A new war reaches humanity

by reza0807

When a Covenant loyalist fleet is pursued by humanity and they find a Forerunner planet that is connected to the Vex, you can expect that the UNSC will gain an unlikely new foe. Watch as the Halo universe will be influenced by a lone guardian. New and old enemies will arrive to fight.(May contain content from other franchises)

1. Chapter 1

Hello there and welcome to this new story of mine which is a break from another one. The timeline will be after the events of Halo 4. Cortana is gone but might appear again. Some things might also be changed but just enjoy it.

UNSC Infinity, orbit around Forerunner world Alpha-6

Captain Thomas Lasky wandered the hallways towards the bridge of the flagship Infinity. After an attack of the Covenant loyalist faction on a colony they had pursued the ships that they had managed to drove back. When they exited slipspace they were shocked to see yet another Forerunner planet. It was another shield world and again there was a Covenant fleet that moved in to engage. They were lucky that the fleet was relatively small and that they had multiple escorts with them.

When the battle was over they immediately sent out a signal to the UNSC about their discovery. After a few hours they had received additional reinforcements and a few platoons to deploy on the shield world. The message from command was clear. Drive the Covenant back and establish a base on the planet. Lasky got an additional message from ONI. Admiral Osman to be precise.

Apparently the fleet belonged to Jul Mdama. That meant that Halsey was also probably on the planet. She had given explicit orders to let a Spartan team deal with her that she would sent. Lasky was unfortunate to have been included in Osman's personal vendetta. When he had told Palmer she instantly volunteered to do the job. Lasky simply wanted to have nothing to do with it. But sadly as the head of ONI Osman had a lot of influence.

Lasky finally arrived at the bridge and saw all personnel doing their jobs to their fullest capacities. They were here to give their lives for humanity. But he knew better. To ONI they were expandable. They were tools to be used to gain more power and he hated it. All he could do was to make sure his crew survived.

"Status report?" He asked when he stood at Roland's terminal gazing at the planet. Roland appeared and saluted his captain.

"All systems operational sir. The rest of the fleet reported in as well saying that they're ready for deployment." The smart AI reported. Lasky took one more deep breath before nodding.

"Very well, the mission is a go. Deploy our troops to the surface." He commanded hoping they were not making a mistake. Messing with Forerunner artifacts was mostly bad news. They could find the Flood parasite that consumed them all. They could find Prometheans that loved to kill every human ins sight. Or worse, they would find another Didact.

"Aye, aye captain." Roland saluted before sending the message. With one final look at the planet he returned to the holographic table.

"Attention all crew members, the mission is a go. I repeat the mission is a go. All units report to your stations." Roland's voice went over the speakers all across the Infinity.

Pilots started their pelicans, marines went to their transports, ODSTs entered their drop pods and Spartans ran towards their own pelicans. Fireteam Majestic were no different as they ran to an awaiting transport. DeMarco made it first and called for his team to pick up the pace.

"Come on team, we're finally getting some action!" He yelled excitedly. The rest of his fireteam shared the enthusiasm and boarded the pelican.

"Alright we're good to go!" He informed the pilot who then took off and raced towards the planet.

"Hang on the ride will be jumpy! Expect Covenant bastards firing at us but missing because they suck Forerunner balls! Thank you for flying with air marine corps and have a good trip down there!" the pilot yelled in the speaker and finally entered the atmosphere.

They evaded plasma fire and the co-pilot saw multiple transports crashing down in fireballs as they were hit by the Covenant. The fireteam held on to their restraints and felt the aircraft shudder under the heavy fire of the Covenant.

"What do you think we'll find now Madsen?" Grant asked over the comm channel that Majestic used.

"Who knows, for all we know we'll find the secrets to the perfect pizza down there." Madsen joked getting a jab from DeMarco who was seated next to him.

"Shut it you two we're almost there!" He said as they felt the ship slowing down.

After two minutes they saw the ramp opening and jumped out of their seats. They landed on the grass but saw a Forerunner structure right in front of them. It was a temple that appeared to be built into a mountain. Drones were unable to scan because of interference thanks to whatever was inside that temple. You had to walk up stairs to reach the entrance. DeMarco called his team together and was satisfied that everyone was ready.

"Alright so remember, this is a possible location of doctor Halsey and Jul Mdama. We're going in and clear the Covenant in the front so the brass can send us backup." He summarized.

"I thought Spartans didn't need backup?" Thorne asked sarcastically.

"Zip it Thorne. You should know what could happen after Requiem." Hoya jabbed and effectively shut his fellow Spartan up.

"Thank you Hoya. Now as you know we could find Prometheans down there but I sure as hell don't want to see them. So if you see them kill them before I see them. Now let's go" DeMarco ordered.

They climbed the stairs slowly with their weapons ready for any threats. They were disturbed by the fact that they had not encountered any Covenant defenses on the way. They got to the top of the metal structure and saw a large gate which was closed. That's when they heard the mechanical screams. Prometheans materialized on platforms. They counted two knights and six soldiers. They simultaneously started firing on the Spartans depleting their shields but luckily they found cover behind some pillars.

"Majestic return fire!" DeMarco yelled shooting a soldier in the head with his battle rifle. The shots found their mark and the promethean soldier dissolved in data. The other soldier close to his one was taken out by Madsen's sniper rifle.

"The knights are advancing!" Grant yelled an sure enough the behemoths came to their position with their soldiers. Grant threw a grenade damaging the one on her side and killing another soldier but the knight responded with his scattershot. The blazing shots grazed her shoulder armor but she went back behind her pillar.

Thorne began spraying bullets from his assault rifle and managed to harm the knight even more. Another soldier succumbed to the shower of bullets. The knight roared and deployed a watcher that called upon crawlers. The small Prometheans appeared in a group of four and went after Thorne. He returned fire and killed two of them before the knight slammed him away when it had phased close to the unaware Spartan. Just before the knight wanted to impale the downed member of fireteam Majestic Madsen sniped the knight in the head. The large defense AI dissolved as well into data.

Grant fired her DMR at the watcher and looked in satisfaction as the hovering creature was downed. DeMarco ended the rest of the crawlers and only one knight and two soldiers remained. But then a Promethean soldier joined the fray with an incineration cannon. On each of two platforms close to the door turrets rose with a soldier on it. The turrets fired at the Spartans halting their advance. The turrets focused on Grant and DeMarco.

The knight roared and charged DeMarco who was pinned down. Thorne saw it and ran grabbed the scattershot of the fallen knight and ran towards the other one. He jumped and blasted it right in the leg a few times. The leg shattered and the knight fell down. Thanks to its momentum it didn't stop when it went over the platform and fell into the jungle.

"Thanks Thorne, Madsen and Hoya take down those turrets." DeMarco said trying to get the attention of the Prometheans. It worked and soon he had to fall back due to the sheer amount of firepower that was directed at him.

Hoya ran up to the soldier with the cannon and shot him apart with his shotgun. He grabbed the cannon and fired at the left turret shattering it to pieces with the soldier along with it. He aimed for the second one but a sniper round got the soldier who dissolved. The remaining two soldiers went for Hoya though. One grabbed him and the other aimed his suppressor rifle. DMR shots found their mark on the soldier as it fell to the ground and the other one was taken down by a battle rifle.

"You owe us one Hoya." Grant said as she reloaded her DMR.

"Sure, drinks are on me." He said back as he relaxed his abused shoulder that the Promethean had grabbed.

"Wait for the celebrations when we're done with this temple." Madsen said when he walked up to them having picked up a blotshot from one of the crawlers.

"Command this is fireteam majestic, we've cleared the entrance to the temple. You can send the reinforcements now." DeMarco said in the battle network. The reply was there in an instant.

"Understood Majestic, reinforcements will be there in five minutes. We've received word that Jul Mdama is indeed in the Forerunner building at your location. What kind of opposition?" Captain Lasky replied.

"So far heavy Promethean resistance sir. They came at us with heavy weaponry but we haven't seen any Covenant forces yet." DeMarco answered. A silence fell over the channel as the captain was in deep thought.

"Anything else Spartan?" Lasky then asked.

"Negative sir." Came DeMarco's response.

"Alright good luck Majestic, captain Lasky out." Lasky said with a heavy voice clearly bothered by the fact that the Covenant could be working with Prometheans again.

"Understood sir, Majestic out." DeMarco said and turned to his team members who were checking the area.

Later they heard the sound of two pelicans approaching. They came to the platform and turned to unload their passengers. On one of them a marine squad exited but the Spartans were surprised to see other Spartans exit the other one. They walked up to fireteam Majestic with the marines following them.

"Greetings fireteam Majestic, we're fireteam Osiris. I'm team leader Spartan Locke and these are Spartans Buck, Vale and Tanaka. This is sergeant Anderson who will be accompanying us with his squad." The Spartan called Locke introduced as he motioned to his own team members and the sergeant.

"I'm DeMarco, team leader of fireteam Majestic. These are Spartans Grant, Thorne, Hoya and Madsen. Pleased to meet you. So why did they sent more Spartans?" DeMarco introduced and then asked.

"Command wants to make sure Jul Mdama doesn't leave the facility alive. We're here to make sure they get what they want." Locke answered walking past DeMarco. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Buck who shrugged to say sorry.

"Did you find a way to open that door?" Vale asked as they approached the large metal door.

"Nope, couldn't find a switch or key." Hoya spoke up as he patted the door.

"We'll take care of that. Marines show the Spartans how we knock." Sergeant Anderson said and gave a nod to the door. Two marines sprinted to the door and began placing explosives. They were done in one minute and had placed enough explosives to blow up a phantom.

"We're done sarge!" One of the marines yelled as everyone took cover.

"Let it rip!" The sergeant yelled and in that instant the door was engulfed in a fiery explosion. The entire platform shook and smoke poured every direction. When the UNSC soldiers looked up they saw a hole big enough to let a warthog through.

"Let's move on." Locke said and entered the structure followed by the rest of the Spartans and marines.

The temple was eerie quiet. They had to go through a doorway where some sort of barrier was. They walked right through it though. No Promethean nor any Covenant in sight. They passed various bridges and expected the bridges to collapse but they held strong like everything the Forerunners had build. They came across a big room and then they found the Covenant, dead. Bodies of elites, jackals, grunts and even hunters were littered all around the room. Scorch marks were on the walls and the ground. They even found an elite ultra with his head bashed into his body.

"Who or what did this?" A terrified marine asked. Everyone wanted to know what could have killed these Covenant soldiers.

"Were it the Prometheans?" Buck asked as he prodded an elite with his boot to see if he was alive.

"We would have seen their weapons lying around but as I see it those Prometheans at the entrance were not helping the Covenant." Locke said.

"What makes you think that?" DeMarco asked.

"You told me they showed up when you wanted to cross the platform. We have intel that the Prometheans are attacking everyone including the Covenant. It's safe to think that the Covenant entered through another entrance." Locke explained as he gestured towards the various halls that ended in the room.

"I think I found something!" A marine yelled and showed a console. Vale looked it over and activated it. A door opened showing a wounded elite in the hallway that they now found. Before they could go through there seemed to be an energy shield in front of the door. Thorne touched it and was surprised to see his hand go through it. They all went through and walked up to the dying elite.

"Try asking what happened." Locke ordered. Vale spoke with the elite in his language and when she was done the elite succumbed to his wounds.

"What did you found out?" DeMarco asked her.

"They were ambushed by strange looking robots. They possessed the ability of the Prometheans to phase around but they had red eyes. And they didn't look Forerunner according to what he said." She reported disturbed. If this was a new enemy they were in for surprises.

"This is getting weird." Throne deadpanned.

"We're moving on." Locke commanded and soon they were back on track.

The hallway turned out to be a tunnel that went on for ages according to a marine who complained. Sometimes they turned to the right and then to the left. They were all on edge as they heard screams echoing through the tunnel. The marines were talking about monsters sealed away but their sergeant shut them up. But the idea was logical to the Spartans. It would explain the Prometheans that guarded the door.

"I'm seeing something on my radar." Tanaka said after a while. All other Spartans acknowledged as well. A marine with a long range scanner walked up to the front of the group and began searching.

"Sir, I'm detecting Covenant signs. A whole group and then a bunch of unknown contacts." The private reported. The sergeant frowned at the mention of unknown contacts.

"Let's find out then." DeMarco said and they were now more alert as the tunnel seemed to come to an end.

What they saw next took their breath away. It was an enormous cave with a strange structure centered in it. It was blocky and looked like stone but it was made out of metal. It did not look like the usual Forerunner structure. Around it were smaller buildings and there appeared to be circle-like metal constructions that looked like doors. On the central structure a large statue stood proudly.

"Vale, what are we looking at?" Buck asked in awe.

"No idea but one thing is for sure. That is not Forerunner. The materials used are different and so is the architecture." She replied.

"Look at that statue. Do you guys think it could be some type of god or something like that?" Hoya said as he pointed at the large structure.

"If we get inside we might find out." DeMarco proposed. It was then that they heard a loud bang.

Further ahead was an entrance where Covenant seemed to pour out. The thought that it was a team to retaliate was scratched once they saw the ruby light bolts that followed them. Several grunts fell when they were hit. A fast orange bolt struck an elite minor in the chest and killed him instantly. Once the Covenant was out the hail of bolts died out. The marines were anxious thanks to the unseen contacts that managed to make the Covenant flee. The Spartans were not so anxious but even they were worried.

The Covenant tried to reorganize themselves but then a jackal sniper spotted the humans. The elite ultra roared a battle cry and soon they found themselves under fire by the Spartans that retaliated out of reflex. The combined firepower of the Spartans easily matched that of the vast amount of Covenant troops that were exhausted.

The jackal snipers managed to take down two marines that were too much in the open. Madsen focused on them with his own sniper. Hoya and Buck led the forward charge along with a couple of marines. They began engaging the Covenant in close combat while being covered by the others. A lucky grunt tossed a plasma grenade that took two marines out of commission. Their Sergeant took the grunt down with his knife but was too late to fall back when an elite came out of nowhere and pierced Anderson in the chest with his energy sword. The marines yelled in unison for their leader but in a last effort he planted the knife in his trembling hand into the head of the elite. They both slumped to the ground.

"Sarge is down!" A private yelled over the firefight. Buck ran to the sergeant but all he found was a lifeless body clutching a military knife. He quickly took the man's dog tags before he ran over a rock towards the Covenant.

He threw a grenade right into a group of shielded jackals and slammed an elite down. When he pulled the trigger killing the elite the grenade went off and jackals flew through the air. Another elite swung his sword over Buck as he ducked. The former ODST kicked the elite away and unloaded another shotgun shell right into the chest of the alien. The grunts shot at him with needlers and plasma pistols but they were reflected by his shield. He was going to deal with them but suddenly Hoya and Thorne came in and eliminated the grunts with ease. They all nodded to each other and advanced further.

Locke pulled out two magnums and began harassing the Covenant ranks as he came close to the ultra. Two elites blocked his way and unleashed a hail of plasma bullets with their storm rifles. Locke ran up a boulder and jumped in the air. As he soared over them he placed bullets in their heads with deadly precision as their shields were depleted. He landed and did the limbo as the ultra swung his sword grazing Locke's shields that flickered at the miniscule contact. The Spartan rolled away and grabbed the storm rifle of a fallen elite. He began spraying plasma at the ultra that charged at him. The shields died out but the ultra knocked the weapon away and brought the sword down. Locke dodged and punched the elite in the mandibles. The elite staggered for a moment and that was all Locke needed to place a bullet between his eyes with a magnum pistol. The ultra fell to the floor and with him the Covenant troops their resolve.

Grant was the one who killed the last elite before the battlefield became quiet. The marines scurried around gathering their dead. Locke went back to DeMarco who was talking to his squad.

"Ok Grant and Madsen, you two will stay behind with the marines and keep the area safe. The rest of us will enter the building along with Osiris." He ordered and got acknowledged by his team members.

"I will leave Tanaka to help them. The rest of us will be enough to investigate the construction." Locke proposed. The marines were thankful and so was DeMarco.

"Alright that will do. Let's hope that whatever got those Covenant won't get us." The leader of fireteam Majestic said before the small group of Spartans entered the blocky building.

It was quiet and they saw no one except for the dead elites and grunts that littered the path they took. Some of the corpses were slouched against the walls with prints of them on the wall were they sat. Whatever had killed them had knocked them so hard against the wall that left those prints. This did not sit well with the Spartans.

Vale documented as much as she could of the strange building that did not resemble Forerunner structure. It looked definitely older perhaps even older than the Forerunners themselves as she had put it herself when they were in the small hallway. She had picked up a piece of rubble to take back for study. They came to a circular door that appeared to be locked.

"Well does anyone have an alien key or do we knock and ask nicely to open up?" Buck remarked sarcastically as they found no way to open it.

"Maybe that works." Thorne said and touched the door. The door began to hum and glow until it opened up. Thorne looked back and saw the other Spartans staring at him.

"My idea." Buck muttered as they entered the large room.

In the center of the room was a circular altar. Atop of it a metal orb of Forerunner design floated covered in what seemed to be a shield. All around the room were Covenant troops watching with great interest as no else than Jul Mdama was pacing around it. The greatest shock for the Spartans was that doctor Catherine Halsey was down here as well. She appeared to be typing at a holographic screen generated by the Forerunner machinery around the orb.

"What the hell is the doctor doing here!?" DeMarco whispered furiously.

"She was taken by Mdama remember? She's forced to work with them." Throne whispered back.

"From what I've heard she betrayed us and joined Mdama." Vale told them. Locke held a hand up to silence them. Thanks to their enhanced hearing they could hear what they were saying.

"Why is it taking so long doctor!? You told me you could unlock the secrets of the holy orb, but so far I lost my men to the beings that dwell this temple!" Jul shouted angrily. He had lost many forces on this endeavor and earlier some of his forces were cut off and pushed out of the temple. To top it off a messenger had told him the UNSC had arrived and began deploying their troops and demons.

"I am doing the best I can Jul. If I had more time and resources I could do better but that is unfortunately not our situation. I am close to unlocking whatever this is. I told you that this is a Forerunner excavation site. The shield that we passed kept the things that are here inside and is apparently connected to this orb." Halsey calmly replied.

"So it could be a sort of shield generator then. Imagine if we used it. My men could pass but the demons would be shut out." Jul said more to himself than the doctor.

"So she is helping them." Locke said. The mission he got seemed to be a go now.

"We don't know for sure." Thorne insisted.

"I agree with the kid Locke. Besides she is to be taken back to the UNSC." Buck said. He didn't like the doctor and was kind of neutral about her but she did form the Spartan project so if it wasn't for her none of them would be here. Besides, he never trusted the ONI spooks and their words.

"Either way we're going to crash this little party." DeMarco said and readied his rifle.

The other Spartans agreed and they prepared to ambush them. But then the orb began to hum. Everyone in the room looked at the orb that began to move. It began to disassemble itself and slowly the metal began to disintegrate. In the center a white crystal shined brightly effectively blinding everyone including the Spartans even when their visors polarized. As soon as the flash came the crystal shattered in small particles that floated around the room and disappeared as well. The room was silent until Jul roared.

"What have you done doctor! The holy artefact has been destroyed!" He roared and soon all the other Covenant roared as well and became hostile towards her.

"Maybe she is working with them against her will after all." Hoya whispered as they observed the pissed off Covenant species.

"Wait I simply deactivated it. It wasn't a shield generator." Halsey said alarmed and then slowly turned around to look at the altar as it disintegrated along with the rest of the Forerunner machinery. They all cautiously took a step back. A hole where the alter stood began to slowly open. "It was a lock." She whispered but the dead silent room enhanced that whisper so everyone heard it.

Suddenly a beam of blue light shot out of the fully opened hole. It went through the ceiling and coursed through the building. The whole construction began to shake and so did the cave. The light made its way straight to the statue and its one eye began to glow a fiery crimson red. From the pedestal three rays of blue light hit the three smaller buildings around the main construct. The marines and Spartans outside watched in awe as the light touched the blocky constructions began to slowly fade away.

Back inside a screech echoed throughout the shaking room. The Spartans were shocked to see one-eyed machines pop into existence and saw them opening fire on the Covenant. Red bolts struck the elites and killed them when their shields died out. Doctor Halsey ran up to the stairs that lead towards the Spartans. When she got there she quickly addressed the Spartans.

"Spartans, you must hurry! You need to take out those machines and the Covenant before the temple collapses." She said urgently.

"How did you know we were here?" DeMarco asked over the firefight that occurred below.

"I saw you on a security footage and tried to delay Jul. Now hurry before it is too late." She said less calmly now.

"Alright doctor, Spartans engage hostiles." Locke ordered.

The Spartans all simultaneously tossed a grenade which caused havoc to the forces below. Some grunts were instantly gunned down by the machines that seemed to phase around the room. Hoya and Buck once again teamed up and prioritized the machines as their shotguns seemed to be effective at harming the machines. Buck shot one where a white spot was and was surprised to see white fluid splatter around. With the fluid gone the machine slumped to the ground.

It occurred to them that when the machines were defeated they seemed to disintegrate like Prometheans. Locke shot down one of Mdama's guards but was too late as he fled the scene with the rest of the Covenant. Locke also saw the pillar of light pulsing and the machines disappearing as they crouched.

"Tanaka, Jul Mdama is escaping. Can you take him out?" He asked over their comm channel. All he heard was white noise and static.

"Don't waste your time on that Spartan. The structure blocks communication." Halsey said as he joined up with them. Thorne remained at her side to protect but also guard her.

"Shouldn't we go as well?" Buck asked worried about their wellbeing.

At that moment the light pillar intensified. They all looked back to it to see a shadow of a figure in it. They all watched in awe as the figure seemed to come closer and closer until something fell out of it. They all saw the light dying out but the temple still shook immensely. They had to get out fast. But they still had attention for what had fallen out of the light. Halsey gasped and so did some of the others.

It was a human looking robot. It was black with blue lines running on the arms and legs. They also saw the antennas where the ears where supposed to be. The robot was definitely valuable so at the order of Halsey they grabbed it and fled the temple, the cave, the Forerunner building and right to the awaiting pelicans. They all boarded them including the Spartans, the marines, the fallen, doctor Halsey and the mysterious robot. They quickly flew away to the Infinity and before the ramp closed the saw the whole mountain disappear in a ball of light leaving a large crater.

They were all amazed at the spectacle and turned to their prize. This was definitely a big find for the UNSC.

…..

Somewhere in a different dimension

Black was all that the guardian could see. His systems were just coming online and after a short system check he found out that his optics were still activating. Subsystems were already beginning to scan his servos. Sound came back online and he could barely hear what someone was saying. The sound receptors were recalibrating and in the meantime he got 25 percent of his vision back. Voice box was slightly damaged but worked almost perfectly again.

"Tak…t..asy..You….bee.. …while." The barely audible voice said that sounded a lot like his Ghost. His optics rebooted and slowly but steady he could see the black-shelled form of his Ghost.

"What happened?" The exo asked with a slightly broken voice.

"I'm not sure how to explain. What do you remember?" Ghost asked him carefully and concerned. He began accessing his memory banks. Meanwhile his servos were fully operational again and he sat up.

"I remember a vault. It was made out of glass or something. There were trials and machines. There were four, no five others. We fought against the machines and went deep into this vault. Something about a well and a maze, perhaps a labyrinth? Then there was something like a throne room. And there was this big blue robot that could control time. His name was…" The exo summarized and trailed of as he tried to recall the events that happened before his abrupt shutdown.

"Atheon; that is his name. We were in the vault of glass fighting the Vex. You killed Atheon but then something happened that he would like to explain." Ghost answered for him and turned to look over the confused guardian.

The exo turned around and his optics widened at the sight of the huge Vex called Atheon. He was standing proudly behind him. Then he got more aware of his surroundings. It looked like a humungous Vex throne room with Precursor Vex standing at the walls as guards. He was close to an edge and he could see a lot of red eyes that didn't move down there in the darkness.

"You have awoken I see." Atheon rumbled in a deep mechanical voice.

"How are you here? I'm pretty sure I killed you." The exo said astonished. It then occurred to him that he was without armor and weapons.

"You did kill me in a way. As for your armor and weapons you had on you they were transported back to your Ghost. Now before you ask questions I will explain our, unfortunate situation." Atheon replied.

"Fine, go on then." The exo said reluctantly knowing he was at the mercy of the Vex lord.

"When you finally managed to kill me I had to ensure my survival. The Vex network needed a time's conflux so I decided that the one who defeated me would be my successor. We are now one and with it comes the ability to command legions of Vex units. A downside is that we are no longer able to remain in your universe. We are in a different one that the Vex have scouted already but yours was more important since your traveler had fled there." Atheon explained with that deep booming voice he had.

"Wait I'm stuck here in this tomb with you?" The mortified exo asked.

"No, this is your private dimension like the vault of glass was mine. It is hidden within the new dimension where we have arrived. Only here you will be able to properly die." Atheon answered.

"He speaks the truth I'm afraid." Ghost said sadly. They could no longer go home.

"Great, this is just great." The exo said sarcastically.

"If it pleases you, you have ascended to a whole new level because of me. Not only are you the supreme mind of these Vex units, your light has become greater now it is mingled with my darkness." Atheon compromised.

"What?" Came the guardian's simple reply.

"You're now a more advanced AI and so am I. You can now also use full exotic armor and weapons. Some have been supplied by Atheon. He gathered them from the dead guardians that were lost in time." Ghost clarified.

"That's one good thing I suppose." The exo said as he had slightly calmed down.

"One more thing though. While you might not know, this dimension is where your race, 'exos', comes from. As I said we once scouted this dimension and came in contact with an advanced civilization. They hacked into one of our confluxes so we retaliated. They had this special robotic form with an advanced AI investigate us. When we pulled back the robot came with us and was lost in time. It was later found by the Traveler and from it he created thousands of these robots. Since then the exo was born." Atheon carefully explained and was met by the amazed optics of Ghost and the exo that was him now.

"Amazing, so I'm actually home?" The exo stammered.

"Yes, from what I know this AI was actually one of those people but his mind was transferred in the robotic body. It is safe to tell that you're actually one of them in mind only more advanced." The lord of time mused.

The exo was thrilled to find out about his race. He recomposed himself and focused on the matters at hand. "How do I get out of here?" He then asked as he referred to place around him.

"You're already gone actually. This is more like mind link. We have been found by unknown lifeforms but I think they are humans. We don't know if they're friendly though." Ghost said sounding intrigued and concerned.

"So all I have to do is wake up? Wait a second my systems tell me I'm in standby-mode."

"Yes you are now wake up guardian. We'll figure out what to do once we're sure you're safe." Ghost said.

"Before you go, will you tell me your name guardian?" The tall Vex mind asked.

"Call me Soundwave." The titan guardian said before once again his optics powered down.

….

UNSC Infinity

In a conference room Lasky watched nervously the faces of the assembled group. Halsey stood in the middle while fireteams Majestic and Osiris stood against the walls acting as guards. Palmer was there too and she glared daggers at the doctor who had only one arm left thanks to her. Across video feeds the faces of lord Hood, admiral Osman and the rest of command were morphed into a frown as they regarded the doctor.

"So if I understand correctly, you were working with Jul Mdama because you had no choice?" Hood asked her while watching her with his calculating gaze.

"Yes, otherwise he would have eliminated me. Though I did sabotage him many times and gave him false trails. I loathed having to work with him but after all I was not exactly welcome here." Halsey told him as her gaze slowly drifted to Osman who frowned deeply at her.

"Well you are still under arrest for your crimes doctor." Osman interjected with a sneer. Halsey's only hand clenched slightly but as calculating she was she kept silent.

"Yes but if it were not for her the Spartans would never have been created and would have never saved humanity." A young admiral said as he tried to ease tensions but Osman wasn't having anything of it.

"Before this becomes a heated discussion I propose that she is placed under surveillance and resumes her work. What can you tell us about this planet doctor." Lord Hood interrupted and turned his gaze back to doctor Halsey who looked thankful.

"The name of this planet is Archeologis. It was a research site of the Forerunners where they studied ancient structures from before their own civilization." She explained as she tapped on her datapad. A holo displayer showed the strange buildings they had seen down in the mountain cave.

"Older than the Forerunners themselves?" Hood asked interested as did everyone else.

"Yes, they tried to find out who had built them. Thanks to Jul Mdama I was able to access a terminal before going to the one of the research sites. They once found this 'conflux' that appeared to be a link to a network that ran deep in the buildings. They found out that the species who were responsible for the constructions were called the Vex." Halsey further explained and showed an image of one of the robots they had encountered at the site.

"Remarkable, who built these machines doctor?" Lasky asked as he took in every detail of the machine with its menacing looking eye.

"That is what bothers me the most. As advanced as the Forerunners were they were only able to scratch the surface concerning the knowledge of the Vex. They believed that the Vex were actually a species themselves." Halsey supplied politely. The room fell in a silence at her words.

"You mean these robots are independent?" Hood asked as he broke the silence.

"Yes though according to one of the researchers they are very alike-minded." Halsey said cryptically.

"How much?" Osman asked now silently studying the information they received. With a heavy sigh Halsey answered.

"The Vex are divided in divisions and in each of them they all have the same mind. You could compare them to the Flood actually. There are minds that control the minions like a gravemind." Halsey announced causing the whole room to be stunned even the ones light years away.

"How is that possible?" Hood asked.

"I'm afraid that is as much as the Forerunners could find out on that topic. The other information they found out was that the Vex are able to travel through time and space." The doctor informed them.

"These Vex seemed to be quite the species then. Did the Forerunners find out how this worked?" Osman asked eager to know if perhaps they could gain this technology. Lord Hood seemed to have noticed this as he subtly frowned at her.

"No, before they could learn more they had accidentally awoken the Vex that slumbered in the buildings. They slaughtered the research teams and to prevent them from spreading, the Forerunners created special orbs to lock the Vex away. When the Spartans rescued me I was forced by Mdama to unlock one of these orbs. The result was to awaken the Vex even more and we also recovered a strange human looking robot. After we fled the site the mountain collapsed though if my theory is correct the Vex had transported their buildings along with the mountain through a time-space portal to who knows where." Halsey further announced and fell silent as she was done with her debriefing.

"Doctor, what has happened to this robot?" Osman asked intrigued. Halsey tapped on her data pad again and a video feed appeared on the display. Everyone looked amazed at the large robot that was placed on a table with its arms and legs restrained.

"We have not researched our find yet. To take precautions we restrained it as you can see." She replied while watching the robot as well.

"Do you think we could hack it? Download its database and perhaps reprogram him to serve the UNSC?" Osman further asked.

"I could try but from observation alone I can see that it is very important. It is likely that it has no simple programming but an AI to function." Halsey replied not taking her eyes away from the fascinating technology.

"I propose that we research this prize and look on Archeologis for more of these finds." Admiral Osman then said. Various people from command agreed.

"Very well then, captain Lasky I entrust you with this operation. I give you the authority to command everything at disposal. The Arbiter and blue team are on their way as well to help you and hunt down Jul Mdama." Lord Hood said with finality.

"And I will assign fireteam Osiris as well to the Infinity to help you captain." Osman added.

"Understood sir." Lasky said and saluted before the transmission was cut.

"Permission to go the lab and perform research on the robot along with doctor Glassman?" Halsey asked him politely.

"Permission granted, fireteam Osiris will escort you and guard you while you work. I don't want to have that robot kill the crew if it can." Lasky said with a nod.

"Very well." Came her only reply.

"Understood sir, let's go team." Locke said and followed the doctor with his team.

"If anyone needs I'll be in my quarters." The captain said before he strode out of the room.

…..

"This is amazing! Look at the design alone. Who knows what kind of secrets we will find within it." Doctor Glassman said excited to no end. He paced around the table looking at the recovered robot with wide eyes. He was absolutely thrilled to study the recovered prize from the Forerunner planet that they currently orbited.

"Yes I know Glassman but could you please be more quiet? We don't want accidents to happen." Halsey replied slightly annoyed by the man's excitement. Though to be honest she was thrilled as well to be finally back in a human lab and to research humanity's first advanced robot prize.

"Of course doctor Halsey, I apologize. It's just every scientist's dream to do this." The man said more calmly now. He went to her and helped to attach the cables on the robot's head. Vale was running a last check on the terminal before they would try to enter the robot's mind. She had already handed over the rubble she had found to the scientists. Tanaka was simply observing as was Locke but Buck seemed to be nervous.

"Is it really smart to poke around in an alien robot?" He asked nervously.

"While there might be complications I'm sure that we would be able to contain the threat. If it managed to kill all of us the lab would still go in a complete lockdown so it won't escape." Halsey nonchalantly replied as if it was nothing.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about the us dying part." He grumbled and curled his gloved hands around his shotgun. Tanaka chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Relax Buck, it's just a robot against four Spartans. What could go wrong?" Tanaka asked amused.

"Watch out Tanaka, don't jinx us like that." Buck warned.

"There, all set! What about the system Vale?" Glassman asked as they had finally finished with attaching the cables.

"Systems are all set as well doctor." She replied and let Halsey behind the controls.

"Ok, I'm beginning the process now." She said and pressed the button that would influence future events without a doubt.

The machinery began to lowly hum as power began to flow through the cables. The robot jolted for a second causing all Spartans to aim their weapons at the robot. They were relieved to see it didn't move any further. Then finally data began to appear on the screen as Glassman and Halsey analyzed what they saw. Streams of data scrolled over the screen at a fast rate. The codes that were in it seemed to be changing constantly.

"Fascinating, this coding is extraordinary. Do you see their influence as well doctor Halsey?" Glassman said quietly. His glasses reflected the data and added to the stereotypical image of a scientist. Halsey hummed at his comment.

"Yes, there are Forerunner coding in it but it appears that more was added which is not of Forerunner origin. They are so complex even I do not fully understand them. This AI seems to be on a whole other level. It has even more potential than Cortana." She softly muttered.

"Doctors something is happening!" Vale yelled as the screens began to register activity within the codes. They changed even faster and the computer seemed to be shortening out. Sparks erupted from the robot and coursed through the cables. The screen was changed into a bunch of wild pixels before it blew a fuse.

Before they could do something the optics of the robot activated and shined a bright blue. It began to scream a high pitched noise that made everyone grasp at their ears. Even with the helmets on the Spartans clenched their teeth and hands went to the ears even while they were covered and fell on their knees while they doctors were sprawled on the floor. With immense strength the robot tore of the restraints and stood to his full height. The Spartans and doctors rose as well and aimed the weapons at it. They knew it was big but now with its full height it was easily as tall and big as a Spartan II. The bright blue optics looked around the room scanning what was going on. The whole time it had a hand clutched at its head.

….

"What the hell is going on Ghost! My head is killing me!" Soundwave shouted at Ghost in their linked minds. The agony that he was having was immense. To the contrary what many believed exos had pain receptors and special software that allowed them to feel. And at the moment he felt as an army of Hive was shrieking in his audio receptor at close range.

"These humans messed around in your programming. They were doing something but it made your pain receptors go wild. I think you just woke up with the worst hangover one could have." Ghost replied and shut the pain off. No words described how grateful he was now the pain was gone. Entering an AI and messing with their programming while it was active, this included standby-mode, was equal to mind-rape. The pain that the AI would endure was excruciating and horrifying.

Now that he was mostly operational again he could observe his situation. He was in some sort of lab with armored humans aiming their weapons at him. From a quick scan he concluded that one carried a SMG, another a shotgun and the other two had what appeared to be an automatic rifle and the other a pulse rifle. There were two other humans. One with glasses and an old lady with one arm. He did another scan and found a terminal close to their position. He made up a strategy as fast as possible. He did this all in less than a second thanks to the fact that he was a supreme AI and a supreme Vex collective mind.

"Ghost equip me with Helm of Saint-14, ACD/0 Feedback Fence, The Armamentarium and Mk. 44 Stand Asides. Don't forget the Old Guard shader. As primary weapon Red Death, secondary Invective and as heavy Super Good Advice. After that access that terminal and find out everything you can about where we are and who we are dealing with. I want history, culture, warfare, social interactions; everything." Soundwave told him again at light speed. Ghost hummed in approval and did this in a flash of light.

For the Spartans and the doctors the robot had suddenly come online and fled the table. In only a second it had suddenly armor on and a red weapon in his hands. The helmet had a purple line running over where the face was and it looked like the design was like the ancient romans their helmets. The chest armor was loaded with bullets, grenades and other stuff. The arms had strange pointy pieces of metal on them with an orange line running at the edges. The leg armor had patterns running over the plating. With the added mass the alien robot looked even more intimidating.

The four Spartans slowly surrounded the active robot that was now armored and armed. What stunned them was that it got all of that with just a flash. Most of it looked out of place but there was no doubt that whatever it was, it was very advanced.

Suddenly a small cylinder fell from the robot's belt. When their eyes landed on it they saw it looked like a grenade. Before they could act it went off and engulfed the room in a bright light and excruciating sound. Soundwave used the distraction to grab the two humans in the lab coats and ran for the door. He had used arc energy to stun the two humans for the time being and hauled them over his shoulders. He grinned as the armored humans came after him and didn't notice Ghost entering the system of whatever it was where they are the moment. With some luck they would successfully escape.

"Captain Lasky the robot is on the run with doctors Halsey and Glassman! We need backup at once! It's running towards hangar 20 and is armored and armed!" Locke shouted in the comm of his suit.

On the bridge Lasky stood with an alarmed pose as he just received the message. An alien robot running lose on his ship with his scientists being kidnapped. He had a bad déjà vu at the moment and was not going to hope that it would all end well like on Requiem. He dashed to the intercom and activated it with great haste.

"All hands to combat! We have an armored intruder running around with the doctors to hangar 20. I want all combat forces in the area to detain the intruder. If it points a gun at you shoot first. This is not a drill. Refrain from attacking if you could hurt the doctors. Get a move on it people!" Lasky yelled in the speaker so the entire ship heard him.

"Sir, I have alerted commander Palmer who is currently at the hangar with a couple of other Spartans. They will ambush the robot when it gets there." Roland said as he appeared on the holographic table. The AI had forsaken snarky comments and humor at the moment and stood in a stance that showed how serious he was.

"Good, what's the ETA of the Arbiter and blue team?" Lasky asked while crew members ran around on the bridge. They began trying to organize the capture and rescue mission.

"Only half an hour away. Do you think it will defeat our Spartans sir?" Roland replied uncertain. Lasky turned to look at the display of the robot running through a hallway while carrying Glassman and Halsey. It looked certainly intimidating and as if it knew that he was watching it pulled out a red weapon and aimed at the camera. The small spikes close to the barrel and the sharp knife was all he saw before the camera was shot to pieces.

"I don't know Roland but I want to be sure that we can contain it." He answered with a heavy heart.

Meanwhile Soundwave was running around in the hope of getting out of wherever they were. He began to growl as he was met again by a closed door. How he hated closed doors. Why did they have to make this the hard way. They would new doors after he was done.

"Ghost tell me you have found something by now." He said while channeling arc energy through his right leg as he kicked the door down.

"I'm still assimilating as much info as I can but there are other AI in here that might find me. I will upload a map to your HUD now. We're on a ship now which is orbiting around the planet where they found us. In this dimension we're currently in the hands of the UNSC. Some human military I believe. Ah, I found something interesting here." Ghost said while working as fast as he could. The small light source could be very witty at times like this.

"Well, spill it." Soundwave said impatiently. His radar went red so his pursuers were rather close. Too close to his liking so he kicked some crates down that were in his way to hopefully block them even if it was for a second.

"Yes so it is United Nations Space Command. They are the military branch of the UEG which stands for United Earth Government. I'll spare you most of their history and just upload it later but they were at war with a religious alien group called the Covenant a couple of years ago. Oh and just so you know it the ones who are following you are called Spartans. They are the UNSC super soldiers. The fourth generation, no wait third generation. Who named this, it's confusing." Ghost further explained. Soundwave groaned at the mention of super soldiers. He wakes up in a different dimension and what comes after him, super soldiers. He was immediately preferring fallen over them. At least the fallen didn't rape him.

"Great, why am I here anyways?" He asked passing a startled human who fell on the ground as passed by. The human shouted at him to stop but Soundwave ignored the human.

"Well, they are now searching for Forerunner artifacts and worlds. They found you on the planet and they think you're an artifact. They are actually correct since you were created by the Forerunners. Hell you are a Forerunner. Do I need to mention they believe they basically 'reclaimed' you?" Ghost quipped with a tinge of humor.

"One, I am not an artifact. Two, I have no intention of letting them peek inside of me again so I hope there is a way out of here." Soundwave growled as he found a large door. He sprinted for it hoping he would find a hangar or something. When he saw a sign of a hangar he almost shouted in joy at his luck.

"Soundwave you might want to evade that room!" Ghost warned but was too late.

Soundwave went through the door and walked further inside but then stopped. He was greeted by the sight of at least ten of these Spartan super soldiers aiming their weapons at him. A bunch of normal humans which were labeled as marines by his HUD also decided to play scare the exo. But he was by all means not scared. Irritated, annoyed and pissed off matched his current mood better as he glared at the assembly of humans through the feed his helmet gave. His luck sucked.

"Drop the hostages and throw your weapons away you alien bastard." A female yelled at him. He spotted her at the front of the group with white armor. She was labeled as commander Palmer. The first impression of her was a brute who liked to kill things. If all humans here were like that he needed to escape fast.

From behind him the other Spartans came that were labeled fireteam Osiris. The pricks who were at the lab and had him run a lot with two humans on his broad shoulders. They stopped behind him and targeted him as well. The humans that were identified as doctor Halsey and doctor Glassman groaned softly on his shoulders. Hopefully they would not awaken and struggle. The last thing he needed was his hostages to whine like babies. The commander took a threatening step forward.

"Now drop them along with your weapons and walk away from them. Otherwise I'll put a bullet through that rusted head of yours" She hissed. Wow, talk about an attitude. Soundwave was so not liking her. His anger almost got the better of him

Soundwave didn't like the way she talked to him but nevertheless dropped them gently and his pulse rifle even more. It was one of his favorite weapons after all. He took one long step back. He expected them to let him go but the next thing he heard just screamed 'get the hell out or you're in deep fallen shit'. And boy that smelled even worse than Shaxx's body odor after a crucible match.

"Good, now we'll put you back on that table and cut you open to see what's in you, droid." She said lowly with that bossy tone as if she was his boss and superior. That did it for him.

He could stand been called a robot, after all he was that in a way, but no one called him a droid. He was a super advanced smart AI inside an advanced robotic body and not a mindless droid. The plates on his face twisted in a sinister smirk. He turned his gaze to the commander. He desperately wished his optics could fire lasers but his new trick would have to do the job.

"Not going to happen." He said in a distorted voice that frightened the marines and unsettled the Spartans. "Now Atheon." He said to the second voice in his mind.

All around the room dark clouds began to form even where Soundwave stood. The clouds crackled and caused equipment to become slightly distorted but it disappeared after a few seconds. Now there were goblins standing in front of the humans with their slap rifles aimed at the startled humans. Hobgoblins were positioned behind the goblins with their line rifles and four minotaurs stood at Soundwave's side. One had a torch hammer and two of its fellow minotaurs had slap rifled in each hand. These three were positioned towards the major group while the other one with its own slap rifles was aimed towards team Osiris. Soundwave grinned as he saw that the Vex who helped him were the Hezen Protective. These Vex were designed for protection. Tensions rose quickly and in a split of a second Palmer gave the signal for all hell to break loose.

Guns fired on both sides causing noise that was loud enough to hear from a couple of halls away from the hangar where a firefight erupted. The Spartans could keep up with the teleporting goblins but needed to find enough cover. The marines fared less better unfortunately. The defensive Vex were ruthless as the minotaur with the torch cannon drove the marines into groups. The other minotaurs began to set their sights on the Spartan fireteams. The hobgoblins teleported to more remote locations of the hangar. One of them took position on top of a pelican. It charged its line rifle and let the bolt turn a marine's head into a bloody mess.

A goblin teleported behind a marine and held its hand out. The marine close to his comrade wanted to warn the unsuspecting soldier but was too late. The goblin used its melee attack and with a quick but mighty shockwave the marine was flung over the cover. All of his organs and bones were shattered on contact including the man's neck effectively killing him. The other marine fired his assault rifle straight at the goblin's head turning it into scrap. He relaxed but was petrified as the headless machine went in a frenzy and ran to him. He was saved by a Spartan IV who took the machine down with a battle rifle. The Spartan called for a medic who then checked up on him. The marine would have nightmares about headless robots chasing him in a frenzy but would survive.

A whole fireteam ganged up on one of the minotaurs and unloaded all they had on the tall machine. It fired back and its shield held out well while the Spartans had to find cover so their shields would recharge. The minotaur stomped where a Spartan would be if she had not rolled away but the shockwave staggered her. She looked up to see the red eye of the minotaur looking at her coldly. It shrieked and swung one arm at her knocking her against a warthog. All air left her lungs as the machine could swing as hard as a brute chieftain if not more. The other Spartans called out to her as she looked up and saw the minotaur bring down his arm and rifle like a hammer. The impact was too great for the MJOLNIR armor to withstand and a loud crack echoed to her team. The machine had caved her spine and ribs in. In a fury the Spartans finally took down the shield and the behemoth but all saw the broken mess it had left behind. The Infinity had lost a Spartan.

While all of this happened Soundwave was looking for a way out of here. He spotted a transport called a pelican. It was guarded by a squad of marines and while he did not like having to kill the humans he had no other choice. He called over two goblins who then picked up the unconscious doctors and went with him to the pelican. He held the Red Death steady in his hands before he pulled the trigger. The burst of light-fueled bullets found their marks in the surprised marines they fought back valiantly but the titan was too strong for them and the hobgoblins sniped the marines out of commission. Soundwave reached the pelican and sent the goblins inside. He asked Ghost to upload a guide for this transport so he could escape.

Locke evaded the hail of bolts again that the large machine fired at him. This thing looked a lot like the statue that his team along with the other Spartans and marines had found down on the planet. Its eye shined a bright crimson red and fired crimson bolts that exhausted his shields. Buck tried to get close but was stomped away. they had to distract it so Buck could go in and rip the metal apart with his shotgun.

"Vale do you have any plasma grenades left?" He asked the red armored Spartan through the teamcomm.

"Yeah I've got two left. You want me to stick them?" She replied while taking cover from one of the slap rifles that was aimed at her while the other focused on Buck. Tanaka was busy with two of the smaller robots that joined the large one.

"Do it on my mark. Tanaka are you done?" Locke asked the other female Spartan while distracting the large machine.

"I'm done with the small ones and ready to help." She replied as she distracted the large one as well. All of the tall robot's attention was directed at the two Spartans that pestered him.

"Alright Vale do it, you're next after her Buck." Locke ordered.

Vale primed the two grenades so they were enveloped in blue light. She threw them at the minotaur and they attached to its back. It was faintly aware of the explosives until they exploded and took down its shield. It staggered falling slightly forward. It looked up to see Buck blast two shotgun shells right into its head. The head of the minotaur flew out of its socket and was reduced to smoldering scrap. Sparks and electricity arched over its tall body. It swung left and right almost hitting buck before it was brought down by the concentrated fire of team Osiris. They stood close to the corpse as it slowly disintegrated.

"How the hell can they survive without a head? Everyone did see the shots I placed in its head right? Even a Promethean dies from that." Buck complained as they turned back to the main fight.

"Looks like they work differently than them." Tanaka said as she fired at the robots. More had appeared out of black fog that occasionally filled the hangar.

"Does anyone have sight on the target?!" Palmer asked loudly for them to hear. She sounded annoyed and irritated. Even more than usual.

"I think it headed for that pelican in the corner ma'am. Corporal Stevenson his squad was positioned there but now they're dead." A marine answered. True enough the Vex had formed a protective barrier around the pelican blocking them.

"It's trying to get away! Roland shut the hangar door now!" Palmer said to the smart AI of the ship.

"Understood commander." The AI answered. Within moments the doors began to slowly close. The process took some time though since the minotaur with the torch hammer had hit one of the blast door supports. The damage was not extreme but halted their progress.

Soundwave was beginning to start the pelican when he noticed the hangar doors closing. He quickly turned to Ghost for assistance.

"Ghost, I have an idea. When you're done come back to me." He said as his processors had formulated a plan. The plan would influence future events but right now his mind was reacting harshly. Anger and frustration had unfortunately clouded his judgment a bit.

Lasky watched the fight with horror painted on his face. The Vex were slaughtering his crew and he could only watch. He quickly turned to the bridge members.

"Are those doors sealed yet?" He asked anxiously.

"Almost sir, then we'll activate the shields." An operator answered.

"Sir we have a problem." Roland said alarmed as the hologram lit up.

"What is it now Roland?" Lasky asked impatiently. More problems were kind of unwanted at the moment.

"There is something in the systems and it has copied and downloaded almost all our files. From just history about earth to well, everything!" The AI replied now panicking. The bridge fell in a silence as they heard him.

"What? How is that possible? We have firewalls and AIs that monitor everything. Even you would notice. No AI has ever succeeded even if they were here on the ship." Lasky said not comprehending how this managed to happen. A lot of classified info would be given away. ONI would be very displeased.

"It is a very, very advanced AI sir. The only reason why I noticed is because it decided to show itself. Wait now it's doing something else." Roland said looking as if he was watching a video feed.

"What is it doing now then?!" Lasky yelled. Roland looked petrified. As if he just received word he would be decommissioned.

"It has stopped the doors and is arming our missiles. From smaller ones to the big ones. I can't stop it." The AI replied quietly. Lasky looked in horror at the ship's AI. Even the crew was horrified by the news. That this AI had access to so much was astonishing. It was bad news if the AI decided to blow the Infinity up from the inside.

"Roland what is the target then?" Lasky whispered. If it managed to access the nukes it could blow the escorts to smithereens.

"It had only enough time to arm our lower grade missiles properly but aside from our larger escorts the missiles are also set on the Infinity. We're going to fire at ourselves." Roland grimly replied.

"Send a warning to all ships and raise the shields. I want engineers headed towards the missile pods. Try to disarm them before they can do damage." Lasky swiftly ordered and soon the alarms blared and crew members ran as fast as they could to do their jobs.

Ghost was snickering as the AIs and engineers tried to find him. He had successfully disguised himself as a dumb AI in charge of the garbage disposal. The AI had tried to stop him but was quickly put into standby mode by Ghost. He has activated the weapon systems like Soundwave ordered but now he could not access the other systems unless he wanted to be discovered. He had shown himself earlier only so the humans would divert their attention somewhat from Soundwave. He was very pleased with the results.

With a chuckle he exited the terminal in the hangar where the humans still fought the Vex. For every goblin taken down two would take its place. He made his way to the pelican while cloaked and shielded if a stray bullet would hit him. He made it in one piece and flew past the six goblin majors and two hobgoblin majors that guarded the doctors. When he arrived in the cockpit Soundwave looked at him.

"Ready?" He asked his hovering friend.

"Ready as I'll ever be. I did what you asked and all is set. Too bad that the humans from this dimension are hostile to us. Are you sure we did what was right?" Ghost asked as he reflected on what they had just done. They practically declared war on humanity. If the weapons fired a lot of people would die.

"I know what you mean Ghost but they wanted to open me up. We'll talk about this later." Soundwave replied with a sigh. He now wished he could have avoided this fighting but humanity saw him as an asset to use unfortunately.

He pressed the button that closed the ramp and activated the pelican. It began to hover and faced the open hangar doors. With a last glance at the fighting behind them the pelican took off. It raced towards the planet and with slight hesitation Ghost sent the command to the Infinity. Missile pods opened and launched their contents. Missiles flew through the cold space and while some went towards the ships close to the flagship some turned around and went back. The missiles were being shot down by point defense cannons but not all were stopped.

They impacted against the hull of the Infinity causing the mighty ship to shudder as the shields held out for some time but failed as the other missiles slammed into the giant ship. Small sections of the ship were breached and engulfed in flames. Some of the crew were jettisoned into the dark clutches of space. The support vessels were for worse as a powerful missile struck the 'UNSC Talvisota'. The ship lost its shields on impact. The ship experienced a chain of explosives that tore the ship apart. Another pair of missiles ganged up on the 'UNSC Pentagon'. The ship began to fall apart as it had a reactor meltdown. At least two other ships were obliterated and five others were damaged but still functional albeit barely.

Leaving humanity behind him Soundwave made his way to Archeologis with his hostages.

….

"Shipmaster we will exit slipspace in a couple of minutes." An elite reported to shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum who sat in his command chair. The battle worn Sangheili nodded to the operator.

"Very well, notify the arbiter and the demons that we will soon arrive." He replied as the elite nodded and went to fulfill his task.

Rtas was anxious to have a chance at ending the life of that traitorous Jul Mdama. With his dead the Covenant would shatter and be easier to vanquish. He was grateful for the support that the humans had given them at Sanghelios in ending the last Covenant remains on the planet. The master chief was there as well with his family of demons to assist and formed a fearsome duo with the arbiter. After the events of the Ark and the flood the two had forged a strong bond of friendship and respect. His thoughts about the two were cut short as they entered the bridge. All elites bowed their heads in respect for the warriors who returned the gesture.

"Greetings my friend. I heard we will be arriving shortly?" Thel Vadam asked also known as the arbiter, leader of the council of Sanghelios.

"Yes arbiter. We should be arriving now. It will be good to see the fleet that drove back the hideous Covenant." Rtas said.

"No matter how many times I see it the Infinity amazes me." Arbiter replied with pride at having had a hand in building the flagship of the UNSC. When he heard they were designing a new flagship he volunteered in helping with the shield technology. It was a success and a sign of trust between the two races.

The ship lurched as it exited slipspace. The bridge was filled with a chorus of gasps as they could see the human fleet in front of them. While the Infinity was slightly damaged other vessels were burning and falling apart. The wreckage of a large cruiser floated past the Sangheili fleet. Another explosion occurred on a smaller escort and pelicans flew out of is hangars probably to evacuate the doom-awaiting ship. Rtas growled and grabbed the edges of his seat in an iron-grip.

"What happened here?" He growled out seeing the devastation that had struck the human fleet.

"I intend to find out. Hail the Infinity at once!" Arbiter commanded as the communications officer began working on his task.

For the whole waiting time master chief kept silent. He frowned behind his helmet as he assessed the damage. He could not see any signs that it was the Covenant. The question was what had done this.

"Arbiter, the Infinity is responding to our call." The elite communications officer said.

"Proceed." Came the reply and soon the image of captain Thomas Lasky greeted them.

"Am I glad to see you three. I'm sorry that I have to cut this short but as you have probably seen there is a lot for me to salvage. I was hoping you could perhaps come to the Infinity's bridge to discuss the recent events?" Lasky said with a face that told them how exhausted he was.

"Very well captain. We will come aboard at once. I will have some of my warriors aid in your evacuations and repairs." The arbiter replied with a nod. He turned to the chief and they were on his way as Rtas quickly gave a few commands before following them.

They all boarded a phantom, the rest of blue team included, and flew out of Shadow of Intent's hangar. The small craft flew past the wreckage of a destroyed cruiser before they docked in the hangar where the fighting had occurred. As they exited the transport they saw the damage that the fighting had brought to the large hangar. Dozens of vehicles were destroyed and there were still blood marks left on the ground or elsewhere. As they made their way to leave John saw the prints of heavy feet that had purposely stomped on the metal floor. They went with a tram and arrived shortly at the bridge. They were just in time to hear Lasky ordering the crew around.

"I want an update on the 'Pearl' now! Roland what is our status on the evacuation of the 'Ocean's storm'." He ordered.

"They're done at seventy percent at the moments sir but due to another internal explosion a few sailors were launched into space." Roland grimly stated. Lasky sighed and let his head hang for a moment.

"Sir, what happened here?" Chief asked as he made themselves known. Lasky turned around and looked at the elites and the Spartans.

"Let's get you all briefed." Lasky said before retelling the story of what catastrophe happened on the Infinity.

When he talked about the new enemy called the Vex the Arbiter looked in deep thought as if looking for a solution to this mechanical threat. Vale had reported what the doctors had said. At hearing that Halsey had said that this robot was an AI and had more potential than Cortana the chief looked grimly. At the mention that she had said it was with Forerunner influence the arbiter and the shipmaster were very interested. Then hearing about the slaughter that took place in the hangar that they arrived in was baffling. The Vex looked a lot like the Prometheans but according to Halsey the Vex are more ancient than the Forerunners themselves. The news that an unidentified AI learned almost about everything in the Infinity databanks and how it took control of the missiles was also very unsettling.

"Sir do we know how much we lost?" Fred asked, he and the other Spartan IIs had kept silent.

"Roland, will you please tell them." Lasky said with a heavy sigh.

"To sum it up we lost three Halcyon-class light cruisers, one Marathon-class heavy cruiser, one Strident-class heavy frigate, four Paris-class heavy frigates, all their crew members excluding the survivors. On the Infinity we lost sixty-two marines, twenty engineers, five officers, thirty other personnel and finally two Spartan IVs." Roland quietly said.

The newly arrived reinforcements silently processed the information. All this damage, destruction and death was caused by only one being. The sheer weight of all of this must be terrible for Lasky. It was his job to defend his crew and no doubt the man blamed himself.

"What is blue team's mission sir?" Chief asked strongly. Lasky looked at the man that ended the human-covenant war and felt inspired by just that sentence.

"For now I'll have to finish work here so I won't be able to send many hands down there. We have set up a base close to one of the Covenant's main sites. I'll send you there and from there on out you'll have to try find the doctors and recover them. If you see the robot take it down but remember this is a rescue operation. With half our fleet in shambles the remaining Covenant forces might try to capitalize on this opportunity. Good luck Spartans." Lasky ordered now gaining some of his confidence back.

"Understood sir. Blue team will head out at once." The chief answered with a salute that Lasky gladly returned.

"I will aid you as well Spartan. Shipmaster Rtas will stay here and guard the human fleet with our own. I will head to this base with my own troops and organize an assault on the Covenant." Arbiter added.

"Um sir, before you all leave I have something for you. It's very important." Roland suddenly said. All heads snapped to the hologram of the smart AI.

"Go ahead Roland what is it?" Lasky asked concerned.

"I was busy talking with the AI that was assaulted and apparently the intruding AI left a message." He answered. Now all attention was on him. Roland was starting to feel nervous under all the attention.

"Tell us construct." Thel said gently.

"Alright here goes." The AI said before the message played. A hologram of a small diamond-shaped construct appeared. It had a blue eye and was black.

"Greetings humans. I am Ghost, companion of the exo that you have found. Seeing as you are hostile to us we were forced to take violent actions. What we just did is an act of war against humanity, we know this, but what we didn't know was that humans from this dimension were going to mind-rape us. We have taken doctor Halsey and doctor Glassman as hostages to discourage you from trying to find us. We will ask them questions and when we deem fit we will release them. As the last sentient Forerunner my companion has claimed this planet as home world. You are to leave now, stay and the results will be very severe." The now identified Ghost said ominously before the message ended.

"That was interesting." Kelly said awkwardly.

"Mind-rape?" Arbiter asked and looked at Lasky for an explanation.

"The doctors were studying this 'exo' and I think they tried to study the AI within." Lasky explained as he rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"So this exo saw this as a provocation?" The shipmaster asked.

"Maybe but we didn't attack him. From the footage we saw it suddenly activate, getting gear out of nowhere and sprinting of with the doctors. When we called for it to stand down it summoned an army of Vex that aimed their weapons at us. Commander Palmer replied as protocol dictated and opened fire on them." Lasky further explained.

"With all due respect sir but I think we should still go after the doctors. If the exo has declared war on us and is of Forerunner origin it might try to use the Prometheans against us." Chief spoke up.

"Or worse, it said it was the last sentient Forerunner. I do not doubt that the Covenant would follow it." The arbiter said as he looked again at the strange construct that looked like a monitor in a way.

"I agree, we're not changing plans. The mission is a go Spartans, good luck." Lasky said and saw them all retreat from the bridge. He sighed again and looked at the planet below.

….

Halsey groaned as she slowly woke up. She opened her eyes and saw she was in a pelican. A pelican filled with Vex machines that watched her and Glassman intensely. Glassman was next to her and had already woken up as he looked desperate as one of the Vex held him down. She tried to get his attention but then the pelican landed. She heard the engines shut down and saw that the armored machine walked out of the cockpit.

"Good, you're both awake. Now you can walk." Soundwave said in that overlapped and distorted voice he used when not addressing Ghost or Atheon.

"Where are we? Why have you taken us?" Glassman fearfully asked. The last time he was abducted by aliens didn't work out so well for him.

"We're back on the planet. I was going to make contact with the Prometheans and the Covenant as well. You two will accompany me." The titan answered as his Red Death materialized in his hands.

"How did you do that?" Halsey asked intrigued as she studied the weapon.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out. But wait, you already tried that by forcing your way in my mind." Soundwave replied sarcastically. He was still pissed at them for opening his head.

"In my defense we were simply trying to find out what you were." Halsey calmly replied.

"I am a who doctor Halsey." He said savoring the mild shock she had on her face.

"Now that you say that how do you know about us, the Prometheans and the Covenant?" She asked having her suspicions.

"Ghost went in the Infinity's databanks and downloaded all to know. After that he uploaded it to me. So I know a lot like this ONI for example. Not so long before you went in my head, mind-rapist, there was a meeting with high command where the head of ONI, admiral Osman, ordered you to see if you could perhaps reprogram me to be your slave." Soundwave told her looming over her. Glassman watched the conversation between the two and was impressed by Halsey's ability to remain so calm.

"I cannot deny that but believe me I hate her as well. She is a bitch that tried to kill me" Hasley said with a scowl at the mention of Osman. The large armored kidnapper hummed.

"So we agree on something then. Let me tell you doctor I did not want to go to war with humanity. You see I come from a different dimension although this is my home planet." Soundwave told her. He sat down on the opposite bench and placed his weapon in his lap.

"Interesting, I presume you were brought away by the Vex then." Halsey inquired seemingly forgotten that she was abducted.

"Yes, but the main exo. Before you ask exos are my race. But in a way you could say that exo prime was sent to the other dimension. I recently killed the main Vex lord and became the new prime. I'm stuck here and the Vex follow me. Now that hell has broken loose between me and the UNSC I plan on making a power base for myself." Soundwave explained.

"By controlling the Prometheans and the Covenant?" She further inquired.

"Indeed doctor, I applaud your skills. Your file does you credit. Besides the false accusations on you by ONI of course. I am actually a clone in a way. In mind I am fully Forerunner and therefore I believe I might be able to control the Prometheans. As for the Covenant they will happily follow their god and even if they do not believe me to be Forerunner in mind they would still follow me since I would be like the gods their messenger." Soundwave explained.

"That is smart indeed. Now if I may ask, what will you do exactly?" She asked. It was the important question that she saved for last. Soundwave dematerialized his helmet and allowed her to look in his optics.

"To be honest, I have taken enough lives for now. I plan on fortifying the Covenant and change it in something better. I want it to become a society where all species are equal. If the UNSC wants a truce for peace then I would accept. But of course all Forerunner worlds and artifacts are rightfully mine." Soundwave said in his normal voice.

"I see." Was all that Halsey said.

"Um, if I may ask of course, but what is a Ghost?" Glassman asked with a quiet voice. Soundwave gave a slight smirk and held his hand out. Ghost came into view and floated towards Glassman.

"Why that would be me doctor Glassman. So you're the scientist in charge of the Infinity. While I was in the system I saw some of your work. I am very impressed by your theory on gravitation wells. How did you figure out that if you had the right equipment it could affect only certain areas?" Ghost chatted with the now more relaxed man. He gave a look at the goblin that held the doctor down. The goblin followed the order and released the man and stepped outside where the rest of its counterparts were.

"Thank you, for that as well. I did a lot of research and tests and I must say that I had help but eventually I came to the conclusion." Glassman said with a little smile. He was at least getting better treatment than the last time.

"Ok don't start about technical stuff now. We can do that when we find shelter." Soundwave interjected and grabbed his rifle. He had an impression that , even while she might be cold, Halsey was a good person who wished the best for humanity and gave her life for that purpose. He had to respect that.

As they all got set and he had given commands to the Vex, which was easy since he did it with his mind, he turned back to the humans. He saw Ghost chatting with Glassman and was relieved to see that the doctor was less afraid now. He walked beside Halsey and evaluated her. He still had his helmet off so she could see his visage.

"Doctor, if it is okay to ask, what happened to your arm?" He asked delicately. The old woman looked at her stump where once her arm was mournfully.

"ONI thought I was rogue and wanted me gone. I have always been a thorn in their side and once they see an opportunity they take it." She replied with very concealed anger. But Soundwave picked it up of course.

"I know how it feels doctor. Here take this." He said and handed her a datapad. Halsey looked at with interest and accepted the device.

"What is it?" She asked as it activated t.

"It contains information on the Vex and me. Where I come from and some of my abilities." He replied honestly. Halsey's eyes widened considerably.

"Why would you share this with your enemy?" She asked. He gave her a shrug, a very human-like gesture that she noticed.

"You seem okay to me. I'm still somewhat pissed at you for entering my head but you did it for the sake of humanity. That is something which I have to respect. You did some things which are quite bad but again, if it wasn't for you humanity would have likely not won the war. It is cruel that ONI blames you for things that they had a hand in." He told her honestly. Halsey was perplexed by this exo. He was honest with her and looked so alive.

"Thank you, I haven't asked for your name. Will you tell me yours?" She asked with more respect now.

"It is Soundwave, pleased to meet you Catherine." He replied as his face formed a smile.

"Likewise Soundwave. Quite the catchy name." She said with a slight smile. She saw his facial expressions and she must have imagined things because he looked almost sad.

"Yes, yes it is." He said slightly absently. Suddenly a goblin teleported close to her. "This one will assist you and protect you. I'll now go the front, I'll see you later Halsey." He said before walking to the front of the group. His helmet was once again equipped.

Halsey didn't know what to make of Soundwave. He sounded and acted human. She truly believed he was a Forerunner in mind. He could be aggressive yet kind and gentle when he wanted to. Showing her information was either foolish or a sign of trust and a favor. The aid of this machine was not something he had to give her but he did. Silently she viewed the datapad and felt more at ease with the piece of hardware in her hands. She could hear Glassman crack a joke and Ghost laugh. Maybe this capture would be better than the last one.

And that is a long chapter one. Please review to let me know what you people think about it.