Master Chief had never seen anything like this before in his rounds on HALO. It looked like a Covenant Elite, but it was mangled to the point of not being able to be recognized. As a matter of fact, the mutations of the Elite had seemed so extensive to the point of bodily augmentation. As to how it had managed to survive in a sub-marine environment, Master Chief was clueless, but he didn't want to stay any longer and find out. He headed for where he'd come in.

You can't just leave, Cortana started, You've got a mission to finish.

"Does it look like we can even start this mission, Cortana?" Master Chief replied, "The ship is flooded, and Captain Keyes specifically said that the ship had to remain intact. I'm relatively sure that no energy-based system could survive liquid submersion."

Point well taken, Cortana answered, I'm marking of the Banshee as a NAV point.

"Great," Master Chief replied, "Thanks."

And with that, he sped his approach to the gash in the dropship's hull, with the creature in close proximity all the while.

Master Chief, Cortana started, Whatever the hell that thing is, it's closing in… fast.

"Understood," Master Chief replied, "We're almost to the Banshee—and then we'll neutralize the threat… in class."

Cortana laughed, Now that's the most sensible thing that you've said all day.

"Yeah, I thought so," Master Chief answered, clearing the hole.

"Eeeeeeraaaaaaaaah!" the creature screamed, coming closer and closer to Master Chief. But the scream was ignored as Master Chief neared the surface of the water.

Our friend back there's getting a little close, Cortana started, Too close, in fact.

"Just a second," Master Chief replied, "We've only got ten more meters to the Banshee."

We're not gonna make it! Cortana yelled, We're not gonna…

But before she could say another word, Master Chief leapt out of the water, and landed just feet away from his final destination. Without another thought, he clambered into the Banshee, and engaged the anti-grav pods, and ascended into the sky. As soon as he was relatively sure that he was at a safe distance from the creature, he fingered in the commands to activate the magnification on the Banshee's display.

"What the hell is it?" Master Chief asked, "And how did it get here?"

I don't know, Cortana started, But I wouldn't want to get too close to it. It looks dangerous.

"Agreed," Master Chief replied, "We're safe up here."

He couldn't have been more wrong though, and he found this out when the creature leapt the thirty meters to the Banshee and clung on, bashing in the metal finish.

"Dammit!" Master Chief yelled, "I can't shake him! Hold on! We're going down!"

The Banshee screamed as it plummeted toward the ground, with its unintended cargo. Moments later, they were all on the ground, and Master Chief was jammed in between the canopy and body of the Banshee, with no means of escape—that is, until the creature pried the canopy clean off the craft.

"Thanks a lot, buddy," Master Chief started, "But this is where I say goodbye."

With that, he pulled out his assault rifle, and pulled on the trigger… to no avail.

MA5B Assault Rifle Malfunction—Weapon mechanics flooded.

"Damn," Master Chief started, "This just isn't my day."

All of a sudden, his right arm punched forward into the chest of the creature, and pulled back out with some kind of spore secured in the palm. Then, the left arm shot forward into the creature's neck, and turned one hundred eighty degrees, snapping the neck. The creature fell to the ground.

Incredible, Cortana started, Your vitals are off the charts! What the hell is going on?

Master Chief stood there, still grasping the spore in his hand, "I don't know—I really don't."

Whatever the hell that is, Cortana started, We'd better take it back to the base to check it out.

"Agreed," Master Chief replied, storing the spore in one of the armor's vacuum-pockets, "Cortana, a NAV point to the base camp, if you please."

Affirmative, Cortana replied, NAV point marked.

"Thanks," Master Chief answered, "For everything."

Don't go soft on me now, Chief, Cortana started, Let's just get back to the base in one piece. That'll be thanks enough for me.

Master Chief nodded, and took off toward the NAV point on his HUD. As he did, he thought about the dropship back in the lake. What was the creature that had done all that damage? Was it only one of them, or were there still more back in the ship? And what was causing all of these malfunctions to his armor? Was it the long-since-destroyed Covenant energy cell? Too many questions—he'd make sure to get them answered when they got back to the camp. He knew that Keyes knew more than he was talking about. For the past few weeks, Keyes had been holding himself up in his private tent. Keeping secrets from the other men, including Master Chief.

I know what you're thinking, Chief, Cortana started, But Captain Keyes is a good man. He'd never keep anything from us unless it was to our direct benefit.

"You know," Master Chief replied, "Sometimes having you in my mind is a bit disconcerting."

Hey, I aim to please, Cortana answered.

Master Chief didn't answer, but a smirk spread across his face as he zoomed closer and closer to the base camp.

Hold on, Chief, Cortana started, I'm reading massive bio-signs on the motion tracker.

Master Chief came to a stop and looked at his motion tracker. Sure enough, there were some rather large blips closing in on his position. Approximately ten meters and closing. The blips were large, but not large enough to be Hunters, and not small enough to be Elite. They were something… different. But there was something familiar about the signature, but it came too late.

Look, Cortana started, Over there in the bushes!

Master Chief quickly looked over to the right and saw another one of the creatures coming from behind a bush, followed by another creature, and then another, smaller in size.

"What the hell are these things?" Master Chief asked, "And why the hell are they chasing me?"

I..I, Cortana stammered, I don't know…

"If you don't know that, do you at least know how I can get rid of them as quickly as possible?"

I can't seem to see any weaknesses in the larger ones' physical integrity, Cortana started, But there are obvious weaknesses to the smaller one. I think that a few quick shots with your pistol could destroy its legs.

"Acknowledged," Master Chief replied, pulling out his pistol, "This'll only take a few seconds."

With that, Master Chief opened fire on the creature's legs, and watched as it went down. Although it wasn't dead, it was rendered harmless by the inability to walk. However, the two larger creatures maintained their course towards Master Chief.

"Any ideas for his big brothers?" Master Chief asked, backing away.

No, Cortana replied, You're on your own for this one—why not do to them what you did to the other one back on the shore?

"Because I didn't purposely do that back on the shore," Master Chief replied, "But I suppose I could try to mimic the actions…"

Well, Cortana started, Don't let me stop you—have at it.

Without another word, Master Chief lunged forward, and punched his fist into one of the creatures' chest, and ripped out the spore, throwing it to the ground. He didn't even bother snapping the neck, as the creature went down from having the spore removed. However, it was still moving—as was the other creature, so he decided to take the third creature out with style. He grabbed one of the grenades that he'd taken from back at the base camp, palmed it, and jabbed the fist into the creatures ribcage, twisted his hand, and rested the grenade next to a beating heart. He fingered in the activation sequence, and when he heard the confirmation beeps, he pulled his hand out, and ran for the nearest cover. He ducked behind it, and covered the back of his neck.

BAAAAAAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosion, had Master Chief been a normal soldier, would have deafened him. However, thanks to the armor's shielding, he was left without little more than a few dirt specks from the crater where the creatures had been only moments before.

An excellent maneuver, Chief, Cortana said, Now let's get back to the camp.

"Agreed," Master Chief replied, "On my way."

With that, he turned and began running toward the NAV point once more, and reached the base camp in five minutes, only to find that it had been totally ransacked.

All of the tents were set on fire, and there were traces of plasma discharge all over the rocky walls of the gorge.

"The Covenant," Master Chief started, surveying the damage, "…Captain Keyes…"

Scanning for survivors, Cortana started, and then paused. Master Chief began to walk around the campsite, looking for any signs of survivors himself.

I'm detecting one life form, Cortana started, But it's very weak. I'm marking it off on your HUD.

Master Chief nodded, and followed the signal on his HUD to his target. And was surprised to find that it was a Covenant Grunt, just barely hanging on to life.

"Aaaaaaugh!" the Grunt yelled, reaching for a plasma pistol, "Get away! Get away!"

"What happened here, worm?" Master Chief asked, crunching the Grunt's paw under his immense boot.

"I'll never tell you, human!" the Grunt replied, reaching up to it's face mask. And without another word, it peeled off the facemask, and died instantly.

We won't be getting anything out of him, Cortana started, Let's get moving. With any luck, the Covenant just took Keyes prisoner.

"Do you actually believe that?" Master Chief asked.

I'm not willing to take any chances, Cortana replied, We can't afford to lose him. We've already suffered enough lost heroes in this war.

Master Chief nodded, and head off toward the nearest Covenant encampment.