Author's Notes: This is my first story. No flame reviews please. Flame reviews don't help anyone. Tell me what I need to improve on and what I do well. Thanks

Thoughts will be in italics.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo.

Prologue: Sigma Octanus IV

Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee looked sharply around the bridge. It looked quite clean. Two Major Domo Sangheili stood at the door, guarding it. Two Sangheili Rangers and one Major Domo Sangheili were at bridge controls.

"The Unggoy must have cleaned the bridge", he thought. This was a difficult time for him and his crew. They were losing the battle, and 'Vadamee knew if he failed, the prophets would be most displeased. He and his crew knew that all humans needed to be dead for them to start the Great Journey.

It was quite busy aboard the Seeker of Truth. Many of his crew were working hard to restore the damaged vessel systems. The ship had taken considerable damage from MAC guns the previous day. Two Unggoy minors were in some compartment, trying to fix an on-board computer. 'Vadamee walked over to the two Unggoy. The compartment had taken severe damage. Wires and knobs were broken or severed. He walked back to the front of the vessel and looked at the Major Domo Sangheili.

"What is the status of the fleet?" 'Vadamee asked.

The Major Domo Sangheili turned around, startled. It was clear he had been daydreaming.

"One carrier, and one Corvette were lost, Excellency", he replied, nervous.

He knew that the Supreme Commander would be displeased, however it wasn't his fault. He knew that war had a cost, and if he was to exterminate all humans, some ships would be lost.

"Do not be afraid Major, the humans will pay for what they have done. They may have one this battle, but we, the worthy, will win this war.", 'Vadamee replied. 'Vadamee was confident that this would cheer up his crew. After all, a crew that was down and depressed would not do well in a battle.

The bridge became quiet again; the species of the Covenant were busy at work. Minutes went by without word; the bridge was completely silent, well except for the computers and other machines making humming and hissing noises. 'Vadamee started to think about his family, his friends on Sanghelios. Finally, an Unggoy Minor broke the silence.

"Your Excellency, the repair work on the computer is complete."

"Good work, both of you. You may now go back to your quarters and rest", Vadamee replied, pointing to the door. He looked out the window. The human planet reminded him of home. It looked quite similar. He didn't like killing humans; in fact he got in trouble for questioning why they needed to do so.

"Where are their ships?" 'Vadamee asked. Within a few seconds, a Major Domo Sangheili pulled up a map of where the UNSC fleet was located. The map showed many human frigates, cruisers, and destroyers. There were many, but not too many.

"They are on the other side of the planet", the Major responded. He turned around and looked at 'Vadamee with a concerned look on his face.

'Vadamee clicked his mandibles together for a few moments. He walked around the bridge again.

"Take the fleet there. We will fight until we cannot any longer", 'Vadamee commanded the Major.

'Vadamee gave the order to all ships to follow. Within minutes they were moving to the other side of Sigma Octanus IV. A large amount of human frigates, along with Longswords had come into view.

"All ships fire at will", 'Vadamee ordered. The ship started to fire at multiple human frigates and cruisers.

Within mere seconds MAC guns and plasma torpedoes alike were firing, making the usually silent space much louder. Seraph's and Longsword's engaged each other, and the feeling of death was in the air. The battle raged on for hours, and into the next day. Many ships on both sides were destroyed, however as the hours ticked by, it was looking like the outcome would not be in their favour.

"Supreme Commander, we just lost a destroyer. We are now vastly outnumbered and outgunned", the Major Domo Sangheili exclaimed. The Sangheili looked quite worried and even a little scared. Yet, they all continued to work, monitoring the status of the ship, and more importantly, the fleet.

Before 'Vadamee could respond, the ship was hit hard by a MAC round.

"Supreme Commander, our forces on the planet are sending a distress signal. They are being heavily attacked by human forces. They say they won't last much longer", a Sangheili Ranger stated.

The distress signal suddenly ceased as a huge explosion rocked the planet. It was very bright and appeared to be a very powerful weapon.

"The humans would use nuclear warheads on their own planet?" He thought to himself.

"My brothers, it is time to retreat. The human forces on this planet require a larger fleet to destroy them", 'Vadamee ordered.

The Major Domo Sangheili quickly ordered all ships to retreat. Two large explosions were heard in the distance. Debris from the explosion started to float around space.

"Supreme Commander, we lost two more destroyers", the Ranger said.

One by one the fleet started to retreat back to High Charity. The outcome was not good. Out of the fleet of 24 ships, 'Vadamee counted only five plus his own. He was not pleased. As a Supreme Commander, he had to look after his troops and his ships. Losing 75% of his fleet felt bad.

"How many ships did we lose?" 'Vadamee asked the Sangheili Ranger. He looked at The Ranger. He was bleeding on the head. It appeared that he had been hit with something.

"Supreme Commander, we lost 18 ships including eight destroyers, seven frigates, one corvette and two carriers. Your Excellency, I would like to visit the medical centre for treatment as I cannot function effectively", the Ranger replied.

"Go my brother, but be back as soon as you can", 'Vadamee replied. He knew that a crewman that was injured was no good.

"You, minor, take his place", he pointed to the seat the Ranger was previously sitting in. The Sangheili Minor quickly sat down.

"Supreme Commander, we are being hailed by one of the destroyers", the Major Domo said, looking at 'Vadamee.

"Put it on screen", Vadamee commanded.

The Major Domo Sangheili acknowledged and put the message on the screen.

"Supreme Commander, we have attached a tracker to one of the human ships. It will track where it goes", he said quite coldly.

"Great work, we shall repair our vessels and form a larger fleet at High Charity", 'Vadamee replied. The message ceased and once again the bridge was quiet except for computers and machines.

Spartan B312 walked through an iron door. Office of Naval Intelligence logos were everywhere, and on everything. He started to get tired of the place. Two guards were standing at the door in front of him.

"Do you have your ID sir?" One of the guards asked him. The guard was a tall bald man with facial hair.

Spartan B312 was getting tired of guards asking him for ID. He looked in his right pocket; it wasn't there. He looked in his left pocket; just a map of the base. It wasn't in his shirt pocket either as it was empty. He sighed.

"It's me, Spartan B312", the Spartan said to the guard. He hoped the guard would let him past with incident.

"Sorry Sir, I need to see your identification, no exceptions." The guard paused for a moment.

"It's orders sir. I can't let anyone pass without an ID", the guard finished his speech then glared at the Spartan.

Spartan B312 searched his pockets for his ID. He finally found it in his back pocket.

"What it doing in there?" He sighed as he pulled out his ID. He quickly gave it to the guard, who then scanned on some machine.

"Welcome to The Office of Naval Intelligence Spartan B312", the machine said in some computerized voice. The guard shrugged his shoulders, and urgently gave the ID back to the Spartan.

"Sorry for wasting your time sir", the other guard said quietly.

The Spartan walked through the door into a long hallway. Three doors on the right and four doors on the left were dimly lit by a flickering light in the centre of the room. It had appeared that the room hasn't been used for quite some time as there was a noticeable amount of dust covering the surfaces. This time, no guards were at any of the seven doors.

"This must be the rougher part of the facility", the Spartan thought to himself. He pulled out the map of the base out of his left pocket.

"Ok, if I go through this door and upstairs, I will arrive at her office", he said to himself. When he was alone, he liked to talk to himself. He felt that things could be done easier and better if he took things one step at a time. The Spartan looked at his watch: 14:41.

"Great, I'm going to be late," the Spartan thought sarcastically.

Dr. Halsey hated when Spartans were late. Apparently, she thought that if a Spartan was late coming to see her, he or she would be late in battle. That's what the troopers said anyway. The Spartan knew that he was one of the best, and Halsey could count on him.

He ran up the stairs, being careful not to trip and hurt himself. Humanity needed as many soldiers as they could get, and it would be very disappointing if he was in hospital because of his own actions.

He showed his ID to the pair of guards at the door. This time they were armed with DMR's. One of the guards gave him the "go ahead", and he walked into Halsey's office.

The office was messy with ONI material. The large room was unusually dull. There was a cup of cold coffee in the corner. A large cobweb was behind a desk.

"You're late Spartan", Halsey exclaimed. She was a little annoyed, but kept a neutral face.

"Sorry Ma'am, couldn't find my ID at one of the checkpoints", the Spartan said, looking at her. He hoped she understood. Even though Dr. Halsey was a civilian, she still had considerable power in the UNSC. Halsey had seriously aged since he had last seen her. There were wrinkles all over her face, and her hair was greying.

"It happens to the best of us Spartan, but take a seat. We have much to discuss", she said slightly smiling, happy that they could finally get started.

The Spartan sat down on a leather chair. Halsey took a seat next to him. She drank the cold coffee, while reading the Spartan's file.

"Spartan B312, I have to tell you, this is quite impressive. You took down whole groups of insurrectionists?"

"Yes Ma'am", the Spartan replied. He thought she knew more about him, but apparently not. He stretched his legs out, after all, it was a long walk here and he started to get very bored.

"Great, that is good. Well the real reason you are here is because you are being redeployed."

"To where I wonder... Earth?" The Spartan thought to himself.

"You will be redeployed to NOBLE team. You will replace Thom-293 as NOBLE Six. You will meet your team on July 24. Until then, you will remain at Sword Base. That is all", Halsey said, looking at the new NOBLE Six.

NOBLE Six was relieved. At least he would fight alongside other Spartans. He hated fighting alone. Troopers died easily, and Six found himself to be the only UNSC soldier on the battlefield in no time. ODST's were a little better, but they died too.

"Thank – you ma'am", Six said back to her.

"Good luck Spartan", Halsey replied as Six left the room.

Six walked downstairs and past another hallway to his room. The room was quite large. It looked quite similar to a nice looking 21st century hotel room, only more futuristic. There was a large bed in the corner, next to a pedestal. A bathroom was on the other side of the room. Next to the bathroom, there was a closet holding all his armour.

A UNSC "Dumb AI" suddenly appeared at the pedestal. The AI was in the form of a small male child with long hair. He was tall and wore shorts and a long shirt.

"Hello Spartan, would you request anything?" The AI asked him.

"No thanks, I will probably just be resting for now", he replied, "but I may need something a little later".

"That's alright. If you need me, just call me at any time", the AI said, finishing the conversation between the two.

NOBLE six fell into his bed. It had been a long day. He was nervous that Halsey would say something worse than she had really said. He slowly began to fall asleep, knowing that the next few days would be quite busy as well.

Author's Notes: Well... What did you guys think? Does it need serious work, or is it the best story you have ever read? I hope it is somewhere in the middle...

If they're any errors, please let me know.

If you guys like this I will continue the story.

Once again, don't forget to review!

Word Count: 2,247

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