In this chapter there is an excerpt from the novel, HALO:Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nylund. Please note that it IS NOT my work.

Note: I just realized in my bits about Fleetmaster Var 'Volamee, I have been using Human names for the races. I will probably continue to do so, for the sake of convience. In a rewite, I will definitely amend this, to keep this work as true to the HALO universe as I can make it.

When I was writing this first piece, with Var, I was wondering what the rest of the crew was doing. I was thinking about cryo, but realized that in the HALO games nor the HALO novels mentions Covenant cryo. I remeber the HALO novel Contact Harvest may contain some information relating to this, but I can't remember off of the top of my head.

Lastly, I am finding it very... hard? to come up with Elite names. So if they are from the Halo novels, please tell me. I've been making them up, but when I read them, they strike to me as familiar, but I have not the time to go back and check up in the HALO novels.

When I first conceptualized this story, Halo 3 wasn't out yet, so that meant Sergent Johnson was still alive. He was supposed to play a pretty big part in this story, but now, he's been techinically dead for 25 years. Now I'm stuck.


[Shayuum-Elecifer System: High Orbit over Alphos]

The sleek, powerful destroyer slipped through the empty space.

Var stood at his dais, overseeing his bridge, an impassive look set upon his face. Vartuaee, his arrays officer reported back.

"This planet's seismic activity is incredibly stable. We aren't picking up any seismic activity, but groundbased sensors will need to be deployed to confirm. We're detecting large metal masses under the surface of this planet. Radiation levels are slightly higher than normal, but well within tolerable levels. The atmosphere is toxic in the majority of the planet, but there are some areas of extreme altitude where the air is barely within breatheable limits."

The description was familiar to Var. Var had participated in joint efforts with humans to decipher Forerunner technologies. He had left this coalition though, to an offering to command his own fleet. 20 years later, he could barely recall the details of the report. He accessed his own private database. In it was an amazing plethora of information, one that he had accumlated over his years of service across the stars.

He found the file. It was in human script, which was quickly re-translated by the communications software lexicon in his database.


MAY 6, 2491 (MILITARY CALANDAR)

FIELD REPORT

SUBJECT: SURVEY PLANET XF-063

REPORTING OFFICER: CAPTAIN D. F. LAMBERT /

UNSCMID:03981762

XF-063 is a rare jewel of a find. There is an oxygen-nitrogen-inert gas atmosphere of suitable pressure and a moderate weather cycle. There is a surprising abundance of indigenous flora and fauna, which upon cursory investigation poses no daner. In fact, edible species present. (See additional reports for details.) Transplant of Earth species possible.

Notable anomalies: No detectable tectonic activity, but there is still an unusually strong planetary magnetic field. Slightly higher than normal background radiation measured, but well within tolerable standards. Additional geological testing recommended. No terraforming effort required

Colonization recommended.

/END/

(A/N: please note that this "file" is an excerpt taken from the novel HALO:Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nylund. This excerpt IS NOT my work, it is Eric Nylund's.)


Var remembered now. This file was one of 9 files that entailed the human discovery of the Forerunner Shield World, known to the humans as Onyx.

But there was a crucial difference. While Onyx had been bursting with life, Alphos was completely barren, incapable of supporting life across the majority of the planet. Only the areas mentioned by his arrays officer contained life, but only in the form of micro-organisms. If this planet was indeed another of the Shield Worlds, there evidently some sort of massive catastrophe had occured. Var had not studied the biological forms of the Flood, but he speculated that the Flood had managed to intercept the Forerunners as they fled to their Shield Worlds, and ravaged the planet.

But the theory left a large gap. What of the Sentinals? Var had read the after-action reports from both the humans and the Elites, as well as from the now shattered Covenant, but from his understanding, the Sentinals had more than enough firepower to annihilate the Flood invasion. Could have the Flood invaded with a force so massive that even the power of the Sentinals could not smite them? Maybe when this business was finished, a thorough investigation could be completed.

"Vartuaee, scan for COM patterns matching the Path of Light."

"Yes Fleetmaster."

"When you are finished, start running rudimentary scans on the system's astroid belt. There have been numerous occasions on which Jackals have used inter-connected hollowed-out astroids to serve as habitats. If they are still here, I wouldn't be surprised to find their base of operations to be within this belt. Send out the probes to get a general layout of the field. Take cautions to keep them stealthy. At this moment, I am willing to sacrifice time for stealth."

"Understood, Fleetmaster."

14 hours later

Vartuaee gave his report.

"Rudimentary sweeps have been completed, covering the entire belt. We have found few anomalies in the gravitational orbits in the larger asteriods. All of them are caused by the gravitational pull of Alphos, it's moon, and this plantoid, designated SEB14. SEB14 is in the astroid belt, and is just large enough to fall outside of the classification of asteroids. A more detailed scan is recommended."

Var nodded, processing the information.

"Inomalee, open up the archive files on this systems. Upload the files pertaining to the Geological Survey teams."

His intel officer nodded, and set to work locating the files.

The data files appeared on Var's command dais a few moments later. Var examined them, noting that the survey was 17 years old. He recorded any anomalies the survey teams found. He paid special attention to the parts regarding the lone planet, and its moon. There was some sort of accident, and the entire groundbased survey operations was lost. The accident was attributed to an across-the-board life-support system failure, causing the deaths of both teams on the moon and the planet. Var had a creeping suspicion that there was more to this than what the file described. After the supposed accident, the Geological Survey unit left the system, leaving the bodies and equipment behind, fearing another failure. A return survey was placed on indefinite hold. Var couldn't find any mentions of anomalies in the astroid belt, leading him to draw the conclusion that if the Jackals had a base had a base in the belt, it wasn't there 17 years ago, or it had been, just carefully and cleverly concealed.

Var looked over the files once more, then archived them into his personal database.

"Retrieve all probes, and run triple checks to ensure we are completely locked down."

"Yes, Fleetmaster."

Var's crew quickly and effiecently followed his orders, taking the time to make sure the were carried out to the letter.

"Ship's stealth integrity has not been compromised."

Var nodded in acknowledgement. "What's the status of our weapons and Slipspace drive?"

Ontomalee, his engineerings officer, reported "Our Slipspace drives are holding power at 70 percent, and the reactor is on standby to jump-heat the Slipspace drives."

"The weapon systems have not yet been charged, but the plasma tanks and are heated and full." Arnumee, the weapon's control, said.

"Excellent. Move us above the stellar plane over the astroid fields. Actively scan for any COM signals, and continue documenting this star system."


[Omnicron System, Planet Belagest IV; UNSC-Insurrectionist Conflict]

The COM crackled in William's ear. He was strapped to a modified Hornet, piloted by an old schoolmate of his, Theo. (A/N: This is the sniper team Theo delivered in Chapter 1).

"We believe that there is a field command somewhere nearby, or some sort of communications relay station. What we've learned so far from intercepted messages from the Innies, this station is one of the command points that hold the rebel lines together. Take this station out, and we may find the Innie resistance falling apart."

"Understood, HQ. Sniper Team Gamma out."

William checked over his rifle. William had forgone the standard SRS99C-S2 AMB rifle, for the deadlier, more accurate .50 caliber antimaterial rifle. The .50 cal was fully functioning as was it's Oracle N-Variant Scope. He also carried with him a caseless silenced SMG (the one in HALO: ODST). His spotting partner packed a modified BR55. It shot the massive, 12.7mm X 99 Armor-Penetrating round(at single shots), as well as it's normal rounds. A simple upper reciever swap allowed this switch between calibers to happen. The 3x scope on the standard BR55 had been forsaken for a 5x zoom, with sensors to allow him fulfill his role as spotte. He carried a pistol with him as well(from HALO: ODST).

He looked over the battlefield. Buildings zoomed by, and here and there he caught flashes of the battle. This bloody street/urban combat field would be William's third mission in such a environment. His skills at stealth would be pushed to the limits. Despite the shortages UNSC was still suffering from, he and his spotting partner managed to obtain old SPI Mark II suits for their combat mission. Ghillie suits would simply not work in an city/urban situation.

The copilot's voice sounded out. "Sniper team, prepare for landing!"

William ran armor diagnostics. It was fully functioning, with enough fusion power for another 3 years of continuous operation.

"Marines, we're coming in hot. We're gonna drop fast, and bug out."

William voiced an affirmative. He checked over his harness, making sure it hadn't loosened anything it wasn't supposed to.

The Hornet suddenly cleared all the buildings into a vast park. AA fire streaked towards the craft, but Theo's deft piloting skills were more than up to the challenge. The Hornet danced by, and unleashed a firestorm of retalition, never stopping all the way. Theo ducked the craft around a building, and hovered eight feet above the ground.

"Sniper team, Go go go!"

William hit the release on the harness, landing on the ground in a crouch. The SPI armor immediately mimicked it's surroundings. Even so, William immidiately dove for cover, recalling the intense training he went through. His spotter, followed close behind. William checked to make sure his satchel filled with high explosives was still with him.

William's HUD came to life. It opened up a map, and marked an area near the city's main metropolitan commuting center. The map faded away, replaced by a single NAV point. It made sense. The transit center subway would allow for covert movement across the entire city, allowing the rebels the ability to rapidly redeploy and reinforce their troops.

The pair stuck to the shadows, moving carefully and quietly. The place was crawling with rebels, and on multiple occasions they had to stop completely for minutes at a time to let a fireteam go by. Even though they were in the lightbending SPI suits, William followed the mantra drilled into him from the first day of boot camp. Never pin your survival completely on your electronics.

They reached a crossroads. Rebels were on the road horizontal to them, one massive parade, marching to battle. Heavy MBT's rolled on by, followed by APC's and munitions trucks. Artillery guns pulled by Warthogs were also mixed in, with mid-class tanks bringing up the rear of the formation. Rebel footsoldiers were everywhere, all around the vehicles, some hefting mortars, and portable AA rocket pods. William estimated their numbers to be close to one thousand. William instinctively unclicked his safety, and loosened his combat knife harness.

William knew that the UNSC would never be able to fight them off. Before the Human-Covenant War, the rebels fought using guerilla tactics, lashing out with lethal precision. But, the UNSC never before dealt with an all out multi-system rebellion. The trio of star systems were in open revolt. UNSC forces on station had been quickly overrun, forced to flee. Even now a massive space battle was in progress over their heads, both sides attempting to gain total control of the systems. The UNSC were at a disadvantage, having fewer ships than the rebels. The rebels also had massive Super MAC gun platforms set up over the planets. Only a daring raid by the splinter fleet of two corvettes, and a frigate, were UNSC forces able to deploy on Belagest IV, saving several of the major UNSC strongpoints from being taken. Right now, the orbital forces clashed over Belagest IV, UNSC trying to protect it's ground forces, the Innsurectionists trying to destroy the UNSC ground presence.

Javier, his spotter, cursed under his breath. "Alpha Base won't be able to fight of this shitstorm. Will, we gotta do something."

"Negative. We can't afford to jepordize this mission. Alpha Base can hold them off long enough for us to hit the rebel HQ."

"Will, you know just as well as I that they won't stop, even if their leader is dead. They'll keep pushing."

William knew he was right. They had no choice. "Alright. Here's the plan. Run up that back alley parallel to them. When you reach the front, pop some smoke, and drop a frag. Set the frag with one of those remote fuses, and get up a building. Make sure you use the suppressor on your BR. We're aiming for mass chaos, not mass destruction. I'll plant some charges on the forward tanks, and those ammo trucks. At all costs, stay hidden. Don't make any sudden moves, and watch your back. Keep to solid colors to camoflauge better. Got it?"

"Yeah. We're going to kick up a real shitstorm here."

"Just do your job."

Javier sprinted down the back alley. William crept behind, making his way slowly up to the lead tank. He kept pace with it, and waited for his spotter to get in position. Javier's acknowledgement lights winked red, then yellow, then green. There muffled pop, followed by a hiss, which was punctuted by a loud blast. William heard the distinct cracks of a battle rifle, picking off the confused rebels. William sprinted out of cover, and dove underneath the first tank. He slapped a shaped charge disk onto the tank's vulnerable engine compartment. He crawled to the next tank, and placed another charge. He did this for the first 3 tanks. Javier started switching buildings, making it nearly impossible for the rebels to triangulate his location. They fired blindly, hoping for luck hits.

William rolled, and came up behind a footsoldier. He slashed the man's throat from behind and with one fluid motion, sheathed the knife, and dived out of sight. The men nearby saw the footsoldier fall, blood spurting out of the wound, and clustered around each other, leaving William's path clear. He had given Javier his grende bandolier, because it would take some time for William to attach enough charges to slow the convoy. He continued attaching the rest of the charges.

Will sent the fallback signal. Javier's fire immiedately halted, and Will could see on his tracker that Javier was headed for the fallback point.

William sprinted back as well. Javier was already waiting for him. The rebels already organized, fanning out to search for the culprits. Javier looked at Will.

"Do it already!"

William complied. He pressed the detonator, and watched as the convoy be engulfed in simultaneous explosions. William had concentrated on taking out the ammuntions trucks, knowing the munitions inside of them would multiply the blast. 7 charges, 7 fireballs. The two front MBT's looked intact, but they were definitely not moving anywhere soon. The side streets were too small to fit the rest of the convoy, leaving no choice but to get the MBT's repaired, or out of the way to get the convoy moving again. The munitions trucks blew, but the secondary explosions William had hoped for were weaker than he hoped for, most likely just a crate of grenades going off.

The APC that William had bombed had been destroyed, it's flaming wreck further obstructing the convey.

Javier nodded in approval. He gave William his bandolier back. 2 flashbangs, 1 smoke, and 3 frags were all that remained.

"We'll have to take one hell of a detour around these guys. They'll be searching for us within a one mile radius."

William activated the SATNAV, and mentally plotted a new route. It would take them a good hour to retrace back, and loop around.


A sudden jolt rocked Ulrich to consciousness. He blinked twice, clearing his vision. He tried to lift his arms, but found them strapped down, along with his legs. He could only lift his head. He looked around him. Ulrich noted that he was in a Pelican. He could see Aelita up near the far side of the bay, monitoring the medical equipment. Another soldier was in a harnessed into a seat on Ulrich's right side by his feet. The soldier's helmet was off, placed on the seat next where he sat. His head was bandaged, and arm in a sling. He saw Ulrich looking at him, and he nodded in acknowledgement. The unnamed soldier looked away, grimancing in pain, clutching his side.

Sound started returning to his ears. The thrum of the Pelican floated into his ears. There was another bang, and the craft started shaking, only to stop a few moments later.

The COMlink in Ulrich's helmet was still working. Aelita had left Ulrich's helmet because the helmet had a oxygen-concentrator filtration system, which she had turned all the way up. It was substituting for the oxygen tanks and masks she didn't have.

"Thunder's Fury, come in. This is Bravo-1. We're on approach vector, and we've got bogies on our 6. I can't shake em."

"Roger that. Our Longsword crews are busy holding off rebel fighters, but we'll get some guys there."

"Affirmative. Bravo-1 out."

Ulrich could feel the slight gravity flucations as the Pelican engaged in a series of evasive manuevers. His head was pounding intensely, sensitive to the constantly changing g forces.

Aelita leaned over his rig, checking his wounds. Ulrich's vision swam, and fell to blackness.


Theo blasted forward, jinking his craft left and right, hoping that it would stay in one piece for a few minutes longer.

The Hornet was in a sorry shape. The thing was barely flying, loaded down with its two pilots and another three ODST soldiers. The engine's roof panels were slagged, partially blocking the air vents, and pinching off the auxillary coolant pipes. The turbines were shot through with bullet holes, and were issuing a grating sound. Steering flaps had also been partially jammed, making for slow reaction from the craft, and limiting the full range of motion. The engine itself was hit, and was only producing 60 percent of it's power. Theo knew very well that if he eased down the throttle, he'd never get back up to the same level of speed. Theo was pretty sure they were leaking coolant and gas too.

Kleinsorge was dead too. Shot through by a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Theo held his emotions in check. There would be time later to mourn for his copilot. Now, all that mattered was reaching the UNSC lines.

His control panel was a mess. Virtually every single error light was on, telling him that the he should land NOW.

UNSC forward bases beckoned to him. Theo willed the craft to move faster, away from the pursing rebel forces. Warning tones issued from the dash.

A slew of chaingun rounds slashed into the portside of the Hornet. The Hornet spun out of control, leaving a trail of black, acrid smoke. Theo wrenched his yoke the other way, trying to compensate for the sputtering portside turbine.

"HQ, come in! This is Hornet Theta-One! I'm hit! I can't hold her, we're going down!"

Theo readjusted the power levels between the two turbines, trying to stabilize the craft as much as possible. The Hornet tumbled out of the air, accelerating faster and faster towards the ground. Theo released the cross-safties, and ejected the ODST troopers. He made one last adjustment, and bailed out himself.

The ejection rig emitted an anti-gravity field, catching him. Theo turned to see his faithful aircraft, carrying his dead comrade, to his funeral pyre. The craft smashed into the ground, fireballing as the remaining jet-grade fuel exploded. Below him, Theo spotted the black dots of the ODST soldiers rapidly switching the gravity fields on and off, allowing for a quick descent.

Theo followed suit. The rigs were in their first generation of use, and did not have the ability to control it's level of power output, hence the only way to drop quickly was switching the rig on and off. He fumbled with his flight harness, and pulled out his M9 service pistol. He racked the slide, and hoped he didn't have to use it. The ODST's had already touched down. Theo aimed his feet towards them, and decsended quickly.

The ODST hefting a Battle Rifle had already taken charge.

"The forward bases are that was. Lets get our asses moving, sir."

Theo was wondering why he was being addressed with the title of sir, but quickly realized, he was of the highest rank.

Theo nodded.

One of the ODST's leveled his AR. "Incoming!" He fired off a trio of bursts out of his MA5B. The other two ODSTs quickly took cover, returning fire. Theo felt completely out of his depth, but dove for cover. The leading ODST waved at Theo, shouting, "Go, head back! We'll hold them!"

Theo swallowed, counted a heartbeat, and dashed out. He held out his pistol arm, and fired wildly into the rebel footsoldiers. He rolled behind a Dumpster. He popped up, and fired a couple of shots, before crouching back down and reloading.

Moments later, the ODST who had raised the alarm, dove behind the dumpster with Theo. He glanced at Theo's pistol with a hint of disgust, before saying:

"Here, take this. It'll do you alot better than that peashooter." He handed Theo a M75 caseless submachine gun, and a belt of clips. Theo strapped on the belt without a word, reholstering his pistol. The SMG felt heavy in his hands.

The ODST tapped his shoulder. "Fallback now!"

Theo crouch-ran, looking for another suitable barrier. He vaulted over the street rubble, weaved past the burned wrecks of cars, and leapt behind a concrete divider. He turned, and came face to face with a leering skull. Theo swore in suprise, but examined the skeleton closer. It wore the tattered remains of a UNSC uniform, with hands clasped over it's chest, covering a monstrous hole in his ribcage. Theo winced. He patted down the corpse, and was rewarded with a single frag grenade.

"Let's move!"

The machine gun-toting ODST ran past him, shouting at Theo.

"Snipers are pinning the other two down! Come on, we gotta get 'em out!"

The heavyset ODST ran into a back alley. Theo quickly followed. There was a back door, which the ODST promptly kicked down.

"Be careful. Stay behind me, and watch our backs. There's bound to be some creepers in here."

Theo nodded.

"Here, take these."

The ODST handed Theo a silencer and several clips of ammunition, pausing briefly to show Theo how to thread the silencer onto the barrel.

They slowly proceeded through the building. So far, empty.

"Hurry up! Those snipers have our asses pinned! Come on, get going!"

"Roger that, Red-One. We're getting closer."

"So's my next birthday! Get moving!"

They hustled up a set of stairs. They slowly crept down the hall, finding few rebel soldiers, who were killed quickly and silently. The pair made their way further down, pausing at the top of a second stairwell.

There was a harsh splintering sounds, followed by a grating voice yelling out commands.

"Dam it. They're breaking through that door down there! I'll hold them off here. You'll have to take those snipers out yourself. Use your iron sights, they'll help you aim better. Last I saw, those snipers were in the top floor of the brick office building, 1st and 3rd windows. Go!"

The ODST primed a grenade, and tossed down the stairs. The grenade detonated, blowing the door outwards, killing several rebel soldiers. He sprayed the area down with his machine gun.

He turned back to Theo. "What are you doing? Get going!"

Theo turned and continued down the hallway. He carefully cleared each room, his silenced M75 coughing out quiet death.

He entered the last room. The occupant spun around, too late. Theo fired.

He stepped over the soldier, and to the window. Next to it there was a .50 caliber sniper rifle, which the rebel soldier had just finished setting up when Theo arrived.

It was bolted down into the window frame on a bipod mount. Theo slung the M75, and grasped the sniper rifle.

Theo scanned the buildings. There. A red bricked building. He peered through the scope, digital readouts feeding him distance and wind direction.

One of the snipers popped up, in the first window, like the ODST had said. He took a shot, and ducked down again. Theo didn't really care. He was using a .50 caliber. He approximated where the sniper would be, and shot straight through the wall. He pumped in a second round just in case.

He did the same for the second sniper, who he found now on the rooftop, firing from the fire escape in a prone position.

Theo got him on the first shot.

He got up, and took apart the rifle, and pocketed the slide, preventing further rebel use.

A rip of machinegun fire reminded him to return to the ODST.

He hurried down the hall. The ODST was crouched at the top of the stairwell, eyes trained on the door at the bottom of the stairs, and the doors leading back down towards the exit. He saw Theo approaching.

"You got em?"

"Yeah. There was a guy back there setting up a .50 cal. He just finished when I got him."

"Good. Lets rendevous back with the others."

He threw a smoke grenade down the stairwell, then planted a claymore at the crux of the stairs.

"Come on, let's go."

The ODST turned and went back the way they came. Theo followed closely.

They found the other two ODST's waiting for them in the back alley.

"What took you guys so long? I was about to unpack my lunch" the lead ODST joked.

"Hey, we got them, didn't we?"

The second ODST spoke up

"Lets just get our asses moving. These rebel sons of bitches don't mess around. My COMlink picked up some chatter. They're mobilizing sime kind of aerial strike. Grid 15 by 4, something like that."

"We got to get that intel back to base. Some serious shit might be going down."

"Right." came the unison reply.

Theo spoke up.

"We should go east of here. Aerial intel photos I saw showed that area to be no man's land. We should be able to sneak our way back to UNSC lines. Plus, last I heard, UNSC HQ was sending in patrol teams. With any luck, we'll meet up with a patrol team. That area might even be under UNSC control again."

"Good. We have a plan. Let's go."


When I was writing the section on Theo's crash, I thought that it would be pretty nice if I, or someone else, could turn this into a game. With that in mind, I started altering my writing style, and made some adjustments to the plotline. THe major events are still the same, but some of the tiny events have been replaced, removed, or rewritten.