It's him. He killed Cortana.

The Master wasted no time in flicking off the safety of his rifle, and firing at the towering murderer before him. Desran moved to flank around the group's left, pulling out his ebony blade. He looked back, his black visor meeting the Spartan's gold. "Keep their attention on you! I'll see what I can do!"

The Didact raised his arm, forming a small but otherwise impenetrable force field of hardlight. The incoming projectiles from the Reclaimers' pinged and bounced harmlessly, allowing the Promethean to scan the village.

Guards and Vampires were scattered about, all in various states of failing health. All of the village folk were able to make it inside, so that was at least a small weight off of their shoulders. Lydia was behind him, when she pointed. "Didact! A foe is trying to cut around! I shall hold him off, so that you may deal with.. whoever that is."

Didact nodded, "Aya, go. This shouldn't take long."

At last, the gunfire had halted. The sage warrior began marching forward, now wielding a weapon of covenant design. It whined as blue plasma shot in a condensed beam. It did little, however. Marching forward with steeled determination, the Didact closed his distance fast enough to enter a hardlight grapple, shrugging off the hits as he approached. The Spartan was once again lifted off of his feet, frustrated that he could do nothing against the tendrils that halted every fiber of his being.

"This is certainly a familiar situation", the Didact began, "one I'm sure that won't be repeated ever again. You, Reclaimer, of all beings, should understand what I was trying to accomplish. Yet, your actions spoke the complete opposite. The mantle... was not to be yours. I now see you and the rest of the children of Earth are hopeless. Not only that, but you have all proven that you are now a threat to the balance of all that exists. Look around you, Reclaimer."

He gestured with a free hand, "This world is unguided, and young. I see no reason for their composition, for they at least have a chance. I may not know a way to finish what had begun just yet, but I assure you, once I am through with this world, I will return to spread the glory and guidance of the forerunner empire to this... Nirn."

On that, the Chief's armor began to emanate with an inner energy, one all too familiar to the Didact. No, not that! It cannot be!

A wave of hardlight energy, almost akin to an ocean wave, engulfed the both of them as it exploded and spread out, forcing both to tumble towards the dirt. The Didact rose to a knee, not believing his eyes.

The Master Chief had what looked to be sections of forerunner armor merged with his own, part Promethean, part Spartan. He seemed to have armor over his own, yet it was translucent with forerunner power. The contours of his body pulsated with an aqua colored fury that was equal to his own.

Lydia hadn't encountered any warrior such as the one before her. He was clad in armor that made him look like a silhouette that was somehow darker than the darkness itself. In his hands, he wielded a blade made of ebony, and she noted the silver lining along the the edge was encrusted with small dots of red. Fire enchantment. Wonderful. She'd heard of rare materials made into rare sets of armors, but to see it firsthand..

As they took turns risking limbs and misteps, she came to realize that he was not an aggressive fighter, for he only seemed to feign a swing, baiting her, and then he'd counter with a jab at her side.

Thankfully, her outlandish armor proved more than capable of stopping the swords advances, resulting in a resounding clang with each failed mark. She smirked as the warrior swore under his breath. He cocked his head curiously, keeping in step as they cautiously circled one another. "Where did you get that armor, Shield Maiden? I've not seen a design such as that, and I'm told I was the one with most interesting set."

Lydia risked a glance back, noticing that her Thane was currently holding the green warrior in mid air. She looked back, just in time to deflect his incoming blow. "Keep your mind on the fight in front of you." he chided.

"Don't speak to me like I'm your student, sir knight. You are a threat, and I will deal with you swiftly to ensure my Thane's safety."

The Ebony Knight kept up his guard, but continued. "Have you wondered who it was that you served? How much of your master do you truly know? Were I in your position, I'd certainly have questions of my own."

"Enough!" Lydia snapped, about to charge him head on.

Both were thrown to the ground by a force that knocked the wind out of their lungs. The air had quieted to a dead still, and Lydia winced as she groggily sat up. The sight of the green warrior standing, and her Thane on a knee was not the most reassuring of sights.

"By the gods..." She heard the Ebony warrior mutter, clearly as surprised as she.

The Spartan stood there, gilded with wisps and floating pieces of glowing armor, not dissimilar to the Didacts'.

"DOVAHKIIN!" A terrible voice suddenly cried out, and all turned northward to meet the speaker. "Drey hei lorot hei vust iliis mahfaeraak? Pahlokaal mey."

The Master Chief tensed immediately.

The Didact rose to his feet, now standing to the right of him.

It was a Sangheili, clad in dragon bone armor that wore markings of the covenant. In his grip, he held an energy sword that burned with icy blue plasma.

The beast he rode as it landed in a thundering crash was none other the world-eater, Alduin.

Sorry for being for so long, and making this one a bit short. I'm afraid I'm too busy, and hardly get any time to myself, doesn't help that I'm also dealing with finals.

Dovahkiin - Dragonborn

Drey - did

hei - you

lorot - think

vust - could

iliis - hide

mahfaeraak - forever

pahlokaal - arrogant

mey - fool