(Caution! This story contains blood, gore, and STRONG violence. I've tried to keep the book as safe to read as possible, but please BEAR IN MIND Halo is a mature rated game.)

Private Joshua Wilkins awoke.

At first, he thought it was all a dream. Reach, The Pillar of Autumn, the Spartans. He grasped his neck and winced. He still had that bruise.

He looked around. Next to him sat dead soldiers, his fellow squad members. Olson, Jackson, Meduce, Sanchez, Phillips. He grabbed Olson's postcard of Earth. The picture showed the Pacific Ocean. Olson's sister had sent it to him when they were stationed at Reach.

He noticed one person missing: Captain Honsor. The pilot was also absent. If he recalled correctly, the pilot's name was something like Rob. Or Ron, he didn't know.

Joshua climbed out of the lifeboat. Blood splattered the opening. Upon close inspection, Joshua realized some of the blood was blue.

"Captain!" he shouted. Suddenly a hand went over his mouth.

"Silence, son!" Honsor whispered urgently. "You want the whole Covenant hearing you?"

"Sorry, sir." Joshua paused. They stood in the middle of a forest. "What is this place, sir?"

"If I knew that, me and Rick would be out of here. I thought you were dead."

"Rick?"

"The pilot." The captain whistled softly.

"It's clear?" a voice said from the brush.

"Yeah," Honsor replied. "Just Wilkins."

A man stepped out from the brush. He wore the regular pilot's suit. "I thought he didn't make the crash."

"He did." Honsor turned to Joshua. "Private Wilkins, this is Rick Firse. Our pilot."

Rick held a M6C Pistol. He twirled it around his finger as he made the remark, "Not that good of one, if you ask me."

A Banshee swooped overhead. Captain Honsor grabbed Joshua and tossed him into the lifeboat. "Heads down, now!"

They huddled together inside. Joshua shuddered at the thought that he was next to the dead bodies of people who just a week ago he had been training with.

Finally the Banshee passed. Captain Honsor sighed. "Those Covenant-" he stopped. "Watch it. Two Grunts, left side, by the rock."

Rick pointed his pistol at the enemies. "I see them."

Bang! Bang! Two Covenant soldiers fell over dead.

Honsor climbed out of their haven. "Come on, the coast's clear."

They bunkered down next to a large tree. Captain Honsor turned to the others. "Alright, men, this is our LZ. We'll call this point Castle." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Since our equipment is broken, I'll draw it." He took a pen and drew a circle. "This is Castle. That mountain up there is Roast, and that point right here-" he drew a square on the crude map, "-is where I noticed a lot CNI signals before my radar went down. We'll head there, then plan the rest on our feet. Wilkins, salvage what ammo and guns you can and get back here. The CNIs are over that hill. Let's move!"

Joshua scrambled back to the lifeboat. Most of his fellow Marines hadn't carried MA5Bs (assault rifles) with them, so their heavy firepower was weak. Only a few grenades were still usable. The good news was that tons of pistols and pistol ammo littered the floor. Joshua grabbed all he could carry and walked over to the captain.

The Captain grabbed an assault rifle and motioned for Rick to pick up the other. He grabbed one of the fallen Grunt's plasma pistol.

"Take this, private," he said. Joshua took the alien weapon. They started to move when Joshua remembered something.

"Sir!" he whispered. "The tags!"

"Dang it!" Honsor looked back at the lifeboat.

"I'll get them, sir," Rick said.

"Alright. Be careful."

Rick crawled back to the vessel. He had just pulled off Olson's tag when a Banshee swooped in. The Banshee's pilot noticed him and pulled over.

"Rick!" Honsor shouted. "Get out of there!"

"What!" Rick shouted back.

"Get out of-"

The Banshee shot a fuel rod blast at the lifeboat. The vessel, with Rick still inside, flew some eighty feet before its charred remains crashed into the Cliffside.

"Rick!" Joshua jumped out of their hiding place. The captain grabbed him and pulled him back down.

"He's dead, private. Be quiet."

"But Rick-"

"He's dead, Wilkins. Come on, the Banshee's gone."

Honsor slowly walked forward. Joshua remained motionless.

"Come on, Wilkins! The Covenant'll be here to check out the wreckage. We have to get moving. Now."

"But Rick-"

"We have to go! Rick wouldn't want us to die because of him."

Joshua hesitated.

"Now, private!"

Joshua swallowed the acid rising in his throat. "Yes, sir."

They rushed over the hill. The following sight would stay with Joshua for the rest of his life. Dead Marines and Grunts littered the ground everywhere. Red and blue blood splattered everything, from weapons to lifeboats to the very roots of the grass.

Honsor picked up a bloody sniper rifle. "This was a massacre. No cover, no reinforcements." He looked around. "There have to be survivors. But from which side?"

Suddenly a whistle broke the silence. Several bloody Marines got out from behind rocks and trees.

The sergeant walked up to them. "Good day, gentlemen," he said. "I'm Sergeant Reynolds. That's Corporal O'Neil, and Privates Lincoln, Murray and Devone. Looks like you missed the party."

Honsor nodded. "Dang right, sir. I'm Captain Honsor, and this is Private Wilkins. West Crop Squad."

"Any other survivors on your end?"

"No." Honsor pointed to the Warthog. "That 'Hog still serviceable?"

"Unfortunately the Covenant took it out in the battle. But we have plenty of MA5B ammo and frags. We need to get moving." The sergeant turned to the Marines. "Lincoln, Murray, get all the ammo and guns you can carry. O'Neil, take sniper duty. Devone, guard our six." He turned back to Honsor. "Captain, try to get our radio working, and if that piece of crud does work, call for evac. Wilkins." Joshua snapped to attention. "Get all the grenades off those Grunts, but be careful. One loose detonation and the whole field blows."

"Yes, sir," Joshua replied.

He hurried over to the dead bodies. Several minutes later, the Marines had a temporary armory set up in one of the lifeboats. Reynolds pointed to the weapons and said, "Spread it out evenly. Don't overload yourself."

Joshua grabbed an assault rifle, his pistol, and several frags. Once the pile was gone, Reynolds motioned to the horizon. "Let's go."

Bright purple needles flashed through the air. Devone, the only one outside the lifeboat, was covered with the deadly needles. Reynolds slammed the door shut as Devone exploded. The Marines sat down, shocked by the sudden attack. Reynolds turned to Honsor.

"Did you get the radio working?" he asked.

"Sort of. It's mostly static. There's a chance in a thousand someone will hear us."

"That's better then our odds of survival. Try to get through."

Joshua listened as the captain gripped the radio tightly and said, "This is Captain Honsor of West Crop Squad. We need immediate assistance and evac. Any UNSC personnel, please respond!"

They sat in silence as plasma pounded the side of their shelter. Sergeant Reynolds shook his head.

"There's probably no one near us." He grabbed his assault rifle. "We can't just stay here forever. We have to fight."

Joshua picked up his weapons. The others did the same.

"Let's go."

Reynolds slammed open the door. Joshua and Lincoln tossed grenades into the crowd of Grunts and Jackals. Assault rifle fire tore through the air, destroying the Covenant lines. Just when Joshua thought they were winning, a tall, blue-clad alien charged forward. His plasma rifle fire hit O'Neil and sent the Corporal down. The alien rushed right up to the humans. His fist hit Joshua in the shoulder, luckily it was just a glancing blow. Joshua fell to the ground. He saw the alien's foot rise up to smash his face. Then he passed out.

Joshua awoke, gasping for air. Captain Honsor pulled him back into the water. They swam over to a crashed Covenant dropship. Joshua bounced to the surface. The captain popped up next to him, assault rifle at the ready.

Joshua gasped. "What happened?" he asked.

Honsor held up a hand. Plasma fire hit the water next to them. Honsor returned fire. Several Grunts fell down. Blue blood flowed through the river. Another streak of bullets hit the Covenant from behind. An Elite charged at them, sword flaring. Private Lincoln jumped out. His assault rifle tore through the alien's flesh, leaving a gaping hole.

"How's that for holy war?" Lincoln shouted.

Honsor and Lincoln started to leave for the mountain. "Come on, Wilkins!" Honsor yelled over his shoulder. "The Covenant's going to be all over us!"

Joshua headed up the trail with the two Marines. Whenever a Banshee passed overhead, Honsor would hold up a hand and they'd jump into the nearest cover. After about half an hour, the Marines reached a small cave near the mountain's peak.

Joshua turned to Honsor. "Now can you tell me what happened?" he asked.

"That Elite was about to smash your head in," Honsor said. "Sergeant Reynolds jumped it from behind. It pulled out some weird knife and stabbed him. Then I picked up a plasma grenade and stuck it to that-"

"Sir, Banshee!" Lincoln whispered. They ducked. Joshua heard the all-to-familiar sound of the Covenant vessel whooshing above them. After a few minutes, the Banshee left.

"You were saying?" Joshua asked.

"Right. I stuck him, then that Private Murray pulled you out before it went off. I carried you, and Lincoln got the Sergeant. When we were almost out of there, another Covenant patrol ran smack-dab into us. Murray went down, and when we jumped in the water we realized the Sergeant was dead. We used him as a decoy to escape. That's about when you woke up."

"So, where do we stand?"

Honsor sighed. "It's a mess. We carried about a quarter of our arms, but most of them were dropped in the river." He shook his head. "We have two assault rifles, a pistol, one grenade, two first-aid kits, and a broken radio." He pointed at the object next to him.

Joshua leaned back. "So, when do we leave?"

"Leave?" Lincoln asked. He had been slamming MA5B rounds into his belt.

"Yes, leave. The Covenant is going to be searching for us. And we need assistance."

Honsor grabbed a small bag. "See this, Private?" he asked Joshua. "This is all we have. We go out there, and the Covenant decimates us. We stay, and they kill us. We have to hope."

"Hope what?"

Honsor stared at him. "That we get assistance. There has to be more Marines on this…this…this thing." He walked to the mouth of the cave. "Get some sleep, you two. We'll take shifts watching."

Joshua lay down and grimaced. He still had that bruise.

He closed his eyes. After a few minutes, he drifted off to sleep. Try as he could, he couldn't stop seeing Covenant forces killing them all. He grunted and rolled over. It'd all be over by morning.

TO BE CONTINUED…