HALO: THE FALL OF THE COVENANT
PROLOGUE
Location: Covenant occupied space, near the former site of Reach.
Aboard elite controlled battleship, illumine scent.
Fleet master Joro, Didam paced back and forth wondering what to do. The entire fate of the elite race rested on his very shoulders. It was a hard decision to make, but he knew he would have to choose a course of action soon, before it was too late. All of the ex-covenant elites were listening, waiting for him to say something. All he could manage to say was “I decree!” after that he was at a loss for words. Then he made his decision. “I decree! That we shall ally ourselves with the human aliens! In the hopes that we can crush the brutes, and end our everlasting war with a victory! The humans will receive our help in defending their home planet against the remaining covenant royalists! And we will finally know peace after this Great War! We will perform a jump to Earth my brothers and rid the galaxy of the covenant once and for all!” He waited for the response from his brothers. There was elation from the elite ships in his unusually large fleet. He could hear his fellow elites praising his decision and making ready to jump to Earth. With much luck the fleet master was blessed with the presence of the Arbiter. “Your Excellency, I will prepare our jump vectors for Earth. Our time for glory is at hand!”
The Arbiter spoke. “The course of action you decided fleet master was very wise indeed. Not only is it a brilliant strategic alliance but it may just be the turning point in our war against the brutes and the human’s war against the covenant. You are commended for your decision fleet master. You are promoted to a zealot, fleet master. You will be supplied with the necessary purple armour and put in charge of an entire division of elite ground troops, a commando unit, a ghost and banshee unit and of course a wraith unit. I will also make sure you are given your own personal scarab to command.” The Arbiter made an announcement on the fleet wide channel. “My brothers prepare for our journey! And I now command that all the elites and the scarab on board the Holy Menace be put under the command of your new zealot, Joro, Didam!”
“Your Excellency I thank you. You will not be disappointed in my command skills. I will show the brutes the true might of an elite division!” The elite at the controls of the navigation port typed in the last coordinates of the jump vector and pressed the slip space control which sent them on their way to Earth, and also sent most of them to their deaths.
Location: Aboard the brute controlled flagship The Inspired Might.
Earth
“So.” The brute chieftain on board The Inspired Might said “The elites have sided with the doomed race of humans? Let them come to their dooms at the hands of the brutes, let their primitive race feel defeat at our hands! Let them come and die.”
The other brutes aboard the ship sneered with an expression of utter glee at the thought of murdering the elites in glorious battle. Their chieftain had promised them blood and that’s what they were going to get.
CHAPTER ONE: ALPHA SQUAD
Location: New Mombassa, before the covenant schism
Alpha squad. The legendary group of marines. Their record wasn’t as good as the Spartans record but it was one of the best out there. They had been dropped from In Amber Clad in a specially armoured pelican that dropped them at a secret position deep in the red zone. Their mission was to cut off the covenant reinforcements to stop them reinforcing the position the Spartan and his marines were trying to clear. It was a tough job, that’s why they sent alpha squad. Alpha squad comprised of 5 specially selected marines, 5 of the best out there. There was alpha squad’s leader, Capt. Gavin; he had been selected for holding off a covenant assault wave with nothing but an MA5B assault rifle and 3 grenades. He had suffered months in hospital as a result but was selected for alpha squad shortly after his release from the hospital.
There was Lt. Burrels who ran into the middle of a huge fire fight between covenant and UNSC forces on Sigma Octanus IV and rescued a wounded fire team from certain death. He then proceeded to get on the turret of a warthog that had been under heavy fire ever since the previous gunner had inflicted heavy casualties on the covenant elite assault force, and he managed to stay on it for the duration of the battle which lasted for 54 minutes after that. An estimated covenant casualty from Burrels was at around 150 grunts, 30 elites, and 100 jackals he also managed to kill 4 hunter pairs. He was awarded the UNSC’s best wartime medal, the colonial cross and a promotion. He was selected for alpha squad as soon as his ship did a slip space jump to Reach.
The third member to join alpha squad was a Sgt. Miller. He was selected for his amazing sniper skills. He was separated from the rest of the 1000 strong battle group comprised mainly of warthogs and scorpion tanks on Harvest when it was hit by a large aerial assault from hundreds of seraph fighters and banshees. He climbed to the top of a steep hill and peered over to find a large covenant mechanised attack force getting ready for a huge ground engagement. He saw a gold armoured elite positioning the troops to their various positions. He shot the gold elite through its head and halted the ground operation until another commander could be found. He then moved through the ruined city of Zuma toward a large tower that was being reinforced to hold off a covenant battle group. He moved to the top floor of the tower and provided excellent sniping support for the soldiers defending the main road. He shot 43 elites out of ghosts and silenced a hunter battle group. A legendary sniper. When alpha squad was started he and one other good sniper were up for the position but he was lucky enough to get it.
The fourth soldier was a Sgt. Hamilton who was selected for his bravery under heavy banshee fire. He was driving a warthog through hostile territories on Harvest when he and his crew came under attack from 3 banshee formations of 6. He stopped the warthog when he was under tremendous fire and ordered the soldier on the gun to drive. He managed to do all this in 7 seconds. When the warthog started up again he was firing up at the banshees and he managed to take out 2 formations in 1 minute. The remaining formation retreated after losing 4 out of 6 of their banshees. He was asked to join when alpha squad started.
And finally the fifth soldier. A Cpl. Wilkinson was selected for his bravery on Cairo station. He held off several covenant bomb squads on his own until heavy fire from a bomb squad escort forced him to retreat to a landing bay where covenant boarding craft forced him and the only other 2 marines there into a deadly fire fight. He would have been killed if not for Spartan 117, who arrived there shortly after the craft had boarded. Wilkinson was the only marine survivor; he was also selected because of how he saved Spartan 117 by killing an energy sword wielding elite who had managed to wrestle the Spartan to the ground. He is the newest member of the alpha squad and has never been in one of their operations before.
As the pelican lifted off and gradually faded off into the distance, Wilkinson couldn’t help but think “What have I signed up for?” Alpha squad started to move toward their objective. Capt. Gavin said “Keep the COM channels open men. I need to know what’s happening on your end. Covenant grunt spotted.” There was a 4 second pause and then “Threat eliminated.” The next few minutes were ablaze with “Threat eliminated.” Until they came to a huge building completely surrounded by ghosts and wraiths. Capt. Gavin spoke. “Marines we need to figure out a way to take out this building. We have a small bomb powerful enough to take it out; we just need to figure out how to get inside, without being spotted. Any ideas?” Sgt. Miller’s face lit up as he was struck with an idea.
“I have a plan sir. I shoot one of the covenant here and wait for the others to go over to him. You and the rest of the team advance forward while I keep distracting them. When you reach the doors I will kill the covenant guarding it, and that should let you in. Plant the bomb and run all the way back here, ill keep you covered while you prime the detonator, and then we blow these bastards to hell.”
Capt. Gavin and his 3 man team heard the crack of Millers sniper and a hunter fell dead. They took this time to move forward to the next piece of cover. The covenant started spreading out and taking up hiding spots. 3 bangs and 3 elites fell dead. The team took this opportunity to move to the next piece of cover. Once there they heard an elite shout something and multiple covenant opened fire on Millers position. They saw him fall back behind a low wall and the majority of the covenant moved forward after him. The right side of the building was now unguarded. The team ran to the door and barged inside killing the startled grunts and jackals that were eating there rations. They took out the bomb, planted it behind a counter, and primed the detonator. They ran outside to discover that the covenant was firing at a small house. The wraiths weren’t firing because of the hunters that crept up to the door. They repeatedly heard sniper shots and saw many covenant lying dead in the street. They knew he couldn’t hold out much longer so they ran toward the furthest piece of cover from the building and the covenant and pressed the detonator.
There was an ear splitting explosion and large pieces of debris fell from the sky toward the covenant position. Many of them were crushed and a lot of wraiths and ghosts exploded from the sheer amount of smouldering metal hitting them. The remaining covenant were shot by Millers sniper and the teams assault rifles. Then the remaining wraith and the last 2 ghosts turned their attention to Gavin and his team. He opened a COM channel to Miller. “Miller, take out the wraith, we can handle the ghosts.”
Gavin and his team took up a position behind a wrecked car and bombarded the ghosts with continuous armour piercing rounds. A lucky round hit a ghost’s fuselage and sent it spinning out of control and into the other ghost. Both ghosts hit a steel wall and exploded in a shower of plasma and smouldering metal. A series of dull thumps could be heard from inside the wraith and then multiple alien screams. A large hole appeared in the side of the wraith and purple blood mixed with fuel spilled out at an alarming rate. The wraith started to spin and clinging onto the back of the wraith was Miller with 2 grenade pins in his hand. He jumped off and ran toward the rest of the team just as the wraith exploded completely.
“How was that for your first mission Wilkinson?” said Burrels
“Not bad sir. In fact I liked kicking the covies asses all over this city”
Capt. Gavin broke in. “Well you better get used to it son, we have a new mission.”
SPQR! An ambitious historical project, coming soon. Check the Library for early version test writes. Recommended for anyone with a love of history.