Halo belongs to bungie. I do not own Halo.

Sacrifice By: Najeeb Abdiani

"We need to hold them off" Shouted Master Chief to his marines as they were trying to

hold back the covenant.

He knew his men and even he would die on this battlefield, but he knew he was fighting to protect something that would finally end this war. The last remaining covenants in existence were trying to make a stand and unlock the facility behind them called the science center. It was an old facility with lots of artifacts and old technology from the 20th century that had been upgraded the outside to keep the things inside from escaping. It was covered in armor plates. After the war with the flood the humans managed to contain them here and block off all other exits to the surface. The massive 50 inch thick titanium alloy doors behind them that led deep into the underground facility where the floods were locked away. The flood were undead creatures that resembled mutants. If the flood got out Earth would be completely devastated by the flood. The only thing standing between Earths destruction and the extinction of human kind was Master Chief (Spartan 117) and his 20 marines. The science center was in a city called Toronto and it was surrounded by buildings which meant covenant could come from all over the place. That was just about the worst place for the science center to be located but Master Chief had been in tighter spots. Master Chief knew they had to stop the 40 elites, 4 hunters, 80 grunts, and 50 jackals from killing them in on them.

"Form an arc around the door and don't let anything past you even if it costs you your life" Yelled Spartan 117 as he put a bullet into an elites head.

He and his men were low on ammunition and weapons. He knew if he didn't do something fast there wouldn't be enough ammo to take out the entire covenant coming at them. As he was thinking of a plan to drastically reduce the number of covenant as he grabbed 2 rocket launchers. He put both the rocket launchers on his shoulders and aimed at the biggest group of covenant he could find. A normal human would not be able to hold two rocket launchers at one time but Master Chief was genetically engineered and his Spartan Suit had given him energy shields like the covenant and super human strength. He started emptying the massive weapons. All that was heard were clicking sounds of a trigger and explosions as Grunts, Elites, and Jackals were sent flying into the air. The feeling of victory was starting to wash him over like a tide in a beach. There was a sudden silence as in the battlefield. He could hear the wind all around him. It sounded like someone was blowing into his ear but he knew that was impossible with his helmet on. Relief swept his whole as he sat down to take a rest. He could hear the cheers of his remaining marines rise like an active volcano exploding after 100 years of restlessness.

"Alright marines we've finally done it, we've finally won and destroyed those covenant for—" but his victory speech was stopped by an unusual sound.

The silence was broken by really loud thumps. He knew what was making its way towards him and his men. The pounding footsteps got louder and louder as the beasts came closer.

"Stand your ground and hold your fire till I give you signal marines"

Mammoth sized behemoths that approached them. They stood 10 feet tall and were as wide as rhinos. These were the most fearsome part of covenant army. They carried these massive weapons that were like rocket launchers but shot plasma shots the size of basketballs. Most soldiers had not ever seen these creatures but Master Chief had come across them before. Master Chief had risked his life to save his team countless amounts of times. He had 3 marines left. That would mean 1 marine per hunter. Master Chief would have to fight the last hunter himself. He knew there would be no way there were going to win this fight and without losing someone. The only ammunition they had left were a bag of grenades. Grenades thrown at hunters did not have enough force in them to kill a hunter. There was only one way to hurt a hunter with a grenade. The grenade would have to be so close to the hunter before it goes off that it would be literally touching them. Master Chief knew he wouldn't make it out of this alive. The least he could do was save him men. He waited until the creatures came in sight.

"Men, it's been an honor serving along side you" Stated Master Chief as he saluted his men.

"Sir what are you talking about?" asked one of the marines but it was too late.

Master Chief was already dashing towards the one of the hunters while dodging the massive plasma shots fired from them. Master Chief's body slammed one of the hunters and at that exact moment the grenade went off. A green figure was sent hurdling out of the flames and landed beside one of the marines. That figure was Master Chief. Parts of his armor were blown of and the marines could tell he was bleeding very badly. Master Chief slowly rose and was limping. He limped towards the grenades like a dog with 3 feet.

"Call for an air lift for 3 and get yourselves out of here" Ordered Master Chief

"Sorry sir but we can't do that, you've risked your life countless times for us and now it's our turn to do the same" stated the marine admirably.

"Stand down" yelled Master Chief who turned towards the remaining hunters and was about to make his way towards them until an assault rifle smacked him in the back of his head.

After that everything went black. As he was regaining consciousness he heard nothing. He knew he had been knocked out during his battle by one of his marines and was outraged at what happened. When he stood up and opened his eyes he realized the grenades were missing and he saw 3 craters in the floor where the hunters were last seen that looked like they were caused by grenades and realized what had happened. The hunters were gone but so were his men. His men didn't want him to die so they gave their lives to protect him and the Earth. Master Chief searched for and found all 3 of the marine's dog tags and picked them up. As he placed them around his neck a tear fell from his eye.