0330 Hours, December 18, 2534 (Military Calendar) /
Insurrectionist frigate Hell's Harpoon en route to
Zeus Training Facility, asteroid belt Amber Light

Commander Ethan B. Hook was as tough of a leader as they come. He had seen his fair share of combat, hell; he'd seen ten men's share of combat. Twenty years ago he never would of thought he'd be in command of a of a warship, packed full of recruits for the war effort against the United Nations Space Command, UNSC for short. War, however, has a way of changing even the best laid plans. Now he is the commander of the Hell's Harpoon; a ship that was almost as old as him, a ship which until fifteen minutes ago had gone the entire length of Hook's command without being attacked. Hook prided himself on his ability to move around unnoticed, slipping insurgents in and out without becoming so much as a blip on the radar. Today, though, his ship had come under attack by an enemy, an enemy that was on the inside.

At 0315, to the second, the Harpoon was rocked by a massive explosion. Initial reports were that an Archer missile had a partial detonation, but when the ship suddenly came to a halt it was clear their engines had been destroyed. Maintenance had been sent to investigate the damage, along with a small security detail. The last report he got was that they had reached the engine room and the situation looked bad. Originally Commander Hook had expected foul play from one of his crew, but when reports of gunfire were coming in from all around the ship it became clear that it was much more. At 0321, Hook put the entire ship on high alert and ordered all personnel to arm themselves with anything they could find. There were men and women roaming the halls with wrenches and sharpened brooms.

The Harpoon's security teams were sent to the major choke points of the ship, but whatever was in his ship was cutting through them. Chatter among his bridge officers was that there was a squad or more of UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Troopers onboard. If that was the case, then how did they get onboard without being detected? This assumption became false when the crew up channeled reports of a single, large soldier running through the corridors. Reports were that this soldier was sporting a full suit of body armor, from head to toe, colored as black as the night. With casualty reports mounting and an enemy within his ship, Commander Hook made the decision to evacuate all personnel at 0329. No one made it off the ship.

Escape pods had been disabled on all levels, whatever this thing was it wanted to keep everyone onboard. It wanted to kill them all. Hook ordered what was left of his armed security teams to the bridge, where they were to protect his officers and himself until help from Zeus could arrive. Emergency thrusters were still working, slowly pushing the Harpoon towards the facility, but they were still hours away at this speed. He hoped that someone was paying attention to their scanners and realized that his ship decelerated at an unnatural speed. However, he wasn't going to hold his breath.

"Commander," spoke up Elizabeth Allen, a civilian whose knowledge of shipboard communications earned her a spot among his crew, "I just received reports that security has set up outside of the bridge elevator."

"How many made it, Ms. Allen?" Hooks' voice gave a hint of worry, for he knew he wouldn't like the answer.

"Fifteen, sir. That's all that Sergeant Weaver is reporting."

"Fifteen?" He turned to face her, "when we left Keller personnel reported our security strength to be around two hundred!"

She could sense the anger and desperation in his voice, but she did her best to remain calm, "I understand, Commander, but those were the numbers that I was given."

Hook brought his hand to his face and rubbed his temples with his thumb and index finger, it was a nervous habit. Things had gotten out of hand and fast, but he wasn't about to lose this ship, not without a fight.

"Seal the bridge, retrieve your side arms, and ladies and gentlemen," the crew all turned to him. "Pray."

The bridge crew scurried about, pulling their side arms from their concealed locations around the bridge and pushing anything they could in front of them for cover. The men moved closest to the doors, while the women, who were slightly apprehensive, moved towards the back. Commander Hook stood defiantly in the middle of them all, his pistol in one hand and a six inch knife, a gift from his wife, in the other. Moments later the echoing of gunfire could be heard coming up the elevator shaft.

"Bridge, Delta One. I say again, Bridge this is Delta One. Does anyone copy?" Sergeant Weaver's voice could barely be heard over the gunfire in the background.

"Go ahead, Delta One. What is your situation down there?" Ms. Allen replied, her voice now had that fearful shake in it.

"FUBAR! I've got six men KIA, this.. this.. THING came out of nowhere! Shit," there was static over the radio, "Grenade!"

The thunderous echo from the concussion of a grenade bounced off the walls and up the elevator shaft. Everyone turned their heads slightly, a reaction to hearing such a loud noise.

"Delta One, report."

Nothing.

Ms. Allen's voice became shakier, "Delta One, come in!"

Again there was silence, but before she could try again the elevator made a terrifying sound. The arrow on the right side of the door way lit up, revealing that someone was coming up. Hook flipped the safety off of his pistol, which now swayed side to side in his trembling hand. He prayed that it was Sergeant Weaver coming up to inform them that the threat had been neutralized, but deep down he knew it was only wishful thinking. The pistol began to shake more violently, sweat started to drip down his brow, burning his eyes. He didn't dare wipe it away as he listened to the elevator start to slow before coming to a complete halt. The silence was broken as one of his crew nervously pulled back on the trigger, sending a bullet striking the elevator door. The women screamed, the men jumped and Hook yelled.

"Dammit, who fired that-"

An explosion erupted throughout the bridge as the elevator doors were blasted open. Shrapnel from the door struck Hook in his shoulder, causing him to drop his pistol. His body was spun around and thrown onto the ground from the force. Through the ringing in his ears he could barely make out the screams of his shipmates and the gunfire which reverberated throughout the bridge. Hook looked up, his vision dazed and foggy, and saw as Ms. Allen was shot in the chest. Blood splattered against the council behind her and sparks shot up as the bullet passed through her and into the panel. As she stumbled backwards, clutching her wound with both hands, another bullet struck her in the forehead, ending her life instantly. It was only a few more seconds later that the gunfire stopped all together and Hook knew he was the only one left.

When his senses finally came back to him, he could hear the heavy footsteps walking across the bridge towards him. He remained still, gripping his knife tightly in his hand, waiting till this monster got close enough. When he heard the step fall within a few feet of where he laid, the Commander sprung to his feet and lunged for his attacker. It was all a blur at first, his adrenaline having gotten the best of him as he swung blindly at his target. His first swipe missed when the soldier took a step back then his secondary attack again came up short. By now he was focused enough to see his attacker, but he had wished he hadn't. This thing stood a whole two feet taller than him, its body was plated like a starship and his reflective visor revealed Hook's own terrified expression to himself.

"No, it can't be." Hook grumbled under his breath before regaining his courage and swinging at the creature again.

This time the monster didn't humor Hook by making him miss, he met his forearm with his own, causing the bone to completely shatter. With a horrified scream, Hook dropped the knife and stumbled backwards onto his commanding chair in the middle of the bridge. Tears swelled up in his eyes as the pain was insurmountable, but fear was also pushing his tears down his cheeks. The monster approached him, reaching down and picking up Hook's knife as it did. The knife looked small in its massive hand, if it had squeezed hard enough it would have shattered it with ease.

"Ethan Baynard Hook, you and your crew are being charged for treason which in wartime is punishable by death. How do you plead?"

A confused look crossed Hook's face and he said nothing.

"Commander Hook, how do you plead?!" Its voice boomed through the emitter on its helmet.

"Not guilty." Hook finally pushed out through the pain, "Spartan."

With that the Spartan raised the knife up in a quick motion, slamming it into the soft spot under Hooks' chin, pushing it through the lower part of his skull and into his brain. Hook's eyes bulged out as death overtook him and then he wasted away. The Spartan turned his hand sharply, snapping the knife away from the hilt and tossed it to the side.

"Despite your plea, you have been deemed guilty, along with your crew."

The Spartan looked up from Hook's body and out of the bridges viewing windows. Two ships could be seen approaching the Harpoon, they would be his ride to the Zeus training facility. He reached up to his neck, unlatched his helmet and pulled it off. His sandy blonde hair, no longer within military regulations, fell shoulder length. With his bright green eyes he stared off into the distance.

"This is for the good of mankind, Sam." His eyes scanned the bridge, soaking up the carnage of the last few minutes.

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that."