So That's how it is?

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo.

A/N: This begins just before the start of the Covenant Civil war and memories are in Italics.

Chapter 1

So much can happen on an afternoon jog

Halo Installation-05

Sentinel Wall of the Quarantine Zone

The Ninth Age of Reclamation

Wyyyyaaaaaaahhhh

Spartan-183, Kim ignored the wail of the combat form as its body was shredded in a hail of bullets.

It had been over an hour and I still haven't found a way into the Quarantine Zone. How could I have gotten so lost? I need to make it through the zone, and into the Library, she thought, link up with Commander Keyes and the rest of the marines to retrieve the Index. As she continued her search through the Forerunner construct, she heard a low whine coming from behind, and watched a small maintenance drone fly out of a vent and down the hall. Couldn't hurt to follow it, she thought as she cased it through the room. It sped ahead of her until it popped open a large plug, revealing a long shaft and flew down a chute. "Here we go" she sprinted to the plug that covered the chute when a metal grating crashed in front of it with a "clang! Infection Forms spilled out in a waterfall of crawling death as she drew her SMG.

She slid underneath them and dropped down the chute before them. Clicking the safety off, she hosed them with the bullets from her last clip. "Damn!" she exclaimed dropping the now useless gun watching it slide next to her. A lot of marines loved the SMG and called it the 'bullet hose', but in Kim 's eyes she'd seen to many good soldiers killed by enraged Dlites who simply had there shields nicked by them because of its lack of stopping power. The Spartan pushed the angry thoughts out of her mind as she saw the ending of the chute appear.

She had originally been sent with three squads of marines to explore the Wall around the Quarantine Zone. Their task was to shut down the power core and lower the containment field around the Library so Commander Keyes could deploy her marines into the Quarantine zone. They had made their way down through the first sections of the wall with only minor resistance from a few Sentinels and lost Grunts. It was when they made to their way to one of the outer sections of the Wall close by the power core that things went wrong...

After they entered the room it started to vibrate with the whir of machinery, as the doors around them locked shut the wall that had shielded them from the outside slid open as the floor they were on revealed itself to be a gondola and dropped down by a dozen feet. The wall finished opening when the gondola stopped its decent and hovered across the large expanse between the gaps in the outer wall of the Quarantine zone to an opening on the other side.

Kim and the marines around her looked up to see the containment field surrounding the Library slowly receded across the Wall. Searching the sky for an answer to its de-activation, their curiosity was answered by the low whine of a Phantom's engines as it sped over them to a gondola on the far side. As the Phantom flew above it Kim could make out the form of a lone Elite in strange ceremonial armor standing below the Phantom. Upon seeing him her trigger finger began to itch with hatred as images of her fellow Spartans being slaughter on the training grounds of Reach ran through her mind, filling her with anger and remorse. She was about to open fire when she was snapped her out of her blood lust by the form of a large Sentinel coming out of the Inner Wall. It was big, bigger than any Sentinel she had seen before, with two large clamps and shields like a Jackals in front. It hovered in front of the Phantom and launched a salvo of rockets at it. The Phantom veered from side to side and began to ascend as the mortars hit its hull, seeing her chance Kim took aim at the Elite. Unfortunately for her fate was kind to the Arbiter as the wreckage from the destroyed Sentinel Major blocked him from her line of sight.

She cursed her slow reflexes as their gondola docked inside of the wall. The platform locked itself in place as doors on all sides of them opened up, releasing a torrent of Flood and Sentinels. She and the marines formed what defense they could, trying to get the sentinels in between them and the parasite. In the end they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of Flood. "Klaus, Juan, focus your fire on Flood, if you don't shoot the sentinels they'll ignore you!" she shouted.

"But that things still got Peter!" shouted Klaus, Kim turned to watch "Peter" land in front of him, impaling him with a tentacle arm while an infection form clamped on to Juan, yellow pustules erupting through his armor. Thinking frantically as she was becoming surrounded Kim picked up the Beam rifle off a destroyed Sentinel and began to cut the vents they were coming from, while the flood kept the machines distracted. As the Flood finished of the last of the Sentinels she turned on the people that had once been here comrades, put a bullet into the infection form of every one of them, killing the marines but also releasing them from the parasite.

"And so here I am", she thought as the chute opened up and dropped her into a new room, "I failed to keep my marines alive and now have to fight my way out of this hell".

She hit the ground below the chute and found herself in one of the outer sections of the Wall that was open to the Quarantine zone. Good, she thought as she looked out upon the snowy fields below, "I'm almost out of this place". She began to search the room for another chute when she came upon a dead Elite still clutching onto a Battle Rifle. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow this", she said as she pried the gun out of its hands. Searching his body for clips an interesting thought crossed her mind, "How many humans has he killed? And in his final moments his only companion was this". Wondering where she should head next she noticed the light given off by a plug down the corridor. "Well I hate to leave you like this", popping in a new clip, "But a rolling stone gathers no moss". As she headed down the corridor towards the piston on the far side she heard another blood curdling scream. "Gotta pick up the pace" she sighed as she started to sprint down the hall. A groan of metal could be heard in the ceiling above, "To late"….

Combat forms burst out of the metal vents in the ceiling, pursuing her in a hunger driven frenzy. She whipped around and unloaded her Battle Riffle into the carrier forms. They fell over as they bodies expanded and blew apart, punching a hole in the wall of Flood. Dropping the first line was easy, then the second, but for every combat forms she killed two more would take its place as infection forms took control of the fallen. She reached toward her ammunition pouch for another riffle clip only to find it a figment of her imagination. "Of all the times to run out of ammo, why couldn't that split lip have some more clips on him?". Cursing the dead Elite she drew out her only other weapon, an old M6D pistol. She had managed to smuggle this little treasure on board the In Amber Clad when she was called out of New Mombasa, there was no way she going to use one of those pebble-throwing SMGs on anything other than those little infection forms, and unlike the M6C it had enough power in it to drop a Combat form without breaking a sweat.

She picked her first target and shot out the parasite of the combat form, the late Private Gerald as she remembered, and keep firing until her gun ran dry. Picking up on her moment of weakness, one of the Elite combat forms lunged forward, knocking the gun out of her hand. It whipped back around for a second time and slammed her against the side wall.

The Combat form lifted its arm up once more to smash in the Spartans head when she swept it from its feet. She unsheathed her combat knife to kill the creature, plunging it into its chest cavity. The infection form exploded with a noticeable 'pop' as she withdrew her knife from its body. She began to get to her feet when three more combat forms jumped at her. She dodged the first two but the third Combat lashed out and threw her to the floor. Dropping the knife as she hit the ground, she tried to get up when the hoof of the Elite combat form forced her back down.

"No! she thought, I will not be turned into one of these horrible freaks!", she pulled down the combat form, using the momentum to plunge her hands into its chest, ripping out the infection with her own hands. Adrenalin pumping through her, Kim lunged for the second one, taking it to ground as more flood had jumped down from the overhead ledge and where already on top of her. They lashed out at her forgetting the use of their weapons as hunger consumed them. Alarms blared in her suit warning her that her armor was going failing under the constant attack.

She fought against the Flood but her struggle was useless against their onslaught. Becoming frustrated because they couldn't crack open their foods shell, a pheromonal message was sent to lift their arms in unison for the killing blow. Sensing it was the end Kim began to activate the suits self-destruct when a booming voice yelled out "Cleansing Flame!", and a blue sun appeared above her.

-0-0-

Rano' Zukanomee listened to the transmission again with disbelief. "How could it be sir?" he questioned. "How could it be that the mighty Arbiter would succumb to the parasite just before he reached the Sacred Icon? Surely it must be a lie!". The Spec Ops team had just cleansed a section of the Sentinel Wall when the order was given to rally in the Quarantine zone. The Sacred Icon was retrieved, the Great Journey was nigh, even if it would be ushered in by the Jiralhanae.

I don't know Rano'" replied the Spec Ops leader, turning away from spectacular sight of the library he faced Rano. "What I do know is that the Commander has ordered us back into the Quarantine Zone for immediate extraction". Rano nodded in agreement with his leader, "Come Fulsa'", he said gesturing to the minor Spec Ops Sangheili, "we're leaving the Wall".

"Yes sir", replied Fulsa' Zaranomee as he moved from his position covering the bend of the corridor.

"If you don't mind me asking sir what where you two talking about?" questioned Fulsa' as he sprinted to his commander Isin' Noslomee and the Veteran Spec Ops Rano' Zukanomee. "The Sacred Icon has been retrieved Fulsa' and we have been ordered to head into the Quarantine zone for extraction but..."."But what sir?" questioned the young soldier. "Unfortunately the Arbiter has been killed by the parasite before he could reach the Icon, Tartarus and his brutes made the final advance and secured it".

"What?" exclaimed Fulsa'. "That's impossible sir, I myself had fought by the Arbiter's side on the Forerunner research facility. If you had seen how he had slew the Flood and those heretics you would know that it's not possible for him to be killed by just the parasite". Fulsa's mind raced with the possibilities of how the Arbiter could have died and came with one conclusion. "The Jiralhanae!" he shouted, "That smelly primate chieftain must have conspired to kill the Arbiter so he could recover the Sacred Icon and win his disrespectful race even more favor with the Prophets". "Oh how they will pay for their treachery!" yelled Fulsa' as he drew his plasma sword.

Isin' put a hand on Fulsa's shoulder to try and calm down the young Sangheili. He was either far too clever, or to headstrong for his own good thought the commander. "Listen Fulsa', I don't like the Jiralhanae any more than you do" said Isin' as his voice turned hard. "But this is neither the time nor the place to plot an extermination of the beasts, which I might also add would be heresy. The only thing we should be concerned with is making it out of here alive, not trying to uncover some coup against us, and as you superior I'll remind you that a drawn weapon, is a weapon that demands blood, don't forget that".

Fulsa' looked down and mumbled a low "yes sir" as he put away his sword and drew back out his carbine. Rano nodded, "That's a good soldier and do not fret Fulsa', I will inquire with the Commander and the warriors that had accompanied the Arbiter into the Library about how he died". The minor Sangheili gave a nod of content to his leader as they headed down the ramp to the lower levels.

They had made their way through the Wall without meeting much resistance from the parasite or the holy warriors of the sacred rings. Taking this rare moment of peace Fulsa' began to think about the humans. He was always taught to try and think like his enemies. The more he understood them the more easily they would fall. Yes they we're a lowly affront to the gods but they still demanded study. They were weak and inferior creatures but at least the humans had fought with honor and dignity, sacrificing their own lives to protect what few planets they still had, in his eyes that made them at least better than the Jiralhanae.

"Well", he thought "all those except the Demons"! Fulsa's blood boiled as the memory began to play through his mind. He bit down on his upper mandibles to suppress the rage and pain he felt whenever the subject of the Demons went through his mind. "No, I cannot let those memories control me", he thought," I must stay battle ready and not let my mind be clouded by hate".

Returning to his former alertness Fulsa' began to notice the carnage that had surrounded them. There were bodies everywhere and the stench of death had been overpowering. "What happened here?" asked Rano', crouching low as he inspected the body of a dead parasite, "Surly no human could have done this".

"Perhaps it was the Arbiter who killed them? " suggested Fulsa', the false hope of his youth betraying him.

"No" spoke Isin' as he examined the other combat forms, "The Arbiter didn't go through this section of the wall. Besides these kills are fresh, if the Arbiter had went through here the parasite would have already taken control of these bodies".

"Then it must have been the Demon…" whispered Rano' as he stood up away from the corpse. "Impossible!" cried Fulsa', "The Demon died after it killed the Prophet of Regret".

"So far as we know" replied Rano' in a hushed voice, "Anyways Fulsa', you more than anyone else should know that there are more than one."

As if on cue the noise of human gunfire and the screech of the parasite filled the hall. "Come warriors the field of battle calls" cried Isin' as he and the others leaped down the chute eager for the taste of combat. They hit the ground with their guns at the ready in case of an ambush. Seeing it was clear they ran down the new corridor to where the fight was taking place. As they made their way through the walls became coated with flood gore, the scent in the air was one of smoke and death. Caught up in the thrill of combat, Fulsa' ran ahead drawing his sword. Isin' and Rano' stopped knowing that it was foolish to charge straight into such a frantic situation, deciding to give Fulsa' cover fire with their carbines to keep the parasite from getting at his flanks. Half way to the parasite Fulsa' primed a grenade and tossed it into the mass of flesh yelling a mighty "Cleansing Flame!".

The grenade exploded in a blinding ball of plasma as Fulsa' leaped onto the first combat form, plunging his sword in it. Kicking off of its body as it hit the ground he rolled in front two combat forms. He dodged their attack and feinted to the right before he lunged at the parasite to his left. His sword impaled the parasite's chest; a quick upswing cleaved it in two with the hiss of cauterized flesh. As the parasite fell, Fulsa' ducked to avoid the tentacle of the other combat form and prepared to strike it down as three streams of green light pierced its chest cavity. Knowing that he was not alone Fulsa' charged down the middle towards the center as the flood to the left and right fell to the fire of his comrades carbines.

Soon the flood began to thin and after the last combat forms life was extinguished with a heavy hoof to the chest Fulsa' looked around at his handy work. It was both horrible yet satisfying to see the bodies of so many killed parasites, yet it saddened him to have killed many who had once been his brothers. At least now their spirits were free to walk the great journey.

He began to head back to the others when he noticed a small movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning around he saw something stirring underneath a pile of bodies, readying his sword Fulsa' slowly approached the mass. When he was a few feet from the pile one of the bodies launched itself at him, thinking quickly Fulsa' side stepped and sliced it as it flew by. He began to turn around when he was kicked to the ground by a heavily booted foot.

-0-0-

Kim brought her foot down on the Elite before it could roll away.

Wham!

The Elites shields flared under the pressure of her boot, she spun around and brought her foot up for a staple kick to its face when it was caught in the air. She tumbled backward as her leg was pulled up and a hoof struck her support leg. Kim twisted as she fell, hitting the ground face up as the Elite lunged forward. Timing it just right she curled up and caught him in the chest with a swift kick.

The Elite reeled backward in surprise as Kim righted herself and threw a left hook. The Elite blocked her punch and countered with a palm to her faceplate. He struck home as Kim's shields died and her head whipped back. Taking the opportunity the Elite's hand curled around her neck, bringing her down with a knee to the face.

In one quick movement it pushed Kim down to the ground and brought its knee down on her elbow, grabbing her wrist and yanking up. The Monster yelled a triumphant battle cry as it began to bend her arm in an unnatural angle.

"It was not wise to challenge me Demon, now I shall have my vengeance and bring honor to my Clan!" it yelled as two more Elites jogged forward with their carbines shouldered. "Look brothers and be witness to my prowess, for I have taken down the Demon!"

"Fulsa' release the Demon and get away now!" yelled what appeared to be the commanding officer as he primed a grenade.

"Huh? No! I will do not such... w-what is that!"

"What is going on?", thought the Spartan as her arm was released. She looked up and saw the elites running backwards and firing into the gloom of the corridor. The grenade exploded in a blinding flash of plasma. The auto dampers in her helmet shielded her eyes from the flash as it illuminated the hall and revealed the new threat.