0400 hours, October 23rd, 2542 [MILITARY CALENDAR]\ Pikran System, Pikran 3, Inside Underground Facility

Armor training takes another month in which we master the suits, which we have to know the names of. 211's suit is EVA, Parkson's is EOD, and mine and Kia's is Air Assault. They each specialize in what we specialize in. Me and Kia prefer air battles over ground, Parkson loves explosives, and 211 prefers ground attack vehicles and close combat.

We are scheduled for another month of training, but that is cut short as an incident occurs.

I am walking through the halls, heading to the gym. The gym is where I can relax, think things through. It's where I'm calmest.

As I round a corner...something shifts in front of me. It was the slightest distortions in the air, but I caught it.

I flatten myself against the wall as a fist sails inches past my face. I reach out and grab the wrist and jerk it behind the attacker's back. The shimmer turns into an eight foot tall...alien. It has four mandibles and small, beady eyes that seem soulless. It stands bi-pedal with dog-like legs that end in two fat toes. Its arm is long and black with four fingers that wrap around my neck and slam me against the wall.

The attack came out of nowhere and was too sudden that I could barely comprehend it.

I fight back against the attacker in vain. It's too strong and I'm not strong enough to fight back without my armor.

211 suddenly comes out of nowhere and slams into the alien shoulder first. The alien stumbles back from his hit and 211 stands in front of me. "The hell is that thing?" He says. "No idea, but it's not friendly," I say and take out Hokai's blade then flip it around in my hand. "Come on," I challenge.

The attacker grabs a sort of stick from its belt and flicks it on. A two pronged blade activates with a zap. The blade is blue and fairly transparent and buzzes with energy.

There's a full minute stand-off before the alien charges, swinging the blade overhead and bringing it down on 211. I go under his swing and slam into his chest head-first before he can hit him. My head slams into his exposed abdomen and drives him back. I wrap my arms around his waist and slam him into the wall. He drops his blade from the sudden impact and I grab it. 211 retrieves my combat blade as I back off from the alien and shoves the attacker's right arm up and drives the blade into the exposed abdomen.

The alien cries out in an unknown language and tries to fight back at 211 but he removes the blade and side-steps then slams the blade into the alien's mouth. The alien gives a gurgled cry, spits up purple blood, and dies.

The alien collapses as 211 rips the bloodied blade from its mouth and lets the massive body fall to the ground.

We stand there for what seems like forever, panting and watching the body. 211 breaks the silence by rolling over the alien and examining it. "Not human, that's for sure," he says, crouching down by its side.

It wears white colored armor with an open helmet and a chestplate that covers its upper torso. The armor's material is like that of which we had never seen, alien.

"Get the techies down here. They'll no doubt want to examine it," I say and hide the alien's energy blade.

I want to keep it to examine myself. It was my first ever kill, and I wanted a trophy from it. But little did I know at the time, this Energy Sword would come to save my life in many occasions.

I obsess over the blade for many hours. They know I have it, but they let me keep it. I practice with it openly for hours on end, studying it with curiosity as I try to figure out how it was made.

It has a golden colored hilt and a blue color that swirls around the design. Both of which interest me. I quickly figure out the blade isn't solid after I slice a desk in half by accident.

By the time we're called to the Major's office for briefing, I've become very good with the Energy Sword.

We enter the room and salute the Major as he nods to us. "At ease, Spartans. As two of you already know, we have encountered a new species completely unknown to us. They are threatening the human race, they threaten to eradicate us. There are five known species within the Covenant," The major says, waving to a holo-TV which lowers from the ceiling.

"The Elite's," The major says. A graph appears of the Alien we encountered a few weeks earlier, the one me and 211 killed. "They are a bi-pedal species, believed to be the head species within the army known as the Covenant. There is said to be four known ranks amongst the Elites. Minor, Zealot, General, and Councilor." Graphs show up showing each of their armor and their threat level. The Minor's threat level is green, low threat. The Zealot is red, as well as the General. The councilor's threat level is black, extremely dangerous.

"Grunts." A graph appears showing a short alien with a stunted face. it wears a gas-mask over its short face and has a triangular tank on its back. It has short and stubby legs which end in short claws. "They are numerous and believed to be the lowest in the Covenant armada. They are cannon-fodder, and throw themselves at a target until either their numbers are depleted or the target is dead."

"Jackals." The screen changes to a creature that reminds me of a starved coyote. It has feathers on the back of its head and its snout resembles a beak, long and hooked. It has arms which are adorned at the elbow with feathers. It is bi-pedal and holds a circular blue shield. "These make up a good percent of the Covenant. They are their snipers and infantry men. They hold shields which rely on energy and are not easily destroyed, but can be overpowered."

The screen expands and widens to show a large hulking creature with thick armor. "Hunters." These hunters have huge shields on their right arm and cannons on their left. They have spines on their back, and armor all over. "They are the "tanks" of the army. Due to their heavy armor, they move slowly. But their cannons shoot deadly plasma rounds that incinerate unarmored personnel. They use their shields to hit nearby targets, crushing them.

The screen shifts again to show small creatures with four wings. "Drones." They are like insects with exoskeleton bodies and large, wide eyes. Their feet are curled as well. "They are the aerial attack species. They are slaves to the Covenant and are used in large numbers to overwhelm their victims."

The screen retracts and the lights come back online. "These are the creatures you will be fighting. They have been known for more then five years now. We have been training you specifically to fight these enemies. But time has run out, and we need you to fight now. You are being shipped out to the front lines to help Marines who are in trouble. You will be there for more then a week. Do you understand, Spartans?" The Major says. "Sir, yes sir!" We all reply.

We are dismissed and head down to the hanger where we find our pelican. Our pilot meets us with disgust, and then fear as Kia glares at him.

"Must you do that to every marine that looks at you?" 211 asks her as they enter the Pelican and take their seats. "Don't glare at us, and you won't get glared back at. It's a simple fix," she says and places her helmet on her head.

I feel queasy as usual as the Pelican leaves the planet and heads out to the waiting Frigate. The Frigate will go into slipspace which will take almost a month, in which time we'll be traveling to the Jirack System, to planet Graff to fight on the frontlines.

This will be our first mission and it won't be easy, being frontlines and all. But I guess that's what we were training for. I've been hearing bits and pieces about the true Spartan II program. It sounds a lot less intense then ours was. Starting out with "easy" missions and more time to build up to the fight.

Parkson is worrying me. He hasn't spoken a single word since the augmentations. We have been too busy for me to question him about it, however. I'll figure that out later. For now, I need to focus on the matter at hand. Parkson's problem can wait.