Kelly's teeth ground together as the plasma bolt grew brighter in the viewfinder. This wasn't how she wanted to die. Not stuck up in space and certainly not a part of someone else's war. She didn't notice her tense muscles nor the chair back crushed in her grip.

"Evasive Maneuvers! Come around to starboard! Down eighteen degrees! Full power dammit!"

"Sir, engines up full, coming to starboard. Plasma impact in eight seconds."

Everyone braced as the ship protested the hard turn. Metal creaked and groaned from the stress.

"Impact in four… three…" The bolt of plasma missed the nose of the Leviathan and began boiling away plating on the port side of the ship. Alarms blared loudly as the ship shook violently. An officer sitting at her comm. Station was thrown into it, her head impacted the wall in front of her and spilled blood across her station.

"Sir, Venting atmosphere from practically every compartment on the port side. Sealing up sections, but there will be some residual leaks."

"Dispatch tech crews to plug them up. And someone get down there and see what the hell is wrong with the damned MAC. Benchley, are our friends still on the ground or not?"

"I am afraid they were forced out sir. It looks like their forces are withdrawing as well."

Kelly immediately looked up to see hundreds of ships exiting the system. The Covenant cruiser was still spitting out plasma at the large ships, which had been forced into the engagement.

"Sir, I do not believe we want them to destroy that ship, at least not yet."

"Explain Benchley. Since when do we not want to kill the Covenant?"

"Since they look to be our only hope of getting back to Reach. Their chatter indicates that ship is alone. Apparently it managed to somehow follow us here, but even with their advanced slipspace technology they cannot replicate their path nor can they contact other forces."

"Great, so if they can't get back then how the hell are we supposed to?"

"The same way we got here. I believe as before that with a timed blast we can use their plasma to get us back. Kind of a reverse-engineering, so to speak."

"Well, I don't think we will have a problem getting them to fire on us, but they sure as hell aren't going to fire when we tell them to."

"That won't be necessary admiral. The one drawback of plasma will be our biggest help. It's slow. That will allow me to make the calculations necessary."

"Then do it. However, we need to come up with a plan to blow those bastards out of this system as well. The thought of the Covenant perhaps finding another civilization like ours to wipe out doesn't exactly sit well with me."

"We have a Longsword left." Benchley's smirk was so big it almost looked cartoonish.

"Explain, Benchley."

"Certainly Admiral. The Longswords have the capacity for AI control, something the Pelicans lack. I could replicate myself and have one of the Spartans insert me into its system, along with its Shiva warhead."

The admiral's smirk began to mimic the AI's but then faded.

"Let's do it before they decide to send another round this way. Hopefully the Longsword coming at them will cause them to remember we are here."

"Replication complete Admiral." A small chip ejected from the pedestal beneath Benchley, which Stanforth removed and handed to Fred.

"Get it done soldier." Fred and Kelly snapped a salute and exited. They ran carefully down the halls as servicemen quickly ducked out of the half-ton soldiers' way. They soon came to the hangar and made their way to the aircraft. Fred slid the chip into the Longsword and immediately systems flared to life.

"All systems check out. Preparing for takeoff." The ramp closed behind the Spartans as they left heading back for the bridge.

"Longsword en route to the Covenant Cruiser." The lieutenant Rachel Dratch reported as Kelly stepped back onto the bridge.

"Good, launch a few archers in their direction to get their attention first. Make sure we have plasma coming at us when that Shiva goes off."

The sight out the forward viewport was still a sight to behold. The Covenant cruiser still spat plasma, which tore through Imperial ships both large and small. The sheer number of their forces, however, was overwhelming.

"It doesn't really look like they need our help." Fred quipped just as a capitol ship exploded.

"On second thought."

The view shifted as the Leviathan banked and turned. "Coming into position admiral. Longsword will be in effective Shiva range in thirty seconds. Archer impact in five."

Too many damned variables.

Kelly longed to just be on the ground, where things seemed simpler. You knew the enemy, and you had the tools to kill it. Instead they were all relying on a possibly glitched AI based off someone who was probably crazy to begin with.

"Archers impacted sir. Shields appear to be down. And they seem to have remembered we are here. They are scrambling Seraphs to intercept the Longsword. Preparing to fire the Shiva. Plasma is on its way."

The rear image showed the chaos that was unfolding. The Seraphs looked like angry bees buzzing around a slick purple hive. The Longsword was visually lost amongst the clutter, and the sight of the incoming plasma grew bigger by the second.

"Shiva launched. Longsword is destroyed. Setting proximity fuse remotely… Explosion in three… two…"

The blackness of space lit up, and Kelly's visor darkened to compensate. Layers of the Covenant ship was stripped away, the side facing the blast crumpling in and then exploding out. The blast continued to expand as it engulfed several Imperial ships as well.

"Processing… Plasma impact in four. Opening slipspace…" The Leviathan shook as it cut into the fabric of space. The plasma continued on its arc, unimpeded in the void of space. The ship jolted hard to port.

"Adjusting. Plasma impact… NOW."

Kelly lay beside John looking up at the stars wondering if there were other beings out there. Fireflies danced their dance above the children as John reached a finger up to touch one. She loved the young boy beside her, as much as any seven year old could anyway. Of course those sorts of feelings weren't expressed in the Spartan program, and although Kelly wanted to tell him right then as the cool breeze blew and the tall grass rustled, she instead jostled his hair as he turned his head and smiled. Perfect. They would always be together, Kelly knew.

Tomorrow would be another day of training with CPO Mendez, lots of panting and being yelled at, but she would do it, for him. With him. However tonight they would just lie together and tell silly stories or argue over who was faster. The one argument she wouldn't let him win.

"You still with us?" The familiar voice sounded through Kelly's helmet as she looked to see John knelt beside her.

"I think. What happened?"

"It got a bit rough when Benchley maneauvered us through slipspace with the plasma. The ship nearly got shaken apart."

Kelly looked around and realized most of the bridge crew was out, some bleeding. A med was looking over Stanforth, who had a nasty bump on his head. Fred and the other Spartans milled around behind John and helped tend to the injured.

"Did we make it?"

"See for yourself."

Kelly looked up to the view screen to see a sight that almost brought tears to her eyes. The planet Reach, the one she had called home for her training as a Spartan, glowed bright on the screen.

"Looks like we are home John."

"It certainly does."

"Sir, I am receiving a priority mission from Reach." The man at the comm. station was practically shaking.

"What is it corporal?"

Reach has detected… Ships sir. The Covenant have found Reach.

Kelly felt a tear fall down her cheek.

Author's Note: I hope you have enjoyed this story. Thank you all for reading. Please feel free to leave reviews.. :)