Flight of the Phoenix: Book 1

  

Prologue
Spartan-D339 sprinted behind the rock as plasma thudded overhead. The squeal of an Unggoy was heard as he fished out another clip for his MA5C and rammed it home. He fervently wished that Commander had been able to get the new Spartans their augmentations in time, but funding was short.

A high pitched squeak made him look up. A grunt was on the rock staring down at him, pistol coming around.

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

He pushed of the rock as a bolt burned the grass where he was not a split second before. He spun and put three rounds in the villains head.

Rising from his position on the ground, he assessed the situation with a practiced eye. He was only 13 years old, but seven years of military training was more than enough to assess danger.

Spotting two nearby ODSTs, he made for their cover.

He rushed over and spotted the Brute hurling a plasma grenade.

"Get down!" He screamed, grabbing the ODSTs pushing them away. The grenade landed behind him, and glowed brighter. There was no time to move.

Hot plasma boiled along his back, cooking skin and flesh, eating him hungrily...

Chapter One: The Egg
0900 Hours, August 5th, 2555 (UNSC Military Calendar)

The young boy jerked awake as the hatch opened, spilling three thousand ten year old boys and girls out on to a large field. Blinking in the early morning hours, they began doing what most six year olds do.

They played, and fought, until a bunch of men brought them under control with glowing rods.

He was spared, not being the playing kind. He never was the playing kind, not since the monsters burned his mommy and daddy...

He was roughly shaken and ordered to watch a man. The man was very direct.

"Greetings, recruits. My name is Commander Damian Lash. You have all been called here for a specific purpose.  You are to be Spartans, our greatest warriors." The children shifted, knowing of what he spoke of but not comprehending.

"Each of you has lost someone. Many humans have after the Great War.  But you will be given a chance that few humans will ever have.  It is my duty and responsibility to prepare you to take vengeance for what you have lost."

Vengeance, thought the young boy. Yes, vengeance is a good cause to fight. The man continued to speak.

"You will be furnished with the best technology and training that we can provide. I will only be with you for a short while, but in that time I hope that you will begin to show who you will become.  Handlers!"

The men with glowing rods shepherded them to a very large building, in which they were each given a small bed and locker. Looking inside the locker, he found several uniforms similar to the ones the "handlers" had worn. It was strange, these seem custom tailored to fit him, which was odd, considering he had never met these strange people before.

After and hour (he was told the time was 1000 now) the handlers fetched them, split them all in to groups, and put them in large, round rooms with seats around the walls facing inward. He took a place at the front of the seats, nearest the center of the room.

A large human, motherly in nature, sprang in to life. The kids shrank back a bit, never having seen an AI before.

"Greetings", said the AI. "My name is The Librarian." The Librarian smiled warmly. "My job is to teach you the history of the human race and other subjects, such as math and science." For four years their days were much the same. The young boy made friends, and when the time came to form teams, they all joined him, and named themselves Phoenix Team.

Chapter Two: Formation
0900 Hours, November 19th, 2559 (UNSC Military Calendar)

The young Spartans stood at attention out on the parade grounds. Commander Lash was leaving, and they were to receive a new commander.

Phoenix Team was first out on the grounds as always, front and center. Therefore his team got the honor of being first to see the new commander.

A Pelican soared down over the trees as Commander Lash walked to greet the incoming commander. Many of the other Spartans shifted, and Wings glanced over to make sure the rest of his team remained still. They did. Good.

The Pelican touched down, and the hatch opened.

Out marched a giant, encased in entirely in green armor, minus a helmet, which Wings spotted attached to his pack as the soldier turned to greet Lash. Phoenix was close enough to hear the conversation between the two. Thankfully, Lash was good enough to call "at ease". Some of the recruits were rocking on their feet, about to faint.

"I trust your trip was comfortable, errr...", Commander Lash slipped, looking for some semblance of rank on the giant's armor.

The giant filled the void: "Lieutenant. And yes, it was comfortable, sir."

"Then I trust you are ready to begin your duties?"

"I am."

"Then I hand over the base to you. Good luck in the coming years, Lieutenant."

"Thank you." The Lieutenant helped Lash and his orderlies with the former Commander's luggage. As the Pelican took off, the orderlies carried away the Captain's small amount of luggage and the giant stood on the platform examining the trainees. They all stared back, awed.

Then the Lieutenant spoke. "My name is Ezekiel-254. I have little to say to you, except that someday, you will be like me.  This I know will happen." He glanced around. "I plan on doing a meritocracy. If you do well, you will be rewarded.  If you do wrong, then you will be punished.  Now, where is Phoenix Team?" His face did not change as Wings and his team took one step forward. "I hear you are the team that came out ahead in the initial education tests."

Did we? Thought Wings frantically. All he knew was that his scored were excellent. "Aye, sir."

"Very well", said Ezekiel. "For this, you will have the first choice of barracks. No go make your decision.  Everyone is dismissed!"

All of Phoenix's eyes widened. The purpose of the nearby barracks had made for interesting debate over the years. The children told not spook stories, but more often talked about which barracks they would want if ever they lived there. Shaking with glee, they all yelled, "Thank you, sir!" and ran off to claim their barracks.

While they were examining the barracks, they all made decisions based on their preferences within the group. Itzia and Peec, the medic and computer expert, respectively, didn't care where they go as their specialties did not have terrain requirements. Zero, the long ranged expert, wanted a barracks on a hill, while X wanted a relatively large area. So Wings proposed a compromise. They take a barracks on the border of the woods, slightly farther away from the other barracks while allowing Zero to climb to a high place.

Each barracks was 700 square meters. Five Spartans to each barracks meant that each one had a space of 140 square meters for themselves, the dimensions varying depending on positioning of living quarters and the personality of the particular Spartan.

In each living area that was to be rearranged there was a cabinet of clothing, a weapons locker, and an armor locker that held smaller versions of ODST suits. The weapons lockers were currently empty, but a note on the center table said that the ODST armor was for TTR training, and that weapons would be issued sometime in the near future.

That future turned out to be right the next morning. After getting acquainted with their new living quarters, everyone had fallen asleep or stayed awake playing cards. A favorite was a game called gapatos, a variant of the Spanish words gato, meaning cat, and zapatos, meaning shoes.

When the trainees awoke the next day, they found notes attached to the weapon lockers. X was first to have his locker open, him having the most dexterous hands.

His mouth made a silent "oooh" shape, and he lifted a brand new service pistol in to view. Everyone else had their lockers opened in a jiffy, and the team gathered around the central table to admire the pistols.

Zero ran her fingers along the barrel, examining every surface, and announced:

"Standard fare SM6D pistol. An old weapon made new. Every piece has been re engineered to give maximum power with the lowest possible recoil.  The magazine has also been extended to 18 rounds."

X sighted down his. "I wonder how often it-"

"Shut it", Wings broke the conversing.

The call-to-parade-grounds bugle was being called.

They dropped the pistols on the table and ran out, as usual, being the first team there.

Ezekiel was standing there on a small raised platform, waiting for all the teams to join. By the time the last team walked out, yawning and rubbing their eyes sleepily, and stood to attention all of Phoenix's team members were getting dizzy. There is a danger to standing at attention for too long. Locking the knees decreases blood flow to the brain, and causes fainting, so they were beyond relief when the Captain said "at ease".

Wings let out a relieved sigh as he felt blood pour back in to his head, waking him. He looked up, but Captain merely jerked his head behind him and to the left and stated, "follow me", and took off at a run designed to let them keep up.

Grumbling and complaints were heard as all 3,000 Spartans ran after him.

After about half an hour of running, the Captain stopped and lined all the Spartans up along the edge of a valley. He activated a mic set in to the collar of his uniform and said: "There are five things for each team here, in this valley. Going outside the boundaries marked by the handlers will result in disqualification.  Go." And then he watched.

Wings first had his team pause and watch. Ezekiel may run a meritocracy, but he knew that the people on top would just have things made harder for them. And they were on top right now...

Dammit. He thought to himself. He's smart so he may have hidden them in hard places for us to find, but he know we're smart and would put them hidden in plain sight.

"Zero, X, you take the depressions and clearings. The rest of us will take the hills.  Start south and comb your way forward."

Ezekiel-254 watched the trainees. The corner of his mouth twitched upward, then was stilled.

It was amusing, watch most of the trainees bumbling about, and surely, many of the handlers found hilarity in it.

Then his eyes rested on Phoenix team, and he saw the leader. He asked the orderly for his name.

"He goes by the name Wings, sir. Not sure why."

"Wings on a Phoenix, soldier, can't fly without them, that's why." Interesting, surely he knows my plan.

And surely Wings did. They combed the entire area, and while they weren't the first people back, they were the first full team back.

Ezekiel sat in his office thinking. He had to get Phoenix a challenge. The best work when they get stressed, if they get coddled, then they become weak.

''Maybe we should... no, its stupid to consider.''

Then he smiled. Stupid could be good. He just had to prove they could handle stupid.



"He wants us to do what?

Itzia let out a small sigh. "Like I said. He wants us to fight Alpha Company in a one way CTF."<

"TTR rounds?"

"Stun."

"Well, at least its more like real ammunition, which is what we've mostly been using at the range."

"Do you have a plan."

"No, guess I'll just have to hatch one."

Wings stood, folding his hands behind his head, and proceeded to mumble. The rest of the team activated the holo-table and started a game of gapatos.

Over the duration of the game, Wings alternately paced and lay on his bed, thinking.

Almost the instant the game was over, he stood, and went to the holotable.

"Normally we're limited to our resources in the room, right? Armor and pistol."

"Of course, but how does that help?" Interrupted X.

"The thing is, Captain's breaking the rules, we need to break some. Get more resources.  Raid the armory."

"And then what?" Input Peec.

"Then we put my other plan in to action."

"Raiding the armory can get us disqualified."

"Giving us a challenge five years ahead of time is grounds for reckless endangerment of personnel, and yet he had to go to another base commander and a Fleet Admiral to get permission. Everyone's rules are breaking.  Besides, the only way I can see us doing this is with some extra guns."

Chapter 3: Talons
0200, November 19th, 2559 (UNSC Military Calendar)

"Huh, that was weird."

Wings crawled over to Peec, who was supposed to be working on the lock.

"What?"

"Its... unlocked."

"Well then, lets get in there and take what we can. EMP?"

Peec grabbed a small cylindrical device and tossed it in. He and Wings stood back and waited for it to go off. Contrary to what popular media would have them believe, the EMP went off without a flash or crackle of electricity. There was just a crackling in the air, and their hair stood on end.

"Go."

Four ran in and starting ransacking the place, grabbing explosives, weapons, ammunition, and technical gadgets. Itzia remained outside, on watch. The team had at most two minutes to get what they could, and they didn't waste it.

One minute and thirty-two seconds later, they all got out, locked the door, and sneaked back to the barracks.

Once back, the loot was dumped all over and organized.

Wings examined the pile and proclaimed proudly: "Better than expected. Now, here's the plan..."



Zero sniffed and shuffled a little bit. The ghilli suit she had made was uncomfortable. She paused and decided that that was a good thing, the constant prod of a twig or whatnot kept her awake. She blew out a small breath and focused on the scope attached to the sniper rifle that she had purloined and settled out. This was where she belonged, eying her enemy in the face from several hundred meters away.

A primitive old gate slammed shut. Time to take action.

She took careful aim at a dog kennel and fired.

Not a bullet, or even a TTR round. She fired a small canister that contained high-pressure ammonia through the door of the kennel. Traces of another chemical compound contained at the tip of the round were released, dispensing the gas in aerosol form. The gas quickly filled the room, and the dogs were free of smell. A couple whined, but the handler just shushed them. Now she loaded the stun rounds, and waited.



"That's the gas, go."

Wings waved his team forward, and X roadie ran to the fence, followed by his squad mates. Pulling a vial of spray-acid, he applied it liberally and tugged.

The fence fell away, silently.

Wings almost grinned as they walked right by the dogs. The genius of his plan lay in its stupidity. With sound-proof walls and no windows, and no sense of smell, the dogs were rendered useless as a deterrent and sensor. Most bases kept dogs due to a recent shortage of motion tracking sensors and spectroscopic cams. As a result, rendering the dogs useless took out a significant portion of the base's defenses.

Now for the hard part. Wings thought, then ordered to Zero, "Hit it."

A bullet shot out of nowhere (Wings told her to set up somewhere and not tell them where) and sliced the cord holding the flag to the pull.

The crack woke the entire camp, who promptly headed for the fence and bunkers.

Once it was apparent that they were relatively safe, Wings flicked a finger forward and charged to the flag.

They had to be quick, or else...

"Oy!"

Dammit.

Wings pounded his feet even harder against the ground, and he and his team flew over the parade ground dirt, scooped up the flag, and kept going, straight ahead.

In his earpiece Zero's voice crackled: "Down, now."

Wings dropped, as did the other three, as 7.56 mm rounds flew over there head, then Zero's rifle silenced them.

Phoenix jumped up and kept running, with X whipping out the acidic aerosol, and covered him while he applied it.

Wings scored three "downs" before he felt a tap on his shoulder, and allowed himself to be pulled through the hole in the fence.

They kept running. Wings took the flag and said, "Split up, we'll rendezvous at the camp.

The nodded and sped off, hoping he could get back safely.

So did he.

He took off parallel to the fence, as dogs began barking. Even deprived of an amazing sense of smell, they still had incredibly acute hearing and sight, and he was swiftly discovered.

Now he sprinted off parallel to his team. It was a two kilometer run, and he had to do it in ten minutes before they got the Pelicans fueled...



Wings was last back to camp, and they could not be happier. They had just outgunned, outmaneuvered and outsmarted forty men who had fought toe-to-toe with the Covenant for years.



Ezekiel smiled as he watched the video from the gun-cams he had placed on the weapons Phoenix stole. Looks like they can handle stupid He thought happily.

One year, then they'll be ready.

Chapter 4: Spreading the Wings
2235 Hours, August 1st, 2562 (UNSC Military Calendar)

"Well, we have come far."

"But actual fighting?"

"We do have to start sometime." Peec sighed and turned back to the card game with X and Itzia. Zero and Wings were having another discussion. Wings wasn't happy with it again. This was understandable, he was the smart one, who did all the planning and leading stuff. Not that Peec was an idiot, he'd worked hard to be the best hacker in camp. That's why he had his name, a mispronunciation of PC, from the old computer from the 21st and 22nd century.

Now Zero was coming to join them, and Wings was pacing.

Peec turned to Zero. "Whats the story?"

Zero scowled and replied "Captain wants us to help an ODST battalion take out a Covenant beta on Zeta-9.

X and Itzia looked up. After the death of Truth the Covenant had fallen in to remission, and begun to actually develop new methods of fighting. Now they had started defensive tactics, building hyper-advanced bases. The good part is that so little experience actually defending left the Covenant using terrible building layouts and terrain location. However, they still possessed ample defenses and arms, and could take a hell of a pounding before being crippled.

Itzia spoke first, "I take it the ODSTs will have the support of the Separatists?"

Zero sat and stared at the frozen mid-air cards. "Of course, you know what this is about."

They knew. A few months ago, the Captain had announced that he was trying to open communications and establish an alliance instead of just a truce with the Covenant Separatists. Most agreed, but still, many had watched Sangheili and some of the other alien species that had joined them burn planets and slaughter innocents. They were only young when it happened, but the memory enhancement drugs had allowed them to remember what happened before they were born. And that was early enough to remember a small amount of time before the Sangheili separated from the Covenant.

Peec had in fact been about to be speared by a Sangheili commando when the call came for them to refute the Covenant and that a truce had been formed with the humans. The commando had gone slack, as if his soul had been burnt out of him. That had given Peec time to leave before a Wraith plasma mortar disintegrated the small, single-floored home where his parents lay, torn asunder.

But Peec had studied Intel of Sangheili culture in his time on ONI servers, and during their studies of Sangheili language and customs from The Librarian, and found that the Sangheili had been fooled, and that this was their punishment, to regain their lost honor. So he could understand and forgive, but he could never forget.



Thel 'Vadam paced the bridge of the Shadow of Intent, as Rtas 'Vadum tapped his fingers against the dormant command chair holo-keys.

Rtas decided to throw caution to the winds and speak his mind, "I still do not think that an alliance with the humans is possible."

The Arbiter stopped his pacing and turned to study the renowned fleet commander. "They are an honorable species. And we are going to be working with some best warriors."

Rtas snorted silently. "That is the problem, Arbiter. When a species puts forward their best, then the other is left with an inflated view of them."

The Arbiter took his words silently, finishing his last few steps to stand opposite to 'Vadum at the control holo-table.

Rtas waited. Finally, the Arbiter spoke.

I agree, which is why we are working with some of the best, the humans call them "Helljumpers". And I believe five of their younglings will be working with them..."

"Younglings!? They let their children fight for them!?"

"These are special. They are young Spartans, and the best they currently have.  After the campaign on Zeta-9 I will be with them, watching these warriors mature.  If we do not see the best in species, then we underestimate their full potential.  Have patience, Fleetmaster, we will see the worst as well as the best in humans."

Rtas 'Vadum bowed his head and concentrated on the diagrams showing the units left until they reached the human planet, and toyed with the Type-2 Energy Sword prototype attached to his leg.

"As you say, Arbiter."



Lieutenant Jacob Forge checked his BR-55 for the fourth time in the last ten minutes. Despite outward appearances, he was awkward about working with Elites. The tattoos on his arms attested to how effective he was at killing them, but he wasn't so sure about working with them. The bastards were the stuff of nightmares. He would know, he had them most every night.

And about the young Spartans who were supposed to be helping them...

Dammit, what was the galaxy coming to? They were supposed to expect help from twelve-year-olds? What could they do? They were Spartans, but they had no combat experience of any kind, and none of the augmentations or armor that made them a real asset.

Sergeant Aqil Hafsa marched up to him. They were currently under the cover of high tech sensor scrambling camouflage.

"Sir, the Spartans are here."

"Thank you Sergeant. Report back to the mess."

Forge let out a sigh and slung his battle rifle. Time to greet the newcomers. He thought.



On the other hand, maybe we're the newcomers. Forge thought dryly as he examined the small figures. They were small, but they were obviously more military in posture and practice than his men, even in the relatively heavy ODST suits they wore. Hell, even Forge didn't stand that straight, or keep his eye from wandering. The design of the ODST helmet prevented anyone from looking around too much without turning their head. And they didn't even twitch. Most of the other ODSTs were coming out of tents and the mess, staring and gesturing. A couple laughs arose, then were silenced as Hafsa shut them up.

All five of them saluted in sync, and the one in the center spoke: "Phoenix Team reporting for duty, sir."

"At ease."

Forge turned and stared at the other ODSTs, who went silent and back to their jobs.

Turning back to the Spartans, he saw that they had adjusted to the at ease stance, but had otherwise shown no other body emotion. Forge could tell that two of them were female and three male by the movement in their hips, but no other indication of personality came out of them.

Perfect soldiers he thought.

"Names."

"Spartan D339."

"D576."

"D1074."

"D102."

"D2552."

Forge let out a small breath. ''True Spartan rhetoric. Names mean nothing to them, they don't even remember their names. Its just numbers.'' But he had to ask.

"No actual names?"

"We do, sir, but we prefer to keep them private, if that's not a problem."

"Its not, Crewman. Report to you quarters.  Dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

They marched off, and Forge release his breath, then realized how relaxed he felt. Their presence had made him tense. He wasn't tense taking on three elites but these little children made him nervous.

Glad no one could see him shivering in his suit, Forge went to his quarters.



"Fleet Master, we're exiting slipspace."

'Vadum nodded towards the navigation officer, and space bent back in to reality.

Zeta-9 was in view. A small, green planet, very much like the old versions of Earth that 'Vadum had studied in the Covenant temples when being initiated as a warrior of the Prophets.

His came out of his reverie to the beeping of his com. He opened it. "Yes?"

It was the Arbiter. "Phantoms are prepared for departure. Are we close enough?"

"Yes Arbiter, proceed with launch.

'Vadum closed his com and leaned back in his chair. The Arbiter and his team would destroy the base's shields, then the ''Shadow of Intent would fulfill its duty.



Ipla 'Ihpor slid his hand forward on the throttle and grabbed the flight handle. Easing the ship forward, he took his Phantom smoothly out of the hangar, the first of three. The Minor Domo felt honored that he should be the pilot for the renowned Arbiter.

A light on the com beeped, and 'Ihpor opened a channel.

"Yes?"

"This is Sergeant Hafsa of the UNSC, please identify yourself."

Here we go. "Minor Domo Ipla 'Ihpor of the Separatist forces, from Carrier ''Shadow of Intent."

"Ah, good, you're here. Sending landing coordinates."

Not half a second later a list of coordinates flickered across the screen, and 'Ihpor started bringing the ship down. There was a lot of turbulence and some flashes as the ship broke in to the atmosphere. Then the ship broke the cloud cover, and landed among a grove of trees, with a lot of humans in black suits and five shorter ones out in front.

'Ihpor landed and headed to the rear troop compartment. Reaching out, he activated the grav beam, which the other Sangheili would use to exit the ship.

As they descended, 'Ihpor glanced to the rear of the compartment and felt his skin crawl on his back. The last one out of the Phantom was a black armored Sangheili warrior, with two Type-2 Energy Swords attached to his legs and a Type-51 Carbine across his back. But his most notable feature was his skin. It was a pale white, and his eyes had a tint of red, giving his eyes a naturally piercing stare. And 'Ihpor knew this particular Sangheili. Most Sangheili knew him.

His name is Autel 'Vadam, the son of the Arbiter, The Healer of the Schism.

'Ihpor sighed, a rare thing for a Sangheili warrior, and went back to the pilot's seat after Autel went down the grav beam.



Wings slapped his modified ODST helmet on, and the HUD flickered to life, first running a quick diagnostic check, then activating Vital signs for him and his team, as well as basic shielding, which worked about half as well as MJOLNIR Mark V armor. It wouldn't stand much, but it would give them a second or two more to get in to cover, and to drop the enemy. He grabbed two M2 Submachine Guns, and his BR55 Battle Rifle. He magnetically attached the SMGs to his thighs, and did the same with the BR across his back. He ended with his service pistol, the SM6Dm which went at the small of his back, well below the end of the BR barrel, easily accessed by his right hand, less so for his left.

After some adjustments to armor and weapons, Phoenix marched out on to the parade ground, where the rest of the combined forces were making ready.

Things between the Elites and humans had been uncomfortable, and even bordered on violence, but so far, everything was safe.

Wings left his team to stretch and wake up some more and reported to the command tent. He was annoyed by how all the ODSTs didn't trust his team to do their part, and yet they still looked up to them.

But still, he was considered the ranking CO of one of three branches of military in the region, so he got to help plan the assault.

The command tent was situated near the edge of the grove, overlooking a cliff that gave an excellent view of the Covenant base. Several high-powered telescopes had been set up, which the Arbiter and Lieutenant Forge were using at the moment.

Wings marched up to the CHT, Command Holo-Table, and saluted. "Spartan D339 reporting as ordered, sir."

Forge and The Arbiter turned, Forge giving a human salute, and the Arbiter curling his enourmous hand in a fist over his heart. Or at least, where the heart would be on a human. Surprisingly for the Arbiter, D339 responded with the Sangheili gesture. His mandibles clicked respectfully.

Forge gestured. "At ease, Corporal."

Wings relaxed and examined the CHT. Using the most powerful imagers and 3D rendering, it displayed a highly detailed base, which was quite large. He noted the refineries in the Northeast quadrant, as well as the buildings that looked like they might be barracks just south of them.

The Arbiter walked over to a corner of the room and conversed with another Sangheili, a pale one with black armor. Wings decided to meet him later, and turned his attention back to Forge, who had begun explaining what the buildings were. Turned out Wings was right about the barracks and refineries, and Forge pointed out the central command post an the Vehicle and Aircraft Depot.

"We don't have much of a plan as of yet, so any input is welcome. We have 100 Commando Sangheili, 300 ODSTs, and your team, Corporal.  And we're up against an unknown mix of about 500 Covenant troops, although we have confirmed that only four Hunters exist, and one Brute Chieftain.

Lights popped up on the map, showing predicted defensive positions and relative strength numbers.

Wings walked around the map, examining everything, and stopped when he reached the refineries.

"We can use these."

"No, we can't, the fuel isn't explosive."

"Arbiter."

The Arbiter turned from his quiet conversation with the pale elite.

"Yes, Spartan?"

"When you were learning about the intricacies of basic Covenant bases, did they ever mention exhaust or drainage for their refineries?"

"No, we were told not to worry about the details of Forerunner technology. Why do you ask?"

"Because those refineries produce more than twice the energy of a Havoc Plant, and all the excess fuel and unused energy has to go somewhere. I propose that Phoenix and a squad of Commando Sangheili find the drainage or exhaust.  If its on the exterior of the base, then our job will be much easier."

Forge just looked skeptical, but the Arbiter nodded and turned to the Pale Elite in the corner.

"Autel, take your team with Phoenix, find the exhaust, and help them with whatever plan this Spartan has in mind."

Autel saluted Sangheili style and walked out of the tent. Wings turned back to the table and said:

"Here's the plan..."



Phoenix and the Sangheili's boots splashed in to the toxic waste, and Wings was glad that their toxic filters were working. The damn things had been faulty ever since a crazy training session at a radioactive materials refinery.

They two teams continued their way up the drainage pipe, coming across what must have been the Covenant equivalent of gratings, round plasma shielding. There was no way they were getting through those, so it looked as if they'd be swimming in plasma for a minute.

The end of the pipe finally came in to sight, and the teams saw an intricate system of pipes, with one of them constantly leaking a sickly green, viscous fluid.

"Must be a neutralizing cell, to reduce the toxicity of the drain-off." One of the Sangheili input.

X leaned down and took some in a bag for analysis. "I'd tend to agree, sir," he said to Wings, "The Covenant are known not care too much about their exposure to radiation. Plasma grenades are basically small nukes, just heat and radiation."

There was a sickly gurgling sound, and one of the pipes opened, and both teams pressed themselves against the walls in an attempt to get away from the blue slime that gushed from the opening.

A few minutes later, the rush subsided, and they climbed over the pipes. As the last Sangheili climbed up on the pipes another flood started.

A 90 degree bend upward in the pipe halted forward progress, so they repelled down to an upper catwalk. Looking down, they saw machinery chugging away, and various materials being processed until they finally ended by being pumped up to a large final refinery just below them. Pipes coming from this final stage pumped the fluids out over the base, and the useless, and used, residue was discarded through the drainage pipe they had come in.

Rappelling down off the catwalk to the floor, they exited through the door and in to the main base.

Noise and all different shades of violet surrounded them. Off in the distance, 800 Covenant soldiers moved to defensive formations.

Zero climbed to a ledge while the rest fanned out below her. She snapped the bi-pod out on her anti-personnel rifle and gazed in to it.

Down on the ground, the rest of the team received the video feed in the form of a small screen in the top left of their HUD. While most ignored it and only occasionally took a peek at it, Wings examined it with all of his concentration, examining every pixel as Zero panned across the base.

Wings spotted barracks, depots, even the areas of forest that the combined UNSC and Separatist forces would charge from, but nothing that looked like a reactor or any other power plant. ''Dammit. We've got two hours and 7 minutes to shut this place down, and we don't even know what to shut down. Damned religious fanatics...''

Wings snapped up straight, and was almost spotted by a passing Brute. Ducking back down quickly, he talked to Zero over muted team-com. "Zero, find the temple."

"Yessir."

The view panned faster until it settled on a small but awe-inspiring building. Its curved architecture lending the rays of the falling sun a frightening beauty. Wings examined the building, amazed at the wasteful design of it, thinking that he could probably design two more buildings out of the extra material. And jutting out of one end and sticking in to the ground were two fluorescent blue pipes.

Wings set them as a way point marker. Purple building ledge over it, impossible to see from satellite. Since no infrared had picked it up, the reactor was either near the surface with extreme cooling, or incredibly deep.

Autel walked over to Wings, knelt next to him, and decloaked.

"This is the target?"

"I believe so. Where else would religious fanatics hide something the base couldn't live without?"

Autel held up a hand, two fingers out. The rest of his Elites moved in to position to make for the temple. A short command from Wings and the Spartans did the same.

Autel examined Wings for a minute. When Wings just stared back, he said, "I hope you're right, human. It will mean many deaths if you are not."



Gaining entrance to the temple was easy. Killing the two dozen grunts inside without raising the alarm proved impossible.

The two teams raced toward the grav lift, as teams of Covenant swarmed in to the temple.

The grav lift caught them and they shot straight down, just as plasma sizzled towards them, slapping on to the glass-like material the Covenant used as windows.

Wings breathed a sigh of relief and fished out another mag for his empty battle-rifle.

As the lift slowed, the team got in to flanking position. The instant all movement was halted, they poured out in to the room and spread out in to cover. Wings relaxed as his eyes adjusted fully and settled on a typical Covenant reactor. He waved X and Itzia forward. X jogged to one end of the large, glowing contusion and starting rigging micro-nuclear charges, while Itzia guarded him, shielding his body with hers.. When set off, these charges would be enough to eradicate at least half the Covenant troops and most of the base.

X finished his work, and stepped back, just as the grav lift let out a soft "bing", and out poured a wave of grunts.

They screamed and fired, several bolts splashing against Itzia's shields, which failed as she fired and rolled in to cover.

Wings just fired in to the oncoming horde of gas-suckers. He aimed for the center of mass, which, unfortunately for the grunt, happened to be right at their heads. If the bullet went high, it would likely hit a methane tank. Low and it would hit a throat or chest, knocking the bastard back the way he came and slowing their advance. The Elite's weapons wrecked even more havoc than the humans. The super-heated bolts over pressurized the methane, causing a large explosion.

So even though the 10-man squad was under attack by around 30 grunts, they mowed them down in but ten seconds.

Autel paused as they headed back for the lift, and turned to Wings. "What now, Spartan? They will undoubtedly be waiting for us where we came in, and even we are no match for several dozen Jirahalhanae." His tone was not one of disrespect, but more of one asking a young student a complex question in a strategic struggle.

Wing's left corner of his mouth twitched upward, behind his mask. "That's why we go up and out."



The faces of the Brutes as they whizzed by were ones of shock and amazement. Wing's lip twitched upwards again. They didn't have much time. X already had the shatter charge ready. As soon as the lift stopped, he threw. It stopped against the wall, paused for a second, then detonated. Shatter charges were specific charges that were preset to cause a material's molecular bonds to shatter, thus causing the material to shatter as well.

The team sprinted across and jumped, ten, twenty meters to the ground, where they promptly hoisted themselves up again.

Wings checked the timer. They had 4 minutes and 42 seconds to get out the way they came in.

And they had less than that, if the Brutes spilling out of the doorway behind them had anything to do with that. The team sprinted across the grounds to the entrance of the silo. Autel was first, and halted to turn back and spread covering fire over their heads. Wings was last to the door, and he and Autel slipped through and locked it before the spikes and bolts reached them.

They climbed the ropes they had rappelled in on, and raced down the catwalk. Down below them, the door burst open, and Covenant troops poured in. They milled around for a bit before spotting the ropes and checking the catwalks. By that time the Commandos had entered the refuse shaft.

Wings checked the countdown, just as it clocked at two minutes.

He dropped down in to the pipe and sprinted out in front of the rest, Autel just behind him.

They were halfway down the pipe when a loud sloshing noise was heard.

Wings ordered the rest to keep running and turned to observe what was going on.

All the emergency hatches had opened, and a pure acidic tsunami was raging down towards them.

Wings turned and ran, ordering the others to run as fast as possible.

Most of them made it out easily and braced themselves on either side.

Wings felt the liquid bearing down on him and pumped his tired legs even harder, lactic acids dripping through them. He was two feet from the end of the pipe when a three fingered hand reached out from in front of him and grabbed him by the throat.

The hand pulled him out of the tube even faster than he was running and slammed him against the wall. He immediately grabbed a handhold and watched the acid pour out in to a concealed drainage ditch, which immediately overflowed.

X breathed in to the mic, "3... 2... 1..."

A sun erupted on the opposite side of the wall, and an earthquake dislodged the team from the wall and threw them to the ground. One of the Elite's foot dipped in to the acid river, and he pulled it out as fast as it went in, wincing as the acid burned through his flesh.

Itzia and the Sangheili medic rushed to help him, pouring a base solution over the wound and cleaning it before filling it with biofoam and wrapping it up.

Wings gathered his squad. "Report."

Itzia spoke first. "Besides the acid burn, the only other injuries were a minor plasma burn to Zero's back and a twisted ankle on my part. We're both fine."

Wings nodded and turned to Peec, who was coordinating with Forge and the Arbiter.

"Yes, the reactor was successfully blown. Estimate almost 40-50% casualties on the Covenant part.  No casualties here."

He looked up and spotted Wing's helmet turned toward him. "Forge wants us to rendezvous at the edge of the forest, via a roundabout route."

Wings nodded, and after confirming the orders with Autel, the combined teams moved out. The elites provided a forward guard, as they had a superior camouflaging system, and Phoenix team followed close on their heels. Before long they reunited with the ODSTs and the Separatists.

Forge nodded as Wings crawled up next to him.

"Teams are in position. We are set to go."

Phoenix hefted their weapons. "Not without us, sir."

"Then get down there and kick some ass."

Phoenix and Autel's teams fanned out and moved to the front, where ODSTs were holding a dogged line at the few remaining Covenant troops. The arrival of two SpecOps squads boosted morale among both of the allied factions, and they fought even more determinedly. Wings led Phoenix team up the left flank, and Autel, the right.

Wings saw a squad of ODSTs come under withering fire, and he forged his way to them. A jackal got in his way, and he reached out and batted the shield away before emptying the rest of his clip in to the creatures abdomen.

Suddenly incoming fire heated up, the enemies recognizing him as a threat worth taking down. Ahead Wings saw a group of ODSTs cowering behind a bunker of rocks.

You've got to be kidding me...

Spartan-D339 sprinted behind a rock as plasma thudded overhead. The squeal of an Unggoy was heard as he fished out another clip for his MA5C and rammed it home. He fervently wished that Commander had been able to get the new Spartans their augmentations in time, but funding was short.

A high pitched squeak made him look up. A grunt was on the rock staring down at him, pistol coming around.

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

He pushed of the rock as a bolt burned the grass where he was not a split second before. He spun and put three rounds in the villains head.

Rising from his position on the ground, he assessed the situation with a practiced eye. He was only 13 years old, but seven years of military training was more than enough to assess danger.

Spotting two nearby ODSTs, he made for their cover.

He rushed over and spotted the Brute hurling a plasma grenade.

"Get down!" He screamed, grabbing the ODSTs pushing them away. The grenade landed behind him, and glowed brighter. There was no time to move.

Hot plasma boiled along his back, cooking skin and flesh, eating him hungrily...



Peec saw his leader go down and radioed over the still open SpecOps mic, which allowed Phoenix, Autel, and Forge to hear everything.

"D339 is down, repeat, D339 is down at the left flank, bunker rocks! Get over there, Spartans!"

Technically Zero was the second in command, but none of them cared. Phoenix team, along with Autel's team, blazed a trail to the Bunker rocks.

Forge's voice came over the radio. "Medevac is on the way, just hold them off and get him stable."

Incoming fire slowed as the eight ODSTs in the bunker joined their fire with the incoming SpecOps, and routed the nearby enemy forces.

Itzia raced to Wings, who was already being treated by the ODST squad medic, and shoved him away, telling him to get back to fighting.

The man began to argue, but the presence of the other three Spartans told him it would be wise to do as the little girl said, and picked up his rifle.

Itzia hurriedly got Wings stable. "He's unconscious, but he'll live, provided we do. She looked around.  One ODST was dead and three more were injured, so she treated them as well.

Autel cast a look over his shoulder at the body of the injured Spartan, and asked the "medic" about him as he returned to the business at hand.

"Will he live?"

She let out a small breath. "Yes, if that medevac reached us in ten minutes. If not then his chances fall geometrically.  He has burns over 40% of his body, with a high dose of radiation to boot."

Autel growled. He remember his youth, when he watched dozens of young and promising comrades slaughtered. He would make sure this one lived.

He clicked his mandibles and slapped a new cell in to place in his carbine.

Chapter 5: Raised From Ashes
1347 Hours, August 3rd, 2562 (UNSC Military Calendar)

His head exploded in to pain, and he arched his back reflexively, before he realized the pain was in his back.

He lay back flat and listened for a bit.

"That's the seventh time he's done that, I think the burns may be affecting his nervous system."

"Not deep enough, it has to be the radiation."

"Plasma burns can leave odd holes that bore deeper than the rest, especially Covie plasma."

"EEG is changing, he's awake."

"Dope him up."

Wings heard a click, and then relief spread through his body, and he opened his eyed.

The room he was in was a large medical bay back on the Spartan fortress world. He was currently the only patient. No other Spartan team was in active duty, yet.

His eyes fell on the rest of his team, and a corner of his mouth twitched.

Itzia was at the MRI scanner. "Welcome back."

"What's happening?" He asked as he stood and allowed her to slather antibiotics on and get a new bandage in place.

"Nothing much, you've been out for two days, though."

Wings walked gingerly. Most of the pain was gone, but he knew that no amount of surgery, artificial skin, or dermacortic steroids would ever erase the scars.

X was next to speak. "The Sangheili decided to move in. They're setting up camp as we speak.  Apparently its to be grounds for one of their own SpecOps training facilities."

Wings stiffened his ankles, and his heels rose off the floor. Dropping down to the floor, then repeating the movement several times to stretch his aching limbs, he replied.

"Good, lets go see what's going on." And marched out the door. The rest followed closely.



There was a small no-mans land between the two camps, which was marked by a ten yard wide stretch of green grass.

Phoenix strode in to the Separatist camp, and examined the odd architecture of the buildings.

Plenty of passing Sangheili, both in and out of armor, gave the humans funny looks, but trusted them enough to not cause any trouble.

They worked their way through the camp until they reached a building resembling a temple, with slightly more decoration and size to it, it managed to stand out among the rest.

The team entered, and inside was what would amount to a public reception hall.

The place was decorated sparingly, and as Phoenix Team examined the few alien artifacts, a door binged open and through it stepped Autel 'Vadam.

He was garbed in a dark blue robe that contrasted sharply with his pale skin, and offset his eyes, bringing out the red even better than his armor. A dormant Type-2 energy sword was magnetically held to his leg.

Wings noticed something that had been impossible to see when Autel wore his helmet: two parallel scars, nearly identical, along his cheek.

Autel clicked his mandibles and approached the Spartans.

He acknowledged them, then turned to Wings. "Would you join me? We must talk."

Wings nodded, and had Phoenix wait for him. He followed Autel in to another room, one more comfortably designed. Autel sat on one of the many chairs in the room, and bade Wings to sit as well.

Picking a seat across the table from Autel, Wings shifted uncomfortably for a second before turning his attention to the strange Sangheili before him.

Autel wrung his thumbs together for a minute, before stating, "You have an incredible ability, Spartan."

Wings was perplexed. No one had ever told him he was in any other way special except that his team was probably the best since Blue Team.

"What is that?"

"You know things. Intuition, I believe the word is in your language.  You see things about your enemies that others do not, because you see what your enemies are.  You understand them to the point that you could quite literally become them.  That is what makes you special, besides an innate ability to lead.  Combined, this will make you a great warrior."

Wings thought this over. Come to think of it, he had to agree. After all, no one else had ever found a reactor in a Covenant base before.

Autel bowed his head. "Randall-078, UNSC Service Number 39202-45078-R0."

Wings stared. He recognized that service tag. Searching his memory, he remembered that Randall had been a Class I Spartan II, and had been considered one of the few Spartans to actually be MIA. He queried Autel on this. The Sangheili shook his head.

"Randall-078 was killed in action by six Lekgolo, after slaughtering four other with nothing but his hands and a pole. I witnessed his execution."

Wings deflated somewhat. No one had known what happened to Randall. "When did it happen?"

"In your year? 2551."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because he deserved better. He was a seasoned warrior, but far from being past his time.  He was tortured and executed because he did what every other human did: fought for the survival of his species.  And after I witnessed a mass slaughter of Sangheili recruits by Jiralhanae aboard Stoic Courier, I told myself I would help any warrior I deemed worth the effort.

"You, my friend, are worth the effort."

Chapter 6: Making the Connections
1630 Hours, August 1st, 2562 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Wings mulled over Autel's words in his head. He had learned much from the elite, and he now trusted him with his life. But Autel's reasons for helping him were still not complete.

Phoenix was woken from their thoughts by the PA, ordering them to report to the Captain's office.

They rose and double-timed it across the parade grounds, and entered Ezekiel-254's office. The older Spartan looked tired, shuffling paperwork, but his eyes brightened when they marched in and saluted. He rose and returned the favor. "At ease."

As Phoenix assumed the at ease stance, Captain Ezekiel sat back down and pulled out five readers, and handed one to each member of Phoenix Team.

"We just got the green light for the first round of augmentations. You'll be having one round per year, for six total rounds.  Your team is first up.  You leave tomorrow at 0800.  Dismissed."

This was good news, good enough for Wings to push his other worries to the back of his mind.

Chapter 7: Growth
1000 Hours, October 12th, 2567 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Every Spartan felt their best that day. The final round of augmentations had completed two months ago and their training in the new Mark VII MJOLNIR powered armor. It combined the aesthetics and function of the Mark VI armor with the SPI armor used by the Spartan IIIs. However, the fusion plant on the back could only power shields or the active camouflage, not both.

Ezekiel-254 stood. "Dragoon, Manticore, and Flechette team, come forward."

Fifteen Spartans in full gear minus the helmet stood forward, with a great wyrm emblazoned on their backs.

Ezekiel looked them over. "For great commitment to a cause and for great skill, I award each of you the Spartan Honorable Training Decoration."

The Spartans thanked him and went back in to line.

"Hawk team, come forward."

Five Spartans strode to the front.

"For rising to a great challenge and mastering numerous skills, I award you the Spartan Honorable Unit Decoration."

The Spartans thanked him and took their place.

"Phoenix Team, come forward."

Wings stepped forward with the rest of his team.

"For incredible commitment, mastery of skill, and exceeding all possible expectations, I award you the Spartan Top Honors Decoration."

Phoenix thanked him and got back in to line.

Ezekiel-254 looked out at all 3,000 Spartans, each one decked out in the most advanced weapons and armor the UNSC could afford.

"Today you officially become Spartans. But you are not just now Spartans.  You became Spartans when you first watched your planets burn, your families slaughtered.  You became Spartans when you chose to fight.

"You have been chosen to serve, but you chose to fight. We have made you the best we could make you, but you made yourself better.

"Now go forth proudly, and fight for whatever cause you believe in!"



Wings sat on the Pelican seat, which was inbound to the super-carrier Advent.

It was two hours after the graduation, and already most of the Spartans were being called to duty. Phoenix Team was being transferred to the Advent to meet up with another Spartan team and Autel's Commandos.

"Phoenix, thirty seconds to deck."

"Aye aye."

Thirty seconds later the Pelican settled gently onto the ground and Phoenix Team grabbed their gear and hopped out.

Wings dropped his pack next to another, specially marked Pelican. Another Spartan approached him, the leader of Hawk Team, Spartan D683.

D683 saluted. "Petty Officer Second Class D683 reporting for duty, sir."

Wings returned the salute. "Where's the Captain?"

"On his way down, I believe. I think he's protesting having Sangheili on board."

This was made evident when Autel and his commandos approached the assembled Spartans, when a couple dozen ODSTs around the hangar shifted and fingered their weapons when they spotted the Sangheili.

Autel walked up to Wings, and twisted his fist over his first heart.

Wings repeated the gesture, and for an instant, there was a hint of a smile on Autel's face.

"Greetings, Spartan. I trust you have been well?"

"Yes, thank you. Do you know why we're here."

Autel activated a holo-pad and a planet popped up.

"In your language, this is Alpha-Alpha-Golf. The atmosphere is fair enough for breathing, but the climate is dry, so we will require humidifiers.  Terrain consists of flat plains broken up by mountain ranges."

"What's the objective?"

"Get behind the enemy front and disrupt supply lines. Combined Marine and Separatist forces are holding at a small ridge with plenty of cover.  They should be able to hold for a long time, but the prisoners don't have a long time.  The good news is that the Covenant forces are throwing everything they have at that ridge, forcing extra shipments of energy cells from base.  We destroy the cells, the Covenant forces at the front become crippled, allowing our forces to push through to the base and initiate an artillery barrage."

Captain Warren strode up, giving the Sangheili a slight berth, and approached the two Spartan team leaders. The rest of the Spartans were beginning to get acquainted with the Sangheili Commandos, and an argument over blitzkrieg tactics began.

Wings and D683 saluted Warren, who returned the gesture. Ignoring Autel 'Vadam, who's gaze bored in to the back of Warren's head, he questioned the two Spartans about their mission. When D683 finished describing the objectives, Warren leaned in.

"I know you might think these... things are here to help, but don't trust them. Their minds are only on violence.  Do you understand?"

Wings and D683 responded in kind: "Sir, no sir."

Warren's eyes flickered, then he harrumphed and marched away.



The Pelican ride down was pleasant enough, with the Spartans and Commando Sangheili continuing their discussion on warfare tactics.

Wings and Autel sat across from each other. They hadn't talked since the Spartans had begun their augmentations, and Wings wanted to talk to him.

The on board channel opened. "Five minutes to dirt."

Wings replied. "Roger that. Prepping for dirt."

The Commandos lept out three meters above the ground and landed, hard. The Pelican dropped down to a few centimeters off the ground, to allow the ground crew to unload weapons and ammo.

Wings made sure everything on him was secure and then stood at attention to greet the approaching Captain.

He saluted. "Phoenix Team reporting for duty, sir!"

Forge returned the favor. "As you were. Its good to see your team again, after Zeta-9.  Sergeant Hafsa will show you to your quarters.  Once you've stowed your gear, head to the armory, the quartermaster got a special shipment for you."

A plasma mortar sailed over some trees, and silence ensued, until it burst against a trunk, and marines dove left and right. One man got a two foot splinter through his leg, and a medic rushed to help him.

Phoenix followed the Sergeant over to a camouflaged tent, wherein they found the usual military quarters, with small lockers to put their equipment in.

Wings locked his stuff in the locker and left for the armory. He looked up to the top of the ridge, and saw ODST's and a couple Sangheili firing steadily down at unseen targets. The targets were all to happy to return fire, and plasma boiled over the edge and up, but no one even came close to being hit.

The armory was a relatively small affair, and the quartermaster, a grizzled corporal, handed him the package.

Zero looked up as Wings reentered and examined the parcel. It was knew, solid casing, completely bulletproof. He opened up the keypad and typed in his identity, then pressed his thumb to the pad, and it opened.

A chip lay inside, which Wings recognized as a neural interface. He plucked it out of the foam casing and slotted it in to the back of his helmet.

A feeling like cold mercury filled his head, and he instantly felt more alert.

"Mil AI 54892-61102 online. Greetings Spartan D339.  I am Deep Ocean."



The sneak through the jungle was uneventful, and Wings was given time to examine the numerous green plants. It was odd, all these plants alive, and yet almost no humidity. The plants themselves may be like sponges-

"Here we are."

Wing's head swung forward, and he spotted the obvious signs of hover technology. Flat dirt, not rough like erosion would have made, but flat, unbroken earth.

"How long until the next convoy?"

Autel checked his chrono. "Unknown. Satellites say they move through every 2-4 units, I suggest we rest until then."

"Agreed."



The convoy appeared two clicks out about half an hour later. By that time the ten Spartans and six Sangheili were ready to spring the trap.

The convoy was made up of four Shadows, with a Prowler leading and another following. Jiralhanae filled the Prowlers, and the bellies of the Shadows were carrying blue energy cells.

Wings held up his fist, and the commandos shifted, preparing to dive in to the fray.

The second shadow and Wings activated and tossed a fragmentation grenade in to the driver compartment. A loud scream was heard, then there was a flash, a whump, and gore sprayed out of the sides.

Zero and the two snipers fired, and the Prowler gunners dropped, hanging over the sides.

Another sniper volley and three Shadow gunners fell. By now the other Commandos were up and firing. Wings and another Sangheili concentrated on the fourth Shadow, who fell less than one second after the rest.

The Jiralhanae on the sides of the Prowlers leaped out, along with the driver in the rear vehicle. The driver in front gunned his vehicle, which popped up over the bank to make way for the front Shadow, the others being trapped behind the second one in line. Unggoy struggled to hop out of their seats as the Commandos engaged the Jiralhanae.

Peec sprinted and latched on to the lead Shadow. He clambered to the front, stuffed his SM6D in to the driver's face, and pulled the trigger.

X ducked a spiker blade swings and slammed the butt of his shotgun in to the Jiralhanae's gut, who staggered backward. He fired from the hip and the large gorilla dropped, bleeding from a dozen holes.

Zero whipped out her M7S SMG and fired a sustained burst in to a charging Brute, taking out his shields and riddling him with bullets but not quite taking him down. She rolled right and came up firing, finishing him off.

Itzia was fighting a Brute with her combat knife. She had a strangle-hold on him and was attempting to bring her knife in to his jugular. The Brute, however, wanted to live, and was bucking and kicking, trying to shake the Spartan off.

Wings ran sideways until he had a clear shot and fired in to the Brute, who flinched and allowed Itzia to bring the knife down. She then twisted and made sure the job was done.

The dust settled and most of the Jiralhanae were all dead or dying. An Unggoy attempted to run but was cut down by a carbine shot from Autel.

X got to setting small puncture charges on the energy cells while the rest stripped the weapons off the dead enemies.

The charges set, everyone moved back to watch the fireworks.

Which were spectacular, of course. Each one blew up, and superheated plasma and metal spun off in to the air, while the main bodies of the vehicles shot straight up, split in two pieces.

Once the light show was over, the Commandos moved three kilometers to the next road and waited for the next convoy.

Wings lay prone, ten meters from the next person over, and checked his MA5C again.

Something was wrongs.

His head whipped up, and he checked his vitals.

Impossible.

He began coughing, and twisted over on his back.

In between coughs he managed to gasp out: "Itzia, I need you. Now."

His vision turned black and then he knew nothing.



Itzia flinched, then stood up and started running to Wing's position.

The Sangheili with her was perplexed. "What are you doing? We're supposed to stay-"

She didn't stop. "Screw the mission."

"My squad leader just flat lined."



Bweee

"Clear."

Thump

Ow.

Bweee

"Clear."

Thump

"Ow."

"He's back. Heart rate is holding at 76."

"Good, get him up, the convoy is one click away."

Wings sat up and turned back over on his stomach.

He looked at Itzia, who had her helmet off. Her eyes looked strained. Only one reason a Spartan's eyes looked strained.

When they were scared.



The commandos returned safely back to base camp after destroying the fifth destroyed convoy. On their way back they saw Marines, ODSTs, and Sangheili pushing out from the ridge, forcing the Covenant forces back.

Hawk Team and Autel's Commandos split off upon entering the camp.

As Phoenix Team dropped their equipment off in the tent, Wings opened a secure com to Itzia.

"We need to talk."



The plants again caught Wing's attention, and he examined the leaves closer.

Sure enough, the leaves were porous, and they looked very moist.

"Why did my heart stop beating?"

"Drugs."

Wings looked up. They knew all the possible side effects of the drugs. Only one had a possible heart problem, but that was increasing the volume of the heart, not stopping it.

"What drugs do I have in my body that no other Spartan has?"

"Cell QX518-I53PR."

"That's not on the list we were given."

"Because I gave it to you."

"When?"

"When I was treating you after the Battle on Zeta-9. We got you in the ship and I was treating the burns on your back.  I found micro-burn holes that went in to your spinal cord.  After some basic nerve checking, I confirmed that you had lost all sensation in your body below the second Lumbar."

"So what does the drug you gave me do?"

"It stimulates nerve cells, allowing them to regenerate and function fully. It also happens to increase general brain activity." Here she paused.

Wings felt that tingling at the back of his mind. Danger was looming, again. "What are the side effects."

Itzia shifted her left foot back a few centimeters. "There is a calculated fifteen to twenty percent chance that the patient will develop a randomly rare condition. It seem you have developed one that randomly shuts down an organ at a random time.  Today your heart, maybe tomorrow, or next week, or next year, that organ will be your liver."

"Calculated chance?"

"This drug has never been used on a human before, its still experimental today and I gave it to you six years ago."

Wings chewed his tongue. "That was stupid, and you don't have to tell me why you did it. Don't let anyone but our team know.  If anyone else were to know, they could execute you for treasonous acts."

"I know, and I honestly don't care if they do."

Nothing more needed to be said. Itzia walked back to the tent and left Wings to muse for a while.

He did, pulling off his helmet, eating a nutri-bar, and examining the leaves.



The Interspecies Union forces pushed through the Covenant lines and made it to the base. Two days after the Commandos arrived, the Covenant were driven off the planet, and the Commandos were on their way back to the Advent.

Wings could tell that there were a lot fewer Marines that were angry at the Sangheili, as they swarmed the Commandos with congratulations.

The taking of the planet had been costly. Wraiths had pounded the ridge, and many Marines and Sangheili had been wounded or killed on it. The Commando's arrival signaled the cutting of a several month long slog in to a three day blitzkrieg. Apparently the Spartans had won the tactical debate with the Sangheili Commandos.

Chapter 8: Side Effects
1638 Hours, October 17th, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Fira 'Demal stalked the corridors of the Rebirth, a Separatist Cruiser. He toyed with the Energy Sword clamped to his thigh and clicked his mandibles.

He longed to return to the fight, but no. He was assigned to the Cruiser in preparation for a joint operation with humans. Spartans, no less, the ones who had slaughtered many from his line. The 'Demal state was still recovering.

The com implanted in his ear hole beeped, and a channel opened.

"Ultra Fira 'Demal, report to hangar 2. Prepare for arrival of humans and SpecOps Sangheili."

"Acknowledged." He moved off to greet the scum.



The Phantom glided smoothly in to the hangar, and the side hatches opened. Phoenix dropped two meters to the ground alongside Autel's commandos, helmets off.

Autel smiled and greeted the Silver clad Sangheili closest to the dropship. He was obviously a friend.

Wings stepped forward and learned that the Ultra was a Sangheili named Fira 'Demal, and that he had been Autel's good friend in training.

As he turned back to his team, he saw Peec's eyes locked on to Fira, and an icy cold glint entered them.

Something was definitely wrong, so Wings ordered the team to get the supplies out of the dropship, making sure Peec was away from Fira.



Fira did not miss the ice cold glare from the Spartan, and knew that he had a problem.

His mind flashed to a burning town, his burning blade ripping through human flesh, blood splashing against his feet.

A small child staring up at him, uncomprehending of what was happening to his family.

He remembered hearing the announcement through his com that the Prophets had betrayed them, that the humans were now allies.

And he was stunned, everything he knew came crashing down on him.

And then the building came crashing down on him, and the child was gone.

Now he felt he was staring at the same child, grown to a warrior, one of the best the humans could put forward.

His memories flew back farther, to when hundreds of members of his family met several dozen of these Spartans on the battlefield, and were slaughtered.

He knew the Spartan had a right to hate him.

He just wasn't so sure he deserved to hate him anymore.



Peec slammed his locker door a bit harder than usual, and Wings watched him. His body language told him he was still tense, about as close to blowing up as a Spartan could get.

Peec saw Wings examining him, nodded stiffly, and they both walked out.

The hangar they walked in to was devoid of other beings, and only contained several Phantoms and two dozen Ghosts. Wings walked over, sat on the back, and examined the controls. He'd never used one, and had only studied the control interfaces. He was able to recognize everything, steering, accelerometer, weapons trigger-

"That Elite killed my family."

Wings looked back up at Peec. He was standing straight, legs slightly splayed, arms crossed. His helmet was off, and his head was tilted to the left, face stony.

"And you survived."

"I was about three years old."

"And you only remember it because of the memory boosters we were given with our food."

"Yes."

"And you want to kill him."

"Yes."

"Fira 'Demal, of the Demal lineage. You were the one who researched the Sangheili, do you know about them?"

"No. I researched their culture, economics, physiology.  I researched them to understand them, you were the one who researched how to defeat them."

"The 437 Demal members met 36 Alpha Company Spartans on a small moon around 2536. Four Spartans were killed, nineteen were injured.  361 Demal members died, the rest were left injured.  About 50 died after the battle while under treatment."

"So he has reason to hate us because our forerunners slaughtered his family."

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean?"

"When he saw you, and you turned away and left his field of vision, he didn't move. The only reason for doing that is that he remembered the night he killed your parents.  He also remembers how the Spartans decimated his family.

"You hate him because he killed your family.

"He hates us because we killed his family.

"His problem is that he's not sure he has the right to be angry anymore."

Peec's arms fell to his sides. "So what am I supposed to do?"

Wings sighed and sat straighter. "Take it out on him before it becomes a problem. It'll keep you sane when you have to save his life."

Peec turned around and began walking away, and Wings went back to examining the controls. "We have four days before we reach the battle zone."

The corner of Wing's mouth twitched up for a split second as he reached for a Nutri-Bar. I'm sure this place will be a battle zone before we reach the planet.



''My stomach, for a start. Already feels like a Shiva warhead detonated inside...''

"Itzia, I need gastric steroids."

"On my way."

On the plus side, the way he fell left him free to examine the interface on the Ghost. Unfortunately, he was done examining them. He reached his arm up and pushed, twisting on to his back, then pushed against the floor to bring himself up to a sitting position.

The door binged open, and Itzia marched in with a small bag. She knelt next to him and pulled out a syringe.

"Hold still." And she stabbed him.

He felt the liquid drip in to his stomach and stimulate gastric acid production. His stomach hadn't been working for a while now, and had emptied of all gastric acid. The Nutri-Bar had hit his stomach after being chewed and started to cut his stomach, causing massive pain that resulted in a minor blackout. The gastric steroids also caused the lining to grow faster, which would reduce the pain. However, it would still hurt like a son of a bitch for a while, but he could eat again.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Have you gotten any new information on why this would happen?"

"Only that the Nerve Growth Factors inherent in the cells injected in to you can concentrate in one area an even higher rate of growth. This increases pressure on other areas, affecting a system that area controls, or increases electrical activity unevenly, resulting in an unbalancing of those systems."

"So nothing yet."

"Unless you want to either try fatal doses of radiation, which would work, but you'd die and I wouldn't let you do anyway, or massive doses of this cell, then no. Nothing."

"Then that doesn't mean the cell doesn't work, it just isn't complete to the extent it should be. The way it works is just like splatter painting.  You flick a brush with paint on it and hope it hits right.  While it makes the whole canvas appear more colorful, some areas look better and some look worse.  What you would need is something that would spread the paint over the entire canvas evenly, like a wide brush.  Except I don't know what the medical equivalent of the wide brush would be."

Itzia put the supplies away and looked thoughtful for a minute. Then she got up. "I'll see if I can find out."

Wings got up and followed her out, back to the room, and the team.



0917 Hours, October 18th, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Fira and Peec saw each other again during the visit to the bridge of the ship.

Phoenix was finishing their examination of the weapons system, and were turning to leave. Peec turned and spotted the Ultra standing guard at the exit to the bridge. He stood stock still, and that icy look came over him. The Sangheili returned the look.

Wings stepped in his way. "Peec. Lets go."

As Phoenix passed Fira, Fira turned his head to examine Peec.

"I wonder if you Spartans squeal like the regular humans."

Peec stopped and turned to face him. "I wonder how many members of your family screamed when they died."

Fira growled, and Peec's jaw tightened. Fira spoke next.

"Now I have another reason as to why the Prophets wanted you dead."

Peec didn't flinch. "And yet it was a human, a Spartan no less, who discovered that you were all being lied too."

Fira didn't flinch either.

Wings put his hand on Peec's shoulder, and the Spartans turned and left.

Up on the bridge deck, Autel folded his arms.

1951 Hours, October 18th, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Fira clicked the magnetic coil in to place. The Ghost's weapons had been damaged and the entire contraption needed to be replaced.

He closed the casing and clicked the interface.

Green, good, he was done.

He straightened and turned to leave.

The Spartan was standing there, arms folded over his chest, his head slightly bowed.

Fira blinked, and his shields charged to full. He didn't have his energy sword, but he never let his Needler out of his reach. His fingers slowly slid towards it.

"Killing me won't change what happened to you."

The Spartans helmet blocked his face, but Fira knew a Sangheili would be smiling.

"I'm not worried about seeing my family again."

His arms unfolded, and Fira saw the glint of a long combat knife.

"But I want to make sure they can tell me how long you screamed."



Wings and Autel walked down the corridor.

"Peec is not mentally stable," Wings said. "He's been very agitated lately."

"Fira never liked humans," Autel said. "And particularly not Spartans." Wings sighed.

"Fira, your friend, personally killed his family...seconds before the war ended. Right in front of Peec."

"We shall endeavor to keep a closer eye on them," Autel said. "However, I'm sure Fira won't do anything drastic."

"No, but Peec I'm not so sure about."

Something slammed hard into the next room's door, and it split partially, revealing the room beyond.

Wings and Autel exchanged glances, and both dashed towards the door. Debris was strewn about, and Wings saw Peec fly across his field of vision.

Autel strained to open the door. Wings helped him, and saw that Fira pulled a Needler on Peec. The Spartan whipped out his SM6D.

Wings moved fast. He grabbed Fira's wrist and the Needler, attempting to pin the Sangheili Ultra down.

Autel stepped in front of Peec. Peec aimed right through Autel.

"Get out of the way, Autel."

Autel looked down at the young warrior. "I won't let you kill my friend."

A single round discharged, shimmering against his shields.

"Stand down, Spartan!" barked Wings.

Peec reluctantly holstered his sidearm. However, Fira was still trying to get to him. Autel grabbed him by the shoulders, and said, "Stop."

The Ultra ignored him, trying to wrench the Needler from Wings' grasp.

"Stop!" Autel snarled, and for the first time Wings thought he sounded angry. He noticed that the red in his friend's eyes had deepened. Fira growled, but stopped struggling.

Wings released Fira and turned to Peec.

Peec was staring at Fira. Wings followed his line of sight and spotted the knife buried to the hilt in Fira's rib cage. The Sangheili was struggling to breath, and purple blood had started to foam around his mandibles.

Wings looked back at Peec.

"Got it out of your system?"

Peec turned and walked out.



Wings met Autel outside the Med Bay a few hours later.

"How is he?"

Autel turned away from the window to face Wings.

"He lost quite a bit of blood, but his lung is repaired and he'll be able to fight when we get to the destination."

Wings nodded and looked through the window. A Huragok hovered over a naked Fira 'Demal, slowly stitching his rib cage back together.

Autel turned back to the window. "You truly are a good leader."

"Why do you think that?"

"Your Spartan would have killed me before he would have listened to me, but he instantly stopped when you ordered him to."

"He's been trained to listen to me. I would expect nothing less."

Autel looked at Wings. "Have you ever had reason to seek revenge on someone?"

"No."

"I have, and there were only two creatures that could have stopped me from killing the one who murdered my mother."

"Just because he trusts me doesn't make me a good leader."

"He doesn't just trust you, he trusts you implicitly. He won't just put off a revenge killing for you, he'll jump in front of any weapon, fight any enemy or ally, just to make sure you live.  That is more than just trust, that is love.  He loves you, as do all your teammates, and you love them back.  That is what makes you a good leader.  The ability to make anyone fight for you because they know you'll get them out."

Wings dropped his chin to his chest and folded his arms, taking this in.

Autel then asked him, "Do you know how many Helljumpers went to help you when you were injured on Zeta-9?"

"No."

"Almost everyone who saw you go down, including about a dozen Sangheili. Because you risked your team, and mine, in the base in order to save hundreds of lives.  They owed it to you.  While that in itself does not make you a good leader, its one of the qualities of a good leader."

"I know."

"It is always good to hear it from a friend, yes?"

Wings examined the albino Sangheili's red eyes, and the corners of his mouth shifted slightly upward.

"Yes."

Autel smiled and turned back to the window. The Huragok was finishing up and applying antibiotics to the wound.

"Why did you care about Randall?"

This question seemed to surprise Autel, who blinked a couple times.

"I don't know. He looked in to my eyes before he lost his grip and fell to his death at the hands of Lekgolo.  I don't know what happened, but he didn't hate me.  I think he saw respect, because that's what I felt."

"And he saw that you didn't hate him. You weren't raised like most Sangheili."

Autel clicked his mandibles. "No, I was not.

Chapter 9: Fledgling
0943 Hours, October 21st, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

The Phantom roared down towards the small planet. The Special Forces of the Interspecies Union arrayed inside stood stock still, Sangheili on one side, Spartans on the other.

Peec and Fira's gazes never left each other. Fira looked like he'd be willing to kill Peec at the slightest waver in his stance. Peec looked quite ready to return the favor.

Ipla 'Ihpor opened a com channel to the cargo area of the Phantom. "Excellency, we are approaching the drop-off zone."

Autel replied. "Thank you, 'Ihpor."

The Phantom came to a smooth stop, and the Sangheili went to the grav lift to drop, while Autel walked over to activate it.

Wings walked in to the cockpit. "You're a good flier, 'Ihpor." He gave him the Sangheili salute.

'Ihpor stood and returned the gesture, but looked a little perplexed. He didn't know how to accept this compliment, most especially from a human.

"Uh... thank you, Spartan."

Wing's mouth corner twitched upwards. "Every force needs a good pilot like you."

"I thank you again, but I don't really think I've proven that I'm a good flier at all."

"Nonsense. You will have done so by the time you settle us back down in to the hangar of the cruiser."

'Ihpor could only stare as the strange human turned and left, following the others down the grav lift.



Wings was the last one out of the dropship, and his boots sank in to the jungle floor.

He checked his weapons. BR55, M7S SMG, SM6D. All good.

Zero marched up to him, her footsteps muffled in the undergrowth.

She had her 99D-S3 Sniper Rifle out, an M90 on her back.

"Everyone's set, sir."

Wings opened the team com. "Engage active camouflage and spread out. We've got twenty klicks before we reach the target."



It wasn't long before the IU SpecOps teams reached their target: the rear of the Covenant forces.

"This is where their artillery is. We need to destroy the wraiths to weaken the lines."

Wings crawled on his stomach up the small hill and zoomed in on the five wraiths banging away at the hills.

"The infantry are preparing to charge, we need to get the artillery down fast. X?"

X bent to one knee and brought out some demo charges. "Armor puncture. Based off a bunker buster bomb, but does it with armor.  A high heat charge punches the armor, then a shaped charge throws massive amounts of heat and kinetic energy in to the interior of the vehicle.  We just need to get close enough."

Wings nodded. "Engage active camouflage, and keep away from any fire, each Spartan takes two charges. Autel, keep your team up here and cover us.  We don't want to show up in the middle of them with no shields.  Deep Ocean?"

"Yes?"

"Where would be the best place to place the charges?"

"My best guess would be the rear of the Wraiths, just under the reactor core."

Wings focused in on the small spinning reactor on the back of the large purple tanks. "Right there?"

"Yes."

"Well then, let's go."



The Spartans split, ten meters apart, and approached the Wraiths.

Zero reached her designated tank and activated the charges.

Great, how many should she use?

Screw it, She thought and planted both charges.

They activated, and a one minute timer began.

She heard a roar to her right and spun to look.



Wings was slammed forward in to the back of the Wraith, his helmet bouncing off.

He spun and and a massive hand wrapped around his throat

A huge Jiralhanae had him and was lifting him in to the air. His armor was not regular Jiralhanae armor.

It was beautiful, the armor plates melting together, like black obsidian and was similar like the old lava flows on Hawaii, curving in on each other in random patterns. His helm followed the same pattern.

The the left and right Wings saw Covenant forces running towards him and the large Jiralhanae.

Dammit. He activated his shields. He flickered back in to reality as his shields flickered.

The shields forced the brute's fingers off his throat, allowing him to gulp down some air.

A body slammed in to the brute, and Wings and the brute went flying to the ground.

"Phoenix, stay back!"

He and the brute struggled upright, and Autel circled around him.

The brute reached back and whipped out a gravity hammer. He spun and swung horizontally at Autel, who ducked as the crackling head sizzled over him.

The Covenant forces were holding back, not charging like they usually would.

"Ocean, contact Ipla. Tell him we need evac, now!"

The timer on his charges hit thirty seconds.

The brute kept spinning and the hammer almost reached Wings. He stepped forward and slapped his hands against the staff of the hammer.

The brute smiled and hit a button, and Wings was thrown in to the Wraith again.

''Well that's new. Manual shockwaves.''

The brute was charging him, hammer held high, the head of it crackling again.

Autel jumped in front of Wings, overcharging his shields, the weight of his armor beginning to overcome him.

"No!"

The hammer came down and Autel grabbed the staff. Another shockwave came from it and Autel dropped to the ground, armor smoking.

Wings leapt forward and grabbed the brute. Five seconds...

Heaving the brute around, he threw the giant on the Wraith.

The charge exploded, and the Brute screamed.

A rifle shot cracked out, bouncing off shields. Three more sounded, and yet they still bounced off shields.

What does it take to kill this thing?

The brute was struggling up. Wings bent and hefted Autel's body over his shoulder. Ipla's dropship was settling in to position, the grav lift activating.

He got Autel in to it and returned to make sure the fight was done.

Peec and Fira had stepped forward to fight the brute, and were hammering away at it, Peec with a shotgun, and Fira with his needler.

The brute's shields were still up.

Damn. He opened a channel. "Everyone, fall back! We're getting out of here!"

Fira attempted to turn away but was punched by the brute and went flying.



Peec watched Fira fly through the air and pumped another round of buckshot in to the brute. The things shields disappeared, and the brute leapt away.

Fira was in the middle of a large gang of Unggoy, and was set upon by them, held down and beaten.

Peec was about to turn away, but paused. A strange feeling came over him...

He turned, shoving shells in to his shotgun.

Full clip, he squeezed the trigger, then pumped and squeezed again. Unggoy fell left and right, screaming.

Empty, he tossed the weapon away and waded in, smacking grunts left and right.

He grabbed Fira and slung him over his back, continuing to lash out at the Unggoy.

Zero and Wings, along with the rest of the Sangheili, were holding the evac zone as he jogged in to it, the Sangheili bouncing on his back.

They made it up the grav lift, and Wings told the pilot to get underway.



Down on the ground, the large brute screamed at the receding dropship.

"I am the Judicator! I will come for you, Autel 'Vadam, and you will fall to me and beg for death!"



Itzia finished scanning Autel. "He has massive internal injuries from the energy of that shockwave. Nothing I can do without the proper equipment."

Fira was coming around, blinking his eyes. He looked up at Peec. "You. Saved.  Me.  Hu- Spartan."

Peec nodded stiffly, then went and sat in one of the seats on the other side of the troop compartment, his back perfectly straight.

Wings turned to Fira. "Do you have the equipment to heal internal injuries on that cruiser?"

Fira shook his head. "No, only basic equipment. We never expected anything like this."

Wings gritted his teeth. "We need to get back to the Advent, they'll have the right medical equipment."

The channel to the compartment opened, and Ipla's voice came through. "Brace!"

The SpecOps leapt to grab on to something.



Ipla spun the control yoke right, jinking the Phantom right and moving it out of the way of weapons fire from Seraph fighters.

"Activate the turrets! Burn them out of the sky!" Ipla roared to his copilot.

The Sangheili powered up the turrets and activated a target lock, opening fire.

Ipla threw the dropship in to a series of twists and spins, dodging incoming fire.

A quick burst hit the underside of the ship, sending it a few meters to starboard.

"We've lost our starboard turret!"

More fire came in from above, melting the armor off the ship.

The dropship screamed in to space, air hissing out several holes in the armor.

The cruiser roared around, and Ipla aimed for the hangar.

The dropship slapped on to the floor of the hangar, and the SpecOps bubbled out of the side hatches.

Ipla and his copilot left, and were surprised to see them carrying Autel out on a stretcher.

Wings approached the pilot. "Told you." And marched off.



Wings opened a channel and told the ship master his predicament, who agreed that getting Autel to the Advent was the best chance for his survival, and they entered slipspace a few minutes later.

It took just a few hours for them to rendezvous with the supercarrier, and were given permission to land.

But, as the Captain told them: "Just the Spartans."

Wings and the others decided that the last sentence had been garbled.



The Phantom alighted a few meters above the deck, and the Spartans with Autel on a stretcher floated down out of it.

The main doors of the hangar slid open and Captain Warren came out with six MPs. "I told you just the Spartans!"

Wings contained himself, but his anger was beginning to bubble over, deciding to try and soothe the Captain's ego first. "This Sangheili needs medical attention, with equipment that their cruiser isn't equipped with."

Warren smiled. "He'll have no such thing. That thing is to get off my ship.  If it dies, then that's fine with me!"

Wings didn't budge. "Is that final, sir?"

"Of course it is! Take these Spartans in to custody for insubordination!"

Wings grabbed the front of Warren's nicely pressed uniform

Warren looked confused. "What are you doing?"

"This."

Wings threw him. Warren flew thirty meters through the air and crashed to the deck.

The rest of Phoenix stepped forward, and the MPs backed away.

Wings looked at the other two hundred marines in the hangar with them.

Not a one had moved, and Captain Forge nodded to him, and moved to Warren.

Wings nodded back, and they took Autel to the medical bay.

They made it to the medical bay alright, and collected the proper equipment and Itzia began her work.

When the rest returned to the hangar Forge was standing over Captain Warren with the six MPs.

"Captain, I hereby relieve you of your command under article 15 of the Interspecies Union Agreement. You have been found to refuse aid to an allied species with no evidence that he was undeserving of it.  You will be court-marshalled upon return to an allied base."

The corner of Wing's mouth rose. The nearest allied base was a Sangheili one. Warren would get no mercy.

Chapter 10 (Part 1): Scratch
1329 Hours, October 22nd, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar) Autel awoke from his short coma a few hours later, having been stitched up by Itzia and the Sangheili medic.

He stood and donned his armor, checking all of its systems. Good to go.

He stepped out of the med bay of the human super carrier.

This ship makes the Covenant Super Carriers look small. He thought as he stared down a seven kilometer long corridor. The largest Covenant Super Carrier had been barely longer than five kilometers.

He walked up to two guards and spoke in fluent, though accented, English.

"Excuse me, humans. Could you tell me where Phoenix Team is?"

The guards were tensed up, but were caught off-guard by the politeness of Autel's voice.

One of them said "Just a sec'" and went to a computer terminal. Autel watched him tap keys, while the other guard watched him. Autel looked at him.

"You didn't ask what unit Phoenix Team is in."

The guard shrugged stiffly. "No need. Who doesn't know Phoenix Team?"

The guard turned away from the terminal. "Hangar 5-B, sir."

Autel folded his fist over his first-heart and thanked them, then walked away as the guards stood awkwardly, not sure about how to respond to this.



Wings looked up as Autel entered. The albino Sangheili warrior nodded at the team and spoke to Wings: "I'd like to speak with you, Wings."

Wings nodded and rose from his crouched position, his helmet off, but the rest of his suit still on.

The pair made an odd sight in the kilometers long corridor, an albino Sangheili walking step in step with a Spartan wearing no headgear.

Five kilometers later they reached the bow, where the observation room was located. Wings was able to look down and see a planet floating several million kilometers below them. To the front, sides, and above them were stars, with two moons floating off to the right.

Autel walked to the window, staring out of it.

"They never had things like this on our ships."

Wings stepped to the right to look at the moons. Strange, one of them seemed to have more craters than the other.

"Our engineers like to do things like this. Its fun to look at right now, but in the middle of a space battle, this would be a prime target for enemy fire."

Autel nodded. "How did you know I was raised differently from most other Sangheili?"

"Well, for starters, you know who your father is."

Autel laughed under his breath, which Wings had no problem hearing due to his augmented hearing, and clicked his mandibles. "And?"

"You are already comfortable with working with humans. I had my suspicions when you first told me about Randall, but it was confirmed when I saw you with us again on Alpha-Alpha-Golf.  Even Thel 'Vadam, one who's worked with humans far longer than any other of your race, still shows signs of tensing up, of distrust.  You don't.  Its like you were ready for something like this."

Autel nodded, his expression somber. Wings couldn't see it. He was still examining the moons. Maybe its the atmosphere...

"It is easy to raise a bigot, a zealot. It is much harder to raise one with an open mind."

"You must've been fun."

"We Sangheili don't play, we train. We learn to fight as soon as possible, learn to respect only fighting prowess and combat superiority.  In Sangheili culture, if you attempt a coup on a leader, the worst thing you can do is fail and survive."

"I know this."

"Now add the element of having someone who doesn't respect this. My mother, a Seer of Sanghelios, gave me many words of wisdom.  One of these was not to simply accept things on faith, but to always question, for if you don't question your morals-"

"Then how do you know they're right."

Autel looked at the Spartan, who shrugged. "I have a lot of time to think. Its how my brain works."

Autel and turned back to the window, looking down at the sun beginning to fade behind the planet. Wings went back to examining the moons. It had to be the atmosphere, burning up the meteorites before they hit. But maybe it was the gravity well, the more densely pockmarked moon had at least twice the mass...

"Do you believe in God?"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"For many reasons, the most basic of which has to do with the logic that if he had created us the way he did, then why am I standing here? And why are you?"

"I do not know much of your religions, but that is a fairly good answer to my ears."

"You should do some research, then."

Another silence ensued. Yes, it had to do with the mass of the moon. Being farther out, it would draw more meteorites in, and its lack of atmosphere wouldn't burn up the meteorites...

"Why are you here?"

"Because the Covenant killed my family, because I have the right genes to accept physical augmentations, because I'm intelligent."

"Are you happy with that?"

"No."

"But that is the way things are."

"I'm resigned to it, and I like what I do. But I always wonder where I would be, what I'd be doing, and I feel sad that I know it'll never happen."

"You are what was meant to be. Do not become discontent with the way of things."

"If I were content with the way things are then I would let the Covenant sweep over us, planet by planet. I was meant to be what I wanted to be, to forge my own path, but your former leaders took that from me, and now I have only this."

Autel's mandibles clicked. "You do think quite a bit."

Wings nodded. "Just remember, the future cannot affect the past, but the past changes everything."

Autel nodded. "You are a wise head on young shoulders."

Wings let out a single bark of laughter. "Not according to the UNSC. I'm just equipment to them, and that's why I enjoy these talks."

The two friends stood there for a long time, each staring out their respective windows.

Incoming message: Priority One
'''//Message Decoded//

'''//Unpacking: 25%//

'''//Unpacking:50%//

'''//Warning: Virus detected. Do you wish to proceed? Y|N//

'''//Proceeding. Please wait.//

'''//Unpacking:75%//

'''//Unpacking Complete. Open contents? Y|N//

'''//Opening. Please wait...//

'''//Begin transcript//

'''//To: CO Ezekiel-354//

'''//From: [X-Ray code required]

''This is a direct order from ONI Section Two. It has been decided that the Spartan III project will go public.

All Beta, Gamma, and Delta Company Spartans are to report immediately to the Advent orbiting system Syndicate-5.

Any protests will be formally logged.

//End Transcript//

Chapter 10 (Part 2): Scratch
0700 Hours, October 23rd, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar) Wings was surprised to find several hundred Delta Company Spartans in the hangar when he reported to the navy officer just inside the door.

"Sir, might I ask what is going on?"

The officer tapped his pad. "I don't know, I just know you got promoted to Chief Petty Officer. You're now in command of all Delta Company Spartan IIIs."

Wings stood a little straighter. They weren't supposed to talk about the Spartan III program. No one outside ONI was supposed know there was a Spartan III program.

Mystified, he marched over to his team. "Any of you know what's going on?"

Zero shrugged. "I was told that a superior would make an announcement over the speakers. But it looks like we may learn sooner than that." And she tilted her head behind Wings.

Wings turned to see Ezekiel-254 and 10 other Spartans approaching them. He recognized the numbers on their armor. Sabre and Katana Teams from Gamma Company, and Tom and Lucy.

Phoenix saluted, and the other Spartans returned the gesture. Ezekiel spoke. "Congratulations on your promotion, Chief Petty Officer D339."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now you aren't going to like this, but the press is going to be here for this battle."

Wings looked around at the assembled Spartans. "ONI is going public with the Spartan III program."

Ezekiel nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. Even more unfortunate is that there will be a lot of press, and they've already released dossiers on all of us, and guess who's number one on the list."

Wings turned a bit to his team. "Make sure your active camo is working properly, it won't be just Covenant fire we'll be dodging."

X let out a short bark of laughter as he and the other members made sure it was working.

The large screen activated, and most of the Spartans turned to face it.

Ezekiel gestured, and Phoenix, Sabre, Katana, and Tom and Lucy walked in to a nearby Pelican. He followed and closed the rear hatch.

He activated a holo-projector in the middle, and the a planet appeared in the middle of the Pelican. Zooming in, a square battlefield was shown, with a city dominating a third of the field, and a Covenant base another third. "Let's skip the main orders those outside are hearing and get to the planning of this battle. Please note that command expects all Spartan IIIs to be part of this battle."

Wings leaned over the projection, the only light in the compartment reflecting off his visor. "Command thinks we need 3,000 Spartans to take one Covenant base? I could take the Spartans in this room and destroy it."

Ezekiel nodded. "Five protests didn't get me anywhere, so yes."

Wings tensed up. "Look at this battlefield. We'll be too close in, too easy to spot.  One good bomb could wipe out dozens of us in a single blast.  We need to spread everyone out."

Ezekiel repeated the nodding motion. "You have tactical command of the battlefield. What do you propose?"

Wings walked in to the cockpit. "I'll get used to it, and I'm thinking."



D339 came back half an hour later. "We need to increase our mobility in an urban area. The streets will be packed with civilians going to and from work.  The Covenant will most assuredly have artillery fire in the no-man's land."

Ezekiel folded his arms. "So what do we do?"

"Phoenix and Hawk will HALO drop right behind the base, near their artillery. We destroy the guns and front walls.  Then the rest of Delta Company charges.  We can't risk using nukes, the EMP blast would destroy the city's electrical system.  We'll have fifty teams on roofs and in windows to provide sniper support.  Twenty will provide anti-air support.  Thirty teams at a time will charge the base, ten from each direction.  Phoenix and Hawk will hold the front wall until they get there, then we'll push deeper in to the base from there and destroy it.  Simple.  The largest problem is the HALO drop.  Our new augmentations and armor will give us a higher chance to survive than the Spartan IIs above Reach."

The sixteen Spartans in the Pelican pored over the plan, refining it. They finally got all parts of it locked down and left to prepare themselves for the next day's assault.



0630 Hours, October 24th, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

D683 shook his head as the Pelican bumped in to the atmosphere, red flames surrounding it. "This sounds stupid."

Wings didn't move as he grasped the handhold. "Sounds impossible, doesn't it?"

D683 nodded. "Of course. But that's what we do best, eh?"

The pilot opened the com. "All ground teams report successful landing. Get a load of this."

A channel opened on the rear screen, and Deep Ocean fed it onto their HUDs. It was the news, showing a bunch of news crews fumbling around, trying to talk to the Spartans, who didn't respond at all. Ezekiel had ordered that they ignore the press unless they had to, and they did. Whenever a reporter got cocky and stepped in front of one, the Spartan reached out a hand and brushed them aside like one would brush a light layer of crumbs off a desk.

The com opened again. "Fifteen seconds to drop. Good luck, Spartans."

I don't believe in luck, Wings thought as the rear hatch opened, giving them a view of the planet below and some weapon containers as the timer hit zero.

The Spartans leaped out of the descending Pelican, which veered off and out, soon exiting the atmosphere again.

Wings opened the team com. "Remember, over pressurize your hydrostatic gel layers just before impact. Try and land somewhere soft."

"Since we have a few minutes before we hit the ground, would you mind explaining where we'll be getting weapons?"

"That Pelican didn't just drop us off. It dropped those weapon containers."

"Let's hope the troops they land on don't have thick skulls."

Deep Ocean's voice came through their mics. "One minute to impact. I would suggest you over pressurize your gel layers now."

Wings felt uncomfortable as the gel layer expanded. They came through the cloud, and he saw the landing site.

Perfect drop. He thought, five seconds before he hit the water.

The feeling was like what he expected if he would have survived being hit by a MAC cannon, and he nearly blacked out.

His armor pulled him down, and he kicked to the shore, pulling himself up on to the damp sand.

He stood, and his vision cleared.

He was met with the sight of several thousand Unggoy staring at him.

"Fuck."

He accelerated to top speed in a few seconds as the Covenant troops recovered their composure and reached for their weapons.

Plasma splashed on his back as he sprinted for his weapon container. He dove behind it and tilted the holder so he could access it.

The hatch popped open and he pulled out his BR55HB SR2 Battle Rifle and ammo. Next was the M7 SMGs, and finally, his SM6d pistol. The assorted grenades and demo charges went on to his belt. He'd made sure to store a bubble shield and a regenerator.

He stowed everything on to their magnetic strips, except the two SMGs, which he gripped tightly as he wondered how to get out of this.

Plasma cause the titanium armor of the weapon container to boil and slough away, revealing the structure beneath.

Wings sighted a small copse of woods and activated his camouflage. He jumped up and sprinted for the woods, knowing that the Unggoy wouldn't see the rooster tails of sand popping up until they'd passed the container.

He made it safely to the trees as the enemy troops spotted the foot trails and started running for the trees.

"Ocean, can you establish a secure com to the rest of the HALO teams?"

"Done. By the way, that one calling himself the Judicator is here."

Wings nodded as the com clicked on. "Status check."

All lights winked green, and Zero's voice came in over the speaker. "Only minor injuries. Itzia dislocated her arm, and X, his leg.  I'm on my way to help them."

"What's your position?"

"About one klick south of you."

Wings looked south, over the heads of several thousand angry Unggoy. "I'll meet you at the artillery. I've got a bit of a problem here."

"Shall we move to assist?"

"Negative, get to the artillery. I'll be there ASAP."

The Unggoy had reached the trees, and Wings clambered up the side of a tree. He dug his hands and feet in to the trunk, knowing that no branch here would hold his weight.

He sat there for ten minutes as the little aliens ran under him. When they disappeared through the trees he climbed down.

Wings ran towards the artillery. Well, at least that's several thousand that we won't have to worry about for a while.

Most of the artillery was already destroyed. The other four members of Phoenix Team had caught the sentries with their guard down and destroyed twenty of the Wraiths and two of the mega-cannons. As Wings ran toward them, he saw Hawk come from the north and hit that end, two of the purple tanks exploding in seconds.

A laser slashed out and destroyed three more. A blue explosion ripped out and destroyed the last mega cannon.

Wings leaped on a Jiralhanae who was bringing a plasma turret around. He stood over him and pumped fifteen rounds in to the brute's face, who jerked and went still.

Wings holstered the SMGs and grabbed the turret.

Ripping the heavy weapon off its base, Wings spun and fired in to a group of five Jiralhanae, who dove for cover.

One wasn't so fast, and his flesh bubbled away as the plasma thudded in to him.

Continuing the spin, Phoenix Team's leader smashed the nose of the turret in to the rear of the Wraith next to him, and fired.

The reactor gave off a small explosion, then a chain reaction occurred within it. Wings dove away in the nick of time as the Wraith exploded, taking six grunts and a Jiralhanae with it.

A Kig-Yar leaped on his back, and Wings grabbed him and tore him off, holding the lizard in front of him like a shield.

Dozens of spikes struck the creature, extinguishing his life.

Tossing the broken body aside, the Spartan ran and jumped behind one of the portable shields the Covenant liked tossing around the battlefield.

Spikes shot out and bounced off the shield.

Wings pulled out his battle rifle and returned fire. Activating a plasma grenade, he chucked it behind the brute's cover. One roared and stood, the glowing blue orb stuck to his breast plate. It detonated, and took out two other brutes.

The last one screamed and charged. Wings waited until the Jiralhanae warrior was about to smash in to him before sidestepping and ramming the butt of his gun in to the brute's back, killing the beast outright.

Wings grabbed a Wraith that was twisting to face him and tore the hatch off. The grunt inside whimpered as he was ripped out of the seat, and Wings ripped off his breathing harness and threw him to the side.

He got inside the large tank and grabbed the controls.

Spinning the tank around, he fired, taking out a column of Jackals and another Wraith. Keeping up the fire, he managed to destroy two more before the enemy troops realized what was going on.

The last two Wraiths turned and fired on his position as he leaped out and ran to join the rest of his team, destroying the vehicle he'd just left.

X had his M7 Spartan Laser out. "Nice moves, sir. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Wings stood aside and let X walk by him.

Zooming in on the Wraiths, X charged the laser and fired, tearing the two artillery tanks apart.

Wings was already giving further orders. "Ocean, signal the snipers and anti-air. Hawk, start your swing north.  Phoenix, let's swing south."



The attack on the artillery had left the Covenant a bit scattered, but they soon regrouped at the base.

The two HALO teams had made it to the west wall, and were setting charges.

Wings finished his and got back, preparing to activate the bubble shield. It had a short lifespan of twenty seconds, and it would take about thirty seconds for the other teams to reach their position. That would leave them in the open for ten seconds.

"Do it."

The charges exploded, and the walls shattered and fell.

The ten Spartans started backpedaling, switching to high-frequency scanners to see their quarry.

Firing in to the smoke, they caught those Covenant troops just recovering with their pants down, dropping them.

It was but a few seconds before they fired back, throwing dozens of grenades.

Four bubble shields were dropped, stopping the incoming fire completely.

Then the thirty other Spartan teams, with Sabre, Katana, and Flechette in the vanguard, hit the base.

The assembled Spartan teams hit the Covenant forces like lightning, moving faster than any foe could move, snapping necks, grabbing weapons, all kinds of close quarters fighting.

The fighting soon became a kind of urban warfare, with teams moving from building to building, clearing out the buildings.

Not half an hour after the fall of the wall, the entire base was clear.

"Slot me in." Deep Ocean said, and Wings pulled her slot out of the back of his head and slid the chip in to the central computer in the citadel.

"I'm in. Disabling counter-intrusion protocols."

Deep Ocean had been based off the Cortana model, built with the best intrusion and intelligence gathering programs that ONI could muster.

"Interesting."

"What is it?"

"I've found some schematics, for some kind of weapon."

"Can you figure out what it does?"

"No, there's not functional parts shown in the schematics. My guess is that this is still just a theoretical weapon, but it looks like some kind of large plasma weapon, almost like an interplanetary weapon."

Wings stared off in to space. If the Covenant were really building and interplanetary weapon...

"This is Ezekiel-254, mission accomplished, all Spartans will return to the field base."

Deep Ocean's voice came through the instant Ezekiel finished. "I'm done, unplug me."

Wings pulled the chip out and reinserted the AI back in to the back of his helmet.



The outside of the camp was bustling with press, and Phoenix Team had to fight their way through reporters. A couple of them realized Wings from his rampage through the Wraiths and tried to move in, but he just batted the cameras and microphones inside.

It took the five Spartans a minute to reach the gates, where six MPs stood, holding the press back as the Spartans pushed their way in to the compound.

Ezekiel marched up, glaring at the reporters. "Vultures. Sorry about that, but command wouldn't allow the Pelican pilots to lift off."

Wings checked his armor for the secret microphones he knew they'd have planted. Running an electrical charge through his armor, he located three little mics, which he quickly crushed.

"Command really wants us to talk to them, for some reason. Like they expect us to act like regular humans."

Ezekiel nodded. "All teams are giving the all clear."

Wings tilted his head. "Its a good thing we weren't able to use nukes as well, sir. You need to see what we found."



"An interplanetary plasma weapon. The Covenant are getting desperate."

Wings was standing with his arms folded. "That's what Deep Ocean thinks. The schematics we have are missing a lot of key components, so its impossible to know what form it will take."

Ezekiel twisted the hologram around, examining it from all angles. "It's certainly quite the weapon. By my guess, given the power supply, you could hit Mars from here."

Deep Ocean appeared, a dark blue humanoid, obviously female, but the only real features were her face. The rest of her flowed and swam, like the waters of a deep sea.

"Aye sire, I thought as much. Although some of the parts do not match what you normally find in plasma weapon systems."

"That just tells us that it's likely some new kind of plasma attack, possibly through slipspace."

Deep Ocean nodded, but looked skeptical.

Chapter 11: High Altitudes
1759 Hours, October 24th, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

"Hey, D339, check it out. You're on the news."

Wings stood and looked at the screen, feeling his fingers start to curl.

The news station was showing his rampage through the Wraith line.

He left the mess hall to go clean his weapons.



No sooner did he leave the mess than he ran slap bang in to a news reporter crew.

The news reporter shoved a mic up to his helmet, the cameraman behind her focusing on him. "Spartan, do you have any comments about your treatment in the Navy?"

Wings bit back a retort and marched marched through the hall to his quarters, the lady bothering him all the way.

"The public has a right to know."

He turned to her as the door to Phoenix's quarters opened. "And I have a right to my privacy."

The door slammed in her face.



Wings slotted Deep Ocean in to the terminal, and he pulled out one of his SMGs.

It had jammed during the fighting, and he had to replace half the firing mechanism.

The door opened again, and Zero stomped in, grabbing her sniper rifle and sitting down with it.

As the door closed again, Wings saw the reporter still outside.

"Damned press." Zero said. "They keep this up and I'll show them what happens when we think we're under attack."

Deep Ocean appeared. "That would be highly inadvisable, as the press are protected under UNSC protocol-"

"Yeah yeah, I know." Zero snarled. "That was sarcasm."

Wings smiled. That was just how Zero and Deep Ocean interacted.



The door to the bridge opened, and Wings marched up to the holo-table, which Captain Forge and Vice Admiral Lash were standing around, saluting.

"You sent for me, sirs?"

The two officers returned the salute, and Lash hit a button. "We found this about an hour ago."

The table activated, and a Covenant base appeared. It was the standard affair, with one new addition.

The large weapon the UNSC had just discovered.

"We need a small team to get in there and grab information on this weapon. We need to know more about it."

"And we can't send in my entire team."

"Right. So we're sending you in with Autel 'Vadam."

The Sangheili entered. "What is it you want with me?"

The corner of Wing's mouth twitched.



The dropship ride was quiet, as was the landing.

A few hours later Autel and Wings were examining the base.

Wings scanned the wall tops. "Got sensors all over those, we can't go in over the walls."

Autel was checking the reactor drain. "Not getting in through the drain this time, either. They've barred it and probably have sensors all over inside."

"Let me see."

Autel shifted over for Wings to examine the drain. Wings focused on the drain, then panned upward. "Nothing above the drains, though."

His Sangheili friend nodded. "Probably think that anyone would see the drain and just use it."

"Ocean, what do you think?"

Deep Oceans uneven tones came through. "There is an overlap in their sensors that you'll have to get over, which can be bypassed by-"

Autel finished. "Jumping from that tree and over the sensor cone."

"Yes."



Autel made it easily, as he weighed far less than the Spartan.

The tree almost toppled as Wings pushed off of it, using all the strength available to him. He landed cat-like beside his friend, who smiled.

"You Spartans weight a lot."

Wings brushed his lapels. "Its the armor, much more resilient than yours."

Autel's smile broadened. "Then you wouldn't mind taking point, would you?"

They made it safely to the wall, and Wings smashed his fist through the metal, creating hand and foot holds on his way up.

He crouched at the top, watching Autel climb up awkwardly. He grabbed the Sangheili's hand and pulled him up.

"You Sangheili have odd legs."

"Yes, I've heard all the jokes."

Wings unwound a carbon fiber rope and magnetic grappling hook. He activated the hook and set it on the inside of the wall, then slid down it.

Autel followed the instant Wings was on the ground, pulling out his M7S SMG, and Autel pulled out his Type-2 Energy Sword.

The two activated their camouflage and set off towards the cannon.

Four hair-raising hours later, they reached the entrance to the complex.

The door was locked, but was soon opened by Autel's swords.

The Unggoy standing guard in the entrance looked up and squeaked as the door opened, and then the large green giant appeared next to him.

Wings grabbed his head and twisted, breaking his neck like a twig.

He knew they were on a timer, so Wings hurriedly installed Deep Ocean in to the computer system and kept moving.

The com opened, and Deep Ocean's voice came in. "I'm in to the system. Take a left at the first corridor."

"Aye aye."

He turned and tripped up a Kig-Yar with his boot.

Autel sprang forward and sliced the Covenant trooper's head off in a blur.

"Hurry, there's guards coming to the entrance hall. Try not to leave a trail of bodies.  I've shut down the cameras."

"Do you have the schematics yet?"

"No, I'm infiltrating the core mainframe now."

"Good, we're almost to the core room."

The door slid open, and they were faced with a Huragok.

Wing's silenced SM6D snapped up, and the explosive round took the creature through the head. It flopped to the ground.

Autel looked wary. "Was that necessary? Huragok-"

"Are near uncontrollable. He may have been loyal, he may not have, and by the time we could have figured it out, he could have sounded an alarm."

Autel nodded, and they got to work.

Wings swung his head around, the 3D imaging systems capturing the entire place in high-definition detail. The schematics may show what parts the weapon used, but it didn't show what the interior was like.

Autel was planting plasma charges, directed by Deep Ocean's advice.

They finished, and were about to leave when the alarm went off.

"Ocean, can you jump to the backup?"

He felt the mercury pour in to his head. "Done."

"Right, let's go." He went to a wall and planted a shaped breaching charge on the wall.

Jumping back, he detonated the device, and jumped out the hole and on to the wall.

He and Autel made it safely back to the pick up zone with no further trouble.

Some anti-aircraft fire bothered them on the way up, but Ipla's skills kept them safe from harm as the dropship returned to the Advent.

The pair marched on to the bridge, and downloaded all the information they had gathered on the weapon.

Deep Ocean's hologram appeared alongside the shipboard AI's image. "We were wrong."

Wings looked up from the pictures. "What about?"

"The entire thing. It's not a plasma weapon, its a gravity beam."

Wings straightened. "What do you mean?"

Deep Ocean snapped her fingers, and the blueprint fell apart in to an exploded view. "The weapon used a mass effect device that creates a gravity well. Aimed at the right object, say, a moon, and you can drag almost anything you want to the planet."

This was most surprising. A gravity weapon. "Why would you build such an expensive thing to commit suicide?"

Deep Ocean shook her head. "Wrong again. The components and materials are pretty cheap to make and manufacture, and the Covenant is anything if not rich.  It also doesn't take long to build.  The planet we discovered it one was in the first stage of constructing the outer shell.  Dragging a moon on top of the planet wouldn't just wreck the surface, it would cause the planet to rip itself apart.  The planet we just left was the test arena.  After subsequent scans we've discovered that there are actually several husks of large cruisers that were dragged to the surface from orbit."

"How long would it take to build one?"

"About one month."

Lash folded his arms. "All the more reason to keep them off IU occupied planets. Autel, imagine what would happen if they built one on Sanghelios."

Autel's hands tightened in to fists, and his mandibles twitched.

Wings looked down at the diagram that was now playing out of a moon crashing in to a planet, tearing it apart. "Earth will be harder to defend from this. They could simply build it in the Uninhabitable Zones, where sensors have more interference, sometimes too much to get a good scan.  Whatever leader they have could do with one cannon what another couldn't do with a thousand ships."

Chapter 12: Veer
0914 Hours, November 15th, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Wings watched the three hundred Spartans in the hangar bay sitting, exercising, maintaining their equipment, and whatever other activities Spartans partake in during down time.. They needed to find something to do.

Thankfully, he was now in charge of all Delta Company. He knew the rule. If command didn't have anything for them to do, find something for them to do.

He sat down and examined the charts he'd been given. Planets all over Interspecies Union space were reporting signs of Covenant troops. Sanghelios was having some more trouble with their outcast faction, The Fallen.

Over the course of the next two hours, Wings wrote up new orders for all 600 five-man teams under his command.

'''//Unit: Delta Company Spartan III//

'''//Officer Issuing: Chief Petty Officer Spartan-D339//

//New Orders are as follows//

''1.Find and capture any and all information pertaining to any new Covenant Technology.

''2.Use any means possible to achieve your first objective, with the following exceptions:


 * ''I.Under no circumstances will these means put the lives of civilians or allied forces in danger unless absolutely necessary.


 * ''II.Under no circumstances will the Graviton Cannon, or any similar super weapon, be discharged or detonated unless absolutely necessary.

''3.Once the information is captured, do not move on to another target until all collected information has been uploaded to ONI servers.

''4.Exercise all possible caution at all times.

''5.Aid any and all allied forces in the area.

'''//Dated: 1132 Hours, October 30th, 2568//

//Signed: Spartan III D339, Delta Company XO//

Wings sent off the draft to the bridge, to be reviewed and authorized by Vice Admiral Lash.

He had waited not one hour until he got the confirmation.

The XO of Delta Company sent the signed orders out to all Spartans.



Phoenix Team was first on to their cruiser, all Delta Company teams having signed out for small slipspace capable ships.

They packed the entire thing with as many weapons as possible, from their sidearms to a rechargeable Spartan Laser, and enough ammo to last a lifetime.

Supplies were next, and enough were stored away to last for two years.

As they were packing their armor, Autel and Fira marched up.

Wings stood. "Need something?"

The two Sangheili warriors were carrying plenty of weapons. "Just enough room to set our equipment."

Wings folded his arms and tilted his head to the side. "What makes you think you're coming with us?"

Autel jerked his head towards the interior. "The fact that we're getting as restless as you are, and if you stop us, your engines may... malfunction."

Wings nodded. "Get aboard, we leave in half an hour."



Thankfully the engines didn't "malfunction", and the seven warriors were soon on their way in the small cruiser.

The team's target was a planet outside the border of UNSC space, another one of the testing planets for the Graviton Cannon.

It would take them about four days to get to the planet, then they'd land the cruiser two hundred kilometers from the base with full stealth protocols engaged, and then infiltrate the Covenant city.

Meanwhile they had little to do but talk and find other ways to entertain themselves.

Something Fira and Peec spent as much time not doing as possible.

The cruiser was small, having a grand total of seven rooms and one cargo bay, which took up a third of the ship. This was where most of the equipment, including the Spartan's armor, was kept.

The times that Peec and Fira ran in to each other were tense, awkward moments. Fira felt shamed by how Peec had saved his life, and yet he still felt a festering hate for him. Peec just felt like he may have done the wrong thing in saving the Sangheili warrior.

They never actually spoke, just nodded tensely to each other and kept moving.

Zero, X, and Itzia practiced hand-to-hand combat in the cargo bay, the largest space they had in the ship.

Deep Ocean like playing with physics simulations, often playing the simulations out in full holo, which the crew of the ship always enjoyed.

The four days felt short with the extra company, yet slightly longer because of the feud between Peec and Fira.

The planet they looked down on was a desert planet, and they could see the large gouges that ship and asteroid hulls had torn through its relatively smooth surface.

The Graviton Cannon was visible from a medium orbit, what with the planet being relatively small, about half again the size of Earth's Moon.

"We can use nukes here. They'll have shields, so we'll need to get inside." Zero commented.

"I can get us the important bits of hardware." Peec put in.

Deep Ocean's avatar appeared, a deep fluorescent blue. "I haven't heard about this plan. What do you need it for?"

The corner of Wing's mouth twitched. "All in good time, Ocean."

The AI nodded. "I suppose this means I won't be going with you?"

"Someone needs to pick us up."

"Very well."



The seven Special Forces members jumped off the cruiser as it settled down.

The ship lifted off, and Ocean's voice came in.

"I'll hold the ship in that valley about five kilometers south of your current position. The warhead is armed and awaiting your call."



Getting in to the base was easy. Avoiding all the security turned out to be hard.

X sprayed a small can of water in a mist in front of them, and several more golden beams materialized.

Spraying along them, he found their central housing and got to work.

Wings was starting to get worried. They'd only gotten halfway to this graviton cannon in the time it had taken him and Autel to reach the first one.

"Got it." X was done, having successfully disabled the beams. They didn't want to know what the beams did, and the plan was to not find out.

Unfortunately, they did not one minute later.

Zero stepped in front and began to reach to climb up when she heard a sizzling. She leapt backwards and looked down at her armor.

Two holes had been burnt in to the sides of her armor, but they hadn't quite made it all the way through, having just reached the hydrostatic gel layer. That had been what created the sizzling noise. She looked up.

"My shields didn't block it."

Peec took a look at the holes, then pick up a rock and motioned for X to spray in front. X did, and Peec tossed the rock through, which was promptly sliced clean in half.

He looked back to Wings, who gestured to the apertures, and X set about disarming them.

Once he was done Peec crouched and picked up the rock.

"Good thing our armor's good. Sangheili or a marine would've been diced up."

Itzia looked at the rock. "Good thing a Spartan was on point, sir."

Wings was thinking. "Switch to infrared."

They did, and many light yellow beams appeared in front of them and to either side. Behind them was a dark blue corridor.

The beams directly in front of the team burnt white hot.

Wings observed this. "They probably know we're here, it seems as if they're low heat beams until tripped. We need to move faster.  Climb the tower."

Zero pulled out her sniper rifle and ejected the magazine and chambered round, catching it as it flew out and pushing it back in to the mag.

Taking a magnetic grapple shot, she muzzle loaded it and took careful aim.

There was a muffled thunk and the hook attached itself to the tower.

Zero pulled the extraneous firing mechanism for the hook out and began climbing, soon followed by the rest.

Wings pulled himself up and stood on the barracks tower used to house Unggoy troops. Looking around, he saw that the base was just a normal Covenant base, except for the huge cannon.

Then he turned around.

"Shit, run!"

The Scarab fired, the huge beam punching in to the tower as the seven commandos leapt from it to the next tower.

Wings kept running and leapt again.

"Make for the graviton cannon and meet me there. I'll take care of that Scarab."

He began to turn in a long arc, and the scarab followed. Tightening his turn, Wings ducked right under the beam, feeling the heat on his back and putting on a burst of speed.

He pounded his way along the rooftops, always pursued by the huge beam of plasma, getting steadily closer and closer to the huge tank.

He leapt and caught the side, hearing the beam deactivate as his fist punched through a thin part of armor.

Heaving himself up on the walkway, Wings pulled out his shotgun and got to work.



Zero had her hands full. Peec and X had gone back to gather technology and set demolition charges. Why Wings wanted graviton beam parts she had no idea.

The Covenant garrison had become alerted to their presence, and had mounted several coordinated attacks, each time being repelled by Zero, Itzia, Autel, and Fira.

Zero hit the release for her sniper's magazine as she fired the last round and reached for another. Several hundred yards away a brute fell, the bullet having taken him through the eye.

She slapped the next magazine home and took careful aim. An Unggoy head popped up, which she ignored.

Feeling emboldened by this, a brute stood, and promptly took a round down his ugly mouth.

"Good shot, Spartan!" Autel called out as his carbine spat out radioactive rounds, chewing through twenty Unggoy.

Fira smiled as his two plasma rifles pumped out bolt after bolt in to Kig-Yar shields. One went down, swiftly followed by its owner, and he saw something fly through the hole in the shield wall.

The grenade detonated, taking out eight Kig-Yar.

Fira turned to see the Spartan medic, D102, kneeling behind the railing, reloading her assault rifle.

"Good thinking."

Her helmet snapped up to look at him, then she gestured back to the door and rose, snatching a plasma grenade up this time, and throwing it.

The explosive sailed out and latched on to a brute, who roared before being consumed by the blue fire.

Fira laid down fire on the remainder of the Covenant wave.

"I see you guys have been busy." The voice came from right next to him.

D1074 was standing next to him.

"No thanks to you, yes we have." Fira replied, a grating tone entering his voice.

D1074 snorted and pulled out his battle rifle. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, the ship's on the way."

"Knickers?"

The Spartan shrugged. "Phrase I heard our old Captain use one time. Turns out its an old phrase from England."

Fira looked perplexed, but turned back to the fight.

They all looked up and out the atrium's front window to see a massive blue explosion, and purple metal flying through the air.

A howl came up from the remaining Covenant forces as they charged.

"Wings had better hurry it up!" Autel called out to Zero, who nodded and focused on shooting the oncoming forces.

A metal plate dropped from the ceiling, and Wings landed silently next to Autel.

He looked at the albino Sangheili. "Time to go."

Fighting a rear guard action, the seven commandos retreated to the main function room and rose to the top, taking the cart of parts that Peec had collected.

Halfway up Wings nodded to X. "Do it."

The ceiling exploded, and the elevator rose up to what was now the roof.

Ocean brought the ship in close and lowered the ramp, and they piled on.

As the ship roared off, easily avoiding small arms fire from the ground, Wings strode to the bridge.

"Deep Ocean, execute order FDR519."

"Sir."

A missile streaked out, tipped by a single Shiva tactical nuclear warhead.

It struck the center of the base and detonated, annihilating the Covenant presence on the planet.



Slipspace was quiet. Nothing to see or hear, except the constant hum of the ship, and the occasional footstep, or murmur of conversation.

Wings halted as he entered the bridge, hearing one of the oddest sounds he'd ever heard.

It was a deep grunting sound, but higher than the average Sangheili voice. The sound was halting, but there was a constant high pitched tone in the background. It was by no means threatening. It was...

giggling?

Wings spun to see Autel grinning, the noise emanating from deep within his chest.

"What?"

Autel collected himself quickly, long enough to answer.

"You're orange, friend."

"What!?"

Wings stripped off his gauntlet. Sure enough, his skin was a pale orange color. He grabbed a mirror from his belt and checked his eyes. Yellow, damn.

Autel had stopped giggling. "Is something wrong?"

Wings nodded. "Yeah, definitely." And he marched out off the bridge.



Autel entered the medical bay to find Itzia standing over his friend, a large needle in Wing's abdomen.

"What is wrong?"

The female Spartan finished and withdrew the instrument. "He was jaundiced. You saw what happened, so I'll skip that part.  It happens to a human when their liver shuts down."

Autel turned his attention to Wings, who was pulling his shirt back over his head. "And why did your liver fail."

The Spartan paused, then went to the doors and locked them. "Perhaps I should tell you..."



The corvette settled in to position in the large hangar, and the ramp began to lower.

Wings turned to Autel. They were all geared up in armor again.

"Why did you judge me worthy?"

The Sangheili warrior turned to him. "We've already been through this."

"You told me it was because of my skills as a leader, but many others have those same skills. So why me?"

Autel got a far away look in his eyes.

"To be honest, friend, I truly don't know yet."

"Then how do you know I'm special?"

His expression returned to reality as the ramp finished lowering, and the others stepped in to the hangar. Autel turned to leave.

"Someone very special to me told me you are."

Chapter 13: Feathers
1042 Hours, December 1st, 2568 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Zero hated patrol duty. She was always stuck in close quarters, where she would be at a disadvantage if anything happened.

But this was just insult added to injury.

The Prius Mall on Syndicate-5 was packed with shoppers the day after Thanksgiving. Signs and screens blared about products on sale, and families wandered, shopping. Couples sidled, conversing. Teenagers meandered, gossiping, and doing whatever teenagers do.

The Spartans were not used to urban assignments, much less ones that landed them smack in the middle of society.

Maybe someone at HighCom had a funny sense of humor.

Still, it was almost entertaining to march right through a group of tourists on her route.

Almost.

Scattering another group in front of her, Zero marched in to the center courtyard. It was a circular area, with an oasis of jungle trees in the center, and a couple paths leading through them. The air around it was warm and humid, which was a nice change from the cold and dry outdoors.

She spotted Wings on one of the paths, examining a plant. To most it looked like he was just standing straight, staring to the front. But she saw the forward tilt to his helmet, and the general weight of his body was shifted slightly to the right.

She approached him, opening a personal channel. "What are you looking at?"

He replied without moving. "Venus flytraps."

Fascinated, she turned to look.

A fly had been caught by the predator plant, and was slowly being dragged in to the jaws and digested.

As the last of the fly was sucked in, Wings dropped his arms to his side and looked at Zero.

"Fascinating plants."

"Yes."

"You done with your patrol?"

"Yeah, now its time for guard duty."

"Eh."

The two Spartans parted ways, not one word of their conversation having been heard by an outsider.



Wings marched over to his designated guard spot, the end of a rectangular garden at the base of two parallel flights of stairs.

The entire area around him was white, almost blindingly so, except for the multiple colors of people moving around.

His motion sensor was next to useless unless someone got right next to him. Being two meters tall, being armed to the teeth, and wearing half a ton of armor sometime had a psychological effect on people.

Suddenly something bumped in to his leg. Wings hesitated to react violently, as no pain ensued and there was no way a Kig-Yar sniper could have gotten past the border guards. Even if it had, it wouldn't have failed to hit somewhere vital.

He looked down, and was perplexed when his eyes alighted on the smallest human he'd ever seen.

The child's head came up to about his knee, and he had to be no more than four years old. His hair was blond, and his grin showed that he was missing his two front teeth.

The child spoke, his words coming out awkwardly. "Spah-tahn."

Wings understood what the child was doing, now. Giving him a hug.

He didn't remember ever getting a hug, and he had no idea what to do now.

Wings was saved by the parents locating the small child, and bustling him away, apologizing again and again.

The Spartan didn't mind. He'd just experienced something he'd never known.

Now he had an inkling as to why Ezekiel had sent them here.

Wings settled back against the wall, getting comfortable for the two-hour sentry.



Locating Zero again was entertaining. As Wings approached her position he saw a few teenagers surrounding the Spartan, who was leaning back against a pillar, seemingly unresponsive.

The teenagers were all female, around sixteen or seventeen years of age. And they seemed to be hitting on the Spartan.

Wings got this immediately. To them all Spartans looked the same, so they figured that they must all be men.

Striding up to Zero, he opened the external mic as the teenagers backed off a couple steps for him.

"Having fun, D576?"

Zero's voice replied dryly. "Screw you, sir." It was obviously a female voice.

The two Spartans marched off before the teenagers could recover from their surprise.



Autel and Fira made an odd sight, striding through the crowds. Everyone gave them a wide berth, and many humans gave them accusing glances.

Wings and the rest of the Spartans met them at one edge of the courtyard. The Sangheili weren't wearing their helmets.

"Greetings, Spartans. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find out where you're stationed."

"Just follow the teenage girls, they'll lead you to Five-Seventy Six, at least."

Zero smacked X on the shoulder, drawing even more glances to the odd seven soldiers.

Wings saw another group of older teenagers, male this time, giving the Sangheili dirty looks. He turned back to Autel.

"Please tell me the gate guards let you keep your shields."

Autel shook his head. "No, and they took our weapons, as well."

The teenagers had started to move forward, their gazes locked on the Sangheili. They were close, now.

"Well that's not good..."

The one in front reached in to his leather jacket and whipped out an old M4D pistol. Wings reacted with all the speed a Spartan could, bowling in to Autel and taking the round.

The small bullet bounced off his shields, barely kicking him back, and Wings started toward the teenager.

The teenager fired again, yelling. "World-burners!" Citizens screamed and dove out of the way, but the bullets did nothing to stop Wings.

Alone one M4D pistol was not enough to knock down his shields, but the other four teenagers were pulling out pistols as well. Wings knew he had to move faster.

He crouched and threw himself forward, in to them, smashing his fist down on the teen's wrist, shattering it..

Spinning, he grabbed the barrel of another pistol an twisted, dislocating the hand it was attached to.

Continuing the spin he kicked out and broke another teen's grip on his weapon.

The other two chickened and ran, and X gave a short chase, which ended in them being dragged back to the yowling group by their scruffs, pleading for their lives.

Wings saw a small gaggle of girls about the teenager's age standing where the boys had come from, looking shocked and disturbed.

He reached down and plucked the leader from the tangle of bodies as mall security showed up.

"So you thought you'd show off by killing my friend, did you?"

The teen mumbled in between sobs. "They. Burnt.  Our.  Planets.  Killed.  Us."

Wings dropped the teen. "I'll have you know that the one you tried to kill has never harmed a human, and the other one with him has atoned for the few lives he took. Find someone who actually deserves to die, next time."

The guards got there and began cuffing the teen as best they could. A medic gave them painkillers.

The guard in charge, a small, pudgy bald man, spoke to Wings, a hint of a grin on his face. "Thanks for that."

Wings just stared at him. "It wouldn't have happened if the Sangheili's weapons hadn't been confiscated and their shields deactivated."

The guard's expression faded. "They're Elites. We can't just-"  He sputtered.

Wings folded his arms. "They're protected under the rights of the Interspecies Union Act III. I'm going have my AI reactivate their shields, and I expect their weapons to be brought to them.  I'm sure that if they did try and cause trouble, then there are enough armed citizens here to give them a run for their money."

The guard's face was red. Wings leaned in a bit closer. "Next time something like this happens, I will take it as a sign of species discrimination, and an indirect attempt at murder. Whoever was in charge of the gate knew about the feelings against Sangheili."

And with that, Wings marched back to their group, and had Deep Ocean begin to unlock the two Sangheili's shields.

She had been finished for several minutes when a couple nervous guards wandered up, carrying a locked case between them.

It was opened, and Autel and Fira accepted their weapons.

The Spartans and Sangheili went to a secure room, and after checking it thoroughly for bugs, they all stood in the center of the room, near the active holo-table.

Wings looked to Autel. "So, what is this about?" Although he already had an idea of what it was about.

Autel slid a data crystal in to a slot, and the table sprang to life.

"Fira and I have more information about Cell QX518-I53PR. We've found one of the research centers."



0300 Hours, January 1st, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

The month long guard duty at the mall was finally over. The day after Christmas had been worst, with barely enough room to maneuver in the crowded walkways.

Now all five Spartans were crewing two Albatross's, gliding down to the surface.

They were on their way down to the a medical research facility, in the hopes of finding more information on Cell QX518-I53PR.

And they were definitely not following established UNSC protocol.

Wings and Itzia piloted the forward ship, with X and Zero guiding the rear one down. Peec was stowed away in one of the shipping crates, having been chosen to be the infiltrator due to his incredible computer hacking skills. He was the only armored, wearing a tight fitting stealth suit that hid him even better than their Mark VII MJOLNIR armor.

The two heavy drop ships settled down on the platform, and Zero and Wings went down to hook up in to the loader exoskeletons.

The exoskeletons were based off of old Mark II MJOLNIR powered armor, and had been redesigned for lifting and carrying heavy loads.

The suits disguised Zero and Wing's physique perfectly, covering up most of their bodies up to their collarbones.

Grabbing their first load, the two disguised Spartans carried the crates out to the supply pad, where a small detachment of people were moving to secure them.

"Another shipment already!?" One of them called, waving to Wings.

"Yeah! Why not?" He replied.

"We just got one! There's got to be a mistake!"

Wings shrugged as best he could with the bulky, ungainly arms. How he longed to be back in his regular powered armor, in which he could pull off acrobatics no other human could hope to do otherwise...

"We just followed orders, which are quite clear with this one!"

The man turned away, grumbling, and Wings highly-sensitive ears allowed him to hear the man.

"Crazy doctor. What does that Halsey woman want with all this crap, anyway?"

Ah.



Peec crawled through the ventilation systems, knowing exactly where the sensors would be. He's hacked in to ONI servers at a young age and learned all about research facility security devices.

Halting almost exactly one meter and fifteen centimeters from an exit grill, he sprayed a fine mist through the air.

Lasers.

Reaching out to the side wall, he sent a small EMP shock through his gloves, temporarily deactivating the laser devices.

He crawled through and scrunched himself up, to avoid activating the lasers when they turned back on. He sprayed a different liquid on the grating, and acid that quickly ate through the metal.

With a skillful twist and pull, Peec pulled the grating out and slid it in front of him, knowing there would be no traps that would sense its movement.

He lowered himself gently to the floor and found himself inside an apartment housing.

He went to one door and listened for a second. He heard strange sounds coming from behind the door, like two humans...

Peec pulled back from the door, realizing what he was hearing, and exited the apartment as silently as possible.

The hall outside was deserted, and Peec's boots made no sound as he jogged along the hall, until he reached his destination.

The lock was a complex time delay. He carefully cracked open the case and got to work.

The simple thing about time delay locks was that you could find the combination of keys to press, if you knew how to look. What Peec was looking for was not a certain circuit to break, or a wire to cross, but damage. He examined the back of the keys carefully.

Each one was tied to an alarm, which rubbed when pressed. This caused the rubber around the back of the keys to wear down to stubs, so that a sharp hacker could find the keys used.

The problem was putting them in order.

This particular one was a four digit code, with the numbers 2, 5, 6, and 9 used.

Peec knew that 2569 would be the current year and thus too obvious.

So he was left with a whole bunch of numbers that a scientist would use.

So all he had to do was think like a scientist.



Waiting aboard the Albatross was dead boring. The four Spartans were suited up in their own infiltration suits, and were waiting for the men to finish unloading the crates.

They finished, and the remaining members of Phoenix Team rose and pulled the slim helmets on, leaving through the rear of the large drop ships.

The team hurried over to the door and stacked up on either side. Wings opened a secure channel to Peec.

Two clicks came through, and the light above the door turned green.

Wings moved in first, waving the others in behind him.

Peec had made it to the security station and, with Deep Ocean's help, disabled the security systems.

His part was done, mostly, and now it was up to them to get to their main objective.

As the door shut behind the four Spartans, the two Albatross's lifted off the pad and headed out to space.



Peec shut the computer down and exited the security room. The hallway was still clear, so he jogged silently down it to the rendezvous point.

He stepped through the door and ran slap-bang in to the rest of his team.

Wings nodded to him, and the team continued on their way.

They reached the door to the research lab. X reached for the opening switch.

A click was heard, then a shield appeared around the switch.

"Well that's not good." He said. "Now what?"

"We leave." Wings said, and turned around.

He bounced off the shield that had appeared behind them.

"Great. And we don't have anything on us that can get through that." Itzia said.

X shifted. "Sir, why is it that every time we go on a mission without our armor, something goes terribly wrong?"

Wings turned to him. "I don't know, but it does seem like things are starting to get worse on this mission. Apparently someone know we're here, and I have a good guess who..."



The end of the path ended up being about four hundred meters underground.

Phoenix Team had been lead on a path through the facility, blocked by shields and locked doors that they, even tapping all of Peec's skills, could not open.

Finally, they reached a thick Titanium-A door, which slid open as they closed in on it.

"Its not usual for a Spartan team to be infiltrating one of their benefactors own facilities. I suppose there's a good reason for that."

At the far end of the room, behind a solid oak desk, sat Dr. Catherine Halsey.

She was older than the stills they'd seen of her. Her hair had streaks of grey, and she had the beginnings of crows feet at the corners of her eyes.

The heavy door slid shut behind the five members of Phoenix Team.

Halsey sat up in her seat. "I knew that there was a special operations Sangheili team interested in this facility, but I didn't know that the famous Phoenix Team was involved."

The five Spartans stepped to the middle of the room and looked around.

The floor was covered in tables, upon which sat medical and scientific equipment that had functions they couldn't fathom. The walls were decorated with pictures of people that Wings recognized. SCPO Franklin Mendez, Sergeant Major Johnson, Lord Hood, the Spartan IIs, and some of the IIIs.

"We're here about Cell QX518-I53PR." Wings said.

"Direct, I like that." Halsey leaned forward, and tapped a few keys. On the table to her left a hologram appeared of a convoluted cell.

It was not a normal cell. The walls were irregular, and clumps of stuff seemed to be attempting to push their way out of the cell wall.

"This is the cell you're looking for. I'm also going to assume that you know what it does."

"Of course."

"Then what do you want to know?"

"How to reverse it."

"Why would you want to reverse it?"

Halsey didn't know what exactly they knew, but the shifting in body weight to a slightly more defensive posture told her something.

Wings spoke. "Can we see some of the test subjects?"

Her face turned slightly ashen. "We only have one right now."

She showed them in to a second room, which held a bunch of empty cages. A chimpanzee lay on its side in one cage at the center of the room.

The chimpanzee was twitching erratically, and its eyes stared straight ahead, as if it didn't realize they were there.

Itzia let out a small breath. "Late stage spastic palsy. When did it start?"

Halsey checked a small readout at the bottom of the cage. "About ten minutes ago."

"When was he injected with the cell?"

"Twelve hours ago."

A beeping was heard, and the chimp's movements ceased.

Wings turned back to Halsey. "What exactly do you do here?"

"Neural research. Its not just this cell, I have... other projects I work on.  This particular is based off the success of superconducting the nerves.  You've all had that.  The point of this particular research is to combine the acceleration of nerve signals and the incredible cellular regeneration that the Spartans have gained as a result of their physical augmentation.  Cell QX518-I53PR is made to allow nerve cells to replicate, so that you can heal from brain damage, among other things."

"So what kind of research is there to stabilize it?"

She sighed. "There is none. We barely have the funds to keep this project alive, and nothing is being done to research the reversal of this cell or stabilization of it.  Right now we're just flicking a paint brush at a sheet of canvas, getting a splatter painting."

Halsey couldn't fail to miss the glance that Wings and Itzia exchanged.

She turned to them, folding her arms across her chest.

"You seem to know a lot about this research already. Perhaps you should tell me why you're so interested in its reversal."



"And you were injected when?"

"August 2nd, 2562."

Halsey looked shocked. "And the only side effect has been this 'organ schizophrenia'?"

Wings shrugged. "Besides thinking and reacting faster than the average Spartan, yes."

"That's amazing. Six years ago our test subjects lasted, at most, three hours before being struck by a major cognitive disorder."

"Perhaps its a combination of this treatment and our other physical augmentations."

Halsey started wringing her fingers. "Possibly, but it could also be that the human's frontal lobe is far more advanced than our test subjects. That would help explain why higher though processes aren't affected negatively."

"Yet."

"...Yet."

"So what can we do."

"I don't know. I need multiple scans of your brain, numerous samples of DNA, a white matter biopsy..."

"I'll do it."

"You do know how dangerous this is, right?"

Wings shrugged. "Is it any more dangerous than anything else I've done?"

"Fair point. There's only one more problem..."

"Money."

"Yes."

"We'll fetch, you build."

"Alright."

Chapter 14: Pinions
2200 Hours, February 16th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Phoenix Team was fresh out of a recent combat theatre, and had finally gotten the go on their private mission.

HighCom usually didn't approve of private missions, but they approved of Insurrectionists even less. And since they didn't currently have the resources to spend on assaulting the weakened rebels, so they were willing to accept any volunteers.

Infiltrating the base was easy, humans are generally easier to fool than cameras and sensors.

Easier to kill, too.

The five Spartans made it to the central room, where Wings plugged Deep Ocean in.

"Alright, this ought to be-"

Alarms blared, then stopped almost immediately.

"Well that was unexpected." The AI said. "I have encountered a counter-infiltration AI."

"Can you take him out?" Wings said, moving some crates to form a chokepoint, as X and Itzia moved others to block the doors.

"Yes, but it will be easier if I have Peec to help." Then she spoke to the team techy. "Think you can do this?"

Peec stowed his rifle on his back and took a position at the wide mainframe keyboard. "Try me."

Zero unslung her assault rifle, and stared down at it. She wasn't as good as the others at close ranged fighting, and loathed that fact.

X knelt behind a crate, and snapped a G58 HE Grenade Launcher on to his rifle, and popped a round in. The G58 worked like a Roman Candle, each shell in the tube had three explosives. One was fired for each pull of the trigger, thus reducing the amount of reloads needed.

Itzia had an SMG set out on the crate, her SM6D pistol out, and had found a stash of grenades. Wings nodded to her and gave her the thumbs up. She returned the gesture, and set a grenade just inside the door jam at the end of the hallway.

Wings set himself up to the side of the door to their room, checking the ammo in his shotgun. He chambered a round and stood a couple feet back, keeping an eye on his motion tracker.

Red dots gathered at the far door, and he distinctly heard footsteps, then a door slide open, and a bunch poured in to the opening.

Peec's back was to the door, which unfortunately gave the Innies a clear shot at his back. Wings heard the rattle of MA5K assault rifles, and Peec's shields sparked.

With barely a slow-down in his faster than 200 words per minute, Peec tossed a small tear shaped object behind himself. It opened up, and a portable Covenant plasma barrier sprang to life. The rounds from the MA5Ks simply bounced off it.

The next thing Wings heard was the discharge of an SM6D pistol, then an explosion of Itzia's grenade as the bullet made contact with the small exposive.

Six Innies were caught in the blast. Zero's MA5C rattled, cutting down two others.

This set the rest back. However, the Spartan's next rounds bounced off several military grade combat shields.

The team-com was already open. "Hold your fire." Wings ordered.

The three Spartans covering the door ducked behind cover, and bullets riddled the crates.

The Innies carrying combat shields came slowly through the door in to the mainframe room.

Wing's shotgun roared, and one Innie fell.

"Kill them."

Zero popped up, firing a sustained burst in to one of the carrier's now unprotected flank, and he fell.

Itzia came up with an armed grenade in each hand, and threw them both. Being a medic, she'd used both her hands in practice, and had thus trained herself to be ambidextrous.

One grenade blew the last two shield bearers apart, the shrapnel rattling against Wing's shields. The other one flew in to the hallway, in to the ranks behind the bearers. Three more were consumed.

The Innies had made a bad tactical error. Thinking themselves safe from attack due to the shields, they'd packed in tightly. So when the shield bearers were killed, about twenty Innies were trapped in the open hallway, packed wall to wall in their eagerness to kill the Spartans.

Lead poured in to them, and two more grenades detonated. Some fell, the others died, quite literally, standing.

The bodies in the hallway formed a great barrier, but it also provided a small amount of cover for the rest behind them. However, reinforcements were slow in arriving. Over thirty were dead already and had nothing to show for it.

Deep Ocean's voice came in over the coms. "I'm in. Accessing financial databases."

"Why doesn't she just say 'banks account', like most of us?" Zero grunted, dropping down behind cover as several dozen rounds hit her shields, knocking them out.

"Because bank accounts can be-"

"Yeah yeah, just shut up and let me focus on killing these guys, and keeping you alive."

"Technically, I'm not-"

"Just shut up."

Peec turned from the terminal. "I'm done, need help?"

Wings jumped a bit, and landed behind the cover crates. "We're good, but help is always appreciated."

Peec pushed the plasma barrier in front of the doorway. Bullets didn't seem to affect it at all. "How's that?"

Wings let out a bark of laughter as he fed more shells into his shotgun. "Would've been more appreciated five minutes ago."

Several bodies hit the shield. Peec braced himself against it, holding them back.

"How we doin', Ocean?" He said.

"Good. All accounts have been syphoned off.  We can leave.

"Like we need permission." Zero said.

"Well..."

"Don't say it."

"Fine. Would someone please give me a pair of legs?"

Wings paused as he reached for the chip. "Do I want you back in my head now?"

"Well, if you want to get out of here with the codes to the accounts I just dumped about 36 million creds in to, then I would suggest it."

"Alright then."

"Huh, now she's getting a sense of humor." Zero said as they turned to the stairs leading to the roof. She paused. "Is that a good thing?"

"We could discuss the moral implications later."

Zero snorted. "Not good with words. Just point me at something to shoot."

Deep Ocean laughed. "There are moral implica-"

"Do you ever shut up?" Zero snapped.



Clearing the rest of the base was easy. Insurrectionist fighters tended to have much more outdated techniques and tech than the standard UNSC soldier.

They had discovered a lot of assets to take back to the UNSC, including a Shiva warhead.

However, they had some "merchandise" that the black market could use more than the UNSC...

Chapter 15: Strike
2200 Hours, February 17th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar) The trip back to Halsey's lab was uneventful, as most travel through slipspace was.

She accepted the creds graciously, and had them leave so she could get to work.

As Phoenix left the building, they were met with Autel, Fira, and a new Sangheili, carrying a particle beam rifle on his back.

Autel saw his helmet turned towards the newcomer.

"This is 'Antinr. He's our sharpshooter, and a most excellent one." Wings heard Zero twitch a bit.

X crossed his arms. "So what do you have for us to do now?"

Fira shuffled, and Autel turned his head slightly to look at him before looking at X. "The Covenant are making land based pushes at Sanghelios, and our forces are spread thin.  We could use your help."

Wings nodded. "We've got time. You have a ship?"

"Of course."

0841 Hours, February 18th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Incumbent Wrath was a fair sized Sangheili frigate. Apparently Autel and his team had been "passing" the planet, so he had the Ship Master stop, knowing that Phoenix Team would be there.

This was a new experience. They'd spent a small amount of time before on a corvette, with only a few Sangheili warriors on board. The Wrath was larger, with a wider array of warriors, including those who didn't particularly like humans.

The various members of Phoenix were constantly bumping in to hostile Sangheili.

Peec was the most frustrated by this. More and more his muscles became tighter, every time a Sangheili bumped in to him.

Funnily enough, it was Zero who snapped first.

She was walking down one of the hallways when one of the aliens bumped into her deliberately.

"If you're going to hit me, hit me." She growled. "Prove you're worthy of whatever crap you believe in."

He turned back to her, smiling. "Fine." And he lashed out, aiming for her helmet.

The Spartan just leaned left, letting the elite's fist pass right by. Reaching a hand up, she grabbed his leg and pulled the alien toward her, headbutting him.

He staggered back, shaking his head.

Zero put her right foot behind her, crouching slightly and raising her fists. "Come on, don't tell me that's all you've got."

He crouched, off balanced.

She snorted. He obviously didn't understand what balancing meant. Time to give him a lesson.

He took a couple steps forward, and she brought her right foot swinging around. He made a half-hearted grab at it before it collided. The heavy foot didn't hit him as hard as it should have, but the Sangheili still toppled backwards.

"You guys need to learn how to fight like humans sometime. It's called 'unarmed combat'."

The warrior roared and charged Zero, swinging an incredible left.

Zero just sidestepped, placing the back of her index finger on her left hand along the outside of his arm and pushing slightly. With the other hand she used two fingers along the inside of his mask to push him.

The Sangheili accelerated from this slight push, and slammed into the wall, hard.

He fell to the ground, senseless.

Zero turned to the few spectators who'd gathered.

"Anyone else want a lesson?"



Ship Master Sona 'Demal was not happy with one of his warriors being knocked out by one of the Spartans, but he had to concede that the warrior had provoked the fight as well as swung the first punch.

Wings decided that, in order to prevent any further provocations, it would be good for the Spartans to practice hand-to-hand combat.

The hangar rang with the thuds and smacks of gauntleted hands and booted feet hitting armor plates, each one taking turns with a partner.

It was Peec's turn on the sidelines, and he tensed when Fira approached.

The Sangheili warrior looked at the other two pairs sparring. "Why do you train like this?"

"What if you lose your weapons in a fight?"

Fira looked a bit confused. "Spartans and Sangheili are two of the strongest creatures besides Jiralhanae. Why do we need to be good at fighting with our bare hands?"

Peec nodded towards the sparring pairs. "You saw how Zero kicked that one guy's ass. It's not strength, or sometimes even speed, that matters in a fight.  That warrior could have been stronger than any Jiralhanae and Zero still would have won."

Fira tilted his head, watching X floor Wings. "Can you teach me?" His tone was completely humble.

Peec smiled slightly behind his visor. "Be happy to."



Peec knew the most of any Spartan about Sangheili physiology, so he was able to rework a lot of the movements and stances for Fira to fit Sangheili.

Fira was a relatively fast learner, and three hours later, managed to floor Peec, despite being slower and a little weaker than the Spartan.

The Spartan lay on his back. "Very good, you got me, once."

Fira held out his hand to life Peec up. "Thank you." His mandibles worked for a second, then he spoke again. "Friend."



The city surrounding Vadam keep was enjoyable enough, despite the constant glares from the resident Sangheili.

"I would say the the warriors stuck at home have a less favorable view of things."

Wings definitely had to agree with Itzia's observation. The Sangheili didn't seem to take well to large armored humans walking through the streets of their city.

Autel, Fira, and 'Antinr were guiding Phoenix Team down the central street.

Wings and Peec were the only two who really knew just how misogynistic the Sangheili were, but Wings never really saw it up close.

He walked a bit faster, and caught up with Autel.

"How come there's no females here?"

His friend grimaced. "It's not tradition for females to be in the cities unless they're with child."

"Is that tradition that should happen or tradition that your elders like?"

Another grimace. "What do you think?"

"I think that you miss your wife." Wings muttered.

Autel turned back to him. "How did you-"

The Spartan nodded to his team to keep going. Fira and 'Antinr just kept walking.

"I guessed when we landed. You became silent, avoiding eye contact with your team.  That told me that someone you care about more is here, and that they're in danger.  Then when asked about the traditions of your species, you became slightly hostile, that tells me you're having trouble being with the one you care about.  And since Fira and 'Antinr are here already, and I we know your father is on his way back from another planet, he'll be here tomorrow, so you know you'll see him.

"That leads me to believe the one you want to see is already here. And the only one I know of is your wife, Cyla 'Cazal."

Autel's hand twitched. "How do you even know she exists?"

Wings motioned towards the back of his head. "Had Ocean do some digging."

Autel continued to look surprised, and a little worried. Wings raised his hands, palms out. "And I will never betray her to anyone, not if I was ordered to or tortured for the information. You are my friend.  In fact, based on the ONI dossier Ocean found I'd actually like to meet her.  She sounds like an interesting character."

Autel relaxed, then turned and began walking away. "How do you do time in your military? I believe it would be 0100 hours on the front steps.  Use your active camouflage."

0100 Hours, February 19th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Wings left his team sleeping in their room at Vadam Keep and made it to the front steps without being spotted.

A blip on his motion tracker showed Autel was on his way, and the Spartan rose. They nodded to each other, and Autel took the lead. Wings followed him.

The two traveled through the city silently, as ghosts.

Once on the outskirts, Autel turned towards a forest several kilometers away and broke in to a jog. Wings followed at a steady pace, their feet thumping against the hard earth.

The forest was, if possible, darker than the night. The trees grew thick, and roots intermingled, tangling one's feet.

A small grouping of huts was spotted after a few kilometers, only Wings' eye augmentations allowing him to see in the deep darkness.

"That where we're headed?"

Autel nodded. "Yes, follow me, and show yourself to no one."

Together they entered the small village and approached one of the small stone huts.

Autel walked to the door and knocked softly. It opened, and Wings saw a light through the doorway, then a female Sangheili, slightly shorter than Autel, step out.

"Autel, please, come inside."

Autel paused. "I've brought a friend who wishes to meet you."

"Where is he?"

"Behind you."

Cyla spun on the spot, and took a step back from the human who'd appeared there, bumping into Autel. Wings held out his hand, speaking fluent, although accented, Sangheili. "Spartan D339 at your service, ma'am."

She took it, obviously awkward with the formality and being spoken to like an equal. "The honor is mine, Spartan."

Autel stepped inside and closed the door behind them as Wings pulled his helmet off. Cyla lit more candles, and soon the room was bathed in a soft golden light.

She turned to her two visitors. "What is it you wish to talk about?"

"Your culture."

A nod. "What about it?"

"Your culture seems to pride itself on honor. Where does that honor come from?"

She nodded towards Autel. "He can explain that better than I."

Autel folded his arms. "Traditionally, honor is gained through battle, and the slaying of our enemies."

"So why are females not even given a chance to do so?"

Cyla answered this one. "Because we're considered weak, as we're often not able to fight due to the fact that we carry children."

"That seems more honorable to me."

She tilted her head slightly. "You already knew about how our culture works."

"Of course, but it's always good to hear it from the oppressed in that culture."

The Sangheili female nodded, considering this. "Well then, in that case, you should tell me about your culture."

The corner of Wings' mouth twitched up. "Can't say I can tell you much besides what I've studied and only a bit of personal experience, but I'll try..."

0400 Hours, February 19th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Wings and Autel had made it back to the keep safely, and were now talking again. Autel seemed to be getting better at asking questions.

"You seem to know how cultures work."

The Spartan nodded. "I have to."

"So can you tell me why the war with the Covenant isn't officially over? We destroyed their leadership and Halo, as well as the Flood.  We crushed them.  How can they still cling to their beliefs?"

Wings thought for a minute, then marched off. "I'll meet you on the northwest third floor balcony."



Peec looked up from his computer as Wings walked in.

"You have a spare computer I can use?"

Peec leaned back and grabbed one. "Yeah, why?"

"It have Star Wars on it?"

Peec paused, then grabbed another one and tossed it to his squad leader, perplexed.

0630 Hours, February 19th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

"You humans sure do have fairly old forms of entertainment."

"Old 20th century stuff. 1983, to be precise."

"Now what does this have to do with what we were talking about?"

Wings began tapping on the keypad. "There are five other movies in that series. That was the sixth.  It's like our dilemma, the Rebels destroyed the Empire's ultimate weapon, and cut the head off their leadership.  But that's not the end of the story."

"There were only six movies."

"Yes," Wings replied. "But explain this."

He turned the screen so Autel could see. There was a list of forty different names on it.

"What are these?"

"This is a list of books that tell stories about the time after the movie. For us, destroying Halo was like destroying the Death Star, and killing Truth was like killing the Emperor.  It's not the end of the fight, but it's a turning point."

"I think I understand."

"And now you see what we'll be. We're the ones who'll crack the Covenant, instead of just giving it a kick in the shins.  We won't be nearly as famous as the heroes of the war, but we'll be the ones to finish the job."

"You're worried about fame?"

"No, I'm glad right where I am. Ending the Covenant is more interesting to me than photo-ops."

1325 Hours, February 19th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

The sound of plasma thudding overhead did not omit a response from the two SpecOps teams in the battle. Unfortunately, there were a lot of new recruits who'd never fought a pitched fight before.

Many had gotten excited, looking to gain honor in their first battle, and stood or charged. They were cut down in seconds.

Wings crouch walked his way over to Autel. "We need to punch a hole in their field of fire. 'Antinr almost to his spot?"

Autel opened his com. "'Antinr, you ready?"

"Yes."

Wings nodded, then opened the SpecOps com. "Snipers, punch a whole. Grenadiers, flank right.  The rest of us are moving left."

Fira and X moved right, and the rest went left, alternatively running and crouch walking to their destination.

Sniper rounds flew overhead, and a beam rifle's tracer colored the sky. Zero's voice came over the com.

"Got their attention. Fire has slackened, but it'll be only a few moments before they have snipers in position to tag us."

Wings responded as they reached the left flank. The battle had been evolved in to the relative shape of a moon, with the experienced Fallen warriors on the inside curve, and the IU forces on the outside curve.

"Alright. Mag and move."

"And me, Spartan?"

Wings was pleasantly surprised to hear 'Antinr's voice seeking a suggestion.

"Four to six shots at each position, then pick a new one."

"Very well."

The mic clicked twice, and more rounds flew out.

"Grenadiers, hit them."

Fira and X popped up, with the Sangheili throwing plasma grenades and X firing his G58.

The explosives caused devastation among the Fallen ranks, but they soon turned to face the new threat.

"Up and over." Wings said, and launched himself into the rear of the enemy forces.

The other two Spartans and Autel followed him, and they wrecked havoc among the Fallen.

Some of them turned and ran, but were cut down by the other Sangheili. The snipers forced them to keep their heads down and move slowly, allowing the flanking teams to outmaneuver and outgun them.

The skirmish lasted just few minutes longer as the SpecOps teams let the regular warriors kill the stragglers.

Wings stowed his MA5C on his back and met up with the rest.

"These are the kind of pushes you've been getting?"

Autel nodded. "The only experienced warriors we have are my team and the ones on a dozen other planets."

"Not anymore," Itzia said, looking up.

Following the gaze of her visor, Wings turned his head to the sky. Above them, a carrier and several cruisers had slipped in during the battle.



Thel 'Vadam landed in one of just a few dozen Phantoms.

"Finally, some warriors with an actual grain of sense." Zero said, drawing glares from some of the newer recruits.

Thel was garbed in his Arbiter ceremonial armor, and was slipping two energy sword handles in to place on his thigh plates.

He curled his fist over his first heart. The two Special Forces teams returned the gesture. Thel spoke first.

"How bad are things?"

"Fairly bad." Autel said. "The Fallen have been making pushes all over the city, and we've been losing a lot of young, overeager warriors."

Wings continued. "We've found one outpost serving as a supply depot. I plan on taking it out a little later, with the sunset.  That way it'll be easier to sneak up on them and take it out.  Destroy that depot and their supply lines will double, at the minimum."

Thel nodded. "I'm with you."

D339 nodded. "We should move out now. The heat will cover any infrared flares we'd normally send up."

1830 Hours, February 19th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

"Small outpost."

"It's a depot. Why make a large outpost when a small one will do?"

"Only a few guards. Sucks for them."

The Sangheili Special Forces watched the Spartans conversing quietly.

Autel stepped forward. "We'd better get this over with fast. Dust cloud on the horizon."

Wings zoomed in to where Autel pointed, and, sure enough, a large dust cloud had materialized.

"I count five Wraiths, ten Shadows, ten Spectres, and twenty Ghosts, all crewed and running. About sixty other foot soldiers besides."

Wings sighed. "Defenses at the keep aren't strong enough to withstands a constant barrage like that. We need to weaken them." He pointed to the Sangheili. "Stay here. We'll move faster.  Stealth is moot at this point, we need that depot destroyed.  Then together we'll ambush and destroy some of that convoy.  'Antinr, we could use your cover fire."

Autel nodded as 'Antinr took up a position on the ridge just to their south. To the north lay four kilometers of flat open ground and the small supply depot. The convoy was about twenty klicks away.

"Phoenix, get there fast, and blow it up."

The Spartans leapt up from behind the rocks and accelerated to top speed. Each one was capable of running at just over 130 kilometers per hour, and they crossed the four kilometers in thirty seconds.

However, they began to draw fire about eighteen seconds in. Plasma fire splashed against the ground, and the occasional shot hit their shields. It was ignored.

Several particle beam shots flared over their heads, and four Fallen dropped.

Wings reached back and pulled his assault rifle out, crouched, and leapt.

He soared over the plasma fence, and landed on a Fallen. He fired a quick burst in to his throat, and pushed off again. He twisted through the air and elbowed another one in the chest. The foe landed, and Wings tightened his fist. A blade sprang from his vambrace, and hummed with an intense energy. D339 brought the blade around and ran him through.

Retracting it by loosing his muscles, Wings rolled right as carbine fire zipped towards him. He brought his rifle around and fired a sustained burst, riddling the Fallen with 7.62 mm rounds.

He stood an looked around. All the enemy Sangheili were dead, and Phoenix had gotten to their duties. Wings reached back and grabbed a demolition charge, and found his fuel tank. He planted the charge, and the team left, sprinting back across the plains.

"Any sign that the convoy knows we're here?"

'Antinr's voice came back across the com. "They know something is up, and have picked up the pace, but there are no signs that they noticed you."

"Thanks." He turned to X. "Wait until they're well inside.  It'll be mostly foot soldiers inside, so I want all anti-vehicle weapons we have on those Wraiths."

X nodded and hefted his Spartan Laser on to his shoulder, whilst holding the detonation trigger.

Fira had a fuel rod cannon, and Itzia sported a dual-tubed rocket launcher, which she'd grabbed from the stash of weapons the teams had stowed on the ridge.

Zero climbed on to the ridge where 'Antinr was located, and checked her mag.

Off in the distance, the Fallen convoy reached the outpost.



Urei 'Cazal, Field Master of the Fallen, marched in to the supply depot, his golden armor glistening in the setting sun. He turned up the tint on his visor, keeping the glare out of his eyes.

Behind him twenty Fallen warriors spread out, searching the camp.

A Major Domo ran up to him. "Twenty dead warriors, Excellency. Human and Plasma weaponry."

Urei smiled. "Then the commander was right. Phoenix was here."

He turned around, and spotted something underneath a tank. A red light flashed.

"Fall back! Fall back!" He screamed, throwing himself backwards, out the gate, which was the standard plasma shield.

The Field Master passed through it as the outpost behind him exploded.

He stood groggily, and watched three of his Wraiths explode. A laser, two rockets, and several fuel rod cannons shots tore them to shreds.

The other two turned and fired once, the plasma bombs scoring a great arc through the sky.

Another laser pierced on, and the second was hit by a rocket and a couple more fuel rod blasts.

Damn, all his artillery gone in less than fifteen seconds.

Urei knew the battle was lost, and ordered a swift retreat, telling those that had it to engage their active camouflage. The heat of the plains would mask most sensors the Spartans had.

He hoped.



Unfortunately for him, Mark VII MJOLNIR helmets came equipped with high frequency sensors.

The Spartans were able to see everything going on, and harassed the fleeing Fallen forces, killing most of the ground troops.

The Sangheili weren't able to do much except watch the Spartans send out waves of rockets and bullets.

Wings stood, fitting a new magazine in to his battle rifle and sliding the bolt home. "That's one convoy that won't pick on our forces.

Fira snorted. "Aye, and you did the whole thing without us. So much for equality."

D339 turned to him. "I never said we were done."

Thel tilted his head. "Then what are we doing?"

"Waiting for reinforcements."

"And then?"

"Didn't they ever teach you guys how to track?"

1911 Hours, February 19th, 2569 (UNSC Military Calendar)

Lieutenant, Junior Grade Frederic-104 was first on top of the ridge.

The five Spartans sat behind cover with four Sangheili, talking in low tones.

They all looked up as Blue Team pounded their way in to the small depression, and one, with D2552 stenciled on his shoulder plate, huffed. "So much for stealth."

Fred nodded to him, checking the IFF signals. The CPO was the one with D339 on his shoulder. This must be the leader of Phoenix Team.

"You the one in charge of this?"

D339 nodded. "I was. Now you are."

"You're still in tactical command here."

He shrugged. "Fair enough, take a look over the ridge."

Fred and D339 went to the top of the ridge and looked out at the smoking ruins of the supply depot and Fallen vehicles.

"You guys look as if you've taken care of everything here."

The CPO shook his head. "We just cut their supply lines. That's a temporary solution.  We've got to follow them to the source of this, and we do it by following the foot troops."

"I'll trust you with that one. By the way, what's your name?"

"D339."

"No, your name."

D339 turned to look at him. "For us, names are private. We tell them to you if we trust you, and not before.  So don't even trying to order us to tell you."

Fred nodded, and they all moved out.



Long treks across wide, hot plains are excruciating. Doing them at night just makes them suspenseful, as the heat dissipated and allowed infrared sensors to pick up their signatures easily.

The mountains the Special Forces teams were racing for were about fifty kilometers away. They followed the reduced dust cloud from the Fallen forces. At about 0400 hours the foot soldiers broke off from the vehicles, heading northeast.

Wings pointed. "We follow them."

"Wouldn't it be more prudent to follow the vehicles, take them out?" Kelly's voice queried.

"Only if you just want to blow up some easily replaceable equipment." Wings responded. "A good leader is much harder to replace."



The sun was coming up as they reached the mountains, and a sprawling forest.

Autel rolled his sore shoulders. "What now?"

Peec bent to examine the dirt. "Stop walking around, first of all. You're disturbing the tracks."

Wings explained to Autel. "We've been trained to track our enemies without the use of sensors. Since the Fallen still use some Sangheili ways, they haven't covered all their tracks.  Peec can find them."

"See, there." Peec proclaimed, pointing at a leaf. "Bruised. They're now going Northwest.  Follow me."

Now they moved at a much reduced pace, following Peec. Every so often he would stop and examine something, then got them moving. Sometimes the trail ended up doubling back.

When the suns of Sanghelios were at their zenith, Peec halted, holding his hand up, then pointed forward, pulling out his MA5C.

Wings stepped forward, and looked down the hill.

In the valley below them, well over a hundred Sangheili moved about, carrying fuel cells and storing weapons.

Autel joined Wings on the edge as the Special Forces engaged their active camouflage.

"They'll have sensors that can detect us, even without the heat."

Wings nodded. "Just get me to a terminal so I can plug Ocean in. Everyone, spread out along the lip of this hill, ten meter spread.  Work your way down when I give the signal."

They spread out, and ten minutes later the signal came in the form of a double click from D339.

All fourteen special forces operatives made their own way down the hill.

It took half an hour to reach the bottom of the valley, and Wings made his way to a terminal, removing his neural chip and sliding it in to a terminal.