(FF) The Years of Ashes

Prologue

 It’s been 100 Years since the crew of the Pillar of Autumn first set foot on halo. The Elites Paved the way for The UNSC to rebuild everything it had lost. Everything was going well, until they returned. 3 Long years ago The covenant returned Larger, Stronger and leaving nothing human or elite alive in the wake of their destruction

When command finally took action we all joined the call to save humanity, to become heroes. However loss after loss defeat after defeat, things didn’t look quite the same way. Millions of innocent lives lost a day and not being able to do anything to stop it has effects on some people.

You could call it hatred, the lust for vengeance, but no vengeance is an ideal, Revenge is a goal. We wanted to make those murderers pay for the lives of our families our loved ones, our friends.

Command needed better soldiers and we asked how many. They told us “only the ones who can get the job done”.

They trained us and taught us and broke us till we couldn’t move, and just when we were finally getting some rest, they operated on us, and only about 30 percent of us were left. Afterwards they finally suited us in cold lifeless shells of Death, steel and strength

Now we fight on the front line defending all that’s left of our once great civilization. All because some snooty aliens think we should answer for our crimes of saving the universe a century ago.

That’s the role of me and my squad. We follow orders and question them later. We are Spartans proud and strong. We are the Humanities foot in the door, and that door isn’t moving an inch.

Chapter 1 Fallen angel

A pelican shot out of a large hangar bay. It took a pass around a large ship, a halcyon class cruiser. The words Darkest before Dawn were inscribed into the side of the hull. Inside the pelican several suited figures sat in the seats holding there helmets to their side talking.

“Well here we go indigo team we finally get a chance at retaking Prime”

“Well I’m surprised the covenant force here was left unchecked for so long”

“From what I heard they weren’t doing anything much until they started ripping up the surface with digging equipment”

“So in other words command didn’t care about a few miners and researchers until the Covies found something worth digging up half the planet for”

The radio sparked to life and after a brief second of static it began producing audible sound. 

“Ok Indigo team you should be currently entering the atmosphere of Pride, Your mission is to take out a pair of Covenant Anti air cannons located outside the capital city of Risal.

“Seams easy enough what’s the catch” One of the passengers replied

“The Covies know were coming, they have seraphs and banshees patrolling the skies, looking for anything under UNSC colors”

“So that’s why Archangel is Dropping us off early before the invasion force right?”

“Correct, you will receive further orders when those AA Cannons are offline, And if they aren’t destroyed by invasion time we have no other choice but to bombard the surface killing millions of our own citizens trapped in panic shelters under the city”

The radio cut back to static for a minute until it fell silent. The pelican moaned and shook violently; the sound of heat burning its outer metal shell filled the room.

“Ok we are currently entering the atmosphere prepare for landing” announced the pilot over the comm.

The passengers grabbed their helmets and rifles and readied themselves for battle. The Soldier at the end of the pelican closest to the door loaded a Modified sniper rifle then began tinkering with its scope.

The soldier across from him took a shotgun out of the overhead compartment and began loading shells into it.

Another soldier put on his helmet on. His motion tracker appeared on his HUD. His squad mates appeared shortly afterwards as white dots on his tracker. Next was the ammo counter appearing on the top right of his helmet, and finally his shield meter appeared and slowly charged at the top of his HUD.

The soldier grabbed his M4AC Assault rifle and tossed it onto his back, then began rummaging through the overhead compartment for his M7 Case less sub machinegun.

“Were is it I remember putting it right here” The soldier announced

“Don’t you remember Wilson, we swapped seats earlier it’s over here” The passenger across from him said. He then proceeded to snatch the Gun out of the overhead compartment then tossed it across the pelican to Wilson.

“Ok Spartans we are beginning our decent into Risal, hold on this may get rough” The Pilot announced over the comm.

The Spartans watched their motion trackers as a large red dot appeared under the ship and slowly moved away.

“What the hell was that?”

“Scarab?”

“Not a chance a scarab would fill the entire tracker”

The ship rocked back and forth until it became apparent to the team it was under attack. Plasma cannon fire from a strafing banshee shot into the cockpit and fried the controls.

“Anybody hear that outside?”

“Seraphs?”

“Possibly but if it was anything heavier than a banshee we would be space dust by now”

Another banshee screeched in towards the pelican and launched a fuel rod into its left engine.

The pelican screamed and began to spin out of control spiraling down to the forest below.

“Hang on Spartans I’ll try to put us down somewhere safe!”

The pelican vaulted upwards then fell back down and collided with the treetops, then fell further into the woodland until it finally screeched to a halt in a clearing littered with fallen trees.

(Ill do edits every time I post a new chapter witch is every day)

Chapter 2 the pillar of fire

         The pelican hissed and creaked as smoke and steam escaped into the Fresh air. The Troop bay hatch clanged once, then again, then a third time until it opened and released a puff of smoke. The Dust still in the Air began to finally settle down into the crater. A pair of banshees screamed overhead and circled the pelican to confirm the kill. Then they quickly shot off into the sky back to their assigned position.

The Spartans filed out of the pelican one by one briefly scanning the area then taking positions among the wreckage.

“Is everybody alright” one of the Spartans asked as he wiped dirt of his armor.

“Everyone except the pilot”

The glass of the cockpit was seared and gashed and the pilot lay dead clutching the controls. The rest of his body sat in the pilots chair soaked red with his blood.

“Alright Spartans split into groups of 3 and scout out the surrounding terrain, Wilson Paul and Jenny your alpha unit, Jack, Me and Greg are Beta unit, and Bill, Sally and Ricky are unit Delta and Devin, Nick and Oliver are unit Gamma.”

“Works for me” Oliver said over the comm.

The other Spartans simply nodded to each other and went there separate ways down the overgrown forested paths.

Phantoms flew over the forest canopy and stopped over the abandoned pelican. Two brutes came out of the lead phantom then followed a jackal wearing a strange muzzle

The leading brute took a deep smell of the surrounding area

“Demons have come to our sacred world, we shall destroy them for their heresy”

The Muzzled jackal growled wildly and shook its head violently.

The Phantom beamed down a fourth figure adorned with gold insignias neatly placed on a jet black sealed combat suit

“These Humans will die and if my misguided brethren are with them they shall taste the end of my blade”

The figure drew an energy sword and held it towards the stars, then let out a long roar like that of a familiar race.

Meanwhile in the forest Delta unit walked out into a large clearing illuminated by the sun

“What the hell is that” bill commented as he pointed to a large structure.

The large structure held forerunner details and technology. A single cylindrical tower stood in the center of it. Glowing slits along the side of the tower revealed a large pillar of bluish plasma and electricity inside.

“I don’t think that’s the welcome wagon” Ricky said as he watched a pair of spirits fly overhead

“Of course it is they just want to say welcome to the neighborhood and don’t forget to look at our large blue glowing timeshare homes” Sally said sarcastically

The Spirits weren’t originally designed for combat but now they were forced to take on a different role when a supply of phantom drop-ships is in short supply. However the Spirit is seemingly more effective in terms of dropping several troops into the fight at once.

Sally readied her battle rifle and peered down its scope

“ 2 brute captains gold plating followed by a dozen grunts varied ranks oh and three jackals all wielding orange shields, it’s almost too easy”

“Um sally your forgetting the troops watching us from that forerunner structure”

“Hmm good point, so what do you suggest then hotshot”

“Beats me, since Brutes tend to be aggressive I say we take positions in those trees when they come over looking for a Spartan 3 piece meal”

On Another Path Alpha continued to walk around the wilderness searching for anything notable

“Guys get down I heard something” Wilson announced

“Well what is it?” Paul asked

Wilson pointed down the trail to a Pair of brutes walking in their direction

   Brutes are Hairy ugly creatures that joined the covenant during the first human-covenant war and ultimately replaced the elites as the main military class. Their Attack style in both space and ground tactics is extremely barbaric and infective in some situations but believe in covenant ideals without question. Thus would explain the nickname Brutes.

            Jenny loaded her M4AC and ran into the bushes

“She doesn’t talk much does she?” Wilson asked

“Yea even I can’t get an answer from her and I’m her brother” Paul answered

“Wow must be a tough family life”

The brutes down the path yelled and opened fire with their weapons, One handed weapons similar to a sub machinegun yet they fire large red spikes witch are extremely painful and damaging.

“Demon you will die” a brute screamed as he ran into the bushes using the bayonet on his spike rifle like an axe.

The brute fell into the bushes shortly after being riddled with assault rifle bullets.

The second brute dropped his weapon and screamed violently. Then it proceeded to chase after Jenny until she was pinned to a tree. The brute charged forward and crushed Jenny into the trunk

“Oh no she needs help” Wilson yelled

The other two Spartans rushed the brute and opened fire

The brute’s power armor shined and deflected the bullets into the green bushes below.

“Demons will suffer the wraith of my fangs claws and teeth” the brute screamed as he drew a spike grenade and moved to throw it towards Paul and Wilson

Jenny ran forward and armed the spike grenade then ducked behind a tree trunk.

The grenade exploded and the brute was turned into a furry pincushion littered with spikes and burn marks.

“Are you alright sis” Paul asked

Jenny responded only with a nod then walked to the brute and searched it for anything useful.

“Good idea we could need those supplies” Wilson remarked

Paul walked forward and took the spike rifle of the ground and brushed the dirt of it. The spike rifle was new its bayonet was recently replaced and the weapon still lacked any signs of corrosion.

“Ok nothing more than spike rifle bullets and a damaged spiked grenade on this one” Wilson remarked as he kicked the impaled brute corpse over revealing a pool of purple blood underneath it.

Back at the tower Delta sat and waited in the brush as the enemy platoon advanced on their position.

Grunts walked near the edge of the tree line and began to complain

Grunts were short Odd creatures that need to wear methane tanks and face masks to survive in Earth like atmospheres. They were smart once but when they rebelled against the covenant the hierarchs decided it was best to genetically dumb them down. Now most marines can compare their Intelligence’s to that of a 5 year old child.

            Ricky raised his battle rifle and fired its 3 round burst into a grunts methane tank

The grunt ran in circles screaming “I’m Hit, Oh Whoa is me goodbye cruel world!”

A brute interrupted and snatched the grunt by the head “insolent worm find the demons now or I will serve you to them on a plate”

The brute then tossed the panicking grunt into to trees next to sally.

The grunt jumped to his feet

“Hey what’s this, a footprint! I’m a genius!, now were does it lead”

Sweat ran down Sallies’ brow she had never been so scared in her life. It wasn’t the grunt but it was the thought of being captured and executed billions of miles away from home and not a soul would ever know. She was trained to not be afraid to be strong; she remembered her training and held her ground and didn’t move or shake.

“Oh wait a minute this isn’t a footprint it’s my hoof print… whoops silly me”

Bill became impatient, enough was enough he loaded a shell into his shotgun and crept towards the grunt. Twigs snapped and leaves rustled as he made his approach. At last he reached the grunt and aimed his shotgun.

“Don’t scream or I will blow off your little head” He whispered as the shotguns barrel made contact with the grunts back.

“What-…what do you want from me”

“No I don’t need anything from you I just didn’t want you to scream”

The shotgun fired and blasted the grunt onto its face. The Brute captain shifted his attention and watched the dark woods for a long minute.

“Plasma grenades arm!” the captain yelled

Several grunts drew blue spheres and clicked the button to arm them. The spheres caught fire and would stick to anything organic they hit once released.

“Throw!”

The grunts released their grenades into the direction the captain was facing and straight into delta.

“Spartans disperse and open fire”

Delta left their positions and scattered to avoid the blast. The covenant troops opened fire filling the trees and bushes with hot spikes.

 The Grenades let out a loud beep and exploded. A light blue cloud of plasma emerged from the spheres and charred the trees black then sent a shockwave sending splinters everywhere.

Sally ran out of the trees and armed a fragmentation grenade

A grunt readied his needler and opened fire

A needler fires strange pink needles that explode when enough of them cluster together on one target. They seem to follow organic targets to a certain extent but most of this weapons origins are still shrouded in mystery.

The pink needles flew into sallies armor and burst on her shields.

Sally tossed the grenade then opened fire with her battle rifle forcing the grunts to scatter

Ricky jumped out and fired into the grunts with his battle rifle.

The grunts broke rank and screamed several fell to the ground dead.

The grenade Exploded and sent a trio of grunts flying into the ground killing them instantly.

The Brute captain roared in anger and pulled out a large weapon with a blade on the end of it

“The captain has a brute shot take cover!” Bill screamed

The brute shot fires explosive grenades deadly to shielded and unshielded targets. The Brute shot is a weapon only known to be wielded by moderate to high ranking brutes.

Sally opened fire and watched her bullets fly of the brutes power armor harmlessly

“Stupid human you cannot stop the righteous! “The captain screamed as he opened fire

The grenades flew into sally and exploded over her shields breaking them. The concussive force was greater than expected and knocked her off her feet and onto her back

“Your turn demon” The captain growled as he turned to the other Spartans

 Bill dove forward and snatched a needler of the grunt he had killed earlier.

He armed the weapon and moved his hand to the trigger

“Smile for the camera, ugly!”

The needler opened fire and send dozens of pink explosive spikes into the brute. The spikes overloaded his power armor and forced it to overload. Next the spikes grew white then finally burst open in a haze of explosive pink mist incinerating the brute.

“*** straight, that’s how I roll!”

The remaining grunts Ran of screaming for their lives.

Ricky lowered his weapon and ran to check on sally

“Anything broken?” he asked as he helped her up

“No I should be fine just a few scratches”

“Really?, because that doesn’t look good” Ricky said

A spike rifle round was imbedded in sally’s right arm.

“Here let me get it out”

Ricky grabbed the spike with his glove and yanked it out

“Ouch! You could have gave me a little more warning than that”

Ricky examined the spike for a moment. One half was covered in blood while one half was clean. Ricky the continued to rotate it one last time then tossed it into the grass

“That doesn’t look to good we need to get you to a medic” Bill said

“Ill is fine” Sally remarked as she tried to Pick up her rifle

She grunted in pain briefly. Then dropped her weapon to cradle he wounded arm.

Bill opened his comm.

“This is delta; we have a wounded Spartan and need a medic”

“Roger that Beta unit is on their way sit tight” The radio Responded

The pillar at the center of the field began to glow bright. It hummed loudly then fired a large blue flame up into the sky. Then the humming stopped as quickly as it began and the tower drifted into silence.

Then Finally 4 Phantoms flanked by spirits flew over the plains and landed pouring out their dangerous cargo

“Tell them to hurry” Ricky said in silence

Chapter 3: Red harvest

      The sun began to reappear in the blue sky. Several Purple Objects shot by casting shadows on a green meadow below. The objects were phantoms sealed Troop transports used to quickly convene Covenant troops place to place.

Past the dense tree-line several suited Spartans walked their M4AC assault rifles ready for combat.

“Roger that, Beta unit move, move, move!” A Spartan officer announced to his two peers

The officer wore the same combat armor the other Spartans wore. The only difference was a large Radio on his back and red markings on his shoulder pads to indicate rank.

The officer was flanked by another Spartan holding a Red Cross insignia on his Chest plate.

The Last of the three carried a welding device at his side.

The device was referred to as a plasma cutter. Made from reverse engineered covenant technology, the plasma cutter is a highly effective tool capable of repairing mechanized devices, computers. In rare cases it can also be used as a medical device because of the immense heat it generates it can “seal” a wound and stop it from bleeding.

The Spartans continued running down the leafy forest trail.

They finally arrived at the tree line the sunlight over the meadow began to reflect off their visors.

A couple hundred meters along the line another 3 Spartans desperately held of a covenant onslaught. They were pinned down behind a cluster of rocks and a phantom gunship opened fire searing the ground its plasma cannons touched.

“Greg hand me your battle rifle”

The medic Spartan grabbed a scoped rifle of his back and handed it to the leading Spartan”

The officer looked down the scope and fired on a grunt freshly dropped out of the gunship.

The last Spartan pulled out a pair of binoculars and observed the carnage.

“That doesn’t look to good, where’s alpha?”

“In the woods searching for weapon caches and mechanized transport” The officer replied

Another burst of rifle fire flew into the enemy forces.

A brute officer turned around and pointed toward the second trio of Spartans

“More Demons kill them all!” It screamed

Several covenant squads broke off and rushed the other Spartans lightening the fire on the ones pinned behind the rocks.

The pinned down squad poked out of their positions and fired on the covenant while their backs were turned.

“Now’s our chance lets get to delta” The medic said.

“Alright lets move” The officer replied

The trio moved down the lush field into the fight.

Several small purple objects shot out of the treetops and over the field. They had two white lines following their movements and they screamed and screeched loudly as they turned. These were the covenant banshee’s small strike craft extremely effective at anti-infantry and anti vehicle roles.

The Spartans opened fire into the main enemy force in an attempt to cover their allies as they began their approach.

The banshees began their strike run and opened fire with their twin plasma cannons.

As they hovered over the Spartans several tracer rounds slammed into the lead one and blew it to pieces.

The humming of a jeep grew loader from the main trail. The gun opened fire again and the second banshee lost its left wing and spiraled of into one of the rock pillars.

The jeep emerged from the trees followed by a second one lacking in a gun turret.

These jeeps were the UNSC light recon vehicle known as the warthog. They are the workhorses of Humanity providing everything from cover fire to resource transportation. The leading warthog held a LAAG Machine gun turret while the second was fitted with an extended cargo space instead of a turret to accommodate more troops.

They landed in front of the rocks and alpha unit formed up and opened fire

A pair of ghosts shot into the fray. Ghosts were the covenant’s light recon vehicle. It only had seat for the pilot. From that seat the pilot could control the ghost’s twin plasma cannons and propulsion systems. The ghost is incredibly fast and nimble and like most covenant units it bears the same pinkish purple plating.

They flew in and opened fire into the Spartans. The plasma cannons fried Jenny’s shields and forced her to take cover.

The Gunner to alpha’s warthog fired into the ghosts and send bullets into its engine.

The ghost dropped dead into the ground and the pilot jumped of and ran.

The ghost began to shake inside its engine its propulsion systems and power core began to overload. The ghost lifted of the ground and shook then finally erupted in a blue explosion cutting it in half. 

Ricky a Spartan hiding in the rocks jumped out of his position and landed on the second ghost.

The driver activated its gravity boost and sent his vehicle into one of the rocks to try and force him off.

Ricky lost his grip for a moment then proceeded to board the ghost.

He grabbed one of the controls and used it to swing into the pilot’s seat kicking the grunt driver out and onto its face.

Six other Spartans began their assault on the forerunner beacon tower. One Spartan aimed his Rifle up at the structure and peered down the scope. The sunlight reflected off of the lens and all the Spartan saw was a glare.

Three Spartans broke off from the group and began climbing a pair of ramps leading up to the main floor.

A pair of grunts walked towards the ramp

“I hear something” one grunt announced

“What if the fallen ones are coming to hurt us?”

“No stupid their demons inform Burky that we are under attack”

The second of the grunts ran away screaming to a brute then told him of the human attackers

“What! Stupid grunt kill them” The brute screamed as he swatted away the grunt

“Demons inbound find them! Or ill gut you myself”

The team moved up the ramp and opened fire.

M7 Sub machinegun and Battle rifle rounds systematically cleared the deck.

The last Spartan up had a bull’s-eye symbol on his shoulder armor

The Spartan grabbed a long weapon off his back. The Weapon was a sniper rifle, Painted Blue and black and held a strange infrared scope in addition to the standard version.

The Spartan knelt down and loaded a clip into the rifle.

Four bullets were away before the other Spartans could blink and a brute commander adorned in a golden power suit fell to the ground.

His subordinates Ran around in panic as they too were also picked off one by one.

Without the commander the other brute officer’s tactics weakened and the lines broke rank and retreated.

“Thanks for the support Gamma we are proceeding to mop up all enemy hostiles”

“No problem, just make sure you get back before dinner you’re going to have to hack this system it’s not responding for us.”

One of the Gamma Spartans smashed his glove against the control panel in frustration then continued to try and hack the system by pressing the illuminated systems and virtual switches

“Roger that all units form up at the forerunner beacon tower”

The pair of warthogs loaded up and drove towards the beacon tower in a line formation.

An hour later the Spartans looked off into the green fields as the sun began its descent into the trees sitting on the horizon. Paul stood at the forerunner console busily typing and hacking into the subsystems.

“I got something, the covenant have been uploading their dig information into the data center witch is then transferred to these beacon towers”.

“So what exactly do these towers do” The officer replied

“They are essentially interplanetary lighthouses providing navigation data asteroid drift charts and basic teleportation codes”

“So that can explain why the covenant have been doing so well lately, they are tapping into the forerunner data stored here on prime”

“There’s also something else, a Simple forerunner Ai System, should I unlock it?”

“Go ahead”

The console simmered blue then flashed several times until a monitor hologram cam into view above the console. It flicked with static then finally produced sound.

“Transmission Begin// Hello I am The Interplanetary Communications AI I serve under Monitor 926 Red harvest. This program is not to be opened under any circumstance due to containment protocols top secret clearance required user must now initiate pass code”

“What! It never said anything about a pass code before”

“Negative response warning top secret clearance required all data stored on this console will be deleted In T minus 3 Galactic Forerunner minutes”

“Uh, initiate code- Reclaimer”

“Secondary Access granted, welcome Reclaimer: Are you here seeking information on the forerunner---- Data corruption detected, I’m sorry something has tampered with my memory banks I cannot provide any information on your forefathers.”

“That’s fine, activate all navigational data”

“I currently possess asteroid drift charts, strands of interplanetary coordinates, the location of installation 00, 04, 05 and Shield world onyx. Also I possess a localized area map spanning about 50 kilometers in each direction”.

“That’s perfect Paul have him run all data on localized areas” The officer commented

“I’m sorry I am currently not this Paul and this AI is currently not exchanging data with you please wait your turn Reclaimer” The AI Interjected

“AI run all data on the local area, do scans detect energy emissions within 50 kilometers?” Paul asked

“Yes I do Reclaimer there is a forerunner sheltering complex due west, there is currently static interference on the surface above them, and it appears to be a crude stone, metal and steel series of formations, perhaps what you Reclaimers would refer to as a city”

“Yes perfect transfer all remaining data onto a subsystem including you then eject a user data pad”

The console hummed for a second then a strange metallic diamond came out witch deflated to form into a small forerunner data-pad with strange details and strange glowing language imprinted into the surface.

The console then turned silent and the lights and symbols disappeared.

“Ok Spartans you heard the AI we are moving west along the cleared road towards the city” The officer announced

“Roger” one of the Spartans said as he jumped to his feet

The ground shook for a moment and a sharp scream shook the tower. The covenant forces began pouring back into the valley and a large purple object was slowly approaching, its details hidden by the mist.

Chapter 4 Eyes of the enemy (first half)

     “Covenant scarab and a battalion of foot soldiers escorting it” One of the Spartans announced as he looked through his rifle’s scope

The scarab was a four legged armored behemoth. Its armor is said to be that used on covenant spaceships. The scarab however is mainly an oversized mining platform with several defenses added onto it. Its mining tool or “scarab gun” as marines call it is one of the most devastating weapons used against the UNSC in planetary combat.

“Ok Spartans we are leaving right now” The officer yelled as he watched the large enemy force pout into the valley.

The Spartans filed down the narrow ramps of the forerunner beacon tower and towards a pair of warthogs flanked by an unoccupied ghost.

A Spartan with twin yellow strips painted across his insignia jumped into the ghost and activated its propulsion systems.

“Hey Ricky good luck in that thing I hope you remember they tend to….. Explode” One of the Spartans commented and he grabbed the first warthogs Gunner position

“Ill be fine Wilson, Just remember not to shoot me this time” Ricky answered

“Enough chit chat you two we aren’t reaching the city sitting around all day” The officer interjected”

Both Spartans saluted and returned to the controls of their vehicles

The rest of the Spartans jumped into the empty seats on the first and second warthog

“Hey lucky me I got shotgun” Bill chuckled as he jumped into the first warthogs side seat

Ricky fired up the ghost and boosted down the trail to scout ahead. The rest of the team soon followed in their warthogs.

Minutes later the covenant scarab stopped in front of the beacon tower

“Chieftain the Spartans have evacuated the valley the tower is ours again” A Grunt reported

“No it is not ours anymore the humans have tainted it with their presence destroy the Tower”

“But sir…”

“Enough! Ready the main cannon and fire”

The scarab’s gun charged slowly. Green Vapor and light leaked out of the weapon steadily as the weapon hissed and moaned. Finally the weapon erupted sending a beam of hot plasma and energy into the tower. The Sheer heat vaporized the outer wall and the weapon cut the tower in two. The weapon ceased firing and a large deposit of gas puffed out of the barrel.

The tower fell onto itself and collapsed, the intricate forerunner electronics and knowledge were now forever lost buried under the passage of time.

(The rest of chapter 4 will be up ASAP)