This is something I have been meaning to show to the public so that I may get feedback and see what others think of it. This is not a complete project and as it stands right now I believe that I have completed one-third of what I plan to write. If you are a fan of some of the REAL Halo stories you will notice some relation to the legacy of Halo but as you should already know it is fan fiction so it is as I imagine something taking place in the story. No characters or events in this story are related to the Halo timeline. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Prologue

Present Time

The male stood at the mouth of the cave as the warm wind swept by. The holographic image of the AI Omega appeared atop a medium sized boulder to his left. "Please excuse my interruption of your moment of silence Leon but i have detected movement along the ridge. My guess is Covenant search parties looking for stragglers they may have overlooked."

Removing his magnum from its holster upon his thigh Leon inspected the battered weapon. "And their numbers are?"

Figures streamed across the AI's figure as he searched for an answer to the question. "Within my limited scan range I detect two search parties. Six in each, perhaps the standard grunts lead by a single elite."

Leon smirked behind his helmets visor knowing that taking the search parties out would be a simple task for any Spartan. However, the magnum he held tightly was his only tool of destruction which had rounds still. Even still he was down to his last magazine. The rest of the ammunition had been used during his last mission and his retreat. Amongst the chaos that had taken place as the orbital power grid had been destroyed leaving the planets orbital defense ring crippled and Leon separated from the rest of his squad as the covenant quickly pushed the lines. This particular mission failure left a stinging pain in his heart. He hated losing but his failure left him with a new task at hand, surviving and possibly regrouping with his team.

"Leon we could use a little more fire power and we both know they have it."

As Leon stepped from the cave he couldn't fight the urge. In a light yet somehow firm voice he asked, "Omega have you picked up any UNSC communications?"

The AI seemed surprised by the question, "Unfortunately I have not." The AI's figure disappeared from its perch yet his voice still spoke through the speakers within the Spartan's helmet, "For what it is worth Leon I am sorry."

Walking as quietly as possible Leon quietly replied after letting out a small sigh, "Thanks."

The elite known as Zarkaku grunted. He hated being stuck on straggler duty but the cries for pity and the screams of agony as his cool blue blade sliced through their form was well worth the hassle. The sound of plasma being discharged caught his attention and snapped him back to the task at hand. "What is going on?"

The grunt that discharged his plasma pistol jumped in fear of what punishment was awaiting him for target practicing with a field mouse. "N-nothing sir, I was just practicing my aim on a small animal."

Although he felt some anger against the grunt for possibly warning off victims he still had a level of understanding. What use was the grunt if he couldn't hit his target? "Keep your target practice for when you're training or else the last thing you will see will be my blade."

The grunt gulped loudly, "Y-yes sir, won't happen again." The feeling that all eyes were upon him and passing judgment struck fear into him. As he rounded a rock formation he felt a push from behind.

Watching his motion sensor carefully Leon inched his way along a small ledge. The sound of plasma fire confirmed what his sensor told him, he was close. "Omega how close is the second patrol?"

"I believe they are three hundred meters to the South West. I advise taking care to being quiet so as to keep our whereabouts a secret. At least for now anyway."

"That's what I was thinking. Keep checking for any comms from allied forces."

"Will do, just don't get your hopes up."

"Copy that." Sticking to the shadows that the sun's position provided Leon silently took position above a rock formation which stood approximately five meters from his position. If things got bad he could drop behind it for cover. As he watched the patrol he noticed that a single grunt was being scolded, perhaps the one who discharged his weapon. Examining the surrounding area he did not notice any bodies only a small charred crater in the ground ten meters from the group. "A little trigger happy aye?"

"So it appears."

"That was rhetorical Omega." Leon noticed the singled out grunt had begun to make its way to the rock formation. Hugging the ledge he waited for the moment to pounce and be one step closer to evening the odds. Just as he was about to make his move he noticed two grunts swiftly pursuing the first grunt. "Must be my birthday."

Mildly listening to their conversation he kept an eye on the rest of the patrol, the elite in particular. Seeing that no attention was being paid to the three grunts he hopped to the top of the rock formation. Dropping down he landed atop the middle grunt, the weight of his armor crushing bones on impact killing the grunt instantly. Quickly grabbing the knifes stashed within the armor on his shoulders he fluidly sliced the throats of the remaining two in one motion.

He plucked plasma grenades from their owners and peeked around the rock. Satisfied that the others were unaware that their friends had just met their doom he waited for an opportune time to make his move. Recognizing he wasn't going to get a better opportunity he spun the knives in his hands so the blades were in the clasp of his fingertips and bolted around the rock. He sent the knives twirling through the air, each slicing their way into the skull of one grunt and the throat of another. Sprinting to the elite he hoped he would make it to his target in time to not draw unwanted attention. The elite spun around after suddenly hearing footsteps and bloody corpses hitting the ground. To Leon's advantage he was close enough that he could attack and that he had caught the elite off guard. Using all his strength he thrust his fist into the elite's stomach leaving him breathless and unable to cry for help. Leon hopped over his hunched foe and plucked the energy sword from the elites hip and as the blade sparked to life he thrust the blade upward slicing the elite in half.

"Well Omega we are in the clear." He wore a smirk satisfied with his accomplishment.

"The second patrol is continuing with their path, nicely done Leon."

"How is the comm chatter?" He knew what the answer was as he waited for the response he stowed the energy sword in an empty grenade pouch upon his waist and bent over picking up the blood splattered plasma rifle from the elite's corpse.

"Their quiet, even the covenant chatter has dropped substantially." The AI's tone changed slightly, "We have a problem, they are preparing to glass Arcadia!"

"Another colony lost to the covenant." The Spartan's fists shook from his frustration. "We have to make it off the planet before it is too late."

"Agreed, but finding transport will not be a simple.." His voice cut off suddenly as something caught his attention. "Leon you're going to want to hear this."

"Patch it through."

Radio static broke the short silence immediately followed by a male's voice, "This is Sierra One Eight Three, my team is MIA, requesting immediate evac over."

A smile spread across Leon's face, "Sierra One Eight Three this is Sierra Two Three Six, I am sending you coordinates now. Meet me there."

"Negative on that, I'm pinned down one click north of the power grid. I will have Deja send the coordinates when you get closer, I cannot afford to be compromised."

"Copy that Sierra Two Three Six out."

"Setting a waypoint now." Omega knew this was exactly what Leon needed to keep going.

The Spartan known as Michael took a seat in the corner of the darkly lit room as he slid shells into his M90 Combat Assault Weapon (CAW). Besides the whining of banshees and phantoms passing by the war torn six story building all was calm. A female's voice broke the silence he had grown to enjoy.

"I finished triangulating Leon's position as you requested Michael. Her voice was calm despite everything the AI had been through in the past thirty six hours.

"And?"

"He is 2.6 kilometers east of the power grid."

Resting the freshly loaded shotgun against the wall to his right, he replied with a small groan of pain, "Copy that Deja. Thank you." The male slipped his MKV helmet off and placed it next to his trusty shotgun. Deja's holographic figure appeared atop the helmet. "Deja I want you to be my eyes and ears while I make repairs to my armor."

She examined the Spartan noticing multiple valuable pieces of armor missing, melted away by inaccurate plasma fire that could have easily taken her reclaimer's life allowing her to fall into enemy hands. "Rerouting power to maximize the motion sensor range now. I will alert you if I get a possible reading.

"Thank you Deja."