I know it has been awhile but I wanted to make sure I had the plotline ready before I started writing. This will be one of the shorter chapters (Still longer than 90% of Halofall Star Effect's chapters) so bear with me. I really wanted to set the ground work for the whole story. I really hope you enjoy it and give me some feedback on it.
I do not own anything from these stories but I do own any original content.
Chapter One: The Beginning
The Illusive Man's Office
Milky Way Galaxy
Mass Effect Universe
"Shepherd did everything right." The raven haired woman said in her thick Australian accent. She turned to face the seated man, "He stopped Saren and the Reapers. He saved the Council. What more can you ask of him?"
It was the man's turn to speak. He flicked ash off the tip of his cigarette and took a long drag. He exhaled the grey smoke and blew it out of his face, "You and I both know that the Reapers are coming in full force. While the Council wishes to turn a blind eye to it, I won't. We need Shepherd. Make it happen."
"What about the other man with him. The armored soldier that helped him defeat Sovereign?" she asked.
The Illusive Man turned to his computer system, a massive display of monitor screens and keyboard systems. He keyed one of the consoles and the center screen changed to a video feed from the Council Chambers. He zoomed the feed in on the image of an olive green armored soldier that he had never seen before the video. He watched the video twenty times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The soldier was unstoppable and uncontrollable, two things that he disliked.
He sat back in his chair and smirked, "He's expendable."
"Yes, sir." The girl said, "I will get started right away."
"Good." He took another drag of his cigarette, "Put Project Lazarus in process."
"Right away, sir." The girl nodded, "Miranda out."
Her image faded away, leaving the Illusive Man alone in his chair. He looked up at his computer screen. The video had continued to play and it was showing how Shepherd and the soldier had to fight Saren's Husk form. The Illusive Man reached for his glass of scotch that sat on the coaster to his right. He sipped the liquor and took another drag from his cigarette. All the while, he kept his blue eyes on the screen.
UNSC Pillar of Autumn
Milky Way Galaxy
Halo Universe
"Chief, we need to get to the escape pod!" Cortana yelled in his ear as he fired three shots into an attacking Sangheili soldier. The first two shots took out the alien's shields while the third hit him right between the eyes. He turned down the hallway and hung a right around the corner.
A team of marines were pinned down by a group of Covenant forces and Chief had to jump in. He snapped his pistol back to his hip and reached for the assault rifle that hung on his back. He hopped over the makeshift cover the marines set up and tossed a frag grenade at the enemy.
The explosion took out a few of the Grunts and disabled the Elite's shielding. The Elite attempted to slap Chief with his plasma rifle but the Spartan dodged the attack. He shoved the barrel of his assault rifle under the Elite's chin and pulled the trigger. Purple blood squirted out in all directions.
The marines cleared out the rest of the Grunts and regrouped with Chief, "Thanks, Chief. We owe you one."
"We need to get to the escape pods." Chief told them, "Keyes has ordered an abandon ship."
"Lead the way, sir." The lead marine sounded, pointing his rifle down the hallway the Covenant had come from. Chief simply nodded and trekked on.
They moved through a set of service corridors until they heard gun fire. They rushed to the scene and were greeted by a small team of three marines guarding an escape pod from two groups of Covenant forces.
Chief sprang into action. He fired a burst shot from his rifle, taking out a few Grunts. He rolled to dodge a purple needle that one of the Grunt's had fired. The needle slammed against the wall, leaving a burn mark on it. Chief unload his magazine into the group, never missing a shot.
The marines attempted to help but Chief was too fast for them. The enemy was dead before they could get a real shot off. Chief stood up to his full height and turned to the marines, "Get in the pod."
The marines pilled in, filling every seat in the pod. Chief entered and noticed that fact and shrugged. He didn't need a seat.
"Now would be a very good time to leave." Cortana said in his helmet.
Chief looked up at the Bumblebee pilot and nodded, "Punch it."
"Aye aye, sir." She bellowed, turning around to her controls. Chief felt the Bumblebee break away from the airlock, "We're disengaging. Goin' for minimum safe distance."
"We're going to make it, aren't we, sir?" a marine looked up to Chief and asked, "I don't want to die out here!"
Not knowing what else to do, Chief patted the marine on the shoulder and nodded. Cortana got his attention with a simple, "Look!"
He raced to the front and grabbed the back of the pilot's chair to hold himself up. Out of the cockpit, he got his first real glimpse at the target below. The structure was shaped like a ring. The bottom of the ring, facing outward, was made of a silver-looking metal. The inward side of the ring was what really caught his eye. To Chief, the inside looked to have landmasses on it, including oceans and mountains. The idea was impossible but he was seeing it with his own two eyes.
"What is that thing, Lieutenant?" asked one of the marines to the pilot.
"Hell if I know but we're landing on it." Was her response.
The marine that Chief had attempted to comfort sounded out, "The Autumn! She's been hit!"
Chief turned his attention to the ship and noticed that she was taking damaging hits from plasma torpedoes. Cortana said what he was thinking, "I knew it! The Autumn is accelerating, Keyes is going in manually!"
"Heads up, everyone, this is it!" the pilot yelled, "We're breaking the ring's atmosphere in five."
"Sure you don't want to take a seat." Cortana asked him.
"We'll be fine." He grunted.
"If I still had fingers, they'd be crossed." She said as the Bumblebee crashed through the atmosphere of the ring. The pilot fought for control of the shuttle, attempting to find a decent landing zone.
"We're coming in too fast!" Cortana yelled as they broke the cloud line. The Bumblebee shot out over the hilltop and over a ravine with a river running through it.
"Damn! Air brake failure! They blew too early! I'm losin' her. Brace for impact!" the pilot yelled as the pod crashed into the ground and Chief's vision went white.
The Citadel
Milky Way Galaxy
Mass Effect Universe
"Wake up, John." Was all he heard and he shot up out of his bed with his SmartPistol pointed at the door. He was breathing heavy and was covered in sweat. It took him a moment to realize that he was standing in his bedroom that the Alliance gave to him on the Citadel, not in the Bumblebee that took him to the first Halo ring.
He lowered his pistol and sat on the end of the bed. That was over six years ago, he told himself, Why am I still dreaming about it?
"Another dream, John?" he turned to see that Cortana's blue avatar stood over the small device that Halsey had given him. The device allowed Cortana to appear in her avatar form when her chip was in placed inside it. He mainly used it to store the chip safely when he wasn't wearing his armor.
"It was the Autumn." He whispered, "The day we found Alpha Halo."
Cortana was quiet for a moment before speaking, "It's in the past, Chief. There is nothing we can do about it, now."
"I know." He stood up and entered the bathroom. He turned on the hot water and began to strip down for his shower. Ten minutes later, he reappeared in the room, dressed in Alliance fatigues. Shepherd had to make a special order for Chief since he was so large. Even with the special order, he still felt uncomfortable in the different military's uniform. He wasn't a part of the System Alliance. He was a part of the United Nations Space Command.
He grabbed Cortana's storage device and clipped it to his belt so it was on his left hip. He picked his SmartPistol up from off the desk and holstered it to his right hip. Chief finished his outfit with an Alliance ball cap to cover his shaved head.
Once he was sure he was ready, he exited the apartment and headed for the science lab to find Doctor Halsey. Sure enough, the good doctor was already at work behind her computer terminal. She stood up as he walked in, "John, good morning."
"Good morning, Doctor Halsey." He told her, grabbing a ceramic cup from the cupboard and pouring himself a cup of coffee. Halsey pointed to the creamer and sugar but Chief shook it off. He leaned against the lab table, sipping the bitter drink, "Got anything?"
Halsey shook her head, "Not yet. For a society that lives off Prothean technology, they don't seem to know a lot about them. We didn't use any Forerunner tech until we knew for sure what we were messing with. So far, they barely understand the fundamentals of the things that govern their daily lives. It's a wonder how they've survived this long."
Chief shook his head and took another sip from his coffee. The door slid open and they turned to see who was entering the lab. In the doorway, stood Doctor Liara T'soni, dressed in a white lab coat and a pair of tan slacks.
Doctor T'soni was a member of a species known as the Asari. The all-female species looked similar to human females save for the blue skin and tentacle-looking head fringe instead of head hair. Liara's facial markings looked like she had eyebrows and freckles, allowing her to catch the eyes of humans, male and female alike. While Chief understood that she was attractive, he didn't have those feelings towards her. The only thing she had going for him was how much her blue skin reminded him of Cortana, though he would never let Cortana know that.
"Liara, what do we owe the early surprise?" Halsey asked the Asari researcher.
Liara smiled, "Catherine, you are going to want to hear this."
Halsey sat up, giving Liara her full attention. Chief stepped away from the table to hear what the Asari had to say, "Well, out with it."
"I think I should wait until Shepherd arrives. He should be here in a few minutes anyway." Was her response, causing Halsey to lean back in her chair.
Chief hadn't seen Shepherd in almost a week. Ever since their first encounter, Chief and Shepherd had become pretty close. Combat and war tends to do that to people.
Two months ago, Chief's idea of his galaxy was turned upside down when the knowledge that there was more than just life outside their galaxy but life outside their universe came in the form of a disabled cruiser and a frigate that made a wrong turn. As far as he knows, there are two other universes besides his own. There is the universe he is in now, where Shepherd and Liara call home, and the universe that belonged to his friend Ian Hawke, the Militia Pilot who gave him the SmartPistol. Together, with the help of some others from another galaxy far, far away, they fought for control over what became known as a Forerunner Interstellar Bridge, or FIB for short. Once they had control of the FIB, Chief, Shepherd, Hawke, and a Jedi named Jaden were selected by the Librarian to find the four Focus Icons.
They already found the one that connects to Chief's FIB so there is only three more to find. Chief and Shepherd went to Shepherd's universe to find the second while Hawke and Jaden headed into Hawke's universe to find the third. They planned to meet back in Chief's universe to find the fourth which is in Jaden's galaxy.
That gave Chief and Shepherd two objectives. They need to find the Focus Icon and the Forerunner Interstellar Bridge that it goes to. That is Chief and Halsey's only way to go home and to stop whatever the Librarian is so afraid of. Since arriving, Halsey, Liara, and Cortana had been pouring countless hours into finding any kind of reference to the Icon or the Bridge while all Chief could do was sit and wait. Even Shepherd got to go on special Alliance mission to keep himself business, leaving Chief alone.
He didn't mind though. Being alone is normal for a Spartan. In fact, most Spartan IIs work alone to keep the causality levels lower. When more than two or three Spartan IIs got together, all hell broke loose. The only team that ever seemed to work correctly was Chief's original team, Blue Team. After he returned from Requiem, four years after the end of the Human-Covenant War, he was told by his commanding officers that they died on Reach. Fred, Linda, and Kelly were dead and he was the last living Spartan II.
He didn't want to believe it but all the records that Cortana could dig up spoke the truth. He kept reminding himself that Spartans don't die; they only go missing in action. He knew that line very well. It was the line they placed on his headstone when they believed him dead. If only they knew how correct that saying was.
Whatever Liara had to say, Shepherd needed to hear it, too. On cue, the doors slid open, revealing the Alliance commander and the first human Spectre, John Shepherd. Standing at a little under six feet tall, the soldier wore his N7 issued Onyx-class hard suit. The base color of the suit was a deep black with red stripes going down the arms and legs. Shepherd usually carried all kinds of weapons, ranging from pistols to assault rifles to sniper rifles. Instead, he carried his Carniflex hand cannon on his left hip with the handle pointed in front of him and a Scimitar shotgun strapped to the small of his back.
When Chief had first met the soldier, he had long, slicked back, blond hair with a light beard. His time away from the Alliance had allowed him to break a few rules but he was back now. He had to keep up with regulations.
He had cut his hair down. On the sides, it was shaved down the skin while the top was only a little bit longer than the sides. He had shaved off his beard, revealing the facial scar on his right cheek. However, his icy blue eyes still seem to look straight through a person.
He perked up when he spotted Chief and out reached his hand, "Good to see you, again, Chief."
Chief took it, "Likewise."
The pass week, Shepherd and the Normandy were out doing attack missions on some Geth bases. The Geth, a robotic, AI-powered combat force created by the nomadic Quarians, had made up the bulk of Saren's military and had several small bases scattered throughout the galaxy. Shepherd's job was to locate them and take them out.
The commander looked at Liara, "So what's all this about, Liara?"
The Asari smiled to herself as she brought up her omni-tool. The orange holographic device wrapped around her arm, ending at her elbow. At the circular section where her left hand was, she began digging through files to find the one she wanted to show them.
She clicked a file and outstretched her arm so the omni-tool can project what she was looking at. On the table in front of them, an image of a large planet covered in a grey, rocky surface appear. Dark lines showed forgotten river lines and lakes that had dried up over time.
"Liara, I don't understand what we are looking at here." Shepherd stated.
"This is Alchera. It is the fourth planet in the Amada System in the Omega Nebula. To the untrained eye, it looks like nothing but a forgotten rock but I have been looking into the planet's history. This planet has some play in a Batarian myth. According to the myth, when they die in this life, their soul leaves the body through the eyes and is transferred to a vault to wait for their loved ones. That vault is believed to be on Alchera." Liara explained.
"I'm sorry, Liara, but you want us to chase after a bedtime story Momma Batarians tell little baby Batarians?" Halsey stated, "You're going to need much more than that."
Liara smiled, like she knew that Halsey was going to say something along those lines. She rotated the planet and fast forwarded, "This image is from a Salarian Special Task Group spy satellite. I can't say how I got this feed but let's just say I got it from our friend from Virmire, Shepherd."
Shepherd simply nodded, knowing that saying too much could get a certain Salarian captain is trouble. Chief recalled Shepherd's story of their battle on the planet Virmire. They were chasing Saren, a rouge Turian Spectre agent, and his Geth army. They got a lead that he had taken over a Salarian research lab on a planet called Virmire and headed there. They got pinned down by Anti-Aircraft turrets so they had to make a landing. They were met by a small team of STG agents led by a Captain Kirrahe. Together, they fought their way to the lab in hopes to use a nuclear bomb to destroy the structure. They succeeded and got mostly everyone out. Shepherd had to leave behind one his own. Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams died making sure that the Normandy and her crew got away safely. It was touchy subject for the Alliance commander.
"Anyway," Liara continued, "this is the footage from about three months ago. You will see something that will look familiar to you all."
She paused when they saw it. The massive squid-looking machine dropped out of FTL travel and stopped just above the planet. Liara paused it seconds after it unleashed several Geth transport ships on the planet. She looked up at Shepherd first, "Someone else thought it was important."
"Saren." Shepherd grunted. Chief noticed Shepherd's fist clench up for a second before releasing them, "Liara, you always know how to catch my attention."
The Asari smiled at her victory, "This planet was important enough for Saren to search the planet personally. It is our first solid lead."
Chief felt the device vibrate on his hip. He pulled it off and placed it on the table. He was wondering when Cortana would add her input. The blue hologram appeared over the storage unit, "I will have to agree with Liara. We can't afford to just sit around and do nothing."
Chief nodded at the AI unit to show he backed her.
"I haven't even gotten to the best part, yet." Liara added, "Three ships have gone missing with no signs of anything. Something is guarding that planet and we need to find out why."
"This vault," Chief jumped in, "could it house the Icon?"
"If it exists," she answered, pausing to choose her next word carefully, "maybe."
"It will take a few days for me to convince Admiral Hackett to let me use the Normandy for non-Alliance work. Maybe I can get Councilor Anderson on board with me." Shepherd explained. After the Battle for the Citadel, the Citadel Council had asked Commander Shepherd who he believed would make the better candidate for the first human councilor. Shepherd had nominated his former commanding officer, Captain David Anderson. He won the election by a landslide, thanks to Shepherd's actions.
"You are a Spectre, Shepherd." Halsey said, "It should be easy enough."
"You would think." The commander said, "I'll get started right away. Liara, keep researching everything you can about this planet and this vault and why Saren found it so important. Chief, start packing."
The Spartan nodded to the Spectre agent as he stormed out of the room like he was on a deadly mission. The doors closed behind him and Chief looked back at Doctor Halsey, "Where's my suit?"
"Right below us in the secondary laboratory. You will find it there." She answered.
Without saying another word, the Spartan grabbed Cortana's storage unit and replaced it on his belt. He took Shepherd's cue and left the way he did. Instead of making a right, he turned left for the nearby staircase. He took it down to the next level and used the ID code Halsey sent him to gain access to the room.
The lights hummed to life as he entered. Four lab stations took up the center of the room. On each table, different UNSC and Separatist weapons rested. For having very little time to pack, they sure did manage to bring a lot of guns.
The first table was for small arms. Mostly magnums, assault rifles, and battle rifles. The next had a .50 caliber sniper rifle propped up on its tripod and a shotgun underneath it. The third table was the heavy weapons. He ran his hand on the Spartan Laser that sat next to the duel cannoned rocket launcher. The final table was for the Separatist weapons the Arbiter must have loaned them. Two energy swords, two plasma rifles, two plasma pistols, and a fuel rod cannon were ready for action.
At the end of the room was what he was really after. Standing straight up at over seven feet tall was his massive olive green MJOLNIR VIII Spartan armor. The human state-of-the-art exoskeleton stood with its back towards Chief and its arms stretched out to its sides. The boots remained intact but the rest opened up so he could step inside it. On the small table next to it, his helmet and gauntlets sat waiting for him to put on manually.
He unclipped his pistol and Cortana's device from his belt and placed them next to the helmet. He stepped inside the boots and stretched his arms out to fit inside the armor. He gave it the command order and the armor sealed up around his body. He felt the back locks snap into place and vacuum seal shut.
Once that was complete, he reached for his gauntlets and slipped them over his hands. He twisted the ends where it met the rest of the armor and they locked as well. He tossed the ball cap onto the table and replaced it with his helmet.
Cortana smiled at him, "Don't take this the wrong way but you look better in the armor."
"Then, how come everyone wants to catch a glimpse of me out of it?" he asked her, yanking her data chip out of the device and slamming it into the back of his helmet. Back on the Infinity, he would step out to get something from another room or his suit would be getting looked over after a mission and crowds of UNSC military staff would stare at him, trying to get that little glimpse at the man behind the mask. The one thing this universe had going for him was that nobody knew him. He could walk around without his armor without anyone staring or saluting. Without the armor, he was normal for the first time since childhood.
"You're a hero, John. You need to stare realizing that." Was her answer. He didn't reply. He simply snapped his SmartPistol to his right hip and the storage unit to the small of his back. He turned and grabbed the metal carrying case off the ground and began to fill it with some weapons. He didn't want to take everything. He only brought what he knew he would need. He started with the sniper rifle. He broke it down into four different pieces and placed it inside the case. He tossed a battle rifle, a few frag grenades, and an energy sword inside, as well. He filled the rest of the case with enough ammo to keep himself alive. If he ran out of ammo, he wasn't going to survive much longer anyway.
He snapped the case to the back of his armor and headed out, locking the door behind him. He turned and headed for the elevator. He trusted that Shepherd would be able to convince Hackett to send the Normandy so Chief figured he would bring his stuff on board now. He took the elevator down to the docking levels and found the small frigate docked in D-24.
The Normandy was nothing compared to some of the ships the UNSC had but it looked a whole lot nicer than them. The ship had a long nose that made up most of its length. At the back end of the nose, the rest of the cabin space bulked out from underneath. The engine coils were at the back, as well, with two long wings branching off the sides.
The ship was a beauty with its blue and white coloring. Shepherd had explained that the ship was a joint project between humans and the militaristic Turians to create the perfect stealth fighter. The Normandy's stealth drives made it virtually impossible to detect unless it got caught in the enemy ship's viewports. Since her recent enemies had been the windowless Geth, she was unstoppable.
He headed for the airlock but was stopped by an Alliance soldier, "I'm sorry, sir, but this ship is for Alliance business alone."
The soldier looked up into Chief's orange visor. Chief's scanners showed that the man was scared out of his mind but he didn't show it. It was the only reason why Chief didn't use his body to pry open the airlock doors.
"He's with me, Corporal." Chief turned to see Liara had had the same idea. She had stripped away the lab coat and replaced it with a pink hardsuit. It was the same hardsuit she wore in the Battle for the FIB.
"I'm sorry, Doctor T'soni, but I will need to see his ID." He told the Asari.
"This man is the reason why you have a job, Corporal. Without him, Saren and the Geth would be ruling the galaxy. Let him in or I will show you why you don't piss off an Asari." She barked at him. The tips of her pink fingers began to shine with the blue dark matter that were her biotics.
Liara, like all Asari, is very gifted in the use of what is known as biotics. She has the ability to use mass effect pulses to create a dark matter surge. She could use the biotics to move objects, stun people, and cause explosions. Chief hadn't found himself on the other end of them yet but he knew it would only be a matter of time.
"Right, of course." His signs were off the charts now, "Sir, all I need is a name."
Chief brought up the omni-tool Liara had given him. The device carried Chief's new name that he used in this new universe. He was so used everyone going by his callsign that he kept it a part of it, "John Sierra."
The corporal opened his own omni-tool and scanned the name in, "Proceed through the airlock. I'm sorry for the mishap. It won't happen again, sir."
"It better not." Liara stared daggers at him before the two of them stepped into the airlock.
"Remind me to stay on her good side, Chief." Cortana said and Chief smiled under his helmet.
"I'm sorry about that." Liara stated, the blue energy disappearing from her fingers, "Hackett has buffed up security everywhere after the Geth attack."
"Rightly so." Was Chief's response as the airlock decontaminated them and opened up to long hallway-like command deck. The Normandy's bridge was a whole lot different than any UNSC ship's bridge. On a UNSC bridge, the cockpit, the command center, and the system stations were all within eye sight of the commanding officer on deck. On the Normandy, the cockpit was located at the tip of the ship's nose. Behind the cockpit, a long stretch of computer terminals lined a hallway that lead to, what Shepherd called, the CIC, Combat Information Center. At the center of the CIC, a large galaxy map hovered above a circular control station with a ramp leading up to the map for the commanding officer to oversee everything.
Usually, Shepherd would be the one standing there but, in his absence, Navigator Charles Pressley stood in his place. The bald man stood with his hands behind his back and he wore his Alliance uniform proudly. Chief had only met the man a few times but he knew that he was a man that he could trust.
"Liara," the man's eyes lit up, "it's so good to see you, again."
The navigator stepped down from his post to greet them. Liara shook the man's hand, "It's good to see you, too, Charles."
Pressly nodded and looked over Chief, "So you are still with us, Master Chief. It's been awhile."
"It has." Chief grunted, "Where will I be staying?"
"That's if we can get the permission to launch, first." Pressly told him, "I just got the message from Shepherd. He was on his way to talk to Councilor Anderson to see if he could get some Council support with this little mission. As for sleeping arrangements, I can have them set up a cot under the engineering deck. It gets pretty dark and lonely down there though."
"I'll take it." Chief told him with no hesitation. Less through traffic, the better, he thought to himself.
"Very well." Pressly told him, "Liara, Doctor Chakwas has already given up her office for you. She said that she would rather sleep with the crew, anyway."
"She didn't have to do that but it is much appreciated." The Asari smiled, "Come on, Chief, I will show you to your room."
Chief followed Liara down a small flight of stairs that lead to a deck underneath the CIC. The deck contained the mess hall, crew quarters, med lab, captain's cabin, and the escape pods. Chief found the set up very odd but he decided not to ask questions. The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.
Liara reached over and pressed the down button. Chief was used to spending hours walking back to his quarters. On the Normandy, he could be at the bridge in minutes due to its smaller size.
The doors opened up to the docking bay for the Mako tank and the crew lockers. Several servicemen were working on the tank and checking supply shipments. Liara turned the corner and headed down a hallway. Chief followed her through a doorway into the engine room. The large element zero core hummed quietly as the engineers kept it stable. The head engineer, Adams, turned and gave Liara and Chief a kindly wave before returning to his duties. Liara pointed to a dimly lit staircase that led underneath the engineering deck, "The area Pressly was talking about is right under there. I'm going to see to it that you get a decent cot and a light fixture so you go on ahead. I'll also let Adams know that he has someone living in his basement."
"Thank you, Liara." He told her and watched the Asari disappear through the door that he had followed her through. He headed down the staircase alone, using his helmet light to guide him. Once he found a decent spot to call home, he stopped. He was surprised how quiet it was down there, even with the engine core right above him. He sat down on a nearby cargo crate and pulled Cortana's chip out of his helmet.
The blue avatar of his AI appeared over it and looked around, "Home sweet home, I guess."
"We'll get used to it." He told her.
"Yeah, I guess after the Dawn anything can feel homely."
He placed her chip into the storage device and placed it on the floor so he wouldn't have to hold the chip, "Cortana, is it just me or does this whole thing leave a bad taste in your mouth?"
"No, I felt it, too. I have a bad feeling about all this but it's the only lead we have on the Icon."
"Best case scenario?" he asked.
"We locate the vault and find the Icon with no issue."
"Worst?"
"We die."
Chief was quiet for a second before nodding, "Sounds about right."
How was that for a starter? I wanted to bring action in right away since HFSE didn't have any until a few chapters in so I added the flashback scene. I really hope you enjoyed reading my first chapter and will continue to read into it. Thank you!