Chapter 1

Unlikely meeting

Beta Company. Operation:TORPEDO

July 3rd, 2545

Pegasi Delta

1204 hours

(Zack-B160)

Vengeance, it's a long, treacherous, vial path to self-destruction. If strong enough, it can turn the sweetest of children into the most ruthless of killers. It's a poison that dulls reason and kills any sliver of mercy. At this particular moment, I couldn't care less if revenge will lead me to an early grave. So long as I took as many of these bastards down with me as I possibly can.

"Peter is down, I repeat. Peter is KIA!" I yelled raising my M90 shotgun and unloaded an 8 gauge rifled slug into the head of a seriously unlucky Sangheii (1) minor who got too close, bolts of heated plasma zipped by my green SPI armor like angry hornets. Poor Peter was hit by who knows how many needler rounds. His entire chest cavity blew up in a cloud of pink not even twenty yards away. He was dead before he even hit the floor.

The Covenant burned my homeworld of New Columbia seven years ago today. I was on the few ships that managed to escape the slaughter. My parents weren't so lucky, neither was my sister. Alone, with nowhere to go, no one to run to. I gladly accepted the offer to join Beta company. If it means getting a chance to get revenge on the ones who ruined my life, then to hell with what happens to me. Karma's' a bitch, and I am just her tool of destruction.

"Fall back to cover! We're being flaked!" Gabriel-B145 ordered. Tallest one out of all of us, easily six nine. He was team Delta's unofficial leader. Could almost mistake him for our cousins, the Spartan II's. We were pinned down not far from where Foxtrot entered the facility, but where we ended up was a dead end with only one way out. And that was through a hailstorm of plasma and a LOT of pissed off Covenant. We can't kill our way out of this one . . . .we don't have the ammo for it. Thought this lead to one of their refinery machines, but instead lead us into a one-way locked door. When I say locked, I mean the only way we're getting through that is by blasting it open with rockets, which we have none of.

I have no doubts we'd complete this mission, but how many of us will have to perish in the process. 300 Beta Company Spartan III's went into this fight, now a little under 100 remains. Several died in their drop pods on impact. Rest of us were fighting easily hundreds of thousands of Covenant. I looked to my right to see the rest of my remaining brothers and sisters, fighting like demons straight out of the deepest bowels of hell. Bullets and plasma flew every which way, Not entirely sure which side was winning. But if the cruisers in orbit were any indication, Only a few of us were going to survive this slaughter, if any. But we'll take a good most of them with us in the process. That's less Covenant the rest of the UNSC won't have to face in the long run. I just hope our sacrifice buys humanity enough time. Enough time to make all this worth the cost. Every second counts in the end.

The Covenant brought this fate upon themselves. They started this war, burned our worlds, slaughtered our people, hunting us to extinction. Well, I got news for them. Humanity won't just roll over and let them kill us so easily. Back us into a corner with nowhere to run, that is when we fight our hardest. Where we're truly put to the test. Let it be known in the history books that humanity won't go down quietly into the echoes of time, we won't give up when the fate of our species' survival is on the line! We'll keep on fighting to the bloody end, and we won't stop until they kill every last one of us. That is not a threat, but a promise.

To put our situation in simple to understand terms; we were horrifically our numbered, well beyond outgunned, and the only thing protecting us from the plasma lances from the cruisers was a thin foot or two of some alien alloy. Nothing but wet paper to those beams should they aim them at us. But it seems they thought thousands of Unggoy (2), Kig-Yar (3), and Sangheii were sufficient enough to kill us all. Big mistake on their part, perhaps they hope to keep as much the refinery intact as possible? We're pinned between a locked door and a shit load of Covenant in all directions. We're FUBAR basically.

"I'm out!" Ana-B236 announced tossing her M392 rifle aside and picking up a fallen plasma rifle. She was the smallest out of all of us, only smaller than Lucy by a few inches. Smaller and faster target, harder for the snipers to hit. Pretty much like a sister to me from minute one. We fight together, we trained together. She's the closest thing to blood family I have left.

"Zack, pick up Peter's rifle and lay down a suppressive fi . ." Gabriel tried finishing as his visor shattered from a long trail of plasma going through his head, with his vital line flatlined. I ducked behind a Covenant weapons container as Ana fired her plasma rifle into a squad of unlucky Unggoy. We're the last two standing of team Delta. A red light flickered on my HUD from Lucy's transponder. They set the charges, this whole place is going to go up in sixty seconds. Burning it to the depths of hell itself. I peeked from behind my cover and fired another slug. Splattered a Kig-Yar's head right off his skinny little neck. Never ceases to amuse me how stupid these things can be. I quickly returned back to my cover as a wall of plasma nearly deep fried me.

"Damn it. They got us pinned. Nowhere to go." Ana swore peeking out of her cover and unloading another servo into the ever-growing horde, just as the cruisers fired one of their plasma lances into the remains of my siblings. Those weapons are rated to take out capital warships. How can anyone even hope to survive a direct hit from them! I took a deep breath and let it out. Focus Spartan, the fight isn't over so long as you're still standing. "Zack, we got forty seconds to run. We need to go now!" Ana noted firing once more, only to receive ten times a much thrown right back at her. She got back behind her cover as the waves of plasma got thicker. I ground my teeth and fired off another slug. Right through the chest of a Sangheili who got too close. I looked around briefly for anywhere we can go to avoid the blast. This refinery goes, it will be one hell of a firework show. Hopefully taking those cruisers with it.

Beta company knew before we dropped in that there was little chance of survival for even half of us, yet we all volunteered anyway to go. We're not afraid of death, if we're going out then we're taking as many of these bastards with us as possible. Failure is not an option. Failure to complete our mission means we've failed humanity. I don't care if I'm not getting out of this alive. Zackary Lutece died at the age of five on October 31, 2538. Zack-B160 was born that day with a cold fury. If he dies today, it won't be in vain.

"Ana, it's been an honor serving with you." I thanked narrowly avoiding having my head sniped off by a Beam Rifle. I ground my teeth and stayed low to avoid having my head blown off. There has to be a way out of this somehow. Just need to focus and come up with a plan. . . . and why the hell does the area beside us look like static? Wish I were kidding. "Ana, anomaly behind us!" I yelled pointing out the. . . . . to hell with it, I'll call it a tear because that is exactly what it looks like, a tear in the middle of the air. A tear ripped open a few meters behind us. On the other side was a girl, a well-dressed girl no older than I, in the middle of a dining room of some sort. She had her arms spread wide like she was the one who caused it.

"What the hell is that?" Ana asked as the ground in front of us erupted into a green fireball. Clever covvies are starting to use their fuel rod cannons on us. We must be a serious thorn in their side to use it on two Spartans. I'm almost flattered. The kid screamed in surprise as she opened her eyes and got a good look at the hell in front of her.

"Doesn't matter. We're being overrun, hostiles on all sides. If that anomaly is our only hope of survival, I say we take it." I said as the Covenant got agitated and charged toward us. Ana maneuvered back firing off her plasma rifle as I fired another slug. I pumped my shotgun and fired again, only for it to click. The tube is empty, damn it. "I'm out!" I yelled throwing my shotgun aside and pulled out my M6D pistol.

"You're. . . . you're all real?" She asked hesitantly as plasma narrowly missed her. She let out a sharp yelp as it barely missed her. She jumped back and landed flat on her ass as the Covenant got closer. Ana and I moved back to better cover, our backs to the portal as we fired what we could into the oncoming horde. Less than twenty seconds before the charges go. It's now or never.

"Though the portal Zack! I'll cover you, protect the girl!" Ana ordered as her plasma rifle ran dry. She shook it a few times before throwing it at a Unngoy. I broke from my cover and bolted toward the portal. I huffed and puffed as I threw one foot in front of the other. I could hear Ana roaring like a lion as she fought. I looked back to see her blocking the strike from a Sanghelli's sword, twisting his arm back and snapping the sword out of his hand to slice him in half before taking out her pistol and popping open a few Unngoy's heads. A Sanghelli uncloaked right behind her sword ignited.

"Ana!" I yelled to warn her right before the Elite stabbed her through her chest, but she didn't go down as simple as that. She pulled out her combat knife and roared like a mighty warrior of Sparta, stabbing her knife as deep as she can into the Elite's head. I couldn't bear to watch her die as I bolted on. Nine seconds. Several plasma rounds slammed into my back, burning through my armor as I dropped to the floor. Felt like someone poured a vat of napalm on my back, agonizing pain sourced through my body as the plasma burned. Must keep going. Covenant can't get to the kid. I forced myself up and kept on running. Ignoring the agony in my back as plasma soared all around me. Few more feet to go. More plasma rounds hit my back and legs as I kept going. I had to force myself to stay up as I jumped through the tear just as the kid closed it behind me, a loud explosion and a deep rumble filled the air around us right before the portal closed. Foxtrot done their job, the mission was a success. But at a great cost. How many of my brothers and sister's survived? I have no idea.

Pain soared all over my body as I laid on the velvet carpet of her floor. Head throbbing like I was being hit by Hunters again and again. I tried to get up but I just fell back down in agony. I couldn't move, could barely breathe. Everything was all fuzzy to me right now. Like I was in an old 1950's TV show. Could barely hear what the kid was yelling as she ran to my side. One thought, one simple sentence flooded my mind right before I blacked out.

You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies.

(Elizabeth's POV)

July 3rd. 1904

Monument Island

12:15pm

Minutes earlier

Lonely, that is all I've felt lately. Lonely and beyond bored. There is no one in my tower to talk to, Songbird left over an hour ago. I let out a deep sigh as I carefully brushed some dark green on the art canvas. I was painting in the dining room, painting things from these weird dreams I keep having for months. Dreams of soldiers fighting to the bloody end against some alien races, dreams of glorious ship soaring through space from planet to planet, dreams of hulking beings taking on entire armies of these aliens and winning, dreams of massive rings with the power to shame Noah's flood a billion times over. The dining room was littered with dozens of said paintings. One showed a giant green armored man turned away from a massive beam of light, hyper-advanced looking technology all around him, large grey dent on the chest plate. Another showed purple ships raining down beams of death upon a burning world, turning all below it into glass. Another showed several smaller parasite like beings overwhelming both the soldiers and the aliens, slowing turning them against one another little by little. My favorite painting was of a ring, a giant ring floating in space in front of a planet. A star barely peeking around the planet, illuminating the massive ring just enough to show green and blue terrain on the inside face. A sleeping giant, waiting to be woken up once more. A different one shows a soldier in an adaptive camouflage like armor, gold visor looking out at a field as the sunset over his beloved home.

The most recent one I've drawn showed two of these soldiers, ducked behind cover as green and blue bolts of something soared all around them. One significantly larger than the other. A fallen soldier on the ground with its mirror-like face shattered and blood splattered around him. Another showed his chest blown open by pink shards. Bird-like aliens shooting bolts of light from many larger guns, few reptile-like aliens with glowing swords leading the lesser ones. Few short and stubby ones getting blown to bits by the green armored soldiers. Seven large purple ships overlooking the battlefield as it shot its weapons at the ground. One of the grimmest paintings I've made but I can't get the images out of my head unless I paint them, no matter how scarring the scene was. I'm not sure if it's just me going insane from the isolation, or if they're visions of the future? Side effect from the tears or are they just my imagination going wild? So many questions, yet Songbird can't answer them all. Sometimes it feels like I'm right there alongside the soldiers, fighting these strange beings to the death for just a sliver of a chance for survival. My heart racing as I dodge bullet fire, Adrenalin pumping as I race to rejoin my 'unit'. Even if it is just a bunch of dreams, it feels like I'm out of this tower and living life like it should be. Anything is better than staying up here their entire life.

"Still wondering why the heck I'm getting these scary dreams? Never heard of anything like these in any of my books. Could it just be my imagination?" I asked myself pointing to the soldier with a shotgun behind what I assume is a wall. I've had these dreams enough to practically memorize where everything was, what the place looked like, and who won in the end. I could never remember any noises or sounds, just an observer watching the events unfold like a film. With this particular dream, it always ended in bright purple light. No warning, no noise, no anything. Just a bright purple light then I wake up in bed. "I don't know who you people are, or if you're actually real, but you have my sympathy." Again I said to no one in particular. I set my color pallet aside and wiped the sweat off my brow. Took me a few days but I'm done. To me, the paintings look like works of art, but I'll never know if I'm truly good without someone here to judge them.

"Looks good to me, might use some darker tone for the armor." I stated to myself stepping back to admire my work. I'm starting to get a familiar tug in my gut as I looked over the painting more. Tear is close by, I can feel it. I squinted my eyes as a small tear formed by the base of the dead soldier's shattered helmet. That is strange, tears never popped up when I finish painting. What makes this one so different? Curiosity has the better of me, I've been having these dreams for months now, maybe seeing a little taste of it would help rid me of these dreams. Carefully I reached into the tear with both hands, focusing on opening it wide. With a grunt and swear bead falling down my forehead, I pushed my hands apart and opened the tear wide open. First thing I noticed was how hot everything around me felt like I pulled myself inside of an oven.

"What the hell is that?" A female voice yelled as I was rocked back by an explosion. I opened my eyes and screamed in surprise before falling back on my butt. A large green explosion flooded the view in front of them. The bolts of light flew over me and burned into the wall behind me. This is no dream, this is not a dream! The monsters I painted, they were real. The soldiers, real.

"Doesn't matter. We're being overrun, hostiles on all sides. If that anomaly is our only hope of survival, I say we take it." The taller male responded. The two soldiers I painted were backing up to cover me, one firing said bolts of light back at the monsters while the other fired a shotgun. He pumped it once more only for it to click when he pulled the trigger. "I'm out!" He yelled throwing the shotgun aside and pulled out his pistol and fired away into the horde before them.

"You're . . . you're all real?" I asked out loud as heated bolts of light flew right over me. I let out a sharp yelp as I ducked and covered my head as more flew all over me. Why did I have to open that tear?! Why does my curiosity always get the better of me!

"Though the portal Zack! I'll cover you, protect the girl!" The girl yelled throwing her gun aside when it ran dry as the male ran toward me. The girl blocked a sword strike from one of the taller aliens, snapped its wrist, and sliced him in half before taking her pistol out, shooting the head of some of the smaller aliens. A bigger one uncloaked behind her and ran his sword through her chest. I nearly vomited as her blood gurgling scream filled the air.

"Ana!" The male yelled as she pulled out her knife, screaming as she plunged it deep into the head of the one who killed her. Rolling off him to pull the sword out of her chest, an slice it through another close to her before falling to the ground for good. The male bolted toward me as his life depended on it. Got to close the tear. Got to close the tear. GOT TO CLOSE THE TEAR! I scrambled to my feet as the armored figure was hit by the light rounds. He fell over in pain but picked himself up and bolted faster. My heart pounded in my chest as I held my arms out once more and focused on the tear I just opened up. I grunted as I forced my hand together and closed the tear. The armored man jumped through just as I closed it and a purple light flashed from the other side. I ducked out of the way as a purple and blue fireball shot out as the tear closed up. It consumed the air in front of it and boiled away just as quickly as it started. I huffed in puffed as my heart tried to slow itself down from beating so fast. The armored man groaned in absolute agony as he tried to force himself up, only to be brought back down by the pain.

"Holy! Are you alright!" I yelled picking myself up and ran over to the large man. His armor was broken and burnt through, in many places, I can see the burnt and damaged skin. My hands went to his throat to see if there was still a pulse in him . . . he's still alive. The whole area around me smelled burnt and his armor seemed to struggle on where it was. First, it flashed green then tried to blend into my floor, then back to green. Some type of stealth armor? I felt around the edge of his helmet, looking for some way to get it off. Finally, I found a small button around the edge. pushing it, a small hiss emitted from around his neck as the helmet wiggled. Slowly and carefully I pulled it off. First thing I noticed was his lightly colored skin, almost red like from the original native inhabitants of the Sodom below. I pulled the helmet off and got a good look at his face. One large scar ran down his blank green eyes, looked no older than I am, black hair was buzz cut and no facial hair. The burns must be doing something to him. His eyes are darting all over the place.

"Can you hear me, Sir can you hear me?" I asked. He groaned in pain while muttering one phrase. One phrase that confused me yet left me curious about the man I brought into this world.

"Protect Earth, protect her colonies, Protect humanity. Protectors of Earth and all her colonies. Protect Earth." He repeated twitching occasionally. I picked up his pistol. Little heavier than I thought. I know nothing about this man, or what he was doing at that place. If my dreams are right than he was there to destroy it. I put the pistol aside and looked over him for anything that could be causing him any harm. A shimmer of light caught my eye around his neck once more. I reached down and carefully picked up something metal. They were tags. Two tags with words stamped into them.

Zack-B160

Beta Company

Blood type O-

Team Delta

(1) Sangheii: Higher race within the Covenant. Shipmasters, field marshals, commanders. Reptilian-like, slip jaws, large, and highly honor bound

(2) Unggoy: Lower race within the Covenant. Mostly cannon fodder, basically a step or two above slaves if I understand the lore correctly. Stubby methane breathers. Only difficult in large groups.

(3) Kig-Yar: Mid-class within the covenant if I am informed correctly. Shield fighters and snipers. Basically, pirates if I understand the lore right. Bird-like bloodthirsty, normally either has a plasma shield or beam rifle.

That's a wrap on the first chapter guys. Figured I'd go a slightly different route with this Bioshock crossover than what many others have read. The ending is still fucking confusing but I'll figure it out eventually. We got a Spartan III in this one, I honestly like the III's more than an IV yet not as much as the II's. Now if 343 made an off shot game where we could play as a Spartan III that would be great. Even if they went the Halo 3: ODST route I wouldn't complain. This is a temporary replacement to 'Into the Light' as I figure out how I want that to go. Enjoy. I'll try making this a slow-burning story. We'll see how it turns out.

~~Dgreen20

Edit:3/26/19

Since I am not too far along in the story, I can edit and proofread a lot easier than my current project. I am going back to fix some mistakes I made and to improve it. Make it flow better and more entertaining.