I now present my fourth official story: The War of the Hearts. And with that, I will not start anymore until one of my current ones is finished.

I own nothing except for my OC Samantha-247. Logan-326 belongs to my beta reader Spartan-626.

And now, without further ado, hope you enjoy.

"Remind me again, why we're doing this."

The Marine's two companions groaned in annoyance as that question was asked for literally the thousandth time, the lone female of the trio responding as they traveled through the corridors of the UNSC Lancaster. "For the last time Ryan, the engine room has been silent since we were pulled out of slipspace. The captain suspects equipment failure, but he wants us to investigate just in case. So shut the hell up!"

"Okay, okay. Geez Liz, no need to be such a bitch."

"Fuck you, man!"

As the two marines began cussing each other out, their companion was trying to get their attention. "Guys."

Getting no response, he tried again. "Guys."

Still getting no response, he tried once more, with great annoyance. "HEY, GUYS!"

This did the trick as Liz turned towards him to respond. "What is it, Matt?!"

"We're here."

True to his word, the trio had arrived at a grayish security door leading to the engine room. The two bickering marines stood there with embarrassed looks as Matt punched the access code into a keypad beside the door. As it opened up, the marines entered to find the familiar blue glow of the slipspace reactor washing over multiple sets of surprisingly intact terminals lining the wall along with the multiple suspension bridges extending throughout the area and encircling the reactor. In fact, they could not find a single indicator of sabotage. The only thing out of the ordinary being the lack of engineers or anyone for that matter. This resulted with the marines growing more and more cautious as they searched the area, Ryan being the first to voice his discomfort. "This is beginning to creep me out."

Matt quickly responded to that statement. "I know, there isn't a single living being in sight."

Liz then added her two cents into the conversation. "Alright, cut the chit-chat and keep searching. I'll notify the captain."

"Hold on! I think I found something!"

The marines quickly converged on Matt's position, and found the strangest creatures they've ever seen.

The little guy's entire body was a pitch black color except for a pair of large yellow eyes that were cartoonishly circular. Its feet were composed of edges that gave the impression of a weird shoe. It also possessed two appendages that extended into menacing three-fingered claws. And as a final addition, two antennas dotted its rounded head. It's attention was directed at the three marines who were busy discussing how to handle the uninvited guest, Ryan being the first to speak. "Unless you guys have any better ideas, I say we just kill that thing and be done with it."

"I agree. The risk in leaving it alone is too great. Especially with the Covenant Remnants rampaging through this corner of the galaxy."

"Hold on a second, Liz. Did you just agree with me?"

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

"Uh-huh, sure."

Just then, Matt decided to speak as he slowly made his way towards it. "Now that I think of it, this little guy's kind cute, in a freaky sort of way." Then as he got close enough, he knelt in front of the creature and spoke once more. "Hey there, little guy. Are you lost? You must be lost."

"Um Matt, can it even understand you?"

"Honestly, Liz, I have no id-"

Before he could finish speaking, the creature plunged its claw into his chest and ripped his heart out without even leaving a mess. The remaining marines just stood there, frozen in shock as it then crushed the still beating heart in its grasp. This resulted in his body dissolving into black mist that formed into an identical copy of the creature. Then more and more of them started appearing everywhere and rushed at the duo, prompting them to raise their assault rifles and opened fire on the horde, downing dozens in the initial barrage but their efforts proved to be futile as they were quickly overwhelmed, soon suffering the same fate as their comrade.

It was in that moment, as the two marines disappeared into black mist, that a portal appeared. And from it, a mysterious being emerged wearing a black robe and a hood that obscured its face. As the portal vanished and more creatures of various forms ranging from armored imps to floating witch-like creatures surrounded it, the figure strode towards where the two marines fell. Then, with a wave of its hand, the leftover mist suddenly merged and formed two identical humanoid figures of pure shadow, each possessed the same yellow soulless eyes and a jet-black rifle of unusual design.

Seeing that his work was complete, the figure spoke with a deep, resonating voice. "Search every corner of the ship. Find the new Keyblade Weilder, and bring him to me alive, and unspoiled. Dispose of anyone that gets in your way."

The two creatures nodded in response and departed from the engine room, the horde of other creatures quickly following. As the last one disappeared through the door, the figure turned around, summoned another portal that it went through, and disappeared himself.

The sound of gunfire reverberated throughout the ship's range as Spartan Logan-326 let loose with a deadly volley of bullets from the assault rifle in his grasp upon the unfortunate targets downrange. He currently wore his black Achilles-Variant MJOLNIR Armor without the helmet, displaying his slightly pale face and short-trimmed brunette hair and beard. After three minutes of target practice, the buzzer sounded, signaling the session's conclusion. With that, he glanced at a nearby panel, and was disappointed with the score presented.

Sure, 93 % accuracy was impressive, but it was not enough. He could not afford any mistakes, not after what happened during the war. That memory caused Logan to place an armored hand on the scar that ran across his right eye and cheek. The memory was still fresh in his mind, when that damn zealot took him from behind as his attention was on a trio of Jackals. When its energy sword pierced his helmet and sliced his face. And finally, when he pinned the bastard down and used his war axe and hacked away until all that was left was scraps of flesh. His trip down memory lane was interrupted by a lone attendant. "Is everything alright, sir?"

Logan turned his attention towards the attendant, a short, stocky man with blond hair, before nodding his head and responding. "Yes, everything's fine. I'm finished here."

With that, he handed the rifle back to the attendant, who accepted it with a nod. "Very well, sir. I shall-"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud explosion rocked the ship, causing the little man to drop the rifle and jump with a shriek, landing in the Spartan's arms bridal style. This elicited a growl of annoyance from the Spartan, to which the attendant gave a nervous chuckle before getting back down and speaking. "Sorry about that, sir."

Before Logan could respond, the sound of gunfire could suddenly be heard through the door. This prompted the Spartan to grab the now fallen rifle and slowly make his way towards the sound. But all of a sudden, the door was blown off, the impact knocking him off his feet. Just then, bullets zipped trhough the opening and ripped through the poor attendants torso, killing him instantly. Due to his Spartan physiology, Logan managed to recover from the impact in time to raise his arm in order to block a set of metal talons, courtesy of an impish creature with soulless yellow eyes, and a disproportionate suit of armor. But the armor could not protect it, as evidenced by how quickly the helmet caved under Logan's fist, though instead of crushing its head, it exploded in a brief burst of light, leaving no remains. While this took him by surprise, he understood that there were bound to be more hostiles, and with that, went to retrieve his gear. His helmet and axe were easy enough to find, the crest of the helmet unmistakable as it sat on the still intact table. The axe on the other hand, was tossed to the floor from the blast, but thankfully still intact.

The gray metal shaft extending for three feet before connecting to a silver axe blade lined with Nordic runes similar to the ones on his armor. As he quickly put on his helmet, enabling the HUD's activation and integration, he quickly grabbed his axe and place it on the back mag-lock. He then proceeded towards the armory, which happened to be right next door, and retrieved a Magnum Pistol and case-less sub-machine gun. Now properly equipped, he brought out his prized possession, a charm in the shape of a wolf's head with Celtic knot patterns, in his pre-battle ritual.

Placing the charm between his index finger and thumb, he then brought it to his forehead and steadied his breathing as he recited his mantra. "Where wolf's ears are, wolf's teeth are near. And where wolf's teeth are, death will soon follow."

With that, he stored the charm once more and glanced at his HUD tracker and discovered three contacts of unknown identification just outside the door. Instantly assuming that they were more of the hostiles, he drew out his axe and charged through the door, his assumptions proving as soon as the door opened, because he tackled another one of the armored creatures and killed it with a single chop to head. Then as he pulled it back out, he launched himself backwards as a ball of blue energy sailed towards his recent position, then covering the area in...ice? "Well that's new."

His confusion was short-lived as another blast hit his left arm, encasing it in ice and drawing his attention towards the perpetrators. They took on the appearance of witches, who were in blue garb, were the size of his arm, and possessed the same pitch-black and soulless yellow eyes as their kin. But instead of dwelling on it, Logan simply broke off the ice and disposed of them with precise shots from the Magnum.

With the present threat dealt with, the Spartan III attempted to establish contact with anyone he could in order to find out what was happening. "This is Logan-326 to any UNSC forces. Please respond."

A burst of static greeted him as a feminine voice responded. "Logan? Thank God you're alive."

"Any idea what's going on Sam?"

"Hell if I know! These fuckers just popped out of nowhere. Tried getting to the armory, but I'm pinned down. Bastards have got long range support."

"What's your location?"

"Section 4, Deck 20."

"Alright, I'm on my way. Just hang in there."

He then cut the comm and proceeded to the specified location. Soon enough, he encountered even more of the creatures, but these were of different variants. Several witch-things of a red-orange and black color scheme swarmed alongside a single creature about the size of a brute, with some sort of red and blue and ridiculously large body. Facing them was a lone marine who was blasting away at the witches with a shotgun while skillfully avoiding their return fire. Literally, they seemed to have an elemental thing going.

The Spartan III quickly drew out an SMG and opened fire on the large creature, but all it seemed to do was gain its attention as the bullets simply bounced off it. Realizing that his attempts were futile, Logan reloaded his SMG, switched it out for his axe, and charged, the Large Body responding in kind. Upon closing the distance, he swung his axe with the intention of carving through its chest, only to have it bounce off and throw the Spartan off balance, leaving him vulnerable to a counterattack that sent him crashing into a wall. But before the Large Body could capitalize on it, several shotgun blasts tore into its back, killing it instantly.

Upon regaining his bearings, Logan directed his attention towards the marine who now stood before him. She possessed short, messy blond hair with light skin, a confident, almost cocky smile, and a figure that would drive quite a few men crazy with desire. But Logan was not one of them, as shown by his calm and short reply. "I appreciate the assistance."

The marine smiled at him before responding. "Aw, it was nothing." She then saluted him before continuing. "Private Leone Wagner, 'Night Raid' Squad, reporting for duty."

Ah, the famous Night Raid. They became well known during the Human-Covenant War for taking on search-and-destroy missions, eventually becoming Lord Hood's go-to choice for assassinations, eliminating several Covenant leaders from military commanders to minor prophets. The squad consisted of the private and several other individuals, which reminded him, "Where's the rest of your unit?"

Leone frown before answering. "I have no idea. The captain ordered us to deal with a problem in the hangar, but we got separated en route."

"Do you know what the situation is over there?"

"All I know is that a big guy has been spotted over there. It could be the source of this attack, so the cap's wanting it dead yesterday."

Just then, gunfire drew the duo's attention to two other creatures taking on a form similar to UNSC marines who opened fire on their position. This prompted the Spartan III to place himself in front of Leone, shielding her from harm as the hail of bullets pinged off his shields. Then, the Spartan brought out the Magnum and emptied the entire clip into the two assailants, killing them. But as they fell to the ground, he heard a small sigh coming from Leone, which drew his attention to the marine who, despite the body armor, pressed her considerable assets into his back with a seductive smirk on her face. "I always wanted a big, strong man to protect me."

Fortunately for Logan, his helmet successfully hid the small blush that formed on his face as he responded. "Now's not the time. We gotta get moving."

"Well then, lead the way hot stuff."

With that, the duo proceeded through the corridors of the ship, soon encountering Logan's long time partner and closest friend, Samantha-247 as they reached the hangar. The navy-blue scout armor was easily recognizable as the female Spartan was thrown through the door and into the wall, creating a large dent, before getting back up. "Damn, that Skurysyn packs a punch." She then turned her attention to the new arrivals. "Logan, about time you showed up."

Logan, in response, brought out his axe and spoke. "What do I need to kill?"

Samantha merely gestured to her left and responded, "See for yourself."

She then dashed off in the same direction, drawing Logan's attention towards the largest creature he'd encountered so far. The beast towered over the area and possessed menacing sets of three claws on each hand. It's body was roughly humanoid in appearance, but its head looked like a Medusa ripoff. Most unnerving was the gaping hole in its chest, taking the shape of a heart, as if the creature was some sort of heartless. Heartless...for some reason the name actually seemed to fit, heart-shaped hole aside.

But now was not the time for speculation, as Leone demonstrated by charging into the fray, shotgun blazing, as the giant summoned another wave of lesser Heartless who threw themselves at the Marines that stood against them.

Logan brought out his axe, and with a deep roar, charged into the horde, soon plunging into their ranks and hacking away. This, combined with the Marines withering fire, provided devastating results as the lesser Heartless started bursting into mist faster than the giant was making them. But, as the Spartan cleaved through another Heartless torso, an unseen force tackled him from behind and brought him to the ground, soon after revealing itself to be another marine-esque Heartless.

Although the attack did not damage his armor, the chaotic noise of battle died out as he felt himself be overcome by rage. This bastard caught him off guard, and it pissed him off to no end. So with a bellow of rage, he swung his left fist, intent on bashing its head in. But instead of hearing a sickening crunch, a bright flash of light greeted his vision, which faded just as quickly to reveal his hand coated in some for of coding. But before he could even register what happened, the coding dispersed to reveal a massive sword. The new weapon took on a crude design similar to a key, with the blade lined with blocky indents on both sides and a black and red handle at the end with twin cross guards that encircled his wrist.

Deciding to test it out, he swung it at a charging Heartless, and cleaved through it with ease. Then, with a shrug, he brought his attention to the giant once more, realizing what needed to be done as it summoned more lesser Heartless. "To defeat the pack, take out the alpha."

As if fate itself was on his side, a lone scorpion tank swiveled its gun towards the massive heartless and fired, the impact of the shot forcing it to its knees. This provided him with the perfect opportunity to strike, so not bothering to question good fortune, he jumped onto a random heartless and used it as a boost to launch himself toward the behemoth. Then, as the chaos continued below him, time slowed to a crawl as he swung the new blade and his axe, aiming at its head. But as the two weapons made contact his surroundings suddenly faded to white.

Well, there you have it. I admit it is not my best work, so if you have any questions, leave a review or PM me.

Once again, I own nothing except my OC.