Chapter 2

Hello all! Some of you may recognize the title, and it's because ArchAngel's Wrath ended up needing to pass of the story for a while (read chapter 2 on his story if you want verification), so I offered and ended up with the job for now. Also, read his story to get chapter 1. I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Rick Riordan's or Bungie's work, as much as I wish that I do. I also don't have any claim to the first chapter (which you can read here: s/10314089/1/Forgotten-Hero-s-Return) or the idea for the story, that all came from the mind of ArchAngel's Wrath.

Nexus P.O.V. (Where we left off)

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1

Drop

And soon a rush of anxiety washed over me at the thought of going back there. Oh well. At least most of them would have passed away, so no one but Chiron and my team would be able to recognize me.

(Current time)

The portal bellow our pods teleported us out of Chaos' dimension and into the top of Earth's atmosphere. I could see the whole of North America laid out below me, and could see the technological advancements that had taken place quite clearly. I wondered if the people would be any different.

I took a deep breath to compose myself, then flicked the switch to turn on the video screen in my pod. Live video footage of all the squad leaders appeared on the vid screen, courtesy of tiny cameras in each of their pods. I quickly checked their vitals in the HUD of my visor, and they all appeared to be normal.

"Alright folks, parties over. We'll be coming in hot over Camp Half-Blood. Our current ETA is currently 3 minutes, and the moment our boots hit the dirt we'll be waist deep in enemies. I just received some intel from Lady Chaos that says that there is a CSO class super-carrier holding station above Camp Half Blood, and it is presumed to be Order's flagship. There have been no reported sightings of Order yet, but he will be out there. If you find him, do NOT engage him, send for reinforcements and hold position for as long as possible. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" came the chorus of replies.

"Alright. Zöe, Luke, Silena, and Charles will drop in front of the enemy line to help the half-bloods. Ethan and Veronica are with me. See on the other side." I waited for their response, then switched off the transmission.

I started focusing on the battle ahead, letting the pent up adrenaline and anxiety help to start getting myself pumped for the upcoming battle. The drop pod was creaking and groaning around me as the temperature inside started to climb because of the friction on the atmosphere. There was a reason that the term Tartarus-jumpers had been coined, it literally felt like we were falling into Tartarus with the darkness and the heat. All of a sudden, it was 30 seconds until we hit the earth, and the braking devices started working as hard as possible to keep the drop survivable. Then it was 20. 10. WHAM! The impact knocked the wind out of me, but I was used to it and popped open the hatch, grabbing my weapons at the same time. I leapt out and took out several Jackals who had been investigating the drop pod.

I scrambled onto the top of my pod to get a better view of things, and didn't like what I saw. All the squad leaders appeared to be fine, but the half-bloods had taken a beating. It was of no surprise, considering the fact that they were severely outgunned and outmanned. I once more leapt into the fray, landing on top of an Elite and snapping his neck, then leaping off him after dropping a primed grenade into the middle of the squad of grunts. As the sound of the grenade reached my ears, another elite rose up to fight me.

I barely dodged his first punch, and rolled with the second, letting my armor take the blow so I could get within range. My knife seemed to leap out of its sheath and into my hand as I thrust it toward the Elite, but that did nothing but break the Elite's shields. The Elite staggered back and roared at me. "Come and get it," I taunted, and the Elite charged again, this time managing to hit my chest plate, sending me backwards. I used the distance drop my knife (which appeared back in its sheath thanks to the same enchantment that Riptide had at one point), grab my Magnum and unload a single round into the Elite's chest. The Elite staggered back, clutching its chest as it warbled one last time before passing on.

A battle rage flowed over me for the rest of the battle, making the events hazy and hard to recall. I remember wading in the massive army of Order, slaying Grunts, Jackals, and Elites alike. At one point I had ended up next to Ethan, then I was alone again. I spun through the crowd, shooting bullets, slashing with my knife, and generally causing a mass hysteria. All too soon my knife slashed through the last enemy, and the battlefield was silent for the first time. I glanced up, and noticed that the super carrier was nowhere to be seen, and Lady Chaos' voice told me that it had fled during the battle.

I sighed and walked stiffly toward the rest of the group, taking in their injuries. Zöe's forearm had a small cut on it, and she had a broken finger. Silena and Charles seemed to be fine, probably since they always fought side by side. Luke's visor was cracked, he'd probably head-butted some Elite for fun after his shield had died. Ethan was using some biofoam on a large cut he'd received on his leg, and Veronica was working on popping her shoulder back into place. All in all, we were looking pretty good for what we had just faced, but that may have been due to our SPARTAN advancements.

You see, when we had started the war with Order, the Void troopers were in desperate need of an elite group, and eventually the BHDST's were founded with me as its head. As time went on, it was revealed that we would need a group of even more highly skilled fighters that could handle the toughest missions, and Chaos had gone once more into the underworld to find a human who would help. When she came back, she arrived with a woman we all called Dr. Halsey. She had taught us with the help of Lady Chaos and the most vicious yet caring drill instructors of all time, while also using a machine that could read your DNA's "memories", called the Animus. Eventually, when we were able to do anything without advancements, Dr. Halsey and Chaos together engineered a way to make us better, and we were put into surgery. The result were the group of us, the best that had ever existed. This had only finished about a year ago though, and the fighting had only gotten harder, like what I had shown to the Olympian council.

I was ripped back to the present by a blonde girl standing in front of me with her arms crossed, her grey eyes stormy. "So you're the help? If I hadn't seen what I just did, I wouldn't have believed that you all could pull that off."

"Thank you ma'am. We try our best." I replied stiffly, imagining the smirks the others had to be wearing. We ate forces like those for breakfast.

"Annabeth!" someone called, running towards her.

Annabeth!? I though. She should be dead!

"I was so worried about you during the battle! I didn't see you on the line leading with me, and I started to worry that you had fallen without my awesomeness to help you!" the boy said as he reached her, panting. I was worried that it would be who I thought it was.

"I'm sorry Blake! Chiron had demanded that I would send a battle update to our new allies, and I couldn't argue. Well, here they are!" Annabeth replied, confirming my worst fears.

Blake and Annabeth were still alive. Blake and Annabeth were still alive. BLAKE AND ANNABETH WERE STILL ALIVE. That was a lot to take in. I mean, I had an enchantment similar to the hunters until I took over for Lady Chaos, but they were mortal. As in they still died. But here they were, alive and well. I then notice a smidge of gold leaking down Blake's thigh. They were freaking gods. I nearly lost it at that point, but luckily my General side has a much better control of my temper.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Blake," I forced out, barely resisting the urge to choke him.

"I know it is." Blake responded. "Now, why did you weaklings show up? I had it under control!"

"Well…" Annabeth started, but cut herself off when Blake raised his fist and Annabeth flinched. In that instant, all I could see was my mother and Gabe, and the next thing I knew Luke and Zoe were on top of me, holding me to the ground while Charlie and Silena stood between Blake and me. I was straining hard against Luke and Zoe, but there was no way I could beat the two of them plus Silena and Charlie. If it were one of them, then most likely, but definitely not the four of them. Ethan and Veronica were continuing the conversation with Blake and Annabeth as if nothing was wrong.

"Sir and ma'am, we've been requested by the Olympian Council to set up a temporary base in the valley to help you learn to fight the troops of Order, and to work on defeating Order." I heard Ethan say.

"We don't need your help." Was Blake's snide reply. Annabeth was looking at me curiously, and was absently nodding her head in agreement.

"I'm sorry sir, but this isn't your choice. Zeus himself ordered us to do this, and if the last battle was anything to judge by, then your statement is wrong." Was Veronica's smooth retort. "Besides, we can help add more people to the bulk of your army, making your job easier." Veronica was definitely the most skilled when it came to diplomatic relations.

"Fine. Just stay out of my way." Blake snarled, then stalked away, trying to keep up his uncaring demeanor. Annabeth glanced once more at me and jogged off after Blake, eventually slipping her hand into his. I struggled even harder at that, and Charlie leaned over to help keep me down.
"We need to get his helmet off." Zoe said worriedly.

"I got it," Silena replied, bending over and grabbing the release seals on my helmet. I struggled even harder, as I had been reverted to my Percy form by the surge of anger, and couldn't switch back yet. No one save Lady Chaos knew of my identity, and I wanted to keep it that way. I heard the hiss of the seals as Silena slipped my helmet off my head, and I closed my eyes tight, but it was of no use. I heard the collective gasp of all the Spartans, and new the game was up. They had found me out.

Hello all. Sorry for the cliff hanger, I hate them just like everyone else, but I just couldn't resist it. I also really needed to get this chapter out. I'm nowhere near as good of a writer as ArchAngel, so I will be keeping my chapters as long as I can without spending too long. I plan to update at least once a month, so that way I can make sure I keep my grades up. #IB, if you know what I mean. See you all next time.