"S-III: Requiem for the Lost"

Author's note: People I have returned. It has been too long since I started my first story "S-III: Hellhounds". A friend has motivated me into 'finishing the fight' so I am slowly making this rewrite. I've changed a few minor details, and added several that I hope will give the story a little more bang. The story has been extensively rewritten, and is now told entirely in third person. I hope you enjoy it. Now Let's Rock!

Prologue

"Stay with me!" Dez screamed. Her brunette hair hung limply around her face; tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Dante coughed up more blood on the inside of his helmets visor. His vision began to blur from the injuries. His EVA helmets visor was covered in various colors from the blood of both friend and foe alike. His Semi Powered Infiltration armor or SPI was either shredded or tossed out of the Troop Transport Warthog as it flew down the road. Dante's body was in even worse shape; his ribs were shattered, left arm broken in two places, left femur shattered, lacerations covered his body, and internal bleeding ravaged his organs. He rode in the back of the vehicle, held tightly in Dez's arms. Her sobs filled his ears, due to the teams open com channel.

Assault rifle fire cracked in controlled bursts behind Dez. Ben fired at one of the banshees that were chasing the team as they tried to make their run back to friendly lines, and to the medical aid that Dante desperately needed. It was a futile attempt, as the rounds were simply shrugged off by the aircrafts sleek, purple armor. Dante wasn't paying attention to their pursuers, he had more pressing matters.

Dante suddenly couldn't breath. He clawed at his helmets release switch, desperate to remove it. Dez had just emptied last magazine of her pistol into the closest banshee. She dropped the useless weapon to the floor and returned her full attention to Dante. She gently pushed his hands away from his helmet, and slowly removed it for him. She tossed the blood soaked helmet in the seat next to them, looking away for a second. When her eyes fell upon him, shock played across her face. Dante's chin was covered in the blood that he had coughed up, his nose bled, and a tooth was missing from his smile. He still couldn't breath.

'Damn ribs must have punctured a lung,' he thought as words were almost impossible.

He looked up, into Dez's emerald green eyes. He reached up and placed a hand on her cheek. She grabbed the hand with an armored glove.

"I love you," he managed to barely whisper the words that he had told her time and time again.

"I love you too," she whispered. Dante's strength began to falter, and his hand began to slip from hers. Dez grasped it even tighter and brought her face inches away from his. "Please don't leave me," she said. Tears fell onto Dante's face. "I can't go through losing you again."

Dante smiled as fond memories came to his mind; battling the Covenant and Insurrection across many planets, all of the assassinations that he had carried out alone. He remembered the training that they had during their time at the Bog, and even his first night with Dez. He grimaced as he reached behind his back; he unsheathed one of his Ulaks and slowly held it out to Whitney.

She shook her head. "You're going to need it for our next mission."

'Don't think I'll be going on the next mission.' He thought as the sky began to darken.

Suddenly the world was quiet to Dante. He closed his eyes, waiting for death.

'Come get me you bastard,' he thought. 'I'm going to make sure that you never take another Spartan before their time.'

"Holy shit," Ben said in disbelief. "About time they showed up."

Dante opened his eyes. It was raining; only instead of water it was raining the most powerful troops that humanity had ever seen.

"Hello Delta!" Lisa screamed from the driver's seat.

Over two hundred drop pods fell from the sky, each carrying a Spartan that was ready to do battle; several of them landed in the street, forcing Lisa to swerve to avoid crashing into them. A pod landed several meters in front of the Warthog. As they blew past a Spartan stepped out into the light. The warriors body wavered as its cloak adjusted to the new area.

"When it rains," Dante said. "It pours."

All his strength left him; his hand went limp and fell out of Dez's hand; the fire inside him extinguished from all the injuries. Dez grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him, a desperate attempt to keep him alive.

"You can't die," she pleaded. "We have so much left to do."

When Dante didn't stir, she broke down into uncontrollable sobs.

Ben placed a hand on her shoulder. "The doctors aboard the ship might be able to bring him back," he tried to reassure Dez. "All we have to do is get off this rock."

Dez slowly stopped sobbing. Plasma hit the ground directly in front of the Warthog; the blast sent hot concrete shrapnel into the group of Spartans. Dez's face burned as a sliver of hot shrapnel hit her. The cheek dripped with blod. She ignored it and placed the blade that Dante had offered her in the deceased warrior's right hand; she crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

She noticed something that caused a single tear to fall down her cheek.

"He's smiling," she whispered.

Ben looked over his shoulder. "What?" he asked.

Dez wiped the tear away. "He's smiling," she hollered.

A Pelican drop ship descended from the sky a kilometer in front of the team.

"This is Zulu- 95," the pilot said through his com. "The drop zone is under heavy fire, so hurry up Spartans I don't have all day."

Dez was beyond pissed at the pilot's lack of respect. She was about to tear the man a new one, when everything grew dark. She turned around to see the shadow; she immediately regretted it.

"Incoming!" she yelled.

Plasma rained down around her.

Author's note: What do you think? Please leave a review with any constructive criticism and your comments. Warning flamers will be dealt with. And as for how the group got in this position and how Dante got the crap kicked out of him will be revealed down the road. I hope to post at least three chapters a week. Time is short. Anyways thanks for reading and don't forget to review. Semper Fi-

Spartans