Halo: Of Wolves And Wagtails

Episode 1: Fall of Reach

-EPSILON ERDIANI SYSTEM: REACH: ASZOD: UNSC SHIPWERCKING YARDS: AUGUST 30TH 2552-

The once majestic skies of the fallen human stronghold were now glowing red with a wrathful hue. Burning, if one other word could describe the horrific situation, that would be it. Where only a short time ago there were abundant fields, craggy mountain ranges, verdant forests, and several sprawling major cities, only glass remained. The world's once vast seas were now boiling away with the same zealous hatred as the land. with A beam of light pierced the planet's atmosphere, its raw power burned away the remains of a frontier town below it. Yet even as the world was being reduced to a lifeless orb of glass, there was a strange beauty to the planet's demise. It was almost as if the world itself was taking a final breath and reflecting its sorrow into the skies.

On the ground though, a furious battle raged. The sounds of explosions, gunfire, and plasma wailing echoed for miles around as teeming hordes of alien monsters ran into the fight. Some cries of rage and fury were silenced as soon as they were uttered, the throats of their speakers having been shot or sliced open. The lesser creatures that survived began to flee in terror at the slaughter that was taking place. The mightier beings zealously rushed forward, towards the epicenter of the ungodly massacre, hellbent on purging the tainted world of the demon's heresy. Beside them were hulking beasts covered in armor whose bodies wriggled and constricted while their metal boots stomped with a rhythmic boom. Hunters and Elites, some of the most dangerous forces within the covenant and they were rushing to exterminate the last shred of resistance in the area.

As the zealots and their hunters arrived in force, they were immediately met with a hail of high caliber automatic gunfire. The vengeance fueled storm of fire killed several of their numbers, even those who attempted to out flank the position being swept away. In response to the barrage of deadly ammunition, a grunt that was braver than most hefted a fuel rod cannon over its shoulder and launched a green bolt of destruction towards the building. With a loud bang the bolt hit its mark, blowing a hole in the side of the crumbling structure. Following this was a barrage of similar bolts erupting from powerful cannons mounted on the arms of the hunters. Every single shot rained down upon their target in an effort to eradicate the being inside that simply refused to perish. After a long moment of thunderous explosions, with the wave of a three fingered hand from an ornately armored being, the hunters ceased their barrage.

When the dust settled only silence persisted across the entirety of the gore covered battlefield. Corpses of different races of creatures were strewn over the area, displaying the cost of the battle. The leader of the strike force looked to his fellow zealots and spoke to them in an alien language. He pointed his hand at the ruined building and the holy warriors cautiously approached it, intent on confirming the end of the demon within. As the group of zealots entered the abused building, they only saw shadows and heard the sound of rocks crumbling. The commanding Zealot turned his head sharply in the direction of a clinking noise. The warriors immediately activated their divine blades and scanned the room methodically, searching for their quarry. Suddenly a minor beeping sound began to echo in the room with a red light flickering brightly. Suddenly several other lights joined it and the building's interior adopted a color similar to that of the skies outside. The zealots roared in fury as they attempted to escape the trap left for them by the demon. But as they ran out of the building a shimmering figure rose from the one dark corner of the room catching the last zealot off guard and silently extinguished its life.

The glowing blade fell from its former owner's hand and clattered to the stone floor, the shimmering figure was quick to snatch it up. The other Zealots were angered at the trick and ran back inside to put down the vengeful being that defended the ruin. The lights shut off and the room went dark, leaving the zealots with only the light of their blades to shine their way through the darkness. Unbeknownst to them, their prey had put himself behind their position with careful steps to avoid alerting the eager group of predators. With a quick move the being stood up and its illusion of invisibility faded away. The being then drew its new blade, moving at a rapid pace the being slashed through a zealot's back, spattering blue blood over its armor. Within a split second the other warriors rushed at their target who had been foolish to reveal itself. The squad leader howled a command and its fellow zealots slashed at the being who only sidestepped their strikes one after the other.

With a crack of its neck the armored figure in the shadows began its own wrathful retaliation. It slashed through a zealot's arm, cleaving it off with a sickening squelch. Another Zealot charged to end the demon they had hunted so tirelessly; its efforts were in vain as the demon countered it and rammed the energy blade through the zealot's head. A third zealot grabbed a second sword from one of the fallen warriors and slashed viciously at the defiant being. A flurry of blurred slashes was all for naught, causing the zealot to roar in aggravation. What it received in return was an expertly parried strike and sidestep that ended with a flawless stab through the side. The zealot collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely from its soon to be fatal wounds, the being howled in pain as it laid on the ground. The silver visor of the vengeful demon loomed over it, showing no emotions, only a reflection. With another quick jab the energy blade pierced the neck and torso of the creature, ending its struggle. Only the squad leader remained now, it watched as the figure stood up from the crouch it had taken when it ended the life of the zealot.

In a flash of red light, the proud leader of the zealot kill squad activated its red energy sword, positioning itself to kill the demon. The demon mimicked its movements and signaled for the leader to attack. With a loud roar the Zealot squad leader boke into an almost imperceptible burst of speed and leapt at its opponent. The armored figure rolled under the attack evading the leader's assault and skidded to a halt, cracking the concrete its boots stopped on. With a blurred dash the armored being darted forward and clashed blades with the zealot squad leader. Both of them pushed back and forth with the demon quickly kneeing the alien in its stomach and causing the zealot leader's shield to glow an orange shade.

The Zealot leader retaliated by punching the armored being's helmet in an attempt to force it back. With a grunt from the stubbornly silent figure it forced it's helmet forward for a punishing headbutt that broke the zealot squad leader's shield and knocked it to the ground. The figure then pounced on its opponent and began repeatedly slamming its fists into the face of the zealot. For several moments the zealot howls in pain from being beaten to death by the very thing it had been dispatched to kill. When the cries of agony had stopped the figure raised one of its hands and briefly stared at the azure blood coating its hand. Bringing itself back to reality, the figure dropped its old energy sword, trading it for the red sword of the zealot it had brutally eliminated. With a moment of reprieve, the armored being raised the blade and was bathed in the crimson glow. Slowly it turned its attention outside and steeled itself for what would be its final act of defiance.

In the span of seconds, the being grabbed its other weapons, methodically holstering them in their respective places. Upon the being's back rested a what appeared to be a shotgun, at its right hip was the inactive energy sword, on the left was magnum pistol, and its hands held a battered assault rifle. It briefly crouched down and picked up a detonator from the floor, flipping a switch and then vanishing from sight. The creatures outside waited a short time longer before their commander ordered them to advance and crush the ruins. With that done, the horde advanced towards their holy goal something they would be revered for. But as they moved ahead, surrounding the crumbing ruin and blasting it to a pile of rocks, a group of red lights appeared under the armored beasts. A fraction of a second later the ground under them erupts into a blaze of fire, engulfing them and splattering gore everywhere. A large blur then dashes across the battlefield inflict heavy casualties on the horde of once seemingly unstoppable foes.

Into the light stepped the armored being, one of the fierce warriors the Covenant knew only as demons, a spartan-III super soldier, S-B312, Noble-6. This spartan wore a black suit of ODST configured armor with white stripes, the helmet being the standard variant with a black visor. With a burst of rifle fire, the spartan mows down a group of small creatures, drilling holes clean through them. A brute chieftain roars with a gravity hammer in its hand and attempts to crush the lone spartan with a gravity hammer but receives a shotgun blast in response. The armored figure ducks under a mighty swing of the brute's weapon and swiftly circles behind it. With a cock of the shotgun another round is chambered and then fired at the ape, blasting an almost fatal hole in its back. The Ape like alien roars, and using its hulking muscle, it once again tries to kill the spartan with every ounce of might it could spare. A final discharge from the powerful shotgun knocks the ape to the ground, dead. A group of elite Zealots swarm the armored being in an attempt to kill it and fulfill their mission. The spartan leaps away from a storm of heated plasma and swaps to his rifle, peppering the murderous aliens with more bullets immediately afterwards.

After several minutes of continuous exchanges of plasma and gunfire, with several of the attackers dead, the armored being stops for a moment. The battlefield had been rendered silent again, the only sounds being prevalent were those of the planet's death echoing around the figure. Suddenly the being swings its rifle around and fires at an opponent that rushes at it from out of nowhere, energy sword in its hand. The armored figure empties the magazine into its foe, killing it, only for several more of them to appear with various other weapons once again. Rage burning inside the being erupts as it battles with the new group of hostile forces, determined to survive. As one enemy attempted to rush the being it is knocked back by a mighty blast from the shotgun and finished by the rifle fire. A bolt then strikes the Spartan's helmet, cracking the visor, and forcing him ditch it temporarily. Once the helmet hits the ground, the elites attempt to overpower their prey through sheer numbers. The spartan fired his rifle at an elite as it rushed towards him, killing it. A zealot snuck up behind him and attempted to stab him from behind 6 dodged the attack and emptied the magazine into the elite's torso. When that enemy dropped dead, another elite fired its plasma repeater, overloading the spartan's shield. 6 was then tackled to the ground but managed to force the elite off of him. More elites ran in and tried to kill him, but it wasn't enough as he rolled to the side avoiding being stabbed by the fanatical aliens. 6 rose to his feet once more and drew his combat knife, sangheili blood still staining it. The spartan charged the elites, sidestepping slash after slash with each movement he made. He then grabbed a solid rock from the ground and smash it on the head of an elite, disabling the energy shield, following with a brutal stab through its throat.

The other elites continued to slash at the demon they hated so feverishly but this demon refused to accept its fate. 6 managed to draw the sword he'd taken and leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding being skewered like his teammate Emile. He held the blade in a challenging manner and the elites seemed to understand his gesture, one of them even stepped forward, accepting the challenge. In a blur of speed, the two of them clashed energy swords, this was no longer just the hunting of a demon, this was a matter of honor, Spartan vs Elite, human versus sangheili. The spartan was a bit surprised that he was actually being pushed back in hand to hand by the experienced larger alien. But 6 wasn't really putting his maximum effort into the struggle, and he wanted to enjoy this, so he quickly backed off and ducked under a swing from the blade. If the fight itself was something to go by, this elite had been in more than several battles with a spartan before though if it had, they were probably only shootouts. 6 then rushed the elite and the two traded blade slashes with one another for a brief moment. The elite blocked a mighty strike from the spartan and attempted to force the mighty warrior defense to break. Said Spartan though, simply forced his way forward, defeat being the last thing on his mind.

The other elites watched the battle with silent reverence as the fearless demon battled their comrade in an honorable duel. Most of the demons that battled their brothers rarely ever engaged in a duel, and elites rarely ever offered the challenge. As the two warriors battled, the planet itself seemed to assist in the battle, providing the perfect ambience to the battle. A crack of thunder echoed in the skies as 6 barely blocked a strike from the highly skilled elite. Though if 6 was being honest, he could have ended the fight much sooner, he wanted this to last. The spartan grunted as he leapt forward to counter his opponent's attack and sliced through the elite's torso, a mighty guttural roar escaped the elite's throat before it dropped down and died. The other Elites drew their swords in response, only for another of their kind to speak to them, passing an order to stay their blades. The decorated elite stepped forward and looked the spartan directly in his visor. 6 watched as the elite commander put a three fingered fist on its chest, a sign of honor. Such an action confused 6, but he when to trust his instincts so he stood down, lowering the sword but not deactivating it. He knew that as long as he'd survived against the swarm of elites, eventually even the strongest wolves can be beaten by an entire pack of other animals. The elite took note of that, but the demon had fought honorably, so the demon had the right to die on its terms. One tense moment later the elite signaled for his brothers to leave, the other elites nodded and started to walk away. The elite commander turned to the spartan, said something in its language, and walked away. On that note, 6 turned off the red sword and sighed bitterly, he had time to think at least.

The spartan walked over to the bodies of some of his fallen brothers and sisters that were scattered about the ruined shipwrecking yard. As bloodthirsty as he'd been to avenge them, his team was gone, the only one hopefully still alive with a way of being rescued was Jun who'd gone to castle base. Even then, 6 knew Jun had no way of getting to him in time if he did somehow realize that his comrade still lived. The spartan looked to his old helmet on the ground, the broken piece of equipment being useless now, just like him. With that on his mind, 6 sat down beside his fellow spartans, keeping a vigil over them like it still served a purpose. He didn't know them but they deserved better, he attempted to take solace in the fact that they held their ground and fought until the end. Now here he was, a member of a dying breed left without a purpose. All he could do now was wait to die, and he didn't have long to wait until he was burned to glass. It was empty, the fact that he'd done his duty and survived and also been left alone on a dying planet with nothing more than his weapons and corpses of fallen spartans to guard. The burning anger had disappeared since he'd worked it off fighting the elites, all that remained now was a simple objective, guard the dead. It was ironic considering he had been an ONI spook's personal grim reaper for so long. The spartan walked for a moment and retrieved his helmet, slapping it back despite the fracture of the faceplate. To his surprise, a signal actually got through across the comm network.

"*STATIC* 6?" A simulated voice struggled to speak.

"Dot?" The spartan said with a glimmer of hope.

"Noble 6?" The AI responded.

"Dot, I copy. Report your functionality." The Spartans ordered.

"Network connection is at critical status; satellite uplinks are failing with covenant targeting of remaining active communications arrays. Estimated time until planetwide communications are lost is unavailable."

"Can you get a fix on Jun?"

"Noble 3 has successfully arrived at CASTLE BASE with doctor Halsey." The AI reported, causing 6 to feel somewhat relieved. "Noble 6, your current position is currently being monitored by nearby covenant forces."

"I noticed." 6 said as he spotted the faint silhouettes of elites on a ridge in the distance. "Are there any remaining operational launch facilities left in the area?"

"Negative, though a facility is nearby it has since been declared non-operational and was evacuated prior to the launch of the PILLAR OF AUTUMN with all known remaining local UNSC personnel."

"Can you access the inventory of the facility at least? Pelicans, Longswords, Sabers, anything?"

"Negative, facility inventory records have been purged for security purposes."

"Give me something Dot, is there any way I can still access it?"

"The facility is currently 3.5 kilometers west from your current position."

"Not what I asked Dot."

"Scans indicate the facility power management system is still active."

"I'll take it then." Six muttered as he broke off chatter with the failing dumb A.I. The Spartan changed his current objective and began to search around for an active vehicle. He knew he'd come under fire the moment he found something flight worthy if he could. Something that also stuck in his mind was the possibility of still being shot it in a warthog as well but it would be worth the trouble. All he had to do was get into orbit and then slingshot back down to castle or maybe hideout in one of the shipwrecks in space. The spartan went to work reusing the battlefield for travel-ready vehicles, most machines being burned out husks or scrap heaps. It didn't deter him from holding on to a sliver of hope to survive the death of reach. 6 kept up his search as the atmosphere burnt away around him with the ground itself starting to burn simply from the proximity to glass-lands that were being formed. The spartan spotted an intact falcon and sprinted towards it, the vehicle had some minor damage but it still seemed flight worthy at least. 6 opened the falcon's canopy and hopped inside just as several elites appeared, some of them bearing heavy weapons. The spartan worked quickly to get the vehicle online just as a fuel rod gun was leveled at the falcon's position. With a few precious last switch flips, the falcon's engines coughed out a black smoke cloud before the rear jets ignited and the turbines spun up. No time was wasted on ascending more than a foot from the ground as 6 set the engines to maximum output. The barrage of heated plasma was narrowly avoided at the last possible moment when the aircraft rushed forward. Elites began firing their weapons rapidly at the escaping spartan, who only flipped them off as he took to the air.

Once in the skies, 6 focused on getting to the facility Dot had mentioned to him, intending to get off the dying world alive. He knew he wouldn't long before banshees would be on his heels and he was without support, though not completely defenseless since the helicopter still had a functioning chain gun. AS the moments went by in relative silence, aside from the whir of the falcon's turbines, 6 breathed in an effort to relax himself. He would survive this, of course it would be a while before he'd reunite with Jun though not that it mattered at that point. 6's musings were interrupted by the all too familiar hum of banshees and moved to evade a fuel rod shot from the squadron leader. He rolled the bird onto it side and then dropped down to evade a burst of plasma bolts from another banshee. The spartan pilot gritted his teeth and soared onward to his destination with the banshees keeping pace behind him. Minutes later 6 cold make out the sight of another empty battlefield below him with scattered wrecks and corpses in a defensive posture. The banshees stepped up their tactics and attempted to shoot down the falcon from several angles at once. The spartan took some fire from a lucky banshee pilot and the right turbine began to burn badly. It didn't cause him to worry much since he was almost at the launch site, several ONI markings were present denoting the base as one of their possible black sites. More banshee fire grazed the falcon and an alarm began to blare as the abused helicopter began to lose altitude. Within the span of two minutes the beaten down bird's engine had complete failures and 6 held on as the bird plowed into the ground. The banshees soared overhead and came around for another pass, leaving 6 with little time to escape the bird before it would be destroyed.

-CLASSIFIED ONI FACILITY-

The spartan barely reached a jammed open bunker door that had nearly been buried, possibly due to ONI's hasty attempt at asset denial. He slid under a large rocked that held the door open just as the banshees fired on the doorway, finishing what ONI started. 6 got back up to his feet and activated his night vision, although it was heavily obscured by the cracked visor. As he proceeded through the empty facility, an almost ghostly feel permeated the dark halls that surrounded him. He turned a corner and carefully pointed his gun into the hallway to avoid begun taken by surprise. The sounds of sparks and steam hissing echoed eerily as he continued his search of the deserted base. Eventually he reached what appeared to be an experimental mag-launch area, complete with a prototype magnetic accelerator in place of a traditional launch catapult or runway. An opening could be seen at the far end for where the air/space craft could leave covertly. Everything seemed to be in working order so why had Dot reported the facility as non-operational? 6 contemplated the matter briefly but just chalked it up to ONI being ONI, and he had a modest amount of knowledge regarding their methods from his time as an assassin. As he approached the rear of the accelerator, he found a sight that would have many pilots smiling, an armed prototype ONI prowler. The ship bore a resemblance to a sleek fighter rather than a stealth and observation vessel as it had two visible autocannons for defensive combat capabilities. On the ship's hull in bold lettering was its designation, UNSC BRIMSTONE. From what 6 could see, ONI had outdone themselves with the vehicle's attractive design as he let his eyes wander over it, his mood being akin to a child with a new toy.

6 approached the rear of the vessel and found himself witness to another dead spartan who'd dropped his helmet. What made him curious about his fallen comrade was the fact that the corpses of an elite zealot team were inside the vehicle's aft bay as well. He hauled the creatures out one by one and then looked over the dead spartan for anything useful. He recalled what Dr. Halsey had said during the team's meeting with her and decided to also search around for any clues as to why the elite Zealots were even here. An intact and upgraded ODST Mjolnir helmet was what 6 felt good to see as he swapped his broken helmet for the new one. The helmet snapped on with an audible hiss of air as the pressure seals activated. He looked at himself in a pane of reflective glass and smirked at his new gear. What he saw was a CBRN/HUL upgrade with a silver visor, luckily for him it was already painted black with white stripes as per ONI's preferred color scheme. He then returned to searching for the clues of why the zealots had come to this facility specifically. One idea he considered was checking the base's main console for intel. Suddenly a loud bang echoed throughout the empty halls, garnering the Spartan's full attention.

6 turned away from the ship to hear the sounds of more explosions in the direction he'd come from. He could only assume it was the covenant, probably unhappy that he was trying to escape instead of accepting his fate. The spartan ran for the control room and spotted several corpses of ONI personnel, all of them having either shot themselves or been killed by the Elites who'd overwhelmed the dead spartan. 6 ran to the main console and spotted the base commander who still held the detonator as well as a data chip in his hands. 6 figured it may be an AI storage chip, and he figured he might need an AI's help to navigate to a safe set of coordinates to link up with the UNSC. Without any hesitation, he pocketed the mysterious data chip and the detonator that he had no doubt was rigged to destroy the facility. From his perspective it was obvious the commander had died before the base could self-destruct could be initiated. 6 then went over the main console and furiously typed on the keys in his effort to boot up the mag-launcher for an emergency launch. He really wished Kat was still around as this would've been her area of expertise. After another explosion at the bunker doors 6 finally activated the launch bay doors and the countdown was initiated. He ran for the launcher and boarded the prowler immediately as the automated emergency countdown sequence progressed. The spartan sprinted rapidly to the pilot's seat and strapped himself in for the imminent launch. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for a return to space and the sight of the massive graveyard that would be waiting for him in orbit. As the countdown reached zero, covenant forces swarmed into the facility after having breached the doors. 6 relaxed his grip on the stick and focused when the engines ignited and the accelerator flung the ship along its path. With an extreme amount of kinetic force propelling him towards the heavens once more, the spartan mentally said goodbye to the dying planet, welcoming the vast darkness in front of him. He reached into his hardcase and picked up the detonator, internally smirking as he pressed the switch.

Covenant forces for miles around had seen the trail of smoke and gazed at the fleeing human spacecraft in hatred. Only seconds later as the ship disappeared into the void, the place it had fled from erupted into a cloud of fire and smoke, burying the alien forces inside under a mountain of scorched rock. An elite looking at the scene imagined it being as if a demon had banished his brothers to hell and damnation itself. After several minutes the flames died down, a pile of rocks and massive black cloud of smoke being all that remained of the mysterious ONI facility. Out of giant smoke cloud a battered ODST Mjolnir helmet plummeted to the ground. Landing with a thud, the damaged piece of equipment settled into the scorched dirt as if to watch the beams turn the planet surface to glass.

6 engaged the ship's stealth functions with a few simple clicks of several switches and gazed into the junk filled void. He knew had to get away from reach as soon as possible to avoid being discovered by any covenant space and began checking the prowler's systems for any possible FTL functions. He remembered the AI data chip and pulled it from his hardcase. He knew tactically the program would be useful but his gut told him it would be better to leave it alone for a while. One thing basic had drilled into his head like the other spartans was to always trust his gut instinct, and experience had only added to his trust of instinct. He put the chip away again and maneuvered the ship to hide among an alcove of UNSC ship debris so he could inspect the prowler's systems.

As 6 began his inspection he took a glimpse out of the prowler's windows to see Reach, or what was left of it. He felt his heart sink as the UNSC's fortress world turned a mix of red and silver, if humanity ever turned the tide of the war it would be years before Reach would support life again. Other than Onyx this was where spartans were born, and now it was gone, only a slowly burning husk was left. In the midst of all this, 6 still felt a sense of solace in Jun's survival and his own. A part of him wanted to regroup with his teammate, two headhunters were better than one after all. But he decided not to since it would only draw more covenant attention to the last UNSC stronghold he knew of down there, CASTLE base.

The spartan then went back to his inspection, which then revealed the presence of a prototype slipspace drive ONI had been tinkering with. He felt relieved to know there was actually one on board though he guessed the thing was fairly untested, and therefore dangerous to use. He would never forget what happened to Jorge and the thought of it happening to him on accident was slightly unsettling. 6 figured the amount of experimental technology in the single vessel must have cost ONI a fortune. He put those thoughts aside and went back to the pilot's seat, satisfied with the results of his inspection. Suddenly a large group of hostile contacts appeared the prowler's radar scans, covenant spacecraft that were picking through the UNSC wrecks. The spartan powered down the Prowler's systems and sat very still so as to avoid attracting attention. Only the sounds of the covenant craft were audible as they searched the wreckage for salvage and humans to kill.

For several long minutes 6 waited in silence for the hostile ships to pass over him. He controlled his breathing and calmly looked around to watch the ships go about their search. His fingers itched for him to reignite the prowler's engines and use the slipspace drive to turn and burn. The spartan kept his reaction in check, remaining still for his moment to escape and return to UNSC controlled space. As the ships slowly disappeared from sight, 6 restarted the engines and warmed up the slipspace drive. He punched random coordinates in the nav computer as per the Cole Protocol and hammered down on the thrust controls. With a loud whir and boom the prowler roared out of its hiding place in a burst of bright blue fire. 6 was pretty damn sure the Covenant fighters would be on him in seconds and prepped himself for space combat. Right on que, a seraph space fighter closed in behind him and began firing its weapons. He rolled to the side as the plasma rounds whizzed by the prowler. 6 looped around behind the seraph and opened fire with the defensive autocannons, the rounds damaging the seraph's shield. The alien starfighter tried to evade 6's cannon fire but the shield's gave out and the seraph began to fall apart from the constant machine gun fire. Another seraph appeared behind 6, and right beside it was an entire squadron of enemy space fighters. The spartan pilot finished off the seraph in front of him and looped downward to slingshot himself under the fighter squadron. He rolled again as a salvo of plasma rounds were fired from the seraph fighters in his direction. He glanced at the weapon systems and pressed a button to drop rear mines. A mine dropped out from the back of the prowler and detonated, destroying two enemy starfighters in the blast. 6 gritted his teeth from the g-forces as he pulled a hard turn to dodge more plasma torpedoes. Thanks to its sleek design the nimble prowler's engines held up despite the strain of the pilot's constant evasive maneuvers. The spartan engaged the prowler's afterburners for a short boost of extra speed to continue evading the seraphs. The slipspace drive was ready finally ready for a jump and 6 grinned as he prepared to leave his pursuers in the dust. But just as he was about to jump into FTL a seraph came out of nowhere and fired a plasma torpedo, nailing the prowler's engines. Alarms blared as 6 warped away, the entire nav system glowing emergency red due to a malfunction with the slipspace drive. Anticipating his end, the spartan closed his eyes as a bright white flash occurred in front of him.

-END CHAPTER-