Halo 3: The Ark

by Gharst Omenlumin

The Prophet of Truth closes in on the Portal and the Ark. The only ones capable of stopping him are the Master Chief and the Arbiter. but they'll need all the help they can get. But will They arrive in time, knowing the determination of Truth, while the Gravemind forms his own plans for the Galaxy? As It tries to torture Cortana, the Master Chief will feel the consequences.

2. Chapter 2

Hello again. I apologize for the delay, but I have two very good reasons: I was busy furthering the outline of my AU, as I only had a few goals for beyond this story, but nothing on how to reach them whatsoever. and two: Darth Malak was a very hard pain in the ass to defeat, as was Darth Nihilus. and Kotor proved too much of a temptation for me. Still, I hope you can forgive me for this.

Rest assured, I'll try to upload again at a faster pace.

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, otherwise the Flood would have been more horrifying and more difficult to defeat, as well as that the level Cortana would have been far more difficult.

Requests: 1. I would still appreciate any review I can get, and it would be very helpful.

2. Also, in relation to this AU, feel free to suggest OC's for later (Followers of Graves, the Legion, or anything you feel is missing). it's not that I'm inspirationless at the moment, but I'm not that stupid that I don't listen to what my readers have to say.

3. As I stated in my first story, Halo: The Flood, I have no Beta readers. If anyone is interested, feel free to message me.

---

Halo 3: The Ark

Chapter 2

---

Wake up, Reclaimer!

John looked around, as he moved through the field. He was in the middle of nowhere, by his definition. All around him he could only see Grasslands, and he was without armor or weapons. In fact, all he wore were some odd civilian clothes: A white hoodie and Black leather jacket, finished with chin-high boots and jeans. Not to mention a ridiculously large hat. Also, the sky of the planet he was on was, for once, devoid of any kind of ship, Covenant or UNSC.
And yet, despite all of this, he felt happy. At peace.

Reclaimer! Wake up now!

He saw a figure in the distance, and he started walking towards it. It seemed quite a bit distant, but he could do nothing else at the moment. As he sprinted towards it, he noticed it was not one figure, but in fact a row of them, spreading further and further as he approached. After a minute of running, he finally got to the first one, and held his breath.

It were his fellow Spartans, both living and dead. Crippled and fit for duty. All were in civilian clothes. Allison, James, Solomon, Arthur, Daisy, Soren, Serin, Randall... the list of friends he saw went on and on. He approached one of those that had died, Keichii.

"Kei?" he asked, referring to his fellow Spartan by his nickname. "How are you here?"

Kei didn't react. In fact, he didn't move at all. Like John wasn't even there.

He took another look at his fellow Spartans. All ignored him, looking straight ahead.

Are you still alive, reclaimer?

As one, all Spartans turned to look at him. Then, as one, they changed in appearance, and all wore armor. They all got a variety of weapons, of all manufacturers. From Assault Rifles to Energy Swords. From Plasma Pistols to Spartan Lasers. From Sentinel Beams to Brute shots.

And all raised the weapons to aim them at him. John raised his fists in a combat stance, but he knew it was an exercise in futility: He would be dead before he made two steps.

Then, they changed again. And John, despite realizing it was an odd hallucination, was horrified.

They all either disappeared, were blown away, or got a new hole in their heads. Whatever fate had awaited them in real life, he got to see again. Allison was burned alive, mirroring the exploding Warehouse she'd died in. James clutched his throat, choking in a seeming Vacuum. Serin and Soren mutated horribly, as a result of failed augmentations. Daisy got shot in the back, impaled by Needler rounds, her armor stripped from her. It just went on and on.

Until it got to the living.

Will was split in two by a Hunter's shield, and his halves fell away. Linda was stabbed in the back by an Energy Sword, which came back out her chest. Fred's throat was cut, and he fell onto the ground. Then Sam disappeared, likely in an explosion that vaporized the very atoms he was composed off. Kelly, to his shock, was run over by something, and her legs were crushed, and her neck broken.

John wanted to cry out in rage. He wanted to run over and help his teammates. He wanted to shoot whatever was assaulting his brothers and sisters. Anything that would help. But he couldn't. He was frozen on the spot, immobilized.

The landscape changed, and the grasslands turned into a molten wasteland of fire and ash, molten lava all around him, consuming the corpses of those that had fallen.

Reclaimer, I know you are alive! Respond!

Then, the landscape morphed. Into a odd wasteland, filled with decay and death. The ground he stood on turned from solid and ungiving to slightly bumpy and soft. Almost like...

like landing on a corpse.

He looked down. Below, the ground was the color of rotting flesh and decaying bodies.

Like the Flood.

In front of him, the ground rose, and changed shape.

Until it had formed the Gravemind, only much larger than back when it was still below the Library. It laughed a maniacal laughter, spitting out Flood Spores and Infection Forms as it did.

Then, it all disappeared, until there was only a bright blue light, round in shape.

Round in shape...

Those words...

That voice...

John opened his eyes. For real this time. Above him, practically floating in his face, was 343 Guilty Spark. For the first time in his life, John was glad the first thing he saw was a Monitor.

"I'm awake." he said, as he forced the nightmare to the back of his mind for later contemplation, when he actually could afford to think about it. "Don't write up my eulogy just yet."

Someone out of his view chuckled, a woman by the sound of it. John got to his feet, and the Monitor took some distance.

They had landed in the Garage, after their fall from the shaft. There were three Elites in sight, a Human woman in a combat suit, and two Marines. He recognized one of them as Reynolds. The Marines were arguing.

"-to Voi, we can join the main assault." Reynolds said. "It's where Keyes told us to go anyway."

"Sarge, have you seen how many Ships are above that place right now?" the other said. "We need to get out of here right now. It's suicide to go in there."

"Then I'll buy you a nice Coffin. But we're going in there, period! Besides, do you really want to argue with the Chief?"

The second, only now noticing the Chief had gotten up, stood at attention, and saluted. He also shut up, not willing to argue with the Master Chief. John walked over. "Reynolds, report."

Reynolds nodded, and he grabbed his datapad. "We got separated from the main group during the evacuation, and made our way to the lower level Garage instead. We intercepted a message sent to you by Keyes, telling us to head for Voi, a town not far from here. Burks here is protesting because the air is thick with Loyalist Phantoms and Banshees."

The Master Chief nodded. "Understandable. But we must continue on. If we don't get to Voi, we might not be able to take out the AA guns. The order stands: We make our way to the city, and await Keyes' orders."

Reynolds and 'Burks' saluted, though the latter did so hesitantly. "Yes Sir." Both men said.

Satisfied both men would follow him, he turned around. The Elites, along with the woman, were helping the Arbiter up. The Elite seemed to be unhurt by the fall, although he was still a bit dizzy, as he wobbled a bit as he stood. John walked over, and picked up the Carbine the Elite had dropped.

"You lost this."

The Arbiter, upon seeing him and the weapon he held out, gladly took it over. Then, he turned around, taking the others in. "So what is our next move?" he asked.

"Keyes send a message, told us to head for Voi. Likely for the plan discussed earlier. We head over there, and await further instructions."

The Arbiter nodded, as he reloaded the Carbine. "Then why are we still here?"

John took the hint, and headed for the nearest, and apparently only functional Warthog. It was, unfortunately, the troop transport variant, so their personal arms would be the only weapons they would have at their disposal.

John took the wheel, and the Arbiter took the side seat. The others all piled into the back, the woman last. John drove out of the garage, smashing the gates, weakened by the base explosion.

Outside, he met barely any resistance at all. Odd. He had expected that the Brutes would be all over them once they got out, or at least a token guard at one of the exits to the base. But there was no one.

A moment later, he saw why. A Corvette flew overhead at high speed, followed on its heels by a Charon-class Frigate. The Frigate was firing away at the Corvette, which was heavily damaged. After a few seconds, a MAC round gutted it, and it crashed, the pieces landing in the savannah up ahead. Evidently, they were underneath the ground zero of the Covenant Vanguard over the Portal. In the distance, John could make out over a dozen more wrecks, over two third of which of Covenant design. Apparently, the Brutes were taking damage. And the Brutes, not eager to be below the area where the ships might crash, had stayed clear. Keyes, exploiting the Brutes' absence, had occupied the base and hidden in said area. No wonder she had remained hidden for as long as she did.

"Reynolds, try the Commander again." he ordered. Reynolds complied, as he saw from the rear view mirror, and hit his com, starting to call out.

He turned to the Arbiter. "So. What convinced you?" he asked.

The Arbiter looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"What convinced you you should side with us Humans?" he repeated. "It's quite a distance to Voi, and we need to fill the time." he sighed. "So, I ask again: What convinced you?"

"Not one used to small talk, huh?" the Arbiter asked. "Very well. It was the Ora- the Monitor." the Arbiter corrected himself. "He said Humanity had an odd role in Forerunner, being treasured by a select few and hunted by others. This, combined with Fol's words on the planet Reach, convinced me, along with a lot of other Sangheili, it would be prudent to side with Humanity."

John nodded, satisfied with that answer. "Alright. But what of the other species, like the Grunts and Hunters. Why did they defect?"

"During the original explorative missions made by Prophets and Elites, we came across the Hunters, and the Elites were the ones who tamed them. The Hunters remember this to this day, and they all, always, remain loyal to the Elites."

"All of them?" John asked skeptically.

"There are a few... mentally challenged ones who won't side with us." the Arbiter admitted after a moment. "But they number in only the dozens, compared to the millions loyal to the Elites. They're trivial in the matter of the species itself."

"Fair enough." John admitted. "And the other species of the Covenant?"

"The Grunts appreciate us more," the Arbiter continued. "As the Brutes treat them as little more than cannon fodder. Granted, we did so as well for a long time, but we give them better equipment, more refined and improved Methane, less dangerous assignments. The Grunts decided we were the lesser of two evils, and sided with us."

"And the Engineers?"

"They follow anyone who doesn't damage Forerunner Technology. The Prophets happened to be tampering with it, and the Huragok didn't like it. And, since they saw Humans treated said tech better, discounting the Halo Array, they followed us in siding with Humanity."

"And why did the Jackals and Drones not side with you?" John asked, more out of boredom as they drove across the boring savannah, rather than genuine interest. Until Reynolds could reach Keyes, they were in the dark beyond their objective to get to Voi. "I get why the Brutes follow Truth, wanting to replace the Elite's role as the Prophet's guardians and loyal servants, but the others I don't get."

"The Jackals, for all their skills as Snipers and Scouts, are greedy pirates, nothing more." the woman said, joining in on the conversation from the back of the truck. "The Prophets pay them, and they follow their orders. Simple as that. As for the Drones, they are, more or less, unwilling slaves." John glanced back in the mirror, surprised at the woman's knowledge on Covenant species and the political situation. He looked at her nametag, and was surprised to see it was the same woman from the base that could speak the Elite language, O. Vale.

"They are hiveminded, and they listen to their Queens. And the Prophets happen to hold the Queens hostage."

"And so, out of fear of endangering their queen, they are forced to follow Truth's orders." John said, catching on. "Makes sense. When you lose half your armies, you need insurance the other half remains loyal, willingly or otherwise."

"You're right." the Arbiter asked. "But I have a question for you. Why do you tolerate me and my kin, when we have spent so many years exterminating you? On top of that, why do you even tolerate Fol, when he has killed so many of your fellow Spartans?"

John shrugged. He didn't have an immediate answer to the first question. After a moment of contemplation, he said "On that second part, he saved my life multiple times, both on Halo and afterwards. He fought alongside us when he had no incentive to do so. He earned my respect." he paused. "The rest of your kind hasn't. Make no mistake: two and a half decades of genocide against us is not forgotten or forgiven overnight. But you have proven you're willing to side against us, even if it's because you had no one else to turn to. The others accepted you. Therefore, I do so as well."

"But you were the one who spread that propaganda on High-Charity." the Arbiter retorted. "Why did you, given your obvious hatred of me and my kind?"

John shrugged. "I was on my own on a Space Station filled with millions of troops in civil war. I needed to even the odds a bit. This was the only option that came to mind that didn't involve blowing up the station."

The Arbiter opened his mouth to say something, but John didn't let him finish. "Besides, I had heard from Fol, back when I still knew where he was, that your 'Great Schism' would break out soon. I hoped, given what I overheard from a few Grunts on Cairo station, that I could turn the tide of this war back in humanity's favor. Not for your Elites, not for your faith or Honor. Purely for my own kind."

The Arbiter thought about that for a moment. "A very frank and harsh statement. But I suppose, given what has happened over the years and to what desperations we drove you, it would only be logical. But if I had to ask. After the war, what would you do if our species crossed paths again?"

John hadn't thought that far ahead. But he already knew his answer. "I would try to avoid doing so as long as possible. And if we did, I would only attack if provoked. I'm a simple man: If I get shot at, I shoot back."

Vale chuckled. "In the aftermath of this new development, with the Great Schism and all, I don't think the world will be as black-and-white as that anymore."

John wanted to ask more, but Reynolds interrupted.

"Still can't get the commander, Chief. Coms are a mess, and from what I hear, the pelicans are scattered. Best thing now, is to continue putting distance between us and the base. Brutes will start looking for survivors soon."

John nodded, as he managed to find a road. He drove onto it, and followed it onto Tsavo Highway. Above his head was a sign, saying Voi was only about a mile away now.

Then, their peace was disturbed, as they intercepted a distress call.

"I repeat: our convoy's been hit." Stacker said. "I've got wou-" static interrupted the last part of the sentence, but John could guess that Stacker was pinned with some of the wounded.

"I'm on Tsavo Highway about a- east of Voi. Someone, anyone, please respond!"

"Stacker, this is Reynolds. I've got the Chief and the Arbiter here, as well as the Monitor. We're on our way."

"Reynolds! Sure glad to hear your voice, you bastard!" Stacker all but yelled. "Be careful: Brute Choppers are close to our position, and you might run into them."

"Understood, Reclaimer." the Monitor said. "Rest assured, we will exercise caution when we approach you."

John, however, saw they were about to arrive: He could see smoke ahead, as well as a downed pelican.

Then, as he drove up a slight incline, a Brute Chopper sped over them, obviously having tried to ram them but missing the mark. John immediately sped on. Brute Choppers were dangerous, and could wreck his Warthog.

He stopped at an off-ramp, and hid it underneath. He got out, and the others did so as well. Vale picked up an older issue Assault Rifle last seen on Reach, and aimed it above. The others followed suit with their own weapons. John turned to the Monitor. "Spark, your beam melted the main Control Panel back at Halo's Control Room. Think you can take on a Chopper, keep them off our backs?"

"I will most certainly try, Reclaimer. However, the odd vehicles the Brutes use have quite a velocity, faster than I can easily track."

"Just try to keep them busy." John ordered, as he eyed the Brute Choppers as they jumped off the highway. "We need to take them out, and I'm starting to form a plan."

"Care to let us in?" Burks asked.

John shook his head. "I'm not that far yet." still, he walked on, towards one of the Choppers. It spotted him, and turned for a ramming burst, trying to splatter the Chief on its hood. John, however, merely stood his ground. The Brute sped towards him, eager for the kill. The others, including the Arbiter, looked on in incredulity.

At the last moment, John jumped up, and boarded it. He nimbly climbed to the rear, where the driver was, and kicked him out, landing in the seat himself. He immediately turned it around, and fired the Chopper's guns at the Brute, who was just getting up. The rounds quickly tore through the armor, and the flesh of the Brute itself. It was ripped to pieces, with even the arms and intestines flinging away from the shots.

The Monitor, as John could see and appreciate, was doing his job admirably: He had already killed the driver of another Chopper, and was wearing down the wheel of a third with his beam. Soon, the Wheel shot loose, and the Chopper, unbalanced, accidentally sped into a support column for the Highway overhead. John drove to the others, and stopped in front of them. He got out, and pointed at the Arbiter, then back at the Chopper. "Get in, and help Spark. Reynolds, Vale: Get the others to Stacker, and help them out. You two." he pointed at the Elites. "Follow me."

The Elites, though still getting over the fact John survived a near-collision with a Chopper, nodded, and raised their weapons, a Concussion Rifle and a Carbine respectively. The Carbine one, seeing it was the least well-equipped to take on the Choppers, made his way to the unmanned one. Spark, meanwhile, was still firing his beam at a Chopper, and the seat tore from the engine and wheelbase. The Wheels continued on and rammed another Chopper, while the seat area skidded and rolled, before coming to a stop at the trunk of a tree.

"Reclaimer, I've managed to slice into the central operating system of the Portal, and retrieved the most recent status report." Spark alerted them. "The Meddler has uncovered 83,4% of its surface, and will be completely excavated within the hour."

"Can you stop him from delaying it?" John asked, as he fired at the Driver of the second-last Chopper, as the Arbiter rammed the last one. The Concussion Rifle Elite toppled it, and John finished it off by firing at the Brute's head.

"Negative, Reclaimer. I can delay it, however, and will do so once the Excavation's completed. That will buy you the time you'll need to destroy the Meddler's Keyship."

"Do it. Buy us all the time you can." John ordered, as he and the others made their way to the Warthog. He and the others got on, and they drove up the ramp. They were greeted by Stacker, Reynolds and Vale, along with ten others, five grunts and five humans.
"Glad to see you, Chief." Stacker said. "We split up from the Commander after we needed to rearrange the passengers due to overweight. We were headed for Voi. Will you accompany us?"

John nodded, as he stopped in front of them. Stacker and the others got on, as well as another transport warthog that had survived the crash of the pelican. They drove on, and followed the highway to the city. The rest of the drive, until they got to the city, was uneventful, apart from the fact they picked up a small convoy of friendly Revenants, Ghosts, Specters and Mongooses.

John hoped the rest of the assault would go as good as this.

---

Covenant Separatist Faction SuperCarrier True Commitment, Earth Orbit.

Supreme Commander Naitol'ee sighed, as he eyed the Covenant fleet surrounding the portal, which was coming closer and closer to being fully excavated. They still had no contact with either the Master Chief or the Arbiter, though they had managed to reestablish contact with Commander Keyes, who was rallying all her troops at Voi to complete her part of the plan.

He needed to find a way to penetrate the defenses the Covenant had put in place around the Portal, and while the initial plan Keyes and he had cocked up might work, it would take too long. Satellite imaging showed the Portal was nearly fully uncovered, and soon, the blasphemous betrayer Truth would activate it, and gain access to the Ark, where he could activate every Halo Ring in the galaxy. His forces were slightly out numbered by Truth's, even with the aid of the humans. He needed to do something now, or-

"Sire, me detecting Multiple Slipspace ruptures in low orbit, in middle of Brute Fleet." the Sensor officer reported.

"How many?" Naitol'ee asked.

The Unggoy in question looked it over. "This not make sense. Me seeing hundreds of ruptures."

Naitol'ee looked it over. Indeed, they were numbered in over three hundred ships. Soon, they all appeared: Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers... blast, this was an entire formation of Battlegroups, even accompanied by a couple of SuperCarriers. No ship, Elite- or Brute-aligned, opened fire, astonished at the large quantity of it all.

But the last one to emerge surprised him most of all. It was a human Marathon-class heavy Cruiser. It was heavily modified with Covenant tech, including multiple Plasma Cannons and a Ventral Energy Projector. But its origin was human none the less. On the side, the human name of Great Lance was written on the side.

"Sire, the Human Flagship in the middle's trying to reach us on the coms." the Sangheili com officer said.

"Accept, and put it on the main screen. Oh, and fleetwide too. Hood and 'Utaralee will want to see this." The com officer nodded at the order, and performed his task. After a moment, the hologram activated.

It was a Sangheili female, of all beings. She wore heavily modified Field-Marshal armor, and wore an Energy Sword and a Plasma Repeater on her back. But it was a female. Naitol'ee was surprised. Sangheili woman rarely were allowed to perform in the military, and only if they were so greatly skilled even the Hierarchs could not ignore it.

Unless...

"This is Nera Katarn, Commander of the Sang'Katarn Fleets." the woman introduced herself. "I heard the Brutes were around here, and the new Kaidon wants them gone."

Immediately upon finishing that sentence, the Sang'Katarn ships opened fire, ripping through the Brute lines, and opening up a hole in the fleet in orbit. One ship, the human-built one, maneuvered over the city Keyes intended to clear, and where they were supposed to clear out the Anti-Air defenses. It deployed multiple drop pods, and multiple Drop ships could be seen leaving its hangar bays.

"I request that you mop up those we leave behind," the Katarn said. "so that we can damage that portal beyond activation, and wipe out Truth's ugly hide."

Naitol'ee, as he observed, couldn't help but smile. Her ships, even if they didn't outnumber those of the Brutes regardless whether the Elites would intervene, were in the ideal position to rip the hostile fleet of Truth apart, while only suffering minimal losses themselves. On top of that, it was commonly known that the Sang'Katarn had access to superior technology, not shying away from adapting anything they find. Also, given her exit coordinates and how quickly she tore through the Brute lines, this 'Commander' seemed to be more than competent.

She was brilliant.

"Gladly." he said. "I'll even add a bit of juice to the Colo meat. All ships, I hereby relegate the role of commander of our fleets to Nera Katarn. Follow her commands as if they were my own. Wipe the Brutes from the face of this planet!"

All across both their own and the human battlenet, he got acknowledgements all around, and all were willing to follow the woman who was tearing the Brutes apart.

They might win after all.

---

Voi city gates, Kenya, East-Africa, Earth.

John was about to walk into the city, after getting supplies from Johnson and Keyes, who had already arrived at a small toll gate just outside of Voi and set up a Forward Operating Base there. He was agitated: Spark had told him that the Portal was nearly fully uncovered, and enough to activate it. He was delaying the deactivation the Portal right now, but they didn't have much time.

"Incoming!" Wilson called. Upon arriving at the F.O.B, he had replaced Vale, as ONI needed her elsewhere, instead of the middle of the battlefield. Now, he pointed up, as multiple blue, purple and black missiles struck ground around the city. John, the Arbiter and the others who accompanied them all moved to cover, as a trio made their way to their position. All pods went too fast for the Brute Artillery to track, and they all landed without trouble. The trio of pods landed in front of them. And that was when John saw they weren't missiles.

They were drop pods.

The hatch of the closest one blew out, and a golden Zealot jumped out, an Orange Energy Sword in his hands. All non-humans got expressions of shock, even the Arbiter. Most mumbled something indicating of shock.

"It can't be."

"I thought he was held back on Sang'Katarn."

"What?"

John stepped forward, and held his Assault Rifle ready. "Identify yourself." he ordered.

The Zealot turned to him, and stood straighter upon seeing him. "Zealot T'kan Ghan. Raptor of Sang'Katarn. As Humans say, the Cavalry's arrived."

Indeed, multiple aircraft came closer to the city, and started attacking all the AA Wraiths in sight, staying away from the Tyrant and Mantis guns deployed in the old harbors. Also, The dropships coming in deployed vehicles for use in the city, along with, to John's surprise, human vehicles as well. Pelicans flew overhead, deploying Wraiths at the harbor. Phantoms dropped Warthogs and Scorpion tanks.

"Lets get moving, then." John said, to break the pause. "Truth isn't gonna stop himself."

The Zealot, holding his blade a bit higher, smirked. "I will gladly fight alongside the Master Chief."

John got moving, and took the lead as he, along with the two other warriors, an Ultra and a Stealth Elite, moved on, the others fell in line. In total, the company numbered in about two dozen now, all of various species, including Wilson, Reynolds, Stacker and Dubbo. Johnson, along with some of the others, was back at the F.O.B. with Keyes. Mattock and Banks were busy on the other side of the city, trying to break through there with the help of N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham. And now, all of them had help.

A lot of help.

As they moved, they came across the first sign of conflict: A Brute pack of six minors was fighting against twelve Grunts. To John's surprise, the Grunts all wore tough armor, colored in white and blue. He surmised they were from Sang'Katarn, and not the usual separatist Grunt.

As the Brutes advanced, one of the Grunts, the leader by the looks of it, was shot. But, to John's surprise, again, the Grunts didn't falter in fear. If anything, they became more determined, and increased their rate of fire. Some even overcharged their pistols, and unloaded fully charged bolts at the Brutes. T'kan holstered his sword and got out a Needle Rifle. He shot those that had lost their armor, and the Grunts overwhelmed the others.

It appeared that Fol hadn't understated things when he said Sang'Katarn troops were more competent and determined than the standard Covenant soldier. And that was proven here, for the Grunts back at the jungle would have fled (hell, had fled) when their immediate superior had been taken out.

They moved on, and the Grunts joined their assault party. After half a minute of unlocking a large cargo door leading to the harbor, they finally made it to the first Anti-air artillery, an AA-Wraith. It was surrounded by a small convoy of Ghosts and Prowlers driven by Brutes.

It was also already under heavy assault of Sang'Katarn-allied Brutes and Elites, who all fought side by side, although begrudgingly. They were dug in around the harbor docks, taking potshots and occasionally taking out the driver of a Ghost with Sniper fire, or hitting a Prowler with a well-aimed rocket or Plasma grenade.

Three Brutes in Sang'Katarn colors jumped on top of the AA-Wraith, and tried to dismount the gunner and driver. They were, however, forced off, as the Covenant Brutes driving the Ghosts spotted them and opened fire on them. And since the Sang'Katarn Brutes were in the open with the Wraith, they had no cover.

After they jumped off, a Prowler came from behind the Wraith, and splattered them as the Brutes tried to reach cover.

T'kan growled in anger, and raised his Needle Rifle, hoping to take a driver or two out from the dock they stood on.

John, however, saw a better plan in the old customs building on the next dock. Or rather, what stood on the roof of it.

"Arbiter, Raptor, with me. Wilson, Stacker: Give us covering fire from those Prowlers."

Wilson nodded, and he raised out of his cover, throwing a grenade in the path of a prowler. It wasn't damaged, as it braked in time.

But Wilson sure had its attention.

John didn't waste the opportunity, and ran along with T'kan and the Arbiter towards the customs building. The Jackal Snipers, fortunately, didn't spot them until they were already too close for effective firing. T'kan made a point of being the first one in the building, and speared two Brutes with his Energy Sword in one strike, the two charging out after each other. Next, before T'kan had even finished pulling out his blade, he kicked a Jackal out the window into the battlefield below. John let Raptor finish the enemies below, and he and the Arbiter, upon entering, immediately ran up the stairs, shooting a pair of surprised Jackals as they came up. The Arbiter covered John as he made his way to the missile pod. John saw, on closer inspection, that it had broken from its stance, but it was still usable. He hefted it, put it on his shoulder, and aimed it at the AA tank below. He pulled the trigger, held it down, and was satisfied to see eight missiles head for the Wraith below. After the fourth it already started exploding, and the remaining four pods dispersed, locking on to the Ghosts around the tank.

"Hell yeah!" one of the marines with them shouted, and the others, including the soldiers from Sang'Katarn, started shouting similar cheers. "Flyboys are gonna love us for that."

John nodded, but for the rest he didn't comment. Instead, he just ignored it, and got out of the customs building. He marched on to the next cargo door, and got inside the building.

He lowered his rifle. The Elite separatists, motivated by the arrival of the Sang'Katarn reinforcements, had already moved on, and killed those inside.

The Zealot in charge greeted them as they came inside, though he caught his breath when he saw the Golden Zealot that was Raptor.

"Sir" he greeted them. "This warehouse is secure. Beyond is an area with two more AA Wraiths, and we have multiple Mongooses and captured Prowlers ready to take them on. All we're waiting for is you."

"Then let us not waste time." Raptor said, as he headed over to said vehicles. He got into the driver's seat of a Prowler, and multiple of the Elites went in similar vehicles. The Marines and Grunts all waited beside the door, more inclined to attack from the sidelines instead of jumping into the fray.

Then, just as John got onto a Mongoose, he got another moment.
"I have defied God and Demons..." she said, as she shimmered before his eyes. This time, however, it was different: she sat up instead of laying collapsed on the ground, and she had a flicker of defiance in her eyes. It meant that she was fighting back a bit.

"Hang on." he said to her. "I'm coming."

He mounted it, and an Elite with a Rocket Launcher got onto the back seat. Dubbo opened the door for the convoy, and they all spread out, eager to meet their foe.

It was harder than the first one to conquer. For one, this area was more heavily occupied. But, with both the Sang'Katarn soldiers' superb fighting and more missile pods on the northern dock, it was done in under half a minute. John drove the mongoose over to the side of the dock.

"All AA Wraiths have been neutralized." Johnson said. Then, he quickly added. "Standby. Something big closing in on your location."

Indeed, John could feel the ground tremble, as whatever was nearby was getting closer.

"Hope it's not a scarab." Dubbo said.

Then, just as Dubbo finished the sentence, a Deutoros Scarab appeared on the rooftop of the buildings, and came towards them.

"Guess what? It's a Scarab." Wilson said sarcastically, in response to Dubbo.

"Incoming." Raptor warned, as the leg crushed a Warthog underneath.

John immediately looked around, assessing the situation. The missile pods, while effective, weren't packed with enough punch to take it out. The Prowlers and Mongooses weren't that well suited either. That left boarding the thing. But, in order to do that, he needed to disable it first, so it wouldn't move while he climbed aboard. Even if he used the cranes above to try and immobi-

the cranes...

he walked over, and hoped his luck still held out. It did: There was a serviceable elevator that went all the way up to the cranes themselves. He got on, and pressed a button on the side. It took him upwards, and he moved forwards, picking up a Sniper Rifle on the way. As he got to as far as it would go, he crouched, and took aim with the rifle. He fired twice, and was satisfied that two Jackals fell from the side of the Scarab. Linda might be their best Sniper, but he was glad he hadn't let his skills atrophy either.

After he spent the rifle, and half the Brute complement on top of the thing had fallen, he took a few steps back, dropping the empty sniper rifle. Then he grabbed his Assault Rifle, and ran forwards, sprinting as long as he could go. After he met the end of the crane, he jumped, and used his momentum to carry him as far forwards as he could go.

Fortunately, he landed right on top of the Scarab. He immediately aimed in front of him, as a brute came walking up the ramp, investigating the noise. He unloaded half the clip trying to shoot off the armor, and the other half trying to put it down for good. The Brute, not seeing the Chief due to the fact John had landed above it, reacted too late, and the shots it did manage to get off were far and wide.

A smoking rifle, a dead Brute and a reload later, John made his way to the back of the Scarab, where the power core would be. As soon as he spotted it, he grabbed a Plasma grenade he'd picked up, and hurled it to the core. It stuck, and as it exploded, many parts came off. The core didn't overload, however, so John raised his Assault Rifle, and fired point blank into the core.

Sure enough, alarms started to go off, and it started smoking. John finished it off by punching it, and it glowed red soon after.

"Get away!" Dubbo yelled. "It's gonna blow!"

John immediately ran to the front, and jumped off again. As he landed, he rolled, and ducked behind an old sewage pipe sticking out from under the ground.

No sooner than he did, the Scarab exploded, and its glow was visible even beyond the pipe.

"Well done, Chief." Keyes said. "I'm sending in a few Pelicans."

"Two more targets, people." Johnson notified them. "A Pair of Covenant AA guns in the next area, a Tyrant and a Mantis. Take them down and Lord Hood and the guys up there can start their attack runs proper."

John nodded, and he made his way forwards. As they came to a warehouse, a pelican landed nearby, and N'tho and Usze, along with reinforcements, jumped out. They joined them, as the company headed inside, where they came across an emergency field hospital.

Wilson, Stacker and Dubbo stopped here, taking a break from the continuous fighting. They were replaced by Mattock, Banks and Reynolds, who obviously had been there a while, and had had a chance to rest. As they came to the back part of the warehouse the hospital was located in, they came across little to no resistance in the beginning, and John started to think his luck had in fact increased in proportions.

But, as usual, things started going downhill again.

They came across Hunters. One of the few pairs of Covenant Loyalist Hunters the Arbiter had warned about.

"Gharenshak!" the Arbiter said, as he ducked into cover with the others to avoid the shots. John ducked out of cover, and drew its attention away so the others might try to flank it.

But, in contradiction to what he expected, it was Mattock, rather than Raptor, who took the opportunity. She jumped out of cover, picked up a Plasma grenade from a dead Grunt, and threw it at the exposed back of a Hunter. It whirled on her, and missed her with its shield by a mere inch, and she scurried away.

The Grenade exploded as the hunter tried to charge its cannon. The Hunter's back, mostly incinerated by the plasma, was heavily burned, and it fell over in pain. The other immediately turned to Mattock, and tried to charge her. But Raptor, seeing the hunter was exposing his flank to do so, brandished his Orange Blade, and attacked the Hunter. He slashed once as he ran past, and the Hunter stopped. After a second, the top fell of, the hunter cut in half.

Mattock got out of her cover, and nodded in thanks to the Elite. Raptor just shrugged, and they all moved out of the warehouse.

There, they came across an attack by a lot of Sang'Katarn forces on the Tyrant cannon. And John was surprised to see who was leading it.

Fol Katarn pulled his own Energy Swords out of the chest of the Brute Chieftain in charge of the defense of the cannon, and kicked the Brute into a group of Plasma barrels, which all exploded upon impact, already damaged by previous weapons fire. Upon doing so, he holstered his blades, grabbed a Human Assault Rifle, and went inside the cannon, along with an even taller Field-Marshal. Ten seconds later, as John and the Arbiter approached, the Elites ran back out, and the cannon exploded.

Upon seeing the Master Chief, he stood up straighter, and made his way over. The taller Field-Marshal followed, and stood a bit straighter as well.

"Chief." he said. "Good to see you."

"Likewise." John honestly said. Truly, Fol was the only Elite who had gained his trust and respect, both by his acts on Halo and in that cave on Reach. "But what are you doing here?"

"Cleaning up your mess, that's what." he said, before pointing at the taller Field-Marshal. "This is the Sang'Katarn Battlemaster, Kal Katarn. My brother, and in charge of all Sang'Katarn forces."

The Elite in question just grunted, and went another way than where the other cannon was, obviously having a different objective. Fol, however, stayed with the Master Chief.

"Where's Six?" John asked. "I understood she was joining you on some mission or another."

To his surprise, Fol laughed. "To her chagrin, back up with the Fleet."

"Why?" the Arbiter asked confused. "From what I understood and remember, she was one of your very best."

Fol looked thoughtful, considering his words. "Lets just say that on Sang'Katarn, she managed to greatly change the management, and she's still dealing with the repercussions."

"What repercussions?"

Fol didn't answer that one. Instead, T'kan did. "She challenged our Kaidon to a duel. He died, and she took his place."

It took a few moments for John to truly register, and when it did, he stopped in his tracks. "Wait. She's the new Kaidon?"

Raptor chuckled. "Yeah. No one else can believe it, either. And yet she managed."

over the com, Johnson laughed. "Hahahaha! This is great! Now we have a king among us!"

Then, Six' voice gleefully came across the com. "Laugh while you can, Johnson. Because as Kaidon, I can send assassins after you for that kind of comment."

Johnson didn't respond instantaneously, and after a moment, Keyes replaced him. "I'm not sure what you said, but Johnson's doubled over in laughter right now. But anyway, Naitol'ee's ships are closing fast. Destroy that mantis, because we're running out of time."

"Understood, Ma'am." Fol said. "Katarn 01 out."

And so, Fol ran towards the next one. John, the Arbiter and the others followed. Reynolds stayed behind with a Grunt and three marines to guard the entrance to the Field Hospital, in case Drones decided to pay them a visit.

Soon, they arrived at the Mantis, which was more heavily defended: Twenty brutes, twelve Jackal snipers and a swarm of Drones defended it.

But they had a Spartan, the Arbiter, Fol Katarn, a whole squad of Sang'Katarn's best, a squad of Elite Separatists, and a squad of Marines. They would manage.

John fired on the closest of the Brutes with his Assault rifle, and sees the Helmet fall off. N'tho finishes it off with a Carbine round. The others all join in on the fight. The Arbiter brandishes his Energy Sword, and Fol joined him in his Charge on the last cannon. John, Raptor and the others decided to soften up the defenses first, before they did something similarly reckless, mostly by throwing Grenades first. The Jackals tried to kill them with Beam Rifles and Focus Rifles, but it was mostly useless, as they never managed to penetrate the Energy Shields of the Sang'Katarns, before they made it to the supports of the cannon. As soon as those soldiers arrived, half provided cover against the brutes, while the other half got out demolition charges, and started placing them on all the supports. John grabbed his Shotgun, and fired it at the closest Chieftain, driving it back a bit. Fol finished it off by grabbing the arm, and cutting it off at the armpit. The Brute howled, but Raptor finished it off by driving his Energy Blade into the base of its skull, killing it.

"Get back!" Usze warned. "Charges are set!"

John got the idea, and ran back to the outskirts of the warehouses. The others soon followed suit, with only three of the Separatist elites having fallen.

"Boom." Fol whispered, as he pressed the detonator. The Brutes came out of their cover, charging their prey.

And falling victim to the explosions, as the supports of the cannon gave way, and the debris fell down all around them.

John smiled, as he holstered his rifle, admiring the view. The others all did likewise.

Naitol'ee's fleet, of its own an impressive sight to behold, sped over them, and made its way to the Keyship in the center. The Plasma Cannons and Energy projectors already charged. Hundreds of Longswords, Sabers, Seraphs and Space Banshees preceded them, and all fired their payloads at the Keyship.

But it didn't stop, as a Marathon Cruiser flew overhead, and the Sang'Katarn fleet followed behind Naitol'ee's own. And their fleet consisted of far more ships. And, by the looks of it, those ships also had stronger weapons.

"All ships: fire at will!" Admiral Harper ordered. And as soon as he gave it, all ships opened up. From above, multiple Orbital defense Platforms had turned their Super MAC's to the planet below, and they fired at the Keyship. SuperCarriers, Carriers, Cruisers, Destroyers and Corvettes opened up with their Energy Projectors. MAC guns from human Frigates and Cruisers at the back of the line opened up. The fighters all launched their payloads, including a pair of nukes.

They all converged at the Keyship, and the Forerunner space ship was engulfed in explosions. The beams from the Energy projectors all hit it dead center. It started to glow, and after a moment, the beams dissipated. The ship was covered in smoke from the explosions.

But as they dissipated, it reappeared unscathed.

The Portal below it opened up like a starfish, and John could see that it started to descend. He braced himself, as he started to feel the wind increase. Around him, he saw the Marines, along with the Arbiter and Fol, bump into the rock behind them. He looked on, as an Energy Beam shot upwards. Next, a small, blue sphere with a blackness at the center started forming, first barely thumb size, then fist size, then head size, then larger than a Spartan, then larger than the Training Grounds on Reach, before becoming as large as 150 kilometers in diameter. As the Elites, along with the others all recovered, the Keyship took off, and headed for the Portal.

"We're too late." Naitol'ee said. "It's open. He's escaping."

"Indeed." Keyes said. "But we can still stop him at the Ark itself. Let's just evac the wounded, regroup, and-"

"Ma'am, new contact's slipping in." an unseen officer interrupted.

Sure enough, to their left, a Cruiser emerged from Slipspace. It trailed rancid fumes, and John thought he could see something on the underside. He zoomed in with his helmet...

and apprehension grew within him. He recognized that kind of growth, having seen it before on two Halo's.

The cruiser flew over them, and it crashed somewhere in Voi.

"What is it?" the Arbiter asked. "More Brutes?"

"Worse." Fol answered, obviously recognizing it as well. "The Flood."

Upon hearing that, everyone at the very least cringed, at worst vomited.

"The Flood." Keyes repeated. "It's spreading all over the city."

"How do we contain it?" Hood asked.

"Find the Flood ship." Six immediately answered. "Overload the engine and reactor cores. We either destroy the city or risk losing the planet."

"Do it." Hood immediately said in a subdued voice. "Sierra 117, make your way to that crash site. I'll send reinforcements to-"

"Negative, admiral." Fol interrupted. "If you send more troops, the Flood will have more bodies to feed upon. Let us handle it, and have Nera Katarn glass everything if we fail."

After a momentary pause, said Fleet Commander came over the com. "Understood, Fol. In case you fall... it's been an honor."

"Give them hell in my stead." Six said cheerfully, though it sounded forced. John couldn't blame them as they backtracked towards the crashed ship. The Flood has had about two weeks to develop and mature. Who knows what it has developed besides Juggernauts and Carrier forms? It could potentially be a suicide mission, and the others were assuming it was.

John didn't let that stop him, however.

"Reynolds, do you copy? We're headed back. Lock down that building."

"Cop- aaaah!" it was cut off, followed by a loud growl.

"Reynolds!" John called. "Come in!"

only static answered this time, along with distress calls from other Marines spread across the city. John increased his pace, and the others followed suit.

When they arrived at the alley leading to the field hospital, the marines were still there, but they were surrounded by numerous Flood spores and infection forms, as well as a lot of the resurrected Brutes. Their arms were ripped off, replaced by gruesome tentacles. The Marines were too distant to help them, as in two seconds, barely four steps later, they were all overwhelmed and infected. And they started turning as well.

John tried to keep the contents of his stomach inside. During the battle of the first Halo, he had been to occupied with his own survival to actually look at the transformation, only seeing either the form latching onto the chest or the end result, but never the transformation itself. The same went for High-Charity, where he had been too occupied with Brutes and Juggernauts to look at it.

But now, confronted with it and nothing to distract him, he began to see why Six had felt as down in the Flood Containment facility on the first Halo.

The Marines all turned as one to the party, and raised the weapons they somehow managed to hold on to.

John threw a grenade before they managed to fire. Raptor, likely both as a way to show off and to drastically cut down the time until the explosion, shot it with his Needle Rifle, and it blew up. The forms all fell apart.

Before more forms could appear, Raptor turned to the grunts and marines accompanying them. "Leave. Call in pickup. Unless you have vacuum-tight armor, the spores can infect you as well."

Banks looked like he was about to protest, but Mattock, the highest officer after the Spartan and Elites, nodded.

"Yes sir. Johnson, can we get a pelican? The infection risk's too great for some of us."

"Sure, LT. I'm diverting 'Chava to your location right now. She'll get you out."

"We appreciate it." Mattock said. "Just make it quick, would ya?"

"I'll stay here." Fol said. "And cover them until they're picked up. Then, I'll see about finding my Brother."

"Alright." Raptor said. See you up at the fleet."

John moved on after those parting words, as the Marines waited. Then, they entered the warehouse through a side entrance.

And he froze in place.

Reynolds was running towards them, fleeing in panic. But already half a dozen Infection forms were attached to his back and chest, and two more started clutching to his arms as they watched.

Reynolds got one last pleading look at him, before he turned.

John's gut wretched inside. He hadn't known the man long, but he had seen the man plenty of of times since High-Charity, after rescuing the man from the space-station's prisons. The man was a good shot, an excellent talker, evidenced by the fact Wilson and Johnson had gotten along with him well, and even a friend to them.

To see the man now...

"Reynolds." he said to himself, as he raised his shotgun at the soon-to-be Flood Combat form, his heart screaming at him not to. But his mind knew it had to be done, even if he hated himself.

"I'm sorry."

he pulled the trigger.

Reynolds fell apart, ripped to shreds by the blast.

John moved on, regret filling him. This was likely what Six felt like upon shooting Keyes back on the first Halo.

As he and the others arrived in the main room of the warehouse, it was chaos. Stacker, Wilson, Dubbo and a group of Marines had themselves cornered, and the Flood were trying to overwhelm them by sheer numbers, all marines and Brutes that were killed earlier now being infected forms.

John jumped down from the ledge, and joined the marines and ODST, firing at the closest Carrier form. As expected, it exploded, and a swarm of infection forms emerged from the blast. He shot them before they could spread too far, and the chain reaction killed them all. After a few minutes, and a lot of dead forms, the swarm of Flood stopped. Wilson and the others panted, and they had lost three marines and one Sang'Katarn elite. But otherwise, their numbers were intact.

"Head back in that direction." John ordered the Marines. "Pickup is on the way there. You'll be taken away from here." as much as John wanted to have the extra hands, they were more vulnerable to infection, and, with their exhaustion, they would be more of a burden than a help.

The Marines and ODST, eager to leave, immediately ran that way. John and his company moved on, eager to get this over with as well.

And they immediately stopped at the sight of what was before them. Dozens of marines, most of them having bandages and such on them indicating they were wounded, lay dead across the room. They were all shot in either the head or the chest. A single wounded Marine stood near the back of the room, a gun to his head. He was clearly insane, and mumbling.

"It forced me to. It infected them all. The LT, the Sergeant... they were all infected." he said. "I could see it crawling... sliding around beneath their skins!"

He shivered with what he heard. Not that it was new, or particularly horrifying to him. The war with the Covenant and the encounters with the Flood on Halo and High-Charity burned such fearful reactions out of him. Rather, it was how real it seemed to the soldier, just like his hallucination of his fellow Spartans only hours before, when the elevator had crashed.

The similarity to that, the implications... those terrified him. It meant that, despite the large distance between them, the Gravemind had a connection with him.

Through Cortana.

He forced himself to get moving, the others still listening to the crazed soldier's ramblings. Raptor, noticing the Spartan had started to move, followed. The others soon fell in line as well.

As they got outside, they returned to the area where they had fought the Scarab. The ground, crumbled away by the rising fins of the Portal, dropped just off the dock of the harbor the area had been.

"Hear, Humans. And take heed!" a new voice called out. John looked up.

A new fleet of ships had joined those of the Sang'Katarn ships and humans. By the looks of it, and the sound of the commanding officer's voice, it were more Separatist Elites.

A single carrier moved to hover over the harbor and the Flood-ship.

"This is the Carrier Shadow Of Intent. Clear this sector, but we deal with the Flood." the voice continued.

"Clear out, R'tas." the Sang'Katarn fleet commander said sternly. John recognized her as one because of her accent, which was similar to Fol's and dissimilar from the average Elite. "We deal with it. Pull your soldiers out. Our Energy Projectors are more thorough, and last longer."

"We have been pursuing that ship ever since she left High-Charity." R'tas retorted. "She has already taken three Corvettes down before coming here. No, we glass her."

"R'tas, you fool. You are a special operations commander, not a Supreme commander. Stand down now, and stop pretending something you are not. Let the experts handle it."

There was a pause, and as John moved on, he almost thought the Separatist would disobey. But the Elite's voice returned, and he sounded resigned. "Very well. I'll deploy troops to support the Arbiter and whoever is with him down there, but then I'll move off."

with that, the Carrier dropped pods down near them, and a group of Zealots and Spec-Ops soldiers came out. John and the others made their way over to them.

"My Brothers." the Arbiter greeted. "I fear you bear bad news."

The Zealot in charge nodded. "High-Charity has fallen, and become a dreaded hive. The Gravemind manifested itself there."

"What of the Fleets?" Raptor asked. "Has your quarantine been broken?"
"Only the one ship pierced our lines. We gave chase."

N'tho took on an incredulous look, and, as John listened while he armed up from a pod filled with weapons, he frowned as well. According to the reports he got from Cortana, and what he had seen, that station had had a fleet of hundreds. N'tho pointed out as much right then and there.

"Alas, brothers." the Zealot reported, as he raised his Fuel-Rod gun. "The Flood... It has evolved. It no longer needs tissue to create bodies."

Blast! If this were this bad... the Juggernauts, which he'd already guessed were pure Flood, were tough enough. But if the Gravemind could create his own hosts...

as if on que, a host of Flood forms jumped down from the nearest rooftop. And he couldn't recognize the original species from any of them. He surmised these would be the first of the pure forms.

The first variant he saw was a weak one, that stood on two legs, and which had a raised patch on its back. That patch was was riddled with needles. Needles which it promptly shot at the Elites and Spartan. It was also able to stick itself onto the wall. It was, however, slow.

The second was similar to a small, sleek predator, and jumping around the place. It consisted mostly of two thin limbs and a pair of claws to attack if it ever got close. It was fast, and obviously meant to compensate for the first one's low speed.

The third was large, had two arms (the right one thicker than the other), and had multiple slits in its stomach one could see through. It was also a head taller than him, twice as thick, and used the thicker arm to swipe everything out of the way.

John tried to raise his shotgun to blast the big one down, but it just shrugged the shots off. And, as John started to reload, it started changing. The arms started to morph, and the legs became much shorter.

It changed into the one with the thin legs.

So the things could change shape. Bloody hell.

Just as he finally finished the reload, the thing jumped away, to one of the walls. He ignored it, as suddenly another jumped in front of him, and changed as well.

Into one of the big ones.

He tried to backpedal, but he bumped into the wall, and was cornered by the thing. It swung its arm at him as he tried to aim his shotgun, and it was promptly punched out of his hand. In addition, his shields dropped completely, and as they started to reload, another stood beside it and swung as well. John ducked underneath it, but knew he wouldn't survive if they tried to attack at the same time.

Just as they raised their arms for another blow, the Arbiter and Raptor intervened, both slashing away at the things. The one of the Arbiter, caught by surprised, was slashed in two. The other managed to evade Raptor's attack, and tried to change. Raptor, however, didn't give it the time it needed, and kicked out at it, sending it down the cliff.

The Arbiter picked up the Shotgun, and handed it back to John. He nodded in thanks, and put it on his back, taking out his Assault Rifle. He didn't fancy having to engage those things in close combat again, and the Assault Rifle had more range.

The things, however, didn't give them a rest. The thin-legged ones all jumped to the walls, and morphed into the Needle-patched ones. And they all opened fire on John's group. He and the others ducked into cover.

"You pitiful creatures are nothing but stones in my way." the Gravemind goaded through the forms as he shot away at them. "Pieces of gravel to be stepped upon. You cannot stop me."

Raptor got up and out of his cover for a second, and fired a three-round burst from his Needle Rifle. The Elite was rewarded with a needle explosion, as all three hit the same Needle-patch. John got out of his own cover, and fired a few bursts at the nearest Needle back, before jumping back into cover.

It went so for the next few minutes: the Flood would pin them down with Needle-patched ones, which were soon dubbed Rangers, and the Elites and Spartan would briefly jump out of cover to fire a few bursts, only to duck back into cover. After five minutes, the Flood stopped coming at them, and they advanced.

"Hurry, Demon." an Elite said, as they ran towards the ship. "The Ship is just ahead. Only a kilometer."
"I'm hurrying." John said, as he ran. "Just-"

"Chief!" Keyes interrupted. "The Separatists are looking for something. We didn't believe them when they told us."

"It's Cortana, Chief." Wilson said. "She's on that meatbag you guys call a ship. You find her and get her off, ok?"

That motivated John fine, and he soon had the lead on the group. As passed through an arch, he saw the ship, embedded in the harbor wall. So far, the area seemed clear. Raptor and the Arbiter appeared by his side.
"Well." the Arbiter said. "Lets go, then, while it's clear."
They agreed, and started towards the ship. It was relatively easy to traverse the debris of the crash, and soon Usze 'Taham found a hole they could enter. Just as they were about to enter the ship, however, a feral cry came from the surrounding buildings, and Flood crowded the rooftops. Before he could engage them, he was pushed into the hole, along with the Arbiter, N'tho and Usze. They landed on a ledge that used to be a ventilation shaft before the crash.

"Me and my men will remain here." Raptor called down the hole, as he started firing. "We will let nothing past."

John nodded, and he jumped down the ledge. After a moment, he heard the others with him follow.

He landed in the smudge of Flood tissue. He looked around, as he had a sickening feeling in his stomach.

As he feared, the ship's interior was no more: everywhere he looked, the Flood had forced apart the walls, ceiling and floor. Nearly every surface, except a few ducts, cables, consoles and walls, was covered in Flood. At least, it had to be. It was the same color as the Floodforms and it reminded John a lot of the Gravemind. Also, he saw what reminded him of pumpkins over the walls at random points. To see the reaction, he poked a small one with his rifle.

It burst apart, and three Infection forms jumped out, each jumping for him. He swatted two aside with his rifle, and they burst when they hit the walls. He managed to catch the third, and crushed it in his hands.

He whirled around as he heard a clang, his rifle raised. But, to his relief, it was just the Arbiter finally landing.

"Careful." he said, as he gestured at the pumpkins. "They're filled with Infection forms."

The Arbiter nodded, and relayed as much to the other two Elites as they landed.
John walked across the empty hollows of the ship, looking across every clear surface, interacting with every console, looking for anything that could hint at Cortana's location.

To John's surprise, they didn't encounter any Flood after that pumpkin-burst. Not even a Juggernaut. "Strange for us to encounter so few foes." Usze mirrored John's thoughts out loud. "Where is it?"

"Likely it sent out all forms to infect as many bodies as it could." the Arbiter reasoned. "It would have no further use for the ship once it landed, so it would abandon ship."

"Like Hunebkies abandoning a sailship." N'tho said in spite. "And just as traitorous."

John moved on, as he let the Elites talk about their common enemy. Just as he got a look at another console, he grabbed his head in excruciating pain. It wasn't a 'Cortana moment'. It was worse. He had experienced this before, and everyone except him and Six had been crippled by it, and he only had been saved from it due to Cortana's help. But now, there wasn't anything to save him here.

Not when the Gravemind was forcing its way into his mind directly.

As back then, in the Autumn's cryochamber, the Gravemind spoke in rhyme.

"I am a timeless chorus." it said. "Join your voice with mine. And sing victory everlasting."

John felt the pain subside, and looked around, as the weird-colored edge left his vision. To his surprise, though he'd expected it somewhere at the back of his mind, the Elites were doubled over as well, with N'tho even laying on the ground, clutching his head. None were screaming, however, their discipline too great for that. He helped them up, the Arbiter first, as he was the one closest to regaining control of his head.

"What... what was that?" he asked, as he shook his head clear.

Before John could respond, however, the Gravemind spoke again. Fortunately, only now it was through the tissue on the will itself, rather than telepathically.

"The sound of the tables turning, Faithless Flesh." it said. "Time for a test of how long you'll be lasting."

then, John could see a group of five Juggernauts appearing behind them, the wall parting for them before closing again. Ahead of them, jumping down from a hole in the roof, three more came down as well. And all around them, emerging from the tissue all around them, dozens of Pure forms emerged. The other Elites all had regained consciousness as well. Nonetheless, it wouldn't mean a thing: they were outnumbered and outmatched.

John took stock of his own equipment. A picked up shield-regenerating enhancer, a Shotgun with twelve shells in total, and an Assault Rifle with three clips. No grenades. One look at those aside him and he knew the other three were in similar situations. They were had no way out.

Unless...

he looked down. As he'd hoped, the floor, like the walls around them, was thin. It would likely only take a shotgun round at the floor to take it out.
"Brace." he warned, as he fired a shot. As the round hit, the membrane they stood on was weakened, and couldn't hold their weight anymore. It tore down under their feet, and they fell. John ensured he landed in a roll, and got to his feet quickly.

He turned to the others, who had fortunately heeded his warning and landed on their own feet as well.

But the Flood forms, eager for more food, were jumping down the hole.

"Run." he said, as he went one direction. The others, seeing the threat as well, started to follow. Soon, however, John realized it was no use: the Flood controlled these very walls, the very ceiling and even the floor underneath them.

He stopped, however, when a new glow appeared, and John's suspicions for the thing finally disappeared.

343 Guilty Spark, along with what seemed to be a freed 2401 Penitent Tangent, were flying towards them, both glowing as they charged their lasers. And they held off the Flood, as the company of four found cover and prepared themselves. John, as soon as he had his Shotgun out, fired at the nearest form, giving the Monitors some support. The Elites, if they had them at least, grabbed their Energy Swords, as they were the best anti-Flood weapons the Elites had. Their Carbines were only useful at range, which wasn't often in this Flood lair, and the Plasma rifles didn't take them down fast enough.

The Monitors did well, and they only had to fire for a second at a Flood form before they could change targets. The progress with the others went similarly well: 'Sraom and 'Taham fought well together, keeping each other's backs clear as they fought. And the Arbiter, smart enough to pick up a second sword as soon as he found one, fought the Flood that came too close to the Monitors, holding them off. John himself fired at the Carrier forms whenever he spotted them, as their explosive nature made them natural grenades against the Flood.

But they were starting to become outnumbered again, as the Juggernauts caught up with the main group. And he didn't have Six' skill with a sword to cut them apart.

He needed a plan, and soon.

The answer came in a Flood combat form, who was wielding a Rocket Launcher. He had seen that happen often on Halo, and they had been quite the nuisance. In here, under normal conditions, they could be very deadly.

But the weapon itself was ideally suited to attack the Juggernauts with. John only hoped it carried more than one rocket.

He picked up a Plasma Grenade from a crate not yet covered in Flood smutch, and threw it at the feet of the staggering combat form. As expected, the explosion killed it, as well as several others in close proximity to it... and flinging the launcher in his direction.

He put his Shotgun on his back quickly, and picked it up. Only four rockets were available, two in the launch tubes, and two taped to the side.

He aimed at the first Juggernaut, which was almost onto Thel and the Monitors. He fired just at its feet, hoping the Arbiter wouldn't leap at it at the last moment.

Fortunately, he didn't. It hit between the Juggernaut's feet, and it stumbled. The Combat forms behind it also fell apart, damaged by the shockwave of the explosion. Not as a testimony to the devastation of the shockwave, but to the fragility of the damaged forms.

The Juggernaut wasn't destroyed, however, and it still stood, despite a few patches of loose flesh. John fired the second missile, and started the reload, trusting the others would cover him as he did.

But, just as he finished, the other four Juggernauts ran past their wounded partner, and one went for each Elite.

With the last one headed for him.
He hastily fired the other two at the joint between the two tentacles and the body itself. It hit, and the explosion and flames burned the tentacles right off.

Then, to John's horror, they started to grow back.

He started backpedaling, grabbing his shotgun and firing as he went, as the Juggernaut still went for him. The other Elites were busy cutting into their respective forms with their Energy Swords, while the Monitor kept the Combat forms busy. John couldn't get help from any of them, he knew.

His back hit a wall, and he knew he was out of options. The Juggernaut was on him, and John could see the central chest area where the infection form was. The thing would, upon grabbing him, surely try to-

Infection form?

He immediately recalled something on the first Halo, back in the original Flood containment facility. Six had, along with Fol, Johnson and a few others, been pinned down in an area before being forced to retreat. But, before they did, they had written something in blood, as advice for other survivors.

hit it at the red appendages on the chest

John decided to follow that advice, and fired at the infection form on the chest. As soon as the pellets hit, the thing reared back immediately, obviously the nerves physically pained. John pressed his discovered advantage, and fired another shotgun round at the weak point, the cluster where the infection form was centered. And again. And again. Each time he hit, the thing reeled back, and retreated slightly. John started to hope a bit. They might actually make it.

But then, his hope was crushed, as another two Juggernauts, along with a swarm of Combat forms, came towards them from the hole in the ceiling. It would be barely a minute before they were onto them.

"The ceiling!" the Arbiter called. "Fire at the ceiling!"

The Monitors did so, and the tissue burned away.

Revealing damaged hull underneath it. Hull that had been depending on the Flood tissue on the wall to prevent a collapse. Now that said tissue was away, the roof started to give in that area. The passage was soon blocked, as massive Plasma conduits and hull plates crushed the combat forms.

But the collapse didn't stop. The rest of the roof started to collapse as well, like some sick domino effect. It headed straight for them. And it wasn't going to stop.

John kicked the massive, weakened Juggernaut, making it bump into the twin John had damaged earlier. The pair stumbled, and John ran back, further into the passage way. The pair tried to pursue, but they were too late. The roof was collapsing right above them now, and they became pinned. They tried to lash out, but the roof continued to collapse, and they were buried underneath the debris. John didn't waste any time, and continued to run. The Arbiter and Spark followed, and John saw the other monitor and the other two Elites were already ahead of him.

Eventually, they rolled underneath a collapsing roof moments before it hit the ground, and they ended up in what used to be the ship's bridge. The roof was open, as it had been shot earlier, and nearly every surface was covered in tissue, except for a few consoles. But, for the moment, they were safe from the collapse of the parts of the ship.

But not safe from the Gravemind, it seemed. John felt the intense pain he characterized with the Gravemind's attempts to contact him, and he found himself stumbling. He could already see the others were on the floor. Yet, he forced himself to try and remain standing. He would not give this thing the pleasure of seeing him on the ground, broken like a weak Grunt.

"Have you learned nothing as you wandered through this tomb?" it asked. "I have no heart, stubborn fool, and so cannot be broken."

The pain decreased again, and John was able to focus once more. He found, to his surprise, that he had been able to stay upright. Yet, the first thing he saw drew his attention.

It was a console, and attached to it was a Covenant Memory Unit.

It glowed a bright blue, identical in color to Cortana.
He moved over to it, and activated it. Immediately, Cortana's avatar appeared.

"Chief." she immediately said, and John started to hope. Right now, despite the things he'd seen during the Cortana moments, she appeared unhurt, active, alive. Like she hadn't been hurt at all. But immediately, her hologram disappeared, and the unit powered down.

Penitent Tangent appeared next to him. "We must take her someplace safe, reclaimer. Here, we cannot effect repairs here. Not when the Flood are knocking at the doors."

John looked behind him. Indeed, despite the fact all doors were closed, they budged every now and then, and underneath the roof they had entered through earlier he could see multiple tentacles trying to squirm their way into the bridge.

John returned his gaze to the Monitor. "I understand."

the monitor immediately fired some sort of beam at her, and he took her up and out of the ship.

Into a Green Phantom John had failed to notice. It activated its Gravity lift, and took them inside. The Arbiter and the others followed suit. As soon as they were in, John moved to observe what was happening.

Two Sang'Katarn Cruisers and a Carrier were busy glassing the entire area around the Cruiser, and the Cruiser itself was the only thing visible above the mist created from the heat. The town of Voi was gone, replaced by a glass surface as unforgiving as the sun. It was that way for kilometers on end. Blast, they likely had glassed half the Continent, from the looks of it.

They were taken to a supercarrier holding position below the Portal. As soon as they all exited the Phantom, they were escorted by a group of Sang'Katarn Brutes to a large conference room.

Everyone John thought would be of importance was there. Hood, Harper, Keyes and a few other human leaders John wasn't in the mood to name, the Shipmasters and Supreme Commanders of the Covenant Separatists, and what appeared to be Sang'Katarn's army leaders. John recognized a few, namely the two Katarn brothers and Raptor, who had survived. Six was there as well, standing at the head of them. He noticed her armor was different. She had new plates on her right shoulder and chest, and her helmet was a CQB instead of her usual helmet.

"Will it live, Monitor?" A massive Sang'Katarn Brute Chieftain with two Gravity hammers on its back asked. "Can it be saved?"

"Uncertain." Penitent answered, as he continued his work. It had put down the memory unit on the conference table, and was busy repairing it. The Arbiter and Spark had moved to join an Ultra missing its left jaws, while 'Sraom and 'Taham moved to the sides of the room, not eager to participate but interested enough to listen. "This storage device has suffered considerable trauma. The matrices are... highly unstable at the moment."

"Perhaps one of our technicians-" Hood tried to suggest, but a Sang'Katarn Elite spoke up. She was shaped differently than most Elites, obviously a female. John recognized her voice as the one of the Sang'Katarn Fleet commander.

"That won't be necessary, Admiral Hood. Penitent Tangent is more than competent enough to-"

Her point was proven, when a hologram reappeared from the device.

"Success!" Spark declared with much enthusiasm.

"Chief." she started. "High-Charity, the Prophet's Holy City, is on its way to Earth, with an army of Flood. I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind... it knows I'm in the systems." she paused, as the hologram froze. John turned to the others, disappointed. "It's just a message."

"Let it play." the half-jaw encouraged. Tangent obligingly sent a short beam at it again.

"But it doesn't know about the Portal. Where it leads. On the other side, there is a solution. A way to stop the Flood without firing the five remaining Halo rings."

she immediately fell over, as a result of an unseen power surge. She collapsed in seeming pain, and she continued despite her agony.

"Hurry, Chief. The Ark... there isn't much time..." and with that, her hologram disappeared again.

"I'm sorry." Tangent said apologetically.

"No matter, Oracle." half-jaw said. "We heard enough. Our fight is through the Portal. With the Brutes, and the bastard Truth."

Several Elites, not only separatists, raised their fists in agreement, and roared in agreement. Hood, however, looked resigned. "Fine. We'll remain here. Hold out as long as we can."

"Did you not hear?" the Sang'Katarn woman asked skeptically. "your world is doomed." she stepped forward, pointing to the device. "A Flood army, a Gravemind, has you in its sights. And you barely survived a small contamination."

Hood stepped forward angrily. "And you, Fleet Commander Katarn, just glassed half a continent. Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about."

"One single Flood-spore can destroy a species." the Fleet-commander retorted just as angrily. "Were it not for the council of my Brother and your Spartan" she pointed at the two, with the Spartan being Six, who had her arms crossed, watching the argument. "I would have glassed the entire planet!"

Hood raised his fist in anger, but Keyes intervened, calming him a bit.

"Sir, with respect, Cortana has a solution."

Hood turned to her, incredulous. "Cortana? Did you see her condition? How damaged she is?"

John moved closer, and Spark reactivated the initial hologram, even if it didn't convey the message. He ignored the argument between Keyes and Hood as it continued. He just observed Cortana for a moment, reminded about his promise to her, about getting her back.

"No." The Arbiter said, drawing John out of his momentary reverie. "If the Construct is wrong, then the Flood has already won."

"I'll find Cortana's solution." he said, as he turned to Hood. "And I'll bring it back."

Hood contemplated that for a moment, pacing as he went. "Earth is all we have left, Chief. You trust Cortana enough to put the fate of our species in her hands?" he finally asked.

John didn't even need to think about an answer. "Sir, yes sir."

Hood nodded. "Thought as much. This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Hell if it is, Chief? I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which." with that, he started to leave. But the female stopped him.

"I recognize you don't wish to abandon the planet. As a token in favor of an alliance, I will stay here with the third and fourth Fleets here. It might not stop it, but it should buy you time while they retrieve the solution."

Hood turned, and his anger had left his face. "I appreciate that."

with that, he left, and slowly, the others dispersed as well. John took the moment to step towards Six, who was talking with Fol, before sending him away with Raptor.

"So, care to explain how you went from a soldier to basically a king?"

Six turned, and laughed. "You won't believe it if I told you."

and so, they both spent the next few hours catching up, and John was relieved to hear Gray Team was alright. Six, in turn, was surprised that John was the one who had instigated the High-Charity insurrection. As they finished with what happened at Voi, she took out a small chain of dog tags, and handed it to him.

"Fol explained that earlier in the war he had taken down five Spartans. Two of which were of Noble Team, but the other three were Spartan-II's."

John immediately understood, and eyed the dog tags. They belonged to Daisy-023, Keiichi-047 and Joseph-122. Daisy had been killed on Harvest. he had seen her body herself. Keiichi and Joseph had been involved of a campaign on Imber with Kelly, but had been missing after a large nuke had been detonated in their region. Clearly, Fol had been at that campaign.

Yet, he knew he couldn't truly hate the Elite for it. He had known the Elite had killed Spartans, as the Elite had admitted as much himself. But he had switched sides, and had admitted he actually respected Spartans, and would give them the way out of life they deserved. As such, he found it hard to hate Fol. Anger at knowing which ones he'd killed, sure. But no true hate.

"Well, we did know about it." he said. "Is that how you got your new plates?"

Six nodded. "As well as the helmet. He took the armor home with him, as Trophies. After I killed Reghok, he gave me the armor to replace the damaged plates. In the end, I only replaced the damaged ones."

John nodded. "Understandable. But what will you do, now that you're a Kaidon?"

"I don't know." Six said innocently. "Bomb a Brute city? Kill a few hundred Prophets? Nuke the Ark?"

they both chuckled at that. Six then grew serious. "But I have a question. What is it between you and the Arbiter?"

John looked at her in surprise. "What about it?"

"Oh, don't give me that 'I don't know anything' crap." Six chastised. "Ever since you landed on Earth, you two have been inseparable. He always watches your back, and you don't seem as hostile to him as usual."

John, he had to admit, had been polite to the Arbiter. But he thought that it was because he was the leader of a party aiding the UNSC, and that he shouldn't offend him, or he'd face reprisal. But now that Six actually said it out loud...

"And don't say it's just business. It was that between me and Fol on Halo, and yet look at it now. I talk to him voluntarily about non-important topics, and I don't have an extreme urge to kill the ugly one-eyed bastard."

"I heard that!" came from down the hall. "And I still can beat you any day of the week!"

"Then do it for once!" Six called back provokingly to the Field-Marshal.

John shook his head at the exchange. Six shook her head. "Alright, I admit, I can also exchange jokes with him now. But don't dismiss your Arbiter out of hand."

John tilted his head a bit at the smaller Spartan. "What are you trying to tell me."

"Be social with him, for once." Six immediately answered. "Or at least be polite. And see what comes out of it."

John thought that over. It certainly wouldn't hurt to be polite to the Elite, especially if they were going to stop Truth and destroy the Ark together. And it might even be profitable, as the Elite might give him better weapons should he run out, instead of bad ones if John was a prick. Still, he admitted he still was a bit apprehensive at approaching the one being that led the race that nearly brought Humanity to her knees.

"I'll try." he seceded.

"Good." Six said, turning away. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a kingdom to run."

And with that, she moved away, closing the door behind her.

Leaving him alone in the Conference room.

He was sure now, he'd never get used to the eccentric Spartan.

Still, he left. After all, he said he would try to be friendly with the Elite, and there was no time like the present.

---

Here you go. the second chapter, after a pair of weeks of long wait. rest assured, I will continue writing this.

I hope I get responses to my requests, and until next time

Gharst Omenlumin