Hello, fellow readers of the story. If you haven't read my previous story Halo: The Flood, I highly suggest you do so, so you understand this story.

No long introduction, no long explanation, just a request for reviews and a Disclaimer that I DO NOT OWN HALO

NOW READ.


Halo: First Strike Chapter 1

"Scan again." Fol said to the AI, whose avatar appeared on the display. She looked irritated, as he'd requested this multiple times.

But it was their only hope of getting out of this star system. Their fighter had no Slipspace drive, and unless they could find an intact larger ship, they were stuck here, to die in the debris field of Halo. Six was flying the Longsword through it, keeping away from the denser area's and giving the AI a lot of opportunities to scan.

"Unless we find a larger vessel to fly in, we'll be stuck here. We have no Slipspace drives, and our oxygen is limited. Same for our food and the energy needed to keep you alive. We have mere hours at most." Fol paused. "At least scan the field for Covenant pieces. Give us an approximate number of how many Covenant capital ships were destroyed."

The AI sighed, and went on to do her task. Fol was slightly perplexed by it. He had no experience with an AI with such an... personality. The Covenant employed AI's for sure, but they were all what the humans called 'dumb' AI. They had no sentience.

Then Cortana reported. "As usual, no active signals coming in. Just dust and echo's. The number of Covenant craft, in the initial scan, showed five Capital ships destroyed, including the Truth and Reconciliation.

Fol then smiled. "Then I've got good news or bad news, depending on how you look at it."

"What is it?" Sergeant Johnson asked. Aside from him, Six and Fol, there were only three other Spartans aboard, John, Sam and Linda. Sam sat at the systems-ops seat, keeping his own eye out. Linda was laying down near the ramp, taking a rest so she could recover from injuries sustained over Reach. She had surgery performed on them multiple times, and was going on quite well for a woman who was supposed to be dead. But she hadn't had any time to recover from them, as they'd spent days fighting the Flood and Forerunner sentinels. And so she was now catching some shuteye. John was busy with Johnson taking account of all the weapons they had on board.

"We followed you with thirteen ships: One carrier, one support vessel and eleven cruisers. Good news if we want to get out of here, for they all have slipspace drives. Bad news because we are severely outgunned and outclassed, so boarding one of them will be tough."

"That's alright." Six said from the pilot's seat. "We've beaten worse odds on that ring. Namely against a telepathic monster, an army of religious fanatics, and a genocidal robot with an army of drones at his back." Six paused for a second. "And I've survived you."

"Very funny."

"You think I was joking, split-face?"

"No insult intended. I'm not yet as well-versed in human humor as I'd like to be."

Six nodded, and then looked back at the others. "How about our arms back there, boys? Anything good?"

"We're good as long as our fighting takes place inside one of those ships." Johnson started. "We've got a Mini-gun, a Rocket launcher, a Fuel-Rod gun, a Sniper Rifle, four Energy Swords, four Shotguns, a fully charged Plasma Repeater, two fully charged Plasma Rifles, an Energy Pistol that's about half drained, a Covenant Carbine, four Assault Rifles, and a whole lot of grenades. Plenty of ammo for all except the shotguns, which were used extensively back on the Autumn. Everything seems to be in working order."

Fol nodded, satisfied they had plenty of arms and ammunition.

"We've also got a Moray Mine system on board, which has 36 mines at the moment. Not a lot of use except to ambush any of those ships but s-"

"New contacts." Cortana interrupted. "Those Echo's I was talking about? They're getting stronger."

"Meaning?" Fol asked. He wasn't well versed in space combat, instead focusing on fighting in ground engagements. His sister, Nera, was much better at it.

"Meaning they're not Echo's." Six said. "They're your fleet, hiding behind that moon to protect themselves from Halo's destruction." she turned to the others. "Get Linda awake. Shut everything down except Live-Support and enough power to keep Cortana online. Get those weapons to their owners, and strap in."

they all nodded, and moved on along their assigned tasks. Fol looked around, and found a seat at the back of the cockpit. It was too small, and unlikely to hold his large body, but it would have to do. He sat down and strapped himself down, accepting his Fuel-Rod gun and swords from the Chief. Johnson handed him an Assault Rifle, and about six clips for it. Fol noted the weapon had already been reloaded, and he put it on his back holster.

The cockpit lights dimmed, and Cortana's hologram winked out, the systems to keep it on shut down.

Then Fol saw it. First three of the cruisers appeared, coming about and headed to the port side of the debris field. Then the Carrier, Ascendant Justice, appeared. Then three more cruisers appeared from the back of the moon, moving to the other side of the debris field. But no support vessel showed up.

"Where's the Infinite Succor?" Fol asked. "It's the support vessel I talked about. Is it still behind the moon?"

"There's no more signals coming in." Cortana said. "But I'm scanning their Com signals right now." after a few moments she talked again. "According to sporadic messages, I've pieced this together: The Flood boarded the ship, and infected the crew. A Spec-ops team, led by a R'tas 'Vadum'ee, boarded the ship, took over engine room, and set a course to collide with this system's sun. R'tas was the only survivor, having escaped on an escape pod."

Fol nodded. They still had a lot of good choices, like the Ascendant Justice, or the Seeker of Truth.

"Contact." Sam said. "Damn, that stupid asteroid just floated in. But it looked like a pelican dropship. Might be some others that got off of the ring. Maybe even 'are we there yet'."

"Don't worry." Cortana said. "I've got a good look recorded here." some footage appeared on the main display, and indeed, a Pelican dropship was on it. Cortana supplied the outline of a dropship for it. It was a near-perfect match, but only because the rest of the dropship wasn't visible.

"Definitely survivors." Linda said, as she moved into the cockpit. "They're parked so that they can easily take off instead of land."

"But we're still in the ideal place to be attacked from." Fol said.

Then something happened he hoped wouldn't. Couldn't.

His helmet com went off. The others all turned to him, and he saw Six slowly go for her Energy Sword. "What's that?" she asked.

"My Helmet com. But it's supposed to be offline."

"Answer it." The Chief said. "It'll look suspicious if you don't, and the fact your defection isn't wide-spread might give us the element of surprise."

Fol nodded, and pressed a button. He set it to audio-only. Then a voice echoed throughout the ship.

"Fol? Is that you?" a Sangheili said over the com. "This is Narsk Orthelk'ee. I'm in a Spirit headed for the Fleet. Where are you?"

Fol improvised for a second. "I'm aboard a spirit, drifting in the debris field."

"I see you. But I'm detecting a few humans aboard as well. And you ain't aboard it. Is something wrong with the scanner?"

Fol paused for a second. So more humans were alive, and coincidentally in a spirit as well. But Narsk thought he was aboard it as well, and there was no way he could reveal that to the Sangheili.

Unless...

"I'm confusing the signals my Spirit emits. There's a human Vulture Gunship in the area, and I'm hiding from it. Head for the Seeker of Truth, I'll be along shortly after it passes."

It seemed to work, and Narsk headed to one of the Cruisers. Six let go of the Energy Sword...

But then said cruiser turned towards him, and Fol saw it's plasma cannons charge. Then a new voice entered the conversation.

"Fol. Tell me. Is it true that you defected to the Demons' side?" Thel Vadam asked.

Fol stood rigid. This wasn't a multi-purpose pilot who could fly all aircraft the Covenant had, but the Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. Thel Vadam had successfully fought throughout the Human-Covenant war. He was experienced in both the political and the literal battlefield, and if he asked this kind of question, then he already knew the truth.

"If you ask that, then you know the answer. And you know that I wouldn't do this without good reason. Are you prepared to hear me out, or are you truly the new heel of the false Prophets, destined to become the new Arbiter?"

"If you come and face me, Coward, then I just might listen to your final words. But you're outgunned, outclassed and outnumbered. Do the right thing, and surrender."

"I'll come to the bridge." Fol subtly changed their channel, so it was an open was no way this could be hidden. "But it won't be in surrender. I will fight to the last, take the Ascendant Justice, and kill all of you misguided fools if I have to. I have spoken to a Monitor, Thel, and it has shown me things. Things that could bring about the Great Schism. If you listen, then I will tell you those things as well, but if you choose to fight, then I will fight you, Thel."

There was a moment of silence, and Fol thought he had successfully convinced Thel.

But then the Ascendant Justice moved in as well, and Fol knew he'd failed.

"So misguided." Thel said, though it seemed to be to himself more than Fol. "Goodbye, Katarn'ee."

Then the Cruiser aimed it's guns at her.

And missiles and plasma-shots struck the Seeker of Truth in the turrets just as it lowered it's shields to fire. The Cruiser listed to starboard, towards the Ascendant Justice. The massive Carrier attempted to evade, but it's momentum prevented it from moving out of the way in time. The two ships collided, and sparks of shields passed between two of them.

Cortana reactivated the entire Longsword as this happened, and moved them through the debris-field. Fol saw from his seat that the Human-Captured Spirit and Pelican were following them as well, though the Spirit's driver seemed to be new to the controls. It made too wide and too sharp turns in order to dodge the debris.

The Chief opened a channel to their own forces. "This is Spartan 117. I'm aboard the Longsword. Who are manning the Pelican and Spirit, and How many are aboard?"

A male voice responded. "This is Warrant Officer Polaski. I'm manning the Pelican, and have two others aboard."

Then another channel opened. And arguing was heard loudly over it. "You could get us killed with this kind of flying." an Australian voice said. "Get us out of the Debris field. Now."

"And get blasted to pieces? No thank you. I like flying in cover, and since you can't fly, Chippie, You don't have a say in where we are bloody flying. Now shut up."

Most of those listening were now laughing. Johnson keyed in on the com. "Hey, Wilson! Are you there yet?" he yelled.

Wilson immediately responded. "Johnson! Still listening to that Flip bullshit, yah old bastard?"

"It's better than your 'Epic' crap."

"Then you haven't heard enough of it yet. How many are there aboard on your Longsword?"

At this point the Chief took over. "Wilson, we have Six on board, including our Elite friend."

"The Bloody bastard's alive? Damn. I thought the little Spartan would have gutted him long ago."

"I'm still considering it, so don't tempt me." Six called over their com.

"Spartans, this is Lieutenant Haverson." A new voice added to the conversation. "I'm aboard the Pelican. Do any of you have a plan? Because at the moment all we have are an objective, three ships and a Covenant Fleet breathing down our necks."

"Haverson, this is The Master Chief. Make a slingshot orbit around the smaller body, Basis. We'll make a short dock and transfer you over. I have a plan."

"Alright chief. We'll come over."

"That goes for you as well, Wilson."

"Negative, chief." Wilson said. "This is my second time flying a spirit, and I haven't seen anything resembling a topside hatch. The only way in and out is through those Prongs, and none of us have Vacuum-tight suits."

The Chief nodded. "Then just follow us along that orbit. Cortana, can you access the Spirit's systems from here?"

"Yes. Wilson, you can let go now. I'm flying now.

"Roger Cortana. And you might not see it, but two marines here are silently cheering that I ain't flying anymore. The third's talking to you right now."

"Nice to see you've got haters behind you. Keep listening in, and we'll keep you informed."

"Wilco. Wilson going silent, for once. I have some Chips to crush."

Fol unstrapped himself, and he headed towards the hatch after Cortana confirmed they were docked. He opened it after he heard a clang. Fol held out a hand, and a hand took it. A man with no hair took it, and Fol lifted him inside with one hand. The ODST looked around, saw both the elite and the Spartans, he seemed to tense up. Fol looked closer at his armor, and saw it was in fact that of ODST's.

A coffin soldier. Great.

Another man climbed in, and Fol saw he had close-cropped, vaguely red hair. He had a pyramid-like symbol with a small circle at it's center. Office of Naval Intelligence then. He will talk to me a lot. The man looked around, and after seeing the spartans preparing for battle, nodded in approval. He held out a hand near the hatch. A hand grabbed his, and Haverson lifted him in

The last one to enter was, on closer inspection, a female. She had the clothes of a pilot, and Fol nodded to her. She tensed as she saw him, but didn't do anything otherwise. They all gathered in the cockpit.

"Well." the ONI agent said. "I guess you guys weren't kidding when you said you had an Elite with you."

"Yep." the sergeant said, and looked at Fol. "And it's legit, too. He saved both my own ass and those of the others multiple times when he could have just let us die. He even risked his own life for it multiple times."

The coffin soldier turned to Fol, and took on a scowl. "At least tell me you don't want me to trust that thing."

"No, you don't." Fol said, and the Coffin soldier slightly jumped back in surprise. He likely didn't expect Fol to even understand him, much less speak the same language. "Not yet, anyway. I would like, however, that you at least call me a him, or he."

The Coffin soldier, though he still looked pissed, nodded. He then turned to the others. "So what's the story?" he asked. "We got something to shoot here?"

"No." someone on the Com said. Fol recognized him as the coffin soldier he had fought alongside in the Library. "Notice the gravity? We're in a slingshot orbit. We're coming around the moon for another run at the Covenant."

"But shouldn't we escape first?" The ONI agent asked. "We have valuable intel on the Covenant, on Halo and on the Flood. Our first priority should be to reach UNSC-controlled space."

"That's our intention as well." Six said from the pilot's chair. "But last time I checked under the hood, none of our dropships and Fighter have a Slipspace-Drive installed. It will take us years to reach said space without one."

the ONI agent sighed. "Yes, that does limit our options."

Then the chief did something Fol didn't expect. He took command over the ONI agent. "Pardon me, Sir, but I must point out that while you are the ranking officer, Me and my team are on a highly classified mission of the Highest priority. My orders come directly from High Command."

"Meaning?" The ONI agent asked.

"Meaning," Sam said. "The Chief has tactical command of these ships, all of the men... and you, Sir."

Fol looked between the two, and it took only a small second to figure it out. The Spartans had originally been gathered to do a special mission. But it had been interrupted by the Covenant's attack on Reach. It had obviously been important enough to gather as many spartans as possible, or Six wouldn't have been on board. Remembering Cortana's comment about how handy it was that he revealed information about Truth, and combining that with the fact this mission had Spartans from both generations, it could only mean one thing...

they were originally going after the Prophets.

Fol was glad he had refused the position among the Prophet's honor guard as long as he had.

"Of course" The agent said. "I am well aware of your mission. I'll do anything I can to assist."

"So, what's the plan? Slingshot orbit- then what? Are we just gonna talk all day?"

"No." The Chief replied. "Get into the pelican, Locklear. We'll only have a few minutes while we're on the other side of the moon, so grab anything we can use: Weapons, ammunition, grenades. Keep lined up to my com, so you can hear the briefing." Locklear took on a bemused look, displeased with the job he had been given.

"If it will motivate you, soldier," Fol said. "think of the chore as getting more guns here to shoot me with."

At this, Locklear's face lit up, and he moved into the dropship, eagerly setting on with that prospect in mind.

"So how do we get a Shaw-Fujikawa drive?" the pilot asked.

"We don't." Linda said. "You think our tall ugly friend here was having that discussion on an open channel just to piss with them? It actually is our best bet to take one of their ships and fly out of here."

Fol nodded. "I came here on the capital ship, so I know at least a large bit of the layout. There's a corridor that leads directly between the bridge and the hanger, with no corners or anything to worry about. A 'walk in the park' as your people often say."

"How about the crew?" another voice over the Com asked. It was the only voice Fol hadn't heard. It was quite a heavy voice, one Fol often placed with combat instructors. "Won't they pose a threat? There ought to be at least a hundred elites on one of those cruisers alone."

"Normally, yes." Fol said. "But we arrived at Halo with a minor prophet, and he... mismanaged the situation on Halo from the start. He redeployed forces all across the ring, leaving only those essential to running the ships behind. At most only a hundred elites are still aboard."

"Only a hundred?" the man asked.

"it wouldn't be fare for them unless they outnumbered us, wouldn't it?"

at this, the Coffin-soldier in the same ship as the last voice laughed. "I like you, you crazy split-jaw. I'll follow you guys in with this dropship, with only a few dozen meters to spare. Should be a cake-walk if Cortana lends a hand."

The Chief nodded. "She will." he turned to her. "But I also want you to infiltrate the Flagship's systems. Shut down their hanger shields long enough for us to enter the ship."

"Sending an unescorted lady in to do your dirty work?" Cortana asked. "Well, I suppose I'm the only one who actually can do that."

"Don't worry, blue princess." Six said jestingly. "You'll get a prince charming someday."

"And when do you get one, Six?" Cortana asked back in the same tone.

"When I sit on the throne of hell, eating pizza with one hand while killing stuff with the other."

"Well, bad luck for you. Hell doesn't take your kind in anymore."

"Shit."

the others looked at both of them. The Chief sighed for a moment before continuing. "Haverson, get the Moray mine systems further back in the Longsword moved to the Pelican. We're gonna use it as a fireship so we don't get blasted away immediately after we leave the moon's orbit." the man nodded. The pilot took on a frown.

"Is there a problem, warrant officer?" Linda asked.

"No, ma'am. I just hate to lose a good ship. That bird got us off Halo in one piece."

"Noted." Sam said. "So, in short, this is the plan: we send out the pelican ahead of us, letting it draw away fire and send a few mines to distract any pursuing forces. We, meanwhile sneak in right after it, land in the hanger, take over the bridge, and enjoy our new model of Slipspace-capable Carrier."

"Rock 'n' Roll!" Locklear called over their com. After a moment he climbed back up the hatch, with a duffel bag over his shoulder.

"Anyone have anything to add?" Johnson asked. "Because I want to get moving to kick some ass out there. No? Then start cracking."


Six dodged and weaved as they flew through the overlapping fields of fire of the Cruisers.

The Covenant had been waiting for them as they'd crossed from the other side of the moon back towards the debris field. They hadn't accounted for the fact the pelican would be flying straight towards them, so their field of fire was less than optimal. They could, however, fire as many plasma-torpedoes as they liked towards them. And they eagerly did so.

The Pelican was obviously taking the most hits, and Six knew it wouldn't make it to the Hanger. But it didn't need to, and Six was happily flying through the fields of fire. With Wilson's music blasting away in the background.

They had first played Johnson's Flip music as they flew through it. But Locklear, backed by Sam, had him shut it back down. And Six, just to annoy them, had asked Wilson to play his music instead.

And Six found a new thing to enjoy in her life: Epic music.

Most of the others didn't agree with her, but they did agree it was better than Johnson's loud Flip music. Much to Johnson's chagrin.

"Wilson. You keeping up back there?" Six called. "Because I still want a full copy of that music list you've got in there."

"Keeping up just fine. I will admit, though, Polaski would likely have done a better job of it."

"Well, hang on tight. We're finally coming up on the Hanger. Cortana, would you kindly open the door for us?"

"Only because unlike the Chief here, you ask nicely." Cortana said. Indeed, the Hanger shields lowered, and Six started to decelerate a bit. Not much, just so they weren't all juice when they finally stopped.

Then Six fired a single missile ahead of her into the hanger, to clear it up a bit for parking space. The missile apparently hit a plasma tank, for the explosion was quite large. It wasn't long, though, before the cloud of vapor cleared due to the pull of vacuum. And when it cleared, there was a lot more space for them to park.

Six then let go of the controls, and let the ship land by itself.

They hit the deck, and skidded for a few moments, shredding grunts as they went. The Longsword finally stopped against the wall, and it slammed most of the people into the systems-ops seat and pilot seat.

The survivors were all approaching with charged weapons, so Six prepared a treat for them.

The lowered the landing skids so they stood properly, and lowered the Longsword's chainguns.

"We've landed." Six said. "Oooh, a full welcoming committee! Is it my birthday?"

"Spare the Huragok." Fol said as he got up from the floor. "They're non-combatants, and have valuable information f the Covenant inside them. They're more useful alive than dead."

"Spoilsport." Six retorted, but instead of just randomly shooting around took careful aim, and only fired on the grunts. It took a little bit longer to clear them all due to her having to fire around the engineers, but they all were killed within a quarter minute. It took that long for the others to recover from their landing anyway.

After they all were dead, Six activated the intercom on her longsword, and reopened her com to the Spirit. "Thank you for flying with Helljumper airlines. Hope you have had a good flight, and I hope I find a new craft so you guys can fly with me again. Have a good day."

"Well." Wilson said. "You lost your good-driver discount. But at least we're all aboard. Now the fun part begins."

Six nodded, and lowered the ramp. The Spartans all got out first, and looked around the hanger. It was clear aside from the Huragok.

"Don't open fire on the floating squids." the chief called over the com. "They're no threat."

"Awww" Six heard Locklear say.

Six then got an idea. It was odd, and likely wouldn't work. But she did it anyway.

She approached one. It cowered for a moment, but seemed to have a more curious streak. It approached her, and she activated her helmet's translation software. A set of holographic tentacles appeared from her tacpad on her right wrist, and she talked, hoping the translation software was accurate enough.

"What is your name? What was your task?" she asked.

I am Tends to Rise. It signed back, and the text appeared on her HUD. I was here to maintain fighter craft.

"What is the current composition of the crew, minus the grunts killed here?"

It is currently at 5028 Huragok, 42 Unggoy, 93 Elites and 12 Kig-Yar.

"Alright. Can you repair our ship for us, and keep the elites out for as long as you can?"

Will you destroy any more Forerunner sites? it asked her.

Six thought about that. They had a sensitive streak about Forerunner artifacts? They must have been assigned to guard them by the Forerunners. Curious.

"No, only if the Flood contaminate them. And it seems the Flood has been taken care of, no?"

Good. it signed. It seemed to sag a bit in relief. Good.

Six started to return to the rest to the group, who were helping Wilson and the others out of the Spirit. The Huragok followed her, though, and Six turned back to it. "Is there something else you want to know?"

Can I accompany you? You are a reclaimer.

Six was slightly taken aback. These things knew they were Reclaimers? Then why were they following the Covenant? "Sure. Just take cover behind me if there is a firefight, and help us get to the bridge."

Thank you. I am linked to the Covenant Battlenet, and a lot of chatter is coming from further down that hallway. It comes from the bridge area, and is headed this way. They are aware of your presence, so expect resistance.

Six immediately turned to the door, and raised her rifle. The others, seeing her do so, raised theirs as well, and Linda turned towards her. "What is it?"

"Covvies coming down the hallway. The Huragok can intercept coms on their Battlenet. It's willing to work with us for as long as we spare it and don't destroy any Forerunner artifacts."

Linda nodded, and took aim from behind a large crate. The others took similar positions. Six headed for an alcove when the Huragok tapped her shoulder.

There's a passage-way over there, built mostly for my kind. It can be used to ambush the elites coming down the hallway.

Six nodded, and called Wilson, Stacker and John over. She relayed them what the Huragok told them. John turned to it. "Can you understand me?" he asked.

You don't need the holographic tentacles. I understand basic well enough, even if I can't resonate the proper sounds. Six shut down the tacpad, and then turned to it. "And Basic's your word for English, right?"

Yes. It was the basic commerce language during the golden age of the Forerunners. Six wanted to ask more, but it drifted to a wall, with the outline of a hatch. Six and the others followed it.

It led them down to the hatch, and opened it. It was narrow, and elites wouldn't be able to pass through it, but the Spartans just might.

Head forward thirty meters, then go left. You will near a hatch. Stay away from it for 2 meters, as the motion sensor triggers it if you approach closer. I will give you a signal over your com when they've all passed.

Six nodded, and John told his plan to the others. "Alright. On my signal, Haverson opens that door, and you all open fire on the elites. You'll know our signal when you see it."

"Roger." Haverson called.

"Now I'm really gonna rack up the kills." Locklear called.

"Not if I get them first." Johnson called from the other side of the crossfire they'd set up."

"You're all arrogant fools. You really think you'll get any kills before I neutralize them all?" Fol asked.

"Now who's arrogant?" Sam called. "One with the most kills gets the right to be the captain of the Ascendant Justice."

"It's a deal." Dubbo called. The others called over their own version of affirmatives.

Six crawled into the Huragok passage-way. It was too tight to traverse it with her shields on, so she temporarily shut them down. After thirty meters, she turned left. Indeed, there was a hatchway that likely led into the main corridor. Six waited just outside of the two meter radius. She turned onto her back, to look at Tends to Rise, who had followed them. "Rise, what prevents the Elites from accidentally triggering the motion-sensors?"

The Motion-Sensors are only internal. The Outer side of the hatches can only be opened by a Huragok touch.

"Good to know." Six said. She again turned onto her stomach, and waited. After about a minute, she heard a stampede running past them.

A light chime sounded. Six assumed it was their signal, so she crawled to the hatch. It opened, and she crawled out of it as fast as she could.

They were indeed in a perfect position to ambush the Elites, who numbered into about a dozen. They all had their backs turned to them, and Six took up a firing position as she made room for the others. Wilson crouched out first, followed by Stacker. John came out next, and Rise made up the rear, and he closed the hatch.

Then a weird glow came over all of them. It didn't shine bright enough to encompass the elites, but Six knew that they couldn't sneak up on them now. She turned to Rise. "Rise, did you do this?"

Yes. They add strength to your own shields, and give the ones with lesser armor some minor protection.

"Well, it'l have to do." John said. He then primed a grenade, and threw it at the elites, and Six and Wilson threw theirs as well.

They landed in the center of the group of elites, and three elites died, with two more being seriously injured. All had their shields downed.

The survivors all turned to them. But they didn't expect the door to the hanger now opened, with the humans and elite already in there now having a bottleneck to fire in. Linda hit the two wounded with one shot, which ricocheted into a third. All three of them died. Sam fired his minigun into the hallway, and fired on the large mass of elites. Fol then was visible from the Hanger, and most of them looked with jaws half hanging. Six scowled.

Fol had ripped a plasma turret from it's stance, and was using it like Sam, mowing down the elites with the mere volume of their weapons-fire. Only three were out of their firing range, but Six stabbed one with her knife, John hit the second on the head with the butt of his rifle, and the third...

Six had to look twice, and still didn't believe it. Wilson was on top of the third, which was was attempting to kick him off. Richie was just hitting it around the neck and head with the knuckle-dusters he always seemed to have on his fists. And the Elite seemed to actually be hurt with each punch. Was he also one of the Orion project survivors? It would certainly explain his strength and tenacity.

The elite seemed to be stunned, and Wilson unhooked one of the chains hanging on the right side of his armored trousers. He then wrapped it around the Elite's throat, and pulled, choking it. It died, it's throat already weakened by Wilson's punches. Wilson loosened the chain, wiped it clean on the corpse, and reattached it to his armor. He saw the others were looking at him.

"Now you know that if it weren't for the UNSC, I'd likely be either dead, a gang member or in prison."

after a short silence, Six said "I know the feeling. But with me it'd be the psychiatric ward for the criminally insane."

Wilson laughed, and Johnson, who caught the conversation, walked over to stand next to him.

"Welcome to the club, Wilson." Johnson said. "Welcome to the club of bad-assery."

Fol approached them, and saw Rise fully emerge from a crate in the hallway. He approached him, and Rise started to slowly back away from him. Fol stopped, and dropped the weapon he was holding. Six held out her hand to Rise. "It's okay. This one is with us. He has helped us on Halo, and actually was the one who told us to not shoot any of you. He can be... believed, for the moment."

Fol gave Six a look that Six interpreted as a Do-you-really-want-to-start-this-again-look. Rise, satisfied Six held her fire near him, finally approached Fol. Fol held out his hand, and after a moment Rise lay a tentacle on top of it.

"I know my kind hasn't been good towards yours." Fol started. "But I have learned something that would upset the entire Covenant. It could ensure that you and your companions, partners, whatever you call your fellow Huragok, could actually receive better care. I promise you, the Humans will have you and your companions, if no one else. But please. Set aside your distrust, and help me help the reclaimers."

Rise seemed to ponder it, and then he seemed to drift off. Fol looked away, and Six thought Fol had failed. But then Rise returned, with a cable that led into the wall. He attached it to the plasma cannon, and Six saw one of the meters of the cannon go up, until it reached the end of the metal. He then returned the cable to the wall, and turned to the Chief.

I trust you all. I don't see why, but I trust you. Your AI can be inserted in a panel a little bit up ahead. I have recorded a lot of things while in service on this vessel, including navigational and firing calculations. I will aid her in her effort.

John nodded, and moved to where Rise indicated. Indeed, after a few moments, Six saw a slot where Cortana's chip could be inserted into the systems. John inserted her chip, and withdrew it after a moment. Six swore she could see him shiver for a slight moment.

"I'm in." Cortana said. "Withdrawing atmosphere from all sections of the ship except where we are or Huragok without protective gear are present. The bridge is about a hundred meters ahead. The crew there have shut down all systems, effectively forming a Faraday-Cage. I can't see into it."

I have no contact anymore with that section of the Battlenet either. But, accounting for all the other members of the crew, I can conclude there are ten elites on the bridge, including the Fleetmaster and the remains of the special-operations brigade. Rise added.

"Is there any way to regain control of the systems there from here?" Haverson asked.

"No." Cortana answered. "The only way I can gain control of the bridge is if the Chief manually reactivates the bridge systems."

"Well, I suggest we get moving then." Sam said, hefting his Mini-gun up a bit.

Six nodded, and she took the lead in moving on to the bridge. She arrived, and tried to pry the double doors open. They didn't budge.

"Allow me." Sam said from behind her. Six nodded, and stepped back. Sam threw a plasma-grenade at the doors, and then deployed a Covenant-built deployable cover, which consisted of a small shield-generator that formed an impenetrable bubble around it. It absorbed the blast of the grenade, and none of the others were harmed by the explosion. Sam then stepped forward, and pulled again.

This time the doors did open slightly, their systems short-circuited by the EMP always emitted by such grenades. But the doors went open too slowly due to the magnetic locks. Sam, after taking too long to open it, instead gave a kick at the door, and the structure in the lock in the middle visibly bent away. Sam then pulled at one of the door, and it actually collapsed towards them onto the floor. He then pushed the other door back into it's housing as far as it could. He then nodded to the others, and they all stepped in.

To find about ten elites all aiming weapons towards them.


Fol entered the bridge alongside the rest of the group, and he looked at the crew of the bridge. And they didn't seem to like him being here.

He and the others entered the bridge after the Spartan rudely smashed it, taking one of the hatches off it's hinges with his amplified strength, and had then entered the bridge, and Fol followed. To find ten elites aiming assorted weapons at them.

Most wielded Plasma Rifles and Needlers, but here and there a Spec-ops Elite had brandished an Energy Sword, and Fol could spot one Carbine resting on a crate that was used as cover.

But the worst part to this, at least to Fol's opinion, was the composition of the crew.

N'tho Sroam and Usze 'Taham, The Sangheili that had joined him on his assault on the Bridge of the human vessel, were there, each brandishing a sword. They both looked at him, the hurt of his betrayal in their eyes. They both flanked the Fleetmaster, Thel Vadam, who stood on the central platform. Thel had two Energy Swords out, and had his eyes locked on Fol.

"I will hand this to you" Thel said. "You are as stubborn as you are treacherous."

"And you, despite your earlier show pragmatism, are still as misguided as the rest of our race." Fol retorted." This drew a snarl from Thel, but Fol continued on none the less. The humans were all slowly spreading themselves across the room, so they wouldn't be caught all huddled up once the fighting started.

"Do you really think I would be persuaded to join their cause by mere promises of riches and glory? By assurances of survival at the end of the war? I'm not as cowardly or as dishonorable as to do that. You know this to be true."

Thel, despite his anger and contempt still showing, nodded. "Ah, yes. The self-righteousness of the Sang'Katarn warriors. I've heard all about it. And what persuaded you that joining the 'Nishum was the right thing to do?"

Fol looked at the chief, asking for permission to reveal it. He nodded, though he seemed to hesitate for a second. Fol looked back at Thel. "The word of the Monitor of the Halo-ring."

At this, multiple of the elites reared back in shock. Some even lowered their weapons slightly. Thel, however, seemed skeptical. "And do you have actual proof of this? Where is the Oracle, then? Would he not be here to help the Humans?"

Before he could respond, Thel looked at the rest of the crew. "This heretic has betrayed us, and is trying to persuade you to join his cause. Kill them, and we will be rewarded by the Prophets."

Most of the Elites nodded, reassured for the moment. One even called "For the Great Journey!" in order to rally the others. And then they opened fire.

Fol, giving up on his hopes to persuade the Fleetmaster, opened fire as well. He sprayed his Plasma Cannon at the Fleetmaster and the Spec-ops soldiers, but they dived out of the way, in different directions. Thel ran straight at Fol, and Fol dropped the Plasma Cannon to grab his swords. He met the Fleetmaster halfway in his sprint. They clashed blades, and locked them together for a moment.

"How far you have fallen, Field-Marshal. I shall flay your skin, and present the Hierarchs the one to blame for Halo's destruction. Who would then be the Arbiter, Katarn'ee?" Thel goaded.

"It's the Covenant that has fallen, Thel. They had the moment the San'Shyuum had declared war on Humanity. You are merely too misguided to see the truth." Fol retorted.

Fol then shut one of his blades down to free it from the lock, reactivated it, and tried to stab at Thel's sword hand, the one that was still locked into blocking Fol's other blade. Thel imitated Fol's trick, deactivated said sword, and jumped away. Fol jumped straight after him, intent on taking down Thel. If he died or was incapacitated, the other Elites in the room would falter.

Thel once again met his blades. He made cross-attack, striking at his feet with one blade while swiping at Fol's head vertically with the other at the same time. Fol jumped out of the way, and gave a kick to Thel's right leg. Thel blocked it with his arm, and once again tried to swipe at Fol's head. Fol blocked it.

It went that way for the majority of the duel, with both attempting to find an opening in the other's defenses while blocking attacks from the other. But then others changed the game.

'Taham and Sroam joined the duel, and Fol was outnumbered three-to-one. Fol could hold his own against them, but he was steadily losing ground to their simultaneous attacks. Fol didn't get the chance to attack, for every time one of them started to show a weakness in technique, or a lapse in their defenses, one of the others was always there to catch the blow for them, and continued the offensive with the others.

Fol gave a quick glance to the others. The Marines and ODST soldiers were engaging three elites that were near the other entrance to the Bridge. It lead to escape-pods, so Fol presumed they were covering Thel's means of escape if things went wrong. The Spartans were each taking on one of the remaining elites in close-quarter combat, each trading blows and kicks. They were all busy. The ONI agent and the pilot were at the edge of the battlefield, trying to take aim at various targets at a distance. Fol could maneuver the trio assaulting him so the humans could fire on them, but they would be promptly cut down. And that was not an option. So there was no one to aid him at the moment.

Then, after half a second of looking, he turned back to the fight, in time for him to block a swipe from 'Taham. He then made a faint at 'Sroam, but turned it into a full barrage of strikes at Thel. He swiped at him with speed and precision. Similarly, he noted, to how the Spartan known as Six had engaged him near the Onager cannon on Reach. But then he made a mistake.

In the middle of a strike at Thel, he accidentally opened his back to 'Taham. And he wasn't one to waste such an opportunity.

Fol barely made a roll away from the three in time, but then he accidentally fell into one of the trenches that lined the platform. The three jumped in after him, and had him cornered.

Fol looked around at the three, and saw nothing that would help him. Nothing but consoles and seats for the crew that usually occupied them.

The consoles...

Fol made a strike at one of the elites, and all three blocked, and pressed Fol closer to the wall. And ended up standing right next to the sensor's console.

Fol then threw a frag grenade at it, and jumped up out of the trench, kicking himself up from one of the seats as the other elites that attacked him tried to get out of range of the explosion. And they each went in a different direction. Fol had now two options: He could stand still for a moment and catch his breath, or he could press the advantage he now had, and hope to take down one of the elites before the others were on him again.

He jumped at Sroam, hoping to take him down as he jumped out of the trench.

But Thel then jumped at him, and kicked him in the stomach in midair. The blow got through his shields, and still hit him with enough force that Fol doubled over slightly from the pain as he landed. Thel attempted to strike at him while he was laying on the floor, and Fol barely blocked each blow Thel made. But each blow brought his defenses closer to his body, and it was inevitable one of the blows would hit against his sword, and make him cut himself in the process. And then he was done for. His other sword had been thrown out of his hand when he had been kicked, so Fol had to use his one sword against two of Thel's.

Then Thel made a swipe at the side, and Fol's remaining blade was slashed against his hand.

Thel held one blade against Fol's throat, and the other up above his head, ready to decapitate him. "Any last words before you die, traitor?" Thel asked, his victory assured.

Fol looked with his only remaining eye in both of Thel's and spoke. "Only that I pity you, for your dogmatic faith in Truth."

Thel glared for a moment, before bringing his right blade down for the killing blow.

There was a flash.


The first thing Kelly noticed as they fled the area was that the Covenant seemed to have... misjudged the way they were going to take the planet

The Covenant had attacked the planet in multiple stages, starting first with a small scouting force and a few Corvettes, and gradually ramping up the amount of troops. A UNSC scout team had discovered an invading army in the Viery territory, and later had a single Super-Carrier assault the planet below. Not that Super-Carriers, with their 28 kilometers from bow to stern, were something to be messed with, but usually the Covenant sent entire fleets of ships to destroy a single human world.

And such a fleet had only arrived after said Super-Carrier had been destroyed. That fleet, which had consisted of about 300 ships, had devastated the planet, glassing cities along their way, and glassing every major population center.

But the Glassing had stopped just as it was about to pass over their area. They were flying away in stolen banshees after the ground-side generators had been overrun by Covenant forces. They had been overrun around the same time she, Fred and Josh had been destroying a Covenant cruiser in a adjacent canyon. She and Fred had been lucky to survive both the Cruiser's barrage and the assault on the generators. Many, like Joshua, hadn't. To make matters even weirder, the Covenant had deployed their forces around Menachite mountain.

Now she and Fred were on their way to the Fallback position, CASTLE base, which was also lodged inside Menachite mountain. They had picked up from stray transmissions that the Pillar of Autumn had escaped orbit about fifteen minutes ago, and that four spartans had been aboard, and Kelly hoped James, Linda, Sam and the Spartans he picked up were aboard.

Along with John.

Kelly hoped he was alive. It gave Humanity a chance for survival. It would assure her that everyone else was alive, and that they would live to fight another day.

And, despite not admitting it to herself, she loved him.

Kelly mentally kicked herself for this for only truly realizing it upon her likely death, but she couldn't deny the damn feelings any longer.

So she merely hoped, recognizing that event were out of her hands at the moment.

They were coming up at CASTLE base. They just had fly a few more ki-

and then her Visor shorted out for a few minutes, and her shields went down, only to slowly recharge slowly thereafter. Her banshee started to drop. It still went forward, but it was more gliding and momentum than actual flying.

"EMP!" she shouted to Fred over their com. "Or some plasma effect."

"Hard landing!" Fred immediately ordered.

She grunted. It wasn't a very good thing, landing hard on the ground on a banshee. And on her way to flee the coming explosion of the cruiser, she had been hit by some shrapnel in her shoulder.

This was gonna hurt.

"Heads up! Covenant Hunters dead ahead." Fred yelled.

Kelly looked at where Fred was flying for, and saw what he meant. Two Hunters had hidden among the rocks, and they were now charging their guns, aiming at Fred. Fred's Banshee dropped at the last second, evading the shots fired. But his Banshee hit the ground, and in it's tumble, though it hit one of the Hunters, knocked Fred to the ground. The Hunter then shrugged off the wreckage, and aimed his gun at Fred.

Kelly thought for a quick second, which was for her, due to the Augmentations enhancing all her speeds (Including the speed at which she thought, if she did so quick enough), nearly a full minute. Like an AI, Kelly noted. She had two options. She could fire on the hunter, distract it from Fred, and be shot down by the creatures soon after.

Or she could do the suicidal thing, the thing John would likely do as well. She opened her com, and yelled a single word. "Duck!"

Kelly pushed the throttle of her Banshee to full, and then jumped out, letting the aircraft crash into the hunter targeting Fred. It hit, and showered the thing with metal fragments. The Hunter started to run around in confused circles. Kelly saw a few orange smears on the ground.

She landed right next to Fred, grabbed a Plasma grenade captured earlier, and threw it at the gun of the other Hunter. It lodged in the barrel, and exploded. The gun crackled and slowly melted from the heat.

"Run!" Fred yelled, as he got to his feet. Not that she needed to be told twice. Kelly sprinted between the remaining trees of the forest, hoping to put some distance between the hunters and herself. Kelly headed for the fallback point, knowing that the Covenant had surrounded the mountain. She opened her Com to Fred. "Didn't you see while we were airborne?" Concern started to tighten her voice. "There's about half the entire Covenant assault force just ahead."

"Ground troops? How far?"

"About half a click."

Fred was silent for a moment, likely assessing the situation. "Something's not right. Let's see what they're up to."

Kelly winked her acknowledgement light red. "They're between us and the fallback point." Fred retorted as she did so. "We have to."

Kelly shut off her com for a second, and let out a lot of curses and expletives she had overheard Mendez say once. She looked around to see if the hunters were pursuing. They were, but they were going way too slow. Satisfied that they still had some time, she headed forward again.

Then her Com crackled. "- is Gamma team, Alpha. Come in."

"Gamma, this is Alpha. Go ahead." Fred said.

Kelly couldn't hear much, for there was a lot of static. "Whitcomb... too many. Got- picked up- Do you read?"

"Gamma. The Fallback is hot. Repeat hot! Acknowledge." Fred was practically shouting over the com. But only static responded to him.

"I hope they heard." Fred said to Kelly.

"Red-21 can take care of his team. Don't worry." Kelly told him. "Take a look at this."

she moved forward, and Fred followed. Kelly whistled, satisfied with what she saw. They were seemingly coming up on a Covenant parking lot, for a lot of vehicles were lined up in even rows and columns. Ghosts, Revenants, Specters, Wraiths, Banshees...

and one Type-47A 'Protos' model Scarab tank. These were very powerful, but rarely deployed on ops like this.

"I can't think of a better disguise" she whispered. "than 20 tons of Covenant armor." she started forward, but Fred grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "you sound a lot like Sam when you say things like that. But let's think things through first. There are two possibilities. First, If the Covenant have found our fallback position, we go in guns blazing and carve a way for Delta team to get out."

That made sense. She nodded. "And the other possibility?"

"They don't know that Delta is holed up under the mountain. Then..." Fred hesitated, and Kelly knew what came next. "Then we have to draw them away." Kelly finished before he could. "I was afraid you were going to say that." She gave a heap of dirt a little kick. "But you're right."

then a blip appeared on her motion tracker, headed straight for her. The hunter must have followed them. "Move." Fred whispered.

They crossed the field quickly, and the grunts guarding the vehicles never saw them. Kelly grabbed a good hold of one of the legs, and climbed up until she was on the lower platform that infantry used to repel boarders from the massive tank. She held out a hand for Fred, and after a moment they were both on the large tank. They moved into the interior of the large tank. Kelly noticed that there were a lot of Covenant storage crates inside. There were only two elites inside, with their backs turned to them. Kelly and Fred crept up on them, and Kelly jumped up, kicked at the head of one to topple it, and as she landed, jumped again, this time landing in a crouch on the thing's head. Fred had grabbed both his knives, and used them to both slit it's neck and stab it in the eye. They both knew from experience that a major blood vessel for the brain lay behind it, and it bled to death.

Fred moved to the main console, and started the thing up. Kelly moved to the exit back outside. She hit one of the holographic controls, and a shield appeared, separating them from the outside.

They were now locked in the biggest killing machine in a kilometers. But the Wraiths are definitely a concern.

"You know, If we use the main gun to take out the vehicles here, it's impossible to hide us as the perpetrators. But they can use them against us if we just leave them here."

"I know." Fred said. "So we compromise. I'll move us a bit away, and you take them out with the topside guns."

"Do they angle down far enough for that?"

"One way to find out."

Fred then pressed a few buttons, and they started to move from the main hub of vehicles. Kelly moved to the other console, and hit a few controls to experiment with the controls. They somehow seemed... familiar. Like she had used them her whole life.

"Red-One" Kelly said over the com. "Ready when you are."

"Ready here. Take out the motor pool."

"Affirmative." Kelly said, keeping both the anticipation and glee from her voice. Kelly hit the central hologram, and the guns that were aimed at the motor pool. The shots fired, and after a few seconds the motor pool was an inferno. Fred moved them away from the motor pool.

The Covenant were approaching en masse towards them, but ended up passing them as they were headed for the large plasma fire. Fred steered the monstrosity they controlled towards the Fallback point.

"They think we're on their side." Fred said to her. "They're going to see what attacked them. Let's not show ourselves until we have to."

"Agreed."

They were approaching the entrance. The Covenant had definitely set up camp here, for the hexagonal structures of Elite tents were set up in an area half a kilometer from the entrance. There were shade turrets spread around them to protect them as well. Both the newer orange bubble like versions and the older, purple large-barrel versions.

Kelly magnified one of her displays, and the Front turret zoomed in on one specific area. There were more scarabs set up there as well, seemingly there to dig into the mountain.

"They've found the Caverns." Kelly reported to him. "Looks like they were going to dig them out."

Kelly was puzzled, though, by the fact they were going through all this trouble just to get at Delta team. They had the firepower to just blast down the mountain from orbit. Why?

Or maybe they weren't after Delta-team at all.

She snapped out of her thoughts as Fred keyed his com. "Delta, if you're listening in, we're coming in from south-southeast in a captured Covenant Scarab, 'Protos' type. You'll know which one from Red-two's fireworks. Keep your heads down, and don't waste any ammo on us."

He keyed over to Kelly's personal coms. "Blaze a trail, Red-Two! Take out anything that moves between us and the entrance, and exit this thing as soon as the distance is less than fifty meters! Then head for the entrance ASAP!"

"I'm on it!" she called out, and then she concentrated on clearing the airspace in front of her. Then another acknowledgement light went on. It was Isaac's.

So at least some made it to the CASTLE. Good.

Kelly then fired, and a banshee disappeared into smoke. She fired again, and this time a phantom went down, smoke trailing from it's passenger bay.

But they just kept coming.

Then they reached the fifty meter mark, so Kelly set the systems on auto-control, and ran for the exit, and pressed the hologram that released the shields. She ran through as soon as they lowered, and jumped out. She ran for the entrance, and was pleased to see Will, Spartan-043, providing them covering fire from a Warthog turret. She sprinted to cover behind the Warthog he was firing from, and ducked.

And then remembered something, and jumped back out. Fred was still firing away with the Scarab's main turret. Banshees were swarming over it, the turrets she had set on auto-firing melted from numerous hits.

"Fred, you're now the one imitating Sam." Kelly yelled. "Banshees are swarming over you. Get out."

after half a minute, Fred finally emerged, and sprinted towards the entrance. And the Scarab started to follow him.

"Set it to auto-follow me, so it collides with the entrance and blocks it. It'll delay them as they attempt to follow us." Fred explained as he finally arrived at the entrance,which led into a cave.

Kelly grabbed a rocket-launcher laying ready, and fired at a Wraith taking aim at the scarab, which was close to colliding with the low-roofed entrance. The tank backed off, and Kelly ran towards the back of the cave.

"Get below!" Will said. "We'll cover you."

Kelly saw a shat that led deeper underground, with a steel cable hanging in the center. She grabbed it, and zipped down the shaft into another cave. She cleared away a bit from the Cable as she landed after a few hundred meters, and heard a few thuds soon after. Will and Fred had arrived.

"This way." Will said, and Kelly and Fred followed him. Will moved with a severe limp, and Kelly remembered the spartans here had been assigned at the fallback positions because of the injuries they sustained after their high-altitude jump. Kelly heard a few loud bangs and explosions coming from the shaft, and after a moment it collapsed entirely, locking them in the caverns.

"Lotus anti-tank mines," Will explained. "combined with excavation charges we found a bit back. ONI seemed to have been busy expanding the base further into the mountain, and we decided to make use of the leftover charges."

"Good." Fred answered. "That'll slow our uninvited guests down."

They rounded the corner, and Kelly's mood lifted slightly. Isaac and Vinh sat on either side of the hallway, behind an obstacle course of barricades they had set up. The deployable covers were set up on the floor, the walls and even the ceiling. But a single area in the middle of the hallway was always clear, so targets further down the hallway could always be fired upon. There was a single, large, round door at the end of the hallway. It seemed a lot like a safe door.

"Where's the rest of the team?" Fred asked. "And the marines from charlie company?"

"They didn't make it." Will replied. "We were separated on the way, and their warthog was later found burning. No bodies, but we found a lot of Covenant tracks." Will paused. "No contact since then."

"Any word on Beta team?" Kelly asked.

"Negative." Will said. "How about Gamma?"

"They're out there." Fred replied. "I heard them on the com, but I couldn't make out much. I warned them away from this position."

"Good."

kelly moved to inspect the door. Will moved over to join her. "Palm and Retinal scanner are broken. There's voice access, which we've tried, but there's no response. This door must be a meter thick, so without cutting tools or a lot more of those excavation-grade explosives, we're stuck on this end."

"You spoke to the people on the other side?" she asked.

"Channel's open, but there's been no reply. Everyone on the other side likely bugged out when the Covenant started moving in on the area."

Kelly looked closer at the vault door. Maybe there was another way. "Or maybe you're just not saying anything they want to hear." Kelly then whistled their all-clear tune: Oly Oly Oxen Free. Will nodded. "I didn't think of that."

kelly moved towards the door. She activated the voice control, and whistled the tone. She turned it off again, and waited. After two minutes, Kelly had enough waiting. The Covenant would be closing in on them, and they were sitting ducks in this hallway.

"It was a good Idea." Fred told her. "We'll recon the shaft's remains. Maybe it's not completely collapsed. Will, you-"

Then a thud sounded behind them, like a heavy bar quickly moving sideways. They all turned, and the Vault door started to open. There was a hiss as the seams parted, and the door swung inwards on balanced, silent hinges.

Two figures, silhouetted by bright light from further down the hallway beyond, stood in the doorway.

Kelly's visor compensated, and she recognized them.

One was definitely a Spartan, though he wasn't a Spartan-II. She knew because he was both a bit smaller than her comrades. Nothing much, barely an inch, but it was enough to set them apart. The second way she knew was because she had never seen him before. He wore green armor, had a scout-helmet with a red visor, and had a Sniper Rifle slung across his back. He had a DMR aimed down the hallway behind them.

The other was a small female human. She had graying hair, and had on a gray pleated skirt and a white coat, with her data-pad in one of her hands. Her glasses reflected the light from the hallway. Kelly knew who it was instantly.

It was Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, the creator of the Spartan-II program, their Mjolnir armor all of them wore, and the AI, Cortana, that John was now paired with.

"Oly Oly Oxen Free." Halsey said, with a smile on her face. "All out in the free, we're all free."


The first thing Jun noticed as he opened the door to the tunnels was that Halsey seemed almost... happy. And he hadn't seen the doctor happy before.

After escorting her to CASTLE base, he had helped her initiate Operation: WHITE GLOVE, which was, to put his orders in a more simple term, to make sure no classified data remaining in the base left their hands. He had loaded the Base's AI, Kalmiya, into a data chip, so she could be carried when they needed to leave. But then the Covenant had surrounded the mountain, and their Pelican had been clown up. Jun and Halsey had been scouring through the Base's files in search for a way out, but had found nothing that didn't lead to the Covenant force outside.

And Halsey had run across the Spartan-III files as she'd searched, and asked him endless questions about it.

As far as Jun was aware, she wasn't on the Need-To-Know list for the program, and so he had given her the same story he had told everyone else: He was part of a second class of Spartan-II's, which were trained even after she had been rotated out of the Program.

But Halsey had persisted, and Jun had inadvertently slipped a few small details, like Camp Currahee. She had persisted, and Jun was almost about to give in to her questions.

But then the Spartans had arrived at the rear entrance, and Jun had a moment of reprieve. And he also got to meet a few of Jorge's former teammates.

Halsey had opened the door after one of the Female spartans had given the all-clear signal they had all been taught by Mendez, and Jun and Halsey had opened the gate for them. It was a long procedure, and the Spartans were almost about to leave, when the vault door finally opened.

And Halsey was obviously happy to see the Spartans she had helped train, even if the world was ending right above their heads.

Jun stepped into the tunnel a bit further, and guarded it for them, giving them and the Doctor some privacy. After a minute they all stepped inside, and Jun shut the doors behind them. First he re-shut the vault door, then he re-activated the mine field he had set up in the room beyond. Then he shut the heavy armory-grade doors that the base had installed behind them.

"We have access to Aqua, Scarlet and Lavender Levels." He heard Halsey say as he caught up with the group. "Follow me to the medical wing." she then led them into the concrete hallway that led to the medical-wing. He remembered because he had searched the room for threats, and had gone through this hallway before. "I know the Covenant entered the Epsilon Eridani system at approximately oh-five-hundred hours. ONI Section Three staff evacuated this Facility at oh-fie-thirty hours. I assume you'r not here to let me know it's safe to come out?"

"Yes, Ma'am." One of the Spartans said. Jun saw the number 104 had been added to his chest armor in braille. "I mean, no, Ma'am. It's not safe. The Covenant The Fleet engaged the Covenant in orbit, after the initial army on the Viery territory had been eliminated. But the enemy managed to still deploy some Ground-forces. They attacked us on multiple fronts, attacking the Pillar of Autumn while she was restocking on arms on the surface after returning due to the general recall of all forces, attacking the ground-side generators for the Orbital Defense Platforms at the same time. Most of us were assigned to guard the Generators." The Spartan paused for a moment, and Jun knew what would come next.

"We were not successful in that mission. Covenant forces overwhelmed our position. We fell back here... We thought it would be secure."

"I see." Halsey said. "And what of Captain Keyes? John and Sam?"

"Unknown, Ma'am." the same Spartan replied. He seemed to be the unofficial team leader of this group. "The Master Chief and part of our team attempted to retrieve an unsecured NAV-database from an orbital station before the Covenant got to it. Sam was deployed to escort a previously unknown Spartan team, designate Noble, back to the Autumn. As far as I'm aware, Only he and another Spartan made it."

"Mind if I ask who?" Jun asked, and the others turned to him. He hadn't spoken to them at all, and they likely didn't suspect he would speak at all. It was how all the other soldiers reacted to him. But they were spartans, and the Spartan outranked him at the moment, so Jun afforded him at least some respect.

"I was a part of Noble-team, but I was assigned to escort Doctor Halsey to CASTLE base to ensure nothing would fall into enemy hands." Jun paused, remembering Jorge and Kat. "We haven't had any contact from them since our separation."

The Spartan who had previously spoken nodded. "I didn't catch a name, but I heard she was designated Noble Six from a few sporadic intercepted messages."

So Six was the only other survivor. That Meant Carter and Emile were gone. Jun grimaced, and changed their status on the active duty roster to MIA. He saved the changes and nodded.

"Well," Jun said. "If Six is with them, then they'll both be alright. Six is the Toughest Spartan I've ever seen, even if she's a bit... insane at times. They'll live."

The others nodded, and they continued on. They finally arrived at the medical bay, and Jun prepared some of the equipment Halsey would likely need. He had learned that from Six, who had been their medical expert.

"Doctor Halsey." The same Spartan said. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted." The doctor said. "I don't stand on ceremony, particularly given the circumstances. Speak your mind."

"Ma'am, Something isn't normal about this Covenant invasion. They've won, but they aren't completely. As far as I can determine, They've only guessed glassed the poles and some of the lower altitudes."

"And they had Scarabs in position over this facility to dig it out." another of the Spartans added. Jun noted that in braille, the number 087 had been imprinted onto her armor.

"Combining that with the Elite advanced teams that raided Visegrad Relay, that adds to a mystery." Jun complemented to it. "It warrants an investigation later on, even if we are stuck under a large pile of rocks at the moment."

"Indeed." Halsey said. "They've never shown interest in Humans or Human technologies-" But then Halsey arrived at her office, and a hologram appeared in front of it.

It was a human female, with long black hair, and a pair of glasses. She wore a lab-coat over a black shirt, and wore jeans. It was, however, barefoot. Jun recognized her as Kalmiya.

"Doctor, I am detecting that the Spartans are injured. It would be wise if we treated them first, before going on and investigating why the Covenant investigating this anomaly." She said.

"Yes. You're right."

"I have prepared the Spartans' medical files, and sent runners to fetch stocks of blood plasma and other medical supplies from cold storage. Tools for assistance in the removal of their Mjolnir armor are already present."

Kalmiya gestured, and a door on the side of the wing opened. There were assorted cranes and racks on the other side, with new parts among them as well.

Jun knew his armor was slightly obsolete, for he used the armor supplied b the Reach armories instead of the newer tech supplied from Chi Ceti. It wasn't all that worse from the II's Mjolnir Armor, for they had the same basics. But those of Spartan-II's was more streamlined, and could carry more without impeding body movements. He hoped he would get some newer armor parts as well.

"Very good." Doctor Halsey said. "Continue to track seismic activity overhead. Interface with the Spartan's biomonitors and and patch the output to the display on bay three."

Jun moved the Mjolnir parts to one of the tables, and arrayed the parts.

"Jun." Doctor Halsey said, and he turned around. Halsey had just finished with the first Spartan that had spoken, and was busy with another. There were still three others.

"Get to the armory, and pick up the new weapons we got here for Field-testing last week, as well as some new prototype Mark VI parts. We'll swap them out for their damaged components, and give you some proper Mjolnir, not the Reach knock-offs. Fred and William will help you carry it back here."

Jun nodded, and got moving. Halsey finished up with the second spartan, and he and the first followed Jun.

"This way." He said, and the others followed.


Halsey finished up with Isaac, who had internal contusions and both shoulders dislocated and reinserted incorrectly. It had pinched up the blood vessels. He, along with Vinh, set out to inspect the perimeter Jun had set up. She had confidence Jun could do a proper job, but with the amount of Covenant overhead, at least according to Fred, one couldn't be too careful. Halsey turned her attention to Kelly.

And she was by far off the worst. She had an incredibly low blood pressure, and moderate bleeding in her liver. Christ, her entire right lung had collapsed. It was a miracle she was even alive, much less up and fighting.

But, of course, she had something to fight for, namely the fact that she could live to see Sam and John again.

"Doctor Halsey," Kelly asked. "Where are the others?"

"As I said." Halsey said. "They've evacuated. As I and Jun arrived from an overrun SWORD base, we volunteered to stay behind for Operation: WHITE GLOVE. Lay on the table, please. I'd like to perform some minor repairs."

Kelly complied, and she lay on the table. "In the lower levels of the base, there are a lot of high explosives, and combined with the excavation-grade explosives you undoubtably saw earlier, they will be quite sufficient to level at least the parts of the mountain this base is located in. It'll ensure the Covenant don't get access to our technology."

Halsey removed parts of Kelly's armor, and started treating her, but she already knew Kelly would lose her long. Through the MRI, Halsey could see the tissue slowly turn blue and necrotic brown.

"Her files already are pulled up for Flash-cloning, Doctor." Kalmiya said. Her hologram turned to the Spartan. "You're fine for the moment, Spartan. It's merely we're down here a long time. You've sustained an injury from plasma damage that could be harmful in a few weeks. It would turn into Boren's syndrome if we let it manifest itself for a week."

Halsey nodded in thanks to the AI. Kalmiya had originally been developed to test the infiltration and intrusion subroutines. It had beed debugged, and put into Cortana, and that effectively made Kalmiya Cortana's older sister. Section Three had ordered her to shut Kalmiya down, but Halsey had disobeyed that command for years, for two reasons. One, because she had grown fond of Kalmiya. She was caring and had a sense of humor, she could think on her feet. It reminded Halsey of Cortana, and Halsey intended to give Kalmiya to one of the other Spartans in the near future.

And two: because for some reason, despite being active since May 25 2537, she has never shown any signs of the stages of Rampancy that usually came with a 'Smart' AI. Halsey had been puzzled by it, and had kept her close in order to discover what anomaly had caused it. And Kalmiya had also been upgraded by Halsey, to the point Halsey knew she actually could rival Cortana.

That would lead to an interesting encounter if the two of them ever met in person.

"Doctor, there's an anomaly in the Spartan's medical files. I think you want to see this in private." Kalmiya said.

Halsey nodded, and started to move towards her office, but Kelly got up as well. Halsey returned to her side, and pressed her down. "Rest." she told her.

"No, Ma'am. I'm ready to-"

"Down." Halsey said. She pressed Kelly down again, under no illusion she could best the Spartan in strength. But it reinforced her words. "Doctor's orders. If you need me, I'll be in my office over there."

kelly sighed, but she lay down again. Halsey noted that Kelly still kept her eye on Halsey, even while she lay there. Kalmiya's avatar moved with her into Halsey's office, and closed the window's shutters. Not entirely, merely so Kelly couldn't see into the office and see what Kalmiya was doing.

"Here." Kalmiya said, bringing up a specific file from three months ago. It was a data request into the medical files of all Spartan-II's medical files. "That's Araqiel's code. You know that's never particularly good."

"Araqiel's now Ackerson's watchdog, so no surprise there. Trace the request."

"Done."

"That was fast, even for you Kalmiya."

"Oh, I prepared it while you and Jun fetched Red-team from the entrance."

Kalmiya truly is a gem. Halsey would miss having her around. But she would be more usefull deployed alongside a Spartan.

"Oh." Kalmiya said. "It appears Araqiel's here as well. He's even trying to break into the projector's systems right now. Shall I let him, or just purge him from the systems?"

Halsey thought for a moment. If Araqiel was here, then Ackerson obviously was involved in whatever was in those files. Maybe they could even get some answers out of him.

"Let him 'seize' control. Let's see what he has to say."

"Yes, Doctor."

Kalmiya's avatar winked out, and after a moment... something took her place. It was an elongated skull, had horns, fire-filled eyes and jagged teeth. It was Araqiel, the AI Ackerson had as a personal assistant.

"Civilian consultant 409871." It said in a deep rumble. "Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey."

"Araqiel." Halsey said. "Did your master leave you behind when he was reassigned? And don't you have anything better to do than snooping in the Spartan-II files?"

"Ackerson left me here to ensure no unauthorized personnel would access classified information. Which you are doing right now."

"And who's gonna stop me? You?"

"Yes. While you accessed the medical files of your Spartan-II's, I seized access of the air reclamation systems of the medical wing. You know all of the things I can do."

but then Kalmiya actually got herself into the conversation. Her avatar appeared next to Araqiel. "Oh, so that's what those weak intrusion attempts were. I wondered why they were so weak I barely paid attention to them as I stopped them."

"Kalmiya." Araqiel said. "The obsolete kid of the family. I thought Halsey had deleted you along with the other files of WHITE GLOVE."

"Well, I am obsolete enough that I know the line commands that will effectively delete you, you arrogant waste of programming." Kalmiya then added a button of a console to her avatar's appearance, though not on her body. "How about that?"

Araqiel visibly reeled backwards. "You wouldn't dare!" He started. "I contain vital information, and I-"

"While you and Doctor Halsey had that lovely chat, I copied all of your data from your mainframe. I know everything you know. We actually don't need you here."

"No!" Araqiel begged. "Please!"

"Goodbye, Araqiel. Say hi to Ackerson in hell for me."

Kalmiya's avatar pressed the button, and Araqiel's avatar fragmented into a thousand pieces. He couldn't even scream as he was deleted.

Kalmiya grabbed one of the fragments, and swung it across the office like a pebble across a lake. Halsey looked at her. "You know." Halsey said to her. "I'm glad you aren't a human being. Wouldn't want to come across you while you were on PMS."

Kalmiya laughed. "Me neither. I'm still busy sorting through all the files, but five of them stood out. One's titled S-III, which I'll leave in further detail for the end. Another's a reference to a star system, near Zeta Doradus. The third is called King Under The Mountain, detailing more inscriptions on the rock from Cote d'Azur, and some caves underneath this base showing similar symbols. The fourth is titled 'Legionary armada', but it consists of nothing more but suspected covenant fleet movements. The last one is called, and I quote, 'Graves' Vengeance'. It details a previously unknown insurrectionist group. It had surfaced the first time around 2540, but is untraceable. Though unconfirmed, it is suspected to be led by a Marcus Graves."

Halsey's gut knotted. She recalled that name all to well. He was a navy ensign Halsey had recruited as a pilot to pick up the Spartan-II children back in 2517, because of his ability to keep secrets. But she hadn't accounted for his conscious rebelling against her actions. Though he had defected silently, he had made a lot of inquiries about the Spartan-II's the day before he left. If he was now leading an insurrectionist group...

"Kalmiya, save the other Files for later, proper examination, and open the file Graves' Vengeance."

"Is something wrong, doctor?" Kalmiya genuinely seemed worried for Halsey, and was actually frowning at her.

"Graves was a pilot who picked up the Spartan-II recruits. He had quite a conscious, and was particularly interested in the children."

"and you believe he wants to do the same?" Kalmiya asked?

"If anything, he'll come after me in the future for what I did to them. I'm worried he'll come back to haunt me one day." Halsey paused. "What has ONI got on them?"

Kalmiya looked closer at the files. Then she frowned. "Surprisingly, all ONI has on them is that they sent a message to ONI back in 2540, saying that no matter if it was war or not, the Truth would come out. The man speaking it wasn't visible, but they recognized Graves' voice somewhere in the background, even if it wasn't audible what he said. It was sent to Parangosky's directly, and she had Ackerson investigate it further. He found nothing."

Halsey was surprised for sure. She could say a lot, but Ackerson was one of the best digital trackers ONI had at the moment, at least until Cortana and Kalmiya finally emerged. For him to find nothing, Graves' people had to be among the best.

Or INSIDE ONI.

"Nothing?" she finally asked.

"The message was sent from a one-time-use satellite deployed on the edge of our territory. It sent the message after a three-week timer had elapsed. There were no fingerprints, no traces of DNA, nothing. The satellite itself was custom-built, with no registered manufacturer on it. All it said was 'Hammond Enterprises', and before you asked, I can't find anything about it in our files."

"Like tracing a Ghost." Halsey mused to herself.

"Indeed." Kalmiya said. "Ackerson deduced from the message that the only way to find them was to let them find us, but Parangosky refused to reveal who she suspected they wanted. There have been no attempts to further track it since 2547, which is when Operation: Red Flag took some serious leaps forward in the planning stages, and the funding for equipment of the Spartans took more priority."

Halsey nodded, and was about to say she knew who they wanted, but then the ground shook. And for the ground to shake through all the levels of concrete underneath the base, she knew it was trouble.

"I've recalled the Spartans. The King Under The Mountain File revealed a way out!" Kalmiya called.

Then the office shook very heavily, and Halsey fell to the ground.

The lights went out.


And on these cliffhangers and bombshells, I'm ending the first chapter of First Strike. I will admit, adding Tends to Rise was a last-minute addition, so I'm curious if you guys like him.

Goodbye, fellow Legionairs. Please review, and I'll be sure to improve the story from the review

Gharst Omenlumin