Chapter 1 : The Exile's Return

So here we are. Back for the next act of my ongoing story, Timekeeper : Resolution. Now this act will mainly take place in the Halo universe and feature prominently over the next few chapters. For those who are following from the previous act and are fans of Starcraft, Sarah Kerrigan and James Raynor will pop up here and there, especially during the later chapters. Speaking of which, newcomers can go read Act 1 if you're confused. Just to be safe… Oh, if you have any ideas on the next world for Act 3, please leave me a private message or review to inform me. I'll be sure to take this into consideration. Onto to the show then, shall we?

"Humanity as an entity and as a whole is as mysterious as the stars that dot the universe above us. Incomprehensible, indecipherable and full of surprises…" – Isaac Eisenhower

"No, no, on. Not here. Please… Anywhere but here." Isaac found himself whimpering as he curled up into a ball on the cold, grey, metallic surface. His legs were sprawled across the length of the room and his hands clasped his skull, the situation completely unacceptable and unbearable to comprehend. All Isaac could muster in defense was a weak 'Why?', the word still caught in his throat. Why here? Why did he have to come here of all places? Was there a reason or was he just plain unlucky? The voice in his head chose this inopportune moment to chime in, placing even more stress on his already taxed nervous system.

"We are here? In your home of exile?" the voice echoed curiously in his head, its tone grating like cheese against Isaac's own troubled thoughts.

"Please… not here…" Isaac mumbled, ignoring the voice's question.

"Brother, get a grip on your faculties. This will not do if we're to locate the next piece." At those words, Isaac mentally barricaded every other thought and placed it on hold, the voice of his brother's recent words catching his full attention.

"YOU KNEW?! YOU KNEW!?" he screamed at the ghost of his brother, demanding answers to his cryptic words.

"Is it not the reason why we set our course on this path? To stop them?" it plainly stated.

"Well, I certainly didn't think that those crystals were f $&ing sentient!"

"The crystals are not psychic if that is your main concern. I simply think that fate has brought us here for a reason. That reason being our next step in defeating the White Phoenix and those who they serve." The voice of his brother exasperatedly explained to an inconsolable Isaac who tossed a nearby supply box in a fit of pure rage against the wall, the sound of it smashing into pieces feeling like music to his ears. Angrily, he retorted rudely.

"Well, fate seems to love twisting my arm and ruining my life." His signature dry sarcasm was on full display. Shame no-one could hear it. Well, except his brother's voice.

"What did you expect? We chose to walk down this path and go down the rabbit hole. You thought there was candy and rainbows at the end of all this?"

"No… No… I just…."

"Trust me, Isaac. You're not the only one suffering here."

"You know what I've done. Do you know anyone with the same burdens I carry now?" Silence followed suit. "Yeah, I thought that might be it." Isaac scoffed and turned his gaze towards the room before him. It was yet another grey, lifeless hulk of metal masquerading as a room. Despite that general assessment, Isaac realized upon further inspection that it was a backup cryogenic tank room to the side of a hallway. The air felt chilly and the frosted glass on the cryo tube he had materialized only haunted him with past memories of being dragged past frozen bodies in the facility he had been imprisoned in. Emblazoned proudly on its side were the telltale markings of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC for short. With a hint of disgust, Isaac turned his back on the accursed symbol and took stock of the rest of the room. To his left was a storage locker jammed pack with unknown equipment. To his right was a small vault-like door, no doubt leading into the hallway.

One glance at his own handcannon revealed what he feared. The click that followed his pull on the trigger confirmed it. 'Bone dry. Crap. Guess I'll see what's behind the door…' he pondered. With a heavy heart and a hint of reluctance in motions, he reached out for the handle on the reinforced locker with his bloodied hand, yanking it open with one swift motion. Isaac's eyes scanned its contents. At the base of the locker laid a set of standard UNSC marine armor about his size, equipped with all the bells and whistles of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper or ODST's new line hardware. 'Must be some newbie who got bumped up a notch before all this went down.' It must be said that the room felt eerily quiet. Not a peep echoed from the hallway outside. Considering the possibilities, Isaac finally settled upon a scuttled frigate most likely lost during the war with the insurrectionists or perhaps those unknowns that showed up a week before his capture. Whatever the case, Isaac didn't care. Only thing that mattered was getting off this hunk of metal and deciphering the location of the next shard piece. 'Well, since whoever this belonged to won't need it…' he thought as his left eye glinted with sarcastic aplomb, eyeing the uniform. His hands went to work, dexterously removing the blood-stained overalls from his days on the Hyperion and slipping on the boots and chestplate of the uniform.

A glance in the mirror stuck to the other side of the locker gave a good first impression. At least anyone dumb enough won't think twice about asking questions. Isaac's now red irises turned towards the armament stocked beside the locker wall, not even bothering to act surprised at his eyes. 'No doubt it's my brother's influence.' He figured instantly. To his disappointment, it appeared that firepower was not an issue with this particular trooper. A measly M6H pistol and a handful of M9 hand grenades were available at hand for the disgruntled soldier. 'Not even a damn rifle. Oh, well. Got to make do…' he cursed to himself as he holstered the pistol and the grenades in his belt. Stepping away from the looted container, he pressed his hand against the door and pushed it aside, walking out into a deserted and ruined corridor. One sigh later and Isaac set off with one thought in mind. 'Here we go again.'

A few minutes later and Isaac came across a large connecting room, littered with empty supply crates and torn apart as well. Wires small and large frayed about along the walls of the once great room and gaping holes in the infrastructure was enough to tell Isaac what he needed to know. 'Looks like everything went to shit. Too bad no-one's here to clean it up.' He joked internally. Searching a pile of crates for any valuable items, the voice sprung up again from the recesses of his mind.

"Anything useful?" it spoke quietly as to not distract Isaac from his menial task.

"No. Just some MREs and spare cartridges for the MA5D." he replied. While the voice and him had their differences, Isaac found their conversations pleasant once in a while and helped ease the stress the task ahead had on him.

"Perhaps the bench may prove useful." The voice offered his suggestion.

"Well if I wanted to feed hungry children with bullets loaded with MREs, sure…" he grinned sheepishly as he tossed aside another useless junk item.

"Very funny, brother. Truly hilarious stuff." The voice groaned at the bad joke. Isaac took it in stride.

"Thank you. I'll be here all night."

"Well, we will be if we do not find a way off this space wreckage." The voice ominously warned.

"You don't need to remind me." Isaac reassured the voice. As his hands mechanically rummaged through another supply crate, his ears perked up at the sound of gunfire emanating from nearby. Reacting instinctively, Isaac whipped out his pilfered pistol and trained it at the nearest entryway. The rattle of rifle fire still filled the air and the thud of boots stomping on the floor was ever present but it was getting farther away, the noise finally dying down and leaving Isaac in pitch-black silence.

"We're not alone it seems." The voice dryly commented.

"Yeah! No shit Sherlock!" Isaac rudely retorted at the voice's witty remark.

"Should we seek them out? We may speed things up, so to speak." The voice offered. Isaac vehemently refused, shaking his head back and forth with a steely resolve.

"No. Let's stay away from them as long as possible. They might be hostile and I certainly do not want any mishaps along the way." He explained his reasoning. The voice seemed to accept this and remained silent, leaving Isaac to his ponderings and the miniscule pile of loot he has amassed from the crates. Isaac opted for the stealthy approach, sneaking away from the scene with nary a sound nor a whisper and making his escape to the engine room. As he inched his way closer towards the engine room, the tension in the atmosphere began to flourish and Isaac's eyes swiveled in their sockets, attempting to cover every possible angle. This was further impounded by Isaac's refusal to use the built-in flashlight, on the grounds that it would attract attention. At the same time however, he had to contend with pitch-black darkness at times due to flicker and broken ceiling lights.

Further down the hallway, Isaac caught a glimpse of a viscous material splattered across the wall like jam. It looked oddly similar in texture to human blood yet possessed an oddly purplish shade. Upon further inspection, Isaac's eyes widened in horror as he looked back upon fresh foreign blood of a sickening color sprayed upon the wall, emanating from an alien life form slumped against the wall. The voice ironically 'voiced' his opinion.

"What is that thing?" it queried quizzically.

"I have no idea. It looks…. alien in nature." answered Isaac with a hint of doubt in his tone.

"Is it… dead?" it warily asked, cautious at the threat it might possess.

"Looks like it. Jeez." The word was appropriate indeed. The alien possessed quadruple-like mandibles with rows of sharp teeth serving as their mouth. Its body was covered in alien yet medieval style armor, harkening back to the days of the Crusades. The body armor hid an astonishing muscular torso but from the looks of it failed to halt the barrage of bullets that he had been peppered with. Thick, viscous purplish blue liquid streamed from the bullet holes and congealed into a puddle upon the metal floor. Its arms were equally human-like though the hands with three elongated and engorged finger-like talons were distinct enough to assure that he was staring into the eyes of an actual alien life form. Yet for some reason, it did not enthrall him as he once dreamed of as a child. 'Oh, yeah… That's right. This shit is so much less weird than the stuff I've seen already.' He rolled his eyes at the obvious point. Leaning forward, he bent down to close the alien's eyelids in the hopes of surrendering him to some form of peace.

"Rest in peace, mate…" Isaac quietly whispered as he glanced sideways at the length of the corridor. To no shock from his corner, the battlefield was strewn with the corpses of dead aliens, ranging from short pudgy aliens with a form of gas mask across their face to reptilian-like creatures with flickering energy shields still mounted to their wrists. Begrudgingly, Isaac traipsed forward with caution but not before pilfering a long plasma carbine off one of the dead reptile aliens. 'Sorry, I need this.' He exclaimed loudly in his head as if he expected an answer.

"This is… disturbing, even for me." The voice commented sadly as he witnessed the carnage from Isaac's red irises.

"Who knows? Maybe they're the bad guys or something. Could have been self-defense…" Isaac trailed off, not daring to voice the alternative. The voice felt suitably unhinged at this answer.

"Even so, this is unquestionably messy." The voice hesitated as Isaac's eyes fell upon a puny runt of an alien with half its face peeled right off with clean precision.

"It's not any different from our methods so far… Come on, let's go. I'm a bit sick staying around here." Shouldering the alien weapon in his palms, Isaac took position and crept out of the hallway, leaving the carnage far behind him. It felt like déjà-vu, like his time back home. Not one for reliving the past too often, he set the memory far aside under lock and key before moving forward.

Isaac entered the back room leading to the engine room through the side door, alien rifle in tow. Scanning the room thoroughly, he was pleased to see no hostiles present. 'Great, something went right for once…' thought Isaac to himself as he edged closer to the center console in the middle of the room. The windows were completely closed behind hard-shield shutters, obscuring any view of the situation outside. All was quiet and silent as the veteran lowered his weapon and reached for the console. But before he could lower his finger on any shiny buttons, a voice cried out from behind him.

"Hey, who are you?" the sound commanded with authority. Isaac's stomach churned. 'Ah, crap. Here we go again.' With reluctance, he spun around to meet his assailant, swearing once again to check his flanks before moving in for the kill. One look startled the veteran fighter, though he was quick to mask said astonishment from the person before him. Taking him in stock, Isaac grunted at the sight. It was yet another armored bastard wielding an assault rifle, its business end pointed straight at Isaac's general direction. Unlike James and Sarah however, this guy seemed to have had a more militaristic approach to armor. Not only was the armor suitably robotic and felt like blocks of hardened steels strapped together, it sported a visor so opaque that Isaac wondered how he was able to see. 'Most likely using the Heads Up Display which comes standard for every Tom, Dick and Harry.' Not Isaac. No, sir… His name certainly wasn't Tom, Dick or Harry for that matter. To top off this fetish outfit for the army, it was painted in army green. 'I hate this guy already.' he pondered in his subconscious. The man in the suit spoke drew first blood in the war of talking, so to speak.

"Who are you?" he repeated the order again, expecting this unknown to comply.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… Settle down, man. I'm one of you guys. See?" Isaac pointed a finger towards his uniform, hoping to fool this knucklehead.

"State your name and rank, soldier." The man relented, he himself hoping to suss out the lies from him.

"Private Isaac Eisenhower reporting for duty, sir!" 'Too easy…' went his inner thoughts.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked with a degree of skepticism in his voice. Isaac paused for a moment as he took in the man. Only the number 117 emblazoned in white upon his breastplate allowed Isaac to deduct the man's identity and reminding Isaac of the reason he never wanted to come back here.

"You're… the Spartan, right?" Isaac answered meekly.

"Good, you know. That settles the matter." Spartan designation 117 lowered his rifle and walked forward to take stock of the man before him. The uniform was standard-issue for most marines enlisted in the UNSC but the added attachments allowed him to deduce that at some point, Isaac was whitelisted for ODST training. He had short black hair and a well-rounded face to go along with a fit figure. However, just like James before, the armored Spartan stopped at Isaac's irises. Never before had he seen any person with eyelids his color. Before he could prod any further, the rookie opened his mouth to speak.

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Carry on." The Spartan nodded.

"May I ask what you're doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Me? Isn't this supposed to be the drop-off point, sir?"

"What?"

"Yeah, Command gave the order for all recruits to report to battle-stations. I assumed that it would be a long trip so I took the remaining cryo-tube there was, sir."

"What year do you think this is?"

"2552, sir." Isaac replied, having made a mental note of the date stamped upon the cryo chamber before he left.

"It's been five years."

"I was out that long?" Isaac answered incredulously.

"I…."

"Chief, we've got…. Oh. I see you've found our guest." came a distinct female voice from his armored suit. Isaac put on an air of confusion for his audience as to not arouse suspicion. Deep inside however, he was quaking in his boots. He had met AI in the past so it wasn't an innate fear of them. More rather the fear stems from what happened back then. Pushing it aside, the man in the suit or 'Chief' as he was referred to continued his verbal discussion with the AI in a more hushed tone. Isaac turned away politely, unaware of the nature of their conversation.

"Chief, who is he?" Cortana quizzed John. She had noticed a blip on his radar merely ten minutes ago and had informed her protector of the situation. The results were not what she expected nor was it he expected either.

"He says he's Isaac Eisenhower. Some marine who got bumped up to ODST status a few years back. He still thinks it's 2552."

"Did you inform him of the time gap?"

"Yes, I did."

"It sounds a bit far-fetched. As I recall, no-one should have even been on the Forward Onto Dawn. Hood specifically stated that the ship was completely empty."

"Maybe he didn't know." John shrugged his shoulders.

"That's a lame excuse and we both know it…" She countered, knowing that John agreed with her assessment.

"Look, we need all hands on deck if we want to get out of here." Cortana scoffed and turned her back on John. "I'm not saying we put our trust in him. I'm just advising we keep a close eye on him and see what happens. Alright?" John reasoned. Cortana breathed a huge sigh and turned back to face John.

"If you think it's our best option, Chief." Cortana merely replied. John begrudgingly nodded and turned to face Isaac yet again.

"Sorry about that."

"No sweat, Chief. It happens."

"Yeah… Anyway, I'm John. Though you probably know that already." John plainly stated. Of course he knew him. Everyone worth his salt knew about him. Not that he was complaining.

"Pretty much." Isaac shrugged, content to play along with the charade.

"This is Cortana, my AI. Cortana, this is Isaac Eisenhower." At his words, a blue hologram materialized before his eyes and hovered a good height from the ground. For a virtual construct, she sure seemed almost human-like. She had bluish-black shoulder length hair and matching irises to boot. Her face was quite beautiful and any male counterpart would have a hard time looking away. Her body was itself quite perfect, a masterstroke of binary code and matrices strung together. While it was uncomfortable to look at her body for extended periods of time, Isaac could not mistake the uncanny resemblance. 'No…No…No…' his thoughts uttered yet again as he tried hard to suppress said feelings. 'Not this again.' With great control, Isaac spoke normally as best as he could with a neutral tone.

"Hello. Nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to see someone friendly here." At her words, Isaac was sent near the breaking point. 'She even speaks like her.' the thought haunted his waking minutes. Again, Isaac had to struggle to restrain his emotions, lest he betray himself again.

"Same here…" Isaac finally answered after a lengthy silence.

"You got any gear?" asked John.

"A pistol and some frags but I picked up a carbine from one of them on the way over here. Your handiwork, I presume?" Isaac responded, acting vague in order to wean as much info as possible.

"You saw that? Yeah, those Covenant troops ambushed us. We were just about to open the shutters to get a better view of our situation." John explained to Isaac.

"I'll cover you." He offered.

"You know how to use that thing?" John questioned, pointing a finger at the alien tech in his hands.

"Always a first time for everything…" Isaac trailed off, not wanting to finish his already misguided sentence. John simply shook his head at the green recruit and turned his full attention towards the shutter controls. Or more aptly known as blast shields… As Isaac trained his eyes on the flanks behind him, he pressed the button and let the blast doors peel back slowly.

"The good news is that these Covenant aren't outfitted like standard military. It's possible we just came across a rogue salvage ship." Cortana surmised from their encounters so far. The Grunts weren't carrying their usual methane tanks on their backs but rather using crude gas masks in their place. Jackals wielded less advanced energy shields than their military counterparts and the Elites while still deadly in a fight seemed more feral and wore less armor, revealing more of their flesh and bones. So it was to John and Cortana's surprise when the blast doors fully opened to illuminate light on the strength of the enemy.

"Or we have stumbled upon an entire Covenant fleet…" Cortana gasped out over John's comms. She was not joking. Frigates, carriers and even a ship the size of a conventional dreadnought loomed large and tall in the window. Banshees and Phantoms zoomed around in orbit, surrounding the medium sized room with aplomb.

"Maybe they haven't recognized us." John stated plainly.

"That's one possibility." She answered sarcastically.

"Hey, what's going on….?" Isaac turned around to see the spectacle for himself. Needless to say, their situation was getting way out of hand.

"Landing craft, flanking us!" Cortana yelled into John's comms. John issued the same warning to Isaac just as the windows smashed open to reveal long metallic tubes slinking into the room. Waves upon waves of Covenant troops poured from the tubes and started filling the room, firing off suppressive fire to cover their boarding party. "Enemies incoming!" shouted John over to Isaac. Isaac merely grunted and raised his weapon, ready for a fight. 'Here we go again…'

John let loose the first volley, hammering round after round from his trusty MA5D into the oncoming horde. Several Grunts fell to the barrage, their thick blue blood smeared across the floor. The remaining survivors took cover behind several barriers, protecting them from the weathering assault. Another batch of troops edged around the flank but were met by Isaac Eisenhower standing tall above them at the top of the stairs.

"Hello there." He mocked as he chucked a frag grenade into the midst of their group. The fragmentation grenade exploded with devastating force, launching several Grunts and Jackals flying while debilitating the personal shields of the surviving Elites. Isaac calmly picked them off one by one with well-placed shots from his alien carbine, each one of them gurgling pathetically before slumping over and keeling down. Isaac took cover as another wave of Grunts lead by an Elite entered the fray, spraying scattered plasma shots in his general direction. John meanwhile with the aid of Cortana had successfully mopped up the other side when yet another batch of meat jumped in into the grinder. John complied with their death wish and sprayed suppressing fire into the crowd as he sought purchase on his own patch of metal to hide behind. A well placed overcharged plasma shot landed upon his armor, draining his personal shields and placing him in a precarious situation. Several rounds went by and thinned the crowd but the main body of the invading force rounded on John and closed in for the kill.

Isaac vault-jumped over his cover and returned fire with his pistol, the magnum rounds smashing itself against alien flesh even in the face of a plasma barrage. A Grunt rounded behind the corner and got off a lucky shot, hitting Isaac in the side. While it caused a minor burn wound, it was enough trauma to reopen his old wound. Isaac nearly collapsed in pain as blood poured from the wound and stained the floor behind him. Yet he kept moving, firing wildly into the horde. Lady Luck deigned to smile on him and by some miracle, Isaac came out on top peeking at the carnage before him. However, he had no time to rest on his laurels. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Chief pinned down by a moderate coalition of alien scumbags who were bearing down upon him. Their backs were turned to Isaac, not giving a damn about the other combatant in the room. Without a second thought, Isaac tossed aside his empty carbine and picked up another alien rifle from one of the dead mandible aliens. 'Come on, you bastards. Bring it on.'

John reloaded with grace and speed, waiting for an opportunity to strike. It just so happened that Isaac chose this moment to make his entrance onto the stage. A continuous drum of plasma rifle fire smacked into the Elites, swinging their attention to deal with the immediate threat. A small humming sound signaled the return of his shields and he peeked out of cover and let loose with his own rifle, taking down three Grunts before he clicked empty again. Isaac meanwhile tossed aside the plasma rifle when it overheated and pulled out a sharp serrated knife from his back pocket. He cried out a battle cry and leapt into battle, ignoring the traditional 'Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.' motif. The blade plunged itself deep into the first Elite, drawing a spurt of congealed purple blood and covering Isaac's face with the stuff. Before his companion could do the same, Isaac flung the knife at his temple and the blade struck true, embedding itself into the Elite's temple and sending him sprawling backwards. Just like that, silence followed and all was quiet once more. John peeked out and stepped forward, lightly patting Isaac on the shoulder as he retrieved his knife in a gruesome fashion.

"Thanks, Isaac."

"Don't mention it." Isaac replied, wiping blood off his face.

"Shall we?" John pointed, leading the way.

"After you." Isaac responded. As they made their way towards the door, he made a quick detour and pilfered a pink gun with similar looking needles protruding from its shell. Isaac was about to remove one of them when the voice returned.

"It is not the crystal we seek. It is of a different make." The voice contributed, making Isaac feel slightly disappointed. 'Well, bang goes that pipe dream.' He pondered as he looted as much as possible from his deceased opponents before moving on. As the pain in his side increased, Isaac wrapped a makeshift bandage on the wound in the hopes that it would last long enough to seek actual medical care. Though with the way his luck has been turning out so far, it seemed highly unlikely.

"Move!" John yelled as another plasma ball ejected itself from a weird looking yellow launcher and exploded right where Isaac and John used to be, turning it into green goo. Isaac blindfired as John switched cover positions, attempting to flank the wave of enemies before them. With dexterous hands, he lobbed a sticky plasma grenade across the board and it landed on an Elite's webbed feet. Moments later, the grenade erupted in a hail of blue sending everyone in a 20 feet radius flying into the air, Grunts and Jackals alike. Isaac mopped up the survivors with his needler which he discovered possessed explosive qualities in large quantities as an unfortunate Grunt soon discovered.

"Where the hell are they coming from?!" he yelled back to John as they contended with another wave of death by alien.

"Probably from that cruiser up above!" the suited man yelled back. 'Great, this thing again.' Isaac contemplated. Earlier, Isaac and John were informed by the AI Cortana of a cruiser heading straight for them on an intercept trajectory. Needless to say, both soldiers decided then and there to deal with the threat before it got out of hand. What Isaac didn't look forward to was putting on a bulky suit and heading out into space to launch missiles at the ship. That part he did not like. What made it even worse was they were orbiting a planet of what they called Forerunner origin. Again, needless to say that Isaac's brain skipped that part of the information docket.

"It's dropping troops again!" he yelled as he returned fire. John also returned fire but also made to complete their primary task of launching the HE rockets from their tubes.

"Cover me, I'm going for it!" he yelled back as he slid into cover directly in front of the controls. Isaac begrudgingly acknowledged the order, letting loose a barrage of needles that stuck into several Grunts before expanding the chest cavities with a well placed boom-boom. John flipped the switch as quickly as he could and Cortana spoke happily at their success.

"You did it. Get back!" she warned to John. Stepping back, John saw the missile fly true and tear the orbiting cruiser a new one. Isaac meanwhile mopped up the stragglers and also bore witness to the carnage in the skies above. Just as he thought their troubles were over, a bright orange light shined a scanning beam over Isaac, bringing hints of confusion upon his bruised face.

"Chief…" spoke Cortana as the two of them witnessed the spectacle before them. Without warning, the alien planet opened up and revealed a light blue gravity well which began sucking things into its surface including the assembled Covenant fleet.

"So NOW can we worry about the giant metal planet?" Cortana mused sarcastically. Isaac and John needed no further warnings. With breakneck pace, both men sprinted for the escape pods while John got a brief summary of what would happen if they did not get there in time. Short answer, Nothing good…. As John leaped inside the main body of the ship, the door slammed shut behind him along with Isaac.

"Damn it! Help! Let me in!" he cried as he banged on the door, begging to be let in. Inside, Cortana was arguing with John about their next course of action.

"We need to help him." He plainly stated, his eyes scanning the room for a way to open the door.

"We can't help him. We have to go or we'll both die." Cortana argued, not willing to see John risk his life for nothing.

"We can't leave him."

"We can't save him either! We have to go!" screamed Cortana into his comm channel with a garbled tone, her rampancy slowly invading her speech patterns. With great reluctance, John picked up his rifle and raced off, saying one last prayer for Isaac as he made his way towards the escape pods.

Outside, things were going about as expected. Isaac banged on the door twice, screaming to be let in. No reply. Fuming, Isaac swore loudly and backed away from the door in the hopes of finding another way in. Once again however, Fate decided to deal him another bad hand. At that moment, the planet itself spoke to Isaac as its scanners mused over every aspect of the beleaguered veteran.

"You are the Instigator. The one who defied them. They await your head and we shall deliver." It ominously forewarned. Suddenly, the gravity well increased in force and Isaac felt his feet slip from the floor. Grabbing on to dear life onto a nearby barrier, he tried to fight back against the gravitational force pulling him in. The tips of his fingers sought purchase on as much hard surface as it could onto even as it slowly slipped from his grasp. As he contemplated making another desperate move to stay alive, a dislodged piece of metal came flying at him and he had no way of moving out of his flight plan.

"No…No…No…" he cried to no avail. The metal projectile slammed into him, forcing him to release his grip upon the barrier and sending him flying into the abyss of the gravity well and into an unforeseen future…

FLASHBACK

The year was 2515. The UNSC were fighting a stagnate war between the insurrectionists that according to more popular propaganda, a threat to our very way of life. Tensions amongst the general populace was at an all-time high and the military were desperately seeking a way to combat this menace. Enter Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, age 23. The UNSC's most brilliant mind to date and a strong advocate in human evolution when she wasn't helping the UNSC with special projects. At the time, she had her own idea for a super-soldier program that would benefit mankind greatly in the coming years and keep humanity strong in the face of renewed belief in the theory that they were not alone. In the meantime, she was content in resolving menial tasks by herself. That is until today….

"Hey Dr. Halsey?" spoke a nearby corporal.

"What is it? Can you not see how busy I am today?" she rudely answered, irritated at being disturbed at such a crucial stage in her work.

"It's the new scientist you asked for. He comes highly recommended, ma'am." He replied.

"By whom?" She asked impatiently.

"According to the dossier, a lot of people. Shall I bring him in?"

"Yes, now go away…" she shooed the bemused marine away as she turned her focus back to her work. Moments later, a loud cough from the guard signaled the new arrival. Setting down her notes, she walked towards the man before her and extended her hand to him.

"Welcome to the UNSC's research lab. I'm Catherine Halsey and I'm the chief scientist here. You'll be working directly under me as the dossier recommends. Keep in mind that failure is not tolerated. Here, you follow my instructions to the letter. Is that clear, Mr…." Halsey trailed, waiting for the man before her to introduce himself. One wide grin and a warm handshake later and she received a reply from him.

"The name is Ryan. Ryan Eisenhower at your service, Ms. Halsey." Isaac lied through his gritted teeth, dredging up the name of the brother he once had along with the agonizing memories that followed…

Hello there. This is quite exciting. I decided to entrench Isaac into the lore of the story. If the earlier description in the chapter did not make clear, Isaac existed before the arrival of the Covenant. I have it all planned out in my head right now but I hope to alter some weak bits as I go along. Sorry about the quality of the ending. Wanted to get it out before I watch the VGAs. Wooo! Anyway, Halo fans… Please review, like and favorite this story and leave any suggestions on ideas for future chapters. Until then, see ya….