PROLOGUE:
0651
HOURS, JANUARY 8 2557 (MILITARY CALENDAR)\ UNKNOWN SECTOR
The war had been over for years. That is what had been decided. After the destruction of the Ark and the death of Truth, the Covenant had supposedly disbanded. After nearly four years of peace, it seemed too good to be true. After four years of blissful peace, it all came to an end.
The UNSC cargo ship Heavens on Fire sat lifeless in space. On it's way to deliver manufactured goods to the outer colonies, it was attacked in Slipstream by a Covenant ship. Now, with both engines useless and and the Slipstream generator over heated, her crew could do nothing but sit in the darkness of space.
A crew member sat on a box of clothing and pulled out a cigarette.
"Smoking will give you lung cancer," said a much younger crew member as he walked into the cargo bay.
"They cured cancer didn't they?" asked the other as he pulled out a lighter.
"Yeah, hundreds of years ago."
"Then I have nothing to worry about." He lit the cigarette and took a puff. The bay remained quiet as the two crew members sat on the boxes. A ping resonated through the ship as the intercom turned on.
'We need mechanical specialist Deveroux to the bridge.' The man with the cigarette stood up and dropped it on the ground. "Looks like my specialties are needed." Stepping on the cigarette he walked towards the bridge.
The commander of the ship, Commander Rutherford, greeted Deveroux with a firm handshake. "As you know our engines are gone and our Shaw-Fujikawa drive has blown a few parts; but we couldn't have come out of slipstream at a better place." He pointed to what looked like half-a-ship floating in the middle of space. "We need you to go out to recover the parts we need. You may take a team of as many as you need. Just get the parts to get back home."
Deveroux saluted the captain but once he turned around to depart, his face turned to one of disgust. He hated work. Least of all going out into the vacuum of space in a small suit. If he had it his way, he would have his 'team' go out for him.
After a couple of hours of suiting up, a small group of five, including Deveroux, floated towards the ship. The engines looked worn but the partrs could be salvaged. "Alright. Palmer and Stevens, you go inside and look for parts for the Shaw-Fujikawa drive. Cohen, Bailey and I will work on the engines" Deveroux floated with the other two engineers to the engines. The half of the ship looked as if only part of it had made it through slipstreem. Only a fraction of the ship's name remained. 'NTO DAWN' was all that was left. He was half-expecting head bodies to be floating around, but thankfully their were none.
Upon arriving, Deveroux took out a small holopad and looked at a picture of a part that was needed. As Cohen and Bailey began removing parts of the outer shell, the sound of voices played through the radio. It was Palmer and Stevens.
"Look, there is someone in the cryo-pod."
"Let me take out my flashlight to get a better look."
"How long do you think they've been in their?"
"Hell if I know. Let's get a look at th- Woah."
"Oh my God. I thought they were all dead."
Deveroux became curious. He asked, "What did you guys find? Palmer? Stevens?"
"You are not going to believe this Gus. It's a SPARTAN and he's alive in a cryo-pod!"