Author's notes : Sorry that last chapter was so short. Hopefully this one will make up for it. Enjoy and review !

Master Chief

"Cortana," Chief began breaking the silence. " Who has access to UNSC files, and more specifically on the projects they run?" he asked curiously.

" Well, a general would have access, certain Commander's, doctor's, scientists and of course those who head the various projects." she answered him.

"Hm." he said as he adjusted the weapon in his hand.

"You're wondering how she knew about your suit, aren't you?" Cortana asked.

"That and many other things. Search her files, see what you can find on her." Chief said as he glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping female in the corner. Cortana didn't answer and simply went straight to looking through her files.

Hearing the sound of shuffling in a nearby bush Chief immediately had his weapon pointed towards the noise. Lowering his weapon after seeing that it was just a type of indigenous lifeforms he went back to scanning the area to make sure there were no unwelcome visitor's.

"Well, it says here she graduated top of her class. Black belt in several different types of martial arts, ranks top grade with every kind of weapon - even some covenant weaponry. Hmm, a lot of information is missing from her file." Cortana said. " Hold on, what's this. There's a name that's been tagged in relation to her file. A Sean Coax. He was part of the SPARTAN III program. It doesn't give me much information about him there's just a note on file that they were involved with each other . Lovers perhaps?" Cortana suggested.

" Well that would explain her knowledge of my suit but -" he stopped suddenly when a bright light appeared and began moving around the area. Ducking back into the small shelter Chief watched as the light moved from place to place illuminating the dark areas. Peering up into the sky he saw a purple aircraft, it was a phantom. They were searching for something, searching for them.

Pressing himself up against the wall he made sure that they wouldn't be able to see him should the light pass near the small structure. Glancing over at Rachel he saw she was still asleep and pressed far into the corner also making it difficult to see her.

After a short amount of time, the ships moved onto another area ultimately deciding that there was nothing to be found in this one. Chief watched as the ships disappeared over the hills and stood from the wall walking towards the entrance once more. Holding his rifle he continued to keep watch for the remainder of the night, but nothing else made itself known.

As they trekked through the jungle the next day, Chief knew they needed to eat something soon. True, his suit was specially built to adapt to his body's needs and inject him with different nutrients and such but she wasn't so lucky and would need something soon before her body gave out. He had told Cortana to scan for anymore structures or, if they were lucky, a marine station. But, there was none. Nothing but them and a very, very large jungle.

Chief began to regret his decision to take the path through the jungle. Although it provided lots of cover from any ships above, it also provided lots of dangers and hiding spots within. But, they would do better against anything on the ground than anything in the air in their current situation.

They had been walking for an unknown amount of time and even Chief was getting tired, and restless. Stopping against the base of a tree he held his gun up and recounted how much ammo he had left. Although they had done that before they left, he was just double checking. It didn't hurt to be too sure. Though, he also wished that somehow more ammo would have appeared magically. But, that was impossible.

"We'll rest here for a bit." Chief spoke to Rachel as she nodded slowly and leaned against a tree as well, clearly tired and worn out.

Chief could see the beads of sweat adorn her forehead and her heavy breaths signalled her hunger and thirst. He didn't need to ask, he knew.

Looking around the area he searched for something, anything , that could be used to eat or create some sort of liquid. But, all he could see were tree's that bore no fruit and bushes that had nothing but leaves. He wasn't about to trust the wildlife either, he'd heard reports of acidic blood and the like. But, he knew if they didn't find some kind of food or water soon that Rachel would no longer be able to carry on and he couldn't very well carry her everywhere, that would leave him open for an attack and defenceless.

Standing up straight, Chief noticed movement on his radar in his HUD. Turning to Rachel he made several hand signs as she nodded her head and proceeded to climb the very tree she was leaning against for support. Going as high as she could manage she held her sniper rifle out and searched the area slowly.

Chief got low and took out his pistol. Thankfully his armor was green and he fit in perfectly with their surroundings. On his rader he red dots showed that the enemy was advancing. Soon enough he could hear the sound of the leaves crunching verifying their arrival. However, the sound and fell of the advancing enemy was much heavier than any grunt's or Elites. That could only mean one thing.. As they came into view, the dark armor and orange flesh confirmed his suspicions.

Hunters.

This was very bad. The hunter's were being followed by a small patrol of grunts who walked lazily behind them. Chief knew that this could end very badly if him or Rachel was discovered. They didn't have enough firepower to take on both the hunter's and the accompanying group of grunts. Hopefully they would just pass by without spotting them.

Glancing up at Rachel he saw that she was still positioned on the branch but, the position she was in barley looked comfortable and he hoped that she would be able to hold it for a while longer. One wrong movement and her body would give out causing her to fall into the underbrush below giving away their position.

He watched as the patrol made their way through the small opening heading into the other side of the jungle. The hunter's moved extremely slow and the grunts were just as lazy following behind them. Several minutes had passed already and they still hadn't crossed through fully.

Chief's finger, which had been pressed up against the trigger, was starting to grow tired but he didn't move it and just waited hoping they'd be out of there soon. But the snap of a branch told him otherwise. Looking up he noticed that the thin branch was beginning to give way under the weight of Rachel. He saw the look on her face, anger.

Looking back to the patrol he saw them stop at the noise and proceed to look around. Some of the grunts even brought their weapons up suspicious of the noise. They were getting close to the tree Rachel was in. With his other hand Chief slowly reached for the knife on his person. Taking it out slowly he watched as one of the grounds passed by him. Reaching out from his over he grabbed the ground, covering its mouth and dragging the blade across its neck in one swift movement.

Pulling the body into the bushes with him he hid it there and checked to see if any of the other grunts had noticed. They hadn't. Though, they continued to advance towards the tree Rachel was in. Moving his position, Chief was slow and careful not to make any noise.

There was another snap and Cheif knew that this time they would all know where to grunt's all yelled something and then there was the unpleasant sound of the cannon that was attached to the hunter's going off and a green beam shot straight towards the tree Rachel was in.

Appearing from cover, Cheif pressed the trigger that his finger was waiting so anxiously on. In three short bursts he had taken out the three grunts near the tree. Then, holding out his arms he caught Rachel as she fell into his arms. Looking down at her for a brief second he could hear the sound of the cannon charging and put her on her feet. " Run." he said as she nodded and took off. Chief fired several more shots at the covenant and then took off after Rachel as the second shot from the cannon tore through the tree she had been in moments ago.

Great, this was all they needed.