Halo: The Lost

Summary
Halo: The lost follows Ajax 013, one of the last of the SPARTANS and those caught in his bloody wake as he storms across the galaxy paving a road to victory with covenant corpses.

UNSC

 * SPARTAN-013 Ajax
 * SPARTAN-028 Mike
 * SPARTAN-070 Elise
 * SPARTAN-129 Joe

Chapter 0: Nightmare
Ajax rolled with the explosion, hitting the wall hard. The ODST unit tried to cover the exit valiantly but overwhelming forces of the brutes where cutting them off. Ajax rose up, a spike round ricocheting off his armour as he did. He pulled the shotgun from his back and began to fire, the buckshot shredding one of them to pieces. He quickly moved forward to the exit held by the ODST when an explosion in front of him sent him hurtling backwards. He doubled up in pain on the floor, gripping a piece of shrapnel imbedded in his body suit between his armour plating. A heavy foot was placed upon his chest, stopping him from rising up. He smiled at the gruesome excuse of a sentient being.

“Step off ape” he rasped maliciously

He was kicked hard in his wound. He then rolled with the kick, further away from his enemy. He then drew out a item form his padding and smiled wickedly. They didn’t know what was about to hit them. It was a ball shaped object, mostly steel blue but with a blue light glowing faintly from within. He pressed the activation button and threw it into the midst of the brutes before leaping clear. There was a sudden pop noise and a mighty shockwave blew out, annihilating or injuring the brutes caught within its deadly grasp. The Brutes still came at him with deadly abandon, one, a smaller one covered in thick armour plating, almost like one of the old elite rangers, launched a kick into his gut then a alternate flying kick to his head, bowling him over. Another scissor kick was aimed for his head but he quickly put up both his arms in defence, blocking the blow between his wrists then grabbing its leg and twisting, throwing them down and delivering a bone shattering blow to their gut before being kicked off as his enemy leapt back up from their back and came back onto the attack, narrow missing his head as he ducked from another spin kick then launched one into his injury, sending him stumbling back and cringing in pain. He then looked up from his wound in time to see the double kick but not in time to defend and was knocked right back down. His attacker loomed over him but suddenly stumbled to the side as Gunnery Sergeant Marco Williams suddenly tackled them, bowling them over but was simple picked up and thrown against a wall, leaving a dint after impact and stirring on the floor, his visor cracked from the blow. A brute chieftain caught up with his protégé and smiled at Ajax.

“Finish the demon.” He barked, handing it a plasma sword.

It came on with a buzz, casting a ghastly glow across the enemy. He frowned inside his helmet but laughed at his only plan to cheat death again. He then swept their legs and rolled for his shotgun, picking it up and preparing to fire on his enemy. “Prepare to face my overwhelming firepower!” He said, something within his heart willing him too, it reminded him of better days.

Another Brute, leaping from the raised up areas to his right suddenly tackled him, knocking his shotgun away again then trying to beat him to a pulp when Ajax drew his combat knife and lodged in its neck, spraying him with its foul blood. He kicked off its body to see his enemy rise their sword, ready to strike. Ajax was left in no shape to fight, his green and red armour dinted, scorched, punctured and covered in his and his enemies blood. His enemy swept the blade unremorsefully. A round object hit the floor, rolling slightly on its top.

The ODSTs looked on, slightly in horror and disbelief, SPARTANS can’t be killed. But it changed as the fog of war lifted, the smoke draping the hall from the explosions lifted. The ODSTs couldn’t think of what to make of it but the Brutes where shocked and showed their disdain of this action with great battle cries as they charged, maddened.

Chapter 2: The beginning
Elise whipped the tears from her face as many of the other children did. They where in a strange place, with strange people, kidnap from their parents. She just wanted to go home. Many of the other children where quiet or sobbing but some stood out such as one trying to ease everybody, one attempting to put others at ease with jokes but one remained in the corner, away from the others, his head buried in his crossed arms as he sat, leaning against his legs. Elise came over and kneeled down beside him to try and comfort him.

“Don’t worry… its going to be okay…” she said calmly, she seemed to be so much more mature for a 8 year old

“Go away or you might get hurt!” he said through his arms, not looking to her.

“Is that a threat?”

“No, people around me always get hurt…”

“Well I’ll see about that!” She said smiling as she sat down next to him “My name is Elise”

“My… my name is Ajax.”

Ajax and Elise like many other children had been taken from their homes to take part in the SPARTAN II project. Under the rough tutelage of CPO Mendez and the more intelligent lessons of the AI deja the children where being changed from children to warriors, almost unmercifully. Some hardened to the task but others never changed. Ajax was one of them. While many SPARTANS grew quiet, private and reserved Ajax had always been like that. During the first day of training Elise and Ajax, now Elise-070 and Ajax-013 where joined by Joe 129 to form black team. They had the joy of traversing pain land and Ajax’s notion of bad luck turned into a prophecy as anything that could go wrong did as booby traps went off by accident before anyone had triggered them, the map issued of the run was printed incorrectly, the only one done so, leading them in the wrong direction but somehow they managed to scrape second last place, dragging themselves above blue team who had failed to cooperate. That day Ajax seemed to be so determined, making up his own decisions about where to go next. Elise felt a sort of safety in his orders as he seemed to sound so sure of himself and these being the correct orders. He even proved himself of being somewhat of a mediator when Joe made fun of Elise’s shortness, Elise responding by kicking him in the face until Ajax calmed her. He seemed to quiet and troubled but had this air of certainty and command but not nearly as much as some of the other team leaders like John-117 who lead them to steal a Pelican during an exercise to finish it early. But of course, no one had too much experience of flying, they had done simulators but that was it. Ajax decided to take command, flying the drop ship away. He had earned the reputation of being ‘the flyboy’ having flown them out. He after that developed a stronger passion for vehicles when the others became better at more ‘military’ subjects, he steal could beat another SPARTAN senseless, especially when disturbed while reading or working on something. That was how he got away from first the training regime then the wars, always reading, at first begging doctor Halsey and CPO Mendez for books, absorbing any information he could find. By the time the SPARTANS where ready to go into augmentation they members of black team where cemented as firm friends but had a most odd relationship. Elise, despite being the smallest, easily a foot shorter, was the oldest and was always ‘big sister’ with Joe in the middle and Ajax a relative baby at 6, always being ‘little brother’ but always being the bold leader. Ajax could disassemble and reassemble and warthog in less time that some of the most qualified UNSC engineers and had his own personal Mongoose, a ridiculously ‘tricked out ride’ but he always kept its upgrades a closely guarded secret and he himself never rode it but once let John ride it. Ajax had this weird fascination with John at that time, seeing him as his antithesis to his bad luck as John was seen as the luckiest, resulting in Ajax trying to stick with him as much as possible. When he was with him he himself felt safe and at ease, especially for those around him, feeling like his bad luck was easing. Of course, it was always there, never letting go. Now they where in their mid teens they where ready for the augmentation. Of course, Ajax’s delusional paranoia got to him over his bad luck, making sure everyone was in a distant room to him. Elise almost understood his fear and complied but Joe refused to believe in ‘this silly nonsense’ and went to the same room as him. When Elsie finally awake from the anaesthetic she ran to see him despite the fact she was still in pain from the many procedures. When he found him he was sobbing at the end of his bed.

“Ajax….what’s wrong… where is Joe?” she asked quietly, almost knowing what

He didn’t answer but the hospital bed with a sheet pulled over it and horrific shape buried under the sheet answered it. She didn’t cry, she didn’t even think of it. She sat down beside Ajax and put her hand on his shoulder.

“SPARTANS don’t cry. C’mon, lets go, the others are waiting.” She said, pulling him up and taking him down stairs.

Life continued on in the SPARTAN project, another SPARTAN who’s partners had died or been crippled during augmentation joined them, Mike-028 and the SPARTANS finally getting their armour. Many of them watched John ace the MJOLNIR trials that would of killed an ordinary man, leaving the others hopeful. Ajax was last to go and test then collect his suit, running into the fray of the testing zone or at least tried too. His suits fusion pack at first failed, leaving a metal shell that he had to struggle too move in then the fusion pack began to go critical, disaster only averted by the other SPARTANS leaping in and disassembling his armour. Even top secret military gear went wrong in his vicinity. Soon after of course, came war, which Ajax would loathe, for he could see bad luck in every facet of it.