Chapter 2:

"What Goes Up Must Come Down"

A/N: Please enjoy this new chapter, thank you my peers for all the follows and favorites. Please review, all constructive feed back is welcomed. As always both Halo and Game of Thrones belong to their respective owners and I make no money from this, I merely do this for fun. Rated M

Winterfell Home of the Starks in the North, Unknown Date

Robb Stark could not sleep, in a span of a few days he lost two brothers, two sisters, and a Father. His brother Jon is currently traveling with the "Imp" Tyron Lannister to the Wall to join the Nights Watch and finally rid himself of Catelyn's hateful glares. While still alive it would be some time before Robb ever saw his half-brother Jon. His other brother Bran is in a coma after an unfortunate fall from one of Winterfell's towers not two days ago and is yet to awake. As for his father and two sisters they are currently on their way to Kings Landing along with a few Stark guards, the royal family and their entourage. His father's longtime friend and current king of the seven kingdoms Robert Baratheon offered his father, Eddard Stark, to become his new hand after the untimely death of Jon Aryn and one does not refuse the king.

Which brings Robb to his current situation. Awake before the crack of dawn atop one of Winterfell's many towers and alone with his thoughts. It seems as if his family is slowly becoming more and more separated from one another. This is what worries him the most. There is a reason that the Stark's sigil is a Direwolf. The Direwolf is the strongest when they are with their pack. That is the source of their power, together a pack of Direwolves can overcome anything. Robb thinks quietly to himself. It's when we Starks are separated that we are at our weakest…Robb bitterly reminds himself.

As the sun peaks over the horizon, Robb Stark current lord of Winterfell finds a brief moment of peace as a new day dawns upon the Stark's ancestral home. The North truly is beautiful, a savage beauty but a beauty none the less. Robb calmly thinks to himself.

It is then just after Robb Stark has enjoyed his precious moment of peace that his eyes are once more drawn to still darken bit of sky left. A bright flash of white appears for the briefest of seconds before separating into eight different sets of lights. It is unlike anything that Robb has ever witness before. Are those stars? Perhaps shooting stars? Robb wonders to himself as he is now entrapped by the sight before him. It almost seems like a few of them are getting closer… Oh shit they are! Robb is blown back by the sheer force of the unknown objects as they streak above Winterfell. There is a distinct boom as the objects land somewhere behind Winterfell, the ground itself also shakes.

"My lord? Are you alright?" Ser Rodrick asks with a concern laced voice while offering a hand to the fallen lord. "What in the name of the Old and the Seven was that?" Ser Rodrick's ask in more of a whisper once Robb takes the hand and is on his own feet once more.

There is a brief pause as both men turn to stare at where the strange objects crash landed at. In more of a low whisper then anything else Robb turns to Ser Rodrick and says "Ready a party at once, I want to know what in the name of the Old gods and New those things are."

"Yes my lord" States Ser Rodrick very flatly before taking one more look to where the sky objects fell and then leaving.

**Line Break**

"How about next time you let me drive, eh Boss?" Professor groans out in mix of pain and grogginess. Attempting to stand but failing to do so he adds on "Let's never do that again."

"Yeah Boss I got to agree with the Professor on that one." Wolf says before attempting to shake away the stars from her vison. Propping herself on one knee she looks towards Boss before saying "Let's never do that again!" Crossing her arms she sighs, before standing up and walking towards Shepherd.

"Well then next time I'll ask Covenant to stop shooting at us nicely." Shepherd says while still on his back. "But yeah I agree with both of you. I never want to do that again…" Boss says with his eyes closed before noticing an intimating figure above him. Said figure's hand comes extending outwards towards him. Grabbing Wolf's hand, she helps pull him up back onto his feet. "Alright Guardian's sound off" states Shepherd as he looks around their crash site.

"Wolf still standing sir" states Wolf.

"Professor still breathing sir" replies Professor.

Expecting for Ghost and Hero to chime in, Shepherd waits a moment. There is an unsettling silence as there are no more replies. Instead all that meets him is silence as the two members of Guardian squad fail to answer. "Hero? Ghost?" Ask Boss before attempting to reach them over their team Com "Dam it" Boss lets lose a frustrated sigh. "Hero respond dam it" Radio static is all that greets Shepherds' ears. "Ghost do you copy?" there is nothing but static once more.

"Is anyone receiving any feed from the STARS?" Boss ask after check that his TEAMCOM is still working.

"No, nothing sir" replies Wolf.]

"Same here Boss, I'm not getting anything from the STARS" says Professor.

There is a small pause in which none of the guardians speak, instead both Wolf and Professor look towards their fearless leader for direction in this wholly unusual situation. After a few more seconds pass the leader of fire team Guardians begins to speak with the confidence and authority befitting a man of his station.

"Professor see if you can scrape together some kind of tracker from the pods or see if we have some spare STARS. I want to know where our squad mates are." Shepherd says while looking over their crash site.

To which the Professor replies with "I doubt ONI sent us with any more STARS units, but I may be able to whip something up to track the others down. Nothing fancy, but if the internal transponders are intact and the other pods are still broadcasting then maybe…" leaves the rest unsaid all while staring at their crashed pods. The professor starts walking over to one of the down

"While you do that I'm start taking inventory and see what we have to work with…" there is a slight pause before he turns and looks towards Wolf and continues speaking "While we're doing that Wolf, I want you to scout the immediate area. Maybe Hero or Ghost landed a bit further away and are having com troubles." She nods her acknowledgement as he continues to speak "I also want to know if there are any hostiles with in the immediate area as well" Shepherd says before turning to look once more at the their five slip space drop pods.

"Got it Boss" Wolf replies swiftly before graceful moving towards her pod to secure her weapons. Already magnetically attached to her thigh is her M40 pistol, the standard pistol of the UNSC. Once near the entrance her hands quickly grab her MA5K Carbine. An unseen tension leaves her body as her shoulders visually relax a bit with the familiar weight of the carbine in her hands once more. Next she grabs one of two Covenant Energy sword that ONI so gracefully supplied them with. After magnetically attaching it to her free thigh Wolf grabs another piece of Covenant technology referred to as a "Jackal Energy Shield" by the UNSC, is a personal energy shield which after enough punishment will fail. With all her gear ready to go, she sneaks off to run reconnaissance of the immediate area.

*Line Break*

At an unknown location where it is cold, Date Unknown

"Oi? What do you think it is?" A gruff voice ask while staring at the strange figure entombed within the metal coffin. "I thinks he's dead. No way he be breathing in there." The gruff voice huffs out.

"Maybe…" a shriller voice replies back with contemplation written across his face. "Looks to be sleeping though, not dead." He adds quickly before turning his gaze from his companions to the strange metal contraception

"Well how'd we make sure then?" A feminine voice answers this time.

"That's easy" the gruff voice responds with by picking up a large rock in his hands. "We take him out." The gruff voice replies before striking the drop pod with said rock. As he bangs away at the metal contraption his companions merely stare as the sound of metal meeting rock greets their ears. A few minutes pass before the large gruff man finally begins to show signs of tiring without any sign of dent in the metal coffin. "This…an't… working…." The gruff voice huffs out in between breathes.

"Well Jarodr maybe we should try something…." The feminine begins to say before seeing the movement within the coffin…

Fuck that's the last time I ever do a slip space drop. Hero thinks to himself as he tries to blink the stars away from his vision. "Ugh my head" he mumbles to himself as his hand searches for the manual release for the hatch. Where the hell am I? Is that snow? Bruce thinks to himself. As a result of his highly trained reflexes he finds the release as well as grabs his M40 pistol. There's a slight hiss as the air escapes and the hatch blows clear off the pod.

"Run!" shouts the shrill voice as part of the metal objects shoots up into the night sky. The three companions run off into different directions like bats out of hell. One ducks behind a nearby tree, while the two other take refugee behind a giant rock. Once behind cover two of the three people draw their bows and train their sights onto the now exposed part of the metal object. After a few seconds a figure clad in unknown armor rises from the metal coffin.

"Huh, well this a warm welcome" Bruce replies once seeing the two sets of figures pointing the primitive forms weaponry at him.

*Line Break*

At an unknown location where it is hot, Date Unknown

The heat. That's what Ghost first notices as she steps out into rusty colored sand with her sniper rifle at the ready, prepared to eliminate any potential threats. Her Sniper Rifle System 99C-Series 2 Anti-Material B is said to be able to take the hat off an Elite at 2,000 yards while in the hands of a professional sharpshooter and Ghost is no amateur. Once determining that there are no threats within the immediate area, aside from perhaps the sun she attempts to contact her fire team. "This is Spartan G-333 to fire team Guardians. Does anyone copy?" No response comes back. "Boss do you copy?" static greets her ears once more. Maybe it's an equipment problem? Wolf thinks to herself in a halfhearted attempt to provide an answer.

Doing a quick system check from the HUD of her suit reveals green lights all across the board. Great everything working, so it's not the equipment…Maybe I can get their position from the STARS (Small Tactical Satellite Network). Should only take a second to get a fix on their location. "And of course, the dam STARS network isn't responding either" Says Ghost in a frustrate tone to herself. Taking in her current environment once more, she stares at the barren lands that currently surround the crashed drop pod. For as far as Ghost is able to see, which with enhanced senses is quite far, there is nothing but the harsh and desolate desert.

I have a limited amount of food and water and a finite supply of ammo, though based on what's around me water is my biggest concern. While we Spartans are far more resilient then the average human, doesn't mean we're immortal and don't need to consume food, water, or preform other necessary humanly functions. Despite what the ONI propaganda would have people believe, Spartans at their core are still human. If I'm going to survive I have to find a suitable source of fresh water. The only question is which way to travel in…

Ghost turns to face the drop pod, deciding to head west once she gather all her supplies. Reaching inside to grab her M7 Caseless Submachine Gun and attaching said weapon to her left thigh. Ghost also retrieves an empty pack which she fills with a few fragmentation grenades, several spare magazines for her rifle and submachine gun respectively and several other necessary supplies.

With everything gathered and ready to go, Ghost slings her sniper rifle across her shoulder and begins to walk in a west ward direction as indicated by her HUD. "Maybe I can find some kind of indigenous population" she says to herself as walks off into the distance before softly speaking "Well I've always wanted to boldly go where no man has gone before…"

*Line Break*

In the North somewhere near Winterfell, Date Unknown

Robb Stark the current Lord of Winterfell is at the forefront of a party of men numbering closely to 15 men at arms. The goal of said group revolved around the strange occurrence which happened last night while most of Winterfell slept. Aside from the few guards that were on guard duty last night who witnessed the unknown lights that speed past Winterfell, nearly everyone was awaken once they heard the sound of metal meeting earth.

The column of men were heading towards the area where Robb saw the alien lights land. At the head of the column speaking to Robb is Ser Rodrick. "My lord, I believe that we're nearing the site where those strange lights fell." Ser Rodrick says to Robb while keep an eye on their surroundings.

In response Robb merely nods his head, while a feeling of unease grows within his stomach. "Ser Rodrick, is it me or does it feel as if we are being watched?" Robb ask with wariness in his voice.

"Aye my lord I feel it as well" replies Ser Rodrick while his eyes continue to sweep the immediate area for trouble.

"Yet I see nothing out of the ordinary…This is troubling. Perhaps we should have brought more men with us?" Robb questions more to himself than anyone.

Despite this Ser Rodrick replies with "To late for that now my lord, besides I wouldn't feel right leaving Winterfell so under guarded."

"Aye that is a fair point" Robb speaks with contemplative tone.

What both men and their party failed to see was the slight shimmer of light that was currently following the group men. "Boss we got incoming, group of fifteen guys on horseback" speaks Wolf over the fire team's TEAMCOM.

"Acknowledge Wolf keep track of their progress we'll let them come to us, but say hidden if things go south I'd like to have an Ace up my sleeve." Boss responds to Wolf's transmission.

"Umm Boss that's all good in all, but there's something else you should know about these locals…" Wolf pauses as the eyes of one of the lead men stop to stare at the exact ground on which she stands.

"What's that?" Boss says over the crackling of the radio.

"They're dress like something straight out of a medieval story, hell they're even carrying swords sir. There's also a sever lack of any modern technology, and if I didn't know any better I sir I'd bet my steak that they're the real deal." Wolf quickly speaks to the radio while slowly backing away from her current spot.

There's a slight pause before her ears are greeted with static before boss speaks into the TEAMCOM "That's a bit troubling, or should I say suspicious at the very least. Keep an eye out for any more weird stuff Wolf".

But this entire situation is odd. I mean who are these guys? On horseback with swords it's almost as if we've traveled back in time! Wolf thinks to herself. Her eyes locked onto the man who had all but stop in his tracks to continue to stare at the very ground where she stands. Crap, he can't see me, can he? No of course he can't what am I saying. She thinks while raising her MA5K carbine, from a relaxed position to that of a battle ready one.

"Ser Rodrick do you see something" Asks Robb who has now noticed that Ser Rodrick has stop riding forward.

Ser Rodrick fails to replies, instead still starring at the single patch of ground as if it hid some secret. As to what that was he had no clue. "No my lord, just a trick of the light is all" responds Ser Rodrick before continuing to ride on ahead. "Perhaps we should dismount and walk from here my lord, the horses may cause too much noise and alert anyone there of our immediate presence. What say you, Lord Stark?"

Robb has never been one for tricks or deception when it comes to battle, instead preferring to attack head on; however that being said Robb is no stranger to such tactics. Hmm maybe he's right. Better to have the advantage of surprise on our side, then give said advantage away by charging in halfcocked. Looking behind him before speaking "Alright men, dismount and keep quiet we don't know what to expect. Therefore keep your wits about you and your swords at the ready. Bron, Gerad, and Kronk stay with the horses, the rest of you with me!" Robb says with a voice of authority.

"Boss they're getting closer to your position. ETA 1 Mike, requesting new orders sir." Wolf whispers out into the Guardian's TEAMCOM.

"Keep to the shadows and stay hidden. Like I said before you're the trump card if things go south Wolf. Besides I think it's time that I meet these locals…" Boss replies back to Wolf. In response wolf replies back with her green acknowledgement light to the situation and continues to stalk the band of now 12 men. As they close in on her fellow Spartans.