PROLOUGE

MARCH 12th, 2536/ LOCATION: BETA HYDRI VI

'Spartans…Spartans never die.' The thought ran through David's mind as he laid on the ground, unable to move. He felt blood trickle down from his nose. The Spartan had taken a direct hit from a fuel rod wielding elite. David watched his Heads-Up-Display (HUD) flicker.

That son of a bitch...He thought as he attempted to move. Pain shot through his chest causing David to wince.

David glanced at the marine who laid face down in the mud. He managed to pull up her vitals on his malfunctioning HUD. She was unconscious. The helpless Spartan laid there, his life flashed before his eyes as memoires flooded his brain. Everything around him seemed to slow down when a particular memory came through.

September 11th2517-19 years ago

"Hey." The girl next to him, lying with her arms behind her head, asked.

David turned to look at her, however she kept her gaze on the stars. "Yeah?"

The girl spoke quietly "Do you ever wonder if there's anyone else out there? Besides us?"

He pondered at the thought for a moment. Ever since humanity first traveled outside the boundaries of the Sol System centuries ago, they haven't encountered any extraterrestrial beings.

"Well, if there is anyone else out there…let's hope their friendly." David replied. His sister nodded slightly and continued to stare at the night sky. The girl had jet black hair tied into a tight bun. On her wrist she wore a bracelet with a small piece of quartz that David had found and gave it to her a few days ago.

"Can I ask you something Ash?" David said as he sat up.

Ash replied "Um sure."

"What are you afraid of?"

There was a short moment of silence and then she finally spoke "Death…I'm afraid of death and I'm afraid of losing you."

Present

"Spartan! Spartan, can you hear me!" A familiar voice said, followed by a short burst of gun fire.

Suddenly David woke up and saw the marine who was lying on the ground, now standing above him. He saw the grey sky above him and noticed his HUD was offline.

"Damn hinge-head." David muttered.

"I'll take that as a yes." The marine replied as she fired a couple rounds at a frightened grunt who was running around waving its plasma pistol in the air. The alien fell and its methane tank erupted causing the grunt's corpse to fly. Dave fought through the pain and managed to stand up. He picked up his Battle Rifle and smacked the side of his helmet a couple times.

"Having trouble?" The marine asked.

The HUD flickered back to life, a rapid beep flared indicating his shields were low. Within seconds the shields flashed and recharged.

"I'm fine."

"Keep doing stunts like that and you'll get us both killed." She muttered.

The Spartan ignored her and checked to see if his COMMS were still working. "Command this is Sierra-one-one-nine come in...Beta Team respond." The radio crackled and a female voice came up "This is…Beta-Two…we're…" The signal vanished. David sighed "Corporal Danis, is your radio working?"

"It's working just fine sir." The woman replied calmly.

"I need you to contact command and tell them of our situation." David ordered.

"Will do." She tapped her helmet COMM "Command this is Corporal Jessica Danis, Castle Squadron reporting in from Camp Jovia." There was a long pause and then the radio came to life.

"We read you loud and clear Castle, what's your status."

"Camp Jovia is no longer standing it's been overrun by the covenant. We've suffered some major losses, I estimate casualty rate is at ninety percent for Castle." The Corporal looked down at the ground and shook her head.

"Understood corporal…What's the status of Sierra-one-one-nine? His vitals went dark a moment ago."

Jessica glanced up at the Spartan who had his gun pointing in the direction of the camp scanning the area for covenant.

"He fell unconscious for a few minutes after taking a direct hit from a fuel rod," The corporal smirked "now he looks ready to smash some heads together."

"Checkpoint Bravo has been overrun, repeat: Bravo has been overrun, fall back to checkpoint Charlie for evacuation. We'll defend that area until Evac arrives.

"Understood sir, Castle out." Jessica closed the COMM channel and turned to the Spartan. The sun reflected on his golden visor. He stood there, posed with his Battle Rifle on his shoulder.

"Sounds like we've hit a snag." The Spartan said in his deep, yet calm voice.

The corporal nodded "Bravo has been overrun, we're to fall back to Charlie and meet up with what's left of our ground forces and wait for Evac." Checkpoint Charlie was the last line of defense between Camp Jovia and New Lexington. It was Checkpoint Alpha, Camp Jovia, Checkpoint Bravo, Charlie, and then New Lexington itself.

David slung his rifle onto his back and began to move ignoring the fact that he was limping.

"Let's move corporal!"