April 5th, 2010...

In the hanger of a Covenant corvette, two figures were dueling with energy swords, surrounded by the bodies of dead Covenant and UNSC Spartans. One was an elite zealot while the other was a Spartan, wearing a Halo Reach Sniper helmet, ODST shoulders and a tactical recon chest. He was black with blue accents with a black visor. It seemed like they were equally matched, until the Spartan dived out of the way and let the elite strike a plasma coil. Mortally wounded, the elite gave one final laugh of defiance.

Confused, the Spartan looked around, eventually looking up to see an antimatter bomb on the ceiling. Slightly panicking, the Spartan quickly looked around the hanger for a survival strategy. Seeing only one, he ran for the for the hanger doors. A brute chieftain, who somehow entered the hanger unnoticed, put himself in between the Spartan and the open hanger door. Not stopping, the Spartan tackled the brute and sent them hurtling out of the ship, freefalling to the planet below.

Hours later, the Spartan woke up with a brutal headache. Rather than getting up, he just lay there, wondering why fate had decided to be cruel. He got up despite the pain he was feeling and studied his surroundings. As he gazed with disbelief, he was slowly losing hope that he would wake up from this nightmare. With a sigh of regret, he started walking. The only thoughts on his mind was how he was going to survive, and why he was punished for playing a simple game.

Two years later...

A girl known as Zephyr48 to the Xbox live community was playing a match of Zombies on Powerhouse in Halo Reach. Her Spartan wore a Recon helmet, air assault shoulders, a plain chest and was colored white with purple trimmings. She chose to find a hiding spot that offered relative protection and enough room between her and zombies. It was working, until she became the last woman standing.

That's when she decided to book it. She focused on running forward, reloading every chance she got. This earned her top spot in the game. The other rounds were similar and she ended up surviving all the way through in the last round.

With the elation of surviving all three rounds still affecting her, she noticed that her screen didn't black out or the scoreboard showing. Confused, she tried to turn off her Xbox, but it just sent an electrical current up her arm. Recoiling in pain, she heard a voice come from her screen. "Zephyr48, you have shown you have somewhat decent skill, so here's a new game type I'm sure you'll die for." Zephyr suddenly felt something attach itself to her arm. She almost fainted when she looked, as it was the gauntlet her Spartan was wearing.

She freaked out even more when she felt other bits of armor attach themselves to her. She would've screamed had she not felt a sudden nausea overcome her like a car hitting her. Her vision blurred and the next thing she knew, she was waking up on the map she was playing zombies on. Getting up cautiously, Zephyr surveyed her surroundings. Wondering if she was dreaming, she tried to move but stumbled and fell.

She just laid there, on the brink of tears. All she did was win a game, and now she was her Spartan. "Can you here me?" A little surprised, she replied, not bothering to get up. "Who's there?" "Someone who's been through the hell you're about to enter. Can you walk?" Confused, she got up, only to fall again. "No." She heard a groan. "Where are you? Can't you just help me up?"

"No, because I'm using the gun of a warthog, shooting at the zombies trying to kill you." "Huh?" "Disorientation is normal. Just, grab the shotgun that should be on your back and shoot anything that looks like a zombie." She found the shotgun and grabbed it, holding on like it was a life preserver. "One zombie got past me! Watch your tracker!" She saw the red dot run towards her, growing fearful for her life. It was coming from behind her. Lying down on her back, she aimed at the open doorway and waited.

The zombie sprinted through the door and Zephyr fired, stopping it dead in its tracks. "Yes! I got it!" "Good. Reload." Before she could ask, she felt herself make the motion of reloading. She wished someone would explain to her what was going on. Minutes passed, and the silence was deafening. Even the sound of a zombie running towards her would be welcoming just to break it.

After a little while, Zephyr saw another dot on her tracker, only this time it was yellow. A black Spartan with a scout helmet entered the room she was in and looked at her. "Are you ok?" Zephyr nodded and made another attempt to get up, failing again. The stranger caught her saying "Under normal circumstances, I'd help you walk, but right now we need to move." He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder and started running. "Hey! What's the rush?" asked Zephyr.

"Zombies are regrouping. Falcon, where's our evac?" Zephyr was about to ask who he was talking too when another voice appeared on her helmet's speakers. "I was ambushed by three hornets and a falcon, so I'm gonna be a minute." By now Zephyr and the black Spartan reached the warthog. He gently places Zephyr in the passenger seat. "Right now I don't care! I have a Spartan who can't walk and only has one kill, the zombies are regrouping so I don't care if you have a Covenant super carrier chasing you, GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"Fine, I'll meet you at the north end of the map, Falcon, out." Zephyr was about to speak only to see a horde of zombies running towards the warthog. The black Spartan leaped over the passenger seat into the driver's seat and stepped on it. "Wait! Where are we supposed to go?!" asked Zephyr. "Just hang on." The warthog jerked forward, away from the horde and towards the broken bridge. "What are you doing!" The warthog leaped off the cliff as Zephyr screamed. Suddenly the fall was broken and the warthog was rising.

Zephyr, clutching the bar above the center console, shakily looked over the side of the hog to see that they landed on a pelican. "Come on, let's go." said the Spartan as he jumped out of the side of the hog. He ran over to Zephyr and managed to pry her out of the passenger seat. A small hole opened up and he dropped her in before climbing down himself. She made another attempt to move only to be jerked to the side. "What was that?" she asked.

"Evasive maneuvers. We should get strapped in." He picked her up and placed her in one of the seats and lowered the bar then he left for the cockpit. She felt the pelican jerk some more and heard some explosions before things settled down. Still shaking from the experience, she raised the bar and managed to support herself with the other seats as she walked to the cockpit.

In the main pilot's seat there was Spartan from Halo 3 wearing a rogue helmet, mark 6 shoulders and a cqb chest all colored white with gold trimming. The black Spartan was in the co-pilot's seat. "Is it over?" Zephyr asked warily. The white Spartan looked over and said "Yeah, we're safe for now. I'm called Falcon, and the man behind me is Blade." Blade offered a slight nod before going back to work.

"Er... my gamertag is Zephyr48." Falcon nodded and got out of his seat. "Nice to meet you Zephyr. And don't mind Blade, he's like that a lot. So, let me be the first to welcome you to Halo's deadliest game."