Book One: Dawn of a New Age

by DragonheartODST

Humanity had been expanding across the stars for over 5 centuries in relative peace. But an alien alliance known as the Covenant wishes to destroy humanity entirely. Now threatened with extinction, can the fate of just one battle-scared survivor change the events of the war and those participating in it? Multi-crossover with Halo, Mass Effect, and a little bit of StarCraft.

10. Chapter 10: A Single Spark of Courage

Chapter 10: A Single Spark of Courage

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." – Winston Churchill

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1600 Hours, August 3rd, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Docked with the Long Night of Solace in Covenant-occupied space, Reach orbit, Epsilon Eridani System

As the doorway connecting the Spartan-controlled Ardent Prayer with the Long Night of Solace opened up, the combined forces of Noble and Blue Teams came face to face with a small group of Covenant dockworkers. It was not uncommon amongst docked ships to exchange and/or deliver fresh supplies and new crewmembers. The Spartans had been able to trick the Long Night into letting them dock to take on fuel and to take a look at the damages from the battle with the Savannah. The Covenant forces on the supercarrier had accepted this reasoning and left well enough alone. Of course that didn't stop the bridge officers from notifying the dockworkers in the hangar / plaza like area who would check in on the crew to see if they needed help. The workers were accustomed to stuff like this, otherwise they wouldn't have been placed in such a position. So it was quite a surprise to those workers when the doorway to the Ardent Prayer swung open and revealed a group of eleven individual Spartans. Of course the thought was fleeting for most of them since the moment the doors opened, the entire worker crew that had arrived there was instantly mowed down by a deadly hail of bullets. The few that managed to survive the first three seconds of the carnage instantly died within the next seven as the Spartans relentlessly cut down their legs and then aimed for their hearts or their heads.

When the last of the workers died without setting of an alarm and the Spartans relaxed only slightly now that the immediate threat that could have expose them having been taken out. They then began searching the room they were now in that would serve as the beachhead into the Long Night itself. It was much like a bright small interior plaza within the center of a building. Besides the single doorway behind the Spartans which would lead back to the Ardent Prayer, there were six more doorways scattered about the room. Each wall had at least two large doorways with the opposite end of the room having a large bare wall between its two openings. The only thing on that wall that was noticeable was the medium sized console that glowed with some importance. Scattered around the rest of the room were alien crates no doubt filled with things of import. Other than that, there was nothing of note and nobody else save the former work team's bodies which were slowly bleeding out on the floor. With the room secured for now the leading Spartan, known to Noble Team as Master Chief, marched up to the glowing console whereupon he took out a small crystal chip from the back of his helmet and held it up to the device. The small blue light inside it went out for a moment before the console, which had been glowing purple and green before, turned bright blue. The next second a beautiful woman with short hair, moving lines of code going across her seemingly naked body, and a glowing complexion that was the same color of the console, appeared before the eleven man team.

"Now this is much more roomier than that stuffed head of yours Chief." The blue digital woman smirked at her little joke while the members of Noble Team looked on in a small amount of shock.

"You have an AI." Kat was the first to speak up. Blue Team merely gave her a simple glance that seemed to be say, 'what did you expect.' Noble Team was more understanding. They worked with Auntie Dot for a while now but she was still what the Council aliens called a virtual intelligence. A high grade virtual intelligence that outstripped anything the Citadel Council had, but a virtual intelligence non the less with none of the personality or quirks that an AI had. Having an actual AI here would be of great benefit to the mission, and it was an open secret that Kat always wanted one to work with considering her preference toward tinkering with anything, mechanical, electrical, or digital in nature.

"CTN 0452-9 at your service, but you can call me…" the AI began but was swiftly cut off.

"Cortana." The Chief finished expressing his desire for the AI to finish up the conversation and actually get to work.

"Don't worry Chief, I'm getting to it." The blue lady said with the smile still on her lips before popping away. As Cortana focused her entire processor on the Covenant network she was currently linked to the settings around here slowly changed from the bright purple room she had been in before to a sea of glowing computer code. She moved across this digital ocean with an experience born from guesswork and simulations that had been conducted with pieces of Covenant tech that survived. Of course a real Covenant network was rather different than the scrapped or simulated versions that Cortana had come across in the pass. However once Cortana got past the various and multiple firewalls, which were admittedly somewhat easier than expected once she got the hang of it, there was a major problem. Frowning in agitation she disappeared from the sea of data and reappeared on the console she was plugged into. All in a timespan of five seconds since the end of the conversation.

"We got a problem Chief." She stated.

"What is it."

"The network that this console is connected to is separated from the from the main network on this ship and what few connections exist are heavily monitored. I can't figure out enemy numbers, locations, or any other important data."

"Can you break into the main network?"

"Not unless you want me to trigger the alarms. I do have a map of the ship though as well as a number of schedules for daily routines and patrols. I also hacked the security where I could so that we could both see what is ahead. Beyond that we still have to be quiet though, the majority of the crew don't anything at the moment but there is a chance that will change soon."

Chief nodded, it wasn't much to go on but it was certainly better than nothing and they could work with it. He then turned to his companions and began formulating the plan and judging who should go where.

"Alright, I'll be taking James and Kelly with me to assault the bridge of the ship. Our call sign will be Blue-1. Commander Carter, you will be taking Linda and Emile with you to capture the communications room and you're labeled Noble-1. Fred, will take Lieutenant Kat and Jun to capture the engine room in the ship and they will be labeled Blue-2. Noble Six is in charge of Noble-2 which will consist of him and Jorge. According to Cortana, weapons control is close enough to the bride that Noble-2 will be with us for most of the way there. Noble-1 and Blue-2 will be going in the opposite directions. Now once in position outside our respective targets, we will launch our attacks simultaneously to capture these areas while holding off any enemy reinforcements for as long as possible. If our positions become untenable, get out back to the corvette as fast as you can and destroy as much as possible in the process. Blue-3, since you will be attacking the engine room that means that you will be responsible for trying to rig up a slipspace bomb from the carrier's engine. Give us all enough time to get out and be sure that the bomb remains undetected. My team will attempt to do the same thing with the ship's self-destruct on the bridge if arming the bomb becomes problematic. Red Team will be standing by on the corvette to ensure our escape and to provide reinforcements if necessary. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Emile piped up. "Do you expect three five-man Spartan teams to be enough to hold off an entire supercarrier of Covies?" A few of the other Spartans looked slightly miffed but Chief considered it to be a good question despite Emile's tone. After all any Spartan had to learn what their limits were and when to back off if it became too much too handle.

"At least for a short time. Once we have control over our respective areas, Cortana will lock down the both ships from the supercarrier's bridge and vent the atmosphere everywhere save our respective rooms. Once that is done, she will send a signal that will bring an allied fleet here. The new reinforcements should take care of any remaining Covenant forces aboard." Chief explained. After a moment Emile gave a single nod in understanding. With that taken care of, Chief turned fully back to everyone and said, "The routes to your respective targets will be sent to your helmets. Good luck." And just like that, the teams began moving out. Blue-2 went off to the left while Blue-3 headed right. The remaining two teams stuck together and headed off in the direction of the bridge.

The hallways of the supercarrier were large and wide enough for a pair of Hunters to lumber down side by side. For most, these hallways would have been somewhat disturbing. There was certainly enough light for anybody to clearly see what was ahead of them but it was spread out, leaving small patches of the hallways in shadow. Alcoves dotted the walls in certain areas and the halls themselves had sharp blind turns and strange crossroads that could make one feel as if they were in a maze. This was also not counting the fact that everything was painted or colored in purple or blue lights. In short, it was an alien design that made the entire thing feel creepy, as if the enemy was preparing to ambush them as soon as they rounded a corner. The Spartans, as they had been trained to do, ignored this feeling and plowed ahead, the radars in their helmets and Cortana's guidance ensuring that they could circumvent the larger parties while taking out the smaller ones stealthily. Still though, as the two Spartan teams moved on, there was an uneasiness in the air. It became all the more obvious when they entered a large room that was roughly two stories tall. Soaring columns rose toward a darkened ceiling. A large walkway also served as a balcony that overlooked a decent sized and brilliantly lit plaza where a number of Wraith vehicles and crates were located. A number of doors also branched off in different directions. If it wasn't for the map of the supercarrier, it was quite possible that the Spartans would have gotten lost. The room unfortunately, also happened to be filled with a large number of Covenant forces who were drawn to the sound of the opening door and consequently saw the five Spartans in the doorway.

A firefight instantly broke out as the Elites quickly rallied the Grunts and Jackals within the room. The Spartans instantly sprinted toward cover, lobbing grenades along the way which either scattered or killed a number of Covenant. Jorge, being the large, heavy, machine gun totting, Spartan that he was, preferred to lumber over to cover while simultaneously unleashing a literal bullet-storm upon the Covenant forces. Grunts and Jackals fell in heaps and a few Elites got caught by the machine gun. Whether those that got away were wounded or simply lost their shielding was questionable in this madness but the two Elites who didn't escape the fire ended up becoming Swiss cheese. Chief saw Six disappear for a moment before reappearing seconds later behind an Elite which promptly got stabbed in the neck while a nearby Jackal with its back to the now dead Elite was shot at from behind. Six disappeared again before appearing behind some cover whereupon the cycle would repeat with him cloaking and killing any Covies that were in range before de-cloaking behind another barrier. While it became obvious that the Spartans were winning, as the fight continued it seemed that the sounds of battle had attracted attention for a small number of Grunts and Jackals appeared from several other hallways although they didn't compare to the twin Hunters that lumbered in from the opposite side of the room. The rumbling ground had been the first indication of their presence but it was the sound of the charging plasma guns on their wrists that truly alerted the Spartans and it was only a split second decision to jump somewhere else that save Noble Six as the cover he used was instantly melted to slag. Jorge attempted to take fire by aiming his machine gun on the walking pair of worms, but they simply hid behind their shields, the bullets ricocheting off in various directions. Jorge was forced to hide when the bullets started flying back at him as a result.

Chief watched as the Hunters aimed where Jorge and some of the other Spartans were. They all escaped but it was always a close call with the remaining Covenant forces firing on them. In fact, one Hunter managed to aim at the spot where Six was hiding, which was actually behind a parked Wraith. Six jumped out just as the Hunter fired his plasma cannon, obliterating the Wraith in a shower of green fire. Despite this deadly explosion, which killed several Covenant members close by that hadn't been behind any shields, Six had still survived by jumping through the air and essentially riding the shock wave till he landed on the Hunter who shot him. The alien gestalt instantly began scrambling to get the Spartan off him but Six was simply too small, too fast, and the Hunter did have both a cannon and shield for hands so that didn't help much. Either way, it was too late for the doomed creature as Six stuck a grenade in it before leaping off and running for cover. Several seconds later, the grenade exploded, making it rain both worms and orange goo everywhere while the newly made corpse, now lacking a torso, fell onto its back. Naturally, this didn't sit well with the other Hunter who proceeded to go on a rampage by smacking the other Spartans down with his shield, something that didn't help much when it accidently crushed its own allies underfoot. Whether the Hunter cared that he was killing its own allies was another question but at this point, Chief was more focused on dodging the incredibly large beam of death the Hunter proceeded to fire at him. Chief rolled away from the burning plasma, scooping up some unused plasma grenades that had fallen to the ground. Armed with three of the grenades, he weaved around obstacles and living Covies that provided cover while shooting at the Hunter. The hulking gestalt turned toward him and attempted to melt him but consistently missed every shot, taking out its own people in the process. Meanwhile, Jorge began to see what Chief had in mind and aimed his minigun at the Hunter's back. The storm of bullets tore into the creature's armor, stripping it piece by piece until the whole thing was revealed. The Hunter turned back around to fire on Jorge and left itself open for Chief who promptly got close and stuck two live plasma grenades onto its back. The burning sensation, glowing light, and whirring sound alerted the living tank to the danger but it was too late. Two mini suns ignited and promptly ripped, burned, and melted the Hunter's back till nothing was left. The force of the explosion threw the Hunter into a nearby column, which bent under the weight, and collapsed to the ground where it finally went still.

"You okay?" Chief asked Noble Six when he looked at him. Six's suit was slightly burned near his back from where he missed the Wraith explosion.

"Just a scratch. Nothing I can't handle." Six replied.

With the threat now gone, the team of Spartans finally secured the room they were in. Chief waited as Cortana looked through the map of the ship's interior once more to try and find the correct route to their destinations. Seconds later, two waypoints popped up on his HUD and Cortana's voice echoed through the comms.

"Alright Noble-2, you will go left and down. The weapons control will be on a lower level nearby. Blue-1, your target is straight ahead. Be careful though, I'm getting readings of increased traffic between here and your targets. You will have to be more quiet when you're on the move."

"Roger Cortana." Chief responded before turning to the two other Spartans who came with him. "Let us know when you reach outside your destination." Noble Six nodded in understanding before turning around toward his door. Jorge stayed behind for a second and looked at Chief.

"It's good to see you again guys."

"You too Jorge." Kelly replied. Then the towering Hungarian Spartan was off, leaving the other three alone in the room.

Chief looked at the other members of his team before saying, "Let's move out." And with that, Blue-1 left the room. As they left however, Cortana popped up in his radio.

"Well, he is sure interesting."

"What?" was Chief's reply.

"Six of course. I may have read his file once I heard he was on this mission but seeing him in action. It's almost like watching you. A hyper-lethal vector." Cortana explained.

Chief felt a slight frown form on his face, not from frustration or anything else, but rather from some sense of exasperation, wonder, and curiosity. When he read up on the mission, he didn't know what to think of Noble Team. In fact, most of the Spartan IIs didn't know how to feel when they heard about the Spartan III Program. He remembered the moment with the crystal clarity only a Spartan could remember.

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0600 Hours, August 2nd, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex, Highland Mountains, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System

The large, secure amphitheater slowly filled with those Spartan IIs that remained along with the necessary military and civilian personnel involved. Chief looked around the room where his life as a Spartan began. Looking at all of his siblings that had been able to come back home, he was slightly saddened by what he saw though he didn't allow it to show on his face. There were now a little over two dozen Spartans remaining in the briefing room beside him. Ever since the augmentations and the declaration of war, the number of Spartans had slowly dwindled in size. A few had been able to come back into the fold due to the medical technologies gained from the Citadel Council but it hardly offset the losses. While the deaths of the Spartans IIs had been rare and spread out over the years, it didn't change the fact that with every loss, Chief lost another member of his family, another brother or sister whom he had trained with as a child. Their deaths, no matter how noble a sacrifice, were personal failures to him and a greater victory for the Covenant and now their sacrifices seemed to have been in vain. The news that the Covenant had just recently discovered Reach had hit home, both figuratively and literally in this case and shook his confidence ever so slightly. He hoped that this meeting was going to explain what was going to happen now even as he and the other Spartans remained standing. Dr. Halsey appeared soon afterwards followed by a Salarian. The Salarian was an unknown to Chief but if he was with Halsey, than she must have her reasons. As the remaining Spartan IIs filed into the room, Halsey reached the podium in the center of the stage. The Spartans remained standing as she looked over all of them. Her eye rested on John for a split second longer than the others and a smile crossed her face.

"At ease Spartans and take a seat." The entire room sat down as one in preparation for Halsey's presentation. "Considering the circumstances, I won't try to take much of your time for I know you are needed. As you are all undoubtedly aware, the Covenant have found Reach." A number of Spartans unconsciously squirmed at this though only their fellow Spartans would have been able to tell. For Chief, the news manifested as a chill down his spine that he ruthlessly suppressed. But the thought of Reach, his homeworld, burning from Covenant plasma, made the chill difficult to shake off. The memory of Jericho VII's glassing passed through his mind for a short second before he summoned the willpower to banish it altogether and focus on the doctor..

"As of yesterday, a number of sites across the Viery Territory have come under attack including ONI Sword Base. We aren't sure how yet or how large their numbers are, only that they have established a foothold somewhere in the territory that is currently being scouted." Halsey continued before motioning to the Salarian who stepped forward. "This is Professor Mordin Solus of the STG and he is going to explain to you everything you will need to know so far."

"Greetings Spartans." The Salarian spoke rapidly in the manner common to his kind. "As Dr. Halsey has stated, Covenant forces have created a landing zone most likely in the region of the Viery Territory labeled Ütközet. Numbers are unknown at this moment but due to the number of assaults against military installations, kiva settlements, communication outposts, supply depots, etc., numbers are expected to be in the hundreds of thousands if not millions. Hypothesis is that it is most likely a scout force setting up a beachhead for the main invasion but it is a dangerous threat non the less. Due to similar actions in the past, Covenant fleet is expected to number in the dozens and will contain at least a number of corvettes, battlecruisers, and heavy cruisers. However for possible necessity, fleet may, I repeat MAY, also contain one CSO-class supercarrier." The Salarian's ramblings finally came to a halt but it was the last sentence and the picture of said supercarrier on the board behind the two scientists that caught the Spartans' attention. While he felt a measure of shock, Chief instantly begin to figure out what the professors were catching on to though he waited for either scientist to confirm it.

Halsey continued where Mordin left off. "For those of you not familiar with the plans regarding Operation: Red Flag, we will need this ship to conduct a future raid on the Prophet's homeworld, capture a living Prophet, and use him or her in an attempt to end the war; if said ship does exist of course. There are no guarantees yet that such a ship has been spotted despite the probability of such. Until such news reaches us, each of you will be split into different teams and be sent around the planet to help in any situations as necessary with a few exceptions who will stay behind as a precaution. The moment we gain official confirmation of this supercarrier's existence, a specially picked team of Spartan IIs and IIIs will move in to capture the ship." The Spartans were nodding their heads in agreement for a second before the full force of the words hit them. For the first time in a long time, Chief felt his entire thought process derail and crash like the metaphorical train upon hearing the last few words Halsey said.

'Spartan IIIs?'

Chief's hand shot up quickly as soon as his mind processed the words. Halsey's eyes rested upon him and gave a small smile at the sight of it. "Yes, John." She said.

"You said Spartan IIIs ma'am?" Chief asked respectfully.

"Yes I did. Ever since the success with your class, I have been attempting to establish a second class of Spartan IIs. But with the limitations on the Spartan II Program, the cost of the training and equipment, and the effects this war is having on potential recruits, ONI had decided to try a more cost effective solution by creating a Spartan III Program. Now while its members may not be the same as all of you, either physically or mentally, they have proven themselves to be Spartans in every way possible and it has been decided to merge the two programs together. Any and all information will be on your tablets in front of you so that you can catch up on everything that is happening so far. I hope that all of you don't have any issues with this." Halsey answered with a slight glimmer in her eyes.

Grabbing the tablet in front of him, Chief felt himself agreeing and judging from the other Spartans in the room, he wasn't the only one. For years now, the number of available Spartans had been growing smaller and deep down, Chief feared that Reach would become a mass grave dedicated to every Spartan in the UNSC when the Covenant arrived. At the same time, he had come to believe that they had always been the best Humanity had to offer, one of the few groups that actually helped Humanity stand a chance. Now with just a few simple words, his entire worldview had changed as he skimmed through the records in front of him. His family had grown in size, and by quite a lot it looked like. At the same time, he felt a spark of anger that ONI didn't think they were good enough to continue with and decided to back up a third program. The thought was ruthlessly crushed a second later as John looked more thoroughly through the tablet's contents with quick efficiency. The Spartan IIIs may have had toned down augmentations, but they were the same augmentations the IIs had before them plus a few others. Not only that, but they all worked a hundred percent. The IIs augmentations had been rather dangerous by comparison. Fifty-six percent of the Spartan II class got washed out in the process. The IIIs didn't have that problem compared to them. There were even several hundred of them where the IIs barely had over three dozen members to start with. On paper, they were Spartans through and through and they didn't deserve his ire. What ticked Chief off however was the way they were apparently being used though as cannon fodder. Most of the missions they were sent on ended up with over ninety percent casualties even when they succeeded. He nearly broke the tablet in half when he came across that part.

After taking a small sigh to relax himself, John flipped through the dossiers on the Spartan IIIs when his eye came upon Noble Team. Their records caught his attention and after a bit of reading, he found himself slightly impressed. Carter sounded like a good leader. Kat was experienced in tech, both human and alien. Linda would probably like to have a sniping competition with Jun based on his stats at some point. Emile seemed to be a hot-head with a love for close combat. He would need to be watched. Jorge was a surprise considering he was a Spartan II though John was glad to see he was doing fine with such a team. What really got his attention was the info regarding Spartan-B312. Most of it was blacked out and what little he could read suggested the Spartan III was mainly a lone wolf, both on the battlefield and personality-wise. He was a natural that had made entire militia groups disappear by himself and he seemingly possessed an odd streak of luck that made him get out of sticky situations. Summing up, the dossier said in no uncertain terms that Six was hyper-lethal and could very well match Chief himself, although that was based on the info alone and nothing else so Chief preferred to hold off on that until he saw the Spartan III in action.

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Back on the Long Night of Solace with Blue-1

The memory came back easily and frankly Chief had been interested by what he saw. Noble Six appeared to be everything the dossier said he had been. Quiet, efficient, and ruthless in taking down his enemies. Definitely worthy of the label "hyper-lethal vector". In short, the Master Chief was becoming more impressed by what he saw of Noble Six. Had the man been born around 2511 like most of the Spartan IIs had been, he might have had a chance joining the Spartan II Program. But now was not the time to consider the man. Several times now, Blue-1 had come across several other checkpoints filled with enemies who were set upon with as much stealth as possible and killed with no mercy. When their enemies couldn't be taken down by stealth, they proceeded to suffer from a large number of bullets to the head courtesy of their silenced weapons. Only once did they have to hid in a deep alcove to avoid a pair of Hunters patrolling the halls like silent guard dogs. The closer they got to the bridge, the more traffic there was and the greater the danger. But eventually, their patience and stealth was rewarded when they reached the doors that led to the bridge of the supercarrier. So far everything had gone to plan, they just had to check in with the other team.

"Noble-1, this is Blue-1. Come in." The Chief radioed. A few seconds passed with no sound save the nearly inaudible radio static before a new voice came in.

"Blue-1, this is Noble-1." Carter's voice came in strong and clear.

"Blue-1 is in position to begin our assault on the bridge of the ship. What's your position?" Chief asked quickly while keeping an eye out for any unwelcome guests.

"We're almost in position on our side. Will be ready in less than a minute. Let you know then sir." Carter answered before the radio fell silent. Chief felt his mouth twist downwards a little but not by much. Noble-1 was almost in position and once they were, they would all surprise and overwhelm the crew within their respective rooms. While a lot can happen in a few seconds, with the way things were going so far, it was likely that it should all work out. The key word of course being should. Nothing was ever that easy these days unfortunately.

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Terminal connection between the Ardent Prayer and the Long Night of Solace with Red Team at the same time.

"Well this is boring." Alice-130 of Red Team pointed out while looking over her gun. As of yet, nothing of interest had occurred since they split up and Cortana had been able to set up an automatic contact with the bridge of the supercarrier to ensure that no unwelcome parties boarded the Ardent Prayer. "I thought I would be fighting my way through this ship. Not staying behind to guard the escape route."

"You would be the only one who could find any fun in blasting aliens. Besides it's not like it's a competition." Vinh-030 said before Douglas-042 added, "That you were winning at anyway."
Alice playfully punched her teammate in the shoulder for the remark before going back to her gun while Douglas chuckled in good humor.

"You think the others are doing fine? Shouldn't some of us have gone with them? " Isaac-039 asked.

"It's alright." Jerome-092 and the leader of Red Team stated with absolute confidence. "If they needed our help they would have contacted us at any point in the last hour or so. Besides we just received word a few minutes ago that they were close to their respective targets. Everything is going fine." Still even Jerome couldn't help but twitch in nervousness. As a Spartan, he had been trained to be completely calm and he knew that Blue and Noble Teams could take care of themselves without them. However his training and conditioning as a Spartan-II left him feeling conflicted between taking direct action against the Covenant forces aboard and staying in position. It was only because of Chief's order that he was willing to stay where he was at all. So he and his team stayed where they were and that was that. Or it would have been if things if the universe had been kinder. At that moment, Jerome heard a beep coming from his HUD. When he looked he saw an approaching dot on the radar. The strange thing was that it was neither green or red, just yellow which was something that only happened around those who weren't allies or enemies and therefore should not be happening here.

"Guys we got a contact." He radioed quietly. The others stepped up quickly and snuck beside him as he led the way around the hallway. The dot on his radar had stopped outside the hallway as Red Team slowly got closer to the doorway. The doors parted and to everybody's surprise, inside was a single Jackal dressed as a minor officer looking down on what was equivalent to a clipboard that had both the necessary supplies and illegal contraband listed on it. Thanks to their translators, Red Team heard the Jackal began to talk about black market dealing involving what sounded like high grade fertility medication before looking up and stalling mid-sentence. The state of the situation was both highly unexpected and a touch comedic as the Spartans that they had literally stopped in the process of trying to shoot the alien bird. It would have been funny if reality hadn't quickly set in when the Jackal looked to his left and the Spartan's eyes followed to see a control panel. On said control panel was a small number of buttons to help with stuff with the refueling if necessary. One of these buttons sounded a general alert however and it was that button that the Jackal attempted to leap toward in fearful desperation. He never made it as the Spartans promptly filled the poor dealer with lead but his clipboard carried on with its momentum and hit the alarm button before the Spartans could do anything to stop it. Red lights began filling the hallway and a siren began to sound out.

Jerome could only think of one thing as he radioed Chief.

'Crap.'

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Aboard the Bridge of Long Night of Solace

Rho 'Barutamee was busy going over the news he received over the computers from both the Ardent Prayer and ground forces on the planet below. So far, the humans and their alien allies were making things rather difficult.

He was impressed with their defiance.

He was angry but he was still impressed.

He didn't have any qualms about killing everybody on the planet and he would have simply been done with it if it wasn't for two reasons. One, the large amount of defenses in place which made attacking impossible without severe casualties and two, the Forerunner artifacts he knew were on the planet below. His Luminary had detected artifacts on this world and he had been the first to arrive. He hoped to use these artifacts to find the fabled Forerunner world of Maethrillian. It was these reasons that were stopping him from glassing this world and everyone on it. He dare not commit to such an action and risk either the destruction of the relics or the wrath of the Hierarchs. So he was stuck here meditating on the situation below.

And his meditation was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an alarm going off.

'Now what?' he thought as he began to stand up and look over the console in front of him. Barely a second passed as he looked over the console and thought of what could be the problem. The alarm came from the connection between his ship and the Ardent Prayer. But why would anybody send an alarm from there. It was safe around the ship since there was no enemy in sight and there was no technical issue on the screen. Everything was going well so there should have been no problems requiring an alarm.

'Unless…' He didn't finish the thought as reality decided to answer the question that had only begun to form in his head when the doors to the bridge opened and three demons stepped through gunning down his soldiers.

Rho 'Barutamee was no longer impressed or angry anymore.

He was pissed.

At himself. At his crew. At the members of the Ardent Prayer who were likely dead now at the hands of the demons. At the whole state of things and the gods who allowed it to occur in the first place. He punched a button on his chair, pulled out both his plasma rifle and his energy sword and roared in defiance all the while as he ordered his bridge crew to attack. Plasma and bullets flew with greater frequency but despite their many attempts to kill the intruders, the Spartans nimbly dodged the plasma fire while killing off many more of the Elites. Rho only grew angrier with each Sangheili that died before him. At some point reason fled his mind when his plasma rifle overheated in his hand, forcing him to toss it at the demons before leaping toward them with his sword hand outstretched and his purple cloak flying behind him.

It was all for naught when one of the demons leaped forward toward him, punched him in several areas to disorient him several times, grabbed his sword arm and twisted it behind his back before leveling a pistol at his head. Rho barely saw it in his field of vision before it fired twice and everything went black.

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Back to Blue-1

The moment the alarms began to sound, Chief knew something was off. Jerome's radio call a second later confirmed his anxieties.

"All teams go." He ordered before he and the other members of Blue-1 burst into the ship's bridge. The alarms had alerted the bridge crew something was wrong so they were getting prepared for anything. They just weren't expecting a small team of Spartans to burst onto the bridge. Bullets took out a good number of personnel but the Elites on board were alert now and as soon as the shock passed, they took out their own weapons and fired back. The Elite captain had charged him when the weapon overheated. The officer threw it at his head and recklessly charged at him with a sword which he quickly twisted behind his back with one hand while using the other hand to shoot him point blank. The Elite quickly collapsed in his grip though Chief grabbed hold of the back of his harness and used him as a meat shield against the remainder of the Elite's fire who peppered their former commander with plasma, trapping Chief in the process. Despite Chief's blatant attack on the Elite admiral, however much it angered the remaining aliens on the bridge, it had one important effect.

Nobody was paying attention to the other two Spartans in the doorway.

James and Kelly jumped into the room attacking the other aliens now that they weren't stuck behind cover. The remaining Elites realized their mistake too late to do anything about the pair that now gunned them down easily. Finally realizing their position, one of the Elites attempted to run to a nearby console. Chief shot the Elite's leg out from under him before peppering his torso with holes. However this caused the Elite to tumble right onto the console he had been heading toward and no sooner had the dead Elite's body hit the console than an alarm began to blare out. The remaining Elites rushed out as well but James and Kelly took care of them with little issue.

"Chief, get me into the console now." Cortana commanded. Chief did as he was told, slipping out the chip in his helmet containing the AI and holding it to the console. The blue light inside disappeared before reappearing in the console itself. Cortana followed a second after looking pensive.

"Chief, we have a problem."

"Chief, this is Noble-2. We captured the comm room and cut off any communications with between the ship and the outside world but somehow a signal is still getting through." Jorge radioed in.

"They have already activated an inbuilt alarm system." Cortana answered in response. "I'm attempting to disconnect both but they are already getting word to the other soldiers on board. We only have a few minutes till they are upon us."

Chief instantly radioed everyone "All teams, get to safe zones and seal your doors. Cortana vent the atmosphere in the rest of the ship and send a message to the UNSC. Tell them we need backup." Cortana nodded before disappearing in a flash. While she figuratively tore apart the mainframe from cyberspace trying to track the hardline that alerted the Covenant. The Spartans moved into the rooms they captured and sealed the doors before barricading them with whatever they had on hand, usually with the bodies of the dead Covies they killed. They were barely just in time as the sounds of banging filled the bridge from the direction of the door. A few dents appeared here and there as something seemed to bash itself against the doors.

"Cortana." Chief said with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I need more time." Cortana told him. The door to the bridge warped in place before it burst out toward the bridge and out came a pair of Hunters and a gaggle of Covies quickly followed behind. Plasma, bullets, and grenades quickly filled the bridge as the three Spartans moved and weaved in between the various barricades that could protect them and the enemies that threatened to kill them. The Hunters fired at the Spartans who promptly dodged their blasts, one of which hit a nearby console.

"Hey, watch it!" Cortana's voice echoed in their helmets. "I'm going to need some of these consoles if you want me to work." John winced slightly at that. This would make it slightly more difficult if he wanted to beat these aliens but at the very least it was only the two Hunters he and the others needed to worry about now. The rest of the Covenant forces were just so much fodder at the this point considering how many already died.

The thought was instantly rewarded with the sight of a Grunt flying into the head, so to speak, of one of the Hunters who promptly turned around to be greeted with James' fist. The Spartan's arm disappeared into the area where the face would usually be only to be pulled back seconds later as James jumped off. Another second later, the Hunter's head began to glow blue before violently exploding in a ball of plasma and electricity. The second and still living Hunter, instantly went berserk and tried to smash James under its shield for the murder of its twin.

"Cortana."

"Right hold on, it's going to get a little windy in here." And just a moment after she finished that sentence, Chief began to feel a slight pull that felt like it was growing stronger. It only took another second to magnetize his armor to the floor before he felt the full force of the atmosphere being ripped out of the room and into the void. Gravity ceased and the bodies of the dead began to rise from the floor and gain a frost covering while the blood began to freeze into little multi-colored globes as the temperature swiftly dropped. As for the living, it was rather confounding. The more exposed Covies like the Grunts and Jackals began to suffocate without oxygen and while a number of Elites did as well, a remaining few had been quick and smart enough to add facial masks to their suits. James remained trapped, holding up the Hunter's shield with both hands to prevent being crushed yet the Hunter's other limb / cannon was already rising up to fire when the oxygen and gravity all disappeared. The result would have been hilariously to somebody as the gestalt of worms suddenly found themselves floating off the floor while James managed to push off the shield.

Kelly sensed an opportunity as the Hunter spasmed around in space, either in the throes of death or just to find ground to stand on. With the reflexes brought on by Spartan training in zero-g environments, Kelly jumped from her position nearby and spun through the air till she hit the Hunter's center of mass with the back of her outstretched leg. The amount of force put into the spinning kick forced the flying / dying Hunter into the remaining Covie forces that happened to be behind it and were focused on Chief. Then the Hunter with its new payload proceeded to fly out the doorway and into a wall down the hall, crushing everyone stuck to its back. It was quickly followed by its dead brother's body as the three Spartans pulled it up and kicked it. The dead Hunter slammed into the Covie body pile and nothing in the pile moved again.

"Cortana?" Chief asked.

"Hold on Chief." The AI replied quickly before looking through the sea of data. The cameras and life sign detectors helped her to see what was going on throughout the ship and what she saw was the Covenant forces dying bit by bit. A rare few were able to get into rooms she couldn't reach but they were small in number and she could lock the halls around them and limit their movements. The rest were collapsing to their feet as the blood froze and boiled in their veins while their lungs collapsed from the lack of air and pressure. A few minutes passed before the last Covenant alien fell to the floor and stopped moving permanently. Cortana waited an extra minute to be sure all the aliens were dead and to ensure the locked doors stayed locked before answering back.

"Okay, Chief. The majority of the forces aboard are dead and the remnants are locked into various rooms across the ship. They shouldn't be a problem for now so I'll began bringing back artificial gravity and atmosphere." Both began coming back as she finished the sentence but with the return of air and gravity came the return of sounds. One sound that filled Chief's ears was a beeping coming from the console. A soft red light turned on and off with every beep and in Chief's mind that could only mean one thing.

"Cortana, did you turn off the alarm? Chief said as the memory of what she said earlier returned. There was a short quiet moment, too long in Chief's opinion and when Cortana spoke up it confirmed his worst nightmare.

"I did Chief but it's too late. The alarm got out to the other ships in the fleet and I'm already picking up enemy ships coming our way. I've run the numbers and…we won't be able to keep them from escaping with word of the ship's capture."

"Can we escape?"

"Yes but it won't do us much good if even one ship escapes." Cortana said, with a bit finality in her voice. Chief could feel it himself caused he understood what it meant. It would mean the mission itself would be considered a failure. The Covenant would attempt to not let this ship fall into enemy hands and even if they couldn't destroy it, they would do everything to cripple or distract it before escaping to warn the Covenant altogether which meant Operation RED FLAG would fail before they even had a chance to get close to a Prophet. Chief still wouldn't let things go down before he was finished though.

"Cortana do you have control over all weapons batteries?" Chief asked. He soon got a feeling that the blue AI was smirking at him.

"Do you even have to ask." She wittily replied. Several terminals instantly began to glow as data flashed across the screens. Seconds later, streaks of plasma flew out of various positions across the Supercarrier and toward the approaching enemy ships. The Covenant fleet, which included one ORS-class heavy cruiser, two CCS-class battlecruisers, and at least five more corvettes like the Ardent Prayer, fired back in response. The space between the ships filled with colorful explosions as some of the plasma torpedoes and lances hit their counterparts. The firepower of the Long Night of Solace was certainly something compared to what the enemy had on hand. While compared to a human or council fleet, the Covenant forces could more easily shrug off any damage inflicted on them, the sheer size of the supercarrier dwarfed anything they had on hand. One corvette after another died under the plasma lances and torpedoes of the Long Night of Solace and the three cruisers took a beating over time. But as the minutes ticked by, the commanders on two of the cruisers seemed to realize that their hopes of trying to stop the supercarrier had been hopeless and tried to run in different directions.

"Chief, two cruisers have broken off and are starting their slipspace engines. The third is heading straight at us."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"Targeting slipspace engine. Firing main cannons." Cortana voiced. The terminals showing as the beams from the ship cut through space toward the CCS battlecruiser that was trying to run. Its shields were already weakened from earlier and the fire from the supercarrier finally brought it down as the slipspace engine stalled out to prevent the ship from disintegrating.

"Cortana target the other battlecruiser." Chief said.

"Sure just give me…" Cortana stalled, her face scrunching up in confusion before morphing into fear and shock. "Brace for impact!" She yelled as the second CCS battlecruiser rammed itself into the Long Night of Solace. The shields widely fluctuated as fire and debris poured across it. In some places, the shields weakened enough to allow plasma and metal shards to score across the hull. Inside, most of the electricity went out for a while as a result with only the explosion lighting the interior parts of the vessel where there were windows. It lasted for a short while but when it finally ended, the Long Night of Solace was whole, but damaged heavily on its front left side where a cloud of debris and leftover plasma remained of the ship. The same side that just so conveniently was now blind to the escape of the last remaining ORS heavy cruiser. On the supercarrier, the Spartan teams could only watch in mounting horror as the last enemy ship slipped by.

"Cortana." Chief called out.

"I'm sorry Chief but the explosion disoriented or damaged the sensors and weapons. By the time we move out of the cloud, they will already have too big a head-start." She said as the enemy ship moved further out despite the supercarrier beginning to catch up. A nebula of energy seemed to form ahead of the battle cruiser, "They are beginning to power their slipspace engine. We are too far out." Cortana said.

But just when it seemed too late, a flurry of missiles and cannon fire appeared out of nowhere and bombarded the ship. The shields, already weakened from the skirmish earlier failed totally under the bombardment and the cruiser's bottom and left sides either exploded or warped. Then a lucky shot hit the engine and the ship instantly tore apart as the combination of an exploding engine and a failing slipspace drive ripped the enemy battlecruiser to shreds. Not long after the fireball that was the last Covenant ship vanished, a new fleet of ships showed up.

"I'm getting a signal from the new fleet!" Cortana exclaimed.

"To Spartan teams aboard the Covenant supercarrier, this is Admiral Desolas Arterius. We got word of the plan and thought you needed some help. Glad we came when we did." The voice from the recognizable fleet radioed.

"Believe us Admiral, we're glad you did. Our sensors and weapons are a little damaged. Would you be willing to lend us a hand in getting to friendly space?"

"I'll be happy too. I'll also send some soldiers under my brother onto the supercarrier if that is alright."

"Of course Admiral, we'll need some help taking out any stragglers left on board. You will also be happy to hear that we just took out the entire Covenant Fleet of Valiant Prudence. For the moment, the Epsilon Eridani System is free from Covenant forces."

"That definitely is good news to hear. We'll begin grouping with the supercarrier to escort back to friendly space. Admiral Arterius out." The radio cut right after and Cortana's visuals appeared on Chief's visor.

"Well glad that is taken care of. We now have a ship capable of moving forward with Operation RED FLAG and another to fiddle around with." She sounded giddy at the prospects that both supercarrier and corvette.

"We still have enemy forces on the ground and in the ship." Chief pointed out. "They will need to be taken care of quickly before they become too problematic." Cortana merely began pouting in response.

" Yeah I know. Do you always have to kill the good mood you barbarian?" Her face twisted into a humorous smirk and Chief felt the corners of his mouth quirk in response.

"Only when we still have a job to do." He replied.

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Right, well now that this is covered I'm going to start complaining now.

GODFUCKINGDAMMITALLTOHELL!

I'm sorry, I know you all been waiting patiently for this newest chapter and obviously this is proof I'm not dead yet. But frankly after the last chapter I published, which you all probably noticed was over a year ago, everything went down the drain. 2017 in general was the worst year of my life to date. On top of car troubles, laptop troubles, and attempting to find a job, I had to watch as two of my relatives died from cancer around the holidays. Naturally, I spiraled into a pretty deep depression which I could only halt from getting worse and not get better for a few months. When I finally got the will to live again, I tried to work on this chapter once more before realizing that the USB drive containing all the info got damaged, erasing months of work and forcing me to start over. In short you don't have to feel disappointed in me, I'm disappointed in myself as it were. If this chapter is subpar, blame 2017 for it. I don't like whining about my problems in life, and you probably don't want to hear it but honestly, I feel like I'm never going to get this done and it terrifies me that this might be the only bit of a legacy I'll leave behind if I were to die for some reason right now. So I try to do my work only for life or general apathy to rear its butt-ugly head again and drag me under. Just uuugggghhh.

While this does sound depressing, this doesn't mean I want to quit at this point. I've already invested part of my life into it and I'll be damned if I don't have a good enough reason to stop. But you guys deserve better, so no more promises, no more deadlines, you will all get these chapters when I can put them out and not a moment before. More than that, I'm going to try to shorten them. Most of my chapters are currently between 18 and 22 pages long and I feel that this length is helping to cause as much problems as life in general. Don't know how it will work yet, I'm just going to try and be and do better. Because you all deserve better and I'll be the one to let you know when this is done, whether it's because it's finished or because I quit. That is the best promise you will ever get out of me. So onto the reviews.

I like to thank all lot of people who left comments on my work. Considering the time I was gone, it did add up to a lot and I'm not going to try and list them all. Many of you may not realize until now but, reading what you guys sent to me is heartwarming. Hearing what you guys say on the comments makes me realize that you care about my work in some form or another and hearing from you is partly what keeps me going when life drags me down. So again, thanks for your comments and to those online friends who messaged me, thanks for your help and input. This chapter, for what it is worth, is dedicated to all of you. Thank you for both your support and your patience. While it is either late or early in your opinion, I would also like to wish you all a better Christmas and a better year than I had. Good luck and Godspeed.