- - - SPOILER WARNING - - - This Chapter contains possible Halo 3 plot points that may ruin the experience of the Halo 3 game. While this story does not follow the Master Chief and Cortana, their actions are directly related to the events that transpire in this story.

You have been warned.
soulguard

Level 21: Zero Hour

Hammer of God
Human/Sangheili controlled ship

Camp Eden

The blood splattered gravity hammer fell to the deck with a loud metallic thud. Simyaldee had expended its power completely on the few dozen brutes that lined the hall toward the last reported location of Grimleon. The Gravity Hammer buzzed and sparked as smoke escaped from it and Simyaldee left it lifeless in the hallway; along with the bloody corpses of the thirty plus brutes that had foolishly decided to fight him.

Simyaldee raced ahead, his nostrils flaring as Grimleon's familiar smell burned into him. He was close, but still far away. Grimleon was by far the most skilled opponent to ever cross his path, and Simyaldee was not going to let the Brute take control of this ship.

Simyaldee ran along the corridor and saw that another group of brutes were completely blocking his path, and he was forced to fight them. Grimleon's stench was growing weaker, and that meant that he was getting further away; deeper into the ship. After a few moments of fighting there were more dead brutes and more wasted time.

- - - - - - - -

Grimleon's massive hulk trotted deeper into the corridor. His golden armor, marked with the bloody print of his clan, was dusty from combat in the hot sands below the ship, but now he was in striking range of dealing a critical blow to the human defenses. But even with this new found attack, his focus was still on Simyaldee. He wanted to finally be rid of the last Elite in the House of Yal. His clan had sworn over the course of many generations to kill them all, but the false peace between the brutes and elites hindered his quest and he was not aware that one last child of Yal still existed.

And a Mirratord warrior, no less.

"Grimleon." The speaker in the corridor echoed. Grimleon paused, and so did his few brute escorts. The thick bulkhead door in front of closed shut, and soon after the door behind did the same. Trapped. Grimleon's eyes bounced from side to side, looking about the purple and steel of the hall.

The voice added. "That is your name, is it not?"

"Who speaks it?" Grimleon snarled. He stepped forward, beyond the pack at his side. A hologram emerged before him glowing from the lights of the hall. It was a human female, floating majestically along an unseen wind. The pack of brutes at his aid stepped forward, snarling as they fired at the humanoid image. Their weapons passed through the image as Siren returned a simple smile.

Grimleon roared his disapproval, "Hold you fire!" He pushed one of the brutes to the side, knocking him down and then stepped toward Siren's glow. "A construct."

"My name is Siren." She said with down cast eyes. "I have a proposition for you. One that may gain you great favor with your leader; Truth." Siren extended her hand and in it she formed the image of a pink crystal. "Truth is searching for a way to power the Ark… this is it."

Grimleon looked around, cautiously aware that human AI's were not trust worthy. "Why would you give me this? Why should I believe you?"

"This Luminous Key is the Path of Reclamation. It will allow Truth to activate the Ark. Truth will get what he wants, and so will I."

"I am not here for the Prophet's wishes, construct!" Grimleon snarled. "I am here to destroy the last of the House of Yal!"

Siren raised her eyes. "I have let you live so that you can do my will." The room began to hum as the air began to compress. Oxygen vents opened to full as the brutes all began to crumble in pain. Grimleon sealed his helmet and watched as his pack crumbled. "They will die approximately twenty seconds before you. Your armor's environmental lock down cannot protect you from the amount of pressure I can produce within this corridor." Siren watched as one Brute's armor collapsed around his chest and blood began to spit from his eyes. "Tick Tock…"

Grimleon roared. "Very well construct! End this!" The hum faded and the immense atmospheric pressure faded.

Siren smiled. "Excellent. I did not believe you would allow yourself to die in such a dishonorable manor. Now, go to the nearest data port and extract the crystal's core data and take it to Truth."

The bulkhead door behind the group of dazed brutes began to thump. Siren raised her head and smirked. "Simyaldee is quite efficient. That is him and he is telling me to open the door. However, you must give this to Truth before your blood feud can continue."

Grimleon roared his protest snarling as he gripped the nearest data port and pulled out the new data crystal. "He is here. So close I can taste his blood within my jowls, but you have hindered my plans construct, so defeating him now is obsolete."

Siren chuckled. "So you are admitting that you cannot best him?"

"I admit his worthiness in combat, and I will have his head. But for now, I will uphold your wishes. However, what will you offer me… other than life?"

- - - - - - - -

Simyaldee kicked the door once again. "Siren! Let me kill him!"

"No Lieutenant. As I said, I can deal with this. I have him trapped and… damn!" Siren shouted. "He broke through another bulkhead. He's doubling back to a nearby gangplank."

"What?" Simyaldee roared. "Let me after him! Open the door!" The door slowly hissed open as Simyaldee ducked under it and gave chase. He turned down the blown wall that Grimleon had made and followed the new course after the brute. Simyaldee pulled his blades from his hip and jumped into the hallway which lead to an open portal, and beyond that was sunlight. With his incredible land speed Simyaldee sprinted down the access gangplank and watched as two brutes turned toward him. He cut the first one down and kicked the other from his path. He then spun and beheaded the beast. But the time it took for Simyaldee to kill the two beasts cost him.

Simyaldee stood at the end of the gangplank and watched as a phantom soared free from the ship. "Siren, shoot him down!"

"I cannot, Lieutenant. None of the plasma turrets are currently angled to his position. He will be out of range before I can fire."

Simyaldee slammed his fist against the wall and snarled a deep feverish growl.

- - - - - - - -

Captain Monroe sighed deeply as she watched the last Seraph be shot from the sky. She leaned forward and rubbed the sweat from her brow. "It's not over yet. Siren, report on the boarding party."

"Ma'am. Only a few brutes remain, and fire teams are currently hunting them down. We should be done shortly."

"What about that Warhammer?" Captain Monroe questioned.

"He escaped." Siren stated.

Monroe exhaled. "At least he's off the ship. Lieutenant Simyaldee, report."

The COM buzzed on the deck. "I will assist in the additional clean up of the Brutes that are still on board. Sergeant Palab can handle the ground troops with the rest of the Mirratord."

"Actually, Simyaldee, I need to speak with you. Lord Hood is rallying the last remnant of the fleet to New Mombasa and … I request your console."

"Very well, Captain. I shall arrive momentarily."

- - - - - - - -

Siren slipped within her digital domain. Here she could think without much interference. She looked around her empty space and blinked away the cold darkness of cyberspace. In its place stood a familiar world she created. Siren sat upon a patch of grass and watched as the sky opened before her. A vast emptiness shined from the heavens as a bubble of folded space appeared in the atmosphere.

"Thank you for showing me this, Cortana." She said aloud. "Now I understand. We must seek the Path… or the world will end." The folded space glowed a brilliant blue and continued to grow smaller and smaller. "The path will open just as before, but this time, Eric will do his part and follow the Path. I guess this means the Keeper was right, but Eric will not simply let humanity be destroyed. Not this time. Not if I have anything to say about it."

Siren continued to watch as human ships followed covenant ships into the space fold bubble. And soon the virtual world she created began to grow green and misty with a sickening dark green. Tentacles began to spring up from the world reaching out to the sky. It was a flood form, a massive Gravemind consuming the world and all of life. But then, in the depths of space, there was a bright flash. She watched as a wave of all consuming power expanded and eventually washed over the earth erasing everything in its path. The wave brushed through Siren and she stood as the Earth died.

She blinked and everything was back to normal within her digital realm.

"Eric, we cannot let the world end."

- - - - - - - -

Captain Monroe descended to the base of the ramp as Simyaldee walked onto the command deck. She glared at him in shock as dried blood covered his dented armor. It was the blood of the numerous enemies he had slain in the last few minutes of battle. Simyaldee had been through a great deal and now she understood why he was so aggressive toward her on the radio; Simyaldee was a warrior and his duty was to fight. It was a bad idea to try and talk to a trained killer that was in the midst of combat.

"Lieutenant, Lord Hood was finally able to breach Truth's jamming waves. He is pushing all of the troops toward New Mombasa. We have enough firepower on this ship to do a sizeable amount of damage, but…"

Simyaldee cut off her statement, "We cannot leave the human civilians unguarded. You wish for me to decide?"

"No. It isn't that simple. I must obey my orders, but I was hoping that maybe you would remain."

"And miss my chance to kill Truth?" Simyaldee suddenly questioned. His tone was surprisingly feral. "In all of my battles and conquests I have only done what was ordered of me, but now, with the end so near, I will not-can not, sit by and protect your civilians."

"Lieutenant, there are still Brute patrols roaming the country side and if we leave…"

"That decision is between you and your leaders. Forgive my rudeness, Captain, but no. I can not stay." Simyaldee turned and began to walk off the command deck. He powered on his COM. "Sergeant Palab, report."

"Brutes thin. Me and Mirratord keep them contained. Me finish with ground forces and come to ship to help."

"No. Stay at your position. I will deal with the ship. When we are done we are going after that Jiralhanae Chieftain"

Without warning, Simyaldee's COM switched frequencies. "……. Lieutenant, do you copy?" A male elite voice sounded.

"Yes… high elder is that you?"

"Simyal… it has been some time."

"Yes elder, it has. What are you doing back on Earth?"

"We have not yet arrived on Earth, but soon we shall. We have returned with a fleet to assist in defeating Truth. But before that, there is someone whom you must speak. Our Queen lives."

"Queen?" Simyaldee questioned. But like a bolt of lightning he instantly recalled the memories of a nearly forgotten era. He recalled the time that ushered in his Mirratord loyalties.

A female voice spoke on his COM. "Simyal. We have returned from the very edge of space. It brings me great joy to know that you have survived after all of these years."

"Vasmeola…" Simyaldee paused at the door of the command deck and glared into nothingness as he let the sound of his lost mate whisper into his ears.

"The High Elder tells me that you are quite the warrior now, far from what you were during your initial training."

"My Queen, it is wonderful to hear your voice… to know that you are still alive… after all this time, I had thought…"

"Simyal, I am too stubborn for the prophets to kill me." She softly chuckled. "I will ask that you notify any elders and all of your soldiers of my soon arrival."

"My Queen, Earth is a war zone. It is much too dangerous for you to come."

"I give the orders, Simyal. And I am not coming alone."

Simyaldee smirked as his heart released more than one hundred years of pain. He took a deep breath, and it felt as though he had not breathed life since the day she left his side. "As you wish, my Queen."

Simyaldee turned back to Captain Monroe. "Captain, there has been a change in plans."

- - - - - - - -

Grimleon zipped across the savannah as his phantom roared over battlefields and thunderous explosions. The ship's engines hummed loudly as he entered the anti-aircraft area of the Covenant defense zone around the Ark structure. Several Covenant banshee's hummed to the phantom's side, ready to shoot him down at a moments notice.

"This is Grimleon of the Red Clan, let me pass."

The radio vibrated. "Mighty Warhammer, you have returned!" A brute cheered over the line. "We read you loud and clear. The AA turrets will cease fire until you pass."

"Good," Grimleon replied, "tell the Hierarch that I am on my way."

The phantom sped over the continent as several human ships were shot down from his path by the Covenant AA turrets and banshee interceptors, but Grimleon was able to fly safely through. He lowered the ship and sped toward the massive Forerunner ship at the center of what appeared to be a gigantic metal dome deep beneath the surface of the human world.

"The Ark?" Grimleon questioned. He continued on his course until he docked with the forerunner ship, quickly exited the phantom, and made his way deeper into the forerunner structure known as the Ark.

After nearly a half an hour of running he raced to Truth's side. A group of Truth's honor guards approached and stood between Grimleon and Truth. They snarled at his approach and made ready to attack. But as Grimleon stalked closer, the brutes nervously stepped back, fearful of the mighty Warhammer's prior deeds.

Truth said, "Tell me why I should spare you for your treachery?"

Grimleon smiled. "Spare me your idle threats. These mindless fools are already aware that I could kill them without much folly. For the sake of our race however, I'll give them no quarrel. But the Red Clan has no equal." Grimleon held up the crystal and to everyone's surprise Truth floated forward, past his honor guards, and reached out with his frail hands. "And now you see why you should 'spare' me."

"Is that the Key?"

"It is." Grimleon smirked.

"How were you able to find this?"

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose it does not." Truth held the Key tightly and the pink crystal shard of data shifted shape into a long sliver that resembled a key with four blades. He floated toward the central control and quickly inserted it. "By the Gods, work!"

There was a brilliant light as the key turned on its own and sent a pulse of blue lights around the room. The central terminal glowed as it lowered into the floor and Truth lifted his hands in gratitude. "Now, the Path will open." He turned to Grimleon. "You have done well, my Warhammer. I beg of you to lead my forces to the other side."

"I have never cared for you Gods. I will follow my own Path and kill the last of the House of Yal."

Truth nodded in gratitude. "Soon the Ark ship, which was designed to power this structure, will reach full power and the Path will be open. If you stay, you will be left behind."

Grimleon smirked. "You forget Hierarch, I know your deeds and your true intent. Destroy the universe. Do as you will. I am too old and I have seen too much to care. Yet if you do win in your crusade, I ask but one thing. Grant my race a place in your domain."

Truth rubbed the stubble under his chin and averted his eyes. "That is how I have always seen it. I assure you, that this is how it shall be. I am the voice of the Covenant, and therefore I say it shall be so. You have my word on this, my mighty Warhammer."

- - - - - - - -

Ark Excavation site // Mombasa observatory
ONI Facility Bravo A-11092G: The Gatekeeper

The whirl of hydraulics filled the air as Lieutenant Eric Raynord and his second in Command, Field Commission Senior Chief Petty Officer Mathew Collins, sat upon the elevator leading to the upper ground level of the Gatekeeper Facility. Together, Black Ops 19 and 08 had just spent one hour drilling each other on the ins and outs of the new SPI combat suits. Mathew and Eric had much to be thankful for, and the slight modifications that Rose had done were flawlessly integrated. Rose truly was a master of her trade.

Beside Eric and Mathew were several ONI brass members who would see to the air support being organized by Lord Hood, but for now this was Eric's operation. Sitting behind the ONI Brass was a row of warthogs and Mongoose ATVs. The large freight elevator had a camouflage topside but Eric knew that when the camouflage parted, the Covenant would be aware of their location.

A hiss of compressed hydraulics echoed above the elevator as leaves began to fall from the surface. Rain pools spilled inside the splitting roof overhead as sunlight streamed inside. The storm lingered in the distance, but the rain had subsided for now. A good sign. The fake roof continued to part and with it, Eric and Mathew could see the numerous explosions in the sky as Covenant AA guns made short work of Longswords, hornets and the unlucky pelican's that flew in too close.

Vice Admiral Parangosky stepped forward to Eric's side. "You should be able to reach Lord Hood, patch me through."

Eric nodded. "Lord Hood, please respond."

Eric's COM vibrated. "Black Ops 19, it is about damn time you came out of the ground."

"Forgive my delay, sir." Eric replied. "I have Vice Admiral Parangosky on the two way."

"Speak." Hood sighed.

Parangosky stepped forward, leaning closer to Eric's helmet. "Lord Hood," She began. "ONI Facility Bravo A is ready to lend its support. We have made full arrangements."

"You are about twenty minutes too late Vice Admiral. I have already given the go for an attack order, but none the less we can use your assistance."

Eric chimed in. "Can you fill us in Sir?"

"Sierra 117 is currently knocking out AA guns along the Ark's edge. He's making a hole so that my ships can punch through. The Arbiter is on his way to assist him."

Eric questioned the call sign Sierra 117, S-117, S must mean Spartan. Lord Hood was talking about the Master Chief. "What of Eden, Sir?" Eric questioned.

"Unknown. Communications with Eden are sporadic at best. There's still a tight Covenant defensive there, and I assume it has something to do with the Tree of Life. Truth is still trying to get to it, or destroy it. Those ONI spooks at your side could probably tell you more then I can."

Admiral Parangosky lowered her head at the comment.

Hood continued. "For now, Sierra 117 is pushing threw, however, ONI Facility Bravo A puts you close."

"Sir, with all the commotion happening with Sierra 117, Tangos will be watching him closely. My platoon is ready to backdoor them."

"We don't know what's down there son." Hood replied. "The Ark has been completely sealed off to our forces. That were stationed there."

"Sir, if Sierra 117 can not complete his mission, someone has to get in there and shut Truth down from the inside." Eric commented as the elevator reached the top. In front of him stood forty strong soldiers, Gridolee, a handful of grunts, and three Spartan IIIs wearing modified SPI armor.

Hood sighed heavily, "You're right, 19. But if we break through…"

"Sir, we know the risks."

"You have a green light. Good luck Black Ops." Hood ended the transmission.

Parangosky whispered, "Lord Hood is right about this, 19. ONI lost contact with all of its Ark support teams once Truth went inside. We had nearly three hundred personal studying it when he landed. All are assumed KIA."

Eric turned to the Platoon as Vice Admiral Parangosky motioned toward a Pelican. Every eye in the Platoon turned to the Black armor clad Lieutenant. "Listen up! Objective one is to clear a path for Doctor Halsey's ship. Objective two is to breach the Ark and get as close to Truth as possible. Pelican's one through four, will take point until the ship reaches escape velocity." Eric turned and nodded briefly to Mathew.

Mathew stepped forward. "Move like you have a purpose!"

The platoon dispersed as Eric shouldered an RPG and affixed an assault rifle to his back. His HUD flashed with four green markers which signaled the four fire team leaders of the platoon. "Gridolee, check." A green light flashed. "G009, check." Another green light flashed corresponding to Greg the Spartan III. "G017, check." Kate's light flashed on his HUD. "G021, check." Dave's light flashed red. There was a problem.

"19, I have a situation. Someone is trying stop Doctor Halsey from loading into the escape vehicle." Dave radioed.

Eric turned to Mathew. "Understood, I'm on my way." He closed the channel. "Finish prepping the Platoon."

"Roger that." Mathew barked. "I hope you are going to make a habit of running to the rescue everytime there is one?"

Eric didn't answer his longtime friend. With the added speed of his SPI armor, Eric sprinted across the elevator and toward the launch site for the small Corvette cruiser docked just under the northeast sector of the Gatekeeper facility. He sprinted through the tree lines, passing marines and ODSTs as they loaded their gear and then pushed through the door to the ship. As he turned a corner he froze as he watched Spartan 087 level her battle rifle at a nearby civilian science officer. Eric recognized her immediately.

Doctor Halsey walked closer to her subordinate. "Anne, step aside. Time is critical."

Anne backed away from Kelly's massive frame, but kept her small pistol aimed at Catherine. "No… no… I can't stay here! You… you can't leave me here to die!"

"Anne, I told you." Halsey said. "The others were mistaken. The Flood infection isn't why the Ark is counting down. You will not become a monster. It is a power build up. Truth does not have the Ark Key to power the subsystems, so he is attempting to build power remotely. The Path of Reclamation is a means of stopping the flood. The countdown simply means that the Ark is preparing to fire. We will stop truth before the time expires."

"In response to the flood spores, the Ark's defenses will initiate!" Anne screamed. "You said so yourself! It is a weapon!"

"Anne… we have time. You are not infected."

"Take me with you!" Anne screamed as she pointed the gun to her own head. Tears swelled in her eyes. "I don't want to die like this."

Eric opened a closed line to Kelly. "Take the shot. Aim for her pistol."

"Risky." Kelly replied.

"This isn't a threat. She'll do it. You know it, and I know it." Eric bitterly replied. "She would rather kill herself then be left behind. Disarm her or she's going to kill herself."

Kelly leveled her rifle, held her breath and tapped the trigger. A successive burst of three bullets split the air as Anne's pistol spun from her hand. Anne cried out as the gun flipped upward from the first two bullets, but the last round cleanly cut through her palm. Blood splattered the wall at her side as Eric sprinted past Kelly and grabbed Anne as she tumbled.

"Medic!" Eric gave a shout. "Anne, you're okay. A little morphine and you'll never know what hit you." A marine field medic raced to the scene and they carried Anne out of the way. Eric turned to Kelly and Doctor Halsey. "Go and save the Universe."

Doctor Halsey walked into the ship and Kelly followed closely behind. She turned and gave Eric a firm Salute. Eric formally replied.

Kelly then said on a closed channel. "It's been an honor, 19."

"The honor was all mine, 087. Next time we meet, I'll buy."

"I'll hold you to it. Good luck Spartan." Kelly closed the door to the ship and as it began to slide past Kelly's face, she took two fingers and made a smile across her helmet where her mouth was located. "Tell Rose, thanks for everything."

Eric nodded in response as the door closed. He then turned to Dave G021, "Break off your fire team and prep for departure."

"Yes sir." Dave replied.

Eric quickly raced back to his post and watched as four brute phantoms floated into the area. As expected the Gatekeeper facility location was no longer a secret with all of the movement, weapons, and radio chatter between marines. Anyone with a decent pair of eyes could spot the massive metallic elevator in the center of the thick pack of trees.

A mole on the distant horizon commented on the radio exactly what Eric was seeing. "Incoming Tangos! Four Phantom's on quick decent!"

Eric opened a wide COM. "Pelican's and hornets, get up there and clear the path. Ground forces break off to your assigned position. Team leaders, you have your orders."

Four green lights winked on Eric's HUD as the first Objective began.

To be continued…

Notes: It was a bit short this time, but mainly I wanted to setup the focus for the next two, and last, levels of the trilogy. Expect total insanity to follow. And as always thanks for reading.