The planet Reach is dying, as massive alien warships descend upon it, purple cruisers with cannons that let out streams of white hot bluish plasma that lash across the surface of the planet, turning the rock and dirt into hot, lifeless glass.
A soldier in a gray suit of power armor drops one knee to the ground, still firing his rifle fiercely at the sleek, predatory aliens known as "Elites" that are slowly cornering him in the swirling, spark-filled dust. A shot of plasma clips the side of his angular helmet, and his visor cracks, obscuring his vision. Without hesitation, he presses the bottom of his helmet and it pops off with a soft hiss, and drops to the ground. He continues to fire at the Elites, and looks off to the left as a massive gray ship begins to take off. A cryo chamber shoots out from a machine in the ground, containing another soldier in dark green power armor. The chamber loads into the ship, and then it blasts off completely, piercing the atmosphere and disappears into the flaming, orange sky.
The gray-armored super soldier sighs. His mission is finally over… the Pillar of Autumn has safely escaped. He continues to fire, killing an Elite. Two more appear from the dust, blasting at him with plasma rifles, another shot hitting him this time in the chest. He lunges at them and kills one with his rifle, blasting through its body with a splash of violet blood. The other drops its plasma weapon, and approaches the soldier with a small, white-hot plasma dagger but he guns it down. An Elite wearing dark red and blue armor lunges at him from behind with a crackling, two pronged plasma sword. He sidesteps and dodges the stab, but another Elite officer in white armor appears and knocks into him with a spiked elbow, sending him sprawling onto his back. He draws a pistol as the sword-wielding Elite draws nearer, pointing the tips of the blade at him.
Today, his helmet still lies there in the dust, shattered. As soon as the Pillar of Autumn had left Reach, he had been ready to die. Now he could meet his brothers and sisters again.