Author's Note:

This had a lot of thought and effort put into it, so if you review, then please tell me what you liked so much about it, rather then the bland "It's awesome/Can you please do more?" comments I've seen so often on stories. For those reading the Halo storyline (ends after the war ends) I recommend listening to "Killzone 3 Theme" so you get the feeling it's portraying.

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Spartans Never Die

by

Commanding After Dark

"Halo Rings"

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In this universe, of which we reside in, there are many secretes and even more questions. These question are every where, in every one, and everything, but despite that. There is one question the was the most powerful humanity had ever asked it's self. Are we alone... The question it's self has been around longer than any can remember and has spawned so of the most destructive wars humanity has ever had. Wars from religion to scientific belief have been started over that one, single, question. It wasn't until many years later, once humanity had reached out to the stars to find new homes, was it finally answered. The answer we received wasn't what we were expecting. No, instead of ushering us into a new age, one of culture, technological advancements, and prosperity, it became one of the bloodiest and most devastating chapters in human history. We were not alone, but... we also didn't belong.

Humanity's first contact with another sentient species was one of violence. It was an alliance of sentient alien species known as the Covenant. While humans had learned to look past religion and do what was necessary to survive, they hadn't. They quickly proclaimed humans as heretics and launched a war against all of humanity, determined to exterminate the species that had come so far from using stones and rocks for tools to survive. The tide of the war quickly became obvious when the Covenant destroyed most of harvest. An planet on the outer ring of U.N.S.C. controlled space. They used their superior technology to super heat the planets surface, turning most of it into a shell of glass, rendering most life on the planet extinct. U.N.S.C. fleets were torn apart in ire fights between us and them. They had more soldiers, better equipment, and superior anatomy. They pushed through all lines of defense and, for a time, it seemed like the end. Like a nightmare, only you weren't going to wake up in your bed at any moment and resume your peaceful life. It was happening, and nothing you could do would stop it. That was, until the SPARTANS arrived...

They arrived shortly after the first horrifying months of war, seemingly coming out of no where and giving hope to humanity. They were originally children, kidnapped at young ages for experiments. These experiments would augment them, improving their speed, strength, and agility literally turning them into super soldiers. They were originally meant to crush a uprising known as the insurrectionists movement. Though their task was never truly lived out as the Covenant posed a far more pressing threat. They were the soldiers needed to combat the threat, and they did so. They were the SPARTAN IIs. With their help the tide shifted to the humans corner a little bit more, allowing us to finally come off the defensive and retaliate against the Covenant. Though it wouldn't last. While the SPARTAN IIs were certainly effective at fighting the Covenant, they were few in number, incredibly difficult to create, and were dying at a high rate as the Covenant began to take humanity more seriously. In an effort to solve this problem the United Nations Space Command began the SPARTAN III project.

The SPARTAN IIIs, just like SPARTAN IIs, were trained on the planet known as Reach. It was like a home to all SPARTANS. Unlike the SPARTAN IIs, though SPARTAN IIIs weren't as incredibly effective in battle, but this was to be expected. SPARTAN IIIs were volunteers and were adults during their augmentation. This coupled with the fact that Halsey, founder of the SPARTAN II project, refused to give them the formula for the SPARTAN II serums set them up for failure when compared to the SPARTAN IIs. The last of the SPARTAN IIIs were killed in action on the planet of Reach when the Covenant finally invaded it. During all of this the SPARTAN IIIs all died making sure civilians were evacuated, and important U.N.S.C. files were destroyed so the Covenant couldn't get them. After the fall of Reach one SPARTAN II remained. All of their brethren killed and the IIIs gone as well. The fall of Reach signaled a turning point of the war, humanity become more viscous and determined to win and make the Covenant answer for everything they did, every innocent life lost, every planet destroyed, all the lives ruined by their self righteous quest to achieve god hood.

This SPARTAN II was Sierra-117, his true name being John, and his rank being Master Chief Petty Officer. This earned him the nick name Master Chief. It is unknown why he, of all the SPARTAN IIs and IIIs, survived. Some argue that he received special training, other said it was pure luck, and a few had heard rumors of an artificial intelligence unit being given to him. All these and many more sprung up, all trying to rationalize why he had survived the longest. Why he was the last. By now the war had become a stalemate. The Covenant couldn't beat the humans, and the humans didn't have the technology to beat the Covenant.

The war turned to the human's favor when many Sangheli's, one of the many races that made up the Covenant Alliance that was often referred to as "Elites" or "Split Lips" by humans, began to doubt the truth of The Prophets wisdom. The "Prophets" were the leaders of the Covenant, the ones who waged war against humanity. Some even began to rebel against the Covenant's ways, thus leading to the beginning of the end for the Covenant. The Sangelis were second only to the Prophets themselves. As more began to dessert and question them, as did the other races too. Fearing the potential uprising the Prophets removed them from their power and gave it to the Jarlhanee', or Brutes as called by the humans. Seeing the Prophets shame their race eventually lead to a hate between them and the Prophets. Though the Prophets offered one member of their species the option to "redeem" the Sanghelis. This one became the Arbiter. Sent on suicide missions to redeem themselves, but never gaining any honor or pride from their accomplishments.

The Arbiter, while on a mission from the Prophets, met Sierra-117. It was here that they were forced to work together for their survival, against an even greater enemy. The Flood... They were a parasitic species that infected what ever came into contact with them, turning and eventually mutating them into the flood. It was here that Sierra-117 and The Arbiter met the Grave Mind. It was the one in charge of every member of The Flood, deciding all their decisions and being their leader. It only forms once enough sentient being have been absorbed by the flood. Sentient species were the key to it's survival. It was here the truth was learned about everything. That humanity wasn't a species of heretics, that the word Reclaimer was mistaken as reclamation leading to the war, that the Prophets had lied about humans. Humanity was really the heir to the Forerunner throne. The Forerunners were one of the earliest species in the galaxy. They had tasked themselves with ensuring all species preservation and eventual enlightenment. They encountered the flood, unaware of its strengths. You see, The Flood survives off of living species because with each sentient being absorbed it grows more intelligent. They Forerunners thought of 1,000 potential ways to eliminate the menace, but each failed. The Flood was to great in numbers for these plans to work. Eventually they had only one idea left. Halo. An array of massive ring like weapons scattered across the galaxy. When activate the would wipe all life with in 25,000 light years of any rings. In order to repopulate the galaxy, they took embryos and living specimens of all sentient life and hid them in protected facilities, safe from the Halo effect. While they couldn't kill The Flood directly they could wipe out it's food source. The Flood only survived the act by hiding in certain installations, including some Halo Rings. It is unknown what became of the Forerunners though. With the truth spreading amongst the Sangheli the Covenant quickly began folding under the might of humanity and the Sangheli...

Thanks to the combined efforts the war had ended, but it did not bring about a time of peace. Instead it brought humiliation, anger, and bitter resentment from most humans. Less than 200 years later, a radical group appears. The call themselves the "Warghosts" and have dedicated their lives to ensure the extinction of all Sangheli. Due to this compromising the peace treaty U.N.S.C. forces develop the SPARTAN V program, 25 of them survived the project due to the technology being lost over the years. The SPARTAN Vs were ineffective despite all efforts to end the rise. The group was unpredictable and forming Task Force U.S.D. (United Species Defense) only made them resent the U.N.S.C. more. A politician with these ideals eventually rose to power, convincing the populace of Latina (Latt-In-A) that the Sangheli were still evil and needed to pay for their crimes against humanity. In the process of trying to keep the planet under U.N.S.C. control the Neighboring planets sympathized with there plea. Eventually Latina politicians convinced Latinis (Latt-Nis) to do away with U.N.S.C. government and join them. This treaty became the foundation for the Remember the Fallen government. Due to the planets close proximity the were able to easily keep each other supplied and quickly fended off the U.N.S.C. attacks.

They slaughtered all U.N.S.C. personnel that refused to join their cause. They quickly built up defenses in order to prevent any U.N.S.C. fleets from getting near there planets and declared themselves independent from U.N.S.C. rule. The U.N.S.C. planets of Kimberly, Cyclone, as well as the Covenant planet "Shik' Hadaa" prepared defenses should violent action be taken upon them. The two planets between the 3 didn't name it easy though, constantly sending threats stating if they continue trade with them, then they'll declare war. Ignoring the threats was a response they paid for. During a massive convoy transfer from Cyclone to Shik' Hadaa the Remember the Fallen government finally struck from their home planet Latina. Millions of lives were lost in the aftermath of the attack. This was the final straw for Cyclone and the declared war. Cyclone quickly prepared an invasion fleet of 10 cruisers and 7 frigates to invade Latina. As they reached the planets orbit a surprise came when they were met with 12 cruisers, 13 frigates, and 4 battleships. Before they had time to retreat the fleet was fired upon destroying most of the ships and injuring those that fled, but this was not the end. For when those ships returned home they discovered it wasn't their home anymore. During their absence Latinis had sent an invasion fleet to conquer their home, and it worked. With the majority of their fleet gone their defenses were devastated and the war lost. Despite the planets freezing temperatures they were ready. Ground to orbit defenses ripped apart their ships, killing all on board. Uncountable lives were lost that year.

It wouldn't be until a year later that Shik' Hadaa would fall under the combined might of the planet, and simultaneously the planet Kimberly would fall under attack. Though, unlike Kimberly, they glassed the surface of the planet. Leaving no chance for survival. This would be the final stroke and begin the bloodied war between R.F. and U.N.S.C. The U.N.S.C. launched a fleet of 30 frigates, 17 cruisers, 10 battleships and 5 covenant cruisers to crush the rebellion. it took them 5 years to reach the solar system. By the time the arrived the war was lost and Cyclone, as well as Kimberly had conquered. The fleet, formally known as "Eridainus", traveled to Latina determined to crush the resistance and take revenge on the R.F. They attempted an invasion, but failed, the ground defenses were o strong, and a noticeable chunk of their fleet died from GODS (Ground to Orbit Defense Systems). Hearing of the invasion, Cyclone and Latina sent support fleets to help combat the threat. Upon arrival they immediately began attack U.N.S.C. forces as well as Covenant. The combined power wiped the entire fleet out, leaving no survivors. Retaliating the R.F. sent out invasion fleets to the closest solar system, Claudius IV. The two U.N.S.C. planets fought, but their ships were destroyed during the invasion attempt, and thus had little chance of surviving. The planets were dominated with in a year, creating a forward outpost for the R.F. Under a year later they invaded and destroyed the neighboring 3 covenant planets. This brought outrage and forced the Covenant and U.N.S.C. to ignore them no more. Over the next 20 years unfathomable amounts of lives were lost...

It wasn't until they 34th year of war did everything take a turn for the worst. The R.F. had found severely damaged Halo Ring. The U.N.S.C. had been monitoring their networks and immediately sent a force to destroy the ring, or at the very least keep them off of it. The R.F. fleet "Cerberus" and U.N.S.C./Covenant fleet "Will of the Heart" met 7 months later at the ring. The battle went on for weeks, neither side yielding, constantly battling around the ring, none truly resting. It wasn't until the destruction of R.F.S. (Remember the Fallen Ship) Devil's Thorn exploding near the ring did the fleet Cerberus begin retreating. Though it wasn't the ending the U.N.S.C. had been expecting. The destruction was a fake one. A self destruction, to disguise what they truly were doing. Shortly after the conflict began Cerberus realized they wouldn't win, so in an effort to stop the U.N.S.C. and Covenant from obtaining the ring a plan was hatched. The would steal one of their ships slip-space drive cores and install it with in the installation. They planned on using slip-space to return with the ring. It did have a cost though, the tension of slip-space tore even more of the place off and by the time it reached their home system it was severely damaged. They R.F. commenced operation "Ascension" which would repair the ring before using it to rid the galaxy of the Covenant and any U.N.S.C. that interfered. An estimated 4 years was the estimated revival time for the ring. The U.N.S.C. caught wind of this thanks to some carefully placed spies in the R.F. command chain. 4 years was all they had before the R.F. went on a mass genocide across the galaxy. They decided to give the Spartan Project one more try, because they realized the reason they were so effective was they didn't constantly have to hold themselves back during war, but when trying to snuff out the Warghosts they had to be mindful of civilians. Not to mention not many survived the process to begin with. So, with high hopes in mind, the U.N.S.C. created the first ever SPARTAN VIs.

With experience under the belt and new technology at their disposal the U.N.S.C. submitted 400 people for SPARTAN VI testing. During the tests exactly 300 survived and began full fledged SPARTAN VIs. With the forces ready, and one year left to begin the training They stood at 6ft. 9in. had 5 times the strength as a normal human, 7 times with the power armor they wore. 4 times faster, 6 times quicker reaction speeds... They were perfect soldiers, the solution to the war. So the U.N.S.C., with super soldiers in their arsenal and the Covenant as allies, schemed a plan to destroy the R.F.s chances once and for all. They were going to build a hyper mass slip-space rupture (HMSSR) portal and use it to sling shot their ships directly to the home system where the ring resided. 50 ships of every class the Covenant and U.N.S.C. had to offer were being sent there to destroy the ring. It took 6 months to build, but thanks to it being a massive upgraded version, travel would only require 10 months to reach the planet from the portal, over 75,000 light years away. They prepared leaving nothing to chance, unaware that most of the R.F.'s fleet would be there too, in preparation for the assault on the home world of all Sangheli, Sanghelios... The attack was sudden and took the R.F. by surprise, they didn't know how the U.N.S.C. and Covenant had gotten into the Solar System undetected, but they did. The battle following was the largest in all recorded history. Many ships destroyed the lives lost couldn't even ne written, there literally wasn't a number for the amount of casualties sustained by both sides. The R.F., U.N.S.C., and Covenant fought valiantly, but in the end it came down to operation "Eclipse". 100 of the SPARTAN VIs were to board the Halo ring with marines, O.D.S.T.s (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), and Shangheli (Elites). Their goals were to plant "Break Down" Bombs, a new weapon based off of newly discovered elements and technology. It would literally tear your apart, micro-atom by micro-atom and leave the pieces strung about. The planet to detonate these through out the ring, but also at the power core attached to it now, the one responsible for keeping the operation going. It was located in the center of the ring, attached by 4 long corridors leading to the rest of the ring, creating an X shape in the center. One ship, U.N.S.C. Congress, would move towards the ring to deploy while being covered by the rest of the force...

The plan had worked and the teams were onboard the ring. Each one gave the green light signaling their set. Except one team, Team Kingsmen. You see, when they were traveling to the core, the carrier had been shot, and that bullet hit the Break Down bomb's transmitter. This wasn't discovered until after they had arrived at the core. It would have to be detonated manually, meaning one would have to stay behind. While they were arguing over why they weren't going to leave the SPARTAN VI K-124 behind R.F. forces surrounded them pinning them down. In one last desperate attempt to save their team, K-124 radioed SPARTAN VI Team Phoenix to get their team. They explained the situation, they didn't want the rest of Kingsmen to die here and they'd be crucial to the war. So they simply waited for Phoenix to arrive before turning on their air filter. Gas Canisters flew into the room disbursing sleeping agents to put the team to sleep. As Phoenix approached to gather the bodies, K-124 thanked them and waited for 25 minutes for them to make it off the ring. With a heavy heart K-124 sighed before slamming their palm onto the manual detonation pad. A slight whirring sound was heard, and then K-124 felt nothing. The core of the ring disappeared an with it gone, most of the power disappeared as well. This lead to malfunctions, and eventually he machines inside began exploding and soon the ring was engulfed in dust clouds and debris. Silently poofs of substances shooting away before the ring was nothing more than a large cluster of debris...

(Play Halo Sound Track: Never Forget)

It wasn't until 2 years later did the war finally end. The destruction of their super weapon brought enemy moral down, making it that much easier to defeat them. The major blow came when the planet Latina was invaded. after that, the rest were like dominos, and eventually the solar system was conquered and returned to U.N.S.C. controlled space. Though it was a joyess occasion no one would ever forget the lives lost in the war, or the battle... but of all the lives lost the one that would be remembered by all was K-124... Major Kiethan Price, was awarded the Medal of Honor and a Purple Heart, and because of his duty and great sacrifice a monument awarded on his birth planet... No one would be forgetting him anytime soon...

(Stop Playing)

Not every thing has a happy ending, but not everything has an ending at all. They are few and far, but they are there. We just don't always see them. K-124 did not die via the Break Down Bomb, instead he was taken from out plane of existence. The BDB not only broke apart atoms, it also broke apart the veil, keeping our existence separate from others. Allowing him to transfer to the other side of these veils... You know what they say... "Spartans never die, they just go missing in action."...