Eternal Enemies

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It is the year 2564. After the end of the Human-Covenant war, the Sangheili had returned to their home planet as allies to the UNSC. But there were those whom did not think well of this alliance. One such group was known as the Fallen. They had made intense but peaceful debate with the Sangheili politicians, and started open war two years ago.

Not long after the Fallen was established in 2553, the Forerunners themselves had revealed their long-hidden existence, and had been narrowly defeated by humanity and the Sangheili. However, the Fallen had managed to capture a vast amount of technology, and had researched it, biding their time. Now, with a deadly new power, they unleash their deadly secrets upon their eternal enemies, and it is once again up to the Spartans of the UNSC to find the the source of this technology, take it from them, and bring it back. Little do they know that their old enemies, the Jiralhanae, also had plans for it...

Prologue
"Come on, get those diggers over and flip the switch!" the foreman yelled.

"My headlights aren't working," a second miner said angrily.

"Didn't I tell you to run an equipment check before we came in? You could have listened."

"I could have. Can't see a damn thing..."

"I'm right over here, can't you hear me? I'm waving my flashlight at you. Just drive it over, nice and slow. I've even set up the glowstrips so you know where to put them."

"Hey, you wanna be held accountable if I accidentally run you guys over?"

"For Christ's sake," the foreman snapped, running over to the digging machines. He climbed into one of them, and started the engine. "This one's fine, just follow me."

The two mining vehicles slowly moved between the rows of miners scanning the rocks for ores. Beside each of them was a mobile machine that they dug a short tunnel into the sides so they could search for the metals. At least none of them had to do it manually, but it was clear everyone hated being stuck underground for several hours on end.

"Alright," the head miner said. "Easy, easy, okay stop. Turn it right...little more. Okay, now activate the blades and move forward."

The second man complied, and the sound of spinning metal and discharging energy slicing at the rocks sounded. The foreman was about to return to his vehicle to dig another tunnel, when the miner shouted, "Hey, there's something glowing in the rock!"

"Jesus," the former said, turning back. "Didn't I tell you not to use so much corrosive? The damn machine can cut through it easily—"

"No, look!" the miner said, turning off his engine and stepping out of the vehicle. "There's something embedded in the stone..."

Another miner nearby heard. "Say, didn't those Spartans find something here a few years ago? They said the Covenant wanted it for something. What if this was something like that?"

"Can't be," the foreman said. "Dig it out, boys. Let's see what that thing is." He watched carefully as the miner returned to his machine and chipped away at the rocks surrounding the object. It was obvious now; whatever it was, a clear blue glow was emitting from it and lighting up the tunnels easily. The other workers stopped as well to see, but the foreman didn't say anything. He was too interested in the stone.

The machine's blades made a ringing sound as it tried to cut through the glowing object. It tried to continue spinning, but kept glancing off of it without leaving a scratch.

"Okay, stop!" the head miner said. The tunnels became silent as the blades whirred to a halt. "Grab your picks and get it out, nice and easy." There were always times where nothing worked as well as manually finding ores, even though the scanners the employees carried as well as the processors on the diggers were more efficient. A few of the men extracted the surrounding cracked rocks carefully, sliding them onto the stone floor. Everyone was watching tense for several minutes, until the glowing stone loosened and fell to the ground beside the rocks, still projecting its light onto the walls and ceiling.

The foreman examined the object. It was about the size of his fist, was completely spherical and flawless. It wasn't clear where the light was originating, and it was bright enough to bathe the tunnels with a steady illumination but not enough to hurt to look at. There was no doubt about it though: It was not natural or man-made. Slowly, the foreman reached for the rock.

As soon as he touched it, the artefact pulsed with a bright glow that caused some of the miners to jump back with alarm. Something forced him to let go, as an audible rumbling sound was heard. Several large rocks were falling from the ceiling and breaking as they smashed against the floor, some damaging the diggers. Employees dashed around in alarm, trying to avoid being crushed by the stones. The foreman covered his head and didn't move. He learned from experience that in the event of a cave-in, the best way to avoid being hit was staying in one spot.

Finally, the rumbling stopped. The foreman looked around at the tunnels. To his amazement, the tunnels were mostly intact, none of the workers harmed, and the exit back to the surface was still wide open.

There was a silence as everyone calmed down. "What the hell was that about?" one of the miners asked.

Chapter 1
"This is Outpost Station Beta. We've got multiple contacts, coming out of Slipspace," said the surface communications officer. "There's hundreds of them."

"Classification?" asked Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood.

"Unknown, sir," the officer replied coolly. "But they're about the size of a Shortsword fighter each. And they're settling into orbit."

"Are they hostile?"

"Negative, Admiral. They're slowly entering the atmosphere though."

"That can't be good," Lord Hood said. "Send in fighter squads to take them out. It's too much to risk just standing around and watch what they do."

"Sir, they're picking up speed. Velocity increasing exponentially. Estimated impact in fifty...belay that, twenty seconds. They'll be landing...in Antarctica, sir."

The Admiral was taken aback. Antarctica...' "We're going to need to send in some troops from groundside to find them then. Keep an eye out for any movement in space."

"Colonel Gauthier's battalion's inside the base, sir," one of the officers reported. "Should we dispatch them?"

"No," Hood said. "These things...whatever they are, could be dangerous. And I have a strong feeling as to who made them. Call in the Spartans. Tell them they're going back south."

Lieutenant Commander Felix Martel jumped off the Pelican dropship, and quickly dashed across the icy ground, followed by the others he assigned to his squad. Here we go again...

The senior Spartan recalled the last time he had fought a battle on Antarctica, against the Forerunners that had nearly wiped out humanity. They must have something to do with the strange objects landing all over the continent, and they were about to find out why. Hopefully it wouldn't lead to another bloody fight...

His COM clicked twice. "SPARTAN-116 here."

"I've got a visual, sir," said Hannah-201. "Three of the objects landed in a straight line in the ice. Dug in without effort. Threw snow around a few hundred metres in radius."

"Roger that. Approach with caution." He paused for a moment as Jai-006 beckoned to him. The Grey Team leader was gazing at a trio of the same objects not far off. "We've got something too, 201. Looks like they're in the same formation as your sighting. Report in for any anomalies."

Hannah was one of Ezekiel's teammates. In 2562, she had returned from somewhere she hadn't specified. Felix wondered if all Class-2s were so secretive, but quickly found he could trust her just as well as he could trust 254. Even for a Spartan, she was quick-minded, efficient, and during missions could often see what he was planning before he lay out the entire plan. The only reason Ezekiel wasn't present was because he was training the new SPARTAN-III Delta Company. They numbered around 3000, so the Lieutenant would have his hands full for a while.


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