Hi! Just a quick disclaimer ear by… Drumroll please… The Arbiter! *Hands the Arbiter a paper*

Arbiter: I own nothing… Except for my… Socks?

Me: Thank you! Now onto the story!

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

C.S. Lewis

The desert spreads in front of us, stretching endlessly on into the distant horizon where the blood-red sun sets over the craggy rise of the snowy mountains.

The Pelican flew onwards, towards a massive Covenant cruiser hovering at least one hundred kilometers above the dusty earth. Ragged holes decorate its deep purple surface and smoke trails lazily from its hull, but it doesn't seem to be in much distress. A blue light descended from its belly, all the ay to the ground, where tiny Covenant troops scurry like ants up the light and into the ship.

"So how do we get inside the ship if it's in the air?" One Marine asked, "The Corps issued me a rifle, not wings." The soldier joked, patting his well used rifle by his side.

"Easy. See that blue light? That's a Gravity Lift. It should get us up to the ship. Piece of cake!" The sergeant said confidently.

The large, military green fighter shuttle lands with a gently thud, dust whirling up from the ground and clouding up Chief's visor. The Spartan hopped out, sweeping the rocky landscape with a sharp eye out for a Covenant ambush. He moves cautiously forward to the ship, waving for the allied Marines to follow his lead.

"Stick to the higher ground to you're right. We should be able to recon the Covenant without being spotted." I whispered softly in Chief's ear. I scanned the area, keeping a close eye on the wandering Marines. "I'm detecting Covenant Stationary Guns near the nest pass. Use you're sniper rifle to blow their heads off while I call for Marine support."

"Bossy, aren't we?" Chief huffed, aiming the barrel of his sniper rifle at the gun operators.

I ignore him, "Get ready to move in, Sergeant Parker, the Master Chief will take out as many Covenant as quietly as he can." I stressed the quietly while snickering under my breath. Sir Master Chief wasn't the stealthiest. I suppressed my giggles and get back down to business, "Don't open fire until they open fire in us, got it?" I ordered firmly.

"Got it ma'am." Parker acknowledged. "We'll be watching your six."

"Get 'em, Chief." I murmured, tensed up for the shot.

Chief took a deep breath, his heads steady around the trigger and his accuracy spot on. Then he released. The bullet sliced through the dry, still air and connecting with alien flesh. The Covenant Jackal crumpled to the ground, dark purple bleeding into light brown earth.

"Nice shot." I complimented grudgingly, "Not as good as taking out three Covenant cruisers but still good." I quickly added.

Chief just reloaded and aimed, this time blowing a hunter's head clean off.

…

The last Jackal twitched and relaxed, death had come for it. Chief shoved it away with his boot and advanced towards the gravity lift, his movements like a graceful predator, deadly, graceful, and powerful. He signaled for the Marines to hit the ground as a Covenant Ghost sped by, sending the reddish dust straight into Chief's visor.

"How are we supposed to enter that beast?" A red - haired Marine whispered harshly to Chief, gesturing at the heavily guarded gravity lift.

"We're going to infiltrate the loading zone and kill the guards as quietly as possible and ride the lift up?" Chief explained, his eyes not leaving the lift.

"Oh, that's all! That's us, the few, the proud, the expendable." The Marine muttered with dark humor.

Chief faced him, "Got any idea then, sir?" He asked cold, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I stifled a unladylike snort at the banter.

"No, sir."

"Good. Lets move."

"You can be so adorable." I commented cheekily to Chief.

"Shut it. I can and I will find you're mute button!" Chief threatened, obviously not serious. i just roll my eyes.

We shook ourselves from the momentary fun and crept towards the lift, everyone's breath held and prayers being sent as we ascended the lift.

"Whew, we're alive. And we didn't have to ki - Crap, enemy on your six, Chief!" The Marine yelled, shooting the Grunt in the gas tank it had on its back, successfully sending it flying out of the plane to explode far below.

Chief whirled around and with a sickening crunch, smashed the last Grunt's head into a pulp. I was mildly sickened, but managed to recuperate enough to speak.

"I've got a lock on Keyes's CNI transponder. No Covenant defenses detected." I informed the small team, relived but slightly suspicious.

"What, there's no Covenant here? I'm thinking nobody's home…" A red-haired Marine commented. Then the two bay doors on the left open and waves of Covenant flood in, shooting wildly. "Uh… Lots of contacts!" The Marine rushed, throwing a frag into the fray.

"No Covenant!" Another rather short Marine sarcastically mimicked, " Ya had to open your big fat mouth!"

Chief sighed quietly and drew his magnum and shot a Jackal in the chest, sending it flying into two other Jackals. He shrugged off the swarm of Grunts climbing onto his armor and threw one off the ship, its unearthly screams echoing as it tumbled down. A Sanghili rushed Chief, the Spartan barely dodging the deadly energy sword it held. A new groove found its way on the suit making me wince in sympathy. Chief ignored the flashing heat and jumped the Sanghili, finding a firm grasp on its neck and snapping it.

I just sat there in my chip watching Chief become a pillar of force in front of my eyes. I couldn't smile while in the suit but I knew I would have if I could.

The rest of the Marines finished of the stragglers and leaned heavily on their guns, everybody drained and tired, well, except for Chief.

"…Piece… of… cake!" The red - haired Marine panted, wiping the sweat off rom under his dirty helmet.

Two heavily armored, and gunned Hunters entered, blasting everything in sight with their Rod Cannons.

"Just shut up, red!" A Marine yelled at the poor red-haired Marine who face palmed himself.

Chief gave no emotion off as he maneuvered around the Hunters, firing into the bright orange weak spot on their backs. They roared and Ugly Number 1 swung around and slammed just inches away from Chief, making him stumble to his knee. It growled and prepared to crush Chief under its arm. I could do nothing but watch as the arm descended towards us.

Then the red-haired Marine dove toward us, moving Chief just enough to get us out of harms way. But he was quickly caught under the Hunter's arm and crushed.

"No!" I screamed, but only Chief heard my useless cry.

He leapt forward and stuck a plasma grenade on the beast's back. He shoved the rest of the surviving Marines back as the Hunter exploded, killing it and its partner.

Dust, blood, and chunks of Hunter armor rained down over our heads. The men ignored it though, they moved slowly forward and stood silently around the brave, red-haired Marine.

The short one turned around to face Chief, his face angry and bitter. "You're supposed to save people, Chief" He spat out Chief's name viciously, "So what's the purpose of you?" He asked coldly, turning back to the body.

"Chief…" I began, shell-shocked.

"Let move." Chief ordered stoically, marching past the solders and through the bay doors. His boots on the cold, metal ground were the only sound in the ship. I remained quiet, felling the waves of anger rolling off Chief, I couldn't do anything to sooth him, after all, I was only an AI.

We quickly ran into a problem, two sets of locked down blast doors, too big for Chief to break and deadlocked so I couldn't hack them.

"We can use the side passages to get around?" I advised swiftly, dropping a NAV point for Chief.

Sergeant Parker finally spoke up from behind Chief, "Sir, we'd we sitting ducks in that narrow space. We can hold this position, " He waved to the long hallway with balconies wrapped around it, "If you can find a way around to open that door."

"We'll find a way." I assured over the comm, running a scan over the room.

"No, I want Chief to answer me." Parker asked grimly.

Chief clenched his fist and relaxed it, "I promise I'll get you and you're men out of here." He vowed seriously.

"You better." Parker said warningly and walked away, barking orders at his men.

"Chief, head up the balcony in the other cargo bay, you might have a better view up there." I directed softly. He obeyed and jogged up the stairs and looked over the large, narrow room. He looked slowly over the room, stooping when he met a locked door below.

"Wait. That's a locked door down there. The men are waiting on the other side. The controls must be somewhere in this room." I said happily.

Chief ran down and opened the door, ushering the men into the bay.

"Thanks, Chief." Parker said gratefully, as the men filed into the empty bay.

Chief didn't respond but instead tensed and fired his magnum into the empty air.

"Chief? What are you doing!?" I exclaimed worriedly.

"Quiet. There's a stealth Elite in the room." He shushed me, waving the men to get away.

"But I would have detected it." I insisted hotly.

Then I heard the sound of an energy sword being lit and the sound of it hitting flesh just before hundreds of bullets flew towards the sound. Chief's vitals rocketed and he sunk slowly to the floor, clutching a deep burn hole in his side. I froze.

"Chief, no!" I screamed as his collapsed, deep crimson blood spreading over the cold floor.

It was my fault.

….

Muahahahahahahahahahah! Cliffy! This mission is so stupidly long that it might be a three parter. I did cut out some fighting cause there was a lot of it as usual. But I hope you enjoy and please maneuver you're C3PO to slap dat like button! Oh and since it's the fifth chapter, its time for shout outs!

Thank you so much, Koryanders for being my very first reviewer! Be sure to check out kory's stories:)

Gracias, Fezatron! You have stuck with me this long with wonderful, positive reviews and I can't thank you enough!

HappyHamsters (btw love the name) You have also been my constant reviewer on this story, thank you so much for putting such cute, encouraging reviews in:)

CJ - T- Bone, you rock! I'm glad you are enjoying my story and for your kind reviews, it warms my heart to see that email in my inbox saying i have a new review:)

Fallen Ark Angel, I have checked out your stories and was blow away by them! You are such a fabulous writer and I couldn't get enough of them! I am so grateful to you for giving me a could nice little reviews, you are fabulous!

I hope to add more people onto my shout out list and maybe you could be one too! I love you guys so much for reviewing! Never stop being fabulous and keep on writing!