Percy's POV

Athena looks at each of us slowly, her lip moving up and down through no words come out. It almost seems like she doesn't know what to say, something I don't think I've ever seen before. She sighs deeply, letting the air leave her chest as she calms herself down. She sits down and nods. "Very well then, I suppose you all deserve an explanation. Do you know why you were chosen as Spartans?"

I speak up. "Yes, we were offered a chance for revenge against the Covenant for the destruction of our homeworlds."

Athena nods slowly. "Well yes, but do you know why you Spartans, specifically chosen?"

We shake our heads slowly. "Its because you met several genetic requirements necessary for augmentations." She continues and removes her glasses. "One of which was your parentage."

"Our parentage?" Sam scratches her head curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean tell me if this sounds familiar. One or both of your parents were dead, apparently from the Covenant so you had foster parents to raise instead." We all look at each other, realization dawning on is as it seems that we see each other for the first time.

Athena squeezes her eyes shut to a wince as if the next thing she says will be painful. "It is because your true parents are gods."

"Pardon ma'am?" Persephone asks, raising an eyebrow. The rest of us look equally confused as we glance at each other. Did Athena misspeak or was this some sort of bad joke? But looking at her face I can see she was completely serious when she says that.

"I'm not lying." The General replies, a bit of an edge creeping into her voice. "Your parents are the gods. The old gods from the myths in ancient times. Why do you think that you were taught Greek Mythology in your training, why do you think that there are officers named after deities."

Everyone quickly turns to her, staring in disbelief. No, that can't possibly be true, the gods and monsters were just myths. The stress must be getting to her. But the General seems to sense our doubts and spreads her arms in the air. As she does a warm, golden glow begins to surround her body. Light starts to radiate from the room, and even with our enhanced vision, we force ourselves to look away.

Suddenly there was a brilliant explosion that fills the room and when we glance again at Athena she was floating several inches in the air. Her clothes change from fatigues to a Greek-style dress with gold anklets, bracelets, and sandals.

"So it's true." I continue to watch her as she drops to the ground and looks at each of us. There was a hint of emotion in her eyes. Was that pity? Sympathy? She pushes her finger on my chin and makes me look up at her. "Each of you has a godly parent which we determined from your Spartan training."

She begins to pace around us, stopping before each one of us. "Vincent, you are a son of Apollo, Sam, you are a daughter of Ares, Andrew your father is Hephaestus and you Percy and Persephone, you two are twin children of Poseidon." I catch a bit of distaste in her voice and even a little fear.

"What about those we lost?" Persephone asks, her voice barely containing her anger.

Athen for once doesn't reprimand her for it and simply nods. "Franklin was a son of Hermes and Nathan was also a son of Apollo."

My sister stands in front of her, clenching her fists tightly as she growls. "With all due respect ma'am, this is a lot to process and I'd like to request permission to return to my quarters."

She nods quietly. "Granted." Without another word, Persephone storms out. "The rest of you can go as well if you wish."

We all snap a salute and soon fall out. The rest of us don't say another word as we make our ways back to our rooms. Persephone was heading down towards the gym but I decided not to follow her. She looks like she needs time to cool off.

I quickly remove my armor and lie down on my bed trying to collect my thoughts, but as soon as my head touches the pillow a million things race through my mind a mile a minute like a computer. Despite my best effort I can't seem to concentrate. Everything passes through and I soon find myself burying my head in my pillow and screaming into it to muffle my screams.

All this time of thinking about gods and monsters. Eventually, I give up and just close my eyes, trying to get some shut eyes and enter a dreamless sleep.

I wake up to the sound of something crashing against the wall. It like a few minutes pass I open them again and look check my mission clock. Well over two hours have passed. I quickly get to my feet and shake off what little sleepiness remains. The sound was coming from the room Persephone was using. As I shrug on my army jacket over my shirt.

I jog towards her door and see its partially cracked open. I push against the door and see Sam awkwardly sitting in a chair by the entrance. She has a flustered look on her face as if to say help.

And my sister was there too. Her fist was digging against the dent in the wall she undoubtedly caused. Persephone's knuckles shift around as tears flow freely from her eyes, streaking down her chin and dripping to the bed. She grits her teeth and punches the wall again, denting the wall once again.

"Persephone," I say quietly, raising my hands up in a neutral position.

"We've spent close to twenty years serving the UNSC." She says, her voice choking into a sob.

I know exactly where this is going but nothing I say could possibly dissuade her. "I know." Was all I can say in return along with a small nod.

"Twenty years." She says again and turns to me, her green eyes were puffy from crying. "All that time and they never told us of what were are, or who are goddamn parents are and what we can do!"

"Sis," I say gently, taking one step forward, then another until I was right beside her and place a hand on her shoulder. "There could be a reason why they didn't tell us about this-"

"And I could have saved him!" Persephone explodes like a volcano, venom practically dripping from her lips as the words leave her.

"Saved who?" Sam asks meekly, looking at Persephone curiously. She shifts around from foot to foot. This is the most scared I've seen her, under most circumstances I would find it pretty funny but now I'm nearly as scared as she is.

"Nathan!" Persephone shouts back and jumps to her feet. She pushes my hand aside and glares at her. "On the ship with the Covenant. I could have done something with these powers and helped him."

"You were on a ship." I remind her firmly. "Nowhere near the water at the time."

"I could have done something!" She insisted and stomped her foot. Slowly the anger begins to die out in her eyes and she turns away slowly. "Well, I guess we'll never know now." Her voice lowers to barely a whisper as she turns away. "I need to be alone now. Please leave guys."

Sam and I look at each other then nodded. "We understand." The two of us quickly leave double quick and shut the door behind us.

When we're outside the blonde sighs heavily. "Well, that could have gone better."

I patted her shoulder and smiled sadly. "My sister was always a stubborn one, but she's got a good heart. Just give her some time. Now let's get some training done while we're stuck here?"

Sam nods, feeling her lips perk slightly as we make our way downstairs to the training deck. There were a few other marines there sparring or in target practice but it was empty enough to give us some private space. We stand on opposite ends of a mat and raise our fists.

She grins and makes the first move, lunging forward and throws a few quick punches. I begin to backpedal slowly, jerking my head back and forth to avoid her fists until my hand shoots up like a viper and catches her fist mid-swing. She gasps in surprise as I grab her and throw her to the ground. "I win round 1," I smirk down at her.

The Spartan growls and suddenly her arm sweeps up and I find myself tumbling to the ground. As I fall her fist comes up and connects with my crotch. The air whooshes out of me as I stumble over in pain. "And that's round 2." She says in reply.

Grinding my teeth, I leap back up and were soon back at it, throwing punches and kicks at each other while the other dodges and blocks each attack only to return them. It was almost like a dance. I take another step back and let Sam advance before moving in again and sweeping my arm out broadly to try and knock her off balance. She flips back and throws two quick jabs at my bicep.

I pull it back, feeling it throb in pain just as she moves again, her fist snaking out and sinking right into my solar plexus. I drop to one knee, gasping out as I reach for her arm and pull her down with me.

Despite my effort, I let out a loud laugh. She joins in and soon rather than training we just lay on the ground and giggle at each other. After a few minutes, I begin to get to my feet and help her up as well. It was nice to just enjoy things for a change rather than always worry.

As Sam gets up she smiles evilly and suddenly hits me in the stomach. I croak in surprise but she merely grins in response. "I win."

Raising my hands in submission, I not and concede defeat. Another voice clears her throat at the end of the mat. When I look up I spot Annabeth standing there. I don't immediately recognize her. The spy was usually out on the field gathering information or fighting Covenant. When she was here she was normally training or resting. Often times I don't even see her around.

"A nice fight you guys." She says, her arms crossed as she watches us.

"Thanks," Sam says and takes a water bottle, chugging down its contents and handing it to me. I take a few sips and put it away. "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to do a little training first before another scouting mission." She says, stretching her arms and rolling her shoulder. "For the next offensive."

"Offensive?" I ask curiously.

Annabeth smirks and nods her head. "You really think Athen would just sit here? She wants to take action now, either to find Commander Keyes or to fight back against those creatures that attacked her. The General says their spreading across the instillation like a virus and wants to cut them out before continuing her fight against the Covenant."

My heart beats a bit faster at the mention of that. Franklin was among them, maybe even the Commander herself along with the Marines who accompanied her. "What is she planning to do?"

"She plans to take the Paris towards their location and begin launching air raids against them and maybe even drop a few missiles and MAC rounds. If there are any left she'll send a group of hunter-killer teams will finish them off. Meanwhile, Athena herself will lead the ground forces against the Covenant troops already on the surface."

I nod. It was a good plan all things considered. The General was famous for her skills in guerrilla warfare and could easily let the Covenant chase her tail. But she would lack air support or reinforcements. The Paris had a few hundred crewmen at most and not all of them were Marines. Those thoughts still unsettle me. "Does she know what she's up against though? I've seen those creatures up close and what they can do. She needs to be careful when dealing with them."

Annabeth raises her hand to silence me. "Don't worry about it Percy, this isn't the first time we've dealt with the Flood."

"The Flood?" Sam says stepping beside me. She has a frown on her face at the mention of that name.

Suddenly the room seems a lot tenser as the ONI agent rubs the back of her neck and nods. "Uhh, Well yes. Back in the first Halo apparently the Marine forces there encountered a parasite just like this one. People started calling it the Flood."

"You knew about those things?" Sam asks pointedly, bristling slightly at this.

"Well, yes I did know about them, but I didn't know that they would be here. I believed that Master Chief wiped them out when he destroyed the first Halo ring."

"He didn't." Sam snaps angrily.

Annabeth suddenly looks at her much more cooly and frowns. "You best watch your tone soldier."

Sam didn't seem impressed and folds her arms. "You're not my commander, and for a Daughter of Wisdom that was a pretty stupid move by the way."

Athena's daughter's eyes widen as she quickly hushes her and moves forward. "Are you crazy bringing that up here? Nobody else is supposed to know!"

"Just like nobody else was supposed to know about the Flood?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Annabeth clenches her fist. When she looks up there was a fierce glare. "Do you mind leaving us for a second? I need to speak to your team leader."

She looks at me uncertainly, but I nod reassuringly to Sam. Reluctantly she begins to step back and leaves to the water fountain to refill her bottle. Once she's gone Annabeth takes a seat on the bench beside the mat and sighs. "So I guess my mother told you about us. Believe me, I didn't know the flood would be here."

I nod, but even that gesture feels stuff. How was ONI keeping and has kept from them? It was getting harder to tell with each day. I was about to open my mouth and say something when the ships suddenly tremble. "What was that?" I demand, looking around.

"Annabeth to bridge. What happened?" She shouts to her helmet radio and looks around at the other soldiers who were still reeling.

"Enemy ships ma'am," Voice replies. "Seraph and Banshee fighters, their strafing sides, autocannons are already being used for counter-attack."

Something else hits the ships but this time it was much more powerful. Before anyone can fully react the Paris begins to tip over. I crouch down and try to maintain my center of gravity as everyone falls all around me. Soon even my feet start to slip and I tumble down along with everyone else. As the ship tilts almost 90 degrees I feel my head hit something and go dark.

"Percy!" Someone shouts behind me, though the voice is muffled and barely audible. I frown and feel my eyes creep open as the person speaking calls me again. This time a bit more frantic.

When I roll to my stomach I feel a dull pain course through the side of my head. Sam was crouching beside me, her shotgun in hand as she looks around.

"What happened?" I ask, trying to get up but nausea washes over me and prevents me from standing up. Sam frowns and shakes her head.

"We were hit that's what happened." She growls angrily. A group of marines was surrounding her, weapons in hand but more than a few lacking armor. Not too far behind them was the General and Annabeth who are trying to direct the troops."Paris was torn right in half and we're back on the Installations surface."

One of the Marines looks up at them questioningly. "How could that have happened? I thought this ship was designed for stealth purposes. We were hiding from the Covenant right?"

Athena raises a hand for silence. "Yes, this ship is made for stealth, but its still using technology inferior to that of our enemies. From a distance or when they're distracted then we can avoid detection with a problem, but up close like this they could find us with enough time."

"So what now?" Another soldier asks skeptically. "If they know we're here then what will we do? They'll pick us off."

Athena stepped forward in the middle of her troops. "We fight, I have no intention of dying on this ring and I doubt the rest of you. We still have our weapons and vehicles so why not launch a counterattack. They have ships that we can pilot back to Earth if we capture them. One of their cruisers should be enough. Whose with me?"

A few add their own voices in a cheer, but a vast majority don't seem particularly heartened. But none of them have any better ideas so they slowly nod their heads, keeping their weapons close to their chest. Athen begins to go about her plans as the doors to the training hall slide open. Vincent and Andrew enter, fully armed and armored as they make their way towards us. "We have a problem." Vincent whispers and gestures for me to follow. I look at Andrew who also nods grimly.

I decide to follow them and jog after them. He leads us down to the hanger below. The place was a mess, vehicles are scattered all around the place like a child's room. They were all pretty banged up but most seemed to be in working order. "Annabeth placed me in charge of taking inventory of our equipment. We seem to be missing a Warthog."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. This was the reason he called us here. Slowly I nod to him. "It could have easily just been sucked out of the ship when it was hit, or maybe destroyed."

"Funny thing about that, I also counted the vehicles after we crashed and only one is missing along with one crewman, your sister."

My heart leaps into my throat as I lean forward. "Where?"

He shrugs. "I don't know."

"When."

"At least an hour."

I resist the urge to scream in frustration but nod slowly. "Alright then," I say turning away and heading back upstairs. "I'll be right back and when I return we'll go after her."

"Where are you going?" Sam calls me.

"I'm going to get my armor," I reply and heading back to my quarters. Sam nods and joins me, to the hallways, heading towards her own room. I quickly put on my armor and collect my personal weapons. The whole process takes about fifteen minutes and I begin to head out, but when I turn around I see Annabeth standing by the doors.

"Going somewhere?" She asks, a tight frown on her face as she glances at me up and down. "You know you and your team are supposed to be reporting to hangar bay 2."

"My sister is missing, we're going to go look for her," I reply and try to move past her but she blocks my way. It was still surprising that she was able to get in here without me noticing. "We need to find her."

Annabeth frowns, the holster of her gun was unclipped but she makes no move to pull it out. "We need you, Percy, you and your Spartans here now more than ever with the offense going on."

I place my hands on her shoulder and grip them tightly. "Annabeth, my sister is out there somewhere and I need to find her. I already lost her once, I can't lose her again."

She still seemed hesitant, her hand drifting down to her gun. I stiffen and prepare to move if it comes down to it. Annabeth may be an ONI agent, but even her training won't be enough to stop me. It will only take one well-timed move to knock her gun away, after that I can easily knock her out and get going.

Thankfully it doesn't come to that as she slowly steps aside and nods. "Alright, I know I can't stop you. Goodluck Percy."

Nodding and not quite believing my luck, I nod and begin to move past her. As I exit the room, however, I sense her hand coming down on my back. At the last second, I whirl around and catch her fist in the air.

Her other hand came at my side in a karate chop. I dodge that one too and kick her shin. Annabeth hisses in pain and stumbles to the ground. "I'm sorry about this but you can't stop me." I strike her at the neck hard enough to knock her out before running off.

Persephone's POV

Flashback

"Director, sir with all due respect-" I begin to speak but the officer in front of me raises his hand up for silence. He turns away from me for a moment and curls his finger towards himself. The Counselor approaches him and hands a data pad.

"Agent Nevada you understand that we are fighting a war on two fronts here." He says, not glancing up from his device. "These Projects operatives have been highly successful in defeating the Insurrectionists in multiple operations but now we must turn our attention towards the greater threat. The Covenant."

I nod slowly. "I understand that sir, but why must I be transferred to another team, I work alone sir. I have for the past few years."

He doesn't reply and simply continues to read. The Counselor clears his throat. "Well, it's true that you have completed a number of missions on your own Agent Nevada. But your record shows that you have been part of a Spartan team before being transferred to Project Freelancer. Is this true?"

Slowly I ground my teeth together, but I try not to let my anger show in any other way. No point in agitating them further. "Yes, that is correct sir. I was indeed part of Fireteam Crusader."

The Director nods and sets the datapad down to look at me. "And that is exactly why you were chosen to join Noble team. You have experience in working with Spartans outside of our organization, something the other agents lack. So far we have managed to keep the Insurrectionists in check, now all soldier we can spare are being transferred to other units including you. Are there any questions?"

"No sir," I say, trying to keep my voice down and now. "Permission to leave sir?"

"Granted. Your Pelican will be here in a few days. You may use that time to pack your things and say goodbye to your cohorts."

I salute him stiffly and walk out of the door, feeling my anger seeth. As I pass one of the corridors a voice chuckles at my side. "So the old man sent you packing huh?" A snort follows this. "Typical once he gets tired of his toys."

CT appears from the shadows, her helmet gone to reveal her unbrushed auburn hair. Her expression softens when she sees me. "I'm sorry about it."

"It's fine," I say dismissively.

"I wish I was being transferred you know." She says, walking beside me and looking around.

I raise an eyebrow, though part of me just wanted to roll my eyes at that. "Oh really? But what about you and Wash?"

Now it was her turn to go silent, blushing wildly as she grunts and shakes her head. "Me and Wash, that's nothing. We're not a thing." She sputters in response and tries to clear her voice. Seeing her stutter was almost enough to cause me to smile. Almost.

Finally, she shakes her head and places a hand on my shoulder. "Listen, if you ever wanna leave I know a place you can go."

I stop walking and stare at the dark haired girl as she took several more steps before stopping as well and glancing over her shoulder at me. A small smile dances across her lips as she sees my hesitation. "Where?" I finally say to her.

"Come with me." She says, sounding pleased with herself as she gestures for me to follow her. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, I shrug any nervous thoughts aside as I follow her. CT goes in the opposide direction that I was going and finally stops at her room. She opens the door and has me follow her in.

The place was dark, lit up only by the dark blue screen of her computer. Besides, it was her helmet which was connected to the computer with some wires. She sits down in front of her desk and has me sit on the bed. "What are we doing here?" I ask her but only receive silence as my reply. I spot a few chocolate bars in her drawer which was halfway closed. I open the drawer and myself to one. If she wasn't going to give me answers then she could miss a bar or two.

CT continues to type away on her keyboard until the light of her video camera powers up. A video feed appears on her desktop suddenly. I glimpse the tinted visor of an ODST, the helmet only a few inches from the screen. CT gives one quick glance in my direction before turning towards the soldier. The two of them to quietly for several minutes before helljumper clears his throat. "So CTs telling me that your being transferred to another unit?" Even from here I recognize the voice which confirms all my suspicions.

This was the same man I encountered in my first mission here. "Your an Insurrectionist," I say, reaching down for a sidearm that wasn't there.

The Freelancer glances at me and sighs as she notices my stiffness. Still, she doesn't make any move to try and stop me. "Yes, I am one of the resistance."

"Why did you bring me here?" I ask.

"Connie are you sure that this is a good idea?" The ODST asks cautiously as he bristles slightly at me.

"Because I thought you might listen to reason." Slowly, CT gets up from her chair and raises her hands to show she's unarmed.

"What reason is there for serving these terrorists?" I demand angrily, remembering my first mission as a Spartan where they murdered a crew of a freighter. "And give me one good reason why I shouldn't rat you out to the director."

My fellow Freelancer strides forward gracefully, a slight smirk playing on her face as if she already won the argument. "Because of Persephone, I know you don't like the UNSC either. You may fight for them, but you don't love them. I read your record, multiple counts of insubordination cause you didn't agree how they conducted the war. Well, there are other people fighting in it."

I bite my tongue and take a step back. It was a good point, a really good point in fact. But I didn't let my shock show as I glare at the Insurrectionist leader. "Well, that doesn't mean serving criminals like him is any better."

The ODST actually laughs at hearing this. He removes his helmet to reveal a black mohawk. "Hah? Criminals? Is that what the UNSC told you about us?"

I step forward, glaring at him defiantly, sitting down in the desk chair. "No, that's what I believe after seeing you murder people and taking their cargo. Epsilon Eridani System."

He scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Well you'll need to do a bit better than that, I've been in that system plenty of times, raiding ships true. But do you know what I and my men actually do with those supplies we take?"

The ODST takes a step back and lifts up the screen. He begins to walk out of the office, carrying screen out of the building to reveal a bustling town outside. A group of soldiers was unloading supplies from a ship. People were lining up in front of them as the men begin to hand them out.

"During the early stages of the war, the UNSC deemed several colonies irrelevant and pulled their troops out in order to protect more valuable worlds." The ODST explains, gesturing around to the people. "The people there were basically left for dead until we found them. After that, the New Colonial Alliance was formed from the survivors here and watch out for each other."

"Persephone," CT says quietly, her voice was strangely gentle as she places a hand on my shoulder.

I shake my head furiously. Part of her wants to do nothing more than deny it and believe it wasn't true. The UNSC and the Spartans duty were to Earth and her colonies. All of her colonies. But it wasn't stretch to think that they would do this.

"Do you know why they chose kids like us to be Spartans?" CT asks quietly.

"T-they wanted to give orphans a chance to get back to the Covenant," I reply, my lips trembling as the words come out.

She nods. "Well, yes that was one reason why. It certainly motivates soldiers when they have something personal against the enemy, but that's not the only reason. Drake showed me these."

CT typed something on her screen and documents started to flash up. "These are the orders given to recruiters for the Spartan-III programs. They were tasked with finding children, specifically orphans to become Spartans because they wanted children without families would look for them, the kid who could disappear without a trace without anyone raising an eyebrow."

"Why?" I ask quietly.

"Because that was there mistake the last time they got Spartans. They got children with families, replaced them with clones that later died. Although no one found out about the program a few people did notice a trend. A child disappears around the same time as seventy-four others, a little later they resurface but all seemingly die of unusual diseases whereas they were healthy before."

I feel my mouth go slack as I try to speak, but only a faint whimper comes out as I try to process all of this. Everything I know and fought for was for this? No, this had to be a lie, some Insurrectionist trick. But as I read the documents, it's clear that none of them are fake, these are solid UNSC orders.

"How did you get this."

Drake lowers his head slowly, in his eyes I catch a glimmer of something. It almost looks like shame. "I used to work for ONI, I assisted in the original Spartan program as a trainer. Back then I told myself this was for the greater good if seventy-five children were asked for peace then fine."

"So why did you leave?"

He sighs and sets the screen down, taking his seat in front of it. "That was before the Covenant came, I saw how pointless a few super soldiers can be when planets can be turned to glass without even needing to send soldiers on the ground. Then they proposed the Spartan-III program, where they wanted a million super soldiers fighting the Covenant. I couldn't do it. That was too big of an ask so I left service and joined the resistance. Eventually, ONI decided I knew too much and sent an assassin after me."

He nudges his head to CT who blushes slightly with a small smile. "I convinced her to join in. So what do you say?"

I look at the two of them, my mind running laps around my head as everything blurs together. "I'm not sure, t-this is a lot to process. I need to think about this."

Both of them look disappointed, but they nod regardless. CT slowly slips something into my hand and guides me out the door. "Take all the time you need, but remember, this meeting never happened as far as anyone knows."

I glance down and see a small communicator, barely bigger than my palm. I clench my fist and head to my room, trying to banish those thoughts of what just happened away from my mind, but no such thing happens.

My Warthog bounces around the rough bumps in the narrow path as I cut my way towards the forest. One hand was always ready with my gun as the noises around me continue to increase. I already barely managed to get out of captivity once, it wasn't something I want to try again especially since all the Elites are gone.

I feel the number of eyes watching me as I drive by steadily increasing, but whoever it is, whether it be Elite or Brute is beyond me as they remain hidden behind the trees. Though the bigger mystery is why they aren't shooting at me.

The sky above was dominated by the shape of a Covenant Battlecruiser, presumably the same one that shot down the Paris. Oddly enough, it doesn't make any more moves to finish off the survivors. All it takes from a ship of that size was one blow from its energy projector to completely vaporize anyone unfortunate enough to get caught in its beam, yet nothing happens.

The gravity lift remains active as patrols of Brutes continue to come and go. By now they seem to have found their loyal allies as they are joined by Grunts and Jackals, even the occasional Hunter pair.

I hit the gas pedal and continue to drive forward through the forest. I don't really know where I'm heading except that it's away from the UNSC and the Covenant. In the distance, I hear the sound of gunfire from local skirmishing. Looks like Athena is still going through with her offensive after all.

An old part of me wants to turn around and help the marines there, but I steel my heart and continue to drive away. This isn't my fight anymore, if they wanna slaughter each other like this then that's not my problem. An explosion from a strafing run of a Banshee squadron causes me to glance back momentarily. I privately hope that Athena was in there and is destroyed by the blast. But I shake my head at that foolish notion.

If she really was what she says she is them even that shouldn't be enough to kill her. A shame.

The electric sizzle of plasma being discharged knocks me out of my reverie. A green bolt the size of an apple comes whizzing out of the trees all of a sudden. I twist the wheel around as it flies towards me, trying to swerve out of the way but the bolt manages to graze its side.

A shock goes through the vehicle as it suddenly stops dead in its tracks mid swerve and nearly knocks me over as my body slams against the side. Pain lances through my body as I try to hit the pedal again but nothing happens. The jeep nearly topples over as it screeches to a halt. Before any more shots come out of the forest I leap to the back of the Warthog and swivel the LAAG around, firing in the general direction the plasma bolt came from.

Plasma fire bursts out from the trees around me as I continue to lay down covering fire. But all the shots go wide and instead only hit the ground in front of me before stopping without warning. I realize that they were warning shots. Reluctantly, I release my grip on the triggers and take a step back. Nothing else happens for a few tense moments as the sounds of rustling leaves goes all around me.

I release my battle rifle from its magnetic clamp and ready myself for a fight. "Peace human." A voice shouts suddenly to my side. I spin in that direction, keeping my rifle ready as I turn to face it. An Elite warrior in crimson armor appears from the foliage with his hands over his head as a gesture of peace.

Around me, more warriors begin to appear, including a number of Grunts. There are ten of them in all, forming a circle around me but making no move to attack. Finally, the crimson warrior lowers his arms and looks at me cautiously. "I saw you before, back on the ship with Zur. He let you out."

I nod stiffly, lowering my rifle to a neutral position. "Yes, he did."

"I assumed you had fled by now, away from the rings."

"I liked the scenery here."

The warrior chuckles, slowly at first but quickly gets laughter. The other warriors chortle as well and seem more at ease. "Well, why are you not with your humans at least?"

My lip curls up in annoyance. "We're not speaking right now. What are you doing here now after you left?"

He clicks his mandibles together impatiently. Seeing that there doesn't appear to be any threat, they lower their weapons and begins to disperse back into the forest. "My troops are watching the road for any Brutes who happen to stumble here."

"And Zur?" I ask, folding my arms. I don't particularly care about the answer, I'm really just making small talk.

His eyes gleam as he responds. "He is gathering our warriors. The Commander plans to launch a raid to recapture the Cruiser from the Brutes." The other warriors cheer and add their voices to the call.

"And how's that going?" I ask idly.

This seems to deflate the Majors enthusiasm, but not by much. "Slow, not many warriors are around to retake the ship so gathering the necessary force will take time."

"I can help," I say, before really even realizing what I mean.

"You?" The other aliens turn to me, curious but more than a little suspicious. The Major cranes his neck back at them and gestures for them to keep moving. "Why would you wish to help us demon?"

I decided to just go with it and shrug. "I don't really have anywhere else to go now. Like I said, I and my people aren't on the best of terms right now."

He grabs his two lower mandibles and strokes them thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose we could use your help. Very well demon, we will take you to our camp and have Zur decide if you will join us."

"Thanks," I say, following him as the warrior turns without another word and continues to head through the forest. My Warthog drives behind him as the Major leaves the rest of the group behind to watch their post, moving slowly to keep pace with him. I don't know where they're going but I do my best to make mental note of the path we go through until we reach the mountainside.

A few figures appear out of the caves, waving their arms and weapons at him. As we get closer I see that they're Jackals carrying beam rifles. One of them hisses loudly at the Elite who growls something in return. The buzzard headed alien nods and quickly runs off into the cave. "He says to follow him."

I catch a glimpse of more snipers hiding out in the rocks as we go in after him. Inside, the place was now a military camp, with weapons and supply crates were stacked up on the side. Dozens of Elites, Grunts and other aliens walk around the hall, all stopping to give me curious looks as we pass. There are even a few vehicles arranged in neat rows, mostly Ghosts and Banshees, but also with a couple Spectres, Wraiths, and Phantoms.

Zur was there, leaning on the Phantoms bay as he directs a dropships crew around. "Commander." The Major shouts in greeting, snapping a salute.

He leaps from the troop bay and salutes to him in return. His orange eyes widen briefly in surprise when he sees me. "Demon? What are you doing here? Where are your people?"

"I'm alone Commander," I say stiffly. It wasn't that long ago that he captured me and took me aboard the ship in the first place. "Your soldier said you needed help retaking your ship back."

Zur's mandibles part, looking almost pleased. "And you will help us?"

I just shrug, rolling my shoulders. "I suppose I don't have anywhere else to go. So I'm in." I extend my arm out to him.

The Commander takes my hand and clasps it tightly. "Thank you."