Ok I'm justing re-posting this to keep everything organized, I have decided to continue this, so please read and enjoy.
PROLOGUE
2552
The UNSC's darkest hour, an overwhelming Covenant force of 300 ships engages the UNSC's largest fleet. The UNSC have Orbital Defense Platforms defending the planet Reach with their Super MAC guns, with heavy losses the UNSC repel the first wave of the Covenant force. The Covenant return and are able to land ground troops attempting to take out the facilities that uphold the Orbital Defense Platforms. John, Spartan-117 convinces his superiors to allow him and the 32 other known Spartans to protect these platforms. The battle that ensues this decision results in the death of most of the Spartans along with a majority of the UNSC fleet being destroyed and Reach is glassed. The Pillar of Autumn escapes with Master Chief.
Shortly after the tragic events on Reach the UNSC Destroyer Clarity along with 7 other Destroyers are dispatched to scout the Epsilon Eridani System for any remaining Covenant. Jake Renne, a Sergeant and second-in command of the ODST squadron Frontline is onboard this vessel, they soon discover something interesting in the rublle left from Reach and are in desperate need to stop the Covenant before their plan is completed.
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CHAPTER 1
Jake moved through the crowded barracks, the ODSTs were loud and pushy, they were restless to kill the Covenant bastards that just took out Reach. "Jake!", a voice shouted over the chaos.
"I'm coming sir!", Jake responded in a useless attempt to be heard.
Jake finally pushed his way through the rambunctious ODSTs, and approached his Commanding Officer, Kyle Losee. The Master Sergeant looked down on him through his black visor, the light shining off reflected Jake in an obscure way.
"Jake, the Commander has called us up to the Bridge, apparently we need to see something."
"Yes, sir.", Jake responded.
Jake followed Kyle down the hall leading to the elevator, the halls were just as populated as the barracks. Scientists and officers racing through to the various destinations in this massive ship. They reached the elevator, Kyle was quiet until Jake stirred a little, "Hey did you hear they're refitting the SOEIVs so the casualty rate goes down?", Kyle said as a joke. Jake knew this because no matter how much armor you put on those things the fact doesn't change that you're pushing through five layers of atmosphere in a vessel barely bigger than yourself, just to hit the ground at terminal velocity. Jake let out a small chuckle, Kyle stared at him for a bit and then let out an uproarious laugh that made Jake twitch from the suddenness.
"Well at least one thing won't change.", Kyle said.
"What's that sir?"
"Rookies.", Kyle said, "We got 5 new recruits today, they've never stepped into a dammed HEV and they're cocky about fighting the Covenant?"
Jake laughed this time, "Well there first drop should set them straight."
"Yea."
The elevator stopped and the ODSTs walked down another hall. This one ended in a door, Kyle reached over and hit the console to open it, and the door locks retracted and the door split apart, revealing many monitors, tons of navigators, many officers rushing about, and a viewport that covered most of the Bridge with a black ball directly in the center of it. In the middle there was a chair, and the chair turned to reveal a slightly older man, with the Vice Admiral insignia on his shoulder. The man gave a shallow nod and wlaked towards them, he put out his hand to Kyle, and said, "Sergeants I've been expecting you, we've found something that might be of interest.", He put his hand towards Jake and he shook it, "Oh I'm sorry, I've been so caught up with recent events that I forgot to introduce myself, I am Vice-Admiral Danforth.", the introduction was unnecessary, he took out two Covenant fleets and a suspected Covenant homeworld, he was one of the most well-known commanders in the UNSC.
"I'm Kyle and this is Jake."
"Well let's get down to business", Danforth pointed to a man in a labcoat, "That is George, he is the ONI officer here, any information you can gather from what we are about to show you, please relay to him."
George looked at the two ODSTs and gave a coy smile. "Pleasure to meet you Kyle and Jake.", he said.
Danforth moved the ODSTs towards the viewport, Jake noticed that Danforth was clenching his fist, "Dammed Covenant, for what they've done to that planet...", he gritted his teeth as well, "I would gladly destroy another thousand homeworlds of those creatures.", Danforth spat the last word. He moved the ODSTs to a console after they stared at the charred remains of Reach.
George moved towards them, "We've found a megalith type structure on the surface, it survived the barrage of plasma."
"How?", Kyle asked George.
"It's made of a super dense metal that is resistent to the temperatures the Covenant use.", the ONI agent smiled, "So we wanted to ask you have you seen these glyphs?", George pressed a few buttons and the console zoomed in on a tower-like structure. "From what we know these are coordinates, but considering your experience with the Covenant we wanted to ask do you know if they are to something specific?"
Kyle and Jake stared intensely at the console, and something in Jake's mind snapped and he realized he had seen them before. "I saw these one time when we boarded a Covenant vessel.", Jake said.
George took extreme interest in this, "Do you know what they mean? Were they exactly like this? I need more details, Sergeant."
"Whoa, George hold on a second.", Danforth interrupted to keep the ONI agent in line.
"I'm sorry sir.", George said strangely respectfully.
"They weren't like this but they were very similar. And no I don't know what they mean.", Jake said.
Danforth studied Jake, and Jake quickly became uneasy, George nodded to Danforth. "All right Sergeants that is all you are dismissed."
The Sergeants left the room and Jake turned towards Kyle, "Not to be disrespectful, but what the hell just happened back there?"
"Honestly Jake, I will never understand those ONI agents."
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CHAPTER 2
Gyrav' Forjee is a Special Operations Sangheili, he was watching the processions of a Heretic leader on Chu'ot, he was trying to gain Kig-Yar followers and Gyrav and his Spec-ops squad were sent to stop him. The Heretic Sangheili was old, with battered armor, and scars deformed his face. He was pacing in his private room here. When a Kig-yar spy informed the Hierachs that a heretic leader was here, they jumped on the opportunity to crush them.
Gyrav looked around the room there were 8 Kig-Yar guards and 4 Sangheili ones. All of them had poor armor, nothing in comparison to Gyrav's and his squad's. Gyrav had 6 other Sangheili with him, they were going to kill the heretic at the most opportune moment.
"Where is he?", the heretic muttered.
The doors swung open and 5 Jiralhanae paced in, they growled at the Sangheili, and the Sangheili raised there rifles in response. "Why have you called me here Hurax?", the leading Jiralhanae questioned.
"You know very well why you are here Borus.", Hurax responded.
"Yes to work out this treaty, but do you honestly think we can overthrow the Hierachs?", Borus said.
"I have someone who can get the job done.", Hurax said.
"Interesting, and if you have an army of Kig-Yar to help you things will progress smoothly."
"Precisely."
Gyrav grasped the handle of his Energy Sword, he had heard enough. He released his cloak and the other Sangheili with him did the same. They were attacked by two Kig-Yar, with one mighty slash Gyrav killed them both and there bodies toppled to the ground spilling their blood. The Sangheili in the room opened fired on Gyrav's squad, but they were too fast, Gyrav dodged incoming Plasma Rifle fire and impaled the Sangheili through the chest, he grabbed its elongated neck and tossed it at the other, one of his squadmates attacked the other from behind and decapitated him.
"Get them!", Hurax shouted in a helpless plea.
The Kig-Yar and two remaining Sangheili closed in on them, Gyrav slashed through 4 Kig-yar and was tackled by a Sangheili, as he was struggling to regain dominance, the Sangheili shot his hand with a Plasma Rifle, badly burning it. Fighting through the pain Gyrav grabbed his Energy Sword and cut off the right arm of the Sangheili, the Sangheili uttered a ghastly howl and clutched the bleeding wound where his arm once was. Gyrav put him out of his misery and stabbed him through the heart, he pulled his sword out and Borus growled, "Useless Sangheili can't get the job done, attack them!"
Gyrav looked up and saw the 5 Jiralhanae rush at them, Borus pulled out a Gravity Hammer. Borus came for Gyrav, the beast swung his hammer attempting to end it in one blow, but Gyrav rolled, however the gravity wave still managed to slam him against the floor, Gyrav stumbled around disoreintated form his collision, and picked up his Energy Sword. Borus charged again but Gyrav was prepared this time, when Borus' hammer came down Gyrav strafed to the left and shoved his sword through the beasts right arm. He cried in pain, and Gyrav punched him in the face, the ugly beast toppled to the floor with a slam, it began to beg for its life and Gyrav only scowled at him.
"Any beast that begs for their life is not worth my time.", Gyrav simply said and ended it with a swift slash to the throat. His squad had finished off the remaining enemies and now it was just Gyrav, his squad, and Hurax.
Hurax roared, "You cannot end things here, the Covenant will be overthrown, you have no idea what Halo actually is!"
Gyrav looked the crazed Sangheili in the eyes, "Halo is the remnant of the gods, and any heresy will be silenced."
Gyrav stabbed the heretic through the heart and silenced him once and for all, one of the Sangheili behind spat on Hurax' corpse.
"A warrior that cannot defend himself? Pathetic!"
"Brothers! Let us leave this place the hierachs will be pleased with our success.", Gyrav said.
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CHAPTER 3
A few months earlier...
Jason moved to the right, but the bullets whizzed by and stopped him. His training was brutal, these rubber bullets hurt like hell, and then they expect you to go back to it everyday? The jungle on Onyx gave everything a shaded appearence, Jason raised his MA5K to eye level and quickly turned the corner, he picked off two of the figures in the distance.
"Good Job Trigger!", a voice came from behind, it was Francis, an abnoxious recruit. Trigger was Jason's nickname it was given to him by CPO Mendez when they ran through the obstacle course, Jason had the most accurate and fastest reflexes with his gun. A talent that Mendez described as 'invaluable' for combat. Jason gave the signal to move up, Francis, Dorson, Cindy, and Tim moved up. Jason scanned the area, he saw nothing, but he had only taken out 2 of the 5 on the other team. Jason got a strange feeling, and he tried to warn his squad but he was cut off by the sound of gunfire. He watched as the ambush he was expecting overcame his allies and they each fell to the ground clutching some appendage from the pain. Jason punched the ground, "Dammit", he whispered to himself.
He only had one option at this point, he checked his ammo, he had half a clip, it would sustain but he had to make good use of it. Jason bolted from his cover and ran to the nearest tree, he looked down the forest path and saw the clearing with his objective, a red flag. He ran making sure that he couldn't be seen, he past two figures, and before they could turn and shoot Jason pumped the trigger on his MA5K twice and they fell with scowls on their faces from the pain. 2 down 1 to go, Jason moved towards his objective making sure there was no one left, he watched for movement meticulously as he edged towards the flag.
When he moved in for the flag he heard the sound of bullets colliding with he ground. Jason quickly changed directions and got behind the nearest rock. Rubber bullets peppered the other side of the rock, when it stopped Jason raised his rifle and returned fire to the figure in the distance, the figure moved behind a tree. Jason and the figure exchanged fire for a little while, but Jason got tired of it and moved in, the firgure moved in too. They met in the clearing Jason raised his rifle and pulled the trigger before his rival could respond, but something was wrong, his target didn't fall. He pulled again and he heard the problem, *Click*, *Click*. Jason reached for his pistol as fast as he could but he collapsed when he felt this horrendous stinging pain in his chest. He clutched the spot where he was shot, it hurt like hell, but Jason got over it. Jason looked up and saw a hand reach towards him, he grabbed it and when he got un he saw his opponent. Jason was face to face with his friend and rival Mike, "Better check your ammo next time.", Mike said smugly.
Jason just gave a slight nod, he was in too much pain to talk. They heard Mendez yelling, "Game's over, everyone get up we're gonna have another go at this in 3 hours!"
Jason stumbled up the small embankment that led them back to the camp, he threw his MA5K down on his cot, and he rubbed his chest, a welt was starting to form. Jason layed on his cot trying to get some rest before the next run, he closed his eyes and a shadow washed over him. He opened his eyes and saw Lieutenant Ambrose and Mendez standing in the doorway, although he was quiet there was a strange power behind Ambrose's voice, "Jason could you come with us?"
When they stepped into the sunlight Jason noticed that Ambrose was in his MJOLNIR armor, "Jason we have something to talk to you about."
"Yes, sir?", Jason asked hesitantly.
Mendez spoke up with a rough tone, "You're not in trouble so get over your cowa--"
Ambrose cut him off, "Easy Mendez. Jason we've seen you in the battlefield and we were shocked at your natural reflexes, so we wanted to promote you to team captain, you will be in charge of the whole contingent of the Spartan III Delta Squad."
Jason felt lump in his throat, he swelled with pride and honor, "Yes, sir."
"I'm glad you accepted, now suit up your squad's armor has arrived and your first mission will be in a couple of days."
"Thank you sir."
"You are dismissed Jason."
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CHAPTER 4
Jake and Kyle along with 5 other ODSTs were sitting in a Pelican. Danforth had told them to investigate the structure. Jake repeatedly looked at the Battle Rifle he was holding, not out o fascination but more out of boredom. The pilot's voice rang through the back of the Pelican, "Ok guys we're here."
The back of the Pelican slowly opened to reveal a black, toxic wasteland, the radiation meter on Jake's HUD went crazy as he stepped foot on Reach's surface. Kyle gave the universal 'move-out' sign with his hands and the ODSTs jumped out of the Pelican and scanned the black horizon for their target. Jake switched his helmet to the TACMAP, they were very close to their target only about half a kilometer off. They ran north towards their objective, they came to a large cliff, at the bottom was a large silver structure. The structure was just a large elevated plain of silver metal. Kyle tapped Jake on the shoulder and pointed to one side of the structure. Jake squinted he didn't see anything so he zoomed in with his helmet.
A small door was visible on the side of the structure, "Hey Charlie we need a pickup, we're heading towards that structure.", Kyle said into the com.
"Sure thing, Sergeant.", a fizzled response came.
They boarded the Pelican once more and they were dropped next to the structure, there were glyphs all over it, and despite the Covenant bombardment it still had a radiant glow. "What is this thing?", Jake asked he hesitantly put his hand out and touched the structure, it was smooth, similar to the Covenant designs.
"Looks like the Covenant made it.", Kyle said.
"No this is far more advanced than any of there things.", Jake said.
"Well what does this thing do?"
"I don't know."
Kyle walked over to the door and Jake stumbled behind, they were cautious, they never messed around alien technology. Kyle slowly reached for the door his hand shaking as he went to touch it. His hand made contact with the door and it flashed blue, the blue light retreated to the crevices and the door creaked open. They looked inside and a long hallway started to light up by lights installed in the floor. The blue light left no shadows, giving everything a sterile feeling. The hallway was covered with similar glyphs, they too lit up with blue light. Jake stared in amazement, he had never seen anything like it.
The ODSTs cautiously moved in, the door closed behind them and Jaked turned around and walked back towards it, it opened once more, "Good we're not locked in here, since this survived being glassed I don't know how we would get out of here.", Jake said with a sigh. One of the ODSTs muttered something, "What was that, I couldn't hear you.", Kyle said. "Sir I said there seems to be breathable air in here.", the ODST replied. Jake hadn't even noticed that his respirator had shut off in the presence of this new atmosphere. And his radiation meter had stop flickering.
"Move out soldiers.", Kyle said making them focus on their target. The ODSTs followed the lights after a few minutes of walking down this seemingly endless hallway a door came into view. Kyle signaled the ODSTs to either side of the door, and he moved to the middle of it. They heard a low thrumming sound from the other side. Kyle moved towards the door and it opened. The room on the other side was a massive room with a ceiling about 30 meters up and a large pulsing blue pillar that went from the floor to the ceiling, aound this pillar was a round console.
The ODSTs moved in with Battle Rifles ready for action. A voice sounded around them.
"<Computing...>"
"What?", Jake said.
"<Thought confirmed, sentient life detected.>", the voice said.
"<Welcome Reclaimers, I have been expecting you.>"
"Re..claim..ers?", Kyle questioned.
"<Yes, you are the ones that were meant to take my creators' place when they were killed.>"
"Who created you.", Jake asked.
"<The ones you call the Covenant refer to them as gods, you may call us the Forerunners.>"
"Forerunners, are you aiding the Covenant?", Kyle asked apprehensively.
"<No, we would never aid a civilization that is foolish enough to believe that our Halo array is a pathway to a Heaven of some sorts.>"
"Halo...Master Chief destroyed that a couple of weeks ago.", Jake said.
"<I had a feeling it was destroyed when my communication with that ring stopped.>"
"<It is unfortunate but the array can still be activated.>"
"What? If the Chief destroyed it then how can you activate it?", Jake asked.
"<My creators orginally built 7 rings to carry out the process, I suppose it should still work with only six rings.>"
"No! That thing was a weapon we cannot activate it, it will kill us all!", Jake shouted at the voice.
"<They were created to stop the Flood and its Gravemind.>"
"Flood? What? What are you taling about?", Jake said perturbed at the voice.
"<Amazing the Flood is still in slumber, they will strike soon if you don't activate the array.>"
"What is this Flood?", Kyle asked stepping in seeing how annoyed Jake was.
"<Flood, hmmm, it's been a long time since I've answered this question and my archives on it are not as complete as my fellow AIs Mendicant Bias or Offensive Bias.>"
"<The Flood, a non-sentient being controlled by a central hive mind, they come in various forms but they are mainly able to infect and take over sentient life.>"
"<I wish my fellow AIs were around to complete my archives on this, but alas they are not, I was created as a last resort, I, along with the Monitors, was created to inform the Reclaimers of the Flood threat and help them through the proper protocols to activate the array.>"
"Offensive..Mendicant Bias, Well what is your name?", Kyle asked.
"<My name is Discursive Bias.>"
"<Strange...It seems the Ark is still inactive, well in that case I will activate Fail-Safe Protocol 03245.>"
Strange groaning noises started to shake the structure and the ODSTs snapped to attention, they stared up and saw the ceiling split into 6 pieces and it slowly slipped away to reveal Reach's red atmosphere. "Kyle! Jake! Are you there respond immediately!", a voice crackled over the COM.
"What is going on?", Jake shouted.
"<Oh it seems I forgot to inform you, this station is merely a Slipspace portal, it will lead you to the proper facility, from there you should be able to activate the Halo array, it seems those Covenant are already there however, but they can't access the facility without my codes. Once you are there and have neutralized the Covenant I will activate the facility.>"
"Well it seems we have our next destination boys, it's time to kick some Covenant ass!", Kyle shouted.
"Hoo-rah!", came the synchronized response.
Then the blue pillar started to turn white, and with an explosion of blinding light the pillar shot light into the sky and produced a black portal a couple hundred meters above.
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Memories...
He awoke in a daze his thoughts racing like a flying insect that is in constant movement for survival. Almost as if the minute stopped thinking he ceased to exist...
"Discursive?", a faint voice broke through his daze and he was fully aware of his envrionment.
"Yes, Didact?", he struggled to respond but his memory core had shut down for years and he had trouble recalling all of the words to this language.
"Good, I have re-awakened you because this is a tme of great need, the Flood have almost passed the Maginot Line and I fear that this is our last stand, we must activate the Ark for the sake of all sentient life.", he could sense the sadness, the raging depression that came along with the knowledge that you would cease to exist and fade with constant winds that passed over this planet.
"The Gravemind draws ever closer to our largest worlds and we cannot stop the Flood for long, they are in numbers so great that they block the stars in the sky at night.", it was useless for Didact to finish, he already knew what Didact had wanted him to do, so he had already recovered his files on the Infection.
"You know your task Discursive, you must instruct these creatures, I have just sent their DNA sequence to your database, it was recovered by the Librarian.", billions of lines of sequences of the same four letters raced through his thoughts, Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine; the basis of sentient life.
"Offensive Bias has begun his final assault on Mendicant Bias, you are not needed for war but for instruction, you are our last hope Discursive Bias, I am putting my faith in you.", he watched silently as Didact left the room, it was the last time he ever saw him, shortly after he felt the array activate. Faith? This was a curious word to him, he couldn't understand it, it was not a tangible item, nor could it be created by any logical thought pathway. But this was just one thing that he couldn't understand about his creators, the other thing was their use of emotion. Emotion? Again he could not understand this, it drove them to lengths that would be illogical for any normal being, for the many millenia after the Great Silence as he later named it, he pondered Emotion. What is was, and why it existed.
He still never figured it out, why was emotion the greater choice?
Was emotion more powerful than logic?
Emotion? Again he could not understand this, it drove them to lengths that would be illogical for any normal being, for the many millenia after the Great Silence as he later named it, he pondered Emotion. What is was, and why it existed.
He still never figured it out, why was emotion the greater choice?
Was emotion more powerful than logic?
Emotion? Again he could not understand this, it drove them to lengths that would be illogical for any normal being, for the many millenia after the Great Silence as he later named it, he pondered Emotion. What is was, and why it existed.
He still never figured it out, why was emotion the greater choice?
Was emotion more powerful than logic?
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CHAPTER 5-Part 1 of 2
Blood, the bitter taste was all Jason was able to taste. He tried to stand up and his legs weren't responding, he could feel the pressure of the automatic biofoam pressing down on his right knee. Banshees and Hornets battled above him, while plasma boiled the air in front of Jason. What went wrong?, Jason thought.
The Spartans dropped down on Reach's moon, in an attempt to destroy the Covenant base there. The nearby UNSC Destroyers sent support but the Covenant ground facility was far more protected than they thought. The Anti-air turrets surrounding it destroyed the Cruiser they dropped in on, Curiosity. The Facility's ground forces numbered in the thousands. Jason's team, MAKO, had hit the outskirts of the Facility, their job was to take down the Anti-Air turrets. They landed directly in the middle of a Sniper patch, the Jackals picked them off before they could get to cover.
Of the 20 members of Jason's team, only 5 survived, Jason was about to lose his own life however. Jason's vision began to go black, but he heard a large explosion and the scurrying of Jackals around him. This revitalized his spirit, he gathered the enegy to look up and saw Team HAMMERHEAD flanking the Jackal snipers, they killed the majority of them with Snipers of their own and finished them off with Battle Rifles. The Anti-Air turret laid on the ground in pieces.
Mike rushed over to Jason, "We're getting you out of here.", Mike said. Jason tried to tell him to finish the mission, but all that came out was an incoherent mumble. Jason's energy was spent, and blackness enveloped him, all he heard was the roar of an engine, and a few voices and then nothing else.
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"Wake up!", Kyle shouted.
Jake awoke with a startle, "What? What's wrong?", Jake asked with apprehension gripping his stomach.
Kyle gave a wry smile and said, "ONI's got a little project we didn't know about."
"What?", Jake was surprised considering they just went public with the Spartan-II Program. Kyle grabbed Jake's arm and pulled him out of his bunk. Jake fell face-first onto the floor, "Come on Graceful, I gotta show you something.", Jake stood up and followed Kyle out of the Barracks, he didn't pay attention to where they were going, Jake spent his last 5 hours being question by the ONI agent on his encounter with the Forerunner AI, then all that guy wanted to do was examine the black portal on Reach. It was all too strange to Jake, Covenant, Flood, Forerunners.. it was an endless cycle of things he didn't understand. Before this all he had to know was straighten your body in the SOEIV and how to pull the trigger on his Battle Rifle. The last thing Jake wanted to do was see another unveiled secret.
Jake noticed his surroundings, and he discovered that Kyle was leading him to the Med Bay. "Why are we going here?", Jake asked. Kyle just kept walking. Jake ignored the fact that he was silent and watched as they took the turn into the sterile white room. Kyle walked over to one of the beds which had a large man in it. "Look at this", Kyle said and tossed the medical chart to Jake. Jake looked it over there were large portions that were blacked out like history and medications.
"Parts are blacked out, what's with this?", Jake asked.
"Look at his name.", Kyle said.
Jake stared at it for a while, 'Jason' and nothing else. Right underneath was a service tag D-013.
"It...It's a Spartan...", Jake said with shock in his voice.
"You mean 'he's' a Spartan, he has a gender ya know.", Kyle said comically.
Jake didn't even respond he was in shock, "I thought most of the Spartans were killed on Reach."
"That's the thing, in the upper part of the Barracks we have 234 Spartans just sitting there."
Jake's jaw dropped, 234?? There weren't even that many created, of the 33 Spartans there were only like 6 or 7 left. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout. "HEY!", an angry voice reverberated around the room.
"Calm down George, we were just checking to see if he was ok.", Kyle said nonchalantly.
"This is not yours to see Sergeant now leave!", George said staring Kyle straight in the eyes. Kyle's jaw tightened and he clenched his fist. Jake grabbed his shoulder to calm him down. Kyle just nodded at George, "Yes sir!", he shouted at the top of his lungs, and then left the Med bay. The ONI agent glaring at the two ODSTs as they left.
"You don't wanna end up like Forge do you?", Jake said to Kyle.
Kyle cringed at the sound of his old friend, and Jake momentarily forgot the Forge had died. Kyle seemed to have shaken off his anger, "You wanna see the Spartans?"
"Of course."
Kyle and Jake made their way to the elevator leading to the upper parts of the Barracks. When the elevator hit the top Jake stepped out and was greeted by 200 golden faceplates that turned to face him. Spartans, Jake thought with a smile on his face.
CHAPTER 5-Part 2 of 2
Gyrav' pulled his sword out of the spongy flesh of the human in front of him. Dark read blood stained his Silver and Gold armor, Gyrav scowled, the stench of the bodies was terrible. He stared around at the ground littered with bodies; Humans, Kig'Yar, Unggoy, and a few Sangheili. His nostrils twitched as the smell of singed flesh reached them.
Hyrak' Jorinee, a Zealot, and Commander of the Ship Divine Intrusion, stepped up to Gyrav'. Hyrak's armor shone a brilliant color when the Blue light from the system's star, the battlefield was covered by a strange glow that made things almost dream-like. "The Facility still refuses to open.", Hyrak said in an exhausted voice.
"We need to open it.", Gyrav replied.
"We should have kept one of these humans alive, the relics appear to respond to their presence.", Hyrak said still panting from the battle.
"They were an intrusion upon our Holy mission....and intrusions must be crushed.", Gyrav said as he moved to the massive Forerunner structure in the distance. "The Hierachs made our mission clear, we must activate this facility and ascend on the Great Journey."
"I've been beginning to think that the Humans might be right on this subject, the Rings will kill us all, we may ascend to the Heavens, but is it a glorious way to go? To me it seems more like suicide, and you know our race's view on suicide.", Hyrak said challenging the very beliefs of the Covenant. Gyrav growled and swung his sword at Hyrak's chest, "Heresy!"
The Energy Sword was caught by another object however and the two Sangheili were enveloped in a large flash of light. When the light faded Gyrav and Hyrav were staring at each other both with anger on their faces. Gyrav saw that Hyrak had drawn his sword and now they knew this fight would have to end with a death, submission was unacceptable. Hyrak lunged this time and Gyrav caught the upward slice with the edge of his own blade. Hyrak swerved to the right to catch Gyrav off guard, but Gyrav was just as fast, and he hit the sword away and sliced at the Sangheili's neck, Hyrak ducked his head and the sword sliced the top of his helmet but didn't make it all the way through.
"Your heresy will be silenced!", Gyrav said as he swung his sword once more.
Hyrak remained silent, he just evaded the attack and retaliated with his own. The swords clashed once more, and the brilliant light erupted from between them. It has seemed that Gyrav had met his match, and this angered him, how could he silence the Heretics when they were as skilled with a blade as he was? Hyrak sliced at Gyrav and Gyrav moved slightly to the left and slammed the hilt of his sword into the chest of Hyrak, when Gyrav went to deliver the death blow Hyrak regained his balance and punched Gyrav in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Hyrak moved over to Gyrav and raised his sword, "You are--"
His words were cut off by the sight of 8 Human ships exiting Slipspace right above them, the roar of the engine was so loud that Gyrav almost went deaf. Hyrak made no attempt to finish off Gyrav and Hyrak walked away, "Where are you going Heretic!", Gyrav shouted at his opponent.
Hyrak looked back at him and said, "You have betrayed your own race, you are not worthy of an Honorable death, may you die in cowardice."
Gyrav snarled and shouted incoherently at Hyrak, the Sangheili didn't even acknowledge his frustration and hatred. Gyrav picked up his sword and holstered it, "I will deal with you later Heretic, for now we have a larger threat to our operation here."
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CHAPTER 6
Jake felt the pressure change drastically as his SOEIV rammed its way through the planet's upper atmosphere. The red lights in the pod flashed to indicate the change in pressure, Jake didn't need them though, his body was accustomed to the massive increase in atmospheric pressure, it's something he was used to through training. Jake checked his equipment, everything was set for battle. The SOEIV shook when the drag chute came loose, the thrusters came on and Jake was thrown forward, but again he was used to it. The lights in the pod went out and Jake braced himself. The collision rattled the pod, and the pod creaked and moaned from the three drastic changes in temperature. Jake was still calm however and he shook off the bone-breaking collision and kicked the hatch off. He jumped out of his metal cocoon and kneeled to the ground. The air was cool, and the ground was barren and black. This planet was not glassed however, it was different then what Jake had seen on Reach.
A thick mist filled the air, and the system's blue star was setting in the distance. Jake didn't take much time absorbing his environment, he quickly activated the TACMAP function on his HUD, he was less than a kilometer from the Forerunner structure, Jake saw what the structure was from his HUD. It was a large hexagon, over 5-6 miles in diameter, and it stood over 500 feet tall at its tallest point. It was silver, and it had 6 pillars on the 6 different corners. Jake switched to TEAMBIO, he saw green lights around him, 50 to be exact. Jake moved towards one of these lights that had a golden rim, which told him that this was Kyle, the leading Commander of the operation. Jake found the pod which Kyle dropped in, but Kyle himself was kneeling by something. Jake moved towards him, and Kyle pulled his hand away from the figure he was next to.
"Jake, it's Will, commander of the Spirits.", Kyle said solemnly.
Jake grimaced, but his discomfort was hidden by his black visor, Kyle put his hand on Jake's shoulder, and handed Jake Will's intelligence chip, "You might want to see this."
Jake put the chip in and his HUD played the last memories of his close friend. Jake saw the same landscape they were on now but the star was high in the sky, illuminating the ground beneath him. Jake watched as this ODST moved looking for an ambush, and all he saw was the rest of the ODSTs in Will's group. Jake watched as Will ordered his group to move, they ran across the landscape and were stopped by hundreds of Elites flashing into existence, a battle ensued, confusion all about, the Elites rushed the ODSTs. Will tried to order his men, but his commands were lost in the noise of war. Will was alone and an Elite adorned in gold and silver armor walked up to him. Will shot at him, but the bullets bounced off of its shields, it picked the ODST up and tore off his helmet. All that Jake saw after that was his friend's body dropping to the ground, lifeless.
Jake took the chip out and put it in one of his pockets, he was angry and wanted revenge, his fist tightened around the handle of his Battle Rifle. "I know you two fought together on Reach, it must seem strange seeing him dead after you survived a battle of that magnitude.", Kyle said trying to be as sincere as possible.
"Let's move out, we need to get into that structure.", Jake said trying to get his mind off of the topic.
Jake noticed that the other ODSTs had assembled around them while he was watching the chip, "All right let's move ODSTs! We need to get to the building, kill anything that moves, the Spartans are attacking from another direction.", Kyle shouted at the group.
The ODSTs nodded and began their trek towards the structure, they all ran, taking few breaks to check for ambushes. Jake stopped again once the structure was in sight. He looked at the soldiers, staying attentive for the enemies. He saw nothing, but he heard the crackle of gunfire, from the rear echelon. "Ambush!", someone shouted.
The ODSTs turned to face their assailants, they raised their guns and watched as the hundreds of Elites released their camoflauge. The ODSTs open fired on the group, the Elites rushed like in the video. The ODSTs stood their ground unleashing massive barrages of fire, Elites fell to the ground with a couple of shots. The Elites made their way to the ODSTs and slashed through them. One Elite impaled an ODST, picked up the ODSTs body and threw it at another. Jake strafed around an Elite and stabbed it in the base of the neck with his knife. He rolled just in time to avoid another blade, which missed him and impaled the Elite. The Elite let out a painful cry and fell to the ground, Jake raised his rifle at the other Elite, and he noticed that it was the golden-armored one that killed Will, a sense of revenge welled up inside Jake and he charged the Elite, he tackled it, and hit it with the end of his rifle. The Elite snarled and tossed Jake off, Jake regained his balance, but the Elite was faster and charged Jake, Jake raised his rifle and pumped 3 rounds into the Elite, the Elite stumbled backwards, and Jake took this hesitation to his advantage. He aimed his rifle at the Elite's head. He pulled the trigger and, *click*.
Jake's heart sunk, he tried to pull out his pistol but the Elite was too fast. Jake watched it raise it's energy sword, but it disappeared. Jake blinked in disbelief, but then he saw the cause, a large black figure had tackled the Elite and was struggling with him for the Sword. The Elite kicked the figure off and limped away.
The figure slowly started to stand, Jake saw that it had a golden face. He realized it was a Spartan. Jake finally regained his breath and looked a the rest of the battle going on, the Elites fled from the 200 Spartans. Jake looked back at the Spartan that saved him. "Thanks.", Jake said breathing deeply.
The Spartan nodded.
"What's your name?", Jake asked.
"Jason."
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CHAPTER 7
Gyrav ripped off his shoulder armor in a violent rage, he was furious from the intrusion of those Demons. The very thought of the word made Gyrav's vision go red with fury. He looked at where the human's bullet had pierced his armor, purple blood oozed from the entry wound. Gyrav snarled, "Get me a Phantom, now!", he shouted at the group of Sangheili that surrounded him. One of them nodded and started to speak into a Comm link with Gyrav's flagship, Hallowed Reverance.
Gyrav was recently given control of 2 Carriers to assist in battle, they were slightly larger than his flagship, but Gyrav's flagship was special. It had the ability to use a cloak that was ingeniously engineered into the shield system. With this he could easily win naval battles. To supply the cloaking device, he had another reactor, that fueled the shield system with recycled waste from the base reactor. This made Reverance's shields stronger as well. "Those unholy scum! How dare they even step foot on this hallowed ground!", Gyrav exploded with fury, an Unggoy slowly walked up to him offering a cloth to cover his wound. Gyrav snatched the cloth from his hand and wrapped it around the bullet hole.
Hyrak walked up to Gyrav, and Gyrav made a very obvious growl. Hyrak only glared at him, "We cannot allow those unclean creatures reach the artifact, or we will surely be killed for failure of our duty."
"What would you have me do? They have hundreds of Demons that killed most of my men.", Gyrav snarled at the Zealot Fleetmaster.
"We shall attack them at their heart.", Hyrak said.
"My troops cannot hold them down here.", Gyrav replied.
"They do not need to, I will send heavy ground support surrounding the structure, they shall not pass our defenses."
"How do you think that you can hold them off with a couple of tanks and Banshees?", Gyrav said, angry at the Fleetmaster's insolence.
"I have larger plans than that. But if you send your ships to take care of them in the sky, I will be able to use my 3 ships to drop the support we require."
Their combined fleet was still smaller than the humans', but their ships were stronger, and with the Reverance, Gyrav would be able to attack them without them be able to strike back. Gyrav nodded in agreement, but with displeasure, they could not allow the humans to pass even if it meant working with a heretic.
"We shall strike them at their heart.", Gyrav said, as he watched the Phantom drop from the sky.
Hyrak watched as they beaten Sangheili stepped into the Phantom and flew back to his ship, "I fear that may not be enough", Hyrak mumbled as he watched the Phantom disappear from sight.
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CHAPTER 8
Danforth watched the planet below, assessing the various reports that were given to him by Kyle, the Commander of the field operations. He was glad he sent the Spartans, otherwise things would have gotten bad for the groupd of ODSTs. But he needed to send ground support as well, he just sent out about 5 Scorpion Tanks, and 10 Warthogs. Danforth also had pilots getting ready for take off in Hornets for air support.
Something however made Danforth uneasy, there were no Covenant ships around, and there were many Elites on the ground. So what transported them there? Danforth was paranoid, constantly watching the radars, if something were to come, he wanted to know. George walked into the Bridge, ignoring the many officers that asked hi questions. George tapped Danforth on the shoulder, and Danforth turned towards the ONI agent.
"Sir, I believe that there is a Covenant ship around.", George said.
"What makes you think that?", Danforth responded.
George passed a paper to Danforth, "These are the radioactive readings of local space for the last 8 hours.", George pointed towards the bottom of the page, "In the last hour the activity has skyrocketed."
"Well, I don't see it do is it invisible?", Danforth said, and laughing at his last words.
"It's not funny sir, it's reality.", George said, staying adament on the idea.
"Well what do you want me to do? I can shoot it if I can't see it.", Danforth said.
"That's why I have an idea.", George said, moving to Danforth's console. "We could--"
George was cut off by Danforth shoving him out of the way, the radars flashed red, and alarms went off. The console zoomed in on 2 large Covenant Ships. "Prepare all defenses, get the Archers online, and Jacob", Danforth said towards the AI console and a large man dressed in a naval officer's uniform appeared, "Ready the MAC, we have some friends that don't know their boundaries."
Jacob didn't respond, he just disappeared, and the ship turned to face the Covenant ships. The 6 other ships in this small assault fleet turned to attack the ships as well. The outermost ships wasted no time and moved to flank the 2 ships while the central ships stayed and readied their MACs. A low growl pierced the quiet of the Bridge, and Danforth realized it wasn't human. "You better get the hell of my COM, or my trigger-happy AI may not be able to control himself."
"Foolish humans, you don't realize that you can't kill gods!"
The last words shook the room, and left a ringing in Danforth's ears. In the middle of the 7 ships a Covenant ship appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Plasma arced from this ship towards the slow UNSC ship on the outer left, the larger Covenant ships also fired on it. Within seconds its hull boiled away and the ship was lost in a bright explosion.
"Fire all MACs on that ship!", Danforth shouted over the COM and to everyone in the Bridge.
Clarity shook 4 times, and four massive balls of light shot out towards the central ship. They all hit their target, "Move to engage with Archer missiles! Get all Longswords out there, we're taking this thing out!"
Clarity slowly moved towards the ship, but it vanished once more, "What the--", Danforth started and realized it was similar to the cloaking system that the Elite's use. "Fire Archer Missiles on it's location!", Danforth shouted pointing to a blank spot where the ship once was.
The missiles just passed through and Danforth slammed his fist into the console. "Jacob how long until the MACs recharge?"
"Four minutes, sir."
Danforth gritted his teeth, this was too long. The other 5 ships were preoccupied with those other ships. Danforth was thrown forward and his forehead slammed off of the console in front of him. When he got up he felt a warm liquid sliding down his face, he wiped it with his hand and realized he was bleeding. The ship's lights were flickering and a yellow alarm light was flashing. "What happened?", Danforth said looking around at the people in the Bridge, the pilots in the chairs were unaffected but he saw George struggling to stand up once more, he helped the ONI agent up, Jacob appeared on the console, "Sir they rammed us."
Danforth looked at the status report for the ship, the engines were critical and there were various breaches throughout the hull. "Turn the thing around!", Danforth yelled, now angry at these Covenant bastards.
The ships slowly turned and he saw alarms go off as Plasma struck their hull. "What do you want me to do sir?", Jacob asked.
"How long until our MACs recharge?", Danforth said.
"Two minutes."
"Move us towards the ship.", Danforth said hesitantly.
The ship vanished once more, as Danforth figured it would, Clarity moved about, trying to stay clear of the ghost vessel. "Jacob, launch 4 SHIVA Warheads all around us..", Danforth said with a smile.
"Certainly."
About a minute later four massive balls of light surrounded them, and once they died down an outline of a Covenant ship could be seen. Its shields flared up when the nuclear warheads exploded, but this time its shields fell. "Ram them.", Danforth said.
"You can't be serious...", Jacob said.
"Do it.", Danforth demanded.
The ship sped up, Danforth braced for impact and was still surprised by the violent crash that followed. The UNSC vessel and the Covenant ship were both severly damaged now, Danforth smiled again. "MACs ready sir."
"Fire!", Danforth shouted and the ship was rattled four more times, and violent quakes followed, the MACs had struck their target, but since Clarity was so close when they hit, they were hit with an aftershock. Danforth fell to one knee after the final tremor, "The Covenant vessel seems to be retreating.", Jacob said as he watched the ship vanish once more under its cloak.
"Move us back to the fleet, we need to make repairs.", Danforth said, he was confident after the slight victory.
"We lost another ship sir, but we did destroy one of the Covenant carriers.", a voice said over the COM, as Danforth neared the battlegroup.
"We need to hurry with repairs before they come back.", Danforth said clutching the wound on his head.
Danforth moved to the back of the Bridge, and opened the door, but before he stepped out he heard a voice over COM.
"Sir! The Covenant dropped reinforcements on the surface. We're going to need back up."
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CHAPTER 9
Jason watched silently from a small hill, the Covenant had set up a strong defense surrounding the Forerunner structure. He saw various Wraith tanks, as well as Bashee patrols. Scattered on the ground in front of the structure were multiple Shade turrets. Ghosts and Spectres made constant ground patrols, not to mention the massive hoardes of Grunts and Jackals. The Elites were nowhere to be seen. Jason looked back at the remaining strike force, there were 20 of the 50 ODSTs, well at least that were able to fight. And only 2 of his Spartans died, leaving him with 232 Spartans.
Jason checked his ammo count, he had about 4 more clips for his Assault Rifle, and 6 more for his Battle Rifle. He had his Snipers set up in various spots, waiting for his signal. Recently Scorpion tanks and and Warthogs arrived, 5 Gauss and 5 normal. Jason ordered the Spartans to set up Missile pods to take care of Banshees if they drew too close. Jason knew that attacking now would be suicide, it would be similar to Pickett's charge during the Civil War in the United States back in the 1800's. They would get slaughtered. So Jason had been watching them for hours, waiting for te perfect opportunity to strike. The large open field didn't show any cover for miles in each direction. This planet was devoid of any vegetation or animals, and yet it still held an atmosphere, that was mostly oxygen. Its surface was composed of mostly Onyx, it was smooth and black. This planet must have been artificially made, which was another reason Jason was uneasy. Especially with the recent events on Onyx, which he was fortunate enough not to experience.
His Spartans stood tall and firm, the star reflected off their armor and gave them a paranormal glow, almost as if they were spirits. Jason smiled he knew victory would mean many casualties on their side, but then again it was only by chance that this many survived their first suicide mission. Jason always remembered what Lieutenant Ambrose said to him during training. And a memory of his old instructor appeared in his mind, and Jason allowed himself to relive his final day with his instructor.
Mendez had a pleasant look on his face, despite the hell he had given them over the past few months. Ambrose stood tall and proud in front of the 300 Spartans. Mendez spoke first.
"Do not focus on the death of your comrades, the minute your attention is derived from your mission, you will die."
Although he was harsh, the Spartans respected him because no other soldier in the UNSC would dare to even look at Spartans the wrong way. Ambrose looked at the group and then his attention was focused on Jason.
"You will see your allies fall, but remember they will not die. Spartans never die."
Jason knew he was talking about the publicity act for Spartans, and even though that was the case, these words struck Jason deeply. The low thrum of Pelican engines could be heard in the distance and Jason knew his time training was over. The Spartans moved towards them.
Mendez shouted at the group, "None of you are heroes, so don't be one on the battlefield!"
Jason shook his head and came back to reality, he knew they weren't heroes, he knew they can't just rush them, he needed to put together a small team of Spartans to attack the Covenant from behind. Their SPI armor should provide enough camoflauge to wreak some havoc on the Covenant frontline. Jason lifted his Assault Rifle, stared at it for while and then threw it away. He took up one of the Energy Swords that was lying on the ground after the battle in the dark. He holstered the sword and moved to the other Spartans.
"Alright listen up! I've got a job that needs to be done if we want to get to that structure. We need to flank the Covenant, so I'm taking a squad around their forces and we're going to take them out. Once we've made a good enough distraction everyone else needs to move in."
All of the faceplates stared at Jason, "So who's going?", every single Spartans raised their hand. They knew if a job had to be done, it must be done no matter what te cost.
Jason picked his old friends, as he knew the capabilities of all of them. Francis, Dorson, Cindy, Tim, and Mike. The Spartans that he had made friends with in training, they all stood beside him and were willing to die if it meant stopping the Covenant. "Alright activate your suits we're moving in."
The Spartans' suits soon blended with the environment, and the small team moved across the open field towards the Covenant. They were careful to move fast but quietly. A Covenant ghost passed right in front of them, and they moved much faster after that. The Banshee patrol moved over them and the Spartans moved behind a Shade turret. Jason watched the Grunt and when it turned away Jason snapped its neck. It didn't even have time to yell. Cindy hopped in the turret, "This should be good enough", she whispered and they realized that they were at the end of the Covenant defense perimeter, which was good news for them. Next to them was a Wraith, and they silently moved towards. Tim ripped open the hatch revealing a surprised Elite. He tossed a grenade inside and the Elite was dumbfounded by the aftershock, Tim put one quick round into its head with a Battle Rifle and tossed its body out. Tim hopped in and now they were in control of the situation.
Jason, Francis, Dorson, and Mike moved towards the center where the Grunts were. Mike and Dorson tossed a couple of Grenades and the hoard of Grunts was blown apart. This finally caught the force's attention. Jackals fired on their position, and Wraiths moved in as well. Since Jason and Mike were still in camoflauge they passed the approaching force. While the other four held them off. Jason gave his signal to Kyle, and the ODSTs with the rest of the Spartans raced towards them, Sniper fire from the various Spartans whizzed across the field striking multiple Jackals. Mike jumped on the back of one of the Wraiths and tossed a Grenade into its core. When the grenade exploded the Wraith was engulfed in a plasma eruption. Mike released his camo and started to shoot at the Covenant Jackals while they were attacking the others in the group. Jason still scouted for the Elites.
When the rest of their force reached their position victory was in their grasp. The Gauss hogs picked the Banshees out of the sky, while the Gunner Warthogs made quick work of the Grunts and Jackals. The Scorpion quickly destroyed the Ghosts, Spectres, and Wraiths. And the UNSC was in control of the battle, or so they thought.
Jason had found the entrance to structure, it was a massive metal door with various glyphs all over it. Jake had found Jason and they stared at it. The ODST reached for the door and a voice erupted from the door. Jason raised his Battle Rifle and Jake signaled him to lower it. Jake listened to it and then replied.
"Discursive Bias, we have eliminated the Covenant, you need to let us in."
"<Ah yes I sense no Covenant at this installation, but I fear more is on their way, and they are coming quickly.>"
"You must let us in, we need to gain control of this structure before they do."
There was no answer from the door this time, but a rumble soon started to shake the ground and the door slowly started to open. When the large door finally opened a ton of Sentinels flew out but they did not fire at Jake and Jason they simply atched te horizon.
"<Please Reclaimer, enter, there is much to be done; my sentinels will help your allies.>"
Jake and Jason moved into the entrance, and as the door closed behind them they saw an outline of a massive force moving over the horizon. The battle for the structure had begun.
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CHAPTER 10-The Descent
Apprehension gripped at Jake as the Spartan and ODST ran down the hallway. They ignored the frantic Sentinels that flew past them. The structure shook with explosions from the outside, cries of pain filled the COM. The brightly lit hall eventually came to an end as it opened up into an enormous spherical room. In the middle a large pillar of light stretched from the floor to the ceiling. As Jake and Jason stepped onto the pathway in front of them this pillar of light started to change shape. It turned into a ring shape and started to rotate.
"Halo", Jake whispered.
The ring began to change shapes once more into a flower shape with 8 outer arms, however the middle had a large sphere and the outer arms seemed mechanical in their design. "What is that?", Jake asked.
"<This is the pinnacle of my masters' creations. It is known as the Ark. It is a remote activation for all of the Halo rings around the galaxy.>"
Jake removed his helmet and stared at the structure in amazement, how could something that has the potential to end all life have this much beauty embedded in it? Jason stood stoic as he watched the fluxing stucture. "What do you want us to do Discursive Bias?", Jason asked.
"<I can send a signal to the Ark that activates it. From there all of the Halo rings will activate. I was entrusted to make sure that the Ark was activated once the time came, and given the conditions it is time.>"
"What about all of the innocent people who will die from Halo's activation?", Jake said.
"Die?"Kurt laughed."Didn't you know?"he told the Elite. "...Spartans never die."