Authors note: Reviews and tips are appreciated. That will be all.

Fox's POV

"FOX! Come in!" A voice from my communicator yelled. The floating head of general pepper came up.

"Yes general pepper?" I asked turning away from the insurrectionist captain's interrogation. They had Craig talk to him while chief stood next him. They didn't bother trying to scare him, like they did Pigma. They were using intimidation and threats of execution, but the captain was holding up well.

"The apariods have sent a colossal fleet to Corneria! It's a full-blown invasion! You're our only hope. Gather your alien allies and have them direct the ground forces. Even with your help I doubt we can keep them off the surface. We can however corral them into a pacific area." He explained.

"What about the civilians?" I asked.

"They're being evacuated while military forces move in. The squad of…Legionnaires, as they were called need to be there as well. Tell them we need their vessel to aid us in the space engagement. You get to your fighters. We'll need all the help we can get." He said before signing out.

"Hey guys we have a problem." I said getting my teams and the aliens attention.

Chief's POV

We were heading to the city via phantom. There were about 100 men and 10 vehicles total. That was it? They can't be serous. I fought these apariods before. They could easily overrun this position in a matter of hours. No wander they had to rely on a single squad to lead them through all their wars. It was pitiful to be this inefficient in ground combat. They get some merit for their hand held laser technology but that's it. We were about to touchdown in front of the soldiers as they were going over their gear. Many turned to stare at us in awe or distrust. I've been getting those looks for years. If they think it effects me in any way they're mistaken.

The moment we touched down we began studying the troops as they did us. They carried themselves arrogantly, yet didn't move like a solider. Every race no matter what body structure can carry themselves in a vaguely military like manor. These aliens however don't. It wasn't because of body structure, since they had a similar, almost congruent body structure as humans. They didn't go through marine standards of military training. They were likely taught how to wield a gun and how to fight in a semi decent manor, nothing more. If the Apariods attacked in force, they would be slaughtered. They would.

"So you guys are gonna to help us fight the wind up toys huh?" A Sergeant who was a beagle spoke up in a cocky tone. They acted like marines at least.

"Yes we are. Are you sure you can hold back the apariods assault? You don't have any visible AA or artillery weapons. The Apariods will be attacking from above, and such weapons will prove invaluable." Nijon spoke, noticing the same thing as I did. All the squad had noticed.

"Keep your head on. We can take on those freaks of nature, blindfolded. IS THAT RIGHT?" He yelled back to his marines. They all yelled different comments such as "hell yea!" or "you know it!" I definitely was losing faith in their ability. At best they could be cannon fodder, or since there weapons have unlimited ammo, help suppress the enemy. If those vehicles can actually be infected and turned against us however, they'll need to hang back and support.

"I'll keep that in mind. Squad! Get ready. Ki'thrathi. Head to the top of that building." He said motioning to the 20-story building with his hand. "Provide sniper support. Muraka. You'll attract as much attention to yourself as possible. Make sure by the time you move again you have a good, 8 or so bugs stalking you. That way they'll all converge on your location. If they're in one place they're easier to kill. Nijon watch his back. Chief and I are gonna do the same in another part of the city. Remember. I want little to no casualties. All wounded who's arms still work, keep firing but make sure your far from the enemy and within 3 meters of a friendly. Am I clear?" He got a chorus of "Yes sir" and miscellaneous comments from the soldiers. Some were questions, some were approvals, and some were insults. He ignored the last one however and answered the important and/or relevant questions.

2 hours later

We were waiting in our positions. Ki'thrathi was perched in the 20-story building surveying the soon to be battlefield with his sniper. Muraka was standing near a Deli with Nijon, who was practice swinging his swords in excitement. Craig and I where near an unreasonably high highway, at the edge of the city. The Cornerian ground soldiers had taken up defensive positions in the opposite end of the city, guarding a highway that lead to Corneria city.

They were beginning to wonder if the bugs where going to show, but we knew from experience, this was the calm before the storm. No less then 30 seconds later the Apariods descended on us. The military personnel began firing on sight. We waited until they got just above 9 stories. Ki'thrathi waited until they got on level with the roof of the tallest building. They were already dropping like flies, no pun intended. When they started hitting the ground it was on.

Nijon's POV

"Lets kick their asses back to the ant hill they came from!" Yelled an enthusiastic Labrador.

I swear these soldiers make the UNSC marines look comparable to Spartans. A large Apariod landed in front of me. I grabbed its face and pulled if forward with my left hand. My right hand holding an ignited energy sword came down and beheaded the insect. I tossed the head aside and ignited my other blade. Before I started fighting I spoke into the COM.

"I will claim more Apariods than any of you can count." I said before lunging at another large apariod. I kneed it in the face before swinging both swords horizontally. Another one dispatched. No less than a second after the thought crossed my mind, I heard a grunt, a PING, and a small apariod slam into the side of the wall I was near. I looked over to see Muraka standing over the mangled corpses of 2 other small bugs. He was currently hiding behind his shield as 2 larger bugs were firing at him with what resembled hand held fuel rod shots. A blue beam cut through one's head then the others. Both crumpled to the ground. The hunter looked over and nodded thanks in Ki'thrathi's direction before continuing to fight.

I spotted 4 strange apariods that looked like black hornets; only they had jagged wings instead of engines. They were flying only 10 feet of the ground. I leapt on one's "face" before swinging upward and cutting though the upper part of the body. Before it could fall I leapt on another one. I removed both its wing before jumping again. This time I swung horizontally, making a clean cut through another one of the apariods torso, while still in mid air before pouncing on the last one. I simply impaled it through its head before jumping down on the ground, using a small apariod to cushion my fall. Needles to say, my less then graceful landing crushed it.

Craig's POV

I rifle butted a small apariod in the face, when it stumbled back I fired for 3 seconds straight before changing targets. The chief grabbed a leaping apariods leg in mid air, and then swung it down on the ground. He lifted it back up and slammed it on top of another apariod, like on cartoons. I fired off 3 burst on the charging apariods. 3 dropped but the rest kept coming. I fired a plasma grenade into the face of an apariod in front of the chief. He got the hint and punted it into a group of 7 apariods, all of which where killed in the blast, or shortened out in the EMP burst. We were keeping them off us albeit with some difficulty here and there. An Apariod fighter flew low and was about to strafe us. I was about to take it out until a blue beam went through its head. The fighter kept going however began skidding across the street, splattering an apariod occasionally. I was vaguely wondering how the cornerian marines were fairing. When I heard someone yell "we have to retreat". None of us would even joke about running from a fight. That narrowed it down to 1 group of people. I decided to give them some help.

"Ki'thrathi focus on the apariods assaulting the cornerians. Muraka. Chief. Hold the line here. Nijon lets relieve those cocky bastards." I spoke through the COM.

Nijon was cloaked so the apariods wouldn't slow him down. For me that meant fighting twice as heard to reach my destination. After a good 15 minute I finally did it. When we got there, the cornerians where hiding behind the tanks, and being hammered by 5 large apariods. Dozens of apariods with smoking holes in their heads littered the space between the marines and apariods. Obviously Ki'thrathi was busy keeping the apariods from getting in close quarters. Out of nowhere flaming neon blue grenade flew through the air and landed on the center Apariod. When it exploded 4 other smaller apariods where claimed as well. Then Nijon activated his swords and begun cutting through the apariods on his side. I shot a spike grenade between 2 larger apariods. When it exploded, 8 apariods where impaled, and fell over. What few that weren't killed where dropped by quick burst. Nijon finished the last apariod by grabbing it by its neck, holding it over his head, and stabbing it 3 times with blinding speed before tossing the body aside. (Authors note: one of lizard mans specials. To inform you ahead of time, I'll) When we inspected the soldiers, they looked up and saw another wave of apariods coming in. We had are hands full with the current wave. We'd be overwhelmed if they kept going on like this.

"Chief. Muraka. Get back here ASAP! We can't handle a second wave, spread out like this. Converge on my position." I spoke through the COM. I ducked just as an apariods laser came very close to taking my head off. I rose up fired a burst into the apariods head. They were coming by the dozens now. Nijon was currently keeping the charging apariods at bay with his swords. However he couldn't hold them forever. What was happening upstairs?

"Cortana, what's going on up there? We're chest deep in apariods and right about now I'd like to know why more are coming." I demanded.

"It's not exactly a cake walk up here! We're outnumbered 10 to 1. Kraiden and I got 12 ships but they just keep coming! Starwolf joined the fray and is giving much needed help but if we don't pull off a miracle soon, the city you're in wont be the only place being invaded. You're just gonna have to work with what you got. We can't spare any ships to give you support." She said before going back to the fight.

"Damn. Muraka! Chief! Where are you?" I yelled as I fired burst into the advancing apariods. Blue beams were coming down and eliminating the most dangerous apariods but that only temporarily solved the problem. The cornerians were effectively slowing the apariods with their unending laser fire. Still the apariods where swarming in on us.

"We'll be there in 5 minutes at the least, 10 at the most. Where only 10 blocks from your position, but these insects are coming from all sides. Below is the only direction I haven't been hit from." Muraka spoke through the COM. The chief however had just became visible. He leapt over an overturned car crushing an apariod that happened to be on the other side. Before we could blink he began earning the title of Spartan.

Chief's POV

There were anywhere between 200 to 500 apariods currently in the city. I've seen worst.

The apariods were charging the defenders who by now had enough dead apariods to make a temporary barricade. I got to work relieving them. I charged through the crowd of apariods, battering any that were in my path. At the cost of 50% of my shields I made it to the center of the crowd. I began clubbing each and every apariods that came at me. I was shooting apariods at point blank when I did shoot. When they started coming to close for the assault rifle to be an asset I put it on my back and pulled out my combat knife and magnum. A smaller apariod attempted to jump on me but it simply got a knife in the face. Before it could register the knife I shot another in the face. I kicked another apariod in the face, causing it fly into 3 other apariods. Before I realized it, I was in Spartan time. I was no longer moving at average speed. The un-augmented eye would only see a blur and all apariods near the blur drop dead. By now many apariods were gunning for me. They all died from knife wounds, bullet wounds, or both. I then heard pounding that was too deep to belong to any known apariod.

Muraka. He had lowered his shield and was more or less bulldozing through the apariods with one of the larger ones clinging to his shield for dear life. Muraka then jumped into the air with his shield high above his head, and the apariod still clinging on, and slammed into the ground with all his weight. He caused a small shockwave that crushed or flung all apariods within two feet of him. When he stood up from the crater he made, he fired his fuel rod into all of the surrounding insects. At least a dozen of them were incinerated. From then he went berserk smashing and flinging apariod through the air as if they were little more than children's toys. He was taking care of himself.

I went back to killing the apariods around me. Spartan time was starting to fade away but I was still moving and killing at high speeds. We could hold these bugs off, but if we didn't get support soon the apariods could simply bury us in bodies. The cornerian troops seeing us eliminating the apariods so quickly increased their moral but they were still only slowing down the apariods. We needed a miracle to keep them from over running us.

"This message is on all channels. I am the Arbiter of task force fury and regret. Move away while we deal with the apariods." A voice spoke through the COM. He wasn't supposed to be here for 3more days. How is it he got here so soon?

"Arbiter? Are you the alien task force that was sent to aid us?" A dog asked over the COM.

"Is there anything else we could be?" Arbiter answered with another question. We couldn't see up there but we could tell from the number of sparks and explosions in the air the task force was doing a number on the apariods.

"Arbiter the apariods are trying to gain a foothold on the planet Corneria. Master chief and the legionnaires along with a small force of cornerian soldiers are trying to hold them back but they'll be overwhelmed soon. We can't spare any more ships less we give the apariods the chance to hit another city."

"I understand. I'll go down in force to aid in the defense. R'tas Vadum, can I expect any hostile forces to still be present upon my return?" He joked with the fleet commander and long time friend.

"If I have anything to say about it, there wont be a single trace of their presence, upon your return." He responded seriously.

"Very well. Special ops squad 3, and 4, hunter pair Mako, and ODST squads green and blue. Report to your hangars and prep a dropship. We're going to the surface." He announced through the COM before leaving.

"Well that was lucky, but we still have to hold out against the apariods assault for awhile longer." Nijon spoke as he bisected another smaller apariod. There seemed to be no end to them. The street between the cornerian marines and the apariods were literally littered with so many apariod corpses you couldn't see the ground beneath them. The cornerian marines where probably responsible for a 10th of the dead apariods but it still proved they were doing something.

Craig's POV

"What's the ETA on those reinforcements?" I asked Kraiden as I wrestled with a large apariod that got the jump on me. It was trying to stomp on me but so far I dodged every attempt. Just as it raised up to use all 4 front legs to crush me I rolled onto the back of my neck, using my hands for support, and kicked it with both my feet, making it stumble back. Before it could come again, I jumped up picked up my fallen assault rifle and fired a burst into its head.

"They'll be arriving in precisely 3 minutes and 52 seconds. I recommend you put some distance between yourselves and the apariods. The phantoms and pelican dropships would be able to fire on the apariods without fear of friendly fire."

"We're in a short range fire fight a best. We're barely holding them back now. The only place we could go would be over the bridge, and the civilians are on the other side." I spoke as I dodged an apariod who got batted across the street by one of Muraka's berserk swings. I kept firing at the apariods trying to come around the left side.

"You need to get clear of the apariods or else the Arbiters forces will have to land somewhere else in the city, or land in the fire fight and hope they don't get shot down." Kraiden informed.

"Well they'll have to land in combat because anywhere else in the city is probably swarming with apariods. Not to say this place isn't swarming with them either." I said.

"Actually the opposite end of the city is clear of any apariods. All the apariods in the city are converging on your position. They are ignoring the rest of the city, and coming strait for you." Kraiden informed.

"So if we beat them here then the rest of the city will be scarcely populated by the apariods if at all?" I asked intrigued that we were actually taking the full force of the apariod assault and holding up.

"Yes but you've still got at least half the cities population of apariods before you can even think about how you're going to take back the city." Kraiden explained.

"Alright. Come on squad! We're fighting the full force of the apariods and still they can't even make it across this street in one piece! Keep up the pressure for just a little longer." I ordered. Now that we had reinforcements on route we knew this battle was now completely ours. To make things better, the arbiter himself, the only war hero even comparable to master chief, was coming down as well.

"This battle is ours! Your misbegotten kind will know the true meaning of fear!" Nijon bellowed as he cut down 3 more apariods in just as many seconds. The next 3 minutes went by with the constant sound of gun, laser, and plasma fire, death screams of apariods, and constant explosions via cornerian tanks and Muraka. The apariods were still pressing but the numbers they were attacking in had visibly decreased. We had long stopped counting our kills. We eventually lost track due to keep being sidetracked, and surrounded by apariods every other second. We had to push forward eventually due to us now literally being knee deep in apariod carcasses. It was starting to get to the point we kept confusing dead ones for live ones. We pushed forward an entire block. Not much, but considering just how many apariods were coming for us that was no small feet. Just after he flipped a larger apariod on its back then impaled it, he froze.

"Do you hear that?" He asked, looking up into the sky. We all followed his gaze, as best we could without giving the apariods an opening. We spotted 2 pelicans and 3 phantoms. At first we thought they were just going to get shot down by the apariods, but 7 banshees that were acting as escorts broke off and engaged the flying insects.

The dropships however, instead of landing near us, flew around the city firing at the apariods that were moving toward us. The phantoms were unleashing hell with 3 ship mounted turrets and 2 plasma turrets. The pelicans were firing barrages of missiles into crowds of apariods while marines manning the machinegun turrets, shredded anything under them. After 5 minutes of strafing the city the dropships all touched down in different areas. We assumed they were going to divide and conquer. Seemed like a more dangerous plan than having all of us group up and push toward the other side of the city, but I guess this way was quicker.

"Woo Hoo! Those bastards are fucked now!" A cornerian marine yelled in victory.

"This fight isn't over yet. Rejoice at the enemies defeat when it passes." Nijon yelled before charging into a group of smaller apariods and dislimbing them with his swords in seconds. Ki'thrathi sniped a large apariod that was standing at the top of a building. It fell off and landed on a car making its alarm go off. With the Special Forces squads pushing from all directions the apariods were beginning thin out. In less than 10 minutes almost all the apariods numbers had been depleted. By now we were just sweeping up any stragglers. When overhead banshees and dropships confirmed the apariods were wiped out all the soldiers Mgalekgolo, Sangheli, human, and cornerian took a well-deserved brake and began to mingle in the center of the city. We kept out of it however. The Spec ops and ODST's hated us because of the leginnaire and special forces rivalry, and the cornerians after seeing us slaughter a literal armies worth of apariods were intimidated by us. Well more intimidated of us then the Special Forces squads.

"Spartan!" The stereotypically deep voice of a Sangheli spoke out. We turned and saw a Sangheli in gray, ancient, rune covered, armor. The armor of the arbiter.

"Arbiter. You look older." The chief spoke half jokingly. The arbiter gave a halfhearted punch to his arm.

"And you look the same as you did 20 years ago. It is good to see you again after such a long time." The arbiter spoke. The 2 were talking to each other like next-door neighbors. Considering how hardened these soldiers were, this threw us off a bit.

"Arbiter." I spoke, getting his attention. "Forgive me for questioning you but you're the ambassador of the UNSC and New covenant, yet you throw yourself in a major fight. Don't you think the cornerians will look at that and think of your race as violent?" I asked.

"Maybe. If they actually try and meet our race rather then make assumptions, however they'll disregard it." He spoke confidently. "Now come. Let us watch the fire works until R'tas Vadum finishes off the apariod fleet." He finished before walking toward everyone else, beckoning for us to follow.