_Chapter 1_

1946 hours, March 15, 2546 (Military Calendar), Planet Agrestis.

"I've got SPARTANs on the ground!" Captain Numan stared at the incoming plasma bolts from the Covenant war ship as they hit the hull of the UNSC Applebee. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Lets move Spartans! To the extraction point! Double time!" I barked, trying not to show any signs of pain to the rest of my team mates. The six Spartans ran northeast at top speed with me trailing behind. My Heads Up display filled with static every every time I got hit by that got close to the breach in my MJIOLNIR armor. I didn't dare to stop and patch myself up. Nor did anybody else who's vital signs are out of the ordinary. Captain Numan's instructions were clear: get their asses back to the Pelican. My HUD flashed a warning about the breach in my armor and then…everything went black.

Once… twice… I opened my eyes and found Vanessa. One of team Saber's members. "Hey…" Vanessa's voice was distorted and twisted in my ears. Shaking my eardrums until it felt like they burst. Vanessa grabbed my shoulders and hefted my arm around her neck. "We have to keep going!" Vanessa grunted as she pulled me along. I lifted my head off of Vanessa's shoulder and found my HUD flashing with a mission reminder. "GET TO EXTRACTION POINT." I came too and detached my limp body from Vanessa's and ran. Ran into the distance. Ran anywhere but there. I just knew I had orders to get out of the battle field. My biomonitors flashed along with my mission updates which, combined, could cause seizures; but I saw through it. My loss of blood made my limbs go numb and tried to make my eyes black out. The only thing I could feel now was the heat trapped inside of my armor. One more click; through the bushes and over the river. I could make it. I just had to run faster.

The static-filled COM channels tried to come through my busted helmet speakers. One was totaled and the other lost a few wires; causing the volume to be extremely low. It popped in my ear loud enough to cause a major headache then shut off permanently.

I ran and broke through the thick underbrush of one of Agrestis' dry and dying forests. A new mission update came through, flashed on my HUD and caused me to trip over a large, fallen tree trunk that sent me falling towards the ground. Everything played in slow motion. All the way to the ground. Until I hit land head down. Hard. The impact knocked all the breath out of my chest and blood, I didn't know were from, covered the inside of my faceplate. Vanessa slid to a stop again. "Damn it, Spark." she grabbed my by the arms and stood me up on solid ground, pushing me forward toward the EZ. "I'm fine." I tried to convince her by starting a slow jog along her side.

Through the bushes. Now, over the river. Pelican-093 was in sight and the engines growled as if greeting them. I was the first one to get to the river; starting the line of Spartans at the river's edge. "Give me the bag." I demanded. Maurice tossed the duffle bag and looked back at the river. "Go. I'll catch up." I pointed to the Pelican as it began to rise above the ground. No warnings came up about any other breaches in anybody else's armor. They should be fine. "Dive!" I ordered as they hesitated to leave me behind with the bag. They dove and got to the other side in a matter of seconds. The river was too long to jump and deep enough to drown. Hannah, another member of team saber, was the first one out and up. "Toss me the bag!" Hannah yelled as she held out her hands dripping with water. I drew back and did an under throw; the bag making it to the other side. I dove as the others made it to the Pelican doors. Flint, a Spartan on my team, was in the door frame waiting for me. "Let's go, Spark. We're losing daylight." I dragged myself out of the water and pushed myself to run towards the Pelican. They were high enough that I had to jump to make it on there safely. They kept rising up, and up. Higher and higher. On the other side of the Pelican was a drop to hell. If I missed…

No time for "If's". I said to myself. I got a mission to finish. I jumped. Sprung into the air with what little strength I had left.

Everything went black.