Disclaimer: I own nothing. Also some of the dialogue characters and settings are taken directly from the game and/or book Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood, so don't give credit to where it isn't due. I am merely a blender, blending things... sort of... And read the Halo books, they kick some serious Covenant ass.
Chapter 3: Autumn's End
Chief Petty Officer Spartan John 117 shook off the effects of cryosleep and followed the instructions of the technicians around him as they tested his MJOLNIR suit's shields and sensors. The captain's voice had gone off over the internal communications speakers that the Covenant had boarded and if that hadn't been enough of a warning the plasma rifle fire and the appearance of a Covenant Elite did the trick. A lifetime of training and advanced and painful genetic augmentation quickly kicked in and John 117 followed the technician shouting to him to get to the bridge. The man didn't make it very far though as the Pillar of Autumn took a hit from a Covenant Seraph fighter and a nearby pipeline burst, spewing forth a minor explosion and fire that unfortunately consumed the UNSC crewman. Pausing only to check his own status, Spartan 117 turned and worked his way over a gap within the pipes and towards the bridge.
The journey to the bridge turned out to be a bit longer than was necessary as they were boarded and the doors began sealing to prevent the Covenant from getting in too deeply. Within several minutes, John 117 found himself standing outside of the Pillar of Autumn's bridge and the Spartan II keyed in his access code, entering as the command crew attempted to manage an unwinnable situation.
From a Sith landing craft filled with members of the Sixth Legion of the Star Forge, Darth Revan the Dark Lord of the Sith's right hand twitched. Catching himself before it could happen again the Dark Lord rested one hand against the back of the transport pilot's seat and the other on his belt. Death, different from the ones he had sensed when the Covenant ships were destroyed began echoing in the Force. It felt wrong, somehow and the Dark Lord fought to keep his hand steady. It was an old problem that had stemmed from the first battle he and the other Jedi had participated in during the Mandalorian wars and it happened much too many times for the Dark Lord's taste.
"Have a wing of our fighters break off and see about that mystery ship."
The pilot nodded and quickly followed orders, relaying Revan's and watching his readouts as they neared Halo.
"Sir, First Squadron has broken off and is performing reconnaissance. Rules of engagement?"
Revan pondered the situation for a moment before deciding to follow an old Mandalorian saying. The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy.
"Attack only if fired upon."
The order was passed along and Revan stood back from the pilot's seat, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the ringworld grow closer and closer.
"Sir, First Squadron reports they've taken fire from the ships identifying themselves as Covenant and they are returning fire."
The Dark Lord nodded, his right hand playing with the fabric of his cloak, opening and closing around it.
"Status on the rest of the battle group?"
Revan asked, his mask's readouts going dark as a nearby explosion from the Pillar of Autumn gave off an electromagnetic pulse.
"First Squadron is taking heavy losses from the Covenant craft... Malak has yet to find a suitable jump point and the Revenge's engines are restored but shields are still out as well as weapons."
A pause and then Revan flicked the side of his mask, rebooting its sensors.
"Engage Second and Fourth Squadrons around the unknown vessel, has the unidentified craft fired on us?"
The pilot quickly checked his readout, shaking his head.
"No, Milord. They seem to be only defending themselves and their fighters have all been destroyed..."
Revan took in a deep breath, pondering the value of an ally within the unknown galaxy.
"Put me through to Captain Desara."
A status light within Revan's mask flashed, giving the Dark Lord a direct line to his flagship.
"Captain, is the Revenge capable of defending herself?"
A pause followed before the captain responded.
"Negative, Milord. We still need to rebuild the Core and our maintenance crew is rather... dead, sir."
Revan uncrossed his arms, drawing them together at the small of his back and stood straight.
"Then our hands are tied. Have Malak continue the holding pattern and keep me informed of any survivors of the unknown ship, should she crash we will provide sanctuary if they prove to be more receptive than the Covenant to our presence here."
A pause over the comm lines and the Captain agreed, turning her attention from the Dark Lord to the Revenge. Darth Revan turned and entered the transport's cargo area, staring at his faceless soldiers a moment before passing along what he knew.
"It seems the aliens that attacked us earlier and identified themselves as the Covenant have enemies here. We still haven't isolated the biological signs of the unknown craft but assume they are human. We'll be landing on what I believe to be a Forerunner structure and from there we will begin securing a ground base for further operations. Don't worry about the infiltrators, my own personal assassin is tracking them as we speak."
From her seat within the hold, Bastila Shan shifted uneasily, her constant use of the Force to shield herself wearing on her Jedi training.
"We cannot send assistance to the unknown ship yet, but hopefully we'll be able to track down survivors... Our fighter squadrons are paying dearly to keep them in one piece..."
From the bridge of the Pillar of Autumn, Captain Jacob Keyes gnawed on a corncob pipe as he watched a group of unidentified ships intercept and destroy the Covenant Seraph fighters around them. The sight of the massive ring in space the Covenant had dubbed Halo had him nervous as it was but a new player in the game, who's side were they on and how advanced were they.
"Cortana... what exactly am I looking at?"
The Artificial Intelligence Construct's voice answered, a hint of uncertainty detectable within her response.
"Unknown craft seem to be using an Ion-based engine drive. Similar material as Halo, sir. They're fast but not faster than the Covenant's plasma turrets. They seem to be taking several hits before going own but they're simply outnumbered. I can't isolate their genetic patterns at the moment and we have Covenant Capitol ships on an intercept course... Luckily for us they seem to be ignoring the Autumn and only attacking Covenant vessels... Oh and Captain, the Master Chief is here."
The Captain turned to meet seven feet of green and black MJOLNIR Mark IV armor.
"Captain Keyes..."
The Spartan greeted, his face indistinguishable beneath a golden-orange faceplate. The Captain collected himself a moment, surprised he did not hear half a ton of man and machine walking up behind him and covering how frayed his nerves were at that. The armor was named for Thor's Hammer from Norse mythology and in the good Captain's opinion it was well named, as were the Spartans who wore it.
"Good to see you Master Chief. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best but- we never really had a chance..."
Cortana's violet form arched a brow at the Captain.
"Nine Covenant battleships against a single Halcyon-class cruiser... With those odds we still had three-"
Cortana gave a momentary pause as if distracted before continuing.
"Make that four kills."
Smiling to herself the AI looked at the massive form of the Master Chief.
"Sleep well?"
The AI asked. The Spartan's gold-orange visor turned to the meter tall AI's projection.
"Yes... No thanks to your driving."
Cortana's smile grew.
"So you did miss me."
Before the Master Chief could continue the banter an explosion rocked the Pillar of Autumn and he looked out of the bridge's windows to see a fighter that did not exist in his suit's identification matrix or in his mind. In truth he'd never seen anything quite like it and could best describe it as a single pod welded between two tilted wings in the form of a bow tie. Unfazed, the Spartan watched the craft maneuver with control even a Covenant Seraph fighter would envy. Beside him Captain Keyes grabbed onto a console for support.
"Report!"
The Captain shouted over the noise reverberating along the Pillar's Hull. The light around Cortana's violet form shimmered to blue as the AI began checking the sensors.
"It must have been one of their boarding parties. My guess is an antimatter charge."
Sabotaged from the inside, Captain Keyes shook his head, standing to his full height and maintaining his command grace. The fire control officer turned from the ship's tactical officer, Lieutenant Hikowa then to the image of Cortana, unsure of who to address.
"Ma'am! Fire control for the main cannon is offline!"
Cortana frowned, looking troubled as she turned to Captain Keyes.
"Captain, the cannon was my last defensive option."
Captain Keyes clenched his jaw, his blue eyes shining like polished steel as he took stock of the situation. They had no fighters space side and no weapons left to throw at the Covenant.
"All right."
Keyes began gruffly.
"I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article Two. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means you too Cortana."
The Cole Protocol was a series of regulations given in regards to a hostile alien situation. Divert their forces from Earth should you retreat and prevent capture or destruction of a ship's AI so it could not be forced to lead the Covenant to Earth or its knowledge lost. That being the simple outline, Cortana had priority over the ship and even a majority of its crew.
"While you do what? Go down with the ship?"
Cortana shot to the Captain, stubbornly laying her hands on her hips. The Captain raised a brow at the challenge in the AI's voice. The AI looked and acted eerily similar to a young Doctor he had helped locate and identify a group of six year old children years before and he had a feeling that was no coincidence.
"In a manner of speaking... The object we found. I'm going to try to land the Autumn on it."
Several of the Autumn's command crew gave the Captain uneasy looks but stayed silent as Cortana retorted, already laying in subroutines to land the Autumn successfully on the ringworld.
"With all due respect... this war has enough dead heroes."
The Captain locked eyes with the AI's projection.
"I appreciate your concern, Cortana- but it's not up to me. The Protocol is clear. The destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable. That means you are abandoning ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones and upload them to my neural lace."
Cortana paused, finishing her calculations and nodded.
"Aye, aye, sir."
Captain Keyes turned to John 117.
"Which is where you come in. Get Cortana off this ship, keep her safe from the enemy. If they capture her, they'll learn everything. Force deployments, weapons research... Earth."
The Master Chief nodded.
"I understand."
Turning to the AI, Keyes asked.
"Are you ready?"
Cortana paused, rechecking her subroutines and nodding.
"Yank me."
The Captain keyes in his code and a series of entries before Cortana's image vanished. Picking up a computer ship, the Captain handed the data chip to the Master Chief, watching as the Spartan II placed the chip directly into his suit's neural uplink; in essence blending the AI's presence with his suit's computer and his own mind. Captain Keyes handed John 117 his sidearm and nodded to the Spartan.
"Good luck, Master Chief."
The Spartan saluted and quickly made his way from the Autumn's bridge, still slightly shivering from the entrance of the AI into his suit. It felt like taking a bath in ice water but the benefits of Cortana's guidance made it more than worthwhile.
"Report from Lord Malak, Milord. Unknown ship has managed to destroy several of its pursuers and is launching lifepods and what appears to be several hundred primitive cryo-stasis pods. Covenant Capitol ships moving to intercept, their fighters are-"
The pilot was silent a moment, his hand clenching.
"Covenant ships are firing on the escape pods and cryo tubes, Milord."
That would simply not do."How unsporting. Have Captain Desara launch our bombers and target the Covenant ships. Have all available fighters not directly protecting the Revenge or this battle group launch and protect those pods. Launch transports to collect the unknown ship's survivors and prepare the medical bay for injured. Do not thaw the pods yet. Not until we confirm the unknown's willingness to aid us. Track the escape pods and send a transport as well as several fighters to each area to secure them. We'll find out soon enough who to trust in this galaxy."
The pilot nodded, glad to finally have something to do besides watching others perish. Revan watched as his landing force thinned with transports and fighters breaking off to follow the UNSC lifeboats to Halo. When only the Pillar of Autumn remained, Revan ordered the other transports to aid those already en route. As the fighters broke away and the UNSC Halcyon cruiser entered Halo's atmosphere, Revan narrowed his eyes at the ship, tapping his visor's control gauntlet until it zoomed in on the image of a single transport breaking away from what he could only guess was the ship's command deck.
"Last ones out, We'll follow them personally."
The Pilot nodded, plotting an intercept course for the Pillar of Autumn's command lifeboat. Three Sith fighters followed Revan's transport as it entered the atmosphere and immediately broke off, rising into Halo's blue sky to engage a Covenant u-shaped dropship.
"That was a rather quick response by the Covenant..."
Revan remarked, for the first time feeling some respect for the aliens that attacked them. They were bastards, yes but efficient ones.
"Scanners on the unknown escape pod. Negative on life signs. Shall I land, Milord?"
The Dark Lord of the Sith nodded, adjusting his gloves before turning and entering the cargo bay of the transport where the dropship's troops awaited orders.
"We're landing to secure a crash site. Shoot anything that doesn't look human, otherwise stun the rest."
The armored Sith hailed their Lord, standing in unison, Bastila's disguised form rising a split-second after the others and preparing to offload. As the transport hovered several meters above Halo's surface, the landing ramp opened and Revan sprinted to the end, leaping out and landing in a roll before coming into a crouch, his crimson lightsaber inactive but in his right hand. Reaching out with the Force, Revan raised a hand, showing a clear sign and the transport lowered several more meters, allowing the Sith to leap from it and onto Halo's surface.
"Orders, sir?"
A Sith Lieutenant asked, saluting Revan. Revan concentrated on the Force a moment before pointing in the direction of a hilly terrain. Bastila Shan landed roughly but recovered and awkwardly walked in the direction of a squad of Sith. She could run, yes but with Darth Revan nearby it was not a very good plan for escape, great if she wanted to commit suicide but not for escape.
"May as well go through the motions... after all I have no idea where I am..."
Bastila's thoughts blanked as she looked up into the sky and caught sight of the curve of Halo rising between the spacial bodies of Threshold and Basis.
"Beautiful..."
The Padawan's mechanically filtered voice remarked, barely distinguishable through the Sith helmet she wore. Darth Revan turned to the disguised Jedi, calling out.
"Most deadly things are, Private. Watch your step."
Bastila looked down and involuntarily took a step back as she spotted a large corpse disposed of carelessly in a ditch. Two Sith troopers inspected the Pillar of Autumn's lifeboat, returning to Revan and reporting that the pod was stripped and a splatter of violet blood as well as a blood trail led to the corpse that Bastila had stumbled upon. Revan knelt beside the Shangheili corpse, inspecting the muscular form, unique armor and mandibled jaw.
"Lovely."
The Dark Lord remarked, his hand searching the creature and lifting a device from its belt. A Sith soldier with a scanner confirmed a plasma based weapon as well as a primitive stealth generator. Revan eyed the device in his hand, appearing to be a handle. The question was a handle to what. Seeing a switch on the handle, Revan decided it wasn't a grenade and depressed the switch, resisting the urge to jump as the weapon hissed and a white blade of light shot out, the superheated plasma forming into a single wide blade but with a distinct curve on either side as well as a groove in the center. The Sith soldiers nearby looked at the weapon in surprise, but quickly moved on, securing the drop zone as the transport rose to return to the Revenge, leaving behind a set of swoop bikes and several cargo containers loaded with supplies and heavy weaponry. The Dark Lord of the Sith tested the weapon, first on the alien's corpse and then on a metal plate of the unknown ship's escape pod.
"Piece of garbage."
Revan remarked, tossing the weapon aside in distaste. It barely had the cutting power of a severely underpowered lightsaber and gave off too much heat to be used for an extended amount of time. The weapon was also difficult to wield in any form other than a simple attack, something Revan was loathe to restrict himself to. The Elite's plasma grenades and plasma rifle proved to be slightly more amusing to Revan since the plasma grenade seemed to stick to the tree he had thrown it at and the plasma weapon overheated after a sustained amount of fire, forcing it to recharge.
"I see why they carry the swords now."
Revan remarked, looking at the swoop bikes for a moment before turning and searching for Bastila Shan's armored form.
"Private."
Revan called, Bastila turned, startled and executed a bow. Revan narrowed his eyes, wondering why the Sith did not salute but unconcerned as he pointed to the Swoop bike.
"Can you ride?"
Bastila nodded once, making a mental note to pass along a false name at some point.
"Good, you're with me."
Frowning but acknowledging with another bow, Bastila quickly inspected the swoop bike's controls and seated herself on one while Revan case one final look down at the alien corpse, deciding it was a member of the Covenant that had attacked them and not the survivors of the escape pod. It seemed very unlikely the unknowns would carry plasma weapons when their ship's weapons were reliant on mass acceleration, Revan assumed they would use projectile weapons. Leaping onto his swoop bike, Revan activated the bike's sensors, finding a group of life forms moving through the hills towards what registered as the crash site of the unknown ship.
"Private, might I inquire your name?"
Bastila searched for a moment, before responding.
"Talia Ors, Milord."
Revan nodded, committing the name to memory and motioning to the direction they should go.
"Watch out for tree stumps. Those things kill more swoop pilots than enemy fire."
Bastila nodded nervously, feeling ridiculous. Perhaps she could sabotage Revan's swoop bike when they stopped and escape. That still left the question as to where she was and how exactly she could get back to Coruscant, or any Republic and Jedi friendly world.
"Lord Revan!"
Revan turned to the Sith Lieutenant shouting at him.
"Yes?"
The Dark Lord asked, the Lieutenant looked between the two swoop bikes before speaking.
"There is no Talia Ors in the Sixth Legion, Milord."
Revan frowned, turning to where Bastila had been a moment before to only hear the sound of a repulsor firing as the swoop bike sped away. Watching the bike go, Revan shook his head, laughing at the absurdity of it all.
"Marvelous. I'll track the impostor and get some answers. Secure the surrounding area and dig in. Should any of our Covenant friends arrive, make sure they don't leave."
The Lieutenant saluted shakily, fearful of his own failure to detect the impostor. He had wondered why the headcount for his pod was two off. Turning to the direction Bastila had taken off to, Revan sighed, gunning his swoop bike's engine before breaking away.
"Very resourceful, my young Jedi friend..."
The Dark Lord sighed, pondering whether to spare this Jedi for questioning or to kill her outright. He had a feeling this one was the reason he had had so much difficulty in this galaxy and if that wasn't enough of a reason, the transponder signal of HK-47 moving in towards the armored Sith impostor that had identified herself as Talia Ors was enough. Opening a comm signal to his droid, Revan relayed his coordinates and plotted an intercept course for them to capture the Jedi.
Ahead nearly by a kilometer, Bastila Shan had discarded her blaster rifle and had strapped her lightsaber on the Sith armor's utility belt. Breathing heavily, the Padawan allowed the Force to return to her, knowing that Revan was going to be able to sense her anyways and reaching for the Force to give her any clue as to which direction to go. Above her a strange alien craft screamed by, its body purple and blue as it spun in arcs in the air, trying to gain a lock on something on the ground. Bastila surmised that the craft was one belonging to those who had attacked the Sith but the Padawan recalled hearing the attack was unprovoked and she quickly dismissed the notion of looking to them for help. Her only option, it seemed was to find the survivors of the downed UNSC ship and hopefully be able to talk them into providing her asylum, should Revan find them.
In an entirely different section of Halo, the Master Chief slowly regained consciousness, his armored form rising slowly as he resisted groaning and rubbing his head. The MJOLNIR armor had protected him from the force of the uncontrolled landing but the rest of the lifeboat's crew had not had that luxury, or curse if you looked at it from a different point of view. The Master Chief quickly recovered, thanks to Cortana's directions and quickly grabbed an MA5B assault rifle as well as the M6D sidearm the Captain had provided him with. There was no time to collect tags from the dead and the Spartan narrowly reached a cliff side before a u-shaped Covenant dropship descended, supported by two Banshees and unloaded her burden.
Darth Revan paused, slowing his swoop bike and coming to a stop. In a clearing, the Dark Lord could clearly see a group of dead bodies, some unfamiliar from the mandibled alien he had seen before. Curiosity winning over revenge, Revan allowed Bastila a few precious minutes while he inspected the bodies. Small copper casings littered the ground and the smell of sulfur, potassium and coal was thick in the air. Revan smiled, bending down to collect another strange alien weapon. The device was blue but had a series of violet-pink needles rising from its top. Aiming the weapon and pulling the trigger, the Dark Lord watched as a slow charged needle shot forth, seemingly tracking the dead Covenant body he had fired it at and exploding a moment after imbedding itself in the small creature's canine-like form. The violet explosion of the needler round was helped along by a secondary from the Grunt, or Unggoy's methane breather and Revan rose a brow, tossing the weapon aside and looking at the other unidentified alien corpses. A bird-like creature gazed back at him through dead eyes and Revan took one look at the pistol before sighing, leaving the Jackal, or Kig-Yar where it lay. In the distance a glowing violet ship hovered in the air before descending and Revan abandoned his swoop bike in favor of his Force-enhanced speed as he raced for the ship. It was time to get a closer look at the unknowns and the Covenant's fighting capabilities.
Further ahead from the Covenant dropship, Bastila Shan slowed her stolen Swoop bike and narrowed her gray eyes as they forced to focus through the Sith helmet's unfamiliar displays. A shadow moved through the tree line and the Padawan stopped her swoop bike, reaching out with the Force and detecting several life forms, human life forms.
Back at the Covenant dropship's landing site, Darth Revan stared at the spectacle before him without emotion. A young human woman was tied up and gagged, though it did little to silence her as she screamed and struggled against her bonds. Revan began to feel a flutter of amusement as anger turned to fear at the approach of a group of hulking Elites. Amusement quickly dissolved to disgust, however as the woman, identifying herself as an Ensign Ellen Dowski began begging for her life, offering the Covenants the location of her superiors. Finding it strange that the woman spoke basic, but not pursuing the curiosity, Revan started in the direction of his swoop bike, leaving the foolish girl to her fate. It was obvious the aliens were just going to use her and kill her and he had a feeling her own cowardice was what had gotten her bound and gagged in the first place.
Corporal Wilkins, one of three Marines that had stayed on the Pillar of Autumn to safeguard the command crew's escape stared down the barrel of his MA5B assault rifle with a lowered brow. To his left and right his fellow Marines zeroed in on the unknown hostile. It had been this way for hours it seemed, running and holding off Covenant patrols from the command crew and the Corporal narrowed his eyes at the device the silver-armored being was on. It didn't look like a Covenant Ghost but it operated like one and he wasn't going to take any chances. The only reason he had stayed his trigger finger that long was because of the unknown ships that had held off some of the Covenant fighters when they were in space and the shape of the armor. It almost looked like a human could be in that obnoxious mirror plated suit. The mask of the suit seemed to look directly at him and the Marine let out a calming breath as the alien being before him raised its hands. How the hell had it spotted them?
"I mean you no harm, I've come to speak with you... Are- are you from the ship that crashed? Or- or that escape pod?"
She sounded British to the Corporal and he blinked in surprise. She also sounded nervous.
"Keep your hands up and don't move."
Corporal Wilkins barked, stepping out of his nearly perfect cover and keeping his eyes narrowed.
"Name and rank."
The figure in silver armor shifted uneasily, deciding to avoid using a mind trick at that point.
"Well my rank I would suppose would be a fleet commander. I'm a Padawan within the Jedi Order and a Commander within the Republic... The- aliens that attacked you attacked the vessel I was on as well... I really do mean you no harm, you and your two friends don't need to keep me at gunpoint."
The voice took on an irritated edge, reminding the Corporal of Cortana's when he asked questions too slowly for the AI's liking.
"All the same, Ma'am. I'd feel a lot safer with my weapon pointed at you. Check her for weapons."
One of the marines flanking Corporal Wilkins moved forward, his hand pulling Bastila's lightsaber free from her belt as well as a six inch vibroblade that rested at her hip. Taking a deep breath, Corporal Wilkins hung his assault rifle over his shoulder and pulled out his sidearm, approaching the strange armored woman.
"Are you from one of the colonies or something? Commander?"
The soldier asked, confusion still playing in his eyes. Bastila sighed, shaking her masked features.
"No, I- forgive me but I am not from your... galaxy from what I understand."
The Corporal nodded, his facial expression not changing.
"That's nice. Why don't you start walking that way and I'll stand behind you with this gun until we figure out who the Hell you are and what to do with you..."
Wilkins nodded to himself, looking at the swoop bike with a frown.
"And uh... we'll just leave that here for now... yea, okay move."
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Bastila did as she was ordered, keeping her hands raised as she worked her way through the thick underbrush of the forested area. In the shadows of the forest, two crimson eyes followed the three marines and Jedi Padawan intently. HK-47 slowly raised his blaster rifle, zeroing in on one of the Marines and fired, having no rules dictated to him by Revan as to who to kill and not to kill. Corporal Wilkins lunged forward, tackling Bastila from behind and grabbing the Jedi in a quick headlock as he held his pistol to her face.
"Ambush!"
Bastila went slack in the soldier's grasp, maintaining her calm.
"You don't want to do that..."
Bastila remarked, struggling to hide the pain the soldier's trained grip was leaving. Corporal Wilkins' jaw clenched as he was about to respond when his eyes suddenly lost focus and he repeated the woman's words.
"I don't want to do this..."
Bastila smiled to herself, easing out of the Marine's hold and looking up at the other Marine as he frowned at the scene and looked over at his dead companion.
"You want to give me my weapons..."
Corporal Wilkins shook his head, trying to break whatever spell be was under but unable and he turned to his surviving marine, telling him to give Bastila her weapons.
"Thank you."
Bastila remarked, sheathing the vibroblade and checking her lightsaber for any damage. Corporal Wilkins shook his head, holstering his pistol in favor of his rifle as he looked to his dead and living comrades.
"Mind- uhm telling me what the Hell just happened?"
The remaining Marine asked. The Corporal shook his head, uncertain of what to say and looking up at the armored woman as she seemed to vanish into thin air. The only tell that she had not was the silver blur she left in her wake as she ran to where the shot had come from. A humming and a strange golden light flashed in the distance and both marines looked to one another before breaking out of their cover to confront what had slain their companion.
Bastila dodged a crimson blaster bolt and reflected the other back at the droid attacking her. HK-47 extended his left arm, the side opening to reveal a small rocket. The rocket shot forth, barely missing Bastila as it struck a nearby tree and exploded. From close to a hundred yards away the Command crew of the Pillar of Autumn, broke from their various states and began working their way to where the Marines were. They managed to reach the battleground in time to spot Corporal Wilkins shouting to his fellow marine to open fire. Bastila quickly threw herself out of the way as a stream of armor piercing rounds peppered HK-47's armored plating. The assassin droid staggered, turning and firing its blaster rifle at the marines, striking the Private in the face and narrowly missing Corporal Wilkins as he dropped and reloaded.
"Enough of this."
Bastila spat, charging the droid and allowing her armor to take the force of the blow the droid delivered to her as she ran her lightsaber through its chest and upward, pulling it free from the droid's left shoulder. The Padawan staggered away, her armor cracked and red blood seeping through the damage as she leaned against a tree and panted heavily, her lightsaber blade illuminating the area as the Hunter Killer droid twitched and sparks shot from its damaged section.
"Query: How would you like to die, Jedi?"
The droid managed, its weapon dropping to the floor and its eyes dimming.
"What- What the Hell was that damn thing?"
Corporal Wilkins shouted, leveling his assault rifle on Bastila. The Padawan was hunched over, breathing in pained gasps.
"Hu- Hunter Killer droid. Tracking me. I- I'm sorry about your- your friends-"
Bastila collapsed to the ground, unconscious and unmoving as her lightsaber deactivated. Torn between trusting the woman or killing her, Corporal Wilkins turned to his dead companions, collecting their dogtags and saluting Captain Keyes.
"Captain, we found this armored woman following us. As you can hear she speaks English but- but I've never seen anything like this robot or her laser sword. At least nothing outside of the Covenant or ONI."
If the Office of Naval Intelligence had a black ops unit there on Halo, Captain Keyes threw the thought aside. It would explain the unknown fighters but to not offer any communications was strange. And to have only one contact them was impossible. The Corporal's next statement confirmed his suspicions.
"She claimed to be part of some Republic and in another galaxy... Maybe we should see if she's still alive, sir?"
Captain Keyes nodded, watching as the Marine pulled the helmet from the woman's face and paused. She looked young, barely old enough to be in the Military and Captain Keyes sighed, kneeling next to the woman and stripping away the damaged breastplate. A black jumpsuit covered the woman and the Captain could clearly see a gash, bleeding freely where the armor had cracked.
"Lieutenant Hikowa, Ensign Lovell. Give us a hand."
Since no one was trained as a medic, all they could do was bind and clean the wound. The Autumn's Operations Officer, Lieutenant Hall found a set of robes in the woman's backpack and set them aside, finding a strange medical kit that, despite its alien design had simple battle dressings present. Unknown to the Command crew of the Pillar of Autumn, the Jedi had placed herself into a deep Healing Trance and was broadcasting her position to any and all Force-sensitives in the area, including a certain Dark Lord of the Sith, who had snapped his head from a Banshee overhead to the direction of his Jedi prey.