Halo: Annihilation

Before the beggining, I would like to state that this takes place in an alternate timeline, and the war went a lot differently. There will be several new characters, and several you will recognize. Overall, though, it takes a pretty big step away from canon, so if you're a perfectionist about that kind of stuff, this article is probably not for you.

Summary
Things transpired far from what they should have been... The Master Chief was killed on High Charity. The Admiral that was to become the Arbiter was found innnocent in his trial. The Covenant Civil War never took place. Humanity is nearly extinct. The Flood is on Earth. Delta Halo has been primed for firing...

This story follows the last group of Marines on Earth as they struggle to survive against the Covenant onslaught, and stop the Covenant before all life in the galaxy is ended.

dramatis personae
Humans
 * SPARTAN-007 CJ, Human SPARTAN super-soldier
 * SPARTAN-118 Allen, Human SPARTAN super soldier
 * SPARTAN-128 Donna, Human SPARTAN super soldier
 * SPARTAN-099 Mark, Human SPARTAN super soldier
 * SPARTAN-150 Cody, Human SPARTAN super soldier
 * 1st Lieutenant A.J. Johnson, Human UNSC Marine officer
 * Pfc. Lopez Mencia, Human UNSC soldier
 * General Carl Parkins, Human UNSC Supreme Commander

Covenant
 * Noble Prophet of Truth
 * High Prophet of Mercy
 * High Prophet of Regret
 * Supreme Admiral (Arbiter), Covenant Supreme Commander
 * Rtas 'Vadumee, SpecOps Commander
 * Tartarus, Brute Supreme Chieftan
 * Dundoon, Unngoy Councilor
 * Yathim'Or, Kig'Yar Major

Cross-Dimensional Travelers
 * A very familiar SPARTAN
 * A very familiar AI

So, now... The story begins:

(Rated PG-13 for Language, Extreme Violence, and Gore.)

 Halo: Annihilation 

Prologue
Humanity has been defeated. Earth is conquered. The Covenant are victorious, and the one man who could save us... is dead. Mankind is all but extinct, as it only survives in small pockets in the most remote locations on the planet. The most concentrated collection is in Africa, some 200 kilometers from the remains of New Mombasa. They have revealed their existence to the Covenant, and have challenged them to try and kill them.

Thousands have tried, all have failed. The savannah surrounding the 30 square-km city is covered in the corpses of the Covenant, showing that taking this city is a futile effort for all but the largest army. Thus, the Prophet of Truth has ordered 3 divisions, an unheard of 25,000 soldiers, to attack the city at once. Even the garrison in the city of 3,000 Marines and 20,000 citizens willing to fight, the Covenant have an assured victory.

Their forces marched toward the city, so vast in number you could not view them all at once. It is said that their mass was visible from orbit. Of course, no one was around to prove that theory.

As the Covenant marched on, they barely noticed several Pelicans fly overhead...

The Beginning
As the Pelicans flew towards the last Humans stronghold on Earth, their hope grew, as the Covenant just 100 meters below had yet to send aerial forces to engage them.

CJ wasn't just your average soldier, he was a SPARTAN. He and his squad, Hammer Team, were the last SPARTANS on the planet. They were heading to the Human base, "Last Hope" to bolster the forces. They better be happy to see us, he thought. We came here all the way from Mount-freakin' Rushmore As they neared the base, the radio crackled to life: It was the pilot of their Pelican.

"We have Covenant Banshees inbound. All gunners open fire. You too, lazy-ass."

That was Donna. Another SPARTAN, and the pilot of their Pelican. The next SPARTAN to speak was his good friend, Cody.

"Hey, CJ, you're girlfriend says start shooting!"

"Shut the f*** up, Cody! You've got the Spnkr! If anyone should be shooting, it's you!"

With that comment, Cody fired a round, blowing a Banshee out of the sky, as the gunners from the other four pelicans took down their targets as well. CJ was going to take a moment to relax when Donna sent another transmission.

"Uh-oh. We have a Seraph fighter inbound. Plasma torpedoes are already loaded and preparing to fire on Falcon-3." Falcon-3 was the Pelican next to them. "Open fire, I repeat, open fire! Take that thing down!"

With that, all five Pelicans shot at the Seraph, desperately trying to bring down it's energy shields, but to no avail. It got within firing distance and launched off a torpedo, hitting Falcon-3. Several Marines were killed instantly, and the rest were knocked unconcious, all except for one Marine: Private First Class Lopez Mencia, their gunner. He nearly fell out, but gripped onto the turret for dear life, dangling out the back.

"Damn! We've gotta take that thing down before it fires another round! Sir, take over. I'm going to deliver a little present." She was speaking to SPARTAN-118, Allen, their commanding officer. He hadn't spoken since they had left Rushmore. The Pelican rocked as it maneuvered to come just above the Seraph. Donna immediately jumped out, landing on top of the Seraph.

"Um, what's she doing?" one of the Marines on board with them asked. "Something crazy, I'm sure." CJ replied.

Donna planted a shockingly large amount of C4 on the Seraph, and jumped off, landing on top of the Pelican that had maneuvered to catch her. The Seraph exploded in a ball of fire, roasting the pilots, and the area around it, as it fell to earth, crushing several Covenant soldiers. With that, the Pelicans came within site of Last Hope, and prepared for landing.

Introductions aside...
The four Pelicans came over the landing pad of Last Hope, and carefully decended to the ground. Paramedics were already there, and tended to the wounded on Falcon-3, as a compliment of a dozen Marines met the other soldiers. CJ was greeted by a man wearing the insignia of Lieutenant. These days, most soldiers don't live long enough to become Liutenant. The man snapped to attention.

"Sir! 1st Liutenant Avery Johnson at your service, sir!" "At ease, soldier." CJ replied. "I'm not into the whole command thing. I prefer to take orders, not give 'em." "Whatever you say... sir."

CJ had known this man 5 seconds, and already disliked him. It was a new record. The rest of the SPARTANs disembarked, and Allen approached the Lieutenant. His voice was smooth and calm, but large and commanding at the same time.

"Soldier, who's your commanding officer?" "General Parkins, sir. He's the only officer above Major left. He's in the command center, I'll take you to him." With that, the two left, and Mark went off to find food, leaving Cody and CJ to help Donna off the top of the Pelican without crushing someone.

Carl Parkins was exhausted. He had already been under a lot of stress today, finding room for the refugees arriving every week, trying to keep order in a dead civilization, and now he finds out a Covenant force bigger than the one on reach is knocking on his door with a hammer the size of a truck. And now, here was a SPARTAN telling him that said army was less than two days away?