I watch as the Pillar of Autumn launches from drydock and pushes its way out of Reach's gravity well, muscling its way to the safety of distant systems beyond. I feel a sense of hope, watching it flee this world, watching humanity's only hope of surviving this war with the Covenant escape intact. However, I do not feel as if this hope was the strange AI Dr. Catherine Halsey entrusted to me. I feel that there is a more human solution, and that the AI is only a piece of the puzzle. Though more than hope, more than pride at a job well done, I feel a sense of loneliness, of finality.
I'm all alone on Reach.
The Covenant is bearing down on the world; Aliens dropping in from space with enormous capital ships and landing craft too numerous to count. Aliens bent on the death of humanity.
The death of me.
I have survived mission after mission, killed so many that I lost count. I've done the impossible, and I have never failed. Lieutenant Commander Ambrose, my superior in training, gave me one standing order before I was reassigned, and told me to never fail this order. His words still ring out in my ears to this day, so many years later.
So many lives later.
"Spartans! I have one thing to say to all of you as graduates before you ship out to your designated stations. Remember this order, for it stands no matter who your superior officer may be. Spartans never die. I hereby order all of you, every single one of you, that you are not allowed to die."
As I look around I realize that I may fail in following my only remaining orders. The Covenant are dropping in around me; Scarabs, Wraiths, Ghosts, Revenants, and infantry too many to estimate - let alone count. A Banshee wails in the distance, and a Seraph screams overhead. The last sounds of UNSC weapons fire echos in the distance, then stops - silenced forever more.
To my left is the body of Emile, my friend. Somewhere back up the road, there is the remains of Carter. Somewhere in the universe, Jorge can be found, and I don't know what Command did with Kat's body. I don't think i'll ever see Jun again. In front of me are two dead elite Zealots, one having Emile's knife dug into its neck.
Plasma fire brings me back to now - I don't have much more time before they're on me. Quickly I pull Emile's knife from the dead alien's neck, scavenging my friend's pauldron to replace my own damaged one with it. I place my palm over the skull carved into his visor, saying a silent farewell as I slink off into the dust. When I'm clear of the platform and into open ground I start to run, sprinting over ground at 50 kilometers per hour.
I jump into the trench left by the Autumn, slinking through the smoke, watching my motion tracker. I dial up the distance, turning the sensitivity as far as I can, carefully picking my way through the charred and blown earth. With nothing showing up on my tracker I break out at a run again, clearing the massive trench and clamoring up the slanted side.
I find myself in quite an issue here.
As I crest the rise and slide down the ridge, I discover that I am not alone. Before me are covenant infantry; Several Elite Minors, a few majors, hundreds of Grunts, dozens of Jackals and Skirmishers, a few Brutes and a pair of Hunters. I'm lucky they hadn't heard me, or noticed my entrance to their AO. Quietly, I slink into the shadowed corner of a building, finding a door that allows me entry. I need ammunition, something bigger than this DMR I'm carrying. While in the safety of the sensor shielded structure I check comms, linking to a satellite the Covenant missed. As I search the structure, I learn that several other Spartan teams are fighting their own last stands, each hopelessly cornered by legions of enemies.
Each refusing to die quietly.
As I enter another hallway I find a weapon's rack; a shotgun, an SMG and an assault rifle hanging from it's rungs. I take all of them, dropping the DMR and its five rounds. I stock up on ammo, Magazines and grenades specifically. Sneaking back to the entrance I find an Elite trying to get intel from a terminal. I don't know if Cole Protocol has been enabled yet, but I cannot let this continue. I sneak up behind him, pulling Emile's knife and plunging the blade deep into the enemy's neck. With a strained gurgle the alien dies, falling back into my arms. I put him down, making for the door and taking cover behind the frame. I snake out a fiber optic probe, finding myself face-to-back with a member of the Hunter pair.
Carefully I pull a grenade, priming the explosive and breaking cover. I stuff it into his back, burying it in the eel-like colony before making my rush at the other with my shotgun. Attacking fast and efficiently is my only option for survival. As the grenade detonates I press the muzzle of the barrel to the other's back, pulling the trigger and pumping the slide, unloading three shells into the alien's body, being sprayed with glowing orange gore before switching to my assault rifle.
I hose down a group of Grunts, lob a grenade into a pack of Jackals, empty the remainder of the clip into three Skirmishers and draw my sub machinegun. As I drop the AR's mag, I hose down an Elite major, dropping his shields before the grenade goes off, the shrapnel crippling his legs. I holster the SMG, reloading the AR and spraying a hail of tungsten and copper at another group of grunts before taking cover.
In ten seconds I have killed twenty Covenant soldiers, and they are only now returning fire. I check my ammo counter, reloading and stashing the half empty magazine in the pouch on my abdomen. Steeling my nerves with a slow breath, I toss a grenade over my cover, popping left to return fire as it detonates and sends four jackals flying. In the brief span I was exposed I witnessed an Elite Zealot draw his Energy sword. I take off to the right, heading southwest toward another structure.
As I reach the structure I turn about, bringing my shotgun to bear on the Zealot, pumping shells into him to drop his shields before throwing my combat knife into his eye slot. He makes a wide swipe some meters away from me, falling and kicking on the ground as I'm flanked by two groups of Grunts. I draw my SMG and AR, holding them wide Akimbo and spraying their groups with tungsten. Both groups fall, but I hear the alarm from my energy shields. I drop mags, reloading the SMG before the AR. Beginning maneuvers again, I head south, sliding down an embankment toward a scuttled Frigate, The Pale Moonlight. Behind me, my motion tracker says nearly fifty more Covenant are in pursuit.
I know it's more likely to be five hundred.
As I pass The Pale Moonlight my radiation sensor spikes.
I can see that the Shipbreaking Crews were in the middle of taking out her reactor before evacuation, the cranes above telling me her top is open. I turn around, running in reverse and throwing my last two grenades into the incoming swarm. I feel something I haven't felt in a long time at the sight of nearly a thousand covenant troops.
I feel fear.
I increase my speed, reaching the frigate and ducking inside; The small door will give me some time to pick a few of them off. I post up at the other end of the hallway, taking cover as the first of the Grunt's moves in. I unload with my AR, my SMG ready to replace it. Like flies they begin to die, falling on their own and creating a wall of flesh. Five minutes into the engagement, I run dry on AR rounds. I toss the weapon aside, drawing my M6D and M7. I take aim with both, holding the reticules apart to cover either side of the mountain of grunts. I hear them talking on the other side. My translation programs pick up bits and pieces; What do we do now sir, one of you pull some of the dead out, call for another Hunter pair. I take my chance and retrieve my AR, dashing down another hallway, trying to get to the starboard launch bay. Then I remember.
The Ship still has it's reactor.
I shift course, heading toward Engineering. I follow the schematics of the Valiant-Class light frigate I have stored in my memory bank, finding my way swiftly to the reactor chamber. As I enter the room my alarms sound, my radiation suite telling me that this is not a safe place for unshielded units and that I may have five minutes at best. The reactor is hemorrhaging energy, gushing radiation in deadly waves. To me and seven kilos of C12, this sounds like a miracle. I removed my damage pack, running up the stairs to the reactor chamber. I tore off the adhesive covers, placing the pack over a crack in the radiation shield.
"Come get some, you alien bastards."
"Time to view space Barnabear," Luna said as she set her stuffed bear on the cushion beside her. She cupped her hand around the eyepiece, turning the large, magically enhanced telescope around to view her favorite part of space - The Milky Way. So many stars, so bright, so unlike her home cluster in the Tarantula Nebula - the Greater Magellanic Cloud, what her sister says is Path Kethona. But she paid her sister no mind, forcing the quarrels over astronomical names into the rear of her mind. She was going to enjoy her night, watching the stars reel overhead through her eagle eye.
However…
"Uh-oh," she said, turning her magnification to pinpoint precision. She zoomed in on the star Epsilon Eridani, watching the solar system spin like a celestial gyro-gear. "What is happening here?" She turned a dial, darkening the glare from the star. Turning another dial she enhanced reflected light from the planets and moons, watching the system light up with greens, blues, browns and yellows. This wasn't what caught her attention though.
All around the second planet were bursts of light; white that faded to red, yellow, orange and blue. She tried to get a better quality, working the zoom and focus, but to no avail. "Oooh! I wanna see what it is!" She pulled away from the eyepiece, clutching the hem of her gown in her fingers. she turned to her stuffed bear, picking him up with an exuberant grin and holding him high. "Looks like I get to try that scrying spell we made!" She laughed giddy, jumping to her feet and hurrying to her chest. She pulled a box from it, returning to the telescope. Inside were seven stones, which she placed around the flashing beam of light the telescope projected. She removed a circlet, upon the brow of which was a horn of pure silver, three ovular polished sapphires were set in a triquetra beneath it . "Here we go Barnabear. Wish me luck!"
She scrunched her brow, concentrating on the spell and directing her attention to the even happening thousands of lightyears away.
One from the left, three shots from the shotgun. One to the right, three shots. I pulled my assault rifle, hosing down another Elite as it charged me head on from the north. It's shields failed, its tar scented gore splashing along its path as it fell beneath my fire. Plasma stitches my side. I roll to the right pulling my M6D, returning fire on the Elite minor as it tried to take cover, felling another. Two attacked as plasma seared the air behind me. I turn my rifle on the one to my right, spraying it with tungsten and turning my sidearm to the right, unloading on the minor. one rushes my chest, and I feed him my elbow, placing the muzzle of my pistol in his split jaw. I pull the trigger, and get an empty click. I lash out with a kick to his abdomen, knocking him back and dropping his shields, delivering a crushing stomp to his face.
Another rushes me from behind, knocking me forward. I turn and heave my rifle into his throat, spraying him down before another rams me with his shoulder. I fall to the ground, bringing my pistol up to his eye slit before he buries a sword in my chest. I roll to my feet, catching the arm of another general and hurling him onto his back, spraying his helmet. Two more tackle me to the ground, each holding an arm. I roll back, dropping my heel onto one's face and driving Emile's knife into the throat of the other. Three this time, straight up the middle. They knock me down, and I lash out with my combat knife, digging it into one's mouth, pulling another with me and snapping his spine. The third falls on me, pinning me beneath his knee and raising his sword. I catch his wrist, pulling it away and him into the knife. One throws him off, pulling me across the ground and activating his energy dagger.
"This is the end for you, Demon!" He roars in clear English.
"Fuck you!" I kick up, catching his face and knocking him back. I roll back, gaining footing on a dead Hunter, leaping at him like a great cat. I sheath the knife, and lay into him with my gauntlet.
"This is for Kat!" I strike his jaws, feeling bone give under my glove. He's dead. Another pulls me off, and I spin him around, dragging him to the ground.
"This is for Carter!" I deliver four quick slugs to his throat, jaw and cranium, denting the alloy helmet and crushing his bones. Still two more pull me back to the ground, both wielding daggers.
"This is for George!" I kick up at them, leaping with my arms to come to a stand, crushing their skulls underfoot. I look up and see a zealot rushing me. It's too late to strike out. I grab my gauntlet, pressing two keys on the data relay as he pushes me down to the ground and falls upon me with his dagger.
"This is for Emile!" My shields burst, dissipating his and sending him flying. He lands on a piece of thick rebar.
I get onto a knee, meeting an Elite general. I look up, and he stands there, sword drawn, nodding to me.
Silent respect.
"Any last words Demon?" he askes, clear english again. I take off my helmet. I'm out of tricks. I drop it beside me. I give him a grin, teeth I know are coated with my own blood. My blonde hair falls down over my eyes, covering them.
"This is for Reach." He lifts his dagger to strike the final blow, and I bring my hand to my gauntlet, pressing a key.
Light fills my existence, then heat, then cold.
I know I'm dead.
…
I failed Kurt...
I'm sorry…
"I've got it!" The stones lit up, a pillar of light forming over them. "Now all I have to do is concentrate on the planet…" She creased her brow, focusing her inner eye on the planet, on trying to see the surface. The pillar shrunk, creating an ovular disk of light, which then darkened into a silvery smoke. "What's happening here?" She tried to focus, to see through the haze. Then a pin prick of light revealed all. It shone bright as a sun, illuminating jagged, angular towers, ships that sailed the air on trails of light and fire, seas of yellow-green and blue, black flaming monoliths rising from the breakers toward a burned sky.
"What is this place?"
Closer her view came from over the sea, watching the beach rise to an island continent. There were so many creatures here, some small, some large. Some were ugly, others feirce. Some were dangerous. But most were scared.
No matter where she looked she watched these creatures fight, pointing weapons at each other that belched fire and metal, fighting with their limbs, heads, with blades, explosions and anything they could. And each of these many varied creatures were against one species. It wore armor, with a reflective face, but her eye cut through it all. She saw through the metal and glass, through crystal and electricity, through threads of synthetic fiber. It had skin, pale and smooth, a face not as flat as hers. Eyes that were as blue as glacial ice, ringed black like a dog. It's lips were curled back in a snarl, exposing teeth with carnivorous tendencies. It had hair on its head, body and face.
"What is happening on this world?"
All over the planet were similar scenes to this; a small team of the armored creatures, singular ones, or others of the race of beings fleeing, fighting against the other creatures that outnumbered them so heavily. Pillars of blue white light and energy streaked down from the heavens, igniting all they touched, leveling great cities and small farms alike. the beams came from massive ships in the sky, some from space, cratering the ground and leaving burning glass behind. The light bloomed before her again, her mind's eye following it to its source.
"Why are you all condemned to die? What did you do? Who are you?!"
The light led her to see a single armored being, fighting so many of the other, taller creatures. It kicked, it fired, it punched, stabbed… It killed without mercy, without quarter. It fought with the will to live that only a cornered animal held, with a ferocity and determination she had never heard of any great warrior of her people having before. It fought and fought, but time lead it to be overwhelmed, out muscled. It was brought to its knees, and a single creature stood before it. They spoke in her language, and she listened closely.
"Any last words, Demon?" It activated a weapon, a sword made of light, double edged and two pronged. The armored being took off its helmet. A female of the race, beautiful as a wildfire, and equally as terrible.
"This is for Reach." The creature with the sword attacked her, and she pressed a key on her gauntlet.
"I want to know who you are," Luna said, her subconscious working magic without her will. "I want to know why you fight. I want to know why you are condemned to die with your planet." Her crown glowed with a vibrant radiance, filling the room. A light bloomed on the planet, casting all in a sun of fire.
And then something heavy landed on her.
Darkness clouded her eyes.
Pain crippled her mind.
Consciousness fled her.