I do not own the Halo stuff, by the way. Oh! Also, the SPARTANS are alive! All of them, even Sam. I needed them. So yeah :)

Nobody knew how this happened, how this project came back from the dead. The ODST troopers hated it to the core, the SPARTAN soldiers unwillingly welcomed them. They had no choice. The Covenant came back, and humanity was going to be wiped out without the assistance of them. Master Chief looked in the oppisite direction, and so did his SPARTAN teammates. Even if it happened to them, the soldiers didn't want it to happen again.

On Earth, in Europe.

Annabell sat on the swing, pushing her legs so she could go higher than her friend Jayden. Jayden, who found that Annabell was threatening his winning streak against her, thrusted his legs until they hurt. In the distance, the little town turned red and pink as the sun started to set on it. Annabell's ivory dress fluttered in the light breeze as she swung, trusting the thick oak tree's branch to hold on to the weight of the two six-year-old kids.

"Look! Look!" Jayden pointed to the sky, and Annabell followed his pointing finger to see a ship. She smiled and Jayden stopped, still pointing. "I want to be up there someday! I wanna go and blast those aliens to pieces!" Jayden pulled his hands into fists and made a gesture signaling he was beating up an alien. The news spread even to the little children, which was disappointing to the civilians and soldiers alike. The children shouldn't hear of the horrible things going on around them.

Annabell ignored her friend, looking down as she carefully dragged her feet on the ground, coming to a slow stop. Her long, blond curly hair was clipping back, but pieces of it hung around her face and blew in the breeze. "Where do you think they are going?" Annabell asked Jayden, now staring at the ships. She felt ashiver run up her spine and wished her daddy was there to tell her it was okay. But the thing was, her father was on one of the ships, somewhere out in the galaxy. She was just hoping her dad was on that ship, and that it was docking close.

Jayden shrugged, walking of to her friend and standing next to her, still watching the ship. "I think it is going close. Close enough for us to get there on our bikes tomorrow, if it is still there. Bring your AI, I'll bring mine. They'll be able to get into the systems and check if people we know are on board." The term AI was frequent, everybody had them now. They were all portable with these purple or blue crystals, and Annabell had one named Cricket. Cricket was a "smart" AI, her father made it and gave it to her before he left.

Annabell nodded, now excited, and picket up her white bike from the base of the tree, playing with the frills on the handles while waiting for Jayden. Jayden got his blue one, and they rode down the hill. Annabell laughed uncontrollably, the wind running into her face and through her hair felt good. The crystal in her basket turned light purple to dark, then powered up as Cricket rose. "I think you should get home quickly," the boy told her, smiling broadly. "Kate is going to be worried about you."

Cricket was named "Cricket" because of the crickets chirping when Mr. Hanks gave the AI to Annabell. Cricket was incredibly smart, and he was very protective of Annabell. He also was a fantastic hacker and okay translating, which came in handy a few times. Cricket looked at least thirteen, and he glowed a brilliant blue. Numbers scrolled through his body, and when he was interested in something, they went faster. But when surprised, bored, or hectic, you would see the numbers freeze as he worked out the details.

Annabell got to the turn and sped right, pedaling fast. She love to compete with herself, so she bet she could get home before the sun fully set. But just when Cricket opened his "mouth" to warn Annabell she was going to fast, the bike flipped from the weight on the front tire, and Annabell covered her face with her arm as she pounded in into the pavement. The crystal of Cricket remained intact, but Cricket fuzzed a bit before turning blue again. "Annabell!" Cricket shouted, reaching out to her even though the motion was useless. "Do you want me to call your mother?"

Annabell got up stiffly and shook her head. Tears sprang forth from the corners of her eyes and her lip trembled, but she picked up Cricket and powered him down. The ship stayed in the sky, and she looked up. The ship gave her unknown comfort, and she picked up her bike, walking home with her bike by her side.

The next day, Annabell wore pants and a T-shirt with a jacket covering it, with her sneakers on as she met Jayden on the corner. They both had bikes and an AI each- Cricket and Motion. Motion wasn't a "smart" AI, but she was a very good at dividing attention when Jayden and Annabell were up to mischief. They met, and then headed down the street on their bikes, slow. It was morning, which meant that the street had fast cars passing through. The two kids had to make do with the sidewalk, which made Annabell cranky because kids were on the street, younger ones and older. Either way, they were bothered.

Cricket appeared from the basket of Annabell's AI, which also held Motion. Cricket smiled at the two of them. "The military is a bit out of your normal mischief levels. Are you sure you can handle it?" Annabell looked at Jayden, who nodded. Annabell had to slow down for a toddler, and then sped up to ride next to her friend. "Take a left here, kids. Then just keep going for a while...I still doesn't know if they are here or not. Either way, if somebody sees you, hide us in your pockets and make a run for it. I suspect they will and are going to catch you, so hide us deep. Just the chips."

Annabell nodded and turned left with Jayden, and for a moment they tried to beat each other in a race neither declared. The morning sun also brought the morning chill, and paired with the thought that they were about to do something very bad, Annabell had a chill run up her spine and silently thanked God she brought a jacket. She slipped the two hologram crystals into her pockets, and just after that she felt something yank her back from the seat of the bicycle. Jayden's was laying next to hers, the front wheel still spinning.

The two of them kicked and tried to yell, but a cloth covered each mouth and nose quickly, leaving the two kids limp in the arms of the Marines who took them. "Send the clones," One ordered in the COM radio, and grabbed hold of the ladder that was issued out of the pelican, and braced himself. The Marine and his friend were lefted up and out of sight, replaced with two children clones who picked up the bikes and turned away going back home.

"This isn't cool. This isn't right," The other Marine whispered. "Those clones aren't smiling. This is going to go all wrong."

Silently, the other Marine agreed. But it was essential to take the two kids. He looked at the girl's face, she was a pretty girl. the pocket of her jacket glowed brilliantly, and the Marine took out the AI. The hologram appeared, baffled. "What the hell?!" He shouted, stepping backward into the air. "The kids!"

"It's a smart one," The other Marine whispered, taking the other one out. "But this one isn't." It was easy to tell, the purple ones were "smart" and the blueish crystals held the "dumb" ones. "What's your name?" The Marine ordered the AI. The blue hologram blurredfor a moment as he thought what to do.

"Cricket, or that's what the girl calls me. My real name is Hank, because of her last name. That right there," He pointed to the blond haired girl. "That is Annabell and the boy," He pointed to the curly brown-haired boy, "That is Jayden."

And even though Annabell and Jayden were asleep, the Marine thought he saw Annabell's eye flicker. Remorse flooding into the Helljumper's system, and he wanted to drop her off iin her home, and take back the clone. But her couldn't do that. Because he had orders, and they were strict.

I hope I got everything correct. Don't blame me- this is my first Halo FanFic!