sighed emptying the last of his eight rounds into the Hunter’s body. Fred looked at his ammo counter: 14. He glanced at his belt and had only two clips left. He took his current clip out and put it back onto his belt and grabbed a new one. He slapped it home and slung his rifle. Kyle slid a new clip into place and grabbed his MA5B. The three Spartans each took over a Wraith and started to fire onto the ground troops. Blamo sighed. “Corporal Drijins! Take out that Wraith!” The Grunt next to him nodded. Blamo grabbed his turret and zapped the hull on Will’s tank. Fred activated his boosters to ram the Grunt, but he had thrown a Plasma Grenade onto the top of the Wraith. Fred stopped the engines suddenly and felt himself slide forward. The grenade slipped off and landed onto Blamo. He tried to reach it, but instead found himself soaring through the air with a spray of blue blood and crashed onto the cold, snowy ground. They had finally reached the caverns and rolled inside. “Hey, dudes! Check it out! Another Wraith!” Will motioned over the COM. “Yeah, it’s flaming… You think the Covenant didn’t want it?” “Nah, some human’s been through here. Probably some Marine. I’ll bet he’s dead by now.” Kyle said.



Helljumpers were skilled to survive without food or water for over six days. That was three more days than an average human can sustain. Lieutenant Brent Smith had taken refuge at the end of the caverns. He was only there for an hour. He had a couple days left to live. He heard a loud, rumbling noise and rubble poured down the slope. He cocked his SMG and peered. “Hello?” he cautiously asked. He found a Wraith--- no, three Wraiths ganging up on him. Smith pointed his SMG menacingly at two of them. The three Spartans hopped out. Fred looked at Smith, as his data scrolled over the top-left part of his screen. It read: SMITH, BRENT A. LIEUTENANT, followed by a series of service numbers. “Warrant Officer Will Greenwood reporting for duty, sir!” Will announced. As always, Smith yelled at them to not salute each other. They charged forward into the tunnels. Smith felt like a midget, compared to the three seven-foot Spartans towering over him. He found it awkward to face up to look at his lower-ranked soldiers. Fred and Kyle scrambled over toward the left sides of the cave. Will covered Smith. “Sergeant Sims! Goddamn it! What’s going on up there?” Smith asked over the COM. A Leatherneck answered, “Sir! The Covenant have breached the Odyssey! They’re trying to get in the door!” Blam! An explosion muffled the channels followed by static. Smith raised an eyebrow and turned to the three Spartans. “Let’s keep going,” Smith said. Fred spun around, rifle at the ready. “Dude! Pay attention, man!” Kyle yelled. “What? Where?” Will spun his head around. “Holy crap! Sir, stay behind us!” Covenant Hunters and Grunts charged into the caverns, surrounding the four humans. They were clearly outnumbered. Will and Fred stepped toward the side, as Kyle strafed to the front of Smith. The Hunters’ weapons glowed a green color and launched a pulse toward the humans. It slammed into the center of the group. Will and Fred’s shields were depleted. The alarm rang in their helmets. Fred dove for cover and fired his MA5B. Will stood back up and saw Kyle on the floor. Smith spat onto a dead Grunt and dragged the injured Spartan over to the side. Will had three-fourths of his shields recharged, until a charged plasma shot hit his back. He fired bursts into the Hunter, as it reeled over. Kyle was able to shoot the other Hunter with his pistol. Fred rounded the corner and hosed down three Grunts. He slapped a new clip in place and fired another burst into a Jackal that entered. Four stationary guns, Shades, were deployed. Will shot one of the gunners, as his shields took the brunt of the attack. Lances of red-purple plasma streamed from all sides. Kyle had crawled behind a stalagmite for cover. Fred reloaded his weapon again and found that it was the same clip that read: 14 in his ammo counter. He shot it all into a Shade gunner. He slung the rifle over to his back and unclipped two grenades and chucked it at a few Elites. One of the Shade gunners, Ruaganok, fired at the stalactites off of the cavern ceilings. One of them was dislodged and smacked onto top of Kyle and then the ground. Kyle twisted over and fell in a heap. “Man down! Man down!” Smith yelled. He blasted Ruaganok with his grenades and retreated. There was only one Shade left. Fred and Smith retreated, as Will chucked a strobe grenade. “Fire in the hole!” he yelled. A blinding flash of light filled the caves, as the three humans grabbed Kyle’s tags and sprinted away from the fight. �Section 1B: The Odyssey Sergeant Sims fired his Battle Rifle and then crouched. “Harper!” he hollered. A technician came over, “Yes, sir?” “We need Spartan-146 out here immediately! Captain’s orders!” Sims said, “We need him to recover the Odyssey.” Harper nodded and shot a Grunt in the head. Cooper, Harper’s friend, called him over. “Man! Where’s Cryo-Chamber A-21?” Harper asked. Cooper ducked a plasma bolt. “Follow me!” Cooper shot a Jackal and guided Harper toward the cryo-chambers. He entered the blasted doors and found Spartan-146, or Thomas, inside the cryo-tube. “Let’s get this baby out.” Harper pulled a lever and the lid on the tube popped out. Thomas’ vision blurred for a moment and then cleared. “Check for freezer burns,” he heard Harper say. “Nah, nothing.” Thomas craned his head and stretched his neck around. He cracked his knuckles. “What’s new?” “The Odyssey is under attack, sir.” Cooper replied, checking the door. “Wow, a lot happened when I was gone.” Thomas punched his locker open on the far side of the room. He threw the metal door off and donned his MJOLNIR armor. He grabbed his pistol and slid it in his holster. He swiped five magazines from the lockers for his AR and cocked it. “Groovy.” he announced. He stormed out of the cryo-bay. “He reminds me of that old Terminator movie we watched together in 2516, remember?” Cooper asked. Harper nodded. “Yeah, scary-looking cyborg. That’s what Spartan-146 is.” The cyborg rounded the corner. “Stay here.” he murmured. He twisted around and fired at two Jackals. One of them crashed to the deck, as the other one managed to block the barrage with his shield. Tom punched the Jackal, as it swung back. He inserted the barrel of the gun into its face and pulled the trigger. The Jackal slammed to the deck. “Sergeant…” he called to Sims. “You called me?” Sims blasted an Elite and looked at him. “Sir, Cap’n Abercrombie wants you on the bridge, ASAP!” He reloaded his gun. Sims ducked and ran, as Tom followed him through the armory and toward the cafeteria. “Over here!” he shouted, ducking behind a pillar. Thomas aimed his Assault Rifle at a Grunt and pulled a couple shots off him. “Strewn around the battle.” Sims yelled. Thomas followed, but was cut off by plasma bolts. Sims was on the other side of the room, as he was pinned down by the bulkhead. Three Leathernecks came by with SMGs and grazed down some Grunts. Spartan-146 shot the last couple Elites and half-crouched all the way to Sims’ position. They ran past a couple more rooms, until the black man stopped in his tracks. “Captain Abercrombie wants to talk to you, sir.” Thomas entered the bridge, which was full of commanders running from a station to the next. He heard a cold, crisp voice say, “Ah, yes. The Spartan from Reach.” Tom spun around and found Captain Abercrombie. He had three red-uniformed security crewmen standing next to him. He dropped his Assault Rifle onto one guard’s hand; he seemed to almost fall back, but regained his balance. Tom gave the other guard his pistol, which he surrendered butt first. “You wanted to see me, sir?” “Yes. Yes. I do. Thanks for coming” Abercrombie whisked the two guards away, but one remained. “I hear you were just waken up by my techs. How were ya, Thomas?” his voice was so calm, as if he didn’t know that his ship was under attack. Thomas shifted uneasily, “Please, sir. Call me Tom.” It was not comfortable speaking awkwardly to this man, “I’m a little dizzy, but okay.” “Glad to hear it. I need you to go Armory B-01 to collect weapons and take them. Take as much guns as you can. You’re going to ditch this joint. The Covenant have already taken over forty percent of the ship… and they’re looking for you. They want the technology in your MJOLNIR suit. Dr. Halsey’s super-soldier idea was magnificent, don’t get me wrong, but it gives away too much info to the god-ugly idiots.” “So, what are my orders?” “Get off of the ship with a couple of my Marines and techs. I want you to leave as soon as possible. We’ll be okay. We just need you off before they capture the bridge.” the Captain gestured at the two guards carrying weapons. They handed his weapons back. Tom gazed at his belongings and nodded, “I understand.” “Oh, yes. Tom?” Abercrombie spun back around. “Yes, sir?” Tom was at the doors. “One last order.” “What is it Captain?” “Don’t die. That’s an order.” Tom nodded and turned to leave. Abercrombie spun back around at his command crew. “Alright! Stay in your seats!” he shouted, “We’re defending this beloved spacecraft to the last!”



Corporal Shane Montoya cocked his head back and laughed, “You ain’t got nothing on me!” he shot the corpse of a Grunt and kicked it. He had his brown, sleek hair worn back his cheeks were full of freckles. His companion, Corporal Max Connor, whose blonde hair was shaved nearly bald, tied an olive-drab bandana to his head. He was a sarcastic kind of person. He cocked his Assault Rifle and turned to Montoya. “You ready?” he adjusted his bandana on a good angle over his head. Montoya nodded. They reloaded their AR’s and found Tom rustling through a couple bags of guns. “Whatcha doin’ sir?” Connor asked. “We’re ditching, Corporal. I need some ammo. I would like some Marines with me. Not necessarily Helljumpers, but any kind. I like company. I’m leaving ASAP.” Tom replied, without taking his eyes off of his sacks of guns and daggers. “Hey, man. If you got an empty role for a Leatherneck, pencil me in.” he said pointing to himself. “Me, too. Sir.” Montoya interrupted. Tom stood up straight and turned his head to both of them. He gazed at them as if to see of they had the “war material” look. “Alright.” Tom went back to his bags. He tossed one to each Leatherneck. “Take these to Hangar A-98, on the left wing. Don’t be late, or I’ll leave without you. We’ll be taking one of the Pelicans.” Connor glanced at the bag. “What do you have in here, sir?” “Guns, tools, explosives. You should know, Corporal. Military stuff.” Montoya slung the bag over his shoulder and winced. He was about to yell on how heavy the contents were. The managed an “Ah---”, until his companion made a horizontal-slitting gesture with his finger across his neck. Montoya fell silent. “Well sir,” Connor said, taking his eyes of Montoya and putting his hands back. “We ready?” Tom glanced at his and Montoya’s sacks. He looked at his and scratched his helmet. “Maybe we should get some backpacks. I see you guys can’t handle this…” he paused for a moment, “…cargo.” Connor and Montoya were two young men who did not want to be treated nicely by higher-ranked officers. They enlisted in the Marine Corps because they needed to be taught discipline and self-respect. However, this was an exception. The two stared at each other and replied hesitantly, “Yes, sir. Thank you.” Tom rounded the armory room and snatched three knapsacks from the lockers. “Do we need any Lotus mines?” The two nodded in unison, thrashing their heads back and forth. The anti-tank mine was named Lotus, due to its explosion appearance and damage. From a bird-view of the mine’s explosion, it looks like a reddish-black blooming flower. Tom looked up and chucked a couple Lotus anti-tank mines into the pack and they headed to the hangar bays.



“Covenant Hunters! Look out!” Montoya emptied his clip into a couple Grunts and Elites. Tom looked downstairs. “Holy crap! Look at that! Look at that!” Connor straightened his bandana and fired. He managed to ambush one of the Hunters with grenades. Tom peered down the catwalk. He had a gut feeling that these two Leathernecks had never seen or fought with Hunters. “I’ll do this myself…” Tom aimed his M6D at one of the Hunter’s armor. He pulled the trigger and bullets impacted the Hunter’s flesh. The Hunter reeled back and died. The three humans hopped down from the catwalk. Tom looked for the second one, but was slammed to the ground. The Hunter cried out and charged. The two Leathernecks separated and fired their assault weapons. The freckled-faced Marine was about to unclip a grenade, until he remembered not to by drill sergeants. It was no use. He put the grenade back and signaled toward Connor. The two “baits” spun around and fired, pausing only to reload. Tom opened his eyes and saw the metal ceiling. He rolled on his belly and had a clear shot at the Hunter’s weak points. He emptied his last of his pistol into the orange flesh. The Hunter stared him in surprise and howled. Connor and Montoya shot it down. “Eat lead!” Connor fired semi-auto bullets into the Hunter’s corpse. Montoya unlatched a Pelican. “Spartans first.” he told Tom. “Thanks.” Tom climbed onto the left seat closest to the cockpit. Private Steven Hawkins, who had joined the group seconds ago, climbed on. “Asshole…” Montoya whispered. “Quiet, he’ll hear you.” Connor replied and climbed on. Two pilots, Warrant Officers Lewis and Waller sat in their seats. “Hang on.” Waller said. He punched the lever and the Pelican spat smoke. The dropship hovered in the air and blasted off into the depths of space. Hawkins sat listening to his iPod, that blared hip-hop and rap music throughout the cabins. The Marines covered their ears. “Hawkins! Would you please turn that crap off?” Connor asked. “Nah, man. It’s my favorite.” Hawkins started to wiggle around in a rhythmic beat. Montoya couldn’t take it anymore. He ripped the earplugs off Hawkins’ ears and shut the iPod off. “Dude! That was my favorite rap song playing!” Hawkins complained in his peevish voice. “That old style of music? I thought the age of hip-hop died a couple hundred years ago!” a Marine said, “Yo, Hawkins. If turned that iPod is turned back on again, it’s never gonna play another song ever!” he tossed an M6D Pistol in the air and caught it. Hawkins squirmed and shut up. He even gave it to Tom to confiscate it. “Leave me out of this, Private.” Tom handed the white device back. Hawkins had to accept it back. “No wonder he got demoted from a PFC to a Private.” Connor said. Montoya tried to muffle his chuckle. �Section 1C: The Aftermath of the Butte “Major Easley?” the Helljumper scoffed. “Yeah, I’m guessing that’s who’s gonna bomb the entire mesa.” Sergeant Parker walked around their tent. “We need to find more supplies. We’re getting creamed up here. We’re in combat zone! We cannot hold here for long.” “Okay…” Corporal Dowell said. “I’ll hold here, then.” Parker had lost ninety-eight of his men back on the attack on the butte. He tried not to think about it. “Ninety-eight.” he kept muttering to himself. He barely had fifty men left. “Sergeant Parker, this Strong-arm. We are coming in… Be advised.” Major Easley said over the COM. “Sure thing, Major. Have fun dropping your bombs off…” “I sure all heck will.” Easley turned the COM off. A total of twelve Marines had returned to the butte and sneak some supplies back. Parker had been waiting hours for their return.

PFC Kirk browsed through tents and metal. He had bypassed six Flood forms on the way. He was lucky to even get inside of the tent. He looked at the trashed hammocks thrown everywhere. He was in the tent of Lieutenant Peterson, a pilot who had been killed onboard the Calm and Cooperative cruiser a couple hours ago. He almost tripped over a book and fell. “Crap! What the--” he gazed down and found a small journal next to Peterson’s hammock. It had the words DUBBO, CHIPS. PFC on the bottom. “This is Dubbo’s journal!” Kirk found a lock on the side and shrugged. “I’ll ply it later.” he gave it to his commanding officer, Staff Sergeant Maggie Corley. “What’s this, Private?” she asked. “It’s uh--- Private Dubbo’s book, ma’am.” “I’ll put it on the dolly anyway.” she tossed it overhand onto the dolly that she held. “I’ll push what we have away.” she grabbed the handlebars and pushed the dolly back up the butte. He saw her disappear when the top of the butte blocked her. Kirk turned around and saw him face-to-face with a Flood combat form. He took out his Needler and sprayed crystalline needles into the form’s abdomen. The needles exploded and green juice flew everywhere. Kirk shot the remains and turned around to see a swarm of infection forms. He swore and ran. He felt something slam him from behind. “Argh!” Kirk felt everything turn black, when the infection form tapped into his nervous system.



Parker stared at the book in confusion. “Huh?” Corley pointed. “Private Dubbo. You know where he is?” Parker tried to remember the name. “Dubbo… Dubbo… Dubbo… I think I do. He’s either with Stacker or KIA on the Covenant cruiser.” “Let’s go with him being with Stacker.” Corley said. “Yeah.” Parker plied through the lock and flipped through the pages. “Yeah, it’s Dubbo’s. Get Lance Corporal Gobi here. I need her here ASAP.” Corley nodded and turned. Parker read one page and managed a smile. “Yeah, I think Sergeant Johnson’s an asshole also.” he laughed to himself. He closed the book and threw it into his bag. Corley slid back down the butte walls, after blasting six Flood carrier forms on the way. She reloaded her shotgun and continued down the slope. “Gobi! Where are you?” she hollered, attracting two Flood combat forms. She shot one and slammed the butt of her weapon into the other. He kicked it and shot it. She turned around. “Are you here? Gobi?” To her surprise, she turned and saw a tall Flood form towering over her. Her eyes widened and screamed. Corley aimed her weapon, until the anti-Gobi swung his tentacles and pierced her arm. She fell onto the floor moaning until she grabbed her M6C and shot him square in the head. He fell over and made a gurgling noise. Corley shot it again until there were no bullets left and climbed back up on her feet. She wrapped parts of a tarp on a tent onto her wounded arm and discarded her pistol. Corley picked up her shotgun again and turned around. “Holy---” she was cut off, when a Carrier form behind her exploded and sent her body flying into the air. She regained her vision when she opened her eyes to see the what’s left of Kirk standing over her. Her last words were, “Private? Is that you?”. She was clubbed to death by the anti-Kirk and other Flood combat forms. Parker and a platoon of Leathernecks slid down the slope and started to attack. They fired their alien weapons everywhere toward the Flood position. “Retreat!” the anti-Kirk gurgled, running away from the mixture of plasma bolts and glassy needles. Parker was able to zapped Kirk’s right arm off with the Plasma Rifle. The deformed Marine rolled around on the ground, until he grabbed the anti-Kirk and made a full-nelson around its neck. “Check the Sergeant.” he ordered another Marine. He nodded and went over to Corley. He pressed his fingers onto her neck. “Ah… Nothing. Zero. Jack-Squat.” he retreated his hand and grabbed her tags and returned to Parker. �SECTOR TWO: THE CIVIL WAR Section 2A: A Distress Call Certain that there was no Index here, Stacker reloaded his Battle Rifle and scratched his head. He heard another gurgling sound. But this time, it was accompanied by other various screeches. “We’d better get outta here!” he turned onto his COM, “Mitchell! Call for evac now! I repeat! Call for evac!” “Roger, Sarge.” Mitchell turned off the COM. “Alright! Marines… retreat! We’re heading topside!” Stacker and his platoon trooped backwards and then started to return to ground level.



“Yes, sir. We need extraction on the double!” Mitchell yelled. “Of course. We’re coming now. Landing time approximately thirty minutes.” Echo 411 said. “Thirty minutes?” Mitchell inquired. “Can’t you make your approach any faster?” “Negative, Corporal.” Echo 411 replied, “We are under fire by Covenant air patrols. We’re engaging the Banshees.” “Crap!” Mitchell stomped his foot after the COM was shut off. He cocked his Battle Rifle again and stretched his head. “Whassat?” one of his two Marines, Coleman, asked. “What’s ‘what’?” Mitchell inquired. He saw Coleman pointing at a dozen Flood combat forms. “Oh that? That’s uh--- Flood! Look out! This is going to be a great fight!” The twelve combat forms lunged into the air. Coleman was able to shoot one in mid-air. The rest landed on top of the Marines. The Leathernecks and the forms fired at each other and exchanged bullets and plasma bolts and needles. Coleman resisted the pain of getting hit by a tentacle. He shot another combat form. Mitchell clubbed one to the ground and shot it three times. He turned around and dodged an infection form that was charging at him. Mitchell, then, took a flurry of glassy needles into the chest and was torn into halves by the ensuing crystalline explosion. “Mitchell!” Coleman yelled. “Damn it!” He felt a stab of pain through his back and saw three tentacles penetrating his chest through his back. He felt bullets being driven into his back and saw a combat form behind him with a Battle Rifle. His eyes rolled up and he collapsed to a heap. The last Leatherneck was killed when a Carrier form bobbled up and exploded, sending the human flying into the air and landing on the cold, metal floor.



PFC Lance “Snaky” Jones, Corporal Fitzgerald, and a Helljumper jumped around in their seats when Fitzgerald ran over the last Covenant vehicle attacking them. “Where’s the rest of our group?” Jones asked. “We’re climbing the cliff face by the side passages already! We’re all lucky that we have a 4 by 4 vehicle!” Fitzgerald nearly tumbled their Warthog over the cliff. “Better let me drive.” the Marine in the passenger seat said. “Nah. Let ‘Snaky’.” Fitzgerald climbed out. Jones took his place in the driver seat, as Fitzgerald manned the LAAG. “Covenant Banshees, inbound!” the Marine yelled. The three humans directed their attention toward the two Banshees patrolling the sky. The first one fired its Fuel Rod Cannon and knocked the jeep over. Luckily, the LRV landed upright again. The three Helljumpers were thrown off and tried to run back, but the one of them was pinned down next to a boulder by the second Banshee. “I need some help over here!” he yelled. Jones fired his sniper rifle at the purple armor on the Banshee. A fist-sized chunk fell off and the Banshee started to wobble around. He reloaded his sniper and aimed again. The Banshees’ cannons flickered and then discharged an array of superheated plasma. The Helljumper that was in the passenger seat was hit and fell over, his flesh sizzling. Fitzgerald grabbed his tags and quickly manned the LAAG again. He fried the Banshee as it neared the cliff, causing the pilot to eject. Jones had climbed into the ‘Hog and ran the pilot down with the three-and-a-quarter-ton vehicle. Jones continued up the slope, until he had reached the top. “Whoo-hoo!” We made it! Now we need to find the Stacker and friends.” He twisted the wheel and the LRV swung over. The second Banshee flew overhead and fired its plasma cannons. “Mike! Take that thing out!” Fitzgerald aimed his LAAG. “Got it!” he squeezed both triggers and the recoil of the massive gun rattled his teeth. The huge bullets lodged into the Banshee and it started to trail smoke. Fitzgerald continued his nonstop assault until he saw a splatter of blood on the cockpit and saw the Banshee fall. Jones smiled. “Alright! Let’s go find the rest of our platoon!”



Wang stared at Mitchell’s dead body. He glanced at Coleman’s and then the other. He dropped his Magnum and grabbed Mitchell’s Battle Rifle. What a waste, he thought, that should have been me. His body seemed to jerk to the left side. He followed through and heard a roar of an engine. He wanted to walk toward it, but he couldn’t. He took another raspy breath and saw the slight glimpse of a Warthog. His fingers started to pull the Battle Rifle’s trigger in his hand. He tried to stop, but his body wouldn’t let him. Wang’s vision started to blur completely. The LRV started to become a puff of a cloud. His other mind was taking over! He struggled to fight the opposing “Flood” mind. Yes! He was able to move one of his legs. This was enough for him to commit suicide. He jerked his leg forward and his body followed. He had gained control of his ring and index finger. He dropped the Battle Rifle and wobbled toward the approaching jeep. He felt something metal and smooth slam into his abdomen. It was the Warthog’s bumper! Now his dream was complete. He is now dead. He felt his legs disappear from his yellow, discolored body and land onto the floor. He glanced up and mouthed a “Thank you”. The last thing he saw was a flashback of his first induction day in the Marine Corps, his training, and simulations… �Section 1E: The Flashback (Six Years Ago…) Wang and his now-dead friend, Nathan Li, looked at their instructor, Staff Sergeant Gary Hefner. “Alright! We are now facing each other in combat for the first time! Now, you will be using paintballs. You will not… I repeat… Will not be using any protection. You must be used to a bullet or plasma bolt hitting you. If you can withstand a plasma bolt, you can withstand a paintball.” he held a paintball in the air. “Understood?” Wang and Li grabbed their paintball guns and looked at each other. “Game starts when I say go. Ten, nine, eight, seven… Blah, blah, blah. GO!” Hefner fired a round into the sky and holstered his pistol. Wang, Li, and a group of other trainees started to blast each other in red and green paintballs. Wang had shot two trainees, until he heard Splat! Splat! Splat! He glanced down and saw three green paintball marks over his chest. (Six Months Later…) “Now, you will use ‘real’ MA2B Assault Rifles. We will distribute the newer models, or MA3’s, next year. But… you will be using narq darts. They will not only sting, but they will tranquilize you. It will show you how unconsciousness is like on the field.” Hefner continued, “Ready? Begin!” he shot a round into the air and narq darts flew in all directions. Li turned his head two times and shot a dart into a cadet, who was fumbling to get his weapon out. Wang and Li ran around the training field. Hefner looked at Wang’s skill. “He’s good.” he said. Li was hit by a dart in the chest. He fell over unconscious, as Wang came over to help him. He felt a dart hit his leg. He pulled it out quickly before the tranquilizer kicked in. He threw the dart toward a charging cadet, but instead, the cadet ducked and the dart hit Sergeant Hefner, square in the chest. “What is your---” he muttered, before he slumped to the floor unconscious. Wang’s face twisted into a horrible grimace, as the other cadets looked at him and laughed. Five of them called, “Sucker!” and each shot a dart at him. (One Month Later…) Hefner glanced at his watch. “Alright! We have the new MA3’s, but you are not yet allowed to use them yet. You need to become a Private! For today’s training, we will be using tracer bullets!” he held one up. “This time, you maggots can wear complete armor plating. There is only one rule when training with tracer bullets. Do not-- DO NOT--- aim at a cadet’s head. This is not an actual bullet, but it can kill someone if you shoot their head. Also, do not shoot at friends, otherwise, they get a free shot at you.” Hefner strolled to Wang. “Even I get to have a free shot.” Wang gulped. Hefner backed up. “Alright! Ready? Begin!” Wang stared at him. He wasn’t ready, but a tracer bullet had whizzed over his shoulder. He picked up his MA2B and launched a tracer into a cadet next to him. Li had already shot two cadets with a tracer. Other people ran around and fired at each other. Hefner stood around the battle to survey each cadet’s performance. He had just come up to Li, until Wang had taken over and shot him. Li doubled over in pain and lunged at Wang. The two rolled around in the mud. “Break it up!” Hefner shouted. However, Wang reached up and grabbed Li’s Assault Rifle. He took it and shot him across the chest. Li fell over and struggled to fight the pain. Wang stood up and threw the rifle onto the ground and grabbed his own. Hefner didn’t even see Li fight, with the exception of him and Wang rolling around. He tossed Li a med pack and continued forward. He turned his head and saw Wang shoot yet another cadet, but was soon clubbed to the ground by another soldier. Hefner imagined the blow in his mind and shivered. Wang was then shot to the ground. He tossed him a med pack and sat down. The next day, Hefner strolled up to them. “I have your overall results from all of your training these past few months.” he put his clipboard on the table, as the cadets scurried up. Wang and Li look at their names. “I passed!” they shouted and took a high-five. They were now Marines. That was Wang’s proudest moment of his life. However, that was also the last time he ever saw Staff Sergeant Hefner. (Present) Wang’s disconnected body seemed to move around. The LRV swiveled around. He heard Jones’ voice call out, “Oh my god! I recognized that one! That was Bob!” Wang’s body started to crawl forward, but was hit again to the ground by the Warthog’s side. He crawled back up and fell over on his back. The last thing Wang ever saw was the spinning wheel roll over and squish his face. Section 2C: Uprising The Elite in special armor shook his head. The last thing he remembered was him being hit by the Brute Chieftain, Tartarus’ Gravity Hammer. He also recalled speaking to Gravemind, the consciousness of the Flood. It was all a blur to him now. He wished that he had never been drafted for the Covenant Army. He continued down the valley. He walked to a part of the winded path and stopped in his tracks to sniff the air. Fur, he thought, Brute fur. He looked around. He saw a bunch of yellowish grenades fly and plasma bolts scattering over the cliff. He stepped forward and saw a dying blue-armored Minor Elite on the floor. “Arbiter… the Brutes… They have… betrayed us… The councilors… they’re gone.” the Elite coughed. “What happened here?” the Arbiter demanded. “Brutes… Lots of them.” “Why did they do this to you?” the Arbiter couldn’t get an answer, because the dying Elite coughed and spat blood out. “They---” the Elite started, but his eyes faded out. The Arbiter stood back up. He paused to scoop up the Elite’s Plasma Rifle and continued down the slope. He found three Brutes wandering around. “Weaklings!” the first Brute chuckled. The second Brute shoved an Elite’s corpse off of the cliff. “Let’s just throw them over the edge!” The last one looked up at him and replied, “Where’s the fun in that? Payback first.” he pulled out his Brute Plasma Rifle. It was the most faster and better variant of the regular blue Plasma Rifles, and it had a red color to it. The Brute took it and fired at an Elite’s dead body. Then, he kicked at it until it rolled off of the cliff. The second Brute laughed. The Arbiter stepped out. “What’s going on here?” The three Brutes all peered at him. “I’m getting stories that you’re harassing the Elites. We’re all part of one unified army.” “Not any more.” the first Brute chuckled. “The Prophets have declared a civil war. We wanted to activate the Sacred Ring, but you and your mute Hunters, weak Elites, and crackpot Grunts disagreed. They had defied us. Now you’ll have to die!” The three Brutes shot at him with the red Brute Plasma Rifles. The Arbiter dove for cover and found a deactivated Energy Sword next to a dead Zealot Elite. He grabbed it and armed it. He jumped out and slashed the first Brute three times and continued his assault on the third Brute. When the two Brutes fell, the second one started to run, but the Arbiter shot him from behind with his Plasma Rifle. A Brute Captain stepped out. “What is taking so long, Brutes?” he glared at the Arbiter. “Enemy! Kill him!” he hollered, only to find his three Brute companions slaughtered. He pulled out his grenade launcher with a bayonet at the end, a Brute Shot, and aimed it at the Elite. A small shimmer of air floated up behind him and slammed the massive Brute. The Brute Captain regained his footing and swiped at the center of the shimmer of air with the Brute Shot’s bayonet. A Spec Op Elite materialized out of thin air, his shields blaring, used his Energy Sword and immediately sliced through the Brute Captain. “By the Prophets! What have they done?” the Spec Op Elite gazed at the number of dead Elites. He paused and looked at the Arbiter. “They have shed our brothers’ blood… for that they must pay.” “What’s your status?” the Arbiter asked. “We were ambushed here. I hid up here behind the leaves to call for reinforcements. When I returned, I found that Brute and you standing here.” the Spec Op Elite replied. “I’m Spec Op Major ‘Zorkamee.” “Wait. So you called in some reinforcements?” “Affirmative, like a couple units ago. I needed a very stealthy group to help us in our journey to stop these annoyances. Here they are!” ‘Zorkamee pointed into the sky. Half a dozen purple pods crash-landed into the valley. A Minor Elite slid out of each pod and ran up to the hills that the Arbiter and ‘Zorkamee were. “Minor Elites? I thought they were sending more stealthy Elites.” A Zealot Elite busted out of his pod and continued up the slope. “A Zealot? So much for a stealthy advance.” ‘Zorkamee put his sword away and armed himself a Carbine. “Bah! Over so soon? Arbiter! Save some for us!” the Zealot cried. “Take haste! There are plenty enough of Brutes ahead to kill.” the Arbiter led the group into a building. “By the Prophets! There’s more Brutes! It’s true!” The Zealot Elite lunged forward, sword at the ready, and slashed down two Brutes in one stroke. He knocked a Brute to the floor and drove the sword into his abdomen. The Elite laughed. The Minor Elites yearned for combat. “Ha! Ha! So long I have waited for this!” They charged and sent grenades, needles, and plasma bolts flying everywhere. The Arbiter charged forward, as well, until he bumped into a red Major Grunt curled up in a fetal position. “Ah! Please… no! Me like the Elites! Brutes are stupid! Ah!” the Grunt raised his arms over his face. “Brutes stinky-stinky bad! Me stay with mighty Arbiter!” The Arbiter looked around in confusion. “Sure, just don’t get lost.” After the battle, the platoon of Covenant troops continued into a room littered with bodies of Elites and Grunts, alike. “And yet I live.” ‘Zorkamee muttered. The Covenant headed outside and found a Spectre filled with Brutes zooming around a field. The Arbiter started forward, until a purple beam struck his side, sending his shields blaring. “Jackals snipers! Take them out!” the Zealot Elite yelled. Five Minor Elites charged into battle. “Jackals are with the Brutes?” the Arbiter asked, his shields recharging. “Who else is with them?” ‘Zorkamee glanced at him. “Drones also.” “Do we have the rest of the Covenant species?” “Yes, we have the Grunts and the Hunters with us. However, we are still no match for the Brutes.” The Arbiter saw three Minor Elites and the Zealot Elite climbed onto the Spectre and pull the driver and gunner out. The Zealot slashed down and called the Arbiter over. “Arbiter! Take this Spectre as our gift of aiding in our mission. Take it to the central platforms! We must get to Halo’s control room!” the Zealot yelled. The Arbiter didn’t know they were headed toward the control room, but it made sense. The Brutes wanted to activate Halo. He climbed on top and found ‘Zorkamee in the gunner seat. Two Minor Elites climbed on as passengers. “What about you?” the Arbiter asked the Zealot and the other three Minor Elites next to him. “We’ll end up at the central platform as well. We’re taking an alternate route. Good luck.” the Zealot, Minor Elites, and the Major Grunt scurried into the bushes. The Arbiter pushed the lever and the Spectre zoomed off. �Section 2D: Fight Club The Spectre approached a makeshift barricade, composed of Brutes and Jackals. ‘Zorkamee pivoted the plasma turret and locked onto a Brute Captain. He pulled the purple yoke on the turret’s handle and fired a stream of blue, superheated plasma. The Brute fell over as the Arbiter tried to keep the Spectre on the right side of the river. The two Minor Elites on the passenger seats fired their Plasma Rifles. The Arbiter rammed one over and heard one of the passengers say, “That’s another way to save ammo.” He twisted a yellow knob on the control pad and the Spectre screamed through the grassy valley. He drove the Spectre along the river until Drones ambushed them. One of the Drones, Junfie, was able to latch itself to the passenger Elite on the left and pull him out. The Elite roared, when he slammed to the ground and rolled down the hill, bleeding. The Arbiter crashed the red vehicle into a wall and dislodged the insect. ‘Zorkamee used his plasma turret and pressed down on the purple yoke on the turret. Junfie was caught in the line of the Spec Op Elite’s fire and was creamed down. What was left of him were parts of his shiny, greenish body and pool of yellow, paste-like blood. The rest of the Drones were killed when the Spectre had ended up between the sites of a building. Two Wraiths heavily guarded the outside of the structure. ‘Zorkamee was able to fire onto the oncoming Wraith tank that came after them. The Wraith rammed into the Arbiter’s Spectre, as he tried to squeeze the smaller vehicle out of the attack. He managed to boost the Spectre ahead. The other Wraith on the far side launched a plasma comet into the air and smacked onto the area that the Spectre was on a couple milliseconds ago. Suddenly, a purple beam of light flashed and connected with a Brute’s head. The Brute fell over and rolled. The Arbiter turned to look at where the source of light was coming from. He squinted his eyes and saw a slight trace of a Stealth Elite. Another beam hit a Jackal to the side. The Arbiter stopped rubbernecking at the Elite and saw that the first Wraith had rammed into the Spectre. It collided with a metal wall and the Spectre rolled over. The three Elites fell off and saw the second Wraith fire another comet at them. They bailed just in time before the comet splashed onto the overturned Spectre and consumed it in black smoke and blue flames. The Stealth Elite materialized and the Zealot Elite-- as well as some Minor Elites--- jumped out of the bushes and attacked! The Zealot was able to hop onto a Wraith and pound onto its hatch. He tore the purple hatch off and threw aside. He ignited his Energy Sword and sliced through the Brute driver in practiced ease. He climbed in and tried to blast the other Wraith on the other side. ‘Zorkamee zapped a Drone with his Plasma Rifle and then clubbed a Jackal onto the ground. A Brute smacked him from behind and together they slugged and wrestled each other. The Arbiter shot the Brute off with his Carbine and kicked the Brute’s body around. After both the Wraiths were destroyed, as well as the Brutes in the area, the Elites made a run into the top part of the structure. The Stealth and Zealot Elites brandished their swords and stayed behind of the group. The Elite fighting force eventually ended up in a small room filled with Covenant and human weapons. There was a collection of Brute Plasma Rifles, Brute Shots, Beam Rifles, Fuel Rod Cannons, Shotguns, and empty Rocket Launchers. “Argh!” the Stealth Elite scoffed, “Even as trophies, these weapons are useless!” The Arbiter traded his Energy Sword in for the Shotgun. Maybe this could come in handy, he thought. He charged out of the room toward the others. A couple Grunts came and joined them. “Arbiter’s here! Victory is assured!” one of the Minor Grunts chirped. They headed out of the other side of the structure and found a wide collective of Brutes and Jackals. “Inbound!” the Zealot Elite cried and charged, arms flailing. He cut down a Jackal and advanced onto a Brute. However, three of them were enraged and dropped their Brute Shots. They bellowed a war cry and slammed into the Zealot Elite’s position. He was knocked over by the large giants and dropped his Energy Sword. He tried to recollect it, but one of them punched his stomach and the other slapped his helmet off. The Zealot desperately found his weapon and sliced through one of the Brute’s fur. He fell over and coughed out blood. The Elite tried to stand up, a solid and harsh blow to head had silenced him. The Arbiter, who had seen the rough battle, fired his Shotgun only pausing to cock it. His finger fit unevenly on the trigger. It took five shells to kill one Brute and it took seven to kill the other. Screw this, he thought. He tossed the Shotgun and hit a Jackal in the head. He tossed a Plasma Grenade in his hand and chucked it towards a charging Brute. The explosion wiped out three furry beasts next to him. Twelve Brutes, five Jackals, and seven Elites laid dead at their feet. The Elites proceeded into what looked like a cave. ‘Zorkamee felt a radio transmission come in. “Quickly! Get into that cave! We have a dropship coming in!” he ran into the cave along with a couple Grunts. The Arbiter shrugged and headed inside. “We have a Phantom coming to this cave?” he asked the Spec Op. “Roger. We need to clear the way for the Phantom’s approach.” The Arbiter stared in confusion. A Phantom? In a narrow cave? He was very confused, until he found a metal door at the end of it. ’Zorkamee entered through and they were back outside again. He and the other Elites and Grunts scurried toward the left side of the door and into a sandy clearing. Up ahead was a magnificent view of Delta Halo’s control room. It was starting to rain again, the Arbiter thought, looking at some drizzling up in the sky. He heard a low rumble and quickly carried his Carbine. He saw a Wraith pop out of a secret passage. “ ’Zorkamee?” he called out, but his fighting force had disappeared. It was just him and the Wraith. However, the driver was not shooting at him. He aimed his Carbine at the hull, in case plasma turrets came out and zapped him. Then, a white-armored Spec Op Commander popped out of the hatch. “Arbiter?” he inquired, gazing at the Elite’s body armor. It was Rtas 'Vadumee, a Special Operation Commander who had survived the first Halo apocalypse. According to rumors, ‘Vadumee had lost half of his mandibles during the destruction of Halo. He was nicknamed “Half-Jaw”. “By the rings, Arbiter!” Half-Jaw gazed at him and shot him a green-eyed glare. “The Councilors! Are they---” “Murdered---” the Arbiter continued, “By the Brutes.” “Vile, disloyal beasts!” Half-Jaw pounded his fist on the hull of the tank. “The Prophets were fools to trust them!” The two Elites looked up into the sky and saw a Phantom fly overhead. “It’s Tartarus.” the Arbiter murmured. “Come, Arbiter.” Half-Jaw said, “We must stop the procedure of him activating the ring!” “How?” the Arbiter gazed down at the cliff full of Wraiths, Banshees, and Phantoms. “Throw rocks at them?” Half-Jaw and the Arbiter stared at Tartarus’ Phantom landing next to the control room door. �Section 2E: The Control Room (Five Minutes Ago) Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson and Commander Miranda Keyes lay flat on the ground with energy restraints tied to each of them. Johnson heard one of the Brute Honor Guards murmur, “Let’s get rid of them!” The Brute Chieftain, Tartarus, spun around. “No! I need one of them here! I want prisoners! I need the other to come with me!” Johnson was lucky that he was chosen to stay on the platform. Keyes, however, was taken onto a Phantom and sent to the control room. Johnson looked around at his surroundings. There were twelve Brutes, a weaponry crate, and an idle Scarab on the landing platform. He had made a charge toward the weaponry crate a couple minutes ago, but was clubbed to the ground. He watched as three Brutes climbed onto the Scarab and tried to fix it. He glanced at the disappearing Phantom. Then, he smelled a terrible odor. “Hey, you ever heard of mouthwash?” Johnson asked the Brute standing next to him. The Brute couldn’t understand what mouthwash was, but he clubbed his head again. “Ow. Thanks for answering.” Johnson took off his cap and rubbed his head.

(Present) Johnson glanced his watch. His head still hurt from being hit two times. His eyes skimmed at the weaponry crates again--- there were Beam Rifles, Plasma Pistols, Brute Shots, Brute Plasma Rifles, and Plasma Grenades. He sighed and sat down. He wasn’t sure if the Brutes allowed him, but he crouched down instead.



Keyes struggled to break free of Tartarus’ grip, but his hands were larger than her face. They shoved her back on the Phantom. She heard one of Brutes yelled, “There! The control room! Let’s go!” The Brute Honor Guards jumped out first and examined the area. “Clear!” they yelled. Tartarus stepped down and shoved Keyes out of the hatch. She fell forward and then regained her balance after a while. They proceeded into the grand hall of the control room. One of the Honor Guards fell into a hole carved into the floor. The Brute climbed back out and cursed in his own alien language. “Darn floors. Stupid underground carves.” the Brute brushed his fur and then returned to Tartarus. He held Keyes in one hand and his Gravity Hammer in the other. Keyes saw a familiar blue light stuck onto Tartarus’ hammer. “Monitor?” she saw 343 Guilty Spark in Tartarus’ Gravity Hammer. “Greetings, I am 343 Guilty Spark. I am the Monitor of Installation 04.” the blue robot said. “Hmm. Really? How did you lose the first Sacred Ring? You didn’t do much of a good job defending it.” a Brute chuckled. “Why! How dare you defy me?” Spark glowed a blue color. “Shut up! I need you to activate Halo! Now!” Tartarus hollered, shaking the blue robot. “You sir, are most vulgar.” Spark said in his artificial-like voice. “I said ‘shut up’!” Tartarus slammed 343 Guilty Spark next to a wall. Keyes remained silent, due to the Chieftain’s hostility. She looked at Spark, who had a slight crack on the left side of its “cheek”. The Brutes had reached a large, spherical room-- the control room. It was darker and larger than the control room on Alpha Halo. Keyes looked down at the dark abyss below. There were three platforms in the center of the room, one on the top, the other in the middle, and the last on the bottom. They seemed to be suspended by some kind of force. “By the Prophets!” Tartarus yelled. “The Sacred Ring’s control room! At last! The Prophets will be pleased!”

SECTOR THREE: THE ASSAULT Section 3A: Eradication and Abomination After playing cards in the cabins, Montoya and Connor started to set up a drawn-out chess board. Hawkins had been cleaning his boots the whole trip, since his iPod was shot by a Marine’s pistol. He said he couldn’t stand listening to Hawkins’ taste in music. Then, the whole cabin started to wobble. Everything was knocked over. One of the pilots, Waller, tried to press a series of buttons on the panel. “What’s going on?” Connor asked, slamming his head into the bay door. “Covenant forces. Their Seraph fighters are gaining on us!” Waller said, “We to go use evasive maneuvers! Now!” Tom and his Marines dropped everything they had and strapped themselves to their seats. Hawkins quickly put his boots back on and clenched his teeth. The Pelican rolled over to port and dodged a plasma torpedo. They were being ambushed by Covenant Seraph fighters. The teardrop-shaped fighter planes zoomed around in space and zapped a chunk of armor off of the Pelican. The copilot, Lewis, fired the .50 cal chin gun and blasted one of the Seraphs out of the sky. Waller ordered all combat personnel to weld a weapon. Hawkins, Tom, Montoya, Connor, and two Marines grabbed their Battle and Assault Rifles. They started to glance outside of the pilots’ cockpit window. “We have to redirect our coordinates,” Tom said. “Where to?” Waller asked, “The moon?” “No… Earth.” “Earth?” Waller laughed, “Sir, we cannot allow the Covenant back onto Earth. Not again.” “We’ll have to take that risk. Land in New Mombassa. That one Covenant cruiser jumped into Slipspace there. Now, it is nothing but a barren landscape. Land there. We can take care of the aliens later.” Tom said. Waller had no better choice. Besides, the Seraphs would probably burn up in the atmosphere. “Alright! Marines! Next stop--- New Mombassa!” Lewis said.



Fred and Will checked the area. Smith came up next to them. “Status?” “We’ve reached the surface. Fred grabbed a chunk of earth and thrust it over to the side. The three humans climbed through. “We made it!” they were on snowy land again. Three Shades turned their turrets inward at them and fired streams of plasma. They took cover behind the rocks and returned fire. Smith made a series of hand gestures, telling the two Spartans to hold their position and cover him. They aimed and fired their rifles, killing one of the gunners in a Shade. Smith climbed in and familiarized with the controls. He pressed a greenish-yellow yoke on the triggers and fired a lance of red-purple plasma that splashed into the other Shade gunner. The Grunt fell over the standing gun, a hole burrowed through its chest. A Ghost zoomed in and started to aim at the Shade. They fired at the exact same moment. Smith exchanged his large, bulgy plasma lances for the Ghost’s stream of small, blue plasma streaks in an awkward reciprocal fire. Fortunately, the Shade won out. The Ghost wobbled over and burst into flames. The driver fell forward and collapsed to the ground. Smith saw the third and last Shade gunner fire plasma at him. He hopped out just in time before the plasma bolts shattered the captured Shade. Will, who emerged from the rocks, fired his MA5B into the clearing and killed the Shade gunner. They advanced toward two dead Marines and an flipped vehicle. One of the Spartans flipped the vehicle over. It was a Mongoose, one of the newer vehicles of the UNSC. It had a gun mounted onto the top of the handlebars. Smith gave a low whistle. “Sir. Maybe you can use this ATV. We’ll hang here and call for evac.” Fred said. “Why couldn’t you have called for evac in the caves?” Smith asked the Spartan, mounting up the Mongoose. “With all due respect, we were all underground. We couldn’t send a transmission there,” the Spartan replied started to open the COM. “Of course. Sorry I asked.” Smith threw his empty SMG onto the ground and scooped up a Battle Rifle off the floor. He pushed the throttle and the Mongoose zoomed through the snow. Fred turned on the COM. “Echo 411, we’re ready for pickup.” “Roger,” the pilot answered, “I have just located Stacker’s platoon an hour ago. We’re coming over. Echo 411 out.”



The trip through the atmosphere was a quiet one. Only Waller and Lewis moved inside the cockpit. The other passengers in the cargo bay sat in their seats, strapped in and rifles in their laps. There was a twenty-minute silence in the cabins, until the Spartan broke it. “Waller!” Tom hollered over the roar of the engines. “How much longer do we sit down here?” Waller didn’t even glance at him, but his eyes were glued to the controls and cockpit windows. “Five… ten minutes. Maybe even fifteen if that Phantom’s still following us.” Tom frowned and looked over. “What Phantom?” he started, but he saw a Covenant dropship fly in a couple hundred meters away. “They must have followed us in along with the Seraphs!” Hawkins couldn’t stand it any longer. “We have to defend ourselves from the Covenant? Crap!” he babbled, “We barely survived on the Odyssey!” “Hey, Hawkins!” Connor yelled, “Your hometown is New Mombassa, right?” “Well, yeah. I guess.” “Terrific!” Tom said, sitting back down on his seat. “You’ll be our Ensign! You can guide us through New Mombassa! Or… what’s left of it.” Ensign Steven Hawkins grumbled, but managed a “yes, sir.” Connor stretched his head. “Seraphs! Incoming!” Waller looked at the teardrop-shaped fighters. “Nah. They can’t pass the atmosphere. Not ours at least.” he said, watching them melt away and burst into flames. After several minutes passed, the Pelican finally exited the atmosphere. Parts of the dropship’s wings were burned off, but Lewis had activated some stabilizers. The passengers sunk into their seats and stared at the Marine on the opposite side of them. Lewis deployed parachutes onto the back of the Pelican. The ship swiveled left and right. Waller watched, as the dry, barren landscape of what was New Mombassa grew larger and larger from the cockpit window. “Careful! Hold on to your seats! It’s gonna be a rough landing! Once we land, make sure that---” he called, seconds before the Pelican slammed into the ground hard. Everyone slung forward, their seat belts ripped apart. Tom closed his eyes and heard Montoya scream and Connor shout as the Pelican screeched to a violent stop. Tom opened one of his eyes and saw weapons and gear on the metal floor. His shields were completely depleted. A shrill alarm rang in his helmet, as the shields recharged. He opened his other eye and saw everyone’s bodies on the floor. Dead, alive, or unconscious… he couldn’t tell. There was blood splattered all over the walls. Tom saw Connor roll over and lean on a seat. He had a shallow cut on the right side of his forehead. He held a paper wrapper over the wound. Montoya sat up with a left black eye. Hawkins stirred over on the ground and finally got up onto his feet. His injuries were mild, but worse than the others. The other Leathernecks stood up. Waller and Lewis unstrapped themselves and walked over to the cabin. Tom made a body count. No one’s dead… yet, he thought, this is good. He waited for the Marines to recover from their minor cuts and scratches. “Alright!” the Spartan yelled. “We’re moving out!” The Leathernecks grabbed their Battle Rifles and jumped off of the ramps and scanned the area. Tom called a clear, so did everyone else. “Ensign Hawkins,” he said, glaring at the land and remnants of buildings. “Where the hell are we?” “We’re um… near a liquor store. There’s a large company building across the street. Maybe we can take cover there,” the Ensign said. “Thanks, Private.” Tom checked his Assault Rifle and continued on. “Man! I lost my camera!” Connor said, feeling around on his bandana. He was shooting a documentary for his family. He straightened the olive-drab bandana and shook himself. Tom had ordered Lewis and Waller to hold their positions to repair the essential parts on the Pelican. The six humans regained their footing and scattered out. The Phantom landed on the next hill, unloading a group of Brutes and Jackals. Tom came over and lied on the top of the hill on top of the grass. “You, Montoya! Get me a sniper rifle.” Montoya took no moment to pause and ran back to the Pelican. He came back with a long rifle. He handed it to Tom, as he extended the weapon’s stock. Tom aimed the rifle at a Major Brute’s head. He pressed the trigger and saw a round fly straight and true and pass the Brute’s metal helmet. It doubled over by the attack and collapsed. He fired two more times and a pair of Minor Brutes fell. He saw at the corner of his eye Montoya wiping blood off his chest plate. He shot a Jackal and reloaded. When there were no more enemies of opportunity, so he called in the Leathernecks. “Marines! Move it up!” The Leathernecks came over, their Battle Rifles aimed, and fired. Three Jackals fell over, as Brutes fired their Brute Shots. One of the grenades hit Connor, sending him flying back three feet. He stood back up, his chest and arm bleeding. “Crap!” he yelled, firing a trio of bullets at the Brute that hit him. Then, another Phantom landed in the middle of the battle. “Great! They have reinforcements!” Hawkins yelled. His team took cover and reloaded their weapons. Only this time, Elites and Grunts came out. They located the Brutes and Jackals. They fired their plasma weapons. The Leathernecks and the Spartan raised their eyebrows in confusion. “What is this, friendly fire?” Connor asked. Montoya scratched his sleek hair. “I dunno, but I think it’s best that we stay out of their feud.” Tom aimed through the scope of his sniper again and picked off a Grunt shooting a Brute. “Hey, Marines. Do you want the Brutes, the Jackals, the Elites, or the Grunts alive for you to kill?” Montoya replied, “Brutes are too hard for us…” “Jackals are wimps with their shields.” Hawkins said. “…And there’s no fun in shooting Grunts…” Connor thought, “…But it’s safer. Think you can leave the Grunts alive for us to kill?” Tom nodded, “I can, Corporal. I’ll target the Elites first. Their damn shields kill the fun.” he shot a Major Elite in the head. He emptied the rest of his clip and then reloaded. He killed another four Elites in four shots and then discarded the sniper. He cocked his Assault Rifle and fired. His comrades joined him. The three-way triangular battle raged on. First, the Elites all died. The Grunts ran around in circles, as Jackal snipers picked some of them off. The Marines settled back, waiting for the battle to unfold. When the Jackals were shot, the two Brutes ganged onto the six Grunts and attacked. Connor shot one of the Grunts and then retreated back to his hiding spot. The Brutes and Grunts charged at each other. Tom used the motion detector to monitor the battle. After a couple minutes of plasma and blood, two Grunts survived the battle. “Oh, yeah! We bad!” one of them yelled. Tom and Montoya came in a swept the Grunts. “Area secured!” Tom yelled, still on the hilltop. The grass suited well in their environment. The Marines’ camouflage fatigues and greenish-colored armor seemed to disappear in the grass. The Spartan’s green suit fitted it, as well. “Status!” Tom yelled. “There are Banshees patrolling the skies, sir. More Ghosts inbound.” Montoya glanced along the hills. “Sir! Maybe we should take cover in that building I mentioned.” the Ensign said. “Sure, Private Hawkins. Everyone… follow Hawkins!” Tom and his Leathernecks racked a fresh magazine into their assault and battle weapons and continued down the depression. “Which direction?” Hawkins glanced at his modernized compass. “East, sir.” “Very well.” Tom said. “Let’s get a move-on!” Connor retied his bandana over his head and clicked his safety switch on.

Section 3B: The Infidels Have Arrived “Alright, Sergeant. Thirty seconds and closing!” Major Easley said over the COM. “Thank you. I want the entire butte bombed. Those octopus freak shows aren’t messing with us again!” Parker replied. “Okay. I’m gonna nape the entire area.” the Major said, “Steer clear. Pull any Marines out now.” “Affirmative.” Major Easley hung the COM up and placed his fingers onto the fire control switches. When his air squad was directly above the mesa, Easley saw Flood combat forms and infection forms dawdle at them. Plasma bolts, needles, and bullets filled the sky. Three of Easley’s wing mates were hit, but two of them managed to stay in the sky. The other, with a line of smoke trailing it, dropped all of the Longsword’s bombs before it crashed. The pilot safely ejecting and came down with a parachute. “Launch projectiles… Now!” Easley unsealed the bomb hatch and saw twelve bombs fall out of his Longsword fighter. Seven of them landed onto a group of tents, as the other five slammed onto the ground, creating blossoms of smoke and fire. Eighteen of his squad mates unloaded their bombs as well. Easley watched as two hundred and six black objects hurl toward the butte and explode. Several bullets smacked into Easley’s Longsword. He pulled the fighter up and saw another five of his wing mates explode and eject. Plasma bolts scorched their armor. Easley and thirteen other Longswords fired their missiles as well, to help drain out the Flood. A thousand screams echoed through the walls of the butte. “Thanks for the air strike, Major.” Sergeant Parker said, “We’ll go and secure the area.” “No problem. Anytime.” Major Easley breathed and tore off his flight helmet.



Stacker looked at Smith’s scarred face. “We’re headed to the control room to stop some S. O. B. from activating Halo.” Echo 411 said. “No prob.” Fred, a Spartan next to Smith, said. Will sat on the opposite side of him. Jones sat at the very edge, with his sniper rifle cradled in his arms. The Pelican swiveled around. The Marines could tell that they were in a new environment now. It read six o’ clock on Stacker’s watch. He wished at the UNSC’s crème de la crème were still alive for the upcoming battle. He also wanted Major Marshall Bradford, Master Sergeant Antonio Silva, and Staff Sergeant Marvin Mobuto all alive again. Too bad they’re all dead now. Stacker tried to remember how each member on his roster died. He recalled finding Sergeant Mobuto’s mangled body in a temple during his first operation on Delta Halo. He remembered at Sergeant Silva and Major Bradford all perished in an explosion on the Calm and Cooperative last night. He shook his head of these thoughts and glanced at a Leatherneck across the Pelican, Baird. According to other Leathernecks, he was younger, hipper, and cheap. Baird was busy cleaning his gun. Dubbo and Fitzgerald were chatting about their upcoming battle and what they would do. Jones just sat in his seat, glancing through the scope of his sniper and occasionally wiping the lens. The Pelican roared into a clearing now. They saw Brutes and Elites fighting one another. A Warrant Officer had told Echo 411, who told his passengers, that a civil war broke out between the Covenant. The Brutes clubbed the Elites down and then started to shoot their grenades and plasma bolts at them. Some of them even carried Shotguns! “Step on it, Echo 411!” Malcolm yelled. He was the one that had taken Mitchell’s tags on the landing platform a couple hours ago. Smith silenced him and then sat back down in his seat. The holy Covenant had finally broken up, he laughed, just when I thought they were at the top of their game. He then remembered a saying from his old trainer Sergeant Hefner. “The Covenant are the monsters in your closet. They are the destroyers of all of mankind. They are also our targets. Shoot away.” he recalled another saying, “We must live to fight another day.” All of Hefner’s phrases were cheesy, but they encouraged many Marines, good or bad alike. Just then, the Pelican slowed to a hover. “We’re entering a heavily guarded area. It’s filled with Covenant armor supports. Do you want to continue?” Echo 411 asked. The Marines stared at each other. Stacker stood up and manned the rear chain-gun. Smith nodded. “Go ahead. You have permission to only return fire as well.” The Pelican’s engines roared again and the massive dropship blasted off.



Montoya and Hawkins landed onto their feet. They had jumped off of a rock and landed next to their squad. Tom sat in thought, his MA5B dangling from his fingers. His team had just encountered three Grunts and two Brutes on the way to their current location. Three Banshees flew in overhead. One of the Leathernecks signaled at the other. The first one loaded an explosive charge into a rocket launcher. The second one hoisted the launcher over their shoulders as they fumbled with the massive weapon. The Banshees located them, and their plasma cannons flickered and discharged plasma. The second Marine fired a rocket, blasting one of them out of the sky. Molten steel and lights shattered all over the ground. The two Marines dodged a lance of plasma and readied for the second shot. The Leatherneck fired, missing the one they were targeting, but hit the one behind it. The Banshee wobbled, crashed into a building, and skidded to the ground. The two Marines had lost the launcher when the last one shot the weapon into two pieces. One of them covered his helmet and ran backwards. The other just sprinted away and took excellent cover inside an alley. Tom fired an entire clip into the Banshee’s hull on full-auto. The flier crashed into a blown-off tree and exploded. Just then, three Brutes came and roamed the streets. Tom and his five-man squad raised their rifles and fired. One of them was caught in the barrage and was swept off its feet. The other Brute fired a grenade, blowing Tom and Hawkins backwards. Hawkins’ Battle Rifle shattered in half, as he picked it up. He tossed it and found Tom’s Assault Rifle. He looked at Tom, who was still on the floor, his shields drained. He grabbed the rifle and saw that the two Brutes had closed in. The second Brute, with a Brute Plasma Rifle, squeezed the trigger and red plasma flew in all directions. Half a dozen bolts scorched and torn into Hawkins’ armor plating like paper, but he managed to fire full-automatic into the Brute’s abdomen. Hawkins fell over, watching the Brute die. He seethed through his bloody teeth and tried to move. He sat up and saw to his horror that both his legs were shot up pretty badly. His chest plate had been completely torn apart and penetrated. One of his arms was shot as well. He checked the Assault Rifle’s ammo counter: 21. He scrambled to his feet in pain and fired the rest into the last Brute’s chest using one hand to hold up the rifle. The Brute reared back and clutched the bayonet part of the Brute Shot. It sliced through Hawkins arm and gore spurted out. Hawkins fell back and closed his eyes. He felt the blade of the bayonet sink into his face and pull out. “Hawkins!” Montoya yelled. Connor scoped in his Battle Rifle and fired at the Brute. The ammo counter on his weapon clicked each time he fired the rifle: 21, 18, 15, 12, 09, 06, 03, and then 00. The weapon clacked; it was empty. Connor saw the Brute sprawl on the floor next to Hawkins. He pressed two fingers onto the left side of Hawkins’ neck. He felt a couple heartbeats, until he heard Hawkins make his last breath. He felt nothing else and then stripped his tags. Tom got up and saw Connor putting something in his pouch. He tore off his helmet and rubbed his head. “Oh…” he groaned. His shields were back to normal. He stood up and walked over to the three dead Brutes. “Status!” he barked, putting his helmet back on. “We lost our Ensign.” Montoya said, smoothing his sleek, brown hair back. He patting Hawkins’ corpse on the chest. “His condition’s too critical.” Connor sat down and untied his olive-drab bandana and used it as a sweat towel. He tied it back onto his head and made sure it was snug and tight. “We lost a Battle Rifle and we lost ammo for another one.” he tossed his Battle Rifle over his back and grabbed for the dropped MA5B that Hawkins was using. He handed it to Tom. “Thanks. I have ammo for the Battle Rifle just take it.” Tom slapped a new clip into the Assault Rifle and tossed Connor the rest of the BR-55 bullets. “Let’s hold our position. But this time… We keep our guard out.”



Parker slid down the slope and looked at the fiery remains. He had a Flood prisoner, Kirk. The Leathernecks had restrained it from attacking. “So, former PFC Kirk. Do you have any idea where the rest of the freak shows are?” Kirk moved one of his fingers toward the earth. Parker looked questioningly at his boot. He found out that anti-Kirk was pointing at the opposite end of the butte. They were actually much more farther than they expected. “Huh…” Parker said. He glanced at Kirk’s hideous body and then drew his sidearm. “Ah!” one of the Marines screamed. Parker shot Kirk in the head with the M6D. The former Marine fell over, its tentacles flailing. Parker shot it seven more times on the ground. To make sure that combat form Kirk would not reanimate, Parker shot it another four times and then tossed the pistol away. “I’m sorry, Private.” Parker hesitated, “You didn’t deserve this.” The Marine that screamed ran over toward Kirk’s mutated body. “But… sir!” she called, “He was helping us!” “He was a Flood being. He could turn into a carrier form and then burst all of these infection forms out. A single being can multiply in hours.” Parker explained, “That’s just way too fast for us.” He drove his hands into a part of Kirk’s body and reached his tags. The Marine sighed, “It’s true…”



Half-Jaw climbed off of the tank. The Arbiter stared at him. “Now what?” “We must stop Tartarus from reaching the control room.” the Arbiter saw a Spectre zoom in. “Spec Op ‘Zorkamee!” the Arbiter yelled. “We needed your support!” The Spec Op Elite climbed out of the Spectre. “Arbiter! Let’s move! Tartarus’ Phantom just landed in the control room!” “Quickly! We must scatter out! We’ll find that one Scarab on the way toward the control room.” Half-Jaw said. “Take my Wraith. You’ll need it.” He manned the turret on ‘Zorkamee’s Spectre. He climbed into the driver’s hatch. The two occupants rumbled into the opposite direction of the control room where the Scarab is. The Arbiter hopped into the Wraith and gunned the engine. The two vehicles cleared into the valley. Brutes on Ghosts zapped their plasma cannons at them. The Arbiter took no pause in blasting every single one of them. “Maybe if we recover our Scarab, we will be able to kill-haul the Brutes and blast the control room into bits with the disintegration beam!” “Negative, Arbiter. We still use it to find the control room.” Half-Jaw shouted. He pivoted the turret and blasted two Jackals coming in at them. They reached a large clearing. A Brute Phantom fired its plasma beams at them. On the opposite side, three Wraiths and twelve ground troops infested the rocks. “We’ll take care of the ground troops,” ‘Zorkamee said. “Arbiter, you can take out that Phantom.” It was easy for the Arbiter to destroy the Phantom. After three layers of armor were blasted off of the hull, he managed to blast it with only six comet-like blasts. He turned the Wraith around and saw two remaining Wraiths left. The first one was presumably destroyed by the Spectre. He rolled the tank into the rocks and confirmed it was demolished. He fired two bombs into one Wraith and then three at the other. Flames surrounded the tank and blood covered the damp sand. The Arbiter climbed out of the hatch and saw that the battle was over. Half-Jaw and ‘Zorkamee stood at the entrance of a large building inside a huge chasm. “There, Arbiter. That Scarab main gun blast the doors of the control room. At the far end of the beach, there’s a passage. It should lead you up to the Scarab.” Half-Jaw announced, “The cruiser is under control of the Brutes. I’ll stick here and make sure no reinforcements get in behind you. Then, I’m going to take the cruiser back!” The Arbiter entered through the proximity-activated doors and then saw another Spec Op Elite jumped out with a Needler in each hand. “The Arbiter? I thought he was dead! Hold your fire!” he lowered his Needlers and saluted him, “The Hunters have come to our aid, Arbiter. They will fight by our side.” The Hunters and the Elites fought valiantly through labyrinths of chambers and chasms until they reached what seemed like a detention block. “Free our brothers! Death to the Brutes!” the Spec Op shouted. The Arbiter found a Carbine on the weapon crate and zoomed in at a row of a solid, holographic wall. The two Hunters that the Arbiter had met earlier were killed by Brute Shots, but luckily, he found some more in the detention block. There were panels on the center floor of holographic doors. There were two Hunters in one cell and two white-armored Councilor Elites trapped in separate cells. He took his Carbine and used the scope to zoom in on the Hunters’ cell panel. He pressed the trigger and a green light slammed into the panel. The holographic doors disappeared and the two Hunters came out. They blasted the Brutes and Jackals guarding the block with their Fuel Rod Cannons. The Spec Op Elite shouted and joined in the battle. The Hunters used their shields and melee attacked the panels on the Councilor Elites’ cell walls. They collected Plasma Rifles and ushered the Brutes into a defensive position. The Arbiter grabbed a Brute Shot of his own next to a fallen Major Brute and launched a grenade into a Jackal. He slammed the bayonet into the other and watched it tumble on the floor. The Councilors and their oval-crest shaped helmets roamed around the detention block. When the rest of the Brutes were dead, the Elites and Hunters checked their weapons and proceeded to where the platform to the Scarab was. �Section 3C: Banshee Dogfight Johnson was sitting on the floor when the Brutes guarded the platform. Echo 411’s Pelican had touched down onto the platform earlier. The blocky Pelican had only unloaded two Marines, Stacker and Baird, before it was shot down by Brutes with their Brute Shots and Brute Plasma Grenades. The pilot of the Pelican died in the crash, but only several Marines survived. Jones, Smith, Fred, Dubbo, and three other Leathernecks were the only survivors. Jones had grabbed their tags and then unlatched the Mongoose off of the rear of the downed dropship. On top of the platform, Stacker, Baird, and Johnson stood in their exact spots until the same Elite, the one that attacked Johnson at the Library, and a complement of Elites and Hunters stormed the area. He and his two Marines scrambled to their feet and grabbed Plasma Pistols from the weapon crates. The Brutes directed their attention away from them and looked at the Arbiter’s group. Johnson climbed onto the Scarab, shot the two Brute technicians, threw them overboard, and ran into the helm of the Scarab. He watched through the camera the entire battle unfolding. His two Marines were zapping their Plasma Pistols at the back of the Brutes, as the Covenant took the brunt of the attack. He saw one Spec Op Elite fall over and die. “Sucker,” he whispered. He used one of the flak plasma cannons and rushed a Jackal onto the floor. When the battle was over, and two Elites and one Hunter remained, the Arbiter turned around at the Scarab. “Listen. You don’t like me and I sure as hell don’t like you.” Johnson began on the external intercom on the Scarab. “But if we don’t do something, Mr. Mohawk’s gonna activate the ring. And we’re all gonna die.” The Arbiter used his translator and spoke, “Tartarus has locked himself inside the confines of the control room. I can’t get in.” “Well, I just happen to have a key.” Johnson powered up the cannon. “Come on, grab a Banshee and give me some cover. Mr. Mohawk’s gonna know we’re coming.” The Arbiter didn’t trust the human, but he had no choice. He had to. He saw two allied Banshees fly into the clearing. Three other enemies in Banshees came in after them. “Banshees! Inbound!” Baird yelled. He fired his Plasma Pistol at the oncoming Banshee, until it tackled him, sending him plummeting off of the platform and landing onto the stale sand a hundred meters down. What was left of Baird landed onto the sand and crawled over to regain his plasma weapon. He saw a green orb of light shoot out and slam onto his back. His body flew into the air and exploded. Fred found the body and gazed up at the moving Scarabs and Banshees. Back on the platform, Stacker dodged the Banshee’s kamikaze-like dive bomb and recovered his Battle Rifle that was taken by the Brutes. The allied Banshees shot that one down and then continued onto the other. The two Banshees landed onto the platform. “Use our rides, Arbiter.” a Major Elite said. A Minor Elite on the other side said, “We must hurry, Arbiter! Tartarus is going to fry the Elites!” The Arbiter climbed into the Minor Elite’s Banshee and lifted the flier off. He quickly located the Scarab and started to launch an assault. He used his plasma cannons for ground troop, turrets, and other enemy Banshees. But he used his fuel rod cannon to roast Wraiths and Spectres. One Spectre was lucky enough to shoot the Arbiter’s right wing off of the Banshee. The Arbiter’s Banshee crashed into the Spectre, knocking it over and sending metal and alloy flying in all directions. The Arbiter regained control of the Banshee and fly at a low altitude. He raised the flier and found a Shade shooting at him. The Arbiter saw Johnson’s Scarab blast the machine into pieces. “Arbiter! You there?” a voice crackled over the COM. “’Zorkamee? Is that you?” “Affirmative, we need to find a way inside the control room.” “Don’t worry.” the Arbiter reassured the Elite. “We’ve sided with the humans. They will help us locate and defeat Tartarus.” “How long have I been gone?” ‘Zorkamee asked. His Banshee banked toward starboard. “Not long.” the Arbiter and his wing mate have reached the exterior of the control center. Johnson’s Scarab walked toward a lake that surrounded the control room’s temple. “Stay clear of the door!” Johnson yelled, “Hey, bastard! Knock! Knock!” The Arbiter stared at the Scarab in confusion. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Gimme some room!” The Arbiter switched his translator to English and then realized what Johnson was saying. He bailed and fled Johnson’s line of fire. However, ’Zorkamee’s Banshee was still in the way. “Hey listen. I’m gonna count to three. One… Two…” The Arbiter tackled his Banshee and the two fliers tumbled around in the sky. The Scarab’s cannon powered up and a stream of blue-greenish beams of light filled the doorway with fire and exploded. The Arbiter’s left wing was now twisted off. He dragged the Banshee onto the platform on the temple and climbed out. “Go, Arbiter!” ’Zorkamee yelled. “We’ll take over from here.” His Banshee flew in toward the Scarab and landed on it. The Spec Op Elite climbed out and joined Johnson inside the helm. �Section 3D: The Return to the Odyssey Tom and Montoya walked into the streets and checked their positions. In the area they were in now, they were screwed. Tom had just picked up a report saying that Waller and Lewis had been ambushed by Jackals at the damaged Pelican. Connor and a Leatherneck were sent there to go check it out, but in the meantime, they found a group of Grunts and Jackals battling next to a melted mailbox. Tom used his M6D to scope in on the Grunts. Blam! He shot one Grunt. Blam! He shot another. When he ran out of bullets in the clip, there were only two Grunts against thirteen Jackals left. The vulture-like creatures lowered their shields and shot the Grunts in the face. Tom reloaded the pistol with practiced ease and then moved on. Montoya and another Marine were using their BR-55s to shoot and distract the Jackals from Tom’s scoped-in assault. Pretty soon, the enemy counter dropped from thirteen to ten, and then to nine, and then eight and so on until the shield-bearing Jackals were killed. “Sucker!” Montoya yelled, shooting a dead Jackal in the head.

“Here’s a little gift for you!” Connor shouted, unclipping a grenade and launching into the air. The grenade bounced off of the Pelican and onto the Jackal’s positions. It detonated, killing three goons and stunning five of them. The Leatherneck opened fire along with his comrade. Waller was shooting his Magnum at them, lying down and picking off shots at them. Connor and the Marine jumped off a rock and ushered the last of the Jackals. They panted and then came up to Waller. “Where’s… Lewis?” the Marine asked between breaths. Waller stared at the floor. “He got injured by the Jackals. He’s lying down in the cabins.” The three Leathernecks proceeded to the cargo bay. “Here.” They found Lewis sprawled on the seats, gasping for air. The Marine, who clung at the edge, heard static sizzling through the cockpit. “What’s that?” Waller looked at the control panel and then put a headphone over his ears. A static-filled transmission said, “This is Captain… Abercrombie… Need… Spartan-146... Up here ASAP… Odyssey … defended.” Waller spoke into the COM. “Captain, please repeat.” Abercrombie spoke again. “You can… return to Odyssey… ship is… defended… Covenant forces have… retreated.” The COM was later filled with static. The pilot turned it off and looked at the three humans in the cabins. “We have permission to return to the Odyssey.” Waller announced. “Alright! Let’s get this show on the road!” Lewis coughed, struggling to sit back up. Connor shouted into his own COM, “Sir. The Odyssey has been defended. I recommend that you hurry back to the Pelican. The Pelican is nearly repaired now.” “Roger, we’re coming over. 146 out.” Tom said. He closed the COM. “They’re coming now,” Connor told Waller. “Good. We can ditch this place.” Waller strapped himself into the right cockpit seat. Lewis struggled to his feet, but then saw a shadow cast over the cargo bay. “Elites!” he hollered. The Marines scrambled toward their weapons and fired at the Stealth Elites. An Energy Sword sliced past and missed Connor’s head by mere inches. Connor and his Marine friend spun, kicked, and then launched a couple bullets at the two Elites. They materialized and clubbed Connor head over heels. He fell over on his stomach. The other Marine fired his BR-55 and rolled over. One of the Elites dodged the attack and cut him down with the sword. “No!” Connor screamed. He picked up his rifle and shot the Elite across the chest. He looked at the Leatherneck with vengeance and then seemed to bellow and fall. Connor saw Waller behind him with a smoking Magnum. “I’ll cover ya…” the pilot said. Connor then turned to the other gray-armored sucker. He seemed to vanish. He squinted his eyes and realized that the Elite was right behind him. It slashed across his back and stomped him onto the floor. Lewis was busy climbed into the cockpit and shooting his Magnum at the Elite. He swiped his arm and slammed into Lewis’ head. Montoya, Tom, and the other Marine had just arrived in time. Tom saw Connor and Lewis on the floor, one dead Marine, and Waller shouting and pointing behind him. He frowned and said, “What?” He was clubbed from behind and his shields weakened. The Energy Sword slashed into his arm as he winced. Tom grabbed the handle on the sword. Pretty soon, the Stealth Elite and Tom were battling over the plasma weapon. The Marines and pilots were helpless, because they might hit Tom, with his shields down. Connor was standing again, with his Battle Rifle ready to shoot. When he had a clean shot at the Elite, he tried to pull the trigger. The sword had already cut through the rifle into two pieces. Connor found himself with a piece of the rifle in each hand. He tossed them away and grabbed for Tom’s Assault Rifle. He squeezed the trigger and found the rifle spitting a blast of projectiles. The Elite stepped backward, the Energy Sword now in Tom’s hand. Connor unleashed a barrage of bullets again and splattered the Elite across the chest. The alien landed on the Pelican cabins and snarled, his mandibles wide and huge. Connor shoved the barrel into the Elite’s mouth and hissed, “Rot in hell.” he squeezed the trigger and blood spattered all over the cabin floor. The Marines pushed the Elite out of the cabins and strapped themselves in. “Let’s get the hell outta here!” Lewis said, climbing into the cockpit. “Not now.” Tom said. He put Lewis into a passenger seat in the back. “You’re too hurt to pilot this thing.” “Do you know how to fly this Pelican?” Lewis said putting his seatbelt on. “Yeah. I was in Silva’s flight training two years ago.” he sat into Lewis’ seat on the left. “Hang tight, gentlemen.” Waller boosted the thrusters and heard Montoya shout, “Hunters!” He hovered the dropship over the earth, as Tom used his gunning skills to use the chin gun and tear down the walking behemoths. “Kick it!” Tom hollered. Waller revved the engine and the dropship sped off past the atmosphere. “We made it!” Connor yelled, brushing the Elite’s blood off of the barrel of the MA5B. “Yeah! We rock!” Montoya screeched, “You are the species! We‘re the extinction, you stupid Covies!”



For the next half hour, the Pelican blasted off a high speed and returned to the Odyssey. Boy, were they happy to be back. “Thomas!” Abercrombie said, as the Marines exited the Pelican in the hangar bay. “Captain Abercrombie! You look horrible.” Tom joked, looking at the Captain’s uniform filled with sweat, human blood, and Covenant blood. “Yeah. You don’t look any better.” Abercrombie sent the Marines to their dorms on the Odyssey. “Yo, 146! Whassup?” the technician Harper asked. “Good, crewman. How’d you guys do?” Cooper scratched his head and admitted, “We hid the whole time in the cryo-bay after you left the Odyssey.” “Where’s Sergeant Sims? I want to talk to him.” Tom said. The two techs looked at each other and said, “Oh…” “What?” “Yeah, well…” Harper began, “…Sergeant Sims… didn’t survive the attack.” Tom sighed and cursed. “Yeah,” Cooper said. “He got shot down by Grunts and Jackals. Somehow, the Covenant started fighting each other.” Tom raised an eyebrow and told them that the Covenant broke out a civil war. What the heck, he thought. He told the two techs the whole story of Tom’s adventures back on Earth.

SECTION FOUR: THE BULWARK OF THE BRUTES Section 4A: The Temple Stacker caught up with his platoon when they battled up the stairs. They met up at the platform with the Hunter and Council Elites. “Status…” he barked. “We lost Corporal Fitzgerald and Malcolm.” Dubbo reported. “The pilots and Warrant Officer Will were perished in the crash.” Jones said. “Sucks.” Stacker replied, “Yeah, looks like Baird didn’t make it either.” He peered over the edge. “We need to get to that control room now!” “How?” Smith asked, “The others have been killed and our Pelican was totally well, totaled.” One of the Councilor Elites came up to them. “I’ve called for reinforcements. They’re sending a Phantom for us.” “Great… an alien ship.” Jones whispered. Fred shrugged. “Well, it’s not that bad. We have to rendezvous with Johnson, Keyes, and the Arbiter dude.” Fred said. “We must get to that control room immediately!”



The Arbiter grumbled. He was in one of the chambers now. Brutes and Drones poured out from all directions. He mercilessly shot all of them. He dragged his sore feet into a large hallway. “Tartarus!” he hollered, his call echoing throughout the halls. He ran down the side and found a large, spherical room with three floating platforms in the middle. He stared at the dark abyss below the platforms. He heard a Brute grumble, “Now take the Icon in your hands… and do as you are told!” It was Tartarus, no doubt. The Arbiter heard an artificial voice. It was 343 Guilty Spark. According to the Covenant, he was known as the Oracle. “Please! Use caution! This reclaimer is extremely delicate!” Spark yelled. “One more word and I’ll rip your eye out of your socket!” Tartarus shook the robot. “Tartarus, stop!” the Arbiter hollered. Tartarus and five other Honor Guard Brutes turned and looked at him. “Impossible!” one of them exclaimed. “Put down the Icon.” the Arbiter pointed at the greenish-gray object clenched in Tartarus’ hand. “Put it down… and disobey the Hierarchs?” the Brute Chieftain inquired, his mane shuttering. “These are the things about Halo that even the Hierarchs don’t even understand…” the lone Elite armed his Plasma Rifle. The Brute Honor Guards stepped forward to engage the Arbiter, but Tartarus waved them back. “Take care, Arbiter. What you say is heresy!” the Chieftain tapped his Gravity Hammer impatiently on the metallic floor. “Oh, is it? Oracle!” the Arbiter called out. 343 Guilty Spark flashed a bluish glow and turned to the alien. “What is Halo’s purpose?” Spark turned to Tartarus, then to the Arbiter. “Collectively, the seven rings--” “NOT ANOTHER WORD!” Tartarus boomed, his voice echoing through the chambers. He started to bend Spark’s metallic exterior. “Please…” a calm voice called from behind them. The Arbiter spun and saw Sergeant Avery Johnson, standing long and proud, a Beam Rifle in his hands. “Don’t shake the light bulb.” he motioned at Spark. The Brutes started to lift their Brute Shots and Shotguns to attack, but Johnson only stopped them, “Now if you want your brains kept inside your head, I’d suggest you let your boys to chill.” Tartarus lifted his hand up and the Brutes eased a bit. Johnson gestured at the Arbiter. “Go ahead… do your thing…” “The Sacred Rings… What are they?” Guilty Spark flashed. “Weapons of last resort. Used by the Forerunners to eliminate potential Flood hosts, thereby rendering the parasite harmless.” “Who made these rings and what happened to the Forerunners?” the Arbiter questioned, his mandibles lowered. “After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died as planned. Would you like to see the relevant data?" Spark eased around in Tartarus’ grip.	“Tartarus… the Prophets have betrayed us.” the Arbiter took a step forward.	The Brutes looked at each other and glared at their Chieftain for orders. Tartarus glanced at Commander Keyes, then at Spark, to Johnson, and to the Arbiter. He paused for a moment and then his disappointment turned into an evil snarl.	“No, Arbiter!” he bellowed, “The Great Journey has begun! The Brutes, not the Elites, shall be the Prophets’ escort!” he forces Keyes to slam the Index onto the main console and the three platforms in the center of the control room started to split and separate. “The schism has occurred, and the Brutes will conquer this holy war!”	Keyes felt something vibrate from underneath the chamber. She highly doubted it was an earthquake. Johnson’s heart pounded to the rhythm of booms and clashes. No, Keyes thought, Halo is… charging up to fire! She felt the Chieftain let loose of her. Tartarus armed his Gravity Hammer and his personal shield charged up. The Arbiter knew there was a going to be a fierce battle when Tartarus and five of his Brutes started forward.



Fred, the Marines, and a handful of Elites had jumped out of the Phantom a couple minutes ago, and they were now in the temple’s main hallway. Two dozens of Brutes and Jackals filled the hallway. “Go!” Smith hollered at the Elites. “We’ll handle these miscreants! You go find the Chieftain!” The Zealot and Councilor Elites adjusted their translators and nodded in agreement. They charged on forward, as the Marines fended off the Brute force. The Elites finally entered the room where the Arbiter was. They activated their Energy Swords and charged.



The Arbiter heard an angry war cry and turned to see a half-dozen Elites run onto the platform. The five Brutes next to Tartarus tensed and disappeared into a cloud of Elites and swords. Tartarus had already jumped onto the mid-section of the central platform. When the Elites stopped slashing, five Brute corpses lay on the floor. The Elites signaled at each other and all leaped into battle. The Arbiter traded in his Plasma Rifle for a Brute Shot and then leaped along with them. Tartarus was a lot tougher than he had thought. With one swing of the Gravity Hammer, he smashed two Councilor Elites to the ground dead. Only four Zealot Elites remained, as they scattered themselves. For an opponent like Tartarus, this tactic wasn’t enough to kill him. After the Zealots were clubbed and smashed into the ground, blood spilling on the platforms, the Arbiter found himself in a delicate situation. Luckily, more Elites arrived. Except this group had Councilors, Zealots, and Spec Op Elites. The Spec Ops were armed with Carbines, dual Plasma Rifles or Needlers, and Energy Swords. This was a lot for a small Covenant collective.


 * the rest is still in progress