Disclaimer: If I owned Halo, I would have made it so Halo 5 and the Master Chief edition were for the 360 as well as One. Damn you, Microsoft.

AN: This challenge was written as a birthday request of my good friend and fellow writer Dimension Distorter, whose birthday was on December 16. I had proposed this idea to him a few months ago and he loved it so much, that when I asked him which story or challenge I could do for him he suggested this one. The concept of the challenge goes like this:

Back in Halo 1, when Master Chief first found out the truth of the Halos, what if there was a Jackal sniper in the area who had been tailing MC in hopes of getting a clean shot? Learning that the Covenant was about to commit galactic suicide, the Jackal contacts his shipmistress and this leads to the Kig-Yar (Jackals) to break away from the Covenant first and ally with Humanity, later followed by the Elites and their allies during the events of Halo 2. See, Jackals are one of my favorite aliens in Halo (next to Elites) and I read in the books they were more mercenaries than devotees to the cause, so I figured if they ever heard the truth of the rings they'd easily split off because who'd want to kill themselves for a cause they aren't devoted to?

The way I see it, this would cause the Schism in the Covenant to happen earlier and might turn the tide in Humanities favor sooner.

Here are also several ideas for later in the story that Dimension Distorter has asked the person who adopts it to use: Brutes and Jackals regularly interacting with humans. And I don't mean just on the battle field or war missions, but just in daily day by day routines when they aren't fighting 24/7. There has to be some sorta mediating point for some R&R. Like a Brute and his beefy human best friend having a good old fashioned drink off.

More advanced training camps too. Like how the Brutes can teach Humanity some hand-to-hand combat techniques to deal with certain aliens. The Jackals can do ranged weapons training camps, since those guys are TOO GOOD with Snipers.

Humanity, Brutes and Jackals could also exchange armor or weapons to be more effective fighters on the battle field.

Again, CHALLENGE people! That means, while I won't continue this myself, anyone who has any interest in it can take up this idea for themselves, provided you let me know via PM or Review first of course. Again, big birthday shout out to Dimension Distorter, who not only has written several of my ideas, but has been an all-around awesome friend on this site. Here's looking at you, dude!

Halo's Control Room:

Xec sighed as he rechecked the charge on his plasma pistol for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. Guard duty was so boring! He'd been standing there waiting to see if an enemy would show up for nearly four-freaking-HOURS! And his relief wasn't going to show up for another three! That is, if the lazy bastard Unggoy didn't try to shirk his duty.

Xec was from the species known as the Kig-Yar, or 'Jackals' as the humans called them. As such, he looked like a cross between a bird and a reptile that walked on its hind legs. He wore the light body armor his species was known for, as well as the standard energy shield on his left wrist. Xec stood about an inch taller than the average male of his species, something he took pride in, and that wasn't including the bright plumage the male Kig-Yar were known for. And while he held the rand of a Major, that didn't add up to much in the Covenant, besides getting a slightly stronger shield than the Minors.

Ah, the Covenant. The collection of alien races throughout the galaxy, determined to find the secrets held by the ancient Forerunner species and find a way to transcend into godhood, like the Forerunners allegedly did. There was his species the Kig-Yar, who acted as snipers and marksmen for the Covenant's army. Then there were the Unggoy, or 'Grunts' as the humans called them (Xec still chuckled at that name). The Sangheili, or 'Elites' followed that (or the cocky bastards, as Xec tended to call them behind their backs). There was also the Jiralhanae, the 'Brutes'. The Mgalekgolo, or 'Hunters'. The Huragok, the 'Engineers'. The Yanme'e, the 'Drones'. Finally, there was the San Shyuum, the 'Prophets' and the official heads of the Covenant.

If one was to ask Xec what he thought of the Covenant, he'd say in what would roughly translate as human to 'bullshit.' While not exactly a pillar of the religious community, the Jackal was fairly confident one couldn't reach godhood through the use of machines, otherwise it'd definitely be way easier than the crap the rest of the Covenant pulls. I mean really, if all it took was to activate a stupid ring to become like a god, why in the hell did these fanatics worry about all this grand posturing with their sermons and the like? And it wasn't just Xec who thought this. Most of his fellow Kig-Yar were of similar opinions since they were hatchlings, but they didn't overly advertise this otherwise the other members of the Covenant would mark them as heretics and then they'd face genocide like what the humans are currently going through.

The Jackal spit irritably on the cold metal floor as he watched the holographic ring float serenely above the control panel. Honestly, while it looked impressive and all, after looking at the same image for so long the whole thing just got monotonous. And this was what the Covenant was so hyped up about? Jeeze, he wished things were simpler like back in the days of his ancestors. All they had to worry about was where to find a nicely laden ship to pillage. Kig-Yar were pirates by nature, and they had only really joined the Covenant because it was between that or face extinction. They didn't even really care about what these other species believed, they just preferred living.

That was another thing that bothered Xec. Why didn't they give the option to join for the humans? Xec wasn't stupid, like most people who see Kig-Yar seem to think. He knew the Covenant never even offered the chance to the humans before they started glassing their planets. It's not like Xec cared for the hairless apes, it was just the whole thing just felt fishy to him. That and it was another species that they could have traded with getting destroyed. If nothing else, Jackals never waste an opportunity to make a profit.

Of course, who was he to complain? Just a lowly Kig-Yar Major, which in the eyes of the upper echelon of the Covenant was around the same rank as the Unggoy. That really ruffled his feathers! They dare to compare them to those weak minded little 'Grunts'?! The nerve! Then there was this new threat that was a danger to both humans and Covenant: The Flood. If fighting human warriors and their 'demons' wasn't bad enough, now they had to deal with the freaking undead! Sometimes he'd like to take his blaster, march up to one of the Prophets, and shove –

Xec blinked before he took in a deep breath of air and letting it out slowly. He'd been bored to long; his mind was wondering into dangerous territory. It wasn't his place to question those in charge, even if he didn't like it. All he had to do was wait less than three hours and…

Suddenly, there was a spark of golden light right in the center of the control room's platform, causing Xec to blink. It was when he saw two figures materializing out of the light that he thought two words that roughly translated to: Oh shit.

There, standing not two arm's lengths away from him, stood The Demon! At an intimidating height of 7 feet tall, the Demon easily towered above the Kig-Yar, who now felt quite small. Clad in dark green armor and carrying several weapons the human's seemed to favor, what made the Demon even more intimidating was its face, or lack thereof. The helmet adorning its head had a reflective gold plate covering the face, giving the complete illusion of a faceless killing machine. Now like most of his species, Xec may have a ruthless streak at times but he was by no means suicidal. Instead, the Jackal quickly hid himself in the shadows of the machinery by the door. If the opportunity presented itself, he'd try and take a shot at the Demon but he doubted that would happen if the stories told about the Demon were to be believed.

It was then, though, that Xec noticed the figure that materialized beside the Demon, talking in a chipper tone as it floated along. 'The Oracle?!' Xec thought in bewilderment as he saw the eye-like robot lead the Demon towards the control panel. What in the darkest pits of space was going on?! He'd been told that the Oracle was a being created by the Forerunners before they disappeared, and were the guardians of the ring world. Now as stated before he wasn't as suckered into the mythos of the Forerunner like the other members of the Covenant, yet this still struck him as extremely odd that this mechanical being would converse with a human, the beings the Prophets had said were the enemies of all the Forerunner stood for. Noticing that the two were talking, Xec strained his ears to hear their conversation.

Unlike most members of his species, Xec taught himself the main Earthling language which he'd heard referred to as 'English', in case they Covenant ever changed their mind about the species and decided to go into trade with them. Plus if the opportunity presented itself, he might pick up some juicy intel that would get him in his shipmistress's good books and away from doing mundane tasks like guard duty. Thanks to this, Xec could understand every word the two spoke.

The Oracle was speaking about what he guessed was the Ring and something concerning protocols. The Demon seemed to largely ignore the floating eye-like machine and seemed to be looking around the room as if he was searching for someone or something. When the Demon's masked face passed over Xec's position, the Jackal pressed his back harder against the wall to further blend into the shadows, praying that he wouldn't be spotted. Fortunately, the Demon's focus seemed elsewhere as he continued his scan of the room. The Oracle took notice of the armored being's lack of response and asked him if something was wrong.

"…No, nothing," the Demon said in a voice that sounded both calm yet alert.

A cold sweat dripped down Xec's reptilian neck. 'That was too close,' the Jackal thought as the Demon turned back towards the control panel while the Oracle resumed its cheerful chatter. If the Demon looked just a little harder, there was no doubt in Xec's mind that he'd be dead a thousand times over, if the stories of the super-soldiers were even half true!

The Master Chief reached the control panel and 343 Guilty Spark hovered near him. "My role in this particular endeavor has come to an end. Protocol does not allow units from my classification to perform a task as important as the reunification of the Index with the Core." With that, the Monitor let loose a beam of light that deposited a T-shaped device into the Chief's hand. "That final step is reserved for you, Reclaimer."

Xec was surprised. While not understanding some of the things mentioned between the two, from his standpoint it looked like they were about to activate Halo. This deeply confused the Jackal Major, but shrugged it off for now. 'Let the Demon do the Covenant's dirty work for them,' he decided mentally, 'then I'll take him down and take the credit after it's all said and done. Forget not worrying about boring guard duty anymore, this could be my ticket to getting my own ship!' he finished greedily.

As he thought this, Xec hid his plasma pistol behind his back as he started to charge the shot in order to prevent the glow from giving away his position. The Kig-Yar made sure to move slowly, as he'd heard that certain humans possess motion trackers that alert them of enemy movement. Carefully, Xec then reached up the front of his uniform to retrieve the spare plasma pistol he had hidden on himself in case of emergencies. Most Covenant members were only allowed to carry one gun on their person as well as a couple grenades (the Shangeli, the Jiralhanae, and select Kig-Yar snipers being the exception), but the tricky Jackal decided to sneak an extra one out of the Truth and Reconciliation's armory when no one was looking when he heard of the threats on Halo's surface. It was his personal motto that it was better to risk a reprimand than death when it came to matters such as this. As soon as the Demon finished activating Halo for the Covenant, Xec'd make sure to hit him with a full powered plasma bolt when his guard was down, then pepper him with shots from the second pistol with the Demon's shield down.

But before anything that looked like an activation could occur, there was a flare from the displays on the control panel after the Demon place the Index into a slot on its surface. This was shortly followed by an electronic groan, and even the Oracle seemed confused by this turn of events. "That wasn't supposed to happen," it chirped.

There was a sudden burst of light and suddenly a huge human woman appeared above the control panel. Several things were off about the woman, however. For one, her skin was blue, and lines of what looked like some sort of numbers and letters going up and down her body. Also, her body was see through, like she was some sort of spirit. It was then Xec realized that the woman was one of the human constructs he'd heard about, called AIs by the humans. Covenant troops have standing orders to capture one when they find one, but the humans always remove them from their ships and planets before that becomes possible. And while Kig-Yar weren't known for reading emotions, Xec could tell this construct looked pissed! "Oh really?" she said in a tone dripping with venom.

With a gesture, the eye like AI was sent clattering to the ground. Xec could only watch in bewilderment, which was apparently shared by the Chief. "Cortana-?" he started before the female AI cut him off.

"I spent hours cooped in here watching you toady about helping that…thing get set to slit our throats," she snapped.

Trying to defuse the situation, the Demon said in a placating tone, "Hold on now, he's a friend."

This didn't seem to do much as the holographic woman gained a look of mock surprise and bit out, "Oh, I didn't realize. He's your pal is he? Your chum? Do you have any idea what that bastard almost made you do?"

Now this gained Xec's attention. Was there something the Rings did that would be bad for the humans when it was activated? Straining his sharp ears to the max, he continued to listen while the Chief took on a tone of confusion. He said hesitantly, "Yes. Activate Halo's control defenses and destroy the Flood. Which is why we brought the Index to the Control Center."

Said Index was soon floating in front of Cortana's hand. "You mean this?" she asked rhetorically.

Just then, the Monitor pulled itself up and seemed outraged at the human construct being in Halo's controls. Cortana, in turn, responded by telling the fuming eye to, "Piss off," before integrating the data of the Index into her being. Now Xec was beyond confused and worried about how things seemed to be spiraling out of control. The best he could do now was watch and see how this would play out while holding the vibrating plasma pistol behind him still. The Demon, meanwhile, was still trying to calm the situation by explaining to the female AI about the spread of the Flood.

Cortana just looked at the armored man with an almost pitying look. "You have no idea how this ring works, do you? Why the Forerunners built it?" She then leaned forward with a grim expression on her digital face and said in a dead serious voice, "Halo doesn't kill the Flood, it kills their food. Human, Covenant, whatever. You're all equally edible. The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death. And that is exactly what Halo is designed to do. Wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life. You don't believe me? Ask him," she finished pointing at the Monitor.

Xec's world seemed to stop at that. '…what?' he thought in shock. The Rings, the ones the Covenant had spent centuries looking for, were some sort of doomsday device? Not a holy relic like they said? While Xec didn't believe that it was capable of granting godhood, to hear what it was actually made to do…it gave the Kig-Yar the feeling of an icy pit in his stomach. If the Covenant ever managed to activate the Ring, then he and everyone else would die? He was almost too shocked to hear the rest of the conversation between the Demon and the two constructs. Xec was able to pick up the Oracle basically confirm that Halo's purpose was for a mass extinction, which made the icy feeling spread to the rest of Xec's body. The conversation continued for only a short while, with the armored human refusing to either activate Halo himself or to hand over his construct with the Index in it.

In response, the Oracle seemed to summon a half-dozen other flying machines of a different shape to his side and simply told them to, "Save his head. Dispose of the rest," before teleporting away.

Seeing the Sentinels surround the De…no…the human, Xec made his choice. Whipping up his over charged plasma pistol, the Jackal let the shot fly over the Spartan's head where it hit the Sentinel poised to fire on his unprotected back. This caused the Sentinel to instantly burst into a ball of fire and scrap metal. If the Master Chief was surprised by this turn of events, his masked face didn't show it. instead, he took his automatic weapon and quickly dispatched of the remaining Sentinels, with Xec taking down another two with his spare pistol. Once the floating robots were neutralized, the human and the alien faced each other, weapons raised and ready to fire at the twitch of a finger.

They stood like this for a minute or two before Xec broke the silence by speaking English the best he could. "Your construct. What it said is it true? The Ring, kill us all?" he hissed in a rasping voice.

The Spartan didn't change his position, but the speakers on the outside of his helmet crackled to life and the voice of the female construct spoke. It said, "Yes, it's true. Halo was a weapon built by the Forerunners as a last resort to defeat the Flood by killing its food, Covenant and human alike."

While he already heard it during the conversation between the construct and the Orac…no, that machine! Yet, hearing it confirmed a second time caused bile to run up the back of Xec's throat. Slowly, he lowered his twin pistols and stepped away from the door, opening a path for the Spartan to walk through. Sensing the shock and confusion in the air, Xec rasped, "Go. Stop Ring. Stop Flood. Won't stop you."

Again, the mask hid any emotions the man was feeling, but he nevertheless moved slowly towards the door while keeping his head towards the strange Jackal. When he reached the doorway, the human paused for a moment to stare at Xec, almost as if he was looking into the Kig-Yar's soul, before giving a slight nod of his head and went charging out of the control room. Shutting the door behind the human, Xec leaned against the closed door while taking a shaky breath. Pulling out his communicator, Xec called his shipmistress, Chur'R-Tae. While not a high ranked officer, he was still fairly well known to his leader, and was able to get through her secure line with minimal difficulty.

"Major Xec, what is it you need? This had better be important!" Chur'R-Tae growled in their native tongue over the comlink.

"Trust me, mistress, this is probably the most important news anyone in this war will ever hear," with that he listened to the sounds of human gunfire, the hiss of plasma weapons of both the Covenant and the Sentinels, as well as the gurgled cry of the Flood. Narrowing his eyes, Xec finished saying, "Everything has changed."

AN: Again, CHALLENGE people. That means if you wanna do it, read and review, or PM me!