Here is my second story once again, editied and improved from the original version. I hope you all enjoy it.

Prologue

UNSC world Frontier –Hades Gamma cluster

8^th November 2568 military calendar 08.30

Mark-184 tensed as he looked out at the rolling savannah below. Behind him Cameron-242 and Brandon-197 readied their weapons as they sat in the Pelican's seats.

Mark turned and looked at his team. Along with Cameron and Brandon, there was Patrick-211 and Alice-236. They had trained together ever since they joined the Spartans ten years ago.

Mark thought about those days. He had only been a toddler at the end of the war with the Covenant. His parents had moved around a lot, trying to avoid the Covenant patrols, during their brief occupation of Earth.

After the war, things had settled down and they stopped moving and he was brought up in Iowa, which was mostly untouched from the war. He had helped his father, as they lived of the land. The beautiful summers and the bitter winters still reminded him of home.

Things had changed though. One day a man had come to his house and said he was special, and told him he had a great future ahead of him. The next day he had woken up in a strange metal facility with about another 150 kids around him. That was his first day in the Spartan IV program and it certainly wasn’t the last. He be trained and augmented to make him the best of the UNSC. Now was the day of their first real mission.

One of humanity’s furthest colonies, Frontier had dropped out of contact. They had been silent for almost three months, double the amount of time they should have sent in their last report on the crops and shipping manifests. No ship had come from the planet and ONI was starting to get worried. Their mission was to find out what had happened and report on what ever they found.

He tensed as he tightened the silencer on his MA5C. Even though the fact this was their first mission excited him, he was also slightly nervous. He could see that his feelings were reflected by the rest of the team. They were all silent, but the slight tension in their body language told him they were as nervous as he was.

‘At the drop zone in 5, lock and load Spartans,’ Mark said.

They scrambled for their weapons, making last minute checks and strapping magazines into their belts.

The Pelican’s rear door opened and the Spartans filed out, taking up defensive positions. The Pelican’s engines roared as it soared off into the morning sky.

Mark motioned a finger forward and the 5 soldiers advanced, heading to the capital of Frontier, Alton. It was about the size of a UNSC frigate, with a massive 30 foot tower in the centre, which was the UNSC barracks and communications array. That was their target.

They reached the city gates undetected. Mark moved to the massive steel gates and to the tiny keypad to the right side of the door. He typed in the code given to him by ONI and the doors creaked open.

They silently crept inside, keeping their weapons raised. The city was deserted, it looked intact, but there was no people, no noise, except the howling wind. They walked cautiously through what was the centre of town.

It was then that Patrick saw it; he rushed into an alleyway to the right of street and knelt by what looked like a bundled of burnt rags. As he got closer, he realised they weren’t rags. The crumpled form was human male, in his mid thirties. His face and body was burned, blackened until he looked like he was covered in soot.

Patrick rose and said, ‘Plasma burns, rules out the URF.’

The URF (or United Rebel Front) had lead a campaign of insurrection against the UNSC and her colonies before the war with the Covenant, where they had been relatively quiet, seeing the larger threat of the Covenant. After the war they had slowly reappeared, claiming it was the UNSC’s fault that the Covenant had attacked humanity, that they had provoked them. Obviously this wasn’t true but some disillusioned survivors had joined them, and they had proved a pain to the UNSC ever since. Mark as well as his Spartans had suspected it was them as they had been spotted in this sector, as Frontier was vulnerable as it would take a while for UNSC command to respond if it was attacked.

Plasma weaponry meant only one thing, the Covenant were attacking UNSC worlds once again.

Though they had been relatively quiet since the war, they had proved to still be dangerous. Only 2 months ago, they had discovered The Relay, a slipspace transmitter that could activate the remaining Halo rings, which would kill all life in the galaxy. Though they had been thwarted by the actions of Blue team, the Prophet of Remorse had escaped, leaving the brass at headquarters to suspect they would attack again, but they thought they would have had more time.

‘We need to let ONI know about this, we have to get to the transmitter in the centre of the city,’ Mark said

The Spartans nodded in acknowledgment and they headed towards the massive tower.

Out of nowhere a barrage of plasma slammed in Mark, his shields flared gold and flashed as they failed. Plasma hit his chest. He grimaced in pain and clutched his side as it impacted his flesh. Even though he was in immense pain, he managed to shout out.

‘Ambush!’

Brandon and Patrick took up defensive positions beside him as he fell to one knee. Blood poured from his mouth and his breathing became erratic.

Alice and Cameron fired their weapons widely, trying to hit their invisible opponents. More plasma replied hitting Cameron in the shin.

Mark watched as one by one, his teammates fell, under the concentrated fire of their attackers. The pain was too much, he collapsed unto his back and his vision dimmed. He felt an overriding sense of failure, as he had lead his teammates, his friends to their doom.

He only just saw the tall dark figure materialised as it disengaged its active camouflage.  He looked up to see the blue glow of a plasma rifle as the figure raised it at Mark’s head. He saw a blue flash, and then it all went black.

End of the Prologue  

Chapter 1

ONI Training Facility C-88- Keyes Island, Earth

10^th November 2568 Military Calendar 06.30

Kyle woke abruptly from a strange dream was having. He rose from the plain sheets of his bed and brought one hand to his face, trying to recall the dream. He had splintered images of the estate back on New Mombasa, where he had lived as a child, until the Covenant had attacked the city. He had seen his mother, and as an adult he went to her and said that he had confronted her killer and had forgiven him.

She had then turned around and thanked him and said she was very proud of him and then the dream started to fade, as much as he tried to recall any more, it hid right at the back of his brain, just beyond his reach.

He looked at the wall and the digital clock to check the time. It read 06.35, Time to get moving.

He got up and went to the small steel locker in the far corner of the room and opened it, pulling out a sweatshirt, with the word ‘Spartans’ on the back. As well as black military boots and trousers and walked outside and into the main part of the facility.

Things hadn’t changed much since when he trained here. The barracks was full of new recruits, the third generation of Spartan IV’s, with the second having just graduated. The brass back in Washington had made the Spartan IV project public a few years ago and saw it as vital to stabilise humanity and to give people hope as well as a visible presence to protect them.

The Spartans were a symbol of humanity’s indomitable spirit, well that’s at lest that what the PR said about them. Kyle saw it a little differently. He thought they were the best of the best, trained to protect Earth and all her Colonies, by any means necessary.

That was the reason here was here today. He and the rest of Blue team had been called back for an urgent briefing for a new mission. Kyle was curious what this was about. They had only recently completed their last mission: hunting down a band of pirates, hiding in the asteroid belt of the Eridanus System, which ironically had formally been a base for the URF and the home of the most famous Spartan John-117. Only a few weeks before that they had been on there hardest mission yet, aiding the elites to stop the remnants of the Covenant from activating the Relay, which was a transmitter to activate the Halo rings, and wipe the galaxy clean of life. Luckily they stopped it.

Kyle thought about that mission as he walked passed the shooting range, and watched as a few of the second generation Spartan IV’s practice , targets pinging as the bullets from their assault rifles hit their targets. They fought all the way from a Forerunner battleship, to the surface of a planet to the Relay itself. He had met his mother’s murderer, and elite called Rondo Davum, an elite spec-ops commander. The air had been tense as they had had to work together, until they had fought. Kyle had won but he spared his life, and gained the respect of Rondo.

Together they had fought their way through the Relay, and confronted Drakus, the illegitimate son of Tartarus; leader of the Brutes and killed him. Rondo had died fighting him, but before he did Kyle forgave him for murdering his mother. 

Kyle broke from his musings and headed outside. The sun was just coming over the thick jungle that surrounded the facility. The air was humid and warm. He headed to the large circular track, which he knew so well. On his second day here, he had run around it, the first of many throughout his training. Today though, it was just regular exercise.

He decided to do about 2 kilometres and set off, jogging around the track, easily keeping up the pace. His muscles responded to the strain as he kept going. After about an hour he stopped, his face covered in sweat, he breathed deeply and his heart beat returned to normal quickly.

He looked up to see a figure approaching him. He was tall, with dark skin and was very muscular, as was Kyle. His eyes were a deep green and he smiled as he approached Kyle.

‘Always up early aren’t you?’ The tall black man said as he got closer.

This was Shen, one of the members of Blue team. The two of them had been friends for years, even before they joined the Spartans. Though he looked ‘all brawn, no brains’ Shen was incredibly intelligent, they had even joked he was like an AI, which was why he was the team’s hacker and his job was to get into the enemies computer systems and use them against them.

‘Got to keep ready, you never know what’s round the corner,’ Kyle said as he walked to his friend.

‘Amen to that.’ They had seen so many missions; they both knew the cost of letting your guard down.

‘Well Kyle, we’d better get going, I figured you be out here, as Caspian asked me to find you.’

‘Right where are they?’ Kyle asked, taking a bottle of water he had taken with him and taking slow slugs from it.

‘They’re down in the conference room, the briefing in ten minutes,’ Shen said, he stood silent for a second and stared at Kyle.

‘What is it?’ Kyle asked feeling slightly unnerved at Shen’s gaze.

 ‘Caspian’s worried about you, most of the team are worried about you, and hell I’m starting to worry about you. You keep training here every chance you get, you never said anything during the last mission and to top it off we barely see you. It’s like you’re avoiding us.’ Shen paced as he said this, walking back and forward at a feverish pace.

‘I’m not avoiding you, if that’s what you think,’ Kyle said back.

‘Then what are you doing? Caspian thinks this is because of what happened at the Relay and how that brought back some bad memories.’

‘I know it appears that way but, it’s not like that, what happened was one of the best things that could of happened to me, and I let my mother’s death go.’

‘Then why the distance? Come on man you can tell me,’ Shen looked concerned as he moved closer.

‘It’s just after that mission; I felt a thirst to prove myself, to show that I was ready. I been pushing you away as I been so determined to get better and for that I’m sorry,’ Kyle said.

He knew that he had been pushing his team away; the fact he had not talk to them much since the Relay mission was obviously casting doubts to whether he was okay. The main reason he had been so quiet was pushing himself too hard, he was so focused on improving to show he was ready, he had completely lost focus on the main thing that would get him through a mission: teamwork. He had to stop it, right here right now.

‘Ah, it’s okay we all got a bit OTT with training now and again, I knew there was nothing to worry about,’ Shen broke into a smile.

‘Glad we cleared that up, shall we get going?’ Kyle asked.

‘Yeah, as nice as it is out here, we can’t stand around here all day, let’s go.’

They casually walked back inside and through the many areas of the facility. They were silent as they walked.

At last they reached the conference room.

It was a circular room with stairs rising up to the far wall. There were four flights of steps that lead to the metallic benches where they would watch the central podium, with a holographic screen behind it. Right now that screen held the UNSC logo.

On the first line of benches sat the rest of Blue team: Caspian, Peter and Alex. They looked up as Shen and Kyle moved to them.

‘Ah they you are, you’re right on time.’ Caspian said, his short blond hair reflected the dim light of the room.

‘So, have you stopped sulking yet Kyle, I’d hate to have two people like Peter,’ Alex said. Her upbeat tone and jokes were her way of keeping their spirits up. It was quite welcome.

‘Yeah, real funny Alex,’ Peter said in a sarcastic tone. He had always been relatively silent and pessimistic, but he had seen horrible things during the war and it had permanently scarred him.

‘Yeah he’s fine, just when a little crazy for training, trying to prove himself,’ Shen said as he sat down on the bench, right next to Alex. They all wore similar clothes to what Kyle was wearing.

‘Well that’s good; I thought I have to make fun of you too,’ Alex said, her short blond hair, was pushing regulation, but for that matter so was Kyle’s. She had green eyes, similar to Shen’s and she carried a small scar by her right eye, which she had got by escaping a Brute patrol as a child.

‘Well I would have been a nice break for me; sometimes I want to smash you into a wall Alex,’ Peter had jet black hair and darkly colored brown eyes. His skin was paler than the rest of them; he was practically a ghostly white in complexion.

‘Well sorry to disappoint you Peter, but you going to have to put up with her,’ Caspian said. As usual he got the situation under control. ‘He’s here.’

Caspian pointed to the podium were a man now stood. He was in full navy dress uniform and the Spartans rose to salute the senior officer.

‘At ease,’ said Lord Harper. Kyle was surprised. The head of the UNSC navy didn’t usually brief them, something was wrong, and Kyle knew it.

‘What’s the situation sir?’ Caspian asked as he remained up as the Spartans returned to their seats.

‘Simple really, but dangerous never the less, search and rescue.’

Caspian sat back down, waiting for Harper to continue.

‘You may recall the UNSC colony Frontier in the Hades Gamma cluster?’

Kyle searched his memory. It was a farming world, similar to Harvest, on the edge of UNSC territory. Rebels and pirates occasionally operated in that system. He remembered taking some of them down, in his earlier years, back when he was a recruit.

‘Well we sent a group of recruits to find out why the colony has stopped transmitting, but we lost contact, we need you to find out what the hell is going on,’ Harper said mopping his brow.

‘Sir, how did they get to Frontier, didn’t they scan the planet?’ Caspian asked.

‘They went on the UNSC prowler Shadow. It was in orbit, but it too stopped transmitting, about ten minutes after the Spartans landed on the planet,’ Harper was obviously concerned, as it played into his features.

‘What kind of resistance will we be facing?’ Caspian asked.

‘Unknown, we suspect the URF, but I would keep on your toes if I were you, we have no idea what you’ll be up against.’

‘Understood,’ Caspian said ‘What about the Spartan team, who was it?’

‘It was team Sigma, one of the second generation Spartan IV teams,’ Harper said.

Kyle absorbed this information. The Spartan IV project had been going on for quite a while now, for 18 years. And while they weren’t as senior as the Spartan II’s had been, UNSC brass had pushed the project into overdrive, making a second generation only six years after the first one had been conscripted. The two groups had been trained together, so they were closer than the other generations of Spartans were to each other. They had graduated six years ago, and that meant that the second wave of Spartans had just graduated. Kyle suspected this was probably their first real mission.

‘How long have they been out of contact?’ Caspian asked, leaning forward.

‘Two days, we need a team to get there quickly and be ready for any surprises that wait on the planet. Good luck, you leave on the UNSC Memphis at 16.00.’ He rose and left the room.

End of Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

ONI Training Facility C-88- Keyes Island, Earth

10^th November 2568 Military Calendar 13.00

Dr Chandra Singh walked impatiently as he headed to the facilities tech lab. He was into old age, over 70 years old. 500 years ago he would have not been able to continue his work. Luckily modern science still meant he had a few more years left in him. His brown skin was heavily wrinkled and his glasses had nearly doubled in thickness.  His hair had turned grey over the last few years. But there was still a fire in his eyes, a determination that hadn’t faded with age.

For over 50 years, had worked for the UNSC and ONI, from one project to the next. He had even worked with his friend and colleague, Dr Catherine Halsey with her SPARTAN II Project. He had been visiting his dying father back on Earth when Reach fell and after the war decided to continue the Spartan project in his friend’s memory.

Now the Spartan IV’s were a reality and were one of the UNSC’s success stories, they had been on so many missions and such a high success rate. Around 99% of all operations had been successful. Today, Singh was worried about the other 1%. Team Sigma, had gone missing and Blue team were being sent to investigate. Singh hoped to catch them before they left for the Memphis as he wanted to give them something that may help them in the next mission.

The metal doors slid open and he entered the lab.

Kyle watched as Dr Singh came into the room. His lab coat, as usual was dirty and his white hair was unkempt and unruly. He moved to the terminal at the back of the room and sat at the desk that held it up. He straightened his glasses and said.

‘Thank you for coming so quickly, I was worried that I would miss you before you left.’

‘You said this was important doctor, so we came straight away,’ Caspian said.

Kyle looked around the room. I was small, only large enough to fit one warthog in. Around the walls, in tall long glass tubes were the green MJONLIR suits, similar to what they wore, all along the edges of the room. These were spares, and some of them would be used for parts if one of the Spartan’s armour was damaged or broken. In the centre of the room was a holotank, where the base’s AI, Cynthia would appear. At the moment it was dark. Kyle guessed she was either busy teaching, or running routine maintenance.

‘Yes, it is. As you well know the missions you go on are very dangerous. Sometimes you are taken to places we have no Intel, no idea what you will face,’ Singh paused and looked at each of them.

‘I’m sure we are well prepared for any unwanted surprises,’ Caspian said, confident in his team’s abilities.

‘Be that as it may, Caspian, I still feel you could use some help, so I giving you this.’ He pointed to the Holotank. A small female figure appeared. She was purple and had data lines going across her body. She had short hair and her face reminded Kyle of his mother.

‘This is Mira, she is an infiltration AI. She was based on Cortana’s core processors, but we added some traits from other useful subjects.’

‘There’s even a bit of you in me doctor Singh,’ Mira said crossing her arms and looking at the five armour forms in front of her.

‘With all due respect sir, but we already have an infiltration expert, how can hack enemy systems: Shen.’ Shen shifted uneasily in his armour when his name was mentioned. Kyle knew Shen always played down his technical abilities and said he was better with a rifle than a hacking device. But the whole team knew how good he was, he had never failed them.

‘Though I don’t doubt Shen’s abilities.’ He stopped for a second. Kyle remembered when they were kids; Shen had hacked into the facility’s systems, causing havoc. It had taken two weeks for the system to recover. ‘I think that if you could have a ‘ghost’ in the system you would have a sizable advantage, as well as having a useful ally in a bad situation.’

‘I’m not one to brag, but I doubt you companion could hack a covenant system in under a second,’ Mira said, with some irritation in her voice.

‘But what about Shen, I feel if he didn’t use his abilities it would be wasteful and unfair to him.’ Caspian said. He had never been this bold before, but he knew the bonds between the five Spartans were like family.

‘Look Caspian, its fine I’d rather be using a rifle anyway and a little help on the hacking front is always appreciated,’ Shen said giving a slight nod to Mira. She smiled and looked at Dr Singh.

‘Then it’s settled, Mira will know join you on your next mission. Now she has looked at all the available data and has decided which one of you the most suitable is to house her in your armour.

Mira grinned and said, ‘After looking at all your service records, and psychiatric reports, I believe that Kyle-112 is the most logical choice.’

Kyle was surprised at this and nearly forgot to move when Dr Singh said, ‘Step forward Kyle.’

Kyle moved and stood closer to Dr Singh, who had got up and stood next to the Holotank.

‘Are you ready Mira?’ Singh asked moving closer to her image.

‘Yes doctor all systems ready for transport; you can remove me from the system.’ Mira closed her eyes, as Dr Singh pulled a chip from the tank and her image disappeared. He handed the chip to Kyle.

‘Take good care of her Kyle, she’s one of my finest creations, I would hate to lose her.’ Singh looked incredibly sad when he said this, as if he would never see her again.

‘I understand,’ Kyle said as he put the chip in the back of his head. A wave of inertia filled him, as it felt that a wave of cold water had just rushed into the back of his head. He knew this was an illusion, as Mira had only entered his armour, but it was slightly discomforting all the same.

A voice said in the back of his head. ‘Hmm. You armour’s quite roomy, good if we have to share it then. It is very nice to meet you Kyle; it is an honour to serve with you.’

‘Likewise Mira,’ Kyle said, moving back to his teammates.

‘Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time, good luck with the next mission.’ Dr Singh turned around and left the room.

‘How are you feeling?’ Caspian asked.

‘It’s a little weird, but it shouldn’t be a problem,’ Kyle said, still getting used to the AI in his head.

‘Just remember, if you hear more than one voice in your head, you have real problems,’ Alex said.

‘I keep that in mind,’ Kyle said.

‘Right Spartans, time to move out, we are leaving in ten minutes, move out.’

The five green-armoured forms left the tech lab

End of Chapter 2

Chapter 3

UNSC world Frontier- Hades Gamma cluster

3^rd August 2568 Military calendar 13.00

Corporal Andrew Novo stood at attention as the Sergeant Major gave them their briefing for today. Andrew’s fresh, youthful face looked straight into the eyes of his superior officer as he paced back and forward the line of twenty marines in front of him.

Andrew had come to Frontier for excitement, that and the Earth was starting to get too crowded. He had thought that being on the edge of UNSC territory he would see some action and this was partly true. A few months after he arrived they had had a major operation to take out a small pocket of rebels hiding in some of the caves up north. He had helped a little, and had picked up some rebel documents that detailed their movements and their plans. They had intended to lead a costly guerrilla campaign, using home-made bombs to devastate the local economy. He had been promoted for that.

After this however things had gotten very quiet, and all his duties were now were just to show a marine presence in the city.

After the Sergeant told him to patrol around the edge of the city, he and the two other marines, Harry Tyson and David Hoke were deployed with him. As they walked through the long wide roads that made up the capital of Frontier, Alton. As usual at this time of day, the streets were full of people, all quickly getting something to eat, before heading back to work.

Harry was young and had just been transferred here from Earth. His short ginger hair and freckles, made him look very much like a child. Hoke, however was the complete opposite. Hoke was black, with a long scar running down the side of his face. His eyes burned with intensity and were always looking for targets. He was much older than him and Harry and had seen more action, fighting along the rim worlds. It was said on his last assignment something went horribly wrong and he was transferred quickly from the scene.

Andrew wondered what he had done, but David didn’t say much about it, David didn’t say much at all, he just kept quiet and got the job done. He respected him for that.

They reached the main gate of the city, a huge set of steel doors, decorated with subtle gold calligraphy, showing the UNSC hawk flying over the planet, showing their presence and protection of the colonists there.

Andrew always liked the picture, it made him feel important and that he was contributing to the protection of the colony.

The doors slowly groaned open and the three marines casually walked through the growing gap.

And so they started their routine patrol of the outside of the city, it generally detailed off walking around the outer walls of the city and looking at any incoming traffic, to make sure there weren’t any booby trapped vehicles entering the city.

The blue sun of the Hades Gamma cluster, Iris caused a slight blue tinge to the world around them. At first, Andrew had been a bit unnerved by it, but after a few months of being he had gotten used to it.

The patrol went on without anything happening, as usual, a few suspicious vehicles that had turned out to be false alarms and one of indigenous life on Frontier, the rantu, a kind of grey coloured pig, had done some slight damage to some of the outer stone walls. Luckily they were easily frightened away by the sight of the three marines.

Andrew was starting to get bored and was about to let out a yawn, when suddenly David dropped to a crouching position, rifle raised. He instantly followed suit and looked in the direction David was. He couldn’t see anything, just a few bushes and trees on a grassy valley.

‘What is it?’ Andrew whispered.

‘I saw something behind those trees, and it was big, bigger than a rantu,’ David said, not taking his eyes from the trees.

‘It’s nothing, you probably only saw a big one, they can get pretty big you know,’ Harry said, still on his feet, with his rifle strapped to his back.

‘You don’t know that, it could be a rebel or something worse,’ David said, his voice sombre and to the point.

‘Oh come on, nothing ever happens, they rebels aren’t that stupid, there is absolutely nothing to……..ARGGGGGHHHHHHH!’ Harry screamed in pain as the first shot flew out of the trees, and hit him dead in the chest. He crumpled and lay groaning in pain, grasping a large spike that had impacted his chest.

‘Oh ***, What the hell just shot at us?’ Andrew thought out loud.

It didn’t take long for him to find out. Out of the trees, there armour shining in the blue light were Brutes, lots of Brutes, their bodies shimmering as they deactivated their camouflage. Andrew made out at least 30 of them all advancing on their position. He knew they were dead if they stayed here; they had to move and get back into the city. He radioed headquarters

‘Commanded this recon patrol foxtrot, taking enemy fire, request assistance over.’

‘We hear you foxtrot, what’s the situation?’ The calm voice of one of the command staff said.

‘We’ve got over thirty brutes outside the city, please advise over.’

‘Recon patrol, please confirm hostile contacts.’

‘There Brutes, around thirty of them, please, we desperately need assistance over.’

‘Confirmed, we’ve got them on thermal scanners now hold on and we’ll, holy hell look!’

Andrew looked up at the sky. Hundreds of flashes filled the sky and materialised into slivery-purple bulbous ships. Hundreds of them. They grew larger in the sky, so many they blocked out the sun.

In this moment Andrew knew this was the end of Frontier. 

End of Chapter 3

 

Chapter 4

 

In the sky above the Indian Ocean- Earth

10^th November 2568 Military Calendar 14.00

 

Kyle stared out at the rushing water below him. After their detour to see Dr Singh, they quickly gathered their equipment and left Keyes Island by the pelican awaiting them in the hangar. They were now heading up to the Cairo defence platform and the Memphis docked on her.

 

As much as he enjoyed his time at what he had long considered his home, but he was itching for another mission. He was also a little concerned as well. The fact Frontier had dropped out of contact and Spartans had been already sent and were MIA. His instincts told him it was going to be a nasty mission.

 

He was abruptly taken from his thoughts as the pelican lurched a little as it started to rise. Below them was Africa, which grew smaller as the pelican ascended. Kyle thought about his former home, and how much it had changed since that terrible day the Covenant attacked New Mombasa. As part of the continent had been glassed to destroy the flood contamination, though it was a precise bombardment, it left Voi almost inhabitable. But some good had come out of it as a research station had been set up around the outskirts of the remains of the town to try to find a way to reverse, or repair the damage.

 

As for New Mombasa itself, it was still only a handful of deserted ruins, with most of it lost when the Covenant started digging underneath. Kyle now looked at the Forerunner object that had been underneath his home. The steel circle was silent now, but when it was active it had created a portal to the Ark. Scientists had been trying to investigate the structure, but to not avail. There was some kind of barrier protecting the inner structure. They did determine however that even though it wasn’t active it still had power readings within it, and still had a slight effect on the weather. There were more storms in this region since it was activated.

 

The blue sky started to fade and turned to the black of space. Kyle sat down, next to his fellow Spartans. Suddenly there was a voice at the back of his head.

 

‘Kyle can I talk to you, in private?’  Mira said.

 

‘Why? What’s wrong?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘Please just do it,’ Mira replied, a slight heir of impatience in her voice.

 

He sighed and flicked his COM to private, so they would be heard.

 

‘Fine, what’s wrong?’ Kyle asked

 

‘I just wanted to ask you something, as I want your opinion.’

 

‘All right, shoot,’ Kyle said.

 

‘I’ve read all your files, Psychological analysis and service record, but if we are going to be working together with you and your team, I like to get to know you and them a little better. So tell me about them, as well as yourself.’

 

‘There’s not much to tell, were basically a family, we look out for each other. We live and die together,’ Kyle said.

 

‘I see, was that why your leader Caspian was a little resistant to me taking over from Shen-073?’ She said, as if she was thinking about everything Kyle said. It slightly unnerved him.

 

‘Pretty much, Shen’s a good computer expert as well as a friend, I can’t say I’m overjoyed by this situation, but I don’t question my superiors, and neither does Caspian. We follow orders and if Dr Singh thought we needed you I won’t question his decision and none of the team will either,’ Kyle replied, speaking his opinion.

 

‘Hmmmmm…….I see, I apologise, I’m not great at talking to people, I prefer dealing with problems, and at least they are simple. People are complex. How do you think I can gain the respect of you and the team?’ She asked, sounding almost embarrassed by her words.

 

‘Just do your job, and help us when we need it and you’ll do fine. I’m sure you’ll have no problem fitting in. Welcome to Blue team,’ Kyle said.

 

‘Thank you. Well that was less a hassle than I thought it would be, I sure you had enough talking to me and you want to focus on the mission,’ She said.

 

‘If you don’t mind I like to ask about you,’ Kyle asked. He was curious about this AI. The last AI he really was close to was Odysseus. He wanted to see how she compared to him.

 

‘About me, I’m flattered, what do you want to know?’ Mira said.

 

‘Just a little about you generally, what is you role, what did you before joining us, that kind of thing.’

 

‘Well, like my ‘mother’ Cortana, I’m an intrusion AI; I would say I was one of the best. Before I was assigned to you, I helped test the firewalls and other defences in ONI’s computer network. I broke in more than 97 separate occasions.’ There was a bit of pride in her voice when she said this, she the continued.

 

‘I’ve been in operation for about a year now, and when I was assigned to Blue team, I saw it as an opportunity. I’ve always wanted to test my skills on some Covenant systems, as well as to do what my mother did, it sounded so exciting.’

 

Kyle took this information in. Thinking what he would say next.

 

‘About your mother. How are you like Cortana?

 

‘Well my base program is modelled after hers. I also share a bit of her personality, as well as most of the top scientists at ONI. I can be a bit arrogant sometimes, I also think I’ve inherited her humour, but that could be wishful thinking. I just want to live up to her name,’ Mira paused after saying this. There was nearly a minute’s silence until she finally said.

 

‘We’d better conclude this little heart-to-heart; we’re approaching the station, Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.’

 

‘Any time,’ Kyle said.

 

‘Oh and Kyle,’ Mira replied.

 

‘Yes?’

 

‘I’m looking forward to working with you.’

 

The pelican slowed as it entered the Hangar. Its engines whined as they powered down. A few seconds latter the rear hatched opened and Kyle stepped and the other Spartans stepped out onto the steel deck.

 

End of Chapter 4

 

 

Chapter 5

 

Aboard UNSC defence platform Cairo

10^th November 2568 Military Calendar 15.30

 

‘Good to see you Blue team,’ the officer said as they Spartans approached and saluted.

 

‘Likewise Lieutenant,’ Caspian said.

 

‘Captain Harker is on the command deck, he’s expecting you.’

 

‘Understood.’ The Lieutenant politely moved aside and they walked out of the hangar and through the steel corridors of the station.

 

 ‘How’s the voice at the back your head Kyle, she planning to use you in her evil master scheme?’ Alex said on the private COM, so that none of the nearby crew to hear their conversation. Kyle looked at some of the crew, they looked up in awe at the massive figures, there were gasps and cheers as they past them.

 

‘She’s fine,’ Kyle replied.

 

‘Oh, come on, she got to have an evil scheme up her sleeve. Well if she still has sleeves somewhere in your armour.’

 

‘Is she always like this?’ Mira asked quietly.

 

‘Always,’ Kyle retorted.

 

‘Hey I live for this stuff; it’s not every day your pal has a super-sophisticated intelligence at the back of his head telling him what to do,’ Alex laughed as she said this.

 

‘Enough Alex, let’s try to stay focused, we’ll meet the captain, find out what new Intel we have then head to the ship double time, are we clear?’ Caspian said.

 

They walked silently through the bowels of the station, through elevators and trams. Kyle looked through the last tram at the blue orb that was Earth. Around it were hundreds of stations, and ships moving from station to station. Unlike 16 years ago, not all these ships and stations belonged to the military. Some companies and traders had set up above the Earth, transporting goods and supplies throughout the colonies. Kyle saw a merchant ship on the edge of the system flash with light as it engaged its Shaw-Fujikawa drive.

 

The tram stopped and they walked out. The double doors opened and they strolled onto the bridge. It hadn’t changed much since the attack on Earth all those years ago; it was large with a large screen and AI terminal to the right of it. In front of this screen was Captain Harker. He was a thin man, of a reasonable height and build. His short cropped hair was a dark brown. His grey eyes looked wearily at the approaching Spartans and he brought one of his pale white hands to the stubble on his chin.

 

‘About *** time you arrived, we were going to leave without you,’ Harker said angrily.

 

‘I’m sorry Captain, but we were delayed. I’m sure Dr Singh told you why,’ Caspian calmly replied.

 

‘Yes, he just sent me an explanation, he picks his godamn moments,’ Harker was a solider at heart; he fought many battles, especially against the re-emerged URF. He was a firm believer in human soldiers. Like some other officers spread around the UNSC, he considered the Spartans unnatural and no replacement for ‘real’ humans.

 

Kyle hated this kind of officers but, he knew that as he was a superior officer, he would have to follow his orders.

 

‘Ah hell, we can’t waste time talking about the idiot scientist; I need to give you the Intel, like your little lackey.’ His southern tone was filled with annoyance. Behind him the screen changed to reveal a small blue and green planet, with a blue sun that it was spinning in the centre as the planet went around it.

 

‘Frontier as you probably know is the furthest colony from Earth, at the edge of UNSC space, hence the name,’ He paused then continued.

 

‘Before we lost contact we received reports of usual energy readings emanating from the planet,’ Harker said.

 

‘What about Team Sigma? Ay more information on what happened to them?’ Caspian asked moving closer to Harker.

 

Harker’s features were full of disgust at the move, but he continued. ‘It’s very sketchy, we know they made into the city with no-hostile contact, after that the Shadow stopped transmitting, we assumed she was lost. As for your Spartans, they’re presumed KIA.’ He also smiled when he said this.

 

‘Any other questions?’ He asked staring at each one of them.

 

‘No sir,’ Caspian said.

 

‘Good, head to the Memphis, I’ll meet you there.’ Harker moved from the screen and walked out of the bridge without a second glance.

 

‘Well he was cheery, this is going to be a fun trip, I can tell,’ Alex said on the private COM.

 

‘I don’t like this, strange energy readings, a deserted colony and a ship and Spartan squad missing. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me,’ Peter said.

 

‘You forgot to add cinnamon; you can’t have a recipe for disaster without a pinch of cinnamon,’ Alex replied 

 

‘Hmmmm….sounds tasty to me,’ Shen said.

 

‘You would say that, you’re so bloodthirsty sometimes,’ Peter retorted.

‘Hey a guy needs to drink,’ Shen replied.

 

‘Ok, enough cooking for today, let’s get on the Memphis,’ Caspian mediated

 

‘Fine, Casp, I’ll try my recipe later.’ Alex made the Spartan simile gesture; a quick swipe of a smile across her faceplate with one of her gloved fingers.

 

They walked off the bridge and moved at a steady pace over to the ship. After another stroll through the innards of the station, they reached the ship, another ONI prowler-class ship. Though the ship wasn’t built for combat it was quick and quiet, with Stealth Ablative coating, which made the ship invisible to Covenant and UNSC radars, which was better suited to this mission as it was a quick and quiet job. Some of the colonies would get worried if they heard that a fleet were mobilising.

 

They walked onboard the vessel, where the crew, all employed by ONI, respectfully moved out of the way of the armoured figures.

 

A naval officer walked up to them and said, ‘Ah, this way, the captain told me to take you to the bridge, we’ll be departing shortly.’

 

They followed the officer through a few steel corridors and into an elevator that took them to the bridge. The officer keyed a code onto a small keypad next to the door of the bridge and it slid open and they walked in.

 

Harker was there, looking as angry as he did the last time they saw him.

 

‘Right, now that you’ve shown up, I think it’s time we got going, don’t you. Disengage the clamps; and prepare to activate the Shaw-Fujikawa drive.’ The ship hummed with power as it slowly moved away from the station and came about and veered towards space.

 

‘Drive charged, and no other ships in the area; we are ready to jump sir,’ The navigational officer said.

 

‘Good, let’s get this show on the road,’ Harker said.

 

The ship sparked with energy as opened a hole into slipspace.  It thrummed with power and charged right threw. Even though recent improvements to the Shaw-Fujikawa drive, from reverse engineering from Covenant designs had lowered the journey time, it would still take a few days to reach Frontier.

 

 Kyle stared out at the dazzling light of the slipstream and wondered, if they would reach the planet in time.

 

End of Chapter 5

 

---

Vigil is watching you

Halo: The Unlatched Casket- The horror is released........

Chapter 6

 

UNSC world Frontier- Hades Gamma cluster

25^th August 2568 Military calendar 17.00

 

Andrew Novo covered his head as another explosion rang above him and he wondered how he had entered this hellhole.

 

Three weeks ago, things had been simple. They had made sense to him. Now it was just a frantic fight to survive.

 

He hid in his foxhole with what was left of his platoon; Harry Tyson and David Hoke were still with him. Harry had been patched up as best they could, but he still wasn’t fighting at 100%. None of them were. Andrew went back and thought about that day, just a few weeks ago. The screams of Harry as they desperately ran for the gates of Alton as a battalion of Brutes had pursued. They only just made it as a low level shortsword bombing run took care of them.

 

Not long after that the invasion began. The skies filled with Covenant ships, pouring phantoms and troops to the ground quickly. Pin-point plasma bombardment had destroyed all orbital defences and communications. They also hit all of the UNSC command centres. Over the last few weeks, what was left of the command staff had gone into an underground bunker beneath the city, and were relaying orders from there. Their goal was simple: hold the line. Alton was the last majorly populated city, tens of thousands of civilians were here, and having fled from their homes as the Covenant took the planet piece by piece. It was widely seen by the remaining marines that this was their final stand. They had held them to a standstill for nearly a week now. But the enemy numbers seemed limitless, while they were running short of men.

 

Another explosion rocked above them as a plasma mortar hit behind their foxhole. It was basically a crater, which they had put some cover around; a steel roof and a couple of sandbags were all that protected them from the onslaught.

 

Sergeant Major Arnold Peterson was in command, the highest ranked surviving solider in their platoon. His stern face and steely features looked out at the burnt earth around them. He squatted back down and said in his southern accent.

 

‘It doesn’t look to cosy out there boys; I see a column of shadows head this way, with some chopper escorts. Time to do what were paid for. Mitchell you got any more rockets?’

 

Corporal Mitchell got up. He was a typical farm boy, big, muscular and dark hair. ‘Running pretty low sarge, got two reloads left.’

 

‘Then make them count Corporal. Novo, Hoke, cover his ass. The rest of you.’ He turned to face all of them. ‘If you see anything out there while are boys are up top, make sure to drop it. Let’s get to it marines!’

 

They rushed to the open holes of the foxhole, finding good cover and firing positions and raised their weapons.

Andrew climbed up the hastily put up ladder and climbed out of the hole, with David and Mitchell right behind him. Andrew looked up. The sky was blackened by smoke and dust, but you could still see the sinister slivery hulks of the Covenant fleet. Banshees flew overhead and arced around, searching for prey. Hopefully they would ignore the three small figures and continue their search elsewhere. They disappeared into the smog. Andrew then moved down the blackened earth around them and moved forward, raising his MA5C. The other two were right behind him.

 

He hated coming up and seeing what had happened to this once beautiful planet. All the earth around the city had been burned to nothing under the heavy bombardment from space and from the ground forces. For some reason, they had been careful not to hit the city. Andrew found this odd. He thought that normally when the Covenant had destroyed all the orbital defences; they just glassed the planet, not engage in a costly ground campaign. The brass believed there was something in the city they wanted. Andrew believed this, but he got the feeling he wasn’t being told the whole story.

 

Andrew leaped into a large crater and crawled so he could see the road ahead. This was the central road into Alton and the Covenant had used it in most of their ground offenses. Today was no different. Ahead of them were ten shadows. Their purple armour glistening in the weak evening light. These troop transports were in a straight line with fifteen Ghosts and ten Choppers escorting them. Andrew knew they didn’t have enough firepower to take them out. He grabbed his radio and whispered.

 

‘This is Charlie platoon B-2 we have Covenant vehicle column here, need an airstrike over.’ The radio crackled for a second then it replied. ‘Understood Charlie, Airstrike on the way, ETA 3 minutes, you’ll need to keep them there over.’

 

‘Rodger. Over and out.’  He put his radio back to his belt and peered at the column. It was slowly advancing towards the city. He knew they would be long gone before the airstrike hit. They needed a distraction.

 

He turned to Mitchell and said. ‘Do you have a shot?’

‘Yes.’ He pointed to the Shadow at the front of the column; it was only 30 meters away from them.

 

‘Take it,’ Andrew said. Mitchell nodded once and fired. The twin rockets roared forward and hammered right into the left side of the Shadow. The explosions killed the crew in seconds and the Ghost it was carrying also detonated causing more explosions. The entire column veered to a halt and the escorts turned looking for their attackers.

 

Andrew kept his head down, hoping they didn’t see them. Two Ghosts and a Chopper drew closer to their hiding place. They got so close he could hear the breathing of the Brute drivers, over the noise of their engines. He stayed motionless, not moving, barely even breathing, as did the other two.

 

Luckily, the Brutes, satisfied they weren’t there, drove off to the column. Taking a sigh of relief he took a peak at the Covenant forces. Brutes had got out of the Shadows and were grunting and roaring in displeasure as they moved the burning hulk of the Shadow of the road, as well as the remains of the Ghosts. Choppers and Ghosts were set up in a ring around them, looking for more attacks. Andrew noticed, they were pretty close together, with only a few inches between each vehicle. He pointed this out to Mitchell and he let out an evil grin. He reloaded his rocket launcher and peered through its scope. David crawled up to them and looked though his BR scope.

 

‘Nice.’ He whispered looking at the packed formation of vehicles.

 

‘You ready Mitchell?’ Andrew asked.

 

‘Yep, got a shot.’

 

‘Take it.’

 

Again two rockets soared in the air, but this time there was a shorter flight path. The first rocket hit a nearby Chopper, destroying it instantly causing the nearby Ghosts to smash into each other. The second hit them dead centre taking out four Ghosts and another Chopper. Brutes dove for cover and a few were caught in the blast. Their lines were in chaos.

 

Andrew checked his watch. The airstrike was going to hit in 30 seconds. Time to move.

 

‘Time to go.’

 

They ran, heading back to their foxhole as fast as they could, checking over their shoulders for any pursuit. Behind them, a Ghost and a pack of Brutes, lead by a chieftain with a hammer, ran after them. Mitchell reloaded and fired, hitting the Ghost dead centre. He fired at the pack, killing two of the Brutes and injuring a third.

 

‘I’m out,’ Mitchell said as he shouldered the rocket launcher and drew his pistol. They ran blindly firing behind them, trying to keep them suppressed. Overhead five shortswords flew overhead and dropped their payload. A large explosion could be seen rising above the crater as the column was destroyed.

 

Andrew felt a feeling of pride as they explosion faded. This was quickly replaced with fear after his radio suddenly crackled to life and Peterson’s voice could be heard.

 

‘Ambush, Brutes everywhere. Hold the line, Hold the lin-.’ The radio went dead.

 

Their foxhole was compromised; they had to retreat into the city. Andrew ran, and didn’t look back.

 

End of Chapter 6

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

UNSC Prowler Memphis- Currently in Slipspace

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 09.00

 

 

Kyle sat uncomfortably in the chair in the Spartan’s private quarters. It had obviously been a room for VIP’s or senior staff as it was very large and had a large drinks cabinet to the far corner of the room and a bar. It had been hastily filled with beds and chairs by the crew before they arrived. Unfortunately, the chairs weren’t the roomiest in their MJONLIR armour.

 

Kyle looked out the bluish glow of slipspace. He was always fascinated by it. The fact they had to tear into another dimension, and then reappear somewhere else was amazing, even if he had been on ships for most of his life, it still impressed him.

 

They had been travelling for two days to Frontier. Kyle had been very restless those few days, as he was constantly thinking about the mission. Part of him agreed with Peter, this felt like a rather bad situation. He was also concerned with Team Sigma, the group of Spartans that were missing. Even though they were usually out on mission and they were second generation Spartan IV’s, they did know each other. The Spartans were like a family and they knew their own well. Kyle had been impressed with what he had seen of them, and they looked like a very promising team. Some even said they were ‘the next Blue team’. Though he and the rest of the team played down their abilities as they believed they were just doing their job, their record couldn’t be denied. They were the most successful Spartan IV team. Kyle found it rather unnerving that all these young Spartans looked up to him and his team mates, that they were the example, which they were to follow.

 

 

  ‘You alright Kyle, you seem a little tense,’ Mira said.

 

He was getting used to her in his armour, she had been helpful over the last few days, when they were preparing their gear and looking at the Intel for the tenth time. She also had helped the ship’s AI, an older ‘dumb AI’ called Forgotten Sun. She had found away to improve the slipspace drive efficiency by 10%, by routing some power that was being used to keep some of the weapon systems primed. Captain Harker had been against this but she argued that even if they were fully functional, if there was a large enemy force waiting for them, it would really matter as the Memphis wasn’t a warship. He had buckled eventually and now they were nearly at their destination. Kyle believed she would have been helpful, but he hadn’t realised the scale of her abilities, Dr Singh was wise to give her to them. He was looking forward to see what she could do in a combat situation.

 

‘I’m fine, just thinking about the mission again,’ Kyle replied after a long silence.

 

‘Okay, well the captain wants to see you.’

 

‘How do you know that? I haven’t heard anything.’

 

‘Cameras on the bridge with full audio, he just said he wanted all the Spartans up here.’

 

Sure enough an announcement came over the intercom.

 

‘Blue team to the bridge, repeat blue team to the bridge,’ said the announcer.

 

‘***, you’re good. Where are the others?’ Kyle asked, as he was in their quarters alone.’

 

‘I try,’ she said sounding a little flattered. ‘Right they’re on their way, we’d better get moving.

 

Kyle took on last look at the slipstream and walked out the door. The ship was rather small so it didn’t take him long to reach the bridge. Caspian, Shen and Peter were already there. Captain Harker glared angrily at them. Kyle was getting a little sick of his hostility to them, but hopefully he’d be on ground soon and he could focus solely on the mission.

 

‘Where the Sam hill is the other Spartan?’ He said looking at Caspian.

 

‘She’s coming, be patient Sir,’ Caspian replied in a clam voice.

 

‘Patient? I’m the captain on this ship. I’m the senior officer, when I order you up to the bridge I *** well expect you to come here double time.’

 

‘With all due respect sir she was on the other side of the ship, in some training exercises, give a minute,’ Caspian replied.

 

The door slid open and Alex strode in and took up a position to the right of Kyle.

 

‘Sorry about the delay, I broke a nail on the way here,’ she said on the private intercom.

 

‘Very funny, the captain fuming about you being late,’ Caspian replied.

 

‘Ahhh this guy’s really temperamental, the guy needs to chill out, be Zen and calm.’

 

‘Well he is the commanding officer, and I doubt he has time for yoga,’ Shen said.

‘Great now I’m thinking of him doing yoga. Not a pretty sight,’ Alex said.

 

The captain then abruptly said sarcastically,

‘Well can I start, or should I wait for you to finish talking?’

 

Caspian gave a slight nod, and they flipped their COM back to open.

 

‘My apologises sir, please begin.’

 

‘Right now as you know we are nearly at Frontier. When we arrive, we will activate our camouflage and go into low orbit. From there, you can take the ODST drop pods down to the planet. Any questions?’

 

‘Just one sir,’ Shen said ‘Will we be getting any support once were ground side?’

 

‘Negative, I only have a handful of men on this ship and I need them at their stations. You’ll be on your own,’ Harker said.

 

‘Understood,’ Caspian said.

 

‘Good, now we should just be about to leave slipspace.’

 

The blue light of slipspace vaporised and reformed into the black of normal space. In front of them was Frontier.

 

‘My god what happened here?’ Said on of the crewman at navigation. Kyle couldn’t blame him.

 

Frontier was burning, the once green and blue planet was now brown and red as fires burned on its surface. The blue seas were now dried up. The planet looked like it was dying. Kyle took a deep breath.

 

End of Chapter 7

 

 

Chapter 8

 

UNSC Prowler Memphis-In orbit above Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 13.00

 

Kyle stood uncomfortably in the HEV or Human entry vehicle. Like the other Spartans he was waiting for the Memphis to be overhead the capital of the planet, a place called Alton.

 

‘Over the target in five, you’d better get ready,’ said an officer over the intercom.

 

‘We’re ready,’ Caspian said calmly.

 

‘All right hang on to your helmets guys; this is going to be a bumpy ride,’ Alex said.

 

The pistons above Kyle’s HEV popped as they released. Kyle felt his stomach rise to his chest as he plummeted to the planet below. On the small monitor in front of him he saw four other HEV’s right behind him. They hit the atmosphere and even in his suit, which regulated temperature; he started to feel the heat. The HEV bounced and jarred in the intense heat, then it subsided as they entered the lower atmosphere.

 

‘How’s every body doing?’ Caspian asked, he voice almost drowned out by the noise of the Vehicle.

 

‘Mmmmmmmmm…..Toasty,’ Alex said.

 

‘Deploying the drag chutes,’ Mira said.

 

There was a thud above them as the chutes deployed; the thick metal brought the HEV to a more steady descent. There was a snap as they broke. The ground grew larger on Kyle’s monitor; the blackened Earth was so close now he could almost touch it.

 

‘Retro rockets firing,’ Mira yelled.

 

There was a violent vibration underneath his feet as the rockets slowed their descent. With an almighty thump, the pod hit the ground. Kyle grabbed his weapons, the standard MA5C and Battle Rifle and kicked the door open.

 

The scanned the area around him was four other pods, and simultaneously the fronts were knocked down and Blue team walked out. Caspian moved closer to Kyle as Shen and Peter took defensive positions.

 

‘Is Mira ready, does she have the co-ordinates to Alton?’ He asked.

 

‘Got them right here, I’m putting a NAV beacon just about…now.’

 

A blue arrow pointed on Kyle’s HUD to the south-west.

 

‘Okay got it. Let’s move Spartans.’

 

The moved silently and quickly at a steady pace towards the city. Around them the soil was burnt and the sky above them was a dull grey. Tree stumps and charred vehicles littered the field.

 

Why hadn’t the entire planet been glassed? Kyle thought to himself.

 

They had been jogging for nearly an hour when the city came into view. Unlike the earth all around it, the city seemed to be intact. Kyle wasn’t about to lower his guard though. He kept one eye on his motion sensor and another straight ahead, scanning for possible hostiles.

 

As they got closer, they saw ruined bunkers, the metal and sandbags crushed or blacked by plasma.

 

‘Looks like they tried to make their stand here, we’d better get moving,’ Caspian said surveying the surroundings.

 

The quickly made there way to the city gates. They were plasma burns on the huge steel doors. Shen went for his belt to get his customised code breaker then stopped. 

 

‘Sorry Mira, old habits, if you don’t mind?’

 

‘Not a problem. Kyle get me closer to the door.’

 

Kyle moved towards the door and saw a small keypad to the right of the gates. He placed his hand over it. The feeling of Mira’s presence left his mind for an instant as she interfaced with the city’s mainframe. The feeling quickly returned.

 

‘Did you miss me?’ She asked over the private COM.

 

‘You get those doors open?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘Yeah, just give it a second.’

 

The mighty doors groaned open.

 

‘Nice work Mira,’ Kyle said impressed.

 

‘I have my moments,’ she replied.

 

‘All right people, let’s keep together and watch each others backs. Move out, nice and quiet,’ Caspian whispered as they moved into the city.

 

Kyle looked around. It was like most human settlements, grand and beautiful, but it had an air of disease and suffering. It was completely deserted. No bodies, no signs of life. It reminded him of Hydra Gamma II, their first real mission, that place had been abandoned, and then Brutes had appeared. He wasn’t going to be caught of guard this time.

He moved slowly and carefully checking his motion sensor making sure it wasn’t picking up any targets. He kept low and stayed in the shadows. The rest of blue team did the same.

 

‘You picking up any life signs? Human or Covenant?’ Kyle asked as he creped though the city.

 

‘Nothing, it’s a ghost town… Wait, I got something.’ She hesitated for a second; Kyle stopped and levelled his weapon scanning for hostiles. ‘I’ve got a very faint signal coming from the UNSC barracks...there.’  She marked the area with a NAV point.

 

‘Let’s check it out, Peter, Shen Cover our backs, Alex you’re with me,’ Caspian said.

 

They moved to their positions and moved forward covering each other as they moved.  Kyle took point and signalled them to follow him. This place unnerved him slightly, a Spartan team had been taken by surprise here, and they had to make sure the same didn’t happen to them. But things were quiet, nothing moved. The only noise was the slight shuffle of their boots on the pavement.  Were the hell were these mysterious attackers and where had they gone? These questions dwelled on his mind.

 

They eventually reached the barracks, without any contacts. They slowly walked into the entrance and headed in. It was a mess. They were weapons strewn about everywhere, spent casings, burns on the wall and the single remaining light was flickering. They activated their helmet’s flashlights and moved deeper in.

 

‘Where are they Mira?’ Kyle asked under his breath.

 

‘Third floor, second room on the right. Looks like they are stationary for the moment.’

 

‘Good, let’s catch them by surprise,’ Caspian said, he said signalling them to move up the stairs.

When they reached the third floor, they moved to the second door on the right. Shen moved to one side of it, Kyle on the other. It had been reinforced with some lockers and anything else that could have been used to barricade the door.

 

‘Peter get it open. As soon as it is, Kyle and Shen clear it out,’ Caspian said.

 

Peter moved forward and placed a small charge on the door.

 

‘Fire in the hole,’ Peter calmly said as he pressed the detonator. There was a large flash and the twisted remains of the locker could easily be seen through the billowing smoke. Kyle moved in, knocking the debris aside.

 

He was suddenly hit with a barrage of gunfire, he instantly dived for cover the other side of the door. It was then he realised it was a UNSC MA5C that had hit him.

 

‘Cease Fire!’ Kyle yelled into the room.

 

The room went silent.

 

‘Come out, we’re here to help you,’ Kyle said.

 

Three figures came out of the room their uniforms were covered in dirt and their faces were bloody and bruised. The nearest solider said, ‘Who the hell are you?’

 

‘Were Blue team, were going to get you out of here. And you are?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘Novo Corporal Andrew Novo sir.’

 

End of Chapter 8

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

UNSC barracks C2-H1 Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 16.00

 

Andrew Novo looked up at the armoured giant in front of him. For the last few weeks he had nearly given up hope of rescue.

 

Since the foxhole was comprised and they made a mad dash to the city, things had been going from bad to worse. The survivors from his squad; him, Mitchell and Hoke, had joined up with the squads that were defending the city gate.

 

Not long after the last foxhole fell, the Covenant assault began. Banshees and Seraphs had filled the sky, covering an armada of Phantoms. Shadows had slammed the gates open, and their forces had poured throughout the city. Though they had held the line as long as they possibly could, they were forced to pull back after suffering heavy casualties. Many more were cut down in the retreat.

 

They had made a last stand in the barracks. The command staff in the tunnels had wished them luck as they detonated the entrance to the catacombs. They had sealed themselves off, to protect the surviving colonists. They were alone.

 

They held them back for six days. Six days with little ammo and supplies. Then the lines broke, and there was nothing. Nothing to hold them back. Andrew had hidden in this room. He was determined to make his personal stand here.  David and Mitchell had joined him. He waited for them to discover their hiding place but nothing happened. Weeks passed and still nothing.

 

He had wondered if they had left, or if they were glassing the planet. He expected to die at any moment, that the barracks would be levelled by plasma. But nothing happened. Nothing on the radio, no sounds outside in the deserted city.

 

He thought they were going to starve to death as their supplies were gone; he hadn’t eaten anything for three days. Then finally the door had been detonated. He thought they had finally come to finish them off, but no. Salvation had come in the form of the seven foot tall armoured figure in the doorway.

 

He knew about the Spartan IV’s, some of he vids back home spoke of their brave and amazing feats against overwhelming odds. And of course every human survivor of the war spoke of John-117, the Master Chief and how he saved us. How he had single handily changed the course of the war. Andrew was in awe at the Spartan in front of him. If he could have chosen a rescue party, he would have chosen a Spartan team. It seemed his wish had come true.

 

He held out a gauntleted hand and Andrew grasped it, as he took his first step outside the room for the first time in weeks.

 

In the corridor were more green armoured Spartans standing around weapons ready. David and Mitchell looked around and looked impressed. The Spartan behind them looked at Andrew and said,

‘Corporal, are you and your friends alright, can you fight?’

 

‘Yeah, we still got some fight left in us,’ He said, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his chest.

 

Another Spartan moved closer and said in a calm voice, ‘I’m senior petty officer Caspian-142, and I’m in command here. Can you tell us what happened here?’

 

‘Yes sir,’ Andrew said wearily. And so he told them, how the Brutes had appeared, how they had fought down to the last man, and how long they been hiding in that room. The Spartan called Caspian seemed to take this in, not interrupting just quietly listening and nodding to himself. When Andrew finished, Caspian took a breath and said,

 

‘Did you hear anything about another Spartan team? Anything at all on the radio?’

 

Andrew was confused about this question, as he thought this was only one team.

 

‘We heard a garbled message a few days ago, and then it went silent. What do you mean another Spartan team?’

 

‘Another Spartan was sent to investigate, they disappeared, we here to find out why. Did you mark the location of the broadcast?’ He calmly said.

 

This worried Andrew. Another team missing. He thought they were the best of the best. If they went missing they were certainly in trouble. He fumbled through his pockets and brought out crumpled piece of paper with the location marked on it.  He gave it to Caspian. He took it and made a note of it.

 

‘Thank you corporal, we’ll radio for evac, we’ll take it from here.’

 

He felt relieved that this ordeal would be over, but then he thought about the amount of friends he’d lost, the devastation the Covenant had done to this once beautiful world. They may still be Covenant in the city, and the Spartans would need all the help they could get.

 

He turned to Mitchell and Hoke and spoke to them.

 

‘Do you think we should leave?’ He whispered to them. Caspian had turned his back to them and was talking to the other Spartans on their private COM.

 

‘No. We’ve lost too much to let the Covenant get away with this, and these Spartans need someone to guide them,’ Hoke said, determination in his gaunt eyes.

 

‘Are you crazy? They have maps of the city, they don’t need us,’ Mitchell said.

 

‘They may have maps, but they don’t know about the shortcuts, the back alleys, the little routes in the city. We do, and besides, we been in that room for weeks, it’s about time we make the Covenant pay for this,’ Hoke said clenching his fists.

 

‘I agree David, we can’t just turn our back on what’s happened here, and we need to settle the score.’

 

‘Amen to that,’ Hoke smiled.

 

‘Fine we’ll stay, as somebody’s going to have to cover your backs, as I doubt those Spartans we’ll be there all the time. I’m in,’ Mitchell said shaking his head.

 

‘Err sir, cancel that evac order, we’re staying put, we want to help you. And take the fight back to those Covenant bastards.’

 

Caspian seemed a little surprised then said. ‘All right then, if you’re sure. We’ll have ten minutes rest, so you can have some food and water and then we’ll head out.’

 

‘Thank you sir,’ Andrew moved back to them as they settled down to eat there first meal in days. The stale food rations tasted like the sweetest food Andrew had ever eaten.

 

As he sat eating he looked over at the Spartans, Still standing talking to one another. He then wondered what he had got himself into.

 

End of Chapter 9

 

 

Chapter 10

 

UNSC barracks C2-H1 Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 16.30

 

Kyle looked down at the three marines on the cold marble floor eating and he couldn’t help but to feel a little sorry from them.

 

He had stood listening to the Corporal’s account of how the planet fell,  how the marines on this planet had fought desperately against overwhelming odds and had held them back for a time, until the were eventually defeated. Kyle thought every solider who had died was truly like a Spartan, and he would have been honoured to fight with them.

 

But still there were these three survivors, who had been through hell and back, and had volunteered to go back to hell. He couldn’t deny their tenacity.

 

Shen came up and broke him from his thoughts ‘Hey man, you there? You seemed a little zoned out there.’

 

‘Yeah, sorry I was thinking about our new friends.’ Looking in the direction of the marines.

 

‘Yeah, you got to admit, that must have been one hell of a fight they were in,’ Shen said.

 

‘Hmm…I bet were in for a similar fight,’ Kyle replied.

 

After it had been confirmed that it was the Covenant that had done this. Kyle was sure they would be back. For some reason, they had spared this city. They must have done it for a reason, and he was sure they hadn’t forgotten it.

 

‘I still want to know what happened to Sigma. I knew their squad leader, Mark-184.’

 

‘Oh really?’ Kyle said interested ‘What was he like?’

 

‘He’s a good solider and a very competent leader, he’s still a little headstrong, but he still young so I expect it a little. We were once.’

 

‘Not me, I’ve never been headstrong. My strength is in my obvious charms,’ Alex said.

 

‘You wish Alex. I’m sure you use your charm against the Covenant, they really seem to love you.’ Shen said.

 

‘What can I say? I’m a popular gal.’

 

‘Yeah they really do like you, the way they try to kill you every time they see you.’ Peter chimed in.

 

‘Ahhh….look who doubts my abilities as usual. Don’t you ever get sick of being such a manic depressive?’ Alex retorted.

 

‘Just because I’m not has deliriously happy as you, doesn’t mean I’m a manic depressive. I can have a laugh as well you know,’ Peter said crossing his arms.

 

‘Really? Name me one thing you’ve found funny in the last three weeks,’ Alex said.

 

Peter remained silent.

 

‘You see, you can’t think of anything, your always too miserable to have a laugh,’ Alex retorted.

 

‘Well I’ve sent a transmission to the Memphis they know the situation and will help us anyway they can. In the mean time, we’re going to check out where that transmission was. See if we can pick up any leads on what happened to Sigma. Peter can look around and check the area for tracks.’

 

‘Yeah Pete’s such a good little bloodhound.’ Alex butted in.

 

‘As I was saying, he can check the area and we can try to piece together what happened to them.’

 

‘What about the marines?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘They’ll tag along; they’ll form our rear guard. Shen and Kyle you’ll cover them. Mira, once were on site do you think you can trace the signal back to their suits transmitters, see if we can find them.’

 

‘I can try. It’s worth a shot.’

 

‘The lets make it happen. Move out.’ Caspian motioned to the marines and they rose to their feet.

 

‘Hmmmm…….Alex seems to like to joke a lot doesn’t she?’ Mira said on the private COM

 

‘That would be an understatement. She does it for good reasons,’ Kyle replied.

 

‘Somehow I seriously doubt that,’ Mira said.

 

‘Then you don’t know her, she does it when she’s concerned or lift the mood. It’s a welcome reprieve.’

 

‘I see. Well I shouldn’t be so quick to judge, I know I’m not the best are reading human emotions,’ Mira conceded.

 

‘You’ll learn especially if you’re around Alex for long enough. Shall we?’ Kyle asked heading for the front of the barracks.

 

‘I thought you’d never ask. Let’s go.’

 

 

The five Spartans and three marines headed out into the evening light.

 

 

End of Chapter 10

 

---

Vigil is watching you

Halo: The Unlatched Casket- The horror is released........

 

Chapter 11

 

In the city of Alton Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 17.00

 

Kyle looked around as he moved at a steady pace through the city. He and Shen were at the back of the group, with the three marines they had rescued from the barracks.  They had struggled to keep up with them; so many weeks of solitude in a very small room had deadened their legs. After ten minutes they had started to pick up the pace and were more or less running normally.

 

Kyle checked his HUD. Mira had left a NAV point to indicate were the signal was; about 400 meters dead ahead. They moved through the deserted city, through back alleys, stained with grime and dirt, through wide long streets, which had cars parked by the pavement and the traffic lights still working normally, like nothing had ever happened. If it hadn’t been for his training, he would have been a little unnerved, he also had seen this before so he was more used to it. He could imagine what the marines were feeling though.

 

They reached the area, a large cross section, where four main roads in the city met. Around them were tall office blocks and apartments. Kyle thought that the central area was rather exposed, as the central square of road was huge and had no cover, a good place for an ambush. He kept alert, looking and listening for anything that could be considered hostile. He looked at his motion sensor. Apart from the yellow friendly blips of the rest of the team and the marines there was nothing.

 

‘All right Mira we’re here, how long do you need?’ Caspian said looking around at the tall buildings that surrounded them.

 

‘All right, synchronizing my subroutines to trace the signal, it should take a few minutes, around five,’ Mira said, her voice filled with concentration.

 

‘I don’t like this Caspian; we’re too exposed out here,’ said Shen eyeing his surroundings. ‘This is a perfect ambush.’

 

‘Agreed, Shen, Peter move over into that building to the right, Kyle you take the marines up in the office block over there, get up to the third floor and cover us from above, the same goes for Shen and Peter.’ He pointed to the large block behind them. ‘Me and Alex will stay put.’ Caspian gave a slight nod, and then moved to cover by a parked car.

 

The rest of the team moved to their positions. Kyle walked into the office block, the rotating doors effortlessly span after a slight shove by Kyle. He walked into the building’s reception.

 

Unlike the barracks, things looked better here. It was bright and nothing was out of place or broken. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was a thin layer of dust covering every surface. The marines strolled up behind him.

 

‘Follow me, I’ll take point, watch your corners and stay frosty. There may be contacts in this building, so stay sharp,’ Kyle said.

 

‘My God this place is dirty; I seriously need to speak to the maid,’ Mira said at their surroundings.

 

‘It’s a good thing I’m not allergic to dust then. How are you doing?’ Kyle replied, moving up an immobile escalator at the rear of the reception. The walls were covered in elaborate paintings and pictures of men in suits shaking hands and making deals.

 

‘The encryption on the message is a little tougher than I originally thought, no problem, I’ve cracked it now, just give me a little more time to triangulate the signal.’

 

‘Got it,’ Kyle said as he effortlessly reached the top of the escalator and started up a second.

 

He moved through deserted cubicles were people once would have once sat at a computer all day. There were filling cabinets and everything was neat and tidy. The marines were right behind him as he walked to the window and looked down at the street below.

 

He dragged a few cabinets and turned them on their side for some cover and smashed the window. He motioned for the marines to move to cover behind the cabinets as he pulled out his Battle Rifle and surveyed the area through its scope.

 

‘I’m in position Caspian, I’ve got you covered,’ He said.

 

‘Good Shen and Peter are in position as well. Keep your eyes peeled,’ Caspian replied. Kyle could see him holding his weapon high and constantly checking his surroundings.

 

Kyle watched through his scope, looking for anything suspicious. Everything was quiet, nothing moved. Perhaps this place was a ghost town he briefly thought. Then they was a flash of movement, it basically looked like a shadow moved. Kyle focused on it more, but he still couldn’t see anything.

 

Not satisfied, he flipped his vision settings to infra red and looked again. The cold blue of the street went to the bright orange of Caspian and Alex. Then in the shadows was another heat signature and it. It wasn’t human. He whispered into his COM.

 

‘Brute stalkers, hiding in the alleys, taking them down.’

 

He took careful aim and fired.

 

There was an inhuman howl as they creature dropped as the bullets impacted, tearing through it’s armour and directly into it’s skull. In reply a volley of plasma rifle fire whizzed past Kyle’s head. The marines opened fire. Without infra-red vision like the Spartans had in their suits, the Marines were just guessing, firing where the shots had come from.

 

A few of the shots were lucky and hit their target, a Brute appeared where a second ago, there had just been air. The quickly focused their shots, tearing into the creature’s armour and causing to collapse in a pool of blood.

 

Kyle’s sensors were littered with heat, from grenades and gunpowder. He switched it of and primed a frag grenade and tossed it into the street. It bounced once and detonated.

 

Around it, three more Brutes appeared their arms up and shielding their faces from the explosion. They were mowed down by the combined fire of the Spartans and the marines.

 

Kyle checked his motion sensor. They were red targets behind them. He wheeled around and pulled out his assault rifle and fired a burst at the escalators. Yet more Brutes appeared, their active camouflage failing, and they roared a challenge at Kyle.

 

‘Are you done yet Mira? We can’t hold them forever,’ Kyle asked as another two Brutes fell from his MA5C.

 

‘Nearly, just give me a few seconds,’ Mira said. They was a brief pause were Kyle took a breath and reloaded.

 

Mira spoke, but with an air of panic in her voice. ‘Kyle, it’s done, but there’s something wrong, I just used your suits sensors to scan the area, to try and decipher the amount of Brutes out here.’

 

‘So what’s the problem?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘I’ve detected a bomb. It’s on the sixth floor, we need to get out of here right now, it’s primed and there’s no way we can get to it and diffuse it in time,’ Mira said.

 

‘Caspian there’s a bomb in the building, keep clear, we’re evacuating now,’ Kyle said calmly.

 

‘Understood, get out of there,’ Caspian replied.

 

Kyle motioned for the marines to follow him. He then sprinted back to the escalator, MA5C blazing as he fired a whole clip into the squad of Brutes waiting for him. Three Brutes fell, but the fourth one still stood. It let out a roar and charged at him.

 

Kyle knew he had to time this just right. Still running, he sidestepped to the right and brought his left foot out. The Brute’s legs slammed into it and it was sent hurtling across the room.

 

I landed with a thump on the floor head first. Kyle went over to its dazed form and brought the butt of his rifle into the back of the creature’s head. There was a sickening crack as the blow broke its skull.

 

Kyle then turned and started running down the escalators, firing at any Brutes that appeared. A Brute stood at the end of the elevator, weapon raised. Kyle jumped and brought his feet down on to the Brute’s exposed neck. It fell onto its knees gaping for air. Kyle brought his assault rifle up and fired a burst into its skull. It crumpled silently to the floor.

 

He checked his surroundings. It looked all clear. There wasn’t time to be cautious. Kyle ran into the reception, almost skidding on the fine dust on the floor. In the dust he could see the footprints of the Brutes he had just fought. The dusty trails came from the now broken rotating door. They had apparently ripped it apart when they entered.

 

Right behind him were the marines. Kyle checked if they were all there. There was one missing. Mitchell.

 

‘Where’s you’re friend?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘I don’t know he was right behind us,’ Novo said, looking worried.

 

‘Get out and rendezvous with Caspian, I’ll get it him,’ Kyle said, looking back at the escalators.

 

‘Yes sir,’ Novo nodded and led the other marine, Hoke out of the building.

 

Kyle ran up the escalators and past the fallen bodies of the brutes.

 

‘Have you got his IFF transponder signal Mira?’ Kyle asked.

 

IFF or Identification of Friend or Foe transponders were used by the UNSC to identify their own troops. Kyle was relying on the fact Mira could pick up its signal and mark the position on his HUD. She didn’t disappoint.

 

‘Got it,’ she said.

 

A NAV point appeared one floor above him. Mitchell hadn’t even got off the third floor. Kyle picked up the pace; he could feel the blood pumping in his ears as he reached the top.

 

He entered the area where just a few minutes ago there was a fierce battle. He dodged and weaved through the dead bodies of the Brutes and reached his target. Mitchell’s transponder.

 

He could see the crumpled body of Mitchell, his face was on the floor and he was stiff. Kyle turned him over, to check him. His face was white and cold. His hands clutching a large spike in his chest. There was blood everywhere.

 

‘It looks like the spike pierced his heart, he’s gone. I sorry Kyle, there’s nothing we can do,’ Mira said.

 

Kyle rose to his feet and turned around. He was about to start running back to the reception, when a noise stopped him. It was a dull rumble which grew louder and louder. It was then Kyle realised he had run out of time.

 

The explosion hit him square in the face. His shields flared with the heat of the blast as he was propelled three meters across the room. His back smashed into the wall and he lay crumpled by it.

 

He tried to move, tried to stand back up, but he couldn’t. The world darkened around him, he could hear the dull thump of his heart getting slower. In the background he could hear his friends shouting, but it was so distorted he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

 

He tasted the blood in his mouth and he couldn’t breathe. He tried to let out a last cry of anger, but nothing came out of his mouth.

 

The darkness consumed him and everything went black.

 

 

Caspian looked at what had once been a respectful office block. The bomb had changed that though. Though it had not as been as powerful as the ones that had been encountered before, it still had left serious damage. The sixth floor was on fire, and the flames were slowly rising up the building. The air was clogged with smoke. On the lower levels, however, there was less fire, but they were all severely structurally damaged. He tried the COM for the fifth time since the bomb went off.

 

‘Kyle? Can you hear me? Respond?’ worry was starting to creep into his voice. Kyle had been silent for several minutes now, things were not looking good.

 

Caspian was distracted at the sight of two figures walking towards him. He managed to make them out in the smoke. It was two of the marines, Novo and Hoke. He grabbed Novo and asked.

 

‘Where the hell is Kyle?’ Anger was starting to grow in his chest; he took a deep breath and released the corporal.

 

Novo looked surprised at his reaction and frantically said. ‘He went back for Mitchell. He didn’t make it.’

 

‘That’s not possible, Kyle’s smarter than that, and he must have survived,’ Shen said.

 

Caspian felt this as well, so he brought up the TEAM BIO. He looked at their readings, heart rates and noticed all was in order. Until he looked at Kyle’s.

 

Where the others were green and beating normally, Kyle’s was red and a straight line. His heart had stopped. Next to the name KYLE-112 was three letters. KIA.

 

For a second Caspian thought his own heart would stop, the feelings of remorse and sadness almost consumed him. He just managed to croak out.

 

‘It’s confirmed he’s KIA,’ Caspian said.

 

‘He can’t be he can’t,’ Alex said, trying to fight back the tears.

‘He’s flat lined. He’s gone,’ Caspian said, struggling to keep speaking.

 

‘No, he can’t be, he’s not dead, I can’t believe it I won’t,’ Alex said. Caspian could hear her voice breaking.

 

‘We never leave a man behind; I’m going back for him,’ Shen said starting to move.

 

‘No you’re not, that building is too unstable, I’m not losing you as well,’ Caspian said.

 

Caspian looked at his team. Alex was almost completely inconsolable, Peter was grimly silent and Shen was struggling to stay calm.

 

He knew he would have to rally them. Though the death of Kyle was regrettable, he had to get moving, there could be more Brutes coming, and his death would be in vein. He suppressed the burning grief in his heart and said,

 

‘Look I know you’re all hurting, but if we stay here, we will all die. We have to complete the mission no matter what the cost. Kyle knew the risks and he would have wanted us to continue.’ Caspian paused and continued.

 

‘Mira sent me a transmission, just before the explosion, it shows the co-ordinates of Team Sigma. We need to find them, or all of this was for nothing. Blue team move out. That’s an order.’

 

Shen looked like for a second he was going to protest, but he nodded and followed. Alex wearily got to her feet and followed. Peter turned to look at the building once, saluted and silently walked away.

 

Caspian took one last look at the building.  He felt a single tear fall down his right cheek. He took of his helmet and wiped it away.

 

He turned his back on the building and slowly walked away.

 

 

End of Chapter 11

 

 

Chapter 12

 

In the city of Alton Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 19.00

 

Caspian walked down the long straight road and tried not to look back the way he came.  Kyle’s death was still heavy on his mind, and he was certain that if he looked back for to long he would want to go back and check it out for himself.

 

But he and the team had a mission complete, it was his duty to complete it. Grief would have to wait. He reached a fork in the road. It was a ‘V’ shape. From the co-ordinates Mira had given him, either way would lead to the objective.  He was tempted to make his team split up, half on both roads, but he didn’t want to lose another solider so quickly.

 

He shook away these feelings. He shouldn’t question his judgement; Kyle’s death wasn’t his fault.  But it still felt horrible. Years ago Chief-062 had warned him, he would have to face the death of his team mates and that he would send them to their deaths.  Sure, under his command he had lead soldiers to their deaths, but he had always felt slightly detached from them. Kyle’s death had hit home, leaving a burning feeling of grief and remorse. If it was not for his orders and training, he would not still be standing.

 

He would finish this mission. For Kyle.

 

‘Shen, you and Novo are with me. We’ll take the left road. Peter, you take Hoke and Alex down the right. Keep you eyes peeled,’ Caspian said.

 

On his HUD three indicator lights winked in acknowledgement. None of them had said anything after they had left the crossroads. Caspian couldn’t blame them.

 

 Alex had calmed a little down now, but her usual cheery self had been replaced completely, she seemed to be more lethargic and tired. Peter was a little more stiff than usual, but he was the most normal, despite what had happened. Caspian could see that Shen was full of anger, as well as grief, his fists were clenched and his entire body was tense.

 

Caspian knew he had to keep an eye on him. He was sure he would do his job, but he still worried about his friend.

 

He went carefully down the left-sided road. It was much narrower than the roads they had been in earlier and this area was quite dilapidated, rusted metal and dirty buildings greeted them. Caspian kept one eye on his motion sensor as he set a steady pace, jogging down the pavement, and keeping to the shadows.

 

He didn’t think that the Brutes would have forgotten about them so easily, they were probably pursuing them, or lying in wait. He had to make sure they were ready when they attacked again.

 

An inhuman howl roared from behind them, and another from in front. A trap.

 

‘Shen, Novo. Cover the front! I’ll watch the rear,’ Caspian shouted.

 

Shen nodded once and took cover in a nearby building’s doorway on the right side, Novo to a similar building on the left. Caspian wheeled round and looked for some cover. He couldn’t see anything that would make effective cover; he’d have to make his own. He grabbed a nearby car and using all his augmented strength dragged into the centre of the road. He flipped it over and took cover behind it.

 

He could hear the Brutes approaching, their hoarse breath and heavy feet became louder and louder. Caspian tucked his MA5C closer to his chest took a deep breath then popped out from cover.

 

In front of him were ten Brutes, eight in blue armour, and two in more elaborate gold armour. They looked at the Spartan in surprise. Caspian used this to his advantage and cut three of them down with his rifle and ducked back into cover.

 

By now the element of surprise was gone. All the surviving Brutes were facing the upturned car and a second later enemy fire was flying past him. He knew he couldn’t stay behind the car. If a lucky shot burst the fuel tanks, he would be a goner. He primed a frag grenade stood back up and tossed it into the centre of their lines. It detonated. Two more Brutes were sent flying and the remaining Brutes were stunned. Caspian quickly used this to retreat, firing a few bursts to keep them suppressed.

 

He skidded as he got over to where Shen and Corporal Novo were. Shen was being incredibly aggressive, getting close to the pack of Brutes, tearing them to shreds. The last Brute fell and Shen savagely slammed the butt of his rifle into its head. Caspian called out to him

 

‘Cool it Shen, there are still a few on my trail and I could use some help.’

 

He turned around and kicked a fallen Brute and ran over to him, rifle firing at two Brutes behind Caspian.  Together they advanced, dodging enemy fire and grenades. The Brutes started to pull back. They moved faster cutting down the last few. Not satisfied they were dead, Shen fired another clip from his MA5C, firing into their dead bodies.

 

Caspian let out a short lateral cut of his right hand, ordering Shen to calm down. It was then that the Corporal came into view he looked around, impressed at the slaughter.

 

Caspian was growing more concerned about Shen. Even though Caspian was hurting inside, he knew he had a job to do, and had suppressed his feelings. Shen on the other hand was becoming more erratic. He was worried he would become a liability. Caspian flicked on the private COM.

 

‘Shen you need to calm down. I know you’re upset about what’s happened, but if you keep being this aggressive, you’re going to get yourself killed.’

 

There was a moment’s silence, and then Shen said. ‘I’m a little more than upset Caspian; I just feel so *** angry, I want them to pay for this. I’ll still do my job; I want to finish this mission as much as you do.’

 

‘But this anger is going to making you reckless, please don’t do anything stupid, the last thing we need is to lose two friends in one day,’ Caspian replied

 

‘You’re right Caspian, I’m sorry. I just feel like I should have done something. I feel like it was my fault,’ Shen said. He relaxed a little more, and unclenched his fists.

 

‘It was no one’s fault, we didn’t know about the bomb until it was too late. It was regrettable of what happened, but it’s better if we finish this mission. If we don’t his sacrifice would be in vein,’ Caspian said this with real commitment.  Convincing not only Shen, but himself that this mission was more important than personal grief.

 

‘Understood, I follow your lead Caspian,’ Shen said.

 

‘I’d better check in with the others,’ He then said ‘Peter, Alex Report.’

 

There was a tense silence. Then Peter’s voice could be heard.

 

‘We’re here Caspian. Ran into a few Brutes. Nothing too serious though, we just finished wiping up the last of them,’ Peter said calmly.

 

Caspian envied his calm, cool voice. How could he be so emotionally attached? Caspian guessed he was suppressing it, just like he was.

 

‘And Alex?’ Caspian asked. Her silence worried him.

 

‘She’s fine, still grieving but that’s understandable, we all are,’ Peter said with a heavy sigh.

 

‘Yeah, we’ll meet you at the co-ordinates,’ Caspian said.

 

He turned the Private COM off and said to both Shen and the Corporal.

 

‘Were moving out, check your corners and keep your eyes peeled.’

 

The three figures moved forward.

 

 

End of Chapter 12

 

Chapter 13

 

In the city of Alton Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 20.00

 

Caspian took cover as a spike grenade flew past his head. The sun had had set and now, they were fighting in the gloom of Alton’s streetlights.

 

For the last hour, they had had hit-and-run encounters with the Brutes, and each time they had become more frequent and there were greater numbers as they had got closer to Mira’s co-ordinates. They were obviously protecting something. Caspian guessed it was Team Sigma.

 

Caspian dove out of the way a Brute chieftain nearly took his head of with its gravity hammer. He rolled and fired a burst into its head, knocking of its elaborate headdress. The creature roared and charged at him. Caspian knew he couldn’t get out of the way in time; he was about to fire, hoping to stop the creature, when a battle rifle shot rang out and impacted the Brute’s head. It collapsed.

 

Caspian got up and nodded thanks to Shen, his BR still smoking from the shot. Shen had calmed down since they had spoken, he was much more like he normally was, but he was still a little more aggressive than normal, but it was well controlled aggression. 

 

Corporal Novo fired his MA5C behind them, cutting down a few of the Brutes that stood in their way. They instantly replied with a hail of spiker fire. He dived out of the way, while Shen and Caspian absorbed the barrage.

 

Caspian checked his shield bar. A third left. I would have to do. He grabbed a fallen spike grenade and threw it at one of the captains at the rear of the pack. It stuck perfectly on the chest plate of his armour. It frantically tried to tear the grenade of, yelling it surprise and fear. It detonated, reducing the Brute to shreds. Spikes flew outward, injuring a few more of the Brutes.

 

Caspian leapt forward, shouldering his battle rifle and pulling out his MA5C. He fired full-auto into the pack. Three more Brutes fell from the fire, blood spurting from their mouths. Shen fired a few bursts of his battle rifle, killing another few minors. But it felt like a hopeless battle. More and more Brutes were appearing in the street. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Caspian looked for a way to tip the scales in their favour.

 

He looked for inspiration then he saw it.  A civilian warthog. Though it was unarmed and only had two seats, it was practically the same as the military one. It was grey in colour and had an extra tire in the back. Caspian motioned to the vehicle and Shen and Novo followed. He jumped into the driving seat, and keyed the ignition Novo jumped into the passenger seat and Shen leaped onto the back, kicking the extra tire out. It playfully bounced down the road.

 

‘Hold on!’ Caspian said as he accelerated.

 

The tires screeched in protest for a second then the hog roared forward, directly into the advancing Brutes.  Because they were so many, and the road was very narrow, they was no way the Brutes could dodge the incoming vehicle.

 

Caspian kept his head down as the brutes desperately tried to fire at them, spikes and Brute shots whizzed past them. Then they collided. The Hog ploughed through the mob, knocking them flying in all directions. The Brutes roared in surprise and shock as they slammed into the front bonnet of the car. The Hog rose up and fell as it crushed Brutes underneath its tires. Those who were not hit by it were forced to the side of the road.

 

Shen sat in the back, picking off any Brutes that got to close.  The hog burst free of the last of the Brutes and accelerated to the objective. The surviving Brutes pursued, guns blazing. Caspian effortlessly avoided the sporadic gunfire. The road ahead was clear for the moment. He thumbed the COM and said.

 

‘Is everyone alright?’

 

‘Yes sir, that was insane!’ Novo said excitedly.

 

‘I’m fine Casp,’ Shen said.

 

‘Good, I’ll check the others.’ He once again flipped his COM to Peter and Alex’s frequency.

 

‘Peter, Alex. Respond. We’ve found transportation and on-route to the co-ordinates, what’s you status over?’

 

They was a moment’s static then Peter’s voice came over the COM.

 

‘Having difficulty. We’ve got heavy contacts. About forty Brutes. The fires too heavy, I don’t know how long we can hold them, we’re falling back, we need assistance, we need as-’ Peter’s voice was then cut abruptly.

 

‘Peter Alex, come in. Come in,’ Caspian took a deep breath.

 

‘What are you orders Caspian?’ Shen asked from the back of the car.

 

Caspian thought for a second. He could either go on without them and check out the co-ordinates and hope they’d be okay, or he could jeopardise the mission and go after them. If it had been a normal mission, he would have left them, he would have been sure they would have been okay. But this wasn’t a normal mission. Recent events had proved that. He couldn’t leave anything to chance.

 

The hog shot out of the road and behind them he could see a similar ‘V’ to the one that they had seen earlier. The road on the left would lead them back to Peter and Alex.

 

Without warning, Caspian pulled the emergency brake and span the car 180 degrees to face the junction. Shen was almost sent flying out of the Hog.

 

‘We’re going after them. There’s been enough of our brother’s blood spilt today.’

 

He put his foot down on the accelerator and the Hog roared underneath him. He had to hurry, his friends couldn’t last forever.

 

End of Chapter 13

 

 

Chapter 14

 

In the city of Alton Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 20.30

 

Peter cursed as his radio went dead. He dodged a Brute shot and led the retreat, occasionally looking over his shoulder to fire to keep them back.

 

Over the years he had seen some horrible things. As a child he had been forced to watch as his family was slaughtered right in front of his eyes. He fought on battle fields across the UNSC and had seen the dead, the sick and the dying. This had caused him to be more cynical and pessimistic about life and today had just given him another reason to be so.

 

Though he rarely said much Peter had come to respect and care for his teammates, they had become his family. Out of all of them, he had come to see Kyle as a brother, they had both experienced horror at an early age.

 

Now he was dead, trying to save others. Like most of the team, he was devastated, but he felt oddly detached, he wanted to feel upset about it, but for some reason he couldn’t. Peter was disrupted from his musings by the advancing Brutes, their animal-like cries getting louder as they got closer.

 

Peter always thought about the worse scenario, it was his way of being prepared for any situation he ran into. But it looked like for once he was in the centre of one. He checked his ammo. 12 Bullets left in his assault rifle and no extra clips, and half a clip left in his battle rifle. He fired what was left in his MA5C, ripping through the amour of a nearby Brute.

 

He brought out his combat knife and grabbed the Brute and did a quick stabbing motion upwards. The knife went through the Brute’s eye. The slivery glimmer of the knife could be seen piercing the back of its head. The knife jammed and wouldn’t come out.

 

Peter cursed under his breath and kicked the Brute’s corpse away, scooping up, its dropped spiker. He reloaded the weapon as he turned back the way he came and sprinted to catch up with Alex and Hoke. His shields flared as they took a barrage of fire. He checked the meter. Red warning lights were going off.  A few good hits and he’d be a dead man.

 

He increased his speed and tried to stay in cover as much as he could. The darkness of the street helped with this. To give himself a little help he used his newly acquired weapon and fired at the nearby lampposts. His shots hit the glass and the lights when out. The street was plunged into darkness.

 

Peter easily walked in the darkness. Long ago he had realised that when he was augmented, his eyes were much sharper, so much so they could practically see in the dark, like all the other Spartans. Unlike the others however, his was so precise it was basically like having night vision, he could easily see everything as clearly as he could in daylight.

 

The Brutes however were no where near as adept in the dark. Peter could hear them arguing with each other as they clumsily walked into walls, parked cars and each other.

 

Using this to his advantage, Peter thought this would be a great time to get a little payback. He crouched in a doorway, staying completely still and he made sure he wasn’t visible to them. He watched as they walked right by him. He could hear them saying.

 

‘Ow that was my foot you imbecile!’

‘Walk into me again and I’ll rip you eyes out.’

 

Peter waited a second for them to pass, and then silently crept up behind their rear lines. These Brutes were minors and weren’t very alert. Peter got close to one. Grabbed it and quickly twisted it head, breaking its neck. It fell silently to the floor. He quickly did the same to the rest of the rear guard. The Brutes still had no idea what was going on.

 

Unfortunately, the Brutes were nearly out of the darkness, Peter could see the light coming further down the street. He’d have to act fast. Looking for a suitable candidate, he found two Brutes very close together. With all the strength he could muster he shoved them into each other. There was a crack as their heads smashed together; they both fell to the pavement.

 

Peter was hoping their disposition to violence, especially to each other was going to help him here. The two groggily got to their feet, but a few Brutes tripped over their fallen forms and went headfirst into the ground. There were a lot of angry barks and roars at each other and they angrily got back to their feet. The two Peter had push finally got up and shouted at each other in the darkness.

 

‘You cretin, I should kill you myself,’ One of them said.

 

‘Are you blind? Are you just incompetent?’ the other replied.

 

The entire troop of Brutes stopped, and listened waiting to see what would happen.

 

‘It is you who are blind. Didn’t your clan tell you how walk?’ The first Brute said.

 

‘You the one who walked into to me and you dare accuse me of not being able to walk? I should tear you limb from limb,’ the second replied baring its teeth.

 

‘Go ahead; prove to me that you are completely useless,’ the second said crossing its arms.

 

Peter saw his chance; he aimed his spiker and fired at both the first and second Brute. As all the Brutes were facing the two who were arguing, they didn’t see where the shot’s came from, all they heard was a gun shots and the two shouting in pain.

 

‘Coward! Come my brothers kill him!’ The first brute said.

 

‘Snivelling dog! Kill him!’ the second shouted back.

 

Peter stood well back as the two Brutes muster their allies and attacked each other. The result was a frenzied battle, with neither side being able to determine friend or foe. Spiker shots flew widely around, Brute shots light up the area for a split second as they tried to find their targets.

 

Brutes fought hand to hand like animals, ripping and clawing at each other, sinking their teeth into their opponent. When it was all over there were only a few Brutes left standing.

 

Peter pulled out his Battle rifle and taking careful aim, killed the remaining Brutes one by one.

 

Satisfied they were dead; he rushed to catch up with Hoke and Alex. He soon realised they hadn’t gone too far, about two streets later he found them. At the sight of him, Alex nearly hugged him, but she restrained herself and drew a smile on her visor.

 

‘I thought we’d lost you,’ she said quietly.

 

‘Why didn’t you come after me, when you saw I wasn’t with you?’ Peter asked.

 

‘I….I was too sacred at what I would find. Are you alright?’

 

‘I’m fine, how about you two?’ Peter asked.

 

‘The marine’s fine,’ she replied.

 

‘What about you?’ Peter said back. The fact she was talking again, was good. Her silence had been worrying him.

 

‘I just can’t believe his gone. How can you be so cool about all of this?’ She asked, her voice was very quiet, basically a whisper.

 

‘Because I have no choice, we have to continue without him.’ He paused then pointed on the way he just come from. ‘I dealt with the Brutes, come on, let’s catch up with the others.’

 

They retraced their steps, walking through the corpses of the brutes. Peter and Alex activated their headlights, not for their benefit, but for Hoke.

 

As they slowly moved forward a noise could be heard it grew louder and louder, Peter and Alex raised their weapons. From around the corner a black civilian Warthog appeared, its head lights almost blinding them. It screeched to a halt in front of them.

 

The headlights dimmed and three figures moved out and over to them. Peter knew instantly that the nearest was Caspian.

 

‘You two alright, I was worried when we lost radio contact,’ Caspian said.

 

‘We’re fine, sorry about that, it must have been damaged in the fighting, not to worry I dealt with them,’ Peter replied.

 

‘Good. I’m just glad you two and our marine companion are all right. I would offer you a ride, but…’ He looked over at the Hog. ‘It’s already pretty full.’

 

‘That’s okay; I’d prefer to walk anyway,’ Peter said.

 

‘Then we’ll walk together. Blue team let’s move out,’ Caspian said.

 

They walked past the warthog and headed down the street together.

 

Peter thought to himself. Even though he had loss a good friend today, the rest of the team was still here.

 

He still had a family and he’d make sure it stayed that way.

 

End of Chapter 14

 

 

Chapter 15

 

In the city of Alton Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 21.00

 

Caspian jogged through the darkness, keeping a steady pace, with the rest of Blue team right behind him. The marines were a little behind, but they were keeping up the best they could.

 

Since they left the civilian Warthog they had been jogging. Though they had eliminated the Brutes that were attacking Peter and Alex, they had left a few in their wake as they went to rescue them. Caspian had a feeling that they hadn’t forgotten about them, and were surely lying in wait for them.

 

He checked his HUD. An arrow dead ahead of them indicated his target. Team Sigma. They were still a good 500 meters from the co-ordinates. They had to pick up the pace. The street around was silent in the yellow gloom of the street lights, occasionally divided by an area of darkness. Above them the moon was up, shining a curtain of light at them and the stars winked dimly at them.

 

He started to sprint, he muscles responded as he moved. He kept his breath steady as he ran. On the NAV point the distance slowly started falling. He could feel his heart beating, thumping in his chest as it got faster. He knew he was being careless; the enemy would have probably set a trap for them. He knew if they got there quickly they might get there first and avoid them all together.

 

It was a risk, but he knew he’d have to take it. Recent events had told him not to take things for granted. Team Sigma could be lost if he didn’t hurry.  The team instantly responded and kept up the pace.  Caspian looked back to see the marines starting to fall behind. He knew they would definitely lose them if they rushed off. He slowed down, and then stopped. He waited for them to catch up. 

 

Hoke and Novo were there after a few seconds, but to a Spartan that felt like an eternity. They panted for air and as they took large breaths. When Caspian thought they could speak again he said as calmly as he could.

 

‘We need to get to our objective as fast we can, can you run?’ Caspian asked.

 

‘Yeah, but I don’t know for how long sir,’ Novo said.

 

This presented Caspian a dilemma. Should he and the Spartans blaze ahead and get to the objective quickly, leaving the marines behind were they could easily be ambushed and killed, or go at a slower pace together, but the enemy would get there first.

 

Caspian bit his lip and thought.  His decision could mean the death of either Team Sigma or the marines. He checked the area where the co-ordinates led to. His map indicated it lead into Alton’s city hall. Judging from the building it was pretty fortifiable.

 

 He decided it would be best to stay with the marines, and worry about Team Sigma later. He had to keep the soldiers around him alive before he worried about anybody else.

 

‘All right, you set the pace, and we’ll follow,’ He said after a long pause.

 

‘Yes sir,’ Novo nodded once, and started to jog, with Hoke silently jogging behind him.

 

The rest of Blue team had been watching them and Caspian, and waited for the two Marines to pass them, then followed keeping behind them.

 

Caspian sighed and hoped he’d made the right decision. He effortlessly caught up to the rest of the Spartans and moved at a steady pace. He made sure he had an eye on his motion sensor. The darkness of the street made it an ideal spot for an ambush.  Even though the Spartans had excellent night vision, the marines weren’t so lucky.

 

Just as he was thinking this, he was blinded by a searing light; he quickly changed the polarisation of his visor to find out what it was. He noticed a circular device glowing with light. A Brute flare, and that meant, more Brutes.

 

As expected he could see them filling the street, Captains and minors. He looked at the marines. After the flare had gone up, they had retreated to cover, shielding their eyes. Good. He thought, he shouted over the approaching growls of the Brutes.

 

‘Shen go left, Alex go right. Me and Peter will take the middle. Take them out.’

 

As a single entity the four Spartans moved forward, spreading out across the road, Shen and Alex hiding in alleyways as they peppered the Brutes with bullets. A few Brutes fell, but there were still many of them left.

 

Caspian took a grenade from his belt. Last one he thought to himself. He pulled the pin and threw it into the centre of the pack. As he had hoped, it bounced upwards and detonated, erupting in an orange fireball, which consumed a few more Brutes and blinded the others in a cloud of smoke.

 

He motioned forward with his finger and they moved and advanced on the Brute lines. Caspian checked his clip of his MA5C. Half a clip left. It would have to do. They dodged and weaved through enemy fire, firing blindly through the smoke. As it started to dissipate, they were upon them, the combined fire of four Spartans forcing them back.

 

Caspian tossed his assault rifle aside as it clicked empty, and scooped up a fallen plasma rifle and a few spike grenades. With his rifle, he cut through the Brutes armour like butter, making it easier for his comrades to land the final blow. He could hear the captains roaring at the minors.

 

‘You incompetents kill them!’

 

He aimed at one of them and his armour bulked as the plasma tore right through it. Shen aimed his Battle rifle and fired a burst into the creature’s head. It let out a howl as blood trickled from its mouth as it fell.

 

Peter fired his spiker, which hurled spikes into the horde. Some pinned Brutes to the buildings and they roared in pain as they desperately tried to pull themselves lose. Others were slowed as spikes slammed into their legs and chest.

 

Alex was silent and deadly, cutting any nearby Brutes with her MA5C. She threw it at the Brutes as it ran out of ammo, and changed to her M7 caseless submachine gun. The bullets ripped through the advancing Brutes, as she fired one handed as she scrambled to pick up a fallen carbine.

 

Caspian looked as the Brutes started to fall back even further. The eventually turned and ran. Novo and Hoke had emerged from cover and cheered as they ran. Caspian was worried. The Brutes didn’t retreat. They stood and fought, right down to the last man. He looked where they were running. They were headed right to the city hall, and to Team Sigma.

 

He barked, ‘It’s not over marine, we’re going after them.’  He scooped up some more grenades and a fallen Brute shot and found a new Plasma rifle. The other Spartans similarly grabbed weapons and ammo from the fallen Brutes. Then they set off.

 

Caspian could see the Brutes in the distance jogging as they advanced on Team Sigma’s position. He checked his NAV marker. They were almost there. He hoped they got there in time.

 

The street opened up and he caught sight of the city hall. It was an old building, with thick marble columns at the front of it. There was a large flight of steps in front of large metal doors. The building was scarred by plasma burns and half the roof had collapsed. In front of the building however was a more worrying site. In front of them was a Brute convoy.  Around twenty Brutes were charging up the steps, heading straight into the building.

 

Caspian ran, covering the distance between him and the Brutes in just under a minute. He ran up the steps and up to the steel door, which was slightly ajar.  Blue team were right beside him, with the marines not to far behind. He didn’t know what was waiting for them inside the building, but they knew that they were coming, so subtly was out of the question. He kicked the door and it creaked open.

 

He went in weapon raised. He was greeted by a large hall with a tall staircase which lead up in a ‘T’ giving two ways up to the second floor. Below this staircase were two doors, which were a similar shape and design to the door he’d just kicked open, just on a smaller scale. All around the hall were doors leading to different areas. There were no brutes in sight.

 

He thought for a second and said, ‘Peter, you and the Marines stay outside and cover our rear. The rest of us are going.’ Acknowledgement lights winked on this HUD. Peter silently walked outside and took cover behind one of the marble columns. The marines followed suit.

 

Caspian checked his NAV point. It appeared to be below them. Sigma must be in the basement.  He saw the door to the right to the side of the main staircase was open. From the map of the area he was given, he assumed that was the quickest way down.

 

‘Follow me and check your corners, they might be trying to ambush again,’ Caspian said as he cautiously walked through the empty hall. He could hear his heavy boots reverberating on the marble floor. He looked around, looking at every door and the second floor. He expected that at any second one of the doors would open and Brutes would swarm out.

 

But it remained quiet. The only noise in the hall was their footsteps. They crossed the distance to the door, without anything happening. No Brutes, no ambush. Nothing. They must all be heading for Sigma. They had to hurry.

 

He opened the door and they charged down a winding staircase, made of a similar marble to the main hall. The walls were a dull grey colour. As they reached the bottom of the staircase they were greeted by the sneering faces of six Brutes.

 

A few seconds later they lay dead. The three Spartans walked over their bodies and looked at their surroundings. It appeared this room had been excavated from the sheer rock as the walls were the same dull grey stone. Around them was hastily placed military equipment. Radios and weapons were strewn all over the floor. At the far end of the room, which was almost the same size as the hall above them, was a large steel door.  In front of it were the remaining Brutes clawing and hammering on the door.

 

They hadn’t noticed the Spartans and were too pre-occupied with opening the door. Caspian crept up behind them, staying as quiet as he could. Alex and Shen right behind him. He took two spike grenades from his belt, as did Shen and Alex. He nodded and armed them and threw them into the brute pack. A second later four more flew into the Brutes.

 

All six stuck to Brutes who desperately tried to rip them off. Then they detonated sending spikes flying through the Brutes. They were torn to ribbons. Those who hadn’t died in the explosion were quickly put down by the Spartan’s fire.

 

Satisfied they were dead, Caspian checked his NAV marker. The marker was right in front of him, only a few centimetres away. There were supposed to be here.  He looked around the room again. Apart from them and the crumpled bodies of the Brutes there were no other signs of life.

 

He turned his attention to the door. It was still relatively intact, even after it had been pummelled by the Brutes. On the left side of the door there was a small computer panel and a keypad. Caspian assumed the door was encrypted.

 

Caspian turned to Shen.

 

‘Do you think you can unlock it?’

 

‘I can try,’ He replied pulling an electronic lock pick from his belt. He inserted it into the side of the panel and fiercely typed in multiple codes. Each time the panel went red and the words ‘incorrect code’ appeared on the screen. Shen cursed and smashed his fist into the door. There was a metallic clang as he hit it. A small dent appeared where he had punched it.

 

‘Goddamn it! It’s a random code generator, it changes every time I try to input a code. I don’t think I can crack it,’ Shen said.

 

Caspian calmly replied ‘Keep trying, Sigma must be behind this door.’

 

‘And what if their not? What is there’s nothing behind it and all of this was for nothing?’ Shen replied bitterly.

 

‘You know that’s not true, they have to be here, why else would Mira lead us down here?’ Caspian asked.

 

Shen got up and paced up and down. ‘She sent those co-ordinates directly before the explosion. She may have been corrupted or the info may have been damaged. She only had seconds to live.’

 

‘You know as well as I do, that’s more than enough for an AI to send that kind of information accurately,’ Caspian answered, his voice starting to gain a tone of anger.

 

‘Maybe. But I seriously doubt she was thinking clearly at the time. So all of this, Kyle’s death, this trek through enemy forces, was all for nothing,’ Shen said turning his back to Caspian.

 

Caspian was getting annoyed. The last thing he needed today was a team member refusing to follow his orders. He knew he was angry and upset. They all were, but this wouldn’t help, it would jeopardise the success of the mission. He had to take control of the situation.

 

He grabbed Shen and turned him to face him. He brought his face closer to Shen’s so their visors were almost touching. 

 

‘Look I know you’re angry, but insubordination isn’t going to help the situation. Kyle would never have wanted you to behave like this. Please for the sake of the mission and all of us, control yourself and carry out my orders. Understand?’

 

‘I…. Yes sir,’ Shen said.

 

There was a roar over the COM. Peter could be heard shouting, ‘Enemy Phantom on approach, we could use some help up here!’

 

‘I’m on my way. I’ll be there shortly,’ Caspian replied. He looked over to Shen.

 

‘Remember what I said, Get that door open.’

 

Shen nodded and went to work on the door without another word. Caspian turned around and jogged back the way he came. His feet clanged against the marble, causing his footsteps to echo around the great hall.

 

As he reached the front door that noise was quickly replaced by the whining of the nearby Phantom. He took cover by a nearby pillar as it descended.  The purple bulbous craft landed and a single figure jumped out.

 

Caspian took careful aim, waiting for the target to get closer. He then hesitated as he got a better look at it. It was covered head to toe in green armour, but some of it was dented and distorted. Other parts were blackened as if they had been burned.

 

Caspian went numb as the figure got to him, its movements so familiar to him. He managed to say.

 

‘I can’t be…….You died, my health monitor confirmed you as KIA.’

 

The figure stopped then replied. ‘I was, but you know me Caspian. It takes more than that to stop me,’ Kyle said.

 

End of Chapter 15

 

---

Vigil is watching you

Halo: The Unlatched Casket- The horror is released........

Chapter 16

 

Unknown Location

12^th November 2568 Military Calendar 19.00

 

Kyle awoke in a world of pain. His body ached and he tasted blood on his lips. He tried to get up, but his body was unresponsive and he remained motionless.

 

‘Ah, finally you’re awake,’ Mira said in the back of his head. She sounded relieved.

 

He coughed and it feel like it tore though his lungs. He managed to croak out ‘What happened? The last thing I remember was the bomb and then being hit by the explosion.’

 

‘Well, after the bomb detonated, it sent you across the room we were in, severely injuring you. You had several lacerations, a dislocated right shoulder and several other minor wounds.’ She paused then continued. ‘You also suffered a cardiac arrest, due to the extreme strain on your heart at the moment of the blast,’ Mira stopped for a second.

 

Kyle replied, ‘Well how am I still here?’

 

‘Well after I discovered this, I deactivated the safeties on your suit’s internal power supply. I sent a feedback loop through your shields to send an electrical charge through your body.’

 

‘So you built a rudimentary defibrillator. Very clever, I guess I owe you my life. Thank you,’ Kyle said.

 

‘No problem. I’m here to help. And besides, being trapped in a dead man’s armour for all eternity wasn’t very appealing,’ Mira said sheepishly.

 

‘So why didn’t you call my team mates?’ Kyle asked. Their absence worried him.

 

‘Your radio transmitter is damaged, as well as your team vital display. It’s still on the last recording where you were KIA. Your friends think you are dead,’ Mira answered.

 

Kyle took a moment to take that piece of information in. He couldn’t even imagine how the rest of Blue team must be feeling.

 

‘Where are we?’ Kyle asked after a moments pause.

 

He looked around. All around him were purple bulkheads. The room was rather small and the walls seemed to close enough to touch. The floor was made of dull grey metal. Above him were an intricate amount of cables and wires, shining as power flowed through them. Dead in front of him was a shimmering blue shield. He instantly knew where he was. A Covenant prison cell.

 

‘I believe we are on a Covenant stealth ship called Whispered Judgement. She is currently in orbit above the North Pole of Frontier,’ Mira explained.

 

‘So it would be impossible to see from the Memphis’ sensors. So how did we get here?’ Kyle asked. His mind was rampant with questions; he needed to know what had happened. Luckily Mira didn’t seem to have a problem with this as she calmly replied,

 

‘Well after the explosion I put your armour in lock down while I worked on keeping you alive, it’s still on at this moment, that’s why you can’t move.  During this time a Brute pack arrived at the blast site and discovered us. I thought they were going to kill you, but for some reason, they decided to take you to their ship as some sort of trophy.’

 

‘Lucky me,’ Kyle said. ‘So how long was I out?’

 

‘Around two hours. I put bio foam in your lacerations and your heart’s fine. The rest of your wounds are healing pretty well, you’re just going to have to relocate your shoulder,’ she stopped then said. ‘Stand by I’m going to offline the inhibiters, take it easy, your still not in top shape, take it slowly, then we’ll figure out a way out of here.’

 

There was a small electronic beep and Kyle could move again. Slowly and carefully he got to his feet. His body still ached, but it was less so now. Now to sort out this shoulder he thought to himself. He crouched down and in one quick motion clicked the bone back into its proper place. The pain was intense but he had been trained extensively to endure it. He dropped to he knees. He didn’t even make a sound, as he slowly got back to his feet.

 

‘So how are we going to get out of here?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘Already working on it. I hacked into their systems when we arrived. I think I can overload the shields for a couple of seconds, but you need to be ready to move.’ Mira said.

 

Kyle took a deep breath then said, ‘Ok I’m ready, do it.’

 

The blue shield shimmered then crackled with energy. It then dissipated and died.  Kyle ran through the gap and dove out into the brig. Behind him the shields remerged. He scanned the area for guards, but it was quiet. He looked at the other cells next to his.

 

In four of them he saw slumped figures in green MJONLIR armour. He was taken aback and asked, ‘Is this Team Sigma?’

 

‘Scanning….Picking up their IFF transponders. Yes, they indicate they’re Team Sigma,’ Mira said.

 

‘We need to get them out of there.’ Kyle turned and moved to the back of the brig. A holo terminal was there, which he placed a palm over it. One by one the blue shields disappeared. Kyle walked into the nearest cell and crouched next to one of the slumped Spartans. His IFF transponder identified him as Patrick -211.

 

‘Are you alright? Can you move?’ Kyle asked, leaning closer to the immobile form in front of him.

 

‘Ughh…..I’m fine, just a bit bruised. Who are you?’ he asked, getting to his feet.

 

‘I’m Kyle-112 of Blue team, we were sent to investigate your disappearance,’ He calmly answered.

 

Patrick gave a respectful huff of approval then said, ‘So they sent the best the UNSC had to find us. I’m impressed.’

 

‘So what happened to you? We picked up your last transmission. Sounded like you were in trouble,’ Kyle replied.

 

‘Yeah, we were ambushed. Brute stalkers surrounded us and we all were hit. They stripped us of our weapons, and they executed our leader Mark-184 right in front of us. They then brought us here and we’ve been here ever since.’

 

Kyle thought about this. He wondered what he would do if Caspian was killed. He didn’t know what he would do in those circumstances. He decided to focus on the present.

 

‘So are the rest of you okay? Can you fight?’ Kyle asked. Every minute they stayed here chatting, the more likely that the guards would arrive. They needed to get moving.

 

‘I think so sir. We’re a little beat up, you should know what Brutes do to their prisoners, but we should be fine.’

 

 Patrick stood at attention and looked intently at Kyle. It seemed like he was going to have to lead these young Spartans into battle.

 

‘Then we’d better going Patrick. Get the rest of your squad and follow my lead.’

 

‘Yes sir!’ He saluted and moved to the other cells. One by one, the other Spartans moved to attention in front of him. When all four were there he laid out his plans.

 

‘First order of business is to arm ourselves, we won’t get very far without any weapons. Next we need transportation. Mira, is there a hangar nearby with anything we can use?’

 

‘Yes Kyle, there’s a phantom still docked there. I’ll mark it with a NAV point.’ A white arrow appeared on his HUD, around three hundred metres away.

 

‘Be advised, I’ve detected Covenant troops heading towards the brig, they must be the guards.’ Mira warned.

 

‘How many?’ Kyle asked as he moved to cover next to the door.

 

‘Looks like two Brutes and a few Grunts.’ Mira replied.

This wasn’t going to be easy, but they had to try. The rest of Team Sigma took cover in the nearby cells. The door slid open and the Guards filled in. The Grunts chattered to themselves and moved deeper into the room, with two Brute minors’ right behind them.

 

Kyle stayed absolutely still as they passed him, then slowly creped behind the nearest Brute, and in a quick and violent motion snapped its neck. He had caught the creature by surprise and it fell without a sound. Kyle scooped up the Brute’s carbine and spike grenades, and then moved to the second one. He armed a spike grenade and tossed it at the Brute, hitting it in the back.

 

It turned around in surprise and wheeled round to face Kyle. Its face was contorted with anger as it charged at him. Kyle dove to the right just as the grenade detonated, sending spikes everywhere. A few hit some of the startled grunts.

 

Kyle moved in with his carbine, quickly killing the grunts before they could react. Satisfied they were all dead he called Team Sigma to him. Without a sound they picked up the fallen weapons from the corpses , several needlers and plasma pistols. They also picked up a few plasma grenades.

 

‘Move out. Quietly as you can,’ Kyle ordered.

 

 The five Spartans silently moved through the open door and into the long purple corridor. It was well lit and the illumination was quite a contrast to the darkness of the brig. They moved down the corridor, weapons raised, keeping their eyes peeled.

 

They reached a junction. Kyle looked down the next corridor. It was much shorter than the one they had just passed, with a circular column in the middle of a circular ending. In the corridor were three Brutes, one was a captain the others were minors.

 

He motioned for the other Spartans to come closer. He turned to one of the Spartans, the one Mira had identified as Alice-236. She carried a plasma pistol. She had been relatively quiet since they had met. He pointed at the Brutes and said,

 

‘Do you think you can hit the captain with a charged shot?’

 

‘Yes sir, I think I can,’ she said shyly.

 

‘Good, fire on my mark… 3,2, 1 now!’

 

She fired, firing a bolt of green energy; it flew through the air and slammed into the Brute captain. Its armour crackled from the energy and failed. Kyle aimed his carbine and fired three shots into its head. It collapsed as the remaining two Brutes wheeled round to face them.

 

‘Fire at will!’ Kyle barked.

 

They opened fire. Needles slammed into the Brutes and detonated, sending their bloody remains across the corridor. They moved forward.  Somebody nearby must of heard the engagement as alarms sounded and a Brute’s voice came over the ships intercom speakers.

 

‘The Demons have escaped from the brig! Do not allow them to escape, eliminate them!’

 

‘We seem to have got their attention Spartans, time to move, double time!’ Kyle said.

 

They jogged down another corridor, this time hastily filled with Jackals and Brutes. The minute they saw them, they fired. Kyle ducked as plasma and Brute shot grenades flew around him.

 

The Spartans retaliated with a volley of their own. Kyle shot a Jackal in the arm, it arched in pain, lowering its shield so he could see its birdlike face. He shot a round with cleanly penetrated its skull. A few Brutes fell from the needles that impacted them, causing a violent pink explosion.

 

The Spartan to Kyle’s right, called Cameron-242 threw a plasma grenade which landed in the centre of the Jackals and sent them flying. More Brutes filed into the corridor and fired their spikers. Spikes slammed into the purple bulkhead near where Kyle was in cover. He jumped out of cover and fired, killing two more Brutes and injuring another.

 

The other Spartans followed his example and moved forward changing their weapons or picking up more ammo from the fallen. Kyle cursed underneath his breath as his carbine clicked empty. He rolled to his right and picked up a fallen plasma rifle and a spiker fired them from the hip.

 

The plasma tore into the Brutes’ armour, and the spiker ripped into their flesh. It was a deadly combination as Kyle cut through the brute lines. He checked his HUD. Almost there, just another 100 meters to go.

 

They entered what appeared to be a storage bay, with a few Ghosts and Choppers. A few terminals lined the room, but other than that, it was empty. There were four doors., in each corner of the room. They cautiously moved forward, heading to the door to the far top right corner of the room.

 

Just as they were about to reach it, it sprung open revealing a Brute pack waiting for them. Kyle quickly fired, cutting down half of them. Behind them al the other doors opened, and more Brutes filled the room. They were surrounded. Kyle used a Ghost for cover and leapt out and fired at the Brutes swarming in behind them. He reloaded his spiker and yelled over the gunfire.

 

‘Form a circle. Cover each other’s backs!’

 

They formed a circle in the centre of the room, covering each door and fired as a unit. Kyle was impressed with these kids, they were fighting very well. Patrick was firing short bursts to conserve ammo, and to remain accurate. Brandon-197, the final member of Team Sigma was sending Brutes flying as he hammered them with needler fire.

 

Slowly, but surely the Brute lines started to thin out. Kyle saw his opportunity and motioned forward. They charged forward, killing the final few Brutes in front of them and ran through the top right door, the remaining Brutes right behind them.

 

Kyle blind fired over his shoulder and was satisfied to hear the roar as some of hit shots connected. They were almost there, at the end of this corridor was a door, and beyond that the hangar.

 

‘Mira ,do you think you can close this door behind us?’ Kyle asked as he dodged enemy fire.

 

‘Ok, I’m working on it.  All right got it,’ she said triumphantly.

 

Kyle rolled through the door, Team Sigma right behind him. The door slammed shut behind them. Angry growls and thumps could be heard coming from the other side of the door.

 

They were on the second floor of the hangar, and below them was the phantom, held in place. Below them were more Covenant forces, including two Hunters. Luckily the catwalk they were on was deserted. A few feet ahead of them was a holo terminal similar to the one in the brig.

 

‘That controls the clamps on the phantom, disable them and it we can escape in it,’ Mira said.

 

Kyle hit the control and a metallic clank could be heard throughout the hangar. The phantom rose and turned to the right, the side door opened and they ran in as enemy fire flew up to their position.

 

‘Give me a second. I’m familiarising my self with the controls.’ There was a moment’s silence, with the Covenant below them firing at the immobile phantom. ‘Ok got it.’

 

The dropship roared into life and heading towards the shielded doors, enemy fire tracing the ship. A few seconds later they were gone, Mira having disabled them. The Covenant below them were either sucked out into the vacuum of space or suffocated.

 

The phantom dived for the planet. Kyle moved to the pilots chair and sat down. He took a breath of relief and look at the growing red orb that was Frontier.

 

‘Where are we going?’ He asked as the phantom descended into the atmosphere.

 

‘I left Caspian some co-ordinates before we lost contact. Blue team should be there,’ Mira said.

 

The phantom soared over scorched landscape and blackened earth and came up on the city of Alton.

 

‘Stand by I’m going in to land.’

 

The phantom in one fluid movement descended and landed in front of a half ruined building.

 

Kyle moved to the rear of the ship and said to Team Sigma.

 

‘Stay put for now, I’ll recon the position. The first sign of trouble you lift off. Understand?’ Kyle said.

 

‘Yes sir,’ they said in unison.

 

Kyle smiled. ‘Good, I’ll be back soon.’

 

He jumped out the phantom and walked towards the building.

 

 

End of Chapter 16

 

 

Chapter 17

 

In the city of Alton Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 21.30

 

Kyle smiled to himself as he imagined Caspian’s stunned expression behind his helmet’s visor. His friend still seemed to be reeling from shock; his usually calm body language was replaced by a stiff immobile form. He then seemed to finally come back to his senses, his stance relaxing and his calm demeanour returning.  

 

‘I can’t begin to explain how glad I am to see you alive, but right now we have a situation, so we better go down and assist the rest of the team,’ Caspian motioned to the door.

 

‘What kind of situation?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘Mira left us co-ordinates to lead us to Team Sigma. We believe that they are behind a well encrypted door and we could certainly use Mira’s help,’ Caspian replied.

 

‘Wait a minute, I found Sigma, they’re in the phantom. They were being held captive on a Covenant stealth ship.’ Kyle said.

 

Caspian was silent for a second and then said quietly and calmly. ‘Mira, where do those co-ordinates actually lead?’

 

Kyle could tell he was angry, he would be too if he had lead his team through great risks, only to find out they had headed towards a false hope.

 

‘I’ll admit it; I haven’t been entirely truthful with all of you. I have my own agenda.’

 

Kyle started to feel concerned, she was in his armour, if she was a dangerous, could she harm him and the others? No. he shook away these feelings. Mira had saved his life. Whatever her intentions, Kyle had faith they were for the greater good.

 

‘Care to explain? Caspian asked.

 

‘I had instructions from Dr Singh himself, he told me not to tell you,’ Mira said back.

 

‘I just fought through a whole platoon of Brutes and risked my team’s life under false pretences; I think I deserve to know,’ Caspian snapped back, anger starting to fill his voice.

 

‘I can understand that you’re angry, but if I tell you it could jeopardise the mission,’ Mira replied.

 

‘Tell him Mira,’ Kyle said, hoping to get through to her.

 

‘Fine,’ she said in a defeated tone. ‘Dr Singh doesn’t trust ONI. He asked me to look into their activities here. They have a research facility underneath the city, very secretive. Only a few of the top brass on the planet knew of its existence.’

 

‘ONI has secret research facilities everywhere, what’s so special about this one?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘From the highly encrypted reports I looked at, it looks like they found something beneath the city, something big. I also detected massive power fluctuations in that location before we arrived. Dr Singh was adamant that it couldn’t be good and ordered me to lead you to the facility. Those co-ordinates lead to a hidden rear entrance,’ she said.

 

Caspian had been quiet while she explained, he finally said. ‘Our orders were to find Sigma and find out what happened to the colony. You have jeopardised our mission and the lives of my team,’ he said in a harsh tone. He then continued.

 

‘But, this information puts it in a new perspective, whatever they have down there; it’s probably the reason why the Covenant hasn’t destroyed the city. We need to get to it before they do.’ He paused and then said, ‘Thank you for telling us the truth Mira.’

 

‘No problem, I’m just sorry for what I did, I didn’t want to lie to you, but I had my orders,’ Mira said apologetically.

 

‘Don’t worry I understand, just make sure that’s the last time you lie to us,’ Caspian replied.

 

‘Of course, it won’t happen again,’ Mira said.

 

‘Good. Now I think it’s about time we go and rejoin the rest of the team, Kyle bring Team Sigma with you and follow me,’ Caspian said.

 

‘Got it,’ Kyle replied and turned back to the phantom.

 

‘Oh and Kyle?’ Caspian said.

 

‘Yes?’ Kyle said as he turned back to face Caspian.

 

‘It’s good to have you back,’ Caspian said.

 

‘Have to agree with you there,’ Peter added. He had had been quiet during the conversation, but he had finally decided to speak. He must have still been stunned. Kyle was glad to hear his voice again.

 

‘It’s good to be back, I’ll see you shortly,’ Kyle said.

 

He turned and jogged back to the phantom. Mira whispered in his ear.

 

‘Caspian and you seemed to take my deception pretty well, I’m so sorry I lied to you.’

 

‘Don’t worry, I trust you,’ Kyle said.

 

‘Thank you, I won’t let you down again,’ Mira replied.

 

Kyle walked into the phantom. The four Spartans inside the ship turned to face him. They seemed relieved.

 

‘All right the area’s clear, time to move out. Follow my lead,’ Kyle ordered.

 

They nodded in acknowledgement and followed him. He leaped out of the Phantom and walked back up the steps, the four Spartans behind him, looking around cautiously. Caspian gave a respectful nod then moved into the building, Peter and the marines’ right behind him. Kyle followed him.

 

He looked around at the large hall and was impressed at its grandeur. Their footsteps thundered throughout the hall, reverberating from the ceiling. Caspian moved to the door on the right of the stairs. He followed silently as they went down a winding staircase.

 

As the Spartans walked into the room, Kyle could see Shen. He was feverously working on the door, not looking up as they approached. Alex was there too, but she seemed distant and usually quiet. Caspian moved up to them and put a hand on Shen’s shoulder and asked,

 

‘How’s it going?’

 

Shen looked up at Caspian. ‘Not well, I’m doing my best but it’s not budging.’

 

Caspian replied, ‘Well we have some help now, from an old friend.’

 

It was then that Shen and Alex turned around and saw Kyle standing there, with Team Sigma. Like Caspian and Peter, they were stunned and quiet for a second. Then Alex started to trace a smile on her visor, but stopped halfway; she then went up to Kyle and hugged him.

 

‘Don’t ever do that again! Do you understand?!’ Alex said as she let go of him.

 

Kyle still wasn’t in the best of shape and just being hugged by someone with superhuman strength hadn’t helped. He grunted in pain. Shen rose to his feet and traced a smile on his visor.

 

‘I knew you weren’t dead! I knew it!’ he said triumphantly.

 

Alex then chimed in, ‘We missed you.’

 

Kyle then replied, ‘I gathered. I’ll try not to worry you again, so long as you don’t hug me again, I’m already pretty sore.’

 

Alex laughed weakly and then said, ‘I hold you to that. And what’s this?’ She said as noticed the Spartans next to Kyle. ‘Team Sigma, this just keeps getting better and better.’

 

‘Indeed, now time to get that door open,’ Caspian said taking back control.

 

‘But if Sigma’s there, what’s behind the door?’ Shen asked.

 

‘I’ll explain one we get the door open. Now Mira, if you would?’ Caspian asked looking over at Kyle.

 

Kyle walked towards the terminal. It glowed red. He placed his hand on it and felt Mira leave his armour as she interacted with the system. A few seconds later the terminal went green and the door slowly slid open. Kyle feel the icy cold feeling at the back of his mind as Mira returned.

 

In front of them was a rocky tunnel with lights placed into the rock at regular intervals. The two Spartan teams walked into the tunnel followed by the two marines.

 

The door hissed shut behind them.

 

End of Chapter 17

 

 

Chapter 18

 

Underneath the city of Alton, Frontier

12^th November 2568 Military calendar 22.00

 

Kyle activated his helmet flashlights and continued on. They had been walking down this tunnel for several minutes, in that time they had shared stories and explained what happened to them. Kyle had listened intently as he heard how his team mates had fought desperately against their feelings of sadness as well as the Brutes.

 

Kyle told them on their daring escape from the Covenant stealth ship with team Sigma. After he was done with his story Caspian asked.

 

‘So what happened to Team Sigma before then?’

 

Kyle explained how they had been ambushed and their leader had been executed right in front of them.

 

‘I see,’ Caspian said, absorbing this information. He then turned to the four Spartans of Sigma and said ‘How are you holding up?’

‘The best we can sir,’ Patrick replied. He looked behind him and to his team mates. They silently nodded in agreement.

 

‘So why are we actually going down here anyway?’ Shen asked. ‘Because we’ve already found Sigma, so was Mira wrong in her co-ordinates?’

 

‘No Shen. I wasn’t wrong, I had my own agenda. I never intended for you to find Sigma, It was just a lucky coincidence. I’m so sorry but I’ve been lying to you all this time,’ Mira replied.

 

‘What! So all this time, we’ve be risking our lives for nothing. Kyle nearly died because of you!’ Shen shouted.

 

‘Yes I know and I so sorry. But Dr Singh ordered me to. I had no choice,’ Mira replied.

 

‘You always have a choice. For an AI you aren’t that clever,’ Shen retorted.

 

‘Enough!’ Caspian said.  ‘I’m as happy as you are about it, but the fact is we need her help, so we need to put aside our differences and work together.’

 

Shen sighed and said, ‘Fine I’ll leave her be. But I’m watching her. She won’t betray us again.’

 

He paused for a second, and then continued.

 

‘So what is down here that’s so *** important she risked our lives?’

 

Caspian replied, ‘There’s a secret ONI research facility down here. We think there may be survivors, not to mention I have a hunch that whatever they were working on down here, it’s obviously the reason why the Covenant hasn’t destroyed the city.’

 

Shen stopped and crossed his arms and after a moment’s pause said, ‘I suppose your right Caspian, but whatever it is, it can’t be good.’

 

‘Yes, and this is why we need to get there before the Covenant does, so we need to set aside our differences and work together,’ Caspian repeated.

 

Kyle decided to speak up as well, ‘Look Shen, I know you’re angry about this, we all are, but Mira saved my life.  I have complete trust in her.’

 

 ‘Alright I’ll follow your lead Caspian,’ Shen said.

 

‘Good. Let’s go!’ Caspian said as they moved.

 

Kyle looked around. Beside the lights on floor and their flashlights, the walls were dark and slightly sinister. Kyle wondered if this tunnel was ever going to end, as he felt they have been walking in the semi –darkness for an eternity. He was distracted from his thoughts when Mira said,

 

‘Do you think Shen will be okay, he seemed pretty angry about the fact I lied to all of you.’ 

 

Kyle thought for a second and then replied, ‘Shen can be a little passionate about his beliefs sometimes, but I’m sure he’ll come round eventually.’

 

‘I hope so, the last thing I wanted to happen on this mission for the team not to trust me,’ Mira said heavily, her voice racked with guilt.

 

‘I know, but I trust you, and soon enough the others will as well,’ Kyle replied.

 

Then Kyle saw dead ahead another steel door, similar to the one they had opened earlier.

 

‘It looks like we’re here,’ one of Team Sigma said. Kyle knew it was Brandon.

 

‘Mira, would you kindly open this door?’ Caspian said, moving to the wall to get out of the way. The other Spartans did so and Kyle moved up and placed his hand on the terminal.

 

Again he felt Mira leave his armour as she accessed the system. A second later she was back and the door was open.

 

‘Alright Spartans, we don’t know what’s in here, so keep together and watch each others backs. Move out as quietly as you can,’ Caspian advised.

 

They silently walked into the room. The room was brightly light with cool blue lights. Kyle deactivated his flashlights and looked around.  In front of him where a few desks with computers quietly humming to themselves on the desks. There were papers strewn all about the room, all with the words ‘Classified’ on them. The room had around five other doors, which probably lead deeper into the facility.

 

Kyle lowered his weapon and looked at the others. They seemed to be as concerned as he was.

 

Alex broke the tension by saying, ‘Looks like nobody’s home.’

 

Then Kyle saw a shadow in one of the doors at the rear of the room, then another and another, coming from all the doors. Kyle raised his weapon and took a defensive position behind the desk.

 

A loud voice then shouted, ‘Stand down marines, we’re friendlies.’

 

A man in naval uniform walked out; from his insignia he was an Admiral. His name tag revealed his name was ‘McAdams’. He was taller, at least six foot tall. He looked around 40, with a few wrinkles appearing on his well chiselled face. Grey eyes looked intently on them. His hair was very short, but was a deep brown.

 

All the Spartans put away their weapons and saluted. The Admiral walked forward, with several scientists and two marines.

 

‘At ease solider, nice to see another Human face. I’m Admiral Jacob McAdams, and this is Dr Lewis and Dr Blakely. And my aids Sergeant Brian Davidson and Corporal John Sheridan. Who might you be?’ He said with a large grin on his face. 

 

‘We’re Blue team sir,’ Caspian said. ‘We also have Team Sigma as well. We were sent to find out what happened here,’ Caspian said politely.

 

Hoke and Novo looked stunned at he walked up to them. Eventually Novo said,

 

‘Sir! The last time thing we heard was you were ambushed as you tried to get back to second line of Alton. We thought you we’re dead.’

 

McAdams, still smiling replied, ‘I nearly was, if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of Sergeant Davidson and Corporal Sheridan.  But my transport was destroyed so we headed down here to wait until the Covenant left.’

 

He turned back to Caspian ‘So the brass sent some Spartans to help, can’t say I don’t blame them, but things are really hitting the fan here,’ He said as he turned and activated a large terminal which was attached to the wall.

 

‘We managed to stick some sensors and cameras up in the city so we have been monitoring the situation.’

 

The image changed from a blue stand by to a heat scan of the entire city.  There was a lot of red from street lights and other background, but sometimes there was the glowing orange of humanoid figures. Brutes.

 

McAdams continued, ‘At first we thought you were a surviving marine patrol, especially when you were incapacitated. But after the way you cut through those Brutes, I knew you weren’t regular marines.’

 

The image changed again to a view of the entire city.

 

 ‘So what do you suggest we do Admiral?’ Caspian asked.

 

‘Well, I’ll assume you arrived by ship, so I suggest we try to evacuate ASAP. When we get to safety the UNSC can send a strike force clear out the Covenant. Do you think you can get into contact with your ship?’ McAdams asked.

 

‘I try sir,’ Caspian replied. He then played with his COM and said, ‘Memphis, this blue team come in over.’

 

‘Look!’ Alice of Team Sigma said. She pointed to the terminal.

 

Kyle wheeled around to face it. Where on the screen a moment ago had been a black sky, there was a blue flash, then another and another, out of this flash came bulbous purple ships; an entire Covenant fleet. In the centre of the fleet was a steel vessel with glyphs all over it. The Forerunner battleship.

 

Over Caspian’s COM a garbled message came over the speakers ‘All hands battle stations get us out of here! Evasive action! Evasiv-’ The COM went silent.

 

They were on their own now.

 

End of Chapter 18

 

 

 Chapter 19

 

Aboard Forerunner Battleship-Orbiting the planet Frontier

The First Age of Restoration

 

The Prophet of Remorse sat in his throne, it floated a few feet from the ground, due to it anti-gravity technology, taken from Forerunner designs. He looked intently at the image in front of him, a holographic image of the planet they now orbited. He turned to his left and looked at the quiet Brute chieftain by his right shoulder. He calmly said,

 

‘Activate the holy ships sensors, so we can see the relic.’

 

‘It will be done, your eminence,’ the chieftain replied. He barked at two of his pack, who grudgingly moved to complete their allotted task. A moment later, the planet vanished, and then reappeared. A glowing blue light shone from beneath the planet, it cooled revealing the spiralling Forerunner facility. Remorse smiled.

 

He turned back to the chieftain and said, ‘Take your best men and make your way down there. You must recover the sacred artefacts down there.’

 

The Brute bowed and said, ‘Have no fear Holy One; I will see to it myself.’ The Brute left the room and took his Brutes with him. That left Remorse by himself. He took this moment of solace to inspect the room.

 

Like most of the room of this ship, it had grey panelled walls, with the most sacred Forerunner Glyphs on them. The room was filled with cool blue light. To Remorse it felt more like a cathedral than a ship. The Forerunners were truly masters of arcane beauty.  He always felt relaxed here. He found the quietness of the ship, the delicate architecture of the columns that filled the room were almost soothing. Recently he had needed that.

 

He stroked the lobes of skin underneath his chin in thought at recent events. He was the last known remaining San Shyuum in existence, and had taken the role of the Covenant’s last high prophet. He, with the help of a great Brute general, the *** son of Tartarus, Drakus had lead the Covenant in this trying time, waging war against the treacherous Sangheili and the blasphemous Humans.

 

They had also searched for a way to activate the sacred rings and begin the Great Journey, which had seemed impossible after the destruction of the Ark. After much searching, He had found a possible solution; and emergency slipspace transmitter called the Relay, built as a last resort if the Ark was comprised, to activate the Rings.

 

They had scoured the galaxy for it, keeping the elites at bay, with their newly discovered Forerunner Ship. A fully functional battleship they had discovered intact while searching for the Relay. It had proved most useful against the Sangheili, their ship masters slaughtered by the much more powerful vessel.

 

After much searching they found it, hidden on an old Covenant farming world, called Plentiful Bounty.  He had thought the Great Journey was nearly at hand when they excavated the ancient facility, and he had personally been there performing the sermon, just before they activated the transmitter.

 

And then, just when he thought that they had finally succeeded, a combined Human and Sangheili fleet had arrived. They had landed quickly and lead an assault on the Relay. His forces on the planet had been slaughtered, as well as his trusted companion Drakus, when a strike team of the Human Demons with some Sangheili had infiltrated the Relay and destroyed it.

 

The only reason why he had survived was that he had been called about another recent discovery in another part of Covenant controlled space. Though he had not wanted to leave, he had decided that the Relay was in the capable claws of Drakus. He had been mistaken.

 

Just as his Phantom had departed the enemy fleet had arrived. His ship was lucky to escape as the two opposing fleets had engaged one another. Not long after, he had received a report from the last surviving ship. They had only barely escaped with their lives. They had told him everything. How their fleet had been defeated. How the enemy had landed on the planet and have attacked the Relay, and how finally a massive explosion had occurred at the Relay, destroying his dreams of immortality. He had had the messenger and all the remaining crew of the ship executed.

 

This had left Remorse in a terrible position. The Great Journey was now unattainable, with all the rings on a stand by status; they could now only be activated from the Ark, which no longer existed.

 

Most of his followers had started to lose faith after this bombshell, questioning his leadership and belief. These heretics were quickly silenced, but Remorse feared that the Covenant was beginning to unravel. Luckily, most of his army was still faithful. The Jiralhanae’s faith had never been questioned. They still followed his command. Though he had never really liked them before the Great Schism, finding them barbaric and too quick to anger, they had proved themselves to him time and time again that they could get a difficult task done, no matter what the cost.

 

And so, Remorse had stepped into action, as he unveiled his latest plan. Now that their dreams of salvation had been destroyed, they would now do the same against their enemies. The Humans and the Sangheili would pay for this sin, with the blood of millions of civilians.

 

During his early travels for the Relay, he had found a text detailing of a Forerunner research facility, with great unimaginable relics of their empire. Remorse planned to use them against his enemies, to crush them into the dirt under the iron fist of the Covenant.

 

He had tracked its location to this Human world, which they called ‘Frontier’. It was a fortuitous coincidence. Remorse had sent half his fleet to keep the Sangheili preoccupied, so they wouldn’t interfere with his plans this time, and the rest were here, over this world.

 

 

He left his thoughts for a second an looked at the glowing image of the planet below and smiled. It had been his idea that before they went for the relics, they glassed the planet, leaving only the area where the facility was unscathed. It was beautiful revenge for the Humans blasphemously.

 

It had also had his been his idea to wait, to guard the city and let the humans respond. He wanted them to be here, on this planet to bear witness to their doom, as he would demonstrate the power of the great relics that lay dormant underneath the city, so they could spread the message to all their planets, so they would learn to fear the Covenant once more.

 

He took one final look at the image of the facility on the planet below.

 

‘Soon.’ he said quietly as he deactivated the console.

 

  Yes soon, he thought to himself, soon the Humans will pay for their actions and will learn that the Covenant is to be feared.

 

Soon their genocide would begin.

 

End of Chapter 19

 

Chapter 20

 

ONI Research Facility B155- Under the city of Alton, Frontier

13^th November 2568 Military calendar 0.500

 

Kyle awoke with a jerk; he looked around quickly, reaching for his rifle, looking for any enemy contacts.  His eyes cleared and became adjusted to the gloom, he lowered his weapon.

 

As he rose from the make shift bed which had been hastily placed inside one of the meeting rooms of the facility. Kyle knew that  he and the other Spartans could have gone down to the sleeping quarters a few levels down, but they wanted to stay near the entrance, just in case. Kyle recalled what had happened before he went to sleep.

 

At the sight of the Covenant fleet now orbiting the planet, and the destruction of the Memphis, things had looked bad for the remaining survivors and the Spartans. Caspian realised there was nothing they could do about it and controlled the situation. He had asked the Admiral about the facility, and what they were doing down here. He had replied that they were only had some logistics down here, and a few scientific facilities. Kyle and the other Spartans didn’t believe him for one second, but they didn’t say anything.

 

Caspian had asked for Mira to download the layout of the facility and it had come with some surprising results. While the first five levels were filled with what the Admiral had said, logistical operations and a few science labs, the remaining three floors were heavily restricted and top secret. Even Mira couldn’t discover what they were doing down there.

 

So they had decided to get some rest, but to keep one or two of them awake to monitor the sensors, just in case the Brutes discovered this location. As it was now 0.500, it was Kyle’s shift. He got up, and wearily walked down the deserted hall. Each door lead to another meeting room, which had been requisitioned to serve as their sleeping quarters.

 

As he walked down the corridor, turned left, and made his way passed the empty offices to the central room they had entered a few hours ago, he let out a yawn. Mira then said,

 

‘Wakey Wakey Kyle, I thought Spartans didn’t get tired?’

 

Kyle replied, ‘We’re still human you know we still need some rest.’

 

‘Well while you were napping, I was taking another crack at the encryption on the lower levels.’

 

Kyle perked up at this information and asked, ‘Any luck breaking it?’

 

‘None what so ever, it’s this strange mutating algorithm, which is constantly changing.’

 

‘What, similar to the encryption on the door?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘Yes, but much more complex, I’ve never seen security this good, they must have something big down there.’ Mira replied.

 

‘Then we’d better get down there, keep trying.’ Kyle said as he entered the central room.

 

It was dimly lit, the only light came from the large monitor on the wall, which gave out a cool blue light. This light played of his green armour and the armour of the Spartan waiting for him, staring at the monitor. Kyle knew it was Brandon-197 of Team Sigma. He took up position next to him and looked at the monitor.

 

It was a bird’s eye view of the entire city’s heat signatures. It was a wash of blue and orange and red, the buildings were a dull blue colour, and filled the screen. The street lights were orange, and the red was the Brutes.

 

‘How’s it looking?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘So far, not too bad,’ Brandon said. He then pointed at a patch of red on the far right of the screen.

 

‘They touched down about an hour ago, they been searching the city ever since.’

 

Kyle paused for a second then said, ‘Do you think they know where we are?’

 

‘Nah, I doubt it, they’ve been walking around in circles for the last twenty minutes,’ Brandon said.

 

Kyle focused on the patch of red. There were a lot of them there, much more than a regular patrol, they were obviously looking for something. He could guess it was the entrance to the facility.

 

‘Sir, can I say something?’ Brandon asked.

 

‘Look call me Kyle, you don’t need to call me sir. We’re all equal here,’ Kyle replied.

 

‘Ok then, Kyle can I say something?’ Brandon said.

 

‘Sure, knock yourself out,’ Kyle said.

 

‘I just wanted to thank you for getting us out of that Covenant ship, without your help, I’d bet we’d still be stuck in that brig.’

 

‘It was no problem, just doing my job; I wouldn’t have left you there,’ Kyle replied.

 

‘Well that was great timing sir, I mean Kyle, and we weren’t having the best time in there.’

 

‘Why? What were they doing to you when you we captured? Kyle asked.

 

‘Well they kept on going on about making us into trophies and presenting us to the ‘Holy One’ to prove their worth; they also tortured us, for the shear enjoyment. I think you of all people would know how Brutes handle their prisoners.’ Brandon said.

 

Kyle had seen for himself, the Brutes’ savage attacks on their prisoners all too many times when he was shown the archive footage back when he was a recruit. He looked at Brandon and gave a respectful huff. These children had taken all that and were still standing, still determined and still fighting. They had deeply impressed him. They reminded him of how Blue team was a few years ago.

 

After a long silence, Kyle said, ‘You’ve done well Brandon, you and all of team Sigma has. You all are Spartans in my eyes.’

 

‘Thank you Kyle,’ Brandon said in awe.

 

Kyle was going to reply but Mira suddenly said sarcastically in his ear, ‘Sorry to break up this touching moment, but we’ve got trouble.’

 

Kyle looked at the screen. A large mass of red was heading towards a large building in the centre of city; the city hall.

 

Kyle quickly thumbed on his COM and shouted, ‘Caspian wake up, we’ve got Covenant in bound on our position! We could use a hand.’

 

Caspian immediately replied, ‘Understood, head down to the armoury double time and load up, we’ll be there shortly.’

 

Kyle turned to Brandon and said, ‘To the armoury double time!’

 

Not long after the conversation with the Admiral, they had looked at the schematic of the facility. Though the most curious thing was the restricted bottom three floors, another curious discovery was the fact there was an armoury two floors below them. The Admiral had been quick to point out, base security had been increased over the years, especially with during the war with the Covenant, and so it made logical sense.

 

At the moment Kyle didn’t really care why it was here, he was more focused on the fact it was here, as he needed a new weapon, his captured Covenant weaponry was almost out of ammo. Besides, Kyle preferred UNSC weaponry any day. He jogged down the corridor, turning left then right. He then reached the elevator, at the end of the hall. The steel doors opened and Brandon and Kyle stepped inside. The copper panels that covered the walls and ceiling reflected the two figures, making them look like a pair of golden statues.

 

Kyle felt the elevator hum with power as it descended. Without a sound the doors slid open and they stepped out. They continued their dash to the armoury, following the signs until they reached it.  He opened the reinforced doors and walked in.

 

Caspian and the others were there, including the admiral and his aids.  All the Spartans were grabbing weapons, and strapping magazines to their belts. Caspian greeted them, ‘Good you got here quickly, now grab some supplies and then we can discuss our strategy.’

 

Kyle nodded and moved to the racks of weapons. There were plenty of assault rifles and battle rifles, as well as a few sniper rifles and even a M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket launcher.

 

Kyle grabbed a battle rifle and a few extra clips, and took one of the snipe rifles. He then scooped up four fragmentation grenades and attached two M7 Sub machine guns to the weapon holders on his legs.

 

He walked back into the centre of the armoury, where the rest of the Spartans were waiting, similarly equipped. Caspian sported a MA5C, as well as BR55. Alex had also taken the other SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper and an MA5C.  Shen held the rocket launcher over his shoulder, with a battle rifle strapped on his back. All of Team Sigma was armed with assault rifles and battle rifles.

 

Caspian took a breath then said, ‘All right Spartans, the Covenant are on their way.  It’s our duty to stop them.’

 

‘So what’s the plan?’ Shen asked.

 

‘Well, they seem to have a large force, which means they’ll be slow and that gives us some time.’

 

Caspian paused for a second, then continued, ‘ First, we’re going to head into the city hall proper, and make a stand there, we’ll take anything we can for cover and hold them off there.’

 

He continued, ‘Once that line is broken we’ll fall back to entrance to the tunnel, they’ll have to come down the stairs in twos or threes, so we can form a bottleneck there.’

 

He then finished, ‘After that line is breached we fall back to the facility’s lobby and make our final stand. Any questions?’

 

The room was silent.

 

‘Good, Spartans, come with me, Novo, Hoke, I want you to stay with the Admiral.’

 

‘Understood sir,’ Novo said.

 

‘Good luck everyone, I think we’re going to need it,’ Caspian said.

 

End of Chapter 20

 

---

Vigil is watching you

Halo: The Unlatched Casket- The horror is released........

Chapter 21

 

City Hall-In the city of Alton, Frontier

13^th November 2568 Military calendar 0.530

 

The sun was just creeping over the buildings as the Spartans took position in the great hall. They had dragged everything they could to act as cover; broken equipment, crates and some furniture from the innards of the building. They had laid them out in the most tactical places they could. Now all they could do was wait.

 

Kyle tensed and tightened his grip on the sniper rifle he held. He had taken up position above his teammates, along with Alex on the second floor, providing sniper support.

 

Mira said in his ear, ‘They’re here, you’d better get ready.’

 

Kyle took a deep breath then looked through the scope of his rifle. His eyes were trained on the door. The heavy doors had been closed and bolted. That should hold them for a while. He heard the first roars and violent slams as the Brutes, tried to force the door. The dull grey metal clanged and bulked from the assault, but held.

 

Angry murmurs could be heard and then a large explosion blew the doors of their hinges. Walking through the smoke and debris came the Brutes, about ten Brutes in blue armour and five golden-armoured captains behind them, wielding brute shots.

 

‘Open fire!’ Caspian shouted.

 

Kyle squeezed the trigger and a round hammered out of the rifle and slammed into one of the advancing Brute minors, penetrating his skull in seconds. Another crack of a sniper came from Alex and another Brute fell. Caspian and the other Spartans below them were peppering the Brute lines with fire. A few more fell, blood gurgling from their mouths. Some of the other’s armour started to crackle and smoke, as the powered armour started to collapse.

 

Kyle fired another round, this time downing on of the captains at the back of the advancing Brutes. Alex too fired, stunning another. Slowly, but surely they were cut down as they advanced, Kyle firing the last bullet in his clip to finish off the final captain. He pulled out the empty magazine and placed a fresh one into the gun. His HUD confirmed the ammo indicator was full.

 

‘Well that was easy,’ Cameron-242 said.

 

‘That was just the beginning Spartan look sharp,’ Caspian replied.

 

Sure enough, through the remains of the front door more Brutes appeared, this time with a squad of Grunts up front. Kyle noticed the Brutes were in larger numbers this time, with eight captains and around twenty minors and majors, their blue armour shimmering in the morning light.

 

 Kyle fired four rounds in quick succession at the Brutes, Killing another two captains and injuring a third. Alex managed to kill three minors. The Grunts took no notice to the death of their leaders behind them and charged at the Spartans, only to be cut down, by pin point Battle rifle bursts.

 

The surviving Brutes calmly walked over the corpses of their fallen brethren and the crumpled forms of the Grunts and moved forward, firing red hot spikes at the Spartans. They quickly ducked behind their make-shift cover. One of the tables that Alice of Team Sigma was hiding against was ripped to shreds as the spikes tore it apart. She dove behind some more sturdy radio equipment and fired her battle rifle at her attackers. One Brute gasped for air as she penetrated its windpipe. It slumped to the floor as it suffocated.

 

Kyle hammered more rounds into the Brutes, reloaded and fired again. The sound of the sniper echoed throughout the hall. Another eight Brutes fell to the floor, bullet holes in their foreheads. Alex let off another salvo, destroying the power armour of two minors and a captain.

 

Below them, Caspian pulled a grenade from his belt and tossed it into the advancing horde. It landed dead centre of their lines and detonated, killing another two, and crippling another. The surviving Brutes let out a final howl and charged, not even firing their weapons. A moment later, they lay dead on the floor.

 

Once again there was a pause in the combat. Kyle checked how much ammo he had left for his sniper rifle. Four shots and two reloads. It would have to do.  All the Spartans checked their weapons and took up position.

 

The Covenant charged once more, this time in even greater numbers, with around 30 minors storming into the hall, with ten packs of Grunts in front of them, each one supported by several Jackals. Behind them were fifteen captains. This was an impressive display of force. Kyle didn’t know if they could kill them all. Only one way to find out. He took careful aim and fired. Two minors fell be a single shot, they were bunched together so much, the bullet cleanly cut through both of them.

 

Several more fell as the two snipers punished their lines.

 

‘Grenades. On my mark…. Now!’ Caspian shouted over the advancing roars of the Covenant.

 

 A volley of grenades landed in the centre of the Brute lines. For a second they were silent, and the Covenant seemed to ignore them as the marched towards the armoured figures of the Spartans. Then they detonated, sending great orange fireballs in the centre of their lines. They must have burst some of the Grunts’ methane tanks as these explosions were quickly succeeded by a wave of secondary detonations, throwing their lines into disarray.

 

The Spartans took advantage of the ensuing chaos and cut down scores of Grunts and brutes, as they tried to restore order. Finally as the dust settled, many of the Covenant, lay dead, but still plenty more were still coming, and As Kyle looked to the door, they were getting even more reinforcements.

Walking calmly through the door came three Brute Chieftains, two carrying gravity hammers; the one is the centre had golden armour and wielded a fuel rod cannon. Directly in behind them, shuffled two Hunters, inching forward, their large shield arms raised.

 

‘Hunters!’ he shouted.

 

‘You think?’ Alex said sarcastically as they moved forward and fired at her position. Green energy slamming into the railing. ‘I hadn’t noticed.’

 

‘On it,’ Shen said as he aimed the M41. Two rockets flew out and slammed into the Hunters, killing one, and injuring the other. It let out an angry roar and ran at Shen, determined to make him pay for the lost of its brother. Shen hastily reloaded and fired another rocket into the giant creature, sending it reeling back. It slammed against the wall, and laid motionless, orange blood oozing from it.

 

The central chieftain let out an amused huff and barked to the chieftains at his side, they charged forward, screaming battle cries, as they ran. Kyle aimed at the chieftain to the left, Alex aimed at the same one and they fired in unison.  The chieftain was hit by twin sniper blows, the first, ripping of his elaborate headdress, the second lodging a bullet between his eyes. He crumpled to the floor.

 

The second chieftain kept on charging, seeming to run with extra pace, at the death of its compatriot. Kyle aimed then fired. He was met by a click. He cursed as he saw he was out of ammo. He threw the empty rifle aside and pulled out his Battle rifle.

 

Alex fired a shot into the Chieftain, dislodging its headdress. Her voice came over the COM, ‘I’m out.’  

 

‘All right you two, time to come down. We could use the help,’ Caspian said.

 

Kyle moved, heading down the stairs, firing three round bursts into the crowd. He managed to kill a few Grunts and a minor as he dove into cover next to the rest of Blue team.

 

‘Welcome to the party, you can get a much better view down here,’ Shen said, as he popped up and fired a rocket into Covenant forces, sending, several Jackals and Grunts flying.

 

‘Yeah I’d prefer not to have to crane my neck looking down at you; it’s not good for my posture.’ Alex replied.

 

‘We’d better fall back Casp; we can hold them much longer,’ Peter said. Yelling over the clatter of his assault rifle.

 

‘Why so worried Pete? We’ve got his handled,’ Alex replied.

 

‘Not when they have more reinforcements on the way we don’t,’ he said as he pointed to the door.

 

Where the remaining chieftain was standing even more Brutes were pouring into the great hall.

 

‘Ah. Well then we better fall back then.’ Alex said.

 

‘Fall back everyone, downstairs now, go go go,’ Caspian said, flinging another grenade into the Brute’s lines, taking out a few more. He then turned and dashed for the door, the rest of the Spartans right behind him. Kyle could hear the Brutes right behind him, so he blind fired his battle rifle over his shoulder. He heard the surprised yelp as one of the bullets hit home.

 

They quickly took defensive positions, hiding behind any thing that could act as cover; some of the radio equipment, behind the stacked corpses of dead Brutes, behind the door, anywhere, they got some kind of protection.

 

They could hear the angry voices of the Brutes, as they were forced to walk in twos or threes, and constantly barged into each other. As the first Brutes came into view as they came down the staircase they were met by a barrage of gunfire, killing them almost instantaneously. Their bodies fell from the steps and slumped onto the cold marble floor.  Another group of Brutes steeped over their fallen brothers and advanced, firing widely at the Spartans. They instantly replied and they too fell to the floor.

 

More and more came, pouring from the staircase, getting closer and closer; climbing over the bodies of the fallen that littered the floor. Kyle cursed as his BR clicked empty. He grabbed the SMG’s from his legs and let out a hail of bullets into the Brutes, cutting their armour to ribbons.

 

Finally Caspian gave the order, ‘Fall back, into the tunnel everyone.’ He slammed the butt of his assault rifle in the face of an advancing Brute and ran through the open door. Kyle followed. When the last Spartan was clear, Kyle placed a hand on the terminal on the other side of the door, and the door started to close.

 

In a last desperate bid to grab them, a Brute unwisely put his hand through the door just as the door closed. The door jammed and the clawed hand frantically tried to grab them. After a moments strain the door slowly but surely closed, cutting the Brute’s arm off. They could hear its howl, even through the thick metal of the door.

 

‘Do you think this door can hold them?’ Patrick asked.

 

‘For a while, but with their numbers, they could take it down by brute force, especially if they call in more Hunters,’ Mira answered.

 

‘Then we’d better get moving, we need to get to the lobby as quickly as possible,’ Caspian said.

 

They took one final look at the door ad the roars of the Brutes behind it, and jogged, running, in the gloom, as fast as they could.

 

After several minutes, they arrived at the second door, and closed it behind them. They grabbed desks and chairs and made the area as fortified as they could. When that was done, they all took a moment to take a breather. Kyle felt exhausted, but he knew it wasn’t over yet. This was soon proven when the door they had just locked bent at very twisted angle. Another blow bent it even further out of shape.

 

When the final blow landed, the door buckled, revealing the Hunter behind it.

Shen fired twin rockets into the Hunter, Sending orange blood everywhere. Through the smoke, the Brutes charged, firing a hail of gunfire at the Spartans. Kyle winced as his shields were cut to a third of their strength. He took cover, and waited until the meter was a full strength, then returned fire.

 

The combined fire of the Spartans took down scores of Brutes, sending their bloody corpses to the floor. Even as they fell, more Brutes filled the room. Kyle didn’t know how much more they could take, before they were completely overwhelmed.

 

‘Hold your ground, do not let them pass!’ Caspian roared.

 

Shen fired his remaining rockets into a pack of Brutes, sending them flying. The rest of the Spartans rained assault rifle fire on them, tearing up their armour and piercing their flesh.

 

Kyle leaped from cover and let the Brutes have everything he had left in his SMG’s, killing even more of them. His teammates quickly joined him pushing the Brutes back.

 

Then Kyle thought the most surprising thing happened. The Brutes, actually started to retreat, as their numbers finally started to thin. Kyle threw his empty weapons aside and picked up two fallen Spikers. Several other Spartans did the same.

 

Slowly, but surely the Brutes, started to retreat. Many of them were cut down as they ran, their, legs disabled by multiple spikes, they let out a roar of pain, and then they were quickly silenced.

 

When the final Brute disappeared from view, the members let out a cheer of triumph. Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. They had won. He was just about to join in the celebrations when a frenzied voice came over the COM.

 

‘Man down, man down, I need assistance over!’ Corporal Novo yelled.

 

‘Calm down corporal, what’s the matter?’ Caspian asked, sounding slightly concerned.

 

‘Need assistance, I say again, need-’ The COM went dead.

 

The room went silent.

 

End of Chapter 21.

 

Chapter 22

 

ONI Research Facility B155- Under the city of Alton, Frontier

13^th November 2568 Military calendar 0.520

 

Andrew Novo sat uncomfortably in one of the facility’s many meeting rooms. The long wooden table filled most of the room, only giving enough room for the chairs that surrounded the table. On the wall, just above the metal door, was a clock, slowly ticking away to itself. He wondered if he was running out of time.

 

He sat in this room, was his comrade David Hoke, the last other survivor of his unit, along with Admiral McAdams and his marine escorts, and the two scientists. Andrew looked over at his friend, who had been with him since this nightmare began. He sat silently, not saying anything, just staring at the polished wood of the desk. His face looked pale and gaunt, like the life had been sucked out him.

 

Andrew could blame him; they had both seen so many innocent people die, not to mention their friends and brothers in arms perish. They had been forced to watch as this once beautiful planet was reduced to ash. He didn’t know how he was still standing, but he was sure that some people would have lost it at the things they had seen.  Andrew guessed the sight of the Spartans had given him hope that they may still get of this alive.

 

Now they were above them, preparing to engage a larger Covenant force. He really respected them. Even when they were mourning the loss of their friend, they were still fighting, still doing their job, not letting it cloud their judgement. Andrew had never seen such dedication. He just hoped they survived this. It was effectively their last stand. Andrew had seen the heat signatures of the advancing forces and he knew they were greatly outnumbered and outgunned. He let out an anxious sigh.

 

What if they did fall? What would that mean? Could he and the remaining marines hold off the Covenant? Andrew didn’t know and he didn’t really want to find out.

 

‘Worried son?’ McAdams said grinning at him.

 

‘A little sir,’ Andrew replied.

 

‘That’s understandable marine, but I wouldn’t worry, those Spartans know what they’re doing, I have complete faith they’ll get the job done. We just have the boring job of waiting for the fighting to stop,’ McAdams gave a reassuring wink at him.

 

He gave a weak smile back, putting his worries to one side. He turned and looked at the beaming face of the Admiral and thought.  Admiral McAdams had even before the recent crisis been considered a hero by the people and the marines who served him. During the war with the Covenant he had won the Colonial cross when he had engaged several Covenant destroyers single handily, during the second battle for Earth.

 

When the Covenant attacked Frontier, and when much of the UNSC leadership on the planet was in chaos, McAdams took charge, co-ordinating the marines into an strong guerrilla force, forming an effective resistance to the advancing alien forces. Andrew had always looked up to him, even more so since the fighting began. In Andrew’s opinion they wouldn’t have lasted as long as they had without his leadership. He was glad he was still alive.

 

‘You always seem up for a fight sir; it sounds like you’d like to be up there helping the Spartans out,’ said Sergeant Davidson.  He was rather tall, with a large build. His grey eyes looked cool and relaxed, as did his features.

 

McAdams replied, ‘If I was a little younger, you’d be hard pressed to stop me going up there and helping them, out, but unfortunately age has caught up with me.’

 

‘Well I’m glad you’re here sir, we can’t have you taking all the fun,’ said Corporal Sheridan. Unlike Davidson, he was shorter and a bit thinner. His long thin nose and squinting eyes, made him appear to be sneering, even if he was pleasantly calm.

 

‘Well there’s nothing we can do for now, except wait,’ the Admiral replied.

 

Hoke rose from his seat and headed for the door.

 

‘Where’re you off to?’ Davidson asked.

 

‘I just going for a walk, clear my thoughts a little,’ Hoke replied.

 

Andrew was concerned, his friend look tired and something about the way he said that, made him feel uneasy. He decided to see what was wrong.

 

‘I think I go to,’ He said as he rushed to the door, just as Hoke left and started to walk down the corridor. The others in the room looked silently as he closed the door behind him. He jogged to catch up with Hoke, who was silently walking down the corridor, his head looking down at the floor.

 

‘What’s up David?’ Andrew asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Hoke brashly shrugged it off.

 

‘I don’t know man, I just feel useless down here, we should be up there helping the Spartans not sitting down here waiting to die,’ Hoke replied.

 

‘I agree with you, but those are our orders, we’ve got no choice,’ Andrew replied. They walked further down the corridor, heading towards the elevator. Andrew could see the steel doors coming into view. They slowly hissed open, ready for them to enter. They stopped just by the open doors, and David turned to face him.

 

‘Well why do we have to listen to every order? Following orders aren’t always the correct course of action,’ Hoke said.

 

‘What do you mean?’  Andrew asked.

 

‘You know I was transferred from my last assignment?’

 

‘Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?’ Andrew asked.

 

‘Well it was mainly because I disobeyed orders, but I knew I was doing the right thing. Well, at least I thought I was right at the time,’ He said heavily.

 

‘Why? What happened?’

 

‘Well back then I was a Captain, and me and my squad got reports of some rebel activity on the outskirts of the town we were patrolling. I seemed like a simple mission, find them and eliminate them, but then things got complicated,’ he took a breath then continued.

 

‘There were more than we had predicted and the heavy fighting started to break out in residential areas, it was too dangerous to attack them, as it was likely we’d hit a civilian. Our orders were to fall back but I refused,’ Hoke said.

 

‘Why?’ Andrew asked, intrigued at Hoke’s story.

 

‘Because these guys were ruthless, they weren’t like the regular URF forces; they were attacking anything that moved: marines or civilians. I couldn’t leave those people to die, so we engaged them. We killed most of them, but then their commander came into view, he was using a ten year girl as a human shield. He threatened to kill her if we didn’t back down.’ Hoke said.

 

‘So what did you do?’

 

‘I…I hesitated and he killed her. Right there in front of me. He didn’t even bat an eyelid,’ He managed to croak out, his voice quivering at the memory.

 

‘What happened next?’ Andrew asked.

 

‘We took the scumbag into detention. Unfortunately, the girl’s parents were pretty high in the planet’s government and were not to happy that about their daughter’s death. They lead a smear campaign against the soldiers involved.  As I was in command, and had disobeyed orders, I took the fall, and ended up being reassigned here,’ David finished.

 

Andrew thought for a second then asked, ‘So what’s your point? You disobeyed orders, and you were crucified for it and lost everything.’

 

‘True, but that was my choice. Even though that girl’s death still haunts me, it was for the greater good. The fact of the matter is I saved lives. Because I disobeyed orders everybody else made it out of there alive. Even though her death was deeply regrettable, it was a necessary sacrifice,’ Hoke replied, in a loud and commanding voice.

 

Andrew took this in for a moment before he replied, ‘I can understand what you mean, but still, in the long run was that defiance worth it? Your career, your conscience, your friends? You lost them all. Besides I’m sure the Spartans told us to wait here for the best intentions, they care about human life as much as you do.’

 

‘Yeah, I guess so, but I wish there was something we could do,’ Hoke said, give a large sigh of frustration.

 

‘What a touching story solider, you nearly made me cry.’

 

They wheeled round to see the Admiral standing there with his two aids. His face was smiling, but unlike before, it bore no kindness, just a malevolent grin.

 

‘Sir, what are you doing here?’ Hoke asked, trying to break the ensuing tension.

 

‘Oh, me and my men needed a walk too, we needed to clear our thoughts as well, and we decided to tag along,’ He said, that evil smile still fixed on his face.

 

It was then he drew the pistol from his belt and aimed at them. Andrew feelings quickly skyrocketed from anxiety to sheer full blown panic.  He decided to attempt to reason with the Admiral by saying, ‘Sir you don’t need to do this, we’re friendlies.’

 

‘Oh, I’m afraid I do boys, I can jeopardise the security of this facility,’ He said calmly, as the marines at his side also raised their weapons.

 

‘What are you talking about? We’re no threat, you should be more concerned with the Covenant above us,’ Hoke said.

 

‘Do you take me for a foul boy? I haven’t forgotten about our friends up stairs, but don’t worry they’ll be dealt with soon enough. But as for you two,  you and your Spartan buddies have come and gate crashed our little operation, and I’m making sure you won’t get in the way,’ He barked angrily.

 

‘What? We came to help you!’ Andrew angrily said back. Instantly he regretted it. He was the one with a gun pointed in his face, angering them wasn’t the best idea.

 

‘Innocent mistake or not, I can’t let you live. If the brass knew what was going on down here, they’d have my ass for breakfast, and that’s not going to happen,’ McAdams said.

 

‘Sir wait please-,’ Andrew pleaded as the first shot hit him in the chest. Pained ripped through him as he crumpled and fell. Within a few seconds, Hoke joined him, his bodied riddled with bullets. His eyes were still open, but they weren’t moving, he wasn’t even breathing. He was dead.

 

Despite the strong urge to yell out at the lost of his friend, he remained silent and stayed still, playing dead. The Admiral walked over their crumpled forms.  He then said, ‘A shame. But never mind. Time we headed down stairs, and evened the odds a little.’

 

The others chuckled at this and they headed into the elevator. It slid shut as they descended. When he was sure they were gone, he assessed how badly he was hurt. They bullet had penetrated his left lung, and he was finding it hard to breathe.  He coughed violently and he tasted blood in his mouth. He knew he might not have much time. He flicked on his helmet’s COM and said ‘Man down, man down, I need assistance over!’

 

A tense second passed then the Spartan called Caspian replied, ‘Calm down corporal, what’s the matter?’

 

Getting irritated, he repeated, ‘Need assistance, I say again, need-’ he lungs gave out, he couldn’t speak, and the world started to dim. He blacked out.

 

End of Chapter 22

 

Chapter 23

 

ONI Research Facility B155- Under the city of Alton, Frontier

13^th November 2568 Military calendar 0.600

 

Kyle followed his teammates as they jogged deeper into the facility. After the garbled message from Corporal Novo, they had headed back to where they had left the other survivors; a meeting room two floors below them. They headed towards the elevator. Before they had even reached it, Mira had brought it up and had opened the doors. They quickly got inside.

 

Kyle mind was racing. What on earth had happened? Had the Brutes somehow got behind them? If that was so the Admiral and the scientists could be in danger. Novo mentioned that a man was down, so there definitely already was one casualty, and Novo didn’t sound too good either. Kyle knew they had to hurry.

 

The doors slid open and the Spartans moved, heading into the corridor, weapons raised. The moved quickly and quietly across the corridor and turned into the next one. After a few tense minutes they entered the meeting room. It was empty.

 

‘Perhaps they went to the other elevator?’ Patrick said.

 

The facility had two elevators, one at each end of the complex.

 

‘Mira, did someone use the other elevator. Did they get behind us?’ Caspian asked.

 

Mira replied, ‘From the internal cameras, the other elevator has descended. But I doesn’t look like it wasn’t called up during the attack.’

 

‘Then we’d better check it out,’ Caspian said.

 

Silently they moved through the corridors as they headed there.  It was so quiet; Kyle could hear the soft patter of his boots against the carpeted floor. What worried him the most was, there was no signs of battle, no corpses, no shell casings, and the whole area was clean. If this was the Covenant’s handiwork, they’d gotten better at covert ops.  Kyle kept a firm grip on his gun, and one eye on his motion sensor.

 

As they entered the elevator corridor they saw two crumpled forms. From this distance, Kyle couldn’t make out who they were, but they were definitely marines. The green armour gave it away. As they got closer Kyle made them out to be Hoke and Novo.

 

They both looked in bad shape; Hoke’s armour had some very nasty holes in it, which were seeping blood. Novo had only one wound, but it was in the centre of his chest. Shen leant over and checked the pulse of the two soldiers, on their exposed necks. He looked up sombrely and said, ‘Hoke’s dead.’

 

Caspian silently nodded then asked,’ What about Novo?’

 

‘He’s got a weak pulse, but I don’t know Casp,’ Shen replied.

Peter had crouched down to check the wounds; he got up and looked at Caspian.  He then gave his assessment.

 

‘The wounds aren’t caused by plasma or anything the Brutes have. These were from UNSC weaponry. From the looks of it Novo was hit by a round from an M6G pistol. Hoke was hit by full metal jacket rounds, the same found in a MA5C assault rifle.’

 

Caspian said grimly, ‘Do you think it was friendly fire?’

 

Peter shook his head, ‘No, they were facing their attackers when they were shot. This was intentional.’

 

Shen got to work, trying to resuscitate corporal Novo, sealing the gaping wound with some biofoam attached to his belt. The rest of the Spartans looked on in stunned silence. Like Kyle, they were couldn’t fathom how they could have turned on each other. What had happened here? Kyle hoped that if he lived, the corporal could give some answers.

 

As if one queue, there was some strained breathing and heavy coughing. Shen got up and said, ‘All right, he’s coming around.’

 

Slowly the marine opened his eyes and looked up at the visored faces of the Spartans around him. He tried to get up feverishly, but Shen clamped him back down with one reassuring hand.

 

Caspian said quietly, ‘Calm down corporal, its ok your safe now, can you tell us who did this to you?’

 

There was a tense few seconds of silence as all the Spartans waited for his replied. He coughed and then croaked out, ‘McAdams. It was McAdams and his men. That son of a *** killed Hoke.’

 

Kyle was shocked. Admiral McAdams? The war hero? Why would he turn on his own men?

 

 After yet more silence Patrick finally said, ‘McAdams? It can’t be, are you sure?’

 

‘I’m not lying, I’m telling you the truth, that *** shot me and his men killed Hoke,’ Novo angrily said coughing violently.

 

‘Casp, the admiral was armed with a M6G the last time we saw him,’ Peter said.

 

Caspian then said, ‘Mira, access the facility’s internal camera network and look at the video file on this hallway, around twenty minutes ago.’

 

‘On it. Alright I have the file. What would you like me to do next?’ Mira asked.

 

‘Play the audio recording, and you watch the video, let’s see what happened,’ Caspian replied.

 

The audio then played, and they heard all the horrible conversation, Hoke’s confession, the admiral’s arrival. Their pleading not to fire, and then the eventual gunfire. Kyle felt anger seeping into him, but he controlled himself.

 

After the recording had finished, Caspian said in a low voice, ‘Mira, was it that the admiral we heard?’

 

‘Affirmative, it was him,’ Mira said.

 

Kyle wondered what Caspian would do next, whether he would ignore this, or if he would go after the traitorous senior officer. He didn’t have long to wait as Caspian said in a voice filled with anger, ‘Mira, get me a fix on the Admiral’s location, we are going to hunt him down.’

 

Mira almost instantly replied, ‘Big surprise he and his men are down in the restricted three levels, and they appear to be heading down.’

 

Caspian asked, ‘I hope you’ve managed to break the encryption surrounding those levels. Can you get us access down there?’

 

‘Yes Caspian, I managed to crack it during the battle,’ Mira replied.

 

‘Then let’s go. He’s got enough of a head start as it is,’ Caspian said heading into the elevator.

 

‘Sir! I’m coming too,’ Novo said as he got to his feet.

 

‘No you’re not corporal, you’re injured.  I can’t let you come with us; we don’t know what they have down here. It’s too dangerous.’

 

‘I’ll manage,’ Novo said as he grabbed his weapon. ‘Besides, you can’t just leave me up here by myself the Covenant will be here soon.’

 

‘I suppose your right, just keep behind us, we’ll cover you. All right, let’s move,’ Caspian said.

 

They entered the lift and it descended. As they reached the first restricted floor, a female voice said, ‘Warning you are now entering a restricted area, proper authorization will be required.’

 

The elevator jerked to a stop. ‘End of the line folks, the elevators only go down to the first restricted floor. You’re going to have to take the scenic route,’ Mira said.

 

‘When did you grow a sense of humour? That’s my job,’ Alex asked.

 

‘What can I say, you must have rubbed off on me,’ Mira replied.

 

‘Enough you two, we need to keep on our guard, we don’t know what we’re up against. Check your corners and watch each other’s backs,’ Caspian said.

 

The door opened and they filed out, weapons drawn. They were in wide corridor, with room for about twenty people to walk down without bumping into each other. Directly in front of them was a massive titanium door, with massive hydraulics on it. It looked very sturdy. Kyle guessed it could take quite a beating.

 

‘I’ll just open this up for you. Be careful,’ Mira said.

 

The door made a loud metallic clang and it slowly opened. When it wide enough for them to slip through they walked in and looked around. At first it didn’t look to different from the floors above them; same type of layout and colours, but the rooms were very different.  Where above them there were offices, here there were fully functional laboratories.  They were filled with high tech apparatus and were sealed with large pressure doors.

 

What on earth were they working on? Kyle thought as he slowly inched forward, keeping his eyes and ears open.

 

‘Err…… sir. You might want to take a look at this,’ Brandon said. He was a bit further in than Kyle was, and he had entered a nearby room.

 

The rest of the Spartans joined him. Brandon had entered a room were the pressure door was open. In this room was a bed, with restraints attached to it. It was filled with medical equipment, all monitoring the user in the chair.  But the most disturbing thing was the recipient of the chair. It was what appeared to be a thirty year old man, but his eyes were completely black, so were all his veins and arteries. He was stiff in the chair and he wasn’t breathing. He was dead.

 

‘What killed him?’ Kyle asked Mira.

 

‘From the reports I’ve managed to hack into, they were working on some kind of biological weapon, codenamed The Plague. I believe this is it.’

 

‘Is it contagious; are we at risk of infection?’ Caspian said, looking at the horrific site.

 

‘Very. But don’t worry; this seems to be weak version of it. It was injected into him. There are no airborne traces of it,’ Mira said, sounding slightly relieved.

 

Biological weapons? Kyle wondered why they were bothering with them, The UNSC had not used one in years, due to the fact they were up against alien physiology. So why would the admiral kill his fellow soldiers to keep it a secret? Except for the fact he had illegally tested it on a human being, a serious offense.

 

‘What the hell is going on Casp?’ Kyle asked.

 

‘I wish I knew. This is getting stranger and stranger by the minute. I have a bad feeling about this.’

 

End of Chapter 23

 

Chapter 24

 

ONI Research Facility B155- Under the city of Alton, Frontier

13^th November 2568 Military calendar 0.630

 

Kyle looked away in disgust at the dead test subject in front of him.  Caspian had been silent since his admission that he had a bad feeling about this. Kyle personally agreed with him. This ‘Plague’ didn’t look very promising about the research that was done down here. Whatever ONI had down here, Kyle guessed it wasn’t for the benefit of mankind.

 

‘Let’s get moving, we’ve seen enough,’ Caspian said. He walked out of the room and the Spartans silently followed. Kyle took one look back at the figure in the chair. Its blackened eyes seemed to be staring at him. Kyle shook off this thought and closed the pressure door behind him. With a soft hiss of venting air it locked.

 

‘Mira, keep an eye out for biological contaminants in the air. The second you detect one, give us a warning,’ Caspian said.

 

‘Understood. Monitoring the air for biohazards,’ Mira said.

 

‘When Mira gives the warning, turn on your suit’s oxygen supply and turn the breathers off. Understood?’ Caspian said.

 

Kyle understood this move. The MJONLIR suits they wore could be sealed to survive a vacuum for a few hours. This means they could keep the contaminants out, and still be able to fight normally. Kyle was glad his suit could still be sealed. He praised whoever built this thing, as it sure could take beating.

 

‘What about Novo? He doesn’t have any way of protecting himself,’ Brandon said.

 

‘I’m sure they built this place with secure decontamination areas, or at least some kind of decontamination suit. We’ll try to find something as we go,’ Caspian said, sounding worried. He was probably as concerned as Brandon was about the corporal’s safety, but he didn’t have many options.

 

They silently moved on. As they walked they passed more laboratories, and a few more test chambers. Each test chamber were filled with more dead bodies, every one showing signs of the Plague.  It was then Kyle started to wonder. How many bodies were down here? Did they know what was going to happen to them, or were they taken here by force? Kyle knew that sometimes ONI methods were a little unscrupulous, but this looked like a slaughterhouse. It made him feel very uneasy.

 

As the finally cleared the last test chamber; filled with even more victims of the mysterious disease, and they arrived at a staircase leading down, which lead down to the second level. They went down it without a sound and surveyed the area.

 

This floor was very different to the one above. Instead of laboratories and test chambers, this seemed to be more of production facility. Several prototype weapons were displayed on the wall. All of them were models. There even was what appeared to be a Battle Rifle. All the rooms looked like they were used for the research and development of weapons. Kyle noticed some very odd designs, some of which didn’t even look like UNSC weapons. Kyle wondered if there were any working prototypes down here. It could give them an edge if the Covenant managed to get down here.

 

They came to a room that looked at first to be an armoury, but it was relatively empty. The only thing of interest was what was in the centre of the room. It was large, filling half the room. It was made of sliver metal and it bared UNSC markings. Peter put a hand on the device and said, ‘It can’t be. I thought they were all used during the war.’

 

Caspian looked at awe at it and said,’ Well apparently not.  My friends, we’ve got a NOVA.’

 

Kyle looked at the bomb with awe. Its destructive power was well known to the Spartans. Though only a few had been created, their supposed blast yield was massive. Kyle then decided to ask, ‘so what we going to do with it Caspian?’

 

Caspian thought for a second, and then replied, ‘It’s too big for us to bring it with us, it would take several of us to move it and that would leave us exposed. We’ll leave it here for know, and come back for it if we need it.’

 

Kyle wondered how they could use it. If they detonated it, it would probably take out this facility. And half the planet. Kyle doubted even they could escape in time.

 

They moved on, looking at more concepts and empty storage rooms. Mira suddenly said in his ear, ‘Kyle in that storage room on the right, I believe there is a decontamination suit.’

 

‘You believe there is one there?’ Kyle said, amused.

 

‘Yes. I can’t be certain; the encryption on everything down here is very complex. I’m having a hard time trying to make sense of all of it.’

 

‘Join the club,’ Kyle replied.

 

He motioned for his teammates to stop and he walked into the storage room. It was full of crates. Food and other supplies. Behind a few overturned boxes lay a blue suit, with an attached helmet, with a clear visor. He grabbed it, and handed it to Novo who began to put it on. It fitted over his armour easily.

 

 Now that they were all secure from any biological agents they moved on, and reached another stairway, much like the one they had recently walked down.

 

They walked down it without a sound and looked at the final restricted floor. It was very different from the last two floors. It was bigger, and the walls looked like they had been excavated from the sheer rock, much like the ones in the city hall. It was filled with digging equipment and loaders.  The most interesting things were in front of them though. Some of the rooms had taken the rocks to one side, and they had been examining them.  It appeared some weren’t rocks. They were made of a grey metal and they were covered in strange glyphs.  Kyle recognised them almost instantaneously. It was Forerunner.  So that would mean…..

 

He was quiet a second then said, ‘Mira, can you scan this floor?’

 

‘One moment,’ she said. ‘OK not much of any real interest, just a lot of mining equipment. The only interesting thing I could see was what appeared to be a tunnel down even further. And reason why you needed the scan?’ She asked.

 

‘Just call it a hunch,’ Kyle said, he turned to Caspian and said ‘There’s a tunnel leading even further down, I think that’s were the Admiral headed.’

 

‘I was thinking that too. It’s probably what the Covenant are after as well. Time to move.’

 

The moved past the large equipment and collected earth and headed into the tunnel. It reminded Kyle of the one they had used to first enter the facility; only this one seemed to be even darker, Kyle could only see through the gloom because of his augmented eyes.  Novo just tried to stay in between their helmet headlights, so he could see where they were going.

 

Slowly, light started to creep into the tunnel, getting brighter and brighter, eventually causing the Spartans to turn off their headlights. As they walked round a bend in the tunnel, their boots no longer walked on soft dirt; it was replaced with heavy metal floor. Kyle knew they were getting close.

 

The tunnel gave way to a massive underground canyon.  Massive stalactites and stalagmites filled the area, as well as an underground lake. These were illuminated by the light coming of a large structure in front of them, made of the same greyish metal as the debris they had seen earlier. It was covered in the same glyphs and spiralled down elegantly.  A bridge of light stretched to the building and its large steel doors.

 

‘Mira, What exactly are we looking at?’ Caspian asked.

 

‘From analysing it compared to other Forerunner structures in my database, I’ve concluded it’s some kind of research facility, but that’s all I can determine,’ Mira concluded.

 

 ‘A research facility underneath a research facility.  I can almost smell the irony,’ Alex said.

 

‘Irony or not, this is why the Covenant hasn’t destroyed the city above, and I’m sure McAdams is inside. It’s time to see what so *** important about this place,’ Caspian said.

 

Cautiously he walked over the light bridge; the places his feet touched dimmed for a split second then returned to normal.  The rest of the Spartans and Corporal Novo followed.  They then stared at the eight foot tall doors in front of them. They looked very tough and they remained closed.

 

‘Any idea how to open these doors?’ Caspian asked.

 

Mira was about to reply, when the doors opened by themselves. Caspian looked over to Kyle.

 

‘Err….Mira did you do that?’

 

‘No sir, that came from inside the complex,’ Mira replied, sounding slightly surprised.

 

‘Then we’re expected. On your toes everyone,’ Caspian said as he slowly edged into the building, weapon raised.

 

 As the last of them entered, the door slammed shut. They were trapped.

 

End of Chapter 24.

 

Chapter 25

 

Unknown Forerunner Construct- Under the city of Alton, Frontier

13^th November 2568 Military calendar 0.730

 

As the door slammed shut behind them, Kyle steeled himself.  Whoever had trapped them here was probably going to ambush them. He could almost picture McAdams leaping out from cover and unleashing some new toy on them. All the Spartans stood alert, weapons raised, scanning the area for hostiles.

 

 The area was lit with a cool blue light, which played of their armour and the light grey panels that covered the walls. In front of them was a massive column, that held a three dimens